Technology and the future

Check out this amazing video about the progression of technology and the way the world is changing here.

What does it all mean?

"From one man [God] made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." Acts 17:26-27 (TNIV).

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 (TNIV).

"The LORD works out everything to its proper end - even the wicked for a day of disaster." Proverbs 16:4 (TNIV)

500 years of western thought in 6 diagrams

These are some diagrams I developed to help explain the development of western thought over the last 500 years (drawing mainly from "The Universe Next Door" by James Sire). 'G' stands for God and the crown represents his rule. The circle represents the cosmos and the stick man represents us.


Theism - God is creator, ruler and sustainer. All knowledge comes from him. We are valuable because we are made in his image.










Deism - as science explained more and more, there seemed less need for God. He became the one who wound the universe up but now leaves it run its own course. His crown is gone. He's no longer ruler and sustainer.










Naturalism - if God is now so irrelevant and science can explain more and more, the next logical step is to get rid of God all together. We still have value because we are highly evolved. We can know through our logic and science.









Nihilism - God is dead but that means we must be the product of matter plus time plus chance. Evolution and the appearance of personality is just a cosmic blip. We are nothing, no more significant or valuable than a stone, slug or star. All distinctions between the cosmos and people have gone and we can have no confidence in our knowledge.








Existentialism - the despair of Nihilism is unliveable and we must rise above it. The objective harsh reality is that we have no value. So we draw a circle around ourselves and create subjective value within. The subjective is what matters and I will live as if I have value because I choose to.










Postmodernism - 6 billion people all viewing life from their circles - who can claim to have access to objective reality? And can language communicate about it anyway? The objective is gone, not just irrelevant but unknowable. All that's left is us and if you look closely you might see the crown over each of our heads.

10 rules for godly men

1. We will willingly accept leadership, responsibility and commitment
2. We will be courageous initiators, protectors and warriors
3. We will expose and resist the feminisation of our culture and gender
4. We will uphold and value feminine characteristics and virtues in women
5. We will not apologise for being men
6. We will fight for the truth and refute error
7. We will serve with love, gentleness and passion
8. We will spur our brothers on to be godly men
9. We will work hard for the glory of God
10. We will be men of steadfast faithfulness, purity and discipline

These came out of a discussion about reclaiming biblical manhood. Inspiring stuff but tough to live out. Slightly easier, but also important is a final rule:

11. We will have meaty discussions about meaty subjects whilst eating meaty sandwiches

Possessed by God

"Possessed by God" by David Peterson examines the Bible's teaching on sanctification and holiness. His most striking conclusion is that the way we use the word 'sanctification' is far removed from the NT use of the word. We think of sanctification as a process of growth in the Christian life. However, in the NT it is something that happens at conversion. To the church in Corinth Paul says "You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor 6:11, TNIV). They were sanctified when they were justified. They were set apart to be holy, to belong to God. Throughout the NT Christians are described as saints, or God's holy ones, that is who we are and how we should think of ourselves.

All this doesn't mean that we aren't to be growing and made more like Jesus. Rather it means that the process of transformation should be described in other language such as glorification, mortification, growth, etc. rather than speaking of sanctification.

Its also hugely encouraging as we see that the holy lives we are called to live now is a call to be who we already are in Christ. If Paul could say to the church in Corinth with all their faults 'you were sanctified', what an encouragement it is to us when we're struggling and see little growth in ourselves that we have already been sanctified. We are still God's holy children even when we're failing to live out that holy calling.

At a more popular level, "You Can Change" by Tim Chester draws on this view of what it means to live holy lives and offers practical, theologically grounded help as we battle against sin. A good book to work through in pairs or groups.

One other aspect that was also particularly striking in "Possessed by God" was the corporate nature of this sanctification. Its together as God's people that we've been set apart and as God's people that we now must grow together. Growing in love isn't something you can do on your own. It as we grow together that the purity of Christ's bride is displayed. But how do we change the way we think, to reflect this corporate view of growth? How can we see progress in the faith not primarily about me and God but about us as a church growing together up into Christ?

Naming the Elephant

'Naming the Elephant' by James Sire focuses on the concept of worldview. Sire has done lots of work on this previously and is author of 'The Universe Next Door'. In this book he reviews and modifies his previous definition and understanding of what a worldview is.

