Sweens and Mark on way to Cinema

T-Shirt for Da Vinci tract distribution

As worn at Letterkenny Cinema by Simon and Mark

Church Weed Watch

Gardeners' Corner
Weed Watch

Some of our gardens are in better shapes than others, but we always need to be on the lookout for weeds. The following are among the hardiest in the church garden, but need to be dealt with if any real growth is to be noticed.

Nonus Bendus - A particularly difficult weed to shift. Has been around for a long time and has never budged before, so why start now. Very attached to its roots.

Notmyjobis - While many other plants take their part in breaking up the ground, fertilising the soil, pollinating and flowering, etc., this weed takes no active role in the flowerbed. Best recognised by its total dormancy.

Mono Mano Bandis - A close relation to the previous culprit, this weed is often surrounded by a number of others of similar ilk. It leaves all the work of the garden up to the gardener; after all "that's what he's paid for".

Infearandtremblingus - Masquerades as a flower, but is actually a weed. This plant is paralysed by a sense of weakness. It is easily discouraged by the hardness of the soil and the hazardous climate. Sounds like a plant that needs special care, but, however, this weakness is only a 'red herring'; the plant is known for drooping in even the best of climates. It will hold back any growth or expansion in the flowerbed.

Me inmy smallcornerus - Experts have concluded that this is not one plant but a tightly knit cluster of plants which huddle together and can fill a flowerbed. Sounds good, but this group produces nothing good, and will reject any attempt to bring in new life. Happy with things the way they are, they have no desire to see new plants.

Dividusandconquerus - Looking much like a flower to begin with, this is actually a hostile weed. It moves into a flowerbed and very quickly entrenches itself between other plants, causing great damage. Other plants fail to flower because all their energy is sapped combating this weed. Consequently the plot becomes very dishevelled in appearance. Characterised by an utter lack of regard for other plants.

Sacrificeisntmykettleoffishus - Other plants will gladly give up some of their space, or do without for the good of the flowerbed. Many other plants recognise the principle of growth through sacrifice. Not this weed; it is unwilling to give up anything for others or for itself.

Neitherhotnorcoldus - Is it a flower or a weed? We're not quite sure. It certainly doesn't bloom like a flower, or show any interest in the beauty or growth of the flowerbed.

Nowyouseemenowyoudontus - Can use up valuable resources in a flowerbed if you have a number of these. Very difficult to deal with. Often deep rooted, but rarely seen, except when they need attention.

Book Review - God, Satan and the Jews

God, Satan and the Jews
Frederick S. Leahy
Cameron Press

With a title like this one you might wonder what sort of a book this is. Perhaps it’s one of those wildly speculative books that links together the Jews with some bizarre end times prophecies. Not from the late Professor Leahy it isn’t. He was a man renowned for basing his thinking securely on what God had revealed, rather than on what we might speculate.

Instead this book is a safe introduction to, as the subtitle puts it, “The place of the Jews in Prophecy and History.” Perhaps you aren’t really sure what the Bible teaches about the Jews now that Jesus has come. Perhaps you’re wondering “What place is there for them in God’s plan?”.

If you’re not sure how to answer – then this is the place to start. In typical concise fashion Prof Leahy lays out the basic teaching of scripture on the place of the Jews. It is a brief book, but it will answer many questions. Not only does he model careful biblical thought, but also he displays a tenderness and love for the Jewish people that we should learn from.

Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church

Here's a map and directions for anyone looking to come to our church in Milford.

Coming from Lettereknny via Ramelton you will be coming in at the bottom right corner of the map.

The Church is the first one you come to as you head out the Kilmacrenan Road.

Service on Sunday morning is at 12 noon.

Map drawn by John Callanan

New Life Fellowship, Letterkenny

Here's directions to where we met in Letterkenny should anyone want to come along some Sunday morning. It would be great to see you.

If you're passing through on holidays or whatever you'd also be welcome to drop by.

• Coming into Letterkenny from the Dry Arch roundabout go straight on at the next two roundabouts.
• This will take you up to a set of traffic lights at Main street. Going straight over and down Main street, you pass the square on the right (small area with a bandstand).
• Take the first road on the left after the square (just before the library).
• Take the second road off it to the left and the Day Centre is the single storey building at the end.

Trueman on Psalms

I'm reading Wages of Spin by Carl Trueman at the moment. It has a chapter entitled, "What can Miserable Christians sing?" which points to the fact that the book of Psalms with its supremely honest wrestling with emotions provides a praise book for all Christians, no matter whether you are lonely, angry or downright miserable.

As well as that, he touches on the same issue in the next article, The Marcions have landed. Here's a great quote which made me laugh. I like this guy - he doesn't just make his point, he makes it in style:

Then, in our church practice, we need to take the Old Testament more seriously. It astounds me, given the overwhelming use of psalms as central to gathered worship in the first four centuries, the absolute importance given to psalmody for the first two centuries of the post-Reformation Reformed churches, and the fact that the Book of Psalms is the only hymn book which can claim to be universal in its acceptance by the whole of Christendom and utterly inspired in all of its statements - it astounds me, I say, that so few psalms are sung in our worship services today.

