Same Old New

Good News for Who?

2008-05-22T00:28:00.000-07:00

Our country is burning
"Halleleujah"
Our people on fire
"Sing it again"
Mothers & children hacked
"Fill me up Lord"
Eating from the bags we throw our children's nappies into
"Preach it pastor"
Sleeping in sewers
"More love"
Clothed in tatters
"More power"
No shelter no justice
"More of you in my life"
Our own flesh & blood
"And I will worship you"
The image of God
"With all of my heart"
Treated worse than our pets
"And I will worship you"
The body of Christ
"Will all of my mind"
Disconnected "
"And I will worship you"
Wild animals & strays
"With all of my strength"
Have it easier
"You are my Lord"
They say that the gospel is good news
"Love the Lord your God ..."
Good news for who?

An Evangelical imperative in the Emergent debate.

2008-03-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

A pastor friend of mine, David Lock, recently published an article in the Baptist Today explaining why he appreciates some aspects of the Emergent movement (http://gonubielocks.blogspot.com/2008/02/i-recently-wrote-article-for-baptists.html). The article was published alongside a critical piece against the Emergent movement by Tim Cantrell (http://www.honeyridge.co.za/node/148). The thrust of these articles can be read by clicking through the above links.

Dave’s article was gentle, balanced, well considered and non-abrasive. Dave can be critical, he is an intelligent person who can argue very well. But he does so in ways that do not resort to name calling, reductionism, labelling, witch hunting, judgementalism or quoting authors out of context. Not that I’m saying that Tim has, but you why don’t you decide for yourself. Dave it seems understands the Evangelical Imperative and Baptist Principle of Religious Liberty.

“No individual should be coerced either by the State or by any secular, ecclesiastical or religious group in matters of faith. The right of private conscience is to be respected. For each believer this means the right to interpret Scriptures responsibly and to act in the light of his conscience”.

Therefore he does not judge other Christians with different views to his own; he respects their views and if he has something to say about them he does so in ways commensurate with the deep and generous conciliatory harmonies of the victory of Jesus rising from his argument. Brian McLaren, in a review of Scot McKnight’s “A Community Called Atonement”, says this of Scot:

McKnight isn’t advocating a mushy “let’s all get along” evasion of the issues, which are many and important. But he is seeking to practice what we preach whenever we preach atonement: that God calls us to reconcile with God, ourselves, one another, and all creation. That means that the way we treat one another when we disagree about atonement can’t be separated from what we preach when we preach atonement. Theory and praxis are profoundly inseparable. This conviction helps explain why people with whom I imagine McKnight disagrees are treated in these pages gently, respectfully. McKnight prefers to “catch people being right” over exposing where he thinks they’re wrong, and thus seeks to build a community of atonement through his manner of addressing the issue. Normal academic discourse does not require this irenic tone, but in keeping with his theme, McKnight is seeking to follow a higher standard (http://www.jesuscreed.org/?p=2744).

This is pretty much how Dave conducts himself. Those sympathetic to the Emergent Movement value debate but let’s do so in “patience, kindness, gentleness and self control”. This is hard to do and I don’t always get it right but we must consciously try.

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35) (ESV).

Walking in Memphis

2008-03-18T02:11:00.001-07:00

This past week our church hosted and did joint mission with a team of North Americans from Germantown Baptist Church, Memphis Tennessee.

The team visited schools and taught life skills, travelled to prison and to convalescent homes, went to townships and tested eyes for reading glasses and taught youngsters about dental hygiene and ministered in our church and small groups.

The fruit of this visit was the establishment of a love relationship between our church and a few Southern Baptists of all people. But more than this over 50 first time commitments to Christ were observed. What impressed me most was the way in which the gospel was shared. Pastor Rob Mullins and Pastor John Longworth simply and gently told their own stories. There were no hard-sell fire insurance sales pitches, no Bible thumping and no coercion. The message these men shared and the way in which they shared it was so tender and vulnerable that anyone could have laughed it off, disproved it or ridiculed them. Their presentations were not dynamic, powerful and convincing. They were flawed, full of holes and easy to ignore. And yet when they asked if anyone would like to respond at every venue a significant number of people did.

I was struck dumb by two things. Firstly, that whether at a school or a prison or a Friday night youth meeting, when God calls someone into relationship with himself there must be allowance for awkwardness. If you can’t take your stand in these situations where can you and where will you? Those who responded were not ashamed of Jesus, not ashamed of the Gospel and not ashamed of themselves. Secondly, the power of the gospel has nothing to do with the way in which it is presented or who presents it. It is a work of the Holy Spirit and is therefore not dependant on eloquence and bling.

I have never seen something so ordinary and at the same time so extraordinary. But then again I obviously have a short memory for Scripture.

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty
speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were
not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might
not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor 2:1-5) (ESV).