Dial-up depression and two other ailments

There are really three things in this post - three things that have been bothering me the last few weeks.

Dial-up connections have left me feeling a bit flat these last few weeks. That’s probably because in some ways I’ve come to depend on fast internet connections for some spiritual relief. Let me give you some examples. I can’t look at the pictures on James’ blog. The White Horse Inn, Micheal Horton’s radio programme - last week, I managed to download 25 minutes of audio. The programme is 35 minutes long. The strange thing is that when you download an MP3, the audio file will play to the point the download failed. So mid-sentence, it was gone. The same with my weekly fixes of Tim Keller and John Piper. Dial-up connections leave me asking how did we live a few years ago, when fast internet connections were only available in college?

The reason for all this is of course recovery. I’m really thankful for my mum. Mrs. Matheson is simply the best mum in the world. I’ve been living at her dial-up house for a month now, since leaving hospital. Everything has been going well - we haven’t really had any disputes / fall outs, as we frequently disagree on the practical answer to “How now shall we live?” Clearly an answer to prayer. In relation to other ailments, I’m hoping to be back to some semblance of work and ministry soon - the physiotherapy man doesn’t want to see me as often, and the medical team at Raigmore Hospital are happy to never see me again. God made the human body a wonderful thing. So he gets the glory.

The last ailment is being as yet “unmarried”. I say “as yet” because shortly before I was hospitalised, Dolina agreed to marry me at some undisclosed point in the future. That was amazing. But the ailment is still one I suffer from, and it has left me wondering about the way my church generally treats single people in their late 20s and 30s. So many of my friends have left the Free Church at this stage because they genuinely felt the Free Church had no place for them. I used to argue against this - thinking the complaint was not “no place” but rather “nothing to offer”. I don’t believe for a second that the Church has nothing to offer anyone - we have the Gospel, don’t we?

But having no place is something much worse. We’ve been duped into thinking that the way the church grows is through parent and toddler groups, through families making connections, through creche facilities that will make Sunday mornings more attractive, through kids clubs at the school holidays that might “hopefully” bring some of said kids into church youth groups and in time see them converted(!). Finally, sad to say it, we think we will grow through having attractive ministers in place - attractive in that they have a nice wife and sweet kids who will give the impression that this church is a safe place for other people with nice wives and sweet kids.

What happened to growing the Church through knowing and telling the Gospel? Experience might be flawed here, but in mine it tends to be young “as yet” unmarried 20/30-somethings that have the most contact with people outside the church. Once you get married your circle of friends tends to be more tightly drawn in, more fixed. Surely the “as yet” unmarried people in their 20s/30s are the very people we should be empowering to go and share the faith with those outside who need the gospel.

I’m not saying all these other things are wrong in and of themselves, but if they are the things we look for, the things that give our churches purpose and our members a sense of “doing something”, then they are obfuscating the Gospel. So that’s my third ailment - being “as yet” unmarried is some kind of leprous poison chalice for a church fixated with image, not gospel.

Three Weeks in Hospital - mad mad mad goings on

This is probably a null post, but I wanted to say two or three things quickly.

I slipped a disk, spend almost three weeks in Hospital, and was discharged today. It was sore, but I am deeply humblied to think that thet recovery I’ve made is more than I ever deserve - resolutions about the deployment of my weakness at God’s disposal will follow.

Secondly, the ward staff in 3A at Raigmore Hospital are really good at what they do. Hats off to them.

Thirdly, my good friend David Strain is going to take up a pastoral charge in America, i.e. he’s leaving behind London, the Free Church, and maybe a lot of heartache too. He, and Sheena will also be leaving their families behind, which is a huge sacrifice to make for the Gospel, but as a friend recently told me, we can never out-give God, so I’m sure the blessings for the Strains will be extreme. So prayers for David & family.

But… what does this mean for my church? When it comes to preaching David is one of the most dedicated guys I know. It’s a sad day for the church in Scotland and the UK when we lose men of his caliber. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest… …and maybe ask the American church to lay off our ministers - I think our need is greater.

What in your opinion is the most inspirational book in the Bible?

The teens at Roots offer us a string of interesting questions every month - we take potshots at answering them. This one is so cool. Here’s my thoughts. Feel free to add your own.

Acts is, I think, the most inspirational book in the Bible. It is all about what Jesus is doing through the ongoing work of the church – through people like us! It is all about how we are so futile when we try by ourselves, but so powerful when we allow God to work through us. It’s amazing that the work of Jesus is still going on, through amazing characters like Paul, but equally through weaklings like Timothy, business women like Lydia, or cool mentor-type married couples like Priscilla and Aquila. Plus, there’s no chapter 29. The story isn’t over yet.

Tiz me - anti-Jedi rantings

Ok, this has had me in tears for a few days now.

I was thinking about writing something about how I’m not really a Jedi. The whole thing is a sort of mockery really, of the whole pomo nonsense that passes for the religious experience of some of my best friends - three of whom put “Jedi” as their religion at the last national census.

