Friday 31 August 2012

Letter To A Relay Worker

Dear new Relay worker,

Welcome to the family! As you'll be told numerous times in the next ten months, UCCF is made up of students, staff and supporters, you'll also come to find out that you'll always be a Relay worker. We're a family. A few years and a few thousand miles removed, those ties feel just as strong as they did.  So, from a member of the class of 06-07, welcome, it's good to have you.

Let me warn you, this is no dispassionate weighing up of the pros and cons of Relay life. It is impossible for me to exaggerate the debt i owe to UCCF. It's because of UCCF that i love the local church, because of UCCF i love the Bible, because of UCCF i preached my first sermon, and because of UCCF i make my living thus.

So what is Relay all about? Grace. You know that of course, if you paid attention at all during your stay at the Quinta. But it's not about grace as a phrase, or an idea, it's about grace when the rubber hits the road.

Grace extended to you when you fail, grace extended through you when others fail. Grace discovered in the pages of the Bible, from the shiny head of Wayne Grudem. Grace in coffee shops, in campus cafes, in late night conversations. Grace to keep you smiling on the Thursday of mission week, grace when you haven't slept in your own bed for a very long time. Grace when the CU you work alongside want to do something left of center, grace to not compare where you've come from to where you are. Grace when you answer, for the 150th, time the question, 'so what exactly do you do?' Relay is all about grace, and you'll learn that in ways i can't describe. And you'll keep learning that.

Relay is about relationships, With your fellow relays, supervisor and students. Relay will give you friendships you'll never forget. Relay will teach you to laugh at yourselves, taking the work seriously, but yourself, not so much.

Relay is hard. Most of you will be in a new town, or even a new region, miles away from anything familiar. Let this hardness drive you to Jesus, and open the door to new friendships. Relay is tempting. All you are is who you are on your knees before Jesus, don't ever forget that, whether your campus sees an historic revival, or nothing really happens during your time there. Relay is a unique opportunity. Go meet new people, go study, and study hard, go drink good coffee, go do something that has nothing to do with Relay at least once a week, go and run hard in a local church, go for walks in the country. Love people. Love people who belong to a different tribe, and people who are just like you.

Welcome to the family new Relay Worker, you're going to love it here...

Wednesday 29 August 2012

On Being Married

I've been married for just over three years now. This in itself is incredible to me, the time seems to have gone in the blink of an eye. Three and a bit years of marriage is nothing at all, but it is a little bit. And in that little bit, there are maybe three things that i'm learning from marriage, about being a Christian.

First of all, when i said yes to Rachel at St Thomas's Church in Bath on that June evening, i was also saying no to every other woman out there. Rachel is mine, and I am hers. No one else enters this union, no third person, no other voice or passion. Just the two of us. Yes to my wife, no to everyone else. There's a lot of women in the world, but only one of them in my heart.

When we are saved, we say yes to Jesus, and no to every competing god. No to competing passions, no to alluring temptations, no to selfish ambition, or whatever else it may be. There's only room for the Jesus that demands total allegiance, no one and nothing else can get in the way of a Christian's commitment to their Lord.

Marriage is like a long conversation. Rachel and I can be driving down the road and resume a conversation that we left off days ago. There's an ease in the seriousness of our relationship. Isn't that same true for the Christian and Christ? We grow closer to Him knowing that He knows our thoughts, our concerns, our dreams. We can talk to Him whenever we want, we can turn to Him whenever we need. Rachel is always there for me, we're always each other's priority in this world, how much Christ for the Christian.

Everyone says that one of the things they learn the quickest about themselves in marriage is how selfish they are. I thought i'd be the exception that proved the rule. How wrong i was. It was a battle, in those early days, to motivate myself to do anything just because Rachel wanted to do it. There's the first flush of enthusiasm, but once that's passed, it can be a struggle. That's slowly, too slowly, changing now though. I love to just be with her, and do things just because they please her.

In our relationship with Christ, first there's the stage where everything seems new, but then maybe, our love grows cold. But the more we spend time with Him, the more we know Him, the more pleasing Him and being with Him brings us joy. The more we read the Bible, the more we see Christ, the more we want to. The more pleasure and closeness we gain through obedience, the more we want.

There are a million other lessons to learn about our relationship with Jesus from our relationship with our spouses, but those are three of mine.

Tuesday 28 August 2012

How Does Love Conquer?

The following was written by A.F.C Vilmar, in 1880 and quoted by Bonhoeffer in 'The Cost of Discipleship.' It's dated 1880, which is extraordinary, given it's timeliness today. It's long, but well worth reading in full...

The commandment that we love our enemies and forego revenge will become even more urgent in the holy struggle that lies before us and which in part we have already been engaged for years. In it love and hate engage in mortal combat. It is the urgent duty of every Christian soul to prepare itself for it. The time is coming when the confession of the living God will incur not only the hatred and fury of the world, for on the whole it has come to that already, but complete ostracism from human society as they call it.

The Christians will be hounded from place to place, subjected to physical abuse, maltreatment and death of every kind. We are approaching the age of wide spread persecution. Therein lies the true significance of all the movements and conflicts of our age. Our adversaries seek to route out the Christian church and the Christian faith, because they can not live side by side with us, because they see in every word we utter and every deed we do, even when they are not specifically directed against them a condemnation of their own words and deeds. They are not far wrong. They suspect too that we are indifferent to their condemnation. Indeed, they must admit that it is utterly futile to condemn us. We do not reciprocate their hatred and contention, although they would like it better if we did, and so sink to their own level.

