BIG is not always beautiful!

Before I start, I'm aware that some people may not like what they read in this post; however, these are my personal views - you may not agree but you are most welcome to comment!

For some time now I've been wrestling with the issues of mega-churches (and would-be ones!) and having read some disturbing accounts regarding Willow Creek church  and Saddleback Community Church and their respective leaders ( Bill Hybels  and Rick Warren ) I am a little concerned about the church communities that are being modelled on them.

The leader of Willow Creek, Bill Hybels, apparently has a notice outside his office that states:

"What is our Business? Who is our Customer? What does our customer consider is Value?

Does that not strike you as something the large economic institutions would use? Are we now being told to model 'Church' on 'mammon's' principles?

There is a seeming trend towards big, shiny, performance 'worship' - and rather too much introspective navel gazing! As far as my experience of it goes, it seems to be all about teaching programmes and sermon-series and getting bums on seats! It may be wonderful to be 'lost in rapture' but you can still be alone in a crowd. And what happens if you, yourself, don't quite want to just follow the 'herd' - how do your questions get answered? With some of these larger churches there seems to be an attitude that if you make waves you are shown the door - what's that all about?

Aside from that, it seems too many are interested in being busy in church but not actually using that experience in the real world. If you want to swim it doesn't matter how many courses and training programmes you do, it's worth nothing unless you actually get in the water! Same with church, I feel!

Since reading a book called "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne I have begun to look at things a different way. His book centres on the opposite of BIG church - where small acts of serving the local community are faithfully carried out, without fuss and without razamatazz. It's very attractive, because it's 'do-able'! And I kind of think it's more the way Jesus would have gone about things.

Now, don't get me wrong - for some people BIG churches give them a place of safety; but it is also very easy to hide, or go unnoticed! What worries me is that unless there are smaller groups meeting regularly with each other, it is impossible to get to know the needs of others, to minister to (and BE ministered to!). It is also way too easy for the leadership to be put on a pedestal and become 'untouchable' - an ideal way for 'discrepancies' to worm their way in!

Could this perhaps be what Christ, Himself, says in Matthew 24:24 - "False Messiahs and false prophets will come and work great miracles and signs. They will even try to fool God's chosen ones."

That last sentence scares the wits out of me!

I think it is rather more healthy to question than to sleepwalk to oblivion - this is no time for an 'Emperor's New Clothes'-mentality! And any church and its leadership does well to examine its' own motives and willingly answer the questions of those who are not meekly following on!

And, my final note - having done a brief search via the internet, it seems that many of these mega-churches do not have any visible representation of the cross at their services (although I believe one may be suddenly installed for Baptismal services!). What worries me, is that my own (possibly/would-be mega-church?) has recently been (extravagantly) refurbished - but now lacks a cross....... Is this the beginning of the end?

MEEKNESS AND MAJESTY

Here in the UK, this last four days have seen a lot of excitement with Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. After the  inclement weather during the water pageant on Sunday (which may have dampened the spectators but not their spirits!) and Monday evening's pop-concert outside Buckingham Palace, today came a solemn occasion, indeed, in a service at St Paul's cathedral.

Now, when I say 'solemn' I do not mean sad and mournful - there was 'pomp and circumstance' and with Her Majesty being the head of the Anglican Church there was due deference to her status. I'm not normally one for 'high church' ritual ('bells, smells and very up-candle!' as someone once said) and usually I find it hard to worship when surrounded by the beauty and grandeur of large places of worship that have become monuments of history.

However, this morning's service, watched via the BBC, had part of my soul hankering for something which I feel has been sadly lacking in  my current church-experience : MAJESTY

No, not the Queen herself, but the majesty and mystery of God.

It seems the polarity of Christianity stretches from the highly ritualised, steeped in tradition, 'hands-off' approach; down to the other end of the scale where it's very laid-back and 'buddy Jesus' with no barriers.

I think each has it's place, as a facet of responsive worship; but equally, when taken to extremes, each also slightly misses the mark.

In my own circumstance, attending a Free Church (that is, not the established church) the familiar traditions of my former Anglicanism (albeit, a very lower-stated version!) are sadly missing and sometimes I think we are so laid-back and 'free' in our worship that it is possible to lose the MAJESTY and awe of worshipping God in all His magnificence.

