Sinflation.

I'm not an economist by any means; I won't pretend that I have the business acumen or fiscal skills of a major league stockbroker.

All the same, something doesn't quite add up to me; it never has.

Politicians and powerful businessmen always contend that in times of severe inflation, it is incredibly unwise to give workers a pay rise that enables them to cope with rising costs. They argue that doing such a thing merely forces inflation to increase even more.

At the risk of sounding like a complete fool, I'd like to partially challenge this assertion. It's true that the cost of essential resources such as gas, oil and electricity is going up (latest estimates have it at about 60% by the end of the year), that I wont dispute.

However, merely allowing people to pay for natural price rises, doesn't really increase inflation... it just allows people to keep up with an existing inflation rate that won't go down until the cost of resources falls.

I think they are attacking the wrong part of the equation. You see what I think happens after the public's pay is increased, is that greedy executives decide that now people have more money... they can push them even harder in the hope of improving their profit margin.

Simply put, in a relatively stable economy, sky-rocketing inflation is largely caused by insatiable greed.

Greed is most definitely NOT good.

But perhaps for some, it could be said that greed is god.

Nobody is saying it is sinful to make a profit... but as human beings, we should seek to make our fortune with integrity, decency and goodwill to others.

Jesus once said:

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

Matthew 6:24

In fact, it is recorded twice in the gospels. What Jesus was expressing here, is that if we don't make ourselves accountable to God... we become accountable to lower things. You can't put God on a par with anything else in your life, it just doesn't work.

We live in a generation that has all of a sudden largely decided that it has "outgrown" God. That belief in God is nothing more than a quaint commodity... and as the love of God decreases, the love of money is increasing. The apostle Paul picks up where Jesus left off and continues the cautionary teaching:

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

1 Timothy 6:6-10

But love of money isn't the only problem.... because that usually only affects those who actually have it. There is also the worry of money. Bills rise and wages remain static... and the average man in the street is left wondering if he is going to make it through the year without being financially crushed. Well, Jesus had several things to say about that too:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

and:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Matthew 11:28-30

It's relatively easy to talk about turning all your troubles to Jesus, but I appreciate it's no easy thing at all when you are stacked with mounting bills.

And this is why the pendulum swings once more towards who have been blessed with material wealth.

In the Early Church, the believers followed a simple way of life. As the book of Acts records:

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47

Idealistic? Maybe by the world's standards...but as Christians we re not called to live by the worlds standards... and we should take hold of this idealism and live it. I and adhered to. firmly believe we should try ans embrace the same principles those early believers stood for

Several hundred years after the events recorded in the Bible, a man whose name I share, took three bags of gold and according to legend... discreetly dropped them into the house of a poor man, in order that his daughters could get married. That man came to be known as St. Nicholas, and we celebrate his kindness very year at the time of Christ's birth (whose nativity was the beginning of the greatest act of kindness ever).

Maybe those stories are a little old and archaic... the world's moved on Nick... remember?

OK, what about the 1990's? During the last recession, there was a village in Scotland which had a local economy that was largely dependent on the fishing industry. As economic gloom began to take hold, jobs were lost and the whole village began to collapse.

Then the church came along.

The local church began to use it's (admittedly not massive resources),to employ local men who found themselves out of work. Oh it was only small jobs at first... but somehow people found their bills payable and the village was saved... and pews were filled with people who had seen the kind of love the church can demonstrate... if only it were willing.

So the choices are simple:

Do we embrace or do we exploit?

Do we rescue or do we turn away?

Do we love our neighbour as ourselves or do we just love ourselves?

Do we worship God or goods?

One final sobering point on inflation... while we bemoan our current financial hardship and economic troubles, it is worth remembering and reflecting upon the fact that the people of Zimbabwe have had inflation of 2.2 million % compared to the UK's relatively meagre 3.8% and we don't live under the law of violent oppression either.

So while we feel the pinch, let's not lose perspective.

Conservative or Liberal?

You’ll notice that as of yet on this blog I have not made a big thing of the current divisive issues being fought over within the Church of England and the wider Anglican Church (principally the role of women and gay priests).

This is by no means an accident, for I do not intend to. This blog is called a Sanctuary for a reason. It’s a port of call, home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs and wanderers...

oh no... wait a minute, that’s Babylon 5.

All joking aside, I designed this site to be a place of peace: a relatively benign entity in cyberspace; a place where people could come and share their feelings and thoughts, without harm of persecution. When you chance upon these pages you come to a place that honours the ancient traditional rite of asylum. I may disagree with you, but I will never bite you for what you say.

I have left my political views equally ambiguous on my Facebook profile as well. If we must invoke concepts of conservatism or liberalism to describe our position, we had better gain a proper understanding of what they are, or we are all going to become unstuck.

I’m going to use the ancient art of sword-making as an analogy.

Sound pretty bizarre?

Bear with me.

Through the ages, the design of swords have changed and evolved to suit particular needs. Some civilizations favoured a curved blade with a soft edge which was excellent for cutting, but it wasn’t very hardy and if you tried to repeatedly block your opponent’s attacks with the blade, it would soon deteriorate and break. The reverse was true of other civilizations who favoured a hard edge and a straight blade. The weapon was extremely hardy and good for defensive parrying, but it was not as efficient on the attack as it lacked a cutting angle.

Then, the Japanese made a major breakthrough -the sword of the samurai.

This weapon was refined and folded many times over and it also had another unique feature... a blade that was soft at the front and hard at the back. It took the best of both concepts. Today, if you shoot a bullet directly at the cutting edge of a samurai sword held in a clamp, the bullet will split in two leaving the blade with the slightest of nicks, ready to be used again.

