OFF WITH THE PIXIES

After a slow posting fortnight its going to be a no posting week.

The Hosiers are gathering (well, at least the UK based ones are) for a weeks holiday together. Dad turns 65 this weekend, following his final bows at CCK last weekend; and Grace was 40 this week, so we have some celebrating and commiserating to do together.

There will, however, be posts appearing on The Leaders Poole next week, digging into my dad's reflections on 40 years in ministry; and if you happen to be in Cornwall this Sunday you might want to come to Blaze Church where I am preaching.

A week of clotted cream and pasty eating awaits...!

BOOK REVIEW: MINORITY REPORT

Minority Report: Unpopular thoughts on everything from ancient Christianity to Zen-Calvinism by Carl R. Trueman

Now, this guy I like.

I read and enjoy Trueman’s posts on the Reformation 21 blog, so when I saw this in my local bookstore it was a no-brainer to buy it. The book comprises a collection of Trueman’s blog posts, but begins with four longer essays. In the introduction Trueman describes his book as “without a theme and with no obvious market” but were I the publisher I would have printed the longer essays at the end of the book, as they could be somewhat off-putting to the general reader. So my advice would be to buy the book, but start reading it half-way through.

Despite Trueman’s claim to be writing without a theme, there are consistent themes that run through the chapters. Trueman is professor of historical theology and church history at Westminster Theological Seminary (as well as being editor of Themelios) and in his writing seeks to help the reader ask questions of current cultural and theological givens against the backdrop of church history. For example, he is consistently critical of an evangelicalism which no longer means very much:

What is evangelicalism? It is a title I myself identify with on occasion, especially when marking myself off from liberalism, another ill-defined, amorphous, transdenominational concept. But in a world where there are “evangelicals” who deny justification by faith as understood by the Protestant Reformers, who deny God’s comprehensive knowledge of the future, who deny penal substitutionary atonement, who deny the Messianic self-consciousness of Christ, who have problems with the Nicene Creed, who deny the Chalcedonian definition of Christ’s person, who cannot be trusted to make clear statements on homosexuality, and who advocate epistemologies and other philosophical viewpoints which are entirely unprecedented in the history of the orthodox Christian church, it is clear that the term “evangelical” and its cognates, without any qualifying adjective, such as “confessional” or “open” or “post-conservative,” is in danger of becoming next to meaningless.

Although resident in America, Trueman is a Brit, and brings a very British, somewhat sarcastic, sense of humour to his writing. Which is probably why I enjoy reading him so much. Here is a good example:

One of the questions I have been asked with some frequency… is why my contributions… tend to have something of a facetious edge to them. I am tempted to answer simply that that is the kind of person I am. If you want a bland blog, there are plenty of options out there, but, as Mariah Carey doesn’t do stairs, I try my best not to do bland. Whether I’m successful or not is unclear, though the amount of hate mail is encouraging in this regard: please keep sending it in; it means a lot to me and, judging by the adjectives alone, I know it means a lot to you too.

The American’s might not get that, but it really made me laugh! In fact, Trueman writes in a way I like to think I would, if only my IQ score were several points higher. He is phenomenally well read and sharp and brings a surgeons scalpel as well as a demolition hammer to the issues he discusses. It’s a long time since I’ve added quite so many squiggles in the margin to a book – pretty much everything seems worthy of underlining. There is so much here that I would like to quote that this review would just become a slightly shorter version of the book. But if you are brave enough, and sometimes enjoy the bracing slap of provocative theological insight across the flabby cheek of contemporary evangelicalism this is a book to read yourself. For brilliant insights into why the Calvinist doctrine of total depravity is so important; and into Ted Haggard’s fall from grace; and into our cultures obsession with youth, this is a book to chew on.

In his quest for subverting received wisdom Trueman is unafraid to upset some Evangelical apple carts. I’ll finish with this quote which stands as a good example of his unsettling style:

There are those who can write thousands of words on a man like Martyn Lloyd Jones with scarcely a word of criticism. Yet one assumes the Doctor, for all his great achievements, was still totally depraved like the rest of us; one assumes therefore that he did many things that were at least ambiguous in their impact and effects; and one might reasonably expect anyone writing on him, even his staunchest allies, to reflect this basic fact. Indeed, a study of him, warts and all, might well be more useful than a hagiography which leaves the reader either crushed (“I can never be like Lloyd Jones”), depressed (“if only the church had another Lloyd Jones everything would be alright…”), manipulative (“Well, the Doctor would have agreed with me…”), or positively dangerous (“Hey, maybe I should simply ignore the doctrine of the church as well!”). That the last few sentences almost certainly guarantee me splenetic hate mail merely proves my point. C.S. Lewis is another example: why is it that evangelicals have to make him into an evangelical in order to feel comfortable learning from him? He was not an evangelical, would have repudiated the designation, and is often useful to evangelical readers precisely because of his differences with the broad evangelical tradition. To have to make him – or any other great of the past – into something which conforms to that with which we are comfortable is both thoroughly patronizing towards Lewis and an act of narcissism which insulates us from allowing his thought to critique us.

