Category Archives: Theology

How to do Right When You’ve Been Done Wrong (Psalm 26)

In the movie “The Interpreter” Sylvia Broom (played by Nicole Kidman) is an interpreter working for the United Nations. She overhears a plot to assassinate the president of an African nation. Coincidentally, she was born there. And the president was responsible for the deaths of her parents when she was an adolescent. When the Secret Service question Sylvia about what she has overheard, they doubt her story and suspect that she is actually the one who is plotting the death of the president. In one particular scene, the Secret Service agent is questioning Sylvia:

“How do you feel about Zuwanie? Never mind ’I don’t care for him.’” “I feel disappointed,” replies Sylvia. “That’s a lover’s word,” Keller responds. “What about rage? Of all the people that I have looked into since this thing started, the one with the darkest Zuwanie history is you. It was his land mines that killed…” “Shhh,” says Sylvia, as she places her fingers over his lips. “We don’t name the dead. Everybody who loses somebody wants revenge on someone. On God if they can’t find anyone else. But in Africa, in Mantobo, the Ku believe that the only way to end grief is to save a life. If someone is murdered, a year of mourning ends with a ritual that we call the drowning-man trial. There’s an all-night party beside the river. At dawn, the killer is put in a boat, he’s taken out in the water, and he’s dropped. He’s bound so that he cannot swim. The family of the dead then has to make a choice. They can let him drown, or they can swim out and save him. The Ku believe that if the family lets the killer drown, they’ll have justice but spend the rest of their lives in mourning. But if they save him, if they admit that life isn’t always just, that very act can take away their sorrow. Vengeance is a lazy form of grief.”

How do you respond when others do you wrong? Remember the last time you felt wronged? Unfairly criticised? Wrongly accused? The subject of gossip or slander?  How did you feel? How did you react? Did you regret it? Did it give you peace of mind? Or compound the grief with guilt?

Just after Christmas a Christian leader wrote to Bishop Christopher about me, accusing me of various things and calling on the Bishop to censure me. That’s fine. I welcome constructive criticism. But the individual went one stage further. He wrote to each of our staff personally highlighting his concerns. Then a week later, a colleague of his wrote to all the staff once more with even more serious complaints calling on Bishop Christopher to sack me. Thankfully, Bishop Christopher did the opposite. He defended me for which I am grateful. If you want to see how I responded, check out my blog.

In Psalm 26, David’s pen pricks our conscience like a needle. His words touch a sensitive nerve. They expose our conditioned reflex when wronged – to retaliate. Common sense whispers: Defend yourself. The media shouts: “Don’t get mad, get even!” Like a rattlesnake, coiled within us, our carnal nature lies ready to strike. Retaliation it seems remains one of our favourite sports. But, as we shall learn in this Psalm, there’s a supernatural alternative to our natural reaction. Please turn with me to Psalm 26. David begins with an emotional plea,

“Vindicate me, LORD, for I have led a blameless life. I have trusted in the LORD and have not faltered.” (Psalm 26:1)

David has suffered some undeserved wrong and it has been painful to endure. But he has refused to retaliate.  Read the verse again slowly.

“Vindicate me, LORD, for I have led a blameless life. I have trusted in the LORD and have not faltered.” (Psalm 26:1)

The word translated “falter” means to slip or slide or totter. How could David say so confidently “I have not faltered”? What kept him upright? What enabled him to do right when he had been done wrong? We can draw out seven reasons from this Psalm. Seven simple steps that will ensure we too can do right when you’ve been done wrong.

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Christianity Explored Launch in Burundi

This week, Craig Dyer (training director of Christianity Explored), Jim McAnlis (of Fields of Life and East Africa coordinator of Christianity Explored) and I are in Burundi to launch the new Kirundi translation of Christianity Explored.

CE is a popular ten week evangelistic course, based entirely on Mark’s gospel which includes talks, group Bible discussion and personal reflection. Now available in more than 20 languages and being used in more than 70 countries, CE is designed to help participants answer three simple questions around which Mark’s gospel is structured: Who is Jesus? Why did Jesus come? What is his claim on my life? It is literally a walk through Mark’s gospel to explain, through the teaching, the miracles, the death and resurrection of Jesus, the incredible claim made in the very first verse, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1).

