Last Sunday's sermon at St Andrew's was on Acts 4:1-21, one of my favourite passages in the Bible. Most of the talk was based on v12 - 'Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved,' a verse which reminds us that the way God has provided for us to get to heaven is the name of his Son, knowing Jesus and trusting only in him. And there's 'no other name', no other way.
That's not a very popular message these days; it wasn't a popular message when Peter and John told the religious leaders in Acts 4 either. They arrested these two Christians, they threatened them, they 'commanded them not to speak or teach at all to anyone in this name.' But Peter and John won't stop telling people about Jesus; v20 - 'We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.'
That's the challenge, isn't it? If we believe v12 in our hearts, that there's no way to heaven except through trusting in Jesus, then we must also say v20 with our lips - 'We cannot help speaking about what we know to be true about Jesus.' When people get cross because we tell them Jesus is the only way, when people ask us firmly to shut up about Jesus, they just don't want to listen, the challenge is to respond as Peter and John did; 'I must keep telling people. I can't help speaking about it.'
It's easy to think 'I can't do that. It's too hard. I don't know many answers. Talking about Jesus to people is best left up to professionals like Peter and John back then, and to vicars and people like that today.' Well, take a look at v13 - the religious leaders 'realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus'.
Peter and John didn't wear dog collars; they hadn't been to university; they were ordinary, untrained guys. And yet here they stood up in front of the most intelligent, intimidating men in the country and said 'Jesus is the only way you can be saved. You need to trust in him.' They knew they were untrained; they knew most people would reject their message; but they knew v12 was true and so they spoke out anyway. They couldn't help it.
What an encouragement for us! If Peter and John can do it, so can we. Acts 4 leaves us no opportunity to say 'I can't do it. I don't know enough/can't speak well enough/am not a vicar..' Acts 4 says you can do it - you can tell someone about Jesus today; and if you remember v12, that Jesus is the only way the people we know can be saved, then you will tell someone about Jesus, you too won't be able to help speaking the truth about Jesus.
When it comes to talking about Jesus, there's no such word as 'can't'.
Thursday 5 July 2007
Verse of the week
'We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts' 1 Thessalonians 2:4
It's very rare to meet someone who doesn't often dress/speak/act in order to win praise or friendship from others. Most of us worry what others think of us; most of us long to be popular. Even people who deliberately kick out against the prevailing fashion are still defining themselves in terms of what men think and expect. And actually as we seek to gain praise from others, we become slaves to that search.
That's why the Christian life is so liberating. The Christian no longer needs to think 'What will they think of me?' or 'How can I become, or stay, popular?' Because the Christian, lik Paul in this verse, is no longer desperately striving to please men; no, the Christian is striving to please God, the God who tests our hearts, who is pleased by inner rather than outer beauty, by motivation more than fashion, by our hearts more than our clothes. How wonderful to be freed from finding our assurance and confidence in what society says, and to be able to know that we can please not just our schoolfriends or our work colleagues or our footballing friends but the Creator God himself!
And that's also why the Christian life is so challenging. Paul writes this verse shortly after being kicked out of Thessaloniki because he refused to say what pleased people; instead he said the message of the gospel, and spoke of Jesus Christ and his death in our place. His words displeased people so much they rioted; the few Christians in the city were now being persecuted.
It often seems so much easier to please people rather than God; to keep quiet rather than speaking out, to do what the crowd wants rather than what you know God wants. Paul didn't care what the crowd wanted him to do, he cared only for what God wanted him to do. The challenge for us as Christians is to remind ourselves every day that as God's people we need be and should be no longer trying to please men, but to please God, the God who knows not just what we choose to show to others, but what is in our hearts.
It's very rare to meet someone who doesn't often dress/speak/act in order to win praise or friendship from others. Most of us worry what others think of us; most of us long to be popular. Even people who deliberately kick out against the prevailing fashion are still defining themselves in terms of what men think and expect. And actually as we seek to gain praise from others, we become slaves to that search.
That's why the Christian life is so liberating. The Christian no longer needs to think 'What will they think of me?' or 'How can I become, or stay, popular?' Because the Christian, lik Paul in this verse, is no longer desperately striving to please men; no, the Christian is striving to please God, the God who tests our hearts, who is pleased by inner rather than outer beauty, by motivation more than fashion, by our hearts more than our clothes. How wonderful to be freed from finding our assurance and confidence in what society says, and to be able to know that we can please not just our schoolfriends or our work colleagues or our footballing friends but the Creator God himself!
And that's also why the Christian life is so challenging. Paul writes this verse shortly after being kicked out of Thessaloniki because he refused to say what pleased people; instead he said the message of the gospel, and spoke of Jesus Christ and his death in our place. His words displeased people so much they rioted; the few Christians in the city were now being persecuted.
It often seems so much easier to please people rather than God; to keep quiet rather than speaking out, to do what the crowd wants rather than what you know God wants. Paul didn't care what the crowd wanted him to do, he cared only for what God wanted him to do. The challenge for us as Christians is to remind ourselves every day that as God's people we need be and should be no longer trying to please men, but to please God, the God who knows not just what we choose to show to others, but what is in our hearts.
Friday 29 June 2007
Verse of the week
'Now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you...?' 1 Thessalonians 3:8-9
What happens when someone becomes a Christian? Their eternal destiny changes. They pass from death to life, from alienation from God to friendship with God. And every day they keep going as a Christian, so they get closer to that wonderful eternal destiny.
As Christians, then, when we see someone else become a Christian, we have seen something more significant than anything else we'll ever see. And when that person keeps going, continues to stand firm in the Lord, we are seeing someone moving towards a perfect eternal life with Christ. Just looking at a Christian friend in that way should give us more joy than anything else - to look at them and think 'Once you were facing the eternal death of separation from God, but now, because of Jesus, I will see you in the New Creation when we live there with Christ.'
Paul had not seen these Thessalonian Christians for some time, and he was concerned whether they were keeping going in the face of persecution from those around them. Then one day he heard that these young Christians were keeping going, were doing well, were standing firm in the Lord. And what joy that brought him - 'now we really live'!
And his joy in seeing others keeping going in the Christian faith leads him to give thanks to God. In fact, Paul is so aware of how wonderful it is that these Thessalonians have become Christians and kept going as Christians that he knows he can never thank God enough. However long he spends on his knees in thanksgiving, he'll never have said enough.
We all have Christian friends who we can look at and see keeping going with Christ. Many of us will have Christian friends who we once lived amongst but now are parted from. What joy it ought to bring us when we hear, by email or phone or letter, that they are standing firm in the Lord! And how much ought we to fall on our knees and give great thanks to God for those lives, lives he has saved and is sustaining until heaven.
So often the state of our bank balance, or our wardrobe, or our football team, is of more importance to us than the state of our Christian friends - might it be that we would 'really live' when we find out about Christians who are keeping going, might it be that we would thank God properly for what he has done for those friends of ours.
What happens when someone becomes a Christian? Their eternal destiny changes. They pass from death to life, from alienation from God to friendship with God. And every day they keep going as a Christian, so they get closer to that wonderful eternal destiny.
As Christians, then, when we see someone else become a Christian, we have seen something more significant than anything else we'll ever see. And when that person keeps going, continues to stand firm in the Lord, we are seeing someone moving towards a perfect eternal life with Christ. Just looking at a Christian friend in that way should give us more joy than anything else - to look at them and think 'Once you were facing the eternal death of separation from God, but now, because of Jesus, I will see you in the New Creation when we live there with Christ.'
Paul had not seen these Thessalonian Christians for some time, and he was concerned whether they were keeping going in the face of persecution from those around them. Then one day he heard that these young Christians were keeping going, were doing well, were standing firm in the Lord. And what joy that brought him - 'now we really live'!
And his joy in seeing others keeping going in the Christian faith leads him to give thanks to God. In fact, Paul is so aware of how wonderful it is that these Thessalonians have become Christians and kept going as Christians that he knows he can never thank God enough. However long he spends on his knees in thanksgiving, he'll never have said enough.
We all have Christian friends who we can look at and see keeping going with Christ. Many of us will have Christian friends who we once lived amongst but now are parted from. What joy it ought to bring us when we hear, by email or phone or letter, that they are standing firm in the Lord! And how much ought we to fall on our knees and give great thanks to God for those lives, lives he has saved and is sustaining until heaven.
So often the state of our bank balance, or our wardrobe, or our football team, is of more importance to us than the state of our Christian friends - might it be that we would 'really live' when we find out about Christians who are keeping going, might it be that we would thank God properly for what he has done for those friends of ours.
Friday 22 June 2007
'Salvation issues'
Just thinking about the previous post, it's probably worth reminding ourselves that there's a difference between not understanding or disagreeing over different issues about Christianity.
Some people disagree over what are termed 'salvation issues'; things which, if you don't believe, you can't be saved. So for instance if you don't believe God made the world, or if you don't believe you have rejected God, or if you don't believe Jesus took the punishment for your sins, or if you don't believe he will return in judgement and glory, then the whole gospel falls apart. So if someone says 'Jesus won't return' that's a salvation issue, and so obviously them not believing that matters very much.
There are also what we can call 'secondary issues'; things which, if you don't believe, you may be wrong but it doesn't mean you're not saved. Here are a couple of examples; some Christians think you should baptise babies, others that you should only baptise adults who are professing faith. Clearly one is right and one is wrong, and it matters in that we want to follow God's truth; but getting that wrong won't mean you can't be saved. Or again, some Christians think you shouldn't work on a Sunday, others that you must take a day of rest each week but not necessarily Sunday, others that you don't have to take a day off at all. One of those positions is right, but if I've got it wrong when I get to heaven I won't be thrown out!
It's quite helpful, when someone says something that we think 'I've never heard that before', or 'I don't understand that' or even 'I don't think that's right', to ask ourselves whether this is a salvation issue or a secondary issue. If it's a salvation issue, in other words something that will directly effect how we understand the cross and resurrection and return of Jesus Christ, it's something you need to think about, pray about and take very seriously.
But if it isn't - then don't worry too much! It's not like if you get that wrong God's going to be angry, or if you don't understand it then you're not saved anymore. It's still worth thinking about - we want to know God as well as possible - but it's not something that should make you suddenly worry you're not a Christian anymore.
For what it's worth, unless someone says 'Humans are robots' or 'God is not in control in any way', I think the debate in the post below is a secondary issue. By all means think about it, discuss it, and pray about it; but as you do so, just keep remembering 'I know Jesus is God, that he died for my sins, that he rose again and will return one day to take me to his recreated world'. Knowing that is what saves us; nothing more and nothing less.
Some people disagree over what are termed 'salvation issues'; things which, if you don't believe, you can't be saved. So for instance if you don't believe God made the world, or if you don't believe you have rejected God, or if you don't believe Jesus took the punishment for your sins, or if you don't believe he will return in judgement and glory, then the whole gospel falls apart. So if someone says 'Jesus won't return' that's a salvation issue, and so obviously them not believing that matters very much.
There are also what we can call 'secondary issues'; things which, if you don't believe, you may be wrong but it doesn't mean you're not saved. Here are a couple of examples; some Christians think you should baptise babies, others that you should only baptise adults who are professing faith. Clearly one is right and one is wrong, and it matters in that we want to follow God's truth; but getting that wrong won't mean you can't be saved. Or again, some Christians think you shouldn't work on a Sunday, others that you must take a day of rest each week but not necessarily Sunday, others that you don't have to take a day off at all. One of those positions is right, but if I've got it wrong when I get to heaven I won't be thrown out!
It's quite helpful, when someone says something that we think 'I've never heard that before', or 'I don't understand that' or even 'I don't think that's right', to ask ourselves whether this is a salvation issue or a secondary issue. If it's a salvation issue, in other words something that will directly effect how we understand the cross and resurrection and return of Jesus Christ, it's something you need to think about, pray about and take very seriously.
But if it isn't - then don't worry too much! It's not like if you get that wrong God's going to be angry, or if you don't understand it then you're not saved anymore. It's still worth thinking about - we want to know God as well as possible - but it's not something that should make you suddenly worry you're not a Christian anymore.
For what it's worth, unless someone says 'Humans are robots' or 'God is not in control in any way', I think the debate in the post below is a secondary issue. By all means think about it, discuss it, and pray about it; but as you do so, just keep remembering 'I know Jesus is God, that he died for my sins, that he rose again and will return one day to take me to his recreated world'. Knowing that is what saves us; nothing more and nothing less.
God's control and our free will...
(If you haven't read the previous post, it's probably helpful to do so before you read this)
(This is a long post, but it's a complicated subject!)
Here's a question which countless Bible-believing Christians have struggled with for centuries; what does it mean for God to be in control of (or sovereign over) his creation, and therefore over humanity? If God is in control, how much free choice do humans have, and if none then how can they be responsible for what they do?
Essentially, it's helpful to think about this issue by imagining a horizontal line, and at one end is God's sovereignty and at the other is human free choice. At one end, you have God's sovereignty but no free choice; that would mean that we were basically robots, but you would maintain a view of God being fully in control. At the other end, you have complete human free choice, but you would have lost any idea of a God who was in any sense in control of anything (this 'God' would just have to wait around, hoping that things went OK in the world, but unable/unwilling to do anything about it).
In the middle area of that line, you have a blending of God's sovereignty and human free will, and biblical Christians sit all along that line, disagreeing on how exactly God's sovereignty and human choice fit together. In other words, mature Christians disagree on this issue. And I think the reason for that is that the Bible doesn't make it clear exactly how God is in control and humans have free choice.
For an example, look at Matthew 11:27-29...
V27 – 'No-one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him' – so the only way any of us can know God is if Jesus chooses to reveal him to us. God the Father, Son and Spirit is in charge of whether we know God or not.
V28-29 – 'Come to me...Take my yoke' – Jesus invites people to choose whether to come to him, to accept the 'rest' (eternal life) he offers, or not.
In other words, in these verses God is telling us two truths. Firstly, he is in control. Secondly, humans have to make a choice. Those are two truths in God's Word, so whatever we decide about this issue we mustn't end up denying either of those.
All through Scripture are verses which seem to suggest that God is in control in a way which means that humans don't have free choice (even if we think we do); then there are other verses which point to humans having control over how they respond to God. There are some verses which suggest that God has the whole plan mapped out and that everything happens happens because he decided it would happen exactly that way; then there are other verses in which, for instance, God changes his mind about something. In other words, all through the Bible both truths; God is in control, humans have to choose; are affirmed.
It seems to me that in trying to fit them together we are very close to where the iceberg goes into the sea (see previous post). And that means that we may not be able to find a complete answer, simply because God has not chosen to reveal that answer to us. But that's fine; we just accept the truths he has told us, and know that even if they don't make total sense to us, that's because we don't know everything about God and how his creation works. No-one has yet from the Bible come up with a 'system' which brings God's sovereignty and human free choice together in a way into which every verse of the Bible fits.
Three final points:
First - because the Bible affirms both truths, if we come up with a 'system' it mustn't get rid of either. Some people say that humans have no such thing as free choice; I think that's difficult to maintain from the whole witness of the Bible. Other people are so determined to defend human free choice that they make God into some powerless, separate divinity, incapable of influencing or helping us; that is clearly not what the Bible says either (and would mean there was not point to praying).
Second – there are many verses in the Bible which can be used to push God's sovereignty over everything, but also can be read in a way which says humans have free choice. Take 1 Peter 2:7-8, for example. 'They stumble because they disobey the message (about Jesus) – which is what they were destined for.' Now, we could say that these particular people were destined by God to 'stumble', ie be judged and punished by Jesus; and other people were destined by God to accept Jesus. God has 'predestined' everyone's ultimate destination; humans do not have free choice, it just seems as though they do.
Or, we read the verse differently. Who is it who stumbles? Those who disobey the message calling everyone to repent and bow down to Jesus. And God has destined that people who choose disobey that message will stumble, ie be judged and punished by Jesus. People choose what they will do with Jesus, accept or reject his message; and God, in his sovereignty, has chosen/destined that anyone who rejects the message will face judgement.
Only one of those readings is right – I don't know which! But the point is, it's unwise to point to a verse like that and say 'Aha! See, humans do choose' or 'There! God is in control and humans don't have free choice'. Much better to come to a verse like that and say 'I know that the Bible tells me that God is in control, and humans choose how they'll respond to Jesus. I don't know how they fit together, so I can't take this verse too far; but what this verse does remind me is that people who reject Jesus will be judged and punished by him.'
Third – Just because I don't understand how those two truths fit together, doesn't mean others don't understand more (I don't think anyone can understand fully). Sometimes it's right to say 'I don't know'; but that doesn't mean we shouldn't listen to people who do seem to know more, and doesn't mean that we shouldn't look in our Bibles to try to find out more of what God has decided to reveal to us. If other people have fitted the truths together in a biblical way that I don't get, then listen to them! But most of all, we must listen to God, to God who reveals himself through his Son in his Word, who has saved sinners like us, and who calls us to tell others the good news of the eternal life that he offers.
(This is a long post, but it's a complicated subject!)
Here's a question which countless Bible-believing Christians have struggled with for centuries; what does it mean for God to be in control of (or sovereign over) his creation, and therefore over humanity? If God is in control, how much free choice do humans have, and if none then how can they be responsible for what they do?
Essentially, it's helpful to think about this issue by imagining a horizontal line, and at one end is God's sovereignty and at the other is human free choice. At one end, you have God's sovereignty but no free choice; that would mean that we were basically robots, but you would maintain a view of God being fully in control. At the other end, you have complete human free choice, but you would have lost any idea of a God who was in any sense in control of anything (this 'God' would just have to wait around, hoping that things went OK in the world, but unable/unwilling to do anything about it).
In the middle area of that line, you have a blending of God's sovereignty and human free will, and biblical Christians sit all along that line, disagreeing on how exactly God's sovereignty and human choice fit together. In other words, mature Christians disagree on this issue. And I think the reason for that is that the Bible doesn't make it clear exactly how God is in control and humans have free choice.
