9.58! Wow! Smashing his world record and leaving Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell in his wake.
Usain Bolt is just" something special". After that fabulous performance, which was transmitted all over the world in seconds, and an emotional high, I left home for a Taize service at church.
A contemplative service where, verses of hymn, in this case, in both Latin and English, are sung repeatedly, as we seek the Lord's presence in thanksgiving, confession and intersession. It was my first visit, and is a new feature in the church.
And as I joined with ( many ) others listening to God in the quietness and in the darkness, candles were provided, I pondered our dependence on, if not addiction to, communicating with each other, versus communication with God Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth and all mankind. Between ordinary cell phones talking and texting, Blackberries, FaceBook, Twitter, Linkedln et al, we are constantly communication with each other. Between, Tiger Woods in Golf, the Williams sisters in tennis, Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in soccer, Bolt VC and "safa", in Track and field, HDTV, " So you think you can dance", all the reality shows, Rising Stars in Jamaica and USA, we are constantly being entertained.
To what end, if we are neglecting, to listen to God, who :
" ...from heaven looks down and sees all mankind....who forms the hearts of all and considers everything that they do. Ps 34:13-15.
All of this communication with things of the natural order whilst around us supernatural things are taking place about which we have no idea, but which have profound consequences for us all.
I was led to ponder these things as this week, in His Complete Works, Oswald Chambers reflects on the book of Job and the conversation between God and Satan under a heading entitled:
The Unseen Universe.
One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, " Where have you come from?"
Satan answered the Lord, " From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it"
Then the Lord said to Satan, " Have you considered my servant Job? there is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil".
" Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything that he has? You have blessed the works of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face".
The Lord said to Satan, " Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger".
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Wow! What a conversation, especially in view of the fact that Job is about to lose, not only his livestock, but his children also. And as the story unfolds, he loses his health also. All sorts of
" Why did the Lord", questions arise here, which none of us can even begin to answer.
Three thoughts arise in my mind. One is that if this kind of tragedy can happen to Job, a righteous, man under the protection of God, who is there to help those who do not depend on the
" Everlasting Arms" of the Almighty. The second is that little wonder that we are warned in Scripture to:
" Be self- controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour". 1 Peter 5:8 NIV
And even the Epistle for today in our church sounds the same alarm.
" Be very careful then how you live - not as unwise, but as wise, making use of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music to in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The final thought arises from another conversation between Paul and those to whom he was writing in the book of Romans.
We pick up the story in chap 9: 10
Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad - in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls - she was told, " The older one shall serve the younger". Just as it is written: " Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
What shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses,
" I will have mercy n whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire of effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: " I raised you up for this very purpose......that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth, Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy........One of you will say to me. the why does God still blame us? For who can resist his will. But who are you O man to talk back to God".
The context is different, and ought not to be applied to the Job story, but the basic fact is that all around us supernatural things are taking place, completely unrelated to man's effort and way beyond our ability to comprehend, but rather dependent on God's mercy. Later on in chap 11, vs 32, the profound revelation is made that:
"For God has bound over all men to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them". Which is followed immediately by a great doxology:
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and
knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or ho has been his counsellor?
Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?
For from him and through him and to him are all
things.
To him be glory forever."
That is why, we as Christians, ought to, thank God, daily, minutely, for Jesus, for the Word of Gos states that:
" Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy place by the blood of Jesus....let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.... Hebrews 10:19-22
and further:
" For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way just as we are - but was without sin. let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need". Hebrews 4:15-16 NIV
So because the times are evil, and because these supernatural and eternal events are taking place around us we had better be careful how we live as wise - and not as unwise.
The wise thing to do is to be continuously in contact with God in and through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by the indwelling and direction of the Holy Spirit. The wise thing to do is to be constantly praying for mercy: " Have mercy on me a sinner".
So yes, let us celebrate the achievements of our athletes, let us enjoy and identify with the exploits of our other sporting heroes. Let us maintain and build on and learn from our communication with other human beings in this natural order. But let us be very aware of the greater need to be in constant communication with Him, Jesus Christ, the Crucified, Risen and soon coming Saviour, who alone can rescue us from sin and death and the wiles and wickedness of Satan.
Finally then if Christ is central to the life of both the Christian and the non-christian, even though they don't accept that fact, and Job had a glimpse of Christ when he declared " I know that my redeemer liveth", what should our response be to this great love of God, as manifested on the cross of Calvary:
The Lord provided a word from Chris Tiegen this week.
LOVE AND OBEDIENCE
" If you love me, you will obey what I command".
John 14:15
IN WORD We fool ourselves if we think that our love for God and our obedience to Him are separate issues. They are two sides of the same coin. Observe how often in this passage love and obedience are linked: " If you love me, you will obey what I command". (v.15). " Whoever has my my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me" (v.21). " If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching" (v.24). And later in the chapter. " The world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me" (v. 31).
The belief that love and obedience are not related is epidemic among Christians. Would we say in our human relationships, " I love my wife/husband but ignore most of what he/she says to me"? The incongruity is clear in such a context. Why is it s muddled in our relationship with God?
We have become so paranoid of having a theology of " righteousness = works", that we have ignored obedience altogether, as though it did not matter to God. Jesus is clear that it does. Obedience is not our means to righteousness; it is the clearest expression of our devotion to Jesus. it is meaningful worship. When we are disobedient, we are saying that God's word does not matter to us. That isn't love.
IN DEED As Christians, we need to recover a desire for obedience as an expression of our love for our Saviour. if we truly love Him, as we say we do, what he says will matter to us profoundly. We will not follow the acceptable parts of His teachings and ignore the objectionable parts. We will not approach our relationship with Him as though we are trying to get by with the bare minimum behavioral change. We will devour His teachings, turning them over in our hearts, meditating on their applications, and living them as clearly as we can. This according to Jesus, is what loving Him is all about. This is genuine worship.
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In this context than what is the Lord saying to us. Let us get our priorities right! We do not have to go as far as my very good Adventists friends, who said that they would not be watching any of the World Games in Berlin on the Sabbath. But certainly there is a message here about the time we spend being entertained on our day of worship. And there will always be something to watch on a Sunday or Sabbath. Certainly there is message here about the time we spend being entertained all week. Certainly there is a message here about the need to be quiet and to listen to God, rather than this constant " chattering" on the cell, and on the Internet. Why? Not just because the times are evil, as they are indeed. But more importantly, because we are all in constant need of grace and mercy, and so Jesus needs to be the focus in our lives, despite all the excitement going on around in this natural realm. Amen
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Flee from Satan and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you
The Lord spoke to me in very profound ways this week as He led me ( for one reason or another I did not notice them in the first Barnes and Noble that I searched for something to nourish my soul) to read two books at the end of my vacation and returned home safely on a flight from Miami tonight.
The one I read first, a New Times bestseller, " The Reason for God - Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Rev. Timothy Keller, I have already recommended strongly to many in this Internet Ministry who North America and Europe. It is a well researched and scholarly book which seeks to counter the prevailing secular arguments so prevalent in academia and the media in North America, that God either does not exist or should not be contemplated and is quite irrelevant in this age of enlightenment and science or has no power or desire to prevent evil. And in fact the very existence of religion has caused more problems for mankind than good, and the basis for the worshiping of Jesus as God by Christians, is groundless. This kind of debate is not only raging but is having significant effects on the minds of many young and older persons.
Rev. Keller's experience which led him to write this very useful book, is based on his work in Ministry in Manhattan, where he has a church with over 5000 members and has established several satellite churches elsewhere. And in so doing, he has spent lots of time listening and responding to people's fears and doubts and questions about the Christian faith: How can there be one true religion; How can God allow so much suffering; How can a loving God send people to hell; The church is responsible for so much injustice: Science has disproved Christianity: Christianity is a straitjacket: you can't take the Bible literally? In the first section of the book, with cogent reasoning, a call for intellectual honesty, support from scientists, philosophers, historians, theologians, and even a few honest atheists, he presents, in my view, serious challenges to the secularists and answers many of the questions of the doubters, perhaps both within and without the church. In the second section he deals with the fundamentals of the Christian faith, so that no reader is left in doubt about what constitutes Christianity. Having spent my vacation, and attended church in the USA regularly over the past two and half weeks, I can see where this book is a godsend for any Christian who is seeking to spread the gospel in this Skeptical and cynical about religion society, and even to hold on strongly to one's faith in the face of the attack of doubt by the devil. Excellent read.
