We visited a little local church that meets in a school last Sunday. Gonna give them another visit this weekend (assuming I am back from near flu-y death!).
On walking in the door and looking lost, a girl about the age of the wife came up and started chatting. Her boyfriend (I wonder if he hates the word fiance as much as I did?) then joined us, and we chatted away for almost 30 minutes until the service started. And then again afterwards, and they introduced us to their friends.
The service was started and ended with food. Lots of food, and tea/coffee.
The service itself was very normal, and while the building was freezing (they actually hand you a blanket with your notice-sheet as you enter the hall), the people were very friendly indeed.
It reminded me of a church I once visited in Edinburgh, where I had nine - count them - nine! invitations to lunch between leaving my seat and reaching the back door. I think that was the friendliest church in the world. Bellevue Chapel in Edinburgh, we salute you!
But this church did come a close second. Many people were similar ages to us which, while not essential, does help with the banter.
They were also very normal. The didn't appear to be being friendly in order that we should attend their church, there was no pressure to fill in an attendance card ("there's a visitor's book if you want to use it but you don't have to so really don't bother if you don't want to"), and they talked about normal things. You know, the weather. Their jobs. The church.
A very pleasant experience. Definitely worth repeating. And all the more so because the two we met are not going to be there this week - so we'll see if it's common at their church :-)
Friday, June 20, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
The Accidental Lawyer ?
Heard an interesting quote at a church we visited today. Quoting a theologion with whom I was not familiar, the preacher said (I may not have the quote exactly, but it's fairly close):
"If you set out to live for Christ on purpose, you will fulfill the law by mistake."
I suspect a better reading of that would be: "If you set out to live for Christ (under grace) on purpose, you will inadvertently fulfill the law."
He was preaching from Romans 7 on grace and the law. To be fair, in the context of his message he did mean that the law was fulfilled in Christ only, but does anyone have any thoughts on this quote, or on my revised interpretation of it?
"If you set out to live for Christ on purpose, you will fulfill the law by mistake."
I suspect a better reading of that would be: "If you set out to live for Christ (under grace) on purpose, you will inadvertently fulfill the law."
He was preaching from Romans 7 on grace and the law. To be fair, in the context of his message he did mean that the law was fulfilled in Christ only, but does anyone have any thoughts on this quote, or on my revised interpretation of it?
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Building for the future, Mbeki?
With the MDC confirming that the letter published by the Sunday Times is in fact genuine, it once again seems incredible that Mbeki has not seen fit to look beyond the Mugabe years to build relations with the next government of our crisis-ridden northern neighbour.
It was gratifying in church today to hear prayer from the pulpit for the removal of 'Mugabe's evil regime' - would that our political leaders would get off their backsides and do something about it.
It was gratifying in church today to hear prayer from the pulpit for the removal of 'Mugabe's evil regime' - would that our political leaders would get off their backsides and do something about it.
A great quote
Heard a great quote in church today. The preacher, a youngish Presbyterian minister, quoting an unnamed American, said "If you're a Christian here today, this [world] is as bad as it gets. If you're not a Christian here today, this is as good as it gets". He also had a great illustration about the bias to sin - badly aligned car-wheels. God aligns the wheels he said, although you can still drive off the road when not paying attention. A good illustration for me today given that I very nearly drove right up the arse of a white VW golf while picking my nose on the way to church...
Thought of the first quote when reading about South African society in the press - xenophobia and prostitution being just two of the headlines today of our once-rainbowed nation.
It was a great little church we visited actually - definitely the coolest church building I've been in in ages, comprising an old barn complete with ancient wooden beams and hessian-clad roof on a farm (you park in a multi-layered field a bit like a terraced rice-paddy and trudge through mud to get to the door). Not bad music too, and a basic sermon on salvation from Rom 5 (there was an infant baptism and so I assume many visitors (place was packed out), so well-aimed at non-Christians).
