Droughts and Floods and Prayer

Australia has been very much in the news recently.

A drought of runs by their cricket team has meant that England were able to comprehensively retain the Ashes, although the Aussies have done better in the one day series, and could wrap up an overall win tomorrow. But will we worry if Andy Murray can win the Australian Open Tennis in the morning?

However, I believe the one day cricket international tomorrow is going to be raising money for those who have been devestated by the floods that have hit Queensland, with at least 32 dead and 30,000 homes affected. It does seem that the world is being affected by one extreme weather condition or another - but is this anything new? As I continue to read the biography of Frederic Barker, the Bishop of Sydney in the mid-1800's, I came upon this story, which I found interesting and encouraging:

During this tour (of the western side of the Diocese) the Bishop noticed evidences on every side of a most distressing drought, and reports from all parts of the colony showed that it was not local but universally prevalent. This impressed upon him the duty of humiliation before God on the part of the colonists and of supplication for the removal of a visitation, the effects of which were everywhere severely felt  and were most disastrous. Believing that nations as well as individuals are the subject of His providential government, and are chastened for their sins, he held that by such chastisements God calls them to repentance, and it was his conviction that this law applied to New South Wales no less than to other parts of the British Empire.


Taking therefore the course which the circumstances of the case required, and without which a day of general humiliation and prayer could not have been secured, he wrote before the close of the year to his Excellency the Governor, urging that such a day might be set apart by the Executive, on which the colonists might be invited to make their humble supplications to Almighty God for the removal of so great a calamity from the land.

It is gratifying that in accordance with the request, Friday 12th January 1866 was proclaimed as a day on which the public offices would be closed, and an opportunity given to all to observe the day in the manner proposed. The proclamation also 'expressed the earnest hope that all classes of the community would join with reverence and humility in this solemn appeal to the Divine mercy'.

The day thus set apart by public authority was largely kept throughout the colony as a day of prayer and humiliation. And it may be recorded as a fact, that on that day the drought began to break up, rain fell in many parts of the colony where it was most needed copiously and effectively, reviving the grasses and herbage which seemed to have perished, and producing supplies of water where for months it had been unknown.

I hadn't read this story before, but it reminded me of the time that I 'laid down a fleece' as the church was looking at raising a substantial sum for our Shaping Up building projects, asking God to open the heavens and cause the lakes where I walked each day to flood - within the space of a few days I could no longer do my normal walk as the paths were under feet of water!

Such stories should be an encouragement to us to keep on trusting God, believing that he is interested and involved in the world today, whatever is happening, and praying that He will intervene when we humble ourselves and pray. And perhaps we need to be praying that God will raise up prophetic leaders who will speak not just into the local situation, but to governments and world leaders. And it seems that he doesn't just answer our prayers, but he answers in abundance.

As we prepare to go to Malawi, we are praying that God will protect us and provide for us as he gives us opportunities to serve him, ministering to others, preaching, praying and sharing with many different people. We wonder what we have to offer and give, feeling unworthy, unprepared and not capable, and so would value your prayers trusting that God will provide and go with us, using us to His glory. I was reminded of this need for prayer today in an e-mail from a nephew of mine who is serving God in a Muslim country. He sent us an article by the Christian author Henri Nouwen, who, reflecting on these words from Luke 6 -


"Now it happened in those days that Jesus went onto the mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came, he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them and called them apostles: Simon, whom he called Peter; and his brother, Andrew; James; John; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, son of Alphaeus; Simon, called the Zealot; Judas, son of James; and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples. There was a great crowd of people from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and be cured of their diseases. And people tormented by unclean spirits were also cured. Everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all" (Luke 6:12-19). 

- stated how Jesus needed to spend time, even a whole night, in prayer before he went out to minister to others. I am very aware that we so often get things the wrong way round, turning to prayer once we have begun to minister and things aren't going well!

As for Scotland - no floods or droughts here. We have had a bit of rain, and have seen lots of water with walks by the sea and by rivers such as the River Findhorn as seen in this photo, but predominantly the sun has shone and we have thoroughly enjoyed the countryside, seeing a large herd of red deer in the hills, seals playing on a sand bank, snow buntings on Cairn Gorm amongst hundreds of skiers, trees like a natural cathedral towering 100 metres into the sky in a beautiful glen. Some of these things you can see on www.flickr.com If you click on 'people' and type in MarkandMiriam in the search box, this should lead you to a collection of our photos. I am also hoping that people can make comment in response to my blogs, and will let you know when this is possible.

Mark

Dan Brown, Stieg Larsson and Bishop Barker!

One of the things we have been doing over the past week is reading, I find that reading some novels is one of the ways that helps me relax most quickly.



