Jim Purves

Words and the longings of our hearts

2012-02-08T11:19:00.001Z

I'm thinking a lot about words we use. It's interesting. The words that people use. Especially when talking about Christian things. I've just listened to a recording of Paul's Letter to the Ephesians - these books were written to be listened to, not just read. But words give hints as to how people see things.

There's huge pressure, in today's pluralistic culture, to embrace words such as 'inclusive'. Just like it's fashionable to speak of reaching out to the 'marginalised'. I'm really interested that there is not, as far as I can see, a direct Biblical equivalent to either of these word in current usage: the nearest to being 'inclusive' that I can think of is the call to 'do justice and show mercy'; and the nearest to 'marginalised' are the Biblical 'poor', who are the victims of injustice, dispossessed from the good purposes of God for their lives.

Christian mission should not begin with a focus on seeking to be 'inclusive', or reaching to the 'marginalised'. It should begin with a stress on pursuing true righteousness and justice within the household of God and allowing the Spirit's power to carry us out in acts of loving service and a sharing of the Good News of what Jesus is bringing to the whole of Creation. And the world's talk of care for the 'marginalised' should be replaced by real concern and focus in our mission to those who are victims of greed, exploitation and injustice. A missional focus in pursuing righteousness through serving and bringing good news to the poor should never be lost. We must avoid, at one extreme, a bare message of evangelistic triumphalism. We must also avoid jumping on to a bandwagon of fashionability. Words express our values. And values betray the longings of our hearts.

full spectrum

2012-02-06T17:30:00.001Z

It was great to visit three different congregations yesterday. What struck me was the contrast in style. The morning was a gathering of largely mature people but with a cross section of ages and quite a traditional format. The afternoon was a huge number of families and really young children! The evening was a student gathering with some others along. Each quite different. Each complimentary of the others.

the essence of wider church has to be networking - dealing with one another in different circumstances all to the glory of God. Learning the skills that are transferable, simply admiring and rejoicing in those that are not. Jealousy is not a good thing. Praising God for what He has given us and looking for the potential in what we might be and do for the Kingdom of God - this is what matters.

The best day of your life

2012-01-29T09:15:00.001Z

If your faith flows out of what your hope is focussed upon, what is it that you look to and anticipate? Sad thing if its just a matter of religious consumerism: of what you can get out of life for you and those you care about. Biblical faith is a different matter. It points us toward what God has Promised and intends to bring about. And in the light of the brilliance and beauty of God's self revealing in and through Jesus Christ, it brings us to focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And that means starting with our understanding that, where are lives are called to belong to Jesus Christ, it is to be witnesses - martyrs. Those who accept death in the present world as inevitable, as we seek to live our patterns of purposeful living for Jesus Christ. Lives reflecting His values and priorities - or at least ever seeking to realign ourselves again and again in order that we might do so.

The early Moravians in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, saw it that way. They realised that to die because they had sought to live for Christ meant passing into the physical presence of the Resurrected and Ascended Jesus. To greet Him and to be embraced by Him. Death is a terrible thing and must not be sought by us. But when it comes, we need to realise that the power of Jesus's vicarious death and resurrection is for us all. He makes the worst day into the best day of our lives.

The Kingdom in space and place

2012-01-25T09:03:00.003Z

Once more, deeply impressed in listening to Mike Pears at the IBTS Community's communion service, as he expounded Luke 19 and expanded insights on how Jesus draws in those who are excluded in terms of this world's values and priorities, to be included by Him within His space and place. Where He eats and drinks with them; and how, conversely, those who we assume to have power and prestige in this world, in terms of inclusion and acceptance, can be seen to withdraw from the vocation of Jesus Christ whilst this world's 'rejects' are welcomed and restored to the indestructible physical presence of God's Kingdom that comes through Jesus Christ..

What is seminal in Mike's emphasis is that he relates issues of inclusion, reaching to the marginalised and the expression of compassion etc. to the practicalities of the space that we occupy and the place we meet in. This is so Biblical and so baptist. No abstract values left as ideal or doctrines held as private persuasions. No place for private preoccupations with personal fancies that flee from reality. What matters in the physicality of our gathering, the way we welcome people and treat with them in the physical space we occupy and the places we pass through.

So obvious yet so refreshingly different. And how such an approach challenges us to reappropriate the reality of physical presence, and what we do where we are, as central to the essence of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God come among us and found among us in flesh and blood.

Prescription or Description ?

2012-01-24T13:04:00.000Z

Speaking with a leader from the south eastern part of the European Baptist Federation, I realised that the assumption with most ‘1^st world’ Christian leaders is that the models or motifs that we discern to be present in what we observe are somehow patterns or paradigms that could and even should be transferable to other situations and circumstances.

It was pointed out to me that, in this person’s environment, the cultural tradition was to describe what could be observe without going on to shape it as prescriptive. Let alone transferable, to others. I was challenged by this. It strikes me that people like me (and probably you!) tend to look for patterns that will yield transferable principles or patterns to be emulated. Not so for this colleague. Their approach was more humble. It sought to describe and to understand. To respect the narrative that can be related, but not necessarily to distil. Rather, to accept and even accommodate other models and approaches that, on the face of it, may seem incongruous. But are yeilded out of engagement with the story of Christ met with in Scripture.

Lots of conflict arises from the desire to make our observations or experiences prescriptive for others. Power games. It doesn’t have to be that way. There is power in the story of Jesus and there it should stay. Just tell it as it is. Describe what you have touched and seen. And let’s see what happens when glory and grace come through.

Real Holiness @ IBTS in Prague

2012-01-24T09:04:00.002Z

Gordon Snider made an important point this morning at breakfast. As a missionary teacher and a Holiness Methodist, he pointed out that he did not readily recognise the charicature of ‘Arminian’ that many self-identified 'Calvinists' so readily own. ‘A wilful transgression of a known law of God’ is Gordon’s understanding of sin. Entire sanctification is coming to know the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to overcome the choice to sin.

This is a subtle and important point. We can and do all sin, in terms of doing at times what is contrary to the will of God. But this is different from deliberately transgressing the will of God. The truth is, that if we truly seek to do the revealed will of God, then God will strengthen us in the path of holiness.

My personal, pastoral observation is that people often play at repentance. Regretting patterns of sin is not the same as repenting. Repentance is a deliberate and costly, even painful, turning away from what is contrary to the will of God. In this sense, the whole of the life of Jesus was an intentional struggle against the temptation to sin – yet a successful struggle, in that our Lord always did what was pleasing to God.

The Spirit will enable us to be holy – that is, strengthen us for the deliberate and costly choice to do what is pleasing to God. He does not coerce us, or persuade us to do what we do not want us to do. But He will strengthen us when we turn back to God in order to to walk a costly, difficult and painful path. Thank you, Gordon.

Keeping Alive

2012-01-17T10:00:00.003Z

It may seem obvious to you, and if it does, please forgive me; but the reality is that being a Christian for a long time does not mean that daily devotion is easy. It is not so for me. Indeed, it is a struggle each day to find time to set aside to the Lord, especially when there is a busy agenda and many things to do.

I should add that this is not a confession of failure. Yes, I do fail at times; but I really can't afford to. Spiritual success is integral to finding progress and being effective in my life, and it's never God that lets me or you down. It's that we fail.

