July 17, 2008
A few weeks ago some good friends from our old church in Switzerland sent us a book they had come across during a seminar at New Word Alive. It’s written to help people in ministry to “go the distance” (as the title says). Peter Brain is an Australian Anglican and he writes with great clarity and thoroughness about the issues that affect the longevity of people in vocational ministry. So far I have just read a few chapters and the book is a wise and practical treatment of the issues. Brain starts by talking about “self-care” and follows it with a look at burn-out and stress.
Looks like a useful book for pastors and for those in churches, especially in leadership, who want to make sure that their pastor goes the distance.
July 16, 2008
To the uninitiated it might sound as though part of the Lake District in the north of England has been transplanted to Northern Ireland, but this week sees the annual Portstewart Convention - a week of Bible teaching under canvas - which is connected to the famous Keswick Convention that runs for three weeks at this time of the year in … Keswick.
There is a full week of evening meetings, shared this year by Chris Wright and John Woodside. The five mornings are being led by Steve Brady and he is preaching on five sections of the book of Revelation. Yesterday (the first time I have been at a Portstewart Convention meeting) he was looking at chapters 2 and 3, with the seven letters to seven churches. It was an excellent message as he managed to cover a fair bit of didactic material while keeping his message alive and engaging.
Having made some general comments, demonstrated the basic pattern of the letters and surveyed the issues of each of the seven churches, Steve drew several conclusions.
- Beware of blanket condemnations.
- Beware of blanket panaceas (each letter was written to a specific situation).
- Remember the Lord of the church and his knowledge of you.
- Remember the rewards.
July 15, 2008
We have now arrived in the busiest holiday time of the year here in Northern Ireland and, along with two large Bible conventions (Keswick and New Horizon) in the area this week and next, this brings a lot of people to the north coast. This means that we are now having some of our busiest Sundays of the year at PBC.
The CSSM team who are working for 2 weeks in Portstewart led our family service at 9.30, looking at some of the boat/storm stories from the gospels. We then had Steve Brady, principle of Moorlands College, to speak at our 11 a.m service. Steve gave an excellent message on Jonah - The God of the Second Chance.
In the evening I was preaching on the start of Ecclesiastes 5 where the Preacher advises us to watch our step when we go to the house of God. The message led us into communion and there was an opportunity for us to recognise that along with all the cautions which the Preacher gives, we can come with boldness because of what Jesus has done for us (see Hebrews 10).
Click here to read “How to behave on the way to church”
July 13, 2008
The Archbishop of Wales has been weighing in on the Anglican homosexual debate.
“It is contrary to the ministry of Jesus and damaging that in the Church, we’re still fighting battles that have already been won in society.”
It all depends on how you define winning battles. He seems to think that whatever steps “society” (I think the Bible name for that is the world) takes are meant to be followed by the church. Did Jesus not actually teach that his followers would be in the world but not of it?
Church could appoint Britain’s first gay bishop, says Archbishop of Wales - Telegraph
July 10, 2008
I am a bit late getting round to it, but here are last Sunday’s sermons from PBC. The morning was on faith and works from James, and the evening was on “friends in the rat race” in Ecclesiastes.
James-faith
Ecclesiastes-rat race
July 4, 2008
From a book by John Ensor, The Great Work of the Gospel, comes this quote (highlighted on his blog by Thabiti Anyabwile from Grand Cayman):
Ask a hundred people if they want forgiveness, and a hundred people will say, “Yeah, sure. And can I have fries with that, and a large Pepsi?” They have no great sense of needing God’s forgiveness but believe it would not hurt to have it in their pocket just in case. Religion is, I fear, most often practiced to buy off God’s anger, to pay for a sin done, so that one is free to go on in it. We throw ourselves into church or confession as a burglar might throw a steak to a watchdog–to keep him at a safe distance. C.S. Lewis had his own witty way of describing the problem: “Amiable agnostics will talk cheerfully about ‘man’s search for God.’ To me, as I then was, they might as well have talked about the mouse’s search for the cat.”
Our natural belief about ourselves is that we are pretty darned good people, though we are not too proud to admit that we have made a few mistakes along the way. This allows us to confess a little guilt, but in a self-flattering way. We say, “Well, I admit I’m not perfect.” We do not mean to be humble here, as in “Now, honey, remember I’m not a perfect husband.” We say it defensively: “Okay! I’m not perfect.” Translation: “Other than a blemish or two, I sparkle. So get off my case!”