Do I live by the Jedi code? Who cares! Does that make me a Jedi? I’d say no, because Darth told Luke his training was only complete once he had constructed his own light saber. Given that light sabers don’t exist - pity really, I could think of a number of folk we could off with the lame excuse “Easy, this is Jedi business.” - you can’t really complete your training, and so can’t really call yourself a fully fledged Jedi, never mind the problems that then causes getting Jedi Masters in place to make the whole system work. So no, rant over, I don’t, and never will, see myself as a Jedi.

I think the reason pastors don’t do that is becasue they don’t live off the Bible day by day.

I just wanted to share this.

Je suis réprimandé.

Young ministers who RAWK!

I just wanted to write something quick to say ho much I’m coming to appreciate one of my young colleagues in the Free Church ministry.   I read James Eg’s article “What Would Chalmers Do?” (sorry, it’s not linkable yet!) in the last edition of our denomination’s monthly magazine, and was at first disappointed.   I think he mentioned wages too often, not that he said too much, just that as a recurring theme to pick on it gives the wrong impression.

But!

He’s saying something that really needs to be said.   The Free Church employs ministers on a very Victorian model, and it certainly does not RAWK today!   Can’t we do something about it?

Then I read this post.   I’m praising God for this guy.   God is good.

Dumbed down Church

I’ve now got a real bee in my bonnet about this - dumbed down church doesn’t make any sense, for so many reasons.

• Scotland’s people are the best educated they ever have been - yet the church is at it’s least literate since before the WWII.
• Most radical secular atheists are repulsed by a dumbed down Christianity that puts subjective feelings over reason - particularly a faith that is happy to profess it has no basis, e.g. those who call themselves Christians, but don’t even accept the Bible to be the Word of God.
• Post moderns, hard to generalise they may be, are astonished with the true depth and - dare I use the word - complexity of the Christian faith. Complexity is perhaps wrong, intricacy is perhaps better. Post Modern Spirituality, new gnosticism, call it what you will, can only be answered by a faith that makes sense in how it addresses real problems. A clearly understood, well kept Christian spirituality fills the very void po-mo’s are looking to fill. Sadly, shallow, poorly grasped faith just adds to the smorgasbord of confused and jumbled ideas making up a fairly typical pm worldview.
• This is further exacerbated by Christians who have no theology themselves - who think theology is a professional business best left to ministers. Their faith is not a reasonable one, and the best answer they can give is a Christianity reduced to something like, “Jesus died for my sins, it’s amazing being a Christian.” You’re left wondering is this why we have an alarming number of young Christians abandoning the faith - if the faith they are taught gives them no rationale for what happens when God’s providence is difficult to bear, and actually sells them an empty chalice of sugar coated dreams?
• Historically, times of blessing have followed not a “simple faith” in terms of knowledge, but a “simple faith” in terms of it’s awed respect and godly fear in light of the massive things we’ve come to know. The Reformation - a rediscovery of Justification. The great awakening - a rediscovery of justification. Today - blank looks when you mention justification, because justification is a theological term disputed by professionals.
• Historically again, after the Westminster Assembly, kids knew the “shorter catechism”. Today, this is the benchmark for the theological understanding of our ministers (candidates nearing the end of their selection process are examined on their knowledge of the WSC) - and we, the Free Church, are probably the most demanding Scottish body of Christians in this regard. We are facing decline.
• We are consistently, in most churches, running children’s Sunday School at the same time as church services, depriving both the kids, but more importantly the teachers of half their regular bible teaching. I’m not disparaging the work of Sunday School teachers, or even the material they are using - but I do wonder about the nett effect of less teaching overall. I’m worried about preaching too, if we are inadvertantly presenting it as something older people listen to, but kids can afford to ignore.
• Most older Christians I know rely heavily on what they learned as youths - many don’t read, and going on the discussions I have and questions I’m asked, I’m not sure a culture of learning is prevalent in our church. Sermons are measured by how much superficial encouragement they give, not the equipping they provide.

I just don’t like dumbed down church.

Richard Dawkins - pleasantly surprised

Last night I had the dubious privilege of attending “a conversation with Richard Dawkins.” It was a well scripted chance for Dawkins to wind up his opponents in what the BBC dubbed the Scottish Bible Belt. If Dawkins expected a hostile crowd, he couldn’t have been more disappointed - the rapturous applause after his first “reading” gave the game way - he was preaching to the choir.

The UHI event was called “Science and the God Delusion.” Dawkins is to be admired for his promotion of science and reason - he stands against the some post-modern jibberish the church contents with. But his arguments were not those of a good debater - and I feel some of his statements were frankly contradictory. At the start of the interview, he spoke of the tremendous steps science has taken in recent years, and how science itself will soon be able to answer the question of why we are here. He was later asked about the right of science to answer the “why” questions - which he dodged, and actually said some why questions are silly and don’t deserve to be asked. The two statements were difficult to reconcile.

