Best reads of 2019

I am not sure I have done a Best Book list these last couple of years despite having read a few books. A two and four year old have restricted my Christmas blogging and, if I'm honest, the last couple of years are a bit of a haze. So this is by no means an exhaustive pile of the things I've read, but it's a taste of what's been shaping me.

'In the Days of Rain: a father, a daughter and a cult' is a wonderful and disturbing book about growing up in an English brethren household in the 50's.

'Before the days draw in: my ordinary journey towards an extraordinary God' is a beautifully written adventure telling of life as a clergy family written by one of our saints here in Barnes. If you are a Pastor, or definitely if you are married to one, you should read this book. Barry and Mary Kissell's faithful life story should be read, absorbed and spread far and wide.

'David Cameron: On the Record' explains the story behind the pickle he got us all into.

'Sacred Fire: A Vision for a Deeper Human and Christian Maturity' is a book about the stages and seasons of life and meaning.

'Translating God: Hearing God's Voice for Yourself and the World around you' is a book by a prophet and contains lots of holy ghost stories, some of which left me slightly scratching my head. Why? I think the specificity of the way he hears God's voice was a challenge to my own experience of the prophetic.

'The Art of Neighbouring' is contextually American but has some good insights to offer

'The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to stay emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world' is a reworking of Ortberg's classic but contains lots of good stuff on the spiritual disciplines

'The Imperfect Disciple: Grace for people who can't get their act together' is a book that every imperfect follower (of which I am certainly one) should read.

'Even in our darkness: A story of beauty in a broken life' which I read in 2018 but its message still haunts and disturbs me, I hope in a good way.

'Holy Fire: A balanced Biblical look at the Holy Spirit's work in our lives' is possibly the best accessible one stop shop book on the Holy Spirit to come out in recent years. Kendall is a 'Calvinist Charismatic' which aren't two words that often go together. R T is one of the people I couldn't have run the race without.

'Love church: Join the adventure of Hope' is a book by my pal Tim about planting the HTB way. It's a good story.

'God has a name' is another book by John Mark Comer that is worth some time.

'The Burden is Light: Liberating your life from the Tyranny of  Performance and Success' is the book that gave me the most stories and little 'aha' moments this year.

'The gospel comes with a house key: Practicing radically ordinary hospitality in our post-Christian world' by the excellently named Rosaria Champagne Butterfield and is a book about hospitality as one of the marks of the gospel. She is a deep gospel-soaked woman who writes movingly.

'The Gospel Driven Church:  Uniting church growth dreams with the metrics of grace' was read by most of my Wednesday morning pastors prayer group and we all were blessed by it.

'The Fight: A practical handbook of Christian Living' is a classic discipleship book and one that any new or growing disciple would do well to get under their belt.

'Uncover Mark' we read in our home with a crowd. Food, sharing, the word, prayer, tears and laughter. Use it for wonderful stroll along the path of discipleship for a short season with a gang of saints. Good to read with a crowd or one to one.

'Judges for you' is a belter. I preached through Judges this year and it was extraordinary. A note if you are thinking about doing the same maybe don't plan 'The Levite and the Concubine' to land on Mother's day. Actually do- someone became a follower! However, you've been warned.

'The War of Loves' is the best and most compelling addition to the canon of books about sexuality and the gospel. A very real, honest, theologically rich and challenging read for all of us who will be grappling with these questions in the years to come.

Monday musing

1. I hope you are deciding how to vote and are speaking constructively to others. Our church hall turns into a polling station which seems to have happened rather a lot recently. My sermon yesterday was my last in a series we've been in all year on 1 Cor.  I shared that I have been praying Mich 6:8 during this season and you have to decide who you feel (however inadequately) can best deliver justice in this land.  Politicians show a widespread inability to be honest with facts and crazy with finances. McDonnell questioned by Marr about the WASPI women and how he proposed to pay for this, given it's not in his 'fully-costed grey book', replied '....with headroom'. Marr responded while frowning saying 'It's the equivalent to 3/4 of the current education budget'. Oh said McDonnell when told it would cost 59bn and we only have 6bn in reserves. 'We'll borrow it then.'  Similarly, Johnson asked about HS2 costs this morning said they were north of 100bn when currently they are forecast at 82bn.  If any of us ran our personal finances like this we'd be in penury.

