It was a sad week in country this past week. The behaviour of our members of parliament in the House of Parliament descended to a new low. According to one journalist a term borrowed from elsewhere, a day of " infamy", could well be used to describe the situation in which one member described another as a "fish" - a Jamaican derogatory term for a homosexual in response to being heckled. And although he tried to contextualize it in terms of older members being "whales" and younger ones being " fish", everybody understood what he was saying, included the other member who was so accused. Of course to say it did not go down well would be to put it mildly, and so a shouting match ensued. To complicate matters, an inexperienced Deputy Speaker of the House, instructed, as it turned out quite incorrectly so, the official " security " person to eject the member who was not only guilty of using unparliamentary language, but also of ignoring the authority of the Speaker. Then all "hell broke loose", both literally andfiguratively and which debacle ended with the members of the Opposition " walking out" of the chambers. All of this of course taking place as we prepare to celebrate Jamaica 50th and go " On a Mission", to make our country a place where we can be proud and where others will wish to come and make their home too.
And so the entire nation is "up in arms " about this " madness".
In the midst of all of this " stuff" happening in my country I came across a meditation by Matthew Henry ( 1662-1714) whose multivolume
" Commentary on the Bible" is still popular some 300 years later. The part that struck a chord in my mind came right at the very end.....
" Those are unfit and unworthy to rule over men who are not willing that God should rule over them...and which sentiment goes right to heart of the problem currently " trending' in Jamaica. For being critical, and being upset and even applying sanctions of whatever nature is not going to help those who were the principal actors in the madness that took place in our Parliament. At the end of the day, unless they humble themselves and allow God to rule over them, them they will forever be unfit to rule over men and to pass paws and shape policy and attempt to place a nation " On a Mission". The Bible is even moresuccinct in its advice...." Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain. Perhaps a reading of the entire meditation may touch the soul of some of those in parliament.
GOD'S GREAT DELIGHT
Verse; 1 Samuel 15:22: But Samuel replied ( to King Saul who had been disobedient ot the instructions from God and sought to explain it away that he had brought back the best for the Lord):
Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice
and to heed is better than the fat of lambs
Here we are plainly told...that humble, sincere, and conscientious obedience to the will of God is more pleasing to and acceptable to him than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. A careful conformity to moral precepts recommends us to God more than all ceremonial observances ) see Micah 6:6-8; Hosea 6:6). Obedience was the law of innocency, but sacrifice supposes sin come into the world and is but a feeble attempt to take that away which obedience would have prevented. it is much easier to bring a bullock or a lamb to be burnt upon the altar than to bring every high thought into obedience to God and the will subject to his will. Nothing is so provoking to god as disobedience, setting up our wills in competition with his. This here is called rebellion and stubbornness, an is said to be as bad as witchcraft and idolatry ( v. 23, KJV). It is as bad to set up other gods as to live in disobedience to the true and living God...Those are unfit to rule over men who are not willing that god should rule over them.
Correspondingly, I came across another meditation which speaks so much of the joys of being obedient to the Lord Christ. This time from one of the " fathers of the early church, Hilare of Poitiers ( 315-368) and of whom it is said, was one of those who fought against Arianism in the church, a philosophy, which if it had been successful, would have seriously undermined the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, as we have come to know it, and the power of this truth.
SATURATED WITH THE SPIRIT
Hilaire of Potiers
Verse: Acts 20:24. However, i consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the work, and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
Hoisting My Sails
The chief service I owe you, O God, is that every thought and word of mine should speak of you. The power of speech which you have bestowed on me can give me no greater pleasure than to serve you by preaching your gospel.
But in saying this,I am merely expressing what I want to do. If I am actually to to use this gift, I must ask you for your help - ask you to fill the sails I have hoisted for you with the wind of your holy Spirit, inspiring my mind and my voice. I know that I am often heavy with stupor, so that I am too lazy to speak of you. And I do not spend sufficient time studying your Scriptures, to ensure that my words conform to your Word. Give me the energy and the courage to share the spirit of the apostles, that like them I may truly be an ambassador of your grace.
Although I am dust and ashes, Lord I am tied to you by bonds of love. Therefore I feel I can speak freely to you. before i came to know you, I was nothing. I did not know the meaning of life, and I had no understanding of myself. I have no doubt that you had a purpose in causing me to be born; yet you had no need of me, and on my own I was of no uiuse to you.
But then you decided that I should hear the words of your Son, Jesus Christ. And that as I heard his owords, you enabled his love to penetrate my heart. Now I am completely saturated in his love and faith, and there is no remedy. Now, Lord, I cannot change my attitude to my faith; I can only die for it.
Finally, as I pondered all of the above and went back to the basics of my faith, that my country will never be renewed, whether in this the year our special celebrations or henceforth, and what is true for Jamaica holds good for all countries, until the church is renewed, I recalled a message sent to officials in my church this week which is set out below
" My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest upon me. That's why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties." - The Bible
God is sufficient for all our needs, for every problem, and for every difficulty, for every broken heart, and for every human sorrow. - Peter Marshall.
It is not the sermon that needs preparation but the preacher - Oswald Chambers
I pray God that we will all be so rooted in Christ, that we may be able to rejoice like St. Paul about our joy in hardships and persecutions, and difficulties, so that, as preachers, we may be
" prepared" by the Lord to preach and live sermons according to His will and purpose as we go on " Mission" in this part of His vineyard.
In Christ Jesus.
LWJ
I pray God then that as a country whose moral compass has gone astray, we may return to the One true and Almighty God, be obedient to Him and His Son Jesus, whose love for mankind as shown on the Cross of Calvary is the only remedy for the madness that has overtaken this land. A madness which featured on the front page of both major newspapers yesterday - over a hundred persons held by the police at a dance, a party in a rural area, all looking like women, but on closer inspection only 11 turned out to be bona fide females. The others were men dressed up like women - and posing for the camera. Having no shame whatsoever. May God have mercy on this country.
Amen.
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
Monday, July 9, 2012
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Getting it right at the Jamaica olympic trials: getting it right with God through Christ Jesus
Whether by Twitter, or Facebook or just by ordinary media, Television or Radio, just about everybody in the world would have heard by now that Usain Bolt, the man who holds world records in the 100M, 200M and in the Men's Sprint Relays, is human after all. This after losing both the 100 and 200 to the emerging star Johan Blake, in the now, as I write, just concluded Jamaica Trials for the London Olympic Games. This kind of performance and competition among the men was also reproduced by the women, when Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce beat the reigning Olympic 200M winner Veronica Campbell Brown ( VCB,) in both the 100M and 200M. Many expected a close race in the 100M, as Shelly is the reigning Olympic title holder, but not in the 200M where VCB has reigned supreme for years. And not even a superb performance by the now legendary Spanish football team at this year's Euro 2012 final, at least in this soccer mad country, could compete with the excitement generated by the performance of the athletes of this small but powerful island over the past four days.
But in the midst of our celebration we cannot help but recall that a couple days ago we were " quarreling", being very contentious with each other, about the sale of tickets for the event and also about an attempt by the officials in Track and Field to the "freedom" of journalists who were planning to cover this eagerly anticipated Trials. As one of our more senior journalist's put it, " it is sad that here we are arguing about tickets rather than talking about the expected performance of the athletes", and who we expect to make us proud in London. We almost got our priorities wrong, but thank God those issues are behind us now, and hopefully next time the prize tickets will not have been " sold off", before the general public has a chance to make their purchase.
During this week, more importantly, in fact of eternal importance, the Lord reminded, and instructed me how we have gotten our priorities wrong. Perhaps none of the message were as important as the one below which sets the stage for a completely new understanding of God's plan for the human race.
THE CROSS OF CHRIST AND DISCIPLINE - OSWALD CHAMBERS ( COMPLETE WORKS)
( Galatians 2:20)
...............Nowadays the great passion is for souls, but you never find that passion mentioned in the New Testament, it is the passion for Christ that the New Testament mentions. It is not a passion for men that saves men; a passion for men breaks human hearts. The passion for Christ inwrought by the Holy Ghost goes deeper down than the deepest agony the world, the flesh and the devil can produce. It goes straight down to where Our Lord went, and the Holy Ghost works out, not in thinking, but in living, this passion for Christ. Whenever the passion for souls obscures the passion for Christ, Satan has come in as an angel of light.
I have been thinking about that observation by Chambers, a lot.
Lord renew thy church beginning with me,
Lord renew thy church,
that the church may renew the nation(s)
LWJ
Sent from my iPad
Many of us have a theology, an understanding of God, grounded in the fact that God's plan for mankind is make us useful for Him. To win souls for Christ. To set the oppressed free...especially as we ponder this year of Jubilee, which in the Old Testament times as we read in the lesson appointed for today in the Book of Deuteronomy, was an occasion for canceling debts. And thus removing the burden of debt, often onerous and dehumanizing, from the " backs" of ordinary people. The point that Oswald Chambers makes times and time again in " The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers", and whose book of daily meditations which forms part of the complete works, " My Utmost for His Highest", is reportedly second only to the Bible in popularity, is that our focus must always be on Christ alone, and not what we can do for Him. Or even what more He can do for us, as the great gift to mankind was wrought on the Cross of Calvary in that great act of Atonement for the sins of all mankind. And thus being true to the Scriptures which instruct us to " seek ye the first the kingdom of God, and all other things will be given unto to thee".
The great problem then in the church, and even worse outside of it, is that like Peter who began sinking after walking on water for a while, we have taken our eyes, redirected our focus, from the " author and perfecter of our faith", Christ Jesus, and placed it " elsewhere". And which " elsewhere" may be good, but there is better.
In fact, just last night, or perhaps the night before, I came across another reflection by Chambers which really " shook me up", in terms of my own desire to do good works for the Lord.
VESTED INTERESTS OF THE FLESH
.............Dominant interest vs. Interesting details. ( For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ in Christ Jesus hath set me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2)
We can estimate our life on the spiritual line by our dominant interest. How do we know what is our dominant interest? Is it not the thing that occupies most of our time. The dominant interest is a peculiarly personal one...viz...the thing that is really fundamentally ours in a crisis. In sorrow or joy we reveal dominant interest. We are taken with interesting details; Jesus Christ was not. His insulation was on the inside, not on the outside. His dominating interest was hid with God. His kingdom was on the inside, consequently he took the ordinary social life of his time in a most unobtrusive way. His life externally was oblivious of details, he spent His time with publicans and sinners ( prostitutes for example) snd did the things that were apparently unreligious. But the one thing He never did - he never contaminated his inner kingdom.
God may be dealing with on the line of the lilies. he is causing you to take deeper root and meanwhile you do not bear flowers. For a time your experience is - " What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light". The only ones who knew who Jesus was, and what he came to do, were a handful of fishermen. After He had died and was risen again, He distinctly told them to wait in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. According to ordinary reason they would have said, " That is absurd, this is not the time to wait; we are the only ones who know these things, we ought to be proclaim the the truth." Jesus said, " Tarry...until....."
Don't get impatient with yourself; your dominating interest is taking deeper root. In all probability in your time of active service you were living from hand to mouth on spooned meat, your nourished your life by the interesting details of religious life, you had no nutritious root, your work proved to be an elaborate way of evading concentration on God. There are far more people interested in consecration than concentration. It is easier to fuss around at work than to worship; easier to pay attention to details, to say our prayers or conduct a meeting, than to concentrate on God. Has God put you on the shelf deliberately? Why cannot He be glorified by a man in the dust as well as in the sunshine? We are not here to tell what to do with us, but to let Him use us as He chooses. Remember, God's main concern is that we are far more interested in Him than in work for Him. Once you are rooted an grounded in Christ the greatest thing you can do is be. Don't try and be useful; be yourself and God will use you to further His ends.
Wow! Different messages for each one of us. As a result ever since I was inspired to write that sermon last week on being an ambassador for Christ, and coming to terms with the practical outworking of that profound instruction of the way of life of a disciple of Christ, that " it is when I am weak that I (in Christ) am strong," and that " His grace is sufficient for me", I have began to take more seriously and be more obedient, not completely but with God's grace on the way, to the words of the following song.
Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way, have thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay!
Mold me and make me after thy will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Search me and try me , Master today!
Purer than snow Lord, wash me just now,
as in thy presence humbly I bow.
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!
Power all power surely is thine!
Touch me and heal me, Saviour divine!
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway!
Fill with thy Spirit till all can see
Christ only, always, living in me!.
Finally, and I love sports, especially athletics, the Lord led me to read, actually re-read during the final hours of the televised Jamaica trials this evening, and so I missed most of it, except the 200m for men and women, a meditation from Chambers a part of which was included in the full version of the sermon last week. And as I read it, the very topical issue which is currently almost diving the worldwide Anglican church, Homosexuality came to mind. And I added my own interpretation and sent it out to some senior persons in my church as instructed - and then I was allowed to watch the two races. But the issue of holiness and immorality and how we treat with both of them according to our priorities, our dominating interest, is greater than that single and contentious matter. But rather goes to the heart of the moral confusion besetting our nation and the world today.
OSWALD CHAMBERS
Immorality and holiness are absolute, you cannot get behind them......................... When our Lord talks about the radical evil of the human heart ( e.g. Mark 7:21-22), it is a revelation we know nothing of ; it comes from the shores of our lives in immorality and holiness........... Immorality has its seat in every one of us, not in some of us. If a man is not holy, he is immoral, no matter how good He may seem. Immorality is at the basis of of the whole thing; if it does not show itself outwardly, it will show itself before God.