For an example, look at Matthew 11:27-29...
V27 – 'No-one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him' – so the only way any of us can know God is if Jesus chooses to reveal him to us. God the Father, Son and Spirit is in charge of whether we know God or not.
V28-29 – 'Come to me...Take my yoke' – Jesus invites people to choose whether to come to him, to accept the 'rest' (eternal life) he offers, or not.
In other words, in these verses God is telling us two truths. Firstly, he is in control. Secondly, humans have to make a choice. Those are two truths in God's Word, so whatever we decide about this issue we mustn't end up denying either of those.
All through Scripture are verses which seem to suggest that God is in control in a way which means that humans don't have free choice (even if we think we do); then there are other verses which point to humans having control over how they respond to God. There are some verses which suggest that God has the whole plan mapped out and that everything happens happens because he decided it would happen exactly that way; then there are other verses in which, for instance, God changes his mind about something. In other words, all through the Bible both truths; God is in control, humans have to choose; are affirmed.
It seems to me that in trying to fit them together we are very close to where the iceberg goes into the sea (see previous post). And that means that we may not be able to find a complete answer, simply because God has not chosen to reveal that answer to us. But that's fine; we just accept the truths he has told us, and know that even if they don't make total sense to us, that's because we don't know everything about God and how his creation works. No-one has yet from the Bible come up with a 'system' which brings God's sovereignty and human free choice together in a way into which every verse of the Bible fits.
Three final points:
First - because the Bible affirms both truths, if we come up with a 'system' it mustn't get rid of either. Some people say that humans have no such thing as free choice; I think that's difficult to maintain from the whole witness of the Bible. Other people are so determined to defend human free choice that they make God into some powerless, separate divinity, incapable of influencing or helping us; that is clearly not what the Bible says either (and would mean there was not point to praying).
Second – there are many verses in the Bible which can be used to push God's sovereignty over everything, but also can be read in a way which says humans have free choice. Take 1 Peter 2:7-8, for example. 'They stumble because they disobey the message (about Jesus) – which is what they were destined for.' Now, we could say that these particular people were destined by God to 'stumble', ie be judged and punished by Jesus; and other people were destined by God to accept Jesus. God has 'predestined' everyone's ultimate destination; humans do not have free choice, it just seems as though they do.
Or, we read the verse differently. Who is it who stumbles? Those who disobey the message calling everyone to repent and bow down to Jesus. And God has destined that people who choose disobey that message will stumble, ie be judged and punished by Jesus. People choose what they will do with Jesus, accept or reject his message; and God, in his sovereignty, has chosen/destined that anyone who rejects the message will face judgement.
Only one of those readings is right – I don't know which! But the point is, it's unwise to point to a verse like that and say 'Aha! See, humans do choose' or 'There! God is in control and humans don't have free choice'. Much better to come to a verse like that and say 'I know that the Bible tells me that God is in control, and humans choose how they'll respond to Jesus. I don't know how they fit together, so I can't take this verse too far; but what this verse does remind me is that people who reject Jesus will be judged and punished by him.'
Third – Just because I don't understand how those two truths fit together, doesn't mean others don't understand more (I don't think anyone can understand fully). Sometimes it's right to say 'I don't know'; but that doesn't mean we shouldn't listen to people who do seem to know more, and doesn't mean that we shouldn't look in our Bibles to try to find out more of what God has decided to reveal to us. If other people have fitted the truths together in a biblical way that I don't get, then listen to them! But most of all, we must listen to God, to God who reveals himself through his Son in his Word, who has saved sinners like us, and who calls us to tell others the good news of the eternal life that he offers.
God's Iceberg
How can we know God, and what do we know about him? In many ways, that is the most fundamental question we can ever ask, even more so than 'Why are we here?' The answer to the first question is that God is revealed to us through his Son – in him and through him we can know God, the Father, Son and Spirit (John 14:9-11, Colossians 1:19). Today, we can know the Son, Jesus, through the word of God, the Bible (Colossians 1:25-26).
What do we know about God when we look at Jesus in the Bible? Here's the bit which we often forget – we know all that God tells us, and nothing more. And God has not told us everything, but only what we need to know to enable us to know how to be saved and to know how to live God's way (2 Timothy 3:15-17).
As the sixteenth-century theologian John Calvin put it quite helpfully, we don't know all of God, we only know God 'as he is to us'; in other words we know only what God has chosen to reveal of himself through his Son. And the Bible tells us that that wasn't everything; for instance, while on earth Jesus didn't know when he would return (Mark 13:32). There is much of God that we do not know, and since we're human and he is the divine Creator, it is wise not to guess too much, and if we must guess then it is essential not to insist that our guess is the right one. If we didn't have God's Word, everything we thought we knew about God would be a guess; because we have his Word, we can know what it tells us and only what it tells us is definitely true. So for example God's favourite colour may or may not be blue; but since Scripture doesn't tell us, I can only guess and I could never tell you you were wrong for thinking God preferred red.
A picture I find fairly useful (and always remember that any picture has its limits and weaknesses) is an iceberg. Icebergs look huge above the surface, intricate and beautiful yet also somewhat scary; yet 7/8 of an iceberg is below the surface, unseen. So it is with God. We can see so much of him, enough for us to know that he is holy, he is loving, he is a perfect judge, and that in his love he saves people from his judgement. What we know of him in His Word to us is like the top of that iceberg; it's all interlinked, and it's huge, and you can spend a lifetime learning more about it and how wonderful God is.
But there are things that we are not to know, at least this side of the New Creation. And that means that there will always be things we cannot understand about God. Imagine a crag coming up from the iceberg at an unlikely angle, an angle that doesn't fit with the rest of the iceberg we can see. Why that crag is as it is can only be explained by what lies beneath the surface, and we can't see that. We don't decide the crag isn't really there, we just accept that we can't fit it with the rest of the iceberg that we can see.
So it is with God. We can never know anything about him without his Word; but we can never know everything about him from his Word.
Sometimes he tells us in Scripture a truth about himself, or a truth about how he deals with us, which we can't fit in with everything else we know about God from His Word. We say 'That doesn't seem to make sense.' But that doesn't mean it's not true, it's just that we can't work out how it's true. And it's at that point that we have to remember that God is God, and we aren't. We can never know everything. But we can know enough to be saved and to know how to live Christlike lives, and we should be eternally grateful to God that he has revealed that to us.
What do we know about God when we look at Jesus in the Bible? Here's the bit which we often forget – we know all that God tells us, and nothing more. And God has not told us everything, but only what we need to know to enable us to know how to be saved and to know how to live God's way (2 Timothy 3:15-17).
As the sixteenth-century theologian John Calvin put it quite helpfully, we don't know all of God, we only know God 'as he is to us'; in other words we know only what God has chosen to reveal of himself through his Son. And the Bible tells us that that wasn't everything; for instance, while on earth Jesus didn't know when he would return (Mark 13:32). There is much of God that we do not know, and since we're human and he is the divine Creator, it is wise not to guess too much, and if we must guess then it is essential not to insist that our guess is the right one. If we didn't have God's Word, everything we thought we knew about God would be a guess; because we have his Word, we can know what it tells us and only what it tells us is definitely true. So for example God's favourite colour may or may not be blue; but since Scripture doesn't tell us, I can only guess and I could never tell you you were wrong for thinking God preferred red.
A picture I find fairly useful (and always remember that any picture has its limits and weaknesses) is an iceberg. Icebergs look huge above the surface, intricate and beautiful yet also somewhat scary; yet 7/8 of an iceberg is below the surface, unseen. So it is with God. We can see so much of him, enough for us to know that he is holy, he is loving, he is a perfect judge, and that in his love he saves people from his judgement. What we know of him in His Word to us is like the top of that iceberg; it's all interlinked, and it's huge, and you can spend a lifetime learning more about it and how wonderful God is.
But there are things that we are not to know, at least this side of the New Creation. And that means that there will always be things we cannot understand about God. Imagine a crag coming up from the iceberg at an unlikely angle, an angle that doesn't fit with the rest of the iceberg we can see. Why that crag is as it is can only be explained by what lies beneath the surface, and we can't see that. We don't decide the crag isn't really there, we just accept that we can't fit it with the rest of the iceberg that we can see.
So it is with God. We can never know anything about him without his Word; but we can never know everything about him from his Word.
Sometimes he tells us in Scripture a truth about himself, or a truth about how he deals with us, which we can't fit in with everything else we know about God from His Word. We say 'That doesn't seem to make sense.' But that doesn't mean it's not true, it's just that we can't work out how it's true. And it's at that point that we have to remember that God is God, and we aren't. We can never know everything. But we can know enough to be saved and to know how to live Christlike lives, and we should be eternally grateful to God that he has revealed that to us.
Verse of the week
'Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching.' Hebrews 10:25
God does not bring people to follow Christ singly, but together; he does not save individuals but rather a people. If you are a Christian, you are part of God's family; and families (should!) meet together, look out for one another, encourage one another. The Christian life is hard enough as it is; if we neglect the help God offers us through the church, through other Christians, then it will be harder still.
And so the writer to the Hebrews urges his readers, and us today, not to give up meeting together, not to give up gathering together as Christians. Some people, he says, have stopped bothering with church - don't follow them. Back in chapter 6 we're told of Christians who fell away, who stopped trusting in Christ; it's most likely that these were the same people as had given up meeting with other Christians. The Bible consistently urges us not to think we can get by without other Christians.
Why? Because we need encouragement. That's part of what meeting Christians is for. Sometimes we're finding following Christ really hard, and need encouraging. Sometimes we have seen God work in our lives, and that's an encouragement for others. We are all to encourage, and to expect to be encouraged, by our Christian family.
What should we say to encourage people? 'You see the Day approaching'. Every day that passes is a day closer to the Day when Jesus returns, saves his people from judgement and brings us into his perfect recreated world. That is a Day worth looking forward to; that is a Day which encourages us as we look forward to it. And so that is the Day we should remind our Christian friends of, because if we keep looking forward to that Day then we will keep going on as Christians on this day.
So, when was the last time you encouraged a fellow Christian? Are you the kind of person who makes church and meetings midweek a priority as much as you can, and goes to church or youth group or whatever thinking 'I want to encourage someone this evening. I want to look out for who's struggling a bit. I want to remind them that one day Jesus will return and they'll see him and live with him forever.' Wouldn't it be great if we all encouraged each other in that way, as this verse teaches us to do?
God does not bring people to follow Christ singly, but together; he does not save individuals but rather a people. If you are a Christian, you are part of God's family; and families (should!) meet together, look out for one another, encourage one another. The Christian life is hard enough as it is; if we neglect the help God offers us through the church, through other Christians, then it will be harder still.
And so the writer to the Hebrews urges his readers, and us today, not to give up meeting together, not to give up gathering together as Christians. Some people, he says, have stopped bothering with church - don't follow them. Back in chapter 6 we're told of Christians who fell away, who stopped trusting in Christ; it's most likely that these were the same people as had given up meeting with other Christians. The Bible consistently urges us not to think we can get by without other Christians.
Why? Because we need encouragement. That's part of what meeting Christians is for. Sometimes we're finding following Christ really hard, and need encouraging. Sometimes we have seen God work in our lives, and that's an encouragement for others. We are all to encourage, and to expect to be encouraged, by our Christian family.
What should we say to encourage people? 'You see the Day approaching'. Every day that passes is a day closer to the Day when Jesus returns, saves his people from judgement and brings us into his perfect recreated world. That is a Day worth looking forward to; that is a Day which encourages us as we look forward to it. And so that is the Day we should remind our Christian friends of, because if we keep looking forward to that Day then we will keep going on as Christians on this day.
So, when was the last time you encouraged a fellow Christian? Are you the kind of person who makes church and meetings midweek a priority as much as you can, and goes to church or youth group or whatever thinking 'I want to encourage someone this evening. I want to look out for who's struggling a bit. I want to remind them that one day Jesus will return and they'll see him and live with him forever.' Wouldn't it be great if we all encouraged each other in that way, as this verse teaches us to do?
Thursday 24 May 2007
A good joke (well, I thought so...)
Once upon a time there was a family of balloons - daddy balloon, mummy balloon and baby balloon. And the time came when the parent balloons decided that baby balloon needed to sleep in his own bed, as he was getting too big to come into their bed at night.
So one night mummy balloon tucked baby balloon in his own bed, and told him lovingly but firmly that he was not to come into mummy and daddy balloons' bed that night.
In the night, baby balloon woke up, and wanted to get into his parents' bed. So he crept quietly into their room, and tried to climb in between them. But there wasn't room. So he thought for a bit, and then he quietly undid the knot on daddy balloon and let a bit of air out. Then he tried to squeeze in - but there still wasn't room. So he undid the knot on mummy balloon and let some air out. Then he tried to squeeze in - but the gap was just too small. So he undid the knot on himself, and let some air out of himself. Now he was small enough to fit in, so he climbed in between his parents. But in doing so, he woke mummy and daddy balloon up. Daddy balloon asked what had happened, and baby balloon shamefacedly told them.
Daddy balloon was cross.
He said: 'I'm very disappointed in you, baby balloon. Not only have you let me and your mother down, but you've let yourself down too!'
So one night mummy balloon tucked baby balloon in his own bed, and told him lovingly but firmly that he was not to come into mummy and daddy balloons' bed that night.
In the night, baby balloon woke up, and wanted to get into his parents' bed. So he crept quietly into their room, and tried to climb in between them. But there wasn't room. So he thought for a bit, and then he quietly undid the knot on daddy balloon and let a bit of air out. Then he tried to squeeze in - but there still wasn't room. So he undid the knot on mummy balloon and let some air out. Then he tried to squeeze in - but the gap was just too small. So he undid the knot on himself, and let some air out of himself. Now he was small enough to fit in, so he climbed in between his parents. But in doing so, he woke mummy and daddy balloon up. Daddy balloon asked what had happened, and baby balloon shamefacedly told them.
Daddy balloon was cross.
He said: 'I'm very disappointed in you, baby balloon. Not only have you let me and your mother down, but you've let yourself down too!'
Priorities
It's exam time at the moment, so perhaps time for a challenging reminder - this comes from one of the women who helps at our youth group here.
A fortnight ago at youth group we were thinking about reading the Bible, and some of the 'yoof' said they didn't have time to read their Bibles at home, they had too much else on - school, homework, sports clubs, drama, etc.
'What's your priority in life - to know God or to do well at worldly stuff?' she asked them.
'To know God,' came back the answer.
'Well if that really were the case, that would show itself in how you use your time. If knowing God is really your priority, you'd make time, even give things up, so that you read his Word each day.'
I imagine the reply began with 'But'. 'But' is a dangerous word - it's normally the beginning of an excuse. No buts. That youth leader was right - if knowing God is your priority, you'll make time to read his Word (even when exams are on). No ifs. No buts. Just change.
A fortnight ago at youth group we were thinking about reading the Bible, and some of the 'yoof' said they didn't have time to read their Bibles at home, they had too much else on - school, homework, sports clubs, drama, etc.
'What's your priority in life - to know God or to do well at worldly stuff?' she asked them.
'To know God,' came back the answer.
'Well if that really were the case, that would show itself in how you use your time. If knowing God is really your priority, you'd make time, even give things up, so that you read his Word each day.'
I imagine the reply began with 'But'. 'But' is a dangerous word - it's normally the beginning of an excuse. No buts. That youth leader was right - if knowing God is your priority, you'll make time to read his Word (even when exams are on). No ifs. No buts. Just change.
Taking the blame
So, after last night's Champions League final (if you don't like football, read on anyway, it's not really about that), the usual recriminations have begun. UEFA are criticising the Liverpool fans who stormed a barrier outside the stadium. The fans are blaming the police who used tear gas on them. The media are blaming UEFA for not having proper ticketing procedures. UEFA in turn are blaming the fans who travelled to Athens (where the game was) without tickets. One thing's for sure - no-one's going to stand up and say 'Yup, it was my fault. I'm to blame.'
We live in a blame-shifting society, if you think about it. People always try to show it was someone else's fault. It's a natural human trait - you watch a five-year-old caught in the act of hitting someone else try to blame everyone else. It happens so often we don't really notice - when was the last time you heard a politician come on TV and say 'Yes, it was my fault. I'm to blame. This mess was caused mainly by me'?
Our natural reaction is always to shift the blame. It's what Adam and Eve did when they ate the forbidden fruit and committed the first act of rebellion against God - Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the snake. But actually, seeking to move the fault onto others is exhausting (how tiring is it to think up and stick to excuses?)...and ultimately, according to the Bible, it's pointless.
The opening chapters of Romans address people who have all sorts of excuses for why God shouldn't be angry at them for sinning. It's not their fault...they didn't know...someone else is worse anyway...but one day God will no longer let anyone pass the buck. 'Every mouth may be silenced and the whole world (will be) held accountable to God' (Romans 3:19). One day, as people stand before God to be judged, all those excuses will stick in the throat, and all anyone will be able to say is 'Yes, I'm to blame. I've messed up. I've rebelled. It's my fault'.
How much more liberating, and sensible, to admit when we're at fault now. How wonderful to be able, today, not to try to pass the buck or make excuses, but to say to God, as Paul does, 'I am the worst of sinners.' As we look at ourselves, our thoughts and actions and words, we know we've messed up - we know, as Paul did, that we are sinners. Let's be honest, let's admit our sins, let's accept that we're to blame. No-one else. Us.
Because when we do that, and only when we do that, we're forgiven. As Paul says, 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst' (1 Timothy 1:15). That's wonderful - we admit we're to blame, but Christ came to take the blame! But he only does that for those who know and accept they're at fault, not for those who seek to pass the buck. In this culture of ours which seeks to blame everyone else but ourselves, as Christians let's be honest with ourselves, with others and most importantly with God. Let's acknowledge when we get things wrong, let's accept when we should take the blame, and let's turn to the God who forgives everyone who, like Paul, knows they're an awful sinner, and who knows that Jesus has come to save them.
