Change of direction

Hi there

Just to say that I will now be blogging at the site for the Resolve07 conference. Folow the link before if you want to check that out.

http://resolve07.blogspot.com/

Thanks for visiting

Scott

Amazing Grace

One of my favourite quotes is by John Newton, which is particularly topical at present given the upcoming release of the film 'Amazing Grace'; the title taken from the famous hymn that he wrote. In old age he was found to say "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour."

What a sense of awe that must give us at all that Christ has done for us. We are working through Ephesians at Castlemilk just now and it has been marvellous for us to stop and ponder God's character put to work in those who are called to be His. So we are adopted according to His love for us in Christ. We are redeemed according to His grace to us in Christ. We are chosen according to His will for us in Christ. We are possessed according to His faithfulness to us in Christ. To the praise of His glory!

Pray Continually

I was reminded as we finished our series in 1 Thessalonians on Sunday evening of the following hymn by William Cowper. When I was a student in Dundee I moved into a room in a flat previously occupied by the guy who had been Christian Union President the year previous to me. When I moved in the room has been duly tidied apart from one piece of paper stuck to the wall above the desk at eye level and this is what it said.

What various hindrances we meet
In coming to a mercy seat;
Yet who that knows the worth of prayer,
But wishes to be often there.

Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw,
Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw;
Gives exercise to faith and love,
Brings every blessing from above.

Restraining prayer, we cease to fight;
Prayer makes the Christian’s armor bright;
And Satan trembles, when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.

While Moses stood with arms spread wide,
Success was found on Israel’s side;
But when through weariness they failed,
That moment Amalek prevailed.

Have you no words? Ah, think again,
Words flow apace when you complain;
And fill your fellow creature’s ear
With the sad tale of all your care.

Were half the breath thus vainly spent,
To Heav’n in supplication sent;
Your cheerful song would oft’ner be,
“Hear what the Lord has done for me.”

The Main Opportunity

Someone once said to me that 'the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.' It's one of those convoluted management speak ways of saying know your goal, target your goal and keep targetting your goal. So what is our goal in Castlemilk? Why do we do the things that we do in the way that we do them? Why, this week, have significant parts of our work been the testimony of one of our staff at our youth club, working on handwriting by copying stuff from the Bible and speaking words from God's Word to a dying man in his sleep?

Our main thing should always be the presentation of Jesus Christ (crucified for sinners and the salvation that comes by grace alone through faith alone in Him alone so that He alone gets the glory)in a clear way before a watching world. This extends to everything that we do from the preaching (Christ-centred, Bible-dependent teaching) to how we live our lives (living for Jesus by living like Jesus) to the programmes that we provide.

So why do the staff at Junction hang out with the young people on a Monday night? Not because it is a youth club but because it is an opportunity! Why do I court major embarrassment by Maths at Overtime, our homework club? Because it is an opportunity. Do I hope that these activities will help keep them out of trouble, make them feel they have a place to go? Do I hope that it will help to improve their prospects and give them a brighter future? To both of these questions I would say yes, but it is not the main thing.

Do I want them to be entranced with a view of Jesus that is irresistible to them? Yes. Do I want them to know salvation from their sins according to the grace and will of God? That is absolutely my prayer. Do I think that this is the main thing? It's so much the main thing that there is no other thing!

Stuck in a rut?!

My book delivery finally arrived yesterday- a bit like Christmas not happening until the 28th December. Anyway, one of the books that I got was a book called 'Preachers who made a difference.' Basically it is short biography and quotes on number of preachers- in reality it's a nice book to have, pop in and read a short biography and be inspired by some of their preaching although you could probably get most of the content and significantly more off the internet it maybe gives you some ideas of what to chase. I spent some time reading the chapter on A. W. Tozer who's books I enjoy very much and who's preaching I have heard via sermonindex.net. Some great quotes in this chapter that I thought I might share here-'

When we come to the place where everything can be predicted and nobody expects anything unusual from God, we are in a rut. The routine dictates and we can tell not only what will happen next Sunday, but what will occur next month and if things do not improve what will take place next year. Then we have reached the place where what has been determines what is, and what is, determines what will be. That would be perfectly right and proper for a cemetery. Nobody expects a cemetery to do anything but conform... But the church is not a cemetery and we should expect much from it...''

