JT's Captaincy of England

Delighted with the news on Friday that Fabio Capello (England's International Football Team Manager) has decided to strip John Terry of his captaincy of the national team. For those of you reading from another nation and not caught up in this headline catching story, our national team captain and a powerful symbol in English life has not been such a good boy in recent times. Over 2 weeks ago it was revealed that he had attempted to have a 'media silence' order placed over the revelations of some infidelity in his life. This was not granted and naturally the backlash of trying to silence these blood-sucking tabloid papers is that they have gone all out revealing his sexual frivolities (yes he is married) with the girlfriend of (believe this if you can) another member of the England national team! Oooh, yes I know what you're thinking.

Story aside (you can do further research if you choose) the revealing thing to me in these past weeks is the modern/postmodern anomaly that a man's immoral, totally unworthy-of-respect-lifestyle decisions can somehow be made to live apart from, or to one side of, his role as a national leader in the arena of sports. Again and again, pundits and others seem to say that what he has chosen to do in crushing his wife, lying to her and to others, taking the girlfriend of another man and having sex outside of marriage and choosing to violate your relationship with a fellow team mate can be totally disconnected from his role as captain of the national Football team.

This is quite absurd and sad testimony to the moral vacuum that we have somehow created in the West.
Our 'heroes' are able to lead without any character whatsoever, and we are to point a new generation (for example my son Malachi) to these men and women as role models for their life. We need to learn the vast distinction between celebrity and hero and we need to come to grips with the reality you cannot divide a person saying he/she is a great leader while placing infidelity, immorality and relational destruction to one side of him/her as if devoid of him/her in 'reality.'

Well done Capello.

Simon

Church Life - A life in process

Back to Eugene Peterson with some thoughts now on our participation in church as not fully 'processed' followers of Christ and what that means for the church:

"The Christian Church is a Holy-Spirit-formed community where salvation is proclaimed and sins forgiven; men and women are redefined by baptism in the company of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; a life in Christ is formed; a eucharist-shaped worship of God is enacted; and a holy life is practiced in a world of suffering, injustice, war, despair, addictions, and sin, both blatant and covert - a world at odds with both neighbour and God. It seems like quite a wonderful thing. It is a wonderful thing - all these people getting a taste of new life, Real Life, "ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven," and finding themselves participating in the holy operations of the Trinity.
But it doesn't take long for those of us who are in on this to realize that this new life isn't a finished life but a life in process. Many of us are slow learners. Many of us hang on to selfish immaturities for as long as we can, unwilling to grow up. Others of us slip back into old habits of disobedience as we look for shortcuts to holiness. Still others experiment with ways in which we attempt to stay in control of our lives and manipulate God to do for us what we can't do for ourselves. Not a few of us keep trying to find a way to deal with God without having to pay attention to our neighbours. When we take a good long look at any congregation we see most of the spiritual sins, moral and emotional, and the social disorders rampant in the general population continue to make their way, sometimes even flourish, among the elect."

So often the church get's attacked due to an unacceptable level of expectation. Many believers approach it that way themselves choosing to somehow 'do church' without being part of the church. Thus damaging it even further. We must be realist but also the ultimate optimists for the church is Christ's great love - His Bride!

Simon

Over 'Pietized' Praying

You can always trust Eugene Peterson (author of The Message version of the bible) to bring through a thought with clarity and insight that leaves you pondering. Currently reading his book 'The Word Made Flesh' focused primarily on the spirituality of 'everyday' language and he broaches with typical brilliance the fact that we as believers can do to prayer what Christ never did Himself - my own word here 'over-pietize' it.
I do not understand why when people begin to pray they have a whole new language that disconnects them with any normal real, gritty way of speaking to the Father. I will never for a moment exhort us to pray causally without respect, but I deeply respect my father and yet speak very personally to him. Anyway here is Mr. Peterson, enjoy

"Prayer may well be the single aspect of our language most in danger of losing touch with the sheer grittiness of our humanity. We lost touch with our humanity when we deprive God of his humanity. Children pray in spontaneous honesty. Catastrophe and crisis very often take us to the bedrock of our humanity, where our language is purged of pretense and piety and we pray from the gut. But apart from childhood and crisis, while we are on the road through the secular Samaritan ordinary, [Peterson is reflecting on Christ's words in Luke 11: 1 - 13] our prayers have a way of being abstracted from the homely and distinctive details that are part and parcel of our ordinary and everyday life. Prayer more often than not is practiced in religiously defined and protected settings. More often than not it is formulated in pious cliches picked up hanging around churches or borrowed from prayer books."

