If you are so inclined and want to read any new blog/website stuff then check out my site: http://parmaham.wordpress.com/

Thanks..

Goodbye.

So, this is it. Had my last intern meeting today and am hereby no longer working part time for Hope Church Glasgow - consequently this is the final blog on this blog thing. I'm rather impressed with myself that I managed to pull this thing off from start to finish. Rather enjoyed this whole reflection thing.

First off, if you've read any of these, or dare I say even all of them, thank you very much for reading.

Secondly, I have thoroughly enjoyed my interning and thank Hope Church for the opportunity to learn and grow.

Thirdly, I like Fish and Chips. It's web official and there is no turning back now!

Fourthly, be blessed and may you, above all, experience the love of God.

Fifthly (is that even a word?), remember to brush your teeth everyday. It's very important.

And finally, goodbye.

The Second Decade: The Dismemberment of Authority

The 21st Century has been a strange beast. First we see the pillar of western civilization shaken to it's core in 2001. Followed by the gradual decline of it's reputation and moral stamina. The west joins a paradoxical crusade of the free-world to forcibly rid the east of it's dogma and extremism. While the average man sees the great colonial powers walk into dangerously recognizable territory, his oil prices go up and houses become too expensive not to sell. And so he borrows, until one day the man behind the counter apologizes because - well, he doesn't have anymore. All that money that has been lent and borrowed, well, it doesn't really exist and everybody has stopped buying houses. The economy collapses. The banks, the great arbitrator of fiscal circumstance, is actually a ugly man waiting to steal from you.

After we finally see that the popular idea of the big man in the suit is actually as mean as everyone says he is, we are shocked. But then, it didn't stop there. After the banks came the politicians. While Europe believed the US had woken up from it's state of delirium by voting Barack Obama, in Britain the men in charge of the country have been spending tax-payers money on toys and fancies. A new pool here and a new house there. The people who are meant to save us from economic and social collapse were morally inept. 

After the politicians came the journalists. Those who are there to keep everyone in check and let us know when the enemy of your peace loving, Sunday lunch eating, Brit strikes again, are the ones out to manipulate even the lives of grieving parents. Alongside the journalists come the police. Your friend and helper, helping the wrong crowd.

The 21st century has been a strange beast. It's an old cliche that those on the top of the ladder are greedy, a stereotype as old as print itself. It isn't as though we weren't cynical before this. The first world war has well and truly grafted it's aftermath into the universal psyche. We laugh at things that really are a bit tasteless. This country prides itself that it's humour is as black as the night, cemented in irony. We know that great ideas don't usually work. Preach communism and we'll tell you it went bankrupt. Practice is definitely not theory. But still, we are outraged. We are disgusted. A generation is marching up and down the streets angered by the lack of opportunity it's being given. It's inheriting a world that is in financial and moral debt. And people are dumbfounded. We are cynical, but somewhere in us, there was this romantic notion, that really things can't be that bad. 

Perhaps the new wave of technology brought rise to a strange optimism. A brave new world of networking among people so different and varied that surely it must breed a more tolerant and considerate human. Travelling made easy. Communication made simple. Facebook, Skype, EasyJet, Ryanair. Work places that don't smell of the dusty, old cobwebs of regime and discipline but rather fun and innovation. Microsoft and Apple. The first black president of the United States. Surely this means progress. Surely this means development. Surely this means a hopeful future. But somewhere down the line the past has crept up on it. And all these great advancements seem more like escapism rather than development.

The economy collapses. The banks that were suppose to monitor it turn out to be corrupt. The politicians who where suppose to monitor them turn out to be corrupt. The journalists who were suppose to monitor them turn out to be corrupt. The police who were suppose to monitor them turn out to be corrupt. Notice a trend here? Perhaps it's just me, but it seems that all the checks and balances seem to be cogwheels in a clock that doesn't tell the right time.

So, where do we go from here? Embrace cynicism as the final frontier of productive thinking. As long as we approach all things with skepticism and prejudice perhaps we'll just stay safe. Well, cynicism does little for productivity and tends just to make up apathy. Perhaps anarchy? Do away with all the orders of the past as they have clearly messed us up sufficiently. Brake it all down and simply have every man governing himself. Well, with an increase of world population by the minute, the whole one man is an island thinking doesn't really work. 

The relationship between cynicism and romanticism fascinates me. And it's somewhere in that debate that I think a solution can be found. If this intern year has grafted something into my mind, it's that I am looking in all things not for simply a 50/50 balance between the two but some lifestyle and thought process that allows for a complete acknowledgment of the realities of this world and the redemption of all things. 

