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Thanks for reading, I hope you’ve found encouragement on these here pages over the past year.  With love in Christ, Catherine.

Hello there!  I’m pleased to announce that this week I will be sending out not just three, but four copies of Keep the Faith to four lovely mums!  (I told you, you should have entered!)  Hopefully this news will go some way to alleviating that Sunday night feeling for the mums in question.

For those of you who missed the giveaway boat for whatever reason, do not fear!  Whack it on your Christmas list or why not treat yourself?  It’s available at The Good Book Company, Matthias Media, 10ofThose and, inevitably, Amazon!  Enjoy.

Dear all, I am excited.

Mum in Zone One‘s Birthday is coming up, so it’s gift time.  We are giving away three copies of Keep the Faith by Martin Ayers.  I asked my beautiful sister, Ta, to write a review of this book for you, since I know she found it really useful and encouraging.  I could have written a review myself, because I too found it very helpful, but the author is my (biological) brother, so I thought it would be too biased!  So don’t take it from me, take it from Ta (who is not my biological sister.  Nobody calls their children Martin, Catherine and Ta.  That would be crazy.)

So, if you would like to receive a free copy of this unique and excellent book, please comment below (click on the little speech bubble, top right) and I will draw names out of a hat (or maybe a stacking cup) on Saturday.  Two, no four, no five things to point out:

1. Entering this competition is not an admission of being crippled with doubts (although that is nothing to be ashamed of either)!  It’s a great book for any Christian to read!
2. I’m really sorry but I can only send copies out to UK addresses.  Perhaps in the future we will have an international giveaway!
3. Between you and me, your chances are pretty good.  Not very many people read my blog.  And of those that do, many are my friends who I know already have a copy of this book!
4. Remember to share this link if you know anyone else who might like a free book on how to doubt your doubts!
5. One year in, I think I’ve finally figured out how to allow comments on the bottom of a blog post!  (We’re very professional here.)

Thank you for entering!  And thank you, Ta, for the review!  (She says she’s not good at this sort of thing, but I think you will disagree.)

Book Review: Martin Ayers, Keep the Faith

“I am a doubter by nature. A disbeliever; a second guesser.

And, of course, this painfully carries true into my Christian faith.

Doubt isn’t dissimilar to pain. It might just be a little infrequent niggle, but it also has the power to overwhelm and shake us violently. Or numb us into resignation. Either way, it is very real.

And whether we acknowledge it or not, doubt saturates the air we breathe.

But, rather than letting our faith be suffocated, may I recommend this book to you? Of course, it isn’t going to magically fix all of our issues of doubt in one sitting, however well-penned, but it does offer succinct, sympathetic support on how we might tackle the issue.

Martin Ayers explores what the Bible itself says on the matter, dissecting doubt at its root, by taking us back to “The Fall”. He shows that objectivity is really an impossibility – despite what the current trendy philosophies of “relativism”, “secularism” and “atheism” would have us believe.

We are truth suppressors. God rejectors. This is not due to a lack of evidence or intellectual ability. In fact, faith and doubt are not primarily issues of intellect, reason or science. Faith and doubt are spiritual issues, and it is only God’s gracious revelation that allows us to see things as He does.

Perhaps it is time we doubted our doubts and shifted our thinking. The stakes are indeed high, no less than a matter of life and death.

In the face of doubt, Martin Ayers delves into the Bible. Yes, reading the Bible in the face of doubt is counter-intuitive and, frankly, down-right hard. But persevere, and you may be surprised to find reassurance in the consistency of God’s Word.

So don’t shy away. Let this book guide you to the Bible. No amount of doubt, disbelief or scepticism can weaken or break any of God’s truth or promises.”

(Incidentally, if you’d like to hear Ta’s deeply moving testimony, please find it here.)

Years ago at a Christian festival I saw a stall selling ‘Sons not Dogs’ T-shirts. The idea behind these T-shirts was that in the Bible, people who don’t love God are sometimes described as dogs (e.g. Mark 7:27-28; Revelation 22:15 but probably no need to look them up), but believers are described as sons (Galatians 4:6; Hebrews 2:10). At least that’s what I think they were about.

It struck me at the time that this wasn’t a great evangelistic tool:
‘Hey, what’s your T shirt about?’
‘Oh it’s about how I’m a son of God, and you’re a dog.’
‘Ooh, really? Please tell me more about this God!’
I don’t think so.
(Perhaps I will now be inundated with people defending these T shirts: I shall have to cope with that.)

The other night I got chatting to a dog walker. A dog walker does what it says on the tin – walks dogs.  They walk dogs for people who have a dog and also have the money to pay someone to walk their dog.  (As I’ve possibly mentioned before, I live in London: Zone One.) I don’t know much about dogs, so in my attempt to make conversation (a ‘skill’ I’ve ridiculed before on this blog, I think!) I got chatting to her about the similarities between training a dog and raising a child.

