Not of this world

On John 18:36: 

His kingdom (yes, he agrees he has a kingdom; Pilate seizes on this) doesn't come from this world. Please note, he doesn't say, as some translations have put it, ' my kingdom is not of this world'; that would imply that his 'kingdom' was altogether other-worldly, a spiritual or heavenly reality that had nothing to do with the present world at all. That is not the point. Jesus, after all, taught his disciples to pray that God's kingdom would come 'on earth as in heaven'. 

No: the point is that Jesus' kingdom does not come from 'this world'. Of course it doesn't. 'The world', as we've seen again and again, is in John the source of evil and rebellion against God. Jesus is denying that his kingdom has a this-worldy origin or quality. That's why he has come into the world himself (v37), and why he has sent, and will send, his followers into the world (17.18; 20.21). His kingdom doesn't come from this world, but it is for this world. That is the crucial distinction.  (John for Everyone, Tom Wright, p114-115)

Peter Denies Christopher

A Cutting Advert!

The Appetiser

This is the conclusion of Ch 1: 
Given that the weekly Sabbath embodied standards of justice that continue in the New Testament era; given that the weekly Sabbath regulated the public worship of God's people, worship that continues to be prioritized in the New Testament; and given that the weekly Sabbath is a creation ordinance that reflects God's own pattern of work and rest which we as Christians are called to imitate, we must conclude that the Sabbath was intended to be a perpetual institution. (The Taste of Sabbath: How to Delight in God's Rest, Stuart Bryan)

So much fun!

One Song To The Tune Of Another?

Does anyone know the tune to this old hymn? 
Or how the verses divide up (they seem a little wonky to me)? 
It is new to me. But clearly not to the church!

The standards of the King appear,  
  the mystery of the cross shines out in glory, 
  the cross on which life suffered death 
  and by that death gave back life to us.

 His side, wounded by the spear's cruel point, 
  poured out water and blood 
  to wash away the stains of our sins. 

 The words of David's true prophetic song were fulfilled, 
  in which he announced to the nations: 
  "God has reigned from a tree." 

 Tree of dazzling beauty, 
  adorned with the purple of the King's blood, 
  and chosen from a stock 
  worthy to bear limbs so sacred. 
  
How favoured the tree 
  on whose branches hung the ransom of the world; 
  it was made a balance on which his body was weighed, 
  and bore away the prey that hell had claimed. 
  
Hail, cross, our only hope! 
  In this season of passiontide 
  give an increase of grace to the good 
  and wipe out the sins of the guilty. 

 Let every spirit praise you, 
  fount of salvation, Holy Trinity. 
  On those to whom you have generously given the 
    victory of the cross, 
  bestow the reward also. Amen. 
                    
  -  Passion Hymn by Venantius Fortunatus 
                                                 (6th century)  

Basics

The Bible sets forth three basic earthly reasons for marriage. They are in turn, the need for helpful companionship, the need for godly offspring, and the avoidance of sexual immorality. 

(Reforming Marriage, Wilson, p18)

Lawyer, Soldier, Sportsman

I love this video which features interviews with Lord Mackay, Timothy Cross and Henry Olonga.
It calls itself, appropriately: Lawyer, Soldier, Sportsman 

And over, and with, and for, and before each one, the LORD Jesus Christ! 

24

Our mission - 24 hrs on a narrowboat. 20 locks. 6 BBers, Phil and myself. 

Bring it on. 

Labour - the Anti-Christ...ians?

Damian Thompson writes in the Spectator:

Gordon Brown’s Cabinet is the least Christian in British history. Its members sneer at the Churches’ teachings about sexuality. They bully faith schools with relish, making them talk to primary schoolchildren about sexual intercourse. They are just about to force Catholic schools to advise teenage girls on where to procure an abortion. They want to compel religious institutions to employ people whose beliefs run entirely counter to the values of those institutions. They favour ‘assisted dying’ and are surreptitiously working to enshrine it as a legal right. This is hard-edged, doctrinaire secularism of a variety that even Tony Blair couldn’t stomach. Admittedly, his government didn’t ‘do’ God, but this lot want to do Him in.

