David found faith when he was 40 years old. Although he and his two brothers had been brought up largely without religion in a family of Lithuanian Jewish heritage, David says he had been “searching for something” all his life.

“I was a typical teen growing up in the 1960s, when everybody was into gurus and meditation,” explains David. He says he then just “forgot about it” until he was making the movie Harry And The Hendersons in the US in 1986.

In the unlikely setting of a bathtub in a hotel room in Seattle, Washington, David’s search for religion began anew.

“I was in the bath, thinking about my late grandfather, with whom I had an extraordinarily close relationship,” says David, referring to his maternal grandfather, famous Fleet Street photographer Jimmy Jarche, who died in 1965 when David was 18.

“I always felt that he was with me as my spiritual guide. I felt him sitting on my shoulder. Then I thought to myself, ‘Why do I believe that and not believe in life after death?’ That got me thinking about the most famous person who they say had a life after death, Jesus.”

It led David to the New Testament of the Bible, and to Paul.

“I chose it because I knew that somebody called Paul actually existed, I knew that he wrote letters, and that they are there for everyone to see,” he added.

David read Paul’s epistle, which says that salvation is offered through faith in Jesus Christ, and had a “road to Damascus” moment when Paul’s words chimed with him.

“By the end of the letter, certainly by the end of the book, I was reading about a way of being and a way of life that I had been looking for all those years,” explains David.

Saint Paul made it clear that faith is no easy state to obtain. “When I read his letters, I saw that we both struggle with faith – it’s not an easy road no matter what religion you are,” he adds.

David joined the Church of England, but attends Christian churches of all denominations, depending on his location. He didn’t get confirmed in the church, though, until three years ago.

“Although I’m a very emotional man, I just can’t have blind faith, I have to find out for myself,” explains David. “It took me that long to say, ‘I fully commit’.”

C. S. Lewis left his childhood Christian faith to spend years as a determined atheist. After finally admitting God existed, Lewis gave in and knelt in prayer to become what he described later as “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.”

Lewis’s long journey away from, and back to, faith began with his mother’s death from cancer when he was a boy. Disillusioned that God had not healed his mother, Lewis set out on a path toward full-bodied rationalism and atheism.

The road back to faith was cluttered with obstacles Lewis once thought impossible to overcome. His conversion to a robust Christianity required years of intellectual struggle and came only after being convinced that faith was reasonable.

Could you summarize Jesus’ ministry in one sentence? Be careful—your answer will say more about you than it will about him. The Apostle Peter gave a one-sentence summary in Acts 10:38. It’s instructive how he chose to summarize the good news:

You know … how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

It’s a fascinating account. Peter has recently had a remarkable encounter with God–filled with revelation and mystery–and before he has time to sort it out, he is called upon to share the gospel of the Kingdom to a roomful of people who are completely foreign to him. This passage is pivotal to the growth of the church; it’s the moment when Peter’s experience overwhelmed his theological understanding of the gospel, and it’s when the Holy Spirit sovereignly decided to demolish ethnic walls and renovate the church.

Peter’s response is instructive not only because it gives the essentials of Jesus’ ministry; it provides the essence of our calling as followers of Jesus. Peter was after more than a mere presentation of gospel message; he was out to make disciples. First impressions, as the saying goes, are lasting ones, and I suspect Peter wanted his hearers’ first idea of Christianity to include the notion that they were called to be just like Jesus. The tree will grow from the seed, and Peter sowed the seeds of the divine nature becoming flesh-—not only in Jesus, but also in us.

What kind of tree will grow from the seed we plant? Perhaps we should measure our summary against Peter’s inspired example. He are five points of comparison:

1. Peter’s gospel message includes Father, Son and Holy Spirit working together. (“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit”) The tree will grow from the seed. Do we present the full picture of God at work in the earth, or limit the image of God to only One Person? Peter’s example is instructive. A “full gospel” requires the presentation of the full Godhead.

2. Peter’s gospel message doesn’t point to heaven as a future event. He paints a picture of heaven and earth linked together through the work of the Holy Spirit, who spans the divide and pours the stuff of heaven into the words and works of Jesus. In one simple sentence, we get to see how “Let-your-Kingdom-come-let-your-will-be-done-on-earth-as-it-is-in-heaven” works.

3. Peter’s gospel message does not limit Jesus’ mission to redemption only. We see Jesus going from place to place, “doing good and healing.” We see God in action, giving practical expression to his goodness and power. How many gospel presentations affirm his essential goodness as well as his power to express that goodness. True, redemption is part of the story, but Jesus embodied a much bigger “good news” than we dare to imagine.

4. Peter’s gospel message reminds us that we are called to conflict. Those who are in need of healing are “under the power of the devil.” Even the most “Missional Churches” of the western world fail to highlight the spiritual nature of the conflict we face. His intent was not to win an argument; his intent was to win freedom for the captives.

5. Peter’s gospel message presents the presence of God as a necessity for ministry. This final point is worthy of a separate article (or a book). Jesus-—Immanuel—operated in the presence of God. That presence was essential, not optional. If Jesus needed it, how much more do we?

