New Year, Fresh Start

By Zeth    1st January 2003    0 responses

The top ten tips at a glance

10. Stand firm and take it one step at a time.
9. Write an article for Crossring.
8. Understand and analyse. Keep it real. Never forget the basics.
7. Find a legal source of free books.
6. Be aware of what you are filling your mind with.
5. Re-start your prayer life with a model.
4. Drop discrimination.
3. Avoid Dependency but not accountability.
2. Twin yourself to a foreign Christian Church.
1. ?

10. Stand firm and take it one step at a time.

It is often said that living the Christian life is like walking a narrow path. This is at the heart of John Bunyan’s book ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ and of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ by Frank Baum. The key to walking a narrow path is balance; if you keep balanced you will not fall off the path or stray from the yellow brick road.

Keeping balanced requires consideration, which is actually another kind of balance. Balance requires some speed so that progress is made but not so much that mistakes are easily made.

In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus says we should be the “light of the world”. A light bulb that makes no light is thrown in the bin but on the other hand a fireball burns extremely brightly but only for a few seconds before disappearing.

One way to fall off the path is to not care at all, to live without any regard for God, to be blackened by habitual sin and to be a broken light bulb.

The other way to fall off the path is to try to do too much, to go at a rate that cannot be sustained, to try to run before learning how to walk, to be a fireball and to burn up all available resources.

Galatians 5:1 says, “It was for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened by a yoke of slavery.”

Do not let good things become impediments to your life’s walk. As you grow you will be able to do more at once but for now just do what you are able. To use the example above know what wattage you are, if you’re a 60W bulb then there is no need for you to try to compete with an 100W bulb. This first tip is also a warning for all the following tips:

9. Write an article for Crossring.

Okay so its obvious – but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. To actually write down what you think and present it to others can really help you to develop your faith. Not to mention doing a little research, reading your bible, and at the end discussing the article with others.

What can you write about? Almost anything you like. To see what other people have written about, take a look in the article index – this should give you an idea of how broad a range of articles appear on Crossring. Having a look at the article categories may give you ideas about where to start – how about writing a “Prayer-related article” or a “Bible study” and so on. There are also some submission guidelines to point you in the right direction.

If you want any help with your article then the articles editor or any other member of the Crossring Team will be glad to discuss it with you.

8. Understand and analyse. Keep it real. Never forget the basics.

Make sure you know and understand what your church and denomination says about different issues. How much of it do you agree with? If you find there is a difference between what your church says and what you think then there are at least two possible reasons. It may be that you have not thought it through enough, or you may have better ideas than your church yourself. The important point is to make sure you can express your beliefs yourself in clear and unambiguous language. Keep it real; don’t hide lack of thought in metaphorical language. Don’t let others get away with it also. If someone says ‘the bible says’ then ask where, get them to point it out to you.

At any time when a bible verse is used, in church or in private discussion with someone, feel free to stop and read the text before and after it is used. Bring your bible to Christian events and follow your own text when someone reads from the bible. Is the passage saying what they say it is saying? Don’t let people use verses out of their context, if a passage is about marriage don’t let people convince you it is about worship or giving or anything else. If people use a single verse then read around it before deciding what it means.

Have a basic and clear understanding of the Christian faith and the gospel. Otherwise you will be susceptible to the attempts of other faiths to convert you. Be aware of the unique ideas of Christianity. For example, the Mormons use Christian vocabulary (such as ‘gospel’, ‘atonement’, ‘God’) but completely redefine their meanings. Make sure you know clear definitions when you use religious or biblical terminology.

Acquire and cherish a reasonably chunky, well-known dictionary such as the Oxford Dictionary, Chambers or Webster’s. It will be your shield against badly thought out or even dangerous ideas lurking behind an incorrect use of words. If someone tries to convince you with a word that is not in your dictionary, then look on www.webster.com; if it is not there then they probably have made it up.

If you are not 100% sure about what you believe then get hold of ‘Questions of Life’ by Nicky Gumbel. If you are at university and an Alpha course is running there then you may be able to get a copy at an extremely good student price, talk to your ‘Alpha for students’ leader.

I hear what you are saying, “me, I’m an advanced Christian, I’m even a crossring junior user, I don’t need that”. Never be too arrogant to read a basic introduction, especially one as high quality as this. I have a whole bookcase of theological texts, but when it comes to anxiety in my own devotional life, I reach for my Alpha books. If you are bored of the fundamental truths of Christianity then you need to consider rethinking your faith, perhaps with your minister. If you are a new Christian or not yet a Christian then I would recommend the Alpha course as an excellent way to develop your Christian faith.

If you are thinking or reading about Christianity or in are in a discussion about it, keep the central ideas of Christianity in mind, even if you are discussing the place of olives in King Josiah’s kitchen. If you have them in mind then you will notice if the ideas you are looking at are in opposition to the central ideas of Christianity. I have a bad memory so at university I have a copy of the apostles creed blutacked to my folder. I even know some sad people who have copies of a certain doctrinal basis tucked inside their rucksacks, you know who you are.

