We’ve learned that we belong to a passionate God; a God so passionate that he did everything, at great cost to himself, to welcome us home. Hosea has shown us how passionate God is for a people who are faithful to Him. We see God’s righteous anger at Israel’s sin that doesn’t fit with them being His people and also God’s future promise of grace that He will win a people for Himself. Seeing God’s passion for a passionless people who worship other things is jarring. God demonstrated his passion for his people when he asked Hosea the prophet to marry a prostitute who was ultimately unfaithful and yet Hosea still goes out to the market place to buy her back from slavery to her lovers. God’s passion for his people is immense and yet His wrath falls on those who throw this back in His face like the Israelite’s were.

Praise God that this wrath, this passion for holiness, has ultimately fallen on Jesus so that we might be the blameless people that God desires. The passion of God is so clear at the cross. In that gruesome setting  as Jesus hung there dying the most horrific death He demonstrated his love for the unlovely. Jesus was a man of passion to his very last breath. He had passion for the Father’s glory since he said ‘not my will but your’s be done’ and he had a passion for the lost as he died to pay the penalty they deserved that they might share in his glorious inheritance. We worship a God of passion. This has illuminated for me a line from a song we regularly sing in TCH, written by one of our own…

Our King is a king of passion
‘It is finished!’ he cried out and gave up his life
So we could be his family:
Our King is a king of passion. 

So often we sing the words of song but never really get what they mean on deep level that impacts our emotions. God has used the book of Hosea to bring that line from that song home to me in a big way. Jesus shows us that we worship a God of phenomenal passion.

However that said, throughout this series in Hosea I’ve been struck time and again how little passion I have for God. I don’t really want to live for Him in so many areas of my life and seem to have completely conflicting priorities for my time, money, energy ect. Furthermore, I don’t get excited about God much. I am often cold towards God and I don’t delight in Him for who He is and what He’s done. I simply go through the dutiful motions as I continue to worship other things (my ‘Baals’ to use the language of Hosea). Much like the Israelites, so often my heart goes after created things rather than the Creator. I lack passion for the One who desires and deserves ALL of me.

It’s easy to make excuses for our lack passion towards God. I hear myself saying in my heart ‘my GC doesn’t encourages me enough’,  ‘other people’s singing in the gathering on a Sunday is too flat’  or ‘I don’t have enough time to pray or get excited about God’s word, he’s given me too many responsibilities to take care of’. These are all lame excuses. I am responsible for my own heart and allowing it to grow cold to God. I have been the one that has entertained the world too much and have listened to it rather than my Father in Heaven.  I have lacked the will to pray when I don’t feel like it, I have lacked the will to read God’s word I feel distant. Only I have lacked the will to sing to God when I can’t be bothered to. I have lacked to will to remind myself of truths that I have allowed to become too dutiful and familiar. I have lacked the will to explore grace and instead have cheapened it to a number of points I give assent to intellectually from time to time. I have lacked compassion for lost and so often don’t even reflect that people are lost and heading to hell without Christ when I have the words of eternal life but won’t speak them. Ultimately I have forgotten the first commandment to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and you neighbour as yourself’. I lack passion for God and I lack passion for the lost.

Well thank God that we are not the saviour because I’d be done for.On our own we could never defeat the things we make more import in our lives, the things that crowd out God. The only way we can defeat these passion destroying idols in our lives is by them being blown away by something greater – Jesus. We need Jesus to shout out these other things vying for our attention and devotion. Ultimately we can’t work enough to achieve this so I guess that turns us to our Heavenly Father in prayer. We should pray that the Holy Spirit would not only keep our minds focused on Jesus but also our hearts soft towards Him, that we might reflect a genuine passion for the Saviour to all people. We need to pray hard and earnestly.

