ABR#2 Amos

I have begun to read the Bible alphabetically (see here for my rationale), reading each book three times (in different translations) and trying to get into the mind of the original author and readers as well as listen to God’s message for today. Here’s what I’ve discovered from reading Amos.

First impressions of Amos’s character: (which I suspect may be similar for any prophet, but Amos happens to be the first I’ve read in this way)
His method of persuading people to change their wicked ways is to threaten them with punishment from God. Maybe these punishments are not all to be taken literally. He says, for example, that God will pursue them down to the world of the dead, or up to heaven, or into the depths of the ocean – so there must be some element of hyperbole here. It is not clear how many of these dire predictions ever came true. The one human encounter is with Amaziah the priest at Bethel. This ends with Amos predicting a horrible end for the priest and his family, but there is nothing to say whether this was an accurate foretelling or just Amos’s way of dealing with his critics.

Yet Amos clearly has compassion for the nation and at times prays (successfully) for God to withhold punishment. Occasionally he pleads with Israel to repent and thereby avoid their terrible fate.

Amos’s idea of God is of someone who is very much in control. Nothing happens without God’s say-so. Hence any disasters are interpreted as either punishment from God or a warning to turn back to God otherwise the real punishment will be even worse.

Amos’s high moral standards are the reason for his passionate denunciation. In a warm-up section he threatens fire and destruction against Israel’s neighbours (including Judah) and in doing so highlights the kind of behaviour which is unacceptable – oppressing people with savage cruelty; selling a whole nation into slavery; sending a whole nation into exile; mercilessly hunting down fellow nations; ripping open pregnant women during wartime; dishonouring the bones of a foreign king; and (in the case of Judah) hating God’s teaching, disobeying his commands and worshipping false gods.

Historical setting and basic message:
In the reign of Jereboam II (while Uzziah was king of Judah), Israel prospered enough that the privileged classes could afford two homes – one for winter and one for summer. One reason for Israel doing so well was that their neighbours were weakened by warring amongst themselves, allowing Israel to expand their territory. Hence the situation in Israel is one of peace, security and luxury – at least for the well-off. Amos’s key message is a) that this prosperity has come about through oppression of the poor and b) therefore the good times will not last and destruction will fall upon the nation.

It sounds as if most of the book is a record of a fairly brief visit to Bethel, where Amos delivered his message before being told to leave. Who actually wrote it down? No-one knows. Did Amos record it when he was back home in Tekoa? Was he a charismatic enough figure to have attracted disciples who followed him and took notes? Was it a member of his audience who was impressed by this fiery Southerner? And were these words simply recorded for posterity, or were they published in order to keep ramming home the point to his contemporaries?

The various natural disasters which failed to turn people back to God must have been either long ago or localised in their effect, because the idea of a nations reeling under one disaster after another is at odds with the general mood of prosperity.

Style:
Amos has a few visions – scenarios shown by God, or pictures which introduce God’s message (sometimes using word-play on the name of the object seen). But Amos also regularly uses his own picture-language to illustrate and drive home his point. A lion features several times in such ‘sermon illustrations’, and often this dangerous roaring beast in some sense represents God.

The prophecy against Amaziah and his family sounds like a judgement pronounced on him because he dared to oppose Amos (God’s true prophet). Did Amos have the same power promised by Jesus to the disciples, that they could declare people’s sins forgiven or not and what they declared would come to pass? Is Amos placing some kind of ‘curse’ on Amaziah, or is he only revealing what God had planned anyway? Or is he just being nasty and vindictive to upset Amaziah?

The ending of the book is more cheerful. The council of Jerusalem (in Acts) quotes this last part of Amos as if it was about all the nations being gathered into the kingdom of David. The original passage sounds more like a promise that when the kingdom is rebuilt Israel will conquer the other nations. Despite the fact that prosperity (at the expense of the poor) is the problem, Amos ends with a vision of a restored kingdom which will be so prosperous that corn will grow faster than it can be reaped and grapes grow faster than they can be trodden into wine.

Relevance for today:
Amos addresses a situation which resembles life today on a global scale. Some countries are well off and enjoying a good standard of living, but this is at the expense of those who are oppressed by unjust trade laws. Perhaps we need the vehemence of Amos’s wake-up call to open our eyes to the suffering of the poor and to realise the fragile nature of our apparent peace and security.