We live in the second decade of this century. I wonder what it will look like.   

It's The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

May I make so bold a claim that one of the fundamental aims of the Christian life is to have your sense of value come from who you are, rather than what you do.

Sin is doing something wrong which affects our person, affects our very identity. If Jesus is the second Adam then he is the Human Species 2.0, and as we seek a life of righteousness and intimacy with God we become more like Christ, more like the new species of human and we are now defined by who we are and not what we do. Identity, not action, becomes the ultimate question.

My final trip to Sheffield for the internship was last week. With that it's become quite apparent that I'm drawing towards the end of the internship with Hope Church itself, and I guess this blog. Try not to feel too sad. I have until the end of July where Sarah and I will be joining Andy to go to Clan Gathering, which should be fun.

There are quite a few different
theories out there...

The last topic was eschatology which is hauntingly appropriate. (And an amusing coincidence that this was so close to the whole 21st of May stuff) Fortunately, Jesus didn't show up at the end of the lecture and I can therefore write this little thing. Basically covered all the different opinions on how the world is going to end. I personally am starting to think it will be something majorly anti-climactic for the world and glorious for God. A strange combination of the Big Bang and a whimper. The greatest ending and the most disappointing any novel has seen. I'm undecided on a lot of the specifics but something I have left with at the end of this whole lecture thing, and I guess this whole intern year, is the question - who is God? And what do I have to do with it?

Your eschatological theology is coloured by who you understand God to be, rather than the other way round. It's such a ambiguous subject that there is little exegesis you can do and come up with a clear picture with. So rather than going through it and making an opinion out of it, you have to put your own preconceived opinion into it, and as such it reveals more of who you are and what you think rather than the bible itself. And that's why I find it a fascinating study, it's the bible reading you, rather than you reading the bible.

So, what does that do to you? Well, it makes you read the rest of the Bible, because you start to realise that some of your eschatology makes God look like a big ogre and that somehow doesn't fit in with the rest. If you want to test what you really think of God, look at what you think of your eschatology. It's the measuring tool that God has provided us with - and I believe he intentionally has made it so unclear, for that very reason. So, you then begin to read and read and read and find ask the question afresh, who is God? Who is this strange concept, this strange man, this strange thing in the sky that has done so much for me, who is he? or she?

So here I am, spent a year working for the church, got good solid theological teaching through it. Had and still having amazing experiences with God and just getting to know him better and better and funnily enough I am now facing this question - what do I think of God and myself?

And here we have it. Eschatological theology often brings you back to works. The sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, the investors and virgins and others. There is a lot of doing that's going on here. James would say that it's because only in works do you find the authenticity of ones faith. Well, I think God's grace is the most powerful force in the universe and the most fragile. It relentlessly saves, it furiously loves and it passionately redeems all things and nothing can stop it. But strangely enough grace can be stopped. The cross can be emptied of it's power, by something as simple as loose talk.  (1 Cor 1:17) Grace is the greatest paradox in all of creation. It produces enigmas such as the coexistence of predestination and free-will. It sustains all things, but not all things. It loves all things, but not all things. And the understanding of grace is what fundamentally colours your eschatology and therefore colours your view of God.

One of the greatest miracles that grace performs is the re-evaluation of identity. When grace is given, sin is dead. The rock and the hard place have been removed and leave you're in a place of absolute freedom. Your value is no longer determined by what you do, which has always been the case in the history of man, but you have become Human 2.0, in which who you are is paramount. Your identity has been redefined - and out of that your actions spring.

And as the internship draws to it's close I can happily say, here I am and God is good.

Release the Colour

Two blogs in one week, this is unusually frequent for me, but I'm following an instruction I received from Twitter by Andy Crouch to write a little essay-type thing in response to an article by another guy called Timothy Dalrymple and comparing/contrasting/discussing it with a article on a new - AMAZING LOOKING - film by Terrence Malick called "The Tree of Life". The full articles you can find on http://bit.ly/irFTOL  and http://nyti.ms/mBjhrb The one is related to an argument about why "Christian movies" are understood to being really, really bad! The other about how "The Tree of Life" deals with the whole God/Eternity subject.

Now, it's not specifically related to my intern year, however this is my absolute passion and as I am fully planning to go into film I can't help but simply bless the world with my opinion on the matter.


