GETTING THE NEEDLE

I attended my first full meeting of the Dorset Research Ethics Committee today. Every NHS trust has a REC, which is responsible for scrutinizing all medical research for its ethical implications. Before moving to Poole I was briefly a member of the Greenwich & Bexley REC, and feel it is a good thing to do. It stretches my brain, and gives me a connection to the world of science which I thought I had left far behind when I dropped out of my zoology PhD and took up church work back in 1994. It is also good to be involved in something that is primarily concerned with the welfare of the patient – in that sense it is pastoral work under a different guise.

I am profoundly grateful to science. Or rather, I am profoundly grateful to God for gracing humans with the ability to do science. And I am grateful to live in a country where medical research is subjected to ethical scrutiny. It is a wonderful grace that we live in a society with such regard for the individual.

Science is amazing. This week I was back in the dentists chair, and it is especially at moments like that that I am most grateful for science.

Take the hypodermic needle. So ubiquitous. Feared by many. A shorthand sign for drug abuse. But actually a miracle of science. I am very glad to live in an age when a needle so sharp it can’t be felt delivers a shot of anaesthetic just where it is needed so that I can’t feel the dentist slicing a tooth away.

I think hypodermic needles are brilliant! I thank Jesus for hypodermic needles!



And without science there wouldn’t be any blogging – which may or may not be something to thank Jesus for…

The blogs I read have been busy.

I was amused to see that Mark Driscoll used the same heading on his blog recently that I had previously used on mine. I also enjoyed this tribute to John Piper. I had the privilege of interviewing Piper a few years back, and was struck by him in a similar way to Driscoll.

The trans-Atlantic theme continues on Terry Virgo’s blog with the news that Tim Keller will be over in the new year. Keller, Piper and Driscoll have become something of an American trinity for many of us over the past few years. It has been like progressive revelation: First Piper helped us to understand Christian hedonism, that the deeper our awe at the supremacy of God the greater our joy becomes. Then Keller taught us to understand the different leadership skills needed in different sized churches and how to speak to the ‘defeater beliefs’ of our culture. And then Driscoll burst on the scene, yelling at us to shift our butts, plant churches and build cities within the city.

In a sense there is nothing new about this trans-Atlantic stimulus. My greatest all time Christian hero, George Whitefield, spent his ministry on creaking boats criss-crossing the ocean from Britain to America. I’m sure Lex will get on to Whitefield at some point soon on his new blog (which I recommend even though it is outrageous that he should be awarded a Warnie even before starting!).

One other post that caught my eye – a good example of religious publishing at its nutty edge. Be careful what you read, and how you read it...

FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN NEWFRONTIERS

This is worth reading.

ECONOMIC LINKS

A post encouraging us to pray for the economy from Desiring God.

And a very helpful one here about how to think biblically about banking (thanks to Phil for this link).

A LITTLE BIT OF POLITICS

The book of Ecclesiastes teaches us that timing is everything. Many of the mistakes we make in life are not so much mistakes of action as mistakes of timing - doing the right thing, but at the wrong time. The flip side of this is that when people look their best it is often because they have got their timing right. The best sportsmen, the greatest musicians, have that certain something that makes them so good, and that something is timing.

Timing is of particular importance in leadership, and thus in politics. I am a fan of Politics, but consider it ironic how politicians are quick to ascribe their success to good decision making and leadership and their failures to world events beyond their control. The reality is that both success and failure are in very large measure determined by timing. That is not to say that the actions of politicians don't really make any difference - after all, it has not simply been the timing of Robert Mugabe's decisions that has destroyed the Zimbabwean economy - but timing is crucial, and usually beyond the control of the politician. We might call this timing 'luck'.

Tony Blair was lucky in his timing - if Neil Kinnock had been electable the Labour Party wouldn't have needed to appoint John Smith as their leader. If John Smith hadn't died then Blair wouldn't have been able to seize the leadership, and at a time when the Conservatives were beginning to fall apart. Blair was always lucky with his timing.