I started by reading Dan Brown's latest book 'The Lost Symbol', a frustrating book as I wanted to know what happened, and yet, like his others, full of conspiracy leaving you wondering what is true and what is false. This one is focussed around Freemasonry, which through its secret rituals and symbolism, is ripe for a conspiracy theory, but the book questions religion as a whole, with the main character advocating that it is all myth and a crutch for the weak, whilst the female protagonist is more sympathetic though with a very universalistic view that all religions lead to God. The baddie on the other hand seeks to become God through gaining knowledge (Gnosticism).

Interestingly, he states that on the tip of the Washington Monument (is it true that no other building in Washington is allowed to be built that is taller than this monument?) are the Latin words 'Laus Deo' - Praise God, and in the foundations was placed a copy of the Bible by the founding fathers of America. A reminder that our lives are to be built upon the Word of God, and that the pinnacle of human life is to worship God. As is written in the Westminster Catechism, 'the chief end of man is to worship God'.


The Westminster Shorter Catechism was written in the 1640s by an assembly of English and Scottish theologians. The assembly also produced the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger Catechism. The three documents are considered by many Protestants to be the grandest doctrinal statements to come out of the English Reformation.The purpose of the Shorter Catechism is to educate lay persons in matters of doctrine and belief. The WSC is in a simple question and answer format to facilitate memorization. Typically, parents and the church would use the shorter catechism to train their children in the ways of the Lord.

It begins with the question, 'What is the chief end of man?' And the response, 'Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever'. And then it asks, 'What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?' To which the answer given is 'The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him'. Reflecting the two aspects of the Washington Monument in the book. Are these factually true - from Miriam's research on the internet it seems that they are!!!

Anyway, enough of Dan Brown, I have gone on to discover Stieg Larsson, a Swede who wrote three novels which make up the Millennium Trilogy, the first of which is 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. He died unexpectedly shortly after handing the manuscripts to his publisher. A good read, but no theology to discuss!

Have also been reading a book about my great great great uncle, Frederik Barker, who was the second Bishop of Sydney. Before he became Bishop he was a vicar in Liverpool in the 1840-50's when Liverpool was growing rapidly as a city. In his desire to provide for the spiritual welfare of the poor people of his parish, he decided to build a new church. To raise the necessary money he used to write 5 or 6 letters a week to persons who were likely to be  able to help, and before the next Sunday he visited each of them to get their answer to his request - a way that the book states 'proved eminently successful...and in 1850 the Church of St. Stephen the Martyr was opened free of debt, and was soon crowded by the poorer classes who flocked to it in great numbers'. Have to remember that fund raising technique for the future!!!

But referring back to one of the topics raised in 'The Lost Symbol', the Bishop, in an address to the clergy of his Diocese, alluded to one of the great dangers which prevailed at the time - 'an indifference to distinctive Christianity and consequent apathy in regard to the extension of Divine truth'. It seems that universalism was alive and kicking even 150 years ago. To quote what he said, 'It is a short and easy way to get rid of what politicians call the religious difficulty, to treat all religions alike. But the persons who adopt this principle cannot be expected to feel any real earnestness upon the subject of religion. True Christianity drawn from the Scriptures admits of no compromises.....In all matters relating to the soul's salvation, its langauage is 'He that is not with me is against me'. Our safeguard against this danger is distinctive religious teaching. Our people should be taught not only why they are Christians and Protestants, but why they are members of the Church of England. He who has learned to love the Scriptural faith as exhibited in our articles, the apostolic order, the devotional spirit, and the reasonable services of our Church, is not likely to err from her fold'.

I wonder whether in our modern society we have foregone such things as the Westminster Catechism as out of date but failed to replace it with similar teaching, that enables all members of the church to know why we are Christians and safeguard our faith against universalism, gnosticism, compromise, indifference...and help us to know the dangers highlighted in books such as Dan Brown's.

However being here, each day walking by the sea or in the mountains, watching the waves, seeing seals playing, or enjoying beautiful sunsets, reflecting on the amazing creation that the awesome Creator has given to us to enjoy, is a delight and wonder, leading us to........Praise God and to take time to read His Word.

Mark

Study Leave - Itinerary

Lots of people have asked what we are going to be doing over the course of our 4 months study leave, and so here is a brief summary of our plans:

15/1/2011 To Scotland:


We have arrived near Forres and are staying in a house in a clearing of a forest beside the Dava Way (http://www.davaway.org.uk/). This picture of the house was taken a few weeks ago - the snow has now gone! Forres is not far from Lossiemouth, Findhorn Bay, RAF Kinloss, and the Moray Firth. We are here for two weeks on holiday, catching up on sleep, reading, relaxing, walking, exploring the area, and we may drink a bottle or two of red wine!

