Saying Goodbye

Quite a lot has happened since my last post on the 19th...

One of the things that many people do as we get to the end of the year is to look back and then look forward and to make New Year resolutions, or plans, or write a list of things they would like to do in the coming year. We ask, “where would we like to be in a year's time?”

This time last year I never imagined that by the end of 2013 we would be moving house and saying 'goodbye' to the church where we had spent the past 10 years and 4 months. The idea of moving was simply not on my radar. We were part of a church that we loved and who loved us, we were making good links into the local community, the girls loved going to the local school... In my head I saw myself there for a lot longer yet.

But back in March I woke up one morning knowing that it was time to go. It was as if God had simply switched a switch in my head – and that was it. Of course we talked about it and prayed about it and then I entered into the Settlement Process.

This is the process that the Baptist Union uses to connect ministers looking for churches with churches looking for ministers – and because it is a process with several stages it is itself a part of the discerning process – is this really what God is saying?

Knowing it is time to go is one thing – knowing where to go is quite another – but God has been guiding us.

And so, just a few days before Christmas, the removal van turned up outside our house and all our worldly possessions were loaded into the back of a lorry (and a small van). It's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in ten years – especially if you have three children during that time.

And then a few hours later everything was unloaded into our new house and we were joined by a team of volunteers from our new church who helped unpack boxes and assemble flat packed furniture.

We travelled back to Edgware for the Carol Service, and Christmas Day and then yesterday was our last Sunday in Edgware.

When you've shared your lives in a church for over ten years saying goodbye is never going to be easy. We came as two and leave as five. Those of you who know us personally and know the church will know that during those ten years there have been some great times, but there have also been some really challenging and testing times. And looking back I would say that it is the fact that we walked together at the lowest points that has made our relationships what they are – and therefore make saying 'Goodbye' that much harder.

As we leave Camrose we do so with many many happy memories. And 'Thank You' seems so inadequate – but we want to thank God for His faithfulness over the last ten years. We also want to thank the church for allowing us to be a part of your lives and for being a part of ours. Thank you for all the things that were said yesterday – and the things that were un-said – at least in words but were said in hugs and tears. Thank you for your love and support and friendship. You will always have a very special place in our hearts.

But now it is time for a new chapter to begin...

What is Advent?

Why I need a new dining table

It's not everyday you go to a day of theology and come away thinking you need a new dining table...

…but today I want to return to BMS Catalyst Live and tell you about Miranda Harris' contribution. Miranda is involved in conservation work through A Rocha and talked about community. As with John Lennox's talk there was just so much great material so here are just a couple of thoughts.

Miranda was talking about her experiences of what it means to be in community. One of the things that she said which struck me was, that if Christ is in us, then as people get to know us as we really are then they will eventually meet Jesus.

This got me thinking...so often it is the 'as we really are' bit of that that we don't like the sound of. Therefore we always try to keep people at a distance, but this affects community.

Miranda then gave four pointers in building community.

1) More eating than meetings - hence the need for a new dining table - the biggest one you can afford.
2) More listening than talking.
3) More failure than success.
4) More wonder than worry.

You can listen to Miranda's talk here.


Catalyst Live, Miranda Harris, Reading, November 2013 from BMS World Mission on Vimeo.


Miranda, and her husband set up A Rocha's first field study centre in Portugal in 1983. A Rocha is an international Christian organisation which, inspired by God's love, engages in scientific research, environmental education and community-based conservation projects (to quote from their website).

Silent Night

Be prepared to give an answer for your hope

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of attending Catalyst Live in Reading - an event organised by BMS World Mission. This was a chance to simply sit and listen to some great inspirational speakers; to have our minds stretched; to be encouraged and challenged.

The first speaker of the day was John Lennox, a professor of mathematics, at Oxford University. 

I guess there are quite a lot of people who would be surprised to discover that a professor of mathematics at Oxford would be a Christian and speaking publicly about his faith. But I suppose that just goes to show how far we've bought into the idea that faith and science are mutually exclusive; that faith and the rational mind are opposed to each other.

If you ever get the chance to go and hear John Lennox - do it. He is brilliant to listen to. I can't possible hope to do justice to the content of his talk here. He touched on so much. 

His talk was addressing the question 'Should Christians fear science and the new atheism?' You know - people like Richard Dawkins and his book 'The God Delusion'. Lennox's answer to this question is a resounding 'No'. Instead of fear or shame we need to be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have (see 1 Peter 3:15).

