Bible voices - Barabbas

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Bible voices – Barabbas

 I was a man with a reputation. They said I was ‘well-known’ or ‘notorious’ (Matt 27:16) as  one who committed murder during ‘the’ uprising’ (Mark 15:7). Another of their writers got closer to the mark when he described me as a 'robber' (Jn 18:49). I was not a political hero, just a scumbag who robbed and then killed anyone who got in my way.

Truth is, I was a low life. I’d pick up what I could here or there, not caring from whom I took it and what I had to do to get it. As my mum might have said, I had many lucky breaks and got away with more than I should have for longer than I should have.

But that all ended. My usual tricks failed and here I was set for execution by the Romans for one of the murders. I don’t think it was the killing or robbery that troubled them, but the fact that I got caught up in a local rebellion. The Romans were no more civilised than us, but they did like ruling the joint with an iron fist.

So there I was in the cells near the Roman Governor’s Palace. I’d heard he was a wimp and under his wife’s thumb, but he sure had me in chains. The death sentence was on me and I was resigned to my fate. ‘Not a bad run’ and ‘such is life’ ran though my mind. Ah well!

I could hear this racket going on. The religious Jews were like a Friday football crowd going on about some guy called Jesus. I’d heard about him, but he was not my type. He gave stuff away, where I took. And there were the weird stories about him feeding people, healing them and even bringing back the dead. ‘Huh, I could do with some of that now’ I thought.

And then it happened. I was yanked to my feet, taken to the door, unshackled and pushed out before the crowd – a free man. Well, my chains fell off, but my heart was not quite free if you get my meaning.

I’m old now, but there are things you don’t forget. You never forget the look in a man’s eyes just before he dies – that terrified realisation that this is it as I swipe the blade over his throat. I can't forget Jesus, but its for different reasons. I didn’t get much of a look at him – just a passing moment as I was sent to freedom and he went back to the cells. He was different from the rest. His eyes were deep, with a kind of sadness but looking as though his saw somewhere else. And then he looked at me, with some strange mix of pity and love. It was weird.

I wandered by the hill later that day. There was the usual crowd of weeping women, soldiers doing as soldiers do and a few relatives waiting on the dead. The guy Jesus was all but gone – just a few last heaves of his body on that cross as he grabbed an agonised breath. As I scurried off like a rat looking to live another day it hit me – he died so that I could live.

Puzzling and painful providences - an Easter reflection

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Painful and puzzling providences - an Easter reflection

It is a common thing to experience moments in life that appear not to make sense. For example, if I drive my car through a red light and have a collision it makes perfect sense. I did something dumb and I suffered as a result. But, what if I obey every road rule and someone disobeys a traffic signal then collides with me, with resulting damage to property and person? How does that make sense?

If we believe that the world is in the hand of bad forces or bad people, then none of this is a problem. The bad guy did bad things and so we stoically shrug our shoulders and move on or maybe seek revenge. Likewise if we believe the world is in the hands of mad and chaotic forces – a kind of cosmic lottery. Madness prevailed and again we stoically shrug our shoulders and move on, hoping for better luck next time.

However it is different for people who believe that a wise, loving, good and all-powerful God is the active Lord and that he moves all things according to his purposes (Eph 1:11). This is the doctrine of God’s providence. Where is this providential God when evils such as injustice and apparently random suffering come? Is he not Lord? Or is he not wise, all-powerful or all-good?

These are painful and puzzling providences. Providences because they come from God. Painful because they hurt. Puzzling because God has at least permitted them, if not decreed, within the will by which he rules all things.

Here’s an example. Someone was dismissed from a job in which they were regarded as having serving well for some years. There was good support for their continuance in the role, but underhand politics meant that a hostile minority prevailed and so they were sent off at personal cost and with a measure of grief.

Time passed. The person quickly gained a new post and successfully built a new career. Life worked out better than well and a friend commented ‘how far you have come along’ on an anniversary of the dismissal. In time they came to the point of thanking God for the fact of their dismissal and the good he wrought from it, even while still seeing the evil human deeds in its process. The puzzling and painful providence now made sense within God’s good and larger purposes.

Notice the time frame. It was only with the passage of time that the person could see how God kept his promise that for those who love God all things work together for good (Rom 8:28).

God’s goodness and the perfections of his providence may often only be seen through the rear vision mirror and not through the windscreen or side windows. That is, we rarely see how God is working for good when one of these painful moments approaches (the windscreen) or at the time it is unfolding (the side windows). Sometimes it may be a long-distance rear view and we may have to wait for an eternal perspective to see how God was working for good. In short, we see through the glass dimly in the here and now if we see at all.

