Books Read In June

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This is Stott’s last book and it is classic Stott!

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This is really one of the best introductions to the what scripture is and how we are to interpret it. It does a wonderful job of giving you the tools to do exegesis and hermeneutics in laymens language. Should be used by churches for lay ministry training.

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Solid expositions on Penal Substitution.

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A wonderful novel. The author builds a complex, fascinating world of angelology and fallen angels (Nephilim) and the continued battle. Well worth reading, IMHO! My fuller review is HERE

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Quite simply a brilliant book. All Christians need to read this. See my fuller review HERE

The Art of Dying: Living Fully into the Life to Come by Rob Moll

As someone who reads a lot (and I mean a lot), in the midst of the bad and average books there are some good ones. The rarity is a GREAT book. This is a GREAT book. By GREAT I mean a book which is so well written, on a topic which is important that people just have to read it. Because of the subjective nature of reading it is somewhat perilous for a reviewer to declare a book to be a future classic. However I do feel that this will be a classic.

This book tackles the most difficult and avoided  of subjects – death and dying. But this is a vital book to read. Moll challenges us to think about the art of dying – an art which has been lost of the last century and a half. For Christians, we must be preparing for death in the midst of our life. Running the race, glorifying God, deep spirituality is a LIFE LONG process – not just in terms of every part of our lives, but in terms of length. Scripture says we need to persevere to the end; finish the race. Dying well is a part of our Christian walk and spiritual journey.

Too many  people do not die well. They pursue anything which will give them more life, even if that is a few weeks more. Medical intervention and medical science has created a culture by which there can ALWAYS be something more to be done, another machine, another tube to keep you alive. However Moll challenges us to think about when we should say “No – no more intervention – no more drastic treatment, it’s time to go home, speak with my family and prepare for death.”

Death and dying is one of the most intense spiritual experiences. We must learn to prepare for it. This book is filled with wonderful pastoral insight and wisdom as well as stories and illustrations from the medical and hospice worlds.

Who should read this book? Firstly ALL Christians should read this book and, regardless of age – 20, 30, 50, 60 – we should begin to prepare for dying – for we never know when we may encounter death. Secondly all pastors should have copies on hand. I have already given two copies away. Moll challenges pastors to be far more proactive in speaking and helping those who are dying. Too often we can enter a room of a parishioner who is terminally ill and not know what to say or how to act. We pastors need to begin to discern when it is right to challenge people to stop the striving for more treatments which will, at most, squeeze out a few extra weeks or months of life, and encourage them to begin to prepare spiritually and mentally to meet the living God of the Universe. Thirdly, family members of people dying must read this book. It will give them a (spiritual) hope as well as the confidence to begin to face the death of their dearest loved one in a way which will help them after their loved one has died.

This is a GREAT book. An important book. Highly Recommended.

Some Saturday Fun At A Friends House!

Encountering God’s Glory

I was very privileged to speak at a breakout session today at New Wine USA. I really enjoyed it.

I promised those in my breakout session that my talk would on the blog – so here it is:

ENCOUNTERING THE GLORY OF GOD

A Wheaton College Under Grad; M.A from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; Ph’D Iowa…

…. and a convert to the Catholic Church. And, according to this article – it was his study of Calvin which lead him to the catholic church…. Dr David Anders. I find this fascinating…

When I finished seminary, I moved on to Ph.D. studies in Reformation history. My focus was on John Calvin (1509-1564), the French Reformer who made Geneva, Switzerland into a model Protestant city. I chose Calvin not just because of my Presbyterian background, but because most American Protestants have some relationship to him. The English Puritans, the Pilgrim Fathers, Jonathan Edwards and the “Great Awakening” – all drew on Calvin and then strongly influenced American religion. My college and seminary professors portrayed Calvin as a master theologian, our theologian. I thought that if I could master Calvin, I would really know the faith.

Strangely, mastering Calvin didn’t lead me anywhere I expected. To begin with, I decided that I really didn’t like Calvin. I found him proud, judgmental and unyielding. But more importantly, I discovered that Calvin upset my Evangelical view of history. I had always assumed a perfect continuity between the Early Church, the Reformation and my Church. The more I studied Calvin, however, the more foreign he seemed, the less like Protestants today. This, in turn, caused me to question the whole Evangelical storyline: Early Church – Reformation – Evangelical Christianity, with one seamless thread running straight from one to the other. But what if Evangelicals really weren’t faithful to Calvin and the Reformation? The seamless thread breaks. And if it could break once, between the Reformation and today, why not sooner, between the Early Church and the Reformation? Was I really sure the thread had held even that far?