We probably won't end up going to that chuch, cos once again, we found it possible to walk right through the congregation and stand around outside for ages and not one soul talks to you. They are obviously trying (there was an ad on the screen asking members to 'invite someone for coffee' - but we didn't know where to go, so ended up outside, and no-one invited us anyway). And the odd thing was everyone knew who the visitors were, because at one point in the service the regulars were all asked to stand... but hey.
Very cool that there was English, Afrikaans and even some Latin in the songs - athough the Latin was wrong - "Gloria in excelcius Deo". Excelcius? As in 'outside of/from/formerly of the metric temperature system'? The band even pronounced it 'Ex-selsee-us'. Heh. Excelsis. Ex-tchel-sis, if you're reading this :-)
Anyway - a good service, a solid message, loads of young people, newly marrieds, a good mix of kids and old folks. But again with the talking to strangers in the midst, not so much.
Thought of the first quote when reading about South African society in the press - xenophobia and prostitution being just two of the headlines today of our once-rainbowed nation.
It was a great little church we visited actually - definitely the coolest church building I've been in in ages, comprising an old barn complete with ancient wooden beams and hessian-clad roof on a farm (you park in a multi-layered field a bit like a terraced rice-paddy and trudge through mud to get to the door). Not bad music too, and a basic sermon on salvation from Rom 5 (there was an infant baptism and so I assume many visitors (place was packed out), so well-aimed at non-Christians).We probably won't end up going to that chuch, cos once again, we found it possible to walk right through the congregation and stand around outside for ages and not one soul talks to you. They are obviously trying (there was an ad on the screen asking members to 'invite someone for coffee' - but we didn't know where to go, so ended up outside, and no-one invited us anyway). And the odd thing was everyone knew who the visitors were, because at one point in the service the regulars were all asked to stand... but hey.
Very cool that there was English, Afrikaans and even some Latin in the songs - athough the Latin was wrong - "Gloria in excelcius Deo". Excelcius? As in 'outside of/from/formerly of the metric temperature system'? The band even pronounced it 'Ex-selsee-us'. Heh. Excelsis. Ex-tchel-sis, if you're reading this :-)
Anyway - a good service, a solid message, loads of young people, newly marrieds, a good mix of kids and old folks. But again with the talking to strangers in the midst, not so much.
Friday, June 6, 2008
On Finding A Church
For the last six months, following a house move, I've been trying to find a church to settle in, to call home. This has proved as difficult as anticipated.
Once before I tried to find a new church, having spent about thirteen years in the same one, most of that time as a ministry leader. Unfortunately, while that particular church had excellent teaching and great fellowship, it did not have the sort of accountability that all leadership needs, and I ended up choosing to leave.
I then spent at least a year trying to find the church I had just left.
I settled in a church which was really quite the opposite (within the same theological tradition, to a point), thinking this would be what I was looking for. It wasn't. Eventually I arrived at a church where both the support and accountability was excellent. You have to compromise somewhere, but the teaching was great - I can't compromise there.
This time it is much worse. As unknown people in a strange and yet familiar land, we need fellowship. Badly. But fellowship and teaching seem to be unaquainted here. You can get excellent teaching, or great fellowship in our area, but not, it seems, both. One church is so unfriendly we have visited four times without anyone coming to speak to us. Another offers outstanding fellowship for the over 50s (and great teaching). But no-one our age. And again, right now it's the fellowship that matters.
Yet another gives you rock-concert-style services. But no-one speaks to you.
A surprising number of churches in our area offer 'Apostolic leadership' whatever that means. Direct decendants of Peter? Paul? Apostolic authority? Does that mean they can open to Rev 22 and just keep writing? An open canon? I've heard some of them preach and I'm really not sure I'd vote for that...
It's depressing being depressed about church on a Sunday morning.
Church isn't perfect, of course not. The old cliche goes if it was perfect you shouldn't join cos you'd spoil it - and the cliche is true. But it shouldn't be hard to find a friendly church with people your own age where the Bible is faithfully taught, should it?
