Backwards!

Ouch! :)

Poetry to go with Ecclesiastes 3

Shakespeare’s All The World’s A Stage / Seven Ages of Man speech from As You Like It - Jaques (Act II, Scene VII, lines 139-166)

Solomon Grundy

Andrew Marvel, To His Coy Mistress – “Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime…. But at my back I always hear Time's winged chariot hurrying near;”

Dylan Thomas, Fern Hill

The Weaver by B.M. Franklin

Contrast W. E. Henley’s Invictus – “In the fell clutch of circumstance … I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul”

Ps 31:15 - “My times are in your hands”

Ps 33:10-11 – “The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. ¹¹ But the plans of the LORD stand firm for ever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”

Is 45:6b-7 – “I am the LORD, and there is no other. ⁷ I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.”

Ps 131 – “My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. ² But I have stilled and quietened my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. ³ O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and for evermore.”

Prov 26:1-12

Etheldreda

Great name for the Abbess of Ely, c. 678 whom the C of E remembers today.

I must admit to smiling when I read in Saints on Earth: A biographical companion to Common Worship (Darch & Burns), 95:

Etheldreda, sometimes referred to as Audrey, was the daughter of Anna, a Christian King of the East Angles.

King Anna? I bet he had a hard time in the playground!

Jesus the Resurrection

Some jottings for tonight's sermon:

Jesus the Resurrection, Lord of Life & Death (John 11:1-47)

Trust in Jesus, The Resurrection and the Life, the Christ, the Son of God, the Master à belief / faith vv25-26, 45; 20v31

… even in the face of sickness and death – vv1-2

Take your needs straight to Jesus (in prayer) – v3

… even when he seems to get things wrong – v4

… even when his timing is inexplicable or help is delayed – v6

… even when you can’t understand what he says or does, when your faith is weak or confused – vv4-6, 7-8, 11-13; Mark 9v24

… even when it means persecution and opposition and the dangerous self-sacrificial way of the cross – vv7-8, 16

… even when he seems not to answer prayer as we wanted or when it seems hopeless and too late – vv17, 21

… even in the midst of tears, real grief and pain – v19, 21, 31-33

… because of his great love, compassion, sympathy, empathy, true humanity – vv3, 11, 35-36 – Jesus knows what it’s like to weep

… because of his unique, amazing supernatural God-like Creation power, because the Father hears him – vv41-45; 1vv3-4

… because Jesus rules death – vv33, 38 - and gives new life here and now – 17v3 - death is only sleep for the Christian – vv11-13 à nothing to fear – 1 Cor 15v55; a foretaste of the Resurrection, v24

… because if you do you will see the glory of God – v4, 40 - and your faith will be strengthened, which is for your best. Jesus is in control, has a plan and knows what he’s doing

A picture of spiritual rebirth through the gospel – 3v3, 5vv24-29, Eph 2vv1-6à proclaim the gospel with confidence in Jesus’ power

Our Camp Training Day

Here are some plans for what we'll hopefully be up to tomorrow:

By 10am Arrivals, name labels, coffee etc.

10:15am Welcome, introductions, notices, apologies etc., opening prayer

Songs: You’re the Word of God the Father

Now In Reverence and Awe

10:30am Bible teaching and prayer

11am Our aims, vision, ethos, values, ways of working etc.

11:15am Coffee break

11:30am How camp works: a “typical” year, week, day

11:45am Making the most of our “8 Days Around The World” theme

12pm How to lead a dorm Bible study on Mark’s Gospel

12:30pm Personal work and the Two Ways to Live gospel outline

Song: Praise God from whom all blessings flow

1pm Lunch

Song: The Splendour of the King

1:45pm Making the most of dorm time

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

2:45pm Financial matters

3pm Afternoon tea break

Changes to dorms

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

3:45pm Child protection

4pm Admin & Any changes to the camp handbook?

4:30pm Time in “teams” / sorting stuff out with individuals / groups / speakers and overall dorm leaders

5pm Any questions, any other business?