Calvin shocked me by rejecting key elements of my Evangelical tradition. Born-again spirituality, private interpretation of Scripture, a broad-minded approach to denominations – Calvin opposed them all. I discovered that his concerns were vastly different, more institutional, even more Catholic. Although he rejected the authority of Rome, there were things about the Catholic faith he never thought about leaving. He took for granted that the Church should have an interpretive authority, a sacramental liturgy and a single, unified faith.

These discoveries faced me with important questions. Why should Calvin treat these “Catholic things” with such seriousness? Was he right in thinking them so important? And if so, was he justified in leaving the Catholic Church? What did these discoveries teach me about Protestantism? How could my Church claim Calvin as a founder, and yet stray so far from his views? Was the whole Protestant way of doing theology doomed to confusion and inconsistency?

Try and sensibly engage with the WHOLE article by reading it HERE. Unless you have a Ph.D in Reformation History dismissing him as simply wrong is not an option. He raises some good points. His article is challenging and worth wrestling with as a calvinistic protestant!

Angelology: A Novel by Danielle Trussoni

I usually read the odd fiction book to relax. And I usually only read historical fiction. However there are times when some novels just grab my attention or curiosity that I just can’t help but read it. This was the case with this book. I read a review in the New York Times Book Review and I just wanted to read it.

The story is a fascinating one. It is about the on-going war g between the Nephilim (fallen Angels who married daughters of men) and a secret society of Angelologists, who, for centuries, have been committed to keeping the Nephilim at bay. The Nephilim have become powerful and wealthy – owning corporations and involved with politics. However, the persistent union with humans have caused many Nephilim to contract a virus, or a disease which decays them slowly. Nothing can be done – expect for an angelic artifact – a lyre – which, according to legend, was dropped by the Archangel Michael when he cast the rebellious angels into their prison in the depths of the earth. This lyre, through its music, would restore those Nephilim under the virus. The angelic lyre also has immense power. The Nephilim will not stop until the lyre is in their position and the Angelologists will not rest until the lyre, which is has been hidden by the society, is destroyed.

Trussoni writes a captivating story, even using some historical documents such as the Book of Enoch to build an incredibly convincing world of angelology , including a complex history. You almost believe that the professors and the society of angelologists are historical and real.

I did not find this novel cringy. On the contrary, her descriptions of the angels are wonderfully detailed, and by no means is she mocking the idea of angels. She has cleverly taken the concept of angels and built an entertaining novel revolving around the idea of the Nephilim. She has obviously spent time in the Bible (Genesis 6 and Revelation), the Book of Enoch as well as Jewish Tradition and other writings about the angelic. While ‘God’ or Jesus is, sadly, mostly absent, (the battle revolves around humans and angels) it is not entirely excluded. There is one scene in the book when the ‘mightiness’ of heaven does appear. It does not appear enough for my liking, but Trussoni does not ignore it entirely

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I quite lost myself in the story – which, after all, is the point of fun reading!

Dead Men Walking

A recent sermon of mine…

Listen here: Sunday Sermon 23 May 2010

Or read it below:

PENTECOST SUNDAY:

Acts 2: 1 – 11	Psalm 33: 12 – 22
1 Corinthians 12: 4 – 13	John 20: 19 – 23

Some people are fanatical about fitness and exercise. You can tell I am not one of them. But I do take comfort in the Apostles words to Timothy when he says: “physical exercise10 has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way”.

Exercise for some is simply about looks – it’s about having chiseled abbs and bulging muscles. However for the majority it’s about staying healthy. And we stay healthy so that we can live longer. In our minds Life and good health go together.

I am a big fan of the TV show “The Biggest Loser”. I don’t know if you have ever seen it, but they take people who are really over weight, move them into a special house and over six months train them until they become fit. All this is wrapped up as a game – at the end of the week, the two people who have lost the least amount of weight are put up for evicition and the rest of the house have to vote which one leaves.

The most recent season has had a guy on there who has lost, in six months, 204 Ibs – he has gone of over 508Lbs to 299LBs. He has gone from not being able to climb stairs to running a marathon in 6 hrs 28 mins. He and the other contestants have said over and over again, “I have my life back” – “I can live again” – “I am alive.”

But what is it that gives us life? What is it that makes us live? What do we mean when we say “I feel alive!” Ask a Doctor this question and you will get a lecture on the antomy and the fact that your heart is beating and your blood is flowing and there is oxygen in your body. Hence the emphasis on healthy living, diet and exercise.

