Coronavirus

Last Thursday, the American team who were supposed to lead our evening meeting, had to return home. Their Mission Board recommended this action, as a sensible response to the Coronovirus pandemic, so that they wouldn’t become stranded in the UK, if the travel restrictions were extended.

We were sad, because we were looking forward to their ministry among us. But, as it was then too late to cancel our meeting, we went ahead. I am glad we did. Although, humanly speaking, we did not have a lot of time to prepare, we were able to worship God, led by Rebecca and Allan, where we experienced a powerful anointing of his Holy Spirit. People really entered into the felt presence of the Lord, with many visibly moved.

Exclusive-Inclusive Church

What does it mean to be an ‘inclusive church’? Are there really any ‘inclusive churches’ at all? In practice, the term is deployed to refer to those so-called ‘progressive’ churches, which want to ‘include’ LGBT+ people in their fellowships, in conditions of full acceptance and affirmation of their sexual orientation and practice. So, are such churches actually ‘inclusive’, for real?

The Imminence of God

Transcendence and immanence are two words often juxtaposed, to express paradoxical qualities of Divinity: his otherness, distance, and holiness - versus his closeness, love and indwelling. These doctrinal stances are reflected in different styles of spirituality and corporate worship – the majesty and awe of liturgy or grand hymnody, contrasted with the intimacy and fervour of charismatic gifts or revivalist ecstasy.

Another word, happily rhyming with Immanence, is ‘Imminence’: the Imminence of God. Fundamentalist doctrine often emphasises the ‘imminent’ second coming of Christ – however long it is in the waiting (2 Pe. 3.3-9), it is always ‘imminent’, just around the corner. And indeed, we must always be ready (the ‘Left Behind’ books notwithstanding). As the Rabbis said, every moment is equidistant from the Messiah: he could come any time. Many evangelistic sermons have played on the same plea, to be ready when he comes, like the ‘thief in the night’ (Matt. 24.43).

A Catholic Jesus

Last week I met an old friend. He used to be my spiritual director, some years ago, and is now retired. He is (still) a Catholic Priest. You don’t actually retire from this, but remain a ‘priest for ever’. Nevertheless, he is now adapting to life without responsibilities, although still able to conduct Mass in several local churches, to keep his hand in.

We had a coffee and catchup chat in Costa, and reminisced. But what I really like about him is his cheerfulness and positivity, and above all, his infectious love for Jesus and the Gospel. I reminded him of an ecumenical conference he had been to, where, he had observed, none of the speakers once spoke about Jesus. And that is his abiding concern for the church, in general not just Catholics, that although we discuss many worthy subjects, we’ve stopped talking about Jesus – the Lover of Our Souls.

Learning to Pray

It is easy to criticise those who pray for healing or material provision, especially when we come from a comfortable, suburban or academic, social location. Sociology often shapes theology, frequently unconsciously. Prosperity teaching appeals frequently to the urban poor and immigrants, who desperately need God to come through for them.

It was in the inner city that I learned to pray, for example, for finances, not when ministering to rich millionaires, but asking God to provide for people’s rent, bills, and debts. Low level stuff. Prayer ministry lines developed, to intercede for immigration visas and housing problems, not goose-bumps for middle class charismatics.

Prosperity Theology: The Materialisation of Faith

Prosperity Theology contains a dirty little secret – that it possesses a kernel of truth. And this is an intuition that God cares – about our personal and material lives; which entails an active Divine opposition to everything that demeans our existence – in this case: illness and poverty.

Here it’s similar to another Twentieth Century theological development – Liberation Theology. Together, these re-introduced a ‘materialisation of faith’. While Prosperity Theology was individualistic and politically conservative, and Liberation Theology collectivist and left-wing, both highlighted the rediscovery of eschatology, specifically the doctrine of the Kingdom of God.

Prosperity Theology's Dirty Little Secret

It’s common for evangelicals to decry so-called ‘prosperity theology’ or ‘health and wealth teaching’. Many of us have had to pick up the pieces of people, whose hopes have been raised, and then dashed, by false promises of financial provision or physical healing. For some, this has led to a rejection of Christianity as such, because they now identify the faith with this particular distorted deviation.