I don't know why, but when I think about Christian books on friendship I always think about flowery cards to go in your wallet or Patience Strong sayings on a calendar. Perhaps this shows that there isn't much out there that is theologically meaningful about this important topic. Vaughan Roberts' book is incisive and gets to the gospel heart of friendship: 'Just as God is love, so he commands us to prioritize love in our lives by loving him and our neighbours.. This is not something we can do by ourselves... But, wonderfully, God is determined to change us by his Spirit so that we are transformed from being turned in on ourselves to reaching out in love to him and others.'
I found the teaching in this book really refreshing, and also it really challenged me that we do need to make true friendship a priority in our busy lives and not just settle for superficial social-network-style acquaintances. The book has an honest tone with the realistic acceptance that friendship is hard, but with the gospel mandate that we need it!
Perhaps more could be said about the sanctifying aspects of friendship, whether it's non-Christian friends challenging your faith and behaviour, or fellow believers, but I did like the section on the need to be 'candid' in friendship as this is something we seem to struggle with in our culture. Or at least, it's hard to be candid without being insensitive as well.
This book could be a great one to study in small groups or maybe prayer pairs/triplets, as the questions at the end of each chapter provide good food for discussion. It would definitely be worth reading this with someone else so that you could talk more about how to put the teaching into practice and be accountable on it.
This book is a great, short read, and it could be really helpful for people at all seasons of life from teenage years to post-retirement. Thoroughly recommended!
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Review of 'The Everyday Gospel' by Tim Chester
I've read quite a few of Tim Chester's books and he consistently gives good biblical teaching with a particular emphasis on how Christians should live in missional community with one another, sharing life on an everyday basis, and reaching the lost collaboratively through ordinary day by day activities. I think this book has been written to rectify the idea that 'spiritual' activity like preaching, singing hymns or praying is separate or somehow divorced from 'normal' life where we do chores.
The cynic in me sees a male writer choosing as his example chore the task of washing up - which I've heard a few male preachers refer to as well- and part of me wonders if this is the only chore that some of these men actually do! Hence why it crops up so much in illustrations. But that, as I say, is the cynic in me and probably has no real foundation! But I do think that women, who are perhaps exposed to doing more of the mundane household chores (especially if they are full time mums), see them differently to men. I'm making huge generalisations here, I know, but hear me out: don't we, as women, just tend to get on with it anyway and manage (with varying levels of success) to balance housework with our parenting, job, time with the Lord and in fellowship with other believers?
I think the need for this book lies in the sad fact that we often value our day by productivity, and often housework doesn't 'count', because our efforts are so quickly undone or replaced by a fresh load of dirty dishes. We live in a culture that seeks to define success by attainment, and if you've done the washing up it's a pretty small victory. We definitely need to re-think the way we assess our lives: are we judging ourselves and others by the values of the gospel or just the (pretty shallow) values of the world around us? If full time mums are feeling judged by people around them as 'wasting' their time and talents in the home and feeling depressed as a result then there certainly is the need for this book to reaffirm the value of doing the small things well and being diligent in your circle of influence.
I guess what I want to say to sum up is that this book is true and valid, but perhaps it needs more specific application to different people (or genders, dare I say it?) at different stages in life. Whilst it's true that all of us will have to do mundane tasks each day, for some of us this is more relevant than others! And I think this book could have had a real opportunity to speak into the situations of the full time mum, or the recently retired, as well as to the 'busy' professional.
That said, I am probably just being way too critical and I don't want to come across as negative towards a great writer who has produced some fantastic resources, many of which my own church has been really influenced by and I've seen really positive effects from. Perhaps you should buy it yourself and see what you think?
The cynic in me sees a male writer choosing as his example chore the task of washing up - which I've heard a few male preachers refer to as well- and part of me wonders if this is the only chore that some of these men actually do! Hence why it crops up so much in illustrations. But that, as I say, is the cynic in me and probably has no real foundation! But I do think that women, who are perhaps exposed to doing more of the mundane household chores (especially if they are full time mums), see them differently to men. I'm making huge generalisations here, I know, but hear me out: don't we, as women, just tend to get on with it anyway and manage (with varying levels of success) to balance housework with our parenting, job, time with the Lord and in fellowship with other believers?
I think the need for this book lies in the sad fact that we often value our day by productivity, and often housework doesn't 'count', because our efforts are so quickly undone or replaced by a fresh load of dirty dishes. We live in a culture that seeks to define success by attainment, and if you've done the washing up it's a pretty small victory. We definitely need to re-think the way we assess our lives: are we judging ourselves and others by the values of the gospel or just the (pretty shallow) values of the world around us? If full time mums are feeling judged by people around them as 'wasting' their time and talents in the home and feeling depressed as a result then there certainly is the need for this book to reaffirm the value of doing the small things well and being diligent in your circle of influence.
