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Isn’t Teaching Your Faith to Your Children “Indoctrination”?

by Solas

Is it wrong to raise children in a religious tradition? Is the accusation of “indoctrination” that is sometimes flung by atheists fair or accurate? Wouldn’t it be better to raise children ‘neutrally’? But is there such a thing as neutrality—don’t *all of us* have a worldview and don’t all parents aim to convey that to their children? These are just a few of the thorny questions that Andy Bannister tackles in this packed episode of Short Answers.

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Life, Faith and Philosophy: In Conversation with Kristi Mair

by Editor

Many people at Solas know Kristi Mair’s voice from PepTalk podcasts, have heard her speak at a Confident Christianity conference –or read one of her articles on our website – but may not have any idea who she is! So we caught up with Kristi and talked to her about her life, faith, philosophy, and student ministry – amongst other things!

Solas: So Kristi, tell us – what do you get up to when you aren’t doing all these things for Solas?

Kristi: My life is incredibly varied! I work full-time as a Research Fellow in philosophy, ethics and apologetics at Oak Hill Theological College, in London. I teach, and provide pastoral support for the full-time female students in the college. I’m pursuing a PhD alongside that as well. Then in my own time I get to do university missions, team days for UCCF, evangelistic events for businesses, and help other organisations such as Solas; I have writing opportunities, for people like Crosslands apologetics, and Union School of Theology. So I have a whole host of things going on, writing, speaking, training, putting books together, authoring academic modules, lecturing, evangelism and studying.

Solas: How long will it take do complete your PhD?

Kristi: I’m 4 years into the programme, and was on track to submit my thesis in my 5th year, but with all the interruptions of Covid, I don’t think that is going to happen. I found studying under lockdown much harder than I’d expected, and so I anticipate another couple of years.

Solas: I assume that lockdown/Covid has affected not just your PhD work, but all those different areas you work in such as university missions, teaching, using research libraries etc?

Kristi: Well one of the joys of teaching at Oak Hill is that all the full-time residential students have stayed. So some things have continued, but on the other hand because of the regulations they’ve had to stay in their flats, so I haven’t seen that many people! With university missions, they’ve actually all gone ahead, but all moved online, and it has been a real joy to be involved in that. Other groups such as Passion for Evangelism, have done loads of events online too. We’ve done, “Jesus, Race & Gender”, and “What is the value of women?”. Oak Hill has done lots of online vents as well, that I’ve been involved in on things such as “Where is hope in a time of Covid?”, which I did with a lawyer and a medical doctor.

In some ways evangelistic opportunities have opened and broadened; and for my own friends there are more events that I can invite them to which they are happier to engage with – without having to leave their home. So Nigel Halliday’s event on ‘Christmas in Art’, using the history of art to tell the Christmas story is something I can invite friends to. With CU carol services, there have been some provisions in law for religious gatherings, so some of those are going ahead – in a limited form. So I am going to Durham Cathedral, where they will record the carol service talk, then broadcast it the next week. So even though we can’t be gathered together in the cathedral, I can go there and speak. I’ll record the Birmingham University CU carol service talk on my laptop at home and send it to them.

I feel the poverty of how the restrictions have impacted us in communities and as individuals too. On the other hand I’m thankful for the ways it has helped us to find new ways of reaching people.

Solas: Do you think that the higher numbers of non-Christian people engaging with gospel content online during this period has been offset by lower traction, accountability etc? People might have done a whole course in person, but then might dip in selectively to bits of an evangelistic course online..?

Kristi: Yes, without physical commitment, there’s little opportunity to establish good relationships in which, even if you disagree with what’s being said, you’ll go along because the person who invited you is great to hang out with.  And then there is the lack of the really important conversations afterwards.

Solas: So you are involved in all this Christian thinking, communicating, evangelism now. But where does that all start? Where did Christian faith begin for you?

Kristi: I can’t really pinpoint it. Some people have this amazing transformative event on a particular day, but for me it was slow – and it was a process. I moved to the UK when I was 6 or 7 with my Mum. She remarried, and he adopted me. She was a committed Christian and she would pray with me in the evening, but she worked so much and didn’t really know what it looked like to disciple a child in the ways of The Lord – because she was raised under communism. She came away from the Catholic Church and established an underground church in communist Eastern Europe – (it’s actually an amazing story!). This took place in the era of Ceaușescu and they were involved in Bible-smuggling, and all sorts of things! But to me, God was like an abstract idea, or an absent Father-figure or one who you might go to if you were naughty. But God was not someone who had any real impact on my life, day-today. Then, when I was ten, my adopted Dad went out one day to post a letter, and died of a heart attack. It was completely unexpected and I remember my Mum saying (in our living room, surrounded by the paramedics, a GP and a couple of neighbours), “don’t worry darling, Daddy is with Jesus now.” And for me that was decisive, because if Jesus is who he says he is, then he won’t only impact my life now – but will for all eternity too.

I knew that what my Mum said to me was a big thing, but that I didn’t quite understand it. Then I went through a really angry phase, thinking, “If God is good – then why suffering. If God actually exists, then why did that happen?” I’d also push back to my Mum, saying “you need God, because you can’t handle the reality of how awful this is, so you need a psychological crutch of a ‘daddy’ in the sky, so that you can sleep better at night.” I didn’t mince my words!

Solas: How old were you at this stage?

Kristi: I was very precious, eloquent and 10!

Solas: I thought you were going say 15, or 16!

Kristi: My anger boiled until I was about 15 or 16 though, getting more and more intense.

Solas: And have you calmed down now?

Kristi: Just about!! (laughs!) But I’d get really annoyed about the good-God / suffering dilemma. Because I’d go along to Alpha events at the local church, or talk to a Christian – and they either wouldn’t listen to my question – or just not answer it. Or they’d answer it and I’d think, “that just doesn’t make any sense, that isn’t logical.” It was actually worse when people fudged an answer rather than saying, “I don’t know, let me think about that.” So I concluded that these people didn’t even know much about what they believed, and it didn’t make belief attractive. My reaction to all that was to become increasingly angry, and it was my Mum who was the main influence on me at that time. We had long, long conversations at the kitchen table, and she was incredibly patient. In all the questions, she would always help me to see something new and true about Jesus. Sometimes I’d be moved to tears by what I learnt – but then the anger would come back my eyes would glaze over. It was as if I could see something, but then it was hidden. So I started reading C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity and Surprised by Joy, when I was 13 or 14 years old. I just loved reading, I was an only child in a house with lots of books! I also really appreciated discovering William Lane Craig, as someone with two doctorates, at the top of his game philosophically – who was a Christian. I wouldn’t commend every aspect of his approach, but it was helpful for me at that stage to discover someone with faith, really grappling with these questions with some credibility.