We live in a blame-shifting society, if you think about it. People always try to show it was someone else's fault. It's a natural human trait - you watch a five-year-old caught in the act of hitting someone else try to blame everyone else. It happens so often we don't really notice - when was the last time you heard a politician come on TV and say 'Yes, it was my fault. I'm to blame. This mess was caused mainly by me'?
Our natural reaction is always to shift the blame. It's what Adam and Eve did when they ate the forbidden fruit and committed the first act of rebellion against God - Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the snake. But actually, seeking to move the fault onto others is exhausting (how tiring is it to think up and stick to excuses?)...and ultimately, according to the Bible, it's pointless.
The opening chapters of Romans address people who have all sorts of excuses for why God shouldn't be angry at them for sinning. It's not their fault...they didn't know...someone else is worse anyway...but one day God will no longer let anyone pass the buck. 'Every mouth may be silenced and the whole world (will be) held accountable to God' (Romans 3:19). One day, as people stand before God to be judged, all those excuses will stick in the throat, and all anyone will be able to say is 'Yes, I'm to blame. I've messed up. I've rebelled. It's my fault'.
How much more liberating, and sensible, to admit when we're at fault now. How wonderful to be able, today, not to try to pass the buck or make excuses, but to say to God, as Paul does, 'I am the worst of sinners.' As we look at ourselves, our thoughts and actions and words, we know we've messed up - we know, as Paul did, that we are sinners. Let's be honest, let's admit our sins, let's accept that we're to blame. No-one else. Us.
Because when we do that, and only when we do that, we're forgiven. As Paul says, 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst' (1 Timothy 1:15). That's wonderful - we admit we're to blame, but Christ came to take the blame! But he only does that for those who know and accept they're at fault, not for those who seek to pass the buck. In this culture of ours which seeks to blame everyone else but ourselves, as Christians let's be honest with ourselves, with others and most importantly with God. Let's acknowledge when we get things wrong, let's accept when we should take the blame, and let's turn to the God who forgives everyone who, like Paul, knows they're an awful sinner, and who knows that Jesus has come to save them.
Verse of the week
'What does this mean?' Acts 2:12
This Sunday is the Sunday when churches remember the Day of Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit first came to dwell in all of God's people. Ever since that day, shortly after Jesus ascended back to heaven, every single Christian, regardless of age, race or sex, has had God the Spirit dwelling in them. That's the closeness of the relationship we enjoy with our Creator God - he lives in us.
That's a great privilege - it's also a great challenge. When the first Christians received the Holy Spirit, he enabled them to speak various languages so they could chat to foreign people staying in Jerusalem. And that work of the Spirit amazed everyone who saw and heard the Christians, causing them to ask 'What does this mean?' The conduct of the Spirit-filled Christians prompted people to want to know what it was that made such a difference, and gave them a chance to tell people about Jesus.
So there's the challenge...as Christians, as Spirit-filled people, would people look at the way we behave and speak and say 'They are different. They've got something I haven't got. What does this mean?' One of the works of the Spirit is to enable Christians to live differently, so that others might see the attractiveness of a Spirit-filled life and want to know more. In our culture, increasingly anti-Christian, it's more important than ever that we don't only welcome the privilege of being Spirit-filled people, but accept the challenge too, and allow God's Spirit to work in us and through us so that people will see us and ask 'What does this mean?'
This Sunday is the Sunday when churches remember the Day of Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit first came to dwell in all of God's people. Ever since that day, shortly after Jesus ascended back to heaven, every single Christian, regardless of age, race or sex, has had God the Spirit dwelling in them. That's the closeness of the relationship we enjoy with our Creator God - he lives in us.
That's a great privilege - it's also a great challenge. When the first Christians received the Holy Spirit, he enabled them to speak various languages so they could chat to foreign people staying in Jerusalem. And that work of the Spirit amazed everyone who saw and heard the Christians, causing them to ask 'What does this mean?' The conduct of the Spirit-filled Christians prompted people to want to know what it was that made such a difference, and gave them a chance to tell people about Jesus.
So there's the challenge...as Christians, as Spirit-filled people, would people look at the way we behave and speak and say 'They are different. They've got something I haven't got. What does this mean?' One of the works of the Spirit is to enable Christians to live differently, so that others might see the attractiveness of a Spirit-filled life and want to know more. In our culture, increasingly anti-Christian, it's more important than ever that we don't only welcome the privilege of being Spirit-filled people, but accept the challenge too, and allow God's Spirit to work in us and through us so that people will see us and ask 'What does this mean?'
Thursday 17 May 2007
The gospel according to Robbie
I'm currently trying to put together a sermon series based on Robbie Williams' songs, comparing Robbie's view on life to God's view in the Bible. It's interesting how much Robbie talks about God and about death and about love in his songs - it's also very sad how far he seems to be from understanding what God and death and love are really all about (though he did sit near a friend of mine in a church in NY once...)
Anyway, thinking about Robbie got me thinking about the celebrity lifestyle which is in our faces day after day, and which affects how we each live, particularly if we're at school or university. What does the celebrity lifestyle tell you about how to live? Have sex with lots of good-looking people, settling down forever is just dull, drugs are fine as long as you don't take too many (and if you do, you'll probably get to go out with a supermodel like Pete Docherty); live for the moment, live for yourself, that's how to be happy in life.
But hold on a minute...before we adopt this lifestyle (and I recently heard of someone I know who's given up on the Christian life because it's too restrictive, they just want to live this kind of celebrity-driven, live for the moment lifestyle for a bit until they're older) it's worth thinking about where it leads. After all, if you want to know if a diet works, you look for the effect it's had on people; if you want to know whether you'll look good in a new top, you think about how you'll look in it before you buy it, not after.
So, let's take Robbie. He's slept with some of the most glamorous, good-looking girls in the world; he's experimented with virtually every substance known to man; he's hugely rich; he's hugely famous and popular; he has lived for the moment and lived for himself.
Last February he went into rehab. For depression. Seems it wasn't such a great life after all.
And of course, he's not the only one. Think Britney Spears. Think George Michael. The list goes on...seems it's not such a great life after all.
Jesus, on the other hand, tells us that he's come so that people can have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10). The lifestyle he offers might at first glance look 'restrictive' or 'boring' compared to Robbie's, but think about the result. It leads to eternal life in heaven. It leads to security in life on earth; you know you're loved, you know you're valued, and you'll have friends (family, in fact) in every single city on earth. You'll know that in everything God is working for your good. You'll never need to worry about death (not like Robbie). You'll never need to worry about life.
The gospel according to Robbie is pushed onto us by so many magazines and TV shows - it's not surprising we're sometimes tempted to listen. But there's only one gospel which leads to life, to contentment, to security, rather than to depression, rehab, death...and that's the gospel according to Jesus Christ.
I'm praying for Robbie Williams, that he would come to find the life to the full which Jesus offers; and I'm praying for all those Christians I know who are surrounded by the gospel according to Robbie day after day, that they would always remember to look where that lifestyle leads, and stick with the full and eternal life which only Jesus offers.
Anyway, thinking about Robbie got me thinking about the celebrity lifestyle which is in our faces day after day, and which affects how we each live, particularly if we're at school or university. What does the celebrity lifestyle tell you about how to live? Have sex with lots of good-looking people, settling down forever is just dull, drugs are fine as long as you don't take too many (and if you do, you'll probably get to go out with a supermodel like Pete Docherty); live for the moment, live for yourself, that's how to be happy in life.
But hold on a minute...before we adopt this lifestyle (and I recently heard of someone I know who's given up on the Christian life because it's too restrictive, they just want to live this kind of celebrity-driven, live for the moment lifestyle for a bit until they're older) it's worth thinking about where it leads. After all, if you want to know if a diet works, you look for the effect it's had on people; if you want to know whether you'll look good in a new top, you think about how you'll look in it before you buy it, not after.
So, let's take Robbie. He's slept with some of the most glamorous, good-looking girls in the world; he's experimented with virtually every substance known to man; he's hugely rich; he's hugely famous and popular; he has lived for the moment and lived for himself.
Last February he went into rehab. For depression. Seems it wasn't such a great life after all.
And of course, he's not the only one. Think Britney Spears. Think George Michael. The list goes on...seems it's not such a great life after all.
Jesus, on the other hand, tells us that he's come so that people can have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10). The lifestyle he offers might at first glance look 'restrictive' or 'boring' compared to Robbie's, but think about the result. It leads to eternal life in heaven. It leads to security in life on earth; you know you're loved, you know you're valued, and you'll have friends (family, in fact) in every single city on earth. You'll know that in everything God is working for your good. You'll never need to worry about death (not like Robbie). You'll never need to worry about life.
The gospel according to Robbie is pushed onto us by so many magazines and TV shows - it's not surprising we're sometimes tempted to listen. But there's only one gospel which leads to life, to contentment, to security, rather than to depression, rehab, death...and that's the gospel according to Jesus Christ.
I'm praying for Robbie Williams, that he would come to find the life to the full which Jesus offers; and I'm praying for all those Christians I know who are surrounded by the gospel according to Robbie day after day, that they would always remember to look where that lifestyle leads, and stick with the full and eternal life which only Jesus offers.
Verse of the week
'Now take off your ornaments' Exodus 33:5
Every now and then I come across a verse that has made no impression on me when I've read it before but I suddenly see what it's on about (usually helped by someone else pointing it out to me in very simple language). Exodus 33:5 is one such verse.
The action is taking place at the bottom of Mount Sinai, after God's rescued his people from Egypt. Moses went up the mountain to get the Ten Commandments, but the people below got bored and decided to make an idol, which God had expressly told them not to do, and worship this golden calf they'd made. They deliberately disobeyed God. God, understandably, was pretty angry, and many of those who were involved died. It looks like the relationship between God and God's people is over; divorce seems to be the likely outcome.
Where do 'ornaments', or jewellery, come into all this? Why does God tell his unfaithful people to take their ornaments off? Is this a divine prohibition on necklaces, bracelets etc?!
No...the key to understanding it is that to make the golden calf, God's people had used their earrings. They'd used their some of their ornaments to sin against God...and yet they were still wearing them! It's almost as though they still want to leave themselves the possibility of sinning in this way again. And so God says 'Take off your ornaments'. If there's to be any possibility of these people being forgiven for what they've done, they need to take steps to make sure they'll never do it again.
Aren't Christians today very much like the people of God then? How often do we sin, and say we're sorry, but not think about how we can stop it happening again? How often do we sin in the same way over and over again, never making sure we don't get into that particular situation or thought process? We're like an alcoholic who goes to a pub and then is surprised that he gets drunk.
God says to us today - 'Take off your ornaments'. Which sins are you struggling with? Identify them, and then think hard about how you can make sure you don't do the things which cause you to do that sin, or don't speak in the way which leads to that sin. Elton John once sang 'Sorry seems to be the hardest word' - well it isn't...it's easy to say, but not so easy to do anything about. Take off your ornaments.
Every now and then I come across a verse that has made no impression on me when I've read it before but I suddenly see what it's on about (usually helped by someone else pointing it out to me in very simple language). Exodus 33:5 is one such verse.
The action is taking place at the bottom of Mount Sinai, after God's rescued his people from Egypt. Moses went up the mountain to get the Ten Commandments, but the people below got bored and decided to make an idol, which God had expressly told them not to do, and worship this golden calf they'd made. They deliberately disobeyed God. God, understandably, was pretty angry, and many of those who were involved died. It looks like the relationship between God and God's people is over; divorce seems to be the likely outcome.
Where do 'ornaments', or jewellery, come into all this? Why does God tell his unfaithful people to take their ornaments off? Is this a divine prohibition on necklaces, bracelets etc?!
No...the key to understanding it is that to make the golden calf, God's people had used their earrings. They'd used their some of their ornaments to sin against God...and yet they were still wearing them! It's almost as though they still want to leave themselves the possibility of sinning in this way again. And so God says 'Take off your ornaments'. If there's to be any possibility of these people being forgiven for what they've done, they need to take steps to make sure they'll never do it again.
Aren't Christians today very much like the people of God then? How often do we sin, and say we're sorry, but not think about how we can stop it happening again? How often do we sin in the same way over and over again, never making sure we don't get into that particular situation or thought process? We're like an alcoholic who goes to a pub and then is surprised that he gets drunk.
God says to us today - 'Take off your ornaments'. Which sins are you struggling with? Identify them, and then think hard about how you can make sure you don't do the things which cause you to do that sin, or don't speak in the way which leads to that sin. Elton John once sang 'Sorry seems to be the hardest word' - well it isn't...it's easy to say, but not so easy to do anything about. Take off your ornaments.
Thursday 3 May 2007
Verse of the week
'And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words' 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18
Encouraging other Christians is not just a polite request in the Bible, it's a command. We are to encourage each other. It sounds an obvious thing to say, but then if we think about how often we encourage Christians we know to keep trusting in Jesus, do we really do it all that much? When was the last time you encouraged someone you know? Encouragement isn't just the job of the church leaders, or of older Christians...it's a command for everyone.
What should we say to encourage each other? Well this verse gives us one great encouragement that we should share - 'we will be with the Lord forever.' Paul is talking of the day Christ returns to this world, returns in glory and power to bring about his perfect recreated world. That is the day that Christians, living and dead, will receive perfect bodies, see Jesus face to face, and live with him and with each other forever. If we're not encouraged by knowing that that is what the future holds for us, then we won't be encouraged by anything!
So why not, this week, aim to encourage at least one Christian you know with these words? Who is it you know who's struggling in their faith, or facing a difficult time in life? Encourage them with these words - help them to look forward to the day when we'll be with Christ forever.
Encouraging other Christians is not just a polite request in the Bible, it's a command. We are to encourage each other. It sounds an obvious thing to say, but then if we think about how often we encourage Christians we know to keep trusting in Jesus, do we really do it all that much? When was the last time you encouraged someone you know? Encouragement isn't just the job of the church leaders, or of older Christians...it's a command for everyone.
What should we say to encourage each other? Well this verse gives us one great encouragement that we should share - 'we will be with the Lord forever.' Paul is talking of the day Christ returns to this world, returns in glory and power to bring about his perfect recreated world. That is the day that Christians, living and dead, will receive perfect bodies, see Jesus face to face, and live with him and with each other forever. If we're not encouraged by knowing that that is what the future holds for us, then we won't be encouraged by anything!
So why not, this week, aim to encourage at least one Christian you know with these words? Who is it you know who's struggling in their faith, or facing a difficult time in life? Encourage them with these words - help them to look forward to the day when we'll be with Christ forever.
Thursday 26 April 2007
Heard the one about....
Q: How many Anglicans does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Change?!
(I think the more you've worked for the Anglican Church, the funnier that will get...)
A: Change?!
(I think the more you've worked for the Anglican Church, the funnier that will get...)
Verse of the week
'Brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honoured, just as it was with you' 2 Thessalonians 3:1
Q: What does a car need to keep running?
A: Petrol - which is why I'm always filling my car up.
Q: What does a person need to keep going?
A: Food - which is why I'm always filling myself up.
Q: What does the message of Jesus need to keep spreading?
A: Prayer - which is why I'm always...ermmm....ermmmm....am I?
The theory's fine - it's God who spreads his good news through the evangelism of his people, so obviously we need to pray to God that he would continue to do it. It's not rocket science! So when was the last time you got down on your knees and prayed that 'the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honoured, just as it was with you'? That question is one to which my answer is shameful.
A Christian once told you the message of the Lord; thank God for them. God once for the first time enabled you to honour that message by trusting in it and obeying it; thank God for that. And now continue to pray; pray that others would hear about Jesus and trust in him. Here's what Paul's asking Christians 2,000 years ago, and us today, to pray:
For the rapid spread of the good news about Jesus.
For those who are involved in spreading that good news (ie every Christian you know - if they're doing it they need prayer, and if they're not, they definitely need prayer!)
That the message would be honoured; that more and more people would come to trust in Jesus.
It's time for me to recommit myself to praying for these things, and maybe it is for you too - why not start right now?!
Q: What does a car need to keep running?
A: Petrol - which is why I'm always filling my car up.
Q: What does a person need to keep going?
A: Food - which is why I'm always filling myself up.
Q: What does the message of Jesus need to keep spreading?
A: Prayer - which is why I'm always...ermmm....ermmmm....am I?
The theory's fine - it's God who spreads his good news through the evangelism of his people, so obviously we need to pray to God that he would continue to do it. It's not rocket science! So when was the last time you got down on your knees and prayed that 'the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honoured, just as it was with you'? That question is one to which my answer is shameful.
A Christian once told you the message of the Lord; thank God for them. God once for the first time enabled you to honour that message by trusting in it and obeying it; thank God for that. And now continue to pray; pray that others would hear about Jesus and trust in him. Here's what Paul's asking Christians 2,000 years ago, and us today, to pray:
For the rapid spread of the good news about Jesus.
For those who are involved in spreading that good news (ie every Christian you know - if they're doing it they need prayer, and if they're not, they definitely need prayer!)
That the message would be honoured; that more and more people would come to trust in Jesus.
It's time for me to recommit myself to praying for these things, and maybe it is for you too - why not start right now?!
Goal of the century?
Whether you like football or not, have a look at this - poetry on a pitch...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FdjxeGFsdA
The scorer is Barcelona's Argentinian genius Lionel Messi. And because it's got French commentary, it counts as revision for anyone with a French exam coming up...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FdjxeGFsdA
The scorer is Barcelona's Argentinian genius Lionel Messi. And because it's got French commentary, it counts as revision for anyone with a French exam coming up...
Thursday 19 April 2007
Verse of the week
'God's elect, strangers in the world' 1 Peter 1:1
Every now and then (presumably when they've run out of proper news) newspapers report surveys which show that teenagers in 'this day and age' are searching for an identity. We're often told that adolescence is a time when people seek to work out who they are and where they fit into things.
Well, if you're a Christian (however old you are), here's your identity.
