So it was a provocation to me to read this the following day about how Christianity is fading in France. This line struck a chord,
“I can only think that French Christianity is indeed fading because it is upheld by families whose hearts are not deeply committed to it as part of their heritage.”
What struck me is that the author, who has no personal experience of faith, has never encountered ‘living faith’ but only religion as part of a cultural heritage. A genuine revival of faith is needed in France.
We do this three times a year and I really value the time out, the extended time in worship, the exhortation to pray, the openness to spiritual gifts. I come back refreshed, renewed by time with friends and in most of all from God’s presence. I very much appreciated calling on God to move in continental Europe and there was a strong sense of us taking ownership of this part of world mission.
There was a very strong contrast on the second morning as God began to speak to people about dealing with their fear and taking courage in leadership. A few hours later our perspective was shaped by news of persecution and martyrdom in various places around the world and the courage of believers who face death and prison for the cause of the Gospel. Surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses our fears seem a little smaller.
I was interested to read on my return to the digital world this article from Rowan Williams on the purpose of fasting which is ‘about more than going without food – it is connecting with reality and noticing the suffering of your neighbour.’ As we prayed for our brothers and sisters around the world I became aware of their suffering and determined to not close my eyes to this reality.
“God was and is the owner of all things. I was and am simply His money manager. He has never revoked his ownership, never surrendered his claim to all riches and treasures. God didn’t die and leave this earth to you and me. He still owns it. The more I thought about it, the more real it became.”
And
“Do Nanci and I go to bed each night thinking, “It sure is a big sacrifice giving away all that money”? Not at all. I go to bed feeling joy, because there’s nothing like the thrill of giving to God’s purposes and His people. It’s participating in God’s grace. It’s exactly what we were made for.”
And there’s more
“We didn’t need a higher standard of living. We didn’t need a better house or car. We didn’t need a better retirement program or more insurance…We don’t need a million dollars or a hundred thousand dollars. We do just fine on a lot less, and God will provide for us every step of the way.”
Read the whole thing here
We were reading a Bible story and came to David and Goliath (we’re using this book) and we read this line from David.
“‘I shall fight Goliath’ declared David boldly. ‘I dare because God will help me.’”
Noah just started repeating ‘I dare, I dare, I dare’. All very cute. Then Emma reminded him that it was because David knew God would help him. My two year old paused and did some thinking and then said,
“Jesus will help me.”
Soon after that he started blethering rubbish and we gave him some milk to drink. But it struck me that this is faith, this is near the core of my understanding of salvation and life as a disciple of Jesus. I am a sinner but I believe ‘Jesus will help me.’ I dare to pray for healings or miracles because I believe ‘Jesus will help me.’ I speak to people in situations where my wisdom is floundering but I open my mouth because I believe ‘Jesus will help me.’ I struggle, I fall, I fail, I succeed. Jesus will help me.
According to CS Lewis the one unique thing about Christianity is ‘grace’, so perhaps there is nothing more important in living a Christ-like life than getting a really good firm grip on grace.
And Terry Virgo’s God’s Lavish Grace is one of the best books available on grace. If I can illustrate it this way, I think Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing about Grace? is the best book that illustrates grace, the stories demonstrate grace beautifully. Just a wonderful book.
Virgo’s book on the other hand teaches you about grace, it equips you with a more thorough biblical grasp of grace in the life of a believer, the difference between grace and law, (the treatment of Romans 7 being first rate) and how to both give of ourselves fully without drifting back into a functional works based faith.
As a church we’re going to spend the autumn looking at grace and this book provides a superb foundation. Highly recommended. Essential reading in fact.
Reason 1: Because God has done great things
“Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgements he uttered, O offspring of Israel his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones! He is the LORD our God; his judgements are in all the earth.”
(1Ch 16:8-14)
There are quite a number of reasons to give thanks to God here, His holiness, His strength, His wise judgement but the main reason is because God has done great things. The context for this song is the arrival of the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem followed by wild celebrations. The ark was a physical reminder of all that God had done for His people, He had done wondrous things.
