Baptism & Baptism Certificates

What should we do about baptism certificates?

If you have wisdom you'd like to share with other readers that is not sensitive, you're welcome to comment rather than emailing me alone

1. Be honest with GodIt is disappointing when people ask for a piece of paper proving their baptism, as they seek emigration to a foreign country.  We should pray "Lord, raise up people whose baptism makes them all the more determined to serve amongst their own people.  May they have as their heart's desire and prayer to God that their fellow-countrymen be saved.  May they be determined, like Paul, to run the race and testify, even if prison and hardship awaits them"
2. Be understandingIn my situation, I have had to dispel my naivety and understand why emigration is an attractive prospect.  Firstly, these two guys are already displaced people.  We think of them as 'nationals', but they are somewhat foreign to mainstream society already.  Our city is especially discriminatory to people from the country west of here.  And secondly, would I want to give up my British passport and confine my kids to marriage and work in this Middle-Eastern country? 
3. Be thankfulTo seek legal emigration to the West is better than lying and colluding with wicked people-smugglers.  Good can be done in the West, especially if these dearly loved brothers of ours go and challenge the pluralism of the West and make disciples wherever they go.
4. Be faith-full
   Remember God is in control.  He is building his church.  No plan of his can be thwarted (Job 42:2)
5. Encourage locals to baptise one another, within the life of the indigenous churchHowever, sometimes they won't and I don't think it makes sense to delay active participation in the fellowship of the church because there is no one willing to baptise others.  We can feel guilty that we have 'tainted' the life of the local church by being the expat who does the baptising.  But Paul didn't seem bothered who did the baptising.  He was more concerned about preaching than baptising, but neither did he refuse to baptise according to a hard and fast rule that 'it must be a Corinthian who does the baptising'
6. Resist black and white methodologiesSome might say 'you shouldn't have baptised them'.  But they might have gone to someone else's ministry - this was a real possibility in one case - and had a much less biblically-instructive baptism service
7. Continue to teach baptism as a 'church thing'In other words, highlight 1 Cor 12:13- "For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body"  In our case, we don't have a fully formed church.  This is the nature of baptisms on the cutting edge of mission.  But we should keep praying against baptism being seen as an individual attainment.  It is clearly a statement about an individual having come into the kingdom, but it is more than that: it is a sign by which the body of Christ welcomes a new individual believer into the family.  May that brotherly love abound in us and make it a sweet thing to join our fellowship!
8. Take note of this line from IOM RSC (Resettlement Support Center)
   Those "who can establish persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion may be considered for admission to the United States as refugees."  This is why baptism certificates might be eagerly sought after
9. We may prefer to write a letter to specific officials than issue a baptism certificate that could be used in who knows what kind of scenario
   However, this does seem to disappoint believers who feel a letter doesn't provide as much weight.
   I considered adding this as smallprint on any baptism certificate I issue:
   
   Baptism is not sure proof that the baptised is a genuine Christian.  The evidence that someone is a Christian is their changed character and ongoing, sacrificial participation in the life of the church.  If anyone would like to enquire whether someone baptised in this fellowship is continuing to live as a committed Christian, they are welcome to contact us.

Jesus' paralysis

Jesus the Paralytic

This is a very familiar passage for many of us - Luke 5:17-26 & parallels - but I wanted to share fresh insights I have received this week.  Perhaps it might help others to preach the cross from this passage.

What does it meant that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins?

We typically think like this: that Jesus is God, so he can forgive sins.  And we don’t go much further than that.

But, we must ponder this more carefully: actually, not even God the Father has authority to forgive sins, if by that cancelling of debts he is acting unjustly.  Remember “righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne” (Ps 89 & 97).  He cannot sweep sin under the carpet.

“The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).  If Jesus had come to earth and said ‘I wipe away sins’ - without paying the price for sin - he would have been rebelling against his Father’s just government of the universe.

So, he came to die, to pay the full penalty for the world’s sin.  And by means of the cross he gained the right to cancel sins, and to remove the consequences of sin in our lives.  It actually would have been unjust for Jesus to cure the man’s paralysis, because all of us deserve death and sickness.

Think of it this way: Jesus gained the authority to heal and to forgive sins the man who was stuck on that stretcher by being himself stretched out in a kind of paralysis.  Not carried on wooden poles with a cloth between to lie on in some sort of comfort but nailed to two Roman poles and lifted up to die in excruciating pain.

