Nostalgia and Glory

One of the things that i like and at the same time dislike about being British is our psion for the past. Our love of saying 'things aren't what they used to be', the way we hark back to the fifties, or late fourties, or sixties, or whenever as a golden age. A time when kids respected their parents, people worked hard and politicians were honest. I'm pretty sure that this has always been the way of people, just as i'm pretty sure that this 'golden age' never actually existed... But thats the way people are.

It's sure not the way Paul was. I was reading in my Bible study recently 2 Corinthians 3, and it was verses 7-9 that really stood out for me this time:

Now if^(P) the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory^(Q) that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9For if there was glory in^(R) the ministry of condemnation,^(S) the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory

Paul starts by looking back...which sounds pretty nostalgic doesn't it? He's talking about the Law, given at Sinai, where Moses' face shone after he had been with God. This was the ministry of death, carved on stone, but still it came with glory. Even the reflected glory shining from Moses was unbearable to look at. And yet this covenant, this ministry was carved on stone, and saved no one, not because it wasn't a poor covenant, but because it was never God's plan to save by works. It was being brought to an end, but it still had great glory.

But what of the new Covenant? Well surely, says Paul, is what was passing away had glory, will that which never passes away not have more glory? If, as Paul reasons perfectly logically, there was glory in what bought condemnation, surely there is more glory in that which brings life. How amazing it is to live this side of the cross, to know what Kings and Prophets longed to know (Luke 10:24). And how good it is to know how to persue holiness, through getting to know this awesome God, this awesome covenent, and this awesome plan. I love how simple the Bible makes things!

eighty-six

My paternal grandfather is 86 today. Eighty-six! I can't imagine being that old. I was wondering earlier whether there will ever be a generation lke his agin. He can still remember the doctor travelling arond his boyhood village on a horse and cart, and yet he's seen man walk on the moon, travel at the speed of sound and travel round the world in less than a day. He's also spent six years away from home fighting a bloody and difficult war in the marines.

When my granddad wanted to sign up, wanted to sign up, first of all he went to High Wycombe to join the Marines, they weren't recruiting in Wycombe that day, and the recruiting officer triued to talk him into the Gloucester Regiment. Graddad wasn't having any of that, so he rode his bike to Reading to sign up here...where he was greeted with the same recruitment officer, who this time, let him join the Marines. I love that story.

My grandad served most of the second half of the war on the Russian convoys, guarding the supply ships from U-Boats as they made their way up the atlantic. In the early part of the way, however, he spent some time in Italy, near his older brother. At one point in, i think 1943, they missed eachother in the same town by just a few hundred yards. My granddad being sent one way, when my Uncle Bill was in the other...I'm not such a fan of that story, although they both made it home from the war.

Harry James Goode is still going strong at eighty-six. Still in his garden every day, still walking miles a week. Still full of life despite the loss of his wife, brother, sister and many many close friends in the last decade. He belongs to a remarkable generation. He is a remarkable man.

Isaiah and the truth

Thursday afternoon means Cafe Modial, Isaiah and Nick Bale. Mondial was suspiciously busy today, i guess coffee tastes better when there's work to be done. We were in Isaiah 8, and in the corner of the busy cafe, i read these words, quite loudly:

'For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: "Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.'

It was good to read that, good to hear it. On tuesday i rode through London on the underground, about rushhour time. Lots of young and high earning people pouring out of their jobs and homeward. And really for the first time since graduating i wondered whether i was doing the right thing. Whether i shouldn't instead just persue more money, better clothes, nicer stuff and be done with it. This was shaken off quickly enough, but studying this really helped.

Standing firm in faith, trusting in what God has for you was hard for the faithful remnant in Isaiah 8. All around them people were fearing the war, and worshipping the world. And really nothing's changed in 28 centuries since. It's hard to believe and trust when all around you aren't. But what of those who ignore the sanctuary of Christ? Who stumble over the stumbling stone? They shall be snared and taken. And for those who trust, and build and shelter in the rock? They shall find peace and life. They shall prosper for eternity, in a real way, not in a nice clothes and nifty haircut way.

We need to believe this. And not waste our lives.

