Sorry is the preacher's first word

I'm seriously considering prefacing every sermon I give with the words "If you really know me, I'm profoundly sorry, but please listen anyway, or, at least read the passage while you ignore me".

I recently heard the tearful stories of friends who had been bullied, slandered and chased out of their church by their minister (along with many, many others in the church). I hear the minister speak now, and, while he may have many useful things to say, I find it hard to take what he says seriously. The same goes for preachers who are involved in machiavellian church politics. They may have a closely exegeted, well packaged sermon. I just find it hard to take them seriously.
Thing is, they may regret their past actions, they may repent of them, but, unless they say that at the beginning of the sermon, how do I know that.

Here's the sting- I have been a total arse in the past, to all sorts of different people. And there are good odds that I will be a complete arse in the future. So I have two options I reckon, try to avoid my church getting to know me, or, apologise all the time.

The legal threat to Christian schools

Peter Costello has written a fascinating article about Victoria's legal attempt to prohibit religious organizations from acting outside the anti-discrimination legislation.

I'm interested in people's feelings about the issue, and then their considered thoughts.
Here are mine:

1. I'm annoyed at the Victorians for being so liberal.
2. How dare non-Christians mess with the church.

on consideration...
3. Christians will have to send their kids to public schools, a good thing a think.
4. Not cool if churches loose the right to making moral choices concerning their ministers.
5. Costello has a good point about human rights charters being anti-human rights.
6. ???

Drama and preaching

For those of you in 3rd year at MTC, you will be very familiar by now with the idea of having a dramatic structure to a sermon.
A couple of people in our year are pretty fine with the whole aristotelian dramatic structure and have asked me if I can recommend anything to push their thinking further.

It took me a while, but I've recommended Peter Brook's "The Empty Space". It is an old (!960's) book on theatre, when it works and when it really doesn't.
This isn't a book on preaching, and you could sure build some wacky theology if you pushed the analogy too far, but many of his insights into 'holy theatre' 'deadly (like deadly boring) theatre' 'rough theatre' and 'immediate theatre' apply well to preaching too.

Vote 1 Jesus?

Don't you love politicians pictures. All smiles, all respectability, stability. Everything we would want of a leader. They are successful, so, if they represent us we will be successful.



But this Guy, I mean really, who would vote for this guy.


One of the major problems we have in our country is an ageing population. This has implications for health care etc, but the biggest problem is that they have the money.
We need them to keel over so we can live on the wealth they have built up over the years, ' the inexorable rule of human tradition is that societies flourish on the manure of their dead members flesh' O'Donovan ' The ways of judgement' 233. Now, our politicians are dealing with this in a sane way,by keeping those oldies poor. (46% of single seniors live below the poverty line).

But this guy Jesus, he starts promising eternal life. Eternal! Like we have communion with the dead! All those extra mouths to feed. What is that going to do for the economy?

Or look at his immigration policy. Apparently everyone is welcome in his kingdom. How does that protect out interests. Lucky that churches set up their own border controls to keep the rabble out.

Or Law and order. Jesus' plan is to forgive the transgressors. Admittedly this would save us some money on the upkeep of jails, but surely privatising them would work just as well.


Would you want this bloke to represent you? Really?


"he has disarmed the rulers and authorities, and made a triumphant public display of them" Col 2:15

Theology with kids

Nate Kerr left this comment on Ben Myers Faith and Theology, after Ben's daughter had expressed concern for the ram Abraham killed instead of Isaac.

"At four, they display concern for the goats. At five (almost six), they go straight to arguing with you vehemently about core theologoumena. Case in point: The other day I was driving in the car with Zoe in the backseat and we were discussing "the greatest commandment" (which we had read about the previous night). This conversation ensued:

Zoe: "So, Daddy, God tells us to love him and to love each other, right?" [There was a digression here as to whether or God was or was not a "he." Her solution: He is and he isn't.]

Me: "Yes."

Zoe: "At the same time?"

Me: "Yes. In loving one another we are loving God."

Zoe: "So does that mean we're supposed to love everybody? How do we do that?"

Me: "Well, because God is love; God loves everybody, and so if we love God when we love each other, that is how we are loving everybody -- by just loving the people we see every day."

[And here is where it goes off the rails.]

Zoe: "Daddy! GOD IS NOT LOVE."

Me: "What do you mean God is not love."

Zoe: "Because God has a body. You know, Jesus! God loves us through Jesus, but God is NOT love!"

Me: "Well, it is because of Jesus that we can say that God both is love and that God loves us."

Zoe: "Daddy! Argghh. You just don't get it! God has a body. God is NOT love. God loves us THROUGH his body. Just like we love through our bodies. But we're not love. So God is NOT love."

Me: "But that's the whole point. We are only able to love through our bodies because love itself took on a body like ours in Jesus."

Zoe: "Arrghh...Daddy, I'm trying to understand. You know about these things because you read the bible. But the bible tells us that Jesus loves us and that Jesus is God and he had a body. So God CANNOT be love. Tell me how God can is love."

Me: "Well, the bible tells us that God is love."

Zoe: "Where? Show me when we get home."

About 10 minutes later we arrived home and I read her 1 John 3:7ff. At around v. 13 she stopped me and said:

Zoe: "Oh, I get it! It's because of the Holy Spirit!"

Me: "Yes! Exactly!"

Zoe: "Well why didn't you tell me that in the car? I wouldn't have had to yell at you then!"

Confusion prayer from Kim Fabricious

It’s a world of confusion, Lord:
we are muddled in our thinking;
we are mixed in our emotions;
we are inconsistent in our actions.

It’s a world of lies, Lord:
we deceive ourselves about our motives and intentions;
we mislead others with double-speak and spin;
we exploit you as an agent of social control and repression.

It’s a world of greed, Lord:
we worship the idol of the market;
we honour the false prophets of profit;
we reduce people to punters and nations to debt.

It’s a world of violence, Lord:
we deploy the technology of terror to protect our own interests;
we invest our children in the business of bloodshed;
we justify war as first strike, last resort, or final solution.

It’s a world of vengeance, Lord:
we allow the wounds of history to fester;
we refuse the healing of memories;
we betray the living out of mistaken loyalty to the dead.

O Lord,
in this world of confusion, make us a people of clarity;
in this world of lies, make us a people of integrity;
in this world of greed, make us a people of generosity;
in this world of violence, make us a people of peace;
in this world of vengeance, make us a people of mercy:
in the name of Christ: Amen.