Musings

Keeping up image & likeness

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I was so moved today reading the ‘Cape Times’, two stories caught my attention, one of a 17-year-old girl who was gang raped,  all of which was caught on a mobile telephone and subsequently went  viral on the internet.  The video shows her being offered R2 (R12.5 to the £; R7.8 to $) to keep silent.   The other was a story from India, New Delhi and Amritsar, it out lined an account of two fathers, one who beat and burned his daughter with cigarettes as she was a girl – she was only 3 months old.   The second story  of a father who strangled his wife as she gave birth to a third daughter, another girl.   The UN states that a girl is 75% more likely to be killed in India than male children, it is reported by the UN  to be the worst country world on its treatment of women and girls.

I am scandalised, what violence on individuals, but more what violence on Gods wisdom in creating women, I don’t know about you, are you stirred by it ?  I am not covering up the atrocities that happen all across the world in other places either, Africa and Europe has its share as well.   I am moved as to how humanity deals with its self.   I am also stirred at the treatment of females worldwide.

Before we switch off thinking this is all happening somewhere else, thinking how dreadful but, is on another shore in another nation, let us consider our actions and perceived realities towards women.    It could be that lives are not taken in our society, but consider how we treat females different to males, surely this  is also needing to change and be addressed.

I am not looking for equality either I am asking for righteousness and justice to be shown in all things about gender.   If we do anything else we will always have a fight, so what do I mean by righteousness on this matter?   It is to discover the eternal view regarding man and women, to find out the foundational view of the Father and be in the same line towards humanity keeping the principles set in the Fathers heart towards humanity.   Let us not get involved with the argument on what is equality, but come back to what God says, then live and change to make our world conform to the view of the eternal Godhead, it really is the only answer.

Our world is on a course of elevating women I believe its time for the church to discover the right view of God in regards to men and women.    Much of our practice came from a fallen condition, patriarchy for instance is not a pattern taken from the Godhead, rather in the Godhead we see each one giving to the other, each one serving and pouring out for each other ‘Perichoresis’.     This is not about male headship or dominance neither is it about feminism, it is time to discover an eternal view and make it happen.

Let me outline a thought for you, we have in Genesis a view breaking in to a  time-space world of the requirement of male and female in the design of God.  it begins with Gods’ statement “…it is not good for man to be alone…”, I wonder what  your view has been regarding that statement?   Perhaps it was something that you were taught in Sunday school of the loneliness of mankind, Adam.  Looking again at the text, to my understanding this was a declaration that humanity did not fully reflect the image and likeness of God, as humanity was alone. This statement highlighted to us that God is never alone; for God is in covenant, therefore to be in the image and likeness of God there cannot be singularity there must always be more than one.

In the process of creation, we see Adam’s partnership in creation with the Father in naming the animals, Adam being the prophet giving word and describing god’s actions, interpreting God’s actions. It is my conviction that Adam did not simply name the animals, e.g. a lion, giraffe, etc., but working with God Adam named the DNA and interpreted God’s creation.

After this partnership God did not bring animals to Adam to see which one was compatible to humanity as a mate, that is a foolish thought in my view, as intimacy can only be found with the same “thing”, more on that to come.  Having “named the animals”, Adam – humanity, is put into a deep sleep.  Humanity/Adam was male and female at this time, and only at that point were they separated.   The reason was so that humanity could reflect the image and likeness of God, there has to be more than one. This thought challenges all individuality and singleness, establishing clearly that the image of God is found in more than one-corporeity.

God, the Father, the Son and Spirit brought about that which reflected them. There is so much we could say on this but this is not the time.

The Hebrew thought on this, taken from the text in Genesis, is that God did not take a side or a rib, but within the clay and the ruach there were already two faces present, one representing male and the other representing female.   God recreated them bringing the 2 faces to face one another.    It is from this idea we also read in the Old Testament the description of Moses, Abraham and others, of their quality of relationship with God being known as a ‘face-to-face’ relationship. Humanity is a picture of God and man having the capacity to be in a face-to-face relationship and the gift of marriage is also model of this ‘face-to-face’ relationship. I don’t know about you but I love this Hebrew picture, it paints for me the quality of relationship I have with God and reminds me that the gift of my marriage is to display this.