I believe the same applies to the principles of conservatism and liberalism. If you dedicate your personal doctrine solely to conservatism, you won’t get very far. Defensively you’ll have a strong moral foundation that can withstand the fiercest assault. However, if you try to evangelise using the hard edge of conservatism, people who deep inside themselves already feel lost or condemned will feel awful and become defeatist... they will walk away from the gospel feeling judged. Jesus was rightly critical of the Pharisees for this very reason. On the other hand, those who are confident of their own moral compass will shut their ears to any positive message you may have and stir up nothing but trouble... denouncing you as self righteous.

Similarly, if we choose to use liberalism as our sole doctrine, our message may well be appealing and crowd pleasing, but it will fail to be challenging. There is a very famous saying... God loves us as we are but refuses to leave us that way. If we broaden the boundaries of what is acceptable in God’s site, without his consent... how will people be convicted? How will they be able to sense their personal hunger and thirst for righteousness?

I’ve always favoured an alternate view... but it is not centrist, or at least I do not consider it to be, Rather than mix conservatism or liberalism together, I prefer to take the best from both camps.

Righteousness might be our protection, but it is love that is the soft cutting edge, it is love that is our offensive weapon... and what a weapon.

I prefer to try and live my own personal life along the lines of a fairly conservative outlook (and I am by no means a success at this).

With regard to others, I try to use every opportunity to demonstrate God’s love and grace in a liberal way ( I am by no means a great success at this either).

I think I’m right in saying that Jesus always demonstrated his love, always fulfilled a need, always forgave... before telling any person not to sin any more.

And this is my point. If we aren’t liberally loving people (irrespective of what we might think of what they do), we are shutting the door to the Kingdom of Heaven in their face. Likewise if we aren’t at least trying to live our own lives in a way that aims to be pleasing to God... we fail as Christ’s ambassadors to let our light shine before men.

We should preach the good news, we should preach salvation... and demonstrate the fruits and benefits of righteousness by living in the Spirit... but there’s a catch there isn’t there? It is far, far easier to tell someone how to live... than it is to demonstrate through your own life; which is precisely why Jesus taught us the importance of removing logs from our own eyes before removing the specks from others.

Our priority should be introducing people to God - the Holy Spirit is a far better force for conviction than you or I. Sure, people will always need strong pastorship... but we need to make sure they have a relationship that warrants pastorship before we dare encumber them with attitudes and principles that we know are impossible to live by without the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let me put the attitude I think we should be demonstrating another way. The French playwright Albert Camus once described friendship in these terms:

“Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”

I think that’s my attitude to faith and evangelism. We don’t boss people about and forcibly lead them where they will not go by choice, nor do we compromise on what we believe God lays on our hearts in terms of righteousness and lag behind.

No.

We owe people our honesty and we owe them God’s love.

We need to have the assertiveness of Joshua that says you can go your own way, but I’m going to serve God... and then we love them regardless of who they are, where they’ve been, or what our own prejudices tell us about them. We don’t just need to love people; we need to genuinely love them with abundance.

I think one of the best summaries I have ever heard for living with a Christian attitude, is a phrase uttered by the American preacher Tony Campolo who has stated that he believes we should be as conservative as God’s Law and as liberal as God’s love.

I could go on with regard to some of the issues raised at the moment, my feelings towards what I regard as inadequate descriptions by the media of where various groups stand... or even a cautionary tale about what happens when people from any particular camp start imposing their own will on God’s church... but I’ve said quite enough and do not wish to detract from anything that has gone before.

A Time To Be Meek And A Time To Be Bold

I read a very interesting story about Alexander the Great in my Bible notes the other day.

Apparently Alexander prided himself on allowing his subjects to visit him and make requests. On one such occasion, a pauper came to him to make a request... nothing unusual in that. However this man didn't just hold his hand out for alms, he stepped forward with a shopping list that included farmland, a dowry for his daughter and a scholarly education for is son. The court waited nervously... surely this man would be executed... or at the very least, thrown in jail for showing such impertinence.

However, that is not what happened. According to the tale, Alexander acceded to every wish. After the beggar jubilantly left the palace, Alexander's servants began to express their shock at what had transpired. When asked why he had acted as he did, Alexander shrugged it off by saying "I get weary of these people who come to see me in their shoals asking for a gold piece. That man treated me like a king. He asked big!"

We can come to God in much the same way... but hold on... didn't Jesus say something quite different? He once told a parable:

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Luke 8:10-14

I don't think these stories are contradictory... even though one is biblical and the other is not.

You see... Alexander's beggar wasn't exalting himself; he was recognising the exalted nature of his king.

The crucial thing to remember whenever we pray, is that we should be centring our thoughts and petitions on God... and not ourselves. When we approach God knowing our need of forgiveness, we must not become obsessed with our failings to the point that we refuse to receive God's mercy. The tax collector knew how bad he was... but he also knew the only person who could change that situation was God... so that is who his prayer focused on.

You see in his own way, the tax collector was very bold. He knew his failings, he knew the penalty of his failings.... yet he went before God anyway. He didn't wallow in self pity (for this in the end just leads to a never ending cycle of repeating the same mistakes - take that from someone writing, who has had experience in such things).

Unlike Alexander's beggar, the tax collector didn't seem to expect anything... he just hoped God would hear him and grant mercy.

Maybe you are reading this and you feel you are in the same position. How can God forgive you for what you have done? Do you prefer to hide it all away and just take it for granted that you are doomed?

There is hope.

God sees the genuine nature within our hearts. If we sincerely regret what we have done, we can have confidence that he will forgive us.

We must be meek enough to realise what we have done is wrong... and bold enough not to withhold ourselves from God... we must have the courage to come forward and ask forgiveness. It needn't be in front of an altar...you can do it just as well in the privacy of your bedroom.

And when we come to God with petitions... if he is at the centre of our requests, we can have confidence in his power to provide. We forget too easily that God is the ultimate resource. We prefer instead to struggle on in our own vain strength.

