The Mighty Weakness of John Knox by Douglas Bond

I received this book from the reformation trust and I am not obliged to give a positive review.

I have read a couple of this series before and have enjoyed them, this is no different but I do have some small issues with it. firstly in the opening section he suggests that John Knox is forgotten about in Scotland and in the Scottish Kirk, I don't believe this is the case, both the evangelical wing of the church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland consider themselves to be serving in Knox's court. The New College library of the church of Scotland in the centre of Edinburgh has a large bronze statute of Knox in it's courtyard. Secondly,  in spite of the title, the mighty weakness of John Knox, Douglas Bond in the short history of Knox he verges on hagiography as Bond treats Knox as a superhero rather than a man called by an extraordinary God. That said this error is probably a reaction to the treatment Knox has unfairly received in recent history where he is portrayed as a tyrant. Bond also recognises ' Knox saw himself as a weak man made mighty by God's grace, a self-assessment that enabled Knox to everyone else in Scotland in a hopefully light.' p.98.

What I really like about this book is that it interacts with Knox's character and his influence. What we see is that Knox is a man who loves his LORD and therefore in spite of being physically weak and naturally timid he can stand up against a monarch, a nobility and a corrupt church because of the strength of his God. Yet the same Knox could write and speak with tenderness to those weak and vulnerable members of the Kirk. This is because he lived in the reality of God's mercy and was only to willing to stand before the high and Might and the weak and lowly and telling them of the love of his God.

Douglas Bond does much to demolish the characture that has developed around Knox and shows that John Knox was a man greatly used by God. I commend this small book to you the book is very readable and engaging.

Shalom
Stephen <><

He made the stars also

I am enjoying Matthew Henry on the Kindle some beautiful quotes here's the first one:

He made the stars also, which are here spoken of as they appear to vulgar eyes, without distinguishing between the planets and fixed stars, or accounting for their number, nature, place, magnitude, motions, or influences: for the scriptures were written, not to gratify our curiosity and make us astronomers, but to lead us to God, and make us saints.  (Kindle location 2416)

£2:77 well spent

I've heard the new atheists talk about Genesis 1:16 'He made the stars also' as showing that pre-scientific faith never understood the magnitude or brilliance of the stars which we now know are numberless. I've never seen it that way especially when Genesis compares the stars in the heavens with the sand on the seashore. Instead when I look up into the night sky and see before me as far as I can see stars blazing I think of the almost infinite universe and he points me to the greatness of God. I think it was L. B Johnson that when as president of the US his boots got to big for him he would go outside and look up at the stars until he got some perspective on his place in God's universe. The stars point to the greatness of Him who made them who is so much greater than the universe that to point away from His creation to Himself the stars in all their glory deserve the comment 'He made the stars also'.

God Bless

Stephen <><

The Greatest Love of all....

I was a big Whitney Houston fan in the 80's and her now classic hit was 'The Greatest Love of All', the song ends with the lyrics 'the greatest love of all is learning to love yourself'. That is not the greatest love of all, in fact loving ourselves is easy for us. The greatest love of all is this: while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 

It's the holiday season when amidst all the frenzy of shopping and Santa there is a manger scene where cattle, shepherds and Magi surround a helpless baby who is placed in a manger. (but not a Santa)
John's gospel tells us nothing of this, that is left to Matthew and Luke, for John, Christmas starts earlier not in Mid September like it does in the West these days, but in Eternity past. John tells us that this helpless looking baby is none other than the Word who created all things in the beginning. The Word who was with God and is Himself God. The Son who is very God of very God, whom the myriads of Angels adored, and the Father delighted in,  the darling of Heaven humbled Himself and became a helpless baby. As one song writer put it, 'The hands that created the world, made the hands that was now holding Him'. Or as John put it 'The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth'.

Christmas confronts us with the fact that while we do love ourselves we by our nature are unlovely and we stand in need of saving and in need of forgiveness. Yet we are utterly helpless to change and transform ourselves and utterly helpless to change our standing before a holy God. Christmas confronts us with a baby who was born to reconcile sinners to Himself to offer us forgiveness by coming to trust in the one who laid down His life for guilty sinners. Christmas points inevitably to Easter and the manger points inevitably to the cross!

