An interesting, honest view - from one of the creators of Veggie Tales, no less.
I don't like talking in silver bullet terms like this video suggests. Nevertheless, hat off to him for having the humility and guts to publically think it all through again from the bottom up.
Monday, 13 January 2014
Saturday, 11 January 2014
A Thought on Speaking in Tongues
Before I continue, I want to declare I am no expert in this stuff - this posting is just a personal reflection / conclusion on musings to date - it is a work in progress. :-) I am happy to be corrected if error is found in the ensuing words.
---
Whilst the "gift of tongues" is held by many Christians as a Biblical thing, the phenomenon of speaking in tongues is not the exclusive preserve of modern charismatic Christianity or even just Christianity. Other non-Christian religious movements use it too. It's easy to forget in a secular and functionally atheist Britain that just because a person speaks in tongues, doesn't make them "Christian." There are plenty of other "spiritual practices" that include tongues which do not find their origin in the heart of God or the Bible.
So the key is not can you or can't you speak in tongues, but if you can, how are you doing it and is it the Spirit of God who has given it to you or is it from another source?
Before I continue, I want to state clearly, that I do not believe that "speaking in tongues" is the mark of a "real" Christian. Receiving, loving and confessing that Jesus is Lord is.
That said, I do believe it is a gracious spiritual gift, which should be eagerly pursued (1 Cor. 14:1) and is received often, but not exclusively, by the laying on of hands. When this is done right and well, along with all God's spiritual gifts - both natural and supernatural, it builds up God's people both individually and corporately.
If it is true that the practice of tongues is not the universal preserve of the church, then how do we do it to the glory of God? And how do we know if we are posessed of the Spirit of God, or a different spirit?
To put it another way, when a Hindu sits down to a meal he will no doubt thank one or many a deity from the Hindu pantheon for providing him with that food. A Christian will give thanks to the God revealed in Jesus Christ for his meal. Both men are eating, but doing it with different affections in the heart.
I realise I am about to paint with a broad brush, but... In many ecstatic religious movements, the aim is to empty your head, and to get to a trance often with the help of intoxicating (often illegal) substances and mood music (come to think of it, rather like a nightclub.) Speaking in tongues may form part of the journey to that trance or be the result of getting there. Whichever it is, the aim is to open yourself up to spiritual powers and to be posessed by them for the sake of gaining some blessing or power.
But Biblical spiritual gifts are a response to the revelation of God and a result of being filled with the Spirit of God for the love of God and the benefit of the world, not a means of strong arming his attention or blessing. For a good illustration of this, compare Elijah to the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. The false prophets work themselves into a frenzy seeking to get impetuous Baal's attention so they can coax him into lighting the fire (kind of like this). Contrast that with Elijah, who God raised up as a man of prayer and filled with the Spirit for the task of calling the nation of Israel back to true worship. He simply glorifies God in his prayer and God answers mightily. The false prophets are all about their own efforts to attain, God's people are all about responding to his gracious initiation and doing everything to get in sync with what he is revealing and doing.
The God of the Bible is not interested in possession, at least not in the demonic, horror movie sense. He sends the Spirit to make his home with us, he knocks at the door of the heart, if we will only open the door and let him in. He wants to give us joy unspeakable and full of glory, to bring us into his counsel and share his heart with those who will receive him. Incredible when you think how big the Trinity is and how little we are.
My own best experiences of tongues are when God by his Spirit has impressed a truth of the Bible on me and helped me to see something of the weight, the depth and the glory of his salvation and the future hope to which we have been called, which I had never seen before and which leave me so overwhelmed that I cannot put intelligeable sentences together. (To be clear, I have never had a 2 Cor 12 style vision.) At that point, speaking in tongues is the only way I can bring "expression" to what I have been granted to see. (Rather like a boy running and holding on to an accelerating plane - either you have to let go or hold tight and take off) . My heart is full, my spirit rejoices, but my mouth can't keep up, unless it is transposed into another mode of expression.
It is also something I have witnessed at times of intense grief - prayers that go so deep intelligeable speech cannot express it as such.
Tongues given in public, must have an interpretation, otherwise it turns into powerplay, manipulation and abuse. I have never given a tongue for public interpretation in a church setting, nor have I ever interpreted one. I must confess that I have not eagerly desired it either. Not that I am proud of that, I'm just telling you where I'm at in my journey.
