The Episcopal Church of Scotland decides God can be female...read here for reaction to this

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7982904/God-no-longer-male-Scottish-Episcopal-Church-rules.html

The Episcopalian church of Scotland have decided that in order that no-one gets offended by the nature of God, they are making provision that you can make Him to be 'what you want Him to be' - in this case a woman. This is largely to cater for female priests who felt excluded on the grounds of the long held view that God is masculine in nature.

The thing that interests and concerns me here is this, the folly of political correctness that will change a doctrinal belief of such fundamental importance to appease and make God seem 'nicer' and more 'egalitarian' to all. The problem with this modern stance is that it filters belief and Biblical interpretation throught the lens' of apparent 'progressive thought' which is rooted in a reaction to global inequalities toward women.

The root of the issue is the statement of belief (and non-belief) that asserts 'To me God is like this or that....' The problem with this is that God's character, attributes and nature are not dependent on what you and I think about Him! I'll sometimes hear people say things like 'To me...God is like an angry school teacher in the sky', or 'To me God is like a big cuddly Santa Claus..' or 'To me...God is a feeling called love...' The list of 'lens-filtered' popular ideas of self appraised perspective on God is endless. However, here is the deal. God revealed Himself to Israel and said, 'I AM who I AM' and refered to Himself as the 'I AM'. Thats fairly emphatic isn't it? God will just continue being God. He is absolutely delighted in being Himself. He is fully satisfied in His masculine identity and surely doesn't need any of us to try and 'popularise' Him. Indeed, I would hold the view that trying to 'market God' is a huge mistake. Love Him, proclaim His Gospel, witness of Him, but for goodness sake don't try and make Him into a discounted special offer just to keep everyone happy, no, a thousand times no.

The Bible provides a living record of the nature of God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If we take that away as our reference point all we have left is human wisdom or in many cases what the Bible calls folly. Using the 'To me, God is like this/that...' approach is all about us, making God fit into our needs, wants and comfort zones where we can pull Him out in a crisis but reject the transforming influence of the 'I AM' in favour of what suits us and appeases our sensitivities. Dear reader, Ladies and Gentlemen, this should not be so. Any comments?
JS.

Ireland team for Autumn International

OK, our annual attempt at World Domination begins this Autumn against South Africa (whom we have beaten on their last 2 trips here!) I have always loved picking teams and am posting here my proposed Ireland team for the game against the world champions, assuming full fitness (always unlikely)

15. R Kearney
14. T Bowe
13. BOD (thats BOD not God!)
12. L Fitzgerald
11. K Earls
10. J Sexton
9. T O'Leary
8. J Heaslip (all is forgiven Jamie!)
7. D Wallace (Last hurrah and no ready made replacement)
6. S Ferris (every team needs an enforcer)
5. D O'Callaghan
4. P O'Connell (but will he be fit?)
3. T Buckley (Time for Bull to go out to grass)
2. J Flannery
1. C Healy (Hopefully ate well over the summer)

Anyone buying or selling a ticket?!
JS

Why pray? Another angle...

I am currently reading RT Kendall's amazing book 'Did you think to pray?', yes you guessed it - on prayer! I won't go into it but just want to leave you with one amazing thought that He starts the book with. So often books on prayer are written from the primary perspective of what WE the 'prayers' get out of prayer, all of which are valid points (peace, joy, wisdom etc.) However, the front-loading of this angle on prayer is often to the diminishment of Kendall's proposition regarding prayer and the heart of God. In this he makes the point through the Father-Child analogy of how children unconsciously 'spell' LOVE as quality T-I-M-E with their parents and suggests that God too (Father to those who have become His children) is no different in this regard, in that He too LOVES us, LOVES BEING 'with' us and LOVES spending T-I-M-E with us! This is not a 'need' it is a 'want', God is not insecure or 'needy' but is jealous for our love, not in a petty teenage kicks kind of way, but with the jealous love of a Father!
So here's a thought to leave you with. Try thinking of prayer not only from the perspective of what you get out of it and remember that God too longs to be with you, it is the earnest desire and longing of a loving and 'jealous' Father. Just by spending T-I-M-E 'being' with the All-sufficient God will bring Him so much delight... - surely another angle, even a motivation for prayer...
JS

Jayden rocks - Happy Birthday son!!

