http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/october/where-did-we-come-from.html?paging=off
Andrew Wilson tries to reconcile the seemingly unreconsilable positions held by Milton, Paley and Darwin.
Roger E Olsen is an Arminian Evangelical who wrote an article defending his position against seemingly unfair criticism from a fellow, Calvinist theologian ( http://t.co/FW2fc8W23G tweeted by @AJWThoelogy – Andrew Wilson; 5:53 PM – 21 Sep 13). The positioning of Arminians and Calvinists seems so quaint these days but their differences and disputes are interesting mines for wisdom.
What is interesting about this dispute and rebuttal is its revealing of a truth we all need to hold on to; Scripture rightly informs and moulds tradition not the other way round. What many Church streams do is put their interpretation of Scripture (Tradition) on an equal footing with Scripture. In effect, to question their Tradition is to question Scripture. Of course this would be anathema to them but in practice this is what is evident.
To me this results in the scriptures becoming a prison and a death sentence. Instead of the truth setting me free I experience a distancing from God when subjected to interpretation as fact. I feel that in our presenting of scripture we ought to inform and suggest to the hearer so that the Spirit can bring the truth. This isn’t relativism as the scripture applied correctly , teaches, admonishes and transforms.
It is so easy for practice and confessions of belief to substitute for deep encounter and transformation so that people are sold short. We can teach people to say, Lord, Lord! but only a life lived close to God can produce the fruits that reveal God in our reading of scripture.
Reflections on 1Corinthians 12-14
1 Cor 12:1-2
Paul tells us everything we did back then, before we were Christians, had its roots in idolatry and worship of things that don’t speak; we have now been changed so let’s look at the now and learn about what has happened to us.
1 Cor 12:3
Don’t worry if the person next to you in a worship service is hard to understand; look at their lives and trust in God. If you know he loves Jesus as Lord, and his life attests to this, he can’t curse Jesus. Trust he is of God and what he is saying is good even if you don’t understand it .
1 Cor 12:4-7
And that’s the whole point, there will be many manifestations of the Spirit to build the church up.
1 Cor 12:8-10
Let God work in the church and trust Him.
1 Cor 12
1 Cor 12:27-31
In case you haven’t quite understood; here it is again; it’s the love of God and obedience to the teachings of Christ that matter and, if that is evident, then out of this love and obedience God will bring gifts.
1 Cor 13:1-13
The gifts are important, some more than others, but we must get it in proportion, it’s the heart they come from, the character that informs them, that is key. However spectacular the gifts are, if they do not come from a humble, quiet person steeped in forgiveness they are nothing. When Jesus returns we will find ourselves in the presence of the Perfect and all the gifts will have fulfilled their purpose, to build up the church. And then there will be no need for the gifts as we will have the substance the gifts point to; what we could only know in part we will know in person. It is important that we work on our character and pursue the gifts….
1 Cor 14:1
Want a definition of tongues? It does appear that all of the above is a build up to address a concern about tongues in the church. Look back to the beginning of the chapter and it has a theme: speaking.
This is what Paul is means about when he talks about tongues and forms the basis of his teaching…
1 Cor 14: 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
And prophesy? Well Paul tells us that it contrasts with tongues; you know what is being said.
1 Cor 14:3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their up-building and encouragement and consolation.
So that is back to chapter 12 verse 7 and 11 again. Prophecy ticks all the boxes and a prophet has a gift for this, which is why it is a higher gift, a gift for others whereas the gift of tongues builds up the speaker.
1 Cor 14:4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
Paul is a very generous man because he is speaking the words of a generous God. God wants the best so, if there are tongues in the gathering, there may be those who can interpret them as prophecy. This is a gift that some will have; I suggest it’s not an interpretation of one language to another, as by definition it is something spoken to God, not to men, which wouldn’t be true if some could understand it word for word. The interpretation will be from the heart of the interpreter, he hears and puts it into words (see v 2).
1 Cor 14:5
Again here comes a good definition of tongues in the text by contrasting it with prophecy, knowledge and revelation.
1 Cor 14: 6-7 Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? [7] If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? [8] And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?
