Is God angry?

I work for Bishops Stortford Community Church and so almost every Sunday morning, that is where you will find me.  However recently I had a week off and so had the privilege of visiting one of the other congregations in the town.

I enjoyed the service, and the change was nice even though it was not the flavour of church I would like on a regular basis.  In fact it made me even more grateful for my community at BSCC. 

So why am I telling you this?  Well something during the service, if I’m honest, disturbed me.  One of the prayers that were said went like this:

“…we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word and deed, against thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us…”

When I read this I was pretty shocked.  If we have accepted Jesus into our lives and tasted true salvation by confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts (Romans 10) then does God still get angry with us?  When we as Christians sin, which we all do (1 John 1:8-9) then does God turn into an angry and aggressive Dad looking to punish at every slip?!

The Bible is pretty clear: we are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and might (Duet 6:5), but the truth is that we have all love other things more than God.  This is what sin is…it is dishonouring God by loving other things over Him and acting on those preferences.  That’s why the Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of His glory (Romans 3:23).  Sin defames God and He can’t simply sweep it under the carpet and ultimately because He is a just God, our sins need to be dealt with…punished and corrected.

But the love of God offers us a solution in the very person of Jesus, for He came into this world and took the punishment that we deserved.  When Jesus died on the cross, He absorbed the wrath of God (Romans 3:25) and He took the punishment that needed to be paid because of our failings (Galatians 3:13).

So is God angry with us?  If you have accepted Jesus into your life then quite clearly: No.  Jesus ABSORDED the wrath of God, He didn’t just cancel it or divert it (1 John 4:10), He took it.  The fullness of God’s wrath was completely put on Jesus so that you and I might know His love, compassion and mercy so that we never need to come to Him fearing punishment or rejection.

So...don't give into the lie that God is angry.  As Thomas Paine says 'Belief in an angry God makes a cruel man.'

Unity is more important than theology!

HTB Leadership conference 2012

I spent Monday and Tuesday this week at the Royal Albert Hall…no not to listen to Opera or to attend some fancy award ceremony but rather to worship God and be equipped to go and build His Church in this country.

Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) hosted and led their annual Leadership Conference at this extraordinary venue and I was one of 4,300 delegates booked in.  These delegates came from over 900 difference churches and organisations and from 52 different countries.  How fitting that a conference about building the Church of God was attended by such a beautiful picture of what the Church is meant to be.  

As I’ve reflected on the conference, I think I can honestly say that this has been one of the most powerful conferences I’ve ever been too.  The calibre of speakers (Tony Blair, The Bishop of London, Christine Cain, Dr Rick Warren, Judah Smith…) was outstanding, the organisation was excellent, the content and topics were prophetic and inspired and as already said the venue couldn’t have been better.

However what made it so special for me was the diversity of the whole event, which was beautiful and yet uncompromising!   Theological differences weren’t issues as brothers and sisters in Christ came together with one purpose: to honour God.  For two days it didn’t matter what I thought about baptism in the Holy Spirit or church structure.  It didn’t matter that I didn’t have a dog collar on nor did it matter how I prayed!  It was such a refreshing and freeing environment to be in.

This is my dream for the Church.  That we might be united in the truest sense of the word.  That, as Jesus prayed in John 13, we would be one with each other as He is One with the Father.  That we would realise that unity is more important than Theology (Mark 13:24-25).  That we would understand that it’s ok to disagree with one another and still worship the same God in the same building!

I feel equipped, challenged and changed by this conference and I'm so grateful to God that HTB were able to host and led such a historic event. 

So…please let me encourage you:  Get booked in for HTB Leadership conference 2013!  More information can be found at http://leadershipconference.htb.org.uk/

Newfrontiers article

This year we're looking to launch an exciting project in our Town Centre (I will be posting more about the project in the coming months).  Attached is a link to an article I have written for the Newfrontiers (the family of churches we're part of) website asking for help and support!  Why not give it a read...


http://newfrontiersuk.org/news-and-events/article/bishops_stortford

Making a difference

Film Review: Freedom writers

I watched this film last night with Amy (my wife) and wanted to quickly blog on it.

'Freedom Writers' is a true story about how one woman made a difference.  Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) takes a job teaching inner-city kids raised on drive-by shootings and huge racial divides in the midst of the L.A riots.  As people around her, including her husband and father, tell her that these kids are 'unteachable' she makes a difference and helps them to reclaim their lives and identities.  It's a powerful film of how one person really can make a difference.

Two things really stood out for me in the film:

Firstly, being a pioneer means sacrifice
Erin Gruwell, or Mrs G as she was affectionately called by her class, wanted to make an impact.  She wanted to change the lives of 30 young men and women and in order to do this is meant working long hours, taking three jobs and selflessly putting her own desires to one side.  For her it cost her her reputation, her time, her energy and her relationships with those closest to her.

As I watched and reflected it made me think of other pionners; Mandela, Wilberforce, Luther King, and how they had to make huge sacrifices in their lives.  Mandela was impriosoned for over 30 years, Wilberforce battled through sickness and huge opposition and of course King was assasinated.