2. The BBC has an interesting post about unity.

3. Lots of vicar pals had their Carol Services yesterday. I think it's a bit early but there you go.....

4. This song might be one we sing a bit over Christmas

5. Interesting C of E thought for this election

6. I will be preaching on 1 John 1:1-4 at our Carol Service.

7. Someone who our church is putting through St Mellitus wanted something to help her with Church History. I gave her the six DVD set called 'The History of Christianity'.  You'll do well to find a better overview than this so put it on your Christmas list.

Books of the Year Lists

It's time for Books of the Year lists and you know I love browsing a list of books.

TGC

Trevin Wax

Russell Moore

Jared Wilson

Gospel Relevance

Erik Raymond

Christianity Today

Jesus Creed

Kevin de Young

Darryl Dash

Justin Buzzard

Brain Pickings

10 Books for Church Planting

Andrew Wilson

Brandon Cox

Worship

Saturday blog-sweep

Opinionated Vicar Election Awards

Frazzled and busy

7 ways to be more thankful

Wendell Berry

Depression fought hard to have him

Ten thoughts for a Tuesday

1.  Recently, I shared the not very profound insight about the C of E that if you keep doing what you are doing you will keep getting what you're getting. Mark Sayers book 'Reappearing church' shares this sentiment and captures lots of the material from his podcast This Cultural Moment. It's an important book. We are planning to use it as a read for our early morning pastors prayer group. Buy this book, read the first chapter, follow the suggestion that you select some people to gather with who want renewal and then commit to actually gathering. I have discovered over thirty years that the kingdom comes to those who turn up. Church- we need to raise our game, get accountable, start to pray earnestly and trust in God to move his hand. BBC news website today tells me child poverty is on track to reach 34% by 2023. Blue, Red or Yellow are not going to sort this fractured land- the gospel is. Awake o sleeper.....

KEY RENEWAL PRINCIPLE

We will not experience renewal by following the same patterns of life and ministry that are not delivering renewal

(Reappearing church: The Hope of Renewal in the Rise of Our Post Christian Culture, Page 11)

2. David Keen hits a political observational nail on the head with this post about 'Families'  and a post on marriage discrimination.

3.  Someone in our church family told me that this book might very well be changing their life. They have only read half of it so we laughed together and we agreed we'd reserve judgement until she's actually finished it.

4. If you know a better story to illustrate the reality that we belong to God then do let me know. I read it to church on Sunday and made myself and everyone else cry.  It's on pages 81-84 of 'Proof'. Read out in the context of the gospel and I would beg to suggest it's hard for someone not to get  saved - it might even be you  :)

5. A kid at school has been giving our son an occasional hard time. We've all been praying for them. Today, by the providence of God, the mum of the child asked me to drop the them at their class as she was rushing to work. As we waited outside the classroom, Christmas came on the agenda which is apparently about elves and Santa.  I said simply 'Christmas is all about Jesus and it's amazing that God is alive, he's come to us and his name is Jesus'. She pondered this thought and said, beaming, 'Christmas is Jesus' birthday'. In that brief moment, I felt I'd got one over on the elves...

6. My daily devotional is 'Seeking God's Face'. It has a prologue written by Eugene Peterson that I happened to read for the first time. It moved me and if you read it might move you too.


7.

Yesterday, someone arrived at the Vicarage door who has been around the edges of our church since I planted it. They said 'I am sorry I don't come very often but your a good Vicar and the Vicarette is fantastic. I'm not sure how you describe her [Vicarette will do].....Anyway, I took this photo and have been meaning to frame it and give it to you for ages. Your church is doing a good thing'. That was quite encouraging.

8.  Someone else arrive on the doorstep who was homeless. We invited her in, made her a cup of tea, heard the story, shared the gospel, prayed for her, booked the hostel, gave her the Vicarette's favourite coat, and then, as she was leaving, I sensed the half read book by my bedside was for her not me. At very least, the subtitle resonated with her.

