Happy Trinity Sunday!

In a post prompted by Mr Daniel Newman on the Facebook, a very happy Trinity Sunday!

In celebration, here is the Athanasian Creed, which the Prayer Book directs should be said today (as well as on some other festivals).

Written in Latin this creed was used in the West since the 6th Century. It is not now thought to have been written by Athanasius the Great of Alexandria (c. AD 293 – May 2, 373) who defended orthodoxy at the Council of Nicea in AD 325.

1. Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith;
2. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
3. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
4. Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.
5. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.
6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.
7. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.
8. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.
9. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.
10. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.
11. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.
12. As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.
13. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.
14. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.
15. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;
16. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.
17. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;
18. And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.
19. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord;
20. So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say; There are three Gods or three Lords.
21. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.
22. The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.
23. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
24. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
25. And in this Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than another.
26. But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal.
27. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
28. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.
29. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
30. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.
31. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.
32. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.
33. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.
34. Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.
35. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God.
36. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.
37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;
38. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;
39. He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;
40. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
41. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;
42. and shall give account of their own works.
43. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.
44. This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.

Camp Training Day

Someone asked me the other day what we do on our camp training day. I imagine its pretty standard but for what its worth, here's our plan (some names have been removed to protect the innocent; sorry about some of the ugly formatting):

What do you do at yours?

10am Arrivals, Name labels (Marc Lloyd) & Coffee etc. (JC)

10:15am Welcome, opening prayer, introductions, notices, apologies etc. (Marc Lloyd)

10:30am Bible teaching and prayer (Marc Lloyd)

11am Our aims, vision, ethos, values, ways of working etc. (Marc Lloyd)

11:15am Coffee break (JC)

11:30am A typical year, week, day (ZS)
Training day, camp, follow-up, reunion, next year – all essential

11:45am Making the most of our spy theme (HW)

Word association game for “spies” etc.
Costumes, props, music, activities, names, games etc.

12pm How to lead a Colossians dorm Bible study (HW)
With distribution of Bible Study preparation assistance notes

12:30pm Personal work and the Two Ways to Live gospel outline (KMacD)
With distribution of Two Ways to Live booklet (Marc Lloyd).

1pm Lunch (JC)

1:45pm Making the most of dorm time (JT)

2:15pm Working with 11-14 year olds: what makes Pathfinders tick? (DR)

2:45pm A word from the treasurer (Mrs Lloyd)

With distribution of expenses claim forms and donation forms

3pm Afternoon tea break (JC)

3:15pm Time in dorm groups (led by overall dorm leaders)

Get to know one another

Allocate Dorm Bible studies

Discuss Dorm time

Look at members’ forms

Pray for one another and individual members

3:45pm Child protection (JC)

4pm Admin: Any changes to the camp handbook? (Marc Lloyd & those responsible for particular areas or jobs)

Maybe a word about food on camp and the kitchen (JC)

Lifeguarding

First aid

Who is bringing a car and how many Pathfinders could you take in it?

Minibus drivers?

Who can bring what to camp? (e.g. laptop, PowerPoint data projector, sports equipment)

Who can play an instrument / sing?

What other stuff could you help with?

4:30pm Time in “teams” / sorting stuff out with individuals / groups (led by those responsible for those things)

Q’s workshop - arts and crafts (HL)

Music (DM)

Onsite activities

Speakers to chat with Marc

5pm Any questions, any other business? (Marc Lloyd)

5:15pm Prayer time (Marc Lloyd)

5:30pm You are free to go if you need to!

Evening Meal – hopefully a barbeque (JC)

Camp Values

I'm going to try to say something as a vision for camp at our training day tomorrow. Here are my jottings:

Our aims, vision, ethos, values, ways of working etc.

THANK YOU! WOW! Here we go…!

The Best Week of the Year! SERIOUS FUN!

Case studies… Some real dreams:

- the member who comes to Christ

- the member who takes strides forward

- the family that’s turned around

- the leader who is transformed

- the church that flourishes

COMMITMENTS:

Jesus, Gospel, Glory of God

Bible,

Prayer,

Power of the Spirit,

Members,

Churches,

Families,

One another, Service, Self-sacrifice, Gospel unity

Growing as leaders,

Camp, Safety, Reputation,

All year round, Long term?

AIMS:

Mission, Maturity, Ministry;

Evangelism, Nurture, Service

WAYS OF WORKING:

CPAS, Overall leader, planning team, adjutant, dorm leaders

EXPECTATIONS OF LEADERS:

Try to be godly, humour, responsibility, prepared flexibility

LET US PRAY… Sorry, Thank you, Please

Introducing the 10 Words

D.V. I will give a talk each day on camp to the leaders on one of the 10 commandments. At our training day tommorow I plan to give an introduction to the 10 words. Here are some jottings:

The 10 Commandments (0): Introduction

Ex 20 & Dt 5

Vital & foundational importance - The special status of the 10 words (Ex 31:18; 40:20) as the Constitution of Israel

Neglected, controversial & misunderstood

Our attitudes to “Law” cf. God’s fatherly wisdom

Fulfilled not abolished – not under Law? In what sense?

Dangers of irrelevance, “spiritualisation”, “legalism”

What the 10 Words can do for us: (1) reveal God’s standards (2) reveal our sin (2) reveal the Saviour etc.