Here is another definition of tongues…
1 Cor 14:9-13 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air…
It may be worth going back at this stage and underlining how many times Paul uses the idea of building up the church. He wants worship to be inclusive and to bear fruit in us and in those gathered. He so wants it to be inclusive he asks individuals to pray so that if they do pray to God in tongues that they will receive the interpretation themselves! This idea of being inclusive is the idea Paul is now going to lead off on. Paul is speaking about worship in a gathering where there will be believers and those who do not know Jesus as Lord.
Another definition of tongues coming up… Take a look back at the definitions already given first, this gift is quite strange and obviously needs some understanding in a public gathering.
1 Cor 14:14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.
Here comes the practical advice…
1 Cor 14:15-16
So yes, you’ve guessed it, yet another definition of tongues has been written in the text.
1 Cor 14:17 For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.
Paul makes it personal now, reinforcing the definition of tongues by contrast with normal speech…
1 Cor 14:18-19 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. [19] Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
Paul brings some scripture into his teaching…
1 Cor 14:20-22
Signs can be negative as well as positive. If an unbeliever whose heart is driven by idolatry comes into your gathering and they only hear tongues then what they will know is they are separate from the gathering, they need a message that convicts them and brings them in.
I think it is made clear that the tongues spoken of here are different to the tongues spoken of in Acts 2 and 10 where the intention was that all who heard, heard the message. The tongues in Acts did not need an interpreter as they were a miracle for unbelievers, whereas the tongues spoken of here are for a different purpose and a gift to the believer for the believer himself.
1 Cor 14:23-25
So what would a public worship service look like in Corinth at the time of Paul?
1 Cor 14:26-33
This is pretty simple and good advice and for some of us a very different kind of meeting to the one we are used to especially in the type of gathering where only one or two people speak and the gathered flock sing set words and say amen to the prayers and readings of the leader.
Notice how interpretation of tongues isn’t haphazard, it is a gift that is exercised by an individual and can be called upon.If the leaders know that no one is able to interpret then they should ensure this is made clear to the gathering.
But then comes a seeming contradiction to 1 Corinthians 11:5 and 1 Corinthians 11:13 where it talks about women speaking in the church. Try reading it as if it were part of what has just been said and then see what you think.
1 Cor 14:33-35
Could it be that Paul is saying that there are those in authority in the meeting who can decide and question prophecy and interpretation and could it be that this gift is fluid but, because of the culture it would be wrong to allow a woman to take authority?
Whatever, it cannot be an absolute prohibition, as then there would be an internal contradiction within the letter.
To conclude, if tongues were merely the speaking of a prophecy in another foreign language this next bit doesn’t make sense…
1 Cor 14:39-40 So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. [40] But all things should be done decently and in order.
(1 Corinthians 12-14 ESV)
Paul has put tongues in their place and set limits to them.
Reflecting back on this piece of scripture, and what I have written, it could be countered that the gift of tongues could be a person speaking in a known language and not knowing it or tongues is not a human language but has meaning to the extent that it can be translated or interpreted. The tongue is a coded message that those who are gifted can interpret.(DA Carson, Showing the Spirit, Baker Book House Company 1987, pp.77-88)
If so, then the tongues I personally experience would not be scriptural. But my reading of the scripture stems from the conviction from the text that tongues are an outward expression of my spirit praying to God (14:5).
Silence may be another, or falling prostrate. Tongues for me are a way of praying without the mind, which, as with silence or kneeling, build me up and, in the context of public worship, need interpreting so that the unbeliever can be included.
The message seems to be that all should be in order and every church must know what God is calling them to in their cultural context. 12:29 says that not all will speak in tongues, but we must not go beyond the scriptures and forbid speaking in tongues.
Our guide dog puppy Riley
The thesis of this book is that we are all suffering, cruel animals and humans are bent on destroying their environment with technology. Pretty gloomy stuff but very well written. To be honest, I am not qualified to critique the book but I did read it.
Gray presses home his argument with shocking examples of humans behaving badly. He really despises humanism’s hope that things are getting better, and sees secular humanism as an empty philosophy worse than Christianity, because it does not face up to the facts as he sees them. They, ‘…have given up an irrational belief in God for an irrational faith in mankind.’ (Gray, 2003, p.38) Morality does not exist, there is no self and he ventures that what distinguishes us from animals is we, ‘…have learnt to cling more abjectly to life.’ (Gray, 2003, p.131)
Strangely I found his shocking examples rather tame compared to the cruelty and depravity in the bible. Even his thesis is biblical, though he wouldn’t acknowledge it. He reads like the Preacher in Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes 3:16-22 ). Indeed Gray writes in the tradition of Wisdom Literature.
