I was asked by long-time fellow blogger John Brand if he could interview me about the subject of preaching. Here it is:
John’s site is www.preachersonpreaching.net (or here for the Facebook page).
Religion
We Do Not Face Sin Alone
The genealogy in Matthew 1:1-17 points to the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham and David. It also gets the reader thinking about the troubled reputation of several women in earlier days. In Matthew 1:18-25, we see another couple troubled by apparent sexual sin.
Joseph’s Gracious Plan (vv18-19)
Couples married young, and this young couple had their lives before them. The young carpenter and his younger bride-to-be. But then the ultimate slap in the face: Joseph discovers that Mary is expecting a child. It is not hard to imagine the shattered dreams, repulsive images, and emotional turmoil that Joseph endured.
Not only did this crisis mean their forthcoming wedding was a sham, but Joseph also now faced the shame of suspicion. The obvious pathway forward was to save face for himself by publically disgracing her and distancing himself. If he could be sufficiently indignant and distance himself, then maybe his honour could be saved. But Joseph did not choose the obvious path.
Public disgrace for Mary might have meant some sort of public execution by stoning, but even without that, public disgrace is too painful to describe in a shame and honour society. Joseph chose an incredibly gracious option: he would divorce her, and he would do so quietly. What would people say about him? The cloud of suspicion would linger, but Joseph looked out for the best interests of the girl whom he thought had sinned. Joseph’s selflessness is worthy of reflection, not least because we know what he didn’t – the identity of the baby inside her!
God’s Greater Plan (vv20-21)
During the agonizing turmoil of Joseph’s deliberation, new information was introduced. Perhaps he tossed and turned on his bed. The thoughts, the images, the options, the consequences. But the troubled young man must have slept, for an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream.
He was told not to fear taking Mary into his home. He was told that the baby was in her from the Holy Spirit. He was told to name the boy Jesus. And he was told why.
Jesus. The Hebrew name Joshua. Yeshua in Aramaic. However we might pronounce it, this was a name of significance. Actually, it was not unusual. There were lots of little Jesuses running around the neighbourhood for it was one of the most common boys’ names in Palestine at that time. But the angel didn’t just give the name choice, he also gave the reason. This boy would live up to His name – He would save people from their sins.
God’s Great Plan Predicted (vv22-23)
Matthew adds some theological commentary for the sake of the reader. Going back to Isaiah 7:14, Matthew quotes the prophet’s anticipation of a virgin giving birth to a special child with a special name. Ahaz may have been a king with all sorts of issues, but God was not out of touch with his struggling people. In fact, an unmarried woman was soon to give birth to a son of significance, and the significance was God’s presence with the people.
What was true in Ahaz’s day proved to be infinitely truer still with Mary. She was a virgin, unmarried, but with child. This time it was not a matter of sequencing prediction and then fulfilment by normal means. This time she truly bore a miracle child, a child whose significance could not be greater. Immanuel – God with us!
So what would Joseph do? Seems obvious: obey the angel. But not so fast. So he had insider information concerning the child inside her. The boy Jesus was to save the people from their sins and He would be God with us, Immanuel. All very well and perhaps worthy of some Christmas carols, but what about Joseph and Mary?
You can imagine his thinking. Two men come into his carpenter’s shop and request a bid on a certain job. Joseph tells them a price. They look impressed but concerned. Joseph adds a comment about how they could trust his word. Little boy Jesus runs in and starts playing with some wood blocks. They look at the child and whisper to each other. Joseph hears a snippet of a comment about an angel in a dream. They laugh and press him further for assurance on whether he can follow through on his bid. Joseph knows what they are thinking. They leave and go looking for another carpenter, one they can trust.
The stigma of the sinful reputation would linger for years. It could cost them on so many levels. How would he provide for them? How would Mary cope with the dagger comments in the market? How long until the child sensed what everyone thought? It wasn’t that nobody sinned in Nazareth, that was all too common. But when a couple perceived to be different turns out to be the same as everyone else, well, they don’t get treated the same as everyone else. And what about family? What would they say? Family, friends, work, and just about every aspect of life would be stained by the reputation of sinful infidelity.
Joseph’s Immediate Obedience (vv24-25)
Matthew leaves us with no doubt what kind of man Joseph was. He had been kind to Mary, even when he thought she had been unfaithful. And now he proved faithful to God when the days ahead looked so uncertain.
He took Mary into his home, thereby offering the protection and security she needed. A quick wedding was the best thing for all involved. Then he had no marital union with her until after she had the boy. And Joseph named the boy Jesus.
Three times Matthew points to the name of the child. Indeed, the significance of the birth story here is wrapped up in that name. Everyone thought they saw just a normal couple getting married in a hurry for the ‘normal’ reason and later giving birth to a son with a common name. But this was not normal in any way.
How could they face the uncertainties, the knowing looks, the suspicious smiles from family members, or worse, the rejection that may come their way? They could face the stigma of sin because this child was Jesus, the One who would save His people from their sin. This child was Immanuel, God with us.
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This post is adapted from chapter 9, Pleased to Dwell: A Biblical Introduction to the Incarnation (Christian Focus, 2014), 83-87.
