This week was dominated by news about the Chilean and miners. What drama! What a rescue! From the bowels of the earth to new life. What a metaphor which could be used to dramatically explain the gospel of Christ, who reached down from the heavens to rescue mankind from darkness, death and sin unto light and new and eternal life. And like the miners and their family and fellow citizens and people from all over the world, who were cheering for them the whole time, what a difference it would make if all mankind came to understand how much they need to rescued by God in and through Christ Jesus!
This week I read a meditation which impacted me greatly, in respect of how we, the Baptized children of God, who have the good news to share but are either reluctant, or do not quite grasp how important it is that we share this incredible story. To the point where I was led to send out an e-mail to some folks who are either journalists or have access to the minds of many people through the media.
THE GREAT DIVIDE CHRIS TIEGEN OCTOBER 13
We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. Hebrews 10: 39
In Word
Hebrews has some terrifying verses in it. This is one of them. Those who shrink back are destroyed. Those who believe are saved. There is no in-between.
After thanking God that we are in the believing category, it soon becomes painfully alarming to us that we know plenty of people who are not. We who count on the promises of God cannot be content to keep them to ourselves. That would be like dinning at a never-ending, everyone's invited buffet, but keeping it a secret from starving people lingering around us. There is a word for those who are content to be well fed while those around starve: selfish.
The Christian life is anything but selfish. The Father who went to great lengths to save us isn't selfish. the Son who commanded His disciples to go into the world with the gospel isn't selfish. The Holy Spirit who lives within us isn't selfish. God did not hand us the ball for us to drop it. He wants us to run with it. he has a plan - a very unselfish plan.
In Deed
Take time regularly to measure your participation in God's plan. Take an inventory of your attitudes and actions. Does the great divide between those headed for destruction and those headed for redemption get under your skin? Or have you grown numb to the reality? Do you pray for, give to, and pursue lost people persistently? Or are they an afterthought? Or in other words do you share your food.
The gospel is about sharing. Always has been, and always will. There is nothing in Scripture about embracing all the gospel except the missions part. No, the gospel is a package deal, and evangelism is in the package. We may not be gifted in the same ways, but we are all called to participate in missions zealously. It's important to God because of the terrifying divide we read about, and if it's important to God, it has to be important to those who love Him. Love compels us to do something about the divide - to share our food.
"Evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread". D.T. Niles
Having read this reflection, I went searching for the Corinthian passage which speaks to the fact that we Christians are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are perishing among those who are being saved, but came upon another Word from Ezekiel which is even more arresting. And which was sent out in the e-mail also.
" Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them a warning from me. When I say to the wicked, " O wicked man, you will surely die, and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but will have saved yourself." Ezekiel 43:7-9. NIV
So, if you have been cheering for the Chilean miners, and you are a child of God, you have an equal responsibility to be concerned about every living soul who does not know Christ, and is therefore living in " darkness". Worse, if you were unconcerned about the Chilean miners, there is no punishment except for your conscience, but if you are unconcerned about those who sit in "darkness", God will hold you accountable for their destruction. This weekend we in Jamaica celebrate Heroes week, and if the truth be told most people regard it as nothing more than a holiday, and really don't spend much time recalling the work and life of our heroes. However, we who have been " rescued by the blood of Christ", our Hero, our Redeemer, our Lord and Saviour, do not have that option to forget " whose we are". As we who have been " crucified with Christ and no longer live, but Christ lives in us", ( Galatians 2:2) are always on a rescue mission for God. In Chile, in China, in Myanmar, in Nigeria, in Japan, in Bolivia, in the USA, in the UK, in Jamaica, and across the whole wide world.
So this week, send a text, an e-mail, write on facebook, tweet someone, or just plain old fashioned call a friend and tell them about the love of Christ. And even better so live your life that God will have His own way with you and " all shall see Christ only always living in me".
Amen
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Buju Banton, Bishop Long and God's new Creation
Thebiggest news that struck me this week was the behaviour of two stars. One, Buju Banton, a Reggae super star with significant international acclaim, and a "conscious" rastaman to boot. The other, one who I had never heard about, as I don''t follow the tele-evangelists, Bishop Eddie Long, apparently a religious super star, the head of one of America's mega-churches with a congregation reportedly in the region of 25,000. Both are accused of involvement in activities which have shocked many who thought highly of both men. Neither one has been found guilty before a court of law. One will know his fate tomorrow. The other has signaled that he would like his day in court. But even if they are cleared of the troubling chrages they have both been extremely foolish. What is a " conscious" rastaman doing tasting cocaine, and talking " garbage " about his desire to traffic the substance! And what business has a man of the cloth, purportedly one of God's servants, doing with a million dollar salary, a Bentley, a five million dollar house and a learjet, as I was reliably informed by a US pastor with whom I spoke today. It's all abut money and image.
No wonder then that words prior to the actual from the Epistle appointed for my church today reads as follows.
" But godliness with contentment is a great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men inot ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered away from the faith and pieced themselves with many griefs".
One of the great issues for the church in particular, and for the society as a whole, as so the church goes, so goes the society, is this relatively new " prosperity gospel" which is sweeping the USA and has spread its evil tentacles into our island. A 'gospel' which encourages persons to seek God as a means of personal advancement in their financial status, their health and their social standing. Of course it is not advanced as " vulgar" as that but " by their fruits ye shall know them". The problem is that the proponents of a " gospel", which eschews sacrifice, seeks to avoid persecution and looks only for good times, are being " traitors" to the Cross of Christ, and therefore have no power to " free the captives, give sight to the blind and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor". And worse, offers no protection when the day of trouble comes, as it will for all human beings. We had our own issues with this prosperity gospel here recently when the church got burnt by both CASH PLUS and OLINT. We should learn our lesson well and not get caught up with the hype and the image and the good times which big business masquerading as the
" ecclesia" , the called out of God, is leading people astray in America and elsewhere. People of God have to be manifestly different from the people of this world. And so too those Rastafarian who set themelves high standards. One of the disappointing things in recent times in my country has been the decline in the influence of the " conscious " rastaman. A movement which from day one had a faulty theology, as it based it's existence on a mere man, Emperor Haile Selassie. But at least it encouraged, poor black youths to have a different vision of themselves, at a time when the love of money and power, was leading so many into gangs and political warfare
In fact a meditation I read from one of the old saints speak very clearly to this issue of the Christianity and the world.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHRISTAIN COMMUNITY
EPISTLE TO DIOGNETUS
Verse Galatians 5:16
The realtion of Christians to the world is that of a soul to the body. As the soul is diffused through every part of the body, so are Christians through all the cities of the world. The soul too, inhabits the body, while at the same time forming no part of it.; and Christian inhabit the world, but they are not part of the world.
The soul , invisible itself, is immured within a visible body; so Christians can be recognizedin the world, but thier Christianity itself remains hidden from eye.
The flesh hates the soul, and wars against her without provocation, because they are opposed to its pleasures. All the same, th soul loves the flesh and all its members. despite their hatred for her, and Christians too, love those who hate them.
The soul shut up inside the body, nevertheless, holds the body together; and though they are confined within the world as in a dungeon, it is the Christian who holds the world together.
The soul, which is immortal, must dwell in a mortal tabernacle, and Christains, as they sojoun for a while in the midst of corruptibility here, look for incorruptibility in the heavens.
Finally, just as to be stinted of food and drink makes for the soul's improvement, so when Christians are every day subjected to ill-treatment, they increase the more in numbers. Such is the high post of duty in which God has placed them, and it their moral duty to not to shrink form it.
And when we shrink from that high post of duty, societies crumble, individuals perish, and God's righteous judgement falls on the church. As it did time and time again in the Old Testament against the children of Israel. And will continue to happen in this present dispensation, unless we remember that " we are not our own", as " we have been bought by the price of Blood" - The precious Blood of the Lamb, even Jesus Christ.
The reality is that we Christians are under tremendous pressure to conform to the ways of the world, and our young ones are particularly vulnerable. To go for the superficial and avoid the deeper life with Christ. Ultimately, what counts in our journey with Christ, is not extent of the praise of worship experience, the amount of social work that we do, our perceived piety in mode of dress and use of language, the day on which we worship or whether we are Evangelicals, Pentecostals or from the established churches, but whether or not we have become " a new creation". That's how God will judge us. If we have " put on Christ" and left the old man behind. That's how we should judge both mega-churches and small churches.
Is the pastor exhibiting the " fruits of the new creation", or is it just the same ole same ole. In the same way, are the members of the congregation exhibiting the " fruits of the Spirit", the love, the faithfulness, the mercy to others, the shunning of the very appearance of evil, at home, in the office and in the public square. Are they being persecuted, and how do they bear up under such trials? Do they fight with "weapons of this world", rage, anger and judgement, or do they love those who persecute them and pray for their souls.
This is what the final meditation speaks to.
WHAT REALLY COUNTS CHRIS TIEGEN SEPTEMBER 25
What really counts is a new creation. Galatians 6:15
In Word
Pressure. No one likes it; everybody feels it. It can come from deadlines, society at large, TV commercials, or people very close to us. One of the enemy's most effective weapon is to pressure people
No wonder then that words prior to the actual from the Epistle appointed for my church today reads as follows.
" But godliness with contentment is a great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men inot ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered away from the faith and pieced themselves with many griefs".
