Fighting Spending

Lifehacker's Top 10 Ways to Trick Yourself into Saving Money has some quite sensible ideas - most of which are, refreshingly, about avoiding unnecessary spending rather than just tips for finding deals and messing around with interest-free periods on credit cards etc.

I particularly liked #9, #8 and #2.

What's your favourite?


"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Luke 9.23

Wounds of a Friend

In this month's Christianity Today, complementarian (men and women have equal but different roles in marriage and church life - W) John Koessler and egalitarian (God freely calls believers to roles and ministries regardless of gender, class or race - W) Sarah Sumner have an "unexpected exchange" on the women's leadership debate.

Complementarians need to recover a fully biblical view of women — and of handling theological disagreement. By John Koessler

Egalitarians should rely more on careful exegesis and less on political ideologies. By Sarah Sumner

Both articles are refreshing and graceful additions to the conversation and I found plenty to agree with on both sides of the discussion.

When God created humankind in his image, he created them to be male and female (Gen. 1:27). It is often said that men and women bear the image of God equally. But it might be more accurate to say that men and women bear God's image together. Men and women collectively reflect the divine image; one without the other is incomplete. In addition, the Book of Genesis affirms men and women's joint mandate to exercise dominion over creation. Men and women share this responsibility; neither can fulfill God's mandate alone. ...

Complementarians need to be on guard against the temptation to use the Bible as a sanction for social constructs. The Pharisees tried to protect God's commands by putting a fence around the Law. I fear that complementarians, too, have gone beyond the Scriptures in our effort to preserve God's design. Have we added our own traditions to the Bible's teaching in an attempt to preserve biblical manhood and womanhood?

John Koessler

Egalitarians often argue that since God commands his people to submit to one another, women leaders have the right to be submitted to by men. When this doesn't happen, they feel angry. Yet a truly Christian ethic would remember that women have the duty, not the right, to lead as God calls them to lead. When God calls a woman to step forward, she is to step forward, regardless of how others respond. ...

When Galatians 3:28 is used out of context, the egalitarian argument can easily be perceived as promoting a genderless church. Though most egalitarians emphatically believe that men and women are not the same or interchangeable, it is hard for the unconvinced to hear the wisdom of their message— and easy for others, like the gender-confused, to twist the meaning of their message into something it is not.

Sarah Sumner

Christianity Today's Timothy George also addressed complementarians and egalitarians in his excellent article 'A Peace Plan for the Gender War'.

I'm sympathetic to George's stated position 'I am not a card-carrying member of either party', finding plenty to agree with on both sides and probably falling somewhere in the middle of the debate. However, realistically, I know I'd fit in more easily on the egalitarian side, given my openness to women in church leadership roles. Also I personally feel more confident of having the opportunity in an egalitarian setting to argue in a complementarian direction, than I'm confident of being able to even talk about a egalitarian direction from a complementarian position. Whether you understand what I mean may depend on your experiences with both sides of the debate, whether positive or negative.

Fun in the Playground

I missed church on Sunday, being away, so I was glad of this paraphrased excerpt(?) from Ruth's talk on Ben's blog:

Some people think of God's will, the plan God has for them, as a tightrope. You have to be really careful to stay on, otherwise it's a disaster. I think God's will is like a playground. It has a fence, and there are limits. Outside the fence it's dangerous as you could get hit by a car. Inside, there's slides, roundabouts, see-saws, swings - you can play on what you want. Sometimes God might say 'that's enough sliding for now, have a go on the swings'. You might enjoy some bits more than others, but you can have a go at different things. As long as you stay inside the fence, you're safe. But you don't have to walk a tightrope.

I like playgrounds!

(Thanks to Benbo Baggins!)

Articles on the rise of Reform Theology

I'll be keeping up with this ongoing discussion on Christianity Today, between Tony Jones (no, not the Durham one!) of 'The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier' and Collin Hansen of Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist's Journey with the New Calvinists.

