Wednesday, 11 November 2009

How Precious is the Gospel?

This precious:

'But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.'
Galatians 1:8
The gospel is the most precious message in existence because it is guarded by the greatest consequence. It is is more wonderful than anyone has ever imagined, prayed, or thought. In Paul's mind getting the gospel wrong- preaching a false gospel- tarnishes its treasure, reducing it to insignificance in the eyes of others. The consequence of doing this is anathema.
'The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.'
Matthew 13:44

Sunday, 25 October 2009

5 Rational Beliefs Unproven by Science

William Lane Craig explains:

1) Logic and Mathematics
2) Metaphysical truths
3) Ethical beliefs
4) Aesthetic judgments
5) Science itself

Update: I don't like the title of this video. The purpose of apologetics is not to 'humiliate' people or even show them that they have a wrong worldview. Apologetics should be used to break down the barriers that keep people from the gospel. This is to be done with respect and love.

HT: Between Two Worlds

Saturday, 24 October 2009

Free Tim Keller Sermons


Until recently Redeemer Presbyterian Church charged for most of their sermons. Now they have a released 150 of Tim Keller's sermons for free! Download them here.

Saturday, 17 October 2009

God's Will for your Life...


Lots of people talk about God's will. It seems that much of the time we think of God's will as a maze. We become scared of making a wrong decision- moving to the wrong location, studying at the wrong university, marrying the wrong person- just in case we fall out of 'God's perfect will for our lives' lost in the maze, displeasing God...

If you're like me and tend to think in this way, Kevin DeYoung's book Just Do Something will refresh you. The subtitle is true, doing something is a 'liberating approach to finding God's will'. I'm not going to say too much now as I hope to blog a book review when I've finished it. Here's a quote to give you a taste of DeYoung's point:

'Here's the real heart of the matter: Does God have a secret will of direction that He expects us to figure out before we do anything? And the answer is no. Yes, God has a specific plan for our lives. And yes, we can be assured that He works things for our good in Christ Jesus. And yes, looking back we will often be able to trace God's hand in bringing us to where we are. But while we are free to ask God for wisdom, He does not burden us with the task of divining His will of direction for our lives ahead of time... God does have a specific plan for our lives, but it is not one that He expects us to figure out before we make a decision... we should stop thinking of God's will like a corn maze, or a tight-rope, or a bull's-eye, or a choose your own adventure novel.'- Page 24.

Thursday, 6 August 2009

Tozer on Textualism

'The error of textualism is not doctrinal. It is far more subtle than that and more difficult to discover, but its effects are just as deadly. Not its theological beliefs are at fault, but its assumptions.

It assumes, for instance, that if we have the word for a thing we have the thing itself. If it is in the Bible, it is in us. If we have the doctrine, we have the experience. If something was true of Paul it is of necessity true of us because we accept Paul's epistles as divinely inspired. The Bible tells us how to be saved, but textualism goes on to make it tells us that we are saved, something which in the very nature of things it cannot do. Assurance of individual salvation is thus no more than a logical conclusion drawn from doctrinal premises, and the experience wholly mental.'

-A. W. Tozer, Leaning into the Wind, pages 20-21

Wednesday, 5 August 2009

TV: Servant or Master?

'A good test of whether television is servant or master is, when your children have watched something, do they then go out and do something related to what they have seen? Is their imagination stimulated? Television is a servant when your children can watch a program then say, “Well that was fascinating. Let's go and play Robin Hood," or “Let's go and do this thing."- Jerram Barrs

I presume that most people reading this post haven't got any children. The principle still applies: Do we watch TV to stimulate us and serve us? Or are we allowing it to master us?
TV as a master
Culture wants us to watch telly passively, allowing every idea change our thinking. Jesus wants us to be transformed by having our minds renewed with scripture (Rom 12:2, John 17:17). Active watchers of TV think critically: 'What is this programme telling me about God, myself and the world?' The problem is that television hasn't been designed to be engaged with actively. Most programmes exist to be accepted and enjoyed without hesitation. Passive viewers of TV are likely to let the telly become a master. It can become a God: whenever the television speaks we listen, the television commands we obey.

