By prayer and doing justice...

I am yet to find a quote that more clearly expresses my understanding of one of the critical tasks of the Church than the quote below.

Our church has been fighting during these years only for its self-preservation, as if that were an end in itself. It has become incapable of bringing the word of reconciliation and redemption to humankind and to the world. So the words we used before must lose their power, be silenced, and we can be Christians today in only two ways, through prayer and in doing justice among human beings. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Of course the one element that I would have loved to see more clearly expressed in this quote is the act of worship. However, as I think about it, both prayer and acts of justice are expressions of God's worth. What do you think?

Thankful to be going back to work

I am back at work today after a great vacation with my family.

I am thankful for the privilege of having work. It is a blessing to be able to meet my family's needs, to apply my abilities in service of the world, and to give expression to my passion in service of Christ.

I am thankful! Here is a prayer that you may wish to pray as you go to work.

O God, sovereign Lord over all creation, without whom all purposes are futile, grant me today the assistance of your Spirit. In all the surprises and changes of life, may I fix my heart upon you, so that your eternal purposes may be fixed in me.

In the name of Jesus, who came to make your eternal purpose clear. Amen

- A guide to prayer for all God's people (Upper Room Books, 1990)

Please pray for me - Ethics, poverty and justice (Exposed 2013)

Dear friends, 

Please could I ask you to pray at 12.00 CAT today - we have our 1st conference call for the Exposed2013 campaign.

This campaign seeks to empower 100 million Christians across the world on issues of ethics, justice & poverty by 2013 please see  for more: http://www.micahchallenge.org/exposed 

The project is being run by Micah Challenge, The international Bible Society, Unashamedly Ethical, the Salvation Army and the World Evangelical Alliance.

I am helping to coordinate the campaign - it is such an important issue for the Kingdom and the world!

We cannot rid the world of systemic poverty unless we deal with systemic corruption!

Thanks so much! 

God bless, 

Dion
James 1.27

A reflection on being a Christian in the world economic crisis

This morning I was struck by the news on the riots, unrest, protests and unhappiness at the world economic situation.

In this video I reflect on what I believe a Christian response should be to the economic, social and political inequalities in the world.

I would love to hear your thoughts.  By the way, you can find out about the gini coefficient here. Also, in the video I made mention of the book '44 sermons to serve the present age' - I accidentally said that my friend Lisa Withrow was the editor (while she contributed it was in fact Dr Angela Shier-Jones who edited the book.  Sorry for fumbling that one Angie!  Jetlag brain!)

God bless from Malaysia!

Dion

Update on Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 9:45AM by Dr Dion Forster

It was with great sadness that I learnt that Angie (Dr Angela Shier-Jones) passed away just in September.  This news is such sad news.  Angie had been struggling against cancer.

I remember a great conversation we shared last year when I was in the UK.  We were on the train after a meeting at LEAT and we were talking about dissease and faith.  The topic of our conversation centered around a special edition of the Epworth Review of which Angie was the editor for which I had written an article on being Christian in an HIV+ world.  As always her input was deeply challenging, a magnificent theological mind matched only by her pastoral heart!

Thanks for sharing the news of her passing with me Jenny.  I am deeply saddened by the news of her death.  However, I can only imagine what she is doing in heaven!  

Here are two wonderful memorial posts I would encourage you to take a look at.  Each of them gives a wonderful insight into one of the great Methodist theologians of our age.

• In Memoriam of Angela Shier-Jones from PMPhillips
• In Memroy of Angela Shier-Jones from Listen : Think : Act :

Indeed, Lord, thank you for the gift of your daughter Angela.  Teach me to number my days correctly that I may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90.12).

I will also put this follow up post into a seperate post.

Alpha Malaysia work place ministry conference - please pray with me

On Tuesday (4 October 2011) I will be leaving Cape Town for Malaysia for the Alpha Malaysia work place ministry conference.

I am so excited about this event! The Lord has given me such a deep love for the people of Malaysia - I have had the immeasurable privilege of visiting there many times in the last few years. I have a number of very close friends there. Cynthia Wong, the head of Alpha in Malaysia, contacted me some time last year after getting a copy of my book 'Transform your work life' and asked if would come and speak at the their conference.