Join us on a journey to Christmas this December. A new video every day walking through Pleased to Dwell (follow along with the book, or just the videos).
The Heart of Hermeneutics – Part 4
A Relational Responsive Heart Check
The process of Bible study must begin “back then.” We need to look carefully at the text to see what was actually written. And we need to learn diligently what the author intended to communicate. Then we need to appreciate the intended impact of the text “for today.” That means a careful consideration of the love response that the text should stir in us, as well as the appropriate transformation in how we live our lives.
After studying a passage and seeking to interpret it as well as possible, consider the following facets of a relational responsive heart check:
1. God himself. Since every biblical text is ultimately a revelation of a personal God, ask yourself what this text has revealed about God? Is it revealing his nature, his character, his heart, his values? Is it revealing his Son in some way that you can ponder? The answer is yes. Every biblical text is a revelation of a personal God, so there will always be value in considering what that revelation should stir in your heart as you read it.
2. The Biblical characters. The Bible is much more incarnated theological truth than it is written code. That is to say, there are real people on the page. Theological teaching is usually wrapped up in real people, living in real situations. There is more narrative than any other type of text, which means lots of characters living out their response to God’s word. But every text has a narrative nature to it. Poetry offers a glimpse into a narratival setting, even if you don’t know the details. Direct communication like speeches and letters were not written in a vacuum. There was a situation and we are given the glimpse offered by an epistle penned purposefully for the recipients at one moment in their story. The Bible is ultimately a revelation of God. And that revelation is wrapped up in the people on the page. Be mentored by them. Learn from them. Allow your heart to engage with them as you watch how they responded to God.
3. The original recipients. The original author of each book wrote with relational intent. He wanted to do more than just transfer information. Each book was written to stir the hearts of the original recipients. Why not consider them? What did Moses want Israel to feel as they read his great foundational collection? What did Paul want to stir in the believers in Galatia, or in his representative Timothy serving in Ephesus? The text is ultimately about God, it presents itself with characters on the page, and it was written to real people in real situations. Ponder the intended impact on their hearts as you consider the impact on yours
4. Me. The original author of each book could not have known about me, but the divine Author has preserved the Scriptures, superintended the collection of the Scriptures, sovereignly overseen the translation of the Scriptures, and graciously provided the opportunity for me to own the Scriptures. He has given me if I am his child, a new heart that relishes the goodness of God in Christ. And so, I should look at the Scriptures to see my God, as well as be mentored by the people on the page, considering the impact for the original recipients, and overtly considering how the text should stir my heart as I read it.
5. Others. As I study the biblical text and consider how it should be stirring my heart, the result will not just be a Godward response. Yes, there should be wonder, awe, worship, praise, gratitude, devotion, and so on. But also, a God-stirred heart will be a heart that reflects God’s other-centred heart. How can what I am seeing in the text, which is stirring my heart in response to God’s revelation, be carried to others evangelistically or pastorally? At this stage, there might well be a stirring of prayer for others, even if the action of sharing remains in the future from the time I am studying the text. A truly relational response to the Bible will not just be Godward, but it will also spill over to others because we are relational beings.
Perhaps this five-point checklist can be helpful as we seek to more overtly recognize the role of the heart in the Bible study process. Look, learn, love, live.
The Heart of Hermeneutics – Part 3
How Does Hermeneutics Require Love?
Last time we looked at John 5 and Jesus’ critique of the Jewish leadership. They were eminent Bible scholars, but something was missing. They could well have been an example to us in terms of observing the text, technically interpreting the text, and fastidiously applying the text. They thought that in the Scriptures they would find life. But they were missing the person revealed there.
For the Jewish leadership, there was apparently confidence in the inductive process. However, their incurved hearts spelled the corruption of that process. They did not see the person, and the reason was a heart issue. Why is the heart so often left out of hermeneutics?
A More Complete Process
A complete approach to biblical study needs more than “look, learn, live.” We need to put the heart back into our hermeneutics. What does the text say? What does the text mean? What should the text stir? What difference should the text make?
Look —- Learn —- Love —- Live
When we lose the sense that the biblical text is primarily revealing a person, and that the intent of the author is to stir the reader’s heart in response, then our approach will necessarily fall short. Even if we progress from “back then” and arrive at “for today,” we can end up with something stripped of its relational dynamic.
Principles and Morals
In a process that is blind to the significance of the heart, some will end up with just an abiding theological principle. This statement of truth and instruction is what remains after traversing the millennia from back then to our own time. Others will end up with a “moral of the story.”
That’s what people do with old stories. Since the people are all dead in history, or figments of fiction that will soon fade from memory, at least there is a lasting lesson for us all. So, our children might enter the land of make-believe for an old tale, but what remains when the story ends and it is time to sleep? Well, the moral of the story is that we should be like the tortoise, or don’t speak to strangers who look like wolves or witches, or whatever. These may well be good life lessons well worth learning.
And what of the people in the pew? After entering the world of a Bible story in the sermon, they must then re-enter normal life. As the story fades and present reality dawns, at least they can carry an abiding theological principle into their week.