Christ and the Commandments: he fulfilled them, his law…

Specific & broad applications – perspectives – all & one

V1: God’s authoritative words not 10 helpful suggestions

V2: In the context of personal covenant relationship

They are already God’s redeemed people they do not become God’s people by keeping the commandments

Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone supremely according to God’s Word alone

Good works necessary for salvation?

Obedience is a grateful response to the grace of salvation

These commandments as promise – you shall not

Home

Amazon have kindly informed me that Marryline Robinson's Home (Virago Press) has won the Orange Prize for Fiction (by a woman published in the UK). Since I very much enjoyed Gilead I've ordered a copy. Here's a bit of blurb:

Reviews from Amazon.Co.Uk website:
'Her fiction attends with rapt attention to the "dear ordinary" breathing fresh air into the long-standing debates of American Protestantism' Kasia Boddy, DAILY TELEGRAPH 'A quietly moving novel of faith and forgiveness.' Amber Pearson, DAILY MAIL 'So finely wrought as to make the work of her more productive contemporaries seem tawdry by comparison ... The cadences of her prose have a resonant authority more like that of a great music rather than language. The effect is utterly haunting. The bad news is that is makes all other writing seem jejune for ages afterwards' Jane Shilling, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'This is certainly a novel about faith and love. However, it is also a meditation on doubt and fear ... There is both a subtlety and a simplicity about her most powerful themes. She asserts the elusiveness of perfection, the foolishness of sever self-judgement and the unavoidable necessity of having to suffer in order to love ...The beauty of HOME is that it does not offer the counterfeit currency of certainty but proffers the under-valued coin of hope. That is its glory, too' HERALD 'Compelling' OBSERVER 'One of the saddest books I have ever loved' Sarah Churchwell, GUARDIAN

Moore College Blogs

The Blogging Parson, The Revd Dr Michael Jensen has an impressive blogroll on Moore College faculty, students and graduates that I'm sure would be well worth a look, though I've not explored it myself.

Confirmation

I've noted before some of the very negative things that Calvin sometimes said about confirmation. He was worried that it undermined baptism. However, he apparently argues in his commentary on Hebrews of 1549 that "the teachings of baptisms, and of the laying on of hands" refers to the rite of blessing catechumens, something rather like our confirmation.

see Zachman, Image and Word etc. p317

Regulative Principles in Practice

Zachman comments that “… in the third edition of the Institutes of 1543, Calvin completely changes his position in the symbol of the laying on of hands.” (Image and Word etc. p315) Previously Calvin had rejected the practice since it not (explicitly) commanded in the New Testament but he later advocated it since the uniform custom of the Apostles means it is effectively commanded.

When God Seems Far Away

Calvin says:

... when every access to God seems closed up against us, nothing is more useful that to recall to mind, that he has adopted us from our very infancy, that he has also testified his favour by many tokens, especially that he has called us by his Gospel into a fellowship with his only-begotten Son, who is life and salvation; and the, that he has confirmed his favour both by Baptism and the Supper. When, therefore, these things come to our minds, we may be able by faith to break through all impediments.

Commentary on Jonah 2:4, Calvin Trans soc / Baker pp80-81

Cavin on Image and Word

From Zachman's Conclusion:

Far from replacing images with words, Calvin combines image and word in all aspects of our lives with God and with others. We must hear the Word of God if we are rightly to behold the symbols in which the invisible God becomes somewhat visible; but we must also behold with our eyes the goodness of God that the Word declares to us, so that the truth of that Word might be confirmed for us. Calvin will accentuate the visibility of divine self-revelation by describing the Word of God itself as a living image of God, in which the hidden thoughts of God might be beheld, even as human thoughts are represented in the language we use. When Calvin encounters a symbol in Scripture to which no Word of God is attached, such as the sacrifices of the patriarchs, or burial rites, or the exodus itself, he will nonetheless uphold the meaning and necessity of these symbols, which the godly are to consider and contemplate.

Calvin’s concern to see the self-revelation of God in terms of the combination of the Word of God that we hear and the living images of God that we behold places him squarely within the broarder catholic tradition from the time of the orthodox theologians of the early Church to his own day. Calvin combines proclamation and manifestation in an exemplary way…. Calvin also holds together the revelation of God in the truth of the Word with the manifestation of the goodness of God in the beauty of God’s works, in a way that anticipates Hans Urs von Balthasar’s attempt to do the same in our own day. We are led to union with the fountain of every good thing in God only when we hold together the proclamation of that goodness in the Word of God with the manifestation of that goodness in the beauty of the living images of God.

We have also seen that an unresolvable tension lies at the heart of Calvin’s discussion of the living images of God. Calvin insists that the symbols instituted by God truly offer and present the reality they represent, and therefore are instruments God uses to descend to us. However, he also claims that the reality being represented in these symbols must be sought in heaven, and encourages the godly to use divine symbols as ladders and vehicles by which they might ascend to God. Calvin creates this tension in order to keep the godly from confining God to the symbols of divine self-manifestation, so that we might be led from the image that we see to the God whom we do not yet see. This tension is compounded by the various reasons Calvin gives for the rejection of images of human institution in the worship of God. On the one hand, Calvin contrasts the “dead images” that humans create, which are only the image of absent things, with the “living images” instituted by God, which truly present the reality they represent. On the other hand, Calvin rejects the use of images in worship on the basis of the invisible nature of God, which cannot be represented in any symbol or image. He can at times so insist on the essential invisibility of God that he appears to undermine his whole understanding of divine self-manifestation in symbols and living images. Again, he creates this tension in order to maintain the dialectical relationship between the visibility and invisibility of God, and the presence and absence of God, which he thinks is maintained by images of divine creation but not by images of human divising. This tension is meant to lead us from the vision of God in a mirror, enigmatically, to the beholding of God face-to-face so that we never rest contented with the present state of our vision but press on to the clear vision we shall enjoy on the Last Day.

