The Friday Fought

It's time to hand over the reins to Brian and Becca

2011-08-19T13:51:00.004+01:00

In this situation John’s words to Gaius couldn’t be more relevant:

Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. (3 John 5-6)

What might that mean in practice? Sending them a note to welcome them (email me for their address), getting them over for meal, encouraging them at every opportunity, being patient when they make mistakes, resolving never to speak negatively about them behind their backs, slipping a bar of chocolate into their bag at Forum…

This is not just a nice thing to do. It’s a key mark - says John - of being authentic, truth loving, Christians. Here’s a talk that explains why.

Huge thanks for all the love you’ve shown me (and my family: Claire had the massage this week and LOVED IT, Charlie adores his yellow T Shirt – “it’s from the students” he proudly says) these past five years.

That’s all from the Friday Fought. Keep in touch!

God can't use you until he breaks you

2011-08-12T10:00:00.001+01:00

An old spiritual classic says that the Christian life really begins when we understand by hard experience that "apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). It's a verse many of us have memorized and can quote at the drop of a hat. But it rarely becomes real in practice until we encounter an overwhelming crisis that pushes us to the end of our own resources.... If we are honest, we have to admit that our personal relationships are often driven by what we want and need from others, not by a genuinely unselfish love for them. Even our efforts at Christian ministry are often motivated more by personal zeal and ambition than by God's Spirit. And the greater our natural zeal, the greater the crisis God has to allow in order to bring us to the end of our rope. Only after dying to everything we have ever lived for do we genuinely come to believe, as a practical reality, that "apart from me you can do nothing." And only then can God really pour His life and power into our work.

Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth, p.363.

HT: Ed Shaw

Pray for us at "Romsey 3" this week starting tomorrow

2011-08-05T10:00:00.000+01:00

I helping out with the Taskforce and leading some sessions on prayer.

Please pray that we'd be convinced, as Keller so helpfully says, that "prayer is our life".

The surpassing greatness of knowing Christ

2011-07-29T16:47:00.004+01:00

A service from the Keswick Convention was played on Radio 4 last Sunday. Helen Rosevere’s testimony (9.50mins in) is well worth a listen. Converted as a student at Cambridge and subsequently a missionary in Africa, what comes across most of all is her love for the Lord Jesus. It is so refreshing to hear.

She suffered a great deal in her ministry. At one point she is asked “Was it worth it?”

Her answer is stunning.

People talk about cost.

There isn’t any cost.

It is all privilege.

To be saved is privilege.

To be invited to serve him is privilege...

She goes on to detail some of the horrific things that have happened to her. But what’s clear is that she means what she says. She counts her suffering as nothing compared to the supreme value of knowing Christ. And her devotion for him is so real, you can almost feel it.

Oh, that the students in Bristol would know Jesus in a similar way! Let’s pray it would be so.

Sin is selfishness

2011-07-22T09:00:00.001+01:00

Very rarely has a single truth been so illuminating. But ever since I read Paul Tripp’s outstanding “So what did you expect” I’ve been cut to the core about my sin. In the book he makes the simple point that the essence of sin is selfishness. It is self love. It is seeking to advance my kingdom rather than God’s.

It’s probably right to say that this simple truth isn’t the only definition of sin the Bible gives. But it’s true nonetheless and I find it immensely challenging. Everything I do – everything (including my work as a staff worker) – is shot through with self-concern.

One of the fruits of this insight has been a deeper appreciation for the cross. And for that I thank God. Like John Newton I can say with more conviction than ever before “I am a great sinner – [but] Christ is a great saviour”.

However, as is so often the way, the Lord has more to say.

I read BB Warfield’s Imitating the Incarnation last week and I was undone once again. In it Warfield unpacks the significance of the incarnation for us. He powerfully explains how Christ put no limits on the lengths he went to in order to serve us. And as a result Christ calls us to do the same for others.

What most struck me was Warfield’s answer to the charge “won’t such self-sacrifice make us morbid and introspective”. The whole of the final page is worth reading is worth reading. Here’s a snippet.

He was not led by His divine impulse out of the world, driven back into the recesses of His own soul to brood morbidly over His own needs, until to gain His own seemed worth all sacrifice to Him. He was led by His love for others into the world, to forget Himself in the needs of others, to sacrifice self once for all upon the altar of sympathy. Self-sacrifice brought Christ into the world. And self-sacrifice will lead us, His followers, not away from but into the midst of men. Wherever men suffer, there will we be to comfort. Wherever men strive, there will we be to help. Wherever men fail, there will be we to uplift. Wherever men succeed, there will we be to rejoice. Self-sacrifice means not indifference to our times and our fellows: it means absorption in them. It means forgetfulness of self in others. It means entering into every man’s hopes and fears, longings and despairs: it means manysidedness of spirit, multiform activity, multiplicity of sympathies. It means richness of development. It means not that we should live one life, but a thousand lives,—binding ourselves to a thousand souls by the filaments of so loving a sympathy that their lives become ours.

It’s a paradox. Self-sacrifice doesn’t diminish our life, it enriches it. So if you’re truly self interested you’ll stop at nothing to give your life away!

The Filing Cabinet God

2011-07-15T17:38:00.002+01:00

This post won’t be relevant to many. It’s mainly addressed to guys, who like me, have a habit of taking notes during sermons. I’m a big note taker – I try and capture everything that is said – mainly so that I can go back over the sermon later and review it. I don’t want to miss a thing!

However, more recently I’ve felt a bit unsettled by this habit. Maybe it’s because I’ve become aware that what lies beneath it is a heart that views God a bit like a mountain of information. Which means the more information I acquire and retain, the better my relationship with him will be.

But I’m forgetting God is not a filing cabinet! He’s a person. Sure, good relationships are built upon good communication, but they’re not simply about information transfer. So what if I do miss something juicy he tells me about himself, as his word is preached? He is sovereign. He’ll teach me some other time.

My greatest duty when to listening to a sermon is not to take notes but to receive what is said with a soft heart and obey it (Hebrews 3:7). Taking notes might be a helpful means to that end. But for me I think I’ve started to view it as an end in itself.

Last Sunday I did something different. I listened with a pen in hand. I jotted down one or two helpful things. Then afterwards, when there was a minute or so of quiet, I tried to write down what I was most impacted by in the sermon. For the rest of the week that truth has been bubbling round my head and heart. It’s been fantastic!

I’ve got Peter Mead to thank for this idea. He explains the rationale behind it far better than me here and here and here.

The acid test of love?

2011-07-08T10:25:00.001+01:00

Here's a fought from Douglas Wilson that has been buzzing round my head ever since I ran into it:

Don't assume your godliness because you sympathize with a friend in distress. Even the Gentiles do that. Try rejoicing in his success.

How noisy are your "quiet times"?

2011-07-01T10:21:00.002+01:00

Here’s a tip for anyone struggling in their prayer life at the moment: pray audibly! Only it’s not a tip – in the sense of a gimmick or a technique - it’s just “living evidence [that we have] an increasingly honest and significant relationship” with our Father in heaven. So argues David Powilson. It’s well worth a read.

Care more for a grain of faith than a ton of excitement

2011-06-24T14:43:00.003+01:00

Feeling low? Finding the Christian life to be a slog? Have a read of Spurgeon's "The Minister's Fainting Fits". His final paragraph contains some of the most stirring words I have ever read.

The lesson of wisdom is, be not dismayed by soul-trouble. Count it no strange thing, but a part of ordinary ministerial experience. Should the power of depression be more than ordinary, think not that all is over with your usefulness. Cast not away your confidence, for it hath great recompense of reward. Even if the enemy's foot be on your neck, expect to rise amid overthrow him. Cast the burden of the present, along with the sin of the past and the fear of the future, upon the Lord, who forsaketh not his saints. Live by the day—ay, by the hour. Put no trust in frames and feelings. Care more for a grain of faith than a ton of excitement. Trust in God alone, and lean not on the reeds of human help. Be not surprised when friends fail you: it is a failing world. Never count upon immutability in man: inconstancy you may reckon upon without fear of disappointment. The disciples of Jesus forsook him; be not amazed if your adherents wander away to other teachers: as they were not your all when with you, all is not gone from you with their departure. Serve God with all your might while the candle is burning, and then when it goes out for a season, you will have the less to regret. Be content to be nothing, for that is what you are. When your own emptiness is painfully forced upon your consciousness, chide yourself that you ever dreamed of being full, except in the Lord. Set small store by present rewards; be grateful for earnests by the way, but look for the recompensing joy hereafter. Continue, with double earnestness to serve your Lord when no visible result is before you. Any simpleton can follow the narrow path in the light: faith's rare wisdom enables us to march on in the dark with infallible accuracy, since she places her hand in that of her Great Guide. Between this and heaven there may be rougher weather yet, but it is all provided for by our covenant Head. In nothing let us be turned aside from the path which the divine call has urged us to pursue. Come fair or come foul, the pulpit is our watch-tower, and the ministry our warfare; be it ours, when we cannot see the face of our God, to trust under THE SHADOW OF HIS WINGS.

"Jim, I got a 2.2"

2011-06-17T21:17:00.001+01:00

A friend of mine got a 2.2 this week. He was really disappointed. He had wanted to do better. I let rip with a mini sermon over the phone. I wish I hadn’t. I wish I had just pointed him to Hebrews 13:5.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”.

According to this verse Massive Attack miss the point. In one of their songs (apologies I know I am showing how out of date I am with popular culture) they sing “Money, money, money root of all evil”. It’s not money that’s the problem it’s the love of money that should scare us. Both money and honours degrees are good gifts from God. Gifts to be received with thanksgiving - not gods to be loved.

The writer of the Hebrews knows why we idolise money. Because of the deeper idol that lies beneath – the belief that money will bring us security. We think “If I have money I will be safe in life. I will come to no harm”. The writer of the Hebrews says disagrees. Safety and security come from God. Isn’t that glorious?

Keep your lives free from the love of a particular degree result and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”.

Let a righteous man strike me - it is a kindness

2011-06-10T18:44:00.002+01:00

Teaching on the cross this weekend. One of the thing we going to explore is how the cross frees us to welcome criticism. I've realized recently that I am far more happy to offer feedback than receive it! It's been a painful sign that the cross isn't functioning in my life! Check out Mahaney's wonderful series on receiving criticism - especailly "a kind and painful brusing"

Are you going on the Bristol CU weekend away?

2011-06-03T22:39:00.004+01:00

If you're a student at Bristol, this is for you.

What can I say? There's nothing I'd rather be doing on the 17th-19th of June than going on the CU houseparty. Let's make it a really great time of fellowship and learning. You can sign up now by going here.

In Roy, “We saw and met Jesus Christ”

2011-05-27T19:14:00.001+01:00

What would you like said about you in your obituary? I’d take what was written about Roy Leafe any day.

Paul says in Philippians: “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”

In our celebrity soaked culture – a culture that has invaded the church too – Roy’s example is just what young guns like us need!

No plans for the second week of August…?

2011-05-20T22:25:00.001+01:00

Then come and lend a hand at Romsey 3!

Romsey 3 is a pathfinder venture for children aged between 9-13. The aim is simple: we lay on as good a holiday as we possibly can for the children and at the same time teach them about the Lord Jesus. As you can imagine this is no walk in the park. We’re reliant on a whole team of volunteers to make it fly. And I’m particularly on the look out for students from Bristol and UWE to join me on the “taskforce” team.

We’re not a flashy bunch. We’re all at different stages of the Christian life. Everyone is welcome – all you need is a willingness to serve and to have a laugh.

So why not join us? Dates are 6th-13th August.

If you are up for coming get back to me asap because everyone who helps out needs to have a CRB check done and it takes a bit of time to get processed.

A new series of the Apprentice has begun. Is it worth watching?