Gordon Brown was also lucky with his timing. He became Chancellor at just the moment when the UK (and world) economy was beginning to boom. He didn't have to do much good to look good. And I do think that some of the things he did were bad - selling our gold reserves when the price was rock bottom, for example. We could do with that gold now.

Blair also got his timing right in resigning just before the economy imploded. If Brown had resigned at the same time he would now be looking very good. Instead of his party conference next week calling for his head, they would be screaming for him to come back and get things under control again. He would have looked wise, gracious and magnanimous, rather than how he looks now. He would have done much better to allow wise timing to determine his decisions rather than his ambition to be Prime Minister.

In the current economic crisis no-one seems to have their timing right. Some commentators are boldly saying that the solution is to push interest rates higher, inflation is the enemy, get the money supply under control. Others are saying the exact opposite. Who are we meant to believe? The 'experts' don't seem to have served us very well so far.

I'm concerned about the Lloyds/HBOS merger. Big Banks have been the problem - why is making them bigger going to make things better? Wouldn't more, smaller, institutions be better? Wouldn't that increase genuine competition and spread the risks? (Answers please from all you economists!) I hope Brown has got his timing right on that one...

Anyway, as followers of Jesus there are some timing things we can be certain of: It is always timely to seek after Jesus and put our confidence in him, and we can be always confident that he always gets his timing right. As Romans 5:6 puts it, "at just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly." Praise God for that!

CERTAINTY IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

I preached a sermon with this title on Sunday. Waking up to the news about Lehman Brothers, et al yesterday it seemed even more appropriate.

It is only a few weeks since the Prime Minister rebuked the Chancellor for saying we are facing the worst financial crisis in 60 years. Yesterday all commentators were agreeing that the Chancellor was wrong - but only in the sense that this is the worst financial crisis in 80 years. A "once in a century event," as Alan Greenspan put it.

Its going to be ugly, for a lot of people.

I took one of my daughters to Poole Park yesterday and got talking to an elderly couple who were enjoying an ice-cream in the sunshine. John & Hannah were 88 & 89. Next May they will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Hannah now has Alzheimer’s, and I was deeply touched by the way that John was caring for her, wiping the ice-cream from her chin and holding her hand. It was a privilege to be able to sit and talk with them, and then pray with them. There was something incredibly noble about them, despite their physical frailty. It was the nobility of faithful love - of certainty in uncertain times.

In the days ahead there are going to be a lot of people who need to know love like that.

A GOOD WEEK

This has been an excellent week!

Last Sunday was fantastic. Our Vision Sunday service went well and there seemed to be real enthusiasm as I shared some of the plans and goals we have for the next year. The headline announcement was that we are going to change the name of the church to Gateway Church, Poole. I had not anticipated us doing this so early on in my time here, but it seems to be something God has clearly led us in (more explanation of this is available here).

I was so impressed by the congregations willingness to embrace change and the sense of momentum we are beginning to generate.

After the service we went to the beach, for a barbeque and baptisms. This was also a wonderful time, and made all the more memorable by the fact that another church was there at the same time also baptising people. It felt very book of Acts!


It has also been a week of much prayer. We had excellent prayer meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening, and yesterday I spent the day in Brighton with a group of guys who Terry Virgo had invited to pray with him. It is always a privilege to pray with Terry, and to be inspired by the passion of the other men there.

I like weeks like this!

GETTING TO THE ROOT

For a number of years I have had the occasional problem with one of my teeth – a sharp pain when I catch it wrong while eating. As I have passed through the hands of various dentists none of them have been able to see anything wrong with the tooth, and so it has just been left alone.

On the last day of Newday, five weeks ago, I bit on something and felt excruciating pain through the tooth. Rather than fading away as had previously been my experience, the pain continued. I am a wimp about the dentist, so I left it three weeks before getting an appointment, hoping it would get better. A wet August, with toothache, did mean the summer wasn’t as much fun as I’d hoped though.