The course is also designed to help give church members confidence in the Word of God and learn how to share their faith as well as train new church leaders. The strategy is to train hundreds to equip thousands to reach millions. CE is distinctive among other similar courses because it simply allows the gospel to teach the gospel.

This is the fourth year we have visited East Africa to train pastors and clergy to use Christianity Explored. In previous years we have held conferences at Carlisle College in Nairobi, Kenya, at Kiwoko Bible Week, and for clergy in Luwero and Masindi Dioceses in Uganda. Working closely with the Anglican Bishops, Pentecostal leaders, the Uganda Bible Society, Kiwoko Hospital and Fields of Life, we have launched translations in Luganda and Swahili and trained several thousand clergy to use the course. It is estimated that tens of thousands have completed the course in Uganda and we know of new churches that have been planted as a result.

At the invitation of the Anglican Archbishop of Burundi, the Right Revd Bernard Ntahoturi, this week we visited Matana Cathedral and trained about 70 of his clergy to use the course. In Makamba Diocese, with the blessing of Bishop Martin Blaise Nyaboho, the Diocesan centre hosted a similar conference for over 200 pastors and clergy from 35 different denominations. This was the first time many of them had experienced a small group bible discussion. They discovered the value of group study to personalise, compliment, reinforce and apply Biblical teaching.

Returning to Bujumbura, through the beautiful mountain scenery of Burundi, we stopped by the shores of Lake Tanganyika at the large stone making the place where in 1874, Livingstone, coming from the coast of Tanzania, met Stanley coming from the Congo.

The world has changed dramatically in the last 140 years, but the heart of the human problem remains the problem of the human heart. Transcending the barriers of language and culture, people are discovering through CE and the teaching of Jesus, that we are more sinful that we ever realised but more loved that we ever dreamed.

Jesus and the Jewish Temple

‘The Temple Mount is like a smouldering volcano that is bubbling and threatening to erupt – a threat that is liable to endanger Israel’s existence.’ That was the summary of a report handed to the Israeli prime minister a while back. Should he take it seriously?  It was written by the former Israeli secret service chief Carmi Gillon and the former police commissioner Assaf Hefetz. And the tragedy is this – some it seems are longing for it to happen. Many Christians are convinced the Jewish Temple must be rebuilt soon so that animal sacrifices can be offered once again. Then it will be desecrated by the Anti-Christ before Jesus can return and rescue his people.

In fact some churches fund organisations committed to building a Jewish Temple next to or in place of the Muslim Dome of the Rock. The Temple Institute and Temple Mount Faithful, for example, probably have more Christian supporters than Jewish. And this is not a minority issue in Israel either.

A Gallup Poll found that 58% of Israeli’s support the Temple Mount Faithful and the rebuilding of the Temple. You know what makes this poll even more significant? While Israeli society is generally divided on most subjects, this was the largest show of support, any organisation has ever received, on any issue. Rabbi Yisrael Meida explains the significance of the Temple Mount to religious Jews.

“It is all a matter of sovereignty. He who controls the Temple Mount, controls Jerusalem. And he who controls Jerusalem, controls the land of Israel.”!

Hal Lindsey insists:

“Obstacle or no obstacle, it is certain that the Temple will be rebuilt. Prophecy demands it… [is] the most important sign of Jesus Christ’s soon coming is before us… It is like the key piece of a jigsaw puzzle being found… For all those who trust in Jesus Christ, it is a time of electrifying excitement.”

With media speculating about the possibility of military intervention in Syria or a war against Iran, Christians in the Middle East don’t exactly see this as a time of ‘electrifying excitement’. Gershon Salomon, founder of the Temple Mount Faithful nevertheless does. He said this recently,

“The mission of the present generation is to liberate the Temple Mount and to remove – I repeat, to remove – the defiling abomination there … The Jewish people will not be stopped at the gates leading to the Temple Mount … We will fly our Israeli flag over the Temple Mount, which will be minus its Dome of the Rock and its mosques and will have only our Israeli flag and our Temple. This is what our generation must accomplish.”

In an interview with Sam Kiley in the Times newspaper, Salomon insisted,

“The Israeli Government must do it. We must have a war. There will be many nations against us but God will be our general. I am sure this is a test, that God is expecting us to move the Dome with no fear from other nations. The Messiah will not come by himself, we should bring Him by fighting.”