2011-05-13T19:28:00.007+01:00

This quote I came across recently gave me pause for thought

The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable. (A Hunger for God by John Piper, page 14)

Kicking around Bristol on June 11th?

2011-05-06T22:55:00.003+01:00

If so, get yourself along to this. True, it's for blokes only, but it will be so good it might be worth buying a false moustache and coming along too if you're a girl.

Emmanuel guys - sadly this is a clash with our summer getaway, so we'll have to listen online later.

Evangelistic Lethargy

2011-04-29T10:00:00.001+01:00

I’m very aware at the moment of just how easily evangelism falls of my agenda. By this, I don’t mean to suggest that evangelism is something a Christian “does” in a purely a functional sort of a way – because, as we know, talking about Jesus is just a natural outflow of a life of worship – but nevertheless, it amazes me just how easy I find it to retreat from meaningful contact with friends who don’t believe in Jesus. This is certainly the case in my prayer life too. I find it far easier to pray for fellow Christians and their struggles, than I do for daily opportunities to share the gospel. I suppose if I was to diagnose my condition I’d have to say that by nature I’m “evangelistically lethargic”.

Which is why I love the intentionality of Bens Pfahlert’s idea of “10 in 2”. Like me, you might instinctively take issue with him putting such an emphasis on winning converts (rather than primarily being concerned for faithfulness: faithfulness in seizing opportunities to speak of Christ and leaving the number of converts to God) but in a way that’s what has caused this article to stick in my mind. He’s radically hands-on, because he’s radically hopeful. He has an expectancy of people coming to Christ. When I search my heart that expectancy isn’t there. As a result it’s probably no surprise I find myself suffering from this evangelistic lethargy.

It’s almost as though we need targets to wake us up and get us going. They give us something tangible to work for. Ben ends his article asking whether “10 in 2” might be for you. Your answer might be no, but could it be worth setting some sort of goal of your own that you can plan, pray and strive towards?

The gigantic person of Jesus Christ

2011-04-22T10:00:00.001+01:00

Isn't the good news of Jesus Christ spine tingling when you mull on it like this?

How is the Bible different from a prophecy you might receive from the Lord?

2011-04-15T20:36:00.002+01:00

Listen to Wayne Grudem’s answer here about 23 minutes into his interview with Mike Reeves.

Grudem is a thorough going charismatic and a powerful exponent of the sufficiency of scripture. I admire him hugely. What I enjoy most is his evident godliness – it’s almost as though the manner of his speaking as instructive as the content!

What is it with students in Bristol...?

2011-04-08T21:22:00.005+01:00

They always seem to leave things to the last minute!

Sorry I know that sounds harsh, but it seems to be the truth! Especially when it comes to conferences of weekends away.

So here's the deal on Forum. It usually sells out. Anyone who is a part of the CU is welcome. You don't need to have a specific role. Lots of people have told me they're coming. But so far only 6 have actually booked. If you do it before May 5th you get £10 off. So get cracking...

If you're in two minds about whether or not to go - read this.

Here's the latest promo. My favourite bit is the first 45 seconds. It features my good mate Kenny. In a way he embodies everything UCCF and Forum is about. Passion, warmth, seriousness and a gospel heart. Sadly he's no longer based in the South West. But he's started sharing quotes from the books he and another mate of mine, Will, are reading. Check it out. They haven't been doing it long and there's loads of gold there already.

There is nothing wrong in seeking to be praised

2011-04-01T22:59:00.007+01:00

Jesus says as much in John 5:44.

We were struggling to get our mind around this at SLOBS, and then I stumbled upon CS Lewis' The Weight of Glory, and was helped no end. Particularly by this section

I suddenly remembered that no one can enter heaven except as a child; and nothing is so obvious in a child—not in a conceited child, but in a good child—as its great and undisguisedpleasure in being praised. Not only in a child, either, but even in a dog or a horse. Apparently what I had mistaken for humility had, all these years. prevented me from understanding what is in fact the humblest, the most childlike, he most creaturely of pleasures—nay, the specific pleasure of the inferior: the pleasure a beast before men, a child before its father, a pupil before his teacher, a creature before its Creator. I am not forgetting how horribly this most innocent desire is parodied in our human ambitions, or how very quickly, in my own experience, the lawful pleasure of praise from those whom it was my duty to please turns into the deadly poison of self-admiration. But I thought I could detect a moment—a very, very short moment—before this happened, during which the satisfaction of having pleased those whom I rightly loved and rightly feared was pure. And that is enough to raise our thoughts to what may happen when the redeemed soul, beyond all hope and nearly beyond belief, learns at last that she has pleased Him whom she was created to please. There will be no room for vanity then. (Italics added)

Of course, the whole thing is worth reading. But if you only have a minute, just consider this paragraph towards the end. Lewis is making a different point - namely, why we should love our neighbour - he seems to almost throw it in for free as a bonus, but even so, his words are enough to make your spine tingle.

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 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 play, all politics. There are no ordinary people.

The Power of Incredulity – part 2

2011-03-25T16:55:00.008Z

Carson nicely explains why Gospel Incredulity matters…

If I have learned anything in 35 or 40 years of teaching, it is that students don’t learn everything I teach them. What they learn is what I am [most] excited about…

Go here to read the whole thing.

We’re studying Philippians in SLOBS at the moment and we see exactly this principle in Paul. His heart beats for Christ. His longing is to be with Christ. He counts everything else as a loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.

What excited Paul most was Christ himself! In light of this I guess it’s not hard to see why he was such an effective church planter and communicator of the gospel.

So... are you struggling to see any fruit in your evangelism at the moment?

If you are, join me in asking yourself the question “what are you currently most excited about?”

In case you haven’t seen it before, Tim Chester shows this very well diagrammatically.

The power of incredulity

2011-03-18T16:47:00.007Z

I’m not sure what it is about Pete Greasley, but at Forum South West he did it again. He never fails to have this effect on me. He helps me rediscover the wonder of the gospel again – or to be more specific – rediscover the wonder of justification by faith again.

“Rediscovering the gospel” is his phrase. It seems to be what his ministry is about. He suggests it is something we need to do everyday. And so last weekend he took us through Romans 4 and 5 for exactly that purpose. Here, here and here are his three talks (unfortunately the first one didn’t record –which was my favourite of the three – but the link is through to a previous time he gave talk at his church).

As I’ve reflected on why his teaching seems to be so potent I think there is only one explanation. He practices what he preaches. He embodies his message. So, for instance, in the first talk he talked us through how incredulous Abraham must have been when God told him he would have a son. Abraham was so old he was as good as dead. And Sarah… well, to use Pete’s expression, was a prune. The odds were stacked against them. There was seemingly no chance God would keep his promise. But he did! And God has done something even more amazing for us, who are Christians. Something we would never have thought possible. He justified us. He declared us righteous in his sight. Isn’t that incredible?!!

The thing is we so quickly lose that sense of incredulity when we think about the gospel. We take it for granted. But not Pete: incredulity at God’s magnificent grace radiates out of him. So his words have power.

I'm realize incredulity can literally mean "unbelieving". What I mean by it here is unbelieving awe - not in the sense that you doubt, just that in your wildest dreams you never thought such a thing could be possible, such that when that when you see that it is - you go "wow, this is unbelievable!!"

Anger: a key sign of a healthy CU

2011-03-04T10:00:00.001Z

We often think anger/tension/friction amongst each other at CU is a bad thing. It might be. But then again it might not. Peter Brain explains why

Since we are called to work out discipleship in close relationships, it should not surprise us in the least that anger-producing situations will be close at hand as we seek to serve together. Working with people takes time and energy, and the resulting tiredness can easily cause anger. Mutual ministry (which is what CU is all about!) means that we want people to express their opinions and make their contribution. This too can lead to friction. Since we want to encourage mature participation and not just a group of people who are yes-men (or women), we need to be able to handle anger, not to avoid or discourage people from expressing their opinion.
If anger is considered totally out of place in a Christian community, it will be “bad form” to express any contrary view, lest it lead to differences of opinion which may cause anger. “Arms length fellowship” is the only possible outcome. In this kind of fellowship, relationships become formal and polite, and superficial fellowship replaces close personal interaction. The source of life and vitality has been removed. (Going the Distance p86).

With whom do you express arms length fellowship with at CU?

“Weigh your words, young gun”

2011-02-25T22:44:00.002Z

This, I think, is what the Lord has been saying to me over recent weeks as I’ve been reading through Job (with the help of Carson’s For the Love of God).

The plot line of the book is well known. Job is a “blameless and upright man”, who experiences unimaginable suffering. How do his friends respond? They shoot they mouths of. It’s not that they say altogether wrong things about God. In fact much of what they say about Him is true. It’s just that they fail to apply those truths appropriately into Job’s life.

This has brought me up short. As a young gun, my head is full theological truths. And I can’t wait to dispense them when an opportunity arises. I guess I’m not alone is this: if you’re a keen-bean CU member you may notice the same tendency. Well, beware, lest you harm rather than help a struggling saint.

Carson’s comment is chilling

There is a way of using theology and theological arguments that wounds rather than heals. This is not the fault of theology and theological arguments; it is the fault of the “miserable comforter” who fastens on an inappropriate fragment of truth, or whose timing is off, or whose attitude is condescending, or whose application is insensitive, or whose true theology is couched in such culture-laden clichés that they grate rather than comfort. In times of extraordinary stress and loss, I have sometimes received great encouragement and wisdom from other believers; I have also sometimes received extraordinary blows from them, without any recognition on their part that that was what they were delivering. Miserable comforters were they all.
Such experiences, of course, drive me to wonder when I have wrongly handled the Word and caused similar pain.

Weigh your words, young gun.

Not got into your Bible that much recently?

2011-02-18T16:44:00.007Z

Watch this...

Kimyal New Testament launch in Indonesia from United Bible Societies on Vimeo.

The words of the LORD are pure words,like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. Psalm 12:6 (ESV)

Wycliffe Bible translators say there are 300 million people who still don't have access to a Bible in their own language. I'd imagine that at least one member of Bristol/UWE CU graduating this year will have the gifts suitable to be a Bible translator. Could you be that you?

The Praying Poor Man

2011-02-11T19:04:00.003Z

“This poor man called and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.” Psalm 34:6

Last summer I taught at a student weekend on the topic of prayer. As you’d expect, I found the process of preparing for it hugely invigorating for my own prayer life. But six months on, I’m sad to say the change hasn’t lasted as much as I might have hoped. As I’ve reflected on this, I’ve realised that pride may well be the cause. A proud, self reliant, “Jim’ll fix it” sort of a heart – will never be the heart of a praying man. Yet, that is exactly the way I’ve conditioned my heart to be. It doesn’t matter how much we know about the wonder of being able to talk to God as Father (we might even spend a whole weekend teaching on it!) the fact is that our prayer life will never be rich until we see ourselves rightly: as someone who is needy, dependant, or to use David’s expression above, a “poor man”. What a precious realisation I’ve found that to be! How counter cultural! Certainly, no healthy, self-respecting person wants to see themselves as a “poor man” – but it turns out that is the very persona of the prayerful Christian.

Am I my brother’s keeper?

2011-02-04T15:28:00.002Z

One of my favourite sermons at church last term was on Genesis 4. The bit that sent shivers down my spine was when the preacher repeated Cain’s question in verse 9: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” “Actually, yes” said the preacher; “you are”.

I find myself asking this question in my heart all the time. Not just of my biological brother, but of all my Christian brothers and sisters. All the time I find myself competing with and absolving myself of responsibility to care for my brothers and sisters. To distance myself from them and justifying it by saying to myself “Am I my brother’s keeper”?

The apostle John couldn’t be any clearer. We should “not be like Cain” he says (1 John 3:12). Such a hostile spirit is out of place within the Christian Unions (and Christian families too) because it is born of a hostility towards God. Listen to the sermon to hear more on this.