So how do we combat failure? Simply, we have to ensure that each day is begun and underlined in spiritual discipline, spending time reading the Bible or listening to it. And simply honouring God and giving Him the place of preeminence in our life. It's not rocket science. But it is true.

Today, I'm at a conference of Regional Ministers of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. The place is Holthorpe Hall. May each of us bow to the Son that His presence should shape and form our witness this day and tomorrow too.

Natural Association

2012-01-14T10:36:00.002Z

There is a natural association between being called to discipleship and being commissioned to witness. And there is a progression between the two. The call of Jesus characterises the first; the empowering of the Holy Spirit characterises the second.

And this also sets our relationship to the Holy. We are CALLED by the Holy One, CONSECRATED through His drawing us into His life and His ministry, recipients of God's promises and participating in His purposes; and we are COMMISSIONED as His witnesses, empowered and enabled to proclaim His name and to engage in acts of loving service.

This is the direction that we are to go upon; and holiness is to be the hallmark of this endeavour.

cascading

2012-01-09T18:57:00.000Z

Yesterday was a valedictory service offered by Bristo, as Jennifer and I attended our last service having now moved to Glasgow. It was deeply moving to receive the love and care gifted by folks in word, embrace and token. It has been a good season at Bristo, and as we know it is God’s calling to have now moved on to a new stage of ministry, we also know that this is an exciting new stage for the congregation as the future is faced and engaged in.

In the evening, back in Glasgow we were blessed and encouraged in visiting the Pollok congregation and receiving such a warm welcome not only by the pastor but also by so many members of the congregation: I don’t know if this is typically Glaswegian, but it was wonderfully and warmly Christian.

You know, I love the church. The place where God’s glory and honour dwells. And I am looking with anticipation to see our cascading God of holy love and purposeful power burst out and flood our land afresh with envisioned and freshly enabled men and women and children who love Him in Jesus’ name.

not quite Captain America

2012-01-02T13:09:00.000Z

OK. I admit it - I have neither seen nor intend to see the film - but I like a phrase in the Baptist Times review, which comments, 'God doesn't always chooses the brightest and best'. Really helpful reminder as I start this new ministry with the Baptist Union.

And also a reminder for all of us in positions of ministry and leadership. Sometimes we think we should be the brightest and best; or even that others should think of us in this way! Wrong on both accounts. 'I'm a loser who becomes a winner when my lives in Jesus'. That's better.

Better for each of us to think of ourselves this way: as wretched sinners, incapable of doing any decent thing by ourselves, but saved by the grace of God at work in our lives through Jesus Christ our Lord. If all of us can grasp this, then we might make some progress.

Witness and disciple?

2012-01-01T21:26:00.000Z

Today was my last Sunday preaching in Bristo Baptist Church. In looking at the Word of God I saw something I never noticed before. To get this, you need to know that in Greek the word for a ‘disciple’ is mathetes and that the word for a ‘witness’ is marturos.

It struck me that being a disciple is a distinct and different matter from being a witness: being a disciple comes first. Jesus called disciples at the beginning of His ministry. Jesus commissioned witnesses at the end of his ministry on earth.

But to make others disciples, we have to be witnesses. Literally, we have to be prepared to be martyrs. To be uncompromising in our allegiance to Jesus Christ.

As we enter into 2012, may God strengthen you as a disciple. But more than that, may He enable you pursue the holy and purposeful path that allows you to be a witness who will act as a beacon of life and hope for others around you.

Underneath the wrapping paper

2011-12-06T09:50:00.000Z

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

2011-11-26T15:58:00.000Z

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

2011-11-20T08:40:00.000Z

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?

2011-11-16T10:56:00.002Z

"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

2011-11-08T06:08:00.002Z

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?

2011-11-01T15:30:00.000Z

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

2011-10-31T13:06:00.000Z

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'

2011-10-26T22:04:00.004+01:00

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

2011-10-25T22:45:00.001+01:00

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

2011-10-23T15:07:00.001+01:00

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

2011-10-18T22:18:00.000+01:00

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

2011-10-03T11:14:00.000+01:00

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

2011-09-14T10:09:00.002+01:00

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

2011-09-10T08:59:00.001+01:00

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

2011-09-09T10:36:00.002+01:00

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

2011-09-07T14:08:00.001+01:00

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

2011-09-03T14:56:00.000+01:00

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

2011-08-27T16:19:00.000+01:00

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

2011-08-21T07:35:00.000+01:00

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

2011-08-16T13:58:00.001+01:00

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

2011-08-11T08:00:00.003+01:00

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

2011-08-09T10:31:00.000+01:00

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?

2011-08-03T19:01:00.008+01:00

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

2011-07-22T09:35:00.002+01:00

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

2011-07-19T09:31:00.004+01:00

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

2011-07-05T05:06:00.001+01:00

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

2011-06-26T13:22:00.001+01:00

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!

2011-06-23T14:31:00.000+01:00

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

2011-06-11T14:31:00.001+01:00

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

2011-06-06T13:59:00.001+01:00

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

2011-05-31T10:09:00.000+01:00

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

2011-05-25T16:50:00.000+01:00

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

2011-05-24T04:36:00.001+01:00

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

2011-05-23T12:57:00.000+01:00

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

2011-05-16T10:46:00.002+01:00

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

2011-05-09T10:29:00.001+01:00

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

2011-05-02T08:35:00.000+01:00

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

2011-04-25T13:14:00.004+01:00

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

2011-04-21T12:26:00.002+01:00

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

2011-03-29T17:07:00.002+01:00

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

2011-03-19T13:06:00.000Z

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?

2011-03-16T11:25:00.001Z

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

2011-03-15T09:46:00.001Z

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.

Lent begins with Mark 8.31 - 9.1

2011-03-06T22:38:00.001Z

a.   Jesus brought the ‘breaking-in-ness’ of the Kingdom of God to the ‘world as it is’.
b.   the ‘world as it is’ will reject the bringer of the Kingdom of God.
c.   God allows the ‘world as it’ is to continue under His governance, despite hardness of heart and disobedience continuing.
d.   Jesus calls His disciples to focus on the ‘breaking-in-ness’ of the Kingdom of God as we live in the ‘world as it is’.
e.   For us, as Jesus’ disciples, there will also be personal cost.
f.   God assures us of His presence and enabling power, as we live as witnesses of the Kingdom of God, overcoming His enemies in the ‘world as it is’.

The goal of grace

2011-02-22T16:26:00.002Z

I find myself reflecting on how easily we restrict and narrow our expectation of how the Holy Spirit will act. Sometimes He confirms and sometimes affirms. Sometimes He convicts and sometimes comforts. Sometimes He heals and at times empowers. But whichever manifestation He will undertake as He visits upon us, it is best if our expectancy is for Him to come to do whatever will take us deeper into the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, at the point and in the place that we find ourselves now. Then we will not be disappointed through failed aspirations, but instead discover through His work in our lives more of life in all its fullness.

For however He visits us, it is that we might discover deepened motivation and renewed resolve to live in worship of God as disciples of Jesus Christ. This is the goal of grace.

Simply Succinct

2011-02-21T17:01:00.001Z

A poem penned by my friend and colleague, New Testament scholar Rollin Grams. Says it all, really!

Communal gates are truly grand,
They ward or welcome by their frame.
For what’s let in will transform;
Or kept out, the same.

