Come, Holy People

Since we moved here in August I’ve been looking for a decent record shop. There is an HMV, but the other day I discovered an independent shop that had advertised in Mojo magazine. It was called Slipped Discs II. When I found it, it looked like a dodgy old dive from the outside: tattoo parlour upstairs, some distasteful dolls linked to rather, er, Gothic movies in the window. A group of rather bohemian people were exiting as I arrived. One politely held the door for me.
 
As I wandered in, my first realisation was that although this was a dark place in more than one sense, I liked their selection of music – not least the CD reissues of old seventies titles I’d loved on vinyl. The surroundings and style might not be what I liked as a Christian, but the music made me feel at home.
 
But then I had a second experience. Jesus was there. He felt at home. There was that sense of inner spiritual peace that you cannot logically argue, but you know the source.
 
This went hand in hand with a book I am currently reading: Red Moon Rising by Pete Greig and Dave Roberts – the account of the 24-7 Prayer movement. Here is a quote from page 230 of the book. Greig is quoting a man called Ian Nicholson:
 

For 30 years … the church has been gathering to say “Come, Holy Spirit”, and in his grace he has come. But perhaps the tables are turning. Perhaps it is now the Holy Spirit’s turn, and he is saying to us, “Come, holy people.” Perhaps the Holy Spirit is waiting for us to attend his meetings in some surprising places.

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New Year Resolutions?

There are all sorts of Christian blogs on new year resolutions – e.g., here and here by Maggi Dawn. I’m not one for resolutions, they always seem a bit too legalistic for me. I prefer the notion of the Methodist Covenant Service at the beginning of the year, where we make solemn promises and commitments to God, but all in the light of his grace and unwavering love.
 
However my daily Bible reading yesterday (I use Scripture Union’s Encounter With God notes) was deeply challenging. The passage was Matthew 4:18-25. Simon and Andrew leave their nets to follow Jesus, James and John leave their boat to do the same. The notes (by John Grayston) included the following. It leaves me with questions about what it would really mean for me to get out of the ‘boat’ I am in as a Methodist minister, where a lot of people want the ‘safe’ option, the temptation is to give precisely that, and the system adds pressures in that direction, too.

The call is to leave all that is familiar, that makes sense of life and provides security … How is it that to follow Jesus has become, for so many, too easy? … What demands has our faith made of us? … Instantly, the early followers are plunged into a community where they see God at work in new ways. They live on the edge, not only in terms of the sacrifice they have made but also in the way they experience God.

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How Can We Sing?

The Revd Saundra L Washington blogs on the above topic here, arguing that American Christians are now in an ‘exile’ experience, much as I have in sermons. She contends the Christian church has always had to sing the song of an exile. Perhaps it would be better to say that largely that is what we should have done, but much of Christianity is still hiding behind the Christendom model, treating it like the emperor’s new clothes, fearful of what reality is when her nakedness behind such a hopeless disguise is exposed.
 
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A Scholar’s Assessment Of ‘The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe’

New Testament scholar Ben Witherington has a penetrating reflection on the Narnia film here. Note his spotting of biblical allusions, especially from John’s Gospel, and this final paragraph:

A long time ago a newspaper man was fired from the Asheville N.C. newspaper for doodling– drawning little pictures of mice and ducks and dogs. This man was Walt Disney. Walt Disney was a man with a remarkable imagination, like C.S. Lewis, and he put it to good use. There was something redemptive about even his most frivolous cartoons. Let us hope the post-Walt Disney will learn something from the response to this film and make more like it, stories that do have “some redeeming value”. If so, it will be a return to form and Walt would be thrilled. In this post-modern age the rebirth of imagination is what we should expect and what the most Creative One of all would want.

 
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A Scholar’s Assessment Of ‘The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe’

New Testament scholar Ben Witherington has a penetrating reflection on the Narnia film here. Note his spotting of biblical allusions, especially from John’s Gospel, and this final paragraph:

A long time ago a newspaper man was fired from the Asheville N.C. newspaper for doodling– drawning little pictures of mice and ducks and dogs. This man was Walt Disney. Walt Disney was a man with a remarkable imagination, like C.S. Lewis, and he put it to good use. There was something redemptive about even his most frivolous cartoons. Let us hope the post-Walt Disney will learn something from the response to this film and make more like it, stories that do have “some redeeming value”. If so, it will be a return to form and Walt would be thrilled. In this post-modern age the rebirth of imagination is what we should expect and what the most Creative One of all would want.

 
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Taking The Clocks Out

If you ran a bank and the customer queues engendered complaints, what would you do? Deploy more staff so customers waited shorter times? Not if you’re my bank, NatWest, you wouldn’t. You’d remove the clocks. Spokesman Ronan Kelleher said with classic ‘spin’ (or more likely, doublespeak) that customers didn’t think clocks would ‘enhance their banking experience’. Well, all suggestions here for schemes that would – ahem – enhance our banking experience.
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