Jayden turns 6 Wed 18th August. We can hardly believe it! Born in Dublin back in 2004, he has been an absolute delight to us these few years since he entered the fray. Jayden is a lover of life. He loves life too much to waste time in bed beyond 6.30am most mornings. He likes sponge-bob, lego, playing with Abi his cousin, breakfast, peanut butter sandwiches, lasagne (his chosen birthday dinner), rough and tumble with Dad, golf, church, ridng his 'No Fear' bike, being bare-foot and Jesus! Jayden is vibrant, fun (he loves to laugh), intense and passionate. At times he needs reining in a bit and being our third child I am aware that the tendency can be to become more and more permissive and that we won't do him any favours if don't bring clear and strong boundaries when necessary.
A visiting prophetically gifted person recently spoke over Jayden that he would 'enjoy his youth' but that he would also rise and 'grow in leadership' into the future. We found the bit about 'loving his life' both funny and reassuring because that is him to a 'T'. The strength he has is there because its meant to be there, although like everyone who has something they are born with, he is learning how to live with it! We are incredibly proud of Jayden. I want to honour him today as his Dad and say that Jayden is the boy I always dreamed of after two amazing daughters. Jayden - you are a one in a billion, you were made to walk this earth with joy and yet to be a straight arrow. There is much ahead for you my son, God loves you, your family all adore you, you were made for this hour and I have a feeling that you are going to make the most of every minute! Happy Birthday 'sonny Jim'!! Your Dad and Mum and big sisiters are SO PROUD of you!! You rock...

Dad

'Accountability Fraud'?

This term has gripped me as I prepare for some teaching and training that I will be conducting. The term has come out of a conviction that true accountability is less easy to come by these days, even amongst us believers! I am not talking about the fraud of financial dealings here, but rather the 'fraud of pretence' - that is that we are way LESS open to correction, listening to the advise of a friend, to personal transformation than we may care to admit. I have seen how easy it can be to hide behind slogans of accountability, to talk the right talk and project the right demeanour, but to lack the substance of true accountability. 'Who are you accountable to' is an easy point to make but a difficult question to answer for many! The answer clearly lies, I believe, in humility and also in deep friendships. Another factor is the skill, motive and attitude of 'friends' (ask Job!)

Humility is that attitude of heart that seeks not to elevate oneself at all costs and is open and willing to grow rather than to guard the priority of self-protectionism. Jesus was gentle and humble of heart. Deep friendships are those where two-way depth of communication and honesty can flow. They take time, effort, vulnerability and a sense of trust and safety. A true understanding and experience of sonship and freedom from a performance based personality mindset are surely key to unlocking the prison we make for ourselves in pretence and self-imposed isolationism. By comparing ourselves to others we end up competing, even sub-consciously, either intimidating or being intimidated. Christ came to set us free.

'Accountability fraud' then is living the lie that you are an accountable person when you are truly not. It is an image, a front, a manicured lawn, a picketed fence, that hides us away but creates the aura that we are truly open and willing to be more than an island and King of our own domain. This is not meant to be harsh but I hope it stirs the question, 'Am I truly accountable - firstly to God, and secondly, to people that are strategically positioned by God in my life'? Any comments?

Political Correctness and the Gospel

I am at times astonished at the strength of the perceived need in our society for 'political correctness'. I am not speaking so much in a specific sense about politics, although the term betrays the deeper rationale behind such attitudes and actions. Here I am rather more about talking about spirituality and communicating the Christian Gospel in 2010.

Paul's first letter to the early Corinthian believers (1 Corinthians) begins with repeated exhortation by the apostle for them to rise above the 'cultural spirit level' of the well established ideological building blocks of that city at that time. Society measures out an 'inherent plumb line' to which we become so well accustomed, particularly when we have grown up there. Ideas are passed down from generation to generation, become institutionalised and enshrined as the norms and unwritten rules by which locals live in a 'civilised society'.

My contention, and indeed that of the Apostle Paul as seen in his writings, is that many faulty premises underpin such 'laws of reason' and leave us spiritually bankrupt. A vivid and descriptive term that Paul uses is to call them 'strongholds' of the mind, 'imaginations' that exalt themselves against the Knowledge of God, idols of thought and deed that become the 'norm' in a society where 'crowds lie' rather than lead in paths of greater enlightenment. As Tim Keller, a preacher and writer puts it,

‘When we are completely immersed in a society of people who consider a particular idolatrous attachment normal, it becomes almost impossible to discern it for what it is'

Paul's courage and forthrightness stands in stark contrast to much of my own political correctness, which, thank God, is changing. He is never rude but rebukes the Corinthian believers for being seduced by the Corinthian obsession with 'wisdom','speech and knowledge', oratory flamboyance and in general the applause and accolades of men. The cross, says Paul, must NOT BE EMPTIED OF ITS POWER, and should not be preached with 'eloquence alone' but with boldness and in a 'demonstration of the Spirit's power'. God was drawing the 'foolish' in the eyes of the Corinthians, taking the 'weak' and common man and shining His Gospel deep into their hearts. Although, the preaching of a simple but profound Gospel of Christ crucified as our Saviour was an apparent folly to the 'strong' it would only serve to 'shame' the 'wise' in the long term for running with the crowd.

It seems to me that Paul was afraid of the believers falling back under the spell of 'trying to BE and look like somebody 'important' and culturally palatable' and was exhorting them to follow the rhythm of a different drumbeat, the drum master of which - Christ, transcends the cultures, crowds, opinions, fashions, ideologies and political correctness of that, this or any age.