A sturdy gate, our faith in God,
A crimson beam, its only latch,
Blessèd hope, the inner quad,
Love, the cobbled path.

Let us never forget it

2011-02-19T13:01:00.002Z

A friend of mine has just been baptised again in the Holy Spirit, 13 years after first being so. Their joy is palpable. Their eyes are full of life and their joy in the Lord is so full. The sheer excitement of meeting with the infilling glory and presence of the Holy God of Holy love.

And it reminds me that, however much it is right and necessary to stress intentionality and focus in the Christian life, with a consequent emphasis on life-enhancing practices and habits, it all begins with the sheer generosity of the God whose divine identity is made known to us in and through Jesus Christ. The power of His atoning sacrifice and bodily resurrection open the way for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And it is this infilling that is the ‘engine room’ of the Christian life. Let us never forget it.

Stories

2011-02-15T08:48:00.000Z

People love 'em. TV's full of them. Magazines at checkout tills shout out with them. Stories draw us in, feed us with life (or death), influence and steer us.

At the centre of the Bible is the story of Jesus. Four stories, written from different angles. Books of stories designed to draw us into their puzzles and struggles. To meet with God in a way that changes us. Try reading one of the Gospels this way today. It will make a difference.

Hospitality, Compassion and Meaningful Involvement

2011-02-09T16:44:00.004Z

We get ourselves into such worries about how to reach people. But the heart of the Gospel witness is so simple! Show hospitality to those outside the church. Express compassion to folk outside the church. And give ordinary folk opportunity to have meaningful involvement in the Christ-like thing of caring for the poor, the oppressed and marginalised. 'Draw a line' of a circle of Kingdom care and activity that can include those not yet Christians, giving fresh purpose, reason for being and hope to those who become involved.

The place of the third of these aspects was the message today to our baptist pastors' fraternal of Albert Bogle, a parish minister who in earlier days was a rock evangelist and now chairman of an exciting 'Gospel action' charity, the Vine Trust. Many people are not hostile to Christianity: they just don't see the relevance of it to anything in the real world. Enrolling the 'not yet Christian' into activities of caring in Jesus' name can give them the opportunity to understand that Christian faith is a relationship with God that leads to involvement and investment, in the Jesus way, in His world.

Hope Sharing

2011-02-08T11:44:00.004Z

A quote from a perceptive and generous book by Alan & Ele Kreider, Worship and Mission after Christendom. It really got me thinking and excited. It's so right for today!

"Hope is the most interesting currency a congregation has to spend. Christians in worship are renewed in hope: by the big story, the little stories, and their encounter with God in sacraments, words, and brothers and sisters. The New Testament does not urge Christians to evangelise other people; it commands Christians to 'give an account of the hope that is within them (1 Peter 3.15)'. The Christians' main task is not so much faith sharing as 'hope sharing'."

(Worship and Mission after Christendom, Paternoster, 2009, p 173)

Focus

2011-01-27T13:24:00.001Z

After 4 days back here in Prague, at the International Baptist Theological Seminary, my theological home …..

In IBTS, at this centre of research in baptistic theology, we have a resistance to talking about ‘values’. For values are easily made interior and subjective. Each person can claim their own. There’s no real way of testing them. And the Bible does not speak in terms of values. So what does it speak of?

What the Bible does speak about is vision and drivers. Vision of the Kingdom of God brought to realisation here on earth. Drivers rooted in God’s covenants of grace. And we confess that the fullness of an irreducible vision of a renewed heavens and earth is brought to realisation through the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This humbles us, leading us into speaking of establishing, within our different contexts, convictions expressed through practices that we demonstrably engage in. Such an attitude was beautifully articulated in morning prayers today, through the words of the Christian martyr, Archbishop Romero,

It helps now and then to step back and take the long view, the Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us. No statement says all that can be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection, no pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the Church's mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders, ministers not messiahs. We are prophets of a future that is not our own.

Archbishop Oscar Romero

Crucifyingly intense

2011-01-09T17:32:00.000Z

For the Lord your God is a fire consuming – a passionate God (Deuteronomy 4.24)

‘Passionate’. A better word to use in translating the Hebrew than the more usual ‘jealous’, which has bad connotations in contemporary English usage. God has such intensity of feeling of purpose, with plans to prosper and mature those made in His image and likeness.

This is the God who grips us in Jesus. Who draws us into and through the Cross of Christ to be united with His Son, calling and commanding us to invest ourselves in all that Christ represents, brings to us and is concerned about.

This is what God defines as love. Crucifyingly intense.

A people of God's inheritance

2011-01-06T12:20:00.002Z

But as for you, the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are (Deuteronomy 4.20).

A colleague, visiting from another part of the world, asked me this week what I made of the church in the UK, and whether there was a hope of revival. I was able to give a positive and enthusiastic reply. Why?

At least three things seem to me as characteristic of authentic church, a people set apart as witnesses to the character and concerns of God. Firstly, they will be a people who have a testimony of being rescued and redeemed from a life where they were held captive by destructive and oppressive forces that dehumanised and demeaned them as persons made in the image of God. Secondly, there will be sense of struggle, being brought through a process of transformation, both personal and social, that was by no means easy and quite likely to be painful. And thirdly, there will be a growing awareness and vision of a holistic reality and quality to eternal life begun now, of a New Heavens and New Earth filled with the goodness of God’s character and also the goals that are the realisation of His concerns for humanity and the Cosmos.

Authentic church will have these three components of testimony, struggle and focus here and now. And there are increasing signs of this kind of thinking appearing among congregations throughout the land. Pray God that such a revival continues!

A New Year Blessing

2010-12-31T12:06:00.000Z

As we enter a New Year, may you find joy in the simplicity and profundity of a faith focused on Jesus Christ alone.

May Jesus, as witnessed to faithfully in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, become bigger for you this year. May deficient pictures of God, formed in your mind because of sin in your life, be shattered again; so that you might see afresh God revealed to you in and through Jesus Christ.

May all your understanding and experience of God be remade by the God of Israel, who loves you as a Father loves His Son. May He work in you by His Holy Spirit to draw you to and reshape you in His image and likeness in Jesus Christ. And may the pain of that reshaping be surpassed by the joy of a life freshly emptied, humbled and made compliant to the will of God, that you might find delight in the purpose for which God created you in Christ Jesus.

Have a blessed New Year.

Drawn to Discipleship

2010-12-22T04:19:00.000Z

In looking back over these studies on the Philippian Hymn, it occurs to me that the biggest contemporary challenge to the Christian Church is the diminution and devaluing of the cost of discipleship.

Truth is, you can have a religion that speaks of the value of the individual, the importance of love and acceptance and tolerance, without having either God or Christ. Karl Marx had a good try. Ron Hubbard arguably managed it even better, in a smart move from writing science fiction into designing Scientology. Religions that appeal to human instinct are always going to be popular.

But there is nothing popular at the heart of the Christian gospel, where faith is never but a ‘decision’ to believe or an experience of existential reality. The faith that marks discipleship must be prefaced by real repentance and the cry of the Jewish shema, affirming allegiance to the God of Israel, who declares His Word of instruction and command, drawing His people into reflecting His character and participating in His actions.

As we look to celebrate and embrace the Christ of Christmas let us remember this cost to God, in terms of self-renunciation and pain, of embracing us through the Incarnation. And let us not imagine that His way can be anything but costly for those who would find and follow it.

