Me Too, Church Too

The Peril of Fallen Leaders

The thought is scary: the number of prominent Christian leaders who saw amazing growth in their congregations and whose charisma touched lives globally have revisited what they once believed to the point of reassessing or abandoning the faith.

I am writing this having gone down the rabbit hole of a Facebook post. The author spoke of his conservative and evangelical background, 15 years of pastoring, and then realising the people he was taught to fear were just as much flesh-and-blood good people deserving of respect, courtesy, and consideration.

This led me to a podcast, The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill, a journalistic examination of the growth of a church plant in 1996 that collapsed dramatically in 2014.

A Fall From Grace

The fall of Mars Hill was not because of pastoral impropriety, but attributed to bullying, abuse, arrogance, and elements of narcissistic personality disorder found in the public figure leading the church, who resigned in 2014.

It makes you wonder about how Lucifer, in his exalted position in the presence of Almighty God, acquired that situation declared as, "Iniquity was found in him." I have agonised over how, in such a holy setting, a creature could turn wrong and take a third of the angelic host with him. How did Lucifer convince those angels of a better place than at the throne of God?

There must have been a cult following, where focus shifted from the principal or the principle to a personality.

When Personality Eclipses Purpose

The same happens in church, at work, in school, and in politics. In the Church, the focus should always be Jesus the Christ, regardless of how the vessel is used to bring the gospel and healing to the people.

Charisma can shift focus from the important, but with that comes the facility for actions that allow leaders not to be held to account and, consequently, not to be accountable for what they do.

Those who should stand up to authority are made to plead fealty with the admonition that straying out of line will be considered insubordination, rebellion, or even heresy. The leader posits as a god amongst mortals: untouchable and unassailable, infallible and literally inerrant.

It is a dangerous place to be, but this is evident in many congregations as the flock are led as sheep to the slaughter. Worse still is that these leaders do not stand alone; they are enabled and have enablers that create the myth and mystique that allows an untenable situation to thrive.

My Own Engagement With Church

In my engagement with the church, I have studiously compartmentalised things. The congregation is a meeting of people; the leadership have an onerous responsibility to "feed my sheep" according to the exhortation Jesus gave Peter before ascending to heaven.

I have participated in help or service roles but never sought leadership, even when such positions were offered because of my commitment or my knowledge of the Word.

I have not been inclined to lead and have viewed so-called leadership classes with suspicion, knowing just how power can corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Knowing my human frailties, I have consideration of how inadequacies are faltering stumbling blocks. I depend on the grace of God, knowing the things beyond me are possible with God.

The Lure of Hero Worship

Naturally, I am not given to hero worship. I have always operated from the perspective that the only person to fear is one with two heads, and I have never met one.

Subscribing to a cult of personality probably fills a void somewhere in the psyche of the followers. I do not know for sure, but I have seen the damaging effects on the victims of such settings: from those adoring prophets in tune with familiar spirits, revealing things that imitate the word of knowledge (a gift of the Spirit given as he wills to the church), to those in unsupervised congregation settings where the leaders are now celebrity superstars worshipped by their followers.

When the structures and frameworks of these cults excusing abuse collapse, what do people have left if they had long stopped looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith?

A Call to Reflect

I can only recommend you listen to the podcast because it is as revealing as it is educational. We are all working out our salvation with fear and trembling.

This blog is hardly exhaustive on the many issues that emanate from beliefs, doctrines, allegiance, and faith. This is a contribution to the broader conversation.

A Google NotebookLM AI Audio Overview Discussion of this blog

Our Awesome God: Eternity Beyond Earth's Limits

Phil Wickham - What An Awesome God (Official Lyric Video)

The Vastness of Existence

Living on this planet Earth in the vastness of the universe presents an awesomeness about our existence and what makes us exist. Sometimes, I think we are hardly well acquainted with the lifeforms we share this Earth with. Limited by the natural elements of sound and light, our ability to perceive is lacking, even with instrumentation.

In my view, all the planets could be inhabited with lifeforms so radically different from us but fully adapted to the environments they are in, just as fish take to water as we take to land. However, that is another story.

