2020 Books

It's the end of another year. I like to keep track of my reading each year, so here's this year's reading list.
1. From Weakness to Strength - Scott Sauls
2. Unlimited Grace - Bryan Chapell
3. Good Wives - Louisa May Alcott
4. The Princess Diarist - Carrie Fisher
5. The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
6. Secret Service - Tom Bradby
7. Following Jesus in Turbulent Times - Hikmat Kashouh
8. The Marshmallow Test - Walter Mischel
9. Judges For You - Tim Keller
10. Rooted - Edward Rhodes

11. How to Pray - Pete Greig
12. The Final Days of Jesus - Andreas J Köstenberger
13. The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross - AW Pink
14. I AM: Poetic Reflections through the Gospel of John - David Young
15. A Shelter in the Time of Storm - Paul David Tripp
16. Meddling Kids - Edgar Cantero
17. Coronavirus and Christ - John Piper
18. The King’s Justice - EM Powell
19. Where is God in a Coronavirus World? John Lennox
20. Preaching - Calvin Miller

21. Freakonomics - Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner
22. The Monastery Murders - EM Powell
23. In the Presence of my Enemies - Dale Ralph Davis
24. Good Times Never Seemed So Good - Stephen Collins
25. Letters to the Church - Francis Chan
26. Unreliable Memoirs - Clive James
27. The Confession - Jo Spain
28. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry - John Mark Comer
29. From Good News to Gospels - David Wenham
30. Bookworm - Lucy Mangan

31. Unfollow - Megan Phelps-Roper
32. My Autobiography - Rory Best
33. Humble Calvinism - JA Medders
34. A Mind to Murder - PD James
35. The Guest List - Lucy Foley
36. The Burnings 1920 - Pearse Lawlor
37. Thank You, Jeeves - PG Wodehouse
38. Gentle and Lowly - Dane Ortlund
39. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
40. Confronting Christianity - Rebecca McLaughlin

41. Sleep - CL Taylor
42. Undivided - Vicky Beeching
43. A War of Loves - David Bennett
44. The Dilemma - BA Paris
45. The Murder at the Vicarage - Agatha Christie
46. Digital Minimalism - Cal Newport
47. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
48. The Code of the Woosters - PG Wodehouse
49. Hidden in Plain View - Lydia McGrew
50. Prince Caspian - CS Lewis

51. The Guardians - John Grisham
52. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - CS Lewis
53. Let This Be Our Secret - Deric Henderson
54. Recovering From Biblical Manhood and Womanhood - Aimee Byrd
55. The Spy and the Traitor - Ben MacIntyre
56. Knowing God - JI Packer
57. The Twelve - Stuart Neville
58. Remaking a Broken World - Christopher Ash
59. A Word to Fellow Pastors - Horatius Bonar
60. On Reading Well - Karen Swallow Prior

61. Bring Them Home - DS Butler
62. Augustine on the Christian Life - Gerald Bray
63. The Silver Chair - CS Lewis
64. Where Secrets Lie - DS Butler
65. Money Counts - Graham Beynon
66. Don't Turn Back - DS Butler
67. The Horse and His Boy - CS Lewis
68. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race - Reni Eddo-Lodge
69. The Magician's Nephew - CS Lewis
70. The Clocks - Agatha Christie

71. House of Lies - DS Butler
72. The Last Battle - CS Lewis
73. Between the Stops - Sandi Toksvig
74. Out of the Silent Planet - CS Lewis
75. The Inimitable Jeeves - PG Wodehouse
76. Still, Silent, and Strong - Pierce Taylor Hibbs
77. Voyage to Venus (Perelandra) - CS Lewis
78. A Belfast Child - John Chambers
79. Wby does God care who I sleep with? - Sam Allberry
80. The Holiday - TM Logan

81. That Hideous Strength - CS Lewis
82. The Creaking on the Stairs - Mez McConnell
83. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
84. The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories - PD James
85. Hercule Poirot's Christmas - Agatha Christie
86. The One True Light - Tim Chester
87. Skipping Christmas - John Grisham
88. Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari
89. Hidden Christmas - Tim Keller

My top five are:
1. Gentle and Lowly - Dane Ortlund
2. Confronting Christianity - Rebecca McLaughlin
3. Skipping Christmas - John Grisham
4. My Autobiography - Rory Best
5. Good Times Never Seemed So Good - Stephen Collins
Here are the links to previous years' book blogs: 2019 (62); 2018 (50); 2017 (31); 2016 (23); 2015 (21); 2014 (26); 2013 (45); 2012 (49); 2011 (37); 2010 (52); 2009 (41); 2008 (23); 2007 (78).

2019 Books

It’s the end of another year, and time to review my reading over the past year. I've managed to increase my books again this year - up from 50 to 62, although still not as many as the 78 of 2007. Here are the books I've read this year:

1. 1342 QI Facts to leave you flabbergasted - John Lloyd
2. Unimaginable - Jeremiah J Johnston
3. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
4. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
5. Normal People - Sally Rooney
6. Organised - Sarah Reynolds
7. The Prodigal Prophet - Timothy Keller
8. Th1rt3en - Steve Cavanagh
9. Stump Kingdom - Dale Ralph Davis
10. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

11. None Like Him - Jen Wilkin
12. Murphy’s Revenge - Colin Bateman
13. The Robots are Coming: Us, Them and God - Nigel Cameron
14. Real - Catherine Parks
15. That Hideous Strength: How The West Was Lost - Melvin Tinker
16. Even Better Than Eden - Nancy Guthrie
17. The Pilgrim’s Progress - John Bunyan
18. Long Story Short - Glen Scrivener
19. Hillbilly Elegy - JD Vance
20. Characters in Acts: A Matter of the Heart - Harry Uprichard

21. Why Can’t We Be Friends - Aimee Byrd
22. Gay Girl, Good God - Jackie Hill Perry
23. Can Science Explain Everything? - John Lennox
24. Sipping Saltwater - Steve Hoppe
25. Conversations With Friends - Sally Rooney
26. Paperboy - Tony Macaulay
27. Gilead - Marilynne Robinson
28. A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War - Joseph Loconte
29. Teaching Acts - David Cook
30. The Hunting Party - Lucy Foley

31. Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell
32. Going the Distance - Peter Brain
33. Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl - ND Wilson
34. The Choice - Edith Eger
35. Pray Big - Alistair Begg
36. Plugged In - Daniel Strange
37. The Reckoning - John Grisham
38. The Final Silence - Stuart Neville
39. Twelve Ways Your Phone is Changing You - Tony Reinke
40. Those We Left Behind - Stuart Neville

41. An Open Door - Maud Kells with Jean Gibson
42. So Say The Fallen - Stuart Neville
43. Fire and Brimstone - Colin Bateman
44. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
45. Preaching - Timothy Keller
46. Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come - Jessica Pan
47. Diary of a Somebody - Brian Bilston
48. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
49. Erasing Hell - Francis Chan & Preston Sprinkle
50. Burned - Sam McBride