Some of his accusations are surprisingly modern. For example – you are more interested in acquiring the latest trainers than in thinking about the exploitation which produces them! Or – you lazy cows sponge off the labour of others and expect your husbands to keep you well-supplied with booze! Or – you pretend to be respectable by following the trappings of religion but your heart isn’t in it. All through Sunday you can’t wait to get back to your self-indulgence and your dodgy dealings.

One of the few positive exhortations of Amos is to let justice and righteousness flow like a continually moving river. His call is not for a few good deeds here and there like refreshing splashes of water, but for justice and righteousness to be a constant way of life with more and more goodness endlessly pouring out of us.

Conclusion:
I wouldn’t like to meet Amos in the flesh. He has the rough raw passion of the newly called amateur preacher. He goes on and on about disturbing and uncomfortable issues. He has strong views on what God thinks about it and what God plans to do about it. But whilst some aspects of his understanding of God may be off-putting, his analysis of a corrupt affluent society is alarmingly perceptive.

ABR#1 Acts of the Apostles

I have begun to read the Bible alphabetically (see here for my rationale), reading each book three times (in different translations) and trying to get into the mind of the original author and readers as well as listen to God’s message for today. Here’s what I’ve discovered from reading Acts.

Characters
There are two main characters, Peter and Paul, whose stories overlap in the middle. They have many experiences in common – miracles, visions, being hauled before the authorities, imprisonment (and miraculous release), healings (directly, and indirectly via shadows and handkerchiefs) and raising the dead. But there are also numerous others who are filled with the Holy Spirit and play an active part in the spread of the gospel – Stephen, Philip, James, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Aquila and Priscilla to name but a few.

Examples of recurring characters: 1) When Paul and his companions were on their way back to Jerusalem, whom did they stay with at Caesarea? None other than Philip the deacon/evangelist – who by now had four daughters who were also preaching the gospel. 2) Gamaliel, who argued for a ‘wait-and-see’ policy in the early days is later cited by Paul as his mentor when he was training in Jerusalem. (NB Paul’s initial policy in those early days was not ‘wait and see’ but ‘kill the heretics!’) 3) The prophet Agabus appears at the start of Paul’s travels, predicting a famine, and at the end, warning of his fate in Jerusalem. 4) On escaping from prison Peter goes to the house of John Mark’s mother. Shortly after John Mark himself goes with Saul and Barnabas to help in their work.

Authorship
This is clearly a sequel to Luke’s gospel, but who is Theophilus, to whom Luke addresses both books? One theory is that Theophilus was Paul’s defence lawyer. Whilst awaiting trial in Caesarea and again in Rome, Luke, in consultation with Paul, prepared two briefing papers for him setting out the facts of a) Jesus’s life and b) Paul’s part in the spread of the Christian message.
This would explain certain features such as the focus on Paul for the last half of the book and the time taken on details such as the reporting of the plot against Paul. (The report of who said what to whom, between nephew, Paul, centurion and commandant, seems needlessly long-winded but is just the sort of thing a lawyer would be interested in.)
They obviously had lawyers in those days (Tertullus for example spoke on behalf of the High Priest), but to be honest this theory about Theophilus seems a trifle too neat to be true.

The Message
What was this new message which the disciples were so keen to spread? Three responses were called for again and again.
Repent – turn away from your wicked ways, seek forgiveness, change your lifestyle. Why? The appeal is to be saved but it is not specified from what. The sermons don’t major on how sinful people are. Perhaps everyone was well aware they were living in a corrupt society which needed some drastic shake-up. The criticisms are mostly corporate (living in a crooked age) rather than individual, and the only real sin highlighted is rejecting God’s prophets and God’s message, and in particular rejecting Jesus.
Believe – accept the facts about Jesus (especially his resurrection) as true, trust in him as a living person. Why? God is doing something new and wonderful in Jesus. You need to get on board. This is a key motivation in the early sermons. There is no threat of hell (though there are a few references to judgement); no promise of heaven; no warning that Christ will return imminently; no explanation about the cross as the means of salvation. In Jewish circles the focus is on Jesus being the promised Messiah, but otherwise there is very little theological justification for the call to believe.
Be Baptised – in water obviously, but no detail is given about the exact method. Why? It is associated with the coming of the Holy Spirit into a person’s life.

Some specific lessons
God often chooses to work through designated human agents. Saul’s eyesight is restored through Ananias. The church in Joppa send for Peter when Tabitha dies. God answers Cornelius’ prayer by sending Peter. When the sons of Sceva try to cast out an evil spirit on Paul’s behalf, rather than sending for the man himself, it all goes horribly pear-shaped.