When I did get to the dentist there was still nothing visibly wrong, so he put me on a course of antibiotics, thinking it might just be an infection. That made no difference either. So yesterday I was back in the chair, by this stage not really caring what he did, having been driven almost to the point of ripping the sucker out with a pair of pliers myself. The verdict was drill away and see what we find, or extract it. I was inclined to go for extraction – quicker and cheaper – but while in the waiting room waiting for the anaesthetic to take effect I took a straw poll and the general feeling of my fellow sufferers was that I should face the drill.

Since moving to a Baptist church I have become very democratic, so I followed their advice.

The dentist drilled, and after a few minutes came upon a crack that had not shown up on the x-ray. As usual with these things, the reality of the drilling was far less unpleasant that the anticipation. The only nasty moment was when he inserted a special tool into the root of the tooth to kill the nerve. I quivered like a spavined frog.

Being without pain for the first time in five weeks feels amazing.

Anyway, I’m sure there is an illustration in this somewhere – there are a lot of things in life which cause us pain and we don’t want touched because that will cause more pain. But the way to be pain free is to go right to the root. In the end it’s the only way to deal with it.

WHO AM I?

Now this is weird...



These dudes must have spent a lot of money and gone through a lot of pain to become what they have become, and I guess it has all been in the search for identity. The "Who am I?" question is one we all ask. Normally it becomes an issue in adolescence, as we begin to separate our identity from that of our parents. It also often becomes an issue in middle-age, when the reality of life's disappointments and our failings come tumbling in. Learning to be comfortable in one's own skin is a great gift.

For the Christian the question should be easier to answer. Who am I? I'm a child of the king. I'm in Christ Jesus. If every believer could just get that one clear it would be an end to pretty much every pastoral problem in church life!

As well as individual believers, churches need to have a sense of "This is who we are." This Sunday at Alder Road is Vision Sunday, when I plan to set out some more of what I think should define our sense of identity. It will mean some changes, although none so weird or painful as Lizard Man has gone through, and hopefully producing a lot more fruit.

SMACKDOWN: KELLER VS DRISCOLL

It is ages since I reviewed a book on this blog. Over the past few weeks my reading has been very slow anyway – distracted by the Olympics, playing with the children, mucking about with the boat, checking my tomatoes, attending conferences, and all the other stuff that goes to make up August – but I have managed to read The Reason for God by Tim Keller and Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears.

Theologically and missiologically Keller and Driscoll are coming from the same place, but they are from different generations and writing for a different kind of audience. Both are writing primarily for people in their 20’s & 30’s but Keller’s crowd is sophisticated New Yorkers while Driscoll’s is grungy Seattle-ites. Both books are doing the same kind of thing, but attempting it in very contrasting styles and while in my library The Reason for God will be filed under "Apologetics" Vintage Jesus will be under "Jesus Christ." The Reason for God seems directed more at non-believers, while being very helpful for Christians. Vintage Jesus is the other way around.

The similarity of content is evident in the subtitles; Keller’s is subtitled “Belief in an age of scepticism” and Driscoll’s “Timeless answers to timely questions.” The difference is seen in the writing style. For example, in addressing the subject of hell Pastor Tim deftly and subtly describes how our cultural location will shape how we respond to the idea of divine judgement: “If Christianity were the truth it would have to be offending and correcting your thinking at some place. Maybe this is the place, the Christian doctrine of divine judgement.” Driscoll is much less subtle, employing the example of a porn star who thinks she cannot be judged: “I pray she and others who share her peculiar illogic repent of their sin before facing [Jesus’] otherwise-certain hellish justice.”

Obviously, both these pastor/authors are American, and their language and illustrations reflect this. The closest recent British equivalent of these books I can think of is J. John’s The Life but Keller and Driscoll are both more detailed, more engaging and more punchy. (Tom Wright is probably doing something similar in Simply Christian, but I haven't got round to reading that yet.) I would give Keller’s book to an intelligent enquirer, someone who reads books for pleasure anyway. It wouldn’t suit a non-reader. Vintage Jesus has much more potential to offend, but would be a good choice to give to many students and 20’s. Keller uses many quotes from serious, substantial authors. Driscoll uses even more quotes, largely an almost bewildering selection of examples from pop culture. The footnotes for both are full.