51. The Book Your Pastor Wishes You Would Read (but is too embarrassed to ask) - Christopher Ash
52. Orpheus Rising - Colin Bateman
53. The Church of Ireland - RB McDowell
54. Is This It? - Rachel Jones
55. The Weirdest Nativity - Andrew Sach & Jonathan Gemmell
56. The Gift - Glen Scrivener
57. My Sister, The Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite
58. Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate - MC Beaton
59. On the Incarnation - St Athanasius
60. God in the ICU - Dave Walker

61. Love Came Down at Christmas - Sinclair Ferguson
62. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

My top five are:
1. Burned - Sam McBride
2. Diary of a Somebody - Brian Bilston
3. Pray Big - Alistair Begg
4. The Prodigal Prophet - Tim Keller
5. So Say The Fallen - Stuart Neville

Here are the links to previous years' book blogs: 2018 (50)
2017 (31); 2016 (23); 2015 (21); 2014 (26); 2013 (45); 2012 (49); 2011 (37); 2010 (52); 2009 (41); 2008 (23); 2007 (78).

2018 Books

It's the end of another year, and another year of reading. I've been keeping track of the books that I've read each year since 2007 - purely for my own interest. I'm glad to report that my 50 books this year is well up on last year's 31, but still not close to 2007's 78 books! This is partly due to the Arrow Leadership Course and its extensive reading list, and partly because I've been trying to use my phone less and read a bit more. Plus, when I'm on holiday, I read quite a bit, managing ten books in one week abroad!

Here are the books I read this year:

1. To Live is Christ, to Die is Gain - Matt Chandler & Jared C Wilson
2. Insight into Stress - Beverley Shepherd
3. The Emotionally Healthy Leader - Peter Scazzero
4. Do More Better - Tim Challies
5. Camino Island - John Grisham
6. The Work of Christ - RC Sproul
7. The American Future - Simon Schama
8. Anthems for a Dying Lamb - Philip S Ross
9. Death by Meeting - Patrick Lencioni
10. This Invitational Life - Steve Carter

11. A Resilient Life - Gordon MacDonald
12. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Lencioni
13. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne
14. Supernatural Power for Everyday People - Jared C Wilson
15. Reset - David Murray
16. Fierce Convictions - Karen S Prior
17. What is the Mission of the Church? - Kevin DeYoung & Greg Gilbert
18. The Lord of the Ring - Phil Anderson
19. The Future of Jesus - Peter Jensen
20. Perfect Sinners - Matt Fuller

21. Bring Me Back - BA Paris
22. Death of a Village - MC Beaton
23. The Rooster Bar - John Grisham
24. Micah - Dale Ralph Davis
25. Room - Emma Donoghue
26. The Gospel comes with a House Key - Rosaria Butterfield
27. The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry
28. Teaching Amos - Bob Fyall
29. The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins
30. Paul meets Muhammad: A Christian-Muslim Debate on the resurrection - Michael R Licona

31. The Hole in our Holiness - Kevin DeYoung
32. The Tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris
33. Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng
34. God and the Transgender Debate - Andrew T Walker
35. Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng
36. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman
37. A Study in Scarlet / The Sign of the Four / The Hound of the Baskervilles / The Valley of Fear - Arthur Conan Doyle
38. If You Could Ask God One Question - Paul Williams & Barry Cooper
39. Growing Through Encouragement - Roger Carswell
40. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

41. Ten Reasons why the Rapture must be Left Behind - Stephen D Morrison
42. Milkman - Anna Burns
43. Hit the Ground Kneeling - Stephen Cottrell
44. A Long, Long Way - Sebastian Barry
45. The Ulster Plantation in the Counties of Armagh and Cavan 1608-1641 - RJ Hunter
46. God’s Word, Our Story - DA Carson & Kathleen B Nielsen (eds)
47. Luck and the Irish - RF Foster
48. Philip Pullman’s Jesus - Gerald O’Collins
49. Murphy’s Law - Colin Bateman
50. Good Tidings of Great Joy - Charles Spurgeon

My top five would have to be:
1. The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry
2. Milkman - Anna Burns
3. Micah - Dale Ralph Davis
4. Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng
5. God's Word, Our Story - DA Carson & Kathleen B Nielsen (eds)

Here are the links to previous years' book blogs: 2017 (31); 2016 (23); 2015 (21); 2014 (26); 2013 (45); 2012 (49); 2011 (37); 2010 (52); 2009 (41); 2008 (23); 2007 (78).

Watchnight Sermon: Lamentations 3: 19-33 New Year Mercies

It seems to be the done thing at this time of year to look back on the events of the past twelve months and review what has gone before. It seems that most TV channels have been doing their own celebrity quiz of the year, and the newspapers have been reminding us of the big stories of 2017.

It was the first year of President Trump; the year of elections - to Stormont (which doesn’t seem to have achieved much since March) and to Westminster in Theresa May’s snap election, after Brexit had been officially triggered. It’s been the year of revolution in Turkey, the independence referendum in Catalonia, and the end of Robert Mugabe’s rule in Zimbabwe. And that’s just a small sampling of what’s been going on.

But what about you? How was 2017 for you? As you look back on the year, what will you focus on? Will it be thought of as a good year, or a bad year? I’m aware of so many people who found Christmas a difficult time this year because of the loss of a loved one, or some bad news concerning their health, or for a multitude of reasons. And as we face into 2018, we face the unknown. We simply don’t know and can’t know what the future holds. That might leave you apprehensive or fearful, but I trust that our reading from Scripture tonight will give us hope and comfort on this new year’s eve.

Yet even as I say that, you might think to yourself, hope and comfort from a book called Lamentations? It doesn’t sound like a cheerful read! For the most part, it isn’t. Just as we remember a particular year because of some wonderful or terrible event, so it was for the people of Jerusalem. A few years ago, the Queen spoke of her annus horribilus, a year of horrors; Lamentations is the response to those horrors by the prophet Jeremiah.

Jersualem has been conquered, captured and destroyed by the Babylonian armies led by King Nebuchadnezzar. The temple is no more, its treasures stolen and removed. Most of the people have been taken away into exile. And for the first three chapters of Lamentations, Jeremiah spells out the horror of what has happened. Just before our reading, he says this: ‘He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.”.’ (3:16-18).
As he walks through the remains of the city - just imagine it as one of the TV news reports showing the aftermath of the California forest fires. Darkness, despair, sadness and suffering. He’s at the lowest he could possibly go. All hope seems to have vanished.

