Jonny points to a very good article from Richard Sudworth of Church Mission Society writing on the ABC of Sharia. This is one of the best articles I have seen written on this whole incident.
Postscript to ‘Suport our Archbishop’
Reply
Support our Archbishop!
Today I have been thinking a lot about Archbishop Rowan and praying for him personally and his ministry.
It has been shocking to see some people (who really should know better) publicly calling for his resignation and trying to dis-credit him in any and every way. Sadly, some 5/6 years on these individuals who were unhappy at Rowan’s appointment back then, can’t seem to even begin to acknowledge that Archbishop Rowan is God’s choice for leader. Certainly the way they have been condemning him over the last few days is a confusing part of Christianity that I wish to distance myself from, but also fail to understand.
If you have only read in the papers, or seen on the TV, what Rowan said then please please please go to his website here so that you can read his actual words. You may find it leaves you thinking very differently on the whole situation.
Today, Lord, be with your servant Rowan.
Uphold him, sustain him, guide him.
Give him the wisdom to continue to know where and when to lead
and the strength to stand in the face of hurt which inevitable goes with the territory!
Lord, protect him, his family, and all he cares for.
Thankyou for the grace and compassion that he exhibits in this role
which, quite frankly, if we are brutally honest, we are grateful that you never called any of us to!
Amen
Friends and 50!
It’s been another SEITE weekend looking at how to manage situations, people and such like.
AS is always the case the highlights are always the chats and late night conversations over a few bottles of wine, or in my case some special malts. The conversations this weekend were special, which is probably something to do with the fact that we realise the end of the course is in sight and soon we will all be going our separate ways.
The major highlight of the weekend was surprising Jeremy with a celebration of his 50th birthday at breakfast this morning. We secretly had all planned to bring a couple of silly presents, with the idea to shower Jezza with 50 little gifts. The moment was special and it was fun to see the look of shock on his face and watch him sped the next hour unwrapping presents!
it’s not democracy!
Burma Regime Defies UN with Sham Referendum and Election
09 Feb 2008
The Burma Campaign UK today called on the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency session to discuss the Burmese regime’s defiance of Security Council and General Assembly demands.
On Saturday 9 February the junta announced that it would hold a referendum on a new constitution in May, and general elections in 2010. However, the constitution enshrines military rule, giving 25 percent of the seats to the military, and also gives the military effective veto power over decisions made by Parliament.
³This is a move away from democracy, not towards it,² said Mark Farmaner, Director of the Burma Campaign UK. ³It is public relations spin because they are afraid of stronger sanctions being imposed. They are defying the Security Council by going ahead with this sham process and refusing to hold genuine talks with Aung San Suu Kyi and leaders of ethnic groups. There needs to be a strong international response to say that this will not be accepted.²
By going ahead with the next steps of its so-called 7 stage road map to democracy, the regime is sending a strong message that it is not genuine about engaging with the United Nations in a real process of national reconciliation and reform. The regime has yet to enter into genuine dialogue with the National League for Democracy and Aung San Suu Kyi. It has, in effect, banned UN Envoy Ibrahim Gambari from entering the country. A visit scheduled for December was delayed until January, and then pushed back to April. This prompted the UN Security Council to issue its second Presidential statement on Burma, calling for Gambari to be allowed into the country.
It is no coincidence that the announcement comes at a time when the regime is facing increasing economic sanctions following its brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in September last year. The USA, EU, Australia, and Canada have all announced new economic sanctions. Last week the USA introduced new sanctions targeting business cronies of the regime, and further sanctions are being considered by Congress. The EU is also considering strengthening sanctions when it renews the EU Common Position in April.
The regime’s claims that it is committed to moving towards democracy run completely at odds with the facts on the ground. Since the September uprising they have continued to arrest activists. There are now more than 1,800 political prisoners, an increase of more than 700 from the year before. The regime is also stepping up its campaign of ethnic cleansing in Eastern Burma. The UN has condemned the regime for breaking the Geneva Convention by deliberately targeting civilians in Eastern Burma. More than half a million people are internally displaced after being forced to flee their homes.