The second book is a different story altogether. This one will trouble your soul deeply and challenge your understanding of faith, prayers, the Roman Catholic Church and God's mercy profoundly. At least that was the effect it had on me. Title is " Left to tell - Discovering God amidst the Rwandan Holocaust" by Immaculee Ilibagiza. In 1994 over 1 million Tutsis were slaughtered the Tutsis over a three month period. This rivetting story ( you can almost hear the killers searching for her ) is about how "Immaculee and seven other women survived the genocide, by hiding in a Hutu pastor's small bathroom for 91 cramped terrifying days". Time and time again the killers searched the very bedroom to which the bathroom was attached, but the hand of God protected them, even as the men were mere inches away from the women and shouting for their death. Through all this time Immaculeee, prayed and prayed and prayed, for hours on end, using her Rosary, verses of Scripture, appealing to Mary mother of God, appealing to Jesus, appealing to God Almighty. And God answered her very specific, not general, prayers in very dramatic ways. At the end two things happened. Well three. Firstly, miraculously, when the French soldiers, who had initially rescued her group, inexplicably abandoned her in the midst of the Hutu killers, towards the end of the war, it was only her faith in God, and God's mercy,which allowed her to walk right " through the valley of the shadow of death", without harm and then to find the Tutsi army, which was by then liberating the country from the Hutus. Secondly, in the power of the Holy Spirit, after much prayer and agonizing, she was able to confront the killer of her father ( her mother and two brothers were also killed, and only one brother was spared as he was abroad studying) and forgive him. Thirdly, thank God she found a partner, and is now happily married with two children -she asked God specifically, among many other things, for a Catholic husband and He answered her prayers.
Why was Immaculee spared, and why many other god fearing persons brutally slaughtered and left to rot? Only God knows. Is this praying of the Rosary, and praying to and through Mary acceptable to God? Can anyone having read her story remain skeptical anymore? Is there any place in the life of the church and in the life of an individual for " politely read or said, and perhaps " languid prayers" and " dim faith"? Should we seek God for His goodness and mercy, and leave everything else up to Him, or should we ask Him specifically to " blind the killers so they cannot see us", or send someone for me to marry and please make him a catholic as I wish not to have any tension in my marriage? Is is possible for us to maintain that kind of intense prayer life without a sense of all encompassing evil threatening our very existence? Is the knowledge that the devil is constantly seeking to disrupt our relationship with Christ sufficient evil? Or the knowledge that gunmen are killing people all over Jamaica, or that evil people are leading our young people astray or that our country is faced with economic ruin if some remedy is forth coming very soon. What else then will lead us to pray without ceasing lest we fall into temptation? And can we find the spiritual strength to begin to heal our land by forgiving those politicians, aided and abetted by some in the business class, the media, and even the church,who have led us into never ending spiral of violence and retribution?
Finally, and within the context of this message, most welcome and timely, on my way home tonight, as the devil began to place negative thoughts in my mind about the safety of the flight, the Lord reminded me of some word from the Holy Bible which cannot lie, " Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Flee from the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7. In fact one of the reasons which led Immaculee to pray for so long and so intensely, that she experienced Mary and Jesus in her dreams, in very reassuring ways, is that the devil was constantly challenging her prayers and her faith in God, as she remained in hiding in that cramped bathroom. Telling her that the killers would find her, and that God did not care!
So tonight the Lord reminded and revealed to me two things. One, that a lot of our troubles start and continue and flourish when we allow the devil, wittingly or unwittingly, access to our minds. So we must be eternally vigilant about what we read, what we watch on television or in the movies, what and who we listen to, and what kind of language we use. And the devil was let loose in Rwanda, as he has been let loose in Jamaica, and in the halls of academia and in the media in North America and Europe for a long time. Secondly, the best way to fight against the devil's schemes is to draw near to God, in prayer, in Holy Communion, in singing hymns and songs of thanksgiving, in repentance and in doing good works.
May God help us all as we seek to serve Him in and through Christ in this troubled world. Amen
The one I read first, a New Times bestseller, " The Reason for God - Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Rev. Timothy Keller, I have already recommended strongly to many in this Internet Ministry who North America and Europe. It is a well researched and scholarly book which seeks to counter the prevailing secular arguments so prevalent in academia and the media in North America, that God either does not exist or should not be contemplated and is quite irrelevant in this age of enlightenment and science or has no power or desire to prevent evil. And in fact the very existence of religion has caused more problems for mankind than good, and the basis for the worshiping of Jesus as God by Christians, is groundless. This kind of debate is not only raging but is having significant effects on the minds of many young and older persons.
Rev. Keller's experience which led him to write this very useful book, is based on his work in Ministry in Manhattan, where he has a church with over 5000 members and has established several satellite churches elsewhere. And in so doing, he has spent lots of time listening and responding to people's fears and doubts and questions about the Christian faith: How can there be one true religion; How can God allow so much suffering; How can a loving God send people to hell; The church is responsible for so much injustice: Science has disproved Christianity: Christianity is a straitjacket: you can't take the Bible literally? In the first section of the book, with cogent reasoning, a call for intellectual honesty, support from scientists, philosophers, historians, theologians, and even a few honest atheists, he presents, in my view, serious challenges to the secularists and answers many of the questions of the doubters, perhaps both within and without the church. In the second section he deals with the fundamentals of the Christian faith, so that no reader is left in doubt about what constitutes Christianity. Having spent my vacation, and attended church in the USA regularly over the past two and half weeks, I can see where this book is a godsend for any Christian who is seeking to spread the gospel in this Skeptical and cynical about religion society, and even to hold on strongly to one's faith in the face of the attack of doubt by the devil. Excellent read.
The second book is a different story altogether. This one will trouble your soul deeply and challenge your understanding of faith, prayers, the Roman Catholic Church and God's mercy profoundly. At least that was the effect it had on me. Title is " Left to tell - Discovering God amidst the Rwandan Holocaust" by Immaculee Ilibagiza. In 1994 over 1 million Tutsis were slaughtered the Tutsis over a three month period. This rivetting story ( you can almost hear the killers searching for her ) is about how "Immaculee and seven other women survived the genocide, by hiding in a Hutu pastor's small bathroom for 91 cramped terrifying days". Time and time again the killers searched the very bedroom to which the bathroom was attached, but the hand of God protected them, even as the men were mere inches away from the women and shouting for their death. Through all this time Immaculeee, prayed and prayed and prayed, for hours on end, using her Rosary, verses of Scripture, appealing to Mary mother of God, appealing to Jesus, appealing to God Almighty. And God answered her very specific, not general, prayers in very dramatic ways. At the end two things happened. Well three. Firstly, miraculously, when the French soldiers, who had initially rescued her group, inexplicably abandoned her in the midst of the Hutu killers, towards the end of the war, it was only her faith in God, and God's mercy,which allowed her to walk right " through the valley of the shadow of death", without harm and then to find the Tutsi army, which was by then liberating the country from the Hutus. Secondly, in the power of the Holy Spirit, after much prayer and agonizing, she was able to confront the killer of her father ( her mother and two brothers were also killed, and only one brother was spared as he was abroad studying) and forgive him. Thirdly, thank God she found a partner, and is now happily married with two children -she asked God specifically, among many other things, for a Catholic husband and He answered her prayers.
Why was Immaculee spared, and why many other god fearing persons brutally slaughtered and left to rot? Only God knows. Is this praying of the Rosary, and praying to and through Mary acceptable to God? Can anyone having read her story remain skeptical anymore? Is there any place in the life of the church and in the life of an individual for " politely read or said, and perhaps " languid prayers" and " dim faith"? Should we seek God for His goodness and mercy, and leave everything else up to Him, or should we ask Him specifically to " blind the killers so they cannot see us", or send someone for me to marry and please make him a catholic as I wish not to have any tension in my marriage? Is is possible for us to maintain that kind of intense prayer life without a sense of all encompassing evil threatening our very existence? Is the knowledge that the devil is constantly seeking to disrupt our relationship with Christ sufficient evil? Or the knowledge that gunmen are killing people all over Jamaica, or that evil people are leading our young people astray or that our country is faced with economic ruin if some remedy is forth coming very soon. What else then will lead us to pray without ceasing lest we fall into temptation? And can we find the spiritual strength to begin to heal our land by forgiving those politicians, aided and abetted by some in the business class, the media, and even the church,who have led us into never ending spiral of violence and retribution?
Finally, and within the context of this message, most welcome and timely, on my way home tonight, as the devil began to place negative thoughts in my mind about the safety of the flight, the Lord reminded me of some word from the Holy Bible which cannot lie, " Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Flee from the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7. In fact one of the reasons which led Immaculee to pray for so long and so intensely, that she experienced Mary and Jesus in her dreams, in very reassuring ways, is that the devil was constantly challenging her prayers and her faith in God, as she remained in hiding in that cramped bathroom. Telling her that the killers would find her, and that God did not care!
So tonight the Lord reminded and revealed to me two things. One, that a lot of our troubles start and continue and flourish when we allow the devil, wittingly or unwittingly, access to our minds. So we must be eternally vigilant about what we read, what we watch on television or in the movies, what and who we listen to, and what kind of language we use. And the devil was let loose in Rwanda, as he has been let loose in Jamaica, and in the halls of academia and in the media in North America and Europe for a long time. Secondly, the best way to fight against the devil's schemes is to draw near to God, in prayer, in Holy Communion, in singing hymns and songs of thanksgiving, in repentance and in doing good works.
