tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-143403872024-03-23T13:51:24.418-04:00Ed Goode - DelightedEd Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.comBlogger893125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-36558177543108644182009-10-26T12:45:00.002-04:002009-10-26T12:51:19.492-04:00Oh! I love typologyHave a look at this, from Tim Keller, reproduced on Jared Wilson's blog (you should buy his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Your-Jesus-Too-Safe-Outgrowing/dp/0825439310/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246374706&sr=8-1">book</a>)<br /><br />* Jesus is the true and better Adam, who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.<br />* Jesus is the true and better Abel, who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out not for our condemnation, but for our acquittal.<br />* Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar, and go out into the void, not knowing whither he went, to create a new people of God.<br />* Jesus is the true and better Isaac, who was not just offered up by his Father on the mount,but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “now I know you love me, because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me, now we can look at God, taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing Him, and say,” now we know that you love us, because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from us.”<br />* Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserve, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.<br />* Jesus is the true and better Joseph, who at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold Him, and uses His new power to save them.<br /> * Jesus is the true and better Moses, who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.<br />* Jesus is the true and better rock of Moses who was struck with the rod of God’s justice, and now gives us water in the desert.<br /> * Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.<br />* Jesus is the true and better David, whose victory becomes his people’s victory though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.<br />* Jesus is the true and better Esther, who didn’t just risk losing an earthly palace, but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.<br /> * Jesus is the true and better Jonah, who was cast out into the storm so we could be brought in.<br /> * He is the real passover lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so that the angel of death would pass over us<br /><br />Now did that make your heart leap? Did it make you want to dive into the Old Testament? I hope so.<br /><br />I don't know whether it's instinctive or mechanical or both, or whether staring at the glory of God for long enough should make the mechanical academics instinctive...i don't know. I'm just glad it <span style="font-weight: bold;">is</span>, and it's true.Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-86580048923937934442009-07-07T11:46:00.003-04:002009-07-07T12:09:39.986-04:00Satisfaction through substitution<blockquote>We strongly reject, therefore, every explanation of the death of Christ which does not have at it's centre 'satisfaction through substitution' indeed divine self satisfaction through divine self substitution. The cross was not a commercial bargain with the devil, let alone one which tricked and trapped him, nor an exact equivalent, a quid pro quo to satisfy a code of honour or technical point of law, nor a compulsory submission to God to some moral authority above Him from which He could not otherwise escape, nor a punishment of a meek Christ through a harsh and punitive Father, nor a procurement of salvation by a loving Christ from a mean and reluctant Father, nor an action by which the Father bypassed Christ as mediator.<br /><br />Instead the righteous, loving Father humbled Himself to become in and through His only Son, flesh, sin and a curse for us, in order to redeem us without compromising His own character. The theological words 'satisfaction' and 'substitution' need to be carefully defined and safeguarded, but they can not, under any circumstances by given up. The Biblical Gospel of atonement is of God satisfying Himself by substituting Himself for us.<br /></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">John Stott, The Cross Of Christ, Pp 159-160</span><br /></div><br />If you've not yet read 'The Cross of Christ' run, don't walk to your nearest bookshop and grab a copy. It's clear, it's helpful, it's heart warming. It may be the most vital book you'll ever read. Increasingly as i go through it, and as i read the Bible, i think that a defective view of the atonement leads to a defective view of God, and vice versa. If Christ death was about bearing our pain, or offering a perfect confession of our sin, we've lost the holiness of God. A holy God demands satisfaction for our sin, not someone to suffer so we know how bad it is. In and through Jesus, God became just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ.<br /><br />Secondly, it may be fed by a poor Biblical Theology, a poor understanding of how the Old Testament is a Christian book. Read Leviticus...why are those sheep being killed? So they can empathise with us? To show us the worst excess of our sin? By way of example? They are being killed, like Christ our passover lamb was, to show that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin, that God, rightly, demands a bloody sacrifice to pay for our sins. This is not a primitive, base understanding of crime and punishment, this is not an pagan idea grafted onto Christianity...this is justice, humbling, sacrificial substitutional justice, which is probably why we dislike it so much...Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-55734070453426565332009-07-06T11:52:00.002-04:002009-07-06T12:09:08.570-04:00Trials in JamesOne of my least favourite Christian ideas is the teaching that says 'when you become a Christian, nothing bad will ever happen to you again.' Kind of a prosperity Gospel lite, the idea if we behave ourselves and don't sin, y'know, too badly, God will bless us and we'll have a happy life, a great family and a good job.