Compromise with God is not the same, but too often I try to do it the same way.  As I contemplated this at lunchtime today, it gave me a new insight into why David said to God “against you, and you alone have I sinned”  in Psalm 51.  You see, David loved God more than anyone else, and knew that he’d failed God first.  Yes, Bathsheba, Uriah and Zadok were all hurt dreadfully, but  God mattered to David, and David knew his sin mattered to God.

So when I say about something that I do (such as genuinely lusting after the latest carbon Pinarello): “it doesn’t really matter to God that I do this -it’s not hurting anyone, and there’s more important things to be worrying about”, I am deeply wrong, and it betrays all sorts of flaws:

• It shows that I think and act as if God’s plan for my life doesn’t matter
• It shows that my priorities are higher than God’s are in my life
• It shows that I’m slapdash with his Word, even though He lovingly crafted it for me and others in order to tell us about himself.

It rightly pulls me up to look at my motivation.  It rightly tells me that when God says something in his Word, I don’t have the right to compromise on it.  But there’s an extraordinary joy in recognising all of this: how can God, against whom I wrong so often, and so obviously show him that I matter more than He does, still bring me so much care, joy and providence?  I don’t know why God does this for me, but He does, and I am so very thankful.

Tim Challies on children within the church, here.

and an inadvertently fun, but very apt, response from the author of Transforming Grace, here.

But I need to be indulged every now and then.  I’ve been away these last three days (on a BAP for those in the know) and because of one of the exercises, I’ve given quite some thought to how we give written feedback and advice.   This is my conclusion:

Good news and encouragement are good things to set out in letters. It allows the reader to look at them again and again and benefit from your words each time.  For the same reason bad news or criticism should be given verbally or in person rather than set out in a letter or an email, unless it backs up what you have already said.

All too often I’m quick at firing off a critical email (particularly in my non-pastoral role) and I’ve realised it’s just not good enough.  Let see what this does to my working life!

So I’ve been out tootling along on what is becoming my trusty Kaffenback. I never quite knew why it was so called, and given Planet-X/On-one’s propensity for naming their other bits of equipment, I was concerned that it was some vile euphemism.  Happily, I discovered why it is called the Kaffenback – nothing hideous, and not some Belgian cobbled climb either.

Last Saturday, I was heading gently on my own from Hassop to Great Longstone in the Peak, when I ran into my cycling colleagues from the Common Lane Occasionals as they were heading in the opposite way to me, en route back home (if you wondering why I wasn’t with them, I’m taking things gently at the moment!).  The conversation went something like this:

“Good to see you Rob – how’s it going and how’s the Kaffenback?”

“Great Tony – good to see you too.  Where did you get to this morning?”

(Pointing to my bike) “We’ve been there!”

‘Eh?  Where?”

“There!  You know – to the caff and back.  Kaffenback!”

Truly an Acts 9:18 moment.

One of the joys of being part of a church family is that most of our evening meals have been delivered to us. (since No.3 arrived, of course. I’d hate you to think this is our experience day in, day out.)  Of course I am very thankful to those that have provided, and we have eaten like kings, but I have been surprised at the way the food has been delivered to us.

Why? Well, here are only two types of container in which food has arrived: ice cream tubs, or Le Creuset cookware.

I can understand ice cream tubs; they are handy things that you don’t mind if you never see again.  But the surfeit of Le Creuset got me thinking. How come so much among Christians?  Why is it so well rated? I came up with two essential questions:

(1) Have I missed some Biblical commandment along the lines of ‘thou shalt have at least one piece of le Creuset cookware in thi’ house’? (do you like the mixed use of Old English and Yorkshire for the third person singular? I feel a new Bible translation coming on).

(2) Given that Le Creuset stuff is nearly bomb proof – actually I suspect there’s an idea for a weekend project right there – is there some kind of application for winter cycling?

And so I set to work.    The first question is a little easier to answer.  As far as I could see, there was no Biblical instruction to receive Le Creuset, so I assumed (as we’re Anglicans) that it must be Canon Law somewhere.  But, of course, le Creuset is French, and there it is indeed Biblical!  Look here:

Proverbs 27:21 “Le creuset est pour l’ argent, et le fourneau pour l’or; Mais un homme est jugé d’après sa renommée ..”

Or in English, I think it says something like this: “Le Creuset costs lots of money, and you’ll need gold to buy furniture, but the man is judged after such things…” *

There you go. So after having found out that one is judged by the level of Le Creuset cookware in one’s house, as well as the satisfaction of finding a Biblical precedent for heavy duty cast iron, I wondered if cycling might find a use for it.

Let’s look at the qualities of Le Creuset cookware: heavy, brittle and made of cast iron.   Let’s also look at what’s required from  bike parts: light, robust and made of forged aluminium. Carbon fibre will do if you don’t have any forged aluminium.  Not much going there, I reckon.    I’m heading towards the conclusion that  cycling is probably not biblical, if we use the proof of Proverbs and Le Creuset…unless you count using Le Creuset for cooking food to provide sustenance for winter riding.

*I admit I’m being flippant almost, but not quite, I hope, to the point of ungodliness – but this proverb does have something to say about how we are judged!  The text actually says “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.” (ESV)

Of course though, it’s the third Bible book.  Here’s an untrue statistic that might ring true: 84.3% of people who start to read the Bible from cover to cover, flounder and splutter out in Leviticus.  So this post here is just what you need: a short summary of Leviticus which is helpful and enlightening.  (Although I’m not sure I agree with the distinction of food laws.)