Socks of Merino Wool

Trump is in the White House
Musk is on the Moon
Washington at minus nine
Did a chill travel down
Your left-wing spine
Or are your feet a-dancing
Your heart full of hope
As we walk into the future
Along an uncertain
Political tightrope?

There’s Gaza to rebuild
Hostages to repair
Putin to, frankly, stop
Ukraine’s wounds to heal
From years of bloody warfare
And let’s not forget
We were all slaves in Egypt
Refugees in a foreign land
So let’s give our neighbours
An open heart; a helping hand

Yes, Trump is in the White House
And Musk is on the Moon
It’s time for a cup of tea
We’ve made it thus far
We’ve made it to noon
And I’ve made a decision
To celebrate life to the full
To fill my glass with bubbles
Wear socks of Merino wool
And sing the praises of the King
And good old John Bull.

Wrong End of the Telescope? Via Dolorosa

From a child’s perspective, there is no wrong end of a telescope or binoculars…they are just playing and enjoying the world close up and far away.

A few years ago, at Easter, I spent a week travelling around Israel. After an evening in Jerusalem, I embarked on a tour, thanks to a friend-cum-guide, first to Philippi then up to the Golan heights and a couple of nights in Galilee, before driving down the Jordan Valley, floating in the Dead Sea, and back to Jerusalem, to spend a few days wandering round the old city.

Whilst walking through the narrow streets I got caught up in a surge of tourists and devotees following the Via Dolorosa, the Way of The Cross, or the Way of Suffering. Some groups were wearing the same-coloured hats or in a group trying to keep the flag on a pole leader in view. The procession, organised by the Catholic church, attracted maybe a thousand walking from one ‘Station of the Cross’ to the next, supposedly following the route taken by Jesus, from the site of his arrest and interrogation to the crucifixion, and burial. Some traditions add a further ‘station’ to celebrate the resurrection.

What has this to do with telescopes?

And why is a good Protestant believer bothering to write a blog about the Stations of the Cross – normally the reserve of Catholics or the Orthodox?

Often we see the events that took place from one end of the telescope…but there is another end and perspective on the stations of the cross.

In short, the ‘normal’ way for believers is to go beyond weeping over the injustice of his arrest and conviction and suffering to believing that Jesus as the Messiah (or Christ) went to the cross for us, in our place, taking the punishment we deserved, so that we, the guilty, could be forgiven and acquitted before God.

Isaiah among other Jewish prophets had seen these events in advance:

‘He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him…he poured out his soul unto death and bore the sin of many’ Isaiah 53v3-12

This end of the theological telescope is referred to as substitutionary atonement. Substitutionary because He died on the cross instead of me, the judgement I deserved He took upon Himself on the cross. And atonement, because the result of this debt being paid on my behalf is our broken relationship with God is healed, so we are at-one-ment with God.

When I first heard this message of grace – that God loves us and all this is freely available, all God wants is for us to believe and receive it as a gift; to abandon (repent) of any attempt to try and be good enough for God. I used to say ‘This is too good to be true. There must be a catch?’ But there isn’t. Jesus said, ‘Freely you have received freely give’.

God has shown His love for us sending His Son to die for us and be raised to life again so that we can be forgiven and brought back into a relationship with God – the bible calls this the gift of eternal life. ‘Life’ or ‘Zoe’ in Greek, means God’s own life, which is eternal and indestructible.

Substitutionary atonement as wonderful as it is, is half of the gospel message; the good news that Jesus preached.

The New Testament teaches that once someone has let go of their own life and trusted that Christ died in their place and experienced the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life, they are placed ‘in Christ’ - Christianity is not a human being believing in an external Christ.

This is a phraseology not well understood in our Western culture. The Bible is interested in who we are ‘in’. For example, Levi was said to have been ‘in the loins of Abraham’ ie a descendant of Abraham, or ‘in Abraham’ and therefore everything that Abraham did, Levi did. So, when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek, even though as a priest he was used to receiving tithes.

‘Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes through Abraham…for he was in the loins of Abraham’ Hebrews 7v 9,10

Jesus taught that, as believers we would be ‘in Him’ just as He was ‘in’ the Father.

‘Do you not believe I am in the Father and the Father in Me…the Father who dwells in me does the works’ John 14v10,11

And later, in the same chapter Jesus continues:

‘The Spirit…will be in you…a little while longer and…you will know that I am in my Father and you in Me, and I in you’ John 14v 17,20

‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him and We will come and make our home with him’ v 23

The apostles that followed Christ preached the same message that as believers we are ‘in Christ’ and ‘Christ is in us’ and therefore we were included in all the events from the arrest to the cross and the resurrection – we were not spectators.

Substitutionary atonement as wonderful as it is, is half of the gospel message; the ‘good news’ that Jesus preached

This is called ‘inclusive atonement’ and is the teaching of the New Testament alongside substitutionary substitution.

Traditionally, there are 13 ‘stations of the cross’ marking steps along the journey of Christ from arrest to burial. There are minor variations from tradition to tradition and most do not include Resurrection. I shall concentrate on the stations in bold.

Jesus is arrested and condemned to death
Jesus takes up his Cross

Jesus is stripped of his garments and nailed to the Cross
Jesus dies on the Cross

Jesus is laid in the tomb
Resurrection

He suffered all these ‘stations’ for us and did it alone and yet, by virtue of being ‘in Christ’ we were included and participated in these events, 2000 years ago in Jerusalem.

You were arrested by Christ
You were stripped and nailed to a cross
You died
You were buried
You were raised

Arrested

For many who become believers, or come to Christ, or ‘find faith’ - whatever phrase is used - their experience is like an arrest.

Paul wrote the following words: ‘Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of (arrest) that for which Christ Jesus lay hold of (arrested) me’ Philip 3v12

Famously, for Paul, he was ‘arrested’ on the road to Damascus. No two believers hadve the same experience and yet each one is like an arrest…even is it is with love!

Stripped and nailed to the cross

The disciples had to let go of their nets to follow Christ – stripped of their identity as fishermen. We have to let go of the nets ‘nets’ we’re holding on to, is we are to follow Christ.

Nailed to the cross – ‘I have been crucified with Christ’ Gal 2v20. At first sight, this may seem to make no sense at all, after all, you weren’t even born in AD30, but just as Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek by virtue of being ‘in Abraham’ so it is true to say ‘I was crucified with Christ’ because God has placed us ‘in Christ’.

Through or ‘of God you are in Christ Jesus’ 1 Cor 1v30

Died

‘As many as were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death…our old man was crucified with Him…we died with Christ’ Rom 6v3,6,8

‘It is not I who live, but Christ…’ Gal 2v20

‘You died, you life is hidden in Christ’ Col 3v3

The New Testament cannot be clearer. Our death has been accomplished in Christ, past tense. When he died, I died.

Buried

‘We were buried with Him through baptism…’ Rom 6v4, Col 2v12

Raised

‘God…raised us up together with Christ’ Eph 2v6

The New Testament speaks about conversion to Christ as a shift - a deliverance - from ‘in Adam’ to ‘in Christ’.

In Adam, we ate from the wrong tree, with all the consequences that followed – estrangement from God, each other, and the environment…a disintegration.

In Christ, we inherit everything Christ has done and therefore we were included in the events leading up to the crucifixion, the crucifixion itself, the burial, and the resurrection, and are now recipients of Christ’s life.

We can do nothing to achieve this. Christ has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. The in-Adam-you was arrested, crucified, and buried only to be raised as a new creation, as an ‘in-Christ-you’ - Christ living out His life through you and as you.

The Telescope?

From an adult’s perspective, there IS a correct way to hold the telescope, and this is where this metaphor breaks down! Both ends are vital.

A warning. Once you ‘see’ both perspectives everything changes.

A well-used illustration of Paul’s argument in Romans is of a criminal in the dock facing the Judge, awaiting the verdict. There is no doubt that the criminal is guilty, let’s say of theft. The penalty is a fine that he cannot pay. All seems hopeless until the judge tells the criminal he is free to go; someone paid the fine. There is nothing the thief can do to pay the fine, it’s already paid, nor is he required to pay the fine.

Wonderful though that is, it acquits the criminal but doesn’t change his nature.

