Down the valley

A couple of pictures of the rolling countryside along the valley. It really was this green.

We walked about 10 miles this first day and saw very few people at all along the way. Mostly sheep and birds!

From time to time it rained a little, but nothing too heavy. 

At the halfway point we stopped at the George and Dragon in Aysgarth for lunch. Wonderful sandwiches presented in an unusual way.

River view

The view along the river on our first day's walk from Askrigg to Aysgarth

Visiting The Dales

We’ve come to the end of our short expedition into the Yorkshire Dales, and what an interesting visit it has been! We managed to get out for a couple of walks, the longer of which was just over 10 miles from Askrigg to Aysgarth and back, taking in the falls at Aysgarth.
Our second walk took us up through the village of Clapham to Ingleborough Caves. The climb was fairly steep, and the advisory notice to “allow yourself at least 20 minutes” to make the ascent was rather over-optimistic for all but the fittest of walkers. But the path was good, and you can take you time.

The climb takes you up through woods, alongside a lake and within earshot of the water falls but in not sight of them. The best view comes before you enter the trail. Eventually you emerge from the woods into open skies alongside the river and you are within 300-400 metres of the cave entrance.

The tour takes you about 1.5Km underground into the cave. There are some 15-20Km of explored caves and more unexplored pathways hidden from access at the moment. The cave was first explored in the 1830’s by Victorians using candle-light. You just can’t imagine how difficult that must have been!

Anyway, we left the cave after about a 50 minute tour and set off back to the village to have some lunch. On our first day’s walking we had lunch in Aysgarth at the George and Dragon (at least I think that’s the name of the pub). They do the most amazing sandwiches! On the second day we found a small tea sop and had another good sandwich before setting of for a drive around the valley.

We took in the Ribblehead viaduct in the morning and passed it a second time as we made our way to Hawes to have a look around. It was probably the busiest settlement we’d seen. From there we made our way back to Askrigg but decide to drive over to the next valley via what turned out to be a narrow, twisty road, with a 24% gradient in places. We came back a different way!

The prize for the most amusing sign has to go the one that simply read “Crackpot 1”. I’m just surprised he stood still long enough for them to point a sign at him!

Overall we’ve enjoyed our short visit and Anne is looking out for a large house to rent for the wider family next year!

Wensleydale: It's not just a cheese!

I'm resting my weary old bones and feet after just completing a nice 10 mile walk in this wonderful part of Northern England. We arrived yesterday for a short break and, apart from a few small showers, we've had a great day walking. 

We've met a lot of sheep and very few people as we roamed our way from Askrigg to Aysgarth and back again.

I've taken a few pictures with my trusty compact but I didn't bring any cables to connect to the MacBook, so the gallery will have to wait until I get home.

Anyway, at least I've done my 10,000 steps for today, and for tomorrow too!

Is this what it's come to?

I find myself wondering about the sorry state of affairs at Westminster. It seems that we have apparently been guilty of electing a significant number of MP's who are incapable of taking responsibility for their actions.

As I read in the paper this morning about the need for Gordon Brown to "sack this 'dead speaker'" I wondered to myself  if this wasn't an exercise in shifting the blame. It looks to me like a group of kids caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar passing the buck down the line. 

And now we have calls for a general election, as if an election is going to fix the problem.

I know some good MP's. I trust them to act ethically and morally and have no doubt that they do. But I despair at those who are looking to blame someone else for not stopping them doing what any thinking person might have suspected to be unjustifiable even if it fell within the famous rules.

I wish Michael Martin well in the future (I've just heard he's announced he's stepping down), and I hope MP's will not think this is the end of a very sorry tale of greed and abuse.

Continuing ruminations on a new systematic theology

I was wondering what the basis for this "new" systematic theology might be. Where would you begin to develop a new approach or at the very least an alternative structure for it? 

Perhaps a missional systematic theology is what is needed.  Something that takes seriously the missionary nature of God and builds around that as a core concept. Then I got to thinking about a sermon I preached last year about mission and remembered the little mantra that arose from it: Christ, mission, church. 

