Malcolm Cox

I guess I should write something about the virus. It's on everyone's mind.

I was sent this link to some wise words. You might like to check it out. 

However, I'm not quite sure what to say except to urge us to pray for people making the big decisions (1 Timothy  2:1-4).  I want to be faithful about the challenges ahead, but not trite. Here goes.....

Essentially we are called to:

 What we don't know about the virus is not as important as what we do know about Jesus.

We know that the ultimate victory is his:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV11)We also know that nothing in this world can separate us from the love of Christ:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” (Romans 8:35 NIV11)It is sobering to see what is going on around the world as a reaction to the virus. Not only the deaths, illnesses and physical pain, but also the emotional anxiety and even panic. Let's do our best to be people who are alert to the realities of the consequences of the virus, and connected with people in their pain. Yet, also, to be those people who have a genuine hope and do not live in fear.

 God bless, and stay safe, Malcolm

Thank you for reading this far, and encouraging me in my endeavours to support our times of quiet with God, our corporate worship experiences, and the effectiveness of our preaching and teaching. I hope my uploads will help you to live a life of peace as you rest in the trust you have in our heavenly Father, no matter what the circumstances.

If you know anyone who might enjoy these materials, please send them a link to my website and encourage them to sign up for this newsletter.

God bless, Malcolm

If you are ever called on to take a funeral you may find this booklet helpful. I compiled it as a response to some requests for advice. The video explains what this resource is all about. You can find the pdf here:

Joy-in-the-Mourning-BookletDownload

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected]. 

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

Today I reflect on my time in San Antonio at the "conversations" conference of theologians and Bible teachers from all over the world.

I loved the lessons and the learning atmosphere, but my highlight was one conversation. Saturday morning breakfast with my old friend Larry Clipp. Larry and I have known each other since the mid-80s. Sadly, we see each other rarely these days, being on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

However, despite the long gaps between seeing each other, God has maintained our bond. In today's podcast I share about the spiritual blessing it was to me to experience grace and community with Larry.

I also reflect on a section from the book "Sacred Fire" by Ronald Rolheiser who was one of the speakers in San Antonio.  He writes:

"What’s John’s baptism? It is a baptism of repentance, a realization of what we are doing wrong and a clear resolution to correct our bad behavior. What is Jesus’ baptism? It is an entry into grace and community in such a way that empowers us internally to do what is impossible for us to do by our willpower alone."

Rolheiser, Ronald. Sacred Fire (pp. 129-130). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. I hope you have experiences of God's grace and community this week. I am confident that if you do, you will find your spirit refreshed.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

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I have just got back from the “Conversations” teachers' conference in San Antonio. I learned enough to supply material for the next ten or twenty Tuesday teaching tips!

Today I would like to reflect on a point made in the first class given by Ronald Rolheiser. Ronald is a Catholic priest and President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio. He is a well-known writer on spirituality. I have one of his books, “Sacred fire: a vision for deeper human and Christian spirituality”. Now that I’ve heard him speak I am spurred on to read the rest of his book!

The title of his class at the conference was “Teaching and Spirituality”. It was a terrific lesson. Areas he covered included how to hear God’s voice, the three levels of spirituality, the role of academic theology and church life, what happens when academic theology is shut out, and what happens when academic theology does not respect the church. All of that in 45 minutes!

It's tough picking out one thing to write about just for today, but I’m going to focus on a fundamental issue he covered at the beginning of his talk. It concerns the three levels of teaching. Summarised they are:

I’m not sure I’m doing Ronald full justice here, so I hope he will forgive me if I have not fully grasped all of his points. However, my takeaway, amongst others, from these points above is to consider where my strengths and weaknesses lie. And, in doing so, to consider whether I am growing in my weaker areas, but also whether I am exploiting my strengths.

All three aspects of teaching are vital. We can easily see how a focus on one to the exclusion of the others would lead to an imbalance.

If all we do is teach people so that they can become Christians, we will have congregations of spiritual infants. Such is the problem addressed by the writer to the Hebrews (Heb 5.12-14).