And...one of the criminals next to him said effectively ‘go on, get up and walk’.  Free yourself of this paralysis you’re stuck in! (Luke 23:39).  And he could have called on twelve legions of angels to save him.  But he refused to ‘get up and walk’.  He endured the cross, scorning its shame.  He drained the cup of God’s wrath to the end, crying “It is finished!”

TPR Lab - Total Physical Response

How it Works: 

1. Walk round the office, and the coach gives you instructions in the target language: Knock on the door, Shuffle the Cards.  In English OR Kurdish.  He marks you out of, say 100, for how many actions you correctly performed first time.
2. Watch the video of these actions, and repeat after the video.
3. You walk round with your coach and tell him what to do.  He marks you out of 200; you score 1 point for getting it roughly right, 2 if you get it spot-on
4. You and your coach retrace your steps and he talks in the past tense about what you did.  I knocked on the door, I shuffled the Cards.
5. You now walk round and talk in the past tense about what you did.
6. You now use the future tense, by going round and telling a partner what he will do.  eg You will knock on the door, you'll shuffle the cards.

The Niche in the Market: There are many people in Duhok who have a decent academic grasp of English, but very little experience speaking it.  And they are prepared to pay good money to get practice.  But I can only provide IELTS preparation courses in the evenings.  Some are asking for Saturday classes.  That's the opening for a whole-day experience.  No one amongst the hundreds of expat English teachers in Kurdistan seems to have offered this kind of immersion experience.

A local partner: Imagine a shopkeeper in a village.  He speaks his own language crisply, slowly -- frankly, like the kind of guy Blue Peter would snap up as a TV presenter.  He has no idea that he has a God-given gift that can help him provide well for his family.  He has land nearby, perfect for recreation - a short mountain bike's ride away -- and a sizeable house with a room where you could play table-tennis and darts.  

Who would be the coaches? Yes, this is a potential bottleneck, because expats don't want to give a whole Saturday to being an English coach.  But there are lots of Kurds who are fairly fluent English speakers, eg English students or returnees--they could be very adequate as coaches when they follow the TPR script.

Does TPR work, or is this just a bright idea?  TPR has been widely advocated and practised.  It really does work, because all five senses can be engaged, not just the eyes looking at letters on a page.  After all,  this is how we learnt our mother tongue as children.  And often, more complex vocabulary is rooted in basic everyday actions: eg in Kurdish 'complicated' is a metaphor - têkvedayî - and it comes from the literal world of shuffling cards and stirring tea. So...drink tea and play cards, and then you'll be able to move on to talk about 'shuffled' international relations!

Despite the acclaim TPR has received, I failed to find anyone who had developed a TPR lab syllabus that could be used in a particular location.  If successful, this syllabus could be sold to others.

To view the syllabus of actions as we develop it, look here

The Simpler Psalms

The Simpler Psalms

Maybe others find themselves wanting to encourage people either:

- to translate bits of the Bible into a dialect or language

- to be better at reading anything in public.

I hope my meditation on this little selection of Psalms might help others in some way.

Ps 8
Ps 23
Ps 1
Ps 2
Ps 3&4
Psalm 100
Ps 93
Ps 32
Ps 42&43
Psalm 46
Psalm 63
Psalm 67
Psalm 103
Psalm 120
Psalm 127
Psalm 130
Psalm 134
Psalm 137

I have called them the Simpler Psalms because they're short and more straightforward to read or to translate.

But look with me at 

Psalm 8

It sounds quite simple.  The sort of thing children can sing along to.  Try Jamie Soles' very simple and uplifting modern rendition.

But to meditate on this Psalm is rather more complex.  Because Hebrews 2 calls on us to think about how this Psalm is not true of our experience!  Isn't that strange?  God wants us to sing Scripture, and as we do it, to cry out in our hearts BUT THIS ISN'T TRUE! Or rather, it isn't true yet.

Man does not rule over the beasts of the field.  Example: I have had terrible trouble with mice in our house.  They seem to ruling over us!  They choose what they want to eat and leave me with the toil of clearing up after their feast.

Hebrews 2:8  "Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him."

So, it should pain us to sing Psalm 8.  But, we should read the Psalm with its fulfilment in view too.  There is a Son of Man who has come, Mark 1- the wild animals were with him.  He commanded cancer cells and they obeyed him.

