This week I received training in different learning styles. The three main learning styles identified are:

1. visual (where the primary method of learning is through seeing and reading)
2. auditory (where the primary method of learning is through listening and speaking)
3. kinesthetic (where the primary method of learning is through touching and doing)

It’s quite interesting to think about the best methods with which we learn. In church settings, we’re expected to listen to sermons, yet the auditory method of learning is not necessarily the best for everyone. Combining methods – using audio-visual techniques or getting interactive with the congregation – often helps us to engage with more people.

Visual learners do best from things which involve pictures, diagrams, demonstrations, displays, handouts, films, or flip charts. So they like to read instructions, follow recipes, write things down, highlight written notes, follow a map. Their creative interests involve writing, drawing, designing things and taking photos.

Auditory learners do best from instructions which they can hear, often repeating back things to ensure they have understood what they have heard. They like to listen to explanations, explain things verbally or talk to people to find out how to do new things. They like to tell jokes and stories, discuss and debate things, sing and create music.

Kinesthetic learners like to ‘have a go’. They will follow their instincts, try new things and enjoy getting stuck in to new activities, even if they don’t always get it right first time. They are interested in making things, dance, drama, modelling and sports.

If you’re interested in discovering which method suits you best, there is a quiz here. Some people will have a mixture of learning styles; others will favour one (no prizes for guessing my main learning style…!)

There is, of course, no ‘right’ learning style. Just as we are all individuals with different personalities, so we learn differently and that’s fine. What I do find helpful is learning how other people tick! Learning to value and explore differences is as important as learning to value and understand myself. Philippians 2:3-4 urges us to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” When we think about how others differ from us and come to respect this, we begin to value others and can help them to learn more of God in the way that they relate to the best.

Imagination is defined as ‘the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses.’ I have been pondering this definition for some time now whilst meditating on Romans 4:17, where Abraham is said to have believed in ‘the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.’

Eugene Peterson, in his book ‘Subversive Spirituallity’, says ‘imagination is the capacity to make connections between the visible and the invisible, between heaven and earth, between present and past and future. For Christians, whose largest investment is in the invisible, the imagination is indispensable, for it is only by means of the imagination that we can see reality which is in context. What imagination does with reality is the reality we live by.’

(For further discussion of these thoughts, here is a conversation on the topic of story-telling and the role of imagination in this which Eugene Peterson held in 2007.)

Brennan Manning has said ‘Illusion is a denial of reality, while imagination creates and calls forth new reality that has not yet come to birth.’ (Brennan Manning, ‘A Glimpse of Jesus’) This is rather like the Biblical description of what God does in calling into being things that were not. We often acknowledge God as Creator, but man, made in God’s image, is also creative and the imagination is one thing which distinguishes man from the animals and perhaps one way in which man is linked to God.

Illusion often involves deception of some kind, a distortion of reality. Think of the way advertisers or magicians use illusion to make us believe something that is not necessarily true! Imagination is not the same thing at all. Imagination helps us to see the invisible and to put life into context. For, as Eugene Peterson also reminds us, “most of what makes up human existence is inacessible to our five sense: emotions, thoughts, dreams, love, hope, character, purpose, belief.” (‘Subversive Spirituality’) Imagination (and particularly the use of metaphor) helps us to connect what we see, hear, touch and experience with that invisible, intangible world we perceive only by faith. To be sure, our imaginations need to be sanctified (just as our whole lives need to be sanctified!), but imagination can also be a powerful tool to help us find new reality.

Garry’s rather grandiose alliterative title (for which I can, sadly, claim no credit…) summarised both the whole book of James (which we finally completed studying tonight, having started in April 2012!) and the last two verses in chapter 5 (the focus of tonight’s study.)

We started, however, by looking at the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:1-23). Here, Jesus talks about the different kinds of soil, looking at the rocky ground and the thorny ground. Just as a lack of roots causes seeds not to grow and thorns (the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth) choke the word, so James has highlighted the problems in our lives which would cause us to stumble if left unchecked. Jesus says that ‘when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away’ (Matt 13:21). James has taught us to accept trouble and persecution, the trials and temptations of this life, with open arms since we learn perseverance and develop character through them. He has also taught us how to avoid the pitfalls of wealth: by shunning favouritism and by not putting our trust in material riches.

The whole book of James has been eminently practical, offering us solutions to the many problems we face on life’s journey. Now, James reminds us that we have a collective responsibility to each other as well as an individual responsibility to maintain our spiritual walk with God. We all have a sheep-like tendency to wander from the truth (the word ‘wander’ is the same used in Matt 18:12 in the parable of the lost sheep and is also found in Matt 22:29 – ‘you are in error’ – and Gal 6:7 – ‘do not be deceived.’) Israel’s history in the wilderness and the cycle of Judges shows us the tendency to wander from the truth which remains prevalent today (‘Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it/ Prone to leave the God I love!’) It is easy for us to forget all that God has said and done and to follow false gods. Anything that comes before God (however innocuous in itself) becomes an idol and we we need to be quick to understand the fragility and temptations which befall our hearts.