May God help us all as we seek to serve Him in and through Christ in this troubled world. Amen
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Am I where the Lord sent me or where I wish to be?
This week my mind has been focused on young Christians, in particular, trying to live out their relationship with Christ in a world, whose value system is for the most part quite, completely opposite to what the Gospel teaches.
Two passages of Scripture came into my mind, both of which set in context the struggle that Christians in general face, but even more young people.
" This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build up houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your sons in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers you too will prosper".
Jeremiah 29:4-7
" Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.......
by faith Abel.....by faith Enoch.....by faith Noah....by faith Abraham( and without faith it is impossible to please God, be cause anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him)........All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had an opportunity to return. Instead were longing for a better country. - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. "
Hebrews 11: 1-16
Most young Christian people can definitely relate to the first passage from Jeremiah. At their stage in life, they dream of romance, marriage, having children, struggling to take care of them with or without Grandma's help and finding a good school for them, getting a solid education, securing a good job, buying a home, having a reliable means of transportation, investing for the future, perhaps even travelling a bit, and also making a useful contribution to the society in which they live. Alas for many young Christians these dreams are often unfulfilled, and even shattered. Broken or challenges within relationships, problems having children, personal and national financial issues, personal and national security issues are all very real, and often huge and intractable problems in and by themselves alone. And which issues are often exacerbated by, and in some cases, the results of non-christian peer pressure to accept pornography as
" light or adult entertainment"; to, engage in fornication - sex before marriage, or adultery - defiling the marriage bed; to accept homosexual behaviour as just another kind of lifestyle; to rationalize one's involvement in gambling - which comes in various forms, and not just the obvious ones like Lotto or Casino, but taking a chance to gain a benefit without engaging in honest labour. To cease going to church, and to worship at home with the television or radio, or worse to begin to experiment with " new truths" and other ways of finding God, outside of a relationship with Christ. It's a dangerous world out there. Hence the reason why some young Christians, and more and more of us the older ones, relate better to the " longing for a better country - a heavenly one". As, in that kind of Christianity we can " ignore" the problems of this life and keep our eyes focused on the " heavenly vision".
The problem with those who would wish to stick with the Jeremiah model, with all its problems, yet many joys, or those who seek an "escape" through the Hebrews " heavenly vision" model, is that God became incarnate. God, in Christ, took on human flesh and experienced the joys and pains and temptations of mankind and remained faithful to the heaven vision - of holiness and purity. But more importantly, in so doing rescued mankind from sin and death on the Cross of Calvary and through the Holy Spirit provided a way for us to be like Christ.
Therefore if we are going to faithful to Christ, we who are in exile in this land and called to,
" pray for the prosperity of this land", filled with many challenges and yet which offers many joys, we too have follow the example set by God in Christ. And then perhaps the problems we face as young or older Christians, and the joys too, may become secondary to the call to, " take up our cross daily and follow Christ". This is the most important issue facing all Christians, regardless of age or circumstance. Am I willing, to not only say like St. Paul, but believe and be obedient to the exultation:
" I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me"
Galatians 2:20 NIV.
No wonder then that the Lord led me to reflect on, and to share this meditation from Christ Tiegen.
AN UNCOMMON MISSION
JULY 29 " As the Father has sent me, I am sending you". John 20:21
IN WORD A cursory reading of this verse might give us an impression that Jesus is saying, " The Father first sent Me; now it's your turn.". But there is more to that verse than that. He is also saying, " In the very same way that the Father sent me, that's how I'm sending you". The crucial question then becomes: How did God send Jesus:
Philippians 2 gives us a good understanding of the nature of Jesus' mission. He humbled himself, He took the form of a servant, and He became obedient to the point of death( Phil 2:6-11). Jesus went from heavenly riches to earthly rags; from exaltation to to humiliation; from authority to obedience; from ultimate significance to ultimate rejection; from comfort to hardship; from safety to danger; from glory to sacrifice; from life to death. And He calls us to go into the world in exactly the same way.
Read that list again. Every one of those humbling transitions goes against our grain. We're trying to work our way up, not empty ourselves. We want more significance, more safety, more authority, more attention, more comfort. But Jesus calls us to die to ourselves, to take up our cross and follow Him. He sends us out as he was sent.
IN DEED Does your attitude match that of Jesus? Do you take your mission seriously enough to go into the depths of this world - whether those depths are in another country, your own city, or even your own family - and live the gospel of humility for others to see? Jesus' mission is to redeem this world and He intends to shine the light in very vile , dark corner of it - through us. He calls His followers into prisons and concentrated camps, into opium dens, and into leper colonies and psychiatric wards. He also calls them into night clubs, corporate conference rooms, university classrooms, and sports arenas. There is no place too uncomfortable, dangerous, or unlikely. Are you willing? As the Father sent Him, so He sends us.
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Many will respond in many different ways to this meditation. The only important issue though in the long run, is, in the midst of your joys or trials in this " exile country", as a Christian, " are you where the Lord sent you"?
If not, then the words the first verse of the old hymn might help each one of us to get focused.
O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee:
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow,
May richer, fuller be
Two passages of Scripture came into my mind, both of which set in context the struggle that Christians in general face, but even more young people.
" This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build up houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your sons in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers you too will prosper".
Jeremiah 29:4-7
" Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.......
by faith Abel.....by faith Enoch.....by faith Noah....by faith Abraham( and without faith it is impossible to please God, be cause anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him)........All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had an opportunity to return. Instead were longing for a better country. - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. "
Hebrews 11: 1-16
Most young Christian people can definitely relate to the first passage from Jeremiah. At their stage in life, they dream of romance, marriage, having children, struggling to take care of them with or without Grandma's help and finding a good school for them, getting a solid education, securing a good job, buying a home, having a reliable means of transportation, investing for the future, perhaps even travelling a bit, and also making a useful contribution to the society in which they live. Alas for many young Christians these dreams are often unfulfilled, and even shattered. Broken or challenges within relationships, problems having children, personal and national financial issues, personal and national security issues are all very real, and often huge and intractable problems in and by themselves alone. And which issues are often exacerbated by, and in some cases, the results of non-christian peer pressure to accept pornography as
" light or adult entertainment"; to, engage in fornication - sex before marriage, or adultery - defiling the marriage bed; to accept homosexual behaviour as just another kind of lifestyle; to rationalize one's involvement in gambling - which comes in various forms, and not just the obvious ones like Lotto or Casino, but taking a chance to gain a benefit without engaging in honest labour. To cease going to church, and to worship at home with the television or radio, or worse to begin to experiment with " new truths" and other ways of finding God, outside of a relationship with Christ. It's a dangerous world out there. Hence the reason why some young Christians, and more and more of us the older ones, relate better to the " longing for a better country - a heavenly one". As, in that kind of Christianity we can " ignore" the problems of this life and keep our eyes focused on the " heavenly vision".
The problem with those who would wish to stick with the Jeremiah model, with all its problems, yet many joys, or those who seek an "escape" through the Hebrews " heavenly vision" model, is that God became incarnate. God, in Christ, took on human flesh and experienced the joys and pains and temptations of mankind and remained faithful to the heaven vision - of holiness and purity. But more importantly, in so doing rescued mankind from sin and death on the Cross of Calvary and through the Holy Spirit provided a way for us to be like Christ.
Therefore if we are going to faithful to Christ, we who are in exile in this land and called to,
" pray for the prosperity of this land", filled with many challenges and yet which offers many joys, we too have follow the example set by God in Christ. And then perhaps the problems we face as young or older Christians, and the joys too, may become secondary to the call to, " take up our cross daily and follow Christ". This is the most important issue facing all Christians, regardless of age or circumstance. Am I willing, to not only say like St. Paul, but believe and be obedient to the exultation:
" I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me"
Galatians 2:20 NIV.
No wonder then that the Lord led me to reflect on, and to share this meditation from Christ Tiegen.
AN UNCOMMON MISSION
JULY 29 " As the Father has sent me, I am sending you". John 20:21
IN WORD A cursory reading of this verse might give us an impression that Jesus is saying, " The Father first sent Me; now it's your turn.". But there is more to that verse than that. He is also saying, " In the very same way that the Father sent me, that's how I'm sending you". The crucial question then becomes: How did God send Jesus:
Philippians 2 gives us a good understanding of the nature of Jesus' mission. He humbled himself, He took the form of a servant, and He became obedient to the point of death( Phil 2:6-11). Jesus went from heavenly riches to earthly rags; from exaltation to to humiliation; from authority to obedience; from ultimate significance to ultimate rejection; from comfort to hardship; from safety to danger; from glory to sacrifice; from life to death. And He calls us to go into the world in exactly the same way.
Read that list again. Every one of those humbling transitions goes against our grain. We're trying to work our way up, not empty ourselves. We want more significance, more safety, more authority, more attention, more comfort. But Jesus calls us to die to ourselves, to take up our cross and follow Him. He sends us out as he was sent.