Perspective on life

2010-12-21T15:46:00.001Z

Bad deal, born with a hint of illegitimacy and dumped in straw?

'We don't get to make our lives up. We get to receive our lives as gifts. The story that says we should have no story except the story we chose when we had no story is a lie. To be human is to learn that we don't get to make up our lives because we're creatures. Christians are people who recognise that we have a Father whom we can thank for our existence. Christian discipleship is about learning to live our lives as gifts without regret.'

Stanley Hauerwas & Jean Vanier, Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness, IVP, Downers Grove, 2008, pp. 92-93.

Fragile yet fixed

2010-12-15T09:45:00.000Z

“We commonly assume that the opposite of trusting God is doubting God. In the Old Testament, the opposite of trusting God is trusting something else, such as another god, or political resources, and thus trusting ourselves (Doubting God doesn’t matter so much as long as you are doubting the right God.).”

John Goldingay, Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone, Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, pp. 49-50.

The Christ Hymn - pt. 10

2010-12-12T15:10:00.000Z

That Jesus Christ is ‘LORD’, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2.11)

To ascribe to Jesus the title, ‘LORD’, is to assign to Him the accolade given to the God of Israel. Here is the recognition that in Jesus all that God is and proves Himself to be is met with. It is a declaration of worship.

But more than that. Here we have a vital connection with the first part of the hymn. His complete humanity was so emphasised, in v 7 and v 8. For we are called to celebrate Jesus by embracing His humanity become our humanity, His attitude and ministry expressed through our attitude and ministry.

To admit Jesus is LORD is to approach the place of harmony and submission to Him and His call. To become His disciples. It is giving ourselves to be drawn into the reality of the God who loves and invests us as a Father, who treats us and commands us as siblings of His Son, who energises and empowers us for this new identity by His Spirit.

May this bring you joy this Advent Season.

The Christ Hymn - pt. 9

2010-12-12T07:02:00.000Z

And every tongue might confess (Philippians 2.11)

Singing can be a beautiful thing. And so can celebratory talking: speaking about something or someone because you are excited, joyful.

Here is the heart of Christian worship and witness. To tell out the wonder and the joy of discovering what God has done and is doing because of Jesus Christ.

Evangelism isn’t so hard. Not when we have discovered, or rediscovered, a source of joy and delight beyond measure. To realise who God is and what matters to Him. Because we have been shown Jesus.

To be continued .....

The Christ Hymn - pt. 8

2010-12-11T08:24:00.002Z

…. So that at the name of Jesus every knee - whether heavenly, human or hidden – might bow (Philippians 2.10)

It is hard for those of us who are Gentile, non-Jewish, worshippers of the God of Israel to appreciate the immensity and intensity of these words. Here is the declaration that Jesus Christ is not only the Word of God, He is also God’s last Word, His ultimate declaration to and over the whole Cosmos. Here and in Him is the full majesty and holiness of the Creator made manifest. Here is the one before whom all will bow in tribute awaiting His judgment. It is Jesus who stands at the end of all time in this Creation, holding the key to the destiny of all in the sight of God.

A tame Jesus, a nice Jesus, a docile Jesus, a teddy bear Jesus, would be so much easier to live with. But not to worship.

To be continued …..

As it is written

2010-12-10T18:24:00.001Z

Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me,`In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.' All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. But in the LORD all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult (Isaiah 45.22-25).

The Christ Hymn - pt. 7

2010-12-10T18:07:00.002Z

…. and has given Him the name that is over and above every name (Philippians 2.9)

Those who look to Jesus will be exalted because of Jesus. And they will also discover the power of His name.

The vindication and preferment that is here given to Jesus is given to the son of Mary. Jesus is not an uncommon name today, especially in Spanish speaking environments. It is the name given to a child born of flesh and blood. And it the one called Jesus who is found in flesh and blood, now both resurrected and exalted, that is given pre-eminence over all things by the God of Israel.

We may not fully grasp, but let us at least glimpse the dignity and honour that is bestowed on us by God, through Jesus Christ. This dignity is for those whose humanity is caught up in his humanity, into the very presence of the God of Israel. Here is the wonder. That the One who came down to serve, the Son of God pouring Himself out, took to Himself our humanity and now holds it, conjoined to himself, for all eternity. Through Jesus and only Jesus we find ourselves participating in the presence, in the glory and the goodness, of the Creator of the Cosmos.

Here is why we willingly participate in the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, moulded by His manifesto, galvanised by His goals. As we find ourselves participating in His ministry we find too that we are arrested and infused with the power and presence of the resurrected and exalted Messiah, whose name is above all names, and whose humbled humanity we share.

To be continued …..

The Christ Hymn - pt. 6

2010-12-10T09:18:00.000Z

…. God highly exalted Him (Philippians 2.9)

The language here is unmistakably that of vindication, of reward. In v 6-8, we are given insight into the attitude of Jesus Christ, how he approached and engaged with life as a human being. Now we see it from the perspective of God in heaven. Here, in v 9-11 is the response of the God of Israel to what Jesus had undertaken.

Jesus is not simply resurrected, or made alive again. The language here is of exaltation, celebration of accomplishment and its reward. The life of obedience and the sacrifice made is now vindicated and honoured.

There is something fundamentally wrong in our perception of the Christian life, if we have not grasped this key attitude: that we are called to a life where we are ‘co-crucified’ with Christ. Being a Christian is not a free pass to get what you like from heaven’s 'supermarket'.

We are to focus on the Kingdom of God; and to get on with promoting its advance here and now. This is what Jesus did, and received His reward from God. If we adopt His attitude, this will involve seeking to be gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, merciful, faithful, loving and forgiving. Emptying ourselves in humility, pursuing servanthood and obedience to God. Pursuing justice and behave righteously. And growing our lives into deeper participation in the life of ministry of Jesus Christ.

Get focused. Remember, those who live for Jesus will be exalted because of Jesus. Everyone will get their reward.

To be continued …..

the resurrected crucified Christ

2010-12-09T09:17:00.000Z

'Once again, we must stress that it is the resurrected crucified Christwith whom believers are initially and continually crucified….co-crucifixion is not merely a metaphor but an apt description of an encounter with a living person whose presence transforms and animates believers: "It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And the life I live, I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me by giving himself for me." ….. The kenosis of the preexistent Son of God, known in the fidelity and love of the historical Jesus, continues to define the reality of the resurrected Christ and thus of those whom he enlivens ….. As Kasemann famously said, "The cross is the signature of the one who is risen." ' (Gorman, Cruciformity, p.71)

The Christ Hymn - pt. 5

2010-12-07T15:33:00.001Z

Therefore …. (Philippians 2.9)

Faith is not about believing certain things. The devil and demons believe all the right things about Jesus Christ, when they fear and flee from Him! Faith is about attitude.

Enter the Holy Spirit. Sure, the Holy Spirit’s action is not explicitly mentioned here. But in the mindset of the Apostle Paul, a first century Jew, the Holy Spirit’s presence, purpose and power is implicitly present and entirely assumed. The Holy Spirit is always the active agent of the Creator God, the God of Israel. God breathes the Holy Spirit out. The Holy Spirit is executor of the will and enabler of the way of God, working with creative and recreative power.

God sent Jesus not to die, but to bring life to the world. That Jesus had to die in bringing this about is not in doubt. But the goal was never death. Death was simply the enemy to be defeated, alongwith the devil, disease and despair. The focus of God is always the generation of light and life that is healthy and good.

