mind your language – deciphering christianese
When I first became a Christian, sorry a Christ follower, (I nearly lost my creds. there, that’s the cool thing to say these days), I remember being seriously mystified by the lingo. One fellow went on at length about being certain he had received the ‘anointing’. Having grown up in the Anglican church before my serious flirt with atheism during my anti neo-colonialism/imperialism/racism years, I had no recollection of ever hearing the word.
Consequently I had no idea what it meant and was distinctly awed by this comrade who seemed to have attained a high enough degree of spirituality to have this nebulous (to me) but highly valuable spiritual endowment bestowed on him. He used it copiously which only increased my discomfort. I could only reflect on the fact that i was not yet, and perhaps never might be the happy recipient of this something. The mists soon cleared, thankfully and I was able in turn to intimidate unsuspecting new believers with my linguistic acquisition.
We have a principle in Abba House Paris, ‘speak French’; in other words, we are devoted to plain speak. We train ourselves to speak in a way that anyone who walks in from the street will understand. When we converse with people we don’t blast them with ‘witness in my spirit’, ‘ move of God’, ‘grieving the Spirit’, ‘effusion of the Spirit’ type language. Which is why i found this video quite hilarious.
the gospel – ?
I love being a christian, i think it is a most glorious thing to have knowledge of Christ and to be in right relationship with Him. It has been of immense benefit to me inwardly and outwardly to know Christ. Yet I know that without me the gospel would still exist. So there is objective fact and truth to the gospel that must be known, understood and communicated as such. I love the personal application of the gospel, what Jesus has done for me, and that was what was missing in the way in which many fundamentalist groups presented Christ. He was remote, distant truth and personal application was missing.
But i fear the pendulum is swinging too far in the other direction. Our presentation of the gospel might now be faulted for being too experiential and not sufficiently expositional of objective truth. And true, it may be that you had trouble sleeping before Jesus touched you and now you sleep like a baby but that does not make Christ a sleeping pill and your presentation of the gospel cannot be limited to ‘come to Jesus, He will make you sleep’. If someone had told me that i would have responded, no thank you, valium will do quite well. Read more
sarah palin, abortion and camille paglia
I happened on a new (for me) blog and he had an extract from Camille Paglia a liberal, feminist writer. Interesting perspective on current political events. I followed the link and read the entire article, her take on Sarah Palin is frankly admiring and her position on abortion arresting. She writes :
“But the pro-life position, whether or not it is based on religious orthodoxy, is more ethically highly evolved than my own tenet of unconstrained access to abortion on demand. My argument (as in my first book, “Sexual Personae,”) has always been that nature has a master plan pushing every species toward procreation and that it is our right and even obligation as rational human beings to defy nature’s fascism. Nature herself is a mass murderer, making casual, cruel experiments and condemning 10,000 to die so that one more fit will live and thrive.
Hence I have always frankly admitted that abortion is murder, the extermination of the powerless by the powerful. Liberals for the most part have shrunk from facing the ethical consequences of their embrace of abortion, Read more
Financial turmoil and divine quietude
The recent turmoil on the financial markets is reason to pause and consider the transience of human endeavours and the fickleness of the human institutions we put our trust in. Much has been said about the lack of responsibility of the players and the need for greater regulation. Certainly, appropriate steps must be taken to curb the excesses of the market and the players themselves. In one fell swoop, the seemingly stable, unbeatable colossi of the market came tumbling down.
Whether we like it or not, money dominates the lives of most people. They spend most of their waking hours working for it. Indeed the Bible has a lot to say about money, the attitude towards it and the use of it. The love of money is said to be the root of all evil. Our heart atittude to money is key. God lays down principles of tithing, giving, generosity that if applied in our lives Read more
Free wifi – a lesson in communication
As I prepared last week for my trip, i again experienced some difficulty finding a hotel room. Finally i had several offers before me and quite naturally, as they were all in the same category, I selected the one with free wifi connection. I am a good hotel guest, very undemanding; despite my life long love affair with tea, i forgive the lack of tea things in the room, i forgive the lack of dressing gowns (bathrobes for the americans) and bedroom slippers, but not free wifi. To think that some hotels still charge you for wifi connection whereas the cost to them is next to nothing.
The point is that wifi is now widely availaible, it is no longer a luxury item or a scarce commodity. So when a hotel charges top euro for it, i am forced to the conclusion that either its management is antediluvian or cares nothing for customers’ comfort and well being, and is only interested in squeezing the last cent out of them. It shows a thin mindset. At that price level, eking out the last euro on wifi is grossly indecent. I increasingly give such hotels a wide berth save in case of absolute necessity.
Well it set me thinking about church, and about the things we do. Are there perhaps things that would cost us little but would go a long way to improving the worship experience of our guests? Are there Read more
Prophetic word Sharon Stone
This prophetic word was sent out by Extreme Prophetic ministries. It is a prophetic word given by Dr Sharon Stone of C.I in June 2008 and it is bound to be an encouragement to many in view of the occurrences in Lakeland and in view of the whole Todd Bentley saga, and criticisms of God TV for their role in publicising the meetings. Enjoy.
June 22, 2008
Dr. Sharon Stone
Belfast, Northern Ireland
As I left my hotel this morning, My spirit was pulled to the building across the street. And I began to prophesy. The building turned out to be the BBC.
Media Revivals have just begun. You have not seen anything yet. Major cities and obscure villages will be a part of My demonstrations in the earth. This is an updating across nations, living rooms and those on the internet. The experiential truths will be the topic of conversations in government buildings, business offices and university campuses. The sick being healed, those in bondage being delivered and the dead raised will infuse believers with faith to do the works of believers. Hope will arise in those needing My miraculous power.
Rory and Wendy Alex have gone through this gate in 2008, now many will follow. Rory and Wendy the Lord says you did not make a mistake, regardless of the criticisms that will come at by the end of the summer.
God says to His church, I have used the most offensive means to break religious taboos. I will allow men to fail that the nations will look to me not man alone. Do not be a part of vultures that eat upon something once it is dead. If your feet get dirty I will wash them, but you will have seen me.
This September 2008 let my cleansing winds blows over My global church. Encourage yourselves, I am bringing My Revival of Spirit and Truth.
Dr.
Sharon Stone
Christian International Europe
For our latest article March 2009 on the Todd Bentley saga: The rape of the church – the Todd Bentley quagmire
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pastor bola olivia ogedengbe,
The Theophilus Company,
ABBA HOUSE, Paris,
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