I couldn't sleep the other night...

I've been helping out at a Bible Study in town since I came back to uni, which has been an amazing thing to be involved in, with 99% of those that come being marginalised from society in some way or other. One guy who came recently is living in Julian House (JH) currently, and after seeing him in town a couple of times in the week I was disappointed to not see him on Wednesday night. On the way home I decided to pay a visit to JH and see if he was there, and we had a chat. C is a really great guy, and you wouldn't think to look at and speak to him that he was 'on the streets'. We spoke for a while and then I left, saying I'd see him soon.

As I was leaving I spoke briefly to those sitting on the steps of Manvers Street Baptist Church, above JH. I found this really tough. Many of these people, probably between their late 30s and early 50s, were acting as though they were in their late teens, and, well, they just seemed pretty messed up. Just as I was about to leave though, I could see that one of the guys was practically (if not actually) out cold. I didn't now what to do, but, with them close to JH, and having said a word to one of the others to make sure he was alright, I left them.

On the way home thought I kept thinking "should I have stayed?", "should I go back - pray with them, chat with them, call an ambulance?". I got home and was going to bed, and really felt as though I should go back. You start to think, is that me thinking this or is God speaking to me? I think I would have gone if I hadn't had to be up early, although at the back of my mind I was thinking God'd give me the strength to get through the day.

I wrestled with it and was going to go, but didn't in the end, but I just couldn't sleep for more than 30 mins or so at a time. I don't think I felt particularly guilty, which made me think maybe it was God speaking to me, but, I dunno, I just didn't go.

It brought up two things in my mind.

Firstly, I still don't appear to be getting any better at hearing God's voice, mainly because my prayer life is pretty rubbish, and that I seem to pray more when I'm down or need things - not a good way to build any relationship!

Secondly though, it reminded me of the reason why I started this blog. You see I went to bed thinking about the prayer meeting I would lead in the morning, having in my mind Psalm 23. What a beautiful Psalm about God's protection for his children, for his flock, that he gives us peace. But as I lay in my bed, squirming at whether I was making the right choice, this didn't seem to be the picture I had. Instead I thought of Luke 9:23-24, and taking up my cross. I didn't feel particularly peaceful, and there seemed to be a tension between these two passages. But the more I thought about it the more I realised that to have the peace from Psalm 23 you need to have the commitment of Luke 9:23-24. And as I type now, I'm realising that to have the strength to do what is asked in Luke 9:23-24 we need the the protection, comfort and unfailing love of Psalm 23, as we carry our crosses through the darkest valleys.

If we expect following God to be just 'Psalm 23' we'll be too comfortable and when trials come along we'll be unprepared. But nor can we just look at the Luke passage, and expect our lives to be a joyless struggle as we follow Him.

We pick up our crosses and we follow him, safe in the knowledge that he is our Shepherd, the Shepherd who will never let one sheep go astray.

Culture Clash: Christianity and the West

Over the last year or so, as I've delved further into the Bible, the Church and the World, there've been many occasions when I've been left disillusioned about it all. Of course, I expect to be disappointed by the world as the world has a different master, but almost as often I have been left despairing about the Church, believers, and how their actions measure up against the Bible. I'm not talking about people slipping up, about having good intentions but getting it wrong, I'm talking about systematic institutions, actions and beliefs of Christians and Churches that seem to be in stark contrast to 'Biblical Christianity'.

It frustrates me how modern-day Christians can read through the Bible and mock individuals and nations for how they acted, looking down on them and making them out to be stupid, whilst sitting on their high horse. "How can you worship statues when God has shown himself so magnificently?" they say; "How can you think it is fine to sleep around and to not uphold the sanctity of marriage" think others; "How can you reject what Jesus has done and think circumcision and all the other laws are still necessary" scoffs someone else, as they open their copy of the Daily Mail, nodding in agreement with their victimisation of the poor, the alien and the downtrodden.

Somewhere along the line, Christians' beliefs as citizens of heaven have become merged with the beliefs of citizens of the UK and The West. In this series I'll try to dissect what I see as some of the manifestations of this culture clash (or more accurately the seeming lack of culture clash...) - feel free to tell me whether you think I'm right or wrong!

"May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

The title of this entry is a passage that has really spoken to me ever since I read how it is the one prayer that Jesus prayed that has yet to be answered.

I have at the same time been made aware of an intriguing situation in the Middle East, whereby six different denominations share the same building, The Holy Sepulchre, traditionally recognised as the place of Christ's crucifixion (no idea how true this is). A great story so far, but not when you consider that the reason I have heard about them is the continual rows and bickering amongst them. Most recently police had to separate Greek Orthodox and Armenian monks who were arguing about the Greeks' monk being placed in the shrine during an Armenian holy week.

Is this the face of Christianity to the world? People obsessed with ritual, about what goes here and who goes there, when and where they do things, even to the extent that the second-greatest commandment - to love others as themselves - goes straight out the window. Looking at the scenes, and what caused them, I doubt the first commandment to love the Lord their God is number one on their priority list either.

