Lifted!

I've just finished reading Sam Allberry's book on the resurrection, Lifted! (IVP), which was out this January. I must say I've thoroughly enjoyed it. It's been a very busy week with the Passion For Life Mission and at times I've been whacked out, but I've come back to Lifted! with enthusiasm and gone away encouraged.

Sam has a very lively engaging style. The book is packed with striking expressions, illustrations and anicdotes. Yet there is real theological substance here too.

In a way, the book is a series of mini-expositions and I would have liked a Scripture index so that I could more easily steal the headings!

The resurrection was at the heart of the apostolic preaching and it is often neglected today, sometimes from a wrong-headed desire to keep the cross central, when of course the cross and the resurrection belong together. One necessitates and explains the other. They are not rivals.

The biblical message of this book has the potential to be profoundly life changing. It is worth reflecting on the resurrection as God's affirmation of the physical and bodily, when Christianity is always in danger of being perverted into gnosticism. Or think of Jesus' resurrection body as the pattern both for our resurrection and what we might call the resurrection of the cosmos. This world will be transformed and renewed as Jesus' body was, so all that we do in this world matters.

Here are my jottings from the book:

The resurrection is more than the happy ending of the Easter Story

It’s not just the big tick after the big cross

“The resurrection changes everything. It guarantees our forgiveness, empowers us to change, and gives us a hope for the future and an urgent mission in

the present.”

(1) Assurance

The resurrection shows that Jesus’ payment for the sin of the world has been accepted by the Father.

The payment has been received with thanks.

The resurrection assures us that Jesus was who he claimed to be.

Acts 3:15

The resurrection “reveals and confirms his [Jesus’] four-fold identity: the Son of God, the Christ, the Saviour and the Author of life. The resurrection shows Jesus was exactly who he claimed to be.”

(a) Son of God

Ps 2:7

Rm 1:4

(b) The Christ

Acts 2:36 quoting Ps 110:1

(c) Saviour

Acts 5:30-31

(d) the author of life

Acts 3:15

Jn 11:25

The resurrection assures us of what Jesus has done

Rm 4:25

1 Cor 15:17

“the resurrection is the consequence and demonstration of our salvation because death is the consequence and demonstration of our sin.”

Death as the wages of sin Gen ; Rm 6:23

(2) Transformation

United with Christ

Spiritually raised now (Col 3:1), physically raised at Final Day (Rm 8:23)

Rm 4:17

God gives life & new life

1 Sam 2:6

Ez 37

Ps 16:10

Phil 2

God gives us resurrection life. “With it we enjoy a whole host of newness: new life, new perspective, new conduct, new power and new ambition. Resurrection life changes everything.”

New life

Eph 2:1-10

New perspective

Col 3:1-4

New conduct

Eph 5:8, 11-14

Colossians 3:5, 8–10

Acts 4:32–35

New power

Romans 8:9–11

Romans 6:5–14

New ambition

Phil 3:10-11

(3) Hope

Not wishful thinking / uncertain

Rm 5:5

1 Pt 1:3

Mistake 1: The mistake that the resurrection has already taken place (2 Tim 2:17-18)

(a) Wrong to think: We have it all now

Perfectionism, prosperity, health, wealth – believe it and receive it, name it and claim it – if you don’t the problem is your lack of faith

(b) Wrong to think: This is all there is

Mistake 2: There is no resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15:12)

1 Cor 15:14-19

Jesus is the first of many

“It is clear, then, that the basis of our hope as Christians is the resurrection of Jesus. As we look back at the basis of our hope, we are then able to look forward to what is the content of our hope: bodily resurrection in the future.”

Rm 8:11

Look at nature nature:

(i) put death in, get life out

1 Cor 15:36

(ii) what you get out wasn’t what you put in

1 Cor 15:37-38

(iii) God is, of course, able to give things the appropriate kinds of bodies

1 Cor 15:39-41

Look at the risen Jesus

1 Corinthians 15:49

Philippians 3:21

Continuity & discontinuity with Jesus pre-resurection body

1 Corinthians 15:42–44

Perishable, dishonourable, weak, natural bodies will be transformed

Resurrection hope for creation

Frustration & Promise

Rm 8:19-22

Discontinuity

Rev 21:1, 5

Isaiah 65:17

Isaiah 11:6–9

Continuity

“God says, ‘I will make all things new’, not ‘I will make all new things’.”

Genesis 9:11

Matthew 19:28

Persevere

1 Corinthians 15:58

(4) Mission

Acts 17:30-31

The exaltation of Jesus

Phil 2:5-11

The reality of judgement

Rm 1:3-4

Daniel 12:2

John 11:25

Acts 4:1-2

The necessity of mission

Mt 28:19-20

Are all religions the same?

In Lifted! (p114, emphasis added), Sam Allberry writes:

It has always struck me as a lazy way to think. It implies a certain distance being kept from each of the religions being discussed – an ignorance, even. It is hard to study the beliefs of Islam and Christianity, say, without realizing that they involve radically diff erent ways of looking at reality. What similarities they share are really only on the surface. At heart they are totally distinct. Saying all religions are the same is just like saying all Chinese people look the same: it just shows that you’ve never properly got to know any. Spend a decent amount of time with a group of people from any racial background and you won’t think they look the same for very long. The insistence that ‘they’re all the same’ may sound tolerant, but in many cases it is little more than laziness.

Notes from Prison

Jonathan Aitken commented that being some kind of half-Christian is about as good as being half-pregnant.

When he was in prison he formed an unusual kind of cell group.

If I jotted down these stats correctly:

1/3 of all prisoners can't read and write.

The average age of a prisoner is 23.

7/10 of those released from prison are back inside within 2 years.

When it rains on the Sunshine coast

Bishop Wallace commented that people often complain to him about the weather in a "can't you put in a good word with the Almighty" sort of way. Wallace responds: "I'm in sales, not management!"

The Happy Man

Glen quoted this remarkable passage about Jesus from Lord Hailsham, the former Lord Chancellor, last night in his superb talk on Jesus, the ultimate hero, Commander, Host & Doctor (Luke 5:27-32):

The first thing we should learn about him is that we should be absolutely entranced by his company. Jesus was irresistibly attractive as a man. The one they crucified was a young man, vital, full of life and the joy of it, the Lord of life itself, and even more the Lord of laughter, someone so attractive that people followed him for the sheer fun of it. The twentieth century needs to re-capture the vision of this glorious and happy man whose mere presence filled his companions with delight.

