'popup church'.

POPUP is an informal get together of people, who have faith communities, but sometimes like to to discuss, vent, encourage, be encouraged and heard in a different setting.
Today three of us spent one and a half hours drinking coffee/hot chocolate and discussing matters of faith and personal stuff.
We are quite different, rather than look for differences we share what we have in common and challenge and are challenged to think and rethink what we believe and why.
It is always good to listen and be heard, and to go away knowing we love and care for each other.
One person who is a regular, has recently moved back with partner and family after a time of separation,another is a single dad coping with all the stuff of life and who hangs out with 'dangerous' people, then there is me, who struggles to make sense of doubt and faith.

Together we travel this road we call 'our faith journey', and together discover the importance of life before death!!

It's a mixed group, crazy group, and its sinners and saints together making sense of life

Where you stands depends what you see

Getting around Melbourne by various means of transport, including Car, Motorcycle, on foot, Tram and Train, has provided some observations about us humans.

Depending on which mode of transport we take, often depends on what we expect from others, and our own actions or behaviours.

One thing tat appears not to change is our expectations on others to put our needs first, our biggest need, or so it appears from my observations is, the need to get where we're going.

This then may mean we need to ignore the usual rules around obeying traffic signals and rules, even if it means putting ones self and others in danger!!

So we're guided by our needs and mode on getting around, as to how we act and react.

I wonder how it might look if we put others needs before our own, it could get messy!!

You know it's hot outside when you go outside and it's hot.

This is a paraphrase of a great sign that was sent to me - I love it. It's so obvious it's actually quite silly and it makes me laugh every time I see it. But, you ask, how do you get a blog out of a silly sign like this? Well.....

Our sign this week IS just plain silly and it doesn't really hurt anyone. We've all done it. We've all asked the daft question "Is it hot outside?" Well my answer will now be - "I don't know, go out side and see?" (For hot you can substitute cold, wet, dark etc). We can all say silly things sometimes but we churchy people take silly to a whole new level. We take it to the level of hurting people. We are great with coming up with really stupid sayings that, at best, don't mean much or, at worst, are very insulting / demeaning.

There are loads of them and here are just a few, (I offer my thanks to various people who drew my attention to them - some of the best are here - http://tinyurl.com/kos2fgh).

God helps those who help themselves. 

This, I have been told, is one of the most quoted Bible verses ever. REALLY??? Listen everybody - IT IS NOT IN THE BIBLE - ANYWHERE. AT ALL. IT IS NOT THERE. IT IS NOT A BIBLE QUOTE. And it's very demeaning. "Listen you homeless bum who might have mental health issues and a drug problem everything's going to be okay as long as you start to sort yourself out because, as we all know, (say it with me boys and girls) God helps those who help themselves." ARGGGGGGGGH! Stop it, stop it now!

Everything happens for a reason.

No it doesn't.

I should stop there. It is that obvious, this really shouldn't need anymore explanation. Saying this in many situations implies that God is a cruel and manipulative deity who plans out bad things for us. In my ministry I have only had to deal with two women who have been raped, I can't imagine the damage caused in saying this to them. Not only have you been attacked and violated but it's a God sanctioned violation. That's basically what this says - everything happens for a reason. ARGGGGGGGGH!

The Bible clearly says....

Don't go there, please DO NOT GO THERE.

I know professors of Biblical studies who have spent decades studying the Bible who would never say this. The Bible says very little clearly. It should be VERY important to us as Christians. It says an awful lot that we should read and think about, it teaches us many things, it tells us the ways of God, it shows us who Christ is, it should be taken very seriously but it says very little clearly. There are at least 5 versions of the creation story (Genesis 1, Genesis 2, Psalm 104, Job 38, Proverbs 38) and each one is a little different. It can't even agree on how many donkeys Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem, Matthew says there are two, "...and he sat on them" (Matt 21 v 7) where Luke only has one donkey, "...they sat Jesus on it." (Luke 19 v 35). The parables seem easy and yet the disciples didn't understand them all, neither do we and don't start me on the book of Revelation. The Bible says very little clearly, we have to read, study and think about what it says, even then we may not get it right. We should be very careful about what we say the Bible says "clearly."

Love the sinner; hate the sin.