This verse has come to mind this week because last Friday at 10.08 our second son, Toby Benjamin, was born.

Am I my brother’s keeper? Yes Charlie, Yes Toby – you are indeed.

Little pigeons can carry great messages

2011-01-21T21:52:00.002Z

“If you want to do good in the world, the little word 'TRY' comes in again. There are plenty ways of serving God, and some that will fit you exactly as a key fits a lock. Don't hold back because you can't preach in St Paul's; be content to talk to one or two in a cottage; very good wheat grows in little fields. You may cook in small pots as well as in big ones. Little pigeons can carry great messages. Even a little dog can bark at a thief and wake up the master and save the house. A spark is fire. A sentence of truth has heaven in it. Do what you do right thoroughly, pray over it heartily and leave the result to God.” (Spurgeon)

Thanks for this Will

Scousers in Middle Earth; Hobbits in Merseyside

2011-01-14T09:30:00.000Z

An invitation from Alex, a good friend and Christian Persuaders Training and Communications Manager

Christian Persuaders: The Apprentice

Imagine you're riding towards Mordor with Aragorn, Gandalf and a hundred horseman at the end of Lord of the Rings. A rider approaches from the west, stops the cavalcade and cries 'Good News!'. Gandalf stops and signals the rider to speak. 'Good News my Lords! Kenny Dalgleish is the new manager of Liverpool!'

Imagine you're in a pub in Merseyside when the door opens and a short curly-haired fellow bounds in and cries 'Good News!'. A hushed silence falls as the blokes in red shirts turn round. 'Good News! Frodo has thrown the ring into Mount Doom!'

Does evangelism sometimes make us feel like Scousers in Middle Earth or Hobbits in Merseyside? What is so clearly Good News to us seems bizarre and irrelevant to our audience. What shall we do? Just memorize our Gospel outlines and shout louder? Drop the Biblical Gospel and present something that itching ears want to hear?

Paul became 'all things to all people, that by all means I might save some' (1 Cor 9:22). He would have become a Hobbit to reach the Hobbits and a Scouser to reach the Scousers. What would Paul have said in Bristol?

Christian Persuaders: The Apprentice is an opportunity to learn from Paul in Acts and receive coaching from Alex Banfield Hicks and Wayne Massey in preparing and delivering an evangelistic talk for Bristol.

Tuesday 25 January
1-2pm, Wayne Massey's Lunchbar (Physics Lecture Theatre)
2.15-4.30, The Apprentice Part 1. Splitting into two teams, following Paul in Acts and supported by either Alex or Wayne, you'll generate the outline of an evangelistic talk for an audience of Bristol Students. One from each team will be nominated to develop the talk and return on the 1 February.

Tuesday 1 February
1-2pm, Alex Banfield Hicks' Lunchbar (Physics Lecture Theatre)
2.15-4.30, The Apprentice Part 2. Both Teams' speakers deliver their 15-minute evangelistic talk to the whole group, receiving feedback further coaching. A mystery guest will decide which team has won CP: The Apprentice.

Places are limited to about 12, so email abh@uccf.org.uk if you want to be involved!

“Don’t just study the Bible. Read it.”

2011-01-07T21:09:00.005Z

So said one speaker a couple of years ago. Just a few words, but they’ve totally transformed my approach to the Bible ever since! You see it’s so easy to think it’s only really worthwhile getting into the Bible if you’re going to study it properly. Otherwise it is not worth it. And sure, studying the Bible is a good thing, but so too is just reading it!

Listen to the talk for yourself here (it's talk 2 - The Christian Word). If you are short on time I recommend you fast forward to 32 minutes in.

Also, here is a very helpful collection of Bible reading plans I noticed this week, which you might want to try for size. And here is an inspiring challenge to read through the Bible in big chunks. I particularly like his idea of simply underlining verses that strike you. And don’t be intimated by how fast he suggests you read the Bible. In my mind, it’s better to start small and build it over time (ie: if a job is worth doing it is worth doing badly…). After all, I am still only about a two-chapters-a-day man myself. However, I’m really finding my appetite is increasing for more.

And I think it’s worth saying that in Bristol we’ve got a historical precedent for doing this! I learnt last week that the great George Muller read the Bible through 200 times in his life time. As a minister he would have been a man who spent time closely studying the scriptures. But he clearly also read them too. Why don’t we set ourselves to start following in his footsteps this year?

A plea for regular Bible reading in a culture of Christian celebrity

2010-12-31T17:57:00.001Z

Let’s face it: we all know we live in a culture of Christian celebrity. We love our gifted leaders. People whose teaching we appreciate and whom we line up behind as a result. Not that’s there anything wrong in drawing from men and women with wonderful teaching gifts. Downloading their talks from the Internet, buying their books, attending conferences they are speaking at and all the rest of it. What’s dangerous though is when we accept what they say unquestionably.

But how can we critique our "heros" when they are wiser, more experienced and more godly than we are? Surely they are better placed to know what's theologically right and wrong than we are. And what if we find their teaching to cause "our hearts to burn within us"? Does that mean what they teach is true? Well, not necessarily.

Teachers are Christ's gifts to His Church. Teachers are His gift to us! But it's not His intention that they'd supplant the regular reading of His word. Their job is not to replace time in the Bible, but enhance it! And it's as we read His word, day in day out, week in week out, that our discernement will grow. If we've heard (and believed) things that aren't right, over time, we'll come to see this. That's what regular Bible reading does. It nourishes us. It makes us grow up. And means that we are "no longer infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching" (Ephesians 4:14).

The Bible reading plan I am going to work through is Carson's For The Love of God which is posted daily here. Though I only manage to do two chapters a day rather than four! Why don't you join me and then we can spur each other on to keep going whenever we happen to meet.

The gospel as therapy for now?

2010-12-17T21:05:00.002Z

The last day of term seems as good a day as any other to ask the question “what has the Lord been teaching me recently?” This morning the Relays and I got together to reflect on the term so were throwing this question around. I realized I’ve learnt something very simple. I’ve come to see more clearly than ever that gospel is fundamentally about the future.

Isn’t that obvious? Well not to me it seems, because I’ve realized I have a real tendency to think the gospel is just therapy for now. Sure, I know I am guaranteed entrance into heaven too, but in a practical sense, that weighs quite lightly on me. Effectively it’s just here as an accessory to smooth out my life.

I realize the same can’t be said for the great men of the past. Two in particular have entered my world this term - Richard Baxter and Jonathan Edwards - and their grasp of the future has impacted me no end. For a snap shot have a look at Edwards’ sermon: “Heaven, a world of love”. Reading it this week required all my concentration but by the end I was standing up as I was reading I was so moved by what he was saying. It was the final paragraphs in particular that made me shiver – from point 3 “What has been said on this subject may well awaken and alarm the impenitent”. So if you can only spare 5 minutes go straight to there (it’s 17 paragraphs from the bottom).

Anyway, that’s just what the Lord has taught me. Why not take a few moments this weekend to think what He's taught you this term?

Cross-fertilisation

2010-12-03T16:57:00.001Z

Last week UWE CU put on an evangelistic curry night. Much to our (or maybe just my!) surprise nearly 100 people turned out for it. We’ve been praising the Lord ever since because we’ve never had that many people come to an event the CU has run before.

However, what I’m particularly energised about is the fact that this wasn’t our idea! Bath CU have been running evangelistic curry nights for years. They made the priceless discovery that the offer of a good curry never fails to pull in the punters. We heard about this and just copied them.

I think this is tremendously exciting as it shows the potential of cross fertilisation. We don’t need to think of innovative new ways of reaching out to our mates, we can just find out what other guys are doing around the country and nick the best ideas! After all, there is no such thing as plagiarism in the kingdom of God…

The Bristol 7

2010-11-26T18:02:00.001Z

Last night I had a beer with Dan. A drink with him is always an encouragement. Dan became a Christian about 2 years ago at the UWE mission. He started coming to church off the back of this, and kept coming for about year. During that time we met semi regularly to look at the Bible together so that Dan might become more established as a Christian. Since then he has moved to another part of Bristol and has started going to a church more local to him, so we now see less of each other.

However, whenever I do see him, I am always encouraged for the simple reason he is still standing firm in his faith. He is still going strong. What a joy!

This, of course, is not something we can take for granted. In Mark 4 Jesus was very clear that some people who profess faith (maybe after an evangelist event, for example) won’t necessarily last the distance. So we need to do what we can to help a new believer grow into an enduring and fruitful Christian.

I’m thrilled that seven people professed faith in the Lord Jesus of the back of the Bristol events week. It’s the sort of news that makes your hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. All in all it was a wonderful, wonderful week of well organised and faithful mission. Praise Him!

But the work does not end here. The Bristol 7 now need to become known to us as individuals. No longer just faceless band of people who professed faith, but new brothers and sisters who some of us know personally, who some of us are helping to stand firm in the Lord. That’s the mark of a faithful CU. We give massive thanks for professions of faith, but we’re eager to move quickly from statistics, to people – people, who like good soil, go on to “produce a crop – thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what was sown” (Mark 4:20). That’s what I am praying God does in Dan.

The way in is the way on

2010-11-19T16:51:00.005Z

One of the greatest discoveries a Christian can ever make is that we are not just saved by the gospel, but we’re transformed by it too. My natural tendency is to think that the gospel is the entry point to the Christian life, but growth in godliness comes some other way. But no! The way in to the Christian life is the way on.

Just have a look how others have succinctly explained this vital truth.

What's your favourite?

I've adjusted the settings so anyone can make a comment from now on.

Genesis 1 Evangelism

2010-11-12T19:24:00.003Z

Apologies to anyone who was at CU last night! The talk was rather muddled.

What I wanted to say towards the end was that, because this is God's world, every part of it is full of his touches. All of creation speaks of Him.

We often affirm this is a very general sense. So we see a beautiful sunset and go "wow" - and our thoughts might turn the wonder of God at creating such a beautiful scene. Or we hear of some injustice that's happened and we're troubled by it. When we stop to think about it, that sense of being troubled reminds us we live in a moral universe, where some things are right and some things are wrong. And, if we're a Christian, that strengthens our conviction that this universe is ruled over by a moral being - God - who has instituted right and wrong.

However, creation is not just full of general messages about what God is like (eg he is a beautiful creator or a just law giver), it is also full of specific messages about God and His gospel. So for instance we see a full moon. And as well as finding it beautiful we might also think of Christ reflecting His father's glory. Or we get dressed in the morning and we might thank God for being a good providing God, who gives us necessary things like clothing, but then we could also consider how in the gospel he clothes us with Christ and His righteousness.

We don't think immediately think along these specific lines. At least I don't. But if we did, not only would God and His gospel be more at the front of our minds, but we might find more opportunities in our daily lives to speak of Him! That was the point I was trying to make last night...

Anyway - if nothing else listen to Mike Reeves give a working example of this as he shows how music is full of messages about the gospel. When I heard him teach on this I was blown away. Also check out the links he recommends to the prayers of John Bradford (he talks about how things like getting dressed, eating meat, returning home at the end of the day all point to the gospel) and Jonathan Edwards' Images of Divine things too. It's stimulating stuff.

Bumbling through a weekend away

2010-11-05T14:39:00.003Z

Here are ten ways really helpful ways to make the most of a weekend away.

If I had more time, I'd love to hone them and make them more specific to a CU context. But they nevertheless provide a very helpful antidote to just "bumbling" through a CU weekend. To just rocking up, having a nice time, hearing some teaching and bantering with friends. None of which is wrong. But CU is not just a social club which we've joined for our benefit. It's a missional community, which we've joined for the sake of Christ, His people, and all who don't beleive at our respective university.

So, if nothing else, let's reflect on these questions and think how we can serve His purposes on our next weekend away rather than our own!

Sorry - don't mean to sound like I am wagging my finger - just want our weekends away to the best they can be!

