iTalker » Theology

The Naked Truth

italker — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:33:05 +0000

Just read about a twenty five year old naked man in Los Angelos trying to commit suicide from an old rusty cross on top of a church building. He was eventually brought down and led away. The story of Christ’s humiliation always challenges me to reflect on the areas of my life where I need to strip back. Here is a meditation I lead the other night at St Mary’s.

I find it hard to understand.
Why would God
The Father
God the Son
And God the Spirit
Three all one,
Agree as one
Feel as one
Live as one
Allow as one
The Son
to be stripped
Laid bare
Before
Such
Hate

Then
I think again
He stands stripped
Always stripped
Nothing to hide
The naked Truth
Alone
Pure
Undisputed
Integrity
The same on the inside
The same on the outside
Stripped
He is transparent
His clothes hide no shame
No mark
No blemish
Adam stands again
Innocent
God the Son

It is we who hide
Behind clothes
Labels
Brands
Crouched
Behind
Closed door
Closed hearts
Closed minds
Living out our secret thoughts and sins
Covering up
Covering over
Pretending
Preserving
Our own
Kingdom

Yet
You
Became
Sin
For me
For us
Stripped again
Of righteousness
Wearing our shame
Wearing our guilt
Wearing our shabby sin

So why would
God
Endure
The shame
Be stripped and stripped again
The question
Is asked
In heaven’s name

And from the throne a voice replies
God loves sinners
God loves sinners
God Loves sinners

Here in my nakedness
Stripped of self
My righteous rags
Fall to the ground
Clothe me Lord
From head to foot
Let your grace flow over me
By Grace I have been clothed
By faith alone

Time and Eternity on the Tannoy

italker — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:50:52 +0000

Recently I’ve been reflecting upon the whole notion of confidence. We mere mortals need to be more humble as we pass through time into eternity. Especially those of the evangelical kind. Sometimes we can act as though we know everything, or we can give that impression. We leave no room for doubt or those who might want to question.

Dare I say it, I’m sure when growing up I was even part of that merry band. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we cannot speak of what we have come to understand with a certain amount of confidence. Peter in his epistle tells us to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have deep within us.

I’m simply saying we need to remember, we don’t see or understand the complete picture. We only see through a glass darkly, as Paul says in Corinthians 13. Anyway here are some musing on the topic. While You read have a listen to ” Gabrel’s Oboe, “Gabriel’s Oboe” from the Mission. I find this piece of music has a wonderful reassuring quality saying all will be well.

TIME ETERNITY ON THE TANNOY

To be standing in the midst of chaos

Like a traveller passing through the night

To feel there’ll be no tomorrow

If you don’t get on the next flight

An announcement on the tannoy

Tries to re-assure your mind

But the voice is so familiar

You could be listening to yourself

To be walking in the midst of protest

Like a prophet fool of doubt

To know there will be a judgement

Even if the Jury’s out

Then you read a headline in the newspaper

Of what you dreamt the night before

And it sounded so familiar

Like the opening of a door

To be stumbling on the edge of freedom

Like a blind man gaining sight

To take one step forward

And begin dancing in the light

And a voice like a thousand rivers

Roars a welcome not yet heard

And etermity spins in silence

Leaving time to close the door

2gether Scotland Flowing Oil Leaders Day

italker — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:07:16 +0000

I was at a conference yesterday in Perth. It was hosted by the Evangelical Alliance, in St Mark’s Church of Scotland. St Mark’s has just undergone a major rebuild of their church. They knocked down the 1960s building and have put up a building that enables them to connect with their community as the move into the 21st century. I had to go to this conference because the title intrigued me . (You must bear in mind the impending oil strike could effect the numbers at the CWW National Gathering) , so I was keen to see if there was a prophetic word for me about the oil still flowing. The keynote speaker was Krish Kandiah , he explained to us that he wrote his doctorate on the work of the Church of Scotland minister, who eventually became a Bishop in the Church of South India. Newbigin made an interesting contribution to the Church’s understanding of Gospel and Culture. Krish is an engaging speaker, he was highlighting the need for evangelists to understand their culture and discover relevant relevant models to explain the core gospel. The more I engage with this topic the more I am convinced “that faith comes through” I think their is a lot in that phrase “comes through” faith is seldom an instant experience i think it is a journey a process, that beings from the cradle and ends … well does it ever end? I was sitting next to David Clark the minister of the Steeple Church, as Krish was speaking he was proposing an alternative model to that of the diagram which involves the cross and the bridge. He was proposing the Augustinian idea that man is a restless being and can only find his peace in God. All very interesting. Krish was explaining the fall and then eventually understanding the gospel in terms of creation being restored. I think I’ve long since moved away from this view, I think that redemption is all part of the whole creation process. I wonder if the Adam and Eve picture in Genesis was ever meant to be understood as the completed creation . Could it be that it was only the start? Could it be that God built into his creation process, an understanding of sin, rebellion, and redemption? Could it be that God in creating the world and the kind of people he created, also planned for am incarnation and a resurrection? The first two chapters of Ephesians would lead us to consider this as a real possibility. For me this kind of thinking is important because it allows me to understand that God’s providence is at work in every aspect of creation even today. Anyway, a big thanks to Fred Drummond who organised the day.