The Berlin Wall

We used to live in a flat beneath a German man and his wife. One day he was telling us that as a student in East Berlin, he had a quiet night out with friends. He went to the cinema to watch a movie, came back to one of their flats for a few drinks, then they all fell asleep. He woke up the next morning to hear on the news that the Wall had come down. He’d been in Berlin the whole time and missed it.

 

What Precisely Is the Gospel?

Jeff Purswell from Sovereign Grace ministries helps us understand.

If the gospel message expands to include “discipleship in the kingdom,” then the objective nature of Christ’s work is minimized. When the gospel is redefined as a call to a social or political movement, Christ’s work is replaced with ours. When the gospel includes my response, then the ground of my assurance lies in me rather than in Christ. Indeed, anytime we shift the definition of the gospel from God’s objective accomplishment to our subjective appropriation, the rock-solid foundation of our faith is misplaced—and the glory of God in the gospel is obscured.

via What Precisely Is the Gospel?.

 

Fight for your love.

Celebrity gossip doesn’t usually interest me but I was listening to the radio a couple of days ago and became intrigued by the new song from Cheryl Cole. I’m not usually a fan of hers, I don’t have any of her singles or albums and haven’t really paid her that much attention. But I had picked up snippets from her life so far.

For example,  I knew that Cheryl was born and brought up not to far from where I was brought up… just outside Newcastle. But I also knew she lived in an area that had a lot of problems with high rates of crime, addictions, teenage pregnancy, poor school attendance, and a high proportion of single parents. I knew that Cheryl didn’t have a good start in life.

I also knew that she managed to get on a TV talent show – Pop-Stars:The Rivals in 2003, which she won with the group Girls Aloud which instantly had a number one hit with Sound of the Underground. She now has a solo career and has become a judge on the X-Factor.

I was also aware that Cheryl was married to another famous person, the Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole. He proposed in 2005 and they were married in a lavish wedding ceremony in 2006, with exclusive photos carried by OK! magazine.

I had also heard, unfortunately, that Ashley was not a nice boy. I didn’t really like him anyway because he played for Chelsea. But, it was reported, back in 2008, that Ashley had been unfaithful to Cheryl. He had allegedly had an affair with a hairdresser called Aimee and with a model. So, after that Cheryl and Ashley had a brief separation during which, apparently, Ashley apologised and supposedly grovelled to Cheryl to take him back…which she did. Ashley wronged Cheryl but she was willing to forgive him and they are now back together.

So, no, I don’t really follow her life, but this is what I’d picked up.

Now, what caught my attention was the song that was on the radio. It was a love song, but a love song with a difference. It’s called, Fight for this Love, and it’s as if all of Cheryl’s experiences of her life, and her relationship with Ashley Cole, have been rolled up into this song.

The song recognises that in relationships, things aren’t always rosy

“Now everyday aint gon´ be no picnic
Love aint no walk in the park“

It recognises that relationships are difficult, as in her case when her husband has wronged her. But even in relationships where there is no unfaithfulness, the song recognises that there’ll be good days when the feelings of love are wonderful, and there will be bad days when you have to muster up every ounce of energy that you have to forgive the other one.

Anything that´s worth having
Is sure enough worth fighting for
Quitting’s out of the question
When it gets tough gotta fight some more
We gotta fight fight fight fight fight for this love

Relationships are not easy, but they are worth sticking at and working at. Because it is in the forgiving, the discussing, the working together, and the thinking of the other person that the relationship is deepened. As each partner recognises their failings and comes to the other in humility, the sense of dependance and consequently, the marriage relationship is deepened. A deep long lasting relationship needs to be worked at.

When we think about it, that’s true of all the good things in life, why should marriage be ay different? If we want the best things from life, we need to commit to them and work at them. If we want to have a good career, we need to commit to that goal, and work towards it. If we want to play a musical instrument, we need to practice. Want to be good at sport, we  need to work at our skills. Apparently David Beckham used to stay back a long time after training was over just practising taking free kicks.

Likewise, if want a good, long-lasting, deep relationship we must be prepared to prioritise it and put into place good practices: spending quality time with each other, doing kind acts for each other, buying gifts that show appreciation every so often. And, most importantly, being prepared to forgive a when there is genuine repentance.