Yet as Paul prayed when writing to the Church at Ephesus... God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or even imagine.

Jesus himself told his disciples that God responds to shameless audacity (as long as it is not selfish), that he longs to give us good things, and yet like the prodigal son we squirm around in the mud looking for pig slop.... when if we only lifted our eyes... there lies a banquet for us.

God did not put a Spirit of timidity within us. I am utterly convinced that big things are coming in this generation... but we need to wise up, we need to wake up. We need to be prepared to ask for God's empowerment if we we truly want to be a part of hi wondrous plan.

We need to get real. We need to stop being selfish and doing things in our own strength... we need to remember who we work for and that we can ask boldly for his power to be at work in us.

Lets conclude with the words of John Wesley, from his hymn And Can It Be That I Should Gain? In the final verse:

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Just Like Dad

I promised I'd fill you in on my sermon from Sunday (based on Galatians 5:16-25 & John 14:15-27) and here is the gist.... albeit a little late:

Peter Kay once commented in his list of universal truths, that knowledge is knowing that a tomato is fruit... wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

It's funny, but it's true on many levels. I wonder if we treat the fruit of the Spirit the same way? There are words we are so familiar with... love, joy, peace, patience... and it's so easy for us to restrict them to the way we understand them in every day life.

But in reality... our mere human understanding of love, joy, peace etc... is actually a tomato in a fruit salad. God's love is far superior to human love, his peace surpasses our experience of peace. For every word we use to describe the fruit of the Spirit, there is a temptation to limit them to the boundaries of human emotion.

The truth is that the fruit of the Spirit is not just about emotion... yes, emotion is a part... but the fruit of the Spirit is a list of the characteristics of God's nature.

• We need God's love as much when we experience hate... as when we experience the warmth of others.
  
  
• We need God's joy as much when we are struggling with grief or enduring hardship, as when we are all smiles and happiness.
  
  
• We need God's peace as much in the midst of the violent maelstrom, as we do to appreciate moments of silence and perfect beauty. Jesus had peace that enabled him to sleep through the fiercest squall.... while his disciple panicked for their very lives.
  
  
• We need God's kindness when we are faced with unspeakable cruelty.

... and so on and so forth.

Now the Spirit enables us to grow these characteristics in our own lives. But why is it important? We read a lot in the media about needing to eat our 5 portions of physical fruit on a daily basis. It's even more important to get a regular supply of spiritual fruit as well. Father's day gives us an extra insight into why we need to grow.

For many of us, our fathers are positive role models... as children we want to be like them. It should be the same with God the Father. If we are serious about being faithful to him, we need to develop a desire to grow into his character. Jesus was the ultimate example of the Father at work in human form... but the Spirit enables us to become like Jesus, like the Father. And like a father cheers on his son at a football game... or encourages us to ride faster whilst grabbing on to a saddle to stop us falling when we learn to ride a bike... the Spirit calls to us with the Father's voice, encouraging us on.

I was watching QI a few days ago... and Stephen Fry spoke of how on the Bayeux Tapestry, there is an image of William the Conqueror waving a spear at his warriors. Above this is written "William comforts his troops". It's a strange image isn't it? However it was explained that in the middle ages,the word "comfort" also meant "to encourage".

One of the names of the Holy Spirit is "the Comforter"... and while it's true that the Spirit is there for us to embrace when we are feeling broken or in need of warmth... it is also true that the spirit encourages us to go forward and grow in the power of God.

Now some of you may not have had a positive parental figure... and some of you may have lost your parent(s), who you were close to. However, this doesn't mean you have to feel like you are left out. In the Gospel reading, we are told by Jesus:

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

John 14:16-18

He will not leave us as orphans... that is a sovereign promise.

As good as any parent can be. They are only a shadow of the kind of parent God longs for us to be.

Maybe you are reading this and you can't recall having had a positive Father figure in your life and you are lost. In the Lion King, the character Simba also feels this way. He finds himself wandering the wilderness eating grubs because he has lost touch with his destiny, the legacy which his father Mufasa was to pass on to him.

In a sudden moment, Simba is confronted with the idea that his father's spirit lives in him:

When Simba realises the truth, he hears his fathers voice.... and begins to grow into the person he was meant to be.

You have a Father who loves you.... even if you never realised it.

His Spirit calls out to us, so that we can hear him and grow.

Finally,there's one other important reason why we need to grow fruit in our lives... and that is in order that others may be fed. The best form of evangelism, is how we treat other people. If we show people the character of God in our daily lives... above all things that we do, I am convinced that is the paramount way in which people will encounter God and hopefully come to him.

In the old Testament, Moses pleaded for God's presence to go with the Israelite's else how would people know that they were set apart... that God had called them. Similarly... how will people know that God is alive and active within our person, if we don't take every opportunity to show his character, his love to them.

Actions speak louder than words.

I Am Out There.... Somewhere.

Sorry I haven't posted for a while.

There are several reasons for my absence - I've been faffing about a fair bit, I'm also trying to keep my head clear for two projects I'm working on. I'm charged with organizing the teaching for one of the days at this year's Maze... and I'm also preaching next weekend at Oldberrow.

I'm a person who tends to have lots of ideas so I'm trying not to crowd my brain with too much, so as to stick to the message I feel needs to be conveyed.

That said, I feel that when I'm ready I'm going to either do a singular blog, or miniseries on what I feel I've been charged with. Part of the reason I feel that way is because in all the things I'm being asked to look at, it seems to be that God has laid the same message on my heart. Indeed I'm also finding the same points being raised in daily life... perhaps God is fashioning me for a less generalised, more specific purpose.

I'm also doing my best to discipline myself in meditation.