IN DEED Does your attitude match that of Jesus? Do you take your mission seriously enough to go into the depths of this world - whether those depths are in another country, your own city, or even your own family - and live the gospel of humility for others to see? Jesus' mission is to redeem this world and He intends to shine the light in very vile , dark corner of it - through us. He calls His followers into prisons and concentrated camps, into opium dens, and into leper colonies and psychiatric wards. He also calls them into night clubs, corporate conference rooms, university classrooms, and sports arenas. There is no place too uncomfortable, dangerous, or unlikely. Are you willing? As the Father sent Him, so He sends us.
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Many will respond in many different ways to this meditation. The only important issue though in the long run, is, in the midst of your joys or trials in this " exile country", as a Christian, " are you where the Lord sent you"?
If not, then the words the first verse of the old hymn might help each one of us to get focused.
O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee:
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow,
May richer, fuller be
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Repentance - the key to the abundant life that Christ offers for service to mankind
I spent some time in church this morning, before participating in Holy Communion, in deep reflection on the words of a powerful hymn, about which I had previously shared:
And now O Father mindful of thy love.......
Look father look on his anointed face,
And only look on as found in hin;
Look not on our misusings of thy grace....
And I realized how much these words apply very profoundly to each and every human being - not just Christians, even though as believers we carry a particularly heavy burden. As the reality is that when Christ died on the Cross of Calvary for our sins, grace ( as we did nothing to deserve such " amazing love" ) a window of opportunity was opened for every human being born of the Sin of Adam, to escape the " deserved" wrath of God, and to be reconciled with the Creator of heaven and earth. But how badly, how arrogantly, how persistently rebellious, how forgetfully, how dismissively, how easily have we "misused" that grace. For some of us, it happens even before we leave the church building on a Sunday morning after a" wonderful service For others, even after God's mercy has been particularly evident in our lives and we have been duly thankful - for a few days. And for others the temptations to " follow the way of the world", are just too much and we fall, and wonder why we cannot be obedient to Him who died for us on the Cross. It's a daily struggle. Being thankful for God's grace and mercy and being equally aware of how we " misuse" this grace - judging others, being unkind in thought and word, getting angry easily, keeping malice, going through the day and getting caught with living, and not remembering the Lord for hours, having an unforgiving spirit when God in Christ forgave and forgave and forgave and forgave and.......
But as I was reminded week by the Psalmist, we have so much more to give thanks for in the midst of our " misusings of thy grace".
Praise the Lord O my soul and .......
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbour his anger forever;
he does treat us as our sins deserve,
or repay us according to our iniquities......
for he knows how we are formed, and he remembers that we are dust.
Psalm 103 1-14 NIV
Thank God indeed.
The other, and now clearly related issue, which struck me this week was that, it is precisely because " we are dust", shaped in iniquity, and living according to the flesh, why we cannot truly live the Christian life until, we are transformed by the Spirit of Christ. The problem is that unbelievers cannot comprehend this revelation, and many believers, are not yet at the place where they can accept that we can be " like Christ", though sinful. As if we are condemned to
" misuse God's grace" forever. And our Lord did not die on the Cross to give us a partially holy life, a incomplete salvation but the " abundant life". The following meditations by Oswald Chambers I found very instructive this week, and should help us " to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be build up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:12-13.
SANCTIFICATION JULY 23
"Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us...sanctification"
1 Cor. 1:30
The Life Side. The mystery of sanctification is that the perfections of Jesus Christ are imparted to me, not gradually, but instantly when by faith I enter into the realization that Jesus Christ is made unto me sanctification. Sanctification does not mean anything less than the holiness of Jesus Christ being made mine manifestly.
The one marvellous secret of a holy life lies not in imitating Jesus, but in letting the perfections of Jesus manifest themselves in my mortal flesh. Sanctification is " Christ in you". It is His wonderful life that is imparted by faith as a Sovereign gift of God's grace. Am I willing for God to make sanctification as real to me as it is in His Word?
Sanctification means the impartation of the qualities of Jesus Christ. It is His patience. His love. His holiness, His faith, His purity, His godliness that is manifested and in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy; it is drawing from Jesus the holiness the holiness that was manifest in Him,and He manifests it in me. Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation. Imitation is on a different line. In Jesus Christ is the perfection of everything, and the mystery of sanctification is that all perfections of Jesus are at my disposal, and slowly and surely I begin to live a life of ineffable order and sanctity and holiness: " Kept by the power of God".
Now we can begin to understand why Herod, (representing the evil powers of this world) tried to kill the Christ child. Why evil forces continue to try and " dilute" the message of the Gospel. Why false prophets are so prevalent in our churches and trying to lead God's people astray.
Why the hymn writer was moved to pen these words in that glorious song:
Thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown
When thou camest to earth for me........
O come to me heart Lord Jesus
There is room in my heart fro thee
Thou camest, O Lord, with the living word,
That should set thy people free,
But with mocking scorn and a crown of thorn
They bore thee to Calvary:
O come to my heart Lord Jesus
There is room in my heart for thee.
Because any day we children of God realize our full potential in Christ Jesus, there will indeed be a mighty army of God marching through the Land: " setting the captives free, searching for the lost, binding up the wounded, healing the sick and caring for the dying" , all for the glory of God. But first we have to repent of our " misusings of thy grace", and invite Jesus to :
" Come into my heart Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for thee"
Amen.
And now O Father mindful of thy love.......
Look father look on his anointed face,
And only look on as found in hin;
Look not on our misusings of thy grace....
And I realized how much these words apply very profoundly to each and every human being - not just Christians, even though as believers we carry a particularly heavy burden. As the reality is that when Christ died on the Cross of Calvary for our sins, grace ( as we did nothing to deserve such " amazing love" ) a window of opportunity was opened for every human being born of the Sin of Adam, to escape the " deserved" wrath of God, and to be reconciled with the Creator of heaven and earth. But how badly, how arrogantly, how persistently rebellious, how forgetfully, how dismissively, how easily have we "misused" that grace. For some of us, it happens even before we leave the church building on a Sunday morning after a" wonderful service For others, even after God's mercy has been particularly evident in our lives and we have been duly thankful - for a few days. And for others the temptations to " follow the way of the world", are just too much and we fall, and wonder why we cannot be obedient to Him who died for us on the Cross. It's a daily struggle. Being thankful for God's grace and mercy and being equally aware of how we " misuse" this grace - judging others, being unkind in thought and word, getting angry easily, keeping malice, going through the day and getting caught with living, and not remembering the Lord for hours, having an unforgiving spirit when God in Christ forgave and forgave and forgave and forgave and.......
But as I was reminded week by the Psalmist, we have so much more to give thanks for in the midst of our " misusings of thy grace".
Praise the Lord O my soul and .......
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbour his anger forever;
he does treat us as our sins deserve,
or repay us according to our iniquities......
for he knows how we are formed, and he remembers that we are dust.
Psalm 103 1-14 NIV
Thank God indeed.
The other, and now clearly related issue, which struck me this week was that, it is precisely because " we are dust", shaped in iniquity, and living according to the flesh, why we cannot truly live the Christian life until, we are transformed by the Spirit of Christ. The problem is that unbelievers cannot comprehend this revelation, and many believers, are not yet at the place where they can accept that we can be " like Christ", though sinful. As if we are condemned to
" misuse God's grace" forever. And our Lord did not die on the Cross to give us a partially holy life, a incomplete salvation but the " abundant life". The following meditations by Oswald Chambers I found very instructive this week, and should help us " to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be build up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:12-13.
SANCTIFICATION JULY 23
"Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us...sanctification"
1 Cor. 1:30
The Life Side. The mystery of sanctification is that the perfections of Jesus Christ are imparted to me, not gradually, but instantly when by faith I enter into the realization that Jesus Christ is made unto me sanctification. Sanctification does not mean anything less than the holiness of Jesus Christ being made mine manifestly.
The one marvellous secret of a holy life lies not in imitating Jesus, but in letting the perfections of Jesus manifest themselves in my mortal flesh. Sanctification is " Christ in you". It is His wonderful life that is imparted by faith as a Sovereign gift of God's grace. Am I willing for God to make sanctification as real to me as it is in His Word?
Sanctification means the impartation of the qualities of Jesus Christ. It is His patience. His love. His holiness, His faith, His purity, His godliness that is manifested and in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy; it is drawing from Jesus the holiness the holiness that was manifest in Him,and He manifests it in me. Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation. Imitation is on a different line. In Jesus Christ is the perfection of everything, and the mystery of sanctification is that all perfections of Jesus are at my disposal, and slowly and surely I begin to live a life of ineffable order and sanctity and holiness: " Kept by the power of God".
Now we can begin to understand why Herod, (representing the evil powers of this world) tried to kill the Christ child. Why evil forces continue to try and " dilute" the message of the Gospel. Why false prophets are so prevalent in our churches and trying to lead God's people astray.
