Simple.

Look to me. Follow me and become more like me. Rely on me because you can't do this on your own. All other things don't matter. I know what I have planned for you and what your heart is. Follow my heart and mine yours will meet.

The Drone

The groans of the people can be heard from a far but up close and in it the drone blends in,
I've never lived without it, my ears now numb,
Elsewhere out there its an odd thing,
Something so simple sees them running and searching,

Was it worth it? That's a question he's never asked.

Its All About Jesus: Identity

Fill your brain

Just a few thoughts.

I was at Church a couple of weeks ago when the guy who was talking gave what i guess you could call a modern day parable. He began talking about land which in countries such as Kenya if left unoccupied will inevitably soon be home to squatters. If you don’t want your land to occupied by squatters then don’t leave it unoccupied. He then compared this to us. If we don’t fill ourselves with God and leave it unoccupied then inevitably the devil will occupy that space. It sounds very simple and obvious but i think in reality we often do this. Sin is when we allow ourselves to think or do things which are not of God. 

Philippians 4:8 (The Message)

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Süösie ünd Eädy im Germänz

HALLO!

Thing's we've learnt auf Düetsläand:

1) HALLO
2) YAY YOGHURT
3) MIRRI
4) Käse
5) Susie's into older men
6) German's don't sleep.
7) Ever.
8) Photographing things ruins real life
9) Living in a basement isn't all creepy
10) Wishing someone a "good naked" always goes down well.
11) "Freaking outrageous" is hard to translate

And now for something completely different...
We arrived in Berlin the other night and after minimal faff and face washing went straight to sleep. About four minutes later we were woken up at the crack of dawn for some traditional German essen. Miriam gave us a tour around Berlin which was interesting, and what struck me most was the relevance the aftereffect of the war still has on the city and it's inhabitants. It's difficult to find somewhere where you aren't reminded of Berlin's history and the implications of the division that was in Germany but, I also found, the hope and the pride in the city and what it's done and the identity of it's people. Miriam spoke of the part she belives God played in the freedom being found in the East, the wall coming down and what he's doing now in Berlin, which all sounded freaking exciting. Up till now, everything I've learnt of the war and the wall and  At the moment and for the next few days we're staying at her church (or cherry or something..) with the youth which is pretty hectic and tiring but a lot of fun. I've found that praying and worshipping together creates an intimacy within minutes that was a bit lost to begin with because of language barriers and such. We did a bit of speaking today in the service, about what God's been doing with us and what we're learning with Him back home after spending the day in the most beautiful town in the world.

We both need to go faff and laugh now, night

Conformers Not Conformed

Us being pro.

Hello. 

I think this post applies to both our Kenya blog and this one so i posted it on both. I hope that's alright. 

This week we’ve been conferencing. Pro’s. We’re at a conference called ‘Building Just Communities’, which is all about how justice can be brought to urban slum areas in Nairobi such as Kibera. Its been good, mainly! 

Yesterday a Bishop of somewhere spoke about how the church is influenced by the world rather than the world being influenced by the church. This is something i’ve been thinking about for a little while so i found it quite interesting. 

He gave a number of examples such as abortion and homosexuality. However, there are many, many more than this. I think that we are so influenced by the media in the west in a way that Kenya isn’t, although Kenya’s are influenced by other things in different ways. We accept the things we are told without even questioning them. We accept them because we doubt God’s power. 

I’m not deliberately trying to write something really controversial but i just think we ignore and accept these things so often. One of the issues the bishop talked about was homosexuality. The media, the law, our human rights all teach us that homosexuality is okay and simply an unchangeable way for people are. Many Christians accept this or simply never think to question it. The Bible says something very different from our society and i believe that as the bishop was saying - the church has been influenced by the world rather than the world being influenced by the church.

We hear about gay rights groups taking people to court in the news constantly. This in itself is not wrong, all people should be treated equally. However, i think that many of us have been influenced by our societies message that homosexuality for example is okay. This is not a biblical perspective. If you look in the Old Testament you find Leviticus 18:22 which says ‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.’ This verse is the first verse we often think of in relation to this issue. However, it only tells half of the story. There is one verse in 1 Corinthians which i think is so so vital concerning this issue.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11...