In other words, our Christology drives our missiology which in turn drives our ecclessiology. The problem with this is where do you fit some of the important issues like the doctrine of Scripture or of man.

Maybe Alan Hirsch's Forgotten Ways, or Michael Frost's Exiles or even Brian McLaren's Everything must change, are all more systematic that you might think at first glance. Maybe our job is to think them through in a systematic way.

Oh dear, I think I'm falling under the influence of organised thought. It may be too late for me, but save yourselves!

Reading a systematic theology

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned and idea about the need for a new systematic theology. As I said then, I'm' not a big fan of them, but then again we actually all do systematic theology whether we call it that or not. We make statements of faith and about our faith that amount to a core set of beliefs. We all think they are Biblical, whether they stand the test of scrutiny or not. This is systematic theology.

Perhaps what we actually need is a more systematic scrutiny of our existing systematic theologies that we carry around with us. In other words, do your core beliefs and practices actually stand the test of biblical reflection?

Anyway, I decided to take the plunge and to set about reading at least one comparatively recent systematic theology text to start getting my head around how my idea could work in the context of the local church.

I chose Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, which runs to around 1200 larger than typical pages. Helpfully subtitled "An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine" (Yes, I too wonder how long the full treatment would be if the introduction is 1200 pages), it's actually a very accessible book to read. Okay, so you might need a dictionary occasionally if you're not familiar with some of the theological terms used, but overall, this is not a hard book to read. The chapters are quite short, and of course you don't actually have to read it from start to finish, you can pick the topics in which you are most interested and read those first.

What I really like about the book is the approach Grudem has taken. This is a book written from an evangelical perspective and in a disciple-making context. The goal of the book is not to fill your head with all sorts of theological information but to help you grow in your understanding of your faith.

There's a good bibliography, and each chapter ends with a passage of Scripture to learn and a hymn or song that reflects the topic just discussed. You may not agree with every conclusion that he draws, but I don't think you can claim that you're going to be uninformed by the time you've worked your way through this weighty tome.

So why would you want to read a book of this length? 

First of all I should tell you that there are two edited versions of the book also available. Bible Doctrine: Essential Teachings of the Christian Faith is still 400 pages long, but even at that, only a third the size of the original. And if 400 pages is too much to get your enthusiasm racing, then the very concise Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know, is only 160 pages long and not a bad place to begin at all.

And the reason you should at least one of them or something similar? Well I think the answer lies in a verse from James that we all know but probably don't think it applies to us.

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

I doubt we consider ourselves unstable, or double-minded, or with divided loyalties, but I often wonder if some of our struggles are rooted in an incomplete theology at work in our minds.  Take for example a person who becomes unsure if God still loves them. Our modern experiential framework means that they tend to look for some kind of feeling to solve their sense of being unloved. Sensing God's love is a good thing, but knowing we are loved is, I suggest, of far greater importance. 

The latter is a matter of understanding, the former is incredibly fickle because our feeling can be fickle. 

I don't want to set myself up for a fall, but I have come to the conclusion that the thing that keeps me going when things get me down and things get tough is my theology. It is what I know and believe about God that provides the foundation for my perseverance. And that's why I am beginning to see the need for a new systematic theology in the church today. Not so that we can argue the finer points of doctrine, or debate the order events in the end times or even test our orthodoxy with respect to the five points of Calvinism, but that we might grow, that we might become mature in our faith, for the glory of God and for sake of his purposes.

Is Church Family?

Here's an interesting piece with a rather long title and a lot of content about church, the nature of the Sunday gathering and what to do about visitors. The essence of the post is a reflection on community and accessibility to that community. The author points out that:

In post Christendom, as I have often argued, the Sunday morning gathering is essential, buts its very character changes from the ways we met in Christendom. It is no longer structured to attract seekers or non-Christians and evangelize them. It is no longer put together to attract Christians wandering away from other churches. It is instead formational, it brings us corporately into the practice of encountering God and being transformed by that encounter for life and Mission in Christ.

