Reading the Bible in 2013

How will you read the Bible in 2013? I'm assuming, since you found your way here, the pressing question os 'how; not 'why' or 'if.' How can we read the Bible well in the new year? We know we must. We know one of the marks of a flourishing relationship with Christ is a regular relationship with His Word. We know the way God speaks to us today is in His Word, so how will we best expose our hearts and minds to the written word?

For quite a long time, i was opposed to Bible reading plans. For the first four years of being a Christian i didn't use one (i've been a Christian for eleven years next Easter, for four years constitutes 'quite a long time!'). I thought they were guilt producing and unnecessary thank you very much, i'll read the Bible in my own way. But, i've pretty much done a one eighty in the last couple of years, and now, i think, i see a good Bible reading plan as almost indispensable.

I've used the following three of four over the years, and, as you plan your Bible reading in the new year, i commend one of these to you;

The Ron Frost Bible Reading Plan.

This takes you through the Bible three of four times in a year, and is the plan i've most recently been following. It's really simple, you start in Genesis, read ten chapters a day, and you get to Revelation a few short months laster. It's really wonderful to get a birds eye view of Scripture. To arrive at Sinai the week after you left Eden. To see the themes of the prophets unfold, and the sun rise from the dark as you land in Matthew. And when you get done in Revelation, turn round and start again. Ten chapters a day seems like a lot, but it'll take 30-40 minutes a day. Think of it, forty minutes a day gets you through the whole Bible several times a year!

Grant Horner's Bible Reading System.

This also takes you through ten chapters a day, the difference from the Ron Frost plan being that you read from ten different places a day. I can't recommend enough reading large chunks of the Bible every day, think of the pay-off you'll receive over the years. I found this slightly less satisfying than going from Genesis to Revelation because it was hard to hold ten parts of the story together at once, but, you see more of the Bible at once. It's a personal thing. If you're already reading the Bible through in a year, why not try and read it though three of four times in 2013? You won't, you can't regret it!

The McCheyne Plan.

This is probably the most popular 'Bible in a year' system. Used by men like Spurgeon, Hudson Taylor and Lloyd-Jones, it takes you through the New Testament and Psalms twice a year, and the rest of the Old Testament once. This is the plan i used for years, and, if it's good enough for the men mentioned above, who are we to disagree! Four chapters a day gives more time for reflection and prayer, more time for a journal, but if you miss a day, you'll have to catch up to keep with the schedule, something that's not true of the other two, because there is no schedule. But this served me well in the past, and no doubt will in the future. You can't go wrong with McCheyne.

Finally, remember, we read the Bible to commune with Jesus, not to tick a box. Don't read the Bible for the sake of a schedule, if you fall into that trap, spend a month in Galatians. Read the Bible to eat in the morning, read the Bible to feast! Read it because you need it.

Whatever else you do in 2013, take and read!

Best 12 of 12

Best book that i read this year written in 2012
Delighting in the Trinity by Mike Reeves. And for once it wasn't even close. Foundational to our faith, heartwarming, readable, funny, Biblical...this book has got everything. And it's an 'everything' we need. If we don't worship the Triune God how are we Christians? Are we Christians. If you read one book in 2013, make it this one. And then read it again!

Best book that i read this year not written in 2012
Iain Murray's two volume biography of Dr Lloyd-Jones. You can read my (too long) thoughts on it here.

Best (personal) tip of 2012
Going to Duck, North Carolina, on the northern Outer Banks for a couple of days over Spring break. It's quiet up there, the beaches are perfect, and i let her beat me at crazy golf. I should like to go again right now.

Best (ministry) trip of 2012
Taking six teens to Provo, Utah. An amazing place, with an amazing work led by Logan Wolf. We're still seeing (and hearing) the impact of this trip in our lives and the lives of the teens who came.

Best sporting moment of 2012
Was this not the sports year that kept on giving? The Olympics were stunning, England won a test series in India for the first time since 1985, the Supporters Trust wrestled control of Wycombe Wanderers from a property developer, the ECU Pirates went 8-4 and there was a month of Euro 2012 to enjoy. And we won the Ryder Cup. How do i pick a single moment from that?

Feeling like an Englishman abroad moment of 2012
The opening ceremony of the Olympics. That was brilliant.

Feeling like an Englishman abroad moment of 2012
NBC's coverage of the Olympics. That was an embarrassment.

Best insignificant decision of 2012
Starting to blog again (again). I hope my nine regular readers are enjoying it as much as i am! Or getting an iPhone. Those two are pretty close.

Best 'some things will never change moment' of 2012
Weeping with frustration for the leaders of Bristol CU a couple of weeks ago.

Best Bible reading of 2012
Reading the Bible ten chapters a day, and, with the help of commentaries, a verse at a time. The view of the canopy is beautiful, but the leaves sure are pretty.

Best 'other' book of 2012
Any other year Gospel Deeps by Jared C Wilson would be a run away winner in the book category. Get it. Read it. Revel.

Best 'best of list' of 2012
You just read it!

God in the Storm

As a youth pastor, a lot of what i do is aimed at Wednesday night's teen church service. Monday's are spent in staff meetings, and then in a daze trying to remember that great idea i had as i was eating lunch the day before, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are sermon prep time for Wednesday evening, before attention turns to Sunday on Thursday and Friday.

So this Tuesday morning, i was reading and thinking through Mark 6:45-56. In the aftermath of the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples get into the boat, and (yet again) get into trouble on the tranquil waters of the Sea of Galilee. And of course, as you know, Jesus saves them. He meant to 'pass by,' but when they cried out He told them 'it is I.' He'd just provided bread from nowhere, and now He's controlling the waters for the benefit of His people.

John gives us a detailed account of the day after in chapter 6. The crowds return, but there's no free food and no revolution on offer, so they all leave. All apart from the 12. Whatever happened that night on the boat made them stick around when the easiest thing in the world would be to leave with the crowds.

So what happened on that boat? Matthew and Mark seem to disagree at this time. Matthew tells us that the 12 cried out 'surely this man is the Son of God!' Mark tells us their hearts were hardened because they did not understand about the bread. 

What do we make of this, and what's the bread got to do with it?

Well we can piece it together this way. When they first saw Jesus, they didn't understand, but quickly after that, when they understood about the bread, they got it, and reacted as Matthew recorded. If Mark was writing in Rome it would make sense that he would want the first confession of Jesus as the Son of God to come out the mouth of a Roman solider wouldn't it? And Peter, Mark's source seems to go out of his way to shine the light on Jesus, and leave him the the rest of the disciples in the darkness.

But we still have to ask, what's the bread got to do with it? Well these guys grew up in Saturday School, they went to Junior Synagogue, or whatever, they were supposed to know their Old Testament. Maybe they started thinking, 'who provides bread from nowhere? Who controls the waves? Who passes by? Who says don't be afraid, it is I?'

Who provides bread from nowhere? The LORD in Exodus 16, and Jesus in Mark 6. 

Who controls the waves so His people have safe passage? The LORD in Exodus 14, and Jesus in Mark 6.

Who would pass by? The LORD in Exodus 33, and Jesus in Mark 6.

Who dismisses fear on the basis of being who He is? The LORD in Exodus 3 and Jesus in Mark 6.

No wonder, when the 12 understood about the bread, their hearts exploded in faith! Who else were they going to trust in the storm except Jesus, who lead His people out of Egypt? Who were they going to trust the next day, in the stormy loss of faith, except Jesus.

Jesus didn't come from nowhere, His track record is second to none. In the storms, we can trust in Him, just look at what He's already done.

Book Review: Iain Murray on Lloyd-Jones

In September of this year, i found myself in a second hand bookstall in an exhibition hall. Quite the life i lead.

Most of the books were Amish romance fiction and Children who have 'been to Heaven,' imagine my delight then, when, in a final 'just in case' sweep through, i saw volume one of Iain Murray's epic biography of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones being unpacked from a box in front of my eyes. And it was only $5! Which softened the blow of what i had to pay for volume two if nothing else.

Even though these volumes were published in the early 80s, and tell the story of a man who was born in the 19th century, they are wonderfully and powerfully relevant today. Lloyd-Jones was raised in rural Wales, and though he lived and ministered for the majority of his days in London, he remained a Welshman. He trained for the medical profession, and was one of the most promising doctors of his generation, until slowly, but surely, He was called back to Wales to preach the Gospel. He started preaching in Port Talbot, in what would probably today be called a church plant. He grew this small church in a poor town by simply preaching the Gospel, simply telling the truth. This devotion to the plain, deep truth of the Gospel was to be the mark of the rest of his ministry. Through a series of events that can only be put down to divine providence, he was led to Westminster Chapel, the church with which he is instantly associated today. It was here that he was to serve as the Assistant Pastor, then as Senior Pastor until poor health ended his days in the Westminster pulpit, but opened up what the author describes rightly as a 'world pulpit.'

So what did i learn from this book? Why should it be near the top of your 2013 reading list?

Firstly, as i've touched upon, never overlook God's mysterious providence. Had Lloyd-Jones not been worked to the point of exhaustion in his first ministry, he probably never would have ended up at Westminster. Had he not suffered from cancer in the mid seventies, he never would have had the time to prepare his manuscripts for publication, and never would have had to worldwide, posthumous ministry that he has today.

