Last night saw us welcome in the new year at a party at the wonderful home of the amazing hosts, Martyn and Danielle Evans. 

New Year is often a time for looking back on a the previous year before looking forward to the following 12 months. To be honest I am not one for reviewing the past. There is nothing I can do to affect that but the next 12 months are always a challenge. Each year I have the same resolution and that is to be more of a man of God than I have been in the previous year. It is a challenge and one that needs constant discipline and attention.

In 1:Kings 3:4-14 When God appeared to Solomon in a dream and offered him the desires of his heart. He chooses wisdom. This clearly please God. That is my desire, to please God and acquire His wisdom. I have started to read one chapter of Proverbs each day. Surely this a good place to start!

Christmas is a key time for watching rubbish on the TV. As usual, there is plenty of it about at this time of year! 

So today has been a bit if a slobbing around day. It started with catching up on the Christmas day Dr. Who, which I really enjoyed. It will be a shame when David Tennant leaves. He has taken over from Jon Pertwee as my favourite Doctor. After that I watched the Christmas edition of Poirot, "Appointment with Death". Again I think that David Suchet is the ultimate Belgian detective beating even Peter Ustinov and Albert Finney. Of course all this was mindless entertainment and non the worse for this! However the great joy of the day was a programme from BBC 2 about the painiting "The Mystical Nativity" by the Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli.   

I have to be honest and say that I had never seen or even heard of this painting until I had watched this most informative programme. Of course the centre piece of the work is the traditional image of the Christmas story. Joseph is pictured as an elderly man (probably asleep). Mother and child both staring at one another with clear joy. The "Kings" have no earthly gifts or worldly crowns. The clear suggestion is that the only gift we can offer Christ is ourselves and our adoration.   It is also suggested that Bottecelli , was hugely impacted by the revolutionary preacher Girolamo Savonarola. He had encouraged people to a life of holiness which required them to dedicate themselves to Christ and remove all earthly trappings. For the artist this meant no longer painting the pagan images he had previously done for commissions. For others it meant giving up their jewellery. Much of this stuff ended up been burnt on huge fires in the town centre. This is the where the phrase "Bonfire of the Vanities" originates.

The very top of the painting has a latin inscription in Greek which reads:  "This picture, at the end of the year 1500, in the troubles of Italy, I Alessandro, in the half-time after the time, painted, according to the eleventh [chapter] of Saint John, in the second woe of the Apocalypse, during the release of the devil for three-and-a-half years; then he shall be bound in the twelfth [chapter] and we shall see [him buried] as in this picture" The legend is that this inscription was actually hidden under the frame as this was an obvious link to the teaching of the now disgraced and now executed Savonarola. Below that is a representation of heaven which is done in gold leaf (a technique he would have learnt when he was a goldsmith). The angels and all dancing with joy and they hold crowns and olive branches. Below the nativity scene there are 3 angels that are embracing humans. It suggests that the birth of Christ bridges heaven and earth, man and God. This is further evidenced by the images of demons being killed by their own weapons.  

Significantly, Christ is seen reclined on a cloth that is reminiscent of a shroud and the stable is in a cave which is suggestive of a burial tomb. All of this  prophicises his death. 

So as I continue to watch lots of rubbish on the box and remain committed to eating my way through a dozen turkey sandwiches, this treasure of a programme not only educated me about the Italian Renaissance, it also allowed me reflect once more on the amazing significance of the birth of Christ.

Ian Anderson is not known as being a huge fan of Christianity or the church but this song from a few years back has an interesting message:

"Christmas Song"

Once in Royal David's City stood a lonely cattle shed,
where a mother held her baby.
You'd do well to remember the things He later said.
When you're stuffing yourselves at the Christmas parties,
you'll just laugh when I tell you to take a running jump.
You're missing the point I'm sure does not need making
that Christmas spirit is not what you drink.

So how can you laugh when your own mother's hungry,
and how can you smile when the reasons for smiling are wrong?
And if I just messed up your thoughtless pleasures,
remember, if you wish, this is just a Christmas song.

 I have just discovered the amazing album, Strange Communion by Thea Gilmore. I cannot recommend it highly enough. On the song, Book of Christmas, I was challenged by this lyric:

There was a star in the east

Magi in their turbans brought their luxury toys

In homage to a child born to capsize their values, wreck their equapoise

       A smell of hay like peace in the dark stable, not peace however

      but a sword to cut the gaudy and knot of self-interest

      the fool-proof golden cord

      for Christ walked in where philosophers tread

      but armed with more than folly

      making the smooth place rough

       and knocking the heads of church and state together.