Why the hymn writer was moved to pen these words in that glorious song:
Thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown
When thou camest to earth for me........
O come to me heart Lord Jesus
There is room in my heart fro thee
Thou camest, O Lord, with the living word,
That should set thy people free,
But with mocking scorn and a crown of thorn
They bore thee to Calvary:
O come to my heart Lord Jesus
There is room in my heart for thee.
Because any day we children of God realize our full potential in Christ Jesus, there will indeed be a mighty army of God marching through the Land: " setting the captives free, searching for the lost, binding up the wounded, healing the sick and caring for the dying" , all for the glory of God. But first we have to repent of our " misusings of thy grace", and invite Jesus to :
" Come into my heart Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for thee"
Amen.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
The king of Pop, and the the " Good news" of Jesus Christ
The death of the " King of Pop", Michael Jackson has dominated the news, and quite likely private discussions over the past few weeks. Certainly one of the many lessons, we who believe in the complete sufficiency of the Atoning sacrifice for the sins of all mankind that was wrought on the Cross of Calvary by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is the urgency that we should apply to sharing the good news " The Gospel", with the rich and the poor; the famous and the ordinary, those near to us and those far away. As all are in desperate need of Salvation, whether they know it or not. As the news filters through and we get some further insight into the complex and tragic story of this talented entertainer, the take home lesson is that, many many people, some of whom we least suspect and appreciate, in various situations in life, are going through " a literal hell" here on earth. And the only answer for their plight is an intimate and surrendered relationship with the God of all Creation, which is only available in and through Christ Jesus, and which relationship begins with repentance - a turning around - and continues with baptism, discipleship and a promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit to effect righteousness and justice, compassion and mercy, in and around that individual.
To that end the Lord led me to reflect deeply on a well known hymn in my tradition, and which a local priest reminded us during a funeral on Saturday, epitomises the " love of God" which pursues us relentlessly, and has been doing so long before we loved God. So, ever since Calvary, everyone, can return to the God of Creation regardless of their circumstances, as the hymn writes notes:
O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee:
I give you back the life I owe,
That in they ocean depth its flow
May richer, fuller, be.
O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee:
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine's blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee:
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise that is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee:
I lay in dust life's glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
We are not privileged, nor are we required, to know, how many opportunities so many people are given , through various means and circumstances to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus.
But what we know is that Scripture tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of which is in Christ Jesus - no demons, no angels, no tribulation, not even death. As the Lord takes no delight in the death of a sinner but rather :
" Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? Declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their wicked ways and live?" Ezekiel 18:23 NIV
So this applies to both the non-believer and the believer, as all of us need to be consistent in seeking holiness, as without holiness, we will not see God's face. But we who believe have an even greater responsibility according to the Prophet Ezekiel.
" At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning for me. When I say to a wicked man, " you will surely die," and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man shall die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.
Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself.
Ezekiel 3:16-21. NIV
Small wonder then that one of the most beautiful passages of Scriptures connects with this theme of preaching the good news.
" As the scripture says, " anyone who trusts in him ( Jesus Christ) will never be put to shame." For there in no difference between Jew and gentile - the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses those all those who call on him, for " Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved".
How, then, can they call on the one who they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, " How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!
Romans 10:11-15 NIV
One of the many problems that we who bring the good news face, both from within and without the faith is the authenticity of the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. Hence the reflections from Oswald Chambers on this issue are extremely pertinent.
WHAT MUST I BELIEVE?
THE FACT OF THE BIBLE AND THE THEORY OF INSPIRATION
The Bible is a world of revelation facts, and when you explain the Bible, take into account all the record of it. the Bible nowhere says that we have to believe it is the Word of God before we can be Christians. The Bible is not the Word of God to me unless I come at it through what Jesus says, it it of no use to me unless I know Him.. The key to the understanding of the Bible is not intelligence but personal relationship with to Jesus Christ. I begin my theories after I have got to on he inside. You may believe the Bible is the Word of God from Genesis to Revelations and not be a Christian at all.
THE MYSTERY OF THE BIBLE
Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. ( 2 Peter 1: 21)
What does the Bible say about itself? That it is inspired by the Holy Spirit, but through men, not through mechanisms. it is not that the Holy Spirit took up men in a miraculous way and used them as channels; the chief item is the man, and each Book bears the stamp of the man. The mystery of the Bible is that its inspiration was direct from God, not verbally inspired, but the inspired Word of God - the Final Word of God; not that God is not saying anything now, but He is not saying anything different from the Final Word Jesus Christ. All God says is expounding that Word. The Final Word and the only Word are very different. Be reverent with the Bible explanation of itself.
Finally as we contemplate the many temptations that we all face as sinful human beings, though thank God, ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven in Jesus, the Lord led me through another hymn which assures us of God's abiding presence at all times and in all situations ( caused by the devil, the flesh and the world) - we just have to call upon the name of Jesus.
O Jesus, I have promised
To serve the to the end;
Be thou for ever near me,
My master and my Friend:
I shall not fear the battle
If thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway
If thou wilt be my guide.
O let me feel thee near me:
The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle,
The tempting sounds I hear;
My foes are ever near me,
Around me and within;
But, Jesus, draw thou nearer,
And shield my soul from sin.
O let me hear thee speaking
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me,
To hasten and control;
O speak and make me listen
Thou guardian of my soul.
O Jesus, thou hast promised
To all who follow thee,
That where thou art in glory
There shall thy servant be;
And, Jesus, I have promised
To serve thee to the end:
O give me grace to follow,
My Master and my Friend.
O let me see thy footmarks,
And in them plant my own;
My hope to follow duly
Is in thy strength alone:
Uphold me to the end;
And then in heaven receive me,
My Master and my Friend.
Thank God for Jesus indeed. Amen
To that end the Lord led me to reflect deeply on a well known hymn in my tradition, and which a local priest reminded us during a funeral on Saturday, epitomises the " love of God" which pursues us relentlessly, and has been doing so long before we loved God. So, ever since Calvary, everyone, can return to the God of Creation regardless of their circumstances, as the hymn writes notes:
O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee:
I give you back the life I owe,
That in they ocean depth its flow
May richer, fuller, be.
O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee:
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine's blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee:
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise that is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee:
I lay in dust life's glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
We are not privileged, nor are we required, to know, how many opportunities so many people are given , through various means and circumstances to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus.
But what we know is that Scripture tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of which is in Christ Jesus - no demons, no angels, no tribulation, not even death. As the Lord takes no delight in the death of a sinner but rather :
" Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? Declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their wicked ways and live?" Ezekiel 18:23 NIV
So this applies to both the non-believer and the believer, as all of us need to be consistent in seeking holiness, as without holiness, we will not see God's face. But we who believe have an even greater responsibility according to the Prophet Ezekiel.
" At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning for me. When I say to a wicked man, " you will surely die," and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man shall die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.
Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself.
Ezekiel 3:16-21. NIV
Small wonder then that one of the most beautiful passages of Scriptures connects with this theme of preaching the good news.
" As the scripture says, " anyone who trusts in him ( Jesus Christ) will never be put to shame." For there in no difference between Jew and gentile - the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses those all those who call on him, for " Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved".
How, then, can they call on the one who they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, " How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!
Romans 10:11-15 NIV
One of the many problems that we who bring the good news face, both from within and without the faith is the authenticity of the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. Hence the reflections from Oswald Chambers on this issue are extremely pertinent.
WHAT MUST I BELIEVE?
THE FACT OF THE BIBLE AND THE THEORY OF INSPIRATION
The Bible is a world of revelation facts, and when you explain the Bible, take into account all the record of it. the Bible nowhere says that we have to believe it is the Word of God before we can be Christians. The Bible is not the Word of God to me unless I come at it through what Jesus says, it it of no use to me unless I know Him.. The key to the understanding of the Bible is not intelligence but personal relationship with to Jesus Christ. I begin my theories after I have got to on he inside. You may believe the Bible is the Word of God from Genesis to Revelations and not be a Christian at all.
THE MYSTERY OF THE BIBLE
Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. ( 2 Peter 1: 21)
What does the Bible say about itself? That it is inspired by the Holy Spirit, but through men, not through mechanisms. it is not that the Holy Spirit took up men in a miraculous way and used them as channels; the chief item is the man, and each Book bears the stamp of the man. The mystery of the Bible is that its inspiration was direct from God, not verbally inspired, but the inspired Word of God - the Final Word of God; not that God is not saying anything now, but He is not saying anything different from the Final Word Jesus Christ. All God says is expounding that Word. The Final Word and the only Word are very different. Be reverent with the Bible explanation of itself.
Finally as we contemplate the many temptations that we all face as sinful human beings, though thank God, ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven in Jesus, the Lord led me through another hymn which assures us of God's abiding presence at all times and in all situations ( caused by the devil, the flesh and the world) - we just have to call upon the name of Jesus.
O Jesus, I have promised
To serve the to the end;
Be thou for ever near me,
My master and my Friend:
I shall not fear the battle
If thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway
If thou wilt be my guide.
