A Little Irreverent? Maybe. Hilarious? Definitely.

This is doing the rounds on YouTube and a few blogs. See how many evangelical giants you can spot...

A work of genius in my opinion!

New Daily Feature

I think blogging involves quite a lot of idea poaching from other people's sites. I found this link on Gary Cousins site, and have been feeding spiritually on it for some time. Oswald Chambers has a beautiful style of writing coupled with a devotional honesty which make his words go straight to the heart. Follow the sidebar each day for readings from Chambers, and I know you'll be blessed. The beauty of my engaging in poaching is that my whole blog concept centres around it - otherwise known as 'double usefulness'!

Not Everyone Loves War and Peace

In my enthusiasm for War and Peace, I have neglected to mention that it may not be everyone's cup of tea. I enjoyed it so much that, if life weren't so short, I'd be tempted to go back to the start and read it again from scratch. But not everyone thinks so. The following sample of reviews from Amazon may amuse you, and could serve to temper my boisterous appreciation!

"If you're a glutton for punishment and have the mental constitution of a banana then I would recommend this book"

"I read this hoping it would be the greatest novel I ever read. How disappointed was I when, 1444 pages later, I concluded it was far too long, far too tedious, and hopelessly amateurish. Admittedly, there are wonderful and forceful sections, such as Prince Nikolai's visit to a field hospital, but these are outnumbered by sections of seering banality. A thirty-page description of wolf-hunting, anyone?"


"I sometimes read War and Peace in the dull hours of the early morning"

Having said all of that most of the reviews are enormously positive, and if you're considering taking the plunge and having a go at reading it you'll find that it is more than rewarding. The overall rating from Amazon is 4.5 out of 5 stars, which I think is prettty telling, given that some of the reviewers above awarded it only 1 star!!

Now, I'm going to have to decide what I should next read in the 'dull hours of the early morning'!!!

John Piper Hears the Actual Voice of God!

This article is tremendously powerful...it is better to click the 'listen' tab than to read it verbatim. I hope it challenges you in the same way as it has me...

война и мир закончены

I've been looking forward to writing this post for quite some time - I finished reading War and Peace yesterday!! Hence the Russian phrase for 'war and peace is finished' in today's title. This is a pretty big landmark for me, as I've been wanting to get through all of Tolstoy's opus for a long time. Other attempts have been valiant, but ultimately doomed (I think page 300 was the furthest I got eleven years ago), but I've finally managed to read it all, starting with page 1 in July 2006, and ending with page 1444 yesterday (26th March 2007). After all this time, was it worth the effort? Most definitely!! War and Peace is the single greatest work of literature I have ever read, breathtaking in it's scope, and penetrating in detail. I'll probably write a few more posts about it's content in months to come, but for now I'm just basking in the enjoyment of having fulfilled one of my big life goals (sad man that I am!).

Jesus Says Go

On Saturday night past (17th March) we travelled to Magherafelt Baptist Church with a group of young people from our own fellowship to attend 'Jesus Says Go', an event organised jointly by Baptist Missions and Baptist Youth. The publicity for the evening billed it as a 'programme to help Christian youth and young adults understand the urgency and relevance of mission for their lives'. In my estimation it did not disappoint.

The evening was framed by a number of multimedia presentations which drove home the need for workers in God's harvest field in a powerful and moving way. From the intial string of challenging quotes about mission, through the comically effective video sequence featuring a rather reluctant missionary, the event was pitched at just the right level for all in attendance. The rest of the programme was interspered by Bible ministry from Andrew Reid (Baptist Missions Spain); a prayer for the world led by some young people from various Baptist churches; an interview with some dodgy Baptist Pastor from Armagh; excellent music solos from Allan Ellingsgaard; and practical advice from David Ramsey (Director, Baptist Youth). This was topped off with a bookstall featuring Robin Wells' book 'Jesus Says Go', available at a special event price of £1, and some refreshments.

The evening was well attended, well organised, and well executed. It managed to attain a lightness of touch without a compromise in content, and the serialisation of Andrew Reid's message on David and Jonathan only served to make it all the more powerful. Baptist Missions and Baptist Youth are to be commended on taking this initiative, and devoting most of the month of March (in what is already a busy schedule for them) to challenging the young people of our churches about God's work in the world. For any of our own young people who didn't make it on Saturday night past there is still an opportunity to attend. This Saturday night another event is taking place in Grosvenor Road Baptist Church, Dublin. Why not go down for a day's shopping followed by an evening's challenge?

For more information on 'Jesus Says Go' visit the Baptist Missions website, and also see the little trailer video included below:



More video from the event is also availabe on You Tube.

The Potter's Hand

The following account comes from an 'Our Daily Bread' reading from some time ago. It's a huge encouragement about God's way of working with us as His children:

'Adelaide Pollard was planning to go to Africa as a missionary, but at the last minute she was prevented from going because she hadn't recieved enough financial support. During a prayer meeting, a dark mood enveloped her. Then the prayer of an elderly woman pierced her darkness: "It's all right, Lord! It doesn't matter what you bring into our lives. Just have your way with us!" In that moment Adelaide Pollard surrendered to God's way and found peace.