So, all these influences were helping me in my thinking. Then I remember my Mum saying to me one day, “What are you going to do with Jesus?” An extract from my Mum’s diary from that time (which I have only just seen!) said, “Kristi was up all night reading Mark’s gospel”, and I don’t remember that at all! My Mum pointed out that indecision was in fact a decision – a negative one by default, but that you can’t sit on the fence indefinitely.

Then one day as I was walking I realised that Jesus was my Lord and Saviour – and that I needed to do something about that. So I got confirmed in the local Anglican Church. The confirmation classes with an older couple called Len and Meg were really significant too. They weren’t ‘famous Christians’ like CS Lewis who I could never meet, and they weren’t my Mum – and they were ‘catechised’ me into the faith. They influenced me, not just by what they taught, but with their deep love for and joy in Jesus and by sharing wonderful cakes! So I both understood the structure of my faith better – and saw something of Jesus in those two lives.

Solas: So now having lived as a Christian since then… what do you most love about being a Christian and what, I suppose, are the harder challenges?

Kristi: What a question! Well in Psalm 40, which I was reading with a friend here at Oak Hill this morning, it says that The Lord does not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, but that The Lord wants to write His law on our hearts – a broken and contrite heart is what He wants. So I am most thankful to Jesus that He wants the whole of me, my heart – and while it is easier to focus on the externals, and give something, (just burn something in the temple), He goes beyond that and wants to capture my heart.

At the same time, that is also what is most challenging, because while He wants all my heart, I don’t want to give the fullness of myself to Him. And there are parts of my heart, or things I withhold from Him because, ‘What if He isn’t good after all?’ What if He crushes me? And that is the life of the disciple, learning to give the fullness of your heart to him, and as I walk with Him I see that He is not content to only have part of me.

Solas: So moving from the inner spiritual life, to your practical expression of that. Can you tell us about some of mission work you’ve been involved with? How you got involved, and how it’s changed..

Kristi: Well I worked for UCCF for eight years, and was assistant team leader in the East Midlands for the last five of those. Then before that I was a student worker for an Elim church in Birmingham, alongside working for Friends International – so that really got me into student mission – especially learning to how best care for international students and give them an opportunity to hear about Jesus, sometimes for the first time ever. Some came from countries where the Bible was banned, and they were really keen to read something that was not allowed at home. So I loved students, and then UCCF gave me enormous opportunities to work more with them – working very closely with University Christian Unions. I loved helping Christians to engage more fully in what Christ has done for them, and then to help those who do not yet know Jesus to see that he stands up to scrutiny. University life is a great opportunity to explore these questions – never again will you have those 2AM discussions in halls.

When I started work at Oak Hill, I still had really good relationships with the CU’s and by the Lord’s kindness, continued to be asked be involved in student ministry, leading events weeks, speaking on campuses, Q&A’s, lunch bars, carol services – all those things!

Solas: And how far do you travel doing this?

Kristi: I’ve been to Dundee! And as UCCF is part of IFES, with them I have been as far as Switzerland, and Germany – doing student conferences with people from across the continent.

Solas: And how has student ministry changed in the fifteen years you’ve been doing it?

Kristi: When I was first involved in student missions on campus, it was in the heyday of militant atheism – so the questions were very different and were really heavily influenced by the ‘four horsemen of the apocalypse’, Dennet, Harris, Hitchens and Dawkins. But then that soon that lost its intellectual credibility – when for example Dawkins would intellectually justify rape, as the logical outworking of his atheism.

Solas: Because categorical moral evil doesn’t exist, as it has no place in naturalism..?

Kristi: Yes, and so rape is as arbitrary as growing a sixth finger, he said in one interview. If we really are just DNA, then good and evil don’t actually exist. Then of course, Peter Singer and the whole ‘post-birth abortion’, argument as well. And so on campuses (where rape-culture is such an issue) people needed to distance themselves from those arguments. But what was left was a bit of as spiritual vacuum, and something of a hunger and thirst for transcendence; for beauty, truth and goodness.

So now I think we are in a period when students are really hungry for transcendence. But most of them have not heard a rational, cogent presentation of the gospel which meets their intellectual as well as existential desires. So the questions have moved from those of credibility, to those of desirability. Now, if you address the desirability question well – it will move to the credibility question. So it’s “I want this…. Is it true?” rather than, “you should want ithis because it’s true”. So, that’s the kind of shift we’re seeing at the moment.

In postmodernity there is the whole question of the “instrumentalisation of knowledge”, where people will only want to learn something if they can then use it in some defined way. From which you can get ‘therapeutic moral deism’, in which people want things such as the comfort that Jesus brings. The problem is that if you’ve come to him to use him in that way – once you’ve used him for that you can just as quickly discard him.

Solas: So then you’ve written a book and edited one too! Tell us more..

Kristi: Well, More > Truth came about because IVP approached me to write for them in their ‘More’ series. I had just done a talk on the campus at Durham on the whole ‘post-truth’ phenomenon, entitled, “Is truth possible in 2016?”, so it was just after Trump had been elected so people were asking, “has this really just happened?” and were questioning the whole area of fake-news. So, I jumped onto that cultural moment, because the whole question of truth, (what is truth, and how do we know what’s true) is of huge significance to Christians. So More > Truth is aimed at Christians and is designed to help them think through (at an accessible level), what it means that Jesus said he was “the way the truth and the life”. It’s a topic I’d love to explore again in a different way in the future sometime.

Then, Healthy Faith came about in quite a different way. It was early in the first lockdown, and Michael Green had just passed away, and I was chatting to my mate Luke Cawley. And the question was raised, about how Michael might have responded to lockdown and global pandemic. The answer was obvious, he’d want to encourage Christians and share Jesus! So we asked lots of people to write a short chapter on aspects of life under Covid. IVP loved the idea, and agreed to publish it. Our heart and desire was to give Christians biblical reflections to encourage them in a difficult time, and to focus on different areas of life (singleness, parenting, facing death, loneliness) – but with the hope that it would interest non-Christians too. It made it into the Top-10 on Amazon’s “Infectious Diseases” chart!

Solas: And then you’re doing PhD research, tell us more!

Kristi: So I am looking into the study of knowledge – ‘how do we know what we know?’ I’m looking into it because, even though I was a Christian when I got to university, I was heavily influenced by ways of knowing, that dehumanise us. I was hugely influenced by Descartes, who was saying that “I think therefore I am” – and so I saw a human being as pretty much a thinking machine, a thought generator, and that the way in which you determine what truth is, is personal and individual. And that led me to a bit of a knowledge crisis – because I thought, ‘how then can I trust other people, because I don’t know what they are thinking, I can’t see in the brain!?” And so while Descartes would say that the one thing I can trust is that I am thinking when I’m thinking which shows that I am thinking…. How can I trust that others are thinking; because I can’t know that they really are!