O let me feel thee near me:
The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle,
The tempting sounds I hear;
My foes are ever near me,
Around me and within;
But, Jesus, draw thou nearer,
And shield my soul from sin.
O let me hear thee speaking
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me,
To hasten and control;
O speak and make me listen
Thou guardian of my soul.
O Jesus, thou hast promised
To all who follow thee,
That where thou art in glory
There shall thy servant be;
And, Jesus, I have promised
To serve thee to the end:
O give me grace to follow,
My Master and my Friend.
O let me see thy footmarks,
And in them plant my own;
My hope to follow duly
Is in thy strength alone:
Uphold me to the end;
And then in heaven receive me,
My Master and my Friend.
Thank God for Jesus indeed. Amen
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Lord Jesus we love thee because you died on the Cross for all mankind
When you live in a country where violent crime, and in particular murder, is, unfortunately a way of life, and when you know that man's heart is not just wicked, but " desperately wicked", and can only be changed by the good news of the Gospel of Christ, there is always an anxiety to
" win souls", and so change one's country. For the same reason, in discussions with relatives, or people in the media or professionals or politicians, or people who seek your professional help, or those who have turned their back on the faith, there is a temptation to " defend the Word of God" as the only source of help for the unbelieving. However, in very clear messages the Lord issued a caution to me and to others as I continued to read the Complete Works of Oswald Chambers this week.
The first message came from a Section of the Book entitled " The Origin of Our Salvation and a sub-text " The Reason Why" which featured four reflections on the Cross of Christ.
1...for Doctrine
2....for Direction
3.....for Disposition
4....and Discipline ( Gal.2:20) which is the one that contained the first message.
" I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me". NIV
Chambers - This is not a theological statement, it is a statement of Christian experience wrought by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one Who regenerates us into the family to which Jesus Christ belongs; through the eternal efficacy of the Cross we are made partakers of the Divine nature.
" I have been crucified with Christ" (RV). Paul's personal identification with the death of Christ is simply the presentation of how that death will work out in the life of anyone. The Cross of Christ is the Self-revelation of God, the exhibition of the essential nature of the Godhead.
Nowadays the great passion is the passion for souls, but you never find that passion in the New Testament, it is the passion for Christ that the New Testament mentions. It is not a passion for men that saves men; a passion for men breaks human hearts. The passion for Christ inwrought by the Holy Spirit goes deeper down than the deepest agony the world, the flesh and the devil can produce. it goes straight down to where our Lord went, and the Holy Spirit works out, not in thinking but in living, this passion for Christ. Whenever the passion for souls obscures the passion for Christ, Satan has come in as an angel of light.
For me this was a very profound moment as, no doubt some of us, including myself, have often allowed our desire to promote the gospel, to write Internet Messages, to send text messages, to do " good works" in inner cities and many other aspects of our lives, to relegate a focus on the Cross of Christ to a few minutes in the morning, at mid-day and at nights. Rather than allowing what Isaiah calls " steadfast " gazing on the Lord. And which steadfast approach to a relationship with Christ is the only basis on which, the Holy Spirit will flow out through us and effect God's will in this " broken and confused world. It is not that I was not aware of the importance of spending time with the Lord, as in fact words from Psalm 27 have provided much courage in the face of recent adversity:
" The Lord is my light and my salvation
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life--
of whom shall I be afraid?
........One thing I ask of the lord,
this is what I seek:
that i may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life........
for in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling.....
But on reflection, I can see where I was more concerned about the state of the nation, the heinous crimes being committed and what ought to be the response of the church, rather than spending quality time brooding on the Cross of Christ. In fact, though I welcomed the " rebuke"
from the Lord and gave thanks, I am not sure how I got there, as the reason why this Internet Ministry started has all to do with Christ and not "doing work", for Christ. I was in Singapore attending a Leadership Conference in Evangelism, to which I had been invited by a group by the name of Haggai International. ( They have been in the business of training leaders, ordained and lay members of the church, to be evangelists, and then to return home, especially in South East Asia and Africa where it was proving difficult for " outsiders" to gain access to the population).
One day during devotions I witnessed a brother weeping as we sang:
As the deer pants for water,
So my soul longs after you.
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
Refrain.
You alone are my strength, my shield,
To You alone may my spirit yield.
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
I was so moved by this experience, as I had never witnessed anyone in my Anglican church weeping with joy for Christ in this manner, that I wrote to a dear " Sister in Christ", who is a Priest and shared with her, my amazement. And God bless her soul, as she replied appropriately and shared with me an old Hymn from my Hymnal, the words of which have blessed me so much over the years, and to which I returned, time and time again this week, as sought to love my Lord Jesus for Himself alone.
My God, I love thee, not because
I hope for heaven thereby,
Nor yet because who love thee not
Are lost eternally.
Thou, O my Jesus, thou didst me
Upon the Cross embraced;
For me didst bear the nails and spear,
And manifold disgrace,
And griefs and torments numberless,
And sweat of agony;
Yea death itself ---and all for me
Who was thine enemy.
Then why, O blessed Jesu Christ,
Should I not love thee well?
Not for the sake of winning heaven,
Nor of escaping hell;
Not from the hope of gaining aught,
Not seeking a reward;
But as thou hast loved me,
O ever-loving Lord.
So would I love thee, dearest lord,
And in thy praise will sing;
Solely because thou art my God,
And my most loving King.
I am sure that I told this story before, but since then the Lord has added many others to this Ministry, so that it was worth telling again. The point here, however, is that we must be vigilant in "keeping our eyes fixed on the author and perfecter of our faith", lest we stray far from the only power which enables us to " bear fruit " for the Lord. As no amount of desire to change the hearts of wicked gunmen is going to make a difference, unless a renewed church, a repentant church, a church which spends time " brooding on the Cross of Christ", and whose Holy Spirit will then enable us to carry out God's will in God's time, so that all the honor and glory may be given to Him when such a change of heart takes place.
And just to make sure that this revelation was not just something that happened by chance, the Lord led me, in a Bible which has meditations from Saints of old, using the passage from Isaiah which was of such great help to me recently, to reinforce the message - in another meditation from Oswald Chambers and another very special " Anglican hymn".
" You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you".
Isaiah 26:3 NIV
IS YOUR MIND STAYED ON GOD OSWALD CHAMBERS CLASSIC DEVOTIONAL BIBLE
Verse Isaiah 26:3 Passage Isaiah 26: 1-6
Is your mind stayed on God or is it starved? Starvation of the mind, caused by neglect, is one of the chief sources of exhaustion and weakness in a servant's life. If you have never used your mind to place your before God, do it now. There is no reason to wait for God to come to you. You must turn your thoughts and your eyes away from the face of idols and look to him and be saved( see Isaiah 45:220.
Your mind is the greatest gift God has given you and it ought to devoted entirely to him....When you have thoughts and ideas that are worthy of credit to God, learn to compare and associate them with with all that happens in nature --the rising of the sun, the shinning of the moon and the stars, and the changing of the seasons. You will begin to see that your thoughts are from God as well, and your mind will no longer be at the mercy of of your impulsive thinking, but will always be used in the service of God....
Remember whose you are and whom you serve. Encourage yourself to remember, and your affection for God will increase tenfold. Your mind will no longer be starved, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.
The day I first read the above meditation, the Spirit of God led me to the great passage
in the book of Romans.
" Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God --this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. the you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will". Romans 12: 1-2 NIV
As I write here tonight this renewing of the mind which only comes when " Your eyes are stayed on God" is the answer to the prayers of the faithful for those who come to church and spend most of their time chatting and thus losing out so much on what is being revealed in church; the answer to the prayers of the faithful for those who spend so much time being entertained by the television, on the Internet, on the cell phone, on their "blackberries"; the answer to the prayers of the faithful that the church may be renewed so that the nation may be renewed. Amen.
Next week, reflections on the " Anglican Hymn " Jesus, the very thought of thee...."
And reflections of the reading of God's Word by non-believers and by us, the baptised of Christ.
And more as the Spirit of God directs. Please continue to pray for this Ministry.
...
" win souls", and so change one's country. For the same reason, in discussions with relatives, or people in the media or professionals or politicians, or people who seek your professional help, or those who have turned their back on the faith, there is a temptation to " defend the Word of God" as the only source of help for the unbelieving. However, in very clear messages the Lord issued a caution to me and to others as I continued to read the Complete Works of Oswald Chambers this week.
The first message came from a Section of the Book entitled " The Origin of Our Salvation and a sub-text " The Reason Why" which featured four reflections on the Cross of Christ.
1...for Doctrine
2....for Direction
3.....for Disposition
4....and Discipline ( Gal.2:20) which is the one that contained the first message.
" I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me". NIV
Chambers - This is not a theological statement, it is a statement of Christian experience wrought by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one Who regenerates us into the family to which Jesus Christ belongs; through the eternal efficacy of the Cross we are made partakers of the Divine nature.