Among the speakers at this event will be Graham Power, Doug Spada, Tan Shri Dato' Francis Yeoh, Dato' Sri Idris Jala, and Ps. Dr. Philip Lyn.

The conference takes place in a remarkable venue - the resort of Sutera Harbour in Kota Kinabalu. This resort was developed by the Christian Businessman Edward Ong. He is a man who truly understands what it means to engage in responsible, ethical and sustainable business that brings blessing to the community in which business is done.

Once the conference is done and we have also spoken at the Skyline Church I shall be heading to Hong Kong for some meetings and work before returning home by the 13th of October.

I would truly appreciate your prayers for this special trip, please pray with me that God works in a special way to encourage, inspire and renew the participants. Please also pray that as I share and minister that the Lord will use my me in spite of my weaknesses to achieve His will for transformation in business. Please could you also pray for Cynthia and her wonderful team. Lastly, could I please ask you to keep my wife Megan and our children, Courtney and Liam, in your prayers? Megie is still recovering from surgery to her wrist and so that places an extra little bit of pressure on her with me away.

I will be posting updates on my twitter feed, on tumblr, and also here - so please do check in on all of those platforms for updates. Thanks for your partnership in ministry!

When God feels far away... A helpful insight.

In a couple of sessions with clients recently I have heard the concern that they feel far from God. It can be difficult when one is in that space.  Of course the ego is a part of that problem - we want 'control' over our spiritual experiences.  Another problem is hedonism - we want to 'enjoy' everything we experience.  Struggle can be a very helpful spiritual condition.  It is uncomfortable, yet helpful.

I found this quote from firstbreath90 very insightful to understand this spiritual phenomenon:

When God feels absent or non-existent, he does not come to the rescue like a helicopter parent. He leaves you in that pitch-black spiritual cave until every last bit of ego-driven “control” of your spiritual life is exposed for the sham that it is. He allows the “god” of our own imaginations to fade away so that he can begin the deeper process of forming us into spiritual begins who are content to trust rather than control.

Paradoxically, when God seems non-existent, it is then that he may actually be most at work. A Christian theology that learns to accept the dark night will be able to give thanks to God in any and all circumstances.

So, yeah, there is quite a bit in Ecclesiastes that intersects with the Gospel. Knowing Jesus doesn’t keep us from these experiences of alienation from God. They may actually bring us closer toward these experiences. That is all part of the Christian package—suffering conforms us to Christ’s image.

- Peter Enns, in an interview for his upcoming commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes.

How do you deal with 'feeling far from God'? Have you got any advice or insights to share? Please leave a comment below.

Unashamedly Ethical and the controversy in Malaysia - please pray!

Since our arrival in Penang a furore has erupted over Unashamedly Ethical in Malaysia. In fact, this morning the Prime Minister of Malaysia commented and it made the front page news of The Star newspaper.

He said:

JAKARTA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has called on all groups to calm down and stop exploiting the issue of a purported attempt to make Christianity the official religion of the country. Religion, he stressed, was a sensitive matter and that he did not want any religion-related debate to create tension among the people. “Cool it and calm down until we find the facts. It is not going to be of benefit to anyone. “Whoever it is, whether they are opposition or pro-government, they cannot and should not exploit this issue,” he told the Malaysian media at the end of the 18th Asean Summit yesterday.

Please see the rest of that newspaper article here. We have since departed from Penang and are back in Kuala Lumpur

What is certain is that the accusations are not true. Our intention is to bless the nation of Malaysia, to pray for her leadership and to see ethics, values and clean living established in greater measure among her people and leaders.

The security police have been asking questions, visiting locations we have visited and spoken at, and are looking to question some of the local hosts of our events.

What I do know is the promise of Romans 8.28 "In all things, God works for the good of those who love Him". Please pray for our local hosts, the thousands of new signatories to Unashamedly Ethical here in Malaysia, and for us!

