tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45218652723296735252024-02-20T15:49:01.461+00:00Luke's blogLuke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comBlogger679125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-14479627859543138792021-02-21T14:41:00.007+00:002021-03-02T15:36:51.750+00:00Vaccines<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcz8ayadUgC0BVDPSurgEGfq11ouIK3syD2P3R0D1L5RNTdY6v95PvAWH1LiD7bEeHlJZyrPHPlwX_zGfqZzzzlogKWsAWwr3a-icbWK40KVdSb38PJ6TXPWvtvHWzYUswDaQ7gaofN5Q/s1400/steven-cornfield-jWPNYZdGz78-unsplash.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1400" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcz8ayadUgC0BVDPSurgEGfq11ouIK3syD2P3R0D1L5RNTdY6v95PvAWH1LiD7bEeHlJZyrPHPlwX_zGfqZzzzlogKWsAWwr3a-icbWK40KVdSb38PJ6TXPWvtvHWzYUswDaQ7gaofN5Q/w640-h427/steven-cornfield-jWPNYZdGz78-unsplash.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p> </p><p>The arrival of vaccines for Covid-19 has been hailed by most people as a cause for hope and rejoicing. At last, the newspaper headlines says, a light at the end of the tunnel! But what if the urgent desire to bring the virus under some kind of control has led to a lack of restraint in the development process? What if our longing to hug people has caused us to embrace ethically-dubious methods of production? Could our attempts to escape one disaster cause another? Christians should think carefully about these things and there are trustworthy resources to help us with this.<br /><br /><br /><b>Can these vaccines be trusted?</b><br /><br />Writing for The Gospel Coalition, Joe Carter has produced, <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-faqs-what-you-should-know-about-covid-19-vaccines/" target="_blank">“The FAQs: What You Should Know About COVID-19 Vaccines”</a>. His thoroughly-linked document includes information about how vaccines work, including mRNA technology, and how they have been properly tested in such a short time frame. His summary paragraph states:<br /></p><blockquote>“This is an unprecedented blessing that would have been considered nothing less than miraculous for previous generations of Christians. While it’s understandable that some people (especially those unfamiliar with the underlying science) might be cautious, our first response to this news should be to express our thanks to a God who has made it possible to prevent the sickness and deaths of millions of people.”</blockquote>Professor John Wyatt is a British doctor, author, speaker and research scientist who now focuses on medical ethics. He also uses <a href="https://johnwyatt.com/2020/12/21/faq-coronavirus-vaccines-frequently-asked-questions/" target="_blank">the FAQ format to address issues of safety</a>, as well as a number of other concerns and rumours. His answers are detailed but clear. Regarding the risks of taking a vaccine, he concludes:<br /><blockquote>“On the basis of the current evidence, the vaccine is far safer than the majority of the medications that are prescribed every day by NHS doctors, but of course it’s not possible to completely rule out the possibility of a rare but serious side effect.”</blockquote><p><br /></p><b>Are these vaccines morally tainted?<br /></b><br />Cells reproduced from those taken from an aborted fetus were used in the production and/or testing of both major vaccines being offered in the UK. This is rightly a serious concern for Christians, given our honouring of life as God’s gift and His repeated command to care for the vulnerable. <br /><br /><a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-faqs-fetal-cells-covid-19-vaccines-treatments/" target="_blank">Carter</a> and <a href="https://johnwyatt.com/2020/10/08/article-coronavirus-vaccines-and-christian-ethics/" target="_blank">Wyatt</a> have both addressed this connection, as has Matthew Loftus, an American family doctor. His article for Mere Orthodoxy, <a href="https://mereorthodoxy.com/others-may-live-fetal-cell-lines-vaccine-production/" target="_blank">“That Others May Live: Fetal Cell Lines and Vaccine Production”</a>, explains the methods scientist use with cell lines and the methods Christians have historically used in their moral reasoning. There are three main reasons why accepting the vaccine doesn't mean accepting abortion: the abortion wasn’t carried out for this purpose, the cell reproduction process has created a significant distance between the fetus and the vaccines, and there are no attempts being made to promote abortion as a public good because of its involvement in these vaccines.<br /><br />Loftus is helpfully blunt, suggesting that the production of these vaccines pales in comparison with the numerous other ways in which most of us are complicit with injustice. For example, we buy products made in China and we use fuel that comes from Middle Eastern countries despite <a href="https://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/world-watch-list/" target="_blank">documented persecution of Christians</a> and many others in those nations. Given that the argument put forward by those who consider the vaccines to be morally tainted is essentially “have nothing to do with evil”, I think this is an important and appropriate response. We might also want to consider that the only perfect Person who has ever lived paid taxes to an unjust and idolatrous empire (Matthew 22:15–22).<br /><br />If you want the perspective of a specialist Christian ethicist, Professor C. Ben Mitchell is a Senior Fellow at <a href="https://cbhd.org/" target="_blank">The Centre for Bioethics and Human Dignity</a>. He was interviewed on the Mere Fidelity podcast in February, discussing issues of ethics, practicality, theology and philosophy as they relate to vaccines.<br /> <br /><iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="300" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/975947659&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe><p></p><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><br /></div><br /><b>Is God at work in this?<br /></b><br />A Christian perspective on vaccines and their development can also be helped by considering what is known as “common grace”. Common grace is the understanding that God does good generally to all people, regardless of how they relate to Him (Matthew 5:45), and therefore He can work good through anyone, not just His people.<br /><br />The great seventeenth-century theologian John Calvin wrote:<br /><blockquote>“Therefore, in reading [non-Christian] authors, the admirable light of truth displayed in them should remind us, that the human mind, however much fallen and perverted from its original integrity, is still adorned and invested with admirable gifts from its Creator. If we reflect that the Holy Spirit is the only fountain of truth, we will be careful, as we would avoid offering insult to him, not to reject or condemn truth wherever it appears. In despising the gifts, we insult the Giver.” (<i>Institutes of the Christian Religion</i>, 2.2.15)</blockquote><p>(For more on this, see the chapter, “A New Conception of Work” in Timothy Keller’s book <i>Every Good Endeavour</i>, Hodder & Stoughton, 2012.)<br /><br />Medicine is part of common grace. One way of seeing the story of the Bible is that God is healing what has gone horribly wrong. It is in His nature to make things better. Jesus’s ministry confirmed this with an abundance of supernatural healing miracles but “normal” medical practices are also recorded with approval in the Bible (e.g. 2 Kings 20:7, 1 Timothy 5:23). So long as they are in harmony with the revealed will of God, they should be seen as one of the many expressions of His kindness to us.<br /><br />Think for a moment about how this has come together. Thousands of highly skilled people have been working on these vaccines, accompanied by thousands more volunteers, building on a legacy of medical knowledge and with the assistance of advanced technology to benefit billions of people who would otherwise be helpless. Christians can be grateful to God for all this and pray that this grace would reach the whole world. They can play their part by getting vaccinated for the good of those around them, as well as for their own health. They can also sign the World Health Organisation's <a href="https://www.who.int/campaigns/annual-theme/year-of-health-and-care-workers-2021/vaccine-equity-declaration" target="_blank">Vaccine Equity Declaration</a> in the hope that these life-saving resources will be distributed fairly.<br /><br />To finish, here’s an opportunity to hear from one of the Christians involved in making this happen. Dr Francis Collins led the Human Genome Project, founded <a href="https://biologos.org/" target="_blank">BioLogos</a>, and is now the Director of the National Institutes of Health. He has been leading the USA’s medical response to COVID-19, and he was interviewed in December about the development of vaccines and how Christians should respond to what has been happening. His prayer requests at the end are honest and humbling. Whatever we’re doing during this time, may we also be prayerful, honest and humble.<br /><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WFc_cM1Cv1s" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />-<br /></p><p></p><p>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@stevencornfield?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Steven
Cornfield</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/vaccination?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>.</p>Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-30409018528294195992021-01-21T22:00:00.002+00:002021-01-27T12:36:12.521+00:00Fasting<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyh0L3BZvbjoNkaIf4izrDO8AZ_hfqfPyjWFro8_S4OyCrrHYxyVmiXAUMJzZ5NED-zAWS2UqXzzr3vMaP10lmG_TK2f6wwIMzb8nFWWUIg5qD1wxgIm99oXubB68n2KVpKN_bCL3yzA/s1400/plate.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1400" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvyh0L3BZvbjoNkaIf4izrDO8AZ_hfqfPyjWFro8_S4OyCrrHYxyVmiXAUMJzZ5NED-zAWS2UqXzzr3vMaP10lmG_TK2f6wwIMzb8nFWWUIg5qD1wxgIm99oXubB68n2KVpKN_bCL3yzA/w640-h427/plate.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">In brief</span></b><br /><br />Fasting is going without something (usually food) for the sake of spiritual purposes. Jesus expects His followers to fast. Done rightly, it can refocus our hope on God and bring about amazing change.<br /> </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">In depth</span></b><br /><br />Jesus discusses fasting in Matthew 6:16-18 and mentions it as an activity that He expects His followers will do, just as we are to give to the needy (verse 2) and pray (verse 7). All three activities are introduced “when you...”. There are numerous examples of people fasting in the Bible, including Jesus Himself (Matthew 4:2). So, why did they do it and why should we?<br /><br />Fasting isn't about physical health, even though some fasts may do you good physically and emotionally. King David wrote that he fasted to humble himself (Psalm 35:13, NASB translation), and it is the humble who have the precious promise of God’s attention (Isaiah 66:2) and therefore His involvement. This process is demonstrated in Ezra’s story when he and the exiles he led were facing a dangerous journey:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote>“Then I proclaimed a fast… that we might humble ourselves before our God… So we fasted and implored our God for this, and He listened to our entreaty” (Ezra 8:21,23)</blockquote><p></p><p>Two other examples of fasting being part of a prayerful response of desperate determination are found in 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 and Esther 4:16-5:3. In both of these stories, the very survival of God's people was in peril, so they fasted in the hope that He would intervene.<br /><br />Fasting is hard work, and it is meant to be. It is commonly associated with mourning (as feasts are with celebrations), and word used in the Old Testament is often translated "affliction" (Psalm 35:13). The point of a fast is that our discomfort forces us to come to God ragged and relying only on Him. It is a physical response to what's happening, or not happening, it's a full-bodied cry that "Your Kingdom come".<br /><br />John Piper writes:<br /></p><blockquote>“If there is anything that signifies seriousness, it is when you want something so badly that you will stop eating in the pursuit of it, or when the absence of something in your life or in the church or in the world grieves you so badly that you give up eating to express your humiliation and your longing to see it come.” ("<a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/revival-and-fasting" target="_blank">Revival and Fasting</a>")</blockquote><p></p>The expectation that fasting will make a difference is emphasised by Jesus: “your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:18).<br /><br />All this suggests that abstinence is not the same as fasting: people "giving up" something like chocolate for Lent isn't what the Bible means by fasting as that is usually done for their own benefit. Fasting is also not primarily about disciplining your body and mind to not be driven by unhealthy desires for food or other things, though it can help with that (see 1 Corinthians 6:12, 9:24-27 for the importance of this).<br /><br />The Bible doesn't give us specific instruction for considering other practicalities such as "How long for?" or "How often?" The likely answers to these questions for most western Christians are "Longer than you'd like" and "More often than you'd think". Building a regular fast into our lives could bring great benefit to your praying, even if it as a little as one meal missed in a week, or one day in a week avoiding doing something. In <i>Celebration of Discipline</i>, Richard Foster gives a helpful description of how to progress in fasting. 40-day fasts are exceptional in the Bible and shouldn't be considered without the medical advice and the counsel of mature Christians.<br /><br />For those for whom going without any food could put their health at risk, alternative fasts could include certain types of food (such as luxuries or simply more than you truly need, as in Daniel 10:2-3), or non-food fasts such as avoiding entertainment or social media or the company of others. Paul suggests that married couples could fast from sex “for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer” (1 Corinthians 7:5). Find something that will humble you and – this is important – that will create time for you to pray.<br /><br />To end, a warning. In Isaiah 58:1-14 we witness a furious argument between God and His people. They complain that He is not responding to their fasts; He replies that He is not a cash machine that gives out to anyone who knows the right combinations. Their hearts were far from Him, their fasts were a cause of boasting, and injustice was rampant throughout the land. He would not allow that to stand. He told them that they should fast by being just and generous, rather than seeking their own good.<br /><br />A similar conflict occurs in Matthew 6, where Jesus says that some people fast in order show how "holy" they are and with no intention that others be blessed; this is exactly the opposite of God’s purpose for it. Those who are motivated by pride, Jesus says, will get the meagre reward of a shallow crowd’s admiration but nothing from God. True fasting has far greater rewards.<div><br /><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">In God's Word</span><br /></b><br />The first fast recorded in the Bible was done by Moses in preparation for receiving God’s Law, Exodus 34:28.<br /><br />Israel had one day of commanded fasting, the Day of Atonement: Leviticus 16:29-34. (Zechariah 8:19 records the establishment of other fasts after the exile.)<br /><br />Examples of fasts in response to catastrophe (or trying to ward off disaster and/or God's punishment): 2 Samuel 12:15b-23, 2 Chronicles 20:1-30, Jeremiah 36:9, Joel 2:11-17, Jonah 3:4-10, Esther 4:16-5:3.<br /><br />Jesus fasted and stated that His followers would do also whilst He was away from them: Matthew 4:2, 6:16-18, 9:14-17. It’s worth noting that Jesus was known more for feasting than fasting: Matthew 11:19.<br /><br />New Testament fasts to prepare for significant Kingdom advance: Matthew 4:2, Acts 13:3, 14:23.<br /><br />N.B. Matthew 17:21 doesn't appear in most modern translations of the Bible as the earliest known manuscripts do not include Jesus saying that certain exorcisms can only be achieved by prayer and fasting. The parallel phrase in Mark 9:29 is also a later addition.<br /><br />Jesus and Paul both warn against fasts done for external show rather than inner change: Matthew 6:16-18, Colossians 2:16-23.<br /><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In others' words</span></h2><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Articles</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">"<a href="https://prayercourse.org/toolshed/" target="_blank">How To Fast</a>", Pete Grieg, The Prayer Course.<br /><br />"<a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/fasting-for-beginners" target="_blank">Fasting for Beginners</a>", Dave Mathis, Desiring God, 26th August 2015.<br /><br />"Is God Calling Us To Fast?", <a href="https://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/is_god_calling_us_to_fast_part_1" target="_blank">part 1</a>, <a href="https://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/is_god_calling_us_to_fast_part_2" target="_blank">part 2</a>, <a href="https://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/is_god_calling_us_to_fast_part_3" target="_blank">part 3</a>, <a href="https://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/is_god_calling_us_to_fast_part_4" target="_blank">part 4</a>, Phil Moore, Think Theology, May 2020.<br /><br />"<a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/revival-and-fasting" target="_blank">Revival and Fasting</a>", John Piper, Desiring God, 6th June 1986.