With substitutionary atonement, our sins are forgiven, the slate wiped clean, but the sinner remains. You will hear the following types of sentences fall from the lips of those who cling to substitutionary atonement: ‘I am covered over with the robes of righteousness’, or, ‘when God looks at me, He doesn’t see me, He sees Jesus’ or ‘I am a sinner saved by grace’.

Lurking in these phrases is fear: ‘If God were truly to see me hiding under the robes…’ but the gospel is far better.

Substitutionary and inclusive atonement together enables us to see that God has not only dealt with our ‘sins’ He has dealt with us as ‘sinners’, crucifying us on the cross with Christ. We are no longer in Adam we are in Christ. We are no longer deriving our life from the satanic hold of slavery to sin in Adam but starting out on a new path, a new life, drawing on the life of Christ Himself, incorporated as we are ‘in Christ’, learning to walk like Jesus did, not in His own abilities or strength, but from the Father’s:

‘The Son can do nothing of myself but what He sees the Father do, the Son does in like manner…I can do nothing of myself’ John 5 v 19, 30

‘I am the vine, and you are the branches, He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit, without Me you can do nothing’ John 15v5

The Illusion of Control

https://morethanwriters.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-illusion-of-control.html

This article is my monthly post for the More Than Writers blog which is the blog for the Association of Christian Writers (ACW)

The Illusion of Control?

I do like a good optical illusion. The brain can’t always compute. Perhaps we should rethink the illusion: our brain’s penchant for creating 3D images from 2D drawings, is surely the most impressive illusion?

It appears that the somewhat combative relationship between imagination and illusion also holds true with writing.

I’m sure it must be the case – except for ardent atheists – that even the word ‘author’ is a troublesome term. So many novelists, poets, lyricists, and playwrights are only too willing to acknowledge that their ideas seem to arrive from without rather than from within.

Our imaginations seem to be in a perpetual partnership with an external source. Whilst I still struggle with the ridiculousness that God the Holy Spirit, let alone anyone else, might pay the slightest attention to my writing…when I come to think about it, that is exactly what I believe. It has become my new normal.

Moses had his burning bush. My most recent encounter with an ‘out of the blue inspiration’ was as thrilling as it was pitiful in comparison - an alliterative phrase ‘Dull, dreary, December’ which evolved into a humorous poem with a dash of hope.

But here’s the essence of my question: has anyone else encountered the same ‘heavenly editor’ interrupting your best-laid authorial plans? A few weeks ago I settled down to write the sequel to a historical novel (which will be (!) flying off the shelves later in 2025). The plot was clear, and I had my well-developed characters and protagonist from Book 1, so, I knew what I was doing, I just needed the discipline to get it written.

Two weeks in, a terrible thought snuck into my consciousness, ‘No, John. You are writing Book 3, not Book 2. Book 2 should take you West, not East.’ I ignored this irritating thought and tried to shoehorn its ideas into ‘my’ Book 2…but, like all authors when faced with an implacable editor, I eventually acquiesced and went West.

I conclude, therefore, that I am not in control. A little like using a Sat Nav. I still have the steering wheel, the brakes, the heater, and the sound system…but the navigation system I have grown not only to trust but enjoy. It takes me along unplanned routes.

Remembering Autumn

It’s easy to look on
Ice covered windscreens
And frost-laden rooves
And dream of direct hits
Heat from the summer sun

And forget Autumn
That prelude
Before gloves, hats, and
Black tights favoured
By cold-averse runners
Are standard wear

Tilted forwards, our minds
Require a jolt to plunge
Into the past to
Be reabsorbed by
Whatever was witnessed there

Morning: minus 3
To rid the car of grime
Winter filth in my sights
Steaming soapy water
And I advanced:
Harbingers of Spring

Instead, I stumbled upon
Autumn
Sycamore seeds lodged
In every crevice, sleeper
Spies in a foreign land

The past, lest we forget,
Has a potency…
…I reached in and slung
Each tawny spy
Away with the grime:
Forbidden fruit

What should we do? Tomorrow – Sunday 29th December 2024

The trouble and the joy of living in England is that the particular tensions that lie bubbling beneath the surface like some almost extinct volcano, provide a constant supply of material for us to moan away to our heart’s content.

Like the miserable Steptoe and his ever frustrated more ambitious son ‘Arold, in Steptoe and Son, we are never quite as happy as when we’re disgruntled. Or the impossible relationship between Basil Fawlty and Sybil, and Manuel; we thrive on dysfunction.

Into such a society riven with division came Jesus.

The issues of rich v poor, toffs v working class, private v state schools, and more distantly, church v chapel, are still as present as they ever were…just scratch a little and they come roaring back.

One of the reactions to all these divisions is to try and ignore them, disengage, pour disdain ‘on the lot of ‘em’, and blame the government for everything from the state of the roads to the length of a Mars Bar. Just so long as we don’t take too close a look under the bonnet, at home, or at ourselves.

Into such a society riven with division came Jesus.

You could join various groups in Jesus’ day:

• the very popular Pharisees were offering a recovery of a very ordered society full of Mosaic law and associated traditions and the promise of resurrection and heaven for the righteous

• or you might be drawn to the highbrow Sadducees who were more concerned with social justice here and now rather than life after the grave

• or you could head for the hills and join the Zealots: ‘terrorists’ to the Romans and ‘freedom fighters’ for Jews who wished to overthrow the Roman oppressors and create an independent state of Israel

• or try the Essenes, looking for a spiritual kingdom of God to arrive

On top of these groups were the hierarchical leaders of the Sanhedrin, Chief Priests, scribes, the Herodian Kings, and the Roman occupiers; Pontius Pilate being the governor.

Or you might opt to stay out of trouble in the North and catch fish.

But Jesus’s message couldn’t have been simpler: ‘Repent and believe, the kingdom of God is at hand’.

We do need to unpack this a little as the words carry all kinds of baggage twenty-odd centuries later. ‘Repent’ means change your mind and your thinking, it’s a complete 180-degree change to face in a different direction - the kingdom of God isn’t confined to the future or the past it is ‘at hand’ – i.e. within reach, it’s now.

Jesus’s message couldn’t have been simpler: ‘Repent and believe, the kingdom of God is at hand’

Jesus went on and demonstrated the reality of the kingdom in his own life, the way he lived and taught and his relationship with God, calling Him, Abba, Father. Actually, Abba is a closer term, almost Daddy. It’s certainly a term of deep respect and affection, of endearment. And from that relationship with his heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit, he taught memorable parables and performed miracles. He also warned the Pharisees that they were ‘blind leaders of the blind and they will end up in the ditch’.

He trained disciples who had repented and believed that the kingdom had arrived in the person of Jesus, and they too were transformed and began to live out the same life, performing miracles, and caring for the least.

After the crucifixion, resurrection, and the baptism of the Spirit at Pentecost, Peter stood up to preach the first sermon of the church. What would he say?

Pretty much what Jesus preached.

This should not surprise us and yet it does…particularly if our church experience has as much in common with Jesus’ message of the ‘kingdom of God now’ as the Pharisees had in common with Jesus, steeped as they were in rules, laws, and tradition.

Peter brought his sermon to a conclusion with a few words in answer to a question ‘What shall we do?’

‘Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Christ means Messiah, it’s not a surname), for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the Holy Spirit, the promise is to you and your children, all however far away, as many as the Lord our God will call’ Acts 2 v 37-39

This is what we should be preaching now: the three keys needed to enter the kingdom of God, now:

1. Repent

2. Be baptised and be forgiven for your sins

3. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit

The disciples had to leave their nets to follow Christ. If Jesus is calling you, you will know what you have to ‘leave’ in order to ‘repent and believe’ and follow.

Because I grew up in England and had been baptised/christened as a baby, I had a choice after repenting and believing later in life. My choice was to be baptised as a believer, to express my newly found faith, rather than rely on my infant baptism. Others choose differently. Let the Holy Spirit lead you.

From that moment on the Holy Spirit will lead you, teach you, prompt you, guide you, be like a river within you, correct you and convict you if and when you get lost, and call you into whatever the King wants you to do and be to others. He will also join you to others, and minister to you through them, some of whom will be apostles, or prophets, or pastors, or teachers, or evangelists, and administrators.

It won’t always be easy. Look how they treated Jesus; we shouldn’t expect to be treated any differently, so expect opposition, social exclusion, and different forms of persecution. But remember one thing: you’ve been given a gift. You didn’t earn it through trying to live a godly life. The godly life, the life of God, the eternal life, has been given to you as a gift. As Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, ‘nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus’.

