Ideology flies in the face of facts, again.

I had a chat with my dad while I was in hospital, where we actually discussed politics without drawing sabers. It came out that he was really quite familiar with many names in the cabinet, from his union days. I could share some juicy titbits with you, for sure, if I was so inclined.
My staunch socialist father is less than impressed with his former colleagues, considering most of them sell-outs and cretins.
One of the names mentioned was Alan Johnson, who is in the news this morning, and who I just had to post about, because this story jumped out at me.

Never mind that all the research shows that children fare much better in a marriage than in other situations, Johnson cannot allow his ideology to be messed with.

Emphasising that Labour's belief was that "every child deserves the best start in life," he is due to say that family policy must be "bias free".

The technical word for this is cobblers, mate. The facts show that the best start in life is to be found in a stable marriage environment. If the best interests of children were truly at the top of the agenda, then common sense would say that our focus should be on supporting the actual best start, rather than pussy-footing around because we are blinded by a left-wing bias against traditional marriage.

I'd also like to know what colour the sky is in Johnson's world if he truly believes that anything, especially in politics can be bias-free. I know it can't, and I'm happy to own that I am biased towards marriage being supported as a stable building block of society. Unlike Mr Johnson, however, my bias is based on fact, not blind ideology.

Community orthodoxy.

Well, apologies if you can't comment on new stylee blogger - I have been compelled to 'make the switch'. Remind me to give Google the heave-ho at the earliest opportunity. I dislike it intensely when I'm given no option but to do something flash which takes up more of my time.

Ok, so, I've had a lot of time to muse while I've been away. One of the things that has really been buzzing around my brain is what the Emerging church gets absolutely spot on right. Now, I suppose you could put that down to the amount of time I've been spending under the influence of heavy narcotics in the past few months. I must admit, large amounts of Entonox are about as psychedelic as it gets.

I found myself on a website earlier today that listed five ways in which the modern church was trying to address the decline of Christian Belief in Europe. These 5 things were cell church, Purpose-driven church, Culture-sensitive church, Network churches, and mission-shaped churches.

It went on to say that none of these approaches was deep enough to deal with the issues. Now, I will admit that made me prick up my ears. The only people I had really come across who used the phrases 'network churches' and 'mission-shaped church' were those under the umbrella of 'emerging church'.

The simple shorthand for the deeper response was Community. Now yes, this blog, and any number of much more intelligent and coherent websites will, quite rightly, uphold the non-negotiable neccessity of sound doctrine. Salvation by Grace alone through faith in Christ alone is a bottom line beneath which a Christian cannot go.

But I find myself asking the question sometimes - when we share the gospel, do we focus on the eternal to the exclusion of the here and now? Let me give an example. As some may recall, I am visited by some of Jehovah's Witnesses. I have shared Grace with them, and one lady in particular, every single time they visit. We have talked time and again about the very essence of true Christian belief. I have prayed, cried and studied in preparation for these times, and this has gone for quite literally years now.

I'm studied enough to know that their salvation rests entirely on the Holy Spirit, and I am content in that - but still. However much I explain Grace, however much I engage in apologetics, even if they are gloriously saved - what then?
Take the lady I most often see. Her family is heavily involved in the Organization. She has a hugely stressful homelife and her fair share of ill-health. The Witnesses provide her week with structure and stability, her children with good moral influences and a wide support network for all manner of life circumstances and emergencies. They are, undoubtedly, a Community.

What happens if, by the Grace of God, she believes and renounces her former beliefs? She is disfellowshipped from the community and stigmatized by them. Can I offer her something comparable that will be a safety net, not just in the time of transition, but in the longterm?
The same situation exists for Muslim converts. It's wonderful to have someone put their trust in Christ. But it is not the whole of our faith lived out.

The individualism of the West, and especially the church emphasis in places on making decisions, is a deadening hand on the spiritual life of far too many in situations like this. Even those of no particular belief who perhaps have a strong secular community around them - perhaps surrounded by people that would do a fledgling faith no good at all. What do they find when they walk away from that community, perhaps convicted that it isn't the right place to be immersed anymore? Perhaps they've had a struggle with drugs or alcohol.