A lady with a gift of prophecy once told me that she had been given a picture for me, it was an image of a hand above a spinning top. She said that the spinning top had images on it and that the hand was God's... that he was going to slow me down to show me what those things were. Truth be known my mind always races. Part of the reason I find the Coldplay song "The Scientist" so moving, is that it's a song that enables me to express that desire, that sentiment - the earnest desire to stop running around and remind myself that God must be set apart and loved above and beyond all other things; that there is a time to stop probing, analysing, interrogating, investigating and cease the pursuit of intellectualism... and a time to just step back and be blow away with sheer wonder and awe.

So, knowing my mind races I've tried to discipline myself (whilst accepting my natural weaknesses). If I sit still for long enough, I'll doze off... but what I try to do is just lie down for about half an hour and just let the Spirit just soak in. I see it as a work in progress. Stillness does not come naturally to me... but I feel if I don't get the hang of it, I will most definitely miss out. I know that in moments when I have been still I've had some amazing encounters with God. I need to harness the ability to remain focused. So for half an hour I just lay down and wait... if I doze off, I doze off... but I am confident that as time wears on and I become acclimatised to this practice, I will grant God the space he needs to generate that sense of self discipline... and I will be more in tune with him in those quiet moments I tend to struggle in.

It feels really great to have had the opportunity to write this down. When I typed the first sentence,this was going to be little more than a footnote... a simple reassurance that I would be coming back... but I feel that I've actually shared something beneficial and close to the spirit in which I always intended to write from the very first day I began blogging... content that isn't just preaching from the pulpit... but sharing the lesson on the road as a fellow traveller. When I teach people the things I know, or am passionate about... I prefer to do it from the side and not from above.

I like to teach with a hint of empathy.

So I am out there... somewhere.

I am also here. If you are a regular or casual passer by and you want to share something or ask a question, go ahead... I won't bite your head off. Similarly if you see posts on other peoples blogs, you think I might like to comment on... call my name. I'm ready to heed your call.

Till next time, be my post be serious or fun...

May God bless you.

Not On My Watch.

I don't intend this to be huge post... I've got other things I feel I need to write about, but as it's Pentecost... I felt that there was a need to respond to an article I had read in The Times this week about the apparent decline in Christianity in Britain. I want to look at a couple of quotes:

"Church attendance in Britain is declining so fast that the number of regular churchgoers will be fewer than those attending mosques within a generation, research published today suggests.

The fall - from the four million people who attend church at least once a month today - means that the Church of England, Catholicism and other denominations will become financially unviable. A lack of funds from the collection plate to support the Christian infrastructure, including church upkeep and ministers’ pay and pensions, will force church closures as ageing congregations die."

I don't believe that Christianity is dying in this country... I think that it is going through a God driven restructuring. I believe that if the organised church crumbles in this nation, it's passing will only be mourned as much as the butterfly laments over it's chrysalis. What I mean by that, is that the emergent Church will be stronger, more beautiful and closer to what it should be. Most people I mix with, who have an active church life within the Anglican Church, are frustrated that so much money gets pumped into infrastructure. Congregations are crippled by the upkeep of crumbling buildings that are not as central to our faith as they were when they were first built. Take away the overheads and the money from tithing/collections, would flood into the parched areas of the Church where it is needed. At the time of the early church, money was used to look after widows, orphans and the poor.

During the last recession, a church in a fishing village in Scotland found it's numbers had dwindled; the village was crippled and unemployment was rife. The core group at the church had a radical idea. Where employment was lacking, they used what resources the church had... to employ the villagers in the community who were without work. They paid money for them to repair fences etc. The church numbers began to rise... this was nothing to do with preaching or people being coerced by "bribery". People started to come back first as a show of gratitude for the support the church had shown and out of curiosity. However, having had their physical needs taken care of... they began to discover that their spiritual needs were also being catered for.

If you look in the Bible, this is exactly how Jesus and the early apostles handled things. preaching often followed healing. The light you demonstrate in your actions and attitudes towards others, is the key to evangelism. The Bible says that if we preach and prophesy without love... then we are a sounding gong or a clashing cymbal. What better way to demonstrate Christ's real, unconditional love, than to actively look after the needs of the people around you who are in need. Some commentators (notably Martin Luther) have criticised the Epistle of James for running counter to the idea of salvation by grace through faith. In fact, what i believe James is actually saying in his letter, is that if we don't demonstrate faith by our actions and attitudes, then people will never truly see it.

It's true that God can move in a really dynamic way, perhaps through a powerful sermon... or by timely words... or just by divinely pouring out his Spirit on an unsuspecting community... but if we aren't reflecting the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, if we aren't responding to the Holy Spirit in our own walk, then people will pass by and maybe miss the moment. If people see us slaving laboriously with religion, they are going to cross the road and walk on the other side of the street very quickly. However, if we are living in a way that shows we actually understand the freedom Christ gives us, in our own daily lives... we are being active and faithful witnesses.

The article also makes a very bold conclusion that the report "makes it clear that Christianity is becoming a minority religion". This is slanted and demonstrates a lack of understanding of the complexity of modern Christianity in the western world. The Church of England and Methodist Church responded by pointing out the popularity of the Fresh Expressions movement.

The church is adapting... it is learning that you can't be conceited and sit on yesterday's laurels, you have to go to where people are... and this is what Fresh Expressions is all about... heck, for that matter it's one of the main reasons I blog.

Ministers might be in decline... but theological colleges are bursting, young people are deciding to reinterpret what ministry means in new and exciting ways.

Buildings may close but house groups are becoming a more and more important of church life.

Is Christianity dying out in the West? No way, not on my watch.

It's Pentecost and I'll let you into a little something I know...

The Holy Spirit is the church's best kept secret. More and more people are discovering the Spirit on their personal journey... and that's worth more than a thousand churches or ministers. A Spirit filled people... will light the way for others.