<br /><br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Books<br /></b><br /><i>The Common Rule</i>, Justin Whitmel Earley, IVP, 2019.<br /><br /><i>Celebration of Discipline</i>, revised edition, Richard Foster, Hodder & Stoughton, 2008.<br /><br /><i>A Hunger for God</i>, redesigned edition, John Piper, Crossway, 2013.<br /><br /><br /><b>Podcasts</b><br /><br />"<a href="https://bibleproject.com/podcast/practicing-faith-part-2-feasting-fasting/" target="_blank">Feasting and Fasting</a>", Tim Mackie, Exploring My Strange Bible, 11th September 2017.<br /><br />"<a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/march-web-only/does-your-fasting-have-point.html?share=oJpDCjTxpnaxA7g6NaNaMkCI8rLmTA0J&utm_medium=widgetsocial" target="_blank">Does Your Fasting Have A Point?</a>", Don Whitney and hosts, Quick To Listen, 9th March 2017<br /><br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Preaching & Teaching</b><br /><br />"<a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/fasting-for-the-fathers-reward" target="_blank">Fasting for the Father's Reward</a>", John Piper, 5th February 1995.<br /><br /><br /><b>Quotes</b><br /><br />“When manifestations of the divine anger appear as pestilence, war, and famine, the sacred and salutary custom of all ages has been for pastors to exhort the people to public fasting and extraordinary prayer.” (p.819, John Calvin, <i>Institutes of the Christian Religion</i>, trans. Henry Beveridge, Hendrickson, 2008)<br /><br />“Fasting is bizarrely countercultural because it runs the opposite direction of the American dream. In pursuit of the dream, we tell each other that we can move upward in the world through sheer individual effort and that we’re going to be finally happy when we get there. In fasting, we deliberately move downward into emptiness – and even more, we admit that we can’t eat or work our way to happiness. We need God for that.” (p. 130, Justin Whitmel Earley, <i>The Common Rule</i>, IVP, 2019)<br /><br />“When the disciples brought lunch to Jesus, assuming that he would be starving, he declared, ‘I have food to eat of which you do not know… My food is do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work’ (John 4:32, 34). This was not a clever metaphor, but a genuine reality. Jesus was, in fact, being nourished and sustained by the power of God. That is the reason for his counsel on fasting in Matthew 6. We are told not to act miserable when fasting because, in point of fact, we are not miserable. We are feeding on God and, just like the Israelites who were sustained in the wilderness by the miraculous manna from heaven, so we are sustained by the word of God.” (p.68, Richard Foster, <i>Celebration of Discipline</i>, revised edition, Hodder & Stoughton, 2008)<br /><br />“Fasting can bring breakthrough in the spiritual realm that will never happen in any other way. It is a means of God’s grace and blessing that should not be neglected any longer.” (p.73, Richard Foster, <i>Celebration of Discipline</i>, revised edition, Hodder & Stoughton, 2008)<br /><br />"Instead of taking an hour for lunch I use the time to go to a prayer room... There I spend my lunch break in fellowship with God and in prayer. And I have learned a very personal dimension to what Jesus declared, 'I have had meat to eat ye know not of.'" (Carl Lundquist, quoted by John Piper, "<a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/fasting-for-the-fathers-reward" target="_blank">Fasting for the Father's Reward</a>")<br /><br />“It was not Christ’s intention to reject or despise fasting… it was His intention to restore proper fasting” (Martin Luther, quoted p.65, Richard Foster, <i>Celebration of Discipline</i>, revised edition, Hodder & Stoughton, 2008)<br /><br />"It is better not to fast, and be thereby humbled, than to fast and be self-satisfied therewith." (Blaise Pascal, <i>Pensées</i>, exact reference unknown)<br /><br />“Our seasons of fasting and prayer at the Tabernacle have been high days indeed; never has Heaven's gate stood wider; never have our hearts been nearer the central Glory.” (Charles Spurgeon, exact reference unknown)<br /><br />"Fasting is not a hunger strike. It’s not trying to bend God’s arm. It’s coming to Him with real intention where faith can grow and promises like ‘the fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much’ are outworked." (Terry Virgo, "<a href="https://www.terryvirgo.org/articles/constant-and-diverse-prayer/" target="_blank">Constant and Diverse Prayer</a>".)<br /><br />“First, let [fasting] be done unto the Lord with our eye simply fixed on Him. Let our intention herein be this, and this alone, to glorify our Father which is in heaven.” (John Wesley, quoted p.67, Richard Foster, <i>Celebration of Discipline</i>, revised edition, Hodder & Stoughton, 2008)<br /><br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Videos</b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pyG1nL8OXWY" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br />---</p>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@jonathanpielmayer?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Jonathan Pielmayer</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/plate?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></div>Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-40319342979496732702020-12-23T16:21:00.001+00:002020-12-23T16:21:49.015+00:00Grace<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFHrvHcKkzanCq8hXiLXnPEvBygeviaLMMTt6JKy8qAGJ9WzU9d9SkPp0sAjaU-iBSJYh1eD2X-JyODj-4v73M52SIhJ2-Awh7pqvNFnYDMoRsflWmBSZwno2hzp_gqzOjLoEpTmOT3-w/s1400/phil-botha-a0TJ3hy-UD8-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFHrvHcKkzanCq8hXiLXnPEvBygeviaLMMTt6JKy8qAGJ9WzU9d9SkPp0sAjaU-iBSJYh1eD2X-JyODj-4v73M52SIhJ2-Awh7pqvNFnYDMoRsflWmBSZwno2hzp_gqzOjLoEpTmOT3-w/s16000/phil-botha-a0TJ3hy-UD8-unsplash.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:14, 16-17)<br /><br />Jesus is full of grace and truth: He always has been, and He always will be.<br /><br />Without diminishing His fullness one ounce, He came to give His grace and truth to you and me. This is as true for Christmas 2020 as all the others we have celebrated but of course there are some things we might be more attuned to this year…<br /><br />Christmas is God stepping into the human story, sharing our life with us. This means that we can say that our God “gets it”; when you speak to Him, He understands what you’re going through, however unprecedented it may seem.<br /><br />If we want to talk about restricted movement, how about going from being infinite to being hemmed in by a womb? From omnipresent to fixed in one place at a time. He who saw the universe formed now could only look down a dusty street. He who spoke creation into being might now not be heard in the din of a noisy crowd.<br /><br />Isolation? Maybe not usually the involuntary physical isolation we’re all experiencing to some degree or other but the fact of His uniqueness was isolating. You sense it sometimes when He’s being misunderstood or getting frustrated. And, of course, there was the utter loneliness of the Garden of Gethsemane.<br /><br />Disappointment? He was rejected by many who saw Him perform great signs and speak great truth. He was betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, abandoned by the rest.<br /><br />Sorrow? He is “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). He weeps at the death of friends and the rebellion of Jerusalem.<br /><br />Living with an increased risk of death? Even the story of His birth is haunted by death, as Herod tries to kill Him. And for how many years did He know that He was headed for the cross, before He began to resolutely walk the path towards it?<br /><br />What might all this mean for how He thinks of us right now, with what we’re going through? Many of us can find it hard to sympathise with those who are experiencing things we consider less stressful than what we’ve gone through. Jesus could easily treat us that way, if He wasn’t Jesus.<br /><br />Jesus is full of grace and truth: He always has been, and He always will be.<br /><br />“For we do not have a high priest [a representative] who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16)<br /><br />Seated on a throne of grace, full of grace (as John 1 told us), He offers us grace. His grace is sympathetic, co-suffering, and compassionate. Jesus didn’t just go around doing good things, He was deeply moved to do those things from the core of His being. The Greek word for pity/compassion could mean “gut feeling”. Our weakness didn’t cause Him to despise or reject us, but rather brought Him close to us…<br /><br />Two blind men ask Him to heal them: “And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.” (Matthew 20:34)<br /><br />A leper begs to made clean: “Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, ‘I will; be clean.’” (Mark 1:41)<br /><br />He sees a widow burying her only son: “And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’” (Luke 7:13) He raises the man to life.<br /><br />In case you think that it’s normal to be compassionate for those kind of situations (even though all of us walk past or ignore needy people most days), when He tries to go to a quiet place to grieve the murder of His cousin and forerunner John the Baptist, and a crowd hear about it and chase after Him, “He had compassion on them and healed their sick.” (Matthew 14:14) Then He miraculously feeds the 5,000 men, plus women and children.<br /><br />And He uses the word Himself in one of His most famous stories about grace for those who don’t deserve it. As the filthy, foolish prodigal son returns home to the man whom He had insulted, wished dead, and then wasted his money, “his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” This, Jesus tells us, is what God is like.<br /><br />God is full of grace and truth. He always has been, and He always will be.<br /><br />Jesus came to us at Christmas so that we could come to Him at any time. We can approach the throne of grace with confidence, knowing what kind of response we will get. We may not get immunity from sickness, job security, or even a limited gathering of people we’d like to spend Christmas with. But we will get Him: utterly sympathetic, moved with compassion, full of grace and truth. In a year when so much has changed and seemed uncertain, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)<br /><br />It seems like greeting people with “Happy Christmas” or “Merry Christmas” is a bit hollow right now. So let me use the greeting that the first Christians seem to have used a lot, which is true whatever Christmas is like: “Grace and peace to you.”<br /><br />---</p><p>P.S. Let me take this opportunity to urge you to buy <a href="https://www.lukesblog.org/2020/08/gentle.html" target="_blank"><i>Gentle and Lowly</i> by Dane Ortlund</a>, which explores the heart of Christ for sinners and sufferers beautifully biblically.</p><p>---</p><p><span>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@philbotha?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Phil Botha</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/star?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>.</span></p>Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-10773815887688083132020-09-07T10:34:00.003+01:002020-09-07T10:34:41.893+01:00Bees<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYPCrle1JStI-qjaZDjhi80Vbb4Hoy2nuXP-ctqjPAssv4FBfjuvZDrQ_CN9gcBQ-YFPD_HdsNFp_W_uawv-CTokwfBIBEP_fg7DbhpgoLSFcIzsFYmiNfXmwMQ4CuX668rDzZXDl6YM/s1400/DSC_0099.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="1400" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYPCrle1JStI-qjaZDjhi80Vbb4Hoy2nuXP-ctqjPAssv4FBfjuvZDrQ_CN9gcBQ-YFPD_HdsNFp_W_uawv-CTokwfBIBEP_fg7DbhpgoLSFcIzsFYmiNfXmwMQ4CuX668rDzZXDl6YM/w625-h416/DSC_0099.JPG" width="625" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saughton Park Garden<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />What will your emblem of coronavirus be? It will probably be face masks, but I keep noticing faded posters on the side of buses for movies due to be released months ago, and large numbers of weeds growing along the edges of roads and paths. I’ve also seen more bees than ever before. This may be due to taking a lot slow walks in parks and others places with plants, or maybe when everyone had to stay at home the bees were able to move around a lot more.<br /><br />Either way, it’s been fun taking photos of them (my favourite is the last one below) and being made aware of yet another instance of incredible natural diversity: I was impressed to find more than two types but apparently there are more than <a href="https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/05/types-of-bee-in-the-uk/" target="_blank">250 species of bee</a> in the UK.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWLroU18LMs08MaMVK66jPNQSGEDlxC1JP44OzE6XRncKly-2uThD713BDzx83m6ZQszmKXSFcsQhkg3Ua53ppVzU000K0CAWeMEEYvIxbVbfU2pmGWqJ3Qae_NM2nKq3w24DN37niR2M/s1400/IMG_3706.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1050" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWLroU18LMs08MaMVK66jPNQSGEDlxC1JP44OzE6XRncKly-2uThD713BDzx83m6ZQszmKXSFcsQhkg3Ua53ppVzU000K0CAWeMEEYvIxbVbfU2pmGWqJ3Qae_NM2nKq3w24DN37niR2M/w469-h625/IMG_3706.jpg" width="469" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Secret Herb Garden</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp5DCX8xSGNYMGzaO0Sj-ctI49XLdF-3tOIlTHGnvHwJjPX7u6Q05m2381cuhCMhkCHhsEzPhxZjm_1mBGG5f3Hm0lcs8HafFrBlOMpWZJvw3GkptFatHWLrMgzTMnrDbGeE3OAIK4u7w/s1606/IMG_3418.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1606" data-original-width="1411" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp5DCX8xSGNYMGzaO0Sj-ctI49XLdF-3tOIlTHGnvHwJjPX7u6Q05m2381cuhCMhkCHhsEzPhxZjm_1mBGG5f3Hm0lcs8HafFrBlOMpWZJvw3GkptFatHWLrMgzTMnrDbGeE3OAIK4u7w/w439-h500/IMG_3418.jpg" width="439" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Redhall Walled Garden<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruXxAo4YtMufG40OXi4dhU6psU6QGZ_mOYorEE3rPgAttlIP1GTQ_fUsbVcJ64vrLC8cd4AR7hUWxnYpDh6uSwIDLMJiV8UQUXITrEh-fwWuDzBIXDL6Cab2-q1BcUWKNrY__pHyrVtc/s1400/IMG_3313.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1400" height="469" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruXxAo4YtMufG40OXi4dhU6psU6QGZ_mOYorEE3rPgAttlIP1GTQ_fUsbVcJ64vrLC8cd4AR7hUWxnYpDh6uSwIDLMJiV8UQUXITrEh-fwWuDzBIXDL6Cab2-q1BcUWKNrY__pHyrVtc/w625-h469/IMG_3313.jpg" width="625" /></a></td><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harrison Park</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkJ7Iye0YCVVQJNwxwQ9ahsAy2jxiD2WpS-QzbtRXgQkANQJBlnQIJaZMfVR3pqW2LhDIhoJodWfGsZC0sURuGt_ochooHtS6P9_uK0QmDpSNd9jBE3WgyRsHqfZp17DspNmEt5uPvoak/s1400/DSC_0159.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="1400" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkJ7Iye0YCVVQJNwxwQ9ahsAy2jxiD2WpS-QzbtRXgQkANQJBlnQIJaZMfVR3pqW2LhDIhoJodWfGsZC0sURuGt_ochooHtS6P9_uK0QmDpSNd9jBE3WgyRsHqfZp17DspNmEt5uPvoak/w625-h416/DSC_0159.JPG" width="625" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk6zlXFoQC2yBD4m3x6HzZZvqRDhNmVJRb0jRzcUvA_gDHsbzeaiuWV4jMWixqv6VaNKaD49DmmcVWhBFmWnlL75BKOkAMRXFj3l_tr69Vr1mMh2WYkFkJqvlC-yDarO_qYM3PUGOJn5Y/s1400/DSC_0144a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="1400" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk6zlXFoQC2yBD4m3x6HzZZvqRDhNmVJRb0jRzcUvA_gDHsbzeaiuWV4jMWixqv6VaNKaD49DmmcVWhBFmWnlL75BKOkAMRXFj3l_tr69Vr1mMh2WYkFkJqvlC-yDarO_qYM3PUGOJn5Y/w625-h416/DSC_0144a.jpg" width="625" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWLroU18LMs08MaMVK66jPNQSGEDlxC1JP44OzE6XRncKly-2uThD713BDzx83m6ZQszmKXSFcsQhkg3Ua53ppVzU000K0CAWeMEEYvIxbVbfU2pmGWqJ3Qae_NM2nKq3w24DN37niR2M/s1400/IMG_3706.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-38476878253229191982020-08-25T16:16:00.001+01:002020-08-25T16:16:40.902+01:00Neck<p> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJOtlAte4gyItTPrkn_FVFkk8fntaElQ-DOo9dfDfdg3eMO3VGmKsInG5-sQM37XrleyKFIaVmC8KF7JnMWnhuAaZ6kJYm_-jQC-9gm7Sz6JLx839YnEskilui_f9bWDy5ixMBFIv-m2w/s1400/Owl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1120" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJOtlAte4gyItTPrkn_FVFkk8fntaElQ-DOo9dfDfdg3eMO3VGmKsInG5-sQM37XrleyKFIaVmC8KF7JnMWnhuAaZ6kJYm_-jQC-9gm7Sz6JLx839YnEskilui_f9bWDy5ixMBFIv-m2w/s640/Owl.jpg" /></a></div><p>When we are able to meet for church services without any limitations, I wonder if the condition of Leader’s Neck will return too.<br /><br />Habits are hard to break, especially when formed for seemingly good reasons. Mothers flinch at a baby’s squawk even when their own children are adults. Football fans used to seeing their team lose still expect the worse when a sovereign wealth fund transforms a club's fortunes. Even so, when a church leader attends an event with sung worship for which they have no responsibility, they can’t help twisting their head round during those times.<br /><br />Senior leaders in a church are used to sitting on the front row at their own church, with a congregation of people they love and care for behind them. It is one of the most precious times of the week, as its enforced absence has reminded us. It is when God’s people gather to praise their Maker and Saviour, to encounter God and hear from Him, to herald the coming Day when people from every tribe and tongue and nation will surround the Holy One’s throne and sing their thanks and awed praise of Him with a song that will never end.<br /><br />It is also a moment filled with potential feedback. A good leader wants to know how the people in their care are doing. Attendance can be a measure of this, so who is here and who is not is a weekly internal drama for the leader. Are the couple with the troubled marriage singing passionately or are they as far from God as they seem from each other? Has the recently-ill member been able to attend, leaning physically and spiritually on those around them? Is the family who seemed so keen and promising on their first visit last week going to come again? From these questions, others swiftly flow. Are all the important practical things happening as they should? Has the choice of songs encouraged the church in their faith and love for God, reminding them and healing them after a week of challenges and pain? Are the leader’s own children behaving?