TV Satellite

Janice Forsyth on Radio Scotland has been playing this single for the past month. The video of The Law performing Television Satellite is just great. I hope you enjoy it. Is this the best view of Dundee ever?

Shift Happens

We were shown this clip at the Primary school parents night, last night. It does make you think.

Smile - It's Only An Excuse

How can we stay dismayed? Six weeks yesterday evening until the New Year 'It's Only An Excuse'. Remember this one?

Dismayed

I'm dismayed, upset at the news on the Free Church of Scotland web site that they have suspended all talks with the Church of Scotland - read about it here.

The Free Church of Scotland have been, and will remain, the closest sisters and brothers to the Church of Scotland in terms of polity, governance, doctrine and history. It is sad beyond expressing that growing and developing relations between our two denominations have been harmed in this way.

Amongst other things the Church of Scotland does need to give thought to our increasing isolation and separation from the Church Catholic as we pursue a path of our own choosing which if followed to its end will lead us not only out of fellowship with other Christians, but out of step with our God.

Tearfund - Statement of Faith

I've just got round to the Autumn teartimes.

The final item is a report on the adoption of a new Statement of Faith by tearfund. You can read the text of this statement here.

Matthew Frost, the Chief Executive of tearfund, has written:
The Statement demonstrates that Tearfund participates in God's plan to bring about, through Jesus Christ, a transformed creation free from evil and suffering, through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. (in teartimes Autumn 2009, page 30)

The Church is at the heart of tearfund's Statement of Faith and it expressed a deep reliance upon God in all its terms.

I've got two simple comments here:
1. Most statements of faith limit themselves to discussing faith as a noun and describing aspects of the faith to be believed. This tearfund Statement goes further in recognising faith to be a verb, something to be done, this especially in the third point where the bullet points begin: 'to live', 'to make known', 'to demonstrate' and 'to serve' - doing words all. What difference would it make if we thought and spoke about our faith in terms of what we are called to do in obedience to God and in response to his grace and love for us?

2. Reading this tearfund Statement of Faith I am once again at a loss to know how the Church of Scotland could ever choose not to be in partnership with such a Christian relief organisation? We cannot do all the relief and development work that needs to be done ourselves, nor can Christian Aid - why then have we not partnered with others, like tearfund, to more fully show our commitment to the poorest and most needy in our world?

24-7 Red Moon Rising

I've been reading Red Moon Rising by Pete Greig and Dave Roberts, The adventure of faith .. the power of prayer.

This is a good book, not difficult to read, very encouraging and challenging.

Perhaps it struck me because of the recent anniversary, but I love this quote:
But when the Berlin Wall finally came down one communist official made an extraordinary admission to a journalist: 'We were prepared for every eventuallity, but not for candles and not for prayers.' (page 24)

The vision and values of the 24-7 movement are very powerful and well worth reading and reflecting upon - vision and values here.

Again, perhaps given the present situation in the Church of Scotland, I was struck by one of the seven aspects of the brotherly agreement that influence Zinzendorf and the Moravians:
A refusal to be hostile to other believers - even when you believed they were not understanding the Scripture as you might. (page 341)
I don't think this is saying you need to agree with everyone, or even give in to everyone, but rather that in disagreements within the church, between believers, there should be a refusal to be hostile. Hostility generates heat, and what is needed in disagreements between believers is light.

So, read the book, visit the 24-7 web site (link at the side) - but even if you don't, pray!

Phatfish - Holy, Holy (Lift Up His Name)

Pharfish have put a great video of their song Holy, Holy (recorded at Newday 2009) on youtube, but you can see it here!

Jon Peterson and 24-7

There is a great post about Jon Peterson and the work of 24-7 prayer - you can read it here.

One line from this post -

24-7 Prayer has centered me. I needed simplicity. 24-7 has brought me back to see prayer as a lifestyle not an activity.

I think Jon is so right. Prayer needds to be our lifestyle, the very air that we breathe. We need to stop thinking about prayer as something we do about the work God has called us to - prayer is the life God has called us to.

The Bible and Revelation

I've started re-reading Eugene H Peterson's Eat This Book. I always enjoy Peterson's writing it is so rich and sumptuous.

In this second volume in his spiritual theology series Peterson writes about bible reading.

The challenge - never negligible - regarding the Christian Scriptures is getting them read, but read on their own terms, as God's revelation. (page xi)

... in order to read the Scriptures adequately and accurately, it is necessary at the same time to live them. Not to live them as a prerequisite to reading them, and not to live them in consequence of reading them, but to live them as we read them, the living and reading reciprocal, body language and spoken words, the back-and-forthness assimilating the reading to the living, the living to the reading. Reading the Scriptures is not an activity discrete from living the gospel but one integral to it. It means letting Another have a say in everything we are saying and doing. It is as easy as that. And as hard. (page xii)

Revelation is a term that has dropped out of current discussions on Scripture. The text of Scripture is not a work of the imagination, even the creative imagination, of some human seeker after God. The text of Scripture is revelation, there is an objective reality to which the text of Scripture bears witness beyond itself. That reality is God. This aspect of the nature of Scripture constrains us in our reading and interpreting these words, because these words and no other words are this revelation which has been made known, displayed before us.