Later that evening she examined the story of the potter in Jeremiah 18:4. She thought about the vessel that was marred in the potter's hand, and noted that he made it into another vessel, as it seemed good to him. She recognised her need to submit herself to God's will and allow Him to remould her life according to His own design.

A poem began taking shape in her yielded mind: "Thou art the Potter, I am the clay. Mould me and make me after Thy will, while I am waiting yielded and still." Eventually, in God's time, He allowed Pollard to minister in Africa, England, and across the United States.

God uses the person who sincerely prays, "Have Thine own way, Lord." Ask youself: Am I letting the great Potter have His own way with me?

"Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, lving in me'

If this has encouraged you, take a look at a devotional thought Gary Cousins posted two days ago over on his blog also.

Redemption

I was brought up on a good diet of Johnny Cash LPs. As a child I can remember a sense of awe as I listened to his distinctive and masculine take on so many great ballads and songs. I still love his music today, although it doesn't sound the same without the crackle of stylus and vinyl. Carolyn and I watched Walk the Line a couple of nights ago. The only shame of the film was that it confined Cash's experience of Christ to a scene depicting him entering a Baptist Church.

The clip below gives a much better snapshot of how deep and redemptive his experience of the Saviour truly was...

The Tragedy of Unbelief

Something that has intrigued and fascinated me for a long time has been the moral consequence for a culture when it rejects God. How are ethical decisions taken in a society which is bereft of the certainties of revealed truth, of principles higher than it's own ability to achieve consensus? Tragically the answer to this question is being provided in real time terms by our own nation, in its continued lunge towards moral vapidity. Whether one looks to the senseless round of North London stabbings in the media recently; the move to categorise those involved in drugs as patients rather than offenders; or the easy charm with which our culture speaks of behaviours which were unspeakable less than a generation ago.

The crowning moment for this new morality was provided last night on BBC1's program, 'William Crawley Meets'. This has been a fascinating series produced by BBC1 Northern Ireland, with Crawley questioning people like Bishop Gene Robinson and Richard Dawkins in a prolonged interview. I was home late last night, and only caught the concluding moments of Crawley's latest offering - an interview with radical philosopher Peter Singer. My knowledge of Singer is limited to some slight engagement with his work in undergrad philosophy, but his views are utterly extreme and entirely liberal. I happened to tune in at the moment when the interviewer was pressing him on the ultimate conclusions of his philosophical system which finds its basis in evolutionary theory. Crawley directly asked Singer if his liberal view of human sexuality might not lead to the ultimate acceptance of behaviours such as paedophilia or bestiality. Singer's response was telling, and profoundly sad. Cautious of Crawley putting words in his mouth, Singer skirted the issue, and became increasingly evasive as the questions became more direct. He stated that his philosophical worldview was based on a concern for suffering to be reduced for human beings to as great a degree as possible. Crawley said that many paedophiles would deny that their actions harm children. Singer's response? He would need to look at the evidence!! Crawley put it plainly, 'But it's just wrong isn't it?', to which Singer responded that such a moral response comes only from years of evolutionary conditioning in which reproductively rich relationships have been favoured as a means of populating the planet, rather than non-productive (that is childbearing) relationships.

How pathetic! Here we have a man who is a Princeton professor of philosophy, completely incapable of making a moral judgement on an issue which is patently, manifestly wrong. This is the ultimate tragedy of unbelief - a world with no moral terms of reference, a world where taboos can be demolished, a world where no one is ultimately safe or protected. It would be an empty claim that everyone who rejects God will ultimately embrace such thinking - but it is hugely thought provoking for those who are not believers, in terms of how they make their own value judgements in the absence of absolute divine revelation.

This is a world without God - or more accurately a world so blinded by its 'god' that it can spit out the sweet truth of God, while greedily swallowing the bile of humanistic thinking.

Indescribable

At the Pastors' conference last week we were encouraged by our speaker John Shearer to re-evaluate and appreciate afresh the majesty of God in creation. His passage was Isaiah 40, and it was thrilling to listen to the description of our God as the one who measures the oceans in the hollow of His hand. Pastor Shearer quoted a famous statement from John Piper which I found very inspiring:

"There is immense loss when we get used to the redness of the rising sun, and the roundness of the moon, and the whiteness of the snow, the wetness of rain, the blueness of sky, the buzzing of bumble bees, the stitching of crickets, the invisibility of wind, the unconscious constancy of heart and diaphragm, the weirdness of noses and ears, the number of the grains of sand on a thousand beaches, the never-ceasing crash crash crash of countless waves, and ten million kingly-clad flowers flourishing and withering in woods and mountain valleys where no one sees but God"

What a wealth of wonders God has given, all proclaiming His majesty and power. A hymn which has been introduced to our church in recent months sums this up so well, and has become a firm favourite of mine. The following video clip helps us to enjoy the things which Piper describes so vividly with the blessing of Chris Tomlin's 'Indescribable' as background. It certainly gives me a boost (in the absence of being able to get into the Mourne mountains that is!).