TV as a slave
I believe television is a redeemable gift from God. Largely the TV has become a master, it rules and reigns in many homes, but by God's grace Christians have the power to use television in a sinless way for good. Here are a few ways I think this can be done:

1) Watch TV and praise God for His creation- watch nature programmes that cause you to thank God for what He has made

2) Watch TV and praise God for narratives - God made us to be story lovers, hence scripture is written mainly in narrative. Through grace God has given many non-Christians with gifts in story writing. Praise God for those gifts by enjoying their work.

3) Watch TV and fear hell- the wrath of God is worse than any calamity ever captured in a disaster movie
4) Watch TV to understand the world- TV represents the worlds views and opinions. Watch the TV to understand culture and reason against it with non-Christian friends/family

5) Watch TV to learn contextualisation- watch TV looking for the gospel. Many programmes contain themes of redemption, atonement and reconciliation. TV can be an evangelistic tool in being a bridge to the gospel .

6) Watch TV to care about the world- God cares about our fallen world. Watch the news and grieve over sin and its effects.

7) Watch TV to provoke prayer- as you see and grieve over the effects of sin in the world pray for spiritual and physical restoration.

8) Watch TV to show self-control- Christians should be examples to the world of how to enjoy TV righteously. Christian lives should make the gospel attractive.

The TV can be a good slave or a terrible master.

Tuesday, 21 July 2009

More Musings

It's been a while since I've blogged. It seems the bug left me for a while, but now I think it's back. I like to use my blog as a place where I can accurately express my thoughts and theology in words. I often have lots of different ideas floating around in my head that I feel will benefit me (and maybe others) more if I choose to write them down. Here are a few things that God has been teaching/re-affirming in me recently.

1) God loves to use weak people
Time and time again, over the last few months, I've found that my natural instinct, to depend on myself doesn't really help anyone I believe God has been bringing me to a place where He's been showing me how my own skills and abilities have failed to attain the calling that He has placed on my life. It's only when He does this that we really see, in a crystal clear way, how much we need Him every day. In the times when I've felt useless, confessing this uselessness has glorified the power of God in ways I haven't seen before. Depending on God is the opposite of pride, relying on Him contradicts the desires of the flesh, acknowledging our weakness displays His strength.

2) The pursuit of my own happiness is essential to glorify God
Credit goes to Piper for expressing this truth in Desiring God. I was on holiday in Greece when I read this book from cover-to-cover, it blew me away. When I first read that God commands my happiness (Psalm 37:4), I thought 'Really? Does He actually want me to be satisfied? Isn't this self-centred? I mean, aren't I stealing the attention away from God's glory and towards my own satisfaction?' After wrestling with questions like these individually and with friends, I'm now sure that Christan Hedonism is a God-centered principle to live by.

Some disagree with Piper's articulation of Christian Hedonism. I was talking to a Pastor the other day who rejects Christian Hedonism because, in his eyes, it seems to make man's own desires god. Christian Hedonism does not make the chief end of man the fulfillment of man's desires. Christian Hedonism answers the question: how can God be most glorified in me? To say it another way: How should I live, in order to magnify the worth of God? Both questions are individual. Both questions are looking for a way of life for man to live. How can God be most glorified in me? Christian Hedonism says: 'God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him' and 'God's worth and splendour will be most manifested in your life when you are completely overwhelmed with His goodness. Christian Hedonism doesn't make human desires a god. Christian hedonism makes the fulfillment of our Spirit-filled desires (satisfaction/ happiness) the only way to glorify God individually.
I was reminded again about this truth as I spoke about the parable of the hidden treasure (Matthew 13:44), to a group of international students. A man goes out into a field, sees the treasure, sells all he has and buys that field. Why does he buy the field? He buys the field for the sake of his happiness. 'For joy' he sells all he has. The man in the parable is not stupid like an investor who puts money into dodgy stocks. The man is in touch with reality. He looks at the worth of all he has and compares it with the worth of the treasure. The treasure out-weighs all he has. So from a heart that sincerely desires his own benefit, he buys that field. We must come to Christ for our own pleasure. The pursuit of my own joy in God massively glorifies Him!


3) Everything Christian is about Faith and Love
I preached in January on Deuteronomy 8:1 'Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers'. It was my first sermon, I loved preaching every minute of it (mp3 is available here). The sermon became an expression of most of my theology. Despite this I tried to centre the sermon around our obligations to obey God as Christians. Why should we obey God? What's in it for us? How does God motivate us to obey Him? are all questions I tried to answer in the sermon.

