Heading East

November 7, 2009 - Leave a Response

Watch the first episode of BBC4’s gripping History of Christianity.  Follow Church historian Diarmaid MacCulloch’s trek from Jerusalem to China, as he tracks the emergence of ‘Eastern Church’, the beginnings of Christian worship, encounters poets and artists who are theologians, and a Church in meaningful dialogue and exchange with Islam.

Sounds like my kind of Church.

“Perhaps”, says McCulloch, “the modern Church needs to learn from the Eastern Church’s willingness to listen…”  I couldn’t agree more.

When he was a small boy, Diarmaid MacCulloch’s parents used to drive him round historic churches. Little did they know that they had created a monster, with the history of the Christian Church becoming his life’s work.

In the first of a six-part series sweeping across four continents, Professor MacCulloch goes in search of Christianity’s forgotten origins. He overturns the familiar story that it all began when the apostle Paul took Christianity from Jerusalem to Rome. Instead, he shows that the true origins of Christianity lie further east, and that at one point it was poised to triumph in Asia, maybe even in China.

The headquarters of Christianity may well have been Baghdad not Rome, and if that had happened then western Christianity would have been very different.

Medal

November 6, 2009 - Leave a Response

I was chatting with a friend this morning about men that we know who have taken on the fatherhood of children for whom they are not the biological father.  Not only have they ‘taken on’ the fathering (or mothering) of these kids, but they have taken them into their hearts and love them as their own, which they are.

“They deserve a medal”, my friend said.  I haven’t got any medals to give, but I can dedicated this song to all the Dad’s (and Mum’s) who didn’t have to be.  The song, sung by Brad Paisley and written about his own Dad, says it all.

I thought about mentioning one or two of these guys by name, but on second thoughts these are just the kind of guys who would shy away from such a mention for all the best reasons.

You know who you are.  Bless you.

Mountain Due

November 4, 2009 - Leave a Response

album_dew_drop_on_twig

Continuing the theme of  ’worship’, here’s some more wisdom from Mountain Girl, received yesterday…

Recently I have been thinking a lot about what God says about how we worship now, in light of the New Testament, in light of Jesus.

The well known verse that stands out to me, is from John’s Gospel.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. (Jesus)

It is in the context of the Story of a Samaritan woman, looking for water. Jesus starts to talk about thirst, and explains that water from Him, the water of life, will eternally satisfy thirst (spiritual thirst) – this is to explain to the woman who he is. The source of life.

The key words for me are Spirit, Truth and Worship.

To worship God is to love, and to adore, to bow to and to give honour to him. To recognise and acknowledge God.

The spirit enables us to be aware of God, to wake up to the reality of God amongst us, to recognise Jesus as one sent from God. Without the work of the spirit we cannot know God, or love him.

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

The truth is Jesus: he is the embodiment of truth, to know what is truth we look at him, how he loved people, his character and his actions and how he spoke of God his Father.

How does this fit in with our coming together on a Sunday with musical offerings of song, which we call “ worship”?

Unless we sing, or play our instruments, or clap along, or dance, or speak with the spirit and the truth, we are not worshipping…??

Equally this state of worship, is nothing to do with the songs and the singing. However singing and music are great ways to express our love and adoration to God.

Can I just say, that this is not to be understood as just a feeling. This is more than whether we feel like giving adoration. But that is another topic….

So, my hope is to try to understand more, how this can be applied to our gatherings and how we together stand and worship Jesus at our Sunday meetings.

I also find this exciting, because it means we have a lot more we could explore, in terms of what we do as we worship God together. Already we know, that when we give financially, that can be an act of worship. When we listen to the sermon, that is also part of worship. Its so important that when we label something we do as “worship” we try to remember that it does not always mean the music!

I am thankful for music, however. Because music is such a great way to express our hearts, souls and minds all at once and I think that is why music has always been part of coming together as a community of people who love God.  Music brings people together, and unites us, as we all sing together the same words, with the same heart. The old testament is full of praise with singing, musical instruments, and story. Temples were rich with design and craft, as a way to give Glory to God. People danced and shouted and sung of the greatness of God. So I hope to continue in that tradition, with the idea that music, song, dancing and creativity are good and help us to give praise to God as a community of people  as we meet together. All the same, they are just tools that help us praise, for our true worship comes from our hearts. 
 

