Deep Creek Anglican Church Blog

“Death (a tool and design of the Satan) is the enemy and life is the act of God that overcomes death.”  That’s how Scot McKnight begins a recent post, The Future Now and I agree with him.  Scot profiles the views expressed by Matt Levering in Jesus and the demise of death.

He concludes,

“Christ’s Body, then, is a community of faith, hope and love. One does not perceive the resurrected Christ apart from faith, and with faith one enters into the resurrected Body of Christ….[there is] a pattern of God as the God of life (not death) in the Scriptures and its Story.”

 

Christopher Hitchens has passed away after a long battle with throat cancer.  In the New York Times obituary, the following is recalled:

“In 2007, when the interviewer Sean Hannity tried to make the case for an all-seeing God, Mr. Hitchens dismissed the idea with contempt. “It would be like living in North Korea,” he said.”

I stuck by Hitchens’ denial of the reality of Rev 5:6, that Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain to purchase men and women for god for every tribe and language and people and nation, is indeed all seeing (depicted by the “seven eyes”) and is all powerful (depicted by the “seven horns”).

As Michael Bird sums up:

“Any death is sad, more so when a man dedicates so much of his life to heaping scorn and mockery on the one person, Jesus Christ, who could have brought hope, peace, and victory over death for Hitchens.”

Well it’s Melbourne Cup day.  The church’s Annual Report is due to be released this coming weekend.  So with seemingly all of Melbourne caught up in Cup fever, I sat down this morning to pen some words on the last twelve months.  Here’s how I began:

“We have just experienced a dramatic year in the life of this church.  There have been many truly wonderful spiritual highlights and blessings.  And we have grieved together at the home call of my wife, Sheryl.  It has been a dramatic year both for our church community and for myself personally.  ”God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble….The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (Ps 46:1,11)”

I didn’t get much further.  But I have cleaned out the tear ducts!

Then as I sought to resume my writing, I came across the eulogy given by Steve Jobs’ biological sister, Mona Simpson, at his memorial service held on 16th October at the Memorial Church of Stanford University.  It has just been published in The New York Times.

It is wonderfully written and expresses the deep love that Steve Jobs had for his family and Mona.  Here is a particularly moving and inspiring recollection by Mona:

“…Steve became ill and we watched his life compress into a smaller circle. Once, he’d loved walking through Paris. He’d discovered a small handmade soba shop in Kyoto. He downhill skied gracefully. He cross-country skied clumsily. No more.

Eventually, even ordinary pleasures, like a good peach, no longer appealed to him.  Yet, what amazed me, and what I learned from his illness, was how much was still left after so much had been taken away.

I remember my brother learning to walk again, with a chair. After his liver transplant, once a day he would get up on legs that seemed too thin to bear him, arms pitched to the chair back. He’d push that chair down the Memphis hospital corridor towards the nursing station and then he’d sit down on the chair, rest, turn around and walk back again. He counted his steps and, each day, pressed a little farther.

Laurene got down on her knees and looked into his eyes.

“You can do this, Steve,” she said. His eyes widened. His lips pressed into each other.

He tried. He always, always tried, and always with love at the core of that effort. He was an intensely emotional man.”

Hmm. Still need to finish that Report…..

 

 

 

John Stott, at age 90, has passed into the presence of his Lord and Saviour.  What a great Christian, pastor, scholar and equipper of men and women for Kingdom ministry.

His writings had a profound influence in my early years of following Christ.  And to this day, when preparing a message from a passage of Scripture, I will nearly always check whether John has written a commentary on that book.  And if he has, his writings are always succinct, clear, and honouring of His great God.  Perhaps my favourite book by John Stott is The Cross of Christ.  One passage in this book has greatly shaped my theology of the Cross:

“We must not, then, speak of God punishing Jesus or of Jesus persuading God, for to do so is to set them over against each other as if they acted independently of each other or were even in conflict with each other.  We must never make Christ the object of God’s punishment or God the object of Christ’s persuasion, for both God and Christ were subjects not objects, taking the initiative together to save sinners.