I guess what I want to say to sum up is that this book is true and valid, but perhaps it needs more specific application to different people (or genders, dare I say it?) at different stages in life. Whilst it's true that all of us will have to do mundane tasks each day, for some of us this is more relevant than others! And I think this book could have had a real opportunity to speak into the situations of the full time mum, or the recently retired, as well as to the 'busy' professional.
That said, I am probably just being way too critical and I don't want to come across as negative towards a great writer who has produced some fantastic resources, many of which my own church has been really influenced by and I've seen really positive effects from. Perhaps you should buy it yourself and see what you think?
Saturday, September 28, 2013
A Christian response to spiritualism: Why I wouldn't go to a medium
I've often seen spiritualist meetings advertised in theatres and around my area, but more recently it seems they've been happening closer to my home. Some of my friends are going along -you may be one of them!- and I thought I should take some time to properly write down where I stand on this as a Christian, and hopefully if you read it, it may make you think twice about getting involved with this sort of thing.
From what I've gathered, spiritualism is all about plugging into supernatural experiences. Often people are interested in what happens after death and try to contact someone they loved who has died. At the heart of spiritualism is the belief that a person's spirit is immortal and exists in a spirit world after their physical body has died. In terms of religion, spiritualism basically says that all religions hold truth and it doesn't matter which path you take because all paths lead to God. Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna and Jesus Christ were all messengers -even the same reincarnated being.
This fits with what a lot of people think today about religion, faith and spirituality. Many people will pray, and believe that there’s a supernatural world beyond this visible world. Many believe that when we die we’ll live forever and go somewhere else. And because this seemingly connects with religions like Christianity, a lot of people feel that they have their own way of 'believing' so they don't really need to look any further into it.
Let me just unpack that!
The Bible teaches that God is the ultimate One who is Lord over everything. He made everything, which includes the powers in the spiritual realm. We don't exactly get a very detailed picture of how a third of the angels rebelled and 'fell' with Satan and came under God's judgement, but we do know that God has allowed Satan and his demons to be active in the world until the day when Jesus will come back and all demonic power will finally be destroyed.
So at the moment, there are demons out there, and they have one simple mission: to take people away from the kingdom of Jesus Christ. They will do that by deception and they will do that by distraction. Spiritualism is a key tool that they use for this.
If someone goes to a spiritualist and they are not a Christian, they have some faith in God and in an afterlife, they may see things and hear things which confirm for them what they already believe. They see 'evidence' of a spiritual, supernatural realm. But they leave the meeting without any desire to know Jesus Christ. That's the key victory for the devil here! Give people something to fill their spiritual appetite, so that they won't bother with Jesus.
Demons have no problem with lying. They will tell you whatever it takes to keep you away from Jesus. Things like “I'm your Grandad, I'm in a wonderful place now, don't worry, you'll join me here one day.” It's a lie. They've told you that so that you go away with a false sense of security, and that you never bother trusting in Jesus for your salvation.
The Bible recognises that there is spiritual activity all around us. But it warns us not to just listen to anything and every 'message' that is communicated. In fact the Bible is really strong in telling us not to consult with mediums (Leviticus 19:31) because when we do, we open ourselves up to a barrage of lies and deception from the devil and his demons. The Christian standpoint is simple: if it holds up Jesus Christ as the Son of God then the spirit is from God and is good. If not, it is nothing else but demonic. Don't be deceived! Not everything in the spirit world is good. Not everything in the spirit world is connected to God.
Mark Driscoll, a pastor with a lot of experience in the area of the occult, explains the Bible's teaching: 'Don’t believe every spirit... some of you will have a supernatural, paranormal experience that is a direct unmediated encounter with the spirit world. See an angel, have a dream, something amazingly supernatural happened. For others of you, you will have your gateway into the spirit realm through a teacher, but that teacher is getting their information from Satan or from a demon, and they’re all over the place. So you got to be really careful to be critical and to distinguish and to discern that which is good and evil.'
The Bible teaches this amazing truth that Jesus Christ was fully God, yet He also came into this world fully human. Often people will say that Jesus was a great man, but He wasn't God. Others will say He is a god but He never became human and flesh. The thing is, in Christianity, Jesus has to be both so that He can mediate between man and God. He was tempted but never sinned, and He died on the cross to pay the price for our sin. He rose from the dead three days' later, and in doing so He conquered Satan and ultimately has total victory over him (Colossians 3:14-15).
Because I believe and trust in Jesus Christ, I don't need to go to a medium. I don't need to contact the dead or any sort of spirit. In Christ I am connected to God. I have assurance of eternal life. There's no way I would go along to a spiritualist meeting and plug in blindly to a supernatural world, hoping to find a good spirit or hear some message. I've got the Bible, which tells me everything I need to know about God, myself, the world, and about the spiritual realm. I've got the Holy Spirit, who is God, not a created being like Satan and his demons, and He is greater than any of those. I'm not spiritual, I'm Spirit-filled!