Paul and co-workers stayed in Ephesus for a few years and their work flourished. Yet in the near-riot when the crowds were chanting “great is Artemis of the Ephesians” the town clerk was able to claim that the Christians had never spoken evil against Artemis. Clearly they were managing to do what we try to do today – proclaim and spread the Christian faith without causing offence to those of other faiths.

The story of Ananias and Sapphira shows God is not to be trifled with. When it comes to explaining my actions to the church council I have never (as far as I remember) come up with an out-and-out lie, but I have often put a huge spin on my report in order to put myself in the best possible light. For example I might say that I am “working on it” when I actually mean “I’ve not started it yet but I’m on the verge of doing so”. Thus far I have never fallen dead in a church council, but I ought to take seriously the issue of misleading my fellow Christians and bear in mind that if I compromise my integrity it is really God that I am lying to.

Here’s a thought: What happened to all those people Jesus had an impact on during his ministry in Judea, Samaria and Galilee? When the new message spread through these regions, it was only a few years after Jesus had been amongst them in person. Did these ‘old’ followers hear the message of resurrection and become ‘new’ followers? Was the change in the life of (for example) Zaccheus incomplete until he had responded to the preaching of the early church? Whatever the answers, one thing is easily overlooked – in some parts of the world the gospel of Jesus was not a brand new concept but additional information regarding a well-known figure. Not so different after all to the environment in which evangelists work today.

Miscellaneous details
Stephen’s account of Jewish history portrays Moses as the archetype of the ‘rejected prophet’ who came to save but initially wasn’t listened to. Stephen was preparing his audience to see Jesus in similar terms.

Paul inflicts on Barjesus, a sorcerer on Cyprus, the same fate he suffered himself on the road to Damascus – condemnation of his opposition to God followed by a time of blindness. It is not recorded whether this led to a conversion.

Reading the Bible alphabetically

I returned from the Christian Resources Exhibition having heard two speakers and bought one book written by each. I also returned with a desire to read the Bible differently. But how?

The first speaker was David Pawson. His key point was that the Bible is a library of books and that each book should be read in it's entirety. He pointed out that no-one would read an Agatha Christie novel by dipping into chapter 7, then reading a few verses from chapter 3 then skipping to the last page. This is true, though his analogy applies more to some Bible books than others. We wouldn't sit down and read a hymn book or a book of quotations from cover to cover. (Hence Psalms and Proverbs may not be best suited to a simple novel-like approach.) However I was impressed enough by his insights that I bought "Unlocking the Bible" - a huge tome full of background information. To be honest, his understanding of Scripture is much more literal than I am comfortable with, but he is easy to listen to (and hopefully to read) and I'm happy to hear his views even if I decide not to agree.

A second speaker was Nick Page who I feel closer to theologically and whose common sense is seasoned with a sprinkling of quirky humour. He too has written a guide (albeit one third the size) called "The Bible Book". The introduction uses the analogy of exploring two continents, each with its own regions ('history' or 'letters' for example) and 66 variously sized towns. There are many popular tourist attractions to be visited, but also some fascinating things to discover off the beaten track.

My plan therefore is to take a book of the Bible, read it through for myself, read what Mr Pawson and Mr Page have to say, and any other insights I can find from other sources (Wikipedia springs to mind), then read it at least once more in a different translation. The aim is to spend time (anything from a few days to a few weeks) really getting to grips with that book before moving on to the next.

The only remaining question is what order to read the books. An obvious answer is in the order they appear in the Bible. An alternative (preferred by David Pawson) is chronologically, which is not radically different to the usual order. Having read the Bible twice through over the last decade I feel I am familiar enough with the overview not to need this approach. One book at a time will do me fine, and a bit of variety, hopping from history to prophecy to epistles would help keep up my interest. So I said to myself - what about alphabetically?

This has a lot to commend it. It provides enough discipline so that I don't just read what I feel like. It will take me back and forth from Old to New Testaments and mix up the different styles of literature. The first book in ths scheme is Acts, which is in many ways a good place to start, especially with the approach of Pentecost.

The only spanner in the works is that if I stick strictly to alphabetical order I will end up reading the three synoptic gospels in succession (with only Malachi as a short break). Hence I will promote Mark to somewhere around D and postpone Matthew to somewhere around R. Otherwise I'm ready for off. I don't expect to reach Zephaniah until 2012.