Second, information is a great servant and a terrible master. For the majority of his local church ministry, Lloyd-Jones's position on the major issues of the day was misunderstood. This was down in part to the fact that so few of his thoughts were disseminated. His messages on the state of evangelicalism and ecumenism, on Pentecostalism and revivalism to name some of the issues he faced simply didn't read a big audience. They weren't podcasted, or streamed online. Some of his messages lay in a drawer in his study for twenty years. Via social media and the internet in general we can keep pace with tomorrows controversy. And this is important, but it's not the most important thing. Lloyd-Jones was influential despite those disadvantages, his priority, when it came down to it, was his local church. And ours needs to be. I don't need to keep pace with what's happening in Minneapolis or Seattle, i don't need to hear which foundational doctrine Rob Bell has just denied. I need to know where the people of Trinity are at, and how i can serve them.

Third, this book has made me reflect on the state of British evangelicalism. A greater part of Lloyd-Jones's London ministry was spent thinking through, and dealing with the issues around whether evangelicals could responsibly stay in a denomination that was moving further and further away from the Gospel. Not much changes does it!?Lloyd-Jones was a prophetic voice, calling his generation back to the Bible, and counselling those behind him. Do we have that prophetic voice today? As the Church of England seemingly drifts further and further from the truth, where is the voice that a broad spectrum of evangelicals will listen to? Who is teaching non-conformists what exactly it is they don't conform to? Who, in a hostile world is helping my generation stand firmly on the Bible. I know part of the problem with this question is that few people would have answered 'Martin Lloyd-Jones' to those questions in his day, but i feel they're questions worth asking.

Finally this book has challenged me as i make some plans for 2013. Lloyd-Jones was a great reader. Now, of course, he had the advantage of weeks away from his desk in the summer to use for that purpose, but he has helped me dream a bit bigger when i think about my own reading for next year. Of course, some sort of systematic Bible reading plan will be central, but what then. Lloyd-Jones loved the Puritans, and he has inspired me to take down the copy of Overcoming Sin and Temptation, that has intimated me for so long. He believed in taking time to work through larger books, so, God willing, 2013 will be the year i read the Institutes every day. He hasn't introduced me to either John Owen or John Calvin, but has pushed me back towards them.

Reading this biography was helpful, and inspiring, and ultimately sanctifying. Add them to your 'to read' list for 2013, and you'll not regret it.

The Shepherd King

Hear Randy Alcorn on shepherds:

'In Jesus' day, shepherds were the bottom rung of the Palestinian social ladder. They shared the same unenviable status as dung collectors and road sweepers. Only Luke mentions them... Some shepherds earned their reputation but others became the victim of a cruel stereotype. Religious leaders maliugned the shepherds good name, rabbis banned pasturing sheep and goats in Israel, except in the desert plains...smug religious leaders maintained a strict caste system at the expense of shepherds and other common folk. They were labelled 'sinners' a technical term for a class of despised people. In to this context of religious and social snobbery stepped the Son of God.'

When we understand something of this social context, two more things about the incarnation should surprise us. First of all, that shepherds were invited at all tells us that something abnormal was going on. The angles didn't appear to the religious elite, or to King Herod, but to Mary, and to shepherds. The birth of Jesus wasn't a gathering of the great and the good. Quite the opposite in fact.

We should be reminded that Jesus came for 'them.' The people that you'd cross the road to avoid, the people that you hope your kids don't grow up to be like. Not only did Jesus come for them, He made sure they were invited to His birth. It teaches us that moralism and attendance does not equal Christianity. The Pharisees could cross both those things off their lists, but ti did them no good. The shepherds knew they needed a Saviour, they knew it deep in their blood, they knew it in their bones. Do we?

And when we understand how shepherds were looked at, it's all the more amazing that Jesus would identify Himself as the shepherd King. Jesus mourned for people because they were like sheep without a shepherd, when He fed five thousand men He organised them on the 'green grass' like a flock. Ezekiel promised Israel that they would have 'one shepherd.' Jesus was happy to identify Himself with this despised class of people, happy to redeem the image, happy to wear it.

The more we stand on our tip toes to gaze into the incarnation, the more amazing it becomes. Jesus the shepherd inviting, shepherd King. The slayer of pride among His people. The provider and protector for His basically helpless people. The King who identified with the lowest of the low. One of the myriad of reasons Jesus came as a baby? To help His people, His Church be humble. You can't be proud when you worship a shepherd.

The Innkeeper by John Piper

Watch as John Piper reads his advent poem 'the innkeeper.' This is as beautiful as it is powerful, and at times humourous. Take some time today to watch it, and to reflect, as we celebrate the incarnation and it's implications.

A Tale of Two Kings

Mark's Gospel is all about Kingdom, all about eucatastrophe, the Kingdom of God breaking out on Earth. The Kingdom comes as the King comes, and as He is worshiped. I spent most of the early part of the week puzzling over why Mark recounts the story of John the Baptist's beheading just before the feeding of the five thousand. The following, from last night's teen church message, represents my best guest!

We see that the kingdom comes as the real King is worshiped  Let’s read verses 14-16 together. Word has reached Herod of what Jesus is doing. He asks people who they reckon this healer preacher is. Maybe He’s Elijah, maybe He’s one of the prophets. This was the common opinion of Jesus at that time. But Herod is sure that Jesus is John the Baptist come back from the dead to haunt him.

Why?

Let’s read why John the Baptist was beheaded in verses 17-29. Can you see some of the themes here? Impurity, adultery, lust and jealousy. There were the marks of Herod’s family. This Herod is the son of the Herod who was King when Jesus was born. He had ten wives, and called all his children Herod, which explains why there are Herods everywhere in the NT. He had illegally married his brothers wife, and John regularly condemned him for it. Herod was a weak, cowardly man, doing whatever he could to save his reputation and appear powerful in front of his friends, even though it’s clear from this incident that it’s his wife running the show. And as a result of this man’s weaknesses, John the Baptist loses his head. This is an ugly, horrible story, an awful way for a King to act, an awful way for anyone to act.

Why does Mark tell us about this here? I think to show us what the real King is like. He wants us to contrast the actions of an evil, perverted human king, with the actions of Jesus, the Heavenly King.
Let’s read 30-44 together to understand this contrast. The disciples come back, and they’re tired, they need to rest. So Jesus takes them away in the boat, with the idea of having a break. But they get seen, people work out where they’re going, and before they get there a huge crowd has arrived. Five thousand men, Matthew tells us. So maybe a total crowd of 20 or 25 thousand, if they all brought their families. Jesus begins teaching them, but it’s getting late, and the disciples are tired and hungry. ‘send them away Jesus, we need to rest,’ they say. Jesus response is met with sarcasm. They haven’t got enough money, and even if they did, there’s no walmart to buy food for thousands of people. It’s got to be caught or baked, and then served. Totally impossible.

Verse 38 is where it gets exciting. They find five loaves, more like biscuits, and two fish, a pretty normal lunch for a Galilean kid, but no help to feed so many people. But no problem for Jesus. He has them sit down on the green grass, and divides out the food. There’s no indication that anyone in the crowd, or maybe even the disciples knew what was happening, the food just kept on coming, and people got full. The word used in verse 42 means something like stuffed. Everyone had more than enough food. And how many baskets were left over? Twelve! How many disciples were there? Twelve! I love that. Jesus cares and loves so deeply for His people that He won’t just feed them once, He’ll make sure that they’ve got something to take home with them afterwards.

Can you see the contrast between Jesus and Herod. Jesus is the Shepherd King organizing and providing for His people on the green grass, making sure they are fed and satisfied. Herod takes and takes, Jesus gives and gives, even to the point of giving His own life, so that we might be satisfied forever.

Opposing Jesus

The more people you meet in the Bible, the more you come to realise that people never change.

In Matthew 2, the wise men approach Herod and ask 'where is He who has been born King of the Jews?' Well, Herod's not supposed to know these things, so he assembles the chief priests and they tell him 'in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophets...' The wise men then take off with their gifts, and go and worship God incarnate.

But Matthew 2 also tells us that when Herod was asked this question, 'he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him...' He was troubled by Jesus. He was the King, he ran this town, he ruled the Jews, if someone was going to be 'born' king of the Jews, that was going to upset him, and, Matthew seems to suggest, a lot of Jerusalem as well.

This is one reason that people oppose Jesus, that Jesus troubles people. They've got too much to lose. If the Gospel is true, their whole life will have to be different. The way they spend their money and their time, the way they relate to people. People are troubled by Christmas, and troubled by Christians. I was here once upon a time. I started going to church semi regularly about six months before i was saved and it bothered me. It bothered me that otherwise normal, sensible people would worship Jesus. It bothered me even more that i liked these people. Providentially, in Year 9 i was awful at maths, and ended up in the bottom set for my GCSE maths. That class was taught by my school's chaplain. He was a great guy (except he made me learn maths) and it bothered me that he was a Christian. What's he seeing that i'm not? I've got too much to lose if the Gospel's true. Too much invested in me. I, like Herod and like Jerusalem, and like people today, was troubled by Christmas, and Christians.

Sometimes people who don't know Jesus are like the second group we meet in Matthew 2. Sometimes people who do know Jesus are too. Herod calls the religious experts, the ones who never miss church and know their Bibles inside out, the moralistic attenders, if you like. Their response? 'The Messiah? Oh yeh, in Nazareth, any rookie Pharisee knows that...' Matthew doesn't tell us they were troubled by the wise men's news, in fact they weren't even that bothered by it. They just carried on with what they were doing.

