A letter sent today to the House of Lords in the light of the ongoing work to prevent the sexual Orientation Regulations (SORs) becoming law. I have written on SORs here http://richardperkins.blogsome.com/2007/01/02/sexual-orientation-regulations/. Further information can be found from the Christian Institute web site here http://www.christian.org.uk/pdfpublications/sor_newsletter_march07.pdf.

Dear Lord *****

I write as the Senior Pastor of Christ Church Balham, an Anglican Church in South London, on behalf of our church members.

As a result of proposed Government legislation the rights of a small percentage of people are about to take precedence over the religious freedoms of many. The Sexual Orientation Regulations (SORs) currently being rushed through Parliament will effectively promote homosexual activity and rights at the expense of conscientious Christian liberty.

British Law should surely allow people of the Christian faith (and those of other faiths and none) to withhold their support of an activity they regard as morally wrong. The SORs will undermine this principle and leave upright members of the community liable to prosecution and vulnerable to litigation.

Some of our congregation would be affected by the SORs.

We have a number of School Teachers who could face legal action under the regulations for saying that homosexual practice is wrong. The Government has given assurances that this will not be the case but legally that is inaccurate. The Parliamentary Committee for Human Rights recognises that the SORs apply to schools since there is no exception for the curriculum.

Several of our church are involved in small businesses or self employed as management consultants, graphic designers, architects and so on. If the SORs are passed they could face legal action for refusing to offer their support on the grounds of religious principle.

I understand that Baroness O’Cathain has tabled a motion to stop the regulations becoming law. When the House of Lords vote on 21st March can I please urge you to support her motion?

Many thanks for your attention to this matter.

Yours faithfully

Can I urge everyone to familiarise themselves with the issues, pray about them and write to the House of Lords. I’m told that in these days of mass mailings a letter produced on a computer is ignored and that Peers pay more attention to those that are hand written. The letter above was therefore sent in my illegible scrawl! 

You may find some of the materials here helpful http://www.christian.org.uk/soregs/index.htm.

I received an interesting response from a handful of people at a recent evening meeting when, as an aside, I said the following, ‘you could always come to church, it doesn’t have to be ours, but make sure it’s a good one’.

There were some for whom it was a revelation that there were bad churches. The idea that some churches don’t do what they’re supposed to do was clearly a new idea.

But it dawned on me how essential it is to point this out. The theological breadth within our own denomination is so vast that it must be utterly bewildering to the casual observer. Presumably it completely escapes them what churches at different ends of the theological spectrum have in common. The truth is, very little. But in using the term Anglican [and allowing others who’ve departed from its theological foundations to use it] we allow people to think that we’re all the same. We’re not. People need to know that there are very serious doctrinal differences between a liberal catholic church and an evangelical church. Visitors don’t need to know what all those differences are immediately. But they need to know that what you’re offered in each will be very different. The politicians among the denomination may try and paper over the cracks. But we’re not politicians, we’re pastors and either side of those deep fissures are life giving truth and poisonous false teaching. We wouldn’t let a parent inadvertently give a child poison to drink when they thought it was milk. Why do we think it’s unwise or unwelcome to do the same with doctrine? No one likes drawing attention to division, any more than we enjoy the fact of division. But in light of the fact that those church leaders guilty of reinventing the faith seem unwilling to repent and teach the Bible we have to warn those who are yet to describe themselves as followers of Jesus Christ.

But what surprised me most was that there were some who were delighted to hear a church leader describe churches as bad. Their experience of church had been awful. But they assumed that this was normal and that Christians hadn’t noticed just how bad it was! Perhaps they’d thought that when we become Christians our powers of differentiation are removed along with our brains! They assumed that we could no longer tell the difference between a good church and a bad church. They hadn’t figured out what the differences were but they knew they were there alright. So, for the sake of the confused visitor I’ve resolved to keep on using that phrase for a while.

It begs the question, ‘what is a good church?’ Here’s what I suggest.

1. Find a church that’ll teach you the Bible

The first priority in choosing a church is to find one that will help you mature in the Christian faith. God matures disciples of Jesus Christ by teaching them from His word. And so we’re looking for a church not only that models Bible teaching from the pulpit but a church that handles the Bible well in small groups and equips its members to read and study the Bible for themselves.

