As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God | Matthew Parris - Times Online

Here is an astonishing, and astonishingly frank and honest confession from a confirmed atheist offering unqualified support for Christian mission. I urge you to read the whole article at Times Online.

"Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.

I used to avoid this truth by applauding - as you can - the practical work of mission churches in Africa. It's a pity, I would say, that salvation is part of the package, but Christians black and white, working in Africa, do heal the sick, do teach people to read and write; and only the severest kind of secularist could see a mission hospital or school and say the world would be better without it. I would allow that if faith was needed to motivate missionaries to help, then, fine: but what counted was the help, not the faith.

But this doesn't fit the facts. Faith does more than support the missionary; it is also transferred to his flock. This is the effect that matters so immensely, and which I cannot help observing."

As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God | Matthew Parris - Times Online

Dear Saints - A Message of Hope

A Message of Hope for a Church under Siege (Rev.1:9-20)

As we look forward, with increasing trepidation, to a New Year it is well to remember the message of assurance and encouragement Jesus has given in his letters to the seven churches in John's Revelation. Finanical empires are falling in the city and bombs are falling in the Middle East. There is, and has been for some time, a growing disquiet among Evangelical believers that the church is under increasing attack from the forces of secularism, liberalism and opposing spiritual powers. We are aware, I hope, of the daily and shocking persecution suffered by Christians in the developing world. Daily bulletins from missions such as Barnabus Fund deliver shocking tales of brutality against people whose only crime is to trust the name of Jesus.

In the developed world, as men's hearts fail them, Christians are coming under increasing pressure to bow the knee to liberal ideologies that insist all faiths are equal and equally wrong. Freedom of speech is being attacked in the name of multiculturalism and multi-faith ideology, led by people who think the greatest virtues are niceness and getting along (see here). Christians are being taken to court and successfully prosecuted for simply evangelising and outreach ministry is being curtailed to avoid causing some imagined offence that cannot be tolerated by liberals who insist it is wrong to teach that Christians alone have it right. Ironically, in this the liberals are convinced that they alone are right. One case highlights the growing problem. MacGregor Ministries have been told that they cannot minister as they have been because it is no longer politically correct. In a statement on their new web site http://www.macgregorministries.org/ they explained:

“The Canadian Government has made it impossible for us to continue as a Christian Charity and not compromise our faith. They have shut down some 2,500 charities already over the past year for various reasons.

The government no longer allows critiques of other faiths, even if done fairly and documented thoroughly. Freedom of speech guaranteed under our Charter in Canada does not extend to charities I was bluntly told.”

I hear concerned voices and understand those concerns. There is much speculation about the times but one thing is for sure; every time is a good time if we know what to do with it and every time is a good time to turn to the Bible. That is where we find comfort, encouragement and guidance to face the times in which we live.

Towards the end of the first century Christians were entering a time of persecution. We are told that Christian worship stood in stark opposition to the cult of emperor worship; churches were being warned of coming trials; Christians had already given their lives for the faith (Rev.2:13) and John had been banished to the penal colony of Patmos – a sort of Roman Guantanamo Bay – for his missionary activity. It was there that he received his great vision of Jesus, of what is and of what was later to come to pass (Rev.1:19).

In this vision we learn three things about Jesus:

“Jesus is Lord of Glory” (Rev.1:13-17a)

In his vision John sees “one like a son of man”, Jesus’ term for himself (Mk.8:31), reflecting his humanity. But this vision showed Jesus in all his glory and divinity, wearing “a robe reaching down to his feet and a gold sash”, symbolic of his role as our high priest (Heb.4:14); having hair “white like wool” symbolic of his infinite wisdom; eyes “like blazing fire”, symbolising penetrating insight. “Out of his mouth,” we are told, “came a sharp double-edged sword”, symbolising his judgement (c.f. Heb.4:12). The one who came and shared fully in our humanity was now glorified, “with the glory I had with you before the world began.” (Jn.17:5) Is it any wonder that John “fell at his feet as though dead”?

“Jesus is Lord of Life and Death” (Rev.1:17b-18)

In a statement that is a comfort and encouragement to every Christian and the heart of the Gospel message Jesus declared:

“Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

Jesus has defeated our great enemy and now holds the keys to death, from which he will release us, and life, which he gives all those who trust in the One who sent him (Jn.5:24).