9. I am planning to read a very thin book called 'Creative Minority' today.

10.  I heard Bishop Nazir Ali speak on Saturday who had many reflections on the state of the C of E. His big idea was hospitality and I felt prompted to buy a book that's been on my radar for ages. Why not invite someone into your home for a meal and see what happens.....

Luke 24.....'did not the word of God burn within us while we were with Him'

Wednesday musing

1.  I have been listening to the sermon series 'A missional life' by Jon Tyson. The teaching of Suzy Silk is also worth checking out and I was blessed by her message on Micah 6:8. I have also been listening to one of the worship songs they have in their canon.

2.  I said I'd let you know on news of the thing that I've been working on that might have happened. It hasn't, which is a shame and feels like nine months of prayer, ideas, potential and effort down the swanny. However, I've been doing this long enough to know nothing is wasted in the kingdom. Did I mention this post and that I wrote 'Why plant churches?' 8 years ago? In it, I quoted Ruth Gledhill who wrote this in the Times:

'Some senior clergy believe the entire parish system could be at risk. They have warned that, with as many as four out of ten clergy due to retire within the next decade, the next ten years are crucial in determining whether the Church of England survives as a visible entity or turns into "little more than a sect" run by unpaid volunteers.' 

The Times, 2011

As I look from time to time at Thinking Anglican's (where I discover who's been appointed to the see of this or that) I can't help being reminded that if you keep doing what you're are doing you will keep getting what you getting. Keeping on with a 'more of the same' process is fine if you are looking to curate a museum, but not if you are seeking to usher in the things of the kingdom of God. Or in Cranmer speak 'to declare the gospel afresh to this generation' which is as I understood it is the call upon the church of this land. I heard someone in the upper echelons of oversight of the good old C of E say recently that '....we're about to go over the edge of the cliff'. On Ruth Gledhill's 'a decade to go' timetable we have a year or so left to run so maybe, just maybe, it's time we cracked on.

3.  I have started writing more in my journal. I used to journal all the time but someone this discipline got lost in everything else. I've pulled Ron Klug's 'How to keep a spiritual journal' off the shelf again to inspire me.

4. John Mark Comer's book on hurry is all the rage at the moment and it's a reworking of Ortberg's 'The life you always wanted'. I'm enjoying it and it's helpful on the spiritual disciplines. The older I get I see the bright young things of the day simply discover the basics of the faith and repackage them for their generation. It was ever thus.

5.  'The Marriage Story' looks like an interesting but painful watch.

6. Charlie Mackesy is number one in the Times bestsellers with this book. A gift idea for Christmas?

And here he is speaking about Christmas....

7. A couple of blog posts from J John as we approach the election.

a. What wrong with the country?
b. .....And what can we do about it?

Saturday blog-sweep

Ian Paul on Do we need to take Jesus to our urban areas? and a response from Bishop Philip North

The ordinary means of grace

3 ways to teach scripture to children

One of the best illustrations I've heard in years

5 questions about motivation with Daniel Pink

Why libraries had a public spirit than most museums lack

Hidden Christmas

‘Because of the commercial indispensability of Christmas, it will remain with us as a secular festival. My fear is, however, that its true roots will become more and more hidden to most of the population. The emphasis on light in darkness comes from the Christian belief that the worlds hope comes from outside of it  The giving of gifts is a natural response to Jesus stupendous act of self-giving, when he laid aside his glory and was born  into the human race. The concern for the needy recalls the Son of God was born not into an aristocratic family but into a poor one. The Lord of the universe identified with the least and the most excluded of the human race.

These are powerful themes, but every one of them is a two-edged sword. Jesus comes as the Light because we are too spiritually blind to find our own way. Jesus become mortal and died because we are too morally ruined to be pardoned any other way. Jesus gave himself to us, and do we must give ourselves wholly to him. We are, therefore, “not [our] own (1 Cor 6:19). Christmas, like god himself, is both more wondrous and more threatening than we imagine.

