étrangère

Who's church for?

2012-01-29T09:37:00.000Z

Many people I know have some idea that church isn't for them - or at least, that church-going folk would think that church isn't for them. And in a document of the 16th century, I came across a helpful summary of who the Lord's Supper (and therefore church) is really for - and who would be best staying away! Which are you?

Who are to come to the Lord's table [in church]?
Those who are displeased with themselves because of their sins, but who nevertheless trust that their sins are pardoned and that their continuing weakness is covered by the suffering and death of Christ, and who also desire more and more to strengthen their faith and to lead a better life. Hypocrites and those who are unrepentant, however, eat and drink judgement on themselves. [Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 81]

So, sinners welcome; hypocrites keep away. Will you come?

As Christ said, 'Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'

Power, cool and decline

2012-01-26T21:31:00.001Z

A Brit in America reflects on what the church can learn from The Iron Lady - resisting the temptation to stir in the polarised American political scene, Trueman highlights the portrayal of the loss of glory in old age.

I was slightly surprised to hear from African brothers and sisters at Cape Town 2010, that they often felt ignored in the church while still 'young', pre-Forty-and-married, say. In the UK, probably some churches have that dynamic. But we are more in danger of despising age than despising youth.

'Ageing brings whispers of mortality, of weakness, of limitations; and such whispers bring an ever-increasing sympathy with others. Only the one who has felt the slow creep of weakness can truly sympathise with the weak. ... The church does not need leaders who feel strong; she needs leaders who know weakness.'

Not like Santa's grotto

2011-12-22T08:00:00.001Z

A God like Santa? Church like Santa's grotto, then - full of hardworking slaves who keep themselves to themselves and dish out the rewards or punishments? Au contraire:

To follow a God who came down to a village, and into a womb, to draw our stinking selves to himself... leads to practices such as Eddie Arthur describes in the Guardian. Nice one, Eddie!

God, deliver us from Santa!

2011-12-21T13:57:00.002Z

He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake.
He knows when you've been bad or good...
Santa Claus is coming to town!

Aaaaahhhhhh!

I don't know who made up this moralistic scary threat, and I don't care. But it worries me that so many assume that this is a Christian Christmas message. "If you don’t like God, I think I know why… You probably think He’s St Nick in the Sky."

Glen Scrivener has written a witty ditty on the subject, definitely worth a read even in this busy time:

They say there’s a big man who lives far away,
Supposedly jolly but it’s hard to say.
I’ve never seen him, and neither have you.
But the children believe, ... [continue reading.]

Thanks, Glen!

Oprah, Christianity, Quakers, the M People

2011-11-06T23:13:00.000Z

Spot the odd one out: Oprah, Christianity, The Religious Society of Friends, the M People.

'Of all horrible religions the most horrible is the worship of the god within you. ... Let Jones worship the sun or moon, anything rather than the Inner Light; let Jones worship cats or crocodiles, if he can find any in his street, but not the god within. Christianity came into the world firstly in order to assert with violence that a man had not only to look inwards, but to look outwards, to behold with astonishment ad enthusiasm a divine company and a divine captain. The only fun of being a Christian was that a man was not left alone with the Inner Light, but definitely recognised an outer light, fair as the sun, clear as the moon, terrible as an army with banners.' - G.K.Chesteron, Orthodoxy

In contrast, the name by which every Christian must be called is 'The LORD is our righteousness.' (Jeremiah 23.6)

[Quoted in The Good News We Almost Forgot, DeYoung]

He sends out his word

2011-10-02T08:00:00.004+01:00

and melts them. [Ps.147]

I've been ruminating on the start of Jeremiah. God has determined the rise of the nations to the north of Israel, that they should lay siege to Jerusalem, and tear the nation to pieces. How does he accomplish this? Clearly he's sovereign over armies. The Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he wishes. He could inspire a foreign metalworker to forge a stronger alloy for superior weaponry. He could stir up the ambition of a commander, to lead his troops to take the fortress of Jerusalem. He could give the leaders of Israel over to their stupidity, that they reveal their weakness to their old slave-masters, Egypt, hoping for an alliance. He could leave the common man so given to their pride that they don't defend the country adequately. He may have done all these things. But what he told us he was doing was this: He gave a young man a message to preach, and watched over his word to bring it about.

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,
“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.” Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

God chooses to act, he sends forth his word, in the form of a servant, and accomplishes it. Amen!

'Nothing to complain about'

2011-10-01T20:44:00.000+01:00

Often, reading voices from the past can help our balance of perspective. Do you wonder, when you read a novel or autobiography from previous centuries, what those authors would make of our contemporary lives and culture?

For one perspective, wonder no more. Mr Grzebski has woken up after 19 years in a coma, and speaks with the voice of the past viewing the present, as it were:

"What amazes me today is all these people who walk around with their mobile phones and never stop moaning," said Mr Grzebski.

"I've got nothing to complain about."

Read the whole story here, or watch it here.

There's nothing new under the sun, of course.

Freed from slavery in Egypt, '...the people of Israel also began to complain. “Oh, for some meat!” they exclaimed. “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!”' [Numbers 11.4-6]

There's plenty in the world about which to be concerned, before Jesus comes back. There is enough frustration and decay for us to long for the hope of glory. There is death and suffering enough to remind us of Jesus' weeping at his friend's tomb, and his victory over death - for us. But while we may lament, and groan under frustration, and weep with friends, and fight corruption... in many ways, Mr Grzebski is right. 'I have nothing to complain about.'

Interrupting normal service

2011-09-05T13:28:00.001+01:00

To bring you some news from the étrange life of Grier - a slight explanation of the reduced frequency of blog posts of late. Delighted to announce that I'm engaged to be married to Chris Statter. Chris works for Birmingham City Mission and comes from Manchester (via Oxford).

Chris dropped to his knees and proposed during a game of Poohsticks in Belvoir forest park in Belfast! We're thankful to our Father in heaven and pray he'd fill us with his Spirit to show the glories of his grace to us in Christ Jesus, in and through our engagement and future marriage.

Deceptive stories

2011-08-25T15:07:00.000+01:00

Being realistic is not opposed to taking flights of fancy. Which is why fairy stories and fantasy aren't a bad thing for children (or, I dare say, for adults).

C S Lewis: ...what profess to be realistic stories for children are far more likely to deceive them. I never expected the real world to be like the fairy tales. I think that I did expect school to be like the school stories. The fantasies did not deceive me: the school stories did. All stories in which children have adventures and successes which are possible, in the sense that they do not break the laws of nature, but almost infinitely improbable, are in more danger than the fairy tales of raising false expectations.

Which says, more eloquently than I, what I was trying to express in Fairy Tales and myth. And gives some indication of why I much prefer telling kids stories of dragons and wild things, than reading stories of children going to school.

An excellent creative writer, N D Wilson, is quoted by his father (also a writer!) on these things, on Justin Taylor's blog here. Well worth the read. Wilson's Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World is excellent to enjoy in morsels - a lot at one time could leave your head spinning!

Don't make me rich!

2011-08-17T14:55:00.000+01:00

In a society of rich and poor, and a huge sense of entitlement, can we cope with the level of riches we have? That is, not 'Can you live within your means?' but 'Can you have what you have without greed, covetousness, discontent or pride in possessions?'

'Society has let them down.' That doesn't excuse us our sin - pride that our lives are morally superior, our covetousness for the slightly better thing, our mistaking comfort for contentment.

Sometimes, we can be like a film star, with all the money, fine clothes and food, friends and loving family, and satisfying work we could want, gazing at TV footage of looters. 'I thank you, God, that I am not like other men: violent, robbers, greedy, unloving. I only do decent films and do lots of charity functions.'

As I search for a job, aware of the impossibility of living off Job Seeker's Allowance, it's easy to put hope in a future salary. I would love to be able to support others more in missionary work. But also, realistically, as the inspired heart-doctor James wrote, 'even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong - you want only what will give you pleasure.'

'But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires.'

So in an excellent reflection on the recent spates of looting in English cities (Looters: them or us?), Mike Ovey reminds us of the (difficult) prayer of the Wise:

Give me neither poverty nor riches!
Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, "Who is the Lord?"
And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name. [Proverbs 30:8-9 NLT]

Can we truly pray that? 'Lord, please keep me from being more rich than I can cope with. Keep me poor enough to rely on you and love others.'

'So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honour.'

Flames upon their head - Mythopoeia 5

2011-07-30T08:00:00.001+01:00

Continued, Tolkien to Lewis, 1931. [Parts 1, 2, 3, 4]

In Paradise perchance the eye may stray
from gazing upon everlasting Day
to see the day illumined, and renew
from mirrored truth the likeness of the True.
Then looking on the Blessed Land 'twill see
that all is as it is, and yet made free:
Salvation changes not, nor yet destroys,
garden nor gardener, children nor their toys.
Evil it will not see, for evil lies
not in God's picture but in crooked eyes,
not in the source but in malicious choice,
and not in sound but in the tuneless voice.
In Paradise they look no more awry;
and though they make anew, they make no lie.
Be sure they still will make, not being dead,
and poets shall have flames upon their head,
and harps whereon their faultless fingers fall:
there each shall choose for ever from the All.

John Stott with his incomparable Christ

2011-07-29T11:00:00.000+01:00

Post updated 29 July:
Obits worth reading, in all major UK press - BBC online here; Independent here; Telegraph here; Guardian here; Times also posted but behind a pay-to-view wall.

[27 July]
Dr John R W Stott died this afternoon, surrounded by friends, listening to Handel's Messiah having just heard 2 Timothy read. What glory and joy for him to be face to face with the Christ he loved, served and preached for so long, and hear the words, 'Well done, good and faithful servant: enter into the joy of your Master.' What loss for us.

It is hard to imagine a British evangelical church scene without John Stott. In fact, such was his influence - not colonial, but as a humble servant - that it is hard to imagine the international setting without Uncle John's testimony to Jesus Christ and all his teachings. Yet he was faithful in passing the baton to others, as he was faithful in stewarding talents and starting or developing such ministries: The Lausanne Movement (initiated by Billy Graham, with JRWS bringing a theological unifying factor), Langham Partnership International, IFES, the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, and All Souls Langham Place - all continue with ministries under the leadership of men he encouraged.

His books continue to speak of his Christ: from Basic Christianity, the means of leading so many to faith in Christ, through his magnum opus, The Cross of Christ, to his final word: The Radical Disciple.

Tributes are everywhere - there's a memorial site on which you can share, www.johnstottmemorial.org, and from All Souls, Lausanne, Christianity Today, Justin Taylor at the Gospel Coalition, Derek Thomas at Ref21... Look out for obits in the broadsheets, to honour this servant, and we pray, lead many to worship his Lord and Saviour.

I will not walk with your progressive apes - Mythopoeia 4

2011-07-29T08:00:00.004+01:00

Continued [part 1, 2 & 3], by J R R Tolkein, to C S Lewis, 1931.

I would that I might with the minstrels sing
and stir the unseen with a throbbing string.
I would be with the mariners of the deep
that cut their slender planks on mountains steep
and voyage upon a vague and wandering quest,
for some have passed beyond the fabled West.
I would with the beleaguered fools be told,
that keep an inner fastness where their gold,
impure and scanty, yet they loyally bring
to mint in image blurred of distant king,
or in fantastic banners weave the sheen
heraldic emblems of a lord unseen.

I will not walk with your progressive apes,
erect and sapient. Before them gapes
the dark abyss to which their progress tends
if by God's mercy progress ever ends,
and does not ceaselessly revolve the same
unfruitful course with changing of a name.
I will not treat your dusty path and flat,
denoting this and that by this and that,
your world immutable wherein no part
the little maker has with maker's art.
I bow not yet before the Iron Crown,
nor cast my own small golden sceptre down.

To be continued...

Blessed are the legend-makers - Mythopoeia 3

2011-07-28T08:00:00.006+01:00

Continued from Mythopoeia 1 and 2 'And still recalls him'; by J R R Tolkien, to CSL in 1931.

Yes! 'wish-fulfilment dreams' we spin to cheat

our timid hearts and ugly Fact defeat!
Whence came the wish, and whence the power to dream,
or some things fair and others ugly deem?
All wishes are not idle, nor in vain
fulfilment we devise - for pain is pain,
not for itself to be desired, but ill;
or else to strive or to subdue the will
alike were graceless; and of Evil this
alone is deadly certain: Evil is.

Blessed are the timid hearts that evil hate
that quail in its shadow, and yet shut the gate;
that seek no parley, and in guarded room,
though small and bate, upon a clumsy loom
weave tissues gilded by the far-off day
hoped and believed in under Shadow's sway.

Blessed are the men of Noah's race that build
their little arks, though frail and poorly filled,
and steer through winds contrary towards a wraith,
a rumour of a harbour guessed by faith.

Blessed are the legend-makers with their rhyme
of things not found within recorded time.
It is not they that have forgot the Night,
or bid us flee to organized delight,
in lotus-isles of economic bliss
forswearing souls to gain a Circe-kiss
(and counterfeit at that, machine-produced,
bogus seduction of the twice-seduced).
Such isles they saw afar, and ones more fair,
and those that hear them yet may yet beware.
They have seen Death and ultimate defeat,
and yet they would not in despair retreat,
but oft to victory have tuned the lyre
and kindled hearts with legendary fire,
illuminating Now and dark Hath-been
with light of suns as yet by no man seen.

To be continued...

'And still recalls him' - Mythopoeia 2

2011-07-27T08:00:00.006+01:00

Continued from part 1 - Mythopoeia, by J R R Tolkien...

He sees no stars who does not see them first
of living silver made that sudden burst
to flame like flowers beneath an ancient song,
whose very echo after-music long
has since pursued. There is no firmament,
only a void, unless a jewelled tent
myth-woven and elf-patterned; and no earth,
unless the mother's womb whence all have birth.

The heart of Man is not compound of lies,
but draws some wisdom from the only Wise,
and still recalls him. Though now long estranged,
Man is not wholly lost nor wholly changed.
Dis-graced he may be, yet is not dethroned,
and keeps the rags of lordship once he owned,
his world-dominion by creative act:
not his to worship the great Artefact,
Man, Sub-creator, the refracted light
through whom is splintered from a single White
to many hues, and endlessly combined
in living shapes that move from mind to mind.

Though all the crannies of the world we filled
with Elves and Goblins, though we dared to build
Gods and their houses out of dark and light,
and sowed the seed of dragons, 'twas our right
(used or misused). The right has not decayed.
We make still by the law in which we're made.

[Paragraphs mine.] To be continued...

Mythopoeia

2011-07-26T11:31:00.001+01:00

While I was pondering the value of fairy tales, I met several parents who didn't seem to value them for their children. I recalled that growing up, the fiction shelves in the library started to fill with realistic books. Stories of broken families, of grumbling teenagers, of children like me. But I didn't want to read of children like me, and a plain messy world. I knew that people were sinful and the world subject to frustration.

As a child, I wanted to read of greater possibilities, to call me out of myself. Not escapism, but words of power to call me on to glory, beauty, faithfulness, hope and love. To know, meeting those things in another broken world, that they might yet be my portion in this world. Fairly tales, myth and legend are timeless, and therefore always relevant. The story of teenagers trying to whine their way through the mundane of school life, well, I didn't need someone to write to me about that.