A nudge from God

Visitors to our Street Pastor training session last night offered to pray for us and share any 'words of knowledge' they might have. If this sounds a bit weird, then all I can say is that it was done in a very down-to-earth and sensible way without any undue hype and everyone seemed to feel uplifted and encouraged by the experience.

In my case the girl who prayed for me said two things which made me think. One was that she saw a picture of origami - someone folding paper into intricate patterns - and felt that my gift was to approach things scientifically and logically. This led me to wonder how I can use such a gift to help build up the church. (Answers on a postcard please....)

The other thing she said (twice) was that I should stop seeing things as grey but rather as black and white. I took this as a hint that it is time for me to give up my favourite pastime of sitting on the fence, reserving judgement as much as I can, and leaving situations well alone. Instead I should have a clearer idea of what is right and wrong and act accordingly. Her final comment was that perhaps my 'scientific approach' should be as simple as - 'this is what God says, so go and do it'.

Which just leaves the question, 'what exactly is God telling me to do?' The only answer that's come as I've slept on it is to love people. I don't do this nearly enough. When confronted with someone in need I will try to help, but between those times I am not particularly pro-active. Perhaps I should be sitting down each day and asking myself, 'who needs my help today and what can I do to bring them God's love?'

Heaven needs Christ

I need to re-think my idea of heaven. I know that any description of heaven is incomplete and relies heavily on symbolic images, but I have discovered that there is something (or rather someone) important missing from my own imagined view of the life to come.

The idea which has always appealed to me is that heaven is the reality and this world a mere shadow of it. Or, if you like, heaven is three dimensional and in colour whereas life today is, in comparison, merely two dimensional and monochrome. In other words I picture heaven as a more solid, more real and altogether 'greater' version of earth. There will still be all the things that make life on earth so good, but they won't be tainted by sin or sorrow.

And what is wrong with this picture? It barely leaves room for God, let alone Christ. It is possible to see heaven as some idyllic paradise where God does little more than set things up and leave us to get on with enjoying eternity. It is possible to see Christ as little more than a glorified gatekeeper - he is the one who opens heaven up for us, but again just leaves us to enjoy it.

There are plenty of Biblical images of a wonderful heaven which awaits us - a great feast; a peaceful mountain; a holy city - but if we are to take seriously the whole Bible, then what about those passages which remind us that all things were made by and for Christ? All things, in heaven and earth, have been given to him. How can a Christian view of heaven not include Christ at the centre? Heaven must be more than a place where God's creatures feel good. It must be a place where we live in perfect relationship with Jesus, our Lord, our Saviour and our Friend.

The nature of reality - Tetris or Patience?

I'm reading a book on eschatology - the study of the 'last things'. Thankfully it doesn't seek to establish a time-scale to predict what order things will happen. What it does is remind me that the nature of the ending does make a difference to life here and now.

For a long time I have not taken eschatology seriously. I've always had a vague idea that God's kingdom when it comes will be a massive interruption to life and history and the universe as we know it, rather than as the end point of a slow steady development within history. But I've not thought it mattered much. Are my vague ideas about the future anything like correct? Do I care? If it happens roughly like I expect that's OK by me. If God decides to do something radically different from my expectations that's OK too. I'll find out when it happens.


I've still not come to any firmer conclusions about the nature of the last things. All this stuff about the rapture and the millennium I regard as heavily symbolic. But I have realised that the Christian faith is not based on the life and history of the human race just stretching off forever into the future. Life is not like a perfect game of Tetris. Slotting those falling blocks into place is good fun, and an expert can keep going for a long time. A perfect player, assuming that the speed never increases beyond his capacity to react quickly enough, can in theory just keep playing forever. (NB I say 'his' because females are far too sensible to embark on an infinitely long game of Tetris.) The game is not designed to finish. Or at least not to have a successful finish - in practice it ends when the player makes too many mistakes or gives up out of boredom.


Patience is a different kind of game. From the start it is moving towards a conclusion. The cards begin in random order, but by following the rules and moving them here and there, a degree of order is gradually imposed. The player works towards a conclusion. The game ends when perfect order is achieved. Isn't that the point of all the Biblical teaching on eschatology? Life is moving towards a final purpose. We can debate how much we are involved in the process and how much God is involved. Maybe there are times when some dramatic sudden shift will be instigated by God. The key thing is that such a view should affect the way we live today.

Do I see today as just one more day to get through, making as few mistakes as possible, and expecting tomorrow (and all the tomorrows after that) to be no different from today? Or do I see today as an important step on a journey, for me and for all creation, which will bring us closer to the final perfect pattern of life which God has in store?