To be continued …..

The Christ Hymn - pt. 4

2010-12-06T08:40:00.000Z

Who in His identity, being God as He really is, decided not to make use of His divine prerogative for His own personal advantage but emptied Himself, taking the identity of a bond-slave, becoming like mankind just as we are, coming among us as a real human being: He humbled Himself, committed to obedience to the point of death – even death on a Cross. (Philippians 2.6-8)

The story so far …..

So, by self-emptying in order to have the mindset of a slave; humbling ourselves, to be framed by obedience. Is this what Christian life is about? Remember, all this is about our being called to have the same attitude as Jesus Christ.

It means we are to be vulnerable people, not religious mannequins. And we are to be dependent and attentive, not just as voluntary workers, but as those under the authority of a master.

It is this attitude, the disposition of our heart and longing, that God looks for and is pleased by more than anything else. This is what He responds to. In the most wonderful, beautiful and powerful way.

To be continued …..

The Christ Hymn - pt. 3

2010-12-04T14:54:00.002Z

He humbled Himself, committed to obedience to the point of death – even death on a Cross. (Philippians 2.8)

The self-emptying of the God who comes to us in Jesus Christ is not simply a divine ‘guest-appearance’ on the human stage. It is a total disinvestment of divine prerogative and power by the eternal Word of God, the Son of God come among us. It involves a genuine pursuit of servant intentionality on His part, whereby He undertakes to abase Himself, deliberately embracing humble circumstances, that He might express obedience to the God of Israel’s will, deliberately and intentionally bending His own will to embrace the plan.

All of us are capable of fantasising, imagining what we might do if we were to inherit wealth or power. The way of thinking exhibited by Jesus Christ is seen to be, once more, so counter-intuitive to our sinful nature. It’s not a natural thing to think this way. Humility today, as in Greek and Roman pagan society, is perceived as rather a pathetic characteristic. Achieve. Succeed. Become who you aspire to be. Realise your ambitions. These are the values of a corrupted society, far from God.

Those who would enter eternal life in Christ are here called to a radically different mindset. To be marked as people under authority, walking in obedience to the publicly recognised (not simply privately discerned) instructions of the God of Israel. And this demands humility. A swallowing of personal pride. Yes, even a ‘putting ourselves down’. Utter submission to the will and the way of the God of Israel.

It is not the way of the world we live in. It is not the way of the powers and principalities that would hold us in bondage. It is, rather, the way for those who would choose to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

A choice to participate in His purposes and pursue His plans. And, as we will see, to know His power.

To be continued …..

The Christ Hymn - pt. 2

2010-12-04T13:35:00.004Z

But He emptied Himself, taking the identity of a bond-slave, becoming like mankind just as we are, coming among us as a real human being (Philippians 2.7)

The self-emptying of God in Himself is manifestly expressed in Emmanuel, God with us. In the very act of coming among us, Jesus Christ expresses and manifests the reality of God. Here is God, not hidden on some distant throne, but coming fully in the presence of the Messiah, the Anointed One, to reveal His divine identity to us.

The descendent of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had always known that God shows Himself through His promises fulfilled and in His actions of intervention in the history of Israel. But those in power and who exercised control could simply not conceive that God would so act: divesting Himself so completely of private contentment, self-containment, or any hint of detachment from the real affairs of His Creation.

Here is a God truly to be feared and wondered at. One who gets involved in the affairs of mankind to bring about the justice and righteousness He demands; and who is prepared to go to such terrible lengths of self-divestment to achieve His determined objectives for the whole Cosmos.

To be continued .....

The Christ Hymn - pt. 1

2010-12-03T10:58:00.004Z

Who in His identity, being God as He really is, decided not to make use of His divine prerogative for His own personal advantage (Philippians 2.6)

There’s something totally ‘counter-intuitive’ about the Philippian Hymn (Philippians 2.6-11). Especially the first part, in v’s 6-8. It turns upside down the way people think about God. Even Christians!

Whether we realise it or not, we all tend to start with a crazy picture of God. Because we’re up to our necks in sin, in a sinful world. So our pictures of God are really off balance. Take for instance, the ‘omni’s’: omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent – all ideas with pagan, not Biblical roots. Gosh, so where do we get a valid idea of God from?!! In this Christ Hymn, a celebration of Jesus Christ.

The first thing the Hymn tells us is that the only picture of God that is real is the one we are faced with in and through Jesus Christ. He’s the bearer of the divine identity. Noone else. So it says, ‘he, appearing as (being in the form of) God’. In other words, He comes to us as God - God as He really is.

And then it tells us something very real about God. ‘He didn’t try to use his divine identity to His own advantage’. Wow. We use power to get the results that fit with us. God uses His power in a quite different way. To save. To heal. To bring His creatures into real life.

God isn’t just the ‘big man' up there. We only really meet with God when we see Him as He has chosen to appear to us, down here. In Jesus. Don't look up. Look around.

To be continued …….

A wee caveat!

2010-12-02T09:44:00.004Z

My friend and colleague in Prague, Rollin Walls, has just been reviewing an essay for me. He makes a very important point, which I quote in full from Walls' own work, Rival Versions of Theological Enquiry. The point is that Brueggemann can be accused of reducing the Gospel to merely social action. I agree with this warning - hence the 'three dimensional Gospel' blog entry below. We cannot afform to simply 'sermonise', 'spiritualise' or 'socialise'! We need a grasp of righteousness that points to God as well as to our fellow man. But there is still validity in Brueggemann's point that there is indeed a social, interpersonal aspect to righteousness. Oh, if only any one of us could get it perfectly right all the time! Yeah. Right. .....

Walls, both as New Testament specialist and missiologist, forcibly and persuasively states,

'Granted that such a postmodern paradigm is upon us, we must, once again, recognise that this shift may bend towards a deconstructive or tradition approach to contextual missions. An example of the former might be given with Walter Brueggemann once again. He affirms a deconstruction of 'old missional assumptions and practices.' These include the scope of God's mission being extended outside the Church--a point made often enough by others. But for Brueggemann, this does not mean that the Spirit goes ahead of the Church, preparing the hearts of those seeking God to hear the salvific message of Christ. This would, apparently, be to conceive or practice the Church's mission in 'absolutist or triumphalist terms.' Instead, it means 'religious pluralism'. 'Mission' under such restrictions no longer has a Christological or ecclesiastical focus. It is rather an action theology to redress the inequities in the world. Disestablishment of the Church (apparently this is as much Christian theology as any institutional Church) means being able to recognise ‘the companionable presence of many others … journeying in the same direction.' ‘Christian faith can never be satisfied with a theology of hope that is purely attitudinal, abstract, or ‘doctrinal’’—it must be hope in action. Mission, then (for Brueggemann), entails addressing the injustices resulting from global technology. It also entails ecumenical (inter-religious) dialogue: ‘We may also find, in such dialogue, points of commonality in both theology and ethics, and so expand our conception of the missio Dei.' This anthropological mission of hope, deemphasising Christ, conversion and Church, becomes a movement open enough to include others 'journeying in the same direction'. Mission in action (is reduced to and) involves enacting hope by participating in the harsh realities of AIDS, subjugation (by Western powers outside the West), and ethno-religious conflicts. (from Rollin Walls, Rival Versions of Theological Enquiry). Italicised parenthesis mine.