That’s enough to get started.

Unwanted Stone

It’s hard - moving house
That dialogue with yourself
To discard, to abandon to the past

The marks you made
The log burner, the
Handles on kitchen doors

Grey paint imperfectly slapped
Or forgotten shoes gathering dust
Under the bed

But leave behind you must
If, where you are going
Is smaller, narrower, more focussed

Puts a sculptor’s chisel
Into your hand, moving
A necessary circumcision of

Unwanted stone
Unveiling what perhaps
Was there all along

Book Review: Light Force, Brother Andrew and Al Janssen, Hodder & Stoughton (2008)

‘Who do you know in Hamas?’ Abdul asked.
’I have met with Sheikh Yassin [the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas]’
‘What do you wish to discuss?’ His pirecing gaze was unrelenting.
‘I represent Christians in Holland and the West…I would like to know his thoughts about the Palestinian situation.’

That remarkable conversation between Brother Andrew and the leader of Hamas took place in Gaza in 2001 in the aftermath of the second intifada (Arabic for uprising); the first lasting from 1987-1993.

If I have one critical comment about Light Force it is this: the title. It feels sterile and impersonal whereas the book is all about personalities – the love of God and the person of Jesus Christ. But let’s move on – this is not a book to judge either by its cover or its title. It is a must-read.

Light Force has been a compelling book for (bedtime) reading in the run-up to Christmas. Many of its diary-like pages are devoted to further meetings with Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem and elsewhere in Gaza and the West Bank. It has been a gripping read, particularly so in the current terrible conflict between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah as a consequence of the attack by Hamas on unarmed civilians at the Supernova music festival and kibbutzim including Be’eri Kibbutz on October 7th 2023.

Brother Andrew is well-known to many Christians for his other book God’s Smuggler which describes his conversion to Christ, and the miraculous healing of his crippled leg, and the subsequent story of how as a young man he dedicated himself to illegally transporting Bibles and Christian literature behind the Iron Curtain (often in a VW Beetle) to persecuted Christians living under atheistic communistic dictatorships in Russia, Eastern Europe, and China during the 1950s and 1960s.

Tension in the book is almost tangible as he finds extraordinary ways to meet with leaders from Hamas and Hezbollah

After the publication of God’s Smuggler, it was too dangerous to continue his travels to the Communist block but by then he had formed an organisation, Open Doors, to carry on the work. His focus then shifted to the Middle East and the conflict between Palestinians and Israel – and the Christian church existing on either side of the national divide.

Tension in the book is almost tangible as he finds extraordinary ways to meet with leaders from Hamas and Hezbollah – terrorist organisations dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the ‘liberation’, as they see it, of Palestine from Israeli occupation. The impressive core of the book, however, lies with his adventures with Jewish and Palestinian Christian believers and the influence he, and Open Doors, has had in strengthening the church in Israel and in Gaza and the West Bank, bringing Arab and Jewish believers together.

Readers of a certain age will remember Yassar Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). Light Force records how Brother Andrew met with him, gave him a Bible, and asked for and secured permission and funding to open a Christian Bookshop in Gaza.

This book vividly explores the extraordinary faith and courage of Brother Andrew – but also of many others inevitably caught up in the conflict. It will take the reader inside the News, away from the headlines to a very different story.

A story well told - and one that deserves to be re-told.

Despite being written in 2008, it is as relevant in 2024 as it was when first published.

The Wedding at Cana – what was that all about?

When Jesus turned the water into wine, John, in recalling the event, left us with 12 memorable well-known New Testament verses:

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.

Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

I’d like to examine the events within the wedding from a normal social perspective - albeit interrupted by a miracle. But the problem is that John doesn’t leave it there. He states the reason he included this miracle in his gospel as it was ‘the first of the signs’ v 11

From a social point of view, we see a normal everyday event – a wedding. This must have been some months into Jesus’ ministry as John recalls that the disciples were invited along with Jesus and his mother Mary. We’re told there were servants present and a ‘Master of the feast’ and therefore a feast. The families involved had not stinted.

Someone had miscalculated the amount of wine needed and it had run out. News of this had filtered through to Mary. I’m assuming the news was kept from embarrassing the wedding families, bride and groom. Panic was setting in away from the top table and time was pressing. Jesus steps in and performs the miracle. I do have a question: where did the servants go to fill the six stone waterpots each of whom contained 20 or 30 gallons? That’s heavy. There must have been a stream, or a pool, or a cistern associated with the venue. And it must have taken some time. Nevertheless, the miracle performed saved the day.

‘Jesus, bring new wine out of me’ if that’s your prayer, He will

But what did John mean by ‘the first of signs?’

Here’s the outline of my answer – it was a sign pointing to:

• Jesus as ‘the new wine’ kept by the Master until the end

• Israel, at last, fulfilling her prophetic calling

• Anyone who believes

Jesus

The Master of the Feast says (with astonishment) to the bridegroom ‘You have kept the best wine until last!’. I can only imagine the look of incredulity on the face of the bridegroom. He had no idea there had been a crisis and now was supping a superb red as the wedding party was winding down. Both of them left nonplussed.

But the parable is clear enough. (NB I’m not suggesting John portrayed a parable as a real event, only that real events can be seen as a ‘sign’ or a parable of something more than the event) The Master is The Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who had sent Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah…but the wine of the prophets had run out. Israel had not had a prophet for approximately 400 years until John the Baptist. But the true Master of the Feast was saving the best wine ‘til last. Jesus.

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

I don’t think it is unreasonable to say that Jesus left the wedding with more disciples than when he arrived.

Israel

This is the first sign foretelling that Israel would, at last, fulfil her calling to be a ‘light to the Gentiles’.

In the Old Testament, Israel as a nation is symbolically referred to as a grape-bearing vine, or a vineyard. To make good wine, the grapes have to be in good condition, taken, trampled, and allowed to ferment, then enjoyed as wine.

Often the prophets had to warn Israel that the vineyard was not producing good fruit. But now, Jesus had arrived. Later in John’s gospel, John writes that Jesus said ‘I am the true vine, My father is the vinedresser’ John 15v1

Jesus was crushed and trampled. Arrested at night. Flogged. Mocked. Had a crown of thorns to wear. Falsely accused. Taken and crucified. It seemed as if all was lost. Just another good man crushed by those he had the temerity to criticise. But three days later: New Wine.

All those who first believed in Jesus as the Messiah and King of Israel and now risen from the dead – were Jews. All the apostles were Jews. Mary, Martha, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Nicodemus – all Jews. A new ‘Israel-in Christ’ had been revealed and within a generation, the good news ‘the gospel’ had spread all around the Mediterranean, even in Rome. Light to the Gentiles fulfilled, new wine was being tasted by Jews and by Gentiles.

Anyone who believes

There’s a beautiful song called New Wine

In the crushing; In the pressing
You are making new wine
In the soil; I now surrender
You are breaking new ground
So I yield to You into Your careful hand

When I trust You I don't need to understand
Make me Your vessel; Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
I came here with nothing; But all You have given me
Jesus bring new wine out of me

This account of the wedding in Cana is not restricted to Jesus as the Messiah, or the ‘Israel-in-Christ generation’ of the first century AD but to all generations.

The first of signs is this: this miracle of turning cold water into new wine is a prophetic picture of the promise in Scripture to all. If Jesus is calling you, you will know. There will be an unbearable quest in your heart and mind. For the first disciples, they came to a point when Jesus simply said ‘Follow Me’. They were ready. The New Testament records what happened:

‘Immediately they left their nets and followed Him’ Mark 1v 18

They left their successful fishing business. They left home. They left their previous thinking about just about everything. You will know what you have to leave. But the promise of the events at the wedding of Cana is not just for AD30, it is right up to date: ‘Jesus, bring new wine out of me’ if that’s your prayer, He will.

The first of signs for you and for me. For all.

And it is the story of so many who turn to Christ – not religious observance, not prayer, not church attendance, not bible scholarship, or doing good. The story that follows faith in Christ is one of unexpected changes. You may well want to meet fellow believers in a church, have a real hunger for reading the bible, or find yourself praying, singing worship songs like New Wine even, or prompted to give time to someone, or money…but these are the outcome of genuine faith in Christ not the demands of a religion. You may even see God working in other people’s lives as you pray for them such as miracles of healing or provision or forgiveness as Christ ministers to others through you.

