Edward the Confessor and 21st Century Christianity

I caught up with the BBC's The Normans on iPlayer. I hadn't realised that the Normans were descendants of the Vikings. Nor had I realised that the invasion of England was due to a dispute about who was England's rightful king in the wake of Edward the Confessor dying without children.

Edward the Confessor's reign was very successful. A flourishing economy and a very organised, efficient system of government (and taxation) made England a leader in Europe. Hard to believe that it had all fallen into enemy hands within twenty-five years.

Edward also had a reputation for godliness; the Catholic Church eventually beatified him. Unfortunately, his childlessness, was it seems, a direct consequence of the spirituality that made him a candidate for sainthood. Rumour had it, that, though married, he remained a virgin. His spirituality, which undoubtedly at least partially accounts for his success as a ruler, robbed him of a successor. Ultimately, the lack of a natural successor not only undermined the achievements of his reign, but was central to the fall of England into the hands of the Normans. Edward the Confessor, to the detriment of Anglo-Saxon England, didn't have an Edward the Successor.(For our Scottish readers, the Scots decided to partner with the Normans, with the result that Scotland became a cosmopolitan economic powerhouse in the 11th century).

And my point? Well, it's quite simple: the church can enjoy success and have a reputation for being deeply spiritual, but completely forget that unless we have a "next generation" we're only a few decades away from decline and possibly even oblivion.

I do get concerned when I attend conferences or meetings that are considered "cutting edge" and there are only a handful of teens and twenty-somethings present - and sometimes none at all. I worry about the impact of time heavy, programme dependant discipleship approaches and approaches to spirituality and how this impacts young parents with young children. I have to ask myself continually "Are we presenting discipleship and Christian commitment in a way that is setting people up for failure?" Is it possible to be so caught up with our revelation of what we think the Holy Spirit is doing that we don't even notice that most of the people at the party - like me - are mid-life plus?

I know that there are lot of good things happening amongst younger people today. However, I do have this feeling that if we don't frequently remind ourselves of the need for a next generation, the topic could easily drift of the agenda.

So there you have it. Edward the Confessor made me think on my day off. Perhaps his celibacy within marriage will be of some profit after all.

How we receive a person God sends affects what we receive from God

If you're a regular follower of this blog, my apologies for the lack of posts for a month or so now. Work and holidays and not having anything "fresh" to say have kept me silent.

On reflecting on the last few weeks, however, I've a few things to share that I think are worthwhile. The posts might not be as long as the last few, but hopefully they'll help to give you a flavour of how the Holy Spirit has been leading me.

John Bevere's ministry isn't one I've followed closely in years gone by, though he is very highly spoken of in charismatic circles.

I happened to turn on God TV just recently, and John Bevere was speaking at the Audacious conference in Manchester. He was speaking about honour and the four main areas where we are to extend honour - church, family, government and work. It was a thorough Bible study. He pointed out that Jesus' ministry was restricted in His home town because people saw Him as "just the carpenter's boy". He then went on to explain that how we receive the people that God sends or sets over us in authority in any of the four areas mentioned above, effectively determines what we receive from God.

This is, as he pointed out, a hard saying for people brought up in a democracy. And it is a hard saying for me. However it is something I have been cheweing over for a long time. My difficulty is not so much to do with the authority figures in my life; it's to do with me being an authority figure.

Let me explain. My personality make-up is such that I don't like too much structure and, if truth be told, have a bit of an aversion to a "top down" style of leadership. I like discussion. I want you to feel I am your friend. However, if Bevere is right - and I think he is -people are going to receive more from me if they receive me as someone sent by God than if they manage to become my friend. Why? Because the spiritual dynamic at work in honouring the gifting and anointing of God is more powerful and produces more godly results than becoming more intimately acquainted with and connected to me as a person.

For me, that doesn't mean that I cease to be personable! Nor does it give me the right to demand blind obedience from my congregation. But it does deliver me from any illusions about where the real spiritual connection takes place with people.

Awkwardness, Anger, Grumpiness - and the call to leadership

By this time next week we might well have a new government or at least the haggling between the parties in the event of a hung parliament will be well under way.

The efforts of Christians who want to mobilise their faith community to influence national affairs has been admirable; I was one of tens of thousands who signed the Westminster Declaration.

I think, however, that as we enter the final phases and then the aftermath of the election campaign we should reflect on what sorts of things we should be doing if we really want to have an impact on our communities.

