iGod

A muslim cleric's view of persecuted Christians and the UK Church

I heard last weekend about an interview on a radio station with Sheikh Dr Muhammad Al-Hussaini, founder of Scripture Reasoning and Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Leo Beck Rabbinical College, has said that the ‘church hierarchy’ in the UK is to blame for Christian persecution around the world because it ‘simply doesn’t care’ and only offers a ‘whimper’ in response to incidents:

The one thing we Muslims can absolutely rely upon is that whereas the tiniest thing kicks off in Gaza or the West Bank and there are protests in Muslim cities all the way from Jakarta to Timbuktu, in the case of persecuted Christian minorities—horrendous machete attacks take place in Nigeria, Christians in Iraq are burned out of their houses, Christians in Pakistan are stoned or attacked on the slightest pretext, Christians in Palestine suffer under Israeli occupation—in all cases what we will hear is just a whimper.

Interestingly and, perhaps, surprisingly, he calls upon the Church to be a voice for justice for persecuted minorities, which he claims would speak ‘into the heart of the Muslim community.

He saves a lot of his criticism for the established church in this country, which he says is more concerned with social position and power than fighting the injustices on behalf of the poor in other parts of the world.  If it was, it would be a faith worth listening to.

Although, there is perhaps some truth in the cleric’s words, maybe we should remember that this is not an excuse for bringing daily misery to the lives of thousands normal Christians who are just trying to survive as a minority in a religiously hostile environment. But an interesting and useful perspective all the same.

ASD

X Factor - pantomime

I woke up to find the UK not unexpectedly twittering about X Factor. The Twitter Trends Map showed the that 'Jedward' and X Factor have become national talking points.

Last night's judges' decision saw John and Edward and Lucie Jones go into 'Deadlock', which meant the public got to choose who would stayed in the talent competition. It  was nothing short of pantomime. We have a rags-to-riches story, songs, some dance, something for the kids, something for the adults. We have a goodie, two baddies and a fairy godmother in the unlikely shape of Simon Cowell.

However, unlike all good pantomimes where the fairy godmother is seen as light and beauty our fairy godmother, ours turned a little bit cynical and showed a dark side. 

Of course, before we all throw our remote controls at our television in disgust we do have to remember this all about entertainment. And the entertainment business is all about ratings. Quite simply you can't have a pantomime if you see off the villain half way through. It would suddenly become quite prosaic and dull.

Sometimes I wonder if the Christian life isn't more panto than serious life drama. It was mooted by the authors in God is Back that the Church is more powerful when it has opposition. When it doesn't it becomes complacent and weak. In other words, 'ratings' go down.

While we in the Church might complain against the wicked stepmother of Secularism or the evil old old witch of Other Religions, it is undoubtedly part of the story of the Church. We have our songs and script for this narrative and know ultimately it will have a happy ending. Meanwhile, it is all about perspective.

Although Church is not in the business of entertainment, perhaps it should learn to not take itself too serious and take an opportunity laugh at itself once in a while. After all, didn't the writer of Proverbs say something about laughter being the best medicine? (Proverbs 17:22)

ASD

What are friends for?

I wonder how many people you count as true friends. There is no doubt a difference to being friendly to having friends. To be friendly is to extend the experience of being warm to someone as if they are a friend. It relaxes someone and makes them feel special. No bad thing.

Apparently, if the sociologists are to be believed, we are in trouble as a society. They say that we are becoming more isolated as we often find ourselves working longer hours, travelling further away to find employment, which leaves us with little energy to anything else.

Some of us may boast a couple of hundred friends on FaceBook, but even the internet through its online social networks is, ironically cutting us off from meeting real people. Watching Friends reruns on TV is also a poor substitute to actually having friends to say “Hey you!” to.

In America a piece of research showed that people’s close circle of friends has dropped, on average, from three to two. That is a 50% deduction in people they can confide in. I suspect the picture in the UK is little different.

In contrast, I have noticed that people in the Bible seem to have a lot of friends. Jesus had a circle of 72 that followed him around. But there was a much closer relationship with 12 men, his disciples, whom he called his friends.

And there were three that he was especially close to - Peter, James and John; and one, the apostle John, with whom he seemed to be closer with than anyone. But Jesus, who modelled for us perfect humanity, had a substantial network of confidantes with whom he could disclose the things that were most important to him.

