Harvest

Posted on by
Reply

Today I caught up with Kerry Thorpe from Harvest in Margate.

Next term I am going to be on placement with Harvest rather than attend lectures. The Harvest story, which can be seen on their website, is quite an interesting and exciting story. I’m looking forward to the new experiences that being part of Harvest for a short while is going to give me. I’m particularly looking forward to meeting new people, listening to their stories and trying to understand how they think about things.

Soooo much better than attending lectures!!!

Burma Campaign update

Posted on by
Reply

Dear friend

Thank you for your support over the recent months. Your campaigning is making a difference.

Campaign success – DFID doubles aid to Burma
In October we asked you to email the Department for International Development (DFID) to call for increased aid to Burma. Thousands of you took the action and following our campaign, DFID have announced that they will double British aid to Burma from £8.8 million this year to £18 million by 2010. This will save hundreds of thousands of lives. Thank you to everyone who took the action.

New EU Sanctions
On 15 October EU Foreign Ministers finally agreed to strengthen targeted sanctions against Burma’s military regime. The new measures include a ban on investment in, and imports of, Burmese timber, metals and gems. It is also considering a ban on all new investment if the regime does not enter into genuine dialogue with the democracy movement.

These are the first sanctions by the EU that will actually hurt the regime and cut off an important source of income. However, the EU needs to continue to increase pressure on the regime by imposing the investment ban as soon as possible and increasing targeted sanctions, such as a ban on financial transactions. We will be contacting you in the New Year for action on this.

New Burma Campaign T-shirts
Burma Campaign UK has teamed up with THTC to create a great new T-shirt. The T-shirts are certified fair trade, organic, and are made of 55% organic hemp and 45% organic cotton. All profits go to the Burma Campaign UK.

Order online here for men and here for women. £25 + P&P

Peace Walk from Marble Arch to Trafalgar Square – 5 January 2008
On the 60th Anniversary of Burma’s Independence, the Burmese community will be leading a Peace Walk in London from Marble Arch to Trafalgar Square

The walk will be followed by a Prayer Service in Trafalgar Square, led by The International Burmese Monks Organization (UK) and supported by Pray for Freedom Volunteers Programme.

5 January 2008
Meet at 11:30am at Marble Arch Hardstanding
Nearest Tube: Marble Arch, exit 3

Begin Peace Walk led by monks at 12:30pm
Arrive at Trafalgar Square at approximately 2pm for Prayer service led by Buddhist monks.

Thank you again for all your support this year and here’s to successful campaigning in 2008.

Anna Roberts
The Burma Campaign UK

Advent 16: dangerous God?

Posted on by
Reply

Creation does not define God. Creation points us toward God.
Does the amazing diversity of creation express the love of God?

The diversity of creation must include creation in its entirety.
Today’s Advent thought considers whether all encounters with God that we have leave us ‘leaping for joy’. Looking to encounters such as the transfiguration shows that such experiences may also be shocking, terrifying, confusing or even concerning.

If we look on the whole of creation as an expression of God’s love then how is that being expressed in the sting of the wasp, or the kill of the great white shark, the short life of the butterfly, or the devastation tornado?

How do the confusing, startling, surprising, painful sides of the creation point us toward God?

Advent 15 gender freedom

Posted on by
Reply

Todays Disturbing Complacency thought thinks more on the language we use to describe God. It amazes me that people can still become so concerned over the use of feminine language to describe God.

God is ontologically different from creation and, as such, any language that we as humans, being part of God’s creation, use to attempt to describe God will always be incomplete. We can only describe using concepts we have grown up, and God is way outside the constraints of any of those concepts.

God is not a human and so God does not have gender. When we speak of God as Father we are saying God has fatherley characteristics, but we are not saying God is male. When we speak of God as Mother we are saying God has motherley characteristics, but we are not saying God is female.

Gen 1:27 has always made this clear for me: So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;male and female he created them. People who speak against female images of God seem to disregard texts such as Is. 66:13 As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you and Matt. 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.

If we are more inclusive in our language, and more open to a richer description of God then maybe we have a better chance of understanding more of our creator.

