Letter to the Telegraph

A letter in the DT today read:

SIR The problem with Christians expressing their faith (Comment, December 28) is that they expect the law of the land to inflict their views about abortion, right to die and other matters on those of us who disagree.

Douglass MacDonald
Ilford, Essex

 I have replied:

SIR The problem with atheists expressing their faith (Letters, December 29) is that they expect the law of the land to inflict their views about abortion, right to die and other matters on those of us who disagree.

Michael Warren

I wonder if it will be published? 

Kindle gets me reading

I love my new Kindle e-reader!
Not only is it a great gadget, but it's got me reading more. It's no larger than a very small paperback, but on it I now have the whole of the ESV Bible, John Piper's 'When I don't Desire God: How to fight for Joy', Eric Metaxas' new biography of Bonhoeffer, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, a theological journal, two volumes of Jonathan Edwards (thousands of pages!), and samples of 5 other books. It also comes with the Oxford Dictionary of English and an Amercian dictionary.
And all of this for less than £25 - bought from the Kindle or a computer, and delivered directly to the Kindle within a few seconds. (Yes, I know the Kindle itself cost money, but it was a present, and it was a tiny fraction of the price of a tablet PC).
So now I'm carrying all of this with me everywhere and whenever I've got a few minutes to spare, I can read a few pages of whichever of these books takes my fancy. I can take notes and highlight text which is then collated into one place, so I can easily access all my favourite quotes.
But that's not all. I can also check emails, check the footballor cricket scores (via a web browser - it's not fast, but it does the job) and listen to music while I read. I can also transfer documents and .pdf files to read at my leisure. This is great because there are loads of good articles available online in pdf format which are hard to read on a computer screen but which are incredibly easy on the Kindle.
Finally, Sarah also bought me a wonderful protective cover which includes a light so i can read at night without disturbing her!
Wonderful!!

Don Carson's introduction to Christianity

Being a snowy Saturday afternoon, I got out my exercise bike and peddled nowhere while watching part two of  Don Carson's brilliant introduction to Christianity and the Bible.
I posted a link to part one some days ago, and I know some of you watched it. It really is a brilliant series. It's long (each lecture is an hour) and at times demands careful listening and thought. But it really will pay dividends - this is Carson at his intelligent, passionate, engaging best.
If you're not a Christian, then it sets out the overview ofthe Christian message. If you are a Christian, some of it will be familiar to you (though Carson will say it in a way you hadn't thought of before), and some of it will be new to you. It will strengthen your faith, deeped your understanding of the Bible, enable you to speak about your faith with more confidence etc. etc. 
So, having now watched both parts one and two (of 14!) can I encourage you to listen in? What a great way to spend some free time over Christmas. If you're commuting or travelling any distance in this snowy weather, make sure you have several hours' worth with you, then if you get stuck for 5 hours, the time will fly by and you won't waste a moment!

You can watch the videos or listen tot he audio here: http://thegospelcoalition.org/thegodwhoisthere


Of course you can download both audio & video (though the video takes a while).

Stand firm & work

Being a Christian means hard work and perseverance
Of course we're saved by grace alone received by faith. But once saved, Christ calls us to a life of discipline, obedience, loyalty, tough love and hard graft.
In the earliest days of my Christian life, I saw this modelled brilliantly by Ken & Margaret, my Pathfinder leaders. They opened their home & their lives to us; they were there every Friday without fail at club night; they were there every Sunday without fail at church; they led a summer camp and took us away for weekends. Ken was a teacher and they had two small children, but their commitment and love for us was unwavering.
Ken & Margaret made a huge impression on me. I wish I could live up to their example. What could motivate a new generation of Christians to this kind of service?
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says,

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

 Always...give yoursleves...fully...to the work...of the Lord. This is a big demand - a great exhortation. But why and how? Why should I give myself always and fully to this work of the Lord? And how can I do this? What will motivate me?
Well, Paul begins this verse with an often ignored but key word - 'Therefore...' or, 'So then...' It's because of what he's just been saying. That's what will empower us for this total commitment to the Lord's work. And what have the previous 57 verses been about? The power and certainty of the resurrection. Until and unless we grasp that this life is not all there is, we will never be able or willing to give oursleves wholly to Christ's service. But when we realise that by his own total self-giving - by his death & resurrection - Christ has won the most wonderful place in eternity for us, then we can put this life in its proper perspective. Even if we die an early death because of our total commitment to Christ, we have lost nothing and gained everything.
Not only that, but at the beginning of this section, Paul says,

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

Grace is not just about initial salvation. It's what empowers people like Ken & Margaret for service. It's grace that persuades us to give ourselves for others.
Now this begins with the commitment to be at church each and every Sunday - morning and evening if appropriate. Just being there encourages everyone. Being there says very loudly to other members, 'I am committed to you because Christ was and is committed to me.'
But of course it doesn't stop there. Everyone has gifts to use. If God has been kind enough to gift you by his Spirit for works of service, who are you to refuse to use the gift? But so many do, and it damages the body of Christ. We must commit ourselves to pray that Christ would be glorified and honoured in our churches. We must give serious money for the work of sharing Christ with others.

Yes, we're saved by grace received by faith. But that grace doesn't stop there. God continues to be at work in us by his Spirit to glorify Christ. Who are we to deny Christ, who died for us, of his rightful glory and honour? And if givign our all to Christ means an early end to this life, so what? The best is yet to come!


Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Micah 5:1-5

When we open the book of Micah, we're transported back c.2710 years to a land far away and to an alien culture. We're transported back to Jerusalem. Israel has been a great nation, but now is divided and threatened by greater empires. Its ruling class are wealthy beyond the imagination of ordinary people – and they're getting richer by exploiting the workers. They bribe the judges and kill those who oppose them.

Meanwhile the religious leaders are no better. They're in the pockets of the rich – they only say what the rich want to hear. We can see all of this if we glance back to 3:9-11

And into this situation comes the prophet Micah. And he comes with an unpopular message, but a message from God – 3:8 & 12

So, although in one sense, the book of Micah takes us to a strange land & culture, yet it is, perhaps not so very different after all – it's not the same, but there are similarities. One of the most significant similarities is that the prophetic voice of the church has been silent for too long. Silent, not as regards politics – the bishops and leaders have always been willing to preach a kind of Christianised socialism. No, the church has been silent about Jesus. And though Micah spoke 700 years before Jesus, Jesus is right at the heart of his message.

Before we plunge into the detail of Micah's prophecy, we need to understand how prophecy worked.

When we look at the world around us, we're familiar with the idea that God uses a basic design in different kinds of plants or animals:

So a tiny speedwell plant has leaves and stems and flowers. So does a massive chestnut tree.

Or take the hip joint of a mouse. It's a ball-and-socket joint just as is the hip joint of an elephant.

The same basic pattern is repeated in a bigger plant or animal. In a similar way, one prophecy can apply to a particular local event that will take place soon, but also a much bigger universal event that will take place many, many years in the future. Sometimes, as here in Micah 5, the prophecy is all about a person. And in this case, it's all about a ruler.

First of all, v1, we hear about the humiliation of the present ruler

Marshal your troops, O city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel's ruler on the cheek with a rod.

The city is Jerusalem. It's 701BC. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, has attacked the fortified cities of Judah, and has captured them. King Hezekiah is afraid that Jerusalem will be next, so he begs Sennacherib to back off, and even strips the temple of gold & silver to bribe him. Hezekiah was supposed to rule Israel with the rod of justice and wisdom. Instead, he's abandoned his faith in God and has resorted to bribery. So Micah and Isaiah slap Hezekiah in the face with a rebuke from God. But then from v2 – v5 God promises that a new a great ruler is coming.

And these verses show us the humility & glory of the new ruler

First, he will come from the little town of Bethlehem.

v2, you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler of Israel.

One of the wonderful things about God is that he loves to take people from ordinary backgrounds and use them for his glory.  In the NT, Paul wrote about this to the proud Corinthians, 

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

From Bethlehem – born in a cattle shed, laid in a feeding trough – comes for God one who will be ruler of God's people. Such is the humility of Jesus.

But second, he comes from eternity

At the end of v2, we read something really odd about this ruler: his origins are from old, from ancient times. This child didn't begin to exist when his mother conceived – he was already already there. As the footnote to v2 puts it, he was 'from days of eternity'.

The apostle John put it this way, 'He was with God in the beginning'. Jesus himself said, 'I came from the Father and entered the world.'

So this new ruler comes into the world from the unparalleled majesty, glory and opulence of heaven. And he comes into the world via an insignificant, little town in Israel – Bethlehem.

But now, for a moment in v3, we return to Micah's own day, where Micah's contemporaries are told that there's going to be a long, hard wait for their great new ruler. Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labour gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.

God's nation, Israel, was in a bad way – rebellious, unjust, worshipping false gods – a thoroughly wicked community. And God's had enough. His patience has run out. He's turning his back on Israel and sending them away into exile in Babylon. And although many of the Israelites eventually returned to their land, God did not return to them until the day when 'she who was in labour gave birth' – not until the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, the new ruler of God's people, did God return to his people. And yet, despite the long wait, the Jewish people never gave up hoping and looking for their new ruler – their Messiah, their Christ. For 700 years, they kept looking, kept hoping.

But when the day finally came, God announced it to non-Jews – to wise men from the east. And they arrived in Jerusalem and started asking around, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.'

When paranoid king Herod heard about this, he was rattled. So he called together the Jewish religious teachers and chief priests, and asked them where the Christ was to be born. Well, they all knew the answer to that one – “In Bethlehem, of course, because the prophet Micah said so” And they quote v2.

So the long wait was over. Jesus the Christ is born in Bethlehem. God's people have their new ruler.And now we can learn some more about him from v4:

He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.

We've already seen where Jesus the Christ comes from – heaven via Bethlehem. Now we see what he's is – Jesus is the strong shepherd of God's flock.

Every England football fan looks back to the days of Sir Alf Ramsey, and longs for another manager like him – another manager who will bring the glory of world cup victory back tot he home of football. Every Jew of Jesus' day looked back to King David and longed for another king like him – another king who would bring back the glory days to Israel. David – the shepherd boy who was born in Bethlehem. Who was the humble youngest brother, and yet became the shepherd of God's flock – caring for his people, leading them and providing for them. “Oh for those days to return – Oh for another David.”

Well, the message of Micah is that a greater king than David has been born. Jesus was the good shepherd – the great shepherd of the sheep.  The one who stood in the strength of the LORD and in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.