Here is the story from yesterday's paper:

KUALA LUMPUR: A meeting between the Penang Chief Minister and Christian leaders has turned into a controversy with claims that the participants discussed making Christianity the official religion. The meeting was front-paged by Utusan Malaysia which quoted two blogs making such a claim. However, Penang CM Lim Guan Eng dismissed the report as a fabrication. He described such irresponsible reporting as playing dangerous politics. The DAP secretary-general said the party would lodge a police report against the daily over the matter. “We have never asked for Malaysia to become a Christian, Hindu or Buddhist state,” Lim said yesterday. The organisers of the meeting were the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship, Global Day of Prayer, Marketplace Penang and Penang Pastors Fellowship. They, too, denied the claims, saying: “The Christian community in Penang is disturbed by the unwarranted and unsupported claims. “The seminar was organised to discuss and address the issue of bribery and corruption in the marketplace and had nothing to do with political succession.” Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has described the purported meeting of pastors as serious. He said any action by followers of a religion would invite reactions from followers of others. “The status of Islam as the official religion is sacrosanct and can never and must never be questioned. “The police must investigate whether or not such a meeting took place and whether or not this movement is under way. “Such a movement is seditious and places the entire country in danger,” he said. Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar, however, cautioned the public from playing up sensitive issues. “Don’t play with fire, or you might end up being burnt. We will not allow people to deliberately exploit this issue,” he said. MCA Youth Chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong described the report byUtusan as provocative, saying the newspaper should be more professional in its reports and not base them on blog posts. Party presidential council member Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan Onn said there was nothing wrong for religious groups to meet with political parties. “MCA can meet with Christians, Muslims and members of other faiths.Utusan should not impute any religious motives,” he said. Anglican Bishop of West Malaysia Ng Moon Hing said Christians had never challenged Islam as the official religion and had no plans to do so. Police reports were also made by Malay and Muslim rights groups Perkasa and Pembela, urging authorities to examine the validity of the article. “This has to be investigated. If this is true, we have to be careful,” said Pembela president Dr Yusri Mohamad.

With rich blessing from Malaysia!

Prayer and the Bible / Prayer and the Holy Spirit - notes and slides from the Methodist Prayer Convention in Sibu Malaysia

I had the privelage of doing two of the plenary talks at the Methodist Prayer Convention in Sibu, Malaysia, yesterday.

Some of the participants in those talks asked for copies of my notes and the powerpoint slides.  Unfortunately I cannot access my FTP server from the Hotel, so I've uploaded the notes to my dropbox folder and shared the files - I'm fairly certain this should work.  The PowerPoints are about 2.5MB each and the PDF outlines of my notes are only a few hundred KB.

You can download these files from my Dropbox folder by clicking the links below (you will just need to set up a free DropBox username and password in order to get the files).

• Prayer and the Bible (notes outline and powerpoint slides)
• Prayer and the Holy Spirit (notes and powerpoint slides)

If you have any problems downloading the notes please drop me a line and I will try to get them to you by another means.

God bless,

Dion

Day 2 of the 2011 Methodist Prayer convention in Sibu, Malaysia

Last night more than 3500 people packed the main hall of the Kingwood Hotel conference center for the opening of the Methodist Prayer convention. Bishop Hwa Yung and Graham Power spoke about the global prayer movement. What was most significant for me was the 'concert of prayer' in which the entire gathering prayed together around critical issues in the world for almost an hour!

Today we continue with the conference. I shall be speaking at the Tamil Plenary sessions at 9.00 on the Bible and Prayer, then Graham and I speak on Unashamedly Ethical and Transform your work life over lunch to a group of 400 business people, after which I will speak at the evening plenary on the Holy Spirit and prayer.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers for us.

Please could I encourage you to pray for the people of Syria today - they are facing extreme oppression as they protest for democracy. Also please remember our sisters and brothers in the United States of America who have faced the ravages of nature as tornadoes devastated parts of the South.

Join us at the Unashamedly Ethical conferences in Malaysia

On Wednesday I'll be boarding a flight from Cape Town to Malaysia where Graham Power and I will first be heading via Kuala Lumpur to Sibu to speak at the Methodist Prayer gathering (with some engagements in Kuching along the way). I had the immeasurable privilage of speaking at the 2007 prayer gathering (it was during this time that I first fell in love with Malaysia and her wonderful people!)  

Malaysia has a very special place in my heart - I have been back a number of times since then, and will be there twice this year.

Then, on the 29th we head back to Kuala Lumpur to meet up with Steve Johnstone (the international coordinator for Unashamedly Ethical) to speak at an Unashamedlly Ethical conference (see the brochure and video below).  Please find the full details of the conference here.  I would love to see there if you're in the area!

On the 5th and 6th of May we go on Penang for another Unashamedly Ethical Conference. Please find full details of that conference here.

