Awaiting Moderation

When I first started blogging people used to comment on my posts on a pretty regular basis. Occasionally you might get a good discussion going and a longish thread of comments would ensue. I was only thinking recently that those days seem to have gone. 

Now comment on or discussion of blog content tends to take place on Facebook or Twitter, rather than in the comments field of a post. 

Comments on my blog have to be moderated by me before publication. That helps to avoid posts being cluttered up with stupid, irrelevant and spammy comments, which I would then have to delete.

But it's been ages since I checked to see whether any comments were awaiting moderation. When I did think to check the other day there were quite a few for me to look at. There were a several in Arabic. Seemed to my untrained eye like exactly the same comment on several different posts. Exotic spam, probably.

Then there were the typo/error alert comments. A number of those, oddly enough. John Blanchard's Gathered Gold had become Gathered God. Not a Freudian slip, I hope. Embarrassingly, in one post I missed the 'l' from public. I do read through the stuff I write here before posting, honest. This blog has always been plagued by typos. And readers have always enjoyed pointing them out. Glad to be of service. Pedants.

Much to my surprise Robert Letham left a few comments. Evidently he had been reading my Plague Journals, which featured updates on my progress in reading his Systematic Theology. As well as 'I read from page ? to page ?? in the last week' kind of thing, I would also do a bit of a running review. You will find his comments at the foot of Plague Journal: Weeks 11-13.

I've now finished Letham's ST, and very good it is too. A review has been submitted to the Banner of Truth Magazine. You'll have to wait until its published there until I post my impressions on the blog. All I'll say for now is that it was one of the best STs I've read. Although, as a Reformed Baptist I didn't always agree with his stance on covenant theology, baptism and the church.

Sorry if I've neglected you if you've been kind enough to comment. The typos/errors highlighted have now been duly corrected.

Maybe the golden age of blog comments isn't quite over yet. I just need to remember to check to see if there's anything awaiting moderation more frequently. 

Blogging in the Name of the Lord: Stephen Kneale

GD: Hello Stephen Kneale, and welcome to Exiled Preacher. Please tell us a little about yourself.

SK: Hello! My friends call me Steve (some very close friends and family run with Stevie) I prefer being called Steve but hate it in conjunction with my surname, hence Stephen Kneale. Err... anyway that’s my name (hope you’ve made room for this). I was born in Oxford, began my schooling in Birkenhead, finished my secondary education in W. Berks, did my undergrad degree in History & Politics 10 years ago at Liverpool, where I also met my wife Rachel. From there, I took a Religious Studies & Philosophy PGCE  and had a very brief career as a secondary school teacher in Newbury. After a hefty bout of depression, I left teaching and completed an MA in Theology (I had intended to do it with the Artist formerly known as WEST, but their distance programme wasn’t suitable for me at the time). At this point, we were in Shrewsbury due to my wife’s work. From there, we followed my wife’s work again to Manchester where I became a self-employed researcher serving the recruitment sector and serving with a church in Moss Side. From there, I was called to be the pastor at Oldham Bethel Church around 3 ½ years ago. Since then, you asked me to do this a few hours ago, marking the zenith of both my theological development and overall growth as a person.

GD: It doesn't get munch better than this. You blog at https://stephenkneale.com/. What made you start blogging?

SK: My blog began as a primarily political blog with a bit of theological comment thrown in. It has morphed somewhat since then, moving from Blogger to Wordpress and undergoing a couple of rebrands before landing on the form it takes today.

I began for a variety of reasons. I spent the early part of my university years shouting at people for not being political enough and, in a brief flirtation, knocking around with the SWP. Blogging seemed like a more efficient way to shout at a wider range of people. It became apparent that some of the radical SWP views didn’t quite square with the radical Socialism with a Christian bent I tended toward. As I began writing, much of the material was drawn from whatever I was studying or reading infused with a theological twist and a soupcon of my own thoughts. It soon became less a tool to shout my rightness at people and more a means of formulating my own views on a given subject and starting a discussion.

As it morphed into more theological and social comment, I found it helpful in forming my own views or pushing against things that struck me as sub-optimal in the Christian world, as I perceived them. It has also proved to be a making our little corner of the UK, and our unique challenges, a little wider known.

GD: Which blogs do you enjoy reading and why?

SK: You can hardly be reformed and not read Tim Challies blog. Funnily enough, I have valued his a la carte feature as much as anything as it has led me to several blogs I would never have read otherwise.

David Robertson at The Wee Flea is always good value. He is so insightful and absolutely excellent on the pressing social issues of the day.

Then I have valued several smaller blogs of folk working in similar areas to us. Duncan Forbes at Council EstateChristianity has much to say as does Dave Williams at Faithroots.net. Mez McConnell is normally churning out something interesting at the 20Schemes blog too.

GD: What are the strengths and weaknesses of blogging as a medium for reflection on theological and ministry matters?

SK: At its best, blogging can bring real clarity to an issue. More usually, it is helpful in starting a discussion and process of thinking. Occasionally, it descends into arguments because one cannot say in everything 1000 words (particular if someone has a particular something in mind that you chose not to say!)