As for them, so for believers today in 2010, amidst the cities and cultures in which we find ourselves. To hell with political correctness, we should not be rude, but neither silent nor compromised.

When Wonder is less than full!

‘May the ‘Wonder’ of God fill you today! When we let the ‘Wonder’ get leeched from the soil of our understanding we are left with the 'right' word and posture, ie. that ‘God is wonderful’, but lack the conviction to back it up! Too often I have felt a fraud when using superlatives about God without having waited long enough in ‘Sabbath rest’, abiding, drinking, in order to comprehend and commune with the One whose Glory and Grace puts the 'Wonder' back into my day. When I do, I notice the sparrow who has found a home, the lily of the field in splendrous array, my working takes on Wonderful-purpose and my life becomes liberated from mundanity and fatigue to Wonderless living.’
JS

'Dragons Den' God moment?

OK so you are mildly but not wildly interested by the title, anything to get a few readers, no, I'm serious, I had a moment the other day watching the Dragons Den that I can only describe as a 'God moment'...
A young lady, aged 24, appeared before the snarling, fire-breathing dragons, all ready to devour another 'wanna-be' entrepreneur'ling! What bright idea had this one come up with?! What followed stunned me and reminded me so much about Father God's heart, stunning, absolutely stunning...
The young lady gave a humble 'pitch' seeking investment of £65,000 for 15% share of her enterprise. She had developed a healthy alternative to ice-cream, a dairy free frozen yoghurt type product that would also be accessible to many people seeking a healthy alternative. She had appraoched Tesco, the supermarket giant, and had been given great encouragement by orders promised to her. Her presentation was simple, her sincerity shone through. The Dragons seemed stunned. In a 'Susan Boyle' moment you could sense impending cynicism just melt away on a wave of admiration that manifested in awed silence and open-mouthed amazement. The questions came gently, somehow mirroring the momentum of admiration that instinctively they felt for this young lady, 'Had anyone helped her on the project?' 'Surely she had not done this all by herself, had she?' The humble retort was affirmative. She had worked two and a half jobs as a single Mother developing her business sideline in her 'spare time'...Three Dragons made her an 'offer' and she ended up leaving the Den with her 2 preferred Dragons and the dream deal in the back of her pocket. Stunning! They had looked beyond her frailties, her lack of experience, the fact that she was a young single mother, her lack of pedigree, and saw the awesome resonance of potential being pursued, the innocence of a young one who believed almost naively that the impossible COULD happen. Here was an underdog who was actually getting a break.
I felt emotional and shed some tears as this encounter unfolded. Its amazing how an event like this can produce such a depth of emotion in us. Where did the tears come from? I know instinctively this was a response that came forth as a result of experiencing something so much like our Father's Grace! Have your ever noticed how emotional you feel in a 'Susan Boyle' moment? How honour stirs something deep within you that you know instinctively is from a 'higher agency', something transcendant that raises its head above the mundanities and ordinaries of life.
I thank God today for a God who favours the underdog. A God who wants to bring dignity for shame. A God who sees the treasure buried deep within us and allows us pass through the furnaces of life to bring forth pure gold. A God of opportunity and second chances. Do you know Him?

Dream of a man hanging on a cross

In a few weeks time I am looking forward to catching up with a good friend now back residing in his native homeland in Nepal. I will be visiting some friends and churches there and speaking at a Youth conference in Kathmandu.
Chandra was from a Brahmin background. Despite this status in the 1990s he was forced through economic circumstances to migrate to Northern India and seek employment. He ended up as a labourer breaking rocks, a laborious back-breaking task necessary in Indian labour intensive road construction. During this period Chandra had a recurring dream. In the dream , he saw something he had never seen before, what appeared to be a man hanging on a wooden structure - a cross. Chandra sought guidance from a Hindu guru through whose knowledge of spiritual matters he hoped he would get some kind of interpretation for the dream. The Sadhu's response was that this was the 'Christian god' and his advise was to journey to Mussoorie, a hill station in the Himalayas, known for its Christian presence, and to seek out advise and information there. Chandra did just that and continued his working as a labourer breaking rocks by the roadside. This is an amazing story of God's leading and Sovereign plan! What happened next is that Chandra met our dear friends there who gave him the answer he sought about the meaning of the man hanging on the cross fully and properly explained to him for what it means. Many people know about the cross Jesus hung on but not enough realise the full significance of it. Christ became a substitute, a penal sacrifice to atone for the sins of anyone who will believe in Him and receive Him as Saviour. He did for us what we cannot achieve by our own merit.
Chandra received this gift and became a new believer fully experiencing the new life and Grace in the Holy Spirit. He is now married with children and has preached this same Gospel to many others. He has now begun, raised up and handed over 2 vibrant churches, travels in support of similar pioneers as himself and is now back in his native Nepal doing the same again, pursuing the next chapter of his life, living simply, humbly but 'dangerously' for God. I look forward to seeing Chandra as he journeys on...
JS