However, if our exclusive focus is teaching congregants to grow in their faith, we end up with a self-focused group. They run the risk of missings the heart of God and of losing their concern for the lost. Something demonstrated by the Pharisees (Luke 11:42).

Diving ever deeper into an academic understanding of faith without finding relevance for those who are lost, or the congregation of believers leads to a stale intellectualism. Perhaps Paul had something like this in mind when he wrote to the Colossians (Colossians 2.18-19).

If we want healthy spirituality and a healthy congregation we must invest in all three areas of teaching. We must equip those people who can teach in these three areas, and provide channels so that these three aspects of teaching can be a blessing to non-believers, Christians and congregations.

My reflection as it pertains to me is that the second area is my greatest strength. I am capable of teaching people to become Christians. I am capable of engaging with a certain level of academia. My strength, at least this is what people tell me, is that I am most effective when teaching Christians for the purpose of edification.

From this, flow three convictions.

Firstly, it’s important that I focus on exploiting my strengths, not lamenting my weaknesses (neither ignoring them, but that’s a different point).

Secondly, it’s important that I consciously, deliberately work at strengthening my weaker areas.

Thirdly, it’s important that I recognise those around me who are stronger in my weaker areas.

What does this mean in real life? Well, I’m still working that out in its detail, but here are some preliminary conclusions:

As ever, Jesus is our model. He was wonderfully gifted at helping those far from God to come close to him. He had the capacity to teach in such a way as to grow the faith of those who followed him. He grasped and explained the deeper aspects of the faith with tremendous profundity. I’m sure you, as I, wish to be more like Jesus in these ways. Let’s be patient with ourselves as we grow in our weaknesses. And let's be passionate about expressing our strengths. Jesus is not finished with us yet.

What I’d like to know today is, “Which of the three areas I have outlined is your strength?”, "How do you feel about developing your weaker areas?”, “What are your plans to strengthen your strength and develop your weaknesses?"

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

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The podcast version of my newsletter with some reflections on the "Conversations" conference in San Antonio as well as the postings on my website in the last seven days.

God bless, Malcolm

Do you ever feel your prayers are 'inadequate'? Today I share the fruit of a reflection on my difficulties in finding a meaningful connection with God on Wednesday morning this week.

We take a look at Jesus, Silas and Paul as well as the sermon on the mount.

Let me know your thoughts.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected]. 

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

What happens when something disrupts your lesson? What do you do when a good proportion of your audience is distracted by something?        

We had a situation last Saturday. I was teaching a series of lessons on the Beatitudes (link to the YouTube live feed here). Several disruptive and distracting things occurred. In no particular order they included:

After the event my wife said to me, “You should do one of your teaching tip recordings about how to handle distractions and disruptions. You did a brilliant job today!” Well, far be it from me to go against my wife’s wishes! Let’s have a look today at some principles and practicals of how to handle disruptions and distractions while you are teaching or preaching.

Remember Jesus.  Remember that he was interruptible.  Not all disruptions are a problem. Sometimes they are the very opportunity the Holy Spirit is giving you to help someone. I’ve recorded before about the question someone asked me towards the end of one of my sermons as I was wrapping up with my nicely prepared concluding thoughts. A momentary flash of annoyance at the interruption was soon replaced with gratitude that I now knew more about what mattered to that person. The individual matters more than the point we are making. Take, for example, the situation in Matthew 9. Jesus is engaged in preaching on new and old wineskins when he is first interrupted by a synagogue leader, and then swiftly afterwards by a woman who touches his cloak. He is not upset. He does not dismiss them. He allows himself to be interrupted and, lo and behold, the work of God is done.

Numbers. The general rule regarding numbers is that the smaller the group, the more attention you will need to paid to disruptions. In a large group disruptions are not as noticeable. Therefore, if you are regularly teaching to a smaller group be prepared to pause and deal with distractions as part of the normal way of doing things.