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. (Prov 14:23)

 

A blessing for the International Day of Climate Action

May God,
who in Christ created the heavens and the earth, and saw that it was good,
who in Christ, entered into our broken and fallen world to restore it,
and who in Christ, gives us a spring of water which wells up to eternal life,
perfect in you the image of his glory;
and the blessing of God Almighty
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
be amongst you and remain with you always.
Amen

 

Philosophy on the raising of children

Here’s some quotes from the great philosophers on what to do with children.

First, Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic, 4BC to 65AD.

“Mad dogs we knock on the head; the fierce and savage ox, we slay; sickly sheep we put to the knife to keep them from infecting the flock; unnatural progeny we destroy; we drown even children who at birth are weakly and abnormal. It is not anger but reason which separated the harmful from the sound” (On Anger 1.15.2)

Ouch. Total lack of mercy there. Surely the Greek philosophers offer a better way? What about Aristotle?

“Let there be a law that no deformed child shall be reared.” (Politics 7.14.10)

Hmm. OK. Plato then? Nope. He said that defective children should be “done away with” (Republic, written 4BC).

Against this backdrop, Jesus said “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”. Mercy is the way in which God deals with the world.

 

War and Peace

Having finished Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace about a week ago, here are some thoughts. I think it is almost impossible to fully review a book this big, but here are some of my reflections anyway.

1) Tolstoy has a funny relationship with history. Writing about 5 years after the events described in the book (Napoleons invasion into Russia in 1812), Tolstoy is aware of what the historians have written on the matter. He brings this into his descriptions of the course of the war but also a more down to earth approach based on his experiences serving in the Russian army. Historians like to explain things in terms of orders, plans and strategies of generals and admirals. His problem with that is that generals and admirals are often a long way from the battle lines, so when their strategies are not implemented, it is difficult to respond to the battle play-by-play. Tolstoy prefers to use other forces such as the spirit of the troops, the ideas of the day, the on the ground reactions of the individual army units. All of this combines to produce events of war that no-one is really directing. Tolstoy takes great pleasure in describing how Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, the commander in chief of the Russian Army, defied all the other general’s wishes by stepping back in retreat. This allowed the French army, which was a long way from home, had suffered heavy losses at the battle of Borodino, and crucially, did not know how to deal with the Russian cold, to effectively defeat themselves. This, Tolstoy thinks, was the work of a master who read all the signs and spirit of the war. Tolstoy seemed to think that the French were always going to defeat themselves in this war, and Kutuzov had the courage and the foresight to enable them to do it for him without risking more of his own soldiers than needed.

Tolstoy’s final chapter (Epilogue II!) is an essay on what are the forces that drive nations to war? What is power and how is it appropriated and allowed to flourish by the people. His conclusion is complex, but he remarks that nations do not go to war simply because of an Emperor’s will. He implies that the ancients might have got it right when they attributed this kind of thing to the outworking and sovereignty of God. It is only relatively recently that this has failed to be a good enough answer.

2) Tolstoy’s characters are complex, well rounded and deep. The central character, Pierre, is portrayed as a likeable buffoon who is lumbering through life trying to find truth and meaning and something he enjoys, and he always seems dissatified with the society of nobility that he is a part of. To him, it seems shallow (and is epitomised in his wife, Helene, who is only interested in social advancement). Pierre’s search for truth leads him to join the Freemasons, to get involved in social improvement for his peasant labourers, to try and make a mark on history buy coming up with a ridiculous plan to assassinate Napoleon. In the end he finds it is the simple things of like that make it worthwhile and fulfilling – having one’s personal needs met and being thankful to God for it, having a deep, true, and real relationships including a secure marriage relationship (in his second marriage after his first wife, Helene, dies), and in his family. For Tolstoy, meaning is as simple as this. (If Pierre had discovered this sooner, the book would be shorter)

3) The book is full of examples of how to and how not to do life. As in one of Tolstoy’s other books, Anna Karenina, it is stability, faithfulness and sense that are promoted. The continual lust for money, power, social advancement are all found to be empty, unfulfilling, and the path to destruction.

For the LORD gives wisdom, 
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just 
and protects the way of his faithful ones.

Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, 
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.

Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths 
to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. (Prov 2:6-11)

 

Surrogates – movie review

I went to see surrogates this week – first time I’ve been to the cinema in ages. Starring Bruce Willis, who is on form, it describes a world where human robotics has developed into a way of life. Technology has been able to capture the brain signals that control our body – move our eyes, arms, feet mouth etc, and use them to control a robot. The result is that everyone now stays at home and lives through a ‘surrogate’ – a robot that the users control and move about by plugging into a special chair at home. Through them you can do things, such as sky diving, with no risk. You can also create your surrogate to be the a physically perfect version of you.

