Four lessons from Charlie Ebdo

The attack on Charlie Hebdo, including the murder of two police officers, was both a horrible crime and a reprehensible assault on the most basic of freedoms – free speech. However offensive Charlie Hebdo’s publications might have been (and were intended to be) there could never be any basis for such wickedness and violence. The incident has been the subject of wide-ranging debate covering political, security and religious issues.  Many of the problems are longstanding, complex and seemingly intractable – in other words way beyond the capacity of a blog to deal with. There are, however, a number of observations that can be made in reflecting on Charlie Ebdo from a Christian vantage point.

1.       Freedom of Speech is a declaration of Christian faith

Historically Western freedom of expression has often been summed up by Voltaire’s famous maxim: "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.” It is a principle that allows for disagreement, debate and objection – but rejects censorship and repression. Such a premise is really only morally permissible, however, because of the Christian confidence that good ideas will prevail over bad ideas. It is why Christians, who although claiming custody of Truth, can tolerate other points of views - because ultimately they believe God Himself will vindicate that which is right and expose that which is false.

It is thus a hallmark of Biblical faith to leave the final verdict on such matters in the hands of God – ‘the day will declare it’. Insecurity in faith, on the other hand, is typically marked out by the need to attack and coerce opponents into agreement now. As one radio journalist so starkly expressed it when interviewing a militant Islamic leader some years ago, ‘Surely the eternal fires of hell are punishment enough for infidels: why do you need to kill them now?’ It was a question that went to the heart of what real faith convictions look like. Muslim violence, or indeed Christian expressions of vilification, towards faith opponents simply suggests that those perpetrating such acts fear, deep down, that they might not be proved to be right in the end.

So Christians can uphold the freedom of Charlie Ebdo to ridicule and mock religion, not because such actions are commendable, nor because it is the price to be paid to ensure freedom of speech for all – but because defending Charlie Ebdo is a profound declaration that they actually believe in the God they profess.

2.       Secular media hypocrisy

Bryan Barkley expelled from
the Red Cross after 20 years
of volunteering for opposing SSM. 

Much of the secular media on the other hand have demonstrated a deep hypocrisy in this matter.  The reaction of journalists has been shock and outrage at this attack on freedom of speech – feelings heightened of course by being the victim in this instance. The many media expressions of protest against this attempt to intimidate and suppress free speech, are of course quite right, but would have more moral authority if not for their own inconsistency in this area. That is, our ostensibly liberal media have a track record of not defending the right of free speech for those out of step with their own approved viewpoints. We live a country where people have lost their jobs, been demoted and generally bullied for expressing non-violent and moderate opposition to Same Sex Marriage – but we hear of no media consternation at such practises. Indeed it is the fear of negative media comment that often drives and encourages such draconian reactions.

The inconsistency extends to our politicians – Holyrood, which refused to include a respect clause for those with religious and conscience-based reservations on the issue of Same Sex Marriage, has no doubt sent its message of condemnation about this attack on freedom of speech to the French people.

It would be heartening to believe that the media might become champions not just of their own freedom to question and dissent but also of those with non PC views. The likelihood of course is that Charlie Ebdo will quickly become yesterday’s news – and the media will revert back to its previous partiality.

3.       The hellishness of twisted religion

During the Rochdale Child Sex scandal one silhouetted girl described her experiences being trafficked around by the gang using her for sex. She mentioned in the passing that the men gave her crisps, but only Cheese & Onion, as meat flavoured crisps might be non-Halal. It was a detail that revealed the hellishness of twisted religion. The very idea that there might be a god in heaven who would be more concerned about the flavouring in your crisps than about trafficking under-age girls for sex is beyond damnable. Such perversions can happen in any religion of course – sadly Christianity has not been immune from its own distortions. Too often the trappings of Christianity have become more precious to its proponents than its message - its religious robes elevated above righteousness.

Such misuses point to the sinfulness endemic in humanity – a world in which good things are frequently misused for evil purposes (whether medicines, the internet, or indeed free speech). Some will seek to use Charlie Ebdo as the proof that all religions and expressions of Faith are dangerous and nasty; a position no more credible than suggesting the Labour party will inevitability result in Stalinism, or that the RSPCA is just a breeding ground for anti-vivisectionist criminals. The answer of course to all such misuse and extremism is not non-use but correction and right use.