Be gentle. If you need to say something to deal with a distraction then do it with gentleness and respect. A few years ago we had a situation with a couple of toddlers running around at the back of the hall during the service - including the quieter parts of communion and prayer. It’s not so much that they were moving, but that they were noisy!  I got up and said something like, “It sounds like some of our children could do with a bit of comforting from their parents.”  The remark received a little laughter, the parents were moved to action and the situation settled down. Afterwards a parent came up to me and thanked me for making light of the situation. They mentioned that in the past parents had been effectively rebuked from the front for not keeping their children perfectly quiet. That approach did not help the parents nor the children, and seems entirely inappropriate given the way that Jesus found children to be fascinating and allowed them to interrupt him. Gentleness and humour help to defuse tricky situations.

Give in. Sometimes you just have to give him. A year or two ago in the Watford church we were part way into the sermon when someone knocked over a large cup of coffee. It was a real bucket!  The brown nectar spread over a very wide area. People seated nearby were picking up handbags and moving their feet away from the flood. Chairs were moved. I stopped the sermon, and suggested we pause while the coffee was mopped up. Then we carried on. By nature I’m the kind of person who would press on, but there are times to give in.  Indeed, there are times when something more significant happens.  On one occasion somebody had an epileptic fit during the sermon ( I don’t think it was caused by my preaching!). That lesson certainly had to be put on pause until the person had been helped.  We called for first aiders to make themselves known and the person was given the comfort they needed. A good few years ago I was preaching and noticed several burly policemen coming in at the rear of the church hall. They moved purposefully towards a visitor and a scuffle ensued as they arrested him and took him out. That time I stop preaching and asked one of our worship leaders to step up and lead a song. 

Press on. Having said that, there are times to keep going. If we stop for every distraction we will be unlikely to finish! How do you know when to press on? I would say as long as you’ve got the attention of the majority of the group you can keep going. If congregations get used to the idea that we stop at every disruption it tends to make the group even more sensitive to such disruptions. I remember a story told to me by Duncan Comrie in Durban, South Africa. He visited one of our congregations in Zimbabwe. Partway through the church service the power went out. They carried on singing and worshipping in the dark for about three hours. What else are you going to do?!

Engagement. The more engaging you are as a speaker, the less distractions will cause a significant problem. It’s important to be energetic, filled with conviction, personable and connected with the congregation. On the other hand, if you are aloof, boring, droning on past the time most people would wish you to finish, you should not be surprised if the congregation are easily distracted.

Hecklers. What you do when someone heckles you? It’s happened to me a few times. The general rule is to not engage. If you are a professionally trained comedian or someone with the rare gift of, and some will remember him, someone like James Lloyd, then by all means engage. But for most of us mere mortals we need to stay well away from public debate. Here of course I’m not talking about someone with a genuine question but someone who has the aim of disrupting the meeting. Proceed with the following steps: 1. Offer to speak with the heckler afterwards when you can have a conversation; 2. If that does not quiet them, ask them firmly but gently to stop heckling so that everybody else can learn together; 3. If they refuse, ask them to leave; 4. If they persist, stop proceedings until they either sit down and are quiet or have left. Should you forcibly eject them from the premises? Only as a very last resort and if you feel the safety of members is threatened. It is better to call the police. Most often simply making that threat, or making the phone call within the heckler's hearing is enough to prompt them to depart.  On the rare occasions I have been heckled by disturbed members of the church I have found that simply remaining calm and kind has kept the disruption to a manageable minimum.

World events. Sometimes the disruption and destruction may not happen as part of your meeting. Occasionally it can be an event of local, national or world significance. I remember the day that Princess Diana died. That Sunday the atmosphere in church was, well is no better word for it than weird. I pressed on with the normal service and sermon, making acknowledgement of what had happened (everybody knew), but not allowing it to shape the service particularly. That was a mistake. No one paid any attention to anything I said that day. It was impossible. I would have done better to acknowledge it, and change the whole format of the service on the fly and change my lesson.

