Don't let politicians bully you

Received a copy of the Daily Mail with my Tesco shop (honestly I didn't buy it) and came across this from former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey:

We have reached the point where politicians are mocked for merely expressing
their faith. I cannot imagine any politician expressing concern that Britain
should remain a Christian country. That reticence is a scandal and a disgrace to
our history

"He complained yesterday of a 'strident and bullying campaign' to marginalise Christianity in the name of political correctness."
(Follow this link for the full article)

Lord Carey calls for Christians 'to return to the public square'. For me this means engaging with the world in an unapologetic manner, without fear of man (Proverbs 29:25), knowing that our God is worth fighting for. I have great respect for Christians who are involved in the political sphere and think that there should be more who represent our faith in these circles of influence.
This is not to say that all believers cannot be God's ambassadors wherever they are. We are called to be salt and light which means affecting the 'taste of life'. I was once taught that our role as salt was to act like a moral preservative in the world, at the very least stopping it from getting any worse.

These are challenging days for Christians but also an opportunity to speak into the various trials of life that our friends, families, colleagues and peers find themselves in. We must do this by being faithful to our God and His word and not by shirking in the face of worldly opposition.
Nobody said it would be easy!

The Ringelmann Effect

As a former A-level PE teacher I am intrigued by the 'Ringelmann Effect' in sport whereby the effort of a team with less players increases to compensate for reduced numbers. This may more accurately expressed by saying that as numbers increase, effort reduces (originally proposed by a guy named Ringelmann studying tug of war of all things!). Basically, individual effort is reduced as the perception of a shared load increases.

Is this true in church?

As a church grows in size, is it fair to say that the effort of the individual decreases as they perceive their efforts can reduce as there are more to share the load?

My observation is that whilst the Bible calls us to make every effort on our part to walk in His ways, to serve, to work (in the secular sense) (Col3:23) to press on (Phil 3:14), to run the race as though to win the prize (1 Cor 9:24), it is common for believers to make less effort the longer they go on in their faith.
This may be reflected in their serving within the church or in their personal spiritual practices. It is a church stereotype that there are a core of church members who do all of the work regardless of how many other members there actually are. I think that most stereotypes are rooted in truth somewhere which is why they appear common place. This may not be exactly the 'Ringelmann Effect' whereby many who were trying hard (I am not making comment here about our path to salvation but our efforts to stay the course once on the journey) now ease off but rather that the core just mentioned are those 'straining forward to what lies ahead (Phil 3:13), those who are willing, joyful servers who seek first the kingdom (not quite the full context of Matthew 6:33).
If everyone in church retained the willingness to serve literally wholeheartedly then what a difference the local church could make. I know full well myself the temptation to veg in front of the t.v. or to occupy myself with anything that doesn't require me to think of others before myself or to share the load in the life of the church. Some I know appear more conscientious and read/study a lot about the activities of the local church but then fail to actually participate in those activities.

These thoughts are not primarily about work or effort but more about life in general approached through a Biblical worldview. A life given to the 'bride of Christ', the advancement of the kingdom, an appreciation that this life is momentary in comparison to eternity and so to make the most of it. These are grand thoughts that few honestly work out in reality but I am sure that many of us could get much closer.
I have recently felt God's promptings that 'there must be more than this' (O breath of God come breathe within, Spirit of God we wait on you - too true Mr Hughes) and I have been praying again and again for the inspiration of God to lead me on in His plans and purposes and so avoiding my inclination to lethargy or the pursuit of fleeting pleasures.

I am sure that somewhere out there there is some research that investigates this train of thought further but for now these are my ramblings.

Book Review

'What on earth is the church for?' - Dave Devonish

Just finished reading this challenging, informative and helpful book about the role of the church both from a Biblical perspective and in a culturally relevant way.

A while ago I was thinking that although since becoming a Christian I have always been within New Frontiers (NF) churches, I dont actually read much from leaders within that movement. Since then I have regularly followed blogs of men within NF and read this book.

Dave Devonish is great at encouraging the church to be missional in its DNA rather than do mission and demonstrates this clearly from scripture. He gives numerous examples of his own experience in each chapter and manages to merge the theoretical, theological and practical into a cohesive, common sense argument.
There are clear implications here for those who feel God is calling them to specific mission (overseas for instance), to those involved in church planting a have unique opportunities to shape the culture of their church now but also to all those who take the local church seriously and seek to play their role in its activity. Bill Hybels is commonly quoted as saying, 'the local church is the hope of the world' and this is the recurring theme of this book.

I found this book inspiring not only for my vision of the local church but also in its implications on all parts of life. There is a great section on your workplace as your mission field.

I highly recommend this read.

Half the gospel

Have been reading 'What on earth is the church for?' by David Devonish and was provoked by this quote:

"It is important, therefore, that we have a kingdom theology as well as a church
theology. Sadly, I believe many Christians have neither, but only a 'personal
salvation' theology."

This struck me as being a subtle yet widespread truth in the local church. Alpha and our inherited personal discipleship methods tend to focus primarily on the individual and then later challenge that individual into service, ministry and mission. This is only half the gospel that also fully includes becoming part of the body of Christ, where each member has a different yet equally significant role to play (Romans 12, Ephesians 4:16), and also a call to mission, whereby the kingdom is brought more and more into the world.
To embrace the full gospel is not to preach worldly prosperity but as Jesus puts it:

"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of
evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is
great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
(Matthew 5:11&12)

There is no promise of an easy life in the Bible once you have put your faith in Jesus but there are an abundance of promises that more than compensate (seems a huge understatement) for this such as the eternal love and relationship of the living God.
There has been a recent rising of faith that revival is around the corner in the United Kingdom but I believe that God's primary tool for doing this is faith-filled, motivated Christian 'missionaries', us for want of a better word! This will only happen when believers accept the call to live as part of a community that includes the local church but also the wider community where they live, work and play. This will require sacrifices of time and energy as well as putting aside our selfish desires for self-gain and self-promotion and replace them with compassion for the lost and a heart of mercy for those who have yet to receive Jesus into their lives, essentially living without hope and heading for an eternity apart from Him.
That is a snapshot of the real gospel, which does include that Jesus died for MY sin but also embraces that Jesus came for all people.

Last word to Dave Devonish on this:

"Sometimes it seems to me that a gospel is presented which is not much more
than an alternative method of self-help, focusing on my personal needs and my
personal prosperity rather than my commitment to God's programme in the
earth."

Harsh but fair?

Welcome

Hello to anyone/everyone out there - this is my first ever blog post and I hope many more will follow that will stir your interest and your comments.

I've linked to the website of my church which is the focal point of pretty much all that I'm about and what primarily takes most of my time and interest.
Emmanuel Church is where I worship, lead and work full time. The local church is my passion and my calling and what I will spend lots of time talking about.

I'll also attempt some book reviews, some comment on contemporary issues and some fun. I guess there might also be a fair bit of sports on here as a leftover from my PE teaching days and my love of sport.

I look forward to speaking with you all again soon.

Steve