How Do you Make Your Summer Special?

I'm hoping to run a series of posts on things to do this summer. But, in order to make this a success I need your help? I want to know if you have any activities, places you enjoy, or things that you do in the summer months. Maybe you attend a festival, or there are special activities going on at your church.  Whatever it is, I'd love to hear from you.

Thursday Thought #5

Isn't it great when you reach the end of the book and find that there are discussion questions, so that you can make the book last even longer! And then, just when you've started pondering them, you realise that this is something you want to discuss further............... but the right person just isn't there (or maybe they're just too busy). Well, then this is the place for you!

Every Thursday I'll be posting a discussion question, challenge or thought from one of the Christian books that I've read. Then I'll post my personal response.
Then its your turn: consider the question and, if you feel moved to do so, post a comment or a link to the answer in your own blog. You don't have to participate every week, just when you want to.

Today's question comes from 'Secret Believers' by Brother Andrew and Al Janessen.

Ar we willing to do anything, even lay down our lives, if necessary, to advance the kingdom of God? 

My response:

Before we can answer this question, it is important to establish that not everything would advance the kingdom of God. A kingdom based on love could not be advanced, for instance through violent actions; nor could a kingdom based on choicce be advanced through forcing people to 'believe'. 

I wish I could truly answer 'yes' (within the context on the paragraph above) to this question, but I honestly doubt if I would have the strength to do so at this moment in time. I do have faith, however, that God would never ask us to do anything that we could not do (with his help), so I hope that it I was ever in a situation where God needed me to do this then I would be able to carry it through. 

Thursday Thought #4

Isn't it great when you reach the end of the book and find that there are discussion questions, so that you can make the book last even longer! And then, just when you've started pondering them, you realise that this is something you want to discuss further............... but the right person just isn't there (or maybe they're just too busy). Well, then this is the place for you!

Every Thursday I'll be posting a discussion question, challenge or thought from one of the Christian books that I've read. Then I'll post my personal response.
Then its your turn: consider the question and, if you feel moved to do so, post a comment or a link to the answer in your own blog. You don't have to participate every week, just when you want to.

Today's question comes from 'Secret Believers' by Brother Andrew and Al Janessen.

Are we really convinced that we are engaged in a spiritual war? If so, shouldn't we commit to a life of prayer?

My response:  

If I'm honest, I am extremly uncomfortable with the phrase 'spiritual war'. It conjures up to me (and I suspect to most people) thoughts of suicide bombers, casting out devils and physicaly attacking anyone who doesn't think the same way as you. And yet, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, a sign that his message was not a violent one.

So if we don't mean a violent war, what sort of 'spiritual war' can we mean? Brother Andrew quote Ephesians 612:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

So by a 'spiritual war' what is meant is a war against evil. This can, of course, be done peacefully. We must strive to get rid of the evil in our lives and in our world. Protests, petitions and reading the bible are of course very useful in this, but so is prayer.

Prayer should be part of our daily lives. It worries me sometimes that what should be purely a way of talking to God is often taught to children in such a formalic way. During school prayer times (and often in Sunday School as well) children are taught that they must put their hands together and close their eyes before the pray. Yes, this is wonderful for helping them to concentrate and be still to hear God's word, but what about those times when we need to pray but don't have the silence? If everything in our life is dedicated to God through prayer, as I believe it should be, then in a secular society we must be able to pray admist the bustle as well as in the peace. I'm not saying that quiet prayer doesn't have its value, but the best way to do it (in my opinion) is complimented by other types of prayer during the day. This is, surely, committig to a life of prayer.

Thursday Thought #3

Isn't it great when you reach the end of the book and find that there are discussion questions, so that you can make the book last even longer! And then, just when you've started pondering them, you realise that this is something you want to discuss further............... but the right person just isn't there (or maybe they're just too busy). Well, then this is the place for you!

Every Thursday I'll be posting a discussion question, challenge or thought from one of the Christian books that I've read. Then I'll post my personal response.
Then its your turn: consider the question and, if you feel moved to do so, post a comment or a link to the answer in your own blog. You don't have to participate every week, just when you want to.

Today's question comes from 'Secret Believers' by Brother Andrew and Al Janessen.

What would happen if we accepted the challenge of Islam by striving as Christians to imitate Christ?

 

My thoughts:

The truth is that it is really hard to do this! And yet, as Christians, we are called to be like Christ. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has great trouble with this. Most 'modern' societies are just not christ like! They are obsessed with the acquisition of money, fame and earthly achievement. Every job interview expects you to say how wonderful you are and what you've achieved to rise up the ranks, increase the monetary value of your company, or get your work place loads of awards. A prosperous household is one with all the mod-cons, where every room (including the kitchen andd bathroom) has TVs and where people show-off their wealth to others. We are expected to put ourselves before others and told that we ar push-oversif we don't!

Against this background it is hard to remember that God calls us to be humble, value him and our faith over earthly posessions, and love our neighbours as ourselves. There are simple steps that many Christians take towards such as caring for the planet, giving to charity, smiling at strangers or volunteering to help others. But, there are many non-Christians who do these things to! In fact these are valued shared by not only most religious groups, but many atheists as well.