Let each of us awaken himself from his lethargy, that we may now be satisfied with spiritual felicity until God, in due time, bring us to his own immediate presence, and cause us to enjoy him face to face (Comm on Ps 17:15)

(Image and Word etc. p437-440)

The Forgotten Calvin

More Zachman:

The laying on of hands, which Calvin causticly dismissed in 1536 as Rome’s “aping” of the apostles, is described as a sacrament with regard to ordination, and a useful rite with regard to confirmation, by the third edition of the Institutes in 1543. The gestures of prayer, such as the uplifting of hands and eyes and the bending of the knee, are increasingly seen as both expressing and stimulating piety in ourselves and others. Calvin even recognizes the legitimacy of the pious use of the cross, though he thought that too much superstition was attached to it to restore in in his day. [see Calvin’s Ecclesiastical Advice trans. Beaty & Farley, John Knox Press, 1991, p74] His willingness to adopt and endorse sacraments and rites he initially rejected has not been fully appreciated, and can serve as an important resource for ecumenical understanding. (Image and Word in the Theology of John Calvin, p438)

Holy What?

I just heard President Obama and the presenter on Radio 4's World at One refer to the "Holy" Koran. Obama also spoke of the "Holy Bible" but in what sense does he think the Koran is holy? He also spoke of Islam being revealed. Isn't he supposed to be a Christian?

Also, it turns out the University has a Professor of Islamic Studies. Perhaps it should have a Professor of Christian Studies. Or Professors of Christian Mathematics, Music, English and so on. Or perhaps the very idea of a University is a Christian vision for the integration of all knowledge, in its various branches, under the authority of Christ. Is Oxford no longer a Christian institution in which "God is my light", I wonder? Perhaps we need Christian Universities once again.

Oooo!

My notes for the great thesis just reached 666 pages. Maybe I should delete the lot?

Sacraments in the Law

Here's another slice of Zachman on Calvin:

The covenant with Abraham, and the renewal of that covenant in the Law of Moses, is confirmed by many visible signs and symbols, which confirm the faithful in the divine origin and truth of the covenant, especially in times of trial. Calvin understood some of these forms of visual confirmation, such as visions and miracles, in an explicitly sacramental way, though all forms exhibit the mutal relation of sign and word that Clavin takes to be essential to any living icon of God. The word is the soul animating the visual representation, even as the visual representation gives force, clarity and vividness to the word. Both image and word confirm that the Law is indeed the self-manifestation of God to the Israelites. However, the Law also contains within itself images, symbols and types of the Christ who is yet to come. (p163)

Image and Word in the Theology of John Calvin

Electoral Reform

I know next to nothing about electoral reform, and I reckon a proportional system would be a good thing, but I also very much want to be voting for an individual. A list of 6 where I like 1 and 3 but not 2 is not good. Is such a system possible? What's it called?

How to vote

I believe that the gospel, the fundamental reality, the most important truth in the universe, the first commitment of every individual and society is "Jesus Christ is Lord". That should be the guiding principle of all, including politics and public life. It should be the first line of our consititution.

So, faced with a ballot paper for the European elections that gave me the choice of:

"The Christian Party: Proclaiming Christ's Lordship"

I felt I ought to vote for them.

I've no idea if they have any chance of seat.

Their website was pretty hard to find. (They say their main site is having problems due to excessive demand).

They seem a thoroughly good thing. Here's a bit of their blurb:

Why a Christian Party?

The time has come for Christians of all denominations to stand up for their beliefs and resist the tide of secularism destroying our country. The Christian Party exists to fulfill this vital role. Under the leadership of Revd George Hargreaves, this non-denominational Christian political party provides a united Christian witness across the nation to ensure that the message of the Bible is heard and heard where it matters. The voice of the once mighty church may have been reduced to a mere whisper, but the Christian Party will not be – it will speak out and not be silent. Whatever your denomination or churchmanship, the time has come to unite and stand together for the Christian faith and all it represents. The more who join the Christian Party the louder our Christian voice will become. If you agree that this is so, it may be that God is calling on you to join together with other like-minded Christians throughout the country who are equally concerned about the state of the church and nation. Please read the statement of faith below and if you agree with it,

join us now!

Statement of Faith

---

Statement of Faith

1. We believe in one creator God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as stated in the historic creeds of the Christian church.

2. We acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord over all creation.

3. We believe the Holy Bible to be the inspired, infallible, written Word of God to whose precepts, given for the good of nations and individuals, all man’s law must submit.

4. We believe all government to be under the authority of God and that the purpose of government is the maintenance of freedom and justice solely in accordance with biblical principles.

5. Jesus Christ will come again to the earth, personally, visibly and bodily to consummate history and the eternal plan of God.

