Evidence for the Resurrection

Over the years sceptics have attempted to come up with other explanations for the resurrection of Jesus. Maybe you're one of them, or maybe you're curious about whether the evidence for the empty tomb is credible. Perhaps you've visited this blog as a result of hearing the message I preached on Easter Sunday morning.

What about these other explanations: do they hold water?

In an age of reason and science, isn't the resurrection an implausible belief?

Is it really credible to believe that a man who lived 2,000 years ago is still alive and has an relevance to my life today?

The Apostle Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament part of the Bible, was very clear that these are not just academic questions: they go to the heart of the Christian faith.

Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection:

 'If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.' (1 Corinthians 15:17)

For many years, Christian speaker and writer Josh McDowell has defended the resurrection. He has debated sceptics and atheists, and he has researched it in great depth. The link below will take you to an article written by him which looks at the objections to the resurrection and the evidence for it. It was originally delivered as a talk, so if you prefer you can download it to listen to. However it is also available in written form for you take your time over.

It is part of a superb website called www.bethinking.org which is designed for those who want to engage in the evidence and logic behind the Bible and Christian truth.

The  Resurrection Factor

Direct Link: http://www.bethinking.org/bible-jesus/bible-jesus/intermediate/the-resurrection-factor-part-1.htm

A Day with Hannah...

Just got back from a 'Church Leaders' Day' at Redcliffe Bible College, where our own Hannah Coggins is studying, in preparation for  long term overseas mission in Africa.

Hannah was at the front entrance to greet me when I arrived and take me for coffee (the obligatory day opener for all Christian conferences of any kind). After a bear hug from Dr Haroon (who spoke at Woodgreen on Sunday evening) we joined the 60 or so other students for  student devotions, a time of singing and Bible teaching. Hugh Kemp (who spoke at Woodgreen on Sunday morning) led the devotions, asking the question: 'How can we know God's will?'. It was a really helpful summary of the Bible's teaching on guidance and it was immediately clear that Redcliffe is a learning environment that is pastoral as well as academic. 

Hannah in entrance of Redcliffe College - impressive staircase!

After devotions, I went with Hannah to her 'Community Group'. This is  Redcliffe's version of our Growth Groups. The group of 9 students and staff gathered in the flat of a swiss student and her husband, Nina and Ben, who plied us with more coffee... and swiss chocolate! Hannah has clearly landed on her feet with this group! The students take it in turns to lead these times, which involve some time in the Bible, and sharing and praying for one another. The degree students are about to embark on their 6-week post-Easter placements, so it was great to hear about what they are planning. 

Hannah's Community Group

Next was lunch in the dining room. We arrived a little late, which was fun because Hannah was on the rota to give thanks for the meal, so they hadn't been able to start without us!

Hannah giving thanks for lunch!

During lunch it was good to catch up with Mike Frith, who ran our 'Serving as Senders' mission training day last year at Woodgreen. Mike and his wife are based at Redcliffe and run a website called OSCAR - a one-stop-shop for all things related to overseas mission. It's a wonderful resource which is well worth a look at. Want to know how best to support a missionary? Want up to date news on what is happening  around the world? Want to know what opportunities there are for long or short term mission? Considering overseas mission and want help about where to start? Follow this link!

After more coffee (!) I and the other church leaders met Rob Hayes, the Principal of Redcliffe College, who gave us a presentation on 'The Redcliffe Experience' and answered questions. 

Hannah and I then had the chance to sit down together and talk about how things are going. For me, this was the best bit of the day. Yes, it was great to meet some of the extraordinary young people who are preparing to serve God around the world. Yes, it was good to be able to visualise the experience Hannah is having. Yes, it was great to build on the growing relationship between Woodgreen and Redcliffe. But being able to support Hannah and pastor her through this exciting time is such a privilege! Her clarity and maturity throughout this process has been both humbling and inspiring.

We spent some time talking and praying about her final interiew next week with AIM (Africa Inland Misson). AIM place great importance on involving the sending church, which is one of the reasons Hannah was drawn to them as a missonary organisation. I have been  involved in the application process from the start, meeting with the regional representative Steve Lancaster in the early stages. As part of this partnership I have been invited to sit on the final interview panel. It will be great to be there to support Hannah. Please pray for her as she has to give a 15 minute presentation, as well as answer questions. Pray that she will give a good account of her call and that the interview panel will see both her gifting and genuine heart for missionary children.