The impact of "Influence"

I have recently returned from a conference at Cliff College near Sheffield called 'Influence'. It only lasted one and half days but was both stimulating in terms of ideas and invigorating in terms of personal faith. Here are just three details:

a) As we were singing "Lord, reign in me again" and as I was trying to mean what I sang, I was distracted by thoughts of a massive workload accumulating back home, of a wife and children who were not present to share my current experiences, of a wandering mind which sometimes leads me into fantasy worlds where life is much more exciting and less problematic than the real world, of a variety of leisure interests which I enjoy but which can distract from more important activity... and then we reached this line. "You are the Lord of all that I am." Those last four words encapsulated everything - work, leisure, family, personality, even my daydreams. God is not looking for some non-existent perfectly spiritual person to submit to him, but for me to do so - for "all that I am" to be at his disposal. With that insight I was able to sing the last line with heartfelt passion - "Won't you reign in me again!"

b) During a time of prayer and ministry, one of the leaders prayed for me that I would have a renewed expectation of what God could do and trust him to answer prayers. When I returned to my seat I decided I couldn't have any expectations fulfilled if I didn't have any expectations. So what should I expect to happen? Our church is on the verge of employing a family worker, but we have been waiting for many weeks for the CRB clearance to come through. The most recent provisional starting date was less than a week away. I wrote down a prayer - that by Monday we would have received the long-awaited clearance. I tried to believe it would happen, not just for my own benefit, but for the sake of the church. The day after I arrived home (Friday), the family worker called to say she had received clearance. God didn't let us down.

c) Returning from the mountain top of a Christian event down to the valley of humdrum life can all too easily lower the spirits. It seems to me that one mark of a good encounter with God is that it makes everyday life brighter rather than duller. I've now been home for almost two days and back into the necessary routine. (And this is the first chance I've had to record anything in my blog.) But the sense of interaction with God is still there. I may have left behind the rarefied atmosphere of a Bible College, but I've not moved out of God's presence.

GIRP #1 People First, Admin Second

When I am planning my day I often ask the wrong questions: Do I have time to visit anyone today? How am I going to create order out of the chaos which is my desk? Which of the events coming up demands my attention most urgently? I count it a good result at the end of the day if I feel in control of my workload and if I have managed to conduct a meeting without making a fool of myself. These should not be the primary motivations of anyone, let alone a minister.

Better questions to start with would be: Who am I going to visit today? What can I do today which will give comfort to the troubled, encourage the hesitant and move people on in their journey of faith? How can I make a positive contribution to the lives of others? Some degree of admin may be helpful or even necessary in achieving these objectives, but it should be factored into my timetable after my more direct dealings with people, not before.

Checklist: (Using the four criteria, Biblical? wise advisors? experience? Spirit?) The Bible is not a handbook on how to manage time and run organisations (although it does have some hints on such thing), it is a book about God’s dealings with people and his desire for us to love one another. If you were to ask what ordained ministry is about I can’t imagine anyone putting admin above people in their response. I do feel frustrated when (as at present) there is a huge backlog of urgent and important admin looming over me – can backlogs loom? – but that is peanuts compared to the guilt I feel when I realise how I have been neglecting those who are ill or otherwise in need. And yes, it does feel that the Spirit is prompting me to take this principle seriously, starting today!

So this becomes my first recorded "Get It Right" Prompt. (see here for explanation)

Procreation in heaven?

I have discovered an answer to a problem that has troubled me for years. It may not be a rigorously academic answer, but it satisfied me - which is all I ask for.

The problem is not the existence of natural disasters. I have long ago come to the conclusion that the same turbulent geology which gives rise to earthquakes and volcanoes also provides the conditions that give rise to living organisms. The same random mutations in our DNA which make evolution possible also give rise to disease and disability. In other words, even with all its problems, this is the best possible natural world in which human life could come into being. To put it bluntly, God could not have created a world which was a) without the potential for natural disaster and b) capable of producing intelligent life.

The problem is this: What about heaven? I want to believe in an environment which will contain no shred of suffering or pain, no sickness or disease. My concept of heaven is that it is more real and more substantial than our present existence, that one day I will look back on my 'earthly' life and see it as a pale shadow of the true life lived in heaven. But if I am going to argue that God couldn't create a pain-free earth, then how can I argue for a pain-free heaven?

And here's the recently discovered solution: There will be no procreation in heaven. It is earth which gives birth to that mysterious mix of mind, body and spirit which we call a human being. Heaven is the place where human life can flourish in all its fullness, but it is not the cradle of such life.