But is this a good enough answer? Not from the Bible’s perspective.

This morning is Pentecost Sunday, and Pentecost gives us the answer to the question What is Life?

Life only comes through the Breathe of God – the Holy Spirit – the one who was at the beginning of creation; the one whom Jesus promised would come after his ascension.

Without the Holy Spirit we quite simply do not have life. We may be breathing oxygen – our lungs may be moving in and out, our heart may be beating but we do not have life because one day our lungs will give up, our heart will stop beating and we will die!! No diet, no amount of exercise will prevent this.

There are many, physically healthy people with sculptured abbs and bulging muscles who will not be in heaven.

Life – being alive – having life is more than just blood, bone and muscle and our bodies functioning well. In Genesis 2, God creates Adam from the dust of the ground. But Adam does not LIVE until God breathes his breath INTO Adam – The LORD God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

We see something similar in the Ezek 37. Ezekiel is shown a valley of dry dead bones. And God says to Ezekiel “Prophesy over these bones, and tell them: ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 This is what the sovereign LORD says to these bones: Look, I am about to infuse breath5 into you and you will live. 6 I will put tendons6 on you and muscles over you and will cover you with skin; I will put breath7 in you and you will live. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

God’s breath – his Spirit – the Holy Spirit – gives life.

In our Gospel reading we have Jesus appearing before the disciples after his resurrection. He greets them and then what does he do? He BREATHES on them.

Why?

The disciples are seeing Jesus Christ for the first time in His new status as the Son of God who is victorious over sin and death. Paul tell us that Jesus is the first fruits from the dead (1 Cor 15:20). This is the Post-resurrection Jesus. And the disciples have now transitioned from knowing Christ re-resurrection to now living in the aftermath of Christ’s sacrifice and victory. And so when Jesus breaths on the disciples he is symbolically imparting to them the post-resurrection life that He has now made available for all who trust in Him. For many in that upper room, their bodies will be tortured, beaten and killed for the sake of the Gospel – their bodies will physically decay BUT they will have LIFE because in Christ death has been defeated death and paid the price for sin. Therefore the disciples will share in the resurrection life, eternal life, of which Christ is the first fruits.

This is also the beginning of the disciples new life – a new ministry. Jesus says, “Just as the Father has sent me so I am sending YOU.” What did the Father send Christ to do? Jesus defines his mission in John 18:37 – I came into the world to bear witness to the truth. They are to go forward in the resurrection life of Christ that they have received to continue the work of Christ in the world – that is, bearing witness to the truth and leading people to faith in Him.

This is what it means to live – to have life. It is to have the resurrected life of Christ in us. When we accept Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of the Universe, we begin a new life – a life which is a LIVING life – a life which will last beyond this physically life into an eternal life with God in the new Creation.

But Jesus has not just given us LIFE – but he has also given us the POWER that comes with this life. Jesus inaugurates the mission of the disciples and then in Acts 2 they receive the POWER to go out and live this new life of being Christ’s witnesses to the whole world.

That this happens on Pentecost is not coincidental. Pentecost was the Jewish feast to celebrate the beginning of the harvest, which happened 50 days after Passover (Pentecost means fiftieth). How symbolic that Jesus, having breathed on them resurrection life now sends the disciples out into the world to begin the harvest of souls in the POWER of the Holy Spirit. The harvest has begun and the disciples are the first harvesters.

And we follow in their footsteps. As believers and as members of the Church, we too are sent out with the Life and Power of the Spirit to continue this work of declaring the Lordship of Jesus Christ and bearing witness to the truth of the teaching of scripture to a world separated from God.

We cannot harvest without the power of the Spirit, and we cannot have the power of the Spirit unless we have the resurrected life of Christ in us.

Only by having Christ do we have Life – apart from Christ there is no life.

John’s Gospel begins and ends with this these. John 1:4 says In Him (the Word, Christ) was life.

And Chapter 20:31 John says that the gospel was written so that people would believe and have life in his name.

Humanity was created for relationship with God. To NOT be in relationship with God is not to know what life is. To not be in relationship with God is to not know the true meaning of life. To live life without Christ is to be a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. It is to live a pointless life.

How do we receive this life and power? By asking Christ to come into our life; by confessing that we have lived in our own way instead of his way and that we are sorry; that we will trust in him, in his promises, in his commands and that we will join in the harvest. And as we do that, as our epistle shows us, the Spirit will impart to us various diverse gifts to each person so that we can become effective harvesters for Christ

So, this morning, do we have LIFE? Do we have Christ? Are we harvesters going out to work the fields? Or are we dead people walking? Are we LIFELESS?