When I listen to or read Keller I come away thinking, I wish I could express my thoughts so clearly, so reasonably, so logically. The man is brilliant. I have now heard a lot of Driscoll, but his directness still has the power to make me splutter. I remember once preaching on regeneration and using as an example the Marilyn Manson song ‘Born Again’ only to be basically shouted down by one of my fellow elders who was unhappy about me quoting pop culture from the pulpit; Driscoll is not in the least afraid to describe the most extreme examples of pop culture in getting his point across!

Both these books are worth buying, reading, and giving away.

To finish, a quote from each, representing their different approaches:

Keller:

Conservative writers and speakers are constantly complaining that the young people of our culture are relativistic and amoral. As a pastor in Manhattan I have been neck-deep in sophisticated twentysomethings for almost two decades, and I have not found this to be the case. The secular, young adults I have known have a very finely honed sense of right and wrong. There are many things happening in the world that evoke their moral outrage. There is a problem with their moral outlook, however.

Driscoll:

What I learned… is that some days on the earth stink. The other days on the earth really stink, no matter what stupid songs say. This tethering to reality has proven helpful to me over the years, which is why if I hear one more perma-grin motivational speaker on television tell me to have positive thoughts, be happy, or stay positive, I swear I will hunt them down and punch them in the throat while reading Lamentations aloud.

You pays your money, you takes your choice!

SUMMER FRUIT

I have just eaten the first ripe tomato of the year from my greenhouse. September 3rd! It wasn't even particularly nice.

SUMMER RAIN

I think I am getting more lachrymose as I grow older - maybe its what comes of being a father and being caught up in the emotion of children. Anyway, there were a number of moments over the summer when I felt a certain tickle in the tear ducts.

Grace & I were fairly glued to the Olympics and most of the time while watching I had a lump in my throat. This is somewhat pathetic. People I don't know, doing things that when thought about seriously are generally faintly ridiculous, all for the sake of a disc of metal and 'glory'. But there it is - sport gets my emotions.

I think it is because sport at its most perfect (which of course the Olympics is all about) is quasi-spiritual. Now, I detest all the religiosity that surrounds the Olympics - the flame, the flag, the hymn, the earnestness, the 'sport is what draws the nations together in one happy whole' nonsense. But I do think there is something spiritual about men and women doing things that men and women cannot normally do. It is where we see humanity at its most god-like.

This is why I get all emotional about it. Man is pretty spectacular. We are amazing. We take ourselves for granted but every four years, at the Olympics, a window opens into the extraordinary creature that man is. Chris Hoy's thighs, Michael Phelp's shoulders, the beach volley ballers beach volleyballing... The physical dimension of man expressed at its most perfect and extreme.

Normally when in need of rest and relaxation I look for places that are thin with people, but sometimes being part of a crowd is exhilarating. Last summer being part of a crowd of a million in London watching the Tour de France was an incredible experience. This past weekend being part of a crowd of 250,000 watching the Bournemouth Air Show was fantastic. It made me weepy again. All those people - happy people, no agro - there to enjoy the exploits of other people.

The theological explanation behind all this is that man is made in the image of God, and when man is acting to the limits of his capability he most closely resembles the creator. I think this makes me emotional because it is so impressive, but also because it is so flawed. Man at his best is so god-like, but also so obviously of the earth - limited and transient and likely to fail.

This is probably why the place I get most emotional of all is in vibrant times of corporate worship. It is there that we humans - with our amazing capabilities and all too evident weaknesses - come face to face with the true God. Face to face with the one who knows what it is to be a perfect man. Face to face with Jesus. And face to face with him I see both what I am now and what I will one day become.

It moves me to tears.