The Bible is Not a Fable
But isn’t the Bible different? Is not the goal of the Bible something more than divinely sanctioned and historically accurate Aesop’s fables? It is critical that we keep clear the ultimate purpose of Scripture – to reveal the living God, his heart, his plan, his Son.
In the next post, I will suggest a relational responsive hermeneutical checklist to enliven the critical love stage of the Bible study process.
The Best Place to Hide in Evil Times
This world can be a sinister place. I was recently on a missions team serving abroad, and we heard testimonies from several local believers. One told of his times in prison – a place ordered more by the structure of the dangerous mafia than by any attempt at protecting human rights from the authorities. Another told of his religious family – a home where this eleven-year-old boy was beaten up by his older brother every time he dared to go back to church, and that at the instruction of his parents. Another told of his time in the military, where he discovered just how evil a totalitarian communist ideology can be in reality.
Whether it is by crime, religion, or ideology, the evil of this world is evident all around us. If we scratch the surface of society, we will find all of this lurking today. No country is free of crime, and the level of organization often goes way beyond what we can imagine. Billions live under the threat of their religion, a threat that uses family members to beat any hint of turning, and ideologies that require everyone to think the same replace God with government and treat people as collateral damage in an ideological march towards utopia. Well, they did not die out in 1990 – the same old ideas keep coming back dressed in new garb.
In Psalm 17, we find three cries to God from David’s mouth (see v1, v6, v13). His cry was essentially: I am innocent, they are attacking me, but I am confident in God (see v1-5, v6-12, v13-15). Let’s look at these three sections and see if this Psalm might stir us to cry out similarly. After all, the same God is still the best refuge from wherever the threat comes!
Introduction (v1-5). In the first verses of the Psalm, David’s cry is based on asserting his innocence. We know from many other places that he knew of his guilt. His cry was not for protection because he deserved it. No, his vindication came from God’s presence, not from his own perfection. Nevertheless, there is a place for recognizing that we may be innocent with respect to a specific threat, and it is right to cry out to God in the face of injustice. Whether that be criminal activity, religious persecution, or ideological threats, we can and should cry out to God for his protection.
God protect me from the evil people (v6-12). The description of the malicious threat is very vivid. David doesn’t just say they are violent and threatening (v9); he goes on to give four descriptions. Three descriptions use human body references; the fourth is from the animal kingdom. Their heart lacks compassion, their mouth speaks with pride (v10), and their eyes are set on sinister plans (v11). These verses could describe the mafia bosses running a prison, the religious family members intent on guarding family reputation, or a totalitarian regime marching towards its ideological utopia. Whatever way evil dresses up, underneath lurks the same sinister roar – the lion. David described his chief antagonist as a lion eager to tear. Peter used the same imagery of Satan in 1 Peter 5:8. There is great evil in this world, so we need a great God in whom to find refuge.
In Psalm 17, David described God in the preceding three verses. He also uses three human body descriptions, followed by one from the animal kingdom. Notice the description: your ear, right hand, and eye (v6-8). As we draw near to our great God on the throne, we find him to be a wonderfully good God. His ear inclines to hear even the weakest of whimpers. His loving right hand has all the authority needed to protect us from every evil this world offers. His eye is on us. The phrase “apple of your eye” is an English figure of speech, but the original language refers to “the little person of your eye” – that tiny reflection in the pupil that reveals the whole focus of the eye. What a gloriously intimate description – an inclined ear, the loving and full authority of the right hand, the attentive and affectionate eye. Then the animal image? We are hidden in the shadow of his wings!
Conclusion (v13-15). David finishes the Psalm with one last call for God to act. He desires deliverance. Those who are against him are living for this world. They want to gain power and wealth, to have something to pass on to the next generation.
In contrast, what matters to David? His ultimate goal is not just victory but God’s visage (face). It is not just about getting a response but about enjoying a relationship with God. It is not about protecting his inheritance but about having intimacy with God.
God’s goodness can be celebrated in each of the three situations mentioned at the start of this article. The prisoner may have lost the protection of the mafia leader he was close to. Still, he met a church pastor who came into the prison and told him about Jesus. Today, he follows Jesus and visits two prisons he once occupied to tell others about Jesus too.
The eleven-year-old boy never saw most of his family follow Jesus as he does. Still, he pastors a church that reaches out to the marginalized of society. He also enjoys telling others that the brother who beat him up for attending church is a believer and a missionary in a foreign land.
The soldier serving in a communist military realized after three years just how evil the totalitarian regime was in reality. But God allowed him to be tasked with listening to foreign radio stations to discover any plans to invade his country. Instead, he heard the good news of Jesus broadcast in his language. Today, he pastors a church and delights in telling others about the goodness of God!
Whatever evil is evident in your context or working away behind the scenes, seek refuge next to our good God’s throne. When we see how good he is, we will want nothing else!
Everyone Hides, But Where?
For several generations, some of us have lived with relative stability. Yes, our cultures have shifted and changed. And yes, we have seen our military forces participate in conflict. But seismic shifts that rock our world have not been so familiar to many of us. The past few years have changed that. If the world can change so suddenly, then maybe we would do well to be ready for significant events. Actually, if we are involved in church leadership, we should be both preparing our people for the future and preparing ourselves for major moments that will surely come.