<br /><br />Aside from being hundreds of miles away from the experience of the majority of Christians in the last two thousand years who were faithful witness of the Gospel, but have suffered terribly, it also makes not only Paul, but Jesus (!) and inadequate Christian. Was Jesus faithful to God? Yes, the only man who ever truly was. Did He suffer?<br /><br />Paul was obedient, trusting, faithful, passionate and active, and yet he had danger on all sides: robbers, his own people, Gentiles, in the city, in the wilderness, at sea, from false brothers and toil and hardship. He suffered many a hungry, cold, sleepless night. This 'Gospel' is self evidently untrue.<br /><br />Christians do face trials, of varying degrees probably every day. So how do we deal with them? James 1:1-11 has three answers:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">We count it all as joy: 2-4</span><br />These trials produce inner strength, they produce the deep faith of a mature Christian. James says trials will make people 'perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.' Trials will make us wiser and stronger, they will deepen our dependence on Christ, they will enlarge our heart towards Him. So in them we rejoice.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">We pray: 5-8</span><br />Suffering through prolonged and difficult times requires help, requires an extra dose of wisdom from God. How do we get that wisdom? Ask for it! God is good and generous. Christ loves His bride and will give her wisdom without fail, without grumbling, and without measure. Do you trust God? Then act like it and ask Him for wisdom without doubt. And He will give it to you, and you will persevere.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">We focus on Christ: 9-11</span><br />This section might seem a bit random when we first read it. If James is 'the Proverbs of the New Testament,' perhaps we might wish he'd arranged his thoughts a bit clearer instead of going of on a financial tangent when he should be talking about trials. Unless, dealing with money is one of the greatest trials Christians face. Whether we are rich or poor, James has an answer for us. Focus on Christ. If you're poor, exalt, because your life doesn't equal stuff, because you have all you need in Christ, and because one day you will feast with Him, face to face. And if you're rich? Be humble, focus on Christ and remember that nothing you have now will make a difference the moment you die, remember that your pursuits can kill you, and that all you have is passing away. Poor man, rich man, focus on Jesus, who is all we need, and never fades away.Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-86825241716420449292009-06-09T10:45:00.002-04:002009-06-09T10:58:56.277-04:00The humility to read'The Disappearance of God' by Albert Mohler Jr recently came through my door from <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.monergismbooks.com%2F&ei=dXguSvzpDaSgM-2K1P8J&rct=j&q=monergism+books&usg=AFQjCNEIWp533nC0UFfSsVaak8NMf00OyA">Monergism Books</a>. Both cheaper and faster than amazon to the US mainland, but anyway. With it came a rather lovely looking pamphlet: 'A reader's guide to the Christian life' filled with ideas about what to read and why to read it. As well as that was a brief, unattributed article: 'The humility to read' which went like this:<br /><br /><blockquote>I am one person in one place at one time. My experiences and perceptions are limited and coloured by the environment in which i live. Therefore, it would be profoundly arrogant of me to think that i can best grow in the knowledge of God through scripture by myself.<br /><br />Certainly the Holy Spirit is graciously given to God's children to enable us to comprehend and be conformed to the truths of the Bible. Nevertheless, one of the primary means of grace God uses in the process of our transformation is the universal-historical community of believers. Within that community, God graciously provides leaders of few and leaders of many to equip the saints for the work of ministry.<br /><br />It is a humbling thing for me to read a book. Most books take at least several hours of combined time to process and i have to forsake other distractions in order to focus and benefit from what i am reading. Most of all, i can't talk back. I am just forced to listen, patiently follow and receive, to think another mans thoughts after him.<br /><br />One of the new desires placed into the heart of a believer is to think God's thoughts after Him. Let's pursue humility by receiving the thoughts of those who have led us and spoken the word of God to us in the most enduring of all earthly mediums: the book.</blockquote>Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-80627272566824207952009-06-08T14:33:00.000-04:002009-06-08T15:04:38.957-04:00Love the ChurchI don't know what your plans are for June 20th, but if you're anywhere near Reading, and not on your honeymoon, please cancal them and go to this instead. It'll be stellar.<br /><br /><br /><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CN868S4Y-ZU&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CN868S4Y-ZU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="340" width="560"></embed></object>Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-76241068800867404272009-06-07T07:18:00.002-04:002009-06-07T07:57:05.771-04:00Blogging every day in June: and other things i haven't doneThere's two things you immediately notice when you walk into my dad's office. On one wall he must have about thirty or forty fishing rods, dating back to about his teenage years...i don't think he's ever thrown one away. On another wall there is shelf after shelf of A 4 diary books. These are his fishing diaries. One of the earliest memories i have is of my dad on a sunday night writing up his weeks fishing from his notebook to his diary. If you want to know where he was and what he caught on March 18th 1983, he'll be able to tell you without much trouble. Thats cool to me.