The New Testament teaches that no man or women is safe apart from Jesus Christ because there is treachery on the inside." Out of the heart of men, proceed....." The majority of us are grossly ignorant about the possibilities of evil in the human heart. Never trust your common sense when the statements of Jesus contradict it, and when you preach see that you base your preaching on the revelation of Jesus Christ and not on the sweet innocence of human nature. When you hear a man cry out, like the publican of old, " God be merciful to me a sinner", you have the problem of the whole universe.That man has reached the realization of himself at last, he knows that he is a guilty, immoral type of man and needs saving.
Never take anyone to be good, and above all never take yourself to be good. Natural goodness will always break, will always disappoint, why? Because the Bible tells us that " the heart is deceitful above all things. and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Never trust anything in yourself that God has not placed there through the regeneration of Our Lord Jesus Christ; and never trust anything saving that in anyone else.
That is the stern platform you have to stand on when you present the truth of God, and it will resolve you on a lonely platform, because your message will be craved for but but its way of being presented will be resented. The gospel of Jesus Christ awakens an intense craving and an equally intense resentment. Base on personal love for the Lord, not on personal love for men. Personal love for men will make you call immorality a weakness, and holiness a mere aspiration; personal love for the Lord will make you call immorality devilish and holiness the only thing that can stand in the light of God. The only safety for the preacher is to face his soul not with his people, or even his message, but to face his soul with his Saviour all the time.
As I thought about the above meditation by Oswald Chambers which was written under a heading termed " First things First", in His Complete Works, my mind recalled the debate on homosexuality in the church and the measures being made to resolve the differences. And I suppose other matters concerning issues of morality also. The stern presentation by Chambers suggests that the matter is irreconcilable if it is indeed " devilish". And the matter is of some importance as the Lord inspired me to read again what I had written about before, rather than watch the Trials of the Athletic meet which are now on TV.
LWJ
Sent from my iPad
And so bearing in mind all these things, words from another song helped me a lot this week.
Search me, O god, and know my heart today;
try me, O Lord, and know my thoughts I pray:
see if there be some wicked way in me,
cleanse me from every sin and set me free.
I praise thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
fulfil thy word, and make me pure within;
fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame,
grant my desire to magnify thy name.
Lord take my will, my passion, self and pride;
fill my poor heart with thy great love divine;
take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender - Lord, in me abide.
O Holy Ghost, revival comes from thee;
send a revival - start the work in me;
thy word declares thou wilt supply our need;
for blessings now, Lord, I humbly plead.
Amen.
But in the midst of our celebration we cannot help but recall that a couple days ago we were " quarreling", being very contentious with each other, about the sale of tickets for the event and also about an attempt by the officials in Track and Field to the "freedom" of journalists who were planning to cover this eagerly anticipated Trials. As one of our more senior journalist's put it, " it is sad that here we are arguing about tickets rather than talking about the expected performance of the athletes", and who we expect to make us proud in London. We almost got our priorities wrong, but thank God those issues are behind us now, and hopefully next time the prize tickets will not have been " sold off", before the general public has a chance to make their purchase.
During this week, more importantly, in fact of eternal importance, the Lord reminded, and instructed me how we have gotten our priorities wrong. Perhaps none of the message were as important as the one below which sets the stage for a completely new understanding of God's plan for the human race.
THE CROSS OF CHRIST AND DISCIPLINE - OSWALD CHAMBERS ( COMPLETE WORKS)
( Galatians 2:20)
...............Nowadays the great passion is for souls, but you never find that passion mentioned in the New Testament, it is the passion for Christ that the New Testament mentions. It is not a passion for men that saves men; a passion for men breaks human hearts. The passion for Christ inwrought by the Holy Ghost goes deeper down than the deepest agony the world, the flesh and the devil can produce. It goes straight down to where Our Lord went, and the Holy Ghost works out, not in thinking, but in living, this passion for Christ. Whenever the passion for souls obscures the passion for Christ, Satan has come in as an angel of light.
I have been thinking about that observation by Chambers, a lot.
Lord renew thy church beginning with me,
Lord renew thy church,
that the church may renew the nation(s)
LWJ
Sent from my iPad
Many of us have a theology, an understanding of God, grounded in the fact that God's plan for mankind is make us useful for Him. To win souls for Christ. To set the oppressed free...especially as we ponder this year of Jubilee, which in the Old Testament times as we read in the lesson appointed for today in the Book of Deuteronomy, was an occasion for canceling debts. And thus removing the burden of debt, often onerous and dehumanizing, from the " backs" of ordinary people. The point that Oswald Chambers makes times and time again in " The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers", and whose book of daily meditations which forms part of the complete works, " My Utmost for His Highest", is reportedly second only to the Bible in popularity, is that our focus must always be on Christ alone, and not what we can do for Him. Or even what more He can do for us, as the great gift to mankind was wrought on the Cross of Calvary in that great act of Atonement for the sins of all mankind. And thus being true to the Scriptures which instruct us to " seek ye the first the kingdom of God, and all other things will be given unto to thee".
The great problem then in the church, and even worse outside of it, is that like Peter who began sinking after walking on water for a while, we have taken our eyes, redirected our focus, from the " author and perfecter of our faith", Christ Jesus, and placed it " elsewhere". And which " elsewhere" may be good, but there is better.
In fact, just last night, or perhaps the night before, I came across another reflection by Chambers which really " shook me up", in terms of my own desire to do good works for the Lord.
VESTED INTERESTS OF THE FLESH
.............Dominant interest vs. Interesting details. ( For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ in Christ Jesus hath set me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2)
We can estimate our life on the spiritual line by our dominant interest. How do we know what is our dominant interest? Is it not the thing that occupies most of our time. The dominant interest is a peculiarly personal one...viz...the thing that is really fundamentally ours in a crisis. In sorrow or joy we reveal dominant interest. We are taken with interesting details; Jesus Christ was not. His insulation was on the inside, not on the outside. His dominating interest was hid with God. His kingdom was on the inside, consequently he took the ordinary social life of his time in a most unobtrusive way. His life externally was oblivious of details, he spent His time with publicans and sinners ( prostitutes for example) snd did the things that were apparently unreligious. But the one thing He never did - he never contaminated his inner kingdom.
God may be dealing with on the line of the lilies. he is causing you to take deeper root and meanwhile you do not bear flowers. For a time your experience is - " What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light". The only ones who knew who Jesus was, and what he came to do, were a handful of fishermen. After He had died and was risen again, He distinctly told them to wait in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. According to ordinary reason they would have said, " That is absurd, this is not the time to wait; we are the only ones who know these things, we ought to be proclaim the the truth." Jesus said, " Tarry...until....."
Don't get impatient with yourself; your dominating interest is taking deeper root. In all probability in your time of active service you were living from hand to mouth on spooned meat, your nourished your life by the interesting details of religious life, you had no nutritious root, your work proved to be an elaborate way of evading concentration on God. There are far more people interested in consecration than concentration. It is easier to fuss around at work than to worship; easier to pay attention to details, to say our prayers or conduct a meeting, than to concentrate on God. Has God put you on the shelf deliberately? Why cannot He be glorified by a man in the dust as well as in the sunshine? We are not here to tell what to do with us, but to let Him use us as He chooses. Remember, God's main concern is that we are far more interested in Him than in work for Him. Once you are rooted an grounded in Christ the greatest thing you can do is be. Don't try and be useful; be yourself and God will use you to further His ends.
Wow! Different messages for each one of us. As a result ever since I was inspired to write that sermon last week on being an ambassador for Christ, and coming to terms with the practical outworking of that profound instruction of the way of life of a disciple of Christ, that " it is when I am weak that I (in Christ) am strong," and that " His grace is sufficient for me", I have began to take more seriously and be more obedient, not completely but with God's grace on the way, to the words of the following song.
Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way, have thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay!
Mold me and make me after thy will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Search me and try me , Master today!
Purer than snow Lord, wash me just now,
as in thy presence humbly I bow.
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!
Power all power surely is thine!
Touch me and heal me, Saviour divine!
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway!
Fill with thy Spirit till all can see
Christ only, always, living in me!.
Finally, and I love sports, especially athletics, the Lord led me to read, actually re-read during the final hours of the televised Jamaica trials this evening, and so I missed most of it, except the 200m for men and women, a meditation from Chambers a part of which was included in the full version of the sermon last week. And as I read it, the very topical issue which is currently almost diving the worldwide Anglican church, Homosexuality came to mind. And I added my own interpretation and sent it out to some senior persons in my church as instructed - and then I was allowed to watch the two races. But the issue of holiness and immorality and how we treat with both of them according to our priorities, our dominating interest, is greater than that single and contentious matter. But rather goes to the heart of the moral confusion besetting our nation and the world today.
OSWALD CHAMBERS
Immorality and holiness are absolute, you cannot get behind them......................... When our Lord talks about the radical evil of the human heart ( e.g. Mark 7:21-22), it is a revelation we know nothing of ; it comes from the shores of our lives in immorality and holiness........... Immorality has its seat in every one of us, not in some of us. If a man is not holy, he is immoral, no matter how good He may seem. Immorality is at the basis of of the whole thing; if it does not show itself outwardly, it will show itself before God.
The New Testament teaches that no man or women is safe apart from Jesus Christ because there is treachery on the inside." Out of the heart of men, proceed....." The majority of us are grossly ignorant about the possibilities of evil in the human heart. Never trust your common sense when the statements of Jesus contradict it, and when you preach see that you base your preaching on the revelation of Jesus Christ and not on the sweet innocence of human nature. When you hear a man cry out, like the publican of old, " God be merciful to me a sinner", you have the problem of the whole universe.That man has reached the realization of himself at last, he knows that he is a guilty, immoral type of man and needs saving.
Never take anyone to be good, and above all never take yourself to be good. Natural goodness will always break, will always disappoint, why? Because the Bible tells us that " the heart is deceitful above all things. and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Never trust anything in yourself that God has not placed there through the regeneration of Our Lord Jesus Christ; and never trust anything saving that in anyone else.
That is the stern platform you have to stand on when you present the truth of God, and it will resolve you on a lonely platform, because your message will be craved for but but its way of being presented will be resented. The gospel of Jesus Christ awakens an intense craving and an equally intense resentment. Base on personal love for the Lord, not on personal love for men. Personal love for men will make you call immorality a weakness, and holiness a mere aspiration; personal love for the Lord will make you call immorality devilish and holiness the only thing that can stand in the light of God. The only safety for the preacher is to face his soul not with his people, or even his message, but to face his soul with his Saviour all the time.
As I thought about the above meditation by Oswald Chambers which was written under a heading termed " First things First", in His Complete Works, my mind recalled the debate on homosexuality in the church and the measures being made to resolve the differences. And I suppose other matters concerning issues of morality also. The stern presentation by Chambers suggests that the matter is irreconcilable if it is indeed " devilish". And the matter is of some importance as the Lord inspired me to read again what I had written about before, rather than watch the Trials of the Athletic meet which are now on TV.
LWJ
Sent from my iPad
And so bearing in mind all these things, words from another song helped me a lot this week.
Search me, O god, and know my heart today;
try me, O Lord, and know my thoughts I pray:
see if there be some wicked way in me,
cleanse me from every sin and set me free.
I praise thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
fulfil thy word, and make me pure within;
fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame,
grant my desire to magnify thy name.
Lord take my will, my passion, self and pride;
fill my poor heart with thy great love divine;
take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender - Lord, in me abide.
O Holy Ghost, revival comes from thee;
send a revival - start the work in me;
thy word declares thou wilt supply our need;
for blessings now, Lord, I humbly plead.
Amen.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Jamaica on a Mission: Christ's Ambassadors on a Mission
Today, ( as I wrote to a dear friend a short while ago, and perhaps fittingly so, as it was to her that the first e mail was sent from Singapore many years ago, and which conversation then blossomed out under God's inspiration to become an Internet Ministry) I had the theological equivalent of the famous scientist who cried our " Eureka", when he made an important discovery.
And it's not that I was reading or was being taught about the fact that the essence - and there is no plan B - of the Christian faith resides in the fact that " it is when I am weak then ( In Christ) I am strong", but rather a complete understanding and acceptance of this truth and its inevitable consequences and joys. All of this took place because I was invited to preach a sermon at my church this morning, and the Lord led me to place a focus on words from the Epistle for the day, 2 Corinthians 5, and in particular the fact that all Christians are called to be " Ambassadors for Christ". A message which is shared below and contextualized in the on going high levels of violence in my country as exemplified by one very distressing case this week and the introspection attendant on the fact that our country is celebrating its 50th year of Independence. But more importantly a reflection that arrives at the position that it is only when we Christians learn to accept our weakness in serving Christ as ambassadors, that we will gain the power to effect any significant change in our nation, and especially to stem the flow of blood on our streets.
Before I send out the sermon I am constrained to point out that a few nights ago, the Lord led me to read about a " war in heaven", and which war resulted in Satan and his " angels" being thrown out of heaven to earth, " and being enraged at the woman ( whose son he tried to kill, and both of whom, mother and son were protected by the Lord) went off to make war against the rest of her offspring - those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus". Revelations 12. Interestingly the same chapter makes the point that this Satan is one who " leads the whole world astray". And so initially thought that the important revelation, and it is critical that we understand it, was the fact that Satan is always " making war against Christians". But as was led, in a strange manner, to read a commentary on 2. Cor, which had been on my bookshelf for years, and reflected on the following two excepts, the whole thing became clear.
