First, we have a winner from our Proclamation Bible draw. Jonathan Gardner is part of the pastoral team at Mission Care in Bromley, a Christian Charity running nursing homes – congratulations to him.

But if you missed out, read on because we have another to give away.

We’ll make this second draw at the end of January, from all those who have booked for this June’s EMA by then (if you’ve already booked, you’re already in the draw!).

I’ve blogged about EMA before (here); suffice to say we’re excited to be welcoming Tim Keller, Michael Raiter, Andrew Reid and others. You can  find the details of EMA here, and the booking form is here. As well as the chance to win a bible, another advantage of booking early is you can choose from all the seminar streams – there’s still space in all of them at the moment, but we expect some to start filling up soon.

It never ceases to amaze me how we argue over labels. I realise, of course, that in our muddy evangelical world, labels are useful, if not essential. I use them myself. We need to know where others are coming from, especially when it comes to working closely together. This is not about evaluating who’s a believer and who’s not, but there are practical issues of co-operation that we need to take into account and that make a real difference in local church and how it operates. That means labels are a good starting point.

But surely that’s all they should be – a starting point? Labels are slippery things and so they can never tell you everything you need to know about someone. Take “Reformed” for example. When I started in ministry, not so long ago, no one wanted this label! At least, not in the UK. It implied a culture as well as a set of beliefs. It went along with a certain style of church and dress. Remarkably, that has changed significantly even in 15+ years.

Now, everyone wants to be Reformed! And anyone who doesn’t see that as a primary label (a noun) wants it, at least, as an adjective. So, what happens? We start arguing about who owns the label! And the custodians of the label argue that others who don’t share their particular belief in one area or another cannot share the label: they are, after all, the custodians!

Enough already. Labels are really, really useful as a starting point. But we only ever know and trust one another (and provide a basis for working together) through relationships. That’s one of the reasons the internet can be so helpful, yet so dangerous at the same time. Helpful in that is facilitates relationship maintenance. Dangerous in that it requires serious effort for those relationships to ever get beyond the superficial.

Labels without relationships are never going to do anything but divide and stir controversy. So let’s rejoice in labels as far as we can, see their usefulness. But let’s hold to them loosely, always seeking relationships as the real means of knowing one another.

I’m Relational, I suppose. Or I would be, if that wasn’t another label.

Over 20 and more years, we’ve served local churches by training something like 1,000 men and women in expository ministry. We don’t pretend that this is the only part of church life, but it is a key element (if not the key element) and therefore time spent on this is time well spent. There are a raft of other excellent training opportunities out there, but nothing gives time, energy and intensity to expository ministry quite like the Cornhill Training Course.

We’re beginning to interview men and women for 2015/16.

Perhaps this is something you’d like to think about? We don’t take fully formed preachers, nor even just those who are convinced that full time ministry is for them. In fact, very often, we’re happy to see students return to the holy glory of serving God in all kinds of non-ministry related jobs. But time at Cornhill is never wasted, because these guys are often church leaders and occasional preachers who will serve the local church well. We ought to say that age is no barrier either. Most years we have some newly or early retireds. Come and visit for a day and think about making this part of your 2015.

Perhaps you’d like to think about this as a church? Maybe there’s someone in the church you want to encourage in this way? Maybe you’d like to think about having a placement, but there’s no one local at the moment? There may be a student somewhere else who would be interested in your church: and don’t worry if you feel small. The experience in a small church (which was my own) is very different from a large church – and that can be great! There are more preaching opportunities for a start.

Either way, we look forward to continuing to serve you. We count partnership with churches as of huge importance. And if you want us to serve in this way, we’re happy to help.

Be in touch. Soon.

I’m preaching on Judges 17-18 in a few weeks’ time – the story of Micah and his idols. Not a passage I would have chosen myself! It’s been a challenge to prepare and think about how to preach it. One of the key difficulties is that narrative is too easily robbed of its life and vitality by expository preaching. I say this should not be so – but we need to be honest and say it often is. Bible narratives are carefully crafted stories. They often contain twists and turns which bring the stories to life. There are details which add colour, even if they don’t have primary significance (ten cheeses, anybody? 1 Sam. 17.18).How can we preach to avoid draining the story of life?

I’m convinced that we must do so. For the power is in the text, so to speak. A sermon which has no connection with the text may sound impressive and even be very loud, but it cannot, ultimately have any power, for the preacher is the preacher of the word.

I’m also convinced that such narratives still call for expository preaching. I don’t care how many times I have to make this point, but expository preaching is a mindset not a method. Expository preaching is not reducing every passage down to three didactic points and I will challenge anyone who says so. Expository preaching is letting God say what God says: it is letting the text dictate the message and the tone. This last part is important. When we do sermon practice classes here at PT Towers, we have a series of questions: one of the most important is “Was the sermon true to the genre of the passage” – i.e. did it reflect the tone, pace, colour and life?

