What to pray for

I was praying about various things this morning.

With some things it was easy to know what to ask.

Thus, I am due to give some Bible talks at a camp over the next few days and so I prayed that God would send his Spirit to work through me in faithful preaching and to work in the hearers for effective hearing.

Again I prayed for some unconverted people that I know and the prayer was easy: that God will being them to see their need of Jesus, to know that that can come to Jesus and that he will bring them to Jesus.

Yet again I prayed for my missionary brother: that he will be protected (he is in a dangerous area), that he will be well-used and that he will know contentment and fulfillment.


But then I started praying about some other things. And realised that I didn't know what to ask. And then it occurred to me: I don't need to know what to ask in order to pray about them. For God knows. How easy: I just had to mention the situation and to ask God to do what is best for himself and the people involved.

Why do we make prayer so difficult?

The worship of silence

Our worship often consists of doing things.

I sometimes introduce church services with these words: ‘let us worship God by singing of his goodness, thanking him for his mercy, depending on him to meet our needs, admitting our wrongs, listening when he speaks, offering ourselves for his service and encouraging one another by our presence and conversation’.

I sometimes end services with these words: ‘let us continue to worship God by going to live lives worthy of our Lord in the wherever, when ever and whatever of our week.

I think that’s right and proper. It has a good balance of the intentionally of gathered worship which is framed within the primary sense of whole-life worship.

However, I also think that God is to be worshipped in the empty space of inaction and silence.

Thus I hear of a devotional routine that includes times of talking to God in prayer but also a time of sitting as still as possible, settling the inner person by focussing on your breathing, saying nothing (whether vocalised or in the mind) and just consciously being still and knowing that he is God and we are not. This is a time to just rest in God and bathe in his presence – much as we might sit in a companionable silence with the dearest of friends.

Of course, this silence is given shape by the surrounding acts to vocalise prayers and read the Bible. Thus it is not a time of egocentric stillness, but one of theocentricity.

So now we can add: ‘let us worship God in our silence and stillness’.

Review: Sing for Joy

Sing for Joy

Sing for Joy, Matthias Media 2010. Available from: http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au

I confess that I can’t sing. What’s worse, I failed when a skilful music director tried to train me to sing somewhere near on-pitch (‘stand at the back and mime’ was the last ruthless word when I was pressed-ganged into a ministry leaders’ choir).

However, I love the musical part of church gatherings and think it a taste of heaven to stand with a large number of God’s people and sing songs of admiration, thanks, praise, encouragement, dedication and similar. As a preacher, I am often lifted to a pulpit-ready high by music that has been chosen to mesh with the service theme and which is well presented.

Music and singing also have a dark side. They readily promote conflict in churches and are often the front line of the worship wars as the battle over psalms, hymns and spiritual songs reaches new depths of dischord. Singing in church is also a topic when Bible-driven thinking is often replaced by the imposition of personal opinions, sloppy sentimentalism or mainly musical values.

Sing for Joy is a series of six small group topical studies designed to help careful thought about singing in church. Each study includes sections of Bible text; questions to help probe the Bible; supplementary notes to give background and related comment; questions to help tease out the implications; and suggestions for prayer.

This is a great help to help think Biblically about singing in church and it joins some other resources that cover the same field. As a study book, Sing for Joy should help people go a step further. We often only talk about these matters in the setting of an argument or when trying to take a decision. This study book could enable a calm discussion that can help avoid arguments and inform better decisions.

These studies could be well used as a filler series by small groups, or when a church is about to change its musical repertoire. Likewise, they could form the base of a good in-house learning programme for members of choirs and worship committees.

(David Burke has been singing in church for many decades and values those who are ruthless in the pursuit of excellence in church music.)

Just another kid?

My grandchild is due to be born tomorrow*.

I have three children and this is my fourth grandchild. Just another kid! No way! I have a sense of awe at the new life that the birth represents. Today, my son and his wife are a childless couple. Tomorrow they will have their firstborn to hold in their arms.