The passage this entry's title comes from is paraphrased by 'The Message' as:
The same glory you gave me [Christ], I gave them [those that follow Christ after his death], so they'll be as unified and together as we are — I in them and you [God the Father] in me. Then they'll be mature in this oneness, and give the godless world evidence that you've sent me and loved them in the same way you've loved me.

Any sensible person would look at the rows of these people and think "these Christians can't even agree with themselves - do I want to be a part of this arrogant, selfish religion?". How can you say to a non-believer that God loves them if your actions don't demonstrate this. Tellingly, and actually rather amusingly (if I didn't laugh I'd cry), the key to that building is owned by two Muslim families.

But it's easy to point the finger. I've heard so many Christians keen to stress their particular theology, to stick to their 'untouchables', placing their distinctiveness over the Church's unity. Often I want to do things my way, and if someone wants to do something their way they can do it, but not with my support.

If this Church, God's Church, the bride of Christ, is to be effective in communicating the love God has for the unsaved in this world, it must be united, trusting in the truth and love of Jesus Christ.

After all Jesus only has one bride. He is not a polygamist.

What are they searching for and what's the answer they need?

I've just found one of the lab applications on Google called Google Trends. On it you can search terms to see how their popularity has changed over time and in different cities.

Having a look at 'God' there appears to be an upward trend in news articles. Also interesting is which countries have the greatest number of searches. The US up there at number 2 isn't a surprise, neither too is Australia at 3, given, amongst over things, the popularity of Christian music in the general charts. More surprising is number 4, India, and even more so the fact the number 1 is the Philippines.

What do these (admitadely limited) results demonstrate? That more and more people are interested in Christianity? That more and more people want to hear about the good news of Jesus Christ? Well a similar search for the term 'Jesus' has slightly different results. There's still an increasing trend, but it's not as pronounced. Similarly whilst Philippines are still there, India has disappeared, whilst the South American nations have made an appearance. Comparing the two makes for interesting viewing too. Peru, for example, doesn't seem to care about God, but in comparison is positively intrigued by Jesus, and a similar result is observed for the South American (predominantly Catholic) nations. Most of the other nations though, whether it be the West or nations such as India, are 'searching for God' but not for 'Jesus'.

Maybe then, whilst God is increasingly on the agenda, along with spirituality more generally, people are not necessarily turning to the Christianity for answers to their questions. Whether it be the (often accurate) negative impression of Christianity presented to many (wagging fingers rather than open arms), whether it be a lack of willingness to admit someone else is right, perhaps a longing to discover something intimate rather than something of empty ritual believing in a distant, aloof God who doesn't bother to show himself, it is clear (not just from these results) that people don't see Christ as an answer to their 'spiritual' questions.

As a Christian, in this age where people are reaching out, my job is to be honest to be open, not to condemn, only to come alongside individuals and love them, pointing to my Saviour and the man, the God I believe to be their Saviour.

A nice letter

A letter from a man who is turning his life around.

Another interesting article from the presidential election

Obama and McCain switch race in poster campaign encouraging voters to focus on the issues, not skin colour.

A 'black' day in the news

The main three stories of last night's news made for interesting viewing:
1) Lewis Hamilton becoming the youngest and only ever black Formula One World Champion.
2) Barack Obama potentially being 36 hours away from becoming the most powerful man in the world, and the first ever black man to hold this position.
3) Conflict in DR Congo and the great damage to many civilians' lives.

Each story focused on a person or group of people of black ancestry, something which they could not decide, but each with difference consequences. For the people of DR Congo, of course the colour of their skin is not an explanation for the violence by any means, but it is representative of how the plight of a people can be dependent on where they are born, not decisions they have made. For whatever reason this conflict started, it is clear that the, predominantly black, civilians of this nation are to feel the worst of this unrest, with none of it their fault.

Looking at the other two stories, we see two men for which the issue of race, whilst by no means key, is obviously a factor.

A few days prior to the final race, Lewis Hamilton was subject to racist abuse on a Spanish website, and in the run-up to the race the fact that there's never been a black champion was repeatedly mentioned.

Then for Barack Obama, the fact he is of African-American descent is inescapable. This has lead to concerns that the polls may be misrepresented with people lying to avoid looking racist - he may end up with less votes than the polls suggest. However, there is also a sense that more African-Americans will vote than usually would, as they wish to elect Obama, who they feel will represent them better than previous candidates.

Whatever the reasons, it looks clear that Obama will win, and as the Guardian picks up, this could be 'a great week in black history'.

The thing that really struck me though is that, although I don't like it when sports stories, or other things of minimal importance, are the first thing on the news, Lewis Hamilton's story highlighted something brilliant. No longer do we need to see a situation where black individuals are discriminated against for their skin colour, nor where people are looked upon favourably because of the previous experiences of blacks. Rather, the man who is the best driver in the world, and just so happens to be black, can claim the title to prove he is the best, and no one can take that away from him.