This is a danger for people outside the church. The business of Christmas gets in the way, gifts, family and food, and they never consider the meaning behind it. Maybe, if we're doing our job, they get invited to a carol service, or a Christmas program, but they're too busy, too much living to do. This is what CS Lewis refers to as the gentle slope to Hell. No danger signs, no sudden cliffs, just an easy, gentle descent.

But inside the church we face the same danger. We can be too caught up in carol services, Christmas programs,  and church meetings themselves that we're just too busy to stop and reflect. 'Oh yeh, God Himself born of a virgin, now let's keep moving.' This is a danger for everyone in the church, for everyone who loves Jesus. With good, right and pure motives, we can forget about what we're supposed to be celebrating. Jesus.

Both these dangers are clear and present. We should expect people outside the church to oppose, or misunderstand Christmas, we all once did, and but for the grace of God, there go we still. But let's not make the same mistake. Let's stop. Let's sit down with the Bible and ask God to give us ears to hear. Let's not miss Christmas but focusing in Christmas, let's celebrate Christmas by celebrating Jesus.

Should the Church be Conservative?

Should the church be conservative? Yes and no, absolutely, and absolutely not. Here's why.

The Church should be conservative.

The Church has been entrusted with a deposit, the Gospel, to proclaim and protect for the next generation. We don't have a theory to improve or a hypothesis to prove, but a truth to pass on. We must protect these truth, as generations before us have protected it. Who will preach the Gospel in 2080 if we get it wrong in 2012? Who will preach to our grandkids if our kids think Jesus is just one way among many? Every so often in history, one group has had to call us back to a particular truth, whether it was the Church Fathers, the Reformers or the Puritans, each one had a slightly different emphasis as a result of which truth was under attack at the time. But they always brought us back to the book, to the Bible.

We must also, in our faith, be brought back to the Bible, this is where we are conservative, this is where our faith and practice stand or fall. This will always make us look odd to the outside world. In a society where, for shame, old fashioned has turned into an insult, being led by an old book will look weird at best.

The church should be conservative when it comes to who leads and speaks at it's meetings. Every evangelical church that i've come across has some kind of system whereby teachers and leaders are recognised. We don't let men in off the streets to teach. Whether that's seminary training within a denomination or the recognising of gifts within a local body, it has to happen.

The church must be conservative when it comes to protecting and proclaiming the Gospel.

The Church should not be conservative.

We worship a guy who got murdered, we worship a man who was God, born to a virgin. How can any of that lead to being conservative!? We worship a God who loves us so much that He gave us His Son to die in the most brutal way we can imagine. How can we be conservative within our four walls? let's throw open the doors and invite 'whosoever' in. Let's go to the highways and hedge and compel people to join us. Let's live in such a way that people say to us, 'let us join you, for God is with you!' Let's say to those without money, come and eat food without price or payment.

We must not, ever, be conservative in our love, or with our lives. The men who have done the most for the Kingdom in their four score and ten have been the men who have counted their lives cheap, and flung them away for the sake of the Gospel. The ones who have, far from being conservative, 'let goods and kindred go.' We must not be conservative in how we love, or we love. Imagine how Mary, Joseph and Jesus would have smelt the morning after Jesus' birth. What would you think about people about that? The Gospel calls us to love 'them,' to serve 'them' and to lay our lives down for 'them.'

But here's the kicker. We can only be liberal with our love when we're conservative with our truth. We can only afford to love all when the truth of the Gospel is well proclaimed and well protected. Our love is only worth a snap of our fingers when it flows from the right understanding of the historic, transcendent Gospel. Love without truth will make us soft, truth without love will make us hard. Our conservatism in regard to the truth and liberalism with love have to held in the right balance and got in the right order.

Be conservative with the truth today. Beware novelty. Don't be conservative with your love today, beware cold orthodoxy. I want to get here. I want to love 'them,' because of what i read in the morning. I want to live liberally because of the conservative doctrine that should be filling my heart. When the Holy Spirit leads us in truth and love, we'll not go far wrong.

The Baby Changes Everything

Jesus is the greatest athlete you can imagine. He can kick, catch, throw and run so well that He makes the most vaunted pros look like you and me.

Jesus is the greatest musician you can imagine. He can compose, play and sing so well that He makes the best talents sound like a menagerie.

Jesus is the greatest author you can imagine. His prose make Shakespeare and Wordsworth look like so many monkeys with so many typewriters.

Jesus was born in a small town where nothing ever happened. Maybe five hundred people lived in Nazareth in those days, and it's not mentioned in any extant history until four hundred years later. Jesus was born, not in first world comfort, not even in the meagre comforts of the first century, but in a stable, next to farm animals. He worked and lived in total obscurity for most of His life. Never wrote a book, never commanded an army, never won a war.

The Christmas story demands that we hold these things in tension, demands that we are amazed by the beauty of Jesus the God-man. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that these attributes were hidden for so long. When He preached in Nazareth He was treated like a blasphemer. The Gospels record no one saying 'well Jesus was pretty good at sports, so it makes sense that He'd be the Messiah.' In fact they tried to kill Him.

If it had been me born to Mary, things would have been different. There might have been an orchestra following me around, i certainly would have made my sporting prowess known. But not Jesus, just quiet, obscure obedience  until the time came.

We should spend time this advent thinking about these things. Isaiah captures it well. Broadly speaking, the LORD of Isaiah 1-40 is coming in judgement, and the (same) LORD of 40-66 is coming in comfort. Which God can carry these apparent contradictions if not God incarnate?

Yes, Jesus is strong, mighty and powerful, He sits and rules at the right hand of the Father, He defeated death, amen and amen. He is glorious  But He is also incarnate. Born in the middle of nowhere, and growing up there. He didn't come as the son of the Emperor's daughter, but to Mary.

This has to inform the way we think about ourselves, our faith, our church life, our interaction with culture...everything. We don't have to be first, best, cleverest. We don't need the lights to come up when we walk on stage, we don't need to 'win' the culture wars. That the God-man was a helpless baby, born of a virgin, and that He did it for you and me is a subversive and ridiculous idea outside the church, but for Christians, it changes everything.

Jesus Tabernacled Among Us

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us

John 1:14

Martin Luther said this: 'we must both think and meditate on the Nativity. If the meditation does not reach the heart, we shall sense no sweetness, nor shall we know what solace for humankind lies in such contemplation. The heart will not laugh nor be merry. As spray does not touch the deep, so mere meditation will no quiet the heart. There is such richness and goodness in this nativity that if we should see it and deeply understand, we should be dissolved in perpetual joy.'

Think about Jesus as the tabernacle.

The Tabernacle was for use in the wilderness. Jesus was lead up by the Spirit into the wilderness. Matthew 4:1

The Tabernacle was outwardly humble and unattractive. (Jesus) has not stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. Isaiah 53:2

The Tabernacle was where God met with men. I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

The Tabernacle was the centre of God's camp a gathering place for God's people. And I, if i be lifted up from the earth will draw all men to myself. John 12:32

The Tabernacle was where the sacrifices for the sins of God's people were made. But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God. Hebrews 10:12

The Tabernacle was a place of worship. My Lord and My God. (John 20:28)

We do not understand the teaching of the Old Testament in all it's fullness unless we read it through Jesus Christ- His incarnation, life death and resurrection. The Tabernacle has absolutely no meaning apart from Jesus.

Taken from 'Come Thou Long Expected Jesus' Pages 18-19, 26.

The Sun of Righteousness

Of the many things that would surprise the 17 year old me about my life today (uses a mac, enjoys lasagna, makes a living from standing up in front of people and talking) perhaps the one that stands out the most is that i married a teacher.

The American day starts early, very early. In fact kids have to be at school fully an hour before i did when i was their age. That means at this time of year we see a lot of sunrises! A lot of blacks turning dark blue, then pink then light blue, a lot of frost being melted. I think Malachi would regard this as an advantage of marrying a teacher. Daily reminders of what Christ's coming will be like.

Towards the end of the final book in the Old Testament, Malachi tells us that 'the sun of righteousness will rise.' The Son is a sun. Why this word picture? Well because Israel were about to head off into 400 years of darkness with no word from the LORD, until John The Baptist showed up, but also because the sun does many things that the Son does.

The sun chases away darkness, and so does the Son. Daylight gradually moves from east to west, rising over my family in Australia, then my family in England, and finally here. It gets rid of darkness totally. Just like Jesus. He comes, and darkness flees, darkness screams and begs to be dismissed into a herd of pigs. We don't stand in our gardens at 3am trying to chase away the darkness, the sun rises and does it for us.

The sun frees us from fear, and so does the Son. I'm not really scared of the dark, and we live in a safe neighbourhood, as evidenced by the fact that we've occasionally left the doors unlocked all night, but sometimes a strange noise at 2am can be unsettling. How often our lives are like a strange noise at 2am! But with Jesus comes light, and with light comes the casting out of fear. We can see that noise was a squirrel running into a tree, we don't need to fear what;s just ahead of us. The Son is here, we can see and we can understand.

The sun brings growth, and so does the Son. This summer we had a mixture of ridiculously hot weather and tropical rain. And that meant the grass, plants, and sadly the weeds grew like crazy! As we're exposed to the Son, we grow. It can be argued that Christian growth is simply loving Jesus more and more. As the Son rises we naturally are drawn towards Him, as the sun draws plants towards itself.