<br /><br />Inspired by this i thought i'd try to write at least something every day in the month before i got married. Since, in some ways at least, having something online is safer than having it on paper (harder to lose) it seemed like a great idea. Except then...well it didn't happen did it! But thats ok. Sometimes you've got it, sometimes you don't. But on the Sunday before i get married on Friday, two days before the arrival of as many English people to set foot in North Carolina since it was, well, English, it seemed good to at least record something. Maybe i'll be bitten by the bug this week. Maybe my list of to dos is already growing the other side of town at wedding HQ.<br /><br />Am i excited? Yes. Will i be more excited when Canon in D starts and i know Rachel's making her way down the aisle behind me? Goodness me, but a million times yes. I'm getting butterflies just thinking about it. Am i stressed about everything thats got to happen between now and then? A little bit. But not really.<br /><br />A couple of unconnected things. Losing to Holland in the T20 World Cup is about as irrelevant to this summer's cricket as it can get. There's one main event in 2009, The Ashes are the only thing that matter. This whole summer so far has been ridiculous. If beating the West Indies was like training for a marathon by walking the dog, this is like training for a marathon by carrying a heavy tray of drinks up a flight of stairs. There's too much cricket. If Twenty20 is the way forward then we ought to get rid of the 50 over game completely. Play more Twenty20 to fill the gap if you want, double headers, four games in five days, whatever. In Major League Baseball each of the thirty teams play 140 (!) regular season games and no one complains. The four and five day version of the game is more important, but i can't see Twenty20 going away.<br /><br />I've been reading 'Sealed with an oath' the NSBT on covenant. It's real good. It starts off talking about why there was no covenant with Adam (because creation supersedes covenant, because covenant serves God's creative purpose of international blessing rather than the other way around) and then goes on to talk about the covenants with Noah, Abraham, Israel and David before two chapters on the New Covenant. It's really helping me to read the Bible as one book, and anything that does that is worth the admission...Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-82459219855347692512009-06-01T13:51:00.002-04:002009-06-01T13:58:16.286-04:00It's summer<span style="font-style: italic;">My Facebook newsfeed is clogged with pictures of the Jazz Club in Reading. Sweaty undergrads and Graduands with mouths open and fingers pointing. It's not a pretty sight, but it makes me happy. But it does mean one serious thing. Summer is here. Summer, rolling meadows, endless days filled with idle distractions, getting a summer job, getting a real job, finding your tent for Forum. Summer is a wonderful time. There is nowhere better than the Chiltern Hills in June and July. I can't wait to show my wife.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Summer is dangerous though, and so without much apology, and only some editing, here's something i wrote just over two years ago... don't waste your summer, use it for Jesus:</span><br /><br />John Piper writes this about summer:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2005/1300_Setting_Our_Minds_on_Things_Above_in_Summer/">Don’t <strong></strong>let summer make your soul shrivel. God made summer as a foretaste of heaven, not a substitute. If the mailman brings you a love letter from your fiancé, don’t fall in love with the mailman. That’s what summer is: God’s messenger with a sun-soaked, tree-green, flower-blooming, lake-glistening letter of love to show us what he is planning for us in the age to come—“things which eye has not<strong></strong> seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Don’t fall in love with the video preview, and find yourself unable to love the coming reality.</a><br /><br />What can we do this summer to set our minds, and keep our minds on the things above?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Keep reading the Bible</span>.<br />I know this sounds like an obvious point, but once there is little work to be done, there is little routine to be kept to...and i need routine to keep me reading the Bible. last year my Graduand period (the bit in between finishing your finals and getting to wear a mortarboard) passed in a haze of barbeques, football and bucky 'o hare. And none of that is bad in itself, we need refreshing after working hard, but to seek refreshment away from the Bible, away from Christ is only to turn your back on what will refresh you. Sit in the sun, read slowly, read lots, read Galatians over and over again. Enjoy the birdsong, enjoy the Word.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Read good books</span>.<br />I don't think i'm ever going to have as much time on my hands as i did last summer. What a great opportunity to read and read well. Reading Christian books must never become a substitute for reading the Bible, and it must never start to become a dry intellectual fact collecting exercise. But good books can make you long for more of Christ in your life, drive you back to the Bible to bathe in things you hadn't noticed before. Good books can strengthen your faith and your love for the Lord. Take time to read them and think about them and apply them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Make the most of time with your friends.</span><br />especially if you're graduating, and all being flung across the four corners of the country. Spend time with people, enjoy time with people, sit in a beer garden, lie on the grass outside mojos. enjoy the fellowship of your Christian mates, but seek out and don't waste time with your non Christian mates. Use this time to explode for Christ in your house or hall. Use this time to be braver than you've been before. Use this time to live with your non Christian friends to demonstrate that Christ is the greatest, best and most fulfilling reality there is. Pray for them lots.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Prepare for whats next</span>.