to be frank

'God is back’: religion and politics down-under.

It’s some years now since I reviewed Marion Maddox’s study of the influence of religion and religious values on the second Howard government in Australia. (Marion Maddox, For God and Country: Religious Dynamics in Australian Federal Politics, 2001.) Since then we have had a major shift in world politics, elicited by the Bush Administration’s response to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre. (Think of what that very name implies!)
This week, the newspapers carried the findings of an interesting study of our federal parliament (in Australia) and the references to God, to faith and to the Bible, during speeches in the house.
God has made a big come-back. Indeed, in Australia, it seems acceptable to speak of faith in ways that have perhaps never before been acceptable.

Leadership: reaching for the possible future

Leadership: reaching for the possible future

Last year I heard this definition of leadership and it made a lot of sense to me.
Leadership is so much more than management. Managing makes things happen, but within the existing frame of expectations. Leadership reaches out for what is possible, with the resources and people we have, and the situation before us. It is possible, but only because we have leadership to take us there. That’s the kind of leader I hope to be, too.
In the last week, I have read several articles about leadership which provide some helpful insights.

God and Humour

Laughter: it's the best medicine, as the saying goes. In theology, a small number of works have explored the theme of humour and God.

Recently I discovered Robert Darden’s book, Jesus Laughed: the redemptive power of humor,  (published by Abingdon, 2008—apologies for the American spelling).
This book provoked me to think about this basic question: did Jesus laugh? It almost seems a ridiculous question, yet somehow or other we need to think about it. Of course, surely any person laughs, at least sometimes. Yet our image of Jesus can be that he was so serious, so committed to serving God, and so concerned for others, that he never had any time to laugh. 

Wisdom from Home (2)

One of the superb insights I found in Marilynne Robinson's latest book Home (London: Virago Press, 2008) concerns the character of a life of faith.
I mean here to make a basic distinction between the many activities which are called 'faith' or religion, and the character of a person who truly and authentically is faithful: to themselves, to others and to God.
In this novel, there's a lot about being religious, and there are some truly faithful characters. They are not the same people!

Wisdom from Home

I've just finished reading Marilynne Robinson's recent novel simply called Home.(London: Virago Press, 2008)
It's a superbly written exploration of the idea of being at home, both in its ordinary, human sense and the deeper spiritual sense indicated by Augustine in his famous statement, 'You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.'
There is much in this novel about finding our home with God, but not apart from our home with each other.

Pentecost: the decisive presence

I preached a sermon for Pentecost Sunday: Here are some of the key ideas: The scripture text was Acts 2. 1 - 24.

Pentecost is decisive for the life and mission of the church, and is in many ways the most important event in the church year.
We have journeyed through Advent and Epiphany, Lent and Easter, with the story of Jesus: his birth, ministry, death and resurrection.
But the great danger in all this is that it is a story of the past: a memory, a glorious memory, but still just a memory—unless we come to Pentecost.
Without Pentecost, the church tells a story of once upon a time.
Without Pentecost, the church is a community dedicated to the past: a Christian past, but nonetheless a very past past.
But with Pentecost, the church is a community orientated to what God is doing and will do in the wonderful, creative mission of the Spirit.