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  • Bishop Mike 12:19 pm on May 16, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    I still feel queasy about our basic economic model for growth

    I have blogged in the past about the requirement for western economies to sustain themselves by needing high levels of consumption, paid for by us requiring large amounts of available credit. Obviously when credit is unobtainable this creates a problem. I note that the Bible is not enthusiastic about debt.

    Apart from the real challenges to the environment created by large amounts of consumption, it’s difficult to see a way out. Before the recession there were increasing numbers of people writing with concern about the amount of personal and unsecured debt that many had taken on. Politicians as far as I can see can only see a way out by encouraging banks to lend again.

    One big challenge for us in the UK is how much of our disposable (spendable) income is taken up by the astronomic costs of housing. If something could be done about that, then I think we might have a fighting chance of getting out of recession without people having to incur such large amounts of debt. However, such a solution might not address the challenges of environmentsl sustainability.

    One might suggest re-introducing tax concessions on mortgage loans, except that such a move would very likely have an inflationary impact on the cost of housing.

    I realise this is not even ‘blue sky’ thinking, more likely ‘cloud cuckoo land’. Someone needs to dream about a new way of living on this planet.

     

  • Bishop Mike 9:54 pm on May 10, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    I came across this quotation attributed to Peter Kreeft, Professor of Philosophy at Boston College.

    “I strongly suspect that if we saw all the difference even the tiniest of our prayers make, and that all the people those little prayers were destined to affect, and all the consequences of those prayers down the centuries, we would be so paralysed with awe at the power of prayer that we would be unable to get up off our knees for the rest of our lives.”

    Wow!

     

    • martin Freye 1:01 pm on May 11, 2012 Permalink

      Testimonies to prayer have been sadly missed, or not believed, in the Church.

    • Barb Kirby 5:52 am on May 15, 2012 Permalink

      Prayer diaries, especially group ones and even more importantly with Young people are a way of seeing HOW God answers some of our prayers and encourages us to acknowledge to one another how those prayers are answered. We can encourage even people who have not yet come into a relationship with God to know that He IS a loving and caring Father. Sometimes we can get discouraged if we don’t get feedback that God HAS answered our prayers for others. Let us make a point of encouraging people by telling them that we are praying for them, and in turn letting these intercessors know that they are making a difference. However small the matter. Life is usually made up of lots of small miracles rather than big ones. Both are testimony to a gracious God and a loving brother or sister in Christ who cares. It’s good to be thankful for answered prayer so we should be looking for answers and testifying to them to christians and unbelievers alike. God gets praised through it anyway, which is what the church is called to do.

  • Bishop Mike 1:39 pm on May 5, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    There’s quite a lot on Christian websites about Christians not figuring in the ‘fair’ society that we’re all meant to be working for. Indeed, some even use the language of persecution against Christians. Others, encouraged by campaign groups are prepared to go to court to fight their particular cause.

    Let me say that I hear and read all this and I do think that there is something behind it all. There is evidence that Christians and others of faith have paid for their faith, in their careers for instance.

    A judge’s recent comment (in a case involving a Christian doctor) that ‘religion has no place at work’ does seem over defensive and a misunderstanding of the nature of Christianity.

    But let’s suppose for a moment there’s a case for the language of persecution, (and I’m not sure in the UK the case is thus far strong), our natural response is to fight for our rights, even to the extent of going to court. I have been reading the Bible intensely whilst on study leave and you could conclude from the teaching of Jesus that persecution is inevitable and something that we should expect if we are living as Christ called us to live.

    “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven” Matthew 5:11-12 (NIV)

     

    • Martin Freye 7:27 am on May 6, 2012 Permalink

      Persecution is something we Christians should expect in a fallen world, doesn’t seem “Fair” though.

  • Bishop Mike 5:05 pm on May 2, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    Is Rupert Murdoch a fit person to run a large media company?
    Is Roy Hodgson a fit person to manage the English Football team?
    Is Jeremy Hunt a fit person to retain his Cabinet post?

    There’s a very strange congruence in all of this as far as this week’s news is concerned. I don’t know the answer to any of these questions, but, as they say, time will tell!

     

    • martin Freye 6:51 pm on May 2, 2012 Permalink

      I could ask ” Is a Druid a fit person to be an Archbishop?”

  • Bishop Mike 9:40 am on April 30, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    It’s a long time since I first read Francis Schaeffer, but the extra time I have had to read on study leave has taken me back to his writngs. He seemed to be one of those people who could see in advance the kind of consequences that certain beliefs would lead us and society towards. Here are a couple of examples from his work.

    “Here the problem of the 1920′s to the 1980′s is properly spelled out. It is the attempt to have absolute freedom – to be totally autonomous from any intrinsic limits. It is the attempt to throw off anything that would restrain one’s personal autonomy. But it is especially a direct and deliberate rebellion against God and his law…”

    “We are at a time when humanism is coming to its natural conclusion in morals, in values and in law. All that society has today are relativistic values based on statistical averages, or the arbitrary decisions of those who hold legal and political power…”

    His beef then and no doubt, were he alive, today, was that the Church at a very foundational level had not intellectually confronted the realities of secularism and humanism. Schaeffer is an unashamed Evangelical and so it is pertinent that the fire of his invective is aimed largely at Evangelicals.