4.      The Contrast of The Cross

It is why the Bible is such a challenging book – because it relentlessly confronts such misuses, starting ‘at home’. Israel was fiercely held to account by the prophets for its misuse of faith, its hypocrisy, its neglect of the poor and its tendency to substitute outward religious observance for loving God and their neighbours. Jesus explicitly banned His followers from using violence in order to defend or promote Him (Matthew 26:52). Those who follow Jesus are to be those who love their enemies and who bless those who curse them. The New Testament makes it painfully clear that Christianity is not a faith for those seeking worldly power, advancement or status: rather it is a faith most fully expressed in weakness, turning the other cheek and putting others first.

 

The glory of Christianity is that at its centre is one whose response to His enemies – to those who abused him, mocked him, slandered him – was not retaliation but to lay his life down for them. Even on the Cross, his response to his executioners was to pray that they might be forgiven. Despite His innocence, and even his divinity, he was content to entrust himself to the one who judges righteously (1 Peter 2:23).

The final word on all the issues surrounding Charlie Ebdo is still to be pronounced and it will be God’s – who knows all hearts, all truth, and judges with absolute justice. For now it stands as a warning against insecure faith, double standards and twisted religion. But it also points us to the astonishing grace and wonder of the Gospel – a man dying for his foes that they might be blessed. 

God's love: unfathomable not perverse

Hogmanay Message at Greenview EC 

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5

Insecurity

2014, like every year before it, proved again that the only certainty in this world is that life is fragile. Whether Ebola, terrorism, war, getting on a plane, playing cricket or just going Christmas shopping in Glasgow – in a moment, out of nowhere, lives can be turned upside down. Hopes, dreams and plans snatched away.

We hate uncertainty – it’s debilitating, at worst paralysing. It’s why as individuals and as a society we invest hugely in order to eradicate it and guard against it. Some of those efforts are good and constructive – Health & Safety, Insurance. Some are just futile and wasteful – checking a horoscope or buying a Lottery ticket. Either way underpinning all such attempts is the deep human desire to find security, and to base our lives on something dependable.

This is no less true spiritually – although for most people that is a ‘hole’ the try to fill with all the wrong stuff. A deep spiritual emptiness won’t be filled with material possessions any more than a sieve will be filled with water. However, even for the Christian the reassurance of spiritual security (i.e. the deep confidence of being at peace with God, forgiven and under His loving care) can be lacking. Sadly, all too often the experience of Christians is one of doubt, worry and fear in their sense of spiritual well-being.

Rolling back the years

You see when a person becomes a Christian – that is, recognises their sin and need to be forgiven, recognises that Jesus is the Son of God who on the Cross made forgiveness possible, recognises that they need to say sorry to God and put their life back where it should always have been, under God’s rule – it is typically an experience of joy. There is the excitement of being a friend of God now. There is relief that a fresh start in life has been granted - a chance to do things God’s way and leave the floundering of the past behind.

But the years pass and some of the old sinful traits and behaviours can seem hard to shake off. Faith inevitably begins to feel familiar rather than fresh. A strange thing happens: you start to become even more sensitive and aware of your sinful inadequacies – so rather than receding over time your failures seem all the more inexcusable and damming. Subtly and stealthily joy gets replaced with anxiety, confidence with introspection, and hope with fear. The Christian walk once so invigorating, morphs into the uneasy sensation of straining God’s goodwill and tiptoeing along the edge of His rejection.  

Non-deductible love

It is the scenario for which Romans 5 was written. The reminder of God’s non-deductible love. It is the reminder that God knows every one of your sins and failures even better than you do. He even knows about the sins you haven’t yet clocked onto – those attitudes and perceptions that you are think are fine and normal but actually leave much to be desired. He knows you fall far short of the person he saved you in Christ to be. He knows all your nonsense – all of it.

But you know what, even when it was far worse than that, far worse than it is now – He loved you. He loved you when you cared not to give God any great honour in your life. He loved you when you had no real care or concern about Jesus.  He loved you when sin was easy and failure and faithfulness caused you no great worry. You see, while we were still sinners (that is, not saints – not Christians) Christ died for us (v6).

This is remarkable – we might put ourselves on the line for a friend or a nice guy. But Jesus gave up His life for the intransigent, the hard-hearted and the utterly ungrateful. He didn’t wait for signs of improvement, for a bit of appreciation or even to be asked. He loved them so much He sacrificed Himself for them when none of the above were ‘on the table’.

