The prudent gives thought to his steps...

There have been a number of things that have caught my eye in the last few days that I have thought “I think I might blog about that”. Things that have angered me, irritated me, interested me, but rarely surprised me. The problem that I have is time and a lack of it!

I’d like to comment on Ken Ham and his organisation “Answers in Genesis” and their new “creationism” museum that has just opened in Kentucky. I recently heard him comment on a television interview that he believes that those who believe that God created the world and everything in it by means of evolution do not believe in the God of the Bible. That statement interests me along with some of the comments made by Ted Haggard to Richard Dawkins during the filming of “The Root of All Evil”.

Something that has caught my eye closer to home is the blogging of Luke Wood on “excellent” parachurch organisations, especially in respect to UCCF. Luke recently blogged that “Whilst excellent parachurch recognises this and seeks to serve and collaborate, there are those around who like it the old way - the upside-down way, clinging to the old order…” This is something that I would like to respond to as, although I agree with many things that Luke says, this is something that I’m not so sure on.

In recent days I was asked by a friend of mine to comment on a message that they had received that outlined a number of objections to religion, but more specifically Christianity. It dealt with a number of issues from moral law through to relativism. I’m in the process of trying to get permission to quote from the letter so that I can respond to it in a public arena as well as a private one. The message highlighted a number of interesting issues and questions that I think are being raised increasingly more often by people, especially in the student world.

A couple of weeks ago I went to hear (or should it be “see”?!?!) Benny Hinn speak at the NEC in Birmingham. It was an experience to be had! He was the guest speaker at Reinhard Bonnke’s Fire Conference. Benny spoke on different “levels” of the Spirit including the anointing. Several of his comments have started to get me thinking about the modern forms of Gnosticism that we may encounter today. I’m waiting to receive the audio copies of his talks so that I can listen to them again and make a better informed judgment.

Finally there are a number of books that I would like to review and discuss over the next few weeks that include “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins, “Sex is not the problem (lust is)” by Josh Harris, “Contending for Our All” by John Piper and “Calvin” by R.N. Carew Hunt. These are all books that I am making my way through at the moment and that have all been very interesting, informative and sometimes inspiring for me over the last few days, weeks and months.

As you can see there is a lot going on in my head! I look forward to tackling these subjects one by one and trying to give what I believe to be a faithful biblical response to the challenges and questions that these topics may bring up.

God Bless.

Dear Freedom

Certain of what we do not see...

Ravi Zacharias talks on faith in Jesus Christ:

“Faith is a confidence in the person of Jesus Christ and in His power, so that even when His power does not serve my end, my confidence is in Him because of who He is. Faith in Jesus Christ is a cognitive, passionate, moral commitment to that which stands up under the scrutiny of the mind and the heart and the conscience. I believe today, and I say to you; it would be impossible for me to rationally defend atheism or any other world view contrary to the Christian world view. The person of Jesus Christ stands in supreme beauty and supreme purity.

“Voltaire said of the Bible, in his time in the 1800s, that in 100 years the Bible will be a forgotten book. Voltaire is dead and gone. One of his homes ended up belonging to the French Bible Society in fact. And the Bible is still the most read book and best selling book ever in history. So the pretext that He [Jesus] took you through shows that faith in Him is not credulity, faith in Him is reason; trusting the natural and the supernatural because of the very person of Christ.

“Secondly and just briefly, to the text, He says: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” [John 2:19] And He talked of course of the resurrection from the dead. Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of Germany after the war, looked at Billy Graham one day and he said, “Mr. Graham, do you believe Jesus really rose from the dead?” Billy Graham the young evangelist, startled by the question, looked at him and said “Of course sir. If I didn’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ I would have no gospel to preach.” Konrad Adenauer walked up to the window, looked outside and said, “Mr. Graham, outside of the resurrection of Jesus Christ I know of no other hope for mankind.”

“Think with me for a moment. There were many, many sceptics who wanted to destroy the Christian message. It would have been very simple. All they needed to do was to present the body of Jesus and that would have been the end of their message after they claimed that He had risen again. Think of it also in another way; if the disciples were perpetrating a hoax they would not have said He bodily rose again, they would have said He spiritually rose again then they would never have to give any empirical evidence for it. They said He physically, bodily rose again, which means they presented the kind of a claim that could have been proven false had they been deceitfully claiming something to be true while it was not true. They claimed the radicality of a bodily resurrection and the world from that day till now has never been able to produce that body because indeed He conquered the grave and offers hope to you and to me and that’s why I believe the hope of Christ is so strong and so unique and so blessed.”