One of the great issues for the church in particular, and for the society as a whole, as so the church goes, so goes the society, is this relatively new " prosperity gospel" which is sweeping the USA and has spread its evil tentacles into our island. A 'gospel' which encourages persons to seek God as a means of personal advancement in their financial status, their health and their social standing. Of course it is not advanced as " vulgar" as that but " by their fruits ye shall know them". The problem is that the proponents of a " gospel", which eschews sacrifice, seeks to avoid persecution and looks only for good times, are being " traitors" to the Cross of Christ, and therefore have no power to " free the captives, give sight to the blind and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor". And worse, offers no protection when the day of trouble comes, as it will for all human beings. We had our own issues with this prosperity gospel here recently when the church got burnt by both CASH PLUS and OLINT. We should learn our lesson well and not get caught up with the hype and the image and the good times which big business masquerading as the
" ecclesia" , the called out of God, is leading people astray in America and elsewhere. People of God have to be manifestly different from the people of this world. And so too those Rastafarian who set themelves high standards. One of the disappointing things in recent times in my country has been the decline in the influence of the " conscious " rastaman. A movement which from day one had a faulty theology, as it based it's existence on a mere man, Emperor Haile Selassie. But at least it encouraged, poor black youths to have a different vision of themselves, at a time when the love of money and power, was leading so many into gangs and political warfare
In fact a meditation I read from one of the old saints speak very clearly to this issue of the Christianity and the world.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHRISTAIN COMMUNITY
EPISTLE TO DIOGNETUS
Verse Galatians 5:16
The realtion of Christians to the world is that of a soul to the body. As the soul is diffused through every part of the body, so are Christians through all the cities of the world. The soul too, inhabits the body, while at the same time forming no part of it.; and Christian inhabit the world, but they are not part of the world.
The soul , invisible itself, is immured within a visible body; so Christians can be recognizedin the world, but thier Christianity itself remains hidden from eye.
The flesh hates the soul, and wars against her without provocation, because they are opposed to its pleasures. All the same, th soul loves the flesh and all its members. despite their hatred for her, and Christians too, love those who hate them.
The soul shut up inside the body, nevertheless, holds the body together; and though they are confined within the world as in a dungeon, it is the Christian who holds the world together.
The soul, which is immortal, must dwell in a mortal tabernacle, and Christains, as they sojoun for a while in the midst of corruptibility here, look for incorruptibility in the heavens.
Finally, just as to be stinted of food and drink makes for the soul's improvement, so when Christians are every day subjected to ill-treatment, they increase the more in numbers. Such is the high post of duty in which God has placed them, and it their moral duty to not to shrink form it.
And when we shrink from that high post of duty, societies crumble, individuals perish, and God's righteous judgement falls on the church. As it did time and time again in the Old Testament against the children of Israel. And will continue to happen in this present dispensation, unless we remember that " we are not our own", as " we have been bought by the price of Blood" - The precious Blood of the Lamb, even Jesus Christ.
The reality is that we Christians are under tremendous pressure to conform to the ways of the world, and our young ones are particularly vulnerable. To go for the superficial and avoid the deeper life with Christ. Ultimately, what counts in our journey with Christ, is not extent of the praise of worship experience, the amount of social work that we do, our perceived piety in mode of dress and use of language, the day on which we worship or whether we are Evangelicals, Pentecostals or from the established churches, but whether or not we have become " a new creation". That's how God will judge us. If we have " put on Christ" and left the old man behind. That's how we should judge both mega-churches and small churches.
Is the pastor exhibiting the " fruits of the new creation", or is it just the same ole same ole. In the same way, are the members of the congregation exhibiting the " fruits of the Spirit", the love, the faithfulness, the mercy to others, the shunning of the very appearance of evil, at home, in the office and in the public square. Are they being persecuted, and how do they bear up under such trials? Do they fight with "weapons of this world", rage, anger and judgement, or do they love those who persecute them and pray for their souls.
This is what the final meditation speaks to.
WHAT REALLY COUNTS CHRIS TIEGEN SEPTEMBER 25
What really counts is a new creation. Galatians 6:15
In Word
Pressure. No one likes it; everybody feels it. It can come from deadlines, society at large, TV commercials, or people very close to us. One of the enemy's most effective weapon is to pressure people
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Songs in the nights and the effects on a world around you
Many things happened across the world this week, but none of them in particular caught my attention. But a meditation from whom I am told was one of the great preachers of his time, Charles Spurgeon, certainly did. And then I recalled another one from one of my favourite theologians, Oswald Chambers - I read his highly acclaimed " My Utmost for His Highest" each night before retiring to bed. They both speak to the critically important issue of God's providence being provided during times of testing and trials. Periods which are not very welcome by some Christians schooled in the tradition of what some commentators call " cheap grace". In the sense that too many in some traditions expect to receive God's blessings without having to sacrifice much if anything at all, and which " theology" has no power to rescue a dying world. But which periods of suffering and persecutions and trials, for the early church, for example following Stephens' martyrdom, provided great opportunities for the spreading of the gospel.
Daily we see in my country, and across the world, about which the Pope called attention this week in the UK, the growing power of the secular - non religious, no faith in a transcendent being - thought on life. Often with devastating effects on family life, political life, business ethics, the behaviour of professionals and entertainers and the moral life in general of many nations.
So the power of the gospel to effect change in the world, flows more profoundly when, according to Spurgeon, and Chambers, we hear songs in the night. In the midst of trials.
SONGS IN THE NIGHT - CHARLES SPURGEON
Job 35:10
Any man can sing in the day. When the cup is full, man draws inspiration from it. When wealth rolls in abundance around him, any man can praise the God who gives a plenteous harvest or sends home a loaded argosy....
It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight, but he who is skillful who sings when there is not a ray of light to read by, who sings from his heart. No man can make a song in the night of himself, he may attempt it, but he will find that a song in the night must be divinely inspired. Let all things go well, I can weave songs fashioning them whenever I go out of the flowers that grow on my path, but put me in a desert, where no green thing grows, and wherewith shall I frame a hymn of praise to God?.....
No, it is not in man's power to sing when all is adverse.......Since our Maker gives songs in the night, let us wait for Him for music....Let us not remain song-less because affliction is upon us, but tune our lips to the melody of thanksgiving.
Powerful stuff, isn't it. Many in the secular world don't know this side of the faith. They have grown up on the controversies, " the hot button issues": the issues surrounding human sexuality and marriage, the abortion issue, the death penalty. Even more sadly, many Christians" rebuke sickness" as if from the Devil. Yes. But not all the time.
Have you ever heard songs in the night? Then tell someone about it, and in doing so the gospel of Christ's love for all mankind, and of His sufficiency for every human and national situation will spread.
Then we can make more sense of St. Paul's ( who heard songs the night) recommendation and assertion in the New Testament reading in my church for today which if followed to the letter, would pave the way for great peace in every country. And my country is so desparately in need of peace at this time.
" I urge, then, first of all, that requests, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone --for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceable and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases the God our Savior, who wants all men to to be saved, and come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men". 1 Timothy 2:1-6
One God! And one mediator between God and man Christ Jesus. You cannot have a more controversial statement than that in today's multi-cultural age and and age of religious pluralism. What about the Muslim God? What about the Buddhists and the Rastas and.......?
Perhaps a meditation from another Saint of old who heard songs in the night might help. Or not. Depends on who you listen to when you undergo trials. When. Not if. For there is trouble for every human being under the sun.
JESUS CHRIST - THE MIDDLE WAY BLAISE PASCAL PSALM 51;1
The God of Christians is not a God who is simply the author of mathematical truths, or of the order the elements, as is the god of the pagans and of the Epicureans. Nor is he merely a God who providentially disposes the life and fortunes of men, to crown his worshipers with length of happy years. Such was the portion of the Jews. But the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of the Christians, is a God of love and consolation, a God fills the souls and hearts of his own, a God who makes them feel their inward-ward wretchedness and his infinite mercy, who unites Himself to their inmost spirit, filling it with humility and joy, with confidence and love, rendering them incapable of any other than himself.
All who seek god apart from Jesus Christ, and who rest in nature, either find no light to satisfy them, or form for them selves a means of knowing God and serving Him without a mediator. Thus they fall either into atheism or into deism, two things which the Christian religion almost equally abhors.
The God of the Christians is a God who makes the soul perceive that he is her only good, that her only rest is in him, her only joy in loving him; who makes her at the same time abhor the obstacles which withhold her from loving him with all her strength. Her two hindrances, self-love and lust, are insupportable to her. This God makes her perceive that the root of self-love destroys her and that he alone can heal.
The knowledge of God without that of our wretchedness creates pride. The knowledge of our wretchedness without that of God creates despair. The knowledge of Jesus Christ is the middle way, because in him we find both God and our wretchedness.
But this kind of understanding only comes when you are prepared to hear songs in the night. Pray God that those who don't know Jesus and therefore are not aware of their wretchedness, or know well and are in despair, may find peace in Him because someone was willing to hear songs in the night - as did our Lord, and St Paul and Peter and all the early Saints, who like Jesus, " for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God." Hebrews 12:2 NIV. Perhaps we all have the wrong goal, or an insufficient vision, in front of us. May God help us to endure our trials and hear songs in the night so that others may be rescued.
Daily we see in my country, and across the world, about which the Pope called attention this week in the UK, the growing power of the secular - non religious, no faith in a transcendent being - thought on life. Often with devastating effects on family life, political life, business ethics, the behaviour of professionals and entertainers and the moral life in general of many nations.
So the power of the gospel to effect change in the world, flows more profoundly when, according to Spurgeon, and Chambers, we hear songs in the night. In the midst of trials.
SONGS IN THE NIGHT - CHARLES SPURGEON
Job 35:10
Any man can sing in the day. When the cup is full, man draws inspiration from it. When wealth rolls in abundance around him, any man can praise the God who gives a plenteous harvest or sends home a loaded argosy....