Let me use an illustration. The life of a plant is largely lived in an environment called 'above ground'. Here is where you see the plant grow and flourish and reach its full potential. But that life germinates in a dark gloomy place called 'underground'. Life begins in one place and flourishes in another. It may be necessary for the birthing-place to have some unpleasant aspects, but the living space can be trouble-free.

And if you think this is all mere fanciful speculation to set my mind at rest, I refer you to 1 Corinthians 15:35-49

"When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed. ... The splendour of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendour of the earthly bodies is another. ... It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body."

"Get It Right" Prompts

I am halfway through a two-day "Global Leadership Summit" presented by Willow Creek. The opening session was about the process of decision making. There are four traditional guides to making a decision: What does the Bible say? What do others advise? What does past experience teach? Which way is the Spirit prompting? But Bill Hybels suggested going one stage further and coming up with 'axioms' which distil all the above into a nugget of wisdom. By way of example he quoted Abraham Lincoln - "The best way to defeat my enemy is to make him my friend." This is in keeping with the four traditional guides but is a shortcut to making the right decision.

I have a love-hate relationship with pithy sayings like this. Wisdom and truth can't always be so easily captured. There seems to be something simplistic and tacky about (for example) all the advice offered in the Baz Luhrmann single which begins "wear sunscreen...". On the other hand I sometimes find such nuggets of wisdom intriguing, interesting and even inspiring.

[later... the conference is now finished] It occurs to me that

• a) If a short saying is crafted from a careful consideration of the four traditional guides, it is not going to be trite or glib.
• b) If a short saying is not merely a repetition of someone else's wisdom but a distillation of ideas which have come out of my own particular context and are in keeping with my own particular personality, then it is going to be of some worth.
• c) If I were to think of such short nuggets not as 'wisdom' in themselves but as mere reminders of a more thoroughly developed issue, then there is less danger of oversimplifying.
• d) It is not just for guidance in making decisions that these pithy reminders will be useful for, but in many other aspects of life as I seek to live it in the way Jesus has given it - "to the full".
• e) I have plenty of ideas and inspirations arising from the Global Leadership Summit which will be lost if they are not captured somehow - say, in a computer document listing my "full life reminders" each followed by explanatory notes.
• f) Such a document will be a useful repository of future ideas and inspiration too.
• g) As I come up with meaningful and workable FLRs I can post them on this blog.
• h) I wonder if there is a catchier name for them? - and the answer is yes. Weeks later I have come up with GIRPs - a longer acronym but it can be pronounced more easily. It stands for “Get it right” prompts.
  

Not Taken

One of the many blessings I wish to place on record is that I am not like the character played by Liam Neeson in the film Taken. His attitude towards his teenage daughter was one of paranoid overprotection. By contrast I think I have a good relationship with my daughter - bearing in mind that fathers and teenagers are often not the easiest combination. Of course we have our disagreements and she can find me embarrassing in public, but we have fallen into a small ritual which really cheers me up: If we happen to pass each other as I am returning home from the paper shop and she is on her way to school, then despite the public setting and the dozens of commuters and other teenagers, we always acknowledge each other with a shoulder-height 'high five'. No words are spoken and often no eye contact is made (she is trying to catch me unprepared), but we've been doing this for years and I still appreciate it.

A second blessing is that my daughter has more than once travelled through Paris with a teenage friend and neither of them have been abducted by criminals and sold as slaves to rich foreigners.

The Bible comes to life

The Bible is a book that some enthuse over because it speaks to them on a regular basis. It seems to me that one's relationship with the Bible is dependant in large part on what mood you are in as you read. Today I was in a very receptive mood. And for the first time in yonks verses have been leaping off the page and addressing my precise situation.

For example, ever since I began this blog I have been trying to engage with the questions raised by Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion. Some of my responses are recorded in the blog. Though I have come up with counter-arguments which are more-or-less logical, none of them are watertight, and I have not been able to shake off a tiny niggling doubt - "What if Dawkins is right?" Today God gave me a command which I intend to follow. In the words of Colossians 2:8...

See to it that no-one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human traditioin and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

The Lord taketh away

It was several years ago that the Lord gaveth. We were amongst the millions who benefited from the demutualisation of the Bradford and Bingley building society. We were suddenly shareholders. In recent times with share prices plummeting I have not been worried. Our assorted shares are long term investments and I don't mind if they are worth less now providing that their value increases again some time in the future. Unfortunately the news of the nationalisation of the said building society means the shares are not so much worth less as worthless.

