A bucket of snakes

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

-Mark 16:15-18

On textual evidence it's unlikely that these verses are actually a part of the gospel of Mark. The surprising advice about picking up serpents and drinking poison is not found anywhere else in the gospels, although if we look for fulfilment of these words in the rest of the New Testament, Acts 28:1-5 is quite striking.

However, discretion being the better part of valour in the house of Cheng, I confine my snake-handling activities to the worms next to the rainwater tank by the side of the house. This morning it was raining so naturally I was out there with a bucket of vege scraps, poking around the worm farm and rearranging compost in the mud.

I lifted the non-functioning worm farm (the one that doesn't work, as opposed to the two that do) and discovered there a fistful of writhing worms, submerged in about an inch of water.

Now when you speak to worm people or read books about compost they will reassure you that worms, although they don't like water and will drown in it, can swim short distances and get themselves out of danger. You know, the sort of danger that would normally be represented by an inch deep puddle only short wriggles away from lovely loamy well drained soil where many of their worm companions live, or from the easily accessible functioning worm farm not 2 feet away.

But I have noticed this tendency for worms to plunge themselves lemming-like into puddles before; a Noachian redux that lies well within their capacity to avoid.

Anyone else observed this phenomenon? Any theories, fellow composters? Perhaps Mark 16:15-18 is somehow finding fulfilment, despite my shaky faith in the authenticity of these verses, and the non-viperous nature of these tiny serpents.

Advice for a financially distressed husband and young father

A friend of a friend left a comment on that friends' blog, responding to the latest (and undeserved) financial woes the blogger found himself in.

Dude, don't ya just hate that? I get the same sometimes. We don't think rationally about fatherhood/husbandhood when we're under financial pressure. Relax, you are not mis-handling money. I mean, you're not gambling are you? You're not buying grog at the local instead of food for your family are you? Sydney's a VERY expensive city and the first couple of years of marriage, a new job, a new baby on top of that fact mean you really don't need to considered yourself a bad husband and father because of it. Ps 73 is always nice to read at times like this. It's not until about verse 16 or 17 - when he goes into the sanctuary of the LORD that things get much clearer and much more hopeful. I'll be praying for you.

As I read it, it seemed to me a good combination of practicality, sympathy and Christian encouragement; all areas in which I struggle. So I thought I'd preserve the advice here in case it is of help to anyone.

Carbon sequestration—get it right!

I'm impressed with Dr Karl for admitting he got it wrong, misled as he was by Tim Flannery's calculation which was out by a factor of ten.

That's a fairly big 'oops' though, isn't it, if it leads you to reject an entire technology and advise politicians accordingly.

Just as well we found that zero digit in time. Assuming no more mistakes, at least.

The pictures in the Big Picture Bible

Two of my readers asked about or made comments on the illustrations in the Big Picture Story Bible, and fair enough too.

I thought the illustrations were well done and had some interesting theological pointers on the way. The 'God's-eye-view' of people was not something I'd seen often before in a kid's Bible, and I thought that was interesting and potentially useful in a conversation. The pictures were large, colourful, and slightly cartoonish—simplified, without being exaggerated or distorted. I wouldn't say I warmed to them personally, but then the book's not for me is it?

The best way to get a feel for these illustrations is to click through on the link (which is to Amazon) and have a look at excerpts for yourself using the 'Search Inside' function.

Kahlil Gibran, not.

A Moody friend, noting perhaps that too many poems have appeared on this blog recently, sent me this piece...

Expansive and yet vacuous is the prose of Kahlil Gibran,
And weary grows the mind doomed to read it.
The hours of my penance lengthen,
The penance established for me by the editor of this magazine,
And those hours may be numbered as the sands of the desert.
And for each of them Kahlil Gibran has prepared
Another ornamental phrase,
Another faux-Biblical cadence,
Another affirmation proverbial in its intent
But alas! lacking the moral substance,
The peasant shrewdness, of the true proverb.

O Book, O Collected Works of Kahlil Gibran ,
Published by Everyman's Library on a dark day,
I lift you from the Earth to which I recently flung you
When my wrath grew too mighty for me,
I lift you from the Earth,
Noticing once more your annoying heft,
And thanking God-though such thanks are sinful-
That Kahlil Gibran died in New York in 1931
At the age of forty-eight,
So that he could write no more words,
So that this Book would not be yet larger than it is.

My Moody friend tells me it was written by Alan Jacobs of Wheaton College.