It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight, but he who is skillful who sings when there is not a ray of light to read by, who sings from his heart. No man can make a song in the night of himself, he may attempt it, but he will find that a song in the night must be divinely inspired. Let all things go well, I can weave songs fashioning them whenever I go out of the flowers that grow on my path, but put me in a desert, where no green thing grows, and wherewith shall I frame a hymn of praise to God?.....
No, it is not in man's power to sing when all is adverse.......Since our Maker gives songs in the night, let us wait for Him for music....Let us not remain song-less because affliction is upon us, but tune our lips to the melody of thanksgiving.
Powerful stuff, isn't it. Many in the secular world don't know this side of the faith. They have grown up on the controversies, " the hot button issues": the issues surrounding human sexuality and marriage, the abortion issue, the death penalty. Even more sadly, many Christians" rebuke sickness" as if from the Devil. Yes. But not all the time.
Have you ever heard songs in the night? Then tell someone about it, and in doing so the gospel of Christ's love for all mankind, and of His sufficiency for every human and national situation will spread.
Then we can make more sense of St. Paul's ( who heard songs the night) recommendation and assertion in the New Testament reading in my church for today which if followed to the letter, would pave the way for great peace in every country. And my country is so desparately in need of peace at this time.
" I urge, then, first of all, that requests, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone --for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceable and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases the God our Savior, who wants all men to to be saved, and come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men". 1 Timothy 2:1-6
One God! And one mediator between God and man Christ Jesus. You cannot have a more controversial statement than that in today's multi-cultural age and and age of religious pluralism. What about the Muslim God? What about the Buddhists and the Rastas and.......?
Perhaps a meditation from another Saint of old who heard songs in the night might help. Or not. Depends on who you listen to when you undergo trials. When. Not if. For there is trouble for every human being under the sun.
JESUS CHRIST - THE MIDDLE WAY BLAISE PASCAL PSALM 51;1
The God of Christians is not a God who is simply the author of mathematical truths, or of the order the elements, as is the god of the pagans and of the Epicureans. Nor is he merely a God who providentially disposes the life and fortunes of men, to crown his worshipers with length of happy years. Such was the portion of the Jews. But the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of the Christians, is a God of love and consolation, a God fills the souls and hearts of his own, a God who makes them feel their inward-ward wretchedness and his infinite mercy, who unites Himself to their inmost spirit, filling it with humility and joy, with confidence and love, rendering them incapable of any other than himself.
All who seek god apart from Jesus Christ, and who rest in nature, either find no light to satisfy them, or form for them selves a means of knowing God and serving Him without a mediator. Thus they fall either into atheism or into deism, two things which the Christian religion almost equally abhors.
The God of the Christians is a God who makes the soul perceive that he is her only good, that her only rest is in him, her only joy in loving him; who makes her at the same time abhor the obstacles which withhold her from loving him with all her strength. Her two hindrances, self-love and lust, are insupportable to her. This God makes her perceive that the root of self-love destroys her and that he alone can heal.
The knowledge of God without that of our wretchedness creates pride. The knowledge of our wretchedness without that of God creates despair. The knowledge of Jesus Christ is the middle way, because in him we find both God and our wretchedness.
But this kind of understanding only comes when you are prepared to hear songs in the night. Pray God that those who don't know Jesus and therefore are not aware of their wretchedness, or know well and are in despair, may find peace in Him because someone was willing to hear songs in the night - as did our Lord, and St Paul and Peter and all the early Saints, who like Jesus, " for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God." Hebrews 12:2 NIV. Perhaps we all have the wrong goal, or an insufficient vision, in front of us. May God help us to endure our trials and hear songs in the night so that others may be rescued.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Remembering 9/11: Heeding God's Word about spiritual warfare
Yesterday was another anniversary of 9/11. Where were you when the planes struck the Twin Towers? I recall very clearly that I was on the way to work and had just tuned in to BBC at 8:00 am to listen to the news. When I heard about the first plane it seems a bit unusual, but I had no inclination of what was about to happen next. So when the second plane burst into flames and the reporter and by then the entire world understood that something had gone wrong, horribly wrong, I called my wife, who was still at home, and told her to turn on the television. On the way to work, I tried calling my children who were both in the USA studying, but of course by then, all communications had been shut down. But the time I got to work, everybody was in one state, and for the first time, we all huddled together and prayed, and prayed, and prayed. Tears flowed freely and panic set in, as many of us had relatives in America, and more specifically in New York City.
This was our first experience with " war" so close to home, and the effects of that dastardly act still continue to reverberate across the world, in Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan and how we are allowed to travel. I cannot begin to imagine what must have felt like during World War Two, with the constant bombings of cities in the UK and in Europe. In in our part of the world, the constant terror or " war" that we have to contend with, is the fight against gunmen who have been consitently murdering over 1000 of our people year after year for over ten years.
All of this week, however, I have reading meditations on " spiritual warfare", which is the
" mother of all wars", and from which "war" for the human heart and soul, is the cause of all other wars - from Adam and Satan until this very day. The problem is that, unlike the destruction of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, this is not only an " invisible" war, but one which does not attract the attention of unbelievers, and even some believers are skeptical about its importance, despite the devastating effects that such a war is having on all of us. A war which led me to send out a text message to many folks who I thought needed to see such a message.
" Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.' Psalm 142:6. We live in the middle of a war whether we believe it or not. A loving God in Christ is awaiting your cry for help. The Devil is trying to destroy you."
That's the essence of the struggle for your soul. Cry out to God, in and through the Blood of Jesus for your soul, or face the temptations and destructive powers - allowed by God for the time being - of he who is intent on banishing you to hell. That's why married people need the Lord, as the devil does not like Godly relationships. So it is not just a "male hormone thing" that is affecting so many marriages, but the devil intent on doing his evil work. For the same reason children disobey and even attack their parents, far too many politicians and lawyers and other professionals, are economical with the truth in pursuit of fame and power and wealth. For that same reason some journalists, and media managers ignore their code of ethics and responsibility to be fair and balanced and set the highest standards in their duty to inform the public. We have one such case now in my country where a talk show host, vilified and fired from one station for behaviour unbecoming of a public broadcaster and bringing the profession into disrepute, has been " hailed by another station", and given another opportunity to pour out his diatribe on an all too willing public. For that same reason even in the church " famous" evangelists, too caught up with their own strength, fall prey to Satan and give ammunition to the detractors of the gospel. One such person, who hails from the USA, is to face the courts here in Jamaica, on a charge of carnal abuse.
.
Just last week, and during the discussions on radio, primarily, this week, the nation was alerted to the diary of a " contract killer", whose writings suggested that he was in a great struggle with his 'badness' until he was gunned down by the police recently. And there have been many others of similar notoriety, or less, who suffered the same fate. And as in murder, so in robbery, corruption in high places, adultery, sexual deviants - pedophiles, lying, cheating, and general wickedness. There are long lists that we can all compile which validate the revelation in the Bible that " out of the heart of mankind comes all kinds of wickedness".
And until we can deal with the reality what the Psalmist David declares, " surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me", then we, as individuals, as nations, and as a world, will always be at " war" one way or another.
This is the reason why, after the great world wars, when men vowed never to allow such atrocities to happen again, we have had " the killing fields in Cambodia"; the war in Vietnam; the many wars in Africa including the struggle against Apartheid in SA, and the Holocaust in Rwanda; the many wars in South America in including the disappearance of many in Pinochet's Chile; the never ending religious wars in the Middle East, and now the portents if not the actuality of war between Muslims and the Christian West. Is there no end to this madness?
Not any time soon, says the Bible. Until Jesus comes to claim the world as His own. So what are we to do? One meditation I read last week offers some sound advice for believers, but those who do not know the Lord should take heed also, as they too are in the middle of the war - and worse without much if any protection, even though they take comfort in their weapons of intellect, power and positive thinking. And the solution begins with our mental attitude.
THE SPIRITUAL WAR CHRIS TIEGEN SEPTEMBER 6
Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ephesians 6:10
In Word
The truth we discover soon after becoming Christians is that we are in the middle of a war. if the restoration of all things had come instantly after the Resurrection, there would be no conflict. The whole world would have been been made new, the evil serpent would have been bound and cast into hell, and believers would be living in a perfect environment. But all of those future realities were secured by the Cross and empty tomb, not enforced by them. Not yet. We've set our faith on those promises, but for now, life is a struggle. it is a struggle because we were born into the middle of a war.
We have two options: fight or flee. The option to flee is an illusion -- the war exists whether we want to acknowledge it or not. if we ignore it, we've lost already. But the option is to fight -- that's where we get confused. We charge into battle and then quickly wind up defeated. We forget rule of engagement number one in the spiritual war: be strong in His might power.
That's easy to say, but hard to live out. It isn't complicated, just unnatural. We pray for God's strength and live by faith for a while, and then any success puts us in our default mode: self -reliance. Only after failing in our self-reliance do we learn to relay again on His strength.
In Deed
A battle mentality is essential for the Christian life. We cannot bear spiritual fruit, internally or externally, if we are not alert and equipped for the conflict that inevitably comes. But our alertness is not to lead us into our own strategies and resources; it must lead us to dependence. Faith means casting ourselves unreservedly into the hands of God. We, like Jesus and the apostles, will pray God's authority against evil and live for God's Kingdom, but the power behind the prayers and the life is not ours. It belongs to the Spirit within us. if we aren't vitally related to Him, we will lose. The only way to win -- the only way even to survive --is to be strong in His mighty power.
So let us draw on the experiences of Daniel on the lion's den who was protected because he trusted God - and not himself. Gideon, from whom the Lord removed most of his warriors so that no one could boast that their power had defeated the enemies. And Joshua who was told by God, to be of good courage and not to be afraid because " wither-soever thou goest I am with you".