(from The Door Wherein I Went)

Change & Alms

I'm reading and so far very much enjoying Sam Allbery's book on the significance of the resurrection, Lifted! experiencing the resurrection life (IVP, 2010). I plan to plagarise it on Sunday evening.

Sam has a lively sense of humour and an engaging turn of phrase.

I liked this on the beggar in Acts 3:

But on this day he didn’t get change, but changed. He asked Peter for alms but received legs!

Jesus Meets Your Needs

In Conversation with Fiona Castle, Rev'd John Cheeseman argued that it is the Lord Jesus Christ alone who can satisfy our deepest human needs. Jesus provides:

(1) Significance / meaning / purpose

(2) Security / unconditional love

(3) Salvation / forgiveness

Can We Trust The Bible?

God-willing I'll be speaking to our Mothers & Others group on Thurs 15th July and at our Listen & Lunch event on Thurs 22nd July on "Can We Trust The Bible?" In each case the brief is to speak for up to 20 mins and then take questions. Any hints / tips?

Here's some possible reading:

John Blanchard, Why Believe The Bible? (Evangelical Press, 2004) 40pp

Craig Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of the Gospel (IVP) - apparently there is a second revised edition 2008

F. F. Bruce, New Testament Documents: Are they reliable? (Eerdmans)

Walter Kaiser, Old Testament Documents: Are they reliable and relevant? (IVP, 2001) - I've never read this: is it good?

Amy Orr-Ewing, Why Trust The Bible? Answers to 10 tough questions (IVP, 2005)

John Wenham, Christ and the Bible (Baker) - deals with a number of supposed "difficulties" with the text. Argues that Jesus thought of the Bible as the authoritative Word of God and so should we.

And even a DVD:

Brian Edwards, Why 66? The Canon of Scripture (Answers in Genesis, 2008) - how do we know we have the right books in the Bible?

Philip Pullman and Jesus

Thanks to Rev'd Richard Perkins for mentioning that Philip Pullman, of His Dark Materials fame, has a new book due out in two days time called The Good Man Jesus and The Scoundrel Christ (Canongate Books).

Here is the Amazon UK blurb:

This is a story. In this ingenious and spell-binding retelling of the life of Jesus, Philip Pullman revisits the most influential story ever told. Charged with mystery, compassion and enormous power, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ throws fresh light on who Jesus was and asks the reader questions that will continue to resonate long after the final page is turned. For, above all, this book is about how stories become stories.

It sounds as if Paul might be cast as the real baddie of the piece. Pullman says:

By the time the gospels were being written, Paul had already begun to transform the story of Jesus into something altogether new and extraordinary, and some of his version influenced what the gospel writers put in theirs...

Paul was a literary and imaginative genius of the first order who has probably had more influence on the history of the world than any other human being, Jesus certainly included. I believe this is a pity

The idea that Paul distorted the message of Jesus is neither original nor sound.

As Perks points out, New Testament scholar, Revd Dr David Wenham, has written a definitive study of the relationship between Jesus and Paul Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity. You can hear Wenham speak in Balham on 9th May.

3 Crosses

Roger Carswell suggested that we might think of the 3 crosses of Luke 23:39-43 alongside Romans 6:23:

(1) The cross of rebellion - the unrepentant criminal - "the wages of sin is death"

(2) The cross of repentance - the repentant criminal - "the gift of God is eternal life"

(3) The cross of redemption - the Lord Jesus Christ - "in / through Christ Jesus our Lord"

Science & Faith

I'm thinking I might tune in to Rev Prof Alistair McGrath's Radio 4 lent talk on the relationship between natural science, faith and religion tonight at 20:45. Although I'm sure it wont be a patch on this!

Fair?

I don't claim to know anything about economics, and some of this is stridently put, but here are some Oxford students (over on Facebook) lamenting what they might call the tyranny of so-called Fair Trade monopolies:

Christian Aid and Ctrl Alt Shift have been campaigning against the sale of non-Fairtrade produce for the past two weeks. A Christian Aid campaigner said, "We don't want fair trade to be an issue, we want it to be the norm."

TESCO already sells Fairtrade bananas. These misguided souls organised a flash mob to protest TESCO's decision to give customers the option to buy non-Fairtrade bananas.
http://www.cherwell.org/content/8591
Many JCRs have attempted to make their pantries stock only Fairtrade goods.

We offer the following arguments to the effect that Fairtrade is morally abhorrent. Even if you don't agree with every single one, we hope you at least realise that it is an open question whether Fairtrade helps poor people, and therefore reject the moral arrogance of those who want to deny Oxford students the option to buy non-Fairtrade produce.

1. Fairtrade schemes require all workers on a farm to be paid a minimum wage. This reduces demand for labour, and results in unemployment for farm workers whose marginal product is worth less than the minimum rate. A caveat: The empirical evidence on whether minimum wages harm employment in rich countries is mixed. But note that poor countries tend to have laxer labour protection laws, and fewer social safety nets: So it is reasonable to think (1) that Fairtrade is quite likely to increase unemployment in those cases, and (2) unemployment will have more disastrous consequences.

2. Fairtrade schemes require all farms to be run as collectives. This means that every worker must have a stake in the farm's capital and decision-making process. This discriminates against the poorest workers - those who have no capital and little access to financial markets - who cannot buy in to a Fairtrade collective because they bring little to the table. It also discriminates against itinerant labourers who might otherwise be hired on temporary contracts (say, around harvest season, when there is more work to be done).

3. Fairtrade accreditation is, by necessity, available only to registered businesses. Registering a business in most parts of Africa typically takes several months and lots of bribes. Therefore, Fairtrade schemes discriminate against new entrants to the market, and against poorer farms that operate as part of the 'informal' economy.

If you buy Fairtrade, you are discriminating in favour of farmers who already own land and capital, against workers who have nothing to sell but the sweat on their backs. You discriminate in favour of the already employed, and against the itinerant poor who can't be integrated into neat little collectives. You discriminate in favour of established, registered farms with government connections, and against newer, smaller farms that can't afford time or bribes. How is this just?