In preparing I was able to spend time thinking about Galatians 5:6 'In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.' Paul is making the point that anything we do (however Christian we may think it is) is absolutely worthless without faith working through love. That's powerful and shocking to the ego. What even reading a Christan book or fasting? Yup. Everything is nothing without faith and love. Faith being a continual trust in the reality that the gospel pronounces over every believers life. Love being a continual outpouring of desire fixed in the beauty of God.

Without faith and love I am sinning and my obedience is counted as nothing. 'Whatever is not of faith is sin' according to Romans 14:23. Sin is not necessarily an action that is wrong in God eyes, rather it is a God-debasing mindset that trusts in everything outside of Him.

'Without love I am nothing' is Paul's message to the Corinthians (1 Cor 13:1-3). Isn't God always pleased with martyrs? No, 'though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing' (v3). Actions that are void of faith and love are sinful and empty in God's eyes. The whole Christian life is about faith and love- it's so simple and profound! the greatest Christians are those who love the hardest and believe the most.

That's enough for tonight. More thoughts to follow.

Saturday, 20 June 2009

Why Some Leave the Church

Tuesday, 28 April 2009

Best Manning for the Brand's

Last Saturday marked the wedding day of my good friends Tom and Natalie. I was privileged enough to be the best man!
Below is the speech I gave...

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I hope you are all well and enjoying this very special day. My name is Simon and I am the very honoured best man to Mr and Mrs Thomas Brand.

Until early 2008 Tom had described himself as a ‘bachelor to the rapture’. He was adamant that female companionship wasn’t for him…

And then there was Natalie. He came back from Bryntyrian, Wales to Brighton for the weekend in January 2008 with a glazed look on his face. Almost like someone had shot him with a tranquilliser dart. That dart was love. The shooter very skillful and still is as Tom describes her as the perfect woman (reminding me on several occasions not to read too theologically into that statement).

So I feel privileged to first be here with you as we celebrate the fruit of your love and doubly privileged as I get to shame you, Tom for a few minutes in front of 150 people.

I first met Tom at our church- Montpelier Place four years ago. I had heard about him previous to our meeting. He had caused quite a stir amongst the more mature members of the congregation with his ripped jeans and long hair. To quote one lady reflecting on seeing Tom from behind:‘I didn’t know if he was a boy or a girl’. And another commenting on his ripped jeans: ‘we must be in the end times’. In case you’re not familiar with the phrase, ‘end times’ refers to serious moral and spiritual decay.

Tom did change his look. He cut his hair (it looks very nice…) and decided to go to the other extreme with the jeans. Instead of them being baggy one pair imparticular looks very very tight… painfully tight… anyway let’s move on from Tom’s appearance to his brain…

Is Tom an intellectual? I can honestly say that in the years I've known him, no one has ever questioned Tom's intelligence. In fact, I've never heard anyone even mention it. Obviously that’s a joke. Tom studied theology at the Wales Evangelical School of Theology (WEST) achieving a 2:1 degree and he has definitely used his knowledge during his time working for the church this year. In a sermon on John 14:1 where Jesus says: ‘Let not your hearts, be troubled; you believe in God believe also in me’ two out of Tom’s four points in his sermon were ….bearing in mind that Baptist churches like three points, three simple statements or words starting with the same letter… perichoresis and consubstantiality. The note takers in the church weren’t looking too pleased with the choice of words…

Tom’s articulation and vocabulary are also impressive. Previous to meeting Tom I spoke not many words and bad pro-non-see-ation also it was that my grammar was like very…. like bad. Tom helped- and told wot I had to do to be a person who uses their mouth …like better. After gaining audible help from Tom my own spoken English has improved incredibly.

**
Natalie, firstly you look wonderful, and secondly I have for you five pieces of advice concerning Tom that I think you’ll find helpful for married life:

1) Expect unexpected requests
Tom once asked his mother if he could have a toilet placed in the middle of the garden so that he could watch the planes going past whilst doing his business…

2) Keep your jewellery secure
From the age of about seven Tom developed a habit for collecting women’s jewellery, nice stones and chains. He even had his own special little box to keep his collection safe. I haven’t seen the box but I have been told that it is very fetching.

