Spring Harvest 2011.

I felt really hesitant about going to Spring Harvest this year... I don't know what it was, maybe I feel like I'd grown out of the youth teachings, maybe I wanted to stay at home and do work: most likely, I wanted to stay home and chill with my friends.

It was a good week - for those who don't know what Spring Harvest is (sounds gay.. its much better than it sounds) it is:

Spring Harvest exists to 'equip the Church for action'. Through a range of events, conferences, books and resources, Spring Harvest seeks to enable Christians to impact their local communities and the wider world. http://www.springharvest.org

Each year Spring Harvest takes on a title, I think its done "One God" "One Church"  "Different Eyes" "Apprentice" - This year, the theme was "Route 66"

 Route 66: Biblical direction for the road we travel, will equip you to better understand the Bible, to better apply its teachings and to better live out the powerful call of the Spirit who broods and breathes within its pages. 

If you don't wan't to read stuff on theology and genocide in the bible... go down to the next red writing.
This is something I really struggle with, "God breathed word" - and I fully trust that the bible is a scripture for us from God but there is so much that I can't get my head round. I love the Bible, I think it has everything, it holds the answers to everything and outside of a Christian perspective has stories that cover everything literature needs. Of course I love the bible, I'm a theology Student... that's not to say it doesn't stress me out massively. I am aware of historical, geographical and content contradictions throughout the bible and because of my studies I am particularly aware of this with the New Testament Gospels - historical and geographical differences don't worry me too much, and even content differences have explanation's that go back to the authors, dates, culture, sitz en laben and audience so I can get over that. No, my issue is with things like Old Testament Genocide, the differences in the Jewish God and the Christian God, how God isn't universal in the Old Testament but was for the Hebrews and descendent of Abraham only. I don't know, masses of things I can't get my head around when it comes to the books of the bible.. but that's why I chose to study it.

I was hoping that it would help being at Spring Harvest.. I'm not too sure it did. I spent much of the week being so focused on relieving myself from the pressure I've felt from my atheist friends in the past 10 months that I didn't spend enough time focusing and reading the bible. I went too a couple of talks though on "tough texts" - one being on genocide in the Old Testament, and the other on all things sex orientated.

"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully." Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion. 

 ^23-25 Abraham confronted him, "Are you serious? Are you planning on getting rid of the good people right along with the bad? What if there are fifty decent people left in the city; will you lump the good with the bad and get rid of the lot? Wouldn't you spare the city for the sake of those fifty innocents? I can't believe you'd do that, kill off the good and the bad alike as if there were no difference between them. Doesn't the Judge of all the Earth judge with justice?"  

 Genesis 18:23-25 (The Message)

When Abraham says this to God, it is exactly how I feel when I read the book of Joshua or even the smaller parts of the bible where it seems like ultimately un-necessary killing in Gods name - If there even is necessary killing? The genocide talk was very interesting (I can't for the life of me rememeber who it was by.. his voice was quite dull though) and tackled intresting issues like the death of innocent children, and other quite disturbing topics. I don't think I'm any closer to feeling better about it. I don't really wan't to go into it in detail, but if you're intrested check out what Krish Kandiah has provided (he did the same talk the previous week.) Maybe I'll tackle this issue another time.

The other seminar that caught my attention was "God and Human Sexuality" by Nick Pollard, which was again, really interesting.. I shan't go into it now on the blog, but check out www.goodsexbible.com and bits that he has tackled on the topic there. Definitely worth a read, and a really good speaker to listen too. Really good.

Over.

The week was, ultimately - sweet. It was super warm, I was sharing a room with Suzie Bostock, enjoyed some awesome worship sessions, experienced the wonders of Holy Spirit manifestation (but that is for an entirely other blog when its not 1 in the morning) and spent the evenings at the pub making friends and just hanging out.

It's something I always really like when I go to spring harvest, or any Christian event I guess.. I automatically think that I'm gna end up sat with a load of losers, and every time the people are absolutely mint and normal and hilarious. I know they exist, but.. I'm sure I've not come across many stereotypical Christian freaks in my time.. I think we're casually breaking out of that mold now.

It was a much needed brake from Oldham which has been getting me so claustrophobic lately and although Spring Harvest has not solved the issues of being a conservative theist in a friendship group of male socialist atheists, it was definitely nice to sit back and spend some time with God:

"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him." James 1v12 (NIV)

Hope you all had a nice Easter, God Bless, L x