The sun bring song, as so does the Son. Why do the birds sing? Because they are warmed by the sun. Should we not sing when our hearts have been warmed by by the Son? Christians sing because they can't help it. The wonderful things Christ has done for us bring us leaping out the stall like a calve, full of joy. Birds in darkness don't sing, maybe the same is true for Christians.

Perhaps the one advantage of being up early on dark mornings is to see the sun rise. The greatest advantage of Christmas is that the Son has come, chasing away darkness and fear, and bringing growth and joy.

George Whitefield and the Anti Santy Ranty

It's December! Christmas season is about to swing into full flight. My own personal prayer this advent is that i would not be distracted by the three Christmas plays coming up at church and school, by the decorations and the gifts, but that my excitement about those things would be transposed into a deeper and richer excitement about Jesus.

In chapter one of 'Come Thou Long Expected Jesus' George Whitfield says: 'Did Jesus come into the world to save us from death, and shall we spend no part of our time conversing about our dear Jesus, shall we pay no regard to Him who came to redeem us from the worst of slavery; that of sin and the devil, and shall this Jesus not only be born on our account but also die in our stead, and yet we shall be unmindful of Him? Shall we spend our time in those things which are offensive to Him? Shall we not rather do all we can to promote His glory and act according to His command?'

I wonder if how we think of God often tempers our expectation and takes our joy away. Do we want the stuff, but not the Saviour? Enjoy and be provoked by the anti santy ranty, courtesy of Glen Scrivener, and 10ofthose.com 

Unbelief

Mark 6:6 might be one of the most worrisome verses in the New Testament. 'And (Jesus) marveled because of their unbelief...' Jesus was taken aback and amazed by the lack of faith He found in Nazareth. Most of the time in the first six chapters of Mark, people are amazed at Jesus, this time, Jesus is the one who is amazed, and not in a good way.

Jesus has gone home, for the last time as Mark records it. Back to Nazareth, one final teaching opportunity for His disciples before He sends them out two by two. He's asked to teach in the synagogue. I don't know whether or not this is the same occasion as Luke 4, but i want to say that it is. Why would the men of Nazareth try to kill Jesus and then have Him back to speak? It doesn't seem all that likely.

So Jesus teaches and people question Him, they insult Him (son of Mary, wink wink, nudge nudge), they're not really interested in what He has to say. In Nazareth He couldn't heal many because of their unbelief. This doesn't mean that Jesus is like Tinkerbell, He doesn't need our belief to give Him power, but it means there were no crowds, there were no women clinging to the edge of His garment, not desperate fathers with dying daughters. Just a few sick people.

And Jesus was amazed. Ouch.

How does He deal with this unbelief. Maybe we should pause and ask how we would deal with this unbelief. He knows that a prophet is not without honour except in his hometown, and he identifies himself with the faithful men of God in that way. I don't know what i'd do next, but i'm not i wouldn't have my own 'sons of thunder' moment here. You don't believe? Then BANG! i'll give you something to believe in. Y'know, something gracious like that. Jesus doesn't do that, instead, He carries their unbelief, and yours and mine, and dies under the weight of it.

What happened at Nazareth was in miniature what happened everywhere. Jesus came to His own and they rejected Him. He went to Jerusalem, and they rejected Him, eventually, most of His closest followers turned their back on Him, as He bore their sins on the cross.

This is how Jesus deals with our unbelief. He dies for it. He dies because of it, and rises three days later, and by His Spirit now graciously shows us His glory in the face of God. Before we saw nothing valuable in Jesus. We obscured His teaching with our irrelevant questions and oh-so-clever slurs. Now? Now we see, now He's died and risen we see who He is, and we can cry out 'i believe, help my unbelief!'

Jesus came and we didn't believe. We didn't want to know. And He took that unbelief and He killed it, and left it in the grave. Now He shines glorious from the pages of history, and we see Him, not just as the 'son of Mary,' but as the risen Son of God. And as we see, we believe.

Grace Appeared...and Appears

Paul's account of the Christmas story, in Titus 2:11-14 is, as you would expect, all business.

No angels, no shepherds, no wise men. Paul shares the nativity with Titus in just two words; 'grace appeared.' What happened at Christmas? The grace of God appeared. Jesus came, and He brought salvation for all people.

I was thinking over these verses on Wednesday morning as i got ready to share them in junior chapel. Here's the Christmas story that you need, grace appeared. Here is the greatest gift that there is, Jesus. Grace isn't something seperate from Jesus, some object or feeling He puts into us, Jesus is grace. More grace in our hearts equals a greater and deeper knowledge of Him, and great appreciation of His love, and deeper response from us. This grace teaches us how to live. We're are to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions. We're not to worship our work and play at our worship, but labour to be brought close to God, worship and pray so that the centre of the universe would be the centre of the universe would be the centre of our lives. We are to be self controlled, Godly and upright. We're supposed to behave differently because of what we believe.

But there's something else in these verses that i hadn't ever really let hit home yet. Verse 13 tells us we're to do these things 'waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of our great God and saviour Jesus Christ.' As we look back on Christmas, we are to look forward to the second coming. As we remember that Jesus has come, we need to remember that Jesus will come again. We need grace to live godly lives, and we need grace to remember that Jesus will come again. We need to think and love and live differently because Jesus has come, and think and love and live differently because Jesus will come again.

In many ways, you and I live at the end of Isaiah. Isaiah is talking to the Jews in exile. He promises them that God has not forgotten them, that someone better than Cyrus will come with a better deliverance. But in the mean time, people sin, God's people mess up, and sometimes this hope seems a long way away, hard to believe even. But the exile did end, and then when Jesus came, the exile really ended. This is where we are isn't it? Fighting to keep our eyes fixed on the return of the King. Trying to live upright and Godly lives as a response to the amazing grace given at Christmas.

Well what a great reminder Christmas is. As the world celebrates Christmas, and as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour, let's pray that we would look forward to a real celebration, one that makes the wildest super bowl parties look like tea with grandma. One with something real and eternal to celebrate. Just as sure as Jesus came, Jesus will come, just like grace appeared, grace will appear again.

Holiness and Friendship

Richard Sibbes says this:

as the woman poured oil on the head of Christ, so we will do well to pour some oil on the feet of Christ. Let us do to His members what we would do to Him if He were here, that we may further our communion with Christ.

What do you think about holiness? What do you think about holy people? Is there, in your mind a group of people so close to God, so 'holy' that you'd never actually want to spend time with them? In fact, time seems to stand still when you're with them. They might be handy when needing to know about the finer points of supralapsarianism, but you don't want to get trapped next to them at the church fellowship.

Is this the Biblical view of what holiness does to a person? Removing them from the norms of social interaction? No! As Sibbes points out above, from the conclusion of his sermon on Song of Songs 1:2, and as Paul shows us in 2 Timothy 4:9-12, real holiness, Biblical holiness, issues in a deeper love for friends. Sibbes tells us that the woman who poured perfume on Christ's head is to be our example. In the body of Christ we have the opportunity to serve Jesus by serving His people. That might be taking someone out to lunch after their first visit. It might mean giving someone a lift to church who doesn't like to drive after dark. It will almost certainly mean leaving our comfort zone for the sake of someone else.

What did it mean for Paul near the end of his life? Stuck far away from sunlight and fresh air, knowing the end was coming, almost deserted except for Luke? It meant he wanted to see Timothy, his son in the faith, one last time. Demas has deserted Paul, and he has sent Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia and Tychicus to Ephesus, presumably holding this letter in his hand. Even towards the end Paul was burdened for his churches. But he wants Timothy. Yes he wants books, and parchments and a cloak to keep him warm  but he wants Timothy. One more time of prayer together, one more word of mutual encouragement, one more opportunity to help this young man out. One more chance just to be with his best friend, his son, his brother.

Pick up Mark on the way, he tells Timothy, for he is very useful to me. Mark had left Paul, Paul didn't want to take him back, but now ten years later, he wants to see him again. And this won't be a 'drop the books and run,' this will be a sweet fellowship, this is what Paul wants as he ends his life. Other people.

I guess we'll never know if Timothy and Mark made it in time. It's impossible not to be moved by the thought of Timothy setting off from Ephesus, racing to Troas, willing the boat onward across the ocean. Maybe there was a reunion, or maybe Paul had received his reward by the time Tychicus arrived.

Regardless, as Sibbes points out, and as Paul demonstrates, holiness doesn't mean being cloistered away. Holiness issues in close, loving, fellowship. Holiness wants to share, and spread. And of course it does. Who is our triune God but a spreading holiness? Of course, when people are shaped back into his image, they want to be together, they want to share. This is the very nature of God, and it should be ours too, that as we grow in holiness, we grow in love and we grow in fellowship. Our hearts not hidden away and suffocated, but reaching out, as the Father reached out to us.

Today I Am Thankful For

My salvation. I'm thankful that Christ came to save anyone, i'm amazed that He came to save me. I was reading Isaiah 52-53 this morning as providence would have it. Upon Him was the chastisement that brough us peace.

My wife. A constant, faithful, helpful provocation to me. I'm thankful for her hard work both in her job and mine.

My ministry. It really is a privilege to be the youth pastor and Trinity. I can't really think of a better job than where you get paid to study the Bible and tell people what you've discovered. I'm thankful that three times a week in church, and four times a week at school i get to teach the Bible.

My church. For their love, prayers, trust and faithfulness. I'm excited about what God is doing among us. I'm thankful that it's usual to see people saved, baptised and discipled.

My immediate family. Working with young people, i know how rare it is to grow up never doubting my parents love and support. I'm thankful that my family loves and supports me to this day. I'm thankful for facetime.

My extended family. This is my sixth thanksgiving. I'm thankful for how the Cash/Sweeney/Justice/Ferguson tribe has taken me in.

Church planters. As a group of people, no one stirs me more than men and women who set off into the great unknown to start churches. I'm thankful for Logan and Grayson in Provo, Jay and Annette in Dover, Myron and Julie in Gilbert and Heath and Jamie in Houston. I'm thankful that we got to take our teens to Provo and Dover this year, and thankful for the impact those trips have had. I'm always thankful for Sean and Liz in Reading.

For enduring friendships. I've had two conversations this week that could have happened at any time over the last six to eight years.

Right now, i'm thankful that it's eight o'clock on Thursday morning, and i have the prospect of three days with Rachel in front of me. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Bible Question is 'Who?'

We've been studying Revelation together for the past few weeks in Teen Sunday school. Last weekend we covered chapter 4, sort of leaving port and pushing off into the great unknown of the main body of the book. The stuff that i think my teens were thinking of when they asked to study this book, the many headed beasts, the woman clothed with the sun, the dead prophets in the street.

Something in us, and i think it's a good thing, wants to spend time puzzling these things out doesn't it? Something wants to tie down once and for all who the 144,000 are and whether the millennium is a literal thousand years, and what exactly happens during that time anyway. I'm no different. I was reading A Fire Kindled From Heaven again this weekend, and found myself wondering why i think the Puritan's have the Song right but Revelation wrong. It's ok to mix and match from history though isn't it. I don't even agree with Piper on everything (that's what i tell people anyway!)

I guess there are two equal and opposite errors we can make reading Revelation. We can either take it too literally, or not literally enough. If we make the first error we end up reading Revelation like Acts, trying to ascribe meaning to every detail, and missing the big picture. If we make the second, we forget that John really did see these things, and they really do have something concrete to tell us, and we end up missing the big picture.

And what's the big picture? Wrong question, who is the big picture? Jesus. Who is always the Bible question. Who does Abel tell us about? Or Joseph? Or Ahasuerus? It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It's not a text book for the end of the world.

This is clear in chapter 4. When you read it, the word throne stands out above anything else. So you can get caught up in the colours of His appearance, or who four things the living creatures signify. Or you can get your eyes on the throne, and bask, and join in with the worship of the creatures and elders. We can look around us and be discouraged whether in the first century or the twenty first, or we can look to the throne and see Jesus. See Jesus who holds everything in the palm of His hand. See Jesus who rules for His people.

This is the big picture isn't it? Not only of Revelation, but of the whole Bible. The question is who, not what. Who sits on the throne? Who is worthy of worship? Who is your beloved? Who is this man who commands the wind and the sea.

Jesus. He is the big picture, He is the answer to the puzzle, He is the key to the lock, He is the highest point of any superlative you care to name. And He is the point of Revelation. Let's get our eyes on Him.

Jesus is the God who carries

Do you ever feel, perhaps in gray Mondays in November, that carrying on is about all you can do. Maintaining the status quo until you get to go back to bed is the best you can hope for? That in some situations, or a combination thereof, you've simply reached the end of yourself? Well then, my friend, Jesus is the God for you.

Isaiah 46 is written to the Jews in exile. Far from home, surrounded by pagan gods, their city, and with it their hopes, in ruins. They've been judged and sent far from home. How can YHWH be God? How can He be more powerful than Bel or Nebo? We're here in Babylon, and there's precious little hope. Hope hangs by a thread for the people Isaiah wrote to, maybe it does for you too. Chapter 46 brings us back to reality with a lovely bump.

Who are Bel and Nebo, asks the LORD? They're statues carried by beasts and livestock. Nothing special, or fearsome there. They need to be carried, they are a burden, they are the problem, they add to the problem. People of Israel, don't worry about a god who rides a beast to get around, don't worry about a god that can be picked up in someone's hand. Don't worry about a god who needs carrying.

Instead, verses 3 and 4 remind us, trust in the One who carried you. House of Jacob, people of God, you've been carried by the God from before your birth, from the womb. You've been looked after by Him since before you can remember. God has loved His people from the beginning. It's a holy, jealous, purifying love, which explains why you're in Babylon, but it's not a love that has left you. Nor will it ever leave you. 'even to your old age I am He, and to your gray hairs i will carry you.' House of Jacob, people of God, don't be misled by circumstance, i've loved you from the beginning, i'll love you until the end.

I'll carry you home again, Jesus promises. This section of Isaiah, 40-51, is full of reminders about the exodus. God will feed and water you in the wilderness, and God will bring you home. How? Well first He'll raise up Cyrus, who will change your location, and then He'll send Jesus, the true and better Cyrus, the One who rescues us from our real exile, who'll change our hearts.

Who has heard or seen a God like this, who works for those who wait for Him? So people of God, be comforted this morning, as you sit in exile, be comforted when it seems like all hope is gone. The twists and turns of your life end up somewhere good, not off the edge of a cliff. The Saviour is coming, the exile is ending.

My Song Is Love Unknown

I don't know that there's a better way to spend fifteen minutes today than to listen to Toby Sumpter speak on 'my song is love unknown.'

Here's a sample:

He told us that He would always come for us, always defend us, always protect us. And then we asked if He would mind if we married another husband. Would it be OK with you, if we had another King besides you, we asked, one day while looking out the window. You know, like the other nations? You aren’t like the other lords, the other kings, the other husbands in the world. We can’t see you, and the other nations, they can’t see you either.

When the knock came, we were nervous. But when we opened the door, we were surprised. We had never seen Him before, but He wasn’t how we had expected Him, how we imagined Him. He looked too young for starters, barely grown. He wasn’t handsome like we thought. And when we asked Him who He was, He ran out into the Jordan River and stood in the middle of the stream and smiled. John piled the water up over him, and a dove came down and for a moment we heard His song, like a low rumble. Remember? He called to us. The other men inside laughed at Him, but then He went on. Watch, He said, as He made His magic. He played with a brood of vipers, and He turned water into blood-red wine. Remember? He asked. And He went walking across the sea like it was nothing, like it was dry ground, and later, with a flick of His wrist, He pushed a legion of demons into the sea. He sang us His song on a mountain, and gave us bread in the wilderness, bread for thousands. Remember? He asked. Remember, how I love you?

It's ostensibly a message on 1 John 4:8-10, and is simply breathtaking in it's scope, and presentation of Jesus. Don't just have it on in the background, listen, read along, and ask God that He would help us know the love of Christ that passes knowing.

Listen here, and read here.

But Grow

2 Peter 3:18 tells us to 'grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.' That's a command. Peter tells us that Paul's letters are hard to understand and some people twist them for their own means, but we, Christians, are to grow as we read them.

So whats your plan for growth?

Jesus has graciously given us means for growth. We have the Bible. if you're reading this from an English speaking country then you are incredibly privileged to have the Bible in a multitude of translations and readily available. We need to pay attention, we need to grow, we need to obey this command to have more of Jesus. What's your Bible reading plan? What's your Bible reading time? I need to read in the morning when i first get up or i really struggle to get it done! Do you read a chapter or day, or four, or ten? It's not important how much you read, but how you read, with our eyes on Christ, and that you read. As Cat Caird puts in two wonderful posts, we need to feast on the Bible.

But we grow in community. Jesus came to earth and started the church. It was His idea, so we really should get on board! It's wonderfully true to say that we have a 'personal relationship' with Jesus, but that's not all that's wonderfully true. We need community, we need to live out our relationship with Jesus in community. That was the idea from the start. In fact, that's one of the reasons that Robert McCheyne came up with the first Bible reading plan, so that his church would all read together and he would know what his people were reading. Church helps us to grow by exposing us to gospel preaching, wiser saints and the ordinances which present the Gospel to our senses.

Hebrews 2:3 asks us 'how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation.' Neglect, not oppose. Drift away from, not walk away from. The tide of our natural affections take us away from Jesus. if we neglect the course of this tide, we'll drown. So we have to swim against this tide. Drifting from Christ doesn't happen mainly by opposing the great doctrines of the faith, but simply by slowly being carried away.

We need more of Christ. Our champion, our standard bearer, our king and husband. What's our plan to grow, to get more of Him?

Richard Sibbes, via Dave Bish, sums it up well:

It should be the study and care of every Christian to study the excellencies of Christ, not only in general, as in the Creed, 'he was born for us of the virgin Mary, was crucified, buried died etc.' which every child can say but to be able to speak particularly of the high perfections and excellencies of Christ.

What is the ability to speak particularly of the high perfections and excellencies of Christ if not Christian growth? And how shall we grow if we neglect the means God has given us?

Lessons from Isaiah

Evangelical Bible teachers (like me) are keen to remind their hearers that the Bible is living and active. That, the God breathed Word has as much to say to us, as it did to Isaiah  thousands of years ago. I've been reading Isaiah in the morning for the past few months, here's are some of the things i'm learning.

