Phils focus

What do you picture when you hear the term ‘apostle’ or ‘prophet’? Do you imagine some wild eyed, locust eating mystic? Or perhaps one of the disciples of Jesus in later life? Maybe you think of one of the charismatic leaders of the new churches of more recent years. Apparently if you google the word ‘apostles’ the first images you get are of 12 rocky pillars on the Australian coast! I think St Paul was onto something incredibly helpful in Ephesians 2:20 when he says; ‘So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. The church is here likened to a living building with a single foundation, constructed by both apostles and prophet...

God is a humble artist. I remember when I was very young that my dad had a big star gazing telescope set up on a concrete stand in the back garden through which we could examine the craters of the moon. This photo was taken last month through an old tripod telescope with an iphone 4. It amazed me then, and it amazes me now that we can see the clear contours and craters of a satellite that orbits our own planet, a moon that we know is around 240 thousand miles away. I loved Dr Cox's TV series 'Wonders of the Universe' and I frequently read books that can explain quantum physics for dummies, and recently read through the popular book '20 Things That Don't Make Sense' - which poses such questions as 'Where is 98% of the Universe?' (the question of dark matter; the invisible material that we assume must be out there in order for the universe to be behaving the way it does). Good questions are the life blood of good science and by all accounts there are a g...

NOVEMBER 4, 2011 There is today and frequently has been through church history, heated debate on the merits of ‘attractional’ vs ‘missional’ models of church. Missional advocates might point out that ‘attractional’ models are more often about ‘in-grab’ rather than ‘outreach’. They are commenting on the fact that ‘attractional’ churches seek to run excellent programs that often foster a ‘consumer’ mindset. This in turn leads to centralized building costs and a growing Christian ‘subculture’ that is severely limited in its missional capacity. This is not something easily reproduced, is less flexible for mission and requires higher maintenance. Missional advocates will declare that smaller flexible models of church are more wieldy and informal and more able to do mission, being embedded in their target communities. They are low maintenance and more easy to reproduce. ‘Attractional’ advocates will argue that without large gatherings people often become too easily isolated or discouraged. T...

I woke up this morning thinking about Ents and avalanches. I think trees represent something profoundly comforting, and also something wildly exciting. They were always my hiding place and ‘den‘ as a child. Whenever we went away on a holiday I would often be looking for a potential place of vertical refuge. We had a large weeping willow in our garden, and whenever life troubled me, I would lodge myself in its branches to retreat and think, drawing unconscious comfort from the beauty of nature and the solidness of the tree itself. But trees were more than a comfort, they were an adventure, a place of imagining wild stories and other possibilities. Trees had an element of danger (especially if they were very high and hard to climb) and their wildness stimulated my imagination. Even before I read Lord of The Rings, they were sleeping giants who, if roused, could wreak mighty acts of vengeance upon any presumptuous enemies who trespassed their holy forests... These two dimensions of safet...

After a long break I just wanted to give my Christmas greeting to all. Possibly like many of you I have been engaged this Christmas in family debates on a variety of issues and putting the world to rights. The current scandal over global warming data was a favourite topic this Christmas. Rather than state my opinion I will simply direct you to Greg Boyds blog on this. As usual he has written a well researched and measured response to the debate that you can view here I am tentatively making a N.Y resolution to increase my blogging in 2010, largely due to several amazing discussions this blog has generated late 2009. I appreciate all the emails - do keep them coming - or add your comments and add to this simple offering. Grace and peace.

I love the bits in the bible where God talks to himself. He is seen reflecting, deciding, wieghing things up and making decisions. You see this especially in Genesis where God is chatting to himself within the trinity about how to make man, and what he thinks of each bit of his creation work. (other examples include; Gen 11:7, 6:1-8) Genesis says we are made in His image, and part of that image is the ability to reflect, to hold an internal discussion with ones thoughts and memories, reflecting on our daily experiences, drawing lessons and conclusions, drawing aside to listen to our heavenly father and making fresh plans with him. My reflections this summer have drawn me to a stronger conviction of Fathers love; of his faithfulness, and of his strong desire to pour out blessings in a new season of grace. Why should God want to bless me? Who am I that he should be mindful of me? Its not that I am more saintly or less prone to weakness, or more spiritual than others, its simply that whe...

(Picking up on number 19 from my list of 'things I don’t believe in') Tonight’s episode of the TV series on Darwin related the accounts of his battle to publish his studies on evolution, causing outrage among those who held to a ‘biblical’ account of creation. Darwin, a pious man, came to reject belief in a God who would ‘everlastingly punish’ unbelievers (see point 15 in previous blog), and yet he retained his belief in a creator God who was the author of life. Darwin saw glory and majesty in the awesome developments of life on earth, and the reaction of his detractors reveals more about their form of exegesis than it does about Darwin’s precepts. His detractors (and even his dear wife) were products of their culture and believers in a the prevalent (but particularly modern) idea of Christianity that interpreted scripture to mean that mans physical body was made in the image of God, and that therefore, to accept the theory and implications of evolution would be to render their...