irwinVision

Loch Baptism

2008-10-07T17:14:00.002-04:00

On Sunday, Dan was baptised as an outward sign of the change God has done in him through Jesus. He wanted to be baptised in Loch Lomond, which is a Re:Hope first. The weather was perfect, although a little chilly. Sunny and calm. We drove about halfway up the Loch to a stone-covered, secluded beach at a public park. While the water was warmer than church tap water (although we've had warm water for recent baptisms), it was still a freezing plunge.

Leadership Summit

2008-10-06T17:11:00.002-04:00

Our staff team attended the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit this past weekend. It was a showing of the actual event which occurred in early August in Chicago. There were eight speakers, including Bill Hybels, a couple of pastors, a professor, and some missional entrepreneurs. I was most impressed and affected by Gary Haugen (who founded the International Justice Mission), Catharine Rohr (Prison Entrepreneurship Program) and Bill Hybels. The challenge to surrender everything to Jesus was pervasive. My life seems so small compared to what these people were presenting.

Gary Haugen skillfully illustrated how he didn't want Christians to be content in the visitor center of following Jesus. That getting out and doing is so important. He made the funny connection between body-builders and many Christians who have all this rippling strength but are content to use it to pop open a jar lid once in a while. What's it all for?

Mrs. Rohr was an investment banker who used all her life savings to start a program which teaches prisoners nearing parole how to run a business and write a business plan. That oversimplifies it, but they've had great success, with only 2% of the graduates returning to prison. I was in awe of her obedience to God, and her energy and enthusiasm. I want that. I want to invest in something big and lasting.

Bill Hybels' last talk was a profile of Mother Theresa. To hear how she so completely gave her life over to Jesus was incredible. Again, I want my life to matter. I want to be involved in the big things God is doing. The concept of making myself available to God before asking for a plan or opportunity was stressed. So powerful.

Bible Week

2008-10-06T17:08:00.003-04:00

Following the lead of Re:Hope, Bible Week starts off at the Vatican. Bible read-through groups begin next week.

Bailout or Bankruptcy

2008-09-30T15:40:00.002-04:00

A professor of economics at Harvard clearly explains the cause of the economic crisis and one possible solution. Bailout or Bankruptcy

A long, but very revealing, video primer further expounds on this subject.

What now?

2008-09-29T09:00:00.003-04:00

(photo by Midjot)

Another Sunday, another large crowd. Wow, everything feels different when you have around 100 people in a service. Worship was loud. Brian gave another great message, The Sign of Jonah, which really challenged us. We ran out of food. We took over the mezzanine level of Coopers after the service (we now are booking it so they can have enough kitchen staff for us!). Bible groups are growing. Next week we're baptising a guy in Loch Lomond between services. These are definitely new times for Re:Hope. Brian said he'd never experienced this rapid growth in other churches he's been in.

Freshers Week

2008-09-22T15:29:00.002-04:00

So, yesterday was the first Sunday with everyone being back in town that is supposed to be back in town. Lotsa students and new people. We had about 50% more in attendance compared to the same time last year. I know that's not everything, but I know people are being touched by the Lord as well.

BBQ

2008-09-22T14:09:00.003-04:00

Last week we joined with five other local churches and the Glasgow University Christian Union to serve burgers and sausages in the midst of the East Quadrangle. Over four days we served around 1400 students who were there for 'Freshers Fair', the huge marketing push by all the clubs. The weather could have been much better. It rained solid for the first two days. The good news is that it sounded like the Christian Union had great opportunities to speak with students in the queue.

Healing in a Mosque

2008-09-15T13:41:00.002-04:00

A little long, but totally worth it! This blew me away as I was reading it in a book on prayer walking. I think it gives me encouragement to pray for things in obedience, not even sure what I'm doing. It encourages me that God will always do what needs to be done. Also, I'm struck by the opportunity Bethea had because he cultivated good relationships with the religious leaders. So many lessons to be learned here. Why don't we do this more often?

-----

A man named Ralph Bethea was a Southern Baptist missionary to Mombassa, Kenya. He felt called to the Muslims in that city. He tried every evangelistic technique that he learned in seminary to win Muslims in Mombassa - but he didn't win anybody. So he said he'd better start trying some things that he'd never tried before. He started brainstorming in his own mind and among his friends, and he decided that he had to attract attention somehow. So he got on a bridge over a river and advertised that if any Muslim would allow him to tell them about Jesus Christ, he would jump off the bridge. After jumping off the bridge a few times and still seeing no Muslims come to Christ, he began looking to the Lord. God said to him, "I want you and your team to pray for three months."