Some helpful insights...

• The way you conceive of a worldview is in itself influenced by your own worldview

• It is necessary to start with ontology (the nature of being) rather than epistemology (how we know things) in formulating our worldview - the triune God is the proper starting point for all thought.

• Worldviews can be expressed in propositional statements but also in stories.

• To understand someone's worldview you look at how they live, not simply what they say they believe. All of us live inconsistently with what we say we believe. Every time we fail to trust God or sin in any way, we are living in consistently with our professed Christian worldview.

His final, revised definition of a worldview is as follows...

“A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true of entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being.” James Sire, Naming the Elephant, p122

Chaos theory and the sovereignty of God

Chaos theory is all about extreme sensitivity to initial conditions - change the initial conditions a tiny bit and the final implications are huge. The classic example is a butterfly flaps its wings in Africa and a week later there's a hurricane in the Atlantic. The event is chaotic in the sense that it is unpredictable and we cannot know all the factors that led to the event. When huricanes do occur, no-one tries to find the butterfly that's responsible!

The possibilities of these sorts of events in human spheres is well demonstrated by the film 'Sliding Doors'. There, one small decision to move a child out of the way of someone in a hurry, or not to move the child, causes that person's life to head off in two very different directions. Who knows how many seemingly small decisions we have made have eventually made sizeable differences to our lives or the lives of others?

Well, God does. Chaos theory helps us to understand why God must be sovereign not just over big events or decisions but over absolutely everything that happens, from the flapping of a butterfly's wings to my choice of toothbrush. There is simply no way of us knowing the eventual impact of these seemingly insignificant events and choices. God rules history today, not primarily by suddenly intervening in dramatic ways (though he may do that) but rather by his providential ruling over even the smallest of things. In this way God works all things for the good of those who love him, that his church is built and the earth filled with His glory.

Law and Gospel - tentative conclusions

Have just finished reading 'Five views on Law and Gospel'. I think the strongest case is for the Modified Lutheran view as advocated by Douglas Moo.

In short, this view sees the law of Moses as fulfilled in Christ such that Christians are no longer under obligations to the law of Moses. We are now under the law of Christ. This may include much found in the law of Moses, but we find what we are to obey based on the NT, not directly from the law of Moses. The law of Moses was a temporary administration to lead Israel to Christ. Now fulfilled in Christ, we're no longer under its condemnation, administration or demands.

Views that advocate continued obligation to the law of Moses seem to rely heavily on dividing the law into moral, civil and ceremonial, e.g. reading certain key texts as speaking of only certain parts of the law. Whilst its possible to see some of these divisions in the law, the law itself seems to mix and integrate these strands together. In the NT this division doesn't seem to appear at all, instead the law is conceived of as a unity.

Social Action - just do it!

The last in our series on social action - 8 suggestions for exercising social action:

1. Begin locally
2. Look further afield
3. Always keep as your greater aim the glory of God
4. On more complex issues, get informed
5. Consider specialising
6. Recognise the variety of gifts and circumstances among the church family
7. Live your lives openly
8. Go ahead and do it!

And some helpful websites to help keep us informed of issues:

1. Christian Concern for Our Nation
   
2. The Christian Institute
3. Lawyers Christian Fellowship
4. UCCF: Bethinking
5. Centre for Apologetic Scholarship and Education
   

Social Action & Evangelism

At church yesterday morning we were looking at the relationship between evangelism and social action. Central to clarifying the relationship was the idea that social action is part of our godliness. Godliness and evangelism don't compete, both are essential to the Christian life.

Then there were 5 main points about the relationship between social action and evangelism...

1. Social action is not evangelism
2. Social action may faciliate evangelism but not always
3. Social action is not needed in order to justify evangelism
4. Social action is not merely a means to an evangelistic end
   
5. Evangelism will result in social action

Helpful stuff. More to follow at church, looking forward to it!

Speed Reading

A few months ago I started to work through a book on Speed Reading. It has been incredibly helpful and I think my reading speed has almost trebled. Reading is much more exciting when you can get through books more quickly and you honestly do still take it in! Here are a few tips to improve your reading speed...