Moreover, often nothing seems to earn the scorn and derision of others more than the suggestion that more psalms should be sung in worship. Indeed, the last few years have seen a number of writers strike out against exclusive psalmody. Given that life is too short to engage in pointless polemics, I am left wondering which parallel universe these guys come from, where the most pressing and dangerous worship issue is clearly that people sing too much of the Bible in their services. How terrifying a prospect that would be! Imagine: people actually singing songs that express the full range of human emotion in their worship using words of which God has explicitly said, 'These are mine!' Back here on Planet Earth, however, there is generally precious little chance of overloading on sound theology in song in most evangelical churches as the Marcion invasion is pretty much total and unopposed in the sphere of worship. Yet I for one prefer Athanasius to Marcion as a patristic thinker and, in his letter to Marcellinus, he gives one of the most beautiful and moving arguments for psalms in worship ever penned. It is a pity more have not taken his words to heart.

Another Voice - Easter Rising

(Column for Letterkenny Post)

“Today, Ireland begins a week of remembrance, reconciliation and renewal.” So spoke the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at the opening of the exhibition at the National Museum commemorating the 1916 Rising.

This key event in Irish history has set the tone for many of the events of the past 90 years. The Proclamation of Independence sets out the goals of the Easter Rising, as freedom, fairness and equality in a new community.

Yet Irish historian, Diarmaid Ferriter, writing in last Monday’s Irish Times comments that, although we have freedom, the aspirations of fairness, equality and a new tolerant community have yet to be realised.

It strikes me that, at the deepest level, these aims can’t really be met by remembering the Easter Rising of 1916. You have to look much further back to the original Easter Rising of 30 AD. What Jesus set out to do at the Cross was to create a new community of people no longer at odds with God and with each other, but reconciled and made new – to use the Taoiseach’s words.

Jesus didn’t just come to live as an example, nor did he come simply to pay the price for the sins of those who would trust him. He came to make new the hearts, minds and attitudes of people, to change us from the inside out. That’s what we need before there can be any real and lasting change in society. We need to be made new inside – the old selfish ways, the anger, the indifference etc. removed, and new qualities of love for God along with love for our neighbour created.

That’s what Jesus came to do – to create a new community of people where there is equality, love, compassion, and acceptance. His resurrection guarantees the truth of what he came to do. He was more than a martyr, he actually has the power to change lives.

While the goals of the 1916 Rising are noble, even if we were to achieve them, what use are they if we enjoy them for only the few short years we live on this earth, and then lose out for eternity. On the other hand, if we remember the rising of the 1st century, and find peace from God and are made new by him, we will be ready to face eternity, and we will also achieve here what the seven signatories of the Proclamation set out to achieve, a new community of fairness, equality and tolerance.

Food for thought - A Famine of Hope

(Column for Milford newspaper)

We live in a world where there is a famine of hope. People despair, and struggle with depression. People drop out, walk out, or fall out often because they have lost any sense of hope. They can see no way out. Sometimes in my line of work I meet with people who are struggling with this loss of hope and are wondering, “What’s the point of life? What’s the point of working hard and saving up, and having a pension, if you’re going to die anyway?”

And well-meaning family and friends will say things like, “Cheer up, things aren’t that bad” or “Work hard and settle down, that’ll lift your mind off things”, or “Don’t worry you’ll meet someone else”.

There is a degree of clear-sightedness about those who see the hopelessness of life. Life is uncertain. We will die. Things are bad. How do we know that “you’ll meet someone else”? Is it such a good idea to have our minds lifted off things – if the things are serious and need to be thought through?

On Sunday mornings we’ve been looking at St. Paul’s letter to a group of new Christians at Ephesus. In it he describes what they were like before they came to know Jesus. He says “Remember that at that time you were without hope” (Ephesians 2:11).

In an uncertain world hope can only be found in that which does not change, and which can change us. In other words hope can only ultimately be found in Jesus. He doesn’t change, but he changes us. How can I tell someone whose relationship has just fallen apart that they will find someone else? I can’t, but I can tell them about someone who will love them, and who will be there for them, and who will never leave them. That’s Jesus. How can I tell someone that things will get better? I don’t know their future. But I can tell them about Jesus, who guarantees a home, and a welcome, and a future to all who come to him. Jesus is the one who will give strength to cope.

The hope that Jesus gives isn’t vague or insubstantial, it is utterly certain. It has been purchased by him with his life. Paul goes on to describe elements of this hope – we are heirs, we are family members, we are citizens of God’s kingdom. All of these are about belonging, and having a secure future. That’s what Jesus offers – acceptance, belonging and a hope that no one can take away. Peter picks up this theme too:

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in Heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)

If you would like to find out more about this hope, please contact me or come along to one of our services.