Song: How Great Thou Art

5:15pm Prayer time

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

Evening Meal followed by clean up!

John's Gospel for Danehill 1 Leaders

Here are some jottings for some of the things I plan to say at our camp training day in the morning:

An introduction to John’s Gospel

with some learnings for Danehill 1 2010

and some things I’ve been wanting to say about Camp!

The key to John – reading the last page first – 20:30-31 – the purpose of the Gospel

Wouldn’t it have been wonderful to be one of the first disciples in that upper room…

Doubting Thomas – seeing is believing - 20:24 / reading is believing - 20:29!

John (and the Scriptures) give us “more blessed” / happy access to meeting with the risen Jesus today for ourselves – we are more privileged than the first disciples because we have a Bible!

so it is to the Scriptures we must go, and to which we must direct the Pathfinders

The purpose of John (and the Scriptures) is that we should:

(a) (begin to) believe in Jesus (for the first time) AND / OR ?

(b) go on believing in Jesus

which is our purpose for the Pathfinders – remember both:

(a) those who are not yet Christians and

(b) those who are already believers

We are about: Conversion & Discipleship; Evangelism & Nurture; Mission & Maturity

Belief / trusting Jesus brings us real “life” – quality & quantity of life, now and for ever – 10:10; eternal life, knowing God - 17:3

The authority of the Bible – Scripture cannot be broken – 10:35 – Jesus appeals to the exact words

The point of the Bible is to come to Jesus in faith – 5:39-40 – not just academic knowledge etc.

Meeting Jesus (for the first time or afresh, being transformed by him) – people who meet Jesus in John e.g. Disciples, Nicodemus, Samaritan woman, Royal official, paralysed man, crowds

A new vision of the greatness of Jesus – The Christ, The Son of God, Word (1:1), I AM (way, truth, life, resurrection, door, good shepherd, light of the world, bread of life, true vine), signs, glory etc.

Jesus is the ultimate answer to all our needs and all the Pathfinders’ needs

The example of John the Baptist – The voice - 1:23; We want to cry “Behold, the Lamb!” – 1:29, 35; - Shine our little spotlight on Jesus The Light – 5:32-34 – Witness pointing others to Him - 1:7-8 – Humility - 1:15, 27, 30; - Jesus must become greater, we must become less - 1:30 – rejoice if the Pathfinders make much of Him and little of us

Humble self-sacrificial service – Jesus’ example - wash one another’s feet – 13:14-17

Love - 13:34-35; 15:12, 13, 17; mutual care, thoughtfulness, helping out, carrying one another’s’ burdens – a powerful witness – our lives must match our lips, walk and talk, words and actions

Unity in the truth – 17:20-23; 17:17 – the word of truth; “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, love” – distinguish primary and secondary issues; set aside personal preferences, denominational distinctives etc. – CPAS Basis of Faith sets out some essentials

Expecting struggle / hardship / grief - 11:35 / persecution - 15:20 / failures / set backs / misunderstandings, QQ - 8:27; 10:6; 12:16; 20:9 / knowing our weakness and need - 6:5-13

Dependence on the power of the Spirit – new birth - 3:5-8; 16:7-11

An outward and visible sign

James Philip called death the sacrament of sin.

Jesus The Life

Some first jottings towards preaching on John 11:1-47

Trust in Jesus, The Resurrection and the Life, the Christ, the Son of God, the Master

… even in the face of sickness and death

… even when he seems to get things wrong

… even when his timing is inexplicable

… even when you can’t understand what he says or does

… even when it means persecution and opposition

… even when it seems hopeless and too late

… even in the midst of grief and pain

Because of his great love

Because of his amazing power, because the Father hears him

Because Jesus rules death

Because if you do you will see the glory of God

He calls his own sheep by name

I'm not sure the good people of Holy Trinity really got it - I'd worked hard on it and I thought it deserved a bit more of a grin, or at least a grown, but:

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows his sheep by name (John 10:3). Whether it's Lambert, Ewan, Barbara or Shawn, Jesus relates to each of his sheep individually and personally.

Other sheep names most welcome!