Come Holy Spirit.

A Tap on the Shoulder

I've been feeling much more buoyant over the past couple of days.

Part of it has just been down to being in the presence of good friends (some of whom I consider family), during a training session for the Scripture Union holiday I help out at... but something far more significant happened there... something that had the odd effect of making me beam from ear to ear (much to the bemusement of those sat around me at the time).

A couple of years ago, there was a passage of scripture from the Old Testament that was laid on my heart and it kept reoccurring in the bizarrest of circumstances - almost like the numbers on LOST keep cropping up.

On Saturday morning, there was a brief talk given by Sheila, on a passage from scripture. She didn't read out the reference... but as far as I was concerned, she didn't need to. I was very familiar with those words... which are like old friends in themselves to me. The passage actually comes from Isaiah:

"For a long time I have kept silent,
I have been quiet and held myself back.
But now, like a woman in childbirth,
I cry out, I gasp and pant.

I will lay waste the mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn rivers into islands
and dry up the pools.

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them. "

Isaiah 42:14-16

Sheila only read from verse 16 (the portion that I have emboldened), but it served as a tap on the shoulder and brought back so much for me. The passage speaks of God releasing his people from the things that bind them and changing them so that they can follow him in a new and exciting way, and inflicting hardship on those who try and keep God's people from the freedom he desires to give them. In Isaiah's day, that meant deliverance from the impending Babylonian captivity... this is not something that you may feel we have an obvious connection with today. However, God sent his Son Jesus to release us from the slavery of our sin, mistakes and brokenness. Furthermore... we all have a destiny to be claimed through Christ. He wants us to grow into the people the Father called us to be.... to take on his character and nature through the power and gifting of the Holy Spirit. Naturally God's enemies in the spiritual realm aren't too happy about people choosing to stand up in the power of God... and will do everything they can to keep us from claiming that prize, our inheritance. So there is a link between Isaiah's original readers and ourselves. Reading this passage always reassures me that God will always come for his people - to save an empower them to do his will. It always picks me up off the floor and inspires me to keep running.

Recently I had to submit a sermon outline for the preaching course I am on. I was asked to use an illustration to back up what I was saying. The passage was different... but the sentiment is the same and so I'll offer it to you as an example here:

You know something? Watching the end of that video, you'd think it ends on a bum note.

The athletes all talk about how sad it is because of how much the race mattered. No offence or disrespect to them, but in their professionalism I think they miss the main point as to why this clip resonates so strongly with people who saw it back in 1992. It's not the sadness of having lost the race that moves people... it's the love of a father for his son... and the son's determination to come home no matter his injuries and pain.

That image and the thoughts attached to it are worth a thousand gold medals to me, they are that inspirational. I will never forget.

As much as Derek Redmond's dad loved his son... how much more does God the Father love us? Not only will he come to pick us up off the track when we stumble... he'll restore us so we can finish the race he has given us to run.

The Priorities of Change and Connection.

Recently I've succumbed to a dawning realisation that Christians as people (and I of course include myself in this analysis), are too easily swayed by the things that we are emotionally attached to.

What I mean by that, is that we find it so easy to make changes in lifestyle for the tangible... yet when God asks us to make some kind of alteration ton the way we live out our lives... suddenly the temptation to become emotionally tightfisted, hovers ominously overhead.

It's all the more easier when you have empathic qualities... because it is then, that you seek out connection with others. Don't get me wrong here, empathy is a really great strength and blessing... but as with most strengths it carries with it an Achilles Heel. The weakness is that in seeking out connections, we can allow ourselves to embrace things that don't really fit who we are as an individual. I guess it's a bit like having a jigsaw puzzle with a few pieces from a different puzzle thrown in. The pieces might even physically fit... but the picture on the front is different to the rest of the puzzle.

This isn't to say of course that we shouldn't allow diversity to culture growth in our relationships with others... but we mustn't sell out on ourselves so easily. We shouldn't give up the things we care about, that matter to us or interest us... just because someone new comes along who doesn't really like them. Neither should we worry if we aren't interested in the things that other people are all the time. We are who we are... we don't belong to others, we belong to God.

If we allow ourselves to become enamoured and swayed by things other people say and do... without offering at least the same privileges to the one who created us and purchased us with his Son; isn't that idolatry?

If we allow people to change us, or if we allow their interests or companionship to rule us at the expense of our relationship with God... or at the cost of the identity he has given us (and I'm not only talking of the new identity we are given when we become a new person in Christ, but also generally just the individual character he has blessed us with), then we do sell out and become idolaters.

Don't let yourselves get robbed blind by an overwhelming need to fit in. Have faith that in this universe you do have a place and time, and there are people that God designed you to fit in with. Who cares if your superficial interests aren't to everyone's taste? As long as God's cool with it, sing your song - the song he set in your heart when he designed you.

That's what he made you for!

The Institution's Same Old Excuses

During the service at church this morning, my thoughts drifted onto one of my pet peeves - institutional church legalism.

How did I get onto that?

We sang a Graham Kendrick song.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Graham Kendrick's music... some of his songs are really good and were present at watershed moments in my life. My problem isn't with Kendrick or his material at all. You see, my problem is with people who use Kendrick's songs merely to plug a gap.

Staunch traditionalists, when pressed to incorporate modern worship into their services; cling to Kendrick's songs in a bid to look hip.

Actually it's ONE Kendrick song.... almost always the same one...

"Shine Jesus Shine".

Have you ever seen the film The Princess Bride? It's a personal favourite of mine. One of the villain's in the film keeps using the word "Inconceivable" as a response to the efforts of one man who is intent on thwarting his plan:

He uses it to the point of cliche. The word no longer means what it is meant to mean.