This brings me to my favourite group of saints from history, the Puritans. These guys knew how to pray truth to themselves daily to keep their hearts soft towards God and the Gospel. Here’s one of my favourite Puritan prayers (with slightly modernised language). It reflects on what a great saviour we have and shows the ways only he is qualified to be the saviour. It’s been a source of encouragement to me at times when I’ve been convicted of how I have tried to become the saviour and when I’ve needed a shot of passion for God. I hope and pray it encourages you too…

The Saviour

Heavenly Father,

You have given us a Saviour,

produce in us the faith to live by Him,

to make Him all our desire,

all our hope,

all our glory.

May we enter Him as our refuge,

build on Him as our foundation,

walk in Him as our way,

follow Him as our guide,

conform to Him as our example,

receive His instructions as our prophet,

rely on Him as our high priest,

obey Him as our king.

May we never be ashamed of Him or His words,

but joyfully bear his reproach,

never displease Him by unholy conduct,

never count it a glory if we take it patiently when buffeted for a fault,

never make the multitude our model,

never delay when your word invites us to advance.

May your dear Son preserve us from this present evil world,

so that is smiles never allure,

nor its frowns terrify,

nor its vices defile,

nor its errors delude us.

May we feel that we are strangers and pilgrims on earth,

declaring plainly that we seek a country,

our title to it becoming daily more clear,

our meetness for it more perfect,

our foretaste of it more abundant;

and whatsoever we do may it be done

in the Saviour’s name.

Amen.

Having sunny days and lighter mornings and evenings just seems  to make everything much better. Someone I was talking to the other day said it’s great because they would be free of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and the onset of depression brought about by a lack of sun. Connetced to this, I caught the end of an episode of a great new TV series on BBC called Wonders of the Solar System.  The first epidsode was called the Empire of the Sun and was all about the amazing powers of the Sun and it’s wider-reaching power in our solar system and beyond, from solar flares to northern lights.

This all got me thinking… It’s amazing how important the sun is to the world: it gives light, helps stuff grow, forms spectacular light shows for the human race and even detirmines the mood we’re in! In fact the Sun is so massively important and colossal that it sustains the whole of our solar system and a bit beyond…crazy!

That all mounts up to make me extremely excited about this picture of our real home…

And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. Revelation 21:23

God made the sun in Genesis 1 and gave it all the power and influence it has. Hang on for a second…remember how important the sun is to life in our world, the solar system and beyond…and yet God made it. How much more powerful is God as creator than the created thing then?! In fact he made all the suns in the universe, which we can see as stars in the night sky. God is so amazingly powerful it blows my mind.

Even more amazing is this…Jesus is decribed as the Lamb who was slain by John in the book of Revelation. So in the above passage John is actually comparing the seemingly all-powerful, life-giving light of the sun to Jesus. He is the True Sun, the Ultimate Lamp and Illuminator of Heaven. Jesus is even greater than the sun because as the Greatest Light Jesus is enables so much more than just life to exist, but rather He gives eternal life.

If the sun blows my mind with it’s life sustaining power, how much more should the true Light of the World, Jesus?!

I was blown away yet again by Jesus being the True Elder Brother. Jesus went out and searched for us to bring us back into the Father’s family. He brought us back at great expense to himself. It didn’t just cost Him money or status,  it cost Him everything, his very life. I was close to tears when Keller explained how Jesus was stripped that we might be clothed in his robe of  righteousness; that He wasn’t given a fattened calf, He was given vinegar; He steped down from Heaven to save us not merely go to the next town.  It cost Jesus everything to to bring us home – it cost Him his very life.

I need to reflect on this truth this week. I think too often I cheapen the grace of the gospel and just assume it was easy for God to forgive me. I don’t really believe I have truly dishonoured my Father in heaven and deserve nothing. I don’t realise the extent of my lostness. My forgiveness and welcome home came at a great cost. Grace really isn’t free, it cost Jesus everything. I have been believing a lie to think it was cheap and easy for God to save me and that my sin was a trivial problem to solve. I was lost and a lot more lost than I’d even dare believe.