Now coming back to the thought above… ‘you can only be intimate with the same stuff’, can you see why Adam could not have found a relationship with animals, they were not of the same stuff.  God took that which was clay and breath and from this took the triumph of female.     Paul in the book of Ephesians talks about the picture of the bride and bridegroom, the Christ and the Church being displayed in marriage. Firstly this face-to-face relationship and secondly that Adam and Eve were the same stuff, here we have the exciting discovery that you and I having been born from above have an intimacy with God, because we are all the same stuff as God. How do I know I am the same stuff as God?    It is his desire to be intimate with me.     What a salvation!

Another thought, in Genesis 1 we have a clear pattern laid out for us, the male and female are called to display the image and likeness of God, not to establish superiority or subservient views.  The account is far more about ruling together, filling together, enlarging and advancing the ultimate intention of God together.  I would suggest that this account is an eternal view breaking in on this time-space world.   Following this through in history, we read Paul’s statement in Galatians  “…neither Jew or Gentile, male or female master or slave…” Is Paul taking his lead from the kingdom that is breaking in upon us?  Taking his lead from the eternal realm, displaying and speaking forth what it is like in the true economy and kingdom of God.  I fully understand that patriarchy, dominance and subservience has been displayed through many of the pictures in the Old Testament but this does not mean that this is what the kingdom should be like or how eternity functions.  I would suggest that Genesis 1 with a constant flow together of male and female is how we need to operate and Paul’s statement only affirms Gods creating order, there is neither, the eternal order, the invading Kingdom of God order.    Please hear me, in our fallen world clearly there are functional differences but we have to learn to be herald righteous and just and uphold Gods eternal kingdom.

If our world constantly break down and remove women to such a low-level, causing them to live dominated, it is time for the church of God to show the righteousness of God and display a different way.   In Ephesians Paul’s tells us that man should love his wife to display the Christ and the bridegroom. Has not the bridegroom lifted up the bride and seated the bride on the throne, therefore let me suggest that man’s way should be to lift woman higher than themselves for is this not what the love of Christ has done for us, and is this not true headship.  Unfortunately as men we so quickly become dominating and press women down. Men I ask that we become the liberators of women in these days.   This is not a post-modern or a modern way of thinking but it is a rediscovery of the eternal value maleness and femaleness in the image and likeness of God.

Just as Christ serves the church we better serve one another so that the bride may truly be lifted up. Is it not amazing that all across the world, in virtually every culture women are subservient, beaten; young female children are treated with a lack of value.    It is time for the eternal people of God to speak out rather than allowing perceived realities to continue to imprison. My appeal is that we become male and female, and advance the kingdom of God together, just as God would have us to do.

There is so much more to come revelation, biblically and theologically that we are discovering in these days regarding male and female.    Let us reflect righteously the view of eternity, for this is the Kingdom of God that is breaking in upon us, as we taste more and more of the order of God.

With the Fathers empowerment we will and should bring to an end stories such as we began with throughout our world, Politicians speak out, the church do not stay silent.    Wars are fought on treasures in the ground, boundaries of nations but silence regarding such atrocities as we began this article with continue. Really its violence to the image and likeness of God let us highly regard one another and be what God intending firstly n the church family then in our world.

Thought of Giving Up?

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The woman who would not give up

 Society all around us is in so much flux, our world is at a pace of change from one day to the next we wonder what will come next.    I come across many who just want to find rest and make a fundamental adjustment to bring peace.    Others who have had enough so to speak, they have tried and tried again but things have worked, what ever the ‘thing is for their life.