And because his strength came from the LORD, he was able to establish forever what David only managed for a brief period: this strong shepherd brings security and peace, vv4 & 5

You see the problem for Israel was that God had turned his back on them. He had left them to their own evil devices, and the consequences were that they became slaves and victims of war.

The exile, the slavery, the wars were only symptoms of the real disease – and that was their rejection of God. If they wanted security & peace with each other, they first had to have security & peace with God. And that's what the great shepherd has come to bring.

In John 10, Jesus says, 'I am the good shepherd.'  And we can see the work that Good Shepherd Jesus came to do if we just turn over to Micah 7. This is the climax to the book, where Micah turns to God in praise & wonder:  v14: Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasture lands.

At this point, Micah is talking only about the Israelites, and how God will shepherd them. But then he turns to the nations who see what God is doing in Israel and become ashamed of their behaviour. And they too come trembling out of their dens, v17, they turn to the LORD our God.

This great shepherd of the sheep will bring together a multinational community who will live securely and at peace with each other because, v18, of what God is like:

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?

You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy.

You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

The God Who is There: Part 1, The God who made everything

The God Who Is There - Part 1. The God Who Made Everything from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

Isaiah 11:1-10

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.And the LORD God had planted a garden in Eden, and the Lord God took the man he had created and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

So at the beginning, God's world was, in every way, very good: all his creatures – both man & beast – lived at peace with one another and with God.

But it didn't last.

Adam & Eve gave in to the Serpent's temptation, rejected God, and ever since, the whole of creation has suffered the consequences of man's rejection of God. And a quick survey of the news this week shows just how bad it is:

• Drunken man bites a huge chunk out of girlfriend's lip.
• A surge in female violence is linked to binge drinking.
• Armed student shoots himself after holding teacher and 23 pupils hostage for five hours
• Man gets life for mother and baby murder

And so it goes on. In Genesis 6, God sums it up, 'The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time'

But God did not give up on us. He had a plan, and gradually he revealed his plan to us through people like Isaiah. In Isaiah 11, God pulls back the curtain and reveals a little more of his glorious plan for his creation.

Here, God gives us a vision of the long-term future and goal of his creation. And he also shows us that none of this can happen without one critical character.

But before we delve into that, we need to see where God's big plan has got to.

Way back, long before Isaiah was written, God had chosen one man through whom he would raise up a special people for himself – he would be their God & they would be his people.This was Israel.

And when Israel had grown and settled in the promised land, God allowed them to have kings to lead them. And under David and then Solomon, Israel became a great nation. But it didn't last. Successive kings rejected God and were thoroughly evil. Israel degenerated into civil war and chaos.

In the midst of that chaos, God spoke to Isaiah. And God gave serious warnings of terrible consequences for sin, and also wonderful promises of a glorious restoration.

Here, we're looking at that glorious restoration and the new king who will oversee that restoration – a restoration that is so amazing it's like a completely new creation.

And we begin, in vv1-5 with the promised perfect king

Verse 1: A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

One of Israel's great enemies was Assyria. And in the closing verses of the last chapter, Isaiah has said the Lord Almighty will cut down the mighty, proud tree of Assyria, 'The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones brought low.' And Assyria was indeed overturned by the Babylonians, never to rise again.

But Israel too has been felled. But this stump is not dead. If Israel was a tree, then it was in a bad way – diseased, fruitless, out of shape, tangled up with other trees. The only solution was to cut it right down to a stump and start again.

And we're told that two shoots will appear: One shoot comes from the stump itself, and one – a fruitful branch – comes from the root.

What does this mean?

The stump is Jesse – father of king David. So the shoot from the stump is another king David. A descendant of David. The old weak and faithless kings will be replaced by a specially Spirit-filled king who will bring unparalleled blessings to his people.

But this new king is also coming from the root of the stump of Jesse – in other words, this king is also the source of King David. It's not just that this new king comes from David, but that David came from the new king!

This is an extraordinary insight into the plans of God. He's going to send an anointed king who comes from the royal household, but also pre-exists David – you might say he is the root cause of the whole royal house of Israel.

This person is quite unlike any normal human. And the only person who fulfils this prophecy is the LJC. And each of the gospel writers draw attention to this: Matt & Luke include genealogies to show how Jesus was descended from David & Jesse. And John reminds us that he was, 'with God in the beginning'.

So we know that Isaiah is talking about none other than Jesus.

Now when a king is enthroned, they're anointed with oil. And in the OT, some of the kings were anointed with the HS – God's Spirit filled them so they had the wisdom & authority to rule for God. But, says Isaiah in vv2 & 3, this new king will be uniquely anointed with the HS.

And we remember that when Jesus was baptised, the HS came upon him like a dove, and a voice from heaven said, 'Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.'  Jesus is uniquely filled with the HS.

So, says Isaiah, The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding – when this king rules, he will be able to see beneath the surface of things, to the very heart of the matter. And he will have the insight & wisdom to deal with the foundational problems.

And he will have the Spirit of counsel and of power. This king will not only understand the problems, he will have the strategy & the power to carry out his plans to their fulfilment.

There'll be no unwinnable wars for this ruler.