And how is the battle to be fought? Soon the time shall come when we shall pray, not as isolated individuals, but as a corporate body, a congregation, a church; we shall pray in multitudes (although relatively small multitudes) and among the thousands and thousands of apostates we shall loudly confess and praise the Lord who was crucified and is risen and shall come again. And what prayer, what praise, what hymn of confession will it be? It will prayers of earnest love for these very sons of perdition who stand around and gaze at us with eyes aflame with hatred and have perhaps already raised their hands to kill us. It will be a prayer of peace for those erring, devastated and bewildered souls, and prayer for the same love and peace we enjoy ourselves, a prayer that will penetrate right to the depths of their souls and rend their hearts more grievously than anything they can do to us.

Yes, the church which is really waiting for the Lord and which discerns the signs of the time of decision must fling itself with the utmost power and with the panopoly of it's holy life into this prayer of love.

Monday 27 August 2012

Revelation 1:7-8


The book of Revelation has been described as the ultimate action thriller. Remember we saw last week that this book is about Jesus? Well, John also tells us about Jesus John also tells us about the end of the world. This book talks about the rise of an evil ruler, a war to end all wars, and most terrifying of all, the final judgement itself.

But Revelation has a happy ending. It, like Mark, is a eucatastrophe. All Heaven is breaking lose by the end of this book. Jesus is on His throne, He is worshipped as God by His people in perfection forever. Revelation ends with the second coming, and John gives us a preview of that second coming here in 1:7-8. We learn five things about the second coming in these two verses. We learn about it’s necessity, glory, scope, response and certainty.

First of all, the second coming is necessary. Look at the first four words of verse 7. Behold, He is coming.. Behold is a word in the Greek that mean something like ‘pay attention,’ or ‘listen up.’ John is telling us something important here. And that is? Jesus is coming. His return is necessary. More than 500 verses in the Bible talk about Jesus return, maybe as many as one out of every 25 verses in the NT talks about Jesus second coming. Jesus repeatedly spoke of His return and warned His followers to be ready for it.

Are we ready?

Alongside these references in the Bible, there are many reasons why Jesus’ return is necessary. God’s promises require that Jesus return (Gen 49:10, Ps 2:6-9). Secondly, Jesus Himself promised that He would return, as we’ve mentioned. Thirdly, the HS guarantees that Jesus would return. He is the Spirit of truth, so every promise of Jesus’ return in Scripture is also a promise from Him. Fourth God’s plan for the church, the world and Israel demands Jesus return (Rev 3:10, Rom 11:1-2)

Secondly, verse seven tells us that Jesus second coming will be glorious. John tells us that Jesus will come ‘with the clouds.’ Clouds in scripture symbolize glory. Like Moses on Mt Sinai. These clouds show us Jesus descent from Heaven. They symbolize the brilliant light that will accompany Him. Hebrews 1:3 tells us that this is the radiance of God’s glory.

At the end of verse 7, we see the scope of the second coming. Every eye will see Him. You won’t have to guess, you’ll know. Even those who pierced Him. Even Jesus enemies will be forced to admit who He is. They’ll mourn, some in repentance, some in fear.

What about you?

Look at John’s response in verse 7. Even so, amen. Two words, strong plea for Jesus to come. Do we pray like that?

Finally, in verse 8, we see the second coming is certain. Jesus is the alpha anc the omega. Greek alphabet, beginning and end. He has all the knowledge there is to have. If He says it, it’s going to happen!
Jesus is, and was, and is to come. He’s not confined by space or time. His word is not contingent on anything. His promise settles the issue.

Third, He is the almighty. Nothing can stop Him. His plans are made, and His is coming.
Jesus Christ once left heaven for earth in humiliation, He'll be back in exaltation. He once left heaven to be killed, He will do it again to kill. He once left heaven to serve, He will do it again to be served. He once left heaven to offer grace, He will do it again to demand justice. He once left heaven to seek and to save, He will do it again to search and destroy.

The question always in this book is: are you ready? He is coming. John Phillips writes, "One of the most stirring passages in English history tells of the conquests and crusades of Richard I, Richard the Lionhearted. While Richard was away trouncing Saladin(?), his kingdom fell on bad times. His sly and graceless brother John usurped all the prerogatives of the king and misused the realm. The people of England suffered longing for the return of their king and praying that it might be very soon. Then one day Richard came. He landed in England and marched straight for his throne. Around that glittering coming many tales are told woven into the legends of England, one of them is the story of Robin Hood. John's castles tumbled like nine pins, great Richard laid claim to his throne and none dare stand in his path. The people shouted their delight, they rang peel after peel on the bells, the lion was back and they cried, `Long live the king.'"

And one day a King far greater than Richard will lay claim to a realm far greater than England. And those who have abused the earth in His absence, and those who have seized His domains and mismanaged His world will all be swept aside. And only those who love Him and bow the need to His sovereignty will participate in His Kingdom.

Friday 24 August 2012

John Mark

On Wednesday in Teen Church we started a new study in Mark's Gospel. I want to take a long, lingering look at Jesus with our teenagers. In preparation for this i read the excellent 'Question Mark' by Douglas Moo, which introduces the narrative, structure and talks about the author and dating of the book. It was his chapters on Mark's life that warmed my heart the most, for two reasons.

First of all, Mark was a young man that grew up in the Gospel. His mother was probably an influential woman in the Jerusalem church. Moo tells us that the last supper may even have taken place in their house. Imagine! There's Jesus teaching on the new covenant, there's Peter and John and Simon the Zealot and the rest of the guys. I imagine a young Mark crouching outside the door, listening in, trying to catch a word or two from some of the greatest men who ever lived. No wonder Mark got on a boat with Paul and Barnabus and Luke as soon as he could. He probably followed Peter all the way to Rome, and constructed his Gospel based on Peter's preaching.

What an incredible set on influences Mark had on his life. Literally some of the best men who had ever lived made a mark on this man's life. I wonder what influences our lives? Are we in the way of God? Finding ways to spend time around great men, whether living or dead? Do we read books by the great men? Do we spend time with the preachers and leaders in our own churches? Are we plugged into the community that Jesus wants for us?

Who are you being influenced by?

For all Mark's great influences, he still had his struggles. He probably followed the disciples to Gethsemene, and then he was probably the young man who ran away naked. Then there was some sort of falling out with Paul on one of their journeys, and Paul didn't want him to go with him again. Mark wasn't perfect. He had his struggles, he had his failures...and yet...the Holy Spirit uses him to write a Gospel! Isn't that cool?

Why can't Jesus use you? Have you failed? Then you're in excellent company! Isn't that what the church is? A bunch of people who have admitted they've failed and they need help? Mark is among that number, and i know i am! Don't let past failures determine your future. Mark didn't, and the Lord is still using him today!

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Book Review: Delighting In The Trinity

Delighting in the Trinity, by Michael Reeves is a short, heartwarming book on the Trinity that you have to read.

Hold on, you say, there are so many problems with that opening sentence i don't even know where to start.

A short book on the trinity? How is that? Well it is short. Short and to the point. Weighing at 130 pages it manages to cover everything you need to know for an introduction to this most Christian of beliefs. Michael Reeves with an introduction and conclusion forming the bread for a sandwich with chapters on creation, salvation and Christian living in between. And yes, the doctrine of the trinity has a huge impact on each on of those areas of our faith. So it's a short book, but a weighty one. It loses nothing by being brief. It's short, but well put together. It hold the attention of the reader, as Reeves has a style and a wit all his own.

Ok, so it's short, but heartwarming? Isn't the trinity something made up by 'bored monks on a rainy tuesday.' Some that's interesting if you're keen enough to read and think about it, but not really relevant to life. And not something worth getting excited over. Well it's heartwarming in two different ways. It's heartwarming because in this book we are lovingly confronted with who our God is again and again. We're reminded that God isn't a Master, or a Slaverdriver but a Father. And, crucially, that God has always been a Father. We're reminded that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit who spread their love to us. We're invited to bathe in this loved and let it heat up our Bible reading and inform our prayers.

It's heartwarming in that this love is turned to us. Jesus came to spread this goodness, this love, to make known who His Father is. Jesus came to let us know, and let us in on this love. And we will spend eternity enjoying and exploring this love. Delighting in the Trinity is heartwarming because it reminds us who our God is, and heartwarming because it reminds us that this God is for us.

A book you have to read? Definitely! The doctrine of the trinity is at the centre of what we believe, and at the centre of, well, everything. Why are we saved? Because God is trinity, how can we be sure that God loves us? Because He is trinity, why does everything exist? Because God is trinity.

If Christians are coals then Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the fire. Take a coal from the fire and it cools down quickly. Why do we need to read this book? Because it sets our hearts in the center of God's amazing love, and amazing love for us. And we need that. The Gospel leaks out of us, read this book, be filled, and go out!

Monday 20 August 2012

Revelation 1:1-6 Notes

At the request of the class, we started looking at Revelation during Teen Sunday School this week. Here are my notes from chapter 1:1-6

V1a: Revelation is a book that shows us the truth. It’s full of strange and wonderful images, but it’s essential for our understanding of the truth about the end of the world.

V1b: It’s theme is Jesus Christ. That’s ultimately who this book is about. Not when the rapture is, not who will be ruling when the antichrist comes, but Jesus. It’s about His ultimate victory? Simply put, what is revelation about? Jesus winning! Revelation is such an exciting book to read and understand, because it shows us how Jesus will ultimately sit on the throne and receive all the glory He is due.

V1c: This revelation was given to Christ, by God to show to his servants. Not everyone can receive the truth that is contained in Revelation, but only those who believe in Jesus, only those who love Jesus. That’s the meaning of the word translated as servants here. A doulos was a special type of slave who served his master out of love, rather than because he had to. This revelation comes to Christ’s followers.

V1d: Revelation is focused fully on future events, and this is what sets it apart from other NT books. There’s no history here, only prophecy. We’re told that these things take place soon. It’s not our place to try and figure out when soon is, but to have faith that these things are coming. Remember that to the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day. The Lord is patient in His coming, but coming He is.

V1e-2: God made this revelation known though an angel and a servant. This perhaps is how John was taken up into Heaven to receive the revelation, by an angel. So what have we learnt from the first two verses of this book. Firstly perhaps, that there’s nothing to be scared of in studying Revelation. It may seem complicated, and parts of it are, but it’s a Revelation, not a mystery. Second, everything in this book centres around Jesus. If we can’t figure something out, thinking about how it relates to Jesus will help. Thirdly we’ve seen that this book is written to help us deepen our relationship with Christ, and because of that, we should pay attention.

V3: We see this last part in verse 3. When we hear God’s desires and demands written in His Word we have to obey, because the time is near. Time is running out before Christ comes again. He’s closer now that He was when you woke up this morning, so we must pay attention if we are to receive the blessing. And what a blessing it is.

V4-5: We see the setting for this letter, John is writing to churches in Asia who are being persecuted. He will later address each one of these churches, but it’s interesting that Revelation doesn’t look like a normal letter. Most of it, as we’ve said is set well into the future, what is to come should shape the way we live today. These verses contain John’s greeting, and we learnt that it’s not just John who is writing this letter, but that it comes directly from Jesus. This is even more reason to pay attention to what’s being said.

V6: Here John just bursts forth with praise. ‘to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.’ Jesus deserves all praise and worship, and one day that’s exactly what He will get. That Jesus has freed us from our sins by His blood is the heart of the Gospel, and it’s that thought which causes John to praise Him here. Jesus will eventually take His rightful place on the throne, and all will worship Him, Revelation tells us how that happens at the end of human history.

Friday 17 August 2012

Active or Passive

When we think about grace, do we think of it as passive or active?

Perhaps a better question is, 'is grace the permission to sin, or the power to not sin?'

I wonder if some of the problems that we see in the church, and that I see in my life (when i say 'the church', or 'we', i invariably mean 'me') is because we see grace as passive rather than active.

When grace is passive, sin loses it's seriousness. Sin becomes unfortunate, and, because sin is cheap nothing more than that. When grace is passive, sin becomes inevitable. We find no power not to sin, in fact, since grace is forgiveness, we just find permission to sin. When grace is passive, Christ's death is a nice gesture, a necessary sacrifice even, but nothing that important. Sin isn't that serious after all so surely the bloody death of the Son of God is a bit of an overreaction.

When grace is active, however, we have in full view the full colour Christ who told a man to let the dead bury their own dead. When grace is active we see why Simon left his nets and Matthew his tax booth to follow Jesus. He is irresistible, how can one not follow Him? When grace is active, grace becomes power. The power not to sin, the power to get up and work, the power to follow Jesus, not just wallow in our sins.

When grace is active, we realise that grace isn't thing separate from Christ, but grace is in fact what leads us to follow Christ. Grace gets us up on our feet along those dusty Galliean roads. Grace gives us joy, and life, because grace, as an active, vibrant living thing, gives us Christ, not just some religious abstract. True grace, Biblical grace, active grace, gives us Jesus, and Jesus gives us life itself.

Thursday 16 August 2012

Being Ill and Being in Christ

This morning i feel like a king. You know that feeling you get when you're recovering from being sick, and it's the feeling of being well again that shows you how ill you were in the first place. Just to be able to sit at my desk and not shiver, while wearing a coat in 90 degree weather is about the best feeling in the world right now.

Getting sick three days into the new school year is pretty awful timing. My first two classes with the new 11th  grade Bible class, i'm sure, were pretty ordinary. I'm not sure how much excitement and passion about the Word and about Christ i communicated to them. We're in a busy season at church too, as our AWANA programme gets ready to start again, and a couple of big teen and church-wide activities on the horizon. Like i said, this was a terrible time of the year to get sick.

It's a frustrating thing isn't it, illness? It cuts right to the heart of our human pride. I missed church last night, and it was good to remember that the preaching of the Gospel doesn't actually depend on me. The teens went in the adult meeting and were fed well. It's good to remember that things don't depend on me. Trinity did fine before i showed up, and it will do fine long after i'm gone. Illness 1-0 Pride.

Being ill reminds me that i'm not as strong as i think i am. Even though this was only a 48 hour bug, or whatever it was, it taught me that i'm not all that much. When you come home early from work and fall asleep at 3pm, it's hard to maintain a superman image. I'm glad for that. Glad to be reminded how weak and fragile i am, glad to be reminded that it's not all about me, and my abilities.

Finally, as sat alternating between shivering and sweating, feeling like i was coughing up an internal organ, i looked forward all the more to a world without sickness. Christ bore my sins, and my sickness in His body on the cross. My inner sickness is far more serious, far more deadly than my outer. Being ill this week reminded me of that. Reminded me that as seriously as i took overcoming physical sickness, i should take my inner sickness far more seriously. Being ill this week made me glad for the great Physician, and for that, i'm thankful!

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Happily Ever After

We love stories don't we? I wonder if one of the reason the Olympics Opening Ceremony was better received than the Closing was that it told a story. We like stories because we're caught up in one, and despite post modern attempts to deconstruct it, we need to be involved in one.

Stories, as any five year old can tell you, need a beginning, middle and end. The Bible's full of stories will endings, but some of them stop, well, they just stop. What do we do at the end of Jonah, with the shorter ending of Mark or the way Luke stops telling us about Acts? I think those books finish in that way to turn the attention to the reader and make us think about our response.

Jonah
Jonah tells the story of a disobedient prophet who enjoys and shares the grace of God despite his best efforts. In chapter 4, just after Nineveh has repented and God has turned His anger away Jonah sets up on a hill to watch the action. He makes a booth out of a plant the shade him, but God sends a worm to kill the plant. Jonah stamps his foot and gets upset about the loss of the plant, and God looks at him and asks whether or not He should pity Nineveh. We never get an answer from Jonah, we're supposed to work it out for ourselves. What do we do with God's challenge to Jonah? Do we care about the lost or not?

Mark
If we take the shorter ending of Mark as the end of the original text, then it ends with the women at the tomb being terrified because they had been told Jesus was risen. Douglas Moo offers a couple of a couple of alternatives, maybe the last page of Mark was torn off and lost, or that Mark died before writing the end, or this was where he meant to finish. Why? To turn around and look at us. Mark wants us to consider who Jesus is, and this is the final part of his evidence.

Acts
The way Luke finishes Acts is sort of out of character with the rest of his work. His Gospel and his history are so well organized that i can't believe he'd end it like that. So what happened? Maybe he died, maybe his plan was to write another installment later, or maybe he meant to turn the spotlight on us. The Gospel had reached Rome. It had gone from Jerusalem, through Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth. Are we going to join in? Jesus had led Paul to Rome, the Gospel was at the heart of the world, now what about you, reader? Will you take part in Paul's mission, in Jesus' mission to spread the Gospel around the world?

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Jesus is Better Than Jonah

Typology is one of the ways we behold the glory of the Gospel of Christ in all of the Scriptures. The Old Testament is full of 'types' of Christ and His work. Most notably King David and the Exodus. Jesus Himself tells us that we can learn about Him from Jonah. He tells the people challenging Him for a sign that no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah. He warned His listeners that the men of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now someone better than Jonah is here.

So is Jonah a 'type' of Christ? Sort of. Jonah might be better understood as an 'anti-type,' and it's against his dark backdrop that Christ shines all the brighter. If Jesus is the sweetest, brightest character in Scripture, and obviously, He is, then Jonah is certainly the opposite of that.

Jonah comes across as an inveterate racist. He hides his faith from the pagan sailors and stamps his foot when Nineveh is saved. Jesus comes to bring the gentiles in. In Christ there is no race or creed or colour.

Jonah refused to go to Nineveh. God called him east and he tried to run west. He is determined that Israel will keep the blessing of knowing the living God to themselves. Jesus comes to give life to any who will have Him.

Jonah disobeyed, and complained and pouted. Jesus brings us the heart of His Father. Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of His nature. Jonah couldn't have been further from the Father's outgoing heartbeat, Jesus is that heartbeat.

Jonah is more concerned about his plant than about those who don't know God. Jesus is so concerned that He, the Son of God, was born in a stable to bring them in.

Jonah was angry enough to die because things didn't go his way. Jesus did die, laying down His life for the glory of God, and the benefit of His people.

Jesus is better than Jonah, thank God!

Monday 13 August 2012

Jonah 4

We’ve seen that when we run, God chases, when we pray, God answers, when we repent, God forgives, in chapter 4 we see what God does when we sulk. When God does something that we don’t understand, or that we don’t like, how does God respond to us? Chapter 4 breaks up into two parts. We find Jonah’s angry prayer in v1-4, and God’s lesson to Jonah in v5-11. Verses 5-11 are the climax of the whole book. Everything else in Jonah happens twice. He is sent in ch1 and ch3, he sees pagans come to know God at the end of ch1 and the end of ch3, and he prays in ch2 and ch4. But the end of the book is the only time that God challenges Jonah about his attitude.

Let’s look at Jonah’s prayer:
V1. He’s angry that God has saved the people of Nineveh. If you don’t understand this point of view, that’s a good thing! Jonah is an anti-example.

V2-3. Like he’s telling the Lord, ‘I told you so!’ This is why I ran the other way, I knew you were gracious, and I knew they’d repent. Jonah is so angry with the Lord for saving the Ninivites that he’d rather be dead than see them worship the Lord.

V4. God has a gracious but challenging answer…’do you do well to be angry?’ Is it a good thing to disagree with the Lord? Is it good that you think you know better than me, the Lord asks. This is the essence of all sin isn’t it? Whether it’s racism and pride as here, or lust, or materialism or laziness or whatever. The root is thinking you know better than God.

In verses 5-11 God teaches Jonah a gracious, fatherly lesson.

V5-6. Jonah sits outside the city to see what will become of it. It’s hot in the desert, so the Lord appoints a plant to come over him and give him some shade. Jonah was in discomfort because of the heat of the sun, the same sort of discomfort he was in when God showed mercy to Nineveh. He was comforted by the plant that gave him shade.
V7-8. Again, Jonah does not come off well here, something that adds to the authenticity of the book. God sends a worm, it destroys the plant, Jonah gets too hot and wants to die! Wants to die! He’s so angry again.

V9-11. Here’s the lesson for Jonah. He pities the plant. Shouldn’t God pity Nineveh. Jonah didn’t make the plant, but God made Nineveh. The plant ‘came into being in a night and perished in a night,’ but there are more than 120,00 people in Nineveh. Shouldn’t God feel compassion on them, if you feel compassion on a plant?

We never learn Jonah’s answer. It’s like he turns round and looks at us. What about us? Where do our sympathies lie? With the unsaved, or with our own comforts? Are our priorities God’s priorities? What does God do when we sulk? He lovingly, but firmly challenges our priorities.

Saturday 11 August 2012

In The Bible It's Always Spring

As the shining of the sun enlargeth the spirit of poor creatures, the birds in springtime to sing, so proportionately, the apprehension of the sweet love of God in Christ enlargeth the spirit of a man, and makes him full of joy and thanksgiving. He breaks forth into joy, so that his whole life is a matter of joy and thanksgiving.

Richard Sibbes, from The Matchless Love and Inbeing, quoted in Delighting in the Trinity, Mike Reeves, P107.

I've been sharing reasons to read the Bible over the last few days. Sibbes, of course, says it better. Why read the Bible? Because it draws our hearts to God, and produces the overflowing fruit of joy and thanksgiving. In the Bible it's always Spring, life is always blooming, the darkness is always been chased away...

Friday 10 August 2012

Why Read The Bible (IV)

So far in this series we've seen reasons not to read the Bible, we've seen that reading the Bible brings us to meet with God, and that reading the Bible stimulates our appetite for, and growth in, holiness. Today, we'll look at Proverbs 1:2-6, and see that we should read the Bible to get guidance from God.

Guidance is a sticky issue in the Bible though isn't it? The Bible doesn't tell us who we should marry, or where we should go to college, neither does God anywhere promise any mystical, extra nugget of revelation to help us find these things out. So how does the Bible guide us? Well, just like an Olympic athlete isn't going to train for the 100 metres by just thinking about it, but by putting in the effort, we'll see from these verses that we are supposed to work at finding Gods will for different situations in our life.

Proverbs 1:2-6 promises us seven ways that the Bible will guide us. Solomon's aim for this book is that we would grow in wisdom. In Verse 7 he describes wisdom as beginning with the fear of the Lord. Knowledge and acknowledgement of the Lord is a vital part of the guidance that God would give us though His Word. If we want wisdom, then we have to search it out in the Bible.

And wisdom, verse 2 promises us, leads to discernment. We'll be able to choose the good from the bad, the right from the wrong. We'll have the skills to analyze a situation, not just emote over one. To look around the Church today is to see people needing to grow in discernment. Bible reading will help us to do that.

Thirdly, regular Bible reading will give us instruction. What for? For wise dealing, or good living. Instruction that teaches us to pay the bills before we go to the mall, to turn the tv off after 10pm. Through diligent application of what we see in the Bible, we will be instructed for life.

Next, verse 4 promises us the ability to make a plan. So often we can be caught between two good options, we need to train ourselves how to choose. This verse promises to help people who struggle with direction in life, it gives them knowledge, discretion and prudence. Where do we learn the ability to make a plan that pleases God? In the Bible!

Verse 5 tells us that we will listen and learn if we are wise. The wise man is always listening and always learning. To keep listening to God's Word and to keep learning it's story is vitally important if we're going to survive a winter of our souls. To do this is to store up grain for a bad winter, to have somewhere to feed when our world crashes around us.

Verse 6 tells us that reading the Bible will give us understanding. As we read we'll grow in our understanding of the Bible, how it fits together, and how it relates to all of our life. We'll have a chance to understand proverbs and sayings.

Put all this together and what do you get? Leadership. As we work to read the Bible. As we set aside time, as we puzzle out the difficulties and apply wherever we can, we'll grow as Christians. We'll grow into leaders of whatever sphere we are in.

We have to see how all three reasons to read the Bible are linked. We meet with God in the Bible, as we meet with God and behold His face we grow in holiness. As we grow in holiness, loving what is right, then we will find the guidance we need to live faithfully in the Bible. None of this will happen apart from regular Bible reading. This is our Father's chosen means to grow His children. We ignore it at our cost...


Thursday 9 August 2012

Why Read The Bible (III)

So far we've seen bad reasons to read the Bible, and we've seen that when we read the Bible we can meet with God. Today, from one of my favourite passages of scripture, we're going to see that reading the Bible helps us to grow in holiness.

What comes to mind when you think about holiness? A boring set of rules to follow? Or an unobtainable idea? Or something designed to stop you having fun? None of these ideas come anywhere near what the Bible teaches us holiness is. Holiness is inward change, brought about by exposure to God in Christ, that impacts the way we live. Holiness is a heart issue, because our problems are heart issues. Our problem is not that we do wrong, our problem is that we love wrong. 2 Corinthians 3:7-4:6 helps us to see why reading the Bible changes our hearts, and produces holiness.

Lets look at it slowly. In verses 7-11 we see that Moses was changed on the outside by what Paul calls the 'ministry of death.' He was physically changed so that the Israelites could not look at his face, it had to covered with a veil. You can understand Paul's question in verse 8. If that which is passing away, that which bought death contained so much glory that it changed Moses like this, how much life-changing glory will be in the ministry that brings life? It will be like holding a candle up to the sun at midday, it will be like there was no glory in the old ministry at all. We should expect exposure to this ministry, exposure to the Bible to change us.

In verses 12-18 we're told that just as Moses was hidden behind a veil, so Jesus is hidden behind a veil for some when they read the Bible. Hard minds and veiled eyes are a result of refusing to turn to Jesus as Lord, because only then is the veil removed. And when the veil is removed...what freedom! Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. When the Lord is working in hearts and minds, in affections and understanding, there is freedom! Freedom from sin, from pride, lust, envy and the million paper cuts that threaten to kill us.

This freedom becomes ours as we are transformed by looking at the Lord. As we behold the Lord in the Scriptures we will be changed. I'm encouraged by the way Paul says our change is 'by degree.' Sometimes it won't feel like much heart change is going on, sometimes it will, but it always is. We can't help but be changed as we behold the glory of the Lord!

But why does this change us? A quick jump to 4:4-6 helps us begin to understand. These were some foundational verses to me as a young Christian, in fact, they still are. What is the fundamental problem that unbelievers have when they read the Bible? They've been blinded so that they can't see, or to use language from 3:17-18, behold, the light that shines from the Gospel. They can't see that which will change them. What is this holiness producing light? The same light that shone into darkness as God spoke creation into being. The light that we behold, the light of the glory of the Gospel of Christ, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ is the light we behold as we see Jesus in scripture. This is the light that changes us.This is the light that produces holiness.

Meeting with God through reading the Bible produces holiness. As we see more light, we begin to love aright, and as we love aright, we live aright. We still do what we want to do, but what we want to do has been changed by the glory we've seen in the Bible.

Wednesday 8 August 2012

Why Read The Bible (II)

Yesterday we looked at reasons not to read the Bible. So let's start looking at some of the great reason we should read. I don't know what images Bible reading suggests to you. Maybe you simply don't like reading and it's that part that puts you off. Maybe you're too busy and, despite the best intentions, Bible reading always gets pushed to one side. Maybe you simply don't see the point? If God loves me and i'm saved what more is there to know? Or maybe you just think Bible reading is boring. You've tried and there's nothing in there for you. There's nothing practical to help you, nothing that tells you what you should do in the situations that are worrying you.

Bible reading is one of the pleasures of the Christians day, for at least three reasons i can think of. Today we'll look at the first one. We read the Bible to meet with God.

1st Samuel 3:1 must be one of the saddest single verses in the Bible. The word of the Lord was rare in those days, there was no frequent vision. When Eli was priest no one sought the Lord. No one waited on the Lord, no one searched the Scriptures to hear His voice and be changed by Him. There was no vision. But that wasn't the case one night for Samuel at Shiloh. What happens according to 1st Samuel 3:21? The Lord revealed Himself to Samuel...by the Word of the Lord. Samuel saw the Lord with his ears. His Bible was opened, and he met with the Lord. If we want to meet with God today, or any day, we must have our Bibles opened. The Lord has chosen to communicate in this way, we can not ignore Him!

Who does John say that Jesus is? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Who is with God and also God? Jesus! Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is the final revelation of God the Father. He spoke before at many times and in many different ways, but in these last days He has spoken through His Son. Where do we see His Son? In the Bible. God is the life spreading God. Jesus is the giver of that life. To read the Bible is to get a life!

2nd Timothy 3:16 tells us that the Bible is breathed out by God. We can trust it because it comes with divine authority and power. And we know we can meet God in the pages of the Bible because they are His Words from His own breath. 2nd Peter 3:16 reminds us that this applies to the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. One of the marks of friendship is the desire to get to know each other, so you talk. Marriage is like one long conversation. If you are serious about knowing God, you'll be serious about reading the Bible.

In the end, our view of the Bible and our view of God are linked. If we struggle to trust one, it's probably because we struggle to trust the other. if we're bored by the Bible, ultimately we're being bored by God.

What's the first answer to the question, why read the Bible? We read the Bible to know God better, both in our affections, and our understanding, as we'll see in the next couple of days...

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Why Read The Bible (I)

Why should Christians read the Bible? That's the question we're going to be looking at over the next couple of days.

I guess before we start, we should talk about bad reasons to read the Bible. There are bad reasons to read the Bible? Sure. Reading the Bible well needs prayer and attention, if we read the Bible for the wrong reason, we're bound to be lacking one of those.

So, we don't read the Bible to do God a favour. Father, Son and Holy Spirit will do just fine forever, if you and i never open the Bible again. He is not sitting on the edge of His seat waiting for us to do Him a favour. A God that needs us, or anything outside of Himself to be satisfied is no sort of God. If we read the Bible to do God a favour, it will probably always be a joyless experience. Our eyes won't be on Christ, they'll be on the clock, we won't see beauty in the narrative, but boredom, they'll be no grace beheld in the law, just the demands of an insecure deity. Don't read the Bible to do God a favour!

And don't read the Bible to earn points. A verse a day keeps the devil away right? No! Bible reading is not a magic spell to keep us close to Jesus, it's not something we do to earn our boy-scout badge. Again, this view of the Bible points to a very low view of God. A God of the notebook, a God who is keeping score. When we read the Bible this way, again, there will be no joy. There will be concern that we haven't read long enough or well enough, guilt when we can't read for some reason. Again, our eyes won't be on Jesus, they will be on us, and when, ten minutes later, we've forgotten what we've just read, we'll feel condemned. Don't read the Bible to earn points, because, however deep down it is, you know you'll never earn enough.

The Bible is not 'basic instructions before leaving earth.' If it is, what sort of instruction is the genealogies, or the temple laws, or the battles? The Bible is not a book about you and me, so don't read it like that. Paul was writing to Rome, not Greenville, Jeremiah prophesied to exiles in Babylon, not the 21st century secular world. You and I are not in the Bible. We're just not there, so stop trying to find yourself. Look at Jesus instead, behold Him in Genesis, bathe in His love in the Song, be convicted by Him in the Gospels and honour Him in all of life in the letters.

Simply, if we read the Bible for any other reason than to make much of God in Christ, we'll miss the point. Open the Bible, and search the city for your beloved...

Monday 6 August 2012

Jonah 3

We've already seen in the first two chapters that the book of Jonah is about so much more than a man and a big fish. We've seen God chase Jonah as he ran away in chapter one, we've seen God answer when Jonah prays in chapter two, now we're about to see what happens when we repent.

Jonah is recommissioned  in v1-2. Jonah is called again and is sent again to Nineveh, this time he goes. God tells him that Ninevah is a ‘great city,’ suggesting that He cares for it. The message looked like judgement in ch1, now it looks like grace. We see that God cares about Nineveh.

Verses 3-4 are the only lines of actually prophecy in this prophetic book. 40 days and the city will be destroyed. Jonah walked around for three days preaching. What would you do with a message like this? If you heard the call to repent, what would you do? How would you respond to being told that in a certain amount of time judgement, disaster, overthrow, was coming?

Nineveh repents in v5-9. They believe God and they repent. The message reaches the king, and he orders his people to put on the official clothes of mourning and repentance, and they wait, and they hope. Who knows? They say, maybe God will relent/ Jonah knew about God’s mercy, but didn’t repent quickly, Israel knew, but barely repented at all, Nineveh didn’t know, but repented. What do we know of God that helps us repent?

God relents in v10. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster… Isn’t that a beautiful verse. God relented when the people repented. Jonah had won a whole city to the Lord with just one recorded verse of preaching. Nineveh repented, and God relented. The city turned away from their idols and towards the living God of the Bible.

So what would you do in Nineveh’s position? Would you hear the crazy preacher man and repent? If you’re not saved, then you are in Nineveh’s position, and this crazy preacher man needs for you to come to Christ and be saved. What did Jesus preach? Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. We need to hear Jesus just as the Ninevites needed to hear Jonah. We must hear, and we must repent. And when we do repent? God will relent. Jesus Christ is for all who will have Him. Turn from your sin, just like the Ninevites and have Christ instead.

As Jesus says in Luke 11:30 Jesus tells us that as Jonah was a sign to Nineveh, so will Jesus be to us. Jesus is a better sign than Jonah. Jonah was a miserable racist, Jesus shines from the pages of history with beauty and love. He calls us away from the things we love that would kill us to Himself, to ultimate satisfaction and fulfillment. He calls us away from judgement to life, He calls us away from death and away from sin. All of us are terminally curved in upon ourselves until Jesus calls us.

Jesus is better than Jonah, will we have Him today?

Friday 3 August 2012

Apart from the Law

Sometimes when you're reading the Bible, an old truth, a known truth, will jump up from the page and hit you in the eye. I guess it's another reason why we need to read every morning. Today just that happened, Romans 3:21 was a bolt of lightening.

but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it.

So much gold here, but a few things stood out. Paul has been painting the human condition in dark terms. Sinful, lawbreakers, approvers of sin, guilty and without excuse. Just one verse earlier Paul tells us that knowing the law will save no one, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. Romans 3:21 finds us in dire straights. Proverbs 25:25 tells us like cold water to a thirsty soul is good news from a far country. And this is the best of news, from the furthest of countries, the Gospel is the most refreshing if waters to our sin parched souls. 

Why is it such good news that the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law? What sort of manifestation was the law? Ultimately Paul argues, a condemning one. Not because of any fault of the law. The law, like it's Giver is good and right and true and holy. But the law stands against us. We can not keep the law. We break it from the moment we're born to the moment we die. The law creates a chasm between us and God. God has graciously revealed Himself to us, but in a way that provokes sin within us. 

Which is why Paul starts with 'but now,' but now there is a manifestation of God's righteousness apart from the law. A manifestation that saves rather than condemns. What is this manifestation? How is this righteousness counted to us? Faith in Christ. Christ keeps the law, 'earns' it's righteousness and then gives it to us. The righteousness of God was manifested fully on the cross, as the wrath of the Father crushed the Son, the only Israelite upon whose heart the law had truly been written. Now, by faith, we are connected to Christ and the righteousness of God is ours.

This is not a new thing, Paul assures the Romans Jews, you can read about it in Moses, but it is a uniting thing. The righteousness of God humbles us, kills our pride, and unites us as a church. 

Good news from a far country on a Thursday morning. The righteousness of God through faith in Christ for all who believes. Let this Gospel water flood the plains burnt by sin, and bring you to Jesus!

Thursday 2 August 2012

Some thoughts on CFA day

Well Wednesday came and went, and my forecast of my own thoughts was about right. I enjoyed it, but i wondered if it was really achieving anything. Here are some random thoughts:

Maybe this is what Christians should do
In America in 2012, no one is going to come at you with a knife, or a gun, or a brick, just because you're on the way to church. But the faith once for all time delivered will be mocked, and we should expect it to be. It was ever thus. Maybe this is the best way to stand together. 'If you don't like the Biblical philosophy that drives a certain restaurant, we're all going to eat there.' It wasn't violent, or angry, it was good. Maybe this is what we should be doing.

It's good to be for things
Christians are so often known for what we're against, it's good to be known for what we're in favour of. Biblical marriage and tasty chicken! But seriously, we must keep holding out our faith as that which brings life and liberty, not that which takes it away. Wednesday was at least a step towards that.

I did enjoy it
We saw people from our church, other churches, old friends, new friends with their kids. People were clearly having a good time. One of the traces of the Gospel in our hearts is that we're all designed to be part of something bigger than ourselves, and this was one such something.

It's not going to change anything
Is Rahm Emmanuel going to say 'hundreds of thousands of people in the Bible belt ate at chick-fil-a? We must build one!' Of course not. This is where we are now. The freedom to exercise one's faith is slowly being eroded. The idea that what we do on Sunday should impact our lives on Monday to Saturday will get more and more unpopular. So i think we have to take these stands.

I'm still not sure it's a Gospel issue
But maybe it is.

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Good Articles on CFA and Religious Liberty

If you're interested in chick-fil-a gate and you haven't read these, you should!

Mark Steyn: The Tolerance Enforcers

The Cripplegate: 4 Thoughts on Chick-fil-a Day

Al Mohler: Religious Liberty Under Threat

Voddie Baucham: Gay Is Not The New Black

Trevin Wax: Why the Chick-fil-a boycott is really about Jesus.

Anyone have any more?

Chick -fil-a Day

Today is Chick-fil-a day. For those of you who don't know, chick-fil-a is a chicken restaurant that serves excellent food. I like it very much. It was also founded and is run by Christians. It's closed on Sundays. So why chick-fil-a day? Because the current president of Chick-fil-a, Dan Cathy, had the temerity to speak in favour of the traditional, Biblical view of a one man one woman marriage in a recent interview. These days, that's viewed as some kind of crime against humanity, and so the mayors of Chicago and Boston have said that they will oppose the building of new restaurants in their cities. You can read more about the background here and here.

Two issues need to be raised and set aside before i tell you why i'm conflicted about CFA Day. The first is, what sort of a nation is America becoming when the Mayor of a city can use his influence to stop free enterprise because he disagrees with the views of the President of a company? Secondly, when did speaking in favour of A, become committing a crime of hate speech against Not A? 2012 is a strange time, but i digress, why do i feel conflicted about CFA Day?

Rachel and I will eat at CFA three times today. It's her favourite place to eat, and i like it to0. There's no great statement in that. I think part of our make up as created people is that our hearts flourish in being part of something bigger than ourselves, it's a Gospel echo. It'll be fun to wait in line, order our food and feel like we're really part of something special. And you know what else? Part of me is looking forward to being part of the message that gets sent to the mayors of Boston and Chicago, and those who oppose a traditional view of marriage. I don't really know what that message will be, but at least i'm part of it!

But...but, there are two thoughts nagging in the back of my mind. Two thoughts that leave me conflicted about CFA Day. The first is this. Where does Jesus ever tell us to further the Kingdom by flexing our economic muscles? It's the masters of the gentiles who Lord is over their people not James and John. We worship a guy who was murdered in the most humiliating way possible, how can we think that we are in a position to show other how string we are. Christians get strong by being weak, we win by losing. Paul went to prison and the Gospel spread, the Jews killed Jesus, but here comes Peter and John. I'm just not totally comfortable with the idea that a show of force is a particularly Christian response.

My second problem is like the first. Aren't we looking like the world when we do this? We don't like the idea that the church is viewed as just another pressure group or voting bloc, so why do we act like it. Why should we employ the same tactics as, say, Planned Parenthood, and then complain because we get viewed in the same way? Are we witnessing to the world by becoming more and more like it? Are we guilty of the equal and opposite error of those who are opposing Chick-fil-a? I don't know.

I don't have any answers, i'm just thinking out loud. I'll enjoy my breakfast wrap, three piece chicken strip meal and spicy chicken sandwich. I'll enjoy the day. But all the time a voice in my head will be asking, 'what are we actually achieving here, is this a hill worth dying on?'

Like i said, there's no answers here, just questions that might be worth asking...