You are one of God's elect. You are chosen by God, loved by God, and God sent his Son to die for you. You belong to God, and are part of his family. Since God gave his own Son for you, there's nothing he won't do for you. You are saved, and will spend eternity with God in his recreated perfect world.
I spent most of my teenage years dressing stupidly, acting stupidly, and speaking stupidly, trying to find an identity I was happy with, that made me feel secure. Read the previous paragraph again - is that not the greatest identity anyone can have? I wish I'd known when I was younger that I could be part of God's elect. What a wonderful encouragement to know that's our identity in God's sight!
But if you're a Christian, you are also a stranger in the world. A foreigner. Someone who doesn't quite fit in, will never really belong. Because my Dad's German, I support Germany at football, and whenever World Cup time comes around I always feel a bit left out of things. Well that is the experience of God's elect in a fallen, sinful, godless world. Perhaps you expect that even though you're a Christian you'll always fit in with your schoolfriends? Perhaps you feel that even though you're a Christian life in this world should be easy? Perhaps you're surprised when things your friends or family say or do make you feel awkward because you're a Christian?
But you won't fit in all the time, it won't be easy all the time, you will feel awkward some of the time; because you're a stranger in this world. You are loved by God, you belong to God; and so you won't be loved by the world because you don't belong to the world.
God's chosen ones, strangers in the world; that's the identity of the Christian, and it's a wonderful one; and it certainly beats being the world's chosen ones, and strangers to God.
Every now and then (presumably when they've run out of proper news) newspapers report surveys which show that teenagers in 'this day and age' are searching for an identity. We're often told that adolescence is a time when people seek to work out who they are and where they fit into things.
Well, if you're a Christian (however old you are), here's your identity.
You are one of God's elect. You are chosen by God, loved by God, and God sent his Son to die for you. You belong to God, and are part of his family. Since God gave his own Son for you, there's nothing he won't do for you. You are saved, and will spend eternity with God in his recreated perfect world.
I spent most of my teenage years dressing stupidly, acting stupidly, and speaking stupidly, trying to find an identity I was happy with, that made me feel secure. Read the previous paragraph again - is that not the greatest identity anyone can have? I wish I'd known when I was younger that I could be part of God's elect. What a wonderful encouragement to know that's our identity in God's sight!
But if you're a Christian, you are also a stranger in the world. A foreigner. Someone who doesn't quite fit in, will never really belong. Because my Dad's German, I support Germany at football, and whenever World Cup time comes around I always feel a bit left out of things. Well that is the experience of God's elect in a fallen, sinful, godless world. Perhaps you expect that even though you're a Christian you'll always fit in with your schoolfriends? Perhaps you feel that even though you're a Christian life in this world should be easy? Perhaps you're surprised when things your friends or family say or do make you feel awkward because you're a Christian?
But you won't fit in all the time, it won't be easy all the time, you will feel awkward some of the time; because you're a stranger in this world. You are loved by God, you belong to God; and so you won't be loved by the world because you don't belong to the world.
God's chosen ones, strangers in the world; that's the identity of the Christian, and it's a wonderful one; and it certainly beats being the world's chosen ones, and strangers to God.
Giving (What's in it for me?)
After a little bit of a post-Easter break, I thought I'd put a few posts up about Christian giving...
On our local radio station there's currently a charity auction, where you bid for stuff and the money goes to a local kids' charity. One of the things to bid for is two Take That tickets (no, I haven't taken out another mortgage to bid - yet!) The basic selling point of the auction is that you can give some money to charity AND get something for yourself.
A lot of charity is like that these days - it suggests that we're unwilling to give money away unless there's something in it for us (in which case it's not really giving money at all). It's similar with Comic Relief, isn't it? We'd never ring that number and pledge money unless we had tuned in to watch Ricky Gervais, Jonathan Ross, Little Britain and all the others do funny stuff. We're happy to give to charity - if there's something in it for us too.
That's quite different from the Bible's view of giving. One place Christian giving is dealt with in detail is 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:15; here's one verse from it:
'This service (ie giving) that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God' (9:12).
Two things to say - firstly, Christians should give money away in order, first and foremost, to help other Christians who are less fortunate than us. Secondly, and this is very different to the 'charity auction' way of doing things, Christians should be generous so that more thanks will go to God. Christians give not to get thanks for themselves, but so that God would get thanks.
After all, if you have some money, it's God who gave it to you - and he gave it to you so that you could help Christians who need help (that's what 8:13-15 is saying). So when you give that money to poorer Christians, it's God (who gave you the money in the first place) who gets the thanks, rather than you.
As Christians when the collection plate comes round at church, or a Christian charity asks for money, our first thought should never be 'What's in it for me?', but 'What's in it for God?' Giving money helps people; and giving money brings thanks to God; and that will surely be enough for us to long to give our money to those in the worldwide church who need it.
On our local radio station there's currently a charity auction, where you bid for stuff and the money goes to a local kids' charity. One of the things to bid for is two Take That tickets (no, I haven't taken out another mortgage to bid - yet!) The basic selling point of the auction is that you can give some money to charity AND get something for yourself.
A lot of charity is like that these days - it suggests that we're unwilling to give money away unless there's something in it for us (in which case it's not really giving money at all). It's similar with Comic Relief, isn't it? We'd never ring that number and pledge money unless we had tuned in to watch Ricky Gervais, Jonathan Ross, Little Britain and all the others do funny stuff. We're happy to give to charity - if there's something in it for us too.
That's quite different from the Bible's view of giving. One place Christian giving is dealt with in detail is 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:15; here's one verse from it:
'This service (ie giving) that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God' (9:12).
Two things to say - firstly, Christians should give money away in order, first and foremost, to help other Christians who are less fortunate than us. Secondly, and this is very different to the 'charity auction' way of doing things, Christians should be generous so that more thanks will go to God. Christians give not to get thanks for themselves, but so that God would get thanks.
After all, if you have some money, it's God who gave it to you - and he gave it to you so that you could help Christians who need help (that's what 8:13-15 is saying). So when you give that money to poorer Christians, it's God (who gave you the money in the first place) who gets the thanks, rather than you.
As Christians when the collection plate comes round at church, or a Christian charity asks for money, our first thought should never be 'What's in it for me?', but 'What's in it for God?' Giving money helps people; and giving money brings thanks to God; and that will surely be enough for us to long to give our money to those in the worldwide church who need it.
Sunday 8 April 2007
Verse of the day
'Therefore I will give him a portion among the great' Isaiah 53:12
Happy Easter! Christ the King who bore our sins could not stay dead; he must defeat death, and he had a kingdom to rule. His Father raised him, and the empty tomb stands in joyous testament of the fact that our Saviour is the universe's ruler. His glory in heaven is unimaginable, as he, 'the lamb who was slain', sits on the throne being worshipped.
This Easter Sunday, let us rest in renewed assurance that everything we need has been done for us by and in Jesus Christ - there is no better person to rely on than the one who now sits in glory in heaven, having been given a 'portion among the great.' And what joy to know that because he has gone before us, there is a portion among the great for us too - the portion of perfect eternal life.
And this Easter Sunday, why not think of the empty tomb and then think of the throneroom of heaven, and see the one who is your Saviour and your brother and your friend sitting there. Remember today that God the Father has given His Son a portion among the great, and has exalted him above all others, and remember to pray not just with joy but with breathless awe to the one who died among criminals and now sits among the great.
Happy Easter! Christ the King who bore our sins could not stay dead; he must defeat death, and he had a kingdom to rule. His Father raised him, and the empty tomb stands in joyous testament of the fact that our Saviour is the universe's ruler. His glory in heaven is unimaginable, as he, 'the lamb who was slain', sits on the throne being worshipped.
This Easter Sunday, let us rest in renewed assurance that everything we need has been done for us by and in Jesus Christ - there is no better person to rely on than the one who now sits in glory in heaven, having been given a 'portion among the great.' And what joy to know that because he has gone before us, there is a portion among the great for us too - the portion of perfect eternal life.
And this Easter Sunday, why not think of the empty tomb and then think of the throneroom of heaven, and see the one who is your Saviour and your brother and your friend sitting there. Remember today that God the Father has given His Son a portion among the great, and has exalted him above all others, and remember to pray not just with joy but with breathless awe to the one who died among criminals and now sits among the great.
Saturday 7 April 2007
Verse of the day
'He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.' Isaiah 53:9
I'm never quite sure what aspect of the crucifixion and resurrection to concentrate on on Easter Saturday (any suggestions are welcomed!) We're beyond Christ's death on Good Friday now, but we haven't reached the joy of Easter Sunday morning.
So, I thought today would be a good day to remind ourselves of God's well-laid, pre-ordered plan which took his Son to the cross, to the tomb, and to new life. Here is God speaking through his prophet Isaiah 700 years or so before Jesus came to earth; and here is a detailed description of events on Good Friday which takes the breath away.
It looks like a contradiction; how can the one of whom Isaiah speaks be given a grave with the wicked, and yet be with the rich in his death? (Unless he found a rich wicked guy!) And yet as we read the gospels we see this sentence coming true before our eyes. Christ was crucified alongside criminals, destined like them for a criminal's grave; assigned a grave with the wicked. And yet, when Jesus has died, we find 'Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God' (Mark 15:43) going and taking Christ's body and putting it in a tomb he owned. A rich man giving up his unused tomb for the crucified Jesus.
It's a little detail; and one that was already part of God's plan 700 years before it happened. Why not pause for a moment and thank God that the death of his Son was no accident, no last-minute botch job, but the pinnacle of God's eternal plan to save sinful people and give them eternal life. If you trust in Christ, why not thank him that you are part of that plan. In the pause between the agony of Good Friday and the celebration of Easter Sunday, why not marvel at the wisdom of God, the God who planned down to the smallest detail the rescue operation that he mounted through his Son, and why not speak to him now in deep gratitude for the plan which has given you a place in heaven.
I'm never quite sure what aspect of the crucifixion and resurrection to concentrate on on Easter Saturday (any suggestions are welcomed!) We're beyond Christ's death on Good Friday now, but we haven't reached the joy of Easter Sunday morning.
So, I thought today would be a good day to remind ourselves of God's well-laid, pre-ordered plan which took his Son to the cross, to the tomb, and to new life. Here is God speaking through his prophet Isaiah 700 years or so before Jesus came to earth; and here is a detailed description of events on Good Friday which takes the breath away.
It looks like a contradiction; how can the one of whom Isaiah speaks be given a grave with the wicked, and yet be with the rich in his death? (Unless he found a rich wicked guy!) And yet as we read the gospels we see this sentence coming true before our eyes. Christ was crucified alongside criminals, destined like them for a criminal's grave; assigned a grave with the wicked. And yet, when Jesus has died, we find 'Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God' (Mark 15:43) going and taking Christ's body and putting it in a tomb he owned. A rich man giving up his unused tomb for the crucified Jesus.
It's a little detail; and one that was already part of God's plan 700 years before it happened. Why not pause for a moment and thank God that the death of his Son was no accident, no last-minute botch job, but the pinnacle of God's eternal plan to save sinful people and give them eternal life. If you trust in Christ, why not thank him that you are part of that plan. In the pause between the agony of Good Friday and the celebration of Easter Sunday, why not marvel at the wisdom of God, the God who planned down to the smallest detail the rescue operation that he mounted through his Son, and why not speak to him now in deep gratitude for the plan which has given you a place in heaven.
Friday 6 April 2007
Verse of the day
'He was pierced for our transgressions...by his wounds we are healed' Isaiah 53:5
Around 2000 years ago, on the first Good Friday, the One through whom the world was created hung and bled and suffered and died on a wooden cross. Read that sentence again. And again. It's something that becomes so familiar to us that we take it for granted; but it is an astonishing fact that the Son of God should come and die to be pierced for our transgressions.
For around 2000 years ago the One through whom the world was created hung and bled and suffered and died on a wooden cross because of you. He was pierced not for his wrongdoing but for ours, not for his rejection of God but for ours. Perhaps you've been struggling to live as Christ asks recently. Perhaps there's a particular sin you keep on doing and you know it's wrong but you can't really be bothered to stop it. Look at the Son of God on the cross, see the price of your sin, see the place where you should hang - and stop it. How can we stand at the foot of the cross, looking at the Son of God dying in agony because of us, and not take our sin seriously?
And it is an astonishing fact that 2000 years ago the One through whom the world was created hung and bled and suffered and died on a wooden cross for you. The rightful anger of God at our rebellion against him is the sentence we deserve; that was the sentence he served as his hands and feet were pierced on the cross. We come to the cross as sinners facing death; we find at the cross eternal life as God's children. Perhaps you've been struggling to be joyful as a Christian when life is tough. Perhaps you've forgotten to thank the Son of God properly recently. Look at the Son of God on the cross and rejoice and thank him from the bottom of your heart that though your sin put him there, your sin has been dealt with there. By his wounds you have been healed.
He was pierced for our transgressions. What humbling, awe-inspiring, wonderful news!
Around 2000 years ago, on the first Good Friday, the One through whom the world was created hung and bled and suffered and died on a wooden cross. Read that sentence again. And again. It's something that becomes so familiar to us that we take it for granted; but it is an astonishing fact that the Son of God should come and die to be pierced for our transgressions.
For around 2000 years ago the One through whom the world was created hung and bled and suffered and died on a wooden cross because of you. He was pierced not for his wrongdoing but for ours, not for his rejection of God but for ours. Perhaps you've been struggling to live as Christ asks recently. Perhaps there's a particular sin you keep on doing and you know it's wrong but you can't really be bothered to stop it. Look at the Son of God on the cross, see the price of your sin, see the place where you should hang - and stop it. How can we stand at the foot of the cross, looking at the Son of God dying in agony because of us, and not take our sin seriously?
And it is an astonishing fact that 2000 years ago the One through whom the world was created hung and bled and suffered and died on a wooden cross for you. The rightful anger of God at our rebellion against him is the sentence we deserve; that was the sentence he served as his hands and feet were pierced on the cross. We come to the cross as sinners facing death; we find at the cross eternal life as God's children. Perhaps you've been struggling to be joyful as a Christian when life is tough. Perhaps you've forgotten to thank the Son of God properly recently. Look at the Son of God on the cross and rejoice and thank him from the bottom of your heart that though your sin put him there, your sin has been dealt with there. By his wounds you have been healed.
He was pierced for our transgressions. What humbling, awe-inspiring, wonderful news!
Thursday 29 March 2007
Verse of the week
'Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads' Mark 14:29
The world will ignore Easter this Easter. If they think about Jesus dying on a cross at all, it won't be for very long, and with a metaphorical shake of their heads they'll get on with their life. Millions of people will walk past the cross and laugh this Good Friday; just as people did on the first Good Friday.
Jesus hung there on his cross, the innocent Son of God paying the price of the sins of a guilty world; and the world just laughed and insulted him. Do you do that? Perhaps once you stopped at the cross and knelt, and gave great thanks to the man on it for dying in your place; but recently you've stopped thinking about it, and you just walk by, and in your ignoring it in your life you're shaking your head at it. Why not stop and come back to the foot of the Son of God's cross and be blown away once more by the love he shows you, and stop your insults and say 'Thank you'.
The world still laughs and insults Jesus. Will we as Jesus' followers allow that to hurt us at this time of year especially; will we call people not to laugh but to weep, not to throw insults but to bow in reverence? As Jesus hung there, dying and derided, his friends were nowhere - rather than defending him, they had deserted him. If we are friends of Jesus this Easter, let's make sure we defend our God on his cross from the taunts and casual ignorance of our friends and families; let's stand up for his name and call people to stop at the cross this Easter and see what Jesus offers them as he dies on it.
The world will ignore Easter this Easter. If they think about Jesus dying on a cross at all, it won't be for very long, and with a metaphorical shake of their heads they'll get on with their life. Millions of people will walk past the cross and laugh this Good Friday; just as people did on the first Good Friday.
Jesus hung there on his cross, the innocent Son of God paying the price of the sins of a guilty world; and the world just laughed and insulted him. Do you do that? Perhaps once you stopped at the cross and knelt, and gave great thanks to the man on it for dying in your place; but recently you've stopped thinking about it, and you just walk by, and in your ignoring it in your life you're shaking your head at it. Why not stop and come back to the foot of the Son of God's cross and be blown away once more by the love he shows you, and stop your insults and say 'Thank you'.
The world still laughs and insults Jesus. Will we as Jesus' followers allow that to hurt us at this time of year especially; will we call people not to laugh but to weep, not to throw insults but to bow in reverence? As Jesus hung there, dying and derided, his friends were nowhere - rather than defending him, they had deserted him. If we are friends of Jesus this Easter, let's make sure we defend our God on his cross from the taunts and casual ignorance of our friends and families; let's stand up for his name and call people to stop at the cross this Easter and see what Jesus offers them as he dies on it.
'As well as in the...' pub (see below)
Having been thinking about Paul's evangelistic strategies (don't stay in church and wait for people to come in, take the news about Jesus to where they are), I went to the pub in the evening to watch the England game with a guy who's just started coming to our church and three of his mates. We watched the football, discussed why Rooney's rubbish for England and whether Ferdinand or Woodgate should partner Terry; and then conversation turned to church and Christianity. Here's what these three guys said;
'I'm really interested in all this stuff, I really am. I'd love to know more and ask questions, but I've never known anyone to ask.'
'Can you just tell me, what does the Bible say about sex? I've been wondering.'
'What do Christians believe then?'
I left with one of them saying he'd come along to church sometime, and another one giving me his phone number so we can meet up when he's back off holiday to talk about Christ. And I'd hardly done anything! Just gone to where they were at, and let it be known I was a Christian (easy when you work for a church!)...and I left with a result considerably better than England's against Andorra! None of which would have happened if I hadn't been in a pub in the first place. Don't save your evangelism for church and church events - take it to your marketplaces, and you might just be surprised at how God uses you...
'I'm really interested in all this stuff, I really am. I'd love to know more and ask questions, but I've never known anyone to ask.'