“Jesus is Lord of His Church” (Rev.1:19-20)

The seven stars he holds are probably the spirits of the churches and the lamp stands are the churches to which John is writing. Jesus holds each in his hands and, significantly, he is described as “among the lamp stands” (Rev.1:13). It is Jesus’ church and he is intimately involved with his church and all things are in his control, even though now, on Patmos, John does not see it. So with us; we see the difficulties facing the church and can lose sight of who is Lord of Glory, of Life and Death and of the Church.

John tells us that all this happened when, “On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit” (Rev.1:10). It is said that “In Patmos we suffer; in the Spirit we reign” and we need to take away from this that wonderful truth. Twice Jesus told John to “Write what you see” (Rev.1:11, 19) and I am reminded of the words of Jesus to Thomas:

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (Jn.20:29)

Do we believe the report of those who have seen? Do we appreciate the care with which Jesus told them to “write what you have seen” and then preserved that report for us? Do we look at these things and remember that “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (Jn.16:33)?

These are increasingly difficult times but - Jesus is Lord!

A Meditation and Devotional for Christmas

Reading – "Sovereign Lord, as You Have Promised...” (Luke 2:29-32)

The Promise to Eve

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Ge.3:15, c.f. Lk.2:7; Gal.4:4; Rev.12:5)

The Promise to Abraham

“Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on earth will be blessed through him” (Ge.18:18, c.f. Mt.1:1; Lk 3:34; Gal.4:4)

The Promise to Jacob

“A star will come out of Jacob; a sceptre will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth” (Nu.24:17, c.f. Lk 3:34; Mt.1:2)

The Promise to Judah

“The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet. Until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his” (Ge.49:10, c.f. Lk. 3:33; Mt.1:2-3)

The Promise to David

“Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this” (Is.9:7, c.f. Is.11:1-5; Mt.1:1,6)

The Promise to Bethlehem

“But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times” (Mic.5:2, c.f. Mt.2:1; Lk.2:4-7)

The Promise to the Virgin

“Therefore the LORD himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel” (Is.7:14, c.f. Mt.1:18; Lk.1:26-35)

The Promise to Galilee

“Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honour Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan – The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Is.9:1-2, c.f. Mt.4:12-16)

The Promise to God’s People

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers, you must listen to him” (Dt.18:15, c.f. Jn.6:14; 1:45; Ac.3:19-26)

The Promise to Sinners

“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Is.53:4-5, c.f. Mt.8:16-17; Ro.4:25; 1 Cor.15:3)

The Promise of Victory

“When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious – that you, O Lord God, might dwell there” (Ps.68:18, c.f. Lk.24:50-51; Ac.1:9)

God’s Promises are ‘Yes’ in Christ Jesus

“As surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you...was not ‘Yes’ and ‘No’, but in him it has always been ‘Yes’. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.
He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor.1:18-22)

God Who keeps His Promises

Moved by the Spirit, [Simeon] went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, “as you have promised”, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, “which you have prepared in the sight of all people” a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to tour people Israel” (Lk.2:27-32)

Equipping the Cults to Deal With the Church - 12

What Good is it if a Man Claims to Have Faith?

The bottom line is that it takes joined up church and grown up Christianity to reach out to cults and to make it possible for a former JW/Mormon to find a home amongst Christians and too many Christians, leaders included, seem to just play at it. We ‘believe’ in the doctrine and sing with gusto the songs but need to realise that ‘faith without works is dead’ (James.2:20) With James, I say, ‘show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do’ (James 2:18)

Sometimes, in our evangelistic efforts, we can lay such great store on correcting people that we can forget to value them. It is as though the person to whom we are speaking has no value until they come around to our way of thinking. It is well to remember that God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Ro.5:8). God’s response to our sinfulness and rebellion is a demonstration of love. Setting apart Christ in your heart means more than telling the woman at the well that she is wrong in her beliefs and lifestyle. It means demonstrating that she is valued by speaking to her with gentleness and respect for the Christ who died for her too.

In “witnessing to the cults” it is very easy to become combative when we mean to be challenging, condemnatory when we should be caring, judgmental when we should be gentle and respectful.