We live in a world that constantly speeds things up, instant, immediate delivery, drive thru’s not only for food but for banks, waiting for many has become an alien pastime.     Farming and waiting for a harvest is so far removed from many of us today, this is one factor in us losing the art of cultivation, to get a harvest, our harvest today is determined by the fields of fresh food in our supermarkets rather than watching the green shoots raising, waiting for the produce to grow and mature to bring about harvest time.   Being distant from the soil disconnects us from some of life’s schooling, being patient and persistent for example.    Perhaps a modern parable, rather than one of the soil is this one, I am writing this while in Cape Town with its ‘fast speed’ broadband computer connection, that is as it is sold by Telekom, the government telephone service.    The advertised ‘fast speed’, FAST SPEED!    It is 384 kbps; about half the speed of the old dial-up-network, that old buzzing hissing noise connection, where Virgin/UK are advertising 20 MB speeds.   You can purchase an even FASTER speed of 1 Mbps but its at double the cost for the line!   I give up downloading or uploading as its so slow, I give up waiting and persisting, it takes so long, even some necessary downloads i delay until I get to a faster environment.

We struggle to wait and be patient, wanting things NOW, we don’t wait and persevere so easily, we want to see things advancing or we determine it is not working.

We even do strange things, in reading the Scriptures, because we can read the book of Acts in one weekend, we think it all happened in 48 hours.   We treat our Christian walk in the same way, thinking it all happens in a weekend, but from Paul’s encounter with Christ on the Damascus Road to his standing before King Agrippa, it was a 20-year period.    We see every miracle, healing breakthrough in terms of immediate rather than reality, and we expect it all over and done with in a weekend.    By the way, this is not an appeal not to see the immediate work of God but one that adds to us as we have to learn the cultivating and preserving journey of our faith as well.   As we learn to see the immediate and the long-term, it gives sense to our daily lives, i hope.

Through out the scriptures we are introduced to people who stayed in, persisted when nothing was happening to the natural eye.   Introduced time and time again to a quality of living that is patient, persistent, consistent, staying in.

Two women for you to consider, just don’t switch off on me now, consider these to be shadows of the bride of Christ, the church and outlining attitudes that we find in the church.    The first being Mary the mother of Jesus who having had been delivered the earth shattering news of the plan for her life, in giving birth to Jesus having said “be it unto me” learned to cultivate the promise, she held it in her heart, quietly with drew and cultivated the word until it become a living promise in the arrival of her son.  Until the word arrived at a place where it could sustain life in itself, interesting thought, how many times have we left the word go before it had life enough to stand by its self, when it still needed our cultivation?     She shows us the attitude of how to cultivate all that God speaks to us.   There will be the gift of time delivered to us, so that we can cultivate the promise of God, to work with the words to bring it to pass, maturing it first in the inner life before we see it fully.    She knew its reality on the inside but it did take a while, 9 months, before it hit the seen realm.   The evidences of the promise had a challenged effect on her relationships and as her physical body changed shape to align with the promises, we are to stay in hold on too, being persistent as we change to bring about the promise, that more often for us all takes time.

The next woman who would not give up reading Luke 18:1-8, It’s the parable of the Woman Who Would Not Give Up. She was unrelenting in her pursuit of an answer to her plea.    This parable is a standard Jewish “how much more” (qal vahomer) argument: if an unjust judge who cared not for widows can dispense justice, how much more will the righteous judge of all the earth. Who was known as the defender of widows and orphans?      It was in a day when it was difficult for widows to get justice because they lacked the means for bribing the officers who would get the judge to act.   But this widow would not quit until the judge had given her what she was supposed to get.      You and I are to adopt the same attitude of faith.     More than that the church of God requires the same attitude of faith.    In recent years I have heard people use the phrase of “failed revival theology” a sadness from not seeing what we thought, or we thought by now the Kingdom of God would have arrived and transformed our worlds.    It is necessary for us again to take up this woman’s attitude to persist a little while longer.