I don’t have the opportunity to often be in the presence of great power and strength, I’ve not met too many people that have done astonishing things. In my house I’m the strongest person by quite some way and I’m tired by 7pm. If I’m not careful God becomes reduced to the limits of my horizons.
Remembering that God has done great things is good for me. Awe and amazement are appropriate responses to the one who knows the stars by name, who knows the molecules that make up the mountains. Romans 1:20 tells me that if I have eyes to see, God’s creative attributes are on display everywhere I look. Creation is a great accomplishment, it is a reason to give thanks.
Of course to list God’s great achievements would be a fairly time consuming exercise but not a waste of time. Remembering them reminds me that God’s ability to do great things is part of what makes him great. Great athletes, scientists, pioneers and artists are great because they do what no one else has done or can do.
God can do what no one else can do, He can do far more than me and while this is obvious it is also easily forgotten. But why should I be grateful to God for His great power and astonishing miracles? I think the answer lies at the end of verse 14, because ‘He is the Lord our God’. He is not someone else’s God, He is not remote or unknown. He is not distant that I should simply be impressed but He is known to me that I should be grateful that the God I follow has power like no other, has greatness ascribed to Him for His marvellous deeds.
I thank God for He has done great things.
It seems like she makes some good points, especially about conversion versus discipleship,
“How can you know if you’ve saved someone if there’s never follow-up, never counselling, never a progress report? How can you be sure the person hasn’t instantly reverted to his old ways? In other words, aren’t you simply counting the people who prayed the prayer in that instant rather than counting new Christians?… If you’re a sincere Christian you believe all it takes is that instant, as long as you’re sincere. Once you’ve prayed the sinner’s prayer, you’re good to go. God is supposed to abide in you and guide you, but really your ‘ways’ don’t matter. Your name is written forever in the Lamb’s book of life.’ It seemed evident that evangelicals were padding their rosters.”
No question we can be guilty of that, if you pray a prayer at summer camp and then spend the next year of your life living like anyone else chances are nothing changed when you said the prayer and it was all a bit emotional.
But anyway, in this interview with Trevin Wax she says this about what is attractive about Christianity,
“There are plenty of ideas in evangelical Christianity that appeal to me. It would be nice to know that even the most hideous acts of violence and destruction happen for a reason. It would be nice to know that this short life isn’t the end, that there’s something better on the other side, and that when I lose someone it’s only temporary. It would be nice to know what’s expected of me. It would be nice to know when I have dark thoughts or do something I know I shouldn’t it’s because that’s my natural sinful wiring, that I shouldn’t feel guilty about it. I think that’s why evangelical Christianity is such a popular formula–because it answers our common longings.”
So here’s my question, how could she spend two years in an evangelical church and still miss the point? And would the same thing happen if that happened in our church?
First here’s where she misses the point.
I hope that if someone spends two years in our church they’ll know that life is only lived to the full if we seek first the kingdom in all its ways with all of our heart for all of our days and that the starting point to a life of discipleship is the cross of Christ and the empty tomb of the risen Lord. But I shan’t take that for granted.
I’m not sure how effective the witness bit was in the sense that it was a residential area and no one in particular seemed to be paying much attention but it was witness – we were outside not inside the church for a start. And not everything needs to be effective to be important.
It was also an uncomfortable experience, even though I don’t think anyone was watching – how strange to be carrying a cross, how strange to be singing, praying and just being there. I found when I paused to search my soul that I was a bit embarrassed, somewhat uncomfortable and awkward.
I volunteered to carry the cross because I knew that carrying those heavy pieces of wood even for a short distance would put paid to the feelings of discomfort, awkwardness and embarrassment. As I carried the cross I reflected that a man who changed my life forever carried a cross in great pain, in great shame and as a great display for all to see. Bleeding, naked and reviled Jesus carried his cross. But because I know Jesus is alive not dead, I asked him for forgiveness for being so easily ashamed.