Medicine for the current epidemic

2010-10-29T09:03:00.006+01:00

At the upcoming CU weekends away a book will be on sale at the bookstall called “Captured by a Better Vision”, with the sub title “Living P*rn Free” by Tim Chester. It is a must read for all of us. Chester explains why with his arresting opening words:

“Today there is an epidemic of p*rnography”.

This is just as much the case within the church as it is within the world. Chester cites a recent survey that “found that 50% of Christian men and 20% of Christian women are addicted to porn”. “That means” he goes on to say, “that in a church with 100 adults, twenty-five men and ten women are struggling with porn: one in three.”

In fact anecdotal evidence suggests that amongst young adults the proportion is still higher. Which means a significant number of us in the Christian Unions will be struggling in this way. The thing is though we don’t talk about it. We struggle away in private, hating what we’re doing but not hating it enough to ask for help from others.

Friends – if this is you – talk to someone about it. A close friend, someone at church, me or one of the Relays. God calls us to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2) and not to try and deal with them on our own. We weren’t designed to.

But if nothing else, buy this book. In the opening chapter Chester gives 12 devastating reasons why we should feel from p*rn. Here’s half of them:

P*rn wrecks your view of sex
P*rn wrecks your view of women
P*rn wrecks women’s view of themselves
P*rn is enslaving
P*rn weaken your relationship with God
God’s wrath is against people who use p*rn

As these titles show, this book pulls no punches. But throughout it all Chester masterfully points his readers back to the grace of the gospel. You won’t be left crushed but confident that - through His grace - change is achievable.

Come to the weekend away. Buy the book.

What are you going to do when you graduate?

2010-10-22T16:19:00.006+01:00

Next Thursday we have the unique privilege of having Charlie Skrine coming to speak at BUCU. But what I'm even more excited about is that he has agreed to come to a meeting beforehand for anyone who would like to at least consider the possibility of taking year out to serve Christ "full time".

Now we all know that we can serve Christ in all of life. However, there some people have the sort of gifts, that mean it is best for them to be set aside "full time" to serve Him by teaching/pastoring/discipling others. Taking a year out can be a fantastic way of deciding whether that is us or not. However, even if we think we might not have those sorts of gifts, taking a year out can be extremely profitable in deepening our commitment to Christ and acquiring skills that will be useful wherever we end up in the future. So why not come along?

Very often people say to me, "why should I consider taking a year out like this"? My response is often to flip it around and ask, "Why shouldn't you?". There may be some very good reasons why we shouldn't but I think asking the question this way round often tackles the issues for the right perspective. At the very least, every one of us needs to ask - "how can I, considering the person I am, and the gifts I've got, best give my life to serving Christ". It is my prayer that this evening like this might go some way to helping you answer that.

We're going to meeting in Alma Church Hall at 5.45pm.
I'll get some dominoes pizzas in so bring around £4 to contribute to costs.

Can you get in touch if you'd like to come?

This is not just for final year students, it's for anyone who is thinking through what they want to do when they graduate. So do spread the word amongst your mates.

Also - if you've got some 2 for 1 Dominoes vouchers, you'd be willing to bring (!) can you let me know?

1 Corinthians 15:55

2010-10-15T21:58:00.010+01:00

O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?

Dear brother/sister,
you have nothing to fear,
savour these words and sing

It is not death to die
To leave this weary road
And join the saints who dwell on high
Who’ve found their home with God
It is not death to close
The eyes long dimmed by tears
And wake in joy before Your throne
Delivered from our fears

Chorus:
O Jesus, conquering the grave
Your precious blood has power to save
Those who trust in You
Will in Your mercy find
That it is not death to die

It is not death to fling
Aside this earthly dust
And rise with strong and noble wing
To live among the just
It is not death to hear
The key unlock the door
That sets us free from mortal years
To praise You evermore

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)
Original words by Henri Malan (1787–1864).
Translated by George Bethune (1847).
Music, chorus, and alternate words by Bob Kauflin

All you need is love

2010-10-08T16:40:00.006+01:00

A few years ago some dear friends who were getting married asked me to preach at their wedding. It was a real privilege to speak, but one thing I said I now regret. Midway through the sermon I said something like: “love is a verb, not a noun”. The point I wanted to make was that at the heart of marriage was faithfulness, so what’s important is not whether a husband and wife feel in love with each other, but that they act in love towards each other.

Now faithfulness certainly is at the heart of marriage. But I don’t think it is right to stress the importance of commitment in this way. What wife wants to be told, “I have no feelings for you – but I am going to love you anyway”. Sure, it’s good to have a husband who is unfailingly committed to his wife, but it would be even better if that commitment sprang from a heart aflame with devotion for her.

Paul seems to see our service of Christ in the same light. In 1 Corinthians 13:3 he says

“If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing”

It was Mike Reeves who first explained this to me. I mention it, because at Transformisson in a couple of weeks he is going to be speaking on this very topic. Here and here are two short videos where he is being interviewed about the day. One more video will be made available on Monday which I'll link here.

Transformission will be geared towards students, but it is open to all. So if you’re not a student, but happen to be free then and are within reach of Exeter, why not come along?

Are you willing "to turn your back on a promising career" for the sake of Christ?

2010-10-01T21:58:00.007+01:00

The Slough Observer thought Pete, who is speaking at BUCU tomorrow, did.
Why not ask him if, 27 years later, he regrets the decision he made?

Newer is better?

2010-09-24T17:34:00.001+01:00

Recently I had to send an email detailing all the books I had read in the last two years. It wasn’t a particularly long list, but it was long enough to show a rather depressing trend. It showed, that without a doubt, I’m a chronological snob!

The term “chronological snobbery” was a phrase coined by CS Lewis to describe an
attitude that said the thinking, art, or science of an earlier time is inherently inferior when compared to that of the present.

This certainly applies to our reading. It may not be a conscious thing, but if the books we read are mainly written in the last few years, it might well be because we think more recent a book is, the more relevant it will be to us. But that’s not necessarily the case!

Why ignore the insights of people who lived outside of our time. Might they not actually be in a better position to guide us than those who share the same historical and cultural blindspots as us?

“Hang on a minute”, you might say, “my problem is not with not reading the work of dead guys, it’s not reading full stop! Surely it’s better a read a more accessible contemporary book than nothing at all?” Well that may be the case. But the cool thing is, if (like me) you find it a challenge even to sit down and read recently published books, you can start small by just reading an occasional article or sermon from a previous generation.

Here is a list of famous “must reads” to get us started (worth saying not all these author’s are dead – most are!)

Also Dave Bish has done us a great service in putting together a slightly modernised version of Richard Sibbes’ sermon "The Tender Heart". If you’re not sure what to go for maybe try this first.

“Go to the cross” – another example of Christian jargon?

2010-09-17T10:15:00.001+01:00

“What do you mean,” said Claire last week, “when you talk in your blog about going again ‘to the cross?’ What does it actually look like?”

It was a good question I fought! All too often I find myself slipping into "bumper sticker theology". "Bumper sticker" theologians, like myself, love catchy, neat phrases but are not so hot at explaining what those phrases mean! So, if “going to the cross” is the answer to hot balloon syndrome, it's good to ask what does that mean in practice?

Well I think CJ Manahey’s book the “The Cross Centred Life” gives the best answer I know to this question. It’s a must read for all students. He has a specific chapter entitled “The Cross centred day”, which explains how we can daily rivet our attention on the cross. Here’s a summary of what he says in his chapter.

Alternatively you can listen to Mike Reeves’ training track from Forum this year on the cross (Secure in the Saving God). Go on – it will do your soul good!

Hot air balloon syndrome

2010-09-03T17:41:00.005+01:00

It’s forum next week and I’m teaching on Mark 10. Preparing for it has been a uncomfortable experience. A mirror has been held up to my soul and what I’ve seen has been pretty ugly!

“James and John…came to [Jesus and asked] ‘Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory’”. Mark 10:37

You might say these guys are suffering from hot air balloon syndrome. They want to rise up, and have places of high honour above their fellow disciples. And don’t you know that temptation too? Like a hot balloon, inflate yourself so you rise up in the eyes of others in the CU. I know I do.

Don’t misunderstand me. God is not against being ambitious. He’s not against wanting you to do things well. To dream big dreams and see what you can achieve this year. He’s not even against you wanting to be the best CU memeber you possibly can be. He is all for ambition. What he is against is selfish ambition.

See what CS Lewis says on this

Ambition! We must be careful what we mean by it. If it means the desire to get ahead of other people… then it is bad. If it means wanting to do a thing well, then it is good. It isn’t wrong for an actor [or Cu leader] to want to act his part as well as it can possibly be acted [carry out his/her CU responsibilities as well as possible], but the wish to have his name in bigger type than the other actors is a bad one… What we call “ambition” usually means the wish to be more conspicuous or more successful than someone else. It is this competitive element in it that is bad. It is perfectly reasonable to want to dance well or to look nice. But when the dominant wish is to dance better or look nicer than the others – when you begin to feel that if the others danced as well as you or looked as nice as you, that would take all the fun out of it- then you are going wrong.

Ok – so what's the answer? How do we make sure we “do nothing out of selfish ambition…” (Phil 2:3).

Well the answer Paul gives in Philippians is the same answer Jesus gives in Mark 10. Go to the cross. Remind yourself that if anyone had cause to rise up like a hot air balloon it was Him. “Yet he made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a slave….” (Phil 2:7), and “he did not come to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45), so let’s remember what he did and follow in his footsteps.

The CS Lewis quote and Hot air balloon image came from Dave Harvey’s book – Rescuing Ambition. Check out his talks here.

The heartbeat of a missional CU leader...

2010-08-27T10:34:00.004+01:00

...is very simple says Tim Chester: it's treasuring Christ.

Keep in mind the Ben and Jerry's principle. We extol what we treasure. We can't say this often enough because so often we see evangelism as an optional add on to our faith. but this couldn't be further from the truth. Evangelism (one key aspect of extoling Christ) is the natural outflow of treasuring Him.

Chester's diagram puts it beautifully...

Your Christianity is too hip

2010-08-20T13:53:00.002+01:00

One of the most helpful insights from Don Carson’s For the Love of God was a comment he made on the Psalm 75:1. Here’s what he said:

ONE OF THE IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS of corporate worship is recital, that is, a “re-telling” of the wonderful things that God has done. Psalm 75:1: “We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds.” In fact, the New English Bible is a little closer to the Hebrew: “Thy name is brought very near to us in the story of thy wonderful deeds.” God’s “name” is part of his gracious self-disclosure. It is a revelation of who he is. God’s “name” then, is brought very near us in the story of his wonderful deeds: that is, who God is disclosed in the accounts of what he has done.

Thus the recital of what God has done is a means of grace to bring God near to his people. Believers who spend no time reviewing and pondering in their minds what God has done, whether they are alone and reading their Bibles or joining with other believers in corporate adoration, should not be surprised if they rarely sense that God is near.

In my mind this has a real prophetic edge. So much of what excites us, as contemporary Christians, seems to be things that are styled as new, innovative or progressive even. I know it in my own heart: I’m a sucker for some fresh approach to Christian ministry, something that will really help me connect with God in a way I never have before. Working on a sermon on 2 John I was reminded of just how wrong that is.

John says in v9

Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God.

And I think that’s just it. Ministry initiatives that don’t make much of, that don’t emphasise, the great things God has done in Christ, are not hip and progressive: they’re empty of God.

Instead, if we want to keep engaging with the living God, our attention has got to be continually backward, continually going back to the teaching of Christ as we find it in the Bible because (as John says in the second half of the verse)

whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son

Fight idolatry by fighting for joy

2010-08-13T15:18:00.001+01:00

Jim's away at the moment so I'm filling in for him this week. I hope it's encouraging!