Mark Loughridge is the minister of Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church and Letterkenny New Life Fellowship. You can read more by him at http://three17.blogspot.com.

Book Review - The Da Vinci Code – From Dan Brown’s Fiction to Mary Magdalene’s Faith

The Da Vinci Code – From Dan Brown’s Fiction to Mary Magdalene’s Faith
Garry Williams
Christian Focus
£1.99

If you’re looking for a crisp concise book to give away setting out the facts about the Da Vinci Code and the Bible, then this is it. Garry Williams and Christian Focus have done us all a service in producing this. Williams deals with seven major claims that the book (and after May 19th, the film) makes about Jesus, the New Testament and Mary Magdalene, all in the first chapter. Having reduced the Da Vinci Code to mush, he then looks to see if the New Testament can stand the same sort of rigorous treatment. He finishes up by asking what lessons does Mary Magdalene really teach us.

One of the things that comes across in virtually every book about the Da Vinci Code is the basic schoolboy errors that Dan Brown has committed. Williams quotes with relish one review from the Sunday Telegraph, “Brown’s book is not garbage. It’s garbage on stilts, it’s hyper-garbage…”.

Williams is smart, he knows his stuff, and communicates it clearly. If you only have half an hour to get your head around the basics - then this is it. If you are looking for something in depth, this isn’t it – try Stephen Clark’s book The Da Vinci Code on Trial, or Darrell Bock’s Breaking the Da Vinci Code. But if you are looking for something brief to give away this is the job.

Another Voice - April's Verse

(Letterkenny Post newspaper column. Once a month the article covers a verse on a calender we gave out inLetterkenny with the Baptist church)

It was the day after Christmas day 1944, in the small Italian village of Sommocolonia. Lieutenant John Fox of the US army was stationed in a tower in the village and was acting as an artillery spotter for the big guns in the Valley. Shortly after 4am he was awoken by the sound of gunfire.

As dawn broke over the mountains, the 29-year-old lieutenant saw that the streets below him were swarming with German troops. They were determined to take the village en route to taking a strategic port to the south to cut off supplies to Allied forces.

By mid morning the fighting was brutal with the villagers joining with the small group of 70 G.I.s stationed in the village. The men in Sommocolonia fought on until more than two-thirds of them were dead or wounded, seeking to slow down the German advance.

From his observation post Fox had been calling in artillery fire on the German troops. But now the tower was surrounded by the enemy troops.

He made one last call to his friend Otis Zachary, the gunnery sergeant. “Put everything you’ve got on me.”

Zachary protested, “I can’t do that.” “Fire it” came Fox’s response.

High explosive shells rained down on the observation post, and when the dust cleared Fox lay dead, surrounded by bodies of more than 100 enemy troops.

Three days later, the German offensive sputtered to a halt. Fox had given his life so that others could live.

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us” – 1 John 3:16

“Put everything you’ve got on me.” They could have been the last words of Jesus. From his observation point in Heaven, he sees the punishment that is stacking up against us for our sins. He knows that those sins have to be paid for, that punishment has to be poured out, and so he looks his Father straight in the eye and says “Put everything you’ve got on me.”

On the cross he took the punishment that would have been poured on his people for all eternity, the anger of a holy God, poured out on thousands upon thousands of sins.

The message of Christianity is that if you want to know what love is, put your trust in the one who offers to take your punishment.

Another Voice - Escort agencies, Call girls and Jesus

(Column for Letterkenny Post - responding to an article claiming that escort agencies are eyeing up Letterkenny)


What should a pastor say about prostitutes coming to Letterkenny? Maybe more to the point, what would a pastor say to the prostitute?

I’d say, “Come to church, and find cleansing, forgiveness, and acceptance from Jesus.”

What would a pastor say to the man who used the services of a call-girl? I’d say exactly the same. What Jesus offers is better than the fleeting pleasures of a one-night stand.

What would a pastor say about the town of Letterkenny? Is it going to the dogs?

I’d say that this whole town needs Jesus. We’re kidding ourselves if we think that escort agencies coming to Letterkenny are the cause of the problem. They only go where there is a demand. The problem doesn’t lie out there with escort agencies, the problem lies within.

And it may be much closer than we think. It lies in our own hearts. True, not everyone would use the services offered. But we each have our own ways of ignoring God and his rules. We classify our own ways as acceptable, but the things others do that we find offensive we call unacceptable. But to God they are all unacceptable.

Within each heart lies the seed of every sin. And until the problem of the human heart is dealt with we’ll have escort agencies, prostitution, and people willing to pay for sex. And if it isn’t call-girls, it will be something else that springs out of the human heart – drunkenness, lies, greed, marital unfaithfulness, bitterness, etc – all of which wreak their own havoc in more subtle but equally destructive ways.

Ultimately there is only one way to deal with these problems. External measures like legislation are helpful, but it deals only with externals. We need a new heart that is wired to following God’s ways. Only Jesus can bring about that change.