The Big Picture Story Bible

Two things made me walk into the bookshop at Moore Theological College in the last few days and emerge with an armful of kids books. One; the first kids’ Bible we ever owned is wearing out (our three girls are 4, 6, and 8 and it has done great service over the years). Two; the principal at Moore, Dr John Woodhouse, had mentioned some books that he thought I ought to be reviewing and top of the list was David Helm’s The Big Picture Story Bible .

And actually, the third reason is that it is not far from Christmas, and now is the time to start stocking up on stocking fillers that may actually help my girls spiritually, not just feed their materialism.

At any rate, blog readers who are into this sort of thing will hopefully also benefit from that armload of books, since this is the first in a series of maybe half-a-dozen reviews of Christian children’s books that I plan to post both here and on the Matthias Media website in the next few weeks.

Top of the list is the one I just mentioned, David Helm’s Big Picture Story Bible. And yep, the pictures are big, and the book is too, though not too big for manhandling at the dinner table. The parental reader will appreciate the size of both book and illustrations when faced with the regular complaint “I can’t see!” Because this one, you can see (so sit quietly!).

But the real reason this particular Big Picture Bible is so well-named is that it actually does provide, in the course of 26 parts, the Big Bible Picture. It begins with an explanation of Adam and Eve as made in the image of God, ruling over the world (and incidentally shows one of the few pictures I have seen where there is more than one lousy tree in the garden during the conversation with the snake, who is clearly identified as Satan). The promises to Abraham are clearly explained and referred to in the rest of the Story Bible. David receives the promise that a son of his will be the ‘forever King’, and once again, the story from this point on reminds the children hearing the story that we are looking forward to the one who will fulfil these promises. The Passover and temple sacrifices are explained and provide the groundwork for understanding that the Lord Jesus, who is the ‘forever King’ promised, is also the one who offers a sacrifice for sin and dies in our place. His bodily resurrection is clearly taught, along with his divinity and the power of the (divine) Holy Spirit.

Nor does this Bible shy away from the notion of divine judgement as God’s kingly rule, taught and anticipated from the very beginning of the Bible, is established through the preaching of the disciples. In this version of Revelation, John “saw the holy room of God and the throne where Jesus sits. He saw the place of hell for everyone who rejects Jesus as God’s king. He even saw Satan crushed forever.”

Most kid's Bibles line up one story after another like pearls on a string. Great treasures, but really their order could be rearranged with no great harm to the final necklace. But this is not true of the Bible read by grown-ups, where the story of God’s promises unfold until they are fulfilled in Christ. The great strength of this children’s Bible is that, almost uniquely amongst children’s Bibles, the big Bible Picture is clearly taught.

For the Cheng family at least, we have found another Bible for our children to wear out.

Christian books for children

This morning Fifi and I got into car, drove the girls to preschool and school and headed in to Newtown. We had brunch, and then went to Moore Books. There I proceeded to load up on children's books with the dual purpose of keeping the girls in books at Christmas time—eek!—and picking up some things I could review for purposes of my day job at Matthias Media.

I am about to try and bang out a few hundred words on the Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm, recommended to me by John Woodhouse, the principal of Moore College, when I was asking him about books to review.

Also on the review 'to do' list:

Ten Girls who changed the World by Irene Howat.

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (ed. Katherine Lindskoog)

The Children's Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones.

The Lion Storyteller Bible

The Nativity Play by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen (that's the Kipper the Dog people, if you know the TV show).

Read-Aloud Bible Stories Vol 1. by Ella K. Lindvall.

John Bunyan's A Pilgrim's Progress retold by Geraldine McCaughrean.

What is Heaven Like? by Beverley Lewis.

My main interest here is going to be theological. If you have other kid's books that you think are terrific, mention them in the comments on this post. Yes, Yes, I've heard of Narnia!

Barth

A German friend told me on Sunday that the German theological students who read Karl Barth become universalists.

A bald generalization, no doubt, but having read a bit of Barth myself it is easy to see the temptation. Barth is full of gracious-seeming trapdoors.

Pushkin

I loved you – and my love, I think, was stronger
Than to be quite extinct within me yet;
But let it not distress you any longer;
I would not have you feel the least regret.
I loved you bare of hope and of expression,
By turns with jealousy and shyness sore;
I loved you with such purity, such passion
As may God grant you to be loved once more.

-Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin

(thanks to sandra j)

"Religion does have a role in politics"

Here's quite a good opinion piece on the subject in today's Age, entitled "Religion does have a role in politics".

It's by the religion editor for the Age, Barney Zwartz, who is also a keen evangelical Presbyterian.