Disclaimer: I'm not going to pretend that I've seen either film that have spurned both of the articles in question. The one being the aforementioned "Tree of Life" and the other being "Soul Surfer". All I can say is that I've done my duty as a 21st Century film buff and seen both trailers on Youtube, which will give you sufficient insight to understand that both of these films are very, very different.  I can't do the films any justice in reviewing them, but I will do my part in adding to a little debate that both of them feed.

~

The term Christian film really, for me, is where the problem starts. It speaks of a, primarily American export, that has become the Christian niche in modern culture. A nicely wrapped package of Christian values, utilizing cultural language. There is Christian music, Christian film, Christian art. In film, often what is understood by this is family friendly with a positive ending - Disney meets Jesus.

Soul Surfer seems to be a contemporary example of that. The article also uses The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock, which is fair to say has heavy Christian overtones and doesn't make any attempt at pretending this is not the case. These are films that are moving away from the rather painful association of other Christian films made in the 90s, where quality was perhaps not of the utmost priority. As nice as the films may be, my question is however, who are they for?

Well, Christian films are for a Christian audience. So, the entire production line is geared towards one cultural bubble. Is this what we are called to? Of course, the argument is that as we create our own culture others will be attracted to it, but are they? If Christian films are simply targeting middle class families who simply want a wholesome viewing experience then aren't we simply saying that the rest can have a nice day but need to move on since they don't share our tastes? I used to be violently against films like Soul Surfer and The Blind Side because I felt they were simply a white Christian indulgence, but clearly there is a substantially wide audience out there that appreciates that sort of film, so my dislike of them is more related to a matter of taste nowadays, rather than ideology.

However, how does that leave the Christian film industry? Well, I personally think that the Christian film industry should not be. Why do we need to have a solely Christian expression of film and yet we are quite happy to have Christians work in secular companies when it comes to something like law, engineering, politics, banks, and so on. Is it because as art it needs to be kept apart from the terrible influences that surround it? Art thrives on influence. Art is the expression of a cocktail of influences that make up a single person. Minimize the ingredients and you reduce the flavour. I'm not saying that the expression of films made by Christian filmmakers should send out non-Christian messages, but messages can be presented in all forms of packages and not simply restricted to one genre.

I'm not going to stand in line to watch "Soul Surfer" however I would happily to watch "The Tree of Life". It deals with very real issues that your Christian and non-Christian alike will relate to. And not only that, it does it originally, artistically and provocatively - we don't have someone drawing black and white strokes to define exactly what he is saying, but it's a colourful array which teases the senses. As to my earlier question, who is this for? Well, it's for anyone who is interested. It is for the same people that go into an art gallery to see a dazzling painting, it's for the people that go to that gig to listen to the hypnotic rhythm and harmony. It's for people. All people.

I'm not going to go into the typical Christian trap of trying to claim an artwork to champion his faith when it never really was the author's intention. I don't know what Terence Malick's intention was to make The Tree of Life, so I'm not going to use it as a definite example as a Christian alternative to films like the Soul Surfer, but what it does demonstrate is that with film there is a vast array of options open to any artist, be he/she Christian or not. And Christians should not be afraid to embrace that. 

'Cause we believe in a God who creates and we have Him at our disposal 24/7. There is no need to simply confine Him to a sterilized cultural environment in order to protect Him, because He can do that for Himself. My goal is to release Him into every layer of art. Let Him determine the flavour and the taste of everything I make and let the ultimate creator, create through me, something that touches the heart, the mind and the senses of those that don't know Him. To do that, it needs to meet them where they are at, it needs to speak their language and it needs to be an art that is fearless.

Disclaimer: As mentioned before, this is not to disregard the value of films that have a more family friendly slant. These have their place for people who enjoy those sort of films. I just feel that this is simply one genre and therefore the label of Christian film is unhelpful because it reduces an entire statement of faith and belief system in film to that single style.

Kings and Queens

Argue. Argue. Argue.

People are good at that. Seems like our ability to enjoy something is dependent on our ability to analyze it. To critique it, and we hope above hope - our ability to undermine it and find a flaw. 

I listened to an interesting talk on culture recently and in that talk a letter to the tutor of roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, Diognetus was quoted. The letter described some habits and traits of 2nd century Christians and a line in it struck me - "Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine." What a strange statement to make! But as I've thought a bit more about it, I've come to realise the value of it.

Argue. Argue. Argue.

We are good at that. Our ideology is king. It stands high above all other things, including people. We bulldoze over all personalities, preferences, emotions and needs as long as ideology is communicated. Ideology is king and rationality is his queen. To the extent that we will gladly fight for ideas which we barely have the slightest understanding of. Case in point, the creation vs evolution debate. 