No matter how well intentioned you are and no matter what the situation is - this can never sound good. It’s like that phrase “I’m not a racist but…..” nothing good can come after it. It smacks of judgmentalism, even though you may not mean it to. It is a very 'us and them' phrase. Us, the good people, condescend to share our love with you, a wretched sinner. Compare it to the pharisee in the temple thanking God that he’s not like other men; oh look, it’s not much different. It’s scary like that other well known and terrible phrase - there but for the grace of God go I - implying that the other person doesn’t have God’s grace. YES they do! So stop loving the sinner and hating the sin and stop thanking God that there but for his grace you go and start loving people for who they are - children of God.

It must be true, it's in the Bible.

The King James version tells me there are unicorns - 9 times! Be careful, most people think God helps those who help themselves is there too.

AND MY ALL TIME PERSONAL FAVOURITE

I’ll pray for you.

I can’t tell you how many times people have said this to me with genuine concern on their face. Usually after I tell them I don’t believe in the medieval version of hell that the so many churches try to scare people with. A hand on the shoulder, staring into my eyes - “I’ll pray for you.” What they fail to add, which is written plainly on their smug, self satisfied features is “you misguided, heretical, non Christian. I pray that God will damn you so that I never have to share eternity with you and your kind, and you will see that there is a real hell - sinner.” And I can take that if they will actually pray for me. But I have to ask myself ‘do they actually pray for me?’ If they do then that’s great and I will not mock the genuineness of the concern - but I fear that “I’ll pray for you” is just one of those well used Christian platitudes that is trotted out and not meant. It’s like the person behind the checkout at Coles asking how you are. They don’t actually want to know how you are, they say it to everyone. If you say and mean it and do it then use I’ll pray for you whenever it’s appropriate. If it’s just another hackneyed saying then please desist - you’re giving people who genuinely do pray for others a bad name!

I could go on and on but I have to go outside and see if it’s hot!

When all is said and done - there is more said than done!

We are all very good at talking. Especially us religious types. In churches we do like to sit around and talk about things....a lot. 

We discuss...

How terrible the state of the world is. 

How awful it is that there are homeless people sleeping on our streets.

How can we get more people into church?

Are we relevant to the problems of the world? 

Etcetera etcetera...

But when all is said and done, there is more said than done.

presence minister, Bubba, said that to me a few weeks ago. It would make a good sign of the week he said.

He walks the streets of Melbourne, sees the needs on our streets, meets the homeless and outcasts, talks to anyone and everyone and spreads as much of the love and grace of God as he can.

I'm sure it frustrates him as much as it does me to see all that need and to see people taking that need to another committee to discuss what can be done about it. 

The city council discusses them, the state parliament discusses them, the federal government discuss them, the religious types of church and mosque and synagogue and temple discuss them and a few forego the talking and go out and get their hands dirty, helping those around.

Those few will not change the world, will not solve all the problems but they will change the lives of one or two - who will change the lives of one or tow who will.....

Surely that is what the gospel is all about!

Stangers and Friends

Getting to know your neighbours (strangers) is full of surprises I am discovering.

Each day i am out  'loitering with intent' on the Melbourne Streets I have contact with people encountering ordinary  "stuff' of life, just being.

This is different to the 'work' I have done in the past. 
No programs that have KPI's, no 'problems' to 'fix', rather to BE with and journey with in the 'ordinary stuff' of life.

It is good to do, however 'being' is amazing!!

kids SHOULD run in church

I'm sure many of you will remember when you were a child being made to sit in church in silence - sshhh'd and told to keep quiet until the end of the service. AHHH the good old days of quiet children and boring sermons.

The sermons may not have changed but the quiet children have. 

Every Sunday one of the highlights of the day for me is when the kids arrive - they don't just walk in and sit quietly - they charge in, laughing and smiling, so pleased to be there. They run down the front, wanting to be there, eager to join in worship and learn more about Jesus.

So what happens between childhood and adulthood that changes our view of church?

When did church change from being exciting, somewhere we wanted to go to somewhere we feel we should go? A place were we drag ourselves out of bed to go to on a Sunday morning not because we want to but because we feel we ought to.

Why don't we rush into church eager to be there and wanting to join in worship an learn more?

Why can't we be, like Jesus says, more like the children? Eager to be in the house of God.

So today all I want to say is a big thank you to God for the children who make Sunday so special and for the same spirit of excitement in all of us.