As I left Hannah at the end of the day, I was reminded of one of the things Hugh Kemp said during his morning devotions. As he concluded his talk on guidance and discerning God's will, he displayed a picture of Gloucester harbour, full of docked ships. However overlaid were these words:

A ship in harbour is safe.

(But that's not what ships are made for)

It was a timely reminder of what Bible colleges like Redcliffe - and churches like Woodgreen - are called to do.

We are safe harbours - but our job is to 'prepare God's people for works of service' (Eph 4:12). As Christians we must resist the temptation all around us to pursue lives of safety, shelter and security. This is worldliness, pure and simple. Instead we are called by our Captain, Jesus, to 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.' (Mark 16:15).

This is the call Hannah is obeying. She is currently in the harbour, but soon she will be plotting a course for the open seas. We should be both challenged by her example and committed to supporting her as she prepares to set sail.

If you want to receive Hannah's prayer letters - please email me.

Direct links:
Redcliffe College: www.redcliffe.org/
OSCAR: www.oscar.org.uk/
AIM: www.aimint.org/eu/

Diagnosing a Captured Heart

I'm  reading a wonderful book in the moment called 'Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands' by Paul David Tripp. Tripp is the main speaker at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly in London this June, which is the one Pastors' conference I try to get to every year. I've had it my bookshelf for a few years, but last week I thought to myself  'Seeing as I'm going to be hearing this guy speak, I really MUST get round to reading this!'

I'm so glad I did.

The subtitle gives away it's theme: 'People in need of change helping people in need of change.' Tripp's central thesis is that every Christian is called to be a 'minister' (with a small 'm'), ministering into the lives of others, for the maturing of the church. His aim is therefore twofold: to help the reader see where change is necessary in their life and to equip the reader to help them minister into the lives of others so that they change to be more like Jesus. I've read lots of books before about how to pastor others, but few that are as helpful and insightful as this one.

What's been really significant is how the themes in the book have resonated with the themes of my evening sermon series in Luke. In Luke we have been looking at how Jesus confronted the Pharisees and exposed their religious hypocrisy. Jesus said that it's what's on the inside - in our hearts - that really matters to God - not what we appear to others.

Tripp's theme is the same. 

Chapter 5 is entitled 'Understanding your heart struggle'. In it he says:

'What controls our hearts will exercise inescapable influence over our lives and behaviour... Our desire to set up our own kingdom in direct conflict with the King who has come to rule in our hearts. This is the war beneath all others. Who will rule that tense situation at work - your desire for a raise, or God's glory? Will God rule that conversation with your child, or your desire for peace and quiet? Will God rule your relationship with your father, or your desire for vengeance for years of mistreatment? these skirmishes within your heart are battles in the most important war.'

So... how do good desires gain control of our hearts so that they become ungodly desires that lead to conflict with others and with God? Or as Tripp puts it:

'How do desires that were okay in themselves become our functional masters?'

Trip uses the opening verses of James 4 to show that the objects of our desires are not always evil. However our desires have a trendency to grow and the conflict and control they exercise over our hearts can then lead us away from God and into ungodly thinking and behaving. Unless we hold them in check, good desires can become idols.

'What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?' (James 4:1)

Our desires must therefore always be held in submission to God's desires. Our hopes must bow before THE great hope: God's kingdom purposes and plans.

How then can we guard our hearts and diagnose our own condition?

Tripp says part of this is understanding that there are 5 stages in the capture of our hearts and the conflict that ensues:

1. DESIRE morphes into DEMAND ('I must..')

2. DEMAND quickly becomes NEED ('I will...')

3. NEED inevitably produces EXPECTATION ('You should...')

4. EXPECTATION leads to DISAPPOINTMENT ('You didn't ..!')

5. DISAPPOINTMENT leads to some form of PUNISHMENT ('Because you didn't, I will...')

Tripp explains  this last stage in this way:

'I am angry because you have broken the laws of my kingdom. God's kingdom has been supplanted. I am no longer motivated by a love for God and people so that I use the things in my life to express that love. Instead I love things, and use people - and even the Lord  - to get them. My heart has been captured. I am in active service of the creation, and the result can only be chaos and conflict in my relationships.'

This is a terrible position to be in!

So, what is the solution to a captured and conflicted heart? What is the way back to right thinking and behaving?

Surprisingly, in James 4, James' solution to the conflict that overgrown desire brings to a captured heart is not horizontal (I need to sort out my relationship with other people), it's vertical (I need to sort out my relationship with God).