'Can you just tell me, what does the Bible say about sex? I've been wondering.'
'What do Christians believe then?'
I left with one of them saying he'd come along to church sometime, and another one giving me his phone number so we can meet up when he's back off holiday to talk about Christ. And I'd hardly done anything! Just gone to where they were at, and let it be known I was a Christian (easy when you work for a church!)...and I left with a result considerably better than England's against Andorra! None of which would have happened if I hadn't been in a pub in the first place. Don't save your evangelism for church and church events - take it to your marketplaces, and you might just be surprised at how God uses you...
'As well as in the marketplace'
I'm preaching soon on Acts 17:16-33, Paul in Athens, the cultural centre of the world in those days (a bit like Hull today...?) And I've been really struck on how Paul gets the message about Jesus to people - in v17, we're told 'He reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the market-place day by day with those who happened to be there.' To bring that up to date, we could say 'he reasoned in the church with religious people, as well as in the pub/street/school/party/football team with those who happened to be there.'
Paul understood something that is so obvious, but so often ignored. He knew that there would be some religious people who'd go to a religious building and who were interested in religious things - so he was happy to go there and tell them about Jesus. But he also knew that there would be lots of people who didn't take religion seriously, and who didn't go to a religious building - and so if he was going to tell them about Jesus, he'd have to go to where they were at. In Athens, it was the market-place - so he went there and told 'those who happened to be there' about Jesus.
In our non-Christian society today we need to learn from Paul. It's easy to think that evangelism is only for church on Sunday mornings; that we should just organise events there, or at church youth group, and wait for people to flood in. But they won't; most people under 30 in this country have never been to church voluntarily, and they won't start just because we put some posters up.
Just like Paul, we have to go to where they are at. We each have a marketplace; it might be a classroom, or a pub, or a football team, or a street corner. That's where we need to stand up for Jesus, and tell people about Jesus; that's where we need to spend a decent amount of our time. Paul could just have spent time with and spoken to those nice, safe religious people (you can picture them, they wore cardigans and sandals I expect) - but he didn't - he spoke to them but also to random people in the places he found himself.
This is something we desperately need to learn, because 'church' is something that the vast majority of young people in this country have nothing to do with. If we want to see Jesus' name honoured in our nation, we need to get out of church and into pubs and clubs and parties and schools and tell people there. That's risky and it's hard; but it's in the marketplaces of life that our evangelism must be done.
Paul understood something that is so obvious, but so often ignored. He knew that there would be some religious people who'd go to a religious building and who were interested in religious things - so he was happy to go there and tell them about Jesus. But he also knew that there would be lots of people who didn't take religion seriously, and who didn't go to a religious building - and so if he was going to tell them about Jesus, he'd have to go to where they were at. In Athens, it was the market-place - so he went there and told 'those who happened to be there' about Jesus.
In our non-Christian society today we need to learn from Paul. It's easy to think that evangelism is only for church on Sunday mornings; that we should just organise events there, or at church youth group, and wait for people to flood in. But they won't; most people under 30 in this country have never been to church voluntarily, and they won't start just because we put some posters up.
Just like Paul, we have to go to where they are at. We each have a marketplace; it might be a classroom, or a pub, or a football team, or a street corner. That's where we need to stand up for Jesus, and tell people about Jesus; that's where we need to spend a decent amount of our time. Paul could just have spent time with and spoken to those nice, safe religious people (you can picture them, they wore cardigans and sandals I expect) - but he didn't - he spoke to them but also to random people in the places he found himself.
This is something we desperately need to learn, because 'church' is something that the vast majority of young people in this country have nothing to do with. If we want to see Jesus' name honoured in our nation, we need to get out of church and into pubs and clubs and parties and schools and tell people there. That's risky and it's hard; but it's in the marketplaces of life that our evangelism must be done.
Any Questions?
Everyone has questions we'd love God to answer, whether we trust in his Son for life here and beyond, or whether we're rejecting his Son. At my last youth group the 'Question Box' became quite famous and much-loved; next term we're running a course for adults called 'So Many Questions.'
It's great to have questions, to keep having questions, and to keep seeking for answers - but it can also be dangerous. It strikes me that in the Bible people ask two types of questions. The question itself can be the same; it's the motivation for asking it that differs.
First type: what I call 'psalm questions'. In the psalms you get quite a lot of deep, challenging, 'What the heck are you doing God' kind of questions, for instance 'Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?' (Psalm 10:1) These are honest, blunt questions - but crucially, they are being asked by someone who already has faith. It is faith that prompts a question like this, and it's faith that answers it...so by the end of Psalm 10 the same guy can say 'You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and listen to their cry.' Psalm questions can be blunt and difficult, but they're questions we ask of a God to whom we bow regardless of the answer, regardless of whether we're even given an answer.
Second type: 'Pilate questions'. At his trial, Jesus tells Pilate 'Everyone on the side of truth listens to me' - to which Pilate asks 'What is truth?' (John 18:37-38). I'm sure he was quite pleased with his question, and I'm sure he sounded very clever (people who live in universities manage to earn a lifetime's salary from talking about that question) - but he was a fool. He was a fool because he used a question to keep God's King at arm's length. His question was a defence mechanism which he could use to put off deciding whether or not Jesus was God's Son or not. And people do that all the time today, too - ask questions which make themselves look clever, and which allow them not to accept the claims of Jesus in their lives. Christians can do it too - if we keep asking questions, we'll never have to apply the answers to our lives. Pilate questions are questions we ask of God in order to prevent ourselves having to bow to him.
As I said, it seems to me the same question can be a Psalm question or a Pilate question. Let's take an example...
'When it says in the Bible 'Do not get drunk', what does drunk actually mean?'
If I'm asking a Psalm question, I'm asking that question because I want to make sure that I definitely don't sin by getting drunk, and I'm wanting to make sure that I bow to God in this area of my life.
If I'm asking a Pilate question, I'm trying to get round the command not to get drunk and hoping that perhaps 'tipsy' will be OK, and I'm trying to show God that I'm actually pretty clever because I'm asking a question which he might not answer in the Bible.
Same question, different motivation. It's worth stopping and thinking sometimes before we ask a question 'Is this a Psalm question or a Pilate question - am I asking this from a position of faith in God and obedience to him, or am I asking this question in an effort to evade applying one of his commands to my life?'
It's great to have questions, to keep having questions, and to keep seeking for answers - but it can also be dangerous. It strikes me that in the Bible people ask two types of questions. The question itself can be the same; it's the motivation for asking it that differs.
First type: what I call 'psalm questions'. In the psalms you get quite a lot of deep, challenging, 'What the heck are you doing God' kind of questions, for instance 'Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?' (Psalm 10:1) These are honest, blunt questions - but crucially, they are being asked by someone who already has faith. It is faith that prompts a question like this, and it's faith that answers it...so by the end of Psalm 10 the same guy can say 'You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and listen to their cry.' Psalm questions can be blunt and difficult, but they're questions we ask of a God to whom we bow regardless of the answer, regardless of whether we're even given an answer.
Second type: 'Pilate questions'. At his trial, Jesus tells Pilate 'Everyone on the side of truth listens to me' - to which Pilate asks 'What is truth?' (John 18:37-38). I'm sure he was quite pleased with his question, and I'm sure he sounded very clever (people who live in universities manage to earn a lifetime's salary from talking about that question) - but he was a fool. He was a fool because he used a question to keep God's King at arm's length. His question was a defence mechanism which he could use to put off deciding whether or not Jesus was God's Son or not. And people do that all the time today, too - ask questions which make themselves look clever, and which allow them not to accept the claims of Jesus in their lives. Christians can do it too - if we keep asking questions, we'll never have to apply the answers to our lives. Pilate questions are questions we ask of God in order to prevent ourselves having to bow to him.
As I said, it seems to me the same question can be a Psalm question or a Pilate question. Let's take an example...
'When it says in the Bible 'Do not get drunk', what does drunk actually mean?'
If I'm asking a Psalm question, I'm asking that question because I want to make sure that I definitely don't sin by getting drunk, and I'm wanting to make sure that I bow to God in this area of my life.
If I'm asking a Pilate question, I'm trying to get round the command not to get drunk and hoping that perhaps 'tipsy' will be OK, and I'm trying to show God that I'm actually pretty clever because I'm asking a question which he might not answer in the Bible.
Same question, different motivation. It's worth stopping and thinking sometimes before we ask a question 'Is this a Psalm question or a Pilate question - am I asking this from a position of faith in God and obedience to him, or am I asking this question in an effort to evade applying one of his commands to my life?'
Thursday 22 March 2007
Verse of the week
'Again the High Priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of glory." Mark 14:61-62
This exchange marks the climax of Jesus' trial, and his answer, still affirming that he is God's Son even when faced with death, is what puts him on Death Row. Within 24 hours he would be dead.
But while our focus could be on the trial of Jesus in AD33, Jesus' words point us towards another trial on another day. He tells his accuser and his judge, the high priest, that one day he will see Jesus again; only this time not as a bound, beaten man but as the eternal, powerful ruler, the Son of Man, sitting at God's right hand - in other words, as the judge of all. With these words Jesus faces the most powerful religious leader in Israel and tells him that one day the tables will be turned; though at that moment Jesus was the defendant and the high priest the judge, there would come a day when Jesus was the judge and the high priest, and all humanity the defendants. And while stating the truth about Jesus' identity was what incriminated people in the High Priest's court, in Jesus' court knowing the truth about him will be the only defence.
That day is still to come; and just as on that night in AD33, it's Jesus that remains on trial today in every heart, and in the court of public opinion. And as we look around, we see a country, a government and a society which seems determined to kill Jesus off; a society which is happy for Jesus to be anyone (a teacher, a philosopher, a moralist) other than who he is; the eternal, all-poweful Son of God.
Which trial's verdict do you care about? Do you care most about public opinion, about what friends and teachers and family say about your faith in Jesus? Do you seek to avoid a guilty verdict by keeping quiet about Jesus, by living like everyone else rather than as Jesus asks? Or do you care most about the day when you will stand before Jesus the Judge, on trial for your life? If you want to avoid a guilty verdict on that day, you need to just one thing; trust in the Judge as your Saviour.
The ultimate irony of the high priest's court was that they found worthy of death the one man who could give them life; the great tragedy of our country is that it continues to find offensive the only man who could give them acceptance with God. Let us not do that; let us confidently stand up in our trial wherever we find ourselves today and declare that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the eternal ruling Judge; and let us make sure we always care more about the trial of the world before Jesus when he returns than we do about the trial Jesus and his followers face each day at the hands of this world.
This exchange marks the climax of Jesus' trial, and his answer, still affirming that he is God's Son even when faced with death, is what puts him on Death Row. Within 24 hours he would be dead.
But while our focus could be on the trial of Jesus in AD33, Jesus' words point us towards another trial on another day. He tells his accuser and his judge, the high priest, that one day he will see Jesus again; only this time not as a bound, beaten man but as the eternal, powerful ruler, the Son of Man, sitting at God's right hand - in other words, as the judge of all. With these words Jesus faces the most powerful religious leader in Israel and tells him that one day the tables will be turned; though at that moment Jesus was the defendant and the high priest the judge, there would come a day when Jesus was the judge and the high priest, and all humanity the defendants. And while stating the truth about Jesus' identity was what incriminated people in the High Priest's court, in Jesus' court knowing the truth about him will be the only defence.
That day is still to come; and just as on that night in AD33, it's Jesus that remains on trial today in every heart, and in the court of public opinion. And as we look around, we see a country, a government and a society which seems determined to kill Jesus off; a society which is happy for Jesus to be anyone (a teacher, a philosopher, a moralist) other than who he is; the eternal, all-poweful Son of God.
Which trial's verdict do you care about? Do you care most about public opinion, about what friends and teachers and family say about your faith in Jesus? Do you seek to avoid a guilty verdict by keeping quiet about Jesus, by living like everyone else rather than as Jesus asks? Or do you care most about the day when you will stand before Jesus the Judge, on trial for your life? If you want to avoid a guilty verdict on that day, you need to just one thing; trust in the Judge as your Saviour.
The ultimate irony of the high priest's court was that they found worthy of death the one man who could give them life; the great tragedy of our country is that it continues to find offensive the only man who could give them acceptance with God. Let us not do that; let us confidently stand up in our trial wherever we find ourselves today and declare that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the eternal ruling Judge; and let us make sure we always care more about the trial of the world before Jesus when he returns than we do about the trial Jesus and his followers face each day at the hands of this world.
A downward spiral
Yesterday I was leading a Bible study for a group of retired women, and we were looking at 2 Samuel 11, about David's disastrous connection with the beautiful Bathsheba...and it reminded me of looking at the same passage with some teenagers in Highgate a year or so ago. It's one of those bits of the Old Testament that reminds us just how helpful narrative can be to us as we try to live as God's people. It's great to have a command ('Do not/Do...') but it's also very useful to see what happens when things go right/wrong in real life.
So it is with the account of David and Bathsheba - whoever's writing this account (inspired by the Holy Spirit) makes no comment of their own about what happened - they just give us the facts, and never say 'In doing this, David had really, really stuffed up, what an idiot.'
And 2 Samuel 11 (do look it up) shows us the downward spiral of a man who had been such a great king over God's people, and had always sought to follow God. First he sees a beautiful woman bathing (v2) - and, crucially, he allows his thoughts to dwell on her even though he's already married. He finds out about her (v3), and finds out she's married too. But still he carries on on his destructive path, and in v4 he summons her and sleeps with her. When Bathsheba gets pregnant he tries to cover it up, and ends up having her husband killed to hide the shame (v14-17). And so David, from one long, lingering glance at a beautiful woman, finishes up committing adultery and murder.
It's a stark reminder that sin starts in our minds. Before David slept with Bathsheba, he had to think about her. Before he summoned her to his bed, he had to look at her and keep looking at her instead of away. If he'd recognised and dealt with the sins of his thoughts, he'd never have sinned in his actions.
So it is for us. We all struggle with sin, and if we're being honest right now we could name three or four sins we know we commit in our actions. But all those sins begin in our minds, and it's there that we need to tackle it. Rude words begin with impatience in our minds. Laziness begins with a selfish mindset. Sexual sin begins with lustful thoughts.
And so when we ask God for help in stopping a particular sin, we need to ask him to help us as much with our thoughtlife as with our actions. Rather than attacking the end of the spiral (in David's case, adultery and murder) we need to attack the root of the spiral (in David's case, staring at naked married women). All this we see from the straightforward narrative of 2 Samuel 11; a great reminder of how vital it is to read our Old Testaments, to learn from the mistakes and examples of members of God's people who have gone before us.
So it is with the account of David and Bathsheba - whoever's writing this account (inspired by the Holy Spirit) makes no comment of their own about what happened - they just give us the facts, and never say 'In doing this, David had really, really stuffed up, what an idiot.'
And 2 Samuel 11 (do look it up) shows us the downward spiral of a man who had been such a great king over God's people, and had always sought to follow God. First he sees a beautiful woman bathing (v2) - and, crucially, he allows his thoughts to dwell on her even though he's already married. He finds out about her (v3), and finds out she's married too. But still he carries on on his destructive path, and in v4 he summons her and sleeps with her. When Bathsheba gets pregnant he tries to cover it up, and ends up having her husband killed to hide the shame (v14-17). And so David, from one long, lingering glance at a beautiful woman, finishes up committing adultery and murder.
It's a stark reminder that sin starts in our minds. Before David slept with Bathsheba, he had to think about her. Before he summoned her to his bed, he had to look at her and keep looking at her instead of away. If he'd recognised and dealt with the sins of his thoughts, he'd never have sinned in his actions.
So it is for us. We all struggle with sin, and if we're being honest right now we could name three or four sins we know we commit in our actions. But all those sins begin in our minds, and it's there that we need to tackle it. Rude words begin with impatience in our minds. Laziness begins with a selfish mindset. Sexual sin begins with lustful thoughts.
And so when we ask God for help in stopping a particular sin, we need to ask him to help us as much with our thoughtlife as with our actions. Rather than attacking the end of the spiral (in David's case, adultery and murder) we need to attack the root of the spiral (in David's case, staring at naked married women). All this we see from the straightforward narrative of 2 Samuel 11; a great reminder of how vital it is to read our Old Testaments, to learn from the mistakes and examples of members of God's people who have gone before us.
Thursday 15 March 2007
Saved from what?
Recently I was involved in a discussion with a high-level churchman (who will remain nameless!) and lots of other people who worked in churches. We were all asked to respond to the question 'What is salvation and what does it mean to you?' It would have been better if the question had been 'What does God say salvation is and what does God say it means to you?' but it wasn't.
Various responses were given, none of them wrong; salvation is being given purpose in your life, salvation is knowing you're accepted by God, salvation is knowing your stuff-ups have been forgiven.
Someone ventured this answer: 'Salvation is being saved from something - God's anger at our rebellion against him - and being saved for something - life lived his way for eternity.' Now, that's straight out of the Bible - we deserve God's rightful anger (Romans 1:18-20, 2:5, John 3:36, and countless other places), but in dying on the cross Jesus saved us by bearing our punishment (1 Peter 3:18, Mark 15:33-34, Isaiah 53:4-6, and lots of other places) so that we could have eternal life (John 3:16, Revelation 21, 1 Peter 3:18, etc). That is what God says salvation is; being saved from his anger for eternal life with him.
No, no, said the eminent church leader; 'I don't want to think of God being angry; I prefer to start with God's love for me, not God's anger. That's not what I find Jesus saying in the Bible.' Cue much nodding from most of the others there - salvation was about acceptance, not anger.
Why am I blogging about this? Well, because 'not wanting to think of God being angry' is the default position of the human heart, it is increasingly the default position of the Anglican Church, and it leads to a total misunderstanding of salvation.