Such a gathering does, by its very nature, becomes somewhat inaccessible to visitors because it's a community that knows itself and knows its struggles and its mission, something a stranger to that particular community will not know. 

Now this doesn't give us a licence to be inhospitable to visitors, but it does challenge the concept of over-working the need to be so welcoming that people feel "at home" straight away.

The article goes on to suggest that we view our Sunday gatherings in the context of being a family, and guests to a family event always come by invitation. In other words, there is always someone they have got to know outside the family context and who is there to help them navigate their way within the family.

If you have time, it's a post worth reading through and reflecting upon.

My first lathe project

Today I have to say a big thank you to David's grandfather for letting me try my hand at wood turning on his lathe. (David is Ally's fiance... did I mention they got engaged a few weeks ago).

Anyway, back to the important stuff, my wood turning. The bowl would have been a bit bigger, but I managed to tear a lump out of the edge, so it shrank! The wood is cherry and the finish is wax.

It is quite an intense experience for a beginner. Learning to control the various shaping tools needs concentration but relaxed hands and wrists. I'm certainly game for another go!

Mind you, I think I'm probably not quite ready for mass production, and maybe a hand turned wedding present for Ally is a long way off. And anyway, I suspect David's grandfather will have first dibs on that project!

The busyness of life and ministry

I've been busy. Nothing newsworthy there. I'm guessing that there are precious few people out there who would actually describe their lives as particularly "not busy". If you are not busy for some reason, then please enjoy it if you can!

Anyway, my busyness stems from the convergence of two days away Waverley Abbey House, a funeral in between and a wedding on Saturday. In fact, had the wedding been two days earlier it would have meant that, for the first time ever in twenty years of ministry, I would have done a dedication, a funeral and a wedding in the same month!

I'd not thought about before Saturday, but things don't tend to come together quite like that for me. 

It does mean that there's a pile of post to deal with and much work to be done preparing for the next series as well as for the coming Sunday. But I don't get quite as worked up over this as I used to do. I think that although I'm not as well organised as I'd like to be, being more organised than I was certainly helps. For example, I know that the post can wait a day because I know there's nothing earth-shatteringly important in there and I know where it all is (it's all in one place in my famous tickler file). In fact I don't expect it to take me more than 10 minutes to deal with, even if it's a growing pile come tomorrow's delivery. And that's tomorrow's job.

So, if you're feeling stressed out by the busyness of everything, my prescription would be to take a long hard look at your organising system and honestly ask yourself if it's working. If it isn't, then begin to write a list of what you need to do to regain control and don't assume because all you papers are hidden away in a file that you've got it sorted. I've done that before and all it ever meant was that my disorganisation was hidden. Once written, tackle things one at a time. Pick the thing that will bring either most benefit or most joy as a starting point, then work systematically through the list. You might even be surprised how quickly you recover control. I've certainly discovered that by having a system, control is regained far more quickly that it was without one.

The humble presence of Jesus

As I was scanning the book shelves for some resources to help me shape the next series for Sunday mornings, I cam across a booked called Christianity 101 by Gilbert Bilezikian. If you've ever listened to Bill Hybels talk about the inspirational teacher who challenged him, then you will recognise the name.

Scanning quickly through the book, I came across this opening paragraph in the chapter "The Doctrine of Christ":

The humble presence of Jesus Christ towers over the jagged skyline of human history. Through the ages, visionaries have come and gone, strong men and heroes have immortalized themselves into the memory of the race, sages and seers have lifted the human spirit toward its Maker, thinkers have plumbed the depths of the mysteries of existence, crusaders and conquerors have created kingdoms and destroyed them, saints and martyrs have sacrificed their lives for noble causes, but no other man has ever accomplished so much in so little time to affect the course of the world as Jesus of Nazareth. He is at the center of human history.

Is a new systematic theology needed?

I've never been a big fan of systematic theology. Maybe it's because there always seems to come a point where you have to adjust something to fit your system rather than adjusting the system. I'm just rebellious at heart!