    “Those who have ears to hear…”

     

  • Bishop Mike 8:01 am on April 27, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    Plain wrong! The decision of the NHS to … 

    Plain wrong!

    The decision of the NHS to extend a pilot scheme which enables a 13 year old girl to be put on the contraceptive pill without recourse to the child’s parents or even a doctor – just a chat with a pharmacist – does seem a step too far and a huge discouragement to parents who are trying to teach their children to be morally responsible.

    The evidence that doling out contraception to young girls diminishes teenage pregnancy or abortions is apparently a bit patchy anyway. On top of this the ‘pill’ might protect you from conceiving, but it won’t protect you against a sexually transmitted disease, apparently on the up amongst the young.

    This just does seem like another example of the clunking pragmatism that runs in parallel with a culture that is frightened to speak of morality. What is more worrying is when the Church loses its nerve on the subject!

     

    • Hannah (youth worker) 11:27 am on April 27, 2012 Permalink

      While I would rather there were less teen pregnancies, I agree that this really isn’t a good option. Aside from the fact that it doesn’t stop STDs, and that there wouldn’t be a huge amount of discussion needed to get it, a huge problem with this idea is that hormonal birth control can completely mess up a teenagers development. Doctors sometimes prescribe it as a last resort for dysmennorhea but most are very reluctant. Birth control os not a substitute for sex education and that is where we will see results.

    • Barb Kirby 6:05 am on May 15, 2012 Permalink

      What really troubles me is that under age sex is against the law, so this is , in effect the government flouting the law.
      Having been involved with a lot of youth over the years, I am really troubled that, possibly because of the child protection act being focussed so much on physical abuse that some parents are worried about hugging or cuddling their children, but under age sex seems to be ok? Surely we should be able to show affection for each other by touching in a non-sexual way so we can teach children that this is a better way to have a relationship than the damage caused by early sex, both emotional and physical. It’s not just the development of their bodies that can be messed up. Their emotional life and sense of self- worth is vulnerable as well.

  • Bishop Mike 12:09 pm on April 26, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    I am reading Peter Scazzero’s interesting little book called ‘Emotionally Healthy Spirituality’. It’s a good book, although personally some of the challenge for me in his writing is painful…

    In the early part of the book he charts his own struggles in ministry with honesty, and the particular demand of matching the demands of ministry with the proper care of his family and his feeling that he was not, to misquote Shakespeare, being true unto himself.

    I was very challenged by the section on church leavers. That is people who for a variety of reasons, just stop going to church. They may retain a very strong sense of belief, but somehow don’t find church a place that moves them on. He recognises that not all church leavers fall inot this category, but asserts that certainly some do. This is his comment which made my heart skip a beat,

    “What went wrong? They were sincere followers of Jesus Christ, but they struggled as much as anyone else with their marriages, divorces, friendships, parenting, singleness, sexuality, addictions, insecurities, drive for approval and feelings of failure and depression at work, church and home. They saw the same patterns of emotional conflic inside the church as outside…”

    Some of my study leave has been given over to wondering whether the Church in the 21st century really does offer a credible, alternative way of thinking and behaving in this world?

    “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.” (Romans 12:2 The Message)

     
  • Bishop Lee

    Bishop Lee 10:35 am on March 27, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    Many of you will know that I was injured during a bike race towards the end of February when a rider went down in front of me. I came down heavily on my left shoulder, temple and hip and acquired the racing cyclists’ badge of honour – a broken collarbone!

    With Bishop Mike in the middle of his Extended Study Leave this could not have come at a more challenging time for my colleagues on the Bishop’s Staff. But as you may have expected they have risen to the challenges superbly. I am very grateful for how they have covered my commitments and ensured that I have had time and space for recuperation and recovery.

    I have been overwhelmed by the messages and cards that have flowed into Mark House from across the Diocese and frequently moved by the expressions of love and care in them. Since stepping into Bishop Mike’s shoes back in January I have had a clear sense of being upheld by prayer and that has continued following the accident. That prayer has energized me in my activity and now in the passivity of recuperation.

    One of the books I have been dipping into during my rehabilitation has been William Barclay’s ‘More New Testament Words’. As a Diocese committed to releasing the energy of the whole people of God I was fascinated to find a connection between my current state and one of the Greek words for energy. As well as its normal meaning energein has two technical medical uses: it is the word for the efficacious action of a drug and ‘to operate’ in surgery. It turns out that at the heart of the meaning of all the Greek words for energy is action which is effective and achieves its desired result.

    My shoulder will not be working normally for some months but the x-rays indicate that the surgeon who reassembled and plated the fragments of bone has done a remarkable job. As for the effective action of anaesthetics and painkillers, I had a limited period post op experiencing what it felt like before they kicked in! Reflecting on the New Testament understanding of releasing energy has reminded me of the importance of action which is intentional and is genuinely makes a difference.