He has come to put everything right.  And we will rule with him, a truth that so often gets forgotten in evangelical spirituality.

So, let's rejoice in these 'Simpler Psalms'.  But let's also meditate on them day and night.  There's often more there than at first meets the eye.

Research into Kurdish Idiom: My Initial Thoughts

8.1 What is it that you wish to research? – Please state this in the form of a research question as you begin

your essay.  How effective is the use of metaphorical language with its origins in traditional Kurdish village life

for effective communication among the urban youth who are speakers of Behdini Kurdish?

8.2 Why is this research important to you, or to others? – Tell us how your topic is connected to literature and

other research you have done. How do you expect this research to make a contribution to the wider body of

knowledge in your discipline?

-1. The Behdini dialect has been sparsely documented, so it is useful at that level to learners of Behdini.

It will also be a contribution to the debate about what makes 'good Kurdish'.  See below.

8.3 What motivates you to do this research? – If your research is practitioner based explain how that is

relevant to your study.  To preach the gospel aptly, and to take captive every thought. 

Whether or not this comes to be stated explicitly - and I would prefer to make my thesis acceptable as a secular linguistic study in its own right- my thinking springs from a conviction about how

the kingdom of God grows.  It does not grow through violence, neither does it grow

through Western money or clever strategy, but rather through speaking the word of God.  But the

gospel must be spoken with aptness, accuracy and flavour.  "Sweetness of speech increases

persuasiveness" Prov 16:21.     Kurdish believers are poorly equipped to use the weapon of the word

skilfully.  Their language has not been well developed.  Kurdish culture has for centuries been suppressed, because its language has been despised as unworthy of use in education and worship.  And yet, even within this

ideological straightjacket, the richness of the Kurdish language has been preserved within an oral

tradition.  Kurdish proverbs and idiom are honoured as almost sacred scripture.  

So, I propose four avenues that could be explored for research topics:

A) Kurdish Proverbs.  This seems to be the safe option.  There are a number of books of Kurdish

proverbs.  A first step would be to translate Omer Salihi's Gotinet Peshiyan or one particular author's work

Kurdish Wisdom.  The latter is a neighbour, fluent in English, retired and keen to help.  The research

question could be to test familiarity and comprehension, with different regions and age groups.  

B) A Comparative Study of English idiom.  When I listen to preachers who have an exceptional

command of colloquial English I am awed at how they keep you listening because they are constantly

painting pictures.  I long to be able to communicate with cogency statements like – to pull a couple out

at random -"how will your wealth help you when old age comes knocking?", or "this verse is the death

blow to Western individualism".  How will a new generation of Kurdish preachers be raised up who

can preach winsomely, holding people's attention in the same way that the revered story-tellers of old

used to? I could use a book of English idiom and document Kurdish equivalents.  For example, a wild

goose chase has a Kurdish equivalent: "khew jee choo u kew jee choo": 'missed my lie-in and missed

the partridge too!'  

C) An Analytical Collection of Behdini Idiom

I have been documenting a lot of colourful Kurdish language in this past year.  This is not in itself an

academic exercise, more the labour of love of one who is at heart a Kurdish folklorist.  But I am sure

there is ground-breaking work here somewhere.  For example, I have not seen anyone try to document

the huge amount of rhyming and alliterative language in Kurdish.  We have bits and bobs, they have jil

u mil.  We like things spick and span, they like things ser u ber.  Or take animal idiom: I wonder

whether I could beaver away at documenting and then testing this huge lexis.  If I were to ferret around

for long enough, or even just swan around the chaykhanes as a sort of 'idiom squirrel' there would be

enough animal metaphor and simile to keep you reading til the cows come home.  The analysis could

look at how effectively an older generation's idiom connects with the Facebook urban generation.

D) Public Speaking

A different approach would be to analyse a selection of speeches, perhaps from political congresses, 

festivals, mosques or TV chat shows. Here the aim would be exploring how far renowned Kurdish

public speakers are using their language metaphorically in order to connect with a society whose roots

are in mountain villages.  I would want a substantial reading list on sociolinguistics, and some

typologies of language development, perhaps from the English language example.  Britain's seafaring

heritage still provides us with a huge catalogue of colourful idiom, from the tide turning to marriages

on the rocks to nailing your colours to the mast, even though we forget the roots of many of the

phrases.  Landlocked Kurdistan no doubt has a whole range of idiom that endures from its nomadic,

pastoralist heritage.