As I thought about this some of the words from a song which always touches me deeply came to mind,
“You asked your Son to carry this
The heavy cross our weight of sinI love you Lord, I worship you
Hope which was lost, now stands renewed
I give my life to honour this
The love of Christ, the saviour king”
The wonder of Good Friday is precisely this, that the Father would ask the Son to die in the place of awkward, uncomfortable and embarrassed, sinful, shameful people so that those same awkward, uncomfortable and embarrassed, sinful, shameful people would have the opportunity of being friends not foes, family not strangers, saints not sinners. This is the love of Christ our Saviour King.
“A person who is obsessed thinks about heaven frequently. Obsessed people orient their lives around eternity; they are not fixed only on what is here in front of them.”
- Francis Chan, Crazy Love
“If I cannot spare time in my day to read, to learn, to receive, to share, to be with my God can I reasonably complain that I am struggling with sin, with being a witness to the truth, that no-one I know comes to know my Lord & Saviour?Convict me Lord, stir me from my slumber. I am not content to simply waiting on being surprised by you O God but I want to seek your ways, know your paths, see your light burn brighter in my life which I am grateful for.
Surely to give up the inconsequential to be with you is no hardship, no severity, no pain but instead a joy, a blessing…”
- From the younger pastor 1997
“I have been challenged by my lack of prayer for those who do not know Jesus and for those brothers and sisters of mine who I said I would uphold in prayer. I do not wish that the faithfulness of God becomes an excuse for my unfaithfulness. I am convinced by the power of prayer. That to seek His will, His fruits, His gifts, to hear His voice and know His ways is THE way, probably the ONLY way in which we will see change in ourselves and in the world around us.Should we wait on God to just break in, to simply start working miracles, to unexpectedly bring sinners into the kingdom, to work out our salvation and bring us to the fulness of Christ without the daily, persistent, expectant and faith-filled prayers of those who profess to own His name?”
- From the ‘younger pastor’ 1997
“I no longer need to be sin-infested, guilt-ridden, doubtful, fearful, ashamed, dirty, stained or kept away from the presence of the most Holy One. The blood of Jesus is above the door of my heart and is the banner of my life. I have been cleansed, purified, washed, made white, guilt-free, confident and bold knowing with a clear conscience and a humble and grateful heart that I can come into the presence of God Most High, hear the words ‘let the little children come’ and know that I am allowed to go and embrace my Father.”From the ‘younger pastor’
I notice it when I start another piece of work instead of heading home, when my schedule fills up and my quiet times fall down. Work takes over, preaching becomes a task not a privilege, pastoral meetings become chores not opportunities to grow in compassion, prayer becomes an obligation not a passion. And yet all the time the jobs just keep on growing, the to-do list never shrinks, the wheels keep turning and if you’re not careful they grind you down. My guess is that no matter what your profession this can happen, but it’s quite dangerous if your profession is ‘shepherd of God’s flock’ (1 Pet 5:2).
When work becomes an idol, personal relationships can suffer, when work becomes the number one thing, we end up making sacrifices in all the wrong places. Even the options seem limited or non-existent. That’s another trap I’ve spotted.
What’s the solution? Sometimes I confess that I have no idea, I’m as all at sea as the next person. But I wonder if the clues don’t lie in the direction of seeing life as a gift (have a read of this Promise of Life) and realising that my job today is not to achieve, nor to strive, but to obey and to trust. I am not God and that’s a good place to start learning. But I must remind myself of this truth daily, I am not God nor is my work, my money, my home, my relationships, my hopes and ambitions. I must cast down the idols within me.
As I do that, I begin to find rest and grace from God to do the best I can. To love my family, serve my church and work through my inbox and if I don’t get it all done, who knows maybe there’s tomorrow. I do all this in His presence, with Him throughout my day, sometimes I remember that and sometimes I don’t. It’s easier when I do.