The original recording can be found on the "Let My People Think" podcast and the talk title is "The Anatomy of Faith and the Quest for Reason (Part 2 of 2)".

God Bless.

Dear Freedom

"I will show myself holy..."

Leviticus is a really exciting book! Yeah… you read that right. Leviticus is a really exciting book! What I have read so far has been dealing with the offerings, what they are for, who they are for, what they achieve. On top of that I’ve also been reading through Hebrews, which has tied in the way that Jesus fulfils all that Leviticus set out to be an image or “shadow” of.

The opening chapters have dealt with the outlining of the purposes and now, having reached chapter nine, the priests, Aaron and two of his sons, have started to actually do the sacrificing having been ordained and anointed. In that ordination and that anointing there have been a number of things that have made me sit up and listen and that I have made a prayer for myself and others.

“Moses slaughtered the ram and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. Moses also brought Aaron’s sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of the right feet.” (Leviticus 8:23-24)

It’s my prayer that I would be a man who listens to God, who does what He asks me to do and goes where He asks me to go.

But why should I want to be a man like this?

Our God is a Holy God. That seems to be the thrust of the book of Leviticus to me. God is Holy. We are not. Mankind is now a distorted image of God. We are no longer in right relationship with God and the rules and regulations laid down in Leviticus are the first stage of mirroring what is to come in Jesus and ultimately in the day of our salvation in Christ Jesus.

R.N. Carew Hunt notes in is biography of Calvin: “For Calvin’s distrust of human nature arises not only from his conception of God, but from his overpowering belief in sin as the cardinal factor in human experience.” He goes onto say: “The spring of life has been defiled at its source and mankind is under the sentence of death.” These truths tie in so well with Leviticus and the absolute necessity for mankind to enter into right relationship with God, by His grace, if we are to have any hope.

It’s my prayer that as I continue through Leviticus, that God would continue to reveal his Holy self to me, that I would understand what a right response to a Holy God is and that, by His Holy Spirit, He would continue to sanctify me into a clearer image of Himself.

God Bless.

Dear Freedom

Ephphatha!

I recently read the account in Mark 7 (verses 31-37) of the healing of a deaf and mute man by Jesus. I was really struck by Jesus’ attitude and approach toward this man and especially in the way that the miracle took place. The large majority of Jesus’ healing miracles involve Jesus’ words, and often the laying on of hands, as the “healing agent”, so to speak. However this is one of the rare occasions when Jesus uses other items in the healing process.

Jesus does a number of things; He takes the man away from the crowd, He puts his fingers in the man’s ears, He spits on his own fingers and touches the man’s tongue, He looks up to heaven, He sighs and He commands. I was really touched by how so much of this miracle was performed in a manner that the deaf and mute man could relate to. Since the man is both deaf and mute Jesus performs the miracle in a way that He can communicate with the man in the most effective way possible.

Those people who are impaired in relation to their senses often have enhanced senses in other areas. Jesus is very sensitive to the fact that since the man is deaf he is probably more aware than most of the surrounding “presence” of people, through touch, sight and smell. So Jesus takes him away from the crowd, away from the over stimulation and potentially stifling atmosphere for the man and to a place where he can solely focus on Jesus.

Rather than speak to the man, a somewhat futile exercise with someone who is deaf, He performs His communication through touch; by putting His fingers in the man’s ears and by spitting on His fingers and placing them on the man’s tongue. These were all methods of communication that the man would be able to relate to – Jesus doesn’t necessarily communicate more with the man, but simply in a way that the man can understand, a way that is sensitive to his situation.

Jesus then looks up to heaven, a sign to the man that He is praying (we know this from earlier on in Mark 6:41 when Jesus feeds the five thousand). Having prayed Jesus sighs. It is interesting that “sighing” only occurs a handful of times in the Bible and twice in this one chapter, although as far as I can tell the original Greek words are unrelated. Here though, Jesus sighs a “grumbling, moaning” sigh as if to show the man that He sympathises with his situation and is sorry that he is living in a broken and fallen world. Finally Jesus commands “Ephphatha”!

