These are wild times! Many layers, many places to stand and survey the current landscape. But how did we get here? I’ve just finished Zygmunt Bauman’s book ‘Work, consumerism and the new poor’ and found it provided some helpful perspectives on the journey to here and what may lie ahead.

There are also ‘spiritual’ roots in history – many of the present economic institutions and systems have their origin in Elizabeth I’s reign and it is interesting that in Elizabeth II’s reign we are seeing something of their unravelling – Martin Scott has noted that we are seeing the demise of systems that have been in place for 500 years

I could be described as a novice when it comes to politics but I am struck by the fact that political parties across the spectrum look to economic growth and consumer spending as the way out of economic recession and as indicators of how well we are doing in the UK. We do live in a consumer society and that seems to be part of the problem! I question that it can also be part of the solution.

We face a Eurozone in crisis, Greece in economic and social meltdown.  Stern warnings that we are in desperate times and need some radical solutions. In this blog series I hope to explore these themes and maybe discover some fresh insights and creative solutions.

First off, how did we get here?  In my next post, using Bauman’s book as a historical map I’ll start reflecting on that journey.

This is to let you know that there is a new blog by Zoe Britnell on writing and creativity.

This blog was started to look at:

• Is it possible to make a living doing what you love in writing and creativity?
• How can we create space in our lives to be creative?
• What does it take to be a successful writer?
• How do you find your voice to be creative and make a difference?

You can check out her blog here www.becreativespace.com .

Extract from Sapphire Leadership Group Newsletter Jan 24, 2102

The transition from one calendar year to the next usually finds me fast asleep. I spend little time seeking to discern the meaning of a particular year since I believe there is more to be said for the Hebraic calendar God created than the Greco/Roman calendar our culture uses.

Thus, it came as a surprise when 2012 has been so strongly defined from almost the first day. The pattern I am observing is that God is removing the grace for dysfunctional relationships and is blessing the investment of those who have done the 100,000 little things over the years.

Let’s look at those two items separately. Codependent relationships have been around since Adam and Eve. We find them in marriages, parent/child relationships, in church, business, sports teams, clubs, schools, government and just about everywhere else there are people.

Even though the relationship is overall dysfunctional, people stay in the relationship because there is some component of it that at least appears mildly life giving. In their mind, the supposed benefit has high enough value that they should endure the junk.

And that is why it is called a codependent relationship. Each person is hurting and hurtful, but each gives and takes in some crude emotional/social economy.

Codependent relationships can be volatile but often are long standing, especially when they are in a larger organization such as a church, school or business.

It seems that as of the first of the year, there is very little grace for dysfunction to continue. I am watching just about every kind of social group that has sustained a codependent dysfunctional relationship over time, suddenly become polarized in a hurtful way, and disintegrate.

Marriages that have been in trouble for a long time, but have endured, are suddenly unable to fake it any longer. Churches that are sterile, but functioning, are suddenly in chaos. Small businesses that existed to exploit labor suddenly are devoid of customers and staff.

While all that death hurts to watch, there is an undercurrent that stings even more.

For those who I know personally, I grieve over the fact that so many of these people have been given hundreds of opportunities by God to address the root issues in their lives. They have been loved and confronted, courted and challenged, shown and told that they need help and that help is available, but they have refused to face their junk.

And now, the pseudo-community they maintained which helped them deny how bad things were inside is crumbling, and they are left with shattered relationships outside adding to the pre-existing damage inside.

Quick fix strategies to do damage control aren’t controlling anything. The years during which they resisted the opportunities to change will haunt them.

On the flip side, there are a lot of people I know who have invested faithfully and steadily in their inner world. They have pursued deliverance and inner healing. They have worked on character and competence. They have bought the books, done the training and have dirt under their fingernails from being in the trenches, doing the heavy lifting.

The last seven to ten years have been tough for them because they have invested so much, yet seen only modest results in their lives considering how deeply they have front loaded the investment.

Surprisingly, in the first three weeks of this year, I have seen a disproportionate number of these people who have had low ROI for their past spiritual investments suddenly experience the pieces of their lives come together dramatically.

Each story is unique. Each set of circumstances is its own divine intervention, but at the end of the day, those who have pursued wholeness and holiness are suddenly feeling the wind of God in their sails.

So this seems to be a year when authenticity prevails. Those who have vigorously dodged authenticity are being exposed. Those who have vigorously sought to be authentic are suddenly being honored by God in very tangible ways.

It is polarizing at every level. The middle ground of tolerance for denial and dysfunction is simply gone.