If a church doesn’t teach the Bible we’ll remain undernourished and stunted in our growth. The church has far too many spiritual pygmies and we don’t need any more. So do the kingdom a favour and find somewhere that’ll equip you to live faithfully for Christ.

2. Find a church that’ll encourage you to use your gifts

Secondly, find a church that will help identify the gifts that God has given you and nurture them in serving others. God equips us differently so that in combination with the other members of his body we can get to work and build the church. So we’re looking for a church that won’t allow you to pew sit for too long. Even those churches with a training remit ought not to just fill you with knowledge but encourage you to do some actual ministry.

If a church doesn’t encourage you to use your gifts you’ll become spiritually obese! We need to exercise and participate in church life. Every church has jobs that need doing. Find out what they are and volunteer!

3. Find a church that’ll help your evangelism

Thirdly, find a church that will help you reach your friends, family and colleagues with the gospel. You need to find a church that talks about evangelism and one that does evangelism. Take a look at the term card and preaching programme. Find out what events the church provides to help you in reaching others. So we’re looking for a church that won’t let you off the hook and encourage our evangelistic complacency.

If a church doesn’t encourage you to engage in evangelism our concern for the lost won’t mirror that of Jesus Christ. The world is full of people who’ve never heard the gospel expressed in language that they can understand. Jesus never neglected them, neither should we.

Conclusion

So this is what I advise people who are ‘church shopping’. It may well be the case that you have to compromise on one of those things. But i’m not convinced that in London we have to. It ought to be obvious that Christ Church Balham [www.christchurchbalham.org.uk] matches up fairly well under all the categories. But you’d have to pay us a visit to see whether that’s true or not!

Some initial thoughts on Psalm 114

How confident are you that the obstacles that stand in the way of your salvation will be overcome? Think about all the things that could cause us to trip up in our Christian life. The unholy trinity of the world, the flesh and the devil combine to create a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to perservering to the end.

We’re about to learn that God has the power to deliver on His promises.

If Psalm 113 spoke with great eloquence about the majesty of God then Psalm 114 illustrates it. It shows how the Lord ruled over creation and the forces of nature to achieve His purposes in the redemption and preservation of His people.

1. the Psalmist recalls the events of the exodus (1&2)

1 When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 2 Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.

In these introductory words the songwriter recalls the events of the exodus. God acted and the house of Jacob, Israel went from being Egypt’s possession to God’s people. God delivered His people to dwell amongst them and exercise dominion over them.

2. the Psalmist describes the response of creation (3&4)

3 The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.

The events of the miraculous deliverance in the exodus and the entry into the Promised Land are conflated. The psalmist collapses salvation history into one event. The Red Sea, the Jordan river, the Mountain at Sinai and the Canaanite hills of the Promised Land were thrown into turmoil.

3. the Psalmist poses some rhetorical questions (5&6)

5 What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? 6 O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs?

In mock astonishment, the songwriter asks the creation what’s caused their disturbance. He knows alright. But this playful interchange heightens the sense of expectation before the resolution comes in the last verse of the song. But this works as a rhetorical device because it’s as though we’re asked to appreciate God’s power through the effect He has on the forces of nature. It’s as though God is a magnificent warrior and the estimation of his greatness is to be gleaned only from the response of His enemies.

4. the Psalmist reassures the people of God (7&8)

7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8 who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.

The presence of the Lord changes everything. He is the master of creation and it dances to his tune. But He is not only the Lord of creation; He’s the God of Jacob, the covenant people. He is the promise keeping provider who directs His power to their point of need as he turns rock into water.

Conclusion

This is a song all about God and His incomparable power. That’s the theme. The intent behind writing this song is that all those who sing it might know that God’s promise of redemption and provision is secured absolutely by that power. In other words, it’s not only about power but it’s about the difference power makes to promises. I can promise you the earth but I can’t deliver it. I’d be hard pressed to deliver Leighton Buzzard! But God promises heaven and because of His power He can deliver.

In the gospel promises of Jesus Christ, God has promised to redeem us from captivity to our sinful rebellion and redeem us for the liberty of life in His service. When we think about the obstacles that stand in the way of our salvation we can quickly grow disheartened. The world is a very persuasive place, I am a very able sinner and the devil does seem very good at his job. But we need to think more about the God who makes the salvation promises.

Power is the ability to do what you want. God wants to save His people. Nothing can stand in His way to prevent this.