Tomorrow a group of us are off to Hungary for the week.  Ron and Peter are both speaking at the European Leadership Forum – a gathering of hundreds of leaders from around Europe.  We are taking Andy and Jon D with us too, who will be making the most of the opportunity to participate in the Apologetics Network at the conference.  We would value your prayers for this week.  Peter and Ron will be busy with teaching and mentoring meetings.  Also, we have some important conversations in anticipation of Cor Deo taking over the running of the Advanced Bible Teacher’s Network next year.  Please pray for the ministry to go well this year, and for things to be well set up for the greater role Cor Deo will be serving in next time around.

Once we return we are into our final four weeks of Cor Deo 2012.  Please pray for us all to finish well, for the guys as they transition back into “normal life” and for next year’s team to come together in God’s providence.

For the team,

Peter

PS Are you in the USA?  We will be running the Intensive “A Relational Faith” in Portland, OR, between July 23-27.  There are still a couple of spaces available, please get in touch - info@cordeo.org.uk and spread the word if you can – here’s the facebook event page.

There are a couple of ways to address predestination—the “P” word.  One is combative: to set up opposed creedal havens.  A second—one with lots of momentum today—is denial: a tacit agreement to act as if “P” isn’t in the Bible.  But both approaches are wrong-headed.

Let’s consider some Bible realities that call us back to conversation on the subject.

First we need to talk about freedom.  We are all free, biblically, and not “determined” by an imposed necessity—as if God presses his will on our will.  Yet the realm of our moral freedom is often misread.  The Bible locates moral freedom in our hearts.  That is, our greatest love always guides us for good or for ill.

This view of the heart dismisses the most common alternative view: that our morality is based on a self-moved-will as Aristotle, Zeno, and Seneca all taught; and many Christians today affirm.  This Greek portrayal presumes human autonomy—that is, a native independence from God.  It also happens to be what the serpent proposed in Eden.  We may want to avoid it!

The Bible teaches instead that we live as lovers, bonded by love either to God or to another master (Matthew 6:24).

This critical Christian insight—that the soul operates by love—sets out a heart-based version of life and faith.  Somehow we begin to hear and respond to God’s love as he woos us.  And we then realize there are just two ultimate options: God or self.  The former love is what we were made for and what all humans are invited to enjoy.  The latter is what Satan offered Adam and what has ruled the world ever since.

With this insight we can grasp the biblical portrayal of freedom: that God’s love is always freely offered but never forced on us.  Love, instead, is our response to his attractiveness and not a duty we need to fulfill.  As God’s created ones, made for love, the Spirit draws us to see him as attractive beyond all other options.

We gain another insight once the heart is treated as the base of morality: the problem we have with sin is not a disability—as in moral weakness, or poor education, or even an incapacity of the will.  The problem, instead, is our disaffection: in our sin we simply don’t want God as he really exists.  So we love what Satan offers: a vision for us to be “like God”.  Sin in this context destroys our desire for the true God; and in his place a set of self-affirming ambitions or idols emerge.

Who falls for Satan’s deceit?  Everyone.  In Romans Paul tells us that all have loved self rather than God.  He also tells us in Ephesians 2 that Satan manages his sin-captured hearts by stirring desires that lead away from God.

What can overcome such disaffection—given that by the very nature of desire we don’t “unwant” what we want in a given moment?  God alone does it by calling all to himself; yet, despite his innate attractiveness, he only draws and captures some (see Matthew 22 here).

So who responds?  Mainly those whom the world treats as unlovely: the poor, the weak, the blind, the lame, the shamed.  And it is clear that God’s choosing is personal, not arbitrary; nor is it based on our moral efforts.

With all this in view let me restate the invitation for more conversation about “P”.

If God in his love has chosen some to himself—yet never forces us to respond—where do we find this in the Bible?  In Abram?  In Jacob?  In David?  In Isaiah?  In Jeremiah?  In Ruth?  In Joseph and Mary?  In the calling of the Apostles?  In the Samaritan woman at the well?  In Zachaeus?  In Paul?  In me?