James reminds us that we have a ‘duty of care’ for each other. We are now in the family of God; we need each other and need to watch each other’s backs. In the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd went looking for the one lost sheep. We too need to be vigilant and seek to help those who are struggling (see also Gal 6:1-9). This is not a task reserved only for the pastor; ‘whoever’ can be involved! We need to shun the individual isolationism of Western society and recognise the Biblical need for interdependence. That will inevitably mean getting to know people (how can we know they are wandering from the truth unless we know them?) and caring enough to respond in practical ways.

The debate about whether Christians can lose their salvation has been discussed for centuries. Whatever our views on the topic of apostasy, there is a need for the family of God to be like the trapeze artist’s safety net. We need to be willing to confront each other gently, holding out the word of life and being prepared to both love and challenge each other. It is not easy to do this, for we risk offending people and are often indifferent to each other’s needs. Nonetheless, James concludes his book with a reminder of the eternal significance of these actions and the collective responsibility of God’s people.

Since Mark’s sermon on Jeremiah 6:16 (The Dream Cross Code), I have been thinking a lot about signposts. A crossroads without signposts isn’t much use: how do you know which way you’re supposed to take if there are no signposts?! And some signs aren’t that helpful at all. This one in France always makes me smile (one arrow points one way proclaiming ‘all directions’ whilst the other points in the opposite direction proclaiming ‘other directions’!):

At the National Railway Museum in York yesterday, one of the new exhibits is a ‘typical’ railway signpost with some decidedly untypical signs!

In case you can’t read the signs, they say:
* ‘Late again, miss the train’
* ‘Single or return?’
* ‘I left it on the 3.15’
* ‘One last kiss goodbye’
* ‘Bustle and confusion’

I’m not sure those signs would be terribly helpful at a train station, but Psalm 119 has some other useful advice about signs: “How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word. I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted.” (Ps 119:9) Another verse from that psalm says “Barricade the road that goes Nowhere; grace me with your clear revelation. I choose the true road to Somewhere, I post your road signs at every curve and corner.”

When we are at the crossroads, we can know that God will give us the signposts we need to make wise choices and that there is grace available for us to walk in His ways. The people of Israel did not make a wise choice according to Jeremiah: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it,and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’” (Jer 6:16) They refused to take the right path and refused to listen to God (see also verse 17). God’s warning to the church at Laodicea, as to all the churches mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3, is ‘Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ (Rev 3:22) We need to be grateful for the road signs and signposts that God gives us and we need to heed what He says to us. There is no substitute for obedience.

Mark started last night’s sermon by asking us to define ‘cool’: is it defined by the way you dress, by the things you own (big house, swimming pool, fast car etc.), by the gadgets you possess? The problem with defining ‘cool’ is that it is very subjective: young people may think it’s cool to dress one way (low-slung jeans, for example, which apparently make it difficult to walk normally and which reveal all manner of underwear and bare flesh…!) whilst others think that’s just plain daft! Hairstyles are one area where there’s great experimentation, but it’s a fine line between looking stylish and foolish.

Mark used a microwave to demonstrate how a flat pack of popcorn (which would definitely be inedible) can be transformed into buttery, edible popcorn:

That could definitely be counted as cool!

Coolness in the Bible is not always something to be admired, however. The church at Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22) thought they were successful and pleasing God. Laodicea was famous for producing black wool (which was used to make rugs and carpets), for being a rich banking city and for eye ointment: all things which made it stand out from its neighbours. But God’s opinion of the church there was far from complimentary: He described them as ‘wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.’

The reason for this judgment was that they were neither hot nor cold; they were lukewarm – a state which God says prompts Him to ‘spit you out of my mouth’ (Rev 3:17). Other versions talk about vomiting or spewing – strong words indeed.

It was not that the Laodicean church was not doing things, but their motivation and attitude towards God were clearly not right. They were no longer on fire for God and were not serving Him whole-heartedly. In some ways, it is very easy to just ‘go through the motions’ with regard to our Christian walk, but God sees our hearts and knows what we are really like on the inside. Being lukewarm is like trying to drink tepid tea: the instinct is to spit it out because it is not what it should be!

God’s solution for this church was counsel ‘to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.’ (Rev 3:18) They needed spiritual gold (not the ‘stuff’ that the world considers necessary to be cool); robes of righteousness (not the fashion items the world deems cool) and spiritual vision (not the eye ointment for which the city was famous). God disciplines His children (see Hebrews 12:5-6) out of love. Our primary task must be to love God with all we are and have and to hear what He is saying to the churches: “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Rev 3:22) That way, we avoid the peril of thinking we’re cool when all we really are are fools.

With the advent of spring finally reaching Goldthorpe, the family service last night looked at the theme of ‘coolness’. This can, of course, be taken in a number of ways! We started with a wordsearch on ice creams to get us into the Bank Holiday mood:

There were many different answers (pistachio, strawberry, vanilla, cookie dough etc.), but here’s a photo of a huge ice cream to keep us on topic!

As usual, there were prizes for the winners:

… including cool sunglasses:

‘Being cool’ is a hard thing to define. For some, ‘the Fonz’ was the epitome of cool:

This is one person’s idea of ‘cool’:

Others may think of fashion, fast cars or fame when they think of this word, but Mark had other ideas…