And there will be crushing. Suffering. Opposition. Your own struggles. But just like the early disciples you will see His suffering in you and His glory in you.

The song contains another verse:

‘Cause where there is new wine
There is new power
There is new freedom
And the Kingdom is here
I lay down my old flames
To carry Your new fire today

The first of signs.

Standing on tiptoe

One day the Sun resolved
To pay a long-delayed visit
To the Moon
That grey, crusty, cold,
One-faced world

The Moon sensing
All was not as it had been
Slung its hook and dived
Under the Earth
In eclipsical shade

The Sun, knowing
In his innards that fear was at play,
Beamed, unconcerned,
Traversed the emptiness
Of Space and drew near

The Moon, half-afraid, half-intrigued,
Popped a crescent foot out,
Beyond the shadow,
And felt the warmth sink
Crater-bound, in, and in further

The Earth, meantime,
Alarmed at the thought of
Irreversible ocean evaporation
Made plans, and hid
Concealed beneath the clouds

Had Space not been so vacuous
The Moon and Earth would have
Heard the Sun crackle and pop
With laughing joy, chewing
On a delicious secret or two

Just when all was up
And elements should surely melt
An intriguing unprediction
Took place and, like climbing under
A heavy tog duvet on a cold night,

The Sun wrapped himself
In the Earth, like an old
Familiar t-shirt
And sat back feeling
Quite at home

The Sun, now clothed in the Earth
Bathed the Moon
In multicoloured lights
And the world became
An Inside-out wonder

The whole of creation
Standing on tiptoe had
Waited a long time for
The sons of God
To be revealed

Poem in honour of J B Philips, 20th Century Anglican bible translator

Acts Chapter 6 Rethought in terms of English Law v the Law of Moses

Scene: Jerusalem AD 30-40

A few years after Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and the powerful baptism of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the church is growing rapidly as Jews turn to Christ in their thousands:

Acts 2v41 ‘And about three thousand were added to them that day’

That was following Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost. It’s worth noting that many of the three thousand would only have been in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost and, therefore, would have returned to their villages scattered throughout Israel, and further afield, once the week had ended.

However, the church continued to grow amongst permanent residents of Jerusalem:

Acts 4v4 ‘Many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of men came to be about five thousand’

The growth of the church in Jerusalem was set against continued opposition from the Temple Authorities, the council called the Sanhedrin, made up of chief priests, scribes, rulers, and elders, split as they were between two factions the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

In these early months and maybe years all the believers were Jews, placing their faith not only in the reliability of the eye-witness accounts of the resurrection but believing along with the apostles that Jesus had not only been raised from the dead but was Messiah, the Christ, and as such the King of Israel, the son of David. It was a Jewish affair!

Under great opposition from the authorities, the church looked after its own members:

‘All who believed were together and had all things in common and sold their possessions, dividing them amongst all as anyone had need’ Acts 2v44,45

Acts 6

Acts 6, therefore, is often read entirely as events taking place within the church, not in the wider religio-civic society in Jerusalem, however, the case for rethinking this is surprisingly strong.

‘In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food’ v1

The ‘daily distribution’ is traditionally understood to refer to a system of distribution within the church, amongst believers. There is ample evidence from previous verses to support this contention:

‘No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had…there were no needy persons…those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.’ 4v32-37 NIV

The apostles oversaw the distribution to those in need. Acts 6v1 seems to suggest that, by this time, a daily distribution system was in place and that within the church, the Hellenistic Jewish believers were complaining that the distribution favoured believing widows who were Hebraic Jews.

This view, that the distribution was an internal matter for the church, is emphasised in the NIV translation above by the inclusion of ‘among them’ in 6v1. These words, however, do not appear in the Greek. Compare this with the NASB and NKJV:

‘Now at this time, as the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint developed on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.’ NASB

‘Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.’ NKJV

An alternative reading of this verse potentially offers a better fit to the complex and fluid society that Jerusalem had become, now that it was split between those believing Jesus as the Messiah and those who did not; also split between Pharisees and Sadducees; the Royal family of the Herods and the Zealots, Jews who were vying for a violent insurrection; and the Essenes who were looking for the Kingdom of God to appear but whose communities were semi-detached from mainstream Jewish Society.

Governing daily life in Jerusalem, whatever faction one might have preferred, was the Law of Moses – referred to as the Law.

One way of understanding the role of the Law at the time is to consider the place of Shariah Law within British society. The current position is that within Muslim communities, Shariah Law is rulings cannot breach UK Law. UK Law holds the supremacy. For example, it would be deemed t be a criminal act to cut off the hands of thieves – which might be permissible under Shariah Law – as it contravenes British statute. This was similar to the position of Jewish society and how it intersected with Roman jurisdiction.

Jews continued to live and function under the Law of Moses, but Roman Law was supreme. The Jewish Sanhedrin could only request that Jesus be crucified but the order for Jesus to be taken and crucified had to be taken by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor.

Under the Law it was the duty of local authorities to distribute food to widows:

‘At the end of the third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce that year and store it up within your gates and the Levite…and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord may bless you’ Deut 4 v 28,29

Within the gates of Jerusalem, therefore it would have been the Sanhedrin that oversaw the distribution of food to the widows whether Hellenistic or Hebraic. It was a priestly function.

The resident population of Jerusalem at the time is estimated to have been approximately 40,000 ( Estimating the Population of Ancient Jerusalem - The BAS Library ).

It is difficult to gauge the number of widows, however, in the UK, widows account for approximately 6% of the population. And of those, approximately two-thirds are women. It may not be valid to use these statistics for Jerusalem in AD30 – AD40 but this would give approximately 2000 to 3000 widows in Jerusalem dependent on relief under the Law of Moses.

The cry from the Hellenistic Greek-speaking Jewish widows against their Hebraic Aramaic-speaking Jewish widows, therefore, may well have been directed at the Sanhedrin and the delegated local councils, rather than the apostles.

If so, it was into this difficult dispute that the church appointed seven deacons who were ‘full of faith and the Holy Spirit and of good reputation’ 6v3 to ensure a fair distribution.

Quite how that ministry intersected and overlapped with the local authorities and the priestly function in Jerusalem to distribute food to widows is unclear; the text is silent. But whether in cooperation with the authorities or entirely within the church:

Under the Law it was the duty of local authorities to distribute food to widows

The Law of Moses was upheld and fulfilled within the church!

This is exactly what Jeremiah and Ezekiel had prophesied would be the fruit of the coming New Covenant:

‘The days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and Judah…I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts…’ Jer 31v 31-34; Hebrews 8 v7f,

‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and you will keep My judgements and keep them’ Ez 36 v 26-27

‘I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.’ Ez 11 v 19,20

Jesus had criticised the Temple authorities for corruption, greed, oppression of the poor, and hypocrisy. Despite having the Law they failed to obey its demands despite hundreds of added rules and regulations. A typical critique by Jesus was:

‘Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence’ Mt 23 v 25

This being the case, it is not difficult to see how such an injustice may have occurred in Jerusalem, favouring ‘superior’ Aramaic-speaking Jewish widows over ‘inferior’ Greek-speaking Jewish widows.

There was no such favouritism amongst the apostles and so they put this right.

As did Paul when instructing Timothy left in charge of overseeing the church in Ephesus. The Law of Moses had no place or authority in Ephesus, a gentile city. Roman rule prevailed. The Law was virtually unknown except amongst Jews who met in the local synagogue.

Whatever the local regulations to may have been to provide relief to widows, Paul instructed Timothy to ‘honour true widows’ 1 Tim 5 v 3 which involved some administration. A list of those who qualified as widows was made, and the church made responsible for their relief.

Again we see the Law of Moses being fulfilled through the body of Christ as prophesied by Ezekiel and Jeremiah. Paul wrote that believers are ‘not under the Law but under grace’; God freely gives us a new heart, a new spirit, and the Holy Spirit who writes the law on our hearts so that we find ourselves fulfilling the law not reluctantly but from the heart.

Under this New Covenant, the Jewish church can finally fulfil the calling on Israel to be ‘a light to the gentiles’ Is 49v6. Within a few years Peter is preaching the gospel to the Gentiles and Paul is planting churches from ‘Jerusalem to Illyricum’ (Serbia) in Gentile-dominated regions. Churches, communities of Christians, are forming that – imperfectly of course – are fulfilling the Law of Moses as the Holy Spirit touches their hearts.

