RE: Manifestation of the Spirit

Near Wilson's Promontory, Victorian Coastline, Alex Archer 2012

[In a particular charismatic service] There's a lot of space for "worship" which is a great opportunity to bring praise to God, but we are to worship God by giving over the entirety of our lives, everyday, all the time (Check out Romans 12:1-5)..

I'm not entirely sure that "worship" has a time period, and what i mean is "we're going to worship god now because we're singing" - although it is good to have a time specifically focussed on God, I wish there was more time like that in our lives. But isnt that the whole "fan into flame (2 Tim 1:6)" aspect of faith? That we are untrained in worshipping God (since the fall of man) and throughout our lives He will transform and lead us to holiness?

This is something I'm concerned about in many churches, but it seems to be specifically in the charismatic services... the presence of the spirit is not based on our feelings. There is an experiential aspect to the Spirit, because He manifests Himself in the life of his people to empower them, teach them, comfort them etc etc. BUT if you are in Christ you have the Spirit, and this is not based on human emotion; if you aren't crying on your knees or jumping for joy during "worship" time, it doesnt mean you're any more connected with the Spirit, it just means at that exact point in time, you're not reacting in an openly viewable way to any particular aspect of God's character (His goodness, faithfullness, sovereignty etc).

If the presence of the spirit is based on feelings and emotions, we can say when we dont "feel" God, that He's left us.. but He hasn't, He can't have, otherwise how can we say that God is faithful to his people?

So I find in charismatic services, its a little odd to ask "Spirit, descend on us," when we already have it inside us. It seems like a redundant question... what is a more worthy question could be "Lord, I give myself to you; please use me for your will" - we have the Spirit, but instead pray that the Spirit would work in and on and through us.. but we can't hold expectations of what that will look like because God may have the intention to miraculously heal someone before your eyes or maybe make a certain passage of scripture challenge your heart. This is all the work of that SAME spirit...

Sorry for the rambling. I hope this is edifying and not discouraging.

Peace and Blessings

Why Separate the Universal Church?

National Penny Farthing Championships, Evandale, TAS, Alex Archer 2012

A physical grouping of the church ceases to function as such when they deviate from the salvation gospel of Christ, dead and resurrected. I'm really pining for unity within the church and being in Sydney it was hard to envision that, because there are so many church groupings spread all over the place. Here in Launceston however, its not uncommon to have 2 or 3 within a block of one another. I want to see church unity happen, not just talked about. I also need to be fed.

We can never "give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing" (Heb 10:25). I'm not content however, with the view of being a part of a church grouping as the only way to experience church in its fullness. God will use people in different ways, we cannot rob Him of His power to do so. Out of the bounds of "I go to Christ Church of blah" or "I go to such-and-such Anglican", people can very well be sustained given they are still active as a member of the body. By very definiton you cannot be part of God's church in isolation. Church is a people, so to be a part of God's church you're already sorted into a grouping, which is alternative from what the bible would call, people "of the world".

Somewhere we have congregationalised the church. Naturally people are going to form into groups, but there is a difference between "meeting regularly with Christians" and "meeting regularly with the SAME Christians". In this congregationalisation of church we usually think that the latter is more true. In no way it negative to meet with the same people regularly, there are boundless advantages to meeting with the same people, but there are also disadvantages. Mostly the issue is that the bible is non-specific about church being "meeting with the SAME Christians," but instead "meeting together". It's a nice concept to think that one could go from there home town all around the world and experience the same level of fellowship with other Christian brothers and sisters, and as far as I can see the only barrier in the way of this is an individual ability to form relationships.

Some people have debated that if you're not meeting with the same people on a regular basis, then you cannot experience church or relationship to their fullness. I think this is not dealing with the same issue, although related. The problem is it makes the depths of our relationships based upon the circumstances of those relationships, and not solely upon the level of "lovingness" in our relationships.