On the other hand, I've begun to wonder if there isn't a need for a more systematic approach to theology as we do it in church. I don't think we actually need to look for an emerging systematic theology or go in search of a post-modern systematic theology either. But I just wonder if some of the issues I regularly see in pastoral ministry result in part from an absence of understanding of some fundamental truths and doctrines.

I suspect we might have to find a more subtle way of doing it than announcing an eight week series of doctrine of sin, but the challenge apart, a more consistent approach to educating ourselves about what we actually believe than what we think we believe or what makes us feel better about ourselves.

More thought to come I'm sure.

Final thoughts on the seminar

Well maybe not the final thoughts, but nearly the last blog on the subject unless I get carried away.

We finished the day with a meditation which involved listening to someone read The Father's Love Letter. You might have come across this via an email from someone or a chance search on the internet. I was sent it quite some time ago. It's very nice. It's quite comforting. It's all Scripture. It's only half the story.

My problem is that whilst everything it contains is drawn from well-known verses and passages throughout the Bible, it is just that, a collection of nice, comforting thoughts. We're encouraged these days to think a lot about the Father who loves us. One of the artists at Spring Harvest this year described their ministry about helping people to see that God is head-over-heels in love with them. 

Hmm.

The thing is, where is the Father who disciplines his children in all this? Where is the Holy God who judges us, finds us wanting and then offers himself as the solution?

Therein lies my problem with some of what we talked about today. It's not a complete picture. To be fair, I'm not sure how you'd paint a complete picture in one day, but for me a little more theological reflection wouldn't have gone amiss.

I agree with the statement made today that the negative voices that tell us we're not good enough, we're useless, we're failures, do not come from God. But I'm not sure that turning them into comforting voices that praise our effort and tell us that our best is good enough is the whole answer.

Take David for example. When he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then arranged the murder of Uriah I suspect he felt pretty bad about himself. I'm guessing that he didn't feel connected to God, maybe even abandoned by him. The last thing David needed at that point was to turn to his inner voice and tell himself, "You're okay." Clearly he wasn't okay. He needed to deal with his sin in order to rebuild his self-esteem.

Then how about Moses? Was he suffering low self-esteem when he told God he couldn't possibly speak on his behalf  because of his speech problem? Maybe Moses was offering a realistic assessment of himself. Would God have used an articulate, confident Moses?

You see my point.

Low self-esteem is most definitely an issue with which many people, including many Christians,  struggle. But maybe the best solution is a healthy biblically based understanding of ourselves and of God's grace and mercy. Perhaps we need to engage more fully with the central doctrines of our faith in order to better understand these things.

It was interesting that when we were asked to think about various negative images of God as Father and choose the one that most reflects how we sometimes see him, I struggled to pick one. It wasn't because I don't have times when I feel abandoned or distant from him, it's just that as I thought about them I thought also about the theological understanding I carry with me that helps me address those feelings without having to think about how a positive parent might speak to me.

Overall the day did have real value for me as I reflected on the sources of low self-esteem and listened to the stories that some shared about their personal experiences. But I couldn't help feeling that something was missing and that something was about knowing God and knowing myself in God's eyes.

Self-Esteem Seminar

Halfway through the day looking at self-esteem and I'm struck by a number of things. Firstly, the theological framework of our understanding of self-esteem needs to be strengthened. It's very easy to get caught up in a framework that owes more to psychological interpretations than it does to a thorough Biblical understanding of self.

The second thing, which actually follows from the first, is the question of the place of sin in our self-understanding. Is it not possible that at times our self-esteem is rather dependent upon avoiding a sense of responsibility for our sin? Or maybe it's a case that if we have healthy self-esteem then we are better able to understand the nature of sin and what we are to do about it. In other words healthy self-esteem leads us to confession and contrition.

Thirdly it seems to me that self-esteem is about how we process what happens to us, rather than what actually happens. The good news that if we learn low self-esteem (or rather generate low self-esteem through the things we learn), through events and attitudes of others etc, then we can surely unlearn it as we embrace the truth of God's deep, compassionate and saving love for us.

