I had been toying with the idea of setting-up a kind of lifestream, to record my online activities in one easy-to-find place. However, I've decided instead to simply scrap the lot!

The whole idea of a lifestream got me thinking about what it means to have a web presence and why one might need one. It makes sense for businesses and suchlike, but why do I - as an individual - have one? Do I really think that my thoughts and opinions are of such lofty significance that I must share them with the rest of the world?!

Er, yeah! Well, I used to anyway. This blog, from beginning to end, has been one long delusion of grandeur. I barely have a 'presence' in the real world, so I hardly need one on the web!

The truth of the matter is that I've simply run out of things to say.

I've taken down all of my other blogs and will do the same with this one eventually. Thanks for stopping by. Now, turn off the computer and go and do something worthwhile instead.

So, the question before us is, Is England going to ban Christianity?

Short Answer: No.

Long Answer: No. Don't be ridiculous!

The post in question is a partial reprint (initially, without credit) of a piece on the CBN website, Britain's War on Christianity: America's Future Fight?

That piece is essentially a summary of the views of our country's so-called 'Christian Party'. So, bear in mind as you read the following words that this is essentially a party political broadcast, designed to provoke fear and engineer votes as a tactic to oppose the muslim/gay/liberal/feminist/green/postmodern/communist agenda. That's right folks, England's gone got it's own George Bush! (Bear in mind, also, that The Christian Party is a splinter group from The Christian People's Alliance. Members of The Christian Party left the CPA because it wasn't right-wing enough.)

According to the fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia, policies of The Christian Party include:

1. A proposed referendum on the reinstitution of the death penalty for severe crimes.
2. Legislation to ban abortion.
3. Curfews for under 11 year olds, with mandatory intervention of child protection agencies in relation to any child 10 years or younger that is found unaccompanied on the street after 9:00pm.
4. The reintroduction of the right of teachers to use corporal punishment in extreme circumstances.
5. Greater observance of a weekly day of rest (Sunday).
6. Promotion in school of chastity before marriage.
7. Re-instatement of Section 2A (also known as Section 28), a law to guard against the promotion of homosexuality.
8. The re-introduction of corporate readings from the Bible in all Scottish state schools.
9. Provision of Christian religious education on a mandatory basis, with no obligation to promote other faiths, regardless of the wishes of those being instructed or their parents. (There currently exists a level of compulsory Christian observance in all British schools, so these policies are calling for this to be increased.)
10. A science curriculum which should "reflect the evidence of creation/design" in the universe.
11. Public health campaigns to discourage homosexuality alongside excessive drinking and the use of addictive substances.
12. The restoration of the right for parents to smack their children (as with prayer, this currently exists and the policy is a call for an increase).
13. "Mind Pollution Levy" on 18 Certificate Films, DVDs, CDs, Video Games and Top Shelf magazines.
14. Discouragement of the practice of addressing women as Ms..
15. Opposition of the practice of altering birth certificates to reflect gender confirmation surgery.
16. Promotion of Biblical alternatives to the current criminal justice system (whilst rejecting any promotion of Sharia law, or alternatives).
17. To change the Welsh flag, because it views the red dragon as a satanic symbol.

Read enough, yet?

The CBN piece begins by stating:

British Christians who take their faith into the workplace risk being demoted or fired. The government continues to push an aggressive gay rights agenda, while threatening to criminalize Christian speech and practice.

I'm not sure what defines our governments commitment to human rights as "aggressive", let alone an "agenda", but that may be beside the point. Given my previous jobs, I've been in contact with a great many people who have been Christians in the workplace and there have been very few incidents of discrimination and no risks of being demoted or fired - at least, not for their religious persuasion. One person was asked to calm their overt Christian witnessing, but that's a far cry from criminalizing Christian speech and practice.

The piece also quotes Andrea Minichiello-Williams, the Director of Christian Concern for Our Nation. Andrea, who is known for being a bit of a pushy sensationalist warns that:

...if British Christians don't step up now, the nation is on a path to eventually criminalize the practice of Christianity in public.

"There's been a massive move by the secularist lobby to privatize religion," she said. "You can have faith so long as it doesn't affect you in the work place. So long as you don't bring it into the workplace. 'Just make it private. It can't be public. It can't affect what you do in the public square.'" (Andrea Minichiello-Williams, Director of Christian Concern for Our Nation)

I have to confess that every time I hear a Christian in the West complain about how they're treated, I tend to dismiss it as self-obsessed whinging. "I tell my work colleagues that they're going hell, refuse to work on Sundays even though the Job Description mentioned it and seek to cast demons out of any retarded customers - and they had the nerve to give me a written warning. Persecution!"

