🎉Cyber Week Sale: Get 30% Off Everything!
|
Steve Jobs founder of Apple Computer, technological visionary and business genius and who died today. Apple products are owned by perhaps 300 million people worldwide. From his commencement speech at Stanford University 2005: "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.'' "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.'' "Stay hungry, stay foolish." |
The Apostle Paul, theological visionary and passionate preacher who died, probably executed, sometime in the 1st Century. The faith he sought to bring to the non-Jewish world is adhered to by almost a third of the world's population - over 2 billion people. From the Letter to the Philippians For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. (3 v 10-11) "For me to live is Christ to die is gain" (1 v 21) "But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (3 v 13-14) |
At the church I go to, some people shriek and shout their way through the songs. Others shout out things or snort loudly during the sermon. Still others need some restraint to stop them lashing out at others.
No, it's not the latest brand of "spiritual phenomena" that has hit South West London. It's just that we decided many years ago as a church that we needed to integrate people who live with profound learning disabilities into our church life. So at the youth group, in the children's groups and in the main meetings we have a sprinkling of folk with Downs Syndrome and cerebral palsy who take part in our regular worship. While there have been challenges, I have to confess that this has been a great choice for us all, and for the families who are caring for them.
But it raises an important theological question. Of course our Christian response to learning disability is to simply show love and compassion for their physical and emotional wellbeing, and for the families that are often under great stress. But how should we think about their spiritual needs? How should we explain the Gospel to them and encourage a response in the way we would any other?
I admit to confusion on the issue, which is why I am looking forward to next weeks' Evangelists' conferences, where one of the seminars is about sharing the Gospel with people with learning disabilities. Tony Phelps Jones from Prospects will be helping us think through some big issues.
If this is an issue of concern to you too, then do join us for what promises to be a stimulating and insightful day.
Book for the conference here.
And if you really can't get there do check this blog in the coming weeks for some great tips from the other excellent seminars being run.
22% of people in the UK live in an income poor household.
In a way, that’s a shocking statistic for a supposedly wealthy and developed country. But Christians shouldn’t be that surprised—after all, Jesus Himself reminded us of the reality that there will always be “the poor” (John 12 v 8). And the Bible commands us to do something about that—to provide for those who are struggling (Leviticus 25 v 34-36).
That’s a statistic, a reality and a command one church in Speke, Liverpool—one of the most deprived areas of the UK—is taking seriously. And the world is noticing. Have a read of this BBC article. And do pray for Steve Casey, the pastor, and his congregation as they seek to show and speak of Christ to some of that 22%.
The news story of the Christian farmer in Northern Ireland who asked pop star Rihanna to stop stripping off in one of his fields has provided an interesting commentary on British culture, in two ways.
First, this is what Alan Graham said: “I wish no ill will against Rihanna and her friends. Perhaps they could acquaint themselves with a greater God. Everybody needs to be acquainted with God and to consider his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his death and Resurrection. That’s where people find real contentment.”
Yesterday (Tuesday), you could find this testimony to the truth and effect of the gospel message on the BBC website. By today, it’s been cut. You won’t find the Christian part of his interview on the Beeb anymore (The Daily Telegraph have most of the part that mentions the gospel).
What matters to our national (unbiased) broadcaster is what this guy said—but not why he said it. Have you noticed how when a Christian is interviewed, the interviewer tends to jump in and interrupt whenever the dreaded word “Jesus” is mentioned?
Second, Radio FiveLive yesterday interviewed Andrea McVeigh, a Northern Irish freelance entertainment journalist, who said: “Everyone was incredibly proud [about Rihanna filming in Northern Ireland], and then we woke up this morning absolutely mortified and being laughed at by the rest of the world.
“This is a very religious man—he wasn’t making any sort of feminist statement. It’s hugely embarrassing for everyone else here.”
(You can listen to her here, go to 2:57:18.)I don’t often shout at the radio—but I must confess I did have a word with Andrea. She wasn’t simply disagreeing with Mr Graham’s views—she was embarrassed by them. She didn’t engage with Mr Graham’s reasons—she just suggested he was old and out-of-touch. If he’d done the same thing because he was a feminist, that would have been OK—but his Christian principles, which he applied on his own land, are now “mortifying” and “embarrassing”.