Seek Him with all the adoration of a perfect Father, but remember He is your Father, and the Son He sent to us was more 'human than any of us will ever be!

Simon

Crying out to Christ

Reading a book called The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul by Philip Doddridge. At the end of the 10th chapter where he has entreated people to turn to Christ he finishes with this prayer to be made by that one who would respond to his call to salvation. Found it real powerful and vastly different the prayer of repentance we use today to convince ourselves we are turning to Christ.' Here it is.

"Blessed Lord, it is enough! It is too much! Surely there needs not this variety of arguments this importunity of persuasion, to court me to be happy, to prevail on me to accept of pardon, of life, of eternal glory. Compassionate Savior, my soul is subdued; so that I trust the language of thy grief is become that of my penitence, and I may say, `my heart is melted like wax in the midst of my bowels.' (Psa. 22:14)
"O gracious Redeemer! I have already neglected thee too long. I have too often injured thee: have crucified thee afresh by my guilt and impenitence, as if I had taken pleasure in `putting thee to an open shame.' (Heb. 6:6) But my heart now bows itself before thee in humble, unfeigned submission. I desire to make no terms with thee but these--that I may be entirely thine. I cheerfully present thee with a blank, entreating thee that thou will do me the honor to signify upon it what is thy pleasure. Teach me, O Lord, what thou wouldst have me to do; for I desire to learn the lesson, and to learn it that I may practice it. If it be more than my feeble powers can answer, thou wilt, I hope, give me more strength; and in that strength I will serve thee. O receive a soul which thou hast made willing to be thine!
"No more, O blessed Jesus, no more is it necessary to beseech and entreat me. Permit me rather to address myself to thee with all the importunity of a perishing sinner, that at length sees and knows `there is salvation in no other' (Acts 4:12) Permit me now, Lord, to come and throw myself at thy feet like a helpless outcast that has no shelter but in thy gracious compassion! like one `pursued by the avenger of blood,' and seeking earnestly an admittance `into the city of refuge!' (Josh. 20:2,3)
"'I wait for the Lord; my soul doth wait; and in thy word do I hope,' (Psa. 130:5) that thou wilt `receive me graciously.' (Hos. 14:2) My soul confides in thy goodness, and adores it. I adore the patience which has borne with me so long; and the grace that now makes me heartily willing to be thine: to be thine on thine own terms, thine on any terms. O secure this treacherous heart to thyself! O unite me to thee in such inseparable bonds, that none of the allurements of flesh and blood, none of the vanities of an ensnaring world, none of the solicitations of sinful companions, may draw me back from thee, and plunge me into new guilt and ruin! `Be surety, O Lord, for thy servant for good,' (Psa. 119:122) that I may stilt keep my hold on thee, and so on eternal life; till at length I know more fully, by joyful and everlasting experience, how complete a Savior thou art. Amen."

Wow...
Simon

Seeing Angels

Had a lovely young lady in our home yesterday while celebrating an 18th birthday party and she nonchalantly commented to another individual in our dining room, "I can see two angels behind you."
I regret to state that even as a pastor of a church that is not a phrase that I have ever heard in my home. Maybe it is that I surround myself with those of 'little faith' or that many people have actually seen angels in my home but have been a little shy to acknowledge the fact. Is seeing angels a regular facet of your life? Is it a faith thing, is it a purity of life = spectacular insight into heavenly realms and alas I am not one that has such a life?

As you can tell I found the comment intriguing and pursued it further during our enjoyment of a slice of lovely cake. She mentioned, along with a friend of hers that this was a simply normal and common experience for them and in fact they even knew the names of several of these celestial beings and one was almost always present, a 'guardian angel' of sorts.

I fear excessive conversation about angels, or such like, taking the exhortation of Colossians 2: 18 seriously, but it was a pretty dynamic Sunday afternoon conversation. One that has awoken me to a stereotypical weakness in our knowledge and understanding of Angelology. Mark Driscoll commenting on this in his recent Luke series alludes to an 'extremism' in our Angelology/Demonology: They are either everywhere affecting everything or simply do not existence (the latter he highlights is brilliant work by the demonic to convince you of their non-existence). For a helpful facebook entry of his thoughts on 'Spiritual Warfare' click here.

He quotes the brilliant C.S. Lewis as an intro:

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.” — C. S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters

While I continue my journey of discovery and insight into a biblical theology and response to ongoing conversations about Angels, be sure to heed Lewis' words.

Simon