Time in the Eternal Spectrum

We live in a spectrum of eternity; time as we measure it is an infinitesimal fraction of that expanse. In the infinite stretch of eternity from the past, through the present, into the future, everything exists and then does not. Yet we have the imagination of time travel in both directions that can surmise everything is happening at the same time, though our experience of it is limited to the present.

A star somewhere in the firmament is born as another dies, yet it could take billions of years for the light from those stars to reach us. What we then experience in the present is in the distant past of that star. It is a mystery, and there is likely more that transcends the limitations of light in speed and for sight, that could carry us into any time in the span of eternity.

Wheels Within Wheels

In the Scriptures, we read of wheels within wheels. Viewed in the context of time, each wheel has a hub and spokes to the rim and edge of the wheel. If eternity were a wheel, from the hub, you could have a view of any part of the eternal landscape that presents as a sphere of wheels engineered in awesome craftsmanship that defies explanation. Time becomes a place you choose to belong in or observe. [Bible Gateway: Ezekiel 1]

Another wonder is shared by Apostle Peter about the concept of time in the eternal scheme of things, when he says, "that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" [Bible Gateway: 2 Peter 3:8].

Eternal Life Beyond Earthly Limitations

The longest-lived man in the Bible lived for 969 years; Methuselah did not live the length of a Lord's Day. Then just consider the coming of Jesus Christ, who gives eternal life to those who accept Him as Lord and Saviour.

We are taken out of the limitations the Earth, light, and time impose on us as we decay in earthly living to a dimension that is sure to blow any earthly mind away. Our God is an awesome God.

A Google NotebookLM AI Podcast on this blog

My Lenten vision beyond temptation to triumph

By the Spirit of God

As this Lenten season according to church tradition begins tomorrow on Ash Wednesday, I have been thinking about what spiritual growth I seek to achieve. There are many struggles and situations I find myself in that challenge my discipline and resolve, understanding how to triumph is a walk of faith and “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the LORD Almighty. [Bible Hub: Zechariah 4:6]

Yet, we think that by mental capacity and fortitude, the force of determination and discipline, we can totally overcome the vagaries of humanity to which we are too susceptible in habits, desires, temptations, and tests. There is a reason why the phrase, “Lead us not into temptation,” exists in the Lord’s prayer. Temptation is more than a lure; it feeds on our natural instinct to yield and fall into it. There is always a way out, but we rarely find it.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. [Bible Hub: 1 Corinthians 10:13]

Bible Versions, so many

In view of how temptation seems to wield such influence over us, I have decided to revisit the temptation of Jesus Christ, not in what He was tempted of, but in how He responded to each temptation. Those red letters in the gospels have drawn my focus to a new understanding of what is possible.

While I have developed a preference for listening to and reading the New Living Translation (NLT), the traditions in which I was taught and how I remember verses are in the King James Version (KJV). However, when I share single verses, I offer links to over 30 English translations covering the modern, classic, literal and other versions, to give context and understanding in the different modes of English we use.

Temptations abound, but we can win

Apostle John talks of the ways in which temptations take hold of us, in each of which Jesus was tempted too. “For we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses; but was in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.” [Bible Hub: Hebrew 4:15]

The apostle lists out the fundamentals of temptation and how they are all not of God.

“For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.” [NLT]

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” [KJV] [Bible Hub: 1 John 2:16]

The lust of the flesh

To the first temptation of turning stones to bread to feed his hunger after a 40 day fast, Jesus answered the devil and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” [Bible Hub: Matthew 4:4]

I find in this the need to immerse myself and feed on the Word of God for strength and sustenance. This always transforms my thought processes and guides me in places where I need inspiration, insight, peace, and resolution.

The lust of the eyes

When the devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and asked dared him to jump because angels will bare him up, lest he dash his foot against a stone, the devil was quoting from Psalm 91:11-12, though inaccurately, Jesus said unto him, “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” [Bible Hub: Matthew 4:7]

Understanding God’s word better would give one an understanding of God’s will, what He would do, and what He does not do. God is not into the sensational or theatrical displays for entertainment, feeding our egos or lusts, but for bringing men into the kingdom of God.

