My last post - Repentance and Protest

Dear Citizens of The Wired World,

Last Sunday evening I preached on the value of prophetic acts of protest that witness to the reality of the Kingdom of God. Allowing myself to be searched on the issue over the last few days has lead me to make a decision that I am now in haste to carry out.

I pointed out then, and I stress again, that prophetic acts do not have to be moral statements. In other words when I chose to abstain from something it is not because that something is wrong in itself but because by such an abstinence I am convinced that I may make my protest against the way the world is and somehow point to the greater reality of an unseen Kingdom. So, my decision to abandon my tiny web empire, an online identity and a cluster of blogs, along with my regular email access is not an indictment of these things in themselves but a protest against what they have become in my life.

It may be that I lack the maturity to use these things purely as servants to greater ends. It may be that I am too cowardly to fight the battle that must be fought with the addictive aspects of information and knowledge in a technological age. If this is true then I pray my weakness may be an opportunity for God's strength while, nevertheless, protesting that it has taken courage to make this move.

Some will scratch their heads in bewilderment at the decision I have made and others will understand and recognise that the same suspicion has been haunting them. I offer this explanation for those who can accept it.

As I look back over the last five to seven years I have struggled with the horror of trying to remember them clearly, or to name a time when I last felt truly alive. There have been moments but nothing as lasting as what I know I have experienced before. I have been asking why; why did everything about my life seem sleepy and dream-like.

I tried to remember the moments when I felt like I had surfaced and I thought back to times when the sky had been incredibly blue for me. At the same time I noticed that some of the things that had brought me the greatest pleasure had been relegated to bit parts or even struck off the script - music, dancing, writing letters, reading, walking, talking, and working in precious metals. The best moments in my life had everything to do with the smell of paper and the scratch of a pen, the plucked string, a worn old Bible, and the bite of fresh air and sunshine; and nothing to do with a square glowing screen that offered the world in a box.

What had happened? I noticed I was increasingly less sociable and that relationships seemed to much effort to be worth the trouble. I developed a hatred of the telephone because of it's spontaneous and unpredictable ability to intrude into my life demanding that I communicate with others. I would never phone when an email or text could be sent instead - these methods of communication seemed more safe to me.

Then there was the internet. I would go online, any time of the day or night, usually to find the answer to a question that had popped into my head; tap into the information superhighway, confident that I could find the answer to anything. I would break off in the middle of cooking to find a recipe, I would break off Bible reading to consult an online commentary or throw a book aside to check a reference - only to emerge two hours later with more irrelevant and pointless rubbish in my head. Sometimes I would just surf, looking for something. Just a couple of months ago I recognised that what I was looking for online was something, just something, anything that would make me feel alive again. Surely there was a website out there that would kickstart my mental metabolism or hand me a life-changing insight. Without realising it my life was increasingly being lived out and through this umbilical medium of technology. Information is addictive. I began to worry about my concentration span because it seemed to have slumped and my capacity to get absorbed in anything for any length of time had left me.

This morning I logged on to my email, as I do every morning while the kettle boils me my first coffee of the day. What did I expect to see in my inbox? Messages from long lost friends, there have been three in the last three years ... the rest of it was pretty mundane and 70% of it is from mailing lists I have not bothered to unsubscribe from. With my hopes of something life changing being in the email dashed, I went online to keep up with a string of ongoing comments on the blogs of friends and associates around the world. I looked at the clock and it was nearly lunch time already.

My anger has arisen against myself in allowing myself to become addicted to computers. It has also arisen against the extent to which technology demands me to continue my relationship with it. I have thought about chucking it in before but then thought, "What about my blogs and my faithful readers?" And "I could never do without email, I'd lose touch." Neither of these stands up to a little analysis. My "faithful readers" got on for years before I came on the scene and my friends know my number and where I live if they want to contact me. Away with this plaguing superficiality!

I recently got in touch or was contacted by some old friends from before my "addiction". We were communicating through email and suddenly I felt intensely dissatisfied with it. Here were people with whom I had had a living and loving connection and here I was dashing off hasty emails in the name of staying in touch wishing I had the time to take paper and ink and write them a letter from my heart.

I am convinced that the only way I can account for the apparent loss of the last few years is that it has been sucked away and down the information plug-hole. I have thrown myself wholly into the pursuit of many aspects of my life augmented as much as possible by technology and the web in particular and found that it has utterly failed to deliver on my hope for a better life. It has not all been bad, but the benefits have not outweighed the down-sides. I know an elderly man who has none of these things but the Joy of the Lord shines out of him permanently.

The lightest moments of the last few weeks have been spent listening to old LPs on my record player, bashing away on my electric typewriter, pondering the content of a few choice books, and enjoying the companionship of my wife and friends. I need to get back to that.

So this is my protest by which I declare that my life is not better off with the computer; that access to unlimited knowledge is a false messiah. Hope and salvation is found in Christ alone; without knowledge of God all knowledge is futile and that knowledge comes only by union with Him in spirit. "More" and "Faster" is not better. My attention cannot be bought with macromedia flash. A handwritten letter to one soul is worth more than a hastily typed blog entry to the whole world. Addiction to the latest and up-to-datest is real and destructive. In my life, everything that exalts against the knowledge of God stands condemned. I am repenting.