<br /><br />For weeks which have become years, the leader has asked these questions and sought answers by turning round, however briefly, during times of singing. It is the moment most likely to reveal the congregants’ hearts, as well as giving answers to those other questions. This becomes so habitual that leaders do it even at events for which they have no responsibility. I understand it, and I think that it risks more than a pain in the neck.<br /><br />-<br /><br />The scene on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8) is perhaps an ironic mark of Peter’s future calling to leadership in that his response to the unprecedented revelation of Christ in His glory was to ask if some tents should be made. Rather than focusing on what was going on before him, Peter thought of other things. Pastoral concerns may feel a more legitimate distraction than practical things but they are still to be placed in the category of “Not as important as what is going on before you.”<br /><br />On another occasion, Martha faced many leadership challenges as her home became the centre of the world’s attention when Jesus visited and a crowd came with Him, expecting to be fed sooner or later (Luke 10:38-42). To compound her problems, her sister did nothing but sit at Jesus’s feet, looking at Him and listening to Him. To how many leaders could Jesus’s response to Martha’s complaint about Mary's behaviour be made? “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”<br /><br />The church, let us not forget, is the bride of Christ. Do we have the magnetised focus on our husband that the bride does in Song of Songs? “His mouth is most sweet, and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.” (Song of Solomon 5:16)<br /><br />-<br /><br />Many church leaders, myself included, will have spent time privately in worship before a church service begins, so maybe they can be excused for not being as exclusively focused as I’m suggesting they should be. It’s also worth acknowledging that leaders who have an intimate relationship with God might not need as much time to re-fix their gaze on Him, and may even be able to switch quickly from one thing to another.<br /><br />My own challenge is usually to not use that precious time of communal singing to get last-minute inspiration for my sermon. I try at those moments to keep in mind the advice of an older church leader who lamented seeing preachers buried in their notes when they could be singing. His observation was that they were far more likely to bless the congregation if their heart’s flame of love for God had been rekindled by singing wonderful truths about Jesus. Sermon preparation matters but preacher preparation matters more.<br /><br />I think this applies to leader’s neck syndrome too. Of course we must get answers to the pressing questions asked above, we must know how those we are leading are doing. But in fact we risk making things worse by turning around. So many of our people stumble into our gathering places with urgent questions of their own after a week or toil and temptation. Is God good? Is He glorious? Is He worthy of praise and attention? Are there pleasures forevermore at His right hand, or should we seek them elsewhere? Surely if they see the back of us as we press in to enjoy God, they will be enticed forward? Surely only by doing this can we be the examples that Hebrews 13:7 and 1 Peter 5:3 promise them that we will be?<br /><br />One day, just before that never-ending time of praise begins, every church leader will give an account to the Lord for their stewardship of the flock that put was in their care (Hebrews 13:7). I write that with fear and trembling. No doubt many of the questions we’ll be asked will relate to those practical and pastoral issues in every leader’s mind at a Sunday gathering. But it would seem from Jesus’s comment to Martha that one issue matters to Him more than any other. Not for nothing did He ask Peter three times, “Do you love Me?” before calling him to “feed My sheep” (John 21:15-17).<br /><br />The fatal mistake is to believe that busy-ness, even when the work is worthy, is an acceptable substitute for personal passion for God. Perhaps also the ease with which we can usually do the former gives us comfort when the latter is hard for a season when our hearts are being tested. If a leader’s love grows cold, if the worries of life choke them, if their habits of prayer and praise become entirely focused on the needs of others rather than the beauty of God, everyone in their church will suffer. The church will be led into loving God by someone who no longer does. This would seem melodramatic if there were not so many examples of leaders failing morally, which almost always happens because their faith and love have been compromised. You cannot serve two masters, nor be married to two husbands.<br /><br />Maybe we’ve just got the architecture of our gatherings wrong, and this disruption is a chance to change that and have less of a front/back, all-facing-the-same-way dynamic. But all leaders should note that it’s our hearts that are at risk, along with our necks, if we allow this habit to twist us.<br /></p><p>-<br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope return"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="line number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="page number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of authorities"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="macro"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="toa heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@sonderquest?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Sonder
Quest</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/owl?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></p>Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-55754983168192755392020-08-25T15:05:00.005+01:002020-09-07T10:34:58.601+01:00Complexity<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFz3A7fM7XbFFmzZ1Tw0EOLgvKmOvLJUELP-To8GPRU4zvyYwXtJqLRIhK20UkwJ62V79UhyphenhyphenwB-FY-tEJYPgtL2EPkbAc9laBM6UhtGAYbSihc0N1Y7ucEBUpPlQ3aPF24bUY8JDZpxQ/s1080/721px-Aegopodium_podagraria_Sturm12009.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="721" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFz3A7fM7XbFFmzZ1Tw0EOLgvKmOvLJUELP-To8GPRU4zvyYwXtJqLRIhK20UkwJ62V79UhyphenhyphenwB-FY-tEJYPgtL2EPkbAc9laBM6UhtGAYbSihc0N1Y7ucEBUpPlQ3aPF24bUY8JDZpxQ/s640/721px-Aegopodium_podagraria_Sturm12009.jpg" /></a></div> <p></p><p>Starting to notice nature quickly impresses upon you how life abounds. Grass grows, flowers flourish, weeds run rampant, creatures teem in the soil and on the plants and in the air. Our garden is infested with ground elder, a plant remarkable for how even the tiniest trace of a piece of its root in the soil will lead to rapid infestation. This would be admirable were it not so annoying. <br /><br />My preference is for clean simplicity. When looking to explain what I believe as a Christian, I would prefer a short list of clear points. Three lines at most on a white background. Is that simple, or stark? Is it clear and clean, or sanitised and lifeless? Carl Trueman helped me make my peace with a messy garden and complicated descriptions of belief in his book about church creeds and confessions, <i>The Creedal Imperative</i> (Crossway, 2012, 224 pages):<br /></p><blockquote>“History teaches that many Christian doctrines can only exist in a stable form within a relatively complex network of related doctrines. Christian theology, in other words, always has a certain ineradicable complexity, which has serious implications for the modern evangelical predilection for simple and very brief statements of faith.” (location 203, Kindle edition)<br /><br />“[T]he church’s doctrinal confession is analogous to the nature of living organisms. If you drop below a certain level of complexity – genetic, physiological, or whatever – life becomes simply unsustainable. As a mouse needs a heart, blood, a brain, teeth, a digestive system, etc., and a genetic makeup that provides all the above or else it will perish, so a church confession needs a level of complexity in order for each of its doctrines to be stable and to function correctly within her life.” (l.2708)</blockquote>God is complex, His creation is complex, so what we believe and do will be complex. I find this annoying when weeds and brambles are tracing their roots underneath an overgrown lawn, but life abounds and takes no account of my preferences.<br /><br /><p></p>Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-7318469312410435782020-08-25T14:36:00.000+01:002020-08-25T14:36:02.593+01:00Gentle<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34EkpasRRUd3ZW4NfkQCHROE2DHq-0Nx8K_TNAB2nSsQTKO57plpGqGSHTNmA64AdriLHtknA3f6JplM9FJCTVNl26Js431Jn6RMl2BtJO_W6LBMRgrMnBNWIzWFOkq0sl_ufRmgiMNI/s2048/Gentle_and_Lowly-PB-9781433566134-3+%2528Sq%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34EkpasRRUd3ZW4NfkQCHROE2DHq-0Nx8K_TNAB2nSsQTKO57plpGqGSHTNmA64AdriLHtknA3f6JplM9FJCTVNl26Js431Jn6RMl2BtJO_W6LBMRgrMnBNWIzWFOkq0sl_ufRmgiMNI/s640/Gentle_and_Lowly-PB-9781433566134-3+%2528Sq%2529.jpg" /></a></div> <p></p><p>Some books show you things; good ones help you see. I have been seeing the goodness and loveliness of God more clearly and frequently thanks to Dane Ortlund’s <i>Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers</i> (Crossway, 2019, 216 pages).<br /><br />I’ve often felt that many, if not most, evangelical church leaders live with the concern that Ortlund addresses at the start of this book:<br /></p><blockquote>“This book is written… For those of us who know God loves us but suspect we have deeply disappointed him. Who have told others of the love of Christ yet wonder if – as for us – he harbours mild disappointment.” (p.13)</blockquote>Maybe it’s my indolence seeking excuses but the relentless hard work of those leaders seems to be motivated at least in part by a fear that they will not hear “Well done, good and faithful servant” when they see Jesus face to face. Even more, that He won’t be pleased to see them. Alongside this, they hear other preachers offer an unconditional acceptance (“God loves you just the way you are”) and they rightly find fault with that. <i>Gentle and Lowly</i> shows them a better way. There is neither sentimentality nor swimming with the tide of western culture here, everything is found in the Bible and magnified by biblical commentary. And that is sufficient for the love of Christ to be seen, savoured, understood, and astonished by.<br /><br />Ortlund uses an extremely limited set of tools: quotations from the Bible, quotations from the Puritans (Christians who mostly lived in England in the seventeenth century), and occasional illustrations in the forms of metaphor, simile, or analogy. There are no anecdotes, no stories, no references to natural or social sciences, no cultural observations or insights. James K.A. Smith has argued persuasively in <i>You Are What You Love</i> that humans are not brains on sticks but Ortlund’s aim is to persuade, to change our thinking in order to change our hearts.<br /><br />The short chapters have a cumulative force that comes – again – from the work’s focus. It's all about Jesus. A couple of chapters on the other members of the Trinity are the limit of Ortlund’s variation, and these serve to reinforce his presentation of Jesus. <i>Gentle and Lowly</i> is about what Jesus is like, rather than simply what He has done (and is doing). Ortlund’s questions are, Why does He do these things, and why does He do them in the way the gospels show us? This exploration of motive takes us to the gloriously loving heart of Jesus. Too few Christian books can sustain a focus on God Himself; it seems to me that this is because too few Christian leaders have an intimate and delightful relationship with Him. <br /><br />The book concludes without application other than to bask in the rays of the Son’s love, to come to Him. Even if you’re confident in God’s love for you, refresh yourself again with the truth of it. Don’t be thoughtlessly complacent when you could biblical convinced.<br /><br />Here are some quotes from <i>Gentle and Lowly</i> that I found particularly helpful.<br /><br />“The posture most natural to [Jesus] is not a pointed finger but open arms.” (p.19)<br /><br />“When you come to Christ for mercy and love and help in your anguish and perplexity and sinfulness, you are going with the flow of his own deepest wishes, not against them.” (p.38)<br /><br />“We all tend to have some small pocket of our life where we have difficulty believing the forgiveness of God reaches. We say we are totally forgiven. And we sincerely believe our sins are forgiven. Pretty much, anyway. But there’s that one deep, dark part of our lives, even our present lives, that seems so intractable, so ugly, so beyond recovery. ‘To the uttermost’ in Hebrews 7:25 means: God’s forgiving, redeeming, restoring touch reaches down into the darkest crevices of our souls, those places where we are most ashamed, most defeated. More than this: those crevices of sin are themselves the places where Christ loves us the most. His heart willingly goes there. His heart is most strongly drawn there. He knows us to the uttermost, and he saves us to the uttermost, because his heart is drawn out to us to the uttermost. We cannot sin our way out of his tender care.” (p.83)<br /><br />“The whole reason we care about sound doctrine is for the sake of preserving God’s beauty, just as the whole reason we care about effective focal lenses on a camera is to capture with precision the beauty we photograph.” (p.99)<br /><br />“What does it mean that Christ is a friend to sinners [Matthew 11:19, Luke 15:1]? At the very least, it means that he enjoys spending time with them. It also means that they feel welcome and comfortable around him.” (p.114)<br /><br />“He isn’t like you. Even the most intense human love is but the faintest echo of heaven’s cascading abundance. His heartful thoughts for you outstrip what you can conceive. He intends to restore you into the radiant resplendence for which you were created. And that is dependent not on you keeping yourself clean but on you taking your mess to him. He doesn’t limit himself to working with the unspoiled parts of us that remain after a lifetime of sinning. His power runs so deep that he is able to redeem the very worst parts of our past into the most radiant parts of our future. But we need to take those take miseries for him.” (pp.160-61)<br /><br />“Our sins darken our feelings of his gracious heart, but his heart cannot be diminished for his own people due to their sins any more than the sun’s existence can be threatened due to the passing of a few wispy clouds our even an extended thunderstorm. The sun is shining. It cannot stop. Clouds, no clouds – sin, no sin – the tender heart of the Son of God is shining on me.” (pp.186-87)<br /><br />You can sample more of this by subscribing to a <a href="https://www.crossway.org/articles/gentle-and-lowly-a-14-day-devotional/" target="_blank">podcast series of devotions</a> by Ortlund.<br /><p></p>Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-66356189520436875582020-08-07T14:53:00.000+01:002020-08-07T14:53:22.182+01:00Twenty<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5sgFYMykNYu4GhiHVjaJrfSS1fPacvNj9YGTjzeJ1usN8WGlm5eqY2JX8tidrTcbbOIbVy3qqtC0Pm_-UqHgnjCcrIxcGJUbKDOJef8-u3Tq0a9qg7LjU3c3uogpB5O8WAyQmbUVGCU/s1400/Twenty.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5sgFYMykNYu4GhiHVjaJrfSS1fPacvNj9YGTjzeJ1usN8WGlm5eqY2JX8tidrTcbbOIbVy3qqtC0Pm_-UqHgnjCcrIxcGJUbKDOJef8-u3Tq0a9qg7LjU3c3uogpB5O8WAyQmbUVGCU/s640/Twenty.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>This guy has no idea what’s about to happen to him. He doesn’t have any sense of how completely his life is about to change. He is me, on holiday in Portugal in July 2000, half my life ago.</div><br />Nothing dramatic happened that week, nor immediately afterwards, but a gnawing sense of absence and purposelessness had been at work in me for several months. Soon after I returned home I shared with one of my Christian friends what I was feeling and asked for help.<br /><br />I’d been attending and serving passionate churches since I was 16 but my commitment to Jesus was half-hearted at best, an act of last resort rather than first importance. My interests were music and girls, and alcohol naturally accompanied my pursuit of these. I have always hated the word lukewarm, resenting any suggestion of nominative determinism, but I can’t think of a better word to describe my faith. My 20-year-old self would have arrogantly and thoughtlessly dismissed this assessment. But that gnawing continued.<br /><blockquote>“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” (Augustine, <i>Confessions</i>)</blockquote>The friend I spoke to gave me his usual patient encouragement, and a daily Bible reading guide. I began to spend more time with him and my other Christian friends, with motives as mixed as ever. I saw a contented joy in them which I knew I did not have. Then I began to realise I could have it.<br /><blockquote>“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 29:13-14)</blockquote>A love for God was growing in me, the thrill of discovery. Then there was a night of anxiety and anger during which I received comfort from Christian counsel, the like of which I knew could not be found elsewhere. Then the next morning God spoke to me through the first thing I read in the Bible reading guide for that day:<br /><blockquote>“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NIV)</blockquote>All I can tell you is that I knew God was in the room with me as I read those words. I knew His love, His leading, and I knew that I had to give Him my whole life.<br /><br />Some things changed immediately. I haven’t been drunk in the 20 years since, nor have I sworn. Both were constant habits that simply disappeared. Other sins were more tenacious, and new ones snuck in. I would still hurt others and fool myself by violating God’s ways. But that was the turning point. I loved (and love) God for being so kind and gracious to me, I only wanted (and want) to know and serve Him. So sudden and substantial was this change that I couldn’t adequately explain it to my non-Christian friends, and I regret my inability to do more than simply show how different I was.<br /><br />So began a new life. Twenty years have passed and God has been faithful. He was before, of course, I just didn’t know it.<br /><br />Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-77727665071848870652020-08-05T14:39:00.001+01:002020-08-05T14:39:51.850+01:00Rule<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbg_tiPlrePKogpzJRqRGAzVCCs8dEXL34LYQ3SXWbtQs7IFNOXJvwvj8bg70ZytyDUSH1DPQjfpvxaI6R6BS7WTe9r_Lw0xXQVYzdo9GmedavNN-omBkWNpFwExBdTov48y0JUrwRbg/s1400/Trellis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="1400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbg_tiPlrePKogpzJRqRGAzVCCs8dEXL34LYQ3SXWbtQs7IFNOXJvwvj8bg70ZytyDUSH1DPQjfpvxaI6R6BS7WTe9r_Lw0xXQVYzdo9GmedavNN-omBkWNpFwExBdTov48y0JUrwRbg/s640/Trellis.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>There comes a time in our lives when we realise that we aren’t becoming the people we thought we were going to be. Partly, this is humbling realisation that our expectations may have exceeded our limitations. Among the other reasons is the influence of habits in our lives. These small and usually unconscious decisions change us in ways we don't realise until it's too late. In <i>The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose For An Age of Distraction</i> (IVP, 2019, 196 pages), Justin Whitmel Earley helps us see how powerful habits can be, and shows us how to harness that power to help us love God and our neighbours more.</div><br /><div>I've experienced for myself how the intentional creation of a habit has profound