'All unanounced and mostly undetected there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences fundamental....The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jolier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, 'come and assert yourself for Christ.' The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public. The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses the whole meaning of the cross. The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt violent end of a human being... We who think who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and gteh world... We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.'

Confessions of a book geek

I'm currently waiting on a book delivery. if you ask Liam that involves me sitting with a smile of anticipation like a kid before Christmas. While I am waiting and to whet my own appetite as much as anyone else's I thought I might take the liberty of noting down ten desert island books today. I could recommend more but I'll try and provide a good spread of material.

For the Pastor- Dear Timothy by Tom Ascol (or Brothers, We are not Professionals by Piper)

For the Prayer- Call to Spiritual Reformation by Don Carson (or Prayer by O Hallesby)

For the Living- Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges (or Knowing God by J. I. Packer)

For the Reflecting- Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (or Puritan Reformed Spirituality by Beeke)

For the Preacher- Preaching and Preachers by D. M. Lloyd-Jones (or Lectures to My Students by Spurgeon).

For the Leader- Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders (or City on a Hill by Philip Ryken)

For the Missionary (to any culture)- Radical Reformission by Mark Driscoll (or Where in the World is the Church by Michael Horton)

For the drifting- Cross-centred life by C. J. Mahaney (or Loving Christ by Stowell)

For the theologian (we should all want to be theologians, convinced that it is not dry material but ballast in our boat)- Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem (or The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul)

... and just because- Mortification of Sin by John Owen. (or Religious Affections by Edwards)

Gospel-driven church (it's our only purpose!)

I am going up to Castlemilk tonight to wander round the streets and try and catch up with some of the young people who we know through the youth work that we run. This is part of us, as a church, saying we want ot be part of the community. The ongoing challenge felt by us, and I am quite sure that we are not alone in this, is how we impact the community on the doorstep of the church with the gospel in a meaningful way. So we come up with programmes and projects which are variably encouraging or disappointing and we strive with what we have to do what we can where we are.

I said in yesterday's post that the focal point at the start of the year is to be 'living for Jesus by living like Jesus' so the call to holiness of life, godly character, the fruit of the spirit as we seek to keep in step with the spirit- to get such a big view of God that other people might see Him in us. Last year our focus regularly was the idea that 'if we look after the depth, God will look after the breadth.' the idea behind this being that as a church, and in our leadership in particular, our commitment must be to oversee a deepening of people's relationship with Jesus, through clear proclamation and presentation of Christ in our services, valuing His Word, growing our small group ministry and anything else that would bear fruit in this regard.

What's all this got to do with reaching our community. Sometimes we can get so hung up on defining our community as a church that it can chop and change more than a Glaswegian electoral ward boundary. Our community is where our people are, who they rub shoulders with, work with, hobby with, school, college, university with, queue at the job centre with, live next door to. We need to be training our people to be missionaries in this culture that we are called to reach with the good news about Jesus. I noticed that Liam mentioned the Bereans a while ago- all pastors love the Bereans and they want the Bereans in their congregation and that is a good ambition and desire. In the mission that we are called to we all want Bereans, people who will turn to the word at the drop of a hat to see if what we say is true. I am intrigued by the fact that Berea is found in Acts 17 and followed up by the account of Paul's time in Athens. You see we all want Berea but in reality we find ourselves often in Athens. Instead of searching to see if what we are saying is true, we hear them muttering to themselves 'what is this babbler trying to say?'

That is why we want to take very seriously our responsibility to deepen people's relationship with God in the most doctrinally illiterate generation since the Reformation so that when they encounter a Berean they can respond- and we believe that God honours faithfulness with fruitfulness by providing breadth to ministry that is built on deep foundations. It is also why we take seriously our responsibility to call people to live like Jesus in front of a watching world so that they might not get what we say at first but that by our lives they might be persuaded to give us an opportunity to give a reason for the hope that we have.