Like many of you, I've been reading Julian Hardyman's book Idols. If you've not started yet it's not too late to get yourself a copy! We'll be meeting up in the new year to have a chat about what we've been learning. Each chapter is full of gems, but some things have particularly stood out for me.

One of them is seeing how horrible idolatry really is. Making something into an idol means treating it as if it's God. Hardyman writes:

[Idolatry is] about our relationship with the God who loves us and made us; and his right to our gratitude, love and worship. It's about putting something or someone in his rightful place and worshipping that idol instead. (p128)

God has done everything for us, and yet we can so easily look to other things for satisfaction, or turn to worship things other than God. We can even take his good gifts to us (like a relationship, a job, or money) and put them in his place. How terrible is that?

It's such a relief that God knows that's what we're like, and loves us anyway! Jesus' death rescues us, even from our idolatry. God meets all of our needs - security, forgiveness, relationship, acceptance; all of these are met in Jesus Christ. And so Hardyman encourages us to fight idolatry by "fighting for joy" - not by focusing on all the times we've messed up and worshiped things other than God, but by looking at our perfect Saviour, Jesus, and finding our strength, refuge and satisfaction in him alone.

So as we fight sin in our lives, let's do it by looking at Jesus, and seeing how much better he is than the promises idols make to us. We can pray with Moses:

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days (Psalm 90:14)

Inspiration from Rev

2010-08-06T07:59:00.005+01:00

Watching the second episode of Rev really got me thinking about how evangelicals are perceived by society. I've been wondering if there is mileage in tackling some of these perceptions head on in a lunchbar series like this...

What is it with these Christians who seem so

sanctimonious and judgemental?
annoyingly smiley and happy all the time?
certain about things for which there is no proof?
desperate to bash me with a Bible and convert me?

The titles obviously need a bit of work, but what do you think about the concept? If you haven't seen Rev yet make sure you check it out while it is still on iplayer.

The Friday Fought: One Year On

2010-07-30T22:26:00.002+01:00

I started The Friday Fought a year ago this week with a simple agenda in mind: “to strengthen, encourage and comfort” the students of Bristol and UWE Christian Unions (1 Corinthians 14:3). My aim has never been to write anything new but just to highlight things I’ve noticed on the internet/heard in talks/read in books or to mention upcoming events that I want people in the CU to know about.

The question I’m currently grappling with is this: should I keep going?

It would be a great help to me as I think this through if you could you email me (jwalford at uccf dot org dot uk) with your response to these 5 questions. Or, if easier, just comment below.

Are you a student?
How often do you read the Friday Fought?
Which posts have been most helpful?
Do you have any suggestions about how the Friday Fought could be improved?
Is it worth carrying on with the Friday Fought, or would you not really notice if it stopped?

The sunshine of the gospel

2010-07-16T19:18:00.003+01:00

Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

Ever since listening to a fantastic sermon on Luke 19 a week or so ago, Zacchaeus has been much on my mind. It is his turn around that I find so remarkable. An extortioner turned philanthropist. What a turn around! What change!

And isn’t attractive? Wouldn’t you love to repent of your particular sins in the same emphatic way he did!

Well, I’m sorry to say it, but in one sense you can’t. You can’t follow suit. Not in your power any way. Because change doesn’t happen by us trying hard. No, it’s deeper rooted than that. Change only occurs when our hearts are melted.

And the great thing is that we have a Saviour who is in the business of melting hearts. Zacchaeus’ fellowship with Jesus melted his greedy heart. Our fellowship with Jesus by the gospel can have the same effect.

Richard Sibbes (1577–1635) said as much in a sermon he preached entitled A Tender Heart…

As when things are cold we bring them to the fire to heat and melt, so bring we our cold hearts to the fire of the love of Christ; consider we of our sins against Christ, and of Christ's love towards us; dwell upon this meditation. Think what great love Christ has showed unto us, and how little we have deserved, and this will make our hearts to melt, and be as pliable as wax before the sun. [So] if you wilt have this tender and melting heart, then use the means; be always under the sunshine of the gospel.

Philemon 7

2010-07-09T22:41:00.004+01:00

Just back from the [co]mission uk conference. Was a wonderful, wonderful time - well worth listening to the talks when they go online - but the highlight was unquestionably the fellowship. Whether it was hanging out and having fun with an old university mate, renewing friendships with guys involved in sovereign grace or being taken aside by a dear brother and fellow staff worker who spoke with real prophetic insight into my life I found my heart consistently refreshed(Philemon 7).

So by all means listen to those talks - but most of all make sure you spend time this week with brothers and sisters who love you and can encourage you in the gospel. MP3 downloads are great, but they are no subsitute for brotherly love.

Why bother with CU?

2010-07-02T19:05:00.002+01:00

Here’s one reason…

Alice, how did you become a Christian?
I went along to the Christianity Explored course ran by the CU. After hearing the words of the gospel I started to think more and more about my faith each week, and one week decided to go along to Church. I really enjoyed it and felt myself believing everything I was hearing. Gradually, I could feel myself becoming a Christian and after a while I really felt that God was with me all of the time. This was especially evident when I had some conversations with atheist friends, as I really knew that God was with me and was giving me the confidence and strength to spread his word as he intended.

How have things changed for you since you trusted in Jesus?
My attitude towards life has changed, my friends say I'm a lot happier and positive than I used to be. I feel a lot more confident since trusting Jesus as I know that He is always there for me, and if I ever feel down I can pray to Him and know that He will be there to listen. I've also met loads of great people through the CU and they have helped me so much during my journey!

How have your friends and family reacted to the news?
I come from a totally non-Christian family and group of friends back at home, so breaking the news to them was quite daunting! After a few tough conversations with friends, they understood my faith and it has even prompted some of them to discover their own faith, and I hope that God will continue to use me to help them to find Him. My Dad actually decided to come to Church with me over the holidays, which was amazing and I'm confident that God will reveal himself to my Dad and help him to discover His amazing work the same way I did!

Why not take a moment to pray for Alice?

"It is sentences that change my life, not books"

2010-06-25T11:16:00.003+01:00

Oh what a gift the summer is in our quest to know God! That’s why, as you guys know only to well, whenever I get an opportunity to plug a book at CU I try and make the most of it! This summer a few of us are reading Julian Hardyman’s book Idols. So if you’re not sure what to read next why not get a copy and join us as we get together at the start of next term to chat about what we’ve learnt (if you sign up for a UCCF student card, you can buy a discounted copy from the IVP website).

And don’t worry about trying to retain everything. I couldn’t agree more with this quote from John Piper…

What I have learned from about twenty-years of serious reading is this: It is sentences that change my life, not books. What changes my life is some new glimpse of truth, some powerful challenge, some resolution to a long-standing dilemma, and these usually come concentrated in a sentence or two. I do not remember 99% of what I read, but if the 1% of each book or article I do remember is a life-changing insight, then I don’t begrudge the 99%.

Relaxing in the face of chaos

2010-06-18T17:16:00.006+01:00

One more quote from Paul Miller (last one, I promise).

What does an unused prayer link look like?

Anxiety... Anxiety wants to be like God but lacks God’s power, wisdom, or knowledge. A godlike stance without godlike character and ability is pure tension. Because anxiety is self on it’s own it tries to get control. It is unable to relax in the face of chaos. Paul Miller, A Praying Life, page 70.

I quote him just as an encouragment to look at these you tube videos. Let me warn you though... they are seriously catchy!

Taking a trip to the prayer therapist

2010-06-11T21:51:00.001+01:00

Bit of a liveblog going on here... We’re in Pembrokeshire for our church student getaway. I’m speaking on prayer and I’m leaning heavily on Paul Miller’s book, A Praying Life.

Here’s what he says in his opening chapter…

Let’s imagine that you see a prayer therapist to get your prayer life straightened out. The therapist says, “Let’s being by looking at your relationship with your heavenly Father. God said, “I will be a father to you, and you shall be to sons and daughters to me” (2 Corinthains 6:18). What does it mean that you are a son or a daughter of God?”
You reply that it means you have complete access to your heavenly father through Jesus. You have true intimacy, based not on how good you are but on the goodness of Jesus. Not only that, Jesus is your brother. You are a fellow heir with him.
The therapist smiles and says, “That’s right. You’ve done a wonderful job of describing the doctrine of Sonship. Now tell me what it is like to be with your Father? What is it like to talk with him?”
You cautiously tell the therapist how difficult it is to be in your Father’s presence, even for a couple of minutes. Your mind wanders. You aren’t sure what to say. You wonder, Does prayer make any difference? Is God even there? Then you feel guilty for your doubts and just give up.
Your therapist tells you what you already suspect. “Your relationship with your heavenly Father is dysfunctional. You talk as if you have an intimate relationship, but you don’t. Theoretically, it is close. Practically, it is distant. You need help.”

And help he provides, in abundance! Best of all it’s consistently rooted in the gospel. If I had one word to describe this book it would be this: electric. Absolutely electric. Every page seems to zing with insight and honesty and gospel centredness. I’ve been helped no end reading and rereading it. Get a copy and read it this summer. Or better still pester the committee to ask me to speak on it next term at CU. I’ll be only too happy to come and share the wealth!

What are you taking a holiday from this summer?

2010-06-04T09:58:00.003+01:00

So began Ellie’s punchy seminar at UWE CU last night.

All too often holidays can be a sleepy time spiritually. We can end up taking a holiday not just from deadlines and housemates but from God himself. According to Mark 13, this is a dangerous game.

"26And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven… 32 But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake."

What Jesus said to his disciples – he says to all. Stay Awake.

But how? How do we stay awake? Ellie got practical, each time concluding with a simple “what one" question...

Prioritise quality time with God through daily Bible reading and prayer
What one thing will you do this holiday to help you get stuck into the Bible regularly?

Get involved at church
What one aspect of church life at home will you involve yourself in over the holiday?

Study Christ
In what one way will you grow your knowledge of God ahd His gospel this summer?

Keep in touch with a Christian friend
Which one friend will you commit to keeping in touch with and encourage/pray for over the holiday?

Go on guys, take a few minutes, answer these questions. It’s crucial we stay awake, for we “do not know when the master of the house will come”.

Jesus knows what you are going through

2010-05-28T21:00:00.003+01:00

Could Jesus really be tempted? Not as God, for God cannot be tempted (James 1:13). But as man he saw the…attractions of sin. He struggled, but did not give in. Some think that you cannot really be tempted unless you give in to the temptation at least sometimes. But Wayne Grudem (Systematic Theology p539) is wiser to point out that you don’t really feel the full force of a temptation until you reject it. Some people surrender to temptation after only a little bit of time; others hold out longer. But Jesus took all Satan had to give and finally said no. So, he felt the temptation as much as (perhaps more than) any man, but without sin.

John Frame, Salvation belongs to the Lord p143

16th century wisdom on being "gospel centred"

2010-05-21T17:03:00.005+01:00

A few weeks ago I realized I didn't really know what the phrase "gospel centred" means, despite using it rather a lot!

However, this week I was put on to something which has helped me no end. The daily meditations and prayers of John Bradford: an absolute gold mine for gospel centred daily living!

Don't be overwhelmed by it. It is dense I know. But that's just point. It's written to be mediated upon and prayed in. So take a paragraph or two. Chew it over and then come back to it another day. Here's my favourite bit so far

When you are made Ready to begin the Day, Pray:

O God and merciful Father, thou knows and hast taught us somewhat to know, that the weakness of man is much, and that without thy grace and virtue he cannot do or think any good thing; have mercy upon me, I humbly beseech thee, who am thy most unworthy and most weak child. Oh! be gracious and tender towards me, enlighten me, that I may with pleasure look only upon good things; exhort me, that I may covet them; carefully lead me, that I may follow, and at length attain them. I, distrusting myself altogether, commend and offer myself wholly, soul, body, life, &c., into thy hands. Thy loving Spirit lead me forth unto the land of righteousness.