All told, it is a very sobering experience to watch this bifurcation in the religious culture taking place. There is a stark difference between those who are experiencing being disassembled by God and those who are watching Him build a path forward that is larger than they had imagined.

Arthur Burk
Sapphire Leadership Inc

Areas that we see as negative to positive – or shifts in between. I perceive that some will experience shifts akin to time they first encountered Jesus and surrendered to Him – the supernatural shift from darkness to light (John 8:12), being dead in sin to being alive in Christ (Ephes 2:5), being transferred from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of the Son he loves (Col 1:13). These will be revelatory encounters where we see more of who Jesus really is and all that He has done for us. People who have struggled to engage with the mystical, heavenly realms expressions will see some real shifts.

Also I sense that there will be shifts for people in terms of the level of freedom and wholeness they walk in.  A real sense of – to + where they move from being ruled by compulsions to do/say things they know are wrong or harmful to themselves and others.

Arthur Burke (Sapphire Leadership Group) has an interesting indicator on how free someone is in an area of their lives – he links it to how much willpower it takes to do the right thing and uses a spectrum than runs from bondage at -100 to obedience at 0 to freedom at +100.

An example (albeit stereotypical) would be –

Bondage -100 – A man who is an alcoholic get his wages on pay day and heads straight for the pub and blows his wages instead of taking them home to his wife to sort the bills, pay the rent and buy food for the family. As a consequence the home is in chaos and falls apart.

Obedience 0 – A man who has gained some freedom in his alcohol addiction gets his wages on pay day, is sorely tempted to go to the pub, there is an inner wrestle but he has sufficient willpower to resist and chooses to take the money home to his wife and they sort bills, rent, food. He has struggled but the home is secure.

Freedom +100 – Another man who has been in the army, seen all sorts of trauma and conflict, seen the damage that drink can do and wants nothing to do with it, gets his pay and takes it straight home. There is no issue with temptation, he is free.

If we are honest most of us are at different places on that spectrum with different areas of our lives and relationships. At times in the past I would have been at -200 or -300 with some issues! But I do sense that there will be some real shifts for people from – to +, from bondage to obedience to freedom this year as we take responsibility and get help in the areas we need it. Many of our folks at Antioch have benefited from personal prayer ministry over the years, myself included and the principles have become woven into our lifestyle and values. I am aware that for many of us some of the root issues are complex but Jesus has made total freedom available to us. I see this aspect of the word as an encouragement to continue the journey into all that He has done and won for us.

In the world of physics the word is used to describe a physical attribute e.g. a magnet has a north and south, and in a battery the polarity is either + or – and the electrical charge flows from + to -.

In chemical terms polarity is a feature of a chemical bond where 2 atoms of a molecule have different capacity to attract other electrons. This causes a polar electrical field. The higher the atomic number the more it attracts electrons.

In international relations – polarity is about a distribution of power e.g. we have

• Bi-polarity in the time of the Cold War with two centres of global power – USA and USSR.
• Unipolarity is where one state has most of the cultural, economic and military influence e.g. USA since 1991 when USSR fell
• Non-polarity where there are numerous centre of power but no centre dominates any other centre.

Having reflected on these dynamics I sense some are personal to me, some for the community at Antioch, some for Wales and wider. What strikes though me is that they are all about power shifts in some way, –

Personal power shifts

• Personal attributes e.g. the level of revelation we walk in and the freedom we experience in the day to day to choose to do the right thing. Some shifts in how we operate – from fear to faith, mourning to joy, disappointment to hope, empty to full.
• What we attract will change – maybe more media attention and profile or more/different people being drawn to us
• For some people the direction or flow they have been walking in will change. I see a new flow in finances, and many are already feeling the transition.

Power of attraction and relationship

• I sense that relational bonds will change, some shifts in relationships and a growing organic shape and structure will emerge
• Also see issues resolving and new connections forming this year

Distribution of power will change

• We are already seeing this in a global sense with the rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC nations) and European/USA economic struggles and the down-scaling of American military capacity. Also with our own national government there is a desire to shift power to be more locally based and Scotland is pushing forward with its desire for independence which may force the issue of a new Act of Union between the nations of the UK.
• Wales and church community – we are used to seeing a concentration of God’s power in a geographical location (Toronto, Bethel, Lakeland), but I sense a distribution of power across the body, a diffusion of power, more diffuse and unseen – God manifesting more powerfully in the micro, personal and individual level. This will have an effect on how decisions are made and who has control over resources!
• I can even sense a shift at the molecular subatomic and quark level in our bodies as we increasingly vibrate to the frequency of heaven. Spontaneous healings with no ‘ministry’ in sight now that would be something!