I have found blogging valuable in offering a quick response, or a basic outline of thoughts, addressing issues that arise in the both the local and wider church. It has also been a useful exercise in offering a position to the church that we would work toward. Due to a combination of character traits (some good; some less good) I appear to have a particular penchant for puncturing what I perceive to be blind spots that are passed around, especially as they relate to how things are on the ground in our particular context.

I have found blogging exceptionally helpful in raising the profile of our work in Oldham. It has also given me room to make clear to those who might support our work to “prove” I am kosher and share their core convictions, rather than relying on some unspoken shibboleth or a secret Reformed handshake (no one has shown it to me yet!)

GD: Do you use other forms of social media, and why/what for?

SK: Being the appropriate age, I joined Facebook when it first hit universities and never really came off it. I joined Twitter much later with almost minimal use and am on Linkedin but rarely visit.

Since becoming a pastor and determining to blog much more frequently, I primarily use all of these as a means of publicising my blog. However, I have since come to value Twitter the most. I have built up a small, but supportive, group of people who are either in similar situations to us, theological training or are inclined to support work such as ours. More than a few excellent steps forward for our church can be traced back to Twitter in some respect.

GD: Who has had the greatest influence on your theological development?

SK: Without doubt, my Dad. I was brought up in a sound Evangelical family. My Dad’s family were traditionally raised in the Brethren and, whilst my Dad was at Bible College in Birkenhead, we attended a Brethren Assembly on a ‘problem estate’. Whatever else one may say about the Brethren, I have no doubt that my Dad’s evangelistic zeal stemmed from here and passed down to myself (now a pastor) and my brother (now a missionary). When we moved down South, we ended up in Grace Baptists circles – partly due to a lack of Brethren Assemblies and my Dad’s theological shift – and it was here that I essentially became the convinced Reformed Baptist that I remain to this day. But that is all background really. My Dad’s consistent love for the Lord, clear devotion to the word and obvious zeal in evangelism – leading him into a full-time role as Executive Officer with United Beach Mission for a decade – has without doubt had the biggest impact on me, hands down.

GD: Which character from post-New Testament church history would you most like to meet and what would you say to him/her?

SK: What a great question (almost impossible to answer)! I am struggling, I’ve already come back to this twice. It would perhaps be fascinating to go back and ask John Stott for his views on 1966 in the wake of current goings on in the Anglican communion, but that is nothing more than dissenting rubber-necking really isn’t it?

GD: Tell us how you felt called to pastoral ministry:

SK: I’m going to point you to a blog post I wrote a while ago re calling (here). It is a little relevant to the answer. I essentially did my MA for two reasons: (1) a vague sense of wanting to ‘do something’ in ministry at some point in future; (2) as a means of recovering from depression, being well enough to need something to focus my mind but without being able to go back into work. It fit the bill perfectly and the setup of my distance-learning course meant I could fit all this around how I was feeling. I mention this because at that point I wasn’t specifically looking.

I was quite happy serving in our church in Manchester and working in recruitment when I was called. I very definitely was not looking at the time. The outgoing minister was retiring and my pastor at the time had made contact through the NW Partnership and offered to cover their preaching for a time. I was duly dispatched to help, not knowing the church were on the lookout for someone to come in. At some point, my training and background must have been discussed (alongside potential future plans) but I honestly don’t remember much about it. Having made myself available to help fill their pulpit with some frequency, as far as I was concerned I received a call out of the blue asking if i would consider becoming their pastor.

My wife and I prayed about it and, frankly, weren’t sure but couldn’t find any reason to object. I took it to our elders, fully expecting them to laugh at the idea. I intended to speak to all of them together but ended up talking to two independently first (one being the pastor). Both of them was individually very encouraging and said it was a confirmation of their own thinking at the time – the other two elders agreed when we got to meet with all of them. I spoke to my parents, who similarly told me I should go for it. In the face of one church asking, another church telling me it was a good idea and my Dad also affirming the idea, it seemed hard to say no really. So, as per my linked post, I felt called when I actually was called, to be honest.

GD: Where did you train for the ministry and what did you find especially helpful about your training?

SK: All of my undergrad and postgrad work has been useful. But, my direct theological training came in the form of an MA at Kings Evangelical Divinity School.

The course was great for handling the Bible and considering (from an academic stand point) cultural issues pertinent to ministry. But my degree was a purely academic one.

GD: What would be your three top tips for budding preachers?

SK: I’m not sure I’m qualified to comment! Everything I have learnt from preaching has come from Stuart Olyott’s writing and watching others.

I’d probably go for: (1) Stick closely to the text; (2) illustrations are useful but overrated i.e. preach as though what you’re saying is inherently interesting; (3) be yourself in words and dress so that the guy apart from the sermon sounds/looks like the one delivering it.

GD: Describe the situation where you are now ministering. What are some of the key challenges you face?