We also like to say, “I’m only human.” By this we man, “My sin should be excused because, as a human being, I really can’t help it.”
Even when we feel guilty, we do not believe it is because we are guilty. (p. 32)
July 4, 2008
These are troubled days for the Church of England and the wider Anglican Church. Coming up is a vote by the Synod on whether to allow female bishops. The Daily Telegraph sets two opposing viewpoints together today. The first, by its Religion Editor, takes a few lines to dismiss any reasons (social, traditional, theological) to stand in the way of this move, while the second, by the Rector of a London church, refers to
a hierarchy that has swallowed whole the secular, politically correct nostrums of the age: feminism, egalitarianism and their diseased notion of democracy.
By a strange coincidence, it is exactly two years since I wrote a blog piece on related issues. I have to say I am more with the Rector than the Editor on this one.
June 30, 2008
Ian Usher has been in the news this weekend. He has just sold his life for just under £200,000. For that, the buyer got Ian Usher’s belongings and even his friends.
Interesting concept. He was wise enough to see that his life was more than the objects he owned; he also sold his relationships. In one sense that’s positive - life is more than “stuff”; there are people who have few things but may be rich in friends. But on the other hand what price do you put on a friendship? Is it right to reduce it to a piece of property?
You can read more about him on his website.
Meantime, we do well to remember the teaching of Jesus that the essential value of a person does not consist in the things that he owns.
June 30, 2008
I told our morning service yesterday that you know summer has arrived in our area because of the weather (which has been very changeable in the past few days) and when visitors significantly outnumber regulars at PBC. The church’s popularity with visitors, especially at this time of the year, is both an opportunity and a challenge. It is an exciting opportunity for ministry that extends widely across Northern Ireland; the challenge to maintain a sense of community for our members.
In the morning we looked at James’ teaching on favouritism in chapter 2. While he was talking particularly about partiality towards the rich at the expense of the poor, his underlying principles apply wider (see yesterday’s blog). At the end of the service we observed the Lord’s table in a slightly different way, asking each person to wait until everyone had been served before eating and drinking together as a sign of the oneness created by the gospel.
In the evening we looked at Ecclesiastes 3, whose first 8 verses make up probably the best known part of the book; well known at least in part because of the 1950s folk song that was based on the words (the song has been recorded by several people over the years).
Read the Ecclesiastes 3 sermon here.
June 29, 2008
Over twenty years ago, Pauline and I spent an evening with the youth fellowship attached to a church in County Down. At the time she and I were quite involved with Gospel Literature Outreach, a mission organisation involved in church planting and summer teams. Our job was to talk to this group of young people about the spiritual challenges and needs of Europe. We had a quiz to get people thinking about their European neighbours. One of the questions related to Northern Ireland’s closest neighbour, the Republic of Ireland. We asked if the group knew how many people lived there. A Smart Alec replied “Too many.”
I suppose I could say that it was a long time ago, that things have changed considerably on our island since then, and that Alec has hopefully gained wisdom in the intervening almost half century. However his comment revealed a bigotry that was in desperate need of being challenged by the gospel.
We evangelicals often limit our experience of the gospel to its personal, individual applications. While these are valid (”The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me”), they are not enough. The gospel should shape our attitudes to others.
Today at PBC we have been looking at James’ teaching on favouritism, where people bowed to the rich while discounting the poor. How could they dishonour people whom God had chosen for privilege in his kingdom? Alec of County Down had obviously not realised that the mercy of God on which he was dependent also extended to the people towards whom he felt such distaste.
In our service we sang one of Keith and Kristyn Getty’s hymns, Beneath the Cross of Jesus. It was written to reflect on how the cross affects our relationships with each other. One line sums up the application of James’ teaching:
How could I now dishonour
The ones that you have loved?
As God’s mercy grips us, and we realise that his same mercy extends to others, we must respond by showing mercy to them too.
June 23, 2008
The two sermon series that I am going to be working on over the summer are James in the morning and the book of Ecclesiastes in the evening. Yesterday we looked at the second half of James 1 where James writes of the need for obedience to what we hear from the word of God. It is easy for us to make the mistake of thinking that merely understanding something, or catching a new insight, means we have fully “received” the word. James teaches that we have only truly received the word when we do what it says.
Here is the link to read the James sermon.
