15/12/2009 by paul.

Well I’m writing this from a rather chilly, wet and miserable looking Manchester office - but it is what I’ve come to call home!

Although its only 36 hours since I left come dear friends in Taipei, my last week there already seems like a distant memory. Some of the highlights of the last week included the final English Bible Study, looking at 1 Peter 5. I was given authorisation to lead the group through communion on Tuesday night, and it was a joy and privilege to do so. The group has really grown together over the last few weeks, and it seemed right to conclude in sharing not just our thoughts and faith, but also sharing in a meal at the centre of which is the foundation of our fellowship together - the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. To help in continuing our fellowship I also prepared a five-week study session looking at Paul’s letter to Titus - and my e-mail address!

Thursday was the last Taiwanese Bible Study that I would get to, and the topic was focussed on shining like stars (aka Philippians 2). Friday consisted of lots of preparation for Saturday (more to follow!) and a wonderful evening meal at a very nice hotel courtesy of one of the elders. Saturday evening was really busy. It was the last English Class, and I Was presented with lots of cards (and a chocolate yummy starbucks) to say thank-you, and then afterwards I led the Young Adults Fellowship. We shared in a Bible Study looking at the role of Sheep and Shepherds in the Bible. Do you know that more than half of the books of the Bible refer to sheep? There is a really deep imagery associated with sheep/lambs/rams in the Old Testament,

someone’s wealth and prosperity being measured in the number of sheep you own,
a ram being offered as a replacement sacrifice for Isaac,
lambs being killed on the first Passover evening,
lambs being slaughtered and spread and burnt all over an altar,
the dedication of Solomon’s temple with the sacrifice of 120,000 lambs,
to the re-dedication of the new temple after the exiles returned with 400 lambs.

But the shepherding imagery in the Old Testament is also strong

David was a shepherd and so the Psalms he wrote reflect this, including the well-known Psalm 23
Ezekiel in his image of the exile, saw the priests of the temple as bad shepherds, but that the restoration of the land would come as God became the true shepherd.
In the pre-amble to the New Testament context we also hear JEsus say that the people of Israel are like sheep without a shepherd.

We look at many of these passages, and then the paradoxical nature of the Bible study came out - in Jesus (particularly from John’s gospel) we have both the Lamb of God AND the Good Shepherd. Jesus is both the perfect sacrifice, and he is also the perfect guide and leader. John hints at the paradox here twice, first in his gospel, he says that the Good Shepherd will lay down his life for the sheep. Practically this doesn’t make any sense - sheep are there ultimately to give life to the shepherd, but the paradox here is that the shepherd would die for the sheep! We see the paradox once more in John’s Revelation, where he see the angels around Jesus proclaim that the Lamb will be the shepherd of his people. The paradox is rich and none more so than by considering the brutality of killing lambs a 120,000 lambs in the temple, to the rather tamed-down images of Christ that we often see on the cross. The cost of sin should be clear for us all to see - then we will know the true joy of the grace of God.

But the Bible goes further than this, because the imagery doesn’t stop with Jesus. The baton is passed to us - well two batons actually - Firstly, will we let Jesus be our shepherd? IF he is our shepherd, what are we - lambs? If indeed we can liken ourselves to lambs then we need remember that image form the old testament - sacrifice and dedication. Are we as lambs ready to sacrifice ourselves - we don’t need to physically die to do this, but perhaps this is what Paul meant when he said to present ourselves as living sacrifices to God. Secondly, again in John’s gospel, after the resurrection Jesus asks Peter three times, ‘Do you love me?’ (mirroring the three times Peter denied knowing JEsus at the time of the crucifixion). Each time Peter respond positively, and then Jesus responds, ‘Feed my sheep’. This is Peter’s commission to be a shepherd of God’s people. So the baton is passed to the apostles. But in 1 Peter Paul addresses the elders of the church and tells them to be shepherds of the people - and so God appoints people to be shepherds in our churches - will we follow, and/or will we lead? How? How do we do both?

I apologised at the end of the study for giving people more questions than answers!

Sunday morning eventually came round. Hsinte switched from Ephesians to consider the branch of Jesse in Isaiah. I amde some presentations and suddenly discovered that the word ‘thank-you’ is used far to often in everyday language to be actually able to express my feelings towards the people and friends that I have made in Taiwan. Trinity church have made me feel so welcome and have constantly provided for me, and have really shown me God’s love and grace in abundance. ‘Thank-you’ doesn’t really seem to say enough. After the final choir practice, and handbell practice, I finished my case, and headed downstairs. Many members of the church had stayed around till 4pm to see me off, and sang an impromptu ‘The Lord bless you and keep you’ as I carried my case down the three flights of stairs to the car. It was sad to wave goodbyes to some dear friends, but I also have unerlying feeling that it may not be too long before our paths may cross again. In the meantime I hope and pray that Trinity church will remain focussed on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the the Lord would indeed bless them richly, and that through them ‘knowledge of God would cover the earth’.