A fine example is provided by Hargreaves, who can complain about the treatment of Christians in the country, whilst boasting that:

"Daily prayers are said in parliament whether atheists like it or not," he added. "The queen is head of the Church of England and therefore has to acknowledge God for her sovereignty over the nation. These things are written, not just into our culture and our heritage, but into our constitution."

Well, which is it, George? Either the gospel is being attacked and Christians are being betrayed by the their own country, or actually the establishment itself is designed to defend your interests. Bishops in the House of Lords, anyone?! These whingy-pants need to go and spend some time with Christians in Pakistan or The Sudan!

More than that, open up a history book and read the experiences of the people of Christ throughout the ages. There are few promises of God that were more clearly fulfilled for the likes of the anabaptists than these:

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Tim. 3:12)

You don't hear many "Name it & Claim it" Preachers spouting that one, do you? However, if Hargreaves was to read his Bible, or learn something about Christians who have really sufferered for their Faith, he'd see that it is in such times that the Church has grown the most. You see, this thing of ours was never meant to be a comfortable power-trip. I understand that it can feel painful to step-down from the Emperor's throne, but it may well be the best thing that ever happened to the Church in the UK.

The funny thing is, I work in one of the most 'politically correct' arenas in our nation and I've never been cautioned for my Christian practice. In fact, mercy, long-suffering, forgiveness, generosity, loving kindness... they're all pretty much encouraged. Or, when we say 'Christian practice', do we really mean something else? Do we mean narrow-mindedness, inflexibility, insensitivity and good old-fashioned rudeness? As if I didn't think I knew the answer to this, here's more from the article:

Christian Kwabena Peat was forced to attend homosexual sensitivity training at work, administered by a lesbian. 

And that's a problem, because? Surely we're not suggesting that Kwabena Peat shouldn't be sensitive towards homosexuals? The weird thing about this is the unobjective use of the word 'forced'. I'm 'forced' to go to training all of the time. True, I get to choose some that I think will be relevant to my role. However, most of the time I get 'forced' to go on the same kind of statutory training as everyone else. (Recently, I was even 'forced' to go on Racial Awareness Training. The shame of it!)

Then Peat wrote a letter to the sensitivity trainer, explaining the Bible's position on homosexuality, and that God loved her and Peat loved her. He was suspended.

I'd say that a suspension is a bit harsh, but pretty predictable. I've no idea why Peat is writing such things to his employer. It was a stupid idea and he needs to get on and do his job and learn the role that he is there to perform.

Peat was just recently reinstated. But cases like his are repeated over and over. Doctors, Nurses, adoptive parents, deemed unfit because of their Christian beliefs. Christians are told not to speak about God in the workplace or they could be punished for offending homosexuals or Muslims. 

Again, I don't see the problem. However, I do find it hilarious that the (supposed) reason given for this is that Christian's talking about God in the workplace is offensive to 'homosexuals and Muslims'. Because, presumably, neither believe in God?!

At one time, Britain was the missionary base for the entire world, even sending missionaries to the new American colonies. But today, the cases of anti-Christian bigotry and discrimination have risen sharply.

At one point, Britian was also a great Empire that took over any Land it fancied and spread its influence and cultural hegemony in the name of the Lord. I'm not sure that the missionary history of Great Britain should be celebrated quite so indiscriminately! I'm also not at all sure why our history somehow justifies a presumed sense of Christian privilege.

Hargreaves point here finally reveals that what he, Minichiello-Williams and others are really bemoaning is the loss of Christian superiority in the West. It's no longer as easy for Christians to get their own preferences met in the House of Commons, the law courts, the Inland Revenue, the schools, hospitals, hotels, the Media, workplaces...

"There's been a massive move by the secularist lobby to privatize religion," she said. "You can have faith so long as it doesn't affect you in the work place. So long as you don't bring it into the workplace. 'Just make it private. It can't be public. It can't affect what you do in the public square.'"

Which is pretty much the same as one's political views. I'm not yet sure why this is a problem. I don't want a Muslim woman at work to be telling me how my faith is wrong, but hers is correct. I don't want a Mormon guy condemning me, whilst telling me how to find salvation through his chosen religion. If I'm at work I want them both to - surprisingly enough - do their fricken jobs!

I think I've said (far more than) enough, but there are a couple of points that I'll just finish by responding to:

Christian lawyer Paul Diamond has been very successful in defending discrimination cases against Christians in the courts.

Which, of course, is another way of admitting that the courts uphold the cases of Christians, far more often than not!