Yes to all, and to many more.  In each case these were “chosen”—and never forced—by God’s wonderful calling, promises, and captivating care.  Do we notice how?  By his winning our hearts in love.

6. In God’s great plan of redemption He brings home straying adulterous hearts into the fullness of His forever family.

The story of the Bible is the story of the redemption of humanity, but this doesn’t make it a story about us.  Primarily it is the story of God.

It is His promised grace that overcomes fatal sin.  It is His faithfulness to His word.  It is His self-revelation, His becoming flesh and His sacrifice that does what we could never do.  In the end it will be His bride presented to Him by His Father, and His kingdom presented to His Father.  The redemption story is God’s story, and it reflects God’s character throughout.

The salvation offered to humanity is a gift beyond compare.  Doctrines weave together into the richest tapestry, like the glorious righteousness in which we are clothed, and ultimately transformed.  What are the beautiful threads?

Justification speaks of the transformative conquering of sin and guilt in the gracious and righteous declaration of a hideous price fully paid.  Reconciliation speaks of the broken relationship restored to more than it ever could have been without the redemption story.  Adoption speaks of the gracious inclusion into the inheritance and provision of the divine family.  New birth speaks of the spiritual life transforming the dead heart into a living, beating reflection of the heart of our Abba.  Cleansing speaks of the inside-out purging of impurity.  Sanctification speaks of a precious and careful ownership.  Glorification speaks of magnificence yet unseen in the loving embrace of a giving God.

As you would expect of a triune God, the imagery of redemption’s story is saturated in relational colours.  Like a lost son we are arrested by a stunning display of our loving Father’s self-humiliating grace.  Like a straying harlot wife we are melted and won by our groom’s persistent love.  Like an enemy wishing Him dead, we are made His friends by His laying down of His life.

The problem of sin is so profound, and the solution so beyond the creature, that the whole of creation groans in anticipation of the redemption of the pinnacle of creation.  Yet how creation will sing when made new in the final answer to the question of rebellion.  Is there better life to be found apart from God?  Is there life at all?  No.  He is the life giver, and what lengths He has gone to in order to give us life!

Eternal life in the joy filled family of the truly life-giving God . . . when we preach a passage in the Bible, we preach a snapshot from the family album that tells the tremendous tale of God’s great love story.  Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

In the Gospels—in Christ’s ministry—we just don’t find a promotion of the disciplines.  By disciplines I mean a systematic elevation of spiritual exercises such as enforced silence; extended prayers; repeated prayers; meditations; fasting; denial of basic comforts; reduced sleep; and more.  Jesus did, of course, have extended prayer times and experienced physically harsh settings, yet he didn’t promote such things.

His own devotion was, of course, robust: he once spent more than a month in the wilderness being tempted by Satan; he also spent full nights in prayer; and he often hiked long distances and slept in rough settings.  Yet asceticism wasn’t a take-home lesson for his disciples.  Even the followers of John the Baptist asked why Jesus didn’t insist on some fasting.

What Jesus did call for was love in response to his own love.  For a love of both God and neighbors.  And to love as he loved, with an other-centered devotion, even to death.  Love, then, is more radical than a discipline scheme.  Jesus reforms the heart and its desires by sending his Spirit.  Behaviors then change as a fruit of his presence.  Disciplines, on the other hand, seek to reshape behaviors by overcoming unchanged desires.

So love is greater than Stoic self-improvement in that it naturally produces what the disciplines seek to imitate.  Love is spontaneous and heartfelt while duty is an artifice.  Where the new desires of a new love quickly see needs and build bonds, duties remain blind and require spiritual directors.

But what about Hebrews 12:5-7?  “‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son he receives.’  It is for discipline that you have to endure [suffering].”