Recently, my wife and I enjoyed another anniversary and took some time together in Psalm 46. This is a great passage to soak in for your own benefit. And it is a great passage to be ready to share with others both before and when the need arises. It is a Psalm of healthy hiding.
When the constant stream of news is suddenly shattered by something genuinely significant, where can we go? When the normal rhythm of daily tasks grinds to a halt because something huge is happening, how can we find safety? And when we look beyond the normal news narrative and see such significant and terrible agendas at play, who can be trusted? Psalm 46 points us to the answer.
Psalm 46 falls neatly into three stanzas, neatly demarcated by a Selah to give us the opportunity to contemplate. The first stanza establishes a key thought that is then picked up in a refrain at the end of stanzas two and three. It is a clear Psalm, easy to read, and probably well worth committing to memory!
Stanza 1 serves to establish a truth that will weave through the whole Psalm. Our refuge and strength is God himself, and our God is always accessible to us. The result is that we will not fear. Four situations are described to underline how secure we are in our God. Even an earthquake, even mountains being relocated, even raging seas, even the normal secure boundaries of creation trembling – even if the whole created order should revert to utter chaos, we will not fear. The character of God is more trustworthy than the apparently permanent mountains and boundaries of the seas? Yes. Selah.
Despite appearances in the first three verses, I do not think the writer is really focused on natural disasters. He seems to be using them as descriptions of having your world rocked. Even a hypothetical upheaval that impacts everything considered permanent and stable would not undermine the reality of God being our ever-present refuge and strength.
In the second stanza, from verses 4-7, the writer zeroes in on the threat of war. He begins with two verses describing the tranquil city of God, the place where he reigns and is present. And then, just as our hearts calm to ponder the hope of one day experiencing life in that city, verse 6 breaks in with a reminder that in this world everything is going crazy! The nations are raging and tottering, like mountains falling into the seas. When geopolitical change crashes down around us, and we might add, when the ethical foundations of society are completely turned upside-down beneath us, then we find ourselves experiencing a seismic shift from the stability we have always known.
But the truth of the first stanza is the anchor for us. Our God is the LORD of hosts, he is with us, and the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Let’s pause and ponder that refrain for a moment. The LORD is the God who makes promises and keeps them; he is faithfully committed to following through on his plans and purposes, and he will continue to care for us. He is also so very strong. He is the LORD of hosts – the God of angel armies. One angel killed 185,000 Assyrian warriors in one night – presumably powerful, intimidating, physically impressive, well-armed Assyrian warriors. Imagine two angels. How about ten? What if there were 100? Now try to picture a number so big that it could not be counted – that is the army of heavenly hosts. Our God leads that army, and that God is with us. And since that God is our refuge, we run to hide in him.
In light of that truth, the final stanza, from verses 8-11, invites us to come and consider what God has done. Implicitly, then, we are also to consider what he will do in the future. God ends wars, he topples powerful foes, and he will take away every weapon. The armies of the world – whether they fight in military uniform, or with any other costume of control –will one day be commanded to stop! To stand still. To be quiet. Hush. Know that God is God. Know that he will be exalted above all.
This world can generate raging nations, swelling armies, plotting despots, powerful dictators, destructive terrorists, and no end of new versions of evil. But it can never generate anything or anyone that is more powerful than our God. He is the God of angel armies, and he is with us. He is our fortress, and we must run to hide in him. The refrain repeats in verse 11. This truth needs to repeat in our hearts and drive us to him whenever this world generates the slightest hint of fear in us.
When threats rise up, everyone hides. One option is to run to God. We know that he is bigger than anything in creation. We know that he wins in the end. And yet, we often struggle to believe that he is with us, or that he will do anything when we cry out to him. What if I have to face more than discomfort for my faith and God does not immediately show up? What if standing for what I know is true costs me pain and suffering – is he still a fortress even then? Psalm 46 is an anchor to the truth that God can and must be trusted in the darkest of times.
The other option that many seem to choose is to hide their heads in the sand. Just live life pretending there is no threat. How often does the media reinforce the distraction of this perspective? Stories get spun so that we think the threat is coming from the opposite direction. When we have more information than ever before, are we actually growing more numb, and maybe more dumb, the more we watch our screens? There could be a genocide taking place all around us, and yet we are trained to have our gaze redirected to Hollywood’s latest newsflash. Our propensity to hide our heads in the sand is supercharged by the media we lean on so heavily.
When the news stirs fear in you, do not choose distraction and pretend all is well. Instead, hide in a healthy way – running into the fortress that is our God. That is, our God, the God of angel armies, the God who has chosen to be with us.
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Have you seen the ABCs of application?
Bible Study Mistakes
I have recently posted a series of videos on common Bible study mistakes. We have probably all made some, or all, of these mistakes. Please take a look and see if these are helpful to you, or to anyone else you know.
Mistake 1: Proof-Texting – It is just so convenient to find a line of text that says what we want to say. But the danger is that we will not see the richness of the text as it was intended to be understood. It seems obvious once you say it, but it is good to remember that what God made it say is always better than what we can make it say! Click here for this video.