Let us go forth in the mighty strength of God into the battle, wherever it is: in the home in relationships; in the community; at the workplace; in the inner cities; in the prisons; in the media and throughout the entire world. And be obedient to the words of the prophets of old and " care for the dying and rescue the perishing", "bind up the wounded, strengthen the weak, search for the lost and bring back the strays". This is our job in a dying world, where the god of this age has prevented people from understanding the gospel, and finding freedom from sin and death in Christ Jesus. And so poverty and ignorance prevails, strife and wars ensue, and immorality and wickedness entrap and devour. Let then us never tire of doing good and let us understand that the battle is never ending and pay careful attention to the words of the hymn-writer who no doubt inspired by the sufferings of Christ penned these words which touched my heart this week and made Holy Communion very special this morning:
Oft in danger, oft in woe
Onward, Christians, onward go;
Bear the toil, maintain the strife,
Strengthened with the Bread of Life.
Onward, Christian, onward go,
Join the war, and face the foe
Will ye flee in danger's hour?
Know ye not your Captain's power.
Let not sorrow dim your eye;
Soon shall every tear be dry;
Let not fears your course impede;
Great your strength if great your need.
Let your drooping hearts be glad;
march in heavenly armour clad;
Fight, not think the battle long:
Soon shall victory wake your song.
Onward then in battle move
More than conquerors ye shall prove:
Though opposed by many a foe,
Christian soldiers, onward go
So pray without ceasing, calling on the name of Jesus often, as ye know not when the Devil will strike. Strike others or ourselves. In broad daylight at the World Trade Center or in the middle of the night in the privacy of your home. And God is our only protection. Not our own puny strength or wisdom.
This was our first experience with " war" so close to home, and the effects of that dastardly act still continue to reverberate across the world, in Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan and how we are allowed to travel. I cannot begin to imagine what must have felt like during World War Two, with the constant bombings of cities in the UK and in Europe. In in our part of the world, the constant terror or " war" that we have to contend with, is the fight against gunmen who have been consitently murdering over 1000 of our people year after year for over ten years.
All of this week, however, I have reading meditations on " spiritual warfare", which is the
" mother of all wars", and from which "war" for the human heart and soul, is the cause of all other wars - from Adam and Satan until this very day. The problem is that, unlike the destruction of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, this is not only an " invisible" war, but one which does not attract the attention of unbelievers, and even some believers are skeptical about its importance, despite the devastating effects that such a war is having on all of us. A war which led me to send out a text message to many folks who I thought needed to see such a message.
" Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.' Psalm 142:6. We live in the middle of a war whether we believe it or not. A loving God in Christ is awaiting your cry for help. The Devil is trying to destroy you."
That's the essence of the struggle for your soul. Cry out to God, in and through the Blood of Jesus for your soul, or face the temptations and destructive powers - allowed by God for the time being - of he who is intent on banishing you to hell. That's why married people need the Lord, as the devil does not like Godly relationships. So it is not just a "male hormone thing" that is affecting so many marriages, but the devil intent on doing his evil work. For the same reason children disobey and even attack their parents, far too many politicians and lawyers and other professionals, are economical with the truth in pursuit of fame and power and wealth. For that same reason some journalists, and media managers ignore their code of ethics and responsibility to be fair and balanced and set the highest standards in their duty to inform the public. We have one such case now in my country where a talk show host, vilified and fired from one station for behaviour unbecoming of a public broadcaster and bringing the profession into disrepute, has been " hailed by another station", and given another opportunity to pour out his diatribe on an all too willing public. For that same reason even in the church " famous" evangelists, too caught up with their own strength, fall prey to Satan and give ammunition to the detractors of the gospel. One such person, who hails from the USA, is to face the courts here in Jamaica, on a charge of carnal abuse.
.
Just last week, and during the discussions on radio, primarily, this week, the nation was alerted to the diary of a " contract killer", whose writings suggested that he was in a great struggle with his 'badness' until he was gunned down by the police recently. And there have been many others of similar notoriety, or less, who suffered the same fate. And as in murder, so in robbery, corruption in high places, adultery, sexual deviants - pedophiles, lying, cheating, and general wickedness. There are long lists that we can all compile which validate the revelation in the Bible that " out of the heart of mankind comes all kinds of wickedness".
And until we can deal with the reality what the Psalmist David declares, " surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me", then we, as individuals, as nations, and as a world, will always be at " war" one way or another.
This is the reason why, after the great world wars, when men vowed never to allow such atrocities to happen again, we have had " the killing fields in Cambodia"; the war in Vietnam; the many wars in Africa including the struggle against Apartheid in SA, and the Holocaust in Rwanda; the many wars in South America in including the disappearance of many in Pinochet's Chile; the never ending religious wars in the Middle East, and now the portents if not the actuality of war between Muslims and the Christian West. Is there no end to this madness?
Not any time soon, says the Bible. Until Jesus comes to claim the world as His own. So what are we to do? One meditation I read last week offers some sound advice for believers, but those who do not know the Lord should take heed also, as they too are in the middle of the war - and worse without much if any protection, even though they take comfort in their weapons of intellect, power and positive thinking. And the solution begins with our mental attitude.
THE SPIRITUAL WAR CHRIS TIEGEN SEPTEMBER 6
Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ephesians 6:10
In Word
The truth we discover soon after becoming Christians is that we are in the middle of a war. if the restoration of all things had come instantly after the Resurrection, there would be no conflict. The whole world would have been been made new, the evil serpent would have been bound and cast into hell, and believers would be living in a perfect environment. But all of those future realities were secured by the Cross and empty tomb, not enforced by them. Not yet. We've set our faith on those promises, but for now, life is a struggle. it is a struggle because we were born into the middle of a war.
We have two options: fight or flee. The option to flee is an illusion -- the war exists whether we want to acknowledge it or not. if we ignore it, we've lost already. But the option is to fight -- that's where we get confused. We charge into battle and then quickly wind up defeated. We forget rule of engagement number one in the spiritual war: be strong in His might power.
That's easy to say, but hard to live out. It isn't complicated, just unnatural. We pray for God's strength and live by faith for a while, and then any success puts us in our default mode: self -reliance. Only after failing in our self-reliance do we learn to relay again on His strength.
In Deed
A battle mentality is essential for the Christian life. We cannot bear spiritual fruit, internally or externally, if we are not alert and equipped for the conflict that inevitably comes. But our alertness is not to lead us into our own strategies and resources; it must lead us to dependence. Faith means casting ourselves unreservedly into the hands of God. We, like Jesus and the apostles, will pray God's authority against evil and live for God's Kingdom, but the power behind the prayers and the life is not ours. It belongs to the Spirit within us. if we aren't vitally related to Him, we will lose. The only way to win -- the only way even to survive --is to be strong in His mighty power.
So let us draw on the experiences of Daniel on the lion's den who was protected because he trusted God - and not himself. Gideon, from whom the Lord removed most of his warriors so that no one could boast that their power had defeated the enemies. And Joshua who was told by God, to be of good courage and not to be afraid because " wither-soever thou goest I am with you".
Let us go forth in the mighty strength of God into the battle, wherever it is: in the home in relationships; in the community; at the workplace; in the inner cities; in the prisons; in the media and throughout the entire world. And be obedient to the words of the prophets of old and " care for the dying and rescue the perishing", "bind up the wounded, strengthen the weak, search for the lost and bring back the strays". This is our job in a dying world, where the god of this age has prevented people from understanding the gospel, and finding freedom from sin and death in Christ Jesus. And so poverty and ignorance prevails, strife and wars ensue, and immorality and wickedness entrap and devour. Let then us never tire of doing good and let us understand that the battle is never ending and pay careful attention to the words of the hymn-writer who no doubt inspired by the sufferings of Christ penned these words which touched my heart this week and made Holy Communion very special this morning:
Oft in danger, oft in woe
Onward, Christians, onward go;
Bear the toil, maintain the strife,
Strengthened with the Bread of Life.
Onward, Christian, onward go,
Join the war, and face the foe
Will ye flee in danger's hour?
Know ye not your Captain's power.
Let not sorrow dim your eye;
Soon shall every tear be dry;
Let not fears your course impede;
Great your strength if great your need.
Let your drooping hearts be glad;
march in heavenly armour clad;
Fight, not think the battle long:
Soon shall victory wake your song.
Onward then in battle move
More than conquerors ye shall prove:
Though opposed by many a foe,
Christian soldiers, onward go
So pray without ceasing, calling on the name of Jesus often, as ye know not when the Devil will strike. Strike others or ourselves. In broad daylight at the World Trade Center or in the middle of the night in the privacy of your home. And God is our only protection. Not our own puny strength or wisdom.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
God is a good God, and an ever present help in times of trouble
That which affected me most profoundly this week was the privilege of sharing in the experience of two older men, who, on recounting their experience of the goodness of God, wept openly. One burst into tears, while the other, a single tear rolled down his face. The former was more passionate, as he had been attacked by a person of unsound mind resulting in a period of of hospitalization for multiple head and neck injuries requiring 42 stitches, and was rejoicing how God in His mercy had kept the lethal weapon, a machete, from severing his neck. His wife, of over fifty years, had not been so fortunate, as she died mercilessly at the hands of the attacker. But yet he was rejoicing and praising God.
Earlier this week, I read a meditation which posed the question , " where do you dwell'? What foundation sustains you, what resources are available to you, and to whom do you turn when serious problems arise in your life? And which reflection led to me wonder, in particular about President Obama, who having been swept into office a couple years with one of the highest approval ratings in modern American history, now faces the possible wrath of an electorate, disappointed, among other things, about the slow rate of recovery of the American economy. To whom does he turn in these challenging times, when in addition to the local issues, the question of the security in Iraq looms large, the war in against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan is not going well, Iran continues to build nuclear material, ostensibly for peaceful purposes, and the much sought after peace in the Middle East continues to elude all his efforts.