'Submit yourselves, then, to God... Come near to God and he will come near to you... purify your hearts you double-minded... humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up' (James 4:7-10)

The solution to a captured and conflicted heart is to put God in his rightful place again - on the throne of our hearts. Our desires must be supplanted by a desire for Him. Our priorities must submit to his priorities. Our hearts must surrender to him as King.

The fruitful Christian is one who has a heart captivated by God himself.

If you want to get hold of a copy of 'Instruments in the Redeemers' Hands' follow this link or get in contact with Alistair Walker-Cox at Grace Cards and Books on Droitwich (01905 774856). I've since discovered that Peter Barham is reading his during his sabbatical.

Elders' Advance: thank you for praying

Just got back from our 24 hour Woodgreen Elders' Advance (we don't do 'retreats' in Christian ministry - God's kingdom is always advancing!).

We stayed in the Elim Conference Centre, which is attached to Regents Theological College in Malvern. It was the first time we have used this centre and I think it's safe to say we will be using it again! Not only did we have the dramatic backdrop of the Malverns  to inspire us, we also enjoyed wonderful hospitality and accomodation. It was a blessed time together.

Trevor Archer, FIEC's Training Director joined us to lead two sessions this morning on 'Practical Spiritual Oversight'. He led us in discussion of a number of passages from 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and 1 and 2 Thessalonians, helping us to think through our primary calling as Christian leaders to be both disciples and disciple-makers. It was really helpful to concentrate on our core mission as a church, that we need to be modelling as Elders.

Our MISSION is to make disciples who understand our culture and  know, sow and show Jesus in Warndon Villages, Worcester and the World.

Needless to say, we have been left with a lot to work through over the next few weeks!

On a relational level, it was wonderful to be away together with a bunch of godly guys who care deeply for the flock at Woodgreen and are willing to work hard as a band of brothers to further the gospel. We had some wonderful times of prayer as well as some fun and laughter as well!

Ultimately, we came back to the truth that we are broken, flawed men, leading broken, flawed people, but we have an all sufficient Saviour!  Please pray for us as we seek to work through the key lessons God has taught us together.

Here are a few snaps to help you get a feel for our time away...

The coffee lounge in which we met.

 Trevor Archer, who led our sessions.

 The view from our lounge window!

Our meeting room is the top room.

Healthy eating for dinner...not! (Well, apart from Noel who had a salad)

NB: If you can't see these pictures you may need to log on to the Pastor blog website: http://woodgreenpastor.blogspot.com/

Learning how NOT to Preach

I'm preaching away this weekend at an evangelistic Sunday for a church in Bristol (The Village Church). While doing some research for a sermon illustration I came across a hilarious parody of preaching and was  reminded of the need we preachers have to be able to laugh at ourselves from time to time.

There's a a long tradition of parodying preaching styles in order to help improve preaching and clarity in communication.

For my 22nd birthday my parents bought me a copy of C.H.Spurgeon's 'Lectures to my Students'. For the uninitiated, Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a famous preacher in London in the 19th Century. He is known as the 'Prince of Preachers'  because of the remarkable power of his preaching. He pastored the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London for 38 years which was packed out every week with 5,000 people seated and 1,000 people standing. He also founded a seminary for training preachers that was name posthumously after him.

'Lectures to my Students ' is a transcription of the addresses he delivered to these trainee preachers, and while dated now, they are still full of down-to-earth practical wisdom.

I had just started preaching at the time and had been recommended it by a mentor. (I guess that just goes to show how weird a 20-year-old I was! Can you imagine the average 22 year-old today asking for a copy of one of Spurgeon's books for their birthday?)

Lectures 6 and 7 of Volume Three were my favourite by far. Entitled: 'Postures, Action, Gesture etc' (the Victorians didn't go in for catchy titles) Spurgeon urges his students not to fall into the various bad habits common among preachers of his time. It even includes pictures! He is merciless and comprehensive in his parodying and it is absolutely hilarious in places!

Here's just one example (I picked this because as far as I can remember none of us at Woodgreen fall into this trap!!)

'There is a class of action which must, to use the mildest term, be described as altogether ugly. For these a platform is 'generally necessary,' for a man cannot make himself so thoroughly ridiculous when concealed in a pulpit. To grasp a rail, and to drop down lower and lower till you almost touch the ground is supremely absurd. It may be a proper position as a prelude to an agile gymnastic feat, but as an accompaniment to eloquence it is monstrous; yet have I seen it more than once.'