Gray’s assessment is unashamedly Godless. He espouses Buddhist awareness and reflection as the answer to human rapacity. Death is the release, and we are burdened by our awareness of time in waiting for it. He concludes,
‘ Other animals do not need a purpose in life. A contradiction to itself, the human animal cannot do without one. Can we not think of the aim of life as being simply to see?’ (Gray, 2003, p.199)
I must admit I found this book made me laugh, as it was so earnest and self reflectively serious. The illustrations made me want to cry, but the bible had hardened me to the depravity of mankind and the destiny of creation. Gray’s whole argument makes sense; it has to, I offer, or faith would have no meaning. I wouldn’t put my trust in them though as someone clever will rip his ideas to shreds one day.
In the bible, God does not prove himself; argue for his own existence, he reveals himself. The sun, the moon and the whole realm of nature are as much bleak as they are inspirational. Nature is as cruel and chaotic as it is rational. God speaks into this.
Yes the bible supports the idea that we are all animals, but take Gray’s advice, look within. There you will find an inner land to explore; there God will reveal himself. Yes, to live is to suffer, but to see, to seek, is to find God and his Image in you.
I have deliberately not given detailed quotes to support my biblical insertions because I want you to read the scriptures and find out if I am right. I’m not sure what merit there is in reading this book, except that it lays bare secular humanists and updates you with examples of the depravity of man.
Reference
Gray, J. 2003 Straw Dogs. London: Granta Books 2003.
Hatfield Heath
Roman’s 12:2 says that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Now what does this mean? In the context of the scripture and because of what Paul has just spoken of about grace; that’s what the “therefore…” is there for; it’s speaking of grace transforming our lives by transforming our minds, and this being tested.
We are to be active in this, doing what is right and not being conformed, or moulded by and formed by the world’s ways, but by grace. The goal is knowing what is good, acceptable and perfect.
Can we make it also mean that we are to believe what God has done in our lives, ignore the evidence to the contrary, and wait for the reality in our lives to catch up with the reality of what God has done? No. Not in morality, not in health and not in wealth. This is empty headed, over-spiritualizing intellectualism that ignores the visceral reality of the scripture. We are called to live right (Ephesians 4:17-24). Associating this scripture with the process of healing diminishes its power.
The scripture is talking about the realities of living in the world. It’s talking about doing the right thing despite the pressures around us to do otherwise; despite what we think. That is, not gossiping, not slandering, not telling lies, not getting angry, not being bitter, not being proud… things that start in our minds and destroy the work of grace.
Romans 12 to 15 let us know what we are to do as a result of receiving grace. Not if we like, or as the Spirit leads: we are to allow grace to transform our minds so that the realities of the life in Christ we live are pure. Romans 12:2 is not an excuse to wait for our minds to be transformed before we do right. It’s not an encouragement to believe in a healing that has not happened.
Paul’s call for us to renew our minds in Romans 12 prefaces 3 chapters of dos and don’ts. It’s an invitation to the hard work of living by grace, actively casting off and putting on, because we are founded in grace. Grace takes us to painful places and much of the battle is in our minds which need to go through the pain of transformation through testing.
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
(Hebrews 12:11-10 ESV)
Now that’s a thought for the day. Stephen Foley writing in the i, (p.4, 14/02/2012) leads with, ‘Thousands of Chinese factory workers will be given the chance to detail the punishing conditions on assembly lines producing Apple iPads and iPhones…’ We also learn that workers typically earn 30p an hour, working 10 hour shifts with only one break. In 2010 in one factory there was a spate of 13 suicides or attempted suicides.
It’s a difficult one but, whatever you think, how has this made you feel? Threatened? It’s surprising how wedded we are to our technology. Dismissive? It’s not my problem and there are many other equally difficult questions to avoid each day, and I don’t need something else to feel guilty about. They work and they look good; what’s your problem? (Genesis 3:6)
Apple are incredibly brand aware. They ferociously protect their brand image and defend their product integrity. At present they are fighting to ban Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smart phone in the US because it looks and behaves like an iPhone. An illustration used recently at our church noted how Steve Jobs insisted that every part of an Apple product conformed to his design ideals, even the parts you couldn’t see. You can see the parallel aspiration in the life of the church.