Every year our increasingly secular Western society becomes more unaware of its own historical roots, many of which are the fundamentals of the Christian faith.  Yet once a year at Christmas basic truths become a bit more accessible to an enormous audience. At countless gatherings, concerts, parties and other events, even when most participants are non-religious, the essentials of the faith can sometimes become visible  As an example, let’s ask some questions of the famous Christmas carol “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” heard in shopping centres, stores, and on street corners. Who is Jesus? He is the ‘everlasting Lord’ who from ‘highest heaven’ comes down to be the ‘offspring of a virgins womb’ What did he come  do? His mission is to sin ‘’God and sinners reconciled’ How did he accomplish it? He lays his glory by that we ‘no more may die’. How ca this life be ours? Through an inward, spiritual regeneration so radical that, as we have seen, it can be called ‘the second birth.

 With brilliant economy of style, the carol gives us a summary of the entire Christian teaching.

While few of the most familiar Christmas songs and Bible readings and that comprehensive, it remains that one season a year hundreds of millions of people, if they would take the trouble to ask these kinds of questions, would have this same knowledge available to them. To understand Christmas is to understand basic Christianity, the Gospel.’

Tim Keller, Hidden Christmas, p.2-4

Saturday blog-sweep

Gospel via Kanye

A perspective on the Rees-Mogg election moment

Francis Chan going to Myanmar

Big gospel in small places

Why evangelicals need theological retrieval

On reading well

Church-going matters

Murray on the death of Europe

This is a thought-provoking interview and captures many of the issues that a bubbling under the surface on all sides of the arguments about Brexit and other matters during election season.

Towards the conversion of England

1. My pal Matt, a Vicar of a wonderful church in Fulham, organised an evening with Sandy Millar with a twofold purpose. Firstly, he wanted to encourage the use of social media. Secondly he wanted us to be encouraged by some teaching from Sandy on Ezekiel 37.  It was a terrific night. If Sandy's talk comes online I will post it here. Sandy recommended we all read 'Streets paved with gold: The Story of London City Mission' .

2. Another pal Wayne recommend a book that, as it happens, was just reviewed by Daryl Dash. If you find yourself in a hurry a lot then this might be one for you.

3. One of the people who spoke last night was Chris who I have known for a few years. It was my Canadian/English friend Peter's daughter who made me aware of his online persona. He is part of something called 'The Korean Englishman' and remarkably it's had over 300m hits.  He also runs something called 'Young Franciscans'

4. I am really enjoying Manna by Steve Farrar. He's a man whose writing has kept me running the race down the years. It's one to read if you feel you are in a tough spot.

5. Politics is too important to leave to politicians. 

6. I've been pondering the expression used by Emma Watson 'self-partnered'. As someone who was single until 45, I can't say that I ever sought an alternative descriptor.

7. If you want a good devotional on marriage and relationships then Keller has a new one called 'A seal upon my heart'.

8. Sandy used a Wimber quote (about church planting) that has stuck with me:

'It's easier to have babies than conduct resurrections'

9. This is great  and thanks to Tim Challies for posting.

10. John Mark Comer apparently reads the book Sacred Fire once a year. I've just started it.

A week is a long time...

This was how James Forsyth started his article in the Spectator this week:

'This general election isn't the most important in a generation, it is the most significant in the lifetime of anyone since 1945. It will decide whether Brexit happens, whether Britain has the most left wing prime minister in its history, whether the Scottish Nationalists are able to secure a second referendum and whether the two-party system can survive'

I have also been reading Dominic Cummings blog and this quote stuck with me and chimed a similar chord:

‘Politics is a job that can really only be compared with navigation in uncharted waters. One has no idea how the weather or the currents will be or what storms one is in for. In politics, there is the added fact that one is largely dependent on the decisions of others, decisions on which one was counting and which then do not materialise; one’s actions are never completely one’s own. And if the friends on whose support one is relying change their minds, which is something that one cannot vouch for, the whole plan miscarries… One’s enemies one can count on – but one’s friends!’ Otto von Bismarck.

Saturday blog-sweep

Is it time to scrap the 'curacy'?