For people who love Jesus so much that they hate YOU, we pray a lot!

"Okay, watch that step as you climb onto my bandwagon....again"

I was reading the Bible the other day, yes I do read it occasionally despite what some people think, and I found a bit I'd never seen before...

There's this bit in the Bible called the Gospel of St. Matthew, it's full of great things, stories and sayings and stuff. It's split into chapters and the chapters are split into verses. In one of those 'chapters', 22 actually, at verse 37 and 39 there is this great bit that seems to have been edited in many Bibles. The first part seems to be there but some Bibles don't seem to have the second bit.  The whole thing says...

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

 
I meet lots of nice Christian people who seem to have Bibles with only the first part. Lots of loving God and Jesus and stuff and that where it ends - they miss out on the next bit, it looks like it's been cut out of their Gospels and that's very sad because it's a commandment. This commandment that is 'like' the first one and the first one is 'the greatest commandment'. So that second, missing one is also an important commandment - 'love your neighbour as yourself.' We can't ignore that it, yet so many seem to or at least choose who they think their neighbour is.

I get emails from people and it surprises me how many are from 'Christians' who tell me I'm wrong for, and I'll quote one for you, "caring for the rag heads and fags bcoz Gods sending them to hell." So that second part doesn't count then - those 'people' aren't your neighbours, is that's it?

I get so frustrated - why can't people see this? - It's not rocket science - WE CANNOT PICK WHO JESUS TELLS US TO LOVE, we don't get to make that decision.

And yet so many Christians think we can. I've seen lists that 'Christians' have written of people that God hates - everything from authors who write about children who go to magic school to people who watch films about kids who go to magic school to people that listen to rock music to people who read C.S. Lewis (yeah that one made me laugh too). If you put enough of these lists together you can see that God hates everyone and, therefore, so should we!

Yet I see that little verse in that Matthew Gospel thingy that says, "Love your neighbour as yourself."

Let's narrow the whole thing down to the street on which I live  - I don't get to choose who my next door neighbour is - I'd like to but I don't get to. I'd like Hallé Berry but, like I said, I don't get to make that choice. So my next door neighbour is whoever ends up living in the house next to me - it could be a horrible, rich, white Christian family or it could be a nice, poor Muslim family or, well my point is it could be anyone - even you.

And here's the steps for that bandwagon - climb up and join me as we look BIG PICTURE again  -

Guess what - Jesus says that we should 'love our neighbour as ourselves' - WHOEVER that  neighbour is! The 'rag head' or the 'fag', or any other of 10,000 derogatory terms you can use, do not let you escape the fact that Jesus has told you that they are your neighbour and you are commanded, COMMANDED, to love them like you do yourself.

Tough isn't it! No one said it would be easy.

Keep Jesus weird!!

Jesus is now so mainstream - I mean there is even a Ken Jesus now. 

It’s frightening how ‘accepted’ Jesus is, everywhere. He is talked about in parliament, he is mentioned in court rulings, he has books written about him by ‘nice’ authors; movies and T.V. shows depict this nice, kind, white guy with perfect teeth and hair and a voice makes honey look lumpy and scratchy. People don’t want to know him but he is ingrained in our national psyche, this nice, comfy man who kisses babies and tells a few stories about God and stuff.

For crying out loud!!! We have completely forgotten how weird Jesus was. We are ignoring how radical his message was (and still is).

You see Jesus was REALLY weird - he was a longhaired, homeless hippy who went around with his dropout mates telling really strange stories to anyone who would listen. He upset everyone with even a little vested interest in power or authority, he made the clergy feel very uncomfortable and he upset the order of things wherever he went. 

How is this mainstream? It wasn’t even mainstream in the sixties! 

For some following Jesus is far too comfortable, far too beige - HELP! We need to bring back the Jesus weirdness!

Walk with those who are marginalised - the poor, the homeless, the outcasts, the sinners. Tell the stories of our faith for they give hope to the hopeless and make the comfortable squirm. Live out the commands of the divine weirdo for they make us and the world a better place. 

Accept people where they are and for who they are; judge less and love unconditionally; spread the grace of God wherever you go. 

Be as weird as Jesus; our world needs to see him as he really is and not what he has become - let’s do away with the nice, kind, white guy with perfect teeth and hair and a voice like honey and remind the world of the of the longhaired, homeless hippy who went around with his dropout mates telling really strange stories and changing the world.