Summer Luvin'

2010-05-14T20:41:00.002+01:00

In God's economy s*x is good. Really good.

However, when it comes s*x , all too often we can think God wants us to be all buttoned up. We can think it would be more godly for us not to have a s*x drive at all. But of course, that is not the case! God is big into s*x - but s*x in it's right context: marriage.

As single students, how should we think about marriage then? Or, more to the point, how should we pursue marriage? And how does dating fit in? The Bible has lots to say. We (Ellie, Jack and I) would be only too happy to sit down over a coffee and chat things through with you if that would be a help, but here are a couple of website's that might also be of interest. I don't full subscribe to everything they teach, but by and large, I think the content of both is full of biblical wisdom.

The guy's guide to marrying well
The girl's guide to marrying well

Get signed up

2010-05-07T21:30:00.001+01:00

All of life is lived under the shadow of the cross.

Whether it’s revising, romance or how we chose to how we spend our summer the call is the same: to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him (Mark 8:34). This is the normal Christian life.

If you’re still free the second week of September, consider what Tim Rudge says on this promo video:

Forum is unique.
It is unlike any other student festival.
It is the only conference that will equip to lead the CU.

Guys, don’t squander this vital opportunity to be prepared for serving the CU. Places will be sold out soon. For the sake of the gospel in Bristol… get signed up.

(If money is an issue, let me know)

Remember your Creator... in your early 20s

2010-04-30T17:39:00.006+01:00

Here is a very moving article by Mark Ashton, who died on April 3rd.

What hits me hardest is the stark terms in which describes the reality of dieing. As Christians, it is so easy to sentimentalise death. But Mark has done us a great service in not doing so. His honesty is a stark reminder of the gift of pleasure. What an encouragement, as one who is still just about in the days of his youth, to thank God - to "remember our Creator" - for all the pleasurable experiences he daily gives us.

‘Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them’ (Ecclesiastes 12:1)

An uncomfortable question we seldom ask

2010-04-23T17:47:00.005+01:00

Sunday’s sermon has been buzzing around my head all week. It was on the topic of friendship. Here are two particularly arresting proverbs that came up.

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24)
Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. (Proverbs 27:6)

And so the uncomfortable question I’ve been asking myself is this: do I consider people to be my friends, when really, according to God’s definition, they are in fact companions?

It seems that one sign of a genuine friendship between two people is when they are willing to get stuck in and rebuke or “wound” each other where necessary.

This is something we all naturally recoil from don’t we? Far easier to affirm, and be affirmed than to point out sin in each other. But this is what we must do – otherwise we’re not really friends, we’re just companions. And a man of many companions (sociable, personable, well connected, involved in the CU) – but blind to his sin and need for a saviour, will eventually come to ruin.

I have a confession to make: I'm not really sure what it means to be "gospel centred"

2010-04-09T22:10:00.005+01:00

I say confession because I talk about being “gospel centred” rather a lot. A common prayer I pray with others is that our CUs would be gospel centred, or our relationships gospel centred, or our ambitions gospel centred etc. Gospel centredness is important. That much I know. But what does that actually mean? Or, to shift the question slightly, what does that actually look like in practice? (I think these two questions are connected, because theology and practice always go together).

Listening to Mike Bullmore’s talk - "applying the gospel to all of life" over my hols has helped me no end. He is clearly a man who has thought long and hard about this vital question. And what is immediately apparent from listening to him is that it is not as straightforward as might first appear.

If we are going to be gospel centred we need to be wise. We need wisdom to see how the gospel connects with our everyday lives. Because that is what wisdom in the Bible is all about: making connections. Without this "connection making" wisdom, we might be able to talk a good game about the importance of being rooted in the gospel, but be clueless as to how to live it out. So listen to the talk and join me as we make connections and "get wisdom" (Proverbs 4:5-7).

“Don’t read books…use them”

2010-04-02T20:57:00.000+01:00

As with all sound bites, this one needs to be taken carefully. But it conveys something quite liberating. Because how often do you feel duty bound to finish a book once you’ve started it (or at least guilty if you put it to one side half way through)? I do all the time. If I’ve bought the book I feel I have a moral obligation to read it cover to cover! But I’m not sure that’s the best approach.

Books are there to be used, not read. Pillage a book for all you want, and then put it on the shelf. You can always come back to it another time.

So all you Bristol hall reps who currently have Dig Deeper sitting on your bedside table – don’t feel you have to read every chapter before we meet to chat about it on 29th April. Zoom in on the chapters that float your boat. That should make for a much more profitable time when we meet together than everyone feeling they had to slavishly work through it, just because they’d been coerced into buying it!

The danger of efficiency

2010-03-26T21:58:00.001Z

I love efficiency. And order. And completed “to do” lists. In fact, nothing gives me greater pleasure than having an empty email inbox. However this week I’ve become aware of just how dangerous this is. Because the Pharisees loved efficiency too. Or in first century terms: external cleanliness (Matt 23:25).

They loved getting the externals of their life looking just right, but in so doing they neglected their hearts – where invisible things like greed and self-indulgence lurked.

Seeing things in this light feels like a bit of an epiphany for me. I constantly prioritise clearing the inbox above spending time applying God’s word to my heart. Praise God for some holiday now and an opportunity to put into practice some of Solomon’s wisdom!

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well spring of life.” Proverbs 4:23

Non-Christian ministry

2010-03-19T17:54:00.005Z

One of the key values of Christian Unions is that we are motivated by grace. Or at least, that’s what we want to be motivated by. Because, when it comes to Christian ministry motivations are very important. If we try and fill our tanks up with anything else, our ministry will very quickly become a non-Christian ministry.

Remember the false teaching in Galatia? People were going around saying Christians should get circumcised. And why? Well not just because their theology was askew, but their motivations too.

Paul says as much in 6:13.

They want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

What drove the false teachers in their “Christian” ministry was not grace, but numbers: the number of people they had won over through their message. It’s pure worldliness. No different from secular marketing campaigns of our day. And as a result, they preached a message devoid of the gospel.

What’s the answer? Boasting in something else. Something the world reviles but we Christians prize… The electric chair of our Lord Jesus Christ.

After all, that’s what motivated Paul.

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world had been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Jesus obsession Colossian style

2010-03-12T18:52:00.001Z

Here’s the running order for our studies in Colossians over the next 3 months. If you’re not in a small group or hall CU and would love to join in just let us know.

Colossians 1:1-8 Fruitful and Faithful
Colossians 1:9-14 Bring pleasure to Jesus
Colossians 1:15-23 The supreme Son and his bloody cross
Colossians 1:24-2:5 “Milk Tray” ministry
Colossians 2:6-15 Taken hostage!
Colossians 2:16-23 Decapitated Christianity
Colossians 3:1-8 Life and Death
Colossians 3:9-17 A Lord to live for: within church and CU
Colossians 3:18-4:1 A Lord to live for: at uni and home
Colossians 4:2-18 A Lord to live for: in all the world

At the SLOBS weekend away we were thinking about how important it is to think “big picture” when studying a book of the Bible. Here’s one helpful overview on why Paul picked up his stylus and wrote to the Colossians.

The one thing all CU members need to know…

2010-03-05T16:49:00.001Z

Last week was a busy week. We’d been building up to the CU Leaders Training Weekend, and finally at 8.30pm on the Friday evening it all got under way. About 100 of us were gathered for the first meeting of the weekend. We sung. We prayed. Jo Round led a wonderfully helpful training slot. And then Adrian stood up to read Ezekiel 1. It wasn’t long before I was completely lost: totally bewildered by what he was reading. It seemed so strange, so weird. My mind was all over the shop. I thought, oh no, it’s been a long week – staying switched for an exposition of this crazily incomprehensible passage is going to be hard going.

How wrong I was. What followed was probably the most significant and eye opening moments of my year so far. Ezekiel 1 contains a precious truth. A truth no CU member can do without. So have a listen.

Hasn't science disproved God?

2010-02-26T16:16:00.006Z

Short answer: no.

Sachy explains why in a video on the passion for life website. Check the website for more answers to other key objections people often have with the Christian faith.

Have a look and then have a think: who do you know who might find this website helpful in enabling them to engage with the gospel?

“If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly”

2010-02-19T17:29:00.002Z

…so says Richard Cunningham. And I really think he is on to something. Because my tendency is to think exactly the opposite. If I’m going to do something, I need to do it 100% or else I might as well give up. Which means I end up doing very little…

However, the gospel can free us from this sort of perfectionism. The gospel is all about what God has perfectly done for us, rather than what we perfectly do for him.

Chatting with a few guys recently it struck me that this applies to daily Bible reading just as much as anything. I guess, in an ideal world, we’d read the Bible every day without fail. We might even read through the whole thing in a year. Like me, you might be up for trying to follow Carson's "For the Love of God" Bible reading system that takes you through the OT once, and the NT twice in a year (4 chapters a day). However, like me you might have fallen behind!

If that’s you, let me urge you – don’t chuck it in! It’s so easy isn’t it to want to give up and effectively say “hey ho, that didn’t work for me”, and just end up not really reading the Bible very much at all. But no, if a job’s worth doing (which Bible reading certainly is) it’s worth doing badly… or at least it doesn’t need to be done perfectly! So cut down. Go for a 50% job (2 chapters a day), or 25% job (1 chapter a day).

The reading plan has just started Exodus. So if you’ve fallen behind, grab a quiet moment this weekend, and your favourite caffeine based stimulant, and power through Genesis. I promise you won’t regret it.

Psalm 1:1-3

1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

Wielding The Sword

2010-02-12T17:39:00.005Z

According to Ephesians 6:17, the Bible is not so much a book but a weapon. A mighty weapon that he uses to defeat unbelief (Romans 10:17).

In light of this we are spending the next 5 weeks at BUCU learning some basic swordsmanship: how to share God’s word with an unbeliever.

We’re basing ourselves in Mark. And the aim is to know the book so well that we could confidently take a non Christian mate through it. Come and join us!

Here are 3 extremely helpful resources:
An article on the historical reliability of Marks’ gospel, some questions we could use when discussing Mark with our mates (called Free Thinking), and an inspiring talk from Rico Tice giving a rationale for bothering with the whole enterprise, as well as some tips as how to go about doing it.

Bible Biology Field Trip

2010-02-05T17:55:00.006Z

Here’s an excerpt of an email one CU member sent me about what he did last weekend…

A group of us went away for the weekend and the theme of our time together was becoming "Isaiah 66:2-men" - men who are humble and contrite in spirit and tremble at the word. We started by reading the story of the student, the fish and Agassiz and seeing what a good analogy of bible study that story really is.

Some of the thoughts were:
invest time
keep going back with fresh eyes
avoid distractions
see every word as important
and just like the student and the fish, keep looking for real facts: they are the solid ground to stand on; they are what are accessible to others.

I learnt this the hard way by being told to spend 2.5 hours just looking at Psalm 23 and writing down 50 observations. The criteria for an observation was basically that you would be able to point it out to any Joe Bloggs who know nothing about the Bible. It was hard work and there were times when I was sure that I had seen everything but then God would open my eyes to some other amazing truth by his Spirit. For example, it took me several hours to make the simple but stunning observation that there are two metaphors in this Psalm - The LORD as shepherd and The LORD as host.

This lesson was hammered home the next morning by me being asked to go back to the text and write down 50 more observations! It was difficult but so rewarding.

A final lesson was the value of memorization (Psalm 119:11). It only took about half an hour for a short Psalm like this. It dawned on me that I know vast quantities of pop and rap song lyrics from constantly being exposed to them on the radio etc. Why not hide God's Word in my heard instead? That makes lots more sense!

It's mission week: let's stay in bed!

2010-01-29T17:41:00.003Z

John Hindley explains why...

