It’s been a while since I posted here last. As you can imagine with four children now life has become rather busy for me. Also I have been working a bit on a software project in the last month. But I thought I would write some thoughts on the issue of how I think about "the environment". It is obviously a topic we are hearing more and more about, and is fast becoming one of our society’s favourite benchmark’s of morality.

On Global Warming

It seems that the consensus is that global warming is real and man-made, although every now and then I come up against skeptics (some more believable than others). To be honest, I’m not sure I really need to know. Most of the "good for the environment" things you can do have merits of their own irrespective of whether the planet is in immanent peril or not.

On "Carbon Emissions"

I’ve been cycling to work for the last year, which has a few benefits. First, it is much cheaper than owning two cars (I reckon we save around £70 per month by having just one car). Second, it is good for my health (except for the increased risks of getting squashed by a car). And third, it is a better environmental option.

As for long-distance journeys, this hasn’t been much of an issue for our family. We very rarely travel abroad, and most years our summer holiday is little more than 50 miles away. This year we’re camping just 25 miles down the road.

I occasionally ponder whether we could manage without a car at all. The main issues are to do with church. Public transport either to church on a Sunday morning or to cell groups around town in the evenings is simply not an option. I would also have to stop playing in the band at church.

On Energy Efficiency

I fitted our house with energy efficient light-bulbs, which I guess goes some way to offsetting the fact that the children like the light in the hall to be left on all night. As for other items in the house, when I buy something new, I am trying to be a little more conscious of its energy efficiency that I might have been before. However, I am not sure how environmental it is to replace something simply because it is not energy efficient. Surely the old television or refrigerator going to a landfill site is just as unhelpful for the environment.

On Recycling & Waste

Like most people these days, we are trying to recycle what we can, yet there always seems to be a remarkable amount of stuff generated that needs throwing away. My wife has bought some washable nappies that has cut down a lot on our waste. There are of course services like freecycle, that can take things that still work off your hands, but even so, junk that no-one wants or is broken beyond repair just keeps accumulating.

One of my pet peeves is the amount of stuff we buy or get posted that could just as easily have been received in electronic form. I try to get all my bills and bank statements sent by email, yet still some companies insist on sending me mountains of paperwork. I am also looking forward to the time when music, movies and software are all bought digitally instead of the need for a huge collection of plastic disks and cases. As for books, maybe one day there will be a viable way to buy and read books electronically (Amazon Kindle anybody?), but so far my attempts at reading books on a computer usually end up with me having sore eyes and a headache. I have also migrated my home studio recording equipment to a software-based solution (as much as possible).

I try to make a habit of using things until they have genuinely reached their end of life (and often beyond). Clothes, electrical items, bicycles, furniture should not be replaced until they are no longer fit for purpose. Where that line is drawn is of course a matter for debate, but it seems to me both financially and environmentally irresponsible for a Christian to be just buying newer and better all the time simply because they can.

On Eschatology

OK, its time to get a bit theological. Conventional wisdom at the moment claims that Christians don’t care about the environment because of their eschatology – Jesus is coming back and he’ll clean up the mess for us. Maybe there is a little of that, but I’m not sure for two reasons.

First, the reason many Christians don’t talk a lot about "the environment" is because we have a different name for it. We call it "Creation", and can be found singing about how wonderful it is almost every week at church. In fact a healthy doctrine of seeing our world as God’s creation entrusted to us as responsible stewards should be all the impetus we need to cause us to work against those things that destroy our environment.

Second, I think the reason so many Christians care so little about environmental issues is nothing to do with their eschatology but rather because of syncretism. We have made it possible to mix Christianity with secular materialistic consumerism.

Concluding Thoughts

Hopefully I have not come across as proud or self-righteous in this post. So far, the "green" things I have been doing are little more than token gestures. There are a whole host of things I could do to be more environmentally conscious. And of course, the environment is not the only issue I want to be more concerned about. There are issues of poverty, human trafficking, abortion, fair trade, church planting, and evangelism, and as a Christian I want to be in tune with what God’s priorities are.