Reprinted from the Zurich Vineyard Church Magazine with kind permission

The Impossible (Joe Nichols)

November 3, 2009 - One Response

So don’t tell me that it’s over
Don’t give up on you and me
‘Cause there’s no such thing as hopeless
If you believe:

Unsinkable ships, sink
Unbreakable walls, break
Sometimes the things you think would never happen
Happen just like that
Unbendable steel, bends
If the fury of the wind is unstoppable
I’ve learned to never underestimate
The impossible

Hims: Still haven’t found (U2)

November 1, 2009 - Leave a Response

“So much more to ask of You, and ourselves…” (Bono)

I still haven’t found what I’m looking for is a gospel song for a restless spirit.” (Bono)

A Hymn for All Saints Day (‘all the colours bleed into One), at the Church without Walls…

“Take me to Church…”

I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colours will bleed into one
But yes I’m still running
You broke the bonds
You loosed the chains
You carried the cross
And my shame
You took the blame
You know I believe it
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for

No Question

October 31, 2009 - Leave a Response

Re :: membering

October 30, 2009 - Leave a Response
A Season for Remembering
Autumn is a season for reflecting and remembering.  The skies are darkening, the nights are drawing in, and the trees are losing their leaves.  Creation is winding-down in preparation for the winter.  Autumn lends itself to quiet reflection, a spiritual as well as a physical hibernation.  As the year draws to a close, we look back on the passing months and reflect upon what it is they have brought us, both the good and the not-so-good.
Our Pagan forebears understood this, celebrating as they did the Festival of Samhain (meaning ’summer’s end’), which incorporated both elements of the traditional harvest celebration and a time of remembering those who had crossed over the threshold from this life to the next.  Early Celtic Christianity undoubtedly incorporated these themes and truths into their own calendar, from which came both the Harvest Festival and the Feast of All Saints.
Sunday 1st November is the Feast of All Saints, or All Hallows, preceded by Halloween (All Hallows Eve – October 31st) and followed directly by the Feast of All Souls’ on November 2nd.  There are various interpretations ass to the meaning behind these festivals.  Each Church denomination has a different slant, yet all would agree that it is a time for remembering and celebrating those who in Christ have passed on into glory.  Hence, all the saints, with a small ‘c’.  Some churches also use this time to remember those among their number and in the wider community who have passed away during the preceding year.  This chimes in with the autumnal theme of seeding, and reminds us of Jesus’ words, “…I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ” (John 12: 24).
The following Sunday is Remembrance Sunday, a modern invention, lying as it does on the second Sunday in November, the nearest to Remembrance Day, November 11th, marking the end of hostilities in the First World War.  This year saw the death at 111 years of Harry Patch, the last surviving British veteran of the killing fields of Ypres and Passchendaele.  My own father visited the sites of these great battles very shortly after the First War, sending letters home to his mother, my grandmother, detailing the horrors he saw there in its aftermath.
‘Never again’ we said, yet the harsh fact remains that whilst today we live in relative peace here in Britain, wars rage across the globe, two of which involve our own armed forces.  Whatever our views on the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq (and these will be varied across the Winchcombe Team), Remembrance Sunday is a time for bringing to mind and before God in prayer all who have given their lives in the service of this our nation, both in the more distant past as well as in recent years and months.  As I write the death count for UK military personnel lost in Afghanistan stands at 221, and in Iraq 179.  On Remembrance Sunday we mourn the loss of these men and women, as we do those who have given their lives in former conflicts.
An Act of Remembrance is an act of love.  Jesus calls us to not only to love our own – our brothers and sisters, our countryfolk, neighbours and allies – but also to love our enemies.  “Love your enemies”, He says.  On Remembrance Sunday we remember before God both friend and foe, asking God to help us to ‘forgive those who trespass against us’, remembering as we do that Jesus laid down his life for all of us, British, American, Iraqi, Afghani, Israeli, Palestinian, Iranian, Muslim, Christian, and Jew.
Revd. Keith Hitchman
Team Vicar (seconded), The Winchcombe Team of Churches

poppy

Autumn is a season for reflecting and remembering.  The skies are darkening, the nights are drawing in, and the trees are losing their leaves.  Creation is winding-down in preparation for the winter.  Autumn lends itself to quiet reflection, a spiritual as well as a physical hibernation.  As the year draws to a close, we look back on the passing months and reflect upon what it is they have brought us, both the good and the not-so-good.

Our Pagan forebears understood this, celebrating as they did the Festival of Samhain (meaning ’summer’s end’), which incorporated both elements of the traditional harvest celebration and a time of remembering those who had crossed over the threshold from this life to the next.  Early Celtic Christianity undoubtedly incorporated these themes and truths into their own calendar, from which came both the Harvest Festival and the Feast of All Saints.

Sunday 1st November is the Feast of All Saints, or All Hallows, preceded by Halloween (All Hallows Eve – October 31st) and followed directly by the Feast of All Souls’ on November 2nd.  There are various interpretations as to the meaning behind these festivals.  Each Church denomination has a different slant, yet all would agree that it is a time for remembering and celebrating those who in Christ have passed on into glory.  Hence, all the saints, with a small ‘c’.  Some churches also use this time to remember those among their number and in the wider community who have passed away during the preceding year.  This chimes in with the autumnal theme of seeding, and reminds us of Jesus’ words:

“…I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ” (John 12: 24).