What’s in view here?  It’s a lesson that God works even when we suffer—whether we suffer for our faith or in our folly.  And with that assurance we can handle hard times.  The key insight is to notice the place of love here—God’s love is his motivation: “the one he loves” should grow in that love.  And the order of events is also important: God initiates the discipline and we receive it.  It’s not something we initiate and God rewards.

On this last point more must be said.  If we initiate our own hard times to be self-disciplined we shift our focus from God to self.  Paul warned against this in Colossians 2.

“Let no one disqualify you [from a life of faith], insisting on asceticism . . . not holding fast to the Head . . .”  He went on, “why, as if your were still alive to the world, do you submit to regulations—‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’ . . . according to wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”

In other words, we need to be disciplined by what Paul wrote, and then dismiss the disciplines because they indulge in our “self-rightness” rather than in holding to Christ.

Jesus, as we noticed, went into the wilderness to be tempted, but why?  Because the Spirit led him; and there he responded to the Father’s words in contrast to Adam’s failure.  He also prayed all night at times because the burden of his love for the world called for long conversations with his Father.  And he lived a hard life because it best supported his compassionate ministry to those who lived in hard places.

Isn’t it time, then, to take up Christ’s life?  We can be sure God will discipline all who have the life of his Spirit within.  He has the firmness and care of a loving Father.  And he wants us to grow ever closer to his Son.  He’ll do a better job of it than we ever will!

We started by thinking about what kind of communicator God is.  If God were the solo self-concerned being of monadic theism, would he even be a communicator?  Perhaps he would communicate for the sake of instructing obedience, or worse, to perplex the creatures so they know He is greater than them.  Whatever His reason, were he to communicate, it would be a new experience for him.

Not so the God of the Bible.  He has been a communicator since before creation.  The Father, Son and Spirit in meaningful self-giving communication for all of eternity.  We thought about what kind of Scripture we would expect from this kind of God…united, diverse, relational, engaging, rooted in the reality of communicative relationships.

We thought about how God didn’t give us predominantly voice from above, angelic lecture or signs in the sky.  He gave us real people in real life, rooted in a culture and situated in time.  He gave us His ultimate revelation, His Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  The Bible is revelation enfleshed, even before the ultimate revelation took on flesh.

We pondered how the many narratives of Scripture tell us of God’s concern for real people in real situations, of how living in response to Him is not a reality made up of religious services alone, but is a daily real life concern.  We thought about how narrative shows the value of real life, of creation, of people, of faith.

We pondered how the significant amount of poetry in the Bible says something about how God values the emotional experiences of life, as well as the artfully crafted wording, and the need for us to slow down and meditate on words.  We considered how God doesn’t just give us “glorious revelation” throughout the pages of Scripture, but also the angst and struggle of others also living by faith in this world.

We pondered how the discourse sections of the Bible demonstrate God’s concern for clarity and instruction, how He wants people and churches engaged with truth, how His love means the gospel needs to be applied to the concrete and specific issues of life.

And this is just scratching the surface.  It was so helpful to ponder together the motivation that comes from knowing that the Bible is not an impregnable code, but is a revelation that can be understood.  We don’t automatically understand, or understand fully, but it is understandable.  When we don’t get it, the issue is not with it, but with us.

We went on to consider how the issue on our side is not a matter of intellect, or of training.  The far greater issue is the state of the soil in which the seed is planted.  How responsive are our hearts?  How aligned are our hearts with His?

But all that is just by the way.  I wanted to share a thought one of the girls in the group shared, a thought I have never considered before.  We were talking about how our God wasn’t surprised at the sound of His own voice (“it is deeper than I expected!”). He was a practiced talker.  He had done it before creation, in the deeply meaningful interaction within the Trinity.

God is a wonderful communicator, not only because of His character, and His nature, but also because of His glorious relational experience.  And then the thought:

If God is a practiced speaker, this means He is also a practiced listener. And if that is the case, somehow prayer seems somehow even more inviting.

What a thought!

