Redeemer NYC: when the unremarkable becomes remarkable

One of the great treats of going on holiday is the opportunity to visit other churches. I have rarely been disappointed.

This week I found myself in New York City. I wondered about my options and sadly, bought into church consumerism for a few hours. There were several options. I was staying 500 metres from Times Square Church where David Wilkerson is the founding pastor. In common with so many of my generation the first Christian book I ever read was The Cross and the Switchblade. I was thrilled at how God worked among the gangs of New York. In those days I could not line up with the theological position of the author but I also have a vivid memory of trying for hours to speak in tongues. It didn’t happen. I also considered the world famous Brooklyn Tabernacle but a good friend said that there were significant queues to get in and even more significant lengthy sessions of singing. The Village Church also tempted me. It is a bastion of funky Calvinism which means that their members read Wired and The Institutes in equal measure.

At this point I recognise that there are many lesser known churches scattered throughout NYC and a world where ministries of evangelism, teaching and mercy are going on very much under the radar. In highlighting some of these big churches I do not want for a minute to take away from God's work in that which seems small in the eyes of both the world and the Church. I am aware that God's arithmatic is radically different to ours.

The winner in my little ecclesiastical X Factor (please note, tounge in cheek) was Redeemer Presbyterian Church where Tim Keller is the senior pastor. I think it was a great choice.

The first thrill was getting there. It was my initiation into NYC yellow taxi cabs. The guy did not appear to speak much English which was a little bit disappointing, I love travelling in Glasgow cabs just for the banter of the drivers but this guy was not up for the craic. On the upside he knew exactly where the Hunter College Auditorium was on E 69th between Park and Lex. He also seemed to know that a church met in that building. Another upside was exposure to utterly mad driving, he spent five minutes of the 10 minute journey with his finger firmly on the horn. It was also very reasonably priced. Perhaps first application point should be, if you are going to Redeemer’s Hunter campus then always take a cab.

We arrived 20 minutes before the beginning of the service, there was no interaction with the first line of welcome people who were passive to say the least. A contrast was with the guy in a Borders shop in Washington where I bought a book, he said, “David, it was a real pleasure working with you, I hope we can do this again soon.” The second line of welcome was the pretty Asian girl who handed out the worship folders, again, passivity ruled the day but at least she had a great smile. I also noticed that it was a church full of very pretty people, yes, I felt I belonged here.

By 11am the building was jam packed full with maybe 3000 people. I am open to correction on the numbers. I was impressed that the front seats filled up first! The service was led by Rev. Matthew Paul Buccheri. The preacher was Rev Scott Sauls.

Let me offer a few observations from this point on:

· I was struck by how traditional the whole service was. The music was excellent but minimalist, 4 brass instruments plus an organ. All the hymns were old classics. The order of service was simple and the ethos was that of calm reverence with a sense of transcendence. There was a light liturgy in common with many big steeple PCA churches.

· Tim Keller was not there and for me that was a good thing! Don’t get me wrong, I am very fond of Tim and have worked with him very briefly in the past. Yes, I was once Keller’s warm up man at a conference! Redeemer has a policy of never saying which site he will be preaching at. The great thing is that people still turn up in their thousands. The impression that I got was that the people who were there last Sunday were there for communion with God and a desire to feed from His word, they were not drawn by a personality. The impression I came away with was that it’s the song that matters, the singers may change but the song remains the same.

· The preacher was Rev Scott Sauls who preached on Ephesians 5:22-33, ‘Hope for the Family’. It was thoroughly biblical and the gospel ran through the whole sermon. I formed the impression that if you ever took anyone to Redeemer they would get the way of salvation presented to them faithfully and honestly.

· During the service we heard a testimony from a lady who had just moved from New York, she spoke about the impact which the church fellowship groups had on her life. It is a credit to this church how such a large congregation is so strong on community. There is no reason why large numbers should inhibit strong relationships.

· At the end of the sermon we were spoken to very naturally by the people beside us. It was nice to have met with God and then to have met with some of God’s people. We could have gone across the road for coffee and muffins but we had to go elsewhere.

In short Redeemer was impressive for me because of its tangible unimpressiveness. There was very little in human terms that explains the growth and blessing of this church. Apart from being very large it was very ordinary. When I first met Tim 23 years he shared with me his vision of planting a Presbytery in NYC, it seemed an unbelievable dream. The Presbytery idea has morphed into a world wide movement for church panting. Tim is not a preacher in the grand style tradition, but he is an unreconstructed Presbyterian minister who believes in an inerrant bible, a literal hell, a virgin birth and a physical resurrection and he is touching the intellectual elite of the city of New York, not in spite of these beliefs but because of these beliefs. Last week, Scott Sauls preached and there was quite simply the presence of God in the place.