Given a choice between two otherwise-identical goods, I'd pay a premium for the one that's _not_ Fairtrade. I think it's the morally right thing to do. Won't the True Believers at Christian Aid and Ctrl Alt Shift at least admit it's an open question?

HT: Daniel Newman (via The Facebook)

The Family Under Siege Audio

When Mrs Lloyd and I get a moment we are looking forward to listening to the recordings from the The Family under Siege? – the 2010 Emmanuel Evangelical Church Family Conference – which are now available on their church website in the audio archive.

1. Foundations for the Family (David Field)

2. The Battleground of Education (Ian Fry)

3. Vision for the Family (David Field)

The Law our former primary school teacher

In Galatians (3:25) Paul says that the law of Moses was a pedagogue, a schoolmaster / tutor / guardian for the people of God in their infancy to lead them to Christ, in whom they find maturity and come into their inheritance.

Thinking of the law as our one-time primary school teacher might help us to understand how we should relate to it today. For example, if you met your old teacher today you would not put yourself under his regime of try to re-enroll in his class, but there would still be much to learn from a wise teacher.

Adults do not expect their former teachers to tell them to sit up straight, be quiet, put their fingers on their lips and raise their hand if they have something to say. Neither does the teacher want to treat his former pupils in this way. The point of all that primary school stuff is that the lessons might be learned and internalized. The school aimed to produce the habits of self-discipline, respect, politeness, good order and so on which the specific rules of the classroom embodied for little people at that time.

Similarly, the OT Law does not legislate for every eventuality but gives case law to teach patterns and principles which need to be applied anew, not least in the changed circumstances of maturity in Christ under the (re)New(ed) Covenant.

(Thanks to my STMTC group and especially Phil for thinking through this stuff with me).

A Prayer of St Patrick

A prayer from here apparently attributed to Patrick:

May the Strength of God guide us.
May the Power of God preserve us.
May the Wisdom of God instruct us.
May the Hand of God protect us.
May the Way of God direct us.
May the Shield of God defend us.
May the Angels of God guard us.
- Against the snares of the evil one.

May Christ be with us!
May Christ be before us!
May Christ be in us,
Christ be over all!

May Thy Grace, Lord,
Always be ours,
This day, O Lord, and forevermore. Amen.

Finding Fulfillment

I've just taken another booking for my talk on The Secret of Happiness :) so I wanted to bookmark this from Gerv on Finding Fulfillment.

Reading John 9

I'm preparing to preach on John 9 on Sunday evening. To be honest, I'm rather behind! If I had more time, I'd be wanting to look at Peter J. Leithart's Deep Exegesis: The Mystery of Reading Scripture (Baylor Univ Press, Waco, 2009). As I understand it, he applies the approaches he talks about to John 9 as a kind of test case and example. According to the Scripture index, John 9 gets quite a bit of treatment: pages 60-64, 72-3, 100-102, 105-7, 117-8, 124-32, 136, 141-2, 161-71, 176-80, 184, 185-88, 192-95, 197-204, 206.

Preaching Plans

I'm trying to work on my Sunday preaching plans for the next quarter. God-willing it might go something like this:

9^th May PM – John 10 – The Good Shepherd

6^th June AM – Holiday Club All Age Family Service – Merciful Rescue - Jonah

13^th June PM – John 11:1-47 – Dead Man Walking

4^th July PM – John 11:45-12:11 – Destined to Die

11^th July AM – Ecclesiastes 3 – What’s the time?

8^th Aug AM – Ecclesiastes 4 - Better & Worse

22^nd Aug PM – John 12:12-36 – Strange Glory

Homegroup Plans

We're currently working through Galatians in our homegroups. For the next quarter, the studies might go something like this:

12^th May - (5) Galatians 3:15-25

26^th May - (6) Galatians 3:26-4:20

9^th June - (7) Galatians 4:21-31

23^rd June - (8) Galatians 5:1-15

7^th July – (9) Galatians 5:16-26

21^st July – (10) Galatians 6:1-18 & Review

The Right To The Internet!

A BBC World Service poll today suggests that four in five people around the world believe that access to the internet is a fundamental right.

What do we mean by "a fundamental right" in that context? It seems quite extraordinary that access to the newfangled interweb should be a fundamental right.

Do we mean hat someone else shouldn't deprive me of the right to free access to the web? Does everyone have that right? Do prisoners?

Or do we mean that someone else ought to do all they can to provide me with the internet?

How would the right to the internet compare to other rights? Say, the right to a fair trial? That's a rather different things, isn't it?

Who gives this right? With respect to whom? Etc.? Etc.

Passion For Eastbourne

Just in case I haven't mentioned it before, here are the Passion For Life Events for Eastbourne. There's a fascinating mix of events with excellent speakers. Hopefully there'll be something of interest for everyone.

Hebrew for Beginners (Eastbourne)

I noticed a notice on the Community Wise / Old Town Community Church, Eastbourne, notice board round the corner from us today offering Hebrew lessons. Wonder if I should enroll the boy? Or even myself (waste of time, effort, money etc.). Mrs Lloyd, perhaps? It was claimed that these lessons would be useful for Biblical or modern Hebrew. Is that likely? Or maybe we should put the boy's name down at the nearest synagogue?

Did Jesus die for the doggy, Daddy?

The boy knows that Jesus loves him and died for him because he is sometimes naughty. He knows that Jesus loves Mummy and Daddy and died for them because they are sometimes naughty. He knows that the dog is often naughty. So he would like to know if Jesus died for the dog?

P.S. The dog has not been baptised and is not making a credible profession of faith. We believe in Limited Atonement / Particular Redemption / Effectual Salvation around 'ere.

This our sacrifice of thanks and praise

The communicants are to receive (rather than offer) the consecrated bread and the wine “with thanksgiving”[1] (Eucharist) and it is after the Communion that they ask the Father “mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of thanks and praise.”[2] Again, as with Calvin, this is a non-propitiatory sacrifice. It might be debated whether or not the Supper itself or the elements in it are included. The statement could refer only to the prayer which now expresses praise or to the whole service, or to something in between. If, properly considered, all of life is a sacrifice of thanks and praise to God, it would be bizzaire to think that the Lord’s Supper alone is excluded. Whether or not it is in any sense a special sacrifice of thanks and praise is another question. Perhaps it might be seen as a focal point for offering all of life to God in grateful thanks for all that has been received from him. The believer would be giving back to God what God has given. The Prayer Book and Articles do not decisively adjudicate on such questions.

