Deeper shade of grey | Faith House 9

Another periodic update from Faith House

It is the little things that count at Faith House, things that we would all take for granted but speak volumes in helping the largely valueless in society to feel some kind of worth.

One of the things that I have learned is that the average drink is tea with two sugars. There is something really profound in being able to remember how someone drinks their tea. For some of these guys, for someone to not only know their name but also know how many sugars they take in their tea is symbolic of belonging. It speaks of family. Acceptance.

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Deeper shade of grey | lost themes 7

Lost themes of mission… worship

I must have got to that sad stage in my blogging life where I do repeats, or it could do something with my age! But this modern day parable does the trick for me every time I read it.

“One day after dinner, while finishing dessert, a father sent his boy out to cut the lawn. Smiling broadly, the son said, “No, Father, I just want to stay here experiencing your presence, expressing my love for you, my dear Father.” The father frowned and said, more firmly this time, “Actually, Son, I would rather you go out and cut the lawn.” But the boy acted as if he didn’t even hear his father, and he replied, “Dad! Guess what? I just wrote a song expressing my love for you!” The son began to sing, his eyes closed in sincerity and intense emotion, and the father left the table to go watch TV. The boy didn’t notice, but kept singing, with tears streaming down his face.

At that point the father wanted the boy to experience obedience (which may entail heat, sweat, thirst, sunburn, strained muscles, hunger, endurance, and fatigue) even more than the warmth of his presence.”
(A is for Abductive Sweet, McClaren)

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Tags: lost theme of mission, worship

Deeper shade of grey | what’s next?

When the song of the angels is silent
When the star in the sky is gone
When the kings and princes are home
When the shepherds are again tending their sheep
When the manger is darkened and still

The work of Christmas begins…

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Deeper shade of grey | shack attack

skip over the silliness

The Shack I read with the warning that I would hate it! Certainly the disclaimer that if I didn’t enjoy the book it was not meant for me was a handy loophole. I think it would only be fair to say I would imagine that there would be others that would benefit from this book more than me!! Trying not to be bruisingly cynical and without wanting to spoil the plot, I struggled with the over-personification of the Trinity, particular moments of intimacy, knowing looks and winks in the community of God made me gag. The overplay of the obvious left me groaning with too many ‘oh really moments…!’

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Deeper shade of grey | Holiness

Current reading on an old topic

Phoebe Palmer is cropping up in my reading a lot recently. Several issues intrigue and excite me particularly how holiness was worked out through ‘actions of love’ particularly through the Five Points Mission in an inner city, deprived area of New York City.

I read this:

“Phoebe Palmer preached that holiness insures usefulness. These nineteenth-century followers of Wesley believed it was their duty as Christians to be useful. Holiness doctrine, with its emphasis on love, provided the basis for social holiness which is the Wesleyan/Holiness equivalent of the social gospel. The phrase “social holiness” is borrowed from Wesley who wrote: “The Gospel of Christ knows . . . of no holiness but social holiness.””

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Deeper shade of grey | finding home

The seldom known end of the story

Mr Hopgood was a regular feature of URBANarmy [ed: Gordon's own blog] several years back. At the time I could not get my head around how I could not help this elderly and very eccentric homeless guy who had been made street homeless when a hostel closed for a refurbishment. Everyday Mr Hopgood would come into the community lounge at Poplar Corps [in central London, UK] for breakfast, lunch, warmth and a sleep. Everyday we would help Mr Hopgood in with his over sized suitcase. Everyday Mr Hopgood would sit and create his own atmosphere, his sweet aroma of percolating street smells!

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Deeper shade of grey | Faith House 8

Another periodic update from Faith House

The first wave of guys leaving after their plate of pasta was in full swing, the small room at Faith House opened up and when a chair became available next to Adrian I was able to sit beside him. He had been more agitated than usual, he has a kind of musical chair routine throughout most evenings - tonight there was more to it, there was something up.

He seemed pleased, even relieved, that someone had sat next to him. After a couple of minutes of nonsensical conversation he starts digging deep into his jacket. He pulls out a police evidence bag with a wad of paperwork and says “can you make sense of this…?”

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Deeper shade of grey | lost themes 6

Lost themes of mission… righteousness

Bosch points to the damage that has been done to the biblical concept of righteousness through the churches’ maintenance of a separation of inward and spiritual righteousness from an outward and manifest justice in social relationships.

Leslie Newbigin points out that it is easy: “to see how the use of two different English words ‘righteous’ and ‘just’ for the single biblical word has seduced evangelical Christians into a mental separation between righteousness as an inward and spiritual state and justice as an outward and political programme.”

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Deeper shade of grey | a noisy peace

Our longest serving blogger

I ran through the grounds. I was late. The sole mournful bell calling was weakening, coming to its end. I ran past the pigs, sheep and goats. Chickens and geese looked on. I opened the huge heavy oak paneled doors of Quarr Abbey and walked into a different world, quietly creaking the door closed.

I felt the beauty in the coolness.  Shafts of sunlight spilled through the high windows, their beams accentuated by the incense rising slowly to the heights of the abbey. Monks suitably attired in monk gear, sang their Gregorian chants filling the acoustics of the abbey. The Abbot, hardly visible through the ever-increasing incense, held the gospel high above his head. This was dramatic stuff. I felt drawn further and further into the mystery of God.

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Deeper shade of grey | conspirators

What does a deconstructed em. ch look like?

It was an interesting start to the evening; we stood outside a very well locked-up inner city church wondering if we were in the right place to hear Tom Sine. Five of us sensibly getting there early just in case we didn’t get in. We didn’t have much to worry about! Eventually some life and Tom and his hosts arrive and we are let in together with a young dread-locked boy who seemed to be looking for community and warmth. Gradually a small crowd joins us and we got introduced to parts of his new book The New Conspirators: Creating the Future One Mustard Seed at a Time.

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