Once before I tried to find a new church, having spent about thirteen years in the same one, most of that time as a ministry leader. Unfortunately, while that particular church had excellent teaching and great fellowship, it did not have the sort of accountability that all leadership needs, and I ended up choosing to leave.
I then spent at least a year trying to find the church I had just left.
I settled in a church which was really quite the opposite (within the same theological tradition, to a point), thinking this would be what I was looking for. It wasn't. Eventually I arrived at a church where both the support and accountability was excellent. You have to compromise somewhere, but the teaching was great - I can't compromise there.
This time it is much worse. As unknown people in a strange and yet familiar land, we need fellowship. Badly. But fellowship and teaching seem to be unaquainted here. You can get excellent teaching, or great fellowship in our area, but not, it seems, both. One church is so unfriendly we have visited four times without anyone coming to speak to us. Another offers outstanding fellowship for the over 50s (and great teaching). But no-one our age. And again, right now it's the fellowship that matters.
Yet another gives you rock-concert-style services. But no-one speaks to you.
A surprising number of churches in our area offer 'Apostolic leadership' whatever that means. Direct decendants of Peter? Paul? Apostolic authority? Does that mean they can open to Rev 22 and just keep writing? An open canon? I've heard some of them preach and I'm really not sure I'd vote for that...
It's depressing being depressed about church on a Sunday morning.
Church isn't perfect, of course not. The old cliche goes if it was perfect you shouldn't join cos you'd spoil it - and the cliche is true. But it shouldn't be hard to find a friendly church with people your own age where the Bible is faithfully taught, should it?
A Real Revival
The other day, while leading a Praise Night event, I took a moment to read to the congregation a chapter of the book Sounds From Heaven, the story, told in the words of those who lived through it, of the last great awakening in the British Isles, the Lewis Revival of 1949-52.
I had not heard at the time of the Florida Revival, nor now do I know much about it. So I am not going to comment on the specifics of it.
And I want to preface my comments with this thought: I have never lived through a real revival of the Church. I have been to meetings where it has seemed as if heaven and earth touched for a moment, fleetingly. And usually this revolved around an anointed testimony, preaching or a song, combining in a way which seemed to express God's heart for that congregation at that time; and we glimpsed the heart of God. But I have never lived through an outpouring of God's Spirit on the Church at large.
Having said that, I know those who have, among them my mother, a convert during most recent revival in Lewis.
And in many conversations, sermons, testimonies on the subject, and some research on it by yours truly, I want to say this:
Revival is exemplified by one thing: Repentance.
Healing, miracles, supernatural occurances do happen, yes. But the core thing is the glory of God, and when we, as fallen (even saved) man see that, we experience what Isaiah did when he saw the Lord (Isaiah 6) - Woe is me - deep understanding of our sin, repentance before God, cleansing, and, as a side-effect of revival (because revival is actually what happens to the church, not the world), salvation of lost souls.
So conviction of sin (sorrow), followed by repentance (relief) and then unspeakable joy is what characterises a revival, and people who have been there and seen that rarely buy the t-shirt.
It's just not that sort of thing.
You've come into the presence of the King of the Universe, the creator of heaven and earth, the source of all being, and the judge who will one day wrap up this thing we call reality like a dirty hand-towel, and throw it away.
So think on this. If your revival is causing people to fall on their faces before God and beg for forgiveness, then that is what I would expect to happen when we come face to face with the indescribable purity and light that surrounds the Throne.
Until then, keep praying that He will send revival. We need it.
I had not heard at the time of the Florida Revival, nor now do I know much about it. So I am not going to comment on the specifics of it.
And I want to preface my comments with this thought: I have never lived through a real revival of the Church. I have been to meetings where it has seemed as if heaven and earth touched for a moment, fleetingly. And usually this revolved around an anointed testimony, preaching or a song, combining in a way which seemed to express God's heart for that congregation at that time; and we glimpsed the heart of God. But I have never lived through an outpouring of God's Spirit on the Church at large.