Anyway, it's an interesting day so far, and there are many questions yet to answer.

What price higher taxes?

I didn't watch the budget last week with any great interest. I know I'll be affected by some of the changes that were announced, but somehow I couldn't quite summon up the enthusiasm to listen to an over-optimistic chancellor describe an economic future designed to make his maths look better than it is.

Call me cynical, but I can't see things changing for quite some time.

What does bother me is the fixation there has been in certain parts of the media about the announcement to introduce a 50% tax rate for earnings over £150,000. My old college friend Simon Jones blogged about it last week here. His point is well made that there are far more people trying to survive on $1 a day (about 68p) than will be affected by the new tax rate. And remember, if it works like all the other tax rates, it will only be applied to earning above £150,000.

I have no reason to doubt Simon's maths, but when I did the calculations myself, deducting tax and National Insurance from £150,000 a year leaves £258 a day. Not a week, or a month, but a day. That surely sounds rich in any language by comparison to 68p. In fact, if your household income after tax is greater than £3000 a month then your household lives on £100 a day and if it's more than £2000, then you have one hundred times the financial resources of the poorest people on which to live every day. 

Perhaps as a first world nation we should take responsibility for what has happened and accept that it is going to cost us to sort things out and that we need a new model of equity in economics. 

Equity is not the same as equality. Everybody does not need to have the same, it just needs to be more equitably distributed. It simply cannot be right that the gap continues to rise between rich and poor.

I just wonder how we can get there.

The Gate

I went out the other day with my camera to take a few pictures of the new footpath that has been put in opposite the house. It leads into the new wood that has been planted in the last few years.

Inadvertently I switched my camera into black & white mode! however it was a nice trip down memory lane of my first forays into the world of photography when I was quite young. 

This is my favourite of the group of photographs I took that day.

What is a Christ-centred life?

Had a really interesting conversation today that's got me thinking about the church and the state of discipleship in the 21st century. I think the first thing I'd want to say is that I'm not so sure that discipleship was any better in previous generations than it is now. People may have read their Bibles more often, they may have understood intercessory prayer more deeply and they may have demonstrated greater commitment through greater attendance. But were they any more Christ-centred?

I'm not so sure. I've had my fair share of conversations with Christians from previous generations who know a lot, but apply very little.  The key is not to mistake knowledge for Christ-centred living.

So what is a Christ-centred life? Answers on a postcard to... The problem is that as we try to define it, we will inevitably define in terms of what fits for us. But let's run the risk, and try to offer at least some sort of framework.

I think a Christ-centred life has to be built on a firm foundation of a solid understanding of the core beliefs, values and practices of following Jesus. In other words, it has to have a foundation of sound doctrine. Now how you define sound doctrine is yet another thorny question, but the basics have to be place and I suspect that under the banner of evangelical, the foundational stuff is not that difficult to define.

But knowledge is not the end of the story. 

I preached recently about Jesus as the New Passover (John 6) and made the point that the Passover only works for those who participate, and so you must participate in Christ (the whole point of the eat my body, drink my blood metaphor) in order to receive the benefit of being in Christ. So we must add to our knowledge some experience. Experience without knowledge leads us down a dangerous path of doing what feels right to us without any checks and balances. But without experience, knowledge dessicates the soul.

Perhaps then, a Christ-centred life needs to be an active life, actively pursuing the goal of becoming more like Christ in action and in word. It's an incarnational life. Maybe we ought also to describe it as a purposeful life that honours God, is being transformed into the image of Jesus, involved in mission and ministry and part of the family.

The importance of answering this question is not just in order that we might better follow Christ, although that is clearly very important, but more a matter of fulfilling Christ's purposes for the church. If he has chosen to reach the world through the church, then this will only happen through people who are no longer centred on themselves but who are fully centred on Christ. People who are determined to live for his glory not just sing about it.

Sponsorship with a difference

Can I point to an organisation that I think is quite innovative when it comes to the idea of sponsorship?