But there was a disconnect between Descartes and the real world, because his description was at odds with the way that knowing actually works. How do I know that someone actually loves me? How do I know that memories exist, or other minds? So I was dissatisfied with what I thought knowing was, and was intellectually curious. And that in turn affected how I read the Bible, asking questions such as “how can I know what the author’s intention was?”, and “what was the divine author’s intention here?” and “how can I know that I am reading scripture in the way that God wants me to?” Especially as I know that sin is in the way too, so how can I trust that the word is true?! So these questions, really colour the way in which as a Christian I view the Bible and God Himself.

So I prayed about this and asked The Lord to direct my reading and my footsteps to find good answers to these questions. Then I came across the work of Esther Meek, a philosopher in the States, who is writing on something called “Covenant Epistemology”, a phrase that she has coined. That is about how we as ‘know-ers” bring the fullness of our physicality and embodiment to the knowing process. While Descartes wanted to cut-off the body, and say that it is just the mind, Esther Meek says that there is a bodily-rootedness to all our knowing. Scientists might seek objectivity by not allowing their presence to affect the process of experiment and observation but Meek observes that the scientists bodily experience of life affects even which experiments to conduct and shapes the outcome to some extent.

Esther Meek was in turn drawing on the work of a former scientist turned philosopher called Michael Polanyi. His book on personal knowledge shifted our view of what knowledge is, and how we know anything. His work focusses on the way in which we know that we know something when we know that there is more to know! Modernity tries to put knowledge within a box, and say “I know that I know this, because I can give you a propositional statement”. Polanyi says it is not less than that, but, you can also know that you know it because you can now enjoy that, in previously unimagined ways. So when you learn to ride a bike, you can then enjoy riding it with all kinds of people to all kinds of places. And that applies to all of knowing. We indwell our physical body, and as we submit ourselves to clues, reality reveals itself to us.

And our knowledge of God works like this, as we submit to the clues of scripture, because while we cannot know exhaustively, we can know things truly; as God reveals himself to us. But that also applies to all knowing adventures, learning to write, baking a cake, or scientific experiments. You are submitting to the clues of that activity, and as you submit, reality breaks in and surprises you and you are then able to become a better knower because you are not in the driving seat of knowing. Rather, you ‘come to know’.

So in my PhD I am bringing all that together and applying it to the two big questions in philosophy, about the relationship between the knower and the known and how that relates to the big debates in philosophy between different schools such as ‘analytical philosophy’ and ‘continental philosophy’. The latter school has focused on the personal experience of the knower, while the former is based on what can be known, the object of enquiry, e.g. logic/propositional statements/syllogism, it’s objective and non-personal. So I’m trying to show how both fields are needed, they are poles on the same spectrum.

But this isn’t just important to that specialist field of philosophy, but also to the church and to evangelism, apologetics and discipleship.  I am aiming to draw on Polanyi, strengthen Esther Meek’s covenant epistemology, and show how that is a retrieval of historic Christianity through Augustine, and then apply it!

Solas: So then ministry-wise, once you have you the PhD completed in two years, what are your future plans for ministry?

Kristi: I will submit myself to reality and see what The Lord wants me to do. At the moment, I want to steward well what He has given me, which is this PhD programme, and then beyond that I don’t know. There aren’t many established routes for women in my position, and I don’t want to go into local church leadership or anything like that. I don’t know whether I’ll end up in academia, or in a more secular academic institution. It is also a privilege to do what I currently do at Oak Hill, and bring a woman’s perspective into the training of future church leaders. So who knows!

Solas: Thank you for talking to us – that’s really interesting. Great for Solas readers to be able to find out a little more about you.

Kristi: Thankyou!

Conversational Evangelism with Claudy Water Fellowship

by Editor

The Claudy Water Fellowship is part of Glenabbey Church, which Solas has had some involvement with over the last few months. They meet every Monday night, usually with about thirty people, to study the Bible, pray and encourage each other in their walk with God.

Gareth Black was asked to do a session for them on ‘Conversational Evangelism’ – which is something really central to the work we do at Solas. He took them through both Biblical and practical aspects of this important subject. He kicked off the workshop-style interactive session by talking about a man who he had helped to come faith in Christ – at a university mission. The key thing about that story was that this man’s journey to faith hadn’t involved huge stadium-sized evangelistic events, or famous preachers – but informal conversations with Christians who were willing to take time, to listen, to engage and share God’s word with him, and answer his questions.

Then Gareth looked at some of the reasons we find sharing our faith so difficult. Whenever we ask people to consider this issues such as fear of rejection; or of not knowing enough to answer people’s questions adequately always come up. Gareth asked the folks at Claudy Water what question they would least like to be asked by a non-Christian enquirer, and then looked at ways of approaching those.

Cultural issues were next on the evening’s schedule, and Gareth took them through some of the reasons that evangelism is difficult today, especially in terms of how the church and evangelism is perceived by people outside. Christianity is seen as irrelevant, irrational – and increasingly as immoral and so Gareth looked at how we minister faithfully in that context.

Gareth then focused on a key Biblical text. He showed the folks at Claudy Water Fellowship the way in which 1 Peter 3:14-17. This text debunks a lot of myths that surround ‘apologetics’, such as that it is only a niche, highly academic discipline which doesn’t have much to do with the everyday lives of ordinary Christians. Rather it is something relevant, accessible and which God calls and empowers all Christians for.

The evening came to a conclusion with a practical look at the use of questions in everyday evangelism. Gareth looked at why questions matter, and why we should take people’s questions seriously. Finally Gareth developed a framework for looking at people’s questions –looking at motives for asking those questions; always remembering that the aim of the exercise is to win people not arguments. He looked at the art of asking ‘open questions’ which allows people the opportunity to explain their assumptions and experiences; before then looking at ways of responding persuasively and allowing a helpful conversation to keep flowing.

Numbers were limited because of Covid restrictions and some of the logistics meant that Q&A was limited; but the folks at Claudy Water Fellowship were positive about the evening and want to explore this further, and put it into practice.

If you would like a Solas speaker to come and do a training session for your church, or small-group; we’d love to come! With speakers on the ground in Scotland and Northern Ireland we are always happy to come and help equip your folks with helpful, biblical, practical tools for sharing their faith. We are flexible around working within whatever the Covid-restrictions are at the time; and also work extensively online where this suits local fellowships. If we can be of help, please do get in touch through the ‘connect’ button at the top this page.

PEP Talk Podcast With Duncan Cuthill

by Solas

We can sometimes make too much of the distinction between practical ministry and spiritual ministry, emphasising one at the cost of the other. But what is it about meeting physical needs (especially in a deprived urban environment) that lends credibility to our spiritual efforts in the area of evangelism? This time on PEP Talk, Andy and Kristi hear about how both are being put into action at Edinburgh City Mission.