Sydney following Melbourne

Sydney, in a move approximating civilization, is doing what Melbourne has done for years. Nice.

Fear in a handful of dust

Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

Frisch weht der Wind
Der Heimat zu.
Mein Irisch Kind,
Wo weilest du?

-From The Waste Land, T. S. Eliot, 1922.

Hummour

Thanks Matt. I don't know why I found this quite as amusing as I did, but I laughed a lot.

Peace in a cup of tea

Peace in a cup of tea
is what I am seeking.

If I find it I will tell you.

Early morning work, the Jews and Hitler

Woke up sometime after four am, and finished off a near-final draft of some Bible studies on Romans 6-11.

It is pretty clear to me, reading these chapters, that God has not given up on his Old Testament promises to the Jewish people. And that the rest of us non-Jews should in no way be complacent or smug when we consider the dire straits that the Jews have experienced in the last 2000 years.

In an effort to illustrate some of the more rebarbative attitudes, I briefly looked up some of the things that Hitler had said in Mein Kampf. I won't quote them here, they are readily available in too many places.

I was reminded that one of the most frightening things about Hitler was that he was so clear, direct and compelling as a communicator. Reading quotes from him is like reading quotes from Martin Luther. He is direct. He is stark. He invokes not only the forces of politics but the forces of heaven and earth, God and Satan.

Public transport 'round Sydney

It could work, you know, it really could.

As this article in today's SMH points out. We have a number of suburban centres that mean you don't have to travel far in Sydney to get stuff you need, despite the overall geographical sprawl.

Neither State Labor nor State Liberal governments in recent decades have served us well on this. But State Labor of recent times has dropped the bundle, multiple times.

P.G. Wodehouse

Unseen, in the background, Fate was quietly slipping the lead into the boxing gloves.

-P.G. Wodehouse, Very Good, Jeeves,1930.

This is an average quote used to introduce a boring article in today's SMH.

But Wodehouse! Read him while you yet can!

In an adolescence spent reading Billy Bunter, Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein, he shone like a literary star in a dark generation. And he was funny! The one that sticks in my memory was the book where they were running a sweepstakes on how many minutes the sermon would run for in the local village churches on a particular Sunday. They had a dead cert for under 10 minutes, but at the last minute an over-enthusiastic curate had to step into the breach...

Thank you, Epping Public Library.

Gospel growth conference panel discussion

Noah's excellent live blogging of this conference continues with this panel discussion between Phillip Jensen, Tony Payne and Mark Dever.

Conventional music

I recently attended one of those conferences that makes you glad to be a Christian living in Sydney. It was run by the Katoomba Convention people, who stand in the tradition of the great English Keswick convention movement that has spawned offshoots and imitators in many parts of the world, not just Sydney.

What I love about the Katoomba conventions are that for sheer quality of Bible teaching, they almost invariably hit the mark. It’s quite astonishing really, as there are so many other situations in life where you feel you’ve blown your money and worse, your time. The take-away food places that end with uncomfortable moments in the smallest room. The movie that you know five minutes in is going to be a waste of time, but there you are trapped to the bitter end with your friends. I mean come on—the third Lord of the Rings movie could have ended 45 minutes early and only the two people who weren’t sleeping would have complained.

But in the twenty plus years I’ve been to Katoomba, I’ve never felt let down and I’ve often come away exhilarated and excited by the power of God’s word, powerfully expressed.

The recent ENGAGE conference, with speakers Justin Moffat and Chris Chia addressing workers’ issues from Ecclesiastes, Jeremiah and other parts of the Bible was no exception. The most spectacular surprise was the music, which was brilliantly led, technically tight up-to-date and with carefully thought through words and some stellar renditions of new tunes to the old words of some glorious hymns. Not a false start or technical glitch in sight. No in-jokes amongst the musicians. No sermonettes from the song leaders. Only half a hint of a PowerPoint slip-up, but even that is, in my book, a cause for rejoicing. I was transported.

My only problem is where I was transported to. I can be quite specific, actually. I was transported back, in my mind and heart, to the Hillsong Annual Convention at Homebush Bay, Sydney 2006. Hillsong 2006, where the medium was the message, where speaker after speaker happily contradicted themselves and each other, and at the end of the day, it was all just one glorious delightful party with a great big hole in the centre where you would normally expect the theology to be fitted—and a large, almost unfilled absence where you would expect the cross and the atonement to be.

‘Right…’ some discerning reader will respond. ‘So you’re telling me that you went to a conference where the music was every bit as good as Hillsong, on a lower budget and with all the theological problems fixed, along with good speakers and great coffee. Doesn’t that mean…er…that it was a good conference?’