" Paul's focus on visions, revelations and the miraculous suggests that at issue was what constituted an appropriate witness to the gospel. A mistaken emphasis on the miraculous by these so-called super-apostles resulted in a misconstrual of Jesus as a wonderworker rather than a suffering servant, and a misrepresentation of the Spirit as a miracle empowerer rather than a guarantor of the gospel message. In doing so they put forward a " different gospel".........
CHRISTIAN SUFFERING AND DIVINE POWER
That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ( 12: 10)
The central them of of 2 Corinthians is divine power in weakness. It is a theme that the church in the West has tended to shrug off as appropriate only for Christians living under oppressive political regimes. health, wealth and prosperity is a message often presented in the media and preached from the pulpit in the West. Not so with Paul. He defines the role of the gospel preacher in terms of the trials and hardships through which god's power is seen and appropriated. It is the same for the church, which Paul says, must suffer " the same suffering we suffer" before it can experience the same comfort" we experience. This is in contrast to his opponents in Corinth, who presented themselves as power evangelists and polished speakers, emphasizing an outward show of the Spirit in revelations, ecstatic experiences and the working of miracles.
Every chapter echoes this theme. The point of Christian hardship is so that " we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead".(1:9) Thanksgiving is given to God because he triumphs our evangelistic failures.......
For Paul is it when he is " weak" that he is " strong". ( 12:10) Like many nowadays, the Corinthians did not want to hear this message. But to preach anything else, Paul says, is to preach " a different gospel"(11:4)......there are no alternative models. This is because there is no alternative for Christ, whose sufferings " flow over into our lives" ( 1: 5). As Ralph Martin put is, "Jesus' death is rightly seen not as a mere fact of history but as the hallmark of all that characterized his historical person and saving significance". It was the hallmark of Jesus. And so it is to be the hallmark of every Christian believer.....end of quote
The point here is that Christianity is something taught to us by the Apostles, the first witnesses for Christ, and not something we work out in our own head. Therefore if we come to believe something other than what Paul and Peter and others taught, then like the Jehovah's Witnesses, we become " something else", but certainly not Christians. And so there is no alternative model to "Christ and him crucified". This " leading astray" of our people is exactly what Revelations chapter 12 was warning about. And therefore any modern day church that professes otherwise, or is manifestly exhibiting " a different gospel, no matter how successful it may seems to be to the secular mind, it has no power to transform any society. A fact that we must bear in mind as we pray for and yearn for change in places like Syria, Eqypt, Palestine, Pakistan, India, the increasingly secular continents of Europe, North America and Australia, and my country wracked by violence of the worst kind, despite the presence of so many " Christian" churches. In fact all places where Christians struggle to preach the gospel.
I admit that both the introduction tonight and the sermon below might be a bit lengthy for some, but please persevere as we are all on a
" Mission" for the Lord in one way or another.
THE SERMON
Like her mother, most of us were hoping against all hope during the past week, that Michelle Coudray, the daughter of the Mayor of San Fernando in T&T, would have been found alive. And that the dental records supplied by her family who came to help with the investigations, would prove that the burn out body found in the canefields in Western Jamaica belonged to somebody else. But that was not to be. So once again a nation was plunged into despair and anguish, and in this case a deep sense of embarrassment, as the death of female citizen of a neighboring Caribbean country at the hands of one of us, carried with it a particularly acute sense of shame and disgrace. In this context one may ask with some justification... How can a country really fully celebrate, with joy and pride, our jubilee year of existence as a sovereign nation, when so many of our citizens continue to exhibit such barbaric behaviour? And the fact that it is happening all over the world is of no comfort to us. The reality is that for far too long we have failed to stem the hemorrhage of blood on our streets and in our homes. And the stain of the blood of those who have been murdered is a deep blot on the collective conscience of the nation as we celebrate Jamaica 50. Perhaps then the words of the prophet Hosea who lived some 700 years before the birth of Christ are not out of place in this modern age: " Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Hosea 4: 2-3 In the midst this anguish about the murder rate and other matters in our country - pensioners trying to cope in harsh economic times, people trying to cope with life altering if not life threatening illnesses, frustrated young bright graduates trying to find a job, a growing tide of immorality and indiscipline coupled with declining membership in our churches which if not careful could well become irrelevant in this new Jamaica - the Word of God from the Epistle poses some serious challenges. " We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though Christ were making his appeal through us". 2 Cor. 5: 20. So what really does it mean to be Christ's ambassador in this troubled world? Praise God that as we read the scriptures for today, especially the Epistle, we are confronted time and time again by the fact that like Jamaica 50, we are on a mission. Listen to the words of St. Paul again as we extend the reading of 2 Cor 5 and begin at verse 11. " Since then we know what it is to fear God, we try to persuade men." " if we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died and was raised again." Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come". " All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. So we are on a mission because:
1. We fear God
2. Christ's love compels us
3.Christ died for all
4.In Christ we are made new
5.In Christ God has reconciled the world to himself and given us the task to announce it
A few days ago, before receiving the invitation to share the word today, I was very struck by a reflection written by Oswald Chambers, the author of "My Utmost for His Highest". A publication which is second only to the Bible in its popularity. An abbreviated version of which reads as follows:
When we are born again of the Spirit, the note of our testimony is what God has done for us, and rightly so; but the Baptism of the Holy Ghost obliterates that forever. God will never answer our prayer to be Baptized by the Holy Ghost for any other reason than to be a witness for Jesus. " Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto Me"; you will be instead of Me, you will take everything that happens, praise or blame, persecution or commendation. .....Understanding how difficult this might sound, Chambers then goes to assert that ... No one can stand that....in the sense that no human being can fully represent Christ... unless he is constrained by the majesty of the personal power of Jesus.
Paul says: ' I am constrained by the love of Christ, held as in a fever, gripped as by a disease, that is why I act as I do; you may call me mad or sober, I do not care; I am after only one thing - to persuade men of the judgment seat of Christ and of the love of God...... end of quote
The fact that the reflection by Chambers was inspired by 2. Cor 5:14 means that long before I was invited to speak today, the Lord was preparing this message for His people at STAPC. So the question to myself and other ambassadors of Christ at St Andrew Parish Church this morning is , " are we fully constrained by Christ's love....do we find ourselves held as if in a fever....are we gripped as if by a disease to witnesses unto Christ...to accept everything that comes with being an ambassador......praise or blame, persecution or or commendation?
And as we struggle to answer that question , it should be noted that perhaps an even more important question is... are we convinced that we have received the power from on High to represent Christ in our homes, in our communities, in our nation and in our world, especially when we face resistance, obstacles and downright persecution. Or are we guilty of what the songwriter graphically describes as ...languid prayers and dim faith.
I don't know about you, but as for me and my house, we are guilty, weak and helpless, in fact desperately helpless in the face of this challenge to us this morning. As who can faithfully and honestly join with St Paul and declare that....You may call me mad, or sober, I don't care; I am only after one thing - to persuade men of the judgment seat of Christ and of the love of God.
My friends we may well be convinced of the need to proclaim the gospel, but if truth be told, we have certainly failed in being faithful in carrying out the will of God on this issue of fully representing His Son.
So herein lies the dilemma for all Christians in Jamaica, all ambassadors of Christ, as we celebrate our 50th year of Independence. We know the challenges facing family life in our country. We can all recite the fact that over 80% of children in Jamaica are born out of wedlock. We know that many Jamaican fathers are irresponsible and do not contribute sufficiently their children's financial, developmental, emotional and spiritual needs. All too often, also we hear the angry response " sperm donor " when a girl child is asked about her father. Increasingly and sadly also we have witnessed the decline in the numbers of mothers who, for one reason or another, are unable to provide the kind of nurturing care a child needs, and an increase in those who are incapable because of their own immaturity. Further, we know that, as ambassadors of Christ, our failure to make a more significant contribution to this perhaps the most important of all the issues facing our country...a healthy family life...., is part of the reason why Jamaica is now such a violent country, as children who are not wanted and cared for by the parents, when they are young, quite often, become wanted by the police when they become adults.
Again, we know the challenges facing the educational system. We know how many children are leaving school functionally, if not absolutely illiterate, and unfit for the job market. We know how this one single fact...functional illiteracy... has contributed to our low levels of production and productivity and how together with other factors have served to produce anemic levels of economic growth over many years thus contributing to the unholy combination of an enormous burden of debt and high levels of poverty now bedeviling the nation and exercising the minds of many of our leaders. And despite our admitted historical success in this area of national life, the failure of the ambassadors of Christ to continue to maintain and significantly improve the quality of education offered to our people, is part of the reason why Jamaica is now such a violent society, as people who cannot reason and think often lack self control and are more prone to violent behaviour.
Finally we know how the growth of secularism, multi-culturalism, materialism, immorality and corruption at all levels, have together, perhaps permanently, altered the social fabric and seared the collective conscience of our nation. We know how this unholy alliance has served to lead our people, wittingly or unwittingly to disobedience , if not open rebellion against the God of Sam Sharpe, George William Gordon and Marcus Mosiah Garvey - all of which National Heroes were practicing and devout ambassadors of Christ. And sadly in the light of this rebellion against the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, we are all aware of the gods, the proverbial golden calves to whom our people have turned and are worshiping. Some of whom, if you follow the cartoonists and the news carefully, are in prison both here and abroad, and singing a new song. Some of which gods have songs which surface at the most inopportune of times whenever our cell phones ring. Others of whom enter our homes by cable or by satellite gaining our undivided attention via the single most important item in the home of any 21st century person. While others gods whose meetings on a Sunday morning, or Thursday night during the silly season, attract huge crowds which far exceed the faithful who turn out to worship the Living God on a Sunday or a Bible study in the week. And again, it is in part, the failure of the ambassadors of Christ, in the face of such perfidy and apostasy and sheer madness....yes madness as how can people turn from the Eternal God to mere humans...who are but dust and to dust they shall return.....no wonder the prophet Jeremiah was amazed that :
these people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me, the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
" Jeremiah 2: 13 NIV
....failure of the ambassadors of Christ, in part, to boldly proclaim the gospel by word and by deed, why in many homes and communities in Jamaica the church is either quite irrelevant or ineffective why our country has become such a violent society. As unredeemed persons can and will continue to carry our acts of violence. So what are we, the ambassadors of Christ called to do in the face of these challenges? Again, it is not a question which the Lord has left hanging over our heads as just a couple of nights ago at the end of our Fellowship group's weekly Bible study, and prior to receiving an invitation to preach today, our group engaged in a long discussion on whether or not to truly love Jesus, one had to be desperate or just have a yearning for the Lord. Desperate in the sense of feeling completely helpless in the face of one's sinfulness and inability rid oneself of the " many many sins about which the songwriter penned these wonderful lines
..... All the way to Calvary he went for me, he went for me,
All the way to Calvary he went for me and now he sets me free.
Although I have so many, many sins
Jesus washed all away and pardoned me.
Although I have so many , many sins
Jesus washed all away and pardoned me.
In the Name of Jesus, in the Name of Jesus
we shall have the victory ...in the Name of Jesus
. That very night as I went home, thinking about the discussion, and prepared for bed and spent time with the Lord asking for mercy and protection from evil......without delay the Lord led me to the following passage, which I then sent around to the group as an e mail.
" The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." John 12:24 NIV
And early the next morning before the break of day, in a manner to which I have grown accustomed the Lord woke me up with this verse on my mind, so I went and read it:
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Phil. 3:7-11 NIV
Later on in my early morning devotions the Lord continued to reveal His answer to this question of whether or not we should be desperate as he led me to another meditation from Oswald Chambers and I quote:
THE ABSOLUTENESS OF IMMORALITY AND HOLINESS ( REV. 21: 7-8) OSWALD CHAMBERS Immorality and holiness are absolute, you cannot get behind them......................... When our Lord talks about the radical evil of the human heart ( e.g. Mark 7:21-22), it is a revelation we know nothing of ; it comes from the shores of our lives in immorality and holiness........... Immorality has its seat in every one of us, not in some of us. If a man is not holy, he is immoral, no matter how good he may seem. Immorality is at the basis of of the whole thing; if it does not show itself outwardly, it will show itself before God. The New Testament teaches that no man or women is safe apart from Jesus Christ because there is treachery on the inside." Out of the heart of men, proceed....." The majority of us are grossly ignorant about the possibilities of evil in the human heart. Never trust your common sense when the statements of Jesus contradict it, and when you preach see that you base your preaching on the revelation of Jesus Christ and not on the sweet innocence of human nature. When you hear a man cry out, like the publican of old, " God be merciful to me a sinner", you have the problem of the whole universe.
That man has reached the realization of himself at last, he knows that he is a guilty, immoral type of man and needs saving. Never take anyone to be good, and above all never take yourself to be good. Natural goodness will always break, will always disappoint, why? Because the Bible tells us that " the heart is deceitful above all things. and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Never trust anything in yourself that God has not placed there through the regeneration of Our Lord Jesus Christ; and never trust anything saving that in anyone else. end of quote.
The reality is my friends that unless we come to fully apprehend our own helplessness as immoral people in front of a holy God; our helplessness in the face of Satan who though conquered by the angel Michael in a war in heaven, has fallen to the earth and has been allowed to make war against those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus; ( Rev. 12) and our own helplessness in the face of the beguiling and subtle temptations of this world, we will not desperately seek to know Jesus and the power of his resurrection. We will not be prepared to join in the fellowship of his sufferings We will not hate our life in this world. And if you recall the story of Dives and the rich man, we will listen neither to Moses and the Prophets of the Old Testament, nor will we be convinced if someone rises from the dead.