Christ and our sporting failures

I turned the grand prix off for good just after Lewis went in for his last pitstop. That was really it, the end of five terrible days of English sport. It was pretty hard to take, and i drove to the evening prayer meeting with a heavy heart thinking about goals missed, tries not given and gearboxes that slipped into neutral. Sporting success is by no means the be all and end all of what makes me tick, but it's great to see our sporting heroes do well. It gives us a buzz and makes us feel better about ourselves. Instead a trio of failures greeted us from the front and back pages this morning. Varying degrees of heroism were involved, but they were, nonetheless, failures.

The media, and to a large extent, the public, like to ascribe greatness and glory and even infallibility to our sporting heroes. But this week has proved that they're not. Even Lewis Hamilton, who is, let's face it, a tremendous driver, contributed to his own downfall, even Jonny Wilkinson missed a penalty, to saw nothing of wednesday evening in Moscow. The thing is we need this glory and greatness in our lives, our hearts are made for glory, are made to drink in greatness. And thats why our sporting greats are ascribed these things, because we need it. And thats why we feel so bad when they fail. Thats why we need to have hearts and minds inclined to the one who will never fail.

Jesus is the one for whom our hearts were made. Jesus exudes greatness as He comes to us, and it was for that greatness we were made. Jesus' kingdom will never be rocked, His foot will never be in touch, He will never slip into neutral. So we need to give our hearts and minds to Him. We need to have our affections on Him, not on a group of men who will let us donw one day, if not today. Imagine if our papers' were filled with Biblical exposition, imagine if our back pages were full of missionary endevour. What a nation we would be, if all the passion and affection that was in my heart for sport was turned towards the Lord, there'd be little limit to what God could do...

BXCC video

There are some good looking people hidden away in there!

Footnotes

Footnotes are great aren't they? Here's one from 'the mission of God' P193, discussing Paul's approach to the 'Judaisers' in Galatia

It's ironic how far we have moved from this early difficulty. For many contemporary Christians the problem lies with the Old Testament. For these early Christians the OT was the given Word of God; the problem lay with the church. Our question is so often, 'is the OT really Christian', theirs was 'is the church scriptural', ie in line with the Old testament.

Good stuff isn't it. You can see the 'Law based Christians' point. Surely Paul isn't going to disregard Moses and all he taugh is he? Surely he still has some respect for the way the scriptures teach we are made right with God? Well, yes he does. In 'how are we justified in the old testament top trumps' Abraham beats Moses every time. Good news!

pensions, the Gospel and men called John

I probably think about my own death slightly more than is helpful. Sometimes i look at the trajectory i believe that Lord has my life on and the direction that public tolerance of the Gospel is going, and i draw my own conclusions as to what those two things colliding might mean for me. nevertheless today is signed up to a pension plan, which got me thinking about being old. If my hairs ever go grey, i would very much like to end up like one of these men:

sunday school

The Pyros and Bish are both talking sunday school at the moment, which seems to have got a lot of people talking! My background is scarce in this area, i went to a non-evangelical church until the age of about 8, and was in sunday school there until i started playing rugby on a sunday morning, and was then saved when i was 17, without ever being involved in any sort of youth group... so i have no primary experience of sunday school, but i'm going to have a say anyway!

At Reading Family Church we've just taken the painful decision to take our kids out right from the start of the meeting at 1015 because we've simply run out of room at the school we meet in. This has been a really hard move to make, and really makes a difference to the feeling of the meeting. We'll get used to it though, and it does free up space for people to come in...we've already seen the benefit of it on a sunday as we had more people than seats counting all the guys in kids church.

I think 'sunday schools' are a good idea. They give parents time and room on a sunday morning to listen to the preaching without having to worry about their children. And as long as the sunday schools are teaching the Gospel to children on a sunday, then having them in an environment where they can learn without hindering hindering others has to be a good thing. Thats probably my favourite thing about the idea of moving children out of the preach, it gives parents space and time. And, on a related note it means that whoever's preaching doesn't have to feel responsible for making the message accesable for all ages...we can go through difficult books and difficult ideas over time. And, it probably means that children associate church with fun rather than boredom of having to sit still for a while.

My big issue is the age at which people stop being 'children' in sunday school, and start being 'youth' in the main meeting, probably with something for them midweek. When is the right time to have people in the main meeting? Eighteen is surely too late...i was shocked last year when freshers' who i worked with were put off a church because there wasn't a youthgroup for them to join. I was like 'you're eighteen fella'. Maybe thats the reason the there's such a drop off rate between people in church at school and people in church at university. They come out of a sunday school youthgroup where everything is very much centred around them to a church where (hopefully) they are challenged to serve and got into a cell and give regularly, as well as, not least, sitting through 30-40 minutes of preaching each week. It's a big difference.

