Restless Wonderer

Anyone fed up with masks? As gospel people we should recognise the dangers of masks of both the physical and the psychological types. We hark back to the innocence of Eden, when all could be uncovered without shame (Genesis 2:25). We long for the restored innocence of the new creation, when everything will be laid bare as it already is in the sight of God (Hebrews 4:13; 2 Peter 3:10). In the middle, we look to the man who revealed the fullness of God to us in bodily form (Colossians 1:19) and who was exposed to all who passed by on the cross for our sins. It is right that we want to be without masks. In the unhindered gaze on a person’s face or the unhurried listen to a person’s heart we find intimacy and we can become instruments of healing in God’s hands. Think how often the Lord Jesus paused to look someone in the face and how tenderly He engaged with broken people at the level of their hearts’ longings. We who follow Him should long for the same. His way is the path of all minis...

Sometimes (not always) a week has a theme.  This week did for me. Not as some weeks do because you spend them doing mostly one thing, but because a common factor emerged in numerous conversations with Christian leaders of different ages, theological persuasions and ministry spheres.  The theme was how our evangelical systems often promote the wrong kind of people into positions of leadership and influence. That might sound like sour grapes from jealous people, but these were all, in my estimation, godly servants of Christ with significant gifts to offer to the Church and God’s mission.   And we have had enough exposés of high-profile leadership abuses in recent years to substantiate their concerns. Each of these people, in one way or another, had experienced mistreatment or injustice within evangelical organisations. I wish I could say these were the few unusual cases, but they aren’t. Many evangelical organisations, and much of the subculture that surrounds them, ar...

One of the unusual things about preaching in various different churches is that I find myself having to preach under a title and on a passage I didn’t choose. Sometimes when I begin my preparation, I get a wobble of thinking there won’t be anything helpful for me to draw out of this obscure story or lesser-known psalm. I really must stop that, though, as invariably when I get started in earnest I find more in there than I can fit into a single sermon. That’s certainly the case with Psalm 111, which is my assigned passage for this coming Sunday in Belfast Chinese Christian Church. I still have the challenge of working out how to preach by translation into Mandarin (morning) and Cantonese (afternoon) but I’m not short of material and I’m feeling challenged by the passage myself, which is always the best place to preach from. Psalm 111 is an acrostic poem, meaning that each line begins with a sequential letter of the Hebrew alphabet (already a challenge to explain in a non-alphabetic la...

  Pondering what to write for an article in this week's bulletin of the congregation I'm a member of, I stumbled upon something I never knew.  Today is a special date.  It is … [drumroll] … National Handwriting Day [fanfare].  Who knew that 23 rd January is the day to celebrate the diversity and beauty of hand-written script? In my original profession, there wasn’t much to celebrate (apologies to fellow medics!) and things have not improved since I left it behind. Barring occasional signatures, I write with a keyboard, not a pen. The resulting letters are legible (even if not always rightly ordered!) and uniform (how boring!) There’s something sad about this loss of individuality. I’m sure you’ll agree that hand-written letters connect with the heart in a special way. A person’s personality and passions are conveyed in their handwriting. The apostle Paul knew this. He made a habit of adding a handwritten greeting to his letters, the bulk of which were written do...

At New Horizon in Coleraine next week I'll be working with Valerie Murphy (formerly of Precept Ministries NI) to deliver three seminars under the title 'The Bible the Jesus Way'.  Our aim is to learn from Jesus how to trust, hear and obey God's word in the Scriptures.  If you're free to come to Coleraine why not join us in these seminars from Tuesday to Thursday?  Each day I'll be speaking about Jesus' teaching on and use of Scripture then Valerie will lead a guided study of a related passage.  There'll be plenty of time for questions and feedback. Over the next few weeks I'll be blogging on this same theme of The Bible the Jesus Way.  As I do that I'll come back to this post and add links to each post.  I'm convinced that there is no greater need for Christians today than to have confidence in the Scriptures.  Confidence that they are the Word of God, living and powerful.  Confidence that they can be understood and are relevant to lives ...

One week on from the momentous vote and a single word captures the mood of the nation: ‘uncertainty’.  Uncertainty about future relationships with Europe, our economic stability and the internal cohesion of the United Kingdom.  How are Christians supposed to respond?  One theologically-loaded word that resonated around the debates before the referendum is ‘sovereignty’.  The brexiteers’ slogan was “Take back control” and some have hailed the result as a demonstration of democracy in action – the people have spoken!  Apart from obvious questions about when we will exit and on what terms, the phrase “the people have spoken” is tricky.  Which people?  What about parts of the UK where clear majorities voted to stay?   What about all those who voted ‘remain’ (including 46.6% in England)?  What about those who didn’t vote at all?  How do we cope with the facts that older people were more likely to vote ‘leave’ while a majority of young...