Our witnessing isn’t to make us look clever, but to make the message clear and more convincing. Remember that Jesus could have commanded angelic legions and looked mighty and triumphant if that had been God’s purpose (Matt.26:52-54). How often have I heard tales of Christians sending off a Jehovah’s Witness “with their tail between their legs”, the argument won but the Witness lost? As we marshal our legion of arguments we must ask whether we are serving the purpose of God in winning souls or serving ourselves in gaining a reputation for winning arguments. Are we sharing the good news that Christ died for sinners, the just for the unjust, or are we just breaking the bad news that our visitor is in a cult and doomed unless they get out? There is a world of difference.

We don’t witness primarily to pull down the Mormon Church or the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society but to win the Mormon or Witness at your door. Long after Jesus had returned to glory both the temple and the establishment that crucified him still stood – for a time. But already, during his ministry and following Pentecost, people were responding to the call to repent and be baptised. Individuals were being saved into the kingdom even as the machinations of Satan seemed indestructible.

Apologetics is an essential tool in our armoury, but we should remember that we do not struggle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm (Eph.6:12). This is particularly difficult for those who have been victims of deception but it is well to remember that the Mormon at your door is not the Mormon Church; the Witness is not the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. You are not tearing down strongholds but building a bridge. If we have put on Christ then, though we may burn with anger at the injustice and deception perpetrated by these organisations, we will look with love and compassion on those who are deceived.

Apologetics isn’t enough and no one can be reasoned into becoming a Christian. Apologetics can, however, remove obstacles to faith by showing that the Christian faith is not irrational. We can, with God’s help, “convince” people of so much, but more important than being convinced is being convicted. Conviction of sin is something brought by the Holy Spirit. That is why we need to pray for those to whom we witness. If we do not value them we will be less inclined to pray for them. If we value them we will speak the truth with gentleness and respect and pray that they may come to know him even as we have. Because they, like sheep, have gone astray, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of them all - if someone would but tell them the truth, in love.

If you truly believe in victory don’t go to the door in fear.

If you believe in grace don’t go to the door in judgement.

If you truly trust God then go to the door trusting that he has given you an opportunity to demonstrate assurance and share grace.

Otherwise don’t open the door because you will only make things worse.

Previous posts:
If These are Christians
The problem with the Church
The Problem with Anti-Cult Ministry
The Fear is Irrational
The Prejudice is Petulant
The ignorance is Inexcusable
The Indifference is Frightening
Christians and the Magical World-View
Ambiguity Tolerance
When They Look at the Church
What the Former Cultist Needs
What Good is it if a Man Claims to Have Faith?

Equipping the Cults to Deal With the Church - 11

What the Former Cultist Needs

In spite of all I have said, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and others become Christians and the new believer coming out of a cult faces challenges of his own. He has made a huge decision, the magnitude of which the Christian surely fails to appreciate. He has left behind friends, often relations, has changed loyalties, lost status perhaps, as well as reputation and standing in the community that, until recently, was his world. He comes with a mixture of excitement about the Good News of Jesus Christ, questions and understandable doubts about his decisions and hope that they have been right.

The best advice the new believer can have is to spend the next few years establishing firm Christian foundations in his life. This is so vital and yet the new believer, perhaps flattered by invitations to ‘share your testimony’, is often tempted to throw Himself into “ministry” and help others come out. He doesn’t need this right now and it won’t help Him become a fully born again Christian, with a knowledge of Christ that will take Him through life. Much needs to be unlearned and much to be learned and the best place to learn and grow is not the public platform. There is also often a subconscious agenda behind this eagerness to minister and help others ‘come out’, i.e. it reinforces the decision he has made and proves Him right. If others agree with you it is so affirming.

The Christian attitude to the former cultist so often reinforces this ill-advised ambition as the former Mormon/JW finds he has to prove his bona fides to everyone he meets by taking every opportunity to tell his story, publicly reject his past and work against his former friends. He is cast into the role of an “ex-Mormon/JW” and is forever known by what he was and not by what he has become or what he is becoming in Christ.

To put his roots down and establish a firm Christian foundation he needs to be welcomed and encouraged as would any other convert. His views and contributions need not be constantly treated with suspicion. When he struggles with issues, disagrees with people, questions things, or otherwise proves increasingly confident in his new found freedom it shouldn’t automatically be attributed to his background for which Christians, all-too-often, and all-too-often inappropriately “make allowances”. He has simply discovered how to think about his faith, something we all need to do more.

