Glocal Christianity

Hello Possums

Here is a joke a work collegue shared with me today:

There were five churches in a small town:

The Presbyterian Church,
The Baptist Church,
The Uniting Church,
The Anglican Church and
The Jewish Synagogue.

Each church and synagogue was overrun with possums.

One day, the Presbyterian Church called a meeting to decide what to do about the possums. After much prayer and consideration they determined that the possums were predestined to be there and they shouldn't interfere with God's divine will.
In The Baptist Church the possums had taken over the baptistery. The deacons met and decided to put the plug in the baptistery, fill it with water and drown the possums in it. But the possums could swim, they escaped and there were twice as many there the next week.

The Uniting Church got together and decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God's creation. So, they humanely trapped the possums and set them free a few miles outside of town. Three days later, they were back.
The Anglican Church baptized the possums and registered them as members of the church. Now they only see them at Christmas and Easter.

At the Jewish Synagogue, they took one possum and had a short service with him called circumcision and they haven't seen a possum on the property since.

Ackbar Jesus

"Ackbar and Jesus" by Linkakami

Admiral Ackbar had good intentions ... but missed the bigger picture.

Illegal Jesus

"Illegal Jesus" by E9.

Somewhere it seems to have been forgotten by conservatives that Jesus was himself a refugee.

Good News for the Anxious

“I am the one that raises the whip to your already racing heart … I’m the voice, you know the one, who's always questioning, questioning, questioning everything you do, everything you think.”  

This is the voice of Anxiety, from the Beyond Blue clip that is hitting social media by storm. This is the voice that one out of every four of us experience some time in our life. And it is not a new experience either. The ancients themselves asked, “What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labour under the sun?” (Ecclesiates 2:22) and cried “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” (Psalm 139:23) If you’ve ever woken in a panic in the dead of night you are not alone.

At the end of the clip, Anxiety asks, "So, now that we have become acquainted, what are you going to do about it?" Having suffered from anxiety myself, this is a question that interests me deeply. Now of course there are secular answers to this, and of course we should explore these options. But above and beyond this I am after spiritual help, so I have also sought guidance from scripture.

For instance, the apostle Paul counselled his communities with these words, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  (Philippians 4:6). In this he followed Jesus, who said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? (Matthew 6:25) and “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27)

However, taken in isolation, I find these words less than satisfying. For who of us can stop worrying simply by self-effort? Would you accept these words from your doctor? And who of us has not experienced unanswered prayer? What happens when you’re left in an anxious state despite prayer, even in your prayers?

This is where we need some gospel perspective. We need to remember that Jesus himself suffered from anxiety, not least in the garden of Gethsemane, on the night before his crucifixion. Mark tells us, “He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.” (Mark 14:33) God among us ... he experienced anxiety! 

Think about it. Meditate on the implications. If God experienced anxiety, then experiencing anxiety is not necessarily an imperfection in us. It cannot, at least not automatically, be attributed to sin, or idolatry, or a lack of faith. Moreover, remember that Jesus acted faithfully even in his anxiety and saved us through this act and subsequent resurrection. His experience of anxiety was transformative. So, I seek for his experience to be transformative for me also.

Mavericks, Make Yourselves Known!

I was thinking of organising another get together for maverick Christians in and around Sydney ... or even just mavericks plain and simple ... who'd like to meet face to face for spirited conversations on life, the universe and everything. You know, deep and meaningful with plenty of laughs over some food and wine. If that sounds like you, register your interest in the comments of via email.

How Deserted

How deserted lies the city,

  once so full of people!

How like a widow is she,

  who once was great among the nations!

She who was queen among the provinces

  has now become a slave.

Lamentations 1

Blurry Jesus

"Jesus" by aaronwty

Jesus seems a bit out of focus in this picture. I wonder if that's a statement on the state of the contemporary church?

Jazz Age Jesus

"Jazz Age Jesus" by graven-images-426

The artists comments, "The third and final “chapter” of my gospel, “Jazz Age Jesus” is my ideal post-modern conception of a “Christ-figure”. Images associated death, knowledge, and the spirit are collaged, re-combined, and constructed to create another disembodied, yet complete figure. In the tradition of early Christian art, certain clues are given to indicate “divinity” and “spiritual love”. Within the same archaic tradition, I also refer to this image as “Christ as an Intellectual” (as opposed to “Christ as The Good Shepard, Christ in Majesty”, etc.) This is a triumphant and colorful ending to my gospel."

Not sure if I like it or not, but it certainly invites a closer look.

What is evil?

A question for you all: which understanding of ‘evil’ do you think is more in line with the New Testament: (a) evil as equal and opposite to ‘good’ or (b) evil as neither equal nor opposite to good, but rather, as an absence or distortion of ‘good’.

Who will lead Sydney Anglicans into the next era?

I was reading on the Syndey Anglican Network that Archbishop Peter Jensen is due to retire on July 11, just a few short months away. While responses to his legacy will no doubt vary, there's no doubt that Peter Jensen has had a profound impact on the Sydney Christian scene and well beyond. I wonder what comes next?