They organized a team, and they had enough people so that they went into prayer twenty-four hours a day for three months. They obeyed the Lord. Part of their prayer was to go out into the community and bless people. They went down the streets of Mombassa - not to evangelize or pass out tracts or jump off bridges - but to bless the Muslims in the name of Jesus. They got the reputation of being people who had a heart for the Muslims and who blessed them in the name of Jesus. One day Ralph got a telephone call from the main leader of a mosque. He was about eighty years old, and he said, "I'd like to know if you'd come to our mosque and bless our people in the name of Jesus."

This Muslim leader had asked us to come and pray for his people in the mosque because he had heard there was such power in the name of Jesus. I told him, "Sir, do you know that I'm a Baptist missionary?" He said, "I don't care what's wrong with you. I just want to know if you will come in the mosque. I don't want you testifying or preaching or spreading any of that heresy in my mosque. I just want you to come in to pray in the name of Jesus for the blessing of Jesus upon our people. We have heard there is such power in His name." I was amazed that the Holy Spirit would open up such an invitation.

We went and began to pray for various people gathered there for various things. The men were all sitting in their place. The women and children were all up in the balcony with their black robes. There was such an expectation there - you could sense it. My inner prayer was, "Lord, this would be a great time for you to do some miracle to show them that you are alive."

I'll never forget when a man in the back stood up, a very distinguished-looking man, in his long white robe. He left the main area and returned through the door with a black bundle in his arms. The bundle was a little girl. He brought her down to the front of the mosque, and in doing so was breaking the very strict rules of conduct in a mosque. Females aren't permitted there. But in respect for him, nobody stopped him. He told me, "This is my eight-year-old girl. Will you pray for her?"

She was a gorgeous little girl, with big brown eyes. He pulled back the covers from her legs. They were just withered limbs. "My little eight-year-old girl has never walked. We have heard there is such power in the name of Jesus."

I felt the leadership of the Holy Spirit to pray for her healing. I said, "I'll pray for her healing, but it has nothing to do with power that I have or any power, just the Lord Jesus himself. He loves you and He wants you to know His love. Whether he will heal your daughter's legs today or not, I don't know. That's up to His healing power. But I will pray for that because I know He wants His love to be shown to you and that He is the God of miracles and He is alive."
He said, "I have heard about you Christians believing that he rose from the dead; we don't believe that and teach that to our children. But will you pray for her?"

And I did. There was such an incredible air of expectation there in the mosque. People stood to their feet as we prayed, and, boy, my heart was just going. "Lord, if there was ever a time for even a small miracle, now would be the time." I remember being so disappointed when nothing happened. I remember even taking the little girl's legs and trying to pull them out, to move them some. The little girl hollered and screamed, and both the man and I were embarrassed. He was very disappointed. He thanked me in polite Muslim fashion, and he turned and started walking off.

The little girl was looking back over her daddy's arms. It just broke my heart. I remember my heart being burdened and yearning for her. If somehow she could have that chance to clearly hear the gospel. "Lord, surely you can break through in this situation."

The man turned and came back up, and he said simply, "I would like you to pray that the blessing of Jesus would be on me and my family." I was amazed because what had just happened seemed to confirm what they had said for years - that there is no real power in Jesus' name. But here he was turning around saying "We want to know Him and His blessing on us." We prayed for the blessing of Jesus on his family. He again thanked me and turned and walked down the aisle.

I watched them, weeping for them there at the front. As he walked back, all of a sudden this little girl shoved her daddy back. And she shoved him again. People started looking around, and she kept pushing him back. The long black robes hung down over the carpet, and she kept pushing him back and pushing him back until he had to lower her down. All of a sudden his eyes got as big as saucers. He felt the weight of that little girl taken off his arms. It was incredible to see as they reached this little girl was standing there on her own power, [though she] never stood before in her life. They all knew her. Somebody stood up and said, "Jesus is God! Praise be the name of Jesus! Jesus is alive!"

The man lost control. God brought a movement, people falling on their knees and calling out to the Lord. The love and power of God reverberated all across that Shiite Muslim mosque. Some of the Muslim leaders got real agitated and ushered me out. "Thank you for coming but please leave." This old Muslim who walked me out to the car was awed by the glory and power of God. He said, "I've never seen the power of God like that before." I started telling him, "Neither have I."