I really like Peterson's insistence upon our reading Scripture being intimately connected to our living Scripture - the two go together in ways that cannot be torn apart. Where there is no obedience or submission to Scripture there has not been an adequate or accurate reading of Scripture. Reading is more than recognising that the black marks make the words, this is true of every text. Reading a text which is a revelation of God by God must engage our lives, must change our lives if we have even begun to read this word.

HTC Newsletter

The Autumn/Winter edition of the Highland Theological College newsletter is on line here.

Take a moment to read the newsletter and pray for the staff and students at the College.

24-7 Prayer

I don't usually post on Sunday, but I've been reading Pete Greig's Red Moon Rising and found the 24-7 prayer web site and wanted to share it. I've added a link on my side bar or you can find it here.

It may be that the work God is calling us to in these day is prayer; not praying for other work, but prayer is the work.

Jesus and the Constraints of History

I've borrowed the title of A E Harvey's 1982 book for this post. I've been thinking about the play 'Jesus Queen of Heaven' which is causing a bit of a storm in Glasgow in which Jesus is presented as a transgender, or transsexual, depending upon which newspaper report you read.

Some comments:
1. This is offensive. However, we do not live, and I don't want to live, in a Christian state and so we cannot expect non-Christians to be at all sensitive or caring about offending our Christian faith.

2. Jesus is an historical figure. You can imagine Jesus however you like, but if you do you must know this is idolatry - making an image of God which is not real or true. Jesus was male, there is no evidence to suggest Jesus was ever sexually acitve in any way, these historical facts constrain our thinking about Jesus.

3. Jesus is at the centre of Christian theology. This only applies to Christian theology since Jesus is not at the centre of non-Christian theology. The Jesus who takes the central place in Christian theology is the same Jesus who is constrained by history. Christian theology depend upon history this because of the nature of revelation and the facts of the incarnation, the crucifixion and resurrection, the ascension and sending of the Holy Spirit, all of which are events in history. Any Christian theological reflection which is a-historical, or which denies historical fact is bad Christian theology.

4. I therefore conclude, whatever is being imagined, or presented in this play, it is not the Jesus of history and therefore not the Jesus of Christian theology. The path of faithful Christian discipleship is not to conform our image of Jesus to our ways of life but to transform our ways of life until they conform to the life of Christ, for the glory of God the Father.

Bible Fresh

Things are beginning to pick up on the Bible Fresh front.

We have a group meeting in Scotland to prepare events and resources for the Bible Fresh initiative in 2011. This year is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Version of the bible, and rather than simply celebrate an old book the plan is to encourage the church and many people to re-engage, or engage for the first time, with the bible for themselves.

There are to be four streams in this national initiative:
Bible reading
Bible experience
Bible training
Bible translation

Just now I'm working on some ideas for using blogs to help us engage with bible reading. Watch out for more news on this exciting project and please do pray for biblefresh: it could change your world.

Worship Central and Matt Redman

Before John went into hospital we were able to go to a Worship Central event in Dunfermline. It was a really good night, lots of loud worship music and Tim Hughes and Al Gordon spoke very powerfully on creativity in the life of the church and in worship.

If you haven't heard Tim Hughes check out the Happy Day cd and dvd which is very highly recommended, use the Amazon search box at the side > >

At the concert we bought the new Matt Redman cd We Shall Not Be Shaken. This really has helped keep me together over these days as the songs are very good.

My favourite just now is All That Really Matters:

Let our lives become a song for you,

Like a prayer that reaches high.

The glory of your name,

Our greatest cause.

All that really matters,

All that really counts is found in you.

What else would we live for?

You're the Way, the Life, the Truth,

And all that really matters is You.

Jesus, it's You.

Here's a you tube clip of Matt talking about the cd and a short clip of the title track, I hope you like it.

2 operations and no blogging

I noticed that my last post was on 21 Oct.

On that day my wife, Fiona, had an operation on her toe which has left her with a pin sticking out and crutches. (Check out her lovely new shoe here!)

Then on the 29th of Oct our eldest son and heir (due to inherit half a collection of books and cds) was taken suddenly to Dumfries Royal Infirmary where he had his appendix removed. It is 75 miles to Dumfries (150 there and back again, as Bilbo would say), so I did 600 miles before he came home on Sunday afternoon.

Rather than blogging I've been renewing my relationship with the dyson, the washing machine and yellow rubber gloves. I keep being told that things will get back to normal soon, but I'm not sure what normal is any more.