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    • Not in Vain: 1 Corinthians Devotional
    • Explore Lamentations
    • eBook: Good News People
    • eBook: Filtered Grace
    • Gospel Coalition Articles
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    • Explore Ecclesiastes
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That Happy Certainty - Gospel | Culture | Planting
Ministry, Book Reviews, Interview

Turning Up the Music of Christ’s Love in our Discipleship: An Interview with Barry Cooper

March 1st saw the launch of the new version of Discipleship Explored (DE), written and presented by Barry Cooper. Barry took time out to answer a few questions about this exciting resource from Christianity Explored Ministries & The Good Book Company, along with the vision behind it and his reflections on discipleship in the church in the West…


Q. So Barry, in a nutshell, what’s DE all about?

A. We know the things we’re supposed to do as disciples – read the Bible, go to church, pray, love one another, share the gospel – but why does it often feel so joyless? It’s because we are so often focused on the things we’re supposed to do rather than the One we’re supposed to be following. Discipleship Explored is a film series, grounded in Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, which gets us refocused on Jesus.

dedvd_medium3d-bvw35fly4nhuovcgedwyc5hyjvfjzfgzQ. The previous version of DE came out back in 2008, and some people may be familiar with that material. Talk us through some of the changes with the 2018 version…

A. Emotionally, I think, it’s much more resonant. The eight sessions have been completely re-written, and the films are all new. It’s simpler and more streamlined: each session focuses on one passage from Philippians instead of two. There’s a greater focus on union with Christ, which is so key to Paul’s thinking (hence all the session titles ending in “In Christ”). There’s now the opportunity to learn prayer from the lips of Paul, as we pray model prayers based on Philippians. And the films also now feature interviews with believers all over the world – sometimes persecuted believers – whose lives have been radically changed by Christ.

Q. Most people seem to have generally used DE as a follow-on to Christianity Explored, pitched at those who have made a commitment to Christ. Is that still the case with this version? Who is the target audience? And how does that relate to Life Explored?

A. I’m keen to say that you can use DE completely independently of LE and CE. You don’t need to have run either to use DE, though of course people who’ve experienced either LE or CE will be right at home with the Handbooks and general feel of DE.

The target audience is Christian men and women, whether they’re new followers of Christ or veteran. That said, if a non-Christian turns up, I wouldn’t turf them out.

de-serbia-barryQ. You mentioned the new addition of the featured interviews in eachepisode. Tell us about the vision behind that? What prompted that and how did you go about deciding who to interview?

A. The interviewees are friends, or friends of friends. Judy, for example, is my old professor of counseling, and she is just a riveting story teller and Christian communicator. Simo is a Serbian evangelist whose hair-raising story I’d read on a blog, and who we were put in touch with by a mutual friend. The director Stephen McCaskell had friends in the Middle East who’d fled ISIS. We wanted a broad representation of believers, in terms of gender, ethnicity, age and so on. But the main reason was to bring an element of personal story into the films. We wanted to show what it looks like to live out Paul’s letter “on the ground”, especially under conditions of opposition and persecution.

Q. As you teach and speak at churches in the UK and the US you must get a sense of the discipleship scene in the Western church. What are your reflections on strengths and weaknesses – and how has that impacted upon DE?

A. Generally speaking, I’d say there’s a lack of depth in the way we disciple others, and ourselves.

The analogy I use is the one of the dancer who’s dancing with grace and joy and rhythm. As you look closer, you see what drives all this beautiful movement: she has her earbuds in, she’s hearing the music she loves best in all the world and it’s transporting her. She is captivated and enthralled by it. It’s almost as if she can’t stop dancing.

Now imagine a second person walking into the room. She looks at the dancer and thinks: ‘I’d love to be able to dance like that! But she can’t hear the music. So she tries to copy the moves – the technique. And it actually seems to be working, at least for a time. But because she hears no music the movement is clunky, hesitant and self-conscious. She doesn’t seem to enjoy dancing the way the first dancer does. And before too long she’s exhausted – even though the first dancer is still going strong.