I think people's overuse of the same songs, the same liturgy or litany can have the same effect if we are not careful. Please note, don't misinterpret this as a swipe against prayers or songs that are written in a liturgical format. That's not my issue...I cannot fault the words or theology of those prayers. What I fault is the over-reliance on them. The fact that it's easy just to say or sing things parrot fashion, without contemplating what they actually mean.

I felt convicted this morning.

As soon as I saw we were singing "Shine Jesus Shine", my heart sank. It was then that I felt challenged by God: "Look at the words Nick. It doesn't matter why the song was picked... you can still make sure it means something to you."

As always, God was right... and it struck me that the third verse may be sung a lot more lightly by people, than it should be:

As we gaze on your kingly brightness
So our faces display your likeness
Ever changing from glory to glory
Mirrored here may our lives tell your story
Shine on me, shine on me

Pay particular attention to the line I highlighted. How easy is it to sing that line without thinking of the consequences? Are we really prepared to live the life of Jesus... no matter the cost?

As it turned out, the selection of song was appropriate. We were looking at the martyrdom of Stephen this morning... and the passage talks about his face radiating like an angel while they threw insults at him for what he spoke of.

Furthermore, it occurred to me that Stephen's life really did mirror Christ's.

Why do I say that? Well as soon as Stephen was arrested (for doing nothing more than performing miracles and engaging in debate), some of the trumped up charges he was prosecuted on, were the same ones Jesus faced. The Sanhedrin charged him with speaking out against the temple and the law. They were obsessed with stone, ink, paper, silver and gold. Stephen was accused of threatening to destroy the temple... but he was not speaking against the Law... he was speaking up for grace. The Sanhedrin must have been suffering a terrible bout of deja vu because no sooner had the kangaroo court heard mention of the name Jesus, they flew into a fury and stoned Stephen to death.

Stephen in his final moments really did mirror Christ; his life and death really did tell Christ's story.

But have we learned anything since that time? Are we like the wind, which blows and you cannot tell where it comes from, or where it goes? Or are we set in stone and obsessed with orderly worship?

Worship should have some form of structure... but it should only bet there to support it. Structure must not become an idol in itself.

Or will God have to send another Stephen into our churches?

Strength - Not Necessarily A Virtue.

I nearly got myself into a bit of a pickle on Friday night.

I was mistaken for an RAF brigadier by a bunch of drunk Welsh tourists in the pub where we had met after work. I really didn't have the heart to tell them that the RAF don't have any brigadiers... especially as one of them was incredibly large and had been kind enough to buy a complete stranger like me a drink (using a suspiciously half inch thick wad of crisp £20 notes).

But that's not why I nearly came a cropper.

Somehow, all our conversations after work, seemed to stray into "every" taboo topic you aren't supposed to talk about in social gatherings. It's probably my fault because I honestly don't understand that principle. The subjects that are frowned on (politics, religion, morals and ethics), I find are the most revealing about a person's character and the most interesting way of learning about other people's world views in relation to your own. Honestly... how are we to learn how to live with other people's diverse attitudes if we are completely afraid to discuss them?

Anyway, we ended up talking about Thatcher. I'm not a fan... but a couple of other people are. One person commented that she admired Thatcher because she was a strong woman. It was at this point that I came across as a misogynist because I questioned whether that was a good thing. What I was addressing was not gender issues... but the dangers that surround the force of personality.

What I actually meant to get across was was that I didn't consider that being a strong person, was a good thing in itself. The most abominable events in the entire history of human civilization have often been put down to the decisions of strong minded individuals or groups, who used sheer willpower and confidence to sway the weak, uneducated or apathetic.

They still do.

Curiously enough I went to a preaching seminar last night and the guest speaker - Roger Morris, touched on the subject of strength whilst preaching on the tough passage of Revelation 16. He referred to an American politician who said the following words in the wake of 9/11:

"American power is the most important part. When it is brought to bear in great and terrible measure, it is a thing to strike terror in the heart of anyone who opposes it. No mountain is big enough, no cave deep enough to hide from the full fury of American power."

Those words were spoken by Senator John McCain.

You've read his words...

...now mark mine. America walked that road before and where did it get it? Will that nation repeat the decisions of yesterday and reap the same hardships for it's reward?

It seems to me in America that some potential leaders are going out of their way to appear strong... at the expense of demonstrating the qualities of wisdom that is equally, if not more important in the role of governing a nation.

Not that the USA is by any means the sole example of this. Every nation is just as easily sold down the river to the bravado and charisma of the strong, or the seductive words of cunning knaves.

For the Christian it boils down to whether we let our fear of men or our love of God, govern our decisions. In the Bible there are plenty of times where the nation of Israel either trusts in its own power or flocks to a foreign ally... and finds in the long run it costs them dear.

When we respond to fear, we march to the beat of this world's drum. When we look to mankind for ultimate security, we will always find it lacking... or discover to our horror that it has metamorphosed into something far more distasteful.

Have we forgotten that God calls us to march to a different tune?

The tune of his unconditional love. The love that defies logic and flies in the face of human assessment:

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."

1 Corinthians 1:27-29

God's love often appears irrational in the world's eyes... but that would be an inaccurate description. I think that superrational is a better term, albeit one that still carries a certain degree of limitation.

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."

1 Corinthians 1:25

The world says crush your enemies.

The Lord says love your enemies.

The world says if we love our enemies, we appear weak and they might overrun us with their culture and all will be lost.

However, Jesus Christ came into a world where the culture of his nation was already overrun by conquerors. He didn't raise a sword against them. He didn't muster an army. He even let his enemies kill him.

In the final analysis, Rome's victories were temporal and the glory of that empire faded... as is the way with all empires eventually; Christ's victory was eternal and the glory of God still shines out today in people's lives.