In the bible we are called to love our neighbour. Who is our neighbour? Everyone! This is the command for ALL our relationships, and although our relationships may work out in different ways, I am not convinced that the DEPTH of our relationships should be any different. You are either loving or you are not. You may show it in different ways under different circumstances, but in all, there are two categories for love. When we have a God who sees and knows all about us, and sees and knows all about everyone around us and yet chooses us even "while we were still sinners... died for us," (Romans 5:8), we have anything to hide anymore? We're freed from the slavery of sin, so why should we still feel shame because of it as if we were still slaves to it? I'm not saying the shame will instantly go away, but I am saying there is no reason for it and it is to our detriment. In fact confessing our sins to each other as well as God, leads to healing! (James 5:16) We have nothing to withold from our brothers and sisters...

There are instructions in the ways certain relationship should look (1 Corinthians 7, Eph 5:22-33, 1 Timothy 5 amongst others) but the command to love remains constant. The depth of our relationships should be based upon, and worked upon in relation to our ability to love, opposed to the context and circumstance.

A saint cannot give up meeting other christians in the name of jesus for the glory of God without excluding himself in very essence from what is THE church. However, we are accustomed to congregationalised church, and just because we live in a society that has a congregationally based culture, doesnt mean God is powerless to produce church in a different fashion in the life of one of His chosen.

I guess, if you are a christian, you are in THE church of Christ and it is essential that you meet with other parts of the body (for encouragement, edification and the glory of God), but the way that one meets with the saints can take on many different forms and still be well within what I think is the biblical refinement of Church.

I hope this seems as worth thinking about to you as it does to me.

Peace and Blessings

Wisdom... Colin style.

Laughing Ganesha Indian Restaurant, Alex Archer, 2012

This is my first post in 2012! Happy New Year!

It comes at a time of great change and anxiety. I woke up this morning feeling incredibly uneasy, and an hour and a bit later the feelings aren't entirely quenched, but after reading some James and 1 Peter, the angst is a bit better directed.

As I've been dealing with my anxieties of late, I praise God that He has provided wisdom for me over the last few months in the most bizarre ways. For example, Colin Buchanan music...

I know, it's for kids right? The thing is, the message of each song is carefully and truthfully compounded into simple and easy to understand concepts. Sometimes in our Christian walk we are so overloaded with Biblical knowledge and trickier (yet very relevant) concepts like predestination and total depravation etc etc, that we forget the simple truths. And so I've been considering the lyrics of two Colin songs in particular:

Remember the Lord:

"Remember the Lord, Oh, Oh.

Remember that he is in control.

Remember the Lord, Oh, Oh.

He's watching, His children, He cares,

Oh, Oh.

Remember the Lord,

Oh Oh, Oh Oh"

Practice Being Godly

"Have you seen those big and healthy guys,

always doing their excercise,

Well its better to work for a Heavenly prize!

SO practice being godly.

Never give up, make it your aim.

Practice being godly.

If you've been forgiven in Jesus' name.

Practice being godly.

He paid the price for all our sin,

His Holy Spirit dwells within,

So centre all you do on Him.

Practice being godly."

We can learn a LOT from songs designed for kids...

Isaiah 12

In that day you will say:

"I will praise you, O Lord.

Although you were angry with me,

your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.

Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust and not be afraid.

The Lord, The Lord is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation."

In that day you will say:

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;

make known among the nations what he has done,

and proclaim that his name is exalted.

Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;

let this be known to all the world.

Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,

for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

Is reading worth it?

I suppose in some way it's ironic that one would have to "read" this blog in order to understand the purpose of this blog...

I've recently been watching the televised speeches, debates and such from the Sydney Writer's Festival. There was a man, he was a critic and he was discussing the idea of whether reading's really worth anything along with two other on the panel.

He happened to bring up a quote from C.S Lewis, a famed writer of Christian faith. In my own experience of C.S Lewis i can bear witness to what a beautiful and gifted mind God bestowed on Him, but then again i am entirely aware that this is of my own perspective.

"We read to know that we are not alone"

The critic questioned this statement as he had with the quotes of others authors. The topic that arose and as i could see, could be detrimental to the Christian way of life is the question of "What about those who cannot read".

As a Christian with the Word of God readily available, i could give an answer from scripture. When looking at Romans 1:18-20

"¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."

But say i couldn't read? Say i didn't have the bible to go from? Theoretically speaking, say i was a person with faith yet no Word. I have been affected by creation, and it has led to a wonder whether there is something beyond my own existence, the existence of a greater divine and intelligent being, but that's where it would end. God could work in many ways from here so that i might know Him, revelation, direct appearance (which only through provision of the word we can udnerstand would lead to death) so that i might know him more, but there's no way i could expect this to happen.

