Andy Shudall works with students in New Zealand, for TSCF – I don’t know him, never met him, but I know he’s a friend of lots of friends (11 according to Facebook). Anyway he’s just written a great post summing up 2008 for him… sounds like he’s had a pretty rough year… I’d echo much of what he says…

1. God is good, sovereign and true no matter our experience.

3. Sinfulness is so ingrained in the human heart, soul and mind that weakness strengthens it and strength is laid low before it.

4. Seasons change and there is glory in every season.

5. Of all the things to treasure here friendship is of great value.

“Goodbye 2008 – you weren’t what I asked for, but I’m confident that you are what I needed.”

I finally got round to finishing Tim Keller’s ‘The Prodigal God’, it’s not a long book, I’m just a slow reader and easily distracted! If you want a summary of the book, I would say… Tim Keller through the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15) exposes how we look for hope in the world – through the emptiness of sensual living (like the younger son) or through the folly of moral obedience (like the elder son), he shows us how living in these ways cause us to be lost. But he shows us the hope of a third way, the hope of the gospel, the hope that comes only from God’s lavish grace given in Jesus.

Here’s some reasons why I like the book, other than the previous sentence:

1. It helps you to see things differently – particularly in exposes the true cost of bringing the younger son back and the true heart of the elder brother
2. There are loads of little mini Bible overviews of themes running throughout; the Father, the true elder brother, Sin, forgiveness, repentance, exile, lostness, Hope, Home, feasts
3. Keller does faithful exposition, practical, relevant application and Biblical overview all in the same chapter
4. I don’t really read novels, but it’s great for people who do… Keller seamlessly interweaves the narrative of secular novels by way of illustration into his writing
5. Keller’s assertions are backed up through the writings of philosophers, it’s intellectually robust

Finally I loved Keller’s concluding acknowledgement to the influence of Edmund Clowney in his ministry:

“He also taught me that it was possible to be theologically sound and completely orthodox and yet unfailing gracious – a rare and precious combination.”

This is a definite must-read, go and get it – £10 from the Good Book Company.

Here’s some passages that I’ll be preaching on in the coming months of 2009:

11th January  -  Matthew 18:1-11

1st February  -  Matthew 18:21-35

22nd March  -  1 Corinthians 9:19-27

10th May  -  Psalm 122

14th June  -  Matthew 21:18-22

These are all Sunday services at church, I’m guessing there’ll be more in the second half of the year not to mention the inevitable stuff that will come from Midweek services, Global Cafe talks, kids talks, leading Explorers, midweek youth groups, student groups, devotions at international college… CU’s – waiting for an invitation from the Carve! So that should keep me pretty busy.

“It aint about forgiveness, I’ve done that lots of times over the years, forgiveness is just a switch in the heart. But forgetting is different, and trust is different, there aint no short cut to them.“  -  Dot Cotton, Boxing Day Eastenders

I think I actually agree with her… forgiveness is a decision you make in your heart, in your mind. But, forgetting (the point where it doesn’t hurt?), and trust of people who’ve hurt you and just trust of other people generally… she’s right, that’s not a switch, something easy, it’s not a decision that can be made, surely that just takes time, and God’s grace to heal…?

Usually I cringe at the Dot Cotton ‘spiritual input’ into Eastenders, but I think she was fairly on the mark with this one.

I’m currently sitting in an executive pad in Bristol, it’s got a nice plasma TV and a comfy leather sofa with a bit you can recline on, it’s very nice. Anyway, this morning we visited a local church and was intrigued by the ‘Confession Prayer’, intrigued for two reasons…

First, it was all about Forgiveness, something which I’ve had to think a lot about recently and have consequently blogged on. Here’s the prayer:

Dear Jesus, it is hard to forgive people when they hurt us and our friends. We want to hit back – and sometimes we do. But You teach us to love our enemies no matter what they do. Forgive us Lord Jesus, when we do not forgive others. Help us to understand why people hurt others, and let our hearts be filled with love for them. Amen

I like the prayer because it’s simple, kids can understand it, but it’s also brutally honest about the reality of life and how hard forgiveness is, not just that but the sinfulness of not forgiving people.

Secondly, I was intrigued because it’s a really weird “Confession”… usually when we do corporate confession in church it’s a bit more general, we acknowledge a complete depravity in all areas of life and bring that to God… although in this the only act of confession is to confess our refusal to forgive others. So, great prayer about forgiveness… slightly strange as an act of corporate confession!

On a related thought… every so often for one reason or another I get the opportunity to visit other churches, and I’ve always thought it would be fun to do a bit of a ‘Mystery Worshipper’ thing, essentially to blog a review of the church service – how good was the service, coffee, how comfy the seat, how warm the welcome? This isn’t a new concept (see Ship of Fools), but that site tends to be a little disappointing in terms of the quantity and quality of the reviews there. Anyone interested in joining me in this??