smokeygecko Thoughts

As the first post after a few months of absence I’m going to look back on a great start to the year. But first let me back up a bit.

Last July I started work with Christian Vision for Men in England, moving back from the US where I was previously working with YWAM. I came on board working closely with Carl and was immediately thrust into the world of UK evangelism and training, clocking up thousands of miles on the roads (which I’ve actually acquired a taste for – beats plane travel for ease and minimal fuss). I’ve visited dozens of churches, been involved in several regional days and one national conference.

I also put my hand to the website, creating a blog, worked on some videos, set up some online booking/purchasing stuff, and made copious cups of tea.

In the middle of all that I moved from Bath to Derbyshire as the offices relocated to the middle of the country.

There’s been scheming and dreaming, long hours and big tasks. I’ve been thrust into an environment where dreams can be realised quickly but with that comes the responsibility of following through with the idea and delivering. CVM at it’s core is small and robust, always aiming to punch above it’s weight. Many people would be surprised to see how much we accomplish with the size of team that we have. It’s a truly exciting environment, one where there is always a strong sense of purpose, direction and provision from God.

Which leads me to some of the events of January. On Friday 22nd Jan we sent out an appeal letter as we were facing the very real prospect of going under as an organisation. Thanks to the new email system we just integrated (gotta love the Chimp) I was able to track opens, clicks etc. Within minutes donations started coming in, and in, and in … An email sent out at 4 in the afternoon on a Friday generated such a strong response that we were soon heading out of the woods.

The money spoke of the dedication of the band of brothers that stretches across the UK with the same heartbeat to see men saved. But more than this it was the messages of support that caused me to catch my breath. Blokes (and lasses) were standing by us, not letting us go down. It really was very humbling. I joined CVM because I felt that they were a group of real people with a clear and purposeful calling. Apparently, hundreds of people across the UK think so too.

The lessons that I learnt in YWAM were being reinforced in CVM. Where God guides, He provides. Whether that’s $1000 for a plane ticket to a foreign mission field or £20,000 to keep a home-grown mission agency going.

The next thing to unfold was an article published on the Times Online blog by Ruth Gledhill. Picking up on an older CVM survey the article outlined some of the aims of CVM also highlighting the urgency that we face as a national church. Ruth Gledhill’s blog being well-followed as it is, was soon picked up spawning many other blog pieces, some friendly and some otherwise. Before my eyes suddenly many people who wouldn’t be talking about CVM and talking, commenting, blogging …

It was a fascinating scene to observe. My feeling is that this is the beginning of something.

That feeling is more than just some thoughts on the blog world but part of a bigger belief that this year God will use CVM is some pretty huge ways. Codelife is on the horizon as are many, many other exciting projects. Who can know where we will be in 12 months?

I’ll endeavour to keep my thoughts coming now … Stay posted!

Tweet This Post

It’s been a while – too long – since I have blogged. Part of the reason is my new job with CVM. Another part is that I’ve been waiting to finish a few books which I haven’t done yet. And sometimes when I’m done with my day I decide that I’ve actually looked at a screen too much.

But my time with CVM has been great. Busy, sometimes long days but always full of fun and privilege. I’ve been up and down the country and been a part of those wonderful things called meetings again – something that my time in YWAM adequately prepared me for (YWAM: Youth With A Meeting). I haven’t stopped learning and find that I have many varied tasks on my agenda.

One of those is looking at our internet technologies. There will be lots that I will be involved with, starting with a new blog. So despite my blogging drought blogging has been on my brain. To get the project rolling I’ve started asking questions such as:

• Why blog?
• What makes a good blog?
• Who should write a blog?
• What style of writing do the best blogs employ?
• etc. etc.

Over the next few day I hope to answer some of these questions (insights welcome) but to start things off I thought I’d just list a few of my daily reads. One of my morning routines is to open up NewsFire and browse through the headlines. Taking a look now these ones catch my eye (in no particular order).

1. Challies Dot Com
Maybe more popular in N. America than the UK (?) Mr Challies seems to set the bar for Christian blogging. As well as providing a strong model to imitate technically I happen to be of the same theological persuasion (more or less) so there’s plenty of happy reading here.

2. LICC
The London Institute of Contemporary Christianity publishes high-quality, relevant, thoughtful articles on how Christianity interacts with all ’spheres of life’. A clean, well-structured site that delivers crisp content. Subtle and a good case of the medium not getting in the way of the content.

3. TheResurgence
A collection of bloggers here, but of course, noted for one Mr. Mark Driscoll. Great concise content with plenty of relevant links.

