A Grace Disguised

(The Best Books - no.5)

Some books seem good at the time but time then tells a different story; they recede in your estimation, not because of anything bad but because they maybe weren't so special after all. This one is a recent read for me but I'm confident it won't go the way of some others.

Jerry Sittser writes out of the most terrible tragedy and writes clearly and compellingly of the God of grace. It isn't sensationalised, nor is it sentimentalised. This is a book that offers real hope for sufferers and deep wisdom for pastors. He writes well, too, which is always a bonus. Some might wish he said more, and more quickly, about the Lord and his ways but that wouldn't be true to the experience of suffering.

Friday Night Spotify: The Electric Light Orchestra

This is a real blast from the past, in several ways. But enjoyable accompaniment nevertheless:

ELO's first album.

Psalms

(The most helpful books - no.4)

You won't sit down and read this one cover-to-cover (well, I doubt it) but James L Mays' commentary on the Psalms in the Interpretation Bible Commentary series is a stunner. He seldom fails to be deeply stimulating, is always reverential and is a great addition to any preacher's books on the psalms. From a Lutheran background, you'll also find his liturgical connections helpful and he always brings us to Jesus.

There are few commentaries I rate as highly as this one. And you can even try it out via Google Books! Tremper Longman III gives it a 5-star rating and he's not wrong to do so.

You might also want to look out for his work on the theology of the psalms, The Lord Reigns - another great resource.

Collected Writings of John Murray - Volume 1: The Claims of Truth

(The most helpful books - no.3)

A good friend bought me this for being best man at his wedding, back in 1986. What a gift! Murray forces you  to think and to think biblically, to reflect and to reflect slowly. Theology, deep and profound, wholesome and compulsive.

In time I bought the other 3 volumes, all very worthwhile, especially volume 2 (longer writings)  but this was the start for me and remains a long-standing favourite. So, thanks Pete!

praying for the world

Over many years now, scores of people have found Operation World a terrific resource for informing their prayers for the nations. There's a new edition of the work available but if you want easy access via your browser to the day's prayer needs, just bookmark this link.

I've added it to the bookmark bar on Google Chrome and it works a treat as a visible & constant reminder.

the way of learning

A great deal of scholarly attention has been given to the power of liturgy in forming identity and the shaping effect of narrative in our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. The way we learn something is more influential than the something that we learn. No content comes into our lives free-floating; it is always embedded in a form of some kind. For the basic and integrative realities of God and faith, the forms must also be basic and integrative. If they are not, the truths themselves will be peripheral and unassimilated.

Eugene H. Peterson, A Memoir: The Pastor, p.33

revival: some questions

In an earlier post, I mentioned a recent gathering to pray for revival. As always, such events leave me with questions in my mind about the subject. I'd be grateful for any interaction on them:

1. The basic premise seems to be 'the situation is so bad, we need God to act in revival; we can't do it on our own'. I want to ask: Do we need revival or do we need God? Are they the same thing? Is revival his only means of handling situations that seem desperate? If not, how do we guard against a 'revival or bust' mentality?

2. The scriptural basis for revival seems to hang largely, if not exclusively, on a selection of OT texts (from Psalms, Isaiah, Micah etc). How are we to view those requests for God to 'come down' in a post-incarnation, post-cross, post-resurrection, post-ascension and post-Pentecost world? Are there prayers for revival in the NT? What would such prayers look like with Jesus and his work firmly in view? How can we be Christo-centric in our prayers for revival?

3. Reprising my earlier post, how do we relate praying for revival with a longing for Jesus to return? Which ought to be the dominant desire in our hearts? Why don't we pray more for Jesus to return?

Job's experience of God

Jerry Sittser, writing out of his own experience of profound loss, comments on Job:

Job stopped asking questions not because God was a bully but because Job finally beheld God's unfathomable greatness in his immediate experience. He had spoken about God; then he came to know God. On meeting the real God, he simply had no more questions to ask. He discovered that God is the answer to all his questions, even questions he had not thought to ask. Job learned that behind the apparent randomness of life is the existence of God, whose greatness transcended Job but did not nullify the importance of Job's choices. Job ultimately found meaning in the ineffable presence of God, which he could not fully comprehend with his intellect but could only experience in the depths of his being.

Jerry Sittser, A Grace Disguised, pp.116/7

the work is in God's hands

Matt Chandler was recently asked, How has fighting cancer changed your perspective as a leader? This was his reply:

It’s made me think a lot more about my mortality. For example, if I die and The Village Church falls apart, do I care? I’ll be honest, I don’t. When you look at history, God raises up certain men for certain seasons in certain places. He pours out his Spirit on them, and when they’re done, its very rare for God to continue the work that was done uniquely through them. If I die and The Village ends, I’m alright with that. If believers here find a place where the gospel is preached, and people are being saved, and the mission is being lived out, then I will not have failed.