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Christ in all the Scriptures: The Son and Lord of David

The ultimate test of any civilisation, any culture, any community and indeed any church, must surely be, not how long it has existed, or its size or influence, but rather, the way it treats its most vulnerable members. Whether they are the unborn, the young, the elderly, sick, widowed, orphaned, in prison, on probation, ex-offenders, unemployed, addicts, from an ethnic minority, of another faith, a foreigner, an outsider, a stranger or just a visitor. It doesn’t matter. A society is judged by how it treats its weakest, most powerless, most vulnerable members. As Christians, the quality of our faith will also, says Jesus, be tested by how we treat our weaker sisters and brothers.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me…. The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:35-40).

Because ultimately how we treat others is a reflection of how we treat Jesus. Outsiders who look in, will be envious of our love for one another and want to know more about Jesus, the source of our love. Or, they will be repelled by our lack of love and reject Jesus because of us. The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, quoted by the Apostle Paul warn:

“God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Romans 2:24; Isaiah 52:5 (see Septuagint); Ezekiel 36:20,22)

It’s why Jesus insists:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another… everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Nothing else really matters. God expects us to treat others the same way he treats us with grace. In Jesus we see the perfect expression of God’s grace. “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). In September we began a teaching series entitled “Christ in all the Scriptures” based on the classic by A.M. Hodgkin. So far we have discovered Jesus in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Ruth. We have encountered the Lord Jesus in the types and images God introduced to prepare his people for the day when he would come in person to rescue them. We have seen the Lord Jesus in the Passover Lamb (Genesis), in the Bronze Snake (Leviticus), in the Day of Atonement (Numbers) in the Prophet Moses promised God would send (Deuteronomy), in the Commander of the army of the Lord (Joshua) and in the wonderful story of Ruth and Boaz, the Kinsman Redeemer (Ruth). Today we come to the two books of Samuel and the story of David the Anointed King. There is much we could discover about Jesus in the person of David. In his selection to replace Saul, his life as a shepherd, his song writing and faith.

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It all goes back in the box

With many retailers keen to shift unsold Christmas stock by extending the sales in order to make room for their Spring collections, its tempting to think “If I just buy this one more outfit, I’ll be satisfied.” We rationalise ‘need’ because it’s a bargain or because buying something new makes us feel better. We are mesmerised and seduced by beautiful people who appear in adverts to tell us we can be successful, happy and fulfilled and will look just like them if we buy their product. Using everything from greed, lust or humour their message is “Use me, buy me, wear me, drink me, drive me, own me, put me in your hair… and you can be just like me.” And sadly we often allow ourselves to believe them.

James Dobson describes how he learnt this lesson.  “I learned how to play Monopoly from my grandmother. She was a wonderful person. She raised six children. She was a widow by the time that I knew her. But she was the most ruthless Monopoly player I have ever known in my life. She understood that the name of the game was to acquire. When she played and I got my initial money from the bank, I would just try to hold onto it, because I didn’t want to lose any of it. She spent everything, bought stuff she landed on as soon as she could, and she’d mortgage it to buy more stuff. And of course, the way the game goes, eventually she would accumulate everything. She would be the master of the board. She understood that money was how you keep score in the game, possessions are a matter of survival. And she beat me every time. And at the end of the game she would look at me and she’d say, “One day you’ll learn how to play the game.” She was kind of cocky, my grandmother.

When I was about ten, I played every day through the Summer holidays with a friend. It dawned on me the only way to win was total commitment to acquisition. That summer I learned how to play the game. And by the time autumn rolled around, I was more ruthless than even my grandmother. I went to play her, and I was willing to do anything to win. I was willing to bend the rules. I played with sweaty palms. Slowly, cunningly I exposed the soft underbelly of my grandmother’s weakness. Relentlessly, inexorably, I drove her off the board.

The game does strange things to you. I can still remember the day like yesterday. I looked at my grandmother. This is the person who taught me how to play.  She was an old woman by now. She was a widow.  She had raised my mother. She loved me. And I took everything she had. I destroyed her financially and psychologically. I watched her give her last dollar and quit in utter defeat. This was the greatest moment of my life.