(Ralph Bethea, from rural Oklahoma, now works with several interdenominational mission groups. At the time of this story he served with the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board.)

more brokenness

2008-09-10T18:04:00.002-04:00

More hurting people at the Mission tonight. One woman who said God took all her family away [through death]. Angry at Him, yet not believing He's there. F- God is what she said. Umm...okay I think I'll just listen. Then another woman so drunk, sleeping on the chairs. At one point I hear a noise and look over. There's a big puddle of pee under her. Help! At least they have good mops at the Mission. But Ewan, the manager, says that even when things are messy and chaotic like tonight, simply greeting someone and giving them some respect can mean the world.

1.77

2008-09-03T11:59:00.002-04:00

Like the refreshing Atlantic breeze that blows through the streets of the West End, comes daily news that the US-UK currency exchange rate is the lowest it has been in two years. $1.77 = £1.00 I heard an 'economist' on the radio say that it could drop as low as 1.5! At the rate we're going now, that will be in...18 days. That would be too good to hope for.

Raindance

2008-09-03T11:47:00.002-04:00

My brother's film Banditos was accepted to the Raindance independent film festival in London. As an executive producer, I have been given the opportunity to represent the film there. All-access pass, baby!

Hurting

2008-09-03T11:37:00.002-04:00

It was a very interesting church service on Sunday. Apparently we're praying too
effectively for 'hurting people to come to the services'. Two, who were very inebriated, visited, and one of them spoke up during the share time at the end. The pain these two shared is intense. The one guy who spoke (shouted, rather) had been to the service before (sober) and had shared his past with me.

It's hard to blame the guy for his reaction, based on the details of his past, but it was an intense moment for the entire church when he was publicly sharing his anger at God using expletives. Brian was able to wisely respond and some of the men went back to pray with him.

Another lady came for the second week in a row. The first week she had walked in the doors at the end of the service and came right up to Brian as he was moderating the share time. She was trying to show him some slips of paper (which I later found out was a prayer written for her by a Christian friend). This past Sunday I talked with her for the first time.

The pain she shared comes from the darkest pits of hell, and it's hard to get the true story because of the physiological state. She's not sure if she believes in Jesus, but she comes to church for some reason. Then she said she left the prior week, feeling better.

There's something going here, and we really don't know how to love and help these hurting people. Please pray for wisdom in this area, and for protection for me as I felt some of the burden of their hurt.

Secret Believers

2008-08-27T10:33:00.002-04:00

I just finished reading Secret Believers by Brother Andrew. The story of Christian believers from a Muslim background in a Middle Eastern country. Because of the sensitive nature of these believers' identities, the story is told in a novel format, with Brother Andrew referring to himself in the third person. Brother Andrew is an 80 year-old Dutch man who became well known after publishing God's Smuggler, the story of how he smuggled Bibles through the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. In this new book he turns his attention towards another curtain - the Islamic one.

The book was quite enjoyable and thrilling, especially since I knew that all the stories were true, albeit an amalgamation of different real stories sometimes. It reads like a spy novel at times. The narrative follows a believer, Butros, and his wife who have a desire to disciple new believers who come from a Muslim background. He meets with Brother Andrew at several points in the story for mentoring and help. Over several years, he finds, or rather is found, by new believers who don't know where to go. They are rejected from their families and threatened with their lives.

Butros works with existing churches to develop a discipleship and church planting program which doesn't look much like similar programs in the West. Conflict arises when the threats of the local community turn violent. The church struggles with how to respond, and concludes that forgiveness is the only way if following Jesus' commands is important.

The book breaks with the story at the end in order to directly challenge Western Christians with their response to the increasing presence of the Islamic world. The big challenge is to pray, and he gives suggestions on how to do that. But first, we have to decide if we will follow Jesus' example and forgive.

This book has definitely challenged me to rethink if I am willing to die for Jesus. Also, I want to be more aware of the Muslims with whom I come into contact. These people need Jesus and are not 'unreachable'. I want to live a more Christ-like life so that they can see that Jesus is the Lord.

Balmaha

2008-08-23T10:33:00.002-04:00

A quiet day at Balmaha.

Dutch Sheets Statement

2008-08-23T10:26:00.001-04:00

Dutch Sheets' statement regarding Lakeland Florida:

http://www.dutchsheets.org/index.cfm

Smalldreams

2008-08-18T17:33:00.002-04:00

My brother and sister-in-law are part of a new company that produces short comedic videos for the web. My favorite is 'What Not to Wear'. (Click the image)

One Gospel, Many Forms

2008-08-04T08:26:00.002-04:00

Tim Keller describes the different forms in which the one true Gospel is presented in the Scriptures. Like Paul, we need to be aware of our audience to determine which one we use. This is a good summary of competing views of the gospel.