    But that does not imply it is all up to us. We all need to discover what God can do through us and with us. But an equally important lesson is recognising our dispensability. Being side-lined by injury is a painful but paradoxically healthy way to discover this. As someone wrote in their card to me, “No doubt the Diocese manages quite well without both Bishops!” The fact of this is a sign of vitality.

    After a graduated return I expect to be fully back in the episcopal saddle from Holy Week but you may be pleased to hear I have a week off after Easter. I am very much looking forward to getting around the Diocese again and thanking you in person for your concern, kindness and prayers.

     

    • Steve Truscott 10:17 am on March 29, 2012 Permalink

      nice to hear from you & glad the recuperation is going well
      Steve T.

    • Andrew Woodcock 9:35 pm on March 30, 2012 Permalink

      There is an old saying ” you can’t keep a good man down”

    • Jop 3:35 pm on May 12, 2012 Permalink

      As a member at St Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow, I have folwoled with interest the recent election.As in any such event there has to be a winner’ and losers’. It is such a pity.In this case there were three candidates of exceptional talent who could each have brought something good and great to the position.In the event we will only have the benefit of one third of the total potential.Is there not a case here for some form of job-sharing’, so that nothing be lost?Blessings be upon Duncan, and may all the others who put themselves forward go on with renewed strength in their mission.

  • Bishop Lee

    Bishop Lee 9:21 am on February 24, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    Last night I took part in a Cambridge Union debate. Though I have been invited to speak before this was the first time I had accepted. The reason was the motion: This House would legalise euthanasia, later clarified to assisted suicide/voluntary euthanasia.

    Some of you will know this is an issue I have been closely engaged with. There is a concerted campaign to pressurise Parliament to change the law, backed by considerable finance and high profile, articulate figures including celebrities. The national media channels (radio, television and newspapers) regularly carry emotionally charged stories designed to raise public energy for a change in the law. Those invested in this have well funded and thought out tactics and their advocates in Parliament have once again got this on the agenda in a few weeks.

    One of my great concerns is how little the public hears of the other side of the story and with this coming before the House of Commons I shall be putting some of these on the microblog over coming days and weeks. Last night many students at this prestigious university had their first opportunity to hear both sides of the argument, and in particular why legalising assisted suicide in the UK should be resisted.

    Although I am very used to public speaking I found myself unusually nervous and did not deliver my argument as well as I could. Half way through my 10 minutes my mouth had become so dry I needed to stop and pour myself some water. Fortunately my colleagues speaking with me against the motion (Baroness Ilora Finlay, Robert Preston and Lord Alex Carlile) made up for my shortcomings and I heard many students say it was the best Union debate they had heard in their time.

    It was made clear by Nick Ross (the journalist and TV presenter) who summed up for the proponents of the motion that this vote was going to be used to send a clear message to Parliament. He appealed to students that they vote for ‘the principle’ without being concerned about the detail. Given that the devil is truly in the detail for many opponents this was outrageous and the kind of shameless manoeuvring which supports my assertion about Dignity in Daying’s approach (Mr Ross is a Patron).

    But what, you may be wondering, was the result? The final voting was 176 for the motion with 92 against. There were 41 undecided. On the surface a clear victory for those in favour of legalisation. However in such debates a count is also made beforehand of where people stand. Those figures showed that 71 students had changed their mind during the debate and voted against the motion.

    I think I know already what Dignity in Dying will be sending out in their propaganda. My observation is that when people begin to engage more closely with the detail, legalising physician assisted suicide becomes more problematic. I am thankful that Parliament will have a lot more opportunity to engage with the issues than there was for the Cambridge Union.

     
  • Bishop Lee

    Bishop Lee 10:14 am on February 22, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

    “Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return. Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.”

    These are the words which will be spoken over many people today as they receive the imposition of ashes on their foreheads in services marking the beginning of Lent. The first part of this liturgy could have come from the lips of that popular doyen of cosmology, Professor Brian Cox.

    In a repeat episode of ‘Wonders of the Universe’ which I tuned into last Sunday the engaging physicist took us into the heart of stars. He reminded us that it is not only the second biblical narrative of creation which tells us we have been fashioned from dust. Cosmology charts our origin from the elements formed in the nuclear furnace of stars and flung out into the vast emptiness of space. We are ‘stardust’ and to stardust we shall return.

    For Prof Cox the physical principle of entropy will have the last word on the universe and that is a fundamentally different destination than that testified to by Christ. For Christians, the cosmos is not destined to futility and a ‘heat death’ and this makes all the difference. But at the beginning of our journey through Lent we do well to remember our own mortality.

    The American sociologist and theologian Dr Tony Campolo describes a study in which fifty people over the age of 95 were asked one question: “If you could live your live over again, what would you do differently?” As might be expected, an open-ended question like this drew many and varied responses from such senior citizens. But three answers dominated the results of the study:

    “If I had to do it over again, I would reflect more.”
    “If I had to do it over again, I would risk more.”
    “If I had to do it over again, I would do more things that would live on after I am dead.”

    You may not yet have decided how to deepen your journey through Lent but perhaps these answers from those who look back with a greater understanding of human mortality might aid your choice.

     

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