Well, yes, it does. It really does.

But here’s my two niggles worth.

The first niggle is that the antennae go up when I get the sense that we as Bible-believing Christians are being led down a path by an organization (Hillsong) where the gospel, if not completely absent, has receded a very long way into the background. Are we, Bible-believing Christians, running our music this way because that is how Hillsong is doing it?

There are a number of indications that we are. In the case of this conference, one not insignificant indication was that the whole style, sound, volume and appearance of the music was the same (not the words. Thank you God, not the words!) And especially when one of the key organizers of this convention, a man I respect greatly, tells me that ‘yes, we are in competition with Hillsong. We are aiming for the same market.’

Nothing necessarily wrong with that, of course. But if it is true, then it is at least worth asking ourselves a serious question. As we pursue headlong this great glittering prize of music that lifts and inspires our souls, and as we try to do it at least as well as ‘those people over there’, are there any traps that we may have stumbled into?

For me that question has been asked but not yet satisfactorily answered, and that is a concern.

The other niggle is much easier to name and claim. I loved the music and I loved the songs at this conference, and enjoyed it far more than at many other conferences I have been to, certainly including Hillsong 2006.

So why was I getting more and more annoyed? It struck me that my annoyance was not at the musicians at all, but that I (possessed of a singing voice that is probably too loud) couldn’t even hear myself shout. And being a man who loves the sound of his own voice, that bothered me. I certainly couldn’t hear the voices of the two people on either side of me, or anyone else for that matter—apart from the clear and beautiful voices of the singers on stage.

So I stopped singing, and promptly discovered that I was no longer annoyed. I loved the experience of the convention music, when I learned to treat it as a really well put together Christian music concert.

Which is a problem. Because if there’s one thing that the Bible is clear about when it comes to singing, it’s that the words we sing as a congregation, when we sing them are addressed to each other. Here’s Paul writing to the Ephesians:

“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart…” (Ephesians 5:18-19)

Now don’t get me wrong here. The words of the songs at the convention were crystal clear, aided by the fact that as they were being sung they were being projected onto the screen in front of us (although I now can’t remember the words, and I have no easy way of referring back to them, which is an advantage of the old hymn books over the new technology). And it’s clear that I was indeed being addressed by the singers and songleaders.

But what I managed to lose somewhere in all the technical excellence—and let’s face it, the juiced-up volume—was the sense that we as a congregation were there to edify each other by what we sang to each other, and to God.

It was still a great, rockin’, foot-stompin’, Bible teachin’ convention. And I am going to be encouraging others to go along next year to hear Don Carson and Mark Driscoll. But part of me is a little anxious about where parts of this are heading, and why.

Matthias Media conference right now, in the US

Most of you know that I work for Matthias Media. Right now the US branch of Matthias Media (Marty!) is helping run a 'church growth vs gospel growth' conference featuring Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne from here, and Mark Dever of 9 Marks ministries from there.

There's a good detailed blog about it from one of the participants, and the latest update is here. Check it out! Will appeal to Oz patriots and Calvinists alike.

The "prayer" of "St Francis"

Does anyone else dislike this piece of kitsch as much as I do? Anyway, I subjected the longsuffering members of another forum to this rant, so you blog readers might as well get it too:

The prayer was discovered (and possibly written) anonymously in 1912. As the wiki article on it notes (you can find the words there too), the prayer has been used and promoted by Roman Catholics, although it has become popular in other circles.

It is an essentially Christ-free poem that makes the individual pray-er the focus of God's work on earth, and where the true source of grace—the cross—has been eclipsed. In its place, I have become the channel of God's grace and the one whose work will bring knowledge of God.

There are a few other surprises in it, too. It is news to me, for example that I will be the one who brings about "true faith in you", as the ditty purports to request.

Like many fluffy and ambiguous hymns and choruses that we tend to sing in churches today, a good lawyer could probably get it off the charge of semi-pelagianism by appealing to the ambiguity and general vagueness of almost all of the words. "He didn't mean it, yer honour. In fact, he didn't mean anything." On these grounds, of course, most of our TV advertising and jingles could be sung in church with only the slightest of tweaking.

eg. ‘Oh what a feeling! Lord Jesus!’ might well be sung to the tune of the Toyota ad.

It's my slightly belated Reformation Day wish that we might extirpate this pseudepigraphal prayer of St Francis from all Protestant hymnody and, incidentally, from the walls of some of the houses of our elderly aunts, where it sits in all its cheesy needlepointed or tea-towelled glory under a picture of those praying monkish hands.

