Evangelist Conference

The audio MP3s are now available of this years Evangelist Conference for free download - though it is from the South Day rather than the North. Follow this link: http://www.evangelists-conference.org.uk/2009.php

The Problem with Christianity - an unmarketable message

Commentary piece from the Times today by Robert Crompton:

Wrong sighs
I do love a Christmas carol, the tunes, naturally, but also the words, so much more optimistic than the doom-laden death-cult lyrics served up in many hymns the rest of the year. Except the last verse of We Three Kings, an otherwise jaunty number, is always a bit of a downer, especially when sung by some adorable kid with her whole life ahead of her: “Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume/ Breathes of life of gathering gloom/ Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying/ Sealed in a stone-cold tomb.” Crikey, cheers for that.

When is the penny going to drop with Christianity? Death, martyrdom, suffering, pain, loss, blood, these are not concepts with which any brand would want to be identified. If that’s the core of your message, no wonder you’ve got a problem.

How to stop drift

On Sunday night we were looking at Hebrews. It is a book of warnings, in particular it warns believers about the danger of drifting, of gradually becoming apathetic about the gospel and drifting into a sterile legalism and religiosity. But how do you avoid such a drift because if its so gradual we may not even see it coming?

That's where understanding Hebrews and reading it in its entirety helps. Chapter 10v19-25 says this:

"Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

The key to avoiding drift is one another, it is other believers keeping us gospel focused and applying the gospel to each others lives again and again and again. God knows it is a potential problem we face and so he graciously gives us other believers, he gives us the church.

There are however a number of trends in society that makes this difficult. The first is that we are commitmentophobic - and such relationships require commitment - we must allow the gospel to challenge our individualism and heed its call into community.

The second is that we are proud, we don't like to admit we are drifting and we certainly don't want someone else pointing out what we haven't seen for ourselves. Again the remedy is the gospel where God points out our need before we are aware of it and shows us his love.

Thirdly we devalue the church - it is fashionable to moan about the church; discontent seems to be endemic. There are things in local churches, which if there, we ought to be concerned about; a refusal to teach the Bible, poor/wrong Bible teaching, unchallenged sin. That concern shouldn't result in moaning but prayer and then an approach to the elders of the church. But some things; music style, things just not being quite how I would like it, etc... should not cause moaning. I was always told that if I found the perfect church not to join it because I would ruin it. God gives us one another to gospel one another.

Fundamentally if we don't want to be in relationships which have elements of accountability to one another, if we will not engage in gospel-ing one another then we have failed to understand the call of the gospel and we open ourselves up to the danger of drifting.

The challenges of Acts

We've been working through Acts 1-6 in home groups this term and last night we were on to the final two threats to the early church. The first in chapter 4 was external persecution before in chapters 5 and 6 we see internal corruption and distraction.

Though we were relatively few in number last night it was an interesting discussion. Seeing Barnabas as a model of New Testament sacrificial giving and discussing the whole issue of money reminded me of something that has come out of this series really strongly. The early church do what they do so well because they do community so well, they are in and out of each others homes regularly they function as a family. My hunch is that is on a totally different level to where most of us function as church where we have friends but wouldn't consider one another family.

But if Acts is the 'norm' for church life then we need to recapture this community. Interestingly at the same time various other things I have been reading or preaching on have reflected on nature of the gospel as a community call rather than a individual call. I am saved by faith in Christ but I am also called into the family of faith. It changes who I am because it calls me to be part of the family of Christ.

We have been advocating small groups and accountability partnerships for a while now as a means of building relationships and beating the gospel into one another's lives. Fascinatingly it seems as if money is the thing we find it hardest to be transparent and accountable with.

I was reminded of my need to continually go back to Calvary and the empty tomb to see there what my real treasure is and what is really of value. It is God's values that we his family are to reflect - people not possessions.

Brainwashing?

This is the new poster campaign from the British Humanist Society, it is a call to liberate children. Their call is for children to grow up in a theologically neutral envirnonment. They fail to recognise however that this is impossible and that they themselves effectively have religious views though they concern God not existing rather than his existing.

There is no such thing as a theological or philosophically neutral environment, just engage an atheist in discussion about whether God exists and you will see they are far from neutral. Indeed in the very act of publishing the poster they are trying to influence children and their upbringing in terms of beliefs.

5 Stocking Fillers

Here's 5 books which would make good stocking fillers this Christmas:

Dig Deeper, Beynon and Sach
Symphony of Scripture, Mark Strom
Finally Alive, John Piper
Counterfeit God's, Tim Keller
You Can Change, Tim Chester

All good easy to read books which will make you think about God, his word, or your response to both.

Christmas Services