This great assurance of these verses is this: now you’ve been saved, now you are a follower of Jesus Christ – albeit an ever so imperfect one; now that sin does bother you; now you are grateful to God and thankful for His grace; now that you at least try and make an effort to please him some of the time and wish you were someone who did all of the time – do you think that God will now love you less?

Unfathomable not perverse

God’s love for us is unfathomable – but it’s not perverse. He isn’t going to love you less for caring a bit as opposed to not caring at all!

If Jesus died to open up the way for you to be forgiven, changed and saved – do you think having gone through that, and having begun His work in you, there is any chance that He will now get fed up with you and turn frosty?

The Cross is the great historical and tangible proof that you can never be too much of a failure, too much of a loser, or too great a sinner for God to love you. Because the hope of the Gospel is not in us now – but in Jesus then, now and forever. Whatever happens in 2015, God’s love in Jesus, for those trusting in Him, is certain. This truth about God’s love is the ultimate security – the bond and relationship that nothing can sever.

It is a reality to give us confidence – to allow us to enjoy our blessings, use our gifts and celebrate our faith. It tells us to leave our sins and failures where they belong – at the Cross. It is the invitation to live as free men & women – liberated, hopeful and confident that God is for us and will be with us no matter what.  

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

‘For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8 (NIV)

2015 Policy Review

Isaiah 7

Ahaz came of age in a time of uncertainty, rumours and threats. His little Kingdom, like a cork on the sea, seemed to be at the mercy of forces far beyond his control. Over the horizon lay the mega-power of Assyria – the military monster poised to have nations like Judah for breakfast. Around him were the other small powers, all in a flap and desperately trying to figure out ways to escape Assyria’s clutches. Two of them, Israel and Aram, had teamed up in the face of their shared enemy.

For Judah this was a galling development – Israel, part of God’s covenant people, Judah’s own flesh and blood, was now in league with idolaters in order to save its skin. Ahaz now faced the consequences as Israel and Aram turned on him – Israel’s policy of anti-Assyrian co-belligerence had a sting in the tail! Judah was panic-stricken by these developments (v2).  But in the midst of the crisis God speaks. Isaiah is told to take his son and meet Ahaz as he inspects the siege facilities (v3).

The message is simple: the threats faced are not to be feared – not that Israel and Aram were imaginary or couldn't have the power to harm – but they were not the final word. They were not the masters of Judah’s fate. The ‘Sovereign Lord’ is speaking now (v7) – that is, the Lord who controls everything: politics, the weather, the outcomes of battles, even the very heartbeat of kings.

So… Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. (v4).

Be careful – the temptation is to meet threat with threat, scheming with scheming, unholy alliance with unholy alliance – to match human might and ability with dependence on your own. In other words, Ahaz, your hope is not in being stronger, smarter or quicker than your adversaries – but in the Sovereign Lord. 

In 1940 Britain teetered before the greatest threat to its ongoing way of life it had ever faced. The military monster of Nazi Germany had eaten up the European continent and looked set to invade a massively out-gunned Britain. Churchill, on becoming Prime Minister that May, gave one of his most famous speeches to the House of Commons. In it he said: ‘You ask, what is our policy?  It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us…You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: victory; victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be.' It was a call to arms and a declaration of Britain’s refusal to falter despite the seemingly impossible odds.  

For Ahaz and Judah – God’s call was not to arms but to Faith. 

If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. (v9)

If Ahaz were to address the nation that day – he should make it clear that his policy, in the hour of crisis, was ‘Faith’. Faith on all fronts, faith with every ounce of strength and every breath that God gave him. Sadly however, for many, including Ahaz, faith just seems too ethereal to hang their hopes on. The nuts and bolts of hardware, the promises of others, cash in hand, good marketing - all seem much more useful and substantial. But the Word of God is unambiguous: If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.

In a world where everything in our lives can be swept away in a moment, where there is nothing in that can be guaranteed – hear the word of the Lord - the only sure policy is ‘Faith’. That is, faith in God - who cannot be overcome, who cannot be thwarted. Faith in God - who can be trusted, who knows and cares about you. Faith in the God who is good.

Grounds for Faith

So good, that He gives us grounds for faith – the provision of a sign to bolster weak faith and to give people confidence to ‘stand firm’ in it.  Ahaz is offered a sign (v10) – a token of God’s reliability if He is trusted. Astonishingly Ahaz refuses – his mock piety a cover for faithlessness (v12). Ahaz will do his own thing, thanks very much! It was a decision that could only lead to ruin (v17), he became the fulfilment of Isaiah’s warning – by not standing firm in faith he very simply would not stand at all.