     In honour we have taken over the pagan feast of satanalia

     for our annual treat.

     Letting the belly have its say.

     Ignoring the spirit whilst we eat.

     And conscience still goes crying through the desert

       with sackcloth round his loins.

     A week to Christmas.

     Hark the Herald Angels beg for copper coins

    Thea Gilmore -Book of Christmas   

    

    

 

I am indebted to my friend Mark Hollingsworth for this great quote. 

 INTELLECT CARRIED TO ITS FULL DEGREE WILL LEAD ONE TO FAITH. BUT SOMEDAY YOU’LL NEED TO DROP THE HAND OF INTELLECT AND GRAB THE HAND OF FAITH. YOU SEE, INTELLECT ONLY GETS YOU TO THE PRECIPICE OF LIFE’S ULTIMATE MEANING—BUT IT WON’T HELP YOU GET OVER IT.

-Dante 

When I lived in East Anglia a few years ago, I visited Kings College Cambridge and had the pleasure of seeing "Adoration of the Magi" by Peter Paul Rubens. At this time of year we are regularly drawn to this story as we read the gospel of Matthew. 

 ^{1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a]from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east[b] and have come to worship him."}

 ^{3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ[c] was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 
 6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, 
      are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; 
   for out of you will come a ruler 
      who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'[d]"}

 ^{7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."}

 ^{9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.}

We looked at this passage in church this morning. Many great points were made about it. Thinking about it since made me consider some other things.

In the passage it says that the Magi visited him it says that they visited him in a house. (v11). This could have been the inn where the stable was located but it much more likely suggests this was sometime after the birth when Mary and Joseph had found somewhere more salubrious. Many scholars believe that these wise men had travelled from Persia (Some accounts even say one was from china!). The truth is that they had travelled a great distance and this was a long journey to find the king. Many people today are on a journey looking for truth. It can be a difficult, long and arduous but those who seek him will find him. (Matt 7:7-8). The church needs to ensure that it is a beacon to those on their own journeys.

The Shepherds were busily minding their own business.

 ⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

 ¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 
 ¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest, 
      and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

 ¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

 ¹⁶So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 

The thing about the Shepherds is that they were were just getting on with their jobs, blissfully unaware of the fact that the saviour of the world had been born down the road! This fact had to be drawn to their attention by messengers. The role of every Christian is to made every person in the world that the Messiah has come.

At this time when we focus on the birth of Christ we would do well to remember that whilst people are born to live, He is unique in the fact that He was born to die. As this picture so well illustrates He willingly went to the cross and needed no nails to hold him there.

 

One of the proudest days of my life!

A friend of ours who we met through Street Pastors, recently posed some question on her blog and asked me to answer them. I did it very quickly. Maybe with more time I might have had a better stab but I record it here as I posted it. How would you answer them?

A question for Christians (possibly part one of many!)

OK,seeing as a good few of my blog followers seem to be Christians, I figured I'd just go ahead and ask this straight out. It's kind of a personal question though, so please don't feel like you have to answer.

I'm curious as to how individual people made the jump to being able/willing to believe/ believe in all the little 'bits' that make up mainstream Christianity, and whether it was always a 'package' in your mind or whether you've come to have faith in each of the seperate 'bits' individually?

For example, in my head, there's lot's of seperate 'beliefs' that make up Christianity. The 'main'/important ones seem to be .....

• Jesus existed as a flesh human being.
• Jesus was born to a virgin mother.
• Jesus died on the cross as pennance for man's sins.
• God exists and created the world.
• The Holy spirit exists.
• The bible is the whole, complete & inspired word of God.
• Life after death for believers.
• The second coming of Jesus.

I've probably missed something off this list, appologies if I have, I hope it doesn't offend you.

So, what I want to know is, if you came to the church/christianity initially through believing one (or some) of the things above, how did you come to accept them all? If you had the 'package' presented to you, were you happy that everything 'made sense' or did you struggle to believe any part of the 'package'. Is this what 'faith' is, and if so, where's the line between faith and brainless 'tag-along' acceptance?

I'm really looking forward to reading your replies - you're welcome to reply as 'anonymous' if you feel you'd like to. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

POSTED BY CAROLYN AT 15:36

1 COMMENTS:

Gary Smith said...