So much of our well-intentioned disciple training is actually forcing people to be that second dancer. Telling them to copy all the right moves – read your Bible, pray, go to church, share the gospel – while doing relatively little to help them hear the beautiful music that must drive it all.

What would it look like if our discipling of others (and ourselves) was less an act of technique-teaching, and more an act of turning up the music? What if it were less about mastering, and more about being mastered? What if our focus was on captivating and enthralling would-be disciples with the music of God’s surpassing love for us in Christ?

de-rwanda-titleQ. The tagline for DE is ‘what’s the best love you’ve ever known?’. Obviously with that question you’re putting your cards on the table about what you think is critical for Christian discipleship. Tell us a bit more why you’ve gone for that…

A. It ties in with the dancer analogy, I think. Without being captivated by Christ and his surpassing love, the Christian life is at best a dutiful trudge. There’s little grace or enjoyment or energy. I want people to leave DE not feeling weighed down with a long list of things they have to do, but with a lightness, a happiness, as they reflect on what Christ has done, and who they are “in him”.

Q. September 2016 saw the launch of Life Explored, the third member of the Explored trilogy, which you co-wrote with Nate Morgan-Locke. The take-up on that seems pretty significant. As you & Nate planned and produced DE, how did the response to LE factor into that?

A. The biggest lesson we learned from developing LE was the importance of story and narrative in communicating the gospel compellingly. That’s a relatively easy thing when you’re working with narrative texts in the Bible (as we mostly were with CE and LE). But what about a pastoral letter like Philippians? That got us thinking about ways we could improve DE. And as a result, story has found its way into DE on a number of levels. There’s the story of how Paul came to be in Philippi, and the story of his relationship with them. There’s the story of our trip around the world as film crew. There are the personal stories of each interviewee. And even as a presenter, there’s much more that is personal and biographical in this version of DE.

Q. Practically, for someone who likes the sound of DE, what are the options for how they might use it?

A. It’s as flexible as you are. Run it one-to-one, in small groups, in large groups – you can even do DE as a solo study. You can run each session if need be in under an hour, so that also makes it useable in dinner breaks at school/work.

Q.  Finally, what’s next? Is there another Explored brewing in your brain? Marriage Explored? Church Explored? America Explored?!

A. It’s the end of an era for me, as I move on from Christianity Explored Ministries after twenty odd years. And who knows what the future holds.


You can pick up a copy of Discipleship Explored from the publisher here.

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March 6, 2018by Robin Ham
Book Reviews, Interview

“We Need to Fight for Faith in a Fallen World”: An Interview with Dan DeWitt

wild_medium3d-m7chqwm4pukbuoshgvmwwrwof3oel3qoLife in the Wild is a refreshing little book from new author Dan DeWitt, Associate Professor of Apologetics & Applied Theology at Cedarville University, Ohio & Director of the Center for Biblical Apologetics & Public Christianity – but please don’t let that long title put you off! The bottom line is that DeWitt is a shrewd observer of life, a riveting Bible teacher, and a really good writer; he is both funny and creative, and in LITW he has crafted a compelling companion for living as Christians in this broken world.

That’s what the title is getting at: ‘the wild’ is his way of describing the realities of life here-and-now, full of the joys and sorrows of a good world marred with suffering and sin. DeWitt seeks to make sense of why the world is the way it is, and shows just how important it is that we go through life with our eyes open.

And yet DeWitt also manages to steer clear of cliche and well-worn descriptions; the book is littered with delightful illustration and a turn of phrase that really captures and brings home biblical truth. There’s similarities in style and aim to C.S. Lewis, N.D.Wilson and Andrew Wilson, but to be honest, there’s not many books quite like this.

All this means I was really glad when Dan DeWitt agreed to let me ask him some questions about his vision for the book and for why he’s written it…


Q. Dan, in Life in the Wild you speak of the need for Christians to look at this world with both realism and hope. Can you give us a snapshot of what led you to write this book?

