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Published on Leave a comment on Podcast: Interview with Barry Cooper

BarryCooperWe talk with Barry Cooper about his new book Can I really trust the Bible? Also joining in the conversation is Nate Morgan Locke from Christianity Explored's Soul course.

We discuss Barry's book - out now - and then talk about various objections raised to the Bible, like...

Can we really trust the transmission of the Scriptures through the centuries?

Can we trust the Bible in a scientific age?

What do we do with passages about war?

How can we trust the Bible morally when it was written by bronze age peasants?

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Published on Leave a comment on The People’s Republic of #1PUN

punEvery now and then I have a go at #1PUN on Twitter. It was started by Juan Pun as a daily joke competition held at 1pm GMT. There were judges, a points system, spreadsheets and everything.

Recently, without warning or explanation, Juan Pun stopped overseeing 1PUN. Now no-one tweets out the reminders, no-one is judging our efforts and there are no official winners. But 1PUN continues. It seems like it's as popular as ever. And, in a way, the scoring does happen, but in the way it's always happened on Twitter: via favourites and retweets. It's the People's Republic of #1PUN and it's working.

Let's think about religion and morality. Could it be that the People's Republic of #1PUN gives us a model for how morality works after the death of God? Perhaps God is like a heavenly Juan Pun - a made-up figure who has now retreated from the scene. To begin with, his absence was disconcerting, but after a bit, we've just gotten on with it. Now people act pretty much the same way they ever did except that, under the new regime, they don't receive authoritarian pronouncements from on high, they are simply judged by their equals. Approval and disapproval has been democratized and we've all just gotten on with life without any noticeable outbreaks of apocalyptic evil.

What do we think? Is it the same thing?

Well here's one response you could make:

"Yeah but... Watch out for the democratization of values. A nasty pocket of racist tweeters could get hold of the hashtag and flood it with bigoted "humour". In just that way, whole people groups could decide on a new direction for a culture's morality and there'd be nothing to say they were wrong."

 You could make that kind of argument. And there'd be truth to it. But I think we need to go deeper.

You see the analogy just doesn't hold. At all really. The triune God is not a heavenly Juan Pun trying to manage a little system within a much larger paradigm. The Father hasn't looked around at all the morality that's been going on and dreamt up a scoring system to administrate it. He is the Author of goodness, the Son is the Expression of goodness, the Spirit is the Perfecter of goodness. God is good - goodness itself.

The triune God does not relate to the world as Juan Pun to word-play but like Oscar Wilde to Algernon. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Algernon may be extremely funny while denying all knowledge of any authorship over his life. But on the deepest level, he cannot declare his independence from Wilde. He's only funny because of him.

We can deny God all we like. We can call him an out-dated construct but actually we are the constructs. And every concept we use - whether of goodness, truth, beauty, justice, even humour - is either borrowed capital or ultimately bankrupt. The people's republic of earth does not threaten the kingdom of heaven - actually it presupposes it. All the while there's a Father beckoning the world to something greater than abstract values like "goodness" - He's inviting us to Himself.

 

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Published on 1 Comment on Sermon – Acts 4:23-37

Acts4

What does God's power look like? Acts 4:23-37 gives us four surprises:

We think God's power means an absence of suffering;
Actually it Embraces Easter.

We think God's power obviates the need for prayer;
Actually it Prompts Prayer.

We think God's power is all about miracles;
Actually it Makes Missionaries.

We think God's power is enjoyed privately;
Actually it Creates Community.

SCRIPT

AUDIO

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Published on 5 Comments on Counselling and the Church

2104bf27cee12d1f1387d06961bf536cShould Christians see non-Christian counsellors?

This is a question that divides evangelicals, sometimes sharply. But perhaps it's not the question to ask. At least not first. Perhaps the better question with which to frame the discussion is this:

Where (if anywhere) might counselling fit into Christian discipleship in the life of the church?

Here we're dealing with first things first. Healthy, well-balanced living is a matter of  Christian discipleship - learning Christ and letting His reality shape all our thinking, feeling and behaving. The context for that discipleship is the body of Christ - the church. Think of Ephesians 4: there is incredible maturity and growth available in the renewal of our minds (v14-32). But the context for it all is the local church (v1-13). I say local because you cannot imagine Ephesians 4 happening in some "invisible church." Our growth happens in community with others where our church leaders exercise their word gifts (v11-13). The local church is the place where lives are put back together.