Let's see why it's serious. If God is not angry at my sin, if I am not rightly facing eternal death and separation from the love of God, why do I need salvation at all? To be saved, you have to be saved from something. Imagine a man swimming in a river. He's having a lovely time, it's warm and calm and he's enjoying himself. Then suddenly in jumps some guy, grabs him, wrestles him to the riverbank, drags him up onto some grass, and starts kissing him. 'Why did you do that?' asks the man who was enjoying a pleasant swim. 'I saved you!' says the second guy. 'That's ridiculous,' says the by now annoyed first man - 'I didn't need saving from anything. I was fine. You haven't saved me - and I'm not thankful to you for doing it.'
Now imagine that guy in a river, swimming along, when suddenly he realises he's caught on something and is being dragged down. He's drowning, and there's nothing he can do about it. He's going to die, he has no chance of getting himself free. He begins to lose consciousness. Then suddenly in jumps some guy, grabs him, wrestles him to the riverbank, drags him up onto some grass, and starts giving him the kiss of life. 'I saved you,' says the second guy to the first.' 'That is awesome,' says the extremely thankful first man. 'I needed saving desperately. I was lost. You saved me - and I will always be thankful to you for doing that.'
There's the difference - to be saved, you have to first be in trouble. And mankind is in desperate trouble, facing God's anger day by day and most of all on the Day of Judgement. That's what Jesus saved us from, and if you take that away then Jesus' death on the cross becomes pointless. And the problem with ignoring God's anger is that the Jesus of the Bible talks about it himself - he talks about people being punished in hell (Luke 17:19-31), he talks of separation and judgement when he returns (Matthew 13:24-29, 36-43), he tells people 'Unless you repent, you too will all perish' (Luke 13:5). To ignore the reality of God's anger and his judgement of human sin, you have to ignore Jesus.
We may not like to think of God's anger, we might in our sin prefer a God who doesn't mind about injustice and genocide and murder and all other forms of rebellion against him, including our own (though that's not a very loving God then, is it?) We may like to think that God would never punish people for rebelling against him (though that's not a very just God then, is it?) We may not like to think about it, but if we don't understand the desperate position we find ourselves in before God then we will never understand what salvation is.
The doctine of God's anger at human sin is controversial, is unpopular, and is increasingly ignored by those within the church as well as without. But we must hold on to it, because it is the truth God tells us in his Word, and because if we do not realise what Jesus saves us from, we do not understand that Jesus saves us at all.
Various responses were given, none of them wrong; salvation is being given purpose in your life, salvation is knowing you're accepted by God, salvation is knowing your stuff-ups have been forgiven.
Someone ventured this answer: 'Salvation is being saved from something - God's anger at our rebellion against him - and being saved for something - life lived his way for eternity.' Now, that's straight out of the Bible - we deserve God's rightful anger (Romans 1:18-20, 2:5, John 3:36, and countless other places), but in dying on the cross Jesus saved us by bearing our punishment (1 Peter 3:18, Mark 15:33-34, Isaiah 53:4-6, and lots of other places) so that we could have eternal life (John 3:16, Revelation 21, 1 Peter 3:18, etc). That is what God says salvation is; being saved from his anger for eternal life with him.
No, no, said the eminent church leader; 'I don't want to think of God being angry; I prefer to start with God's love for me, not God's anger. That's not what I find Jesus saying in the Bible.' Cue much nodding from most of the others there - salvation was about acceptance, not anger.
Why am I blogging about this? Well, because 'not wanting to think of God being angry' is the default position of the human heart, it is increasingly the default position of the Anglican Church, and it leads to a total misunderstanding of salvation.
Let's see why it's serious. If God is not angry at my sin, if I am not rightly facing eternal death and separation from the love of God, why do I need salvation at all? To be saved, you have to be saved from something. Imagine a man swimming in a river. He's having a lovely time, it's warm and calm and he's enjoying himself. Then suddenly in jumps some guy, grabs him, wrestles him to the riverbank, drags him up onto some grass, and starts kissing him. 'Why did you do that?' asks the man who was enjoying a pleasant swim. 'I saved you!' says the second guy. 'That's ridiculous,' says the by now annoyed first man - 'I didn't need saving from anything. I was fine. You haven't saved me - and I'm not thankful to you for doing it.'
Now imagine that guy in a river, swimming along, when suddenly he realises he's caught on something and is being dragged down. He's drowning, and there's nothing he can do about it. He's going to die, he has no chance of getting himself free. He begins to lose consciousness. Then suddenly in jumps some guy, grabs him, wrestles him to the riverbank, drags him up onto some grass, and starts giving him the kiss of life. 'I saved you,' says the second guy to the first.' 'That is awesome,' says the extremely thankful first man. 'I needed saving desperately. I was lost. You saved me - and I will always be thankful to you for doing that.'
There's the difference - to be saved, you have to first be in trouble. And mankind is in desperate trouble, facing God's anger day by day and most of all on the Day of Judgement. That's what Jesus saved us from, and if you take that away then Jesus' death on the cross becomes pointless. And the problem with ignoring God's anger is that the Jesus of the Bible talks about it himself - he talks about people being punished in hell (Luke 17:19-31), he talks of separation and judgement when he returns (Matthew 13:24-29, 36-43), he tells people 'Unless you repent, you too will all perish' (Luke 13:5). To ignore the reality of God's anger and his judgement of human sin, you have to ignore Jesus.
We may not like to think of God's anger, we might in our sin prefer a God who doesn't mind about injustice and genocide and murder and all other forms of rebellion against him, including our own (though that's not a very loving God then, is it?) We may like to think that God would never punish people for rebelling against him (though that's not a very just God then, is it?) We may not like to think about it, but if we don't understand the desperate position we find ourselves in before God then we will never understand what salvation is.
The doctine of God's anger at human sin is controversial, is unpopular, and is increasingly ignored by those within the church as well as without. But we must hold on to it, because it is the truth God tells us in his Word, and because if we do not realise what Jesus saves us from, we do not understand that Jesus saves us at all.
Verse of the week
'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses...to the ends of the earth' Acts 1:8
Famous last words are often quite funny (like the general who, on being told he was too close to the enemy's guns, said 'Nonsense. They'll never hit us from over th...'); rarely are they as significant as these, for verse 8 of Acts 1 are Jesus' last words on earth before he ascended into heaven.
And it must have been pretty scary for his disciples, around a hundred of them in a world of millions who did not know who Jesus was. Especially as Jesus told them that they were his witnesses; that his followers were to stand in the courtrooms of the marketplaces, the shops, the meal tables, the schools, and to witness to the truth about Jesus. That is the job of the follower of Christ; to witness to him. It was hard then (as the execution of 11 of the 12 apostles proves), it has been hard through history, and it is hard today - hard for us to tell people of Jesus Christ, God's Son, who has died to save them from judgement and for eternal life with God. And yet that is the job that Son of God charges us with today and every day. Whether you are a school pupil, a plumber, a politician or a policeman, if you're a Christian you have a job; to tell others the truth about Jesus. When was the last time you did that? When was the last time you prayed for an opportunity to tell your friends? When was the last time you risked laughter and rejection to be a witness for Christ?
That's the challenge; but we're not alone. 'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you', Jesus told those first Christians; and as Christians today we all have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. If we let him, he will give us the courage; give us the chances; give us the right words; and then, wonderfully, he will use our humbling, stuttering efforts at telling our friends and families about Christ and use them for God's glory. Perhaps he will even give us the privilege of being used to bring someone else to trust in Christ and become his witness. I think that's such a relief, to understand that my job is to witness about Christ, and the Spirit's job is to use my witness for God's glory. It's not my responsibility to convert someone, only to tell them; not my responsibility to use long words and fancy arguments, only to explain the gospel message.
And yet so often we don't witness, so often we don't tell others. Let's resolve this week to do our part in God's plan; to tell others about his Son, and then trust in the Holy Spirit to do his part, and work through our words to enable them to come to Christ. Who are you going to witness to this week?
Famous last words are often quite funny (like the general who, on being told he was too close to the enemy's guns, said 'Nonsense. They'll never hit us from over th...'); rarely are they as significant as these, for verse 8 of Acts 1 are Jesus' last words on earth before he ascended into heaven.
And it must have been pretty scary for his disciples, around a hundred of them in a world of millions who did not know who Jesus was. Especially as Jesus told them that they were his witnesses; that his followers were to stand in the courtrooms of the marketplaces, the shops, the meal tables, the schools, and to witness to the truth about Jesus. That is the job of the follower of Christ; to witness to him. It was hard then (as the execution of 11 of the 12 apostles proves), it has been hard through history, and it is hard today - hard for us to tell people of Jesus Christ, God's Son, who has died to save them from judgement and for eternal life with God. And yet that is the job that Son of God charges us with today and every day. Whether you are a school pupil, a plumber, a politician or a policeman, if you're a Christian you have a job; to tell others the truth about Jesus. When was the last time you did that? When was the last time you prayed for an opportunity to tell your friends? When was the last time you risked laughter and rejection to be a witness for Christ?
That's the challenge; but we're not alone. 'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you', Jesus told those first Christians; and as Christians today we all have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. If we let him, he will give us the courage; give us the chances; give us the right words; and then, wonderfully, he will use our humbling, stuttering efforts at telling our friends and families about Christ and use them for God's glory. Perhaps he will even give us the privilege of being used to bring someone else to trust in Christ and become his witness. I think that's such a relief, to understand that my job is to witness about Christ, and the Spirit's job is to use my witness for God's glory. It's not my responsibility to convert someone, only to tell them; not my responsibility to use long words and fancy arguments, only to explain the gospel message.
And yet so often we don't witness, so often we don't tell others. Let's resolve this week to do our part in God's plan; to tell others about his Son, and then trust in the Holy Spirit to do his part, and work through our words to enable them to come to Christ. Who are you going to witness to this week?
Thursday 8 March 2007
Help for weekends
We've all been there (or most of us have); the party with the booze and drugs, the guys gathering around FHM, the girls' night in where the main subjects are gossip and bitching. And we all know how tough it is to behave as God wants us to at those points, how easy it is to just have a couple of drinks, to just have a quick look (it won't hurt!), to nod along with the bitching.
Philippians 3:17-4:1 helps us in those situations. Paul speaks of those who 'live as enemies of the cross of Christ,' and describes them in a very strange way. 'Their god is their stomach, and their glory is their shame.' Have you ever thought of it like that? When people get drunk, or look at porn, or bitch about others, they're feeding themselves and their desires, they're making a god out of what they want. Who are they worshipping? Their stomachs, their own greed, and of course a stomach is never permanently satisfied, it always needs feeding, and ultimately (to put it bluntly) it's useless; whatever you put into it comes out again, and you have to keep filling it up. That's what drunkenness, looking at porn, bitching, obsessing about our looks or our shape is; having our stomach for our god. And the problem? 'Their destiny is destruction'.
Christians do not have their stomach, their own desires, for a god; Christians hold the Lord Jesus Christ to be their God. A God who far from taking all the time gives, as our Saviour. A God whom we worship not as someone who cannot do anything for us, but as one who one day will return from heaven to take us to eternal life.
But there's more, and this is what I think is really helpful when we're tempted to serve our bodies as our gods through drinking or porn or sexual immorality or obsessing over looks...one day Jesus will, 'by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.'
What a different picture that is to the one of people who serve their stomachs as gods by getting drunk, filling their minds with porn, using their tongues to gossip. There's no glory in a body like that, only shame, and the benefit for your body from serving that god is minimal and fleeting; but the Christian knows that their body will be transformed by their God into a glorious, perfect body. The benefit to the body of serving the Lord Jesus Christ is infinite and eternal.
Remembering that can help us to withstand the pressure to serve our stomachs, our own desires, as our god. Remember the result for us and our bodies of serving that god is destruction, and remember that the result for our body of serving the Saviour God, Jesus, is eternal glory with him. While all around us seek desperately to serve their stomachs as their gods, we get on with serving Jesus as ours, and 'eagerly awaiting a Saviour from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ.'
Philippians 3:17-4:1 helps us in those situations. Paul speaks of those who 'live as enemies of the cross of Christ,' and describes them in a very strange way. 'Their god is their stomach, and their glory is their shame.' Have you ever thought of it like that? When people get drunk, or look at porn, or bitch about others, they're feeding themselves and their desires, they're making a god out of what they want. Who are they worshipping? Their stomachs, their own greed, and of course a stomach is never permanently satisfied, it always needs feeding, and ultimately (to put it bluntly) it's useless; whatever you put into it comes out again, and you have to keep filling it up. That's what drunkenness, looking at porn, bitching, obsessing about our looks or our shape is; having our stomach for our god. And the problem? 'Their destiny is destruction'.
Christians do not have their stomach, their own desires, for a god; Christians hold the Lord Jesus Christ to be their God. A God who far from taking all the time gives, as our Saviour. A God whom we worship not as someone who cannot do anything for us, but as one who one day will return from heaven to take us to eternal life.
But there's more, and this is what I think is really helpful when we're tempted to serve our bodies as our gods through drinking or porn or sexual immorality or obsessing over looks...one day Jesus will, 'by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.'
What a different picture that is to the one of people who serve their stomachs as gods by getting drunk, filling their minds with porn, using their tongues to gossip. There's no glory in a body like that, only shame, and the benefit for your body from serving that god is minimal and fleeting; but the Christian knows that their body will be transformed by their God into a glorious, perfect body. The benefit to the body of serving the Lord Jesus Christ is infinite and eternal.
Remembering that can help us to withstand the pressure to serve our stomachs, our own desires, as our god. Remember the result for us and our bodies of serving that god is destruction, and remember that the result for our body of serving the Saviour God, Jesus, is eternal glory with him. While all around us seek desperately to serve their stomachs as their gods, we get on with serving Jesus as ours, and 'eagerly awaiting a Saviour from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ.'
How can I know myself?
'If I ever wanted to understand me, I’d have to talk to someone else.' So says Gnarls Barkley on 'Who Cares?' (I've just bought his album, 'St Elsewhere', which is actually not only good musically but pretty thought-provoking too, unless I'm reading too much into it!)
Most of us accept that sometimes other people close to us know us better than ourselves - our mums, or our best friends, or our husbands/wives. And in our society, when we really find ourselves in trouble we go and speak to someone else to understand ourselves - a therapist, a psychiatrist, a rehab clinic (just look at celebrities!) On shows like Desperate Housewives and Ally McBeal (if you're old enough to remember it!) therapists are a part of normal life, because they help people to understand themselves.
But ultimately, if you really want to understand you, you'd have to talk to the Someone Else who is your Maker, the God who created everyone in his own image (Genesis 1:26-27). No-one understands you like him, because no-one knows you like him - not even you.
That's why a very influential theologian from the 1500s, John Calvin (you have to say it with a French accent, as that's where he was from), begins his major work, his 'Institutes', with precisely that observation. Until you know God, he says, you cannot know yourself. Until you know what your Creator says of you, you won't be able to understand yourself.
On the album 'St Elsewhere', Gnarls Barkley turns to several different places to work out who he is, to understand himself - at no time does he turn to the God who made him. That's the tragedy of modern society; never have we spent so much money on working out who we are, on getting other people to tell us what we're like...when all the time, the One who made us is offering a free consultation in his word. If you want to know who you are, to understand yourself, pick up a Bible!
So why don't people do that? Maybe it's because we don't like the understanding of ourselves that the Bible gives us. We want to be told we're basically good people, not basically sinners who have rebelled against God; we want to be told we're heading in the right direction, not heading to hell; we want the option of finding someone else to give us a different answer, not find only a God who gives us total brutal truth.
'Everybody is somebody, but nobody wants to be themselves.' So continues 'Who Cares?'. We are all somebody, a somebody who is a sinner and needs saving, and can only understand that by understanding God; but nobody wants to be that somebody, so we run away from that truth by spending millions listening to others and ignoring God. The lesson? Listen to Calvin, and not to Barkley; 'If I ever wanted to understand me, I'd have to...listen to God.'
Most of us accept that sometimes other people close to us know us better than ourselves - our mums, or our best friends, or our husbands/wives. And in our society, when we really find ourselves in trouble we go and speak to someone else to understand ourselves - a therapist, a psychiatrist, a rehab clinic (just look at celebrities!) On shows like Desperate Housewives and Ally McBeal (if you're old enough to remember it!) therapists are a part of normal life, because they help people to understand themselves.
But ultimately, if you really want to understand you, you'd have to talk to the Someone Else who is your Maker, the God who created everyone in his own image (Genesis 1:26-27). No-one understands you like him, because no-one knows you like him - not even you.
That's why a very influential theologian from the 1500s, John Calvin (you have to say it with a French accent, as that's where he was from), begins his major work, his 'Institutes', with precisely that observation. Until you know God, he says, you cannot know yourself. Until you know what your Creator says of you, you won't be able to understand yourself.
On the album 'St Elsewhere', Gnarls Barkley turns to several different places to work out who he is, to understand himself - at no time does he turn to the God who made him. That's the tragedy of modern society; never have we spent so much money on working out who we are, on getting other people to tell us what we're like...when all the time, the One who made us is offering a free consultation in his word. If you want to know who you are, to understand yourself, pick up a Bible!
So why don't people do that? Maybe it's because we don't like the understanding of ourselves that the Bible gives us. We want to be told we're basically good people, not basically sinners who have rebelled against God; we want to be told we're heading in the right direction, not heading to hell; we want the option of finding someone else to give us a different answer, not find only a God who gives us total brutal truth.
'Everybody is somebody, but nobody wants to be themselves.' So continues 'Who Cares?'. We are all somebody, a somebody who is a sinner and needs saving, and can only understand that by understanding God; but nobody wants to be that somebody, so we run away from that truth by spending millions listening to others and ignoring God. The lesson? Listen to Calvin, and not to Barkley; 'If I ever wanted to understand me, I'd have to...listen to God.'
