Jesus is the Word of God
John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge describe the spreading evangel in their Saturday Times article: "God is back: How Ned Flanders won the evangelical crusade".
Virtually everywhere in the developing world fiery preachers are preaching a faith that would appeal to Ned Flanders: live your life according to God's law, read the Bible as the literal word of Truth, treat your neighbour as yourself.
The sad thing is, that might be a fair summation.
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c.293 - 2 May, 373
Out of His great love, [Christ] became what we are so that we might become what He is. (Against Heresies)
Why not celebrate by listening to two outstanding talks by Mike Reeves on his life and teaching.
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Yesterday Dave Bish linked to my post called "We all have our creation stories." It's about reversing a common misconception. We think of scientists as dealing in the realm of observable, testable fact but theologians deal only in the realm of unsubstantiated stories. In fact, all cosmology/physics/astronomy/biology tells stories. And theology is truly science. Indeed Queen of the sciences.
Anyway it led to a very small conversation about 'facts' and 'faith'. Here's what I reckon: there's no such thing as brute facts. There are no such people as unbiased observers. There are no such perspectives as neutral perspectives. There are no such tools of enquiry as impartial methodologies. Facts and faith go together. Observations require interpretation. It all depends on the story you are inhabiting.
Which means that as we engage non-Christians with the facts of revelation (e.g. Jesus is risen) we tell it the way the bible tells it - i.e. "according to the Scriptures." From within our gospel story, from within the world of the bible, this fact makes sense. From within a rationalist world-view the fact doesn't fit anyway. But the good news is we're inviting people into a realm, a kingdom, a Person even. Irreducibly we're asking them to switch allegiances. It would be good to make that clear from the outset.
Anyway, here's an interesting clip where Tom Wright speaks of engaging an atheist with the facts of the resurrection:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Dc01HVlaM&feature=player_embedded]
Source: Mark Meynell
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About 8% of the UK population will suffer from panic attacks in their lifetime. (source)
A friend of mine recently told me her best advice for handling a panic attack:
When I feel one coming on I reach into my handbag for two things: a sweet and a bible verse.
Dan Hames tells us why here.
He covers:
'You don't have time',
'You think the bible's all about you,' and
'You think your bible reading is for God's benefit.'
In this context the Bible is given to us as a gift to feast on, rather than a project to complete before judgment day. We will find we go to it to savour and enjoy, and when we miss a day we might feel hunger pangs, but we could never feel guilt, fear, or condemnation. In the same way that skipping breakfast is more of a missed opportunity than a morally dubious choice; not going to the scriptures for nourishment is not a matter of calling down the anger of God, but of omitting to take advantage of his good gifts to his children.
Nice.
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Dan Hames tells us why here.
He covers:
'You don't have time',
'You think the bible's all about you,' and
'You think your bible reading is for God's benefit.'
In this context the Bible is given to us as a gift to feast on, rather than a project to complete before judgment day. We will find we go to it to savour and enjoy, and when we miss a day we might feel hunger pangs, but we could never feel guilt, fear, or condemnation. In the same way that skipping breakfast is more of a missed opportunity than a morally dubious choice; not going to the scriptures for nourishment is not a matter of calling down the anger of God, but of omitting to take advantage of his good gifts to his children.
Nice.
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Tim Challies has quoted a pithy saying of Ligon Duncan's:
Hell is eternity in the presence of God without a mediator.
Heaven is eternity in the presence of God, with a mediator.
What do we reckon?
Here's what's great about it. It affirms that our experience of eternity hinges on our relationship to the Mediator. It also affirms that God is not absent from hell. Both those things are true and worth lifting up.
But I think there are better ways of saying such things. Here's what's unhelpful about it:
What does this mean? It means that hell is being in the presence of God who continues to mediate His judgement through the Son. There is no such thing as 'God without a mediator'.
I've got some more to say on this, but I'll wait for another post...
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First, I had my laptop stolen last month. And on it were a few emails from blog readers kind enough to write to me. If you're out there, please feel free to email again, but unfortunately I don't have your addresses.
Second, since my laptop was stolen I've not had google reader feeding me a thousand posts a minute. Which has been kind of nice actually, but it's meant that I haven't been visiting blogs that much at all. Sorry if you haven't heard from me for a while.
Third, my blog roll is a gargantuan mess. It hasn't been updated in about 18 months. And it has some glaring omissions like Dave K at the 48 files - one of my absolute favourites. I will seek to rectify this soon.
Fourth, I realise my posts have been pretty negative of late. One day critical of the macho-men, next day critical of the scholarly types. I'm not in a particularly critical or downbeat mood - just coincidence that a couple of different things raised my hackles simultaneously. I'll try to be more positive in future!
As a token of this, I present to you a little video I'd like to call:
"In your face, ping pong dude!"
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gjXZdT0Qqw&feature=player_embedded]
from Ray Ortlund
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O thou brain -- exalted, senior,
Holding forth from pulpit's throne.
Feed us with thy academia,
Meted out in monotone.
‘We could never,
‘We could never,
‘Plumb such myst'ries on our own.'
Hear the classics now recited,
Tumbling from thy tutored lips.
Nooks ignored are now ignited,
By thy greek and latin quips.
‘O how richly
‘O how richly,
‘Wisdom from each sentence drips.'
Teach us frames to fathom glory,
Scriptures' tale doth not agree.
Pure distil the Jesus story,
Into subtle sophistry.
‘All was darkness
‘All was darkness,
‘Till thou spoke and now we see.'
Pompous, ponderous, proud, pretentious,
Leaning o'er thy preacher's perch.
Pressing out the sap that quenches,
Thirst for knowledge, Eden's search.
‘Breathe thy wisdom
‘Breathe thy wisdom
‘Till inflated is thy church'
O thou noble mind pray guide us,
Through the darkness and the lies.
Warn us from thy foul deriders,
We shall fear, avoid, despise.
‘Raise a banner
‘Raise a banner
‘We shall chant thy tribal cries.'
How to mark our true devotion?
What could ever count as praise?
But to clone thy stale emotion,
Forced to feign thy learned ways.
‘Where's my pulpit?
‘Where's my pulpit?
‘I'll abide there all my days.'
Marching strong into the brightness,
Resolute, we set our face.
Staunch persistence, clothed in rightness,
Rectitude, our saving grace.
‘Call us onward
‘Call us onward
‘Grimly to our resting place.'
Then one day in vindication,
Face to face at last we'll see
Precious few in that location,
Gathered with thy coterie.
‘Now receive us
‘Now receive us
‘To thy ‘ternal library.'
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I'll confess I'm part of the problem as much as I'm part of the solution.
But part of the solution is confessing there's a problem.
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