The following Sunday is Remembrance Sunday, a modern invention, lying as it does on the second Sunday in November, the nearest to Remembrance Day, November 11th, marking the end of hostilities in the First World War.  This year saw the death at 111 years of Harry Patch, the last surviving British veteran of the killing fields of Ypres and Passchendaele.  My own father visited the sites of these great battles very shortly after the First War, sending letters home to his mother, my grandmother, detailing the horrors he saw there in its aftermath.

‘Never again’ we said, yet the harsh fact remains that whilst today we live in relative peace here in Britain, wars rage across the globe, two of which involve our own armed forces.  Whatever our views on the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq (and these will be varied across the Winchcombe Team), Remembrance Sunday is a time for bringing to mind and before God in prayer all who have given their lives in the service of this our nation, both in the more distant past as well as in recent years and months.  As I write the death count for UK military personnel lost in Afghanistan stands at 221, and in Iraq 179.  On Remembrance Sunday we mourn the loss of these men and women, as we do those who have given their lives in former conflicts.

An Act of Remembrance is an act of love.  Jesus calls us to not only to love our own – our brothers and sisters, our countryfolk, neighbours and allies – but also to love our enemies.  “Love your enemies”, He says.  On Remembrance Sunday we remember before God both friend and foe, asking God to help us to ‘forgive those who trespass against us’, remembering as we do that Jesus laid down his life for all of us, British, American, Iraqi, Afghani, Israeli, Palestinian, Iranian, Muslim, Christian, and Jew.

Reprinted from Winchcombe Team Parish Magazine, November 09

Church without walls

October 29, 2009 - 3 Responses

“A church without walls,” I said to the Rev,
Who purchased my burger, some fries, and a coke …

It must have been winter some several years back;
I was out on a lunch date with dear Pastor Jack.
His dream was quite big, and kind were his lips
When he asked me this question between thoughtful sips:
“Glenn, I care for the homeless – I actually do.
I’d like them to come and fill up my pew.
I’d like to build a new church, you see;
One for the poor to come and hear me.”

I said to the Rev – with no thought at all – “You need to build a Church without walls.”

You put up a South wall – they will not stay;
An East and a West wall will keep them away;
Maybe a North wall to hang high your cross;
But your four solid walls will not save the lost!

He looked at me a bit aloof.
“That’s right, Jack,” I said, “you can forget the roof!!
They’ve begged for a roof for a hundred years.
You watched in the rain with crocodile tears.
You let them come sit down and dry -
Then ran for the exit, when they came by!
For every drunk in his personal Hades,
I hope you found mercy for all the bag ladies.
It’s too late for a roof, Rev. Thanks for the lunch.”
He looked at me thoughtful and nodded a bunch.

A year had passed. Jack moved up the street
To a wonderful church where the wealthy folk meet.
Far up in the hills, too far to walk,
Where theologians love to talk.
I visited them. I ate their rich food.
But I was a stranger and seemed kind of crude.
I smelled back then. My clothes, they were old.
Yet into Jack’s church, I came walking - bold.
“Pastor Jack is busy, sir, please wait by the wall” -
Knowing they’d rather I’d not come at all.

Wonderful walls, painted up halls, clean toilet stalls inhabit each floor.
A fully stacked kitchen. Lord, what a score!
So I fed myself well, not knowing when
I’d ever get to eat there again.
And I had a few words with dear Pastor Jack.
But I was crazy and not welcome back. …

Some years have now passed and I’ve cleaned myself up -
I found me a church with a communion cup.
I do not agree with all of their views.
I’m somewhat upset that they rearranged pews!
We never sing my favorite hymn,
But, by and by, I’ve become part of them.
I quit condemning their violet walls,
But every chance I crowd in their halls
Homeless bums and smelly feet -
Those who need a place to eat.
Crazies, roughly pushed away;
They are the ones I want for to stay.

would that impact my church at all?

Hmmm. I often think of Pastor Jack.
You think that he would take it back?
If you head up-class, there you may find him.
Give him my love – and then remind him -
No need to say my name at all.
Just whisper in his ear, “No Walls.”

And now my church is heaven bent,
Forgiving men incontinent.
Chairs can be cleaned – carpets, too.
I love the homeless. How ’bout you?
They hide and they sleep outside our wall.
I wish they saw no wall at all.
‘Cept for Josh who likes our wall;
He found a place where he can crawl.
One night it plunged past 25.
I worried he would stay alive.
‘Cause if he froze outside our wall,

By Glenn Romfrey

Free Jesus!

October 29, 2009 - Leave a Response

Proskuneo

October 28, 2009 - Leave a Response

Because the future needs a BIG KISS