Grey Matter
This is a great little quote. Sam thank’s for posting this!
Good advice from my friend, Joseph Thompson:
The true essence of transforming a people is by embracing their culture not deriding it. If you really want to understand why people are passionate about the things they are, you must immerse yourself in the sights, sounds, and smells that so enrich…
Ryan Mrozowski, Cascade, 2010, acrylic on canvas over panel, 24 x 30 in.,
found at Escape Into Life
Bill Gates, speaking at the London School of Economics:
There are many things going on in terms of the eurozone crisis and budget cutbacks that would make it easy to turn inward and reduce financing. The answer is to remind people not only about the needs of the very poorest but also that we are making incredible progress in … the daily battle that is poverty.
Whilst I was never a fan of Bill Gates in his role with Microsoft, I continue to be hugely impressed with his work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I hope that he will be listened too and that, even though things are tight financially for us, things don’t come close to comparing to the living conditions of countless others in much poorer parts of the world.
Here is an article I wrote for this weeks Life News:
Here we have the recipe for healthy and vibrant church community!
The first thing we can learn from this amazing verse is that Christ’s acceptance of us was marked by great pain and cost to himself. At the hands of brutal men Jesus willingly laid aside his rights, so that in his death he could pay the price that would bring an at-one-ment - which is where we get the wordatonement from. Two parties who have been separated and alienated brought back together - and here the means was the self-giving death of Jesus. So what does it mean for us to accept one another just as Christ accepted us? It means choosing to accept people in a way that actively reaches out and across barriers of fear and difference, and here the biggest challenge of all: sometimes in a way that will cost us something!
This is even more important in a community that is growing because you can’t rely on the bonds of shared history. Instead you have to actively seek to reach out and make those Christ-like connections, risking the possibility of being hurt.
What does this look like in practice? Well, it means inviting newcomers over for dinner or perhaps a coffee. You may be thinking to yourself ‘I’m not very good at talking to new people - what will I say? What if the conversation dries up?’ Let me encourage you look at the accepting work of Jesus in your life, and let that be fuel for your community-building enterprise! On the other hand, you may be thinking to yourself ‘I’m too busy.’ Again, let me encourage you to look to the accepting work of Jesus in your life, and thank him that he wasn’t too busy!
However, notice how all of this self-denying acceptance of one another leads to an end: the glory of God. Dream with me, for a moment, of a community of people made up of every age, ethnic, and social group in Peterborough, Stamford, Oakham and the villages between, living in vibrant, spontaneous community together. That type of community will grab people’s attention and their eyes will be turned towards the source of this community - which is Jesus himself!
So at the start of this new year, can I encourage you to make investing your time in welcoming one another, and especially newcomers to the Life Church community, a real priority?. Let’s be known as the church with a great welcome, great food and great friendship, as all of these are our building blocks for a great community!
‘Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.’
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Yesterday at our wider team meeting [yep I know that’s not the most flattering title!], I recommended Eugene H. Peterson’s book ‘A long obedience in the same direction. This is wonderful book reflecting upon the Psalms of Assent. Here is what the back of the book has to say:
As a society, we are no less obsessed with the immediate than when Eugene Peterson first wrote this Christian classic. If anything, email and the Internet may have intensified our quest for the quick fix. But Peterson’s time-tested prescription for discipleship remains the same—a long obedience in the same direction. Tucked away in the Hebrew Psalter, Peterson discovered “an old dog-eared songbook,” the Songs of Ascents that were sung by pilgrims on their way up to worship in Jerusalem. In these songs (Psalms 120-134) Peterson finds encouragement for modern pilgrims as we learn to grow in worship, service, joy, work, happiness, humility, community and blessing. This 20th anniversary edition of A Long Obedience in the Same Direction features these Psalms in Peterson’s widely acclaimed paraphrase, The Message. He also includes an epilogue in which he reflects on the themes of this book and his ministry during the twenty years since its original publication.