However, I am filled with joy that I have an Elder Brother that came looking for me although I was lost and paid the price to bring me home! Althought I was more lost than I’d even dare believe, I am more loved than I ‘d ever dare imagine! That’s going to change how I think this week in a big way, it simply has to. I’m going to daily delight in my status before God and marvel at my Saviour who brough me home. I will not so freely sin or be self-righteous if I truly know what it cost to bring me home. I am going to live as one dearly loved and bought at the greatest price. That will make me a very different husband, brother in Christ, family member and teacher. I don’t need to judge others because I am a sinner saved by grace not my own efforts.

I have to admit I have fallen into this trap with my blog in the past. Its become so uninteresting and detatched from life with boring long posts that are so infrequent that no one even reads it! So I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf. I am going to blog more regularly and not wait until I have something super holy to say. I am going to blog about normal stuff and not try to make it sound long and eloquent. It’s going to be unfilitered from now on. It’s time for some blogging of the nitty gritty of my life; the hard stuff; the day-to-day; the mundane; the daily fight. Essentially, real gospel blogging.

Shai Linne - Storiez

I love the idea of talking about the story of the Gospel; how it is truly is the greatest story ever told…and unlike so many stories told it’s all true! In fact it is the overarching story of the history of life the universe and everything. It is pretty awesome to speak to people about how God’s great story of winning a people for His glory intersects with their life stories.

Soma Communities have a close relationship with The Crowded House. They highlight six ways they live as church, or as they put it ‘rhythms’. These rhythms are: story-formed, listen, celebrate, bless, eat and recreate. You can read about them all here. But the one that particualy strikes me is ‘story-formed’. They define it as the following:

We understand, experience and intersect with God’s Story and other’s.
God has been unfolding his Story since before time began. We believe we are participants in the Story and need to understand it and see how our lives intersect with it. Therefore, we regularly reacquaint ourselves with the Story by interacting with God’s Word. We look for ways and times to tell the Story often. We also take time to listen to others stories and help them find their lives within God’s Story.

I love the fact that we are story-tellers as God’s people; that we are here to tell the story. It is a story that never grows old and we should celebrate contiually as God’s people. And what an awesome story that God chose us before the foundation of the world that he might redeem us in Christ that we might be to his praise and glory!

My favourite rap artist Shai Linne has recently released a new album called storiez. It tells many different stories from the Israelites at the first passover to Spurgeons biography and it shows how they connect to that greater story. I strongly recomend it. Here are the lyrics from one track on the album called ‘Greatest Story Ever Told’. They get me every time…

Verse 1

Alright check it: let’s go back in time, brethren

Divine lessons always keep your mind guessing

The glory of the Triune God’s what I’m stressing

The origin of humankind was fine- blessings

Were plenteous- God is amazingly generous

Crazy benefits in a state of innocence

God told the man what he could taste was limited

Not long after came our nemesis in Genesis

He scammed well, man fell, damned to hell

The whole human race- he represented it

Fooled by the serpent, man through his work

Woman through birth- even the earth ruled by the curses

But instead of a wake immediately

God said her Seed would be the One to crush the head of the snake

Yo, wait what’s this? Whoa, a gracious gift!

In Jehovah’s faithfulness He clothed their nakedness

This was so they would know their Savior’s kiss

And bliss- but first, many growing pains exist

Suffering in the worst form, ugly deeds

Eve’s firstborn seed made his brother bleed

Indeed things got progressively worse

Every section of the earth’s been affected by the curse

And though God’s judgments against sin were gory

Praise the Lord! It’s not the end of the story

Chorus:

It’s the greatest story ever told

A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold

The greatest story ever told

Restoring all that the enemy stole

The greatest story ever told

The glory of Christ is the goal, behold

The greatest story ever told

It’s the greatest…

Verse 2

Next scene: man’s sin was extreme

God gets steamed, man gets creamed

The Lord is so Holy that He drowned them in the water

Fire in the valley of slaughter- Sodom and Gomorrah

But at the same time, He’s so gracious and patient

That from one man He created a whole nation

Eventually enslaved by the mentally depraved

They cried out to the only One with the strength that He could save

He brought them out with signs and wonders- satisfied their hunger

Then He appeared on Mount Sinai in thunder

Where He laid down the law for God-ruled government

Commonly referred to as the Mosaic covenant

Sin’s imputed- so for man to know he’s unrighteous

God instituted animal sacrifices

This was to show our constant need for atonement

And when it came to sin, the Lord would never condone it

And when His people disobeyed and went astray

He raised up prophets and kings to lead them in the way

But they would get foul with their idolatry- wet and wild

Prophecy- send them into exile

To take their punishment like a grown man

Then with His own hand He placed them back in their homeland

And while in their forefather’s land they dwelt

They awaited the arrival of Emmanuel

Chorus:

It’s the greatest story ever told

A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold

The greatest story ever told

Restoring all that the enemy stole

The greatest story ever told

The glory of Christ is the goal, behold

The greatest story ever told

It’s the greatest…

Verse 3

After 400 silent years filled with sighs and tears

In Bethlehem the Messiah appears

God in the flesh- Second Person of the Trinity

At thirty begins His earthly ministry

Baffling cats with accurate, exact facts

And back to back miraculous acts

A stumbling block to the self righteous

But the humbled- His flock, said “There’s no one else like this”

He came from heaven to awake the numb

Demonstrated His power over nature, son

A foretaste of the Kingdom and the age to come

But the reason He came was to pay the sum

For the depths of our wickedness, our wretched sinfulness

Bless His magnificence- He’s perfect and innocent

Yet He was wrecked and His death- He predicted it

Next He was stretched, paid a debt that was infinite

He said that He finished it- resurrected so the elect

would be the recipients of its benefits

Through faith and penitence we get to be intimate

His grace is heaven sent, it never diminishes

Now the Holy Spirit indwelling is the evidence

for heaven’s future residents who truly represent

Jesus, the Author, Producer, Director and

Star of a story that will never, ever end!

Chorus:

The greatest story ever told

A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold

The greatest story ever told

Restoring all that the enemy stole

The greatest story ever told

The glory of Christ is the goal, behold

The greatest story ever told

It’s the greatest…

I have recently been listening a lot to Shai Linne, an American christian rapper. Steve Timmis was introduced to his music by Shai’s very own pastor when he was over in the states recently. Since Steve drew him to our attention in our church meeting a few weeks ago I have bought his two albums and have been listening to him daily. His work is immensly encouraging. Here’s why…

Shai Linne is one of a group of young christian rappers in states attempting to win hip-hop back for Christ. They use awesome hooks, beats and MCing (rapping) to bring glory to God through lyrics which are heavily laiden with bible truths and the centrality of Christ. All this has helped coin a new phrase – ‘Lyrical Theology’.

Shai Linne states: “Lyrical Theology is just that: it’s lyrical – rhyme schemes, rhyme patterns and it’s theology – the study of God within the context of hip-hop. What we do is, we take passages from the bible and put them directly into rhyme form. So this could be a particular explanation of a doctrine from scripture or it can be a line-by-line exposition of a passage. For example, I have a song called ‘jusified’, which is an explanation of Romans 3:10-24, verse-by-verse”.

Hip-hop is so often accused within our culture as being the root of many of young peoples distorted morality and within conservative christian circles as being too ‘unchristian’. Shai Linne and his fellow artists at Lamp Mode Recordings have noted this and want to demonstrate that hip-hop can be ‘sanctified’ if set apart for the glory of Christ, since all things can now rightfully be done by Christians to God’s glory in Christ. Rather than singing of loose women, getting wasted, doing drugs or ‘getting rich or dying trying’ (in the words of secular rap artist 50 Cent) these young guys rap about the gospel and the work of Christ in the believers life, proclaiming to the listener that “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15).

