A Bit Of My Theology

Bit of My Theology

It gives me some food for thought when people say ‘Its God will’ and everything that happens is ‘Gods Will’. I am not so sure.  If that was the case, why does Jesus tell us to ask God that ‘His will be done’ if it’s going to be done anyway, seems a sort of waste of time.

Rather it seems to me that God will is affected by my free will.  Can God change his mind, yes of course he can and there are lots of examples in the Bible of this. Can I go against what God wants or wills, most certainly, not a good Idea but it certainly can be done.

Does God change his Plans dependant on my pleas and of course the pleas of others.  Yes of course He can and does.  Does God give us sometime the things we ask for even though they are not good for us, yes certainly especially if you nag Him enough.  Again not a good idea, but certainly it happens and it’s not good.  For those who need Bible, to back up my theology, just check (2 Kings 20 or 1 Kings 11)

I think it’s very humbling that God will ask my opinion and he can change things according to my requests.

The thing we do have to note here, is that God does promise to make things ‘work for Good to those who love him and are called according to his purposes,’ even though the thing that maybe has happened was not His will, nevertheless He will make it good for some.

So how do we know that it was an answered prayer?  That’s a hard one, especially when there are lots of people praying for opposite things.  However it is much easier on the smaller scale, when one asks God for those things that are seemingly strange, out of reach, or just plain impossible, and He answers prayer.  Many who do not believe in prayer put it down to ‘coincidences’ my delight is that when I pray I get a coincidence.

Seems like answered prayer to me.  Check out just one of those answers:(http://adrianhawkes.co.uk/index.php/2013/08/the-answer-my-friend-is-blowing-in-the-wind.html)

So are these latest political events answers to prayer, I don’t know, am I allowed to say, I don’t know?  Maybe they are, then again maybe they are not, or maybe I hope not, they are one of those Quail events we shall see.

Then of course we come back to those coincidences that I have harked on about many times on my Blog.

It seems to me that it’s possible to get a coincidence by praying, maybe that’s answered Prayer?  Of course for those who cannot envisage a God who is personally interested in us, and will actually communicate two ways with us then all of the prayers, answered or otherwise are just part of the accident of nature?

There seems to me to be some great planning going on somewhere.

Adrian Hawkes

www.adrianhawkes.blogspot.co.uk

Edited: Keith Lannon

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When Funny is Not Funny...

When Funny Is Not Funny…

Some years ago I was with a white friend who was marrying a black African girl, it was great fun. They had an English / African wedding which was full of dancing and laughter.

Later in conversation with the young man he asked, "Would you like to see what the African Elders have given me as a wedding present?" 

Of course I was interested; he showed me an ornate stick. 

"What is it?"  I asked. I could see it was a stick, but I didn't know what you were supposed to do with it.  

He laughed and said, "It’s presented to all young men who get married. It is a stick to beat your wife with to keep her in order." Then he laughed. I did not! 

He then said, "I of course would not use it, I just think it’s funny."  

I replied, "Well, personally I don’t think it’s funny at all. I cannot laugh at such a gift, such an action."

The problem with such an action is that it implies that in the culture, in the thinking that, although he thought it a bit of fun, it actually represents an attitude, a way of thinking, a cultural perspective that such an action could well be right, acceptable, and permissible.  I do not think that it is any of those things.  I think it is wrong thinking, wrong culturally, wrong humour, and in fact just plain wrong. It should not be given space.

More recently I listened to a conversation between a young couple. They were discussing the fact that a young African child had been taken into the UK care system. 

The young man, a white African asked, "Why has that happened?"  

"Well," was the response, "he has been badly abused, in fact often beaten."  The 2015 answer was, well that is normal, surely. He is black, that is the culture!  So, in that case it is not wrong?

I like culture. I have lectured degree students on it, have conducted courses with students as part of the Continual Professional development on the subject, and I have written a book on the topic. I love different cultural expressions, different food, fashion, greetings, ways of being, but sometimes we have to identify when people use the cultural get out like, 'this is just a cultural way that is different to yours.'  Sorry, but your culture needs to change, for that is morally wrong.  Personally, in those situations, your country of origin, your skin colour, your language group, your answers such as ‘in my culture we beat our wives’ are unacceptable.

On the same theme, some years ago I got talking with a Pastor of a particular ethnic group and we agreed to have coffee together. In the course of conversation he said, "I am having such problems with the people in my church, the husbands beat their wives too much." (By the way, maybe I need to say that here; the skin colour of this particular ethnic group was not black.)

 Anyway I said, "I don’t understand. What do you mean, 'they beat their wives too much'? Are you saying that it’s acceptable to beat them some, but not too much?" 

"Oh yes," he replied, "from where they come from it’s the culture (there is that word again) for men to beat their wives, but the village makes sure it is not too much. My fear here in the UK is they might kill their wives."

 I interrupted and said, "I’m sorry, but I think that beating your wife is unacceptable full stop. Any beating!"  

