theology in pencil

From the Christian Institute quoting The Daily Telegraph:

Thousands of schools are adopting a standardised spring break, rather than moving it to coincide with Easter.

Research by The Daily Telegraph newspaper has found that schools in a third of local authority areas have adopted a fixed two-week break.

Religious leaders have criticised the move for downplaying the significance of Easter for the sake of convenience.

Another one for the separation of church and state debate! Personally, just like the misguided “Keep Sunday Special” campaign I think the quoted “Religious Leaders” have got it wrong again. Why should the whole of the country keep Sunday special? Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath. If I had the nouce and influence I would have started a counter “Keep Humans Special” campaign which was the thought that was at the heart of Jesus words! The Keep Sunday Special campaign was just about protecting church service attendance figures, not about the “specialness” of one particular day - we must remember that every day is the Lord’s day. It was also about traditional church services that take place on a Sunday morning - for them the campaign was about direct competitors to their attendance figures. This only serves to underline the weakness of a local expression of church that only meets once a week at a fixed time - many communities of faith these days recognise the importance of meeting more often, flexibly and with an organic structure & plan.

But back to the current day! Why should the country’s academic terms be tied to the Christian calendar? Is it really that important or is it about history & tradition? Is it because the importance of one of the two last traditional “church services” (Easter & Christmas) appear to be eroded? Is it because Easter isn’t held in high enough esteem by all that various religious leaders need it to be protected? I just can’t see why the academic and church calendars need to be tied together - I have no idea why they were in the first place for that matter. I think in both cases this comes down to believing we’re a Christian nation - we’re not anymore, England is very much post-Christendom - we’re a multi-faith-and-secular nation. The challenge for the “Religious Leaders” above is to learn about the very different England in which they grew up in, to stop harking back to think about the present and the future: just deal with it!

I wonder if this could be a successful new approach to seeker-sensitive meetings! Probably not - though to be honest I bet he had a bad night with his kids refusing to sleep. Argument with the wife on the way in. Pressure from the board to grow the church. In my short time in the US I noticed a real “hire & fire asap” attitude in churches that seems more at home in a premier league football club than a church. So much as this is pretty horrid, I can actually understand why someone might lose it completely if heckled at the wrong time - poor preacher, but poor congregation too!

Dear Lord,

So far today I am doing OK! I have not gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or self-indulgent. I have not whined, complained, cursed or eaten any chocolate… and I haven’t bought anything on my credit card either. However, soon I will be getting out of bed and I think that I will really need your help then.

Amen!

Many tender-minded Christians fear to sin against love by daring to inquire into anything that comes wearing the cloak of Christianty and breathing the name of Jesus.  They dare not examine the credentials of the latest prophet to hit town lest they be guilty of rejecting something which may be of God.  They timidly remember how the Pharisees refused to accept Christ when He came, and they do not want to be caught in the same snare, so they either reserve judgement or shut their eyes and accept everything without question.  This is supposed to indicate a high degree of spirituality.  But in sober fact it indicates no such thing.   It may indeed be evidence of the absence of the Holy Spirit.

Gullibility is not synonymous with spirituality.  Faith is not a mental habit leading its possessor to open his mouth and swallow everything that has about it the colour of the supernatural.  Faith keeps its heart open to whatever is of God, and rejects everything that is not of God, however wonderful it may be.

‘Try the spirits’ is a command of the Holy Spirit to the Church.  We may sin as certainly by approving the spurious as by rejecting the genuine.  And the current habit of refusing to take sides is not the way to avoid the question.  To appraise things with a heart of love and then act on the results is an obligation resting upon every Christian in the world.

AW Tozer