The Good Shepherd

Some jottings for a sermon on John 10:

John 10 (p1076): The Good Shepherd

I. (a) Who Jesus is:

(i) The Gate (v7, 9)

(ii) The Good Shepherd (v11, 14)

(iii) Christ (v24f) – cf. King David the Shepherd (Ps 23)

(iv) Son (v36) / One with the Father (v30, 38) – God (v33)

(b) Who are we?

Jesus’ sheep?

Sheep smelly, stupid, needy, defenceless – need a shepherd

“other sheep not of this sheep pen” (v16) = Gentiles

Divided / mixed response (vv19-21)

Not my sheep (v26)

Thieves and robbers (v8, 10)

Hired hands (v12-13)

Wolves (v12) cf. Mt 6:15; Acts 20:28-31; 1 Pet 5:8

II. (a) What Jesus, the Good Shepherd, does:

Gives full / eternal life (v10, v28)

Dies for the sheep (v11, 15, 17-18) – really cares (v13)

Matthew 9:36; Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34

Knows his sheep (v14)

Calls his sheep by name and leads them (v3)

Keeps his sheep (vv28-29)

(b) What we, Jesus’ sheep, should do:

Believe (vv25-26, 42; 20:31) – Trust Jesus

Listen to his voice (v4, 16, 27), know him (v14), obey, follow only him (v4-5, 27), run away from strangers (v5)

Sacramental World

Revd Douglas Wilson writes:

There are two sacraments, true, but there is only one sacramental. The world is a sacramental, and everything in it. Grace is everywhere, and gets into everything. Faith can dig it out of anything. The grandeur of God can flame out from anything, like shining from shook foil.

If understood, this results in mediated grace for everyone who is responding to God in true faith. God does grants immediate grace in various ways, true. When He converts a soul, when He visits someone with direct blessing, when He receives our worship, the grace can be immediate. But this immediate grace is supposed to be a radiant grace, spreading out through everything else, affecting everything else, causing everything else to become a mirror that reflects the glory of God.

Critical Biblical Studies

An Insomniac's Primer

The Faith of Our Fathers

It's in my diary. Is it in yours?

A Post-Election Prayer

When the new parliament gets going, you might like to pray this prayer from The Book of Common Prayer (Prayers and Thanksgivings upon several occasions, p41):

A Prayer for the High Court of Parliament, to be read during their Session.

MOST gracious God, we humbly beseech thee, as for this Kingdom in general, so especially for the High Court of Parliament, under our most religious and gracious Queen [at this time assembled]: That thou wouldest be pleased to direct and prosper all their consultations, to the advancement of thy glory, the good of thy Church, the safety, honour, and welfare of our Sovereign and her Dominions; that all things may be so ordered and settled by their endeavours, upon the best and surest foundations, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be established among us for all generations. These and all other necessaries, for them, for us, and thy whole Church, we humbly beg in the Name and Mediation of Jesus Christ, our most blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Evolution Song

Human uniqueness, value and significance: you've got thumbs! Enjoy this song from Doug Wilson.

Kevin Vanhoozer on Tom Wright

When I get the chance I'd like to listen to the rest of this lecture on What Paul Might Say Back to Tom on Justification given at Wheaton College, from the perspective of a systematic theologian. HT: Revd Dr Michael Jensen.

Dr Vanhoozer encourages peace talks between New Perspectives and Protestants. The legacy of the Reformation is at stake: is the Reformation something we must recover or something that we must recover from? Wright claims to be upholding the Reformation, of course.

Prospective MPs attitude to Christians

The Westminster 2010 Declaration people have been asking prospective MPs to "make the pledge" that they will 'respect, uphold and protect the right of Christians to hold and express Christian beliefs and act according to Christian conscience'. You can check out candidates in your area here.

Here's the blurb for our own constituency of Eastbourne. Waterston (Con) and Lloyd (Lib) have taken the pledge and Brinson (Lab)'s views are unknown.