My friends the great paradox of the Christian faith which this world has never comprehended and never will, and sadly some in the church still do not get it, is that it is when we Christians are weak and helpless that we are strong. That is why the German Karl Barth, one of the great theologians in our time, and one of the most prolific writers, wrote that the following six words say much more and much better things than all the heaps of paper with which I have surrounded myself. What revelation then from God could move this man whose writings have influenced so much of Christian thought in modern times to write such profound words?
I know that all of you know the answer to that question but again I remind you as I remind myself of a profound observation that Oswald Chambers makes: Be careful of knowing what you do not practice.
so yes my friends that revelation is none other than St.Paul's declaration in 2 Cor. 8......My grace is sufficient for you...and which revelation is followed by an equally profound truth.....for my power is made perfect in weakness".
Herein lies the essence of the Good News of the Gospel and which good news alone can empower the ambassadors of Christ to be on mission unto Him, and not just for Him, in this land of our birth during Jamaica 50 and beyond. For in the same way that Christ emptied himself of all but love, and made Himself nothing, and became obedient even to death on a cross according to God's will and purpose, and God therefore raised Him up to the highest place, so that at the sound of His name every knee shall bow......in the same way we who are prepared die to self in Christ, will be raised up to a new life in Him. And that's why St Paul could assert with confidence that : " If any man is in Christ the old has gone and the new has come".
So my friends in Christ Jesus, if we are to have any power to make any continued impact on this nation, any power to have a continued impact on family life, any power to have a continued impact on the educational system, any power to have a continued impact on poverty reduction, then the old sinful natural self, so prone to anxiety and doubt, so prone to disobedience and pride, so prone to living by facts and by sight rather than by grace and by faith, so unwilling to sacrifice the time to be present in church and at Bible study, but so willing to spend time watching Euro 12 football, the Sunshine girls, The Miami Heat, Usain Bolt, Nadal or the Williams sisters.... if we are to answer the call to be Christ's ambassadors in a dying world, this old self must die. And this death of the old self is message which we must proclaim to the entire Jamaica as we celebrate Jamaica 50 and beyond. As we go on a mission to reclaim our country.
And such a death to self begins with the fear of God, and so like we try to persuade men because Christ's love compels us. In this respect then I can the God of Abraham crying out to his people in the book of Deuteronomy " O that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and obey all my commands all the time so that it may go well with they and their children forever." Deut 5:29 The New Testament equivalent of which I believe would be Christ saying to His disciples in John's Gospel: Let not thy heart be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. John 14:1 Therefore my friends we must once again recapture the Spirit of Moses, Gideon and Deborah, Mary and Joshua and trust in God when He calls as we remember the words of St Paul to the Philippian church...I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. .....
This belief in the power of Christ is very different from one modern leader's campaign slogan " Yes we can", or that of another leader closer home, who embraced " People Power". For as Herod was to find out many years ago, and so too our political leaders if they are discerning should realize as they face tremendous challenges, both up north and in this land of wood and water, that
"unless the Lord builds the house
its leaders labour in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchmen watch in vain.
In the sense that lasting power in this world comes only from God. And the power that comes from God on High, is given only when we believe in the great Act of Atonement wrought on the Cross of Calvary by Jesus our Lord and Saviour. And that power among men is only fully realized when we recognize our helplessness as did the Psalmist, and repent of our sins and cry out to God in and through Jesus Christ. And God who is a merciful God will indeed send his Word and save us. I pray God then, that as we the ambassadors of Christ, called to witness unto Christ in this land, where violence is so pervasive, where immorality is so rampant, where many people fear neither man nor God, and where unfortunately many Christians have taken their eyes off the cross as they seek to make a difference, and thus have no power to fight evil, we may like St Paul, for Christ's sake, delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when we are weak then in Christ Jesus, we are strong, as His grace is sufficient for us here at St. Andrews, for Jamaica and indeed for the entire human race Amen.
And it's not that I was reading or was being taught about the fact that the essence - and there is no plan B - of the Christian faith resides in the fact that " it is when I am weak then ( In Christ) I am strong", but rather a complete understanding and acceptance of this truth and its inevitable consequences and joys. All of this took place because I was invited to preach a sermon at my church this morning, and the Lord led me to place a focus on words from the Epistle for the day, 2 Corinthians 5, and in particular the fact that all Christians are called to be " Ambassadors for Christ". A message which is shared below and contextualized in the on going high levels of violence in my country as exemplified by one very distressing case this week and the introspection attendant on the fact that our country is celebrating its 50th year of Independence. But more importantly a reflection that arrives at the position that it is only when we Christians learn to accept our weakness in serving Christ as ambassadors, that we will gain the power to effect any significant change in our nation, and especially to stem the flow of blood on our streets.
Before I send out the sermon I am constrained to point out that a few nights ago, the Lord led me to read about a " war in heaven", and which war resulted in Satan and his " angels" being thrown out of heaven to earth, " and being enraged at the woman ( whose son he tried to kill, and both of whom, mother and son were protected by the Lord) went off to make war against the rest of her offspring - those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus". Revelations 12. Interestingly the same chapter makes the point that this Satan is one who " leads the whole world astray". And so initially thought that the important revelation, and it is critical that we understand it, was the fact that Satan is always " making war against Christians". But as was led, in a strange manner, to read a commentary on 2. Cor, which had been on my bookshelf for years, and reflected on the following two excepts, the whole thing became clear.
" Paul's focus on visions, revelations and the miraculous suggests that at issue was what constituted an appropriate witness to the gospel. A mistaken emphasis on the miraculous by these so-called super-apostles resulted in a misconstrual of Jesus as a wonderworker rather than a suffering servant, and a misrepresentation of the Spirit as a miracle empowerer rather than a guarantor of the gospel message. In doing so they put forward a " different gospel".........
CHRISTIAN SUFFERING AND DIVINE POWER
That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ( 12: 10)
The central them of of 2 Corinthians is divine power in weakness. It is a theme that the church in the West has tended to shrug off as appropriate only for Christians living under oppressive political regimes. health, wealth and prosperity is a message often presented in the media and preached from the pulpit in the West. Not so with Paul. He defines the role of the gospel preacher in terms of the trials and hardships through which god's power is seen and appropriated. It is the same for the church, which Paul says, must suffer " the same suffering we suffer" before it can experience the same comfort" we experience. This is in contrast to his opponents in Corinth, who presented themselves as power evangelists and polished speakers, emphasizing an outward show of the Spirit in revelations, ecstatic experiences and the working of miracles.
Every chapter echoes this theme. The point of Christian hardship is so that " we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead".(1:9) Thanksgiving is given to God because he triumphs our evangelistic failures.......
For Paul is it when he is " weak" that he is " strong". ( 12:10) Like many nowadays, the Corinthians did not want to hear this message. But to preach anything else, Paul says, is to preach " a different gospel"(11:4)......there are no alternative models. This is because there is no alternative for Christ, whose sufferings " flow over into our lives" ( 1: 5). As Ralph Martin put is, "Jesus' death is rightly seen not as a mere fact of history but as the hallmark of all that characterized his historical person and saving significance". It was the hallmark of Jesus. And so it is to be the hallmark of every Christian believer.....end of quote
The point here is that Christianity is something taught to us by the Apostles, the first witnesses for Christ, and not something we work out in our own head. Therefore if we come to believe something other than what Paul and Peter and others taught, then like the Jehovah's Witnesses, we become " something else", but certainly not Christians. And so there is no alternative model to "Christ and him crucified". This " leading astray" of our people is exactly what Revelations chapter 12 was warning about. And therefore any modern day church that professes otherwise, or is manifestly exhibiting " a different gospel, no matter how successful it may seems to be to the secular mind, it has no power to transform any society. A fact that we must bear in mind as we pray for and yearn for change in places like Syria, Eqypt, Palestine, Pakistan, India, the increasingly secular continents of Europe, North America and Australia, and my country wracked by violence of the worst kind, despite the presence of so many " Christian" churches. In fact all places where Christians struggle to preach the gospel.
I admit that both the introduction tonight and the sermon below might be a bit lengthy for some, but please persevere as we are all on a
" Mission" for the Lord in one way or another.
THE SERMON
Like her mother, most of us were hoping against all hope during the past week, that Michelle Coudray, the daughter of the Mayor of San Fernando in T&T, would have been found alive. And that the dental records supplied by her family who came to help with the investigations, would prove that the burn out body found in the canefields in Western Jamaica belonged to somebody else. But that was not to be. So once again a nation was plunged into despair and anguish, and in this case a deep sense of embarrassment, as the death of female citizen of a neighboring Caribbean country at the hands of one of us, carried with it a particularly acute sense of shame and disgrace. In this context one may ask with some justification... How can a country really fully celebrate, with joy and pride, our jubilee year of existence as a sovereign nation, when so many of our citizens continue to exhibit such barbaric behaviour? And the fact that it is happening all over the world is of no comfort to us. The reality is that for far too long we have failed to stem the hemorrhage of blood on our streets and in our homes. And the stain of the blood of those who have been murdered is a deep blot on the collective conscience of the nation as we celebrate Jamaica 50. Perhaps then the words of the prophet Hosea who lived some 700 years before the birth of Christ are not out of place in this modern age: " Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Hosea 4: 2-3 In the midst this anguish about the murder rate and other matters in our country - pensioners trying to cope in harsh economic times, people trying to cope with life altering if not life threatening illnesses, frustrated young bright graduates trying to find a job, a growing tide of immorality and indiscipline coupled with declining membership in our churches which if not careful could well become irrelevant in this new Jamaica - the Word of God from the Epistle poses some serious challenges. " We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though Christ were making his appeal through us". 2 Cor. 5: 20. So what really does it mean to be Christ's ambassador in this troubled world? Praise God that as we read the scriptures for today, especially the Epistle, we are confronted time and time again by the fact that like Jamaica 50, we are on a mission. Listen to the words of St. Paul again as we extend the reading of 2 Cor 5 and begin at verse 11. " Since then we know what it is to fear God, we try to persuade men." " if we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died and was raised again." Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come". " All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. So we are on a mission because:
1. We fear God
2. Christ's love compels us
3.Christ died for all
4.In Christ we are made new
5.In Christ God has reconciled the world to himself and given us the task to announce it
A few days ago, before receiving the invitation to share the word today, I was very struck by a reflection written by Oswald Chambers, the author of "My Utmost for His Highest". A publication which is second only to the Bible in its popularity. An abbreviated version of which reads as follows:
When we are born again of the Spirit, the note of our testimony is what God has done for us, and rightly so; but the Baptism of the Holy Ghost obliterates that forever. God will never answer our prayer to be Baptized by the Holy Ghost for any other reason than to be a witness for Jesus. " Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto Me"; you will be instead of Me, you will take everything that happens, praise or blame, persecution or commendation. .....Understanding how difficult this might sound, Chambers then goes to assert that ... No one can stand that....in the sense that no human being can fully represent Christ... unless he is constrained by the majesty of the personal power of Jesus.
Paul says: ' I am constrained by the love of Christ, held as in a fever, gripped as by a disease, that is why I act as I do; you may call me mad or sober, I do not care; I am after only one thing - to persuade men of the judgment seat of Christ and of the love of God...... end of quote
The fact that the reflection by Chambers was inspired by 2. Cor 5:14 means that long before I was invited to speak today, the Lord was preparing this message for His people at STAPC. So the question to myself and other ambassadors of Christ at St Andrew Parish Church this morning is , " are we fully constrained by Christ's love....do we find ourselves held as if in a fever....are we gripped as if by a disease to witnesses unto Christ...to accept everything that comes with being an ambassador......praise or blame, persecution or or commendation?
And as we struggle to answer that question , it should be noted that perhaps an even more important question is... are we convinced that we have received the power from on High to represent Christ in our homes, in our communities, in our nation and in our world, especially when we face resistance, obstacles and downright persecution. Or are we guilty of what the songwriter graphically describes as ...languid prayers and dim faith.
I don't know about you, but as for me and my house, we are guilty, weak and helpless, in fact desperately helpless in the face of this challenge to us this morning. As who can faithfully and honestly join with St Paul and declare that....You may call me mad, or sober, I don't care; I am only after one thing - to persuade men of the judgment seat of Christ and of the love of God.
My friends we may well be convinced of the need to proclaim the gospel, but if truth be told, we have certainly failed in being faithful in carrying out the will of God on this issue of fully representing His Son.
So herein lies the dilemma for all Christians in Jamaica, all ambassadors of Christ, as we celebrate our 50th year of Independence. We know the challenges facing family life in our country. We can all recite the fact that over 80% of children in Jamaica are born out of wedlock. We know that many Jamaican fathers are irresponsible and do not contribute sufficiently their children's financial, developmental, emotional and spiritual needs. All too often, also we hear the angry response " sperm donor " when a girl child is asked about her father. Increasingly and sadly also we have witnessed the decline in the numbers of mothers who, for one reason or another, are unable to provide the kind of nurturing care a child needs, and an increase in those who are incapable because of their own immaturity. Further, we know that, as ambassadors of Christ, our failure to make a more significant contribution to this perhaps the most important of all the issues facing our country...a healthy family life...., is part of the reason why Jamaica is now such a violent country, as children who are not wanted and cared for by the parents, when they are young, quite often, become wanted by the police when they become adults.