Almost everyone lives through these surrogates meaning that everyday interaction is through technology. In this world of robots, there are a few people who are unwilling to use the technology. They live in special surrogate free zones in each city. Its a fast paced action film with a good cast and a decent plot.

Although current technology has not got that far (thankfully!) we are living in a technology obsessed world. More and more of our social interactions are through a screen, a phone, or the internet. The point of the film is quite clear.

1. Living though technology numbs you to the physical senses of the world (says the man who is blogging!). There is nothing quite like feeling the wind or the raid, throwing and chasing a ball, and physical touch with others. This cannot be reproduced by technology.
2. Technology does is not conducive to real relationships (it can enhance real relationships, but not replace them). One of the first scenes of the films saw a beautiful, sexily dressed blonde girl-surrogate in a club making out with a male surrogate (who similarly had model looks). The girl surrogate is quickly killed off and we find that the person controlling her was an ugly hairy fat man. Technology allows us to hide from bring real is we want to.
3. It leads to a misunderstanding of, and an inability to appreciate beauty. In the film, in the world full of surrogates everyone looked fake and a little plasticcy. The film makers did a good job here. But the point is that when everyone looks like a model, no one is beautiful, everyone looks fake. We lose the ability to appreciate real beauty, which does not depend on having perfect teeth and perfect hair.

A good film which highlighted some dangers that our technology obsessed world needs to be aware of.

 

The problem of evil.

In June, Vanessa George, a female nursery worker in Plymouth childcare centre was arrested for taking pornographic photos of the children in her care. I happened to be in my church office in Plymouth the day after the arrest was made, on the day she appeared for her bail hearing (which she did not get). From there I could see the entrance to the local courthouse and could see and hear the many people, most of whom were upset and disgusted parents, hurling abuse at her secure prison van as she was driven away. Yesterday she appeared, alongside three other people, in court in London charged with child sex abuse. I’m not going to spell out all the sordid details here as they have been written about in the mainline press, but that mobile phones and the internet were involved.

Coming out of this, I heard whilst listening to Radio Five Live (UK news and sport radio station) this morning that politicians are considering banning those who work with children from bringing mobile phones into work. This seems absurd and is obviously just a bit of reactionism.  It may make it more difficult to do what these people have done, but it will not solve the problem. It is akin to putting a sticking plaster on a cancer.

The problem isn’t the use of mobile phones, the problem is that humanity is sinful and is capable of evil things, and this evil comes from right from inside of a person. Banning mobile phones will not stop this evil, the more fundamental solution is to tackle the evil from the inside.

The Bible recognises the problem of human sin as being fundamental and deep down. One suggestion is to cut out of your life the thing that leads to sin. Jesus taught:

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. (Mark 9:43-47).

So, if mobile phones are causing you to sin, an application of this might be to cut out the mobile phones from your life. But this would not be the root of the problem. The Bible recognises that the root cause of sin is the human heart. Jesus also said:

“Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”) He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’ ” (Mark 7:18-23)

It’s no use any of us trying to argue that we have never had evil thoughts, even if we have never acted on them. So, if the root problem is the human heart, are we supposed to cut that out. No, but we do need a heart transplant – so that all the sin and evil is exchanged for something pure. In other words, we need a pure perfect human who is able to deal with all the evil that comes out of humanity. This is whom Jesus claims to be – the one pure perfect human who came from (and was) God who was able to deal with the problem of the evil human heart – by being perfect and pure -  and reunite all humanity with God. With his guidance we are able to slowly see our lives transformed and all the imperfect parts of us be gradually changed.

I pray, of course, for all the children and parents affected by this woman’s action, but also that she will have her impure and evil heart transformed by a good and loving God.

 

Too much choice?

I’m currently reading War and Peace by Tolstoy. A good read – once you get over the first couple of hundred paged you can really get into it.

The main character, Pierre, spends most of the book trying to find meaning in his life. He is a wealthy landowner, a count with thousands of serfs working under him. He owns several estates and seemingly has the world at his fingertips. But in many ways he is lost and looking for direction. Initially, he can’t decide what to do with his life, then he dedicates himself to trying to make the lives of his peasants better. Stuck in a bad marriage, he then looks into Freemasonry for the answers, but his satisfaction there is only short lived. He then joins the war effort, seeing a battle first hand (but not joining in) and then convinces himself that he needs to assassinate Napoleon when he comes to invade Moscow.