Mistake 2: Collapsing Correlations – When you are reading and you see something that reminds you of something else . . . perhaps a saying of Jesus, or a different epistle, and then you collapse both passages in together, then you are collapsing your correlations together. Easily done, but what if that other passage doesn’t mean the same thing? Click here for the video.
Mistake 3: Ignoring Background – Sometimes it is just easier to read the passage and ignore whatever background may be relevant to your study. Who has the time to think about distant geography, ancient customs, and foreign politics? Well, if we want to understand the Bible, we need to make sure we don’t ignore the background. Click here for this video.
Mistake 4: Genre Override – Apart from sounding like a cool concept, what is genre override? It is when you take some of the rules of interpreting a genre and let those rules run roughshod over your interpretation of the passage. “Since this passage is apocalyptic literature…” is the start of many misleading sentences! Of course, we need to be sensitive to the genre, but that is always a support to our being sensitive to the passage. Click here to find out more.
Mistake 5: Imposing Meaning – Our goal in Bible study is exegesis, that is, drawing out the meaning of the text as intended by the author. But when we impose meaning, we are doing eisegesis. That is, reading into the text what we want to see there. God’s Word is better than yours, or mine! Click here for more.
Mistake 6: Isolationist Confidence – Bible study is something we may do on our own a lot of the time. But we must be wary of isolationist confidence. When it is just me and the Bible, I can easily become overconfident in my own opinion. I may be on the right track, but very superficial. Or I might be wandering off into new (therefore heretical) theological territory. We need to think about the role of the community in our Bible study! Click here for this video.
Mistake 7: Tone-Deaf Reading – The Bible is not just a data store that we are to mine for theological truths or applicational points. It is interpersonal communication and so we need to make sure we are sensitive to the writer’s tone as we seek to make sense of what is written. Here is the link to this video.
I will probably add a few more, in due course. As ever with these things, if you are able to like, share, comment or subscribe to the YouTube channel, it is all helpful in encouraging the algorithm to share this content. Thanks!
Here is the playlist that contains these videos, plus others that are all related!
What’s the Big Deal with Worship?
What does gathered worship do? Sometimes it can make our souls soar. Other times not so much. It is easy to understand why non-believers scratch their heads at Christian worship. If I saw a small group of people awkwardly singing, listening to someone talk about an old book, and sharing a tiny amount of bread and wine, I’d scratch my head too.
As I anticipate returning to Poland for the European Leadership Forum, I am reminded of the sacrifices made by so many during the Communist era. Russian Baptist pastor, Yuri Sipko, remembers Christians who were sent to prison camps or lost their jobs or their children. “Without being willing to suffer, even die for Christ, it’s just hypocrisy. It’s just a search for comfort.” Challenging words, but ponder this thought: “You need to confess him and worship him in such a way that people can see this world is a lie.”
What does gathered worship do? It declares that this world is a lie.
At the end of Revelation 3, we find that famous verse about Jesus standing at the door and knocking. He was knocking on the door of the church at Laodicea, but would they open the door and let him in? They thought they had everything they needed, but actually, they desperately needed Jesus. As we turn to chapter 4 and John’s great vision from Jesus continues, we find the heavenly door is open for John to come up and participate in the ultimate worship gathering.
In Revelation chapters 4-5, we get to glimpse the ultimate worship gathering, and it reminds us what gathered worship does. Here are five things that gathered worship does:
1. Worship centres us around God’s throne. (4:1-2) In worship, we are invited, by Jesus, to gather at the throne of God. In Eugene Peterson’s Reversed Thunder, he points out how we live in a world that feels like a storm-tossed sea. We are thrown all over the place by every wind, every wave, every advert, every news story, every problem, and every threat. But as Christians, we have an anchor that holds us firm, gives us a circumference, and centres us. God is on the throne, so there can be a constant source of stability in my heart and life. Gathering with God’s people to sing his praise is an anchor point in the frenetic chaos of life.
2. Worship gathers God’s people around his throne. (4:3-11) In this glorious vision, there is layer upon layer of rich meaning. The vibrant colours seem to reflect God’s holiness and justice, as well as his life-giving nature as the Creator. The 24 elders probably represent the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of the Church (there is debate on all these details, of course). Perhaps they represent God’s great work through the centuries to reveal his plan and rescue people for himself. Then there are the four living creatures – a picture of God’s creation (noble, strong, wise, and swift), and some have seen here four glimpses into the person of Jesus Christ. God’s people, God’s creation, all falling down and worshipping God on the throne. In worship, we are united together, not only with one another but also with God himself, in the uniquely trinitarian worship we find in the Bible.
3. Worship points us to Christ and his payment. (5:1-7) At the start of chapter 5, John is struck by the disconnect between God’s greatness and the need of humanity. The sealed scroll, Earth’s title deed, God’s plan of judgment – its existence underlines that no human is worthy to open the seals. Even apart from the judgment context of Revelation, our gathered worship cannot be satisfied with just lauding God the Creator for his power and majesty. Christian worship always points us to Christ and his payment. John turned to see the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and was confronted by the slain Lamb.