influence across more areas of my life than the one being focused on. So long as
they come from a motivation of love, they can be remarkable means of
grace to us.</div><div><br /></div><div>Written around the same times as <a href="http://www.lukesblog.org/2020/07/hurry.html" target="_blank"><i>The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry</i></a>, there are a lot of shared concerns, and some crossover in solutions proposed. Earley may not have the preacher’s rhetorical flourishing of John Mark Comer but his practices are deeply considered and have been well-lived, and his job as a lawyer in a high-pressure secular environment gives his commendations extra validity. The value of both these books is determined by how well we can put what they share with us into practice and Earley’s structure, suggestions, summaries, and starting-points seem designed to make this simple.</div><div><br /></div><div>It seems automatic for many of us to become self-absorbed when considering a subject like this but Earley's structure (see below) ensures that these habits are about looking outward, and he suggests that they are best learned in community too.<br /></div><br />Here are some of the quotes in <i>The Common Rule</i> that I found helpful, followed by the diagram summarising the habits Earley suggests:<br /><br />"I was way too busy, totally overcommitted, and living with a chaotic, packed schedule. But I thought I was different because I had a calling." (p.4)<br /><br />"When we combine [James K.A.] Smith’s insight that our habits of liturgies of worship and [Charles] Duhigg’s neurological insight that our brains aren’t totally engaged when our habits are playing out, we have a robust explanation of how our unconscious habits fundamentally reshape our hearts, regardless of what we tell ourselves we believe." (p.9)<br /><br />"A keystone habit is a super-habit. It’s the first domino in the line; by changing one habit, we simultaneously change ten other habits." (p.36)<br /><br />"One of my favourite cultural critics, Ken Myers, argues that the kind of atheism we experience in America today is not a conclusion but a mood. This is an incredibly important observation. If secularism is not a conclusion but a mood, we cannot disrupt it with an argument. We must disrupt it with a presence." (p.58)<br /><br />"As image bearers of God, we have a powerful presence to give to others. But unlike our omnipresent God, we have a limited presence." (p.66)<br /><br />"There’s nothing more terrifying and redemptive than removing the fig leaf and telling who you are to a friend. It’s terrifying because we are never who we wish we were. It’s redemptive because that’s at the core of enacting the gospel in communal life." (pp.99-100)<br /><br />"If the goal is self-help, failure will destroy you. But if the goal is beauty, failure makes that goal shine all the more brightly. So you get up and keep walking." (p.162)<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQWOaG8hFi7Svi4KnIhRPtzjL6ueDZW6WYjcKWa1DzXW-k53Z7AeXxpnYxsfujucqJOyvXwfmym6rKFH2sKTSdi-EZS_KjjlJh7PgRLzeTKn3p8OhyphenhyphenyHRdCrEnxDexwCbbhqWO-Gx-m0/s1981/Habits.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1981" data-original-width="1424" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQWOaG8hFi7Svi4KnIhRPtzjL6ueDZW6WYjcKWa1DzXW-k53Z7AeXxpnYxsfujucqJOyvXwfmym6rKFH2sKTSdi-EZS_KjjlJh7PgRLzeTKn3p8OhyphenhyphenyHRdCrEnxDexwCbbhqWO-Gx-m0/s640/Habits.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>---</div><div><br /></div><div><span>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@romankraft?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Roman Kraft</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/trellis?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span></div><br />Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-30412485862229363432020-07-23T15:28:00.005+01:002020-08-06T14:47:37.275+01:00Lament<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0ogkYNsjAThD1aT7-USw8RKwFen8WkgfSpwqJVrFMjte1PXBZ8ZQ6UowRhVKCDnTN3BVTUEPkLlW_dYsaDGmLVwWXnh_YmGTDkECu1IfeYx_MTmwSNmNdaI74Cp7OhyM2ZYpy0VNqqM/s1662/Castle+from+Arthur%2527s+Seat.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1662" data-original-width="1662" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0ogkYNsjAThD1aT7-USw8RKwFen8WkgfSpwqJVrFMjte1PXBZ8ZQ6UowRhVKCDnTN3BVTUEPkLlW_dYsaDGmLVwWXnh_YmGTDkECu1IfeYx_MTmwSNmNdaI74Cp7OhyM2ZYpy0VNqqM/w400-h400/Castle+from+Arthur%2527s+Seat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>If you're experiencing loss and grief at the moment (and all of us are in some way), you might find a message I preached recently and/or some of the resources listed below helpful. The audio is <a href="https://www.kingschurchedinburgh.org/sermons/everyday-grieving/" target="_blank">here</a> and the video is just below.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's about how we can respond honestly and faithfully in the hardest times. From the example of the believers in Acts 8:2, I look at the biblical idea of lament and how we can do this today. There is also much that should be said about lament regarding injustice but I have kept my focus on personal circumstances.</div><div><br /></div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dYO7IaDCGOo" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><b>Message summary</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The Bible teaches us that there is a fundamental disorder in creation because of our rebellion. Loss and grief are simultaneously "natural", part of everyday life, and yet "unnatural", not the original intention. We are given a way to respond to the pain and misery that we experience and witness: lament. Just as the Christians in Acts 4, with their Jewish heritage, turned to the psalms to pray when persecuted, so they surely did when grieving Stephen's murder in Acts 8.</div><br />Over a third of the 150 psalms are classified as being laments: they are written by or for someone who is suffering. They give us a general pattern of how to lament (this order is described in <i>Rejoicing In Lament</i> by J. Todd Billings):<br /><br />1. Come to God<br />But coming to God with sorrows that you want to weep about, in perplexity, with anger… these are all acts of faith because we are coming to Him. When we say to Him, "I am so upset", we are believing that He hears; when we ask why He has allowed something so terrible to happen, we are believing that He is good and powerful.<br /><br />2. Tell Him what you're thinking and feeling<br />Again and again in the psalms we see a level of honesty that might shock us (e.g. Psalm 13:1, 31:10-12, 44:9-26) Lament involves grief and protest, with questions such as Why have You allowed this? Why have You done this? Where are You? Why don't You help? Don't you care? These questions may seem dangerous, almost blasphemous because they seem to call into question God's nature. But remember who they are addressed to: God! They are still expressing faith.<br /><br />Come to God with your own words and feelings, tell Him what you've lost because of Coronavirus, injustice, your own foolishness, the choices God seems to have made for you.<br /><br />We don't want to get stuck in grief and protest, but we mustn't avoid it either. By using psalms and other places in God's Word where complaints and fears and worries are expressed, we can be brought safely along the journey God wants us to go on.<br /><br />3. Declare trust<br />Almost every psalm of lament ends with a statement of renewed trust (e.g. 13:6). No psalm records the problem being solved, the loss being amended, the pain being removed. But the psalmist is telling themselves that God is good and worthy of praise, sooner or later His goodness will be evident again.<br /><br />Telling ourselves promises of God's goodness and love is one way to help ourselves when our minds feel overwhelmed (e.g. Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 23:1-6, Colossians 1:11).<br /><br />We should also keep our eyes on the only true happy ending: life with God in the new creation. Jesus has begun this in us now (Isaiah 61:1-3, John 16:20) but it is only when we die / Jesus returns (whichever is the sooner) that our sorrow will truly and permanently be turned to joy (Psalm 30:11) and every tear will be wiped from our eyes (Revelation 7:17).<br /><br />This was Stephen and the early church's confidence (Acts 7:59, 7:60, cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), and it must be our confidence too.<br /><br /><b>Extra section not included in the preach: how to help others who are grieving</b><br /><br />Caring for those who have suffered loss, especially the death of family members, is commanded in the Bible (Deuteronomy 24:19, Romans 12:15, James 1:17). We can give both practical and emotional support, and we can help by what we say and do, and what we don't say and do. Because we love someone and want them to feel better, we may be tempted to try to cheer them up, or explain away any doubts they're having, or encourage them about God's good plans. It's much more helpful to listen and give empathy rather than answers, particularly in the early stages of grief.<br /><br />A few other quick tips:<br /><ul><li>Don't avoid them because you're not sure what to say or how to help.</li><li>Don't ask how they are.</li><li>Do tell them that you're sorry to have heard what has happened.</li><li>Don't compare to another similar situation or say you know exactly how they feel.</li><li>Avoid starting a sentence with the phrase "At least..." as this will appear to be undermining the significance of their loss</li><li>If you can, share a good memory of the person they are mourning.</li><li>Let them determine how long you talk with them; if in doubt, keep it short but genuine.</li><li>Drop round a card/chocolate/wine/meal without expecting or needing to have a conversation.</li><li>If you are texting or emailing your support, it can be helpful to end with "no need to reply."</li><li>Text again after a few weeks or months or years, when others may have forgotten or moved on.</li></ul><b>Quotes used and considered<br /></b><br />"Up until I was about thirty, I couldn't fathom why so many of the psalms were about pain. Now I'm thirty-five, and I can't fathom why so many of them are about something else." Andrew and Rachel Wilson, <i>The Life You Never Expected</i><br /><br />"This is why it's so much easier not to love anything, because then your heart can never get broken." Shauna Niequist, <i>Bittersweet</i><br /><br />"You are always either listening to lies or telling yourself truth." D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones<br /><br />"Rather than being one-dimensional, our affections need to become agile and multidimensional through being reshaped by God through the Psalms. Let us grieve and protest and trust and praise together before the Lord. The Psalms give us a way to pray in many keys, major and minor, while directing us to the source of our true hope: the Lord and his promises… Cherry-picking only the praises from the Psalms tends to shape a church culture in which only positive emotions can be expressed before God in faith. Since my diagnosis with cancer, I've found that my fellow Christians know how to rejoice about answered prayer and also how to petition God for help, but many don't know what to do when I express sorrow and loss or talk about death… When worship expresses only 'victory,' it can unintentionally suggest that the broken and the lonely and the hurting have no place here." J. Todd Billings, <i>Rejoicing In Lament</i><br /><br />"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable." C.S. Lewis, <i>The Four Loves</i><br /><br />"Getting over [his wife's death] so soon? But the words are ambiguous. To say the patient is getting over it after an operation for appendicitis is one thing; after he's had his leg off it is quite another. After that operation either the wounded stump heals or the man dies. If it heals, the fierce, continuous pain will stop. Presumably he'll get back his strength and be able to stump around on his wooden leg. He has 'got over it'. But he will probably have recurrent pains in the stump all his life, and perhaps pretty bad ones; and he will always be a one-legged man. There will be hardly any moment when he forgets it. Bathing, dressing, sitting down and getting up again, even lying in bed, will all be different. His whole way of life will be changed. All sorts of pleasures and activities that he once took for granted will have to be simply written off. Duties too. At present I am learning to get about on crutches. Perhaps I shall presently be given a wooden leg. But I shall never be a biped again." C.S. Lewis, <i>A Grief Observed</i><br /><br />“Lament, with its clear-eyed appraisal of suffering alongside its commitment to finding audience with God, is a paradoxical practice of faith.” Jen Pollock Michel, <i>Surprised by Paradox</i><br /><br />"But somehow, in many of the sanitised versions of mainstream modern Christianity, this tone of lament is gone. Which can only mean either we've somehow lost our hope for a better world, or are blind to the brokenness of this one. Or both." Ayomide Adebayo, "Let Us Lament"<br /><br />"Being unable to cure death, wretchedness and ignorance, men have decided, in order to be happy, not to think about such things ... I have often said that the sole cause of man's unhappiness is that he doesn't know how to stay quietly in his room." Blaise Pascal, <i>Pensées</i><br /><br /><b>References for examples of Jesus's sorrow and grief<br /></b><br />Isaiah 53:4, Psalm 22:1 (cf. Matthew 27:46), Mark 14:33-34, Luke 19:41, John 11:35, Hebrews 5:7<br /><br /><b>Recommended reading and listening</b><br /><br />J. Todd Billings, <i>Rejoicing In Lament</i>. Written by a professor diagnosed with incurable cancer in his late thirties, this is both personal and theological. Superb for understanding the psalms, lament, and more of God.<br /><br />C.S. Lewis, <i>A Grief Observed</i>. Intense and unguarded recording of his emotions after his wife's death. Extremely helpful for realising what grief may feel like.<br /><br />Andrew and Rachel Wilson, <i>The Life You Never Expected</i>. The story of becoming parents to two severely autistic children, with theological and practical reflections on life and God.<br /><br /><a href="https://docayomide.com/lament/" target="_blank">"Let Us Lament"</a>, Ayomide Adebayo<br /><br /><a href="https://subsplash.com/churchcentral/lb/ms/+t5fsfc3?page=2" target="_blank">"Learning To Lament"</a>, Jonathan Bell<br /><br /><a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/heart-not-cup/" target="_blank">"The Heart Is Not a Cup (There's a Better Metaphor)"</a>, Scott Swain<br /><br /><a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/tgc-podcast/discover-grace-lament/" target="_blank">"Discover the Grace of Lament"</a>, Mark Vroegop<br /><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10152032456227569&id=105128507568&stream_ref=10" target="_blank">"Not Moving On"</a>, Kay Warren<br /><div><br /></div>Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-61976019776273993872020-07-07T12:25:00.003+01:002020-07-21T12:13:05.929+01:00Hurry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Whether we’re in lockdown or at our liberty, life feels fast and we feel rushed. John Mark Comer’s book <i>The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to stay emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world</i> (Hodder & Stoughton, 2019, 304 pages) is a well-researched and appealingly-presented diagnosis of this problem.</div><div><br /></div><div>Comer's reaction against rushing indicts church as well as culture. He
helpfully notes that feeling harried is nothing new but identifies how
western societies are particularly in thrall to this, and implies that the
church has baptised busyness rather than shown a different way.