The Unashamedly Ethical movement challenges individuals and organisations to make a stand for values and ethics.  We are convinced that we will never be able to deal with systemic poverty until we address systemic corruption. Please consider joining us by committing yourself to values, ethics and clean living here - Unashamedly Ethical online.

I will also be doing some seminars and workshops with pastors and business people on the topics of 'ministry in the marketplace' and 'practical social transformation' (based in part on the book that Graham Power and I wrote together called 'Transform your work life')  If you live in Malaysia and would like to order a copy of the book please visit Canaanland here. If you live elsewhere in the world please get your copy here.

Prayer requests

Please could you support us in prayer.  Here are some prayer pointers.

• Please pray for our hosting committee in the Methodist Church in Malaysia who will host us for the first part of our visit (particularly Bishop Hwa Yung and his leadership team)
• Please pray for our hosting committee from the NECF - close friends who are doing incredible work in the Church and the marketplace.
• Please pray for Graham, Steve and I while we're away.  Also please pray for our families.
• Please pray that the Lord will use us and that He will create wonderful opportunities for us to bless, encourage and partner with our Malaysian friends in bringing about renewal and transformation in the Church and world of work.

Thanks so much!  I'll be posting updates as regularly as I can to my twitter feed and will post here as well as often as I can.

What do you do when your heart is broken?

This morning as I was waiting for a meeting to start I was watching the people outside the window going about their morning activities.

One interaction broke my heart. I saw a young man (perhaps in his mid 20's) with two small children. The little girl could be no more than 2 years old and her brother looked about a year older than her. The father arrived carrying the little girl and holding the little boy's hand. A car was waiting for the three of them. I assumed it was the children's grandmother - an older woman. As the young man approached he opened the door, helped the two children onto the back seat. Then he got into the front passenger seat, turned his head away from the older woman and sank down in the chair. He looked distraught, depressed, beaten by life.

I wondered what events had led to this moment? Had his wife left him? Is he in some form of crisis?

My heart broke for him and for those two little children. I'm sure they could see and sense the unease in their father. What would this day, this week, hold for their little lives.

As they drove off I prayed for them. I don't know what else I could do?

What do you do when your heart is broken by the pain of others? I'd love to hear your ideas and feedback.

Together with you in Christ,

Dion

Prayer, social action and change.

Some years ago I wrote an article entitled 'Prayer, compassion and social change: Towards an understanding of prayer and spiritual activity as a praxis transformative of the individual and society'.

It's a mouthful, I know, but then what would the academy be if it is was not at least a little verbose!  ha ha!  The point of the article was to show how prayer and spiritual discipline are critical elements for individual and social transformation.

The following little quote reminded me that article:

Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.  

- Mohandas Gandhi

Here's the abstract for the article:

This paper will argue that prayer and spiritual activity are not only effective means for transformation, but that they form a sound basis for all forms of personal and social transformation.

In order to develop this argument it is essential to start with a brief explanation of an emerging paradigm of reality.  In brief, this paradigm bridges the gap that has been created between creation and redemption.  The new paradigm no longer separates God’s ongoing work of creation from God’s activity of redemption.  Understanding this notion forms an essential basis for investigating how and why prayer, compassion and contemplative activity are effective in bringing about transformation, in both the individual and in society.

This paper will show, that prayer or contemplative activity is an extremely important starting point for embarking on any form of transformation or social change.  It will show that prayer puts one in touch with the source and goal of true transformation.  Along with this, it will be argued that true transformation takes place physically and spiritually (since the two can not be separated).  In the past great emphasis has been placed on mere physical action to bring about social change.  This paper attempts to show that true transformation or social change requires some measure of spiritual activity and awareness in order to bring about meaningful and holistic changes to individuals and societies.

It is in this sense that prayer and spiritual activity act as transformative praxis of self and society.

It was quite an interesting article since I attempted to bring together elements of traditional spirituality (with a focus upon the discipline of prayer and Christian meditation) and tie it in with elements of quantum theory, consciousness studies, some sociology and integrative theory.

I'd love to hear your thoughts (if you do read it!)  I have long since progressed to more subtle and intricate understandings of Wilber's thoughts on holarchy (of course Wilber has published a great deal in the past few years on this subject).

You can download the paper here.