Faith works

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

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

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

Wind, Fire and Power

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

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

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

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

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

Like a thief in the night

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

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

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

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

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

Слава на Бога!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beautiful obedience

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

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

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

Obedience

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hebrews 1-4

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some thoughts for our church AGM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A sad day in Scotland

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Waking up to reality

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

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

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

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

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

God help us all to hold to such a perspective.

Faith follows

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

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

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

Juggling Rainbows

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

Promises of God, expressed in the Scriptures

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

Purpose and the nature of the Kingdom of God revealed

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

Purification and purging of sin from our lives

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

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

Romans 1.5-7

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

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

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

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

Romans 1.1-4

v 1-2

Recognise 

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

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

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

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

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

v 3-4

Receive

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

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

• Saviour

• Healer

• Sanctifier

• Baptiser in Power

• Coming King

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

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

Getting into life

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

(Romans 1.4)

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

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

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

Spectators, priviledged participants at best

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Are you baptised in the Holy Spirit?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fracturing Fragility

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

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

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

Lent begins with Mark 8.31 - 9.1

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’.