Mark Driscoll's advice is this:
From what I've gathered, spiritualism is all about plugging into supernatural experiences. Often people are interested in what happens after death and try to contact someone they loved who has died. At the heart of spiritualism is the belief that a person's spirit is immortal and exists in a spirit world after their physical body has died. In terms of religion, spiritualism basically says that all religions hold truth and it doesn't matter which path you take because all paths lead to God. Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna and Jesus Christ were all messengers -even the same reincarnated being.
This fits with what a lot of people think today about religion, faith and spirituality. Many people will pray, and believe that there’s a supernatural world beyond this visible world. Many believe that when we die we’ll live forever and go somewhere else. And because this seemingly connects with religions like Christianity, a lot of people feel that they have their own way of 'believing' so they don't really need to look any further into it.
The key difference with Christianity is that we know there is a spiritual reality out there, but we discern what is good and comes from God and what is evil and comes from Satan (or the Devil).
Let me just unpack that!
The Bible teaches that God is the ultimate One who is Lord over everything. He made everything, which includes the powers in the spiritual realm. We don't exactly get a very detailed picture of how a third of the angels rebelled and 'fell' with Satan and came under God's judgement, but we do know that God has allowed Satan and his demons to be active in the world until the day when Jesus will come back and all demonic power will finally be destroyed.
So at the moment, there are demons out there, and they have one simple mission: to take people away from the kingdom of Jesus Christ. They will do that by deception and they will do that by distraction. Spiritualism is a key tool that they use for this.
If someone goes to a spiritualist and they are not a Christian, they have some faith in God and in an afterlife, they may see things and hear things which confirm for them what they already believe. They see 'evidence' of a spiritual, supernatural realm. But they leave the meeting without any desire to know Jesus Christ. That's the key victory for the devil here! Give people something to fill their spiritual appetite, so that they won't bother with Jesus.
Demons have no problem with lying. They will tell you whatever it takes to keep you away from Jesus. Things like “I'm your Grandad, I'm in a wonderful place now, don't worry, you'll join me here one day.” It's a lie. They've told you that so that you go away with a false sense of security, and that you never bother trusting in Jesus for your salvation.
'Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.' 1 John 4:1-3
The Bible recognises that there is spiritual activity all around us. But it warns us not to just listen to anything and every 'message' that is communicated. In fact the Bible is really strong in telling us not to consult with mediums (Leviticus 19:31) because when we do, we open ourselves up to a barrage of lies and deception from the devil and his demons. The Christian standpoint is simple: if it holds up Jesus Christ as the Son of God then the spirit is from God and is good. If not, it is nothing else but demonic. Don't be deceived! Not everything in the spirit world is good. Not everything in the spirit world is connected to God.
Mark Driscoll, a pastor with a lot of experience in the area of the occult, explains the Bible's teaching: 'Don’t believe every spirit... some of you will have a supernatural, paranormal experience that is a direct unmediated encounter with the spirit world. See an angel, have a dream, something amazingly supernatural happened. For others of you, you will have your gateway into the spirit realm through a teacher, but that teacher is getting their information from Satan or from a demon, and they’re all over the place. So you got to be really careful to be critical and to distinguish and to discern that which is good and evil.'
The Bible teaches this amazing truth that Jesus Christ was fully God, yet He also came into this world fully human. Often people will say that Jesus was a great man, but He wasn't God. Others will say He is a god but He never became human and flesh. The thing is, in Christianity, Jesus has to be both so that He can mediate between man and God. He was tempted but never sinned, and He died on the cross to pay the price for our sin. He rose from the dead three days' later, and in doing so He conquered Satan and ultimately has total victory over him (Colossians 3:14-15).
Because I believe and trust in Jesus Christ, I don't need to go to a medium. I don't need to contact the dead or any sort of spirit. In Christ I am connected to God. I have assurance of eternal life. There's no way I would go along to a spiritualist meeting and plug in blindly to a supernatural world, hoping to find a good spirit or hear some message. I've got the Bible, which tells me everything I need to know about God, myself, the world, and about the spiritual realm. I've got the Holy Spirit, who is God, not a created being like Satan and his demons, and He is greater than any of those. I'm not spiritual, I'm Spirit-filled!
Mark Driscoll's advice is this:
'Anytime you get a supernatural experience, anytime you receive instruction, two things you need to do... Pray and test it by Scripture... Read the Bible. Pray to Jesus. Be connected to God. He will speak to you, and he will love you. You respond to him in faith. You trust him walking away from your spirituality, from your superstition, from your skepticism, and you extend your hand to the living God, who adores you and by faith, you move forward, not as a spiritual person, but as a spirit-filled person, as a Christian.'So that's where I stand. Please do let me know what you think on this! I'd love to chat more about it with you. God bless you.
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