I particularly liked the following quote:

I take a page from Kierkegaard's The Sickness Unto Death and define sin as building your identity—your self-worth and happiness—on anything other than God. That is, I use the biblical definition of sin as idolatry. That puts the emphasis not as much on "doing bad things" but on "making good things into ultimate things."

http://www.christianitytoday.com/global/printer.html?/le/2008/002/9.74.html

Jeremy Taylor

2008-08-02T16:43:00.002-04:00

I came across an essay (from "The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living") by Jeremy Taylor, a 17th century bishop in Ireland. He made nineteen proscriptions on how to pursue humility. I list some interesting ones below:

#2 "Humility consists in a realistic opinion of yourself, namely, that you are an unworthy person. Believe this about yourself with the same certainty you believe that you are hungry when you have gone without food."

#3 "When you hold this opinion of yourself, be content that others think the same of you. If you realize that you are not wise, do not be angry if someone else should agree!"

#6 "Never say anything, directly or indirectly, that will provoke praise or elicit compliments from others...Only remember this: do not let praise for yourself be the design of your conversations."

#11 "When you are slighted by someone, or feel undervalued, do not harbor any secret anger, supposing that you actually deserved praise and that they overlooked your value."

#13 "Take an active part in the praising of others, entertaining their good with delight...You should never think that hearing the good report of another in any way lessens your worth."

#15 "Never compare yourself with others unless it be to advance your impression of them and lower your impression of yourself...The truly humble person will not only look admirably at the strengths of others, but will also look with great forgiveness upon the weaknesses of others."

#17 "Give God thanks for every weakness, fault, and imperfection you have. Accept it as a favor of God, an instrument to resist pride and nurse humility. Remember, if God has chosen to shrink your swelling pride, he has made it that much easier for you to enter in through the narrow way!

#18 "Do not expose others' weaknesses in order to make them feel less able than you. Neither should you think on your superior skill with any delight, or use it to set yourself above another person."

#19 "...Confess your sins often to God and don't think of them as scattered offenses in the course of a long life; a burst of anger here, an act of impatience there. Instead, unite them into one continuous representation of your life. Remember that a person may seem rather good if his faults are scattered over large distances through out his lifetime; but if his errors and follies are placed next to one another, he will appear to be a vicious and miserable person.

Cost of Living

2008-07-30T12:19:00.002-04:00

It's cheaper in Glasgow! Why don't I feel it?

Mercer's 2008 Cost of Living Survey
In addition to London dropping one place, two additional UK cities, Birmingham and Glasgow, have both moved down in the rankings, dropping from 41st to 66th (score 85.4) and 36th to 69th (score 84), respectively. “In contrast to the strengthening euro and other European currencies, the British pound has remained relatively stable against the US dollar. As the cost of living in the Eurozone has risen relative to the US, UK cities have declined in the rankings,” according to Ms Traber.

Revival

2008-07-28T15:24:00.002-04:00

Who does not want revival? No honest Christian would say no. After attending a day and a half of the CLAN Gathering, I am filled with hope for revival here in Scotland. CLAN (Christians Linked Across the Nation) was a week-long Christian fest in St. Andrews. There were probably 4000-5000 in attendance, and many camped for the whole week. Thankfully, the weather was great this year (although it always seems 5-10 degrees F colder in St. Andrews than Glasgow!)

While CLAN is a non-denominational gathering, it is unashamedly bent towards charismatic expression. Inhibited Christians who attend either understand that before-hand and are accepting, or just choose to ignore (which would be difficult). I have come to be more and more accepting of certain expressions in worship and in ministry over the years. I would certainly like to grow in the areas of prayer and hearing from God.

This was my second experience with CLAN. I went in knowing I would be stretched in some ways, so I was open. What I did not expect was the emphasis on Lakeland (FL) 'revival' expressions. Beforehand, my opinions of the Lakeland 'outpouring' ranged from 'skeptical' to 'open'.

What follows isn't intended to offend or stir controversy, but I want to address a certain Christian response to the events in Lakeland that need to change. It's a response that I and several of my teammates have wrestled with all week.

During the couple of speaking sessions that I heard, the Lakeland 'revival' and Todd Bentley were endorsed and defended ("Todd's a man of integrity", "Don't believe the vomit on the internet", "they preach substitutionary penal atonement," "Look past the bling, and you will see the King"). One of these leaders is a respected Anglican pastor in London. Because of his endorsement and personal story, I became more keen to accept that what was going on in Lakeland was of God.