Initially I put a lot of pressure on myself because in our culture there is the expectation that a ministry has to flourish even after you’re gone. That’s unfair, unhistoric, and maybe even unbiblical. Realizing that took a lot of pressure off of me. I had peace to just faithfully do what I’ve been doing here since day one, and then just let go and see what the Lord does with it.

Praying for Jesus' return

I was at a 'concert of prayer for revival' on Saturday. Many thoughts went through my mind in relation to it but one that has stuck with me is this: why don't we ever have 'a concert of prayer for the return of Jesus'?

Is it less likely to happen than revival? I guess it must be - there's only one 2nd Coming; there have been, and may yet be, many revivals. But I don't think we pray out of mathematical probabilities.

No. I wonder if our heart really is intent on the glory of God? Prayer for revival would seem to say it is, but lack of prayer for Jesus' return in glory would seem to suggest otherwise. Do persecuted Christians pray for revival or for the second advent? And if it's the latter, does the lack of prayer for it amongst the not-so-persecuted suggest a lack of empathy for suffering brothers and sisters?

I was sharing some of these thoughts with a friend and he told me of a conversation with a Brethren brother some years back, who said something to the effect that the place held in reformed theology by revival was held in brethren theology by the second coming of Jesus.

And I went away pondering where the emphasis lies in the New Testament.

Five Pioneer Missionaries

(The most helpful books - no.2)

I guess I must have read this book in about 1987/88, as a fairly young Christian. It's a collection of essays, originally written for a competition, I believe, on the lives of significant pioneer missionaries and covers David Brainerd, William C Burns, John Eliot, Henry Martyn and John G Paton.

It made a real impact on me. Here were serious men, intent on serving Jesus irrespective of cost and their focus was on people who hadn't yet heard of Jesus.

I'm sure I read it with an unhealthy dose of romanticism and unrealism, which was my fault, not the book's. But its impact on me was significant.

You can still buy it.

Are you a sentimental pastor?

Sentimentalists cannot distinguish their anxiety from their empathy. They confuse their own need to be less anxious in the face of pain with true regard for another. Thus they rescue others. They take over the life of helpless souls. Sometimes they appease others and give up their own souls. Sentimentalists cannot balance sensitivity with awareness.

Peter L. Steinke, How Your Church Family Works: Understanding Congregations as Emotional Systems, p.58

Anxiety in the church

When anxiety is high, resilience is low. Behaviors are extreme and rigid; thoughts are unclear and disjointed. Anxious people speak harsh words or cut themselves off from others through silence. To manage their threatening situation, people hurry to localize their anxiety. They blame and criticize. Yet it is one thing for a system to be shattered by shocking events and another to be shackled by its own reactive tremors. Once a system fortifies its stability by its reactivity, it cannot get what it needs most: time and distance, calm and objectivity, clarity and imagination. It is caught in its own automatic processes. But a relationship system does not live by reaction alone but by every resource at its disposal. Therefore a system that maintains its stability by reactivity alone will not be stable in the long run. Continuous reactivity creates three processes that prevent the system from being resourceful and flexible—a shrinking of perspective, a tightening of the circle, and a shifting of the burden. Consequently it is not apt to repair itself, plan for the future, and find a new direction.

Peter L Steinke, How Your Church Family Works: Understanding Congregations As Emotional Systems 

John Murray on the phrase 'the last days'

This implies ages of this world's history that were not the last days; they were prior, preparatory, anticipatory. The last days are characterised by two comings, notable, unprecedented, indeed astounding - the coming into the world of the Son of God and the Spirit of God. In order to accentuate the marvel of these comings we must say that God came into the world, first in the person of the Son and then in the person of the Holy Spirit. They came by radically different modes and for different functions. But both are spoken of as comings and they are both epochal events. These comings not only introduce and characterise the last days; they create or constitute them.

John Murray, The Unity of the Old and New Testaments, Collected Works Volume 1, page 23

John Murray on The Bible

Apart from the Scriptures and the knowledge derived from them, we today would be in complete darkness respecting the content of our Christian faith. We must not deceive ourselves as to the darkness and confusion that would be ours if there were no Bible. We depend upon the message of Scripture for every tenet of our faith, for every ray of redemptive light that illumines our minds, and for every ray of hope against the issues of time and eternity. Christianity for us today without the Bible is something inconceivable.

John Murray, The Infallibility of Scripture, Collected Works Volume 1, p.11

Why Sin Matters (Mark McMinn)

(The most helpful books - no.1)

I first came across Mark McMinn when I got hold of what is itself a really helpful book, Integrative Psychotherapy, co-authored with Clark Campbell. It sent me looking for author things Mark has written and Why Sin Matters is top of that list for me (but you ought to also see his more specialist work, Sin and Grace in Christian Counselling).