Verses 39–43 indicate that Peter had more to say, but the Holy Spirit had heard enough. The Spirit was ready to harvest. God was ready to start a wildfire. Even those who were strangers to the Jewish covenant were welcomed into the Kingdom of God. The church would grow from pagan soil. The barbarians in Europe were about to see the light. If we were only dealing with church history, this verse would be interesting enough. Strangely, God’s not into church history, he’s into the church now. And certainly he didn’t inspire the book of Acts merely to interest us, it’s the inspired Scripture-—meant to instruct us.

How we summarize the gospel is the seed of our expectation. The tree grows from the seed. Peter called the seed “imperishable” because he wanted us to become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

Isn’t it time to revisit the gospel Peter preached?

Ray Hollenbach

“We Three Kings”

This hymn, also known as Quest of the Magi was written by Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr. in 1857. He was the rector of a Pennsylvania church and wrote the hymn for a Christmas pageant. The song was published in 1862. The song and a wrong theology grew popular shortly after.

The Magi were kings and they were from the Orient, the “east.” The Magi presented three gifts to Jesus, but most people have come to believe there were only three kings – and that is very unlikely.

There is a document called “Revelation of the Magi” that may have been written about one hundred years after the book of Matthew. It is not Scripture, but it is interesting study. That author describes a group as small as twelve, but possibly much larger, who traveled from China. They were thought to be descendants of Noah’s son, Seth. They had been given the knowledge that God would provide a great light that would lead them to the King of the Jewish people. d

Thom Rainer (extract)

“When we lead our people in the process of transformation, we need to orient them to the reality of the war within them. Romans 8:8-9 says, “Those whose lives are in the flesh are unable to please God. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” Once a Christian, the Spirit lives within us. But the “old self” still wars against the transformation. It is a battle and process that will continue until we enter eternity.

1. Transformation stalls without spiritual exercise.
2. Transformation stalls amidst envy and strife.
3. Transformation stalls when we live like the world.

Striving Rather Than Stalling

What if each morning, your church members prayed something like this: “Lord, I choose to be sold out to you today. Let me cross paths with those who need to see how your power transforms a life. Let me put others ahead of myself. Rejecting the feebleness of this world, help me to live like Christ.”

Imagine the transformation possible if they chose to place God’s mission and the interests of others before their own. I fear that too many people simply hope to survive the day unnoticed and unscathed. I discovered that such a mentality is too much like the world and too little like Jesus.

In listening to the stories from our research, we discovered that churches and individuals experiencing transformation all went through a cathartic moment in life. At some point in time, they looked around and decided that more was possible. Some came to this conclusion because of negative circumstances and others because of a great victory, but the principle was clear: a decision must be made.

The natural order of things is for energy to wane, and things come to a grinding halt.

But the Christian life does not have that intention. God creates a new life in us and wants to transform our everyday living into a portrait of the gospel’s power. “

German war-time Christian martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer termed “cheap grace” the deadly enemy of the church.

“Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession…. Cheap race is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living & incarnate”

(taken from editorial, Triple helix , winter 2014)

Several potentially dangerous gatherings have broken up and dissipated as worship was released among the unruly participants. Coming in a spirit of intercession, worshippers began to sing and position themselves between the protesting crowd and the Highway Patrol forming a protective line. Within minutes, the riotous crowd deflated and dispersed as, “This isn’t fun anymore.” and “I’m going home.” were heard. Others in the crowd joined the worship, with several coming to Christ.

(St. Louis, Missouri)

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Jesus brought a message that spoke to the deepest longings of the human heart to become not simply conformed to a religious subculture but transformed into “new creatures”. instead of focusing on the boundaries, Jesus focused on the centre, the heart of spiritual life. When asked to identify what the law is about, Jesus response was simply “Love God, Love people”. He names a fundamentally different way of identifying who are the children of God:” do they love God, and do they love the people who mean so much to Him?”

John Ortberg (The life you’ve always wanted)

Chris Evans (Islwyn, Labour)  Argoed in my constituency was rocked over the weekend by a particularly gruesome and horrific murder, and I am sure the whole House will join me in extending sympathies to the family of Cerys Yemm, the young girl who lost her life. The Ministry of Justice has launched an immediate investigation into why her killer committed such a serious offence within 30 days of being released. However, reports yesterday said that he could not get a prescription for his paranoid schizophrenia, he was not met at the prison gate and he was referred to a local bed and breakfast, where this horrific murder took place. Does the Secretary of State agree with the need for an urgent investigation into how mental health is treated in prisons and the monitoring of prisoners after they are released?

Chris Grayling (The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ; Epsom and Ewell, Conservative)   Let us be clear that we all think that what took place was a horrendous incident. I offer my sincere condolences to the family of the victim. I also offer my sympathy to the hon. Gentleman as the localMember of Parliament dealing with this difficult situation. Of course, a serious further offence review is looking at what took place and it would be wrong of me to prejudge its outcome, but it is already clear to me that lessons will need to be learned and that we may need to make modifications to the way the system works in order to try to make sure that nothing as horrendous as this can ever happen again.