A perspective on Romans 7

On the freedom of a Christian rapper

An Advent general election

Dominic Cummings

Sunday blogsweep

Kanye West the Evangelist

Reflection of a lifetime in ministry

Some short reviews of a bunch of new titles

Brexit in limbo

Tozer quote

Thursday thoughts

1. This is a depressing piece entitled 'What state is the C of E in?'  Why is it that when free fall sets in the solution is often to appoint more people in senior management? Did I mention that I wrote a piece called 'Why plant churches?'. If I was seeking to turn a few of those graphs upwards I might look to appointing people to lead churches who were either a. Apostles b. Evangelists. Just a thought. (Acts 15:18-25)

2. I passed on to Senior management a question that a few on my PCC have asked me recently. What do we need to do to be considered worthy of any support or resourcing from head office? After seven years, after some growth and grace, a more than doubling of our parish share and sending out resources for mission outside our context we have much that's been so encouraging. We aren't a 'resource church' that received money from the Commissioners, we are simply a local church planted out of another local church to keep a closing one open, doing some mission and evangelism. seeking to love and support the poor, making a few disciples and having some fun. If I was looking at graphs like those above, I'd take more of an interest in what God's been up to here but honestly what do I know.....

3. I've been working on a small project for nearly a year that I hear news on today. It will either make me hopeful about the prospects for the C of E graphs or more depressed. I'll let you know.

4. I have returned to using 'Seeking God's Face' as my daily devotional.

5. I've been pondering why one might 'pray to Cardinal Newman'.

6. Christian Smith's phrase 'adultesence' is one I'm chewing on which I heard referred to in a sermon.

7. I've been getting Ryan Holidays reading email for ages and I've recently signed up for 'The Daily Dad'. It's jolly good.

A thought on infant baptism

Thomas Cranmer had a good day at the office when he said baptism is 'an outward sign of an inward grace'. Indeed it is.

I was birthed into my infant baptism and others, I know, were birthed and then baptised. It's the inward grace that truly matters whichever way around you land on the order. Giles Fraser has some interesting things for you to ponder on infant baptism, particularly as I know many of my readers are 'believer baptism' folk. I really enjoyed Giles on this one:

'On Friday, I baptised my six month old baby boy in the River Jordan. What greater joy than for a priest to christen his own child in the place where Jesus himself was baptised? 

Amongst many warm and witty responses on Twittter, there were also quite a few from those who obviously find infant baptism terribly offensive. For atheists of the Richard Dawkins variety, infant baptism is a form of child abuse, a way of imposing beliefs upon a defenceless child far too young to make up their own mind. Interestingly, there is also a Christian version that is the flip side of this very same objection: that it is only proper believers, those who have made the decision for themselves, who should be baptised.

Both objections share the same basic premise: that the essence of religious commitment is religious belief. The idea here is that faith is all about the intellectual assent to a series of basic propositions about the nature of reality. On this model, to be baptised is to be accepted within the community of the Church on the basis of one’s assent to these propositions. And if you can’t properly assent, you can’t properly join.

Theologically speaking, the problem with this model is that it pictures the choosing individual as being at the centre of the baptismal drama, that baptism happens at the initiative of the chooser. But in theological terms, the initiative isn’t ours. The initiative is God’s love, into which we all are invited to be immersed. Being loved and included within a human family is not something we wait for the child’s assent to — now that really would be child abuse. Likewise, with God’s family.

But there is also a decidedly modern, and highly problematic, notion of choosing that is behind both objections — that choice is the first move in our proper formation as human beings. We might call this the liberal objection, given how liberalism makes choice the founding move in human identity.

But this is philosophically bonkers when we come to think about it. We do not choose how to be brought up; rather, how we are brought up is how we learn to choose. We do not choose the language we have been taught — it would take a certain sort of crazy to decide not to teach a child a language until they are old enough to decide for themselves which language they preferred. If, heaven forbid, someone did that to a child, on what basis would a dumb wordless teenager possibly be able make such a decision? Choices make sense only against the background of a pre-existing horizon of significance. In other words, there are some things that necessarily precede choice and, on the basis of which, choosing is made possible.