Shai Linne explains that he “sees nothing but filth coming through the popular secular version of [the hip-hop] vehicle of expression”. It’s great that he and others like him are giving people something edifying and true to pump in their ears…hip-hop which is redeemed for Christ. It may not be your musical cup of tea but I’m certainly diggin’ it.

For more info about lyrical theology and whether hip-hop is a legitimate expression of christian music check out Shai Linne’s own blog: Lyrical Theology. Both of Shai Linne’s albums The Solous Christus Project (2005, Lamp Mode) and The Atonement (2008, Lamp Mode) are available on iTunes.

Anyway…It was a really useful day. Whilst it is extremly important that we don’t somehow make the first century culture to be more sacred or holy than our own (they are both fallen cultures), it helped us as The Crowded House to think a bit about some of the ways the first century culture was santicfied by the early church for missional purposes. Some areas which got us me thinking were:

• How they viewed home not merely as private domestic space but to be open and hospitable at all times
• The role of food played in church meetings in demonstrating church family identity
• The central place of children in the church community (Their presence and contribution being valued as much as any other believers)

This was all helpful stuff. The thing that was most thought-provoking though was taking a look at the role of Priscilla and Aquila. It threw up some interesting ideas about the nature of gospel partnership, particularly how their relationship with Paul started intially as a business exercise! But this gospel partnership was costly to Priscilla and Aquila – they travelled miles across the Med to several churches staying a few months/years at a time, they were hospitable, discipled people (namely Apollos), had many a church plant meet in their home and were prepared to sacrifice everything for the sake of the churches they were connected with and the advancement of the Gospel.

Even their marriage was set apart for mission and the building up of God’s people, to the extent to which they cannot be thought of seperatly in the New Testament. I agree with Robert Banks that God did a mighty work through them and they will be great people to quiz once we reach heaven! But seriously, we need godly men and women like Aquila and Priscilla to sacrfice their very lives in a Christ-like way for the sake of the Gospel, the building of Christ’s Church.

Here are some of the passages we took a look at. Please post your thoughts as to what they reveal about the nature of gospel partnership…

1After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

5When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

7Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 8Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.

9One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 11So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

12While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court. 13“This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”

14Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. 15But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” 16So he had them ejected from the court. 17Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever.

18Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken. 19They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.

23After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

24Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

27When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Acts 18:1-27

1I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. 2I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me. 3Greet Prisca* and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. 4They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.

Romans 16:1-4

19The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca* greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. 20All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

1 Corinthians 16:19-20

19Greet Prisca* and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. 20Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. 21Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers.

2 Timothy 4:19-21

*affectionate name for Priscilla (much like using Susie for someone called Susan)

(Robert Banks work Going to the Church in the First Century is an informed ficitional work which also explores some the ideas I have mentioned and is most worthwhile checking out)

We were concluding our series from the book of Acts called ‘How to take over the world’ and my talk was from Acts 27-28, Paul’s journey and arrival in Rome. I spoke about about how God takes over the world with Gospel people – Gospel people who trust Him in all their life, gospel people who love others like Jesus and Gospel people who speak boldly in His name.

I’m always blown away by how the Church is God’s vehicle for Mission to the world, so It was a massive priviledge to give the talk! I am so very thankful to God for the ways He used it to rebuke, challenge, encourage and change His people. It’s great to be an instrument in King Jesus’ hands and to His ends.

Check it out here…

http://www.thecrowdedhouse.org/files/audio/acts27.mp3

(One more thing…A quick shout out to my fellow Gospel Trainee, Tim, who edited the talk and posted it on the TCH website aswell as updating our TCH itunes podcast, as indeed he does every week – it’s an important job bro and I am thankful to King Jesus for how you serve us through it!)

Review of Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax, in Alexander B. Gossart (ed.) Works of Richard Sibbes (Banner of Truth, 1973), pp. 42-101.