Imitating Christ is more than this! Imitating Christ means putting others before ourselves, not letting the world get in the way of our beliefs and being willing to give up everything for God. If all Christians lived like this then it would most certainly have an impact on others! It would be so different from society that people would stop and stare! And no doubt people would want to know why we are doing it and what makes our faith so strong that it can bear it. I imagine that it would be hard to spread the message of Christianity because of all the questions that would be asked.

Thursday Thought #2

Isn't it great when you reach the end of the book and find that there are discussion questions, so that you can make the book last even longer! And then, just when you've started pondering them, you realise that this is something you want to discuss further............... but the right person just isn't there (or maybe they're just too busy). Well, then this is the place for you!

Every Thursday I'll be posting a discussion question, challenge or thought from one of the Christian books that I've read. Then I'll post my personal response.
Then its your turn: consider the question and, if you feel moved to do so, post a comment or a link to the answer in your own blog. You don't have to participate every week, just when you want to.

Today's question comes from 'Secret Believers' by Brother Andrew and Al Janessen.

Are we going to seek revenge when we're attacked? 

Should we not offer forgiveness instead?

My response

My automatic reaction is to say: 'yes, of course'. From an early age we are taught not to hit back, that two wrongs don't make a right and to accept an apology when it is offered. But is it really that easy? Of course it isn't! How many of us, when offered an apology, automatically say 'it's OK, I forgive you' or 'apology accepted' when inside we still bear a grudge? I suspect, if we're honest, most of us do.

I like to think that when someone wrongs me I do not try to take revenge. However the want to is usually still there. Its human nature to want to strike back- that's what made it important for Jesus to say that we shouldn't! Our society today is based upon revenge. When people are sent to prison we say that its to keep others safe or so deter others from committing similar crimes, but it seems to me that sentences are not merely based on this- otherwise the length of prison term would depend less on the crime committed and more on whether the prisoner was likely to repeat offend (yes, I do realise that people get prison terms shortened for good behaviour and likelihood not to re-offend, but this seems to be more of a secondary concern). No, the truth is that the general public want to see criminals 'getting what they deserve', i.e. being punished for their crimes. It is much easier to seek revenge than too forgive!

So how can we resist revenge and instead forgive? I wish I'd found the answer, but I haven't yet. All I can do is to recognise the feeling inside me and ask God to take it away and replace it with forgiveness. And hope that maybe, someday, this will become a habit in itself. 

Thursday Thought

Isn't it great when you reach the end of the book and find that there are discussion questions, so that you can make the book last even longer! And then, just when you've started pondering them, you realise that this is something you want to discuss further............... but the right person just isn't there (or maybe they're just too busy). Well, then this is the place for you!

Every Thursday I'll be posting a discussion question, challenge or thought from one of the Christian books that I've read. Then I'll post my personal response.
Then its your turn: consider the question and, if you feel moved to do so, post a comment or a link to the answer in your own blog. You don't have to participate every week, just when you want to.

Today's question comes from 'Secret Believers' by Brother Andrew and Al Janessen.

Do we view Muslims as enemies? Or are we seeking to win them to Christ?

My response:

I'd like to begin by pointing out that Brother Andrew says in his book that by 'seeking to win them to Christ' he does not mean forcing anyone to become a Christian. In-fact he urges his readers to realise that the choice to become a Christian should be just that, a choice through free will. 

Reading this book I realised how few Muslims I actually know. Most of the people I come into contact with on a daily basis are Christians and in my community the only other faith-group that I've really have conversations with has been a small group of Hindus. This makes it very difficult for me to say with all certainty how I would feel about meeting Muslims in my community. 

Having said this, I did once become friends with a Muslim who sat next to me in RE classes at school. We used to have really good discussions about our faith and I believe that we both learnt a lot from each other. She was never anything more than a good friend to me and I never really considered her faith an issue. Then, one day, she suddenly said that she couldn't talk to me about faith any more. She began to refuse to sign any petitions I brought into school associated with charities run by Christians. Slowly our friendship began to fall apart.

What does this have to do with the question posed, you may ask. Well, I believe that she (or at least her parents) had begun to see me as the enemy. They thought that I was seeking to win her to Christ. Actually, I was just wanting to have a chat with my friend and, since we happened to be sitting in an RE lesson, my faith seemed a suitable topic. My belief truly is that most people with true faith do not need to seek to bring others to faith, they just simply show and speak their faith automatically. And, if we do not see others as enemies, then we will do this too.

I have to admit that I often find it hard to speak to others about my faith nowadays, especially when I know that they may not feel the same way. That's why most of my faith discussions are through the internet (and then in the form of blogs where I don't have to make an immediate response). I believe this is because I am worried about others seeing me as the enemy. I pray for the faith to truly believe that, if I can consider all as friends who deserve to hear what I truly believe to be the truth.

Below the Line- Happening this week!