It’s at that moment that he remembers something that brings him hope - something that even the darkest night can’t remove - something that strengthens him to continue: ‘Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’ (3:21-23)

Did you notice the timespan of the Lord’s love in that verse? The steadfast love of the Lord ceases when? Never! His mercies come to an end when? Never! His steadfast love never ceases - it is always with us, no matter what the date on the calendar is; no matter what we may be going through right now, or what the new year has in store for us. The Lord’s steadfast love will not cease tonight, or this year. His mercies will be new every morning, whether you wake early or lie on until lunchtime.

This is something to hold on to as we get used to writing 2018. This is something to cling to when things don’t work out as we planned. This is something to hold us up when we are brought low - God is in control; and his love is still for us. That love was demonstrated on the ultimate day of horrors, as the sinless Saviour died for his enemies in order to welcome us as his friends and give us the sure and certain hope of life with him.

God’s love has been displayed for all time on the cross. His love will never come to an end. It helps us to stand and endure and look forward with hope and confidence, through our pains and disappointments, our struggles and shocks; looking forward knowing that through all that happens God is working out his purposes, and making us more like the Lord Jesus. Do you know his love tonight? Will you trust in this faithful God this new year?

The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will trust in him.

This sermon was preached at the Watchnight Service in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday 31st December 2017.

Sermon: Hebrews 2: 5-18 Jesus, our Brother

I wonder if you were surprised to discover what day it is today. Now, I don’t mean that it’s Sunday - even though it’s hard to keep track of what day it is around Christmas. And I don’t mean that it’s New Year’s Day, as we begin 2017 - as if you missed all the buzz about New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. I wonder if you were expecting a new year’s theme today - only to discover that the church calendar brings us to what might seem a strange feast day.

It happens all the time, that the same day means different things to different people. The day that you celebrate as your birthday or wedding anniversary is the same day that someone else remembers a loved one’s death. And so on New Year’s Day, we remember the naming and circumcision of Jesus.

So why do we do this? Why focus on this little piece of ritual performed on the baby Jesus? Well, we’re told that it happened, in Luke 2:21. It’s a verse that we could easily miss, sandwiched between the shepherds and Simeon’s song. It shows us that Jesus was circumcised, like all Jewish boys on the eighth day. (Today is the 8th day of Christmas, with the maids-a-milking and so on...). So if we keep Christmas Day as the 25th December, it follows that today is the feast of the circumcision.

But you might still be asking yourself... WHY? Why does it really matter? And will it make a difference to us in this new year? To grasp the significance of today, I want to focus on our reading from Hebrews.

The letter to the Hebrews is a short letter of exhortation and encouragement, urging Jewish Christians to keep going in the faith. They’re thinking about going back to the temple religion, but time and again the focus in the letter is on why Jesus is better. In the opening verses of Hebrews we’re given an insight into God’s Son, the one whom God has spoken through; the heir of all things; through whom the world was created; the radiance of God’s glory, the exact imprint of his nature, the one who upholds the universe by the word of his power.

As you read the opening verses of the letter, you see the divine glory of the Son, shining through. But now, here, in chapter 2, we discover something amazing: This divine Son took on our flesh and become one like us. As we’ve already sung today - what child is this, who laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping? This, this is Christ the King. The baby lying in the manger; the baby who was circumcised on the eighth day, is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity.

Hebrews uses lots of Old Testament references and quotations, and in 2:6 we find today’s Psalm, Psalm 8. The writer quotes from David’s Psalm - the Psalm in which David surveys the wonder of creation; the vastness of the universe; and then asks: ‘What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honour.’

David’s original point is that, even though we’re so small and insignificant in terms of the universe, God is mindful of us and cares for us. He formed Adam and Eve to be the governors of his creation. But the writer to the Hebrews shows us that David was also pointing to the Lord Jesus, the Son of Man, who for a little while stepped down from his throne in heaven (where he was higher than the angels), and he stepped down to become man (where he for a little while was lower than the angels).

Why did Jesus do this? Why did Jesus give up his place in heaven, and take on our flesh to become man, and submit to the full human experience - including circumcision? The answer that Hebrews gives is - he did it for us.

Over the past couple of weeks, the TV has been full of review of the year type programmes. Reminding us of the year that has just gone; bringing us up to speed on where we stand as this new year dawns; showing us where we might be going with Brexit and President Trump and so on. At the end of verse 8, we’re given a review of our current position - what we can see:

‘At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.’ Isn’t that a fair picture of the world around us? Not everyone bows the knee to Jesus. Many disregard him. They go about doing what they want to do. But there is something else we do see: ‘But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.’

Jesus came into the world to taste death for everyone. He died so that we don’t have to. He has eaten the bitter fruit to save us from death. In our flesh, Jesus has defeated death on our behalf, for our sake.

There are many names for the Lord Jesus. Over the Christmas period we’ve thought about quite a few of them - Jesus, Immanuel, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. But in Hebrews 2 we find another name for Jesus - brother. Imagine the privilege of being able to call Jesus your brother - to be part of the family, to share in his inheritance.

Verse 14 shows us why Jesus came to be one like us and with us: ‘Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.’

In our human flesh and blood, Jesus submitted to death in order to destroy death itself and the devil. As we trust in Jesus we are delivered from our lifelong slavery of the fear of death. Perhaps you felt the fear of death in 2016; perhaps you saw its power up close and personal; perhaps you feel it breathing down your neck. This new year can be different - no fear - not just in a wishful thinking this year’s going to be different kind of way; no, it can be different when we know that Jesus has destroyed the one who has the power of death. You can be delivered from your fear of death - through Jesus who was born and suffered and died and was raised for us; for you.

But there’s another way in which the Lord Jesus gives us help and strength for the new year. Jesus was made like us in every respect. He has shared our human existence, in every way - as one of the verses of Once in Royal David’s city which we won’t sing this morning puts it: ‘and he feeleth for our sadness, and he shareth in our gladness.’ Jesus is our merciful and faithful high priest, who has made propitiation for our sins, precisely because he was one with us, made like us.

Look at verse 18: ‘For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.’ We may not know exactly how this new year will turn out, but one thing we can know for certain is this - there will be temptation at every turn. Especially when we resolve to go God’s way; when we make time and sit down to read God’s word; temptations will come. But you are not on your own. Jesus knows what you’re going through! He has been there, endured it, and resisted every time. He is able to help you when you face temptation. He is with you, and for you.

The circumcision of Jesus reminds us that he is one with us - that the eternal Son has taken on our flesh, dwelt among us, and is for us. See him crowned with glory and honour - the one who suffered for us; the one who takes away the fear of death; the one who helps us when we’re tempted. As we start this year, give your all to him, our brother, our Lord, our God, our all.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 1st January 2017.

Watchnight Sermon: Philippians 3: 13-14 Pressing on

In a matter of minutes, we’ll be into the new year. For many people, that means that their new year’s resolutions kick in. I wonder if you can guess what the top resolutions in the UK are?