What is the Christian brand and how far do we go to protect it?
Luke 4:17-22
If you get a chance read this comments on the i news story. The comments make fascinating reading. I have highlighted Apple but, it has to be said, they have owned up and are trying to do something about it.
I’ve always been a cheerful sort of chap.
The Ancient Greeks had a saying that a thought is a thread and that a storyteller spins yarns. These are all pictures from weaving. Yarns are threads and they are formed by spinning. A textus is a piece of weaving and so a piece of writing came to be known as a textus from which we get the English word text. The metaphor has moved into common speech as we spin yarns and follow the thread in a story.
It is funny to think that this ancient term that referred to the craft of writing and depth of thought is now used to refer to what we do on our mobile phones and following a thread is an online activity.
But we can redeem the humble text!
Every month my pay as you go account offers me 100s of free texts and free access to the internet for £10. My credit just builds up and I religiously top up not wanting to waste my money on sending a text, when they are ‘free’. I hardly ever use my phone to talk, except in emergencies; old school.
So what to do with my bulging pay as you go account? Give it away!
70007 text ‘Barnabas’ and Barnabas aid gets £3. www.barnabasfund.org
70070 text ‘CHUN09’ & £amount to donate to the Leprosy mission http://www.leprosymission.org.uk/
And just to see how generous you lot are I have set up a page http://www.justgiving.com/Marc-Humphries and if you text
70070 with MEMH48 £amount and you will have donated to Shelter.
Just a thought… do your children top up £10, use their free stuff, then run down their credit. You could encourage them to give by creating a page as I have done. The pay back could be that you give them £10 a month to top up, if they give away more than £1 a month in text giving. They could set up their own page to track their giving and encourage their friends to join them as a fund raising team.
Have we redeemed text? I hope so because giving is a habit our children need to learn. Now how are we doing…
One of my key beliefs is in the sovereignty of the human will (Genesis 1:27).
I believe in the sovereignty of God; he is all powerful and holds the whole creation together. God is good.
I see in the act of creation, the incarnation and salvation sovereign acts of self limitation (Philippians 2:1-11). I strongly feel that God has limited himself for the glory of his wonderful grace and that all our wills are created sovereign. This is one way I understand being made in the image of God.
God’s will is supremely free. His will is not bound. To exercise free will, our sovereign wills bind to his sovereign will. Free will does not mean we exercise our will outside the will of God. Our will is only free, I believe, when the will of God is sovereignly our will. This is how I understand the mystery of God, creator and God made flesh.
The futility of sin is the fact that our wills are no longer free but bound by the slavery of selfishness and disobedience to the call of God. Our concept of self determination cloaks free will with the idea that we are free to sin. We are not free when we sin, we are made free in Christ so that we do not sin.
Jesus sets people free and commands them to go on their way and sin no more. While we are still sinners and bound by sin, we are forgiven and our experience of love and acceptance illuminates our life so that we have the hope of salvation. Sin no more, is a command to us based on the grace of forgiveness(1 John 3:1-10). But God does not take away the gift of our sovereign wills, we still need to turn to him.
Believing in Christ, we never lose the promise of salvation as we struggle with sin. Belief in Christ is a moment of peace and joy, an experience that sets us on the way to be imitators of Jesus; to be holy as he is holy. Believing in Christ is the creation of a new identity from which our sovereign identity grows. It is a decision to follow Christ, to be faithful to him (John 3:16-18). The battle begins as our character and circumstances are challenged and the gift is, our hearts are turned from stone to flesh. We hear the perpetual call, Go, and sin no more.
This is a simple command; go, and sin no more (John 8:11); be holy as I am holy (1 Peter 1:13-16). It is a call to imitation, to realise the divine image within all of us. Jesus’ teaching is easy and its outworking light. Jesus says, love God with every fibre of your being and love everyone else (Mark12:30-31).