Watching today's service, Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, articulated a wonderful sermon based on Romans Ch.12  (this, taken from a modern translation, 'The Message') - talking of service and using the skills and talents we have each been blessed with and spoke of putting the needs of others first, regardless of our own personal status. This is something our Queen has done for 60 years already. Some detractors point to her privileged lifestyle but they ignore the duty and service she undertakes on behalf of the nation when, quite frankly, she'd probably rather not attend yet another function or listen to another boring speech. What she does is give of herself, displacing her own wishes at times and making others the focus of her attention. And that is precisely what our duty and homage to God should be!

Graham Kendrick wrote the worship song 'Meekness and Majesty' and the words speak of the manhood and Deity contained within Christ. The words continue.... "In perfect harmony, the Man who is God".

I think the harmony of our worship and service of God is somehow off-kilter when we either focus so much on MAJESTY that we get lost in the ritual; or, in the looseness of our approach to Him, that we are apt to forget we walk on Holy ground!

I love the way C.S.Lewis describes Aslan (representing Christ in his allegorical work, 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe') seen in this clip from the movie of the book:

We need to remember the MAJESTY  in the midst of our worship - God's not tame!

WIP

Too many times I think about adding to this blog - then the world gets in the way....! I realise that however much I think I've accomplished I am still a WIP - Work In Progress!

This first month of a new year, I've decided I need to spend more time 'listening to' than 'talking at' God; more time sitting at His feet rather than watching what others are doing; being less preoccupied with deciding where I 'fit' and just taking each day as it comes - wherever He chooses to take me.

With the upheaval of our church building being revamped, the congregations are meeting in temporary accommodation. Together with our small weekly group changing and some members moving into different ministries (it actually feels like we've been ripped apart!) it all leads me to feel very much out of the loop. I often feel like I'm on the outside looking in, towards people who seem to have everything mapped out and know exactly what they're doing and what their purpose is - alas, not me!


I STILL am not sure what He has in mind for me - nothing really seems to spring to mind, and perhaps that's just as well because in the last six months or so my life has not really been my own, anyway!

My daughter has had to have a number of eye operations after suffering a detached retina - her 'independent' living has meant me virtually running two homes, as I tend to her chores and help look after her cat as well as being chauffeur and general cheerleader in times of low spirits.

My son has been laid off from work and had to return home (along with all his furniture :-/) so I'm trying to keep up his spirits, too, in these financially-challenged times, whilst endeavouring not to sound like I'm nagging as he plugs away trying to get back into work.

What a good job I 'retired' last year, or who else would have been available to be the back-stop for all this?!

So, I face a new year with many hopes and dreams, not to say a few fears, but also thinking how good to remember that in a world of constant change, God is unchangingly constant! And I cling to that and all His promises......and perhaps the passions and gifts I believe He has blessed me with will one day dovetail into exactly what HE has in mind!

And this just about sums it all up - I liked the original version but the Skit Guys have re-mastered their "God's Chisel" sketch and now it hits the mark even more:

What's the plan?

Gosh - I just looked at my last post here and it was dated 29th August! So, what happened to September? And is that really November I see galloping towards me...?

Well, life has been busy....remember in the last post I mentioned pinballs ricocheting.....?

The long and short of it is, family circumstances have taken any semblance of day-to-day 'routine' and thrown it out of the window. While juggling extra housework caring for my daughter (who had emergency eye surgery) and coping with lifting the spirits of another 'fledgeling' who has had to return home to the nest due to unemployment, I find myself in 'rocking-horse syndrome' - plenty of action but no real progress!

But, re-reading though that previous post I realise it ties in with the service at church this morning (yes - church attendance has been sporadic over the last few weeks for obvious reasons but I'm glad I made the effort this morning!).

The theme was 'Knowing the will of God' - boy, that had my attention! I was familiar with the point of testing what you believe God is saying against Scripture; also the point of others confirming in agreement or sharing a matching 'revelation'. Fine and dandy - but my problem is/was wondering if God was speaking to me at all!

Since I gave up work in January I've gone through the 'holiday' stage; the 're-vamping-the-house-and-garden' stage; the 'not-feeling-guilty-about-sitting-down-with-a-good-book-for-a-large-portion-of-the-day' stage; the 'OK-so-now-you-have-no-excuse-to-not-get-on-and-finish-that-novel' stage.........

Behind all of this, I suddenly felt a wave of 'what am I supposed to do now?'. I'd raised a family, worked to help with the household finances, took on voluntary work and joined a couple of interest groups - but suddenly I was faced with a void.

