wordandspirit

I have been meaning for some time to start a series of posts on what I call “false dilemmas”. These occur when we are presented with an either/or choice, when in reality it is possible to have both/and. Or maybe that we’re presented with a choice from two options, when in fact there is a third option.

My first one is delight versus discipline, with regards to obeying or serving God. Thanks largely to John Piper, many have embraced the notion that we can only fulfil our life’s purpose of glorifying God if what we do for him flows out of treasuring him and delighting in him. Thus to teach people to discipline themselves to behave in certain ways without them delighting in God is pointless.

So far, so good. But a problem arises when it is assumed that delight and discipline are polar opposites, or mutually exclusive. For example, the suggestion that a Christian should make a daily habit of prayer and Bible reading is viewed with suspicion in some circles. Is disciplining myself to read the Bible when I don’t feel like it simply legalistic behaviour?

To show that delight and discipline are not incompatible, a simple example will suffice. Consider a professional sportsman at the top of his sport. Doubtless he will say that he plays his sport because he loves it so much. He is motivated by delight. But at the same time, if you ask about his training regime or diet, you will find evidence of a very disciplined life. It may be more pleasurable for him in the short-term to lounge around eating cake rather than spending a rigorous day of training, but he refuses himself that luxury because his eyes are on a greater prize.

So delight and discipline are not opposites. A more helpful distinction could be drawn between delight and duty. They are competing motivations for serving and obeying God. Either can be motivations for living a disciplined life. To go back to our original example, daily Bible reading can be a discipline that flows merely from a sense of duty, or a discipline that flows out of delighting in God.

In essence, being disciplined is being deliberate about your priorities. George Mueller spoke of “glad self-denial”. His priority was to delight in God, and so he ordered his life accordingly.

This year, I had been planning to read my way through the new ESV Study Bible I was hoping to get for Christmas. But sadly, due to the supply shortage, it didn’t arrive (I’m getting it this Christmas instead), so I came up with a change of plan. I have been listening my way through the entire ESV Bible in MP3, in a version called “The Listener’s Bible” read by Max McLean.

First Impressions

Max McLean has a rather strange accent, which took some time to get used to. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any British accent reading of the ESV available. The guy is a reading machine though, having completed three versions of the Bible, plus numerous other audio books.

Reading Plan

I decided to go with a similar approach to Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s reading plan. I listen to four or five chapters a day, which is just about enough to cover the entire Bible plus the New Testament and Psalms twice.

It typically takes around 15 minutes, as most chapters of the Bible can be read in around 3 minutes, with some books such as the gospels or historical books averaging more like 5 minutes per chapter.

Getting set up is a bit of a pain. I don’t have an MP3 player that would be usable for navigating the whole Bible, so I use my laptop PC. I keep track of what I’ve listened to in OneNote, and set up a playlist for each day in Windows Media Player. The search feature makes it quick to find the chapter to play, and most media players keep track of your play count for each file, so you can see easily where you are up to if you have lost track.

Holidays are a bit problematic. I have taken my laptop with me on some, while on others (camping!) I have had to catch up on my listening after getting back.

Concentration

Losing concentration can always be a problem with daily Bible reading. I wondered whether listening would make it easier or harder. My first problem is the simple fact that I have my laptop on, which tempts me greatly to start looking at Twitter, or email or facebook or news.

My second problem is that if your mind wanders, even to think about what you have just heard, the narration just continues. It is especially hard not to let your mind wander, as the spoken word comes at you much slower than reading.

The technique I have settled upon is using the online ESV Study Bible website. This allows me to read along, and highlight bits that stand out. You can add your own notes, and if you own an ESV Study Bible, you have full access to the study notes. Again, it is possible for me to start reading ahead and not really be listening to the narration, but at least its the Bible I’m looking at.

Another issue I found was that having a playlist meant that I quickly moved from a chapter in one book of the Bible to another part of the Bible with barely a moment for reflection, making it seem quite disjointed. I am now tending to listen to at least three consecutive chapters from the same book, which gives a good sense of flow.

And my final concentration issue is children. It’s amazing what mischief they get up to the minute you open your Bible!

Benefits

I think one of the main benefits though of listening to the Bible is to hear things more in their context (hence the move to consecutive chapters). Probably the most beneficial way I found of listening, when I could discipline myself to do it, was to simply close my eyes and let the story be narrated at its own pace. This is especially useful in narrative parts of the Bible, which I tend to read through really fast with almost no pause for thought.

