The Ego and the Soul

'The ego needs success to thrive; the soul needs only meaning.'
Richard Rohr

Wow I love this quote. I read it yesterday and was challenged.
My life is often governed by success and I feel great when I've achieved something and especially when my achievement is appreciated by someone else. This goes to show that my ego is very much alive. Meaning is depth. Depth is what the soul needs.

Dr Mitri Raheb - Seven Things You Never Knew About Palestine And The Pal...

I heard Dr Mitri Raheb speak at Greenbelt.

Here's a short video where he gives some interesting insights about Palestine.

Sermon on Sheep and Goats

Here's a link to a delightful sermon by Nadia Bolz Weber.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nadiabolzweber/2014/11/sermon-on-sheep-and-goats/

...A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, and subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, and subject to all.  (Martin Luther, the Monk!)

To live as those whom God loves is to serve the other in that same love. I see this in you. For you are the blessed of God. (Nadia Bolz Weber)

Changing Our Minds

David P Gushee is a respected American evangelical theologian/ethicist. He has written several books about christian ethics and in his latest book 'Changing Our Minds' (publish October 2014) he confesses that he has changed his mind about the gay marriage issue and in 126 pages explains why this is so.
He takes the 'homosexual' passages in Scripture and reveals in a persuasive and coherent manner that the Bible is not anti-gay.
In his analysis of Genesis 18 & 19 (the Sodom & Gomorrah story) he convincingly shows that God's judgement has nothing to do with same-sex faithful relationships but about attempted 'gang-rape' and inhospitality. (See Matthew 10:15/Luke 10:10-12).

His analysis of Lev 18:22/20:13 is also compelling. All kinds of sexual acts are banned in the passages in Leviticus...also certain food is banned...a disobedient son was to be taken outside the town and stoned...
He writes 'If we say Christians may not accept all the laws or the principles offered in the Old Testament, but we are committed to belief in the core character of God as revealed there, such as the idea of God is holy and demands holiness, this is better. But this does not resolve the question whether all same-sex relationships violate the character of a holy God. Nor does it settle the question of whether divine holiness-at least the kind of holiness emphasized in Leviticus-fits with the character of God as taught and embodied by Jesus Christ...'

1 Cor 6:9 and 1 Tim 1:10, are often quoted as proof that homosexuality and homosexual practices are wrong and those that practice them will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Gushee points out that the context and the words used (arsenotoitai) suggest that Paul is referring to same-sex prostitution that took place in the Greco-Roman world.So it would be more fitting for the english translation to be 'sex-traffickers, 'sexual-exploiters', 'rapists', or 'sexual-predators' and NOT 'homosexual perversion'.

Gushee analyses other key verses and points to the fact that we can hold a thoroughly biblical view of same-sex covenant relationships.

He also looks at the world of science and his own personal encounters with gay christians, and comes to the conclusion that there is a place for same-sex covenant relationships.

Another book that helped me personally grapple with the gay issue was 'What God as joined together. The Christian case for gay marriage' by David Myers and Letha Dawson Scanzoni (2005).
Myers is a Professor of Psychology at Michigan's Hope College.

Allah - A Christian Response

I've just read an amazing book 'Allah - A Christian Response' by the Croatian theologian Miroslav Volf. The book is extremely well documented and researched meticulously.
I believe that it's a book that all Christians should read in order to gain a better understanding of Our God and how we can relate to Muslims and their perception of our one and true God - 'the common God of Muslims and Christians, whom we both understand in different and yet remarkably similar ways' (Miroslav Volf)

Here's a few quotes from the book: (You really need to buy it to get the full impact of his arguments but hopefully these selected quotes will be a taster)

P51 Nicholas of Cusa:

1. God is infinite & boundless- not limited in anyway.

2. Humans can’t understand what is boundless only God.

3. As the infinite & incomprehensible one, God precedes all names.

God is beyond number (in regards to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity...)

1. Oneness is prior to all plurality & is a source of all plurality

2. The Trinity in God is not plural or numerical, but is simply oneness

3. In God no opposition between ‘self’ and ‘other’

4. God is ‘one’ in the sense of ‘absolute unity’ rather than in the sense of a number

(same thinking as Augustine & Aquinas)

P54 ‘Divine simplicity’ = God doesn’t have attributes God is God’s attributes

P56 It is part of God’s perfection that God is loving in God’s own being apart from the world, and it is part of God’s perfection that God is able to create the world. Neither would be possible if God was not the Holy Trinity

P101 Both Christians and Muslims worship/believe the same ‘object’:

1. God is One

2. God is creator

3. God is incomparable and different from the world/creation

4. God is good

(P102 Worship = love G, love your enemy (Mtt 22:37 – 39) )

5. God commands that we love G with whole being

6. God commands that we love our neighbours as ourselves

P119 Muslims & Christians worship the same God. It is whether they both worship the ‘true’ God. Deeds reveal which G we worship.

P123 Same God?

1. To the extent that Christians & Muslims embrace the normative teachings of Christianity & Islam about God, they believe in a common God

2. To the extent that Muslims & Christians strive to love God & neighbour, they worship the same true God

P129 The divine ‘three’ are one single and undivided divine essence, not three divine essences next to each other compromising some kind of divine ‘troika’. The oneness of G (tawhid)

P134 ‘Father, Son & Holy Spirit do not mean one God with two beings alongside him (there are not 3 divine beings but one divine being) – the Living and Self-subsistent, associated with no other. (Rowan Williams)

P135 A basic rule for Christians as they speak about God: ‘Never divide the divine essence’

P136 Seyyed Hossein Nasir (Contemporary Muslim scholar: ‘The doctrine of the Trinity certainly does not negate the Divine Unity in mainstream Christian theology.’

