Only hardships!
I have just been berated (by email) by someone asking me why I have put aside my orthodox Christian views and why I do not seek to campaign and make public the naughtiness that is abroad within the Church. I have a number of answers to this and rather than engage by email I wish to put them out in the open (so I don't ever need to answer them again):
1. I have not ceased to be orthodox and I have never directly (or indirectly) opposed any orthodox groups or a proper (meaning complies with Biblical requirements) response to any situation.
2. I do not see my blog as a place to 'raise awareness' of issues facing Christians today. To engage thus would merely mean that I join the many others who regurgitate the same old news items, placing spin where it suits and engaging in subtle put downs (my put downs are never subtle) and misinformation (I merely write in error from ignorance, not design).
3. I am not, as I understand it, a 'liberal' but then neither am I a book-burning fascist either. I see myself as an open evangelical who believes in the fundamental truths of the Bible, the endless and amazing Grace of God (Easter's coming) and the three pronged datum that is Scripture, Reason and Tradition.
So there we have it. I'm not universalist, I'm not pro anything but God and I seek to see where God is acting in people's lives and bless that.
This is a site where I dialogue with myself (and increasingly others too) and look at life, its challenges, the Wallies and the joy. If you want campaigning - change the channel. If you want intelligence - visit Rowan or Tom Wright's sites. If you want coffee, buy Fairtrade!
1 comment:
A refreshing comment. Happy to explore those difficult aspects of understanding and belief, which is helpful to others, rather than hang your hat on the stuff filling the press and fueling division and schism.
It is interesting the labels applied to different beliefs and traditions within the Anglican communion. I attend a number of different services as part of the discernment process. My own Parish is middle of the road, broad churchmanship, one I also attend is Evangelical, has a wonderful community and is a joyful place to be.
Where ever I attend, the common theme has been welcome, friendship, openness and a mission to serve the community in as many ways as possible.
I sometimes don't recognise the church portrayed in the media as the same one as the grass roots churches around Kent, where I live.
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