Here I stand...

I had been eager to get my hands on a copy of “Married to a Martyr”. I’d heard about the three Christians killed in eastern Turkey during April 2007, but it was difficult to find any coherent account in the confused stories and rumours that emerged. This is the biography Susan Geske, one of the widows, who in the midst of her grief, speaks out to make the truth known. Through the short, accessible chapters we learn how Susan made the journey from unbelief, to a faith that will cost her so much, we witness unrequited love that blossoms into marriage and how God-given desires became reality. Very little is revealed about the three men’s murder, though we are left in no doubt that they suffered horrifically, and that they made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of the gospel. I was reduced to tears a number of times as I read this book, and it ultimately left me feeling deeply challenged – fulfilling Susan’s desire that “…the story of my husband, and his two friends’ outright commitment ...

Well, after reading Abraham Pipers blog post from Saturday I decided that I’d post something – even if there’s no real content to it! I thought I’d fill you all in with the next blog post I have planned and what I’ve been up to recently! I’m planning on making my next post the first of many book reviews – I have a huge pile of books to read and I thought a great way of making sure that I actually read the books I buy is to commit to posting a short review of each book I read, along with the title of the book that I’m going to read next! This week is fairly hectic with three big Christmas events being put on by the church – I’ve been responsible for getting the programmes printed, stapled and folded – all 1200!! I’m feeling more Christmassy this year – I’ve been helping out, in a minor way, with the school choirs and the JYC Nativity. Sunday evening saw the church packed for the Junior Youth Club (JYC) Nativity – and it didn’t fail to entertain! With a house proud shee...

I was reminded recently that I haven’t blogged for a while. I’m sorry for my absence – It’s been a combination of busyness and avoidance! “Avoidance?” you ask. (Well, you might have asked!) Basically, although my last post generated one comment here – on my Facebook page it generated a huge number of comments, thirty at the last count! I wanted to respond to some of these comments, particularly the more aggressive ones – and so I was avoiding posting again until I had given a response to people that had taken the time and effort to post their comments. Unfortunately I’ve been so busy that I haven’t as yet had opportunity to reply – although I still intend to! So in the meantime, I’m back! On Tuesday (02/12/08), I was watching “The One Show” whilst eating my dinner. There was one segment of the show that caught my attention – one of the presenters interviewed David Essex about his Christmas hit “A Winters Tale”. Here’s what David Essex said; DE - “It wasn’t p...

Well, it appears that Westminster is going to be confronted with a shocking revelation thanks to the British Humanist Association - apparently "There's probably no God." The BHA have been busy raising funds to emblazon this statement on the sides of bendy-buses in London. Unsurprisingly, the fundamentalist atheist, Richard Dawkins has popped up to support this initiative, he had pledged to match any donations given to a total value of £5,500. The BHA have now collected a total of £20,300, not including Prof. Dawkins' generous donation. (As an aside, I don't quite understand Prof. Dawkins involvement in this project. With its agnostic message, it falls far short of the extreme atheistic ideal that he so aggressively preaches!) Now, I somehow doubt that such a flimsy statement is going to allay many fears as to the existence, or non-existence, of God. In fact I think it exposes the very shaky foundations of atheism. I can't help but feel that 'probably...

On Wednesday evening I had the privilege of leading the Christianity Explored group. Despite my initial apprehension and nerves, I say privilege because of the reaction of some of the group members to encountering the real Jesus in the pages of Mark's gospel account. It's so exciting to hear how one particular member has already invited one of their friends to the next course, and how every time they sit down to read the gospel at home they end up turning to their spouse and saying "Wow, listen to this...!" When people respond like that you know that they've caught a glimpse of the real Jesus! I had the privilege of listen to John Chapman on Thursday afternoon - the author of 'Know and Tell the Gospel". He echoed something Becky Manley Pippert said at the IFES European Evangelism Conference earlier this year. "Jesus is irresistible, when we introduce people to Him through the gospel accounts they can't help but be amazed by Him as He...

(I'm aware that it's been a while since I last posted, and I did promise that my notes from the LTS conference would be posted next, but last night I went to a meeting where we discussed the importance of Church membership and I wanted to share my thoughts here.) We live in a society that is inherently individualistic and isolationist. Personal happiness and fulfillment have become the criteria by which everything is judged and prioritised This mentality has managed to creep into our understanding of what a Christian is, so we find 'christians' who are happy to ask how a Church will serve them, but can't be seen for dust if they're asked to serve the Church. The ultimate outworking of this attitude is found in 'christians' who will enthusiastically inform you that their beliefs are a personal conviction and that they don't do church. I use the term 'christians' because I don't see any non-serving, solo-pursuit Christians in the ...

(As promised, these are my edited notes from Dr. John Currid's paper at the LTS conference I recently attended) Dr. Currid read a section from an article published in the Times, Sept 13th, 2008, titled "Anglicans back Darwin over 'noisy' creationists" - click here to read this article online. One of the defining features of the reformation was a commitment to the original text. Take meaning from the text, do not infer meaning on the text. What genre? The key thing to interpreting Genesis 1 is defining the genre. So what is the genre? What was the author intending? Does Genesis 1 fit the Hebrew Poetic pattern? Line Parallelism "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands" Psalm 19:1 The second line repeats and adds to the first. - Genesis 1 lacks line parallelism. Figures of Speech "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God" Psalm 42:1 The imagery reinforces the thought the writ...

