No Mere Mortals

We've been recently thinking about sharing our faith in our small groups at church, and I realise how easily any worthwhile activity in this regard gets pushed out of my busy schedule. I recently found this quote from CS Lewis in his book The Weight of Glory which really helped re-focus my thinking:

The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour's glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all plays, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit -- immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.

New Beginnings

Having enjoyed a 2 week break over the Christmas holidays (one of the perks of being a teacher!) life at my school is well and truly in full swing. I have the immense privilege of leading a Scripture Union Club for 10 and 11 year old children, all of whom are not Christians, and we started back this week. We meet every Monday lunchtime, the gospel is presented to the group and we get to know each other through games and crafts. Throughout the year we’ve looked at a number of Jesus’ miracles as well as related the Bible to different life issues the children face.

At the outset of a New Year, I thought it would be good to look at new beginnings, focusing on Paul and the transformation that took place in his life, when Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. At the end of our time together, the children were really surprised that Paul used to persecute Christians and throw them into prison. Even more so, they were really shocked to hear that many Christians around the world today, face a similar plight.

I am continually amazed at how little knowledge (if any) these children have of Jesus. With this in mind, let’s keep praying for the witness of Christian teachers and children in schools. Let’s ask God to fill them with the power of the Holy Spirit that is promised in Acts 1v8, (Charlotte Chapel’s verse for the year) enabling them to be His witnesses, in an environment that is hugely ignorant of the gospel.

Bring Back the Lions!

Yesterday, Glasgow's Sunday Herald ran a feature story, "On a Hymn and a Prayer" looking at "who are the 21st Century faithful and where do they worship?" The article, written by "lapsed Christian Vicky Allan" looked at five churches in Edinburgh on a quest to "find out more about those who have resisted the trend towards secularity." Featured predominantly, was our own church, Charlotte Chapel. Our pastor, Peter Grainger was quoted extensively regarding the nature and role of the church in today's society. Peter commented:

"We are living in a post-Christian society now, where I think the church thrives best. Christendom is a very mixed blessing, where you impose religion on people. So all this stuff about attacking Christians in the media and Christian Unions, I think that's good. We'll all have to stand up and be counted rather than waffling along. Bring back the lions."

Overall, the article was surprisingly positive stating that: "none of the services I attended gives any indication that this is a religion in decline. There is a vibrancy, a sense of solidarity against the rest of the world. Indeed, sometimes it seems that these modern-day church-goers revel in their outsiderness."

Perhaps, in the words of Ms Allan "it is the strident singing, the way the Pastor, Peter Grainger, stands in his pulpit swaying as a four voice choir acts as a backing group, that makes Charlotte Chapel the most successful church in Edinburgh. It's the welcome you get as you sit in a pew and the student nurse next to you turns and introduces her friends. Or perhaps it is the sermons: long, challenging affairs lasting almost an hour."

However, this near perfect report did have one blemish. Allan admits to finding somethings difficult, in particular those three out of the five churches who "have not embraced the idea of women as church leaders or preachers, relegating them, instead, to other roles...This in itself feels significantly out of touch with the times." And yet, should we view this in such negativity? I'm inclined not to think so. Perhaps to add to Ms Allan's list, the reason why those three out of five churches are "bucking the contemporary trend" is because they are taking seriously God's Word to live conspicuously in our world and to embrace what it truly means to be men and women, made in God's image who live and work as He intended.

Neverthless, this should make us reflect on two things. (1) The issue of biblical manhood and womanhood is not only a church issue, but an evangelistic one. In other words, the complementarian position is for many secular women what apologists call a "defeater" - that is, any belief that hinders someone from considering the central beliefs of Christianity. Thus, we must be well versed on why we believe what we believe on this matter.

(2) Nonetheless, it is vital that we don't simply abandon the biblical teaching of womanhood for the sake of gaining a perfect 10/10 or to "seemingly" make our evangelism easier. The history of many liberal churches shows that when we start to pick and choose between passages that are acceptable to modern ears, very soon our confidence in the Word of God is diminished and the Gospel is lost.

Mission Focussed

This past weekend our church focussed on missions and we were privileged to have John Brand, the UK director of the Africa Inland Mission speak at our Sunday services. I have to confess that often I find mission services uncomfortable and challenging and this one was no exception. John Brand's message in the morning was entitled "Take an i test" and he explored Matthew 9:36-38, with three main points: "Are you informed?", "Are you impacted?" and "Are you involved?".