SK: Oldham is the most deprived town in England. The borough is 230,000 people and is in the top 10 of all the polls you’d rather you weren’t. The town is very segregated with S. Asian Muslims areas almost entirely separated from working class white estates. Joblessness, poverty, homelessness, racial tension and asylum seekers are all rife. We are the only FIEC church in the borough and one of only two gospel partnership churches.

Our main challenges are severaly fold: (1) the church has been through something of a journey over the years. Whilst the eldership is overtly and decidedly Reformed, the congregation is not. We are working with many from Pentecostal backgrounds and trying to lead them to Biblical truth; (2) trying to break into the local Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities (we are making some inroad but it is a drop in the bucket); (3) We function bilingually due to the large number of Iranian and Afghan asylum seekers coming into the church and converting (we are now 50% Farsi-speaking). This has difficult challenges in discipling and teaching new believers when hardly anything exists in Farsi and what does is typically rubbish that leads to the similarly bad delivery of English stuff by English guys like us and the hope it is being adequately translated on the hoof. (4) Reaching asylum seekers and the jobless means we are not solvent as a church (we have a regular £1500 deficit), are unlikely to ever be and thus rely on outside supporters. We have a few but not nearly enough to cover the gap in finances caused by a combination of people unable to give substantially, my salary and deep practical needs among the membership. [Info on how to Give in support of the work].

GD: How can Reformed Evangelicalism reconnect with disadvantaged communities?

SK: By teaching the truth of the gospel. The false promises of the Prosperity Gospel take hold easily but always fail to deliver. Methodism has had a stranglehold in Oldham for decades, but a social gospel is great for those using its services but quickly falters for those doing the serving (and does little for the souls of those coming). The borough is littered with failing Methodist churches that have dwindled down to a handful because, essentially, people got sick of serving just because it’s a nice thing to do.

It is only the gospel that will reconnect with the poor. That is what Jesus called good news – not the feeding of the 5000, but the gospel itself. If we want the promises we offer people to last, we need to offer them the unfailing promises of Christ in the gospel. If we want people to stick in the church, we need to give them something more than ‘serving is nice’. We need to serve them and give them the reason for the hope that is in us.

GD: Is the church you serve part of a wider group? If so, what are the benefits of belonging to the FIEC/NWP

SK: We are a part of both the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches and North West Partnership. Both these groups have given us churches we can pass new converts who have had to move onto. They have also given us a ready made network of churches with whom we can work in the gospel both locally and more nationally. They have also provided something of a platform for us to share our work with those who would otherwise never have heard of it. These links will come into their own, particularly as we look to plant into unchurched areas of the borough.

GD: What is the most helpful theological book that you have read in the last twelve months? It is a must read because?

SK: There are several that are good contenders. We were doing a lot of work on polity and membership this last year. Whilst Dever’s 9 Marks of a Healthy Church was extraordinarily helpful, I think Thom Rainer’s I am a member was probably the simplest and easiest that laid out in the clearest possible work what membership should be from a members point of view. I suspect it would be the book to have the biggest impact on our members if we all read it together as a church.

GD: In a recent blog post you argued that it isn’t necessary to wear a suit and tie in the pulpit. Since when was scruffiness next to godliness?

SK: When in Rome... (and, of course, according to the Bible!) According to my Facebook comments, the turning point seems to be somewhere around 55.

GD: What do you do to relax?

SK: My wife would say, ‘not much’. I genuinely like blogging and find it quite cathartic. But, if that sounds too close to work, I tend to veg out of TV of some sort. Streaming boxsets are very helpful.

GD: Care to share your top three songs or pieces of music?

SK: Just 3? I’m not sure they’re top 3 but they are 3 I have really been enjoying lately:

1. Start a War – The National
2. Hail to the Lord’s Anointed – The Welcome Wagon
3. Tom on the Boulevard – The Innocence Mission

GD: What is the biggest problem facing evangelicalism today and how should we respond?

SK: Presuming we are saying in the UK, it is hands down the overwhelming white educated middle class and Southern nature of British Evangelicalism that is seeing swathes of the poor and needy heading for Hell because we are unwilling to go to them because we are, frankly, comfortable where we are in our middle class enclaves. Evangelicalism will always remain minority unless we revive the missionary spirit and make a concerted effort to reach those in deprived communities, not just those people like us with whom we are comfortable, where the schools and cafes are to our liking.

GD: Agreed. Thanks for dropping by for this conversation, Steve. 

Blogging: An Apology

Yes, it's been a while, but there we are. Things aren't what they used to be between us back in the early days and we've kind of drifted apart, I suppose. Life and stuff, you know. It's just like...

Look at the dwindling number of posts over the years. 

It's not as if I've neglected you altogether. There's been the occasional post. Recycled articles, holiday snaps, wedding anniversary stuff, event publicity. But that's not real blogging. We both know that. 

I dunno. Been kind of busy, I guess. Rome and Venice with the Mrs, church work, governor responsibilities, dizzying round of concerts and things; Coldplay, From The Jam, The Tempest. Meetings. There's always the meetings. 