Could this be the Redeemer secret? The blessing of the Holy Spirit. The unction of that Spirit giving a remarkable message to unremarkable men.

Humiliation - good word, bad word?

Let’s reflect on the idea of a day of Humiliation and Prayer. There can be no denial that is a good thing. The actual term does not seem to occur in scripture but we have no shortage of times of solemn assemblies when people come together to repent and do serious business with God. There is no doubt that the word ‘sin’ is fast disappearing from our pulpits and the sense of sin is often no more than an awareness that we all break rules at times. The new buzz word is ‘inappropriate’, bad behaviour is now never wrong, simply badly timed.

We need to be serious about sin. The most healthy way for sin to be revealed within us is to reflect on the character of God and to see His presence. David F Wells, a modern prophet, writes, “If we could see more clearly God in the full blaze of his burning purity, we would not be on easy terms with all the sins that now infect our souls and breed easy compromises with the spirit of the postmodern age.”

What I’m just not sure about is the word ‘humiliation’? Has the word changed in meaning over the years? I think it has. I was reading Abraham Lincoln’s call for a national day of humiliation and prayer in 1863

WHEREAS, The Senate of the United States; devoutly recognizing the Supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.

And Whereas, it is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

And, insomuch as we know that, by His Divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People. We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown.

But we have forgotten God.

We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.
All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope, authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.

Abraham Lincoln,President

William H Seward,Secretary of State

The Senate resolution requesting the president to proclaim a day for "national prayer and humiliation"was introduced by Senator James Harlan on March 2, and adopted on March 3, 1863.

The purpose of God is not to humiliate His people in the sense that the word is often used today.

When I think of humiliation I think of hazing in a public school (UK meaning) or a fraternity. God simply cannot do that to His people, it is against His character. I find that people raised in a context where they have been subjected to some degree of religious abuse and legalism are nervous about using the word. I fully understand where they are coming from.

I think I can handle the word in its technical sense - the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. We can use the word but let’s fill it out and explain it.

Calvinism and coffee ............ with a cow looking on.

I’m about to write a review of a coffee shop. Why? Well, I’m a Calvinist remember and that’s what we do. We believe that God is sovereign over the universe and that there is absolutely nothing which does not speak of the majesty of God. The result of this is that Calvinists are by definition really interesting people and they can blog on anything they like! Calvinists don’t do secular/sacred. We know that all of creation was designed to shout "God!" We also don’t do anything religious because Christ came to do away with all that stuff. I also find myself writing about coffee shops because I am just beginning middle age and everything else about me has 'middle' written over it, people like us like to go to coffee shops on Saturdays.

A brief word on the side to ministers with families – take Saturday off.

A few years ago as I used to muse in coffee shops and dream of opening a really good coffee shop near Inverness. My calling in life is not as a minor league restaurateur so I just went on dreaming. In the last few years some great coffee venues have sprung up. I can think of Brodie Countryfair, Storehouse of Foulis as well as the old favourites like Girvans and Simpsons. In the last few weeks there are two new kids on the block, the Dairy in Daviot and my choice for today Househill Farm on the Grantown Road just outside Nairn.

I knew I was in for a treat at Househill as I parked beside a very nice Porsche 911 Carrera 2 2dr Tiptronic S, not that I coveted it. I thought ‘WWJD?’ and concluded, not that big boy anyway.

The coffee shop is located at a working farm complete with authentic smells and an old blind sheepdog prowling the car park. The converted steadings look fresh as they have been newly renovated. It was such a stunning day that the outside tables were all taken. I don’t know about you but I only like my coffee outside when in continental Europe, it always seems to cool the coffee here, even on the warmest of days.

It was clear that word about this new place had just got out because the place was heaving. We got a nice table by the window and waited a respectable 5 minutes to be served by a schoolgirl who was chatty and outgoing and well into conducting a conversation beyond the monosyllabic grunt which one often encounters. Our girl was dressed in a red sweatshirt whereas the others had nice black tops with the Househill logo, she explained that she had been drafted in from ‘outside’ to help with the rush.

The order came quickly and the coffee was superb, I had a large Latte and my companions had a large Americano and an Irn Bru - phenomenal (you must click this to get the Irn Bru thing if you are out of Scotland). We also had a rock cake, fruit scone with butter and jam and a rocky road. The rock cake and rocky road were both excellent. Allow me a brief excursus about scones in coffee shops. I have been at this game for years and I have yet to find a satisfying scone, today did not end my search. I thought the scone was a bit doughy and they did what I just hate, they put it in the microwave. This nuking process simply made it even more doughy and unsatisfying. I don’t what to be hard but this is so typical of coffee shops. I admit that a good fresh scone is difficult to achieve but I would suggest that they bake them on the premises and dish them out warm from the oven.