Again, we know the challenges facing the educational system. We know how many children are leaving school functionally, if not absolutely illiterate, and unfit for the job market. We know how this one single fact...functional illiteracy... has contributed to our low levels of production and productivity and how together with other factors have served to produce anemic levels of economic growth over many years thus contributing to the unholy combination of an enormous burden of debt and high levels of poverty now bedeviling the nation and exercising the minds of many of our leaders. And despite our admitted historical success in this area of national life, the failure of the ambassadors of Christ to continue to maintain and significantly improve the quality of education offered to our people, is part of the reason why Jamaica is now such a violent society, as people who cannot reason and think often lack self control and are more prone to violent behaviour.
Finally we know how the growth of secularism, multi-culturalism, materialism, immorality and corruption at all levels, have together, perhaps permanently, altered the social fabric and seared the collective conscience of our nation. We know how this unholy alliance has served to lead our people, wittingly or unwittingly to disobedience , if not open rebellion against the God of Sam Sharpe, George William Gordon and Marcus Mosiah Garvey - all of which National Heroes were practicing and devout ambassadors of Christ. And sadly in the light of this rebellion against the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, we are all aware of the gods, the proverbial golden calves to whom our people have turned and are worshiping. Some of whom, if you follow the cartoonists and the news carefully, are in prison both here and abroad, and singing a new song. Some of which gods have songs which surface at the most inopportune of times whenever our cell phones ring. Others of whom enter our homes by cable or by satellite gaining our undivided attention via the single most important item in the home of any 21st century person. While others gods whose meetings on a Sunday morning, or Thursday night during the silly season, attract huge crowds which far exceed the faithful who turn out to worship the Living God on a Sunday or a Bible study in the week. And again, it is in part, the failure of the ambassadors of Christ, in the face of such perfidy and apostasy and sheer madness....yes madness as how can people turn from the Eternal God to mere humans...who are but dust and to dust they shall return.....no wonder the prophet Jeremiah was amazed that :
these people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me, the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
" Jeremiah 2: 13 NIV
....failure of the ambassadors of Christ, in part, to boldly proclaim the gospel by word and by deed, why in many homes and communities in Jamaica the church is either quite irrelevant or ineffective why our country has become such a violent society. As unredeemed persons can and will continue to carry our acts of violence. So what are we, the ambassadors of Christ called to do in the face of these challenges? Again, it is not a question which the Lord has left hanging over our heads as just a couple of nights ago at the end of our Fellowship group's weekly Bible study, and prior to receiving an invitation to preach today, our group engaged in a long discussion on whether or not to truly love Jesus, one had to be desperate or just have a yearning for the Lord. Desperate in the sense of feeling completely helpless in the face of one's sinfulness and inability rid oneself of the " many many sins about which the songwriter penned these wonderful lines
..... All the way to Calvary he went for me, he went for me,
All the way to Calvary he went for me and now he sets me free.
Although I have so many, many sins
Jesus washed all away and pardoned me.
Although I have so many , many sins
Jesus washed all away and pardoned me.
In the Name of Jesus, in the Name of Jesus
we shall have the victory ...in the Name of Jesus
. That very night as I went home, thinking about the discussion, and prepared for bed and spent time with the Lord asking for mercy and protection from evil......without delay the Lord led me to the following passage, which I then sent around to the group as an e mail.
" The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." John 12:24 NIV
And early the next morning before the break of day, in a manner to which I have grown accustomed the Lord woke me up with this verse on my mind, so I went and read it:
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Phil. 3:7-11 NIV
Later on in my early morning devotions the Lord continued to reveal His answer to this question of whether or not we should be desperate as he led me to another meditation from Oswald Chambers and I quote:
THE ABSOLUTENESS OF IMMORALITY AND HOLINESS ( REV. 21: 7-8) OSWALD CHAMBERS Immorality and holiness are absolute, you cannot get behind them......................... When our Lord talks about the radical evil of the human heart ( e.g. Mark 7:21-22), it is a revelation we know nothing of ; it comes from the shores of our lives in immorality and holiness........... Immorality has its seat in every one of us, not in some of us. If a man is not holy, he is immoral, no matter how good he may seem. Immorality is at the basis of of the whole thing; if it does not show itself outwardly, it will show itself before God. The New Testament teaches that no man or women is safe apart from Jesus Christ because there is treachery on the inside." Out of the heart of men, proceed....." The majority of us are grossly ignorant about the possibilities of evil in the human heart. Never trust your common sense when the statements of Jesus contradict it, and when you preach see that you base your preaching on the revelation of Jesus Christ and not on the sweet innocence of human nature. When you hear a man cry out, like the publican of old, " God be merciful to me a sinner", you have the problem of the whole universe.
That man has reached the realization of himself at last, he knows that he is a guilty, immoral type of man and needs saving. Never take anyone to be good, and above all never take yourself to be good. Natural goodness will always break, will always disappoint, why? Because the Bible tells us that " the heart is deceitful above all things. and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Never trust anything in yourself that God has not placed there through the regeneration of Our Lord Jesus Christ; and never trust anything saving that in anyone else. end of quote.
The reality is my friends that unless we come to fully apprehend our own helplessness as immoral people in front of a holy God; our helplessness in the face of Satan who though conquered by the angel Michael in a war in heaven, has fallen to the earth and has been allowed to make war against those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus; ( Rev. 12) and our own helplessness in the face of the beguiling and subtle temptations of this world, we will not desperately seek to know Jesus and the power of his resurrection. We will not be prepared to join in the fellowship of his sufferings We will not hate our life in this world. And if you recall the story of Dives and the rich man, we will listen neither to Moses and the Prophets of the Old Testament, nor will we be convinced if someone rises from the dead.
My friends the great paradox of the Christian faith which this world has never comprehended and never will, and sadly some in the church still do not get it, is that it is when we Christians are weak and helpless that we are strong. That is why the German Karl Barth, one of the great theologians in our time, and one of the most prolific writers, wrote that the following six words say much more and much better things than all the heaps of paper with which I have surrounded myself. What revelation then from God could move this man whose writings have influenced so much of Christian thought in modern times to write such profound words?
I know that all of you know the answer to that question but again I remind you as I remind myself of a profound observation that Oswald Chambers makes: Be careful of knowing what you do not practice.
so yes my friends that revelation is none other than St.Paul's declaration in 2 Cor. 8......My grace is sufficient for you...and which revelation is followed by an equally profound truth.....for my power is made perfect in weakness".
Herein lies the essence of the Good News of the Gospel and which good news alone can empower the ambassadors of Christ to be on mission unto Him, and not just for Him, in this land of our birth during Jamaica 50 and beyond. For in the same way that Christ emptied himself of all but love, and made Himself nothing, and became obedient even to death on a cross according to God's will and purpose, and God therefore raised Him up to the highest place, so that at the sound of His name every knee shall bow......in the same way we who are prepared die to self in Christ, will be raised up to a new life in Him. And that's why St Paul could assert with confidence that : " If any man is in Christ the old has gone and the new has come".
So my friends in Christ Jesus, if we are to have any power to make any continued impact on this nation, any power to have a continued impact on family life, any power to have a continued impact on the educational system, any power to have a continued impact on poverty reduction, then the old sinful natural self, so prone to anxiety and doubt, so prone to disobedience and pride, so prone to living by facts and by sight rather than by grace and by faith, so unwilling to sacrifice the time to be present in church and at Bible study, but so willing to spend time watching Euro 12 football, the Sunshine girls, The Miami Heat, Usain Bolt, Nadal or the Williams sisters.... if we are to answer the call to be Christ's ambassadors in a dying world, this old self must die. And this death of the old self is message which we must proclaim to the entire Jamaica as we celebrate Jamaica 50 and beyond. As we go on a mission to reclaim our country.
And such a death to self begins with the fear of God, and so like we try to persuade men because Christ's love compels us. In this respect then I can the God of Abraham crying out to his people in the book of Deuteronomy " O that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and obey all my commands all the time so that it may go well with they and their children forever." Deut 5:29 The New Testament equivalent of which I believe would be Christ saying to His disciples in John's Gospel: Let not thy heart be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. John 14:1 Therefore my friends we must once again recapture the Spirit of Moses, Gideon and Deborah, Mary and Joshua and trust in God when He calls as we remember the words of St Paul to the Philippian church...I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. .....
This belief in the power of Christ is very different from one modern leader's campaign slogan " Yes we can", or that of another leader closer home, who embraced " People Power". For as Herod was to find out many years ago, and so too our political leaders if they are discerning should realize as they face tremendous challenges, both up north and in this land of wood and water, that
"unless the Lord builds the house
its leaders labour in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchmen watch in vain.
In the sense that lasting power in this world comes only from God. And the power that comes from God on High, is given only when we believe in the great Act of Atonement wrought on the Cross of Calvary by Jesus our Lord and Saviour. And that power among men is only fully realized when we recognize our helplessness as did the Psalmist, and repent of our sins and cry out to God in and through Jesus Christ. And God who is a merciful God will indeed send his Word and save us. I pray God then, that as we the ambassadors of Christ, called to witness unto Christ in this land, where violence is so pervasive, where immorality is so rampant, where many people fear neither man nor God, and where unfortunately many Christians have taken their eyes off the cross as they seek to make a difference, and thus have no power to fight evil, we may like St Paul, for Christ's sake, delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when we are weak then in Christ Jesus, we are strong, as His grace is sufficient for us here at St. Andrews, for Jamaica and indeed for the entire human race Amen.
Monday, June 18, 2012
A Father's Day Message
The big news all around the world, well certainly in the western world, is that today is celebrated as father's day. And we here in Jamaica are fully on board, although like everywhere else I would imagine, mother's day is is a far bigger deal. But nonetheless we celebrate all responsible fathers today. And even the potential ones as was done today at a Methodist Church in the capital city where I had the privilege to share the Word. What did the Lord lay on my heart? The state of my country caused by irresponsible fathers. Two Fathers and a Son, and Spiritual Warfare. It it my prayer that wherever in the world you are, you may examine the state of your country and pose the same questions that I asked the men and women of Saxthorpe Methodist church this morning. First to yourself, and then to any other denomination to which you belong. Be it Adventist, Church of God, Baptist, Moravian, Roman Catholic, United Church, Salvation Army, Pentecostal, Anglican or any other of the myriad of denominations present across the globe
First the state of my country in respect of fatherhood....in note form, but it is not hard to get the gist of it
Fundamental truths.....Christian Life, a life lived in community....life lived in and through Jesus Christ...so are always children of God our Father, living a life empowered by the Spirit of Christ in a community...Saxthorpe...St. Andrew parish church....Manor park, HWT, St Andrew, Jamaica, the Caribbean or the entire world.So today on Father's day, and seek a deeper understanding of what fatherhood is all about, in that context, what is the state of our community?Majority of our people are born out of wedlock.....RGD 2004 83%.......majority of the families in Jamaica are headed and in many cases solely maintained by mothers. In many homes where there is a father, visiting or in a live in dad, there is much abuse ...of mother and of children...and even sexual abuse of daughters. We thank God to day on father's day then for the responsible fathers who care for and show love to their children and for the mother of his children and who, even more importantly, bring up their children in the fear of the Lord. The effects of this kind of in some instances benign, and in other instances, malicious neglect, on the society's CHILDREN is profound....aggressive and angry children and mothers.......premature sexual encounters...teenage pregnancy ..... abortions HIV/AIDS.....broken relationships......prostitution. bully's....violent behaviour......involvement in gangs...criminal behaviors ...premature death.......So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered, they became food for all the wild animals...Ezekiel 34:5
These children become ...adults growing up without love, discipline and a focus in life....breeding ground ....greed....envy..... immediate gratification....lack of appreciation of a sound education..... lack of self-control...sound example police and involvement in young girls.....big men in society and involvement in young girls ....resistance to any kind of authority....roads...minibus drivers.... rampant cynicism...lack of commitment to anyone...relationship issuesAll of this contributing to the reality of a very violent society.... in too many cases, a very uncaring people......a nation with many people with unfulfilled potential, affecting production and productivity.... people with emotional immaturity....a people who neither fear God nor man.....a land where begging and the dependency syndrome has become ever so pervasive....lack of shame....a irresponsible and morally challenged society...corruption, illegality, immorality...not even to blush.This the is the downside of a once caring responsible productive visionary society.
MY EARTHLY FATHERToday on father's day I thank God that I had a father about whom I can say nothing but good. A quiet man who loved my mother. A gentle and gracious man who served his country well. A loving dad who was there for his children....teaching us to play dominoes,,..being there on sports-day...at Sabina Park....going to the drive -in theater on a Sunday. A responsible man who provided for his family and protected us from evil forces around us. A serious disciplinarian who only had the threaten us for us to shape up....and of course going to church on a Sunday morning was a requirement...and even when we were adults..little nuggets of advice would still be forthcoming. Of course when the grandchildren came he used to pick them up on Christmas morning, in particular, and carry them around to other siblings, while beaming with pride.