England 2024?

Ever since the earliest churches formed in the 4th and 5th centuries in England, the law of the land has been greatly influenced by the Law of Moses. The dietary and temple laws were not applicable in the New Testament era, but the moral landscape in England has been shaped through passing laws in parliament generally in keeping with the Law of Moses.

Our nation may consider itself to be post-Christian, and even indulge in passing laws that oppose the Law of Moses, but we cannot deny the historic influence of the Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments, in forming our society over many centuries.

Atheists, like Richard Dawkins, acknowledge this; he is on record as describing himself as a ‘Cultural Christian’ realising that he has largely inherited his notions of right and wrong from this Christian heritage, which, in turn, is based on the statutes contained in the Law of Moses.

Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 10 v 12: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul’, an strength,’ and quoted Leviticus 19 v18: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’.

Conclusion

Our sense of justice, equity, and morality and our current laws concerning the treatment of refugees, foreigners, widows, children, commerce, war, marriage and sexuality, property, ownership, and inheritance, if not directly then indirectly have been influenced by the Law of Moses and taken to new levels of the conscience through Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.

‘You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you’

Mt 5 v 43/44

Isaiah saw this day coming…and saw our day coming.

My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles…
…He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands shall wait for His law…
…I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the Gentiles’ s Is 42 v 1-6

It is not unreasonable to equate ourselves in the British Isles as ‘the coastlands’ nor is it unreasonable to say that the calling of Israel to be a ‘light to the Gentiles’ has been fulfilled through the early church, through the apostles, taking the gospel to the Gentiles.

And part of that ‘light’ is contained in the Law of Moses.

For the Christian, the Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts writing the Law on our hearts. We are not required to obey an external law, carved into stone. We will continue to ‘walk in the Spirit’ trusting that He will fulfil the law that He is writing on our hearts, even through such imperfect vessels as ourselves.

For those amongst us who are not believers but have a legitimate say in the direction of the nation, we would say there is much wisdom and light in the Law of Moses. Our challenge would be to read it and reflect on it, discover its wisdom, and pass laws in keeping with its light.

Left Brain v Right Brain…for writers

Left brain v. Right brain in Writers

Original Post - click the link above to www.morethanwriters.blogspot.com

It’s difficult to avoid magazine articles, blogs, books, even, that present the world and individuals as either Left-brain or Right-brain dominant.

It all sounds so neat and tidy, as if the brain research has uncovered a key component of human personality left undiscovered for…yonks. Pictures of neurones firing away when presented with images of spreadsheets (left brain) or Monty Python (right brain) are compelling.

Thing is, we like (i) neat and tidy (ii) and eccentricity.

Or am I just talking to Brits?

Here’s a spoof conversation between two writers:

‘Tell me, Jarvis, how do you plan your novels?’

‘I’m so glad you’ve asked me Martine. Not because I know the answer, but the intonation of your soft Dublin accent has given me an idea of a character I’ve been wrestling with…’

‘I didn’t expect that! I’ve known you a long time, Jarvis, but I’ve never quite understood how you prioritise character and plot. You know, I was speaking to our mutual friend, Isaac, last week. He imagines five characters playing poker…’

‘Ah yes, Isaac and poker. He does all the maths. Brilliant at Bridge. Impressive. For me, writing is more like abstract painting. Something moves me towards a colour, and that…’

‘Something moves you?’

‘Doesn’t it you? I mean, an idea, or a feeling of dread, or ecstasy, a longing…’

‘What, about the plot or the person?’

‘Yes, exactly!!’

‘Which…the plot or the character?’

‘Pardon?’

According to the left/right brain characterisation, the left-brain dominant are efficient planners, well-organised, good delegators, and regularly water their indoor plants, whereas right-brainers veer towards spontaneity, insight, empathy, and wear odd-socks.

And, if you’re (rightly, I feel) a tad resistant to being labelled, characterised too tightly, hemmed in by dubious conclusions from brain research, or simply ‘a bit of a mixture’ then, I greet you, and say ‘welcome to the muddle in the middle’.

My right brain seems to write poetry, and my left brain is currently too strong when writing novels…I have to work hard at developing character over plot.

I’m a Chemistry tutor, passable at Maths, partial to a spreadsheet, and drool over maps, but I seem to be engaged in a process (Holy Spirit inspired?) of picking the lock to my left-brain conditioning. Some would say our whole society, education, legal, and political system reeks of Enlightenment thinking, exalting the rational mind over the wind of the spirit, is Greek-rooted. And that right-brainers have a hard time feeling at home in their own skin let alone in the company of others. In schools, we place greater importance on Maths, Science, and English (grammar) than Music, Art, and Drama and wonder why many young people feel alienated.

You’ll find right-brainers on the poetry circuit, or prophesying in church, lampooning the self-important, relieved to stumble across Charlie Mackesy, or supporting Harlequins.

For those of a certain age, I leave you with a question: are you a Captain Mainwaring or a Sergeant Wilson?

Or maybe Phoebe v Monica in Friends is a less patriarchal comparison?

The Big Thank You

For the prison break – I thank you
For kissing goodbye to the wrong tree
Now tree-of-life hugging – thank you
For slave redemption, I kneel and sing
Free at last

For the courtroom drama – thank you
For my advocate – I thank you
And no solicitor’s fees – I stagger
Overwhelmed, convulsed with laughter
Free at last

For the invitation to the king’s table – I thank you
And again when I forgot holiness
Those new clothes, smelling fresh
How can I thank you?
Loved at last

For everyday’s content:
A dew laden spider’s web
A breaking wave crashing
On a long sandy beach
You did that?

For ungainly giraffes
Clashing necks
Or endless ants endlessly
Working for the common good
For the endless variety – I thank you

For Harry Redknapp, yes, really
And Olga Korbutt, Pink Floyd
Solzhenitsyn, all apostles
Beyond the frontier
Thank you

And for Mrs Late for Lunch
The Major with a glass eye
For friends, family,
Funny people, fiery people, people
Yes, thank you

God, for naming me – I thank you
For calling me – I thank you
For Your wind-blown Spirit
Carrying me like a seed
Purpose at last

But when all is said and done
When you kneel and wash my feet
I am undone by
Your greeting in heaven
Home at last. Thank you.

The Naming

Atlantic blasts unleashed
You unstuck my feet
Stood on a rock, but
It was no defence

I could have knelt, I suppose
But I did not, instead
Chin in the air, eyes closed
I shouted for you to come

Pitched over, drummed down,
I joined the snakes on the ground
Returned like a small child
To the lower places

But it was here in the dust
I heard of another storm
Brewing, boiling, roaring
I looked the other way

Who are you, wind-wild
And coming from the east?
Full of terrible kindness
Pulling up the fallen

I could name you,
Except you said ‘No, I am
Here to name you’
It’s time

Suspended between the present and the future

My monthly blog post for https://morethanwriters.blogspot.com/ https://morethanwriters.blogspot.com/2024/11/suspended-somewhere-between-present-and.html

Suspended…

Sat here in my favourite coffee shop, there’s a buzz of conversation. Mums with babies, blokes like me, silent monks buried in contemplation, half-consumed cake, laptops, music, wobbly tables, and proper floorboards.

It has a writing vibe. Not a meeting point for avant-garde artists and poets but a – I don’t know – a welcoming hum. A place of anonymity amongst crowds. And the music isn’t intrusive but loud enough to tap along to.

Why am I here? The estate agent is showing another potential buyer around the house, so I’ve relocated here, wondering if my blog-writing-tryst will be interrupted by a promising phone-call.

Whilst my body lives in the present, my mind is less confined by the clock. I confess, I have already built an extension, or a writing shed, or a garage, or all three at the new house. The only drawback is that the future is dependent on the present; got to sell first. Time is frustratingly linear!

It’s the same disconnect with my writing – it’s suspended somewhere between the present and the future. The present seems to be as well-defined as a warmed-up slab of chewing gum, stretching far into an uncertain future. The book is written, but awaiting editing, a cover, blurb, publishing, book launch, and marketing…and its sequel seems to be lurking just over the horizon.

What to do?

Note to self: a few things come to mind:

• Ask ‘What is your core purpose as a (Christian) writer?’ If that’s too heavy a question over coffee and cake then maybe a 9 pm vigil in the back garden, cigar and whisky to hand, will help?