Closer home, to whom does my own Prime Minister turn when, having gained political power also a couple years ago, albeit with a less impressive mandate than Obama, now faces the wrath of civil society, up in arms against him for his party's - and sanctioned by him - apparent defense of a known drug Lord and a key political supporter, in response to an extradition request issued by the USA.? To whom does one turn to when, " the going gets rough", or when the " bottom drops out of one's life"? When marital problems arise - the cheating husband, the unfaithful wife, the discovery that a partner is gay. The problems with children - involved in criminality, involved in " doing drugs" specifically or gross immorality. What sustains an individual when sudden illness turns one's life upside down. Or when death so tragically separates a loving couple. When one faces financial ruin, or at least severe challenges. When one has gotten accustomed to power and exerting authority, when one is the subject of much adoration by friends and colleagues, and then suddenly for whatever reason - indiscretions, unwise choices, changing of the guard or philosophical changes - life swings in the opposite direction. Or at another level, to whom does a nation turn when faces with one of the highest homicide rates in the world - resulting in mayhem, grief and increased cost of doing business - a stagnant economy, social upheavals and a people rapidly losing hope in the future.
One answer which has sustained me greatly in recent times is to be found in the Word of God, and which no doubt has fashioned the faith of those two older men I met this week.
" He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High,
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty". Psalm 91:1 KJV
In the sense that, even when troubles abound, we who have learned to trust that God is indeed a good God, for many reasons, but none more important than the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus, we have a safe anchor - the Almighty God - on which to depend. This knowledge sustains us in the midst of many trials and helps us not to depend on other men like ourselves, or our own common sense and intellect, both of which have failed us so often. But rather to depend on the God who created heaven and earth, and so surely He can manage the many problems of mankind, whom he created for His own purpose. But then that depends on whether or not you dwell in the secret place of the Most High, or you dwell in the " safety " of your own capabilities.
I pray God that the Lord will teach, very gently, those who are so foolish, to repent of such foolishness
Another came home to me from a prayer I read many years ago, written by a former Chaplain of the Senate of the USA - Rev. Peter Marshall
FOR GOD'S GRACE IN OUR HELPLESSNESS
We know, our Father, that at this desperate hour in world affairs, we need Thee. We need thy strength, Thy guidance, Thy wisdom.
There are problems far greater than any wisdom of man can solve. What shall our leaders do in such an hour?
May Thy wisdom and Thy power come upon the President of these United States, the Senators and Congressmen, to whom has been entrusted leadership. may the responsibility lie heavily on their hearts, until they are ready to acknowledge their helplessness and turn to Thee. Give them the honesty, the courage and the moral integrity to confess that they do not know what to do. Only then can they lead us as a nation beyond human wisdom to Thee, who alone hast the answer.
Lead us to this high adventure. remind us that a " mighty fortress is our God" - not a hiding place where we can escape for an easy life, but rather an arsenal of courage and strength - the mightiest of all, who will march beside us into the battle for righteousness and world brotherhood.
O god may we never recover from our feeling of helplessness and our need for Thee! In the strong name of Jesus, our Lord, we pray. Amen
I pray God that our leaders across the world may be convicted of their helplessness in the face of the challenges of poverty, of war and internecine violence, of global warming, of economic stagnation, of homicide, and turn to the Mighty Fortress who is our God - proven at the Red Sea, the River Jordan, Jericho and on the Cross of Calvary. But then again that depends on "where they dwell", and on whom they depend.
A third answer came in the form of the meditation, from which the question of where do you dwell emerged.
A DEEPER WORSHIP SEPTEMBER 2 CHRIS TIEGEN
" About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other people were listening to them. Acts 16: 25
In Word
What do you do when your hostile environment seems to get the best of you? If you're like most people, you fight back, lament your losses, or just get depressed. Not Paul and Silas. They sat in a dirty Philippian jail in the dark singing hymns to God.
The reason why they were in jail to begin with was that they were obedient to God. They cast out the demon out of the servant girl, but in doing so, they undermined an entire fortune-telling enterprise. Those who had been exploiting the girl's " talent" set them up for false charges - a reaction many people have when losing money. So Silas and Paul sat in a cell with a song in their hearts.
They could worship enthusiastically because they realized that their opponents had only seemed to get the best of them. They knew that circumstances can be misleading. They understood that the enemy's tactics are superficial scare tactics. Satan can create all kinds of situational havoc, but he cannot disturb the Spirit within us. If that's where we dwell - if we are immersed in the Spirit of God - the difference between a five star hotel and a Greek jail is minimal.
In Deed
Where do you dwell? If you are easily swayed by your circumstances, your quality of life will be manipulated by the enemy of god. If you live at a deeper level than that, grounded in the Word of God and filled with His Holy Spirit, your quality of life cannot be shaken. Every situation will be an opportunity to worship, or at least to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Father.
This is a vital principle to grasp if you are going to maintain your sanity in the hostile environment of a fallen world. You cannot live zealously for Jesus while living as a victim of circumstance. You have to read between the lines of your life and recognize both the enemy's surface tactics and the underlying will of God. The spiritual war requires great focus - and the ability to worship in dark places.
*********************************************************************************************************************
Finally a prayer from God's Word, for without prayer little will be achieved in helping those who do not yet " dwell in the secret place of the Most High", and therefore cannot, like those two older men, witness to the goodness of God in all circumstances. And which witness is sorely needed in these desperate times.
It's from St Paul's letter to the Colossians and though addressed to people of faith, may be used to pray for all people who need to know the Lord more and more.
" We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and of the love you have for all the Saints........For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, through al spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worth of the Lord, and may please him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience and joyfully giving thanks to the Father.........."
Colossians 1: 3-12 NIV
So we conclude and testify with those two old men that God is indeed a good God. A merciful God. A faithful God and exult with the hymnwiter that
" there is no shadow of turning with Thee........Great is Thy faithfulness to me. This is the faith of our forefathers, so ably represented by the two old men who came into my life this week, and which faith is under attack by the " modern" life. I pray God that more and more of us will witness to this nation, to our leaders, and to the world, of the goodness of God as demonstrated in particular by the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. But also by the way God has intervened in a very personal way in the lives of His people and which moved the songwriter to pen these immortal words which have been a such an inspiration for many over the years:
The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am his
And he is mine for ever......
Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love he sought me,
And on his shoulders gently laid
And home rejoicing brought me......
In death's dark vale I fear no ill
With thee dear Lord beside me,
Thy rod and staff my comfort still
Thy cross before to guide me.....
And so throughout the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd may I sing thy praise
Within thy house forever.
Amen
Earlier this week, I read a meditation which posed the question , " where do you dwell'? What foundation sustains you, what resources are available to you, and to whom do you turn when serious problems arise in your life? And which reflection led to me wonder, in particular about President Obama, who having been swept into office a couple years with one of the highest approval ratings in modern American history, now faces the possible wrath of an electorate, disappointed, among other things, about the slow rate of recovery of the American economy. To whom does he turn in these challenging times, when in addition to the local issues, the question of the security in Iraq looms large, the war in against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan is not going well, Iran continues to build nuclear material, ostensibly for peaceful purposes, and the much sought after peace in the Middle East continues to elude all his efforts.
Closer home, to whom does my own Prime Minister turn when, having gained political power also a couple years ago, albeit with a less impressive mandate than Obama, now faces the wrath of civil society, up in arms against him for his party's - and sanctioned by him - apparent defense of a known drug Lord and a key political supporter, in response to an extradition request issued by the USA.? To whom does one turn to when, " the going gets rough", or when the " bottom drops out of one's life"? When marital problems arise - the cheating husband, the unfaithful wife, the discovery that a partner is gay. The problems with children - involved in criminality, involved in " doing drugs" specifically or gross immorality. What sustains an individual when sudden illness turns one's life upside down. Or when death so tragically separates a loving couple. When one faces financial ruin, or at least severe challenges. When one has gotten accustomed to power and exerting authority, when one is the subject of much adoration by friends and colleagues, and then suddenly for whatever reason - indiscretions, unwise choices, changing of the guard or philosophical changes - life swings in the opposite direction. Or at another level, to whom does a nation turn when faces with one of the highest homicide rates in the world - resulting in mayhem, grief and increased cost of doing business - a stagnant economy, social upheavals and a people rapidly losing hope in the future.
One answer which has sustained me greatly in recent times is to be found in the Word of God, and which no doubt has fashioned the faith of those two older men I met this week.
" He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High,
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty". Psalm 91:1 KJV
In the sense that, even when troubles abound, we who have learned to trust that God is indeed a good God, for many reasons, but none more important than the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus, we have a safe anchor - the Almighty God - on which to depend. This knowledge sustains us in the midst of many trials and helps us not to depend on other men like ourselves, or our own common sense and intellect, both of which have failed us so often. But rather to depend on the God who created heaven and earth, and so surely He can manage the many problems of mankind, whom he created for His own purpose. But then that depends on whether or not you dwell in the secret place of the Most High, or you dwell in the " safety " of your own capabilities.
I pray God that the Lord will teach, very gently, those who are so foolish, to repent of such foolishness
Another came home to me from a prayer I read many years ago, written by a former Chaplain of the Senate of the USA - Rev. Peter Marshall
FOR GOD'S GRACE IN OUR HELPLESSNESS
We know, our Father, that at this desperate hour in world affairs, we need Thee. We need thy strength, Thy guidance, Thy wisdom.
There are problems far greater than any wisdom of man can solve. What shall our leaders do in such an hour?