I found this story incredibly moving. Jesus is sensitive, He takes time out to spend time with this man, He is sympathetic, He meets the man at his time of need in a way that he can relate to and makes sure that the man knows what is going on each step of the way. I was struck that when I introduce people to Jesus this is the way I need to do it. I need to introduce them to Jesus in a way that is sensitive to who they are, where they are and what they are, but in a way that does not compromise who Jesus is in any way.

God Bless.

Dear Freedom

(I have started all personal pronouns relating to Jesus with a capital (i.e. He and His) to try and clear up any potential confusion with the deaf and mute man’s personal pronouns!)

And it was very good...

There are various topics that we are often advised to keep away from. Topics that are perhaps divisive, controversial, personal, political, specialist, religious or a combination of all the above, but whatever you do – don’t get involved, just observe. I think that the “Creation vs. Evolution” debate is one of those, but I think that it sufficiently covers all of the reasons to stay away from a topic to warrant more than simply observer status!

I’m no biologist; I’m only a member of the laity when it comes to all things theological; but I think that the origins of this universe, the origins of the world and most importantly the origins of man are, by right, topics that should be discussed by all those affected by them, which I’m assuming is all of us.

When I was younger I was taught that evolution was wrong. I was taught that God created the world in six literal twenty four hour days and that this was the only compatible view with the Bible. I was taught this by people that I trusted and so I believed them. It never was an issue for me, I was never challenged about that view and I was never taught that there were other equally compatible views. That was the case until I visited the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. As I wandered through the museum, looking at all the jumbled arrays of collectibles and watching the steady development in the complexity of life on earth from one display to the next I began to understand the pleasure that God must have taken in creating the world in which we live. I saw His creativity, His desire for perfection and goodness, His attention to detail and His "sustaining of all things by His powerful Word" (Hebrews 1:3).

This trip left me with many questions. Is evolution compatible with God’s infallible and inerrant Word? Is there a conflict between science and Christianity? Am I required to believe in a literal six day creation? Is this really an issue that matters? My answers to those questions have changed on innumerable occasions for a whole variety of reasons and I’m still open to being persuaded otherwise, but I have come to be more certain of various aspects of what I do believe.

There is not a clash between science and Christianity, but there is a clash between many current philosophies of science and Christianity. Those philosophies of science that are based on strongly, but falsely, asserted presuppositions such as the non-existence of God. Evolution is compatible with the Word of God, but not a humanist, naturalist, random chance and unguided view of evolution. Rather a view of creation in which God is intimately involved in every step, in every mutation, in every extinction and that He holds all creation in His hands. This view leads me to consequently understand that a belief in a literal six day creation is not an essential, or even particularly Biblical, doctrine to Christianity.

All this said, I do not demand that what I believe is truth. This is where the Word of God, scientific evidence and my questioning has led me. I do believe that God is perfectly capable of creating the world by whatever means, in whatever time scale and through whatever medium He so desires. The charge of intellectual arrogance is one that could be levelled at all of us, simply because the reason we believe what we believe is not because we think that all beliefs are equally valid, but because we believe that what we believe is more right than what anyone who believes differently believes!

The biggest question for me has been whether the “Creation vs. Evolution” debate is actually relevant to us today? Is it something worth debating? Does it have a meaning? Can we find answers? Is it an issue that really matters?

To a certain extent the answer to these questions is a big resounding “no”. We are here, by whatever means, and we have a far more important message to tell people. However this issue is becoming an increasingly large problem.

Dr. Denis Alexander phrases this far better than I ever could:

“There are three particular reasons why I do care quite deeply about this issue:
a. All truth is God’s truth and as scientists and believers we have a huge responsibility to tell the truth about God’s creation – that is part of our worship.
b. The belief that the world is only 10,000 years old brings one into conflict with virtually the whole of the scientific community and greatly sours the relationship between science and faith – that is a great pity. Modern science was started by Christians and traditionally science and faith have been partners – lets keep it that way.
c. Unfortunately young earth creationism is a huge obstacle to faith within the scientific community. I have personally met many atheists who had a Christian up-bringing, but who were turned away from the faith because well-meaning Christians told them that they could not be Christian and believe in evolution [e.g. Professor E.O. Wilson at Harvard, founder of the field of socio-biology, now known as evolutionary psychology.].”