A. I gave a talk to a group of college students, mostly from a local secular university, several years ago in which I was asked to speak on the problem of evil. I really didn’t want to do a philosophical discussion of the issue, though there are some really powerful philosophical arguments in favor of the Christian worldview. Rather, I wanted to simply read the first few chapters of Genesis and ask the question, “If this account is true (as a Christian I of course believe it is) then what should we expect the world to look like?” I outline seven effects of the fall that I think flow naturally from the text. Over the years I’ve returned to those seven effects of the fall from Genesis 3 many times in helping Christians think through pain and suffering and evil in the world.

Q. Sam Allberry described the book warmly as a “fresh and urgent field guide to life in the real world”. Is that what you were hoping for as you wrote it?

A. Absolutely. I hope that it is a helpful to resource to use the Bible as a way to understand our suffering in a fallen world. We need to inform both our grief and our hope by what the Bible has to say about life in the wild.

Q. The early chapters of Genesis are perhaps sometimes known simply as being a source of controversy amongst Christians. So to some it might seem odd to spend a whole book camped out in one of those chapters, Genesis 3. Why did you choose to do that?

A. I wanted to focus on the big picture of Genesis and not some of the controversies about issues related to the age of the earth or something like that. I think the primary purpose of every creation passage in the Bible is to demonstrate authorship and ownership. God is the creator, owner, and sustainer of all. Our rejection of his authorship and ownership is the reason that we are living in a fallen world. Understanding the effects of our rebellion, our sin, is what my book is about.

wild-samallberryquoteQ. In what ways do you think the church has misrepresented the challenge of living in a fallen world?

A. I think we see a religious misrepresentation of living in a fallen world anytime tele-evangelists talk as though faithful Christians won’t face suffering, illness, or financial distress. You have to wonder if the kind of people who say such things have ever read the Bible. The Bible is a book of suffering, from Gen. 3 to the end of Revelation. But I also think well-meaning, Bible-believing, church-attending, Christians can sometimes misrepresent this unintentionally by a lack of transparency in community. When people think we never have a bad day, are never tempted, are never depressed, are never fearful, et cetera, then we can give a rather skewed picture of the Christian life. Obviously we don’t want to air all of our dirty laundry every chance we can get, but there needs to be a way in which those around us see us wrestling to live out our hope in Jesus even when things go badly.

Q. How might the message of Life in the Wild help us as we think evangelistically about engaging our neighbors and the culture around us with the gospel?

A. For starters I think it should make us a whole lot more empathetic. We are all broken people living in a broken world. Secondly, I hope it serves as an encouragement to look for ways to help one another. In our service we may win the opportunity to point others to the source of hope we have found in the wild. Lastly, I hope that understanding the robust explanation of evil and suffering from Genesis can provide a biblical apologetic in conversations where people are trying to figure out why bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people.

Q. You’re involved in training people for Christian ministry. Why do you think it’s important for pastors to help Christians have an understanding of ‘the wild’ and where we are in God’s story? Any wisdom for those in pastoral ministry on helping people in this area?

A. I think we need to remind ourselves of the big story of the Bible often. When we look at the the big picture that God has a design for our world, we’ve fallen from this design, flourishing is found in pursuing this design, and one day God will return to restore his design. We see the opening and closing acts of human history in the Bible with creation and then the Lord’s return. We are living between divine acts, waiting in the wild for God’s design to be restored. That means the needs for Christian ministry are massive. We are broken people living in a broken world. But the resources for the believer are greater still, God provides grace to meet our needs as we wait for him to make all things new. It doesn’t make things easy, we still grieve, but we grieve with hope.

You can pick up a copy of Life in the Wild from the publisher here.
Full disclosure: The publisher sent me a free copy of this book, but I hope this is still a fair and honest review.

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February 15, 2018by Robin Ham
Book Reviews

Tumbling Sky – Psalms Devotions for Weary Souls by Matt Searles – A Review & Competition

“What can miserable Christians sing? How can we pray, when most of our familiar patterns may not express how we feel when we’re in dark valleys? What about when our words fail us altogether? Is relationship with God still possible?”