Now, I know I'm stepping on dangerous ground here. But it just serves as an example of the Churches "championing of purely human doctrine". You will have a whole host of Christians getting into a debate in which they discuss over intelligent design, creation, evolution and so forth and not have the slightest clue what they are talking about. They know fancy words like micro and macro evolution and then run with those until kingdom come (quite literally!). And because this has now become not just a debate on how the world was established but more a question of faith vs science, if anyone stands against them they hold this as a testament against their own foundation of life and meaning, itself. Therefore, science has now become an evil thing amongst certain Christian circles and we get bogged down on ideas that only a few Christian scientists really understand and is mostly fueled by ridiculous sensationalism, and by doing so alienate anybody who stands on the other side of the fence.

That is my little rant on that specific topic over with. But it's just an example of how a very worldly debate, one that doesn't need to make the difference between an integrated community member and an intellectual pariah, can leave Christians passionately fighting for something that really is not our battlefield. I'm not saying, don't argue, don't debate, but what I am saying is that these are "human doctrines" and we are not here to promote human doctrine, we are here to offer a completely new paradigm.

The issue really seems to be a question of labels. There are many Christians who see culture as evil! It's part of a world that will one day roast in the eternal fires of the pit and therefore must be shunned. However, that again leaves us in a war that does not concern us. We are not fighting culture. We are here to regenerate it. Culture is the essence, the fragrance of a community. You can't fight culture as much as you can't fight gravity, the exercise would be quite futile and might leave you as a big bloody blob on the ground. 

I love debates and I love arguments. I love taking each rational step of an idea and scrutinize it. It's what we do these days. But let me say, that when it comes to ideology, it's not king. Love is king. And if ideology gets in the way of loving someone then I fully intend to drop it. Because I'm not interested in championing human doctrine, but channeling a revelation of love so above any human constructs that those who are sick are healed, those that are broken are mended and those who are lost are found. This is not an intellectual, ideological argument - this is action, this is culture, renewed.

Another section of the letter to Diognetus explains it nicely.

"With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign...And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country...They pass their days upon the earth, but they are citizens of heaven."

You can find the whole letter on the Vatican's website: http://www.vatican.va/spirit/documents/spirit_20010522_diogneto_en.html

In the Sunshine

The sun is shining in Glasgow.

As much as an oxymoron that may sound like it is actually true. As the students hustle and bustle between their homes, the library and university to prepare for exams, it is still true. As people begin to pine after some amazing holiday they planned in the next two months or so, it is still true. And as the world slowly finds those shorts that have been collecting dust for the past six months, it still remains true.

And with the sunshine comes positive dispositions. While Glasgow's summer seems to be a few months early, everyone is photosynthesizing a good mood into their systems and even your local pub goer is strolling the streets with bright coloured clothing and a grin on their face. 

Kelvingrove Park littering service

Nicely in between all the jolly banter and general wellbeing there is this overriding issue that this weather is not here to stay. As miserable and sour as it sounds, it's going to rain again. And this is going to determine my wardrobe and my lifestyle for the next few days, because as long as it's sunny I'm going to dress and live like it is, because I need to make use of it. And when the rain returns Glasgow will look it's usual self and resemble a city that's run by two football shirts, and if you wear the wrong one you'll have a bomb parcel sent to your front door, with love.

So, as much as everyone is nice and cheery I'm afraid it's not really going to change the way this city is. Interestingly enough though, there is a place where people are getting healed from lifelong illnesses, not needing hearing aids anymore, get to dance without support for the first time in their lives, cease to be allergic to cats and many other bizarre things.

As contrasting as having your hearing return to you and not being allergic to something anymore sounds quite substantial they are all for the same purpose. They are all there to let people know that whether in sunshine or in rain, there is something that can change this city. There is a family that wants to adopt people into promises of being healed from bodily suffering, being freed from nightmares that have haunted someone their whole lives, being loved and appreciated for the first time and having a chat with the actual God of the universe. 

Not an organisation. Not a circumstance. Not a religion. A family. One whose answer to issues in all the world is not just some romanticized notion of love or a better strategy plan or more hard work. But simply give sight to the blind, have the lame walk, lepers cleansed, deaf hear, dead raised, and have the poor the good news preached to them. And who ever isn't offended by that, well, let them come.

The Son is shining in Glasgow.

Nobody in their right mind...