Also, I thought this guest post from Thomas McCall was interesting to read in its sympathetic - yet cautionary - portrayal of the New Calvinists.

Music and Mortality

I found myself inspired today to re-read the Narnia series again. I had a wonderful time reading - and blogging about - the series a couple of years ago, but it's the kind of reading feeding material that deserves a regular visit I think.

So I sat down - or rather lay down - this afternoon with the Magician's Nephew. I'm a quick reader, but I forced myself to slow down, almost reading aloud, for the many beautiful passages describing the creation of Narnia. I could almost hear Aslan's voice singing Narnia into being, then the stars joining in, and the shear fruitfulness of the ground that cannot help but respond. My whole mind and body responds even to the thought of that singing, with recognition and joy, like a forgotten memory. Singing, yes - Jesus! O to have been there - but then we will be next time!

Speaking of heavenly music, a recent discovery has been 'Spem in Alium' by Thomas Tallis (listen to it sung by the Tallis Scholars on YouTube). A truly beautiful choral piece, it requires 8 choirs of 5 parts each (40 singing parts in total) and is designed for a cathedral. Rich and complex yet pure and simple, the interweaving melodies are haunting then joyful; completely wonderful. I would absolutely love to go to a live performance of this - and would travel a fair distance - so if anyone hears of a performance anywhere, please let me know!

But back to the Magician's Nephew. There's a moment at the beginning of Narnia when Aslan 'calls' the Cabbie's wife and she suddenly appears, whisked away from the Earth in the middle of her laundry! I was shocked to discover my reaction to this event - what, give her no warning? but what if she wanted to bring something? say goodbye? - and forced to reflect on my own silliness (even as the questions raced through my mind, I was simultaneously appalled and amused!). But actually it was not the mortality question necessarily that rocked me, the fact that of course we can't take anything when we die, but actually the conviction that I am too attached to 'things'.

What 'thing' left on Earth could possibly matter when brought to this wonderful new place of Narnia - why should she need or miss anything when Aslan himself is there? I know this will be true when we meet Jesus and live with him on the new Earth, so why do I have this attachment to 'things' that have no lasting value? I couldn't even think of anything particular I might have wanted to pick up had it been me whisked away - it was a general sense of disattachment. I have had the general sense for a number of months now that I want to 'lighten the load' and get rid of some stuff, because I have too many things, so this was an encouragement to me that that's true. I want to lose some of the excess weight, tone up, lighten up, be more flexible, temporary, ready to leave... So it's going to be 'give away' season! (feel free to help out! :)

EUGENE PETERSON on Well-Worn Paths

"Christians tramp well-worn paths: obedience has a history.

"This history is important, for without it we are at the mercy of whims. Memory is a databank we use to evaluate our position and make decisions. With a biblical memory we have two thousand years of experience from which to make the off-the-cuff responses that are required each day in the life of faith. If we are going to live adequately and maturely as the people of God, we need more data to work from than our own experience can give us. ...

"A Christian who has David in his bones, Jeremiah in his bloodstream, Paul in his fingertips and Christ in his heart will know how much and how little value to put on his own momentary feelings and the experience of the last week. ...

"What we require is obedience - the strength to stand and the willingness to leap, and the sense to known when to do which. Which is exactly what we get when an accurate memory of God's ways is combined with a lively hope in his promises."

From 'A Long Obedience in the Same Direction' by Eugene Peterson

Theological highlights from Revive!

Chris Forster - Revelation, not Information
Andrew tells Peter...'Come and meet the man who is the Christ' (John 1)
But it is not until later that Peter truly recognises Jesus: "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God" and Jesus tells him "this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven." (Matt 16:16,17)

Greg Boyd

God looks like Jesus Christ.
(Anything that doesn't look like Jesus Christ is the result of wills other than God's)

"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." (Eph 6:12)
- therefore, no person can be the enemy. If it has flesh and blood, we're not fighting it. On the contrary, people in bondage are those people we're trying to save - this is who we're fighting for, not against!