Now C S Lewis was on a pursuit of glory, of joy. Surprised to find it in Christ, he turned against the myths which had so fascinated him before. In 1931, he argued about this with his friend Tolkien, who wrote a poem in response, 'To one who said that myths were lies and therefore worthless, even though 'breathed through silver'.' It's quite an astonishing read - although, we don't know if Lewis embraced the views Tolkien tackled, or if his friend was showing him his opinions pushed to logical extreme.

Philomythus to Misomythus

You look at trees and label them just so,
(for trees are 'trees', and growing is 'to grow');
you walk the earth and tread with solemn pace
one of the many minor globes of Space:
a star's a star, some matter in a ball
compelled to courses mathematical
amid the regimented, cold, inane,
where destined atoms are each moment slain.

At bidding of a Will, to which we bend
(and must), but only dimly apprehend,
great processes march on, as Time unrolls
from dark beginnings to uncertain goals;
and as on page o'er-written without clue,
with script and limning packed of various hue,
an endless multitude of forms appear,
some grim, some frail, some beautiful, some queer,
each alien, except as kin from one
remote Origo, gnat, man, stone, and sun.
God made the petreous rocks, the arboreal trees,
tellurian earth, and stellar stars, and these
homuncular men, who walk upon the ground
with nerves that tingle touched by light and sound.
The movements of the sea, the wind in boughs,
green grass, the large slow oddity of cows,
thunder and lightning, birds that wheel and cry,
slime crawling up from mud to live and die,
these each are duly registered and print
the brain's contortions with a separate dint.

Yet trees are not 'trees', until so named and seen
and never were so named, till those had been
who speech's involuted breath unfurled,
faint echo and dim picture of the world,
but neither record nor a photograph,
being divination, judgement, and a laugh
response of those that felt astir within
by deep monition movements that were kin
to life and death of trees, of beasts, of stars:
free captives undermining shadowy bars,
digging the foreknown from experience
and panning the vein of spirit out of sense.
Great powers they slowly brought out of themselves
and looking backward they beheld the elves
that wrought on cunning forges in the mind,
and light and dark on secret looms entwined.

To be continued tomorrow...

Cape Town 2010

2011-07-23T17:14:00.000+01:00

What was Cape Town 2010? Does it have any lasting impact? What about The Lausanne Movement? An excellent 14 minute documentary gives a glimpse into the Congress - well worth watching:

Order a copy of The Cape Town Commitment here, or find it in other languages at www.lausanne.org/books

Whole of life as... premarital counselling

2011-07-14T19:09:00.000+01:00

There's a strange phenomenon around: people being engaged for ... 5, 10+ years. No wedding in sight, apparently. Now, whatever the sociological reasons for that, it's not unlike a lot of us Christians live. We're engaged, but sort of forgetful that we've a wedding ahead - we live as if we're not planning or looking forward to anything.

In these very helpful paragraphs, from 'Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands', Paul Tripp explains that the only way to go through life properly is to understand we are engaged:

Keeping the final destination in view is the only way to solve the problems of today. ... Paul captures this principle of 'long view living' in 2 Corinthians 11:1-3.
I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Paul understands the Christian life eschatologically. This means that today is preparation for tomorrow, and tomorrow is preparation for something else to come. Paul is saying, 'I know I have hovered over you, but you need to understand why. I am afraid that you will forget who you are and to whom you have been promised.' To Paul, the only way to go through life properly is to understand that we are engaged. We have been betrothed to Christ, and our life now is preparation for the great wedding to come.

The difficulties now, the suffering now, the disappointments now, and hte blessings now are all preparation fo the wedding then. Our experiences today do not reflect God's inattention or unfaithfulness, but his jealous love. He is exposing our wandering hearts and foolish minds and the ways we trust our passions more than the principles of his Word. He is calling us to forsake our own glory for his, and teaching us that the idols we pursue will never satisfy us. He is making us wise to temptation and aware of a lurking enemy. He is teaching us to live for treasures that moth and rust can't destroy and that thieves can't steal. He is teaching us what it means to live in a way that recognises our identity as his children. He is teaching us to live open, approachable, and humble lives.

In other words, your whole life is premarital counselling! You belong to a groom whose name is Immanuel, and God is preparing you for the wedding for which you were created and redeemed. Everything you face today is premarital preparation - living now with then in view.

In contrast, sin produces in all of us a tendency toward 'now-ism,' which means we forget three things: who we are (betrothed to Christ); what he is doing now (preparing us for the final wedding); and what we are supposed to be doing (remaining faithful to him). When we focus only on what we want now, we fail to solve our problems and we also cause more difficulties. A common factor in depression is self-absorbed now-ism. Anger is often fuelled by a self-righteous now-ism. Fear and anxiety are strengthened by an obsession with the here and now. Maturity and perseverance are weakened by a 'now' mentality.

Teaching others how to solve now problems with then in view is one of the most important things we can do, because it is not something we sinners do well on our own. We tend to be short-sighted and self-absorbed. We forget that God's primary goal is not changing our situations and relationships so that we can be happy, but changing us through our situations and relationships so that we will be holy. We need people who love God and us enough to come alongside and help us deal with our spiritual myopia.

Fairy tales

2011-07-06T22:25:00.001+01:00

I'm in love with fairy tales. [Not like this - but I couldn't resist.] No, C S Lewis and others taught me to delight in fairy tales, and not think it childish. In fact, it often seems more serious. Here's an article with brilliant quotes from Lewis - on 'Three Objections to Fairy Tales and C S Lewis' response' from a series, 'Live like a Narnian'.

To Chad

2011-07-04T08:00:00.002+01:00

If you're interested in things Africa, or medical, or the gospel, or all three, check out my sister's blog:

I'm rather glad she's started blogging, as she's off to Chad for the next several years.

Paris

2011-07-01T16:13:00.002+01:00

When I lived in Brussels, we bemoaned the fact that the IFES Interaction teams in Paris and Nice seemed to fill up before the Brussels team - couldn't imagine why. Well, the current Paris team have gone some way to explaining it, in a rather arty way. (I have to appreciate the skills of some ex-Relay worker friends!) Not that what they say about Paris is substantially different to Brussels...

5. We love God the Holy Spirit

2011-06-22T11:08:00.000+01:00

One would sometimes think that God the Holy Spirit is a spirit of controversy. After all, what would spark your interest to read something on the Holy Spirit? A post entitled, 'Famous speaker sparks controversy over spiritual gifts!' or 'We love God the Holy Spirit'? Well, you're reading this, so let's take that as a sign that we're not all entirely Corinthian. And on to this lovely expression of faith in God the Holy Spirit, from Part I 5 of the Cape Town Commitment.

5. We love God the Holy Spirit

We love the Holy Spirit within the unity of the Trinity, along with God the Father and God the Son. He is the missionary Spirit sent by the missionary Father and the missionary Son, breathing life and power into God’s missionary Church. We love and pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit because without the witness of the Spirit to Christ, our own witness is futile. Without the convicting work of the Spirit, our preaching is in vain. Without the gifts, guidance and power of the Spirit, our mission is mere human effort. And without the fruit of the Spirit, our unattractive lives cannot reflect the beauty of the gospel.

[1]

[2]

There is no true or whole gospel, and no authentic biblical mission, without the Person, work and power of the Holy Spirit. We pray for a greater awakening to this biblical truth, and for its experience to be reality in all parts of the worldwide body of Christ. However, we are aware of the many abuses that masquerade under the name of the Holy Spirit, the many ways in which all kinds of phenomena are practised and praised which are not the gifts of the Holy Spirit as clearly taught in the New Testament. There is great need for more profound discernment, for clear warnings against delusion, for the exposure of fraudulent and self-serving manipulators who abuse spiritual power for their own ungodly enrichment. Above all there is a great need for sustained biblical teaching and preaching, soaked in humble prayer, that will equip ordinary believers to understand and rejoice in the true gospel and to recognize and reject false gospels.

[1] Genesis 1:1-2; Psalm 104:27-30; Job 33:4; Exodus 35:30-36:1; Judges 3:10; 6:34; 13:25; Numbers 11:16-17, 29; Isaiah 63:11-14; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Micah 3:8; Nehemiah 9:20, 30; Zechariah 7:7-12; Isaiah 11:1-5; 42:1-7; 61:1-3; 32:15-18; Ezekiel 36:25-27; 37:1-14; Joel 2:28-32

[2] Acts 2; Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Peter 1:2; Ephesians 4:3-6; 11-12; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 1 Corinthians 14:1; John 20:21-22; 14:16-17, 25-26; 16:12-15; Romans 8:26-27; Ephesians 6:10-18; John 4:23-24; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 14:13-17; Matthew 10:17-20; Luke 21:15

The Cape Town Commitment can be purchased here. Lindsay Brown, presenting the Commitment to leaders in Boston, said that if he were teaching missiology in a Bible College or seminary, this would be his textbook for the year - there's enough in it, despite its slim size and accessibility!

4. We love God the Son

2011-06-19T08:00:00.003+01:00

Continuing with The Cape Town Commitment - on this Lord's Day:

God commanded Israel to love the LORD God with exclusive loyalty. Likewise for us, loving the Lord Jesus Christ means that we steadfastly affirm that he alone is Saviour, Lord and God. The Bible teaches that Jesus performs the same sovereign actions as God alone. Christ is Creator of the universe, Ruler of history, Judge of all nations and Saviour of all who turn to God.[14] He shares the identity of God in the divine equality and unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Just as God called Israel to love him in covenantal faith, obedience and servant-witness, we affirm our love for Jesus Christ by trusting in him, obeying him, and making him known.

A We trust in Christ. We believe the testimony of the Gospels that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the one appointed and sent by God to fulfil the unique mission of Old Testament Israel, that is to bring the blessing of God’s salvation to all nations, as God promised to Abraham.

In Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, God took our human flesh and lived among us, fully God and fully human.
In his life Jesus walked in perfect faithfulness and obedience to God. He announced and taught the kingdom of God, and modelled the way his disciples must live under God’s reign.
In his ministry and miracles, Jesus announced and demonstrated the victory of the kingdom of God over evil and evil powers.
In his death on the cross, Jesus took our sin upon himself in our place, bearing its full cost, penalty and shame, defeated death and the powers of evil, and accomplished the reconciliation and redemption of all creation.
In his bodily resurrection, Jesus was vindicated and exalted by God, completed and demonstrated the full victory of the cross, and became the forerunner of redeemed humanity and restored creation.
Since his ascension, Jesus is reigning as Lord over all history and creation.
At his return, Jesus will execute God’s judgment, destroy Satan, evil and death, and establish the universal reign of God.

B We obey Christ. Jesus calls us to discipleship, to take up our cross and follow him in the path of self-denial, servanthood and obedience. ‘If you love me, keep my commandments,’ he said. ‘Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things I say?’ We are called to live as Christ lived and to love as Christ loved. To profess Christ while ignoring his commands is dangerous folly. Jesus warns us that many who claim his name with spectacular and miraculous ministries will find themselves disowned by him as evildoers.[15] We take heed to Christ’s warning, for none of us is immune to such fearful danger.

C We proclaim Christ. In Christ alone God has fully and finally revealed himself, and through Christ alone God has achieved salvation for the world. We therefore kneel as disciples at the feet of Jesus of Nazareth and say to him with Peter, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,’ and with Thomas, ‘My Lord and my God.’ Though we have not seen him, we love him. And we rejoice with hope as we long for the day of his return when we shall see him as he is. Until that day we join Peter and John in proclaiming that ‘there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.’ [16]

We commit ourselves afresh to bear witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching, in all the world, knowing that we can bear such witness only if we are living in obedience to his teaching ourselves.

(Purchase The Cape Town Commitment.)

'See in it a chance to die'

2011-06-17T08:00:00.000+01:00

Lord Crucified, O mark Thy holy cross
On motive, preference, all fond desires;
On that which self in any form inspires
Set Thou that sign of loss.

And when the touch of death is here and there
Laid on a thing most precious in our eyes
Let us not wonder, let us recognise
The answer to this prayer.

Amy Carmichael, of Northern Ireland / India

Or as Ajith Fernando of Sri Lanka wrote, in Embracing suffering in service:

The biblical model of community life is Jesus’ command to love one another as he loved us — that is, for members to die for other members (John 15:12-13). The model of Christian leadership is that of the Good Shepherd dying for the sheep (John 10:11-15). We don’t discard people when they have problems and cannot do their job properly.
As the cross is a basic aspect of discipleship, the Church must train Christian leaders to expect pain and hardship. When this perspective enters our minds, then pain will not touch our joy and contentment in Christ.

In a world whose idols are physical health, appearance and convenience, God may be calling Christians to demonstrate the glory of the gospel by being joyfully contented while enduring pain and hardship. People pursuing unsatisfying things may be astonished when they see Christians who are joyful and content after depriving themselves of these, for the sake of the gospel.

Patrick Fung, Singapore, director of OMF, in partnership - equilibrium vs diversity:

The cross is at the centre of reconciliation. The cross symbolises death in obedience to God. And therefore true biblical partnership requires of each of us something of a death to self. It may be death to our own ambition in order to see others succeed. It may be death to our own desire to be in key positions of influence or controlling power so that others can be in positions of leadership. It could be death to our own opinions or insisting on how ministries should be run, but trusting others to be used by God, for greater work.
Having criticised the word equilibrium, I believe that we could have a new equilibrium, that is, a kingdom equilibrium which comes from the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. When members of God’s community contribute sacrificially for the sake of the Kingdom. Equilibrium is possible, when there is submission to Jesus Christ, when there is submission to one another, and there is death to self.

3. We love God the Father

2011-06-16T08:00:00.005+01:00

From The Cape Town Commitment (part I), because we need a reminder:

Through Jesus Christ, God’s Son, - and through him alone as the way, the truth and the life - we come to know and love God as Father. As the Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children, so we cry the words Jesus prayed, ‘Abba, Father’, and we pray the prayer Jesus taught, ‘Our Father’. Our love for Jesus, proved by obeying him, is met by the Father’s love for us as the Father and the Son make their home in us, in mutual giving and receiving of love.[10] This intimate relationship has deep biblical foundations.

A) We love God as the Father of his people. Old Testament Israel knew God as Father, as the one who brought them into existence, carried them and disciplined them, called for their obedience, longed for their love, and exercised compassionate forgiveness and patient enduring love.[11] All these remain true for us as God’s people in Christ in our relationship with our Father God.

B) We love God as the Father, who so loved the world that he gave his only Son for our salvation. How great the Father’s love for us that we should be called the children of God. How immeasurable the love of the Father who did not spare his only Son, but gave him up for us all. This love of the Father in giving the Son was mirrored by the self-giving love of the Son. There was complete harmony of will in the work of atonement that the Father and the Son accomplished at the cross, through the eternal Spirit. The Father loved the world and gave his Son; ‘the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me.’ This unity of Father and Son, affirmed by Jesus himself, is echoed in Paul’s most repeated greeting of ‘grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins…according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’[12]

C) We love God as the Father whose character we reflect and whose care we trust. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus repeatedly points to our heavenly Father as the model or focus for our action. We are to be peacemakers, as sons of God. We are to do good deeds, so that our Father receives the praise. We are to love our enemies in reflection of God’s Fatherly love. We are to practise our giving, praying and fasting for our Father’s eyes only. We are to forgive others as our Father forgives us. We are to have no anxiety but trust in our Father’s provision. With such behaviour flowing from Christian character, we do the will of our Father in heaven, within the kingdom of God.[13]

We confess that we have often neglected the truth of the Fatherhood of God and deprived ourselves of the riches of our relationship with him. We commit ourselves afresh to come to the Father through Jesus the Son: to receive and respond to his Fatherly love; to live in obedience under his Fatherly discipline; to reflect his Fatherly character in all our behaviour and attitudes; and to trust in his Fatherly provision in whatever circumstances he leads us.