Of course, the first thing we want to know is the child’s gender. But then the bigger wonders: what will this baby grow to be like? What abilities will develop? What study and career path will shape its adulthood? How will this baby contribute to the family line as it grows, possible pairs off and reproduces?

It is an awesome event. Two adults come lovingly together as one flesh and a new life results.

In Christian view this event has an extra awesomeness, for the Bible speaks of all human life bearing God’s image (which is why it is not our call to wilfully destroy it. Gen 1:26-27; 9:6).  Irrespective of how beautiful, clever, helpful etc this new child is, the child has the highest worth because it bears God’s image. This child is a prince or princess of his kingdom and over his creation. And that is before it is able to do anything or actually does anything.

Compare that with the view of prominent atheist and ethicist Peter Singer: “Human babies are not born self-aware, or capable of grasping that they exist over time. They are not persons”; therefore, “the life of a newborn is of less value than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee.” Peter Singer, Practical Ethics, 1st ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979), 122–23.

I’m thankful that my grandchild is born into a world that God rules and not Peter Singer. His criteria of human identity and worth seems rooted to what the (non)person can or cannot do. On that logic, its not just all newborns who need to watch lest he comes calling, but any person who has disability or the weaknesses of old age. This grim reaper’s calling card will be cast broadly.

Compare again with the Bible’s view that God watched over my unborn grandchild from conception: You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. … My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them (Ps 139:13-16).

Through his intricate paths of genetics and DNA God has set my grandchild’s nature. To me these mechanisms are mysteries before which I bow. Were I to understand the biological complexities behind my mysteries I expect I would the more in awesome wonder. The biology tells me how these happen. The Bible gives the back-story that shapes their meaning.

My grandchild is not a ‘thing’ waiting Singer’s inspection and certificate of humanity. Its worth does not depend on its capacities. And that is why I will love and treasure this child and would give my life for it. And it is why God loves and treasures this child and why the Son of God gave his life so it could be redeemed and live in fellowship with its maker.

The child is not just a ‘thing’ or just another kid.

* Update 2 March: I'm pleased to report that Xavier Alexander Burke arrived as expected and is much loved.

Review: One to one Bible reading

David Helm, One to one Bible reading – a simple guide for every Christian, (Matthias Media, 2011). Pp1-103 including resource guides and sheets for copying.  Available through Matthia Media: http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/catalogsearch/result/?q=one+to+one+bible+reading

Jesus got personal with me through reading the Bible. My dad (a pastor) gave me a Bible one Christmas. I thought ‘what a joke, another one of dad’s religious kicks’. However I was bored (sweating out a mindless factory job in between the HSC and uni) and lonely (my girlfriend had dumped me because I was not a Christian*). So I read it right through over a few months. It wasn’t long after that before my faith was first hand instead of second hand.

And I kept reading the Bible. Uni studies were pushed aside for late night sessions reading through the Bible at depth and making my own notes on book after book. And as the years passed it’s been a regular habit to let no day pass without reading some part of Scripture.

My story encourages me that one of the best things we can do with non-Christians is to get them reading the Bible. Of course, the same applies to Christians at any level of maturity. Reading the Bible puts us in touch with God and moves us along the path to Christ-likeness and usefulness to God. All this makes sense if we recall what the Bible says about itself. This book claims to be all God-inspired and like a sharp sword that cuts through everything and is useful to make people wise for salvation and to help them be fully ready for all that God has in mind (Heb 4:12; 2 Tim 3:15-16).

Great! But not everyone is going to pick up and Bible and start reading and keep reading. This is especially unlikely for a non-Christian. How can we encourage and help people read the Bible?

This book is a simple ‘how to’ on one to one Bible reading with non-Christians or fellow believers. Part 1 (seven chapters) deals with some helpful start-up issues of how to set up a one to one Bible reading relationship and what it can look like.  This is useful material and some people will find it enough to get them moving. Part 11 gets down to technicalities with quite specific advice on just how to approach and use the Bible one-on one.