I do want to let myself be provoked on this issue though. Perhaps the main reason Christians react against an environmentalist message is that it often comes bundled with a variety of anti-Christian sentiments. But that need not be the case. Try subscribing to the Simple Pastor blog and reading Phil Whitall’s thoughtful comments on a variety of subjects including the environment. There are also a number of interesting books on this topic from an evangelical perspective coming out at the moment. Apparently Doug Moo is going to be writing a book on Creation theology, with special reference to environmental issues, which is definitely one to watch out for.

Anyway, feel free to add in the comments what you make of this issue. Are you doing anything differently to be more environmentally conscious? Or do you see it as a distraction from the "main thing"?

I’m sure most of my friends by now know that our fourth child was born on Wednesday morning, but I couldn’t let this momentous occasion go unremarked on my blog. We’ve named him Samuel Calvin Heath and he weighed 7 pounds 10. There are more photos of him on my facebook page.

Steph is still in hospital as Sam has to finish a course of antibiotics before they will let him go. And things are especially busy for me this week as I am due to preach at Southampton University Christian Union on Friday evening.

I have created a small Bible verse add-in for those of you who blog using Windows Live Writer. It allows you to simply add a quotation from the ESV, or a link to Bible Gateway in your blog posts.

Installation

First, download the Bible Verse Writer 0.6 zip file and extract VerseWriter.dll into C:\Program Files\Windows Live Writer\Plugins (or C:\Progam Files\Windows Live\Writer\Plugins if that folder exists on your PC). And that’s it. Simply launch Windows Live Writer and the plugin will be available and ready for use.

Usage

To use it, simply click on the Insert Bible Verse… link at the bottom right. You then type in the reference you want to use (e.g. Rom 12:1). Then you select whether you wish to have the full text of the verse quoted in your blog, or whether you simply want to link to Bible Gateway. To quote the verse, you must select the ESV option. You can also optionally wrap the text in a HTML <blockquote> tag. This is what it looks like:

33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

(Jer 31:33 ESV)

Alternatively, you can just insert a link to Bible Gateway. This allows you to select from a variety of popular versions. Here is a example link to the Amplified Bible version of Eph 2:10.

Feature Requests

If you find this plugin useful, please do get in touch and let me know. Also if you would like any features added, then simply send me an email, or comment here and I will see what I can do.

I decided today that I would check out what the Technorati website is all about, and in the process stumbled across a couple of interesting blogs. Emily is a fellow reformed charismatic based here in the UK, and although she focuses a lot on women’s issues, I still found a lot of interesting and well articulated posts on her site. And Rick Ianello seems to share a remarkably similar set of theological influences to me. There are quotes from Tom Wright, C H Spurgeon, John Wimber, R T Kendall, Mark Driscoll, and John Calvin. Plus there is a generous helping of silly pictures and videos.

Even more interesting was the fact that I have been tagged with a couple of "memes" and knew nothing about it. So rather belatedly, here are my answers…

First, Jeremy Pierce (Parableman) tagged me with a Bible Meme:

1. What translation of the Bible do you like best?

ESV is my main Bible but my copy is barely hanging together thanks to copious amounts of gaffer tape, and most of Genesis has been stained yellow (I think its to do with rain and my children’s felt-tip pens if you are wondering how). So I’m really looking forward to the forthcoming ESV Study Bible which I have earmarked as my next Bible purchase. I’d also like to get myself a TNIV, when they finally put one out in a nice format (Zondervan really seem to be shooting themselves in the foot with this translation at the moment).

2. Old or New Testament?

I’m with Jeremy – they’re both the Word of God. I will confess to having a much better stocked commentary collection for the NT than the OT. Something I hope to rectify in the coming years.

