http://www.newdaygeneration.org/Media/Player.aspx?media_id=48135&file_id=51512

Let me know what you think …

So, church… it’s the people and not the service? It’s certainly not the building (ours is NOT pretty).  I just don’t go.  It’s not for me.  And yet, at the moment, I’m uncomfortable with my decision because I need ‘church-the-people’.   I don’t even mind ‘church-the-service’ sometimes.  I think the problem is that I don’t relate to ‘church-some-of-the-people’.  I mean I am fundamentally at odds with them.  The thing is, I need people around me who see God in everything.  If its a beautiful day on Sunday at 10.30am I want to be outside - just being with God.  Just listening on the off chance that I can hear him. I need people who live by the spirit and not by the programme.  I can’t DO the programme. So, in between nappy changes I’ve sporadically been reading (outside).

‘Home Tonight: Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son’ by Henri Nouwen

I am really drawn to people like Nouwen, who’ve lived an alternative lifestyle with God.  This book is like a biography with teaching that then invites you to listen, journal and commune with God at the end of each ‘reflection’.  It has really helped me to hear from God and deal with some issues - I’ve been listening, journalling, communing and crying in the garden on a nice day.  For me, the best bit is that the whole book is based around a painting by Rembrandt.  I’d really love to see it for real after reading only 28 pages of the book.

 Anyway -let me know what you think about church or Nouwen…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grBByc7t3Fs

There  are 7 other parts of this conversation for you to look at too

You might now be thinking - hang on what’s wrong with that?  If you are then like me, you might just find the new book from N.T. Wright causes you the biggest rethink your faith has ever had.

I can honestly say that this book may well be the best Christian book I have ever read.  The church really needs to stop and think hard about what we mean by the ‘hope of the gospel’.  What is the good news?

Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, is a world renowned theologian but not a stuffy academic.  I think he is the C.S. Lewis of his day. He combines his enormous depth of knowledge of the bible and history with his own faith.  He is able to speak within the context of the prevailing thinking of the modern church.  This is why this book is such a breath of fresh air.  We need to correct our course and a book like this brings home just how important a role theology plays in affecting how we think and live our lives.

I hesitate to write a post on it because you should really read the book but his main point is that the new testament does not preach this separation of the body and the ’soul’ - that the resurrection of Jesus was all about declaring that the opposite is true, that God will raise us, like Jesus, physically.  He argues strongly against a platonic view (Plato was the greek philosopher that influenced western thought to think of the body as flawed and something to free from but the spirit as the pure eternal essence of a person) that heaven is some kind of ethereal, non-physical place far from Earth but rather that it is another dimension, even more tangible and physical than this world.  C.S. Lewis also holds this view and it shows in his Narnia series but also in ‘the great divorce’ (which you should also read). 

The hope of the gospel is that God will create a new heaven and a new earth and that far from us all leaving earth to go to heaven, what God intends is to bring heaven back to earth when he returns.

Mention ’salvation’, and almost all western Christians assume that you mean ‘going to heaven when you die’.  But a moment’s thought, in the light of all we have said so far, will reveal that this simply cannot be right.  ‘Salvation’ means , of course, ‘rescue’.  But what are we ultimately to be rescued from? The obvious answer is ‘death’. But if, when we die, all that happens is that our bodies decompose while our soul (or whatever other word we want to use for our continuing existence) go on elsewhere, this doesn’t mean we’ve been rescued from death.  It simply means that we’ve died.

Although when we die, there is a resting time where we are with Jesus, this is not the main act.  What matters is not so much ‘life after death’ but what he calls ‘life after life after death’ when the whole cosmos is restored and we live in the new heaven and new earth in our resurrected, physical bodies.  This changes everything and reframes what we do here on Earth in the meantime.