KEEP JESUS WEIRD AND CHANGE THE WORLD!

church could be like THIS

So I’m back in the U.K. and heading to Leeds - WHY? I hear you ask - well for one simple reason to visit Harehills Lane Baptist Church - WHERE? I hear you say - Harehills Lane Baptist Church in Leeds, the church where Graeme Dodds is a minister - WHO? you might say - this guy...



He preached at our church a couple of years ago and many people (including me) said it was one of the best sermons they had ever heard!

Anyway, I went to Harehills Lane Baptist Church - and I have to say that church should (or could) be like this!



I walked in and the first thing that hit me was the welcome I got - the guy at the door seemed genuinely pleased I was there. He explained a little about the service, asked me where I was from and was really nice.



I sat down and everyone who came in (I mean everyone) said hello and as it filled people came over to talk and introduce themselves. Graeme came out and sat with me throughout the service, which was brilliant and was all about everything I had been to America to see.

The theme was traction - the idea of the ‘rubber hitting the road’. It emphasised everything I had hoped about the trip - the idea that doing is a vital part of believing. All that stuff in the book of James that faith without works is dead etc, etc. One thing, said almost in passing, struck a huge chord with me - “Pastoral work is important and it can be just a word, a phone call, a text or a facebook message.” God was speaking to me in that service - he really was.





The community of Harehills Lane is amazing - we sang happy birthday to a lady in her 90’s, I talked to a Ugandan asylum seeker and a northern biker, we moved furniture and ate cakes - it was a brilliant morning.

After the service (which was superb and, as usual, I won’t go too far into detail because I want to use some of the stuff - especially the music)  there was a lunch that could easily compare to anything the Melbourne Welsh Church would put on. People freely mixed and chatted it, was like being in at home on any Sunday morning. It felt great.





Another wonderful surprise was that Harehills Lane had a group going to Greenbelt and I was invited to join their number, I didn't realise at the time what an amazing blessing that would turn out to be.

As with almost everything else I’ve seen on this trip so far it’s the little things, the simple things that make this church so special. Community is at the foundation of everything - you build the rest of the church on that. Harehills has got it right - their community is a warm, welcoming and worshipping one - it was a pleasure to share time with them. Thank you all.



After a bit of news from my folks the look of my week changed a bit - things were re-arranged. I missed visiting Zac’s Place in Swansea and I missed seeing John and Gail Rees but I was on my way back to Greenbelt after a gap of 16 years and I was excited!!!

church should come with COFFEE

So it is almost time to leave B’more and the U.S. but before I leave there is one last thing to do - another Bible Study. (Anyone would think I was religious!)

At some unearthly hour of the morning the minds behind #BreakingBread hold a Bible study in a coffee shop. It only seems fitting to finish this part of the trip the way it started weeks ago in Denver- talking God over coffee and breakfast.

I will be honest and admit that I was a little late mainly because I was staying over the other side of the city and it took longer than I had planned to get there. Still when I arrived the coffee was still hot (or in my case the OJ was still cool) and the discussion was well under way. Rev Jenn was there and I got to meet Rev Jason too, who was leading the study that morning. The team of J, J and S are amazing and so talented. In the short time I was with them I felt that God has looked on the people of their part of B’more and blessed them hugely! Keep up the great work.



As with most things on this trip it was a simple set up (that’s not saying the discussion wasn’t in-depth, it was). A table, a few chairs and a Bible and off we went. The more I see of how other churches do stuff the more guilty I feel for making things far too complicated.

Again I was welcomed and made to feel at home, again I sat and listened and learnt as normal people (like me and you, except with weirder accents) unravelled parts of the Bible in ways I had never thought of. Again I had a ball and even though I arrived a little behind time I didn’t feel left out and I gained a lot.

If you have been to our Wednesday morning Bible group or our Monday evening Bible group - it wasn't dissimilar to those, except they stuck to the topic whereas we never do!

Did I mention it rained while I was in Baltimore...



As I draw to the end of the American leg of my adventure I sit here wondering if it was all worth it. I can, without any hesitation, say it most certainly was. I have met some wonderful people, done some amazing things, learnt some fantastic new skills and absorbed a head full of new knowledge.