So I began to earnestly seek what God had planned for this new and strange chapter of life - after all, I don't want to waste a precious minute between here and eternity!

And.......nothing. Nada. No amazing revelations. Silence.

Stoically, I had decided to just keep in step with God and wait until He was ready to let me in on the next exciting instalment.

But still, silence.

Then this morning, in the middle of the 'preach' one of the comments from the 'pulpit' (er.....we use a lectern!) suggested that not hearing from God might just be because we weren't ready to receive new things from God; our hands were already full of things that we were perhaps unwilling to let go of or not ready to do so.

Surrendering everything - EVERYTHING - means holding up all the things I like to do, that I feel I do well, and saying I'm prepared to forego that in favour of whatever HE has in mind. And there's a genuine feeling of anticipation - that the best is yet to come!

.....and maybe part of the plan is just for me to 'rest in pastures green' for a while longer! (Hey, that's fine by me, but I just need to actually confirm that's what HE has in mind!)

Last Sunday I was sent this YouTube clip - and it has been resonating with me all week:




That sparked off the idea of a story over at one of my other blogs. We live in this world but we don't have to conform to it's ways.

Putting that together with what I learned at church this morning, maybe God's plans for me aren't for anything big and exciting; maybe I'm just meant to live a simple life - and that kind of feels more like what He's saying.

Perhaps He needs me to be growing the 'kingdom' in quiet, gentle ways by facing the maelstrom of financial and commercial upheaval that seems to be coming at us from every direction and coping with them in Christ-like ways.


So, until I hear otherwise, this little cogwheel's just gonna keep on turning, one day at a time!

According to whose plan?

Some days I wonder if the things I'm passionate about are necessarily in line with God's plans for me!

Wouldn't if be great to be able to hear God's voice as clearly as if He was speaking to us on the phone?

For some people, their experience of God speaking is just like that - but for me, most of the time I'm trying to work out whether God's speaking to me or if it's just some idle fancy. This concept often seems to be in direct proportion of how much I do or don't want to comply! Like, 'I'll do anything you ask me as long as you don't want me to ....' - and then spend days fretting that that's EXACTLY what God has in mind!

What does that actually say about the concept of a loving Father? Do I expect God to plan for me to do things that I would hate? That sounds vindictive and runs counter to God's loving qualities!

Of course, it could be that He needs me to understand that HE is mighty enough to carry me through the experience; calling on HIS strength rather than my own!

But getting back to this 'hearing from God' idea - I'd love to just hear Him tell me what to do, rather than fumble around second-guessing - it would save a lot of precious time! Mostly, I feel like a pin-ball ricocheting off life's experiences with no real idea of where I'm going or what I'm supposed to be doing.

But God is NOT two-faced - in a constantly changing world, God is unchangingly constant! In the light of this we need to take Him at His word - ALL of it! No cherry-picking! What He says, sticks; he doesn't take back promises. So, in Jeremiah 29:11 we have the famous verse:"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." (The Message)

If God has made plans and they are for my good why, then, would He plan horrible things? Answer: He wouldn't, but the Devil loves to tie us up in knots and convince us that may be the case!

So, in the sea of unknowing, when the way forward seems about as clear as pea-soup, that's the time to remember God's constancy. The promises He has made for us still stand. He does not lead us along a path and then abandon us - He walks with us through the lonely valleys and dry deserts and while we may not see or hear Him, still He is there.

After all, Jesus has walked the darkest valleys we will ever have to face and the great thing is that HE knows the way out; He's not just a companion in difficult journeys, He's our guide. All we need to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other and trusting that HE will make sense of it all.

So, when my plans go awry, or I seem to keep hitting brick walls, getting back to basics seems to be the best way forward.

Jeremiah goes on, in verses 12-14 to say: "When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me."

So when the way forward seems unclear, where my plans seem to be thwarted, it's best to go back to basics - honouring God in simple ways, just putting one foot in front of the other, giving myself space and time to focus on HIM until He is ready to tell me the next part of the plan.

Sounds great in theory - but it really is a 'one day at a time' experience in practice! (and yes - I'm still practicing!)

Who Are You?

You're at a party or some other gathering (even having coffee after the morning church service!) and you get introduced to someone new. After the initial pleasantries and exchanging names, the conversation almost inevitably gets down to the nitty-gritty - "...so, Tom (Jane/Barbara/etc.) what do you do?"