MY HEAVENLY FATHERToday on Father's Day I also give thanks that we all have a Father in heaven who loves and cares for us. All of us can bear witness to the goodness of our Father in heaven and the many blessings that He continues to bestow on us. A Father who has been there for us on so many occasions, in good times and in bad times. And as I was quite specific in describing why my earthly father meant so much to me so I intend to speak openly about my Heavenly Father.Right up front I will tell you that I love my Father in heaven because He is the Creator God....as His Word says that; " I am fearfully and wonderfully made....and moreso ...made in the very image and likeness of God." And I love my Father because He is the Redeemer God in Christ Jesus.....as according to the songwriter:My God I love thee; not becauseI hole for heaven thereby,nor yet because who love thee notare lost eternally.Thou, O my Jesus, thou didst meupon the cross embrace;for me didst bear the nails and spear,and manifold disgrace.and griefs and torments numberless,and sweat of agony;yea death itself - and all for mewho was thine enemy......So would I love thee, dearest Lord,and in thy praise will sing;solely because thou art my God,and most loving King.. And I love my Father because He is the enabling God in and through the Holy Spirit...as the Word of God reveals the comforting and life-transforming fact, that: God will not leave us as orphans but will send us a Counselor, the Spirit of truth who will teach us all things.So I love my God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, One God. In other words my love is guided by my understanding of the Trinity, as it was the same God who created the world, who responded to man's Sin when in Adam we all disobeyed God and fell short of His glory. And responded in such love by coming to earth as man...incarnation, and dying for us on the Cross in the great act of Atonement which we call redemption. And who after being raised from the dead with power, sent the Holy Spirit so that we could have life everlasting and who with power will come again to judge both the living and the dead.
THE SONOne of my favourite gospel songs which I sing regularly sums up my love for Jesus.....Accept these prayers from a grateful heart, every time I think of you the praises start...I love you so much, Jesus. I love you so much. And in fact just this week, in my office an elderly lady who lives alone, her husband died a few years ago, and they both came back home to Jamaica to escape the cold, in praising her Jesus, got goose bumps as she spoke and began crying with joy for this Jesus who watches over her each night and allows her to sleep without disturbance each and every night. My friends, as much as we fear God our Father in heaven, and welcome God the Holy Spirit into our lives each day, we have a special love for God in Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for us at Calvary. A special love for the Christ by whose Blood, the Scriptures reveal, we can enter into the very presence of an awesome and Holy God, and ask for grace and mercy in times of trials. This is the same God in human form, the Son of Man, who according to the songwriter...thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown when thou camest to earth for me, but in Bethlehem's home was there found no room for thy holy nativity...O come to my heart Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for thee. And the most wonderful thing about God the Son, is that there is much more benefit in his death and resurrection that the forgiveness of Sins. Listen to two of the most instructive passages in the Bible both of which we should commit to memory." For if when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life." Romans 5:10.' The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full ( abundantly). " John 10:10The main thing in the Christian life, in giving thanks to our earthly Father, today is to accept that without the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ Jesus, we can never become true disciples of Christ. We can never become holy in the way God desires his children to be holy and free from blame and every stain of sin. As the Bible says that he who lives according to the flesh cannot please God....nothing in my hand I bring...simply to thy cross I cling...naked...helpless.....I to the fountain fly,.wash me savior lest I die So the take home message from this Father's day meditation is that if we really wish to love our Father in Heaven and please Him, we have to believe that Christ died for our sins, and that, in Him, we die to self, the flesh, and in the same way Christ was raised from the dead with power, so we too in Christ rise with Him to a new life in God. This is the good news of the Gospel of Christ which Satan does not wish for us to accept and for the world to know about. For once we truly believe and walk in the Spirit, then the same Spirit will flow out of us, as promised in Scripture and allow us to love one another, to love our neighbour, and to love the Lord with all our heart and mind and strength, and to perform miracles in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
SPIRITUAL WARFAREOn Friday night, in a manner which has now become quite regular but still amazing every time it happens, the Lord led me to the following passages of Scripture:" When you go into a battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies". Numbers 10:10...first time I gave ever read that passage.A more familiar one:Therefore the Lord was ......My understanding of why God led me to read this passage at a time when I was preparing my self to speak to you this morning is that, we who profess love for our heavenly Father, and who we have come to know in and through Jesus his Son, have been called to engage in a spiritual warfare , in love and with perseverance, for the souls and lives of those whom God has placed in our paths as we journey through this life here on earth. And we are to engage in a battle for their souls as well as well as to heal the sick, free the captives, feed the hungry, cloth the naked and promote social justice in the face of grinding poverty, ignorance and injustice, all of which keep our people in bondage. And in the same way that Jesus was persecuted...thou didst come with the living word to set thy people free, but with mocking scorn and a crown of thorn they carried thee to Calvary...O come to me heart Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for thee. In that same way we are to expect resistance, persecution and even death, if it is God's will, as we engage in this warfare. So be aware that choosing to love God, Father Son and Holy Spirit will change your life, drastically.And as God prepares us for warfare, He will discipline us and test us to see what is in our heart ...in the same way He tested the children of Israel in the desert for 40 years...to show them that man does not live by bread alone abut by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.In the same way that the writer to the Hebrews writes:"...endure hardship as a discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? if you are not disciplines, and everybody undergoes discipline, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on it produces Harvest of Righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12: 7-11 NIV.in the same way that Jesus told Peter: Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, Simon that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back strengthen your brothers. Luke 22: 31-32 NIVHe will require that you believe, as without faith it is impossible to please God.How long will I put up with this perverse and unbelieving generation...bring your son to me...Jesus.My friends this is why we need to be soundly grounded in the doctrines of the Christian faith as passed on to us by the Apostles, and not what the spirit of this world is teaching us. For if some are not careful, they will place a focus on Jesus alone, as a New Testament phenomenon, and disregard the fact that He was there from the beginning of Creation, and that the children drank from the same spiritual rock which was Jesus. It is important then that we get the understanding correct as the kingdom of God is not about talk but about power. And when we engage in battle, unless we sound the rams horn, and blow the trumpet, which in modern day language means to call upon the Name of Jesus, in faith, we will never conquer the forces of evil which have become very pervasive in our country.Early this morning, in the depth of my sleep, the Lord reminded me about Psalm 83 which I read before I go to bed at nights. It's Psalm which appeals to God for help, and asks God to remember what how he helped the people of Israel when they cried out for help as the Medianites and others oppressed them. Battles which are fully described in the book of Judges. And so the Psalmist cries out:O God, do not keep silent, be not quiet O God, be not still. See how your enemies are astir and how your foes rear their heads. With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those who you cherish..further he says...do to them as you did to Median, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, who perished at Endor and became like refuse on the ground.Therefore the message from the Lord this morning is: You men of Saxthorpe Methodist church, when you engage in battle against the " Midianites" of this world, who are still oppressing God's people...all who are created in the likeness and image of God, and as they cry out to Him as did the people of Israel, let us remember the mighty warrior Gideon who when told by God, " Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you", responded " But Lord how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family. Then the Lord answered, " I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Medianites together". And so I ask you on this Father's day, as I ask myself.....the Lord taught me two very profound things this week....one is, " it is not the sermon that needs preparation, but the preacher"... the other is " beware of knowing what you do not practice".......and so I ask myself and my church at St. Andrews and all Christians in this country, where is the spirit of Gideon in this church? Where is the Spirit of Gideon in this nation? Has God not called you, has God not called me, to save Jamaica from those evil forces that oppress our people? Has our Heavenly Father, in and through Christ Jesus promised not to leave us nor forsake us? And as we are all one in Christ Jesus, men and women, even though we are placing a focus on men this morning, where is the Spirit of Deborah in this church, a Judge of Israel just like Gideon who waged war against Sisera, the commander of the army of Jabin the King of the Canaanites who oppressed the people of God. And they cried out, and God sent them this mighty warrior who pursued Sisera. And when he fled, he was killed by another brave woman, Jael, the wife of Herber the Kenite. Therefore in returning to the context in which we have been called by God our Father, we no longer view the behaviour of our deadbeat fathers, the behaviour of the minibus drivers and taximen, the behaviour of our schoolchildren, the police, our entertainers, businessmen and politicians as something strange, or social problems beyond salvage about which we can only lament and remember the good old days when Jamaica was not like this.In the Name of Jesus No. It is time my brothers and sisters to wage war. But like St.Paul, we do not wage war with the weapons of this world. But rather, we use the weapons that have divine power to destroy strongholds, weapons that can destroy every argument and pretension that sets itself against the knowledge of God, and with them we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ Jesus.And we depend on the might power of the Holy Spirit to pray as Jesus taught His disciples, when that father brought his son to him for healing. That son who was possessed by an evil spirit, and which illness could be not cured by the disciples to him he was brought in the first instance. And when the father cried out for help and wondered if Jesus could help him, our blessed savior's response, the response from He who came from our heavenly Father was " everything is possible for those who believe."So my friends in take the Name of Jesus with you this week, in every situation that you face, at home, in the community, at church, on the roads, at work, at school. Call upon Him often. Remember the Words of the songwriter:Take the name of Jesus with youChild of sorrow and of woeit will joy and comfort give youtake it then where're you goPrecious Name, O How sweetHope of earth and joy of heavenPrecious Name.......Take the Name of Jesus ever,As a shield from every snare;If temptations round you gather,Breathe that holy Name in prayer.My friends as we close this morning, let us declare first in this house where we worship a heavenly Father, and then let us shout it out in the hills and valleys of this blessed nation as we celebrate our 50th year of independence. That the only hope of a new Jamaica, ultimately, is a Jamaica where children are born in wedlock and reared in the fear and love of God, is a Jamaica where fathers accept their responsibility to help to raise their children, and so provide the discipline that we all need to prepare us for responsible adulthood. Is for the church to produce disciples who are abandoned to Jesus. Disciples who are totally dependent on Christ as a mediator between a Holy God and and sinful man . And as we realize more and more the extent of our own wretchedness and helplessness before a Holy Father, and accept that only the mercy of God our Father in and through Jesus can allow us to enter into His presence, we will indeed cry out to Him and He will enable us to walk with Christ. And therefore that Christ is the only hope for a new Jamaica where immorality and poverty and injustice and ignorance do not continue keep our people in subjection in this the 50th year of our anniversary as a sovereign nation. But all of that depends on the extent of our love for our Father in heaven, and our willingness to die to self in and through Christ Jesus, and become new children in Him and thus be empowered by the Holy Spirit, one God to bear fruit. Fruit that will last. Fruit that is pleasing to our Father who art in heaven, and whose Son is seated at His right hand, who ever lives to intercede for us, and who will come again with glory to judge us all. So let us all make sure that on this father's day and henceforth, as sons and daughters of the King, that we worship our heavenly Father, God Almighty in spirit and in truth, and in faith and with love, and be obedient to His call to save this nation. In the same way that His Son, Christ our Lord, responded in love and in obedience to save the whole world. Amen.
First the state of my country in respect of fatherhood....in note form, but it is not hard to get the gist of it
Fundamental truths.....Christian Life, a life lived in community....life lived in and through Jesus Christ...so are always children of God our Father, living a life empowered by the Spirit of Christ in a community...Saxthorpe...St. Andrew parish church....Manor park, HWT, St Andrew, Jamaica, the Caribbean or the entire world.So today on Father's day, and seek a deeper understanding of what fatherhood is all about, in that context, what is the state of our community?Majority of our people are born out of wedlock.....RGD 2004 83%.......majority of the families in Jamaica are headed and in many cases solely maintained by mothers. In many homes where there is a father, visiting or in a live in dad, there is much abuse ...of mother and of children...and even sexual abuse of daughters. We thank God to day on father's day then for the responsible fathers who care for and show love to their children and for the mother of his children and who, even more importantly, bring up their children in the fear of the Lord. The effects of this kind of in some instances benign, and in other instances, malicious neglect, on the society's CHILDREN is profound....aggressive and angry children and mothers.......premature sexual encounters...teenage pregnancy ..... abortions HIV/AIDS.....broken relationships......prostitution. bully's....violent behaviour......involvement in gangs...criminal behaviors ...premature death.......So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered, they became food for all the wild animals...Ezekiel 34:5
These children become ...adults growing up without love, discipline and a focus in life....breeding ground ....greed....envy..... immediate gratification....lack of appreciation of a sound education..... lack of self-control...sound example police and involvement in young girls.....big men in society and involvement in young girls ....resistance to any kind of authority....roads...minibus drivers.... rampant cynicism...lack of commitment to anyone...relationship issuesAll of this contributing to the reality of a very violent society.... in too many cases, a very uncaring people......a nation with many people with unfulfilled potential, affecting production and productivity.... people with emotional immaturity....a people who neither fear God nor man.....a land where begging and the dependency syndrome has become ever so pervasive....lack of shame....a irresponsible and morally challenged society...corruption, illegality, immorality...not even to blush.This the is the downside of a once caring responsible productive visionary society.
MY EARTHLY FATHERToday on father's day I thank God that I had a father about whom I can say nothing but good. A quiet man who loved my mother. A gentle and gracious man who served his country well. A loving dad who was there for his children....teaching us to play dominoes,,..being there on sports-day...at Sabina Park....going to the drive -in theater on a Sunday. A responsible man who provided for his family and protected us from evil forces around us. A serious disciplinarian who only had the threaten us for us to shape up....and of course going to church on a Sunday morning was a requirement...and even when we were adults..little nuggets of advice would still be forthcoming. Of course when the grandchildren came he used to pick them up on Christmas morning, in particular, and carry them around to other siblings, while beaming with pride.