The pride of life

Finally, the devil chose to tempt Jesus with giving him the world he came to die for by suspecting he could have the world just by falling and worshipping the devil. The same devil and the works of the devil; he came to earth to condemn and destroy. Then saith Jesus unto him, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” [Bible Hub: Matthew 4:10]

Temptation always offers a shortcut to pleasure and attainment, but never by the right and just means. We could be easily drawn away with pride and that sense we could do things alone without anyone’s help or the discovery of how we have achieved success by suspicious means.

Stoicism and strength in faith can only come from trusting in God, feeding on His word and seeking only to do His will with the power of the Holy Spirit in us.

This is my Lenten vision and my greatest desire to live and love this way. Have a wonderful Shrove Tuesday. Now to find a Lenten prayer group for study and devotion.

To consider what God wants for me is the best news

Consider your situation with contemplation

In the sermon I heard in church yesterday, the preacher asked what each of us would consider the best news ever to receive. Thoughts raced through my mind like someone who had met with a genie that could grant three wishes. How we can so rashly lose advantage in the face of a great bounty.

The child in me was ready to blurt out an ephemeral desire, but my better angels constrained me to think deeply about what it is that is indeed the news that would best be fulfilling of a desire, a wish, a hope, the news that would keep me beaming stronger than the midday sun in the tropics.

In the scheme of things, some would desire winning the lottery, so much money coming into your possession, it neither defines wealth nor health, many have had more money than can be counted and have had no peace, no health, no happiness, or no contentment to enjoy what they have. They are miserable and miserly, depressed and full of despair, the momentary thought of things taken care of can also be the suddenness of the better things taken away.

Something life-threatening suddenly solved

No, it was not the lottery I wanted as the best bit of news for me, useful as it might be, I saw a story I never wanted written about me. He won so much money and had no life with which to live and enjoy it. Cecil John Rhodes was said to be probably the only commoner apart from the royal family that could bring London to a standstill when he visited. On his deathbed, despite being one of the world’s most influential men of substance of his time said, “So little done, so much to do.” [Quotes: Cecil John Rhodes]

His health failed him at the age of 48, he had won the stupendous lottery of money, but it could not save his health.

Which brought me to another thought, I am facing prostate cancer, a condition that somewhat exists in a place I can neither see nor access. It presents no pain or discomfort, but the doctors in their conversations among themselves without telling me, until I read it in their notes had assessed it as malignant. Heck! It is cancer in a seemingly little place that can so easily kill you too.

You can imagine, I then thought having dismissed the good news of winning the lottery that I wanted to be totally healed. In one moment, every trace of cancer and infirmity obliterated in an instant and wholeness, nothing missing nothing lacking nothing broken – this being the full meaning of Shalom that we usually translate glibly as a greeting of peace. If only we knew in truth what peace and the peace of God really meant.

Surely, there is more to desire

Yet, I felt something was still missing from this thought, it was desire fed from my situation and circumstances, no less valid but still wanting. I could have my full health but then have no means or capacity to do the amazing and pleasurable things of life. I find myself thinking many times that there is more to life than this.

Jesus hung on the cross for more than just us getting by and still we barely enter the fundamentals of the goodness of why God gave His only begotten Son for the world, but we should dare to personalise it. If the King of Heaven thought I had this much value for Him to willingly sacrifice Himself, how is it that I am desperately failing to understand and appreciate it?

It might seem I was so long in thought, but I soon realised where I should set my hope, my desire, my need, and my fulfilment. It is in the Word of God, saying what God thinks, says, and desires about me. It came to me in these words, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” I was thinking in King James English, and it had much to say to me. [Bible Hub: III John 2]

It has unparalleled completeness

It addressed everything I could ever desire for the best news, a full life of blessing in spirit, soul, and body. Another translation, the New Living Translation, says, “Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.” How can you not want wellness in your soul, health in your body, and strength in your spirit? The prosperity of the soul includes the fullness of your years too. There are more reinforcing translations of the same text to confirm purpose and intent.

I will take that every day and be thankful for every moment of the goodness and mercy of God following me all the days of my life. The Psalmist concludes the 23^rd Psalm with, “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” [Bible Hub: Psalm 23:6]

The import of that message is as grand as we so easily dismiss its meaning. Nothing can touch you in the house of the Lord even as you are well cared for and catered for by the very best that the universe has ever had to offer.

To think it alone is mind-blowing and yet there is every means to live it from this moment onwards.