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. The gospel of God’s grace, when grasped fully, poses a serious question about sin.  If God has forgiven our sins on the basis of Christ’s death in our place, why shouldn’t we keep on sinning?  Why should we live differently?  Indeed, why not sin more so that God’s grace can increase?  Paul anticipates these questions in Romans 6.  Faced with this challenge he does not retreat at all from his confidence in our standing in God’s grace through Christ.  Rather, he points his readers back to their baptism and reminds them that it was a re-enactment of the gospel, a tangible parable of death and resurrection.  We died with Christ and now we live a new life with Him. Paul’s teaching is sometimes misunderstood.  How can he say that our old self is dead?  If that’s tru...

A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. Most people know that Jesus taught us to love one another.  In John 13 he describes this as a ‘new command’.  What is new, or fresh, about this commandment is not so much its content as its point of reference.  The Old Testament Law, contrary to common perceptions, was really an embodiment of love.  It was given by a loving God to the people He had graciously redeemed from slavery in Egypt in order to forge them into a theocratic nation, a people of His very own who would enjoy His blessings and demonstrate His character to the nations.  The Law was also intended to draw individual Israelites into a loving relationship with God, by showing them their sin and providing the sacrificial system on the basis of which they could seek His forgiveness and express their gratitude to Him. Not only did the Law express God’s love for His people, it was also intended to guide ...

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. Covenants are powerful things.  They are binding relationships between two parties, consisting of promises and expected responses and usually accompanied by a sign to serve as a reminder.  I am in a covenant relationship with my wife, indicated by the ring round one of my fingers – the one I use as I write this, somewhat strangely since I type with only two fingers, to hit the ‘Shift’ key.  I am bound to Gar-Ling for life, to be faithful to her and to help her to be the person God wants her to be.  She made similar promises to me too.  That kind of covenant I can understand and I’m incredibly thankful for it, but when I begin to translate that experience into the nature of God’s relationship with His people my mind begins to boggle.  How can the eternal God, creator of all things, sovereign and all-powerful, bind Himself...

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, “The old is better.” I know nothing about wine.  I know some is red and some is white, but I haven’t a clue what the difference is between a Shiraz and a Merlot (even those names sound more like characters from fairytales to me).  I have been known to drink the occasional glass of wine, but I’m virtually teetotal most of the time except for the tiny sip of red wine I take once a week when celebrating communion.  What I’m saying is that I wouldn’t have a clue what good wine is.  I’m not the kind of person Jesus envisages in this brief parable. In the culture Jesus inhabited, wine was a staple of the diet, partly because water was unsafe and partly because grapes grew abundantly in the climate....

  And He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” What a verse to start a new series with!  This is one of those verses that PhD theses could be based on, such are the debates about its exact meaning.  Leaving aside the finer nuances of meaning, however, the basic thrust of the verse is quite clear.  Encountering, discovering and entering God’s kingdom changes everything and opens up a new world of understanding that must be shared with others. The scribes were a distinct group within the Jewish community of Jesus time who were experts in the Old Testament Law and specialised in teaching it to others.  Jesus taught many things to His disciples and in Matthew 13:51 He asks them whether they have understood His parables.  They respond simply “Yes” and this verse is Jesus’ response to their confident...

And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” When Jesus began His public ministry it didn’t take long for people to figure out that something new was happening.  He boldly declared that God’s kingdom had come near.  The reign of God over all that He had created, which all devout Jews believed to be real and unchanging, was no longer going to be hidden – it would be revealed for all to see.  The prophets had spoken of the day when a new king in David’s line, God’s anointed One (the Messiah), would establish a kingdom in which God’s true purpose for creation would be fulfilled.  In that kingdom all that was wrong would be put right.  The glory of God, so evident in the Law they prized would emanate from Jerusalem to the nations. Jesus came declaring the kingdom and He called people to repent and believe the good news...

I think this series was inspired by thinking about the New Year, although I realise that by the time the first instalment is posted more than half of January 2016 will have passed.  Still, I hope my reflections on New Testament references to new things will be helpful.  In Matthew 19:28, Jesus refers to the “renewal of all things”, a future time of judgement when those who have followed Him will be rewarded for the sacrifices they have made in the present.  The Greek word here translated as “renewal” could also be translated “regeneration”, a word that theologians more commonly associate with the salvation of individuals, as it is used in Titus 3:5.  The amazing truth Jesus presents here is that the whole universe will be born again at the future time when He returns in glory, just as individuals who believe in Him are born again in this present age. The renewal of all things is a future hope for the Christian – we know that it cannot occur until Christ retu...

Few gifts really change your life.  Advertisers aim to convince you that the thing they want to sell is something you want.  The best adverts go further, persuading you that what you want is actually something you need.  Ignorance becomes desire, which becomes longing.  The Old Testament prophets who foretold the future day of God’s deliverance generated longing among Israel’s faithful.  Yet centuries of dashed hopes and false starts that followed the return of a remnant from Babylonian exile made their prophecies sound like a breach of the Trades Description Act.  You said we’d have God’s universal peace – instead we’ve got the so-called ‘Roman peace’.  We want our money back! There were those in Israel who held stubbornly to hope and Simeon was one.  Indeed God had given him a special revelation that he would not die without seeing the Messianic Age.  As Mary and Joseph brought the baby into the Temple, the Spirit brought Simeon. ...

