GadgetVicar

John Stott

John Stott died today. You can read more about him via the link. Richard Bewes, one of his successors as Rector of All Souls, Langham Place, writes:

Beloved John Stott, my next-door neighbour for 22 years, went to Glory at 3.15 this afternoon, (British time). He had not been ill, but - at 90 - he had simply done enough, and slipped away peacefully at the home where he has been so well looked after, at St Barnabas College, Lingfield in Surrey. His secretary for over 50 years, Frances Whitehead, was with him; also his niece Caroline (and her daughter Emily), together with his faithful visitor Philip Herbert.

So far, that is all that there is to pass on.

There will obviously be deep thanksgiving for John, and we can be sure that more will eventually be known through the website http://johnstott.org/

John Stott had a profound influence on many a church leader and many more lay people. His Bible-teaching ministry and his commentaries have helped grow several generations of followers of Jesus who can communicate its message clearly.

I am very grateful to have spent a short time with him when I was a curate more than twenty years ago. It was a nerve wracking responsibility to look after the great man for the day when he had time off from preaching at the church I served. I knew he was a birdwatcher (or should that be birder?), and so I arranged some time in the country for him to pursue his hobby. He was very kind and interested in me throughout. On the way home he mentioned that the one book of his that he did not have a copy of was Christ the Controversialist. I think this book was based on some lectures he'd given in Edinburgh. As it happened, the week before I met him, I had acquired a first edition copy of that very book in a second hand shop. I had the joy of giving that copy to its author.

John Stott helped shape my handling of scripture and my preaching. He was a unifying figure for Anglican and non-Anglican evangelicals. Sadly, there is no-one of his stature around today who can fulfil that role. He will be sorely missed. But many around the world will be giving thanks to God for his long and fruitful ministry. May his sermons, books and life continue to encourage other followers of Jesus to remain faithful.

These then are the marks of the ideal Church - love, suffering, holiness, sound doctrine, genuineness, evangelism and humility. They are what Christ desires to find in His churches as He walks among them. John Stott - Basic Introduction to the New Testament, Eerdmans, 1964, p. 163-164

                                                        

On The Rock

A singer (or possibly, a group) for Europe

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a devotee of the Eurovision Song Contest and it's that time of year again. This year the UK has Pete Waterman and Mike Stock writing the song, and we, the great unwashed, get to choose the act to sing it. 

I've just heard the song in question, "That Sounds Good To Me". Unfortunately, it doesn't.

I'm sorry, but I'd much rather choose the song - it's a song contest, silly! Please BBC, let the people choose the song, and take the risk that we might get it wrong. We've nothing to lose, save hearing those immortal words, "nil points".

Serving And Sending Out

One of the things we are about as a church is to be "Serving and Sending Out". Yesterday I had the privilege of hosting a meeting with four representatives of two mission agencies, and a lay leader from St Silas' as we explored with a member of the congregation the possibility of God calling him to serve in another culture. It could be an excellent partnership. I believe this could be the first of many such new partnerships. It will continue our long history of partnering with mission work around the world.

Similarly, we want to see people being released into all sorts of ministry (including ordained ministry) here in the UK. But.......being sent out begins a little closer to home. Last Sunday morning (and this coming Sunday evening!) we looked at the sending out of the 72 disciples. One thing that struck me was that the disciples were to declare to those who were healed, as well as those who are simply antagonistic, "The Kingdom of God is near". It means that  the followers of Jesus take the Kingdom of God with them wherever they go. It's not contained in a building, or a ritual, or a special person - the Kingdom Of God is not far from people at all, for it is wherever we are placed. An awesome responsibility and a great joy. I think I'll try mentioning that in conversation today.............

Wonders of The Solar System

I had a quiet evening in last night and was so tired I fancied a relaxing no-brainer kind of entertainment, so ended up watching the box (or should that now be panel?). It turned out to be a stimulating geek fest with The Sky at Night (on "Is there life on other worlds?" - I'm a sucker for that), followed by Horizon on the subject of dark flow. Both were fascinating programmes.

