All by Grace

I've been reading and listening to Martyn Lloyd-Jones recently and have been really helped and encouraged by him. The quote from "The Doctor" below underlines what we've been teaching at LBC over the last few months concerning the fact that everything we have and are is by the grace of God alone - grace which keeps us both humble and confident:

Paul always kept the grace of God in view; it kept him humble; it kept his spirit sweet; it kept him from the horrible sin of self and of pride and self-importance. Christians have nothing to boast of. We are what we are entirely as the result of the grace of God. (David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Christian Warfare : An Exposition of Ephesians 6:10 to 13)

Disappointed with Jesus?

This morning I finished reading Gavin Calver's book Disappointed with Jesus? : Why do so many young people give upon God ? It's been in my reading pile for a long time now and I'm really pleased I got to it at last. It's a quick read but very worthwhile. Gavin asks why it is that so many young people with keen Christian parents end up walking away from the faith.

This has been something that has puzzled me for as long as I can remember. Why is it that two children with the same parents, same upbringing, same exposure to the gospel....same everything....can end up making radically different choices about whether or not to follow Jesus? Why can truly godly parents, who model the faith well, who pray over their kids and do all the "right" things see their children kick over the traces, wanting nothing to do with Jesus whilst parents who, to put it kindly, are not desperately good examples of discipleship, who don't do anything remotely intentional to help their kids find faith have children who are radically on fire for the gospel. I meet parents who wonder whether their children would have gone on with God if they had had regular times of family Bible reading and worship. I meet other parents who wonder whether their children would have gone on with God if they had not had regular times of family Bible reading and worship. Can we put it down simply to the sovereignty of God who dispenses saving grace as he wills? Ultimately I believe, at the end of the day, that that is the bottom line but it isn't the whole story.

Back to the book.... Gavin tells his story of growing up in a household of faith. But his was no ordinary household. His dad was one of the most significant Christian leaders this country has had in the last 30 years; the national leader of Youth For Christ, the co-founder of Spring Harvest and the head of the Evangelical Alliance. How do you find your own identity and faith when everyone knows who you are and more to the point when everyone just expects you to toe-the-line. It's a great story with some real challenges and encouragements for parents and church leaders.....crumbs, I'm sounding like a book review.

Anyway, it was good - try it!

How Are You Feeling?

The Psalms are great becasue they connect with so many of our emotions and, as my former Pastor used to say, "When we can't speak to God the Psalms speak for us." And they certainly do. Here are some of the emotions you'll encounter in the Psalms.

1 Loneliness
2 Love
3 Awe
4 Sorrow
5 Regret
6 Contrition
7 Discouragement
8 Shame
9 Exaltation
10 Marvelling
11 Delight
12 Joy
13 Gladness
14 Fear
15 Anger
16 Peace
17 Grief
18 Desire
19 Hope
20 Broken heartedness
21 Gratitude
22 Zeal
23 Pain
24 Confidence

How are you feeling? You can always find yourself in the Psalms.

Meaning and Life

I was interested to hear Fi Glover, whilst interviewing one of her guests on Saturday morning (Radio 4), describe the meaning of life as:

trying, failing, trying again and failing better.

Initially it just sounded hopelessly (literally) humanistic but then, as I gave it more thought, I wondered whether there was a bit more to it than I had first imagined......

Religious Persecution?

I recently read about a couple of cases of alleged religious persecution (Daily Telegraph). What struck me was that I could imagine the two situations occurring as described and seeing a case for both agreeing with and disagreeing with the action taken against the Christians concerned. Increasingly followers of Jesus are given a hard time for living out their faith but it seems to me that sometimes, maybe, perhaps, the hard time might be justified…..

Christian Primary School Receptionist Sues Over Religious Discrimination
Jennie Cain, a receptionist at Landscore School, alleges that she and her five-year-old daughter were discriminated against and harassed because of their religion and that the school was “anti-Christian”. She claimed her daughter Jasmine, who is a pupil at Landscore, had come home from school in tears after being told off by a teacher for talking to another pupil about Jesus, Heaven and God. Mrs Cain, 38, then wrote an email she claimed was private to 10 close friends from her church to ask for prayers for her daughter and the school. The email was passed to Gary Read, the headmaster, who called the receptionist into his office and told her she was being investigated for alleged serious professional misconduct. At the time, Mrs Cain, described herself as a "quiet Christian'' who would never force her beliefs on others. She said: "I do feel our beliefs haven't been respected and I don't feel I have been treated fairly. I don't know what I am supposed to have done wrong.”

In return, Mr Read claimed Jasmine had been overheard frightening another girl about the prospect of going to hell if she does not believe in God. He said: “We conveyed to her mother in a perfectly respectful manner that we did not expect this to happen again.'' The headmaster insisted that the school was tolerant of all faiths but could not go into detail about the prayer email as it “contained an untrue allegation about the school”.

Mrs Cain said she was subsequently investigated by an internal panel and found guilty of serious misconduct. She appealed and lost.

Manchester Police Intimidated Preacher, Lawyers Allege
Lawyers have asked the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester to answer allegations that police officers intimidated a street preacher and falsely accused him of ‘inciting hatred with homophobic and racial comments’. Volunteer evangelist Miguel Hayworth (29) and his 55-year-old father were approached by three policemen as he was reading passages from the Old and New Testaments in St Ann’s Square. Mr Hayworth says a plain clothes officer told him, ‘It is against the law to preach and hand out tracts: preaching causes offence and handing out tracts is harassment’. He alleges that a second officer accused him of inciting religious and racial hatred and warned his actions were being videoed. The Christian Legal Centre has instructed religious rights barrister Paul Diamond to take Mr Hayworth’s complaint to Greater Manchester Police.