 I remember hearing about the early beginnings of Smile International from Clive himself. I go to know him through connections in my first pastoral setting in Newark, Nottinghamshire.

From those early days the organisation has grown and now works in a wide range of countries. 

Whilst Smile isn't the only organisation to offer the opportunity to sponsor children (Compassion, World Vision, Action Aid to name three I know), I don't know of any other organisation that offers the opportunity to sponsor a widow or a pastor. There probably are organisations out there doing this, but if you already sponsor a child and want to do something different, why not visit Smile International's website and download the widow and/or pastor sponsorship forms.

Someone, somewhere will be glad you did!

Learning to shave (all over again)

Here's the thing. In a moment of sheer madness I found myself asking the barber a rather risky question. I've built up quite a good relationship with the good chaps at the barber shop over the years, so I thought I could ask my question without generating too much laughter. You see, I'm a beard man. If you look closely at my profile photograph you can see it although the years are showing in its greyness, even whiteness these days. At 52 (actually 51 and a half) I thought it was beginning to look untidy too much of the time and wondered if it was time to take the plunge towards removing it. 

And so it was that I asked my question. As he came towards the end of the haircut I said, "If I were to try a goatee rather than the full beard, where would I start to shape it?" We talked a little and then he said, "I'll do it for you if you want." In a moment of weakness, and strange curiosity, I said, "Okay." Out came the clippers and off came much of the beard. 

Now you need to know that I first grew my beard at the tender age of 19. I never was much good at shaving and there was no one around to teach me. Surprisingly I only recently discovered that most men stumble into shaving rather like falling through a secret doorway. Few fathers take the time to teach their sons how to shave. It's as if shaving is something you ought just to know how to do instinctively. It isn't. 

My best ever shave was done for me by a professional. The whole experience was very relaxing and incredibly smooth. It didn't last long. Almost immediately I began to grow the beard again.

During the 32 years of being bearded, I've shaved for about 6 weeks in total. This give me a problem. Firstly, I really don't know how to do it properly, secondly I've no idea what to buy and thirdly, my skin just isn't used to it at all. In fact it's rather sensitive, which make me think that my current shaving period will be fairly short-lived too.

Actually this makes me wonder about discipleship too. Do we stumble into that? Do we assume that this too is something that we will instinctively get a hold of if we've truly come to faith? Do we look to the internet for information? Where are the people who can guide us, teach us the disciplines of a good walk with Jesus?

Anyway, back to shaving. Having decided to give it a go I needed re-equipping for the task. Off to Tescos. Tell me, exactly how many blades do you actually need to shave with these days! Is it one, two, three, four or even five? Keeping it simple I chose one of the least multi-bladed tools, a soap stick and brush and looked in vain for a styptic pencil (this latter item was something I knew I would need!)

First discovery, shaping a goatee with a disposable razor is not easy. I needed a cut-throat! Amazon surprisingly sell one with a replaceable blade, so I ordered one and gave it a try. Now it's a bit of a skill to use one of these weapons, but after the first, rather disastrous attempt, I seem to be getting better. It's still a bit scary and the styptic is now on order along with a good old-fashioned safety razor.

As you can see from the photograph, my neck is pretty tender. What's interesting is that it is sore where the beard doesn't grow that much anyway. It's probably always been like it, it just shows up more now I've shaved it!

With a wedding to do in a few weeks, I can't stop shaving just yet, so I'll give it a month. Perhaps my skin will settle down and all the lotions and balms will soothe away the redness. Perseverance is the key!

And that too is fundamental to good discipleship.

I never knew learning to shave would have so much in common with learning to be a full devoted follower of Jesus!

Principles for a simpler church?

I thought this was worth reading:

Simple Church

We believe that discipleship is about restoring a right relationship with God, our families, and our community. The way we go about this is through:

1. Conversation With God - in our worship service, called The Conversation
   
2. Commitment to Growth - in our discipleship classes, called The Class
3. Connection with Others - in our small groups, called Connection Groups
   
4. Compassionate Service - in ministry partnerships [we don't have a good name yet]