There is no middle ground. There is no fence. There is either LIFE or DEATH and without Christ, without the Spirit we are DEAD and we will remain DEAD.

This morning we can ask God to send his Holy Spirit upon us. We can ask for this LIFE. If you know that you do not have Christ then this morning you can receive LIFE and you can LIVE, not just now, but for.

If you now that you do have Christ, then let as ask that the Holy Spirit who dwells is us will manifest himself through us – that He might speak to us, to give us a fresh blessing, a new gift, a powerful sense of his presence with us, a deeper desire to worship him and a renewed urgency to do the work we have been given to do.

This is what Pentecost is about. Each year we can come to our God and say – THANK YOU FOR LIFE – the life and power of your Spirit that is poured upon all who trust you in you that you may be glorified in our life and in the world.

Let me end with the words of an old hymn:

O Breath of God, breathe on us now
And move within us while we pray
The spring of our new life art thou
The very light of our new day.

England 0 – Algeria 0

Oh dear! The quality of the English players were finally revealed – rubbish. Rubbish as a team and rubbish as individuals. Over rated and over paid. At least the truth is finally plain!

On Whom Do We Rely?

A recent sermon of mine…

Listen here: Sunday Sermon 9 May 2010

Or read it below:

Acts 14: 8 – 18; Revelation 21: 22 – 22: 5; John 14: 23 – 29

I am not a fan of GPS Stat Nav’s. Too many times the pleasant, but annoyingly unflapable voice insists that you have arrived while you are either still on the free way or turning right into an abandoned lot, which clearly is not Uncle John’s mountain cabin.

Of course Map’s are not always clearer – nor are they always accurate. But the problem is that Stat Nav’s are breeding a generation of people who have become so reliant on the docile tones of a voice that says ‘please turn right in 50 yards’ that they have lost the ability to turn right unless directed to, as well as having lost the ability to read a map if the Stat Nav breaks down or does not work. To be totally reliant on a Stat Nav and unable to read a map, means that if the machine breaks down and you get lost, you are really lost.

Even today with the immense amount of technology available, good sailors, or good captains, alongside GPS and radar navigation, learn how to navigate the way centuries of sailors have navigated, using maps, compass and of course the North Star. For a good sailor, technology is wonderful, but it’s not everything.

The same principle is true with life. We are on a journey navigating through life and we begin to rely on things to help us reach various destinations. We go to school, get educated, decide about jobs, relationships, where we are going to live, how we are going to live, are we going to get married, have a family or not or stay single, buy a house, rent a house etc.

But what if I were to ask the question “What is the final destination of life – and what are we relying on to get there?” The where we live, what we do, with whom we shall live, what we own and what status we have in society are all well and good, but none of them are the final destination.

Some people say that death is the final destination. But the Bible disagrees. The Bible teaches us that our final destination lies beyond death. Our final destination for every human being who has ever lived is to stand before the throne of God on the last day. The large house, good education, nice family, religious practice, church attendance are all good things but will they be of any use before the throne of God on the last day? Do they help us get to the final destination?

No.

In the midst of the every day activity of our life, we need to constantly think about the question “what are we relying on in order to get the to final destination.” We need to think about this question because it can be SO easy, so simple to end up relying on something or someone that does not help us get to the final destination.

Paul and Barnabas experience this is Lystra. They arrive in town and they are preaching when Paul notices a crippled man. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul declares this man healed and he is healed. A wonderful miracle which authenticates Paul and Barnabas’ message about Christ.

And yet the people’s response is to put their trust in Paul and Barnabas declaring that the gods have come down to them. They acknowledge the miracle – they accept the miracle – they are a people open to spiritual things but they put their reliance upon Paul and Barnabas and not Christ and this is why Paul and Barnabas are upset. Putting your trust in people to get you to heaven does not work – even men as capable and godly as Paul and Barnabas.

We can elevate people onto pedestals, over0relying on pastors for spiritual input, even making them responsible for our spiritual growth. Pastors are not solely responsible for people’s spiritual growth! A pastors job is to declare the gospel of Christ, help nurture and encourage people in Christ so that members of the congregation can begin to take responsibility for their own spiritual life, having a living and active relationship with God.

Just as dangerous is that we might become over reliant on ourselves. We can place too much confidence in our own ability, or our own piety or moral achievements, thinking that we are doing a good job and that because we are nice, devout and full of good works we are on the right track.