Rollin has understandable reservations regarding such a missiology! Rollin Walls' analysis and reservation expressed regarding his reading of Brueggemann therefore needs to be heeded. Because if we lose the centre in Jesus Christ to our Gospel, what sort of Gospel is left? In the end of the day, we own only the knowing of 'Jesus Christ and Him crucified'.

Keeping it real

2010-11-29T15:27:00.003Z

Fed up with Christmas adverts already? One of the scariest, for me is the type of game that allows you to interact as if you were there, in a real space with others, but are not. Keep fit playing games: jumping around on a screen with others but there in the room by yourself! Yet the attraction of three dimensional games, that mimic real space and time, is growing. And engaging.

The Gospel is designed to be engaging. So why, for so many, is it not? We can short-sell the Gospel. There are meant to be three dimensions to it that can really take hold of the imagination of friends who don't know Jesus. Sometimes folk just get one or two dimensions offered to them.

So how can we speak of the Gospel in three dimensions?

The 1st dimension is instruction. the message itself, the Word, the declaration of who God is, what He does and how He loves - all revealed expressed in the life of Jesus Christ. It's what people have to hear about in order to know about Jesus and His love. This is the message that is in preaching, teaching and evangelism. It's the message of Jesus and His love. It's what we do when we talk to and tell people about Jesus and the God revealed in the Bible.

The 2nd dimension is impartation. We are given ability by God to impart to others, in the power of Holy Spirit's enabling. The expressions of Christ's ministry that come through us. Helping. Serving. Healing. Imparting peace to others. This is what God does to us and through us, as we give expression through our lives to the love of God for others. It has the smell of heaven about it, as people can sense something of God present as we share with them. It happens through close and caring relationships, as well as in acts of service.

The 3rd dimension is intentional intervention. Stepping out in God's agenda for deliberately strategising His concern for the marginalised and disadvantage in society in order to actively bless and encourage them. Pursuing justice and expressing righteousness. This happens through taking initiatives out into society to actively care for those in need.

We need to work on expressing all of these together. A single or two-dimensional Gospel may be 'right', but it is inadequate. To actively touch people with the real life of God, we need to have all three dimensions present in and through the life of church. Keeping it real.

What book for Christmas?

2010-11-27T11:17:00.001Z

Want a suggestion for a good book for Christmas? If you're not afraid of being stretched a bit, I can't think of anything better than Michael Gorman's new book, Inhabiting the Cruciform God. It's terrific. Fully up to date in terms of scholarship, yet truly pastoral and missional in application. Don't be put off by the title - you don't need to be a specialist to understand it. There's a lot of 'junk food' books around, this is not one of them. It will bless you and possibly change your life. Is that a commendation that pleases you?

Served & Serving

2010-11-16T12:41:00.003Z

At Bristo we are presently seeing a change in the constitution of our meetings together, as we move into a more blended support of two complementary forms of meeting:

a. ‘teaching, support and prayer’ meetings, primarily for Christians

b. ‘missional’ meetings, which intentionally invite, involve and serve non-Christians.

For many years, the focus at Bristo was on gathering Christians into fellowship, in addition to the times of Sunday worship, so that there would be some further teaching, support and prayer’ during the week. Indeed, out of these gatherings was born missional activity such as involvement in the Care Van, Night Shelter, the IT club and Alpha. In addition, we now have both the International Club and Home from Home serving immigrants and foreigns students. And there are and will be more opportunities to reach out to the unreached.

As we look towards the future, I see the need to recognise the place of encouraging Christians into a blended involvement in both ‘teaching, support and prayer’ meetings and also ‘missional’ meetings. Changes in culture had forced us to recognise that Sunday alone can no longer be the only occasion for ‘teaching, support and prayer’ meeting. Cell groups can and do function quite appropriately to supplement Sunday support. At the same time, there is a place for intentional, missional gatherings of Christians for varied forms of missional activity and service.

So here is the challenge. For the development of disciples, rather than the sating of consumers, we need to have Christians exposed to gathering and also working together, both for ‘teaching, support and prayer’ meetings, and also ‘missional’ purposes which intentionally invite, involve and serve non-Christians.

But with one qualification: let’s not look for gimmicks as platforms for these missional meetings. Let’s remember the Old Testament theologian Brueggemann’s definition of Biblical righteousness. And pursue it, as those who participate in the life of Christ Jesus:

‘Righteousness concerns active intervention in social affairs, taking an initiative to intervene effectively in order to rehabilitate society, to respond to social grievance, and to correct every humanity-diminishing activity’.

Justice & Righteousness

2010-11-14T08:56:00.004Z

Brueggemann's definitions are helpful and workable:

Justice (mishpat) in the Old Testament concerns distribution in order to make sure that all members of the community have access to resources and goods for the sake of a viable life of dignity. In covenantal tradition the particular subject of YHWH’s justice is the triad, ‘widow, orphan, immigrant,’ those without leverage or muscle to sustain their own legitimate place in society.

Righteousness (sedaqah) concerns active intervention in social affairs, taking an initiative to intervene effectively in order to rehabilitate society, to respond to social grievance, and to correct every humanity-diminishing activity.

We have to grasp both this purpose and passion of God: Jeremiah 9.23-26

Wrath and mercy

2010-11-11T11:30:00.002Z

This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD. "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh - Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart." (Jeremiah .23-26)

Understanding the nature of God’s sovereignty in terms of process, or journey, is not simply contemporary and fashionable. This is integral to the revelation of the Old Testament. The World depicted there is one of cosmic chaos, where there are many influences and spiritual forces, including evil ones. But the Creator remains supreme, and the Creator deals with His creation in a forming, moulding manner. Out of intense, overcoming love. Even when that which He has created does not choose to conform to Him but rebel and decline from His plan and purpose, God elects to remould and reform that which he has made to conform to His character and will.

And when we open our lives to the Lordship of Christ, God will be relentlessly loving in bringing this about in us. Whether we like it or not.

Walter Brueggemann's new book is great at applying this profound and reassuring truth to present political realities. Old Testament scholarship well applied.

Like leadership?

2010-11-04T11:37:00.000Z

Back at Bristo, and reflection again on the challenges of leadership. The nature of leadership is something I’ve thought on a lot as I am preparing to write as essay on the Philippian Hymn (Philippians 2.5-11). It's possible to confuse leadership with status or qualifications. It requires neither. Leadership, I believe, involves:

Recognition of revelation

A sense and conviction of what is right and of what is required – for Christians, a sense of revelation as to what conforms with the Word of God revealed in Scripture and fulfilled in Christ. This is where it starts. But it doesn’t stop there. Good or right ideas are not enough. It also is marked by ….

Responsibility & Resolution

Leaders have a resolute determination to pursue the path they see before them. And a commitment that takes personal responsibility for action and delivery in doing so. Leaders don’t just have ideas for others to deliver on. But ….

Recruiting

A person is only a leader if others are choosing to join in with where they're going and what they're doing.

Jesus was a leader when among us. He calls some to be leaders now. Has God called you? Have a look at yourself and then you can answer the question, in the light of the above.

And let me know if you are, if you like!