It is still true today. We don't need to look to the temporal for our security...but the eternal. In the West we've had it far too easy, far too long. We seem to think that it is important for Christianity to hold temporal power... but God's most powerful works are often revealed in times and places where Christians hold little or no power.

The apostle Paul found himself burdened with a "thorn" that caused him to be humble in the face of the great things that God was doing in his life. Three times he pleaded with god to go easy on him... and this was the response:

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

2 Corinthians 2:9,10

What a stark contrast to the McCain quote we looked at earlier.

It comes down to a simple choice... but one we must constantly make:

Temporary power, or permanent grace...

What will it be for you?

Fall Back... Spring Forward!

The clocks have gone forward and not a moment to soon.

I'm not a winter person by any means... I get weary of the dark nights and mornings and I get lethargic and bogged down in many ways. Long live the Spring!

Similarly I've recently been through a mini-winter spell of the spiritual kind. OK, call it an overnight blizzard. Whatever it was,I had been feeling out of gas and was wide open to spiritual attack... and as sure as the winter follows the autumn, the attack came.

This is why, in matters of belief you shouldn't merely trust your feelings; instead you should check them against your faith and the facts.

Sometimes it's the small things that remind you of your greatest hopes. It is the single flower that pokes it's head above the snow; the glimpse of a distant ray of sunlight in the midst of the maelstrom; the sound of songbirds returning from a wintry exile; or the scent of blossom on the gentle breeze following a bitterly cold gale...

... the tenderness of a brief kiss, following a long exile.

Likewise it wasn't something massive that shifted my feelings/perspective. It was an answer to the briefest of prayerful thoughts. I had on the advice of friends, turned down the offer of one car (I wasn't sure about it either), but I find that I study my Bible and pray best when I'm alone at lunch times. All well and good in the summer, not so good in the winter or when it is raining down. I also am acutely aware that I need to to see a friend who needs my help and I knew that in order to do that I needed my own transport.

So I prayed.

It had been a good few weeks since I rejected the previous car and I thought I had been forgotten. However, the very morning after I prayed that prayer... my phone rang and
I was told of another car. I pursued it ardently, recognising it as an opportunity not to be missed.
Come Wednesday, I should be the owner of a silver Peugeot 206 51 plate with a mere 34,000 miles on the clock. No, it doesn't look like the one in this old advert:

As a brief humorous aside... have you ever noticed how big budget adverts make cars that were top of the line in year's gone past, look even older and more naff now that time has moved on? Here's a good example. Takes my breath away? Yeah with laughter. Please feel free to post me any of your own examples

Anyway, back on topic and as I said... the answer was nothing major, but it was a small blessing... like that first flower through the snow. It was the timing that was crucial and not the magnitude.

More importantly it reminds me of a blog post I wrote quite some time ago... which carries a far stronger message that is both relevant and demonstrates that God does not forget us:

God Remembers?

So I like to think that God has wound the clock on for me personally. I'm back up on two feet again.

Thank you to those of you who have been concerned for me. It was appreciated.

Not In Vain...

I've not been my usual chipper self lately.

No, I haven't.

Scratch a little below the surface and you'll find a man who has somehow managed to get a little swallowed in weariness. You see, when things get a little bit quiet... it is very easy to become disheartened and think that maybe you've been cast aside... even spiritually speaking.

Sometimes... and I say this as much for the benefit of anyone reading this as myself, you have to weigh your feelings up against faith and fact... and what you already know of God through your relationship with him up to this point.

I'm not a super apostle. Every now and then my knees buckle like anyone else, however... I don't believe in holding this all inside. I feel it is important to record things like this... in order to help lift other people when they themselves become encumbered. I'm by no means the first person to think of this... the apostle Paul made a point of doing the same thing in his second letter to the Corinthians:

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

There is no shame in sharing your weaknesses if it in turn encourages others. It's not about airing your dirty laundry, it's about loving one another and building each other up so that each one can get just that little bit nearer to God when they feel that their face is down in the mud.

I need to make a record here of Sunday's preaching. I believe there was something in there designed to strengthen my bones. Naturally, being Easter Sunday, the passage was connected to the Resurrection... we found ourselves jumping around 1 Corinthians 15 a fair bit. However, it was this verse that personally pricked my ears up:

"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain."

1 Corinthians 15:58

And there my friends, we have it in a nutshell... I have been letting things move me... and downing tools because I feel I'm not up to the task ahead and why should God want me for it? He's probably written me off.

Self pitying fool.

I'm doing no better than the remnant who laid the foundations of the temple in Jerusalem and who at the first sign of things taking a turn for the worst,dropped the tools and went off to decorate their own homes first. God's calling me back to work on his temple, but shall I remain in the rubble of my own home?

While I write these words, iTunes has decided to play "The Healing" by James Newton Howard. Do you remember me talking about that a while back? It is from the film Lady in the Water. It is the point where one of the central characters - Cleveland Heap, is forced to confront the things that made him check out of his true calling in life. I can't help but think there's a deliberate irony there.

I'm plodding on though... I know what is right, I know the truth... I know God is good... but I've hit the valley floor here, as most of us do. Weary as I am, I endeavour to carry on bearing witness to my God... because it is true - our labour for the Lord is not in vain!

But I want to taste that Emmaus Spirit again... the precious moments of when God sets your heart on fire with the things he is saying. It is my hope and prayer that perhaps something written here will ignite you own spirits is some way.

Something else that was drawn out of the sermon on Sunday was that the second letter to the Corinthians was written sometime around 56-57 AD. It's a convincing blow to revisionists who claim that it was only later in the Church's history that the resurrection of Christ was held as a central belief and added to the Gospel theology. Yet here we have a passage of scripture written to an established church only a generation (20 odd years) away from the actual events recorded in the gospels:

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."