The most serious charge is that the noise of action drowns out a profound hollowness in our lives, personally and corporately.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The message of hope is that we can come to Jesus and find rest and joy, purpose and strength. We receive these gifts through using practices that will “unhurry” our lives and connect us to God's grace. Comer's recommendations are silence and solitude, Sabbath, simplicity, and slowing. Practices that begin with other letters of the alphabet are also available, and it is clearly his intention to serve as an introduction to works such as Richard Foster's <i>Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth</i>, John Ortburg's <i>The Life You've Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People</i>, and Dallas Willard's <i>The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives</i>. Those books deal with spiritual disciplines in greater depth, which includes rejecting a tempting (for some) but unbiblical conclusion that God only meets with us when we withdraw entirely from the world.<br /></div>
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Here are some quotes from <i>The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry</i> that I found helpful…<br />
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“Corrie ten Boom once said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.” (p.20)<br />
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“We live in a culture that wants to transgress all limitations, not accept them – to cheat time and space. To ‘be like God.’ To watch every new film, listen to every podcast, read every new book (and don’t forget the classics!), hear every record, go to every concert, drive every road trip, travel to every country (another stamp for the passport, please), eat at every new restaurant, party at every new bar opening, befriend every new face, fix every problem in society, rise to the top of every field, win every award, make every list of who’s who…” (p.64)<br />
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“The Western church has lost sight of the fact that the way of Jesus is just that: a way of life. It’s not just a set of ideas (what we call theology) or a list of dos and don’ts (what we call ethics). I mean, it is that, but it’s so much more. It’s a way of life based on that of Jesus himself. A lifestyle.” (p.84)<br />
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A discipline is a way to access power [by training yourself to do something you previously could not do]. A spiritual discipline is similar but different. It’s similar in that it’s ‘any activity I can do by direct effort that will eventually enable me to do that which, currently, I cannot do by direct effort.’ It’s a way to access power. But it’s different in that not only are you exercising your own capacity to do the right thing (what we call willpower), but you are also opening yourself up to a power far beyond your own – that of the Holy Spirit. You are creating time and space to access God himself at the deepest level of your being. (pp.110-11)<br />
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“One of the great problems of spirituality in our day and age that so few people feel safe enough to admit is how separated we feel from God. We rarely experience God’s presence throughout the day. ‘Love, joy, and peace’ does not describe the felt experience of many Christians. Often we come to church hoping for a God hit – a fleeting moment of connection to God before we return to the secular wasteland.” (p.134)<br />
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“Right now you have everything you need to live a happy, content life; you have access to the Father. To his loving attention.” (p.217)<br />
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“Every… single.. thing that we let into our minds will have an effect on our souls. If you fill your mind with fornication and wildly unrealistic portrayals of beauty, or romance and sex, or violence and the quest for revenge, or cynical secular sarcasm that we call ‘humour,’ or a parade of opulent wealth, or simply banality, what shape do you think that will give to your soul? Honestly, there’s very little I can watch [on television or online] as an apprentice of Jesus.” (p.233)Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-10277996661209587162020-07-01T16:18:00.001+01:002020-07-21T10:08:30.122+01:00Talk<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwefnRnobY0qFiQ2aAkXG1D12uRtHLTHZvkhZxy26gVQwHAe6Enol1W8nUoROPEKdnrSMEbbqL7buRw9XdA_L0EB-jsIIA4TsD2zWgQQvys4Usjp3c0fn2s4641Y6zpCgOPS-QUUG8wAU/s1600/Ben.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwefnRnobY0qFiQ2aAkXG1D12uRtHLTHZvkhZxy26gVQwHAe6Enol1W8nUoROPEKdnrSMEbbqL7buRw9XdA_L0EB-jsIIA4TsD2zWgQQvys4Usjp3c0fn2s4641Y6zpCgOPS-QUUG8wAU/s1600/Ben.jpg" /></a></div>
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I'm so grateful to Ben Lindsay for writing <i>We Need To Talk About Race: Understanding the Black Experience in White Majority Churches</i> (SPCK, 2019, 186 pages). Here are some quotes from the book which I found particularly helpful...<br />
<br />
"There is a huge difference between churches being diverse and churches being inclusive. Attracting black people to church isn’t difficult. … Creating inclusive communities, however, where black people feel that they are a valued part of the culture, not just observers, is more complicated. Sadly, the racism we see in society we also face in the Church, through a combination of ignorance, naivety and white privilege. This is exasperating and painful for black people." (p.21)<br />
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"While some Christians will view a colour-blind approach as a positive thing – a demonstration of loving all regardless of race – there is also a danger that if white church members do not have a degree of colour consciousness, they will ignore the realities, concerns, joys and fears people of colour experience. This is imperative because being colour conscious gives white people license of to explore and learn about diverse cultures and helps people of colour to feel valued and welcomed in traditionally white spaces. Finally, colour consciousness brings a truer representation of God’s value of diversity in the body of Christ, helping to bring a glorious melody of diverse tongues coming from peoples of all nations, all colours, praising him together around the throne in diverse ways." (p.22)<br />
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"White people have always had examples of pioneers, forerunners, innovators, discoverers, developers and inventors widely available to them in the mainstream. This bias creates a confidence in white people. Black people do not have the same luxury." (p.59)<br />
<br />
Martin Luther King Jr: "We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late." (p.85)<br />
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"Black leaders feel that they have to be the black crusader... Your dual mission (if you choose to accept it) is to carry the weight of black and white expectations because you are a rarity – a black leader in a white space." (p.110)<br />
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"White people may ask, ‘Why must I make all the effort?’ The answer is easy: you’re the majority culture and you are part of the power structure, whether you know it or not." (p.148)<br />
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"The fundamental difference between white allies and white saviours is that one listens and has empathy while the other tries to control and dominate." (p.148)<br />
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"In my experience, when approaching the topic of race, many black people feel there is a need to broaden and deepen the usual conversations, bringing in historic issues (such as slavery), cultural observations (such as white privilege) and structural blockages (such as institutional racism). White people tend to steer the conversation to the specific (‘I can’t be blamed for the sins of my ancestors’), personal (‘I’ve never said anything racist’) or procedural (‘there’s no such thing as structural racism’). Just because a white person doesn’t see racism in his or her everyday life, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist." (p.155)<br />
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---<br />
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<i>We Need To Talk About Race: Understanding the Black Experience in White Majority Churches</i> by Ben Lindsay (SPCK, 2019) is available from <a href="https://www.eden.co.uk/we-need-to-talk-about-race-ben-lindsay/" target="_blank">Eden</a>, <a href="https://spckpublishing.co.uk/we-need-to-talk-about-race" target="_blank">SPCK</a>, and <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0281080178/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_wJk.Eb13CC671" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-73243047989504853692020-06-30T20:41:00.002+01:002020-07-01T16:47:11.694+01:00Race<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYI_wA1Grz1fBIsqH1aWfE-0QrHH5ewz-vUebiSg5VuY-5YX2x_p5a9pqrjAbs8o-6nVe_0Bjn6h1DwDqI6YbXD379nKa-zTl3InrbCySt_jN-X2MZtRhc5EyFGgpk6RE2vmM4nFpHvkk/s1600/ehimetalor-akhere-unuabona-kWKzq2evLD4-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1372" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYI_wA1Grz1fBIsqH1aWfE-0QrHH5ewz-vUebiSg5VuY-5YX2x_p5a9pqrjAbs8o-6nVe_0Bjn6h1DwDqI6YbXD379nKa-zTl3InrbCySt_jN-X2MZtRhc5EyFGgpk6RE2vmM4nFpHvkk/s400/ehimetalor-akhere-unuabona-kWKzq2evLD4-unsplash.jpg" width="342" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">London Black Lives Matter Peaceful Protest from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square via Buckingham Palace.<br />
Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@theeastlondonphotographer?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/@theeastlondonphotographer?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I hope it’s helpful to bring together some of the Black British voices speaking into the issue of racial injustice and particularly the church’s role and response in this.<br />
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There are plenty of articles and videos by white people telling black (and white) people want to think and do; however well-intentioned they are, that just feels like yet more <a href="https://projecthumanities.asu.edu/content/white-privilege-checklist" target="_blank">white privilege</a>. Surely at this time, it’s for those of us who are white to listen, learn, repent, apologise, and consider how to make reparation. In other words, to respond rather than assume that we are the centre. <br />
<br />
Soundtrack all this with <i>Kiwanuka</i> by Michael Kiwanuka (Polydor, 2019). It's music full of soul, confident and questioning, rooted in the past but sharply contemporary.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/1yIqauTni1V7l7djYAKSsZ" width="300"></iframe><br />
<br />
Let's start with the statues, which are simultaneously not the point and exactly the kind of cultural blind spot which shows how pervasive this problem is. Historian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/08/edward-colston-statue-history-slave-trader-bristol-protest" target="_blank">David Olusoga</a> gives context to the simple fact that the 8th of June was "the first full day since 1895 on which the effigy of a mass murderer [did] not cast its shadow over Bristol’s city centre."<br />
<br />
Interviewed by <i>Marie Claire</i>, four women speak about their "everyday" experiences of racism in the UK:<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hfxo3eByzGg" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
The actor John Boyega expresses his pain in more chaotic circumstances:<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GGXEB25WdyQ" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://beacon-church.org/news/2020/6/3/a-pastors-response-to-the-death-of-george-floyd" target="_blank">Owen Hilton</a>, church pastor and author of <i>Crossing The Divide: A Call To Embrace Diversity</i>
(IVP, 2009), shares his honest response: "I’m tired, tired of repeating the same
things, being pushed back again and again and hearing excuses being made
for stuff." He doesn't stop there, however, giving faith-led practical responses.<br />
<br />
As well as powerful anecdotal evidence, there is plenty of empirical research to show the problems facing black people and other races in the UK. <a href="https://www.psephizo.com/life-ministry/is-there-systemic-racism-in-britain-two-views-ii/" target="_blank">David Shepherd</a> brings together some of the evidence of systematic injustices and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jun/29/groundbreaking-report-reveals-racial-bias-in-english-football-commentary" target="_blank">Sachin Nakrani</a> reports on a new study showing racial bias in football commentary.<br />
<br />
Two podcast series that tell the longer stories of racism in the UK are <i><a href="https://www.aboutracepodcast.com/" target="_blank">About Race</a></i> by Reno Eddo-Lodge and <i><a href="https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/We-Need-to-Talk-About-the-British-Empire-Audiobook/B081581253" target="_blank">We Need To Talk About The British Empire</a></i> by Afua Hirsch. Whether you agree with the perspectives presented or not, the chances are that if you're white you haven’t even considered them.<br />
<br />
Blending personal experience, sociological insights, and biblical truths, Ben Lindsay has written <i>We Need To Talk About Race: Understanding the Black Experience in White Majority Churches</i> (SPCK, 2019). I found it helpful in bring clarity and challenge (read some quotes from it <a href="https://www.lukesblog.org/2020/07/quotes-from-we-need-to-talk-about-race.html" target="_blank">here</a>). Lindsay recently hosted BBC Radio 4's <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000k93y" target="_blank"><i>Sunday Worship</i></a> programme on Father's Day (available online until mid-July 2020), addressing racial injustice and the role of faith and fatherhood in seeing change.<br />
<br />
Pastor Tope Koleoso shows what the Bible teaches us about diversity and about reconciliation:<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1a1-0R4qDCU" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
If you want to go beyond a British perspective, <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/partners/intervarsity-press/antiracist-curriculum-white-evangelicals-need.html" target="_blank">IVP and <i>Christianity Today</i></a> have produced "The Anti-Racist Curriculum White Evangelicals Need" (though not all of the resources are from or for Christians). There are books, articles, films, and resources for children.