Another benefit is that, unlike if you attempt to read the Bible in a year, you can (if you are at all like me), sometimes find yourself racing through four chapters in five minutes flat, reading so fast that you can’t possibly have taken anything in. Listening does force you to slow down and take 15-20 minutes over it.

Conclusion

I’m glad I embarked upon this year of listening to the Bible, after going a few years without covering the entire Bible in a year. While I wish more of it had sunk in, I think any way we can find to let the words of Scripture hit us in a fresh way is worth trying.

I’d love to hear from anyone else who has practical suggestions on they keep their mind focused during Bible reading.

I’ve had a quiet month on the blogging front, so I thought I’d post a few links to some stuff worth taking a look at elsewhere:

• Tim Keller has started blogging, and his first one is very about the different “prophetic, priestly and kingly” emphases churches can have. Very insightful, which is no surprise, and looking forward to more from him.
• Jared Wilson calls out Rob Bell on his definition of the gospel. Gospel – Jesus = nothing.
• Neil Bennetts calls us to remember our primary purpose, and to linger there a while before moving on to other things.
• A thought provoking piece from Michael Patton on anti-depressants. Make sure you read down to the bit where he ponders what Luther would have been diagnosed with.
• And this has been a good month for new commentaries. A few that caught my eye were BEC James by Dan McCartney, PNTC Philippians by Walter Hansen and AOTC 1 & 2 Samuel by David Firth.

On Sunday I preached on Matt 5:10-12, on the subject of persecution (you can listen here). It is of course a subject we naturally shy away from thinking or talking about, but must not be ignored. The more I looked into it, the more I realised that this subject is discussed right through the New Testament, but we can too easily skip over those verses as they don’t seem directly applicable to our less pressured situations.

As part of my preparation, I sought out a few books of stories of persecution and websites of current news. I thought I would share them here, first as a reminder to pray for our brothers and sisters who are suffering for their faith, and second as an encouragement to us to live with an eternal perspective.

Websites:

• Barnabas Fund
• The Voice of the Martyrs

Books:

• Jesus Freaks (Vol 1) – from Voice of the Martyrs, lots of short stories of persecution and quotes. A Foxe’s book of Martyrs for a new generation.
• Jesus Freaks (Vol 2) – More stories – More stories, more up to date
• Married to a Martyr (Jonathan Carswell & Joanna Wright) – the story Suzanne Geske, widow of one of three martyrs in Turkey
• Tortured for Christ – the story of Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand
• The Heavenly Man – the story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun

Do let me know in the comments if you know of any others worth looking at.

After a quiet couple of months, some really exciting new albums arrived on Spotify over the last few days, with British Christian artists finally starting to appear in greater numbers. But I’m going to resist the temptation to mention them until I’ve had a few more listens. So until then, here’s a brief sampling of what came out earlier in August. Click on the album titles for the Spotify link.

	Aaron Shust – Take Over. The two strong opening tracks To God Alone and Come and Save Us had previously been released as singles, so I was looking forward to hearing the whole album. And whilst you wouldn’t describe this as a particularly adventurous album, the quality of songwriting is high, making this the best of the bunch this month. Rating:
	Rachel Scott – Resolution. I hadn’t heard of Rachel Scott before, and apparently this is her first full album. It’s a very impressive debut, with a sound reminiscent of Sara Groves. I will definitely be checking out any future albums from her. Rating:
	1000 Generations – Turn Off the Lesser Lights I usually like Vineyard artists, but the jury’s out on this band from Indianapolis. There are some slightly eccentric production decisions on the earlier tracks. I felt the worship songs were fairly formulaic, but the second half of the album actually features better material. Their single, Fail Us Not is their strongest track. Rating:
	Britt Nicole – The Lost Get Found After liking the opening track The Lost Get Found which was released as a single last month, I was looking forward to hearing the whole album. The full thing is pleasant enough to listen to although I found the clichéd pop production a little grating in places. So if you like melodic upbeat pop and don’t mind gratuitous use of auto-tune this might be for you. But for the rest of us who aren’t 14 year old girls, there are better choices. Rating:
	Philips, Craig & Dean – Fearless. These guys have been around for ages, but this is the first of their albums I have listened to. They do a good cover of Hillsong’s “From the Inside Out”, successfully pulling off the epic Hillsong sound. Their strength is their use of harmonies, and stylistically, they are similar to Leeland. Rating:

The announcement that we will be getting an updated NIV has caused a bit of a stir. The TNIV, which was the last update to the NIV has not really taken off. Partly this was due to clumsy marketing, with it being presented as an alternative to the old NIV, rather than a replacement. It probably also suffered from coming out around the same time as the hugely popular ESV translation. But most of all, it found itself in limbo due to the decision to use gender-neutral language wherever possible. I think this is a shame, because the TNIV offered many improvements other than just the gender-neutral language. So this is a bold decision by the translators, but one that makes sense if the NIV is to remain in widespread use.

Here’s a few of my thoughts on the matter:

1. On the whole, I am supportive of the change to gender neutral language where possible. For example, in the NIV, Matt 5:16 reads “let your light shine before men”, while the TNIV changes this to “shine before others”, which is the same choice the translators of the ESV have made. This type of change should not be considered controversial, and has no need to be reversed.

2. My main criticism of the TNIV, from what I have read of it so far, is that repeatedly using the phrase “brothers and sisters” instead of “brothers” quickly becomes cumbersome. It is unfortunate that there is no viable single-word generic alternative in English. When this phrase is repeatedly used (e.g. James 5:7-12) it becomes jarring, particularly when read aloud. Also, as the translators have pointed out, this kind of politically correct speak is waning in popularity. We have moved on. Hopefully the new NIV will revert to “brothers” and put “brothers and sisters” as an alternative reading in the footnotes, allowing those reading it in public to choose whether to put it in or not as they go.

3. Ultimately, no translation can avoid the problem that there is a huge historical and cultural distance between us and the first readers of the Bible. More than that, the NIV is read by a wide variety of people who will detect different shades of meaning in the same English phrase. With any translation, the need for careful and prayerful study remains if we are to fully grasp the meaning of the text. If you look at who is on the CBT, you will see a collection of first-class Biblical scholars from both complementarian and egalitarian perspectives, and I have confidence that we can expect sensible decisions from them.

4. I sincerely hope that the new NIV finds widespread acceptance amongst both the reformed crowd who have preferred the ESV in recent years, and amongst those from a egalitarian perspective. It does not seem appropriate that we use Bible translations as a badge to indicate which theological ‘team’ we support. I will continue to make extensive use of the ESV for my personal Bible study, but I still feel that “dynamic equivalence” is the most appropriate translation technique when it comes to readability and comprehension.

I got back today from the Newfrontiers “Together at Accelerate” conference, which is a mini-Bible week running over the bank holiday weekend for the churches in the “Wessex” region. Here’s a few miscellaneous thoughts about what was a great holiday for our family.

First the bad. The less said about the football tournament the better. We crashed out in the first round, and I drew the short straw to play in goal so didn’t even get a proper game.

There was a better layout to the site this year, with tents surrounding the big top rather than all at one end, which made us a lot closer to the action than last year. And like last year, it was a very well run event – a superb effort from the organizational team.

Evan Rogers led worship for the opening meetings which those who have heard him before will know means lots of silly dancing. While his style not to everyone’s taste, you had to be impressed at the way he managed to get everyone joining in, and it gave a good kick-start to the weekend.

John Groves preached on the first night, and the remainder of the talks were shared between Guy Miller and a visiting Indian speaker Vinu Paul. I only heard one of Vinu’s talks, in which he gave a very Pentecostal style reminder of the vital need of the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives.

He warned us against low-risk Christianity which revolves around cake and coffee. I thought Guy Miller’s messages were well targeted and challenging. At the Brighton leaders conference, many of the talks revolve around how to be an inspiring visionary leader, but Guy made it very applicable to the whole church by tackling issues such as the importance of family, of sexual purity, submission to authority, and of how we behave in the workplace. If we are to be a ‘kingdom’ people, we need this kind of practical teaching on what it means to live under the rule of King Jesus.

One slightly interesting thing about this weekend is that it featured churches in the “apostolic sphere” of Guy Miller and his apostolic team. This was why we had the visiting speaker from India, and also why there were a good number from a church plant in Portugal. But the fact remained that for the British churches, we were simply carved up by region.