Most of all, Jesus said that true disciples shall be known by the fruit of their lives. The Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus. So judge a man not by the intensity of his tongues or any other supernatural activity, but by the growing fruit of the Holy Spirit in his life (Matt 12:33) and how that fruit is directed to God first and others second as per the great commandment (Luke 10:27). Does he exhibit increasing love for Jesus, increasing joy in Jesus, increasing peace in being united to Jesus, increasing patience to endure like Jesus, and wait on Jesus, increasing kindness and generosity of spirit toward Jesus, increasing goodness in believing Jesus, increasing faithfulness and gentleness towards Jesus and increasing self-control towards Jesus and by extension, showing all those qualities to others especially those in the "household of faith?"
Tongues, when employed in this context and for this purpose, as a means not an end, are a great blessing!
---
Whilst the "gift of tongues" is held by many Christians as a Biblical thing, the phenomenon of speaking in tongues is not the exclusive preserve of modern charismatic Christianity or even just Christianity. Other non-Christian religious movements use it too. It's easy to forget in a secular and functionally atheist Britain that just because a person speaks in tongues, doesn't make them "Christian." There are plenty of other "spiritual practices" that include tongues which do not find their origin in the heart of God or the Bible.
So the key is not can you or can't you speak in tongues, but if you can, how are you doing it and is it the Spirit of God who has given it to you or is it from another source?
Before I continue, I want to state clearly, that I do not believe that "speaking in tongues" is the mark of a "real" Christian. Receiving, loving and confessing that Jesus is Lord is.
That said, I do believe it is a gracious spiritual gift, which should be eagerly pursued (1 Cor. 14:1) and is received often, but not exclusively, by the laying on of hands. When this is done right and well, along with all God's spiritual gifts - both natural and supernatural, it builds up God's people both individually and corporately.
If it is true that the practice of tongues is not the universal preserve of the church, then how do we do it to the glory of God? And how do we know if we are posessed of the Spirit of God, or a different spirit?
To put it another way, when a Hindu sits down to a meal he will no doubt thank one or many a deity from the Hindu pantheon for providing him with that food. A Christian will give thanks to the God revealed in Jesus Christ for his meal. Both men are eating, but doing it with different affections in the heart.
I realise I am about to paint with a broad brush, but... In many ecstatic religious movements, the aim is to empty your head, and to get to a trance often with the help of intoxicating (often illegal) substances and mood music (come to think of it, rather like a nightclub.) Speaking in tongues may form part of the journey to that trance or be the result of getting there. Whichever it is, the aim is to open yourself up to spiritual powers and to be posessed by them for the sake of gaining some blessing or power.
But Biblical spiritual gifts are a response to the revelation of God and a result of being filled with the Spirit of God for the love of God and the benefit of the world, not a means of strong arming his attention or blessing. For a good illustration of this, compare Elijah to the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. The false prophets work themselves into a frenzy seeking to get impetuous Baal's attention so they can coax him into lighting the fire (kind of like this). Contrast that with Elijah, who God raised up as a man of prayer and filled with the Spirit for the task of calling the nation of Israel back to true worship. He simply glorifies God in his prayer and God answers mightily. The false prophets are all about their own efforts to attain, God's people are all about responding to his gracious initiation and doing everything to get in sync with what he is revealing and doing.
The God of the Bible is not interested in possession, at least not in the demonic, horror movie sense. He sends the Spirit to make his home with us, he knocks at the door of the heart, if we will only open the door and let him in. He wants to give us joy unspeakable and full of glory, to bring us into his counsel and share his heart with those who will receive him. Incredible when you think how big the Trinity is and how little we are.
My own best experiences of tongues are when God by his Spirit has impressed a truth of the Bible on me and helped me to see something of the weight, the depth and the glory of his salvation and the future hope to which we have been called, which I had never seen before and which leave me so overwhelmed that I cannot put intelligeable sentences together. (To be clear, I have never had a 2 Cor 12 style vision.) At that point, speaking in tongues is the only way I can bring "expression" to what I have been granted to see. (Rather like a boy running and holding on to an accelerating plane - either you have to let go or hold tight and take off) . My heart is full, my spirit rejoices, but my mouth can't keep up, unless it is transposed into another mode of expression.
It is also something I have witnessed at times of intense grief - prayers that go so deep intelligeable speech cannot express it as such.
Tongues given in public, must have an interpretation, otherwise it turns into powerplay, manipulation and abuse. I have never given a tongue for public interpretation in a church setting, nor have I ever interpreted one. I must confess that I have not eagerly desired it either. Not that I am proud of that, I'm just telling you where I'm at in my journey.
