i am delighted to learn that today is a day of new directions for the church of england - a new law enabling a bishop's mission order to be issued, regarding the formation and recognition of new forms of church that ordinarily wouldn't fit within the traditional parish structure, has been adopted - combined with the new ordination category of 'pioneer minister', i find that an enormously exciting direction for the anglican church to be going - for those of us that have been ministering on the frontiers for a while, this presents a wonderful opportunity to redefine what connection to 'big church' means - it doesn't mean we have to conform to that, especially if we are worried about how much that will cost us in terms of losing our identity on the growing edges - but it is quite comforting to have that possibility presented as an option - for those that have struggled within the constraints of the traditional parish system, it must be very exciting to have this new direction opened up as a legitimate course of travelTuesday 1 April 2008
directions
i am delighted to learn that today is a day of new directions for the church of england - a new law enabling a bishop's mission order to be issued, regarding the formation and recognition of new forms of church that ordinarily wouldn't fit within the traditional parish structure, has been adopted - combined with the new ordination category of 'pioneer minister', i find that an enormously exciting direction for the anglican church to be going - for those of us that have been ministering on the frontiers for a while, this presents a wonderful opportunity to redefine what connection to 'big church' means - it doesn't mean we have to conform to that, especially if we are worried about how much that will cost us in terms of losing our identity on the growing edges - but it is quite comforting to have that possibility presented as an option - for those that have struggled within the constraints of the traditional parish system, it must be very exciting to have this new direction opened up as a legitimate course of travel
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Is it important that people lose their identity? Is serving God not enough? I struggle every day with getting the equilibrium right; being good (and all the aspects that we can fit under that phrase) because that's what I should do and being good to enhance my identity. I know what I should be doing but sometimes it's difficult. Let's hope that we can all reach an equilibrium.
my experience of serving God has been a lot more about finding and learning how to celebrate my real identity - for me that has meant getting rid of a lot of the 'shoulds' - Jesus said 'you can't serve two masters' and then went on to talk about God and money - but i think what he said applies to me too in other ways - i can't serve, don't need to serve, 'shouldn't' serve, my idea of what other people expect or think of me, at the expense of pleasing my heavenly Father by living in the confidence that He knows me, and loves me, and accepts me as His child with scandalously open arms - for me that includes resisting 'skewed' expectations (my own and other peoples)about whether i am a 'good' person/Christian or not and what i 'should' do to achieve approval - that doesn't mean i can act how i want - being good is HARD (especially for someone as twisted as me) - i find balance and equilibrium to be an impossible thing - i think when God chased me down and found me, He knew i would never be able to resist the urge to fling myself towards his love and just revel in my identity as His child - when i do that all the 'shoulds' seem to mysteriously melt away and i get a more 'right and Godly' sense of my real identity - what do you think ?
absolutely spot on. I tried to leave a message earlier but I didn't blog on. I mentioned life being wonderful. Having one idol is tough, loving God constantly is tough, maintaining harmony is tough, life is tough. Life is wonderful. Dylan said, 'You gotta serve somebody' and who else is better to serve than our Lord? It is difficult for me to get into my head the Father and Son being one. I get the Holy Trinity and understand it (as much as one can) but is it wrong then to love Jesus but only like God? God is a wee bit scary but Jesus and I are like best buds. Do you find it easy to continually love and serve Him wholly? WHen at work and at play it seems that other things take over and I get caught up in the tediousness of life. I worry I am not pleasing my boss, my wife and family, I worry what others think of me, and I worry that I worry. A lot of rambling thoughts but, hey, that's not always the worst thing in the world.
i like what you think of as rambling ! i guess i struggle with the same things - it is very interesting to me how other people relate to God - i think i might have the opposite impression to you - i find the whole notion of God as loving Father (rather than old grumpy guy with a big stick) really just captures my heart, so it seems easier to relate that way - on the other hand Jesus i find to be pretty tricky - i mean i like Him and all - i just find it challenging that someone can be human and God and do all of that right - and then say 'you guys will do even more stuff than i've done !!!' - but then i end up being crap at all that stuff and so feel embarrassed to hang around Him and call myself His follower - i guess what i am saying is that i am more comfortable with God as a source of comfort than i am as a source of challenge/foolishness/creativity/change - but i am learning to be a bit more at ease with myself about how difficult i find to love and serve God wholly - how about you ?
I suppose I am normal in that my faith peeks at certain times. And not always when I really need it. Actually, that might be when it is strongest and I don't realise. The message of footprints in the sand, maybe. Jesus is the Man! He is the coolest Dude. In my mind he is the guy in the group who knows when to get you into the taxi but is the last to leave because He really likes the company of all the group. The guy that stops you from making a fool of yourself. In one day I can love wholly and doubt. The Scottish weather approach to faith.
you sure have the strangest take on the Man !! i love the way you see things xxj
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