In his abounding grace God nevertheless gave the sign – the sign of a virgin who would bear a son called Immanuel (v14). It was a promise that in the centuries ahead would be a lifeline to Judah and Israel – the promise that deliverance would come, that God would rescue His people, and a Kingdom of peace and justice would be established upon the earth. It was the sign made good at Bethlehem – the sign that the God and Father of Jesus Christ is trustworthy, faithful and to be believed.

2015

Where will you look for help, protection and deliverance as you face your fears in the coming year - whether social, financial, medical, vocational, spiritual…? What will be your policy for 2015? Make it faith – faith on all fronts and in all circumstances. Because only faith will lead to ultimate victory - the defeat of sin and death - and the glory yet to be revealed in us. 

This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. (1 John 5:4)

Ask the God and Father of Jesus Christ to give you the strength not to falter in faith however great the odds against you might seem. Faith is the ultimate practical policy because only those who stand in faith will stand at all.

Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. (1 John 5:5) 

The hate that Jesus rebukes

New blog on Christian Today...



Why a New Zealand pastor's attack on a gay author was so wrong. 

Rev Richard Coles: Don't leave us this way!

The Rev. Richard Coles is, according to The Guardian, ‘Britain’s top media vicar’. Known for his appearances on QI, Have I Got News For You and Radio 4, he’s been all over the airwaves in recent weeks publicising his ‘out in time for Christmas’ book – Fathomless Riches. What makes him particularly interesting is that, along with Jimmy Somerville, he was formerly part of the Communards – whose 1986 release ‘Don’t leave me this way’ was the biggest selling UK single of that year. Richard Coles’ life story is one literally full of ‘sex, drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and his book by all accounts is a no-holds barred telling of all three. A story which, of course, makes his current vocation as a Church of England vicar all the more intriguing.

Coles comes across as decent and personable. He is articulate, expresses himself humbly and has ‘seen life’ in a way that makes his current pleasantness all the more admirable. He is, however, impeccably liberal in his theology – his move into ministry driven it seems by a search for purpose and moderation rather than any deep repentance or radical conversion. Indeed, you suspect, it is precisely his subversion of many traditional Christian teachings that makes him such a darling of the media. His is the voice of Christianity as the BBC would like it to be; it is the teaching of the Bible if it had been written by Harriet Harman.

So what exactly is the Gospel of Richard Coles and indeed all those other Christian clergy thought passable enough for Radio 2’s Thought for the Day? A good example of it was his short contribution to an edition of This Week (4/12/14) which began with an observation that our society is too preoccupied with material things and consequently other important but non-financial aspects of life are often not valued enough. The finish was, as befits a songwriter, beautifully poetic – ‘This is my Autumn Statement: at the year’s end and in gathering darkness let’s look beyond Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the fading digital radiance of a discounted 50 inch TV, to a wholly unimaginable light breaking in an wholly unexpected place’.

Sadly the subsequent studio discussion offered no explanation about that light or that place – instead we got Coles arguing for enshrining in Law the UK’s overseas Aid budget at 0.7% of GDP, while Michael Portillo pointed out the increasing irrelevance of the Church of England in the nation. Richard, of course, was charming and affable throughout all this – but therein lies the Gospel of today’s media-endorsed clergy. It is the Gospel of ‘let’s all just be a wee bit nicer to each other’. Now nothing wrong with encouraging folks to up their game in being patient, civil and thoughtful – but the Gospel it is not! A fruit of the Gospel yes, but the message that got Jesus crucified and the apostles persecuted – really?

Nevertheless, endlessly repeated on ‘God Slots’, the newspaper columns written by Ministers at weekends, and the invited religious input on ‘the topic of the day’ - is the Gospel of ‘God is nice, He thinks you’re really nice, so let’s all be a bit nicer, Amen’. Thus establishment Christianity has become little more than Comic Relief without the jokes.

VIRGIN RECORDS

Coles’ parish is ‘St Mary the Virgin’ (in the Diocese of Peterborough) so we might hope that he would realise more than most that the ‘wholly unimaginable light… in a wholly unexpected place’ is much more radical, edgy and indeed confrontational than a better citizenship programme. For the Virgin Birth, at the centre of that event, was not a gentle nudge to greater philanthropy but a crashing indictment of humanity’s utter helplessness and its need of total rescue.  The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ was a declaration by God that no amount of human endeavour, however well intentioned, can come close to dealing with our fundamental problems.