Sabbatical ends

2010-10-29T05:21:00.000+01:00

Today, as Jennifer and I pass through what has become my theological 'home' at IBTS in Prague, on our drive home to Edinburgh from Bulgaria, I cannot reflect on the wonders of contrast in life. The contrast where there is no contrast - how people have shown genuine love and friendship, and are as delightful in North West USA as they are in South East Europe; and the inherent contrast and contradiction of humanity - so innately lovely and yet so inherently sinful - Christians and pagans all!

And it causes me to see again that only God is good; only He is unchanging; only He is pure love; and the only place where He, as He fully is revealed can be found, is in the person and works of Jesus Christ of Narareth. He is the complete focus and example for human life. Participation in His life is life itself. And such cause for peace and pleasure and hope and faith and love ....

This, truly, is what I see with such vivid clarity refreshed and thankfulness renewed. Praise God!

Delightfully disagreeable

2010-10-15T16:23:00.002+01:00

One of the sheer joys of Sabbatical study is having the time to read and seek to understand writings that one would never normally have time for nor choose to look at. Infuriating, frustrating …. and always instructive! It’s not just about enforcing self-abasement, although that has to be part of it. It’s good to be faced with a well argued conviction that one finds hard to own. There’s something good about the way our convictions are shaped by not only our response to the Word of God, but also by our character and circumstances. And its also good to read something that one, initially, wands to disagree with! and then perhaps to rethink and reevaluate. To rejoice in the diversity that is born out of the reality of Christ impacting upon people in so many different circumstances and situations.

Following in faith

2010-10-14T09:00:00.002+01:00

And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant (Exodus 14.34).

This morning, I have been reflecting on this verse. Increasingly, I see how our ability to read and understand the Bible is both enhanced and curtailed by the parameters of the culture and context we find ourselves embedded in. Now, given that God’s Word has the power to speak into each and every situation, this should not unduly alarm us. At the same time, however, we need to be aware how our own presuppositions can limit our appreciation of the revelation that comes in and through the Word of God.

I am increasingly discomforted by popular, contemporary interpretation of faith in God in our western context. Too individualistic, too voluntaristic. Here, the reality of God evokes a response that is here rendered ‘and put their trust in him’. This interpretation is based on the LXX rendering, but the Hebrew reminds us of another, deeper sense: one which carries the connotation of a relationship characterised by an acknowledgement of God’s sovereign power and the need for our submission to and seeking of Him.

I think a deeper understanding of this submission is what is needed in our culture. It would transform, for one thing, the nature of prayer. Submission brings a culture of faith that looks for the fulfilment of God’s covenant desires, not our covetous ones.

Glimpse

2010-10-07T20:17:00.001+01:00

Karl Barth –a great theologian, misunderstood and misrepresented by so many. But does dogmatic theology get better than this?

“If God required and makes possible that He should be served by the creature, this service means that the creature is taken up into the sphere of divine lordship. We have always to remember that God’s glory really consists in His self-giving, and that this has its centre and meaning in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and that the name of Jesus Christ stands for the event in which humanity, and in humanity the whole of creation, is awakened and called and enabled to participate in the being of God …. The self declaration of God is true and real, which means that God Himself is God in such a way that He wills to have the creature as a creature with Him, that He does not will to be God without it, without claiming it, but also without being personally present to it”

(Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 2.1 pp. 670 & 756, quoted by John Flett in his impressive monograph, The Witness of God, Eerdmans, 2010, p. 196.)

Submission

2010-10-06T08:13:00.000+01:00

Submission is not something that we find readily acceptable in our day. The rights of the individual are so strongly asserted that any challenge to free, personal determination can be received as a violation.

But this is how it is in the life of Christian discipleship. Our Lord models submission, submission to the God of Israel, Creator and Sustainer of the Cosmos. Although in the nature of God, he embraced the nature of a servant and, as man, humbled himself in obedience. For the Christian, submission is a necessary way.

Submission begins in the heart of each of us. But it does not end there. The security of corporate discernment is that it is allows an environment of confirmation as to the will of God. Submission to our own delusion or ambition is no submission at all. It is one of the beauties of fellowship in Christ that we should find confirmation through the discernment and confirmation of others. If we are truly seeking to submit to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In Pursuit of Excellence

2010-09-30T18:29:00.001+01:00

Meeting with the leadership mentoring group of the ABC has provided interesting insights. The overall philosophy of this denominational region, much the same size as the Scottish Baptist Union, emphasises missionality. This stress, under the leadership of the executive pastor, Charles Rees, has helped serve in transforming this area of Christian witness from one of decline into one of growth. There is a critical self-analysis among the pastors, as they seek to focus together in Lifelong Learning Groups and hold each other accountable. The question, ‘what is the best way to do this’ is constantly before them.

I’m impressed by this drive to be mission centred is giving focus and energy here. May it be so also in Scotland and elsewhere in Europe.

Sifted like Wheat

2010-09-29T21:31:00.000+01:00

I have spent the last 2 days, coming as a guest speaker, at a conference here for the pastors and lay leaders in this region of the American Baptist Church, historically separated from the Southern Baptist at the time of the Civil War tragedy of the Americas in the 19th century.

There has been an ‘uncommon grace’ present in these meetings. The people are lovely Christians, but the sense of oneness and the favour of God present here has been special. It appears that it has not always been so. Some 7 years ago there was a real sense of crisis here, ‘dark days’, that threatened to pull apart the very fabric of denominational life.

In conversation, one leader reflected that Jesus spoke to Peter saying, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers (Luke 22.31-32).

We should not imagine that each of us will not, at times, disappoint the Lord and succumb to the temptations and attacks of the evil one at times. Times of testing will surely come.

But the Lord intercedes, holding us in union with Himself and lifting us in the power of His resurrection. This transformation of those who are crushed and are lifted into the reality of renewal is what has come among Baptists here. And the promise is for us all.

One, Holy, Catholic & Apostolic

2010-09-28T14:27:00.000+01:00

After a wonderful and blessed first day at the ABC conference here in the heart of the Rockies at Ross Point in Idaho, I'm reflecting on the way that, wherever you are in the world, the essence of real Christian, confessional community remains the same. Here I am, 5,000 miles from home and 10 time zones away from Jennifer, yet the pastors and leaders here are the same gracious, humble and Christ-centring people that I know in Scotland and Bulgaria. And it causes my heart to rejoice with praise to God, for I see yet again the indellible stamp of the Spirit of God on the lives of people, imprinting on them (and me!), imperfect and fallible people all, the present reality and presence of the risen Christ. This is a real joy.

And it's not just the people who you expect to agree with. I'm reading a book for review, which I didn't expect to enjoy, by an English Calvinist. It's excellent and has challenged and corrected me in quite unexpected ways. What joy! There really is, despite all the fleshly difference, one church of Jesus Christ in the world, carved out by the Spirit of God - one, holy, catholic and apostolic. A taste of heaven indeed.

Elk burgers, buffalo steaks and guns

2010-09-26T13:53:00.002+01:00

Greetings from Great Falls, Montana in USA. Great to be here as guest of IBTS research student Patti Duckworth and her husband John, pastor of the baptist church here. Great hospitality, Christian love and fellowship and yet also another experience of how the context and culture we have to express our faith in Jesus varies so much. Never eaten elk or buffalo before, but both were great! John and Patti also took me to the local county fairground yesterday, and an exhibition of stalls selling hunting gear and so many tpes of weapons and guns! People here are strong on their right to hold weapons and hunt in the wide open country of northwest USA, and are very suspicious of government control and legislation.