The answer for all concerned, from the call-girls to the punters, to every one of us is simply, “We need the fresh start Jesus offers.”

Read these verses from a letter the apostle Paul wrote to a town that knew all about escort agencies and the problems of the heart – and keep reading until the end of the quote.

“Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, slanderers, and swindlers – none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But now your sins have been washed away, and you have made right with God... because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Pride

“Should that man be proud that has sinned as thou hast sinned,
and lived as thou hast lived,
and wasted so much time,
and abused so much mercy,
and omitted so many duties,
and neglected so great means?
-that hath so grieved the Spirit of God,
so violated the law of God,
so dishonoured the name of God?

Should that man be proud, who hath such a heart as thou hast?”

Richard Mayo

Abortion hypocrisy

BBC News item about doctors in India scanning a foetus to determine its gender. Apparently its illegal in India to scan to determine the sex of a child since 10million females foetuses have been murdered in the last 20 years, leaving an imbalance in society. The implication of the article is that it is wrong for people should abort on the basis of gender.

So it's wrong to abort a foetus if it's female, that's foeticide. But if you abort them simply because you don't want them, that's ok?!? Or if its less convenient to you to have a child, that's ok??

And so the UK and those in Ireland who support abortion will look down their collective nose at India who are so 'primitive' to kill off baby girls in the womb, while we are so 'advanced' that we kill off both boys and girls.

Sabbath Sermon - This is a day of Good News (2 Kings 7:9)

Several years ago a family was travelling in Oklahoma when a gunman commandeered their car and held them hostage for several days as they drove around over the countryside.

Finally, they stopped at a little station out in the country. The husband saw his chance and he grabbed his abductor and begged the station owner to call the sheriff. "Please," he cried, "Please call the law."

The owner got his own gun and told them all to leave. "I do not want any trouble around here," he said. "Just all of you leave." The terrified family drove away with their captor. The next day the couple and their two children were found murdered. Their bodies had been thrown into an abandoned well.

Their killer was finally brought to trial and convicted. Later the state tried the station owner and convicted him for his failure to notify authorities and perhaps to save the family's life.

One writer says, “Sometimes silence is golden, but sometimes silence is just plain yellow.”

To be silent when we have something lifesaving is criminal. And yet this is something that no Christian needs to be told. Our own consciences tell us this often enough. I don’t think that there is a Christian in existence that doesn’t wish that he or she witnessed more for their saviour.

However, the simple truth is that we don’t speak as we should. So how can we? This verse and this passage give us several key pointers:

2 Kings 7:9 Then they said to each other, "We're not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go at once and report this."

An Admission to make - We have not done right
The lepers at the gate of Samaria feel that they have nothing to lose. Perhaps the enemy will have pity on them because hunger certainly won’t. So they make their way from the gates of the famished city and approach the outskirts of the camp. The first tent they come to, you can imagine themselves prodding one of the four towards to the door, and he straightens himself up, and rehearses mentally what he is going to say, “Excuse me sirs, we’re not really part of the city, and we were wondering if you would show pity on us because nature hasn’t shown pity. We suffer enough in life.” And as he steps into the first tent there’s non-one there. So they approach the next, and the same again, and the next and the next. And they end up running from one tent to another deeper into the camp and there is no-one there. And things have just been left as they were. There may have been some meat sitting ready to be eaten, some stew hanging over a fire that had burned out. And so they tuck in and it’s amazing.

But soon their consciences start to get he better of them. And they say to each other, “We're not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves.”

There is something morally repugnant about the image of people feeding their faces, and gorging themselves on fine food while others nearby starve and even the richest haggle over a donkey’s brains.

And yet, here in Milford we are able feed ourselves on God’s word, and delight in his salvation week after week, while hundreds/thousands just beyond here starve for want of food.

If we are going to be a witnessing church, here is where we have to start. Confession –

As a congregation we need to confess that we have not done right. We have been placed in this town as a witness and we have by and large kept the gospel to ourselves. This is where we must start.

As individuals we need to confess that we have not done right. Too often we are silent when we know we should speak.
It’s not right because people are dying.

It’s not right because its not as if our salvation is something that we have worked hard at, as if there is a secret to be guarded, as if salvation devalues the more people who are saved. We were starving beggars when God saved us. And he saved us, we did nothing to earn this, so how can we keep it from others.

To hide the great discovery of God’s provision for mankind is utterly wrong. Illustration from Cambodia. “How long have you had the gospel in your country?” “for 1600 years” “Why did it take to 1948 for you to get here? My father died looking for enlightenment.”

So perhaps we all need to come to this point and seek forgiveness

And we need to learn to see the urgency of the situation.