Verse of the week
'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall...' Exodus 20:2-3
What is it that makes you a member of your school? Is it your school tie, or the fact you turn up on time (hopefully!) at the school building each day, or hoping your school rugby team win? Actually no, it isn't...after all, I could do all those things myself, and I wouldn't be a member of your school! What makes you a member of your school is that you were accepted on your first day; maybe you passed an exam, or signed on to go to that school. You wear your school uniform because you're already a part of the school, not because wearing it makes you part of that school.
It's the same with being part of God's people; often it's easy to think that behaving like part of God's people is what makes us part of his people. I go to church; I say my prayers; I don't steal or lie or gossip; I go to youth group. Surely that's what makes someone part of God's people, a Christian?
Well, no, and that's what God's reminding his people here. He's about to give them the Ten Commandments, the summary of how his people live; but first he reminds them why they are his people. It's because he's rescued them from 'the land of slavery'. It's because in the Exodus he gave them a lamb to die instead of them. God's people are God's people not because of anything they've done, but because of what God's done. And it's the same today. Christians have been rescued from eternal slavery to sin and hell by God, by him sending his Son Jesus to die instead of us. So Christians must never think that what they do is what makes them part of God's people; they're already part of God's people, because of what God has done.
But God goes on to give the Ten Commandments, which is a bit like your school uniform. Wearing your school uniform doesn't make you a member of your school; but if you are already a member of that school, you wear the uniform. It's part of the rules of the school which you obey as a member. Likewise with being part of God's people. He has rescued Christians, made them his people, so that he can rule them, as his people live his way. That's why he reminds his people that he's rescued them, and then says 'You shall'. Living by God's rules is not what makes us part of God's people, but it's how we live as God's people.
So Exodus 20 is a useful reminder that we must always look to Jesus and his death and not to ourselves and our actions for the reason we are part of God's rescued people; but as part of that people, we are ruled by God. You'd never not bother wearing your school uniform, because wearing it is what you do as part of that school; so never not bother to obey God's rules, because being ruled by God is what you do as part of his rescued people.
What is it that makes you a member of your school? Is it your school tie, or the fact you turn up on time (hopefully!) at the school building each day, or hoping your school rugby team win? Actually no, it isn't...after all, I could do all those things myself, and I wouldn't be a member of your school! What makes you a member of your school is that you were accepted on your first day; maybe you passed an exam, or signed on to go to that school. You wear your school uniform because you're already a part of the school, not because wearing it makes you part of that school.
It's the same with being part of God's people; often it's easy to think that behaving like part of God's people is what makes us part of his people. I go to church; I say my prayers; I don't steal or lie or gossip; I go to youth group. Surely that's what makes someone part of God's people, a Christian?
Well, no, and that's what God's reminding his people here. He's about to give them the Ten Commandments, the summary of how his people live; but first he reminds them why they are his people. It's because he's rescued them from 'the land of slavery'. It's because in the Exodus he gave them a lamb to die instead of them. God's people are God's people not because of anything they've done, but because of what God's done. And it's the same today. Christians have been rescued from eternal slavery to sin and hell by God, by him sending his Son Jesus to die instead of us. So Christians must never think that what they do is what makes them part of God's people; they're already part of God's people, because of what God has done.
But God goes on to give the Ten Commandments, which is a bit like your school uniform. Wearing your school uniform doesn't make you a member of your school; but if you are already a member of that school, you wear the uniform. It's part of the rules of the school which you obey as a member. Likewise with being part of God's people. He has rescued Christians, made them his people, so that he can rule them, as his people live his way. That's why he reminds his people that he's rescued them, and then says 'You shall'. Living by God's rules is not what makes us part of God's people, but it's how we live as God's people.
So Exodus 20 is a useful reminder that we must always look to Jesus and his death and not to ourselves and our actions for the reason we are part of God's rescued people; but as part of that people, we are ruled by God. You'd never not bother wearing your school uniform, because wearing it is what you do as part of that school; so never not bother to obey God's rules, because being ruled by God is what you do as part of his rescued people.
Thursday 1 March 2007
Verse of the week
'Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labour in vain' Psalm 127:1
There's a lot to do for God, isn't there? If we're Christians, there are friends and family who need to hear about Jesus, there are friends and family who need to be encouraged to keep following Jesus, there's a church and a youth group at which to serve, there's our own praying and Bible reading to keep doing...a Christian life is a busy life.
And yet...amidst all the busy-ness, how often we need to remind ourselves of this verse. We don't build the house; God does. It's not our work that grows the kingdom of God, that builds the house of his people; it's God's work to do that. If God doesn't bless our work, it doesn't matter how hard we're working, it will be in vain. The lesson of this verse for the keen, energetic, driven Christian is to remember to rely on God's building work, and not on ours.
But that's not an excuse to down tools, stand back from the building site and watch and wait for God to finish the building. Unless God builds the house, the builders labour in vain; but if God is building the house, the builders will still labour - because God builds through his builders. God builds his kingdom through his people, he brings people's friends and families to trust in his Son through the lives and words of Christians. So this verse is also a lesson for the lazy Christian - to remember that God works through his people, through you. How are you working for God today?
There's a wonderful old song, written by a missionary a while back, whose first two lines capture the teaching of this verse, and which always brings a lump to my throat when I sing it;
'Facing a task unfinished, that drives us to our knees;
A need that undiminished, rebukes our slothful ease.'
If you're a Christian, you need to hear one of those lines today. Do you work hard for God, working on the unfinished of growing his kingdom...but forget to get onto your knees each day and beg God to build his house, beg God to use you to increase his glory? Do you work hard for God, but speak to him little? Get on your knees!
Or, do you not work hard for God? Do you get on with your easy life, hoping someone else will do the work for God. Read the second line. Look at the needs of your school, your town, your country, in such desperate need of the Word of God; and then allow your slothful, lazy ease to be rebuked. Get to work on God's building site!
If God is not at work, our work is useless; but when God is at work, he works through his people. Ask him to work through you today.
There's a lot to do for God, isn't there? If we're Christians, there are friends and family who need to hear about Jesus, there are friends and family who need to be encouraged to keep following Jesus, there's a church and a youth group at which to serve, there's our own praying and Bible reading to keep doing...a Christian life is a busy life.
And yet...amidst all the busy-ness, how often we need to remind ourselves of this verse. We don't build the house; God does. It's not our work that grows the kingdom of God, that builds the house of his people; it's God's work to do that. If God doesn't bless our work, it doesn't matter how hard we're working, it will be in vain. The lesson of this verse for the keen, energetic, driven Christian is to remember to rely on God's building work, and not on ours.
But that's not an excuse to down tools, stand back from the building site and watch and wait for God to finish the building. Unless God builds the house, the builders labour in vain; but if God is building the house, the builders will still labour - because God builds through his builders. God builds his kingdom through his people, he brings people's friends and families to trust in his Son through the lives and words of Christians. So this verse is also a lesson for the lazy Christian - to remember that God works through his people, through you. How are you working for God today?
There's a wonderful old song, written by a missionary a while back, whose first two lines capture the teaching of this verse, and which always brings a lump to my throat when I sing it;
'Facing a task unfinished, that drives us to our knees;
A need that undiminished, rebukes our slothful ease.'
If you're a Christian, you need to hear one of those lines today. Do you work hard for God, working on the unfinished of growing his kingdom...but forget to get onto your knees each day and beg God to build his house, beg God to use you to increase his glory? Do you work hard for God, but speak to him little? Get on your knees!
Or, do you not work hard for God? Do you get on with your easy life, hoping someone else will do the work for God. Read the second line. Look at the needs of your school, your town, your country, in such desperate need of the Word of God; and then allow your slothful, lazy ease to be rebuked. Get to work on God's building site!
If God is not at work, our work is useless; but when God is at work, he works through his people. Ask him to work through you today.
Your help needed
I've been thinking a bit recently about the range of good quality Christian books on offer to 'the yoof', and about how often in my church work I've ended up giving books written for adults in their thirties to young people in their teens, simply because there's no book written on that topic which is actually aimed at teenagers.
It's not that I think teenagers can't read and enjoy books written for adults, or that they need stuff written for them which has lots of BITS IN CAPITALS or even in bold just to keep them interested (because obviously Christian teenagers don't get excited about Christianity, only bits in bold or capitals!), but just that it strikes me that being a teenager is (a) very different to any other age, and (b) incredibly tough to live as a Christian. And doesn't that mean that teenagers mainly need books and Bible studies which bring Christian doctrine to bear on the issues facing them in their current circumstances?
So I'm thinking of having a go at writing a book...but if I'm going to be true to the above two paragraphs, I want to work out what areas it is that Christian teenagers most feel they need biblical advice and application, and then bring the Bible to that area, rather than me sitting here thinking 'Ah, I think this is what teenagers probably ought to know' and then getting it wrong.
So please help me, if you're a teenager - email me at lafertonc@hotmail.com, and tell me, if you were reading a 60-page book on an aspect of Christian belief or living, what would be most helpful for you to read about. And I tell you what, I promise if the book ever existed and is published (Hah!) then I'll give anyone who emails me a mention in it...
Go on, email now!
It's not that I think teenagers can't read and enjoy books written for adults, or that they need stuff written for them which has lots of BITS IN CAPITALS or even in bold just to keep them interested (because obviously Christian teenagers don't get excited about Christianity, only bits in bold or capitals!), but just that it strikes me that being a teenager is (a) very different to any other age, and (b) incredibly tough to live as a Christian. And doesn't that mean that teenagers mainly need books and Bible studies which bring Christian doctrine to bear on the issues facing them in their current circumstances?
So I'm thinking of having a go at writing a book...but if I'm going to be true to the above two paragraphs, I want to work out what areas it is that Christian teenagers most feel they need biblical advice and application, and then bring the Bible to that area, rather than me sitting here thinking 'Ah, I think this is what teenagers probably ought to know' and then getting it wrong.
So please help me, if you're a teenager - email me at lafertonc@hotmail.com, and tell me, if you were reading a 60-page book on an aspect of Christian belief or living, what would be most helpful for you to read about. And I tell you what, I promise if the book ever existed and is published (Hah!) then I'll give anyone who emails me a mention in it...
Go on, email now!
Thursday 22 February 2007
Verse of the week
'I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri...and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts.' Exodus 31:2-3
In the Old Testament God dwelled with his people in his 'tabernacle', a big tent, and he spends a large part of Exodus telling Moses how it must be designed. Here, God also tells Moses how it will be built, for he has chosen Bezalel to lead the workteam, and he's equipped Bezalel with the gifts he'll need for this work by filling him with his Spirit.
This is the first time in the Bible that God talks of filling someone with his spirit - prophets, priests, leaders and preachers have gone before, but it's a craftsman who will build God's tabernacle who is the first to be blessed in this way. God uses humans to do his work; he chooses which humans will do it; and he equips them to do the tasks he sets them.
Christians have all been filled with God's Spirit; have all been given gifts to use for God's work. Whatever you're good at, whatever your talents are, they've been given to you by God so that you can work for God. How do you use your gifts in his service? Do you keep them for yourself and your pleasure, or use them for his?
The tabernacle was like a mini-creation; a perfect place where God dwelled and there was no sin. God chose and equipped Bezalel and his team to build this mini-creation. Ever since Jesus' resurrection, God has been building his new, eternal creation, a new creation that Christians are part of and which will be finished when Jesus returns to this world. If you're a Christian, you're part of that new creation, and God wants to use you to build his new creation, just like he used Bezalel. What a privilege to be used by the Creator God in this way!
This week, will you use the gifts of speech and friendship God has given you to tell others of Jesus and build God's recreated people; will you use your gifts to help God's recreated people; will you think of your abilities not as your own but as God's, given to you by him because you have been chosen by him to build for him?
In the Old Testament God dwelled with his people in his 'tabernacle', a big tent, and he spends a large part of Exodus telling Moses how it must be designed. Here, God also tells Moses how it will be built, for he has chosen Bezalel to lead the workteam, and he's equipped Bezalel with the gifts he'll need for this work by filling him with his Spirit.
This is the first time in the Bible that God talks of filling someone with his spirit - prophets, priests, leaders and preachers have gone before, but it's a craftsman who will build God's tabernacle who is the first to be blessed in this way. God uses humans to do his work; he chooses which humans will do it; and he equips them to do the tasks he sets them.
Christians have all been filled with God's Spirit; have all been given gifts to use for God's work. Whatever you're good at, whatever your talents are, they've been given to you by God so that you can work for God. How do you use your gifts in his service? Do you keep them for yourself and your pleasure, or use them for his?
The tabernacle was like a mini-creation; a perfect place where God dwelled and there was no sin. God chose and equipped Bezalel and his team to build this mini-creation. Ever since Jesus' resurrection, God has been building his new, eternal creation, a new creation that Christians are part of and which will be finished when Jesus returns to this world. If you're a Christian, you're part of that new creation, and God wants to use you to build his new creation, just like he used Bezalel. What a privilege to be used by the Creator God in this way!
This week, will you use the gifts of speech and friendship God has given you to tell others of Jesus and build God's recreated people; will you use your gifts to help God's recreated people; will you think of your abilities not as your own but as God's, given to you by him because you have been chosen by him to build for him?
True beauty
This week's morning sermon at St Andrew's Church is on Mark 14:1-11, which is about a woman who takes some perfume worth a year's wages (like, £20,000), and pours it over Jesus. It seems an outrageous waste, and the people with Jesus are really cross, pointing out that it would have been more worthwhile to sell the perfume and use it for the poor. Others are even more furious and for Judas this is the final straw, as immediately afterwards he goes off to betray Jesus to his enemies.
We might expect Jesus to agree with those who think this is a waste, and say to the woman 'Thanks, but really you could have used this for the poor.' But he doesn't. He describes what the woman has done in two ways, which when put together are staggering - 'She has done a beautiful thing (v6)...She did what she could (v8).' This woman has been completely devoted to Jesus, giving everything she had without holding anything back - and Jesus commends her for it. In effect, he's saying he's worth everything - 'She should give me this perfume, because I'm worth it' (a bit like a very early L'Oreal advert!)
This is the only time we find Jesus calling something 'beautiful.' Who does the Son of God think is beautiful? The woman who 'did what she could'.
We live in a society which holds up beauty as the greatest achievement for a woman. Magazines, TV shows, catwalks...all of them tell women that they need to be beautiful, that beauty is what they should devote themselves too. Jesus turns that upside down. What is true beauty? It is doing what we can for him, devoting everything we have to him. Beauty lies not in our face and our shape, but in our heart and our actions.
It's always lovely when someone says to us 'You're beautiful' or 'You're good-looking' or 'You're lovely'. Who would you most like to think you are beautiful - a passer-by on the street, a guy/girl at a party...or the eternal Son of God? Jesus looks at those who do what they can for him, who give him everything they've got, and those are the people that he says 'They do a beautiful thing.' That's true beauty - devotion to Jesus - and that's the only beauty that never fades.
We might expect Jesus to agree with those who think this is a waste, and say to the woman 'Thanks, but really you could have used this for the poor.' But he doesn't. He describes what the woman has done in two ways, which when put together are staggering - 'She has done a beautiful thing (v6)...She did what she could (v8).' This woman has been completely devoted to Jesus, giving everything she had without holding anything back - and Jesus commends her for it. In effect, he's saying he's worth everything - 'She should give me this perfume, because I'm worth it' (a bit like a very early L'Oreal advert!)
This is the only time we find Jesus calling something 'beautiful.' Who does the Son of God think is beautiful? The woman who 'did what she could'.
We live in a society which holds up beauty as the greatest achievement for a woman. Magazines, TV shows, catwalks...all of them tell women that they need to be beautiful, that beauty is what they should devote themselves too. Jesus turns that upside down. What is true beauty? It is doing what we can for him, devoting everything we have to him. Beauty lies not in our face and our shape, but in our heart and our actions.
It's always lovely when someone says to us 'You're beautiful' or 'You're good-looking' or 'You're lovely'. Who would you most like to think you are beautiful - a passer-by on the street, a guy/girl at a party...or the eternal Son of God? Jesus looks at those who do what they can for him, who give him everything they've got, and those are the people that he says 'They do a beautiful thing.' That's true beauty - devotion to Jesus - and that's the only beauty that never fades.
Thursday 15 February 2007
The Anglican Church at war
Given that over the next week or so most newspapers will have articles about the Anglican Church (of which the Church of England is part) fighting and falling apart, I thought it might be useful to think about what's going on, why it's come to this, and what the response of biblical Christians might be...
Starting today (Thursday) is a meeting of the 'primates' of the Anglican church - that is, all the Archbishops. The big thing they're going to talk about is what to do about the American Anglican Church. The problem is that a few years ago the American church (called The Episcopal Church) made an openly and actively gay man a bishop. The Bible, while calling us to love everyone and telling us that anyone can come to Jesus and be forgiven, also makes clear that active homosexuality is not the way God wants us to live and is therefore sinful. And that means that the American church has deliberately gone against what the Bible says (which they don't believe God wrote).
So it looks like the whole argument is about homosexuality, and that's what you'll read about and hear about in the media. But in fact the underlying argument is about whether the Anglican church is going to believe that God wrote the Bible and we should obey it even when it's really hard to do so, or whether the church is going to decide which bits of the Bible to obey and which bits to ignore. Obviously, that makes the argument a very serious one.
Because the Anglican church always moves slower than a turtle with a limp, it's taken till now to come to a head. And it could be messy. The African and Asian Anglican churches are almost all totally biblical, and the American church and some others (the Canadian, the New Zealand one), are almost all totally 'liberal' (that is, supportive of the American position). But some churches, like the Church of England, are split - that is, within the Church of England there are some people who are biblical, and try to obey what God says in the Bible, and some who are liberal, and want to ignore a large part of what the Bible says (that's a very simplistic view of things, but then this is a blog not a book!)
Why does it matter? Well it matters a lot in one sense because if the Anglican church as a whole, or (more likely) the Church of England on its own, becomes more and more liberal, then it will be harder and harder for Christians who want to live by what the Bible says to work for the Church of England (people like me!) For example, if in a few years' time vicars are told they must perform same-sex marriages (as already happens in places in America) then biblical vicars will refuse, and either be sacked or go to jail.