The response will often define a perception of that person's character - be it refuse collector or brain surgeon - and it's all too easy to make assumptions about their status.

We all do it, be honest!

But why should what someone does be any reflection, positive or negative, on who they are?

God created each of us with particular giftings and skills for the purpose of equipping us to fulfil His plans for us and creation as a whole. For example, to some He endowed manual dexterity; to others He gifted organisational skills.

We each have a God-designed 'shape' that fits us into the massive jigsaw-puzzle of life - one place, the perfect place, designed to fit perfectly. Each ability was/is perfectly and equally crafted and tailored to that particular person - it is only mankind who ranks their importance as greater or lesser.

Last night, I was discussing this with friends at church, as we were exploring what we believed were our God-given goals in life. And what a varied bunch we were/are! To put it in a nutshell, our goal, clearly, seems to be to live the lives God planned for us, not kicking against the rails and wanting what we cannot have and becoming depressed when our plans are thwarted.

But let's get this straight - we were not created to give rein to our own selfish passions - we were created to give pleasure and delight to the Creator. When you put your circumstances in that perspective it's a whole different ball-game!

So, you find yourself in a lowly position, perhaps doing menial tasks, and you feel somehow less worthy than the brain surgeons or professors or the big 'movers & shakers'. But wait a minute - who told you that you were not as 'worthy' or important as them? The 'World' - that's who!

The World has this 'pecking order' of propriety. It defines you by what you 'do' and ranks you on it's scale of worth and importance: fine if you're at the top end of the scale, but the 'also-rans' at the bottom are kept very firmly in their place. The World promotes success, wealth, beauty and power and to be in the 'game' you have to climb 'their' ladder.

But, what if we weren't designed for that? What if we were created to fulfil God's plans for His creation? If he designed you to know the intricacies of the delicate workings of the brain and endowed you with the skills to perform surgery in that area then you will be fulfilling His plan. It's unlikely your skills will be of much use in a steel factory. Equally, though my plumber knows the intricacies (and eccentricities!) of my heating system, I might not necessarily allow him to give me sound financial advice!

Determining what you feel you are good at, where you feel able to achieve the end result without too much stress or beating yourself up about your failures is, I believe, a pretty good indicator that you are in the right place. Whether you are happy about that will depend on whether you are listening to God or the World!

So, are ALL occupations good? Certainly all the legal ones may be - less so the habitual burglar!

My husband has a job related to the Brewing industry. He loves it (and it's NOT all about drinking beer, before you ask!) but a few years ago he was thinking about how worthwhile it was. Talking with our (then) pastor he posed the idea of moving his administrative skills towards one of the many charitable organisations, secular or Christian. Wisely, our pastor friend asked him to consider one question – of the people he currently worked with, how many were Christians? Hubby answered that he believed that although some of his colleagues might be sympathetic to the faith, none had ever confessed as much. So then, he was counselled, by leaving he would be taking away an opportunity to demonstrate God’s values in that place!

Likewise, we had a friend who at one time was involved in designing aerial weaponry. I often wondered how he could equate his strong Christian beliefs with such seemingly un-Godly activity. His response was that if he wasn’t involved then how much more terrifying might be the prospect; by his presence he might be able to effect a restricting attitude to the more aggressive ideas for weapons technology. It wouldn’t stop people making bombs, but it might curb the more vicious tendencies and who knows, it might lead some of his colleagues to Christ. Perhaps some of them might. in turn, use their technical skills in a more benign way. (The words ‘swords’ and ‘ploughshares’ come to mind!)

So then, it seems to me to be more important that we are concerned with ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’; being what God created us to be, not trying to do what we weren’t designed to do and the acceptance of that fact can only bring a peace and contentment that the World promises in it’s ‘adverts’ but can’t deliver when push comes to shove!


…..but by all means, we should live the life God has planned and equipped us for, joyfully, contentedly – and if possible with a song in our hearts!


Perhaps Sinatra had it right after all! ;-p

Fighting Against Giants

Sometimes the 'world' overwhelms us - maybe because we trust too much in our own strength!

This track sums up where (and upon whom) our reliance should rest - plus, it's a fun 'take' on a rock'n'roll standard!

Enjoy!




(excellent material by students of Valley High School using the re-worded soundtrack by Apologetix)