Fatherhood and the theology it teaches...

As many of you are aware, I have had quite a momentous week also. Katarina (my wife) gave birth to a healthy baby boy, at 11:36pm Sunday night. We have had a great week settling in as a family and sincerely appreciate all your heartfelt congratulations and encouragements.

I remember saying to a friend of mine, that I couldn't wait to become a father because of all the new sermon illustrations it would provide me with.

Well what I should have said was, I cant wait to become a father knowing all the GOOD THEOLOGY I will TEACH me.

On the 1st Day of our baby boy’s earthly life there was a powerful lesson to experience.

Our baby was born with some amniotic fluid on the lungs and the Doctors wanted him to spend some time in the special care nursery for observation.

They began to put in an IV line (drip) and the nurses were having a horrible time getting a needle into one of his soft little veins. There I was standing over his crib talking to him and telling him its going to be ok and all the while he was screaming and writhing in fear of this unknown experience called pain. I left the room and left Katarina (my wife) there to attend to the little guy as my eyes welled up in tears. I felt helpless and a failure. Here was this special little guy who was my son, being put through unimaginable pain (in his context) and it was beyond what I could bare. Katarina later found me, in the hallway of the hospital and asked me if I was doing ok. I reassured her I’d be ok, and then asked her what she thought it must have felt like to be the Father God, looking down at His One and only Son, suffering the wrath and vengeance sin deserved upon the cross?

I now have a fresh and sharper insight [thought still horribly inadequate] into the suffering of the Father in those, world changing moments.

God Bless you all,

Craig Ireland

Knox Matias Ireland - born; 09/05/10 at 11:20pm (My 1st Born Child)

“Knox is kind of a weird name?” Some say, here’s my response,

My 1st born son, who is now 1 day 4 hrs old, was named in honour of John Knox 1510 – 1572, who was a student of the condemned reformers against the oppressive & murderously diabolical Catholic Church. He spent time as a galley slave and in exile because, in spite of massive pressure imposed upon him by foolish and evil dictators, Knox would not bow... See more or relent in his goal of reforming his nation. He (almost single handily) led Scotland to spiritual reformation and revival.

One astute observer, eulogised whilst gazing at the grave of this powerful weapon of God,” Here lies one who neither flattered nor feared any flesh.”

It was said of him, "Scotland has erected no monument on the grave of John Knox, for Scotland is his monument. He was courageous and true.”

The Fool Defending the Grave of a Dead Man,

How much of a fool would I look like if I was seen sitting on the grave of a dead man with a weapon in hand, and was claiming, with unflinching determination to defend the dead man with all my concerted energies?

Would I not then look like a man gone mad? Of course I would. Because dead men need no defending, they're already dead. The worst thing that can ever actually happen to them, mortally speaking, has already happened (die).

I reflect on this when I consider my own passionate and fleshly desire to so-often defend myself.

Whether it be defending myself against false accusations, defamation or something silly like having a dispute with my wife and being oh-so determined to be right, simply because I am addicted to being RIGHT.

So who am I defending? Well a dead man of course!

• Am I not dead in Christ?
• Am I not dead to the world and it's foolish, empty accusations?
• Am I not dead to the lusts of the flesh?
• Am I not dead to the inner pride that demands to be defended?
• Am I not dead, and have my life hidden with Christ in God?

Col 3:3 "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."

So often I'm just no,t and I desire true and thorough repentance for being a mad man, sitting on the grave of a dead man, determined to be his defence.

Sure there are times when defending oneself is necessary and even helpful to others, but for me it's deeper then that and if I just relied upon that excuse every time I wanted to justify myself in my defence I know I was being hypocritical. My defence stems right from the root of my fleshly heart, which demands to be right and seen as right for all to notice.

Please help me Lord?

God bless you & thanks for reading this small confession.

Craig Ireland

How to Avoid Assuming the Gospel

In Marks of the Messenger: Knowing, Living, and Speaking the Gospel (IVP, 2010), J. Mack Stiles sets out something I’ve heard Don Carson say a number of times: “Losing the gospel doesn’t happen all at once, it’s much more like a four generation process too:

The gospel is accepted —>

The gospel is assumed —>

The gospel is confused —>

The gospel is lost.”

How do you know if your church is beginning to assume the gospel? The answer, Stiles says, is when you no longer hear the gospel. He asks a series of diagnostic questions:

Was the gospel in the sermon Sunday morning?

Could the uninitiated hear that sermon and come to real faith in Christ?

Are gospel principles governing organizational decisions?

Do you hear the gospel in people’s prayers?

Does your fellowship encourage you to say the gospel? And then is it more than just a memorized sketch? Sure, it may follow the form of “God, Man, Christ, Response,” but is it in people’s own words?

Furthermore, do you see it in their actions? Is the gospel lived out?

Is membership based on a true commitment to the gospel or just because someone wants to join an organization—or maybe write an expose?

The healthy evangelist is asking these questions and looking for answers so as to guard the gospel. Here is the critical test.

Could you have preached that sermon if Christ had not died on the cross?

Could you have developed that leadership principle had Christ not been crucified?

I’m not saying be impractical—the Bible has much to say about being practical—but make sure that the practical is tied to the message of Jesus. Otherwise we are on the road to an assumption that will lose the gospel.

(p. 41, my emphasis)

May God give us grace to be men, women, and children of, by, and for the gospel!

Soli Deo Gloria!