And then she had one more lesson to teach me, my grandmother. Then she said to me, “Now it all goes back in the box.” It all goes back in the box.  All of the houses and hotels, Mayfair and Park Lane, all of those railway stations and utilities, all of that wonderful money. It all goes back in the box,” she said. But I didn’t want it all to go back in the box. I wanted to leave the board out permanently — bronze it maybe, as a memorial to what I had achieved. See, when she said, “It all goes back in the box,” it was kind of a way of saying to me, “None of it’s really yours. It doesn’t belong to you. You don’t own any of it. You just used it for a little while. And now it all goes back in the box.  And next time it’ll all go to somebody else. That’s the way the game works. So when you play the game, don’t forget this one lesson. When the game comes to an end and the game always comes to an end, the stuff all goes back in the box.”

There is a simple, two-word question we tend not to ask ourselves. “Then what?” When I’ve reached the top, then what? When I have it all, then what? When I finally have enough, when I am financially secure, when I’ve got the sought after promotion, made the ultimate purchase, got the ideal home, assured financial security, and climbed the ladder of success to the highest rung, and then the thrill wears off–and it will wear off—sooner or later you’re faced with the nagging question, “Then what?”

It was to answer that question and provide the antidote to our condition that Jesus promised,

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:19-26).

To find out more about how you can experience the fulfilment Jesus promises, we invite you to come to our Christianity Explored taster evening Thursday 9th February at 7:30pm – light supper included. Christianity Explored is a 7 week course designed to introduce you and your friends to Jesus Christ and how through him we can know God personally.

May the Lord bless you and those you love.

With grateful thanks to John Ortberg and James Dobson for the inspiration behind this article for Connection magazine.

To Us a Child is Born (Isaiah 9:1-7)

If you were the Father Christmas and you happened to visit a few hundred thousand churches today on a pre-Christmas dry run, I suspect you would find a common theme running through many sermons preached this morning. The question is – how to achieve it? Reading the news this week it struck me that the assumption often made is that regime change will lead to peace and prosperity.  The Arab Spring blossoming across much of the Middle East brings the hope of freedom, peace and prosperity through regime change.   And this desire is not limited to countries with despotic rulers. Another eight countries wish to join the European Community in the belief that a regime change from Communism to Capitalism will bring peace and prosperity. But will it? It may bring EC subsidies but, as we have seen this week, it will also bring more centralised financial regulation. But before we think the problem is only in Europe or the Middle East, let’s remember how badly we sometimes long for regime change here in Britain.  Whether from one political party to another, or one leader to another, we are sold the idea that regime change in Parliament will bring lasting peace and prosperity, at least during the election campaigns every four years. And it is not only limited to the political realm. In the City, whenever there is a loss of confidence on the stock market or share dividends, Boardroom changes are inevitable.

The world of sport is the same. A seat in the chairman’s box or the coach’s bench is closely linked to goals, attendances and league performance. I could also mention the Church of England but let’s not get too personal. The desire for regime change affects us at every level of life. The mistake, however, is to imagine that if only we can solve the crisis in Afghanistan,  in Europe, at No 10, in the City, or even in Canterbury, we could then enjoy a peaceful Christmas this year.  The reason we can’t is because the desire for regime change goes much deeper. I suspect many of us have wondered whether regime change closer to home would bring us peace and happiness.  Think about your neighbours, your relatives, your spouse, parents or children. Ever been tempted to think that regime change would solve your problems? It won’t, because the problem doesn’t lie out there, but lies in here. The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart. And nothing we do to change our circumstances, economics, marital status or social life will bring the peace we so badly need. Continue reading →

Christianity Explored: What must I do to inherit eternal life?

A famous professor of surgery died and went to heaven. At the entrance he was asked by the gatekeeper: ‘Have you ever committed a sin you truly regret?’ ‘Yes,’ the professor answered. ‘When I was a young intern at the Hospital of Saint Lucas, we played soccer against another hospital team, and I scored a goal. I was actually off-side but the referee did not see it. The goal won us the match. I regret cheating now.’ ‘Well,’ said the gatekeeper. ‘That is a very minor sin. You may enter.’ ‘Thank you very much, Saint Peter,’ the professor answered. ‘I’m not Saint Peter,’ said the gatekeeper. ‘He is having his lunch break. I am Saint Lucas.’  “If God were to say to you: ‘Why should I let you into heaven? Why should I give you eternal life?’ what would you say?” In Mark 10 we meet someone who really wanted eternal life. I hope you do too.

The Ideal Candidate for Eternal Life: Good

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.  You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him.” (Mark 10:17-20)

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Christianity Explored: Why did Jesus Rise?