In the evening we got into Ecclesiastes’ search for meaning where he talks about the self indulgence of pleasure and achievement, wisdom, madness and hard work - none of which yield ultimate meaning. The end of the second chapter allows a (grudging?) acknowledgment that God gives some people the opportunity to enjoy their food and work. We need to learn to cultivate gratitude for the manifestations of common grace, while at the same time realising that if we make any of them the ultimate point of life, they are likely to run through our fingers.
Here is the link to read the Ecclesiates sermon.
June 20, 2008
I’ve just started what should be an eleven part series of messages, preaching through the book of Ecclesiastes. It’s a fascinating book, but also one that is a challenge to get right. Some of its contents seem out of place in the Bible: what are we to make of the writer’s (or is that writers’) apparent agnosticism with regard to the afterlife in chapter 5? Should the words of a worshiper be few because God is so far away that he won’t pay attention, or because God is God and this calls for reverent submission? Is the book giving centre stage to a sceptic who has almost dropped out of the world of faith, or is it essentially a call to joy?
Two key concepts in the book are “under the sun” and “vanity”; vanity not so much of mirrors and skin cream variety but meaning a puff of wind. There is a dearth of meaning to life “under the sun.”
I found helpful the observation made by some of the scholars that the Greek word used to translate the Hebrew for vanity in the Septuagint is the same word that Paul uses in Romans 8: 20 where he talks about how the creation has been subjected to futility. This sets Ecclesiastes in its proper place in the overall Bible story, and we can read the book as a commentary on Romans 8:20, or read Romans 8:20 as a summary of what lies behind Ecclesiastes.
And it is this connection that adds a note of hope to the exercise as Paul makes the point that futility is not the final word. Creation has been subjected to futility in hope of redemption. We find ourselves living in a world that has been created by God; hence its beauty and order and the gifts of grace that even Ecclesiastes can see. But at the same time it is a fallen world which means that the beauty is sometimes marred, order exists alongside chaos and the gifts of grace are sometimes broken.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Spirit are evidences that brokenness will not be the final condition and that “vanity” is not the final word.
June 18, 2008
This past Sunday I began two new sermon series at PBC. In the mornings over the summer I am preaching through the Epistle of James and in the evenings it is Ecclesiastes. The James sermon looked at what it takes to live through life’s adversity, thinking about what James has to say about trials, wisdom, wealth and temptation.
Read the James sermon here.
In the evening we looked at the first 11 verses of Ecclesiastes. It’s a bleak beginning but some of the commentators have made a helpful link between the concept of “vanity” in Ecclesiastes and “futility” in Romans 8:20. I picked this up in the latter part of the sermon and it helps offset the negativity of “Qoheleth” to set his thoughts in the broader context of the work of redemption.
Read the Ecclesiastes sermon here.
June 12, 2008
A very intelligent man has reported that intelligent people (people like him) are less likely to believe in God.
It’s handy for 21st century people to think that belief in God can be set aside now that science is able to explain so many things which our primitive ancestors did not understand.
No doubt someone could produce a decent list of intelligent people who do believe in God (a little online search would produce plenty of names), so I don’t know what this report says about them.
I don’t think Christianity should feel threatened by this. The New Testament points out that God prefers to seek out the weak and foolish more than the powerful and wise, and the gospel even seems foolish to a world whose own wisdom has not led it to God.
Intelligent people ‘less likely to believe in God’ - Telegraph
June 3, 2008
Yesterday we took a drive southwest, through Letterkenny and on to Churchill, a small village just outside of which sits Glebe House. Glebe House is owned by the state. It is a former rectory which eventually passed into the hands of a British painter, Derek Hill, who lived in the area for 50 years. Not only did he paint, he collected. The house is crammed with an array of artwork from different cultures and from different artists - some famous, others just ordinary people, like the man on Tory Island who reckoned he could do a better job at painting than Hill: two of his pieces adorn the kitchen wall - one of them signed and dated on the 32nd of the month it was painted. Another unusual piece is the painting of the ex wife of another painter. She is suffering from jaundice and her bed has been placed in the kitchen. Apparently she used the painting in her divorce case as an illustration of neglect.
June 1, 2008
This week we are taking a little break in Ballyliffin, Donegal. The photo shows the view from our window, looking north towards Malin Head, the most northerly point on the island of Ireland - even though it is not part of Northern Ireland (try to understand that if you are not from this island!)