If he speaks warmly of his old friends and associates he need not be treated with suspicion, as though he were an un-rehabilitated cultist. His old friends were probably very nice human beings and, in light of the role his new Christian friends have thrust on him, he might be missing just a tad his old friends who simply accepted him for who he was. Why can't we do that?

Previous posts:

If These are Christians
The problem with the Church
The Problem with Anti-Cult Ministry
The Fear is Irrational
The Prejudice is Petulant
The ignorance is Inexcusable
The Indifference is Frightening
Christians and the Magical World-View
Ambiguity Tolerance
When They Look at the Church

Future Posts:

What Good is it if a Man Claims to Have Faith?

Equipping the Cults to Deal With the Church - 10

When They Look at the Church

We are often so busy looking at “them” that we don’t stop and ask what they see when they look at us. Currently, when the Mormon or JW looks at the church they see the Anglican Church, the church at war with itself, or the Charismatic Church, the church in love with itself and a mix of denominations, the church divided against itself. One of the basic claims of the cult is that the traditional Christian Church is apostate as evidenced by what they see when they look at us.

Of course, this is explained in Scripture in the parable of the wheat and weeds (Mt.13:24-30) and I often find myself explaining the nature of the church to the cultist. In Ephesians we read:

"And he gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God's people to works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Eph.4:11-14)

Now what will the church look like "until we reach a unity of the faith"? Unity is not something that falls out of heaven into our laps. It is something that develops as we give ourselves to "works of service" and apply ourselves to the apostle's teaching (Acts 2:42) "so that the body of Christ (the church) may be built up until we all reach a unity of the faith". Of course there is no room for complacency and every right thinking Christian seeks that maturity in the church. But since the church is living stones and not Portland stone, and since we are "being built into a spiritual house" there is need for grace as we become what we are destined to be.

Archbishop William Temple observed:

"What we must completely get away from is the notion that the world as it now exists is a rational whole; we must think of its unity not by the analogy of a picture, of which all parts exist at once, but by the analogy of a drama, where, if it is good enough, the full meaning of the first scene only becomes apparent with the final curtain; and we are in the middle of this. Consequently the world as we see it is strictly unintelligible. We can only have faith that it will become intelligible when the divine purpose, which is the explanation of it, is accomplished." (F. A. Iremonger, William Temple [London, 1948], p.22)

What Archbishop Temple said of the world might be said of the church in the world. It is a drama, in process, and the full meaning will indeed become apparent with the final curtain. Meanwhile we must recognise what we are in the middle of, and to what end it is taking us. That said it doesn’t help when Christians live up to the cultists worse fears by being reactionary, self-obsessed and judgemental.

Previous posts:
If These are Christians
The problem with the Church
The Problem with Anti-Cult Ministry
The Fear is Irrational
The Prejudice is Petulant
The ignorance is Inexcusable
The Indifference is Frightening
Christians and the Magical World-View
Ambiguity Tolerance

Future Posts:

What the Former Cultist Needs
What Good is it if a Man Claims to Have Faith?

Creative Minority Report: Dictionary Removes Christian Words - A Catholic Blog: Religion, Politics, Current Events, Humor, and more.

 

Many words associated with Christianity have been removed from a children's dictionary in Britain. Come on! Tell me you're surprised.
Oxford University Press has excised words like "aisle," "Saint," "devil," "bishop," and "chapel" from its Junior Dictionary and replaced them with words like "blog," "interdependent" and "celebrity," says The UK Telegraph.

As something of a dictionary enthusiast (I won't put it stronger than that, although it is something of an obsession actually) and as a sold out Bible-believing Christian I had to share this. The original blog comment is very good (please do look at it) but the subsequent posts are utterly priceless for anyone who truly appreciates the intelligent use of words and the right application of reason, and all done in the best possible taste.

I can only add that when your culture and history is being systematically removed from the dictionary that dreadful chimera multiculturalism has gone too far and turned from inclusiveness to appeasement.

Creative Minority Report: Dictionary Removes Christian Words - A Catholic Blog: Religion, Politics, Current Events, Humor, and more.

