Magic V's Religion

Many, many, many years ago I wrote a paper at Bible College that dealt with the issue of syncretism and the western church. Syncretism, is that tendency of a people group that adopt Christianity to mesh their new found beliefs with those of their previous religious beliefs – resulting in a variety of Christian hybrid religions – some that you could say were essentially Christian, with a few errors – some you would have to say are so removed from any sort of Christian framework that they were no more Christian than the original peoples religion (Voodoo is probably a great example of this).

The question that I asked in my paper was; as western Christians, have we combined our Christianity with the beliefs of the west? & if so to what degree does it affect the salvational (I think I may have made that word up sorry) value of our religion? I kind of took the easy way out with my paper focusing primarily on the Word of Faith Movement (Kenneth Hagan, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, etc), saying that the Word of Faith Movement had lost the plot, and that their influence over the broader church was to its detriment. I still believe this, if there is a movement that can really get my blood boiling it is the WFM, Their teachings spring up all over the place in regular church circles, and millions of dollars are sent out of third world countries by well meaning but misguided poor Christians to help fund the ministry & lifestyle (and search for a more realistic toupee) of such people as Benny Hinn.

But as I think about it more, I start to feel that the WFM is not the cause but probably a symptom of a wider problem (surely it is a symptom that nurtures and feeds the disease but that is another story for another day). I think the key word here is magic. Magic means various things to us as westerners, from illusionists such as David Copperfield to the use of white or even black magic that seems to have become so in style over the last ten years or so. But taking it away from entertainment or the occult, on an anthropological level, magic could probably be defined as the manipulation of spirits through rights, rituals or offerings to the benefit of the practitioner. In contrast, religion probably could be defined as submission to the will of a higher being. Magic is about what self wants; Religion is about what God wants. As I think about it, Western Christianity is so much more about self than it is about God, and a good serious look at the shelves of any Christian bookshop would prove my point… We employ good Christian principles to get more wealth, health, dates, well behaved kids, etc. There are numerous self help books out there that somehow combine the secular pursuit of psychology with the Christian belief system. There are countless CD’s coming out where the importance seems to be more on how much they sound like the secular world or how cool they are rather than on actually worshiping God, or instilling Christian values.

Now I am not saying that self improvement is not a way of life for a Christian, because it is – the bible is clear on how we must live our lives and become more Christ like; God is very concerned about our lifestyles. But it seems to me that Jesus has become our little genie in a bottle, which we call on to answer our needs and see our wants met. We love the passages in the bible that speak about all things being possible, ask and it shall be given to you etc, etc, etc. We plaster them on our walls with cute pictures of kittens, or bunny wabbits. But we forget about (or trivialize) the passages that call us to forsake all for his sake – sell all, give it to the poor and follow me, pick up your cross and follow me, die to your self, those that wish to be the greatest amongst you must humble themselves and become as servants. Maybe it is because verses like these don’t go well with pictures of fluffy animals & eagles or maybe it is because this is not what we want to hear – it is too hard work – it cramps our lifestyles too much… it is submission of the will to Christ – it is religion…

What do you think? Have I gone too far again? Am I too cynical? Or do I have a point? – Please leave some feedback and let me know!

Peter

Oh and by the way, Merry Christmas!!

finally a second to blog

well, what a week it has been, it is annoying that at the busy times when there is so much to write about there is never enough time to actually sit down and blog... the MEC went well, poor Sammy was quite unwell, so we sort of had to tag team the whole experience.

The best part for me was pretending to be homeless in Danenong, trying to find accommodation and other things for the night. It was quite a desperate situation - finding only one place in the whole of the city of Dandenong that was willing to help with accommodation, and they were focused on helping youth only, I got to experience judgmental reactions by supposedly loving Christians, as well as true care by other truly loving Christians (we visited a lot of churches in our search for accommodation). We got a great feed at cornerstone - a mission established by three Dandenong churches, got to visit the needle exchange program (there was an experience!! - I had to organise rehab for myself as part of the project!), and generally walk around Dandenong, being directed from one place to another looking for help...

Naomi and I had out psyc assessment on Monday, that was an interesting experience too (a good one) - we got to find out that we were not nuts, so we are a bit worried that UNOH will not want us anymore, because you probably need to be nuts to join them... but seriously, the psyc assessment was the final hurdle that we needed to jump to get into UNOH - so i guess now we are officially in!!!

the apprenticeship starts in February...

Peter

send Jonny an e-card!!!

I was just visiting the make poverty history website and came across a great idea - sending jonny howard and your local member of parliament an e-card for christmas calling for more aid in the 2007 budget - its worth looking at and maybe sending one yourself - you never know, if enough of us do something.... well thats what MPH is all about isn't it!! - check it out here

Mission Exposure Course

Well, it has begun, the mission exposure course...

this is a 9 day course running here through UNOH to introduce people to the idea of working amongst the poor and marginalised. It is one of those pre-requisites to joining UNOH that I talked about earlier - so even though we already live and work in the community, we are required to do the course...

having said that, I believe it will be a benificial and enjoyable time, there are about 12 people doing the course, including ourselves, and the other 10 people are farmed out to different unoh workers homes for the 9 days (you are expected to live in the community during the 9 days) - we have been fortunate enough to be included in one of the houses that will be hosting the course attendees, so we will be having a young married couple and their 8 month old daughter living with us.

Anyway, that is about all I have to say at this stage, We have to get prepared for our first big MEC activity toomorrow - going to the beach with the kids!!! - ahh, mission life is tough, but someone has to do it.