I can't complain. We've been receiving small dividends over the years from these shares. We didn't earn them in the first place, they were a free gift out of nowhere. And now they're gone again. That's life. The one thing I need to do to maintain my calm composure is never to calculate how much money we would have received if we had sold the shares before all these financial problems began.

A cure for boredom

I've just returned from our annual Street Pastors commissioning service. The attendance was low and we only commissioned one person - unlike two years ago when the whole team was commissioned. (Here is a photo of us when we first set out onto the streets.)

But several elements of the service hit home to me. One was when Les Isaac, tonight's preacher and one of the key people behind the Street Pastor movement, said that sometimes his Christian life had been boring. "Tell me about it," I said to myself. The same routine, the same concerns, the same frustrations, the same endless efforts to get on top of paperwork, the same guilt about the amount of time I spend on trivia. But the good news is that it doesn't have to be like that.

I was excited by two things. One is that Jesus is clearly at work calling people (even if only one) to continue this vital ministry. I had a sense in the service of the bigger picture. There is a kingdom in which Jesus is the Lord, and although I am part of it, his work doesn't depend exclusively on me. Another exciting moment was the realisation that my call is to love people. Obvious I know. Trite I know. But it hit home with renewed force. I am actually blessed in having lots of opportunities to love people - through Street Pastors, through family life, through Methodist ministry. These opportunities should fill me with excitement. And as of now, they do.

On the way home I was listening to the album Leftoverture by Kansas. The music was perfect for my upbeat mood. And given my keenness to make a difference in people's lives, the following words seemed especially germane.


But there's too many empty lives my friend
And we just can't let them waste away.
For this life is a precious thing my friend
And we just can't wait another day.

Treating children like mini adults

One of the concerns raised at the school governors meeting last night was the way parents talked in the presence of their children. Either the subject matter or the foul language was sometimes hugely inappropriate for children under 10. The parents at the meeting were more passionate about this than I was. Partly because I don't hang around the school gates to hear what is being said, but partly because of my easy-going approach to life. On reflection this is a case for getting steamed up.

Children are not adults. They shouldn't be subjected to the full range of sex, violence and bad language that I seem to take in my stride these days. If they grow up in a household where such things are normal and not hidden, then no wonder they act and speak the same themselves.

Our church is in the process of appointing a family worker. The above thoughts remind me of the vital reasons behind this appointment. It is not to make the existing congregation feel better because the age profile of the church is lowered. It is not even to ensure a future for our particular church. It is because the church has something to offer to families and to growing children. We have a message to share and an example to show which will make a difference to people's lives, especially during those formative years.

When is a door not a door?

When it's a jar.

This was one of the first riddles I ever heard way back when I was a little bitty boy. It comes to mind because we found this morning that our front door had been left slightly ajar all night. (I know who was the last person home last night, but I'm not naming names.)

Fortunately the dog didn't exit and no burglar entered. Thanks be to God! Why thank God? Well, I wouldn't go as far as to say that God sent an angel to stand guard and keep the eyes of any villainous passers-by from noticing the ajarness of the door. But neither do I believe that God himself didn't notice and wasn't interested. God provides for our needs in a whole range of ways, and most often by gentle subtlety rather than by dramatic intervention. Maybe one day a slip up like this will have bad consequences and I will have to say "thank you, God, for teaching us we need to be more careful" but as far as last night goes - "Thank you, God, for your protection and for keeping us safe."

Getting high on God

I've just read the last verse of the first letter of John - "Precious children, don't get high on anything but God". This is how Rob Lacey puts it in his Street Bible. It may be a very loose translation of the NIV "Dear children, keep yourself from idols", but something about it hit home.

I have no fears on one score. I don't get high on non-God things. My trouble is that I don't get high on God either. I just don't get high full stop. I'm happy enough. I enjoy life. In fact I have a really good life for which I am jolly grateful. But where's the buzz? Where are those moments of being caught up into seventh heaven which I recall from my youth?

Perhaps it's just middle-age. Perhaps it's having settled into a routine with no major challenges or expectations. Perhaps I'm making a fuss about nothing. Yes, that seems the most likely. Now I think of it there are still moments when I'm swept away by the beauty of creation, or the marvels of science, or the intimacy of a loving wife - and all these things are gifts of God. Perhaps my whole life is lived so far above sea level that being on a high is relatively normal for me. Now that the mists have cleared, I think I can see a few peaks ahead of me even on today's journey let alone further in the future. Onwards and upwards!