For some excellent words on idols and not just casting them down but replacing them with a greater affection read Tim Keller’s Counterfeit Gods. Review coming soon.
“The price we are having to pay today in the shape of the collapse of the organised church is only the inevitable consequence of our policy of making grace available to all at too low a cost.”
and
“We gave away the word and the sacraments wholesale, we baptised, confirmed and absolved a whole nation unasked and without condition. Our humanitarian sentiment made us give that which was holy to the scornful and unbelieving. We poured forth unending streams of grace. But the call to follow Jesus in the narrow way was hardly ever heard.”
I think a case can be made for those words applying to Britain in 2009.
“When we in the western world have emotional needs many of us turn to food for refuge. We self-medicate with food. The result is ill-health and weight gain. The result is an over-consumption of the world’s resources that contributes to the hunger of other people. And every time we miss the opportunity to turn to God. We don’t live by bread alone. We need God in our lives so that life without God is an empty life.”
The highlight of the day was the evening meeting – hundreds healed, hundreds giving their life to Jesus and hundreds more recommitting themselves to His lead. Three of our young people responded in some way to the Gospel and one that God had healed her back.
Please pray that this would be the start of something lasting and transforming in their lives and not simply a summer festival high. More details to follow (if I remember).
In the face of evolutionists, materialists, atheists, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jews, in the face of untold suffering, pointless pain and death, in the face of my own strong desires to just do what I want, why cling so tightly to a man from Nazareth?
All this goes some way to explaining why 1 Corinthians 15:16-19 may not be my favourite verses in the Bible nor the ones I think about the most but why they are probably the most important.
I’ve read all the arguments against the resurrection, I’ve considered the angles, looked at the best cases I can find and they all have one thing in common – they are unconvincing. They lack the ‘ring of truth’. At times the thread to which my faith has clung has felt thin but when all other strands have given way, the Resurrection has to me proved unbreakable (see Mark Meynell for some of the apologetics). No other explanation seems to do justice. In the words of Sherlock Holmes, “Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.”
I was struck by this quote from Richard Dawkins after a debate with John Lennox,
“Yes, well that concluding bit rather gives the game away, doesn’t it? All that stuff about science and physics, and the complications of physics and things, what it really comes down to is the resurrection of Jesus. There is a fundamental incompatibility between the sophisticated scientist which we hear part of the time from John Lennox – and it’s impressive and we are interested in the argument about multiverses and things, and then having produced some sort of a case for a deistic god perhaps, some god that the great physicist who adjusted the laws and constants of the universe – that’s all very grand and wonderful, and then suddenly we come down to the resurrection of Jesus. It’s so petty, it’s so trivial, it’s so local, it’s so earth-bound, it’s so unworthy of the universe.”
(HT: Mark Meynell)
Dawkins doesn’t understand Jesus. Like those wanting the warrior Messiah, Dawkins rejects the idea of a humble carpenter, a suffering servant. Jesus is not nearly magnificent enough it seems (Philippians 2:8-12).
But what sort of humble God is this that would become earth-bound, local and limited? What sort of God would want to become human? The answer is found in Jesus, his life, his death, his resurrection. When he died the sky went dark, the earth mourned but when God raised him to life, I believe the angels sang something to the effect of ‘The universe is unworthy of this kind of God.’
This blog post is part of the slipstream resurrection synchro blog.
There’s enough there already to make you weep. That an 18 year old man could be killed by a 22 year old man is yet another sign that all is not well inside UK plc. Bishop is described as someone who “had been “very angry” as a child and attended anger management courses. He was expelled from school and began getting into trouble with the police for criminal damage from the age of about 14.”
Probably a decade had passed in this young man’s life and no could help him with the anger and rage inside and now the next decade or two will be spent in prison. Dear God, forgive us if we have failed him.