Sadly though the ‘Virgin Birth’ is an aspect of that ‘unimaginable light breaking in’ that Coles seems to find genuinely unimaginable[1]. After all, how primitive, naïve and consequently embarrassing to believe such old fables – far better to understand it as a later embellishment giving a pious veneer to a more earthly reality. But the Virgin Birth cannot be put away without putting the stark truths of the Gospel away – because in it is revealed the reason why Christianity exists.

The Virgin Birth is a sign of our utter helplessness

In the centuries preceding the birth of Christ and in the centuries since, the story of

humanity has been an endless cycle of conflict, suffering and failure. The 20^th century began with huge optimism that the future would be one of progress towards greater harmony and happiness throughout the world. Instead of which it was the bloodiest and costliest century of war and killing ever experienced. The 21^st century has begun with 9/11, conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine, not to mention the ever present ravages of disease and poverty. Today’s children will not do better than their parents – they too will ultimately fall foul of the same incurable human weakness, greed and pride as every generation before them.

The Virgin Birth announced that there is no hope inside our humanity – our only hope is outside intervention. Thus in Bethlehem a new humanity was born – not of the old flesh but conceived of God’s Holy Spirit. No increase in the Overseas Aid budget, no charity single, no legislation, no social taskforce, no political settlement – can ever put right the catastrophe of the human heart. The Virgin Birth puts paid to any illusions of human self-help or improvement.

The Virgin Birth is a sign that we too need a supernatural new beginning

The message is clear – and should be self-evident – that old humanity, our humanity, is a dead-end. That, of course, is not a message people like to hear, indeed it is a message that Rulers fear, because it confounds our pride and displaces every political claim to be our saviour. The Virgin Birth, however, cuts open history with the introduction of a new humanity – born not of ‘natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband’s will’ – but born of God.

The Virgin Birth was nothing less than the demolition of our delusional self-sufficiency. Being a bit nicer or even a lot nicer will not suffice – what is required is nothing less than being born again. It’s as total as that! In Bethlehem’s manger, given at a cost to be paid 33 years later, was our second and only chance to live the life we were created for.

To make the Gospel of Jesus Christ little more than a call for moderation and bit more effort is simply to perpetuate the tragedy of lost, floundering and dying men and women.

Praise God, that in the gathering darkness, He did not leave us that way.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Of the Anglicans I’ve spoken to during the course of my tenure at New Humanist – the Rev Richard Coles, Francis Spufford, Linda Woodhead, Richard Holloway – I have yet to find one who doesn't accept evolution and the Big Bang, who seems really to believe the virgin birth or the Assumption, or who puts great stock in miracles or angels. 

https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/2912/editorial-woman-trouble

Take the high road into ministry

Written for FIEC website

Scotland has a great history of theological education – and it looks to have a good future too. Andy Hunter reflects on that heritage and shares one initiative that will help prepare more men and women for ministry.

Article Tags Pathways

Did you know that for almost 250 years Scotland had four universities while England only had two?

Did you know that central to John Knox’s vision of a Reformed Scotland was the establishment of a school in every parish? Knox was passionate about education because it was the means for every citizen to read the Bible for themselves and to be a nation of thinkers.

In the following centuries Scotland flourished – punching above its weight in its contributions to invention, science, engineering, literature and in the media. It led Winston Churchill to comment,

“Of all the small nations of this earth, perhaps only the ancient Greeks surpass the Scots in their contribution to mankind.”

This premium given to education was also seen in Scotland’s theological training institutions, starting of course in those ancient universities. Added to these over time were a range of Bible and ministry training colleges that prepared men and women for service all over the world. It was an investment in Gospel education and training that was foundational to raising up generations of able pastors, evangelists, missionaries, church workers and teachers.

Such provision of good Christian education and training remains vital if Scottish churches are to once again rise to the challenge of reaching the nation for Christ. Fortunately, despite the overall decline in church numbers and thus the base for colleges to draw on, there are still a range of strong evangelical training providers north of the border. These range from degree level providers to church apprenticeship schemes. Indeed there has perhaps never been such a variety of courses and options to fit the different needs and circumstances of potential trainees.

Which way?