1. Lose weight. 2. Get organised. 3. Spend less, save more. 4. Enjoy life to the fullest. 5. Stay fit and healthy. 6. Learn something exciting. 7. Quit smoking. 8 Help others achieve their dreams. 9. Fall in love. 10 Spend more time with family.

I wonder if your resolution is in that list? Or maybe you’ve resolved something else? This time last year, a group of people resolved to read through the Bible in a year - and they’ve now done it (and are starting through it again tomorrow!). Perhaps you could join us this year - pick up a reading plan in the porch.

When you think of it, most resolutions bring about some sort of change - we say to ourselves, things are going to be different this year. Our resolutions make us say no to some things, in order to say yes to our target. So if we want to lose weight, we say no to the sticky buns and yes to the fruit and veg. Or we’ll say no to just dumping everything in a big pile, and yes to putting everything neatly in its place, if we want to get organised. It takes some effort, but it’ll be worth it in the end.

Well, in our reading tonight from Philippians, we find what looks like a new year’s resolution. Except, this isn’t just something to try for a week or two; this isn’t just for one year; this is Paul’s lifetime resolution. His ongoing aim:

‘But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil 3:13-14)

This is the one thing Paul does; the aim and direction of his life. His eye is on the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, he cannot wait to be face to face with God in heaven. As he presses on towards the prize, he cannot go in any other direction.

When I was learning to drive, I had a bad habit. When reversing, I didn’t shift around to look out the back window; I would try to use the mirrors. My poor driving instructor told me that I wouldn’t look out the back window when I was going forward, so why would I look out the front when I was reversing. There’s wisdom in that. Look the way you’re going! Or, as Paul says, ‘forgetting what lies behind.’

This past year may have been one of joy, or one of sorrow. You may have enjoyed everything about it, or struggled to make it to this point. No matter what, Paul urges us to (respectfully) forget about it. Don’t dwell in the past - either your successes or your failures. Don’t look backwards at things which can’t be changed.

Earlier in Phil 3, Paul tells us about his own past, his confidence in the flesh - how he worked so hard to earn his way to heaven with God. He thought he had it all, only to realise that it was all loss, rubbish (dung). Perhaps this year we’ve been trying to work our way into God’s good books; we’ve been putting our efforts into things that don’t profit. Listen to Paul: he forgets what lies behind.

Instead, he strains forward to what lies ahead. When I take our dogs for a walk, you would think that it’s them taking me for a walk. They don’t walk sedately by my side, no, they’re straining forward, almost pulling me along. It’s that sort of image Paul gives us of the one thing he does. He was probably thinking of the Olympics, the athletes straining forward for the prize. We watched the Rio games this summer, Usain Bolt winning even more gold medals. Even now, three and a bit years away, athletes are training to win gold at Tokyo 2020.

But our prize is more certain. The upward call of God is made possible through Jesus - our place in heaven is secured by his death for us. We receive his righteousness by faith (not by our works). Our future is secure; and so we can press on, straining forward to what lies ahead. As Paul puts it in verse 12: ‘I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.’

In verse 10 Paul tells us what this straining forward looks like - knowing Christ, and the power of his resurrection, AND sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. It’s not always easy to press on. And yet, with the prospect of heaven before us, it’s no wonder Paul makes this the one thing he does - forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.

Will you make this your resolution this year?

This sermon was preached at the Watchnight Service in Aghavea Parish Church on Saturday 31st December 2016.

Watchnight Sermon: Romans 13: 8-14 Telling the Time

Do you know what time it is? In a few minutes, we’ll move from 2015 and begin the new year of 2016. As each second ticks onwards, and we come to that particular second, we go from December to January, from an old year to a new year. And as it happens, we might be singing, or praying (and hopefully not still preaching!). But for some people gathered in other places, the particular second will be very important. They’ll want to know the time.

So, in New York, (in a few hours time, with the time difference), they’ll be watching the ball drop on the stroke of midnight in Times Square. Over in London, they’ll be listening out for the chime of Big Ben. The clock strikes, the time has come, the new year will have begun.

As Paul writes to the Christians in Rome, his letter is like the chime of Big Ben, telling them the time. And as we read these words tonight, they’re telling us the time as well. You see, these words aren’t a calendar - something useful for a year and then you chuck it out (or recycle it). This isn’t like a diary. Instead, the letter to the Romans is like an alarm clock, telling us to wake up.

You know the way people describe life as being like a year; growing in spring, flowering in summer, falling apart in autumn and dying in winter; well Paul portrays the whole of human history like one day - or rather, one night. It’s as if we’re living in the night time, but the day is coming, the day is at hand. We’re waiting for the dawn (as we’ve heard in our readings tonight).

So as we move from 2015 to 2016, do you know what time it is? It might be night time, but the day is coming. At the end of a year we find ourselves looking back; the newspapers have their review of the year, the TV shows are full of end of the year quizzes and highlights. But Paul points us forward. Don’t focus on the past - but as time moves on think about this: ‘For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.’

Each year is a year closer to glory. Each morning is a morning nearer to heaven. Each sunset is a step closer to the dawn of salvation and Christ’s return. Even if things have been tough for you this year, hold on to this, that you’re that much closer to seeing Christ face to face. ‘For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.’ That’s a wake up call, a reminder of the time; the first glimmer of the dawn is just beyond the horizon, so hold in there. He is coming. Do you know what time it is?

But as Paul sounds the alarm, he also tells us what we should do about it. Because we know what time it is, that the night is far gone and the day is at hand, then we should verse 12: ‘So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.’ If the day of Christ is coming, and we belong to that day, then don’t be doing night time things.

Around about the time that we were packing up in Belfast and moving to Fermanagh there was a new trend developing. People (mostly ladies, it has to be said) would be seen going to the shops, walking along the roads in their pyjamas. This wasn’t that they had forgotten milk when they were going to bed and nipped into the shop; or that they were ill but really needed to get a prescription. This was unashamedly wearing their nightclothes in broad daylight.

It was a bit shocking, but the works of darkness we’re called to give up are even worse. Orgies and drunkenness, sexual immorality and sensuality, quarrelling and jealousy. These are nighttime things; works of darkness; but that isn’t us - that shouldn’t be us. The alarm has sounded. The day is coming. So take off the works of darkness. Instead ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.’

Every day of every year, that question comes - do you know what time it is? We’re getting closer. HE is getting closer. Just as some will have been planning their New Year’s Eve party dress for some time, and now the night has arrived and they get dressed up, so we are called to be ready, to put on the appropriate clothing - the armour of light; the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

Perhaps that’s something we can try to do each day this new year when we wake up. Before your feet hit the floor. Before your fingers reach for your phone to check Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Even before you get the kettle on. Take a moment to realise the time - another day closer to seeing Jesus. Another day of putting on the gospel armour, committing the day to Jesus, seeking to walk with him.