May God bless you all,

Seymour.

P.S. Old pals, my email will work. I shall check it at the public library every now and then; But why not give me a call or come and visit instead?

Why Bother With Discipleship?

It is quite rare to find an article on the net that is worth reading from beginning to end but here's one from Dallas Willard thanks to a link from Dan at Cerulean Sanctum

Check out Why Bother With Discipleship?

He quotes from Tozer, "that salvation apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred scriptures." And then goes on to say a load of good stuff that puts it so much better than I could:

"Spiritual formation" in the Christian tradition is a process of increasingly being possessed and permeated by such character traits as we walk in the easy yoke of discipleship with Jesus our teacher. From the inward character the deeds of love then naturally--but supernaturally--and transparently flow. Of course there will always be room for improvement, so we need not worry that we will become perfect--at least for a few weeks or months. Our aim is to be pervasively possessed by Jesus through constant companionship with him. Like our brother Paul: "This one thing I do! ...I press toward the mark! ...That I may know him!" (Phil. 3)

This part ties in well with Clare's talk on "perfection" a couple of weeks back in the evening service.

The whole article is worth a good read, addressing a very real issue for us today and I am chewing on it at the moment.

The First Fruits

In the law of Moses, the Israelites were to bring their "first fruits" to God.

You are to give him the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first sheared wool of your flock.(Deu 18:4 HCSB)

What is the spirit of this law and what is the principle behind the precept as it may apply to us?

Does it mean that your first paycheck in a new job goes in the offering basket at church?

I have been thinking that there is something here to learn. Perhaps the first fruits law is calling us to give of our best and first; the first hour of the day, or of our leisure time - that sort of thing. Maybe the first batch of cookies from the oven (rather than scoffing them, give them away and bake yourself some more). I am sure if we listen carefully the Spirit will show us what the "first fruits" of any activity or time is and show us what to do with it.

Any ideas?

Start Here

Am I allowed to publicise a website here? No-one else seems to be posting to the blog lately - I guess you all have blogs of your own to maintain now but mine's not appropriate for this sort of thing.

So HERE: a fantastic starting place for all your sanctified web browsing. I made it my start page. Sites Unseen links to absolutely loads of less well known Christian sites, it is kind of like going "off road" into a rich wilderness of links. Check it out.

Reading for a Revolution

Recently a few of us have been churning over the possibility of throwing out our individualistic, wasteful, and boundaried lifestyles and embarking on an outrageous adventure in community living. Such a decision would not be taken lightly but there was a unified sense as we prayed for the Make Poverty History campaign that God was actually showing us how our lives and the culture we have been allowing to define them is found wanting in the balances of justice, and righteousness, and poverty stricken in terms of true and unselfish community. There was also a sense that we might have a better chance of re-shaping things if we tried it together in the context of a small community – the first thing would be to move in together. We have a desire to live prophetically in a way that represented values and priorities other than society at large.

No doubt the conversation we will be having over the next few months as we look at this option and consider taking this step will be pretty meaty. It will be wise to take the counsel of others who have done similar things before, both people we know and those who have written books about it. I thought this group blog may be a good place for us to gather some stuff together and share our thoughts – especially considering three of the contributors (Clare, Chris and Moi) are already up for it – and there is room for more, I am sure.

I thought I might begin by pointing out a few guiding lights in this area that people might like to check out. Firstly, Clare has started out on a related route of thinking in her blog about Making House - you might like to check that out and leave some comments. Also Dan Edelen over at the rather marvellous Cerulean Sanctum shared some very good stuff in his article A Hodgepodge of Thoughts on this July the Fourth which is a must read.

I have just started reading Homage to a Broken Man, the life of J. Heinrich Arnold. I was delighted to have this sent to me for free by Plough publishing, the Bruderhof publishing house. It is a pretty inspiring story about this man and his role in the emergence of the Bruderhof in the early twentieth century. The Bruderhof are still growing strong when so many other communities have risen and fallen in a single generation. They must be getting something right and we could learn a lot from them. They are also extremely generous with their resources and literature – most of which can be accessed from their website.

Two other seminal works are Ronald Sider’s Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger and the sequel Living More Simply. The first book, written in the wake of the Lausanne Congress thirty years ago and recently re-published, is a hard hitting look at the economics of the world and a re-evaluation of the question "how then should we live" as Christians in response. It is every bit as cuttingly challenging as thirty years ago. Living More Simply is the collected stories of a handful of different churches, families and communities who tried to do things differently in light of the Bible’s clear instruction. It has chapters on "breaking free" in the workplace, family, church and community realms and plenty of wise insight.

Finally, on the subject of challenging economics from a biblical perspective I highly recommend The Golden Cow by John White. I have an ancient paperback copy. John White gets to the heart of worldly economics and how it has infiltrated the church and compromised our integrity and witness.