Eastbourne (Held by Conservative, Majority 755, Swing required: 0.8%)
Nigel Waterson	Conservative	Eastbourne	England
Dave Brinson	Labour	Eastbourne	England
Stephen Lloyd	Liberal Democrat	Eastbourne	England

How wrong can one man be?

According to Jonathan Bonomo, by the end of his review of J. W. Nevin’s The Mystical Presence, Charles Hodge had charged Nevin’s system with being nearly identical to or at least tending towards the following heterodox views at one point or another:

(1) Schliermarchian Mysticism

(2) Rationalism

(3) Pantheism

(4) Socinianism

(5) Eutychianism

(6) Mothelitism

(7) Romanism

(8) Sebellianism

Of course Nevin would not have recognised this description of himself. And Bonomo suggests number of these errors are mutually exclusive. As he says, no doubt Hodge would have said that Nevin was hopelessly confused.

In the light of this onslaught of accusations, Bonomo agrees with Gerish that Hodge employed an “essentially hostile hermeneutic” Tradition in the Modern World, p62.

Jonathan G. Bonomo, Incarnation and Sacrament: The Eucharistic Controversy Between Charles Hodge and John Williamson Nevin (Eugene, Wimpf and Stock, 2010) pp93-94

"superfluity of naughtiness"

Jottings towards preaching at our BCP Communion on Thurs. (The BCP epistle for 4th Sunday after Easter is James 1:17-21).

You’ve got to love the language of the Prayer Book and the King James Bible, haven’t you?

Here’s our old friend “the superfluity of naughtiness!” (James 1:21).

You don’t need me to tell you. I’m sure, that “superfluity” means a superfluous amount or nature of something, so James is saying there’s more than enough naughtiness, naughtiness that is needless and redundant, superfluous.

For “superfluity of naughtiness” the NIV has “the evil that is so prevalent”.

I’m tempted tell Jono next time he’s misbehaving that, “we’ve has a “superfluity of naughtiness” already, thank you very much!”.

The point is there’s a surplus or abundance of evil in our world, and who could disagree with that?

You don't need me to prove to you that our world is full of filth and evil and wrong.

Whether or not you agree with David Cameron that we live in Broken Britain, we know that we live in a broken world, don't we?

Everywhere there is injustice, suffering and pain.

Our epistle gives us some insight into the source of evil and it's solution.

So first of all, the source of evil: where does it come from?

First of all, certainly not from God!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

God is the Father of light, pure and radiant.

He is the giver of every good and perfect gift.

He is utterly consistent in his moral perfection.

No, the problem is not God but you and me.

At the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.

James hints at this when he tells us that "the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God".

Jesus tells us in the Gospel (John 16:5-15) of the Holy Spirit's work:

"And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment"

We're such inveterate sinners that we can't even recognise our own sin!

We need the Holy Spirit to open our blind eyes so that we can recognise not only the evil in the world around us, but the evil within each of us.

So what's the solution to evil? What's the answer to all that's wrong in the world?

It won't surprise us to discover its neither Brown, Cameron nor Clegg, nor any of the other parties standing for election today.

The power comes from God alone:

"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."

We need to be born again by the Word of God in the power of the Spirit.

We are to "receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls".

We depend on Jesus' saving work and we need him to send us his Spirit that we might receive his word.

So, by the power of the Spirit, will you "lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls"?

That is the only hope for us and for our world.

Lives Jesus Changed

I've been preaching my way through John's gospel for a while, and I'm thinkimg of doing some edited highlights for the leaders on camp this summer. There are, of course, a number of ways of doing this, including:

I am sayings
Signs
Farewell / Upper Room Discources
The Cross & Resurrection

Today I bought a book which looks at Lives Jesus Changed from John's Gospel. Revd Dr Simon Vibert invites us to meet Jesus and learn lessons about life by considering Jesus' encounters with:

John The Baptist
The Disciples
Nicodemus
The Woman of Samaria
The Royal Official & the Paralyesed Man
The Crowds
The Jews
The Adulterous Woman
The Man Born Blind
Mary, Martha & Lazarus
The Greeks
Philip
Mary & Mary
John
Thomas
Peter