Wow! Any evangelical prepared to go for those shibboleth’s has got to be fun to read!

EAT JESUS

If you're not yet following the Eat Jesus blog check it out (and not just because I post on it!). It's an interesting team blog with a particular focus on helping you get into the Bible more and well worth having a look at.

BOOK REVIEW: THE PLAN

The Plan: Twelve months to renew Britain by D. Carswell and D. Hannan

Daniel Hannan MEP shot to YouTube fame in March with his “The devalued Prime Minister of a devalued Government” speech in the European Parliament.



It is unusual for a political speech (especially one by an MEP) to top the YouTube ratings so I decided to read Hannan’s book and see what his agenda is.

Hannan is a Tory MEP and Carswell a Tory MP so it is unlikely that those of the left are going to enjoy reading this manifesto, especially when it comes to the sections on the NHS and education. However, there is much here that people of all political persuasions should find stimulating.

The furore that has erupted over MP’s expenses the past couple of days gave an interesting backdrop against which to read this book. Appropriately, the authors start their argument with a section headed, “Why everyone hates politicians.” Carswell and Hannan locate this disdain not in the abuse of power by our representatives, but rather in the fact that politicians have too little power – that the power they should have has been ceded to unaccountable quangos. The reason, they argue, that we are so hostile to politicians is because we see them as people who do nothing. So of course we are angry when they are redecorating their boyfriend’s house or watching porn at our expense.

Turnout at local elections since 1996 has averaged 35.4 per cent. Participation at general elections… is also plummeting… Small wonder that fewer and fewer people bother to vote. It’s not that they are apathetic. It’s that they can see that their MP’s and councillors have less impact on them than have the Learning and Skills Council, the Food Standards Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, the Financial Services Authority, the Equality Commission, the Child Support Agency and a thousand other quangos stretching up to the European Commission… The British politician is no longer able to discharge his primary function. He cannot effect meaningful change in his constituents’ lives. He has therefore ceased to be a vessel for popular will. No longer an agent of change, he has become a parasite.

The twelve month plan Carswell and Hannan propose to resolve this malaise includes legislation to:

• Clean up Westminster
• Devolve power to the lowest practicable level
• Make public services work for the people who use them
• Bring foreign and domestic policy back in line with public opinion
• Replace the quango state with genuine democracy
• Refresh our political system through localism and the use of referendums

I find the case for dispersing and localising power a compelling one. I would like to be able to vote for a local sheriff, with control of policing. I would like there to be the potential for citizen sponsored referendums. I would like my local councillors to be given some real authority. And I think regardless of whether one is of the left or the right any serious democrat should want those kind of things. There has got to be something wrong with our centralised system when fewer than half of those sitting GCSE’s in English and Maths gain grades higher than D; and where we are spending £140 billion each year on social security benefits and tax credits.

The NHS and education are such sacred cows to so many people that this book might well be thrown against the wall in disgust before it is half-way through, but I imagine the section that will cause the most spluttering is that on an independent Britain. Carswell & Hannan’s claim is:

European integration is a technocratic and elitist project. We make this observation in no carping spirit: that is what it is meant to be. Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman and the other fathers of the European Communities had a profound distrust of untrammelled democracy which, in their eyes, had led to fascism and war. That is why they deliberately vested supreme power in an unelected European Commission – a body intended explicitly to be immune to public opinion. Complaining that the EU is undemocratic is like complaining that a cow is bovine, or a butterfly flighty: it is designed that way.

The authors’ proposed solution to this is withdrawal from the EU and a renegotiated relationship with Europe, along the lines of the European Free Trade Area arrangements enjoyed by Switzerland, Leichtenstein, Norway and Iceland – countries with a GDP 214 per cent of that in the EU. While 84 per cent of national legislation in EU member states derives from Brussels it is not possible, say Carswell & Hannan, to ensure that:

• Decisions are taken as closely as possible to the people they affect
• Decision-makers are directly accountable
• Citizens are free from state coercion

Both Carswell & Hannan’s analysis of the problems facing our political system and their plan to resolve them will generate heated debate. And that is good! Whatever your political persuasion I would recommend reading this book, and arguing about it with other people. Our democracy needs some good arguments.

WHY MEN HATE GOING TO CHURCH

From an article in the Daily Mail:

They have stood the test of time and it seems that today, despite all the changes to church services, men still prefer to sing 'proper macho hymns'.

Nearly 60 per cent of those who took part in a survey said they enjoyed singing - but added comments showing they preferred anthemic songs and 'proclamational' hymns as opposed to more emotional love songs.

Sixty per cent said they did not like flowers and embroidered banners in church, while 52 per cent did not like dancing in church.