3. Favourite Book of the Bible?

Hmm, hard question. I like 1 Corinthians because its got a bit of everything in it. 1 Peter, Matthew, Ephesians, Philippians and Romans get honourable mentions in the NT category. As for the Old Testament, its between Psalms, Leviticus, Joel, Proverbs, Hosea, Isaiah, Nehemiah, and Genesis.

4. Favourite Chapter?

Now this is even harder. I think I’ll go for Romans 8. I love the Sermon on the Mount too, but that’s three chapters.

5. Favourite Verse?

Again, too many to choose from, but I will go with Romans 8:32

Other than that, I always liked Job 3:2 in the NIV as it is even shorter than John 11:35

6. Bible character you think you’re most like?

Timothy

7. One thing from the Bible that confuses you?

I remember reading Rev 7:5-8 when I was probably only about 12 years old and wondering why Dan gets left out and why Ephraim gets turned into Joseph. I guess my commentaries on Revelation will have a good answer but I’ve yet to check it out.

8. Moses or Paul?

They’re both a little scary, but I think I’d feel a bit safer with Paul.

9. A teaching from the Bible that you struggle with or don’t get?

Why does the book of Job have to be so longwinded?

10. Coolest name in the Bible?

Apart from Mark, I would say that it would have to be He-man.

The other meme I was tagged with is from Peter Smythe, asking for "five things I dig about Jesus". He rather flatteringly calls me a "famous pneumablogger", but he wouldn’t be saying that if he saw how few readers I actually have! Anyway, it’s a great question and I have no shortage of things to say here…

1. I love his single-minded sense of purpose. He was on the earth to do his Father’s will and would allow nothing to distract or sidetrack him from that mission.

2. I love the intimacy of his relationship with his Father.

3. I love the way that he chose such a motley crew for his disciples and stuck with them even when they failed repeatedly.

4. I love his servant-hearted attitude, pouring himself out on behalf of others, and thus displaying complete integrity in his call for us to love sacrificially.

5. I love the fact that he is my advocate (1 John 2:1) before the Father.

I’m supposed to pass these memes on to a few people. Jonathan Skipper, I’ve not read much from you recently. And Graeme Mallett – it’s time to start blogging!

I just got back today from New Word Alive in Pwllheli. I won’t give a comprehensive report, because I’m sure Adrian Warnock and others have already done that admirably, but I thought I would mention a few highlights and general reflections.

Having three small children and being offsite meant that I didn’t get to quite as many sessions as I would normally manage. I missed most of Terry Virgo’s talk because my youngest son Joel was making too much noise, but fortunately I have heard Terry speak on that passage a few times already so I at least knew roughly what I was missing! I also didn’t get to attend any afternoon sessions. Tim Chester had a very interesting looking seminar series that I might have to see if I can get hold of the recordings for.

Don Carson – 1 John

Don Carson covered 1 John in his four morning Bible teaching sessions. He started off by warning that to omit fact that sin is deeply offensive to God from your presentation of the gospel, whether intentionally or not, will lead to a serious distortion of the gospel, even if the other things you say are true. Whilst he did not mention the "emerging church" directly, it was clear that he was deliberately tackling their way of framing the gospel message.

One very interesting point he made was concerning our attitude as Christians to our own sin. If we consider it trivial, he argued that we are likely to try to attempt to fix it by simply trying a bit harder. Whereas when we see the true horror of its offence to God, we are driven back to the cross. In other words, a low view of the seriousness of sin leads to legalism, whilst a high view leads to grace.

Also on the subject of sin, he made a helpful observation on 1 John 3:9 which literally says that a Christian "cannot sin". He said that we try to wriggle out of it by translating it "cannot keep on sinning", because it is a present continuous verb tense. But he argued for a different understanding of the word "cannot". He gave an example of his school teacher who told him "you cannot chew gum here". In this context it is not meant that it is impossible to chew gum in school, but rather that it is absolutely not permitted. So a Christian cannot sin, in the sense that it is strictly prohibited. It is not OK. And when, tragically, we do, we are sent back to the cross where we find grace and mercy.