What an interesting set of questions! My story has been one of revelation really. I was part of the last generation of kids sent to Sunday School my non-believing parents because it was the "thing to do". Probably as a result, I have never had a period of my life when I have not believed in God and that Jesus was the son of God. This however, dod not make me a Christian, people of many faiths believe in God. In fact even the devil believes in God and knows Jesus is the son of God! In my late teens, early 20's I began to mix with people whose faith on God was so significant it was vibrant and seemed to be more intimate and real than anything I had experienced. As a result, I offered up to God the Lordship of my life. That I would try to do things His way, rather than mine. To be fair my take on it at this point would have been quite liberal when it came to say believing in all it said in the bible. However, God was patient and allowed me to explore His claims for myself. For instance there is tons of evidence that Jesus existed, so no issue there. My personal experience and that of my friends provided enough proof that Jesus was who he claimed to be, the son of God. If God created the universe, then its entirely possible that His son could be born of a virgin. That he died to fulfil prophecy that he would take away the sins of the world. His death on the cross meant that there was no the chance for people to have a relationship with God.

The more I explored my own faith, the more I found the bible to be the reliable, complete, inspired word of God. I moved from a liberal standpoint to what would be called an evangelical position. It seemed to be that the bible was all true or not. I opt for all!

Similarly, my relationship with the Holy Spirit has been progressive. Initially I was unsure of the role of the HS in the trinity. Through reading, discussion and experience I realised that the HS was a person (in the manner of God and Jesus) and not a thing. 

My point is that I did not accept a package. I did not understand the package as well as you presented it. I just knew this Jesus was the way the truth and the life. That is what I opted into. Everything else has come later. There was a sense of turning my back on my old life and making a statement that I wanted to go "his way". but the reality of all of what that means has been constantly been revealing ever since. This is in common with the first believers. They left there fishing nets in order to follow Jesus. They did not totally get the theology, benefits or cost., they just took a step of faith. That is all that Jesus wants of us. He did not sent them away to learn more or train. He said "follow me and i will MAKE you fishers of men"

So we sometimes struggle to make sense of the bible and "the package" My start point is this. If it is presented in the package, I know want to know if it's in the bible. If its in the bible then I have to ask for the faith to see it through!

If you love questions, study and challenging thinking then Christianity is never just a "tag-along" experience BUT it is always a matter of faith.....

Wow, that was a long answer!

15 NOVEMBER 2009 17:08

Today I am in Belfast with Bill Gaither and the homecoming friends. My mate Trevor King and I are putting shows on here and in Glasgow and London. They have all sold well, praise God! I have been hanging at the venue doing whatever I could to help Trevor. The most daunting thing was to take his 7 seater MPV to the hotel to collect Bill and Gloria. Little did they know that I had no idea where the venue was. I was worried that I might get separated from the van I was following. Fortunately it was all fine. Had a chat with Mr Gaither and we discussed the possibility of a show in cardiff at some point. Well I am going now to check out the show. Currently they are playing for longer than Springsteen!

It has been a while since I updated my blog. The kidney stones really knocked me out for a few weeks. Now I am back and seemingly at full strength, thank you God!

Some recent highlights include selling out the Southbank Centre for the London Gaither Homecoming. 2,300 tickets sold. We have now released to choir stalls and the artists have promised to turn around a few times! U@ are performing in the round and now so is Bill Gaither, what a legend!

Last weekend Lesley and I travelled up to London to attend the wedding of Naomi Hill to Andy Hutchison http://andyhutch.com/ Nigel and Gill were there along with Anita and David and two of our former interns, Lois and Meghan. The legend that is Les Moir made up at our table at the reception and this ensured a good time was had by all. In fact it was an incredible wedding. We loved the music. Worship was lead by Tim Hughes and Martin Smith. Cathy Burton performed and tracks by Elvis Costello and Dexys Midnight Runners all featured. I freely admit to struggling to hold the tears back during the speeches..........a lovely day.

Yesterday I spoke a couple of times at the Impact The nations conference. it must have gone ok because yet again I heard the slightly back-handed compliment "I did not know you could speak like that".... I met for the first time Simon Barrington the CEO of Samaritans Purse and Billy Graham organisation. This, I think will be a great contact, particularly for Ignite in Liberia.

Last night we went to visit Mark and Carina Galozzi Hibbert and their gorgeous new baby, Eliah.

Tonight will be the 3rd Street Pastors commissioning service. Another 8 Street Pastors are been added to the rotas. In addition to Chief Superintendent Josh Jones, we are also expecting Jenny Randserson AM and Jenny Willot MP at the service.

God is good!