Then of course there is the tragedy of a family bereft of a son just entering adulthood. It is keenly felt that parents should depart this life before their children not after. But there were two things that Mr Knox’s parents said which stood out. Firstly his mother is quoted as saying,
“As a mother and parent, I can never forgive the person responsible for taking my son Robert’s life, or the devastation that has been caused by these actions. His life was stolen, taken without permission. He was taken in the most cruel way possible.”
‘I can never forgive.’ It puts the bravery of the Oake family in stark contrast. My heart is for this woman because she risks living with bitterness, resentment, anger on top of unbearable sadness which could become a prison. Forgiveness is the only way out of that trap. So hard.
Mr Knox’s father on the other hand made this comment,
“He looked asleep. So I told myself that he was only sleeping and that the angels will take him to heaven. If anyone earned a place in heaven, it was Rob.”
Now, I know nothing about the faith of Rob Knox, for all I know he may well have trusted his heart and soul to Jesus Christ and so may very well now be in heaven. Of course no parent wants to think otherwise and we all ever hope is that our loved ones will be OK. Perhaps indeed God will have mercy. All I know is, that no one has ever earned a place in heaven. It isn’t a place you can earn your way in, it’s a privilege and gift bestowed by God. It’s always a gift of mercy and grace.
So, we ask ourselves where again is the church that young men die at the hands of other young men, that mothers are left to stew in unforgiveness and that a nation thinks you can earn your way into heaven? We are indeed far from the Gospel of grace. God have mercy on us.
It’s a sad fact that we are often hurt by the ones closest to us, we are more likely to be killed by a family member than a stranger, children more likely to suffer at the hands of a relative than someone they don’t know. The most dangerous place for a child is their own home. It’s a likely possibility then that forgiveness involves forgiving those we were once close to.
Yet God forgave His Son’s killers. God is prepared not only to forgive but to love the ones responsible for His death. God not only sets the horrible guilt of causing the death of Jesus but then offers us a place at His table and in His home, because we, I, am responsible for His death.
It struck me like a brick to the head, that I must never forget that I am a cause, a reason, for the death of an innocent man. I am one of the reasons Jesus was crucified. Yet His Father has not just pretended this event never happened but in total awareness of it decided to forgive me. Can there be any other word than grace for such a thing?
This crashing realisation, made me realise afresh how much it grieves God’s heart when I sin because that is why Christ died. How sad it must make the Father when after all this I return to my foolish ways and indulge in selfish desires. Perhaps this is why Paul exhorts us to know Christ and him crucified, so that we may put to death the old ways with its sinful desires and be alive to all that God is. He knows the further we stray from the cross, the more likely we are to justify ourselves, the more likely we are to go our own way, the more likely we are to call wrong – right. I do it so often, I make excuses for myself but each time it breaks the heart of the One who loves me and gave up His Son for me. We are called to be holy as He is holy.
I’ve never been quite so aware of the profound depth of love it must take for a Father to forgive those responsible for the death of a son.
Hearing from someone who knows what it means to forgive ones enemies is a powerful experience and one we had at our church Sunday. Robin Oake was our guest speaker, and almost exactly 6 years ago his son, a policeman, was stabbed to death while attempting an arrest on a known terrorist. Not exactly a boundary dispute with a neighbour then.
Can I recommend you take time to listen to Robin’s talk
and consider reading his book. Get right with God and quickly forgive those you need to before the wounds fester.
“It takes God’s grace to release you to give extravagantly, to liberate you from a natural tendency to cling to money and put your own needs first. Grace has to break through and set you free.”
Organisations in the UK that give good information on these issues:
Miroslav Volf’s Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace is an excellent book.
Forgiveness is such a tough issue to both understand and more importantly to practice. There are so many emotional barriers that we struggle with and as a pastor I see people still bound to the hurt that they have received, still trapped by their offender because forgiveness hasn’t yet been found.
