Monthly Archive for August, 2006

Empowerment

Published
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Graeme
on August 28, 2006
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I’m rapidly learning that in the process of obtaining EU funding the core concept to understand is empowerment. This concept is not against Christian teaching at all, and indeed this is probably the central point of Liberation theology. The ever useful Wikipedia put it like this:

Empowerment refers to increasing the political, social or economic strength of individuals. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.

Definitely something that The Salvation Army is striving to do in many communities right across the globe!

However, here comes the crunch. For the Christian there is a second stage of Empowerment. We believe that to be truly free we actually have to surrender every area of our lives over to God. It is this second stage of empowerment that is the truly liberating aspect of the Gospel and leaves us free to pursue the path that God intends for all of humanity.

The problem though is how do we explain that? The simple truth is that The Salvation Army relies heavily on both State and EU funding in order to fulfil our mission to the most disadvantaged in society. In order to get this money we often have to completely write out any Christian aspect to our work. Is this being true to our calling? Is it selling out for the sake of finance? Wouldn’t it be better to find some way of putting across our views on true empowerment without hiding our light under a bushel?

At a recent meeting here in Latvia the point was raised about our need to find the language to explain this two step path to empowerment so that we can be totally honest in our work, avoid compromising our faith and still receive EU funding.

I believe that the real problem is due to the understanding of the church that politicians have. They do not see Christianity as the liberating faith that it truly is, because for so many centuries the Church did not so much work as a liberators, but instead as a constraining force that acted as the glue which held social order together. How do we show, in the Post-Christendom reality that is much of the Western world, that the church is no about putting constraints on people, but is instead encouraging them to discover the depth and breadth that a new life in Christ provides?

Any ideas?

why?

Published
by
Graeme
on August 28, 2006
in old uksalvationist posts
. 1 Comment

Why is it that so often after a real spiritual breakthrough you end up having a really bad day the next day?

The maelstrom

Published
by
Graeme
on August 27, 2006
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For a while now I’ve really been struggling during worship! I can’t put my finger on the exact reason why although part of it is the fact whilst I am confident singing and worshipping in Latvian, its still not my native language! However this morning I turned a corner.

As I stood worshipping this morning I suddenly felt as if I was transported out of the meeting and into the centre of a maelstrom! All around me, at dizzying speed, spun a vast greyness with just hints of things appearing for a moment before being swept away agai. Although difficult to make out I just knew they were sins, both my own and the worlds.

But there in the centre it was still! There in the centre was the presence of God. It was as if I’d stepped out of the rush of daily life and just for a moment was simply there, in His presence. No words were needed between us. I didn’t even need to see Him! He was just there like He always is but I so often forget.

It’s as if God took me away for just a moment to remind me that however bad things get, however difficult life seems to be He is there at the centre of everything, the calm in the midst of the storm!

So I’ve turned a corner and today my worship seemed to be refreshed and more urgent than it has for months!

more on authenticity

Published
by
Graeme
on August 25, 2006
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Off the back of what I wrote about authenticity there is a great quote over on the URBANarmy blog. The final sentence is:

A humbled church, like the humiliated Christ, may be able to be a greater witness in our world than the church as the guardian of Christendom.

Read more here!

Starbucks and Authenticity

Published
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Graeme
on August 23, 2006
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A few months ago I read an excellent post by Brian Russell that talked about authentic Christian Community. He said:

I learned the other day something interesting about everyone’s favorite coffeehouse Starbuck’s. Part of this chain’s success lies not in its coffee but in the ambience of its outlets. Why do people go to a Starbuck’s? For the community, right? What is interesting is that its executives admit that Starbuck’s has created more of a perception of community than an authentic community.

If the mere perception of community can create a successful and profitable corporation, what would an authentic biblical community of persons who reflect God’s character in their lives and live missional lifestyles create?

Brian D Russell, Holiness and the Mission of the People of God

At that time I filed it away for future use but in the last week or so I’ve been thinking a great deal more about the issue of authenticity when it comes to our walk. Last week there was a brief discussion about Relevance vs. Authenticity over on Martin’s blog and it was this that sparked this train of thought.

For me one of the biggest barriers that there is for the spreading of the gospel is hypocrisy. At some time or other the vast majority of us are guilty of it, but as Christians we don’t really have the luxury of being hypocritical. We are supposed to be living adverts for the Kingdom of Heaven.

We all know that in Matthew 5:13Open Link in New Window that those who follow Jesus are described as the “salt of the earth”. In other words we are God’s seasoning for the world so that it tastes like it should have done. However, hypocrisy is like salt that has lost its flavour, it simply doesn’t make things taste like they should. The world therefore tastes no different to how it did before we were added to it.

Interestingly Jesus said that the only use for this sort of salt is for it to be trampled underfoot. I don’t know how far He meant us to take the analogy, but my understanding is that salt is often used to destroy fertile ground. Does this mean that hypocritical Christians not only fail to add flavour to the world, but also destroy the fertile ground that are the hearts and minds of the unsaved who they come into contact with?

I believe that the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church, ie all Christians, that we must be genuine. The unsaved need to see us grappling with life and coping only because of our faith in Christ. They need to see us practising the art of forgiveness. They need to see us making a real difference in society and be able to tell that the world is a better place for having Christians in it!

To answer Brian’s question, the potential of an authentic Christian community is phenominal as it will reflect the Kingdom of the great I AM, who can “do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” (Eph 3:20Open Link in New Window)

Future plans

Published
by
Graeme
on August 21, 2006
in old uksalvationist posts
. 1 Comment

This afternoon, Zoe & I had a meeting that has thrown our future up into the air. It’s not that I am turning away from my call to officership, but we learnt things that will force us into making some decisions earlier than expected.

At the moment I can’t go into details but we would both be very grateful for your prayers at this unexpected turn of events.

Thanks in advance!

Soldier 3:3

Published
by
Graeme
on August 17, 2006
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There’s a new online magazine out and you can read more about it below!

They say the pen (and in this day and age the computer) is mightier than the sword. Well SOLDIER 3:3 is where that will be put to the test. Soldier 3:3 is an experimental webzine that uses RSS feed to generate content from some of the best Christian blogs on the web. Which means no more searching for new articles, posts and blogs. They are all now at your finger tips.

So why SOLDIER 3:3 you ask? Well in this day and age of corruption, poverty and disparity soldiers are needed to bring forward the good news of Christ. And as 2nd Corinthians (KGV) tells us we are to literally be “Epistles of Christ”. That is, we are living letters professing his love.

It is our hope that the articles found here will testify to that. That they will represent people who are living testaments of Christ’s great love for us.

So please have a look around, and if you have any comments, questions or concerns don’t hesitate to write us an email:

Peter Lublink
peter (at) lublink (dot) ca

For some reason that I’m still trying to understand, Peter has asked for me to be one of the blogs that contributes. UKSalvationist will still be where the article appears first but there are plenty of other posts to read from other writers over at: