Underneath the wrapping paper

I confess, I get wearied by fashion trends. And fashionability. You get fashionability in Christian circles. Not just tinsel at Christmas. Like for a while there, it was as if everyone had just discovered the ‘social Trinity’; and all of a sudden expressions like ‘divine dance’ and ‘inclusiveness’ and ‘open community’ being bandied around. Aha.

Another trendy word is ‘missional’. Honestly, I haven’t got a clue what people mean by this – other than I know it is used in so many different and divergent ways. So here’s my attempt to disentangle some trendy vocabulary (some of which is Biblical) in a way that makes sense:

Step 1 - Witness         Who we are before we open our mouths. What people see when they look at our lives. Is there a reflection of Jesus there? And when we do open our mouths, what sort of speech do they hear, attitudes expressed? Witness is about trying to match what’s on the label with what’s in the packet.

Step 2 - Mission         Literally, in the New Testament it translates a Greek word meaning ‘service’. And from Latin, the verb means ‘sending’. ‘Sent service’: that’ll do nicely. Engaging with others in acts of meaningful service. Are we trying to do it the Jesus way, with His attitude?

Step 3 - Evangelism   Literally, ‘sharing good news’. Building on the platform of witness and mission. Telling people about the truth and light and life that comes to them through Jesus Christ. God's answer to the big question.

Fit in all the rest in any way you like. That’s the core of it all underneath the wrapping paper.

NETS 2011

Just back from the annual New Evangelical Theological Symposium, facilitated by a group of us who come from different 'streams' but all of whom might fit the description, 'post-Charismatic' church leaders and theological thinkers. This year we had Mark Bonnington, leader of King's Church Durham, speak to us. He is a New Testament Scholar and also teaches a Masters' course in Charismatic Theology in Durham. Spoke on the theology of the Gospels and Acts, emphasising rich themes: Mark's journey from 'Kingdom to Cross' and John's incarnational Trinitarian theology. Good stuff. Great that we all acknowledged the need for a teleological focus to our message of the Kingdom, reaching towards eschatological fulfilment: which has to give us, in the present, an eschatological focus to all our missional activity. So easy to lose sight of this.

Especially appreciated table talk with Debbie, Roger Foster's daughter, who commented that when we pastor people, we are there not just to shepherd or counsel them, but help them to connect directly with Jesus present with us. And also a wee quotable comment by Mark: "Experiences of the Holy Spirit need theological direction". Amen! We need both theological appreciation and direct experience of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And never to lose sight of Jesus present as the key to it all. So, a worthwhile time.

Vulnerability with Victory

It was when I was listening to Stuart Blythe preach a really insightful sermon at Mo Gibbs' ordination and induction to St Ninian's in Stirling yesterday that I realised it. Stuart was preaching on Luke 10.1-12 and the model of vulnerability in the ministry of Jesus Christ. And I was already into that. But then he spoke of faith as our participation - yes, in the life and ministry of Jesus. And also in the victory.

You see, it's not that I hadn't thought of victory. But there's sometimes an approach that sees all of the Christian life as 'victory!' . Victory in trampling people and getting what you want. And that I have no time for - nor, I believe, does God.

But vulnerability and persecution need to have an endgame, if there's worth to going through with this Christian life stuff. And that endgame is the resurrection. The entering into of the New Heavens and New Earth that we wait for. Victory.

So I've corrected my profile statement about what faith is. Thanks, Stuart.

Gathering or dispersing?

"Churches under the prevailing assumptions and influence of Christendom are highly structured for gathering but not for dispersing. To the extent that they are not rooted in local communities, neighborhoods, and networks of relationships, they thereby become disconnected and remote. Churches function as places to which people have to be invited, rather than as faith communities that intersect with the wider community on many issues and provide multiple entry points". Gibbs, Churchmorph, p. 96.

After a meeting yesterday, I was really challenged in a way that is summed up in this quotation. We prefer, in practice, preservation to mission: the default situation of Christians, as with all people, is a sinful one. After all, being Christian does not stop us being sinners. The Christian path demands a constant and repeated reorientation of our lives, centering afresh on Jesus Christ.

The whole of our church life needs to be reshaped by majoring on mission.

I'm conscious that whether pastors or church members, we err towards a form of church that is about 'gathering' rather than dispersing. And this, for us all, has to change.

Facing the future

As I look into the coming seven weeks, my final ones as pastor of the Bristo congregation before taking up post as Mission & Ministry Advisor to our Baptist Union of Scotland, I find myself reflecting much on a week spent with three days at our annual Baptist Assembly followed by four days at IBTS in Prague. The theme of the Assembly was Outrageous Generosity and that of the conference in Prague, Incarnational Discipleship. The former emphasised what is given in Christ and proffered in and through those who receive Him; the latter looked at the emphasis and implications in the Gospels of being a follower of Jesus. And the two are meant to go together. Meant.

But we struggle, as Christians, in doing that very thing. In a culture saturated with consumerism, we expect and demand the Gospel to be the news of the best bargain ever: God’s love and acceptance, completely free! God as an ever welcoming, bigger, better Santa Claus. Yet, as we see Europe and the world face the consequences of economic greed and moral self indulgence, we so easily allow ourselves the lie that the Holy God’s generosity can be shaped by our own preferences and peccadillos. And the Christ of the Gospels, who calls men and women into holiness and holistic discipleship, can become strangely unattractive and distant to us.

The speakers at our Assembly were excellent. The conference, featuring the teaching of that wonderfully gracious, enquiring and experimental ethicist, Professor Glen Stassen together with the outstanding work of some of our Research students, was so stimulating. What I am left with is a sense of the excitement and the huge challenge of what lies before us all.

For God, whatever man might say or aspire to, will have His way. The call of the Gospel is not only an invitation but also an imperative; a command, that both directs and decides humanity’s final destiny. The future is filled with the presence, purpose and power of God: the only question is how many of those who now live will be alive into that future. And the responsibility of sharing and showing the significance of this lies with those of us who have glimpsed and gather to the full revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So this Sunday I will preach on Matthew 5. Or Romans 14.17. Or both. We’ll see. Either way, I can only be confronted in my soul with the stark tension of finding comfort with a God who leads us to feel profoundly uncomfortable in this world. Or a comfort in this world which disengages us from the real Jesus. Because belonging to Jesus exposes us to the reality of the demons that demand loyalty for us to be happy here; and there is no rapport between Jesus and the demons.

When you and I carry the real presence of God into the spaces and places of this world and its present ruler, cosmic conflict is unleashed. Powers and prejudices become exposed. And a choice between walking in the path of the Saviour, or finding the false peace of Satan with all its economic, sexual and social delusions, stands open before us.

The choice for all of us, while we still have life and breathe in this body, is still there. Pray that each may make the choice that leads into life in all its fullness.

How can Baptists agree together?

The real issue in coming to an understanding of what is an acceptable Christian practice, is not simply the process of Biblical or theological hermeneutics; but communitarian, hermeneutical method. In other words, asking the question, ‘how can we as Christians facing life together develop understanding of Jesus’ way together’?

Well, we need to use the Bible. But we also need to apply what we see and find in the Bible.

The importance of advocating ‘bottom up’ discussion of Biblical mores and application is vital. Whether the larger Christian community, in terms of an Association or an Assembly, should do anything other than encourage discussion, is a moot question. It is unlikely that we can establish a single opinon on any contemporary social or ethical practice that is apparently acceptable in the wider, secular community, outwith the context of a local, ‘thick’ Christian community: a group of Christians covenanted together to live out values and practices that they agree upon. The important thing is to get communities to affirm what is most important to them in the way they live their lives.

Incarnational Discipleship

An interesting few days. After some 'outrageous grace' at our Scottish Baptist Assembly, here I am with friends and colleagues at IBTS. This is such a great place to gather internationally, with baptistic scholars from throughout Europe and beyond.

And not just scholars, but scholars who are intent on contextual mission and integrity of witness. One of the senior adjunct faculty, Professor Glen Stassen, is presenting lectures on 'Incarnational discipleship'. What does it mean? For me the quest is epitomised in the life and ministry of one friend and a research student here, Mike Pears (in photo). Mike and his wife intentionally moved their home from pastoring an established baptistelse  church, feeling called to pattern something in obedience. So now he is in one of the most deprived areas of Bristol, living in a large, deprived 'white sink' estate.

Mike, for me, is a true prophet. His convictions and his practices are integrated in a very convincing way. He really believes in Christian witness not from the place of power, but from the place of weakness. The Philippian hymn lies at the heart of his life. And his missional theology, as he continues critital appraisal of his own life and ministry.

Mike always causes me to feel challenged in my attitudes and goals; in the way I live and how I long to live. Thank you, Mike.

Leadership that might just about be 'OK'

I confess, if you didn't know already: I have a particular dislike for the word, 'leadership'. It evokes too many painful memories of self promotion, egotism and insecurity. And I'm not just talking about myself!

However, there may be hope for me yet. I've just been reading more of Eddie Gibbs' Churchmorph and am really liking this (pp 53-54):

“Under the constraints of modernity, leadership tended to be an eletist concept, exercised through hierarchy and control. For churches to be effectively missional in a postmodern information age, leadership has to be devolved and expressed by different individuals according to the situational demands. Leadership consists of connecting people to one another. Missional churches encourage creative freedom and initiative taking, while at the same time providing the possibility of failing with dignity. But freedom also requires accountability as a safeguard and to ensure a learning environment in which leaders mature through wise mentoring.

“A learning system is one in which everyone is made aware of what is going on around them. It recognizes that no individual can know all that needs to be known, given the complexities of the world in which we live. It is a system that draws on the collective wisdom of the entire body. It constantly asks, "What do we need to know?" and "Who is most likely to know?" The role of the overall leader is to serve as a catalyst in this process by identifying issues, making connections, and articulating and reiterating the vision so that the church has a sense of common mission that is linked to a multiplicity of callings, giftings, and tasks.”

OK. If we can agree about this, then I can agree that there might be a valid place for talking about leadership and not just about servanthood. Can we agree?

Real mission

Churches often play at mission. Eddie Gibbs, in his book Churchmorph, observes that new attempts in mission and outreach,

"will only gain significance as they reach out to the de-churched and never-churched segments of the population, rather than providing the latest attraction for bored, frustrated, or angry current churchgoers. They also need to be strongly in evidence in urban contexts, recognizing that our culture is driven by urban values and images, with suburbia increasingly becoming culturally marginalized".

Groups of Christians must find fresh identity. We have to shed the garments of ecclesial baggage and traditions that smell more of worldly culture than of Christ. We need to reinvent ourselves in Jesus' name. It's not enough to be nice people in community. As Gibbs also observes,

"The most vigorous forms of community are those that come together in the context of a shared ordeal or those that define themselves as a group with a mission that lies beyond themselves—thus initiating a risky journey". 

We really need to see 'the mission of God' as standing at the heart of our reason for being. Otherwise we are not simply irrelevant for our neighbour. Worse, we become irrelevant for God.

Transition

Today, Judy White preached an inspirational message and I shared the following with my congregation:

"Dear Family,

Within the last year, we have seen significant changes in the leadership structure of the Baptist Union of Scotland. Both the national Mission & Ministry Advisors were called back into pastoral ministry, and the Union’s Council agreed that a new post be created, with responsibility for oversight and advising in the development of a unified understanding of Mission and Ministry within our Baptist Union of Churches.

As some of you know, I have been involved in the work of our Board of Ministry since 1997, and was invited onto the Search Group to find the right person for the new position. The Mission & Ministry Advisor together with the General Director will hold full time, stipendiary office as part of the core leadership of our Union of churches. After the 1^st meeting of the Search Group, I realised that this was a ministry to which I felt strongly drawn. However, I was persuaded that if God was saying this to me, He would also say it to others. I resolved not to apply for this position nor discuss my thoughts with colleagues. My prayer, however, was that if God was in this, another member of the Search group would approach me with this conviction on their heart too.

The Search Group had decided to consider recommendations as well applications. A colleague on the Search Group did unexpectedly come to speak to me, and a commendation was subsequently made by them and their colleague in pastoral ministry. I immediately resigned from the Search Group and took no further part in discussion or proceedings from that moment onwards. The Search group met after the deadline for applications and considered a number of applications together with this commendation. Consequently, the Search Group then invited me to interview: references from the wider church were also obtained and considered. As a consequence the group unanimously recommended my appointment by the Council to the post of Mission and Ministry Advisor. The members of Council then had 2 weeks to prayerfully consider this recommendation, and 2 days ago the result of a secret ballot was an overwhelming confirmation by our Scottish Baptist Union’s Council that I be appointed to the post of Mission and Ministry Advisor.

The long and thorough process of communal discernment, together with the fact that all initiatives in this matter have come from others, persuades me that this is God’s will. Accordingly, at the beginning of 2012, I will be stepping down from the office that I have sought to serve in for 17 years, as pastor of Bristo, and will take up a national leadership position as Mission and Ministry Advisor to the Baptist Union of Scotland. I ask for your prayers. And I would also ask you for your support in this new relationship which I will have with you as a congregation in membership of our Union.

It has been a privilege to be your pastor. But I do believe it is time for the church to move forward with a new pastor. Whilst my new role will be to give you advice, the pastoral oversight of this congregation will need to be entrusted to another. To that end, recommendation for the appointment of an interim moderator will be considered at the next deacons’ meeting, and hopefully by this time next month a congregational meeting will be convened for you to consider a nominee for appointment as interim moderator who, experienced in oversight yet detached from emotional involvement in Bristo, will guide you through due process towards the appointment of the next person to hold the office of pastor of this congregation.

I do believe there are challenging and exciting times ahead for Bristo. And this I say to you: be humble before God, seek His will alone, discern together and submit to what He commands. Do this, and you will be blessed much and also be a blessing to many others in Jesus’ name. I love you and would trust you to pursue the baptistic way in these matters. Be faithful.

In His love,

Jim"

Difficult to face the parting. But exciting to face the future too.

Clusters in Christ

Had a great meeting this evening with the deacons of another church in our local Baptist Union of Scotland Cluster, Stenhouse Baptist Church. This congregation has been hugely courageous in looking to move forward and, as one of their deacons said, 'move out of our comfort zone', into a redevelopment project. The challenges are huge, but so is the sense of hope and engagement in faith.

Moreover, they are encouraged by the arrival of new, younger people in the church. Which itself brings challenges. But this group of deacons are intent on moving forward, serving their church and their Lord in the cause of His Kingdom.

Well done, Stenhouse Baptist Church! You are an inspiration and an example to us all. Moving forward from the place of comfort to the place of challenge - the place where we always find the Lord taking us, as He equips us top be witnesses and calls us to participate in the evangelisation of the world - including the one on our doorstep.

Like the stars above

Abram placed His trust in what the LORD had said,

and the LORD attributed this to Abram as righteousness

In recent weeks the preaching, expounding both Romans in the mornings and Hebrews in the evenings, has brought into focus Abraham as the father of the faithful. And especially the passage, Genesis 15.1-6, where Abram is taken out of his tent by God to gaze up at the stars and told to count them; and then told by Go that this would be as the number of his descendents. It reminds me, when once staying on a kibbutz in the Judaean wilderness, of going outside at night and looking at the amazing night sky, free of light pollution. Never had I seen so many stars!

And it reminds me that faith is always a consequence of hope rediscovered. Of gazing in wonder and seeing afresh what God has done, reading again in the Scriptures and recalling afresh His deeds and His ways. I’m thankful for this. That my faith is not something that starts with me. But is based on the objective reality of God’s glory and goodness, all leading us towards and finding fulfilment in Jesus Christ.

Sobering one-liners

Heard two original 'one liners' from colleagues this week - one from Edinburgh and one from Prague:

"The trouble with 'friendship evangelism' is it can be all friendship and no evangelism"

"Some people have 30 years of ministry experience. Others have 1 year's experience repeated 30 times"

Nailing Jelly on the wall

Mattias Neve works for the Swedish Baptist Union, and is researching and writing for a doctorate on ‘Emerging Church’. His work is fascinating. I am persuaded that the issues around Emerging Church are vitally important for all of us who would reach others for the Kingdom of God. ‘Defining Emerging Church is like nailing jelly on the wall’.

What are the issues? Well, how do we reach folk in a society where God and Jesus seem irrelevant? Sometimes we wait for people to have a crisis, so that they seek meaning: the ‘God of the gaps’. Or we seeking to connect with people in ways that we feel might attract them. Mattias speaks of ‘seeking proximity’. Making meaningful contact with people is not an option. It is of the essence of our Christian calling. Touching others in ways that are true to who I am in Christ, and genuinely seeks to serve them where they are.

Make meaningful contact – thanks, Mattias!

the humbling importance of apophaticism

OK - please understand that I'm here at IBTS to do theology. So if you dont 'do' theology, skip this. This blog today is for folk who like doing theology - and I want to share it, because it strikes me as so important a matter. When I am here at IBTS and mix with folk from different cultures, some of whom have a deep, encultured awareness and understanding of Orthodoxy, it really hits me how often all of us can misrepresent the ideas and grasp of reality owned by others. Our hermeneutical paradigms are often so uncritically subjective.

For example, most Westerners confuse the Catholic via negativa, with its spiritual value in a Catholic or even Protestant context, with apophaticism as embraced in an Orthodox context: where it is used to counter any sterility arising out of the kataphatic statements made in the great Creeds, when these are treated in a strict propositional way. Apophaticism should remind us that, all things said, there is mystery in the face of God's greatness. At a popular level, Western Christians can try to represent that formulae and confessional statements can say it 'all', and end up with such sterile representations of truth. Apophaticism should help us guard against that mistake.

And the other thing is about theosis. The suggestion that the Orthodox thereby are contending that we thereby 'become like God' is absurd. Theosis is really all about the process of development and maturing that God calls us into. To return to becoming what we were created and are now redeemed to be.

Well, that is what I've been thinking and talking about over the last 12 hours at IBTS. Home on Sunday!

Autumn in Prague

The leaves are already turning here, but it is scenic - witnessed in this picture of my friend, the missiologist Andrew Kirk, as after supper we walked together through the Sarka Valley outside the seminary here in Prague. Today, another friend and student here, Constantine Prokhorov from Omsk, successfully completed his 'viva voce' for his doctorate. His thesis persuasively demonstrates how powerful the influence of the Orthodox Church is on the convictions and practices that characterise Russian Baptists: an unpopular message as it is for some. Just as some in Scotland might prove resistant to recognising how powerful is the influence of Calvinism, and not just the Bible, in shaping so much that characterises our practices and convictions. But there it is. We can never fully separate ourselves from the context and culture in which we live - and are often affected by it far more than we would readily admit.

But on reflection, I'd sooner be shaped by Calvinism than by the 'X factor', EastEnders or River City! Let's be careful about the default culture we adopt and choose to live with. It will shape us, whether we like it or not.

HOTS on High Street

This morning, first outing on the High Street with Stephen and his team. Really interesting and enjoyable. Prayed with a young man, suffering from arthiritis, on crutches who was with his parents. Interesting - walked away without using crutches: we never asked him to do that! Could see God's peace upon him. Also, didn't notice it at the time, but when we prayed for him there were a whole group of people on the Ghost Tour who were watching and noticed exactly what happened. Gobsmaking, eh?!

Can't help but log that God's favour on outreach to people which is offering token of His love and salvation. God seems to bless this in a special way. But that shouldn't surprise us, eh? Mission is the fire that warms the heart of the church.

Healing on the Streets of Edinburgh

What a great training session we had, last night and today, for 'Healing on the Streets'. It was led by a baptist Elder, a Vineyard Pastor and a Church of Scotland Minister! A really wise and helpful introduction to ministering healing to people in the open street - something that I have never found easy and last did on the street like this 20 years ago! Gosh! ..... Today, the really helpful thing I learnt - I had never thought about it - was how to give out a leaflet properly! But very practical and it really helped. Didn't feel like a 2nd hand car salesman!

Now, you're asking, 'what on earth is he doing praying for people on the streets?' Well, we need to go where the people go. And if it's on Princes Street, that's where it has to be. But we really enjoyed it. The three of us who went on the training found it really uplifting - we all prayed with people who had very real and very genuine need. And we saw blessing too.  Yep - not the normal thing we do; but we have to reach people 'by all means'. Well worth it!

Simple faith

Over many years, I have been quietly obsessed by finding an adequate translation in modern English for a simple word in Greek: pistij. Usually translated as ‘belief’, ‘faith’ and sometimes ‘trust’. Well here it is: 'faithful focus'. It works. If you hold on to a faithful focus on Jesus Christ, you will be saved. Try it.

The Heart of the Matter

I wish I had really grasped this truth years ago, and never let it go ....

'If the mission of Christ through the presence and power of the Spirit determines the nature and ministry of the church, then we should expect that mission itself becomes the source of the renewed vision and life of the church. This is why mission, rather than ministry, expands Gods kingdom and renews the spiritual life of the church'.  

Ray Anderson, An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches, IVP, 2006, p. 186

Riots and righteousness

I woke this morning with a powerful sense of need to write down and express something of what we are presently seeing in God’s Word on Sunday mornings, and the implications of that for each of us. Our society is beginning to reap the rewards of the sin and decadence that have been among us for a long time. God is allowing the repercussions of abandoning Christ to be seen and felt in our nation, as in others. We are entering a difficult time when it is important to focus on what being a person of faith is really about. Here it is, spelt out in a fresh translation of Romans 3.21-26:

And now, apart from through Law, God’s righteousness has been revealed, which is born witness to by the Law and the Prophets. It is God’s righteousness, through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, for all who would be faithful. For there is no distinction – for all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, being brought into righteousness as a free gift of God’s grace. This free grace comes through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed as a mercy seat in the faithfulness of His blood. God did this for the purpose of displaying His righteousness in overlooking, in the forbearance of God, sins previously committed. And He did this for the purpose of displaying His righteousness right now, showing that He Himself is just and is the justifier of anyone who takes on board the faithfulness of Jesus.

This is what being saved – being a disciple of Jesus Christ – is all about. It is about stepping into the life of Jesus Christ through the door of baptism, being brought into eternal life through the power of His resurrection from the dead. This power comes into us by the Holy Spirit.

And let’s be clear. The Holy Spirit is not just a nice feeling. He is the fire and wind and water of life that comes from God. And because of what He’s done for us all through His sacrificial life and death, Jesus is the key to anyone receiving this Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit? Death. With Him? Life.

So let’s also be clear about what the Holy Spirit does. Jesus spells it out in John 16.8-11. The Holy Spirit brings us into the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. He shows us where there is sin in our lives, that we might repent of it. He shows us the path of righteousness, that we might walk in it. He shows us that the dark powers that would blanket us with fear and would control us in daily life are now judged by God and are impotent in the face of the Holy Spirit’s life giving power.

I invite you to take these teachings very seriously. Press on into renouncing sin – especially sexual sin - and resolve to walk in holiness! Pursue policies as church together that seek to express God’s righteousness through personal goals as an individual and well as a congregation! Show the world around us what it means not to live in fearfulness of a defeated devil! Show the world rather what it means to live a life of purpose and purity rooted in the love of God.

I believe that all of us have the potential of being a light of Christ to many. But we need to be faithful. We need to walk in righteousness.

Riots and justice

Today, in the face of the London riots, I want to recommend a book to you by Nicholas Wolterstorff, Justice: rights and wrongs, Princeton University Press, 2008.

In recent days, the issue leading to the riots was presented as being one of ‘justice’. But what is justice?

Constitutive justice is dependent on the establishing of a society that holds to virtues or convictions that are adopted, embraced and implemented. To do this, people have to have a vision of a social state that they are working towards.

Determinative justice depends on an environment where the judgements can be enforced.

As Christians, we are called to live in and generate, through church, an environment of constitutive justice. The country’s problems are not going to be sorted overnight! But as church, we can model something of what Jesus Christ began and continues to do through His disciples, as we wait for the New Society that will come on His return.

Determinative justice? As Christians, we believe that’s up to God. Our job is to live with a love that generates holy, healthy relationships and responsibilities. Let’s focus on this, on being salt and light. And be realistic as to how quickly / slowly things will change in our nation.

Whose in whose image?

Back from Bulgaria. Great holiday!
Play a game with me. Look at these options. Do you prefer:

a. i. to do a hard task by yourself (to prove a point)
   ii. have a hard task done for you (and you can’t do it!)
b. i. do what you think is best
   ii. do what you’re told by another
c. i. accept a gift with no strings attached
   ii. accept a gift that you are to use for a purpose

Each of these goes with different types of personality. My observation is that the ones most people struggle with are b.ii or c.ii. Which is tough; because the Gospel message in Jesus is that God brings us into eternal life and to be part of His Kingdom through Jesus Christ in sequence of a.ii, c.ii and b.ii.

So, I'm convinced. Not just culture and context, but the way your personality is shaped will itself shape your preferred way of thinking about God. It takes real effort to hear instead what the Bible says. Literal translations of the Bible into English are not always the easiest to understand! On the other hand, paraphrases can give a smoother reading but betray a particular interpretation, losing subtle points. Romans 3.21-26 is a case in point. Practically all the English translations are paraphrases. In this passage, how you translate two Greek words critically influences your reading and understanding. You can have either justice or righteousness. And you can have any of faith in Jesus, faith of Jesus or  faithfulness of Jesus. Here it is as rendered in Young’s Literal Translation (1862), which I like a lot:

And now apart from law hath the righteousness of God been manifested, testified to by the law and the prophets, and the righteousness of God {is} through the faith of Jesus Christ to all, and upon all those believing --for there is no difference, for all did sin, and are come short of the glory of God-- being declared righteous freely by His grace through the redemption that {is} in Christ Jesus, whom God did set forth a mercy seat, through the faith in his blood, for the shewing forth of His righteousness, because of the passing over of the bygone sins in the forbearance of God-- for the shewing forth of His righteousness in the present time, for His being righteous, and declaring him righteous who {is} of the faith of Jesus.

Think about it. God is serious about getting us into the life of Jesus. Into His faith. The justice / righteousness of God made manifest when God’s Kingdom comes, together with the joy and peace the disciple experiences. This is the marvelous reality that Jesus Christ calls us into.

Temptations

I have been strongly drawn to reflect on the Temptations of Jesus and the surrounding narratives in Luke 4, which sees the transition from Jesus’ reception of the Holy Spirit, the subsequent testing in the desert and on into the beginnings of effective ministry.

There is no hiding in the Christian life. What we are in public, in terms of reflecting and being effective in God’s service, is fundamentally shaped by who we are in private. The proving of faithfulness lies not in productivity, but in fruitfulness.

We live in an environment where it is so easy and so tempting to be deceitful. Computers and private space can allow and foster secret indulgences and unhealthy habits. But what is formed in private leads to what is forged in public.

The fight against sin, and resolute resistance and learning to say ‘no!’ to the demands of our flesh, ambitions and insecurities is never an easy one. It has to find motivation in the face of Christ’s call to self-emptying, obedience and service  Only those who truly own allegiance to Jesus Christ will fight on and prevail in the battle that decides our destiny and demonstrates the true tenor of faith.

Faith works

Back to preaching through Romans again on Sunday mornings, after celebrating Pentecost and returning from the group trip to our partner church in Lom (photo).

For me, the Bible has increasingly become a book primarily about social ethics. ‘Aha', you think, 'has he lost the plot?’ ‘Has he given up on faith and knowing Jesus?’ Far from it. In fact, I think I’ve found the plot. The plot that is spelt out in the Law of God and that is worked out through Jesus Christ. I am more convinced than ever that unless faith leads us to seek out and persist in doing the good that pleases God, and looks to find God's power to help us to so do, then such faith is useless.

God shows no favouritism when He looks at our lives and assesses what He's done with them (Romans 2.11). Frightening, eh? Faith that doesn’t lead to significant adaptation and reorientation of our practical, day to day, ethical behaviour and focus is no faith at all. God is not concerned about spiritual myths and cosmic speculations. He’s interested in lives lived out in the shadow of His holiness, the radiance of His righteousness and dependence on His power. Obedience of God and divine empowerment are meant to go together. May God help you see this, pray to be enabled, and get on with living the life that matters.

Wind, Fire and Power

The opening verses of Acts 2 tell us what to expect when the Holy Spirit comes. They connect too with the words of jesus, when He speaks of the Holy Spirit coming to convict the word regarding sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16.8).

A violent wind: a wind that shakes the apathy and complacency in our lives. Who challenges our false securities and makes us vulnerable before God.

A fire that purifies and cleanses of sin, releasing us into righteousness and the pursuit of God's agenda. That enables the seed of God's Word to grow up in our lives.

A power that releases us to fulfill our purpose: to glorify God and to know Him with praise in our hearts for who He is. Empowering us for faithful living and witness in reaching out to others in Jesus' name.

This is what a real baptism in the Holy Spirit brings about.

Like a thief in the night

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night   (1 Thessalonians 5.1-2).

Well, life is interesting. We had a visitor last night: an unwelcomed one! One of the guys went downstairs and met a teenager in the diningroom. They looked at one another, ‘visitor’ dived out through this little shower-room window. In an area of Bulgaria where there is such high unemployment and poverty, this is not unusual. Anything lost? A cell ‘phone that can be replaced without too much hassle ….

We felt secure, safe in our nice, big house. Who dare do such a thing?

Which gets me to thinking how Paul speaks of the ‘Day of the Lord’: When God calls ‘time out!’ on creation as it is now. When the time for tallying the score sheet and bringing in God’s complete, restored and renewed Creation will arrive.

What strikes me now is how none of us really finds this a welcome thought. It disturbs and violates our patterns, our securities. Better get rid of such pretensions now. God, like the thief, is close at hand.

Слава на Бога!

O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow (Psalm 144.3-4).

It is great to be here again in Bulgaria, joining with Sam and Sally in our house in Mezdreya and having the team come out to join us, from Bristo. I’m sitting in the garden right now, looking out at the incredible growth there has been since we were last here in April. The vegetables, the fruit trees, the grass, the flowers – and the weeds! Everything is green and growing with such profusion.

And it really makes me reflect on the lack of permanency there is to anything in the life that surrounds us. One minute – summer. And then, in six months, the barrenness of winter will be here. Living in the city, it’s so easy to miss this aspect of the seasons. Surrounded by monumental buildings and historic monuments, the illusion is there of a life that goes on with confidence and unwavering changelessness; but it is not so. The country and the village unmasks the illusion.

And where now I sit, I face the central Balkan mountains and think of Serbia on the other side, with all the tragedy and genocide of the ethnic wars that seems only yesterday. The destruction that a sinning, self-assertive and rebellious humanity is capable of engulfing itself in.

At such a time, it is good to remember what it means to be a Christian. To recall that God has not so much ‘crafted’ as ‘is crafting’. Forming and shaping and bringing through to a maturity and permanency that will be expressed in a renewed Creation, a ‘New Heavens and New Earth’.

For the moment, all is passing. But high summer, and a deeper and fuller fruitfulness awaits us. Слава на Бога! Praise the Lord!

Beautiful obedience

Rebellion is a terrible dimension to live in. It is the antithesis of obedience. Rebellion seeks to affirm self to the level of narcissism: me at the centre of my values and purpose in life. Rebellion is the aphrodisiac, the opiate, the intoxicating allure of self annihilation.

Obedience is beauty enfleshed. It is to recognise that the purpose of my life is to ‘glorify God and enjoy Him forever’. Obedience is to delight in the revelation of God’s way in the Holy Scriptures. Obedience is the embracing of true freedom and self-realisation through submission to our heavenly Father’s command. Obedience and submission are the hallmarks of Jesus, the man who is the gift of God's love for all.

And such obedience can be my only reason for seeking the Holy Spirit’s power to infill and flood my life. It is because of such longing to obey God, to rejoice in Him and glorify Him that I want more of the Holy Spirit. For without this power of Pentecost, I can never truly obey. Come, Holy Spirit!

Obedience

Obedience. ‘It is better than sacrifice’. Mmmm. Not a very contemporary thought, eh? But it is at the heart of the New Testament letter of Hebrews, and what is being expressed to the early Christians and also us right there.

It really struck me, in looking at verses 7-8 in Chapter 5 of Hebrews, that Jesus did not find obeying God easy. It led him into places and situations of struggle and suffering. And then I saw that, where it tells us that Jesus cried out in prayer with ‘loud groans and cries’, He was crying out to God for help in order to obey!

So then it really hit me that what every Christian I have ever known or met struggles with the most, is willingness to really obey God. To do it! It’s not easy. So often, we know what we should do but don’t do it.

And then, Jesus’ prayer again. He prayed for help to obey. Enter the Holy Spirit.

It’s Pentecost Sunday coming up. What did the Holy Spirit come for? To increase the ‘feel good’ factor in our lives? To enable us to be achievers of what we want – a sort of Christian alternative to witchcraft?

Nope. He came and comes simply to supply us with the power to obey our heavenly Father. Got it?

Hebrews 1-4

In recent weeks, we’ve begun working through the Book of Hebrews in the evening services. I’ve preached through Hebrews in the past more than once, but in preparing from the text this time I’m using commentaries less than before. Possibly for this reason, I have been startled by what the text confronts me with. Here are some of the observations:

1. The writer quotes from the Psalms so much because both he and his first readers would have known these references by heart: the ‘top 10’ religious songs they learnt from their youth. Helps explain the complicated quotes in first couple of chapters.

2. The writer is really more interested in affirming the real, ordinary humanity of Jesus rather than anything else. He’s not into metaphysics, really. He knows that Jesus said, ‘Come, follow me’. As God called His people Israel to obey and follow, so He continues to call to Israel and the world through Jesus.

3. People sometimes think that Jesus was always perfect: nonsense. Jesus didn’t start out as ‘complete’ or ‘perfect’. That category of thinking is not Jewish, but Platonic. Jesus becomes ‘complete’ or ‘perfect’ through suffering.

4. As it is with Jesus, so with us. In the first 4 chapters, the clear assumption is that a Christian is one who participates with Jesus. And when we realise this, it liberates us into a new view of suffering. Not as something that suggests that God is far away. On the contrary, we realise that it is the midst of suffering that God is close.

Thank God for that. It would be hard to deal with the real suffering I have to deal with with in people’s lives with a ‘candy floss’ understanding of blessing or a ‘Santa Claus’ picture of God. Here, in the Bible, is the real thing.

Some thoughts for our church AGM

Lots of good things about in the church right now, but we see that our focus needs to be on mission. Mmmm, let’s try this: ‘Mission - for this Season Jesus Christ is the Reason’?

Ah, strap lines really sound so terrible to me! But for some people, they really do work. For me though, they don’t do the job too well, probably because I like to get in real close to some depth of conversation and intimacy, and then move on to talk about Jesus when it seems to flow into the conversation. It’s likely I’m most happy with this style because I have spent a lifetime as a pastor using it; yet it is restrictive. The chance to get into deep conversation beyond pleasantries doesn’t arise with passing strangers so easily.

There’s three things I think I might have learnt about mission and evangelism, and probably lots more I should have. But, for starters ….

Firstly, any programme or method is only good for some people at some times, not all people at all times. We’re all different. The way I can reach others for Jesus is quite probably not the same way that God would use you to reach out to someone and introduce them to His Son. So the first question is, ‘Who is God calling me to reach out to in Jesus’ name, and how does He want me to do it?’ And I need to remember that, just because Christians close to me don’t want to do mission and outreach my way, it does not mean they are cold or indifferent towards God or others. If I really want to encourage others in their Christian witness, I need to try and explore with them how God would use them in mission and evangelism.

Secondly, I need to check my motive. Why am I doing this? The only valid reason I can think of is that it both glorifies God and bring salvation to others. My act of witness needs to be an expression of heartfelt love, both towards God and other people. And to touch others in Holy Love, I need to get filled with the Holy Spirit, in order to be authentic and genuine.

Thirdly, when all is said and done, I need to get on with it! As D L Moody once said to a critic, ‘I prefer my way of doing it to your way of not doing it’! Sometimes when I feel tired and get grumpy, I can become critical and dismissive of others and their efforts. That’s not good. I need to get on with what God would enable me to do.

So, who is God calling you to reach out to in Jesus’ name, and how does He want you to do it? Get guidance through Scripture, prayer and listening to God, get filled with the Holy Spirit, and get on with it!

A sad day in Scotland

Yesterday, in the face of gale force winds which struck the central belt of Scotland, a large and impressive tree at the top of my street was toppled, uprooted from its foundations of many years. Within hours, it was despatched with a chainsaw by local workers, having become a nuisance and hazard to both traffic and pedestrians.

Yesterday I also witnessed what I can only describe as a sad day in the history of the church in my home-nation of Scotland. I watched and listened, from beginning to end, to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland’s debate on same-sex relationships as that relates to leadership in the church.

As a young Christian, my thinking and understanding of the Christian life and the Bible was inextricably shaped by the great Church of Scotland preacher, James Philip. Sitting under that godly minister’s exposition of Scripture, I learnt a basic principle of theology that I have never departed from to this day. That is, I learnt to submit myself to the revelation of God that is found in and through the vast complexity of the books of the Bible, the Word of God. I learnt to enjoy having my developing yet defective theological formations knocked down, shattered and again rebuilt in the light of God’s revelation. I learnt to value the complexity and truths of Scripture above my own simple, sinful prejudices and perspectives. And I learnt to see that there was no contradiction between the rich revelation of God’s Word in the Holy Scriptures and the full revelation of Who God is in and through Jesus Christ.

This is why, to this day, I exhort men looking to a ministry of teaching from the Bible to learn both Hebrew and Greek. And, strange and sad as it was at the time, this is why I felt I had to leave the Church of Scotland twenty four years ago, when I came to see truths in Scripture that challenge a restrictive and narrow interpretation of baptismal practice.

Yet still I have a love of that great Scottish institution, and for that reason listened and watched close to tears at times, to comments sometimes being made that gave the impression that there was a conflict or even a contradiction between the revelation of Scripture and the revelation that is Jesus Christ. I can only say that, after 37 years of continuous, rigorous study of the Bible and deepening theological study, I can only explain such comments as being based at best on ignorance of Scripture and, at worst, on prejudices and life-preferences that have little or nothing to do with the Christian life that God calls us to.

So let me be honest and clear. As a Baptist pastor, I deeply feel for people who express their struggles in many areas of life to me. I seek to walk in the knowledge of God’s overwhelming love, mercy, compassion and grace; and also His judgement, wrath and condemnation of human rebellion and sin. As a Baptist scholar, I can only observe that I continue to find consistency throughout the Bible, both New and Old Testaments, on the subject of same-sex relationships. God in Christ neither encourages nor condones them. Same sex relationships are seen and recognised in the Bible to be a blatant manifestation of human sin and rebellion against God.

But please don’t mistake me. I know deeply that am a sinner, a man who makes many mistakes, saved for eternity only by the grace of God that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. But I also am called by the Holy Spirit to seek to live a life that is being restructured. A life constantly being renewed in its understanding under the authority of the Bible, a life that is being painfully reshaped and rebuilt through the working of the Holy Spirit to be like Jesus Christ.

I discover who I am only by denying myself and seeking to follow Jesus. And I am so, so sorry that so many are being led and taught to approach the Christian life in a contrary way.

Yesterday was a sad day for many in the Church of Scotland. Those of us who are in other traditions, claiming to have a faith based both on the Bible and on living experience of God, should carefully and prayerfully watch, learn and discern the signs.

Waking up to reality

The section of Romans 1.16 – 2.1, where the righteousness and wrath of God are juxtaposed in 1.17 and 1.18, leads right through to 2.1:

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

It is good to be reminded that the Holy Scriptures present us with a realistic yet positive view of mankind. Paul, along with the writers of the history and prophetic books, are untied by the Holy Spirit is seeing mankind as frail and fragile, often failing and always fallible. So much potential yet proved to be, from Eden through Babel and beyond, pathetically impotent in realising that potential.

Until God takes hold of us in Jesus. And reshapes our humanity by the power of the Holy Spirit and directs and invites us under His care into the obedience of faith. All our lives are, in the light of Jesus, capable of rebooting and reorientation, as we view the Cross and hear the call to repentance and faith.

Paul well understands the real failure of all mankind. But he is no cynic, as so many who deal with the debris of human behaviour through the procedures of law and social work sadly become. The Apostle calls us to humility and recognition of the universality of human sin, including our own. But out of that, to respond to the invitation to be lifted up in the power of Christ’s resurrection, enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

God help us all to hold to such a perspective.

Faith follows

Preaching on Romans 1.16-18 and Hebrews 3 this Sunday, it really hit me afresh how much faith is confused with hope. At a popular-cultural level, faith is equated with 'belief', 'opinion'. How far from the Biblical picture that is! Hope is the response God wants us to have to what is revealed to us in Scripture and in testimony to Jesus Christ. We are to hope for the resurrection of the dead. Hope for eternal life. Hope for a renewed creation. All of these and other aspects of Biblical hope are things we believe in, want and long for. But they are not to be confused with faith.

Faith is our engagement in the task of serving the Kingdom of God now, as we hold on in hope. Hope is the font out of which faith and love spring, but all that matters now is faith expressing itself through love. Faith is the same as faithfulness. It's about getting on with the task of being guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit to purposefully participate in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

You don't yet have what you hope for. But faith is about getting our sleeves rolled up and getting on with the Jesus job, in the midst of the sweat, laughter, tears, tensions and sufferings of real living. Such faith is sourced and strengthened by the Holy Spirit and is not to be confused with 'works of the Law'. But it is real and demonstrated by action. It's fruitfulness in Jesus' name. And it makes a real difference, as salt and light.  By such faith you are saved.

Juggling Rainbows

OK - it's mixing metaphors. But it's important. It's so easy to reduce our view of the Holy Spirit into static monochrome. And we end up with far too little appetite for or expectancy of God actively intervening in our lives. The more I read and reflect on both the Holy Scriptures and the history of revival and renewal, the more clearly I see that we have to keep coming back to expand our awareness of how God acts in our lives, from the Father through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit ministers to us:

Promises of God, expressed in the Scriptures

Presence and peace, the touch of His healing and deliverance from fear in our lives

Purpose and the nature of the Kingdom of God revealed

Participation in the life ministry of Christ, as we are baptised into His death and resurrection

Purification and purging of sin from our lives

Power to carry the Good News to others, with signs and wonders

Are you content with the measure of the Holy Spirit that is present in your life? If so, I truly pity you. But if you thirst for more, and ask God for it in Jesus' name, then I rejoice that you are journeying in the path of life.

Romans 1.5-7

Called to the obedience of faith, to be true to Jesus and to be holy people.