So where does counselling fit in? Well it certainly can fit in. There are areas of expertise that a counsellor might have that may not be covered by your local church. There can be many reasons you might want to talk to someone with wisdom and experience from beyond your own context. But the heart of the issue is this: the counsellor must not become a de facto Pastor. Whatever counselling is sought, it would probably need to be self-consciously time-limited. It will certainly need to be talked and prayed through with people from church (whether friends or pastoral leaders). But if that's happening then seeing a non-Christian counsellor for a limited time, regarding a limited issue and with local church prayer support is a viable option - certainly it is if your Pastor thinks so.

The real problem, it seems to me, is having a counsellee looking to a counsellor as a Pastor - a shepherd of their soul. Unfortunately though, this happens all the time. And the problem is not limited to counsellors. So many want their soul's deepest needs to be met through celebrity online preachers, through parachurch ministries, through conferences, through GOD TV, through the latest Christian paperback. This is the problem, and you'll notice it's a problem even if the spiritual shepherd being sought is Christian. Even if their doctrine is completely orthodox, the problem remains.

On the other hand, consider this scenario. Let's imagine the person you love is falling into a big black hole called anorexia - this is Emma's and my story. In that case there will be professional help available  - not always very much, not always very helpful and not always very easy to access. But nonetheless there will be opportunities to access care from beyond the local church and, most often, beyond an explicitly Christian context. What should you do?

My advice: take everything that's offered with both hands, but pray through it with folks from church. Christ and His people really do have the answer to eating disorders but there's also wisdom out there about the nuts and bolts of battling it. Through it all, church should absolutely maintain spiritual oversight and care but church should also acknowledge where others have useful expertise. The problem comes when Christian leaders equate expertise with soul care. In that case leaders who feel "out of their depth" in terms of expertise will hand over their people wholesale to the experts.

This happened to Emma and I several times. We would go to Christian leaders with our problems only to be told they were "too much" for them to handle. This was understandable - they were "too much" for us too! But instead of maintaining soul care while delegating specific expertise, they washed their hands of both.

The greatest help we had, beyond the Lord's own intervention, was a Christian couple who admitted frequently their own inadequacy. They had no idea about eating disorders but every Monday night they opened up their home and we talked. Emma could speak about the professional help she was receiving and we prayed together. Very simple. Very profound. And it was all possible because these Christian leaders did not consider their limited knowledge to limit their ability to care.

Can non-Christian counsellors be helpful? Of course. Can they be unhelpful. You bet. But the need to find "an answer" to the counselling question betrays a deeper problem - we feel like the counsellor, whether Christian or not, is the answer. We treat outside helpers like alternative shepherds when really they're just vets.

For my money the real issue is dethroning the counsellor from the position of Pastor. Once this occurs, their doctrinal orthodoxy is still important, but less so. You see shepherds can bring in vets to help the flock. And those vets may be a brother, or they may be from a different tribe. That's of secondary importance. Whoever the vet is, the real issue is that the sheep know the voice of their Shepherd and the continued care of their God-given undershepherds.

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Published on 8 Comments on Corporate Prayer “Performs Poorly” Claims New Study

PrayerRequest

UPDATE: Just to be clear... this is a parody. The intended target is revealed at the end

Prayer in church has long been considered painfully dull, but new research suggests it's also "largely ineffective." The study of 300 intercessors from 14 denominations found that the majority of church pray-ers performed poorly across a range of indicators. More than 80% of congregants reported moderate to severe mind-wandering, with 47% of all church-goers unable to recall more than one prayer-point from the Sunday service.

"This trend of high-distraction / low-retention is obviously unacceptable in today's information age", so said Dag Branstrom a process analyst from KPMG and the report's author. "In terms of participation rates and in terms of the clarity and brevity of communication, church prayers compare unfavourably to other forms of data transfer."

The report advocates for a major overhaul of church services, even mooting the complete elimination of prayers from the worship service.

"Clearly there are more efficient ways of generating prayer" said Branstrom. "For too long churches have invested in methods which evidence disappointing consumer buy-in."

Nigel Fairweather, the Archbishop's Cultural Engagement and Faith Journeys Advisor, embraced the findings. "These are exciting times for missional communities. For too long we have been in thrall to oppressive and monological methods of prayer - no doubt a hangover from Constantinian power-plays. Finally the research proves what we've suspected all along: prayer isn't working, we need to try something new. I can't wait to see where the Spirit leads next."

