Monthly Archive for May, 2008

Faith in who?

Published
by
Graeme
on May 30, 2008
in Faith
. 1 Comment

Today I had a long conversation with the leader of a CA group and it was probably the most satisfying conversation I’ve had about faith since being back in the UK. This man, who was a similar age to me, had no problem at all saying that he was totally reliant on God. During the conversation it was clear that this was someone who constantly sought the will of God in his life, and that he is seeing God at work.

The problem though is that he doesn’t fit into the standard mould of what a Christian should be. He hasn’t prayed any sort of ’sinner’s prayer’; he doesn’t recognise Jesus as the Son of God; and he’s never read the Bible. He does however seek to live by the famous Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, and has read Emmet Foxes book ‘Sermon on the Mount’ and in it found a lot that challenged him.

Yet, his sense of faith is staggering and also humbling. Like many of those who go through the 12 step programme, his expression of concern for others puts most Christians to shame. He is willing to discuss his faith with anyone who wants to listen, but won’t force it upon anyone who isn’t, again putting many Christians, who can’t sometimes even articulate what they believe, to shame.

So how did we finish? Well I suggested that he pick up the book that is the real source of much of the texts in the Big Book and contains the real Sermon on the Mount, and an invite to chat about any questions that reading it might raise. Hopefully, he took away a sense of a Christian who was willing to respect his position, whilst being challenged to discover more about Jesus. What I took away though was an uneasy sense that far too many of us in the church are not as willing to discuss faith as easily as he was!

Faith in solitude

Published
by
Graeme
on May 27, 2008
in Community
. 0 Comments

While we were on holiday I was reading a daily reading book by Jeff Lucas which focussed on the life of King David. It is really interesting with a number of new insights into the man that David was and his life, plus it of course gave me food for thought in my own life.

One of the points that Jeff Lucas raised was that while David was on the run from Saul he called upon God for help and protection, but then he says that:

“he needed more than God to get him through these harrowing days. His emerging friendship with Jonathan…was such a tangible source of strength to him.”

This got me thinking about someone I am in regular contact since coming back to the UK. I speak to him most weeks and he very clearly has a strong faith. However, he has chosen to act out his faith outside of the Christian community. This is not because of a calling to do so but simply because he cannot find a congregation that fits in with his rather rigid view of his faith. On those occasions we touch on this area of his faith it is very clear that he expects everyone else to change their opinion to reflect his thoughts to the extent that he forces his opinion on those who come into contact with him.

This really is a great shame, because he undoubtedly has gifts that would be very valuable to a local congregation and would certainly gain from others. Instead though his thoughts are becoming more and more entrenched.

Just as David needed his very human relationship with Jonathan in order to cope with the problems that he faced in life, so we as Christians need relationships with other believers. We are made for community and its why human relationships are not only the source of such devotion and intimacy, but also why the enemy puts so much effort into trying to destroy them.

Consequently, unless called to a life of solitude by the Holy Spirit we should seek out communities of believers that we can be part of. However, it shouldn’t be on our terms but for the betterment of the community so that the kingdom of heaven is extended.

Moving on

Published
by
Graeme
on May 23, 2008
in My Pilgrimage
. 2 Comments

Well the news is out and its now official that Zoe & I have been accepted to train to become Salvation Army officers starting in September 2008. This means that in around 3 months time (eek) we will be packing up and heading off to Camberwell to become members of the Prayer Warriors session at the William Booth College.

We’re not looking forward to the whole moving thing, but are looking forward to the training and studying bit. Sian thinks its amusing that Mummy & Daddy are going to be starting school at the same time as she does!

Oops again!

Published
by
Graeme
on May 20, 2008
in Blog stuff
. 4 Comments

It seems that one thing I forgot to do before going on holiday two weeks ago was to mention it on here. Never fear I am alive and fairly well and have a few posts written that’ll be going up over the next few days.

Holidays however are always quickly over and in 11 1/2 hours I have to be down at the hall when the electrician arrives to do some work and then there are the sermons I need to write for Sunday!

Oops!

Published
by
Graeme
on May 4, 2008
in Blog stuff
. 2 Comments

It seems that somehow I have managed to turn the RSS feed off after upgrading a plugin on the blog. So if you missed anything my apologies!