God Is Amazing

God is amazing.

This doesn’t seem like too big of a statement to make at the beginning of a Christian blog post, but surprisingly, even as someone who has been a Christian for over a decade, it is something that I still find myself saying every time I am intentional about spending time with God.

He really is spectacular, wonderful, inspiring, mind-blowing, powerful, merciful, gracious, the list goes on. Every time I actually sit down and spend time with him (which is not often enough), more of his character is revealed to me, and it blows me away.

The Psalmists tend to agree, as is written in Psalm 139:17 - “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” 

During this time where the pace of your life may have slowed a little, I would encourage you to be more intentional about spending time studying the word of God, spending time with him, exploring the mysteries and wonders of his love, grace and mercy towards you. You will not be disappointed.

#RedeemerRecommends - Confronting Christianity

Every year in the run up to Christmas I have the same conversation with frustrated members of my family as they desperately ask me what I want! As gifts is not high on my list of love languages I often respond with a shrug and an unhelpful phrase, something along the lines of  - ’Whatever you feel like getting me I guess?’

I have come to learn over the years that when someone is trying to be generous, it helps to be a little more specific than that! So this year I sent my family the link to the Gospel Coalition’s books of the year, as a sort of Christmas list! You can find it here, just in case you’ve got a friend or family member with a January birthday coming up and (like me) your gift giving ideas ran dry about half way through December….

One of the books on the list which I was lucky enough to receive this Christmas was Rebecca McLaughlin’s ‘Confronting Christianity - 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Hardest Religion’.

The book poses 12 common objections to the Christian faith, and flips those challenges on their heads, using them to point to the goodness of God.

McLaughlin is fantastic at confronting the general lack of biblical knowledge which seems to influence many people’s objections to the Christian faith, and focusing on the biblical truth which can provide clear answers to questions like ‘Doesn’t Christianity Crush Diversity?’ And ‘Isn’t Christianity Homophobic?’. She has also clearly done her research (as is to be expected with a book like this), and not only does she highlight biblical truth, but also aligns it with findings of modern science to construct arguments which provide answers to those with big questions for Christianity, regardless of their knowledge of the bible.

I have no doubt that this is a book which would appeal to those who would not call themselves Christian, but simply have some questions to ask. It will also provide a great foundation for those Christians who have friends who are asking questions, and would love some guidance as to how to answer them!

There are countless books out there which pose the ‘Big Questions’ of the world and aim to answer them, but what this book does so well is that combination of evidence alongside the biblical narrative. In every answer to every question this book is pointing unequivocally to the only source of true hope, the incredible, fully God, fully man, Jesus Christ. I will end this #RedeemerRecommends with a paragraph from the last page of the book, as McLaughlin brings us to the reason why all these questions need an answer, and why the story of the bible is the best place to turn.

In Jesus’s world, we find connective tissue between the truths of science and morality. We find a basis for saying that all human beings are created equal, and a deep call to love across diversity. We find a name for evil, and a means of forgiveness. We find a vision of love that is so much deeper than our current hearts can hold, and a true intimacy better than our weak bodies could ever experience. We find a diagnosis of human nature as shot through with sin and yet as redeemable by grace. We find a call to care for the poor, oppressed, and lonely, a call springing from the heart of God himself and grounded in the hope that one day every tear will be wiped away, every stomach will be filled, and every outcast will be embraced. But we do not find glib answers or an easy road. Instead, we find a call to come and die. (page 222)

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE AB FAB FILM

Earlier this week, I had a great conversation at my meetup. The general message we were discussing was this: you can’t pick and choose what bits of Christianity you believe – take it all, or leave it all.

With that in mind, two headlines caught my eye. Both are attention-grabbing, and both are cinema-related:

1. New Emma Watson film makes £47 at UK box office

2. Audience members ejected from cinema for laughing at Absolutely Fabulous

Both of them look like ridiculous, out-of-the-ordinary stories…but in fact both are non-stories, for different reasons.

The Emma Watson film was never intended to make money through cinema screenings, aiming for the home streaming market instead. So the headline should really have read:

New Emma Watson film basically makes exactly what it hoped to through cinema screenings

Not quite as catchy, I’ll grant you.

How about the Ab Fab story? Well, four people were kicked out of a screening – rare, but not unheard of. Why were they kicked out? The four people say they were told to ‘laugh on the inside’, and the cinema says it was because they were annoying other cinema-goers by talking loudly. So the headline should really have read:

Audience members ejected from cinema, most likely for valid reasons. 

So neither story is really news, is it.

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Let’s agree on one thing. In a perfect world, there would be no need to make up news, but that’s not how the news business works.

Think about it. Newspapers, news websites, news TV channels and radio slots – all of them produce frequent news updates. They don’t publish news when there’s news, they publish news when there’s a publication deadline.

The net result of that is journalists tasked with filling space rather than finding the best news story – and so stories are written based on the angle rather than the truth.

And that’s much more fun, isn’t it? Take a tiny detail, one piece of the puzzle, and make up an interesting whole-picture story that fits that one detail.

Could we really build a new hospital every week if we left the EU? Of course not, but saying ‘an insignificant sum goes to the EU in exchange for tangible and intangible benefits’, while a fairer reflection of the truth, isn’t a good enough angle.

So how about Christianity?

The same is true. We are all tempted to embrace angles on Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, church life…

I invite you to regularly lose every misconception and filter that’s built up over time, and come back to the purity of Christianity.

And you can do that this coming Tuesday evening, in Ealing Broadway. Email hello@redeemerlondon.org to find out how you can get a free meal and an opportunity to properly explore Christianity!

TAKE THIS CHANCE TO UNDERSTAND GOD BETTER

Christianity is misunderstood by many people.

People I know who don't know Christianity frequently tell me that they wouldn't like it, because:

• the rules make life boring - there are no rules in Christianity
• Christians are out-of-touch and hate the LGBTQ community - that is certainly true about a vocal minority who claim to be Christians, but isn't true about any Christian I've ever met
• Jesus wasn't a real person - the historical evidence would suggest otherwise

So Christianity is definitely misunderstood by people who aren't Christians.

But it is also misunderstood by Christians.

Christians are really happy to talk about God as a loving Father. Almost every stereotypical view of the Christian God plays on this picture.

Christians are also happy to talk about God as the Son, Jesus. Countless books, magazines, TV programmes, films and websites have been devoted to Jesus of Nazareth.

But Christians tend to avoid the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was called the Holy Ghost a few hundred years ago - and who wants to think about ghosts?

Churches that talk about the Holy Spirit tend to be really weird and uncomfortable places. Lots of shouting, hand-waving and flapping around on the floor like a fish gasping for air.

The problem is that the Holy Spirit seems really important!

The Bible starts talking about the Holy Spirit on the opening page and is still talking about him on the closing page.

Jesus himself says that life would be better off if we only ever met the Holy Spirit (John 16:7).

Maybe we should understand him?

On 25 June, I'm putting on a day all about the Holy Spirit. Why not come along?

We're meeting in Northfields at 10am. We'll be done by 3pm, and the day will include:

• Inspiring Bible-based talks about who the Holy Spirit is, what he does, and practical observations on how to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
• A free lunch!
• Time to discuss what we're learning throughout the day with others on the same journey.
• Dedicated space to receive from the Holy Spirit in a safe, low-pressure environment.

If you're planning on coming it would be great to know so that I can get the right amount of food! Please email hello@redeemerlondon.org with your name and any dietary requirements, and we'll get back with all the details.

You are very welcome!