Most of all, Jesus said that true disciples shall be known by the fruit of their lives. The Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus. So judge a man not by the intensity of his tongues or any other supernatural activity, but by the growing fruit of the Holy Spirit in his life (Matt 12:33) and how that fruit is directed to God first and others second as per the great commandment (Luke 10:27). Does he exhibit increasing love for Jesus, increasing joy in Jesus, increasing peace in being united to Jesus, increasing patience to endure like Jesus, and wait on Jesus, increasing kindness and generosity of spirit toward Jesus, increasing goodness in believing Jesus, increasing faithfulness and gentleness towards Jesus and increasing self-control towards Jesus and by extension, showing all those qualities to others especially those in the "household of faith?"
Tongues, when employed in this context and for this purpose, as a means not an end, are a great blessing!
Thursday, 2 January 2014
"If the Theologian of the 16th Century was a Lawyer, the Theologian of the 21st is an Ad Man"
As an occasional preacher, I found this blog post absolutely fascinating on how the mentality of marketing seaps into the church. It kept me and Elli going in discussion for nearly two hours afterwards.
You'll need at least half an hour to read it and watch all the videos he includes to illustrate his points.
And a related but different TED talk about the danger of the TED talk. Hats off to TEDx for having such a subversive speaker!! The danger is not in the talk itself, but the way it packages information and how that presentation makes us feel. Placeboes on a whole new level.
You'll need at least half an hour to read it and watch all the videos he includes to illustrate his points.
And a related but different TED talk about the danger of the TED talk. Hats off to TEDx for having such a subversive speaker!! The danger is not in the talk itself, but the way it packages information and how that presentation makes us feel. Placeboes on a whole new level.
Sunday, 29 December 2013
A Paradigm for Understanding the Relationship Between Grace and Works
James Jordan comments on the relationship between God's grace and our labour as illustrated in the life of Jacob.
Just as he was about to cross over into the Promised Land, a "man" met Jacob and wrestled with him all night (Gen. 32:22-30). It was the Angel of the LORD, God Himself, Who wrestled with Jacob. Amazingly, Jacob "won" the fight, although we realize that it was a victory in grace, not in works. This passage is explained by Jesus Christ when He tells us that the Kingdom of God is open, and all men strive violently to enter it (Matt. 11:12, Luke 16:16). All his life, Jacob had desired to inherit the Covenant, and had wrestled to obtain this blessing. God approved of his actions. It had been God Who had set up the roadblocks in Jacob's way, to test and improve his character, but it had also been God who gave Jacob the grace and the will to persevere.
Then God crippled Jacob as a reminder that when we wrestle with God for His blessing, it is not our might that prevails, but His grace. Then we read, “Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel." Just as Jacob crossed the boundary into the land of promise, the sun rose. We can see him limping across the boundary, and the sun bursting up in its might behind him, a sign of the strength of God's people... who wrestle with God and prevail by His strength, scattering His enemies.
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
New Year's Eve Watchnight Meeting
As per Sean's post, we plan to host a New Year's Eve watchnight meeting at the church offices from 11pm on 31st December 2013 to 12:30am on 1 January 2014.
It will be a mix of Bible meditation, prayer and sung worship, loosly based around the following themes:
- Why God gave us the gift of days, seasons and years: Why we are gathering this night.
- "The Lord Gives and Takes Away - Blessed be the name of the Lord:" Committing to God all that has been has been
- "On Earth as it is in Heaven:" Committing to God for all that is ahead.
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Keller on Bonhoeffer
Timothy Keller, writing in the forward to Eric Metaxas' biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer "Pastor Martyr, Prophet, Spy" says:
It is impossible to understand Bonhoeffer's Nachfolge [imitation (of Christ)] without becoming acquainted with the shocking capitulation of the German church to Hitler in the 1930s. How could the "church of Luther," that great teacher of the gospel, have ever come to such a place? The answer is that the true gospel, summed up by costly grace had been lost. On the one hand the church had become marked by formalism. That meant going to church and hearing that God just loves and forgives everyone so it doesn't matter much how you live. Bonhoeffer called this cheap grace. On the other hand, there was legalism, or salvation by law and good works....
Both of these impulses made it possible for Hitler to come to power. The formalists may have seen things that bothered them, but saw no need to sacrifice their safety in order to stand up to them. Legalists responded by having pharisaical attitudes toward other nations and races that approved of Hitler's policies. But as one, Germany lost hold of the brilliant balance of the gospel that Luther so persistently expounded - "We are saved by faith alone, but not by faith which is alone." That is we are saved, not by anything that we do, but by grace. Yet if we have truly understood and believed the gospel - it will change what we do and how we live.