And I've got a volume and a half of John Owen to get through, absorb and turn into a paper by September. Read and speak on Vols 13-16 of Owen. Saying 'yes' seemed like a good idea at the time. Here's the low-down: on Reading John Owen. 

It just isn't happening for me right now. Bloggers' block. Like writers' block, but for wannabes.

'Are  you the Exiled Preacher' they ask. Maybe once I was. Who knows?

Advice for rookie pastors: On blogging

'Should I start a blog?' is probably a question that has been spinning in the head of lots of newbie Ministers. After all, many 'big name' preachers like Al Mohler, Gary Benfold and Gary Brady have one, so why shouldn't you? You may even have come across some rather earnest posts explaining Why Every Pastor Should Have a Blog. So, you want my advice? Here goes:

1. You probably won't get many readers, so it's not worth the effort

Don't give me that, 'I only want to blog to improve my writing skills and it doesn't matter who reads the stuff' malarkey. If that was the case, why not simply write Word documents that only your hard drive will get to see? But the fact is that while keeping a blog may give your thoughts an airing, don't expect your stat count to hit the blogging stratosphere. Megabloggers are few and far between. Most just get a handful of hits a day, so what's the point? 

2. Choose the name of your blog carefully

OK. You're still determined to get blogging, even though hardly anyone is going to read your stuff. Fair enough, but now you need to come up with a name for your blog. Don't bother with a title that requires even a modicum of thought to work out, as it will confuse your American readers. Even though I explain I'm an 'Exiled Preacher' because I'm a 'Welsh preacher living in voluntary exile in the South West of England', I still get concerned emails from across the Pond asking why I've been banished to what they must think is the UK's equivalent of Soviet Siberia. 

3. Don't take blogging too seriously 

Having an online journal devoted to theology and ministry doesn't make you a one-man Themelios. Mix up your theological musings, book reviews, reports etc. with a bit of random stuff like spoof advice for rookie pastors and that. It's only blogging. If you were a half-decent writer you'd be properly published in book form. 

4. Lengthy posts are pointless

Hardly anyone will do anything more than skim read your carefully crafted posts and they won't even do that if they have to scroll down more than one or two mouse clicks to get to the end. 

5. Remember that while spotting other people's blog typos may make you feel rather clever, that when people spot yours they will just think you're a bit dim

That's right, typos bring out the hypocrite in us all. We all make mistakes and you are likely to be your blog's only proof reader. Try and deprive pedants of their cruel pleasure by previewing your post before you publish. Even then, many of your posts are probably going to be error strewn and spell-checker won't sort our all your problems. As I compose this post, my Google spell-checker has a red squiggly line under each occurrence of the word blogger, which is a perfectly good word. Ironically Google actually hosts the Blogger service. But if I'd typed 'each occurrence of the worm blogger' by accident, fickle old spell-checker wouldn't have warned me, 'word, silly'. And so you'd have thought that I don't know the difference between 'word' and 'worm'. You may even have left a snarky comment to that effect. As sometimes happens. 

6. Given what I said in #4, that's it, really. 

The blog is mightier than the tweet

Blogging increasingly seems like the elderly relative of the new media family. Young uns prefer to Tweet and update their Facebook status. But there is only so much that can be said in  Twitter's 140 character limit and  a Facebook status doesn't lend itself to a anything longer than a sentence or two. There is something to be said for articles that can explore subjects in a more reflective and considered way. Blogging is just the thing for that. John Stevens is master of the lengthy blog post.

That said, if my blog is anything to go by, most of my readers apparently prefer to access my blog content via Google Reader, email subscription or Facebook and Twitter feeds rather than visiting Exiled Preacher directly. With its longer posts, Blogger remains distinct from Facebook and Twitter, but feeds enable the grand old man of social networking to mix it with the new kids on the block. I probably get more comments and feedback on my blog posts on Facebook than on blog itself. 

Unbelievably, Exiled Preacher has been going for around seven years. I don't blog as frequently as I once did, but I continue to enjoy posting items on a reasonably regular basis. I probably do more personal newsy stuff now than I used to, but I still like to post up book reviews, theological reflections and do the occasional current affairs comment piece. Blogging is also a great format for interviews, of which I've done several. If I've written something for a local paper/magazine, Evangelical Times, or a theological journal it'll usually end up on the blog. Cyber-recycling.

So, I'll probably keep posting my displaced fragments from an exiled preacher. For the time being anyway. 

Not for filthy lucre: blogging free of charge

We live in such a commercialised, consumer orientated society that it is difficult to escape being exposed to adverts, whether watching commercial TV, walking down the local high street, or catching up with friends on Facebook. Talking of Facebook, it was recently reported that the social networking site may well be worth $100bn when floated on the stock market. Why? Largely due to advertising-based revenue. Has Don Draper taken over the world or something? 

We can all 'tut-tut' at the absurdity of it all, but do we have to join in?  Maybe I'm just getting a bit crotchety in my mid-40's, but I'm getting increasingly vexed by seeing Christian blogs that carry adverts. Once site I visited recently dedicated 'reformed spirituality' to featured ads for Amazon and a mobile phone company. Another hosted ads for Tesco and Dell  alongside posts on Wesley and Whitefield.

