This is going to be the last post on this blog for the indefinite future. Over the last few months, I've been thinking about taking some time to focus my attention elsewhere, particularly on some more in-depth theological study and more focused and substantial writing projects. The time afforded by temporarily giving up blogging will help me achieve this goal.

Blogging has been a very beneficial exercise for me over the past years. I've used it as a forum to think through a number of different things, and it has helped me improve my writing a great deal. I will certainly return to it in the future, but for now I'm not sure when that will be.

My online presence will really be limited to Twitter from this point forward, so you are welcome to follow me there. I would deactivate my Facebook account, but I manage our church's Facebook page and can't deactivate without also losing the ability to manage that page. As a result, I will have to just limit my Facebook usage as much as possible.

To all of you who read this blog and have contributed to the conversations over the years, I thank you. I will look forward to resuming those conversations at some point in the future.

In the first volume of his Reformed Dogmatics, the great Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck says this:

The essence of the Christian religion consists in the reality that the creation of the Father, ruined by sin, is restored in the death of the Son of God, and re-created by the grace of the Spirit into a kingdom of God (112).

That is one seriously loaded statement. But it lays down the sort of holistic understanding of Christianity that we so desperately need.

This is brilliant. Chris Wright talked more on this at Lausanne in 2010, which you can see here. In light of some of the events of the past week in the evangelical world, what he's saying here is really important.

(HT: Kinnon)

This past Sunday I preached on 1 Chronicles 29:1-20, and in that passage David refers to the people of Israel as "aliens and strangers" in God's sight (v. 15). Although in that context the phrase has a different connotation than what we typically understand it to mean, this is common language in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments. The most common reference in the latter is probably found in Peter's letter (1 Pet. 2:11).

While I think this idea is certainly helpful for us to keep in mind (given that it is a biblical metaphor), there is also a danger in such a perspective leading to an eschatology shaped by escapism. Indeed, many evangelicals are quick to say that we are pilgrims in this world on our way to heaven. "We're just passing through," is the common catch-phrase of those who adhere to the sentiment.

Here's the thing, though – in one sense, we're not going anywhere. As I've said before, the history of God's redemption of his people is a pattern of God coming to us. The future of God's people is not some disembodied, ethereal existence. Our new Promised Land is "the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God" (Rev. 21:2). As Peter says, on the day of the Lord, "the earth and everything in it will be laid bare" (2 Pet. 3:10) in preparation for this Holy City.

In what sense are we aliens and strangers and pilgrims, then? One way of understanding this does tie the physical world, despite what I've just said. While this world is our home, we are aliens and strangers in it at the present time because our home has been occupied by a foreign enemy. It has become a wilderness; the presence of sin and the kingdom of darkness has obscured the inherent goodness of God's creation and made it unrecognisable. But we don't wait to escape from this wilderness. We wait instead for the Promised Land that God brings down to us after he purifies his creation from sin.

There is a spiritual element to this as well, though. We are pilgrims on a journey to a spiritual destination. Through the death and resurrection of Christ, we have new life (Rom. 6, Col. 3). By the power of the indwelling Spirit, we are given strength to put to death the old self, and to live holy and righteous lives (John 14:15-31, Rom. 8). On the day that Christ returns, we will be glorified – made like him (1 Cor. 15:51-57, Phil. 1:6).

Right now we remain in the wilderness of sin, wandering through it in the pursuit of holiness, longing and yearning for the fulness of Christ's redemption as we see sin wreak havoc in our lives and in our world. As Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 2:11, we need remember who we are so that we do not fall into sin and allow ourselves to be comfortable in this occupying kingdom. Instead, we follow the lead of our God towards that day when he fulfils his promise to forgive our wickedness and remember our sins no more (Jer. 31:34), and to wipe every tear from our eyes. "There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Rev. 21:4).

The Promised Land that awaits us is God's good creation restored and glorified, a place where his people will dwell in his presence forever and where they, having been glorified, will be free from sin and flourish as they live the life that he intends for his people.

That's a Promised Land to look forward to. That's a pilgrimage worth making.

In the middle of December I was on a bit of a rant tweeting about how Christians so often misunderstand work and vocation. I find myself returning to this topic more and more because I think it is so important. Browse through the gallery to see the tweets:

Then Steve Bishop posted this cartoon the other day and I thought that it did a good job illustrating the way the church often adds to the problem.

It's my hope that in 2012 churches will do a lot more to help believers think about their work from a Christian perspective.

I don't typically do personal posts here, but I thought a year-end reflection might be worthwhile, even if only for my family and friends who read this blog. Be warned, though – when I do foray into more personal, introspective posts, they tend to be quite long, so get a cup of coffee if you're thinking of reading this all the way through.