By the time of Hitler's ascension, much of the church understood grace only as abstract acceptance - "God forgives; that's his job." But we know that true grace comes to us by costly sacrifice. And if God was willing to go to the cross and endure such pain and absorb such a cost in order to save us then we must live sacrificially as we serve others. Anyone who truly understands how God's grace comes to us, will have a changed life. That's the gospel, not salvation by law or by cheap grace, but by costly grace. Costly grace changes you from the inside out. Neither law nor cheap grace can do that.
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
RFC Bible School 2014
2014 will see us running our first ever formal Bible School. It's open to anyone at RFC who wants to know the WHOLE BIBLE better, but could never quite mobilise themselves to do it alone.
The nine session course will take place at the RFC Offices on the third Monday of the month (apart from April). We'll start each evening with a pizza buffet at 7pm followed by a lecture and seminar delivered by one of the Bible School teaching team and finish around 9:30pm.
Whilst we use words like "lecture" and we plan to cover a lot of material, we aim to pitch that material academically at GCSE / O-level standard.
There are no formal written assignments in this course, but anyone who wishes to write an essay or the like in order to consolidate / build on what they have learned is welcome to do so and will get feedback on it. Also, it goes without saying that the more personal time you can put in, the more you will get out.
The cost of the course is £70, the vast majority of which is to cover the cost of our food, drink and course handouts over the nine sessions. However, we don't want cost to stop anyone from attending, so if you would like to participate, but finances are tight, bursaries are available - more information on request from the church office.
Ideally we would like at least 20 people to sign up (it feels like a "proper" class size then), but will happily run it for whoever we get. Due to space issues, the maximum number we can take is 35.
Here is the course in outline...
20 January
Approaching the Bible
What do we mean when we say that the Bible is the inspired "Word of God"?
17 February
Coming to the Light
What is the central theme of the Bible?
17 March
Gospel Rhythm: From Darkness and Chaos to Light and Order
How does Genesis 1 set the scene for the rest of the Bible?
28 April (Fourth Monday)
Leviticus: The Gospel for "Little Children"
How do we make sense of the laws and rituals of Leviticus?
19 May
The Psalms: Gospel Songs for our Journey Through This Life
How should we read the Psalms?
16 June
The Prophets: God's Gracious Gospel Enforcers
Who were the prophets and how were they used by God?
15 September
The Gospels: Behold the God-Man
How do the Gospels shed new light for us about Jesus?
20 October
Acts: The Gospel goes Viral
How is the Gospel Planted into and lived out in Alien Cultures?
17 November
The Revelation: Not as Strange as You Think
How should we try to understand one of the most controversial letters ever written?
For more info, email me here.
To sign up or find out more about bursaries, email the church office here.
The nine session course will take place at the RFC Offices on the third Monday of the month (apart from April). We'll start each evening with a pizza buffet at 7pm followed by a lecture and seminar delivered by one of the Bible School teaching team and finish around 9:30pm.
Whilst we use words like "lecture" and we plan to cover a lot of material, we aim to pitch that material academically at GCSE / O-level standard.
There are no formal written assignments in this course, but anyone who wishes to write an essay or the like in order to consolidate / build on what they have learned is welcome to do so and will get feedback on it. Also, it goes without saying that the more personal time you can put in, the more you will get out.
The cost of the course is £70, the vast majority of which is to cover the cost of our food, drink and course handouts over the nine sessions. However, we don't want cost to stop anyone from attending, so if you would like to participate, but finances are tight, bursaries are available - more information on request from the church office.
Ideally we would like at least 20 people to sign up (it feels like a "proper" class size then), but will happily run it for whoever we get. Due to space issues, the maximum number we can take is 35.
Here is the course in outline...
20 January
Approaching the Bible
What do we mean when we say that the Bible is the inspired "Word of God"?
17 February
Coming to the Light
What is the central theme of the Bible?
17 March
Gospel Rhythm: From Darkness and Chaos to Light and Order
How does Genesis 1 set the scene for the rest of the Bible?
28 April (Fourth Monday)
Leviticus: The Gospel for "Little Children"
How do we make sense of the laws and rituals of Leviticus?
19 May
The Psalms: Gospel Songs for our Journey Through This Life
How should we read the Psalms?
16 June
The Prophets: God's Gracious Gospel Enforcers
Who were the prophets and how were they used by God?
15 September
The Gospels: Behold the God-Man
How do the Gospels shed new light for us about Jesus?
20 October
Acts: The Gospel goes Viral
How is the Gospel Planted into and lived out in Alien Cultures?
17 November
The Revelation: Not as Strange as You Think
How should we try to understand one of the most controversial letters ever written?
For more info, email me here.
To sign up or find out more about bursaries, email the church office here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)