An Urgency to Grasp – if we wait
The next thing to see here is that there is an urgency to grasp. As these men stand out in the camp, people are starving in the town. And as they stand there they grasp this urgency. Listen to them:

Literally: “This day is a day of good news… if we wait until morning…”

They grasp the sense of urgency. Why is it urgent? Two reasons:

Silence is dangerous because some will die - today
Each moment they delay brings another closer to death. While we delay people are going to Hell.

The death rate for Ireland is 8 people per 1000. For Donegal, that means that approx 1120 people will die this year. That’s three a day, entering into eternity. Somewhere between 2-4% are professing evangelicals. 20 –40 people per year from Donegal entering Heaven. 1 every 3 weeks. While 62 others enter a lost eternity.

These men where feasting and enjoying food for themselves, and it was right that they nourish themselves.

We need to feed first on Christ so that we can speak of him to others. If any say to you, “Are you sure that it is true?” you will answer, “Certainly I am, for I have tasted and handled of the good word of life.”

But we can go too far, and spend all our time feasting, and all the while people are going to Hell. What a despicable thing that while we should be enjoying the blessings of God’s word people are lost because we wont go to them.

Now we have to be honest with the passage here. There is a difference between the people besieged inside Samaria and the people around us today. The people in Samaria knew that they were hungry. All you had to do was to point them I the direction of food and they would run for it. That is not the situation we are in with regard to evangelism. People do not realise that they are starving to death. It isn’t just a matter of pointing them in the right direction and then they will be sure to go.

But their plight is no less real. Yet it is true to say that where God is working in a person’s life, then they are aware that they are hungry, that they are on the brink of death. And where that is the case they are more like the people in Samaria. And we need to be praying that God will give people a hunger for him, and we need to be telling people where to find spiritual food, because we don’t know who the hungry are.

Silence is dangerous because God will punish
In v 9 the lepers say to each other:

“If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us.”

These men know that to delay with such good news which can save so many lives is really a criminal offence. And because it is such, then they will face punishment

How does God view his servants who do not do good when it is in their power to do so?

Luke 19:20 "Then another servant came and said, `Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 22 "His master replied, `I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant!…

Why has God allowed you to find out the solution? So that you can tell others. To not tell is contrary to the entire purpose of your salvation. We were saved to speak, not just for our own personal pleasure.

You see the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection and the triumph that he won is so precious that God wants it to be told so that his son will have honour and glory. When we fail to speak of it we dishonour Jesus, and displease God the Father.

A Message to tell
A Simple message
Can you imagine the lepers returning to the city? Can you hear them shouting up at the gate keepers? “The army has gone! There is food for all in the camp!”

It wasn’t a complex message. It was a simple one.

We don’t need to know everything. We worry because we wont know how to answer questions. Can you imagine the lepers handling this one? The people of Samaria shout down to them, “Well if you know so much about this food, tell us what way is the chicken cooked? What seasoning was used – was it thyme, or basil, or oregano? How long were the vegetables done for? Where did the bread come from? What was the name of the baker?”

“We don’t know all the answers, we just know that we ate the food, and it has filled our stomachs. If you have questions come and taste it for yourself.”

Likewise our message is a simple. God has taken the punishment on himself so that we don’t have to face it. Jesus has died to free you from God’s wrath.

A Focused message
Imagine the lepers standing at the gate of the city talking about the weather - no they spoke about what they had found. Their message was a focused one.

A Necessary message
Everyone we meet has the same problem. God is angry with them. But we know the solution. Jesus has taken wrath on himself so that we don’t have to. So we need to call men and women to come to Jesus.

It is the greatest message that anyone could ever hear. All have sinned. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Not when you think of evangelism and witnessing – perhaps the key thought in your mind is that “I wont know what to say.” Or, “What if they ask me a question that I wont know how to answer?”

Let me tell you something that puts you miles above everyone you will speak to. If you are a Christian you have experienced the truth of what you say.

A True message
We know because we have experienced the solution

Can you imagine the lepers going to the city and the people of Samaria saying to them. “We don’t believe you – there is no such thing as free food”. Would that throw the lepers? How would they react? “You can say what you like, we have eaten, our bellies are full, we know that what we speak of is true. Nothing you say will make us change our minds.”

There would be a confidence about them – wouldn’t there.

And then there would be the usual accusation that we hear all the time when we are confident about what we believe – “You Christians always think you are right.” Can you hear them saying that to the lepers,. “How dare you stand there and be so confident, there are more of us here, and you are so few – how could you be right?”

We know because we have been there, we have tasted of the feast of God’s forgiveness, we have enjoyed the sweet wine of peace, and the joy of burdens lifted. You can’t tell us that these things aren’t real.”

You know I think there would have been a confidence about those lepers in the food they had eaten. They would take any criticism and still stand there, for after all they had enjoyed the food, and the others had known nothing of it. And fellow Christian that is exactly the position you are in. Of course there will be questions you and I can’t answer. But we can and should have confidence in what we have experienced. We should have enough confidence in the gospel, and in Christ to say to people, come, come and see for yourself. Come and hear God’s word. Come and hear the gospel.

