MP Expenses

Looks like another round of revelations regarding the British Members of Parliament (MPs) expenses has just been released. I don't think I've seen such united disgust at a particular issue (possibly ever) within my countrymen. Whilst I can see that this is indeed a grievous scandal within Westminster, I fear that the MPs were sadly acting as a microcosmic reflection of our society. I know of a lot of people who'll willingly take 'cash in hand' for a piece of work or stretch their company expenses claims that bit further, seeking every possible tax loophole to gain the greatest personal economic benefit and pay the minimum amount in tax. I find it saddening that people and such damning in their judgements of others, yet hesitant to evaluate or be accountable for their own actions.

Being a poor student I can perhaps escape most of the financial aspects of hypocrisy, however I know to my shame I too often take the personal moral high ground over others in my thoughts and actions, wittingly or unwittingly seeking to furnish my own interests. Reading the letter to the Romans this week has thankfully humbled me in this...

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things. Now we know that God's judgement against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgement on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgement? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgement will be revealed.

Romans chapter 2 verses 1-5

Why does God allow natural disasters?

At the heart of Haiti's humanitarian crisis is an age old question for many religious people - how can God allow such terrible things to happen? Philosopher David Bain examines the arguments... (full article here)

Thought I'd write a comment on the BBC website to the article above. Am intrigued to see whether they publish it... Will say in the comments shortly!

Natural disasters remind us how little power humanity really has.

The Bible tells us that whilst God does love humanity, humanity doesn't want to live under its creator. It rebels and seeks to serve its own desires, with itself as it's 'own master'. If God is what defines good, for him to be perfectly just and thus judge over the world, he has to punish what is has departed from good. The New Testament says that the Ten Commandments serve not as a benchmark to show us how good we are, but as a means of showing us that no one has fulfilled all that defines someone as good. No person is perfect, living up to God's standards - we've all done things wrong and thus fallen tragically short. When we see the horrors of a natural disaster we see that this is not how the world is meant to be. Not only do they highlight our fallibility, but they show us that actually no matter how hard we try, we can't rule this world separate from God. Jesus said that he came into the world to take the punishment for mankind's rebellion from God, a sacrifice in place of us that took place through his crucifixion. The message of biblical Christianity is too turn back to God from serving ourselves as lords (to repent), and to live lives under God, to the praise of his name, in light of the freedom and restored relationship that he has bought for us.

The book of revelation (final book of the Bible) depicts a kingdom post-judgement. There the relationship between God and humanity has been restored, and as a result natural disasters are no more.

The Cambridge Seven

The Cambridge Seven is a biography focussing on the lives of seven ordinary men, who came together after their studies at Cambridge during the late 1800s. Their progressive coming to and growth in their faith of the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal saviour, led to the increasing sentiment within each of them that this was a message which couldn't simply be kept to those with repeated opportunities to hear it i.e. those within the fair British isles - China was their destination to be. The book shows each individual's journey towards this decision, and the many challenges and huge sacrifices put before them to be conformed more into His likeness, giving up all within them to Him, trusting in him fully and serving the kingdom of God with all that they have. These personal recollections are an awe-inspiring and tremendous challenge to the all too often feeble faith that I possess. The sacrifices joyfully made, and the love for and rejoicing in time spent praying to and reading the word of God, and their eagerness and sincere desire to talk to others about their personal relationships with God, has earnestly encouraged and inspired me, to want to live in light of a Saviour and Lord most worthy.

A good read indeed! [ 8.3/10 ]

The latent...

Am I the Latent? While the majority graduate and move on, the medics keep on going. Three more years of intensive studenthood awaits... I'm now halfway through this, just a year and a half to go! But what is to happen after this... I find myself becoming lost in the possibilities of the future. The path seems to have so many possible divisions, some steep and angled, others flat and smooth, if you squint just right you can almost see where they go. But then you remember that there's the long straight road before you reach that junction. There's no turning off this road, no rest station, no diversions. So you keep plodding on, pushing onwards as the gradient picks up pace. Every so often you get a little glimpse through gaps in the clouds. The view looks good, you see your friends trying different avenues from routes they're taken. It seems so long since their paths split away. However take your gaze away from the route ahead for too long, and you trip. A old man passing by tells you to watch your step - the road's not for novices! But I am a novice I think to myself, I don't know where I'm going, or how I'm going to cope when I get there... He sits down on a stone by the side of the road, and ushers for me to sit next to him. 'Don't stick you head in the clouds, and don't stare down at your feet' he says. 'When you get to the junction, the stride you've grown used to, will be the stride you take then... If you're not prepared for mountain climbing at the junction, then you're not going to end up doing it, or worse keep slipping down when you get a few feet up...'.