Volf does not shirk the difficult issues, his examples are as heart rending as any – a father forgiving the sniper who shot his 3 year old daughter while she was playing – a mother forgiving the man who was with her son when his head was crushed in an accident – real stories of pain and hurt. Our lofty ideas of forgiveness need to be earthed in the reality of human pain and misery.
His main influences in this book is Paul and Luther and so Volf draws on the riches of their thought. Volf argues that we give because God is a giver and He gives to us so that we can pass on to others, we forgive because God forgives and our forgiveness needs passing on.
It has helped me think about how I explain forgiveness, by describing how forgiveness includes accusation. By saying I forgive, is to say ‘you have wronged me’ so forgiveness does not ignore the wrong. It has helped me in seeing how repentance is essential in making forgiveness complete. If I repent, I see the accusation of wrong as correct and I do something about it. If I refuse to accept the accusation I also refuse to receive the forgiveness offered. While the forgiver has forgiven the one in need of forgiveness remains unforgiven because repentance has not followed.
Volf describes well for me how Christ takes my place and seems to me to do an excellent job of describing the importance of our union with Christ, and balancing wrath, justice, satisfaction and God’s love. As he says: “You can sum up where we’ve landed in four simple sentences. The world is sinful. That’s why God doesn’t affirm it indiscriminately. God loves the world. That’s why God doesn’t punish it in justice. What does God do with this double bind? God forgives.”
It is both spiritual and theological, it is neither dry nor academic. It isn’t a straight forward read in that it does demand thoughtful engagement, how else can you think about forgiving others and being forgiven by God? But I would heartily recommend this book.
“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a person must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs us our life, and it is grace because it gives us the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all it is costly because it cost God the life of God’s Son: ‘you were bought at a price,’ and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon God’s Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”
Anyway, in his sermon he said:
“You know, whatever you think makes you unworthy, I don’t think God wants to hear it any more. All you have to do is turn up and open up your heart.”
Today I read this from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, it seemed remarkably apt:
“Is the price that we are paying today with the collapse of the organized churches anything else but an inevitable consequence of grace acquired too cheaply; we performed baptisms and confirmations; we absolved an entire people, unquestioned and unconditionally; out of human love we handed over what was holy to the scornful and unbelievers. We poured out rivers of grace without end, but the call to rigourously follow Christ was seldom heard. What happened to the insights of the ancient church, which in the baptismal teaching watched so carefully over the boundary between the church and the world, over costly grace? What happened to Luther’s warnings against a proclamation of the gospel which made people secure in their godless lives?… Cheap grace was very unmerciful to our Protestant church.”
So whatever makes you unworthy doesn’t matter? Have we absolved ourselves from the responsibility to repent for sin before a holy God?
For those who want application: what does a life of grace look like? What differences would more grace in my life make?
So it’s a great privilege to have a few of those people around our church (and of course we’re praying for more). One of them seems to have caught the blogging bug and is writing on grace and forgiveness, which is itself, hugely encouraging to me. So encourage her by stopping by and having a read, and perhaps seeing our truly wonderful Saviour through fresh eyes.
Here’s her blog and I’ve added it to my blogroll
Here’s the audio
Then this week I read this post by Marcus Honeysett (thanks to Dave Bish for the HT)
Now, maybe there is something of God in this, maybe. But there’s also something highly offensive and when that happens it needs calling attention to and warning lights go on. At about 4 mins 10 seconds into the clip, Bob Jones starts prophesying and says, “England has got a spirit of infirmity it…the Muslims have got infirmity over them because of inbreeding…”
He then prophecies healing and salvation amongst Muslims.
Now, I hope I don’t have to point out the offence here. But even in a politically correct age, I’m not sure God speaks using racist, divisive and misguided words. So, let’s not swallow everything whole and throw out what is clearly wrong.
I believe Jesus when he said 'life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions'. I believe he offers something better. This blog is mostly about that search.
I'm also a husband, a father, church planter, keen runner, reader, and motorcyclist. These and a few other things make guest appearances from time to time.
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