"In the United Kingdom the homosexual agenda is militant," he said. "The power shift began in about 2000, and they've been arresting Christians, jailing Christians for hate crimes, shutting off grants, constant litigation with the government, constant aggression.

I'm quite irritated by the careless use of words here. "They've been arresting Christians" reflects the experiences of how many Christians, exactly? And what percentage of the total number of Christians in the UK does that equate to? When we have that figure, I'm fairly sure it won't take a skilled mathematician to work out if it is higher or lower than the number of Muslims, or Blacks, or teenagers who are wrongly arrested each year in the UK.

So, how do Christians respond to those injustices? Strangely, they are mostly silent.

Islam continues to advance in the UK in large part because the government and media give it almost a protected status, while essentially persecuting its own state religion, Christianity.

It is true that the British media, along with the handling of some laws in some parts, appears to give Islam a protected status. Yet, what the piece fails to examine, not to any great surprise, are the underlying sociological reasons for this. These would include the guilt and subsequent over-sensitivity of majority cultures to the minorities sharing the land, a fear of offending minority cultures (often provoked by such guilt), media over-representation of the connection between Islam and terrorism, as well as that stalwart of British culture - racism.

I do believe that an over-sensitivity to issues of political correctness can lead to a nasty pendulum swing. It is such things that groups like the BNP depend upon, which is why they can be so dangerous. However, I don't think it helps to place the blame for such an issue within the minority cultures themselves. What nastier way can there be to ignore the concerns of minority groups than to dismiss their talk of (and work towards) equality as an "agenda"?

Many believe the architect of Britain's new anti-Christian culture was former Prime Minister Tony Blair, a professed Christian who championed gay rights.

I find that a strange statement. For a start, Blair was voted in with a massive majority. Though he was a disappointment to many of us, it's not as if he personally invented the kinder and more polite aspects of British society. However, what is most strange about this is that it is nothing less than an admission that Hargreaves and co. only represent one side of the Christian public in Britain. And if the election failures of groups like the CPA and The Christian Party are anything to go by, they represent a very small side. (How dishonest that makes the reporting in the CBN piece, I'll leave for others to decide.)

"Do you know who Obama reminds every British person of? Tony Blair," Diamond said.

Ummm... as a British person, let me just say, No, he doesn't. And if he did, I'd be praying that he would follow through on his promises and be the embodiment of Christian speech and practice that some had hoped Blair would be.

Is England going to ban Christianity? No, it isn't. However, the real question I think we need to be asking is, Are British Christians going to live-up to teachings and example - in word of speech - of him they call their Lord? If so, whether Christianity is banned or not is of secondary importance.

This is me playing George Harrison's phenomenal Something:

this is what 35 feels like...

I've never been a fan of birthdays. In fact, this is, strangely, one of my least favourite days in the year.

It's not about the presents. I always get just what I want and more than I need, in terms of presents. Presents don't make or break a birthday, at least, not for me.

All I really want is a kiss from my wife and a cuddle from my kids.

I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it's about the numbers. I just get used to one and they go and change it.

35? That doesn't sound at all right!

Does anyone else get meloncholic on their birthday?

It's good stuff, but remember, you don't have agree with everything someone says to hear and receive the good in it.

(There you go - a blog post. Now you can all stop nagging me!)

I can honestly say, last week was one of the worst weeks of my life. And, I'm pretty confident in declaring last Friday (June 12th) as the hardest day of my life. But, hey, I get a lie-in tomorrow to use up some time-in-lieu, so every cloud...

I'm hoping that things will calm down now, so I may be able to blog again soon.

As Erwin McManus wrote:

'Christianity is a world religion just like Hinduism, and Islam, and Buddhism, and it’s more dangerous than those because it’s more subtle, and it’s so close to the truth that it leads people in a lie.'

1. Robert DeNiro
2. Tom Hanks
3. Dustin Hoffman
4. Jack Nicholson
5. Sean Penn
6. Al Pacino
7. Gary Oldman
8. Phillip Seymour Hoffman
9. Ed Norton
10. Kevin Spacey
11. Paul Giamatti
12. Donald Sutherland
13. Daniel Day-Lewis
14. Johnny Depp
15. Don Cheadle
16. Ian McKellan
17. Simon Fallow
18. Anthony Hopkins
19. Harvey Keitel
20. Robert Duvall
21. Gene Hackman
22. Jon Voight
23. Brad Pitt
24. Morgan Freeman
25. Harrison Ford
26. Sean Connery
27. Kevin Bacon
28. Russell Crowe
29. Matt Damon
30. Billy Bob Thornton

Er, I couldn't stop once I got started! The first 6 are pretty fixed in stone, but if I wrote this list tomorrow the rest of them might be in a completely different order.

