by emma | Jul 12, 2006 | Faith
A generation is rising up…
Over the last few weeks I have had numerous conversations with a variety of people about the state of Christianity in Northern Ireland and in this generation in particular. Some of those conversations were promted by SonShine week in Ahoghill, others by StreetReach in Belfast, and others by the Twelth celebrations taking place. Generation 24 is here…
This generation has a faith that is different to that of our parents. It questions. It searches. It doesn’t settle for second-hand knowledge. Whereas our parents generation by and large accepted what they were taught – and why shouldn’t they, they had no reason not to trust – our generation does not. It doesn’t accept something just because it’s what we’ve always done, what our parents/grandparents believed. The ‘church’ has become tainted… child abuse in the Catholic church, gay clergy in Anglican church, affairs, arguments over styles of music, baptism, etc… for many it is no longer acceptable to trust what the church teaches simply because the church teaches it. We ask questions… Why do we do it this way? Why shouldn’t we do it that way? Whats wrong with this? My generation is one that is searching for answers, but will not accept off-pat answers and cliched responses. We want an authentic faith… we want God, not religion.
Sometimes that searching gets us into trouble… Sometimes we may be viewed as irreverant for questioning the church, or as having no respect because we don’t wear a suit and tie to church. But our heart is in the right we place. Like David in the Psalms, we want to know God the way our forefathers in the faith did – intimately.
“I know, dear God, that you care nothing for the surface – you want us, our true selves!” 1 Chron 29:16 TM
For more on this topic…
Leadership Journal has a great article on leadership styles in Boomer churchers and GenX churches here.
by emma | Jun 30, 2006 | Exodus, Faith
I’ve been reading through some of the stories in Luke’s gospel lately, and there’s this phrase that keeps sticking out at me… extravagant living. Jesus lived extravagently. To be extravagant means to lack restraint… what a comment to have said about how you life, how you love, how you give… That kind of love and giving always returns in greater measure – Jesus said we never give anything that isn’t given back to us a hunderd-fold. I want to practice extravagant living…
by emma | Jun 18, 2006 | Books, Faith, Words
We do violence to the Biblical revelation when we “use” it for what we can get out of it or what we think will provide colour and spice in our otherwise bland lives. That always results in a kind of “decorator spirituality” – God as enhancement. Christians are not interested in that; we are after something far bigger. When we submit our lives to what we read in Scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God’s. God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves.
[Eat This Book – Eugene Peterson]
Can you picture God telling someone (maybe an angel in heaven or something) and including us in His story? Just a thought. I love that God is much bigger than I could ever figure out! Long may I continue to be woven into His story. What are we after? Simply… God. More of Him, less of me.
by emma | Jun 2, 2006 | Faith, Words
So won’t You now
Hold on to me, hold on
Hold on to me, yeah
Please don’t let me go no, no, hold on
‘Cause I am prone to wonder
Prone to leave this faith I know
Hold on
[Shawn McDonald – Hold On]
by emma | May 30, 2006 | Faith
I went out on the farm tonight, out quadbiking for the first time in a good while. Going through the routine… I pulled on an old jumper, pull on the running shoes, grab the keys, out the door…
And it felt great. Really great. I have no idea why, but when I was riding I had this innate sense of peace, contentment. This quote from Eric Liddle came to mind, who said that when he ran, he felt God's pleasure. Well tonight, I felt God's pleasure.
Pulling into the shed, parking, heading back inside… Circumstances and feelings are so changeable aren't they? Things aren't always easy. I still had my running shoes on at this stage. There was a brief moment were I thought, run. Go out a walk, go a run, just go. But that's the easy way out right? It's harder to stick around. Fight for the things you love. Face your fears. Face your demons. No-one said it would be easy. Quite the contrary. But its the only way to life. Running only wears you down, tires you out and kills the soul.
So stay. Fight. Live.
by emma | May 26, 2006 | Faith
What's with all these junk surrounding Jesus these days? Do you know what I mean? Take the DaVinci Code for example (and I promise, this is the only mention it will get on my blog!). So many people are going to see it, or have read it, and are now questioning the things of God and of the church. Churches are holding meetings and preaching sermons and discussing in small groups the book and what it says. How much energy are we as a church expending on a fictional book? Now don't hear me wrong, I'm not saying we shouldn't be doing these things, I don't know to be quite honest.
What I am saying is… what if rather than spending all our energy on a fictional book, what if we actually stepped out of our comfort zones and loved some of these people? What if we didn't put so much money into church building campaigns (again, i'm not saying it's wrong to do that) and spent it on buying the homeless guy breakfast and a hot drink, on giving the single mother a loaf and a pint of milk? What if we spent out time out in the homeless shelters and on the streets and at the soup kitchens and outside the bars where the people are? Have we got it the wrong way round? When Jesus was here on earth, he ate with the sinners, healed the lepers…. he spent His time with the outcasts. He didnt market Himself to get them into the synagogue… he went to wherever they were! What would happen if we stopped spending so much energy and money on our buildings, and took seriously our call to BE the church…
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