Whatever happened on the cross in terms of ‘God-forsakenness’ was voluntarily accepted by both in the same holy love which made atonement necessary.  It was’God in our nature forsaken of God.’  If the Father ‘gave the Son,’ the Son ‘gave himself.’  If the Gethsemane ‘cup’ symbolised the wrath of God, it was nevertheless ‘given’ by the Father (Jn 18:11) and voluntarily ‘taken’ by the Son.  If the Father ‘sent’ the Son, the Son ‘came’ himself.  The Father did not lay on the Son an ordeal he was reluctant to bear, nor did the Son extract from the Father a salvaiton he was reluctant to bestow.

There is no suspicion anywhere in the New Testament of discord between the Father and the Son, ‘whether by the Son wrestling forgiveness from an unwilling Father or by the Father demanding a sacrifice from an unwilling Son.’”

Along with such classics as Basic Christianity, Stott wrote on the interface of the Christian and the Church with the world around.  As Rector Emeritus of All Souls Church, John Stott was given the charge to speak and teach internationally. During many international trips, he heard church leaders say their greatest need was help for “our pastors to teach and preach effectively” and so the strategic ministry programs of the Langham Partnership were born.

In 2010, The Radical Disciple was published, with the following words on the back cover:

“So many of us avoid discipleship by being selective, choosing rather those areas in which commitment is appealing, and steering well clear of areas where it will be costly.

But because Jesus is Lord, we have no liberty to pick and choose.”

I think that wonderfully sums up the life of John Stott.  No…actually one word sums up John’s life…’humility.’

 

In the final chapter of William Willimon’s Why Jesus? the author considers the wonder of the Christian community being referred to as Jesus’ ‘body.’  Willimon writes:

“Paul’s talk of body makes Jesus more than a helpful moral example or a wise spiritual guru.  Jesus Christ is the living God intimately with us, in us.  I also hope that you see that the faith engendered by Jesus is much more than, “now I know I’ll get to heaven when I die.” Hardly anyone said that about Jesus.  Rather, what they said was, in so many words, “Jesus is intimately among us; heaven has come down to earth.  Now I know that I’ll really get to really live before I die.  And when I die, I’ll die in the confidence that the same Jesus who risked so much to get me life will do the same in death.”

Jesus is God’s great rescue operation, God’s risky reach toward us, and God’s loving embrace of us, here, now, so that He may have us forever.  Jesus is not how we sail away up to heaven (like all the hooey among some Christians about the “rapture”).  Jesus is God coming to us, here, now, heaven come to earth.

Jesus doesn’t wait to be of relevance to us someday when we die; Jesus makes us fully alive now.  The great “temple” where we come close to God is Jesus.  “I am bread, feed on Me.”  There’s no great, new truth about God awaiting our discovery.  In Jesus, God has intimately revealed to us the grand, full truth about God, at least all we can take of the truth.  Emmanuel.  The curtain is ripped and we see, we know God With Us.”

 

I have previously posted on the renowned scientist, Stephen Hawking’s views on God and the universe here, here and here.  As I read the newspapers early on Tuesday, 17th May, I came across this article in The Age, referencing Stephen Hawking: ‘There is no heaven; it’s a fairy story’ in The Guardian.  Hawking is quoted as saying:

“I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”

The statement really caught my attention.  Although our youngest son’s life in a wheelchair is not due to motor neurone disease, I have felt great empathy with Stephen Hawking over the years.  The comment also really lodged in my mind as I prepared for the day ahead.  One hour after reading it, I woke my very sick wife, helped her get ready and into her wheelchair. We then set off to hospital for her to undergo major hip surgery.

Just over 12 hours after I had read Hawking’s article, Sheryl passed into the Lord’s very presence.  The Lord whom she loved and served.  Heaven is not a fairy tale. But it is not the final destination – that will be the New Heaven and New Earth, to be brought in by Christ at His return.

Today I came across a response to Hawking’s article, by the English Bishop, N. T. Wright, posted in The Washington Post.  It captures exactly what I have wanted to say on this blog in response to the fairy story that heaven is a fairy story!

1 Cor 15:50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yesterday morning, we buried the body of my wife.  In the afternoon, a very large crowd came together to praise God for His grace in the life of Sheryl McArdle.  Sheryl had discussed her desires for this Thanksgiving Service with me many months ago.  Lots of worship singing.  We honoured that desire as nearly 700 people just avoided lifting the roofs off the Deep Creek buildings!  We also agreed that I would give the address.