---

[1] BCP, Holy Communion, words of administration, p256.

[2] BCP, Holy Communion, p257.

The Medieval mental Model of the Universe

C S Lewis argues that the medieval mental model of the universe was a work of genius comperable to Aquinas' Summa or Dante's Divine Comedy. The medieval synthesis included "the whole organisation of their theology, science and history into a single, complex, harmonious mental model of the universe" (Discarded Image, p11) that would include all truth in a tidy manner. For the medievals, "All the aparent contradictions must be harmonised. A Model must be built which will get everything in without a clash; and it can do this only by becoming intricate, by mediating its unity through a great, and finely ordered multiplicity." (p11) Platonic, Aristotelian, Stoical, Pagan and Christian elements were all included. "Everything links up with everything else; at one, not in a flat equality, but in a hierarchical ladder" (p12) of great beauty.

The medieval character: tidiness

C. S. Lewis (again):

At his most characteristic, medieval man was not a dreamer nor a wanderer [as in Ballads and Romances]. He was an organiser, a codifier, a builder of systems. He wanted 'a place for everything and everything in the right place'. Distinction, definition, tabulation were his delight. Though full of turbulent activities, he was equally full of the impulse to formalise them. War was (in intention) formalised by the art of heraldry and the rules of chivalry; sexual passion (in inetention), by an elaborate code of love. Highly original and soaring philosophical speculation squeezes itself into a rigid dialectical pattern copied from Aristotle. Studies like Law and Moral Theology, which demand the ordering of diverse particulars, especially flourish. Every way in which a poet can write (including some in which he had much better not) is classified in the Arts of Rhetoric. There was nothing which medieval people liked better, or did better, than sorting out and tidying up. Of all our modern inventions I suspect they would most have admired the card index. (Discarded Image, p10)

The importance of language

C S Lewis claimed:

Nothing about a literature can be more essential than the language it uses. A language has its own personality; implies an outlook, reveals a mental activity, and has a resonance, not quite the same as those of any other. Not only the vocabulary - heaven can never mean quite the same as ciel - but the very shape of the syntax is sui generis. (Discarded Image, p6)

A language shapes "the tone and rhythm and the very 'feel' of every sentence" (p7).

Medieval Bookishness

Lewis argued "the overwhelmingly bookish or clerkly character of medieval culture." They loved their authorities, their manuscripts.

Every [medieval] writer, if he possibly can, bases himself on an earlier writer, following an auctour: preferably a Latin one. This is one of the things that differentiate the period almost equally from savagery [with its oral culture] and from our modern civilisation [where knowledge depends, in the last resort, on observation].... But the Middle Ages depend predominantly on books. Though literacy was of course far rarer then than now, reading was in one way a more important ingredient of the total culture. (Discarded Image, p5)

Since Lewis wrote that, books have no doubt seen a greater decline at the expence of TV and the interweb. Knowledge now depends on Google.

They [medievals] are bookish. They are indeed very credulous of books. They find it hard to believe that anything an old auctour has said is simply untrue. (p11)

Ritual & belief

ritual and belief beget and support one another.

A rather obvious thought, perhaps, from C. S. Lewis, The Discarded Image p1

How to use a map

C. S. Lewis' very brief Preface in The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature is suggestive.

He complains of a certain kind of scholarship that can tend to lead people out of the texts themselves rather than into them.

There can be a similar problem with commentaries, theological works, Bible reading notes and sermons. The aim must be to open up the text and let it speak.

Lewis warns that we must not be like a traveler who is so absorbed with the map that he fails to enjoy the scenery before him. In other words, the text itself must be primary: it is the goal, the destination, the real object of attention. Any other helps should be just that: helps, not ends in themselves. We do not want to stumble into lamp-posts because our noses are stuck in some A to Z.

Yet, Lewis suggest, there can be usefulness in consulting a map or guidebook before a journey. It may lead us to admire and appreciate the landscape more easily or fully and we may notice some prospects that we might have ignored if we simply followed our noses.

If we tend to consult a commentary only when we come to an apparent problem, we may not notice depths in that which is deceptively simple.

A synthesis of British Puritan theology for the reform of the Church of England

Randall J. Pederson:

In 1643, it [The Long Parliament] gathered a company of theologians to propose reforms for the Church of Engalnd. Known as the Westminster Assembly because it met in Westminster Abbey over the next decade, this group drafted three major documents, The Larger and Shorter Catechisms, Westminster Confession, and Directory of Public Worship. While predominantly Presbyterian, the Assembly did allow Erastians, Episcopalians, and Independents to voice their opinions. Its final documents stand as a synthesis of British Puritan theology.

from the Introduction to Day by Day with the English Puritans (Hendrickson, 2004) p2

Lost?

Rev'd Prof James I. Packer:

Historically, the influence of the English Puritans extended over a century and a half, approximately 1560 - 1710. Publicly and politically they campaigned for many reforms in church and state, and ended up losing every battle they fought. During that time, however, by preaching, teaching, personal lifestyle and patience under persecution, they crystalized and communicated a glorious ideal of heart-holiness expressed in conscientious, well-ordered, doxological behavior - the authentic biblical ideal of a godly life, which in due course became basic to the Great Awakening and to Britain's Evangelical Revival. Clear-headed about biblical authority, justification by faith, and the covenantal framework of God's grace, they were equally clear on the realities of the Christian life - communion with the triune God, biblical morality, and the pilgrim perspective. In spiritually decadent days like ours they can help us to recover the wisdom and power of this ideal, as we all surely need to do.

Foreword to Day By Day with the English Puritans: Selected Readings for Daily Reflection compiled and edited by Randall J. Pederson (Hendrickson, 2004) - which the Vicar kindly gave me for Christmas. The Puritans may not have approved, of course! :)

I want to go with the one who set me free

An old story about Abraham Lincoln and a girl at the slave market.

Family Likenesses

In John chapter 8:

The Father and the Son
Satan and his children
Abraham and his true spiritual children

Who do you think you are?