I have to say that the coffee and bun experience was above average and well within tolerable limits. The price was decent and the service was good. There were two minor issues. We were not issued with a teaspoon and so had to stir in the milk to the Americano with the end of a knife and also there was no milk on the table. Life goes on. One other thing, I don't think they have a website.

There are actually two other shops in the complex. The Country Wood shop was amazing. It is packed with handcrafted bespoke furniture, made from pine, oak, beech and ash. I also clocked a very nice wine rack, £35!

The other shop is the farm shop. This is a real find and worth the journey. It is just what a small business in the highlands should concentrate on, local products presented well at a fair price. It must be remembered that a fair price is not always a cheap price. It is self evident that quality ought to be rewarded. It is also a principle that capitalism is essential in a vibrant economy, after all, you need capitalism to finance socialism!

The shop was packed with local produce like baking from Kilravock Kitchen, Cappaldi’s ice cream and even more baking from local bakers, Ullapool Bakery, Cromarty Bakery and even Stag Bakery, Stornoway. I checked out the free range eggs from Allarburn Farm and local jam from Diana Mitchell of Auldearn. If you add cooking sauces from Baytree Sauce and crisps from Tyrrells you are on to a winning situation. You can even get a hessian Househill Farm bag for £2.75 which was OK.

One random observation. There were some fine cows in the field opposite. Do you not find looking at cows to be the most relaxing experience ever?

So folks that’s it. If you want a nice coffee and low level retail experience then I can recommend Househill Farm on the Grantown Road, Nairn. If you are heading east turn right after the railway bridge.

The day a new way of doing church bored the boots off me.

I have just come off the web site of a new church in the highlands of Scotland. The story could be replicated all over the UK. The church is located in a small village which had 4 Protestant churches 20 years ago, there are now 7.

I listened to a sermon and I have to say I was disappointed. The word on the street was that this body presented a ‘new way of doing church’ and it was a ‘radical new experience’.

Maybe I got it on a bad day but the sermon was just straight prosperity teaching. It was totally man centred and simply poor quality, half baptised life coaching.

What did I miss? I missed Jesus, he was only alluded to once in the sermon and the suggestion was that the atonement in some way facilitated our road to success, although to be fair there was a lack of clarity at that point in the ‘sermon’. I also missed a sense of awe and majesty and a wow factor. I think also that the irony was that it was anything but radical! I like my radicalism to have matured for a couple of thousand years. I like my radicalism to be world turning upside down stuff. I like my radicalism to be about and from the most radical man who ever lived, a man who lived and died not to start a new religion but to end religion. I don’t want tired, old fashioned moralism. I don't need to be told that I'm a victim, I need to be reminded that I am a sinner and that the gospel brings total and absolute cleansing

God’s purpose for me is not to ‘possess my tomorrows'. I am glad that He possesses me now.

Sorry folks, I was bored.

For sale - Commentary on Galatians, low mileage, never raced or rallyed.

I love studying on trains. I think it’s the fact that you have redeemed some time and that you really do let the train take the strain as opposed to fighting your way down the A9 to Edinburgh.

This week it was a great opportunity to get into my Sunday evening sermon which will be the first in a series on Galatians. The study went well in the company of Leon Morris and Philip Ryken. These men had some wonderful insights into the text. My third book was a major league disappointment.

It began well enough. It was a hard back and I just love hard back books. It cost £13.99 which was a good price. It was written by a professor at a Seminary in Illinois and I like people from Illinois. The author said that his passion for Galatians began in 1971 when he bought William Hendriksen’s commentary on Galatians and I like Hendriksen.

I think there were some hints that all would not be well when I read the General Editor’s Preface, a man called Terry Muck. I think there are just some names that Scots can’t deal with; Randy Pope is a problem and even my friend Richard Pratt causes me mild difficulties. I can however live with the name. Anyway, Dr Muck said that Galatians speaks to a crucial issue in the church today, ‘the question of how to exercise visionary leadership.’ I thought, if it does it is only a pretty minor side issue and certainly not a paragraph one taster.

It all went seriously pear shaped when I realised that the author’s main influence was Ed Sanders and his book, Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion. The commentary then of course takes a classic new perspective line on Galatians which I can tell you is tricky. It reminded me of a sermon I once preached on the subject of sex without using the word ‘sex’. To cut a very long story short, Sanders argues that second temple Jews were not legalists. Try explaining Galatians if you don’t think works based righteousness is the main problem. The commentary misses more obvious points than the Scotland national football team on a bad day. Galatians is all about legalism.

So – for sale one hardly used commentary on Galatians: The NIV Application Commentary on Galatians by Scot McKnight

A tough gig, green shoots and a twinkle in an eye

Yesterday was a highly illuminating day. I spent the day with some colleagues in the parish of Assynt in the north west of the county of Sutherland in Scotland. The minister of that congregation preaches in 4 locations: Lochinver, Stoer, Drumbeg and Scourie although Scourie is in another parish, Eddrachillis.