• Remind oneself that the Holy Spirit is at work sharing His patience…or, more accurately, forming His patience in me

• Keep exercising the writing muscles – poetry, blogs, short stories

• Read books, but try not to analyse the text so heavily that enjoying the story is lost…but note mastery of technique in passing e.g. Ian Rankin’s skill at planting incidental small actions within the dialogue

OK. The remaining froth in my flat white requires a spoon which is downstairs. Next time. And my cheesecake is no more, and there’s been no phone call from the estate agent.

The future is pressing its claim. It’s almost time to exit.

The future is pressing its claim. It’s almost time to exit. But I’m sitting here caught up in the thought that this rather impromptu post might encourage someone who’s floundering in an ‘in-between’ state between the present writing project and what lies tantalisingly just over the horizon.

If so you’re welcome to join me – in spirit – at 9pm in the back garden.

Are you a Cultural Christian?

The phrase ‘Cultural Christian’ is a fairly new kid on the block. What does it mean?

It may be surprising to learn that atheist Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, now describes himself as a Cultural Christian.

In fact, according to Justin Brierley (author of The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God) many of the former members of New Atheism as championed by biologist Dawkins, philosopher Daniel C. Dennet, neuroscientist Sam Harris, and journalist Christopher Hitchens, in abandoning the New Atheism movement, have reassessed their antagonism towards Christianity and its positive historical influence in forming Western societies.

Decline of New Atheism

Like Dawkins, historian Tom Holland has acknowledged that the message of Christianity has shaped our thinking, values, and ethics over many centuries ‘I began to realize that actually, in almost every way, I am Christian’.

Equally, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who had rejected her Islamic faith and embraced atheism now says:

‘Tom Holland has shown in his marvellous book Dominion, all sorts of apparently secular freedoms — of the market, of conscience and of the press — find their roots in Christianity. And so I have come to realise that Russell and my atheist friends failed to see the wood for the trees. The wood is the civilisation built on the Judeo-Christian tradition; it is the story of the West, warts and all.’

Follow the link if you would like to see a debate between Richard Dawkins and Ayaan Ali (31) Richard Dawkins vs Ayaan Hirsi Ali: The God Debate - YouTube

By describing himself as a Cultural Christian has Dawkins rejected his atheism?

No. He is not claiming to be a Christian believer. But he is willing to acknowledge that a significant influence on his values, sense of right and wrong, morals, and ethics are derived, not from scientific atheism or his independent powers of reason but inherited from the impact of being marinaded in the New Testament gospels and epistles in England and elsewhere for many centuries.

Whereas Tom Holland’s re-evaluation of Christianity has led him back to actual faith in Christ, not so with Richard Dawkins:

‘Presumably what happened to Jesus was what happens to all of us when we die. We decompose. Accounts of Jesus's resurrection and ascension are about as well-documented as Jack and the Beanstalk’

(This, of course, would have been my own position before I examined the evidence that Dawkins distances himself from, claiming it doesn’t exist).

The question that emerges from the ‘splintering’ of the new atheists and the acceptance of the label ‘Cultural Christianity’ from various commentators like Dawkins, is ‘What is the difference between a Cultural Christian and a Christian believer?

For evangelical Christians, the answer may be as straightforward as differentiating between Jupiter and Mars, Sibelius and Sinatra, or cats and dogs. In evangelical terms unless and until someone has made a conscious decision to ‘leave their nets to follow Christ’ (whatever that might look like for each individual) and profess their faith in Jesus risen from the dead, they are not ‘born again’, not ‘saved’, not part of the church, and therefore, not a Christian.

For those who have a more sacramental view, the grace of God is at work in someone’s life by participating in rituals such as infant baptism or communion/Mass, whether or not they have a ‘conversion’ experience dividing their non-Christian past from their Christian future.

Let us consider these words of Jesus:

‘He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me…and whoever gives one of these little ones a glass of water… will not lose his reward’ Matt 10v40, 42

Am I blurring the lines?

I think I am, but only because of Jesus’s words in this verse and similar verses. The bible asserts that God looks on the heart. If so, only God can know what ‘receiving Christ’ looks like in each individual. And only God can truly know if a human heart is set in stone against His Son, Jesus Christ, and will not submit to His Lordship.

I have asked groups of Christians how many had a ‘conversion experience’ and can pinpoint the place and the time when they left their nets to follow Christ, and how many had more of a dimmer-switch experience and cannot pinpoint a moment of decision, but the reality of Christ dawned on them over time. The ratio has always been 50:50.

My own experience is that I can pinpoint the moment. It was as I opened my mouth to say the Creed during an otherwise unremarkable CoE Series 3 Communion service, at All Saints, Whitstable on Sunday 11th January 1976. And, because the liturgy is so precise, that must have been at approximately 10.50 in the morning!

On reflection though, can I really say that this moment divides time into two halves? The first time I can remember wanting to follow Christ was in 1964, twelve years before…aged 6…during a school assembly when the gospel story of the disciples leaving their nets to follow Christ. In my 6-year-old self, I was ready to do just that!

What is the difference between a Cultural Christian and a Christian believer?

In the intervening years, I absorbed the commonly held agnosticism of the times, but what I knew of the New Testament was still creating questions that I only found answers to many years later.

So I cannot tell you, from Christ’s perspective, when He captured me and won my heart and allegiance; maybe it was long before I capitulated consciously to Him.

Possibly the most dramatic conversion story still known as a Damascus road conversion (or Damascene conversion as some say it) – is of the Pharisee Saul - later known as St Paul. Surely this is evidence enough that life can be divided into two halves? But note carefully what Jesus said to Paul:

‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads’ Acts 9v5

Despite his implacable opposition to the gospel, and believers his opposition was hurting him; he was ‘kicking against the goads’. Each campaign, each arrest, or murder was like kicking a cactus thorn. A process was going on in his deepest being, possibly unknown to Saul, certainly resisted by him. Eventually, though, it was decision time. Over the following days, blinded in his encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, and in a terrible state staying in Damascus, and with Ananias preaching to him, Saul came to a moment of decision. This is what the New Testament records:

‘He arose and was baptised’ Acts 9v18

Later he would testify that God had called him from the womb to be an apostle. When he looked back, he saw how God had been at work in his life bringing him to the point of decision and baptism.

In conclusion, we can be certain about two things:

• We cannot see what is going on in the hearts of those around us with respect to their relationship to Christ

• Whether someone calls themselves a cultural Christian or not, at the point of decision, no one can remain on the fence…for long.

The phrase ‘Cultural Christian’ is a fairly new catchphrase that many others apart from Professor Dawkins may start to use. But it can only be a holding position. Eventually, Cultural Christians will have to make up their minds about the resurrection; and ‘leave everything to follow Him’ and confess that Jesus is Lord, or take the awesome decision to refuse Christ.

Caught Unawares

Everything was in the right place:

That morning blind routine

Requiring minimal conscious thought

I mean, the toothbrush and paste

We’re waiting, parked neatly - check

Second finger found the kettle switch – no problem

Fridge door opens, chilly jam and marmalade jars

Casually thrown up with right hand and caught in the left

No milk, no matter

Shoes on, front door unlocked

It’s a two minute walk shuffling through the autumnal leaf shower

A comforting orange red stillness

So quiet as if the pavements have stopped breathing

Or the trees have witnessed a rapture

I press on, disregarding the silence

There’s the shop, lights on

Checking my jacket pocket for the wallet I occasionally forget

I extend my hand to the door

It doesn’t open

It is difficult to convey just how deep

Is the shockwave that is travelling

In and out of my mind, my grip on normality,

Like some untold tide

For twenty years, maybe twice a week

The door, often left slightly open, yielded

But not this early unassuming Friday morning

I push again, my brain and my sense disconnecting

Cleaving into non-identical twins: wisdom and will

The one locked into a fierce debate with the other

One, calm, the other incapable of reading the runes

As ever committed to hopeless causes trying the handle once more

It is then that I’m shaken awake

The lesson once again makes me laugh quietly

As I turn, no milk in hand

And kick the leaves into another random pattern

Knowing again there is no right place

For things to be held

Like time itself, caught unawares

In it own spider’s web

Awaiting an unknowable fate:

The order of things is to be shaken

Before the final things to come

Yes, it’s good to be reminded

And walk back to where the cup of black tea

Is calling forlornly for what is missing

Mid-Life Crisis?

