We suffer from 'over-nutrition and under-exertion'.
Diligence is a forgotten virtue. Toil, unacceptable.
'Sweat and skill make good travelling companions'.
As affluence increased we seem to have lost them on the way.
Thursday 29 October 2009
PLAYGROUND BULLY?
A recent statement by the Secretary for Education:
Children must be given career guidance from the age of 7. They apparently need to be exposed to the workplace from an early age.
Any different from children at the coal face?
Slave labour in another form?
What happened to playing, acting out our dreams of being teachers, doctors, firemen and cowboys?
Another way - children need the sunlight of good literature.
Children must be given career guidance from the age of 7. They apparently need to be exposed to the workplace from an early age.
Any different from children at the coal face?
Slave labour in another form?
What happened to playing, acting out our dreams of being teachers, doctors, firemen and cowboys?
Another way - children need the sunlight of good literature.
THE ECONOMY
Market fundamentalism believes the economy can govern all of life.
This is true only of commodities. Health, education and justice have become commodities, citizens, consumers. Man has a soul and cannot live this way without becoming dehumanised.
Politicians forget this at their peril.
This is true only of commodities. Health, education and justice have become commodities, citizens, consumers. Man has a soul and cannot live this way without becoming dehumanised.
Politicians forget this at their peril.
Tuesday 27 October 2009
POLITICS
The art of living together, sharing and caring for the good of all.
It is to regulate man's innate tendency to self-interest. There has to be a balance between individual autonomy and corporate responsibility for the good of society.
Law regulates society.The question is who decides what the law shall be. We all want to choose whom we shall obey - man has an inborn disposition to resist the law.
If the predominant ethos of the ruling party is self-gratification in a consumerist economy, what hope is there for moral order in society, which seems no longer to exist?
It is to regulate man's innate tendency to self-interest. There has to be a balance between individual autonomy and corporate responsibility for the good of society.
Law regulates society.The question is who decides what the law shall be. We all want to choose whom we shall obey - man has an inborn disposition to resist the law.
If the predominant ethos of the ruling party is self-gratification in a consumerist economy, what hope is there for moral order in society, which seems no longer to exist?
Sunday 25 October 2009
THE GOSPEL
The good news that man can now live a beautifully true life in the likeness of Jesus Christ giving God cause to rejoice over us with singing.
In Mozambique the message went out to beer-sodden villagers that they will not be able to live in the light if they have not received the salvation provided by Christ. Perhaps light to them is more precious as they live in spiritual and physical darkness unknown to us.
In Mozambique the message went out to beer-sodden villagers that they will not be able to live in the light if they have not received the salvation provided by Christ. Perhaps light to them is more precious as they live in spiritual and physical darkness unknown to us.
Wednesday 21 October 2009
WHAT IS THE CHIEF END OF MAN?
The Westminster Confession of Faith starts with this question. The answer - 'to glorify God and enjoy Him for ever'.
Another way would be to say: To walk in fruitful fellowship with God in the beautiful world He has made, bringing both great joy.
At creation, God came walking in the cool of the day in the garden He had prepared, seeking out the man made in His image. It was a guilty Adam who hid from Him through fear, the fruit of disobedience. He sought to cover those parts God had intended to bring about god-given fruitfulness. Now they brought him only shame.
Man has been hiding from God ever since, seeking only to murder Him. It is through grace that God has made a way to restore that fellowship, the fruit of Christ's death to cover men's shame, and to replace fear with joy.
'This is eternal life, that they may know You....that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.''
John 17
Another way would be to say: To walk in fruitful fellowship with God in the beautiful world He has made, bringing both great joy.
At creation, God came walking in the cool of the day in the garden He had prepared, seeking out the man made in His image. It was a guilty Adam who hid from Him through fear, the fruit of disobedience. He sought to cover those parts God had intended to bring about god-given fruitfulness. Now they brought him only shame.
Man has been hiding from God ever since, seeking only to murder Him. It is through grace that God has made a way to restore that fellowship, the fruit of Christ's death to cover men's shame, and to replace fear with joy.
'This is eternal life, that they may know You....that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.''
John 17
DEWDROPS AND RIVERS
'The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens me morning by morning,
He awakens my ear to hear as the learned.'
Isaiah 50 vs 4
'Blessed is the man who listenes to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favour from the Lord'
Proverbs 8 vs 34, 35
'He who believes in Me... out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'.
John 7 vs 38
That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens me morning by morning,
He awakens my ear to hear as the learned.'
Isaiah 50 vs 4
'Blessed is the man who listenes to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favour from the Lord'
Proverbs 8 vs 34, 35
'He who believes in Me... out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'.
John 7 vs 38
PHILOSOPHY
The heart of philosophy seems to be to find the truly good life. A life marked by beauty and truth - 'living with a lucid happiness', facing reality head on in an ever changing present.
To reach this, toil is needed. Wisdom is given to 'those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil'.
Hebrews 5 vs 14.
The examined life of the philosophers, producing an ever moving stream of clear water to sustain the lives of others in their need.
The truly beautiful, good and true life, that lived each day by the Son of Man who delighted to make His Father fully known. It is God's purpose for His people to 'be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren'. Romans 8 vs 28,29.
We are to be crafted by the vicissitudes of life into this image, bringing our Father great joy.
To reach this, toil is needed. Wisdom is given to 'those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil'.
Hebrews 5 vs 14.
The examined life of the philosophers, producing an ever moving stream of clear water to sustain the lives of others in their need.
The truly beautiful, good and true life, that lived each day by the Son of Man who delighted to make His Father fully known. It is God's purpose for His people to 'be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren'. Romans 8 vs 28,29.
We are to be crafted by the vicissitudes of life into this image, bringing our Father great joy.
GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
Dawkin's latest foray into evolution glorifies the role of natural selection in choreographing the 'greatest show on earth', nature in all its fulness and beauty.
We would no sooner attribute the greatness of a West End production to a computer or some such impersonal process, than expect to find a wedding dress produced by the machinery which made it.
Some Christians consign God to the audience, whereas He is the Designer, Director and Producer of the show.
The glory goes to the craftsman, whose name is heralded for all to see.
We would no sooner attribute the greatness of a West End production to a computer or some such impersonal process, than expect to find a wedding dress produced by the machinery which made it.
Some Christians consign God to the audience, whereas He is the Designer, Director and Producer of the show.
The glory goes to the craftsman, whose name is heralded for all to see.
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