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CBv0b7FJ53i/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Sam King MBE RIP. Came here in WW2 to join the RAF. Despite being decorated was sent back to JA. Heard about the Windrush. Jumped on that. Rejoined RAF then Royal Mail. Set up first Windrush foundation. Became first black Mayor. Lived at the bottom of my road. #windrush #samking #windrushday2020</a></div>
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A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/deswilliephoto/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> Des Willie</a> (@deswilliephoto) on <time datetime="2020-06-22T18:19:22+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Jun 22, 2020 at 11:19am PDT</time></div>
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<script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-1051172357071685592020-06-12T21:50:00.000+01:002020-06-13T20:43:51.969+01:00Re-reading<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirERqp1BgQm9Y7A9NxhQpRcYL47Y-zP94bWvllEjC_bKDePUMZAjLHfy23UW2_F8obH9Q4ESzzkApmCZdCarlc36nxW_pNo4jy26XBUB7eo3qmzAEMciTG_ObxXdMaTGysZuuxhnD-PRE/s1600/books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1400" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirERqp1BgQm9Y7A9NxhQpRcYL47Y-zP94bWvllEjC_bKDePUMZAjLHfy23UW2_F8obH9Q4ESzzkApmCZdCarlc36nxW_pNo4jy26XBUB7eo3qmzAEMciTG_ObxXdMaTGysZuuxhnD-PRE/s640/books.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
In a wide-ranging conversation about <a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/pleasures-of-reading/" target="_blank">the pleasures of reading</a>, Professor Alan Jacobs (who is a good follow on <a href="https://twitter.com/ayjay" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and wrote the very helpful <i>How To Think</i>) and Brett McKay spoke about re-reading books, “the value of returning over and over again to the same books if those books are ones that really nourish your heart and soul.” I was encouraged by this because I have a few books that I read multiple times.<br />
<br />
Here are some of the books I re-read, and what benefit I get from re-reading them…<br />
<br />
<b><i>The Lord of The Rings</i>, J.R.R. Tolkien</b><br />
Since being captivated by the movies and then being given the book in a beautiful three-volume edition in 2003, I have read this almost every year, over my Christmas and New Year holiday. As much as I appreciate the story and philosophy, it’s Tolkien’s sense of place that keeps me coming back. He devotes so much time to describing Middle Earth's geography and history that it quickly became familiar territory in my imagination. Returning to this book is like going to a well-loved holiday destination. The comfort of re-reading shouldn’t be overlooked, particularly at times of great change and distress.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Wolf Hall</i>, Hilary Mantel</b><br />
With the arrival of <i>The Mirror & the Light</i>, the conclusion of Mantel’s trilogy on the life of Thomas Cromwell, I took the opportunity to re-read the first two books in the series. I’m fairly certain I also re-read <a href="http://www.lukesblog.org/2010/03/review-wolf-hall.html" target="_blank"><i>Wolf Hall</i></a> when <a href="http://www.lukesblog.org/2013/03/bring-up-bodies.html" target="_blank"><i>Bring Up The Bodies</i></a>, came out. I do simply enjoy experiencing afresh the dazzling bravado of Mantel’s prose. My primary reason for re-reading, however, was to recall some of the myriad detailing in the series. We miss much when we read for the first time; at least, I do because I tend to be focused on the plot. Reading when you already know what is going to happen means that you can pay attention to some of the many other things a good novelist has put in their work.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Gilead</i>, Marilynne Robinson</b><br />
Another reason to re-read a great novel is that you have changed since the last time you read it. Experience gives us new eyes, or at least eyes that can see more. <a href="http://www.lukesblog.org/2009/09/review-gilead.html" target="_blank"><i>Gilead</i>’s</a> subject, an elderly church pastor reflecting on his life, is one naturally close to my heart. His goodness and his wisdom have brought me back again and again, almost like a conversation with a mentor. As with Mantel’s trilogy, I don't think that the successors <a href="http://www.lukesblog.org/2010/08/review-kind-of-home.html" target="_blank"><i>Home</i></a> and <i>Lila</i> maintain the same standard but they do inform my re-readings of <i>Gilead. </i>I continue to hope to have something of John Ames’s spirit if I’m granted as many years as he.<br />
<br />
<b>Jeeves and Wooster, P.G. Wodehouse</b><br />
Of the eleven Jeeves novels, my favourites are probably <i>Right Ho, Jeeves</i> or <i>The Code of The Woosters</i> but this is rather like choosing between Fabergé eggs. Re-reading these is pure pleasure and joy; those who have ever been nearby when I’m reading one will testify to the involuntary snorts of laughter that they frequently produce in me. The plots have some fun twists and turns but they are really just a framework – an excuse, even – for Wodehouse’s unparalleled comic language. I can open any one of them at any page and be amazed and giggling in moments. (It may help the uninitiated to hear the voices of <a href="https://youtu.be/gPLa5rYzJj4" target="_blank">Hugh Laurie and Steven Fry</a> when reading.)<br />
<br />
<b>The Bible</b><br />
At <a href="https://www.kingschurchedinburgh.org/resources/reading-gods-word-together/" target="_blank">my current rate</a>, I read the New Testament and Psalms every year, and the rest of the Old Testament over three years, and have been doing something along those lines <a href="http://www.lukesblog.org/2014/01/reading-bible.html" target="_blank">since 2002</a>. All those gifts already mentioned – familiarity, the discovery of greater detail or more wisdom, joy – are all potentially present when I open my Bible each morning. There are many more that this particular re-reading gives me: reminders, rebukes, challenges, callings, perfectly-timed interventions, health like a shot of adrenaline or a daily vitamin tablet. The key one, however, is this: God speaks to me. I consider that when I open the page, He is opening His mouth. I pray that I will hear what He’s saying, and I try to respond to what I’ve read / He’s said. Again and again and again, He speaks. So I keep reading.<br />
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Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-48266759160356336342020-06-06T14:18:00.000+01:002020-06-08T14:02:12.543+01:00RunawayThis is the most beautiful song you’ve ever heard.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q7PEXQMr9Wo" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
To have your attention grabbed, to have your current thoughts interrupted and dismissed because something new has arrived – this is one of the powerful things music can do. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jessraymusic.com%2F&redir_token=slsZBGbCXjOpW0d4xKS_C6uVAKZ8MTU5MTUzNTYyMEAxNTkxNDQ5MjIw&v=q7PEXQMr9Wo&event=video_description" target="_blank">Jess Ray’s</a> <i>Runaway</i>, from her 2015 debut album <i>Sentimental Creatures</i>, did this to me a few weeks ago. I’d like to share it with you and explain a little of what is going on in it.<br />
<br />
The brief intro of acoustic guitar is unprepossessing but the first line is full of sorrow –<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I can see it in your eyes, that you’re gonna run, you’re gonna run”</blockquote>
<br />
This is familiar song-writing territory, the lament of the lover on the edge of loss. On it goes – <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I can hear it in the way you speak to me that you're gonna leave”</blockquote>
<br />
Lies, false promises, betrayal. From our own experiences and popular culture, we’re so familiar with this. Maybe we feel a twinge of guilt from being the cause of these feelings in another; more likely we sense our vulnerability and remember when our guts have been wrenched.<br />
<br />
As emotive as this is, why did it grab my attention? I was listening to a playlist of songs recommended by Brett McCracken in an article entitled, <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/best-christian-albums-2010s/" target="_blank">“The Best Christian Albums of the 2010s”</a> so I was not expecting to hear a love song like this.<br />
<br />
But then – oh no – I realised what was happening - <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“And as you slip away, I will say... As you pack your things, I will sing... Even if you run away from me, over the mountains through the valleys I will not rest but search east and west to bring you back with me”</blockquote>
<br />
And then this – <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Even if you sail away from across the oceans and the seas, I will move again like the mighty wind and blow you back to me. I'm gonna move again like the mighty wind and blow you back to me.”</blockquote>
<br />
Any human lover might make that first commitment – to search – but the second? Of course, we use metaphor to convey our intensity, we talk about “moving heaven and earth” and other things we cannot do. But now I was realising Who the abandoned Lover was, and tears stung my eyes.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />
The theme of betrayal runs through the Bible like an open wound. From the Garden to Golgotha and beyond, God experiences the heartbreak of our desertion. The people He rescued and made His marriage covenant with spurn Him for others. For all the good He does to them, they prefer the false promises of other gods, they follow their desires rather than Him. The prophets of the Old Testament feel all this particularly painfully. The language they use is raw and sometimes shockingly violent (Ezekiel 16:1-43, 23:1-49). Most famously, Hosea is told to marry a woman who he knows will leave him, to demonstrate what God’s people have done to Him (Hosea 1:2).*<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />
All this is the setting of <i>Runaway </i>– <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I have seen this all before it is all too familiar.”</blockquote>
<br />
Billions of times. Billions. Every time. How does His heart still beat?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
“But you will never see the bottom of my storehouses of love.”</blockquote>
<br />
It’s such a skilful juxtaposition, speaking of deeper pain than we can understand and deeper reserves of love than we can comprehend. God’s storehouses are fathomless (Job 38:22, Psalm 33:7, 135:7) and so is His love (Psalm 103:17, Jeremiah 31:3).<br />
<br />
Ray’s vocals rise to a fragile falsetto but their confidence deepens – <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Even if you make up in your mind, you don't want be by my side, I will leave behind 99 oh that you'd be mine.”</blockquote>
<br />
The 99? That’s the number of sheep that Jesus spoke of being left by a shepherd in search of one foolishly wandering member of the flock. The economic foolishness of this love climaxes with the sequel parable, the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:1-7, 11-32).<br />
<br />
That’s is why I’ve called this the most beautiful song you’ve ever heard. I’m not talking about Ray’s song – beautiful though it is – but the Song she’s singing of. The Song of God, the Song of His unfailing love for people like me and like you, who turn from Him and yet He keeps coming after us. Again and again and again. Whether we run away in childish foolishness, adolescent lust or desperation, adult compromises or cynicisms, aged weariness or rootlessness. Whether it’s in a fit of hot temper or because our heart has grown cold. Whether it happened briefly or decades ago. Whether we felt – and feel – guilt, shame, anger, confusion… His commitment to this relationship far exceeds ours.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I'm gonna love you and teach you to love me again.”</blockquote>
<br />
Will you let Him?<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)</blockquote>
Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-79312168513498759292020-04-02T14:24:00.000+01:002020-04-02T14:26:34.933+01:00Rainbows<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Many windows in my street - like yours too, I expect - now have rainbows in them. Origin unknown, these handmade artworks are meant to raise a smile in a difficult time. They can do more than that.<br />
<br />
The rainbow as a symbol has been misappropriated in recent decades but its biblical context is the frightening story of the flood and the great remaking of creation in Genesis 6-9. After almost all life on earth has been wiped out, God promises Noah that He will not do this again:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
(Genesis 9:12-16)</blockquote>
So, when you see a rainbow in a window, or the sky for that matter, let it be a reminder to you of this promise, of God's steadfast love and faithfulness.Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-80649942346793994092020-03-19T10:05:00.000+00:002020-03-19T10:05:36.742+00:00Blessing<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0Kyct2KhxACJIOZCu80878JDpjW9gbnxogA2DkOGHggnf2w5HlhDvQxF9UFb9z97OjOolLio0RpZQr0hnCADS4XQFHASWpCcyOy_xOjZvMhZ27X3XTscL-PqkgQnX9jSeYwaX7Ias9g/s1600/jack-sharp-ShCVvQbQBDk-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0Kyct2KhxACJIOZCu80878JDpjW9gbnxogA2DkOGHggnf2w5HlhDvQxF9UFb9z97OjOolLio0RpZQr0hnCADS4XQFHASWpCcyOy_xOjZvMhZ27X3XTscL-PqkgQnX9jSeYwaX7Ias9g/s640/jack-sharp-ShCVvQbQBDk-unsplash.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@jacksharp_photography?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Jack Sharp</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/blessing?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://www.lukesblog.org/2020/03/praying.html" target="_blank">Praying</a> and blessing are very similar things but here are some specific blessings from the Bible that you can say to someone or pray for them…<br /><br />"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26)<br /><br />"May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! May he remember all your offerings and regard with favour your burnt sacrifices! May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfil all your plans! May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfil all your petitions!" (Psalm 20:1-5)<br /><br />"May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!" (Psalm 29:11)<br /><br />"May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 15:5-6)<br /><br />"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." (Romans 15:13)<br /><br />"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." (2 Corinthians 13:14)<br /><br />"...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places..." (Ephesians 1:17-20)<br /><br />"I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:16-19)<br /><br />"...that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light." (Colossians 1:9-12)<br /><br />"Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23)<br /><br />"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way." (2 Thessalonians 3:16)<br /><br />"Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." (Hebrews 13:20-21)<br />Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-79576384889167145862020-03-19T09:58:00.000+00:002020-03-19T10:05:50.686+00:00Praying<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOkXu2e1ORRJ247R7Q2B3dYRfRbsBIYB6aTs7iydHMCS4CQp1fIhFtUktmqc_QX2QjvI6IcMYb6ggPlOV-xGcV-S1ru97Jup-lWLHeeEEf-ckpGgsZt5Pypt5_8QcRGKUJBw1KjsICOZc/s1600/patrick-fore-b_SHPU5M3nk-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOkXu2e1ORRJ247R7Q2B3dYRfRbsBIYB6aTs7iydHMCS4CQp1fIhFtUktmqc_QX2QjvI6IcMYb6ggPlOV-xGcV-S1ru97Jup-lWLHeeEEf-ckpGgsZt5Pypt5_8QcRGKUJBw1KjsICOZc/s640/patrick-fore-b_SHPU5M3nk-unsplash.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<div class="_1l8RX _1ByhS">
Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@patrickian4?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Patrick Fore</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/prayer?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></div>
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<br />
In uncertain days, we may be uncertain about what to say to God and what to ask for. I love the honesty and faith of Jehoshaphat: “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (2 Chronicles 20:12). As <a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/we-can-do-nothing" target="_blank">John Piper</a> has said, all prayer is an agreement with Jesus's statement: “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).<br />
<br />