May 29, 2008
One of Ireland’s spectacular stretches of railway - along the coast at Downhill, having passed through the tunnel under Mussenden Temple. Pauline and I spent some time exploring the area around there yesterday. Click on the photo to go to my Flickr page where you can see some more photos.
May 28, 2008
On Sunday I finished preaching the two short series that have been running in the past few weeks - on the theme of worship in the mornings and on certain questions in the evening. The final sermon on worship looked at the worship of a living sacrifice as Paul writes about it in Romans 12. The presentation of our bodies is a worshipful response to the mercy of God. We can honour God in the nitty gritty details of everyday life.
You can read the sermon here.
The last of the three “Is it true?” questions looked at whether we can rely on the Bible. The reliability of the Bible has come under fresh attack recently from critical writing: as good resources it is worth looking at Lee Strobel’s The Case for the Real Jesus, not least his discussion with Daniel Wallace, or at Darrell Bock’s Dethroning Jesus: Exposing Popular Culture’s Quest to Unseat the Biblical Christ.
You can read the sermon here.
I have the next two Sundays off on holiday and aim to start two new series later in June.
May 24, 2008
I had a good 10 km run this morning with my iPod and an interview with Bob Kauflin. Bob serves as director of worship development for the Sovereign Grace family of churches. He has recently published Worship Matters - an excellent resource for worship leaders and church leaders wanting to think about what happens in Sunday services. In the interview he talks about various issues related to corporate worship. He discusses the role of music; he talks about some books that have influenced him in his study of worship; he talks about Jonathan Edwards, about his own book, his church’s upcoming conference, and the Psalms, not least their relationship with Jesus. You can find the interview (either in audio or video) online - Interview Media Player | TheResurgence
May 20, 2008
Today the British government has decided that we no longer need to view parenting in the way humanity has viewed it since the dawn of time. Fathers are optional extras.
Sadly our ability to push back the scientific boundaries has not been matched by our ability to respect moral boundaries.
Two mother IVF families enshrined in law - Telegraph
May 20, 2008
Michael Williams was preaching in our morning service - he preached on some of the incidents associated with the arrival of the gospel in Samaria in Acts 8. I enjoyed an analogy he used in describing how Saul’s opposition to the gospel only served to scatter it farther; the analogy was the attempt to put out a fire in a chip pan by pouring cold water on it. I have never tried it (or had to), but I learned that instead of putting out the fire, the water causes an explosion of sorts that scatters hot globules of fat.
In the evening we had the second of our three part series on some of the questions that people have about Christianity. This week I was preaching on whether it is true that all religions are actually the same. The appeal of this is evident in our increasingly globalised. If we cannot have a John Lennon world in which there are no religions and everyone lives at peace, then perhaps if we can get religious people to emphasise what their faiths have in common rather than the areas in which they differ, we might get along.
While there is value in respecting others and in seeking to understand them, this does not mean that we can reduce all religions to the lowest common denominators and play down all the rest. Religions don’t even agree on the question of God - are there any gods, is there just one, or are there many? Beyond this, does God have a Son? How does God expect us to live? How many lives are we given? These are important questions and we need to seek the truth.
You can download a copy of the sermon here.
Next Sunday we are looking at the question of whether we can trust the Bible.
May 20, 2008
Russell Moore writes about the absolute centrality of Jesus Christ. He starts with Veggie Tales and moves skillfully on to talk about how we need to see that our story and our preaching of Scripture have to hold together in the story of Jesus Christ.
Preaching Christ doesn’t simply mean giving a gospel invitation at the end of a sermon–although it certainly does entail that. It means seeing all of reality as being summed up in Christ, and showing believers how to find themselves in the story of Jesus, a story that is Alpha and Omega, from the spoken Word that calls the universe together to the Last Man who governs the universe as its heir and King.
May 17, 2008
It’s been hard to miss the presence of motorcycles around our area over the past few days. One of the largest (probably the largest) sporting events in Ireland has been taking place today in the Coleraine-Portrush-Portstewart Triangle today. Around 150,000 spectators are expected to watch the North West 200 motorcycle races. The races actually round off a festival through the week, with two practice nights and various events in the area. The festival events had to be curtailed this weekend due to the tragic death of one of the most popular riders who died after being injured in a practice round accident. Risk seems to be an accepted part of the sport.
This morning a team of workers at PBC served over 150 cooked breakfasts to some of the people who had come to the area for the day’s events.