God’s grace to enable me to preach yesterday, and the peace He gave me as I rose to speak, will always be treasured by myself – I can assure you it would have been impossible for me to minister without being carried on ‘eagles wings.’  You can listen to the message here.  Here’s the transcription – not quite word-for word:

“Death is confronting.  Very confronting.

That’s why there is often such a massive effort expended on sanitising it; dismissing it; seeking to fill up our lives and minds with anything and everything to push back the harsh reality of death.

But death comes.  Like an intruder in the night.  Unwanted; out of order.

We rightly cry out against it.  That’s what I felt like doing last Tuesday night.

Something is wrong in our world.  Terribly wrong.

Does God care??

 

Friends, not only does God care; God has dealt death THE death blow.

God Himself has intervened.  Himself!  In the Person of the Lord Jesus – the God-Man.  The Lord Jesus Christ – the centre of Sheryl’s life –ever since she trusted in Jesus as her Lord and Saviour over 30 years ago.

But perhaps you might be thinking, “How did God deal death THE death blow?” I mean Sheryl’s body did stop last Tuesday.

The Apostle Paul not only answers this question, but provides immeasurable comfort for all you are trusting in Jesus – in this last part of 1 Corinthians 15.

Paul states clearly and boldly that those who are living in earthly, natural bodies now (like himself) cannot inherit the KOG or eternal life as they are.

Paul is NOT denying that physical bodies will be in the New Heaven & New Earth.

Paul uses the expression ‘flesh and blood‘ to describe human nature as it is now – in all of its frailty; in its perishability – as we have witnessed over many years with Sheryl, and most certainly on Tuesday night.

To inherit God’s final Kingdom – there needs to be total transformation.  Body and spirit.

Sheryl’s inner person began a process of transformation when she trusted in the LJ three decades ago.  Sheryl simply responded in her whole person – not just intellectual assent – to the truth of John 3:16:

And that inner transformation was made complete last Tuesday night as Jesus welcomed her into His very presence.  Sheryl is with the Lord in blissful, ecstatic joy.  More alive than ever.  Conscious.  Interacting with others in heaven.

And as good as that is, the Lord still has more in store for her.

What grace!  What fantastic love!

 

The outer – the body – also requires transformation so that we can inhabit; live in the New Heaven and New Earth – which will be a very physical existence!  And that transformation of her broken body will happen at the resurrection – when Jesus returns.

Christians don’t grieve without hope.  At earthly death, we are in fact alive in the very presence of the Lord.

At Jesus’ Second Coming, the body in the grave is resurrected and transformed. The torn tent of Sheryl’s body will one day be transformed when the Lord Jesus returns.  And He will. Paul says to the Philippian Christians in fact that believers’ bodies will be transformed so that “they will be like Jesus’ glorious body.”

That’s a great package, isn ‘t it?  That is God’s love for His broken world; for broken people.  It has been made possible thru Jesus – His death and resurrection.

But like any gift, you need to receive it.

Paul says, ‘Listen up.  I’m going to tell you a mystery.’  A divine truth that had not previously been disclosed.

Listen up.  In the twinkling of an eye, (flash), the last trumpet will sound –

Sheryl requested a trumpet for today’s service.  As good as Jason is, the last trumpet will be something very special!

The trumpet will announce a thundering note of victory – “the Lord Jesus has returned.” And transformation will be complete for EVERY follower of Jesus – whether they are alive, or their body is in the grave.

When the Lord Jesus returns He will bring this world with its terrible sicknesses; its rebellion against the love of God; with its death – to an end.

Everyone will be judged. The living and the dead.  There will be a setting right.

And ALL who are trusting in Jesus – described here by Paul as ‘brothers and sisters‘ will inherit the KOG in its fullness.

Sheryl will be there.  Exploring all of its delights!

Why?  Because Jesus died for her sins.  And rose again for her, conquering sin, and death.

And because Sheryl accepted this free gift of salvation – in repentance and faith.  And she continued to trust in Jesus – right to the end of this life.

Is that your personal experience?  Your personal testimony?