Gospels = eye-witness accounts

2011-06-15T15:02:00.000+01:00

If you're not sure, take a listen to this engaging and up-front lecture by Dr Pete Williams (Warden of Tyndale House, Cambridge).

As the sun is full of light

2011-06-12T20:36:00.000+01:00

O Holy Spirit,

As the sun is full of light,
the ocean full of water,
Heaven full of glory, so may my heart be full of thee.

Vain are all divine purposes of love
and the redemption wrought by Jesus
except thou work within,
regenerating by thy power,
giving me eyes to see Jesus,
showing me the realities of the unseen world.

Give me thyself without measure,
as an unimpaired fountain,
an inexhaustible riches.

I bewail my coldness, poverty, emptiness,
imperfect vision, languid service,
prayerless prayers, praiseless praises.

Suffer me not to grieve or resist thee.

Come as power,
to expel every rebel lust, to reign supreme and keep me thine;

Come as teacher,
leading me into all truth, filling me with all understanding;

Come as love,
that I may adore the Father, and love him as my all;

Come as joy,
to dwell in me, move in me, animate me;

Come as light,
illuminating the Scripture, moulding me in its laws;

Come as sanctifier,
body, soul and spirit wholly thine;

Come as helper,
with strength to bless and keep, directing my every step;

Come as beautifier,
bringing order out of confusion, loveliness out of chaos.

Magnify to me thy glory by being magnified in me,
and make me redolent of thy fragrance.

- Arthur Bennett, based on Puritan writings. The Valley of Vision

2 We love the living God

2011-06-10T08:00:00.002+01:00

Continuing contemplation from The Cape Town Commitment - today's section is hard to hear:

2 We love the living God

Our God whom we love reveals himself in the Bible as the one, eternal, living God who governs all things according to his sovereign will and for his saving purpose. In the unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God alone is the Creator, Ruler, Judge and Saviour of the world.[6] So we love God - thanking him for our place in creation, submitting to his sovereign providence, trusting in his justice, and praising him for the salvation he has accomplished for us.

A We love God above all rivals. We are commanded to love and worship the living God alone. But like Old Testament Israel we allow our love for God to be adulterated by going after the gods of this world, the gods of the people around us.[7] We fall into syncretism, enticed by many idols such as greed, power and success, serving mammon rather than God. We accept dominant political and economic ideologies without biblical critique. We are tempted to compromise our belief in the uniqueness of Christ under the pressure of religious pluralism. Like Israel we need to hear the call of the prophets and of Jesus himself to repent, to forsake all such rivals, and to return to obedient love and worship of God alone.

B We love God with passion for his glory. The greatest motivation for our mission is the same as that which drives the mission of God himself – that the one true living God should be known and glorified throughout his whole creation. That is God’s ultimate goal and should be our greatest joy.

‘If God desires every knee to bow to Jesus and every tongue to confess him, so should we. We should be “jealous” (as Scripture sometimes puts it) for the honour of his name -- troubled when it remains unknown, hurt when it is ignored, indignant when it is blasphemed, and all the time anxious and determined that it shall be given the honour and glory which are due to it. The highest of all missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission (important as that is), nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (strong as that incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God) but rather zeal -- burning and passionate zeal -- for the glory of Jesus Christ. … Before this supreme goal of the Christian mission, all unworthy motives wither and die.’[8] John Stott

It should be our greatest grief that in our world the living God is not glorified. The living God is denied in aggressive atheism. The one true God is replaced or distorted in the practice of world religions. Our Lord Jesus Christ is abused and misrepresented in some popular cultures. And the face of the God of biblical revelation is obscured by Christian nominalism, syncretism and hypocrisy.

Loving God in the midst of a world that rejects or distorts him, calls for bold but humble witness to our God; robust but gracious defence of the truth of the gospel of Christ, God’s Son; and prayerful trust in the convicting and convincing work of his Holy Spirit. We commit ourselves to such witness, for if we claim to love God we must share God’s greatest priority, which is that his name and his Word should be exalted above all things.[9]

Captivating ideas

2011-06-08T08:00:00.001+01:00

In the BBC's All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace, Adam Curtis gives a persuasive interpretation of history, proposing that much of our current outlook and many of our contemporary problems, are caused by the general acceptance of fictional theories, as science. The first episode considered the impact of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged on global economy, with the grip of the idea of capitalistic progress through free trade regulated by selfishness - and the consequent collapse of markets. The second proposed that the idea of ecological systems was a fiction, born of Eugene P Odum's Fundamentals of Ecology, and applied to society - a flawed search for equilibrium. The third episode presented the question: Why do we find it compelling, to reduce ourselves to machines, equations and mechanics? Perhaps it is to avoid responsibility for the horrific crimes we have committed.

I certainly found the concepts of mathematics laughable. It seems thus:

I have/come across a philosophical / sociological idea about how people act in certain ways

I describe it in terms of mathematical equations

Conclusion: Science says why people act in certain ways

Ethical conclusion: We should act according to this model

Lesson to learn, please! Just because some sociological theory about how people act, can be described as a mathematical model, does not mean it is correct. And it certainly doesn't become scientific fact. Simply because there is a model for how a limited sample of people act, doesn't mean that we should universally pursue this mode of conduct.

Made in the image of a Triune God of love and grace, we should know that our selfishness would not produce general growth, because it was God's self-giving which produced the universe. Knowing that this world is cursed subject to futility, we should know that 'nature' and society do not tend to balance, but to decay. And yes, we suppress the truth of our humanity in order to avoid blame for our corruption. If we can describe our actions with equations, we can sleep at night. The blood of equations does not cry to us from the ground. The flaw: we are not machines, and we need love and grace from others, and from our creator, to survive.

1 We love because God first loved us

2011-06-07T11:59:00.000+01:00

The Cape Town Commitment is a fruit of The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, October 2010. 4,200 evangelical leaders from 198 countries met together, with the goal - to bring a fresh challenge to the global Church to bear witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching - in every nation, in every sphere of society, and in the realm of ideas.

The statement is in two parts. Part I sets out biblical convictions, passed down to us in the scriptures, and Part II sounds the call to action. As we need to hear the voice of believers in other countries filling in our blind spots, and need to call each other on to faithfulness to the Lord we love, I'll be posting excerpts from The Cape Town Commitment. Each is worth reflection. (It is also available in Arabic, German, French, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese and Spanish, and can be purchased from your local Christian bookshop or online.)

1 We love because God first loved us

The mission of God flows from the love of God. The mission of God’s people flows from our love for God and for all that God loves. World evangelization is the outflow of God’s love to us and through us. We affirm the primacy of God’s grace and we then respond to that grace by faith, demonstrated through the obedience of love. We love because God first loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.[1]

A Love for God and love for neighbour constitute the first and greatest commandments on which hang all the law and the prophets. Love is the fulfilling of the law, and the first named fruit of the Spirit. Love is the evidence that we are born again; the assurance that we know God; and the proof that God dwells within us. Love is the new commandment of Christ, who told his disciples that only as they obeyed this commandment would their mission be visible and believable. Christian love for one another is how the unseen God, who made himself visible through his incarnate Son, goes on making himself visible to the world. Love was among the first things that Paul observed and commended among new believers, along with faith and hope. But love is the greatest, for love never ends.[2]

B Such love is not weak or sentimental. The love of God is covenantally faithful, committed, self-giving, sacrificial, strong, and holy. Since God is love, love permeates God’s whole being and all his actions, his justice as well as his compassion. God’s love extends over all his creation. We are commanded to love in ways that reflect the love of God in all those same dimensions. That is what it means to walk in the way of the Lord. [3]

C So in framing our convictions and our commitments in terms of love, we are taking up the most basic and demanding biblical challenge of all:

to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength;
to love our neighbour (including the foreigner and the enemy) as ourselves;
to love one another as God in Christ has loved us, and
to love the world with the love of the One who gave his only Son that the world through him might be saved.[4]

D Such love is the gift of God poured out in our hearts, but it is also the command of God requiring the obedience of our wills. Such love means to be like Christ himself: robust in endurance, yet gentle in humility; tough in resisting evil, yet tender in compassion for the suffering; courageous in suffering and faithful even unto death. Such love was modelled by Christ on earth and is measured by the risen Christ in glory.[5]

We affirm that such comprehensive biblical love should be the defining identity and hallmark of disciples of Jesus. In response to the prayer and command of Jesus, we long that it should be so for us. Sadly we confess that too often it is not. So we re-commit ourselves afresh to make every effort to live, think, speak and behave in ways that express what it means to walk in love - love for God, love for one another and love for the world.

Go with the flow

2011-05-27T08:00:00.000+01:00

Komezuka, (c) William Cho

God's overflowing kindness reaches us as if the world is an inverted bowl.

[Stop: stretchy metaphor alert - no need to call the flat earth society.] We tend to try desperately to stay in a shallow pool of gracieness at the top (wondering why it keeps spilling over the sides) - because it's nicer at the top, right? We'd prefer to call those from the rim and plains up to join us on the top basking in the view. Or at least, let's make sure our position's secure: hammer in a few pins to hold on to our supreme comforts and values, and then make some trips abseiling down the side to drag up a few.

While God's grace flows unceasingly down to the edges.

Trouble is, God likes to show his love through his people. So if we resist rolling with his abundant flow of grace downhill where we may not feel so comfortable, how's it going to get there?

Roger Carswell reflects on this dynamic applied to less reached people in the UK, in Not listening to God?

And I'm looking forward to the videos of the recent Reaching The Unreached conference; for now, Neil Robbie has posted his notes from the sessions.

[Repost]

Avoiding saying silly things

2011-05-25T08:00:00.002+01:00

Apparently, a new app has been developed to Stop One Saying Silly Self-Important Things (SOS-IT).

Some years ago, Phyllis Tickle likened Brian McLaren to Luther and the Emergent Church to the kind of paradigm shift that happens only once a millennium. The amazing thing was not that she said this; in a world shaped by the continual escalation of sales rhetoric, this kind of language is to be expected in advertising. No. What was truly amazing was that people actually took her seriously, friend and foe alike. Such people are in urgent need of help to stop them saying or believing things that are very, very silly and absurdly self-important.

Enter the church historians. [Carl Trueman*]

So, go buy your SOS-IT. It's what used to be called an historian. Or have an instructive read of Trueman's latest, The Price of Everything. He's as sure as a Brit among Americans can be, that 'cynicism is one of the historian's great gifts to the church.'

To put it bluntly, cynicism serves to keep things, especially us, in proper perspective.

* Not see an amusing irony there, of critiquing self-importance while presenting your own discipline as The Solution?

'I wish I had your faith!'

2011-05-22T17:09:00.000+01:00

Here it is, then!

Q. What is true faith?

True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in his Word is true; it is also a deep-rooted assurance created in me by the Holy Spirit through the gospel, that, out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too, have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation.

Q. What then must a Christian believe?

Everything God promises us in the gospel. That gospel is summarised for us in the articles of our Christian faith - a creed beyond doubt, and confessed throughout the world.

Q. What are these articles?

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell. The third day he arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen.

[Qus21-23 of the Heidelberg Catechism - reading The Good News we almost forgot, DeYoung]

Good news of memory loss

2011-05-15T08:00:00.001+01:00

From Challies' The Next Story, following on from yesterday's quote:

While the search engines may never forget, while those who capture data about us may never forget, we serve a God who does forget and who places great emphasis on the virtue of forgetting. He accepts all those who turn to him and confess their sins. Psalm 103:12 promises, "As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." In Hebrews 8:12, God makes this promise: "I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." And in these things he commands us to imitate him - to forgive all offences and to never again bring those sins to mind.

How can we forgive if we can never forget? How can we move beyond a sinful past if we know that the evidence of it lives on somewhere, waiting to be mined, waiting to be discovered? Can we leave a past transgression between ourselves and God, knowing that the evidence of us remains in a database and may someday be drawn out?

Even today, when Facebook will remember every old boyfriend, every bad photograph and unkind word, every foolish sin of our younger days, we must be willing and eager to forgive as we've been forgiven, to forget as God has forgotten our transgressions against him.

The bad news of infinite memory

2011-05-14T08:00:00.000+01:00

From Challies' The Next Story:

With the dawn of digital technologies and the massive cost decreases in storage, it has become more difficult to forget than to remember. ... Everything I've ever said or done on Facebook is recorded there forever; every search I've made on Google or Yahoo is there somewhere. It exists in digital memory.

Forgetting is a natural part of human experience and a natural function of the human brain. It is a feature, not a bug - one that saves us from being owned by our memories.

During the days of Communism in the Soviet Union, the KGB would stamp "to be preserved forever" on the dossiers of its political prisoners. The message was clear: the state did not and would not forget those who had betrayed her. And this shaped the people. It had to! They knew that what they had done in the past would always be held against them and at any moment could be used in prosecuting them. This is the message of our data today. What we say, what we do, the people we communicate with, the things we search for, the places we go - they are all stamped with "to be preserved forever." Our data never goes away. We can never change, never put on a new skin.

Through the long history of humanity, forgetting has been normal, and remembering has been the exception. But with today's digital technologies, the balance has shifted so that remembering is the default, and forgetting is the great exception. And can a world that never forgets be a world that truly forgives? Author Viktor Mayer-Schönberger asks, "If all our past activities, transgressions or not, are always present, how can we disentangle ourselves from them in our thinking and decision making? Might perfect remembering make us as unforgiving to ourselves as to others?"

Tim does point to some good news... but there's only so much you'll read in a blog post, so more tomorrow.

Where is the wisdom?

2011-05-13T22:34:00.000+01:00

The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to GOD.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Bring us farther from GOD and nearer to the Dust.

- From T S Eliot, 'The Rock'.

I am finding Tim Challies' (world famous Christian blogger) new book so very helpful: The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion.

[It's also Christianaudio's free audio book this month - register and download - though if your taste's like mine, you'll want the hard copy or at least Kindle copy as well.]

Information is not knowledge, and even knowledge is not wisdom. Yet we train ourselves in a rushed search for information, and take little time to learn towards knowledge, and none to consider and reflect towards wisdom.

What a contrast with our aspirations as Christian believers:

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. [Colossians 1.9-10]

Preference to the least wanted

2011-05-07T13:55:00.000+01:00

How about this for a way of doing things? The loser takes it all. And shares it with all the other 'losers'.

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

Downhill all the way, for John, it seems. He's cut off from the civilised world, in exile, under the condemnation of the Empire and of no apparent use to the Church. Ageing away. The friends with whom he'd shared those few glorious, and puzzling, life-giving years are gone - dispersed across the world many months apart from communication, and killed one by one. Those who believed his testimony are far from him, having problems with each other, hard-pressed from outside, and too ready to believe impressive life teachings from those who'd never known Jesus, but used his name to fit their own ideas. Then:

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, 'Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.' ...

'Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.'

God doesn't do things by appearance.

~ To the one stuck on an island cut off from the world, God brings heaven down.

~ To one the Empire had chopped out of the history books, God reveals history from beginning to end, for him to write in a book.

~ To one condemned by earthly authority, God reveals himself, 'the Almighty', and Jesus, 'the ruler of kings on earth'.

~ The one who has been put 'out of service' to the Church, God commissions to take his message to seven churches covering all Asia.

~ To the one wasting away, elderly & alone, without friends or family, Jesus comes, sharing his humanity, now glorified; the one who called him 'friend':

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, 'Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. ...'

God might have given this revelation to anyone to write down and distribute, to strengthen his Church. That he does it in this way, through John, is particularly sweet. The Lord Jesus cares for his elderly friend, side-lined to obscurity by the world.

Perhaps John would have pondered Jesus' words, from a time in his life when he seemed so much more 'useful' to his Lord (Luke 10):

“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

A Mythologian's Confession

2011-05-03T08:00:00.026+01:00

Idealist, perhaps, romantic fool, but I
run Spirit-drunk with Bacchus as Christ's slave
And I as child; and from Valhalla's hall
With stolen flame, turn salt-wet face
To face the misty tendrils of Poseidon's thunder.
Hide me on a crag where spirits, gull-like, cry
To hear his breathing, deep below, and watch
Selene, gleaming, lead his flow, and back,
and forth, bow to stern cliff, and break.
Let woods grow restless at red Mars' descent
And Jove disperse our comedy with joy;
The strangest scene is green and pleasant land
With no half-light, no faerie and
No king.

Were I to move in nymphic harmony,
Then science would declare not all is there:
Ignoring, deaf, the larger part (my muse).
Yet, true, before man's regency restored,
Unrisen heart cannot sustain
The wildness vast. So, dancing done,
I take the cloak proffered and curl
Up in the heart of fire Samhain:
A live coal unconsumed,
and sleep.

And sleeping, watch
Till ancients all bow to the sway
Of God out-poured, the highest Name to own.

- RDG

Imprison me for freedom

2011-05-02T08:00:00.004+01:00

Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for, you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to'another due,
Labour to'admit you, but Oh, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue,
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy:
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I
Except you'enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

John Donne (1572-1631)

[Re-post]

Wedding prep

2011-04-29T13:24:00.000+01:00

The royal wedding was beautiful. It brought an unexpected tear to my eye as I was reminded of the greater future wedding of the once and future King, when every eye will see him. (Broadcast entirely funded by the Father, freeview.)

The guest list is set, though we're still waiting for everyone to arrive - coming from far more countries than the Commonwealth. It's all been catered for. The choir's booked, the anthem written, and the processional fanfare has some marvellous words. People have been lining the streets waiting for a long time. It's no secret what we'll be wearing - it's been provided by the Father of the groom!

I was so disappointed that the sermon at William and Catherine's wedding contained so much truth, but didn't point to Christ. It began well: 'You have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God, who so loved the world, that he gave himself to us in his Son.' But the general sentiment of the address seemed to be that with God's help we all evolve spiritually into the creation of the better world to which we look forward. The speaker missed why we need a self-giving God - not just as an example for marriage, but that we can't bring about a better world with just a bit of divine help. That's why Jesus died, rose and is coming again.

Hint: you know there's something skewed about a wedding address if Jesus' redemption of his bride,

and return to consummate his new creation, is lacking. (Actually, you know there's a lot wrong with any Christian sermon if Jesus and his finished redeeming work is conspicuously absent.)

We had the good of marriage upheld, but none of the beauty of Christ, and there's something very wrong about that.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. [Eph.5.25-33]

For the good of the married couple; for the blessing of every one of the x million listeners, viewers and those attending; they should have been told that it's not ultimately about them.

That although this day is for celebrating their union, it points to the union of Christ and his bride.
That although Prince William is, we trust, a future king, he is eclipsed in every way by the King of kings, Jesus.
That while Catherine was beautifully radiant in her dress, the betrothed of Christ is going to be spotless and peerless.
They have vowed to be united, 'Until death us do part,' yet there is a greater promise, which defeated death.
While they are caught up into each other's presence, the royal family, and the palace, there is a better presence, a greater family, and a palace beyond all imagining.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.” [Rev.21.1-4]

The crowds lining the roads merely to cheer, indicated how much we want to participate in such a glorious event. Far more can we look forward to participating gloriously in the Wedding of all history. Just make sure you don't ignore, forget or slight the invitation - or think you can get in on your own merits.

With words of Luther:

Christ, that rich and pious husband, takes as a wife a needy and impious harlot, redeeming her from all her evils and supplying her with all his good things. It is impossible now that her sins should destroy her, since they have been laid upon Christ and swallowed up in him, and since she has in her husband Christ a righteousness which she may claim as her own, and which she can set up with confidence against all her sins, against death and hell, saying, "If I have sinned, my Christ, in whom I believe, has not sinned; all mine is his, and all his is mine," as it is written, "My beloved is mine, and I am his" (Cant. ii. 16).

'Please do not join our church'

2011-04-27T08:00:00.007+01:00

'Please do not smile at strangers' - a sign posted by artists in the same style as the standard instructional signage on the subway - from the original blog. [HT: 22 Words]

So with points mostly from theResurgence.com, this is my whimsical take [not official from my church, of course] -

(If, however, you are re-born into the church, need to 'come home' to church, were born to someone in the church, or move to join our mission in Bournville with the blessing of your current church, then, welcome!)

[HT: Sammy Davies]

Quote of the day: Sad becoming untrue

2011-04-25T22:07:00.001+01:00

'Is everything sad going to become untrue?' - Sam Gamgee to Gandalf, Lord of the Rings (Tolkein). Justin Taylor gives just a few lines to ponder, over Between Two Worlds. [Worth reading & pondering.]

Which also goes some way to explain why I can never conjure up despondent sadness for Good Friday, because that first Easter Sunday not only was the great gong sounding the candance of God's plan; it actually made Friday good.

Dan Blanche summarised it this Easter, too:

To treat Easter as a myth is to see the passage from Good Friday to Easter Sunday as a sort of re-enactment. In my case, it meant trying to find the right emotional response for each day: remorse passing into grief passing into joy. I suppose acting as if my participation made it real.

Easter is history. It happened once and for all. So, this weekend I will be remembering and celebrating, not re-enacting.

We always remember the cross from this side of the resurrection. Of course that doesn't stop us engaging with different emotions as we remember different events, but it all happens within the bracket of 'Christ is risen', and therefore is not really mourning...

As better messengers said, 'Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, when he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.'

After all, even the act of remembrance which Jesus instituted, was a forward-looking one: we proclaim his death until he comes again.

Anticipation

2011-04-22T10:00:00.008+01:00

If we knew no frustration,
tied to decay in farce of autonomy
a universal word of condemnation
apple falling, stars collapsing
in on themselves
more than Newton knew
heart retracting, stony, cold
on downward course whose light is but the spark of friction;

If tongues joined in with burning orbs in chorus:
but our base noise has toned us deaf to tune,
we hide our eyes beneath blanket orange glow
shaded by our own reflection
and blind, pass buck to Orion's piercing beams.
So aberration, blot in soundscape
Man, of all things made like Word
stand vertically
silent;

If we stuck no fingers
in our ears, at Death
- children, pretending
that what they hide their eyes from, isn't there,
if could un-man ourselves, mere brutes
kill Psyche
in a fit of suicide
- homo sapiens (self-adjudged) - thus sine science
deny our soul's here now
that god may die hereafter: with effect;

Then it were no news
that God died there and then
that homo ruined edifice dei, might live again.
Then no good that stone forced back
spilt tuning power to stone in ground and sky and heart to sing.
Then no good news that first fruit risen
ascended, radiant breathing new dynamic
before whom all must fall.

Lest you burn, hide in the Sun.

- RG

Le lever du soleil

Spring in Glass Houses

2011-04-21T08:00:00.009+01:00

Extracts from 'An Easter Essay: On spring-cleaning, the breaking dawn and why terrorising chocolate bunnies is justifiable.' (I wish I'd written this essay, but am glad someone else did!)

'Whilst they have been off fighting Christmas, Easter's been left to lope into obscurity. Christians are outraged at the inconsistent noise of Christmas but silent at the absence of Easter. Is it just not important enough? Is the death and resurrection of Jesus really just an average affair? ... Easter is a mediocre affair and nobody protests.'

'This Easter God is defined not by absence, irrelevance or obscurity but by presence. In humanity, He stretched out his arms of love, dying for us on an execution tree.'

'It is time for this Easter to be brought out of exile and given a spring clean. We rebel against its fading significance and terrorise the chocolate bunnies that hide it. We simply announce that Easter is utterly relevant. And with unrelenting optimism celebrate that right in our midst Jesus is Lord!'

[From Spring in Glass Houses]

The Man born to be King

2011-04-20T08:00:00.002+01:00

Dorothy Sayers' radio plays on the life of Christ, are currently being played on BBC radio 4 extra - an interpretation of the Scriptural gospels, a creative account. I don't really know why it was so controversial when first broadcast; I'm delighted to hear something so strongly based on the Biblical narrative.

Herod: 'You cannot rule men by love. When you find your King, tell him so. Only three things will govern a people: fear, and greed, and the promise of security. ... Wherever I love, I find treachery. Love is a traitor, it betrays all kings. It will betray your Christ.'

The first episode is available until Tuesday 26th April: Kings in Judea.

What's in a name?

2011-04-19T08:00:00.003+01:00

Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?

I think our mind association is stronger than that. 'Rose' evokes so many things that we have no only a scent but an atmosphere, feelings, people, the breeze through the hills of the last rose garden visited, the anticipation of a roast dinner as we sit with friends in a garden after church.

I've been thinking of words and names, and how they not only communicate concepts, but at best, evoke whole pictures, feelings and associations.

Life in the old dog yet

2011-04-18T08:00:00.001+01:00

British 'evangelicalism', that is. At a great houseparty on Saturday night, I reflected with friends on the merits or otherwise of the Alternative Vote and tactical voting; with a new student acquaintance on the Cathars and what we can learn from heretics; and with an old colleague on 'evangelicalism' and how US & UK are two nations divided by a common language.

On which third point: I'm disturbed by how our US brothers of 'reformed' stripe, dismiss evangelicalism wholesale as if they weren't a part of it. It seems that across the pond, evangelicalism is marked by Finney, revivalism, spiritual/conversion experience, pragmatism, fervour, and some morals & politics thrown in. Thus the 'reformed' want to distance themselves from 'evangelicalism'. In the old country, we would use 'evangelical' to refer to shared belief in core doctrines on which basis there is unity, while not blurring lines of church affiliation or the importance of ecclesiology and doctrine. Thus the concept of 'reformed' distinct from 'evangelical' is a strange one.

Now inevitably, there is some bleed-through, as we send good preachers over there, and get some books and music in return (of varying quality and great quantity), and also because we're all sinful, prone to error and what our itching ears want to hear. And I wonder how much of our difference in terminology simply shows national characteristic (this Brit imagines American friends as more pragmatic, bipartisan and fervent about most things; apply such epithets backwards to critique Brits if you will). But I also ponder whether dismissing 'evangelicalism' wholesale and proposing reformed is such a helpful response even if amorphous American evangelicalism were as bad as is reported. The 'reformed' content themselves that they're 'OK', nothing to learn, because 'they're not in that lot' which has so clearly lost protestant truth. I suggest they'd miss out on something of the missions fervour. And the evangelicals hear stricture and don't see anything better held out in love. And miss out on the ecclesiology, and indeed, the doctrines of grace.

I'm not for self-flagellating, nor for mutual gushing Dale Winton-like, but perhaps if we were to consider that there may be a plank in our eye too, we could get close enough to a brother to pull out the speck so painfully blinding him.

Anyway, Carl Trueman enjoyed something of British evangelicalism in north Wales last week, and writes of it to encourage us all. Hoorah!

Quote of the day: passionate voices

2011-04-17T21:18:00.000+01:00

This little man in dirty clothes, surrounded by fishermen and whores – if he is the Son of David who has come to deliver God’s people, then God help us all: he could not raise an army if he tried. God bless this man indeed, he is destined for the cross: listen to me – the words of this song will be the pathway to his grave and the crowd that loves him now will run from him as soon as they see he offers them nothing that they want.

[Read more, by Andy Shudall]

Wedding season

2011-04-16T17:44:00.000+01:00

My housemate's away for one; I'm aware of others having one today, and next weekend I'll enjoy witnessing another. Happily, the younger royals are getting in on the act, too. Yes, it's the season of weddings again - a joy to celebrate with friends. No need to feel left out, though: the best marriage in the universe is on offer to you, the one to which all the others just point. The one which will last beyond the sunset at the end of the film, and indeed, beyond the most lasting of these temporary marriages, because they can only be 'til death part us. For this marriage, the Bridegroom defeated death... so made an eternal promise.

The engagement ring came with these words:

And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.

As the guests gather for weddings now, it's not The Big Day. That's yet to come. [So keep saving for it, so you're ready.] Really, you're seeing a beautiful temporary picture of the Big Day.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church.

So the wedding ring comes inscribed with the words, 'I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.'

Thus that most soppy of theologians, the old German Martin 'married an ex-nun cos she was left over' Luther, wrote:

The third incomparable grace of faith is this: that it unites the soul to Christ, as the wife to the husband, by which mystery, as the Apostle teaches, Christ and the soul are made one flesh. Now if they are one flesh, and if a true marriage - no, by far the most perfect of all marriages - is accomplished between them (for human marriages are but feeble types of this one great marriage), then it follows that all they have, becomes theirs in common, as well good things as evil things; so that whatsoever Christ possesses, that the believing soul may take to itself and boast of as its own, and whatever belongs to the soul, that Christ claims as His.

If we compare these possessions, we shall see how inestimable is the gain. Christ is full of grace, life, and salvation; the soul is full of sin, death, and condemnation. Let faith step in, and then sin, death, and hell will belong to Christ, and grace, life, and salvation to the soul. For, if he is a husband, he must take to himself that which is his wife's, and at the same time, give to his wife that which is his. For, in giving her his own body and himself, how can he but give her all that is his? And, in taking to himself the body of his wife, how can he but take to himself all that is hers?

In this is displayed the delightful sight, not only of communion, but of a prosperous warfare, of victory, salvation, and redemption. For, Christ is God and man, and is such a person as neither has sinned, nor dies, nor is condemned, indeed, cannot sin, die, or be condemned, and his righteousness, life, and salvation are invincible, eternal, and almighty. So then, when I say, such a person, by the wedding-ring of faith, takes a share in the sins, death, and hell of his wife, nay, makes them his own, and deals with them no differently than as if they were his, and as if he himself had sinned; and when he suffers, dies, and descends to hell, that he may overcome all things, and since sin, death, and hell cannot swallow him up, they must be swallowed up by him in stupendous conflict. For his righteousness rises above the sins of all men; his life is more powerful than all death; his salvation is more unconquerable than all hell.