And he'll have the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord— and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

This king won't be afraid to bring religion into politics – in fact that's precisely what he will do – he will bring his perfect knowledge of God to bear on his world.

This king will know God so well that he will perfectly reflect all God's perfection – his perfect justice and mercy; his complete faithfulness and his ethical integrity.

And because this is what he's like, vv3-5 tell us what he will do.

What's perhaps surprising here is the emphasis on justice and righteousness – and since we know that this is all about Jesus, we must face the fact that one of his main jobs will be to judge the world – each and every one of us. At first, we might not like that idea. We like to think of Jesus as a good teacher, a healer, as non-judgemental. But here it's quite clear, he is the judge of the world.

But then we think about the state of the world. If it's ever to be put right, there has to be judgement. There has to be justice. And Jesus is the only person who can be entrusted with this job – he doesn't judge by what he sees with his eyes – by outward appearances. He doesn't even judge according to what he hears with his ears – from biased or forgetful witnesses. No, Jesus is entrusted with jdgt because he judges justly – he sees to the heart of the matter – righteousness is his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist – he wears righteousness and faithfulness as we wear clothes.

So Jesus says, 'my judgement is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.'

Jesus' judgement is essential if evil, sin and all their consequences are to be overturned. And when they are, Jesus ushers in a completely transformed creation – a new creation where there is no space for evil or rebellion against God. Isaiah's description of this is breathtakingly beautiful:

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The lamb invites the wolf for lunch! A little child exercises leadership over fearsome animals – wild animals that are wild no more.

The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. Animals that had been enemies – killing and being killed – are now snuggled up together in the straw!

The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. A helpless child plays near the cobra's nest, and his parents don't worry; the toddler reaches into the viper's nest, and plays with the once-venomous snakes!

All-in-all, this is a picture of Eden restored.

And surely the peace within the animal world is symbolic of peace in the human world – there is no longer oppressed or oppressor; no murder and no war. The weakest and most vulnerable members of society are safe - They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

In this new creation, everyone truly knows God – which, yes, means being reconciled to God, but also willing and enabled by the Spirit to do as God does.

And at the centre of this new creation stands Jesus, and everyone flocks around him: In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious

Of course all this is still future. We don't know when it will happen. But we do know through whom it will happen.

And as Spirit-filled believers, we can begin to show the world what this new creation will look like – we can begin to create a community here and now in which we treat each other with the mercy and wisdom of God.

Equipped with the wisdom and knowledge of God we can begin to deal with sin in our own lives and ensure that the weakest and most vulnerable are safe.

But this is only possible when we rally round the Lord Jesus, know God, and experience the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

And as we do that, as God works in us, the future comes into the present, and the new Jerusalem is built in Hawkenbury's green and pleasant land.

Folly in disguise: Proverbs 1 - 8

Another good everning at the CY Bible study on Sunday night. Not may there (only 4) but it's great to hear these teenagers applying God's word to their lives, praying it in and living it out.
This week we were looking at Proverbs 1 - 8, and how Lady Folly disguises herself.
The first thing is that of course she disguises herself; if we could all spot Folly from 100yds, we'd never be trapped by her!

First, Folly is disguised by sinners: in 1:10-19, we read how sinners 'entice' people. Now enticements, by their very nature, are attractive (superficially, at least). Here there are the enticements of 'all sorts of valuable things' and 'a common purse'. In other words, sinners dangle before us things that appear worth having, along with the promise of friendship and membership of a clan, club or gang. (I wonder if this applies especially to those who use Apple Mac products or drive BMWs...!!!) In all seriousness, we do need to realise and expose the fact that the advertising industry wants us to think of worthless things as having real intrinsic value. We need to open our eyes to this and only value what - or rather who - has true value; and ultimately that is only Christ.
But sinners are also great mockers - it's part of Folly's disguise - and they will mock young Christians so much that they begin to doubt and be embarrassed by their faith. 
But enticements are also more subtle than desirable gadgets and delaying the onset of ageing. Politicians and teachers entice our children with the promise that happiness, fulfilment and success will be theirs if they get straight A*s. Meanwhile (as the boys pointed out on Sunday) a certain peer pressure says, 'Don't work. Be lazy. Be cool. Then we'll be friends.'

Secondly, Folly is disguised by the 'simple ones' (1:22-32). John Piper's most recent book, 'Think' encourages Christians to do just that - to think in much more depth about God, and in particular to think as we read the Bible because that's where God reveals himself. But Folly disguises herself, and says, 'You're not a theologian. You can't understand the Bible. You can't know about God. So don't bother - leave it to the preachers and the experts'. In this, Folly has been incredibly successful; few Christians read their Bibles (and certainly not with any real seriousness) and few read good Christian books. It may be a cliche, but it's true that everyone is a theologian (in that everyone has some beliefs and thoughts about God) it's just that some people are good theologians and some are bad theologians.
When we're mocked by sinners, we need to have good theology to reason against them.

Thirdly, 6:6-11, Folly is disguised as the sluggard (don't you just love that word "sluggard"?!).

A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest -
and poverty will come upon you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.