So what do we do as the painful and puzzling providence unfolds and we wait to see how it is for ‘good’?

This is a time to cling to the faithfulness of God that is especially seen in Jesus’ life and death. To paraphrase the patriarch Joseph, Jesus’ persecutors meant it for evil against him, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today (Gen 50:20). As we consider the vast eternal and personal good that God wrought in the unjust, bloody and cruel death of Jesus, we see a painful and puzzling providence turned into a perfect one. The death of the one bought and brought life for many (Rom 5:15). That’s one good providence.

Hang onto that!

The death and resurrection of Jesus is the compelling example of God working all things for the good of those who love him. As we meditate on it, we have confidence quietly to stay loyal to the Lord as we wait to see the resolution of our painful and puzzling providence. The patriarch puts it well yet again, So do not fear, I will provide for you and your little ones (Gen 50:21).

The problem with puzzling and painful providences is really one of perceptions. They are painful and puzzling because we perceive only with the present and the natural eye. If we also look with the eye of faith and eternity, we have every reasonable basis to believe the presently puzzling and painful providence is perfect and that we will see it as such one day.

Pray for Jakarta

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Pray for Jakarta

On January 14^th 2016 there were multiple attacks in Jakarta resulting in seven deaths and major disruptions. Understandably, the event attracted much attention in Indonesia and its SE Asia neighbours, even if struggling to draw much media attention outside of the region. Concerns were heightened when Islamic State connections claimed responsibility. Is the current wave of Syrian/ Iraqi radical Islam coming to SE Asia? How will it affect Thailand and the Philippines with their Muslim insurgencies and Malaysia with its Muslim majority in a mixed-faith society? Will Indonesia’s record of mostly (but not entirely) harmonious relations between its different faith communities be threatened?

Christian people soon posted calls to ‘Pray for Jakarta on social media. This is good. Prayer should be the Christian’s first response to trouble, not the desperate last measure. God is always honoured when we join King David and cry in anguish to him when there is trouble (eg, Ps 57). Prayer is also the most practical help we can give – especially when we are remote from the scene or powerless to do anything more immediate.

How do we ‘Pray for Jakarta’?

It is always good to be thoughtful and intentional in how we pray about something.

Praying in my name and according to his will

Jesus promises that Whatever you ask for in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son (Jn 14:13). This does not mean that we ask what we want and then add ‘In Jesus’ name, amen’ as though the Lord’s name is a magical pin number. To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray as Jesus did and would pray. It is to pray that God’s name be hallowed, his kingdom extended and his will be done (Matt 6:9-10) in ways appropriate to the immediate issue.

We are also told that ... if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him (1 Jn 5:14-15). To pray within God’s will is again to pray in a way that is consistent of what we know of God’s character and desires as revealed through the Bible and in Jesus. For example, it is right to pray for someone’s salvation for Scripture tells us that this is what God desires (eg 1 Tim 2:4). However, it would be wrong to pray for success in a scheme to defraud someone, for we know that God forbids theft (Ex 20:15). Just as deep knowledge of a close friend enables us to know what would please them, so the Christian’s deep knowledge of God enables us to know what pleases him in situations where the Bible is unclear and can thus guide our prayers.

Thoughtful prayers for Jakarta, or anything else will ask what would reflect Jesus here and what is within the revealed will and character of God. Of course, there are times when the agony of the moment overtakes us or we really don’t know what to pray. This should not paralyse our prayers. In our weakness we should pour out what is on our heart before God and trust in the Holy Spirit to make sense of our jumbled feelings and words and turn them into something worthy of God (Rom 8:26-27).

So, how do we ‘pray for Jakarta’ in a thoughtful way?

Praying for Jakarta

There are several matters for prayer in the Jakarta bombings.

Pray that the Indonesian government (and community organizations) would be God’s servants in bringing his justice to the wrongdoers and his care to the victims (Rom 13:4-5). Ask that corruption and lack of resources would not hinder either justice or care-giving. Effective justice is a deterrent to potential future wrongdoers and an encouragement for Indonesian people to keep living life as normal. Effective care-giving reflects God’s heart for the hurting (eg Jas 1:27), meets care needs and encourages victims to resume normal life.