It is a true metaphor that speaks of arming ourselves for this life. Life is not easy but Jesus’ message is (Romans 13:12). We need every defence and weapon available, as, for some of us, we meet failure after failure and despair upon despair. Some struggle against circumstances and suffer. Others, if not all, struggle with the heavy burden of self. Our hurts and disappointments and the hidden world of our experience crowd in on the truth of who we are in Christ as we stumble and stumble again. For some of us, that one word of belief, that single word of freedom, is all we have in the struggle. But it is enough; it is the seed planted in good soil which is not strangled.
Our confidence is in God, as in Christ we are new creations hidden in him. As we set our hearts to forgive and be kind, yet feel nothing; as we seek to serve others and only feel failure, we know that, even so, in Christ we are saved. God may invade us with supernatural revelation but he will not take control and enslave us to it. He may reveal himself through miracles and supernatural encounters but he will not take away grace and bind us to the repeat of transient experiences. God limits his sovereignty for the glory of his wonderful grace so that we might freely bind ourselves to his will.
When everything else falls around our ears, the word of faith; the still, small, quiet voice, speaks, …My burden is easy and my yoke is light. He does not say pull yourself together and cheer up he says, …Come to me (Matthew 11:28-30). He knows your heart; it is his new creation and he will never let go (John 10:27-30).
This is love, that I am free to love. This is power that I am free to take up my cross and follow Christ. This is grace that I am freed to live in Christ.
Kierkegaard made an art of writing short provocative parables designed to shake us out of our comfort zone. He is often quoted, but not much read. To download a book for free visit Plough Books. From him you will gain the insight that,
There are people who handle the ideas they pick up from others so frivolously and disgracefully that they ought to be prosecuted for illegal exchange in lost and found property.
And so in the fear of prosecution I will share the words of others on two of Jesus’ parables; the treasure found in the field, reburied, everything sold, and the field scurrilously bought to obtain the treasure and the pearl of great price, which the merchant sold everything to obtain. (Matthew 13:44-46)
Nouwen notes in The Inner Voice of Love that having found the treasure and experienced its value you have to leave it and sell everything to obtain it;
You can only seek God when you have already found God. The desire for God’s unconditional love is the fruit of having been touched by that love.
Bonhoffer writes,
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods.
Ortiz in his book Disciple combines this teaching with Matthew 16:24-25 to teach that we get to keep everything but now it is radically under the ownership of Christ.
Rollins in the Orthodox Heretic says that Kierkegaart reflected that if you have sold everything to obtain the treasure you now have nothing, as the pearl only has value if you sell it, the one thing you are bound not to do. Having obtained the pearl you are now materially destitute whilst possessing something really precious.
Sometimes we run away from simple meaning and construct a wall between us and the message…
Whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it. (Matthew 16:25)
Kierkegaard writes;
All our Bible learning has become nothing but a fortress of excuses and escapes. When it comes to existence, to obedience there is always something else we have to first take care of. We live under the illusion that we must first have the interpretation right or the
belief in perfect form before we can begin to live – that is, we never get around to doing what the Word says.
Grapes in my garden
Woke early this morning, early enough to walk out into the countryside before going to church. What a wonderful morning; the leaves just turning and the hedgerows bright with berries. The dew was heavy and the sun shine was fresh and clean.
We walked towards the airport and breakfasted at McDonalds. Conversation turned towards thorny issues and the mess that is life. I had read Psalm 55 before heading out and I mused on the idea of being taken up on the wings of a dove and escaping into the peace and silence of the wilderness; the place of reflection and reforming (Psalm 55:6-8).
Walking back, anticipating going to church and our particular form of worship, I reflected on how worship is called out of that place of beauty and peace, a place of grace where we know God. Luther taught that our righteousness does not do God’s work but God’s righteousness brings forth the fruit that is God’s work. Put simply he said it is the tree that swells the fruit. Jesus taught he was the Way, the Truth and the Life and that we are to worship in Spirit and in Truth.
We are in the time when we are called to worship where we are, from who we are in God. The tree is not the institution we attend it is the heart we bring with us. What a privilege it is that we can look within and explore our Inner Land and cry, beautiful! because of the work of Christ. All hearts strive for this peace; this light, and it is found in Jesus.
As I walked up the road, a cyclist came towards me, sat up on his bike, freewheeling, and cried, lovely! Let worship begin.
M Emlyn Humphries 