Relying on other people, or on ourselves, goes not get us to the final destination. People, no matter how good they are, will let us down. And how often do WE let even ourselves down?

We are not even to rely on the Church, or on religious ceremonies to get us to our destination. Church is important. It is meant to be an encouragement, a blessing to us, a joy for us as we gather together for worship. But we must not RELY upon THE CHURCH to get us to our final destination.

This is why the image that John gives us in Revelation is remarkable. What John is seeing here is not in heaven but the new earth – it is a look into the city of God at the end of time when the heavens and the earth have been transformed. What we have here is a glimpse beyond death into the new creation.

And what we see would be utterly shocking to any Jew who read this. For in this city of God, in this new Jerusalem there was no temple. The very center and foundation of all Jewish life and faith – the very thing the Jews relied upon for their religious life and worship of Yahweh and what they believed was an indicator of the future messianic age is not in the city of God. There are no churches in the city of God. Why? They are NOT NECESSARY. Even the sun and moon, what we relied upon for warmth, and seasons, and tides are not necessary in the city of God.

There is only one thing that we are to rely upon. There is only one thing that can take us to the final destination. Jesus Christ – the Son of God, who died for us. He is the only thing which will get us to our destination because he IS the destination. Jesus Christ is all we need now, and Jesus Christ will be all that we need in the new transformed creation.

Everything else that we may thing is important today, will not be there. All those things which we may have relied upon on in this life will be gone. They are useless when it comes to eternity.

This is point of John chapter 14. The context to our reading this morning is eternity and the way we get to this final destination. John 14:1 begins with the words of Jesus Do not be troubled. Why? In my Fathers house there are many dwelling places. He then says in 14:6 I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me. Jesus is the way to eternity.

And then he reveals the very thing that will help us, guide us and get us to the final destination – the Holy Spirit – the presence of Christ dwelling in each of us. Jesus does not go back to the father without leaving us with the very thing we need to rely on for our journey. That is HOW we can rely on Christ – because we have a tangible relationship with Christ through the Spirit of God dwelling with us. It is through the Spirit that we love Christ by doing what he asks of us – it is by the Spirit that God can make his home with us – it is by his spirit that we can understand the Scriptures. And it is by the spirit that we must live our life day by day.

We are to be a people, a community who are completely reliant upon Jesus Christ in and through the Spirit of God that dwells in us.

And one of the most remarkable gifts that Jesus gives us through the Spirit is his peace. Jesus says “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.” It is a spiritual peace that looks beyond what we can see physically. It is the same peace that took Jesus to and through the Cross. For the world, peace desires the absence of conflict and pain, and when there is conflict and pain on the journey of life we struggle to comprehend why. The peace of Christ is a peace that in spite of the pain and conflict we may experience, allows us not to be troubled, or afraid, because our trust, our reliance is not on what the world has, or on what we lack in the world, but because we know our ultimate destination and we know how to get there – Jesus Christ.

It is IN HIM that we must be reliant upon for our life, and for our future. All else may be tools, or luxuries on our journey, but ultimately Jesus has to be the one and only thing we rely on.

This morning, let us consider what it is that we really rely upon for our life. What do we think our true destination is? Do we rely on Christ and do we acknowledge and long for Christ as the ultimate destination? If everything were stripped away from us tonight, if we lost everything would people find us still clinging to Christ? Or would we be trying to cling to or rely on something else; something that will not last; something that cannot take us to the true destination of eternity?

For it is ONLY when in our hearts and minds we know that we ONLY need Jesus Christ, that we can live our life with the Peace that Christ has given us through the Spirit. Yes, we may enjoy and use many of the comforts and gifts of modern life but we do so knowing that we do not NEED them, and that nothing we have, or that we are, or that we can do takes us to the real destination of eternity with God – for that can only happen when we are reliant completely upon Jesus Christ, the Lord and perfecter of our faith.

St Cyprian’s treatise on the Lord’s Prayer

But it is the will of God that Christ both did and taught. Humility in dealings with others; steadfastness in faith; modesty in words; justice in deeds; mercifulness in works; discipline in morals. To be unable to do a wrong, and to be able to bear a wrong when it is done; to keep peace with the brethren; to love God with all one’s heart; to love God because he is a Father but fear him because he is God; to prefer nothing whatever to Christ because he preferred nothing to us; to adhere inseparably to his love; to stand faithfully and bravely by his cross; when there is any conflict over his name and honour, to exhibit in discourse that steadfastness in which we proclaim him; in torture, to show that confidence in which we unite; in death, that patience in which we are crowned – this is what it means to want to be co-heirs with Christ, this is what it means to do what God commands, this is what it is to fulfil the will of the Father.