Of course in the world of Solomon, this proverb had more immediate impact - society was, I suppose, more hand-to-mouth than ours. But the general principle holds true: if we neglect what is important, disaster will come upon us when we don't expect it. If we neglect our personal devotions and meeting together as the people of God, we shouldn't be surprised if God is not pleased with us (Heb 10:38f).
If we neglect our marriage, we shouldn't be surprised if our eyes start to wander and the disasters of adultery pounce (Prov 5 & 7 - and the adulterer is one of the disguises of Folly).
The ant is the example because it works despite not having a commander, overseer or ruler to crack the whip. The ant is conscientious. What a great topic for a teenager's Bible study! But hang on a moment you adults, what's your work-rate when the boss's back is turned?! 

So. Watch out for Folly. She'll be well disguised, and you'll need to have your brain in gear if you're going to spot her lurking. Pray for the Spirit's gift of discernment!

Whose invitation do you accept?

in Proverbs 9 there are two identical invitations to supper, both Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly say, "Let all who are simple come to my house!"
At Lady Wisdom's house you'll find a carefully prepared banquet, knowledge of God and life. But at Lady Folly's house you'll find bodies under the floorboards and buried in the garden ("...little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead" v18).
Both Wisdom and Folly call from "the highest point of the city", and the suggestion is that this indicates that Wisdom speaks for the Lord God and Folly speaks for the idol gods.
And the question is, whose invitation do you accept? Yes, as a fundamental basis for life, but also day by day, moment by moment. Whose voice do you listen to when you decide what to read, what radio programmes to listen to or what you watch on TV? And whatever you listen to from the media, whose voice is speaking, Wisdom or Folly?
John Piper has some interesting observations on this: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/do-you-glorify-god-in-your-movie-watching

Sacking bishops

So Pete Broadbent, Bishop of Willesden in London, has been suspended for his comments about Willaim and Kate's wedding. Well, his comments were pretty silly and very rude. Should he have been "suspended indefinitely" (i.e. sacked)?
Well I'm not going to say what I think about that, but how is it that bishops who deny basic biblical doctrine and morality get to stay in post while Broadbent gets the sack? We have had bishops who deny the physical resurrection of Jesus; who deny the authority and reliability of the Bible; who get  drunk and cant' remember what happened; who say the mass and so deny the sufficiency of Christ's cross-work - and yet they all stay in post.
Astonishing!

How to save a life

Luke 9:18-27

Who do you think Jesus is or was?

In Luke's gospel, we're introduced to a whole host of people who met Jesus, saw what he did, heard what he said. And what they saw was a demonstration of power & authority never seen before or since:

They saw Jesus healing the sick and driving our demons with just a word or a touch.

They saw Jesus raising the dead and feeding 5000 hungry men plus women & children.

Some of them even saw Jesus calming a violent storm with just a word of command.

And when they saw these things, they began to ask each other, 'Who is this?

• In ch 4, Jesus' neighbours asked, 'Isn't this Joseph's son?'
• It's the religious leaders in ch 7 who ask, 'Who is this who even forgives sins?'
• Then in ch 8, the disciples ask, 'Who is this – even the winds & waves obey him?'
• And finally, last week, we heard Herod asking, 'Who is this I hear such things about?'

And if I asked you this morning, 'Who is Jesus?', you would each have some opinion about him. The question is, who's right?

Of course, some people try to claim that any opinion is acceptable. But that's just not true. You want people to know the real you. You don't want people to think you're someone you're not:

• if, like me, you support Spurs, you don't want people to think you support Arsenal (especially after yesterday's 3-2 win!)
• I'm married to Sarah – I don't want you to think I'm married to anyone else.
• I am me. I am not anyone you want me to be.

How much more is this true of Jesus! You cannot make him into the person you want him to be. He is who he is.

And as people are clamouring for answers about Jesus, he takes his disciples to one side and asks them, 'Who do people say I am?'

And everyone, does indeed have an opinion, v19, 'Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.'

To liken Jesus to J t B, Elijah or one of the prophets was a real compliment – these were great people. The people think Jesus is someone great – they're just not sure exactly who.

Imagine you bumped into Ian Botham down at the Nevill Cricket ground one summer. 'Hey, you're Ian Botham, you were a pretty good footballer or rugby player or something, weren't you?'

Or you saw Tony Blair coming out of Hoopers, 'Hey, look, wasn't he the leader of Kent Council a while back?'

Most people's ideas about Jesus – then and now – have an element of truth in them, but they just don't get close to his true greatness.

And so, having asked about the people's opinions, Jesus turns to the disciples. He looks them in the eye, and says, 'What about you? Who do you say I am?'

And Peter answers, 'The Christ of God.'

Having seen Jesus exercise such unparalleled power & authority, Peter has realised that Jesus is none other than God's anointed ruler – that's what Christ means. For years, God's people, Israel, had been waiting for the great and glorious king God had promised them.

And perhaps in a flash of inspiration, perhaps after careful though, Peter declares the truth about who Jesus is, 'The Christ of God' – God's appointed, anointed ruler of his people and of his kingdom. And so we expect Jesus to pump his fist and shout, 'Yes! Now get out there again, and this time tell people who I am!' But he doesn't. In v21, Jesus warns them strictly not to tell this to anyone.

You see Jesus isn't going to be the sort of king they expect. He's not come to call for some kind of Jihad against the Roman infidels. He's not going to be their military or political hero.

And Jesus explains what must happen to him, and what must happen to anyone who wants to be his follower. 

First, Jesus must go to the cross, die and rise again.

