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Things I learned on Sunday

18/06/2013 — 4 Comments

James Chapter 3 is one of the most difficult and challenging chapters anywhere in scripture…..

It’s easy to read…….It’s easy to say we understand it……..it’s easy to say we must try harder to watch our words…….

But, over the years one of the greatest struggles of my life [especially during the time I've been a Christian] has been my words!

Taming the tongue!

“So, also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.” [v5-6]

Do our words change in certain company…….we guard our language around the Minister perhaps? But, among friends? Or work colleagues?

If we have a certain persona for certain people then we aren’t paying attention…….we have missed the point!

But, I’m not even sure that it goes down that way anymore………..by that I mean; I’m not sure many people try to hide their real vocabulary these days.

For example, it irks me somewhat to see/hear/read the casual swearing that Christians think is ok…….there, I said it! I can see you rolling your eyes at me! But, I am serious! it troubles me because I struggle with my words and my language……………..I am not exempt………

Doesn’t it make you feel cool and relevant and hip though?……..because everyone does it now………and, its only offensive to certain people and in certain places or contexts right?

And they tell me it’s ok to swear because ‘something something about judging others or social justice or poverty and legalism and fundamentalists and being old-fashioned.‘

Great excuses from people who are great at making excuses to excuse their hypocrisy! There, I said that too……..roll your eyes again!

James asks the question;

‘Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?‘ [v11]

The challenge is great…….it’s hard……but, it is very very simple!

In Faith, Things I learned on Sunday
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You get it but you don’t get it

17/06/2013 — Leave a comment

No need to read the whole book, I can just glance over the Cliffs Notes… I get it.

I don’t need to hear your whole pitch, just show me the summary slide… got it.

No, I already heard about your vacation… remember, I saw the Instagram feed.

Him, why would I go out with him? I read his match.com profile.

You’re probably smart enough to ‘get it’ merely by reading the 140 character summary of just about anything. But of course, that doesn’t mean you understand it, or that it changed you. All it means is that you were quickly able to sort it into an appropriate category, to make a decision about where it belongs in your mental filing cabinet. [Seth Godin - source]

In terms of Bible study/reading……sermon listening…………theology intake………

I want to not just fill up my mental filing cabinet…….I must understand and be changed or it is worthless!

 

In Faith
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This statue I am holding is a false god

12/06/2013 — Leave a comment

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It is as if their eyes are covered so they can’t see. Their minds don’t understand. They have not thought about these things; they don’t understand. They have never thought to themselves,

“I burned half of the wood in the fire and used the hot coals to bake my bread. I cooked and ate my meat. And I used the wood that was left to make this hateful thing. I am worshiping a block of wood!”

He doesn’t know what he is doing; his confused mind leads him the wrong way. He cannot save himself or say,

“This statue I am holding is a false god.”

Isaiah 44:18-20 [NCV]

iOS7 looks awesome though doesn’t it?

In Faith, technology
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Blurred Lines

10/06/2013 — Leave a comment

Id heard about the official video for this track last week – one of my small group buddies keeps me up to date with what’s ‘down’ with the kids – and, then we saw the performance below on the Graham Norton show when we watched the replay of it at the weekend……

Great track…….dubious lyrics…….but, then music is riddled with dubious lyrics and, for the most part always has been….

The video though? Well, you can google that one if you want…..I did……because this song is already No.1 all over the world and will be around all summer I’d expect and, I wanted to see what all of you will see and not admit to having seen……especially the guys out there!

I watched approximately 30 seconds…….they could do with some blurred lines in the video!

But, can we really critique it? Is it so obviously just edging toward porn……..intentional filth with no real purpose? Is it just so normal to see half-naked girls in videos now that why not have them a bit more naked and flouncing around meaninglessly……

I just this minute said on Facebook that I think ‘christians’ are notoriously quiet about this kind of thing, especially online…….thats an observation…….not necessarily a criticism……

I know I have asked more questions than anything here but I thought id mention it…….because I really do like the song!

Here’s it is, complete with Hayden Panettiere gate-crashing the performance….

In music
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What’s your kimono?

04/06/2013 — 2 Comments

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Yesterday’s blog post got me thinking about the kimono……..

In terms of cultural interaction and your [Christian] reach to the outside world…….what’s your kimono?

Is it a football team? Snooker club? Your local gym? Running club? Book club? This list could be endless couldn’t it?  Or, like the quote in my post, could it be a digital kimono?

For many of us perhaps that is the most obvious answer given the amount of time we spent on digital media and communicating via social networks.

We have to be interacting……good or bad at it…..we have to be……….our faith must be evident, in our words, our tweets, our status updates, our blog posts, our club memberships and day-to-day activity, not in every single utterance……..but, at least in some……..for the Christian, this is not optional!

Andy Crouch says this “It is not enough to condemn culture. Nor is it sufficient merely to critique culture or to copy culture. Most of the time, we just consume culture. But the only way to change culture is to create culture.”

Are we just consuming culture? Or are we willing to adopt a kimono approach like Hudson Taylor and immerse ourselves in this thing? I think we spend massive amounts of energy copying the culture and creating busyness in our Churches and often it looks good……..but……….well, maybe that’s a post for another time!

But online, where I am – and maybe you are –  all day [almost] every day……………..how does this look?

Well, what if we encouraged and helped to create a culture of Christians in our own communities who thought harder about how they communicate on the Internet?

What if we did this in and through our own blogging, our sharing, our tweeting, our re-tweeting and our ‘Liking’ and in every other way we click the day away?

That would be a start wouldn’t it?

In Faith, Jesus, technology
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