The wonderful news is that Christians aren’t heard by God and answered because of the eloquence or accuracy of their prayers but because Jesus is representing us to the Father, praying with us and for us (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 4:14-16, 7:25). Moreover, He has sent us His Holy Spirit to help us pray, directing our words and even our groans (Romans 8:26-27). He also will give us languages to speak that don’t require our comprehension but are simply praise direct from our spirits to God (1 Corinthians 14:2, 4, 14-15). <br />
<br />
If you want to start exploring prayer more deeply, the best book I’ve read on this subject is <a href="http://www.lukesblog.org/2014/04/a-praying-life.html" target="_blank"><i>A Praying Life</i></a> by Paul E. Miller. I’ve also been helped by Pete Grieg, who has produced <a href="https://prayercourse.org/" target="_blank">The Prayer Course</a> – a series of videos with a load of other resources, all for free.<br />
<br />
One way to get started with praying is to use the prayers recorded in the Bible. Most of them are said primarily for a certain moment in time so they can’t be applied exactly to our situation but they tell us about God and His ways and that’s what we need as we pray. I’ve listed a few below which you can look through and be inspired by. We can actually <a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-i-pray-the-bible" target="_blank">pray much more from the Bible</a> than just the actual prayers recorded but this seems like a good place to start.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The prayer model that Jesus gave us: Matthew 6:9-13</li>
<li>A prayer of repentance: Psalm 51</li>
<li>Thankfulness for grace in our past and hope for grace in the future: 1 Chronicles 29:10-19</li>
<li>Asking for rescue: 2 Kings 19:15-19</li>
<li>Confession, repentance, and asking for action: Daniel 9:4-19</li>
<li>Jesus’s prayer for the church’s protection and unity: John 17:9-26</li>
<li>Asking for God’s intervention and the increase of His Kingdom: Acts 4:24-31</li>
<li>A prayer for wisdom and revelation of God’s greatness: Ephesians 1:15-23</li>
<li>Praying for faith and love and firm foundation: Ephesians 3:14-21</li>
<li>Increasing love and knowledge and holiness: Philippians 1:9-11</li>
<li>The last words in the Bible: asking Jesus to return and for all of us to receive His grace: Revelation 22:20-21</li>
</ul>
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Matthew 6:9-13<br />
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” <br />
<br />
Psalm 51:1-19<br />
A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar. <br />
<br />
1 Chronicles 29:10-19<br />
Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.” <br />
<br />
2 Kings 19:15-19<br />
And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: “O LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.” <br />
<br />
Daniel 9:4-19<br />
I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favour of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.” <br />
<br />
John 17:9-26<br />
“I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” <br />
<br />
Acts 4:24-31<br />
And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’ – for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. <br />
<br />
Ephesians 1:15-23<br />
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. <br />
<br />
Ephesians 3:14-21<br />
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. <br />
<br />
Philippians 1:9-11<br />
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. <br />
<br />
Revelation 22:20-21<br />
Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-83907537969330947502020-01-23T16:05:00.001+00:002020-01-23T16:05:31.999+00:00200 words on Godric<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMD0kHw7TUdlau1dTwmg2_HrtgYTSWnLy2zqCKvYt5pKWNzGYidyIOF6oi0Ms580_A7HUVmIq2FobYEN23d5rQoVJEwABzB7eErXm_79KEs-p3Z8HS8DbbnIq8tkDHMjlLMXI-ddQm35k/s1600/Godric.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="343" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMD0kHw7TUdlau1dTwmg2_HrtgYTSWnLy2zqCKvYt5pKWNzGYidyIOF6oi0Ms580_A7HUVmIq2FobYEN23d5rQoVJEwABzB7eErXm_79KEs-p3Z8HS8DbbnIq8tkDHMjlLMXI-ddQm35k/s400/Godric.jpg" width="235" /></a></div>
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<i>Godric</i>, by Frederick Buechner, first published in 1981.<br />
<br />
If you’ve ever read even the briefest of hagiographies – a record of a Saint’s life that seems implausibly perfect – and thought how unreal it seems, you will find <i>Godric </i>satisfying and challenging. I enjoyed <i>Godric </i>for this reason and also its pitch-perfect writing
style. Sentences are terse but poetic, befitting one of the earliest
known Anglo-Saxon lyric poets. <br />
<br />
The man <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godric_of_Finchale" target="_blank">Godric</a> lived in England in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries, becoming a famed hermit, and all we really know about his life comes from a hagiography by a monk called Reginald of Durham. Buechner imagines their interactions as Godric enters the last days of his life, painfully aware of his sins and desperate that Reginald not portray him as a saint.<br />
<br />
Buechner wrote <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/october/russell-moore-frederick-buechner-mainliner-evangelical.html" target="_blank">elsewhere</a> that “the most fascinating story anybody can tell, especially anybody who happens to be religiously inclined [is] … How did you get to be the way you are when there are a million reasons for not being that way at all? How did you happen?” Godric wrestles with this question in a world that is violent, unjust, and always open to the miraculous. A person can be covered in filth and yet hear voices from heaven.Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-38156807271803557452019-12-14T11:58:00.000+00:002019-12-14T11:58:09.892+00:00Books for your Christmas list<br />
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<br />
Great books should be on the Christmas list of every Christian who can read. Podcasts and videos are helpful (and much shorter) but books can allow you to go deep on important subjects and think well about them. As Philippians 4:8 says, “whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” To help you give (and ask for) good books, I’ve put together this list, with two suggestions for each topic.<br />
<br />
My apologies to those of you who love biographies or fiction: I haven’t included any of these because it felt harder to choose just two of each, especially when people’s tastes are so different (though I would without hesitation choose <i>Gilead </i>by Marilynne Robinson and <i>The Lord of The Rings</i> by J.R.R. Tolkien in the fiction category).<br />
<br />
I’ve read most of the books on this list and the others have been recommended by people I trust. Only the Bible is perfect so don’t expect that any of the other books here will be but I do think there is plenty in each of them to help you grow in your knowledge and love of God.<br />
<br />
<b>Apologetics</b><br />
<i>The Reason for God</i>, Timothy Keller<br />
<i>If God, Then What?</i>, Andrew Wilson<br />
<br />
<b>The Bible</b><br />
<i>How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth</i>, Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart<br />
<i>Why Trust the Bible?</i>, Amy Orr-Ewing<br />
<br />
<b>Children: pre-school</b><br />
<i>The Jesus Storybook Bible</i>, Sally Lloyd-Jones<br />
Tales That Tell The Truth series, from The Good Book Company<br />
<br />
<b>Children: primary school</b><br />
<i>Hands-On Bible 365 Devotions for Kids</i>, Jennifer Hooks<br />
<i>The Action Bible</i>, Doug Mauss and Sergio Cariello<br />
<br />
<b>Christian Living</b><br />
<i>Desiring God</i>, John Piper<br />
<i>You Are What You Love</i>, James K.A. Smith<br />
<br />
<b>Church</b><br />
<i>What On Earth is the Church For?</i>, David Devenish<br />
<i>The Spirit-Filled Church</i>, Terry Virgo<br />
<br />
<b>Daily readings</b><br />
<i>For The Love of God</i>, D.A. Carson<br />
<i>Morning and Evening</i>, Charles Spurgeon<br />
<br />
<b>Devotion</b><br />
<i>The Weight of Glory</i>, C.S. Lewis<br />
<i>The Pursuit of God</i>, A.W. Tozer<br />
<br />
<b>God</b><br />
<i>The Good God</i>, Michael Reeves<br />
<i>None Like Him</i>, Jen Wilkin<br />
<br />
<b>Habits</b><i> </i><br />
<i>Your Future Self Will Thank You</i>, Drew Dyck<br />
<i>Celebration of Discipline</i>, Richard Foster<br />
<br />
<b>Holy Spirit</b><i> </i><br />
<i>Surprised by the Power of the Spirit</i>, Jack Deere<br />
<i>Everyday Supernatural</i>, Mike Pilavachi and Andy Croft<br />
<br />
<b>Humility</b><br />
<b> </b><i>Humble Roots</i>, Hannah Anderson<br />
<i>Humility</i>, Andrew Murray<br />
<br />
<b>Guidance</b><i> </i><br />
<i>All That’s Good</i>, Hannah Anderson<br />
<i>Just Do Something</i>, Kevin DeYoung<br />
<br />
<b>Jesus</b><i> </i><br />
<i>Christ Our Life</i>, Michael Reeves<br />
<i>Simply Jesus</i>, Tom Wright<br />
<br />
<b>Leadership</b><i> </i><br />
<i>Hero Maker</i>, Dave Ferguson<br />
<i>Replenish</i>, Lance Witt<br />
<br />
<b>Marriage</b><i> </i><br />
<i>You and Me Forever</i>, Francis and Lisa Chan<br />
<i>The Meaning of Marriage</i>, Timothy and Kathy Keller<br />
<br />
<b>Miracles</b><i> </i><br />
<i>Surprised By the Power of the Spirit</i>, Jack Deere<br />
<i>The Case for Miracles</i>, Lee Strobel<br />
<br />
<b>Mission</b><i> </i><br />
<i>Global Humility</i>, Andy McCulloch<br />
<i>The Mission of God</i>, Christopher J.H. Wright<br />
<br />
<b>Money</b><br />
<i>Money, Possessions and Eternity</i>, Randy Alcorn<br />
<i>Consumer Detox</i>, Mark Powley<br />
<br />
<b>Parenting</b><i> </i><br />
<i>Raising Faith</i>, Katharine Hill and Andy Frost <br />
<i>The Parenting Book</i>, Nicky and Sila Lee<br />
<br />
<b>Prayer</b><i> </i><br />
<i>How to Pray</i>, Pete Greig<br />
<i>A Praying Life</i>, Paul E. Miller<br />
<br />
<b>Sexuality and Gender</b><i> </i><br />
<i>People to Be Loved</i>, Preston Sprinkle<br />
<i>God and the Transgender Debate</i>, Andrew Walker<br />
<br />
<b>Singleness</b><i> </i><br />
<i>7 Myths about Singleness</i>, Sam Allberry<br />
<i>Redeeming Singleness</i>, Barry Danylak<br />
<br />
<b>Suffering</b><i> </i><br />
<i>God on Mute</i>, Pete Greig <br />
<i>The Life You Never Expected</i>, Andrew and Rachel Wilson<br />
<br />
<b>Technology</b><br />
<i>The Tech-Wise Family</i>, Andy Crouch<br />
<i>12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You</i>, Tony Reinke<br />
<br />
<b>Work</b><br />
<i>Thank God It’s Monday</i>, Mark Greene<br />
<i>Every Good Endeavour</i>, Timothy KellerLuke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-34357433305955204172017-12-18T17:46:00.000+00:002017-12-18T17:46:04.861+00:00Celebration of Discipline<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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How can Christians become more like Christ? How can we grow in our knowledge of His ways and awareness of His presence? There are many answers to these essential questions, and Richard Foster’s <i>Celebration of Discipline</i> has been recognised for decades as containing excellent explanations of many of them.<br />
<br />
The word “discipline” tends to suggest thoughts of try-hards and legalists in the minds of many who are content to have a superficial relationship with God. Foster contends against both these faults:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“God has given us the Disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving his grace. The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that he can transform us.”</blockquote>
Foster’s experience of the Holy Spirit’s gifts and his reading of devotional writers from across the centuries give vitality and depth to his writing – ingredients that modern evangelicalism sometimes risks missing.<br />
<br />
Reading this book is one thing, applying its experience and wisdom quite another. With so many Disciplines to discover, the reader would be advised to choose to focus on one or two at a time. To grow in just a few of these would surely bring wonderful changes in our lives...<br />
<br />
Part I: The Inward Disciplines<br />
- Meditation<br />
- Prayer<br />
- Fasting<br />
- Study<br />
<br />
Part II: The Outward Disciplines<br />
- Simplicity<br />
- Solitude<br />
- Submission<br />
- Service<br />
<br />
Part III<br />
- Confession<br />
- Worship<br />
- Guidance<br />
- Celebration<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you'd like to read about how God changes us, I'd recommend James K.A. Smith's <i>You Are What You Love</i>, which looks especially at how our hearts and our habits shape us, and <i>Everyday Supernatural</i> by Mike Pilavachi & Andy Croft which gives expert (and light-hearted) advice on experiencing the Holy Spirit in our daily lives.</div>
Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-22461230247466168452017-12-18T14:05:00.000+00:002017-12-18T14:05:49.028+00:00Christmas Closeness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyCcQON-iQ9ZxjYObmwSmskoYLiiIqE-sCIn9asvFQWcAKd_sJwR7UkjGq95klZ_q3TSisyEU0vI1ywhwG4_UE4iPEIj5q_z-WcN4G0xw19kHy_3k0Jr3p0FoIUmcFtlner6iAyJDbuU/s1600/Shepherds600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyCcQON-iQ9ZxjYObmwSmskoYLiiIqE-sCIn9asvFQWcAKd_sJwR7UkjGq95klZ_q3TSisyEU0vI1ywhwG4_UE4iPEIj5q_z-WcN4G0xw19kHy_3k0Jr3p0FoIUmcFtlner6iAyJDbuU/s1600/Shepherds600.jpg" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Silent night, holy night. All is calm…”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie…”</blockquote>
Why so silent? If this was the turning point of history, when God sent His Son to Earth, why was there so little fanfare? People are always telling each other about what they think is important, so why was that first Christmas different?<br />
<br />
It was so small and hidden away, hardly anyone noticed. Mary and Joseph would have seemed like just another young couple on the road: maybe you would have noticed her bump, or seen the worry on his face, but then they would have passed by and you’d have forgotten all about them. Bethlehem itself was just another name on the long list of places occupied by the Roman Empire, and nowhere near the top. It was overcrowded with people who all had their own business to be getting on with so very few people noticed yet another baby being born.<br />
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Caesar Augustus in Rome heard nothing of it. Nor did Emperor Ping of Han in China. Nor whoever was ruling the forts on Arthur’s Seat and the Crags at the time. Almost no-one heard about the event that changed everything.<br />
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Why would God be like this? Why, given all His power and glory, did He come to us in this way?<br />
<br />
To understand this, look at the shepherds. They were the only people who got what seems like appropriate advertising of what had happened: a sky-full of angels appeared to them, singing about it.<br />
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They were urged to go and see the baby for themselves. I don’t suppose any of us would want to argue with a radiant and mighty angel, let alone disobey an army of them, but the shepherds must have had their doubts: “Us, go and see Him?” They lived on the outskirts of society; they were poor and looked down on. Surely they could never come close of the likes of Him. But they were told something even more astonishing than angels appearing: “He is wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” To those of us familiar with the Christmas story, we immediately think, “Of course He is, that’s what happened to Jesus.” But the shepherds would have been thinking: “Well that’s what happens to every baby born to the likes of us.” Peasants used strips of cloth to keep their new-borns warm: they couldn’t afford silks or fine linens. And they didn’t have the money or the space for a cot, so an animal’s feeding trough – filled with fresh hay or straw – was the best and safest place for them to put their babies. The description they were given told them that the Messiah really had been “born to them”, as the angels said. He wasn’t in a mansion or a palace: He was in their part of town, He was one of them. They could come close to Him.<br />
<br />
The shepherds learnt that night what Jesus spent the whole of His life showing: that God had come close to us. So close that He would share our skin, our days, our meals, our paths; our joys and our sorrows.<br />