One thing that I believe is important is that we think again about the whole concept of leadership, especially in the political sphere - though what I say here applies to other apsects of life as well.

When you read the cvs and backgrounds of the leaders of the main parties, one of the first things to strike you is how incredibly clever they all are. And they often come from well-connected backgrounds. It can leave you with the impression that you have to be a high flyer at university or in business to be an effective leader. I would suggest that this is reinforced in Christian circles because we add to the mix an undefined but intense sense of calling and destiny. For most people that sets the bar way above anything they could ever aspire to, and therefore they disqualify themselves from taking an active part in the affairs of their community.

Perhaps we need to think about leadership in terms of a determination to get things done for the good of the people amongst whom we live. That is why I have posted the above video. Councillor Jenkins might not ever become leader of the Liberal Democrats. He might not hold high office in national politics. But it's peple like him who actually get things done in local communities. And to my mind he has highlighted some of the qualities needed to get those things done. Awakardness, anger and gumpiness aren't the most attractive qualities in the world, but sometimes they belie a real concern about the bread and butter issues of every day life. A career in local politics might just be a way to redeem them!

Sometimes as Christians we take on huge issues - sometimes in a very confrontational way - and whilst we might bring a prophetic dimension into the politics of the nation, our influence is often minimal and ultimately we change very little. Certainly, some people are called to that kind of role and I for one would not try to dissuade them. However, if we were to encourage people to become involved in local politics in the mainline parties and begin to build a reputation for getting things done, maybe, just maybe, we would position ourselves better to discuss some of the bigger issues that concern us. It is often the case that what really does concern people are things like the state of the pavements, or the lack of children's play facilities in the local park, or drug dealing taking place in the local church car park after hours (not by the church members, one hopes). Dealing with such matters certainly helps create an environment in which we can live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (1 Timothy 2.1).

So if you've been feeling a bit negative about the whole political process, why not at least consider what you could do to translate your frustration into something positive. You never know, what you thought were a clutch of negative emotions might be a call to local politics.

Mega church is still church

I didn't think charismatic mega churches did this sort of thing any more. Refreshing.

Rewarding what is important

‘Do you think a man or woman who chooses to stay at home to look after their children is doing a less viable job than someone on an assembly line?’ When a worker goes out to build a car, the Government gives him a tax exemption, if she or he stays at home you double tax that family by not allowing that tax exemption to exist.” Iain Duncan Smith, from an interview in The Times

The short interview is well worth a read. His comments on family, the state of Britain and being a Christian in public life deserve reflection - whatever your politics.

Faux reassurance

Seth Godin's blog really is must reading. The following is a quote from a post entitled No, everything is not going to be okay:

"Finding the bravery to shun faux reassurance is a critical step in producing important change. Once you free yourself from the need for perfect acceptance, it's a lot easier to launch work that matters."

Spreadsheet vision

"In my experience, data crowds out faith. And without faith, it's hard to believe in the data enough to make a leap. Big mergers, big VC investments, big political movements, large congregations... they don't usually turn out for a spreadsheet. " Seth Godin. Read the whole post here

Worth a look

A few interesting articles from the blogosphere

This on wasting time and how not to.

Some good stuff on vision and change from Mark Driscoll .

Thoughtful piece on the complexities of the second world war at the timesonline .

And you just have to watch Paxo v. Boris . Thanks to David Cooke over at cookiesdays for the heads up on this one.

Bill Gates didn't say this

The following has been attributed to Bill Gates. Of course, Mr. Gates never said this, but it is funny. Especially no. 7 and 11. Grumpy old men, enjoy.

Rule 1:Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time..

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Christianity Lite?

I have a confession to make. I watched Joel Osteen speak at the Hillsong Conference. And...wait for it...I liked much of what he had to say.

One comment stuck out. He told how he is often criticised for preaching Christianity lite. Then he told of someone in his church who said she'd had forty years of Christianity heavy and she'd take Christianity lite any day.

Something there to reflect on I think.

Settling

"The only way to get mediocre is one step at a time." Seth Godin

Read the whole post here

What's out there

A few links.

Discovered Bobby Clinton'swebsite. Clinton (no relation to Bill) has written a lot about Christian leadership over the years. There are some pdfs available to download. It's good stuff. Worth a look.

Haven't had much chance to watch tv of late, but did manage to see most of an episode of Wallander, the Swedish detective drama. Kenneth Branagh plays Wallander. It's been dubbed the "Norse Morse" and with good reason. The whole thing was shot in Sweden, so look out for some great scenery. You can see it again on iPlayer .