I needed to renew my health insurance last month. I was offered up to 15% discount on my premiums if I completed an online interactive questionnaire about my health, my lifestyle, diet, and fitness regime. I wish I hadn’t. There were about 100 multi-choice questions. Things like, do you exercise regularly? One hour a day, two hours a day? Two hours a day? How far do you jog a day? Jog? One mile? Two miles?  Are you serious? How much do you drink and how often?  I thought that was a trick question because red wine is supposed to be good for you. A bottle a day is not as good as abstinence apparently. Do you smoke? Is there a history of cardiovascular problems, mental illness, diabetes, etc. in your family? Well we are all damaged good’s aren’t we? How much do you weigh? Truthfully or aspirationally? Before or after the full English breakfast? Do you eat saturated fats?  Saturated fats apparently are things like spinach, carrots and Brussels sprouts, don’t go near them, they’ll kill you. What is your waist measurement? Well that depends doesn’t it? When I breath in or out? Then you factor in your height (without shoes), your marital status and age and then the programme will calculate your likely chances of needing medical treatment in the next ten years. A virtual doctor even gives you advice on improving your health and how to reduce your premiums still further. Staying healthy can become a full time occupation if you are not careful. It was depressing.

I managed to squeeze 5% off my premiums with a few nods, winks and promises. After I finished the survey, I ate salads for a whole week with no French fries. I went to the gym twice and got to bed earlier. It nearly killed me. Fortunately it did not last. Life insurance companies, and even retirement homes, use something similar called the countdown calculator to work out how long clients are likely to live and therefore their liability. Premiums are adjusted accordingly.  Whatever my insurance premiums next year, I know for a fact that, unless Jesus comes first, I will die one day. I don’t know if you realise but we all have a sexually transmitted disease. It is called life and the fatality rate is 100%. But because of what we read in Mark 16, the ultimate terror of death is removed. Our theme in this series entitled Christianity Explored is “The Resurrection : Why did Jesus Rise?” Let’s find some answers from Mark 16. Continue reading →

Seven Biblical Answers to Popular Zionist Assumptions

After extensive field testing in the UK, USA and in the debate with Dr Calvin Smith on Revelation TV, “Has the Church Replaced Israel“, I have revised and enhanced my paper ‘Seven Biblical Answers to Popular Zionist Assumptions’ The pdf version contains additional illustrations.

1. God blesses those who bless Israel and curses those who curse Israel

Promise Fulfilment
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3). “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ… There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:16, 28-29)
“I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore… and through your seed all nations on earth will be blessed…” (Genesis 22:17-18)

This popular assumption is based on Genesis 12:3. First, note that the promise was made to Abram (that is, Abraham) and no one else. Second, there is nothing in the text to indicate God intended the promise to apply to Abraham’s physical descendants unconditionally, or in perpetuity. Third, in the New Testament we are told explicitly that the promises were fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in those who acknowledge Him as their Lord and Saviour. God’s blessings come by grace through faith, not by works or race (Ephesians 2:8-9). Continue reading →

Christ in all the Scriptures: Judges and the Angel of the Lord

In the second Millennium BC, the place to live was called Canaan. The estate agents described it as “a land flowing with milk and honey”. After 400 years in Egypt and another 70 wandering around in the desert, God’s people were keen to muscle in on the Promised Land. They would literally kill for it. They promised God and Joshua, everything under the sun if they could just get their hands on it. On our journey through the Old Testament we have arrived in the Promised Land.  In case you have not been with us this Autumn, a word of explanation.

For many people the Old Testament is a closed book, rarely read, even less understood. This Autumn series on Sunday mornings is intended to show how important the Old Testament is in making sense of our faith in Jesus Christ. In this series “Christ in all the Scriptures” we are discovering that Jesus is at the heart of every book of the Bible. God’s rescue mission did not begin in Bethlehem nor even Calvary, but way back in the Garden of Eden. So far in our journey as we traced God’s plan from Genesis to Joshua. Today we find ourselves in the Promised Land. So where does the Book of Judges fit into this story line? And where does Jesus appear in Judges?  Judges describes the life of God’s people from the death of Joshua to the rise of the monarchy.

A. M. Hodgkin describes Judges as “one of the darkest periods in the history of God’s people… There is something startling in the swiftness with which the Israelites degenerated.”

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