With Duncan Cuthill – PEP Talk

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Our Guest

Our guest is the CEO of Edinburgh City Mission, Duncan Cuthill. He was converted at an Edinburgh mission event as a young person, later working for the Scottish Tourist Board and UCCF. He left Scotland in the mid-00s to study theology at Cornhill in London, subsequently working with London City Mission for twelve years. Duncan returned to Edinburgh to lead Edinburgh City Mission in 2017.

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.

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The Doubt Gap

by Editor

Have you ever had a dream so vivid that you believed it was real?  If it was a bad dream, then waking up would have been a moment of tremendous relief.  Whereas, if it was a good dream, then waking up would have been tinged with regret.  But here’s a thought: How can you be certain that you’re not asleep right now?  In fact, how can you be sure anything is real?

That’s the dilemma dramatised in the blockbuster film: The Matrix.  It tells the story of a computer hacker, called Neo, who discovers that his entire world is an illusion.  His whole life, everything he has ever known and experienced has been part of a computer generated simulation.  The film left many people with the haunting question: what if we too are plugged into the Matrix?  How can we be sure anything we experience is real?

This isn’t just a question in science fiction – in fact it has been wrestled with by thinkers for centuries, starting with Plato and later Rene Descartes.   Descartes intensely struggled with uncertainty about his own version of the Matrix – he asked: what if a demon is deceiving me, causing me to hallucinate and experience things that aren’t actually there?  He came up with a plan: he methodically doubted everything possible to doubt, until he was left with the only thing left that he could not doubt.  That is what led him to declare: “I think, therefore, I am”.  The one thing that he could be absolutely sure existed was his own mind which was doing the doubting!

However, Descartes’ lingering problem was the possibility that everything your mind thinks is being deceived – perhaps your brain really has been removed from your body by a mad scientist and plugged into the Matrix?  (You cannot disprove that possibility!)  If reality is defined and determined solely by what goes on inside our heads, then it is possible to radically doubt almost everything.  And that’s not healthy!  You cannot live life to full if you are paralysed with radical doubts and uncertainties.

That is also true for the Christian life.  It is not uncommon for Christians to struggle at times with questions like: Does God really love me; Can I trust the Bible; are the promises of the gospel too good to be true?  Unsettling doubts can steal your joy in the gospel of Jesus, and hinder your witness for Christ.  Indeed, as a people of faith some find it hard to admit that they struggle with doubt – not only to other Christians (who they fear might judge them as being inferior believers) but also to non-Christians (who might raise them to the surface in conversation or in asking us questions).

In this article I want to take you on a journey that will help you get over the hurdle of doubt.

  • You can believe in God confidently (even without certainty)

All of us live tolerating a level of uncertainty – none of us can claim to enjoy absolute certainty and be doubt-free.  For example, if you’ve ever watched one of those courtroom dramas you’ll recall that the prosecutor never has to prove their case with 100% certainty – they only have to present evidence that proves the person is guilty “beyond a REASONABLE doubt” – there will always remain some POSSIBLE doubt and uncertainty (perhaps the accused really does have a secret evil twin!).

You see human beings are finite and there will never be a time when we possess total knowledge or absolute certainty.  We always have to live by a measure of faith, which also means there will always be room for doubts to creep in.  But those doubts need not paralyse us – in faith or in evangelism.  Let’s think some more about that…

Ten years ago, two scientists Richard Dawkins and John Lennox were having a public debate entitled “The God Delusion?”  Dawkins defined faith as believing in something (God) without any evidence for it.  However, Lennox argued that it’s not quite so simple. He explained how the world is not divided into those who have live based on FAITH and those who live based on REASON.  Everyone lives based on a combination of FAITH and REASON.  For example Lennox asked Dawkins: “How do you know your wife loves you?”  Dawkins replied indignantly: “You know why, you know your wife loves you because of all sorts of little signs, catches in the voice, little looks in the eye, and that’s the evidence. That’s perfectly good evidence, that’s not faith.”  But here’s an uncomfortable thought: what if Richard was being deceived by his wife, who was in the midst of a secret affair?  As unlikely as it seems, it remains remotely possible she was giving Richard all these little signs so he didn’t get suspicious.  So Lennox is right in pushing Dawkins to admit that we all live our lives on the basis of a combination of faith and evidence.  That means we can believe something confidently even without certainty!  That’s not only necessary in our relationships with friends, spouses, business partners, but a necessary part of having a relationship with God through faith in Jesus.

That then is what the Bible means when it describes the Christian as “walking by faith and not by sight”.  The Christian faith is not a blind leap into the dark.  Instead, Christianity is a reasonable faith – because there are many good reasons to believe in God and many pieces of evidence that support the claims of Jesus.  That’s why the Christian can believe confidently even without certainty.

 (2) You can belong to God while still possessing doubts

If we’re honest, some of us fear that God is angry, disappointed or offended by our questions and doubts.  The good news is that I think God is big enough to handle our biggest and hardest questions!  If you don’t believe me, then we can read one eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus – in the Gospel of John.  We’re going to meet a man, who lived, walked, talked with Jesus – who witnessed His death on the Cross for our sins – and who also to his great surprise witnessed Jesus’ victory over death.  His name is Thomas – sometimes he is known as “Doubting Thomas”.

Thomas was grieving the brutal murder of Jesus, and disappointed that all his hopes for Jesus bringing God’s kingdom seemingly having been destroyed.  Suddenly he hears this astonishing news.  But in response Thomas refuses to engage in wishful thinking!  He demands to see the evidence for himself that Jesus is truly alive again!  “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Now I think Doubting Thomas unfairly gets a bad reputation, when he’s actually a great example of someone who is seeking the truth!  He’s sceptical about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead –because nothing like that had ever happened before!  The Greeks and Romans didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead, in fact they didn’t like the thought of it – far better for the soul to escape the body.  The Jews did believe in the resurrection of the dead, but only at the end of history.  Thomas didn’t have a box in his mind for the resurrection of one person in the middle of history.  So it’s no wonder this didn’t make more sense to him.

But the story doesn’t end there, because a week later we read: “A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas got to see with his own eyes, to touch with his own hands, to hear with his own ears the living, walking, talking proof that Jesus had been raised wonderfully from the dead!  The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate proof of His claims that He is God come into this world to save us.  Only then did Thomas believe in Jesus – because that’s what the evidence demanded.

As a Christian who sometimes experiences doubts and wrestles with many questions, I am really encouraged to watch how Jesus dealt with people like me – kindly, gently, lovingly.  In the same way, Jesus is not disappointed or ashamed of you when you struggle with doubts.

But notice that while Jesus is gentle and accommodating of Thomas’ weak faith, he still challenges Thomas not to stay in that place, but to move away from it and make progress into a more reasoned and reasonable faith.  That’s what all Christians should pursue too: faith that seeks greater understanding.