The Bruised Reed and the Smoking flax is an exposition of Isaiah 42:1-4, where it states that God’s coming servant will not break a bruised reed or extinguish a dimly burning wick (or smoking flax). Richard Sibbes shows this to be an illustration of how God deals with us in his act of grace through Christ in the believer’s life. Bruising is described as the process by which we are humbled by God regarding our sin. It is only by seeing the misery of our sin that we will cry out for the mercy of the judge; it is necessary for us to be bruised in order for us to come to know our deep need for Christ. Sibbes stresses that this process does not merely bring us to faith in the first place. Rather, we need constant bruising in the Christian life to remind ourselves ‘we are reeds, not mighty oaks’; we are sinful people and are totally dependant on Christ for our status before God. This is helpful for breaking our foolish pride and keeps us from looking down upon struggling Christians.

The Smoking flax is seen as the small beginnings of grace. We are reminded to not be worried about the apparently small beginnings of grace in the believer’s life, because it takes a lifetime to grow in Christ and it is not until we reach heaven that grace to be made perfect. ‘Christ values us by what we shall be and what we are elected into’ not by our current state. The small mustard seed will grow into the tall tree which provides shade for the birds (Mark 4:30-32). Christ will not break the reed and he will not quench the smoking flax because it is he own and it is a pointer to his powerful grace. From the bleeding woman to Emmaus road Sibbes shows how Christ takes the tiniest spark of grace and treats it as precious; Christ dearly cherishes even the smallest beginnings of grace and will grow it to its full completion.

Sibbes in true puritan style highlights the tensions and difficulties of the Christian life but he states ‘the degree to which we believe Christ will conquer is the degree to which we will endeavour by his grace to conquer’. Often we are weak and face opposition but thankfully victory lies not with us but with Christ. It is this wonderful truth about Christ that will sustain us, sanctify us and keep us longing for his government over our lives. Sibbes paints a beautiful picture of Christ, which brings the believer to their knees in adoration for such a saviour. He highlights his borrowed names from the meekest of creatures (from Lamb to Hen), his name, Jesus, which means saviour and describes how the dove descended on him at baptism to show his gentle mediation. Furthermore, he points to how Christ calls to himself ‘all who are weary and burdened’ (Matthew 11:28), how his insides yearned when he saw the people were like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:26), how he came to die as priest for his enemies and how he is the physician who can cure all diseases especially binding up the broken heart. Moreover, how he died to save us when we were the enemies of God! This is our saviour, our king and what a wonderful saviour and king he is! How much more boldly we would approach the throne room of grace if we reflected on such a Christ as Sibbes presents.

The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax is not merely a huge reminder to the individual to recognise their worth only in Christ but also is hugely helpful in considering how we minister to others with the truth. Sibbes sets forth many helpful ‘rules’, which are rather more guidelines, which can aid us in this pastoral task, particularly with struggling Christians. We are to remind such believers that that Grace has little beginnings and that Christ does not save us because of who we are but because of what he is going to make us into. We need to implore one another more with the beauty of Christ. How often do we truly seek to enlarge one another’s vision of Christ? Sibbes book is a challenge to us all to present Christ and his work with more clarity to one another; to build one another up in him rather than in ourselves and to comfort one another with Christ’s abounding mercy in all our weakness.

Charles Spurgeon once wrote of Richard Sibbes: ‘he never wastes a student’s time. He scatters diamonds and pearls with both hands’. Sprugeon is quite accurate in his assessment of this esteemed puritan’s work and it is easy to see why; The Bruised Reed is still widely read by Christians today. It is a book filled with encouragement and greatly builds the Christian reader up in Christ. For as Sibbes so clearly states: ‘there is more mercy in Christ than sin in us’ and by the end of Sibbes work you are left seeking further bruising for your sin so that you might know more and more the great mercy of our dear saviour.