He got very angry with me and left, not even finishing his coffee. 

"How could you be so naive and narrow minded, and not pay attention to other peoples' culture?" he shouted over his shoulder as he walked out.

Frankly, I want to stay naïve and narrow minded, and I will do all in my power to make sure laws, and whatever else it takes to change such wrong-minded culture or otherwise thinking.  It is not funny, it is wrong. Can I say that any louder?

Adrian Hawkes

www.adrianhawkes.Blogspot.com

Edited by Kirsty de Paor

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Culture - Challenge - Change - Conform

Culture – challenge – change - conform

One of the things that I ask audiences who say that they are Christians is, if you are one have you changed and what methodology do you think, you or God uses to change you.

I get lots of answers usually things like:

• ·         The Bible
• ·         Prayer
• ·         The Holy Spirit
• ·         Meeting with other Christians
• ·         Love
• ·         And others sometime a bit more obscure

Of course all of those things have a bearing on change, if change is necessary, however that is not actually how we change. In fact the funny thing is that the Bible does tell us what the method of change is, and more than that it tells us how to maintain and continue with the relevant and vital changes that are needed to become a new kind of person. The Book of Romans starts us off...12:2  Don't be conformed to this world (allow the world to squeeze you into its mould), but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Thinking is what changes us, what we think.  So often we don’t, think that is.  When I was a teenager I used to hang out in what was euphemistically called coffee bars, the place where young people could legitimately go. You went there before you went out, and came back there after you had been out, if you see what I mean.  It was the place you met your date before you went on the date… Bit more like a house front room with frothy coffee and the very required juke box.

One of the things I noticed is, and that hasn't changed much in 50 years is that the music had to be very, very loud. In fact so loud that you couldn't think, I asked a few of my friends back then why they like the music so loud? Most of them answered the same, well they said “It saves me from having to think”!

The trouble is there are many times that we think we are thinking but we are not; rather I would say we are conforming.  We conform to our culture our peers, those we feel we need to impress, be the same as, want them to like us, feel part of the crowd, and be accepted.  All of those things going on inside of us but often without much thought.

I have been to a lot of parties of late, most of which I have to say not my age group, but even when occasionally it was my age group I note the attempt to conform to the group is very strong.  Our cultures, that we don’t think about puts us into a box where we act, do, be, just like everyone else but without much thinking.

Let’s be honest it’s hard to change culture, not that we shouldn't try particularly when culture has it wrong, which often it has.  When you change your thinking you can change your behavior, but changing others thinking is not that easy, even if your thinking is right and their’s is wrong.  Think about Ignaz Semmelweiss, don’t know him, well in 1847 he discovered that if doctors washed their hands before attending women in childbirth it dramatically reduced deaths from puerperal fever.  His views were ridiculed and eventually drove him insane – not that he was wrong but it took some 15 years for Pasteur and Lister to develop their germ theory of disease which explained why Semmelweiss was right.

Going back to those parties, why is it that we have to have so much Alcohol, so much ‘same’ music, so much ‘same dress style’ so much conformity.  Are we thinking or just culturally conforming, and if we are just peer pressure conforming, are we right to do so? Are we that different to my coffee bar era, ‘well it saves me from having to think?’

To quote Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in ‘The Spirit level’ they said, It is a remarkable paradox that, at the pinnacle of human material and technical achievement, we find ourselves anxiety-ridden, prone to depression, worried about how others  see us, unsure of our friendships, driven to consume and with little or no community life.  Lacking the relaxed social contact and emotional satisfaction we all need we seek comfort in over-eating, obsessive shopping and spending, or becoming prey to excessive alcohol, psychoactive medicines and illegal drugs.

So why am I going on.  Well because I want to provoke you to THINK!  Think what about?

Well:

• ·         Why are you here in this world?
• ·         What is it that needs changing?
• ·         What is it that you could do to effect change?
• ·         Why are you just being one of the crowd?
• ·         Where are you going anyway?
• ·         When are you going to do something constructive?

Sometime the problem starts by what you think about yourself, again to quote the Bible it says in Proverbs 23:7 Paraphrasing “as you think in your heart so you are”  So what do you think about you, are you insecure, unsure, do you think of yourself as not so good.  Well to start with that would need to change if you are to tackle the thinking above.  And of course it can and should change.

 What should you be doing?  Shouldn't you be the person to change things, by first of all changing your own thinking?  Why be a ‘samee’ why not be a change agent? You could be a world changer, but first you probably have to change, personally I do that by firstly becoming a follower of Jesus, then trying hard to ‘not conform’ and putting on the mind of Christ, thinking about good things rather than bad, in fact seeking to renew my mind.  Not got there yet, but trying and on the way.

How about you, wouldn't you rather be here to change things rather than just be one of the crowd?  Think about it!  There’s a challenge!

Adrian’s Blog

Edited by Technicolour Text

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