Secondly it reminded me that people don't like change
Whenever you see a pioneer you always see opposition.  Trying to make an impact is never easy.  Mrs G didn't have the support of her family, of the other teachers at the school or of the parents of the kids she was teaching.  Ultimately this is why people like Mandela spent years behind bars and King was murdered.

Mrs G was swimming against the tide but rather than giving in, she fought.  She did something about her situation rather than letting her situation dictate her life.  She refused to settle for something that wasn't right.  She did something that has changed the lives of 30 young people, something that can never be taken away, something lasting that they will always have.  She believed in them and gave them hope and a future. 

She sacrificed and refused to give into the opposition.

It got me thinking...what's the story I'm writing? 

If there was to be a film made about my life what would the morale of the story be?  Would there be people lined up saying 'this man has changed my life?'  I desperately want to change this world for the better.  I want to be someone who breaks new ground; someone who breaks the mould and someone who doens't allow the circumstances around me dictate how I live my life.

So the questions I find asking myself are: Am I willing to pay the price, whether it be time, money or reputation?  And am I willing to stand in the face of oppostion and see the obstacles as opportunites for something great?

The question is are you? 

It's a great film that I'd highly recommend and f you want to get it, just click here!

Seven tips for better Bible study

Mark Driscoll has posted seven tips for better Bible reading (link below).  I think it's excellent and if you want to read the Bible for all it's worth you should check it out!

Here is my favourite tip: Don’t think you need more knowledge. Often you need more obedience to the knowledge you already have!

Happy reading.

http://pastormark.tv/2012/04/17/7-tips-for-better-bible-study

Loving the unlovable

Book review: Whose Child is this by Bill Wilson

Wow.  What a book this is. 

Bill Wilson is the founder and Senior Pastor of Metro Ministries; America’s largest ministry to children, gathering around 20,000 kids every week to their Sunday school meetings.  The movement is international, with branches of the ministry in several other nations and the model is used in Churches everywhere.

The book is Bills story from orphan to orphan rescuer.  He was abandoned by both parents as a teenager and after being taken in by a faithful Christian family he went on to launch and establish the ministry in one of New York’s hardest areas, Bushwick.  At a time when the police had even stopped responding to calls to the area and would only send in Special Forces teams, Bill decided to move into the ghetto.  He was the only white man in town and faced rejected, failure, abuse, muggings and physical attacks. 

It’s an inspirational story; I found myself in tears several times reading some of the things that he saw and indeed experienced.  There are three things stood out for me in this book and that I want to share as they’ve stirred me and challenged me on how I do life and ministry:

1. One person can make a difference

Bill Wilson certainly has.  He is impacting thousands, if not millions of lives through his ministry.  Personally I want to change the world.  I want to be someone who impacts this little planet called earth.  I want to do something that changes people’s lives.  This book has reminded me and inspired me to push on with my dreams and goals because it is possible.

2. The need is the call

So often we think we need a lightning bolt revelation, a flash of inspiration or an invitation to help and impact things around us but this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Bill Wilson reminds us that we are called to serve the need that we see around us.  If a poor man is homeless and hungry don’t wait to be told…do.  If a child is alone and dying don’t wait for an invitation…act.

3.  People need to know that you care

The ministry that Bill Wilson leads visit 20,000 families each week.  They give up their time to care for the families and children that no one else wants to spend time with.  They show that they care before they try and tell them what they know.  They try to help with practical and physical needs before preaching at them.  They first and foremost love those they serve.

 This book profoundly challenged me and has stirred me to look again at my own life and ask myself how am I making a difference; am I serving the need and do the people I serve know that I love them?

I want to marry a Horse!

At the end of March I had a wonderful discussion surrounding the issue of gay marriage on my Facebook page!  The discussion drew interest and input from the gay community, the straight community, those with faith and those without faith. I summed up my views on the discussion (and indeed closed the debate) with the following input:

“For me I can see and understand both sides of the debate without being for or against either. I haven't signed either of the petitions going around!! My personal opinion is that governments cannot change hearts and laws simply rearrange problems rather than solve them. For example by introducing gay marriage do we think it will solve the equality issue people have in their hearts?

I also think the debate is less about the gay community more about marriage.  The best way that I can explain this is through an example:

When I was in the Police I was issued a new style of shirt for my uniform. Instead of the traditional white collared shirt I was issued a black sports type t-shirt. The shirt was (and still is) black. However upon issue, the shirt was called graphite. Graphite is not the colour of the shirt I was issued.  Graphite is a dark grey colour. Upon further probing, Herts police didn't want to call them black for fear of offending. There used to be racist group called the blank shirts with whom they didn't want to associate with.

In my mind they simply changed the definition of a word (graphite) to suit them in order to be politically correct and not offend.

That’s the way I see the debate. It's not about gay marriage; it's about the definition of what marriage is.

If as a culture we're happy to change definition of such fundamental words then fine, but I personally believe that this is the argument: What is marriage?  It is not an attack on homosexuality.

 If we don't have a solid definition of marriage then what's to stop me challenging the system so I can have two, three or even four wives? Or marrying a horse? If I’m not allowed to express myself in this why, am I being discriminated against?

So that's where I stand: what is marriage. It's not about equality it’s about a definition.”

 I’d love to hear your thoughts?