  • You can develop a more confident faith in God

Here are three quick suggestions to help you make progress:

BE HONEST ABOUT YOUR DOUBTS: Don’t struggle with them on your own. Bring them out into the open, ask an older Christian pastor or parent or friend about them.  You are not the first person to ask and wrestle with these things.  I’m always so encouraged that there are far more experienced and intelligent people who have come before me, who have found answers that I could not find within the four walls of my mind.

BE DOUBTFUL ABOUT YOUR DOUBTS: Remember just because there remains some POSSIBLE DOUBT does not mean that it is a REASONABLE DOUBT.  Every doubt is actually an alternative belief – so challenge your doubts: what reasons do I have to believe you are true?  How does this doubt weigh up against all the evidence and reasons in Christianity?  Challenge your specific lingering doubts – read books and blogs that give answers to your hardest questions.  Study the good reasons drawn from science, history, philosophy, archaeology, and many more fields that support what the Bible claims.

BE DELIBERATE ABOUT DEVELOPING YOUR FAITH: Like if you go without food, you grow tired and weak – so also it is possible for our faith to get weaker if we’re not making use of the things that God has given us to help us grow: reading His Word, speaking with Him in prayer, gathering with His people, serving in His name.

Thrive Conference

by Editor

“The Thrive Conference” is an event based in Scotland, designed to help Christians live out their faith in the workplace. Solas Director, Andy Bannister, spoke at Thrive last year, and was invited back to speak again; but this time inevitably the event was exclusively online.

Andy was involved in an interactive conversation alongside Ros Loaker from Transform Work UK. Their ministry focuses on connecting Christians in the workplace and getting them to pray for and support each other their; while at Solas, out focus is in helping people to share their faith.  Dr Tharaka Gunarathne, a Christian psychiatrist and motivational speaker interviewed them around the theme of ‘inclusion’. Inclusion is of course a really significant cultural value, enshrined in countless workplace policies as well as in shared cultural assumptions.

Many Christians feel awkward in that context talking about their faith, not least because Christian faith is in one sense exclusive. Jesus famously said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no-one comes to the Father except through me”. So there is a potential conflict there between gospel and culture which opened up the whole conversation.

The conversation was wide-ranging and fascinating, exploring the whole way in which while Jesus’ truth claims are exclusive; He and His church are radically inclusive; attracting people from almost every sector of society, background, socio-economic, religious, cultural, linguistic background. The session ended with a discussion on how to extend this welcome to more and more people in workplace by allowing them access to the gospel through all manner of workplace events. All the participants agreed that providing a space for non-Christian folks to ask questions was really important especially at the moment.

The Q&A that followed was incredibly wide-ranging – one of the most expansive Q&A sessions that we’ve ever been involved with at Solas at least!

The whoel seminar is available here:

Or click here to access all the sessions on the Thrive YouTube Channel.

Would The World Be A Better Place Without Religion?

by Solas

“Imagine no religion” sang John Lennon, in a song that has become something of a secular anthem. But would the world be a better place without religion? Would an atheistic, secular world be a happier, more peaceful place — or does history show us something quite different? And besides, what do mean by the word ‘religion’ anyway?

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Approaching Controversies the Acts-17 Way

by Editor

One of the highlights of my time at theological college was a set of lecture courses given by Dan Strange on contemporary culture and apologetics. The fruit of his labour were recently shared with the wider world through his short book, Plugged In: Connecting Your Faith With Everything You Watch, Read and Play. 1

In this excellent book Dan encourages Christians to follow four steps in our engagement with our culture in whatever shape or form we encounter it – all modelled by the apostle Paul in Acts 17:

  1. Entering: Stepping into the world and listening to the story: ‘For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship…’ (Acts 17: 23).
  2. Exploring: Searching for elements of grace and the idols attached to them: ‘People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: To an unknown God’ (Acts 17: 23).
  3. Exposing: Showing up the idols as destructive frauds: ‘Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone – an image made by human design and skill’ (Acts 17: 29).
  4. Evangelising: Showing off the gospel of Jesus Christ as ‘subversive fulfilment’: ‘So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship – and this is what I am going to proclaim to you’ (Acts 17: 23). 2

I want to suggest that when it comes to our response to the increasingly prominent experiences of transgender people, most Christians have rushed to attempt step three without bothering to do the necessary groundwork of steps one and two. The result is that our words and actions too often show that we don’t really get the painful experiences of those who genuinely experience gender dysphoria. We consequently fail to effectively connect them with the hope of the gospel (step four).

Our words and actions too often show that we don’t really get the painful experiences of those who genuinely experience gender dysphoria.

We need to find ways of entering into the lives of those who feel their experienced gender identity is different to their biological sex. Some of us will be able to do this in conversation with family members or friends – sensitively asking them to share their experiences with us. Others will need to turn to documentaries, vlogs, books or other media that chronicle the experiences of trans men and women. Books that have especially helped me include:

  • Jan Morris’ Conundrum (Faber & Faber, 1974) – One of the first published accounts of a transition from a male to female identity.
  • Thomas Page McBee’s Man Alice: A True Story of Violence, Forgiveness and Becoming a Man (Canongate, 2014) – The story of a move from a female to male identity.
  • Juno Dawson’s The Gender Games: The Problem with Men and Women…from Someone Who Has Been Both (Two Roads, 2017) – An account of a gay man’s embrace of a female identity.

It is only by entering into the hearts and minds of real people created in God’s image that we can properly start exploring the mixture of grace and idolatry at play in their lives. To give just one example, in The Gender Games, Juno Dawson movingly shines a light on the damage gender stereotypes do to many children (giving most Christians much to repent of) but then goes on to demonstrate an idolisation of a certain narrow vision of femininity as she shares the story of her transition from identifying as male to female. This conundrum (to borrow Jan Morris’ book title) needs careful exploring if we are ever to share the gospel effectively with someone like Juno.

Motivation to do the hard work this will involves comes from Paul in Acts 17, but also from Jesus himself. In the mystery of the incarnation he graciously entered our world, explored it in a body like ours, exposed our idolatry, and seeks to evangelize us all, and he does this in ways that so often speak personally into the particular pains of our lives.

Ed Shaw is the Director of Living Out . They have just launched a new website this month, with new content being rolled out every week. Their mission is to ‘help people, churches and society talk about faith and sexuality’ and the site contains theology, articles, testimonies and more. You can find them at livingout.org . This article was first published there and is reproduced here with permission.

 

  1. Daniel Strange, Plugged In: Connecting Your Faith With Everything You Watch, Read and Play (The Good Book Company, 2019).
  2. Strange, Plugged In, p.119.

Why The Culture Wars Might Never End

by Editor

According to the narrative from the United States, the election of the new President, Joe Biden, has put an end to the internecine hostility of the past four years.  Biden, says he will govern for all Americans. His call for a United States rather than a Red States or a Blue States is a welcome call in the midst of the most hotly contested Presidential election ever.

