God's Irony, Part Two

The last several days have been really thought provoking. I'll do my best to intelligibly relate what's been tumbling about in my brain recently.

Years ago, Maynard's nephew worked with a guy named Matt, who is from Kansas City, MO. Just recently Maynard had learned that Matt was going to be in London and had an interesting story to tell and so Maynard invited him for Sunday dinner. So there was the 6'10" Matt, whom none of us really knew, sitting in the Newman house with Maynard, Joan, Jon, and Anna, Seggie (a French girl who used to live with the Newmans), and me and telling us all about his recent adventures (you'll recognize Matt in the photo as the one who looks by his size that he could be in the foreground, when really he's towards the back). Matt has been traveling around the world this year. So far on this journey he's been through Central and South America, Antarctica, South Africa and much of Africa's east coast, the Middle East, Turkey, Romania, Austria, and now London. Next stop: Ireland, Scandinavia, Russia, China, Australia... It's quite a trip.

Apparently, Matt had been visiting friends in Japan a few years ago when he read a quote by Mark Twain: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." This got him thinking about what he was doing and what he was leaving undone. Among his goals at the time were to visit all 50 states and to set foot on all seven continents, which he is currently doing and blogging about. It was such an enjoyable time to hear his story and to catch some level of inspiration from it, even if I don't plan to travel the whole world myself.

The next day I was reading a book on God's multicultural intentions for the church. The introductory chapter is the stories, in part, of the three co-authors, each of whom has some relevant history in multicultural settings in the US or abroad. As I read, I found myself identifying with their stories as some of the unease I've felt here in the UK.

You see, a few days prior, a woman I met through Joan and Maynard asked me how I was liking England. I found myself hesitant to answer, which probably says more than what I actually said. I did eventually reply, saying that when I went to Scotland several years ago, I felt very much at home from the moment the plane touched down. I don't know why, but it just hasn't been the same with England. There's no real way to put a finger on it, but somehow you know you're not quite the same as the people all around you. In some sense this seems strange because I could easily blend into a crowd here in England. I don't look any different from anybody else and I dress about the same. Furthermore, American and British cultures are, in many ways, very similar - and all the more so as the world grows smaller and political ties between the States and the UK strengthen. But my identity as a foreigner is firmly established the moment I open my mouth to speak to anyone. I wonder if in some sense this actually heightens the tension I've been feeling. It's assumed that, as an American, I should be able to fit in quite naturally with the English, as though cultural references made in conversation don't have to be explained to me. Yet the differences are frequent enough that this assumption actually makes the differences more noticeable to me. Although the UK and the US are very similar in many ways, I'm realizing this is definitely a cross-cultural experience.

I wish I had been able to ask Matt about his experiences in light of this, but it has only been recently that these thoughts really started to come into more focus, even though I know this particular post is somewhat rambling. I should add, however, that the people of Green Street Green Baptist Church have been remarkably hospitable. I have in no way felt like too much of an outsider there (Actually, that's a whole other post about how great it is to be able to travel around the world, visit absolute strangers and still know that you can call them brothers and sisters because of our connection through Christ. Certainly that's been another incredible experience on this journey.).

Anyway, just some thoughts I've been having in reflecting on what's going on here. I pray that some of these things really get lodged in my heart. I'd hate to forget this feeling of being an alien, such as it is, and not offer hospitality to those that feel like foreigners when I'm at home.

Where All the Women Are Strong...

It's been a busy week in Lake Wobego...sorry. It's been a busy week in England.

On Wednesday I went into London with several young teens from the church to do a citywide scavenger hunt. Good times roving the city with four young people looking for different things and taking pictures of things and answering questions about things. You know how it is.

I spent a day at the beach in Broadstairs with several of the young people from GSGBC on Friday. It was a decent day for the beach. It wasn't hot, really, and it was windy, but at least it wasn't cold and rainy, which seems to be plaguing England this summer. Apparent features of English beaches include mini carnivals, Punch & Judy shows, seaweed, and donkey rides. Also to be found at the Broadstairs beach: a concrete structure that traps water at high tide so that people can wade in it during low tide. Unfortunate side effect of things to be found at Broadstairs beach: the wading pool turns into a haven for crabs. Also, men and boys in England do exactly what boys and men do in America when they go to the beach: dig a hole. The pictures here are a friend named Michael digging and then a girl named Zoe standing in it (though buried).