Don’t Mess With God

A recent sermon of mine:

Listen here: Sunday Sermon 7 March 2010

Read it below:

3 Lent – Exodus 3:1-15, 1 Corithians 10:1-13 & Luke 13:1-9

Having small children can be challenging. Educating them about what is dangerous, what can hurt them and what they can and cannot touch is an art form, especially if you want to do it without just screaming at them.

For example, I was taught never to put a metal object into the plug socket. I have never actually seen with my own eyes what happens if you should do it, but I have been told that it may kill you or at least give you a very nasty shock. Electricity is dangerous. It can hurt or even kill you.
So whenever I see Jacob, my 3 year old son, near a plub socket I become alert and ready to intervene, with warnings and eventually action.

In the same way, there are times when pastors and preachers are confronted with passages that compel them to give a warning. Well, today, it’s the “you are going towards the plug socket with a stick” sermon!

This morning is such a time.

The message form our readings today is clear – messing with God is dangerous. What do I mean by messing with God? Not taking God seriously; picking and choosing what we believe and what we won’t believe of the Bible; deliberately breaking a command of God to satisfy our own passion or desires; ignoring his commands because we know it will mean we will HAVE to radically change our life style; not being sure if we really believe, but we love the tradition.

The message this morning is simple – let us get serious with God; we must give our life to him and commit our entire future into his hands, and commit to obey his every word, for if we are not doing that then we are playing with electricity – we are sticking metal objects into the plug sockets – and it eventually will hurt or kill us.

This was brought home to me in a powerful way recently. Many of us can so easily go about our lives ignoring God – ignoring the essence and reality of the Christian faith. But just image waking up to an ordinary day, going about your daily business when all of a sudden, at 7 mins to five, an earthquake hits your town and within seconds you find yourself thrust into eternity to face the living God. That is exactly what happened to thousands of Hatians in January. It has happened to hundreds of Chileans in February. Every day 150,835 people around the world die. Every day, 150,835 people suddenly discover themselves in front of their creator where nothing is hidden and your entire life, thoughts, actions and decisions are laid bare before you. Some are prepared, but many are not prepared to meet God. Are we prepared at this moment to meet God?

Our God is a Holy God. He tells Moses to take off his sandals for the very ground that is around the burning bush is holy. Such is the presence of God Moses cannot even look at God.

God is holy and righteous. A holy God cannot be near sin. Isaiah knew this. In Isaiah 6 he says “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Ezekiel experiences this when Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Many of us took the 90 Day Bible challenge last year and in our groups we had much discussion on the wrath of God. People talked about how angry God seems in the Old Testament. And to some extent he is angry.

God’s wrath is very predictable. It is a part of his intense Holiness. A Holy and Righteous God MUST have wrath. Why? Because He is angry with sin. God will always be angry with sin. One theologian has said that God’s wrath is his personal, righteous, constant, hostility towards evil and his settled refusal to compromise with it and his resolve to condemn it.

We see the outworking of this in our reading from 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. Paul is reminding the readers of Corinth of some history. The Israelites who left Egypt saw miracles, and God’s power clearly. And yet they desired evil. Some of them were idolaters, they indulged in immorality – having claimed to be God’s people. They took God for granted. They believed God would always be on their side despite what they did. They had been playing with electricity. And God deals with the sin. It is a picture of how God will deal with all sin. Sin, rebellion against a holy, righteous and just God WILL be dealt with. They had been playing with electricity.

We must not take our spiritual walk for granted. We must not neglect our relationship with God.

This is about life and death, not just physically but spiritually; not just about the here and now, but for eternity. And it’s about the fact that eternity may begin for us at anytime, at any moment.

That is Jesus’ point in our Gospel reading. There was a belief that if a bad thing happened to you, or if you got a disease, or if you became disabled it was definitely because you were a particularly bad sinner and you were receiving your just deserts. Jesus says that this is not necessarily the case. You cannot attribute all disaster to God’s judgement on those people. Those Galileans, Jesus says, that Pilate just killed – and those 18 people on whom the tower of Siloam fell on killed, they were not worse sinners. It just happened. It is not necessarily an indication of a judgment upon someone.