<br />Leaving uni is really hard. Going back home for a long time is really hard. Starting a job, even one that you love is really hard. So get ready for it. Pray into it. Think about how you're going to work for Christ next year, or study even better for Christ next year, and delight in Christ with your family. Don't waste time wishing you were back at uni, enjoy the time you've got the prepare for what's happening next...doing the other things in this list should help a bit.<br /><br />It's terribly easy to waste summer. When the sun comes out i really struggle to remember the eternal battle we're all in, to keep my eyes focused on Heaven and not on the earthly pleasures summer brings us. Use free time wisely for Christ...don't waste your summer.Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-52971372601067347902009-05-29T11:02:00.002-04:002009-05-29T11:10:52.225-04:00There are a few reasons i'm not on twitterI don't really understand how it works, it's impossible to sound like a man whilst saying 'i tweeted that' and i'd be forever writing things like 'Ed is at________ for dinner. Glad he ate first.' It's just too much bother. I am in a bit of a minority though so here's some excellent stuff on Christians using twitter:<br /><a href="http://thegracerace.blogspot.com/search/label/Twitter"><br />Gethin Jones</a><br /><a href="http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/random-thoughts-about-the-internet-what-im-doing-with-it-what-its-doing-to-us-how-its-changed-me-etc">iMonk</a><br /><a href="http://www.joshharris.com/2009/05/should_we_use_twitter_during_c.php">Josh Harris</a> (this reminds me of something that Craig Mackay said to be once: 'we're all lead worshippers.' very, very wise)<br /><a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1828_more_on_not_using_twitter_during_worship_services/">John Piper</a>Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-84261407522251572102009-05-28T10:47:00.003-04:002009-05-28T11:37:33.101-04:00Ruth 3-4: A step too far?I've been following <a href="http://bibleandcoffee.blogspot.com/2009/05/whatever-happened-to-angel-of-lord.html">this discussion</a> with interest. How Jesus is revealed in the Old Testament, the contents of the Luke 24 Bible study is surely one of the most, if not the most important question when it comes to reading the Old Testament Christianly. I've been thinking about this as i've been preaching through Ruth in Teen Church. Here are some thoughts on Ruth 3-4, is it a step too far?<br /><br />First, I love the book of Ruth. Don't you? It's mixture of the obvious and the subtle, the tragic and the magnificent, the love the flows through it, the grace which drenches it. The fact it's so obviously the Gospel.<br /><br />Chapter 3 is a great example of all of these things. It looks awful on a first reading: 'Ruth, make yourself look beautiful and go creep up on Boaz in the middle of the night when his heart is merry and no one can see you. But it's beautiful. Spread your wings over me, says Ruth, basically i want you to ask me to marry you. I want you to do for me what God does for Israel, spread your wings over me. Protect me, provide for me, lead me and guide me. Ruth comes to Boaz for redemption with nothing, just like we come to Jesus with nothing.<br /><br />There are problems for Ruth and Boaz, just like there are problems for us and Jesus. Boaz wants to marry Ruth because he loves her, not because he's legally bound to. He's only a redeemer in the loosest sense of the word, redeemers were brothers of a dead husband, Boaz was an uncle or a cousin at best. He has no legal need to marry her. He wants to marry her because he loves her. This other 'redeemer' might not. That's their problem. Our problem is different, but it's still a problem. Our sin is what separates us from Jesus. Your sin, my sin, our rebellion stops us from being in relationship with the Father through the Son. That needs an answer, just like Boaz and Ruth need an answer.<br /><br />Jesus is our glorious Boaz. Jesus and Boaz deal with these problems. Jesus dies on the cross, Boaz gets the other redeemer out of the way. Because Jesus loves us, because Boaz loved Ruth. not because they had to.<br /><br />And then what? A marriage! Revelation 21:1-5 sees the holy city descend from God like a bride prepared for her husband. Jesus has dealt with every problem to prepare us for the Wedding of weddings. Boaz has dealt with every problem to prepare Ruth for their wedding. How Ruth must've loved and trusted in Boaz, and wanted to give her life to him, what else then can we do, but give our life, in faith, trust and joy, to Jesus.Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-36593467704979332902009-05-26T19:18:00.003-04:002009-05-26T19:29:44.588-04:00The fall of Rome<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Shaeffer's</span> very excellent book 'how should we then live?' traces the development and decline of western thought from the Roman Empire to now. It's great, instructive, helpful and not always encouraging. Towards the end he quotes from Edward Gibbon's decline and fall of the Roman Empire, about the five steps that marked the end of the empire.<br /><br />1) An increasing love of show and luxury.<br /><br />2) A widening gap between the very rich and very poor, either in the individual sense or from country to country.<br /><br />3) An obsession with sex.<br /><br />4) A freakishness in the arts masquerading as originality and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">enthusiasms</span> pretending to be creativity.<br /><br />5) An increasing desire to live off the state.<br /><br />Given Gibbons wrote this book between 1776 and 1788 and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Shaeffer</span> wrote his book in 1976, it could be viewed as an incredible piece of prophecy of what happens when God is left out of the equation...Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-29166127486459467032009-05-23T15:11:00.001-04:002009-05-23T15:13:27.139-04:00Trinity is community on mission (Terry Virgo on the Church)Listen to the new Theology Network Tabletalk, <a href="http://theologynetwork.org/download/table-talk-008-terry-virgo-the-church">Mike Reeves interviews Terry Virgo on the Church.