" I have been crucified with Christ" (RV). Paul's personal identification with the death of Christ is simply the presentation of how that death will work out in the life of anyone. The Cross of Christ is the Self-revelation of God, the exhibition of the essential nature of the Godhead.
Nowadays the great passion is the passion for souls, but you never find that passion in the New Testament, it is the passion for Christ that the New Testament mentions. It is not a passion for men that saves men; a passion for men breaks human hearts. The passion for Christ inwrought by the Holy Spirit goes deeper down than the deepest agony the world, the flesh and the devil can produce. it goes straight down to where our Lord went, and the Holy Spirit works out, not in thinking but in living, this passion for Christ. Whenever the passion for souls obscures the passion for Christ, Satan has come in as an angel of light.
For me this was a very profound moment as, no doubt some of us, including myself, have often allowed our desire to promote the gospel, to write Internet Messages, to send text messages, to do " good works" in inner cities and many other aspects of our lives, to relegate a focus on the Cross of Christ to a few minutes in the morning, at mid-day and at nights. Rather than allowing what Isaiah calls " steadfast " gazing on the Lord. And which steadfast approach to a relationship with Christ is the only basis on which, the Holy Spirit will flow out through us and effect God's will in this " broken and confused world. It is not that I was not aware of the importance of spending time with the Lord, as in fact words from Psalm 27 have provided much courage in the face of recent adversity:
" The Lord is my light and my salvation
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life--
of whom shall I be afraid?
........One thing I ask of the lord,
this is what I seek:
that i may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life........
for in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling.....
But on reflection, I can see where I was more concerned about the state of the nation, the heinous crimes being committed and what ought to be the response of the church, rather than spending quality time brooding on the Cross of Christ. In fact, though I welcomed the " rebuke"
from the Lord and gave thanks, I am not sure how I got there, as the reason why this Internet Ministry started has all to do with Christ and not "doing work", for Christ. I was in Singapore attending a Leadership Conference in Evangelism, to which I had been invited by a group by the name of Haggai International. ( They have been in the business of training leaders, ordained and lay members of the church, to be evangelists, and then to return home, especially in South East Asia and Africa where it was proving difficult for " outsiders" to gain access to the population).
One day during devotions I witnessed a brother weeping as we sang:
As the deer pants for water,
So my soul longs after you.
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
Refrain.
You alone are my strength, my shield,
To You alone may my spirit yield.
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
I was so moved by this experience, as I had never witnessed anyone in my Anglican church weeping with joy for Christ in this manner, that I wrote to a dear " Sister in Christ", who is a Priest and shared with her, my amazement. And God bless her soul, as she replied appropriately and shared with me an old Hymn from my Hymnal, the words of which have blessed me so much over the years, and to which I returned, time and time again this week, as sought to love my Lord Jesus for Himself alone.
My God, I love thee, not because
I hope for heaven thereby,
Nor yet because who love thee not
Are lost eternally.
Thou, O my Jesus, thou didst me
Upon the Cross embraced;
For me didst bear the nails and spear,
And manifold disgrace,
And griefs and torments numberless,
And sweat of agony;
Yea death itself ---and all for me
Who was thine enemy.
Then why, O blessed Jesu Christ,
Should I not love thee well?
Not for the sake of winning heaven,
Nor of escaping hell;
Not from the hope of gaining aught,
Not seeking a reward;
But as thou hast loved me,
O ever-loving Lord.
So would I love thee, dearest lord,
And in thy praise will sing;
Solely because thou art my God,
And my most loving King.
I am sure that I told this story before, but since then the Lord has added many others to this Ministry, so that it was worth telling again. The point here, however, is that we must be vigilant in "keeping our eyes fixed on the author and perfecter of our faith", lest we stray far from the only power which enables us to " bear fruit " for the Lord. As no amount of desire to change the hearts of wicked gunmen is going to make a difference, unless a renewed church, a repentant church, a church which spends time " brooding on the Cross of Christ", and whose Holy Spirit will then enable us to carry out God's will in God's time, so that all the honor and glory may be given to Him when such a change of heart takes place.
And just to make sure that this revelation was not just something that happened by chance, the Lord led me, in a Bible which has meditations from Saints of old, using the passage from Isaiah which was of such great help to me recently, to reinforce the message - in another meditation from Oswald Chambers and another very special " Anglican hymn".
" You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you".
Isaiah 26:3 NIV
IS YOUR MIND STAYED ON GOD OSWALD CHAMBERS CLASSIC DEVOTIONAL BIBLE
Verse Isaiah 26:3 Passage Isaiah 26: 1-6
Is your mind stayed on God or is it starved? Starvation of the mind, caused by neglect, is one of the chief sources of exhaustion and weakness in a servant's life. If you have never used your mind to place your before God, do it now. There is no reason to wait for God to come to you. You must turn your thoughts and your eyes away from the face of idols and look to him and be saved( see Isaiah 45:220.
Your mind is the greatest gift God has given you and it ought to devoted entirely to him....When you have thoughts and ideas that are worthy of credit to God, learn to compare and associate them with with all that happens in nature --the rising of the sun, the shinning of the moon and the stars, and the changing of the seasons. You will begin to see that your thoughts are from God as well, and your mind will no longer be at the mercy of of your impulsive thinking, but will always be used in the service of God....
Remember whose you are and whom you serve. Encourage yourself to remember, and your affection for God will increase tenfold. Your mind will no longer be starved, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.
The day I first read the above meditation, the Spirit of God led me to the great passage
in the book of Romans.
" Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God --this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. the you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will". Romans 12: 1-2 NIV
As I write here tonight this renewing of the mind which only comes when " Your eyes are stayed on God" is the answer to the prayers of the faithful for those who come to church and spend most of their time chatting and thus losing out so much on what is being revealed in church; the answer to the prayers of the faithful for those who spend so much time being entertained by the television, on the Internet, on the cell phone, on their "blackberries"; the answer to the prayers of the faithful that the church may be renewed so that the nation may be renewed. Amen.
Next week, reflections on the " Anglican Hymn " Jesus, the very thought of thee...."
And reflections of the reading of God's Word by non-believers and by us, the baptised of Christ.
And more as the Spirit of God directs. Please continue to pray for this Ministry.
...
Sunday, July 5, 2009
New life in Christ Jesus
For the past three weeks the Word of God, and commentary on His Word, have come alive to me like no other period in my life. As I have literally had to depend on His Word for life and thus to experience that which Jesus told his disciples:
" The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life". John 6: 63 NIV.
Two prayers, in particular also meant a whole lot to me during that period. One is the prayer which sustains this Internet Ministry:
" Lord renew thy church beginning with me. Lord renew the church that the church may renew the nation".
So I spent a lot of time praying for my own renewal, the renewal of my home church - St. Andrew Parish Church - and the wider body of Christ including the Pentecostal, the Church of God, the Baptists, the Methodists, the Moravians, the Salvation Army, the United Church, the Seventh day Adventists, the Roman Catholic church, the Anglican church and all the other evangelical churches - and the renewal of my nation, parish by parish. And just this evening I recalled that in our national pledge is a prayer; "...that Jamaica may play her part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race.
I prayed in particular that the Lord would use His renewed church to drive out the wickedness in the hearts of men which has occasioned so much bloodshed in my country. So much murder, so much pain, so much loss of hope so much destruction of the good name of my people. And further that those who are influencing our children into a life of immorality may be stopped as this moral plague on our land is but the flip side of the " coin " of murder.
One hymn which is sung during Holy Communion, together with other " signals" from God, including a deep meditation on the great repentance Psalm ( Psalm 51) and in particular :
" Create in me a pure heart and renew a steadfast spirit in me", led to a deep outpouring of repentance for named sins. A process which is the first and most important step in renewal of an individual and I dare say the church and the nation.
And now, O Father, mindful of the love
That brought us, once for all on Calvary's Tree
( You can almost hear the well known crusade hymn echoing in the back ground; " All the way to Calvary He went for me, He went for me.......for thou I have so many many sins, Jesus washed them all the way and pardoned me)
And having with us him that pleads above,
We here present, we here spread forth to thee
That only Offering perfect in thine eyes
The one true, pure, immortal sacrifice.
(...power, power, wonder working power in the precious blood of the Lamb)
Look, Father, look on his anointed face,
And only look on us as found in him;
Look not on our misusings of thy grace,
Our prayer so languid, and our faith so dim:
For lo, between the our sins and their reward
We set the Passion of thy Son our Lord.
( One of the truths about which the Lord reminded me , and demonstrated in no uncertain fashion, so that never will I ever forget, is that " dim faith and languid prayers" have no place in the Christian life. They are literally an insult to the One who died on the Cross for our Salvation, and of no value whatsoever when real trouble, evil attacks you. They may provide a kind of
" baby like pacifier" for the young Christian but have no place in the life of the mature believer. Further we have so much to repent of for " misusing God's grace", " forgetting our first love", rebelling against His commands, disbelieving His promises, judging others, being so easily angered and demanding of our " rights", ignoring our neighbours, being lukewarm in our support of our church, being highly critical of the pastor and other members.......... And in all of that forgetting that we are the greatest of sinners, and hence the reason why Christ died. Finally, that God that in His mercy, does not see our sins - if we repent regularly and with a contrite and broken heart - but looks on the Passion of our Lord and sets aside His just wrath.