28th April – Delighted by God, London.  Can you join us in London for the day next Saturday?  This year’s theme is “Glorious Gospel” and we are really excited to be joined by Glen Scrivener for the day.  Glen has a heart for Christ and a passion to see Christians applying the gospel to their own lives as well as to the lost around them!  The facebook event page is here.

30th April – 4th May – Cor Deo Intensive.  We have a full group of 14 joining the team for a week of study together.  Please pray for this to be highly profitable for all.  Our next UK intensive is in early November, please email for information.

10th May – Delighted by God, Bristol.  An evening event in Bristol for both CU’s and open to all, let’s join together to celebrate the gospel and pray for the city!  Please join us if you can, here’s the event info in facebook.

As you can see, this is going to be a busy few weeks – thank you for praying for us!  Please pray for the team as they get closer to finishing the programme and ponder their future plans.  And of course, please pray for the team for 2013 too, we are excited to see who God will bring together.

Are you in the USA?  We will be running the Intensive “A Relational Faith” in Portland, OR, between July 23-27.  There are still spaces available, please get in touch - info@cordeo.org.uk and spread the word if you can – here’s the facebook event page.

For the team,

Peter

PS Last month I somehow failed to mention the highlight of the month – the Cor Deo reunion!  This year’s team were joined by 6/8th’s of team 2011 and we enjoyed a very special couple of days together.  Hearing feedback and insight from participants and spouses was truly encouraging for us all.  I think my favourite comment (among many), was so simple: “Cor Deo gave me permission to enjoy the Bible” … we would love to be used by God to infect people with a passion for His Word!

The first reference, in verse 5, seems distinct from the others that follow as Jesus mentioned the glory he shared with the Father “before the world existed.”  So it speaks here of the creation itself.  All the following uses have a moral dimension: speaking of the world as the realm of the “evil one” (verse 15).

In the prayer Jesus linked his use of world with a second repeated term—“word”—to discriminate those who are “not of the world” from those who are of the world: the former are those who “have kept your word.”  The world, on the other hand, represents those who reject Christ’s words and have “hated” all the word-centered people.

There’s more.  Word is identified with “truth”—“your word is truth” (verse 16)—and is what sets the word-centered people apart (as a “sanctified” people) in Jesus just as Jesus himself was set apart to the Father.  The imagery is of two separate trajectories: one group of people moving towards the eternal glory of God’s mutual love (verse 24) and the other group moving in the opposite direction.  One group is aligned with God and the other hates God and all he stands for.

As I considered this prayer recently with a group of friends it dawned on me that some things never change.  Adam and Eve, just after the creation of the world, had the best the world could offer: a chance to walk with God in his special Garden.  But they abandoned their privileged state by dismissing what God had told Adam in clear and unmistakable terms: don’t eat from a single prohibited tree lest you die!  Yet Eve, followed by Adam, acted as if God’s words weren’t reliable or true.  They ate the fruit anyway.

How did this remarkable shift come about?  By accepting the serpent’s dismissal of God’s character and honesty: his “Did God really say?” followed by “you will not surely die!”  In a moment of heart-change they shifted from trusting God to trusting the serpent.  Yet God “really did say” and the first couple really did “die” in the moment they ate of the fruit.

The work of Christ, then, was and is to reverse the serpent’s lie by presenting God’s character as reliable and his word as true in terms we can grasp.  In the beloved Son the Father unleashed his strongest and most attractive resource.  And he so loved us that he allowed the Son to die for us so we can again live the life Adam abandoned.

It is striking, then, that God’s expressed word—now bound in a relatively small volume called the Bible—is the place where the living Word speaks to our hearts.  And where the separation that Jesus prayed about is still taking place.  Some are responding to him—reading and responding to the Bible—and others are ignoring it and him.

I like the way the prayer of John 17 ends as Jesus prays for those of us who find his words to be a delight: “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

It’s an invitation that is literally out of this world and into a life of true love.  It’s not to be missed!

Answering Inadequacy, by Ron, on, well, inadequacy.