Dogs respond well to clear boundaries – to rewards and sanctions and tone of voice – as do children. The lady I was chatting to told me that she sometimes gets criticised by strangers in the park for being too strict with her dog. When she’s giving him a ‘time out’ people ask if they can go and stroke him. Perhaps you, as a parent, may have come under criticism for being too strict with your children – although I find these are the same people who compliment your children on their good behaviour! Perhaps they should notice the connection? A friend who teaches dog obedience classes tells me that in those classes he’s training the owners more than he is training the dogs. In some ways that can seem true with parenting, can’t it? If you think about programmes like Supernanny, it’s the parents who are being trained, which then affects the children.

Perhaps you will disagree, but I think in our society today it’s pretty inoffensive to draw these comparisons between dogs and children. But it strikes me that this says something about our view of children. Because the thing is, of course: children are not dogs. And dogs (despite the ‘doggy prams’ I see being pushed down the street I live on), dogs are not children.

Children are made in God’s image. Children have complex emotions and unique personalities. Children are capable of goodness and kindness, and they’re also born sinners. Like their parents, they have corrupt motives and like to keep rules – if they get something out of it.

Looking at the outward behaviour of a child doesn’t always tell you what’s going on in their hearts. Sometimes a child is doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons. Sometimes a child is doing the wrong thing, but it’s not as wrong as the thing they were doing a month ago so you can see progress that others miss. Some children are born rebellious little mavericks, pushing every boundary from day one.   Some are natural Pharisees, sticking to the rule book and hoping everyone notices.

If we want our children just to behave (sit when we tell them, come when we shout ‘heel!’) then we can probably find a rule book, a formula that will help us to achieve this goal. If we want them to be disciples of Christ, then we’re going to need to show them Jesus every day, to be gracious to them and show them our own need of grace, to pray for them and acknowledge that we’re completely dependent on God’s merciful kindness. This might mean our children sometimes embarrass us. They might wee in inappropriate places and bite and show us up by not coming to us when we call them. But God knows we’re on a journey and we’re relying on his Spirit to change the hearts of our kids, rather than just relying on ourselves to change their behaviour.

Let’s see what Jesus thought of well behaved people who were performing tricks in the hope of a dog biscuit:

Be careful not to practise your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. (Matt 6:1)

‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matt 23:27-28)

Let’s not train our children like dogs. Let’s remember that they’re sons (and daughters).  But please don’t buy the T-shirt.

For more on this, I recommend ‘Shepherding a Child’s Heart’ by Paul David Tripp. You might not agree with all of the application, but the principles themselves are Biblical.

Mum in Zone One now has a Facebook page.  If you like reading this blog, could you please do me a huge favour and ‘like’ the Facebook page?  It’s called… wait for it… Mum in Zone One.  Thank you!

I’ve just read a really helpful post on the fantastic A New Name blog. Alice Buckley describes how she was struggling with doubts throughout writing a book that helps us teach children about Jesus. In some ways it’s not a surprise that as she produced a really helpful resource for the Kingdom, she was in a spiritual battle. I don’t know Alice at all so I’m not presuming to comment specifically on her situation, but I hope you see the more general point I’m making.

Since starting this blog almost a year ago, I have experienced spiritual doubts for the first time since becoming a follower of Jesus thirteen years ago. I’ve been humbled and amazed, really, to hear about people feeling really encouraged by some of my blog posts, and it therefore doesn’t surprise me that I have experienced a spiritual backlash because of it.

I’ve had a rotten week, but for no real reason. I’ve written about this before (Meltdown) – sometimes I cry or scream or run away (or just want to) but there’s no obvious trigger. People say, ‘How has your week been?’ and I say ‘Erm, not good.’ Then I’m supposed to give a reason! So sometimes I just say ‘Fine’ (I know, I shouldn’t lie).

To make matters worse, I hear about people with real problems in Pakistan, or the Sudan, or Kurdistan, and I think ‘Why can’t I pull myself together?’

Today I read Psalm 143, which helped me to pray and ask God for help. David prays this:

“The enemy pursues me,
he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.” (v3)

and this:

“Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD,
for I hide myself in you.”

But can I really pray this? David had some serious problems. Heavies were after him. Nobody is driving me from my home and forcing me to hide in a cave. But I definitely feel like I need God to protect me and help me.

Then I remembered Ephesians 6:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

I am in a battle. I am thankful that I live in a peaceful, stable place (remember this? Still doing it – it does help). But when I feel like I’m in a battle, it’s because I am.

I guess now I’m supposed to reach some sort of helpful conclusion. Well, I have three things to say to finish:

1. My mum is coming today so I need to clean the house, so I have to cut this one short, sorry!
2. I wanted you to know that I’ve been, to use a British understatement, a little emotional this week. So if you have too, I know how you feel.  I’d hate for you to think that because I have a blog I am confident and breezy.
3. When we feel rubbish, we need to preach to ourselves, not listen to ourselves. (Someone wise once said that but I’m afraid I don’t know who it was.) Read the Bible, think on God’s promises, listen to a good talk online, ask a friend to tell you the gospel, and pray!

And one more thing (I know, so unprofessional!) – excitingly Mum in Zone One is having a book giveaway in the next couple of weeks. The topic of the book? Dealing with doubts. So watch this space!