Ken Archer, in his recent book, The Gospel Revisited (Pickwick Publications, Eugene, Oregon, 2011), advocates the ‘fivefold Gospel’ of early Pentecostalism, which itself was a development of the ‘foursquare Gospel’ message of late nineteenth century Holiness teaching. The fivefold message is simple and well centred. It speaks of Jesus Christ as Saviour, Healer, Sanctifier, Spirit Baptiser and Coming King. Archer’s analogy of a wheel with Jesus as the hub and these five themes as the spokes is very effective and beautifully simple.

What strikes me most, however, is the acknowledgement of Jesus as ‘Sanctifier’. It is still emphasised among Wesleyan-holiness Pentecostals today. I can go with this. Holiness is what we need today: holiness carved out and filling our flesh with God’s Holy Spirit and making a holy difference. We can do with a lot more holiness among people who claim that they love Jesus.

Let us each start looking for this to fill us afresh: in the power of the HOLY Spirit.

Romans 1.1-4

v 1-2

Recognise 

There are three things that are part of the Good News of Easter. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ demonstrate Jesus Christ as:

• Victorious over Sin - the cloud has been pierced and men and women can know God personally

• Vindicated as Saviour - having led a style of life that God has for all of us as human beings, Jesus Christ is rewarded. A life that is fit for eternity.

• Vanquisher of Satan - the power of evil does not have the last word. Jesus is not destroyerd. God gets His way and raises Jesus from the dead.

These are three truths that the Holy Spirit will show people when He convicts them (John 16.8-11). We need to recognise these with repentance, baptism and thankfulness. This is the beginning of the Christian life. And then there is more:

v 3-4

Receive

What Jesus Christ does in his life on earth, he does as a human being empowered by the Spirit of God. It is this empowering, where the Spirit who brings holiness, who is also the Spirit who enables with power is seen, demonstrating Jesus to be the Son of God.

When God calls us into faith by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, He wants us to go on and desire and welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives. The great Pentecostal renewal of the 20th Century discovered there are 5 stages to the Holy Spirit’s renewing power. These bring us to know Jesus Christ as

• Saviour

• Healer

• Sanctifier

• Baptiser in Power

• Coming King

Many Christians have been touched with the healing power of God's peace. We need to go on, after conversion, to long for the Holy Spirit to work into us His holiness and also to endow us with his power for imparting and sharing the love of Jesus Christ. The two don't necessarily come together! They comes through our seeking and asking God to enable us (Luke 11.13).

Get back to prayer. Improve your openness and reception to the Holy Spirit. Then you'll be in better communication with God.

Getting into life

who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God, by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord

(Romans 1.4)

I love Spring! Isn't the pink cherry blossom along the street magnificent? Edinburgh at its best. Life is blossoming and hope is rising. Easter.

A decision to be made.
An experience to enter into.
Obedience to get on with.

Is there more to be said, about getting into life with Jesus?

Spectators, priviledged participants at best

This morning I was clearing out some old correspondence in order to make room for more paper and files in my filing cabinet. Some of it was letters, and I noticed one from a man who had turned up to a service some 25 years ago for healing. I read his description of what he had experienced from God and what had happened. It was wonderful. And it got me thinking.

We are but spectators to God's loving initiative and gracious care. At best, priviledged participants in His mission of mercy. We like to think of ourselves as agents. Instruments. In some measure, in control. But we're less than that. Yes, God can use us. But it is always God's initiative. Always God's care. Always God's love. That is what we witness to when we minister in Jesus' name. When we are truly arrested and used by God, we become more acutely aware that it all seems to happen despite us, rather than because of us.

The reason for that? Because it's all about Jesus. Now in lent, as we draw closer to passiontide, it's good to remember that. From start to finish, the salvation that comes to us from the Father, through the Son and by the Holy Spirit is God's gift, goodness given in glorious generosity. Enjoy the spectacle. And allow yourself to be drawn in.

You'll invite what you like and welcome what you want

Truth is, receiving the Holy Spirit's presence and power is something we really need to want. It doesn't drop into our laps. Justification, sanctification and eschatological empowerment should go together. But how much do we want it? Be honest. The Holy Spirit would work to bring empowerment in at least three areas of our life:

Personal holiness  - cleansing you and sorting you out in attitudes to money, sex and status.
Righteous living - pursuing God's social agenda for justice and care for the marginalised
Victory over the devil - with enabling to face the attacks of demons and disease

All this can be scary and life changing. So let me ask you: are you up for it? Because you need to be if you're going to want to be in God's eternity.

Are you baptised in the Holy Spirit?

Have you been baptised by the Holy Spirit? Do you want to be?

There is no getting away from it. Every Christian needs to be baptised in the Holy Spirit. An utter drenching and infilling in God’s presence and power. It transforms us and enables us. It changes attitudes and expectations for the Christian life.

When the Holy Spirit is infilling us in real presence and power, there is a change in us. Personal and congregational moral holiness appears and is longed for; the path of justice is pursued with ethical intent and righteous resolution; miraculous intervention in signs and wonders of God’s are longed for, expected and received.

A congregation full of people who have neither an appetite for nor an experience of the fire and power of God’s Holy Spirit is going to be a church that is spiritually impotent, morally and ethically corrupted and with no real sense of hope.

But a congregation where there is a longing and looking for the fire and power to fall will be a people where hope is abundant, where personal and congregational holiness is pursued, where facilitating social justice is high on the agenda and where God will repeatedly show His miraculous hand and His wonderful favour, His Spirit bringing light and life, quickening faith and love.

Yes, my friend. You and those in fellowship with you need to be baptised in the Holy Spirit and then experience His infilling again and again. Never forget this is the heartbeat. Continue to call out to God in prayer for this. Go for it!

Fracturing Fragility

Events in recent days have graphically reminded the world of the fragility of our political and economic systems. Whether North Africa or South East Asia. The most advanced technological societies are as vulnerable as any other. We live in a fragile, fracturing world which teeters on the brink of disaster. The present world and all its apparent securities passing away. Sober up. It’s true for all to see.

To be a Christian is to become part of a new world order that is God’s antidote to what we witness. A new world built on foundations found in the life and way of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that He brings life in all its fullness. He speaks of the Kingdom of God coming in power now.

Let’s root ourselves in the reality that’s eternally stable. Live a life consecrated to holiness, hospitality and help for others. Showing Jesus through our lives and bringing hope to a lot of frightened people around us now.