• OUTCOME: No moments of intense joy but plenty of warm satisfaction. Being able to listen to a colleague share his troubles gave me the sense of being in the right place at the right time. It also underlined my gratitude for God's many blessings.

Too much guilt?

Whilst taking a breather after mowing the lawn, the random shuffle on my MP3 player brought up a song by Paul Field, Time and time again, which I think was intended to be used as a prayer of confession. It certainly summed up my mood of the moment - a realisation that "time and time again I'm a stranger to your love; time and time again I'm just not strong enough." One of the reasons we keep having to confess our sins is that we keep falling short of God's hopes for us and our hopes for ourselves.

Then the thought struck me: Should I therefore be resigned to a perpetual sense of failure and guilt? I know the gospel is all about forgiveness. I know that Jesus welcomes us in our brokenness. I know that we are set free from sin and guilt. I know that we are not perfect and keep making the same mistakes over and over. I know we should be relying on God's strength rather than our own. I know humility is a virtue. But.

But is constantly falling over and being picked up again the best I can look forward to? Is that what Jesus meant when he said he had come so we could have life to the full? The whole point of being forgiven is that I can go through life with head held high and heart brimming with joy. Issues of sin and guilt are bound to appear from time to time, but they ought to be dealt with quickly and thoroughly. They should not be my constant companions.

So what if my old familiar faults have caught me out yet again. They are forgiven. They have no hold on me. Life is good. God is great. I should be celebrating the fruits of the Spirit, not bemoaning the occasional persistent weed.

Ordination celebrations

Last Sunday I had the privilege of laying a hand (along with the president of the Methodist conference and a bishop from Cuba) on the head of a friend and colleague as she was ordained into the Methodist ministry. The day had several memorable moments - rainbow flags leading the procession into conference; hymns introduced by a precentor and sung unaccompanied; the wonderfully worded motion to receive the ordinands, which included the number reference of the motion and the page number of the conference agenda (only Methodists could incorporate such precise details into such a solemn moment!); the coachload of visitors from my previous church who were co-incidentally there to see their current minister ordained; the applause for the newly ordained ministers which went on and on, and some of their faces as they struggled not to cry; meetings with old friends, including a fellow minister whom I have not seen since we were undergraduate students together in Durham - to name but a few.

Last night our circuit had its own celebration, including an uplifting testimony from the new minister and a simple but moving address from the guest preacher. Both these occasions have reminded me of my own call to ministry - and to some extent shamed me into the realisation of how lightly I treat my call. I enjoy life, yes. I am friendly to those I meet, yes. I get the essentials of ministry done (even if at the last minute), yes. But where is the passion to transform lives? Where is the urge to give and not count the cost? Where is the conviction that day by day I am helping to establish the kingdom of God?

One reason for returning to this blog after a time of absence is that I need the motivation to get a grip on my life. I've been cruising along nicely for a few weeks. I've had an extended break with S (visiting friends before, and family after the day of ordination). I've had a relatively busy time with meetings and such like to organise. I've done little pastoral work. I've let the backlog of jobs accumulate to the extent that it is horribly out of hand. I've postponed the really important issues. I've not spent much time with God.

This coming week in general, and today in particular, is a gift from God. I have no evening meetings. The only urgent things I am aware of are next week's services and putting together the first preaching plan of our new circuit. Therefore I will have time to tackle that vital category of 'important but not urgent'. But today I have one simple ambition - to seize control of my workload. If I can reach teatime with a clear desk, two empty intrays (physical and email) and a realistic list of future actions, then I shall be a deliriously happy bunny.

• Outcome: YES. My list of jobs to do is as long as ever, but at least I have a clear and well-ordered space (if you don't look at the piles of stuff on the study floor) in which to work.

How to frighten your family

Yesterday's parade service was very well-received by the congregation. The leaders told me that they didn't have to stop the children fidgeting. The adults enjoyed it. Lots of people were involved. The guides and brownies performed a lovely song. No-one complained that it overran the hour.

The only criticism I had was from my wife and daughter. They knew what most didn't - that the bread bin I had brought out contained a hamster. So they thought I was being way too reckless leaving it balanced on the communion rail whilst hordes of children milled around. I was actually being very careful, but they spent ten minutes worried sick about the danger to the poor creature. They were much relieved when I finally opened the bread bin to reveal a safe and healthy hamster.