It’s a nice statement. A nice sentiment. A once-again united United States, free from the aggression of the past four years. A move towards a more genteel general public, one in which we can have honest conversations around the common goal of human flourishing.

Yet the waves of a political change are primarily surface waves. The undercurrents that move a society are cultural and they run deep. The political heat may have dialled down with Biden’s election, but the cultural temperature continues to rise.

Why is this the case? Why, against the myriad sighs of relief that the White House is somehow now in safe hands again, will the divisions in the United States, and indeed the Western world, continue unabated despite hopes to the contrary?

The answer is simple: Everyone agrees that the goal of our society is to promote a vision of, and enact a practice of, human flourishing.  However very few agree on what that vision looks like, and therefore what practices we should enact to reach it.

Simply put, there is no longer a common understanding of what human flourishing looks like. There is no common view of the “chief end of man” to borrow a religious term.

Let’s take that term “human flourishing” and break it down to “human” and “flourishing”.  As I say in my upcoming book Being the Bad Guys: Living for Jesus in a world that says you shouldn’t, the foundational understanding of what it means to be human is now a contested matter.

While this has been the case for some time, it is only now, with a much more vocal post-Christian secular framework, that the chasm has opened up in cultural, legal, political and societal settings as to what it means to be human, and how this works out in practice.

Hence when a British doctor said that he would refuse to use the preferred pronouns of a transgender patient, based on his understanding of binary male and female from Genesis, he ended up in a tribunal hearing. He lost his case.

But it’s the tribunal findings, encapsulated in the statement below, that are most significant:

“Belief in Genesis 1:27, lack of belief in transgenderism and conscientious objection to transgenderism in our judgment are incompatible with human dignity and conflict with the fundamental rights of others, specifically here, transgender individuals.” [1]

 Do you see that? This statement reveals that there is no longer a common understanding of humanity, no shared assumption from whence it springs, from whom it may come, much less its chief end.

The tribunal’s conclusion is bald. The framework of Genesis is not only at odds with the modern understanding of human identity, it is hostile towards it, and will not lead to flourishing. It must, therefore, be resisted and prosecuted.

While not all of the culture wars concerns can be sheeted home to a battle between Christians and non-Christian or post-Christian people, much of the conflict arises there. Christianity’s orthodox views are no longer considered silly and antiquated, but rather evil and harmful.

The Christian framework gave rise to the idea of a common view of human flourishing, one that has embedded itself deep in our Western psyche. The post-Christian cultural agenda wishes to retain the framework, while jettisoning the Christianity that built yet, and still retain a positive vision of society.

However this will prove harder in practice than some think. Tom Holland, in his latest book, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, says this:

That human beings have rights; that they are born equal; that they are owed sustenance and shelter, and refuge from persecution: these were never self-evident truths.[2]

 See what he is saying? These are Christian assumptions borne from an understanding of what it means to be human. Australian author and pastor, Mark Sayers, observes that the post-Christian progressive desire is for “the kingdom without the King”.  All of the fruit of the gospel without the root of the gospel.

Which brings us to the word “flourishing”.  In an interview in The Guardian newspaper in Australia, la Trobe university academic and activist, Roz Ward, who is the architect behind a contentious program promoting sexual diversity in public schools said this:

“I will never give up fighting for a more free and joyful world”[3]

 To which we might say, “Aren’t they our words and hopes?” The concepts of freedom and joy, and a world in which all wrongs are righted, is thoroughly grounded in the biblical idea of human flourishing, brought about when God rights all wrongs and ushers in His new creation.

The kingdom without the King desires freedom and joy also. We should assume that, given our view that humans are created in the image of God and were made for a purpose and towards a telos or goal.

Yet without the King, the secular utopia imagines a very different chief end of men, women and all non-binary humans, namely the enthronement of the authentic self. And authenticity is increasingly discovered, we are told, through sexual freedom and identity.

Which simply means the culture war is fundamentally a religious one, whether one side recognises the terminology or not. And as with all religious battles much heat is generated.

The points of intersection between the Christian and the post-Christian secular frameworks are now fewer in number and smaller in size than ever. They share the same stated goal of “human flourishing”, but hold diametrically opposing ideas of how to get there. There is no longer enough common ground or common vision to permit co-existence, at least not peaceful and trusting co-existence.  Something will have to give.

And that is the major reason that the culture wars are set to continue, no matter who is in the White House.

Steve McAlpine is lead pastor of Providence Church, Midland; and writes on culture, theology and church for City Bible Forum, in Australia. He lives in eastern Perth (the one in Australia, not Scotland!), with his wife Jill, and in his spare times lives running and coffee.

 

Steve’s new book, “Being the Bad Guys” is now available for pre-order here. In it he examines the way in which the Christian message -once seen as the foundation for morality, is now often viewed as harmful and immoral. He then thinks through ways in which the church can faithfully navigate this new territory.

 

 

  1. Caleb Parke, “Christian doctor of 30 years loses job for refusing to use transgender person’s preferred pronoun”, Fox News 3 Oct. 2019 (www.foxnews.com/faith-values/christian-doctor-fired-gender- pronoun) (accessed 30 Jan. 2020)

[2] Tom Holland, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World (Little, Brown, 2019), p 524

[3]  Roz Ward, “I will never give up fighting for a more free and joyful world”, The Guardian 1 Sep. 2017 (www.theguardian.com/ commentisfree/2017/sep/01/roz-ward-i-will-never-give-up- fighting-for-a-more-free-and-joyful-world) (accessed 30 Jan. 2020)

 

Virtually Keswick Convention

by Editor

Like everything else The Keswick Convention was affected by the Coronavirus pandemic and the associated restrictions, so they moved everything online. They had a really impressive programme of morning Bible readings (Christopher Ash on the Psalms), evening celebrations looking at hope with speakers like Andy Prime, Jeremy McQuoid and Amy Orr-Ewing; children and youth streams and a seminar programme too. The seminars all focussed on hope, with things such as lament and grieving on the agenda.

Kristi Mair and I were invited to lead a seminar on “Sharing hope with friends” looking at the whole area of evangelism in these strange times! The gospel of Jesus remains the only source of true and lasting hope in a world marred by sin and death. The gospel is God’s “Good news” which breaks into our lives with His goodness, grace, forgiveness and eternal hope.

Kristi examined some of the questions that the Covid crisis has raised, especially the absence of hope in secularism. In contrast to the way in which the pandemic has cruelly exposed the hopelessness of secularism, she explored the wonderful hope that God gives us in Christ. I then moved on to talk about some of the practical aspects of sharing that hope with friends. Obviously in the context, evangelism under Covid-restrictions was a key theme in there.

Keswick gets huge numbers for their events so it was great to open the virtual floor to all of them for Q&A at the end. People from all over the country sent questions in by text, which emcee John Taylor put to Kristi and I.  Questions included things such engaging the apathetic and the successful with the gospel, listening, social media, feeling a failure in evangelism, and more!