The lepers knew that once they would get the people to the food that all doubts would be swept away. We should have similar confidence in our God.

A minister once came to Spurgeon and said, “I have been preaching for three months, and I don’t know of a single soul having been converted.” Spurgeon asked, “Do you expect the Lord to save souls every time you open your mouth?” “Oh, no, sir I” he replied. “Then,’ I said, “that is just the reason why you have not had conversions: ‘According to your faith will it be done to you’”.

And this is the way it is even in the Bible – remember the women Jesus met at the well, “Come and see the man who told me everything.” She spoke of what she knew, what her experience was. She had a message to tell.

An Encouragement to Take
Lepers and unnamed servants bring the good news
I love how God goes out of his way to emphasise in his word that it is not by the strong, the mighty, the influential, the wise that he works. Who is it that God uses here? Four lepers.

Not just four lepers, but when the news goes to the city gate, and comes eventually to the kings palace, and the king is aroused, and he is irate, “are you all thick, don’t you know that this is just a trick, honestly, why do I have to do all the thinking around here”, and then an unnamed servant speaks up. And that unnamed servant convinces King Jehoram to send and check anyway.

Four lepers and an unnamed servant bring salvation to an enormous city. It’s not the person, but the message that matters.

Unnamed people have played a big part in the history of God’s people – there was the unnamed preacher whose simple sermon was used by God in the conversion of Spurgeon, whose preaching was then used by God in the conversion of thousands. There was the unnamed preacher who was used by God in the conversion of John Owen, the mighty Puritan preacher whose writings and preaching secured the gospel from many attacks, and promoted truth in a dark age.

We’re not popular; we’re not on the town council; we’re not well known; our names aren’t mentioned by people when they speak of Letterkenny or Milford.

But I’m glad because when I read my Bible, I see that God uses the weak, and the foolish, the outcast, and the unnamed to bring good news of great joy to many.

Not only that but see the slightly different roles they play. The lepers are news bearers. They bring the good news, but it wasn’t enough that the good news was brought to the city. The role the servant played was vital too. He was a convincer.

Both news bearers and convincers are needed. You may be a news bearer or a convincer. It may be that you haven’t ever directly started a conversion about the gospel, but there is someone you know who has questions, and they ask you, and you answer, and by your answering you are seeking to convince them. And here we also see that God will provide convincers when his people speak. That’s an encouragement for us – we speak and people ignore us, and yet we don’t know who God will bring across their path.

A Reaction to Expect
When the good news comes to the King – he can’t believe it. It sounds too good to be true. This is not unbelief. This is disbelief. It is not a refusal to believe the news, but just that the good news is too good – there has to be some sort of catch

But here is a reaction we should expect. And it is one that we should seek to answer – “That’s why its called Good news, and not reasonable news.” “If sin is as bad as the Bible makes out, then we can’t do anything, and God has to do it all.”

A Vision to Pray for – v16
Also here is a vision to pray for:

“Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, as the LORD had said.”

The people went out. They heard the news that God had provided for their needs and they responded. Isn’t that what we want?

We want the message to go out so convincingly, and for God the Holy Spirit to work so powerfully that we will see the people going out, going out to church to hear the gospel, going out to ask their Christian colleagues and friends where can they find spiritual food.

Oh friends this will not happen by our talking, but by God working. That doesn’t mean we don’t talk, but it means we pray and then talk.

Lets pray.

Another Voice - Yellow Lines

(Newspaper column for Letterkenny Post)

Funny old thing the lines on the road. You don’t miss them until you don’t have them. Take the road at the mountain top – It’s kind of tricky to negotiate those bends in the dark, especially with on-coming headlights to dazzle you. Without lines to tell us where the edge of the road is, you could end up in the wrong lane or demolishing an oversized ice-cream cone on the garage forecourt.

The other day, on another road, I saw a man who had needed lines to keep him right. He had missed a right hand bend and was sitting in the middle of a field bogged in to the axles.

We all need edges in life. We need direction, we need guidance otherwise we’ll end up away off course, hurting either ourselves or others, or getting nowhere. Thankfully, God has told us exactly what to do and where we need to go. He has given us the yellow lines for life. His 10 commandments show us how we should live, and His son said “I am the way … no-one comes to the father except by me” (John 14:6). Unless we follow this way, we’ll end up nowhere.

The thing is most people don’t like God’s yellow lines, or directions. They think that they can find their own way. I’d like to see them take the same approach to the guys that paint the yellow lines on the road!

“Hey you! Yes you with the yellow brush in your hand. What do you think you’re doing?”
“Just painting lines”
“What makes you think you can tell me where to go? What gives you the right? I’ll drive where I want”
The line painter shrugs his shoulders, and stands aside, “Whatever you say sir.’

So off he goes. Bouncing out across the fields, hurtling through hedges, demolishing crops, banging his head alternately off the steering wheel and then the roof, pursued by a horde of angry farmers. Eventually he collides with a tree, and in the wreckage of his smoking, battered car, he thinks proudly to himself, “Nobody will tell me where to go and how to get there.”