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When He had become an adult and began to preach, people flocked to Jesus, and He let them. Success and fame usually leads to separation from the crowds: VIP access and security barriers - Jesus never lived this way. He refused to listen to those who tried to keep a safe space around Him, repeatedly breaking through it to get close to someone who was desperate for Him. He talked to those no-one else wanted to hear from. Women and children, who were usually kept well away from anything of importance in that culture, received famous welcomes from him. People who were well-known for having messed up their lives always got His attention and involvement. Those who were untouchable called out to Him, and He put His hands on them – possibly the first person to have done so for decades. The only people who couldn’t seem to get really near to Him were those who were happy trusting in themselves.<br />
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And what happens when He draws near?<br />
<br />
In the Jewish culture He belonged to, there was a strong concept of people being clean or unclean, relating to their social and religious status: clean was good, unclean was bad. This represented the difference between those who were living rightly, and those who weren’t - we still talk about people having a stain on their reputation.<br />
<br />
Some people in Jesus’s day believed they could keep themselves clean, many knew that they had made themselves grubby. As well as how you lived, you also became unclean by touching someone or something that was unclean, like a diseased body or a social outcast. So by coming close to desperate and dirty people, Jesus was surely making Himself unclean. In fact, the opposite happened. When He touched someone who was covered in festering sores, rather than their germs infecting Him, His wholeness spread to them. When He ate and talked with people who were scandalous sinners, rather than their bad ways rubbing off on Him, His goodness appeared in their lives. In His own words: “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)<br />
<br />
This is what happens when God comes close. He came close because He loves us and we needed Him to. Only He can come so close, see all our faults and failures, and then remove them as far from us as the east is from the west. Only He can set us free from our past and give us a new future. Only He can make us clean, heal our brokenness, change us from the inside out. He did this for us by living, dying, and being raised to new life on our behalf. Our minds start to struggle at the very suggestion of these things being true, let alone that they could be done - He did them for us.<br />
<br />
Today, Jesus is inviting you to come close to Him. Not just to enjoy Christmas traditions and maybe get a distant glimpse of Him through them, but to seek Him out. Jesus came with many things to do, but only one thing to find. That thing is faith: trusting Him, looking to no-one and nothing else for the help we all need, opening your door to Him. He comes close to us first so that we can do this this through hearing and <a href="https://www.youversion.com/apps" target="_blank">reading about Him</a>.<br />
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The first Christmas was so quiet it was barely noticed but its impact changed everything, and millions of people are so glad that they heard about it, and accepted God’s invitation to come close to Him. This Christmas, you have heard about it, and you can come near.<br />
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On a similar theme, here's the King's Church Edinburgh Christmas 2017 video: <i>He Draws Near</i>…<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/247598300?color=fcbb09&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe>Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-41551338485529389592017-11-22T16:37:00.000+00:002017-11-22T16:37:04.542+00:00Eulogy for Dad<i>Last month my Dad died of pancreatic cancer, less than four weeks after being diagnosed. Here’s what I said at his funeral, and a poem I wrote for him as he left us.</i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0bSU1giZSWEh7i9-Pop5_wwHfQgjOMWRRVixqEkYK-9ZD_-a_vt23jaCX9dvy-g5lCmnV0tw-q2JnaEk5tDhOU_gbtONYP8vlJeiBo-P4Q6k-lW5wLtiiqMBrVse5FtFA-mttTxqI52E/s1600/DSC_0139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1600" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0bSU1giZSWEh7i9-Pop5_wwHfQgjOMWRRVixqEkYK-9ZD_-a_vt23jaCX9dvy-g5lCmnV0tw-q2JnaEk5tDhOU_gbtONYP8vlJeiBo-P4Q6k-lW5wLtiiqMBrVse5FtFA-mttTxqI52E/s400/DSC_0139.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newlyn Harbour</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Dad was a great enjoyer of things, and I want to take you to Newlyn Harbour to share some of those with you. It was a place we would often visit when we were on holiday in Cornwall - and Cornwall was the land that he loved, a place where everything seemed better for him. The sights and sounds, the tastes and smells, couldn’t be beaten.<br />
<br />
The harbour itself is a place of industry and effort, which Dad always appreciated. The engineering involved would be pointed out to us, from his seemingly-limitless knowledge of how things worked. This depth of understanding sometimes led to my science homework containing a level of detail way beyond what was required for a 13-year-old! This sharing of knowledge was never done to show off, but as part of his marvelling, and as a way to encourage respect for what had been achieved. I learnt to marvel from him, and this prepared me to delight in God.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK5plAwT4V6vjKqV3bgNkaPZvQuoQDF7X5JNixF2m9-4jhsnEIzRNM8BdRjwfwPoGovPMdOs8rFN4830mTOx4uoxY1HyN1q5YeQW-7oUFyTN2PExRgp21tAv-ObDZTVTx3ktIYsx6B4o0/s1600/DSC_0172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1529" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK5plAwT4V6vjKqV3bgNkaPZvQuoQDF7X5JNixF2m9-4jhsnEIzRNM8BdRjwfwPoGovPMdOs8rFN4830mTOx4uoxY1HyN1q5YeQW-7oUFyTN2PExRgp21tAv-ObDZTVTx3ktIYsx6B4o0/s400/DSC_0172.JPG" width="381" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Admiring Concord at the National Museum of Flight</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Dad knew how things worked, and he knew how to fix many of them. Whenever Deb and I would drive down from Scotland to visit, he would open the bonnet and look over the car, checking the oil and finding things that needed a spray of WD40. This was part of the career he did so well in, and also his way of saying, “I love you.”<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLzAShyphenhyphenxpqv13pI8Lt43O9JuYitbDumvY6RkWaw1bW8WIyH9yl58WxW6fBW7l9b8BvNFjGlIWacwPWkdO5IKeMIRrrUZRmWk40tadfoeHwJwA-mrSDb5pWwOFYMlh75t64I5aDD30x6f0/s1600/Car+fix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLzAShyphenhyphenxpqv13pI8Lt43O9JuYitbDumvY6RkWaw1bW8WIyH9yl58WxW6fBW7l9b8BvNFjGlIWacwPWkdO5IKeMIRrrUZRmWk40tadfoeHwJwA-mrSDb5pWwOFYMlh75t64I5aDD30x6f0/s400/Car+fix.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A familiar sight</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
He didn’t just point things out in the harbour, he photographed them too. His camera bag was always slung over this shoulder at places like this, and his eye was always alert to see something that most of us couldn’t: patterns, shapes, contrasts, colours. I learnt from him how to see, and his commendation of a photo I’d taken was the only praise I wanted.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgGQU5J6IZpinLeKsMMo36tlzPwIKAyj_rbDlQzA9HOBiF-1SGusGonvaMutuA_y1c8vRH_BeYQnXOpiQOs4G6E1LP0-EuwYXGMv2h62uDlXXfJLhvbcNmBngy8W_JDPDPnkygrzMHL0/s1600/IMG_1820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgGQU5J6IZpinLeKsMMo36tlzPwIKAyj_rbDlQzA9HOBiF-1SGusGonvaMutuA_y1c8vRH_BeYQnXOpiQOs4G6E1LP0-EuwYXGMv2h62uDlXXfJLhvbcNmBngy8W_JDPDPnkygrzMHL0/s400/IMG_1820.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another familiar sight</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
A fishing port also suggests food, and Dad loved good food. As in everything, he didn’t want extravagance: anything well-made was a source of joy. In Cornwall this would mean a pasty, or fish and chips. At home it meant almost anything Mum cooked - I’ve been looking through the diaries he kept, and an entry for Sunday 27th March last year simply stated that they'd had, “The best ever roast pork dinner.”<br />
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To mention Mum brings me to their great love for each, about which so much could be said. I’ll just say that I’m glad I could grow up in it and learn from it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYH6JBwK_tLJwRY4SX2EGB61hJJTxX_geQAvgTBlhn6S7umj9nZeBGFpv4x3gsMKarm7IzmW6YNOwar8KRdPqf5b8S_afMfmOkje75ZbMYUZsY94pnY2Px6c2e9UYDUtQcazh-uhyphenhyphen8mM/s1600/APW_1695_DxO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYH6JBwK_tLJwRY4SX2EGB61hJJTxX_geQAvgTBlhn6S7umj9nZeBGFpv4x3gsMKarm7IzmW6YNOwar8KRdPqf5b8S_afMfmOkje75ZbMYUZsY94pnY2Px6c2e9UYDUtQcazh-uhyphenhyphen8mM/s400/APW_1695_DxO.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The harbour leads out into the sea – and all the natural world amazed him. From the birds that flew into his garden to the stars that shone overhead at night. If there was a new science or nature documentary on TV, I could be sure that it would be brought up in our phone calls. Even more, he loved to be outside enjoying all that was there. He was alive to everything around him, which makes him being dead so hard to comprehend.<br />
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After his funeral we took him back to Cornwall to be buried just up the road from Newlyn Harbour. This marked the end of a life that was shorter than any of us wanted it to be, but far more blessed than we could ever have hoped for. But it was not his end. When we realised what was happening to him, I shared with him what Jesus said to someone else faced with the shock of death:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25)</blockquote>
Dad said these were powerful words, and he prayed them and others from the Bible with Mum in those last days. His trust in God was quiet but real so I am confident that I haven’t seen the last of him: that he will be raised to new life by Jesus when He makes all things new, and wipes every tear from our eyes (1 Corinthians 15:51-58, Revelation 21:4-5). There will be a new heavens and new earth to explore and discover, create with and delight in – that glint Dad got in his eye when something pleased him will never fade. He will be with Jesus, the great Designer and Engineer, in whose presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).<br />
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<b>’Bless</b><br />
<br />
With the wind in your hair<br />
And sea light in your eyes,<br />
With a pasty in your bag<br />
And a grin on your face,<br />
With a long path before you –<br />
Those colours and sounds and sights around you –<br />
And us all, just behind you.<br />
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<i>If you’d like to make a donation to Pancreatic Cancer Research, we’ve set up a page in Dad’s memory <a href="https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/johndavydaitis" target="_blank">here</a>.</i>Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-30114360352131442472017-10-06T13:12:00.001+01:002017-10-06T13:12:09.567+01:00Meeting McCheyne<div class="separator tr_bq" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-43) is known among evangelical Christians for the disputed spelling of his surname (in which he has my sympathies) and <a href="http://www.mcheyne.info/calendar.pdf" target="_blank">his plan for reading the Bible in a year</a>. David Robertson's <i>Awakening</i> (Authentic, 2004) introduced me more thoroughly the man himself, and what God did through and around him. Here are some quotes from McCheyne that I found particularly inspiring...<br />
<blockquote>
"Unfathomable oceans of God’s grace in Christ are for you. Dive and dive again, you will never come to the bottom of these depths. How many millions of dazzling pearls and gems are at this moment hid in the deep recesses of the ocean caves?"</blockquote>
<blockquote>
"Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely… Live much in the smiles of God. Bask in his beams. Feel his all-seeing eye settled on you in love, and repose in his almighty arms."</blockquote>
<blockquote>
"The greatest need of my people is my own holiness."</blockquote>
<blockquote>
"Sometimes, I believe, He [the Holy Spirit] comes like the pouring rain; sometimes like the gentle dew."</blockquote>
<blockquote>
"I have myself once or twice seen the service in the house of God continue till about midnight. On these occasions the emotion during the preaching of the word was so great, that after the blessing had been pronounced at the usual hour, the greater part of the people remained in their seats, or occupied the passages, so that it was impossible to leave them. In consequence of this, a few words more were spoken suited to the state of awakened souls; singing and prayer filled up the rest of the time. In this way the meeting was prolonged by the very necessity of the case. On such occasions I have often longed that all the ministers in Scotland were present, that they might learn more deeply what the true end of our ministry is. I have never seen or heard of anything indecorous at such meetings; and on all such occasions, the feelings that filled my soul were those of the most solemn awe, the deepest compassion for afflicted souls, and an unutterable sense of the hardness of my own heart. I do entirely and solemnly approve of such meetings, because I believe them to be in accordance with the word of God, to be pervaded by the Spirit of Christ, and to be ofttimes the birthplaces of precious, never-dying souls. It is my earnest prayer that we may yet see greater things than these in all parts of Scotland."</blockquote>
<blockquote>
"If we have solid ground to believe that a fellow-sinner has been, by the Holy Spirit, grafted into the true vine, then we have ground to believe that we are vitally united to one another for eternity. The same blood has washed us, the same Spirit has quickened us, we have leaned upon the same pierced breast, we love the same law, we are guided by the same sleepless eye, we are to stand at the right hand of the same throne, we shall blend our voices eternally in singing the same song: ‘Worthy is the Lamb’. Is it not reasonable, then, that we should own one another on earth as fellow-travellers to our Father’s house, and fellow-heirs of the incorruptible crown? Upon this I have always acted, both in sitting down at the Lord’s table and in admitting others to that blessed privilege."</blockquote>
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Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4521865272329673525.post-18054434036036381792017-09-07T16:25:00.000+01:002017-09-07T16:25:36.178+01:00Here and There, Week 36 2017<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_iXfZS0IYXIWhFDEYfwEUMtUDCBe8gpdZYcSdrkmfjvCPffQ4S6CFEX4hyR556liEtPUqGfzbVZne2awWnDnDGYZtqiobu5RmiB6uuC8rUBAc1d68sx3OdSG0yBVSuUY-tsGXM5hneA/s1600/74174D69-59A8-4AF9-A822-155200E810C6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_iXfZS0IYXIWhFDEYfwEUMtUDCBe8gpdZYcSdrkmfjvCPffQ4S6CFEX4hyR556liEtPUqGfzbVZne2awWnDnDGYZtqiobu5RmiB6uuC8rUBAc1d68sx3OdSG0yBVSuUY-tsGXM5hneA/s1600/74174D69-59A8-4AF9-A822-155200E810C6.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were among the 50,000 chosen to walk across the new Queensferry Crossing before it becomes a no pedestrian zone. <br />
It's a nice bridge, this is my favourite photo from it.</td></tr>
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Just because Amazon called something Alexa, that doesn't mean it's a person. I'm going to be a grumpy (and correct) old man about people giving human characteristics to machines, and <a href="https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2017/09/humans-after-all" target="_blank">Dan Hitchens</a> is going to back me up.<br />
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This is less of a gripe at a current trend but <a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/is-wartime-living-the-same-as-minimalism" target="_blank">John Piper's</a> comparison of minimalism with what he describes as "wartime living" is insightful for Christians working out what to do with what they've got.<br />
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Finding tiny coincidences in the Bible is a fascinating way to prove its authenticity, as <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/august-web-only/defending-accuracy-of-scripture-one-coincidence-at-time.html" target="_blank">Jonathan Ashbach</a> explains in his review of Lydia McGrew's new book, <i>Hidden in Plain View</i>.<br />
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Persuading grown-up Star Wars fans to spend hundreds of pounds on Lego is a bit like shooting womp rats in a barrel...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xxV03NzXJUA?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Luke Davydaitishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06573413648233532506noreply@blogger.com