If one of those warning lights starts blinking red on your car dashboard – what do you do? No, no, you misunderstand me, what DO you do?

Tiddly squat.

Your brain goes into impressive overdrive (note the continued metaphor) and creates several alternative explanations for the flashing light or strategies to deal with it. Number One is to lean slightly to the right to obscure the light – best not to be distracted whilst driving. Number Two is to congratulate the car in its old age, at least something is still working and drive on. Number three is an unconvincing risk assessment – ‘I’ll deal with it if it doesn’t sort itself out by next Thursday’.

Wisdom is silenced in favour of procrastination and procrastination is the infant born from a life organised around certain priorities that have erected a No Entry sign to any uninvited interruptions – including illness, burst water pipes, redundancy, marital problems, or…lack of oil and impending disaster: RAC tow to the nearest garage, overnight hotel, a big dent in bank balance, the wrath of boss, wife/husband, and child who needed a lift to the school concert, and the time-wasting frustration of appealing against the yellow parking ticket affixed to the windscreen.

Following in its wake is a diet of humble pie, three per day for at least a fortnight until some hidden timetable of shame and defeat has done its work and you are helpless with laughter at the ridiculousness of life…and you realise, again, that it’s back to the drawing board. A personal MOT is overdue.

Of course, there are deeper mid-life crises that pay a visit. Ones that threaten to crush its victim beyond repair and others that make long-Covid appear to be a walk in the park.

Back to the question – what DO you do?

Other reactions that do lean towards wisdom rather than outright foolishness include taking a surreptitious peak at self-help articles online or in ‘that section’ in Waterstones. Or, maybe, you will take up that offer from your boss for a well-being introductory day with work-based counselling as a further option.

Somewhere in the back of your brain is not even a memory, more an impression that, in the past, you might have talked things over with a Vicar or Priest. And what does that word ‘spiritual’ really mean anyway? All you know is that the panic attacks at 3am are highly unpleasant, recurring nightmares are increasing in frequency, you’re intimidated by even the thought of doing a presentation at work, and you can barely look at the ones you love in the eye because you fear choking on tears for no apparent reason. And you feel guilty about several recent decisions you’ve taken that fell below the moral standards that you hold others to. Nothing major, but you’ve taken your eye off the ball, ignored your conscience, and taken some shortcuts…your moral compass hasn’t pointed north for some time, so you’ve tidied it away. It’s the flashing warning light all over again. What do you do?

taking a surreptitious peak at self-help articles online or in ‘that section’ in Waterstones

You can fool most of the people most of the time but someone you’ve known, not one of your inner circle of friends, has come up to you recently and asked with a piercing but understanding look: ‘Are you OK, Geoff?’ or ‘Are you OK, Hannah?’ and your hesitation says more than whatever words tumble forth from your lips.

Why am I writing this?

You might surmise that this is autobiographical. Not quite, although I do have this t-shirt. Nor is this article one of those ‘anti-psychobabble’ critiques of counselling – I’m currently about 12 counselling sessions into meeting with a therapist. No. This line of thought was set off by reading about two kings in the bible – namely Hezekiah and Josiah.

Let’s get to it. And, maybe along the way, we might figure out what the word ‘spiritual’ means. Maybe.

King Hezekiah

b. 741BC – ascended to the throne aged 25 in 716BC and died aged 54 in 687BC having reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years.

The account of his political and military exploits is written in 2 Kings chapters 18-20 and 2 Chronicles 29-32. During his reign, Isaiah and Micah prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah.

For us, the important point in Hezekiah’s life came 14 years into his reign when he was 39, a good age for a mid-life crisis.

Despite his great success in pushing through fundamental spiritual reforms, removing idol worship, and returning Israel to the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he has fallen gravely ill. So ill that Isaiah the prophet tells him to put his house in order and prepare to die.

Hezekiah’s response to this mid-life crisis was to pray. As a result of his pleading. God sends Isaiah back to announce that his life would be extended by 15 years. He had reigned for fourteen years, and now his life would be extended by fifteen…you can’t get much more ‘mid’ than that.

Not all mid-life crises have a happy ending; this one included. Initially, you might imagine that Hezekiah, brought so low by his illness, was taken spiritually to ground zero. His own powerlessness was evident to him, and the source of all his help, past, present, and future, lay beyond his human abilities, wealth, or political clout, it lay in God. There was nowhere else to turn. The doctors had failed, his counsellors’ advice could not touch his personal crisis, and even the prophet Isaiah had said ‘time’s up’.

Hezekiah, however, humbled himself, and called out to God. It saved his life and proved to be such a turning point. The biblical account sheds light on Hezekiah’s state of mind:

‘..his heart was lifted up…made for himself treasuries of gold…’ 2 Chron 32 v 25, 27

‘Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart…’ 2 Chron 32v26

Despite this experience of humility, being blessed, and having his life extended by God, in his heart he turned it around so that it became a boast. He made the fatal mistake of showing ‘his’ riches to the Babylonian envoys and failed to acknowledge the Lord as the source of his blessing and riches.

During the latter half of Hezekiah’s reign, his son Manasseh was born who witnessed his father’s spiritual decline and how his pride and love of riches had consumed him. Perhaps it was the effect of the spiritual tide retreating in his father that bred in him a desire to lead Israel differently, away from the Lord, and to commit idolatry? Hezekiah started well but finished poorly, Manasseh started badly but repented and finished well (2 Chron 33 v 1-20)

King Josiah

‘b. 648BC – ascended the throne aged 8 in 640BC and died aged 39 in 609BC having reigned in Jerusalem for 31 years.

The account of his political and military exploits is written in 2 Kings chapters 22-23 and in 2 Chronicles 34-35. During his reign, Zephaniah and Jeremiah prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah.

For us, the mid-reign crisis in Hezekiah’s life came after 18 years into his reign when he was 26 after which he would reign for a further 13 years.

Josiah’s personal history and his spirituality are very different from his great-grandfather, Hezekiah’s, whom he had never met having been born nearly 40 years after Hezekiah died. From the outset, aged 8, his reign was saturated in doing right and reintroducing the worship of the Lord to Israel:

‘In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David…’ 2 Chron 34 v 3.

He was sixteen years old.

‘In the eighteenth year of his reign…he sent Shaphan to repair the house of the Lord…’ 2Chron 34 v 8

He is now 26. The crisis comes when Hilkiah finds the Book of the Law in the temple and hands it to Shaphan who takes it to the King:

‘And Shaphan read it before the king. When the king heard the words of the Law he tore his clothes’ v19

He is crushed by a sense of fear and grief. He realises, not only that Israel has often disobeyed the Lord who brought them out of Egypt, gave them the Law, and promised to be their God, but that the penalty for disobedience would be the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple, and exile…the wrath of the Lord.

What does he do?

‘Then the king commanded Hilkiah…(and)…Shaphan’ v 21 to enquire of the Lord. They find a prophetess, Huldah who reveals the will of the Lord:

‘Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself…your eyes will not see the calamity I will bring on this place’ v 27,28

In the space of one year following this crisis and the word of the Lord, Josiah instituted a complete overhaul of Israel’s worship and reintroduced Passover v19.

So much good came out of this period and yet, like Hezekiah, it can be argued that the final 13 years of his reign were spent in spiritual decline culminating in disobeying the word of the Lord through Necho the commander of the Egyptian army, entering the battle, and suffering fatal injuries.

His son, Jehoahaz, was 23 when his father died. He was born when Josiah had begun to seek the Lord aged 16 and grew up witnessing his father’s reforming zeal. But his reign was short-lived, lasting all but three months before Necho replaced him with Jehoiakim, his brother.

What can we learn from these two mid-life crisis experiences?

1. Seemingly, crises arise out of the blue and impending disaster looms large

2. We are forced to realise that many things are beyond our strength to put right

3. In our humiliation we may have to face the truth of our complicity in their arrival

4. Hezekiah and Josiah did what a lot of people do…they cried out to God, they prayed

5. In both cases, God responded to their prayers, their prayers and petitions were heard

6. Spiritual turnarounds, however, can be repackaged. True statements such as ‘this happened when I prayed’ shifts the emphasis towards the pray-er rather than the Lord who answered the prayer. That is spiritual pride.