I wonder if that makes you envious. Why not take a moment to reflect upon your own quality of relationships?  Are they fulfilling, giving, equally weighted towards each other’s needs?

The Greek philosopher, Aristotle said, “Without friendships no one would choose to live, even if they had all other good things in life.”

CS Lewis, the Christian author and Oxford don wrote, “I have no duty to be anyone's friend and no man in the world has a duty to be mine. No claims, no shadow of necessity. Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”

It’s these last words that get me, friendship is key to getting through life. That’s why in our church context we want to be more than a ‘friendly church’, but a church built on deep dependable friendships. Friendships that are there through thick and thin.

Over the years I have learnt that the best friends are those that love what you love. In church that love starts with Jesus. Out of that place he enables us to love others that, well, perhaps, we would not be friends with otherwise. That is a powerful thing, isn’t it?  

There is a maxim that says a friend in need is a friend indeed. People say to me the church is full of needy people. I hope so, because there is a lot of need in the world today. If the church cannot meet their needs, we are in trouble.

The truth is we are conditioned by our individualistic society to shun the public recognition of neediness because it is considered weak. Yet, it has been my experience that those who acknowledge their neediness move on in life quicker and get healed emotionally and spiritually along the way.

ASD

All Seeing - new song from The Alarm.

Now here is something I didn't expect to be blogging about in 2009, a new song by 80s group The Alarm.

One of my best buddies Steve 'Smiley' Barnard has been drumming with singer/songwriter Mike Peters this year and, on hearing this song, I had to tell him that I thought this sounded like a worship song to me.

Maybe what gives this song some of its strength is the experience of Mike himself being diagnosed with cancer and finally being given the all-clear this year.

Although, to my knowledge, he has never talked publicly about his faith, I think this song speaks volumes. In some ways it reminds me of some of the Trent stuff. See what you think. It seems a far cry from '68 Guns', but like a good bottle of wine, the writing has undoubtedly matured to produce something beautiful.

ASD

Church-Tank - a scary thought.

 

Hm...I wonder if this is how other religions see the church?

Sculpture by Kris Kuksi.

Church worker hits front page of Evening Standard

Having posted this morning the story of the stabbed church worker who is fighting for his life, it has since been elevated to front page news. The man has been named as father of four Simon Somerville. Be good to pray for him and his family tonight.

ASD

When faith is tested, others notice

 I spoke earlier this week of my uncomfortable conversation with a non-Christian who thought Christianity should stand for something and make us different from others. His experience was not great.

Today I heard Prince Edward talk on the radio on how the Duke of of Edinburgh Awards holds a ‘chance of death’. It seems to have caused no small ripple in Australia. He went on to say, of course, he hoped no-one would die, but it has happened. Has it put people off? Far from it. It has only added to the experience

The truth is Christianity is exciting, but sometimes it can be dangerous. At this point everything that we proclaim to hold dear is tested.

Perhaps it is humility that stops us saying how different we are to people.  Sometimes it is because we just don’t feel that different!  Our being a Christian can be seen as ineffectual.  It is only when faith is tested that we find out if it means anything or not.

Last night the faith of a 41-year-old man was tested in south London.

In today’s Evening Standard on page 5, tucked away in the top right-hand corner is a story of a church volunteer who was stabbed repeatedly by a load of youths in Deptford outside a church-organised meeting. The event was aimed at trying to keep teenagers away from crime.

He is now fighting for his life in a south London hospital. It was also reported that a 16-year-old boy stepped in to try and stop it and found himself being stabbing.

It was a church’s initiative to bring peace to the streets of London. They did not have to hold such a meeting, but they did. 

It was a man’s own initiative to go and speak to the gang. He did not have to get involved, but he did. 

It was the 16-year-old boy’s initiative to try and help this man, more than twice his age. He did not have to, but he did.

It is all too common nowadays to just look the other way or walk on the other side of the street.  The man is now fighting for his life. What could compelled someone to do such a thing other than Jesus?

These are the kind of Christians I would like my non-Christian friend to meet. 

Please join with me in praying for that man and boy in Deptford, and that God’s peace may break out in this part of south London with young lives being transformed and given hope.

Today I feel privileged to be part of this beloved thing we call the Church.

ASD

1 church app at a time...

Well, it was only a matter of time, I guess. Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill in Seattle have developed their own iPhone Mars Hill app.