Thus the believing soul, by the pledge of its faith in Christ, becomes free from all sin, fearless of death, safe from hell, and endowed with the eternal righteousness, life, and salvation of its husband Christ. Thus he presents to himself a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word; that is, by faith in the word of life, righteousness, and salvation. Thus he betroths her to himself 'in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in judgement, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies' (Hosea ii. 19, 20).
Who then can value highly enough these royal nuptials? Who can comprehend the riches of the glory of this grace?

Christ, that rich and pious husband, takes as a wife a needy and impious harlot, redeeming her from all her evils and supplying her with all his good things. It is impossible now that her sins should destroy her, since they have been laid upon Christ and swallowed up in him, and since she has in her husband Christ a righteousness which she may claim as her own, and which she can set up with confidence against all her sins, against death and hell, saying, "If I have sinned, my Christ, in whom I believe, has not sinned; all mine is his, and all his is mine," as it is written, "My beloved is mine, and I am his" (Cant. ii. 16). This is what Paul says: "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," victory over sin and death, as he says, "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law" (1 Cor. xv. 56, 57).

[From: The Freedom of a Christian]

[Aside: a few friends have posted this beautiful poem by Rael Mason, which captures the secondary place of marriage well, in a love poem, but not as you know it. "You'll never be the centre of my universe."]

A strange way

2011-04-06T08:00:00.004+01:00

A striking documentary on BBC3, available until 11th April: My brother, the Islamist.

Young men searching for life, for meaning, a hope and a future. Knowing that this world, what we can construct by ourselves, doesn't offer much. Knowing so much is wrong.

There was a striking choice of soundtrack at one point: one of my favourite Martyn Joseph songs, 'Strange Way'. It's so sad that these lost, disgruntled young men didn't come across the strange way of the song - of the cross of Jesus Christ.

Strange way to start a revolution
Strange way to get a better tan
Strange way to hold a power breakfast
Strange way show your business plan

Strange way to see if wood would splinter
Strange way to do performance art
Strange way to say “I'll see you later”
Strange way to leave behind your heart

Strange dissident of meekness
And nurse of tangled souls
And so unlike the holy
To end up full of holes
Strange way

Strange way to hang around for hours
Strange way to imitate a kite
Strange way to get a view of Auschwitz
Strange way to represent the light

Strange way to watch for stormy weather
Strange way to disprove gravity
Strange way to go about fund-raising
Strange way to sing I'm liberty
Strange dissident of meekness
And nurse of tangled souls
And so unlike the holy
To end up full of holes
Strange way

Strange way to test for haemophilia
Strange way to spend a happy hour
Strange way to down a bitter cocktail
Strange way to merchandise your power
Strange way to reassure your mother
Strange way to finish your world tour
Strange way to pose for countless paintings
Strange way to gather in the poor

Strange dissident of meekness
And nurse of tangled souls
And so unlike the holy
To end up full of holes
The world is too much with us
Could we not now just elope?
Strange way to hold us closer
Strange way to give us hope
Strange way

John Stott: A portrait by his friends

2011-04-04T08:00:00.000+01:00

Those of my generation, outside of London and Anglican circles, could be forgiven for not knowing much of John Stott, his ministry and his legacy. But to continue in that ignorance would be foolish. The Lord used this servant more than any other one man, to influence Christianity in the UK (and possibly worldwide) in the 20th century - and therefore, also in the 21st. His books, preaching, CU missions, IFES involvement, London Institute of Contemporary Christianity (equipping Christians & churches for whole-life discipleship in the world), The Lausanne Movement (connecting evangelical leaders worldwide towards world evangelization, 'an exchange of gifts'), Langham Partnership ministry encouraging, training and equipping across cultural borders (especially global north-south), and his friendship and discipling of so many - more people have been edified through his ministry than realise it, if we consider the cascading effect.

So for Stott's 90th birthday, IVP have brought out: John Stott, a portrait by his friends. They already have the two-volume TD-S biography, of course, which is well worth a read, and Roger Steer's recent and more brief Inside Story (a nice introduction). But if you just want the flavour of this man of God and some insights into how he was used - and why it would be of benefit to read his books, and those about him - then pick up John Stott: a portrait by his friends. It's not quite the 'warts and all' that he wanted, but doesn't completely descend into hagiography - there are still useful things to learn and much for which to praise God.

(As it's a beautiful hardback, get it for your pastor / spiritual parent / ministry leader, as they'll surely appreciate it, and then borrow it to read yourself!) IVP have it on an introductory offer of £9.99 - as of 29-3-11, no note for how long.

I would have reviewed it, but Mark Meynell got in there first and said what I was going to.

Story maths

2011-04-03T08:00:00.002+01:00

Because I owe to my Mum a love of stories, and a love of maths, and the eyes to see that they really are quite connected:

[Thanks, xkcd]

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Everyone is in a relationship with God

2011-04-01T08:00:00.002+01:00

Perhaps you've noticed that there are similarities between religions. It's certainly something that media and school syllabi want to push, from a misguided notion that if we're different, we can't get on. (Did papering over the cracks ever help a couple live together?) But maybe you find it reassuring - there's some spirituality, then, and we can choose what suits us.

I wonder if you'd think the same if I paid you a bundle of various fake £20 notes. Would you be reassured that they're so similar, there must be some value in all of them? Or would it set you to want the real thing, the genuine article that's behind their mimicry?

Dan Strange, in the latest Table Talk podcast:

Religion and religions are idolatrous responses to God's revelation. But because of the nature of idolatry (as it's painted in the Bible), idols, or idolatry, is always counterfeit on something that is true. Idols don't work out of nothing: they are copies, they are mimics. And so with anything that's a copy, or mimic: if I have a fake £20 note, there are lots of ways in which it resembles a real £20 note - you'd expect to see some similarities! But at the end of the day it's a copy, it's a fake. And I think that any response to God that is not worship of the Truine God of the Bible, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, YAHWEH, of Jesus Christ, is an idolatrous response to God.

'In everything God creates, he has his fingerprints in all creation. So everyone (even if they've never heard of Jesus Christ) who has ever lived is always in a relationship with God: they are born in that relationship. We are made 'in God's image', so it's not as if we are wandering around wondering if there might be a God or not. The fact that we're created by God, in that sense, I'm happy to say that we have a God-shaped hole: we are made to worship the living God.

'But Romans 1 tells us, with that revelation, what have we done? Have we accepted it? No. We have suppressed that truth; we have exchanged it for other things. So, interestingly, when I as a Christian, go to talk to someone who's a Muslim or a Buddhist, I believe they already have a relationship with God. They are already suppressing the truth: they already know God in a certain sense. But at the same time, they know God so much that they are without excuse: they are responsible.

'So I want to say that any response to the living God of the Bible that is not worship in the way that God has proscribed (cf the first commandment, the second commandment) is an idolatrous relationship, and people have to turn around (repent), and believe the true things about God, and supremely, in the gospel of Jesus Christ.'

Listen to the podcast for more, on...

Is it a problem for Christians that religious beliefs contemporary to Israel were similar?
Did religions evolve from primal beliefs, or degenerate?
What does Dan mean by making up a word to say that religions have 'remnantal' truth?
And how are human beings like the Borg, in how we use truth? [Trust Dan to have a StarTrek reference.]

North - South divide

2011-03-31T08:00:00.005+01:00

Our Italian friends, reporting on Cape Town 2010, drew out a dichotomy, which they say was encapsulated in what John Piper said, contrasted with René Padilla.

Piper, in an exposition of Ephesians 3:

The reason I draw out this implication of the cross is to hold together in this congress and in the church of Christ two truths that are often felt to be at odds with each other, but don’t have to be.

One truth is that when the gospel takes root in our souls it impels us out toward the alleviation of all unjust suffering in this age. That’s what love does!

The other truth is that when the gospel takes root in our souls it awakens us to the horrible reality of eternal suffering in hell, under the wrath of a just and omnipotent God. And it impels us to rescue the perishing, and to warn people to flee from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

I plead with you. Don’t choose between those two truths. Embrace them both. It doesn’t mean we all spend our time in the same way. God forbid. But it means we let the Bible define reality and define love.

Could Lausanne say—could the evangelical church say—we Christians care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering? I hope we can say that. But if we feel resistant to saying “especially eternal suffering,” or if we feel resistant to saying “we care about all suffering in this age,” then either we have a defective view of hell or a defective heart.

I pray that Lausanne would have neither.

This felt consistently in line with The Lausanne Covenant:

Here too we express penitence both for our neglect and for having sometimes regarded evangelism and social concern as mutually exclusive. Although reconciliation with other people is not reconciliation with God, nor is social action evangelism, nor is political liberation salvation, nevertheless we affirm that evangelism and socio-political involvement are both part of our Christian duty. For both are necessary expressions of our doctrines of God and man, our love for our neighbour and our obedience to Jesus Christ. ...
In the Church's mission of sacrificial service evangelism is primary.

René Padilla expressed a concern not to speak of prioritisation, when given the stage for a conversation with Samuel Escobar:

After Lausanne '74 there were several consultations. ... I had the privilege of attending the 4 consultations arranged by John Stott. ... The last, in Grand Rapids, 1982, Evangelism & Social Responsibility. I think those conferences were very very important for the Lausanne Movement. And they really emphasised the importance of a holistic mission, what we, in Latin America call 'integral mission'. Not trying to specialise in evangelism, to specialise in social action, but combining all that the church is supposed to be about.

Our Italian friends (reported by ICN), and some bloggers, describe this as a critique of Piper's earlier comments. It could equally have been a (well known) ongoing emphasis of René Padilla, or correcting a vibe from others at the Congress. I don't see this as necessarily opposed theologically. I think they might agree. But it is a classic north - south approach to the question: Piper likes to express things numerated, clear and prioritised; Padilla wants a more global, encompassing approach. Piper would have logical points leading to a conclusion to resolve apparent tensions; Padilla would draw a picture including all these things to show they're not in tension.

In my admittedly young and probably naïve opinion, the failure to understand this difference of outlook has contributed to holding N.Irish politics back for decades at least. Unsurprisingly, those from global souths resonated more with Padilla, and northerners with Piper. This may reflect a natural leaning more one way or the other (which was not what either leader wants, from what they said), and it may reflect that global souths are most aware of grave social injustices and issues of life which the gospel addresses. But the north - south resonance with different speakers is also quite probably not because of theological distinction, but because of the way we think.

Some were looking for that tension to be resolved or addressed in The Cape Town Commitment, which it isn't (don't think a difference of outlook can be resolved in a document like that) - but it does have a good section on the integrity of our mission, which concludes:

We commit ourselves to the integral and dynamic exercise of all dimensions of mission to which God calls his Church.

God commands us to make known to all nations the truth of God’s revelation and the gospel of God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ, calling all people to repentance, faith, baptism and obedient discipleship.
God commands us to reflect his own character through compassionate care for the needy, and to demonstrate the values and the power of the kingdom of God in striving for justice and peace and in caring for God’s creation.

Having come from a mathematical training, I'd expect to want logic, priorities, and points. I do appreciate those - without priorities, it's hard to have direction. But I've been learning to embrace things a lot more globally, drawing on a background of storytelling, myths and music, and learning from those who think differently: whether Ravi Zacharias moving persuasively with circles and spokes, our African friends giving time to description until you 'get the picture' rather than expediently moving in a line to 'getting the point', or a former colleague giving a talk from such an artist's perspective that it was tremendously engaging but I couldn't follow it - and he said similar of my logical discourse!

I delight in how God in his great wisdom has revealed his Word to us in Scriptures of such literary diversity - to wrestle with the argument of Romans pushing on, or to plunge into the whirlpool of Job and let it batter you, or to throw yourself on the safety net of John's dichotomies and let them hold you up. Let's seek to borrow others' spectacles, at least occasionally, so that our blind spots get smaller, and our blinkers more transparent.

Send for the bard!

2011-03-30T08:00:00.002+01:00

An earlier thought scribbled before 'Write the songs':

We need bards, in every generation. Singer-songwriters, poets, those who write novels for children: those who give voice to history so give the present identity. We need the kind of ballads a whole family can rip through on a long car journey, and the anthems a rugby crowd can bawl during a match. We need the stories which can be myths of identity: those which give a deeper, older, more communal sense of being than that of an individual composition of organic matter.

We don't have to see these stories as fact. But it seems a sad loss to me, that while I grew up with Odin, Zeus, Prosperine, Hercules, Mount Olympus, Valhalla, Sigfried, Odydius, the Minotaur, Icarus, Helen, Midas, and all of C.S.Lewis' more recent explorations of gods, myth and mediaeval cosmology, most children now will have lost those. I don't think they were true; they did represent that we live in a meaning-drenched universe.

[Inspired by: Bob Dylan, Martyn Joseph, a rawkous and fast family rendition of 'The Rattlin' Bog' en route to Aberdeen, the strength of The Fields o Athenry during the Eng-Ire game in Dublin, Chronicles of Narnia, the Cosmic Trilogy, & 'Til We Have Faces.]

Developed more in 'Write the songs'.

Quote of the day: wonderful, ethical commands

2011-03-29T08:00:00.000+01:00

UK residents: Did you put some form of religious affiliation on your census, on Sunday?

One of my friends was wholeheartedly backing the campaign to persuade those who aren't believing, practising religious people, to tick 'No religion' on their form. I'm sympathetic to this: it must be frustrating for all those secularists to see so many non-believers happily tick 'Christian' simply because they feel some sort of affiliation to the culture. But if that's what they want to tick, let them! It's not to others to police what people feel some affiliation to.

Thankfully, in church we don't have to judge by what religious affiliation people like: not having to allocate government funding, we can welcome one another as God in Christ has welcomed us, to the glory of God.

But I did come across a quote to share with you, if you acknowledged some religious attachment yesterday:

The Bible is full of many wonderful ethical commands, which would be very inspiring except for the fact that we are not wonderful, ethical people. [DeYoung]

If that doesn't bother you, carry on being religious (or failing to be religious, as it were). But if it does, you may like to look at a hint of the Bible's own solution to this rather depressing problem, here.

Thoughts? Do comment!

To live & die in comfort

2011-03-28T08:00:00.077+01:00

Dear Government,

I guess you want to know what we're like because you're trying to work out what we need most. Or at least, our needs relative to the budget, legislation... and votes. I'm not convinced that the questions you asked really got to the heart of the matter, so I suggested a better one for the vacant Q17, here. And its corollary, is, 'So what do we actually need, in order to live and die in the joy of that comfort?' Wouldn't any government give a lot to know the answer to that?

Someone suggested an answer some years ago, and it's not been found wanting since. That what we need is to be grasped by guilt, grace and gratitude. Everything else you could want in your Big Society, will flow from that. Admittedly, this isn't peculiar to the UK, or our particular difficult times. It was made possible by a Jew in the 1st century due to a plan well before our time, nicely summed up by a Pole/Austrian in Germany in the C16th, and here's an explanation by an American:

'All three things are necessary. If we don't know about our sin - which brings a true sense of guilt - we will be too confident in our abilities to do right and make the world a better place. We will ignore our most fundamental problem, which is not lack of education, or lack of opportunity, or lack of resources but sin and its attendant misery.

'But if we don't know how we are set free from this sin and misery - which comes through God's grace - we will try to fix ourselves in futility or give up altogether in despair. And if we don't know how to thank God, showing gratitude for such deliverance, we will live in a self-centred, self-referential bubble, which is not why God saved us from our sin and misery in the first place. ...