4. The Blue Fish Project
Moving closer to home here … Maybe this could be said to be a blogger’s blog? Plenty of links to posts and interesting bits and bobs with fresh content on a regular basis.

5. Peter Hitchens
Old-fashioned columnist? Maybe. But he can write, and so I like to read what he has to say.

6. Pro-Existence
Mr Rick Pearcey (of the Pearcey Report) keeps a blog on current affairs. I perhaps don’t read this as much as I did when I was state-side but because I know the angle that the author is coming from I will always head here to gain another insight on a relevant topic.

7. Mac Rumors
I’m a Mac fan. So I follow Mac news. Enough said?

8. The Unofficial Apple Weblog
‘Ditto.’

And they’re just 8. Does anyone have any thoughts to offer? I attended the Band of Bloggers Conference (nice blog template) earlier this year and picked up a host ideas but I’m always looking to learn more. Over the next week I’ll look to share more of my findings and stay tuned for the new blog from CVM!

Tweet This Post

Open Theism seems to crop up from time to time in some form or another, unhappily so, in certain YWAM circles. I was reminded today of the problem of this way of thinking and some of the fruit that it leads to.

One of open theism’s strongest appeals is its claim to account for tragic human suffering in such a way that God is both blameless and caring. On the surface, this appeal appears strong. Upon examination, however, it is clear that open theism’s counsel is unbiblical, incoherent, and shallow. It is unbiblical insofar as it fails to account for the prevailing biblical vision of the God who reigns over human affairs and who ensures that his purposes are accomplished even through human wickedness and evil.

This and more from Adrian Warnock.

Tweet This Post

In my last few days working with YWAM Maui I have been helping to build the new website. Today we have gone live!

We think we’ve done a good job, so come take a look and find out more about YWAM Maui and what we do.

Tweet This Post

At the beginning of the year, I was encouraged by Carl Beech, to weigh up whether I was making my decisions out of courage, or out of fear. And you know what? That thought stuck with me.

The question is a personal one and really is between each of us and the Lord. For me, travelling, living out of suitcases, teaching in countries where perhaps people are hostile to the message of Jesus, my own fears may not be the same as for other people.

So where is my fear? What about, ‘Will Jesus come through with finances for me?’ Nah, YWAMers are known to live by faith, right? But looking at some of my decisions, I know that I can make a call based on whether or not I can pull it off financially, regardless of what I believe Jesus is saying. Where is the courage there?

I’m reading a book right now (for the second time, it’s just that good) called ‘Troublesome Young Men: The Rebels who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England‘. It’s the story of a small group of MPs who, despite massive opposition from their parties and against the press and popular opinion, sounded the alarm bells about Hitler and Nazi Germany and fought for their cause with strength and much courage. They weren’t liked. Their message wasn’t appreciated. They were called ‘warmongerers’ and they clashed against the mood of the time. But they knew their job, their duty, and they courageously put their careers (and sometimes even their lives) on the line to get the work done. Without them, I shudder to think what would have happened to England and Europe as a whole.

Carl got me thinking, and on this subject I’ve been dwelling for a while, and will be for a while to come. How are we making our decisions? Out of courage, rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ who is King over all? Or out of fear? Fear of man, our shortcomings, our limitations. Here’s what Carl says:

Tweet This Post

“In what language were the Scriptures written at the time of Jesus?” This question came up in the DTS recently, during the Apologetics class, and we looked at the answer last week.

During the intertestamental period (400BC to 0AD) the Jewish Scriptures were translated from Hebrew into Greek, and we call this translation the ‘Septuagint’ (from the latin word for seventy, septuaginta). There are different theories for why this translation was undertaken, but what we do know was that the Greek language was fast becoming a widespread language during the expansion of the Roman Empire.

So when Jesus came along we find that the Jewish leaders, and the Temple, were using the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures to teach from. When we see Jesus quoting the Old Testament (e.g. Matthew 4:4) he would have been quoting in Greek. Also, the writers of the New Testament were all writing in Greek (albeit in different forms) and would use the Greek translation of the Old Testament when making reference to or quoting from it.

More Information

The ESV Study Bible has offered an online trial version of their complete Bible for the month of March. Along with a stellar reference Bible there are several great articles. Two articles of use here are:

• The Septuagint, and
• The Original Languages of the Bible

Tweet This Post

For the past 5 years I have more or less been living in the United States (yes – Hawaii is in the US, and has been for over 50 years). My tastes and influences have inevitably been shaped by my location. Aside from wondering if I’ll actually survive in a part of the world that doesn’t understand the importance of fresh Ahi I also consider that many of my theological influences have been rooted in my choice of location.