</a>Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-82398456868433897142009-05-22T11:28:00.002-04:002009-05-22T11:33:17.581-04:00Narrow, Schismatic and ConservativeRichard Cunningham's talk at Word Alive 07 ranks as one of my highlights as a Relay Worker. He was so confident in the Gospel, so sure that the decision to break with Spring Harvest was right, and so keen to make sure we knew why. It was excellent.<br /><br />New Word Alive and UCCF were accused of all sorts of things during the weeks and months that followed, one of which was that we were being too 'narrow, schismatic and conservative.' Concerns Richard answers wonderfully:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">It’s only as narrow theologically as the gospel demands, but as culturally broad and generous as the gospel permits. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">You can watch the whole video interview <a href="http://adrianwarnock.com/2009/05/richard-cunningham-at-new-word-alive.html">here</a><br /></div></div>Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-25167744527531242342009-05-20T21:38:00.003-04:002009-05-21T10:12:00.678-04:00Three more blogsI've often considered Reading the centre of the student <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">blogosphere</span>...today i can present your with further proof:<br /><a href="http://joshmeetworld.blogspot.com/"><br />Josh John</a> has just finished his second year at Reading. He's a top boy, and probably the only person to ever turn up to a Reading Family Church prayer meeting with a can of lager.<br /><br /><a href="http://joshsendlessthoughts.blogspot.com/">Josh <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Betts</span></a> is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">RUCU</span> events co-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">ordinator</span>. We spent a great few weeks at the end of last year studying Galatians together. He once died his hair pink to raise money for a missions trip to India<br /><br /><a href="http://tjhilton.wordpress.com/">Tim Hilton</a> is probably ten or fifteen times cleverer than i am. He's studying for a degree in robotics and can juggle five balls at once. He also might be my great-great grandson, but <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">i'm</span> not 100% about that.<br /><br /><br />***update: it occurred to me this morning that i should have called this 'I like Reading blogs' but never mind.***Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-65718375471210857522009-05-20T13:17:00.002-04:002009-05-20T13:58:06.022-04:00Psalm 38I wonder how close you feel to God today. Whether you're on the mountain top or i the valley. Whether you had a really good quiet time and drove to lunch in the sunshine listening to Christian music, or whether you're fresh out of an argument, haven't read the Bible in days and keep tripping over the same sin habit.<br /><br />I think judging our 'closeness' to God in the way we feel is probably one of the Devil's best weapons. Our feelings betray us and let us down. They rob us of joy in life, courage in prayer and passion in worship. Never mind robbing us of courage in prayer, they probably stop us praying all together. How...HOW can i speak to God, how can i approach God after what i've just said, what i've just done. I said it would never happen again, and it did. How can He want to hear from me now?<br /><br />We can approach with confidence by Christ's blood, our righteousness is sat at the Father's right hand never to be moved...so does that minimise our sin, does that mean that when we pray we can gloss over it? Not according to Psalm 38.<br /><br />David is searingly honest in this Psalm. He feels like arrows have sunk into him, like the very hand of God Himself is upon him in wrath. His flesh has no soundness, his burden is too heavy, his wounds sink and fester, he is bowed down, he's filled with burning, he is feeble and crushed. Why? Verse 3 tells us...David tells us it was because of his sin. Because of David's sin he felt like this. Maybe this was when he was on the run from Absalom, maybe shortly after he'd sinned with Bathsheba, but whatever it was, he knew why he felt this way. His sin. That might have been the end of the matter, no one can pray when they feel like that can they? How can God listen to David when he has sinned and felt like this about it? Why does David even think he could?<br /><br />Verse 9 reminds us that God knows anyway, 'all my longing is before you, my sighing is not hidden from you,' and it probably wasn't a surprise to Him in the first place? So why does David pray? He knows that the Lord will answer, He knows that as he waits, God will answer him. He knows that his only hope, God's grace is his only hope. His hope is not found in glossing over his sin, it's found in waiting a while and hoping that God will cool off before he goes to Him in prayer. He knows his prayers depends on God's never ending steadfast love, they rely on God's grace. Not on hiding away, not on waiting, but on God. God who never changes.<br /><br />David repents and asks for help against his foes. This time human foes who sought after him because of his sin, these friends who had left him and let him down. But he remembers one thing. He remembers God. He remembers God's steadfast love, he remembers that the law speaks of God's grace, he remembers that as vile as his sin is, God's substitutionary love is greater, deeper. He remembered that, in a way, he probably didn't understand, his sin would sit on his throne forever.<br /><br />So how close do you feel to God today? I'm not sure it matters. What matters is the Gospel. The Gospel which tells us that your righteousness is safe in Heaven, which tells us that yes, our sin is awful, but yes God's steadfast love can be relied upon. It's great to know that we can come to God with our hands up and say '<span style="font-style: italic;">yes God, my sin is awful, but i run to you because i know you are my only hope</span>.' How close are we to God? Through Jesus, as close as opening our mouths and speaking.Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-14981447603060248822009-05-18T19:00:00.002-04:002009-05-18T19:01:58.572-04:00Researching wedding musicI don't think <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yASr1gNLD34&feature=PlayList&p=CB4987BA8A1A5FAD&index=1">this</a> version of Canon in D will make the final cut!Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-5446737680555481402009-05-18T15:57:00.005-04:002009-05-18T17:12:25.317-04:00Ruth 4:18-22 (or, my favourite genealogy)I get the feeling that i'll end up coming back to Ruth again and again. I'm currently working through it for Wednesday night teen church, and loving it once more. I guess one of the reasons it works so well is that ion the face of it the book looks like a simple provincial love story, woman meets man, man likes woman, man and woman get married. But underneath that, there's so much more going on.<br /><br />Mark Driscoll says there are small h heroes in the Bible, who all point to the big H Hero of the Bible, Jesus. Boaz is one of these small h heroes, who redeems Ruth, provides for her and protects her, and is on that level a pretty clear picture of Jesus work for us. But if Ruth and Boaz are the main characters, why do we end with Naomi and Obed? Why do we end with David?<br /><br />My answers based around an assumption, but i think it's a fair assumption. I think Samuel wrote Judges, Ruth and at least some of the books actually named after him. I think Judges is his pamphlet against human kings, his continual illustration that human leaders do not work, and that for any hope we need to turn to God. I also think he would have known, from reading the Pentateuch that one day Israel would have a human King. I also think he knew that the scepter of this King would not depart from Judah. The King would have to come from the line of Judah.<br /><br />So all those assumptions being made, Ruth becomes <strong>'this is where Kings come from</strong>.' It was written to show disbelieving, humanistic Israel who their King should be. Not Saul the Benjaminite, but David, from Judah.<br /><br />That's why this genealogy isn't just a weird footnote, it's the point of the whole book! Where do Kings come from Israel? They come from Judah, they're called David, they're chosen by God. Ruth would have shown the original readers the importance of choosing God's King, not any old king. It would have shown them the humble and difficult background of their great shepherd king. And for us? This genealogy takes Ruth from the provincial, rural back waters and puts her at the centre of the universe. It shows that in the darkest of times God is at work to do greater things than we can possibly imagine, not just by providing Ruth (and Naomi) a son, but by continuing His line, His seed, quietly, simply, eternally.Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-48725991701568021212009-05-16T12:06:00.002-04:002009-05-16T12:14:17.349-04:00Shaeffer: The Lord's work in the Lord's wayYesterday marked 25 years of Crossway. Lane T.Dennis, President of Crossway posted <a href="http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=116120014128&h=V5Z76&u=hgA3O&ref=mf">this excellent article</a> reflecting on the last twenty five years, and a link to this, '<a href="http://wdn.ipublishcentral.net/crossway/viewinside/3114462702738">The Lord's work in the Lord's way</a>' an article by Francis Shaeffer, which has driven the philosophy of Crossway for the last twenty five years...Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-3696323308522046852009-05-16T11:34:00.002-04:002009-05-16T12:01:02.773-04:00A storm is coming (1 Chronicles 1-9)It looms over you like a dark storm cloud...in the days leading up to it you feel like you're driving towards a city that you can tell is being battered by some seriously bad weather. In short, you just don't want ot go there. But then, when you get there, it's not like you can leave right away. You might be there for days, even a week, depending on your reading plan. I'm talking, of course, about the first eight chapters of 1 Chronicles.<br /><br />All those names...pages after pages of lists. I thought the Bible was supposed to me about me? This isn't going to give me any practical tips for dealing with my life today...what's it doing here? <a href="http://thebluefish.org/search/label/genealogy">Bish has been writing about genealogies</a>, and since i'm reading 1 Chronicles at the moment, i thought i'd explore what the opening chapters are doing there.<br /><br />Chronicles covers about the time from the beginning of 2 Samuel to the exile, but it was written much later than that. Probably after the exiles returned to Judah. Imagine being there then. Your father told you stories that he had heard. Stories of a great king, a great Kingdom, great battles against your enemies...and a glorious temple. You heard about the time when it really did seem like this little provincial town was at the centre of what God was doing everywhere.<br /><br />But now... how can it be? You've been wiped out by your enemies. The northern tribes have vanished, and no matter what Nehemiah and Ezra say, you know there's little point in even trying to rebuild the temple. Except, there is something. Ezra's written a history book, a wisdom book. It begins wonderfully. Ezra links this small province in Persia all the way back to Adam, all the way through Abraham and his sons through to...well us. There aren't many more exciting things in all of Judah right now than that list.<br /><br />So maybe this genealogy, far from being dull and skipable, tells us something marvellous about God's plan and purposes being worked out. About the scepter truly never departing from Judah. 1 Chronicles 1-9 exist to show God's people that they have legitimacy and identity as God's people, despite what their eyes and recent experiences tell them. They can still have faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Get the sword, get the trowel. Build and pray.<br /><br />Genealogies are part of God's word and they do exist with a purpose, we just need to read the Word for what it is, and trust and enjoy that purpose.Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-84895422748344075512009-05-13T14:31:00.001-04:002009-05-13T14:36:42.270-04:00No Mr President (human life is awesome)<script src="http://www.desiringgod.org/player.js?width=600&height=337&embedCode=1kcmVpOo3wrlYMmydQSD4zPyeH02SoD7"></script>Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-62496017330610602942009-05-12T11:51:00.002-04:002009-05-12T11:58:00.366-04:00John Piper at the Basics ConferenceJohn Piper's first two messages from the Basic's Conference are now online thanks to the tireless and speedy efforts of the DG team:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/MediaPlayer/3884/Audio/">We are workers with you for your Joy</a><br /><a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/MediaPlayer/3885/Audio/">Preaching Justification Undiminished</a><br /><br />Also, if you're super keen you can follow along with Piper's current sermon (and subsequent movements no doubt) 'Preaching Regeneration Undiminshed' <a href="http://twitter.com/pipertravel">on Twitter</a>.Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-59532578987481026122009-05-10T21:06:00.002-04:002009-05-10T21:30:03.393-04:00Why Jonny Can't Preach: A review'Why Johnny Can't Preach' comes in at a diminutive and readable 108 pages. It's helpful without being heavy, and Gordon writes so well that the pages more or less fly by. That, and the compelling subject matter help to make this one of the most readable books i've enjoyed this year.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Good</span>.<br /><br />Gordon self consciously titled the book in the vein of 'why johnny can't read,' and 'why johnny can't write.' The author had been diagnosed with cancer shortly before sitting down to write his opus, in fact that what was compelled him to write. The five chapters deal with three major reasons why johnny can't preach (he can't read, he can't write and he can't interpret the Bible) as well as a couple of chapters on solving the problem. As you might expect from a book that comes from the pen of a dying man (he's now happily in remission) the pages come across very much as a heartfelt plea for a churchwide return to sound, solid, nourishing Biblical exposition. It was stirring and challenging. It made me want to bury my face in the text, spend more time writing, compose my speech better, and read Shakespeare's sonnets. Gordon's main point is that though Johnny can neither read or write, he can learn. He can learn to pay careful attention to texts and he can learnt to write. He can learn to preach. There were challenging and inspiring words.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Less Good</span><br /><br />Gordon's background is in media ecology, the study of how current trends in technology and media influence us and the way we think. This helps with many of his observations, but occasionally leads him to overstate his case, as he sees his subject through his expert lense. I'm not sure, for example, that increased use of the telephone has lead to a deterioration in the pulpit. I'm also not sure that the state of the pulpit is as bad as he makes out, but i've just been very blessed to be part of some excellent, Biblical churches in the last few years.<br /><br />Overall this was an excellent read, if you want to be stirred, challenged and driven to prayer and deeper thought over your preaching, and preaching in general, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-Johnny-Cant-Preach-Messengers/dp/1596381167/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242005309&sr=8-1">buy this book</a>!Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-23148887526983612392009-05-09T11:11:00.004-04:002009-05-09T11:30:49.233-04:00ConversationsA while before i moved to the States, someone told me it would be hard to stand at any one point of the country and say 'ah ha, now this is America.' And he was right. How do you sum up a single country that contains the Harvard scholar and the Idaho potato farmer? The Carolina NASCAR fan and the California environmentalist? You can't. But whoever told me that didn't tell me something else thats equally true. It's hard to stand in any single state and say 'ah ha, now this is North Carolina.'<br /><br />My adopted home state is a good example, split into one hundred counties and three regions of almost equal size, culture and the way of life on one side of the state are very different on the other. In the west you have the mountain region, full of, well, mountains, the middle part of the state is known as Piedmont, and contains the Triangle area, a zone containing all but one of the largest cities in the state, and about the only region left in the country where industry is still growing. Slowly the cities turn to farms, and the farms to beaches and you've reached the coastland region, where i live. Put your figure almost anywhere on a map of eastern North Carolina and you're pointing at the middle of nowhere. The eastern part of the state has it's own feel, it's own food, it's own way of life. People here still farm, hunt and fish meaningfully, men wear cowboy boots to church. Barbecue in eastern Carolina is totally different to barbecue in western Carolina, and nothing life what i grew up calling barbecue.<br /><br />North Carolina is different from itself, as you might expect from a state probably only slightly smaller than a European country. And the people are different too, open, warm and funny. This was driven home to me clearly last night. It was about 1115, and my next door neighbour was standing at the top of the steps that lead to the first floor apartments enjoying the cool evening air. We've had two weeks of 80-90F days, and this week had been full of tornadoes and thunderstorms, but yesterday evening was perfect. Cool, clear and with a wonderful breeze. A great night for standing out.<br /><br />I hadn't spoken to him much before but last night we chatted for ages about the weather, the economy, the state of the parking lot, his acting career. Then he mentioned, quite matter of factly, that in the past week he had suffered two awful family tragedies. We'd covered four to six weeks of British conversation in half an hour. All this presents a problem. What do you do with people that are, in effect, inoculated to the Gospel? People who know just enough to make them feel alright, but not enough to get sick on it? With people who are happy to stand and pray with you, but never darkened the door of a church building? I'm still not clear whether this ingrained respect for Church as an institution is helpful or not in the long run. Not sure at all.