Britain’s Christians, you might expect, would be deserting Labour in droves. Not so. According to an opinion poll last month commissioned by the think tank Theos, support for the Tories among Christians had crept up by only two points since the last general election. In contrast, ‘unbelievers’ — that is, people who say they have no religious faith and who probably agree with Harriet Harman on abortion, gay marriage and the delusional nature of faith — had moved 13 points in the Tory direction

The argument here isn't that there are no Christians in the Labour Party. In fact, given the opinion poll results it may well be that there are a number. The issue is that Labour's policies and approach to key issues is anti-Christian.

BUT (granting for the moment that Damian Thompson is right in his analysis)...are the Tories a clear alternative?
Well, David Cameron describes his party as 'a modern and radical party'. Mmmm. OK, what do those words mean?!
Here is David Cameron, voice of the 'family friendly' party, with the CONSERVATIVE party's line on homosexuality:

So, on this issue of sexuality 'modern and radical' also means anti-Christian. That is the blue corner, and as the quote showed, the yellow corner are the same too.

So, as a Christian voter, on the issue of sexuality, our main parties are all anti-Christs.

Perhaps we can distinguish the speed and vigor with which they wish to throw off his bonds ... but when heading towards a cliff speed isn't the main issue is it?

HT: Pete

PS. Peter Hitchens would like to ask David Cameron these nine questions here.

Good Food

Well done Andy!
Famous here & here

United

The Church is not a people united by common ideas, ideas which collectively go under the name 'Christianity'. When the Bible speaks of a people united by faith it does not simply mean that we have the same beliefs about reality. Though the New Testament does use 'faith' to refer to a set of teaching (e.g. 1 Cor 16:13; 1 Tim 4:1; 2 Tim 4:7), 'faith' stretches out to include one's entire 'stance' in life, a stance that encompasses beliefs about the world but also unarticulated or inarticulable attitudes, hopes, and habits of thought, action or feeling. To be of 'one mind' (Phil 1:27) means to share projects, aspirations, and ventures, not merely to hold to the same collection of doctrines. Besides, the Church is united not only by one faith but also by one baptism (Eph 4:4-6), manifests her unity in common participation in one loaf (1 Cor 10:17), and lives together in mutual deference, submission , and love.  (Against Christianity, Peter Leithart, p14)

Utility doesn't quite fit the bill

I am guessing from this article that Simon Barnes is an atheist. He is writing about his son, Eddie, who has Down's Syndrome, and as you might expect from Simon Barnes he does so very movingly:

What is Eddie for? A question worth asking, I think. The Nazis sent people with Down’s to the ovens, because they polluted the purity of the race. And before we shudder at such barbarity, we should remember that most women pregnant with a baby with Down’s syndrome choose to abort. It’s clear that many people believe that a child with Down’s has no point: that such a being is extraneous to human needs, a mere burden on society and, in particular, on the parents. Best get rid of them. 

The reality of Eddie’s life contradicts all that. At school, he is held very dear. The headmistress has said that her school is a better place for his presence: because Eddie is there, the school’s small society has become more caring, more gentle, more at ease with itself. At the end of the last school year, Eddie won the Peace Prize, voted for annually by the entire class. The prize is given to the kindest, most generous and most helpful child.

So Simon Barnes takes on the utility argument and argues that his boy has utility, despite what others in society might say. Quite right too.

But Eddie is valuable and has purpose, not only because of his utility, but because God has made him in his image, because God sustains Eddie moment by moment and because God will hold to account anyone who takes Eddie's life.


Despite not having a grounding for why this should be, Simon Barnes is right that Eddie's purpose is to be loved and to love: 

Eddie’s function is to be loved, and to love in return. Perhaps that is everybody’s ultimate function. Eddie enriches the lives of his family and enriches the lives of those he comes into contact with outside. That seems to me to be a life right on the cutting edge of usefulness.

But there is more still. Because utility is not how God measures worth. After all, Eddie is not useful to God. Nor is Simon Barnes, nor am I, nor is anyone, in this sense: What do we bring God that God does not already have?

Ultimately Eddie, Simon and I, along with all creation, are made by the Triune God, for him, to worship and adore him for all eternity through the Lord Jesus Christ. Eddie is made for God's glory.

A phat phuture!