The news story of the Christian farmer in Northern Ireland who asked pop star Rihanna to stop stripping off in one of his fields has provided an interesting commentary on British culture, in two ways.
First, this is what Alan Graham said: âI wish no ill will against Rihanna and her friends. Perhaps they could acquaint themselves with a greater God. Everybody needs to be acquainted with God and to consider his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his death and Resurrection. Thatâs where people find real contentment.â
Yesterday (Tuesday), you could find this testimony to the truth and effect of the gospel message on the BBC website. By today, itâs been cut. You wonât find the Christian part of his interview on the Beeb anymore (The Daily Telegraph have most of the part that mentions the gospel).
What matters to our national (unbiased) broadcaster is what this guy saidâbut not why he said it. Have you noticed how when a Christian is interviewed, the interviewer tends to jump in and interrupt whenever the dreaded word âJesusâ is mentioned?
Second, Radio FiveLive yesterday interviewed Andrea McVeigh, a Northern Irish freelance entertainment journalist, who said: âEveryone was incredibly proud [about Rihanna filming in Northern Ireland], and then we woke up this morning absolutely mortified and being laughed at by the rest of the world.
âThis is a very religious manâhe wasnât making any sort of feminist statement. Itâs hugely embarrassing for everyone else here.â
(You can listen to her here, go to 2:57:18.)I donât often shout at the radioâbut I must confess I did have a word with Andrea. She wasnât simply disagreeing with Mr Grahamâs viewsâshe was embarrassed by them. She didnât engage with Mr Grahamâs reasonsâshe just suggested he was old and out-of-touch. If heâd done the same thing because he was a feminist, that would have been OKâbut his Christian principles, which he applied on his own land, are now âmortifyingâ and âembarrassingâ.
The cultural shift is thisâitâs no longer simply seen as strange to live as a Christianâitâs seen as stupid, and shameful.
Mr Graham, I donât know if you read this blog. But if you do, thank you for standing up for Jesus Christ in what you did and said. And please know we are thanking God that you were not ashamed of the gospelâthe power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
Where would we be without our weekly notice sheets? Theyâre an invaluable hub of communication. But all too often they donât get read or they donât get read with joy.
The problem is, church notice sheets tend to be quite good at setting out what is happening or needed. But they are often very bad at focusing us all on why such things are happening and why our involvement is so vital. Week after week, they invite us to âdo thingsâ rather than encourage us to reflect, pray and function as the body of Christ is called to do (1Cor 12:12-31). They encourage us to become burdened instead of inspiring us to serve.
Itâs time to put Jesus back at the centre of our notice sheets!
Next time you are advertising a service or event, try to avoid merely saying where and when itâs happening. Remind people why itâs happening. And how it fits with the overall mission and vision of the church. Is it an exciting opportunity to get to know Jesus better? Or an event that is great for introducing non-believers to Christianity? Let people know how it will enhance their personal relationship with God or equip them to serve him more.
And the next time you are looking for a volunteer, be clear that youâre not just looking for someone to do a task, but that the role is a chance to serve our heavenly Father, using Spiritual gifts in ways that glorify Jesus. Itâs an opportunity to be part of the mission of God and the mission of the church. And prayerfully getting involved will help both personal growth and progress the gospel.
With Jesus right at the centre, we might just find that people start reading the notice sheet that little bit more enthusiastically!
Few people get excited about meetings. They usually happen when weâre tired, take us away from our family or friends and all too often achieve frustratingly little. However, contrary to popular belief, meetings CAN be fantastic events that inspire and equip us to serve God better. How? By keeping Jesus as the centre of the agenda!
A traditional agenda can be so depressing:
An hour into the meeting, nothing new has been achieved, half the members are fuming, the other half asleep. And then the main item for discussion is raised... No-one is in the right frame of mind to discuss it. Itâs dire beyond belief. But we do it, out of habit, month after month.
So is there a better way? Well, quite possibly! Next time you organize a meeting, try this âŚ
It doesn't feel very spiritual, does it? Filing. Form-filling. Photocopying. Emailing. But the Bible is clear that administration is a spiritual matter (1 Corinthians 12:28).
At its best, it's the exercise of a God-given gift in a way that brings glory to Jesus and helps progress his Kingdom. Sadly, however, it all too often becomes drudgery and bureaucracy - an unpleasant but necessary task to keep the wheels of the church turning.
A key question for all of us, whether we're pastors, youth workers, women's workers or church secretaries is: how do we do administration in a way that is mindful of its spiritual nature? The answer ... by keeping Jesus at the centre!
So over the next few days, we're going to look at 3 simple ways to keep Christ at the heart of our meetings, our noticesheets, our rotas and all our piles of paperwork.
Read on ... you may never view an agenda in the same way again!
Stephen Witmer, author of our latest Good Book Guide on Jonah, has written an article for The Gospel Coalition website.
Jonahâs almost-death was intended by God to win his obedience. But Jesusâ death was his act of obedience.
This is the gospel according to Jonah.
Your name, O LORD, endures forever,
your renown, O LORD, through all generations.
For the LORD will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants.
(Psalm 135 v 13-14)
Just got off the phone with a minister in a small village in the north-west of England. He wanted to know what's coming up in future issues of Exploreâso he can take it into account in deciding his preaching series for next year.
Why? Because when he was an overseas missionary, he realised that the best way to encourage daily quiet times was for a church to do them together. By which he meant, fit the sermon series in with them. Encourage people to talk about them. Start eldership meetings with them. Get church workers to talk about what they found encouraging and challenging in them.
In other words: do quiet times, together.
I'd not thought of this before. It seems a great idea to me. Has anyone tried it in their church, or something similar? Can anyone think of drawbacks that I've not thought of? Why don't churches do it?
And if any church would like to know what's coming up in Explore, just let us know!
Book for the Southampton Conference - Saturday, 8 October
Book for the London Conference - Saturday, 19 November
For more information please get in touch.
God's Spirit continues to do amazing things in China (and the rest of Asia, and Africa)âthough it's only rarely reported by this country's media.
But the Radio 4's going to have a documentary tonight at 8pm: "God in China, Christianity and Catholicism". There's an article about the Chinese churches here.
The thrust of the piece is to suggest tentatively that it's not poverty that is driving Chinese people into church buildings (or houses, since most Chinese Christians meet underground and illegally in a house), but economic growth. Could it be that as China sees more and more of the idol of wealth, more and more Chinese realise that it won't deliver⌠and are turning to the only God who will?
Some highlights:
All this matters for us as Christians in the UK. Firstly because the gospel is still doing its work in the 21st century, despite those who think Christianity is on the way out.
But second, because one of the underlying assumptions of aggressive atheists and secularists is that religion is for backward-looking, unthinking, poverty-stricken people: not for developed, sensible societies. Which is, of course, why the USA has proportionately far more wealth and far more Christians than the UK, and why it turns out that China, the fastest-growing economy in the world, is also the fastest-growing church in the worldâŚ
"I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb" (Revelation 7 v 9). Looks like a lot of members of that heavenly church service will be Chinese!
