“Evolutionists are no longer concerned with obtaining evidence to support the fact of evolution…” So says the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The theory of Evolution and natural selection had a significant effect as it rippled out from the pure sciences to impact views held in every field of human endeavor. The prevalent world-view that results today is in many ways a challenge to the classical Biblical world view, and inspires friction between the secular and spiritual domains. In fact, Evolution is key to some peoples’ ‘non-faith’; as Richard Dawkins has remarked: “Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist.”

Are we truly here because a blind machine rattles random in the ‘verse? Is the Bible an anachronism, only for the ignorant and foolish? The Bible itself says: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God,’” (Psalm 14:1).

What are we to believe?

Stay tuned for details of a presentation we’re hosting here at Edge at 7pm on Monday, 27 September 2010 to discuss these very issues.

Mark D.

School presents ‘Church: God’s dream…or a nightmare?’

Thursdays in September @7pm

Starts THIS WEEK in the Edge Kingsland café.

Andy.

Should you bother going to church?

And then you think: Why are you going to church anyway? In fact, why does anyone go to church?

That gets you thinking even further: Why not just join a sports club? They have table tennis tables and coffee at the RSA don’t they? And why are there so many different kinds of churches when they’re all supposed to believe in the same thing?

If you’ve had questions like these, then the next series of School is for you – we’re looking at “The Church: God’s dream…or a nightmare?”

This series runs for four weeks from next Thursday, 9 September, starting at 7pm in the Edge Cafe. See you there.

Could even be worth setting your alarm for.

We sing these words frequently at Edge Kingsland, and for good reason…Yahweh (the LORD) is worthy of all praise. And sometimes we need to remind ourselves of this…but do we mean what the psalmist meant when he said the same thing? (Psalm 103). What did he mean when he spoke to (or sung to) his “soul”?

It surprises many Christians to discover that the concept of humans having an immortal soul that would live on after the body died is a concept that comes from Greek philosophy rather than from the Bible. The Greeks separated humans into body, mind and soul. The Hebrews, on the other hand, had a far different concept.

The word “soul” in Psalm 103 is the Hebrew word “nephesh”. One Hebrew dictionary defines “nephesh” as “that which breathes”. In Genesis 2:7, when God breathed into the body he had formed, that body became a living nephesh (being). This nephesh was, in Hebrew thought, completely inseparable from the body. It was what gave the body life…so much so that they believed that when you died – that is, when the breath of God was removed from your life – you had some sort of existence in death, but that existence was NOT life! In that deathly existence, you were no longer a living nephesh because the breath of God – the very breath of life – had been separated from the body. It was only in resurrection, they believed, that the breath of God was reunited with the body, once again creating a living nephesh.

As such, to speak of one’s nephesh is to essentially speak of one’s entire being…for without it you do not have life.

So when we echo the Psalmist’s cry we aren’t speaking to some inner part of us that is separate and immortal, but rather to the life in us…and the body connected to that life. Singing “Praise the LORD O my soul” is exactly the same as singing “Praise the LORD with all my being”. It is not to sing to some part of us that is really alive inside of this body, but rather to sing to that which makes this body alive.

And surely we have very good reason, even if reflecting for only a second on just Genesis 2:7 and the breath of God that means we have a nephesh, to continually encourage that same nephesh to praise Yahweh!!

Praise the LORD O my soul

Last night we we took another good long look at the Image of the invisible God: Jesus. Even though we can’t see him in flesh and blood, we can see him in history, in the story, clothed in normalness; and, with our imagination infused with the Holy Spirit we can really, truly see God. Maybe this is what Jesus meant when he said that it was better for him to go… maybe seeing him through the Spirit is even better than flesh and blood.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as
well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

The way isn’t a method; it’s a relationship. Truth isn’t a concept; it’s a Person. Life is knowing Jesus, not just a head-knowledge, but an all-of-life-experience-knowing. Jesus expresses EVERYTHING of who God is. He perfectly represents God. Jesus sums up God’s character in every way. Jesus is our reference point for understanding everything about God. God with us; God knowable; God who weeps; God who feasts; God the Storyteller; the Humble; the Gracious; our Defender. A God who has true feelings, who welcomes children, builds furniture, restores dignity, rides donkeys and suffers on our behalf.

Let’s keep dismantling and demolishing our plastic versions of Jesus!

Erin.