Advent 14: colony or community

Posted on by
Reply

The second week of my Advent thoughts draw to a close with reflection on the possible current presence of colonialism in our Christianity.

In mission studies we may look back to the past where the methods and expectations of well meaning missionaries was corrupted by colonialism which outplayed in the expectation that the new Christians of whatever country would all act like western Christians did, disregarding indigenous culture or experience.

As my day draws to a close, I’m not sure that as western Christians we have moved on too much from our Victorian ancestors. From where I look it does still seem that in church, on a Sunday in particular, we expect all people to behave the same way and have the same worldview that we have as well as the same ‘brand’ of faith.

If church is community, then a diversity of opinions should co-exist in an atmosphere of mutual trust, respect and love. As the community considers each other, each person hears and reflects and changes. The result is that the community grows in its spirituality and gains a wider, fuller and deeper relationship with each other and with God.

The alternative is a bland, mono-flavoured colony.

I wonder if we are afraid of difference and diversity because it may cause us to challenge ourselves on how we think. If we think or question too much, we may find out that our current view is wrong and then need to change our opinion. Changing our opinion may need us to change our lifestyle, our practice, our church.

Much safer to colonise!

the tree

Posted on by
2


This Saturday before Christmas we always go as a family to buy (corrected due to a tip off from eagle eyed Gordon) our Christmas tree which we then decorate next week. It’s just the way we do things!
Dave’s cartoon made me laugh today and I wonder what our tree will look like this time next week.

Advent 13: life or death?

Posted on by
Reply

Todays Disturbing Complacency thought has been digging away at me all day.

What if it was not Jesus’ crucifixion that saves us?
What is it was the way he lived his life that saves us?
Is it possible that Jesus would want us to focus on his lifestyle because that is what gives meaning to his crucifixion?

My evangelical upbringing screams ‘no’ to this thought.
But as I reflected on the strength of my reaction and as well as considering the motivation behind my reaction I also pondered those ‘what if’s’ of above.

I have often thought that we reduce God to something manageable so that our minds can cope. Could it also be possible that we have reduced the life of Jesus to the crucifixion? Further still, is it possible that we have reduced the crucifixion to an act of ‘saving us’ when in reality there is so much more to that seemingly single act?

I am not saying that Jesus’ death did not save us, but I am wondering if that is the whole story. Are we missing a more complete picture and therefore a more complete image of who God is, and a so missing out on a more complete relationship with God?

Advent 12 : God Like?

Posted on by
Reply

Disturbing Complacency has caused me to think about the Tower of Babel today.

These people started to build a tower to the heavens because they were afraid of being scattered around the earth. Out of fear, they stoped trusting God and instead looked for security in fame and their own achievement. Their motivation all along is self preservation of their own values.

‘When a nation’s values displaces God’s values, that nation has stolen the rightful place belonging to God.’ (Disturbing Complacency)

Out of fear, how has our nation stolen the rightful place of God?
Out of fear, how have I, in my life, stolen the rightful place of God?

I guess I find the answer by looking at my life and asking myself
‘where am I acting like God?’

London cluster

Posted on by
Reply

It was great to meet up with my friends form the London YFC centres today.

We chatted around how things were going, learnt more about each other and heard a little of the struggles as well.

We met in the Espresso Bar of the Tate Modern and I thought it was a special moment when we prayed together in this ‘house of creation’ looking across the Thames to the wonderful city of London.

Advent 11 ‘miss-giving?’

Posted on by
Reply

The Wednesday reflection during Advent is always about money. Today in particular my thoughts have focussed on how the west demands third world countries to restructure to receive aid. As many have became aware through initiatives like Make Poverty History, this restructuring does more than harm the country, it enables the rich western capitalism machine to continue to grow nd gain momentum while our poorer, hungrier, colder brothers and sisters become penniless, starving and dead.

We can help in these situations. We can give. We can campaign. We can purchase wisely and ethically.

Do we carefully give only what we will not miss, while we happily admire the widow who throws in her last two coins?

As Christmas gets closer, I feel uncomfortable today about how I use my money.