For similar analysis of church practices, see SERMONS - NOT HOW WE LEARN BEST?

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Published on 1 Comment on Podcast: Evangelism is not in your hands

tep-podcastcover-1024x1024Evangelism is high above our heads in the mission of Christ and it's far beneath our feet in service of others. Evangelism is not a technique to learn but a life of outgoing faith: looking up to Christ and looking out to our neighbours.

Andy and I talk about some recent evangelistic opportunities before playing a recent sermon of mine called "Outgoing God, Outgoing People" from Philippians 2:5-18.

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Published on Leave a comment on Happy Friday

Some home groan grown humour
(more here)

Ah, the Aztec priest, there’s a man after my own heart

"Yeah, madness. It's a called a Sob-aphone. A SOBAPHONE for crying out loud."

I'm afraid I can't weep in public. It's a crying shame.

Captain Sacrifabulous. (My altar ego)

Lawyers! Remember the Queen of all 1D fans can assist your case. That’s right, Miss Direction helps con jurors.

My friend won’t lend me his Joseph Heller novel till I’ve read it!

Ironically, unless you've already seen it you can't catch 22 Jump Street.

My seive’s better than yours. #HolierThanThou

Contradictory Celebs: Matt Gloss, Time Waits, Demi More, Bleak Lively #contradictorycelebs

What should I have with my bacon sandwich: Ketchup or HP? #crowdsaucing

What’s your favourite method of resolving an argument? Hit me

Idea for website – http://unknow-unfollowers.com Once u’ve discovered who’s unfollowed u, the site wipes yr memory & delivers a mild electric shock

I’ve finally ditched my Blackberry. Apple’s my new jam.

Don’t tell me I MUST visit the Bayeux tapestry. I hate quilt trips

Be aware. My imaginary teddy will mentally undress you.
IOW: Bear in mind my bear in mind will bare in mind.

#FilmPrequels Penultimate Tango in Paris,
Ar-GetReadyGetSet,
Soon-to-Be-Hur,
Old Men Ask For Country But Don’t Say Please

#FilmPrequels Scrooging, Scrooging

Apparently no roads lead from Rome. There’s no two-ways about It.

The temple drummer refused to accompany the service but I had him bang to rites.

Phwoar, that binary code! That’s a noughty one

I’ve invented an abbreviated form of morse code – for when you just want to dash something off.

For linguists, translating the Bible for the blind is the Holy Braille.

The gift of tongues: an acquired taste

My favourite fish opera is the one with “O For Tuna”: Carmena Piranha

Today you’re probably ambivalent about artificial intelligence, but one day it’ll be make your mind up time.

Its name is its unofficial motto: B right on

Just started a job-share as a GP. Everyone thinks it’s comedic

True story from 18 yrs ago:
Her: Hi, I’m Haydee
Me: If there were 2 of u it’d be hell! :)
Her: Why?!
Me: Well, cos, Hades
Her: What’s Hades?

<< I guess you could say, the young me was a real hell-raiser

#RichardDawkinsChatUpLines There’s your genome with all those double-helix curves and here’s me with no brakes.

#RichardDawkinsChatUpLines Get your coat love, our genes have pooled.

#RichardDawkinsChatUpLines Get outta my memes and into my life

#RichardDawkinsChatUpLines Your daddy must have been a thief? Why? Selfish genes.

#RichardDawkinsChatUpLines Girl, when billions of years of death, pain and mindless struggle made you, they were showing off.

‘Chance would be a fine thing’ – Heisenberg.
‘Chants’ll be a fine thing’ – Pope Gregory.
‘Chancel be a fine thing’ – Christopher Wren

- Sometimes hindsight is 0-0
- Why?
- No eyed dear

- Sometimes hindsight is O-O
- Why?
- Cos she’s doe-eyed

When baking, every Mel needs a Sous. Complements to the chef.

Do not forget to wrestle strangers for by so doing some have wrestled angels unawares. #ScriptureInterpretsScripture

Of course He’s the shy member of the Trinity – He’s the original Ghost writer. (2 Peter 1:21)

Probably the most driven animal was the Dodo

In the style of Guy Ritchie I’m producing a tacky biopic of Howard Stern’s music career: a mocklockstockshockjockschlockrockdoc

Forgot to get wrapping paper 4 Emma’s bday presents. Thankfully we have plenty of ‘decorated pine tree’ paper with added ‘birthday reindeer’

I bet the Spanish are constantly overwhelmed by their todo lists :-/

Stoics want to correct my spelling. They have no affect.