Well, I'm back in Shotton, in body at least! My mind is still whirring from my first journey on a 'Pendolino train' (They are quick!) and what I learned on Monday and Tuesday at the London Theological Seminaries' conference on 'Creation, The Bible and Science'. It was an intellectually stimulating conference, with all delegates leaving with a lot to chew over. We had seven papers presented to us each bringing their own perspective on this discussion. Monday 15th Sept: Interpreting Genesis 1 & 2 - Dr. John Currid   Genesis 1 & 2 - Post Copernican History of Interpretation - Dr. Robert Letham Genesis 1 & 2 - A Scientist's Perspective - Prof. Stuart Burgess The Gospel & Creation - the Significance of a Theology of Creation for Preaching - Rev. Philip Eveson Tuesday 16th Sept: The New Testament and Creation - Dr. Stephen Lloyd Design Arguments - Stepping Stones, Stumbling Blocks or Sleepi...

Two posts in as many days - I'm doing well! Today has been an odd day, I haven't got all that I wanted to do done, and yet I've done far more than I'd planned to do! I booked my train ticket to London this morning - ouch! I can't quite see how extortionate prices are meant to encourage us to travel by train - unless we're meant to enjoy paying over the odds prices for a sub-standard service! Anyway, having had my bank account drained, I then headed to church, where I was meeting with Martin for my weekly supervision. This morning we discussed the first two chapters of "Preaching Pure and Simple" by Stuart Olyott. Just these two chapters had me trawling through memories of sermons I've preached in the past, and swiftly repenting for my many failings - it's a sobering thing to consider the responsibility of opening God's Word and preaching it to His covenant people! I spent this afternoon preparing for the young peoples ...

Well, once again I've left it far too long since my last post - its just been one thing after another! (There'll hopefully be a video blog following this post where I'll share a little more about what's been happening over the last few weeks!) Last week I was stewarding at Forum, UCCF's annual conference for the CU leaders from all over the UK. Travelling from as far afield as Aberystwyth, Edinburgh and Oxford, over 700 students descended upon The Quinta centre, and the quiet rural village of Weston Rhyn in Shropshire. I've been to Forum three times now, but the sight of so many students coming together to hear from God, and to be enthused and equipped to live and speak for Christ on their campuses still thrills me. On Monday evening we received excellent teaching from Richard Cunningham, who took Jonathan's "...Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf..." from 1 Sam 14:6 and challenged us to be more adventurous in our Gospel proclamatio...

The last week has been crazy, with my visit to Shotton, buying a car and starting a new job I still feel like I've got lost somewhere in the blur of it all. So today has been a welcome opportunity to stand back and reflect on everything that has happened. This was my third week attending CCC and as each week passes I'm feeling more and more at home there. The welcome we've received is staggering, people are so warm and friendly, and the leadership have shown a genuine concern for the spiritual well being of our family. It's so exciting to be part of a church that is truly missional, CCC really get what the gospel is all about, and as a church they are seeking to be missionaries in the South Wye area. These are exciting times at Challenge. A new elder is moving to join the leadership team and we are in the process of exchanging contracts for a new building. I couldn't find a picture of the building itself, so I decided that a Google Earth map would suffice ...

I'm not sure if anyone reads this, but if you are reading, then I apologise for my absence. All will be explained in this post. Firstly, Monday and Tuesday I was up in Deeside, visiting the Church that I'm going to be working for for the next 12 months. Monday evening I had my interview for the job, and after all my blathering on about nothing of any consequence they still offered my the job - so from the last week in August my new title will be 'Ministry Trainee' - I'm not sure if I have to wear L plates for the year or not, but more importantly, I don't know where I'm living yet, but Martin is onto it and is going to let me know. While travelling back from Shotton on Tuesday afternoon I occupied myself with reading the commentaries that Martin has loaned me for my sermon preparation on 1 Corinthians. However, it grew more and more difficult to concentrate on my reading as it became apparent that I was sat in to wrong carriage - I'd joined the multi...

Wow!! This has been an fantastic weekend - the best for a long time! As I explained yesterday, MJK have been here for the last three days, they went down really well at Wyebridge School on Friday and at 'The Big Event' yesterday,with quite a few local young people coming to hear their final set of the day. Today we had an open air service and the MJK guys performed. We had a couple of complaints about the noise - As an aside, I find it ironic how some people seek to defend their "quiet Sunday's" with a near religious fanaticism, one woman said; "Well you should've done it on Saturday really, because of the noise levels". She didn't seem to twig that traditionally Sundays are a day off  for people to go to Church and worship the one true God, not a time to indulge in the idolatry of sleeping in, vegging out and catching up on the 'Eastenders Omnibus'!! Anyway's, that's enough of me ranting as I have far better news to s...

Phew - what a day and what a way to launch my new blog! Today saw 'The Big Event' take place in Hereford. It's an opportunity for the residents from the south of the river Wye to get together, have a fun day out at the fairground and browse the stalls put on by local businesses and charities. My families new church, Challenge Community Church (CCC) , had a marquee full of cakes, children's face painting, a story time and a small bouncy castle. They'd asked Dad to take some sheep and piglets along for the kids to pet too. In the centre of the picture above you can see the huge portable stage that 'Make Jesus Known' brought with them. They're a Christian rap  group from Manchester who seek to, as the name would suggest, make Jesus known! Now most of you will probably have realised that rap music doesn't feature that heavily in my I-pod's 'most listened to' playlist. But despite my general lack of appreciation for the genre, in my ...