However, for an individual contemplating more vocational forms of Christian ministry, and conscious of the importance of preparing themselves with relevant and quality training, the array of options can be confusing. This is especially true as many people are now looking to move into such ministry later in life, often with family responsibilities and having already had some partial training in various forms. For all ages there are financial considerations and the need to identify the training that will best prepare them for the particular type of ministry they feel called to.

Before any of that is, of course, the very basic consideration of whether vocational ministry is the right path for someone to go down in the first place.

Pathways

Thus it was with all these thoughts in mind that FIEC brought together a group of Scottish church leaders and trainers earlier this year. Mindful of the huge help that FIEC’s The Hub Conference has proved to be for people in recent years, the hope was that something similar could be held in Scotland. That is, a conference for anyone (supported by their local church) who is in training or thinking about getting training for vocational Christian ministry. A conference that would cover teaching on the nature of Christian ministry, its practicalities, the character required of Christian workers, as well as outlining the opportunities and challenges for the gospel today. In addition it would connect potential trainees with trainers, and give a chance for individuals to discuss their situation with some experienced leaders.

The result of this is Pathways – a conference organised by a partnership team involving FIEC, Cornhill Scotland, Charlotte Chapel, Chalmers Church, Tilsley College and Deeside Christian Fellowship. The conference itself will include other training providers along with teaching and input from a range of church leaders from across Scotland.

The hope is that Pathways will be a catalyst in raising up a new generation of gospel workers for Scotland and beyond; men and women educated, trained and equipped to serve Christ effectively and powerfully in our time. Scotland’s heritage has shown the immense gospel fruit of investing in such foundations. Pray that Pathways might have a key part in reviving that blessing.

Pathways is being held at the Erskine Bridge Hotel, Glasgow, Friday 30th January to Sunday 1st February 2015. Go to www.pathwaysconference.org for full details and to book.

Andy Hunter - FIEC Scotland Director

Before joining FIEC in November 2013, Andy worked for Greenview Church in Glasgow for nine years, prior to which he trained at Oak Hill College in London. He is married to Jessica and they have three children.

Down and Out in Bethlehem's Hills?

Luke 1 - Christmas is coming! 
After 400 years of silence and apparent inactivity God is about to break in afresh to human affairs. 

This new chapter in God's Great Story will begin in the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth, followed by Mary. An unlikely trio to kick-off the greatest event in human history.

Zechariah & Elizabeth – yesterday’s people! A couple ‘well on in years’ (v7) – the prime of life behind them, thoughts more on retirement than revolution. Perhaps they had once imagined that they would do great things for God – the young couple with a great ‘evangelical pedigree’. Elizabeth a descendant of Aaron himself. Zechariah with his calling to Temple ministry. But the years had passed and many dreams had no doubt been left unfulfilled.

Mary - not on the radar! A peasant girl from ‘no hope’ Nazareth (John 1:46). Someone not even with the basic status, in first century eyes, of being a married woman. A woman neither of wealth or fame – making up the numbers in the hinterland of God’s people.

Yet these are the very people God uses, and loves to use - confounding the wisdom of the world, confounding even our own expectations. As someone once said, ‘God doesn’t have a shelf’ – no-one is ‘over the hill’ in God’s plans, no-one is too ordinary to be used by God. 

So for those who think they’re past it and their usefulness to God has long gone – remember Zechariah & Elizabeth. For those who think they're just ‘nobodies’ destined to be insignificant – remember Mary.

Finally, I couldn’t help smiling at Zechariah’s reaction to his angelic visitation. Here is a man confronted by the visit of an angel – leaving him understandably terrified (v12). The angel announces that Elizabeth will have a child – and Zechariah’s reaction is, ‘How can I be sure of this?’ (v18). ‘Well Zechariah, how about the fact that that AN ANGEL has just miraculously appeared before your eyes!’ It seems ridiculous that Zechariah can see an angel but think his wife getting pregnant is just too much to believe. Yet, of course it’s so authentically human…

Christians are generally quite happy to believe that Jesus could die for the sins of the world, walk on water, feed 5000, be raised from the dead, will come back in the future and bring history to an end…etc. While simultaneously doubting that God’s can really enable them to overcome a sinful habit, or restore a marriage, or provide for their needs if they were to step out in faith to serve Him full-time...etc

Poor Zechariah, all those years of waiting and he almost blows it! But God is so gracious and will keep him right. We are such slow learners at times but fortunately God is an exceptionally patient teacher.

Praise God who delights to use has-beens, the obscure, and even the ‘slow to believe’. There's no such thing as 'down and out' in the life of faith.