I still think newfrontiers need to wrestle with how they deal with the inevitable tendency for apostolic movements to tend towards a structure with regional apostles over time. If we say that “apostolic spheres” are built on relationship (particularly through an apostle being involved in the planting of the churches in his ‘sphere’), rather than on geography, do we not set ourselves up for tension in the future where churches are in the region of an apostolic leader but do not particularly consider themselves have a close relationship with him? I guess I am saying that the mechanics of a future for newfrontiers of “interconnected apostolic spheres” is a little unclear to me. This is a particular problem for established churches who may not really consider themselves to be in anyone’s “apostolic sphere”.

Although these smaller and shorter gatherings don’t quite reach the same heights that the old Stoneleigh Bible weeks did, I am glad to see they are becoming a regular fixture in the church calendar. Whilst the Brighton Leaders Conference and Mobilise serve as something of a replacement for envisioning church leaders and students, I always felt that the ‘ordinary’ church members were missing out, so it was great so see many families and grandparents on site – people who would never make it to the Brighton conference. It was also good to see many people still very new and immature in their faith, or not even Christians come along. Smoking, swearing and heated family arguments may not be the ‘nice Christian behaviour’ we try to encourage, but it does at least show that some our churches really are beginning to reach the “unchurched” and “urban poor” of their communities and experiencing the ‘messiness’ that brings with it.

Which brings me on to the subject of church planting. If in newfrontiers we are serious about spreading the gospel through church planting then we need everyone to catch the vision, from the youngest to the oldest. So I was very pleased to see that church planting was very much on the agenda, with a well attended seminar outlining some of the opportunities and practicalities of church planting, and a call to commit to church planting on the final night which many responded to.

Last week I attended the first week of the New Wine summer conference. This is run by a Network of evangelical charismatic churches, mostly Anglican and Vineyard. With four children all in different age-groups, and some heavy rain during the week, I didn’t get to as many meetings as I would have done in previous years, but still there was plenty to enjoy.

One of the highlights was the morning Bible teaching from Kenny Borthwick. His teaching on worship, holiness, Spirit baptism and revival stirred us to seek more of God’s presence. I also attended two seminars from John Lennox, speaking on a Christian response to the new atheism, which was interesting as I had already heard his debate with Dawkins.

Most of our evenings were spent in Venue 1, a huge tent seating around 5000, where we enjoyed the worship led by Kathryn Scott and Eoghan Heaslip. There was also a smaller tent, called Venue 2 which we visited one evening. The worship was a bit louder and edgier and we appreciated hearing Matt Redman lead with some of the songs from his new album.

Another interesting feature of Venue 2 was the resident “theologian poet”, who got up and performed a mini theological treatise in the form of a poem for which he earned a standing ovation. I thought it was a superb and creative idea, although it gave me food for thought as his topic was a forceful defence of a fully egalitarian position with regards to women in church leadership. I thought a few of his points were a little weak, but to his credit, he didn’t dodge any of the “difficult” verses, and made his case well given his limited time.

Another boost to his argument was that probably the best Bible teacher I heard during the week was Amy Orr-Ewing. Whilst that alone would not be sufficient reason to overthrow my belief that the Bible teaches a complementarian position, it does raise some important questions for those of us who hold this view. First, how would we make use a woman with such an outstanding teaching gifting in our own churches? And second, would it even be possible for that gift to develop in the first place, let alone flourish? As an evangelical, I do place primary importance on obeying the Scriptures, but as a charismatic, I consider it vitally important that the grace gifts the Spirit bestows on the church are developed and used for the edification of the body.

I have been reading an excellent book on the perseverance of the saints by Tom Schreiner (review will follow soon). He shows just how pervasive the call to persevere and endure is throughout the New Testament as well as warnings of the solemn consequences of apostasy. This morning I was struck by the closing words of Ephesians:

Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible (Eph 6:24 ESV)

Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. (Eph 6:24 NIV)

As Schreiner points out from a study on Galatians, perseverance is not to be confused with works-righteousness, where we are required to perform acts of obedience in order to earn our salvation. Rather, we persevere by continually trusting in the cross of Christ.

Apostasy in Hebrews, then, as in Galatians, occurs when believers cease clinging to Christ and his atonement. Believers persevere by continuing to find their forgiveness and final sanctification in Christ instead of themselves.