But here is Jesus point – how should we respond to such tragic events – by REPENTING. Why? Because it may happen to YOU and it happen to me. The issue is not why such a thing happened, but what is the state of your relationship with God IF such a thing were to happen? Are we prepared to stand before our God at any moment! We will ALL come before God. It may be sooner or later. It is out of our control. It may be after living a long life and dying peacefully in our bed, or it may be because of a natural disaster which hits us unexpectedly or it may be because of a drunk driver who slams into our car.

OK. You have heard the warning. In order to truly appreciate the good news you need to know the extent of the bad news. But here is the good news. Here is the remarkable news.

God’s anger with sin is not incompatible with his love for us.

This is the other side of the coin in our passages.

In Exodus, God has told Moses he is on holy ground – Moses is unable to look upon the Lord – but just see what God tells Moses – I have seen the affliction of MY people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians.

God says that HE HAS COME DOWN TO DELIVER. This holy, righteous God – the God whom Moses cannot bear to look at, has revealed himself in order to deliver his people from bondage.

In 1 Corinthians, having told the church about Israel’s history and that these events in scripture are a warning to us, given as examples of what happens when we drift away from the Lord, Paul gives a promise that God is FAITHFUL and such is his love and care for us he will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can endure, and even more amazingly, for those who trust in Him, He will give us an escape route out of every temptation.

And, finally, in our Gospel reading, Jesus goes on to tell a parable of a man planting a fig tree that does not bear fruit for three years. He is ready to cut it down. But the vinedresser intercedes. Wait, he says. Let me work on the tree – let me try and make it bears some fruit.

What a wonderful picture. God the Father, whose holiness and righteousness and justice sees an unfruitful tree which is taking up space t be cut down. But the Son, Jesus Christ, intercedes and says wait, let me work on them, and see if they will produce some fruit. And then look at the work of Christ, who does everything to draw the tree into bearing fruit.

Jesus Christ has done EVERYTHING for us. He has died and risen again so that we may not be cut down, but that we might bear fruit and flourish in God’s kingdom.

God is patient. He is merciful. He has not cut down all the dead trees immediately, because of the work of Christ.

There is a day coming – God alone knows when that day will be – when the opportunity to be saved will be withdrawn. For each of us a day may be coming when that decision to get more serious about our faith, never comes because we will find our selves in God’s presence.

So my plea to us, and I am speaking to myself, is: Please, please, let us all quit playing a round when it comes to God. Today, let us get serious about Jesus. Let us give him permission to come and change our lives and our natures, and our marriages, and our personal lives and our habits and our home lives and our relationships with our kids and our relationships with each other – let us give him permission to become the sole and ultimate Lord, King and director our lives, let us say to him this morning we want to quit playing a round with our eternal destinies, we want to get rid of the sins we know we hold onto and enjoy and that today we will submit entirely to his will, his ways and his Word. That we will become students of his word, that we will commit to building our pray life, that we will set aside our own ambitions and desires and wants and be willing to glorify God alone; that our contentment will not b in stuff but in enjoying God alone; that we will be committed to building God’s kingdom here in this Church and in this community.

Will we accept that today? Will we put down the metal object and step away from the plug socket?

He is beckoning us. He has revealed to us how he feels about sin and he has revealed and demonstrated how much he has loved us and what he is willing to do for us to rescue us.

What are we waiting for?

Let us accept it today.

Franz Beckenbauer Is Right About England’s World Cup Side

England are incapable of winning the World Cup or even the European Cup. They will go out. They cannot live with the quality sides. I agree with the German Coach (quoted below). Apart from a few exceptions we really do not have any true top flight, quality players! That was clear when they could only draw 1-1 against the USA.

Beckenbauer, who captained his country to World Cup victory in 1974 and was the manager when they won in 1990, believes England’s problems are the result of a shortage of talent in the Premier League.

“I am not sure if the England coach Fabio Capello can still change much there,” he told South African newspaper the Times.

“The English are being punished for the fact that there are very few English players in the Premier League as clubs use better foreign players from all over the world.”

Prayer Request

When it rains, it really pours! After Caleb’s birth on March 23rd and his two week stay in the Neo Natal ICU, and then me getting ill with a flu thing, then putting my back out; now my oldest son, Sam, who is 7, was last night admitted into hospital in Charleston with dangerously low platelets – the agent which clots the blood. He had a nose bleed which did not stop and we took him to our local ER in Georgetown who told us to go straight to the Children’s Hospital in Charleston 60 miles away. He was admitted onto the Hematology and Oncology section for more tests. I spent the night in Sam’s room last night. We would love your prayers for Sam. Please pray that his condition is easily rectified and that he would soon be home! Many thanks!

