Caleb

As Caleb approaches the 2-month mark, I thought it was a good time to write a little about him. Caleb Hao-en Peter Jackson (陳昊恩) was born at 7.31am on Wednesday 1st February 2012, weighing 3.8kg (8 pounds 4 ounces). I had half-joked that it would be great for Samuel to go to bed one night and wake up with a brother the next day; as it happens, that's exactly how it worked out!

Just like his big brother, Caleb has two middle names - a nod to his Taiwanese and British sides. We chose Caleb because of how the Biblical character is described. He had a 'different spirit' and followed God 'wholeheartedly' (Numbers 14:24); he also entered the promised land! Hao-en (昊恩) is not massively different from Samuel's Chi-en (奇恩 = amazing grace), and means vast & limitless grace. We're big on grace in the Jackson family! Peter is a tribute to my uncle who died in 2001 and was a wonderfully kind, imaginative, funny and talented man. So, the name might seem like a bit of a mouthful, but each part of it is important!

Is Jesus the Only God?

(Notes taken from Vintage Jesus series, preached by Mark Driscoll)

Who did JESUS say he was?

How did JESUS describe himself?

1. He came down from heaven (John 6:38)

"I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me"

Christianity is not about us ascending to God through good works; it's about Jesus descending to earth and living a man's life.

2. He's more than just a good man (Mark 10:17-18)

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good - except God alone"

If you think He's God, then call him good. Only God is truly good.

3. He's the Son of Man (David 7:13-14)

"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed"

Jesus refers to himself this way more than 80 times. What else would he mean?

4. He performed miracles (John 10:36-39)

"...even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father"

He did things that only God could do: water into wine, feeding the 5,000, raising Lazarus from the dead, etc.

5. He said that he was God (Mark 14:61-62)

Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"

"I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven"

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58)

"I and the Father are one" (John 10:30)

6. He confirmed that he was God when asked

The high priest said to him, "...Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God."

"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied (Matthew 26:63-64)

7. He said he was sinless (John 8:46)

"Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?"

8. He said he could forgive sin (Mark 2:5)

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven"

"...the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" (Mark 2:10)

All sin is ultimately against Him. (Against you, you only have I sinned - Psalm 51). If this isn't true, Jesus is evil, not good!

9. He said to pray to him as God (John 14:13-14)

"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it"

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you" (John 15:7)

If Jesus is not God, this is one of the cruellest, most despicable con-tricks ever pulled. He would have given countless people hope in their prayers being answered...

10. He promised to judge all people as God (John 5:22-24)

"...the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgement to the Son"

11. He said he's the only way to heaven (John 14:6)

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

- No a way, a truth... but THE way, THE truth...

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:23)

12. He claimed authority / supremacy over all people (Matthew 28:18)

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me"

Authority over:

- countries & kingdoms

- philosophies & ideologies

- races & ethnicities

- sexuality

- men & women

- adults & children

- angels & demons

- all world religions

Faith for Healing

After having my eyes tested the other day, I just longed for totally restored eyesight. My 800 (+200 for an astigmatism) left eye seemed like a good metaphor for the Earth - in gradual decline with no hope of change. Then I thought, ' why not pray for healing? Why not ask God for totally restored eyesight?' What an amazing testimony that would be!!

I found some notes from a Terry Virgo healing talk at CCK Brighton that I listened to a few years back. I think I'll be returning to them quite often in the years to come!

MAIN PRINCIPLE: we must put aside experience (we've never seen that before) and look at what the Word says.

"And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues... They will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well" (Mark 16:17,18)

'Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you have heard?' (Galatians 3:5)

"I am the LORD who heals you." (Exodus 15:26)

'Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-- who... heals all your diseases." (Psalm 103:3, 4)

Jesus did it! He is the 'exact representation' of God and healed many 'because God was with him'. (Acts 10:38) He is the same yesterday, today and forever; why would he NOT want to heal?

In the Gospels, Jesus is always healing someone, has just healed someone, or is going to heal someone!

1. Jesus healed consistently (Matthew 12:16)
- he healed them all
- he never turned anyone away who wanted healing
- he healed in large groups and one-on-one

2. Jesus healed confrontationally
- he healed those 'under the power of the devil'
- Jesus' life was like a battle
- 'release', 'set free'
- he saw healing in conflict terms

3. Jesus healed compassionately
- often moved with compassion
- reached out in compassion
- 'Jesus wept' for Lazarus

4. Jesus was congratulatory
- he applauded faith ("your faith has made you well")
- he censored unbelief ("Oh woman, where is your faith?")