<br /><br />As for me and my neighbor. I'll keep praying, we'll keep talking, and maybe one day soon i'll get to <a href="http://allthingstaylor-scott.blogspot.com/search/label/bell%20ringing">ring a bell </a>of my own...Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-2732150814181603582009-05-06T09:00:00.003-04:002009-05-06T09:20:41.533-04:00Luther's bedtimeIsn't the end of the day sometimes the most exciting part? Phone off, doors locked...just you and a bed. I've only been up a few hours and i'm already looking forward to it! It's an odd thing going to sleep though. People who know more than i do about it have said that when we're in our deepest sleep, when our organs and brain have shut down for the night that we're pretty much as close to death as we'd want to be... When we're asleep we can't defend ourselves, can't react to warning aches and pains.<br /><br />The Psalmist says 'i lay down and i slept, but i awoke, because you sustained me.' Jesus sustains us while we sleep. But isn't Jesus the infinitely holy One who we've spent our day sinning against in thought and word and deed? How can we sleep easy knowing that what we've just spent our day doing could and should invoke holy, just wrath. As always, Martin Luther as a level headed, Biblical answer...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">In the evening when you go to bed, make the sign of the holy cross and say: 'in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.' The standing or kneeling repeat the creed and say the Lord's prayer. If you choose you may also say this little prayer: 'I thank you my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have graciously kept me this day; and i pray that you would forgive me my sins where i have done wrong and graciously keep me this night. For into your hands i commend myself, my body and my soul, and all things. Let your holy angel be with me that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen. Then go to sleep at once, and in good cheer.'<br /></div><br />If you had to sum up Luther in one sentence it could be worse than 'it's outside of you.' We are <span style="font-style: italic;">simil iustus et peccator</span>, and Luther calls us every night to go to Him outside of us, to go to our righteousness, our substitute, our Savior, and remember that He will keep us though the night, and to sleep well, safe in the palm of His hand.Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-9973551433033869242009-05-04T14:51:00.001-04:002009-05-04T14:53:35.908-04:00How would you describe The Gospel on Twitter?Here's Rob Bell's effort, as reported in Christianity Today:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">I would say that history is headed somewhere. The thousands of little ways in which you are tempted to believe that hope might actually be a legitimate response to the insanity of the world actually can be trusted. And the Christian story is that a tomb is empty, and a movement has actually begun that has been present in a sense all along in creation. And all those times when your cynicism was at odds with an impulse within you that said that this little thing might be about something bigger—those tiny little slivers may in fact be connected to something really, really big.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://blog.9marks.org/2009/05/not-the-gospel-of-jesus-not-anywhere-near-it.html">Here are some excellent thoughts</a> from Greg Gilbert<br /></div></div>Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14340387.post-60296509048543908402009-05-04T09:19:00.002-04:002009-05-04T09:37:56.385-04:00May MiscelleniaApril was a quiet month on the blogging front, for whatever reason, and a month of contrasts at church. Two of our biggest Sundays, 221 on Easter and 330 on Friend Day, and two deaths in the church, one a tragic road accident. I guess you can't be around a church...you can't be around people long before you see the wisdom, the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">necessity</span> to weep with those who weep, to rejoice with those who rejoice.<br /><br />This year <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">i've</span> also really been enjoying going through the Bible chronologically. I was a bit sceptical at first, because, after all, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">that's</span> not how the Bible was written, but i really like it. I'm not sure whether reading longer chunks is more helpful in say, Leviticus than it would be in Romans, but it's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">definitely</span> helped my understanding of the overall story line of the Bible, so i guess <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">that's</span> a pretty good <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">endorsement</span>. Reading 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles side by side has proved really useful as well, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">particularly</span> in appreciating why Chronicles were written. Although i still think <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">i'd</span> put it later in the Bible, who am i to argue.<br /><br />And for those who know me and are wondering. I was at <a href="http://www.wycombewanderers.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10430%7E1646391,00.html">Adams Park on Saturday</a>. I left North Carolina Thursday evening and got back Sunday afternoon. I had no clear idea of what time it was most of the weekend, but to be there, to see us great promoted with my dad and close friends, to experience the joy of hearing that Bury hadn't won by two goals, that we'd promoted by a goal, and then spill onto the pitch and off, and on again was marvellous. No more awful trips to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Grimsby</span> or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Macclesfield</span>, no more Tuesday nights at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Barnet</span>...hello Charlton, hello Southampton, hello Leeds, hello League One!Ed Goodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06242555441606574769noreply@blogger.com0