Sheryl knew the tent of her body was getting ripped apart.  But she could face the destruction of her body with resolute confidence.

This was not something which she psyched herself up about.  Not something she dreamed up.

It was a rock solid confidence based on the authority of God’s Word.  Attested by the resurrection of Jesus.

So the Apostle Paul puts it this way:

Radical transformation.  Death itself will be swallowed up – ie. completely done away with.

Death – that disgusting intruder – that destroyer – will be gone forever.

Why?  Because of Jesus and what He has done in His death and resurrection.

Without Jesus, death has a terrible sting.  The word ‘sting’ was used in Paul’s day to describe the deadly stinger of a scorpion.

Without Jesus, we will stand before God with all of our sin exposed.

With Jesus – our sin is completely removed.  That’s what Jesus achieved on the Cross.

Without Jesus.  With Jesus. Jesus makes all the difference – not only in this world but in the world to come.

For the Christian – for Sheryl – for all – who are trusting in the One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life –          the sting of death has been removed.

Oh yes, followers of Jesus end up with deadly tears in the tent of their bodies – like all people.

But earthly death for the Christian simply prepares the person for being clothed with a glorious body that will NEVER be impacted by disease, or evil.

Yes, with Sheryl’s temporary passing there is deep grief.  Such a special person will be missed very deeply.  BUT, Christians do not grieve without hope.

We have ROCK SOLID confidence in the future – because of a ROCK SOLID confidence in Jesus – demonstrated to all by His resurrection.

Salvation is freely available to all who come in simple childlike faith.

Friends, the Lord Jesus will return and when He does, He will usher in the New Heaven & New Earth.  Existence in the New Heaven & New Earth will not be boring!  It will be fun filled, creative, stimulating days without end.  It is the most fantastic prospect.

 

The pain and deep, deep grief that death brings will be gone forever!

 

It is wonderful to have such a huge crowd here this afternoon celebrating the grace of God in Sheryl’s life.  I know that Sheryl’s deep desire would be that EVERYONE here this day would be trusting in the One – the only One – who has conquered sin, death and the grave.

The One whom death could not hold down.  The One who is risen.  The One whom would have welcomed Sheryl with open arms last Tuesday night.”

 

 

 

 

The Apostle Peter writes in 1 Pt 5,

“⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.”

In the midst of deep and profound grief at the temporary departure of my dear wife last Tuesday night, 17th May, whose body finally succumbed to ravaging cancer, God’s care has been manifest in so many ways – to myself; our family; our church community at Deep Creek Anglican.  Let me give one illustration.

Each year I aim to have at least a five-week preaching series from the Psalms – for either one or all of the three congregations at Deep Creek.  It was mid-way through last year that I read the following review of Talking Back to God.  The book’s thrust really caught my attention; I purchased a copy and then there it sat on my ‘future reading’ shelf.

A suitable bone marrow donor was identified for Sheryl in July last year and from August on, life became intense with Sheryl’s pre-transplant procedures and then hospitalisation for one month.  Sheryl survived the critical first 100 days post transplant and during this time I gave more thought and prayer to the preaching program for 2011.

As I looked at the flow of the new year, I felt led to follow the Kingdom Living series with a Psalms series, Talking Back to God.  I penciled this in for five weeks but did not at that time decide on which particular psalms to use.

Through January 2011, Sheryl was recovering well from the bone marrow transplant however three melanomas appeared on her upper body.  Not a good development.  They were removed and the clear post-surgery cat scan seemed positive.  Within weeks however Sheryl developed a very bad limp and pain on her left side.

Church-life was hectic in the run-up to Easter and one item that needed to be finalised was the preaching program post Easter.  I flicked through Talking Back to God with my open Bible and selected five psalms, with Ps 23 planned for Sunday, May 22nd under the title, ‘Talking Back to God: From Weakness to Strength.’

Sheryl’s condition continued to worsen and on Tuesday, 12th April she was admitted again to hospital.  Within 10 hours, a cat scan revealed extensive cancer in her bones.  She was confined to a wheelchair and the prognosis, from a medical perspective, was very bleak.