**Please note this is a review of the first edition of the book, not the revised edition (as pictured). For a review of the revised edition see 9Marks.org **

This book sets out to give an account of the Apostle Paul’s view of church which is comprehensive yet readable, and to some extent it achieves this aim. Robert Banks is clearly a fine scholar and has a great knowledge of the first century Mediterranean world into which Paul wrote. He is therefore very proficient at demonstrating how Paul’s understanding of what the Christian community should look like was entirely unique within the time he wrote; there is no comparison to Paul’s understanding of church in Jewish or Greco-Roman culture in Banks’ eyes.

Banks shows that a key theme in the Pauline epistles is the freedom of the gospel and this has three aspects: Independence (from the law, sin and death), dependence (on Christ and the Holy Spirit) and interdependence (with others). It is this final element which is most revealing to Banks. The freedom won in Christ according to Paul enables us to serve others; we are freed from sin and enabled in Christ to live for others, not merely ourselves.
Banks has some very compelling and entirely biblical arguments regarding Paul’s views on the Christian community. Church (ekklēsia) is not a blanket term for Christians living in region but rather it is shown by Paul to be a committed local community of believers which regularly ‘gathers’ in the intimate setting of the home. Furthermore the community is shown to be built specifically to fit together with complementary gifts given by God as demonstrated by the metaphor of a body (sōma). Paul’s letters are also filled with images of church as an extended family; a Family united in Christ with all social boundaries removed (Galatians 3:28-29) and enabled to love one another. This is expressed in a number of physical ways through baptism, sharing the common meal, the laying on of hands, greeting with kisses and the sharing of possessions – which are all very intentional demonstrations of the nature of the community. Banks therefore correctly asserts Paul’s vision of community as a divine entity which is perfectly shaped by God, not a man-made institution. It is specific local groups of Christians who express this and while Paul does talk of a heavenly reality of church (Ephesians 5:25-27) it is this local expression which is most clearly in focus particularly in the early Pauline epistles.

This vision of Paul’s idea of community is exciting and radically different. If only churches really did look like loving families, recognising their intricate gifting from God (diversity) and working in love together (unity). This is a truly edifying vision of what Paul felt the Christian community ought to be. However, despite this I diverge from Banks on a number of key issues. Primarily, I disagree with Banks in his rejection of Pauline authorship of the Pastoral letters (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus), which are not used at all by Banks in the main body of his work. Banks seems to have a real issue with the tension of submission to each other as a body and eldership, as well as the tension between all members being made equal in Christ and yet there being different roles for women. This obviously comes to the fore in his rejection of the Pastoral letters and he shoves them off to an appendix accordingly.

The problem is that Banks is all to ready to use Acts to fill gaps in the early Pauline epistles but fails to give adequate recognition to how it clearly affirms Paul’s acceptance of an appointed elders (Acts 14:23) Additionally, Banks rejects the Pastorals because of their ‘restrictions on the role of women’ as seen in 1 Timothy 2:9-15, however, I fail to see how this is anymore problematic in this regard than 1 Corinthians 11, which Banks is happy to use in his argument. Moreover, Banks rejects the pastoral letters on the basis that their image of community shows a diversion from the other epistles well developed metaphors, despite the fact 1 Timothy 5:1-2 clearly portrays church as an extended family. Even if the imagery had changed it fails to recognise the complex nature of prose and how context (both passing of time and to whom the letter is written) will affect the way Paul writes.

On the whole Paul’s Idea of Community is a refreshing take on Christian community and clearly demonstrates its uniqueness in the first century world. It paints a clear picture of the divinely instituted interdependency which should characterise the church, which is all too often overlooked in our entirely individualistic culture. However, Banks will always be unable to do justice of the topic by rejecting the pastorals in such a flippant manner. If they are indeed Paul’s work then he has left out a large body of important material and even if they are not, as Banks appears to believe, there needs to be a deeper investigation than the one offered.