Now, the website I looked at wasn't talking about setting up a few communes and breaking out the rainbow strap guitars. But it was talking about having a church that is more than just some coherent programmes, or a collection of small groups doing ice-breaker questions, or a couple of Sunday meetings and perhaps a midweek prayer meeting and the odd church fellowship lunch.

To be fair to it, it wasn't berating those things as bad and something to be abandoned, either. Neither shall I. I'm not advocating church jettisoning the familiar and useful for the sake of innovation and cultural relevance.

I just think that, in my experience, churches in the West can struggle to be flesh and blood communities, full of tangible love. There is a creditable amount of churches and ministries upholding the vitality of right belief. But I think we can totter a bit when it comes to serving one another and living as brothers and sisters, and that bugs me.
It bothers me because I hear a lot of this kind of exhortation from people who are happy to fudge doctrine, and that should not be so. Those who hold fast to truth should be the first in line when there is a need for community, because that is right doctrine.

I have personally experienced that in the past few months - largely because of the Christian community created by the existence of the internet. I want to again thank everyone who has and continues to be part of that. But it should not be an extraordinary thing - it really should be the everyday experience of all those who come to believe.

Being church is a lifestyle. When you welcome people into the Kingdom - and indeed, when you invite them into the Kingdom in the first place - be prepared to be something so much bigger and deeper than anything the world can offer them. That means being better than even the good things the world can offer, like close-knit families and loving concern. It doesn't mean throwing out doctrine to be relevant. But I honestly can't think of a better way to be relevant to my JW friend than to share Grace with her through right teaching, and the community family of church.

Grateful.

My teeny tiny boy is home now, and fitting in well to the routine of a house full of noise and busyness. I am loving it. He's very contented, and benefitted from being in a hospital schedule - I find the first week or so the most difficult in terms of settling babies into a reasonable feeding pattern, and the neo-natal nurses did all the hard work for me.

While I mention them, I really should give a public vote of sincere thanks to the healthcare professionals I encountered. With the exception of one clueless consultant who sent me on a 30 mile journey in the back of an ambulance with no pain relief, I was treated with respect and tremendous care for the whole of my hospital stay. I plan on writing to the ward, the hospital administration, and the local paper, commending the midwives, neonatal nurses and auxilliary nurses.

They worked cheerfully while understaffed, they were really thoughtful about managing my pain, they took time out of their frantic shifts to encourage me when I was tearful, and they were hugely apologetic that I had to take a 60 mile round trip while potentially being in premature labour. God was very gracious - in His providence, Reuben had steroids to dry out his lungs a week before my very fast labour would have been too quick to allow it.

But I find myself again cross about the silly NHS 're-organization' that considers that 60 mile trip something that a frightened woman with a vulnerable baby should ever have to endure in a first world country, when there is a perfectly adequate facility less than 15 minutes from her own home, it just isn't staffed properly.

*takes deep breath*

Anyway, gripes aside, it's such a relief to be at home together. Being separated from a newborn was something I'd not experienced before and it was utterly hellish. And likewise, being separated from my girls was also very hard. Devoted family time is very precious, and I'm enjoying every last second of it.

Now, where was I?

...Oh yes... I had a baby :-)

Please welcome Reuben Elliot, born on the 3rd of February 2007, in about 2 hours flat, at nearly 35 weeks, and weighing a jolly good 5lb1oz. I'm home now, and he's not, which isn't fun, but it's only so he can have a course of anti-biotics, and he will be home by the weekend. He's feeding well - he pulled the tube feeder out you can see in the pictures all by himself, and was quite determined to take more by bottle than they normally offer premie babies, so he's off to a flying start. My mobility has improved, and more significantly from my perspective, my pain is much, much less and I can take the right sort of medication now.

Thankyou for all you prayers, support, and e-mails. I will get back to you all in the next few days, but right now, I'm going to spend an evening in the company of my very proud and relieved husband!