May Thy wisdom and Thy power come upon the President of these United States, the Senators and Congressmen, to whom has been entrusted leadership. may the responsibility lie heavily on their hearts, until they are ready to acknowledge their helplessness and turn to Thee. Give them the honesty, the courage and the moral integrity to confess that they do not know what to do. Only then can they lead us as a nation beyond human wisdom to Thee, who alone hast the answer.
Lead us to this high adventure. remind us that a " mighty fortress is our God" - not a hiding place where we can escape for an easy life, but rather an arsenal of courage and strength - the mightiest of all, who will march beside us into the battle for righteousness and world brotherhood.
O god may we never recover from our feeling of helplessness and our need for Thee! In the strong name of Jesus, our Lord, we pray. Amen
I pray God that our leaders across the world may be convicted of their helplessness in the face of the challenges of poverty, of war and internecine violence, of global warming, of economic stagnation, of homicide, and turn to the Mighty Fortress who is our God - proven at the Red Sea, the River Jordan, Jericho and on the Cross of Calvary. But then again that depends on "where they dwell", and on whom they depend.
A third answer came in the form of the meditation, from which the question of where do you dwell emerged.
A DEEPER WORSHIP SEPTEMBER 2 CHRIS TIEGEN
" About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other people were listening to them. Acts 16: 25
In Word
What do you do when your hostile environment seems to get the best of you? If you're like most people, you fight back, lament your losses, or just get depressed. Not Paul and Silas. They sat in a dirty Philippian jail in the dark singing hymns to God.
The reason why they were in jail to begin with was that they were obedient to God. They cast out the demon out of the servant girl, but in doing so, they undermined an entire fortune-telling enterprise. Those who had been exploiting the girl's " talent" set them up for false charges - a reaction many people have when losing money. So Silas and Paul sat in a cell with a song in their hearts.
They could worship enthusiastically because they realized that their opponents had only seemed to get the best of them. They knew that circumstances can be misleading. They understood that the enemy's tactics are superficial scare tactics. Satan can create all kinds of situational havoc, but he cannot disturb the Spirit within us. If that's where we dwell - if we are immersed in the Spirit of God - the difference between a five star hotel and a Greek jail is minimal.
In Deed
Where do you dwell? If you are easily swayed by your circumstances, your quality of life will be manipulated by the enemy of god. If you live at a deeper level than that, grounded in the Word of God and filled with His Holy Spirit, your quality of life cannot be shaken. Every situation will be an opportunity to worship, or at least to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Father.
This is a vital principle to grasp if you are going to maintain your sanity in the hostile environment of a fallen world. You cannot live zealously for Jesus while living as a victim of circumstance. You have to read between the lines of your life and recognize both the enemy's surface tactics and the underlying will of God. The spiritual war requires great focus - and the ability to worship in dark places.
*********************************************************************************************************************
Finally a prayer from God's Word, for without prayer little will be achieved in helping those who do not yet " dwell in the secret place of the Most High", and therefore cannot, like those two older men, witness to the goodness of God in all circumstances. And which witness is sorely needed in these desperate times.
It's from St Paul's letter to the Colossians and though addressed to people of faith, may be used to pray for all people who need to know the Lord more and more.
" We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and of the love you have for all the Saints........For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, through al spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worth of the Lord, and may please him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience and joyfully giving thanks to the Father.........."
Colossians 1: 3-12 NIV
So we conclude and testify with those two old men that God is indeed a good God. A merciful God. A faithful God and exult with the hymnwiter that
" there is no shadow of turning with Thee........Great is Thy faithfulness to me. This is the faith of our forefathers, so ably represented by the two old men who came into my life this week, and which faith is under attack by the " modern" life. I pray God that more and more of us will witness to this nation, to our leaders, and to the world, of the goodness of God as demonstrated in particular by the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. But also by the way God has intervened in a very personal way in the lives of His people and which moved the songwriter to pen these immortal words which have been a such an inspiration for many over the years:
The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am his
And he is mine for ever......
Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love he sought me,
And on his shoulders gently laid
And home rejoicing brought me......
In death's dark vale I fear no ill
With thee dear Lord beside me,
Thy rod and staff my comfort still
Thy cross before to guide me.....
And so throughout the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd may I sing thy praise
Within thy house forever.
Amen
Saturday, August 28, 2010
To be politically correct or to believe in the God of Abraham: Blessings or curses.
Recently I spent some time in the USA with family and then returned home safely thank God. During my time there and since coming back on the " the rock", I spent some time reflecting on life and reading a lot. And perhaps more than anything else, an observation that I read just this morning in a meditation which I will share later, summed up my thoughts about life on this planet. " What a great description for our culture. It is in mist and darkness, groping about for direction".
In America, in Jamaica, in Russia, in Nigeria, in Pakistan, in China, in Iraq, in Iran, in Europe generally, all over the world, nations and cultures seem to be in darkness groping about for direction. Building nuclear material ostensibly for peaceful purposes but many are convinced that there are more sinister motives; trying to cope with the ravages of floods that killed so many and threaten many more with disease; fighting record high summer temperatures which have spawned fires and driven many to cool off in pools, and die because of drowning, having consumed too much alcohol; consumed with thoughts that the President of the free world is a Muslim and debating the wisdom of building a mosque so close to " ground zero"; eight persons killed in a single night of extreme violence and the society debates how to treat with the murderers.
In the midst of all of this I went on great adventure. Better than any movie or New York Times best seller. I retraced the steps of the chosen people of the God who declares that there is but one God, and no other. A God who made heaven and earth, and who chose the children of Israel as His own, not because there were in any way special, but because of the wickedness of the people around them - guilty of child sacrifices and the worship of idols.
" As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. The Lord said to him, ' Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation that they serve as slaves, and afterwards they will come out with great possessions. You however will go to your fathers in peace and be buried in a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." Genesis 15:12-16 NIV
"Know for certain", sums up the entire story of the children of Israel, and who later after the promised birth, death and resurrection of the Christ, the Messiah, would give birth to the early church, of which we are part. But that's to come. From the very beginning of this very special relationship of God with mankind, which would later, again through Christ, reveal His love for all mankind, there was no confusion or groping around for direction. From the very beginning God told Abram, later to called Abraham, after establishing a covenant with him and his descendants, the visible sign of which was circumcision, precisely what would happen, not just to the Jews in Egypt and the predicted return to the promised land after four hundred years, but for all of Abraham's children to this very day, who like him have gained righteousness by faith in God.
" Know for certain", sums up the instructions that God gave to his people that if they feared Him and obeyed Him, it would go well with them, and if not, there would be disaster.
" O that their hearts would be inclined to fear me, and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever". Deuteronomy 5:29 NIV
" Know for certain", was the revelation given to His people about Himself and how they were to live.
" Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one. Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and will all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down an when you get up...." Deut 6:4-7
" Know for certain", describes also the mercy and compassion of the Lord towards his
" stiff necked " and disobedient people.
" When you have entered the land the Lord is giving you as an inheritance.........Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: " My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders." Deut. 26:1-8 NIV
So from Abraham to Joseph, from Moses to Joshua, from Gideon to Samuel, from King David to
Elijah, from Elisha to King Zedekiah, from Genesis through to Chronicles, the story is the same. God calling His people to a holy life with promises of blessings if there were obedient and curses if not, but also promises of mercy for those who " cried out " to him and repented of their sins. And did they rebel against Him. And did they cry out to Him when they sinned and suffered. And did He not have compassion on them. Time and time again, until there was no "remedy" for their sins, and so He banished them into exile. But the God of Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob, whose " thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways", had indeed provided and promised a " remedy for the sins of His people, who try and they might, were not able, by their own strength, to overcome their (inherited from Adam) tendency to rebelliousness. Even though they were a " chosen people".
This is the story of the "new people of Israel", the New Testament, the New Covenant. How God in His mercy provided for the sins of the entire world in and through the death, resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ. That in Christ we have a righteousness that is by faith like Abraham; that in Christ we have been raised from death to a new life: that in Christ the entire world has been reconciled to God and does not have to be rebellious, or groping around seeking direction anymore. And the marked difference from the continuous rebelliousness of the
" old man" and the absolute commitment of Paul and Peter and Stephen and Timothy to obeying God in the face of much persecution, was and continues to be, the presence of the Holy Spirit of God - the promised "Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of the knowledge of God and of the fear of God" Isaiah 11:2 NIV
So the question is with a history of God's mighty working power and mercy, available to us, in and through His Word, why are we " in mist and darkness groping around for direction", when the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and of power, and the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord is available to us, in and through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Why do we continue to kill our brothers and sisters, and rape our own mothers as was reported in the local press recently? Why do our leaders in many countries across the world betray our trust and believe they can escape justice? Why do we treat our own flesh with contempt and exploit their labour, leave them to wander about in poverty and abuse the vulnerable and the ignorant? Why do continue to abuse our environment, the creation of God, which too has been reconciled to God in Christ and then wonder about global warming and floods.
Why do we continue not to fear the " Living God" and still expect that it will go well with our children, our politics, our economy and our social arrangements? Who taught us this madness?
Which prophets led us astray? There is an answer in the book of Jeremiah which us leads into the meditation I read this morning.
" From the least to the greatest
all are greedy for gain,
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress up the wounds of my people
as if were not serious.
Peace, peace, they say,
when there is no peace,
Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?
No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish them, says the Lord.