4. The Lion/Lamb Redeemer stirs greater songs of worship. (5:8-13) When God’s people encounter God’s goodness and grace, they sing. Moses, Miriam, Deborah, David, Mary, Angels, Jesus and the Disciples, Paul and Silas – they all sang. When we become aware of who he is and what he has done, then we will sing too. In chapter four, there were two songs to the Creator (4:8, 4:11). Now the singing swells as more voices join in and more richness is reflected in two songs to the Redeemer (5:9-10, 5:12). Finally, there is one song to both the Creator and the Redeemer combined (5:13).
5. Worship finishes with a great Amen! – the ultimate reality of God’s person and plan is definitively affirmed! (5:14) If you think about it, we humans have a history of saying no to God. We are all quite adept at saying no. But Revelation 4-5 underlines that in the end God’s great yes will overcome every one of our noes. In worship, we are confronted by the reality of God the Creator King on his throne, and of God the Redeeming Lion/Lamb, and we cry out, “Yes!” When we worship together, we get a pre-taste of what is to come. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Gathered worship is like an anchor to both the future, when all our questions will be answered, and to the ultimate reality in the present – that God is on the throne and he has redeemed us.
So what does gathered worship do? It declares that this world is a lie. More than that, it centres us around the throne of God – for God is on the throne whatever we may be facing down here. It gathers God’s people around his throne – for God is worthy of every note of praise that can be uttered by any part of his creation. It points us to Christ and his payment – for we worship not only in response to the majesty on the throne but also to the scars on that Lamb. It stirs us to sing greater songs of worship – for God the Creator and our Lion/Lamb Redeemer. It definitively affirms the ultimate reality of God’s person and plan – for in the end we will cry out our great “Yes!” and “Amen!” to God.
Whether we are gathering in a great crowd at a Christian event, or with a handful of dear saints on a Sunday, let us appreciate the privilege of gathered worship and declare with joy that this world is a lie.
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Sipko quote from Live Not By Lies, by Rod Dreher, p185-6.
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Remembering George Verwer (1938-2023)
I just heard that George Verwer went to heaven late last night (14th April 2023). So many memories are swirling as I remember all that George has meant to me and my family. It is hard to overstate how much God has used George in our lives.
I probably met George when I was two years old at the commissioning service for the Doulos. I don’t remember that, of course. My earliest memory of George was being introduced to him by my Dad after a service in Bristol. I was a teen. I was struck by George’s enthusiastic greeting of my Dad – “One of God’s faithful warriors in Italy!” It was George’s invitation back in 1962 that motivated my Dad to go over to Europe that summer, indirectly resulting in my parents going to Italy as missionaries.
Once I was introduced to George, he stayed in touch. It is easy to think of George the public speaker, but many thousands also know of the George who continued to care for the next generation of OM kids. He had no connection to me except my Dad’s involvement in OM thirty years before, but that was plenty for George. I remember him phoning me one day. He was on a train in Scotland and he wanted to let me know that he was praying for me. Getting a phone call like that as a teen rocked my world. I used to listen to cassettes of George preaching – those messages consisted of a sort of overflow of his energy, his drive, his gospel passion, and his transparency, blended with some oft-repeated doses of his humour.
He often told of the time in Pakistan when a pigeon dropped a mess onto the sleeve of his suit. “Praise God that elephants can’t fly!” He would tell of the time he lost his temper with his long-suffering wife, Drena, kicked a box which turned out to be full of books, and stormed out of the house in pain, only to re-enter the house by the back door and repent of his sinful outburst. He would share honestly about his struggles with lust. He would pour out stories and statistics of the great need in the world. He would recount God’s goodness through the years of OM’s history. And somehow it would all fit together in one message.
When I spent a year serving on the OM Ship, the Logos 2, I got to work alongside George a little. His gopher (travel companion and assistant) and I went to collect George and Dale Rhoton (co-founder of OM) from LA Airport. George didn’t like the idea of waiting for Dale so he found an empty row of seats and sat down. When we came back with Dale 45 minutes later George had covered a huge area of airport floor with piles of paperwork that he swiftly collected together. It was a privilege to listen to George and Dale chatting together in the back of the car. The third member of the original Send the Light trip to Mexico, Walter Borchard, also joined George during the 40th anniversary celebrations onboard. (Note – I heard that Walter also went to be with the Lord just a few days before George did.)
I secretly prayed for some months about becoming George’s gopher as I really aspired to the role. On my 21st birthday, he was onboard the ship and called for me to come to his room. He found out it was my birthday and so gave me a half-eaten bar of Dairy Milk, as well as a bag full of correspondence that he thought I should look through. More important than English chocolate, he asked if I’d ever considered being his gopher. I was so thankful and promised to continue praying about it.
I met up with George again at the OM conference in De Bron, NL, that September. We went for a walk around the conference site. He had just left the skylight on his bus open and his wife’s laptop had been rained on. He was feeling very guilty about that. He asked again about the gopher role for the following year. Maybe he sensed my hesitation, because he immediately followed up with, “you’ve met a girl?” I explained that I had met a girl in Portland. Of course, George knew her parents – also OMers from back in the earlier years. “Ah! Good Brethren stock!” Actually, Melanie’s parents had met on an OM team, so Melanie’s very existence was a result of George’s ministry! He had prayed for her family for years too. I was disappointed to not be his gopher, but was encouraged by his understanding of my desire to go to seminary and not be travelling in the year before we married.