And second, anyone who wants to follow him must take up his cross and lose his life to save his life.

First, Jesus must go to the cross, die and rise again.

In v22 Jesus says, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. This is what must happen. Why? Because Jesus has not come to overthrow human kingdoms or nations. He's come to defeat the power of evil.

And that's precisely what we've seen him doing in the last few chapters – dealing with all the disgusting manifestations of evil in this world – illness, disease, demon-possession, violent storms, sin and even death.

And Jesus says here that to complete his mission, he must suffer, die and rise again. Exactly how this will work, Jesus doesn't say here. But what is clear is that victory over death can only be won by through his death & resurrection.

Jesus must go to the cross, die and rise again.

And second, anyone who wants to follow him must a take up his cross and lose his life to save his life.

In v23, Jesus offers the most incredible invitation that's ever been given: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

Jesus doesn't force people to follow him, he says, 'if anyone would come after me...'. There's no imposition of the Kingdom of God with Jesus – he doesn't come with an AK47 and impose himself on us. The choice is yours. But the invitation comes at a cost. If you decide to follow Jesus – if you want to be a Xn – it will cost you everything.

Peter has just said that he believes Jesus is the Christ of God. Does this make Peter a Xn? No. Not according to Jesus. If he wants to be a Xn, he has to deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

Christianity is not just believing the right things about Jesus. If we want life, we must deny self. We must take up our cross daily; Jesus is absolutely clear about this – there's no small print – he comes right out with it – if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Do you see what Jesus is saying here? Each and every Christian is a cross-carrying Christian. There's no other sort. And this doesn't mean wearing a nice little gold cross on a chain.It does mean going without the things the world chases after. It means not having the things I want – that's denying self. Being a Xn means laying down our lives for Jesus – it means genuine, tangible self-sacrifice each and every day.

• It means speaking out when everyone else is silent.
• Befriending the unlovely.
• It means rearranging our diaries for the sake of Christ's church and the gospel.
• It means not having & not buying so that the proclamation of the gospel is not hindered by lack of funds.

It means that every day, every choice we make, we make in favour of Christ, his people and his gospel – whatever the cost.

The disciples had just experienced something of what this means – last week we saw how Jesus sent them out on a mission. And they went with nothing for the journey – no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no spare clothes. And now Jesus is saying, 'Look, that's the pattern of the Xn life: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

You could spend this life doing exactly what you want to do: Buy whatever you want to buy. Go wherever you want to go. Be your own boss. Build your own empire. And at your funeral, the vicar will lead your coffin down the aisle saying, We brought nothing into the world and we take nothing out of it. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Mel Blanc became world-famous as the voice of Disney cartoons. But his headstone reads, 'That's all Folks!' What a tragedy if that could truthfully be written on your headstone.

But if you follow Jesus to the cross, he will lead you through death to eternal life.

You see that's the pattern that Christ offers to humanity – denial, suffering and the cross now, and then eternal life. That's the path he trod, and following him means walking in his suffering, cross-carrying footsteps.

Of course that sounds like a crazy invitation – deny yourself. Carry your cross every day. Live as though each day was your last and live for Christ. And it is crazy unless... unless Jesus is the Christ of God. It is crazy unless... unless Jesus is the king of God's kingdom It is crazy unless... unless Jesus does indeed lead the way through death to life.

And if Jesus is the Christ of God, then you'd be mad to gain the whole world now and lose or forfeit your very self.

“Who do you say I am?” Jesus asks. And you must answer this question for yourself. In your heart of hearts, who do you think Jesus is? If you think he is the Christ of God. That's good. But Jesus invites you to come after him – to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him. He invites you to follow him to the cross and then to life.

Perhaps you've never made that step – you believe that Jesus is more than a good teacher, more than a prophet – he is the Christ of God. And yet... you've never had the courage to give you life to him.

Perhaps you did give your life to Christ some time ago, and for a while you served him faithfully. But things have slipped – to an extent that's probably true for all of us.

And so we need to respond to his invitation:

Jesus, I believe that you are the Christ of God, and I thank you that you suffered and died for me. Thank you that you rose again so that I too might live a new life – now and into eternity.

I'm sorry that I've been living for myself. Now I want to accept your invitation to follow you. I will deny myself, take up my cross and follow you. Please help me as I take this step of faith, and teach me how to live for you. Amen.

The Methodist Covenant Service Prayer seems very appropriate, and we ended the service with this:

'I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will,

rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing,
put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you,
or laid aside for you,
exalted for you,
or brought low for you;
let me be full,
let me be empty,
let me have all things,
let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours.'

The wisdom of paper aeroplanes

We had a good evening studying Proverbs 1:7 at CY on Sunday (CY is our 14-18 group), and it begin by making paper aeroplanes and flying them from the balcony in the church building.
And what, exactly, has that got to do with Proverbs 1:7?, I hear you ask.
Well, everyone had a choice - they could either make the planes from their own imagination or they could use some instructions I'd printed off. Some followed instructions very carefully and patiently. Others began to follow, then gave up. Some didn't bother with them at all, and had finished 2 or 3 before others had finished one.
All of which simply goes to illustrate our attitudes towards areas of life. Some of us are conscientious and persist. Others are careless and always looking for the next thing. Proverbs 1:7 is about our attitude to God:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, 
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Knowing God begins with fearing God. To fear God is to be humble before him, recognising that he is the creator and we his creatures. He is the Almighty King and we his lowly subjects. He is the teacher, we are the pupils.

