Monthly Archive for March, 2007Page 2 of 3

Psalm 62:8

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Graeme
on March 14, 2007
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Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
Selah

At our men’s small group on Sunday morning the above verse was shared with me. This was such a timely verse for me considering everything that we have been going through over the last few weeks. It was as if God was saying to me, “Don’t worry, I’ve got everything in hand. Remember the promise I gave you as the Assessment Conference began.”

The thing that is best is that God allows us to go before Him and pour out our hearts to Him. It doesn’t matter whether it is a heart of anger, or bitterness, or joy. He wants to share our emotion regardless.

God is giving me such a real sense of calm about our future and this is so encouraging. Normally, I would worry myself sick about the scenario we face, but I really do know that God has it all planned! I can see this because already we being shown a number of possibilitiesfor the next year. What else can I do therefore but give praise to the Lord!

My desk

Published
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Graeme
on March 14, 2007
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It’s been a while since I posted an image but I thought this was rather applicable to me. I’m sure that any one who knows me well would agree!

My Desk

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Hate the sin, love the sinner!

Published
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Graeme
on March 12, 2007
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I’ve heard this phrase so many times and have used it myself on numerous occasions, but a few weeks ago I started to think about its real meaning. Where exactly did the phrase come from?

It might sound dangerous but I’m not sure that we are called to hate sin. I think that we are simply called to love people. We are called to love the sinner. If we start to bring an emotion with as many negative connotations as hate into the equation and then judgementalism can start to creep into our thoughts.

As hate is so strong, if we hate the acts of sin then it doesn’t take long for the conditions to be placed on our love. We say we love everyone, but what is shown is that we really only love those who conform to our requirements. What is seen is that we love you if you do this and don’t do that!

Now I know that there will be someone who says that we can’t ignore sin in someone’s life. I agree! But I think all our relationships have to start from a position of love. If we allow such a destructive emotion as hate to be involved in any relationship I suspect it is doomed to end up a badly damaged relationship.

Let’s stop hating! It’s something that has been such a part of our Christian history (through things like the Crusades and the Inquisition) that I suspect many non-Christians think that it is part and parcel of our faith. Let’s stop hating and instead simply love the sinner just like God loves us, His sinful children.

Once we’ve done this, we might actually start to like the people who we love and I suspect that the world would be a much nicer and safer place!

Contemporary relevance

Published
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Graeme
on March 10, 2007
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This morning I dipped into the archives of the Journal of Aggressive Christianity and read through William Booth’s The Mission to the Future address of 1889. In it he outlines the things that will be needed in the future for the mission to continue and grow.

In his 7th of 10 points he says the following:

VII The Mission of the Future while retaining all that is essential to godliness, will strive to adapt itself to the peculiar habits, conditions and circumstances for the different races it seeks to conquer for Christ.

Strange that this common-sense method should ever have been neglected or need defending. No wonder there have been such miserable and mortifying and soul-ruining failures, seeing that it has been so openly and boastfully set at naught. This is a principle that is acted upon every hour of our existence, in almost every transaction of every-day life. We continually become all things to all men, yielding to the eccentricities, ignorance and infirmities of those about us, in order to prevent any unnecessary hurtfulness to their feelings, or to accomplish something that we many consider of importance. This priniciple will be carried out in the Mission of the future. We shall learn to stoop in the non-essential matters in order to conquer in the greater things that concern and lead to salvation.

You go to lead and guide your less favoured brethren to the Christ who has bought them with His Blood. Then go as a brother, and do not go at all unless you do. I say to my Officer who is going to Holland, “Can you be a Dutchman?” To the man who is going to Zululand, “Can you be a Zulu?” To the one going to India, “Can you be an Indian? If you cannot, you must not go at all.” This principle has only to be acted out to prove an enormous success. The Missionary Societies have only to go forward, and, with the opposite, setting it at naught, as in the past, in order to perpetuate the wretched failures over which so many thoughtful and sensible Christians are mourning to-day.