I was actually in the Keswick studio with John , while Kristi joined us online from where she was in Leicestershire; and together we put the seminar together! I really enjoyed being there with them, as they are great people and did such a great job in moving from a physical to an online event there in their lovely studio.

You can watch the whole of Andy and Kristi’s evangelism seminar above or find the entire Virtually Keswick 2020 Convention here.

PEP Talk Podcast With Stuart and Cameron McAllister

by Solas

Is there any mission field as close to our hearts as our own family? If you are a parent, it can be an overwhelming burden to pass on your faith to your children.  It is a unique form of “evangelism”, much different to sharing with other adults but still has some similarities. Today Andy and Kristi speak to the authors of Faith That Lasts: A Father and Son on Cultivating Lifelong Belief where they outline three dangerous myths that we all too easily buy into: that fear can protect our children, that information can save them, and that their spiritual education belongs to the experts.

Order Faith That Lasts (released 26 Jan 2021) from IVP (USA) or Amazon (UK)

With Stuart and Cameron McAllister – PEP Talk

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Our Guests

Stuart McAllister comes from a non-Christian home in Glasgow. He joined Operation Mobilization in 1978 and was once imprisoned for distributing Bibles in Yugoslavia. An itinerant speaker, Stuart  regularly speaks in churches, universities, and other forums (including a Solas conference in 2010) all over the world.

Stuart’s son Cameron McAllister was born on the mission field in Vienna. Cameron is now an itinerant speaker, broadcaster, and writer, based in Atlanta in the USA. 

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.

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The Confidence Gap

by Editor

I had what can only be described as a crisis of confidence. I looked at my bike, and looked at the road, then looked at myself, then looked at my bike again. There was definitely something in me that wanted to get on and ride, but yet.. I couldn’t quite muster up the confidence to actually do it. When I was young, I did thousands upon thousands of miles on that old bike and truth be told, I really missed riding. On the other hand, I hadn’t ridden for a couple of years I was much older, I was unfit, tired, and several stone too big for my cycling clothes. Being a MAMIL is awkward enough; being a fat one, was perhaps the straw that broke the camel’s back![1]

I knew cycling would be good for me. I knew I would benefit from it and I missed it. However, it was easier just to walk back into the house and duck the challenge. Which I did.

That is strangely not unlike many people’s experience with evangelism. For many in church today, especially adults – evangelism is something they used to do, had some wonderful experiences in; but haven’t done any for ages, and simply lack the confidence to start again. It’s not that they don’t entirely miss it, or that they have no desire to take up the challenge, it’s more that they have become a bit out of practice, a bit unfit, and what they used to do naturally – now feels really awkward. For many of us, our faith in Jesus has become the proverbial ‘elephant in the room’ in our long-term friendships. We may have mentioned it at the start of new friendships, and our church activity might be visible; but our actual faith in Jesus himself is conversationally off-limits and we’re stuck. Likewise, I know so many people, who speak fondly of university missions or children’s clubs, street work or door-to-door, or of personal witness to friends years ago; who just don’t feel ‘match-fit’ and able to get going again. A Barna Group study in 2019 showed that virtually every Christian longs to share something of their faith in Jesus with others[2]. For many of us though, getting back on the bike is the hardest step.

I’ve observed two problems which flow from this malaise, both in myself and others.  The first is a loss of confidence in the gospel itself. The second is a loss of confidence in our own calling, gifting and ability to be a witness for Christ. Let’s consider them briefly:

Research in the UK and USA contexts shows that most people who become Christians do so in adolescence or young adulthood. In fact, the proportions seem to drop as people get older[3]. No doubt other belief commitments show similar patterns, as very often trajectories settled upon during formative years remain for life.

These two patterns seem to feed off one another. The time investment in evangelism which many Christian people gave before the responsibilities of adult life took over; are matched by the probability that evangelism amongst our peers might become more difficult as we age with them. The consequence is that it might have been a long time since we saw someone put their faith in Jesus. It may have been a long time since we have seen someone we know well being transformed by the power of the gospel. In that context it is all too easy to tacitly accept either that God doesn’t do that anymore, or that He can only work in certain cultural contexts, and that contemporary secularism inevitably has the final word.

A similar problem arises in terms of our own usefulness. I know many people who saw friends and classmates deeply impacted by the gospel at university; but have been less fruitful in adult life, and have lost confidence not in the gospel itself – but in their own effectiveness as witnesses to it. They look back fondly at great days in the past, but lack the confidence to re-engage today.

When I trudged back into the house, leaving my bike forlornly in the shed; I felt deflated, defeated and a little bit sad. I knew what needed to happen, but simply lacked the confidence to put it into practice. The retreat from evangelism feels almost the same. I know, because I have done both.

What can we do if we find ourselves in this predicament? I have some suggestions.

The first is to embrace Psalmist-like honesty with God about where you are with this. In terms of the ‘Confidence Gap’, Psalm 126 is short and particularly helpful.[4] You can read the whole Psalm here:

The first half of the Psalm (v1-3) involves the Psalmist looking back to great things God has done in the past. The return from exile in Babylon under Nehemiah seems to be in view here. The Psalmist renews his confidence in God by remembering great blessings poured out. Looking back, it was like a dream, when people were amazed at God’s work, and God’s people were full of joy.  The second half (v4-6) strikes a very different tone. These verses are a plea for God to restore their fortunes. The talk here is of weeping, and longing. So that’s exactly where we should start if we find ourselves stuck in the Confidence Gap.

So, we can look back and see what God has done, in our lives, and in church history; and regain some confidence. Reading the stories of people like the Wesleys or Robert Murray McCheyne or the Lewis revival of the 20th Century can help us to see what God can do. [5]Hearing testimonies of how people became Christians is really important – we should tell our stories to each other more! Then we should turn this renewed longing to God in prayer, asking God to restore what has been lost, and to turn our sorrow in joy. Spend some time in Psalm 126.

Secondly, we should be intentional and disciplined about praying for people, and asking for the courage to take opportunities to speak to them. Spiritual breakthroughs are won in prayer firstly, and conversationally only secondarily. God can still break through into real-life situations and draw people to himself; and His method for doing that is always prayer.

Isaiah 64 is a heartfelt cry that God would act again for His people, which famously starts, “O that you would rend the heavens and come down!”.[6] When two elderly sisters became burdened for the youth of their village who were not interested in the things of God, they started to pray, and that prayer movement ushered in what we know as The Lewis Revival. Whenever we are stuck in a rut, the escape route begins with prayer.