Later, I heard one of the associates of Todd Bentley speak (Brent Borthwick). I was not impressed. His talk had no substance or focus. While he mentioned and read a couple of verses from Scripture, the overall flow of the talk was not based on Biblical truth but emotional/spiritual hype. I felt manipulated. His style was completely different than any of the other speakers that I heard at CLAN. I was especially embarrassed for his "American" (Canadian) style and cultural ignorance.

So, leaving CLAN, I was a little confused. I wanted to believe that God was doing something amazing in Lakeland (I mean, there are healings, right?), but there was a little bit of mistrust on my part of the person delivering the message. I don't think it was style only, but I didn't have the facts.

When I got home, I felt I had to do some research myself. There are plenty of unedited video clips of Todd Bentley doing his thing in Lakeland; this is as good as being there. I can look past his appearance, past the "bling". But I got to the point where I saw enough strange, semi-Biblical, and non-Biblical teaching and expression, that I have come to the conclusion that Todd Bentley is a false prophet. [My tipping point: 1) his focus on angels more than Jesus, 2) his specific un-fulfilled prophecy that Jesus would appear, in person, on June 8, and 3) his lack of any preaching of the complete gospel, even in a response to to criticism that he doesn't preach the gospel! 4) his incorporation of new age/occult words and practices such as visualisation]

Why is it so hard for me to come to that conclusion? Because Christians are taught not to "judge" and to be accepting of all sorts of different expressions of Christianity. "Well, I wouldn't do it that way, but they can." We also don't want to judge God's preferred method of going about His business. Some of us even want to see God heal through his servants. We're open to whatever God wants to do. "How could it not be of God when there are so many healings?", the thought goes.

Probably the biggest question for me is, "Is it possible for an evil spirit to heal?" If it is, then whoa....does that mean it is possible that at least some of what is being presented as healing in Lakeland is not of God and, by default, of evil? The most direct Biblical backing for this idea is Revelation 13:12 where the beast's fatal wound was healed. The second text is Matthew 24:24 where Jesus warns of false prophets being able to show great signs and wonders with the intention of misleading the elect.

The existence of false teachers and prophets is a fact (well, if you believe Jesus). If this is true, then by what standard are we to judge (discern) them? How can we be open to movements of God yet retain the discernment He commands us?

So, while it is very dangerous to call something of the Holy Spirit,"evil" (Matthew 12:31), it is also imperative that we call something that is evil, "evil". Some of the healings at Lakeland, and elsewhere, may truly be from God in His mercy. I really believe that. It's hard to tell, though, without intensive follow-up (which is lacking in this case). But some healings may be from evil - that's the scary part. If you could get a healing by dabbling in a false 'revival', would you risk the spiritual consequences?

Historic revivals in America and Great Britain have been marked by:

-Gospel being preached
-Repentance
-Holiness
-Fruit of the Spirit

Let's continue to pray for revival to come to Scotland. Come Holy Spirit!

Rothesay and Bute

2008-07-19T13:16:00.002-04:00

Last week, I went with Leah and Sarah to the Isle of Bute. Above is a photo of Rothesay, the main town. It's a 2 hour journey from Glasgow, including ferry time. It's in the firth of Clyde, and has some great views from the highest point. There's also one of the earliest Scottish castles in Rothesay. Other highlights were seeing some dolphin and a submarine headed out to sea.

Glasgow River Festival

2008-07-19T13:09:00.002-04:00

I walked down to the convention center area to see what this Glasgow River Festival was all about. Yesterday I saw several of the ships coming up the Clyde past my flat. I was most interested in getting on to these ships. One of them was a Royal Navy minesweeper, and the other was a civil ship designed to maintain buoys and supply lighthouses. The queues were long for these. There was also a jet ski demonstration and race. Plenty of other 'fair' type things, like rides and food, were there. Sadly, I didn't know there would be tours of the BBC and Sky tv studios, which are right on the water. You had to pre-book places. So it looks like Glasgow is taking every advantage of the city waterfront.

The Big Story

2008-07-16T08:29:00.000-04:00

(h/t to Sam Metcalf)

Shield

2008-07-15T11:23:00.003-04:00

Photo by incurable_hippie

Well, I did it. Preaching two weeks in a row. I am glad it's over though. The last one was hard to write.

Shield of Faith

Beach Rescue

2008-07-09T18:17:00.001-04:00

The kids are at it again...