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The Gospel in Different Contexts: Some History

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:13 GMT

This is a video which was made for the Global Connections conference in November 2009. The conference was a reflection on the way in which mission has changed since the EdinburghMissionary Conference of 1910. In the video I give some background to the idea of contextualisation of the Gospel and also reflect on what it means for us.

Global Connections Conference 09 Contextualisation from Eddie Arthur on Vimeo.

Deeply De-Christiand Doctrines

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:23 GMT

Peter Kirk has tagged me with a meme that states: list 5 doctrines that are taught within the Christian church that you believe to be deeply de-Christian. The meme originated here and Lingamish and Clayboy are among those who have already been tagged, I'm always a latecomer to these parties!

There is only one valid translation of the Bible: It is normally adherants of the King James Version who fall into this trap, but I'm sure that speakers of other langauges have their equivalents too. And here lies the problem. If there is only one valid translation of the Bible then all speakers of other languages and everyone born before the translation was made are excluded from God's revelation. The logic of this is exposed brilliantly here.

The Gospel is identical to any particular political view: Christians have tried to suborn the message of the Gospel to a particular national or political ideology since the days of Constantine. The latest egregious example is the conservative Bible translation project (which I will not deign with another link). The kingdom of God stands above all of our ideologies and makes a far broader call on our allegiances than any human system.

Christians in one country or region are better than others: you don't have to spend long in mission circles before you will here the suggestion that in some way Christians from the developed world are better than Christians from other places. Seemingly well meaning statements such as ‘they have a simple faith, so uncomplicated‘ are actually rather insulting – as well as being desperately uninformed. Yes, Western Christians might have centries of theological reflection on supralapsarianism or what-have-you behind them, but many of our brothers and sisters around the world have first hand reflection on questions of war, hunger and poverty. This stuff may not be in the libraries, but it is no less theological for all that. The truth is that all Christians in the world have strengths and weaknesses and we all need each other.

Salvation is all about you and Jesus: being a Christian means being a part of a local and a worldwide community. Salvation certainly involves a relationship with Jesus, but it brings with it a whole series of family relationships and the sooner we get used to that the better!

That's only four – but it's the weekend.

I'll tag a couple of bloggers that I met last week at the Global Connections Conference: Steve Fouch and Chris Kidd.

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Christmas cake

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:27 GMT

Last year, I made our Christmas cake in the middle of November. The year before, I also made our Christmas cake in the middle of November. But each time, I had PLANNED to make it at least a week earlier. Events - in the form of a damaged oven door, or lack of glacé cherries, or general procrastination - meant I was done later than intended.

This year, prompted by various online friends, I determined to get it done this week. However Richard was away, and I couldn't find glacé cherries in any of the local shops. I kicked myself for using up the spare tub I bought a year ago on the cupcakes for Richard's birthday, just a few weeks ago. Even though we enjoyed them.

I was even more annoyed when we did our monthly big shop in Metro yesterday, only to discover that there were no glacé cherries there either. I was able to buy tubs of mixed peel, and already had everything else I needed. But, thankfully, we had to go to Orphanides - the big one - for something else , so I looked in the food section, even though I'm really not a fan of Orphanides, and yes! There were glacé cherries! Four tubs... so, once again, I bought two.

Last night I was about to go to bed when I thought about the Christmas cake. Delia's recipe requires that all the dried fruit be soaked overnight in three tablespoons of brandy. So I weighed it all out, cut up the cherries, and left it to soak:

Yes, that's nearly a kilogram of dried fruit.

When Richard had gone out this morning, I did the rest, and even remembered to put the oven on regular setting rather than the fan oven. It was perfect. It really did take four and a half hours. And here's the obligatory photo of a cake that looks pretty much identical to the ones I made the last two years:

It's now cool, so I've wrapped it in foil and put it in a cake tin. I shall 'feed' it with a little more brandy over the next few weeks, at random intervals when I remember, and put on marzipan and icing in the week before Christmas.

So that's one thing done. I know some people who have bought all their gifts, and organised all their Christmas food already. I prefer to leave it a little later in the year...

God's Good Gifts

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:30 GMT

God's giving me a trip to England :) A little break from the craziness here, a little retreat to the friends who are like family back in the UK.

I get teary just thinking about it. It has been nearly a year. And my heart is going home for 2 weeks...

Don't get me wrong-- I love Gothenburg. I love the beauty of Sweden. But it is exhausting to be a foreigner. It is exhausting and frustrating to be constantly trying to translate everything so that I can understand what's going on-- both the language and the cultural expectations. Yesterday I figured out how to do my laundry in my building's "tvattstuga" (washroom) and it felt like the biggest victory. I've been lugging my laundry to friends' places to avoid having to figure out the strange electronic system of booking the room here-- all in Swedish, of course. Going out for groceries is exhausting as I try to decipher the labels and get through the checkout with my Swedish proficiency of about a 2-year-old. Most days it's terribly interesting and I can generally hold my rose-coloured-glasses up to my face and greet the day with a smile. But sometimes the smile wavers a bit. Things have been very stressful with Rescue Mission Ministries, and that pours out into every experience of living here.

(some random shots of my beautiful city of Gothenburg, Sweden)

I cannot wait to fly into my green green haven that is England (even if I do have to go through the dreaded Stansted airport where something ALWAYS seems to go wrong regardless of how perfectly I've packed or carefully prepared). I cannot wait to melt into the presence of my lovely friends I so miss, pouring out our hearts to one another, laughing like there are no cares in the world, and just soaking in one another's presence... I cannot wait to sit and worship with someone on the guitar like we used to. I cannot wait to take long walks through the green green green hills, to read all the signs in English :), and to bask in the English accents. I cannot wait to see how God will tenderly restore the bits of my heart that have been so bruised these weeks dealing with such unimaginable circumstances in this ministry. His TLC is wonderful and always perfectly timed.

So, hej da Sweden! And hello, England from the 10th to the 26th :)
And thank You, Father...
I'm lost without You.

Do us a favour...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:08 GMT

Lay off that "Might as well rain until September" song, and any others that talk about rain.

The weather here is taking it a bit literally. We are inundulated.