- Your pedantry is mute.
- That makes no sense, it’s moo…
- I said MUTE

It’s a shame but, since there are only 22 letters in Hebrew, alphabetizing the pauses in the Psalms will only get you so far. Selah V :(

Clouds to the left of me, joking to the right. #holySaturday

But Peter Pan gags DO get old. They DO

- Everything’s Greekified these days.
- You mean ‘Hellenized’?
- See?!

Subway have a new secret filling – they’re keeping it under wraps

Just entered a yodelling competition. I’m in with a shout

I know it’s odd to carry my teddy around but bear with me.

Chief bugbear? Probably the Panda Maggot. No, wait, the Grizzly Weevil. Hang on: The PolarPillar. Yeah, PolarPillar.

Why did Jesus get a drink at Jacob’s Well? Cos the Harvester was plenty full.
#PubThemedJohn4Lolz #epic

I used to have an NY State of Mind. I’m OK now

You’re so ad hominem I call you the Ad Hominid #checkmate

You know who else loved to cite Godwin’s law? The Nazis #checkmate

I’m afraid your argumentum verbosium reveals a superfluum latine #checkmate

Why do sneezers get all the blessings? I’m gonna bless coughs & hiccups too. Burpers get an ironic blessing #HeapingCoals #IronicNotAaronic

“Yeah sure, I’m like totally blessing you or whatever.” — The Ironic Priesthood

- “Guevara was easy. Name another one.”
- “Given”
- “Ah, Two Che”

I’ve come up with a thousand separate arguments against scholasticism. They’re a bit a-Thomistic

Colonel Sanders: Chick magnate

Some put their bios in the third person.
Mine’s in the Second Person (Col. 3:3-4)

Genesis: Snakes and Ladders
Psalms: Hide and Seek
#BibleGames

Galatians: Noughts and Crosses
1Peter: Simon Says
#BibleGames

Joshua: Conkers
Romans: More than Conkers
#BibleGames

Leviticus: Keep-Away-Pick-Up-Sticks combo
#BibleGames

Leviticus: Pass the Pigs
Jonah: Keep Away
#BibleGames

I lead. Others unfollow

Joel: Cricket(s)
Revelation 8: Hurling
#BibleGames

1 Corinthians 1: Crosswords
Job 38-41: Hungry, Hungry Hippos**
#BibleGames
**May be an elephant or water buffalo. Scholars disagree

I consider my next three tweets as an artistic whole. A twiptych if you will…
1. She said she half-inched my rhyming dictionary. No idea what she meant…
2. Next she stole my thesaurus. There are no words…
3. Turns out she works for the OED. Explains a lot.

 

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Published on 3 Comments on Apologetics According to Peter

apologetics2It's the verse from which the word "apologetics" comes. We are to give an "answer" (an apologia) to those who ask us about our hope.

Here it is:

1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always being prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that is in you."

Let's break it down:

But... The context from v14 is a suffering church - both the suffering and the church elements are crucial. 1 Peter is written to a bedraggled mob of asylum seekers who are nonetheless choice in the Father's eyes, purchased and possessed by Christ and sanctified by the Spirit (1:1-2; 2:11). They are suffering under the authorities (2:13ff); suffering at work (2:17ff); suffering in difficult marriages (3:1ff); etc.

In your hearts... "Apologetics" - as Peter defines it - is heart driven.

Set apart Christ as Lord... Here is the imperative of the verse ("being prepared" is an adjective subordinate to this command). The thing we must do is "sanctify"Christ as Lord. We must set Him apart as special in our hearts. We see Peter doing this throughout the letter - consistently calling Christ "precious" (1:19; 2:4,6,7). When our hearts prize Christ as precious, we are ready for apologetics.

Always being prepared... We are not always to be answering but we are always to be prepared. And it's a plural adjective. This suffering community as a whole is to be prepared. Together we are a priesthood (2:9) and this community consists of differently gifted people - some gifted to speak, others to serve (4:10-11). I believe every Christian should be able to put words to their faith, but don't forget the communal aspects - we rely on one another in our answering.