During the seminary years that followed, my wife and I pondered where our future might lie. We wanted to be involved in missions. But where? We explored options all over the world but no doors seemed to be opening. Then one day my mother-in-law passed me a note: George wanted me to call him. I called him from the phone in the seminary building. He asked me, “Are you prepared to leave America? I know a lot of people like the salary that they can get from a US church. And I’d hate to see you stuck in a classroom teaching somewhere.” I assured him that we were looking at missions options rather than salaries and we planned to leave the US. “Come and be based here in the UK, we need trained Bible teachers like you. The UK is a place of real nee too . . . let me help you launch…”
Our church leaders all felt that this invitation was of God and they gladly sent us to be based in the UK with ministry details still to be determined. Lots of people in OM warned us that George would not be arranging meetings for me and it might end in disappointment. It turned out I did not need George to arrange meetings. I was happy to work loosely in his team and arrange my own opportunities with God’s help. As it turned out, we ended up living next door to George and Drena for that first year. Our third child was born “through the bedroom wall” of our adjoining houses. He enjoyed that little fact. “Which one of you was born next door?” he would ask my children on later visits.
During our time living next door to George, I enjoyed a number of walks with George as we talked about life and ministry and navigating the complexities of theological disputes and issues in world missions. My wife and I enjoyed a meal out with George and Drena. I was so enjoying his story of how he had been banned from India for smuggling two typewriters, but then saw the look on Drena’s face – she had endured a lot at George’s side. The weekly prayer meeting at Forest Hill was always so much better when George was there. He would whistle through worship songs, sort his mail during various phases of the meeting, spill little tidbits of random OM history in reference to any guests that happened to be there, and refer to an awful lot of ministry as “tremendous.” George had a way of building people up, and building up their contribution to world missions – even though most would have felt massively intimidated by George’s global impact!
What was George’s impact? George was a pioneer. In an age where missionary boards wanted seminary graduates, George pioneered a missionary force of willing volunteers. In a time when missionaries made a career commitment, George saw the value in short-term teams. Then there was the idea of getting a ship – totally crazy, but God was in that craziness. Mexico, Europe, behind the Iron Curtain, India, the Middle East and North Africa, etc . . . all across the world George’s pragmatic pioneering spirit has spread with OM. And then there are the hundreds or thousands of ministries that have launched out of OM. People who came to OM for a couple of months or a couple of years, but went on to have lifelong ministries under a different banner. George’s impact and legacy as a missions pioneer is vast.
George was a prolific speaker. If you were looking for careful expository preaching, that wasn’t George. But if you were ready to hear the overflow of a life set on fire by Jesus, then George was pure gold. Whether it was in front of thousands of students at Urbana, or a handful of saints in a little church, George spoke (often while holding a giant inflatable globe) and lives were marked. The last time I heard him preach he had three sets of seven points. It was classic George. But it was still so good. He might have been known as a “pied piper missionary speaker,” but his greater passion was always “reality in Jesus” – he knew that if people experienced that revolution of love that comes from really knowing Jesus, then missions involvement would follow naturally.
George believed and preached the radical grace of God for undeserving sinners. He would say, “Where two are three are gathered in my name, sooner or later there will be a mess.” It was not just a humourous line to get a laugh. It was the reality he lived time and again. People mess up, and God’s grace is critical. George would preach about that grace, and then he would live it as a leader drawing alongside strugglers as a fellow struggler and recipient of God’s great grace.
You might assume that George’s impact was all about leadership and speaking. After all, he was the International Director of OM (until 2003), a global missions pioneer, and had a full speaking schedule (apparently he dropped from 900x per year to just 350x per year after he retired!) But even if he spoke multiple times in a week, there were still so many hours outside of those slots – George wanted to use all of his hours for Jesus. Living next door for a season and working alongside him during those years, I noted several ministries that could easily be overlooked.
Prayer. George prayed for people. He had his gopher put pictures of people on his phone so he could pray for people when he was on the London Underground and lost his phone signal. If he couldn’t be talking to someone, then he could be talking to God about someone. He had photo albums full of ancient prayer cards – one day he knocked on our door to show us pictures of Melanie and me as little children. Another time we had guests and our friend was shocked to meet George for the first time as he held out a picture of her with her family when she was a toddler – he’d pray through these collections of memories again and again. In these last years, George was excited to know that our children also went out with OM – to Ireland, to Albania, and to the Logos Hope. That’s three generations involved in missions, in part, because of George’s prayers.
Connecting. George would get a phone call from someone. He would introduce them to someone else. He literally multiplied his ministry by connecting people to other people that could be an encouragement to them. He asked me to get in touch with an evangelist that could do with a friend. It might have seemed like a mess, but the chaos continually spawned more ministry fruit.
Giving. George was one of those people who God seemed to trust with money. After raising funds for OM over the years, he focused on his Special Projects for the last twenty years. Bibles, books, the Dalit Freedom Network, under-supported OMers, etc. George was constantly passing on funds to where they were needed most. Only eternity will reveal just how much money was recycled for God’s work through George. His extreme frugality was well-known in OM (George and Drena trading their wedding cake for gas to drive to Mexico is a well-known story from the early years). He repented of some of the more legalistic emphases that grew out of his own personality quirks, but that frugality surely led to him being trusted as a faithful conduit of Kingdom funds.
