The Lost Son

I haven't blogged for a while because of the general hecticness of life (work, weddings, washing - that kind of thing). One of the things that has been keeping me busy was another opportunity to preach at Chowdene. I spoke about the Lost Son (Luke 15: 11 - 32) and you can read (or listen to the talk) here.

Easter message

Yesterday I preached at Chowdene Chapel in Gateshead, which was a lovely opportunity to celebrate Easter with some fantastic people. We looked at Ephesians 2: 1 - 10 and how Paul's message to the believers in Ephesus speaks to us today of life in Christ. I have posted my notes and an MP3 of my talk here, for anyone who's interested.

New shoots

I'm not much of a gardener (which generally isn't a problem as I don't have much of a garden). My Mum, on the other hand, knows a thing or two about plants and very kindly tidied up my small front garden when she came to stay in January. She also helped me plant some small bulbs and I noticed today when I came back from church that some green shoots have started to appear. This made me think about the 'seeds' of the gospel that we plant when we share our faith with others. Sometimes I get discouraged when I have spoken to people about my faith and there don't seem to be any instant results, but it's helpful to remember that God is often at work under the surface, nurturing the seed that has been planted and causing it to grow. Much of what God is doing can't be seen at first, but that doesn't mean that he has abandoned us. I have seen green shoots of hope emerge from the soil many years after I have started praying for change, growth and healing in my life and lives of others. It is an encouragement to keep planting seed and trusting God that he will cause it to grow and bloom.
"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." (1 Cor 3: 4)

I also love the way that the Bible is full of illustrations drawn from everyday life. Jesus told stories about fishermen, farmers and shepherds - drawing parallels between the things they understood and the Kingdom of God. However, I often wonder what modern parables Jesus would tell if he was born in 21st century Britain. Sometimes I feel like some of the potency of these agricultural parables is lost on me as I am an urbanite with little understanding of farming, fishing or looking after sheep. So I'm really grateful to God that today he made the parable of the sower a little bit more real for me.

Christians and homosexuality

There are some issues that Christians always seem to be kicking off about, and homosexuality is one. The public reactions of Christians to this sensitive issue usually make me feel very disappointed.

I have been a Christian for 10 years and I believe and trust in the Bible in its entirety, which means that I don't believe that sex outside marriage is within God's will. However, that isn’t a licence for Christians to attack the lifestyles of others or seek to point the finger. I have been involved with a number of evangelical churches over the years and also with some para-church organisations. Whilst most Christians do seek to be loving and accepting, I have found that there is some homophobia in the church. Although this isn't usually expressed in violence, it can be just as damaging. I think there is an ignorance about the issues that gay people face, and an unwillingness to actively reach out to the gay community with God's love. Sadly, the church often isn't a safe place for someone to be open about their sexual struggles and work through issues with God's grace and healing.

In the light of all this, I think that instead of Christians being defensive and unwilling to admit that they sometimes get things wrong, it would be much more constructive to do the following:

(1) Humbly repent of personal and corporate homophobia.

(2) Contact gay organisations to express regret when they feel the church is homophobic and to clearly show God's love for gay people.

(3) Write a letter to the national newspapers saying that God loves gay people and they are just as welcome in church as everyone else.

(4) Speak to gay people inside and outside the church and ask them how you can respond to gay strugglers with sensitivity.

(5) Show more active care and understanding for those struggling with homosexuality within your congregation.

(6) Stop writing defensive letters which just go to add fuel to the argument that the church only ever mentions homosexuality in a negative and confrontational way.

When life is hard...

Today has been really hard. That happens sometimes. I have spent a lot of today crying about the pain of life. Then this afternoon I picked up a Christian book about love with a smug looking family on the back (always a bad idea!) and it was full of 'life will be rosy if you just do this...' and 'answers' which quite frankly didn't scratch anywhere near where I was itching. So I thought 'Bobbins to that' (or words to that effect!), threw it on the floor and picked up my Bible. I had a look through at Job, Ezekiel and other interesting characters who know all about real life and real struggles and who also know the real God who is bigger than all that. Life's complicated, messy, excrutiatingly painful and just plain crap at times, but I'm glad that I know a God who doesn't try and 'explain away' suffering but instead bottles my tears, listens to my ranting with compassion and never leaves me even when I can't stand to be with myself. And he's the only one who is able to promise that there WILL be an end to all the pain. Amen to that!