Comments gathered from the online survey of 400 UK readers of the men's magazine Sorted also showed many did not like hugging, holding hands or sitting in circles discussing their feelings in church. Most were churchgoers.

The magazine suggested a top ten of male-friendly hymns including: Onward Christian Soldiers, Guide Me O Thy Great Redeemer, All People That On Earth Do Dwell, Amazing Grace and Dear Lord And Father Of Mankind Forgive Our Foolish Ways.

To read more click here

(HT Reformation 21)

SUPREME PREACHING

Voddie Baucham might be too strong meat for many, but I enjoyed this:

BOOK REVIEW: A MAN CALLED CASH

The Man Called Cash, by Steve Turner

I didn’t have any real awareness of Johnny Cash until he died.

One September evening in 2003 I was driving to a swim session with my triathlon club, listening to Bob Harris’ regular country music show on Radio 2, when Harris talked about Cash’s death and played Folsom Prison Blues. I was blown away. Since then I have acquired all the American recordings, and some earlier material – which I listened to on loop as I was reading this.

Over the past few years I have become increasingly interested in the roots music of country, blues and folk and Cash has been high on my play list. The man himself has remained something of an enigma though. Try and breakdown the different aspects of his performance and there is nothing particularly special about him. Yes, he has a wonderful baritone voice, but his vocal range is limited. And he is hardly the most accomplished of guitarists. Yet I would rate his cover of U2’s “One” (which I consider probably the greatest pop song ever) the definitive version, and I cannot watch the video of “Hurt” without coming over all weepy. There is something about the sum of the man that is so much greater than any analysis of the parts. As Turner puts it:

As with many legends in popular music, it’s not easy to say exactly what made Cash great. He never became a great guitarist, his voice had a limited range, and his lyrics veered between poetry and doggerel. But the combination of that voice, those words, and that guitar far exceeded the greatness of any one element. He was a presence, a form of energy, a vehicle for truth.

Cash grew up in genuine poverty, in a farming community in the Great Depression. As a child he picked cotton on the family small holding. He came to fame and fortune in the 50’s, nearly lost everything through drug addiction and re-emerged in the 90’s as a cool-again performer. Cash is in someway the embodiment, the voice, of America – from poverty to riches, loss and redemption, a star with the common touch.

What is culturally and historically fascinating is the way the American South produced a new form of music in the 50’s. Elvis and Cash (along with Jerry Lee Lewis and others) emerged at almost exactly the same time from almost exactly the same geographical place to transform the world of music, and in a way the world – a bunch of Southern Baptist and Pentecostal boys infused with gospel music and with country in their souls suddenly gave birth to rock ‘n roll. Elvis became the king, but I hadn’t previously realized how closely he and Cash tracked one another, especially in their early years. What happened in Memphis in the 1950’s made the subsequent history of rock and pop possible. Without Sun Records popular culture as we now know it (for good and ill) would not be what it is.

Cash’s story is one of sadness and addiction, fame and faith. He was touched by grace at an early age but the pressures of constant touring, and the dependence on amphetamines that it led to, destroyed his first marriage and saw Cash drifting from the beliefs that he held dear. Cash’s relationship with June Carter, herself already through two marriages, in a way saved him, and in the end it was his faith that won out over his addictions. Rick Rubin then saved Cash as a recording artist, by liberating him from a tired country formula and enabling him to record the American albums that connected Cash with a whole new audience – with people like me.

To read this biography is to read a story of grace. It is a story of Jesus’ unfailing love triumphing over the frequent rebellion of one of his most gifted children. What stands out about Cash in the end is his faith in a Savior who was able to restore him to grace despite all his failure and pain. It was this Cash – the Cash who had hit rock bottom on more than one occasion, who had come so close to losing it all – who was able to subvert songs of dereliction and cynicism and romantic love (“Hurt” and “Personal Jesus” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”), turning them into expressions of praise to his Savior.

And I think that’s why I love listening to him sing.

BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY IN DORSET

Dogs, kids and bluebells in the woods. Does it get better than this...?

IN OUR GOD

Of the vast array of BBC radio programs now available on podcast the one I get is In Our Time on which Melvyn Bragg and assorted intellectuals discuss the history of ideas. I am a huge fan of IOT, probably the most erudite 42 minutes on the airwaves each week. But the reality is I never listen to those podcasts - there just never seems to be time... However, I do each week read Melvyn's newsletter which accompanies the show. Here is an interesting quote from his most recent offering:

At lunch with one of my oldest and best friends, I remembered
that I’d said after the programme “after all that you’ve said, it makes
faith seem quite plausible”. Because the basics of modern physics is
so ridiculously implausible, ie: unproveable, untrackable, unknowable,
it does make the idea that a god (in whom Darwin believed and, of
course, Newton) created what’s what.

Indeed it does Melvyn, indeed it does.