Sheryl was able to join us on hospital day leave on Sundays for corporate worship, including Easter Sunday.  We began the Talking Back to God series on 8th May, in the midst of both personal, family and church grieving over Sheryl’s health.  What a blessing!  The psalms speak so powerfully into all contexts, and the joys and sorrows of life.  The Lord used them powerfully to minister into our church community.

Sheryl passed into the Lord’s glorious presence last Tuesday night, only hours after surgery intended to improve her mobility.  Although I had had many years to prepare for her passing; notwithstanding her resolute faith in, and love for, the Lord; the grief in the immediate days following was overwhelming.  Probably contributed by so much health trauma over the last decade.

Did God care?  Most certainly.  I decided to attend each of our three services on Sunday, but not to participate up-front.  James Duff spoke from Ps 23 – and the Lord’s gracious, comforting, soothing ministry through the Word and His Spirit was awesome.

Was this a coincidence that last Sunday with our family grieving; the church community grieving; that the Lord cared for His people with the words of Ps 23?  A skeptic would say, ‘Yes, a coincidence.’

But I know differently.  I have seen the Lord’s gracious hand in my own life; in the family’s life; in the church’s life, innumerable times over the years.  But last Sunday was something to always be remembered.  Tears were streaming down my face as James preached – tears of loss (temporary yes, but still very real loss); tears of thankfulness for God’s grace in saving Sheryl; tears of thankfulness for her gentle gospel witness to me during those many years of my stubborn resistance to the love of God in Jesus; tears of thankfulness for God’s sustaining grace in her life, through enormous trials of suffering; tears of joy and thankfulness for the Lord’s awesome love for His church, that He would so superintend that Ps 23 would be our focus on that Sunday of deep grief.

Does God care?  Yes, the Shepherd cares so deeply for His broken world that He laid down His life.

Praise You, Father for Your love.

Praise You, Jesus for Your death and resurrection.

Praise You, Holy Spirit, for Your Word and ministry into hearts and lives.

 

 

 

 

Last Sunday we commenced a five-week series from the Psalms, Talking Back to God.  James Duff, our Young Families and Young Adults Pastor, preached a great message from Ps 90.  Each year we incorporate five weeks or so of journeying through the Pslams.  This year I was greatly inspired by this book on the psalms:

Have you ever felt like talking back to God?  That’s the question posed by Lynn Anderson in Talking Back to God: Speaking your Heart to God Through the Psalms.  This is not a verse-by-verse commentary on the Psalms.  It is much more than that!

In Lynn’s words, the book is a “humble guide for talking back to God using the Psalms.”

And the book certainly achieves its purpose for those who take up the challenge to pray one psalm a day – not legalistically, but with heart orientation to pursue God.

In the current circumstances of our family, with cancer rapidly producing very large tears in my wife’s body, I was struck by the opening lines of chapter 8 where Lynn enters into the wonders of Ps 23.  Here’s Lynn’s experience:

“Soon after I was diagnosed with lung cancer, I tossed through some long nights with dark shadows and my faith seemed terribly weak.  Several mornings in a row, my first waking thought was, ‘I have death in my body.’…

So one of those dark mornings I ventured to confess this to Carolyn.

“I have death in my body,” I said.

“Of course you do,” she replied.  ”So do I.  So does everyone.  But you also have life in your body.  And we going to celebrate life.”"

What is your experience as you go to the regular spiritual gym of the Psalms?  My own experience is that of Lynn’s:

“Even when we are too weak to see it ourselves, the Psalms remind us of God’s strength available to us.  They remind us that we can talk back to God – even when we feel as if death is in our bodies.”

 

 

 

 

Billy Graham is now in his ninth decade (not a current photo!).  Christianity Today recently submitted brief questions to Billy on his health, as well as his reflections on ministry, politics and evangelicalism.  In his responses, he shows a humble heart, an objectivity on what he would do different, and a deep devotion to Christ and His Gospel.

Read the interview here.

In responding to “What advice would you give to people who are aging?“, the following part of his answer really stood out:

“So part of my advice is to learn to be content, and that only comes as we accept each day as a gift from God and commit it into his hands. Paul’s words are true at every stage of life, but especially as we grow older: “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6).”

Billy Graham will certainly be missed when the Lord calls him home.