Yes a 'workman is worthy of his hire', and those who 'labour in the word and doctrine' are 'worthy of double honour'. But would we allow advertising posters to be plastered on our pulpits? Blogging isn't something for which we should get paid via advertising revenue. It should be done free of charge. Not for filthy lucre's sake.  

Meet the bloggers interview

See here for my ruminations on blogging in an interview with John Brand.

Remythologizing politics

Andrew Roycroft offers one final thought on the General Election.

Cranmer thinks that Lib-Con deal is a good thing, here.

Catch up with Anglican theologian Philip Blond, the 'Red Tory' of ResPublica. He's the ideas man behind Cameron's 'Big Society'.  

Paul Helm kicks off his review series on Kevin Vanhoozer's Remythologizing Theology.

Thanks to Cambridge University Press for kindly sending me a review copy of the above.

Have a look at Mostyn Roberts' new blog, Harp from the Willows.

Michel Bird on Music in the Wee Frees.

Garry Williams of the John Owen Centre interviews Dick Gaffin and Ian D. Campbell.

The Protestant Truth Society's website has been revamped.

Jim Packer on the superficiality of blogging

The veteran Evangelical Anglican theologian delivers his none too favourable verdict on blogging:

"I'm amazed at the amount of time people spend on the internet. I'm not against technology, but all tools should be used to their best advantage. We should be spending our time on things that have staying power, instead of on the latest thought of the latest blogger—and then moving on quickly to the next blogger. That makes us more superficial, not more thoughtful." (From World Magazine article on Packer, Patriarch).

Does he have a point?

Exiled Revamp

I've given the blog a little makeover. The main difference is the use of a picture of the old (but still used) Severn Bridge in the header. Concerned American readers sometimes contact me to ask why I'm an "Exiled Preacher". I tell that that it is simply because I am a Welshman living in England, on the "wrong" side of the River Severn. The river separates England from South Wales where I was born and bred. In the photo the sun is setting in the west, disappearing behind the mountains of my homeland. Its a symbol of the hiraeth or homesickness that Welsh people feel when living away from the Land of our Fathers. But the "Exiled" bit also has has spiritual significance. Christians are "elect exiles of the dispersion" (1 Peter 1:1 ESV). Our home is not the wilderness of this fallen world, but the heavenly Canaan. We look foward to the coming of the new creation, where in resurrection glory we shall enjoy the sweetest communion with our Triune God and all his people for all eternity. William William's hymn quoted below gives a marvellous sense of the hiraeth that the believer feels in his heart as he contemplates the glory to come. He speaks for all "elect exiles",

A PILGRIM in a desert land,
I wander far and wide,
Expecting I may some time come
Close to my Father’s side.

Ahead of me I think I hear
Sounds of a heavenly choir,
A conquering host already gone
Through tempest, flood and fire.

Come, Holy Sprit, fire by night,
Pillar of cloud by day;
Lead, for I dare not take a step
Unless Thou show the way.

So prone am I when on my own
To stray from side to side,
I need, each step to Paradise,
My God to be my guide.

I have a yearning for that land,
Where the unnumbered throng
Extol the death on Calvary
In heaven’s unending song.

William Williams, 1717-91;
tr. by Robert Maynard Jones (Bobi Jones), 1929-

Blogging in the name of the Lord, Series 6 "Box Set"

Here is a special edition "box set" of Blogging in the name of the Lord Series 6. Five Christian bloggers took a turn in the "hot seat":

Dan Phillips

R. Scott Clark

John Mackenzie

Rob Bradshaw

David Ceri Jones

Extras

These aren't strictly Blogging in the name of the Lord interviews, but you might also like to have a glance my recent conversations with:

Garry Williams

Martin Downes

Timothy Ward

Stuart Burgess

Blogging in the name of the Lord, Series 6

I'm thinking of doing a new series of interviews in the next few weeks. Who would you like to see in the hot seat?

Why I'm a rubbish blogger (and I don't even care)

1. Far too many embarrassing typos. The other day someone kindly pointed out that writing on Synod of Dort, I had typed "Irresistible Grave" rather than "Irresistible Grace". I changed it so that "Grave" became "Grace", and death was swallowed up in victory. But what a howler!
2. Some of my posts are a bit too long for a blog.
3. Some of my posts are so short as to be pointless.
4. I insist on posting my musings on music even though it really annoys some people.
5. Quite a bit of my material is recycled stuff rather than made to measure blog posts.
6. I 'discovered' David Sky and Dai Corleone.
7. I often can't be bothered to respond to comments.
8. My Facebook page is composed almost entirely of blog feed headlines. How sad is that?
9. I only have a few blogs in my Google Reader, which speaks volumes for the interest I take in other blogs.
10. But despite all that, I quite enjoy blogging so I won't be sounding the Last Post just yet.

Blogging in the name of the Lord, Series 5 "Box Set"

Here are the interviews in order of appearance in a special commemorative "box set". I hope you enjoyed reading these conversations on theology, ministry, books, music and other stuff. Look out for Series 6 in the Summer.