Feminine Faith

2010-01-22T12:05:00.001Z

One thing we’ve just noticed studying Mark is that all the heroes seem to be women. Think of the bleeding woman in Mark 5, or the syrophoenician in Mark 7, the widow in Mark 12, the women who anointed Jesus in Mark 14, Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James and Salome who were there at the crucifixion and the empty tomb. What about the men – or the disciples in particular? Mark depicts them as clueless, power hungry, deserters!

I’m not sure what to make of it, except maybe it lends even more weight to the case for Mark being historically accurate. If Mark were making it up he’d surely would have portrayed men in a better light...

Bible Biology

2010-01-15T23:22:00.006Z

If the goal of Bible study is homage, its foundation is observation. There simply is no subsitute for time in the text.

This is wonderfully illustrated by the story of Agassiz and the Fish...

It was more than fifteen years ago that I entered the laboratory of Professor Agassiz, and told him I had enrolled my name in the scientific school as a student of natural history. He asked me a few questions about my object in coming, my antecedents generally, the mode in which I afterwards proposed to use the knowledge I might acquire, and finally, whether I wished to study any special branch. To the latter I replied that while I wished to be well grounded in all departments of zoology, I purposed to devote myself specially to insects.

“When do you wish to begin?” he asked.

“Now,” I replied.

This seemed to please him, and with an energetic “Very well,” he reached from a shelf a huge jar of specimens in yellow alcohol.

“Take this fish,” he said, “and look at it; we call it a Haemulon; by and by I will ask what you have seen.”

With that he left me. . . . I was conscious of a passing feeling of disappointment, for gazing at a fish did not commend itself to an ardent entomologist. . . . .

In ten minutes I had seen all that could be seen in that fish, and started in search of the professor, who had, however, left the museum; and when I returned, after lingering over some of the odd animals stored in the upper apartment, my specimen was dry all over. I dashed the fluid over the fish as if to resuscitate it from a fainting-fit, and looked with anxiety for a return of a normal, sloppy appearance. This little excitement over, nothing was to be done but return to a steadfast gaze at my mute companion. Half an hour passed, an hour, another hour; the fish began to look loathsome. I turned it over and around; looked it in the face—ghastly; from behind, beneath, above, sideways, at a three-quarters view—just as ghastly. I was in despair; at an early hour, I concluded that lunch was necessary; so with infinite relief, the fish was carefully replaced in the jar, and for an hour I was free.

On my return, I learned that Professor Agassiz had been at the museum, but had gone and would not return for several hours. My fellow students were too busy to be disturbed by continued conversation. Slowly I drew forth that hideous fish, and with a feeling of desperation again looked at it. I might not use a magnifying glass; instruments of all kinds were interdicted. My two hands, my two eyes, and the fish; it seemed a most limited field. I pushed my fingers down its throat to see how sharp its teeth were. I began to count the scales in the different rows until I was convinced that that was nonsense. At last a happy thought struck me—I would draw the fish; and now with surprise I began to discover new features in the creature. Just then the professor returned.

“That is right,” said he, “a pencil is one of the best eyes. I am glad to notice, too, that you keep your specimen wet and your bottle corked.”

With these encouraging words he added—

“Well, what is it like?”

He listened attentively to my brief rehearsal of the structure of parts whose names were still unknown to me; the fringed gill-arches and movable operculum; the pores of the head, fleshly lips, and lidless eyes; the lateral line, the spinous fin, and forked tail; the compressed and arched body. When I had finished, he waited as if expecting more, and then, with an air of disappointment:

“You have not looked very carefully; why,” he continued, more earnestly, “you haven’t seen one of the most conspicuous features of the animal, which is as plainly before your eyes as the fish itself. Look again; look again!” And he left me to my misery.

I was piqued; I was mortified. Still more of that wretched fish? But now I set myself to the task with a will, and discovered one new thing after another, until I saw how just the professor’s criticism had been. The afternoon passed quickly, and when, towards its close, the professor inquired,

“Do you see it yet?”

“No,” I replied. “I am certain I do not, but I see how little I saw before.”

“That is next best,” said he earnestly, “but I won’t hear you now; put away your fish and go home; perhaps you will be ready with a better answer in the morning. I will examine you before you look at the fish.”

This was disconcerting; not only must I think of my fish all night, studying, without the object before me, what this unknown but most visible feature might be, but also, without reviewing my new discoveries, I must give an exact account of them the next day. I had a bad memory; so I walked home by Charles River in a distracted state, with my two perplexities.

The cordial greeting from the professor the next morning was reassuring; here was a man who seemed to be quite as anxious as I that I should see for myself what he saw.

“Do you perhaps mean,” I asked, “that the fish has symmetrical sides with paired organs?”

His thoroughly pleased, “Of course, of course!” repaid the wakeful hours of the previous night. After he had discoursed most happily and enthusiastically—as he always did—upon the importance of this point, I ventured to ask what I should do next.

“Oh, look at your fish!” he said, and left me again to my own devices. In a little more than an hour he returned and heard my new catalogue.

“That is good, that is good!” he repeated, “but that is not all; go on.” And so for three long days, he placed that fish before my eyes, forbidding me to look at anything else, or to use any artificial aid. “Look, look, look,” was his repeated injunction.

This was the best entomological lesson I ever had—a lesson whose influence was extended to the details of every subsequent study; a legacy the professor has left to me, as he left it to many others, of inestimable value, which we could not buy, with which we cannot part. . . .

The fourth day a second fish of the same group was placed beside the first, and I was bidden to point out the resemblances and differences between the two; another and another followed, until the entire family lay before me, and a whole legion of jars covered the table and surrounding shelves; the odor had become a pleasant perfume; and even now, the sight of an old six-inch worm-eaten cork brings fragrant memories!

The whole group of Haemulons was thus brought into review; and whether engaged upon the dissection of the internal organs, preparation and examination of the bony framework, or the description of the various parts, Agassiz’s training in the method of observing facts in their orderly arrangement, was ever accompanied by the urgent exhortation not to be content with them.

“Facts are stupid things,” he would say, “until brought into connection with some general law.”

At the end of eight months, it was almost with reluctance that I left these friends and turned to insects; but what I gained by this outside experience has been of greater value than years of later investigation in my favorite groups.

Source: American Poems (3rd ed.; Boston: Houghton, Osgood & Co., 1879): pp. 450-54. Emphasis is mine.

David Howard, Professor of Old Testament and Dean of the Center for Biblical and Theological Foundations at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, writes about this story:

Too often students of the Bible rely on second-hand, derivative knowledge, acquired from pastors, teachers, parents, books about the Bible, or other secondary sources. While all of these have their place, there is no substitute, in the end, for one’s own first-hand study and experience of the Scriptures, and for the joy of discovery.

Read the Bible with me this year

2010-01-01T19:23:00.001Z

This morning I set out on a 2 year plan to read through the Bible (the OT x1 and the NT and Psalms x2), using Don Carson’s “For The Love Of God” as my guide. It’s a simple enough plan: each day you read a couple of chapters of the Bible and then Carson provides a few paragraphs to help you reflect on what you’ve read. So here’s my question: why don’t you join me and do the same? That way when we bump into each other we can chat about what we’ve been reading and encourage each other to keep going! The great news is you don’t have to buy the “For the Love of God” – it’s available online.

If you are up for it you’ll notice Carson suggests reading four chapters a day. However his comment is always restricted to one (or both) of the first two chapters, so I’m setting out just to read those ones each day. That way if I fall behind it should be easier to catch up!

Greasley on Grace

2009-12-18T17:56:00.001Z

In my mind there is nothing more exciting in all the world than rediscovering grace, which is why we, as a UCCF team in the south, are all buzzing after spending 3 days with Pete Greasley.

He hit us hard with grace by hitting us hard with our sin. In so doing he showed me, more than I’ve ever seen before, that there is no other way we can be amazed by grace than by facing up to the extent of our sin.

One way he did this was by opening up the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee prays: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men…” and I think a very similar thing a thousand times a day. I quietly “tut tut” people, whoever they are, from people on the TV to brothers and sisters in the CU. As so, just like the Pharisee, I count myself out of needing grace from God.

It’s exactly the opposite of the tax collector. I don’t mean to say we should try and emulate him in every way (it’s unclear, for example, whether he knew anything of God’s grace) – but he did at least have one thing than I don’t have. An overwhelming conviction of his sin. And Jesus is clear

“I tell you that that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.”

Essential Christian Time Travel

2009-12-11T22:39:00.006Z

My friend Pete Sanlon recently put me onto a fantastic series by Diarmaid MacCulloch on BBC 4. Pete writes

Prof. MacCulloch was my tutor in reformation studies at Oxford. Both lucid, enigmatic and witty, there are few people alive who know more about the history of Christianity - or can speak about it with such verve. Here is a show that takes the history and impact of Christianity seriously. You need to watch this!

Enjoy!

My brother is getting married tomorrow

2009-12-04T23:17:00.008Z

Here's what he asked me to read during the service. What a glorious recipe for a happy marriage! And, I realized, for a happy CU too! Which exhortation do you most need to hear?

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV)

In praise of Two Ways To Live

2009-11-27T16:38:00.002Z

During Ignite at BUCU yesterday we went through Two Ways To Live. The important thing to remember about it is not the gospel! It is just a tool to help us share the gospel. And by that I don’t mean necessarily sitting down and drawing it out for the person you’re reaching out to. No, it’s a framework (albeit an imperfect one – but a good one nevertheless!) to have in your mind as you seek to explain the gospel in a conversation. We’ll talk more about this at Ignite, but for the meantime why don’t you try and commit it to memory? It won’t necessarily be right for everyone to do this – but what is clear is that we all need to be prepared in some way to defend and persuade people of the truth of the gospel when opportunities arise, so if you have don’t know of a better gospel outline, learn this! Here it is. And here is Philip Jensen explaining something of the theology behind it.

That question...

2009-11-20T17:45:00.005Z

One of the most significant, memorable and formative events of my time as a Staff Worker to date came within the first few weeks of starting the job. I was listening to Rico Tice's first talk at Forum and I was spellbound. The particular moment I'll never forget though was when he asked us to write down the answer to one question: "how does God feel about you today?" What he said after that cut me in two. Here the link to the talk. He poses the question about 10 mins in.

2 weeks to go until the Biblical Evangelism Conference

2009-11-13T17:59:00.005Z

Not sure what BEC is? Check out this link.

The premise behind the weekend is simple: Romans 10:17...

faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ

If it’s really true that God brings people to faith in his Son, by hearing the word of his Son, what better way could there be to spend a weekend than learning how to teach it in a persuasive and clear way?

If you’re up for it, apply online and let me know. I’ll see if I can sort a lift for you.

Bible study isn't about education, it's about homage...

2009-11-06T19:15:00.002Z

So this week I was in Exeter for some mid-term training with the rest of the staff and Relays from the South West, led by the inimitable Marcus Honeysett. Part of our time was spent thinking about how we could raise the bar on the Bible Studies we lead. At one point Marcus asked us what we thought the purpose of "Bible Study" was. It was a simple question, but it challeneged me deeply. It sounds silly I know, but in the hustle and bustle of ministry I can forget the essential fact that the goal of Bible study is not merely understanding - but worship!

If you're invovled in leading a Bible Study, Marcus' post on Bible Study Questions is a must read.

Why don’t we talk about fasting?

2009-10-30T22:26:00.001Z

One of the things in the Christian life I’ve never been sure about is the practice of fasting. I just don’t know whether I should be doing it or not.

The only passage I can see in the scriptures that comes closest to instructing Christians to fast is Matthew 6:16-18 where Jesus says “When you fast…”. Jesus simply assumes his hearers fast, so… (the logic goes) we should too.