It’s with these revealing words that Matt Searles screen-shot-2018-01-24-at-08-32-47introduces Tumbling Sky: Psalms Devotions for Weary Souls, a collection of thirty-four short Bible reflections that mirror his album of the same name.

Back in June 2016 I interviewed Matt about that album and he told me how he’d written it to to encourage Christians to keep engaging with God as they walk through the dark valleys of life. Born out of his own struggles with suffering and depression, he wanted to craft music that gave us permission for tears and reminded us that sorrow isn’t a sign of spiritual failure.

The distinct thing about all of Matt’s three albums (including Now and Not Yet and From the River to the Ends of the Earth) is that the lyrics are for the most part lifted straight out of the Psalms. The point is that in the Scriptures God himself has graciously given us words to pray back to him; a God-given songbook, if you like. And to have such words is all the more significant during seasons of life when our own words fail.

What makes Searles particularly interesting is that he is not a professional musician, but instead occupies the role of Director of Training for the South Central Gospel Partnership, which includes running their Ministry Training Course. Maybe it’s this pastoral heartbeat that meant Searles’ plan was always to accompany the album with a series of written devotions. Thankfully, after a popular Kickstarter campaign gave birth to an initial version, 10ofThose have now published the completed work – and in a smart, slim, hardback format.

Searles focuses on ten psalms, breaking each one into smaller portions for each of the thirty-four devotions (most psalms are spread over three or four, which means ample room for digestion). The devotional texts blend honesty and anecdote, with a perceptive attention to the psalmist’s words and the ballast of a rich biblical theology. Each one covers the best part of the small double-pages and can be read in a couple of minutes.

Like the album, Tumbling Sky opens with the brutal realism of Psalm 143, followed by the despair of Psalm 88, before Psalm 13 takes us from doubt to trust. There is a general journey from lament to praise, but it’s never glib, nor is it straight-forward, and in that sense it mirrors the complexities of life. Doubt can lead to a reflective and hope-filled faith, rather than being a one-way street to unbelief. To cite the apostle Paul, we are “sorrowful yet always rejoicing” (2 Cor 6:10). As Searles says in the introductory devotions on Psalm 30:5b:

So often as Christians we can be tempted to think that our experience must be one of either sorrow, or joy. But Scripture teaches us we are to expect both. These two coexist in the life of a Christian.

If you’re struggling to pray or read the Bible because of the season of life you’re in, then this might be the perfect way back to dwelling on God’s word. Perhaps it could be a gift for a friend who is facing upto despair or sadness. In the dark valleys of brokenness, it is all too easy to feel that our struggle or misery somehow makes us sub-spiritual, unwelcome at church and unable to bring such emotions and situations to God. Tumbling Sky is a companion for such times, ultimately helping us to trust that God of our Lord Jesus Christ is pursuing us with love through every one.

You can pick up a copy of Tumbling Sky from the publisher here.

Competition Time: If you would like to win one of three copies of Tumbling Sky: Psalm Devotions for Weary Souls, then all you need to do is share a link to this post on Twitter or Facebook, accompanied by the hashtag #tumblingsky Three entries will then be selected at random on 5pm on the 31st January 2018, and these winners will be contacted through the social network they have used.

Full disclosure: The publisher sent me a free copy of this book, but I hope this is still a fair and honest review. Especially because I put my own pennies towards the initial Kickstarter version!

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January 24, 2018by Robin Ham
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Hello, my name is Robin. Welcome to That Happy Certainty, where I write and collate on Christianity, culture, and church-planting. I’m based in Barrow in South Cumbria, England, where my family & I are part of Grace Church Barrow.

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“If we could be fully persuaded that we are in the good grace of God, that our sins are forgiven, that we have the Spirit of Christ, that we are the beloved children of God, we would be ever so happy and grateful to God. But because we often fear and doubt we cannot come to that happy certainty.”
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