Freedom

John Stott quoting Peter Marshall who as the chaplain to the United States Senate once opened a session by praying: teach us to see that,

Liberty is not the right to do as I please

but the liberty to be pleased to do what is right

From a talk available on the All Souls Langham Place website (1 Jan 1971 Freedom from the slavery of self John 8:31-36)

Economics in One Sentence

From this aspect, therefore, the whole of economics can be reduced to a single lesson, and that lesson can be reduced to a single sentence. The act of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not only for one group but for all groups.

Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson (p17). You can read ch 1 using Amazon UK's Look Inside thingy.

Rev'd Tim Ambrose has been blogging his way through Hazlitt from time to time.

Defined by Jesus

Some rough and not quite ready headings for exploring some themes in John 8:31-59 (on which I will be preaching on Sunday night, God willing):

Jesus redefines true faith - as continuing to hold to his teaching not just believism

Jesus redefines true freedom – from sin and death for Jesus not to please ourselves

Jesus redefines relationship with God – sonship not slavery

Jesus redefines non-Christian spirituality – satanic not seeking the truth

Jesus redefined true religion – loving trust in Jesus not Abrahamic DNA

Jesus redefines Old Testament theology – Jesus not law

Jesus redefines true greatness – glorifying God not self

Jesus redefines himself - not as a religious genius but as the LORD


I like the idea of preaching this not that as it allows the preaching to be obviously aimed towards transformation and applications suggest themselves.

Erik Satie

Seems to have been a bit of a character. If you can believe what you hear on Classic FM when driving home from Morning Prayers and what you can find out on the interweb in 5 mins., he was a troubled soul who drank too much and died of cerosis of the liver. No one had been into his room for years, but after his death they found there 100 umbrellas, most of them unused. He also had 6 identical grey velvet suits. He had bought 10 at the same time and was wearing them untill they wore out. He is reputed to have had 2 pianos, one on top of the other with the pedals interconnected. A little eccentric.

Grandparents make you fat

Perhaps because they indulge you more and are less active.

Is Health & Safety Giving British Farmers AIDS?

For Daily Mail type headlines: http://www.qwghlm.co.uk/toys/dailymail/

Ignore, Inform, Involve, Decide, Delegate

I must admit to being slightly unclear what exactly the role of Wardens, Standing Committee, PCC, church council, diaconate, eldership, church meeting, AGM etc. should be.

When should you:

(1) Ignore them!

(2) Inform them

(3) Involve them

(4) Decide with them

(5) Delegate a decision to them

What exactly are their rights, powers and responsibilities?

Church Preaches Bible Shock! (version 4)

The Today Programme this morning mentioned this article from the Daily Mail. A similar article appeared in the Telegraph. A couple of people from St Nick's, Seven Oaks are apparently outraged that their vicar and curate should preach that women should be silent in church and that wives should submit to their husbands (1 Cor 14; Eph 5; Col 3). It turns out the sermons in question were two from the curate from 1 Peter 3 which can be heard on the church website and there has been some misunderstanding over some leaflet or other supposedly written by the Rector.

The Mail article is an extraordinary example of making a story out of nothing. No doubt there is a great deal of selective reporting and spin. I'm sure, for example, that the ministers had no intention of saying that women's disobedience to their husbands is the only or even the chief cause of family break up. As the article points out, the church would want to emphasise that men have a primary responsibility to love their wives. It is incontrovertible that marriages and families in Britain are not generally working brilliantly and confusion about the roles of men and women is an important factor.

It's come to something when quoting the Bible outrages that bastion of traditional conservative values, the Daily Mail.

It's interesting that a number of people have apparently said they have cancelled their direct debits / are leaving the church.

I would have thought that people might have expected this kind of teaching from a conservative Evangelical church. Similar things would be taught in many other churches and it is hardly newsworthy. Or rather, its sad that apparently it is!

Angus Mclay the rector of said church describes the events under a very similar headline: Church believes the Bible! Shock! Horror! He does a good job of supporting his curate and highlighting how careful the preacher was to avoid misunderstanding and stress the equality of men and women. He also denied wearing a kilt to church, for the record!

The Nationalist faith changed my life

Chanel 4's Young, Angry and White tonight had very interesting momemts. The 19 year old featured, Kieren, thinks the world is badly wrong and that Nationalism has good news. In a way he came across as quite intelligent, articulate and unagressive. He is unashamed of his views, which he thinks of as moral and does not want to compromise. The creed is inspiring to him and he is encouraged by the history of the movement and that some have been believers for 40 years. He is keen to live in accordance with his faith. He spoke explicitly about going to some BNP weekend as if it were like going to a Christian camp and finding an intense new faith. He spoke of Nationalists as a family that gave him purpose, optimism and hope. He spoke of comfort and belonging and the warm welcome that he received. The BNP does seem to have changed his life and made him take responsibility. He is studying for his A-levels, wants to go to university, succeed, have a good career and be the bread-winner of his future family.

Of course, his views are stupid and poisonous. They amount to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all.

Jovial Communion?

C. S. Lewis argued that modern people and Christians particularly need to regain Joviality (and Mercuriality).

It may be that the Lord's Table is a place we can particularly re-learn Jupiter's strange combination of serious kingly dignity with laughter, joy , happiness and pleasure - a proper solemnity that is not dower.

The great barrier of entering a church

We often think going into a church will be hard for people, but 85% of people entered a church last year.

"Bread! Me!"

The boy is repeatedly asking to be admitted to the Lord's Table.

Piper on Lewis

I know he's a bit kinda trendy in some Christian circles, and a bit of a charismatic, and American, and baptistic!, and wrong on the Millenium and... but I must say I very much like John Piper. I've been enjoying half listening to and 1/3 watching his talk from The Desiring God Conference on Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul - Joy, Absolute Truth and what Lewis did for Piper.

The manuscript and audio of John Piper's "Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul: Learning from the Mind and Heart of C. S. Lewis" are now up.

Towards the end of his message, Piper lists 8 lessons—apart from the major lesson on joy—that Lewis has taught him. They are, as titled,

1. Liberation from False Dichotomies
2. Liberation from Chronological Snobbery
3. The Wakening of Wonder at What Is Really There
4. The Perils of Introspection
5. The Incompleteness of Duty Without Delight
6. The Painful Value of Self-Knowledge
7. Story Is Great—But Not Everything
8. The Glory of Simply Being Human

Ministry of Truth?

Now, I'm against all government funding for education and so on, but don't you find it extraordinary that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is responsible for Universities? What happened to an Education Department? Oh, they abolished that so as to make the Government in charge of Children and Families! Are universities just about skills and economic competitiveness? Grump grump.