Isaiah's course was set by encounters with God. The well known vision of Isaiah 6, and the perhaps less well known comfort song in chapter 40. Both phases of Isaiah's ministry were set by God. The encounter with the LORD in chapter six gave him the energy, the bravery, to oppose evil and to encourage good. To stand in the street when no listened and to be faithful as Sennacherib's men stood at the gate. His encounter with the LORD in chapter 40 gave him the strength to continue when his public ministry was over. When we see God in His holiness we are fired up to fight sin wherever we see it, when we see God as the God of comfort and condescension, we are given the vision and the energy to comfort God's people in their depths. I need to meet with God every morning. Every morning in the wilderness God gave His people fresh manna, and every day, i need something new. I can't give the people i'm supposed to teach yesterday's meal, they need a man in the pulpit, in teen church, in parent meetings, teaching Sunday School and Children's Church, who has been ruined by God. I need to get my heart and my mind before God daily, and ask that He would do a fraction for me that He did for Isaiah.

Jesus stands and knocks. In Sunday School yesterday we looked at the letter to Laodicea together. Jesus' grace is remarkable in this letter. He tells them that they make Him sick, and then says that if only they'll have Him He'll come and eat with them. That dovetails well with a lot of how the LORD speaks through Isaiah. His covenant people have forgotten Him, but He has not forgotten them. They have turned to idols, but He has not turned to another people. He disciplines them, but as a Father disciplines the one He loves. Through judgement in Isaiah, there is always grace. Sins are always red as scarlet before they are made white like snow. The King is always betraying His God, before God sends the true King. God's grace in Isaiah is extraordinary. Super-abundant. He stands and knocks, He waits at the end of the road for a glimpse of His prodigal, He makes the mountains valley to bring rebels home. Rebels who are now truly sons. Jesus is sovereign, showing His power not just over Uzziah, Ahaz and Hezekiah, but also over Sennacherib, Babylon and Cyrus. But it is Jesus who is sovereign, not some generic, brutal wooden idol. Isaiah leads us to rejoice in both those truths.

Ministry isn't always what you expect. Isaiah's public ministry probably ended in chapter 39, or shortly thereafter. When Hezekiah died and evil King Manasseh took the throne, the days of public preaching for God's man where probably done. Biblical 'legend' has it that it is Isaiah the writer of the Hebrews talks about, who was killed by being sawn in two. I don't think they do that to popular people! But Isaiah wasn't finished when they took his church away from him. He kept going, loving God, His Word and His people. Teaching His disciples and making sure that the exiles knew that the LORD had neither been overpowered, nor forgotten about them. Isaiah loved the work more than the position. I'm sure there were hard days, days when he missed the freedom, days when he thought about preaching in the kings court. But i'm sure they were few and far between. I'm sure that the God He knew, and the plans He knew kept Him going. It was this that kept Isaiah steadfastly abounding in the work of the Lord. And so it must be for us.

Election 2012

Even though i lived in the States for the 2008 election, i'd only been here for a few months. I knew almost nothing of American culture and psyche. Tuesday night was very different. To be honest i'm not sure if i think more like an American or an Englishman these days, i'm probably a fish out of water on both sides of the Atlantic. But anyway, here are some reflection on one of the most surprising elections i can remember.

The Church can no longer claim to be the moral majority. Not only was the most pro abortion, anti marriage and family candidate ever elected by a huge majority, two other decisions were made on Tuesday night that illustrate this. Two states, Colorado and Washington state, voted to legalise marijuana (seriously) and three states voted not to define marriage as between one man and one woman. That's extraordinary to me. It's clear from these votes where the mainstream opinion in America is headed, and it's not in our direction. But you know, that's ok. Believers have always prospered as the remnant, as the faithful minority. Christianity ultimately doesn't need to be on the side of popular politics or culture to prosper.

The Church has a great opportunity. And we simply must take it. We can't think, even here in good ole North Carolina, that we don't need to be aggressively missional in our living and giving. I was shocked at how close the race between Obama and Romney was here. Just six months ago 93 of the 100 counties here voted against gay marriage. Thousands of those people, both in the cities and in the country, must have voted for Obama on Tuesday. We can either react by putting our fingers into our ears, or by finding, loving and reaching these people. This is our opportunity to drop the cultural baggage and preach the Gospel. We must take it.

The Church must disciple it's people better.  Something else was clear on Tuesday, a lot of people who sit in a church do not have a Biblical worldview. This, for me, was the most disheartening, discouraging and disappointing aspect of the result, that millions who call themselves Christians voted for Obama. Now, don't hear me say that Jesus is a Republican, or that Romney was God's anointed man for this hour. I would have had massive problems with a Romney presidency as well, starting with his Mormonism. But...but, you voted for a man who uses tax dollars to fund and support a company that makes money from abortion? You're happy to vote for someone whose views on marriage have 'evolved' in the last four years? I'm sorry, i don't get it. Explain it to me. Even if the economy was thriving and American troops were safe abroad that should've been enough for Christians to hold their nose and vote for Romney.  The Church must teach her people better.

So there we go. The sun rose on Wednesday morning. The Kingdom of God advances as Christ is proclaimed in the Gospel. Our Redeemer lives, and one day He will stand upon the Earth. Amen and amen. But it's possible to love and rejoice in these truths and still be deeply disappointed in Tuesdays results. And that's where I am.

Book Review: Gospel Deeps

Have you ever walked around your local book store, whether Christian or secular? Have you looked at what the popular books are? Self help books, dieting books, Amish fiction and children who 'went to heaven.' It's a brave man that writes books that fall into none of these categories.

Gospel Deeps is the third book i've read by Jared C. Wilson, following the excellent Your Jesus is too Safe, and the stellar Gospel Wakefulness. In those books Wilson pulled no punches in getting us away from 'Six flags over Jesus' and confronting us with the rugged, terrifying, comforting beauty of our Lord. Gospel Deeps is not a self help book. There are no 'six steps to going deep' in this book. There's no plan to change your life in thirty days, nothing that will fix your teenager by tomorrow evening. It's a breath of fresh air.

In last years Gospel Wakefulness, and in Gospel Deeps, Wilson shares something of his story with us, how he was brought, mercifully to the end of himself one day, lying on the carpet of his spare room. He's a man worth listening to because he knows the depths of Christ-less despair are matched only by the depths of Christ centred joy.

In ten chapters Wilson invites us to revel in the joy the Gospel, to glut ourselves on grace. He reminds us of the Gospel, he delights in the trinity, he calls us to remember the joy of fellowship with Christ and tells us again of the sharp, deathly edge to the atonement for sin. He doesn't hide from suffering, and shows us that God does indeed keep his best wine in the cellar of affliction. He rubs our hearts in the sheer bigness of the Gospel, and soothes our hearts with the immanence of our God.

Not a self help book. A helpful book.

You and I, your church, my church, The Church, we don't to spend our time analyzing and moralising, we need to spend our time remembering and proclaiming. We need to remember that the Gospel is the A-Z, the beginning and the end, we need to remember, and bathe, in the depths of the Gospel.

There is nothing new in this book, and that is the best recommendation i can give you. It reminds us, calls us, and allures us to the sweetness of the Gospel. And that's what we need.

Run, don't walk, to buy this book.

His Robes For Mine

I spent most of last week at The Wilds, a Christian camp set in 1000 acres of, well, the middle of nowhere in the mountains of south west North Carolina. I love the scenery and isolation of The Wilds (and the coffee shop with the leather chairs and fireplace) but what i appreciate the most is their total commitment to unleashing the Word of God on teenagers. One of the ways this is reflected is in song. During our meetings last week we sung a song that i'd never heard before, called 'His Robes for Mine.'

I love the way this song sings of such a glorious truth. When we come to Christ, we are clothed in His righteous, He having taken our sin. This is a thread (ah-ha!) that you can trace through the Bible, from Adam and Eve in an animal skin just before they were removed from the Garden, to the High Priest in his heavenly robe, to the prodigal son to you and me. It'a wonderful truth to sing about.

His Robes For Mine

His robes for mine: O wonderful exchange!
Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered ‘neath God’s rage.
Draped in His righteousness, I’m justified.
In Christ I live, for in my place He died.

Chorus:

I cling to Christ, and marvel at the cost:
Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God.
Bought by such love, my life is not my own.
My praise-my all-shall be for Christ alone.

His robes for mine: what cause have I for dread?
God’s daunting Law Christ mastered in my stead.
Faultless I stand with righteous works not mine,
Saved by my Lord’s vicarious death and life.

His robes for mine: God’s justice is appeased.
Jesus is crushed, and thus the Father’s pleased.
Christ drank God’s wrath on sin, then cried “‘Tis done!”
Sin’s wage is paid; propitiation won.

His robes for mine: such anguish none can know.
Christ, God’s beloved, condemned as though His foe.
He, as though I, accursed and left alone;
I, as though He, embraced and welcomed home!

Romans 13 and November 6

As election day looms ever larger here in the US, i think there are two equal and opposite errors we are at risk of falling into. As we view this election through our Christian glasses, we are tempted in two ways to either put too little, or too much emphasis on what happens on November 6th. Romans 13:1-7 is the simply, Christlike, Spirit inspired, Pauline antidote to both of these ills.