This sermon was preached at the Watchnight Service in Aghavea Parish Church on 31st December 2015.

2015 Books

I like to keep track of the books I read, and tot them up at the end of each year. I normally try to review them on the blog as well, but it didn't work out that way this year. I also didn't get as many books read - my worst year since recording my reading, with just 21 books. So here is the list of books I've read in 2015:

1. Time for Every Thing? - Matt Fuller
2. The World of Pangea: Path of a Warrior - Michael Davies
3. Faker - Nicholas T McDonald
4. A Meal with Jesus - Tim Chester
5. Waterloo - Bernard Cornwell
6. Chapter & Verse - Colin Bateman
7. Fruit that will Last - Tim Hawkins
8. The Horse with my Name - Colin Bateman
9. Gray Mountain - John Grisham
10. Wild About Harry - Colin Bateman

11. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
12. Ordinary - Michael Horton
13. What's Best Next - Matthew Aaron Perman
14. The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert - Rosaria Champagne Butterfield
15. A Storm of Swords: Part 1 Steel and Snow - George RR Martin
16. Punch - Austin Tanney
17. How People Change - Timothy S Lane and Paul David Tripp
18. The Most Misused Verses in the Bible: Surprising Ways God's Word is Misunderstood - Eric J Bargerhuff
19. The Art of Storytelling: Easy Steps to Presenting an Unforgettable Story - John Walsh
20. The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God - John Piper

21. A Storm of Swords: Part 2 Blood and Gold - George RR Martin

Here are the links to previous years' book blogs: 2014 (26); 2013 (45); 2012 (49); 2011 (37); 2010 (52); 2009 (41); 2008 (23); 2007 (78).

My top five of 2015 are:
1. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
2. Waterloo - Bernard Cornwell
3. The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God - John Piper
4. The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert - Rosaria Champagne Butterfield
5. Time for Every Thing? - Matt Fuller

Watchnight Sermon: Psalm 90 Teach us to Number our Days

We’ve come to the last few minutes of 2014, and I can safely say that time is flying. It seems like no time at all since we were here for the watchnight service a whole year ago. Christmas came round quicker than ever. Just when we’ve finally got used to writing 2014, now we have to remember to write 2015 instead.

Time flying struck home with me the other week when I heard of one of the boys I taught in Sunday School, who, in my mind, must only be about 15, but he has recently qualified as a dentist. Where has all that time gone?

Here in this building, we’re aware of the passage of time. On the walls behind me are memories of my predecessors, including Morris Davies (rector a century ago). Generations have come and gone, and this same building has stood as the meeting place for the church family. Yet if that’s true for a building just over 200 years old, which seems so permanent to us, then just think how you would describe God. You would need the words that Moses says to God in verse 1: ‘Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.’ In every generation from our first parents, God has been there. He has been the background, our dwelling place. But more than that, ‘Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.’

From everlasting to everlasting you are God. As we mark the changing of the calendar, it’s good to remember that God is eternal, our dwelling place no matter what year it is. Moses draws out this truth, that God is eternal, in three distinct ways.

1. God is the one who calls time (3-4). It’s not just that we come to the end of our life and die, but that God is active - ‘You return man to dust and say, ‘Return, O children of man.’’ He is the one in control, ruling over the length of our life. He sees the end from the beginning. Even what seems like a very long time to us, a thousand years, God sees it just like yesterday. God is ruling over time.

God is the one who remains when all is swept away. Moses uses two pictures - a flood, and the grass. A flood sweeps away all in its path - just think of the images of the Boxing Day Tsunami (hard to think it was 10 years ago). He also points to the grass which pops up, flourishes in the morning, but then fades away by evening. Why does this happen with us? Why are the generations swept away? ‘For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed.’ It’s not what we want to hear. Yet Moses draws out the anger and wrath of God. But what makes God angry? Why does he need to be wrathful? That brings us to:

God sees our sins. Sometimes we can do a good job of hiding our sins from other people. Sometimes we can look respectable. But God sees. God knows. God’s anger burns against sin - not an unpredictable anger that could lash out unexpectedly; but his settled, determined opposition to everything that is against him and his glory in creation.

Life in our sin-infected world is under God’s wrath. Our seventy or eighty years (or more, or less) are toil and trouble, quickly passing. The years fly by, and we fly away. With each passing year, our time is coming closer. Yet the key question comes in verse 11. Because life is like this: ‘Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?’

If life under the fall is set up like this, to remind us of our mortality, then how many actually stop to consider that? So many people are caught up in life, merely passing through without a thought of God, or of the purpose of life. So they party, get drunk, begin another new year with another hangover, resolving that this year things will be different.

But change only comes as we consider our short lives in the light of the eternal God. The answer comes with the plea in verse 12: ‘So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.’ Help us to see our time is short, and to take refuge in you, the everlasting to everlasting God. In this way, we become wise with God’s wisdom. So let’s begin the new year with this as our prayer. Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Show us that we aren’t God. Remind us that we can’t do it all ourselves. Take over when we try to manage the universe and take your seat, Lord. When we do this, then we can be satisfied with God’s steadfast love, morning by morning. To know that we are not God, but that the everlasting God loves us, and will keep loving us, this is where joy comes from. It will change our work, as we see God’s work and our place in it, and his grace on our lives. From everlasting to everlasting you are God. Lord, may we take refuge in your eternity; and find you sustaining us in our mortality, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

This sermon was preached at the Watchnight Service in Aghavea Parish Church on Wednesday 31st December 2014.

2014 Books

Another year is ending, so it's the time to have a look back at what I've read over the past year. A disappointing year in some ways, with fewer books read than I would have liked. There seemed to be about three months after holidays when I hardly started a book, let alone finished one. But 26 books is one every fortnight, and it's not my worst year, beating 23 books in 2008. Here are the books, links to the reviews, and my top five of 2014:

1. Finding Joy: A Radical Rediscovery of Grace - Marcus Honeysett
2. I am Joseph - Alan Pain
3. A Time to Kill - John Grisham
4. Journey to Joy - Josh Moody
5. Homosexuality: Christian Truth and Love - Paul Brown (ed)
6. Jesus the Son of God - Don Carson
7. Jesus and the Logic of History - Paul Barnett
8. Brian Boru and the Battle of Clontarf - Sean Duffy
9. Preach: Theology Meets Practice - Mark Dever and Greg Gilbert
10. Crossword Ends in Violence (5) - James Cary

11. A Game of Thrones - George RR Martin
12. The Poetic Wonder of Isaac Watts - Douglas Bond
13. The Resurrection of Christ - Michael Ramsey
14. Naked God - Martin Ayers
15. Five Festal Garments - Barry G Cooper
16. What Christ Thinks of the Church - John Stott
17. The Day of the Jack Russell - Colin Bateman
18. Magnificent Obsession - David Robertson
19. Dr Yes - Colin Bateman
20. Slogging Along in the Paths of Righteousness - Dale Ralph Davis

21. Sycamore Row - John Grisham
22. Letters to a Young Pastor - Calvin Miller
23. A Clash of Kings - George RR Martin
24. Praying Backwards - Bryan Chapell
25. Building Below the Waterline - Gordon MacDonald
26. Crazy Busy - Kevin DeYoung

Here are the links to previous years' book blogs: 2013 (45); 2012 (49); 2011 (37); 2010 (52); 2009 (41); 2008 (23); 2007 (78).