'So here's a park manual, and here's the rangers details. He's the guy you need to keep in touch with'

So here I am, walking up hill, working on my stride, trusting in the manual I've been given. I'd trip up a bit less if I used it's guidance a bit more, however it's something I'm working on. The junction is coming, however in the meantime I remain... the Latent.

Anglican group mulls Rome switch

Christianity, without the Christ?

Father Geoffrey Kirk, one of the leaders of Forward in Faith, is among those who said he intends to convert to Catholicism.

He said: "The Church of England is, in the view of many of us, ceasing to be the church of Jesus Christ and becoming the church of political correctness, not only the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate - to which we object - but also in many attitudes to human sexuality from divorce and remarriage, to homosexuality."

www.bbc.co.uk (24/10/09) "Anglican group mulls Rome switch"

Traditionalists sometimes accuse liberals of diluting the Christian belief in Jesus as the only way to God, through an attempt to preserve neighbourly relations with the followers of other faiths.

Some conservative evangelicals even suspect progressive members of their church of seeing other faiths as a "valid" route to a relationship with a common creator.

www.bbc.co.uk (23/09/09) "Faith Diary: Changing Loyalties"

There's been a lot of interesting stuff in the news recently regarding the Anglican church, especially concerning a large body thinking of moving to Catholicism. It concerns me, not because there may be a potential split in the church, but more because it shows that people feel the church has gone so far away from Jesus, that there is no longer any Christ in Anglican Christianity. Should the basis of the church be ever less on what he did, and instead on what feels right, what is politically correct...? I find it very hard to relate this to reflect an ultimate ruler, which the Bible says is above all and is stable like a rock. How can we each declare our own version of God based on our opinions - surely this can't then be the same God?!?! I agree strongly that the church should be able to relate to the society that it is in, however when I read the bible I find repeatedly that whilst many aspects of our society have indeed greatly changed, the way people live and think has not. People were looking for exactly the same things 2000 years ago as they are today. I sincerely pray, that if a split occurs, it will mean that more churches and congregations will humble themselves and return to teaching based on what Jesus' followers reported about his life.

The Bible says that man is sinful, he wants to serve himself first. He cannot save himself, and needs a saviour to rescue him. Jesus is that Saviour, and can bring us back to a relationship with God. Every person needs to turn from worshipping themselves, back to their loving heavenly Father. Doing so frees you for eternity. God is good :-)

I'd like to finish with Psalm 8 - it shows us so clearly the mindset we need to be in:

¹ O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.

² From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

³ When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

⁴ what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

⁵ You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honour.

⁶ You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

⁷ all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

⁸ the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

⁹ O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Thank you grately for reading this far, it means a lot to me.

'Avin a reet good time in Blackburn!

The vagrant wanderer has now moved on to Blackburn. My current placement of Children's and Women's medicine has taken me to this new northern extreme, and I'm loving it! The pies are good, the countryside is a stones throw away (the accommodation is surrounded by rabbits), and the people are very friendly. The learning schedule is a bit on the intensive side, and I'm a wee bit concerned about the looming exams... however many subtle hints by the big Guy regarding his control and sovereignty are putting me in my place - I've been slowly working my way through the Bible section called Deuteronomy over the past month. The story begins with a wizened and elderly Moses, who has just finished leading the grumbling people of Israel on a forty year trek through the desert. Before he dies he wants to remind them one last time of all many things God has done for them, and the laws that he's given them to follow. They need to remember who God is, and to live like it, if they want to stay in the promised land... God knows that they won't manage it, and already there are many hints of the future provision of his saving mission through Jesus, something that happens almost a thousand years later. He's got it all in control! One section that has stuck in my mind is Chapter 10:15-17:

"Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe."

Thanks for reading, and please let me know your thoughts!

More Dresden photos!

Die Frauenkirche Dresden!

Mein Mitbewohner (Matthias) und Jeremias und sein nettes Freunden

Meine Kollege Ein Kinderlied bei der Kirche


Das Essen........ Leckeres...................................................Nicht so.....(Fettbaemmer)

Dresdener Strassenregeln