Regard every sin you see in someone else as a speck of dust, and your own as a two-by-four.

When Jesus was faced with sickness and oppression, he didn't pray 'accepting' prayers...he got angry. He had a theology of revolution, of revolt! In which we lay down our lives...

Faith is the 'substance of things anticipated'. We're rarely certain about anything, but faith is the having enough confidence in order to act on something (e.g. to get on a plane).

All prayer is powerful and effective...you have pushed the world further in a kingdom direction.
No such thing as a wasted prayer.

How you look at something determines what you see...which affects your life.

DWIGHT L. MOODY on being read

"Of one hundred men, one will read the Bible; the ninety-nine will read the Christian."

TOM WRIGHT on the pattern of incarnation

"I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me." John 13:20

Those who go in Jesus' name, who get on with whatever work he gives them to do in his spirit and his love, are given an extraordinary status and privilege. Anyone who welcomes them, welcomes Jesus, and thereby also welcomes 'the one who sent him'. You probably won't recognise it at the time. You'll be too busy thinking of the people you're working for and with. But, as you look back, you may be startled by the joy of realizing that as you walked into that house, that hospital, that place of pain or love or sorrow or hope, Jesus was walking in, wearing your skin, speaking in your tone of voice. 'I've given you a pattern,' he said, and he meant it.

Tom Wright, in John for Everyone - Part 2

EVDOKIMOV on Vocation

"One's vocation is found exactly on the crest between necessity and creative freedom, along the line of faith, which reveals the direction as its free and strong confession grows... One's entire vocation is an option, an answer to a call that has been heard. It can simply be the present condition. It is never a voice that clarifies everything. The dimness inherent in faith never leaves us. "

Paul Evdokimov, quoted in 'Real Sex' by Lauren F. Winner

CS Lewis on Time

We are so little reconciled to time that we are even astonished at it. "How he's grown!" we exclaim, "How time flies!" as though the universal form of our experience were again and again a novelty. It is as strange as if a fish were repeatedly surprised at the wetness of water. And that would be strange indeed; unless of course the fish were destined to become, one day, a land animal.

CS Lewis in Reflections on the Psalms

Feel it?

'Worship is like love: the more you do it the more you feel it.'

Jesus said, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Luke 12:34) I've heard this amusingly referred to as "where your investment is, there your interest will be also." There's so much truth in this - in the same way we closely follow the fortunes of our material investments, our hearts are also interested in our investments of time and energy. Jesus is talking about storing up treasure in heaven, making the point that if we invest more deeply in God's kingdom, then our eyes and hearts will inevitably follow.

When we worship, as when we love, we make an 'investment' in something other than ourselves. It's a mysterious truth that when we invest time and energy in a relationship, when we give our focus and attention to someone else, we find ourselves caring about them more than when we begun. That seems backwards to most people - why would you want to invest in someone you didn't care about? Why would you show love to someone that you didn't feel love towards?

I've been reflecting on the way we often seem to have that same sense when we come to worship God. But it would be a poor show if we only worshipped when we felt like it. Yes, our worship should be true and more than mere words, but my sense is that - like love - it ultimately springs from a decision, rather than an emotion. We ultimately worship, not because we feel like it, or even because God feels particularly real to us today or He's answered our prayers (although these are all good reasons!), but because He is overwhelmingly worthy of praise.

We sung Tim Hughes' song Almighty God last night, which reminds us that "If we did not praise, the rocks would cry out". There's obviously a lot more that could be said on the majesty and awesomeness of God, but I hope you'll be able to fill in the gaps...