‘Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.’

As in all areas of our lives Jesus makes the difference. We can be renewed. Change is possible. Homosexuality is an easy example to give but this teaching can be applied to so many other areas.

Finally, Romans 12:2 is hugly important and relevant to changing from the church being influnced by the world to the Church influencing the world. 

‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.’

To not hope for change in areas where we are influenced by the world is to doubt and degrade God’s limitless power.

Matthew 5:43-48

Everything’s changed. Most pertinently the gap year is formally over and Hannah and Stew have left to Kenya, and though there are lots of things that should probably be written down right about now- individual plans, what God’s been doing, the purpose of this blog from now on, what’s still being learnt and a bit of a rant about the royal wedding- I unfortunately feel the need to vocalise (even if it is cyber) some feelings towards the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death.

I suppose the main thing I was interested in (as I so often am) was people’s reactions, though I’m slightly shocked that I’m shocked by them. The facebook statuses alone are enough to make anyone cynical about our so called civilised age: the euphoric, jingoistic nature from a few American friends and the downright ignorance and bellicose slur from those closer to home interspersed with a few bestial, Sikipedia style jokes I thought we’d all grown out of. Someone died today. A child of God was murdered.

Now, I don’t claim to be an expert on the politics, on al-Qaeda, on the details of his death, the argument of necessity or the speculations on what this might now cause (though I can say with certainty that terrorism has not been beaten today as it seems some of those rejoicing in Bin Laden’s death believe) so I will not assume any authority in talking about the politics and won’t even bother putting down my half-formed opinion, and y’know, fair play to anyone simply breathing a sigh of relief but what I will say is that some (not all, I do realise) responses do not represent a society that is correct in its pride in being civilised, being ‘morally superior’. Was this justice? An eye for an eye? Applauding ourselves because we murdered the murderer and delighted in it and that's okay because he's 'evil', is less than human, is the figurehead of everything wrong with the world? We took to the streets to celebrate what exactly? Not the end of a war on terror, so simply national pride in- after excruciating amounts of time, money, violence- there being one more death? A death by innocent hands?

And now I find myself praying that members of al-Qaeda don’t respond in exactly the way we did and seek revenge, seems odd.

Of course, I do not dispute that Bin Laden is responsible for many deaths and the exploitation of religion for the purposes of hatred and I’ll pray for families of victims of terrorist attacks but I’ll also pray for the persecutors because like I say, I’m a kid that doesn’t know much about any of it, but I do know a small bit about love, about what Jesus taught and that He was speaking the truth, I know that fighting hate with hate doesn’t achieve much more than bloodshed.

I’ll end, I’m winding myself up. It just all seems ludicrous from where I’m standing, there’s no moral high-ground and no love. I’ll leave you with what, in my opinion, have been more appropriate reactions I’ve seen and heard in conversation:

Martin Luther King Jr - "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

 

A frustrated American- “Every inbred yokel from 50 miles is breaking out their rusty toolboxes full of fireworks labelled ‘Usama’-  Only took a trillion dollars, nearly a million dead citizens, almost 10000 of our own military. It’s like if we went after the ex-president of Tesco, and after killing him celebrated the end of Walmart.”

Some lefty American- “This is bin Laden’s lamentable victory: He has changed America’s psyche from one that saw violence as a regrettable-if-sometimes-necessary act into one that finds orgasmic euphoria in news of bloodshed. In other words, he’s helped drag us down into his sick nihilism by making us like too many other bellicose societies in history -- the ones that aggressively cheer on killing, as long as it is the Bad Guy that is being killed.”

Sophie-“I don't care, I just wish everyone on facebook would shut up about it.”

Back to Basics.

This poem was written in a 24-7 prayer room and tries to explain why Jesus died and what His death means. 

BACK TO BASICS.

In the beginning all was perfect. God’s creation in harmony. His children created. 

Free. Free to worship. Free to be.

Free to sin.

God’s children, His creation leave.

Tempted.

Evil enters. Suffering begins

Billions upon billions run. Looking, searching. Nothing fits, nothing works, nothing satisfies.