And doesn't the Department for Innovation and Skills begin to sound just a bit 1984 to you?

The purpose (of word) and sacrament

It seems to me that Calvin's description of the purpose of the sacraments could pretty much be applied to the purpose of the Bible too.

Calvin strikingly asserts that of the ordinary sacraments of the Old Testament that these “ancient sacraments looked to the same purpose to which ours now tend: to direct and almost lead men by the hand to Christ, or rather, as images, to represent him and show him forth to be known. We have already taught that they are seals by which God’s promises are sealed, and, moreover, it is very clear that no promise has ever been offered to men except in Christ [2 Cor 1:20]. Consequently, to teach us any promise of God, they must show forth Christ.” He adds that the only difference between the sacraments of the Old and New Testament is that “the former foreshadowed Christ promised while he was as yet awaited; the latter attest him as already given and revealed.” (Institutes 4.14.20)

Now, I fully admit that there is a danger of theological confusion here. We often tend to describe the sacraments in contrast to the Word, and some of that may be going on here. You could say that the Scriptures are the promises of God and that the sacraments seal them. But I think you could equally say the scriptures present (and seal?) the promises of God, could you not?

That the sacraments are images need not trouble us too much since words are symbols or signs too.

Sacramental Objectivism

In the Institutes, Calvin classifies the sacraments as among “the external means or aids by which God invites us into the society of Christ and holds is therein” - the title of book 4. This could fit with an objective account of what the sacraments do and achieve. Like the preaching of the gospel, God really uses the, to invite us into the church and hold us therein.

Thank goodness for Mrs Lloyd!

I said: Right, I better go [to church, for morning prayers]

She said: You better get dressed first.

Good advice, as ever!

Love

Love is in the air
Love is all you need
Love is giving someone your last Rolo

1 Corinthians 13

John Oxenham = William Arthur Dunkerley (November 12, 1852 - January 23, 1941):

Love ever gives. Forgives outlives. And ever stands with open hands. And while it lives, it gives. For this is love's prerogatives -- to give, and give, and give.

Other stuff?

God is love

D.v. I'm preaching on 1 Jn 4 on Sunday AM.

I remember thinking about this once but I can't remember what I thought!

Is God's love more essential to him than his other attributes (virtues or dispositions)?

John also tells us that "God is light", of course.

Could we say "God is holiness", "God is justice", "God is wisdom", "God is wrath" etc.?

I guess we need to dig out our notes on the essence and attributes of God, eternality and divine simplicity and so on.

God's love is clearly fundamental to his Trinitarian life in a way that wrath is not.

Talking love, sex, relationships and God with the teenagers

God willing on Saturday evening I'm going to talk to and with the teenagers at church about love, sex, relationships and God - it being St Valentine's Day the next day.

What would you say?

Any pointers, tips, resources etc. most welcome.

I might have a look at the Love Wise website later.

True Love

God willing I'm preaching on Sunday morning, which is, of course, St Valentine's Day. I've published the title "True Love" and decided on 1 John 4:7-21 as the reading.

It might go something like:

The Bible as the greatest love story ever: the romance of God and his people

(1) God's love
(2) Our love for God
(3) Our love for one another

Any pointers, tips, resources, links to sermons, quotes, gags, illustrations etc. most welcome.

Narrow, nasty and negative

The same kind of charges could no doubt have been made (quite wrongly!) against the Apostle Paul. Galatians 1:6-9.

How do you like your Christianity?

C. S. Lewis apparently once commented that he liked his Christianity as he liked his whisky: straight, undiluted.

Mission

More alliterative headings, this time from Richard Coekin's Passion for Life Prepared For Mission talks:

Our motivation - 2 Corinthians 5:10-6:2
Our message - Romans 1 & 1 Corinthians 15
Our method - 2 Corinthians 4:1-10
Our manner - 1 Peter 3:15-16

Guard the Gospel

We guard the gospel (2 Tim 1:14) not by maximum security, locking it up in a box and restricting access to it etc., but by passing it on faithfully (2 Tim 2:2), reliably to reliable people who will pass it on reliably to reliable people who will pass it on ...

HT: DS @ SGP (again!)

Qualifications for Ministry

Once again from DS at SGP on 2 Tim.

Ministers must be reliable (doctrinally and morally) and able (to teach).

Pictures of Reliability

RC said this week that I "never knowingly under-alliterated", which I might adopt as a kind of motto. It's prompted me to record this from DS' exposition of 2 Timothy 2:1-7 at the Sussex Gospel Partnership today:

The devoted soldier [or, one might say dedicated]
The disciplined athlete
The diligent farmer

The Pastor-Teacher's Job

At the Sussex Gospel Partnership, DS quoted John Stott as saying:

The role of the Pastor-Teacher is not to monopolize ministry but to multiply ministry.

(Ephesians 4:11-13)

The Holy Spirit

I reckon George Smeaton's book, The Holy Spirit (Banner of Truth, 1882, repr 1958) might be worth dusting off.

I liked this:

The exalted Christ continuously acts for the Church's good by His Spirit through the Word.

And his distinction between Christ's omnipresence and his gracious presence, according to his relations with His people.

pp238f cited in Maclean, Lord's Supper, pp184-5.

Converted at the Ordinacne

Tim Keller encourages pastors to say to non-Christians who might be present at the Supper:

If you are not in a position to take the bread and the cup, then take Christ! It is the best possible time to do business with him, no matter your spiritual condition or position.

Worship by the Book ed Carson (Zondervan, 2000) p234, cited in Maclean, The Lord's Supper, p181.

Sursum Corda

On the exhortation to Lift Up Your Hearts at the Supper, see:

John Calvin, 'Form for Administering the Sacraments' in Treatises on the Sacraments (Christian Focus, reprint 2002), p121f; Institutes 4.17.36

Matthew Henry on John 11:41.

And, John Flavel on John 20 in The Fountain if Life, Discourse 40.

(cited in Maclean, Lord's Supper, p189f & n12, p256)

Priestcarft & superstition

I can't agree with Donald Macleod that if each communicant receives the bread and the wine from a minister rather than from his companions "we are encouraging priestcarft and superstition". Who knows what this might lead people to think, but it certainly doesn't necessarily follow. We could equally be maintaining good order, church discipline or the unity of word and sacrament.