From futility to fruitfulness

As it ought

Indeed, I have faltered in my thought,
For long have I determinedly fought,
As a fisherman every night was fraught,
For the fish needed, never caught.

To your audience was I then brought,
And a boat for a soapbox you sought,
From which the people sat to be taught,
The parables of heaven you wrought.

Then the nets once cast for naught,
You spoke to me and I sighed to aught,
In response, you gave a grunt in retort,
Suddenly the greatest catch overwrought,
A boat and two were packed to the port.

In your words were a bounty bought,
Delivered from the pain of want and rot,
In miracles you ever generously allot,
To show we were never an afterthought.

Inspired by The Chosen, Series 1, Episode 4 – The Rock On Which It Is Built 

Walking through danger and on water

Unusual neighbourhoods

When I get home, I feel like I want to crash out after my walk and today, it was just 16.25 km in 2:42:41 hours at a faster pace than I have attempted before. I was back on the circuit of Peel Park and then to another, Albert Park before making it home.

The discovery process is one that intrigues because just over a month ago, the park was closed whilst the police searched for knives. It looked genteel enough with people of all ages at play, from children to the elderly, but what can you say about inner city places. [MEN: RECAP: Salford park closed as police search for knives]

Let’s go for a walk on water

Meanwhile, after work, I got a notification of a sermon preached by Steven Furtick of Elevation Church whose ministry I have followed for about 10 years. I do not particularly believe in coincidences, but to find that his text was the same as the one we heard in church yesterday could only mean I had another perspective to consider.

Blog - Can you abandon your experience for the extraordinary?

The title Water Walking 101 is worth another listening to for me, and the best I can do is share it, I hope you get something from it. What it affirms to me is we need to revisit these bible stories again, because unlike nature where seams of precious metal can be exhausted after mining, revelation and insight from the word of God is inexhaustible.

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I ran the tape measure around my midriff and an inch has gone. I guess I am seeing some results. I have an earlier pill time and by that an earlier bedtime too.

Can you abandon your experience for the extraordinary?

Learning to trust beyond experiences

I sometimes consider my situation with amusement, for I had yesterday said Sunday might well be a day of rest. I cannot say it became the day of expected rest for in the morning I made for church after a night the tracker said was better, but I appeared to struggle through trying to get more sleep beyond vivid dreams.

The message at church was based on trust and being saved from situations and disaster as depicted in the narration where the disciples saw Jesus walking on water in the middle of a stormy sea. The majority of disciples being fishermen would have known the reality of stormy seas. Small boats at the mercy of billowing waves, the fishermen caught between life and death, terrified at their helplessness. [Romans 10:5-15 (NKJV)][Matthew 14:22-33 (NKJV)]

Beyond that, even if the fishermen were strong and able swimmers, it is doubtful that when hit by a storm they’ll just jump in the water and swim to shore and safety. Besides, they might also know other fishermen that would have perished at sea without trace lost forever in the deep as a lingering memory of the dangers of their trade.

Don’t let it be too strange

It is in this context that they saw a man, the man Jesus walking on water and obviously from their experience at sea would immediately think it impossible and suppose they were seeing a spirit. Their being tossed about in their boat was compounded by the fear of the incomprehensible.

It is then that Jesus said, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” Yes, he told them, and of the many translations, I like the God’s Word Translation the best, "Calm down! It's me. Don't be afraid!" [BibleHub: Matthew 14:27]

It was as if Jesus was saying He knew they had never experienced this before and it was time for them to experience the incredible and add it to their wealth of personal experience and the full recognition of his authority on earth. You could not have witnessed this and remained the same afterwards.

How our experiences rob us of the divine

Whilst they were busy processing that information, Peter said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” To which Jesus simply said, “Come!”. At the point Peter did step off the boat with all his fisherman experience in the middle of a stormy sea and walked on water towards Jesus. Until it dawned on him, fishermen don’t walk on water and he began to sink.

We can agree he was far enough from the boat not to grab it and near enough to Jesus when he cried from help and Jesus stretched out his hand to catch him, they both walked back to the boat, and the storm ceased.