I can tell you, it’s a tough gig. There are big mileages over very poor single track roads. There are buildings which are damp, dank and depressing. The congregations are not large; imagine preaching to a congregation of 2. The men who minister in such environments are the unsung heroes of the church. My ministry context is in another world and I am conscious of my privileges.

The day provided me with some food for thought and a few reflections:

Reflection 1 . It is impossible to keep these situations going as they have been. Once ministers retire it is simply not viable to put another minister into place on the same basis. I have observed over the years that these contexts don’t just wear out the tyres of your car, they wear out ministers.

Reflection 2. It is reasonably easy to simply keep them going on a week to week basis. The highlands of Scotland have also benefitted from another band of unsung heroes, the ‘laymen’ who conduct services and preach throughout the north. These men just keep going, they are made of such stuff. This model is simple, you just keep the whole thing going and the last person left attending the church simply leaves the key in the lock until the building falls down.

Reflection 3. The divisions in highland Presbyterianism are a disgrace. In Assynt there are at least attempts to mend the divisions with the Free Church of Scotland essentially joining up with the Associated Presbyterian Churches of Scotland. The irony is that once you unite one grouping another starts up. If you ever want to look at the sheer ridiculousness of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) then go no further than Assynt and Scourie.

Reflection 4. Women are engaged in remarkable ministries. In our meetings it seemed that the women folk had been substantial factors in keeping the church going. These women are not egalitarians; they are just workers, witnesses and prayer warriors. They do not want a title they simply want glory and honour to go to the Lord when people turn to Him and receive His grace.

Reflection 5. Buildings are important and partially define ministries. The buildings in Assynt are not in great shape. In Stoer we used the local hall for a meeting which was in great shape! A building can never be the focus of a ministry but they are great tools in ministry. In recent years, at least in the Free Church, the adaption and renovation of buildings has gone alongside a degree of spiritual vitality. I would cite Ullapool, Dingwall and Dundee as examples.

Reflection 6. We rejoice when we see green shoots. Our day ended with the highlight of visiting Assynt Christian Community Youth Project. Here we met a group of highly motivated people working in partnership in a lovely building. The moment you entered this facility you were hit with optimism, vibrancy, life and ideas. It was so refreshing to meet with people who had sunk their differences for the greater good. Perhaps this last visit provided us with a glimpse of the future and a lingering question – Will the Church buy into this same faith driven, risk taking, passion saturated philosophy?

I left Assynt more encouraged than when I went but the encouragement didn’t come from where I expected it.

I also met a wide range of people (all ages, all personalities, all denominations) who do not want their minister to retire. I also noted a man with a bit of a twinkle in his eye and perhaps a wish that he was 20 years younger. I bow to such men.

The enigma of AW Tozer

At Positively Presbyterian this week one of the highlights was Nigel Anderson’s paper on AW Tozer. I knew so little about Tozer apart from some quotes from books like ‘Worship: the missing jewel’. I look at my shelves and the only book I have is ‘Gems from Tozer’.

There is no doubt that Tozer was a great saint but he was also highly cranky. He rarely communicated with his wife about big decisions; he had a very poor relationship with his children and could not stand meeting his congregation in Chicago after a service. He wrote about the benefits of hospitality but didn’t like visitors to the house; he actually went out of his way to cut off relations with his in laws. His wife famously said after his death "I have never been happier in my life," Mrs Tozer then married Leonard Odam and said, "Aiden loved Jesus Christ, but Leonard Odam loves me".

Some reflections

· The greatest saint has deep flaws and we should remember that in an age of celebrity preachers Jesus Christ is the only one who will never disappoint

· Flawed men have blessed ministries because it is the word that will not return empty, not human charisma. Tozer said, ‘Others before me have gone much farther into holy mysteries than I have done, but if my fire is not large it is yet real, and there may be those who can light their candle at its flame’

· I wonder if more work could be done on why Tozer was the way he was. It is known that both Tozer and his wife suffered from depression but was this created by his mindset or did it lead to his mindset? I am not qualified in these matters but he seems to display characteristics of a high functioning Aspergers syndrome? How many great men and women were on the autistic spectrum? (that is by no means a criticism but a genuine question)

· An unbridled mysticism is bad for your health

* I cannot find any reference to Tozer's old church, Southside Alliance Church in Chicago, and I wonder about the church legacy of great men. (I feel another blog subject coming on - why do some churches survive great ministries and others die?) Does anyone know anything of the subsequent history of this church?


For more information read Lyle Dorsett’s book, A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A. W. Tozer

We hope to get Nigel’s talk on the new Free Church web site which will be live soon!