It allows you to:

• Listen to any Mars Hill sermon available on marshillchurch.org
• Watch any Mars Hill sermon video
• Stream any Mars Hill music
• Email sermon links to your friends
• Give to the mission of Mars Hill
• Stay informed and up to date through the blog
• Get campus locations and listings

The blub on their site reads:

"At Mars Hill we live for Jesus as a city within the city — knowing culture, loving people, and seeing lives transformed for Jesus. Part of that mission is utilizing the technology available to us to reach as many people as we can in our cities and around the world.

God has often used technological advancement to spread the Gospel through the church. At the time of Paul it was the Roman’s system of roads.  For the Reformers it was the printing press. For Billy Graham it was sound amplification systems and stadiums. For Mars Hill, we have been blessed to have the opportunity to use the advances in video and internet distribution."

Anyone else out there heard of a church developing an app or, for that matter, any other church organisation?

ASD

Some thoughts on why we don’t go to church

Article reproduced from Community News magazine

Someone once told me, jokingly, that he went to church.  He then went on to point out a local pub across the road.

I said, “Yeh, I go there too.”  I elaborated, “Well both provide great services!”

I suspect for some, believing in God and becoming a Christian probably means developing a dour lifestyle, which equates to “no fun”.  Yet, I don’t read that in my version of the Bible.  Far from it. In fact, I see life goes from black and white to colour; it becomes so much richer and deeper in experience.

But the church, regrettably, but understandably, is seen as an institution, much like a school or a municipal establishment.  For others, it’s simply another leisure activity or weekend hobby.

I believe, like sociologists, there is a large chunk of our community that wants to belong to something meaningful. We feel we’re better being in a group than alone. We somehow feel safe, comforted, supported and at ease with the world. 

Business marketing guru Seth Godin has written a book called Tribes. He makes the point that tribes get things done. Tribes change the world.  Tribes turn the tide.

Take Twitter, the micro-blogging site.  You’ll see in the top right-hand corner two distinct categories: Following and Followers.  It’s no accident it sounds like the language of a tribe.

Yet the tribe called the church often comes under fiercest criticism. To be honest, at a national level it sometimes deserves it. 

At a local level, I meet people who want nothing to do with the church because of “all those religious hypocrites.” However, often behind the comment is some deep seated pain.

Maybe a husband has cheated on his wife for years, but still happily toddles off to church every Sunday morning. Wouldn’t that shape your view of Church or God? It would for me.

But one thing we have to admit is that an institution in itself can’t hurt anybody.  Institutions are simply structures made up of people like you and me, and people do people stuff!  

So when I hear that someone has a beef with the Church I ask what their name is. It is always about someone, never about ‘the system’.  Something has usually happened. It is the pain talking, sometimes shouting.

The truth is, we will never be free from our pain unless we have the courage to deal with it. That can mean a little more pain before it happens.  Only then can we begin the process of being set free.

Now please hear me, I am not saying our church is perfect or has the ‘people stuff’ wonderfully cracked, but we aim to always be real with God and with each other; to treat people well and show kindness to strangers. We are not interested in our own position.

The Bible says we are created to be relational beings because God himself is relational: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It says we are “made in his image”.

It also says that “God is love”.

Whenever someone asks me to prove there is a God I have to say, “Well scientifically I can’t prove God, but neither can you disprove him. However, I believe that Love provides us with the greatest evidence that he does. Love makes us human. It separates us from the animal kingdom.

Life without love dehumanises us. The Nazi concentration camps show us that in harrowing detail.  When love is absent we have the potential of becoming “animals”.

Most amazingly, Jesus shared in our pain by allowing himself to become the victim of jealous, angry institutionalised people. If anyone was justified in bearing a grudge it was Jesus, yet he didn’t, he was all Love. The act of forgiveness is an incredibly powerful healing experience.

At Stour Valley Vineyard Church we get a few glimpses of that wonderful grace. What’s more, we invite you to come and experience it for yourself. God bless you.

ASD

 

 

Who is the most commonly sung about person in a song, dead or alive?

Here's a useless bit of trivia picked up from the Chris Evan's drive-time show last night on Radio 2.

Apparently the most frequently mentioned name in a song is...God!  This is followed by Jesus. Interestingly, the devil makes an equally high appearance at number three. A space where perhaps the Holy Spirit might have occupied to give us a truly triune experience, given the songwriting opportunity.

Does the devil have all the best tunes?  Okay, I hear you, let's not go there.

ASD