I don’t know about you but I long for the church to be known as a people of faith who will not give up but press through, I want to be known as a man of faith who will not give up.   What i see must be big enough; my message must be big enough to keep me persistent.   I must add that God is not unwilling at all but I would focus this on us and our attitude not the Fathers willingness.

Jesus asks his disciples, “When I come, will I find faith in the earth?” As you meditate on this verse consider this:

“Will I find faith?” Jesus asked His disciples, “When I come…will I find faith?” When we have asked for something over and over, and there is no answer, we are tempted to give up, to give in to unbelief. Jesus, knowing the weakness of His disciples both then and now, taught this parable about faith through unrelenting, persevering prayer. A widow who would not give up she persisted, she would not give up. With that in mind, lay hold of what you have seen and the big message Christ brought.

“When I come…” We don’t know when Jesus will come or how he will return with the culmination of every promise made, but when He comes I want to have faith in my heart. By His grace, I will have faith.

‘Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?’ (v. 8). This implies that faith is often strengthened by waiting on God and persistence in prayer, even if we do not receive immediate answers. Job had faith to recognise the goodness of God even when, humanly speaking, all seemed lost (Job 23:8–10).

Persist, persevere, staying in, keeping faith, are all necessary attitudes for our journey how are you’re doing? Given up doing good, don’t let go of promises learn to stay in and hold your heart, keep the faith and watch it grow.

“Doing God” or prelude for Revival to become a “season of Restoration” in UK?

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The God Question in politics again, it hits the news again!    2012 has become a year that our Christian faith has been brought to the centre of many debates on many issues, it is certainly causing conversations and comments.    It’s not the church that has achieved this directly but the Prime Minister and the Queen.   The Guardian wrote  “At an Easter reception in Downing Street, David Cameron ventured where even Tony Blair feared to tread, quoting from the Gospel of Luke, speaking of ‘we Christians’, and welcoming the Christian ‘fightback’. ‘The values of the Bible, the values of Christianity, are the values that we need’, he said. In your view, is it acceptable for a modern prime minister to espouse Christian values so openly?”

Ok consider for your self, with David Cameron’s own words, what will resound into in our world, if declarations has any authority, the supernatural realm has certainly had many words from the Queen’s speech at Christmas,  Cameron’s words  at the celebration of 400 years of King James Bible, now more words from David Cameron.     We will all wonder what did the UK Prime Minister mean by this or that, what ever he has meant by these words he certainly has spoken of a regaining of Christianity at the forefront of the UK.

Are these just words or a contributing to a preparing Revival bringing about a season of  Restoration (Acts 3:19-21)?     Bringing Christ to the forefront of people’s minds in a country that is economically challenged , challenges on National identity what does it mean to be British, social challenges, young feeling isolated and more disenfranchised, education being undermined by budgets and Christ, faith being put right into the middle of it all.  An appeal for a Christ faith to take place in the ‘Big Society‘, perhaps to be the lead,  of a community of faith, a community of restoration, a community of recovery in the UK making a difference because of our Christ.

My next post will be David Cameron’s words read and consider your self

Government of God is familial – discuss?

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To agree or disagree with that statement has its implications; FAMILY is at the heart of all the Father is working towards he is a God whose in every way moves, acts, conducts himself in regard to bring a Family about.   The goal of God is the Restoration of all things through his family, through sons of God.

As you read Paul’s interactions with the New Testament church, you have to conclude his language is full of family, he uses mother, brother, father, sister, language constantly, he even called the church his children and as an apostolic father he mothered the church.   Somewhere we seem to have lost the language of the ‘ecclesia’ – church, family language.   The modern world has brought government and hierarchical issues to bear on the ‘ecclesia’, rather than the ‘ecclesia’ holding on to family and Trinitarian patterns.    Positions and titles have taken over rather than familial understanding.