It is here that Pierre gets captured by French troops and is held in a prison camp for  four weeks. Tolstoy writes:

Here and now for the first time he fully appreciated the enjoyment of eating when he wanted to eat, drinking when he wanted to drink, sleeping when he wanted to sleep, of warmth when he was cold, of talking to a fellow-man when he wished to talk and to hear a human voice. The satisfaction of one’s needs – good food, cleanliness and freedom – now that he was deprived of all this, seemed to Pierre to constitute perfect happiness; and the choice of occupation, that is, of his way of life – now that choice was so restricted – seemed to him such an easy matter that he forgot that a superfluity of the comforts of life destroys all joy in satisfying one’s needs, whilst great freedom in the choice of occupation – such freedom as his wealth, his education, and his social position had given him in his own life – is just what makes the choice of occupation insolubly difficult, and destroys the desire and possibility of having an occupation. (p1116)

It is only when he gets captured and his choices are severely limited does Pierre find satisfaction in his life. He doesn’t have to worry about what to do next week, or next year, because he doesnt’ have the options to do it. All be becomes worried with is having his basic needs of food, sleep, warmth and friendship, met.

I see this paralysis of choice in this generation (18-30) too. When I left university I didn’t have a clue what do do with my life and it took a number of years to figure it out. I see similar things in many school- and university-leavers today – there is such a vast array of options (which is good) that many are almost paralysed by the choice and are unable to make a good decision or fear there may have been a better one. This wasn’t so with our parents. Their life choices were much more limited. Many people stayed in the family business or line of work. if your father was a farmer, in most cases you would be a farmer. Today it is quite different with many more opportunities. This hasn’t led to the perfect freedom that was hoped, but still a sense of paralysis and in some cases, dissatisfaction.

This choice itself is not a bad thing, but the inability to live in the now and appreciate what is immediately around, as Pierre was, leaves an empty hole. People don’t want choice in everything. The New Labour government in Tony Blair promised choice for the consumer in schools, hospitals and many other things. In these, people don’t want choice because the choice leaves us bewildered. People actually simply want good schools and hospitals and then they don’t need to make a choice! Then we are more able to appreciate the basic things of life that are necessary and are all around us, and ultimately we’ll be more fulfilled.

 

Sir Bobby Robson’s Memorial Sermon

A paraphrase of the sermon given at Sir Bobby Robson’s memorial service, held at Durham Cathedral on 21st Sept 2009, given by the Dean of Durham Cathedral.

———-

Bobby’s working life began in darkness, as a young boy in 1948 working down the pit. He was born into a black and white world. He went down white carrying a haversack full of his tools of the trade. He came up back into the light, black covered in dirt. On the weekend he would go with all the pilgrims to St. James’ Park to see his beloved team in black and white.

Black and White. Darkness and Light.

Bobby always had time for people, it didn’t matter who they were. His humour, life, enthusiasm marked him out as a person and his love for the game of football came through. He described his role as manager as a psychiatrist, psychologist, priest, confessor and occasionally, dictator. It was his own generous heart that inspired the love that people felt for him. Five days before he died his last public appearance was at St. Jame’s park where he was given a great reception in a charity event.

Black and White. Darkness ad Light, Death and life, Grace and Truth. These are the themes of Bobby’s life and also the themes of Christian faith. St. Iraneaus said “The Glory of God is a human being fully alive”. One thing that can be said about Sir Bobby was that he was a human being fully alive.

As we come to terms with Bobbysdeath, it is right to express out grief and sorrow and tears, and we will go on missing him dearly. But today too is a day to celebrate and say thank you to God for the life of this remarkable man.

Finally, today is a day when we reaffirm our faith and beleif that death is not the dend of Bobby at all. God promises us all and end to tears. A God who makes everything new. A God who Bobby recognised as good. A God who has a safer pair of hands than any of Bobby’s goalkeepers. A God whose dwelling place is in goodness and light.

As always, we have to let Bobby have the final word:

“I was born into a black and white world. As my last great challenge draws to a close, I am more convinced than ever that we’re surrounded by light, and not by darkness”

Indeed we are, and today we commend him with our prayers into the love of Almighty God.

(At the end of the service the people left to a rendition of Local Hero, the thime by Dire Straits played on the organ. This is the theme that Newcastle United enter the pitch to on match days.)