Robin and I began 2010 with a great deal of uncertainty, still waiting for visas to process for us to move to the United Kingdom. To be honest, by January, we were seriously beginning to think it wouldn't happen. We both had jobs we did not particularly enjoy, and we had a lot of uncertainty about the future. The visas did come, however. On my birthday in February, we got the news that the church here had finally been approved to sponsor us. From there, the next few steps moved on comparatively quickly, and by May, we had the visas in hand.

Our remaining time in Florida was really a time of blessing, though. Relationships with our church family at River Oaks Church deepened, and I continued to have many opportunites to partake in the church's ministry. As we were leaving and saying goodbye to all the wonderful people there, we found that words could not express how blessed we were to have spent our four years in Florida sharing our lives with them.

We did a quite a bit of travelling last year. In early May we took a road trip across the southern United States and into Texas, going as far as San Antonio, and in June, we took another road trip on our way out of the United States, first heading west to visit some friends in Mississippi, and then north to visit Robin's family in Michigan and mine in Ontario, before flying from Toronto to Gatwick, and driving from Gatwick to Hull. Since arriving in England, we've been able to visit some of the sights here, including York and London.

Packing up all our stuff in Florida was an adventure in itself. Our move to Florida when we got married was a big move, but we didn't have a lot of stuff at the time. Moving to another continent, though, accessible only by air or sea, was going to be interesting. We had to sort through all kinds of stuff, and we managed to get rid of a lot. We ended up getting a 20-ft. shipping container to move our belongings to England. During our three weeks between leaving Florida and arriving in England, I enjoyed tracking the container and learning about the shipping container business. In the end, the process couldn't have gone smoother; everything arrived right on schedule and nothing was damaged.

The biggest event of the year was, of course, the actual move to England. This photo summarises our life for about three weeks in the middle of last year – going from place to place living out of suitcases. It was taken at Gatwick Airport in the carpark where we picked up the car we hired to drive to Hull. Robin says she gets dizzy looking at this photo because by that point, we were exhausted from travelling, and both nervous and excited because we were about to make the final journey to our new home.

We weren't really sure what it was going to be like living in a new country and a new culture, but our initial experience was very good. The church family at St John's was so warm and welcoming, and they were eager to make us feel at home quickly. And they succeeded – this is the fourth time I've moved in my life, and this has by far been the easiest transition. After being here about three months, I was beginning to get tired of people asking me, "How are you settling in?" because I felt that the process was over and that we had settled.

People often ask us to point out the differences between North America and England, but I always find this question hard to answer. There are little differences – terminology, the way houses are constructed, different cars, some unique foods – but I'm hard-pressed to make any sweeping observations about how these two places differ. I'm well aware that we are in a different culture, but it's not so radically different that I can be specific about it. People here are like everywhere else, in one sense – concerned about providing for themselves and their families, desiring relationships with others, spending their time watching television or going shopping or taking a walk. Maybe it will take time before I'm able to make more observations about the differences.

We moved to England so I could take up a position as an assistant minister at the church. My official title is "Assistant Minister – Community Action," meaning that half my role is sharing in the preaching and other pastoral responsibilities, and the other half is developing and coordinating the church's community outreach work. The first part of the role has gone well. The 'pastoral' side of the role is new to me, and while I'm still getting used to people unloading on me – seemingly without inhibition – I'm learning quickly. I have more experience preaching, although not a great deal, but I continue to be challenged by it and enjoy it, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to do it far more regularly now.

The community action side of the role is new, though, both to me and to the church. When I got offered the position, I was told it would be up to me to give shape to it. Starting almost from scratch, as it were, the first few months were a difficult. I spent a lot of time trying to get to know this city and thinking about how we wanted to approach this work. Within a few months, though, I felt much more confident about the role, having seen some things unfold and fall into place. I now understand myself to be doing three things – articulating a biblical and theological basis for our community work, developing and coordinating community projects, and equipping people in our church to participate in these projects and to live as Christians in their communities. I am excited to see how this will play out further in this new year.

For now, though, thinking back over the past year and looking forward, I'm reminded again of how blessed we are. While the year began with uncertainty, we now look back and clearly see God's hand guiding us. Yet at the same time, I'm aware that the uncertainty we experienced is nothing compared to what others around the world have faced, especially those who have suffered greatly in this past year from famine, war, natural disasters, and whatever other terrible things sin has wrought on creation. I mourn with them, and earnestly pray that 2012 will be a more peaceful year.

But Christ is still enthroned as King over heaven and earth, and as we move into another year it's again my hope and prayer that he will return to conquer sin and death and fulfil all his promises to his people.

Until then, let us continue to faithfully bear witness to the Kingdom of God, offering to the world the hope, joy, and peace that are only found in Jesus Christ.

May God richly bless all of you in 2012.

(NB: We're beginning the year with a short holiday. There is one post set to publish on the 4th, but aside from that, posting will not resume regularly until the 10th of January.)