The minority Christian churches of Indonesia also have apart to play. This is an opportunity be light and salt to the watching world which is mostly Muslim (Matt 5:13-16). Pray that local churches will be quick to extend care to any affected people from their neighbourhood, to speak and show Jesus through their good deeds (1 Pet 2:12) and to give a reason for their hope before the capricious uncertainties of a terrorist attack (1 Pet 3:15).

On a wider level, pray that the Indonesian government would be wise, fair and balanced in its domestic and foreign policies .. that we may live a peaceful and quiet life (1 Tim 2:2). Such a life pleases God (for it reflects his orderliness and justice) and it is conducive to his desire that all are saved through Jesus (1 Tim 2:4). Mixed countries like Indonesia (and most SE Asian nations) have the potential for internal fragmentation and conflict resulting in discrimination and oppression of minorities and disrupted lives for all. It is right to pray that God will enable the Indonesian government to bring peace and quiet. Such peace is for the common good of all Indonesians and certainly for the good of its minorities, including Christian people. As events elsewhere show (including the history of the church in the first few centuries), the gospel is more likely to spread and churches to grow, when there is civil peace. Of course, these prayers can well extend to regional nations and their governments. From love of God and neighbour, we can pray that such terrorist violence does not spread further into both Indonesia and SE Asia with the resultant destruction and destabilisation of individuals, common liberties and civil society.

We should also pray for those who have done or who plot violence. We should pray that God will bless them in the deepest sense and we can pray for grace that we are too (including their victims) are a means of that blessing (Matt 5:43-48; Rom 12:14-21). This is a prayer God will restrain them from further sins of violence and that he will soften their hearts towards those whom they hate and hurt.

So, there are prayers to be said for Indonesian and regional governments, for victims and for the terrorists.

There are yet more prayers in response to the Jakarta bombings.

Most of us live ordered and care-less lives in which we assume that the world that we have constructed around us continues as is. Events such as a terrorist attack (or other disasters) are like an exclamation mark from eternity. They remind us that we are fragile creatures whose lives are easily taken. They are occasions to hear the call that we repent while we can (lest we perish like those caught up in such events) and that we not presume on the patience of God that is designed to lead to salvation (Lke 13:1-5; 2 Pet 3:9).

So let us pray for one another as news of the Jakarta attacks fades from our screens. Pray that we will have wisdom to know our mortality, count our days, remember God in our youth (Ps 90:9-12; Eccles 12:1) and turn to the Lord before our day of the Lord happens and we return to him in the flash of a terrorist bomb or the flash of his returning to us on the day of days (2 Pet 3:8-11). May we always be ready for such a day, however and whenever it comes to us (2 Pet 3:11-15). When are so ready for that day, we can go about each day in quietness and peace knowing that God’s exclamation mark will be a pleasant surprise leading to the glory of his presence.

Many things quickly or one thing slowly?

Many things quickly or one thing slowly?

How do you do things?

Many of us identify with the trend to do several things at once, do each of them quickly and do them at surface level.  It’s not just the teenager who talks to one friend on their hand phone while also texting another, reading a textbook, having a snack and catching a bus. This can be great for achieving several surface-demand tasks quickly, but is it changing the way our brains work and does it mean that we miss out on opportunities for deep learning and growth? Is this efficiency, or a recipe for ineffectiveness?

When words like ‘speed’, ‘efficiency’, ‘multi-task’ always replace ‘thought’, ‘meditation’ ‘mature consideration’ processing’ we are in danger.

A recent article invites a second look at how we do things:

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/oct/24/want-to-learn-faster-stop-multitasking-and-start-daydreaming?CMP=fb_gu

I confess to being an example of ‘several things quickly’. Even while drafting this blog post I worked on three major work tasks, dealt with some students visiting my office and texted someone. I recently noticed that I found it hard to read text for more than a few minutes before interrupting myself to do something else then return to the skim. Its not just reading that is affected, but it’s a more general loss of sustained and depth focus on anything. That affects Bible reading and prayer life, and so much more.

How do you do things? Are you a ‘one thing slowly’ or a ‘many things quickly’ person?

The capacity to do many things quickly has its place, and especially so in lives where there are multiples roles and demands on us. However, if its all, only and always many things quickly there’s a danger that we hurt ourselves and others and miss out on some of the rich things on offer around us. The ‘snack-attack’ approach to life means we miss the gourmet experience that only comes with investing ourselves deeply and giving time.

What can we do to recapture some ‘one thing slowly’ moments?