For all the additional perspectives to add to this situation, there is one evident thing, your worldly experience limits your ability to experience the wonder and power of God. Then, if you do go against every knowledge you have to listen to and act on the one-word command of Come, you will experience the power of God and when your personal experience begins to cloud that godly experience, you only have cried out to be saved and brought to safety, whether you have little or great faith.

For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” [BibleGateway: Romans 10:13]

That was the depth and beauty of the sermon in church today

Thought Picnic: No Parable of the Prodigal Friend

The Prodigal Friend

I wondered why Jesus never told a parable of the prodigal friend, He did tell one of a prodigal son and the redeeming power of fatherly love despite the failings of that son who justifiably should have been consigned to the scrapheap.

The story of realisation and reconciliation is both profound and deep; it is however amazing how that could easily be seen in real life.

As I thought on this, I realised there was no need for a parable of the prodigal friend because friends have a particularly practical significance that is either of clear dedication or sad betrayal.

The involved friends

The practical example of this friendship was demonstrated at a meeting Jesus had in a house where he was teaching, the house was so crowded full of the Pharisees and scribes that no one else could have access.

A lame man had four of his friends help him to that venue, no doubt with the view to having the miraculous power of Jesus heal him. When they could not get into the house, they climbed on the roof, removed the roofing tiles and let their friend down into the midst of the crowd in the presence of Jesus.

As the story goes, Jesus saw their faith and with that he told the lame man his sins were forgiven and he should pick up his bed and walk, which he promptly did to the marvel all present to see the miracle and the consternation of those who debated the issue of forgiveness of sins.

What was clear was what the friends did to contribute to the lame man’s access to healing, most importantly, they wanted him fit and able as themselves than for him to be limited in his interaction with them – a prodigal friend of sorts.

The Prodigal Brother

Conversely, what is said of the brother of the prodigal son is interesting that I am inclined to call him the prodigal brother by reason of the fact that he had status, opportunity and privilege but failed to realise any of that until when he noticed the merciful and loving expression of his father to his brother.

What he always had with his father but never deigned to live in the fullness of, led to his nursing resentment, anger and offence at what was so avoidable if he had availed himself of the standing and the reality of who he was.

Friends can stick closer than a brother, a friend showed such great love that he laid down his life for his friends. It is a matter of character and personality to find friends who are ready to bear you down in your bed into the presence of the biggest miracle of your life – friends are experience and much more but we need discernment to determine true friends from fair-weather friends or just mere acquaintances.

For those who have felt betrayed by those they call friends, have mercy and keep the ones that do really care. For there comes a time when friends do matter, because then, we are totally helpless and needful of them.

Note: The first publication of this blog was full of errors, I probably should have left writing it until the morrow, but I was determined to get it out. In any case, my friend @zebbook on Twitter noticed the poor editing and discreetly informed me of the poor copy. I hope I have repaired the damage; else, I’ll have another look when the daze of my pills wears off. Thanks Bukola.

What rice for Christmas

Up and about late

My Christmas day was a very slow start, it was probably well into the afternoon before I managed to slip out of bed by which time a number of phone calls and text messages had come through that I did not get to handle because my phone was in vibrate mode having been set to that ay church the day before at the Christmas carol service.

When I did get up my friend was already cooking the beef and tripe but was unsure of what we should have for Christmas lunch.

Rices for choice

There was one for making stew and white rice, the other for making jollof rice and fried plantains. Considering I had put much stock into acquiring ingredients suitable for jollof rice, we went for that and postponed the making of stew till later.

So, there I was in the kitchen, softening the dried barracuda fish cuts in hours of boiling and preparing the seasoning for the jollof rice – my eventual scheme involved first frying the rice and then pouring the cooked vegetables and seasoning into the rice afterwards.

The plantains then went into the electric fryer and within 90 minutes we were done for our Christmas meal which we had to the strains of the gospel of Saint Matthew.

Giving Jesus a look in

An interesting difference that started with the nativity story through the ministry of Jesus Christ, there was no way the significance of Christmas would be lost on Christmas day.

Unfortunately, by the time we settled down, the Queen’s speech was over and television was a bit of a drag between those who are fed up with Christmas and those who make Christmas a complete fawning annoyance – forget the religious significance, Jesus nowadays cannot get to blow the candles on His birthday that is if he ever gets invited in.