3) By deceiving Tom you can gain a large Star Wars figure collection
Natalie, here is a tried and tested formula (tried and tested by his brothers) that should work in giving you a large Star Wars collection.

a) Get Tom focused on a single figure
b) Talk to Tom about the good points of that figure
c) Watch as Tom offers practically every figure in his collection to gain new figure

4) Encourage Tom to use conventional ways of opening doors
In the past Tom has been known to try and open his brothers door using a canon. As a seven year old he would batter Robert’s door down with his wooden model.

5) Avoid telling Tom off near waist-high walls
When on a family holiday one year in Sardinia; Tom exposed a bit too much of himself. Standing near a waist-high wall next to his brother and sister Robert and Sarah, whilst being told off by his parents; Tom decided to pull a moony at his siblings. They tried desperately hard to keep a straight face in front of David and Angela with Tom’s rear in view!

**
On a more serious note Tom, here is some advice from Matthew Henry on why marriage is not misogynism or feminism but equality:

‘Eve was not taken out of Adam's head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him.’

**
Being a friend of both Tom and Natalie has enabled me to see how much Christ means to them as a couple. They are Christians. And they do not use this phrase lightly. I see in both Tom and Natalie’s life remarkable evidence that God is with them. They live in light of God’s love. They’ve realised the depth and the ugliness of their own and each other’s sin. But they don’t live in guilt or shame. Why? Because they know that there is a God who loves with such intensity it produces his own pain.
In that Jesus died for them. He was crucified. He took their punishment- He stood in their place. And God offers forgiveness through what Jesus did and hope to everyone in this room if you haven’t yet experienced it. He offers freedom from sin and life in Himself- real life.

This wedding has been and will continue to be a happy time. But it’s not the ultimate wedding. This wedding has been a day to celebrate the beautiful love that Tom and Natalie have for one another. The ultimate wedding will be bigger and better. It will be when Jesus marries His people to reflect His awesome love for them. Jesus invites you not just to attend this ultimate wedding, but to be the bride. Jesus welcomes us into perfect love and relationship with Him. I’m praying that we all would know and live in that love as Tom and Natalie clearly do.

I’d like to propose a toast ‘to the joy of love reflected in marriage’

Thank you

Thursday, 23 April 2009

Ways to stir each other up to love and good works

Hebrews 10:24 says 'let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.' When preaching on this verse the other Sunday I gave ten practical ways to obey this command. Here are the first five...

1) Get a prayer/accountability partner

Find someone who you have a good relationship with and arrange to meet with them every week to talk about your personal struggles and difficulties. James says that we should confess our sins to each other and pray for each other (5:16). Use this time to humbly acknowledge to the other person that you're a sinner in need of practical and godly counsel. Every member of the church has something to teach another member. Encourage each other and bear each others burdens (Gal 6:2).

2) Be an example for everyone
Paul tells Timothy to be an example for everyone despite age: ‘Let no one despise your youth but be an example to the believers in word in conduct, in love, in Spirit, in faith, in purity' (1 Tim 4:12). Live your life in a godly way to show other Christians that godliness is real gain (1 Tim 6:6). Christians are encouraged to live godly lifes when they their brothers and sisters displaying the happiness that comes from living in God's presence.

3) Acknowledge evidences of grace
Here's one I got from C J Mahaney. Go up to Christians you know and tell them about the grace you see God pouring out in their lives. If you see humility, acknowledge it to the glory of God. If you see patience in a friend, tell him or her. Change in a person is easier seen by others than by yourself. Encourage others by explaining how you see God changing them.

4) Acknowledge gifts
When Jesus ascended He gave gifts to all men (Eph 4). Everyone in the church has a gift essential for the proper functioning and life of the church. Tell people about how you see God using them. Explain to people what gifts their skills might dictate that they have. Stir up each others gifts and don't neglect the gift that is in you (2 Tim 1).

5) Suggest books for people to read
There are loads of great books to read that have had a massive impact on Christians of the past and present. Suggest books for your friends to read that have changed and challenged you. Encourage each other to read books that are full of deep doctrine and at the same time are written in a heart-felt way.

To be continued...