Let me know yours.

Rowan Williams, in one of his sharpest attacks yet on threats to the environment, has warned that God will not save humanity from their own environmental "stupidity."

Williams said, in a lecture at York Minster on March 25, that the world faces "a whole range of doomsday prospects," ranging from global warming to threats from what he called "bio-terror" weapons. In such end-of-the-world scenarios, Williams said, "the ultimate tragedy is that a material world capable of being a manifestation ... of divine love is choked, drowned or starved by its own stupidity."

Nevertheless, "to suggest that God might intervene to protect us from the corporate folly of our practices is as un-Christian and un-biblical as to suggest that he protects us from the results of our individual folly or sin."

The archbishop warned that while God's faithfulness remains steadfast "even in the most appalling disaster," that still "will not be a safety net that guarantees us a happy ending in this world." What's needed, he said, is a "radical change of heart" on the part of humanity to ponders its "terrible freedom" and decide the fate that will ultimately befall it.

(Read the full story at USATODAY.com)

Nice one, Rowan!

This, folks, is why eschatology is so important. We cannot let the end-times-Obsessed and Armageddon-inviting Fruit-Cakes force us into backing away from the subject. If anything, their idiotic rants compell us to speak all the louder.

No Fear or Much Fear??

Much of the impetus in Bible prophecy today is a by-product of what we would see as ‘old-style’ religion. What we mean by this is that instead of telling the story of an infinite love (God) who casts out all fear, religion has become preoccupied with ‘controlling’ its constituents through fear and obsessed with living by the standard of an old law that taught, “do this and live… fail to do this and die.” Where is the good news in that?!

Ask yourself, has your experience with conventional religion delivered you from fear and the pressure of ‘doing it all correctly’ or has it placed you in a situation where you sense a constant pressure to ‘get it right’? Most of us would say, “Yes, the latter.” This is a great problem because we all know that, try as we may, we simply cannot get it right. (We’re thinking that God knew that all along!)

Two things strike us about the way this grand story of deliverance is being told today. One, the church has become so institutionalized that it’s main concern is self-perpetuation and Two, it is teaching that WE are all caught up in some sort of end-time scheme that is playing itself out in our lifetime as if what we see on the pages of scripture was written directly to us – versus, for instance, the seven churches of Asia some two-thousand years ago (see the Book of Revelation, for as best as I can tell, these churches no longer exist today!).

A Movement of Kingdom Seekers

Throughout history it has not been the church in its official role that has most changed or impacted the world, rather, it has been kingdom citizens – sometimes individually and sometimes collectively in smaller groups or movements. But it has not been “the church” corporately, for what we recognize as the church today has largely become a sectarian model of how to divide and ‘not’ conquer. In short, too often the church has become the delivery system of fear versus the place where all such fears may be laid to rest. Try as we may, it just seems that something is missing.

While our institutional churches are hammering away at us to be more obligated to them, more dutiful in our commitment and more loyal in our allegiance, something deep inside of us is resonating for more love, encouragement, forgiveness and mutual sharing – not to mention acceptance. These are things that institutions find hard, if not impossible, to deliver – however, these common graces are the sum and substance of what communities are in step with the heart of God are all about… and that is our aim through the Presence conversation.

More Reflective of Victory?

God is calling forth kingdom citizens today. It is a call for each of us to leave his or her religious baggage at the door and embrace that the victory is won – God has given us a new way to live, one that relieves us of the burden of controlling life and inspires us to rest and trust in him versus ourselves.

Contrary to much religious teaching today, this old world did not just come to an end overnight, at the cross. Clear at the end of our New Testaments we see that this world was still in the ‘process’ of fading away (Hebrews 8:13). This means that something else was in the ‘process’ of coming into its fullness. We see this as the

Hope of righteousness (Galatians 5:5), the full Presence of God – the time when all enemies were defeated in a kingdom not dominated by this world, this dimension. It is a kingdom that has come in its fullness and of which we are now a part if only we are willing to search and to see.

Actually, it is not unlike our Bible ancestors so long ago who climbed the mountain and looked into the Promised Land – God called it a land flowing with milk and honey.

Sadly, the majority report was focused upon the “giants in the land” and once again fear and self-reliance got in the way of the people of God entering their rest.

We have the same choice today – do we see, believe and rest in the living Presence of God as Scripture reveals it – or do we focus on the giants in the land so prominent before a preoccupied self? Do we have a diluted cross and savior or one that reigned through the cross event and victoriously reversed the blow dealt to humanity through the garden sin of Adam? We believe it is the latter. Through Christ we have been reconciled to God.

...Read more.