iGod

White Christmas or Christmas blues?

My family and I visited a Christmas craft fair recently, we do it every year. We go there to buy our tree. Out comes Bing singing "White Christmas" and we are in the zone!

While at the craft fair I came across a poster which read, "If Christmas did not exist it would have to be invented."

For some, Christ is the reason, but for many others He is the excuse. I cannot blame people for wanting to piggyback on one of the two greatest Christian festivals of the year. It has been a difficult year for many families. Jobs have been lost, homes repossessed, unsecured debt hugely increased. Christmas is a timely gift when we can have some respite from the harshest recession in living memory. God bless all those who are struggling.

But I pray the excuse will turn to a reason, because we all need hope beyond ourselves. Hope beyond our own personal predicaments. These are places where the state system can't touch or voluntary organisations get near.

However remarkable we are as human beings, and we are, I believe it is because we were made to be remarkable by a remarkable God. Lest we believe our own press that we are so good that we don't need divine help. That would appear to me to be arrogant and, let's be honest, a bit short-sighted.

 I like Dave Hayward's cartoon, because finding space for the son of God is not always convenient, especially when so much of the lives are filled up with worries of work, our children and the future. And that's just us in the church!

More wider, of course, the world struggles to find room to accommodate the coming of salvation. Our spiritual condition just does not get priority. Talk about putting the cart before the donkey.

Yet, somehow Jesus' birth still manages to be celebrated each year. For some, it will be in a grand cathedral in a prominent well-heeled part of a city. For others, it will be in a non-descript business unit on an industrial estate in South-east London. All expressions are loved by God.

For ourselves, it will be in Sudbury Town Hall on Christmas Eve at 7.00 pm.

A Christmas carol written by Christina Rosetti:

Angels and archangel

May have gathered there

Cherubim and seraphim

Throng'd the air

But only his mother

In her maiden bliss

Worshipped the Beloved

With a kiss.

Have a peaceful and joyful Christmas. God bless.

ASD

Kindness at Christmas

I have been in Pret a Manger this lunchtime buying their redoubtable Christmas sandwich. Apart from being a great festive munch the sandwich will also mean a donation being made to Crisis, the homeless charity. A charitable thing, indeed!

However, while waiting to be served I saw their poster on the wall which said how they give free food and vans to the homeless. However, they were quick to say that it was not because they were "nice" people, but because they hate good food going to waste at the end of the day. I don't know about you, but this kind of sends out mixed messages to me.

it is funny how being "nice" is a somewhat out of vogue virtue. The adage goes if people are being nice to you they want something. It is a cynical view and not totally unfounded.

Recently a well known atheist entertainer suggested that Christians are "kind" to manipulate people's feelings, to lull them into their net of deception. At least, that is the gist of one of his myopic arguments. Sad, really.

Of course, as marketing techniques go, the offer of something apparently "free" only to "pay later" is a well tried and tested way to acquire business. It's giving with "terms and conditions".

As someone who loves doing acts of random kindness for people, I have to be honest and say I get very little out if it in the sense of seeing huge amounts of people added to the church.  I enjoy bringing some happiness into someone's life, but If I was doing it to be manipulative you would have to say I am not doing it very well!

However, I am trying to show Jesus, The Jesus who loves with no strings attached. Not the fundraising Jesus for a leaky roof or the TV evangelist Jesus who wants you to ring in with your credit card details. That's not my Jesus. God save us!

Have I got an agenda? You bet!

It is to show people that there is a God that loves them without a set of terms and conditions or a "buy now, pay later" scheme.  My God is the God of freewill, not a God of trickery, manipulation or illusion that looks to beguile the innocent and vulnerable. My God doesn't need gimmicks or to entertain to get your attention.

Being kind is different to being "nice".  "Nice" is twee and arguably skin-deep.

Kindness cares. Kindness costs. Kindness is compassion. It is also often a forgotten fruit of the Spirit.

Kindness is no kitten.

ASD

Christmas starts with Christ (article reproduced)

Each month I try and write an article for our town magazine, Community News. It gets distributed for free far and wide to all the households. The magazine editors, themselves, do an absolutely brilliant job and really serve our community well.

Here are my latest collection of rambling thoughts reproduced here:

I love Christmas. I love it all. It brings out different sides in all of us, though some can be dubious. 

For instance, there is the Christmas Party Animal who has the knack of sniffing out a soiree the other side of the county and always stays till the bitter end when the host is begging for their bed.

I remember as a theological student asking a cheery Catholic priest how he would like to be remembered when he left this mortal life.  He paused, smiled and then replied, “He liked a party”.  Not a bad way to be remembered. Better than a dour, miserable Christian.

Quite the opposite to the Christmas Party Animal is the Christmas Stress Head who gets more ill with the run up to the big day. They desperately try to juggle their children’s nativity play rehearsals and productions, and wonder when the shopping will get done and the food cooked.  Their Christmas can be far from fun. To boot, come January their body collapses with a major cold or flu.

As a Christian I value the anticipation of the Christmas Day. Like my Catholic friend I am not one for religious solemnity, though the thought of Jesus entering our world as a baby should make us reflect and find us in momentary places of stillness.