Yellow lines are for our benefit; we would do well to follow them. When God says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding; acknowledge him in all your ways and he will direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5,6), it is because he knows what is best for us.

“Love your God with all your mind” - JP Moreland

Tim over at Challies.com posted a review of a book Phil at 16:16 recommended to me years ago. It was "Love your God with all your mind" by JP Moreland. I really enjoyed it then. Later Matt Brennan who chips in at Irish Reformation suggested that a group of Irish pastors read it and discuss it via email. Here's my comments of chapter five - for those who havent read the book - it might make you want to read it; for those who have - it might serve to make you think about what you read. I don't think you'll need to have read the book to find some of this useful.

All in all its a good book.

Summary and Comment on Chapter 5 of “Love your God with all your mind”

This is the second chapter in the second section on developing a mature Christian mind, and falls into two main sections:

• Forming habits of the mind
• Principles of reasoning

Forming habits of the mind

Good points

• The need for discipline in order to think Christianly. “To develop a Christian mind skilfully, you must want to be a certain sort of person badly enough that you are willing to pay the price of ordering your lifestyle appropriately” – p105 I think this is something amongst Irish Christians that we need to encourage. We need to be setting before them the need to spend time reading and thinking over their Bibles, to the extent that sacrifices need to be made in other areas – such as entertainment.
  

• His section on the virtues to be cultivated in Christian thinking had much useful material. Five sections of virtues – Wisdom/honesty – trust – nondefensiveness – fortitude/zeal – commitment to God’s glory not our own.
  

• The first section on honesty made an excellent point “God is not honoured when his people use bad arguments for what may be correct conclusions.” This is something we can help people with in our preaching, by being rigorous in what illustrations, examples we use. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to tell people that there is no proof that Darwin recanted, that NASA haven’t found the missing day of Joshua, etc.
  

• The second section on trust seemed slightly out of place, yet the point is a necessary one. We need to have a complete trust in God and trust that his truth is complete and perfect and thoroughly equips the man of God for every good work. Our people need to see that we are happy to face the hard questions, that we have a supreme confidence in the word of God. When we answer such questions, or counsel on the basis of the Bible and not popular psychology, and when we take a stand on ethical/moral issues on the basis of what God says – then our congregations will be encouraged to see the Bible has being complete, and that they have nothing to fear in trusting the Bible.
  

• The third virtue of nondefensiveness – great point. We need to learn to dispassionately dissect the oppositions arguments and highlight their weaknesses. Also we need to be able to see the good in what someone is saying so that we can, if possible agree on some issues, before launching an attack.
  

• Fifth virtue of not caring what the world thinks of us is a useful one too, especially when many of our decisions will be at odds even with other ‘christian’ church leaders.

Weaknesses
I would have added love and humility to the lists of virtues to be cultivated. It is easy to become proud in what we have learned, or in our intellectual ability. It is easy to wheel out the big guns of our arguments and blow someone out of the water – it might make us feel good, but it doesn’t win the soul.

Application to Ireland

• I really think we need to do all we can to encourage and equip people to ‘gird up the loins of their mind’. Perhaps more one-to-one discipling would be useful – for if we can equip them to think and to use the resources God has given them, then they will grow more, be better equipped for standing for Christ.
  

• Encouraging our people to read good Christian books, perhaps meeting with a few people to show them how to study their Bibles, rather than just assuming that they know how. One to one Bible studies on a weekly basis with a few people.
  

• Great comment - “If all you do is read simple books or those that over emphasize stories or practical application, you’ll never learn to think for yourself as a Christian” (p112). Perhaps we could do more to encourage our congregations to read. Or perhaps it requires a more particular approach – recommending specific books to specific people.
  

• Challenging sloppy thinking in our discussion and Bible studies. Too often perhaps we allow someone to say, “To me, the passage says…”followed by a comment utterly removed from the context. If we love people we have to help them (gently) to think biblically. I sometimes think that the failure of Christians to be able to see what a passage says stems from a style of preaching where the minister took a text and used it as a spring board to launch into a hundred other topics, and people think “Wow I could never have got that out of the verse”. And hence they think that when we look at verses we are to look for something that isn’t there! The corrective for this is to explain the text in such a way so that people can see that everything we say comes out of the passage.

Principles of reasoning

Weak points

• Ok, so I like argument, and logic, but I wasn’t completely sold on the whole presentation of syllogisms etc. You can think clearly without necessarily being able to divide your arguments into their component parts, just like you can drive a car well without being able to dismantle the engine.

I wasn’t sure how much use this section would be to our congregations/fellowships. We’re not going to stand up and teach a logic class. Perhaps too much emphasis on the intellect – Christianity isn’t just for clever people.