It seems to me not entirely wrong to think of the minister as the representative of Christ, although of course he isn't Christ and we don't want ministers with Messiah-complexes or who are thought of as the Mediator between God and man.

A Faith to Live By (Christian Focus, 1998) p243 quoted in Maclean, The Lord's Supper p178

The Breaking of the Bread

It is interesting that in many of our churches the bread is prepared for Communion beforehand (in our church sliced bread is half cut up into tiny squares) yet some of the Reformed have argued that the rite of the minister breaking the bread is essential to the Supper, which after all is called "The Breaking of Bread" (Acts 2:42; 20:7), the whole being named for the part. Without it "the sacrament is not celebrated according to its original institution.... to divide the bread into small pieces called wafers, and put a wafer into the mouth of each of the communicants, as is done in the Church of Rome, is grossly to corrupt this ordinance, for it takes away the significant action of breaking the bread."

Robert Shaw, Exposition of the Confession of Faith (Christian Focus, reprint 1998), pp355f. Quoted in Maclean, The Lord's Supper, p176

Alongside three other arguments in its favour, Robert L. Dabney says:

The breaking of the bread is plainly one of the sacramental role act, and should never be done beforehand, by others, nor omitted by the minister.... The proper significance of the sacrament requires it; for the Christ we commemorate is the Christ lacerated and slain.

Systematic Theology (Banner, 1878, repr. 1985) p802. Maclean, op cit.

The forgotten Supper

Surveying the writings of the Fathers, George Dollar says:

In no area of early church life among Christians is there greater uncertainty than in the matter of the Lord's Supper. It was not called by its New Testament titles such as the "breaking of bread," "the giving of thanks," and "the cup of blessing." The most common designation seemed to be the "Eucharist" (from the Greek word for praise or thanksgiving)... The fact is that no church father called it the Supper in a single instance and Pauline names for it ceased.

'The Lord's Supper in the Early Church - Part I: The Lord's Supper in the Second Century', Bibliotheca Sacra, 117:466, April 1960, p144 quoted in Maclean, The Lord's Supper, p173f - emphasis added

Isn't that remarkable?

The miracle of assurance

Although I reckon he was mistaken, I was interested to learn that William Cunningham thought that the Reformers' assurance of salvation was a special grace given to them to witness for Christ in a specially difficult situation and not normative for Christians.

William Cunningham, 'The Reformers and the Doctrine of Assurance' in The Reformers and the Reformation (Banner of Truth, 1862, repr. 1967) p113 cited in Maclean, Lord's Supper, p163

Broken Britain?

Fundamentally, yes, since there is such a failure to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Apparently not, in some places and in some ways.

Obviously so in others.

CAREFUL Marriage

In The Highway Code for Marriage (CWR, 2005), Michael & Hilary Perrott suggest that marriages should be CAREFUL:

This will involve:

Communication - bringing light

Affection - bringing warmth

Respect - bringing dignity

Encouragement - bringing hope

Forgiveness - bringing peace

Unselfishness - bringing joy

Loyalty - keeping love

HT: JC

3 Cheers for the Bishop of Chichester

And 2 cheers for the Bishop of Winchester. Both of whom have been standing up for the Christian faith, integrity, Public Theology and good sense in the House of Lord's debate over the Equality bill - as reported in The Telegraph and highlighted by Christian Concern For Our Nation.

A Motto Text for Dentists

Psalm 81:10

A famine

John Mackay records that under the Episcopal regime following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was seldom administered in the Scottish Highland's country parishes. The necessary vessels and linen cloths were often lacking, and when needed had to be borrowed. In the parish of Loch Broom, the Lord's Supper was only administered once in seven years; at Fodderty, once in twelve; and at Glenurquhart not once in twenty-four.

The Church in the Highlands (Hodder & Stoughton, 1914, p151) quoted in Maclean, Lord's Supper.

How stupid to think that certain vessels and linen are "necessary" to the Supper!

Guilty of the body and blood

Revd Prof John Brown (1784-1858) "did not regard the meaning of 'guilty of the body and blood of the Lord' as being a mere profanation of the symbols; rather the clause referred to murder. He is aware that it cannot be understood literally in this way, but explains 'that the unworthy communicant is under the influence of the same malignant dispositions which animated the murderers of our Lord; and that, placed in their circumstances, he would have imitated their conduct'."

Malcolm Maclean, The Lord's Supper (Mentor, 2009), p107 quoting Brown Discourses Suited to the Administration of the Lord's Supper (William Oliphant & Sons, 1816, repr. 1853) p66

Should we exile the kids?

I thought David Gibbs made some excellent points in his 'Unity in the gathering or 'adult only' church?' where he made the case for keeping children in church meetings instead of sending them out for children's Sunday school. Good on The Briefing for publishing it (Jan - Feb 2010, Issue 376/7, pp30-32).

You'd have to have guts to abolish the Sunday school and it'd be hard to keep your own kids in if everyone elses' were going out, but I think his biblical and theological arguments are persuasive.

In his church, only under 3s can go out for the sermon.

It's interesting to note that Sunday school during the morning service only goes back to the 50s and 60s.

Ground and fired

Thomas Boston (1676-1732) has several meditations on the bread and wine. One of the more outlandish is:

bread is prepared by being ground between millstones and baked in a fire, so Christ was ground between the upper of the Father's wrath and the lower millstone of the malice of men and devils, and then cast into the fiery furnace of justice;

Works, vol 2, 'The Nature of the Lord's Supper'

How's that for a bit of interpretative maximalism / natural symbolism etc.?

Wine is medicine and cheers. etc.

In what respect is Christ present and discernible in the sacrament?

Asks Revd Prof James Durham, of the Supper. He answers:

Not simply considered as He is the Son of God, nor in respect of any benefit from Him as Mediator, neither simply as Redeemer; but He is held out as incarnate; and so this sacrament differs from the Jew's Passover, which held Him out as to come, while this holds Him out as having come... as suffering, as having his body broken... in respect of the end for which he suffered... as communicable, and in capacity to be participated of by us... [in reference to the Covenant].

The Unsearchable Riches of Christ (1764, reprinted 2002, Soli Deo Gloria) quoted in Maclean, Lord's Supper, p95

What is Sunday morning for?