The book is simplicity plus (but not simplistic). The two suggested Bible reading methods (Swedish and COMA) are easily grasped and should be transferable to almost any new Bible reader. Many will find the chapter on eight weeks through Mark’s Gospel a great launching pad.

This book could be used in a training programme for vine workers or just picked up and used individually. Many will find that it gives them the confidence to start out on a one to one Bible ministry and to stimulate them to work out their own approach.

(David Burke was Director of Christian Education for the NSW Presbyterian Church for many years and is now a teacher at the Presbyterian Theological Centre.)

* The good news is that I got the girlfriend back after I became a Christian and we celebrate our 40^th wedding anniversary this year.

Review: The Naked God

Ayers, Martin (2010) Naked God – the truth about God exposed. Matthias Media; 184p plus further reading and endnotes

Internal evidence gives a picture of this book’s author. He is young, English, male, enjoyed life at Cambridge and worked in corporate-level law. He is also someone who became a Christian believer at law school and whose life turned upside down as a result. That picture tells us about who the book will be most useful to – but, more on that later.

Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef inspires the work of apologetics and evangelism.  It aims to get back to basics on questions of Christian belief by a three-section discussion.

·       Part 1 (six chapters) strips philosophical naturalism bare and tracks the implications if we live in a closed-system universe where there is nothing outside the cosmos.

·       Part 2 (five chapters) strips Christianity back to its basics and has a good hard look at Jesus. Evidence and arguments for belief in him are considered and some common myths and supposed problems around him are considered.

·       Part 3 (four chapters) strips the reader bare by zeroing on in the key barrier to belief and giving a warm challenge and invitation to faith.

Let’s look at Part 1. Ch 2 equates atheism with naturalism and sets up for the following chapters which track how freedom, knowledge, morality and purpose are lost if God is removed from the equation. The argument here is brief, effective and challenging. When preparing this review I was also reading Religion for Atheists by Alain De Botton. De Botton is an atheist who is trying to have the religious  ‘icing’ of community, kindness, tenderness, beauty and such like but without the religious ‘cake’ on which they traditionally rest.  Ayers argues that if there is no theistic ‘cake’ you can’t have the ‘icing’ and are left with a dark and miserable world.

This is a good argument, although we can question Ayers’ simple equation of atheism with naturalism. Naturalism may be the main form of God-denial in the west, but it is not the only one and there are many alternates to Christian theism in the world at large. However, if the book is understood as an apologetic against naturalism, this problem is avoided. There is some material addressed to relativism but naturalism is the main target.

Part 11 does a great job of presenting the faith. Ayers covers the evidence for the historical Jesus and shows Jesus in the fullness of the Bible’s claims about him. He tackles several misconceptions about Jesus and especially concerned to address reductionist and selective accounts of Jesus. For example, he insists that we can’t just pick and choose among the moral teachings of Jesus. Either all he said (including his self-claims about his identity) is believed or he has nothing worthwhile to say. This is a good re-working of CS Lewis’ familiar argument about Jesus being mad, bad or God.

The final Part gently pushes readers to face the Jesus question rather than ignore it and just put the book down. Ayers presents Jesus as the only who can help humans with the otherwise unfathomable problem of guilt before God. Willing readers are carefully led through to a prayer of commitment. I really like the way this is followed by some material on getting started as a Christian: Ayers is looking for a lasting commitment to Christ, not just decisions for Christ.

Now back to the author and the reader. This is a book for people like the author. I would gladly give it to thoughtful people whose context is modern western culture. It arises from that setting and well addressed to it. It presents Jesus in a manner designed to connect well with such folk and hopefully help them to connect to God through his Son.

(David Burke has been in ministry since 1979 and teaches philosophy and world view in a theological college.)

Victims for life?

Victims for life?

A person I know suffered childhood abuse and has struggled to deal with. Even as a later-life adult he bears inner scars and the topic appears regularly in his words. He was, and remains, a victim.

Let’s think about that.

Were we all victims?