'When we think of living and dying in comfort, we imagine reclining armchairs, massages, and all the food you can eat (with none of the pounds, of course). But the Catechism has in mind a different kind of comfort, one that is deeper, higher, richer, and sweeter. We find this comfort by admitting our sin, instead of excusing it; by trusting in Another instead of ourselves; and by living to give thanks instead of being thanked.'

[DeYoung, The Good News We Almost Forgot]

Census

2011-03-27T09:53:00.000+01:00

Today, UK residents are returning census forms. This brings issues: how to summarise the work of a minister; whether to admit a 'religious' affiliation; whether to describe myself as British, Northern Irish, or both; and whether all the data will be left on a train by a government official, and sold to direct mailing companies by someone enterprising, for the next 50 years.

But more importantly, overall, it raises the question of what information the government sees as key to understanding the residents of the kingdom. So I wanted to provide them with a Question and answer for the Q17 (intriguingly blank on the form) - this would sum things up far better than the answers I've filled in:

Q. What is your only comfort? (Now wouldn't that be a fantastic census form question?)

A. (Mine, anyway.) That I, with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yes, that all things must be serve my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, from now on, to live for him. [Heidelberg Q&A1].

(Sure, I'll pay to Caesar what's Caesar's, but they have my tax info already, and make regular use of it.)

Quote of the day: write the songs

2011-03-24T19:36:00.001Z

I knew a very wise man [who] believed if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation. And we find that most of the ancient legislators thought they could not well reform the manners of any city without the help of a lyric, and sometimes of a dramatic poet. But in this city the dramatic poet no less than the ballad-maker has been almost wholly employed to corrupt the people, in which they have had most unspeakable and deplorable success.

Andrew Fletcher, in 'An account of a conversation concerning a right regulation of governments for the common good of mankind'.*

After all, a song-writer doesn't merely reflect society, but forms its thoughts. Its not just the catchy phrase that gets stuck in your head.

Lady Gaga saddens me - she seems so insubstantial, so ever-changing, that I wonder if even she knows who she is. Singing female-affirming lyrics, but gyrating undressed enough to ruin any man's imagination. Announcing herself as an obscenely-birthed goddess, 'mother monster', but reducing herself to a piece of meat on stage. But 31,124,368 people 'like' her on facebook, and she attracts such comments from young girls as,

'mother monster, I wouldn't have made it this far in my life without you, if it weren't for you coming along in the spotlight, i would have commited suicide. YOU saved my life! I always keep you in my heart.'

So when Lady Gaga confusedly denies anything wrong in her life 'cos God makes no mistakes, I'm on the right track, baby: I was born this way', wanting acceptance without repentance or atonement, that'll be what people hear. When Lady Gaga insinuates that it's God's job to accept her, 'cos she was born this way, that's what people will feel. When Lady Gaga sings of justification by self-love 'just love yourself and you're set', poor homo curvatus in se will turn in on ourselves with little encouragement needed, and be justified as little as the Pharisee in Jesus' story.

We need songs which call us out of ourselves! [Amusing '80s example - with some truth!] Even better, songs which impress truth into us from outside, so we can then express it. What goes in will come out!

[* HT: Christian Persuaders podcast - Susan Boyle & the MP expenses scandal]

I will not celebrate Irishness

2011-03-17T08:00:00.003Z

because of this day, but I will celebrate the kind of gospel which was even for the Irish, and the belief in God's promises which took Patrick there, to share it. It continues today -

The testimony of our brother Patrick of 1561 years ago, could equally fit in the mouth of this North Korean schoolgirl, and her father:

'I give untiring thanks to God who kept me faithful in the day of my testing, so that today I may confidently offer my soul as a living sacrifice for Christ my Lord. Who am I, Lord? or, rather, What is my calling?, that you appeared to me... so that today among the barbarians I might constantly exalt and magnify your name in whatever place I should be, and not only in good times, but even in affliction?

'So whatever happens to me, whether good or bad, I accept it equally, and give thanks always to God. He revealed himself to me so I could trust in him, implicitly and forever. He will also encourage me so that, although I'm ignorant, I may dare to take on such devout and wonderful a work; so that I might imitate one of those whom, once, long ago, the Lord appointed to be heralds of his Gospel, to witness to all peoples to the ends of the earth. This is what we are seeing, and so it is fulfilled.

'I wish to wait then for his promise which is never unfulfilled: 'Many shall come from east and west and shall sit at table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.' We believe that believers will come from all the world. ...

'This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached throughout the whole world as a witness to all nations; and then the end of the world shall come.' And similarly the Lord foretells through the prophet: 'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.' And in Hosea he says: 'Those who are not my people I will call my people, and those not beloved I will call my beloved, and in the very place where it was said to them, You are not my people, they will be called 'Sons of the living God'. ...

'Therefore may it never happen that God separates me from his people whom he has won in this most remote land. I pray God that he gives me perseverance, and that he will allow me to be a faithful witness for his sake right up to the time of my passing.'

Patrick, c.450AD, Confessio

Quote of the day: We're not barbarians...

2011-03-11T13:00:00.001Z

Like we were way back when

We've learned from history

So we're going round again.

[As sung by the good ol' Proclaimers]

The reading of church history is not the preserve of academics. It is a vital component of our Christian service. Even the New Testament urges us to remember those who told us about the gospel (Hebrews 13:7). To read Christian biography and church history is to be reminded of what God has done in the past in fulfilling his purpose to build his church in the world. The truths of the gospel are timeless, but each generation of believers has had to witness to, and contend for, the faith at specific points in the history of the world. What others did in their day, we are called to do in ours. We are not called to fossilise the past, or pay it undue homage. Nor are we to retreat into some golden age of Christian history. We are called to appreciate our heritage, in order that we may build on it, and so serve our own generation by the will of God. the Christian faith, as Mark Noll reminds us, has an 'irreducibly historical character'.

- Iain D. Campbell, Heroes & Heretics: Pivotal moments in 20 centuries of the Church, CFP, 2009

A question of caring & cowardice

2011-03-10T08:00:00.002Z

Most of us probably know the value of a well-placed, well-phrased question. Not that the questioner is simply asking as a means of pushing their view, but seriously giving you what they consider to be a pertinent question to help you onwards. Or perhaps a question to try to understand more, rather than assuming and answering on that basis ('Why?').

Sometimes, voicing a troublesome question is helpful, because it raises a topic for healthy discussion, and we can dig down deeper on it. It invites a variety of perspectives, honing each other's ideas, filling in blind spots and correcting error. Good questions will pierce through and encourage us to examine our foundations, our authorities for knowledge. But everyone also knows the frustration of someone raising an interesting question, which engages us personally, only to create more confusion and walk away. It is one thing to question and hold things in tension. It is another to deliberately tangle the strings, mislay the ends, and make fun of those who try to find them. Or as Challies says, better than me:

Questions matter. They can help you to grow deeper in your knowledge of the truth and your love for God—especially when you’re dealing with the harder doctrines of the Christian faith. But questions can also be used to obscure the truth. They can be used to lead away just as easily as they can be used to lead toward. Ask Eve. ...

They say that the person who frames the debate is going to win the debate.

And so, Tim Challies considers the difference between thought-provoking and falsely framed questions, in relation to Rob Bell's latest book, on hell. It's a helpful review.

The debate about the video which introduced this book, raised questions for me, too. Specifically: yes, it's serious that a supposed pastor-teacher would confuse his flock rather than feeding them, and would feed them sweet-tasting thorns to tear their gut. But how can I feel righteously angry at someone for teaching that there’s no hell, when I don’t warn my friends of it? How much can I protest at someone causing others to question if there's eternal punishment, if I act in conversation with my friends as if there's little danger of it? Bell may question whether hell is eternal; I can act as if my friends have eternity before they need to know of Christ. Bell may imply that God isn't that angry about our God-rejecting, selfish disobedience. Would my friends know from my speech and life that I worship a God who made us in justice, holiness and righteousness, and cares about that enough to be angry at our twisting of it, and punish wrong?

So, friends. Despite some cowardice, I do love you and want you to be reconciled to God in Christ. I do think the consequences of staying an enemy of our good Creator will be horrendous, and it tears me up to think that might be you. But I worry that you'll misunderstand, and think I'm trying to say I'm better than you, or that you've got to clean up your act somehow, or get religion - so I've not mentioned it much. Is that what you'd think? You know I'm not some naturally better person - I know if God were to judge me by what I've done, I'd have been in hell long ago. I'm just waiting for Jesus, God in skin, to come back and rescue us from God's judgement to follow. Rescue not for better people but for those who call, 'Help!' And I'd love you to join me, because the kind of God who devises a rescue plan not according to how good we are but by coming to us, suffering, and dying himself, precisely for those who know they're no good - that God is a joy to know! Would it not be worthwhile to question it a bit, see what this rescuer God is like, who Jesus claimed went to such lengths for you?

And I really don't mind a hard, 'stupid', or possibly offensive question, between friends. Better that than things assumed and never talked about. Hm?

Healthy Parachurch

2011-03-07T13:22:00.000Z

(Or 'You can be my wingman any time.')

A fine article by Mack Stiles: 9 Marks of a Healthy Parachurch Ministry. I've heard many disparaging things of parachurch ministries. I've read articles and blog posts which sounded more like they belonged on Animal Farm than in Church: 'church Good; parachurch Bad.' And in honesty, I've heard many disappointing attitudes to church in some parachurch organisations, and seen bad practice. So Mack writes,

The standard cliché for parachurch is that it’s not the church, but an arm of the church. Yet historically, that arm has shown a tendency to develop a mind of its own and crawl away from the body, which creates a mess. Given the grand scope and size of many parachurch ministries, those which go wayward can propagate error for years: missionary organizations become gyms, heretical seminaries pump out heretical pastors, and service organizations produce long-term confusion between the gospel and social action.

So what should mark a healthy parachurch?

Mack goes on to give 9 marks of a healthy parachurch ministry. The article's part of a 9 Marks e-journal considering various aspects of parachurch ministries - Are they evil? How do they go off the rails? How can you pray for them? [Read more.]

The danger of Christian faith

2011-03-02T14:36:00.000Z

"When I'm leading the campaign against Sharia law, for the abolition of the blasphemy law, speaking for the oppressed and marginalised, persecuted Christian and other minorities, these Taliban threaten me.

"But I want to share that I believe in Jesus Christ, who has given his own life for us. I know what is the meaning of the cross, and I'm following the cross. I'm ready to die for a cause, I'm living for minority community and suffering people, and I will die to defend their rights. So these threats and these warnings cannot change my opinions and principles. I prefer to die for my principles and for the justice of my community rather than to compromise on these threats."

Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistani Minorities Minister, shot dead today, speaking in January. Video interview.

Some would say that religious belief is dangerous. It makes people fanatical. Ready to kill others for a cause. But anyone who has truly put their trust in the cross - the death - of Jesus Christ, becomes fanatical and dangerous in another way. He is ready to live for suffering people, and to die to defend them. This is a Christian, a 'little Christ'. A servant is not greater than his Master.

Quote of the day: Our hearts are no longer heavy

2011-02-09T13:00:00.001Z

'Our hearts are no longer heavy, they are light.' The Kimyal people receive printed copies of the New Testament - which some of them had worked long and hard to translate, others working on literacy or teaching the Bible. This moved me to tears. They know God has given them his Word, through his Son, and they receive it with joy. May it bear much fruit, even as it already is doing.

The Kimyal People Receive the New Testament (from UFM Worldwide)

Their hearts were heavy, because they didn't have all of God's word in their own language. My heart is all too often heavy because I don't read it and believe.

Musical shape of soul

2011-02-08T23:35:00.000Z

An excellent article drawing on Athanasius on singing the Psalms. Useful for self-expression? Not primarily: foremost, they impress their truth into us, only then do they form our expression. The Song-Shaped Soul, by Steven R Guthrie (pdf).

Teaching - a bad word?

2011-01-27T08:00:00.000Z

Mike Reeves 'table talks' with Carl Trueman in the latest podcast from theologynetwork.org, on doctrine. Bad word? A few choice crumbs from the table:

Doctrine is an articulation of God's claim on us.
Doctrine should drive us to our knees - it leads to doxology (praise of God).
God's love is creative and prior - it has the first word. (Gen 1 & 2 Cor 4)
The gospel is a proclamation that Christ has died and risen: it does have practical implications, but it's not a technique. So read books which tell you about God and what he has done - not primarily about you and how your life can be better.

Mike and Carl also take time to consider that common contemporary assertion: doctrine divides (so let's not consider it) - and perhaps you've met people into doctrine who're all arrogant about it - they talk about that too, and the dangers involved.

Now take half an hour to listen over a cuppa / the ironing / making dinner.

Your call is important to us

2011-01-26T13:00:00.000Z

Deep reflections on online bookings websites (ok, this one), bookings lines (10 minutes of 'Your call is important to us.' followed by, 'We can't do bookings online because the web traffic is too high'), and on the difficulties of trying to book accommodation for disabled people, in competition with everyone else:

Vapour! All is vapour, grasping for the wind!

Escapable meaning

2011-01-25T13:00:00.000Z

If Screwtape had been considering things in a multi-cultural situation, perhaps he would have given this tip:

So, you have failed. You tell me that your man insists on hearing the Enemy's book read and taught each week - and now, despite your 'best efforts', has a copy to read daily! But there is still hope. You must keep him content to read it, and hear it - keep him from considering believing it and changing. And this is your main hope for this:

If I'm not mistaken, his copy of the Enemy's book, and the teaching he hears, is in his country's national language. This is not the language in which he berates his wife (competently done, by the way). It's not the language in which his wife complains. It is not the language his friends use to joke as they drink after a hard day's work. It's not the language he heard his father use when he learned trade from him. So there is still hope: we will avoid having the Enemy's word take root in his heart and transform his life, because he won't hear it. By all means, don't let them get the idea of translating it - let them be content that they have it, and hear it, in their national language.

Alternatively, read what God's doing through his Word, translated: one story here. '...when he heard it in his own language, the meaning was inescapable.'

Quote of the day: in his steps

2011-01-12T14:44:00.001Z

From In Christ Alone, Sinclair Ferguson:

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. [1 Peter 2.18-21]

'The word "example" here (hupogrammos) is very evocative. It was used of the copper-plate handwriting of the teacher that was to be imitated by the pupil. Jesus has written out the vocabulary of Christian living for us; we are to copy it on the pages of the autobiography we are writing. Some words are not easy to learn - especially these ones: p-e-r-s-e-c-u-t-i-o-n and s-u-f-f-e-r-i-n-g. But they are key words if the name of Jesus is to be legible in our lives. ...

'Jesus was crucified by this world. To become a Christian by definition means to follow a cross-bearing Saviour and Lord. It means to be identified with him in such a way that opposition to him will inevitably touch us.'

Quote of the day: I'm a complementarian but...

2011-01-06T21:18:00.000Z

I don't have much to add to this excellent post, by Thabiti Anyabwile: I'm a Complementarian, but... Women must be taught and they must teach. It's just worth reading.

'You will love this.' (Classical music and preaching.)

2010-12-17T17:30:00.001Z

Conductor Ben Zander is convinced that everyone likes classical music - they just don't know it yet. And he's looking for shining eyes. I recognised it as soon as he said: I get the shining eyes thing in a good CBSO concert.