You’ve probably experienced the scenario of the unwanted Christmas present.  The sinking feeling and feigned gratitude as the paper falls away to reveal another pair of socks, bottle of smelly stuff or saggy hand-knitted jumper.  Or the hollowness in someone’s eyes as they mumble that your gift really will be useful.  Unwanted gifts often reflect on the giver – a lack of understanding (‘I’m sure he’ll like this – I would’) or simply desperation (‘I’ve got to give her something!’).  Occasionally, though, they reflect something wrong in the recipient – lack of self-awareness (‘If only they knew it, this is just what they really need’) or ingratitude born from resentment (‘I don’t want anything from him!’)  So it was with King Herod. Herod’s image as the pantomime villain of the nativity play is largely supported by the historical sources.  This king of Judea, a client of the Romans, was ruthless, opportunistic and megalomaniacal, his one redeeming fe...

There is an art to wrapping Christmas presents and I don’t have it!  My wife does.  What she can do with a sheet of paper, a ribbon and a pair of scissors never ceases to amaze me.  I remember ‘earning’ a badge for wrapping books in the uniformed youth organisation I attended, but I suspect now that either there was some corruption in the system or that my leaders were men of great pity. Mary is one of the most outstanding figures in Scripture.  She is a model of prayer, praise, meditation and adoration.  She is not to be venerated, but her example can certainly be emulated.  The part of Mary in the incarnation is both passive and active.  In one sense she simply had to accept what God had planned – her simple response was the heart of all true prayer, the words of God's servant: "let it be to me according to your word".  She didn’t make the baby grow – what mother does? She was, in one sense, the wrapping of the present, the protective shell a...

In the nativity plays Joseph is often a bit of an ‘extra’ – it’s not quite clear what he’s for.  Admittedly, he didn’t have a part directly in Jesus’ conception or birth, but if Jesus was God’s gift then Joseph was the delivery man.  Joseph was spoken to by God through dreams four times: first to assure him that he should take the pregnant girl to be his wife; then to warn him to flee to Egypt in the face of the treachery of the false king Herod; and finally twice to tell him to return to Israel and specifically to Nazareth.  As the delivery man, it is Joseph who makes sure that God’s gift gets on time to where it needs to be – Bethlehem, Egypt, Nazareth. There is more than a passing resemblance between Mary’s husband and his ancient namesake, the son of Jacob (see Genesis 37-50).  Both were spoken to in dreams and went to Egypt in order to rescue God’s people through their simple trust, their integrity of character and their obedience in the face of opposition....

It’s not even December and I can’t escape the constant chitter chatter about what to get for Christmas.  My children are running around with Argos catalogues, wanting to write their lists, and my inbox is bulging with marketing emails.  To add to my woes, two words which I refuse to name and which, until a couple of years ago, I had never associated with one another – black is a colour I had traditionally reserved for Mondays – have now become unavoidable. Amidst all this hype I can’t think of a single item I want for Christmas, which probably says more about the plenty I live in than any virtue of my heart.  Of course, I don’t have everything and I am not ‘rich’ by the standards of this country, but when I step back and consider how much stuff I possess compared to all previous generations it is quite staggering.  We twenty-first century Westerners, it seems to me, are materially rich, yet relationally and spiritually poor.  We know the price of everything...

Silence and speech; emptiness and meaning.  These may seem like opposites, but Psalm 19 suggests otherwise.  In this psalm, one of the most beautiful examples of Hebrew poetry, David describes God’s revelation of Himself, firstly through nature and then through words.  The psalm opens with the declaration that the heavens and sky declare God’s glory and creativity.  We might expect David to focus on the heavenly beings – sun, moon and stars – and, indeed, in verses 4-6 he does describe the sun’s majesty, but in verses 1-3 it is the empty space of the sky that is said to have meaning.  The silent expanse of emptiness is speaking – spreading it’s message of a glorious creator across the globe.  As the sun bursts like a resplendent bridegroom into the sky it simply magnifies what would still be evident if it never rose.  Creation is pointing to creator. Yet powerful as this general revelation in creation may be – and many people have been led by thei...

Contentment is a rare quality.  Personally speaking, I struggle a lot with restlessness – a feeling that I’ve not yet settled down and that there is more to achieve.  Others may struggle with the same emotion but in relation to something else – wanting to have more or to experience more.  I’ve no doubt that some of my restlessness is healthy – it arises from that deep sense that this world is not our ultimate home, that we are made for God and for the new creation He will reveal when Christ returns.  At the same time, however, I could too easily make that a rationalisation for a kind of discontent that is destructive and, frankly, ungodly.  In Psalm 16 David points to three things in which he delights.  These lead him to a place of satisfaction in the present at the same time as trusting in God for his ultimate, eternal future.  As you read through this psalm, two of the sources of delight are obvious – in verse 3 David says he delights in God’s h...