Niall Ferguson is doing a worthwhile series called The Ascent of Money on Channel 4. Watched the second in the series on Channel 4's catch-up service.

On the subject of money, Peston's Picks the blog of the BBC's Robert Peston is informative when it comes to what's happening in the world economy.

And if you're really desperate to get away from it all, there's always the the French Foreign Legion .

Leadership Resources

Some leadership resources from the business world.

John P. Kotter is best known for his books and as a professor at Harvard Business School. He has made some of his ideas available online. Some useful stuff on change. Click here and then click the green bottle!

Jim Collins of From Good to Great fame has also made a lot of resources available online. Worth a look.

And Patrick Dixon has so made so many resources available I doubt anyone would ever get through them all!

Derek Prince on leadership

Many of the books written on leadership today are on the whole a collection of sound business principles and practices. In fact much of what is written is what might be called creative common sense. I don't say that to detract from the value of such publications or advice. Much of it is needed in church life as well as in the corporate world.

However, it can be easy to forget the essentially spiritual foundation on which Christian leadership should be based. We are called to be preachers, teachers and healers, not just strategists and planners.

I recently read a collection of articles by the late Derek Prince on leadership. It really is thought provoking to hear what he has to say. Even the titles of his talks take you in a very different direction to what most would offer today as a series of talks on leadership.

You can read or listen to him here

Driscoll - A voice that must be heard in our generation?

I'm in danger of contradicting what I said in previous post about celebrity culture and the church.

However, I think we have to recognise that Mark Driscoll has something to say to our generation. It pains me to admit that I have to learn something from someone born in the 70's, but there you have it. I'm sure some of the Pharisees were upset not only by what Jesus said, but by the fact that He was a thirty-something.

Driscoll is certainly a guy who is trying to connect classical orthodox Christianity with his generation. That in itself I find so commendable. Penal substitution and iPods. The two don't always seem to go together, but Driscoll manages to connect them. He has made controversial remarks on controversial subjects, but who hasn't?

What is also very impressive is his candour with denominational leaders, and in fairness their willingness to give him a hearing. He spoke frankly to New Frontiers at their Together On A Mission conference and recently did something similar with the Anglican diocese of Sydney. You can read his points at the Sydney meeting here.

Healer

Back in mid July I bought my wife the latest Hillsong DVD, This is Our God. It included one of the most powerful songs and one of the most powerful peformances I have heard for a long time.


The song was entitled Healer. The performer was someone I'd never heard of before, Michael Guglielmucci. What helped make it so powerful was his testimony about his struggle with cancer and how he was on oxygen as he peformed. It was, forgive the pun, breathtaking.


What was even more breathtaking was the revelation that the performer wasn't actually ill. He had pretended for two years that he was terminally ill with cancer. He faked the symptoms, the doctors' appointments, the lot.


I couldn't believe it when I heard that it was all an act. Staggered.


I don't want to use this blog as a platform to pass judgment on others' ministries or actions. However Healer and to some extent the circumstances surrounding Todd Bentley's difficulties reveal so much about life in the twenty-first century Western world. It tells us much about the context in which we do ministry and how ministry can be affected by our culture.


I intend to submit another post on this. Before I do, I want to commend both MG and TB for holding up their hands and seeking the healing that they sung and preached about so passionately. For some, the preceding statement will be too lacking in severity. However, let's not allow disappointment to obscure our vision of God's redemptive objectives for damaged people. And, after all, that's what we all are.

The Vision Thing

Vision is a word /concept that gets a lot of coverage these days both in the Christian world and in the secular world. And it is pretty important. After all without it, people cast off restraint.


It's not always easy to define vision in a visionary way. Which is why I like this quote from Antoine de Sainte-Exupery. It seems to me to capture the essence of vision:


"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."

What the Doctor orders

There's an interesting post at http://theresurgence.com/node/1091. It's a summary of a conversation between Mark Driscoll and J.I. Packer.

Packer outlines four theological priority areas for younger leaders:

• A deeper understanding of regeneration - being born again gives you a new heart and a new identity

• God-centred theology

• Godliness begins in the family


• Trinity - emphasising and appreciating Father, Son and Holy Spirit, not just Jesus and the Holy Spirit

When someone with the experience and wisdom of J.I. Packer speaks, it is worth considering what he has to say.