By far and large the single greatest influence on my Christian faith has been YWAM Maui, and specifically the School of Biblical Foundations and Missions (SBFM). Through the sacrifice of many people who serve as missionaries to students coming through the base I have been discipled in the ways of my faith. The importance of truth, as revealed through Jesus and the Bible have been embedded in my life. The spiritual disciplines have been enforced. Critical thinking and reason are celebrated here. A rich faith that has space for questions and reasoned thinking (which is, in part, obedience to the Greatest Commandment) has been promoted.

In short, I am thankful to Jesus for leading me here and to the faithful leaders who are now good friends and colleagues, for taking the time to invest in me. The New Testament’s analogy of discipleship being like taking a new-born from milk to solid foods (see 1 Corinthians 3:2, Hebrews 5:12, 1 Peter 2:2) makes so much more sense now that I’ve been around small children. The process is never clean, constantly frustrating and most of the time the kids don’t know what’s going on! But thanks to the patience of many I have progressed and several changes of attire later I can say that, yes, slowly, maturity has been gained.

As well as leaders here on the island I’ve been introduced to the teachings of, and in turn influenced by, great men and women of the faith such as: Francis Schaeffer, Ravi Zacharias, Norman Geisler, C.S Lewis, G.K Chesterton and more. I’ve stumbled upon people like Mark Driscoll, Timothy Keller, Dinsesh D’Souza and found there contemporary voices lighting up a dying world. Os Guiness and Nancy Pearcey, with people like Chuck Colson are continuing the message of the importance of truth. For these and so many more I am extremely grateful.

Over the next few weeks I will be examining some of these people – and others – in more detail, sharing some of what I have learned so far. I’m looking forward to it!

Tweet This Post

Over the last 3 weeks I have spent some great time with the current DTS in Maui. I’ve a had a few sessions in which we had a quick introduction to Apologetics and Truth.

This post is really just a recap of some of that content with some links to further study. If you’re a student and have questions feel free to contact me – I’d love to hear from you.

Apologetics

Apologetics is the encompassing term that we give to the practice of ‘defending the faith’. We derive the term from the Greek word apologia. This word was a Greek legal term that meant ‘to give a defense’.

Biblical Mandate

In 2 Corinthians chapt. 10 v.5 Paul states this,

“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”

The context of this verse is warfare, and warfare not in the flesh but in the spirit. In understanding this we come to conclude that the discipline of Apologetics is a part of Spiritual Warfare, that is combating the Lie with the Truth.

Satan is the father of lies (see John 8:44) and it is his plan to spread the Lie in as many ways as possible to aid in the destruction of Man and Creation. As Christians we lay claim to the Truth, and must defend this Truth to all who ask. Our principle from this comes from 1 Peter chpt. 3 v.15:

“but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”

Peter is quite clear about our charge. We should be ready to answer the honest questions put to us about why we believe what we believe.

People in the world today are starving for authenticity. We have countless “reality” TV shows that draw strong audiences. There is tremendous interest for what is perceived to be real, raw and honest. This works in our favour as Christians! We can live out our lives authentically, honestly and completely. Our Christian lives are fully liveable – through His grace – and we can do so without violating our truths (see the next section on truth).

The flip-side to this is that if we do not live authentically with the beliefs that we profess, we can end up promoting a counter-apologetic that will do more harm than good. I wonder at the number of people who have been ‘put off’ from Jesus by the ill-witness of His followers. This weighs particularly heavy on my own heart

More to come …

Tweet This Post

I should say at the outset what really I aim to achieve with this blog. I’ve had blogs before, mostly to keep people updated with my life in YWAM in various parts of this world. Posts were personal and the only people who really looked at the site were friends and family.

With this blog I aim to attract a different user base. Last year the base director of YWAM Maui, Tom Osterhus, instigated the New Reformers Discipleship School (or, NeRDS) Reading Plan. This was for graduates of the School of Biblical Foundations and Missions (SBFM) and was designed as a tool to keep alive the discipline of discussion and study through a web-based distance learning plan. Tom led the school, setting the coursework and assignments etc. and a few of us become regular contributors both while we were on the island of Maui and while we elsewhere.

I benefited greatly from the insight of others and the discipline of the school (which I have to say on my behalf was poorer than it could/should have been). And here comes the reason for this blog. I thought that it would be good for me to share my thoughts and insights here for others to see and comment on and in this way exchange ideas and views with a wider group of people.

So my plan is to publish (fairly regularly) updates and points of discussion. The blog will serve as a tool of discipline for me, and will hopefully be of some insight to others. I look forward to seeing where this idea gos!

Tweet This Post