So whats the answer? When's the best age to move through from mini dramas to preaching? 14? 16? I'm not sure the big issue is whether children should be out of the meeting, but when they come back in. As long as children are seeing the faithful life modelled to them by their parents during the week then it does seem the best idea to not have them in the main meeting on a sunday. But that leaves two responsibilities for the church and for the sunday school. Making sure the Gospel is central to a childs sunday morning (and i that must be hard, i've got no idea how to make the gospel understanable to a four year old) and to make sure they are ready to not be a 'youth' when they become a student, or leave school. Both these areas are possibly formational to a person's whole life. Sunday school is huge...

Prayer and fasting

I'm away for the next two days with millions of other newfrontiers tyoes at prayer and fasting in Peterborough.

I think i'm feeling a mixture of excitement and apprehension. It'll be nice to out of Reading for a bit, and out of the routine, and i suppose i should say that i'm looking forward to meeting lots of people. And obviously spending much time with God. I guess the apprehension comes from the whole, y'know, not eating between now and wednesday evening thing. I've never fasted for that long before. It'll be good to trust God for my nourishment and push my body further than i have done before...

seeyouweds

Angry white men

Anthony Bradley writes this:

A friend of mine gives a recent account of his experience with hardcore culture in Philadelphia last summer, "This summer I witnessed an emo guy get completely thrashed by two punks for showing up at the wrong house party. This emo kid unwittingly walked into The Halfway House, a mecca for Philly hardcore punks. The only reason I ever make it through the front door of this house is because I have known most of the house's residents the better part of my life."

From a poor Philadelphia neighborhood, Joe, who grew up without a father confesses, "If I wasn't in hardcore, I'd be in jail or dead. . . I have four cousins in jail. Three more are dead from overdoses. When I went to shows, I felt like I had people who gave a [freak] about me. Nothing has touched me the way hardcore has."

Why can't Joe's testimony read, "If it wasn't for Jesus I'd be dead. . .When I went to [insert your church here], I felt I had people who gave a [freak] about me. Nothing has touched me the way the church has." Meeting the guys in FSU would be a dream-come-true for me!

Here's the real problem: Jesus cares about hardcore culture, it's Christians who don't. So guys like Ronin and Joe are left to the power of the devil. Hardcore missionaries are desperately needed. These white dudes are pissed-off and dying. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick"--Jesus. Who will go?

You can read the whole article here.

I think he poses a very good question. British culture and American culture are different. We don't have gangs of hardcore punk kids roaming the streets looking for an emo kid to beat up. But we do have hundreds, thousands of young men disaffected in the same way. People who only find solace in rock and roll, or drink, or sex, people who know nothing of the joy, love and peace that comes from knowing Jesus. And but for the grace of God there go i. Jesus cares about these people, even if i don't. The kids who hang around at the end of my road after dark, who i'll always cross the street rather than walk past. The guys in eye make-up and hoodys who hang round town centres and shopping centres all day. And there but for the grace of God go i.

They need a robust message. Yes, the need love, goodness me how some of them need parents who will care for them, a home where they can get hot meals at the end of every day and a school system that doesn't let them down at nearly every turn. But what they need more than that is salvation. They need to get right with God so that on the last day it won't be better for rocks to crush their brains than for them to face judgement. So they need a robust message. They need to know the Jesus of the Gospels. A Jesus big enough and masculine enough to be worshipped and obeyed, and yet tender enough to seek out the company of children. A Jesus fierce enough to be more feared than a life threatening storm, but humble enough to wash the feet of his friends. A Jesus who condemns religious hypocrites who turn their back on Him as whitewashed tombs, and yet gathers to Himself tax collectors and prostitutes. They need this Jesus, we need this Jesus, the church needs this Jesus. I need this Jesus.

Psycological, weak, pseudo prosperity-gospel living and believing will fail these guys. And it will fail the glory of God in the Gospel. We need, as Anthony Bradley says (and i so want to be like this) 'bold, fearless, gospel-driven, fully masculine, evil-fighting, heresy-fighting, group(s) of men' to penetrate this sub culture. And we need them soon.