It Does Matter Who Wins. Jesus Is On The Throne
Like most error, this is dressed up with just enough truth to make it palatable. Yes and amen, Jesus was, is and will be on the throne. Though all the world run against Him, He will not be overthrown. Good news my friends, good news! But not responsibility absolving news. Jesus is on the throne, i won't look both ways before i cross the street. Jesus is on the throne, i won't fill my car up before my long journey. Jesus is on the throne, i won't tell my wife i love her. It's a nonsense isn't it? Because Jesus is on the throne we are motivated to live as responsible citizens, using our rights and privileges as we can. Because Jesus is on the throne we can vote, fully confident, and joyfully so, knowing that His hand is in and behind everything we do. Romans 13:2 tells us that God appoints authority, and if we resist authority, we resist Him. Don't resist God, Jesus is on the throne, pray and vote!

If [my preferred candidate] doesn't win God's not going to bless us
If option one put too little stock in elections, option two puts too much. If option one had a wrong view of God's sovereignty, so does number two. This election represents a quandary on many levels, not least politically and morally. Politically because, even though we might believe that the incumbent has been a disaster in almost every category, is the opponent any better? If the President is Blair, his challenger is IDS and William Hague. The Republicans are almost exactly where the Tories were ten years ago. And morally. It's pretty obvious that one candidate's policies are more driven by what we find in the Bible than the other, neither do anything to hide their point of view, we must be very careful about attributing a Biblical worldview to a Mormon. Whoever wins, 'he is God's servant for your good.' (verse 4)

I can say these things as someone who can't vote. Even though I undergo taxation with no representation, seriously America, someone should do something about this injustice! I can say these things as an outsider on the inside. Someone who loves the southeastern United States, without forgetting the dangers of living in the Bible belt.

How do we approach November 6th? Confidently, joyfully, hopefully and prayerfully. Knowing that whatever happens, God's Kingdom is advancing with the preaching of the Gospel. And hey, even if your guys don't win, at least those dreadful campaign ads will be off your TV!

Like a Mustard Seed

'Who're Kansas State? The Wildcats?'

'Oh what happened to New England...did they get a safety?'

Both of these statements were uttered by my wife last weekend, and both of them were exactly right. The athletics mascot for Kansas State University is the wildcat, and New England were awarded a safety (the closest thing in American Football to an own goal) in their weekend win over the New York Jets.

How did Rachel know those things? We don't follow Kansas State, they're hardly ever on TV, and we've never been to Manhattan, Kansas, where the school is located. She just knew who they were. The Patriots/Jets game was on in the background in a restaurant, and i've never gone over the finer points of the some of the NFL's more obscure rules with her. She just knew it's hard to get to 16 without a two point play in there somewhere.

I asked Rachel how that happened, and she said after a while things just sink in. And i suppose they do. We still have some ground to cover i suspect. She's probably a bit shaky on the genesis of the Wycome/Colchester rivalry, and might have some trouble in picking out Dave Carroll in a crowd, but after three years of marriage, we're getting there.

Jesus says this is what the Kingdom of God is like. Mark 4 represents a shift in Jesus ministry. No longer teaching plainly in the synagogues, but parabolically in the countryside. This is judgement on those who see but don't perceive and hear but don't understand. Suddenly, for those on the outside, everything is in a parable. Why is this rebel rabbi giving farming advice, and poor farming advice at that? Why isn't he condemning Rome and setting up in Jerusalem? Everything in a parable.

He tells us that the Kingdom of God, and in particular our growth in it is like a mustard seed. The smallest of the seeds producing a plant out of all proportion to it's size. It starts small, but when it's grown it's the largest of all the plants. Just like the Kingdom. Who would have thought that this ragtag bunch of men from the wrong part of the country would change the world? And yet they did. Who would think that 10,20,30 minutes alone in the Bible each day would change our hearts? And yet is does. This is the Gospel way isn't it? From small and insignificant comes the big and glorious.

We should read the Bible persistently and confidently, knowing that by it we're being changed. As quickly as we like? Probably not. But Christian growth isn't downloadable. It comes slowly, first the blade, then the ear,  then the full grain. But come it does. Isn't that encouraging? Just because we don't see something doesn't mean it's not there. Not in the Kingdom anyway.

Martin Luther knew it, he went and preached and then came home to his friends, trusting in the work of the Word. Isaiah knew it, and told us that the Word would not return void. We need to know it too, and keep those mustard seeds being planted in our hearts.

The Rebel Loving Lord

In Luke 24 Jesus explains to two of His disciples how the whole Old Testament is about Him. I like to think that He spent a lot of time on that walk to Emmaus talking about Isaiah. Isaiah is the Gospel. In sixty-six chapters the prophet unfolds holiness, judgement, sacrifice and grace, almost as explicitly as anyone in the New Testament does. Isaiah 30 is a great example of this.

If we read verses 19-33, who do we meet? We meet the Lord who teaches, and restores and fights for His people. He teaches them when to turn right and when to turn left, He restores them like a beautiful garden, and He fights for them and overcomes their enemies, earthly and cosmic, forever. I love the mixture of intimacy and fierceness in this passage. The intimacy of the one who whispers 'right' or 'left' in our ears, the gentleness of the one who plants and waters and gives growth, and the fierceness of the one whose arm will be seen in furious anger.

This would be an astonishing passage if it were addressed to a covenant keeping people. To a people who observed Passover  didn't trade on the Sabbath  didn't worship bits of wood or indulge in whatever sinful fancy came their way. This sort of God would be a remarkably gracious God if He was teaching and nourishing and fighting for a people who loved Him and honoured Him. How much more should our minds be blown and our hearts be warmed then, that this God is offering all this to a people with their back turned to Him.

Go back a page, and look at 30:1-17. What's happening? The stubborn children of Israel, under attack from Assyria have gone to Egypt for help. Chapters 28-31 contain some of Isaiah's most passionate preaching. He implores his listeners to trust in the Lord, not in chariots, to hope in the One who brought them out of Egypt, not in Egypt. But they don't listen. They rush to Egypt, they take treasure, they give themselves totally to Egypt, totally to what their flesh can see. And it's a disaster.

Sennacherib marches on through Judah, burning up town after town. Only the miraculous intervention of the Lord Himself stops them razing Jerusalem. And this happens because Hezekiah finally sees sense, and finally repents.

Verse 18 is the hinge on which this great chapter turns.The Lord waits to be gracious. He knows repentance is coming, and Isaiah promises his listeners that it will be received. In fact the Lord loves to show mercy to sinners, He loves to display His grace, the apex of His glory. He doesn't wait passively, He's not sitting around anxiously hoping that Hezekiah will lead His people in repentance, but He will wait until the right time to show Himself mighty, and gracious, and glorious.

In Mark 2:17 Jesus tells us that He came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Sinners like Judah in Isaiah's time. Sinners who worship idols and turn to Egypt. Are you a sinner? Do you feel like your rebellion has taken you far from the grace of God? Great! That's the one qualification for entry to the Kingdom! Only repent, and the Lord will teach you, in this life and eternally. The Lord will nourish you, and you'll enter paradise, the Lord will fight for you, and finally overcome the enemies that Jesus disarmed on the cross.

Let your mind be blown, and let you heart be warmed by this God, the rebel loving Lord.

Every Morning: War

True for me, true for John Piper, probably true, to a greater or lesser extent, for you:



Every Morning There’s War in the Piper Household from Desiring God on Vimeo.

Twelve Ordinary Men

I'm enjoying taking a long look at Jesus as i aim to preach through Mark's Gospel verse by verse with my teen group. We started slowly, but as Mark picks up the pace, so have we. Last week we were in Mark 3:7-35 and i was struck by how Mark weaves his narratives around his themes.

Mark's Gospel is written to answer Jesus' question to Peter in chapter 8. 'Who do you say I am?' Mark's Gospel drives towards the cross in a car marked 'kingdom,' and 'eucatastrophe.' How does Mark work out those themes in a narration as apparently straight forward as the calling of the twelve Apostles?

First of all, why twelve? John Macarthur sees this as judgement on Israel. The twelve tribes have been replaced by twelve men. As Jesus has taken refuge outside of the city because of the plot to kill Him, and expanded His ministry twelve-fold, so he tells Israel that He's moving on and starting again. It's these twelve, minus Judas, plus Mattias who have their names in precious stone around the Heavenly city. These men who have been directly appointed by God incarnate to carry on His mission. Not the Pharisees, not even Jesus' family, but these twelve men. The old has gone, the new has come. We new new wine, here are our new skins.

Jesus' family appears in Mark 3 as well. They come to take Him home in verse 21, thinking that He was out of His mind. Which is a fair assumption, given what He was doing. And then again in verse 31, asking for His attention to be on them. A perfectly legitimate demand in that culture. What is Jesus response? He tells His listeners that a new thing is happening, that the way into the Kingdom of God is now through faith and nothing else.

Who were these twelve men? Some of them we know fairly well. Simon Peter, James, John, Matthew and of course Judas. Some vanish from the pages of Scripture as soon as we hear their names. But this is a close group, this is a group where your name may not be your name. There's Simon the rock, James the short guy, the sons of thunder, Simon the zealot, who might have killed Matthew if they'd met under other circumstances. There's Thomas, the twin who doubted, there's Nathanael Bartholomew, and Thaddeus, which apparently means 'mamas boy.' And as always, as a constant and terrible reminder, is Judas.