In somewhat of a daze and confusion of emotions I found my flight at Taipei airport and said my farewell to my hosts Hsinte and Margaret. Earlier in the church I said that while the whole congregation had welcomed me to Taiwan, it was only possible for me AND Jo to experience Taiwan because Hsinte had so openly welcomed me into his home. I hope this is the start of a long and wonderful relationship between two ministers on opposite sides of the world. With the same proviso as above, ‘Thank-you’ Hsinte and Margaret.

Three flights, twenty four hours, and I was suddenly in Jo’s arms at the airport. Despite the hug, it is incredibly cold (brrr) and suprisingly it feels quite dark! But I can reassure everyone that the sun is shining, even if it is on Taiwan.

It will no doubt take me some time to settle into British culture again. Two observations though - the man next to me on the plane from Hong Kong was suggesting that we could ask for compensation because the t.v.’s didn’t work for half an hour; and more people voted in X Factor on Saturday than voted for Labour in the last election. Both are utterly British and I’m sure would be distressing to Taiwanese culture!

Thank-you for journeying with me through my meanderings and my blog. I hope you have found it interesting. If you would like me to come and share my thoughts, some photographs or anything about Taiwan with you, your church, or any other group then please do let me know: webman@pjr-robinson.co.uk

In the meantime, keeping checking the blog, because even though this journey has finished, the journey of faith continues as I try to be both a sheep and a shepherd.

God Bless,
Paul
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06/12/2009 by paul.

…and just a quick snippet.

Worship today was really good with a great sermon message based on Ephesians 6. The men’s choir also sang, and here’s an amateur’s equipment used to record ‘For God so loved the world’. Forgive me being flat and mis-pronouncing the Taiwanese!

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01/12/2009 by paul.

Hmmm, this appears to be getting slightly more difficult!

I’m now down to my last two weeks in Taiwan, and things are getting very hectic with people wanting me to visit them before I go, and various bits a pieces to finish off. That means my blog is getting neglected - sorry

These last few days have been busily quiet, mostly with preparation for the sermon I preached on Sunday. Other extended highlights involve a Bible study on Philippians chapter 1, a trip to the immigration office to discover I’ll have to come home by T90 (rather than the planned T93); an English class based upon Wallace & Gromit, The Wrong Trousers; preaching on Ephesians 5:3-19; a random trip to a night market; a pastoral visit to pray for Mr. and Mrs. Chen and their family, and preparation for tonights English Bible Study on 1 Peter 4. Other than that its been quite quiet really.

I’m sorry this real short, but I got to finish my Bible study prep for tonight, and then tomorrow I’m off to Tainan for one night, to meet with a minister who spent some of his time studying under a certain John Parry (my tutor) at Northern College, Manchester.

Please forgive the shortening of posts towards the end of my stay - but you’ll be able to pick up the phone and ask me about anything in a couple of weeks!

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26/11/2009 by paul.

Well there we go - I made it to ten weeks! Which also means just three to go until I’m home trying to cope with slightly chillier weather!

These three days have been as action-packed as ever, and the excitement started at 5am on Monday morning. Sleepy-eyed and without coffee I headed out of the house in hunt for taxi to take me to the train station. The first taxi driver, whether by mis-communication or just because he couldn’t be bothered (I think the later, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt!) decided to drop me at a local small station that was closed. When I asked him to take me to the big station he just shrugged his shoulders. Thankfully within 10 minutes (and after some prayer!) another taxi driver drove down the quiet street and seemed quite pleased to take me off for my 6.30 train from Taipei. My HSR train was bound for Tainan - I think, the oldest city in Taiwan, and, I’m pretty sure at one point it was the capital city. Now its renowned for its history, and of course, the PCT Theological Seminary. I had enrolled for a lecture course, designed for ordained ministers who are continuing their study. The lectures were run by Prof. Ted Siverns, who is a guest at Tainan Theological Seminary for this year. I had met him amongst others at the PCT missionaries retreat last weekend. Ted gave five lectures on ‘The Bible and The Preacher’. Each lecture presented the depth of writing in the Bible and challenged us to think about how we might convey that and use it in our preaching. The lectures were titled, ‘Humour and the Preacher’, ‘The Child and Wonder’, ‘Drama and the Scirptures’, ‘Spirituality and the Psalms’, and then after a nights sleep, ‘Roman Power and the Parables’. The final session on Tuesday morning was Q&A and final worship - it was good to let the lungs fill with cwm rhonda, even if the sound was more like Welsh than English.