I may be wrong about Josiah’s final 13 years, the second half of his reign. I hope so. As noted previously, the biblical account records the Lord saying:

‘Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself…’

During a crisis, once we’ve poured out our turmoil, complaints, grief, anger, and our pleading to God we must arrive at a place of peace, and exhaustion, and make sure our heart is ‘tender’.

This is exactly what happened to the Prodigal son (Luke 15)

In a foreign land far away from home his moment of crisis arrives. In the mind of the prodigal, it’s financial; he’s run out of money and cannot support his lavish lifestyle. In addition, his fiscal downturn coincides with a country-wide famine. His only option is to become a slave to a pig farmer whose priority, under pressure himself due to the famine, is to feed the pigs, not his slaves.

So, like Hezekiah and Josiah, he cries out. It is a parable, by the way, not history. It’s easy to forget. In the parable he ‘comes to his senses’. Somehow, in the middle of this disorientating period of his life, he manages to clear his head. Without that, we are lost, doomed to become victims, powerless in the face of events that threaten to overwhelm us.

From this point on the road to recovery is sweet.

But, like all good storytellers, Jesus leaves the story unfinished…on a cliff edge. The party’s over, the initial rush of emotion, of lavish forgiveness, has subsided. The servants have gone to bed nursing hangovers and the father who has overeaten for joy, falls asleep. At 3am, we can only imagine where the older son has taken himself, to some sleazy bar downtown, rehearsing his bitterness and wondering where it all went wrong.

The point of the mid-life crisis story is the necessity to cultivate a tender heart, not harbour resentment, selfishness, or pride.

How does the parable continue? The father: did he keep his heart tender? Or did the bitterness of his eldest son infect him and pollute his joy over the one who was lost and is found, was dead and is alive? Did the prodigal maintain his tender heart towards his father – and his brother? And what of the older brother? Now in a mid-life crisis of his own making. Will he in his rage come to his senses and find a way to revisit all the wrong-thinking that had spoiled his relationship with his father over many years?

As a Christian, at this point, it is tempting to say what we should do in a mid-life crisis is turn to God. I do believe this is ultimately what we have to do, face to face with no other alternative than relying solely upon ourselves, but that’s not quite the message of this discussion.

I may be wrong about Josiah’s final 13 years, the second half of his reign. I hope so.

The main message is that maintaining a tender heart is the key to recovery. To forgive others, and to forgive yourself. To thaw whatever is frozen. To melt, to soften anything that has become hard and inflexible. To rediscover what it is to be a child with no power to provide for him or herself and yet trust that love cannot be destroyed. If we can do these things, no one needs to preach the gospel, or advertise God, He has already made Himself known to you.

You now understand how Jesus on the cross was able to say: ‘Father, forgive them, they know not what they do’.

If it is true what Jesus said about himself, ‘I have the power to lay down my life and to take it up again’, all the more remarkable it is that he did not exercise that power but made himself powerless, submitting himself to the ignominy of a false trial, a near-fatal flogging, the king of kings made to wear of crown of thorns, and then to be crucified outside the city he had wept over.

Suffering injustice and rejection, somehow, he maintained a tender heart: ‘Father forgive them, they know not what they do’. Arriving at this point we understand that God hears the cries of our hearts and that our cries are mingled in with Jesus’ final prayer. We have found that the source of our forgiveness is not out of reach.

And, if so, you know the true meaning of the word spiritual.

And you found out because you didn’t or couldn’t ignore the red flashing warning lights any longer.

Book Review: Phoebe – A Story, Paula Gooder, Hodder & Stoughton

‘One day, Quintus, a cousin of Titus arrived at the house…Titus was attractive in a kind, homely way…Quintus was devastatingly handsome…’

In Paula’s fictional account of life in the church in Rome during the New Testament era, we are introduced to well-known characters from the pages of Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s letters such as Priscilla (shortened to Prisca) and Aquila, Junia and Andronicus, Titus, Phobe herself, and Peter. And others.

Phoebe – A Story is based on three speculative interpretations from Paul’s letter to Romans:

• Paul had commissioned Phoebe (Rom 16v1) to carry his letter to Rome, explain its meaning to the believers there, and prepare for Paul’s hoped-for mission to Spain.

• Junia (female) and Andronicus (male) were apostles

• The evident tension between Jewish believers and their Gentile brothers and sisters in Rome had more to do with Jewish covenantal status than the Law – a nod to New Perspective theology

Whilst the heart of Phoebe is, as its sub-title, A Story, suggests, a story and reads as an engaging imaginative description of life in Rome and is very ably enhanced by the historical research of first-century Roman society, the above three assumptions form the guiding principles that govern the arc of the story.

It is, therefore, a feminist historical fiction, not only weaving a story around hermeneutical interpretations of New Testament literature but also promoting well-argued feminist contentions that all offices and ministries in the church should be occupied equally by men and women.

Phoebe herself turns out to be a far more complex character – with slavery, a dangerous romance, and tragedy all thrown in

Leaving issues of biblical interpretation on one side, the personalities of the principal characters are well-described and engaging. Phoebe herself turns out to be a far more complex character – with slavery, a dangerous romance, and tragedy all thrown in - than the one verse in Paul’s letter has the scope to describe. Paula does this very well and the various tensions that ensue give the book its very readable momentum.

So…if you want to let yourself be absorbed in the simplicity of life in first-century Rome just before Nero’s reign, this is an excellent starting point.

And, if you’re after a book to fire your imagination, dulled after years of over-familiarity with the New Testament, Paula Gooder’s Phoebe will do just that.

Did Paul arrive in Rome? What happened to the trip to Spain? You may find the answers lying within Phoebe – A Story.

PS

Part 2 of the book contains 80 pages of helpful notes on each chapter giving more historical and biblical background

A Tale of Two Pubs

These two pubs, unpaired
Not by compass and meridians
But by a subterranean,
Inexpressible knowing,
Where words are crude
Instruments failing to
Distinguish differing
Smiles of satisfaction

On a Saturday, for lunch,
Lynch and I and others
Traipse through slate-grey
Winter wind and drizzle
Like intent pilgrims
Discomforts disdained
To the Ruby Lounge
A meeting place for toothless old men

The real Ruby Lounge was far rougher and more dilapidated

And us, barely shaving
But young and old shuffle their way
Across the sawdust-strewn floor
To an altar rail, for communion
The priest, taking our offerings
Clasped with tattooed hands the tap
And poured forth the weekly libation
A pint of Youngs

Eyes meet, publican priest
With his latest converts,
Silenced initiates,
Their inexperienced hands
Still tracing the bevels
Of their fathers’ jugs
Embarrassed to show
Too much satisfaction

Smiles concealed,
We return,
Across the sawdust
To the wobbly table
Sticky with yesterday’s beer
And spoil the moment with
Mundane talk of Monty Python
And Parmesan cheese on toast

Maybe a bath and some spray later
And a trench coat if cold and dark
A collection of poorly paid pilgrims
Stomping their feet against the cold
Nudge away from minor village roads
To find the path across fields
Illuminated by a watching moon
Towards the waiting lights

Sadly, the Share & Coulter in no more…this pub has a similar feel if a bit busier

The Share and Coulter
There, eight animated souls,
Bums on wooden seats
With tied-on cushions,
A polished table and dry beer mats,
And a roaring fire just beyond…
Clueless to how daringly close
To heaven they’ve come, huddle

Pictures of long-dead Shires
And their barrelled drays
Looking on from the walls
Witness my blaspheming
And Christ’s secret agent asking
‘Why did you say that?’
Unseen angels lean in
Licking their lips

The Moon is Watching

This last week
The Moon has perched herself
Above the fir tree opposite
Tapping me on the shoulder
Each morning
So I don’t forget
To say Good Morning

The moon perched above the fir tree opposite

Normally the Moon stays hidden
And like some nocturnal beast
Shyly puts on her cloak
Of misty white light
Before perching -
Up there

But this Moon
Maybe a different one
Is a breakfast feast
A pre-running sight
Been waiting
With some impatience
For someone to see her
Importance, significance

Like the Christmas story
But unlike the Magi
With their Eastern wisdom
My mind is blank…
If there is a baby in the fir tree
It would seem untimely
Unlikely…

As if she hears my absence
She turns, flees, and fades
But has one last trick
As she sinks and sinks
What was a bright sixpence in the sky
Is now a translucent sovereign
Her reign extending ever larger
Just beyond the horizon