P142 To say that there are ‘3 Persons’ in God means only that there are 3 eternal, inseparable, and interpenetrating agencies; in each the other 2 are present, and in each, the single divine essence is present.

P147 Why the Trinity? God in Jesus Christ reconciling the world to its divine source & goal (2 Cor 5:19) Need to encounter God at a deeper level therefore 2 things need to happen:

1. God, while not compromising God’s divinity, has to ‘come’ to human beings ‘as’ God

2. Human beings, limited as they are, need to perceive G ‘as’ G

Therefore God (not ceasing to be God) comes to humanity in Jesus Christ; through the power of the Holy Spirit, people are able to recognize Jesus Christ the self -revelation of God

P148 Doctrine of the Trinity is a way of explaining why we say God ‘is’ love, not only that he shows God (Rowan Williams)

P154 Christian meaning of ‘love’ = Commitment to give of what we have and of what we are. (Jn 3:16) God ‘gives’ therefore God is ‘generous’ therefore God is merciful – God of mercy (Islam) = God of love.

P157 Love & Justice both Christians & Muslims agree that God’s love precedes and encompasses God’s justice.

Book: Al-Ghazalis ‘The 99 Beautiful Names of God’

P162/163 Al-Ghazalis “al-Ghaffar” ‘(God) he who is Full of Forgiveness’…’makes manifest what is beautiful and conceals what is ugly’ ‘Whoever overlooks the ugly (sin) and mentions the beautiful is one who shares this attribute’. Therefore forgiveness = ‘concealment’…not seeing wrong and not counting it against the wrongdoer. And God highlights what is beautiful.

U2 Grace – "Grace finds goodness is everything".

‘Love covers a multitude of sins’ (1 Pet 4:8)

Love celebrates the good; it makes manifest the beautiful and ‘rejoices in the truth’ (1 Cor 13:6)

Book: Seyyed Hossein Nasr ‘The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam’s Mystical Tradition’ (2007)

P170 Only if divine love is, from the beginning, a love for the ‘other’ within God does it make sense for God to create and love the world – the other outside God. And only if ‘other’ is already in God, does it make sense for the creation to ‘collapse’ into God.

P181 Sum up what Christians & Muslims say about God & love:

1. God loves creatures in a compassionate, gift-giving sort of way

2. God is just

3. God’s justice is an aspect of God’s love for – or mercy towards – creatures

4. Humans are called to love all neighbours as they love themselves

P202 A common commitment to love God & neighbour should lead both Muslims & Christians to seek (1) To know themselves and others truthfully and (2) spread faith respectfully

P203 Human elevation toward God, understood by each faith differently is their joint mission – to bear witness that a life of true human flourishing is possible only when we resist the pursuit of mere pleasure and in love turn toward God & neighbour.

P211 Two basic rules for witness in word & deed:

1. Witness to others only if you are prepared to let them witness to you

2. Witness in a way you think others should witness to you

Book: Al-Ghazali ‘ The Alchemy of Happiness’ (trans Claud Field 2008)

P218 The whole of humanity is divided into the city of this world and the city of God, one dedicated to the love of self (mere pleasure) and the other to the love of God & neighbour. Muslims & Christians can be allies in promoting a vision of human flourishing- centered in love for God & love for neighbour

P253 Barth: When the idol of religion is smashed and God is acknowledged as God, the world appears as a unity and the search for the common good can begin.

P254 It is time for Muslims & Christians to rebel against religion as a marker of identity and weapon in worldly struggles. It usurps the place of God in their lives. As believers in the one God, they should affirm together than no other way – no culture, no nation, and yes, not even religion – is God. God alone is God – the common God of Christians & Muslims, whom they both understand in different and yet remarkably similar ways.

Believe and Macro-Stories

Just finished reading Marcus Borg's book 'Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time' (1994).
He ends the book by speaking of 3 macro-stories that are found in the Bible and that also shape our understanding of God and the Christian life.
The first is Exodus story (meaning 'the way out/the road out') the story of Israel's bondage in Egypt under Pharaoh and their liberation.
The second is the story of Exile and return when the people of Israel were exiled in Babylon and later were delivered and able to return home.
The third is the priestly story - centered in the Temple, sacrifice and the priesthood. The story of sin, guilt, sacrifice, and forgiveness.

All three speak of journey, God's compassion and liberation. We can return home, be set free from our bondages and addictions, and know that we are completely accepted by God.
They all speak of hope.
We are called to be disciples of Jesus - those that follow after him.

The Bible speaks of 'believing in Jesus'. Believing literally means 'to give one's heart to'. So we are mistaken if we think that  believing in Jesus means to intellectually consent to a set of dogmas and facts about him and the church. To believe in Jesus is a thing of the heart, it's a relationship...

Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time - is an enjoyable read - challenging at times and brings a fresh understanding of Jesus (in 1994). Borg has written several books since so the ideas in the book are no longer new but the Meeting Jesus... is both concise and easy to understand which helps the reader to grasp some important points in Borg's thinking.

Bradley Smith @ Seclin

The 4th Seclin Motor Show took place over the weekend. Yesterday I took a butchers. Loads of bikes...great atmosphere!
Brit Motogp rider Bradley Smithwas present signing autographs. I couldn't resist having a chat with my fellow Briton, getting his autograph and a wee photo.

Bradley rides for French owned team Yamaha Tech 3. Unfortunately he crashed on the opening race at Qatar with only 6 laps to go and running 4th place. He's a great rider and he could do well this year. Only his second year in Motogp for the 23 year old.

Good luck Bradley :)