We all have times of hardship, or disabilities of heart, soul, mind or body. We have all been treated unfairly and perhaps been victims of pride and prejudice. We are all victims at the hands of others in some way and to some degree.

In a Christian view, we are all victims of Adam. He took one big dumb decision to defy God and life changed (Gen 3). He was tossed out of the garden of Edenic perfection, was too ashamed to meet with God, started squabbling with his wife and faced a work world that was all thorns and thistles instead of a bed of roses. Okay, Adam got what he deserved. Trouble is, we all got what he deserved. As Romans 5:12-14 puts in, we all became victims of his folly because we are all ‘in Adam’.

And so we all were victims. We were victims of Adam’s action and we were also the victims of other’s actions such as the abuse suffered by the acquaintance mentioned above.

However, must we remain victims?

For starters, we don’t have to remain victims of Adam. As Romans 5 explains, Jesus is the second Adam who undoes the work of the first. One brought curse and death. Jesus brought blessing and life. When we reconnect to God through faith in Jesus we are victims no more for the penalty and power of Adam are lifted (Rom 5:15-21). If you like, when we are ‘in Christ’ we are no longer just ‘in Adam’.

But what about our other victimhoods to the people who treated us with injustice, exploitation, abuse, bullying, pride, prejudice and such like?

There are people who seemed trapped in their victimhood and almost wear it like a badge. Their identity and life is defined by the evil done against them.

Then there are others who rise above victimhood.

Old Testament Joseph was a victim of his brother’s jealousy when they left him for dead in a well then on-sold him as a slave (Gen 37). He was also a victim of Potiphar’s wife who falsely accused him of rape (Gen 39) and a victim of Pharaoh’s cupbearer who forget his promise  (Gen 40:23). Joseph did not wallow in victimhood but accepted his circumstances as being from God and rose above it.

What was Joseph’s secret? He mentions it in a scene when the tables were turned and his brother’s fate was in his hands. The feared that their victim would seize this moment for revenge. Instead he commented on their actions in these words: you meant evil against me, but God meant for good (Gen 50:20). This is not fatalism, but rather faithism. Joseph knew God and trusted that he had worked for good even in the wicked actions that made him a victim.

Get the point? God is sovereign and moves everything to his purposes (Eph 1:11). If we are victims of some injustice etc it is because God allows it. And, just as with Joseph, God means it for good and uses it for our personal good … God works all things for the good of those who love him (Rom 8:28).

Of course, the supreme example of all this is in the death of Jesus. He was a victim of evil deeds, yet it was his path to resurrection glory and the path to our redemptive hope – the victim became the victor in a most profound way.

This does not mean that we deny the evil in the abuse etc. Nor does it excuse those who perpetrated it. Where possible, it is just that they are called to account and dealt with under due process. However, the Christian does not need to take personal vengeance, for it is the business of God to deal with those who made us their victims (Rom 12:14-21).

In the bigger picture, the Christian can see victimhood as something not only allowed in the sovereign will of God, but also, as noted above, something that God uses for our good. The Bible elsewhere speaks of the discipline which seems hard at the time but which our sovereign and good God uses to lovingly discipline, mature and train us (Heb 12:7-11).

Let’s put this together.

We are all victims of Adam and of others.

Through Christ, we can cease being Adam’s victims.

The evil perpetuated against us by others remains evil and the Christian need not deny or minimise it or pretend that it does not hurt. Nor do we need to ignore the ongoing scars in heart, soul, body and mind.

But nor does the Christian need to seek personal redress, for that is in the hands of God who sees all and who ultimately upholds righteousness in his perfect justice.

Neither does the Christian need to live as a lifelong victim of other’s wrong. Rather, by faith we understand to have been allowed by God and used for our personal good.

The Christian does not have to stay a victim. Like Joseph in Egypt or Daniel in Babylon or Esther in Persia we can accept our circumstances, (with all their evil, pain and injustice) and look to thrive with them, knowing that God is in this place. Is God any less in our victimhood than he was present on the dark afternoon when the only one who never deserved to be a victim became a victim that we might live?