The video presents some challenges and inspiration to preachers of the Word of God, too, who have not only all Zander mentions, but also the promises of God! A comment on Thabiti's blog when he posted this, from Timothy Reynalds:

(1) Do I preach the gospel in confident belief that in God’s hands this message is able to awaken any soul to its truth and beauty? Don’t preach to move from 3-4%, but for 100%! What difference will that make to the way I preach to unbelievers?
(2) Do I preach to believers in full confidence that this word and this message should grip them all? What difference will that make to the way I preach?
(3) Do I have too many “impulses”: too much emphasis on lesser points or details, to the detriment of the overarching flow of God’s truth?
Now those are things I need to pray about – and pray for more shining eyes!

Watch the video: I assure you, it's worth 20 minutes.

[And yes, I've been around here before, as has Leithart.

[HT: Justin Taylor]

Facebook is the bottle

2010-12-15T17:30:00.001Z

That TIME has named Mark Zuckerberg its 'person of the year' is really immaterial - but after the first couple of pages about him, its article about Facebook is really rather insightful. This man aimed to create an experience of the internet which related to, well, relationships - because he recognised that as humans, who we are is not flexibly recreated at will (e.g. myspace), but connected and relating to others. He is interested in, 'Eliminating desire for all that doesn't really matter.'

Zuckerberg just wanted people to be themselves. On earlier social networks like Friendster and Myspace, identity was malleable and playful, but Facebook was and is different. "We're trying to map out what exists in the world," he says. "In the world, there's trust. I think as humans we fundamentally parse the world through the people and relationships we have around us. So at its core, what we're trying to do is map out all of those trust relationships, which you can call, colloquially, most of the time, friendships."

Facebook sprang from the insight that 'people yearned not to be liberated from their daily lives but to be more deeply embedded in them'. So while google tells us what the best result is to our search based on what most people in the world look at, Zuckerberg suggests we move from the wisdom of many to the wisdom of friends. (I wonder if, as a Jew, he's been reading Proverbs on that one?)

Zuckerberg's vision is that after the Facebookization of the Web, ... wherever you go online, you'll see your friends. On Amazon, you might see your friends' reviews. On YouTube, you might see what your friends watched or see their comments first. Those reviews and comments will be meaningful because you know who wrote them and what your relationship to those authors is. They have a social context. Not that long ago, a post-Google Web was unimaginable, but if there is one, this is what it will look like: a Web reorganized around people. "It's a shift from the wisdom of crowds to the wisdom of friends," say Sandberg. "It doesn't matter if 100,000 people like x. If the three people closest to you like y, you want to see y."

Yet, there's valid critique of this kind of oneness in friendship - not that we want to be a different person to different people, but that naturally we do flex between different relationships. It is right that I relate to my boss in a different way from that in which I relate to my friends. We wouldn't want the flattening of all hierarchy, structure and order - there is a rightness and beauty in everything being in its proper place. So facebook, for all its connectivity and openess, still becomes just one sphere in life. I decide what to post on facebook: being completely real with my friends, family and colleagues, I'll share x with specific friends by email (or facebook message!) which I won't share in my newsfeed, because it may be misunderstood by some.

Facebook runs on a very stiff, crude model of what people are like. It herds everybody — friends, co-workers, romantic partners, that guy who lived on your block but moved away after fifth grade — into the same big room. It smooshes together your work self and your home self, your past self and your present self, into a single generic extruded product. It suspends the natural process by which old friends fall away over time, allowing them to build up endlessly, producing the social equivalent of liver failure. On Facebook, there is one kind of relationship: friendship, and you have it with everybody. You're friends with your spouse, and you're friends with your plumber.

And of course, we move from the realm of 1984 (about which people are so sensitive, when it comes to privacy and information) into a Brave New World:

But there is another danger, which is that instead of feeling forced to share, we won't be able to stop ourselves from sharing — that we will willingly, compulsively violate our own privacy. Relationships on Facebook have a seductive, addictive quality that can erode and even replace real-world relationships. Friendships multiply with gratifying speed, and the emotional stakes stay soothingly low; where there isn't much privacy, there can't be much intimacy either.

So it comes down to one of those standard aspects of maturity - knowing what to say to whom, when. There is a time to share, and a time to be private. A thing you can share with a friend, and thing to share with a colleague. They're not all the same, and that's not necessarily deception: it's a kind of wisdom.

However much more authentic the selves we present on Facebook are than they were in the anonymous Internet wilderness that came before it, they still fall far short of our true selves, and confusing our Facebook profiles with who we really are would be a terrible mistake. We are running our social lives over the Internet, an infrastructure that was not designed for that purpose, and we must be aware of the distortions it creates or we will be distorted by them. The standard cliché for describing viral technology like Facebook has always been, "The genie is out of the bottle." But Facebook inverts that. Now Facebook is the bottle, and we're the genie. How small are we willing to make ourselves to fit inside?

As with any tool, don't reduce life to it, or your life will be reduced to fit. [Read the whole article in TIME.]

Prefer to hear him roar!

2010-12-14T13:53:00.004Z

One of the delights of a good novel is that you are welcomed in to a different world: for that short time, to breathe its air, to swim in its sea, and know its people. It is why I always suffered from an inclination to speak like Shakespeare's, Austen's, or (Pope's translation of) Homer's characters, when emerging from their books. The author invites you to see the world through different eyes: such is the power of words well set.

Some books permeate so deeply that the effect is longer term. I revisited Narnia so much as a child (and teenager, and adult!), and then Malacandra and Perelandra, that our own Silent Planet took different meaning. It is as if a character from those worlds lent me their glasses, and now I see our own in fresh and sometimes strange hues. It is not simply that I love that world, but that I know this world, better. Having breathed that air, I can survive more ably here where the air is thinner.

Which is why I was so sad to read this article, which describes, with evident pity rather than trigger-happiness, how the creators of the recent Narnia films seem to have failed to taste Narnia's air, so found it strange, and have inadvertently replaced it with filtered air pumped in from our silent, twisted world. I'm sure they found it unrealistic - Miraz, Weston, are more like us, so we find the children stay like them rather than being transformed to be like the great Lion, the Son of the Emperor, who is not safe, but is good.

Of course, Lewis was merely writing under the influence, himself. The influence of the Bible, which paints us into the ultimate reality, and gives us eyes to see and know its Painter. The loss of Narnia's oxygen in the films merely goes to illustrate that we need to draw on what is outside of ourselves to understand this world - not just revert to being true to ourselves. This world, and our hearts, does not have within it what we need to get through it alive. We need to breathe Narnian air*, and then we will find ourselves transformed by it.

Read Narnia Invaded, by Steven Bower.

* I mean, of course, its greater and perfect Idea and source.

Quote of the day: taking issue with not having an issue

2010-12-10T13:20:00.000Z

I noticed rather belatedly that the November issue of Themelios is out. It's like an early Christmas present! I used to subscribe, and I confess I like paper copies, but now they've ceased hard copy publication, it's free online here. I usually turn first to Carl Trueman's Minority Report, which in this instance gives us food for thought about polemics: terrible beauty, beauty, and the plain terrible. He points out just how polemical the first Q&A of the Heidelberg catechism was at the time; I've been learning it, meditating on it, and teaching it to our teens in church for a while now, for its pastoral richness, but its polemical nature hadn't occurred to me. Anyway, now pondering our quote of the day, from Trueman:

If assurance is not an issue, it is likely because you have a sub-biblical view of God’s holiness and a sub-Pauline view of human sin...

Bring him home

2010-11-23T18:33:00.001Z

Art is always transgressive. What I always say is, we need to transgress in love. We today have a language to celebrate waywardness. But we do not have a language, a cultural language, to bring people back home.

- Ty Fujimura, of International Arts Movement

Makoto Fujimura - The Art of "The Four Holy Gospels" from Crossway on Vimeo.

[HT: JB]

Belonging and significance

2010-11-20T08:00:00.000Z

'Citizenship in the Roman empire, as in others of the sort, depends on lineage, power and financial means, and it classes people into first, second, third categories. Belonging, in Jewish cultural religion, also rested on family line and social status. In contrast, membership in the household of God is a gift: gentile and Jew, slave and free, women and men, old and young, people from South and North, East and West, people without all their limbs and wits and people with them, all belong, thanks to God's reconciling work in Christ.

'This new household, the Church, is built not on money, or power, charismatic leaders or individual saints, but on the foundation of the apostles and prophets: on the whole recorded history of God's work in God's world through God's people. When Rome claims that it's imperial power that holds everything together, and temples become symbols of dominion; and when today we are tempted to place our confidence in nations' military or economic power, big church budgets, or successive business ventures, and when denominational and institutional preoccupations easily become more important than people, then, with Paul, we must counter-culturally claim that Christ is the peace without which the entire construction would crumble apart. He is the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

'Where, we asked at the beginning, does God live? Paul closes with this amazing and humbling affirmation: in Christ, you are also being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. We, the Church, with all our imperfections, petty concerns, pride and prejudice, are God's holy temple, God's earthly home. Yes, by God's grace it is here: in the immensely diverse, transnational, transethnic, transcultural community, that God chooses to live. God lives in the new humanity, created by God, reconciled by Christ and indwelled and gifted by the Holy Spirit.'

- Ruth Padilla De Borst, at Cape Town 2010. Hear more here.

Does Reformation doctrine really matter now?

2010-11-19T08:00:00.012Z

So there was a rumpus and split in the church some hundreds of years ago, and people believe different things. Surely it's not important: we've learned to see past these petty differences, hm? In a wide-ranging conversation, Mike Reeves interviews Mark Dever on the personal and practical implications and value of the Biblical truths mostly rediscovered at the time now known as 'the Reformation', showing just how vital and pastoral these things are.

The latest UCCF Table Talk, here - as usual, an excellent use of your listening time: easy listening with an edifying twist, an informative skip and a good shake of heart-warming.

Leading in mission

2010-11-18T18:29:00.000Z

'Let me say without any fear or favour, that any church leader who is not leading in mission loses his apostolicity - simple. The apostles were church leaders because they were leaders in mission. Anytime you get to the point where you’re a church leader and you’re not leading your people in mission, you’ve lost the leadership. You can own the title, drive the cars, own the houses, but you’ve lost it - as far as heaven is concerned.

And I think church leaders need to know that so that they can really be the leaders in mission and create the enthusiasm. Let me tell you: if you are a church leader and you got out on witnessing, and the bank manager sees you and the people see you, it will not be long before your diocese or your circuit or your presbytery begins to say, 'Hey guys, we’d better join this man.' That’s why you’re put there in leadership!'

- Archbishop Ben Kwashi, of Jos, Nigeria

'Don't preach at me'

2010-11-16T12:59:00.000Z

We know the power of words. The ability to manipulate. To skip around your logic, whirling you around with beauty, form, time, until you succumb and join the dance. To reason and persuade, to change your mind against your will, with all the cost to your life. To speak a fan of words to blow away the mist and expose that you stand on a rickety, rotting rope bridge over a chasm. Words are powerful, and scary.

So out of respect for fear, and for fear of abuse or imposition, should we shut up?

Ruth Padilla De Borst, on 'he came and preached peace...' from Ephesians 2, at Cape Town 2010:

Now rhetoric, preaching, speaking: all these are skills practised and esteemed in Greco-Roman society, to which the recipients of Paul's letter belonged. They're highly aware of the power of the spoken word in building personal prestige and swaying public opinion. But Jesus' peace-preaching had a far more significant impact. It was grounded in his peace-being and his peace-making as expressions of the ongoing reconciling work of God who declares things into being. In the beginning, God, the creative community of love, spoke the world into existence out of chaos. In Jesus, the Word made flesh, God spoke redemption and new life into history. And through the Spirit's breath, God speaks community out of distanced individuals. God speaks and it comes to pass.

Paul had begun his letter by portraying the grand cosmic scheme of things: everything brought under Christ's lordship. He now zooms in on a visible, historical expression of that unity and authority. He leads us not to some ancient temples or some opulent modern church building. No! Instead, he lands squarely on his listeners - on the local community of Christ's followers, v19: 'So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God...'

What God in Christ has spoken into being is nothing more and nothing less than the Church, the body of Jesus' followers, the new humanity, woven together out of people from different ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious strands.

Decide this doubt

2010-11-14T08:00:00.008Z

Oh make this heart rejoice or ache;
Decide this doubt for me;
And if it be not broken, break,
And heal it, if it be.

- William Cowper, from a longer poem/hymn, here.

[HT: Tim Sandell]

Who's out & who's in?

2010-11-13T08:00:00.021Z

How much change are we willing to make as different people come in to our churches? Do we really want them to grow, as it means change? Ruth Padilla DeBorst, evidently shaped by a strong sense of cultural and linguistic justice, spoke of this in relation to the Ephesian church. It's not directly in the passage (Eph 2), but came across as she 'set the scene'. I wonder if she doesn't read back today's experience into the first century a bit, but it's helpful to hear her perspective and consider its application to our churches and plants.

So, an imagined description of what might have been the reaction of 1st century Jewish believers in Christ, hearing Ephesians 2: [NB there's a certain poignancy about this, that she was having to address the Congress in English in order to be translated into the other Congress languages - rather than Spanish]

'And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience' Ah, this is about them: the Jewish Christians might have sighed in relief. ... They might have rested assured of their belonging, and believed they owned the right to determine who was in and who was out of the new community being forged by the apostles' teaching. Become like us - the true believers: look at the world through our lenses, and organise your experience into our categories; otherwise, you will only ever be second class. We can tolerate a little colour here and there, a token representative of minority groups, but they must be willing to blend in, to accommodate to our standards and expectations, our jargon, our styles. Yet Paul leaves no room for such smug self-righteousness. He continues: 'We ALL once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of humankind.'

Everyone likes to control who's out and who's in - it's scarily uncomfortable otherwise. So how will we set about obeying: 'Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God', with all the discomfort, culture shock, and change involved?

Quote of the day: extrinsic value

2010-11-12T16:51:00.000Z

'Value and beauty are granted by our Creator to the Christian community: not fabricated by the symbols of status, prestige, or prosperity of our contemporary pagan consumer society.'

- Ruth Padilla De Borst on Eph 2.10. To what extent to we live in line with this truth?

God set us to be shining like stars in the universe, and we tend to run after lightbulbs of status, and gold star stickers of success.

Quote of the day: labour to describe

2010-11-10T14:52:00.001Z

'This truth is something that is culturally distant to most people. It's difficult for them to understand: how they can be redeemed from sin, how Jesus could turn God's wrath, and how the blood could cleanse them, how they are justified because he bore their guilt. So it's a difficult thing for our people to understand that. But it was difficult for the first century Jew. Paul says in 1 Cor 1.23 that the gospel is foolishness: 'We preach Christ crucified, which is foolishness to the Greeks, and a stumbling block to the Jew.' But, what did he do? Did he not preach this message? In 1 Cor 2.2 he says, 'I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.' He laboured to get this message across. And so in the epistles he used different pictures and all sorts of things to remind us of the fullness of our salvation.

'I fear that today many of us have surrendered to the culture and focussed on what is easy to understand, rather than labouring to describe what the work of Christ really did. We must be using our greatest creative energies to get through the Biblical concept of the work of Christ to the people that we minister to. That's the challenge that we have. Not to present God just as one who meets needs, but the One who has a plan for the whole universe.'