To give an answer... This word - apologia - speaks of responding. Someone else has started this, and the word 'apologia' intimates quite a formal, adversarial situation. (Acts 22:1; 25:16; 1 Cor 9:3; 2 Cor 7:11; Phil 1:7,16; 2 Tim 4:16)

To everyone who asks you... Again, "you" is in the plural. Many people feel guilty that they have never personally been asked about their hope. But in the church body your hopeful suffering belongs to me, just as my answering belongs to you. As a church our suffering with hope will be the apologetic to the world. You can reasonably expect that once or twice in your lifetime a non-Christian will ask you "How did you get through that suffering?" but more generally this verse is fulfilled in the ongoing life of a church where members, (speakers in particular) can say "a couple in our church recently suffered a miscarriage, but the hope of Jesus got them through."

To give the reason for the hope... What's prompting the question is an evident hope - not an evident reason. The thing that's obvious about the Christian is their hope. The thing that's not obvious is the reason - that's why they need to articulate the reason.

That is in you... Notice that the hope to be articulated is in the Christians. It's not in a text book, it's in them. This is the hope that has actually sustained the Christians through their suffering. Therefore equipping Christians apologetically is not about giving people "reasons" they had never considered before the apologist had trained them. Giving an apologia is about putting words to a hope that is already heart-felt and already life-shaping. 

Since this is so, a church living out 1 Peter 3:15 is a suffering congregation that prizes Christ as precious and clings to Him in future-looking hope. In this context they rely on one another to articulate such hope to all who ask.

This is what Peter means by apologetics. Is it what we mean?

 

Published on Leave a comment on Some Tweets – Mainly Tchaff

I consider my next three tweets as an artistic whole. A twiptych if you will...

1. She said she half-inched my rhyming dictionary. No idea what she meant...

2. Next she stole my thesaurus. There are no words...

3. Turns out she works for the OED. Explains a lot.

 

Who wants to play #FinishThePun? It's like a cryptic crossword, only full of lolz and roflz. Round One...

#FinishThePun It's amazing to me how some people actually enjoy making spreadsheets of their favourite flavours...

@LauraMason82: I guess there's no accounting for taste

#FinishThePun #RoundTwo Apparently a French doctor can be laid low by a single sweetener...

@rockbadger: just a spoonful of sugar makes the médecin go down”

Tricky one 4 our final round #FinishThePun When making egg-based meals u must disregard the examples given 2u by the cookbooks. After all...

@fearners: to make an omelette you've got to break some e.g.s

 

God worked a universe out of nothing, He reworked it out of sin, death and curse. I reckon He can do something with you. #EnjoyYourDay

A life of cross-shaped service is not the price of eternal life - it is the nature of it.

Either God loves you to death or Jesus has been sending crazy mixed messages. #EnjoyYourDay

4 Cs to look out for in marriage counselling. Cruelty and cowardice (esp in men). Contempt and control (esp in women).

<< Cowardice and contempt are a particularly brutal and self-perpetuating combination.

A neat trick for gauging when to travel on the M25:
- Subtract the junction ur entering from 25.
- Convert to 24hour time.
- Wrong

In the flesh we are but dust and ashes. By the Spirit-filled King we are crowned with beauty and the oil of gladness (Is61) #EnjoyYourDay

A minister on holidays prays: "Plz take care of my flock while I'm away." The Lord replies "Who do u think takes care of it while ur there?"

Today, remember you are loved at your very worst, by the very Best. Rom 5:8 #EnjoyYourDay

In Num6 the single name of the LORD is a triple movement: 1) A Fountain of Blessing 2) Radiant Grac; 3) Personal Peace #TrinitAaronBlessing

The Bible is not God's word simply b/c certain verses claim it 2b so. That wd be a stupid circularity. It's God's word b/c in it God speaks

Life is not a race against the clock. Jesus is Resurrection. Time is not ‘running out’ – not ultimately. Jn11 #EnjoyYourDay

God's being: Life poured out and received again >>
The gospel: Cross and Resurrection >>
The world: Suffering and Glory.

We are SEATED with Christ, Eph1-3; WALK by Christ, Eph4-5 & STAND in Christ, Eph6. (Nee) We Never climb. #OnTopOfTheWorld #EnjoyYourDay

Yowsers. On this page (http://ow.ly/y6fxs ) u can listen 2 me on evangelism. Or 2 Don Carson or Dick Lucas. You Decide!

It’s a good thing to have a problem with evil. Evil is evil. The real problem would be not having a problem.

Hell is not at odds with a God of love. We are. Hence hell.

 

 

 

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