Tony Reinke

Justin Taylor

Jason Goroncy

Adrian Reynolds

Gary Benfold

Iain D. Campbell

Jeremy Walker

Sam Waldron (forthcoming)

Extra: An interview with non-blogger

Phil Arthur

Blogging in the name of the Lord: Iain D. Campbell

This is the sixth in a series of interviews with Christian bloggers. In the hot seat today is...

Iain D. Campbell

GD: Hello Iain Campbell and welcome to Exiled Preacher. Please tell us a little about yourself.

IC: I am a pastor in the Free Church of Scotland, currently serving a congregation in the Isle of Lewis, which is part of the chain of islands known as the Outer Hebrides or Western Isles, off the northwest mainland of Scotland. I grew up in Stornoway, the main town on Lewis, studied at the University of Glasgow and the Free Church College, Edinburgh, married my school girlfriend, Anne, a teacher of pupils with severe and complex needs. We have three grown up children, Iain, working in Lewis, Stephen, a student in Glasgow, and Emily, just about to leave school and study in Glasgow. When I finished College in 1988 I pastured a congregation on the Isle of Skye for seven years, and came back to my native island in 1995.

GD: Your blog is called "Creideamh", meaning?

IC: ‘Creideamh’ (pronounced kray-jif) is the Gaelic for ‘faith’. I speak Gaelic and English, and preach in both languages every week. The blog is at http://www.creideamh.blogspot.com/.

GD: What made you start blogging?

IC: It was something I told myself I would never do. I thought there could be nothing more narcissistic than publicising one’s own opinions. However, I took a different view on it when I realised that it was a useful outlet for some material that I was writing. I had started writing a weekly column for our local island newspaper, the Stornoway Gazette. Someone taught me that if something is worth doing once, it is worth doing twice, so the blog became a forum for posting some of these columns online, and the blog has evolved – as most do – into a pastiche of reflections on things sacred and secular.

GD: What are the strengths and weaknesses of blogging as a medium for reflection on ministry and theology?

IC: As Carl Trueman says, everyone has a right to give one’s opinions, but not everyone has the right to be heard. I think that a lot of blogging IS rather narcissistic, but it is good to know what people are thinking and what is going on throughout the church. I find blogs especially useful for keeping abreast of the latest publications, and I like people blogging on conferences which I am unable to attend, for example. The greatest weakness is the lack of accountability. We just throw our opinions into the electronic market place of ideas, and the boundaries of orthodoxy just keep shifting, if they don’t get eroded altogether.

GD: Describe your call to the Christian ministry.

IC: One of the main influences on my young life was my ministerial grandfather, who ministered faithfully in two small rural parishes for the duration of his ministry. I think God stirred within me when I was very young a desire to be like him, both as a Christian and a minister. By the time I came to leave school, that desire had become an irresistible conviction, confirmed both my own reading of the Word, and by two sermons I heard at the time, one on Peter’s call to be a fisher of men (by one of my predecessors in the congregation I now serve) and another on the labourers required for the harvest. I applied for the ministry before I finished school.

GD: Where did you train for the ministry and what did you find most helpful about your studies?

IC: One of the advantages of applying for the ministry before beginning as an undergraduate was that the Church had a say in the subjects I studied, so I spent four years at Glasgow University studying Greek and Hebrew, and then three years at the Free Church College, where all our candidates for the ministry do their theological training. Although we are a small denomination, we have been able to maintain a theological College; the advantage of that system is that the theological training itself is confessional and Church-based. It was extremely helpful to enter College with a good grounding in the biblical languages; that freed me up to concentrate on theological subjects which really interested me. I loved the exposure to Christian authors past and present which my theological training gave me, and the one thing I miss most about living on a lump of peat in the Atlantic is that there is no good academic and theological library to hand.

GD: Who has had the most influence on your theological development?

IC: Wow. Where do I start? Palmer Robertson helped to crystallise my views on covenant theology as an architectonic principle of biblical hermeneutics, Jonathan Edwards opened my eyes to the theological basis for Christian experience, Herman Bavinck taught me the proper scientific method of doing theology, John Owen underlined the importance of thoroughness in reflecting on Scripture, Donald Macleod and John Murray taught me that theology is grounded in exegesis – I owe a great debt to these and many others, all of whom, in different ways, have shaped my thinking.

GD: Who taught you most of what it means to preach the Word of God?

IC: The late Rev Murdo Alex Macleod came to Stornoway Free Church in 1984. He was an outstanding preacher, and modelled faithful biblical preaching with the right blend of exegesis, application, oratory and passion. Good preaching needs all four, and to hear Murdo Alex was to hear good preaching. I don’t know if I deliberately modelled myself on him, but subconsciously perhaps knew that that was the kind of preaching I wanted to deliver.

GD: What keeps you going in the ministry?

IC: The encouragement of my wife and family, the prayers of my congregation, and the assurance that my work is not in vain in the Lord.