There was one point during the Q&A where Dawkins sense of wonder was evident. You need a sense of wonder to be a scientist. He was responding to a question about whether the latest scientific advances would put a final nail in the lid of religion. He spoke about a visit to CERN at Geneva as a “moving experience”. He spoke about the potential discoveries that such a facility could make, and was obviously excited. But, he said there was no guarantee about how someone would respond. Some would have a “religious”experience of awe at the wonder of science, while others would see these wonders as a religious experience of the glory of their god. At that moment I was convinced of the truth of Romans 1 - God’s invisible attributes (power and nature) are there to see the created world, but we suppress that truth, and exchange that glory for images and idols. My perception of Dawkins changed at that point.

Dawkins, and his followers, are demanding more from the Church. The crowd wanted to talk about pressing issues - global population explosion, climate change, resource depletion, species extinction. But we are happy to shout over their heads with self-satisfying arguments about prophecy, or confused “churchish” talk about evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit. That just isn’t where Dawkins is at - but we’re quite happy fishing in a different pool. Dawkins and co. demand our best Christian thought be applied to the issues of the day, and if coming to our level was good enough for Jesus, surely we can come down (from the lofty heights of the finer points of doctrine) to Dawkins level too?

The presence of men like Dawkins confirm so much theology I hold dear - we are created in the image of God, given to reason, creativity, and investigation. But at the same time we suppress the greatest object of wonder, and accept tawdry second rate substitutes. Dawkins could make an amazing theologian (you need a sense of wonder to by gripped by theology), but he has written God off as at best a bullying thug, before grappling with the evidence of why God might appear that way. Maybe we need to better explain our theology.

So, verdict on Dawkins - he’s not that scary, and is presenting a massive wake up call to the church, which we ignore at the peril of thousands of people who don’t know their left hand from their right, and also much cattle.

The closeness of Jesus

Everything in the Christian life revolves around proximity to Jesus Christ. Sunday past I was reflecting on Philippians 4:4-7, and how Paul’s repeated reason is the closeness of the Lord.

V4 - Rejoice in the Lord - the Christian’s delight reaches its highest when the Lordship of Christ is clearly seen in relation to whatever brings us joy. A beautiful landscape might bring someone joy, but add Christ to that - the creator and sustainer of the universe, and that joy becomes enhanced, an act of worship as we see creation itself pouring out glory to our king.

V5 - Let your reasonableness be known to everyone (for the Lord is at hand) - how we live as we wait for the glorious appearing of Jesus is driven by the proximity of Christ. Hold him at arm’s length, and the effects of sanctification will be minimal. Paul’s desire was that believers reflect the character of Jesus, and that comes about through the Spirit of Jesus at work within us.

V6 - Don’t be anxious, pray - Paul’s language here expresses our approach to a sovereign of unimaginable power. But the way we approach that power is through Jesus Christ, in whom we find our only right of access to the thrown of Abba.

V7 - You will be guarded in Christ Jesus - the Bible is replete with references to the way God watches over his people, and generally that protection comes through closeness - e.g. Psalms 17, 36 or 57 - where the place of safety is under the shadow of his wing. The safest place for the Christian is close to Christ; our best armour his righteousness imputed to us, and worn not loosely, but strapped on tight.

I was wondering about two things in Paul’s line of thought in concluding his letter to the Philippians:

1) How does the closeness of Jesus impact on our Christian unity (v2-3)?

2) How does our desire for purity impact on our closeness to Christ (v8-9)?

Steal: Gospel Church vs. Maintenance Church

I stole this from James, it is taken from the Minutes of the PCA General Assembly in 1999.

Great Commission Pastor/Church             Maintence-Driven Church

(light giver)                                                   (light absorber)

- loves its community                                  - fears its community
- opening gates                                             - building walls
- tired, but loving it                                      - fatigue/frustration
- fellowship in ministry                                - fighting over details, personalities
- growth in grace/converts                         - numerical plateau or decline
- good teaching with focus on harvest       - teaching with no outreach objectives
- prayer for lost and harvest workers       - prayer focuses only on needs of members.
- focus on resources for harvest                 - resources focused on members only

It is interesting that a denomination like the PCA, which is currently experiencing considerable growth and is leading the way with church planting and world mission, had to consciously face this problem as recently as 1999.

I was really humbled reading this, because my negative attitude brings to mind all the worst things here. But, on reflection, things aren’t totally dire! Greyfriars focuses a lot of resources on reaching people outside the church - time and energy is spent on Campaigners, Kids & Co., Mission in Need; money is sent to missionaries, Roots; prayer is maybe a bit vague or unspecific when it comes to local needs, but is more focused when it comes to interceeding for missions.

I guess the big question for us is, “Do we love our community?” The answer to that - or the extent to which we can genuinely show that - will affect most of the areas where we are failing.