It was a long drive up, stopping briefly in Sheffiled to drop some stuff off on Tom and have lunch with him, and then staying at a B&B near Peebles. Yesterday, driving through the highlands was beautiful, though it was very heavy rain most of the way, with warnings of flooded roads. But we got here, and have woken up today to sunshine.

One of our aims here is to get into a good pattern of praying together that will sustain us over the next few months, and this morning, over a late breakfast we were praying for you all as you gathered for the morning service. Using the Anglican set readings, our reading today was from 1 Corinthians on sexual immorality!

31/1/2011 To Matlock:

After a couple of weeks in Scotland we drive back south and stop off in Matlock for a few days to see my
Mum. Whilst there we will pop over to Sheffield to have some time with Tom before we go abroad, and we are leaving Guinness, our black labrador, with my sister who also lives in Matlock whilst we travel.

4/2/2011 To London

On the Friday we drive down to visit Jim and Vicky and are going to spend the weekend with them in their new house, and visiting the area and church where Miriam and I first met 27 years ago. Can't quite believe that it is our 25th wedding anniversary this year - must remember, since we both missed our wedding anniversary last year!!

7/2/2011 To Tonbridge:

We are back to Tonbridge for a few days to get some washing done and get packed ready for travelling. Hannah is going to drive us to the airport on Thursday.

10/2/2011 To Malawi:

We fly from Heathrow to Malawi via Johannesburg, arriving in Blantyre at 15:50 on Friday 11th. Pastor Nedson is meeting us there, and we are going to be living with him and his family during our time in Malawi. Nedson is involved in many different aspects of ministry - church planting, training of pastors, schools, health clinic, youth, prisons.... - and we are going to be following him around, joining in with what he is doing, experiencing the things that he is involved with. We will no doubt be speaking and joining in with whatever else Nedson would like us to, but above all we are there to learn, to see how mission and ministry are done in a completely different culture, and to see God at work there. It feels quite daunting at this point, and yet exciting as well.

4/3/2011 To New Zealand:

Some people who we have met through Miriam's step-mother, who is a New Zealander, have offered us a cottage on their farm on the southern tip of the South Island, and also use of their holiday home in Queenstown. So we are looking forward to some rest and time for reflection and study after Malawi, and exploring some of God's amazing creation. I have even been offered lessons in fly-fishing on the river that runs through their farm! After two weeks there, we fly up to the North Island to spend a week at the Bay of Islands.

27/3/2011 To Sydney:

On my birthday we fly to Sydney, a place I have always wanted to visit as one of my ancestors was the second Bishop of Sydney, and the first Archbishop of the Southern Hemisphere. I am hoping to do some research into some of the ministry and mission that he and his wife were involved in whilst there, as they were in many ways missionaries, setting up ministries to support the poor and needy of the diocese, including schools, orphanages and women's refuges. It is said that they were a very pioneering couple, but I know little about them. Their many letters to one another are archived in Sydney and we hope that we will learn much from them. We hope, both in Australia and New Zealand, to be in touch with some missional communities to learn more about how communities are involved in mission around the world.

7/4/2011 To Thailand:

Ten days later we fly to Thailand, and after one night at the Christian Guest house in Bangkok, we travel to the House of Grace orphanage that St. Stepehen's supported through our building project tithe. It was Bill and Marion Love who put us in touch with Alan and Maelynn, who will be hosting us whilst there. We are going to spend a few days there, seeing what they do, how our money was spent, and meeting the children. Again we want to learn about mission, and how the House of Grace reaches out into the local community. At the end we have a couple of days break by the sea, followed by a couple of days in Bangkok, staying with the vicar of Bangkok, who I was ordained with and got to know through the New Wine network in Essex.

21/4/2011 To England:

We fly back on Maundy Thursday to England, and take some days to go and see my Mum, pick up the dog, and then a week away with Hannah and Tom in Devon, before we head back to Tonbridge to unpack, sort out and get ourselves ready for getting back to normal life!!

So that is our itinerary. It sounds busy, but we have hopefully planned in periods of rest as well as things that will stretch us, teach us and give us new experiences. Please be praying that we will meet with God during these 4 months, that we will be open to the opportunities he puts in our way, that we will be a blessing to others, and that God will bless us, teach us, refresh us, renew us and protect us - especially from upset stomachs etc and that we will keep well. Please also pray for the two of us, that we will have some quality time together and grow in our love for each other as well as for God.

Thank you for all your prayers and words of encouragement and support before we left. We will be praying for you all.

Mark