A narrative sermon which robs the narrative of these things is a poor sermon. God may use it, of course, but we should not excuse our preaching poverty. In the case of a passage like Judges 17-18. I think that means as much attention should be given to the reading of the passage as is given to the preaching. By which I mean, let people hear the story. Let people be drawn in and captivated.

Here’s just one example. The Levite in the story of Judges 17-18 turns out to be Levite royalty. He’s Jonathan, Moses’ grandson (Judges 18:30). This amazing detail is not revealed until the end – though it explains why the Danites recognise his voice (Judges 18:3). This twist in the tale serves an important purpose: it accentuates the depths to which Israel had sunk. Even the royal family is drawn in! It must not be revealed too early, or else the shock is lost.

Perhaps you’ve got a narrative to preach this weekend. Let the story sing.

I’m watching my mother-in-law die. This time next week, in all probability, her earthly time will be over. Her kidneys have completely shut down, and it’s only a matter of days that the body can sustain itself in those circumstances. We have begun grieving already. Grief is a strange thing for Christians, bringing – as it does – a real mixture of emotions. As we reflect, we’re not quite sure what holy grief looks and feels like.

We know, for instance, that Christian death is bitter-sweet. We know that it is right to feel the aberration that death is and the weight of sin in the world that makes it so. We know that it is right to feel the loss of someone God has given us for a time. We also know the glorious hope of eternity that Christ has won for us.
I can’t help thinking that in amongst all these emotions, we are also tempted to feel sinful emotions. Self-pity is one of the ugliest sins and it takes opportunities such as this to lay claim on our hearts. It can lead to self-centredness. We’re so busy feeling sorry for ourselves, that we forget to seek the good of others who may also be grieving. And so it goes.

I’m convinced that the pastoral answer to grief is to know certain truths before the moment comes. I think we’re pretty bad at ministering in this way. As a result, pastoral help can often seem trite or full of platitudes. It’s almost impossible, for example, to encourage a grieving husband with the temporary nature of marriage ended by death – though I’m convinced this is an important truth in the grieving process. If a grieving person’s only hope is “We’ll meet again” they will struggle to grieve and recover and our ministry will do little for them.

It reminds me of something I once heard Don Carson say at a ministers meeting: ultimately, he said, we’re about preparing people for death. I’m sure he’d want to nuance that if he had more time – but there’s solid truth there. Too much of our pastoral work is preparing people for this life only, and as such, we fail to adequately help people to grieve well.

One of the less helpful things I hear young guys (especially) saying, is that their family unit (often with young kids) is a mini church. I think this comes from a genuine desire to lead families well, but I think it’s somewhat sub-biblical. For sure, there are things about a family unit which are similar to a church: we are to teach our kids for example; there are also word connections, most notably in the way that the word ‘family’ is sometimes used to describe groups of believers, such as 1 Peter 2.17. But drawing the parallels too closely is dangerous. For one thing, the passages that suggest this might the case cannot stand the weight. [It is also, by the way, part of Catholic teaching, ecclesica domestica].

For example, it is true that the marriage relationship is a picture of Christ and the church and the husband and wife are to relate to one another as Christ and the church do (Eph. 5). But that relationship, though mirrored on Christ and the church, is not the same in every area. For one thing, if that picture were extended to the family unit, it would make the husband the Messiah and the wife (not the family) the church.

Why is thinking unhelpful? For one, it idolises marriage. Marriage is one of the relationships Christ gives the church (and that’s the right language from 1 Cor. 7). Singleness is the other. Claiming families as mini-churches can elevate the family too much and demonise singleness.

It also perpetuates headship myths. I need to explain what I mean by that: I am a firm complementarian, but we need to acknowledge that there are aberrations of this position: misogynism, over-developed cultural stereotypes, etc. Making the family (a key building block) into a church (another key, but different building block) can encourage these deviations.

But most importantly, we diminish the church. The church is the church. It is the gathering of God’s people from every tribe, tongue and nation. It is the gathering of families and singles, marrieds and widows. It is the gathering together under the word of God to serve God and one another. A family can never be that, nor should it try to be. A family is different: glorious, still, lovely, beautiful, delightful, precious.

In fact, God loves your family unit. But it is not church.

I am fully resigned to the happy fact that I will never be a great leader, because I have no plans to write a marriage book. It seems to be, increasingly, a prerequisite for leadership. And, plop, on the doormat here comes yet another – this time Francis and Lisa Chan’s You and me forever. It’s not long, running to 187 pages and is generously spaced, so it’s not going to take you long to read. It’s an easy read too, being very chatty (sometimes annoyingly so, just get to the point already!).