Our gathering for worship is an exercise in covenant renewal, a weekly celebration of the resurrection, and a foretaste of the heavenly banquet to come.

Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck stolen from blog of dan

Home Communions?

Would the Puritans have rejected home communions on the grounds that the Lord's Supper is a sacrament of the gathered church? Cf. e.g. WCF 29.4: would it be too much like a private mass for them?

Bless the bread and the wine

It's surprising what you read, sometimes.

That arch-Reformed Protestant document, The Westminster Confession of Faith, says that:

The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed his ministers ... to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to a holy use;

(Chapter 29, Paragraph 3)

I imagine many contemporary evangelicals would be less fussed about the need for a minister or a prayer of consecration.

How can a loving God allow suffering (& Haiti)?

Here are some jottings I prepared for our mid-week meeting:

We had lots of fun discussion - e.g. does God (the Father) Suffer?!

How Can a Loving God Allow Suffering?

Towards a Christian Response to the Haiti Earthquake

The so-called “problem of evil”:

How can an all-powerful loving God allow suffering?

Responses: (1) Question God’s love: perhaps he doesn’t care?

and / or

(2) Question God’s power: perhaps he can’t do anything about it?

A very common objection to the Christian faith (1 Pt 3:15)

God’s love

God’s power / sovereignty – Am 3:6

(The “problem” implies that God is morally obliged to prevent suffering like this if he can)

God must have a good (morally sufficient) reason for (allowing) suffering; even if we can’t understand it completely we have good grounds for trusting him

The big picture of the Bible:

Creation

God made a good world – suffering is not God’s “original” / prime intention

Fall

Human beings are responsible for rebelling against God

Building on fault lines, corrupt building practices, looting, gunfire, military protection required, wrong decisions, disagreements, failure to help

God’s curse on the created order (Gen 3:17)

The groaning of creation (Rm 8:22)

Judgement

We all deserve hell

Cross

God cares about suffering and acts to save us from it

Jesus has suffered terribly – sympathises – Heb 4:15

God uses suffering for good

Resurrection

Death has lost its sting – 1 Cor 15:55-56 – death the gateway to glory for the believer

Final Judgement

God will punish all wrong doing

Suffering is a warning of the judgement to come. C. S. Lewis: “Suffering is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world” – Luke 13:1-5

Suffering teaches us the terrible seriousness of sin

New Creation

God will put the world to rights, put an end to suffering – Rev 21:4

God uses suffering in the life of the Christian for good as discipline – Heb 12:6, 10 – perseverance, character – Rm 5:3-4; James 1:3

Some suffering reveals God’s character – e.g. wrath – Rm 1:18ff; 9:22-24

Suffering is not necessarily directly connected to individual sin – Jn 9:1-2

Organisations:

Disasters Emergency Committee - http://www.dec.org.uk/donate_now/ - Call 0370 60 60 900

Charities working in Haiti listed by Desiring God Ministries - http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2188_11_charities_collecting_donations_for_haiti/

www.tearfund.org

Resources:

http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/01/14/does-god-hate-haiti/

John Piper on the Tsunami - http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2005/1279_Tsunami_and_Repentance/

Don A. Carson, How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil (IVP / Baker, 1990)

Roger Carswell, Why Me? The Problem of Suffering (Authentic Media, 1993)

Paul Williams and Barry Cooper, If You Could Ask God One Question (Christianity Explored / The Good Book Company, 2007) chapter 10 “Why Do You Allow Suffering?”

John Dickson, If I Were God – I’d End All The Pain: Struggling With Evil, Suffering and Faith (Matthias Media / Good Book Company)

References to earthquakes: 1 Ki. 19:11f; Isa. 29:6; Ezek. 38:19; Amos 1:1; Zech. 14:5; Matt. 27:54; 28:2; Acts 16:26; Rev. 6:12; 8:5; 11:13, 19; 16:18 Matt. 24:7; Mk. 13:8; Lk. 21:11

What's the point?

To glorify God and enjoy him for ever, of course. But how? Perhaps we need to know a little bit more about what glorifies God.

To be fruitful and rule and subdue the earth.

Spiritual and natural children. To invite others into the family of God.

To disciple the nations. Obeying all that Jesus commanded.

The obedience that comes from faith.

To love God with heart, soul, mind and strength and neighbour as self.

To seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.

To be engaged in the mission of God in the world.

An overflow of goodness and love.

Hospitality.

Other ways of putting it?

More detail?

96.6% of Christians look forward to sermons!

According to research for the College of Preachers, Durham University, as reported in Times Online.

HT: IC on Facebook

Stott & Calvin contra Evangelicalism!

Calvin famously argued for at least weekly Communion but couldn't get the city of Geneva to agree.

I'm told John Stott also repeatedly argued in print for weekly communion, though they didn't do that in their main service at All Souls' Langham Place. I wonder why not?

Stott says in Your Confirmation(Hodder & S, 1958), p97:

The chief expression of fellowship between Christians is the Holy Communion service. It is the central service of the church.... The Acts of the Apostles suggest that every Sunday they met to "break bread". The Lord's Day was inconceivable without the Lord's Supper. Personally, I think we, too, should attend it every Sunday.

I imagine many Evangelicals, like me, would be surprised to know that the great John Stott thought that. Why have so few Evangelicals followed his lead in this?

(HT: LB)

I'm told that Alec Motyer also advocated weekly communion. (HT: JAC)

The Best Week of the Year!

We're planning a great week for 11-14 year olds at Danehill 1 this year from Sat 24th - Sat 31st July. If you'll be the right age in the summer, or if you know anyone who will be, check out our website here or the CPAS Ventures website and get your booking off to us ASAP!

We'd also love to hear from any Bible believing Christians who might be interested in serving as leaders.

The Lord's Prayer in Ps

Privilege or maybe something to do with Paternity! - "Our Father in heaven"

Priorities - "hallowed be your name, your kingdom come"

Provision please - "give us today our daily bread"

Pardon & pardoning - "forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us"

Protection - "lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil"

Praise / Perpetual Power - "for yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Maybe from the context one could also talk about Pagan prattling prayer, Pharisaical posing prayer and Private prayer. The Lord's Prayer is a pattern prayer.

Other suggestions?

This can all get a bit silly, of course, but thanks to JR @ IME for getting us going on this!