After a few cups of Smokey Earl Grey tea, it was really time to put our feet up or in my case lie down on the inflatable mattress and watch television through shuttered eyelids.

Of Christmases past

It is a long way from my Christmas days in Lancashire where after dinner my surrogate mum, my dear friend’s mother tries to get us out of the house looking for Sambo the slave who was buried some 200 plus years ago in some windswept wilderness whose grave still gets tended today or plodding in the snow where my wish for the sun is so intense, I cry for warmth.

In truth, my last three Christmases were spent in the sun in Gran Canaria, the memories of being at the beach at Christmas are fond.

As the night drew nigh, my friend suggested we watch his District 9 DVD; there has been much Nigerian angst about the film, it was important I had a good viewing before i comment on the film – this was a good opportunity to do that.

Christmas was quiet, good, fun and wonderful; I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas day too.

The Great Peace of Sabbath

Decisions far and near

Commuting for just about 4 hours a day means that weekend nights are not as available to fritter away even if one were propped up with artificial stimulants.

I had just cried off going to the Swingin’ Safari restaurant [1] which would have been a trip to The Hague from Apeldoorn, no problem with that, there are direct trains, but the thought that I would not be back home till the witching hours having left home at dawn did not appeal to me.

Besides, I am not your best car passenger, I prefer a Flintstone car ride [2] of manpowered acceleration than the daring-do of a car pretending to be in a Formula-1 race and I have been a few without being able to protest too loudly since I do not drive.

Missions revisited

Out of the blue came a phone call that flashed up a number and name I had not called for 5 years and I took the call with full recognition of the caller to find out that this contact had been instigated by visitors from the UK who were missionaries to non-Christians and those who through conversion had been ostracized from their communities.

They were once in the Netherlands till the laws on missionary work changed unfavourably about 6 years ago, so they moved to the UK where their work has been a blessing to many untold.

In the end, I was invited to dinner where my friend had whetted my appetite for roast lamb, potatoes, corn on the cob and other taste-bursting accoutrements, I could not refuse.

Sabbath Shalom

I arrived just before 19:30 having push back their dinner some 90 minutes, but it was handshakes, hugs and kisses as renewed our fellowship and friendship as well as an introduction to a family that had grown from just 2 to 5.

We were going to have the Sabbath meal [3]; so we sat at the table solemnly, lit the two candles, broke bread, poured the wine and the water and we sang the Sabbath Shalom song after which the blessing came at the end with Jewish chant.

We then got up, fell on each other’s necks, kissed and blessed each other and commenced our dinner.

The loss of Christian roots

At which point I lamented the fact that most of Christendom had lost its Middle-Eastern roots of community, fellowship, sharing and love.

We had become informal, indifferent, individualistic and literally independent of each other where togetherness, fellowship and the ability to share our deepest feelings with trusted co-religionists could help lift the burdens and find real solutions.

It began the discourse about the role of religion in humanity, the need to ensure that man is not sacrificed on the altars of customs, traditions, sacraments and creeds noting that Jesus clearly said the Sabbath was made for man [4] and not man for the Sabbath.

The gospel is the focus and viewfinder

We learnt that Christianity is still about the mission that Jesus Christ had to the world and that was clearly documented in the Gospels, meaning that it should remain the filter through which we view the Old Testaments and the Epistles – one could see how in many cases the Epistles had almost become post-Gospel and close to leaving the message about the man, Jesus too far away to be noticed.

Another issue was the way Christianity had evolved into Churchianity, people now say, that is not how we believe in our church rather than this is what the Bible says in relation to what Christ would or might have done.

Practical Christianity

In all the discourse, the most important thing was that we had congregated in fellowship for strengthen our friendship and communion part of which including sharing love, food, ideas and prayers – A most fulfilling evening it was; the core point was simply how to make Christianity practical, relevant and worthwhile without any religious encumbrance.

As I signed the guestbook again, I was able to flip pages back to when I first signed the book in March 2003, besides the missionaries from the UK, this couple whose mission with the youth [5] leaves one seriously unfulfilled in religious vocation, probably run the most welcoming and hospitable home in the Netherlands, they are a blessing to anyone who crosses their path.

In my view, that is the purpose of the Gospel.