Now obviously at this time Booth was talking about overseas missionaries, but today there are those in the church who are perpetuating a system of doing things that is exactly the same as it was in Booth’s day. We accept that overseas work must evolve to meet the needs of the people we are trying to reach, yet ignore the changes that have taken place in our own society when trying to reach people with the Gospel.

Beautiful & True

Published
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Graeme
on March 9, 2007
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I don’t think you can explain how Christian faith works either. It is a mystery. … It cannot be explained, and yet it is beautiful and true.”

So says Donald Miller in Blue Like Jazz.

I’m coming to the conclusion that we spend too much time trying to explain Christianity to those who don’t understand it. It might just be possible that if we tried to live as if we believed that this faith of ours was beautiful and true, then we wouldn’t have to waste as much time trying to convince people!

Broken

Published
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Graeme
on March 8, 2007
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Back while I was England for my Assessment Conference I was reading Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz. Early on Miller made a comment about us being broken and this set me off on a train of thought.

Firstly, I think that this is something that we need to understand more. This brokenness manifests itself in many different ways but everyone is affected by it in some way or other. Whether is be through loneliness, lust, anger, jealousy, depression or a multitude of other afflictions we all suffer because of the broken nature of this world.

Our sinfulness is part of the brokenness. In some it means they are unable to form relationships, or drives their pursuit of finding out who they are!

Whatever the manifestation we need to learn to acknowledge it. The world is broken because the intended relationship that God wanted for us was broken. We broke it! We broke it the moment Eve listened to the snake in the Garden, and mankind continue to break it anew every day.

I think that we know instinctively that something is wrong. We know that because God’s design for the whole of creation was perfect and was good. It’s as if we glimpse have an inate knowledge of some blueprint of His perfect plan and cannot reconcile what we see in ourselves and the world to it. We’re ashamed of our brokenness just as Adam and Eve were ashamed of their nakedness in the garden.

Jesus, however, came to start the process of mending this world. He came to show us how we should live in relationship with God so that when God finally destroys this broken world, we won’t go and break the new one!

All too often we hear people saying that someone else is to blame for the troubles in this world. Christians are not exempt from doing this either, but we of all people should realise that we have been part of the problem. In my opinion it’s no good us blaming others for the broken state of this world. We need to see that it’s our own fault. We are the reason! We are the problem! I am the problem!

Only after this realisation can we set about changing thngs through the power of the Holy Spirit. Only then can we start to live in a way that shows that we believe God will make this world anew. We need to live as if we believe that God has mended our own broken humanity.

In his book The Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne says:

Christianity can be built around isolating ourselves from evildoers and sinners, creating a community of religious piety and moral purity. That’s the Christianity I grew up with. Christianity can also be built around joining with the broken sinners and evildoers of our world crying out to God, groaning for grace. That’s the Christianity I have fallen in love with. pg 246

For me this is part of the problem. We condemn sinners and act judgementally towards them. But what would happen if we started looking at sin as part of our brokenness. We sin because we are broken, but if God has mended us then it is us who choose to break ourselves again and again!

So I look at my own life and see the sin that is hidden. The sins that only I and God know about. I see the sin that manifests itself for all to see and know that I’m broken. Only God is capable of fitting the ill-fitting shards of this broken vessel back together.

2 weeks later!

Published
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Graeme
on March 5, 2007
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It’s now been 2 full weeks since I got the initial news about me not being recommended this year for officership. On Saturday I received the official explanation, and despite me not fully agreeing with it I will do the things they suggest.

There are many positives that are coming out of the situation. I’m learning to trust God more and more, and the letter confirms that no-one is doubting my calling to officership.

One thing that is certain is just how many people care about this little family as I have had numerous encouraging comments and mails from people across the world. For anyone who reads this who has sent a comment, please know that we really appreciate them.