My top five of 2014 are:

1. Jesus and the Logic of History - Paul Barnett
2. Naked God - Martin Ayers
3. Letters to a Young Pastor - Calvin Miller
4. Crazy Busy - Kevin DeYoung
5. Sycamore Row - John Grisham

Watchnight Sermon: Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Never Changes

We’re moving into the final moments of this year. So how was 2013 for you? Hopefully there were some happy moments mingled with the sad ones. As time advances, with no way of slowing it down or even stopping it completely, we’re resigned to the fact that time brings changes. You might have noticed some of them over the course of the year.

You may have experienced changes in family - either through additions or through loss. There might have been a gap at the table come Christmas Day; or an extra mouth to feed. Even if your family stayed the same size, everyone is now an extra year older - the signs of age may be appearing, the grey hairs may be starting to show, or perhaps you feel every one of your years - in illness, or weakness. It’s the phenomenon described as TMB - Too Many Birthdays.

As we move from 2013 and start into the new year, we’re immediately faced with changes - remembering to write 2014 on letters and other dates. But the year stretches out in front of us, none of us knowing what lies ahead; none of us aware of the changes that will confront us. The only thing we can be sure of, the only thing that doesn’t change is this - change is inevitable.

The closing chapter of the letter to the Hebrews contains lots of useful pieces of advice, indeed, commands for the new year. They all flow from the message of the letter - that Jesus is better than the old covenant, that in Jesus we have the perfect sacrifice for our sins; the perfect priest who intercedes for us; the full assurance of salvation; the perfect meeting place of God and people; the great hope of the gospel.

And right at the heart of the chapter we find a little nugget which can be the verse for the new year, in the midst of the changes that will come: ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.’ Everything may change and will change, but Jesus Christ is the same as he was yesterday, today, and will be for ever.

This means that Jesus is the solid rock on which we can build our life; the refuge in which we can shelter; the place of safety. Jesus is not like those around us who flutter and flap; he’s not like those who can change their mind at a moment’s notice; he’s not irritable or grumpy or dependent on getting his morning coffee to be in a good mood. The achievement of the cross; his ongoing work of praying for his people; his grace and goodness towards us will not and can not change, no matter what this new year will bring.

I wonder if you’ve got a friend or relative, and you never know which ‘person’ you’re going to find when you see them - whether it is grumpy aunt or pleasant aunt or evil aunt. Sometimes we think that God is a bit like this - some days he’s nice to us and other days it’s as if he got out of bed the wrong side. But our Bible verse reminds us that Jesus is not like that - he is the same every day.

It’s because his promise still holds that we can give ourselves to love and serve those around us. To show hospitality to strangers; to remember those in prison because they love Jesus. To seek holiness in marriage and contentment in money. To offer the sacrifice of praise to God as we confess his name.

It all comes down to the unchanging Jesus, who helps us cope with the changes of life. And as the new year begins, may we all know his grace in our lives, as we trust in him.

This sermon was preached at the Watchnight Service in Aghavea Parish Church on Tuesday 31st December 2013.

2013 Books

It's the final day of the year, which gives me an opportunity to check how many books I read this year, revisit the reviews, and decide on my top five books. There's a variety of theology, history and fiction here, with something for everyone to have a look at.

1. The Litigators - John Grisham
2. The Explicit Gospel - Matt Chandler
3. Five English Reformers - JC Ryle
4. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
5. The Intolerance of Tolerance - DA Carson
6. Connected - Sam Allberry
7. Empire State - Colin Bateman
8. The Ragamuffin Gospel - Brennan Manning
9. Dangerous Calling - Paul Tripp
10. Brookeborough: The Making of a Prime Minister - Brian Barton

11. Christ, our Righteousness - Mark A Seifrid
12. Maid of the Mist - Colin Bateman
13. Unreached - Tim Chester
14. Lectures on Preaching - Phillips Brooks
15. Turbulent Priests - Colin Bateman
16. Loving the Way Jesus Loves - Phil Ryken
17. Closer Still - Scott Evans
18. Simpler - Mike Burns
19. A Quick Introduction to the New Testament - DA Carson & Douglas Moo
20. Calico Joe - John Grisham

21. Lies Lies Lies - Michael Green
22. Different by Design - Carrie Sandom
23. Gordon Hannon: Some Parson! Some Man - David Hannon
24. The Plantation of Ulster - Jonathan Bardon
25. Shooting Sean - Colin Bateman
26. Amazing Grace - Marcus Loane
27. Green is the Colour - Peter Byrne
28. The Racketeer - John Grisham
29. Grow in Grace - Sinclair Ferguson
30. Prophecy - SJ Parris

31. Killing Kennedy - Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard
32. The Ministry of a Messy House - Amanda Robbie
33. And The Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini
34. Straightening Out The Self-Centred Church - John Benton
35. Beautiful Attitudes - Scott Evans
36. The Thirty-Nine Steps - John Buchan
37. What's So Great About the Doctrines of Grace? - Richard D Phillips
38. Mohammed Maguire - Colin Bateman
39. The Island - Victoria Hislop
40. The Message of Daniel - Dale Ralph Davis

41. Speaking God's Words - Peter Adam
42. Mystery Man - Colin Bateman
43. From Triumphalism to Maturity - Don Carson
44. Saving Eutychus - Gary Millar and Phil Campbell
45. The Lion's World - Rowan Williams

Last year there were 49 books read, so I've read a few less this year, but things were a bit hectic over the last couple of months and I haven't managed to read so many. Still, 45 isn't my worst year: 2012 (49); 2011 (37); 2010 (52); 2009 (41); 2008 (23); 2007 (78).

My top books this year are:
1. Saving Eutychus - Gary Millar and Phil Campbell
2. Dangerous Calling - Paul Tripp
3. The Plantation of Ulster - Jonathan Bardon
4. The Ministry of a Messy House - Amanda Robbie
5. The Racketeer - John Grisham

What was the best book you read this year?

Watchnight Sermon: Joshua 24:15 Choose This Day

Lose weight; get fit; eat more healthily; save money/spend less; get a new job; spend more time with people who matter; try new experiences; get out of a rut; visit a country you’ve never been to before; read more. These were the top ten resolutions in the UK last year. I wonder if you’re making any resolutions?