Here’s the thing about marriage books. I find that very few are the complete deal. Each has its strengths and each tends to tackle one particular aspect. Partly this is because each is trying to have a USP (a unique selling point in marketing terms) which differentiates it from the crowd. So, it seems to me, that they are becoming increasingly niche. What I really want is a marriage book compendium. Such a volume would:

• take the biblical philosophical grounding from Christopher Ash’s Married for God
• take the sermonic temporary picture from Eph 5 pastorally worked out in John Piper’s This momentary marriage
• take the practical tips and workbook from Brian Edwards’ No Longer Two
• take the chapter on friendship (but not much else) from Mark Driscoll’s Real Marriage
• take the reality check from Paul Tripp’s What did you expect?
• take the commitment theme from Tim Keller’s The Meaning of Marriage
• take the section on pulling weeds from Alistair Begg’s Lasting Love
• et al.

The Chans’ book is strong on how the secret to happy marriage is to focus first on our vertical relationship with God; especially as a means to avoiding idolatry of marriage itself. Well said. And there’s a pretty good chapter on parenting. But couples can’t be expected to read all these books! So here’s my suggestion instead.

What really counts in church life is not a load of books, but real, living relationships. Young couples need older couples to meet with, pray with, and from whom they can seek advice. Older couples need peers who can challenge and encourage. Books can help of course – and they are a tremendous resource. But nothing beats living books. And that is why church life, where couples invest in couples, is so important.

I’m not a great fan of Study Bibles for all kinds of reasons. Some are better than others – but even the good ones are limited by the theological position of those writing the notes which is not always what you want it to be. Better – I think – to have a Bible where a few notes give you a steer in each book and then leave you to do the studying yourself. Introducing The Proclamation Bible!

The Proclamation Bible is not a PT resource. It’s been produced by Hodder inspired by the work and approach that PT has championed over the years, but it’s not something we’ve done – even though many of the staff have been involved in it. Lee Gatiss has edited this great edition of the NIV. It comes in a wide margin format, allowing you to add in your own notes. There are a number of introductory essays on forming a sermon, how the Bible fits together, all that sort of thing. Then each Bible book has an introductory short essay pointing you in the right direction. And that’s it.

Not much you might say. But there’s value in the brevity. For here is a Bible edition that does what we like. It gets you started, running in the right direction, and then allows you to do the studying. What is better than that?

There’s a hardback version and a leather version. And, from sometime soon, an Allan Bible version. As you may know, Allan make the most beautifully crafted Bibles and we’re delighted that there’ll be a Proclamation Bible version soon. Best of all, every purchase contributes a little towards our work.

For now, we’ve got a leather Proclamation Bible to give away for free. Email us (info@proctrust.org.uk) with the subject “Proclamation Bible” and first out of the hat will win a nicely new leather edition worth £42.99.

The PT team are out on the road again this year running local day training with gospel partnerships. These are suitable for anybody involved in a ministry of the word in the local church and a great boost for local church training.

On Sat 31 January, we’re in Bath with the SW Gospel Partnership. Jonathan Griffiths will be leading a day on Hebrews, a much neglected but important NT book. Those who come can expect to be helped understanding the book for themselves, and also in how to teach it to others. It’s ideal for occasional preachers (and even regular ones!), youth workers, Sunday School teachers and women’s workers.

On Sat 9 May, Cornhill Scotland are running a similar day in Glasgow. Why not book the date now? More information here.

I’m not for a minute suggesting that you should tell your people how to vote (in fact, I’ve got a pretty strong idea that it’s illegal for a minister of religion to do so). However, in this election year, I do think it’s good for us as help our people think Christianly about politics and voting. Some will not be convinced about the need to vote and that it has anything to do with following Jesus. Others will reduce the election down to a few test issues. Others still will not have any idea how to apply the Bible to really quite important matters like education or foreign affairs.

I’m not saying that you need to plan a sermon series. I’m hoping that if you preach the Bible expositionally and faithfully, people should have some grasp of these things. But it might be no bad thing to do some extra teaching on these issues to cut through the volume and nonsense. We’re going to be doing that at ours one Sunday evening leading up to the General Election. Sometimes, it’s good to do this – to help people apply the Bible to specific situations that don’t always get tackled in Sunday sermons where the application is, necessarily, more general. It’s no less a ministry of the word. And, it goes without saying, it should be backed up by regular prayer.

And if you’re worried about being asked who you are going to vote for, you could always take a leaf out of our senior pastor’s book who always replies “Whig.” Good answer.