And then for those, our dearest and our best,
By this prevailing Presence we appeal:
O fold them closer to thy mercy's breast,
O do thine utmost for their soul's true weal.
from tainting mischief keep them white and clean,
And crown thy gifts with strength to persevere.
( I found this verse very helpful in my prayers, not just for " our dearest and our best", and there are many for who I pray, but for all for whom I have been praying regularly that they would surrender their lives to Christ Jesus. And many of them who are part of this Internet Ministry and read the messages, fall into this category - not yet baptised, not yet in an intimate relationship with Christ Jesus, or having at one time made a commitment have now fallen away).
And so we come: O draw us to they feet,
Most patient Saviour, who canst love us still;
And by this food, so awful and so sweet,
Deliver us from every touch of ill:
In thine own service make us glad and free,
And grant us never more to part with thee
( Finally, my " take home message" from this verse, is a deep recognition that quite often in our " doing God's work" it is quite possible to " forget our first love" and fail to spent quality time with God in Christ Jesus. So " grant us never more to part with thee" means for me to be always seeking to know and to feel the presence of Jesus with me, in all places, in all circumstances, for His glory alone.
And so I close with the second prayer that is ongoing, very demanding - you cannot know Christ without suffering - very humbling but yet very rewarding.
" I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing his sufferings, becoming like him in his death ( Baptism), and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
I also pent a lot if time reading John Stott's commentary on " The Sermon of the Mount" where in essence Christians are called to be manifestly " different" from non-believers.
Bonhoffer's " Life Together: A discussion on Christian fellowship - where we are called to remember that " Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Christ.........Christians need each other because of Christ - therefore there is no such thing as a single Christian staying at home and worshiping God by themselves - ....in Christ we have been chosen from eternity, accepted in time, and united for eternity.
And finally this very evening I took up the full works of Oswald Chambers, whose shorter book,
My Utmost for His highest", I read at nights before retiring to bed. And the reading of which has already impacted my life profoundly, as I was led to read again, but with a different attitude, believing in all my heart, one of the great prayers in the Bible.
" I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so Christ may dwell in your hearts though faith. And i pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together to with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Ephesians 3:16-19. NIV
I will certainly write about my experiences with Stott, Bonhoffer and Chambers, all great theologians who have made God's Word more easily understood by us ordinary readers of this precious book. I have no doubt that through these prayers, and the prayers of the faithful in Jamaica and worldwide, that God will indeed renew the church, the nation and indeed that whole human race. But first it begins with you and I. And repentance with a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise is the first order of business.
I praise God for hearing the cry of His servant, on whom I waited patiently, and who then turned to me and lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire and set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place on which to stand and put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. I praise God for the love of family, new Christian friends and the prayers of the faithful, but more than ever I thank God for Jesus, in whom and through whom we have all been given new, renewed and eternal life.
Amen.
" The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life". John 6: 63 NIV.
Two prayers, in particular also meant a whole lot to me during that period. One is the prayer which sustains this Internet Ministry:
" Lord renew thy church beginning with me. Lord renew the church that the church may renew the nation".
So I spent a lot of time praying for my own renewal, the renewal of my home church - St. Andrew Parish Church - and the wider body of Christ including the Pentecostal, the Church of God, the Baptists, the Methodists, the Moravians, the Salvation Army, the United Church, the Seventh day Adventists, the Roman Catholic church, the Anglican church and all the other evangelical churches - and the renewal of my nation, parish by parish. And just this evening I recalled that in our national pledge is a prayer; "...that Jamaica may play her part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race.
I prayed in particular that the Lord would use His renewed church to drive out the wickedness in the hearts of men which has occasioned so much bloodshed in my country. So much murder, so much pain, so much loss of hope so much destruction of the good name of my people. And further that those who are influencing our children into a life of immorality may be stopped as this moral plague on our land is but the flip side of the " coin " of murder.
One hymn which is sung during Holy Communion, together with other " signals" from God, including a deep meditation on the great repentance Psalm ( Psalm 51) and in particular :
" Create in me a pure heart and renew a steadfast spirit in me", led to a deep outpouring of repentance for named sins. A process which is the first and most important step in renewal of an individual and I dare say the church and the nation.
And now, O Father, mindful of the love
That brought us, once for all on Calvary's Tree
( You can almost hear the well known crusade hymn echoing in the back ground; " All the way to Calvary He went for me, He went for me.......for thou I have so many many sins, Jesus washed them all the way and pardoned me)
And having with us him that pleads above,
We here present, we here spread forth to thee
That only Offering perfect in thine eyes
The one true, pure, immortal sacrifice.
(...power, power, wonder working power in the precious blood of the Lamb)
Look, Father, look on his anointed face,
And only look on us as found in him;
Look not on our misusings of thy grace,
Our prayer so languid, and our faith so dim:
For lo, between the our sins and their reward
We set the Passion of thy Son our Lord.
( One of the truths about which the Lord reminded me , and demonstrated in no uncertain fashion, so that never will I ever forget, is that " dim faith and languid prayers" have no place in the Christian life. They are literally an insult to the One who died on the Cross for our Salvation, and of no value whatsoever when real trouble, evil attacks you. They may provide a kind of
" baby like pacifier" for the young Christian but have no place in the life of the mature believer. Further we have so much to repent of for " misusing God's grace", " forgetting our first love", rebelling against His commands, disbelieving His promises, judging others, being so easily angered and demanding of our " rights", ignoring our neighbours, being lukewarm in our support of our church, being highly critical of the pastor and other members.......... And in all of that forgetting that we are the greatest of sinners, and hence the reason why Christ died. Finally, that God that in His mercy, does not see our sins - if we repent regularly and with a contrite and broken heart - but looks on the Passion of our Lord and sets aside His just wrath.
And then for those, our dearest and our best,
By this prevailing Presence we appeal:
O fold them closer to thy mercy's breast,
O do thine utmost for their soul's true weal.
from tainting mischief keep them white and clean,
And crown thy gifts with strength to persevere.
( I found this verse very helpful in my prayers, not just for " our dearest and our best", and there are many for who I pray, but for all for whom I have been praying regularly that they would surrender their lives to Christ Jesus. And many of them who are part of this Internet Ministry and read the messages, fall into this category - not yet baptised, not yet in an intimate relationship with Christ Jesus, or having at one time made a commitment have now fallen away).
And so we come: O draw us to they feet,
Most patient Saviour, who canst love us still;
And by this food, so awful and so sweet,
Deliver us from every touch of ill:
In thine own service make us glad and free,
And grant us never more to part with thee
( Finally, my " take home message" from this verse, is a deep recognition that quite often in our " doing God's work" it is quite possible to " forget our first love" and fail to spent quality time with God in Christ Jesus. So " grant us never more to part with thee" means for me to be always seeking to know and to feel the presence of Jesus with me, in all places, in all circumstances, for His glory alone.
And so I close with the second prayer that is ongoing, very demanding - you cannot know Christ without suffering - very humbling but yet very rewarding.
" I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing his sufferings, becoming like him in his death ( Baptism), and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
I also pent a lot if time reading John Stott's commentary on " The Sermon of the Mount" where in essence Christians are called to be manifestly " different" from non-believers.
Bonhoffer's " Life Together: A discussion on Christian fellowship - where we are called to remember that " Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Christ.........Christians need each other because of Christ - therefore there is no such thing as a single Christian staying at home and worshiping God by themselves - ....in Christ we have been chosen from eternity, accepted in time, and united for eternity.
And finally this very evening I took up the full works of Oswald Chambers, whose shorter book,
My Utmost for His highest", I read at nights before retiring to bed. And the reading of which has already impacted my life profoundly, as I was led to read again, but with a different attitude, believing in all my heart, one of the great prayers in the Bible.
" I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so Christ may dwell in your hearts though faith. And i pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together to with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Ephesians 3:16-19. NIV
I will certainly write about my experiences with Stott, Bonhoffer and Chambers, all great theologians who have made God's Word more easily understood by us ordinary readers of this precious book. I have no doubt that through these prayers, and the prayers of the faithful in Jamaica and worldwide, that God will indeed renew the church, the nation and indeed that whole human race. But first it begins with you and I. And repentance with a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise is the first order of business.
I praise God for hearing the cry of His servant, on whom I waited patiently, and who then turned to me and lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire and set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place on which to stand and put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. I praise God for the love of family, new Christian friends and the prayers of the faithful, but more than ever I thank God for Jesus, in whom and through whom we have all been given new, renewed and eternal life.
Amen.
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