If you want to read these two lectures, click on the appropriate one below - unfortunately these don't include the pictures! (full links are given at the end of the blog)
lecture 6
lecture 7 

The serious point of course is that a preacher's job is to focus people on God's Word and anything that distracts from that, however trivial, is unhelpful.

To quote Spugeon again:

'No minister would willingly cultivate a habit which would blunt his arrows, or drift them aside from the mark; and therefore, since these minor matters of movement, posture, and gesture may have that effect, you should give them your immediate attention.'

A preacher's mannerisms, tone and pulpit habits can become obstacles to be overcome by the listener, rather than tools that help focus attention on God's Word.  All of us who preach regularly therefore need to continually reflect on and learn from each other when it comes to the WAY in which we preach, as well as the CONTENT of what we preach.

And so, in the spirit of learning by parody, I invite you to listen to the following 'sermon', a sketch written by Alan Bennett many years ago. I issue it with a health warning for all preachers: you will wince more than once as you hear yourself in this!

Links:
The Village Church, Bristol: http://thevillagechurch.co.uk/
Vol3, Lecture 6: http://www.cblibrary.net/pastoral_aids/spurgeon_lectures/lms_19.htm
Vol3, Lecture 7: http://www.cblibrary.net/pastoral_aids/spurgeon_lectures/lms_20.htm
'Take a Pew' sketch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOsYN---eGk

10 Reasons to support the Coalition 4 Marriage

On Monday the 'C4M' was launched, a coalition of various groups with the aim of retaining the traditional, biblical definition of marriage.

John Stevens, FIEC National Director, has written a very helpful rationale on his blog, outlining 10 reasons why it is important that we speak up and oppose the government's proposals to redefine the scope of marriage.

It's a great summary of the issues at stake. Click on the picture or follow the direct link below to read it...

http://www.john-stevens.com/view/magazine#!/2012/02/fiec-news-c4m-coalition-for-marriage.html

http://www.john-stevens.com/view/magazine#!/2012/02/fiec-news-c4m-coalition-for-marriage.html

When Good Lives are Bad News

In the light of the 6 hallmarks of dead religion that we looked at on Sunday night from Luke 11, I found this blog from Tim Chester timely. It challenged my own heart. I trust it will continue to bring the challenge of God's Word to bear on yours as well.

There are two ways we get life wrong.

1. We want to be our own Lord instead of Jesus

In other words, I replace Jesus as Lord with Tim as Lord. I run my life my way. I want to be in charge. That often leads to behaviour that by moral standards is bad: ‘sex and drugs and rock-n-roll’. We do not think Jesus is enough. We do not think the rule of Jesus is the good life. So we replace Jesus with others things.

But there is a second way we can get life wrong.

2. We want to be our own Saviour instead of Jesus

On other words, I replace Jesus as Saviour with Tim as saviour. I want to save myself by doing good things or I want to save other people by straightening out their lives or I want to save the world through good causes.

Now, here’s the tricky thing: This way of getting life wrong often leads to behaviour that by moral standards is good behaviour. People who are trying to be their own saviour are going to live moral lives. Or they are going to be good husbands and wives and parents because they want to rescue their family. Or they are going to be involved in good causes, raising money for the poor or campaigning for justice or getting involved in the environmental issues.

Those are all commendable things to do. So replacing Jesus as Saviour can look like a good life. They will be people in your congregation who are doing this and you will think they are doing great.

But its fruit will eventually become apparent. It will lead to pride or frustration or stress or anxiety or manipulation. Think, for example, about a parent who is trying to save or sort out their children and who thinks it all depends on them. They might be manipulative or domineering as they attempt to control and protect their children. Or they might be bitter about their children’s behaviour or weighed down with stress.

The people who are rejecting Jesus as Lord will usually be easy to spot. But be on the look out for people who are rejecting Jesus as Saviour. I can think of people who have come to us highly recommended, but whose hard work turned out to be driven by deep insecurities.

Gently and firmly we have taught them the good news of justification and adoption. I tell people who are rejecting Jesus as Lord to repent, find joy in Christ and change their ways. I tell people who are rejecting Jesus as Saviour to do … nothing. Stop. Listen. ‘It is finished.’ There is nothing left to do. You have a heavenly Father who loves you and cares for you.

And look out for saviour-tendencies in your own heart.

Many of us are rejecting the lordship of Jesus in some areas of our lives while trying to be a saviour in other areas. Here is the good news: Jesus is Lord and Saviour. And he is a better Lord than you and a better Saviour than you.

(Reproduced fromTim Chester's blog:  http://timchester.wordpress.com/ )