Men for Ministry

The Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland have launched an initiative for encouraging preaching gift among men in our congregations. We currently have around 40 of our 113 churches experiencing pastoral vacancy, and Men for Ministry is seeking to address this issue (perhaps crisis wouldn't be too strong a word).

Recently we have launched a blog highlighting the work of Men for Ministry, and are hoping to use this forum to make audio resources and other information available to men engaged in, or burdened for, the work of preaching.

ABCinI Pastors' Conference 2007

The proliferation of men in pullovers gathered in the foyer of Glenada Holiday and Conference Centre in Newcastle, Co.Down, could only mean one thing - the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland Pastors' Conference 2007 had begun. I travelled down on Monday (bedecked in my own rather fetching tank-top pullover offering!) and stayed there until yesterday. To say that the conference was amazing would be an absolute understatement, to describe it as special would be a disservice - perhaps the best thing I could say was that God was evidently and searchingly in our midst as we met.

From the stirring and comforting ministry of Pastor John Shearer (Musselburgh Baptist Church, Scotland), to really sweet and extended times of prayer, through to late night conversations and discussions among fellow Pastors, I have been so blessed and privileged to have been allowed to attend this year's event. Men who have been in attendance at these conferences for forty years described this as the finest they had experienced, and I came home yesterday with a sense of inspiration, excitement and joy. I hope over the next few days to blog some more details of our time in Glenada (specifically of John Shearer's fine messages), and perhaps include a few photos of the event. Thanks to everyone who prayed for the conference, God more than answered our requests and desires for the time together.

Crucial Times for the Cousins Family

My good friends Gary and Claudia Cousins, along with their boys Joel and David, are preparing to go to Europe in July to serve with the Youth Challenge wing of Child Evangelism Fellowship. Gary is no stranger to the church in Armagh, having helped and encouraged us through his preaching on many occasions. In November he and Claudia took a Sunday morning for us, outlining what they will be doing for the Lord in CEF.

The upcoming months are a crucial time for them as a family, and I know that they'd value prayer. They continue to raise support for their ministry, and in addition are currently putting their home on the market. This is a major step for them, and one for which they are actively seeking God's guidance, grace, and help. As you read this post this morning, would you pray for them as a family, for their ministry, and for the issues which remain for them to work through between now and July?

Also, if anyone is currently house-hunting in the Craigavon area, then you may wish to look at the Cousins' blog which has details of their home, as well as the Estate Agent's site.

God bless you Gary, Claudia, Joel, and David...

Getting booked for bluffing...

I'm supposed to be having a break from all things ministry and thought-inducing today, but I just couldn't resist posting something on World Book Day. I used to work in a bookshop, and loved the buzz about reading that this day could produce...

As you'll have guessed from this blog I'm an avid reader. When I was at University riding rickety lifts to the eleventh floor of the library, my main concern was not whether I would get stuck if it broke down, but whether I had any books in my bag which would pass the time for me in such an event!! I know, I know I'm weird.

I love reading all sorts of things. From the side of the HP bottle at the dinner table, to newspapers, magazines, books and journals. It's my main pastime and one of my strongest passions.

One of my great reading ambitions is to get through Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. It is regarded as the greatest novel ever written in any language, and for twelve years I have dipped in and out of a paperback volume, never to succeed in finishing it. The fault does not lie in Tolstoy's writing ability, but in my application and concentration. His study of the early years of nineteenth century Russia is penetrating, incisive, spiritual and horrific by turns. I love his breadth, but also his eye for details. It is literally a book which changes the way in which you view the world. I'm currently further on in War and Peace than ever before, with a mere 270 out of 1444 pages to go. I feel like a mountaineer completing the final sections of Everest, I can see the summit but the air is getting thin! I'll publish a special post when I complete this major reading goal! I know that anyone who already endures reading this blog will look forward to that (he jests).

If the prospect of battling your way through War and Peace (pardon the pun) fills you with dread, then take heart. According to the BBC News Website today, it's possible to bluff your way to sounding like you've read Tolstoy's tome!! The article prompts two main questions from me:

1. Why would you want to bluff anyone that you'd read this book (or any other for that matter)?

2. Is this really the BBC's best effort to inspire reading in a culture which is already dumbing down - on the one day of the year when the love and reward of books is to be promoted?

Now, back to the HP sauce bottle...

Service Announcement

Apologies for the paucity of posts recently, this has only been an intermission and normal service will resume shortly!
Drinks and refreshments are available at the back of the blog, where one of our stewards will be happy to serve you...