So, there was this person who was born with a shorter thigh bone in the left leg. Got prayed for and as being prayed for the leg grew. This person dances for a living. 

So, either call me a liar, a religious enthusiast who sometimes bends the truth a little to make a story work, a wee bit not-quite-right-in-the-head, or perhaps believe me?

Brilliant Family Guy episode

So, nobody likes being told what to do. Nobody wants to spend their whole lives living by some antiquated system of rules that may have applied to a nomadic tribe of people over 3000 years ago, but doesn't really help anyone today. Nobody would want to have to spend their one day off, (and I mean the real day off, not that annoying day were you don't go to work but you still have to do loads around the house and odd jobs here and there because you don't have the time during the week) performing some strange exercise of singing the same four chord songs, with random people you see once a week.  Nobody in their right mind would want to be religious.

I'm not interested in proving anybody wrong about the above statements. Because I whole-heartedly agree. And I have not the slightest intention of putting a "however" after that sentence. I can't argue anyone into spending their whole lives around making themselves feel a little bit better about life just because they should try really hard to be a lot nicer, swear less, drink less, party less and so on. 

My verdict is you got a pain in your body, let's pray for it. You got a chronic mental illness, let's pray for it. You feel lonely, let's pray for it (and have a wee cheeky bevy and chat). I believe in a God who heals, delivers, loves, saves, comforts and a whole load more of other good stuff. "But the guy on the soap box just shouted out that I'll burn in hell if I don't repent, he's a Christian, isn't he?" My job is to love others like I love myself. My job is to show a God that this world has seen too little of. People don't repent because they see how bad they are, they repent because they see how awesome God is. Fact. 

  

10,080 Minutes

24/7 Prayer has begun.

I am presently killing time which I would normally be spending preparing for the comforts of my bed - but today I shall be leaving my home to go to Whiteinch Church to be praying from midnight till 2 in the morning. Why?

Ah well, if you believe in God then you might as well go all out. As ridiculous as it may be, I do believe that the dude who made the whole earth came as a man to said earth and died for all it's human inhabitants - past, present and future - to be completely robbed of all their wrong doings at their bequest, to ensure that these inhabitants (of which I happen to be one, would you believe it) may have constant access to this God.

If you then believe that this God is still continuously looking for regular interaction between men and women and have these play a vital plan in any of his future endeavours for further restoration to their original purpose and ultimate fulfilment, then well, you would ask him quite regularly, wouldn't you?

So, for this week Hope Church will be praying every hour of the day for the following week. Sound silly?

Well, again, if you genuinely believe that this God is real, then wouldn't you live a life accordingly?

Exhibit A: A Present

And this God has on multiple occasions made a point of how perseverance, unity and patience in prayer reaps rewards. And rewards is what I'm after. I'm a greedy little kid and I want my presents! These include getting to know this God character a bit more, seeing him do his magic and freeing people of lifelong issues like depression or maybe a missing leg.(?)

So, there we have it. You can argue your way around God not existing, that's fine. But if you've decided on the fact that he does and that the way the Bible describes him is accurate, then well, you should follow it's advise on how to interact with this God fellow, one of which being - "pray without ceasing". Funny enough, that's a verse in itself (1 Thessalonians 5:17) 

And now, I've successfully killed around 10 minutes writing this thing and I need to be off. Toodles.      

Religion doesn't work

Apparently if you pray for people they get healed. So, I'm giving it a shot and people are feeling better after I pray for them in the name of Jesus.

OK, you might not believe this - and you may think that stories like praying for someone and their once disproportionate legs becoming even are either bogus or a massive coincidence. Problem is, I know as a fact that they are not bogus and I do believe in coincidences but the mathematical odds of such regular coincidences as 4 healings every month for the past year are quite slim.

So, religion doesn't work. I'll admit to that, easily. The whole trying to be a better person by following rules made up by something  that doesn't exist is a bit of a waste of time, really.

The whole thing with religions is that they are also a bit useless, if we are honest. Just makes people's lives a bit miserable since they need to try really hard to be really nice, when in actual fact they could just do with showing two highly strategically aimed fingers at someone. So, religion doesn't work.

Praying for someone and them being healed does seem to work though. Caring for people that every body else just walks past also seems to work. Praying for someone and them having clinical illnesses such as depression removed also seems to work. These things actually change people's lives - and if I'm honest, I'm not bothered with things that are useless, life's too short.

Religion, no thanks. Turning a frown into a smile, interested.

Disagree?