But fools cannot and will not accept this. They think they can know God without revelation. They dream up the god they want in their imaginations. But that god is no god at all - it's but a dream. They reject instruction because they want independence from a god who can tell them what is right and what is wrong, who He is and who we are. But these fools become slaves to current opinion. What's right and what's wrong in society today is decided by the elite in the media, politics and advertising as they dictate what we should think, believe, buy and vote for. Blind fools indeed.

Luke 9:1-17

In the years following 1933, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party began their systematic and relentless evil conquest, mercilessly crushing anyone who opposed them. Resistance was futile. Millions of ordinary people were killed. Millions more were effectively enslaved by the evil power of Nazism.

And then, in the first few days of June 1945, Eisenhower and his fellow generals met to decide whether to give the go ahead to the Allied invasion of Normandy. They were desperate to overpower Hitler & his evil regime.To re-establish justice & freedom.

And these men had massive authority & power to do this – under their command, was an invasion force of 326,000 troops, 54,000 vehicles and 104,000 tons of supplies, 11,500 aircraft & 7,000 ships & boats. It was probably the most powerful force ever assembled by man.

But for all the power & authority of the allied generals, there was a problem – one over which they had no control – the weather. The forecast for 5 June was dreadful – high winds, rough seas, low cloud. Eisenhower called in his chief meteorologist, Group Captain J.M. Stagg. Stagg forecast a brief improvement on 6 June, and the generals had an agonising decision – delay yet another month, or go on 6 June.

Their decision, of course, was 'Go'.

And so it proved that this force and this plan was sufficient to overpower Hitler and his armies.

2000 years earlier, one man came to overpower an far, far greater evil – the evil of Satan himself – the powerhouse that stood behind Hitler, motivating and driving him on to destroy millions of lives. This fearsome spiritual power of evil entraps the whole world in lives of frustration where we cannot be the people we long to be. Lives of meaninglessness and emptiness, of selfish ambition driven by lust and greed. Lives lived in the fear of death, and finally ending in death and eternal destruction.

So this one man, Jesus, came to overpower Satan and his kingdom. To defeat death, and to establish God's rightful rule – his rule of justice, peace, freedom, fulfilment. To restore man to his created glory – the image of God himself.

And one day, during his mission, he'd been asleep in a boat when a storm suddenly threatened the boat and its crew. But he didn't call for a meteorologist, he just stood up, and rebuked the wind & the waves. Immediately they became calm. This man had power & authority even over the weather – O what Eisenhower would have given for that power!

Then, when he was confronted by a man who was under the power of evil spirits. The people lived in fear of him and were powerless to help.But the demons trembled when they saw Jesus, and obeyed him instantly when he told them to go. And the man was freed. And he sat quietly, dressed and in his right mind and the feet of Jesus.

Whatever the manifestation of the power of evil – even death – Jesus dealt with it. Calmly. Efficiently. Completely.With a word or a touch, people were freed, healed - even raised from death.

This man Jesus has power that no-one else in history has ever possessed. And he has the authority to use it. No wonder people are constantly afraid of him – the disciples, the crowds, the synagogue ruler...

But now Jesus calls the 12 disciples together: And in v1 of our reading, he gave them power & authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the K of G, and to heal the sick.

Jesus delegates power to the 12 and gives them authority to use that power to drive out evil and to tell people that they don't have to live under the power of evil any more – that is to preach the K of G.

So the king of this Kingdom sends out 12 representatives with delegated power & authority to illustrate the goodness of their king and his kingdom. As they go, there's no need for months of preparation & planning. No kit bags, no rations. They're to go in the clothes they stand up in. And they're to stay with whoever welcomes them and their message. They will trust their king – that he has prepared sympathetic representatives to welcome them, and that he will sustain them.

As for those who don't welcome them, well, the 12 are to treat them like citizens of a foreign country – shake the dust of their country off their feet and move on.

So, v6, the 12 set out and go from village to village preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere. News of this spreads fast. And Herod, the Roman-appointed governor, hears about it, and, v7, he was perplexed because some were saying that J t B had been raised from the dead, others that Elijah the prophet had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life.

But Herod said, 'I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?' And he tried to see Jesus.

The Romans had delegated power & authority to Herod. And he knew how to use it – he'd beheaded John. But the reports about Jesus put him in a different league, and Herod wants to know, 'Who is this?'

This question has been running throughout Luke's gospel:

• 'Isn't this Joseph's son?' the people asked in ch 4.
• 'Who is this who even forgives sins?' they ask in chs 5 & 7.

• And then in ch 8, the disciples, in sheer terror ask, 'Who is this? He commands even the winds and the waves and they obey him.'

• Now it's Herod asking the same Q – 'who is this?'

And the question climaxes in the next section when Jesus turns to Peter and says, 'What about you? Who do you say I am?' Finally there's an answer, 'You are the Christ of God' – and so, you see, here in ch 9 we're at a turning point in Luke's account.

And Luke is bringing two things together – as the disciples begin to realise who Jesus is, so they're given power & authority as ministers in the K of G. Others, like Herod, are still asking the question. But the 12 are about to answer it.