Maynard and Joan decided Saturday that they wanted to take me somewhere outside of London, so we traveled a little way towards the southern coast to Chichester and the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum. It was a real treat. The basis for the museum is similar to that of Plymouth Plantation or Sturbridge Village without the employees playing period roles. Essentially, the museum had acquired old and ancient structures from around the country, dismantled them piece by piece, and rebuilt them on this property. The result is the opportunity to see English buildings from as far back as the 13th century and to see how the people lived during those times. Most structures were from the 16th-18th centuries and were really captivating, for those of us who like to imagine what that "old world" must have been like. I really enjoyed it.

So that's the news from England...

The Tower

A couple days ago it was actually sunny for an entire day. Would you believe it? So I took the opportunity to visit the Tower of London, which sits on the east side of central London along the Thames. The central portion of the castle - the White Tower - dates back to the Norman invasion of the 11th century, though parts of that were built on Roman walls that date back to the 1st century. So the place is old.

The Tower is generally a fascinating place, used at times as a royal palace, particularly in times of trouble or when visiting dignitaries came to town. I suppose, however, that it is most famous for its role as a dungeon of sorts. Guy Fawkes, of the Gunpowder Conspiracy, was held, tortured, and executed there. Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII's wives, was executed there as well. Actually, the whole place has a kind of gruesome history, of which I think the English are quite proud.

Also of note at the Tower are the crown jewels, which, of course, are rather fascinating pieces. I don't quite understand them all, though. The pieces include several crowns of different monarchs, a pair of scepters, the Sovereign's Orb, several swords (the Jeweled Sword of Offering, the Sword of State, the Sword of Spiritual Justice, the Sword of Temporal Justice, and the Sword of Mercy), and many other items among which is the Coronation Spoon. Yes, a spoon. I guess it had been used by the Archbishop of Canterbury to anoint the sovereign. Anyway, it's all very fabulous and particularly stunning considering that much of the crown jewels date back to the 17th century and earlier.

Oh yeah, and in the White Tower - the oldest part of the castle - is housed the old armory, which contains guns and swords and armor and such from long ago. It's all very interesting, actually, but I found one thing peculiar. Check out the picture here of Henry VIII's armor and see if you find anything unusual about his midsection. I guess I'll never quite understand royalty.

God's Irony, Part One

On Thursday night Penny and I typically meet with a group of young adults to discuss some of the basics of Christianity. This weeks topic, as the schedule would have it, was baptism. It was a very good meeting with lots of good discussion, which you know, if you work with teens, can be hard to come by. All of the young people there were believers, more or less, but none of them had ever been baptized. At the close of the meeting Penny, John Pressdee, and I all had the sense that God had really been pressing on one or two of them, telling them that baptism was in order. None of them said as much, we simply got that impression in the Spirit, as it were.

The irony bit comes in here: Sunday morning is a baptism service at Green Street Green, though these two events were not planned to coincide. And although John is only planning on baptizing one person from the congregation tomorrow, he said he was going to leave the pool open and invite anyone who feels lead to receive baptism on the spot.

If our sense was correct, that God really was convicting one or two of the young people Thursday night, then I'm praying that they follow through on it on Sunday. Whether someone volunteers for it or not, though, I guess I wouldn't be surprised. But come on, that would be pretty cool.

The Future of Youth Work in Green St Green

I had mentioned the other day that GSGBC was holding a church meeting to discuss the borough council's suggestion that they spearhead the area youth work. The meeting was held Wednesday evening and though it was a lengthy meeting, it went well. Primary concerns for the members of the church centered on two areas: (1) additional money and volunteers most likely could not come from GSGBC itself (they're already stretched to capacity), and, more importantly, (2) that if the church took this charge and money from the community for this effort they could not afford to compromise their Christian emphasis and purpose in working with the young people.

The second of these issues has become exceptionally important in recent days here in the UK. Earlier this week, Britain's highest court ruled against Lydia Playfoot, who was forbidden by authorities in her secondary school from wearing a ring on her finger to symbolize her commitment to sexual purity (by the way, the UK is highest in the world in teen pregnancy rates). Furthermore, there is still outstanding in Britain a case involving Exeter University's Christian Union, which has been suspended from the student guild and has had its bank account frozen on the basis that they unfairly discriminate those of other faiths from membership and leadership of the Christian organization.

What this means for GSGBC is that if they elect to discriminate in their selection of volunteers or leadership in their efforts to help the area youth, which the people of the church believe they must if they are to maintain a sense of Christian mission in their youth work, then it is not difficult to imagine a secular organization accusing the church of operating unfairly in their policies. Still, GSGBC must be straightforward and very clear in their intentions if they are to expand their youth work in the community, especially if it is at the request of secular organizations like the borough council and the police.