Now hear me loud and clear, this is not a treaty to eradicate apostles, prophets ministers etc., far from it, it is rather to establish and honour correctly, that the ‘ecclesia’ of God might mature and “be” advancing in its servant hood towards God and his creation, being the true representation of the Father in the earth.   I believe that apostle through to evangelise is fully necessary to bring maturity to the body of Christ with one missing mature eludes us, but its not by name but by gifts of christ they must be present

It is a day when 250 million people have found faith and a staggering 125 million new church communities have been established, all in the last 6 years it’s reported.    We live in a day when 112 million people have left the organised church for the sake of their faith in the USA, and are discovering relationship with others in homes around Christ.   My appeal is for a mature relationship model as opposed to the importing of an organisational model from the business world or any other kind of world.  In the business world, titles and positions become ever so important rather than relationships, in this something has been lost from the center.     We have the language of relationships but end up with organisations, we have networks being proliferated but people are lonely and alone in the world of want works matters and leadership.   Leadership gathers talk pragmatic the how but rarely find true friendship – relationship.   Yet Jesus called people to be with him and he moved them from servants to friends did he not?

Paul brought familial language constantly and establishes a relationship pattern, a family pattern in every way

We take passages from 1 Corinthians to assist us in congregational life in bring order to meetings, yet it is now well accepted that these verses had nothing to do with meetings as we know them today.  Chapter 11 outlines the breaking of bread and sets out from then how to conduct yourself in relation to gifts and functions etc., Where does all this take place?    All around the table, in a home not in a meeting as we see today.   There is nothing stopping us taking principles from these verses and applying them to whatever setting we choose, but always seek to remember the context it was written for.

I would suggest to you that Paul’s language of government was familial brother, mother, father, sister, and children and in the midst of this apostles, elders, prophets, pastors, teachers, deacons, and evangelists were found, even gifts of stirring leadership are evident and necessary.    They father and matured children, mother and birthed new babes into the ‘ekklesia’ while the ministers functioned.   They loved as fathers and mothers and certainly never became celebrities.    They were servants of Christ and the ‘ekklesia’ of God, who the people honoured fully, therefore the people received the reward in their receiving the gift and of the Christ through these ministries.

Lets back up just a little no one would differ with the statement that the ‘ecclesia’ is a family, the challenge is our view of ‘success’ and our chase for success, our modern environment influencing us to a perception that is organizationally.   Some times the idea that big is beautiful creeps over the family wall and creates something other than the relational family that we have been born into.    There is nothing incorrect with big so-called as the life of Christ in the ‘ekklesia’ come it will produce life.   The issue is not the concept but how we so quickly allow our practice to create an organisational church rather than a familial ekklesia.    It is necessary for us to rediscover what the Father is after, what is this restorative goal he has, and what is the primary reason of us being on earth ‘bring heaven to earth’.    Making Christ fill all in all, he will remain in heaven until a season of restoration (Acts 3:19-21).   Ask yourself what does that ‘all in all’ look like?

The Father has brought a way for us to gain our sonship back through the Son, the orphan way of life and condition we have been born into is eradicated by sonship.    The reason for our sonship and salvation is “to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12), hear it to every one is given power that is the ability, the notion of privilege or right, the opportunity, to become a son.    Sonship is a process of maturing, as we take up the right and ability.   Each one of us are children of God, born from above now, and we process, mature into sonship, a life knowing the will and mind of God, and move in the inheritance of God laid up for us all.

The Father sent his Son to bring, to redeem the orphans that humanity had become along with its associated life style constantly protecting along with making ways of provision for themselves.   While the Son enabled us to entre into a family who lives by their inheritance living that is trusting on the Father and protected by He who camps around his people there by eradicating protection and provision through sonship.

This journey we now travel as a family is a process, which is captured in the Psalms, the people travelled in families, ascending to Jerusalem, for us today, being born again, the ‘ecclesia’ as the new Jerusalem, the Zion, the Mountain of the Lord we have nothing to ascend as God has come to where we are, but we do mature and become sons of God as we are led by the Spirit (Romans 8)

More to follow!