And now the 12 return from their mission – their first experience of exercising the authority of Christ the king. Not surprisingly, Jesus takes them off for a quiet debrief – the experience could very easily go to their heads!

But very soon, the people are once again crowding around Jesus. And, v11, He welcomed them, and spoke to them about the K o G and healed those who needed it.

Jesus is still on-message: His mission is to demolish the rule of evil and establish the freedom of the K of G, so again he demonstrates that he's the one with the power & authority to rule God's kingdom. And he preaches about the K of G.

Then in, v12, when the day was drawing to a close, the disciples came and had a quiet word with Jesus. There's a problem, and they want Jesus to deal with it. It's not sickness or disease this time, but hunger. On their mission, they had to trust Jesus that their needs would be met. But now they immediately think of a human solution to the problem:

“Send the crowds away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we're in a remote place here.”

It's hard to imagine what they thought when Jesus replied, 'You give them something to eat' Perhaps they laughed sarcastically as they looked at the huge crowds and answered, We have only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish – unless we go and buy food for all this crowd!

Whatever they thought, they never imagined that they had the power to solve the problem themselves.

But Jesus will not leave the crowd hungry, so v14 he instructs the 12, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” The disciples did so, and everyone sat down.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

So what are we to make of this miracle? Clearly it is a miracle – 5000 men plus women & children fed until they were satisfied from a few rolls & a couple of fish. And then 12 basketfuls left over.

Why did Jesus do this? He could have done what the disciples suggested & sent the people to the town.

Think about the themes Luke has been developing:

First, Jesus has been demonstrating that he is the Christ of God – the king of God's Kingdom with the power & authority of God himself with which to rule. And the disciples are beginning to realise this.

Then, secondly, Jesus has just delegated power & authority to the disciples to heal, overpower evil and preach the K of G.

So here is the king of the kingdom of God, sitting with his people all around him. And he has healed them. And he has taught them about the K of G. And now he has fed them until they are all satisfied.

This is how Jesus – the king of God's good kingdom – exercises his rule. And what a contrast to the rule of Satan: Satan exercises his power to leave people in fear, disease, death, self-destruction. But Jesus exercises his authority to cast out demons. Heal sickness. Raise the dead. Calm fear.

And then he delegated that same authority to the 12. They are his envoys – his ambassadors – his ministers – to the world. The 12 have begun to learn what the coming of the K of G means. But they're only beginning to learn. When it comes to feeding the people, they're stuck.

When the 12 point out to Jesus that it's late & the people are hungry, Jesus could have just taken control, 'Leave it to me, I'll sort it.' But he doesn't. He says, 'You give them something to eat.' But they can't – well, no more than a crumb of bread a fish scale each!

And that's the point.

Any ministry the disciples have – any power or authority they have – originates with Jesus. Without him they're powerless. They cannot satisfy anyone.

And yet Jesus does involve them in his mission – he's got to – he's not going to be on earth forever. When he's gone, the disciples will have to carry on his mission, and he gives them power & authority to demonstrate that his mission hasn't ceased, but continues through the 12.

And so we're in a position to understand why there are 12 basketfuls of left overs; People have often said that it's to show that Jesus provides sufficient for each of the 12 tribes of Israel – the whole people of God. That could be true, but it's interesting to see how Luke emphasises that there are 12 disciples – he begins this section, 'When Jesus had called the 12 together...' And in v12, we read, 'late in the afternoon the 12 came to him...' Then at the end, there are 12 basketfuls of pieces – one for each disciple.

Here, it was Jesus feeding, nourishing, satisfying his people. When he's gone, the disciples will have to do this – they will lead, feed, sustain and nourish God's people.

But the feeding of the 5000 is merely a foretaste of the heavenly banquet described in our first reading (Isaiah 55.God promised that one day, his people would join him at the most lavish banquet ever given by anyone. On day God's people sitting and eating with God's king Jesus.

In the meantime, Jesus has provided the means for his people to be fed and nourished and satisfied until that great & glorious day. Here, it was the 12. Then in chapter 10, he appoints 72, acknowledging that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. And by the time we get into Luke's second book – Acts – we discover that the HS fills each and every true Xn with power – power to witness to Jesus - the king of God's kingdom.

How do you know if you have the power of the Spirit? Well, deep down, you know that you'd love to talk to others about Jesus. You feel that you lack courage or wisdom, but you have the desire. And if you pray for the opportunities and the courage, you will discover the wisdom and the power of the gospel and the Spirit.

Defections to Rome

It's reported today that five C of E bishops (Andrew Burnham, Keith Newton, John Broadhurst, Edwin Barnes and David Silk) are to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church through the Ordinariate because of the consecration of women to the episcopate. And there's talk of more churches leaving the C of E for Rome.
Am I disappointed? No not really. I know many conservative evangelicals who want to join up with the Anglo-catholics because apparantly we preach the same gospel. But we don't.
You've only got to look at the blogs of some of these folk to see prayers to the saints, talk of the mass etc. These deny the sufficiency of Christ and his death - we don't pray to saints, but to the Father, through our one mediator, Jesus Christ, in the power of the Spirit. The mass re presents the sacrifice of Jesus, and denies his once-for-all-time death as clearly stated in the Prayer Book.