The Burma Campaign UK is also warning that the regime will do everything it can to fix the outcome of the referendum and elections. There are serious questions about its ability to hold a referendum in which all people can participate. There are no proper lists of potential voters in the country.
The junta¹s definition of a referendum could include forcing people to attend mass public rallies, and then to claim that as a mandate. In addition, political parties such as the National League for Democracy are not allowed to operate freely. It is also illegal to criticise the draft constitution, and to do so is punishable by up to 20 years in jail.
³The regime lost the election in 1990, so just ignored the result,² said Mark Farmaner. ³This time we can be sure every stage will be rigged to ensure military victory.²
The Burma Campaign UK is concerned not only about the fact that the process is designed to keep the generals in power, but also about the impact on ethnic people in Burma, and on ceasefire agreements with armed ethnic groups. Their aspirations are for a federal state that would provide a degree of autonomy from central government, and protect their culture and rights. There are no provisions for this in the constitution. This is not only a threat to ethnic people, but also threatens the stability of the country. There appears to be a real possibility that some ceasefire organisations could return to arms, or split, with factions once again taking up their guns. If this were to happen on a large scale, it would not only completely change the current political situation within the country, but also threaten a new human rights and humanitarian crisis, as the regime ruthlessly targets civilians in conflict areas.
³What the regime has announced has nothing to do with democracy,² said Mark Farmaner. ³It is about preserving military rule and avoiding economic sanctions. The international community must not be fooled again. The United Nations Security Council must take action. In addition, the UK and EU must impose further targeted sanctions to help force the regime to the negotiating table.²
1 000 000 signatures!
6 days ahead of schedule the target of one million signatures has been achieved asking the UN to do more to put a stop to people traffiking.
This is excellent news – if you still haven’t signed then there is still time – go add your name.
highlights in a world of work
It’s been a busy few days with training stuff to write for trustees and reports to write for various things. There have also been various visits to groups of churches or centre directors to talk mission.
Amongst the writing, the talking, the thinking and mulling things over there have been some special highlights which I’m told are work:
meeting with Richard in the Scooter Cafe which is home of the best ‘ambient coffee’ in the city. I love this place and reviewing the last month with my boss there did not really see like work – bit it was.
Afterwards we caught up with Richard from Oxygen (no wonder I’m getting confused … i met with Richard and then I met with Richard and Richard!) to chat over some stuff. Again this was another great time and hearing feedback on various projects was a great use of time.
Another highlight was being told I’m healthy by a doctor – always good to know. I had an hours medical with Interhealth which is a requirement of Rochester Diocese and the doctor seemed quite impressed and happy with my mental and physical state!
Today I met up with some key people in Littlehampton which in the sun looked like a great seaside town. These people have just started the process of thinking about a YFC centre. I’m not sure where this will go, as I never am after an initial meeting like this, but it was still a great pleasure to hear what is happening and sense the desire to do more together. Getting there early was a bonus as the sun was shining and I was able to walk from the harbour to the coast and quench my almost constant longing for the sea (you can take the boy out of Weymouth but …)
On my journey home I was able to reflect on the specialness of this role and the real privilege it has been for me to be involved as I am. It hit be again … I’m loving supporting people through their mission thinking, I get to meet some very keen exciting people, I am fortunate to be able to taste some great coffee in fantastic places …. and the real bonus on top is that THIS IS MY JOB! (well … for the next few months!)
God’s cool!
On a reflection note for Lent … I did wonder on the fact that I seem to be involved more and more in talking about new centres as well as seeing more and more centres planted,while the church seems to be in decline.
Is this a normal correlation? As the church shrinks, should we expect to see more mission occurring? Maybe the urgency is more obvious when we are in a time of shrinkage, although to me that sees to make little sense. Surely the best time for growth of mission is with a healthy church – or am I equating ‘health’ there with ‘numbers’?
Or, is it that as the church shrinks those people that are burning with desire for mission are released to answer their calling, beforehand being held back by people that have since left? That’s an interesting ponder point!