Having said that, I know those who have, among them my mother, a convert during most recent revival in Lewis.
And in many conversations, sermons, testimonies on the subject, and some research on it by yours truly, I want to say this:
Revival is exemplified by one thing: Repentance.
Healing, miracles, supernatural occurances do happen, yes. But the core thing is the glory of God, and when we, as fallen (even saved) man see that, we experience what Isaiah did when he saw the Lord (Isaiah 6) - Woe is me - deep understanding of our sin, repentance before God, cleansing, and, as a side-effect of revival (because revival is actually what happens to the church, not the world), salvation of lost souls.
So conviction of sin (sorrow), followed by repentance (relief) and then unspeakable joy is what characterises a revival, and people who have been there and seen that rarely buy the t-shirt.
It's just not that sort of thing.
You've come into the presence of the King of the Universe, the creator of heaven and earth, the source of all being, and the judge who will one day wrap up this thing we call reality like a dirty hand-towel, and throw it away.
So think on this. If your revival is causing people to fall on their faces before God and beg for forgiveness, then that is what I would expect to happen when we come face to face with the indescribable purity and light that surrounds the Throne.
Until then, keep praying that He will send revival. We need it.
Desperate for Depth
I don't know if, like me, you are tired of what I call "skimmed milk sermons".
You know the sort? Flavourless, unsatisfyingly thin sermons that take a lot of time to say not very much, or what they do say is lacking in spiritual insight, theological depth or intellectual challenge.
Recently I once again had the misfortune to sit through just such a sermon, where we were subjected to a series of disjointed thoughts, tentatively strung together with a loose pattern of bible verses* and reaching a conclusion without structural support (or indeed (unkindly) the support of any sort of coherent thought process).
At one point I became so frustrated I turned to my wife and said "that simply isn't true" as the preacher made a mighty theological leap of supposition and landed, unsafely, on an island of his own construction surrounded by a sea of speculative interpretation.
I long for sermons which are the opposite of Skimmed Milk. Sermons of Springbok in a Port Wine Reduction. Meaty stuff that you can savour, put together with care and attention to detail, thoughts that will show you the depths of God's favour and glory - where each new nugget of truth wills you to explore the depths of His wonder again.
It doesn't have to be new stories - just retold with a modicum of understanding and insight.
If you are a friend reading this who is fortunate to go to a church where skilled pastors expound the Scriptures to teach you more of God - be grateful for what you have, and give glory to God. It's a rare thing.
Those of us desperate for depth say bring back preaching. Where have you been so long?
*The phrase "it's not me saying this; it's the bible" should be banned.
You know the sort? Flavourless, unsatisfyingly thin sermons that take a lot of time to say not very much, or what they do say is lacking in spiritual insight, theological depth or intellectual challenge.
Recently I once again had the misfortune to sit through just such a sermon, where we were subjected to a series of disjointed thoughts, tentatively strung together with a loose pattern of bible verses* and reaching a conclusion without structural support (or indeed (unkindly) the support of any sort of coherent thought process).
At one point I became so frustrated I turned to my wife and said "that simply isn't true" as the preacher made a mighty theological leap of supposition and landed, unsafely, on an island of his own construction surrounded by a sea of speculative interpretation.
I long for sermons which are the opposite of Skimmed Milk. Sermons of Springbok in a Port Wine Reduction. Meaty stuff that you can savour, put together with care and attention to detail, thoughts that will show you the depths of God's favour and glory - where each new nugget of truth wills you to explore the depths of His wonder again.
It doesn't have to be new stories - just retold with a modicum of understanding and insight.
If you are a friend reading this who is fortunate to go to a church where skilled pastors expound the Scriptures to teach you more of God - be grateful for what you have, and give glory to God. It's a rare thing.
Those of us desperate for depth say bring back preaching. Where have you been so long?
*The phrase "it's not me saying this; it's the bible" should be banned.
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