Not noblemen, fishermen, farmers, people from the fringes of society. Not the intellectual elite, but Galileans. And Jesus says, 'such shall my Kingdom be.' Not for the people you might expect, but for those i call. Not for those who look good on the outside but for those who are changed on the inside. Out with the old, and in with the new.

It's easy to think that Jesus turned the world upside down, but He actually turned it the right way up. Mark uses something as potentially mundane as the calling of the Apostles to help us see this.

Loving Your College Town (by one who doesn't go)

It's nine years since i packed by bags and headed off to the University of Reading for the first time. In those nine years, basically everything about my life has changed, but there has been one constant. I've lived in college towns. Three as a student, two more working with students in Guildford and Reading, and now four in Greenville, home of East Carolina University.

There are disadvantages to living in a college town when you don't go to that college. A large percentage of the population get's younger that you every year. The roads are a nightmare. Some days it feels like there are people everywhere! But the positives far outweigh the negatives. So how can we love our college towns when we don't go to college?

In Greenville at least, maybe a third of the businesses would not be here if it wasn't for ECU. We have a huge bookstore and a number of national chain restaurants that wouldn't be here if thirty thousand students didn't show up every autumn. Now that's not the most important thing, and more independent places to eat might be nice, and yes, downtown's a dump. But those negatives are far outweighed.

Living in a college town presents a unique opportunity for ministry. In the football season 50,000 people (myself included) show up every other week to watch the ECU Pirates play. That's a great chance for churches to meet people and share the Gospel, and many do. College towns have a vitality, an ambiance that others lack. There are simply more young people around, and therefore more young people to reach. Churches in college towns have a unique opportunity and privilege. Tomorrows leaders are on our doorstep, how can we best reach them, and make sure that tomorrow's shapers of culture are shaped by the Gospel? Universities are mission fields and churches need to pray for them as such. Pray for students to be saved and added to the local church, pray for campus ministries to be Gospel centred and well attended, pray that the Gospel is advancing in your local university, just like you would for the rest of your town.

Yes, there are disadvantages to living in a college town when you don't go. But the opportunities far outweigh them. As we pray for our local schools, let's be thankful for these opportunities, and grab them with both hands.

The Christian Life is a Delighted Life

Concluding my script for a recent message on 2 Timothy 2:3-8

One of my historical heroes is Jonathan Edwards, the great New England preacher of the 18th century. Edwards was not only and incredible preacher, but also a very quotable author. He once said that we should do everything we can in this life to obtain as much joy, as much delight, as possible in the next. Look at verse 6 with me.

What was life like for farmers in the first century? It was tough. Long hours, hard work, little visible reward most of the time. That sounds like the Christian life sometimes doesn’t it? We pray, and nothing seems to happen. We share the Gospel, and no one gets saved. we invite to church, and no one comes. Just like the farmer looking at his crop, after all the sowing all the watering he sees little growth, he wonders if his hard work is worth it. And so do we sometimes, if we’re honest. There’s so little growth in our family, in our Sunday school class, in ourselves, we wonder why we keep doing it.

Until, harvest time. One day the farmer wakes up and looks out, and his field is full of crops! There is his reward, the harvest that he has labored so long for has come, and he is delighted in it.
The same is true for us, as all three of these word pictures come together. If we are dedicated, if we are directed then we will be delighted, then we will enjoy a spiritual harvest that we can’t even imagine now. One day we’ll see Jesus face to face, and all our struggles will seem worth it in this life. Meeting Jesus isn’t something that makes us shrug our shoulders and say ‘it’s ok.’ Meeting Jesus will just about make our hearts explode for joy. In fact, unless we were held up by His grace meeting Jesus would simply overwhelm us. It will be worth it.

But maybe you think it’s different for Paul, you can understand his focus on Heaven given that his life was nearly over. But this truth, this final delight was what had kept Paul faithful throughout his life. In his letter to the Philippians he tells them that it would be better for him to go and be with Jesus, but for their sake, for the sake of his ministry to them, he has to stay. Paul knows that whether he is alive or not, Christ will be glorified. Paul knows that all his dedication in hardship and all his faithful directedness will pay off. And you and I are in exactly the same situation. We have to keep our eyes on the delight. That is our reward. As we suffer hardship, be dedicated because you will be delighted. As we follow direction, no matter how hard or counter cultural it seems, be well directed, because of the delight that will come at the end.
Dedicated like a soldier, directed like an athlete, and delighted like a farmer at harvest time, these are the three Ds of the Christian life.

The Christian Life is a Directed Life

The Christian life is dedicated, and the Christian life is directed.

Look at verse 5 with me. An athlete is in view here. An athlete does not win the prize on offer unless he competes according to the rules. Greek athletes who wanted to take part in the ancient Olympics had to train fro 10 months under supervision to make sure they were up to the task. When they competed, they had to stay in the rules. They had to stay behind the line when they threw, they had to run in their lanes. The same is true for us as we live as Christians. As athletes were directed by the rules of the Olympics, so Christians are directed by God’s Word.

You and I can’t simply make up our faith as we go along, we have to hold it up against the standard of God’s Word. Does this action bring pleasure to God, is that word acceptable to use, what should I do with my time, how should I spend my money? What we watch on TV, what we do at the weekend, how we treat our server at a restaurant. We don’t have freedom in these areas, we simply have to serve Christ according to His Word. We must strive lawfully in our life according to the Scriptures.

Why are we Protestant not Catholic? You need a good reason not to be a Catholic, you need a good reason to choose one church over another, with a different flavour on every corner. Are your decisions directed according to the Word? Is your life directed by the Word of God?

This is the link between verses 4 and 5. The more dedicated we are, the easier we will follow direction, and the more directed we are, the more dedicated we will become. Verse 6 tells us that this takes diligence, or hard work, or labour. Again, Paul knows nothing of easy Christianity, and neither should we.

The Christian Life is a Dedicated Life

The following three posts come from a recent sermon on 2 Timothy 2:3-8.

First we see in verses 3 and 4 that the Christian life is a dedicated life. Let’s read those verses together. Paul tells Timothy and us what to expect from being a Christian in verse 3. What word does he use? Hardness! Paul was not seeker sensitive tv evangelist. He didn’t tell Timothy, send me money, touch the screen and all your worries will go away. He tells Timothy that his life will be full of hardship if he’s serious about being a Christian. For Paul it meant a number of things that you and I will probably never suffer. 2 Corinthians 11 talks about his beatings at the hands of the Jews, his shipwrecks, the trouble he faced from his enemies every day, and soon he knew that this hardship would end in death. At this point in Paul’s life he was completely isolated from the outside world, chapter 1:16-17 tell us that Onesiphorus had to search diligently for him when he came to Rome, that, coupled with the fact that later on Paul describes himself the lowest ranked of all Roman prisoners, show us how much hardship Paul was undergoing as he wrote this letter. Timothy was suffering as well. He was living in Ephesus, one of the most sinful and difficult cities in the ancient world, he would have been tempted every day to give up on his faith. He was being attacked from within his church by false teachers and people who said he was too young to lead them.

You and I will probably never suffer life Paul and Timothy did, either in what we suffer from, or how much they make us suffer, but we face hardship as a Christian nonetheless. Maybe it’s the hardship of looking on helplessly while loved ones are sick, maybe it’s the hardship of seeing someone in your family fall away from the Lord. Maybe it’s the hardship of being the only Christian in your workplace. Whatever it is, sometimes, maybe even most of the time, our faith makes our life more complicated. But Paul tells Timothy, and us, that we have to endure this hardship. Why is that?

We have to endure because we are dedicated to Christ. Look at verse 4. Paul tells us that no soldier is entangled in civilian life. The word entangled is the same word used for a braid in a woman’s hair, and that’s a great picture isn’t it. When a girls hair is braided you can’t really tell where one braid begins and the other ends. Paul says we are not to be this way in our relationship with the world, we’re not to get caught up in it. Paul would have had firsthand experience of this, the solider guarding him never left him to go and sell bread at the market, he was dedicated to his post.

One of the hardest, but most rewarding activities is getting my Grandad to talk about the war. It’s hard because he doesn’t want to talk about it. When the war was over he put his medals in a box and got on with his life. But it’s rewarding to get these stories out of him because they illustrate the dedication that Paul was talking about. None of his stories involve him taking some time off to go shopping when the marines were invading Italy, or enjoying a week at the beach when he was in the northern Atlantic or stopping for pictures when he was preparing to invade Japan. Of course he got some leave to go and see his family, but while he was on duty, nothing stood in the way of his dedication. It was actually worse for his brother, who left home in 1939 and didn’t come back once before the war was over in 1945. Why did he do all this? Paul says, ‘to please him who hath chosen him as a soldier.’

Paul isn’t saying that Christians withdraw from the world and live in a monastery, but that we get our priorities the right way around. We live our lives to please not ourselves, but our saviour who enlisted us in the army. If we’re more interested in making money that please Christ, or sports that pleasing Christ, or celeb gossip than pleasing Christ, or our family or our kids’ grades then pleasing Christ, then our priorities are out of order. Paul said he counted all things as loss for the sake of knowing Christ. All things includes good things. There’s nothing wrong with your family being a top priority, but it must be the top priority. It must be put to one side to serve Christ. We must be dedicated soldiers of Him. A dedicated life is a life of loss. A life where we say no to good things so that we may say yes to better things. A life that is dedicated to Christ as our one passion.