5. Jesus healed comprehensively
- wants more than just physical pain to go (what sin is there?)
- is after complete healing
- wants those prayed for to experience the love of God
- WHOLENESS: God is often looking for much more than we're looking for!

6. Jesus' healing was confirmatory
- Healing was also a demonstration of who Jesus was and what he said
- 'God testified to (salvation) by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of
the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will' (Hebrews 2:4)
- Not just through Jesus, but also those who followed him:
'My message and preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on
God's power' (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)

7. Jesus heals continuously
- EXPECT him to heal!

If Jesus is alive, he comes when we call! It doesn't just happen in the Third World; Jesus is the same EVERYWHERE! If demons obey the name of Jesus in one place, they will in another!

Waiting for Caleb...

In stark contrast to his elder brother, whose birth was induced 3 weeks early, our second son seems to be in no hurry to enter the world. Whether that's down to the colder weather, the comfort of his 'bedwomb', or the fact that he keeps on hearing the words 'Samuel' and 'no!' spoken in ever-exasperated tones, he seems determined not to be punctual! Well, with his grandma and Auntie Stacy here to say, at least we can say we're ready!

August 2003: Enter Joelle!

As I blogged previously, the May retreat was the first time I chatted to Joelle. I knew her by sight, and that she was involved in the church's children's ministry on Sundays, taught kindergarten, and helped with the Powerpoint presentations during our Sunday evening meetings. Following on from the retreat, we had various other opportunities to chat, and also began to talk on MSN Messenger from time to time. I had also provisionally agreed to be a foreign teacher at her kindergarten a few days a week.

By the time July came along, I was starting to really like her. Nothing much happened, though - I was terrified of saying anything at that point. I did, however, treat her to a meal on 25th July, her birthday. At the time, I thought I was being subtle; seen from her eyes, it probably looked like a pretty serious statement... She was real fun to be with - bright, optimistic, liked to laugh... and I really enjoyed her company. It was obvious how much she enjoyed working with children, although I wasn't sizing her up as a potential Mum that soon!

In August, she went out of Taipei on a short-term mission trip, which seemed like torture to me. I think she was gone for a week, after which she went home to Pingtung in the south. Once in Pingtung, we chatted again on MSN: THAT was even worse! I wanted to tell her how I felt, but held back, saying that we shouldn't chat again until she returned to Taipei. As it turned out, we didn't last that long... On one day, there was an almost constant stream of text messages going back and forth. Thank God for Joelle's patience; she was waiting for me to 'own up' and was just about ready to give up hope!

Yangmingshan Trip: A Date With the Snakes...

Our first date, although I'm not sure either of us was expecting it to be that, was a trip to Yangmingshan just outside Taipei. I say 'not sure' because I was being typically British (i.e. vague) about my feelings and expecting Joelle to get the message by telepathy...

CNY 2003: The Round-Taiwan Bike Trip that Didn't QUITE Come Off...

I traded in my mountain bike for a skinny-tyred road bike In January and, rather foolishly / bravely (delete as appropriate) decided to ride it around Taiwan during the Chinese New Year holiday. On paper, it looked pretty straightforward: start in Taipei, head down the west coast (fairly flat), around the bottom tip and then up the east coast and back to Taipei. I had ridden the new bike a bit, but had hardly been in training...

Got as far as Hsinchu County on the first day. I'd stopped at the side of the road for a 'breather' and a man passing by stopped and started chatting to me. Long story short, he invited me to the family home for a cup of tea. Tea quickly became a meal (it was Chinese New Year's Eve) and, the sky having darkened, he and his family provided me with a bed for the night. An early start the next day, and I was on my way. Made it down to Changhua, pretty tired and pretty clueless about where I was going to stay the night. So I did what any sensible person would have done and CHEATED! Got on the train to Tainan, where I could find a spare bed at Corina's house. Slept like a log that night and most of the next morning, which meant having to scrap that day for riding. Relaxed a lot, met up with Peter and Ava for dinner... Would I EVER get back on the bike?