It’s good to reflect!
a love story with blood
I saw Sweeney Todd tonight with some friends. It’s a truly excellent film with great acting(Helena Bonham Carter being particularly outstanding), dry humour and music that surprisingly enhances the film and story (you can hear samples on the website). Although it’s a ‘bloody’ film it is not gory with gratuitous violence – but if you don’t know the story itself is one of blood and murder.
I won’t share too much in case you wish to see it but I was struck by the paradox and personal pain in the film. Todd is so in need of love that he fails to see it right in front of him. His longing for revenge stops him finding what he is really longing for. His actions designed to appease his personal pain result in increased personal pain.
The ending is emotional and sad and it was interesting to sense being almost moved to tears in a a film where I was wondering how many times I would need to look away from the screen (the answer to that is 0).
This is a love story with blood in which we are confronted with one mans desire to see justice take over his life. It’s a love story that I became absorbed by. It’s a love story worth going to see.
spectacularly common
Sunday morning I had the privilege of preaching at the baptism of Joshua Banner. It always a privilege to be asked to do something by friends.
The text was the story of Simeon and Anna in the temple when Jesus is presented by Mary and Joseph from Luke 2. There is so much in this passage to pull out that I was struggling what to share of relevance in a ten minute slot.
Rather than opt for 3 points, I chose one and concentrated on the fact that both Simeon and Anna recognised Jesus as the Messiah and how so many others that were close to him seemed to miss that point.
I wonder if that is due to familiarity. Certainly I was challenged myself as I looked at the text and wondered ‘if I was there would I have recognised Jesus?’ Would I have been with the seeing minority or the blind majority?
2000 years on, when we know the rest of the story, and we understand some of the OT prophecies it is really easy to say ‘yes … of course I would have reognised Jesus – it’s obvious!’ If I am honest I am not so sure.
People seem not to recognise Jesus for who he is in Luke for some interesting reasons which are a challenge to me for this week in particular:
parents – the sense of wonder has been lost through the everyday stuff like nappies etc. Despite angelic visitations and immaculate conception the everyday has squeezed out the wonder.
disciples – they have got used to being with Jesus. They see him eat, drink, get tired, sleep – not things you equate with divinity. Their familiarity with him has clouded their view.
priest – they seem to fall foul of the fact that Jesus does not fit the mould of what they were looking for. They were looking and waiting, but they had decided what the Messiah would look like, and being born to a poor couple from Nazareth was not in their thinking. They were restricting God with their preconceived ideas.
I wonder if during my life, my everyday moving about, I look for Jesus in the wrong places, in the spectacular and in doing so restrict my mind into looking where I think he should be. So often, Jesus can be found in the common – at an occurance rate of 5 times a second you can’t get much more common than birth.
Maybe, we should be looking more in the common for our God, for it seems our spectatcular God loves to inhabit the common, after all – it is there that God meets his people.
Take 30 seconds to change lives
In only 11 days Stop The Traffik will be delivering the signed declaration to the UN asking for more to be done to stop people traffiking.
Currently the decalration has 750 000 signatures and we really want to be able to present the declaration signed by 1 million people. The UN will not ignore 1 million people.
If you have not yet signed the declaration please click here and do so.
It’s takes about 30 seconds and can make a lifetime of difference for so many people.
Dreams rather than visions …
I have just got in from my trip to Basingstoke and I should feel tired but I’m quite buzzing which could be something to do with the Red Bull which my body decided it needed as I drove past Fleet Services.
Today I have heard more dreams. It was great to spend some time with Luella, who is the Director of Basingstoke YFC, this afternoon and see how much progress she has made with her young people in such a short space of time and to hear some of her ideas. It was even more exciting to hear that she has not got a blueprint of a vision – by that I mean she wants to hear from others what they think, and hear the dreams of others already doing work, observe what God is doing and from that, with others, try to form some vision for a way ahead. A dream of seeing more and more people working together to reach the young people of Basingstoke.
This was excellent to hear and I look forward to seeing what happens.
In the evening I met with some other people to talk more about YFC in Basingstoke and about the role of trustees. This was a great meeting too with other people with dreams and a desire to work together.
Seems like Basingstoke has all the right ingredients for something exciting to happen.
The Shiny Headed Prophet 