1 Corinthians 14:3-8

Paul is underlining the resurrection of Christ as being of primary importance... but he didn't begin there. About five years prior to this he wrote these words to a church in Thessalonica:

"You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what happened when we visited you. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."

1 Thessalonians 1:6-10

Around the same time or possibly even as early as 48AD, he also wrote these words to struggling churches in the region of Galatia:

"Paul, an apostle—sent not with a human commission nor by human authority, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers and sisters with me, To the churches in Galatia: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Galatians 1:1-5

Now of course, there is so much more in both those books... but I merely highlighted those verses to underline the fact that as little as around 15 years from the events of the first Holy Week, there were people as far away as Asia Minor, who were adamant in their belief that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.

In this age, it is easy to remain unmoved by that statement. We live in an age where news travels ridiculously fast...an event being recorded on one side of the globe can be simultaneously broadcast to the rest of us, thanks to the technology of geosynchronous orbiting satellites.

The apostles had no such technology to hand. They had their voices, their bodies... pen and parchment... but most importantly they had the Spirit of God. Empire wide there were an estimated 1 million Christians by the time the century was complete. True, that was only 0.6 of the population of the then known world... but considering the means at their disposal and the distance from events, I think 1 million is a remarkable number... and now as we move the ever further from 1st century Christianity, we find that around 2.1 billion people lay claim to the same belief in the risen Lord(though whether they truly believe is a matter for themselves and God).

It is all the more amazing when you think that so many people were willing to lay their life down for this idea. I don't think was a case of blind religious fervour or frenzied false martyrdom brought on by a hypnotised bunch of cultists. I believe this response came from genuine conviction. You see it's not just about the fact that Jesus rose from the dead... it is more importantly about what his death and resurrection meant.

I quoted Galatians earlier and Paul goes on to say in a later chapter that:

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

Galatians 5:1

Freedom has always been among the highest ideals to die for. Whether it is freedom from slavery, freedom of speech, freedom of religious expression, or freedom to live out a life as seen fit by the individual... people have always seen the concept of freedom as the most precious commodity.

But for Christians, it isn't just about freedom in this life. It is about freedom in eternity. Freedom to live in the fullness of God's love... forever. That's what Christ's death is about - the defeat of death and the demise of sin's power over us.

And to that end the early Church did not labour in vain...

... and neither do we.

If you want to taste freedom call on Christ tonight.

The Burden

I thought crossed my mind last night as I made my way back from my annual midnight vigil at church.

When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, we know he could have escaped. We know he was sorely tempted to do so, pleading "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

But what is special about why Jesus remained?

Many people will make the mistake of assuming that Jesus was just afraid for his life. If that were the case, there have been many people who have shared that feeling... who have remained somewhere they didn't want to be and sacrificed there life. What sets Jesus experience apart from those?

Well, Jesus had greater reason to deter him, than just mortal fear. There are two extra things that take the hardship Jesus endured on the night of his arrest... far beyond the human experience.

Firstly, there was his relationship with the Father. John's Gospel explicitly states that Jesus wasn't just God's Son... he is also of one being with the Father - they have a shared existence.

"I and the Father are one."

John 10:30

This was clearly weighing heavily on Jesus' mind as he waited anxiously for the inevitable moment when his friend Judas Iscariot, would lead an armed crowd to an eventual showdown with him. John's Gospel gives a fairly detailed account of some of the things Jesus was praying about and amongst them, we find Jesus identifying himself with the Father:

"All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one."

John 17:10-11

We can scarcely imagine or conceive quite how this relationship works, because we are so individual. I believe we have glimpses of this when we share bonds of fellowship with say, our soul mate, or close friends and family (and of course the Church as the family of God), but it must surely pale by comparison to actually sharing your existence and consciousness with someone. Imagine if your reflection in the mirror could talk back to you and share your thoughts... and then all of a sudden you wake up one morning and look in the mirror and nobody is there.

Losing someone who is close to us is a terrible thing indeed... but how much harder is it to lose someone who is actually yourself also?

I can appreciate the wording of that is a little hard to track... but then so is the concept.

The other thing that must have been weighing very heavily on Jesus' mind, was the great burden he was about to take on.... the sin of the entire human race.

When I take into account how heavily my own failings have weighed upon me in my personal past, it completely blows my mind to think that the weight of every individual person's own gallery of failure was laid upon just one man. I was helping my father move sandbags across town today and they were incredibly heavy and it provided a good metaphor: imagine if one sandbag represented a single person's burdens throughout their life. You could manage one - your own... maybe if you were really strong you could carry a few more... but only for a time. However, to carry every single sandbag for every single person? A mere man could not do it.

But Jesus was and is not a mere man. We looked in my last entry, at how Jesus' humanity is essential to the Gospel message... about how focusing on Jesus' divinity at the expense of his humanity, can detract from who he is to us... and why he came. I'm not about to do a U turn... I still believe that. However, I will say that the reverse can also true - focusing on Jesus' humanity at the expense of his divinity can also detract from the Gospel message... for other reasons. Both aspects of his nature - the divine and the human, are fundamentally important to what he did.

The immense strain of all that is wrong with this world broke Jesus heart: there are some medical experts out there who will tell you that the cause of death in the case of Jesus Christ was a ruptured heart. It is a disputed theory... but when you consider the strain Jesus went through on that first Good Friday, it is completely believable that he died of a broken heart.

The reason why he did this was prophetically recorded hundreds of years before Jesus was born:

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Isaiah 53:4-6

And now we come to the challenge... it is all there for you: the responsibility that weighed so heavily on him, and the sheer lengths that this man - Jesus Christ went to, in order that your own burdens would not crush you.

So as you stand there with your burden - your "sandbag", what are you going to do?

Are you going to struggle on?

Or are you going to hand them all over the the One who has already paid for them?

It's entirely your choice.