Still blind even in the presence of the light of the world

Sorting files on my desktop I found this quote - sorry I can't credit it as no reference is recorded - but I find it most thought provoking!

Among the great ironies of this story in John 9 is this: both the disciples and the Pharisees try to make a connection between bad things and sin. “God must have been pretty mad at someone to produce a guy like this,” the disciples say when they first see this blind beggar, “so who messed up, Lord? This fellow or his folks?” That’s how a lot of people operate: you see something bad, you chalk it up to someone’s sin. The universe operates on the principle of quid pro quo, of tit for tat. Oddly, though, when the people in this story encounter the profoundly good thing of an awesome healing, they do everything in their power to not connect that good thing with God. Some, it seems, are more comfortable with making God out to be the dispenser of punishment than the decanter of something good.

Apparently it’s fully possible to be in the presence of the light of the world and still be in the dark. But if it weren’t for the fact that it’s the religious people in this story who seem the most prone to put on spiritual sunglasses to keep out the light, John 9 might be less troubling. As it stands, however, those of us who consider ourselves religious leaders today have plenty of reason to wonder whether—or how often—we fail to celebrate the work of God just in case the shape of that work doesn’t fit the bill of how we think things ought to go. How often don’t we let our own scruples keep us from celebrating God’s presence in the lives of others?

Just found the scource http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/thisWeek/viewArticle.php?aID=489

Experiencing Salvation

When John Wesley asked Count Von Zinzendorf if he knew when he was saved, he replied, "I have always been saved!"

A very famous churchman's reply to the same question was, "I was saved nearly two thousand years ago, on a hill called Golgotha, outside the city of Jerusalem."

And this is the main point of the biblical witness: Our Salvation was accomplished nearly two thousand years ago in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the one true Son of God. The meaning that this past event has for us today, our response to that event, and our willingness to believe is crucial for us.

It doesn't matter so much when we come to believe as it does that we believe.


from (and thanks to):
Robert V. Dodd, Remember That You Are Not Alone, Faith Is for Sharing, CSS Publishing

"Doing" Faith

Alas, I confess to not being the best at grammar - not the way of 1970's Secondary education!

I was therefore intrigued to read that in John's Gospel faith is never referred to as a noun but rather as a verb. In otherwords faith is not something we have, but something we do! To quote Prof Karoline Lewis, "We tend to talk about "our faith" or "having faith," assuming that it is a done deal, that believing is as simple as acquiring faith. But the Gospel of John never refers to faith as a noun. Faith is not a possession, not something that one gets, not something that one has—it is something that one does. Believing for the characters in the Fourth Gospel is a verb." (http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=2/17/2008)

Now that does put a new perspective on what we have being trying to get across to Christians for .... ! Thank you Prof Karoline - this is a most helpful help.

Leadership for growth and development

Yesterday, while doing some "manual labour", I was doing some serious thinking about the type, style, nature of leadership the church needs - and I came to a surprisingly simple conclusion!

What the church needs is

1. teachers,
2. pastors and
3. evangelists.

What it doesn;t need is managers!


Ministers and lay-folk alike ... hang on - goo dfilm just started - will come back later and finish misings.