MY HEAVENLY FATHERToday on Father's Day I also give thanks that we all have a Father in heaven who loves and cares for us. All of us can bear witness to the goodness of our Father in heaven and the many blessings that He continues to bestow on us. A Father who has been there for us on so many occasions, in good times and in bad times. And as I was quite specific in describing why my earthly father meant so much to me so I intend to speak openly about my Heavenly Father.Right up front I will tell you that I love my Father in heaven because He is the Creator God....as His Word says that; " I am fearfully and wonderfully made....and moreso ...made in the very image and likeness of God." And I love my Father because He is the Redeemer God in Christ Jesus.....as according to the songwriter:My God I love thee; not becauseI hole for heaven thereby,nor yet because who love thee notare lost eternally.Thou, O my Jesus, thou didst meupon the cross embrace;for me didst bear the nails and spear,and manifold disgrace.and griefs and torments numberless,and sweat of agony;yea death itself - and all for mewho was thine enemy......So would I love thee, dearest Lord,and in thy praise will sing;solely because thou art my God,and most loving King.. And I love my Father because He is the enabling God in and through the Holy Spirit...as the Word of God reveals the comforting and life-transforming fact, that: God will not leave us as orphans but will send us a Counselor, the Spirit of truth who will teach us all things.So I love my God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, One God. In other words my love is guided by my understanding of the Trinity, as it was the same God who created the world, who responded to man's Sin when in Adam we all disobeyed God and fell short of His glory. And responded in such love by coming to earth as man...incarnation, and dying for us on the Cross in the great act of Atonement which we call redemption. And who after being raised from the dead with power, sent the Holy Spirit so that we could have life everlasting and who with power will come again to judge both the living and the dead.
THE SONOne of my favourite gospel songs which I sing regularly sums up my love for Jesus.....Accept these prayers from a grateful heart, every time I think of you the praises start...I love you so much, Jesus. I love you so much. And in fact just this week, in my office an elderly lady who lives alone, her husband died a few years ago, and they both came back home to Jamaica to escape the cold, in praising her Jesus, got goose bumps as she spoke and began crying with joy for this Jesus who watches over her each night and allows her to sleep without disturbance each and every night. My friends, as much as we fear God our Father in heaven, and welcome God the Holy Spirit into our lives each day, we have a special love for God in Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for us at Calvary. A special love for the Christ by whose Blood, the Scriptures reveal, we can enter into the very presence of an awesome and Holy God, and ask for grace and mercy in times of trials. This is the same God in human form, the Son of Man, who according to the songwriter...thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown when thou camest to earth for me, but in Bethlehem's home was there found no room for thy holy nativity...O come to my heart Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for thee. And the most wonderful thing about God the Son, is that there is much more benefit in his death and resurrection that the forgiveness of Sins. Listen to two of the most instructive passages in the Bible both of which we should commit to memory." For if when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life." Romans 5:10.' The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full ( abundantly). " John 10:10The main thing in the Christian life, in giving thanks to our earthly Father, today is to accept that without the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ Jesus, we can never become true disciples of Christ. We can never become holy in the way God desires his children to be holy and free from blame and every stain of sin. As the Bible says that he who lives according to the flesh cannot please God....nothing in my hand I bring...simply to thy cross I cling...naked...helpless.....I to the fountain fly,.wash me savior lest I die So the take home message from this Father's day meditation is that if we really wish to love our Father in Heaven and please Him, we have to believe that Christ died for our sins, and that, in Him, we die to self, the flesh, and in the same way Christ was raised from the dead with power, so we too in Christ rise with Him to a new life in God. This is the good news of the Gospel of Christ which Satan does not wish for us to accept and for the world to know about. For once we truly believe and walk in the Spirit, then the same Spirit will flow out of us, as promised in Scripture and allow us to love one another, to love our neighbour, and to love the Lord with all our heart and mind and strength, and to perform miracles in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
SPIRITUAL WARFAREOn Friday night, in a manner which has now become quite regular but still amazing every time it happens, the Lord led me to the following passages of Scripture:" When you go into a battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies". Numbers 10:10...first time I gave ever read that passage.A more familiar one:Therefore the Lord was ......My understanding of why God led me to read this passage at a time when I was preparing my self to speak to you this morning is that, we who profess love for our heavenly Father, and who we have come to know in and through Jesus his Son, have been called to engage in a spiritual warfare , in love and with perseverance, for the souls and lives of those whom God has placed in our paths as we journey through this life here on earth. And we are to engage in a battle for their souls as well as well as to heal the sick, free the captives, feed the hungry, cloth the naked and promote social justice in the face of grinding poverty, ignorance and injustice, all of which keep our people in bondage. And in the same way that Jesus was persecuted...thou didst come with the living word to set thy people free, but with mocking scorn and a crown of thorn they carried thee to Calvary...O come to me heart Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for thee. In that same way we are to expect resistance, persecution and even death, if it is God's will, as we engage in this warfare. So be aware that choosing to love God, Father Son and Holy Spirit will change your life, drastically.And as God prepares us for warfare, He will discipline us and test us to see what is in our heart ...in the same way He tested the children of Israel in the desert for 40 years...to show them that man does not live by bread alone abut by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.In the same way that the writer to the Hebrews writes:"...endure hardship as a discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? if you are not disciplines, and everybody undergoes discipline, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on it produces Harvest of Righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12: 7-11 NIV.in the same way that Jesus told Peter: Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, Simon that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back strengthen your brothers. Luke 22: 31-32 NIVHe will require that you believe, as without faith it is impossible to please God.How long will I put up with this perverse and unbelieving generation...bring your son to me...Jesus.My friends this is why we need to be soundly grounded in the doctrines of the Christian faith as passed on to us by the Apostles, and not what the spirit of this world is teaching us. For if some are not careful, they will place a focus on Jesus alone, as a New Testament phenomenon, and disregard the fact that He was there from the beginning of Creation, and that the children drank from the same spiritual rock which was Jesus. It is important then that we get the understanding correct as the kingdom of God is not about talk but about power. And when we engage in battle, unless we sound the rams horn, and blow the trumpet, which in modern day language means to call upon the Name of Jesus, in faith, we will never conquer the forces of evil which have become very pervasive in our country.Early this morning, in the depth of my sleep, the Lord reminded me about Psalm 83 which I read before I go to bed at nights. It's Psalm which appeals to God for help, and asks God to remember what how he helped the people of Israel when they cried out for help as the Medianites and others oppressed them. Battles which are fully described in the book of Judges. And so the Psalmist cries out:O God, do not keep silent, be not quiet O God, be not still. See how your enemies are astir and how your foes rear their heads. With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those who you cherish..further he says...do to them as you did to Median, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, who perished at Endor and became like refuse on the ground.Therefore the message from the Lord this morning is: You men of Saxthorpe Methodist church, when you engage in battle against the " Midianites" of this world, who are still oppressing God's people...all who are created in the likeness and image of God, and as they cry out to Him as did the people of Israel, let us remember the mighty warrior Gideon who when told by God, " Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you", responded " But Lord how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family. Then the Lord answered, " I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Medianites together". And so I ask you on this Father's day, as I ask myself.....the Lord taught me two very profound things this week....one is, " it is not the sermon that needs preparation, but the preacher"... the other is " beware of knowing what you do not practice".......and so I ask myself and my church at St. Andrews and all Christians in this country, where is the spirit of Gideon in this church? Where is the Spirit of Gideon in this nation? Has God not called you, has God not called me, to save Jamaica from those evil forces that oppress our people? Has our Heavenly Father, in and through Christ Jesus promised not to leave us nor forsake us? And as we are all one in Christ Jesus, men and women, even though we are placing a focus on men this morning, where is the Spirit of Deborah in this church, a Judge of Israel just like Gideon who waged war against Sisera, the commander of the army of Jabin the King of the Canaanites who oppressed the people of God. And they cried out, and God sent them this mighty warrior who pursued Sisera. And when he fled, he was killed by another brave woman, Jael, the wife of Herber the Kenite. Therefore in returning to the context in which we have been called by God our Father, we no longer view the behaviour of our deadbeat fathers, the behaviour of the minibus drivers and taximen, the behaviour of our schoolchildren, the police, our entertainers, businessmen and politicians as something strange, or social problems beyond salvage about which we can only lament and remember the good old days when Jamaica was not like this.In the Name of Jesus No. It is time my brothers and sisters to wage war. But like St.Paul, we do not wage war with the weapons of this world. But rather, we use the weapons that have divine power to destroy strongholds, weapons that can destroy every argument and pretension that sets itself against the knowledge of God, and with them we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ Jesus.And we depend on the might power of the Holy Spirit to pray as Jesus taught His disciples, when that father brought his son to him for healing. That son who was possessed by an evil spirit, and which illness could be not cured by the disciples to him he was brought in the first instance. And when the father cried out for help and wondered if Jesus could help him, our blessed savior's response, the response from He who came from our heavenly Father was " everything is possible for those who believe."So my friends in take the Name of Jesus with you this week, in every situation that you face, at home, in the community, at church, on the roads, at work, at school. Call upon Him often. Remember the Words of the songwriter:Take the name of Jesus with youChild of sorrow and of woeit will joy and comfort give youtake it then where're you goPrecious Name, O How sweetHope of earth and joy of heavenPrecious Name.......Take the Name of Jesus ever,As a shield from every snare;If temptations round you gather,Breathe that holy Name in prayer.My friends as we close this morning, let us declare first in this house where we worship a heavenly Father, and then let us shout it out in the hills and valleys of this blessed nation as we celebrate our 50th year of independence. That the only hope of a new Jamaica, ultimately, is a Jamaica where children are born in wedlock and reared in the fear and love of God, is a Jamaica where fathers accept their responsibility to help to raise their children, and so provide the discipline that we all need to prepare us for responsible adulthood. Is for the church to produce disciples who are abandoned to Jesus. Disciples who are totally dependent on Christ as a mediator between a Holy God and and sinful man . And as we realize more and more the extent of our own wretchedness and helplessness before a Holy Father, and accept that only the mercy of God our Father in and through Jesus can allow us to enter into His presence, we will indeed cry out to Him and He will enable us to walk with Christ. And therefore that Christ is the only hope for a new Jamaica where immorality and poverty and injustice and ignorance do not continue keep our people in subjection in this the 50th year of our anniversary as a sovereign nation. But all of that depends on the extent of our love for our Father in heaven, and our willingness to die to self in and through Christ Jesus, and become new children in Him and thus be empowered by the Holy Spirit, one God to bear fruit. Fruit that will last. Fruit that is pleasing to our Father who art in heaven, and whose Son is seated at His right hand, who ever lives to intercede for us, and who will come again with glory to judge us all. So let us all make sure that on this father's day and henceforth, as sons and daughters of the King, that we worship our heavenly Father, God Almighty in spirit and in truth, and in faith and with love, and be obedient to His call to save this nation. In the same way that His Son, Christ our Lord, responded in love and in obedience to save the whole world. Amen.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Dudus, Road Crashes and the precious Name of Jesus
The big news in my country this week, was the maximum sentence, 23 years, that was given to Christopher " Dudus" Coke, aka " Prezi', by a Court in the USA. This news about the reputed head of the shower posse, and a known criminal of legendary fame in my country, made headlines on CNN, and also in Jamaica. Further, the Court also imposed a fine of 1.5 Million USD, with the implications that his assets in Jamaica could be seized. Predictably the people in his power base in West Kingston, Tivoli Gardens, reacted with sadness. Some even going so far as to describe him as a " good", man and also a " god fearing" man, who was, seemingly, undeserving of such a harsh sentence. Fresh in our minds also, are the graphic scenes captured on television, during the days leading up to the incursion into Tivoli which eventually led to Coke's capture and extradition to the USA for trial. Scenes of women expressing their undying love for Dudus, as " Christ died for us, and so we will die for Dudus". Unbelievable, if it weren't for the fact of the record of such a statement on public television. Amazing, if it weren't for the fact that witnesses in the lead up to the sentencing, ascribed to the same Coke, acts of murder, extortion, wickedness and criminality of the worse kind. So how did our people get there? How could they ignore the acts of wickedness and brutality, and pretend that it did not exist,solely because according to them, Coke " allowed them to put food on the table".
Interestingly, just this evening on the Television, we were informed that a very powerful armour piercing huge gun, one of the few of its kind in the world, had been found in the same Tivoli gardens area. How did it get there? And for what purpose?
The other big news in Jamaica, was the tragic death of five persons in a motor vehicle crash in the northern part of the island. I cannot begin to imagine the horror that these people felt in the final moments before their sudden, and entirely preventable, death. I cannot begin to imagine the pain and sorrow that came over the the family members who are left behind, as they received this terrible news. Sudden death is such an awful thing.
Finally, just tonight news broke that world record holder of the men's 100M, Usain Bolt was involved in a motor vehicle crash early this morning. His second one in three years. Fortunately he seems to be ok and at home resting. Questions will be asked though. Was he drinking and driving? Was he breathalyzed? With such short time to go before the Olympics, was this good idea for him to be on the road at that " hours of morning"?
In the midst of this " bad press " for my embattled country, in the midst of the stout defense put up to protect the " honor" of the Coke name and in the midst of the angst and pathos which attends sudden death, the Lord had a Word.
It began in the midst of my devotions and triggered an e-mail to a number of persons
Take the name of Jesus with youChild of sorrow and of woe,
It will joy and comfort give you;
Take it then, where'er you go.
Refrain
Precious Name, O how sweet!
Hope of earth and joy of heav'n
Precious Name,O how sweet!
Hope of earth and joy of heav'n
Take the Name of Jesus ever,
As a shield from every snare;
If temptations round you gather,
Breathe that holy Name in prayer.