Equipping the Cults to Deal With the Church - 09

Ambiguity Tolerance

Christians know that mission is the fulfilment of the Great Commission (Mk.16:15) As Evangelicals we are especially aware of the need to share the evangel, the message of the gospel. Christians can show great resourcefulness in sharing the gospel, faithful in facing the suffering that goes with the territory (2 Tim.3:12); contending for the faith (Jude 1:3); guarding what has been entrusted to us (1 Tim.6:20). In all this suffering, contending and guarding we can become very combative, meeting those things that threaten the truth with belligerence and forgetting that we are also called upon to emulate Paul and “become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” (1 Cor.9:22) Commenting on this verse Leon Morris observed:

“This does not, of course, mean that his conduct was unprincipled... but where no principle was at stake he was prepared to go to extreme lengths to meet people. Personal considerations are totally submerged in the great aim of by all means saving some.” He quotes Henry Chadwick who declared that Paul “had an astonishing elasticity of mind, and flexibility in dealing with situations requiring delicate and ingenious treatment” (Tyndale NT Commentary)

Paul had what we today call a high ambiguity tolerance, the ability to respond to sudden change, unexpected outcomes, different circumstances and/or people. This is what is missing in so many Christians and its absence goes a long way in explaining the impatience of many with the cults. People are simply not prepared or equipped to meet the unexpected and adapt to circumstances and so fall back on the familiar.

When the cultist fails to meet the Christian’s comfortable expectations and to fit into the reassuringly familiar, the Christian, finding himself in unfamiliar territory, reacts with fear and panic instead of responding with confidence and love. Yet we will meet many different circumstances in our every-day lives and must be prepared to give a good account of ourselves as did Paul and many others.

Acts 2: Peter at Pentecost

When Peter stood up and spoke in Jerusalem at Pentecost he was addressing an informed audience, people to whom the promises of God were familiar touchstones of the faith. Peter could speak to them in the familiar idiom of God’s promises and their fulfilment in the story of Israel and ultimately in the sacrifice of Christ, the Son of David; “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16); “This is what David said...” (Acts 2:25) On that day, we are told, 3,000 were saved.

Acts 8: Phillip and the Ethiopian

In the case of Phillip and the Ethiopian we find a different scenario, in which Phillip addresses a seeking audience, one who was looking anxiously for an understanding of those things but without the background or tradition to interpret what he was reading; “Phillip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news” (Acts 8:35) As Phillip explained to the Ethiopian all that the Scripture was telling he was leading a comprehensive Bible study and a man was saved.

Acts 17: Paul in Athens

When Paul spoke in Athens his was a very different audience to that of Peter and Phillip, an unwitting audience to whom Jewish tradition, Abraham and the prophets, the promise of a Messiah meant nothing and Paul began with the most basic message of God’s work and purposes in creation; “The God who made the world and everything in it” (Acts 17:24) He was “all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” and we are told that some were saved (Acts 17:34)

In each case they took the shortest route to the Cross but it was different for each audience and they were able to meet each appropriately. That is how Christians need to approach the cultist, open and willing to adapt to circumstances not insisting that they fit into our preconceptions of how things ought to be.

Previous posts:

If These are Christians
The problem with the Church
The Problem with Anti-Cult Ministry
The Fear is Irrational
The Prejudice is Petulant
The ignorance is Inexcusable
The Indifference is Frightening
Christians and the Magical World-View

Future Posts:

When "They" Look at the Church
What the Former Cultist Needs
What Good is it if a Man Claims to Have Faith?

Equipping the Cults to Deal With the Church - 08

Christians and the Magical World-View

The growth in the influence of the Charismatic Church has in many instances had the unfortunate effect of encouraging Christians to a magical world-view. This is well illustrated by an encounter I had with some Christians preaching and witnessing in my home town. The short sermon over, the preacher sent a couple of Christians into the square to talk to people. Seeing me using a walking stick they made for me and I immediately knew what was about to happen and regretted sitting there for just that bit too long. They asked if I believed God could heal me. I said that I did and that I was a Christian.

When they offered to pray for me I politely refused simply because I knew what they were after; they wanted to effect a remarkable healing in the expectation that others in the square would be so impressed that they would want to be Christians. They were determined to pray for me but I resolutely refused and they finally moved on to do what they should have done in the first place, i.e. talk to others who were not Christians.