My current reflection, however, is based on my initial statement. It is my experience, and I imagine I am not alone, that worshipping God, whether it started as a 'natural' response, or a conscious decision, tends to make us more worshipful. I apologise if this seems completely obvious to you; it is the first time I have articulated it this way. I notice in myself, particularly in singing songs of worship, but also in reading worship in scripture, that my feelings of wonder and thankfulness and, well, worship, tend to increase with use. In general, the more I worship, the more I feel like worshipping.

My cynical self wonders if this is in some way related to the way we often worship in groups, encouraging each other, or the way in which music tends to improve our mood generally. But since both of these aspects feature heavily in worship throughout Scripture, I can't help but conclude that any positive effect they have is altogether intended. In fact, both seem almost designed for worship. The Church is foremost a worshipping community, and if any creative expression has supernatural dimensions, it is surely music.

A letter from Cyprian

This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I view it from this fair garden, under the shadow of these vines. But if I climbed some great mountain and looked out over the wide lands, you know very well what I would see-brigands on the high roads, pirates on the seas; in the amphitheatres men murdered to please applauding crowds; under all roofs misery and selfishness. It is really a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. Yet in the midst of it I have found a quiet and holy people. They have discovered a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasures of this sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians - and I am one of them.

St. Cyprian, c. 258, a letter

PAUL on avoiding captivity

Colossians 2:2-4, 8

"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no-one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments...

See to it that no-one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
(NIV)

"I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God's great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we've been shown the mystery! I'm telling you this because I don't want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or 'the Secret.'"
(The Message)

Colossians 2: 20-23

"Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 'Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!'? These are all designed to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence."
(NIV)

"So, then, if with Christ you've put all that pretentious and infantile religion behind you, why do you let yourselves be bullied by it? 'Don't touch this! Don't taste that! Don't go near this!' Do you think things that are here today and gone tomorrow are worth that kind of attention? Such things sound impressive if said in a deep enough voice. They even give the illusion of being pious and humble and ascetic. But they're just another way of showing off, making yourselves look important."
(The Message)

We've been considering in cell the mystery of Christ revealed to our minds (as well as our hearts), and what it is to grow in understanding and knowledge, something Paul brings up again and again in the early section of Colossians. It's striking to read Eugene Peterson's take on the passage in The Message version.

"For your sake, O my God"

"Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name." (Daniel 9:18-19)

I have previously posted on praying in Jesus' name, but I started thinking again this evening about what it means to pray for the sake of God's name.

In Deuteronomy 9 Moses tells the Israelites that the LORD will give them victory not because of their own righteousness, (on the contrary they are "a stiff-necked people"), but because of the promise he made to their forefathers. He reminds them of their rebellion 40 years earlier at Mount Horeb and points out, "You have been rebellious against the LORD ever since I have known you." (v.24) Moses reminds them that he lay prostate before the LORD for 40 days and 40 nights praying for them, because they had made the LORD angry and he said he would destroy them.

As he prays, Moses is clear-headed enough to realise that the Israelites deserve judgement and the only thing left in their favour is that they are the LORD's own, that they are called by his name:

"Overlook the stubborness of this people, their wickedness and their sin. Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, 'Because the LORD was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the desert.' But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm."

It's almost as if Moses is appealing to God's pride, for lack of a better word. For better or worse, He has staked his reputation (his 'name') and his honour on rescuing the Israelites, and has promised to bring them to the promised land. So there's really no option...

The LORD doesn't reply directly at first, but he invites Moses to return up the mountain with some new stone tablets (he broke the first set) - a 'let's try this again'.

Moses ends the recollection by recounting God's almost-resigned instruction to get going:

"'Go,' the LORD said to me, 'and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.'"


(On a side note, while these are a people who define themselves by their relationship with "the LORD our God", their God most frequently references himself by relationship with them: "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.")


In John's Gospel, Jesus' encouragment to ask 'in my name' is tied together with his identification of himself with the Father:

"How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? ... And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:9-14)

And again, in John 16:

"Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no-one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now, you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will recieve, and your joy will be complete.

"Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf." (v. 22-26)

And later, in his prayer in John 17:
"Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name - the name you gave me - so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me." (v.11-12)

God has given his name to Jesus - which is why Jesus is able to refer to himself as 'I am' (most clearly in John 8:58). In other words, to pray in Jesus' name is to pray in God's name. When he tells the disciples that they haven't asked in his name up to this point (v. 24), he's saying that they haven't recognised just who he is. To ask in Jesus' name is to recognise that he is Lord and God.

"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."
(Philippians 2:9-11)

What name has God given Jesus, the 'name above every name', except his own?


This deserves further reflection, but I'll leave it there for this evening. Comments or ideas anyone?

"What do you want me to do for you?"

I've been reading Mark's Gospel recently, and earlier this week I was reflecting on a series of stories in Mark 10. The chapter ends with two, apparently unconnected, stories: James and John ask for places of honour in Jesus' kingdom, and blind beggar Bartimaeus receives his sight.

At first glance, little connection is apparent, but both incidents are tied together by a simple question: "What do you want me to do for you?"

Jesus asks this question twice, to James and John and later to Bartimaeus, and he receives two very different responses.

• James and John: "They replied, 'Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.'" (v.37)
• Bartimaeus: "The blind man said, 'Rabbi, I want to see.'"

In many ways, James' and John's request actually reflects a vote of confidence in Jesus. They are picturing a glorious ending, where Jesus is king in Jerusalem and they, as his trusted disciples, will share in his rule. But their question also reveals how poorly they have understood what Jesus has been saying. He has just been explaining to them (in v.32-34) - for the third time and in the clearest possible language - how he will be put to death in Jerusalem:

"They will condemn [the Son of Man] to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him." (v.33-34)

Tom Wright points out that the disciples probably thought (or preferred to think) that Jesus was talking in pictures, as he often did, and did not mean literally. After all, he closes with the mysterious: "Three days later he will rise."

But clearly their request is born in their ambition and Jesus gently denies their request, warning them that they don't know what they're asking for. He takes the opportunity to describe once again the upside-down nature of the new kingdom: "whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all" (v.43).

Bartimaeus' request is also a personal one. He doesn't ask for world peace, or for power or riches, he wants to see. And he is healed immediately.

"'Go,' said Jesus, 'your faith has healed you.'" (v.52)

It's interesting to remember that the last time we come across a story of a blind man being healed, in Mark 8, it follows directly on from Jesus berating his disciples about their lack of understanding and their failure to see:

"Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your heart's hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?" (Mark 8:17-18)

Again, in this chapter, Mark follows a story about the disciples' lack of understanding with one about a blind man receiving his sight. In setting these stories against each other, Mark leaves us asking where the real blindness lies.

I'm left pondering my own answer to Jesus' question: "What do you want me to do for you?" How often do I assume I've got the picture of what God's doing, wanting to get involved, wanting to gain influence and status? Or do I answer honestly out of my weakness and need: "I want to see."

Searching where it cannot be found

A follow up to my earlier post, here Henri Nouwen reflects on the question: "To whom do I belong? To God or to the world?"

Many of my daily preoccupations suggest that I belong more to the world than to God. A little criticism makes me angry, and a little rejection makes me depressed. A little praise raises my spirits, and a little success excites me. It takes very little to raise me up or thrust me down...

As long as I keep running about asking: "Do you love me? Do you really love me?" I give power to the voices of the world and put myself in bondage because the world is filled with 'ifs'. The world says: "Yes, I love you if you are good-looking, intelligent, and wealthy. I love you if you have a good education, a good job, and good connections. I love you if you produce much, sell much, and buy much." There are endless 'ifs' hidden in the world's love. These 'ifs' enslave me, since it is impossible to respond adequately to all of them. The world's love is and always will be conditional. As long as I keep looking for my true self in the world of conditional love, I will remain 'hooked' to the world - trying, failing, and trying again. It is a world that fosters addictions because what it offers cannot satisfy the deepest craving of my heart.