There is loads to learn from all these and theyhave moved back onto my "to read again" shelf. Anyone have further suggestions?

"Without guidance, people fall, but with many counselors there is deliverance."(Proverbs 11:14 HCSB)

The Joy of Journaling

I am just rediscovering the simple pleasure of using a journal to keep a record of my own agonisings and God's gracious providings on a daily basis. If anyone wants to join the fun or get some ideas to breathe life into a flagging journal-life then I have put up at my website an html version of a booklet I put together for our cell last year on "Journaling for Progress".

I am currently using what I call the "DNPQ" style of journaling. This is because I have not journaled for ages and need to edge back into it and make it more of a discipline.

"D.N.P.Q." stands for DATE, NOTE, PRAYER, QUOTE. It's a simple one to remember; a simple but effective discipline that doesn't require a huge amount of time but which is likely to lead you deeper. Basically on a daily basis you:

· Sit down and write the date.

· Write a note - this could be about what you did, saw, felt, learned, thought ... anything.

· Write a prayer. It could be long or short, giving thanks for something, asking for something ... whatever's on your heart.

· Copy out a quote. It could be directly from the Bible (a scripture that spoke to you today) or from a book that you are reading, or even something someone said to you today.

Each item does not need to follow on from or be connected with any other - just write.

Here's an example of a DNPQ entry:

Date: 23/06/03

Note: I spent a couple of really good hours with JL today. We met in town for a coffee and just really clicked. Ended up talking about God. Turns out he has had a bit of history with church but still doesn't really "get" the Gospel. He can see the need and I think he wants to believe ... he is soooooooooooo close. I told him I would pray for his mum - MUST REMEMBER TO ACTUALLY DO IT!

Prayer: Father. Thank you for that time I had with J_ today. You ordained it and you gave me the words to say and you are at work in his heart and it's all about YOU. I love working with you, Lord, it's wonderful. Please let me continue to be involved in the work you are doing in his life. Please finish the good work you have started and reveal truth to him in a way he can understand. I don't know how to pray for his mum but I know you have plans for her, too. In my weakness I just ask that you would be strong for her and she would know that you love her. Amen.

Quote: "Do not fear; for I am with you; be not dismayed; for I am your God. I will make you strong; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness. (Isa 41:10)"

Do this daily for a bit and you will probably find that you want to extend one or more of the sections. It is also a format that lends itself very well to reviewing and learning from.

More at "Journaling for Progress". Anyone else got any journaling related ideas or suggestions?

God's exclusive right to name calling.

Clare has been reading through Isaiah recently and posted a few insights on her blog. This term we have also been dipping into Isaiah in our cell as a kind of parrallel to the preaching series on Amos at church. Last week we looked at the story of Hezekiah.

Sennacherib of Assyria captures a number of cities of Judah and then advances on Jerusalem - sending messangers ahead of himself to put fear into the Hebrews. He claims to be on a mission from Israel's God and declares to Hezekiah that he doesn't have a leg to stand on. Hezekiah and his people turn to God with torn garments and sackcloth and ask him what is going on here. God replies to the Assyrians:

The young woman, Daughter Zion, despises you and scorns you: Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head behind your back. Who is it you have mocked and blasphemed? Who have you raised your voice against and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! You have mocked the LORD through your servants. You have said: With my many chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, its choice cypress trees. I came to its remotest heights, its densest forest. I dug wells and drank water. I dried up all the streams of Egypt with the soles of my feet. Have you not heard? I designed it long ago; I planned it in days gone by. I have now brought it to pass, and you have crushed fortified cities into piles of rubble. Their inhabitants have become powerless, dismayed, and ashamed. They are plants of the field, tender grass, grass on the rooftops, blasted by the east wind. But I know your sitting down, your going out and your coming in, and your raging against Me. Because your raging against Me and your arrogance has reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will make you go back the way you came. (Isa 37:22-29 HCSB)

One of the things that struck us was the fact that God who had earlier called Jerusalem "adulteress" (Isa 1:21) and "haughty" (Isa 3:16), now refers to her as "Daughter," his daughter.

It is as if the moment someone else comes along to join in insulting Jerusalem, God's zeal blows up and he declares her to be his Daughter and anyone who claims otherwise is an arrogant cow. It is a bit like a work colleague I had who consistently ridiculed his own small stature, but the minute anyone else made a quip about his height, he would rage and smoulder. God has the sole and exclusive right as our father to judge us for our sins but you see here the reaction when an adversary comes to gloat and join in with some insults - pretty quickly God rises up in our defence; "how dare you". I find that comforting. God accuses us from a completely different standpoint to anyone else, when he calls us something nasty he has the right to as our intimate father and benevolent ruler.

Perhaps this expands to an understanding of how we might be able to judge one another within the body of Christ. It's all a case of where you are standing. We are not to judge from the standpoint of "God is right about you, you are a sinner"; but, "we are family and this means we share some home truths." Within the church, judging one another has to happen from a basic assumption that we all belong to eachother and always will, we don't stand outside the walls and call names no matter how justified and true they may be.