Friday, August 21, 2009

connecT looks at the Shack

During September 'connecT' looks at William P Young's, popular, book, 'The Shack'. 'connecT' meets every Sunday @ 5.30pm @ St. Jude's Church, 444 Brighton Rd, Brighton, South Australia. 'connecT' is an informal service committed to shared worship, dialogue and community. Our tag - relevant, informal, faithful.

Chris

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Grumpy God Judge

Last week at connecT we looked at the parable of the 'widow and the judge'(Luke 18). At first glance it looks like God is a grumpy old man who won't give us what we want until we annoy hm enough. That is until Shelley - one of our worship leaders - reminded us that the judge is an example of what God is not like. Makes sense, especially in the light of the other parables in Luke, like the 'prodigal son'.

But I wonder how many of us have a grumpy God judge? Christianity has often used that image to compel people to do what it wants or to convert by fear. It doesn't seem to fit with Jesus as God's 'human face' and square with his ministry with the outcast, sinful and poor.

The parable of the 'widow and the judge' reminds us of persistence in prayer. Working at it helps us to grow closer to Jesus and perhaps, learn more from him and to be like him. Its been about 30 years since I became a Christian and I'm still learning and growing, and loving it!. I'd like to think that's persistence with a gracious God not a grumpy judge. Maybe, persistence in prayer softens the grumpy God judge that seems to live in so many of us; and sometimes even in me!

Chris

Monday, August 3, 2009

What's in a name?

Recently, I read of a dispute over names - emerging vs emergent. Apparently, there is a difference; but does the difference really matter all that much? My understanding of emergent(ing) movement is that we are trying to listen to, and respond, to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. We are keeping our ear to the ground, and to the wind, to get a sense of where God is moving in the world, and what our response should be. There is bound to be some difference of opinion in that!

For what its worth, I like 'emerging'. It reminds us that we are not quite there yet and never will be. The church is always on a journey and when, we think, we have arrived, it only means we are ready to 'pilgrim' again. Disputes over words and labels are not really that important. Apostle Paul had something to say about that. Which leads me to connecT.

This week we had a look at the conflict between Euodia and Syntyche in Philippian 4. Paul's love for both reminds us of our God created uniqueness which, in turn, will cause the occasional conflict with others. Paul's advice, think like Jesus (Phil 2).

Chris