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Life before Crosslinks?
Well, I grew up in Stockport in South Manchester and first went to church when I was four. My Mum got involved at an evangelical church through sending her kids (me and two sisters) to the church’s Summer Kids’ Camp. She soon became a committed disciple of Christ (I remember her reading scripture and praying every night). Some years later she sent me on a Titus Trust summer. Here I was convinced of my sin and the reality of Jesus’ sin-bearing death, resurrection to life and his eternal rule. It was probably then that I became a Christian, though apparently I told my bible-study leader “I know enough to know who Jesus was and I now need to decide if I want to know who Jesus is.”
I met my wife on these camps as well when I was eleven and she ten. We didn’t get married straight away! In fact it took us 12 years before we closed the deal. She’s very lovely and puts up with me brilliantly (according to her contract - for better or for worse etc.)
Before coming to Crosslinks I was working for and training at St Helen’s Bishopsgate as an associate. This meant I spent a bit of time doing practical work, a lot of time in rigorous bible-handling training, and the rest of my time teaching God’s word to as many people as I could fit into my diary!
Now you're at Crosslinks, you've got an official email address, would you like to comment?
Yes, the email address includes my surname - but you do have to spell it correctly....MULLOCK !
What you are hoping to achieve in your new role?
Well, I want to help churches get clear on Jesus’ teaching so that they can be wholeheartedly and rightly involved in God’s mission. I want churches to be able to make gutsy decisions on what they ought and ought not be doing with their energy and resources. One verse we’ve been mulling over a lot at church recently is Luke 12:4.
“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”
Jesus constantly pointed people to eternity and warned them that they needed to be prepared for what happens after death. He warned them that Hell is real and offered them the hope of reconciliation with God and Heaven. Jesus’ mission was never to help people have an easy time in this world (though in his compassion he often did cure the sick) but his work was to save people from the future judgment for the future Heavenly Jerusalem, the paradise where men will live with God. And as long as we are still waiting for that judgment and Heavenly Jerusalem to come, our focus ought to be the same. The church doesn’t exist to provide “this-world” solutions to “this-world” problems (though as compassionate people we’ll never neglect this entirely). The church’s priority is to teach people about Christ’s death and resurrection so that they might escape the future judgment and have eternal life in paradise!
This focus on the eternal future has been brought home to me by the death of my Mum and Dad, both from cancer. Both were well fed and comfortable in this life. Both were relatively rich. But, as far as I can tell (and I hope I am wrong) only one of them feared God’s judgment and she prepared herself by seeking God’s forgiveness through Christ. Being comfortable in this life can only help a person for so long. Eventually everyone’s time runs out.
I would love to help churches be more certain of the reality of Heaven and Hell, and to shape their work and witness around these realities.
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