Monthly Archive for March, 2008

Church decline

Published
by
Graeme
on March 31, 2008
in Ramblings
. 2 Comments

Over the weekend at the Assessment Conference we had to do a book review about a book that touches upon issues such as church decline and how we need to respond. This is a subject close to my heart and would you believe I also had exactly the same question at last year’s conference! Rather than handing in the other paper I did actually write a new one, although it wasn’t as good as the one from last year unfortunately. I drifted too far from the text apparently!

After writing the new review I found the old one on my computer and I wish I had been able to submit this one again as it contained a couple of really good quotes. In looking at what the church was doing to respond to halt it’s decline in the west I suggested that:

It seems that the church is still trying to treat society as a naughty child who simply needs to be coaxed to behave and toe the line. However, the very authority that they are seeking to invoke, is the same authority that is no longer accepted by society.

There are some church-goers who lament the decline in Christian morals and values and in response they try to force the values of the church onto society as a whole. This in many ways is what was wrong about having a church that was so bound up with the political forces for centuries. By legislating our way to Christian morality it is hardly surprising that as Christianity has waned in popularity we have seen an abandonment of the laws that went along with it. If we try, from a position of irrelevancy to many, to impose our mindset on others then the old authority simply doesn’t wash. If we want to impose our views on others, and I’m not sure that this is what we should be doing, the authority we need is one of integrity; one of being seen to adhere to the values we are trying to impose.

Likewise, if we seek to influence society by showing them good Christian morals and values the authority we must invoke come from that self same position. If we are not living lives of integrity to our beliefs, then today’s western world will simply not be interested.

A fellow blogger asked the question a few months ago as to why we are seeing decline in the church, and what can be done about it. In response I wrote that nothing less than:

a radical rediscovery of our access to the transformational power of the Holy Spirit [will] bring us back…

In my mind this can be the only response to declining numbers. If the Spirit is at work in our lives then doors into the lives of others will open and we will eventually see a growth in the church again. What that church will look like remains to be seen.

The decision!

Published
by
Graeme
on March 30, 2008
in My Pilgrimage
. 4 Comments

Well that was quick! Our Divisional Commander phoned a couple of hours ago now to let us know that we have been recommended to start training for Salvation Army officership in September 2008!

There is still a lot to be decided, like how we will do our training, but it is an incredible relief to know the decision and not a little excitement about what the future is going to hold over the coming months as we prepare ourselves for God’s service!

Tired but home!

Published
by
Graeme
on March 30, 2008
in My Pilgrimage
. 0 Comments

Well we’re home from the Assessment Conference and are completely shattered. 7 interviews (2 of which were as a couple), one essay, one piece of group work and a discussion group later, plus constant assessment outside of these things, we’ve got through the weekend and now sit at home with our two beautiful daughters!

It is possible that we will get a phone call tonight to let us know what the recommendation for our future is, but it might be tomorrow or even later.

Right now though all we both want to do is sleep! More news as we get it!

The night before…

Published
by
Graeme
on March 27, 2008
in My Pilgrimage and The Salvation Army
. 1 Comment

Well it’s finally come around again. Tomorrow Zoe and I head off to Sunbury Court for our Assessment Conference. Despite a few last minute hiccups we are about ready! We’ve written our introductions to ourselves that we have to deliver tomorrow afternoon and are as prepared as we possibly can be for the various interviews we will be having.

As this is my 2nd one in 13 months, so I have a good idea of what to expect and also what not to say! However, I’m also sure that there will be differences as well.

Personally, I’m looking forward to the weekend just as much as I was last year. God and the assessors willing the decision will be more positive that last time around and come Monday we’ll be able to let anyone who’s interested what is going to be happening in the coming months.

Churches Together

Published
by
Graeme
on March 23, 2008
in My Pilgrimage
. 1 Comment

He is risen!

One of the things I love most about being here in Godalming is the way the various denominations work together. This weekend we have come together for a Good Friday walk of witness and for a sunrise service this morning. Both of these have been excellently attended with between 120-150 people at each of them. It seems though every time that the churches join together in this way people turn out in good numbers to spend time with each other. I also always see people from various denominations chatting and laughing together!

For both of these events the weather stayed perfect! About 5 minutes after we got home on Friday the weather turned from bright and sunny to a torrential hailstorm, and then this morning within about 20 minutes of getting home it started to snow! God certainly seemed to keep the weather at bay so that these celebrations could go ahead!

This morning I had the privilege of being asked to share an Easter morning reflection. The post just below this one is the text of my thought. One of the joys of this role as an Envoy in The Salvation Army is get an opportunity to do this sort of thing and it is a great honour!

Well this is a bit of rambling post! If anyone bothers to read it, then I pray that you have had a really good Easter Day with plenty of chance to reflect on the wonderful events that happened 2000 years ago, yet still have a great significance for this dark world today!

Dawn of a new day

Published
by
Graeme
on March 23, 2008
in Faith
. 0 Comments

In his book on Christian Community, “Life Together” Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote these words:

“The Old Testament day begins at evening and ends with the going down of the sun. It is the time of expectation. The day of the New Testament church begins with the break of day and ends with the dawning light of the next morning. It is the time of fulfilment, the resurrection of the Lord. At night Christ was born, a light in the darkness; noonday turned to night when Christ suffered and died on the Cross. But in the dawn of Easter morning Christ rose in victory from the grave.”

At dawn on that first Easter morning, almost 2000 years ago, there was no hope; there was only desolation in the hearts of that handful of women who made their way to the garden tomb to anoint the body held within. It must have been a sombre and soul-destroying walk from their rented rooms to that borrowed grave.

Imagine for a moment the horror there must have been when they saw the tomb lying open. Surely it must have brought into their minds the ultimate finale to the events they had witnessed. Not only had Jesus been brutally flogged; not only had he been nailed to a cross; but now his burial place had been desecrated. How much more were they doing to have to bear?

But then, as they peered through the entrance to see the damage they feared had been done, they saw an angel; an angel who pronounced that Jesus was no longer there but had risen to life again.

This is the message that is the centre of our hope; this is the message that forms the centre of the gospel which we are called to proclaim!

This was no ordinary resurrection, if there can be such a thing. This was not the sort that we read of in the Old Testament or even like those in Jesus’ miracles. No this resurrection was unlike any ever witnessed, either before or since, for Jesus died full of our sin but rose empty of it. He took our sins to hell and then left them there so that we could stand blameless before our God.

This is the hope of this morning’s dawn; this is the hope of Easter; this is the hope of the gospel; that Jesus died and rose again, so that all who declare Jesus as Lord may not only live in eternity with him, but may also be signposts of that hope in this dark world.

The power of the cross

Published
by
Graeme
on March 21, 2008
in My Pilgrimage
. 1 Comment

This is the power of the Cross, that the man who contained the fullness of God himself died to free us from the burden of sin. He paid the price that we rightfully should pay, because He not only loves us, but is love. The result is that when we come before God we can stand before him in the sure and certain knowledge that because of the cross our sin have been redeemed!