So I hope you are all praying that Jesus would help the All Whites win a game at the football world cup! And for the cynical among you, have faith…just remember how Jesus found you that car park when you asked him!

Okay, so maybe that Jesus is more the plastic Jesus we are trying to dismantle than the real one. Maybe Jesus has bigger things on his mind than whether the All Whites win a game. Besides which, there will be more Christians in the USA and England praying for their teams than we have people in NZ, so we won’t have a show of convincing Jesus to back our team!!

But seriously, at School we are having a great time “dismantling the plastic Jesus”. There are still two more sessions so it’s not too late to come along.

Last week Mark Donovan led us in a good discussion about why we believe Jesus was both God and man, and why it matters for our faith that it is true. In the process we looked at some of our faulty understandings about this that distort our true understanding of Jesus. You can find the notes and get involved in the discussion here.

This week we are going to look at Jesus’ time on earth. Can Jesus’ story simply be summed up by Christmas and Easter? Is there something more? What was his life really about? On the way, maybe we will dismantle a few more of our plastic ideas about Jesus.

So come and join us this Thursday, 7pm in the Edge Kingsland café for good times, good chats, good baking, and a good chance to dismantle the plastic Jesus together…we would love to see you there.

Andy D.

James Keyworth asked the question: “Was Jesus really just as meek and mild as they say?” and encouraged us to see that Jesus was often quite confrontational and challenged the various perspectives of the day, including those held by the Pharisees, Sadducees and Zealots. Ultimately, our aim is to get a balanced view of who Jesus really is – as our Prophet, Priest and King.

We had some great discussion too, mulling over where we too may have unwittingly crafted our own plastic Jesus. We’re encouraging the discussions to continue at our online discussion group (click here) – where you can also download the notes from the first session if you weren’t there.

Tomorrow night, we’ll be continuing our search for the real Jesus: Human, Divine or both? – Thursday, 7pm, in the Edge Cafe. See you there

But in striving to understand his significance, just about everyone has offered their opinion about him.  And with so many different perspectives, you can be forgiven for asking: “Will the real Jesus please stand up?”

As one scholar has put it: “An analysis of the changing ideas of Christ and portraits of Jesus in history shows that they correspond so much to the needs of their age, place of origin and intended purpose that one cannot avoid the suspicion that they are illusory and artificial.”

The last thing we want is an artificial, plastic Jesus.  That’s why we’re setting out to discover the real one.

Join us from tomorrow night, Thursday, 7pm in the Edge cafe, for the next series of School – “Dismantling the plastic Jesus“.

“I don’t care if it rains or freezes
‘Long as I got my plastic Jesus
Riding on the dashboard of my car
Through my trials and tribulations
And my travels through the nations
With my plastic Jesus I’ll go far”

While these 60′s folk song lyrics are a little tongue and cheek, unfortunately they can sometimes be a little closer to the truth than most of us would like to admit. If you are anything like me, you will at times find yourself imagining Jesus as the Jesus you think he should be, or perhaps ‘moulding’ him into something you can get your head around.  This isn’t helped by all sorts of misconceptions or misunderstandings we can have about Jesus which distort the truth of who he really was and is.  What does your plastic Jesus look like?  Is Jesus just a good luck charm to help us get through life?

Here at Edge Kingsland we aren’t satisfied with Plastic Jesus, we want the real thing.  And so at School we are setting out to dismantle the plastic Jesus and go in search of the real one.

Come and join us, 7pm each Thursday in June in the café, as we explore some of the misconceptions that exist about Jesus and look into who he really was and is.  Each week will have a different focus, looking at one area/set of misconceptions and searching for the true Jesus.  There will be plenty of room for questions and discussion, so come along and let’s ‘Dismantle the Plastic Jesus’ together.

If we don’t, who knows what he might become:

“If I weave around at night
And policemen think I’m tight
They never find my bottle, though they ask
Plastic Jesus shelters me
For His head comes off, you see
He’s hollow, and I use Him for a flask”

Jesus said that to be like a wise builder (as opposed to a foolish one) we must hear his words and put them into practice…but if you’re anything like me, sometimes interpreting how the Bible applies directly to our lives is harder to do than one might think!  How do we take something written so long ago in a different time and place and apply it now?

If you want help to navigate these sorts of questions, head along to School this Saturday morning (10-12) and hear from Nigel Dixon as he gives us some insight in interpreting and applying the Bible appropriately.