Looking at Christ

If Jeremiah looks like it could be a particularly important, rich, cutting, fiery word to church planters - what might be an example of that message? Here is a reflection on some verses from the early chapters of the book with special relevance to church planters and pastors... Jeremiah 2:8 The priests did not ask,     ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who deal with the law did not know me... Just like Samson didn’t notice that the Lord had left him (Judges 16:20), the priests hadn’t noticed that the Lord had left them, that their places of worship were inscribed "Ichabod." Probably because they had never felt a sense of need of God in what they are doing or been distressed by a lack of God’s presence. They did not have the heart of the Psalmist (the spiritually healthy heart) which cries out regularly, "Where are you?" (cf. Psalm 10:1; 13:1–2; 22:1–2; 27:8–9; 42:1–2; 63:1; 84:2; 143:6–7). And the scribes who deal with the law - the Bible handlers - don’t actually know th...

I'm not aware than anyone has done a sustained study on the relevance of the "planting" theme in Jeremiah to church planting. Someone should. In the absence of that, here are a few initial observations: Fourteen times the verb nāṭaʿ (to plant) is used in the Hebrew text of Jeremiah. Four of these are literal - speaking of the people of Judah planting gardens and vineyards (29:5, 28; 31:5; 35:7) while 10 are metaphorical (1:10; 2:21; 11:17; 12:2; 18:9; 24:6; 31:28; 32:41; 42:10; 45:4). All these references come in the first three quarters of Jeremiah, before the turn to address the nations in the final section of the book (chp. 46-52). What is intriguing in relation to the New Testament is the tying together of building and planting. Among the literal nāṭaʿ references, 3 of the 4 bring together building and planting. Among the metaphorical references, 6 of the 10 co-locate building and planting (1:10; 18:9; 24:6; 31:28; 42:10; 45:4). Then in 1 Corinthians 3 what do we find...

The Book of Acts might well be a written for a church planter - so what is the end of chapter 15 (v36-41) teaching him as a church leader?  Theophilus' eye will certainly be drawn first to the surprising disagreement between two church planting legends and he'd be given a reality check (and reassurance) that good, godly, well-motivated gospel workers will disagree and that is not terminal and God can use the conflict for good. In particular the incident raises the important issue of who do you take onto your team . Is it wise to take someone onto the launch team of a new church who has proved unreliable or experienced significant 'church hurt' or is in some way in bad relationship with their former church or has inflated expectations that 'this time it will be different'? Many would caution extreme care having seen the way church plants can be a magnet for those with conflicting agendas and unresolved grievances, only for patterns of disfunction to be repeated...

Isaiah 55:12-13 is a beautiful end to a beautiful chapter.  "For you will go out in joy     and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills     will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field     will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,     and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown,     for an everlasting sign,     that will endure forever." The great call of the chapter (v1-7) is to come to the free banquet of grace, to open ears as if mouths to eat, to seek the Lord, to come to him who is the feast. And then there are three reasons given: v8-9 - this Lord is nothing like you imagined, v10-11 - His Word is coming down from heaven to earth to bring life, v12-13 - this is all for joy God's great plan is the joy project . We are heading towards eternal joy - the greater Exodus - "led forth in peace." Miriam singing and dancing on the far s...

"So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only [literally: 'they became'] a few days to him because of his love for her." (Genesis 29:20) Robert Alter,  Genesis Translation and Commentary , on Gen 22:9-10: "In contrast to the breathless pace of the narrative as a whole, this sequence inscribes a kind of slow motion: building the altar, laying out the wood, binding... reaching out the hand..." Adam Ramsey's beautifully written  Faithfully Present is summed up well by the subtitle: "Embracing the Limits of Where and When God Has You." Big idea: God is unlimited by place and time but we are limited. Ramsey gives wisdom on what it looks like to 'make peace' with those creaturely limits, in a way that is rooted not in trendy mindfulness (and not unrealistic about the demands of real life) but is grounded in the gospel realities of creation, fall, redemption, sanctification and consummation. Highlights Ramsey's des...

From the archives - originally written 8 years ago in the midst of international family transition… When Duncan Olumbe led an excellent session for the iServe Africa ministry training course on transition , there was one thing that he mentioned but didn’t have time to go into detail on: building a RAFT. The idea of building a RAFT comes from Pollock & Van Reken's  Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds but it’s applicable to anyone moving on, whether adults or children, expats or citizens. The basic plan is Reconciliation-Affirmation-Farewells-ThinkDestination. It’s not only practical and proven but it also fits well with the pattern and teaching of the apostle Paul, someone who certainly knew what it was to go through a lot of transitions. Reconciliation Deal with conflict before you leave. Forgive and ask for forgiveness. We can easily sweep conflict under the carpet. Particularly when we are leaving it’s very tempting not to bother dealing with unresolved issues. But...