Statement of Purpose

---

The primary purpose of the Christian Party is to proclaim the Lordship of Christ. The party also exists to empower those who confess “Jesus Christ as Lord!” to serve him in the political sphere.

Revd George Hargreves seems an interesting chap! He is anti-abortion, anti-practicing-homosexuality and anti-EU. His campaign to have the dragon removed from the Welsh flag seems a little barmy to me, though I have some sympathy with the idea. Much better to have a cross rather than Satan as your national symbol!

I voted Conservative in the local elections to stop the Lib Dems who I imagine want to tax everything in site and stand mainly for such things as pot-smoking, abortions and the promotion of homosexuality, but I could be wrong. I was a bit tempted by UKIP, though I don't imagine they could win and I'm not convinced by the prominence of their anti-imigration agenda. I respect those who feel they ought to spoil their paper by writing "JESUS IS LORD" across it, but its a shame that most people will think you just filled in the form incompitently.

P.S. It seems dogs and toddlers are welcome in our local polling station. Remeber you don't need your polling card and you don't have to give the fellas your number afterwards. Turning up at a random church hall worked for me.

Cake and ale, sir?

Michael Ward's Planet Narnia made me momentarily aspire to greater joviality and chivalrousness.

Joviality is laughter, joy, happiness, merriment, cheerfulness, not grumpy frowns.

Chivalry is strength and gentleness, power under control for a purpose, self-sacrifice, faithful obedience, martyrdom and the cross, not lazy selfishness.

I didn't jot down virtues for the other planets, but I'm sure one could come up with them.

Eternal Life

Revd Dr Alistair McGrath writes:

Eternal doesn't mean throughout all time; it means outside time. "Eternal life" means life with God, outside the confines of space and time. As it is virtually impossible for us to conceive what it must be like to live outside space and time, it is understandably difficult to think about eternal life. However, the main point is this: eternal life means that our present relationship with God is not destroyed or thwarted by death, but is continued and deepended by it."

I Believe: Exploring the Apostles' Creed / Affirming the Faith (IVP, 1991 / 1997) p104

Now, sure, God is eternal and not limited by time or space. He has all his life at once and all things are present to him.

But we're not destined to be timeless or spaceless in "eternity".

God's eternality is an incomunicable attribute.

We can expect a sucession of moments and a happy stroll in the New Creation. There'll be plenty of time and space to enjoy it all.

The best week of the year

I've done camp now every year for over a decade (I think). It's always hard work and it's had its difficulties and frustrations from time to time, but I can honestly say that its often been the best week of the year. I particularly love the gospel unity of the team, the common cause and the sense of fun and friendship. It's okay having the kids around some of the time too!

Sadly, in some ways, though ultimately not regrettably (!), camp didn't provide me with a wife - which we all know is the ultimate purpose. But Mrs Lloyd is now fully involved, however: we couldn't do without our treasurer, applications secretary, assistant child protection officer and PA to the overall leader! :)

Do what you love

You are most likely to be successful if you do what you love, that is, what interests and motivates you. It may well be what you are naturally good at and you'll tend to enjoy doing it.

But you need to know what you love or might come to love.

And you need to love things that are good, true and beautiful.

It's no good thinking that you love selling illegal drugs when you really aren't satisfied in doing it and are bad at it, whereas your true vocation is selling great books at which you'd be brilliant and brilliantly happy, or whatever.

Sometimes, of course, we will need to do some unpleasant things for the sake of that which we love.

New Arrival

Revd Ian Cameron, with whom I had the great pleasure of sharing a flat at Oak Hill, has joined the blogosphere at: http://theservantofall.blogspot.com/

Sacramental Words and World

I'm frequently coming across things that might just be relevant to the great thesis. Today someone kindly suggested the work of David Brown (Professor at St Andrews) that is up for the Archbishop's book prize.

If I had a great theological library on my doorstep, I'd be having a good look in:

God and Mystery in Words: Experience through Metaphor and Drama (Oxford University Press, 2008)

First Sentence: “ONE way of characterizing what I am trying to achieve in this part of the book is as an exploration of how language can sometimes be said to function sacramentally, in conveying experiences of divine presence.”

God and Grace of Body: Sacrament in Ordinary (Oxford University Press, 2007)

1st and 2nd

C. S. Lewis argued that the medieval mind was preoccupied with the idea of hierarchy and equality, order and unity. Put the first things first, they thought, and the second things will follow naturally. Put the second things first and the first things will be lost.

We might think of the Father and the Son, the King of Kings and under-kings as His servants, Creator and creation, the Giver and his gifts.

As long as you choose rightly, you don't have to choose. Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.

Half-gods have their own God-given excellence, but you mustn't make them "God". We don't have to throw out silver to make room for gold, but don't put silver in gold's place.

(see Michael Ward, Planet Narnia, OUP 2008, pp134-137)

Distinguo!

It's not just Rev'd Neil Jeffers and Dorothy L. Sayers. According to Michael Ward, "Distinguo!" was also C. S. Lewis' "habitual cry in conversation and debate."

Planet Narnia (OUP, New York, 2008) p142

Back from Planet Narnia

Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis by Michael Ward (OUP , New York, 2008) was wonderful, fascinating and persuasive.