As ever, Nouwen speaks deep sense. We put ourselves in bondage because tie ourselves to the world's expectations and demands. This is no freedom. And those demands have no power over us except that we give them. I'm reminded of a line in the sonnet 'Batter my heart' by John Donne, which struck me recently:
"But am betroth'd unto your enemy..."

We run around, desperately trying to please, to earn acceptance and love, and all the time we have a heavenly Father, who loves us desperately and is just waiting for us to come home.

HENRI NOUWEN on the Beloved

Henri Nouwen reflects on hearing the voice that says "You are my Beloved, on you my favour rests", from the book 'The Return of the Prodigal Son'.

As the Beloved of my heavenly Father, 'I can walk in the valley of darkness: no evil would I fear.' As the Beloved , I can 'cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils.' Having 'received without charge,' I can 'give without charge.' As the Beloved, I can confront, console, admonish, and encourage without fear of rejection or need for affirmation. As the Beloved, I can suffer persecution without desire for revenge and receive praise without using it as proof of my goodness. As the Beloved, I can be tortured and killed without ever having to doubt that the love that is given to me is stronger than death. As the Beloved, I am free to live and give life, free also to die while giving life.

Abdul Rahman

I was struck by the story of this man, Abdul Rahman, who has been in the news recently, an Afghan Christian under trial for his life.

There is a short video of his confession of being 'a Jesus follower' on the website of the Afghan Christian News.

This man inspires me, standing up and declaring his faith in Jesus, despite the very real possibility of being hanged for his confession. It reminds me that we put our trust in the one who saves; He is only one who holds the power of life and death over us.

I want to pray for Abdul that he holds firmly to this truth, whatever happens. I ask for him to stand tall and be confident in God's presence. And I pray that he brings something of the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ to the prison where he is held, and to the country that wants to kill him.

Church: why bother?

No, I'm not trying to be controversial, that's the title of my half-term-book-of-the-day today (although I should say that this is the first day I've managed it - and potentially the last one!)

This is Philip Yancey's reflection on his own church experiences, and although it's fairly slight and doesn't say much that I haven't gathered already from his other books, he's as readable as ever. I always find Yancey an inspiring read, or at least an affirming one. He asks honest questions and his reflections on genuine God-focused spirituality ring true for me.

However, the foreward by Eugene Peterson is perhaps my favourite part of this book. He relates the story of John Muir climbing a Douglas Fir in a storm, in order to experience the Weather.

He goes onto to talk about spirituality being about lived life, and his inspiration from Muir to "open myself to the Weather, not wanting to miss a detail of this invasion of Life into my life, ready at the drop of a hat to lose my life to save it (Mark 8:35)
"...if there is no readiness to respond to the living God, who moves when and how and where he chooses, it isn't much of a life - the livingness soon leaks out of it"

And two or three thoughts from Yancey that struck me...

On hypocrisy - "one day the question occurred to me, 'What would church look like if every member were just like me?' Properly humbled, I began concentrating on my spirituality, not everyone else's."

On the body of Christ - "As I look around on Sunday morning...I see the risk that God has assumed. For whatever reason, God now reveals himself in the world not through a pillar of smoke and fire, not evern through the physical body of his Son in Galilee, but through the mongrel collection that comprises my local church..."

On the 'saviour complex' - "Nouwen concludes, 'When we can come to realize that our guilt has been taken away and that only God saves, then we are free to serve, then we can live truly humble lives.'"
- (from Helmut Thielicke, on Jesus' ministry) "Though the burden of the whole world lay heavy upon his shoulders...he has time to stop and talk to the individual...for all time is in the hands of his Father. And that too is why peace and not unrest goes out from him."

Actually, this is one of the most interesting sections of the book...a reflection on how ministry in obedience and 'under' God's faithfulness avoids frenzied activity and burnout.