GD: You wrote on your blog of Isle of Lewis, "as far as evangelical Calvinism is concerned, the particular lump of peat on which we live has been a theatre in the past for some remarkable works of God." Like Wales the island has been touched by revival. How do you view the phenomenon of revival in relation to the teaching of Scripture?

IC: I view revival as a more-than-ordinary work of the Holy Spirit. That is to say, I believe the Holy Spirit works ordinarily through the means of grace, through prayer, private and corporate, through the preaching of the Word, through the fellowship of God’s people, and through the sacraments. The giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost led to Christ being exalted in the proclamation of the Gospel, and bore the fruit of believers continuing in the apostles’ fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers, as they witnessed for Christ in a fallen world. I believe that these are still the marks of Holy Spirit ministry, and I expect these evidences of the Spirit’s presence in our congregation week by week, enabling Christians to mature and grow, and drawing sinners to follow Christ.

Nevertheless, there have been times when the Spirit has worked in ways that were manifestly out of the ordinary, where an unusual number of people were converted on single occasions, for example, or where the presence of God was experienced in a remarkable way that led to renewed consecration and commitment to Christ. For example, in the last couple of years we saw an unusual number of young schoolchildren converted – there was a discernible work of the Spirit that began unexpectedly and drew to a close. That was a reviving of the Lord’s work among us, and was a shadow of some historical incidences of revival.

I also like to point out that you cannot revive what is dead – you can only revive what is living. Revival is not a matter of many converts; it is a matter of deeper love to Christ, and a deeper concern to follow him on the part of his people.

GD: Wise words. If time travel were possible, which figure from post-biblical church history would you like to meet and what would you say to him/her?

IC: I would love to meet John Macdonald of Ferintosh. He lived from 1779-1847 (I have written on him on our church website at http://www.backfreechurch.co.uk/), and was one of the great evangelists of the Highlands and Islands. I would love to have attended his first communion in Ferintosh when, in spite of having recently been widowed, he preached in the open air on the words ‘I will betroth you to myself forever’ with such power and effect that, as his biographer John Kennedy says, ‘the widower was lost in the spouse’. I would discuss some of his Gaelic religious poetry with him, and ask him what he thought of New Covenant Theology.

GD: This year marks the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth. Can you give three good reasons why we should read the Institutes?

IC:

(1) to give us a thorough grounding in the teaching of the Bible
(2) to humble us before the majesty of God, and
(3) to make us better preachers.

GD: There has been a recovery of Reformed theology both in the USA and the UK over the last 50 years or so. What can be done to maintain and advance the Calvinistic cause in the 21st century?

IC: Let’s get back to our creeds, confessions and catechisms. Let’s hold them up as models of theology which are not at variance with Scripture, and which ought not to be thrown out just because they are old.

GD: You expressed deep concern over Andrew McGowan's The Divine Spiration of Scripture. We have also seen the controversy over Peter Enns' views in the States. Why do you think that the doctrine of biblical inerrancy is being questioned by some within the Reformed camp at the moment?

IC: Without imputing these reasons to either of the scholars you mention, I think that Reformed scholars have tried to accommodate too much in the interests of academic respectability; I also think there has been a renaissance of interest in Karl Barth, and the domesticating of some Barthian elements is evident in the discussions on inerrancy. I think Enns’ use of the incarnation as a model for reading Scripture doesn’t work – because the incarnation was a unique event not to be taken as an analogy for anything – or proves too much, since the humanness of Christ was itself inerrant. In fact, Enns’ development of the human element of Scripture is little more than old liberalism dressed up. McGowan’s insistence on jettisoning the idea of inerrancy is puzzling for what he does not say: what is to be gained by dropping a word designed to emphasise that there is no error in the Bible? In both cases we have seen Reformed theology take a step too far in an unhelpful direction.

GD: What did you speak on at the recent Affinity Conference, "The End of the Law"? And what did you make of the Conference as a whole?

IC: My paper was on the threefold division of the law, and defended the Westminster Confession’s position that the moral law of the Decalogue is absolute and binding on the believer as a rule of life, while the ceremonial laws are abrogated and the civil requirements modified to the extent of their ‘general equity’ or ‘universalisableness’ (? Is that even a word [Not one that I've come across!]). The New Covenant theologians came out fighting at that point, and the role of the Sabbath in the new covenant kept coming up as a test case on whether the ten commandments were still binding.

My view is disarmingly simple. I see the moral law of the ten commandments as unique, and given in a unique manner. Israel’s ceremonies were a particular application of these moral requirements in her religious life, anticipating the final ceremony in Christ. Her civil requirements were a particular instantiation of the Decalogue within the theocracy. The new covenant emphasised an internalisation of these moral commandments on hearts that long to keep them.