John Piper – Suffering

I only got to hear Piper’s second sermon on suffering, and though I have heard and read him on this subject several times before, it was amazing to be there and hear him preach on a topic that most preachers would run a mile from. His answer could really be described as a defence of the seventh point of "7 point Calvinism", or, "the best of all possible worlds".

The argument runs like this. God desires above all things to display his glory. He does so supremely by displaying his grace, which he does supremely through the death of his Son. There will never be a greater display of his glory in all eternity – even the second coming will not compare. Thus if God always planned that his Son would be killed, he must also have planned that there would be killers and even that there be such a thing as killing and death.

From here he argued that even suffering then was part of an eternal plan of God, and finds its purpose in bringing glory to God. He did speak briefly of the way that healing brings glory to God and encouraged praying for healing, but he does believe that in this age, the "normative" way is for Jesus to get the glory as our "sustainer" through suffering. In eternity he will be glorified only as the "healer", as suffering will cease.

Mike Reeves – Trinity

Dave Bish had alerted me to Mike Reeve’s a couple of months ago. I downloaded a bunch of his talks on Augustine and Luther and started listening and was highly impressed and so I was very pleased to hear that he was doing a seminar series at New Word Alive. I missed the first of his three talks on the Trinity, but got to the second two and thought they were outstanding. He has a remarkable gift for making complicated doctrine and archaic church history come alive. Head over to the theology network website, where you can listen to him giving a very similar series of talks on the Trinity.

One of the most profound things he taught was that because God is Triune, he has always been able to love "the other", unlike a monadic God (e.g. Allah), who has no one to love in eternity past except himself (which would be simply selfishness). Luther said that a sinner was "man curved in on himself", and so a monadic view of God leads to a distorted theology, with a "God curved in on himself" – a god made in our own image.

Word and Spirit?

Dare I venture a word or two on the somewhat sensitive subject of how well the charismatic and non-charismatic evangelicals got on worshipping together? I guess you could say that neither side got things quite how they normally like it! The worship bands were from newfrontiers and Soul Survivor, which meant was a more contemporary feel than some non-charismatics would be used to, although the songs were often interspersed with interviews and book reviews, which did sometimes seem to make things a little disjointed.

And interestingly, while I am not a huge fan of "ministry time" which is an obligatory component of a typical charismatic worship service, I found myself thinking in a number of the meetings that people would have benefited from staying to receive prayer rather than simply rushing off to the next thing. We heard some powerful teaching that deserves some time for serious reflection and personal response.

But overall I would say that it was very encouraging to see a genuine desire to stand together for the gospel and not to make our differences become the main thing, while at the same time, not pretending that we don’t have any differences of opinion. It will be very interesting to see how this partnership develops in future New Word Alive events.

I was a little disturbed by the mean-spirited smirking at Brian MacLaren’s attempts at song-writing (shame on you Michael Patton and Justin Taylor). True, it was a rather ropey performance and recording of a distinctly average tune with lyrics as subtle as a Mark Driscoll sermon. And there is indeed something refreshing about the thought that even the most hip and cool of the emerging crowd can produce something as equally turgid as any imaginationless evangelical stuck in the yesteryear of modernism.

But this is not Pop Idol, where we derive more pleasure from watching no-hopers squirm as they are cut to size by cruel judges than we do from watching the minority who actually have some talent. No, in the evangelical world, we don’t just want the person with 10 talents to dominate the show. The person with one talent needs to put it to use. We’re so generous in fact that we will gladly give five star ratings to the most musically inept performances and kitsch melodies. Check out the top twenty in the Christian Rock charts on SoundClick if you don’t believe me.

Thankfully, regular readers of my site will already know of my astonishing song-writing capabilities which I am using to single-handedly turn the tide of Christian music. And so, to celebrate the fact that I have finally got the Full Faith website back online, and in anticipation of the long-awaited next Full Faith meeting to be held in Poofwelly on Sunday, I present my latest worship song, “Dove of Love from Above”. And before any of you even think of critiquing it, you need to know that “God gave me this song“.