To everyone I have met in Denver and Texas, in Washington and Baltimore a huge thank you - don’t think you’ve got rid of me that easily though… I want to come back - there is so much more for me to learn.



Onwards to the U.K. and the prospect of bikers and tents. It will be another interesting time!!!

Why? Why? Why?

 

80 children; at least 3 infants; nearly 300 people blown out of the air over the Ukraine.

Why?

Over 300 people killed in Gaza; many of them women and children.

Why?

Let's be VERY clear here - God did not do these things. Let me repeat that in big, bold letters...

GOD DID NOT SHOOT AN AIRCRAFT DOWN OR INVADE GAZA OR LAUNCH ROCKETS INTO ISRAEL!

We will not be pointing fingers at the Almighty - these things were done by humans; conscious decisions were made; actions were taken; lives were taken - by humans.

Some may ask why God allows these things to happen; God can ask humanity the same question - why do we allow this to happen?

Why can't we be nice to each other? What is it with humanity that makes us want to harm people that don't think like us, or look like us, or think like us?

love one another - love your neighbour as yourself - do to others as you would have them do to you - love must be sincere. hate what is evil; cling to what is good - love does no harm to its neighbour

The list of these verses goes on and on and on. Love is the major message of the New Testament - God's love for us and our love for others. These are the things of God. Not missiles and bombs and guns and tanks; not envy and hatred but love.

It is in this spirit of love that we can make a difference.

You and I won't make a global difference; it's doubtful we'll even make an international difference; I think that making a national difference is a stretch but we can make a local difference. In the place where we live, in the spaces that we work, in the areas that we go out -  we can show this love.

You don't even have to call it Godly love ( I will, but you may not share my faith), call it humanity or compassion or care. Christians do not have a monopoly on this and if we did we certainly wouldn't want to keep to ourselves - we want to share it with everyone and help to ensure victims are cared for and that atrocities don't happen.

Let us all try and live by the words of Martin Luther King,

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected this week.

 



 

Please God, don't let me screw everything up too badly, Amen.

"Please God, don't let me screw everything up too badly, Amen."

 

 

Firstly I must acknowledge the theologian who wrote this prayer. Throughout church history priests and ministers have relied on others to write liturgy and prayers for them, and we at the Melbourne Welsh Church are no different. Today I wish to thank my twitter friend Jen Munroe-Nathans (@funnypreacher) for our prayer for the week. The style and content of this simple, yet deeply profound prayer, lend itself to how I'm feeling as we approach Lent. I really don't want to screw everything up! (Again.)

 

I don't know why people automatically assume that those of us who 'wear our collars back to front' know everything there is to know about God, what he wants and what everyone should be doing to please him. Let me give you all a massive hint here - WE DON'T! We struggle to keep our own eyes on God and I've got no idea what he wants from me most of the time. Please don't think the be-collared of the world have a more direct line to the Almighty than you, as I've said, WE DON'T!

 

How often have I heard "but you're a minister" when people ask me a God question that I can't answer straight away? And how often have I heard "and you're a minister?" when something goes wrong and I make my feelings known in words of not many letters?

 

Through leading worship (and through directing the church community) we (the clergy honest enough to admit it) realise how much we don't know, and also how often we don't know it! We are just as prone to mistakes as everyone else. The ability to really screw things up doesn't stop when the clerical collar is done up, and all we can do is say this little prayer and try (with God's help) to do our best.

 

All of us (in and out of the Church, clergy and non-clergy) get things wrong from time to time, it's human nature, it's part of who we are. Just because we're believers does not mean we are exempt from stupidity, (in some cases I think it actually heightens it).

 

All we can do is remember we aren't the first followers of Jesus to mess things up - the Gospels have a few stories (usually involving a guy named Peter) who was a champion at screw ups. He was so good at it that Christ tells him off at least twice and also saves him from drowning when he thought he was a better synchronised swimmer than he was. * I can imagine Peter using this prayer almost as often as I do.

 

Yet, it was this same Peter that Jesus used as the rock on which he would build the Church. This mistake prone, loud mouthed idiot was one of those that J.C. used to spread the Gospel. This screw up that was sent to bear the most important message the world has ever heard - the good news of the grace and love of God; yes, even for the screw ups of this world, maybe even especially for the screw ups of this world.