• Read in a place where you can be as free from distraction as possible and with plenty of light.
  
• Preview what you're about to read by spending a couple of seconds glancing at each page you're going to read.
  
• Don't go back over what you've just read if you think you've not taken it in, just keep going.
  
• Use a pen to guide your eyes. If you move the pen along the line, your eyes will follow and you can use this to steadily increase your speed. Push yourself doing this and you'll find you can gradually go faster and faster.
  
• If you're going to read something substantial online, print it out. Reading speeds drop by about 30% when reading on a screen.
  

In-house arguments

Are there questions that a non-Christian could ask that we should dismiss as being in-house?

In apologetics we want to demonstrate the solid foundations of our house - we have the best reasons to believe. We want to show how wonderful the house is - what the basic truths of the gospel are. But surely we also want to invite the non-Christian to see what life in the house is like? We want them to see that not only is the house secure and attractive to behold but that its the kind of house you want to live in.

So consider a question that seems to me to be about as in-house as you can get (and not a big one for most of us) - should women wear hats in church? They want to know, is this house a house where women wear hats at the family gathering? Which is all part of the 'what's it like to live in this house?' question. Which is all part of the 'Am I going to follow Jesus question?' And that one we want to answer.

The Messianic State

Whatever problem we find exposed in our nation, our knee-jerk reaction is to look to the state to save us. We expect it to have the power and the responsibility to do something about it and fix all our woes. But since when has it been the state's responsibility to make us good? To make our children obedient? Our families godly?

One of the problems with this messianic expectation of the state is that it weakens our gospel expectations and resolve. When we see broken lives, families and communities around us, we wait to see what the state will do, wondering what initiative will make things better. But all the state can do is put a plaster over the cancer. Its the gospel of Jesus Christ that can and will actually change lives, families and our nation. Lets stop looking to the state to fix all our woes and instead look to Jesus, the only hope for our nation.

Law and Gospel - Obedience to Commands

Have just bought 'Five views on Law and Gospel' - looks like tasty reading! Want to think this through and reach some more solid convictions. I have far too much uncertainty in my brain about this at the moment. Here are some thoughts about commands...

Commands are no bad thing. They come from God and whatever place the law has now, Jesus gives the command to love each other. The gospel is to obeyed. Paul's letters are full of commands. But they could be abused...

• We could obey commands in order to be justified before God rather than because we are justified.
• We could obey commands in order to have merely external marks of holiness rather than seeking complete transformation from within.
• We could obey commands thinking they have the power to change us rather than having confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit to form Christ in us.

None of these possibilities make commands bad, just things to watch out for.

When we fail to obey any command, we should be convicted of sin then led to Christ for forgiveness and power to obey.

Nostalgia's not what it was

This thought is completely plagarised from a lecture by Carl Trueman (available from www.theologynetwork.org - great website) but I found it really helpful and wanted to tell someone. (Besides, nothing's orginal, it's all been thought of by God first).

Q. Are we more wicked and sinful now than we were?

A. No. But with modern technology its easier for our sin to express itself. To kill we just have to fire a gun and don't have to put ourself at risk. To access porn we don't have to risk the shame of being caught buying it, we can just access it on the net. Sin has not changed but today our hearts can be more easily seen for what they are.

"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Romans 7v24-25 (TNIV)

The pinnacle of creation

O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hand hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
thy power throughout the universe displayed:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee,
how great thou art! how great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee,
how great thou art! how great thou art!

When through the woods and forest glades I wander
and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
and hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze;

Its a great song but its striking that when two whole verses are devoted to praising God for his creation, there's no mention of us! In Genesis 1, its human beings that are made in God's image and its after the creation of men and women that God looks at all he has made and declares it very good.

In humanity the destructive and damaging effects of the fall are clearly seen; we're not all we should be and the image of God has been marred. But shouldn't we still praise God for his creation of humanity?

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139v14 (NIV)

To blog or not to blog

I'd been wondering about starting to blog. This article finally persuaded me. I'm no pastor yet but I work for a church and this might be helpful for me as much as anyone else.

"May the words of my mouth [and blog] and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14 (NIV)