Peter

Walking the Streets of Noble Park

Over the last few weeks, a change has happened to the way I view my work here in NP. Over the last 6 months of life here, my time has been about getting to know the community that revolves around the UNOH work and Rainbow church. It has been about getting to know the people, building relationships with those in the community, and seeing where I can help out... It has been a great time, a time of affirmation, a time of finding purpose in life.

But mission is not about maintenance, it is about going out (well strictly speaking being sent out - but I guess the important bit here is the word "OUT"). It is too easy to focus purely on maintenance, to get caught up on the busy work of keeping a church community running smoothly. It is so easy to continually look inward, and forget about looking out. This is the big error of the western church, in my opinion, it is the same error that the nation of Israel made, that in many ways resulted in the Kingdom being taken from them and given to others (I can't be bothered proving this right now - maybe some other time). But if the church is not looking out it is not doing its job. Likewise, if an individual Christian is not looking out he is not doing his job either. I could keep going on about this, discuss different models of church; centripetal verses centrifugal and really get stuck into the nitty gritty of it all - it actually is a topic I am very passionate about...

But the point is, that even with my passion, I got sucked into an inward focused mindset (centripetal - sucked in - its a pun! -get it? - geeze I'm a nerd!!). And God has begun doing a job on me, shifting my focus back outwards, back onto the wider community of Noble Park. I have begun to purposefully walk the streets of this community, firstly in the morning I go for a prayer walk, visit all of the major community centers within walking distance, praying and seeking God as I go along - there is not much ministry going on here, as there are not that many people out and about at 6am, but this is laying the ground work on a spiritual level, and allowing God to increase my passion for this neighborhood. I also intentionally walk places as much as possible to get to know the people out and about. Time permitting (and I feel I need to make a conscious effort to make more time for this) I will also go for a walk around the community at times that people are more likely to be around, becoming more familiar with the people and places of NP, and looking to build entry level relationships with the people I meet.

Judging books by their Covers

Well, this one is probably a bit more than judging a book by its cover, to me, my old mate Benny has always had a bit of a slimy reputation - I always thought it quite apropriate that Benny Hinn & Benny Hill only had one letter seperating their names (ok so it is 2 letters but they are the same letter)

Is it strange that every time I think of Benny Hinn that Hill's old theme music "yakety sax" plays in my mind???

Anyway... there is only really one thought that comes to mind when I see the cover of this book...

"I HOPE HE WASHED HIS HANDS AFTERWARDS!!!"

Interview Update

Hello everyone...

It has been a few days now since the interview - and I thought I should write a quick blog to say how it went.

The interview was really a catch up to see how we went with the past six months of our life here in Noble Park, more than an interview to prove that we have what it takes to join UNOH. I guess our participation in the community has already done that for us.

The official word is not out yet, there is still one more stage that we need to go through in the name of consistancy (everyone else has had to do it) - once that is done I can let you know offically - however, things are looking very posative.

Thankyou for your prayers and thoughts over the last few weeks (and months)

Peter

More than a bottle of water

I popped into the bakery next to coles today to grab a pie for lunch, and noticed a group of maybe 5 Aboriginal guys/girls hanging around front of the supermarket entrance, these guys are usually around a bit.......sometimes asking people for money, and sometimes just hanging. While I was in the bakery paying for my pie, one of the girls came in with an empty coke bottle and asked the girls behind the counter if they could fill it with water for her, the bakery girls looked at each other and said "no, we don't do water" I kinda thought that sucked, so I raced home (we live very close by) grabbed the biggest empty bottle I had, filled it with water and went back to give it to them. As I gave it to them, I saw their faces.......it was just a bottle of water, no big deal.........but they looked at me, and I felt some tears begin to leak out as I realised I was encountering Jesus
If you don't beleive me, read Matthew 25 v 31-46.

You might be reading this and be thinking, easy for you, you live in a poor suburb filled with needy people, it's easy to find a need and respond to it. But, I could have just as easily walked right past without even noticing, just like we all have at times and all will in the future, it doesn't matter what suburb you live in, if you open yourself up to the idea allowing God to open your eyes, ears and hearts to what is happening where you are, then you too will have the opportunity to find Jesus in the face of a stranger.

Naomi

Quote of the Weak

OK, so it has been well over a week since my last quote - but look again at the title it does not say weEk it says weAk...

For everyone, there are certain verses in the bible that really speak to them, verses that encapsulate how they view or live their lives - or probably more accurately how they strive to view or live their lives...

This passage is one of those for me - I can relate to the thorn in my side analogy very well, and so strive to live out the attitude that Paul espouses...

7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

1 day to go - then we jump!!

Hi everyone.

Tomorrow is the big day, when we get to find out if we have made it into UNOH or not!!

at around 11.30 we will be in a meeting with 3 UNOH members and a board member, where we will discuss what we have learned and accomplished over the past 6 months after moving into Noble Park!!

We have had some good time to reflect this week, and we have been seeking feedback from members of the community here and UNOH workers, and it has been a good and uplifting process... so we go into the interview with a certain level of confidence.

Having said that we are still quite nervous, not that we won't make it through (though I guess there is a small amount of that), but more that tomorrow seals our fate as far as this chapter of our lives is concerned. Whatever happens, we have taken a huge, irreversable step into the unknown. Relying on God to see us through is always an exciting experience, but also always a nervous one - you lose all control, and just have to trust - I can imagine that the experience is probably similar to sky diving - where you jump off the relative security of a plane - freefall for a while relying on the parachute on your back to open and deliver you safely to the solid ground below. I imagine that if I was going to go skydiving tomorrow instead of going to an interview - my guts would probably feel the same as they do now anyway... heaps of excitement, a fair amount of fear, restless, happiness, faith... a whole bunch of emotions...