 

So, people of the Church, we're in good company when we mess things up. So join Jen and Me  and countless others who live their lives, do their work, spread the Gospel and say this prayer all the time -

 

"Please God, don't let me screw everything up too badly, Amen."

 

* Matthew 16 v 23, Matthew 17 v 7 & Matthew 14 v 29.

16 and dangerous!

Again I must thank the Monks at the @UnvirtuousAbbey for this week's sign...

Have you seen this girl interviewed? Malala Yousafzai is a truly amazing young woman. Her stand for women's rights, her gentleness and humour have taken the world by storm. As a young Muslim woman she is showing everyone what her faith is really about. It is not blowing up buildings and  suicide bombs but tolerance and respect for all.

As Gandhi did last century, Malala is showing people of faith around the world (Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jew etc) how their faith should be lived out.

What she is asking is not outrageous, but in the manner of Jesus, it is radical. As I understand it (and are you sitting down for this?) she would like education for women. In the culture where Malala comes from, the Swat District of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkha province, the local Taliban have decreed that woman must be utterly subservient to men and cannot receive education, among other things (like dignity and equality). Malala challenged this; got shot in the head; recovered and has become one of the world's leading activists on woman's rights at the age of 16!


Standing up for the right is a guiding principle behind Christianity; equality for all is another. Jesus didn't come for the few, or the one's we like but for EVERYONE and that means young ladies from Pakistan as much as middle aged men from Melbourne. And he came so that those young ladies and middle aged men (and all the rest) may have life in abundance, not clouded with fear and hate but shinning with love and acceptance.

We can all learn so much from Malala. Not just from her message of education for all but also how she delivers it - with patience, humour, love and humility. As we join our voices with hers let us also learn from her and show our faith to the world around us that all may see the grace and love we receive from a loving God and willingly pass on to others.

 

Watch a clip of Malala here

 

Don't judge others......

 

 

For the past fortnight I've had a bright red beard with dreadlocks and beads in it. I must admit (apart from the pain) it looked spectacular but not everyone thought so. I had a few people remark on 'the look' most of whom were passing strangers who have no idea who I am or why I had a bright red, dreadlocked beard. My favourite comment was when I was walking down the Elizabeth street and a guy with BRIGHT orange trainers (not just bright orange but BRIGHT orange) walked past and called me a, "Freak." I should have hugged him, I've always wanted to be a freak, always wanted to be different. He may have made my week. Here's a quick look at the freak....

But his comment did make me think, what does what we wear say about who we are? Do we judge people by how they dress? Of course we do. Recently one of the ladies of the church apologise to me that their child had come to church in jeans - I don't care, at least they were there, they can wear what they like.

If you've ever been to Piccadilly Circus in London you will have seen the punks. Bright, spiky hair; make up; tight, torn clothes; piercings and that's just the boys. I remember my mother telling me that they were, "Just trying to make a statement." I'm still not sure what that statement is short of the obvious and I'm not having a second blog with swearing in it yet (I'm still getting over the complaints from the first!).

The polar opposite of the punks, of course, are the be-suited corporate wanna-bes whose dark suit and designer shoes are every bit as much of uniform and a statement as the spiky hair and piercings. They scream - I want to belong, I want to be successful, I want to be a clone of my boss.

But which of the two groups are more valuable as people?

Does my worth depend on whether my beard is tidy or not?

Does your value depend on whether you fit my idea of what a person should dress like?

Are we better Christians because we wear suits to church?

OF COURSE NOT!!!

What you wear is as ridiculous a way of judging others as what colour your eyes are. "Oh sorry, you have green eyes - you can't come in to our church, we're a blue eyes only congregation." It's the whole 'don't judge a book by its cover thing.

Everyone is different - get over it! We all have different tastes and different likes. Even though I can't understand it not everyone likes the light operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan and some people do like One Direction (I mean, per-lezzzzze, One Direction???) but as I say everyone is different.

Thinking of that - we all sin differently too (and we do sin, each one of us, and that means YOU dear reader). You're view of what constitutes sin may be very different to mine - I have a massive problem with the Church using guilt and the threat of damnation as its primary weapon of conversion - throwing around the "SIN" word and the "HELL" word in order to try and convince you of the love of God. It always sounds  to me like, "God loves you so much that he is going to burn you in a fire for ever, you pitiful little worm!"And that view of God troubles me, but don't let that fool you into thinking that I don't believe in sin. I do, I just don't believe in judging others for they way they sin. I have a log in my eye and I ain't gonna try and take the speck in yours out!