7. Find a legal source of free books.

I don’t know about you but there are so many books that I would like to read. People recommend books on this website, at church, at my student Christian group and so on. Every year there seems to be better, yet more expensive, books published, yet my student loan seems fixed at 3.75 pence.

There are books about theological arguments, practical books about how to be a Christian in today’s supermarket fruit section, biographical books about the greatest Christian figure Saint what’s'name, international books about the new struggling church in Overthereistan and don’t forget this years’ set of those ‘must have’ biblical commentaries in 144,000 volumes. Also when you have bought a book, you often can’t tell, not at least until after chapter or two, that it actually is really useless.

The ideal situation would be that someone else would pay for all the books, store them in a big room, and let me come and read them for free whenever I liked. Fortunately there is such a thing, and its in every town and in every university campus; its called a library. Yes those places people go to play internet games and sell their art coursework. Fortunately hidden somewhere in these places are books.

Not only can you borrow books at a public library but often you order books from other libraries. Public libraries can call in books from across the country, University libraries can call in books from across Europe. Every book is in a library somewhere, just waiting for you to find it.

Also your church or Chaplaincy may have a library, which is very convenient because you can borrow a book after church one week, read it and swap it for a new book next week.

Getting to know libraries is very boring I’ll admit, but if you are time-rich but cash-poor like me, then you always have the last laugh. No need to covet that businessman who always comes to church having bought five new books that week. He never has time to read them anyway, and he will never have enough money to out buy the European or American library system.

6. Andy B’s top tip: Be aware of what you are filling your mind with.

In 1 Corinthians, it says that we are a temple for the Holy Spirit, (in chapter 6:12-20 and 3:1-23, especially 6:19 and 3:16-17). We need to be very careful not to pollute our “temple” with worldly junk that’s no good for us. Not just with bad food, cigarettes or drugs, although that’s an important point to remember this year; but also with what we expose ourselves to.

This year, try not to watch films, TV shows or websites with excessive violence or sexual content, it just pollutes your mind and gives the enemy a foothold. I’m not saying we should lock ourselves away from the real world, but we shouldn’t choose to fill our minds, and ultimately ourselves, with sinful images.

5. Zeth’s top tip: Re-start your prayer life with a model.

Find it hard to pray regularly? Make it easy on yourself. Don’t worry about long spontaneous doxologies or grief filled laments, start simply. You can just talk to God like you would talk to anyone else. Can’t think of anything to say? Maybe start by using a pre-written prayer. A nice short one is “Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me a sinner”. An old chestnut is to paraphrase the Lord’s Prayer into your own words. Another one, which I learned at Essex University Chaplaincy, is:

“Jesus, thanks, sorry, I love you, please, Amen.”

You can extend it by filling in the gaps yourself:

“Jesus,
Thanks for…
Sorry for…
I love you for…
Please…
Amen”

4. Drop discrimination.

As Christians we are not called to be polite to our neighbours but to love our neighbours (See Leviticus 19:18, Zechariah 8:17, Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31-33 and Luke 10:27. Matthew 5:43 has an interesting twist). Everyone is made in the image of God (See Genesis 1) and thus has been given inherent dignity which we should have a deep respect for. Shallow acceptance is not good enough. We need to love everyone regardless of class, race, sex or anything else. When we act lovingly we become like Jesus ourselves, we have a better life and show a better way to live.

3. Avoid Dependency but not accountability.

Although above we looked at the importance of critically engaging with your church and faith tradition, don’t forget to be first and foremost yourself. I am a Zeth Christian before anything else. Recognise that no one group, church, minister, or even website has a monopoly on God. If anyone says “Only we are the true Christians. Only we have access to God” then they are lying. Therefore to diversify your Christian activities to some extent among different groups is a healthy and safe solution. To be a member of a Church, a CU and a user of Crossring at the same time is a common combination among young Christians who use this website. Then if one thing ends or goes strange then you are not left shipwrecked without the support of a faith community.

However this is not to preach a gospel of individualistic consumerism. Being a Christian isn’t about floating between different Christian groups like a shopper moves up and down a high street. Commitment over the longer term is important if you are actually going to be an active helper to the Christian mission. It is also healthy to be somehow personally accountable to at least one minister or an older (in years and maturity) Christian.

2. Twin yourself to a foreign Christian Church.

One lively way to develop your faith is to learn about Christianity in another part of the world. You can pick a foreign country or region then learn about the environment, culture, even language. Alongside this you can read about Christians there. By recognising the particular qualities of their spirituality, you will enrich your own.

Once you have a bit of knowledge you can even make contacts there. I know people that have even visited people in the country that they have twinned themselves with. You could perhaps choose a country you have visited, or an EU country or if you are brave an eastern European country. Further afield there are the American states, Africa, Asia, Latin America and so on.

1. To go to the number 1 top tip, click here.

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