Another consequence of this magical world-view is that it makes Christians impatient when the simple pronouncement of truth “doesn’t work”. Some seem to expect Scripture texts to work almost as a charm. They understand that Scripture speaks with authority; that “God’s word never returns to him void” (Is.55:11) and “is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword” (Heb.4:12) and they use it like a weapon of supernatural incantation instead of as a tool of reason and explanation. This is not to deny that conversion is a supernatural phenomenon but it does not bypass the thinking process, otherwise what on earth are people being converted to?

Saving faith is consistent with accurate knowledge and understanding. Indeed, faith can be defined in three steps; intellectual understanding, emotional approval and personal decision. It is not true that Christians are asked to emotionally commit to a message that is intellectually inadequate and the Bible makes frequent appeals to our intellectual processes and to evidences that challenge our thinking.

Paul wrote to the Christians at Rome, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Ro.10:17). The call to faith, the message, is based on real events, evidenced by historical verities and eye-witness reports. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Christ was portrayed as crucified” (Gal.3:1). There was an empty tomb, living witnesses, names, dates, places, and an historical provenance all of which could be known intellectually.

Of course, facts alone do not make saving faith. Even the demons have a firm grasp of the facts (James 2:19). But Christians are saved because of the facts not in spite of the facts or in the absence of facts. Of course truth is revealed to the heart by the Spirit, but it is the intellect that conveys to the heart the facts to which the Spirit testifies. If there are no facts there is nothing to know, and nothing to which we can reasonably commit ourselves.

It might be argued that conversion is seldom so neat a process, personal commitment following on from emotional approval based on intellectual understanding. However, whether ours is a crisis experience or a process nevertheless intellectual content is always a substantial part of conversion. Many come to faith out of an instinctive realisation of a need for and a seeking after God only afterwards seeking intellectual order to what they have come to believe. Nevertheless, the Bible still challenges us to deal with known facts and intellectually established truth.

In light of this, no matter how immanent God is in our lives there are things that are essential in witnessing, that cannot and should not be dismissed, that we should not expect to be made redundant by supernatural feats and miracles. If we fail to recognise this simple biblical fact then we risk that “the name of God should be blasphemed among the nations because of [us]” (Ro.2:24) by confirming people’s suspicions that our message is socially irrelevant and intellectually vacuous. There are three areas on which Christians should be concentrated if we are to be good witnesses.

Social skills

Many Christians often have no more than a passing relationship with non-Christians. Apart from people at work and those with whom they do business, they spend all their time with other Christians and simply haven’t the skills to relate to people not like themselves. It is also true that too many Christians in my experience, influenced by the magical world-view, throw out any rules of courtesy and respect in their dealings with the cultist. Do you know how to talk to people?

Reasoning skills

The ability to simply reason with people with a different world-view is essential and often a helpful starting point in discussion. To have the courtesy to listen and show respect and then the skill to explain and demonstrate truth from a Christian world-view is essential. To be able to go on to apply reasoning skills to the Bible – reasoning from the Scriptures – is vital. Can you reason and reason from the Scriptures?

Bible Skills

I sometimes hear Christians say, usually in a breathless whisper, “You have to admit, they know their Bible.” I can only say that if you are impressed with the Bible knowledge of a Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness it says more about your own Bible knowledge than it does about theirs. If you knew your Bible you simply wouldn’t be impressed by the schoolboy Greek of the average JW or the sketchy proof-texting of the average Mormon. Can you correctly handle the Word of Truth?

Previous posts:

If These are Christians
The problem with the Church
The Problem with Anti-Cult Ministry
The Fear is Irrational
The Prejudice is Petulant
The ignorance is Inexcusable
The Indifference is Frightening

Future Posts:

Ambiguity Tolerance
When "They" Look at the Church
What the Former Cultist Needs

Equipping the Cults to Deal With the Church - 07

The Indifference is Frightening

I was speaking at a church in the North East of England. As always, it was by invitation and from a church concerned that the Mormons were putting up a large building and raising their profile in the area. There was talk of widespread concern but, after a day spent travelling, I was more disappointed than surprised to be met with a very small group for the day of seminars that had been planned.