·       Work focus: designate a slot for a ‘focus hour’. Switch off all externally connected devices, close the door (or go to a meeting room etc), designate one task to work on and identify its outcomes. Set a timer for 60 mins and work on that one thing (and nothing else) until the timer sounds.

·       Reading focus: designate a daily (or otherwise) reading slot, turn off the devices, choose something to read, go to a quiet comfortable place, set the timer and read the one thing for that hour.

·       Writing focus: as per above re devices, place and timer. Don’t ‘just start writing’. Plan the writing in detail. Write, taking time for the right words and phrases. Let it sit overnight. Revise and revise again.

·       Bible focus: as per above re devices, place and timer. However, choose a small unit of text rather than a big slab. Read it aloud. Read it in different translations. Ask questions of it. Analyse it. Ask what difference it would make to my day if I actually lived out those words. Turn the text into a prayer.

·       Prayer focus: as per above re devices, place and timer. Pray aloud. Have a prayer diary that takes you through different kinds of prayer and which prompts big prayers on the horizons of God’s name, kingdom and will.

·       People focus: set a time boundary with this person (and tell it to them) and give them this time by shutting off devices, looking at them and keeping your mind in one place.

Okay, that’s what ‘one thing slowly’ looks like in my world. How about yours?

First thoughts on the City Harvest verdict

First thoughts on the City Harvest verdict

After a lengthy trial, the verdict is in and those charged with various fraud activities in the City Harvest trial are found guilty. The nature of the charges, the identity of those involved and the prominence of the church make this a must-follow judicial event. The text of the oral judgment is at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3A-00dAvijTNXAyaGEyLUtZdW8/view

The matter remains ‘open’ until sentencing and appeals finish. However, there is already plenty of conversation and commentary. What can now be said from a Christian perspective?

Church and state

How does the relationship of church and state plays out in such matters?

At times the Christian church has sought to distance itself from the state and claim independence from its processes. The parallel legal systems of canon and civil law in the pre-Reformation church are an example of this.

This is not where the Bible takes us. It teaches that civil government is a God-given institution to which ‘every person’ is subjected (Rom 13:1a). The state is the means of God’s judgement on wrongdoers (Rom 13:4). To resist the civil authorities is to resist God (Rom 13:2). Rome’s rulers were anti-Christian when these words were written, unlike the religiously neutral authorities in Singapore.

What does this mean for churches and their leaders? Churches and leaders are not above civil scrutiny. They are to be willingly accountable and submissive to civil authorities. The state does not have a God-given mandate to interfere in the teachings or spiritual governance and ministry of a church, but it does have a mandate with criminal matters.  It is therefore right that charges of criminal activities inside churches come before civil courts to try the accused and punish the guilty.

It is not persecution for the civil authorities to try church leaders for alleged fraud.  Providing due judicial process is observed, it is God’s justice in action through his appointed servant. Even in secular Singapore, the civil courts are the instruments of God’s blessing of justice. Fraud is criminal, no matter who does it and to what end.

Church leadership

The City Harvest trial was of church leaders.

The Bible teaches that church leaders are to be honoured (1 Th 5:12-13; 1 Tim 5:17; Heb 13:7). High standards are set for them and exemplary behaviour is expected from them. They must be above suspicion and reproach and of good public reputation (eg 1 Tim 3:1-13). The welfare of a church and the reputation of Christ in the wider community depend much on the behaviour of church leaders (Zech 13:7; Ezek 34:1-6).

And there’s the problem. Church leaders are like every other Christian person. They are created in God’s image (Gen 1:26-28) and fall short of God’s glory (Rom 3:9-23). They are people who have been justified by Christ and are indwelt by his Spirit (eg 1 Cor 6:11). However, this sanctification is yet incomplete and remains so until Christ completes his work of new creation (2 Cor 5:17). The struggle recorded in Rom 7:14-25 is normal for every Christian person and this includes church leaders.

So, church leaders share in the frailty that comes to every Christian. As such they need understanding, forgiveness on confession of sin, prayer, support and accountability mechanisms. That is true for the leaders of City Harvest as much as every other believer.

Church leaders share additional temptations. It is a heady thing to lead a congregation and especially to stand before a large group of people who see you as God’s spokesperson. You are trusted with people’s lives, intimate secrets and eternal welfare. It is very easy for leaders to lose perspective, succumb to pride and to believe that they are someone ‘special’ who is above normal standards.