I saw a poster recently that said ‘Christmas starts with Christ’. For many of us who have a faith in Jesus that is most certainly true. It is not just an opportunity for some additional church services, it is first and foremost a birthday celebration. And with celebrations come parties. That means party decorations, food and drink, singing and dancing. Surely the arrival of the saviour of the world and hope for all humankind deserves some noise.

In the Bible the people of Israel used to celebrate all the major occasions with big feasts and parties. Although they were not without their ritual and solemnity they were certainly not dour occasions, and often lasted for days.

Yet what makes this birthday celebration different is how we give the presents. 

In our church we see giving gifts to each other as a symbolic gesture of remembering the gifts that were given to Jesus by the three wise men, as well as in thanks to God for the gift of Jesus.  Our presents to one another can be seen as reflection of the ultimate gift given by God to man, which is at the heart of our Christmas.

It is a pity then that when this wonderful truth gets overlooked the giving of gifts becomes just a meaningless ritual that everyone does, but simply hasn’t got a clue why.

Well, here’s a suggestion to put meaning back into your own Christmas. Why not join Stour Valley Vineyard Church at its Christmas Eve Service in the Town Hall on Thursday 24 December?  It starts at 7 pm.  Mulled wine and mince pies are served from 6.30 pm onwards.  And if you can’t make our service there are plenty of other churches where I know you will also receive a warm welcome.

Merry Christmas!  May you know the peace and love of God at this time. God bless.

ASD

The start of Advent

As many of you informed and smart people will know the period of Advent started on Sunday with, er, Advent Sunday. However, the Advent calendars won't start until 1 December. Why is that?

Anyhow, I came across this poem/prose from Breathe and thought it was worth sharing here.  For those of us who were at church on Sunday you will understand its pertinence.

Advent starts now

Not when the gifts were stuffed into shops in warm October.

Advent starts with a voice crying “Get Ready”

Not with the coos and calls of consumption.

Advent starts with hearts stripped bare, scaffolding down, empty and still…

Advent starts with a people humbled, desperate, dependent on Grace for the future unfolding.

It starts with a promise: God comes

The feast is not the goal; the feast is a promise:  

He will be with us 

So get ready

Advent starts today

Thanks, Damion.

ASD

Some blogs to bookmark

It is really hard to keep up with everything happening in the Blogosphere. There is so much good stuff out there. The trouble is we often only have time to skim-read. 

Google's Reader is an excellent way to keep me checked in with what's out there. I recommend it.  Anyway I thought I would give you a few of the ones I am currently enjoying reading. I have been blessed overall by these committed bloggers. I appreciate their time and energy in bringing regular posts. They often give me the encouragement to carry on. 

For those of us in the Vineyard tribe I have tried to include some of the highlights out there. Okay, in no particular order:

Bible Studies.org.

Brian McClaren

Jason Clark (Deep Church)

Ken Wilson

Ed Cyzewski

Dan Wilt

Carl Medearis

Jason Scott

Dave Workman

Jim Wallis

Dave Schmelzer

Pete Scazzero

Joe Boyd

Steve Sjogren

Ruth Gedhill

Seth Godin

Ekklesia

Jonny Baker

I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who who has a fave blog. Let's share the love!

As ever, thanks for reading. Have a blessed weekend whatever you are doing.

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

Is there such a thing as a "church planter personality type"?

There is an interesting post on the Vineyard USA site which looks at this question. As a church planter myself I often wonder what makes idiots like us go out and do such a crazy thing! It is a lot of hard work, self-sacrifice and heartache. How did we get into this place?

Of course, reflecting on such a question when you have just spent all your physical and emotional energy and grace levels over a busy period is not a particular good idea!

It is an immense privilege to see the birth a church and start to watch it grow. Much like the birth of a baby, it is both exciting and exhausting. Some days it is great to be a father. Other days you find yourself longing for a simple life again. Of course, no-one really wants to go back to how things are before, that was boring, but we do like to let off steam once in a while.

I am truly grateful to God for all those he brings to us as 'pioneers'. They, too, have made a sacrifice. Rather than go to the big church down the road they have made a cognitive decision to get 'hands-on' with us.

Is there a personality type for this type of calling or is it just a Spirit of God thing?  Hm!

In my own experience I believe, on the whole, it is the latter?  Of course, faith, a sense of fun and a willingness to do absolutely anything and everything are not bad attributes to behold. And the for pastor I would recommend some theological and pastoral training, but the big thing has got to be knowing you are called. If you do not know that you could be in some trouble.

In established churches it is possible to avoid this issue, but in small church plants (and here I am talking in the Vineyard's definition being a church of under 60 people) something deep needs to sustain you.

For me that has been the constant faithfulness of God's blessing on me and my family and the wonderful friendships I have made since staring this thing. I hope that can be said of others too.

Otherwise, when the going gets tough the tough sadly go missing! And that is tragic.

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

 

 

Outward focused Cartoon

All a matter of perspective, isn't it?

Cartoon by AsboJesus

ASD

NLC update

I have been told there have been some technical glitches on the bookings page of the Vineyard NLC website, so if you have been struggling now you know why?  I am informed that it has been fixed and all is now well. Also the other pages are up. Though you'd like to know.

ASD