God is a just God. He’s angry. His own creation, lost. We were too weak for that freedom.

God doesn’t give up.

He loves far too much for that . He’s got a plan.

The cross. Jesus His only son. He can pay the price.

Burdened with our sin, our crap, our mess amongst His perfection. 

He takes it.

Pays the price we should pay. God’s justice. Unlike any justice I’ve ever seen. Beautiful.

What’s it mean? It means I’m free once more. No longer can sin hold me down. He took that.

Relationship restored.

My salvation secure.

My hope in Him.

God’s anger – satisfied.

My response is what I was created for – the only rational thing – worship.

My salvation isn’t easy. I’m saved by grace through faith. My God’s a brilliantly gentle God. I can leave. At any moment I can deny that sacrifice, deny that hope, deny the very thing I was made for. 

I’m free

He’s got a plan. A good plan for me. I’m free to follow that, I’m free to leave.

I’ll struggle. The world’s messy.

But when I see the cross I know I want God’s plan, my new life. Life in the truest meaning.

And one day I’ll stand before Him, my creator. A sinner. A mess. Not nearly half of what I was made to be.

But, I won’t be alone - Jesus stood at my side.

The verdict? Saved.

THE GOOD BOOK: A Secular Bible by AC Grayling

So a chap has written a secular, humanist bible. It's filled with what he believes to be the best stuff from secular, humanist classical literature. His name is AC Grayling. I read an article reviewing his book. And I found it interesting, ironic and good...

''This anthology of humanist wisdom serves chiefly to highlight the scriptures' divine sublimity.'

'It powerfully suggests that if you drain the 'poison' of Judaeo- Christianity from western literature- as Grayling might describe this project- the remnant is strikingly bland and anaemic.'

'Grayling aims to avoid the 'divine' and stick to the 'human'. And so, self- defeatingly, there is no room in this humanist scripture for the biblical but passionately human.'

'Left with only a cool, disinfected air of reason.'

'The original 'Good Book' may be far more frightening, messy, irrational, violent... but it's also more human and indefinably sublime.'

'Everything that today's secular liberal humanist values most- universal human rights, racial and sexual equality, peace rather than war- comes not from Greece or Rome, but from the New Testament. Eg. Galatians 3:28. There is nothing remotely approaching this radical vision of human equality in all of classical literature.'

'Compared to the Bible, it's a molehill at the foot of Everest.'

'Nobody will ever kill for its sake. Nobody will ever die for it either. Perhaps that's secular humanism for you.'


Hmmmm...


John 14: 6
"Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

Father, May the Truth of your word be known throughout the world. May the Truth of who you are be revealed to all people. May it be shown and received as the Good News it is. Salvation not Condemnation. May lies be silenced and evil destroyed. May peace and mercy and great love reign. May we live in kindness, patience and compassion. May we never pass judgement against anyone. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. May we all be convicted of our wrong doing and may we live lives of grace, laying down our own needs for the needs of others. Bless us with the wisdom to not lean on our own understanding. May we not be proud, but humble. May we not hurt, but heal. May we live as children of light. May we follow Christ's example of all that is good and right. May we know life in all its fullness and may we share our blessings with all people. May we always keep walking towards good and may we fight for justice. May we know that we are known and may we seek to know you more.  May the blind, see. May the weak say 'I have strength.'

For it is for freedom that we have been set free.

How I realised everything I was thinking was wrong.

I think a lot about why people act the way the way they act and think the way they think and want the things they want. I suppose this means I think a lot about identity, which has been a bit of a running theme around the youth ministries recently so I'll write a bit about where I'm at with it all.

My default has always been that nothing ever done is anything other than inevitable. There's something (or a combination of things) that at some point has dictated to some extent that I'm going to be the person that I am and therefore do the things I do. All anyone is, is the product of the things that happen to them; the culture and society they're born into; the way they're brought up and whatever fortuitous load of genes they're born with- we're all foreordained to do what we do and be who we be. It's a bit deterministic I suppose, which is bleak and recently upon discovering more consciously that this is how I think I started questioning it.