Airport Lounge, by Huw Williams (Cor Deo 2011) with reflections on our world, our destination and a mention for the Cor Deo reunion.

Let Man Not Separate, where Peter pleads for the Holy Spirit and Accountability to be kept together. (And this one on the Spirit and Sermon Preparation.  Oh, and one more on the Bible and Spirituality.)

Solomon’s Heritage, in Cor Deo we were looking at Solomon recently, which ties in with this post from Ron.

Meet the Bloggers, an interview on blogging and preaching and spirituality with Peter.

Concerning Hobbits, one more from Huw (CD2011), on how we read and handle biblical narratives.

Conducting Life, since we’ve linked to Huw, here’s a post from Ron with reflections after watching Huw in action last summer.

Today’s post is by Andy Cordle, one of the Cor Deo team this year, who is involved in a church plant in central Bristol:

We’ve been preaching through Nehemiah in our church over the last few months. I’ve been struck by Nehemiah’s motivation for the way he leads. He states twice in chapter 5 that his reason for pursuing justice and maintaining integrity as governor of the people was fear of God (Nehemiah 5:9, 15). And the fear of God is not just a theme in Nehemiah: it’s all the way through the Bible. The most notable place is in the wisdom literature, where “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom”. Fear of God is the headline of Proverbs 1, and the conclusion of Ecclesiastes 13.

So what does it mean to fear God, and in what way does this fear motivate us? Does it mean we should live our lives cowering under his gaze, terrified of doing anything that might displease him?

It doesn’t sound a very enjoyable way to live. And as a result it is easy to explain away the fear of God by watering it down – replacing it with “reverence” or “respect”. Fear sounds a bit archaic and, well, scary. But we cannot get away from the fact that all the way through the Bible, when people come face to face with God, they are terrified. When God’s voice thunders from Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 and 20 the people plead with Moses to intercede for them, so that they are not consumed. When Isaiah sees a vision of God in Isaiah 6 his response is “Woe is me!” When Jesus reveals himself to John in a vision of dazzling light in Revelation 1, John falls flat on his face as though dead.

God constantly reminds us in his word that he is not like us. He is God; we are not. He is the Creator; we are the created. He is the One who sits above the heavens; we are as tiny in comparison to him as a drop of water in the ocean. That is why when people meet the living God in the Bible, they are gripped by raw fear. If we dilute this, we will miss who God really is. Our God will be too small.

A proper understanding of God’s ‘otherness’ is a corrective we all desperately need. Ever since the moment in the Garden when Adam and Eve set themselves up in the place of God, all of us have operated on the basis that we are the centre of our own universe. God is reduced to our level and placed in the dock, answerable to us and subject to our judgement. But nothing could be further from the truth, and we need to know that. That is why the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. If we are to relate to God and his world properly, the first thing we must do is understand properly who he is.

So does this mean we should live in dread of his greatness? Did Nehemiah’s fear of God mean he lived his life scared witless?

Well, no, not exactly. In his prayer in chapter 1 Nehemiah describes himself as one of those “who delight to fear your name” (Nehemiah 1:11). Doesn’t sound filled with dread to me. Why not? Because Nehemiah knows that the “God of heaven, the great and awesome God” (Nehemiah 1:5a) is also the God “who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him” (Nehemiah 1:5b).

Yes, God is further from us than we could ever imagine; but at the same time he comes closer to us than we dare think possible. He came and lived among us in the person of Jesus, and because of his steadfast love he freely offers us life in the new covenant. And not only that, as we respond to God’s unconditional promises in faith the Spirit unites us with himself in the closest bond possible – a bond which leads us to call God himself Father, or more literally “Daddy” (Gal 4:6).

So yes, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. And yes, our engagement with God and his world will only make sense if we start with a right fear of who he is. But the good news of the gospel is that this is not the end goal. The end goal is being united with him in a relationship of love by the Spirit through the Son. Fear of God just makes this even more mind-blowing.