As we come to the end of the old year, and begin a new one, it’s a great opportunity to think again about the choices we make. You could start a new fitness regime any time of the year, but there seems to be something about the change of date that provides a fresh start, a clean break, a new choice.

In our reading tonight, we hear of a watershed moment in the history of the people of Israel. It’s the end of an era, and a new period is beginning. Joshua has been leading the people of Israel since they moved into the promised land. Moses had brought the people out of Egypt and right to the borders, but Joshua had led the people in.

But now Joshua is old, he’s about to die (at the age of 110), and so he gathers the people together at Shechem. There, he speaks to them on behalf of God, reminding them of their recent history - from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, down to Moses and the people standing there. It’s a reminder of God’s faithfulness and goodness to them, in giving them a land which wasn’t theirs, and a prosperous inheritance which they didn’t have to work for.

The LORD, the covenant God has done all this for them, and yet - here’s the surprise - Joshua says to them in verse 14: ‘Now therefore revere the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness’ - so far, so good - keep on serving God as you have done; worship him, give him the reverence and respect he deserves... but look at what comes next:

‘Put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.’

They have received so much blessing from the LORD; they’re enjoying the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob; they’ve seen God do all this, and yet they’re still clinging to other gods! It’s not so much that they’ve turned their back entirely on the LORD, as that they’re trying to serve God AND gods.

After all, this talk of exclusive worship of God is a bit excessive, surely? Why not keep a multitude of gods happy, just in case you need them in the future. Surely the LORD doesn’t mind if we hold on to the odd idol?

Probably just as much as a husband or wife would mind if their spouse kept meeting up with their old boyfriends or girlfriends... Just as we pledge marital faithfulness to the exclusion of all others, so the LORD calls on the people to choose who their husband is - the LORD, or these other gods?

It’s unthinkable that they even need to make the choice, isn’t it? After all, what have these other gods done for them? Absolutely nothing! But we’ve heard the litany of the LORD’s loving provision, calling their ancestors, rescuing them from Egypt, giving them the land...

Yet here and now, they have to make a choice: ‘Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living...’ What’s it going to be?

Joshua is speaking to the people of God, who have been rescued, who have received so many blessings, and yet are wavering. They still hold to idols and false gods. Is there a possibility that we are the same?

We’re glad to have the promise of sins forgiven and the hope of heaven, but are we content to cling to our own idols - I’m going to heaven, but I’ll hold on to my pride; or my money; or God, you can have 95% of me, but leave that alone (whatever that is)...

Joshua lays the choice before the people, but he boldly declares his own decision: ‘choose this day... but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.’

As we begin this new year, may we too devote ourselves to the Lord, the one who has given us his blessings and faithfulness in the Lord Jesus, who promises that he will be with us. No excuses, no delays, no idols. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

This sermon was preached at the Watchnight Service on New Year's Eve, 31st December 2012 in Aghavea Parish Church.

2012 Books

Last year, I set myself the challenge to read more books and spend less time on my phone. Did it work? Here's the list of books I've read and reviewed this year:

1. Ministers of God - Leon Morris
2. Such a Candle - DC Wood
3. Ministries of Mercy - Tim Keller
4. The Holiness of God - RC Sproul
5. Dead Interesting - Shane MacThomais
6. Who Moved The Stone? - Frank Morison
7. The God with Sore Legs - Adrian McCartney
8. Christianity and Liberalism - J Gresham Machen
9. Gunning for God - John Lennox
10. Conduct Gospel-Centered Funerals - Brian Croft & Phil A Newton

11. Precious Blood - Richard D Phillips (ed)
12. The Christ of the Empty Tomb - James Montgomery Boice
13. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
14. South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition - Sir Ernest Shackleton
15. The Bookseller of Kabul - Asne Seierstad
16. Orthodoxy - GK Chesterton
17. Forgotten God - Francis Chan
18. Mud, Sweat and Tears - Bear Grylls
19. The Independence of the Celtic Church in Ireland - WS Kerr
20. The Making of Modern Britain - Andrew Marr

21. The Measure of our Success - Shawn Lovejoy
22. The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness - Tim Keller
23. Divorcing Jack - Colin Bateman
24. Men Made New - John Stott
25. The Power of Words and the Wonder of God - John Piper and Justin Taylor (eds)
26. Heresy - SJ Parris
27. John Charles Ryle - Marcus Loane
28. Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome - Kent and Barbara Hughes
29. Cycle of Violence - Colin Bateman
30. It's Not What You Think - Chris Evans

31. Crazy Love - Francis Chan
32. For the City - Darrin Patrick & Matt Carter
33. Enniskillen - Denzil McDaniel
34. How (Not) to Speak of God - Peter Rollins
35. The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World - John Piper & Justin Taylor (eds)
36. Housegroups - Ian Coffey & Stephen Gaukroger (eds)
37. Planting for the Gospel - Graham Beynon
38. The Diamond Queen - Andrew Marr
39. Jesus and his World - Craig A Evans
40. Reclaiming Genesis - Melvin Tinker

41. Seven Days that Divide the World - John Lennox
42. How To Read Genesis - Tremper Longman III
43. God's Pattern for Creation - Robert Godfrey
44. Genesis in Space and Time - Francis Schaeffer
45. The Masculine Mandate - Richard D Phillips
46. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
47. Ritual - V L Young
48. Dig Even Deeper - Andrew Sach & Richard Alldritt
49. Of Wee Sweetie Mice and Men - Colin Bateman

There was also the review of an unreadable book in the Kindle format: The Life and Times of James Ussher - James Anderson Carr

Last year there were 37 books read, so 49 is a bit better, although still nowhere near my previous best on the blog: 2011 (37); 2010 (52); 2009 (41); 2008 (23); 2007 (78).

My top books this year are:
1. Dig Even Deeper - Andrew Sach & Richard Alldritt
2. Christianity and Liberalism - J Gresham Machen
3. The Diamond Queen - Andrew Marr
4. Men Made New - John Stott
5. Mud, Sweat and Tears - Bear Grylls

What was the best book you read this year?

2011 in Review

This is now the final blog posting of 2011, and an opportunity to look back at the events of this year. All in all, there have been 248 posts, considerably less than last year, but not the lowest ever annual total.

We began the year in Dundonald, where I was the Curate of St Elizabeth's, but having been appointed as Rector of Aghavea in April, we moved house in August and I was instituted in September. Since then, we've been settling into the rectory, getting to know our parishioners and not get lost as much!

During the year, I turned 30, on the day of the royal wedding, and shared a special evening with some friends.

Over the course of this year I've preached roughly 57 times, conducted my first wedding, 5 baptisms, and 7 funerals. We also had the series of posts around Easter tracing The way of the cross.