Jeremiah 6:12 NIV
The key thing about knowing in this "politically correct" world, when the God of Abraham has acted, is His " know this for certain". That what He promised will come to pass. So as Jesus came for our Redemption, as promised, so will the judgement come upon the earth for all who continue to ignore and mock the Living God. But so will His mercy attend those who repent. This is the essence of the great adventure on which I embarked recently and which I share with you across the world today. For the consideration of all who continue to live as if there is no God, no punishment, no mercy, no judgement; for the consideration of all who live a " lukewarm" Christian life, going to church irregularly, praying without believing, worshiping without fearing God, being disobedient to God whose instructions for holy living are explicit and whose minds have been influenced by the spirit of this age; for the consideration of the scoffers, the doubters, the " intellectuals", the skeptics and the persecutors of the church and those who actively oppose the gospel. But for the joy of the "remnant of God people", who in Christ Jesus have placed their trust in God, who fear the Living God, who love the Lord with all their heart, and who live out the Gospel of peace, so that others may come to know Christ.
Finally a meditation which places this adventure in context.
August 28 BE AVAILABLE BY CHRIST TIEGEN
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped around, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Acts 13:11
In Word
What a great description of our culture. It is in mist and darkness, groping about for direction. Paul had confronted a sorcerer and a false prophet, and his confrontation seemed very harsh - much harsher than a politically correct society would tolerate. Even so, his response was inspired by the Holy Spirit ( vs, 9). calling a deceiver " a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right" ( v.10) is apparently an authentic approach of a loving God. It may not fir our perceptions of God very well, but is does fit the revelation we've been given.
But while the initial declaration was harsh - Paul even declared blindness upon Elymas - the result put the sorcerer exactly where God wanted him: " seeking someone to lead him by the hand." And that's what God's judgment is still designed to do. It isn't to punish. That comes later, after all opportunities fro repentance have been rejected. No, this judgment is for redemption. It puts the deceivers and the deceived in the position of knowing their deception. They have to either acknowledge a need for God or continue in their blindness. It's a harsh judgment towards a merciful end.
In Deed
This passage captures well a truth that we have a hard time understanding. It shows us on the one hand that god is violently, zealously opposed to sin, and on the other hand that the is always working redemption into the rebellion of this world.
The implications for us should be clear. We are to oppose sin and embrace sinners. We one wandered in mist and darkness ourselves, and God spoke the truth to us. He guided us out. There is nothing wrong with confronting a deceiver, but if that deceiver ends up aware of his confusion and blindness, e are to grab the hand that gropes about. We are to be available to others as God was available to us, leading convicted wanderers by the hand.
The real mark of a saint is that he makes it easier for others to believe in God - anonymous.
But pray God that all of us who fear God and love Jesus, and who but for the grace of God are no longer subject to His wrath, if we continue to live in and through Christ, that we too may, " make it easier for others to believe in God'. And so rescue people from groping about in darkness. And which is the essence of the message and ministry of reconciliation. Amen
In America, in Jamaica, in Russia, in Nigeria, in Pakistan, in China, in Iraq, in Iran, in Europe generally, all over the world, nations and cultures seem to be in darkness groping about for direction. Building nuclear material ostensibly for peaceful purposes but many are convinced that there are more sinister motives; trying to cope with the ravages of floods that killed so many and threaten many more with disease; fighting record high summer temperatures which have spawned fires and driven many to cool off in pools, and die because of drowning, having consumed too much alcohol; consumed with thoughts that the President of the free world is a Muslim and debating the wisdom of building a mosque so close to " ground zero"; eight persons killed in a single night of extreme violence and the society debates how to treat with the murderers.
In the midst of all of this I went on great adventure. Better than any movie or New York Times best seller. I retraced the steps of the chosen people of the God who declares that there is but one God, and no other. A God who made heaven and earth, and who chose the children of Israel as His own, not because there were in any way special, but because of the wickedness of the people around them - guilty of child sacrifices and the worship of idols.
" As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. The Lord said to him, ' Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation that they serve as slaves, and afterwards they will come out with great possessions. You however will go to your fathers in peace and be buried in a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." Genesis 15:12-16 NIV
"Know for certain", sums up the entire story of the children of Israel, and who later after the promised birth, death and resurrection of the Christ, the Messiah, would give birth to the early church, of which we are part. But that's to come. From the very beginning of this very special relationship of God with mankind, which would later, again through Christ, reveal His love for all mankind, there was no confusion or groping around for direction. From the very beginning God told Abram, later to called Abraham, after establishing a covenant with him and his descendants, the visible sign of which was circumcision, precisely what would happen, not just to the Jews in Egypt and the predicted return to the promised land after four hundred years, but for all of Abraham's children to this very day, who like him have gained righteousness by faith in God.
" Know for certain", sums up the instructions that God gave to his people that if they feared Him and obeyed Him, it would go well with them, and if not, there would be disaster.
" O that their hearts would be inclined to fear me, and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever". Deuteronomy 5:29 NIV
" Know for certain", was the revelation given to His people about Himself and how they were to live.
" Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one. Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and will all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down an when you get up...." Deut 6:4-7
" Know for certain", describes also the mercy and compassion of the Lord towards his
" stiff necked " and disobedient people.
" When you have entered the land the Lord is giving you as an inheritance.........Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: " My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders." Deut. 26:1-8 NIV
So from Abraham to Joseph, from Moses to Joshua, from Gideon to Samuel, from King David to
Elijah, from Elisha to King Zedekiah, from Genesis through to Chronicles, the story is the same. God calling His people to a holy life with promises of blessings if there were obedient and curses if not, but also promises of mercy for those who " cried out " to him and repented of their sins. And did they rebel against Him. And did they cry out to Him when they sinned and suffered. And did He not have compassion on them. Time and time again, until there was no "remedy" for their sins, and so He banished them into exile. But the God of Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob, whose " thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways", had indeed provided and promised a " remedy for the sins of His people, who try and they might, were not able, by their own strength, to overcome their (inherited from Adam) tendency to rebelliousness. Even though they were a " chosen people".
This is the story of the "new people of Israel", the New Testament, the New Covenant. How God in His mercy provided for the sins of the entire world in and through the death, resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ. That in Christ we have a righteousness that is by faith like Abraham; that in Christ we have been raised from death to a new life: that in Christ the entire world has been reconciled to God and does not have to be rebellious, or groping around seeking direction anymore. And the marked difference from the continuous rebelliousness of the
" old man" and the absolute commitment of Paul and Peter and Stephen and Timothy to obeying God in the face of much persecution, was and continues to be, the presence of the Holy Spirit of God - the promised "Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of the knowledge of God and of the fear of God" Isaiah 11:2 NIV
So the question is with a history of God's mighty working power and mercy, available to us, in and through His Word, why are we " in mist and darkness groping around for direction", when the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and of power, and the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord is available to us, in and through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Why do we continue to kill our brothers and sisters, and rape our own mothers as was reported in the local press recently? Why do our leaders in many countries across the world betray our trust and believe they can escape justice? Why do we treat our own flesh with contempt and exploit their labour, leave them to wander about in poverty and abuse the vulnerable and the ignorant? Why do continue to abuse our environment, the creation of God, which too has been reconciled to God in Christ and then wonder about global warming and floods.
Why do we continue not to fear the " Living God" and still expect that it will go well with our children, our politics, our economy and our social arrangements? Who taught us this madness?
Which prophets led us astray? There is an answer in the book of Jeremiah which us leads into the meditation I read this morning.
" From the least to the greatest
all are greedy for gain,
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress up the wounds of my people
as if were not serious.
Peace, peace, they say,
when there is no peace,
Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?
No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish them, says the Lord.
Jeremiah 6:12 NIV
The key thing about knowing in this "politically correct" world, when the God of Abraham has acted, is His " know this for certain". That what He promised will come to pass. So as Jesus came for our Redemption, as promised, so will the judgement come upon the earth for all who continue to ignore and mock the Living God. But so will His mercy attend those who repent. This is the essence of the great adventure on which I embarked recently and which I share with you across the world today. For the consideration of all who continue to live as if there is no God, no punishment, no mercy, no judgement; for the consideration of all who live a " lukewarm" Christian life, going to church irregularly, praying without believing, worshiping without fearing God, being disobedient to God whose instructions for holy living are explicit and whose minds have been influenced by the spirit of this age; for the consideration of the scoffers, the doubters, the " intellectuals", the skeptics and the persecutors of the church and those who actively oppose the gospel. But for the joy of the "remnant of God people", who in Christ Jesus have placed their trust in God, who fear the Living God, who love the Lord with all their heart, and who live out the Gospel of peace, so that others may come to know Christ.
Finally a meditation which places this adventure in context.
August 28 BE AVAILABLE BY CHRIST TIEGEN
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped around, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Acts 13:11
In Word
What a great description of our culture. It is in mist and darkness, groping about for direction. Paul had confronted a sorcerer and a false prophet, and his confrontation seemed very harsh - much harsher than a politically correct society would tolerate. Even so, his response was inspired by the Holy Spirit ( vs, 9). calling a deceiver " a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right" ( v.10) is apparently an authentic approach of a loving God. It may not fir our perceptions of God very well, but is does fit the revelation we've been given.
But while the initial declaration was harsh - Paul even declared blindness upon Elymas - the result put the sorcerer exactly where God wanted him: " seeking someone to lead him by the hand." And that's what God's judgment is still designed to do. It isn't to punish. That comes later, after all opportunities fro repentance have been rejected. No, this judgment is for redemption. It puts the deceivers and the deceived in the position of knowing their deception. They have to either acknowledge a need for God or continue in their blindness. It's a harsh judgment towards a merciful end.
In Deed
This passage captures well a truth that we have a hard time understanding. It shows us on the one hand that god is violently, zealously opposed to sin, and on the other hand that the is always working redemption into the rebellion of this world.
The implications for us should be clear. We are to oppose sin and embrace sinners. We one wandered in mist and darkness ourselves, and God spoke the truth to us. He guided us out. There is nothing wrong with confronting a deceiver, but if that deceiver ends up aware of his confusion and blindness, e are to grab the hand that gropes about. We are to be available to others as God was available to us, leading convicted wanderers by the hand.
