Renew Your Mind

I am a product of my modern education- a system which emphasizes logical, rational, scientific thinking. So I love working with friends who are more creative, and can extend my understanding in ways that are emotional, artistic and non-verbal. Theology as mind-blowing as incarnation needs so much more than words to express it. In fact, I suspect that if we try to rein it in or explain it with words, we fall into error which betrays more about our assumptions and prejudices than about God's amazing grace. Art somehow opens those doors which dogma has slammed shut. So this weekend, I am excited to be sharing my message about Mary with a friend who is writing and singing a song, and another who is bringing flowers. May God's presence be made real in fragrance, colour and song as well as thoughts.

I'm preaching this december on Mary..... I love Christmas, and I love the fact that it all starts with these 2 women, Elizabeth and Mary, and this most female of things, pregnancy. I'v been thinking about pregnancy as a metaphor for God's presence with us. it's life changing it's not just for Sundays it's costly and involves sacrifice it's both a gift and a choice it's a time of waiting, looking forward to what's to come

This great phrase comes from Philip Greenslade ' A Passion for God's Story', where he writes He emerges as a God keen on entering into dialogue rather than authoritarian decree; a God who does not hastily enter into closure but keeps debate open and his options open. This God appears curiously persuadable. He wants people to share the emotional turmoil of decision-making as if inviting persuasion, prayer and appeal.   p. 217 So often I think we imagine God as a master planner, who knows how everything is supposed to work out, whereas we stumble along in the dark, trying to work out what is the 'right' thing to do. This idea of Greenslade's of a partnership, where decision making is not a quick, easy thing but rather a struggle, and where the outcome might be open to debate, is hugely encouraging. It might be tempting to see God as a sort of fortune teller, who if approached correctly, and maybe paid enough, will reveal the next step for us. But this idea th...