The point is this.  When God ’saves’ people in this life, by working through his Spirit to bring them to faith, and by leading them to follow Jesus in discipleship, prayer, holiness, hope and love, such people are designed - it isn’t too strong a word - to be a sign and foretaste of what God wants to do for the entire cosmos.  What’s more, such people are not just to be a sign and foretaste of that ultimate’ salvation’; they are to be part of the means by which God makes this happen in both the present and the future.

Later he says:

The power of the gospel lies, not in the offer of a new spirituality or religious experience, not in the threat of hellfire (certainly not in the threat of being ‘left behind’) which can be removed if only the hearer ticks this box, says this prayer, raises a hand, or whatever… but in the powerful announcement that God is God, that Jesus is Lord, that the powers of evil have been defeated, that God’s new world has begun. This announcement, stated as a fact about the way the world is rather than as an appeal about the way you might like your life, your emotions or your bank balance to be, is the foundation of everything else.  Of course, once the gospel announcement is made, in whatever way, it means instantly that all people everywhere are gladly invited to come in, to join the party, to discover forgiveness for the past, an astonishing destiny in God’s future, and a vocation in the present.  And in that welcome, and invitation, all the emotions can be, and one hopes will eventually be, fully engaged.

He also has a look at the doctrine of the rapture (he thinks it is nonsense), purgatory (also nonsense and as he points out the current Pope has declared that the case too so even the Catholics have discarded the idea). He looks at what we can learn from the bible about Hell too (not all that much) but stops short of saying there is no such thing and goes on to share some of his personal views.

Another key theme he often returns to is what Paul says at the end of the very important 1 Corinthians 15 chapter about the resurrection of the dead where he says in the concluding verse 58:

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.

Tom argues that we need to find a middle ground between the extremes of the ’social gospel’ (that we can through our own efforts bring about God’s kingdom on earth) and the dispensational view (that this earth will get thrown away so what’s the point trying). We need to believe that as Paul says, everything we do somehow sows the seed for the work that only God will do when he restores the universe and us with it.

I fear I have given a very poor insight into the book but snatching quotes and summaries without all the supporting discussion so don’t take this as what Tom Wright thinks before reading it for yourself.

An astonishing book, not too hard to read and for me it put to rest many questions that had troubled me about Christianity for some time. 

Some Christian traditions major on the Word and de-emphasise the sacramental while others do the opposite with all sorts of elaborate ritual but only a mumbled explanation of what is going on.

It raises important questions for us in apres church about how we could celebrate communion for example in a cafe context.  How to strike the right balance of Word and Sacrament, with deed and explanation and all with the proper reverence.  If anything we have swung too far to Word and have left out the sacramental in our meetings.  I’d love to hear how you think we could incorporate it into what we do - a more experiential and tangible expression to our worship. 

Could we do communion in Caffe Nero?  How would it be done?

What annoys me is that they just label one teacher as ’sound’ and another as ‘heretical’ - after that they drink in everything one says as if it is pure truth and refuse to listen to anything the other guy says as if it would infect them.  Now I’m sure Tom Wright wouldn’t claim to be correct about everything and would welcome debate but these people seem to lose the ability to deconstruct an argument.  They can’t accept that even if they disagree with some of what Tom says, he’s still a leading theologian and probably has some good stuff to say.  It’s as if they are trained not to think for themselves but just defend the party line to the death. This is where fundamentalism feels like a cult to me.

thinking more about Marji’s brilliant post, I keep finding myself singing that song by James “Sit down”.  Here are the lyrics - I’m always very moved by the last verse and it sums up for me a lot of how Jesus always sided with marginalised, the hurting, the misunderstood.  It speaks to the heart of working through doubt to get to truth, to pain to reach healing, of acceptance and fellowship.  I love that it doesn’t try to offer trite solutions to life’s problems.  It makes me cry and I hope apres church can be like this - that we can be there to help each other along.  What else is church for but to share in the joy and the pain?