Ignorance of the Value of the Gospel

I came a cross a wonderful quote this morning from J C Ryle…

Ignorance of the real meaning of the law is one plain reason why so many do not value the Gospel and content themselves with a little formal Christianity. They do not see the strictness and holiness of God’s ten commandments. If they did, they would never rest till they were safe in Christ.

Giving Church Another Chance: Finding New Meaning in Spiritual Practices by Todd Hunter

Todd Hunter reveals a startling error in how we think about church; Church is NOT the place we go once a week to worship. Church is, should be, the launch pad for our spiritual life and practices.

Church should not be something we DO but something we LIVE. This is the core of what Hunter outlines in this book.

One of the most vivid illustrations which Hunter gives is that of baseball! The baseball team talk about various hitters and how to pitch to each person, knowing where they tend to hit and how they can position their catchers. The team talk is important, very important, but it is not the game! For Hunter Church is the team talk. It should be preparing us to go out and live in the 167 hours of the week that we are not in Church.

So Church and all that it is, the liturgy, the reading of scripture, the offering, communion,the benediction should be launch pads for our own spiritual practices in the world as we go as ambassadors of Christ to live the work he has called us to do.

What is wonderful about Hunter’s thesis is that it does not hold out one particular model of church as right, or more conducive, while at the same time, he emphasis the importance of Church and it’s role in our lives as believers. In fact the issue of style, or method is irrelevant. The issue is are we going OUT to live the life of the Church using the spiritual practices which the church embody and encourage us to do.

A fascinating read.

It Is Well: Expositions on Substitutionary Atonement by Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence

Penal Substitution (PS) has been a hot topic for some of late. There have been a number of books of late, ranging from the academic to the popular, defending PS. There are some in the debate who would argue that PS is the ONLY atonement model in Scripture. Fortunately this is not one of those books. While acknowledging that there are other atonement models, what this book endeavors to do is to show that PS is a prominent theme throughout the Bible. And they succeed.

Each chapter is an exposition of a passage of scripture. While the text is easy to read the expositions are very good, taking you through the relevant verses skillfully. Mark Dever begins the book in Exodus 12, showing how the theme of PS is found in the first Passover, when the angel of death went through Egypt. From there each chapter builds the case that Scripture teaches emphatically that God sent his Son to die in our place, as a substitute, having the sins of the world placed placed upon him and Jesus dying in our place.

To deny PS as a biblical model (and a core one at that) is really a very difficult position to hold from the Bible and this is shown through these expositions. However reading this book is not just going to give you an understanding of what scripture teaches you about PS, it will also give you a wonderful model of what a good exposition looks like and ultimately, and most importantly, these expositions will point you to Christ and his work.

The Radical Disciple: Some Neglected Aspects Of Our Calling by John Stott

Quite simply this is classic Stott. Most of what he writes in this book he has written else where. But that really does not matter. Having Stott’s thoughts on discipleship compiled in one volume is wonderful. John Stott is one of the most important and influential evangelical, Anglican figures in the last 100 years. A new generation of ministers are enjoying his writings afresh, and this volume should be a favorite. Short and concise each chapter brims with Stotts indubitable style and wisdom.

The final chapter, on death, was my favorite. His wisdom, humility and honesty (he is 87 years of age and, as he says, he is reflecting on death and seeking to prepare for it) was touching. This is a book which should be given away. It’s as good as any book on encouraging and challenging us in the way  of being a disciple of Christ.

Please, Archbishop Williams, For The Sake of the Anglican Church, ACT NOW!

It’s time that Rowan Williams acted. Katherine Jefferts Schori (her heresy has lost her the right to be called a Bishop in the Church) is committed not only in walking away from  the Christian faith personally, but she is taking a denomination with her. She is also intent on making sure that there is no room for any conservative believers in the Episcopal Church. She must be publicly denounced as one who has abandoned the faith and TEC removed from the Communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury then needs to allow all Conservative parishes and Diocese to come under Canterbury. After a period of time, Canterbury then appoints another Province in the US.

That is what I think he should do. He won’t. He either does not have the guts, or he does not have the conviction. The recent Pentecost letters show how this situation is utterly ridiculous. Archbishop Williams throws a pathetically limp ‘rebuke’ to Schori. And now Schori throws back a contemptuous response showing that she does not give a damn.

So, even though this will fall on deaf ears, please Archbishop, for the sake of the Communion, please, do something, and do it soon.