The cultural shift is this—it’s no longer simply seen as strange to live as a Christian—it’s seen as stupid, and shameful.
Mr Graham, I don’t know if you read this blog. But if you do, thank you for standing up for Jesus Christ in what you did and said. And please know we are thanking God that you were not ashamed of the gospel—the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
Book for the Southampton Conference - Saturday, 8 October
Book for the London Conference - Saturday, 19 November
For more information please get in touch.
God's Spirit continues to do amazing things in China (and the rest of Asia, and Africa)—though it's only rarely reported by this country's media.
But the Radio 4's going to have a documentary tonight at 8pm: "God in China, Christianity and Catholicism". There's an article about the Chinese churches here.
The thrust of the piece is to suggest tentatively that it's not poverty that is driving Chinese people into church buildings (or houses, since most Chinese Christians meet underground and illegally in a house), but economic growth. Could it be that as China sees more and more of the idol of wealth, more and more Chinese realise that it won't deliver… and are turning to the only God who will?
Some highlights:
All this matters for us as Christians in the UK. Firstly because the gospel is still doing its work in the 21st century, despite those who think Christianity is on the way out.
But second, because one of the underlying assumptions of aggressive atheists and secularists is that religion is for backward-looking, unthinking, poverty-stricken people: not for developed, sensible societies. Which is, of course, why the USA has proportionately far more wealth and far more Christians than the UK, and why it turns out that China, the fastest-growing economy in the world, is also the fastest-growing church in the world…
"I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb" (Revelation 7 v 9). Looks like a lot of members of that heavenly church service will be Chinese!
It’s that time of year again. Many children are about to start a new term, a new class, maybe even a new school. And Christian parents and friends up and down the land are praying hard.
Many are praying for good friendships to be formed. Others for academic or sporting success. A few are pleading for the end of bullying or a greater ability to cope with the many pressures of school life.
But over all these personal hopes and fears, it’s great to take a moment to pray through these verses.
The LORD … established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so that the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. [Psalm 78:5-7]
They are fantastic verses that remind us of God’s priorities. So why not take the opportunity right now to think about your own children or the children in your congregation:
A great, biblical response to the looting from Mike Ovey of Oak Hill College.
But the liberal and the diehard both seem to see the looters as profoundly other, patronisingly in the one case, demonisingly in the other. The thought is that the looters are not like us.
http://oakhill.ac.uk/commentary/11_summer/looters_them_or_us.html
In the aftermath of the recent riots, Christians in the UK are starting to grapple with some big questions: How do we explain the violence that has blighted our cities? How do we respond to the needs of our communities? How can we encourage those who have been affected?
As ever, two schools of thought are gradually emerging: One focuses on the spiritual – the need for prayer and gospel proclamation in urban centres. The other on the practical – calling Christians to get involved in the clean-up operations and community-building exercises underway. But to be truly biblical we need to draw those strands together...
Today we need to have a Bible in one hand and a broom in the other as we intercede for our nation.
When our neighbours are hurting, it is right that we roll up our sleeves and offer assistance. In the wake of a violent attack, the Good Samaritan offered first-aid, shelter and financial support to a stranger on the street (Luke 10:25-37). John says that giving to those in need is a natural outworking of our love for a loving God (1John 3:16-18). We need to be proactive in supporting those who are suffering now.
But the gospel is far more profound and transformational than social action alone. The gospel makes sense of the recent carnage by exposing the sin in human hearts (Romans 3:9-18). It points, comfortingly, to a God who is sovereign and has a solution to the pain of this world (Romans 8:22-25). It teaches us reconciliation and true community as we live in light of the cross (1Peter 3:8-12). And it holds out the possibility of real change as people put off the old self and put on the new (Ephesians 4:22-24). Truths that need to ring out today.
So let us encourage one another to be people of Bibles and brooms. And if you have a story to tell about how your church is getting involved in the aftermath of the riots do share it (briefly) so we can all be praying for you today ...