Sources

[1] Swingin' Safari – Home

[2] The Flintstones - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[3] BBC - Religion & Ethics - Sabbath:

[4] Mark 2:27 - The Sabbath was made for man – World Council of Churches

[5] YWAM Amsterdam

Does Ichabod now live at the Vatican?

Holy See saw naught and did zilch

The irony should not be lost on you my readers, no, not at all.

What is this thing about the Pope caught in a security scare?

The Pope was having his usual Wednesday "walkabout", albeit in his Popemobile when a young man vaults over an embankment to approach the Pope, he clung to the vehicle for seconds before he was subdued by the security personnel - whatever was on his mind never saw fruition - maybe.

The more serious issue here is the realisation that whilst the Pope might be the head of an established church, his office does not seem to have the fantasy of the miraculous, maybe even hazard the occupation of palliative comfort.

In other words, we have a spiritual head who really is a political power commanding a quality of authority, a president, head of state or monarch would just as well require an entourage and the same retinue of personnel.

I would presume in Jesus' day, He would have sensed the incident, just as the woman with the issue of blood caught His attention because he felt virtue (miraculous power) had been tapped from His being and not so much for she having tugged at his garments - it would appear from the video footing, the Pope was completely oblivious of the event, or maybe even practically unperturbed.

The risk of faith

The young man however might have taken the risk of faith hoping to touch and latch himself to the Popemobile with the desire that he might be whole - that however might have been thwarted by the overzealous courtiers who deny people of Papal blessings in the guise of security and protection.

The man has also been handed over to the mental health authorities where the Master might have used the opportunity to minister grace and healing.

The mental health authorities are most likely going to put the poor chap in a strait jacket where he might have thought he would get the one touch of the healing hands of the Pope - Security again gets in the way of the Vicar of Christ on earth.

For the young man, at the Vatican, maybe miracles are impossible but a referral happens in an instant.

All that security and all makes you wonder where that amazing power of the Church now resides, not the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail nor does the authority of compassionate healing appears to be in the vision of the Holy See today - Alas! Ichabod now lives in Rome.

Pope in danger - All panic.

Sitting here in limbo

After death, then what?

I am no expert in paedo-theology, the religiosity of the unborn or the spirituality of the foetus, but a document released by the Vatican International Theological Commission brings this topic into new focus.

Obviously, there are dogmatic differences between Christian denominations on the matter of infant baptism and the issues of salvation before or after death, the posthumous expectations do matter a lot to those still living.

In contemporary terms, we view limbo as a place of undecided and unresolved situations, Catholic Theology has viewed it as a place not in heaven and definitely not in hell, but an almost there place in view of salvation but not entering into the presence of the Almighty.

The doctrine of the dead child

The Catholics have also agonised about the spiritual status of the aborted unborn child or children who die before they are baptised - this has varied from outright damnation to an almost heaven place.

The study now aims to redefine limbo in terms of the more comfortable green room but never getting to meet the host, though there is hope.

Suffer the children

Whilst I would not deign to challenge the authority of the Pope, I would recall that his boss Jesus Christ made such an issue of asking children to His company and blessing them whilst admonishing the learned adults that flocked Him that except they, the adults became like children they would not enter the Kingdom of God.

Other preachers listeners to repent and be baptised - whilst this is no exegesis of religious dogma, a few points are clear from these issues - children exhibit innocence and dependencies of trust that are necessary to establish a strong relationship with God and baptism accompanies repentance, indicating the person who is baptised be accountable, that person cannot be an infant.

Jesus was never ambiguous about children belonging in the presence of God and this is at variance with extant Catholic teaching.

Hope of salvation

However, in what is looking like trying to bolster the social views against abortion and committing a child to a religious association they do not understand; parents in those unfortunate circumstances of worrying about the loss or the possible loss of a child now have serious indulgence-like obligations to distress the child with a baptism service lest they have to regret leaving the child in a state of near damnation but with one eye of God on the child.

What I would hate to happen is a new doctrine that emerges on the conclusions of this one suggesting that the child can be prayed out of limbo into the arms of God through the much reviled indulgences of old, thus, playing on the hopes of the vulnerable parents.

Let me say we have the makings of a new Protestant reformation brewing whilst I am sitting here in limbo.