Anyone interested in the world, Christianity, God, Lewis, literature or pretty much anything else besides should read this book. Its beautifully written, eloquent and playful. I often found myself marking passages on most pages. Perhaps some Narnia inspired blog posts in days to come.

It was expensive a bit hard to get hold of. My copy seems to be missing the promised picture gallery after p. 126. And I wondered if the index could have been a bit fuller (perhaps with entries for baptism 138, 161, 172, 249; language 145; martyrdom 97; sacraments 30, 49, 163), but I shouldn't quibble.

Nice to be back

We had a lovely week in Spain with excellent weather, but it's nice to be back to a rainy bank holiday Monday on the sunshine coast. There was plenty of sun in Spain but it'll be nice to be able to go in it once in while in Eastbourne without having to hide in the shade. Here's to a climate conducive to warm beer and not just fizzy lager.

I've also missed:

Church

Caleb the dog

A clock radio by my bedside at night so that I can tell what time it is in the dark

Radio 4

Proper toast with Oxford Orange Marmalade

And maybe the interweb, though I'm not so sure about that. It was certainly good to be phone and information super-highwayless for a week.

Marc Lloyd is away

We're flying off to Malaga this morning. We're renting a house in Ronda with my non-Christian parents, my little sister and her fiance. Hopefully I'll be sitting under a tree by the pool reading Planet Narnia or The 3 Muskateers!

It'll be Jono's first trip abroad or in a plane.

I'll be out of interweb and land-line range till Sunday 24th May.

The prospect of this holiday has made me very busy with stuff I needed to do before going on holiday so now that I'm having a holiday I need one, though its not so long since I had one, and I wasn't really over the business that had caused.

The Mode of Baptism

They were baptised in the cloud, presumably because it rained, by sprinkling.

What I learnt from Spurgeon

When I was a 16 year old kid I read quite a lot of Spurgeon: Day by Day, letters, sermons, downgrade controversy and his 2 volume autobiography. My family mocked me for reading Spud-gun but I loved it. He taught me that the Bible is the inerrant and authoritative Word of God. And a warm-hearted love for what Spurgeon calls the Doctrines of Grace, the five points of Calvinism - TULIP.

It is finished!

After 2 or 3 days almost fulltime work, the camp manual has been printed and posted. Now its the homegroup notes on "I believe in the forgiveness of sins" and then play, play, play.

Body a vile prison?

I'm not inlcined to think of the body as a prison, although I believe some Greek philosophers sometimes did. The Prayer Book also calls the body a prison. I guess it sometimes can be, when a person has some kinds of illness. Maybe the body is a house, sometimes a prisonhouse. The Prayer Book with the KJV of Phil 3:21 speaks of our vile bodies. Perhaps the NIV and ESV do better with "lowly", I don't know. Certainly our bodies are weak and frail. But are they vile (necessarily, of themselves)? Speak for yourself.

Pysical and spiritual

Its not always great to contrast the physical with the spiritual. Sometimes spiritual does not mean so must ghostly, non-material as by, of, with, or through the Spirit. The Spirit sometimes uses physical things. God made stuff and its good. Its not, physical bad; spiritual good. Its physical good and spiritual good too.

Sleep as a sacrament

Rev'd Sam Allberry says:

Sleep is the sacrament of death

Words and worlds

(1) In literature, words create worlds, sometimes known as universes of discourse. The same is true in the Bible: it is a coherent world, with a worldview and so on.

(2) In "creation", God's words create the world.

(1) and (2) are mutually indwelling. Creation includes the Bible, God's word, and is called into being by the Word. God's word creates the world and is part of it.

VACANCIES on Camp

We still have places for up to 6 11-14 year old boys and one male Bible-believing leader for our camp, Danehill 1 2009, www.bestweekoftheyear.org.uk, first week of Aug. Feel free to comment if you are interested.

Overheard in the Barbers

If MPs can't run their own finances [such that they make so many "mistakes" in their expenses] how can they run the country? We need a whole new start.

I'm not sure I want MPs to run the country, but I'm inclined to agree.

It made me think, "and if an Elder of the church cannot manage his own household well, how can he manage the church?". (cf. 1 Tim 3).

I think Peter Sanlon is right: perhaps Her Majesty should dissolve this parliament.

Only 77 days to Danehill 1 2009 Camp

How does he do it?

No doubt he's very godly and able and self-disciplined and all that, but how does Revd Dr Peter Leithart do it? Will someone please tell me?

(1) Father to about a million kids. Are they all doing his work for him?

(2) Senior Pastor of a church plant

(3) Senior lecturer at a university

(4) Prolific and erudite blogger

(5) Multiple author

(6) Expert in English Lit., Sacraments, published on Old and New Testaments, doctrine, hermeneutics etc. etc.

(7) No doubt a bunch of other stuff I don't know about

Dr Leithart, what are the secrets? And please don't say "HARD WORK"?!

Star Trek

Possible spoilers - but I don't really think so:

Opening scene: one man gives his life that many might live. A willing self-sacrificial death defeats the enemy and leads to new life.

Closing scene: a wicked rebel is offered mercy and grace by his former enemy who offers to be his saviour if he will submit to him but continues in his angry resentful rebellion and receives judgement.

Praise the Lord, eh?

The Gospel is Cultural

"The Gospel creates a culture. It is called the church." (Tim Keller).