Many Kurdish linguists have a reductionist typology of language development, which is centred

around a hostility to loan words.   In English, of course, a purist approach would not appreciate the way

in which foreign words have been adopted but infused with a different meaning,  the shift from French

demander (to ask) to the English 'to demand' being a famous example. Melvyn Bragg's The Adventure

of English has whetted my appetite for the study of language development.

I look forward to bringing to the research a background in Kurdish history, but to shift a gear into more

purely linguistic research.  I have a lot to learn in the field of linguistics, but I am happy to expand my

historian's mind with some new linguistics tools.  Because I love this people and see many of them

suffering terribly in the current crisis, I am all the more motivated to immerse myself in their thoughts. 

To top and tail this essay with a Christian worldview, I want to "take captive every thought to make it

obedient to Christ".  People think using words.  And it would be a privilege for me to devote some

years of my life to analysing their words.  Of the above topics that I have introduced, a study of animal

idiom would be my preferred choice.  This essay has been of necessity a hurried work, but I hope that

it demonstrates an alertness to the wealth of unexplored territory in the Kurdish language, and a

willingness to listen to supervisors' guidance on what would be most suitable.

^{The 
Habakkuk
 Hymn}

Tune: Aurelia (The Church's One Foundation/ Facing a Task Unfinished)

 I hear, my body trembles;

Lips quiver at the news;

my bones decay within me

My legs beneath do shake.

Yet a day of judgment beckons-

For this I quietly wait.

Those who invade and ravage

His wrath they won’t escape.

 Though fig trees do not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the olive trees yield nothing

no grain come from the fields,

the flock all cut off from th’ fold,

no herd left in the stalls,

 yet in the LORD I will r’joice;

My Saviour’ll be my joy.

Jeremy Fowler 9 August 2014

On that night, as I pondered the reign of terror spreading in Iraq, I longed to set to music Habakkuk 3:16-18, since it is Habakkuk's song, given by God, to a prophet who was coming to terms with the imminent invasion of the people of Judah by the Babylonians.

Fitting the words to the 76 76 Double metre meant forcing the words a little, but I trust it will be of use.  Hopefully someone can do a better job than I have done.

Modern worship leaders tend to force us to sing happy songs.  Clearly, Christian praise must be marked by joy.  But here in Hab 3, our hearts are led through a journey to joy- beginning with utter terror, and only later reaching a quiet, hopeful joy.  With songs like this, suffering and perplexed people in our churches will feel they can join in the worship, rather than zone out and think 'these guys just aren't connecting with me'.
A friend called Nick Mott also came up with a song from the same passage- using my friend Gerv's version of the words.  https://soundcloud.com/motty/habakkuk-hymn
More contemporary in feel- let's keep experimenting to move people on in their devotion to the Lord! 

Sing Psalms: Tunes that I think work well

Metrical Psalm-Singing for 21st Century people

For a number of years I've tried out various tunes for the Psalms.  I am not musically trained; I cannot read music, but I'm a punter who might be able to help other punters sing the Psalms.   I mainly use familiar tunes to go with a little book called Sing Psalms.  This is a Rhyming-Metrical translation of the Psalms (which makes it easy for congregations to sing)

If you don't know what a 'metrical' Psalm is, you can watch my little explanatory You Tube video.

Do please try these tunes out, and give me feedback on which ones work or don't work so well.

You can download the pdf of the words for free or get the app for free 

; or why not buy up a handful of the little hardbacks* for use in family worship or a home group? From the Free Church Bookshop (UK) or Banner of Truth (USA).

For many of the Psalms I haven't yet found suitable tunes; musicians can of course buy the music edition and try the tunes suggested by the Free Church of Scotland.  Or use the Soundcloud audio versions to learn some of their recommended (older) tunes (it would be a great help if someone could post some of the newer tunes, but there may be copyright reasons for not doing so)

However, I ought to say that the older tunes beloved of some traditional churches are not my cup of tea, and I venture to say they will not be a help to multitudes of people who want to sing the Psalms from emotionally warmed hearts. So, my selection reflects the kind of tunes that work for me and I think also for many contemporary Christians.