Weather.  Sometimes the weather can be a distraction. When it's particularly cold keep everything short. When it's particularly hot keep everything short. When it's windy keep everything short. Can you spot the theme? I have noticed that when winds are strong and noisy it seems to unsettle congregations more than any other weather condition. In fact, I first noticed this when I was a schoolteacher many moons ago. It was particularly difficult to get the children to settle in class and pay attention when they could hear the wind whistling past the windows. Adults are less susceptible, but are still affected. When it’s very windy (or when the weather is unusual) acknowledge it. Most likely you will need to be a little bit more energetic and engaging to help people have their attention focused on the Scriptures. As a general rule, when weather is strange, keep your lesson shorter.

What I’d like to know today is, “How do you handle distractions and disruptions? What have you found that works, and what does not?”

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, Coach.me, coaching,  coach me, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

Well, I'm back home this afternoon after an extraordinary morning exploring the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10). 

As most of you will know the Watford church asked me to put on what we call a teaching day and we picked the Beatitudes. As I type this I am feeling very satisfied, tired and a little emotional as I think about the efforts everybody put in to make today a success. 30 people turned up from all over London, as well as those who travelled from as far as Hampshire and Birmingham to be there. One person even came simply as a result of finding us on Eventbrite. Many thanks to Rob Payne for suggesting putting the teaching day on Eventbrite. It works!

It's heartening to me personally to see a genuine hunger to understand and learn how to apply these amazing teachings of Jesus. And it's a privilege to have had the time and space to study and prepare the materials.

It was gratifying to be asked by several people, "When's the next one?". Right now I need a lie down and a cup of tea before contemplating another day like today! However, I know it will not be long before I'm planning and praying about a similar event.

The live feed is on YouTube already. Have a look at my YouTube channel - you should find it there.

I'm really interested to know the opinions of the people who attended, but also anybody who watched the live feed, or might watch it later, as to suggestions on follow-up. Should we do more on the same topics, or pick another passage or topic from the Bible for a future teaching day? Please give your feedback - it is very, very valuable.

On Tuesday I fly to San Antonio in Texas to attend a teachers' conference called "Conversations".

It will be good to see old friends and, I hope, make new ones.

One of my prayers for the trip is to build deeper friendships with people interested in teaching. Another prayer focus is to discover what might be God's desire for my emphasis in the sphere of teaching. In which areas of teaching do my gifts most bear fruit? What would be good to focus on in the future? 

Some other questions on my mind include these: How can we develop a culture of valuing deeper Bible teaching in our fellowships in the UK and Ireland? What opportunities could I and others provide for those hungry for deeper teaching?

This week I pose a simple question: "What Biblical topic or passage would you find it most helpful to have taught in a special session?"

I hope that this week's podcasts, videos and other materials help you to develop deeper faith in God and his word.

Thank you for reading this far, and encouraging me in my endeavours to support our times of quiet with God, our corporate worship experiences, and the effectiveness of our preaching and teaching. I hope my uploads will help you to build stronger friendships with other people and with God.

If you know anyone who might enjoy these materials, please send them a link to my website and encourage them to sign up for this newsletter.

God bless, Malcolm

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“Kingdom Come” podcast, episode 62

Would you like to know more about the heart of Jesus? If so, you’ve come to the right place.

Welcome to the “Kingdom Come” podcast of the Thames Valley churches of Christ. For two months we are diving deep into the “Sermon on the Mount”, found in the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7.

These podcasts are designed to help us take these amazing words of Jesus and apply them to our devotional life.

Thank you for listening to this podcast. You can find more episodes in our feed. Our website is http://www.tvcoc.org.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.

Do you have a question about the Bible or the Christian faith? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send us your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

Thanks again for listening. Have a super day.

God bless,

Malcolm

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Most Sunday Samples are about practicalities blended with theology. This time, something different. A trip into history. 

I’ve been dipping in and out of a book called “One heart, One voice” by Andrew Maries. Today let’s have a look at some of the things he shares about the history of God’s people in musical worship. This week we will focus on the Old Testament. Next time we will move on to the New Testament and the early church.