This sent me down five main lines of thought I'll either explain very briefly or not get into at all. (skip to five if you don't care for my digressions)

1- Criminals. I won't name specific cases but we can all think of them: those stories the media runs with that can shock a nation- individuals committing acts of outrageous violence, malevolence and immorality. And sometimes these stories are worse than any we've heard in a while, and we're suddenly not so inured to injustice. In my experience people respond in one of two ways. One is to demonise the transgressors: view them as 'monsters', less than human aberrations and sit comfortably and proudly above them, because they're evil and we're not. A very easy approach to take, maybe even the right one, but I've never quite felt comfortable with it. People aren't just inherently bad (I tell myself). The other tactic is to place blame. Why did that happen? Was it the police, social services, television, the government, the parents? Pick one, stick to it and move on. Until recently this is what I've found myself doing when faced with these situations, because it's nice to be able to intellectualise and it fits with my theory- that there must be something to blame, it was never just a random act. People do what people know and react to circumstances they're in. It's out of the hands of the individual. The implications of this would be that no-one can be held morally responsible for any action.

2. Homosexuality. I'm bored of the debate now, and I won't write down my opinions but to be brief I was thinking about the 'nurture' argument- to assume one is not born a homosexual (not that I do or don't, just a thought) what circumstances might influence their sexuality? And it went on...

3. Physics. Following a conversation with Sam of which I forgot the conclusion, I asked Grandad Wichmann if it was possible to create a random number generator and his answer, to put simply, was no (though he has invented his very own pseudo-random number generator.) Anyway, I was wondering if determinism can be applied to physics and from what I can gather, in some quantum cases it can't and randomness happens.

4. National identities. What's England's? How does it change? Where do they come from? etc 

5. God. Once a year I'm wrong and this is one of those times. Because there is a God, everyone has options, everyone can be held morally responsible, everyone has freedom in who they are and what they do. Our identities aren't determined because when God gets involved, our identities are in Him- our choices are in Him. We have the decision in everything we do and he showed me this recently in a pretty challenging way. Of course we're influenced by everything around us, and He has overall control but that doesn't mean we're predestined. 

I was fearfully and wonderfully made not my accident. 

Having an identity in Christ is where I'm at, walking in it is the goal. On away week He spoke a lot over all of us about who we are in Him when we did listening for it and loads of exciting things came up. 

There was a picture of me handcuffing myself to Jesus and this still makes me laugh because honestly I'd do it quite literally if I could. I want to be committed to Him, and go where He goes and nowhere else.

As always, this has been ramble-y and unnecessarily long but my conclusion is all that's important: there is always a choice and my identity is in Christ.

1 Peter 2:9

Vlog Two

Vlog Two - A three course meal consisting of - a cheese based 90's sitcom introduction followed by a short yet satisfying chat about idealistic visions and ended with a large zingy few words about the reality of God. Then just in case you're not ready to pop there's a messy glimpse of some out-takes. Yum yum.


The pictures Susie talks about....

Vlog One

Vlog One - A theologically accurate description of how night time and day time came to be, an introduction to the Gappers and an insight into Stewart's mind.

Faith

Much of the theology I've learnt this year has been a correction of what I assumed or was taught in the past. 

Faith. I used to spend so much time in the desert thats its surprising I haven't adapted into some sort of human cactus by now. Thankfully, the desert is just a christian metaphor for feeling far from or not hearing from God. 

I spent hours trying to have faith. There's a good, loving, powerful God who sent His Son down to earth to save me by grace through faith. All I need is faith. Why couldn't I just believe? I wanted it to be true but that didn't mean it was and it didn't mean I could believe. 

If God gives us faith then I think He missed me out.

But

Through faith we gain faith. That's what I've learnt.

'Throw yourself in at the deep end'. I need to pray, I need to depend on Him, I need to be open to Him, I need to trust Him to see Him. This is because through all of this I will see Him work. 

God gives each of us faith, like God has given us everything we have. We need to take a risk to grow. Jump and hope He'll catch us. We'll be surprised when He does. And our faith will be a little bit stronger.

Desert times can be awesome, and they're not always a bad thing at all. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert being tempted. But, for me I had left and walked into a desert because of my fear of risks and desire for control. But I've learnt a lot.

Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you 

Matthew 17:20

“There are only two ways of telling the complete truth - anonymously and posthumously.”

Blogs are both ruined and made by those that read them.

I was astounded when Hannah showed me that we can see the location and quantity of our “Audience” and that even Kenyans, Americans, Australians and Germans have all checked us out. Disconcertingly, I know who these individuals are (or can take a pretty good guess) and it’s made the idea of writing another post difficult.

It’s difficult to be honest about what we think with people we know personally. People we know personally (usually) know us personally, and therefore know that we live hypocritical lives; that we lack integrity and the things we’re learning (on a gap year, for example) don’t impact us enough or for long enough. Aside that, it’s easy for me to tell a stranger how I’m feeling, (and I do, frequently) what I’m thinking, that I feel pretty lost and far away from God (hypothetically, of course) - it’s easy to write that down into a computer because computers don’t judge, screens don’t convict, they don’t feel as if they have to help; their opinions don’t change; they don’t worry; they don’t ask questions and I’m in control. As much as I’d love this to not be the case, people aren’t computers.

My fear of writing much else got me thinking about honesty.

I’m a liar. (But you can’t believe that.)

I lie when I love out of obligation; serve with ulterior motives; I lie when I tell people what I think they want to hear; I lie when I say I don’t struggle and I lie when I don’t reveal 3% of what I’m really thinking. I also lie when I say I’m going to quit smoking and get a proper job and sleep better and get over myself and allow myself to be vulnerable and put my flipping everything into making those things the truth till I burn out. I burn out very quickly and take on everything all at once with an overtly ‘all-or-nothing’ attitude and zero perseverance.

It’s difficult to be honest when we’re broken, when we’re thinking awful things. Spending the last few weeks praying about this, God started doing something interesting, which was to remind me of a lot of truths. Separately and exactly when I needed them, He told me again that I’m loved, that I’m forgiven, that I’m not alone, that He’s powerful, that He’s bigger than it all, that I’m not made of glass but that I don’t need to stand in front of Him pretending that I’m sorted. Funny thing was, I started believing Him.

He’s also been pointing out when I start lying to myself: that I can do things separate from Him; that I need a particular person in my life to do anything right; that I can’t get better; that I should allow logic to supersede emotions, that nothing can ever change and that anything other than cynicism is stupidity. 

These thoughts on honesty led me to thoughts on how much anyone can really know anyone else. If you're anything like me (and God help you I hope you're not when it comes to this) you'll attempt to guard your own heart above all else (is that a Proverb?) in relationships. I like to understand others, not because it strengthens relationships or because there's any emotional need but because I'm interested on an intellectual level and like to compartmentalize and simplify and gage how they think and feel in control. 
But as much as I like to think this isn't the case, I can't really know anyone. And being in community isn't about having that sort of knowledge of another, it's about having an understanding and an unconditional love. I think I'd benefit from making less assumptions; that I know how others are feeling or how they'll react to anything and stop trying to second guess and study and just be with them. 

"I sometimes think that people’s hearts are like deep wells. Nobody knows what’s at the bottom. All you can do is imagine by what comes floating to the surface every once in a while." 

John 8:32

When you're a professional pirate... you don't have to wear a suit- Susie

"I will know my call despite my faults and despite my growing fears... I'll know my name as it's called again... to live my life as it's meant to be"- Mumford & Sons
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNy8llTLvuA )



We are all chosen and we are all called to be living sacrifices. Our sacrifice is to live! To be free to live life in all its fullness. Maybe not the life we would choose and we won't be in control, but the creator of the entire universe, who knows you and loves you, has chosen it and is in control.
Costly grace- the price Jesus paid was massive and we need to respond to that grace with all that we have. But I think the cost was massive because we are worth so much. We are worth so much to God. If we live by cheap grace, not only are we disregarding Jesus, we're disregarding ourselves. We have such purpose and strength, not on our own, but with God. We are called to live such huge lives, maybe not from the world's point of view, but this world isn't going to last. And we know the Truth.



We are resurrection people who already have the victory.