After a morning of teaching we stopped for lunch and, as I stood at the lectern tidying up my papers and trying to be philosophical about the all-too-typical turnout, a man walked up to me and expressed his regret at such a poor turnout for such an important meeting. I was encouraged that at least someone understood the need to take this ministry seriously. Imagine how I felt then when he went on, “I’m afraid I can’t stay for the afternoon session because I have some sheets on the washing line and have to bring them in”, turned around and marched out of the church. I thought of the man who said:

“’I have bought a piece of ground, I must go and see it. I beg you, have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I beg you, have me excused’” (Lk.14:18-19)

It breaks my heart to say that this is indeed typical. Although many Christians and Christian leaders express real concern for the growth of cults and the effect on the local church and community, there is an inexplicable and inexcusable indifference to work with the cults. It has never been a popular work, despite the fact that people mistakenly think it exotic and thrilling; nevertheless it is astonishing that Christians seem so determinedly blind to their responsibility in doing something about it.

Sometimes it is plain laziness. I got a call from the local Christian book shop and the manager, a good friend, told me of a customer who was looking for advice on how to witness to a friend who was a Mormon. Over the phone the customer explained the situation and I asked her if she had found anything useful on the bookshelves. I knew the shop and was confident that there would have been a good selection of books. She mentioned a couple of titles and I assured her that they would be very helpful. After an awkward silence she explained that she hadn’t the time to read so much. I asked if there was anything else and she mentioned a couple of smaller volumes. Again I encouraged her to buy and use one of them but again she said she felt it was all too demanding.

Finally, I asked her if there were any booklets, perhaps something by Harold J Berry, and she said that there were. Now a booklet is not the best thing but it is at least a starting point so I recommended she read that. I could almost sense here squirm as she excused herself with explanations for why even this was just too much to ask. Some Christians are just too lazy to turn up for their friends.

Sometimes it is hubris. How often I have heard leaders say “We don’t do cults!” It is as though in their arrogance they have decided it is beneath them and perhaps that the cultist deserves all he gets. Or because they won’t admit they need help in learning what to do. I knew one pastor who refused to have me speak in his church because he felt it quite unnecessary, feeling the church should be able to deal with such things without any help. Of course, the church (which includes those involved in cult ministry by the way) should be better able to deal with the cults and that is a major part of the work, i.e. equipping the church to deal with the cults. However, it is ironic that it was his church, though a previous pastor, that had so disastrously handled a plea for help from a young Mormon man (see "If These are Christians")

There is also an irony in the fact that Christians with this attitude often preach victory on a Sunday singing, “The Battle belongs to the Lord”, then hide in the bathroom on a Monday when Jehovah’s Witnesses come to call; preach grace on a Sunday singing, “Just as I am, with not one single plea”, and on Monday stand at the door berating the Mormon for not being fit for human company let alone the company of Christians, much less the company of God, haranguing him as they might the devil himself.

Why do we do it? Why are so many Christians so apparently indifferent and uncaring?

Previous posts:
If These are Christians
The problem with the Church
The Problem with Anti-Cult Ministry
The Fear is Irrational
The Prejudice is Petulant
The ignorance is Inexcusable

Future Posts:
Christians and the Magical World-view
Ambiguity Tolerance
When "They" Look at the Church

Christian Voice - Is it the Voice of Christians?

Christian Voice describes itself as a ministry for fed-up Christians.

“Christian Voice is a ministry for those Christians who are fed up with the way things are, who have had enough of secularist politicians imposing wickedness on the rest of us and who are not satisfied with trying to get ‘Christian influence in a secular world’ because they know ‘The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein’ (Psalm 24:1). If you want instead to lift high the Crown Rights of the King of kings, you have found the right place!” (Christian Voice)

To be fed-up is to have reached the limits of tolerance or patience with somebody or something. It is an expression of exasperation and manifests in ill-considered acts motivated by pique. Such is the case, I fear, with Christian Voice.

Led by the increasingly eponymous Stephen Green, Christian Voice offers Christians an outlet for their frustration with the wickedness of the world and, of course, there is a lot about the world to get upset about – there always has been. The trouble with being fed-up is that it tends to make a person lash out indiscriminately with no strategy and little regard for the consequences. It is an example of what happens when Christians fail to understand what it is to be a Christian in a sinful world, to be Christ to sinners, to be a light in the darkness.