As you celebrate Christmas may you come to delight in not only the greatest love of all but the greatest gift of all that is forgiveness from God.

Merry Christmas!

Stephen <><

How deep the Father's love for us

I am working my way through John Stott's classic book 'The Cross of Christ', Stott reminds us that The cross is not the Son working against the Father's will to redeem us as the cross is just as much the Father's initiative. 

Stuart Townend's song 'How deep the Father's love for us' also reminds us of this:

How deep the Father's love for us
how vast beyond all measure
that He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

John 3:16  tell's us that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. The cross therefore isn't the means to God loving us but is the result, the effect of that love.

Stott puts it like this, 'We must never make Christ the object of God's punishment or God the object of Christ's persuasion, for both God and Christ were subjects not objects, taking the initiative together to save sinners. Whatever happened on the cross in terms of 'Godforsakeness' was voluntarily accepted by both in the same holy which made atonement necessary. It was God in our nature forsaken of God. If the Father gave the Son, The Son gave Himself. If the Father "sent the Son, the Son 'came' Himself. The Father did not lay on the Son an ordeal he was reluctant to bear, nor did the Son extract from the Father a salvation he was reluctant to bestow.' Stott, The Cross of Christ p151

We find at the cross God's wrath poured out upon His beloved Son, the place where wrath and mercy met. Divine justice, mercy and love are fulfilled as God in love both punishes and receives punishment to bring many sons to glory. How great is God!

God Bless

Stephen <><

John Stott- A Portrait by his friends

I've recently finished reading  this book which was published for John Stott's 90th birthday by several friends from different walks of life. They are short accounts of what 'Uncle John' meant to them, some of them are better than others, but what comes out is that John Stott lived what he believed. Each chapter is short and reveals something that left an impression upon them about John Stott.  It seems John was consistent in praying for people, remembering details about them, encouraging them even years after a brief encounter and helping many people out in practical ways. John Stott was single minded about ministry, he was driven starting the day early and lived to know Christ and make Him known. This effected the way he dealt with people. He had time for people seeing them as being created in the image of God. He was humble about his own talents and calling, seeking to encourage those he encountered on his walk through life. According to several of his friends this was because he knew he was saved, knew what he was saved from and never, ever, ever got over it. Like John Newton he realised it was all of grace  and that this grace is amazing. The challenge that John Stott's life offers to us is to be so in love with Jesus and his saving grace at work in our life that it makes an impact on those around us  for eternity  to the glory of God.

God Bless

 Stephen <><

Old Testament Theology- A Thematic Approach by Robin Routledge

I was given this book by a good friend which was really nice as it is probably not something I would have been drawn to but I have enjoyed it immensely. It does what it says on the tin, it is a thematic approach to the Old Testament, no surprises there. The surprise was how readable it was which for a book that is about the theology of the Old Testament really is a surprise. It's probably aimed at first year Theology undergraduates but is very readable so it could benefit anyone. I haven't purposefully avoided any Old Testament scholarly works but I think this is the first O.T. text I've read since I was a 3rd year theology student. For this reason I found the large introduction useful as it covered all the major players in Old Testament studies and their perspectives as well as their different schools of thought.

The book covered major themes in the Old Testament occasionally demonstrating how they relate to a New Testament understanding. For me the most informative section was in the chapter 'God and the future' especially 'Messianic expectation'. Routledge is an evangelical who believes the whole Bible so he interacts with the New Testament. He argues that many of the terms that we rightly associate with Jesus found within the Old Testament are not necessarily considered Messianic. I'd never thought of that before and have automatically presumed that any passage that speaks of Jesus, such as the prophet, the Son of Man, the Servant are all Messianic. He also traces some of these themes into the inter-testament period and saw how they developed. In the same chapter I was a little disappointed with his treatment of the after life but I did a large essay in the 3rd year at HTC so I had explored it in more depth than it is treated in this book. I appreciate the way he interacts with more liberal scholarship but sometimes it is unclear if he believes in some of their ideas, especially predictive prophecy and the number of authors for the book of Isaiah.

This book is not an Old Testament introduction because it doesn't cover book by book or explore all the themes in the Old Testament, how could it when it's only 350 pages? It would be  good to read alongside a more traditional Old Testament introduction and worth a read as a stand alone volume!

God Bless

Stephen <><