Refrain
Precious Name.....As I began my devotions praising God for protection from evil last night, this song came into my head and had to google it as there no version available in my hymn books. No doubt a response from the Holy Spirit who led me to read and send out as a text the following note;The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10. Call upon the name of Jesus often. In faith and with a desire to be obedient.LWJ
A message which was followed by another one the next day on the same subject:
In the mist of my devotions this morning, when my mind dwells on the maximum sentence that Dudus, Christopher Coke received and the five persons who died tragically on our roads yesterday, and our collective and individual misplaced and skewed reactions to both events, and the message I sent, the Lord led me to this additional message:" Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of our Lord our God.They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. Psalm 20:9. NIV
Thank God for Jesus.LWJ------
Always we have to remember Who is our ultimate protector and Savior. As a very discerning and wise preacher told us this morning in church, we can become socialized to believe that there is nothing wrong with what, other people would readily recognize as, evil. Depending on where one grows up and under what kinds of influence. This is the great importance of having a world view which is transcendent - rooted in the supernatural and omnipresent God of Israel - in its understanding of life, otherwise, we will indeed trust in " horses and chariots" ,rather than in the word of God. And believe me it is not as difficult as we may imagine, as the influence of parents and peers on the young mind is incalculable. This is why it is vitally important to expose your child, and one's own mind to the unchanging and unchangeable word of God from day one, and on a regular basis.
And the more I believe, and trust God, the more I am convinced that the only worthwhile, the only empowering thing to do in life, is to call upon the Precious name of Jesus often. In faith, and in trust that such a " brooding " on the death and resurrection of Jesus will somehow enable us to receive what he has promised, that if we obey His commands, both He and the Father will come and live in us. A revelation borne out by the Word which led to all of this reflection this week:
" For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life". Romans 5: 9-10 NIV
One of the clear indications in the Bible, that belief in the saving grace of the Blood of Christ, is a first step. And how much more is the life of any human being in whom Christ lives by the Holy Spirit. One of our leading gospel artistes,Carlene Davis is so on target. This island needs Jesus. And so does Dudus, and Usain Bolt, and so do the people of Tivoli Gardens. And so do all of us who travel on the roads daily, as you never can predict when " madness" aided and abetted by evil forces will attempt to kill you prematurely. As the Word states that "the evil one has come to steal and kill and destroy, but that Jesus has come that we may have life and have it more abundantly. So I am begging you and beseeching, as I advise myself too:
" Take the Name of Jesus with you", this week, each day, each hour, as it is the only Name on which you can depend in times of trouble, and the only Name you need in times of joy.
.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Bolt, Lady Saw, Injustice and Sin
Three things grabbed my attention this week. One was Usain Bolt's, the world's fastest human being, welcome return to form as he won the Diamond league event in Rome in smashing style. Breaking the previous local record and also running his fourth fastest time ever. As you can imagine, all of us in this fair isle of Jamaica breathed a collective sigh of relief, as no of us can contemplate anything less than a Gold medal in London during the summer Olympics, especially as we continue to celebrate our Jubilee year as an Independent nation. We even excused him , well most of us anyway,
" horsing around " with an Italian flag after the event. Perhaps on hindsight, one of things that one does not do as the Romans do when in Rome. But Bolt, ever the showman that he is can be excused. On this one time.
The other was an education I received this week about Lady Saw's lyrics and mindset. This is a woman who is one of our top dance hall artistes, previously known for her "raw" lyrics, but who in the minds of some, in recent times, has had a " change of heart". So when I overheard her singing on public radio on Saturday evening on RJR - the nation's leading station - during a brief visit to the tailor, I wondered. The essence of the song was that she had no problem with her man having sex with another woman, as long as this other woman was giving him money, and she was getting her share - grands - and he was using a condom. Wow!
Finally, I awoke this morning to read the headlines of one of our local dailies, The Jamaica Observer, about a young man whose brother had been allegedly killed by the police. Went to church and led the Intercessions which included that particular item of news, and came back home to read the gut-wrenching story of how this man had allegedly witnessed an " execution" of his brother by members of the security forces. And further, how he had allegedly overheard them planning a cover up story, which bore strikingly close resemblance to the official report put out but the police.
Are these issues related? Not sure, here is how the Lord grabbed my attention this week. A reflection on the words of a very disturbing and probing hymn. First for myself and then I was moved to send it on to leaders in church and state, as they prepare to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth 11, at a service to be held at my church next Sunday.
....Lord as they prepare to worship YOU, led by the Hon. Prime Minister, as part of the celebrations for Jamaica 50:
Search me , O God and know my heart today;
try me and know my thoughts I pray;
see if there be any wicked way in me,
cleanse me from any sin and set me free........hymn writer.
Lord renew thy church beginning with me;
Lord renew thy church that the church may renew the nation(s)......prayer for the decade of evangelism .
I pray Lord that as you renew me and renew your Bishops, you may renew these servants and leaders of the nation, so that truly, this nation may be renewed. LWJ
I praise thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin ( in and through the life, death and resurrection of Christ).
fulfill thy word, and make me pure within,
fill me with fire where once I burned with shame,
grant my desire to magnify thy name.....hymn writer.
Amen
In Christ.
LWJ
One of the great challenges of the church in today's world is how to preach a full gospel that includes a emphasis on Sin, in a world that is more concerned about, and pre-occupied with, God's love and compassion, and forgiveness, than on His call for Righteousness - right living - and Justice. In fact just last night, no doubt in respond to the Spirit's leading on this matter, I was moved to post the following note on my face-book page.
" One concise description of the gospel: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. 1 Timothy 2:8 NIV. This is the same gospel about which St Paul wrote earlier, when he says, This is why I am suffering and I am not ashamed, because I know who I have believed ....Therefore never be ashamed of the gospel, and be prepared to suffer for it."
The deliberate plan by St Paul to locate the gospel as one which began in the Old Testament, and continues in the new, should alert us to the fact, that God in Christ Jesus is an unchanging God. And therefore contrary to popular thinking, among the unbelievers, the ignorant, and even some of our brethren in North America and Europe, bearing in mind the teachings of the prophets of old, God is equally concerned about Justice and Righteousness and Obedience to His will by all, as He is anxious to show His great love, mercy and compassion to all.
Finally the Lord led me to reflect on one of the great teaching passages in the book of Romans, part of which constituted one of the readings for today in my church. " Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation - but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the spiritual nature, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live because those who are led by the Spirit of God, are sons of God. Romans 8: 12-14 NIV.
So, back to Bolt, Lady Saw and the alleged injustice which grabbed my attention this week. Though we adore, and if truth be told, some even " worship ' him, as our favourite and most gifted athlete, who has brought great fame to our beloved nation and joy to our hearts; if he lives by the sinful nature, whether or not he has eight or nine gold medals, he will die in his sins, and will not attain to everlasting life. " For God so loved the world ( part the gospel reading for today's service) that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whosoever believeth on him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life".
The key thing in life then, is not the achievements or the receiving of accolades, or the celebration of Jubilees, either by Nations of by Monarchs, but rather, the trust in the God who died for all on the Cross of Calvary, lest we perish. Whether it be Bolt, the "King" of Jamaican sprinting or VCB, the " Queen", or Queen Elizabeth, or Lady Saw, or members of the security forces, or people who live in inner cities, or Bishops or National leaders, whether in Jamaica or elsewhere. They will all perish, and so will all of us, as God is not partial.
According the Word, " God has given over all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy on them". So each and everday, our task is not to dream about victory at the Olympics, nor to listen and enjoy all the songs put out by Lady Saw, BeenieMan, Busy Signal, Vybes Kartel, and whoever the pop stars are in your country, but rather to seek to know and obey God, in and through Jesus Christ. As it is only when the Spirit of Christ lives in us, and we put to death the misdeeds of our body, that in fact we will live. And then help others to live, so that police and citizens will no longer be in contention. And the lyrics of our artistes will no longer lead our children, and therefore our nation to be a reproach to God, and cause a nation to perish rather than flourish.....Search me O God and know my heart today. Amen.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Vybes Kartel, Music and National Repentance
One day last week, I heard a a documentary on RJR, one of Jamaica's top radio stations, which featured the work of a young student journalist who is currently studying at our local University of the West Indies. What grabbed my attention was the fact that the subject of the feature program was none other than Jamaica's foremost dance hall artist Vybes Kartel. An entertainer with a huge following especially among the young inner city youths and no doubt gaining popularity internationally also. He is a controversial person and has been linked to a violent gang and is currently languishing in jail awaiting trial for murder. That however does not alter the fact that he has a huge fan base, and coming through the documentary, by way of interviews of persons in from all walks of life in Jamaica, was the fact that Kartel's music and lyrics has the potential to " get the girls to do what the men want them to do". A perspective coming from both young girls and young men. This weekend in Jamaica during a session of teaching, prayers and healing, under the theme , " A Repentant people: A healed Nation, in keeping with our celebrations this year of our 50th anniversary as an Independent nation, one of our most senior pastors, the Rev. Burchell Taylor made an impassioned plea for us as Christians to begin to name the evils in our society for which we need repentance as a nation. This against the background of Rev. Taylor, and later on our newly appointed Anglican Lord Bishop Jamaica, Howard Gregory making the same point that, repentance is more than saying that we are sorry. But rather, it involves a radical revolutionary turn around, back to the source of life and creation, God in Christ, from whom we departed in the first place. And further, that it is a spiritual and moral issue, involving the entire nation. Not just sectors of the society.
For my contribution to the conference, I asked and received a copy of the tape - from the lecturer Fae Ellington - put togther by that young student, Giovanni Dennis, and played an excerpt of it for the audience, during the section headlined, " National and Local Concerns" for prayer. A topic which as expected generated a lot of discussion, as the reality is that the kind of lyrics to which our young people are being exposed today, makes a significant contribution to the moral decay which is affecting our nation, and for which we all need to repent. A perspective, however, definitely not shared by all, including some who still hold on to a notion that we can ask God to bless our nation, while at the same time we "lift up high" this kind of music in our land. This kind of presumption is carried out by all sectors leaders, be they in politics, in the business sector, academia, sports, entertainment, the professional class and others, in the sense that we can ask and expect God to bless us, whilst pursuing our own private agendas.
In this respect, one of the searching and profound messages which came out the conference, is that life for persons who repent and turn to God, can never be the same again. It can never be business as usual again. And so early this morning the Lord led me to the following text from the Bible and which I sent out to a few persons as a text message:
" Elijah went before the people and said, How long will you waiver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him: but of Baal is God, follow him. But the people said nothing." 1 Kings 18: 21 NIV
I believe the Lord led me to reflect on this message at this time in the history of our nation, and in the life of many, to whom this Internet Ministry goes out locally and internationally, as this Word form God goes to heart of the problem which confronts mankind today. " You cannot ride two horses at the same time". Either you choose the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, or you chose some other God. Which either you create for yourself or someone creates for you; both leading to the same disastrous end, as the " prophets" who faced this man of God, Elijah, would soon find out as the story in the book of Kings developed. Further, that choosing to follow the Holy One of Israel requires a radical, revolutionary turn around of our spiritual and moral compass.
This is the implication and direct message of a text which challenged my soul last week.
" So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But of you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not enter the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." Galatians 5: 16-26. NIV
One of the strong points made by Bishop Gregory at the Conference and repeated by others, is that repentance presumes an acceptance and understanding of Sin.
Of an equally profound nature was the observation made by Rev. Taylor that Repentance does not in and by itself bring forgiveness from a Holy God. it's not a commodity to be purchased. But rather that it is the acceptance of the forgiveness forged on the Cross of Calvary which ought to trigger the need for repentance and thus accept the free gift from God. And both of which points are of Global significance in terms of an understanding of the Christian faith, and the God to whom many, including all the Presidents of America look for blessing. This then is missing link in the search for healing in our land - an acceptance of Sin, the rebellion against a Sovereign God. Against a God who declares that there is no other God but Him. As all who live by this sinful nature, and who have not received the Spirit of God by belief in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, are living a life which is open rebellion with the things of God. And there is no health in a nation and in an individual when that conflict occurs and thrives. The life and teaching of some of the lyrics of Vibes Kartel and others like him form part of the challenge that my nation in its year of Jubilee is facing. But there is more. many seek to put their trust in "positive thinkers"; in economic indices which are going in the right direction; in fighting crime with more heavy handed measures; in the " salvation" of our country by voting in the right party; or in opting out of the system by watching cable television only thus seeking to escape the atrocities that happen daily to our people.
Perhaps it's a good time, on this day when the Anglican church and others worldwide, celebrate the day of Pentecost when the Spirit of God was poured on our Lord's disciples with power and drama for all people to repent and made a radical revolutionary turn back to God. And to receive the same Spirit which enabled them to preach the message of Christ's resurrection boldly and to perform miracles in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. We too enabled by the Spirit of the living God can
so abundantly more than we can ask and imagine according to the Word of God. We too, following the God of Elijah and not that of Baal, will have power rout the forces of evil which have captured the minds and hearts of our young people - and some of the older ones as well. We too who walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh can challenge those control power on this country to accept the reality of Sin in our lives, only because of what happened on Calvary, and make the radical revolutionary turn around to Christ, and who knows that the Lord will pour out a blessing indeed on this land. As the promise of the text which under-girds the theme is very much alive and present:
......If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal the land". 2 Chronicles 7: 14. NIV. And we know that all God's promises are "Yes" in Christ Jesus and then we say the Amen.
The outpouring of God's Spirit then on Pentecost, and by whose indwelling the Father and the Son will come to live in us, is a fulfillment of the promise of the OLD Testament, as our God is the same yesterday, today and forevermore.
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