On Tuesday afternoon I headed back to Taipei to give the English Bible Study in the evening. This week focussed on 1 Peter 3:8-22. This is another inspiring (if not slightly theologically controversial!) passage, and, right in the middle is the verse ‘But in your hearts set apart Christ as LORD’. Using this for the structure of the Bible Study we discussed how this leads to us doing good (v.8-14), furthering God’s Kingdom (v.15-17), all of which is a result of believing in the Gospel (v.18-22). As well as discussing the exposition and meaning of the passage we also considered some ‘theological-style’ questions - How does God bless us when we become Christians? For this we decided it wasn’t necessarily with the things we wanted, we can’t barter with God for a new car if we become Christian. Likewise if we trust in the Gospel that doesn’t mean that suffering and struggle will go away, or that we’ll get a pay-rise etc. What it does mean is that ‘the eyes of the LORD will be on the righteous’, he will journy with us and though all things we will have a comforter, a guide and ultimately a Saviour and Redeemer. Secondly we were challenged massively by the verse 15 - ‘Always be prepared to give an answer to those who ask you to give the reason for the hope that you have’. Would you know what to say, or be brave enough to say it if someone asked you to explain your faith? If not, then you need to get yourself prepared! And finally, we get some amazing verses that explain what Jesus has done for us that lead us to do good and further God’s Kingdom - FOR Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. If you need the one sentence to be prepared to share with other people you could do a lot worse than use 1 Peter 3:18. But following this we have an intriguing passage about Jesus going and preaching (or proclaiming) to the spirits in prison who disobeyed during the time of Noah. It may seem trivial to us, but this passage is the sole Biblical text that supports the line in the Apostles’ Creed: ‘he descended into hell’. If we are to stand up and say this in church then we need to try to understand what it means. Amongst different opinions, I favour the one that suggests that Jesus, after the resurection and before he rose went into hell to proclaim victory over sin and death and those that chose sin and death. This particualr reference is to Genesis 6. Other interpretations are available, including the more Roman Catholic view of purgatory and a view that says this this was Jesus in Noah at the time of Noah (i.e. not at the time of resurrection). The later would suggest we shouldn’t say the Apostles’ Creed, but I think there is a strong arguement for the first suggestion. The only problem is that Jesus said to the criminal hanging on a cross next to him, that ‘Today I will see you in paradise’. At this point my brain starts to struggle, but I’m happy to consider that Jesus had at least two and a bit days before he needed to be ready for the resurrection - and considering how much he had got done in the previous 24 hours I don’t think anything would be too difficult for him!

Anyway, theological rambles are great, but the thrust of the passage remains - believe in the Gospel - believe in Jesus - believe that he died for your sin, and then one day you will be face to face with him and be able to ask him for the answers to the difficult questions, if you stilll want to know the answers!

In comparison, Wednesday was a quieter day, mostly spent reading and preparing a sermon to preach on Sunday. I consider it a privelege and honour to have been given the opportunity to bring God’s Word to people in a different culture to mine, and so it really is taking a bit of time to prepare (especially without the safety net of my commentaries!). In the evening we went for dinner with a couple of Elders and then gave a home service at the flat of Dr. Chen. They certainly looked after us well, and the non-Christian couple who were present have decided to come to church on Sunday, so there’s some more prayer needed for Sunday morning!

Just to finish, here’s a picture of Tainan theological seminary:

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22/11/2009 by paul.

Well the weekend has passed! I’m not quite sure where it went, but it was full with trying to get prepared for next week and the usual church activity.

As will become apparent later on I need to be prepared for the English Bible Study that starts up again this next week. So Friday was spent preparing material for the English Class (Saturday night!) and 1 Peter 3! Saturday was a fun packed day with me escaping to my computer when I could to carry on the preparation. In the morning the women’s fellowship had a serious get together to bake. They made some fruit cake and I was asked if I would share my mum’s wonderful knowledge of scone-making. I was unsure if the copyright was still in tact, so did almost everything the same, except I let them chose the ingredients - they added eggs, hioney and dried cranberries (it is thanksgiving after all!) in addition to ‘the standard sh sh recipe’! On Saturday night I led another English class which amongst other things focussed on my much loved film, ‘Robots’ which Jo had kindly found space for in her luggage (amongst another 8ish films for me to watch, in English ). After the class I joined the Young Adults fellowship who were looking at 2 Samuel 11 - David and Bathsheeba. I’m not quite sure what they were discussing but at one point there was lots of laughter!

Sunday was thanksgiving - I had to explain to quite a few people that its AMERICAN and NOT English! Anyway the church celebrated with a communion service including handbells, women’s choir and a good romping forty minute sermon on Ephesians 4. Afterwards there was a huggggggeeee lunch featuring a cold turkey (literally!). Afterwards there were two choir practices and a handbell practice. phew. Back to 1 Peter.

Tomorrow I’m heading to Tainan - on the East coast in central/southern Taiwan. There is a PCT theological college there and one of the people I met last weekend (Ted Siverns) is giving some lectures in English (trans. into Taiwanese) on Preaching. It’s a two day course and so will be staying in Tainan until Tuesday morning, making it back to Taipei just in time to lead the 1 Peter Bible Study. So whilst I;ve only just got back into the habit of blogging, it looks like I might be missing a day or two, but hopefully I’ll have some interesting stories and thoughts to share when I get back!

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