So, here are the Psalm numbers, with the tunes I suggest:

1a. How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds (new tune: Rachel)

2. Jerusalem (for those who like Last Night of the Proms!)

8. How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds (old tune: St Peter)
9b How Firm a Foundation (trad UK tune or trad USA tune)

10. House of the Rising Son (Folk-Rock Hit from 1960s!)

14. Breathe on Me Breath of God (Trentham)

19. My Song is Love Unknown

20. Be Thou My Vision (Slane)- NB make sure it's the 11 11 11 11 arrngmt

22. Scarborough Fair (1960s Folk) / When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

23. Good Contemporary Tune on Sing Psalms Tutor CD*

24. O God Our Help in Ages Past / Come Let us Join our Joyful Songs (Nativity)

25. Rockingham= When I Survey

28. Scarborough Fair

29. Immortal, Invisible

32. Repton (O Lord and Father of Mankind)

33. A decent modern hymn tune from Tutor CD*

34. It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (British perhaps better than American tune)

35. House of the Rising Son

37. Contentment (Folksy tune written for Ps 37, on Tutor CD* but could do with a Bob Dylan-style guitar accompaniment)
45. Forest Green (UK O Little Town of Bethlehem) 

50. Go Forth and Tell

51. Ottawa (Master, Speak, Thy Servant Heareth)/ O Little Town of Bethlehem

54. Crimond (Old Tune for Ps 23, eg at Princess Diana's funeral)

55. House of the Rising Sun

56. Abbots Leigh (Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken)

60. Here is Love, Vast As The Ocean

62. Townend&Getty's In Christ Alone
67. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
70. The Church's One Foundation
72. Jerusalem (for those who like Last Night of the Proms!); Jesus Shall Reign (tune: Truro)
73b. Try reading vv1-18, then singing 19-28 with Regent Sq (Glory Be to God the Father)

or for those willing to do lengthier sings, use 73a & Abide with Me tune, then switch to 73b with Regent Sq for 19-28
75. Crown him with Many Crowns much better than Soldiers of Christ, Arise
78. Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder
79. O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus
80a. Abbots Leigh (Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken etc)
81. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
84. Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder
85. God of Grace, Amazing Wonder (Keith Getty/ Jonathan Rea)
86. Come Ye Thankful People Come (St George's Windsor)
87. German National Anthem / Abbots Leigh / Servant Song

90 Eventide (Abide with Me)

91. Tell Out My Soul

92a. Joy to the World
93. Joy to the World
94. Thaxted (I Vow to Thee My Country), repeat v23
95 Be Thou My Vision (Slane)- NB make sure it's the 11 11 11 11 arrangement

96a. Joy to the World
97 Jesus Shall Reign (Duke Street) /  Old Hundredth
98. Joy to the World
99a. Ellacombe http://www.cyberhymnal.org/mid/e/l/l/ellacombe.mid
100. Crown Him with Many Crowns
102. My Song is Love Unknown
103. Before the Throne of God Above
104. What a Friend We Have in Jesus (UK tune more cheerful & suitable than US tune)
105. Richard Simpkin's tune for How Firm a Foundation
106. Let us Love and Praise and Wonder
107. O Little Town of Bethlehem (NB UK & US tunes different)
108. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
109. Abbots Leigh (Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken)
110. Crown Him with Many Crowns
111. The Day Thou Gavest Lord Has Ended
114. The Old Hundredth
115. O God Our Help in Ages Past

116. Go Forth and Tell

117. Regent Square / Mannheim

119 (11)v81f Eventide (Abide with Me) **
LM- try Jesus Shall Reign (Truro or I prefer Duke Street), eg for (17)
LM-(18)v137f Rockingham= When I Survey
121. Matt Searles' new tune (from album Acoustic Psalms)

122. Ode to Joy (Beethoven)
126. Rachel (How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds, C Bowater)
130. Matt Searles' new tune (from album Acoustic Psalms)

132. Ode to Joy (Beethoven)
133. Amazing Grace
134a Love Divine All Loves Excelling

136. The King of Love My Shepherd Is
139a. Simone Richardson's new tune for My Shepherd Will Supply My Need
142. When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
143. My Song is Love Unknown (NB: prayer (v1) should be marked pray'er to indicate 2 syllables, unless ur Scottish!)
145. Go Forth and Tell

146. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
147. Stuart Townend's My Heart is Filled with Thankfulness

150a. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (repeat first stanza)

*Words Only Hardbacks c £10 each, I think, not £20 as currently listed.
**NB I find this a classic section to sing as a way to get a congregation sympathising with the persecuted church