Many Christians here will have weapns in their homes. And this is the context for John, Patti and their people in which the Christian life of transformation and change has to be rooted and come to find expression. In a way that engages with the culture and context that is real for people here. No place for sweeping judgments on weapons control or unrelenting vegetarianism. But, as everywhere, a need to find the voice of Christ's call speaking to people where they are and draqwing them into the life of God's transformational love. God help us all to realise this and to be slow to judge and quick to love.

Full Atonement

2010-09-23T08:37:00.001+01:00

In these days of prayer and reflection, I’ve been challenged to summarise in a very concise way what the Atonement is all about. In other words, what it is that Jesus Christ has really done that makes Him so important. It struck me that there are three distinct but complementary dimensions that can be summed up: the propitiatory, the palliative and the paradigmatic aspects. Yes, I know they are big words, but they fit well. And the alliteration can be helpful.

Propitiatory comes from the translation of a Greek word used in Romans 3.25, but also summarises that aspect of the cross that is about punishment and penal retribution as well as propitiatory sacrifice. It’s an important – crucial – aspect of what Jesus Christ has done for us. God punishes sin but Jesus took our punishment. It’s the triumph of mercy over judgment for those who will receive Christ. It is something to be proclaimed now by us, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Palliative refers to the healing aspect of what Jesus was doing, bringing healing and restoration to people. It is interwoven with the first aspect but is distinguishable in itself. God heals. It’s a critical mark of his ministry in Galilee, as it is now. He delivers us from the devil. He brings us His peace and tasters of healing, when we are willing to receive it. All this flows out of Christ’s atoning work. It is something to be manifested and ministered now in Christ’s name by us, in the power of the Spirit.

Paradigmatic is the life lived by Christ as a man and vindicated by God. He gives us a pattern of human life, acting as the paradigm for humanity – the second, unsinning Adam. He gets crucified because of it, but God does not allow that to be the end of the story. God raises Him up from the death and equips Him with the new body that we all now long for, when Jesus ushers in the new heaven and the new earth. A life to be demonstrated through outworking what it means to live for the Kingdom of God today.

The full atoning power of Christ has to be proclaimed, manifested and demonstrated. All of these aspects of telling, ministering and behaving are involved. This is the power of the three dimensional understanding of the atonement Jesus Christ brings. It is all of propitiatory, palliative and paradigmatic. It removes the risk of simply being about ideas alone, power alone or deeds alone. Anything less runs the risk of reducing the truth to but a fairy tale, fantasy or social fashionability.

Cruciform and contemporary?

2010-09-15T01:43:00.000+01:00

I’m feeling challenged over being more missional. The question arises, ‘is it possible to be both missional and cruciform’? At one level of analysis, being missional is about being relevant to the society that we’re rooted in. Communicating with people in ways that they can understand. But I’m left with the question, ‘communicating what?’ The Gospel of the Kingdsom of God, come in Jesus Christ?

If the Gospel is essentially cruciform (entering the Kingdom of God by conforming to the call of the Christ whose path leads to and through the Cross), can we focus in phrasing the Gospel in a way that is readily attractive? Or is it not first necessary to express that message in the way and manner in which we live and form and express our agendas for life and living? What’s our focus? Being relevant or radical?

I can’t get away from the conviction that the greatest need of relevancy is to focus on church life that prioritises the Nazareth Manifesto. Where Jesus is found amidst our pusuit of care for those who suffer because of societal values that are fashionable yet unrighteous and unjust, merciless and unfaithful.

Seems to me that being radically cruciform is the meat in the meal of missionality, with everything else a side salad.

What names are really needed?

2010-09-10T10:09:00.001+01:00

I have come to something of a watershed in my attitude towards identifying ‘ministries’ or ‘giftings’ in a way that allows us to tag individuals. I decisively dislike it. A fashionable preoccupation with blandly referring to the importance of the ‘fivefold ministry’ of Ephesians 4.11-13 as if such demarcation or identification were easy or even possible in our contemporary church is, I believe, at best facile and at worst dangerous. Too easily it encourages a secret agenda that is about status and power.

What really matters, says Paul later in that Epistle, is the pursuit of the imitation of Christ (Ephesians 5.1). I suspect this is better served today by speaking of fivefold ‘voices’, voices that reverbate with Christ centring, Scriptural emphases and practices. Be wary of stressing personal ‘ministries’ that we are to identify. Rather, let us listen for voices that carry the resonance of the voice and implement the message of our master, Jesus Christ.

I am guarded against any mindset that produces such questions as, ‘What is your ministry?’ I am far happier with a stress on relationality and servanthood, prizing the work of those who faithfully seeks to serve in whatever way they are released into within the body of Christ and in His name. It seems to me that God will take a man or woman with such an attitude and use them in any number of different ‘ministries’, in different places and at different times, as the needs of the occasion demand.

Certainly, give me someone to work with who seeks to be known as a ‘servant’ rather than recognised in their ‘ministry’ any day. Egos that accompany ‘ministries’ are hard not to trip over. I have to confess, I have become both wary and wearied by claims to charismatic anointing from individuals, sometimes meriting serious consideration but often, sadly, simply spurious. The floating of fanciful notions accompanied by proof texting, masquerading as Scriptural teaching, is neither honouring to God nor proves itself fit for equipping the saints.

If there are, as I believe there should be, differing and complementary ministries within the body of Christ that are to be recognised and affirmed, it should be on the basis of them being offered with servant hearts and in sincerity; but they should be properly assessed and where appropriate affirmed.

Within our Baptist Union, we specifically assess and affirm, through a thorough process, those recognised and accredited for a teaching, pastoral and oversight ministry. This process of identification has proven fit in affirming recognised ministries that serves both the local and wider church. We talk, in our Board of Ministry, of looking for indicators that bespeak ‘call, character, competency, conviction and conduct’. If these are fit criteria in assessing candidates for the church office of pastor, then they might happily be applied to any other offices that the local church feels it appropriate to identify and affirm for the pursuit and execution of its corporate ministry. Otherwise, let people be happy to be know and function as servants of the Lord. Is there a better title?

Ecstasy

2010-09-02T08:11:00.001+01:00

Meeting with God in prayer. And ecstasy. Because without some sense of being caught up, embraced, confronted and met with by the God of Glory and Goodness; well, it can all seem a bit dreary, can it not? So for me, prayer and excitement in engaging with it always has this sense of expectation, and the need for moments of tasted fulfilment and consummation. But that by itself can seem a little too self indulgent.

I’m so aware of two things. Firstly, ecstasy is not the end we seek. Many approaches, religious and otherwise – even now, a tablet – can bring experience of ecstasy. Which has to bring doubt as to whether this is the summit of Christian meaningfulness. Secondly, ecstasy in the Bible always finds context in another, bigger picture. Whether we look at Exodus 34, Jeremiah 31, Joel 2 or Ezekiel 36; Acts 2 or 4 or the baptism of Jesus, the mount of transfiguration or the Ascension, all of these and related passages are set in the context of being taken up and involved in the plans and purposes of God: the mission of God.

And this makes sense. The profoundest moments of communion with God come, not when we seek it for our own gratification, but when as willing servants of God we focus on the hope of the Resurrection Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Relationships, mending with forgiveness and reconciliation. And give our creativity and imagination to pursuing this and sharing the vision with others.

What a relief.