I believe that the “Creation vs. Evolution” debate is one of the biggest issues facing the church today, but that it has unfortunately been taken on and hi-jacked by the fundamentalist, right-wing, republican groups in the United States. Professor Francis Collins, leader of the Human Genome Project says, “In my field, biology, because of the creationists the standard assumption is that anyone who has faith has gone soft in the head.” These assumptions have led scientists like Professor Richard Dawkins to write polemics such as “The God Delusion” that seek to throw all Christians into one group and to toss the baby out with the bath water.

There is a real challenge for the church today to respond to this question of whether “modern science” is compatible with “ancient Christianity” and if so, in what way. We cannot afford to risk allowing the young earth creationist movement to continue to shoot Christianity in the foot lest we end up without a leg to stand on.

God Bless.

Dear Freedom

I am still confident of this...

So here I am. I’ve outlined my rules. I’ve introduced myself (or not!). I’m in the process of letting other bloggers know that I exist and that I may be referring to them in the future. All I’ve got to do now is to think of something to write!

I’ve been thinking over the last couple of days of different things that I could write about, things that I’m specifically interested in at the moment. I’ve got a few things on my mind that I may well use, but I thought I’d start by just writing a few entries about things that I’m reading at the moment.

My “Bible-in-one-year” scheme is currently taking me through Leviticus, Mark, Psalms and Proverbs.

I didn’t think that I would enjoy Leviticus as much as I am at the moment. The Penal Substitution Atonement debate, which is currently going on over “blog-dom” and all through evangelical Christian circles, has caught my attention over the last few months and so the issue has been very much on my mind. It was therefore an absolute pleasure to find myself at the very origins of atoning sacrifices as I read through the first few chapters of Leviticus. I’m not really going to expound that here and now as it has been well documented and covered in other places. Suffice to say that I believe that Jesus Christ suffered the wrath of God and “became a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).

What really caught my eye yesterday and today was Psalm 27. There are several verses that were a real challenge to me. They especially challenged my desires.

“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”

“Teach me you way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path.”

David here desires to be following God’s way and no other. Reason? Well he tells us in verse 1 that “the Lord is the stronghold of my life”. Why desire the Lord and His way? Because the Lord is his strength, the Lord is the one who keeps him going, the Lord sets him “high upon a rock”. The Lord is also the one who David trusts to lead him. “The Lord is my light” and a light shows the way through the darkness.

David talks in between these verses of his enemies, those who want to oppress him. The reason that he still seeks the Lord is that he knows that he can’t save himself in his own human strength, but that he needs a saviour (verse 9). Despite the fact that he acknowledges God’s ability to save him and to protect him in times of trouble he still expects times of trouble. David didn’t experience a trouble free life, but he did understand that through all his suffering and endurances that the Lord would always prevail as the One to follow.

In the end what struck me today were the final two verses:

“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

David is full of confidence throughout the Psalm, but most of it seems to be confidence in his own personal arena and his own personal troubles. Here though as in other places (Psalm 3) he concludes by bringing his confidence to a much wider setting; “the land of the living”. This refers to the here and now of life on this fallen and broken earth. However David knows that God’s timing is often not what we might think that it should be and is very aware of the necessity of patience and waiting.

I guess what stood out for me overall from this Psalm were three things. Firstly: David desires the ways of the Lord and the Lord’s direction above all else. Secondly: although David’s attitude is one of victory and confidence he still acknowledges that suffering is part of his lot as a human being and especially as a child of God. Thirdly: David is confident in God’s goodness and love for people in this “land of the living”, but is willing to be patient to see the fruit of that.

God Bless.

Dear Freedom

Thou shalt...

I thought that I’d start by outlining what my rules will be for myself in writing a blog. Having spent the last several months reading blogs I’ve come across an interesting variety of different writers with very different writing styles, which obviously leads to a range of different audiences.

Personal information: I’m not writing this to divulge personal information that I wouldn’t otherwise be happy to be heard publicly. This isn’t my diary and consequently won’t be treated as one.

Other people: If you read something that you believe to be an ad hominem (either against yourself or anyone else) then please let me know and I will remove it subject to my own discretion.

Other's ideas: I’m not writing to please anyone and everyone. I will write things that people will find offensive. If you are offended then please bear in mind that this is my blog and I have a freedom to write and express myself. I’m not setting out to offend people, but we are all human and by nature do not agree on everything.

If you feel that I’m not sticking to my own rules then please let me know and I will do what I can to rectify the situation.

God Bless.

Dear Freedom