Again I'm not saying we shouldn't stand up for the right, show our principles and stop bigotry racism, sexism, and the other evils we see, when we see them but let's try and quit the judging game.

Judging people for the way they sin, especially because it is different from the way you sin, is always to be wrong. Forget the judging - start the loving. Love people for who they are, not what you want them to be - do that (as consistently as we can) and we take another small step along the pathway to being more Christlike whether you believe in him nor not.

Scooby Doo - where are you??? Warning there is swearing in this episode.

 



 

I used to love Scooby Doo as a child (being honest, I still do) - I can still sing the theme song and love doing a less than recognisable version of his voice.

"If it wasn't for you pesky (meddling) kids....." was the line at the end of every episode as the ghost/vampire/werewolf/cloud of multi-coulored gas/witch doctor was un-masked and proved (yet again) to be the old guy we met at the beginning of the episode trying to scare people off and make more money.

I didn't realise that as I watched Scooby and Shaggy (and later, regrettably Scrappy) and the gang go around in the Mystery Machine defeating bad guys that my theological education had begun.

Far too many people in the world imagine (or are told) that the monsters we see of and hear of are God. All these disasters that befall our world are God's doing. But if we wait until the end of the episode - every time we have the God-monster cornered we take off the mask and see a human face. God does not do these things. People may claim God does but when we reach up and take off God's mask - it's never him. Never ever God.

So here is where I stopped writing yesterday, convinced I'd finish it today and post it...little did I know it would become so relevant over night.

13 people have been killed in a Washington naval yard and yet again the monster is human. I could list a hundred horrors and in each one of them the monster is always human. Looking at the news sites today we see stories of Syria and war crimes, we read of child abuse and murder and in everyone of them the monster behind the horror has a human face.

I'm just waiting to see who will be the first to blame it all on God - God is doing this because.....(insert ridiculously stupid reason here!) Somewhere a fanatical preacher will try and tell anyone who will listen that God has seen the evil of mankind and has visited (insert random disaster/shooting/horror here) upon us as retribution. Am I allowed to say bulls**t? - because that's what it is.

EDIT - I didn't have to wait too long - here'e a tweet from Westbro Baptist Church

You commit violence vs God & man @DeptofDefense! Today God repays you to your face! #NavyYardShootings #abortion #war #adultery #sodomy #SSM

After the bushfires of Black Saturday of 2009 Danny Nalliah (pastor of Catch the Fire Ministries) claimed that the bushfires were God's retribution for the fact that Victoria abolished abortion laws. He offended 1000's of people with that comment and of course the media picked it up and said this is what the Church is saying.

OF COURSE WE'RE NOT! We're not saying anything of the sort.

Mr. Nalliah, if you are reading this - stop claiming to speak for the Christians of Australia because I know more than a few Christians who don't subscribe to your 'God as an angry, vengeful bastard' idea. Many of us believe that God is a God of love and not the Eternal Headmaster waiting, looking, eagerly searching for a reason to cosmicly cane us.

By the way, just in passing, this is the same Mr. Nalliah who claimed, in writing, in 2007;

"I will boldly declare that Prime Minister John Howard will be re-elected in the November election (if the Body of Christ unites in prayer and action) and pass the leadership onto Peter Costello sometime after.

I know this prophetic declaration is very controversial, but at this critical crossroad in our nation’s destiny, it’s not time to tickle the ears of man, but to please the Father in Heaven, by boldly proclaiming His Authoritative Word of Righteousness, Justice, and Truth to the Church and Nation!"

Oops!

The Washington naval shootings, the bush fires, 9/11, and any and all the horrors that happen in our world are not God's divine revenge for something humanity has done wrong.

Learn from Scooby Doo. Reach up and take the mask off - the monster is NEVER God - God is loving and caring, coming to us in the form of Jesus to share our pain not inflict more.

So people ask where is God in all this suffering? - God is right there, in the middle of it, feeling every hurt, sharing every tear - the power behind the hand that help and the voice behind the word that calms. That's where God is - standing by those in need, calling us to do the same.