Just one snippet to whet your appetite. In the modern world we put such authority and trust in science - in the rational mind. Yet, if you ask the atheist, 'what is the mind?' they will talk about the brain. But what is the brain? It is the product of evolution - the product of a mindless and random process. So, if the mind is the product of a mindless process, why do we trust it? If this is what the mind is can it be reliable or trustworthy? So we find the intellectual theories actually ultimately undermine the minds and rationality that made them.

But, that's enough from me - why not listen for yourself.


Catalyst Live, John Lennox, November 2013 Reading from BMS World Mission on Vimeo.

Vulnerable

Discussing apartheid with a six year old

Like many school children in this country during October (Black History Month) our three daughters heard about, wrote about, read about and talked about people like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali. They listened to the 'I have a dream' speech and they wrote their own speeches...

Several weeks later our six year old was walking past the book case in our bedroom and caught a glimpse of Mandela's autobiography 'Long walk to Freedom' - in particular she recognised his photo and asked if that was Nelson Mandela's picture. She told us what she had learnt and was interested to hear about our visit to Robben Island and the actual prison cell where he had been kept for so many years.

Today on the way to school I told her that Nelson Mandela had died last night. "Was he the man who gave the speech?" "No, you're thinking of Martin Luther King - although Nelson Mandela did make lots of speeches". The conversation that followed included, "what about that lady who sat on a bus, whose name began with R" [Rosa Parks] and "Muhammad Ali was a boxer who beat the other man because he was too fat but Muhammad Ali could float like a butterfly".

One of the things that I love about the girls' school is how diverse and multi-cultural it is. Our daughters struggle to imagine what racial segregation must be like. "You mean - I couldn't go to school with 'J' or 'K'? But that's not fair. Some people are so mean."

We talked about what's fair, what's right - and how sometimes you have to fight for what's right - even if the government and the police are against you - "but aren't the police supposed to help the people?" - even if that means going to prison for a long time.

"How did he die?" So we talked about how Nelson Mandela was 95 and had been ill for a while. "He did well to get into the 90s - some people don't even make it to 80."

I don't know what other Learning Objectives 'S' will have for today but I doubt any of them will be as important as some of the stuff we talked about on the walk to school this morning.

Disputing the debatable

I'm guessing that there is some dispute over what Paul means when he talks about 'disputable matters' in Romans 14. 

On Sunday we finished our morning series looking at the second half of Romans - so it is about time I caught up on here.

Reading between the lines of Romans 14 there was obviously some disagreement in the church that Paul was writing to. It may have been between those Christians from a Jewish background and those from a Gentile background - but not necessarily. And it seems as if there were those who thought that eating meat was OK and those who thought that eating meat was not right for a Christian. Maybe the issue was whether it was kosher or not; or maybe it was about meat that had been sacrificed to idols - but we don't get that much detail. But what we do know is that Paul didn't think there was anything wrong with what either group were doing - except that the attitudes of some on both sides of the argument were wrong.

For Paul there was nothing inherently sinful with eating or not eating meat. For Paul the over riding issue was their wrong attitudes, the damage that was being done to relationships within the church, and the harm that could be done to people's faith.

For Paul maintaining loving and peaceful relationships with others inside the church was much more important than who was right and who was wrong. Building others up in their faith is more important than standing on the rights and freedoms that I may have.

One question I didn't really explore on the Sunday we looked at this - which was quite a while ago now - was how do we decide what is a 'disputable matter'? From Paul's wider writing it is clear that there are times when he came down very strongly against certain types of behaviour, and warned the church to have nothing to do with people (in the church) who were behaving in a particular way. So Paul is not saying, anything goes - and get along with each other whatever. He is not saying that anything goes and you must never challenge 'wrong' behaviour.

For Paul a 'disputable matter' seems to be one where it no longer matters whether a person does or doesn't do something. And Paul's list of what no longer matters may be different to mine, which may be different to yours. The trouble is that there are no easy answers - it's not simply a case of looking up a verse in the Bible - if it was that simple then we wouldn't be disputing what is disputable.

So what do we do? I think we prayerfully wrestle with the Bible - with both sides of the disagreement. We remember that those we disagree with are people who are loved by God and we treat them accordingly - we don't see them as enemies - and we don't go out to win the argument. We make sure that our behaviour isn't damaging the faith of others or harming the reputation of the church.