For Christians worldwide, particularly those of us in the West, these are significant issues that we must be thinking on and preparing for. Though this kind of "persecution," if I can call it that, is not necessarily persistent or common in the UK and the US at this point, it is neither uncommon. We need to be clear on our beliefs regarding the difference between proper and improper discrimination. We need to know which is which and, therefore, when to acknowledge an injustice and when to stand firm.

Strangely Sad to See it Go

Last night we hosted our last Tuesday night youth club for the summer. The kids end school this week, and many will be away on holiday at different times during the summer. Actually, many of the leaders will be away on holiday too. So the end result is no more youth club. (If you'll remember, the kids who showed up on Tuesday nights were neighborhood kids with little or no church background. The youth clubs are a way to get kids off the streets where there are few options to occupy them but getting into trouble. The hope also is that good relationships will form between those in the church and these young people, resulting in good conversations and opportunities for evangelism down the road.)

So last night we hosted a BBQ for them. Thirty or so showed up and it was a good time. It's funny, I really felt like it took up till now for me to really feel comfortable with them (last night I shot pool with several of them) and now it's over. Bummer.

If you read this today, please pray for GSGBC and Penny, the youth worker, because we're holding a church meeting to discuss youth work in throughout the area. The Bromley (the area surrounding Orpington and Green Street Green) Council has recognized (1) a significant problem with young people and crime throughout the area and (2) that those don't appear to be as big a problem in GSG/Orpington, especially on Tuesday nights. As a result the Council has asked GSGBC if they'd consider spearheading the area youth work. Tonight the church meets to discuss proposals by Penny on how the church might move forward in this matter, if at all.

Please pray that the church receives guidance from the Lord regarding the young people in the area and the church's role in that work. Pray also that the congregation would become of one mind on the subject.

A Day at the Beach...Sort Of

I've just come back from a wonderful day in Hawkinge, near Dover along the coast. John Pressdee had invited me along with several others from Green Street Green to pray with the vicar in Hawkinge, a friend of his named Robert.

Robert, an Anglican vicar, has felt called to plant a church in Hawkinge apart from the Anglican church already in the village. As he does so, he is also overseeing the church currently in existence there. His new congregation, he says, is already beginning to blossom after just six weeks and this is where he believes God will be working in the future of this community and where he is called, personally.

Yet the Anglican congregation, St Luke's, is a sad old place. A big part of the reason John was called down was because Robert had been finding details of previous vicars who had been grossly unfaithful to the gospel. Rob said that after preaching one Sunday morning a gentleman from the leadership of the church told Rob that Rob had just shaken his faith greatly. "How so?" asked Rob. "Well, you've just told us that Jesus was the Son of God..." Furthermore, Rob has been finding more and more items scattered about the church that represent ancient idols. While visiting the church before taking over, he did not recognize what was being read from the "scriptures" only to find later that it was actually from the Koran. Rob also had a deep sense that there had been a spirit of abuse (perhaps sexual abuse) in the vestry (the pastor's office), and the rectory (parsonage) had a hidden room with a bed stashed away in it. Essentially, he had come into a parish that had a strong history of disobedience to God, a strong history of idolatry and abuse.

So John was called down to help him pray over the place. It was really quite powerful, as we felt that God was really moving and working in loosening the grips of some of these spiritual powers over the place. I don't know exactly how to describe it. If you've done this sort of thing before, you know, but it's hard to explain exactly what was going on for those of you who may not have seen or heard of this kind of thing. I guess it's like praying for healing over a physical place like we would pray for healing over a person. It's as if Satan gets a grip on a piece of property (because someone let him long ago) and he has control over it (and the people there) as long as he's not ordered out in Jesus' name. Our job today, then, was calling him out and freeing the Holy Spirit to do what God has been wanting to do in that place. I hope that makes sense.

Anyway, it was wonderful, and we could really sense that God was in the work. For those of you who aren't accustomed to hearing about this sort of thing in Christianity, it's nothing new, though probably it's not common enough in most churches. It's not about being superstitious about demons, but simply ordering them out where they had been invited in. There are places in the Bible that talk about real curses on particular plots of land like Jericho, for example (see Jos 6:26 & 1 Kgs 16:34) and this is simply believing that such is still the case in certain places.

Regardless, it was a fine day. And I even got to dip my feet in the English Channel.