• Emphasising logic has its place, but logic taken beyond the bounds of scripture is heresy. Sometimes people can get so caught up in logical thinking that they reach unbiblical conclusions. Moreland doesn’t emphasize the need to allow scripture to govern logic at every stage
  

• I think that this is one weakness overall of the book (which I still think is an great book) – Moreland doesn’t pay enough credence to the impact of sin on the intellect. He seems to think that if only we could present things clearly enough people would be persuaded. But sin leaves us radically damaged in our mind as well as our heart.

Good points
The most useful aspect of this section was the part dealing with fallacies. These are much easier to grasp and explain than all the syllogism diagrams, and people use them all the time in argument. Once pointed out, they can be seen over and over again. Many conversations contain a good number of these fallacies, and so becoming familiar with them will help Christians in conversation and witnessing.

It also will help believers to base their own arguments on a more factual basis rather than false arguments.

Applications to Ireland
I suppose we need to watch that our preaching is well argued and reasoned, rather than emotional hype. Also that our argument is based on the text and not on emotional or fallacious reasoning.

I wonder whether taking an evening at the midweek meeting and using it to share what we’ve read in this section, especially the fallacies, would be helpful.

Letters along the Way

I was listening to the 9marks interview with Carl Trueman the other day. If you haven't listened to it, it's a good listen. He's one of my favourite theologians at present. Somewhere in the middle of it he recommended a book that I had forgotten about, called "Letters along the Way" by John Woodbridge and Don Carson. Its a series of letters written from an older Christian to a younger Christian, from teh time of the conversion of one until the passing of the other.

I don't know much about Woodbridge, other than the fact that he has collaborated with Carson a number of times. Carson on the other hand is probably one of my favourite writers, and there is a wealth of material in these letters, all presented in a most accessible format.

I was so taken with it at the time that I created an index. Here it is for anyone who wants it. You'll see from the index what sort of topics they covered.


TOPIC PAGE

1 Cor 3 26

Adams, Jay 107
Agnosticism 79
AIDS 254
Alcohol 89
Assurance 21

Backsliding 70
Books for new Christians 12
Buddha 214
Building each other up 229
Burden of sin 15
Burn out 229
Buying books 183

Call to the ministry 132
Capitalism 114
Christian Academics/Criticism 173
Christian differences in belief 46
Christian freedom 89
Christianity in France historically 64
Christianity in France today 60
Church discipline 240
Common grace 26
Communism 75, 114
Cultural influence on Scripture 214

Darwin on Trial 271
Death 279
Doing your own thing 122

Eastern Europe 264
Economics 114
Eschatology 222
Evangelism 85, 260
Evangelicalism in the UK 51
Evolution 42

Forgiveness 70

Guilt feelings 142

Heart vs Head 167
Homosexuality 254
Humanism 208

Inerrancy 158
Inspiration 214

Justification 15, 70, 274

Liberalism 200
Liberation theology 194
Lordship 32
Lordship/Saviour 26

Marriage 142
Matter 42

Natural theology 147
New Age 268

Pastoral advice 222
Philosophy 42, 147
Pluralism 179
Post Iron Curtain 268
Prayer advice 258
Priesthood of all believers 229
Priorities 246
Psychiatry, psychology 107

Qualities of a minister 126

Revolution 264

Sexual immorality 70
Social action 89
Sound doctrine 96
Spiritual dryness 96

Temptation 102
Theological colleges 137
Theological training 189
Time management 235

Universalism 79

Women’s ordination 214
Worldliness 122
Worship 250

Book Review - Basics for Believers

Basics for believers
DA Carson
IVP (130 pages)

Wow! – don’t let the title put you off this book. How often in the Christian life do we need to be reminded of the basics? I heard Carson say at a conference recently that he would far rather be writing something to feed the souls of believers than refuting error and dodgy doctrine. And here he does it. Carson covers the basics without being basic. This is warm and nourishing, and at the same time searching and challenging.

‘Basics for Believers’ is a study of Philippians. There is near enough a chapter for each of the four chapters of Philippians, but it is not a book to be read a chapter at a time, much less the whole book in one sitting. It is a book to be read slowly – each chapter is split up into sections and I found that each section had enough meat in it to provide food for thought for each day.

Carson’s writing is packed full of biblical wisdom and insight. This is a cross and Christ centred book, which will give you a deeper appreciation of the transforming power of the Gospel. His two final chapters on ‘Emulate worthy Christian leaders’ and resolutions to help us never to give up the Christian life are particularly good.

(NB - The link in the Blog-title is to the Baker edition, Amazon don't seem to caught up with the change in publishers yet)

New Blogger joins the Blogosphere

My good friend and colleague in teh ministry, who also has a general inability to type the word 'the' correctly, David McCullough has started blogging. You'll catch him here.

David is the pastor of a church planting work in Dromore, Co. Down, Northern Ireland.

He kicks off with a couple of posts that I suspect I'll be 'borrowing' ideas from for up and coming articles.

Welcome to the madhouse David