So if we do not withold the ability to read, are we alone? If i had no ability to read the word of God could i ever understand and know truly that i am not alone? How does this affect our understanding that God is a good and loving God? Up until the point where faith is consolidated in the word, faith takes on the appearance of "feeling". i "feel" like theres something more than my own existence here on this land. Therein lies another issue, from the word we understand that feelings are deceptive, but without the word our feelings take on the purpose of pure faith.

Is that what we're truly trying to question? The idea of faith? Lately through much thought in many different arenas i've been openly confessing the idea that faith is reasonable. That assumption lies on the precedent that we have the bible to relate to. Take the bible out of the picture, one could say that faith is then unreasonable however there is no denying that it is faith all the same.

But is this unreasonable faith, without the Word of the Bible, a faith that can save? From creation we can certainly wonder if there is more, or even find truth in that for ourselves, but without the Word there is no Jesus (i say this in consideration of ancient tribes hidden away in the furthest ends of the earth).

I think at this point i've reached an end in my thought process where we need to consider that this is within God's jurisdiction and He will choose to affect those people or He won't. How He will do that and whether He intends to do it is not something we can't know.

I hope some of you followed and understood. This is a battle, and i'm just trying to reconcile how a faith in God and an academic philosophy can go hand-in-hand.

Peace and blessings

Serious service..

I write this in a mood of frustration and at the same time a mood of great disorientation. In recent time's God's blessed me with a number of people who have really challenged my idea of church and mission. Through many recent encounters and conversations, as well as the amazing opportunity to serve on Parish Council i've come to consider the reasons why i find myself so frustrated with my own generation. On a broader scale i've been also considering how to get people into the doors of church, how to share with them the love of Christ, ultimately so that we might be Christ's tools in the bid to grow a church of disciples who love and serve Christ.

One of the big things that have really stuck out to me is the subtle yet toxic temptation for people to rest back into their Christian circles. I've observed, and been guilty of this very thing myself that we delight in fellowship to the extent that all we do is be with our Christian brothers and sisters. The issue is not that our churches are necessarily inward focussed, but that we get so hyped on the beauty of the church and in awe of the great gifts God has bestowed upon its people that we forget that we have those connections within the church so that we might be doing His work. Fellowship is a beautiful gift from God however it is useless if not through edification and encouragement, we are building up a united front for the fight in which the winning of souls for the sake of Christ should be our prime objective, as Jesus told us to do in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:16-20, to the glory of God!

God's word does not promise a comfortable life for Christians. One the contrary, Jesus said in John 15:18-25 that the world would hate the disciples, because the world hated Christ Jesus, and as He explains, therefore also God the Father. We cannot shy away from our ultimate mission because of discomfort. Things will happen in life, unexpected things that will have a great impact on us. They will truly be a test of character, but what we live in as Christians is the certain hope that we have a guaranteed inheritance of an eternity under God's rule in His kingdom. Let us continue to pray with humility that we might place the needs of others first, and that especially includes those who yet do not know Christ's love. This means leaving our insecurities at the door, not focussing on the personal loss of boldly speaking the gospel as in comparison to the larger scheme of the winning of souls this is merely a foolish act of selfishness. Amen?

Peace and blessings

2011what?

(Newtown, Sydney, photograph by Alex Archer, 2008)

Well it sure has been a while.

I'm sitting here this sunday morning looking onto a grey sydney day, the mist fogging my view of the city. I've been thinking what i could write for this post, and to be honest, i'm a little stumped.

So much has been happening, my life is moving on, but what's harder to keep up with? Everyone else's lives are moving on.

It's a massive time of change, the transition isn't fun at all, but here's some simple truths that are pulling me through:

> God is in control

> He has a plan for His people

> Although we may feel useless and hopeless, God will use us at our lowest

> Pride and selfishness are like sunglasses.. they polarise your view of everything (that was a joke; yes it was)

I really don't know what else to say, my head feels empty. Maybe i need to get back into some form of education? my brain needs some stimulation.. deeper thoughts are on their way!

Peace and blessings