True. But "the gospel means we will do everything differently. It makes us relate to the culture around us differently."

"We often miss the communal aspects of the gospel."

"The Gospel tells us to engage with out culture but not to accomodate to our culture. The dangers are on both sides. We must neither withdraw nor sell out." (paraphrased)

"The radical gospel is changing us into a counter-culture for the common good, loving those outside the church. We are to be deeply engaged with our culture but deeply different."

"The gospel is the basis of a worldview that affects every area of life and how you do everything."

Revd Dr Tim Keller is brilliant

... on Gospel Ministry on the Gospel Coalition website (1 hr video talk). (Thanks for the tip Rev'd Stuart Dean's Video Bar!).

The Gospel is verbal proclamation, Good News not advice, Doxological, Christocentrical, Deeply Transformational etc.

Funny, clear, engaging, passionate, affecting, challenging.

Most evangelical preaching is too much like a Bible commentary - information for the mind, Keller argues. We need to make an impression, preach to the heart, the whole person, neither just the head or the emotions or conscience etc.

Keller says: I don't mind if people want to take notes on my sermon but I think I've failed if they're still taking notes at the end! He wants them not to give up, bored and lost, but to be too gripped to write!

Listen to the Doctor online

The Doctor was undoubtedly a great great preacher, though I reckon he's not so fashionable as people like Piper or Driscoll these days.

You can hear a little bit of his stuff for free at http://www.mlj.org.uk

There seem to be monthly free specials but most of the stuff is a bit pricey.

Be Faithful!

I have just booked my place on the Be Faithful! conference: confessing anglicans in Global & local Mission, London, Mon 6th July, which will launch the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans in the UK (following on from GAFCON).

The list of speakers (in the flesh or by video link) is impressive: Paul Perkin, Wallace Benn, Michael Nazir Ali (preaching at the closing Communion), John Broadhurst, Chik Kaw Tan, Peter Jensen, Vinay Samuel, James Packer, Keith Ackerman, Caroline Cox, Vaughan Roberts and other national and international visitors to be announced. Tunes: Stuart Townend. Something for everyone!

See you there?

Anyone want to travel up together from Eastbourne? Meet you on the train?!

See: www.fca.net

For online booking to to www.anglican-mainstream.net

Towards a Policy on Church Discipline

Often we should just overlook the fact that we think we may have been wronged in some petty way. We should take the logs out of our own eye before we start poking around in other people's eyes looking for specks!

Personal sins are best dealt with personally if possible. Private sins between Christians are best dealt with privately if possible.

If you have a real serious problem with another Christian or they have a real problem with you and you cannot sort it out easily and happily between yourselves you would do well to ask the advice of the Elders of the church. I suggest you ask to talk to the Vicar! :)

If a matter cannot be sorted our privately, others will need to be involved - at first privately and more publicly if things fail to be resolved.

Obvious serious public sins of which someone repeatedly refuses to repent should be rebuked publicly and the sinner should be excommunicated (shut out from the fellowship of the church and from the Lord’s Table) in the hope that they will come to their senses, repent and be restored. (This does not mean that they should be completely ignored or forbidden to come to church but they should feel a great loss of the privileges of church membership.)

Someone should only be excommunicated for a sin that risks shutting them out of heaven: they are being told in their excommunication that they are behaving satanically, like a non-Christian and if they go on in that way without trusting in Christ they will go to hell.

The Church of England is in a mess over this and the evangelical church in the UK has generally been pretty terrible at it in our generation. We probably wont get it perfectly right over night.

Right? Comments? Suggestions? Refinements?

Immutability of God Sermon Notes

BCP Communion Service

Thurs 14^th May 2009

Using the material for the 4^th Sunday after Easter (p141)

God “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)

NIV: God “who does not change like shifting shadows.”

God does not change.

Malachi 3:6 – “I the LORD do not change.”

Psalm 102:27 – “you, [O my God], remain the same, and your years will never end.”

Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.”

Good news that God doesn’t change. Comfort and encouragement. Trust and praise him!

Collect: “among the sundry and manifold changes of the world” fix our hearts

It would be a bad thing if I never changed but it is a very good thing that God doesn’t

God doesn’t need to change, I do!

It would be a sin for God to change!

God is perfect. If he changed he’d get worse. Eternality.

God constant, a rock, reliable, trustworthy, consistent, never lets you down, predictable (?)

Prayer of Humble Access: “but thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy”

God is unchangeably good, so he only gives us good things. All that comes from him is good.

Great is thy faithfulness!

“Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.”

Abide with me:

“Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.”

Hard Work

We were reminded yesterday that when asked about the secrets of the undoubtedly great success of his ministry, John Stott replied: "Two words: HARD WORK".

I was wondering whether I have ever really worked hard at anything in my life?

I've worked hard for a day, a night, perhaps even a few weeks, but I'm not sure I've ever worked hard, reliably, consistently in a disciplined sensible way at one thing for, say, a year.

For example, if I had done an hour of Greek six days a week for a year I might have mastered the basic elements of it, whatever learning disability I might or might not have.

Or if I read the Works of John Owen or Jonathan Edwards for a hour a day until I'd read them all, soon I would be a comparative expert on them...

I might even get a PhD...

Or hear Christ's well done my good and faithful servant.

Hard work. Hum.