My problem is much more with adult baptism. Because with adult baptism it is too easy to succumb to the fantasy that Christianity is all about me; my choice, my decision, my orthodoxy. But the whole point about faith is that the initiative isn’t ours to take. Faith is more basic, more fundamental, than a simple one-off act of choice. Which is why what you choose to believe, your doctrinal orthodoxy, isn’t anywhere near as important to faith as is so often assumed. God’s love is not triaged out on the basis of our score in some theology test.

Much better to think of faith as the appreciation that the world doesn’t revolve around me or you. And thank God for that.'

10 Tips on Prayer

I've seen afresh that a prayer-less life is a less fruitful one. This post gave my prayer life a gentle shot in the arm today and it might do the same for yours.

Church Wedding

'We love each other because he first loved us'

1 John 4:19

Yesterday, we had our first 'church wedding'. Now, of course, we have had weddings, but we've never done one on a Sunday morning as part of our service. Mrs C said that she thought it was the best day we've ever had at H T Barnes. We had fantastic worship, the gospel was preached, a lunch of Coronation Chicken and their was a sense of joy and family in the air.

A number of our folk said to me: 'Why on earth haven't we done this before?'

I don't know. To be fair, I had to ring up the Diocesan Registrar to check we were 'allowed' to do wedding on a Sunday and the answer came back yes.  We cooked food, someone drove a car, the bride got dressed in the Vicarage, someone from church did her hair, photos were taken on phones and someone did the flowers. Also , much to our sons joy and a great leap of faith on the part of the couple, they were asked to carry the rings up the aisle. Amazingly, the rings and the boys made it!

It struck many of us that this is a fantastic way to do mission and bring blessing. So many couples are not married because either they are 'saving up' or don't think church is for them. And the un-churched are no longer (at least to us) bringing their children for baptism.

As it happens,  Mrs C and I watched the most compelling and awful documentary called 'The Million Dollar Wedding Planner'. You'll be mesmerized and disturbed by it in equal measure.The truth is a kingdom wedding is way better than a million dollar one and it costs rather less! Let's do some more of these church.....

Take care of yourself

I found the words of the Bishop of Peterborough in this post on clergy work and rest interesting:

In a number of dioceses, bishops have started instructing clergy to take two consecutive days off once a month, as well as a full day off in the other weeks. This is in addition to the normal annual leave allowance. I have been asked if I intend to do the same. My answer may seem a strange one, and I’m very happy to discuss or explain it, but it represents a firmly held position.

I have no intention of telling clergy how many days off to take, or how to configure their days off or their annual leave. To do so would make me a manager, and would make the clergy employees. (I am referring to parish clergy; chaplains and some diocesan staff are employees and come under different arrangements.) During my 26 years in parish ministry, and now 17 as archdeacon or bishop, I have rejoiced in the freedom we have to organise our own lives: to have lunch at home sometimes, to share in children’s bedtime or the school run or see children in a school play during the daytime, to go out for a walk or to the cinema or read a novel on a “working” day when I feel the need to do that. I have never counted my working hours in a week, or even my days of leave per year, and I have never felt the need to do so. I know that I work hard at my ministerial calling. I am a priest and bishop 24/7, and I am also a husband, father, brother, friend – and a person with my own needs – in the same way. (I tried to be a 24/7 son too, when my parents were still alive). I rejoice in holding these duties, joys, responsibilities and privileges together. I delight in our strange and somewhat unusual status, as neither employed nor self-employed, but “office holders”. I am perplexed and a little saddened when parish clergy want to be employed and line managed, or see their calling as in some way analogous to a job. To the parish clergy I would say, Give yourself wholly and joyfully to the various callings, responsibilities and privileges the Lord has laid on you; Look after yourself as well as others, taking the time you need for refreshment, recreation, and rest; Work hard, pray hard, love well, care for those in your charge including yourself.

Years ago, I met a Bishop whilst exploring a Curacy opportunity and he told me half his clergy 'had issues with stress, addiction, depression' etc. I am not sure if it's any different today?

A Vicar pal who was signed off a while ago recommended a book called 'Take care of yourself'. Indeed we must.