Crockpot Spirituality

Our theology is formed in a crockpot, not in a microwave. Through the experiences of life; through the knocks, bumps and celebrations, we discover more of the nature of God. This discovery does not happen overnight. We don't simply click our fingers and then fully understand the breadth and depth of our Almighty God. Rather it happens along the journey...

Our theology is deepened when we lose a loved one, and we question and debate the complexities of death and life. It is deepened when we find ourselves gob-smacked by the presence of God. It is deepened when we ponder the intricate creation that seems to have been created with humanity in mind.

I long for my understanding of God to grow and while the mystery of God, namely Christ, will always surround me, I can know Christ and I can grow up into Christ, and I can grow in the process.

So Lord, today, I long to know you more, and long to understand you more - not so I can complete some theological thesis, or add another knotch to the belt - I want to know you more because that's what happens within a healthy friendship/community. I pray that many will come to know Christ in the midst of this deepening spirituality and this deepening relationship with you.

I pray I won't seek after quick theological fixes, or ask for 'get out of jail' free cards when it comes to my faith. I turn away from the microwave faith of instant maturity, instant wisdom, instant skill-sets. Help me, rather, to embrace, Crockpot Spirituality.

Thanks God.

The Transition to Leadership

We need leaders in Government, leaders in the public arena and leaders in medical research. The world would be poorer without great leaders heading up non-for-profits. The economy would be shot without some wise, ethical leaders making good, sound decisions in business.

What takes my fancy in this blog, is that we need strong, passionate leaders in the church. Here's a transition I've been thinking of lately:
Unsaved -> Saved -> Volunteerism -> Leadership. In some contexts it looks like this:
Unsaved -> Volunteerism -> Saved -> Leadership.
It's a transition I have witnessed over the years, and one I am passionate to continue to see, that is, people becoming leaders in the church.

Now, if the transition breaks at any point, we have a problem. If we are not seeing the unsaved become saved, we have an evangelistic problem. Without this particular transition the church does not grow disciples, and the growth of the kingdom of God is hindered. Without a transition from saved to volunteerism (or for some unsaved -> volunteerism -> saved) we see the church grow, but with its effectiveness crippled. Not enough workers for the harvest. There is evangelical fruit without ministry support from the newly saved. We must empower and encourage people to volunteer in our ministries - to help with youth ministry, or help with the teas and coffees, or offer their house for the running of a small group.

The last transition is very important (volunteer -> leader). I've seen people get excited about Jesus, and then help in the church as an expression of their love for God, but then never take the next step. Now, maybe not everyone is suited to become a leader, but I'm talking about great, capable people, who continue to help and help and help, but never consider they could become a leader - a person of influence. "Who I am to be a leader?" It is crucial we help transition people from volunteers to people of leadership capacity - people who can initiate, people who can innovate, who can build teams, who can facilitate programs, who can coordinate the administration, who can empower people around them.

Without transitioning ministry volunteers to leadership, we easily see senior leaders burn out. In Salvation Army circles its the Corps Officer who burns out; in Baptist circles its the Senior Pastor. Whatever the church context, a lack of transition from volunteering to leadership will cause growing strain on the organisation, and leaders have to do a lot with very little.

God, help us empower people to make the transition from volunteer to leader.

Why I am not an Atheist.

I am a theist. There; I said it. I believe in the one God who created the Universe and created all of humanity. I normally say, I believe in God (not 'a' God), because I seek to have a personal relationship with such a being, through his son Jesus Christ. What I want to explore is not so much, my theism (Christian theism you could say), but rather, other's disbelief in the existence of an Intelligent Designer (or A-theism).

Questions come to mind (amongst many, many other questions), about those who are not 'theists':

• Where does one derive its morality from?
• What code of ethics do you follow?
• You could put it down to humanism, but then what makes one's choice to murder wrong, if they believe it is right?
• How do you explain the complexity of nature without a belief in a Deity:
• The heart that pumps the right amount of blood to the brain
• The photosynthesis process that cleverly converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, including oxygen, which humans then breathe.
• The banana that conveniently tells you by its own skin colour when its ready to eat (green -> yellow -> brown)
• The relative stability of the growth of such a complex Universe, including, for instance, tides on the Earth's oceans dependent upon the orbit of the moon around the Earth. 

I understand such questions could be reworded and fired back the other way. My intent is not to necessarily find answers to all such questions, but rather, to express the questions going on in the frontal lobes of my cranium :) .

I'll tell you why I am a theist. I think that to believe in a designer who created the complexities of the Universe is more logical than believing in the non-existence of such a creator.
I'll tell you why I am a mono-theist. I wholeheartedly believe in the validility of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, and the verses that iterate that the Lord God is one. (Deut 6:4, for example).
I'll tell you why I am a Christian. Well, the answer contains a myriad of reasons, but some that come to mind, is the genuine moving of God's Spirit in my life, and the consistent co-incidences that occur in my life related to what I sensed God was doing in my life, and what the Bible was saying. The realisation that life without Christ was meaningless. The realisation that I was a sinner (and the experience I felt within that realisation) and the forgiveness I experienced as the Spirit tangibly moved in my life and confirmed what the NT Scriptures spoke about. I'm a Christian also, in less religious terms, because of the example I saw around me of people who were Christians and the desire to replicate that kind of living.

So, I am a mono-theist. A reformed Anglican. A disciple. A born-again Salvationist. A Spirit-filled apologist. A sojourner. An evangelist at heart. A preacher. A reader, amongst many other things...

But most importantly to me, I am a follower of Christ.