I’ll sing myself to sleep
A song from the darkest hour
Secrets i can’t keep
Inside of the day
Swing from high to deep
Extremes of sweet and sour
Hope that god exists
I hope i pray

Drawn by the undertow
My life is out of control
I believe this wave will bear my weight
So let it flow

Oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy

Now i’m relieved to hear
That you’ve been to some far out places
It’s hard to carry on
When you feel all alone
Now i’ve swung back down again
It’s worse than it was before
If i hadn’t seen such riches
I could live with being poor
Oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy

Those who feel the breath of sadness
Sit down next to me
Those who find they’re touched by madness
Sit down next to me
Those who find themselves ridiculous
Sit down next to me
In Love, in fear, in hate, in tears

Down
Down

Oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy

Oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy

Down

In Matthew we were struck by just how much there is in there about judgement and also about grace and mercy. It was great to do in the run up to Easter too as we think about the wonder of the resurrection.

In Acts the story continues and we follow Paul as he does whatever it takes to spread the good news.

So continuing with the story, I’ve had a look at the rest of the New Testament, skipping Mark, Luke and John for now and I propose we do a further 6 sessions and get them in the diary. 

As a benchmark, Matthew was 37 pages in my bible and so was Acts and we managed each book no problem in about 4 half hour sessions so these next 6 should be a breeze!

So I propose we start doing these once a month round our house on a Saturday afternoon.  To make it easy how about we aim for the first Sat in the month?? That gives us the dates above and if we assume it’s 3.30 for 4pm start.

We are happy to host them but if someone else wants to suggest a place or if we feel we want it nearer the Wokingham area then just shout.

Open to anyone as always so let us know if you want to come along.

And yet there’s always a flip side to the coin. While we marvel at newborn babies we too have to think about the pain and suffering that brought this baby into the world. The days of agony and the feeling that you are alone and that God is far far away.

We have to cope with disappointment and questions that won’t go away. Why did it happen this way? Why didn’t God make it different? Why do I have to go through this and feel so alone?

I don’t know the answer to those questions though it’s always tempting to think that I do. I could come up with theories and possibilities but I don’t really know. I don’t really understand.

Garrison Keillor writes in his weekly blog for Salon.com

‘There is comfort for the doubter in the Passion story. You are not alone. Jesus’ cry from the cross was a cry of incredulity. The apostle denied even knowing Jesus three times. The guy spent years with Jesus, saw the miracles up close, the raising of Lazarus, the demons cast out, the sick healed, the water-walking trick, all of the special effects, but when the cards were down, he said, “Who? Me? No way.”

He repented. I would too, but not quite yet.

Skepticism is a stimulant, not to be repressed. It is an antidote to smugness and the great glow of satisfaction one gains from being right. You know the self-righteous — I’ve been one myself — the little extra topspin they put on the truth, their ostentatious modesty, the pleasure they take in being beautifully modulated and cool and correct when others are falling apart. Jesus was rougher on those people than He was on the adulterers and prostitutes.

So I will sit in the doubter’s chair for a while and see what is to be learned back there.’

I think that’s what I love about Apres Church. It allows me to sit in the doubters chair. There are times when I don’t need to sit there. Other times when I think I’ll never leave it. That’s ok. I’ve got friends to sit with me.

So we’ve set ourselves a challenge to read the whole book together out loud in one afternoon/evening.  And in true apres church style, we thought we’d do it with some food and drink.  I think we’ll have 5 or so sessions interspersed with food to read all 28 chapters in one day.

Should be fantastic to get the whole gospel story in one sitting.  We’ll host it at our house and if you would like to come please add a comment here or let me know so we can get an idea of numbers.  We’ll probably need everyone to bring some food or drink and Malc’s already volunteered to cook us a curry - fantastic.

So please comment here if you are coming.  Shall we say after 2pm for a start at 3pm on Saturday 26th Jan - don’t be late or you’ll miss some of Matthew!  If you want to stay over with us that’s fine too just let us know.