Given this powerful mix of human sinfulness and the leader’s position, it is clear that no church leader should be trusted absolutely, given absolute power or be exempted from accountability.

These special temptations require special preventative measures.

Plurality of leadership is an important preventative measure. Jesus trained a group of 12 leaders to be apostles together and the eldership is spoken of in the plural (eg Tit 1:5). Acts 15 shows how a difficult issue in the early church was decided by leaders meeting, discussing and deciding together. Where much authority is vested in a single leader, it is almost inevitable that they will stumble. (The history of the medieval papacy is a tragic example of this.) Plural leadership should provide a mutually restraining influence that stops any individual gaining much power and falling to its temptations.

A Presbyterian style of polity exemplifies this. The Moderator of a Session, Presbytery or Synod has very little power. The emphasis is on group decisions, not individual. The theological foundation of this is a strong belief in total depravity and a consequential refusal to trust none but Jesus absolutely. The separation of powers and bi-cameral parliamentary structures that some constitutions are built on the same principles and, in the case of the US constitution, are directly attributable to Presbyterian influences. Churches with apostolic or Episcopal structures face particular challenges here. These challenges are increased when an individual leader is further elevated and called ‘prophet’ or ‘apostle’.

Transparency is also important. It is good if the diaries and financial affairs of church leaders are open to (at least) other leaders and perhaps to a wider circle of appropriate people.

‘Appropriate’ is a key word here. A leader who has been responsible for the conversions and Christian growth of church members and has been of significant help to them has great power over them. This increases if the church has risen from small beginnings to large numbers. Who will question the leader to whom they ‘owe’ so much?

From an outsider’s view, some of these issues seem to have been factors in City Harvest’s recent problems.

What to do now?

It is one thing to say how such problems as those judicially found in City Harvest could have been prevented, but what should happen now that the verdicts are in?

Ministry to those found guilty. Those found guilty need good pastoring by people who will speak God’s truth in love, seek confession and repentance where it is needed and speak of Christ’s forgiveness. Matt 18:15-19; Gal 6:1-2; 1 Cor 5:5 are just a few of the passages that speak of this process and its goals. Good church discipline reflects God’s character in seeking truth, doing justice to the guilty, protecting his flock and showing mercy to the repentant.

Prayer: This is a time to pray. Pray for those found guilty that they will be open to God’s dealings with them and not hide behind the language of ‘persecution’. Pray for City Harvest Church as it rebuilds and for its members who are apt to feel a mixture of confusion, betrayal, defensiveness and more. Pray also for the reputation of Christ in Singapore – that his name is not shamed by the misbehaviour of some of his followers.

Reframe: It is a dismal truth that any person and any church leader can let us down. The only leader who will not do so is Jesus. He alone perfectly bears God’s creational image and exercises kingly stewardship without being prone to sin (eg 2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15). He alone is worthy of unquestioning loyalty and trust.

Mindfulness in Christian view

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 A Christian friend working in mental health asked about a Christian view on mindfulness techniques which are used to help with anxiety and depression. Here is the response ....

Dear ….,

Thanks for your query re mindfulness in which you asked for a Christian view. I'm encouraged that you are trying to think as a Christian about this as I guess its use is widespread in your field of mental health.

As mentioned in our earlier chat, mindfulness has its roots in eastern religion (Buddhism) and is a form of traditional meditation. Meditation overlaps with thinking - although thinking tends to move forward whereas meditation more typically stands still and goes deeper.

'Mindfulness' is the term used for meditation in its secular form. As you know, its means a focus on this moment and inner state, typically using breath-awareness as the entry point. Mindfulness techniques typically look to hold and deepen that state in which one becomes unmindful of the world and thus able to declutter anxieties etc.

What can we say as Christians?

Something that pushes us to stop being anxiously busy and preoccupied with the present noisy world has value.

Something that pushes us to 'be' rather than to 'do' is also good (in balance).

Mindfulness represents a momentary escape from reality. That's fine up to a point, but it can only ever be temporary as our calling is to live in the world and engage with it, not escape from it (whether in a monastery or through meditation). Jn 17:15-18 is relevant.

Mindfulness takes us to an inward gaze. That can lead to self-idolatry (where we make gods of ourselves) or to despair (as we face our creaturely limitations and sinfulness).

The Scriptures urge God's people to meditate (eg Ps 4:4). Meditation is different to thinking (see above) and to prayer (although it overlaps with both and we may find ourselves slipping between these modes of relating to God). I have included a form of Christian mediation below. You will notice similarities and differences to mindfulness techniques.