The conference made me realise the appeal of New Covenant Theology as something that is seen as more ‘Christian’, more ‘Christ-focussed’, more ‘biblical’. But the Westminster Confession solidly emphasises that its position on the law accords and complies with the gospel, and, by the work of the Spirit, shapes us into Christlikeness. To me the gospel is the good news of the death of Christ for law-breakers, by which His law-keeping is the ground of my acceptance with God. He is able to redeem me from the bondage of my law-breaking into the freedom of law-keeping. Without the abiding validity of the moral law I have no way of defining sin or righteousness. The danger I see in New Covenant Theology is that it opens the door to a new antinomianism – and that is not a route I wish to go down. I AM a new covenant theologian, and I want to say with both David and Paul ‘I delight in the law of God’.

GD: Care to name your top three/songs or pieces of music? No bagpipes please. This is a civilised blog.

IC: OK I got a bit carried away in answering that last question. No bagpipes? Some rules I don’t delight in.

(1) Three priests from Ireland singing Hacia Belen, on the album ‘The Priests’
(2) Mary Ann Kennedy and Na Seoid singing ‘Sios dhan Abhainn’ – this is a Gaelic, a cappella version of the song ‘Down to the River’ which is sung in the movie ‘Brother, Where Art Thou?’
(3) David Nevue playing ‘Come thou Fount of every blessing’ on the compilation of piano solos entitled ‘Adoration’.

GD: Reformed Presbyterians lay great emphasis on the Westminster Standards and often refer to the WCF in response to contemporary theological concerns. Shouldn't our primary appeal be to the Holy Spirit speaking in Scripture? How do you view the critical relationship between the Bible and the Church's Confessions of Faith?

IC: Great question. I think the relationship is like a father and mother – drawing on Calvin's analogy that if God is our Father (speaking to us in the Bible), the church is our Mother (speaking to us through her confessions). Confessions and creeds (on which I've recently been blogging) are statements of consensus views on theological topics, and help to identify church positions. But they are always subservient to the final authority of the Bible. So mum can always be overruled by dad because he is the head of the home!

I think Scott Clark's recent book Recovering the Reformed Confession demolishes a lot of the myths around the 'I don't want Confessions, I just want the Bible' idea. For instance, he says, very astutely, 'It is one thing to have a high view of Scripture. It is another thing, however, to have a theology, piety and practice which are actually biblical' (p198). He also reminds us that 'Christian theology must be driven by the Scriptures, but no one reads the Scriptures without a theology' (p201).

The consensus of the church, expressed in dogmatic form, is not on the same level as Scripture, but it does contextualise our reading of the Bible for us, and avoids the pitfalls of wooden fundamentalism. There is no dissonance, therefore, between appealing to God's Word and approaching it with a commitment to a confession, like Westminster, which we find to be in agreement with that word. It's like listening to dad's voice while being curled up in mum's lap.

We never 'do' our theology in a vacuum, and even the most strident anti-confessionalists express their views on the teaching of Scripture in their own words, and make creedal statements. It is impossible to have theological discourse without listening to the voice of the church in her creeds and confessions; and the merit of the Westminster Confession, for example, is its insistence at the outset that the only judge by which controversies, opinions and doctrines are to be examined 'can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the scripture'. I think my mission now is to demolish the myth that creedal Christianity is somehow at variance with Bible study!

GD: That'll be some mission. What is the biggest problem facing Evangelicalism and how should we respond?

IC: I think our single greatest crisis is a crisis in preaching. Where are the great preachers of the twenty first century? Why have we turned sermons into gimmicky crowd-ticklers that don’t work unless they are full of jokes? Why have we concentrated on trying to make the church attractive to the world? Why do we think we are not preaching unless we are working through a series? Why do we give our sermons titles? Where is the passion in our pulpits? And where is the prayer in our churches for gifted men with fire in their bones to herald forth the word of life?

GD: Indeed! Now, what is the most important theological book that you have read in the last twelve months? It is a must read because...

IC: Can I have two? [Oh, I suppose so.]

The first is Covenant, Justification and Pastoral Ministry, edited by R. Scott Clark for the faculty of Westminster Seminary California. I plug this book everywhere. It is a call to return to a solid, covenantal basis for theology, sets the current crises over justification in context, and encourages preaching which is Scripturally grounded and applicable to our hearers.

The second is Pierced for our Transgressions: Rediscovering the glory of penal substitution, by Steve Jeffery, Mike Ovey and Andrew Sach. It too is a clarion call to have the cross at the centre of our theology and proclamation, coupled with a warning that if we do not understand biblically what took place on the cross, our faith will be impoverished. Jesus took our place, was punished by God for us, and saves us only by being cursed at Calvary. It is one of the most important books on the atonement to have appeared in recent times.

GD: I haven't seen your first suggestion, but I certainly endorse your second choice. [See my review]. Which blogs do you enjoy reading and why?

IC: I’ve discovered widgets, so you can drop by my own blog to see which blogs I read regularly. There are men out there – Al Mohler, Mark Dever, Martin Downes, Gary Brady, Justin Taylor, and numerous others – whose insights, critiques and comments are worth turning to again and again. Although my contribution to http://www.reformation21.org/ is modest compared to some of my fellow-bloggers there, it is one site to which I turn every day – a blog worth the paper it’s not written on.

GD: Thanks for dropping by Iain. Great talking to you.