He asked us if we made an effort to keep abreast of what is going on in other nations. In particular, do we have a copy of "Operation World" and do we use it? At this point, I had to think to myself, "Now which shelf is our copy on?". He went on to ask if what we read or hear about other nations has an impact on us or do we let it wash over us - does it change the way we pray, give or spend our time? Thirdly, we are all called to be involved in mission work, without exceptions. Obviously, not all of us will go to work overseas, but have we given this possibility serious consideration? If we do not go ourselves, are we following Christ's command in Matthew 9:38 and praying that labourers will be sent out? Are we giving sacrificially of our time and money?

My first reaction to these challenges was to feel that I barely have time to pray for the needs of those immediately around me so I struggle to pray for mission work more than once in a while. But as with so many things, it comes down to discipline. Can I honestly say I don't have a spare 5 or 10 minutes each day to bring the work of missions before God in prayer?

I've been trying to think of ways I can do this, and one thing I am now doing is praying for our missionaries with my two year old daughter - we've been going two days now and so far so good! Yesterday, we got the atlas out and looked for the country that one of our missionaries works in. We talked about how she got there and what she is doing. Then we prayed a short prayer for her. I'm also going to get my copy of Operation World off the shelf and put it in the kitchen, so I can read it and pray while I'm making dinner or clearing up. If you don't have a copy of Operation World, you can go to their website for information on today's country.

Your life circumstances are no doubt different from mine, but we are all called to be involved in mission work, even if we stay at home.

"Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest." Matt 9:38

Above All Earthly Powers

Today's post, as you will see, is not exclusively for women but valuable for all believers. Recently, the 2006 Desiring God conference took place: Above All Earthly Powers featured a superb line up of speakers including D.A. Carson, Tim Keller, David Wells, Voddie Baucham, Mark Driscoll and John Piper.

The general theme is how we proclaim Christ in a postmodern world. Some highlights include a talk on 21st century evangelism by Tim Keller, and two panel discussions dealing with this same theme. Among the other talks, Carson (profound), Driscoll (amusing), and Piper (enthused) are well worth a listen. If you don't have time to listen to the talk in full, listen to some of the highlights of each talk, courtesy of Desiring God.

David Wells

"The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World"

> Christ's Supremacy In The New Testament
> Christianity Is Becoming De-Westernized
> Fear In The West Is Not Of Being Unsafe, But Unsuccessful
> Risk In The West Is Not Of Danger, But Distraction
> Contextualisation And Foreign Missions
> Contextualisation And Preaching
> What Christianity Has To Offer

Voddie Baucham

"The Supremacy of Christ and Truth in a Postmodern World"

> Four Questions Everybody Asks
> Question #1: Who Am I?
> Question #2: Why Am I Here?
> Question #3: What Is Wrong With The World?
> Question #4: How Can What's Wrong Be Made Right?
> The Supremacy Of Christ In Education
> Argue For The Bible From The Bible
> The Risk In Racial Diversity
> Racism In Christian Cultures

Tim Keller

"The Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel in a Postmodern World"

> All Theology Has To Be An Exposition Of The Gospel
> If You Think You Understand The Gospel, You Don't
> The Gospel Must Be Urbanized To Reach The Culture
> Contextualisation makes The Gospel Plausible
> We Must Confront Unbelievers With Compassion
> Argue Against A False Worldview Using Its Presuppositions

Mark Driscoll

"The Supremacy of Christ and the Church in a Postmodern World"

> The Bible Is True For Everybody
> Without The Virgin Birth There Is No Jesus
> Christ's Death Saves Us From God
> Jesus Is The Only Way To God
> We Must Stress Both Christ's Humanity And His Divinity
> Everybody Believes In Hell
> Contextualising The Theology We Contend For
> John Calvin's Contextualisation
> Relativism vs. Relevantism

D.A. Carson

"The Supremacy of Christ and Love in a Postmodern World"

> Encouragment To Press On When You Feel Unsuccessful
> The Value Of Preachers Listening To Other Preachers
> How To Contextualise A Church Service
> Christian Unity Shows The World What God Is Like
> We Must Know Truth To Be Holy

John Piper

"The Supremacy of Christ and Joy in a Postmodern World"

> Encouragement For Pastors Of Small Churches
> Missions And Seeker-Sensitive Contextualisation
> The Personal Effect Of Writing What Jesus Demands From The World
> Affection For Emergents
> The Supremacy Of Christ And Joy In A Postmodern World: Short Version
> Why You Should Be Happy That You Are Less Valuable Than God

Speaker Panel
Various

A Conversation with the Pastors
Various

You can also watch video of the speaker interviews here