The next day proved why I should have trained for this trip... I selected Kenting as my next overnight stop and got going, and hard going it was too. Kenting wasn't too far from Tainan, the route was pretty flat and on major roads. The main problem was that my legs didn't seem too keen on going to Kenting; left to their own devices, they would have happily stayed in Tainan... So I slowly made my way down south, through Kaohsiung and onwards. Having left Tainan at 11am, I hadn't given myself that much time, so I still had a fair distance to ride when the sky began to get dark. However, I knew that Kenting was my best bet of a bed for the night, so had to keep going... Once at Kenting, I staggered into the first large-ish hotel I saw and asked if they had room. All full, they said... They must have noticed the look of horror on my face, as they somehow managed to find a free bed in a small room. Slept like the mother of all logs, woke the next morning as stiff as a board. Note to self: TRAIN before doing anything like this again!

2002~2003: I Didn't See THAT coming!

For most of 2002/3, it was a case of 'more of the same'. I decided to carry on teaching at Shane English School in Lujou for another year. Church life was going well, and I'd got involved with a few things at Evergreen Fellowship... Added to which, I didn't have a clue what to do if I repacked the suitcase and returned to the UK. Thanks to Chinese classes and (mainly) the help of new church friend, my Chinese was steadily improving. I did, however, travel back to the UK for Christmas 2002 - a great opportunity to see the family after a year and a bit away.

Alpha?
Having done the Alpha Course at university, I'd experienced first-hand how effective it was at explaining Christianity to unbelievers, fringe believers, confused believers or people like me (back in 2000) who couldn't decide which category they fitted into! I explained, rather tentatively, to leaders at church that I was interested in starting a course and they were very supportive. Rather oddly, money had been set aside in the church budget for an Alpha course, although I never found out who was responsible for that. Set to remain one of life's mysteries, I suppose! Paul Sharpe, Peter Barban and Dave Brown were all supportive, although one of the deacons had discovered some diatribe against Alpha online, in which the writer denounced Nicky Gumbel and Holy Trinity Brompton, and claimed that the Holy Spirit elements of the course were demonic. This deacon brought these objections to a (pretty chaotic) church meeting, where I was making my course proposal, and I ended up feeling pretty discouraged. I loved the church, but the meeting seemed dominated by personal 'differences' and there certainly wasn't any real feeling of unity there...

Mercifully, Kevin Tung (Evergreen leader) took me under his wing, so that he could be my point man for all things Alpha. From that point, things started to move forward again. Resources in Chinese and English were ordered from Hong Kong and I started to get a team in place for a September start.

SARS... and a Retreat Up a Mountain
SARS hit Taiwan in early 2003, having already menaced Hong Kong and southern China. Traveling on the Taipei MRT most days, I noticed that quite a few people were starting to wear medical-type face masks. It was hard to know at that time how much of a risk SARS was - there were stories of an outbreak at a local hospital, and anyone with a temperature of over 38.5 degrees was advised to stay at home (and anyone who lived with them). Church was still open on Sundays, although Evergreen had to meet outside for a few weeks. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise, actually, as we were a much more visible presence outside, meeting by the church entrance where all the passers-by could see / hear our meetings.

Went on my first Evergreen Retreat in May. There had been talk for a while of the retreat being cancelled due to SARS, but it eventually went ahead as planned. We did all have to have our temperature taken when entering the main meeting area, though. The retreat site was at a beautiful location, high up a mountain close to Hsi Chi, Taipei County. I remember heavy rain on one of the days, but also recall having a lot of fun. I led one of the small groups and 'translated' for Winnie Liang, the retreat MC. I say 'translated', as most of the people there were Chinese speakers and I could give a 'gist understanding' to my fellow foreigners. It seemed to go OK, at any rate. Looking back, something else took place that seemed pretty insignificant at the time. I chatted to a girl called Joelle for the first time; what blossomed from THAT encounter deserves a a blog of its own!

Evergreen Prayer Meeting
The Saturday fellowship had a midweek prayer meeting, which I was VERY keen to attend. My teaching schedule got in the way for a while, but Corina managed to juggle it a bit and free up my Wednesday evening. Getting together for prayer and midweek fellowship with other guys became one of the mainstays of my week - and stayed that way pretty constantly for about 5 years. In that time, I came to know people like Kevin, Morton (who went on to be my best man), Matthew Conway, Jason Ball and Stephen (for a short time, unfortunately) much better than I ever could at the Saturday meeting.