Biblical meditation typically takes our gaze to God himself  (eg Ps 46:10), to Jesus (eg Heb 12:2), to God's word (eg Ps 119:15) and God's works (eg Ps 145:5). Below, there is a list of passages where the Bible mentions meditation.

When Christian meditation is focussed on God, it has power for extended usefulness as it takes us from our limitations to God in whom we live and move and have our being (Rom 11:33-36) and whose willingness and ability to help is unlimited (Ps 121:1-2).

All this being said, a form of secular mindfulness involving breathing exercises can be of some usefulness in helping a person calm down and gain perspective to re-engage with life.

A form of Christian meditation

Find a place to be still and quiet. It can be helpful to set an electronic timer, more to push you to stay in a meditative mode for the chosen period, rather than limit your time.

Sit in a comfortable pose, close your eyes and be still. Pray for God to meet you here, such that you are in the Spirit (Rev 1:10).

Notice your breath. Observe it go in and out. Ponder that it is God who gives the first breath (Gen 2:7), along with every breath, every beat of your heart, every proper functioning of your body. Ponder the wonder of him as your creator and sustainer and be aware that in everything you are dependent on him.

Keep noticing your breath. As you exhale, bring to God the things you want him to remove from you (eg anxieties, sadness, fruit of the fallen nature in sinful attitudes, thoughts and habits). As you inhale, bring to God the things you want him to bring into your life (eg fruit of the Spirit, Christ-likeness).

Slowly recite a short Bible passage, chosen to put your focus on some aspect of God's being and works. Look especially for passages that focus you on Jesus as the redeemer and the one whose coming again is your hope.

Dwell on this text. Ponder the words and phrases. Let them take you where word and Spirit lead.

As your time draws to an end, notice your breathing again. Thank God for that physical breath which is his gift and for the breath of his Spirit which calls you to Christ, enables you to pray and which illumines your reading of his word.

Bible passages mentioning 'meditate' and related words

  to meditate in the field toward evening;      Gn 24:63     
  you shall meditate on it day and night,      Jos 1:8     
  Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and      Ps 4:4     
  the LORD And to meditate in His temple.      Ps 27:4     
  I meditate on You in the night watches,      Ps 63:6     
  I will meditate with my heart,      Ps 77:6     
  I will meditate on all Your work And muse      Ps 77:12     
  I will meditate on Your precepts And      Ps 119:15     
  So I will meditate on Your wonders.      Ps 119:27     
  And I will meditate on Your statutes.      Ps 119:48     
  But I shall meditate on Your precepts.      Ps 119:78     
  watches, That I may meditate on Your word.      Ps 119:148     
  I meditate on all Your doings;      Ps 143:5     
  on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.      Ps 145:5     
  Your heart will meditate on terror:      Is 33:18     
  And in His law he meditates day and night.      Ps 1:2      1897
  me, Your servant meditates on Your statutes.      Ps 119:23  

  
  And hinder meditation before God.      Jb 15:4     
  and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable      Ps 19:14     
  And the meditation of my heart will be      Ps 49:3     
  Let my meditation be pleasing to Him;      Ps 104:34     
  It is my meditation all the day.      Ps 119:97     
  For Your testimonies are my meditation.      Ps 119:99

Some material to read

·       For a somewhat positive view: http://www.mindandsoul.info/Articles/339737/Mind_and_Soul/Resources/Articles/Mindfulness/A_Christian_perspective.aspx

·       This article gives a more cautious view: http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/doinglifetogether/2011/07/the-christian-practice-of-mindfulness.html

·       This article links mindfulness to Christian mysticism (a movement with its own problematic side): http://www.emptybell.org/articles/christian-mindfulness.html

Note: there is a lot of Christian material discussing the problems in eastern meditation. I am confining myself here to mindfulness, which is not quite the same as this, although derived from it.

The cross of Christ and his people

Seen today - a living enactment of the cross as part of an act of worship.

After the Lord's Supper was celebrated, the leader had the group stand and take a cruciform shape. 

They first turned to face the table where the bread and wine had rested - this represents the foundations of all else in the death of Christ.

Next, the group remained in cruciform shape and turned into pairs such that each person looked into another's face to see the image of God renewed in Christ.  This represents the fellowship that believers have as the body of Christ.

Finally the doors of the meeting room were opened and the living Cross turned to face the open door symbolising the outside world. This represents the call to mission which lies on the people of God.