Romans 12: 1-2
Matthew 10: 39
John 16: 33

Notting Hill, builders and John 16:33- Eady

On September 1st 2010 I (very accidentally) found myself sitting in a small café in Notting Hill, talking to three builders on their coffee break. I hadn't planned on being in London that day; I hadn't planned on being alone but neither had I planned to talk to these strangers. Even so, this day: talking to people; what I wrote; what I read; the snippets of conversation I heard around me; the bland, fake-European, class-confused coffee shop I hated and the surrounding area and architecture I loved - as underwhelming as it would appear to any onlooker- wazs one of the most important days of my year.I'm bad at spending time alone but at this time, being in a mix of an excruciating, prolonged reverse-culture shock yet on a huge spiritual high I had an incredible day. 
Upon seeing that it was the Bible I was reading, one of the guys on the tables next to me started a conversation, eager to tell me what he thought.

"So you believe in all that?" he asked after explaining his views, vaguely pointing his cigarette towards my book.

"Every word" I responded confidently and we preceded to have a long, conclusion-less but enjoyable discussion about God. 

That day I was happy- I loved every second I spent with God; I couldn't believe the time I'd just had in India and all the things He'd promised and revealed to me there, the confirmation I got from Him that the upcoming gap year really was His plan for me and I was excited like I hadn't been before for what was coming next in my walk with Him. I read and re-read John (and Job, as always) and He gave me a lot of conclusions to questions I'd been asking.

I was reminded of the time I'd spent with Him that day when I was in Notting Hill again last week. It made me realise how important it is to begin things (anything, everything) with Him. Something I've been trying to do over the year is have private God time at the beginning of each day which has taught me how valuable it is to offer every day to Him, begin in the right mindset and ask Him what His plans are for it. 

That day I also read for the first time John 16:33 "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." At the time it didn't resonate how awesome those words Jesus said are but I highlighted them even so and a few days ago we were watching a talk by Louie Giglio as he spoke about hope and the power of the cross and the meaning of these words. It was an incredible sermon he did, and just the reminder I needed that God’s in control, something I knew so well that day back in September but somehow fought against, or forgot, or stopped trusting in.

We will suffer, but Jesus has overcome the world. I don't think there's much better than that. 

The moon, seatbelts and Romans 12 - Hannah

I feel that I should start this blog with some sort of well written introduction but I’m no good at that so I’ll get straight into it.
I was recently having a chat with a friend about the different contexts in which we find God revealed. I explained to him that I find God in the moon, how incredible I find it that the same Sun that gives light to the other side of the earth is reflecting off the moon, becoming visible. I find it so awesome that I can sit and stare at it for ages. After explaining this, there was a short pause before he said he had a similar thing with seatbelts. At first I thought he’d missed my point entirely but when he elaborated I realized that each of us just experience God in different ways. God’s awesome and quite funny.

Anyway, on a completely different note, I’ve recently been challenged to read my bible more and within the last few months some great things have come from this. I’ve found that I’ve become far more excited about my faith. One of the chapters which has most inspired me is Romans 12. I’d encourage anyone who reads this post to read the whole chapter but I’ll share my thoughts on verse 1.

Romans 12:1 - Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and spiritual act of worship.

In Greek the word spiritual means rational. Therefore, when Paul talks about ‘spiritual act of worship’ it means our ‘rational act of worship’. This made me think about what our society and culture says about faith and rationality. It makes us believe that to have faith, to pray and to worship is irrational since we are ‘sorted’, we live in society with immediate answers and solutions. There is no God and there is no need for a God. Therefore, the idea that worship is the only truly rational thing to do is so counter cultural. This concept challenged me to think about and reject what my culture says about my religion and faith. To ‘not conform to the pattern of this world’ is to not compartmentalize our lives and to let our faith impact all areas of our life.

A little while ago Mel was teaching us about our generation and postmodernism. This is what made me think about how we compartmentalize and how this leads to a lack of integrity. In my own life I have noticed that I’m a completely different person around different groups of friends and I choose to share my faith with some and not others. I recently met up with some college friends who I hadn’t seen in a while. After a short conversation with them about what each of us was doing I noticed how little they knew about my faith and how important it is to me.

So, that’s one of my aims in life at the moment. Please pray for more integrity for me.