What are you working hard at and how?

Free Internet Accountability Software?

I've heard Covenant Eyes highly recommended, but it seems to cost quite a lot of monthly cash?

Can anyone recommend any free internet accountability software?

I'm thinking of the kind of thing that wont affect my computer's running or block any internet site but which will email someone I designate with a list of all the websites I've been looking at or with a list of any that look like they might be dodgey, so that they that person can check I haven't been looking at things that I ought not to?!

An English Prayer Book

Why didn't any of the fun bits of the BCP (the commination, churching of women, prayers for rain etc.) get the modern language treatment in the English Prayer Book or Common Worship?

Swine Flu Response: More Communion Services

The Prayer Book commands:

... the Curates [that is, those ministers with the cure of souls including vicars and so on] shall dilligently from time to time (but especially in time of pestilence, or other infectious sickness) exhort their Parishoners to the often recieving of the holy Communion ...

The Communion of the Sick, BCP, p323

The Curate is to go to the homes of the sick if there are 2 or at least 3 to communicate there who cannot get to church.

The sick person is directed to communicate last. A precaution against infection, perhaps?

In the time of the plague, sweat, or such other like contagious times of sickness or diseases, when none of the Parish or neighbours can be gotten to communicate with the sick in their homes, for fear of the infection, upon special request of the diseased, the Minister may only communicate with him. (p325)

I wonder if some churches will actually want to cancel communion services if things do get bad with piggy colds this winter?

as Saint Paul saith in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews

I was surprised to read the above in the BCP service for the visitation of the sick (p314).

Why were so many people so convinced throughout church history that the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews?

Now we seem to be sure only that someone other than Paul wrote it! Anyone! Barnabas, Apollos, anyone but Paul!

It would be an interesting blind reading test, wouldn't it, to take some modern authors works and see if we could tell who wrote what? Maybe we just don't allow Paul enough range?

PS. the word "bastards" comes on the next page, he he! I wonder if those who love the language of the Prayer Book and want to hear more of it in church could stomach that?

PPS. There's a jolly strong absolution on page 317 too:

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power to his Church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive thee thine offences: And by his authority committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

We should have read this at Vicar factory before we pledged ourselves to the Prayer Book!

Church Loyalty

Remember that the church is holy. It belongs to God as is set apart for his purposes, not ours or anyone else’s. It would be tragic if any misplaced loyalty to the institutional church, to a church leader or to a church building conflicted with our loyalty to God, whose church it is.

Trinity & Eldership

Do you think that the doctrine of the Trinity implies that each local church should ideally have 3 Elders?

And do you think the nature of the Father and the relations of the persons suggests that there should be some kind of "lead" Elder?

Lovewise

Lovewise was recommended at the Sussex Gospel Partnership today. They provide resources and give presentations for schools (and churches) to encourage young people to keep sex for marriage. It looks like excellent stuff.

Ooo ooo!

Deep Exegesis by Rev'd Dr Peter Leithart ain't out yet (due middle of Sept.) but it looks very exciting.

Here's the blurb from Amazon:

Seeking to train readers to hear all that is being said within a written text, Peter Leithart advocates a hermeneutics of the letter that is not rigidly literalist and looks to learn to readnot just the Bible, but everything--from Jesus and Paul. Thus Deep Exegesis explores the nature of reading itselftaking clues from Jesus and Paul on the meaning of meaning, the functions of language, and proper modes of interpretation. By looking (and listening) closely, and by including passages from the Bible and other literary sources, Leithart aims to do for the text what Jesus did for the blind man in John 9: to make new by opening eyes. The book is a powerful invitation to enter the depths of a text.

Colossians Commentaries

You may find some of the following resources more or less helpful:

David E. Garland, Colossians / Philemon The NIV Application Commentary (Zondervan, 1998)

R. Kent Hughes, Colossians and Philemon: The Supremacy of Christ Preaching the Word Series (Crossway Books, 1989)

Philip D. Jensen, Colossians: The Complete Christian – eight interactive studies for small groups or individuals (Matthias Media, 1991)

Dick Lucas, The Message of Colossians & Philemon: Fullness and Freedom The Bible Speaks Today Series (IVP, 1980)

Mark Meynell, Colossians: Confident Christianity The Good Book Guide – six studies for individuals or groups (Good Book Company, 2008)

C. F. D. Moule, The Epistle to the Colossians and to Philemon The Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary (CUP, 1957) – full of Greek!

Peter O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon Word Biblical Commentary 44 (Thomas Nelson, 1982) – technical in places

Geoffrey B. Wilson, Colossians and Philemon: A Digest of Reformed Comment (Banner of Truth, 1980)

N. T. Wright, Colossians and Philemon The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (IVP, 1986)

See further: http://www.bestcommentaries.com/category/colossians/

Children and the Religious Meals of the Old Creation

Some jottings from James B. Jordan's chapter of the above title in Strawbridge (ed.), The Case for Covenant Communion:

... every single passage in the entire Bible that mentions or discusses children speaks of them as included in whatever religious event is under consideration. Jesus says to let the little children come to Him. Paul addresses children in his letters. Moses tells Pharaoh that the children must accompany Israel to the great feast God is calling them to. Moses, in Deuteronomy, commands that children be allowed at the feasts. Search how you will, you will find no passage anywhere that hints at the exclusion of children from any religious event or meal. (p50)

