Tag: Prayer

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Holiday – Holy Day

Thought Leaders Series: 2018

The artist popularly known as Madonna released a hit single in 1983, entitled Holiday. Like all magical stories, Holiday had been turned down by singers Phyllis Hyman and Mary Wilson, formerly of The Supremes. In similar vein with the vision of the Olympics and FIFA World Cup, this song calls for a global Holiday.

Written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens of Pure Energy, the track was presented to Madonna by her producer John “Jellybean” Benitez, during their search for a potential hit track to include in her debut album.

Interestingly the word Holiday actually emerged from the concept of a Holy Day. In Judaism it is a sabbath, a day of abstinence, worship, and rest from all form of toil and exertion.

In Judaism we also have the sabbath week, and the sabbath year (also known as The Year of Jubilee). It was meant to be observed on the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle for the Land of Israel.

As well as leaving the land to replenish, by the end of the year all debts (sadly, like usury and other concepts around social justice, the debts of foreigners was not included) were cancelled, and slaves are set free. In fact, Jeremiah will blame the Exile on the lack of observance of The Jubilee.

To this end scholars argue that the main reason why it was never observed was because of the greed of the ruling elites. They did not want debts cancelled, slaves set free, or a year long holiday for workers.

Once every four years, the FIFA World Cup affords us the opportunity to just relax and enjoy twenty two men chase a leather ball for 90mins.

When was the last time you just relaxed and played? This could take the shape of watching a movie, listening to music, hanging out with friends.

As well as work, play is an important part of being human. Some of the most innovative ideas were conceived through play. In the words of Madonna:

Let love shine

And we will find

A way to come together

Can make things better

We need a holiday

To a great week!

Healingsprings fellowship: Human Capital Development

http://www.healingsprings.org.uk

Reachout | Revive | Recover

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Prayer

Thought Leaders Series: 2018

Many factions saw rebellion and insurgency as a means of resisting Roman occupation in Palestine, but for Jesus, as well as his introspective approach towards personal transformation, prayer was also a necessary discipline in resisting the urge to repay their oppressors with evil.

Prayer was an outlet, a release valve, a means of purging the transference of injustice, pain and violence they suffered under Roman occupation.

But this did not limit or demean the importance of social action and advocacy. His prophetic voice was regularly heard loud and clear in houses, street corners, mountains, the seaside, synagogues, and the Temple.

He led his disciples in creating a community of common goods, where they all had ‘things in common’, and those at the fringes of society were rehabilitated back into community.

Exemplified in real transformation through: healing the sick, feeding the hungry, visiting those in prison, and debt cancellation.

But sadly today, prayer is treated as a silver bullet – especially in Evangelical settings. It is presented as the answer to all the ills and challenges facing humanity, while advocacy and social action are often relegated to the peripheral – a nice to have, but not a necessary element in bringing about God’s kingdom on earth.

However, much of the progress achieved through history, most of what we enjoy today were achieved through social action and advocacy.

Through people who kept knocking the doors of those in power, through people who kept seeking solutions to the difficult problems, through people who kept asking and demanding equal rights and justice.

Reachout | Revive | Recover

http://www.healingsprings.org.uk

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Today @ Healingsprings fellowship

A metanarrative or grandnarrative is a narrative about narratives of historical meaning, experience, or knowledge, which offers a society legitimation through the anticipated completion of a (as yet unrealized) master idea.

For instance, scholars argue that there is more in terms of social and spiritual value from the humanity of Jesus than the idea of his divinity.

When we take out doctrines like ‘original sin’, incarnation, virgin birth, atonement, and resurrection; we see a Jewish Rabbi who was totally committed to the global welfare of humanity – hence his charge, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

To this end Jesus’ call to repentance was a bid for a change in our meta narrative. When he responded to Nicodemus’ question with the advice, be ‘born again’ or ‘born from above’; he was encouraging an unlearning of bad scripts from our Operative Narrative. His teaching about being like ‘little children’ was with a view that we put on what John Rawls will much later refer to as ‘the Veil of ignorance’ in his seminal piece: The Theory of Justice.

The fruits of the humanity and teachings of Jesus is evident in some institutions and cross cutting themes in the West. These include the welfare state, education, healthcare, social justice, and stewardship. However, even these institutions are now creaking under the pressures of efficiency saving and value for money, as capitalism becomes the new global religion.

Back to the subject of metanarratives, one could then argue that the metanarrative of Christianity as a phenomena, institution or religion differs in regions around the World.

For example, Christianity in Africa is still in its infancy. The faith has not been subjected to the various tests it has endured in the West, as such the focus lies heavily on the ‘supernatural’ elements attributed to Jesus. As such, using John’s language, the ‘Word’ is not yet flesh, and not ‘dwelling’. As a result, Church is not a true reflection of who Jesus was, or what he stood for. Thus we are yet to see the fruits of his charge creating and transforming institutions or even the masses in any wider sense. Even in the West we still have a long way to go.

The question still remains: who was Jesus? What was his vision for humanity?

Dear friends when we apprehend this reality then we can understand and take our place in the work of revitalisation and co-creation with God.

Join us for Operating Narratives, when I will be expanding my thoughts on the different areas of personal transformation. As we stay on these questions and allow them to permeate every facet of our lives, I strongly believe there is hope of redemption.

3:00-4:30pm, coffee afterwards.

St John’s Hall

Church Rd,

Sidcup DA14 6BX

Reachout | Revive | Recover

http://www.healingsprings.org.uk