Dove of Love from Above

I can taste your love
Shining down from above
Fitting me like a glove
Gentle as a dove
And when push comes to shove
I can never get enoughve
Of your love from above

Cover me with your loverly love,
Smother me with thy brotherly love,
My discovery of your otherly love
Soars my heart on above

A live recording will follow if they have the requisite technology in Wales.

Just a quick post to say that I’ve added Jared Wilson’s blog “The Gospel-Driven Church” to my list of recommended blogs. I’ve been following it for a year, and he consistently puts out some great stuff. His influences range from John Piper to Mark Driscoll to N T Wright to Dallas Willard. You can also listen to the sermons he preaches at “Element“, a teaching and worship ministry for young adults.

If you’re not already subscribed to his blog, you should do so now.

As part of my research for the ecclesiology course I have been teaching, I have been trying to listen to some sermons by those involved in the "emerging church". In particular, I have subscribed to the weekly sermon feed from Mars Hill Bible Church, where Rob Bell’s sermons can be heard (not to be confused with Mars Hill Church in Seattle where Mark Driscoll is the pastor, and whose sermons are also on my subscription list).

I have been hoping to catch Rob Bell explaining clearly what he believes "the gospel" is, and what it means to become a Christian, yet despite listening for several months I am still waiting. With time running out before I do my talk on the emerging church, I fear I will not manage to get an authoritative quote. If you know of one, perhaps from one of his books, do let me know.

Anyway, the sermon of his I listened to today was entitled "I Do Not Know", and was the latest in a series of sermons on Philippians. One of the good things about Rob Bell, unlike in many evangelical and emerging churches, is that he can often be found doing an expository series working his way through a section or book of the Bible.

His sermon title comes from chapter 1:22, where Paul says

If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!

From this, he draws out some points about the real pressure that Paul was under, so much so that at one point he confessed to being at the point of giving up (2 Cor 1:8). He talks about the need to admit to our doubts and struggles.

Of course, this is a recurring emphasis in the emerging church – the need for openness about the issues and battles we are facing, rather than keeping up appearances and pretending never to struggle with doubt or sin.

And what Rob Bell goes on to say about the need to "doubt your doubts" rather than just giving in to them without challenging them is excellent. However, I did think it slightly revealing that while preaching a whole sermon entitled "I do not know", he somehow managed to avoid telling the congregation that merely three verses later, Paul says

Convinced of this, I know that I will remain…

So while we should not minimise the reality of his doubts and struggles, the fact is that Paul moved past them, and arrived at a place of real certainty. It is this type of certainty that borders on being a sin in the minds of some emerging thinkers. And yet it characterises all the New Testament writers.

In what was on the whole a good sermon, Rob Bell concluded in what I thought was a disappointing manner. If you have doubts about the existence of God or the resurrection, the answer is just to do good deeds of kindness, and in so doing you become "the resurrection" or "divine" to those people around you. At this point, he was repeatedly asking his audience, "are we tracking?". No, I wasn’t tracking.

Why not? Well simply, its back to what Rob thinks the gospel is. I honestly don’t know what he believes. Sometimes he hints that he is very clear on the message of salvation by grace alone, and then out pop these statements that sound very much as though he considers beliefs irrelevant so long as you are doing good deeds. Which may be a popular sentiment, but its not the gospel.

Sorry my blogging output has been rather reduced recently. I have actually been quite busy preparing various talks and sermons. Anyway, I thought I’d pass on the news that Mark Driscoll will be the guest speaker at next year’s Together on a Mission conference. I listen to most of his weekly sermons, but it will be great to get a chance to hear him live and in person, and doubtless he will stir up some controversy for us to blog about! See Terry Virgo’s post for more details.

In other news, I will be off to the New Word Alive next Easter where John Piper, Don Carson and Terry Virgo are the speakers, so I’m looking forward to a real feast of the word at these two conferences.