All feels a bit wild really and I am left with a sense of God who can do far more than we could ask or think or imagine. So I am beginning to let my imagination loose and see what happens. Love this journey! Will keep unpacking the word in later posts and share what the unfolding of it looks like for us.

Link to  podcast is http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/atc

And link to i-player is    http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0176rkk/All_Things_Considered_20_11_2011/ 

Along with others I feel that this day is significant not only for the UK but also for Europe. It is a gateway day, and one where there is an opportunity for strategic shifts.

For some time I have been musing on the impact of the Enlightenment on European history, Industrial Revolution etc and see the Armistice Day renewal of covenant with death and re-affirmation of the lie embraced during the Enlightenment on a continental level. I have not as yet been able to do further research but my initial thoughts, albeit simplistic, run something like this …

I have been involved in personal prayer ministry for a number of years and this has included praying with people who have experienced severe and overwhelming trauma and ritual abuse. The mind’s God-given defense mechanism for ensuring the individual’s survival is to dissociate from the overwhelming trauma – to split off that experience and lock it away, embrace a lie that says “this isn’t happening to me”. My sense is that as a continent Europe has dissociated faith and emotion as a response to historic trauma.

I have reflected on the history prior to the emergence of the Enlightenment movement and it seems that the seed-bed for it was, amongst others factors, the pain of the 100 years of religious wars and the inability of the church to engage with new developments – renaissance, philosophy, social, political, and discoveries in science.

Faced with a failure of the existing religious authority structures to deliver peace and safe society Europe as a continent dissociated faith and emotion, relegating them to the private sphere. The influence of Greek rationalism, the reliance of science and ‘progress’ and man in control of his own destiny led us into the Industrial Revolution and the de-humanising approach to work. Work became the means of self-improvement and was given a moral imperative by the preachers of the gospel of ‘progress’.

Descartes’ influence and in particular his cutting a ‘turf deal with the Pope’ (where he gained permission from the Pope to dissect human cadavers to further medical research i.e. Descartes took the body and the Pope had the soul) being a significant factor in the devaluing of emotion and our humanity, the elevation of rationalism, and contributed to the conditions for the rise of western capitalism, economic slavery and the present disease of consumerism.

The lie embraced – that we do not need Father God, can’t trust him and have to take care of our own needs – a rejection of His parenthood and values became a place of refuge (Isaiah 28:15 and 17) It resulted from the church’s mis-representation of the Father – they were his face on the earth and, for the most part, it was an abusive one.

The systems and nation-states that emerged across the continent of Europe as they took refuge in the lie that they do not need a Heavenly Father, there was no supernatural/spiritual realm that had any value in the public sphere have been crumbling for some time. Some say the first death blow to modernism was in the aftermath of WW1 where across Europe young men and women were treated as cannon fodder and sent ’over the top’ at the behest of the generals far away from the front line. The disposable nature of humanity, the carnage and immense loss of life made possible by ‘progress’ left many disillusioned and questioning – whilst the arms business thrived!  Add to this another world war, Hiroshima, and Vietnam and the dissociative mechanisms break down further.

In the last 50 years there has been an increasing hunger for spirituality as we have gone deeper into the post-modern malaise, lurching from crisis to crisis. The 2008 banking crisis is a further indicator of the fault-line running through the cultural assumption and expectation that we can always make it better and there can always be more.

The riots in 2011 for me, in part, reflect the expression of a marginalised and disenfranchised underclass of ‘flawed consumers’ who lack the wherewithal to access legitimately (through money) the experiences and goods flaunted as the badges of success and worth by the advertising machine and celebrity culture.

At this time of year, as the focus is on Armistice Day and its annual renewal of the sacrifice of the young men and women in 2 World Wars some of the roots have to trace back to the embracing of the lie, the flawed Greek thinking of the Enlightenment period and the church’s compromise and complicity in the process.

What emerged from it is foundational to western society and in particular Europe today. I believe we are at a gateway place – a strategic point of entry into a new expanse in the spirit where we will see the ‘sons of Zion’ roused against the ‘sons of Greece’ (Zech 9:13) – a move of God marked by supernatural signs, wonders and miracles that will show the heart of the Father and the values and ways of the Kingdom of God through all spheres of creation. The challenge for me is to get low enough to see it!