- Ajith Fernando, on Ephesians 1, from Cape Town 2010 [more expositions and talks here]

For more, watch the exposition below, in which Ajith Fernando advises that while many people come to Christ to fulfil a felt need, to keep going they must be taught the difficult truths, to recognise that Christ is Truth, and that they have been welcomed into something a lot bigger than a solution their initial felt need.

Bible Exposition:Ajith Fernando (Ephesians 1) from Lausanne Movement on Vimeo.

Over the next while, I hope to highlight some quotes and teaching from The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, from those of various cultures and countries. This is partly because I didn't get to attend the sessions, so am catching up now; partly because I tend to hear only the negative crit so want to acknowledge the work of the Spirit during the Congress; and mostly because I do believe that for the health and growth of the Church, it is vital to listen to perspectives that Christ has given his people in different parts of the world.

Music as text (or vice versa)

2010-11-05T08:00:00.000Z

A while ago I considered music as preaching (or vice versa). Peter Leithart has a clear, succinct post considering written or spoken text musically: Hermeneutics: Melody of the Text.

Each word must die for the sentence to live, yet each word must live in memory for the sake of the whole. For a melody, each note must die for the melody to live, yet each remain in memory for a melodic line to form. And so with a whole text, or book: hear the text, and don't miss out the bass drone, repeated rythms, or recurring motifs!
But read it here in Dr Leithart's own words.

Grasping for the wind, or beyond

2010-11-04T13:52:00.001Z

Many people have commented on this BBC interview - Jeremy Paxman in an unusual interview with comedian Russell Brand. Unlike his public persona (of which, to be honest, I know very little, as his speech seemed vulgar enough to put me off listening to him ages ago), Brand shows has real insight into culture and human nature. I often think that comedians are left to be the only ones in our age and culture who are permitted insight and understanding of human nature and society. They are the court jesters, who are allowed to preach unpleasant truths to the powerful and comfortable, in the name of entertainment.

Brand - I don't want to dwell here with such trivial things for very much longer.
Paxo - You mean you seek death?
Brand - Not death. But between now and death, it would be ever so nice I think, if I were able to achieve something that is truly valuable, some evocation of beauty, togetherness, an exposure of the illusion of separation, and some connection between people; perhaps use this energy for something better than leaving voicemail...'

Brand - Now I am famous and what does it mean: ashes in my mouth. ... Someone told me once that all desire is the desire to be at one with God in substitute form. So perhaps we can draw attention not to the shadow on the wall, but the source of light itself.

The substance of the interview is worth hearing (if you can ignore the few profanities).

I want to send Brand a copy of C.S.Lewis' Surprised by Joy. He seems to have 'got' that celebrity, or mundane non-celebrity, are all vanity and grasping for the wind. He wants to get through it and find something genuinely weighty, which will transform him. But would he cope with the weight of glory, if he held it in his hand? It might pierce him right through, unless he has been transformed to bear the image of the Man from glory.

[Aside: Paxman finds it unusual that Brand's so intense or in earnest about what he's saying. One of the aspects of British culture which I really don't like is how being in earnest or passionate about serious things is found somewhat Odd, and Not To Be Encouraged.]

Looking back - Lausanne II

2010-09-24T13:16:00.000+01:00

In the final weeks of preparation for The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, I came across this: John Piper's reflections of 20 years ago, of attending Lausanne II, in Manila. They moved me to tears and reminded me of the impact that congress had on churches, pastors and missions across the world.

This is not just another evangelical meeting. The impact of Christians from 200 nations sharing the gifts of experience, wisdom, insight and theological understanding Christ has given them, with those from other nations, is weighty.

We pray it will resound in inspiration and shaping of ministries such as DesiringGod, and thousands lesser known, to the ends of the globe. Not just that more would be busy for Jesus, but that our Lord would use it to hasten his return in glory.

Music as preaching (or vice versa)

2010-09-22T23:39:00.002+01:00

As I listened to Christian Tetzlaff's playful and lyrical account of Brahms' violin concerto in the Symphony Hall this evening, I reminisced on the first time I remember hearing it live - Tasmin Little, with the Ulster Orchestra, in the Ulster Hall, Belfast. I recall drifting off in young sleepiness in the over-warm hall during the second movement, and being thrown awake, embarassed, by the launch into the third. I was sitting with my Dad in the balcony stage left, for a good view of the soloist. I enjoyed it then; I enjoyed the performance this evening. Then, in awe of Tasmin Little and the virtuosic beauty of the music, particularly the double-stopping; now, amused by Tetzlaff's youthful quirky treatment of some of the piece, and struck by the musical similarity between the soloist and the conductor, the electrifying Andris Nelsons.

Music, it seems to me, is like a sermon in some respects. I wouldn't say that my recording of the Brahms (Anne Sophie Mutter, I think) is not the Brahms, but it is certainly less than the live performance. There's something about music, and a sermon, which should be embodied. The recording may be perfect - perfect balance, no distance through a concert hall, no coughs or dropped programmes at inappropriate moments, no distraction of an overactively bobbing soprano clarinetist. But it is precisely all those things which are cut out which make it so touchingly human. The music enacted in a different context every time, unique despite being written. So it is with a sermon: the word addressed to a particular time and people, in a context. (και ο λογος σαρξ εγενετο, one might ponder.)

So, also, I appreciated Shostakovich's earthy, jarring and tense search for resolution and hope, post-Nazi invasion of St Petersburg, more than the ethereal disembodied floating of souls through layers of supposed paradise, in part II of Mahler's 8th on Saturday. (Not that this fully characterises either piece - just some parts of each.)

Perhaps a feel for music gives some theological insight - the truth bubbling up to the surface, however hard repressed. The conductor turned before the Shostokovich and gave us a little exposition: the original author's meaning, its application to our day, the eternal truth behind both. 'There is always hope!' he concluded, as we were launched into Shostokovich's Eighth Symphony.

Beatified saints!

2010-09-19T00:00:00.000+01:00

Happy Sunday, beatified ones and saints!

'By God's will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.' [Heb.10]

Blessed are all who take refuge in the Son. [Ps.2]

Dear Benedict

2010-09-18T18:23:00.000+01:00

I would not be unecessarily contentious, nor do I dislike you personally, not knowing you personally. A public figure comes in for criticism, and it seems that most of the criticism of your office pertains to your 'presumption' as a celibate man, to speak on matters of sex - especially since you lead an organisation full of sinful people, and impose strictures on them which God's word expressly forbids. It would be better if you were to stay confident only in Christ, fully aware of sin, and offer others Christ alone - no extra rules, no special priesthood, no holy 'father' but the one in heaven.

Indeed, as one wrote to one of your predecessors:

'How much better it would be, [Benedict], if you would abandon the splendour and glory that your enemies claim belongs to your office! ... Do not listen to those sirens that pretend you are not a mere human but some sort of divine being who can command and decide whatever you wish. Things cannot be done this way; you do not have such power. For you are the servant of servants and more than all others you are in a most miserable and dangerous position. Do not be deceived by those who pretend you are lord of the world or who claim that no one can be a Christian unless he or she accepts your authority. Do not listen to those who claim you have power over heaven, hell, and purgatory. ... They are mistaken when they place you above a council and the universal church. They are also mistaken when they give you alone the right to interpret Scripture. Under the protection of your name, they desire only to promote their unchristian teaching in the church. And unfortunately, through them Satan has made much progress, just as he did under those who preceded you in the papacy.

'In summary, do not believe those who exalt you; rather you should believe those who humble you. This is the judgement of God who 'has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly' (Luke 1.52). Observe the great difference between Christ and his 'successors', though they all wish to be regarded as his substitute here on earth. I fear that most of them have viewed themselves as Christ's substitute in an all too real a sense! A person is a substitute only when the superior is absent. If the pope rules and at the same time Christ is not present or is not ruling in his heart, then what else is he but a substitute for Christ? Wha tis the church other than an assembly of people without Christ? And it follows - what is such a substitute other than an antechrist or an idol? Were not the apostles much more right in calling themselves the servants of the present Christ rather than the substitutes of an absent Christ?'

As for a state visit, dear Ratzinger, I am astonished that you let a quirk of history lead you to deny our Master, who said clearly to Rome's representative: 'My Kingdom is not of this world.' So it is not for the sake of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, nor her namesake, that we say with all due respect, 'The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this realm of England'; but for the sake of Christ, who is present to rule his Church.

Some complain that we take our current situation and read it back into the gospel accounts. But we cannot duck from their clear application to our day.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honour at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." [Matt 23]

As you yourself said, in your opening speech in 2005, 'May Christ always take first place in our thoughts and actions!' I am concerned that those critiquing your visit, and those who will go to 'see the Pope' tomorrow down the road in Longbridge, will not be encouraged to have Christ take first place in their thoughts and actions. Rather, as a money-grabbing flash televangelist denies any grace in his message by his wealth, and as a rock star's words of charity and peace are drowned out by his image and noise, is not anything of Christ replaced by your office, and his finished work substitued by your performance of sacrifice? You have the theological acuity to explain at length why this may not be so - but the crowds will not read your theology: they know what they see.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. ...

For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. [Heb 9]

There is more at stake here than contraception, or even grave sin, or the cost of a visit by a State which should not be. For the glory of Christ -

Yours sincerely,

Rosemary Grier

The Grand Design

2010-09-17T00:53:00.000+01:00

The Grand Design - New answers to the Ultimate Questions of Life
[Or 'Old non-answers to the Ultimate Questions of Life']

It hit the headlines with, "'GOD IS DEAD,' says Prof. Hawkins." So is philosophy, apparently: Hawkins wants science to take over. Except that science deals with observation and experimentation, and he's talking about the beginning of the universe, which no scientist observed, and which cannot be repeated in a controlled experiment. So he does do philosophy after all, but badly.

A: All swans I have seen are white
Therefore (by induction) all swans are white
= the law of this universe is such that swans are white
The law of this universe makes swans white

Hm?
Scientific 'laws' are simply induction from observation. In other words, a 'law'of science merely describes what we see. It doesn't do anything, any more than the law of the jungle makes a snake eat a monkey. It describes the usual state of affairs.

So for Hawkins and Mlodinow to imply that the law of gravity produced the big bang, is a severe category and logical error.

As for the ultimate questions of life... well, you don't get the right answers if you can't think of better questions: 42, anyone?

For a more informed and detailed review, see Alexander Waugh in The Spectator, or The Economist's review.

A while ago, an Aussie paper reported:

"...not only are other planets likely to exist, but whole other universes, known collectively as the multiverse, are too, says Professor Hawking. If God's intention was to create mankind, then these many untouchable worlds would surely be redundant, he suggests."

Amen - God was not creating the universe just for the sake of man, with a gazillion redundant side projects that didn't quite work out, and one functional planet!
No, the God who communicated himself in Christ in all the Bible made the universe for himself, in an outward explosion of inter-trinitarian love. 'by [Christ]... through him, and for him.' The humanistic god-of-the-gaps we invent to be as man-centred as we are, is dead. Long live Christ, who is before all things, and in whom all things hold together!

What's so good about the gospel?

2010-09-12T08:00:00.012+01:00

When the sun rises and warms the birds, they sing. And so, when our hearts are warmed by being reminded of the love of God, we cannot but speak of Him. The gospel - God giving himself in Christ - really is stupendously good news.

Mike Reeves on John 20.19-23 (and assorted other passages), from UCCF's Forum conference: download here.

What to say?

2010-09-11T14:27:00.000+01:00

Torrential timely truth

2010-08-26T08:00:00.001+01:00

Quote of the Day: Talk to the Fool

2010-08-22T23:44:00.000+01:00

'Are you in shadow? Are you in pain? Next to you, is Hamlet a happy man? ...

'Do not cry to me. I can only cry with you. I will not die for you. I am still too young in the meaning of love. Talk to the Fool, to the one who left a throne to enter an anthill. He will enter your shadow. It cannot taint Him. He has done it before. His holiness is not fragile. It burns like a father to the sun. Touch His skin, put your hand in His side. He has kept His scars when He did not have to. Give Him your pain and watch it overwhelmed, burned away by the joy He takes in loving. In stooping.'

- N.D.Wilson, from Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl

Everything, and more

2010-08-18T08:00:00.001+01:00

EVERYTHING
by Steve Turner

Looks aren’t everything.
Luxury’s not everything.
Money’s not everything.
Health is not everything.
Success is not everything.
Happiness is not everything.
Even everything is not everything.
There’s more to life than everything.

from Up To Date (1993), p137 [HT: Mark Meynell]

Getting something of Ecclesiastes?

Clark Pinnock (1937-2010)

2010-08-17T22:32:00.000+01:00

Theologian known most recently for his 'open theism', I wasn't aware of his much more helpful and orthodox contributions in the past. Justin Taylor brings a brief bio, with the news that Dr Pinnock died on Sunday. Read it here.

STEP and laugh!

2010-08-17T09:00:00.000+01:00

A not-so-new, but recommended health regime: STEP and laugh. That's Stop Taking Everything Personally, and laugh! As in a Shakespearean comedy, we know the end, so it's ok to laugh in the middle. (Especially, to laugh at ourselves.) For more, see Ed Welch's post: Reasons to Laugh, Each Day.

Polemic against anti-polemic polemicists

2010-08-16T08:00:00.001+01:00

It's in vogue to decry polemics. 'We don't like arguments: they're divisive.' We're all Trinitarian / we all believe in Jesus / we all believe we're saved by grace: why do we have to dredge up other details over which to argue? And somehow, everyone has a mental image of a man who'd hear of a tribe repenting and believing in Christ, and immediately ask questions until he found out that their missionaries were from the X Church of Y in Country Z, then issue youtube videos, podcasts and blog posts about how wrong they are on their interpretation of Revelation 20. I've never quite met such a man, but I'm sure if you spend enough time online reading comments in popular blogs, or message boards, you'll come across him before long - or someone who reminds you of him. No-one likes those who'll argue over the details.

It's not merely a contemporary feeling. My great-uncle, a missionary in China, objected to the presence of another missionary who didn't believe (or teach) that Jesus was God, nor that we have need of atonement for reconciliation with God. The missionary boards considered this nit-picking - who would be so un-Christian as to object to a brother who was so committed to a hard ministry in China? And of course, those in the 3rd Century who considered that the Son was less than eternally God, complained that the young hothead Athanasius and co. were nit-picking and even using non-Biblical words, in proposing that the Word was eternally God. When we now say, 'They're Trinitarian - stop fighting over the rest!', we're resting in the safe space provided by polemicists in the first place!

Yet, it still doesn't seem very British to fight over details. Surely we can accept differences? Surely unity is more important? How can we not be bullish and know what nits need picking? Carl Trueman writes a helpful article suggesting that the more Reformed or conservative evangelicals need not have so much self-loathing over a measure of polemics, for the health of the Church.

We must repent where necessary, where we have crossed the line; but, just as necessary, we must fight where we see the truth is at stake. We should be grateful for the truth that polemics have preserved so that we have a gospel to proclaim; and we should not allow a misguided commitment to being nice to allow us, in effect, to dump huge problems on the next generation by running up a massive theological and moral deficit in the church of the present. [Read more.]