Why Sin Matters is neither soft on sin, nor light on grace. It affirms the terrible problem that sin is, in all the fulness of its putrid infection, and it then shows the absolute sufficiency of God's grace to overcome sin. He makes helpful use of Rembrandt's work, 'The Return of the Prodigal' and writes with a disarming honesty (itself the fruit of grace).

Every pastor - indeed, every Christian - would benefit hugely from reading this.

A Converted Imagination

What Peter announces...is a conversion of the imagination: personal reconstruction within a new web of relationships, resocialisation within the new community, and the embodiment of a new life-world evidenced in altered dispositions and attitudes.

Joel Green on 1 Peter 1:3-12 in 1 Peter (Two Horizons Commentary)

When Strong Is Wrong (Notes for Men's meeting)

When strong is wrong: why men need men

We can have an idea that, for a man, being strong means being able to cope – on our own. To be able to handle anything and everything that comes our way – and if we can’t, we’re weak and a failure. And so we never become vulnerable before others, we never admit our sin, we never seek help, we’re never truly real with anyone – we always wear a mask. And so the trouble goes on and gets deeper.

Not only is that perspective full of problems, it is also profoundly unbiblical. Paul is often seen as a loner but he had close friendships with a number of men. David and Jonathan exemplify biblical friendship (1 Samuel 20; 2 Samuel 1:26) and it may not be coincidental that David’s failures occur after the death of Jonathan (did he ever have a close friendship after Jonathan was killed?).

But perhaps the supreme example is our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only is he in the closest possible relationships in the Trinity but in his humanity he forged deep friendships with his disciples, 3 of them being particularly close. He expressed a need of their friendship, he was openly vulnerable before them and was open to being hurt by them (being betrayed by one he considered a friend).

Maybe there are reasons we draw back from deep friendships. It’s possible we have been hurt by those we thought our friends. Or we may fear our openness will be abused and our failures serve only to isolate us. Perhaps we struggle to truly acknowledge our sins before God and, hence, feel far too defensive to be open with other men.

Those who are married might say ‘But my wife is my friend...’.If she is, that’s a real blessing. But your role as her husband – as her protector – will mean there are times when you cannot share with her your vulnerability and weakness, for her own sake. And in those times, you’ll need someone else to stand alongside you.

But it isn’t just that we need friends because we’re needy. We need friends as examples and to be examples before. In friendships we not only receive but we give, we serve our brothers. It is a precious opportunity to honour our Lord Jesus by becoming like him in friendships.

Jonathan’s love for David was “more wonderful than the love of women”. That isn’t suggesting anything sinister in their relationship; it is simply highlighting the great blessing that real friendship as brothers can bring to us.

Questions for group discussion

§  What does a good friendship look and feel like?

§  What are some of the lessons we can learn from the friendship between David and Jonathan?

§  What stops us forming deep friendships? Why is it hard to do so?

§  How can we strengthen our sense of acceptance by God, so that we might feel more secure in discussing our frailties with others?

§  How can we work on developing true, lasting friendships with other men in the church?

Questions for personal reflection

§  Do I have real friendships with other Christian men?

§  Am I fearful of deep friendship? If so, why is that?

§  Have I been failed by a friend and deeply hurt by it? What is my response to that and how can the damage be repaired?

§  What practical steps can I take to develop close friendships?

§  Would it be helpful to talk over these matters with someone I trust?

Bible Study Questions - Philippians 1:27-30

Living the Gospel: The Letter to the Philippians

Study 5 – Philippians 1:27-30

Verses 27,28

1. The phrase 'conduct yourselves' means 'to live as citizens' (v.27). Where is the Christian's citizenship? Explore what that means in terms of our relationship to society. How is it supportive of society? Where is it in conflict?

2. What does Paul suggest it means to "live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ"? See vv.27b,28.

3. What obstacles do we face in seeking to stand firm in one spirit? How can they be overcome?

4. What is the focal point of our 'striving together'? How do we make sure that 'the main point is the main point'?

5. What grounds are there for Christians to be unafraid of those who oppose them?

Verses 29,30

6. Is suffering on behalf of Jesus only for some Christians? In what sense can it be said to 'go with the territory'?

7. In what ways might we personally experience something akin to what Paul has in mind here? Pray for one another in those struggles.

Bible Study Questions - Philippians 1:18b-26

Living the Gospel: The Letter to the Philippians

Study 4 – Philippians 1:18b-26

Verses 18b-20

1. Paul has rejoiced in the gospel being proclaimed (v.18a) and continues to rejoice (v.18b) in the prospect of his deliverance.

What might his being delivered involve for him (v.20)?

How should his example help us when faced with difficulties and suffering?

2. What factors does Paul see as being involved in his deliverance (v.19)?

Why might he have chosen to refer to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of Jesus Christ”?

Verses 21-26

3. How do we know Paul’s approach to his deliverance was not passive and fatalistic?

4. Paul sees life in this world as being lived for Christ, in the service of his people.

How can we make that our own approach?

What would it look like if we lived that way – our attitudes, actions and prayers?