Only Jesus doesn’t seem so much to be to addressing the practice of fasting as an end in itself. Rather, he seems to be much more concerned with the hypocrisy of parading your “acts of righteousness before men”. He was speaking to Jews, who at the time had a practice of fasting, and Jesus so says, when you do it, do it in secret. The transferable principle for Christians today seems to be much more to be along the lines of ensuring our “righteous acts” (ie those things we are explicitly commanded to do elsewhere in the New Testament like giving money away and praying) are done in a discrete none flashy way. Not necessarily that we should fast too.

Tim Chester, on the other hand, thinks we should. I find what he says persuasive. The paragraph that particularly got me thinking though, in view of my love of cake and biscuits and other sugary, faty, salty food, was this one…

When we in the western world have emotional needs many of us turn to food for refuge. We self-medicate with food. The result is ill-health and weight gain. The result is an over-consumption of the world’s resources that contributes to the hunger of other people. And every time we miss the opportunity to turn to God. We don’t live by bread alone. We need God in our lives so that life without God is an empty life. And we cannot fill that emptiness with food. Fasting helps re-oriente us away from self-medication through food towards finding refuge in God. We particularly we turn to foods high in sugar, salt and fat. These consitute our comfort foods. We find comfort in sugar, salt and fat. Sugar, salt and fat instead of the living God. We must be mad! Fasting helps restore our sanity.

Should we fast? In my mind the jury’s still out. One thing’s for sure though: if we don’t fast, it should be out of conviction. Not because we can’t bothered. Not because it is something Christians never seem to talk about. If Chester is right, fasting could be an opportunity to learn to depend on God. And that’s something none of us should want to miss out on.

“You are the accidental by-product of nature, a result of matter plus time plus chance. There is no reason for your existence. All you face is death.”

2009-10-23T16:48:00.004+01:00

On Tuesday I'm speaking at the lunchbar we've called "Can we really know if there is life after death". As usual, the bethinking website has been invaluable in helping me prepare. Of particular help has been William Lane Craig's article The absurdity of life without God. It's well worth a read if you have a few minutes, especially the section entitled The necessity of God and Immortality and the following few sections after it. In these sections he simply shows how impossible it is to believe that life has any meaning, purpose or value if there is no life beyond the grave.

It seems to me this thought alone has great apologetic power. Who really lives as though our lives are no more significant that of an earthworm beneath our feet or a blade of grass in a nearby park? None of us. Intuitively we all know that what we do matters. That human life has inherent value. That our actions are significant. And therefore we all tacitly affirm that this life is not all there is.

Lane Craig puts it much better than I can so check out his article. Unfortunately he isn't able to speak at the lunchbar on Tuesday, but I am, so bring a mate and pray that I'd be able to clearly give a "reason for the hope we have". See you there!

Join us on the 17th

2009-10-09T06:44:00.003+01:00

Taste the goodnes of the gospel: be transformed for mission.

If you are in any doubt whether it will be worth it listen to a snippet of Mike's teaching from previous Transformissions.

Hopefully see you there!

Ben and Jerry’s Evangelism Training

2009-10-02T23:43:00.003+01:00

One concern that is often expressed about Christian Union meetings is that they seem very similar to a regular church meeting. "Surely", it's said, "if the reason for the existence of CU is mission, shouldn't the majority of the CU meeting be given over to evangelism training and praying for the spread of the gospel within the university?"

It’s a question I have much sympathy with. All too often CUs can be not much more than holy huddles of students with very little evangelistic endeavour and no real commitment to prayer. And this is something we need to challenge. But the answer is not to remove things we normally associate with church life like systematic teaching from the Bible and times of singing and praise. Remove these from the CU meeting and all zeal for evangelism and prayer will die.

Why? Well because of the Ben and Jerry’s principle. Ever since I tasted Ben and Jerry’s Caramel Chew Chew I haven’t needed any training in how to tell others about it. Similarly the times I’ve been most excited about evangelism is when I’ve been most excited about God and His gospel!

This is a point that John Piper powerfully makes in the opening chapter of Let the Nations be Glad (the book a few of us read over the summer and met to chat about this week). He simply says

“you can’t commend what you don’t cherish” (p17).

So if a CU is going to be a vibrant missional community, it will always be seeking to help its members cherish God - to worship Him - afresh. Piper famously says that worship is “the fuel of missions”. Of course, there is a much needed place for evangelism training, but more fundamentally CUs need to be places where hearts are continually stirred to “value, admire and prize Him who is above all else that is valuable and admirable and precious” (my paraphrase from p206).

We’re meeting again at the Bristol University Chaplaincy to chat about chapters two and three of Let the Nations Be Glad on Wednesday at 9am. So come along if you’d like – you don’t have to have read the book to join us!

Who are you going to be a “Chris” to?

2009-09-25T18:44:00.005+01:00

Three years ago a student friend of mine went along to the CU BBQ at Wills Hall in Fresher’s week and met Chris (a 3rd year vet). My friend was a Fresher with a very shaky understanding of the gospel.

Was he a Christian then? Who knows? But here’s the point: It didn’t matter. Chris introduced himself anyway, they got talking, and my friend ended up going to Chris’ church. Later that term, at an event Chris had invited my friend along to, the “penny dropped” and he understood the gospel clearly for the first time.

My friend’s name is Jack (current BUCU Relay Worker) and he’s sharing his testimony at the CU BBQs on Tuesday and Wednesday! So come along and support him, pray for him as he speaks, but - most importantly - why not see if you can be a Chris to someone sitting there?

New series at Slobs: Radical Discipleship

2009-09-18T09:24:00.003+01:00

This term in Slobs we are going to study Mark’s gospel again. This time last year we looked at the first half, this term we’re going to look at the second half (chapters 8-16). How thrilling!

Only, if you are anything like me, you might have a nagging doubt…

Wouldn’t it be better to look at something a bit more relevant, like a New Testament epistle (letter) maybe? Something with seriously meaty application that will be really useful for student living and provoke lots of discussion?

Well maybe. But thinking like that, as I’m so often prone to do, can be dangerous. It’s dangerous because it can betray a dissatisfaction with Jesus. And Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and filled with Jesus. Now, in one sense that’s true of all of scripture (John 5:39), but is especially so of the gospels.

It’s for this reason that JI Packer, suggested we always prioritize the reading the gospels, over and above the rest of scripture.

"...gospel study enables us both to keep our Lord in clear view and to hold before our minds the relational frame of discipleship to him. The doctrines on which our discipleship rests are clearest in the epistles, but the nature of discipleship itself is most vividly portrayed in the gospels. Some Christians seem to prefer the epistles to the gospels and talk of graduating from the gospels to the epistles as if this were a mark of growing up spiritually; but really this attitude is a very bad sign, suggesting that we are more interested in theological notions than in fellowship with the Lord Jesus in person. We should think, rather, of the theology of the epistles as preparing us to understand better the disciple relationship with Christ that is set forth in the gospels, and we should never let ourselves forget that the four gospel are, as has often and rightly been said, the most wonderful books on earth."

—J.I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit

What to be a radical disciple of Jesus Christ? Study Mark this year and I promise you it will be a transforming experience.

(As ever, feedback about how we can improve SLOBS is always, always welcome…)

HT: Josh Harris

The Idol Factory Within

2009-09-11T08:50:00.001+01:00

If, like me, you need continual encouragement to keep reading the Bible at the start of each day, it’s well worth listening to Mike Reeves’ seminar track “depending on the living God” from Forum. Those of us who went this year were bowled over simply by a fresh vision of whom our God is. He is trinity: three persons loving each other.

This fact alone is more marvellous than words can say. What hit me hardest about it though, was that no one would begin to imagine a God like this on their own. A triune God could never be a God of human invention. Our idols, our made up gods, are monads – self centred autonomous deities, a bit like bigger versions of us really, a million miles away from the true, and stunningly beautiful, three-personed, eternally loving God.

And that’s why we need the Bible. Daily. Because we daily need to be reminded of what our God is truly like.

Left to ourselves, you see, we will constantly misconstrue God. We will make him out to be something he is not. In the seminar track Mike quoted Calvin – who said “man’s nature…is a perpetual factory of idols” (i,xi,ix). If this is true, our first duty every day must surely be to shut down the idol factory within – by opening our Bibles and setting before ourselves a fresh vision of God.

Have you done that today?

Meet Joe

2009-08-28T18:59:00.004+01:00

Joe is fed up. He’s had enough. Since coming onto the CU committee a few months ago it’s been meetings, meetings, meetings. He never realized getting involved in the CU would take up so much of his time! It is as though his life has become a never-ending cycle of committee meetings, phone calls, endless little things to organize, countless CU events he needs to be at - even weekends away he has to go on and now he’s had enough. He is way behind on his work, he never sees his housemates and what is more he hardly ever has a moment to pray or open his Bible – and if he’s honest God feel quite distant. Joe is starting to wonder whether he should have ever agreed to be a CU leader at all…

Joe doesn't actually exist - but he may as well. All too often CU leaders find themselves over busy, over stretched and worn out in the Christian life. If you are coming to Forum next week and can identify with any of those feelings why not get along to the "Battling Our Busyness" seminar on Wednesday afternoon. Alternatively check out CJ Mahaney's helpful article - Biblical Productivity, Kevin De Young's recent blog post, or get hold of a copy of Tim Chester's A Busy Christian's Guide to Busyness (sell your shirt if needs be to get hold of this one...)

Standing Tall: The difference Jesus makes

2009-08-21T17:37:00.001+01:00

A glorious truth at the heart of the gospel is that Jesus is much more than a lifeboat man. He didn’t just come to save us in the future, he came to transform us in the present – transforming us more and more into His image.

Colossians 3:10 says as much. “[You] have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator”

Now, here’s the thought that has really cornered me. Since Jesus was fully, perfectly human we might say that the transformation he’s working in us is to make us more truly human. Christianity shouldn’t squash our personality, or lessen our desires, or restrain our gifts, no, it should do the opposite – it should release these things.

To sceptics this can sometimes be surprising. They can think Jesus will make us all shrinking violets – retreated from the world. Therefore when they see this isn’t the case, it makes them stop and think.

That certainly was the case with Matthew Parris, a columnist for the Times. Speaking about the difference Christianity has made in Africa he says

There was a liveliness, a curiosity, an engagement with the world - a directness in their dealings with others - that seemed to be missing in traditional African life. They stood tall.

The whole thing is well worth reading. Why not pass it on to sceptical friends?

Oh, that unbelievers in Bristol would look at our lives and say something similar!

The Danger Of Prayer Meetings

2009-08-14T08:16:00.000+01:00

There is a very dangerous temptation that awaits anyone who turns up at an early morning CU prayer meeting - the temptation to feel holy. But God does not hear us on the basis of being strong willed enough to get out of bed and turn up at the prayer meeting. No, he hears us because we come to him on the basis faith. A quote from Tim Chester’s blog puts this starkly:

Sometimes we pray because we are feeling holy and sometimes we pray because we are feeling desperate. I suspect it’s the desperate prayers that God hears.

Don’t turn up to a prayer meeting, or join the Bristol CU prayer facebook group for that matter, because you feel holy. Do it because you feel desperate – totally helpless without him. Isaiah warns us that prayer motivated by anything else will fall on deaf ears.

“When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen...” Isaiah 1:15

Pen In Hand

2009-08-07T22:55:00.000+01:00

Unlike the majority of believers in our world today, here in the UK we have so much access to Christian literature. Getting the books is easy enough – our problem is sitting down and carefully reading them.

One of the most helpful tips I've been given is to read "pen in hand". A useful post by Tony Reinke explains why.

Sometimes chatting about what you are reading with others can be useful too. At the moment a few of us are getting stuck into Let the Nations be Glad by John Piper. It’s one of those books that can alter your whole vision of what you’re living for and what you count as important. We’re going to meet to discuss it early next term. Let me know if you are up for joining us.