... there is no passage anywhere in the Bible that commands, hints, or show that children need to be catechized or instructed in order to make them eligible for any religious meal. Instruction took place at the meal, not before it. (p50, emphasis original)

It is sometimes asserted on the basis of 1 Corinthians 11:28 that a child must be old enough to examine himself before being served the Lord's Supper. But it is clearly adult sins that are being discussed, and, if this verse excludes children, then we should be starving our children on the basis of the command "If a man will not work, let him not eat" (2 Thess. 3:10). (footnote 2, p50f)

To summarize: the Bible contains no warnings against children participating at religious meals. It provides no age limit or other qualification of entry that differs from what is required of adults (circumcision for Passover; ritual cleansing for all Tabernacle events). On the contrary, every single passage that discusses children speaks of them as included in religious events. (p51)

As the contest between Moses and Pharaoh intensifies, it is precisely the presence of children at the feast that becomes the issue. During the plague of locusts, the eighth plague, Pharaoh dismisses Moses to go and be a slave to Yahweh. But then he asks who is going, and Moses says that all, including children, must go, and livestock for sacrifice as well. Pharaoh's response is that he must will not let both them and their little ones go. The men may go to the communion meal, but not the children (Ex. 10:8-11). [Footnote 7:] Personally, I'd be nervous about siding with Pharaoh on this. (p54)

Let's be very clear about what is being demanded of Pharaoh. Yahweh intends to have a feast with Israel. Communion-sacrifices as well as Ascensions ("burnt offerings") are required. And Yahweh insists that the children be present for this feast. For the men alone to be present, without wives and children, in unacceptable.

This is the whole purpose of the exodus: to celebrate a feast to the Lord at which children are present along with adults (p54, emphasis original).

... the analogies between the wilderness meals [1 Corinthians] chapter 10 and the Supper of chapter 11 could use more attention. Is not water called "blood" in 2 Samuel 23:17, and does not Jesus convert old "Jewish" water into wine in John 2:6 and 9? It would seem that the old meal of Rock-water and Heaven-manna is found anew in the Lord's Supper of wine and bread. And this being so, the fact that children as well as every other baptized person were included in the old meal has much to say about who is included in the new. (p64)

Against this kind of restrictive view, the Bible presents a God who generously feeds multitudes from His table. He showers down "sacramental" bread from heaven upon Israelite and Gentile alike, upon man and woman alike, upon old and baby alike. Jesus similarly feeds 5000 men and their families on one occasion, and 4000 on another, without seeming to worry about who was "worthy."

In fact, the inspection God is interested in does not take place before the meal, as a way of excluding people from it. Rather, it takes place at the meal. God judged Israel while they ate the heavenly food (Num. 11:33; Ps. 78:29-31). Paul says that the Supper ministers judgment, but he never says that because of this anyone should stay away. (Indeed, those in the wilderness had no choice: they had to eat the heavenly food, or starve.) In Matthew 22:11-12, the king inspected his gustes while they were already at the wedding feast. Belchazzar's Feast is another example. (p66, emphasis original)

Anyone living with this system of law and festival for 1500 years would naturally think that children belong at the Lord's Supper as soon as they are old enough to eat, and that Christian baptism is the ticket to the Lord's Supper. That's how it had always been.

The burden of proof in this matter lies with those who think Jesus or the apostles introduced some striking change. (p68)

Will the Covenant work?

The front page of today's Church of England Newspaper asks, "Will the Covenant work? p12". On further inspection this turns out to be about some proposed Anglican covenant or other, not The Covenant. Of course the New Covenant will work! I'm not sure what hopes we can have for this new covenant.

The Kingdom of God and Children at the Table

From Tim Gallant's chapter of that name in Strawbridge's Case for Covenant Communion:

The overwhelming evidence for paedocommunion from approximately the third through twelfth centuries is an imposing record that does not deserve to be dismissed lightly. (footnote 1, p35)

In Gallant's words, C. John Collins in WTJ 66 (2004) argues "that the early Church understood the Lord's Supper as a peace offering, noting that children participated in these during the old covenant period. (Note also that the Passover was actually a specific instance of the peace offering.)" (footnote 2, pp35-36)

... the Lord's Supper is not merely an exercise in private devotion, nor yet a symbol to engage our intellects; it is a sign-act of the kingdom which has a central place in that kingdom.... 1 Cor. 1:9; ... 10:16 (p38)

Just days before [the original celebration of the Supper], Jesus had been hailed as the Son of David, welcomed into Jerusalem in Messianic style (Matt. 21:1-11). At the Last Supper, Jesus surrounds Himself with those who will sit on twelve thrones, governing the re-established kingdom (Matt. 19:28); even as God communed with the elders of Israel in the inauguration of the Mosaic covenant (Ex. 24:9-11), so Jesus does here. [We may add that the apostles are elders in the New Israel.] This meal is kingly and covenantal, and formally inaugurates the kingdom which supplants the old covenant era. (p39)

Church Cancelled Due to Swine Flu

If the government advising avoiding large public meetings due to swine flu, will you be cancelling church meetings?

The Urban Pastor, Rev'd Richard Perkins, has some thoughts from Rev'd Dr Andrew Nicholls (a former GP) on how churches can make the most of swine flu.