Books. You can’t have met George and overlooked his passion for books. Every meeting had an overflowing book table, with his incessant attempts to convince people to take books (post-date a cheque for a year beyond your college graduation!) His book pushes were superb. There was Operation World, of course. Grace Awakening – how many times did he push Swindoll’s classic (and mention that the first section was a bit dull, which somehow didn’t seem to put you off reading it!) Calvary Road – he loved Roy Hession books and worked with the Roy Hession Trust for many years. He would refer to A.W.Tozer books just sizzling away on the book table. And his own, Hunger for Reality and Revolution of Love were two powerful examples from the earlier years. Then Messiology came later – some of his most controversial comments compiled in a book. Yes, George had a passion for books that came through in every meeting. But he didn’t stop outside of meetings. He was constantly sending packages of books, plus calendars, and single sheet papers on subjects like making a prayer meeting work. If you were on George’s mailing list, then these packages would reassure you that you were in his prayers too.
It was so sad to hear that George was nearing the end. If you haven’t seen his final blog, please click here to do so. Right to the end he spoke of the many who still need Jesus. Hundreds of thousands have been involved in missions directly or indirectly because of George. That means millions will have heard the gospel directly or indirectly because of George. To many of us, George was a hero. Of course, he was no superhero. He was far too real for that. And he was definitely a little bit quirky and unique too. But he was a hero to my wife and me because of how God used him to mark our lives so profoundly.
Today I grieve for George and I also praise God for his willingness to give his all for Jesus. I will miss his energy and drive, I will miss his passion for Jesus and world missions, and I will miss his love for me and my family. I know there will be many around the globe who are sad at George’s passing, yet thrilled at George’s promotion. Maybe one of his crowns could be a global jacket like he so often wore. He will be thrilled to cast that down before his Lord!
When Lies and Treachery Take Root – Part 4
In part 1, we set the scene and considered how a crisis can be used to wrest control, but the tyrants taking charge may not be impressive to all. In part 2, the thin veneer of tyranny does not protect subjects from the harsh realities of the suffering that always follows. In part 3, we scratched at the religious veneer to see that the biggest question in life is the right question at any time of change. However, asking the right questions will not be welcomed, but oppressed. Thus, the truth matters, even if everyone seems to be buying into the lies. This brings us to this final post. Surely the truth will set society free? Ultimately, yes. But we should not be shocked when a hypnotized people choose to stay under the spell.
20. Revealing the lie does not automatically break the spell. “The light is dawning, the lie broken.” It seems so simple. Show everyone how they have been lied to and everything will be alright. Well, not necessarily. After defeating some captors, the king cried, “Now, Dwarfs, you are free. Tomorrow I will lead you to free all Narnia. Three cheers for Aslan!” But, Lewis goes on, “the result which followed was simply wretched.” If everyone rallied to the side of the king, there was hope. But not “if half the Narnians – including all the Dwarfs – just sat and looked on? or even fought against him.” Would the German population have rallied to the side of truth if there had been time for it to be revealed? How many might have been saved if the populations of the communist soviet countries had revolted sooner? And what if our own population does not react when lies are revealed? The result of apathy to truth will be simply wretched.
21. When a lie is revealed, there may well be more sinister aforethought than previously realised. By chapter 9, Jewel recognizes how much planning had taken place. “We see that the Ape’s plans were laid deeper than we dreamed of. Doubtless he has been long in secret traffic with The Tisroc.” It is hard to fathom the depths of evil conspiratorial planning that may exist, but where is the benefit in believing everything is driven by good intentions and some accident? Will we look back and wonder why we were so naively accepting of the lines we were fed? Perhaps we would do well to ask questions sooner, rather than just having to take stock of the damage once it is done.
22. When a lie is revealed, the evil tyrants will continue to spin yet more lies. It is the most infuriating plot twist, but it is repeated time and again. When the lie is revealed, it is met with yet more lies. The Ape explained how a beast had dressed up and pretended to be Aslan. “Jill wondered for a moment if the Ape had gone mad. Was he going to tell the whole truth? . . . It was seen last night, but it got away. It’s a Donkey! A common, miserable Ass! If any of you see that Ass—” The Ape lied to cover his lies, and so retained control of the population! “Jill looked at the King: his mouth was open and his face was full of horror. And then she understood the devilish cunning of the enemies’ plan. By mixing a little truth with it they had made their lie far stronger.”
It is a story that has been told again and again. The Ape in its glory. So much harm is done along the way, but eventually, every dressed-up Ape will be brought down. May we learn from the story before we live unnecessarily through another chapter of the same old tale. May we never accept any self-declared-wise old ape who sets himself up as the better leader to take us toward utopia. The world does not need a year zero, a new beginning, a great leap forward, or a reset, no matter how great it might sound, or how urgently the need is portrayed. What the world needs is truth, as well as humble leaders ready to serve the people, and for those who have met Aslan to make sure they are never fooled by a doddery donkey dressed up as divine.
Biblical Preaching 