As an example take one of the latest “campaigns” launched by Stephen Green and Christian Voice. Peter Jones, an obscure poet (do you know of a living poet who is not obscure?), was to give a reading of his latest, controversial poetry (have you ever known an obscure poet who hasn’t tried to get attention by courting controversy?) in the Cardiff branch of the Waterstones bookstores. The controversy is Jones’ apparent determination to offend Christians with what can accurately be called blasphemous poetry, defaming the name of the Lord. Just the sort of thing to rile fed-up Christians.

Sure enough, Christian Voice began a campaign to protest the event and it was subsequently cancelled Stephen Green wrote:

‘This is a triumph for the Lord, not for us. The Lord had not even showed me what we should do at Waterstones, only that it should be Christ-like.

'Nor was I even praying for the event be cancelled. But I now know many were, and their prayers have been answered, by a mighty God. We have not even had to go down to the battleground, let alone fight (2Chr 20:17). Just the knowledge that we were on our way has put the fear of God into the opposition.

'But the fact is, we were prepared to go and do something, and it is that which I believe caused Almighty God to take our prayers seriously and perform a miracle.'

Imagine that. A public event cancelled because a group of Christians “put the fear of God” into the organisers. I thought this sort of activity was the preserve of groups like the BNP or KKK.

There followed the sort of publicity in the press and media that an obscure poet could only dream of. There was even an appearance on a Welsh current affairs programme, Dragons Eye. Then the news broke that Peter Black, Liberal Democrat Welsh Assembly Member for West Wales, had issued an invitation to the poet to hold a reading in one of the Assembly rooms in Cardiff. Christian Voice again urged its members to protest the event by writing to all and sundry having to do with Welsh Affairs – and, of course, Peter Black.

I wrote to Mr Black, although it wasn’t the scorching email perhaps envisioned by Stephen Green and, no doubt, sent by his supporters. I simply asked Mr Black what exactly prompted him to invite the poet to recite his controversial verse in such a high profile move. He replied:

"My invitation was as a direct consequence of the cancellation of the Waterstone's event following Christian Voice's protest. Below is the basic response I have been sending to most e-mails:

Thanks for your e-mail. Irrespective of the content and the quality of the poetry Patrick Jones has a right to read and publish it. The Assembly is a secular and public building and as such it is entirely appropriate that an event such as this take place there.

As a Christian myself I value the right to practice my faith in my own way and unhindered by others, equally I believe that those who do not agree with me should be able to have a similar freedom to express themselves, subject only to the law of the land. Christians and those of other beliefs should be robust enough in their faith to take such challenges in their stride without seeking to prohibit opposing views no matter how offensive they may find them. Remember that others may find your views offensive. They have no more right to silence you than you do to ban them. This is a free country. Wales or the UK must never be allowed to become a theocracy.

Just to be clear the invitation to Patrick Jones has not been made on the part of the Liberal Democrats. I am taking this initiative as an individual Assembly Member and doing so in partnership with Lorraine Barrett, who is a Labour Assembly Member. Our only regard is the right to free speech. We have no other motives."

As a Christian I am as offended as the next believer when the Lord’s name is blasphemed but far from achieving his ends, i.e. turning back the attack on Christ, Stephen Green has won an altogether larger audience, an altogether greater reputation for Peter Jones than he would have dreamed possible for an obscure poet, at an obscure poetry reading on a cold, damp winter evening, in a bookshop in Cardiff. Who knows where this will end? Peter Jones, Poet Laureate?

We must be wise, surely, in our Christian witness and protests and being fed-up does not give us licence to bully and intimidate. Whatever we think about the Peter Joneses of this world, however we might grieve over the sinfulness of society, we must remember that we are to be Christ to the lost and not Herod. We must remember that while, of course, our voices of protest must be heard, nevertheless we must be wise in choosing our battles and mustn’t simply react continuously to everything we see that upsets us. We must better understand what it means to be a Christian in a sinful world and remember that Christ suffered much more than a poetry reading, he suffered the shame of the Cross to win bad poets, as well as anyone else who believes, from their sins.

Reading Stephen Green’s web site I find much that is useful and encouraging for Christians who are determined to remain informed. However, I find a continuous spirit of contention and reaction that may well appeal to fed-up Christians but that will go on to create more encouragement to sin than repentance. Let’s be animated about sin and the establishment of the kingdom of God but let’s be wise in our witness and shrewd in choosing our battles.