The highlight was earlier on in the evening - Professor Brian Cox presents Wonders of the Solar System, the BBC's latest HD-fest that looks at what it says on the tin. I'd love his job! The only word to describe the programme is stunning. The youthful Cox explains and enthuses, the visuals are beautiful, and the music fits gloriously. See the first episode about the Sun on iPlayer. Take a look, and give thanks to the wonder-full Creator:

What A Bishop Thinks

Following the Bishop of Liverpool's address to his diocesan synod last Saturday, Andrew Goddard has published a helpful critical appraisal of what he said. James Jones' thoughts are significant in that he has strong evangelical credentials, and his comments reflect a change in his thinking which many evangelicals will find difficult to accept.

Read the original address by the bishop here.

Read Andrew's appraisal here.

In addition, I found this thread at Fulcrum's forum includes some helpful thoughts.

Avatar - Mark Driscoll's Critique

Missed The Shack

Unfortunately, I couldn't make the "Faith Seeking Understanding" discussion in a local hostelry last night. The discussion was on William P. Young's "The Shack".

I've found Tim Keller's review to be helpful:

However, sprinkled throughout the book, Young’s story undermines a number of traditional Christian doctrines. Many have gotten involved in debates about Young’s theological beliefs, and I have my own strong concerns. But here is my main problem with the book. Anyone who is strongly influenced by the imaginative world of The Shack will be totally unprepared for the far more multi-dimensional and complex God that you actually meet when you read the Bible. In the prophets the reader will find a God who is constantly condemning and vowing judgment on his enemies, while the Persons of the Triune-God of The Shack repeatedly deny that sin is any offense to them. The reader of Psalm 119 is filled with delight at God’s statutes, decrees, and laws, yet the God of The Shack insists that he doesn’t give us any rules or even have any expectations of human beings. All he wants is relationship. The reader of the lives of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Isaiah will learn that the holiness of God makes his immediate presence dangerous or fatal to us. Someone may counter (as Young seems to do, on p.192) that because of Jesus, God is now only a God of love, making all talk of holiness, wrath, and law obsolete. But when John, one of Jesus’ closest friends, long after the crucifixion sees the risen Christ in person on the isle of Patmos, John ‘fell at his feet as dead.’ (Rev.1:17.) The Shack effectively deconstructs the holiness and transcendence of God. It is simply not there. In its place is unconditional love, period. The God of The Shack has none of the balance and complexity of the Biblical God. Half a God is not God at all.

‘Pragmatic, comfortable and unobtrustive’ : Can the Church of England ever learn to evangelise?

A very helpful and thought provoking article on mission appears in Anvil. It's by the Revd Canon Dr Peter Williams. Though it refers to the Church of England, much of the contents might also apply to the Scottish Episcopal Church. It's been a helpful read, especially as the Diocese of Glasgow & Galloway prepares to call a new bishop.

The introduction explains the contents as follows:

In this article, Peter Williams reminds us that the Church of England is in serious decline and that the contemporary challenge is to evangelise or die. Despite recovering from a comparably dangerous position in the early nineteenth century, through spiritual renewal and structural changes, in the second half of the twentieth century it reversed the progress. He argues it now has to overcome four inhibitors to evangelism arising from its heritage and, as it seeks to develop new strategies for evangelism, highlights eleven missiological principles from the past and from the story of contemporary success in other parts of the world. To put this into practice he presents the case that evangelism should be episcopally facilitated but without tight episcopal and institutional controls because churches need to have the freedom to get on with their own visions in their distinctive cultural settings. A key question therefore is whether the institutional bureaucracy of the Church of England can allow evangelism to be central to its culture without centralising (and thus destroying) its direction, energy and purpose.

Read it all here.

Any Questions?

"Any Questions?" is a new format service we are trying out tonight. Questions have been sent in by people on the subject of "God". I'll try and answer them plus we'll have texted questions for a small panel of experts. If it works, the plan is to run a whole series of these over the next year.