Thirdly, it’s important to develop a healthy sense of the sovereignty of God. God is in control of all these things and can be trusted – so even if we are struggling we don’t need to panic. The sovereignty of God, in the Bible – is not the same thing as fatalism. I knew a westerner who once crossed a busy street in Islamabad, Pakistan with a local. The local stepped out into the traffic, barely looking – and almost got killed. “Inshallah” said the local to the bemused guest. In other words, I don’t really look at the traffic, I’ll only die if Allah wills it, in which case, I’ll die anyway – so why look! However, the Biblical view of God’s sovereignty isn’t like that, as it doesn’t involve a distant unknowable God; but our Father in heaven, who uses us and our prayers in unfolding His will in the world. That means that we don’t ultimately need to be crippled by a loss of confidence, as we are not being called to change the world single-handed, but merely be faithful to our small calling. Evangelism is God’s work, and so participation is a privilege; not a chore.

When I was a student, I witnessed a campaign of harassment and intimidation between two households in the flat above mine. I was summoned to Dundee Sheriff Court to give my account of what happened. The citation which the police gave me stated two things. The first was that I was a witness, and the second was that I was required to testify. The key thing was that I was only asked to say what I saw. I wasn’t the prosecuting lawyer, just a witness. The lawyer was the one arguing the case, calling witnesses and drawing the lines of argument together to convict. We can learn to trust The Holy Spirit to take the lead in evangelism, because all we are required to do, is to speak when summoned. That’s why Paul wrote,

“5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow”[7]. 

Grasping that takes the pressure off us – enabling us to make a small start in just being witnesses; for whom simply being faithful is enough.

God also says ”Do not despise the day of small things.[8]” We know from the history books of the Bible, and from church history, that there have been times when God has poured out amazing blessings – and other times when His work has seemed more difficult. We don’t appear to be living in days of great revival, today in this country at least. But that doesn’t mean we should ‘despise’ these days, give up, go home, quit or accept the lie that the Holy Spirit has retreated to Heaven. Rather we should be alert, watchful and prayerful. We might just be given an opportunity today to say a brief word for Jesus, and be part of chain of events which ushers the mercy and salvation of God into someone’s life. Today might be the time when an outreach event through your church could be the start of new life in Christ for someone who needs Him.

Without my wife’s encouragement I would never have got back on that bike. I was stuck in a rut, and just didn’t have the confidence to get back on and ride. On one occasion, I had even got the bike out and got it all ready, then bottled out and put it away. However, she literally stood with me, saying. “you can do this again”, as I carried my bike down our front steps to the road. When Jesus sent out the seventy-two in Luke 10, he sent them out in twos[9]. If you are stuck in the chasm of lost-confidence in evangelism try climbing out with someone else – impossible things can seem suddenly doable when someone has their arm around your shoulder. Pray together, and look for opportunities together; the difference is remarkable.

That first bike ride was a nightmare. I was so out of shape that I almost gave up within a mile of my house. I live in an especially hilly area where the roads climb up from the river in all directions. At the top of the first climb I all but came off the bike, my head hurt and I felt sick. It was really uncomfortable. And embarrassing. Out with a neighbour later that week, the climb was slightly easier, and every ride hurt less than the last. Last Saturday, I did a 100mile ride around mountain Perthshire. Spinning along the South Loch Tay Road, with the sun shining on the Munros over the loch, it was utterly glorious. And I wondered why it had taken me so long to get going again.

May God renew our confidence in Him, and revitalise us, and send us out with the gospel with such joy and conviction that we wonder why on earth it took us so long to get going!

[1] https://www.welovecycling.com/wide/2016/05/24/mamil-one-without-even-knowing/

[2] https://www.barna.com/research/millennials-oppose-evangelism

[3] https://www.nae.net/when-americans-become-christians/ ,  talkingjesus.net 

[4] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20126&version=NIV

[5] https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=5562

[6] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2064&version=NIV

[7] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+3%3A5-7&version=NIV

[8] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zachariah+4%3A10&version=NIV

[9] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A1&version=NIV

Outreach with Loch Leven Church, at Kinross

by Editor

Loch Leven Church is a fairly new church in Kinross. They were celebrating their second anniversary and had planned an outreach event in the town in a big beer tent. Sadly that wasn’t possible because of some last minute changes to the Coronavirus regulations, but the brewery who owned the tent also own a big field close to the town, and allowed the church to use that instead. They were given permission to hold a ‘drive-in service’ and decided to give it a go. I have never done a drive-in service in my life. So preaching to a field full of cars was new, exciting and I have to say – rather strange!

The church are busy fundraising for Rachel House in Kinross, one of the CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland) hospices doing amazing work in their town – and so a special collection for them was part of the service. So that was really good to be part of.

The church had their worship band on a stage at the front of the field, from where they led us. And then I was invited to speak. I did a talk on “Where is God in the Coronavirus crisis?” which was deliberately pitched at people who are not yet Christians, but may have come seeking answers and seeking for God. Of course, in these contexts (especially when everyone was in cars!) it’s impossible to get much idea who the audience are, because interaction is limited. But we did do a Q&A which had some interesting questions come in. Some of the questions were clearly from Christians asking about some aspects of their faith; but others were more obviously from people exploring Christian faith from the outside, or from the margins. Because we were amplified in the field, there were quite a few people listening in from the adjacent footpath and surrounding area which was great too.

Richard, one of the church leaders there in Kinross explained that it was also really good for people in the town to see that the church is alive, that it is active and has a message to share. It was important too that the church was seen to complying with the relevant Covid-restrictions and was doing something that was completely safe. There was no sense that the church was going to be spreading the disease or harming anyone in Kinross by being thoughtless or cavalier with the virus restrictions. All the attendees were in cars, and the folks on the stage were carefully distancing. The church seemed to have found a great balance between on one hand being a witness for Christ by being public with their faith; but on the other not compromising that witness by being reckless or thoughtless. I really appreciated their attitude!

I also love to see churches being innovative. They normally meet in a school, and that facility is currently unavailable to them. They are not wrestling with the complexities of reopening a building, because they don’t have one, and the building they usually use has been closed to them for the time being. In addition to the online meetings they have been doing they have also been willing to experiment with things like this drive-in service! The challenge for the church is to see what it can do in this strange climate, rather than what it can’t. Loch Leven Church are just brilliant at this.

Is the God of the Old Testament a Moral Monster?

by Solas

Prof. Richard Dawkins famously once labelled the God of the Old Testament, “the most unpleasant character in all of fiction.” Whether we believe that the Old Testament is fiction or not, the God character it portrays is often assumed to be a colder, more violent, and more morally dubious deity than the Jesus we discover in the New Testament. Yet, when when we avoid baseless hearsay and do the hard work of examining the character of the OT God from the full scope of the text itself, we discover that the God that it presents is far from the capricious deity that Dawkins asserts him to be. In this episode of Short Answers, Gareth Black helps us to discover why this is the case, meaning that we may need to revise our assumptions about the character of the God of the OT.

 

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