Hope and assurance

And here is a story of genuine pathos from Tim Challies.

Pathos

There's a little boy standing at the counter of the corner shop,

He's been waiting down there waiting half the day,

they never ever see him from the top,

He gets pushed around, knocked to the ground,

He gets to his feet and he says...



What about me? It isn't fair

I've had enough now i want my share

Can't you see I wanna Live,

But you just take more than you give.

My heart is breaking as I type and there is a tear in my eye. This song is pure pathos. Sorry about the pronting errs.

Hmm, OK, back to work.

Oh, Shannon Noll I believe.

Security in cars

Why do security guards drive around in the sort of cars normally associated with females in the 18-25 year old age group (I'm talking Ford Festivas and the like)?

They don't look all that secure.

Went to a conference with 1500 of my closest friends

It was up at Katoomba, and I better get these thoughts down before they fade away into one of the 52 weekends of the year.

Katoomba is great isn't it? Every time I go there, at least at the moment, it looks less like a parole office and more like a place where someone funky (I'm thinking me, and I know you are as well) would hang out.

Anyway, let me just talk about the bad things, because there were so many good things that they are hard to keep track of. Amongst the really great things were the talks, and we had 6 of them and it still felt like a relaxed weekend, so I have no idea how you managed that Andrew Nixon and team, but thank you! We loved it, meaning the 30 or so of us who were staying at the Youth Hostel in Katoomba, with snorers in one room and I don't know why I was put there, and non-snorers in the other.

And Therese, thanks for just keeping on fiddling around with food, transport, sitting us in the right place, keeping chocolate—good chocolate—and chips getting passed around, making sure the stuff that people needed to think about didn't need to be thought about.

Justin, the way you helped us look at Jeremiah 2 helped me think about sin in all sorts of ways that I just wouldn't normally, and made me realize that I'm part of the problem too, which I know, but don't like being reminded about.

Isn't this a searing verse (as you pointed out)

Have you not brought this upon yourself
by forsaking the LORD your God,
when he led you in the way?

-Jeremiah 2:17

Thanks J. Though I did not appreciate it at the time.

Daylight saving etc

A big weekend up at Katoomba, with the church. Daylight saving began, so we lost an hour of sleep on Saturday night. Preaching last night.

As Kevin Rudd might say "Am I feeling the hurt this morning? Yes I am. Will the people of Australia get to hear about it sooner rather than later? Yes they will."

Katoomba anyone?

This weekend I'm going up to the ENGAGE conference at Katoomba.

Due to the glories and joys of facebook, I've cyber-hitched a lift.

Probably from the good buddies I would've phoned in the first instance if facebook hadn't existed, but that's not the point hey.

Friendship and fellowship

Broughton Knox writes about the happiest human experience of all:

Fellowship springs out of friendship, or it may create friendship. It cements friendship. Fellowship is also a word hard to define. It is friends engaged in a common activity. It is friendship expressed in joint endeavour, friends doing things together. It makes friendship even more enjoyable. It is the happiest human experience. Friendship implies sharing a common possession leading to a common activity on the basis of that sharing.

In Christian fellowship the common possession which Christians share is the Holy Spirit, God himself. As a consequence, the activities they engage in is the work that God is engaged in. They share him, and they share in his work. It is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in which they partake.

-"The Biblical Concept of Fellowship", pp. 57-58 in D. Broughton Knox, Selected Works Volume II: Church and Ministry

Death in Cuba

Andrew M points out in my blog comments that despite how generally triffic permaculture is, not all the statistics coming out of Cuba ought to be believed.

De-faced!

I've been making Facebook friends like nobody's business, sitting here clicking away on people's profiles, people who I vaguely remember having passed some time in the street in Adelaide in 1985 (just an example Frank, I don't mean you buddy).

Suddenly a message pops into my inbox, saying something like, "Yes I remember you, and you obviously remember me, but I'm not your friend. Never was, never will be. Goodbye."

Now all this is fair enough, no hard feelings, free world etc. But gentle blog reader, I'm sitting here bleeding arterial blood, straight from a wound to my heart, and into the keyboard of my laptop. Help me out here. It will probably take at least 10 of you adding yourself on as my friends before I recover from the hurt of this one.

And don't worry, if you request me as a friend, then like America's Statue of Liberty I will never turn y'all away. Well, perhaps you David. Oh, and you, Andrew. But the rest of you poor huddled masses, pile on in.