The real mark of a saint is that he makes it easier for others to believe in God - anonymous.
But pray God that all of us who fear God and love Jesus, and who but for the grace of God are no longer subject to His wrath, if we continue to live in and through Christ, that we too may, " make it easier for others to believe in God'. And so rescue people from groping about in darkness. And which is the essence of the message and ministry of reconciliation. Amen
Friday, August 6, 2010
Political and Spiritual Independence
On this independence day in Jamaica, I am in the USA, spending time with children and grandchildren - the latter having been born here are now American citizens. Last night I read a bedtime story to my first grandchild. It was a about Joseph and his jealous brothers and how, having been sold into slavery, he became a blessing to them, according to God's will and purpose. So out of (forced) migration came a wonderful story which has impacted western civilization like no other, and none more so than the culture of these United States, where both the Jewish and Christian influence is so strong.
But this morning, at 4:30 am when the Lord woke me up to read His Word, one I had no idea or recollection of Jamaica's Independence. And two I protested as I really wished to sleep, in fact circumstances dictated that I needed to sleep. But I was obedient and got up and was led to read, I am quite serious, in a way that only God could engineer, the story of Joseph. And the following passage struck me:
" Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king if Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh's presence and traveled throughout Egypt. During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food in the fields surrounding it . Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.
Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, " It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household". The second son he named Ephraim and said, " It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering"
Genesis 41: 50-52 NIV
Amazingly Jamaica and American share a common history as while the former is peopled primarily by people of African descent persecuted and sold into bondage as slaves and shipped to the " The New World", so too was the USA founded by people fleeing religious persecution in Europe. At least in the first instance, and then to be followed by people from all over the world; some fleeing from war, others like the Irish from poverty and hunger, and still others seeking a new and more prosperous life, thus enabling this great country to be one huge melting pot of different cultures. So too has our culture been blessed by people from India, China, Lebanon, Israel, Germany, the UK and many Americans who have been " smitten" and found a permanent home there.
Further, as mentioned in US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's tribute to Jamaica, many people from my country have made significant contributions as migrants and descendants of migrants,
as were Joseph and Ephraim and Manasseh, to this country and to the wider world. She highlighted the work of the much celebrated former Secretary of State Colin Powell. But perhaps Marcus Mosaiah Garvey, who not only was a great pioneer of the early civil rights movements and provided inspiration for the late Martin Luther King Jnr, but also inspired many of the African leaders and thus, with great poetic justice, leading to Independence from the same colonial masters who sent his forebears to a foreign land. And did Marcus Garvey suffer in all of this! No doubt the God of history who allowed Joseph to be fruitful in the land of his suffering was doing a " mighty work" in and through Marcus Garvey.
This matter of suffering for the gospel has pervaded my readings while I have been in this country.
One passage places suffering in the following context:
" Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into out lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows...........
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were underpressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on our selves but on God who raises the dead. he has delivered us from such a deadly peril and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. The many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted to us in answer to the prayers of many"
2 Cor. 1:3-11 NIV
The other in this context :
" Therefore, since through God 's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.....
But we have this ministry on jars of clay to show that this all surpassing-power is from God and not from ourselves. We are hard pressed on every side but not crushed.; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed."
2. Cor. 4:1-9 NIV
And finally:
" Endure hardship as a discipline......
My son do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines those who he loves
and he punishes everyone who he accepts as a son.......
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on however it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."
Hebrews 12:5-11
Even though these passages are drawn from a New Testament experience, we can well imagine the sufferings - to the point of feeling that he was about to die - that Joseph endured. And how much he endured when persecuted, by the very wife of his daughter's father Potiphar. Yet he was never abandoned. Further, how much the discipline meted out to him by His Father, the God of Jacob, led to a harvest of righteousness and peace literally and metaphorically in the land of his suffering.
One of great disappointments in my country, is that despite our history as an enslaved people rescued in our land of suffering by the mighty hand of God - through the church inspired by the gospel of Christ which brought so much freedom - is that as a people, in large measure, we have turned away from the very God who rescued us. The Christian culture that inspired a Marcus Garvey, and a Colin Powell, that inspired the music of Bob Marley even though he was a Rastafarian - eventually to be baptised shortly before death - and the many other aspects of national life including our current world famous athletes, is changing. For the worse. So now the counter culture which has no foundation except the promotion of hedonism, selfishness, the pursuit of power, chaos and violence, now produces world the now infamous "Dudus", and Bounty killa, and shottas and the like.
No doubt the church rooted in the Judeo-Christian ethic, can find much to identify with in the Joseph experience and the call for suffering by its members - in a foreign land and whose citizenship is in heaven - so that we may become like Manasseh. " Fruitful in the land of my suffering". I pray God that on this day of Independence the church may regain its rightful place through suffering, so that our leaders in politics, in business, in the media, in the entertainment industry and the professions and the common man and woman may truly celebrate our common heritage. A people rescued from Sin and death unto everlasting life in and through Christ's suffering on a cross in a far away land, but which gospel and promises thereof, began when a people, whose father was Abraham, were sent into exile in Egypt and and set free by the mighty hand of God. In the same way that Christ was raised from the dead for our sake, by the mighty hand of God. Not just for Jamaicans and Americans, but for the whole wide world, who were once in exile from a loving and compassionate Creator. On account of Sin. Amen
But this morning, at 4:30 am when the Lord woke me up to read His Word, one I had no idea or recollection of Jamaica's Independence. And two I protested as I really wished to sleep, in fact circumstances dictated that I needed to sleep. But I was obedient and got up and was led to read, I am quite serious, in a way that only God could engineer, the story of Joseph. And the following passage struck me:
" Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king if Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh's presence and traveled throughout Egypt. During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food in the fields surrounding it . Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.
Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, " It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household". The second son he named Ephraim and said, " It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering"
Genesis 41: 50-52 NIV
Amazingly Jamaica and American share a common history as while the former is peopled primarily by people of African descent persecuted and sold into bondage as slaves and shipped to the " The New World", so too was the USA founded by people fleeing religious persecution in Europe. At least in the first instance, and then to be followed by people from all over the world; some fleeing from war, others like the Irish from poverty and hunger, and still others seeking a new and more prosperous life, thus enabling this great country to be one huge melting pot of different cultures. So too has our culture been blessed by people from India, China, Lebanon, Israel, Germany, the UK and many Americans who have been " smitten" and found a permanent home there.
Further, as mentioned in US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's tribute to Jamaica, many people from my country have made significant contributions as migrants and descendants of migrants,
as were Joseph and Ephraim and Manasseh, to this country and to the wider world. She highlighted the work of the much celebrated former Secretary of State Colin Powell. But perhaps Marcus Mosaiah Garvey, who not only was a great pioneer of the early civil rights movements and provided inspiration for the late Martin Luther King Jnr, but also inspired many of the African leaders and thus, with great poetic justice, leading to Independence from the same colonial masters who sent his forebears to a foreign land. And did Marcus Garvey suffer in all of this! No doubt the God of history who allowed Joseph to be fruitful in the land of his suffering was doing a " mighty work" in and through Marcus Garvey.
This matter of suffering for the gospel has pervaded my readings while I have been in this country.
One passage places suffering in the following context:
" Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into out lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows...........
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were underpressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on our selves but on God who raises the dead. he has delivered us from such a deadly peril and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. The many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted to us in answer to the prayers of many"
2 Cor. 1:3-11 NIV
The other in this context :
" Therefore, since through God 's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.....
But we have this ministry on jars of clay to show that this all surpassing-power is from God and not from ourselves. We are hard pressed on every side but not crushed.; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed."
2. Cor. 4:1-9 NIV
And finally:
" Endure hardship as a discipline......
My son do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines those who he loves
and he punishes everyone who he accepts as a son.......
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on however it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."
Hebrews 12:5-11
Even though these passages are drawn from a New Testament experience, we can well imagine the sufferings - to the point of feeling that he was about to die - that Joseph endured. And how much he endured when persecuted, by the very wife of his daughter's father Potiphar. Yet he was never abandoned. Further, how much the discipline meted out to him by His Father, the God of Jacob, led to a harvest of righteousness and peace literally and metaphorically in the land of his suffering.
One of great disappointments in my country, is that despite our history as an enslaved people rescued in our land of suffering by the mighty hand of God - through the church inspired by the gospel of Christ which brought so much freedom - is that as a people, in large measure, we have turned away from the very God who rescued us. The Christian culture that inspired a Marcus Garvey, and a Colin Powell, that inspired the music of Bob Marley even though he was a Rastafarian - eventually to be baptised shortly before death - and the many other aspects of national life including our current world famous athletes, is changing. For the worse. So now the counter culture which has no foundation except the promotion of hedonism, selfishness, the pursuit of power, chaos and violence, now produces world the now infamous "Dudus", and Bounty killa, and shottas and the like.
No doubt the church rooted in the Judeo-Christian ethic, can find much to identify with in the Joseph experience and the call for suffering by its members - in a foreign land and whose citizenship is in heaven - so that we may become like Manasseh. " Fruitful in the land of my suffering". I pray God that on this day of Independence the church may regain its rightful place through suffering, so that our leaders in politics, in business, in the media, in the entertainment industry and the professions and the common man and woman may truly celebrate our common heritage. A people rescued from Sin and death unto everlasting life in and through Christ's suffering on a cross in a far away land, but which gospel and promises thereof, began when a people, whose father was Abraham, were sent into exile in Egypt and and set free by the mighty hand of God. In the same way that Christ was raised from the dead for our sake, by the mighty hand of God. Not just for Jamaicans and Americans, but for the whole wide world, who were once in exile from a loving and compassionate Creator. On account of Sin. Amen
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