1. Collective Worship

In what we call the Old Testament music was central to collective worship and everyday life. It was part of the atmosphere. National events were celebrated with music (Exodus 15; 1 Chronicles 15-16).  It was integral to military action (Joshua 6:20; 2 Chronicles 20:21). The Psalms show us that music was part of collective worship, focused on the temple.

2. Life Worship

But it was also part of everyday life. “People sing for great joy and thanksgiving such as Hannah (1 Samuel 2) and Mary (Luke 1:46-55); or out of the deep grief of David’s lament for the death of Jonathan (2 Samuel 1). Music was used in sacred and secular feasts (Isaiah 5:12), social events (mentioned at the return of the prodigal son in Luke 15:25), in work songs as people harvested the crops (Isaiah 16:10), and in the expression of love (Song of songs).” Page 18

3. Style

We don’t know much about the style of music in that period. Most likely it would be similar to ancient folk music which survives today. Harmony would be uncommon, with unison the normal mode of singing and performing. It may well be that it would sound as strange to Western ears as traditional music of the Far East would be for us today. “Imagine, for instance, the effect of 120 trumpet-playing priests sounding for the daily dedication of the temple in Jerusalem! (2 Chronicles 5). Even the worst school band could hardly have competed with such a sound!” Page 19

4. Instruments 

Psalm 150 gives us some idea of the instruments used in that time:

“…..Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.” (Psalm 150:1–6 NIV11)Here we find a mix of stringed, wind and percussion instruments.  For further examples see Genesis 4:21, 1 Samuel 16:23; 1 Samuel 10:5; Daniel 3:5 (stringed); Isaiah 30:29; 1 Kings 1:40; Matthew 9:23; Jeremiah 48:36; Genesis 4:21; Daniel 3:7; Numbers 10:1-10 (wind); Exodus 28:35; Exodus 15:20; Isaiah 5:6; 1 Samuel 18:6 (percussion).

5. Resources

David got things more organised. In 1 Chronicles 15.25 we get a glimpse into his prioritising of musical worship. He chose 288 skilful musicians to conduct the religious ceremonies along with the priests. This is a huge investment in manpower and resources (See 1 Chronicle 16:41).

6. Spontaneity

It does not seem David felt there was any contradiction between the more formal worship and the less formal. Temple worship required more careful organisational preparation, but this went “hand in hand with the spontaneous activity of God. For some people today the two are quite irreconcilable.” Page 21 When the Ark was brought into the temple there was not a great deal of formality involved! “The beauty of this Old Testament example is that people were able to accept a regular routine expression for their worship, almost as a discipline, while remaining open to change and ready to adapt to a God of power and movement.” Page 23

7. Words

Three main words are used for praise: halal; zamar; yada. I have recorded on these in earlier podcasts. Suffice it to say for today that halal is primarily making a noise for God (Habakkuk 3:3; Psalm 35:28; 66:1-2). Zamar is primarily connected with singing or playing music (Psalm 18:49; 147:1, 7; 108:1-3; 47:6-9. Yada is more connected with moving the body (Psalm 63:3-4; 134:2; 2 Chronicles 7:3; Psalm 138:1-2; Psalm 47:1; 149:3; 33:1-3. “While we suffer from ecclesiastical rigorous mortis, the ancient worshipper knew no self-consciousness in his relationship to God. Praise could frequently be extremely exuberant!” Page 25

Some lessons for us today, having reviewed the evidence for Old Testament collective musical worship.

Which of the above points speaks to you?  Pray through each of these six points asking God to reveal to you which one might be most relevant in your context.  Perhaps your use of instruments is more passive than it could be. Or, perhaps the balance of the formal and spontaneous isn’t serving the congregation at the moment. Maybe you feel led to write a new song about national, collective spiritual or personal events. Although again, perhaps you feel you’ve got a bit stuck in a rut regarding the genres of music you using collective worship. Whatever the detail, God will help you to see what it is he would like you to learn from this brief survey of music in the Old Testament.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

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