Despite the Bible translators all translating Eph 6:24 in terms of our love for Jesus being undying, many commentators (e.g. Peter O’Brien, John Stott) seem cautious about accepting this as the meaning of the verse. Would it not undermine Paul’s message if grace were only applied to those who keep on loving Christ?

Having read Schreiner, I am inclined to think not. Just as we are called to persevere in holiness, and to persevere in faith, so here we are called to persevere in love for Christ. Jesus himself links apostasy with our love growing cold in Matt 24:12,13

"And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. "

If this is true, there can be no greater priority for us than to guard our hearts that our love doesn’t grow cold. Prioritise spending time in God’s word and in his presence. Prioritise spending time in worship with his people. The good news is, he is able to keep us from falling:

Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. … To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 21, 24, 25)

A new form of evangelism known as “treasure hunting” has gained popularity in recent years, stemming I think from a book written on the subject (which I haven’t read). The basic idea is that you spend a while praying for words of knowledge concerning specific people (e.g. someone called Brian, someone with a green jumper, someone with a knee problem etc). Then simply go out on the street, looking for people who match those descriptions, strike up a conversation (“I’m looking for treasure, and I think you’re it” – great chat up line!), and then offer to pray for them. For an idea of what goes on, have a browse through Simon Holley’s blog archives.

I have heard many exciting testimonies of people receiving healing, gratefully receiving prayer, engaging in deep conversations about the gospel, and accepting invitation to come to church or Alpha courses. There is a group here in Southampton who are attempting this form of evangelism, and I am hoping that the cell group I lead will be able to join them on one of their next excursions.

I do have to confess to having a few reservations concerning this method of evangelism, which mostly stem from the understanding of a “word of knowledge”. Much of what passes for words of knowledge often seem to me to be nothing more than lucky guesses (in fact, too often guesses that miss the mark totally). The idea that any random thought that pops into my head should be uncritically accepted as God speaking strikes me as a sub-biblical understanding of prophecy.

But enough negativity already. This technique, though somewhat unconventional does have a few important things going for it.

First, on a very pragmatic level, it provides a conversation starter. There is nothing more likely to end a conversation than asking someone “do you mind if I tell you about Jesus?” The whole idea of a “treasure hunt” provides a way to break the ice with a stranger, and allows the conversation to naturally move on to spiritual matters.

Second, it encourages a reliance on the Spirit’s guidance. Even the most ardently non-charismatic groups I have done evangelism with have recognised the vital importance of being Spirit-filled in our witness. To pray for God to divinely guide us to those in whom his Spirit may already have been working in, as well as to trust him for the right words to say is surely the right way to begin any form of evangelism.

Third, it focuses not on apologetics, but on demonstration of God’s power. Important as apologetics certainly is – people do need to face and answer their questions concerning the truth of the gospel, often apologetics can be a red herring. A chance to pray with someone gives the opportunity for them to experience first hand the living God who hears and answers prayer.

Finally, it requires faith. The fear of looking foolish or getting it wrong holds many of us back from stepping out and telling others the gospel. Praying for someone in public is a risk – what if the prayer is not answered? What if they think you’re insane? And yet, it seems that so often God is pleased to act when his people have nowhere to hide, and have to trust him completely.

So it is not hard for me to see why God may indeed be blessing those who use this mode of evangelism. I tried to think of any examples of this being used in the New Testament. I suppose you could point to Jesus’ discussion with the woman at the well in John 4. Though his meeting with her was apparently a chance encounter, the supernatural revelations concerning her circumstances certainly opened her up to consider Jesus’ message.

Or Paul, who had a vision in the night of a man of Macedonia (Acts 16:9). He saw this as God’s leading to evangelise in that region and off he went. Interestingly, he doesn’t appear to have attempted to find the man he saw in the dream. When he got there, he took the strategic approach of searching for devout worshipers of God (Acts 16:13) as well as taking advantage of the chance encounter with the slave girl (Acts 16:16).

So while I am not wholeheartedly endorsing the technique of “treasure hunt” evangelism, I do want to be someone who is full of faith, following the Spirit’s lead, and seeing God’s power at work in changing lives as people hear and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I would be interested to hear of any readers who have done this, and what your thoughts and experiences were.