Posts Tagged ‘Christian values’
Time To Ditch Fear & Join The Movement Of Love
The world as it is now, is one where fear, division, hatred and violence seems to be winning. America is divided over gun control, immigration, refugees, much of which has been fuelled by…and is fuelling…the rise of Donald Trump.
And here in the UK, the EU referendum and it’s result has not only divided a nation, but exposed a hidden cancer of racism and prejudice in parts of our nation.
Much of the West in living in a culture of fear, scarcity, lack, division and hatred.
It can’t go on this way. It’s not meant to be this way.
And there is a different way.
The path of love.
Read MoreGrace. It Just Is. (Guest Post by Jules Middleton)
I think we often talk a good game about God’s grace – we note how it is sufficient. Or abundant. Or amazing. But, what does it actually mean? Trying to suss out what grace is, is almost impossible, there are just too many answers, too many variations or possibilities. But we all have our own interpretations of grace, based on our own experiences of God, and that is so valuable.
I mean you can talk to someone all you like about God and they can put up objections and questions and arguments, but tell them your own story and it’s a different matter.
It’s much harder to dismiss someone’s personal experience, when you hear it from their own mouth.
Read MoreWhy Jesus Would Welcome Refugees…& Eat With Donald Trump
I’ve always been reluctant to blog about politics. Because politics can be so divisive. We’re all entitled to our own political perspectives and opinions, and I’d never want to force anyone – or even be seen to be trying to force anyone – to agree with me. Nor do I want to create an “us v them” mentality. That’s just unhealthy and deconstructive.
We’re all in this together. Whatever our beliefs.
I have no interest in being divisive. I’m for reconciliation, community, inclusivity – with those I agree, and disagree with.
Today there’s something I felt, to be true to who I am, I simply had to share. So if you disagree with this post, I’ve got no problem with that. We’re still friends.
All of which brings me to the topic at hand.
Donald Trump, prospective Republican candidate for President. And why I believe that – despite his politics of fear, exclusion and, frankly, hate – that as Christians, we should be willing to eat dinner with him.
Read MoreSurrendering The Final Word
I can screw up. A lot. I’ve said and done things I’m not proud of. I’ve got regrets. And I’ve had to hear and reflect on some harsh truths in my time.
It’s so easy for me, as a writer who tries to be honest, and who writes material to encourage and help others grow, to give the impression you have all the answers.
But many of us, whether we’re writers or not, love to the have the final word. And we’ll keep on responding in discussions – online and offline – just to make sure we do.
Which, as we all know deep down, is not a healthy approach to life.
Experience has convinced me there’s a better way. Surrender.
Read MoreFear Can’t Dictate – Love Always Wins
I didn’t blog last week. In light of recent events in the world, I felt it was right to be silent, out of respect of the days of mourning set aside for the victims of the violence – in France, and in Lebanon too.
I felt a particularly strong sense of despair at these attacks. For a number of reasons – the more vulnerable place I’m at in my journey, having a good friend who lives in Paris. Like many of us, I needed time to process it all.
As I reflected, two words keep coming up for me in light of those attacks.
Fear. Love.
And right now, fear seems to be winning.
But I choose to say something different today. I say that love wins. And ultimately, it always will.
Read MoreLost & Found : How I Lost A Parent & Found My Faith
I’ve found myself at a major crossroads recently. I love Jesus. I love our church community. I’m rediscovering the Bible. I’m finding myself experiencing the spirit of God in a much deeper way.
And yet, I find myself shifting away from the evangelical church. I am less able to experience God or connect with Him in the ways I have in the past.
I used to believe in a God of certainty. Now I believe in a God of mystery.
And why? Because of the darkest day of my life.
Read MoreAfraid? Today Can Be Different
I’ll be honest, something in me panics every time I have to step out and do something on my own, without approval, without knowing the answers, without control, without training.
Every. Single. Time.
Usually, my response is excess panic, emotion, stress, anxiety, fear, thinking a million steps ahead, thousands of ‘what ifs’, jumping all the steps straight to the result, pulse rate going into emergency mode, adrenaline pumping, rational thought gone, mind clouded, stress levels growing.
All together in my body in less than 10 seconds.
This panic is basically what stops me from being the best version of myself.
And it all comes from fear.
Read MoreSpilling The Blood Of Our Wounds (#OutOfSortsBook)
Do you ever feel out of sorts?
The feeling that underneath the veneer of ‘togethered-ness’ you give to the majority of the world around you, you are ready to fall apart.
And that sense that all the certainty of what you believed – whether atheist, agnostic, or someone of faith, something doesn’t make sense? That there’s more than the certainty you once knew.
Or maybe, if you’re a Christian like me, that all the rigid rules, doctrines and beliefs you once held sacred just don’t fit with the material reality of your life?
Me too.
I’m pretty good at the whole, “I’ve got it sorted” routine. Sometimes, even, it’s a little true. But in the last few years the veneer of certainty has gone.
The more I’ve spoken about the way my faith is evolving, the more voices of disagreement I hear.
Read MoreSeasons & Burnout: 3 Reasons To Take A Break
Someone once said there is a time for everything in life. A time to live, a time to die. A time to work, and a time for rest.
Life is lived in seasons. And this is reflected in the life cycle of the world we all live in.
We see it through the year, from the death, cold and snow of winter to the greenery, light and life of summer. We were designed to live in seasons.
And in life, when a season comes to an end, we lament, we grieve, but then we take what we learned, and move into the next.
Right now, in my life and work, I sense a season ending. And it’s time to lay it down and begin again.
Intertwined with the concept of seasons, is the idea of work and rest. And rest is equally important as work. Whatever culture might say, being busy is not something to be proud of.
Read MoreA Day Which Proved Love Wins
Friday 26th June 2015. A day which will go down in history. A day which will become many LGBT couple’s wedding anniversary.
This was the day the US Supreme Court ruled that same sex marriage was a legal right across the US.
I can’t tell you the joy I felt, as a straight ally, as this news sunk in. The freedom this gave to so many. A right which had been denied for so long, finally made legal.
In some ways it’s tragic that we should celebrate this day with such enthusiasm – because this should never have been an issue up for discussion. Each of us should always have been free to make that covenant relationship of marriage with another. To commit to be faithful to someone before God for the rest of their lives.
But the reason this gave me so much hope, was simply because it proved again to me one simple thing.
Love wins.
Love always wins.
It sometimes takes patience. It sometimes takes sacrifice. It might meet resistance. It may have to battle it’s way through lots of boundaries.
But, in the end, love wins.
Read More