In another sense, it doesn't matter too much because we rely on Christ and not the church to save us, to teach us, to guide us and to bring us to his eternal kingdom. The whole of Christian history is littered with churches which stopped being biblical and turned away from Christ, and of groups of brave biblical men and women who set up new churches which did rely on Christ and believe that the Bible is God's Word (the Reformation is a good example of this). If the Anglican Church falls apart tomorrow, it would be very sad, but it wouldn't stop those of us who trust in Jesus' death on our place, revealed to us in God's Word, being saved Christians who can try to live Jesus' way and be with Jesus in eternity.
So what might biblical Christians do? Firstly, pray. Pray that God would ensure that the Anglican Church takes a firm stand on believing in the Bible and obeying God's word, and that people who don't want to do that would either change their minds or leave the church. Pray that if the Anglican Church doesn't do that, God would ensure that his people within the church keep going as true Christians.
Secondly, remember that Christ saves, church doesn't. If an individual church, or a whole demonination, stops believing in God's Word and trusting in God's Son, then we leave the church or denomination - but we don't lose our salvation. If you're at an Anglican church, remember you're a Christian first, Anglican second, and not the other way around.
Thirdly, don't be swayed by the media. Some of the media will present Bible-believing Christians as homophobic, prejudiced, narrow-minded bigots. We're not - we love all people and hate all sin, and we long for all people to repent of their sin and accept forgiveness from God. If we started telling people that God doesn't care how they live, that would be awful as people would then happily continue sinning, thinking God doesn't mind, and then face his judgement. Christians are not called to believe or say what's popular, but to believe and speak the truth that God reveals to us in his Word the Bible.
Starting today (Thursday) is a meeting of the 'primates' of the Anglican church - that is, all the Archbishops. The big thing they're going to talk about is what to do about the American Anglican Church. The problem is that a few years ago the American church (called The Episcopal Church) made an openly and actively gay man a bishop. The Bible, while calling us to love everyone and telling us that anyone can come to Jesus and be forgiven, also makes clear that active homosexuality is not the way God wants us to live and is therefore sinful. And that means that the American church has deliberately gone against what the Bible says (which they don't believe God wrote).
So it looks like the whole argument is about homosexuality, and that's what you'll read about and hear about in the media. But in fact the underlying argument is about whether the Anglican church is going to believe that God wrote the Bible and we should obey it even when it's really hard to do so, or whether the church is going to decide which bits of the Bible to obey and which bits to ignore. Obviously, that makes the argument a very serious one.
Because the Anglican church always moves slower than a turtle with a limp, it's taken till now to come to a head. And it could be messy. The African and Asian Anglican churches are almost all totally biblical, and the American church and some others (the Canadian, the New Zealand one), are almost all totally 'liberal' (that is, supportive of the American position). But some churches, like the Church of England, are split - that is, within the Church of England there are some people who are biblical, and try to obey what God says in the Bible, and some who are liberal, and want to ignore a large part of what the Bible says (that's a very simplistic view of things, but then this is a blog not a book!)
Why does it matter? Well it matters a lot in one sense because if the Anglican church as a whole, or (more likely) the Church of England on its own, becomes more and more liberal, then it will be harder and harder for Christians who want to live by what the Bible says to work for the Church of England (people like me!) For example, if in a few years' time vicars are told they must perform same-sex marriages (as already happens in places in America) then biblical vicars will refuse, and either be sacked or go to jail.
In another sense, it doesn't matter too much because we rely on Christ and not the church to save us, to teach us, to guide us and to bring us to his eternal kingdom. The whole of Christian history is littered with churches which stopped being biblical and turned away from Christ, and of groups of brave biblical men and women who set up new churches which did rely on Christ and believe that the Bible is God's Word (the Reformation is a good example of this). If the Anglican Church falls apart tomorrow, it would be very sad, but it wouldn't stop those of us who trust in Jesus' death on our place, revealed to us in God's Word, being saved Christians who can try to live Jesus' way and be with Jesus in eternity.
So what might biblical Christians do? Firstly, pray. Pray that God would ensure that the Anglican Church takes a firm stand on believing in the Bible and obeying God's word, and that people who don't want to do that would either change their minds or leave the church. Pray that if the Anglican Church doesn't do that, God would ensure that his people within the church keep going as true Christians.
Secondly, remember that Christ saves, church doesn't. If an individual church, or a whole demonination, stops believing in God's Word and trusting in God's Son, then we leave the church or denomination - but we don't lose our salvation. If you're at an Anglican church, remember you're a Christian first, Anglican second, and not the other way around.
Thirdly, don't be swayed by the media. Some of the media will present Bible-believing Christians as homophobic, prejudiced, narrow-minded bigots. We're not - we love all people and hate all sin, and we long for all people to repent of their sin and accept forgiveness from God. If we started telling people that God doesn't care how they live, that would be awful as people would then happily continue sinning, thinking God doesn't mind, and then face his judgement. Christians are not called to believe or say what's popular, but to believe and speak the truth that God reveals to us in his Word the Bible.
The Dating Game III
(For parts I and II, see below)
This is fast becoming a book on teenage dating!
Matt made a very useful comment about the Dating Game I, which was if you go out with a non-Christian as a teenager, doesn't that present you with a great opportunity to tell them the gospel, and to pray that God would work through you and your relationship to bring them to saving faith?
I think it's first worth pointing out that again (as so often) this is a matter of wisdom - but it certainly isn't a matter of triviality. And in some senses the answer is 'Yes' - sometimes people do come to real faith through going out with someone who's a Christian. But that doesn't make dating non-Christians the best thing to do. Just because God sometimes uses something unwise a person has done to bring someone else to faith, doesn't mean that that course of action is the wisest to take - it just means that God is truly amazing. For instance, let's imagine that I went out clubbing and got drunk. While I was buying my tenth pint at the bar, someone randomly asked me if I was a Christian. I slurred a reply, gave them my phone number and met up (sober) the next day to talk about Christ, and that person became a Christian. Does that mean I should spend my weekends propped up on various nightclub bars, totally hammered, because God used my mistake once?! No, of course not!
I think there are three reasons why it's unwise to date a non-Christian hoping to win them for Christ - for what they're worth, here they are...
1 - In my experience (and yes, I know I sound old!), far more relationships involving a Christian and a non-Christian end in the Christian falling away than the non-Christian becoming a Christian. If you think you're much stronger than most Christians then you'll think you don't need to worry - but if you think that, you're being a bit complacent so you do need to worry!
2 - There will be a lot of pressure on the non-Christian to say they're a Christian, as they'll know that for this relationship to continue they need to become a Christian. I can think of at least one instance where a non-Christian in a serious relationship with a Christian announced she had come to Christ, and she really thought she had. But when they split up she immediately fell away, and it turned out she'd never really been a Christian, she'd just really wanted to be one to make her boyfriend happy. So even if a non-Christian you're with seems to become a Christian, you'd still be worrying about whether he/she really was.
3 - and the best reason I think - if the reason you think it's OK to go out with a non-Christian is because you think that's the best way to get them to think about Christianity, then as soon as you find a better way to show them how much Jesus means to you you should follow that way. And here is a better way - instead of going out with them, a far clearer witness to the importance of Jesus in your life is to tell them that you would love to be friends and will be, and that you would love to go out with them but because your relationship with Jesus comes before anything else you would like just to be friends for the moment. You want to make sure that Jesus continues to come first, and you want that person to know how important Jesus is.
So in fact, I think not going out with someone is a far clearer witness to them about Jesus than going out with them. After all, if you're friends with someone you can still spend time with them and tell them about Christ - you don't have to be going out with someone to do that!
Hope that's helpful - do come back at me, Matt and anyone else!
This is fast becoming a book on teenage dating!
Matt made a very useful comment about the Dating Game I, which was if you go out with a non-Christian as a teenager, doesn't that present you with a great opportunity to tell them the gospel, and to pray that God would work through you and your relationship to bring them to saving faith?
I think it's first worth pointing out that again (as so often) this is a matter of wisdom - but it certainly isn't a matter of triviality. And in some senses the answer is 'Yes' - sometimes people do come to real faith through going out with someone who's a Christian. But that doesn't make dating non-Christians the best thing to do. Just because God sometimes uses something unwise a person has done to bring someone else to faith, doesn't mean that that course of action is the wisest to take - it just means that God is truly amazing. For instance, let's imagine that I went out clubbing and got drunk. While I was buying my tenth pint at the bar, someone randomly asked me if I was a Christian. I slurred a reply, gave them my phone number and met up (sober) the next day to talk about Christ, and that person became a Christian. Does that mean I should spend my weekends propped up on various nightclub bars, totally hammered, because God used my mistake once?! No, of course not!
I think there are three reasons why it's unwise to date a non-Christian hoping to win them for Christ - for what they're worth, here they are...
1 - In my experience (and yes, I know I sound old!), far more relationships involving a Christian and a non-Christian end in the Christian falling away than the non-Christian becoming a Christian. If you think you're much stronger than most Christians then you'll think you don't need to worry - but if you think that, you're being a bit complacent so you do need to worry!
2 - There will be a lot of pressure on the non-Christian to say they're a Christian, as they'll know that for this relationship to continue they need to become a Christian. I can think of at least one instance where a non-Christian in a serious relationship with a Christian announced she had come to Christ, and she really thought she had. But when they split up she immediately fell away, and it turned out she'd never really been a Christian, she'd just really wanted to be one to make her boyfriend happy. So even if a non-Christian you're with seems to become a Christian, you'd still be worrying about whether he/she really was.
3 - and the best reason I think - if the reason you think it's OK to go out with a non-Christian is because you think that's the best way to get them to think about Christianity, then as soon as you find a better way to show them how much Jesus means to you you should follow that way. And here is a better way - instead of going out with them, a far clearer witness to the importance of Jesus in your life is to tell them that you would love to be friends and will be, and that you would love to go out with them but because your relationship with Jesus comes before anything else you would like just to be friends for the moment. You want to make sure that Jesus continues to come first, and you want that person to know how important Jesus is.
So in fact, I think not going out with someone is a far clearer witness to them about Jesus than going out with them. After all, if you're friends with someone you can still spend time with them and tell them about Christ - you don't have to be going out with someone to do that!
Hope that's helpful - do come back at me, Matt and anyone else!
Verse of the week
'The LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish' Psalm 1:6
How encouraging for Christians to know that, as people made right with God through Jesus' death, God watches over our way! Every day, every minute, whatever we're doing and whereever we are, God is with us, watching over us, there to help us and guide us. How wonderful to know that because he watches over our way, he can continue to guide our path all the way into his eternal kingdom.
What are the things you do in your life that you find difficult? When are the times you find it difficult to keep going as a Christian? In those times, remember Psalm 1:6, that as you walk that way, God is still watching over you, and as you keep trusting in him he will bring you through.
And, if you're tempted to give it all up and follow the way so many others, who don't know Jesus, do, when it seems that it's so much easier or even more fun to walk in the way of the wicked, remember the second half of the verse. It may seem so much better to be 'wicked' at the moment, but though they don't know it their way leads not to happiness or success or contentment but only to perishing.
It is the righteous whom the LORD watches over; it is the Christian whose path he guides; it is the believer whose way he will bring all the way to eternal life with him. So keep walking through life as a righteous person, as a child of God who trusts in Jesus.
How encouraging for Christians to know that, as people made right with God through Jesus' death, God watches over our way! Every day, every minute, whatever we're doing and whereever we are, God is with us, watching over us, there to help us and guide us. How wonderful to know that because he watches over our way, he can continue to guide our path all the way into his eternal kingdom.
What are the things you do in your life that you find difficult? When are the times you find it difficult to keep going as a Christian? In those times, remember Psalm 1:6, that as you walk that way, God is still watching over you, and as you keep trusting in him he will bring you through.
And, if you're tempted to give it all up and follow the way so many others, who don't know Jesus, do, when it seems that it's so much easier or even more fun to walk in the way of the wicked, remember the second half of the verse. It may seem so much better to be 'wicked' at the moment, but though they don't know it their way leads not to happiness or success or contentment but only to perishing.
It is the righteous whom the LORD watches over; it is the Christian whose path he guides; it is the believer whose way he will bring all the way to eternal life with him. So keep walking through life as a righteous person, as a child of God who trusts in Jesus.
Thursday 8 February 2007
The Dating Game II
(See below for part One)
I should say that this isn't the final word on any of this, and it's always good to talk about things as we try to follow God's will and not our own...so do make comments on this blog and then I can respond (don't be too rude though!)
This is where it gets tricky - because having worked out that anyone we date must help our relationship with Jesus, and looked at areas where the Bible demands our obedience as Christians, we now get onto issues of wisdom...remember these are NOT trivial. They're important, and we should seek to think about not what we'd like, but what God would want us to do.
So, for example, the question 'How far is too far?' The Bible doesn't give you a list of do's and don'ts, but there's a lot of wisdom as a Christian we can use. For instance, the Bible tells us to 'abstain from sinful desires' (1 Peter 2:11) and to be 'self controlled and alert, as your enemy the devil prowls around...looking for someone to devour' (1 Peter 5:8). So wisdom says don't put yourself in a situation where you know you might sin. Better to walk on the path than see how near to the cliff-edge you can get. Someone once very usefully said to me 'If you're asking if it's too far, then it probably is.'
Equally, the question of how we dress. We're told that it is really serious if we cause another Christian to sin (Luke 17:1-3) - so wisdom says don't deliberately dress to make members of the opposite sex think lustfully about you, because that's a sin. If you fancy a girl/guy, your number one priority should not be getting them to fancy you but helping them to live as God wants.
Thirdly, the question of whether to date someone at all is not trivial, it's a matter of wisdom (but not of obedience, I don't think). A wise question to ask, I think, is what will a dating relationship give you and him/her that you don't already have as friends? If it's only stuff that you want (impressed looks from passers-by, the lads/girls being a bit envious, nice kisses, someone to msn with all the time), and not stuff that God would want (you'll pray together, you'll support and challenge each other, you'll join together to tell friends about Jesus) then you might have ask yourself whether you want to date this person to bring God glory, or to bring you glory!
The last thing (I think!) I want to say about dating is that, as with all relationships, we get things wrong. We treat the other person wrongly, we make mistakes, maybe we even end up sinning by going too far physically or going out with someone when it's not helping us or them.
And of course the great news of the gospel is that although we all stuff up, we can all be forgiven, because God loves us enough to send his Son to die for us (1 John 4:10, a great verse). There is no mistake you can make in the dating game too big for God to forgive you. So if you realise you've mucked up, come before God, admit to him that you made a mistake, ask for his forgiveness and know that it's all over and you're forgiven.
The sad thing is that sometimes teenagers make really big mistakes in relationships and then feel they can't talk to their youth leader or (more importantly) God about it. That is never true. If you get it wrong, so does everyone else! - and God is always waiting for you to turn back to him, to say 'God, I got it wrong, and I'm sorry, and thank you that because I have a relationship with Jesus you will forgive me.'
Right, it's now snowing hard outside so I am going to go and watch it falling rather than sitting here blogging all day - isn't God's creation amazing?!
I should say that this isn't the final word on any of this, and it's always good to talk about things as we try to follow God's will and not our own...so do make comments on this blog and then I can respond (don't be too rude though!)
This is where it gets tricky - because having worked out that anyone we date must help our relationship with Jesus, and looked at areas where the Bible demands our obedience as Christians, we now get onto issues of wisdom...remember these are NOT trivial. They're important, and we should seek to think about not what we'd like, but what God would want us to do.
So, for example, the question 'How far is too far?' The Bible doesn't give you a list of do's and don'ts, but there's a lot of wisdom as a Christian we can use. For instance, the Bible tells us to 'abstain from sinful desires' (1 Peter 2:11) and to be 'self controlled and alert, as your enemy the devil prowls around...looking for someone to devour' (1 Peter 5:8). So wisdom says don't put yourself in a situation where you know you might sin. Better to walk on the path than see how near to the cliff-edge you can get. Someone once very usefully said to me 'If you're asking if it's too far, then it probably is.'
Equally, the question of how we dress. We're told that it is really serious if we cause another Christian to sin (Luke 17:1-3) - so wisdom says don't deliberately dress to make members of the opposite sex think lustfully about you, because that's a sin. If you fancy a girl/guy, your number one priority should not be getting them to fancy you but helping them to live as God wants.
Thirdly, the question of whether to date someone at all is not trivial, it's a matter of wisdom (but not of obedience, I don't think). A wise question to ask, I think, is what will a dating relationship give you and him/her that you don't already have as friends? If it's only stuff that you want (impressed looks from passers-by, the lads/girls being a bit envious, nice kisses, someone to msn with all the time), and not stuff that God would want (you'll pray together, you'll support and challenge each other, you'll join together to tell friends about Jesus) then you might have ask yourself whether you want to date this person to bring God glory, or to bring you glory!
The last thing (I think!) I want to say about dating is that, as with all relationships, we get things wrong. We treat the other person wrongly, we make mistakes, maybe we even end up sinning by going too far physically or going out with someone when it's not helping us or them.
And of course the great news of the gospel is that although we all stuff up, we can all be forgiven, because God loves us enough to send his Son to die for us (1 John 4:10, a great verse). There is no mistake you can make in the dating game too big for God to forgive you. So if you realise you've mucked up, come before God, admit to him that you made a mistake, ask for his forgiveness and know that it's all over and you're forgiven.
The sad thing is that sometimes teenagers make really big mistakes in relationships and then feel they can't talk to their youth leader or (more importantly) God about it. That is never true. If you get it wrong, so does everyone else! - and God is always waiting for you to turn back to him, to say 'God, I got it wrong, and I'm sorry, and thank you that because I have a relationship with Jesus you will forgive me.'
Right, it's now snowing hard outside so I am going to go and watch it falling rather than sitting here blogging all day - isn't God's creation amazing?!
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