We made it as far as New York over the Thanksgiving holidays, as well as spending some time in Scotland.

I also took some photos and read some books this year.

Here's to more blogging in the new year. For now, I wish you and yours a happy and blessed new year.

Watchnight Sermon: Lamentations 3:19-26

It seems to be the done thing at this time of year to look back on the events of the past twelve months and review what has gone before. It seems that most TV channels have been doing their own celebrity quiz of the year, and the newspapers have been reminding us of the big stories of 2011. There were some good news stories - the royal wedding, the Arab spring revolutions and the fall of Gadaffi, and the mildest Christmas Day since records began. But there have also been some difficult days for many - the Fukushima nuclear disaster following an earthquake and a tsunami; the riots in England; the fall of the News of the World.

But what about you? How was 2011 for you? As you look back on the year, what will you focus on? Will it be thought of as a good year, or a bad year? I’m aware of so many people who found Christmas a difficult time this year because of the loss of a loved one, or some bad news concerning their health, or for a multitude of reasons. And as we face into 2012, we face the unknown. We simply don’t know and can’t know what the future holds. That might leave you apprehensive or fearful, but I trust that our reading from Scripture tonight will give us hope and comfort on this new year’s eve.

Yet even as I say that, you might think to yourself, hope and comfort from a book called Lamentations? It doesn’t sound like a cheerful read! For the most part, it isn’t. Just as we remember a particular year because of some wonderful or terrible event, so it was for the people of Jerusalem. A few years ago, the Queen spoke of her annus horribilus, a year of horrors; Lamentations is the response to those horrors by the prophet Jeremiah.

Jersualem has been conquered, captured and destroyed by the Babylonian armies led by King Nebuchadnezzar. The temple is no more, its treasures stolen and removed. Most of the people have been taken away into exile. And for the first three chapters of Lamentations, Jeremiah spells out the horror of what has happened. Just before our reading, he says this: ‘He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.’ (3:16-18).

As he walks through the remains of the city - just imagine it as one of the TV news reports showing Christchurch New Zealand after another earthquake or a disaster zone following a tsunami. Darkness, despair, sadness and suffering. He’s at the lowest he could possibly go. All hope seems to have vanished.

It’s at that moment that he remembers something that brings him hope - something that even the darkest night can remove - something that strengthens him to continue: ‘but this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’ (3:21-23)

Did you notice the timespan of the Lord’s love in that verse? The steadfast love of the Lord ceases when? Never! His mercies come to an end when? Never! His steadfast love never ceases - it is always with us, no matter what the date on the calendar is; no matter what we may be going through right now, or what the new year has in store for us. The Lord’s steadfast love will not cease this year. His mercies will be new every morning, whether you wake early or lie on until lunchtime.

This is something to hold on to as we get used to writing 2012. This is something to cling to when things don’t work out as we planned. This is something to hold us up when we are brought low - God is in control; and his love is still for us. That love was demonstrated on the ultimate day of horrors, as the sinless Saviour died for his enemies in order to welcome us as his friends and give us the sure and certain hope of life with him.

God’s love has been displayed for all time on the cross. His love will never come to an end. It helps us to stand and endure and look forward with hope and confidence, through our pains and disappointments, our struggles and shocks; looking forward knowing that through all that happens God is working out his purposes, and making us more like the Lord Jesus. Do you know his love tonight? Will you trust in this faithful God this new year?

This sermon was preached at the Watchnight service on 31st December 2011 in Aghavea Parish Church.

2011 Books

There isn't a prize for book reading, yet I find it useful to keep a list of the books I've read to remind myself what they were about, and some of the useful things I've found in them. The reviews may hopefully have been of some use to some of my readers as well. Here are the books I've read this year:

1. Inside The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Devin Brown
2. In The Days of the Kings - Michael Wilcock
3. We Don't Know What We're Doing - Adrian Chiles
4. The Archer and the Arrow - Phillip Jensen and Paul Grimmond
5. The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - Philip Pullman
6. Holiness by Grace - Bryan Chapell
7. Life and Laughing - Michael McIntyre
8. On Being a Pastor - Derek Prime and Alistair Begg
9. Commentary on The Gospel According to John - DA Carson
10. Penguins Stopped Play - Harry Thompson

11. The Empty Cross of Jesus - Michael Green
12. The Confession - John Grisham
13. The Orange Order - Mervyn Jess
14. A Time to Dance - Stanley Gamble
15. Collected Writings on Scripture - DA Carson
16. This Momentary Marriage - John Piper
17. How the Irish Saved Civilization - Thomas Cahill
18. One-to-One Bible Reading - David Helm
19. Parson's Pitch - David Sheppard
20. The Long of it - Ernest Long

21. True Spirituality - Vaughan Roberts
22. Johnny Cornflakes - Denise George
23. Respectable Sins - Jerry Bridges
24. Compelled by Joy - Michael Green
25. One Day - David Nicholls
26. A History of the Gunpowder Plot - Philip Sidney
27. Going for Growth - Ken Clarke
28. The Scholar as Pastor and the Pastor as Scholar - John Piper and Don Carson
29. Iron Sharpens Iron - Orlando Saer
30. The Preacher's Portrait - John Stott

31. God's Executioner - Michael O Siochru
32. Gospel and Wisdom - Graeme Goldsworthy
33. The Ulster Crisis - ATQ Stewart
34. The Christ of Christmas - James Montgomery Boice
35. The People Next Door - Christopher Ransom
36. Harry Ferguson: Inventor and Pioneer - Colin Fraser
37. The King is Here - Marcus Loane

Not just as many books this year as last (52), but there have been changing circumstances and less opportunities to read. Perhaps in the new year I need to work harder at my diary to carve out opportunities to read. Wasn't it John Stott who endeavoured to read an hour a day, an afternoon a week, a day a month, and a week every year? My figures would drastically improve if I could give myself to that! Another factor I've found is that I'm more likely to play with my phone than sit down and read - the ever-present lure of Facebook/Twitter/Words With Friends/blogs and websites. The challenge is set - reading more books and less social media in 2012.

The top five books of 2011 have to be:
1. Harry Ferguson: Inventor and Pioneer - Colin Fraser
2. This Momentary Marriage - John Piper
3. Holiness by Grace - Bryan Chappell
4. The Ulster Crisis - ATQ Stewart
5. Respectable Sins - Jerry Bridges

Previous reading lists can be found for 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007.

2011 in Pictures

2010 was the year of the 365 project, which almost made me despair of taking photos for a while once the pressure was off. I even promised that I wouldn't do something like that again. All was fine, until jt came to visit in October and persuaded me to sign up for Blipfoto, the daily photo journal. Sixty seven days later, and I'm still blipping daily!

Here are this year's best photos from my camera:
January


February


March


April


May


June


July


August


September


October


November


December


Which is your favourite?