I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth (1 Timothy 3:14-15 ESV).
Perhaps I am not the only one who feels uncomfortable when eulogies are given for someone who has just died that go through a list of all their relationships to others:
“He was a father, son, brother, uncle, cousin, nephew …”
Doubtless when this catalogue is duly recited it gives solace to many who mourn. For me, though, it brings the awkward realisation that I am none of those things to anybody still living. I was once able to tick some of the boxes, but nearly all my blood relatives of any closeness have now died out. Does that mean I shall be a non-person when it is my turn to go and eulogies are spoken over me?
I am very fortunate to have an adopted family - as I’ve mentioned before in the pages of this blog. I’m not sure whether they adopted me or whether it was the other way round, but they are a very important part of my identity. They amply make up for the premature loss of blood relatives. I meet up with them at Christmas and other times of the year. They encourage me to contact them whenever I feel the need. They look for regular contact with me. There are also other households that have been kind enough to remark when I’ve visited,
“We regard you as part of the family, you know”.
I thank God for all of them.
A crucial part of the wonder of Christmas is the way the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth to be part of human families - including our own, if we have been adopted by faith into the household of the Kingdom of God. A writer in Our Daily Bread puts it this way:
“The mystery of Christmas is that Jesus came to us as God in the flesh. Those who believe in Him are called the body of Christ, the church. Paul uses various metaphors to describe it. In 1 Timothy 3:15 he refers to the church as “God’s household.” He is saying that God is our Father, Christ is our brother (Hebrews 2:11-12), and we are God’s children (John 1:12; Galatians 3:26).”
But what is this for? What are its implications? Is it simply there to comfort us and reassure us that we have an identity somewhere? It is more than that. It binds us tightly to the truth of the Gospel which it is the Christian church’s role to contend for. The writer adds,
“Because our Father is the God of truth (John 3:33), because Jesus is the truth (14:6), and because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (15:26), the church is “the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).”
By trusting in Jesus as Saviour men, women and children are being adopted into a special family. It is special not simply because the family members can tick boxes to affirm that they have an identity on earth. It is special because it stands for eternal truths and has everlasting rewards. Have you established your relationships in this family?
Thursday 24 December 2015
Monday 14 December 2015
Role Models
One question I often like to ask people at church is, “Who is your role model in the Bible?”
Role models are a keenly discussed topic in our day. It is said that children follow news about their favourite footballers. If the player has hit the headlines because of scandalous behaviour the child may absorb that behaviour and view it as something normal and good - after all, his or her hero does it.
Much agonising is done about a lack of male teachers in some schools. Children, so the argument goes, see too few men in everyday life that they can look up to as good male role models. But then, clean living people often do not attract a child’s attention because they do not hit the headlines!
The rest of us may well feel we have lived long enough not to idolise anybody. We may admire some people more than others but experience and wisdom have shown that all are afflicted by temptations and weaknesses. We feel a responsibility to live according to our best lights, not someone else’s.
So which role model do you choose from the Bible? Clearly there are some bad ones. The Bible writers never intended that we should see them as anything else. Nobody would pretend that Queen Jezebel of Israel was anything but a bad role model. She consistently championed idol gods and the political interests of her husband, the unrighteous and misguided king Ahab.
Of course there is one easy answer to the question of the best role model, and that is “Jesus!” Certainly there are aspects of His character that I envy. I wish I had more of His human warmth and His ability to read human nature like a book. However, it is too simplistic to say He is a role model to the exclusion of everyone else we might look up to. The apostle Paul, for instance, says,
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV).
Paul is not being big-headed. He doesn’t expect people to imitate anything about him that doesn’t reflect Christ. In this instance he holds himself up as not seeking personal advantage but the good of the many:
“… I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved” (1 Corinthians 10:33).
Paul in turn imitates his Master. Jesus Christ would have been the foremost person with a right to proclaim His own importance. He is the creator of the world and is normally exalted at God the Father’s right hand. But He humbled Himself, even to the point of dying on the cross. Mark’s gospel says about Him,
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
If I were asked to choose a role model (apart from Jesus!) it would be Caleb in the Old Testament. When Moses sent out twelve men to reconnoitre the Promised Land before the people entered, they came up with a discouraging report. Only Caleb and Joshua objected and said how good the land was, just as God promised it would be. But that isn’t the last we hear of Caleb. At 85 years old he presents himself to Joshua, now leader of God’s people in Moses’ place, and announces,
“… my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said” (Joshua 14:8-12).
I don’t say I’m like Caleb, only that I aspire to be like him, with his positive spirit and his refusal to be beaten by age and frailty. May God make me a lifelong soldier for the Christ who saved me. And may I reflect Christ so well that others will see something of Him in me.
Role models are a keenly discussed topic in our day. It is said that children follow news about their favourite footballers. If the player has hit the headlines because of scandalous behaviour the child may absorb that behaviour and view it as something normal and good - after all, his or her hero does it.
Much agonising is done about a lack of male teachers in some schools. Children, so the argument goes, see too few men in everyday life that they can look up to as good male role models. But then, clean living people often do not attract a child’s attention because they do not hit the headlines!
The rest of us may well feel we have lived long enough not to idolise anybody. We may admire some people more than others but experience and wisdom have shown that all are afflicted by temptations and weaknesses. We feel a responsibility to live according to our best lights, not someone else’s.
So which role model do you choose from the Bible? Clearly there are some bad ones. The Bible writers never intended that we should see them as anything else. Nobody would pretend that Queen Jezebel of Israel was anything but a bad role model. She consistently championed idol gods and the political interests of her husband, the unrighteous and misguided king Ahab.
Of course there is one easy answer to the question of the best role model, and that is “Jesus!” Certainly there are aspects of His character that I envy. I wish I had more of His human warmth and His ability to read human nature like a book. However, it is too simplistic to say He is a role model to the exclusion of everyone else we might look up to. The apostle Paul, for instance, says,
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV).
Paul is not being big-headed. He doesn’t expect people to imitate anything about him that doesn’t reflect Christ. In this instance he holds himself up as not seeking personal advantage but the good of the many:
“… I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved” (1 Corinthians 10:33).
Paul in turn imitates his Master. Jesus Christ would have been the foremost person with a right to proclaim His own importance. He is the creator of the world and is normally exalted at God the Father’s right hand. But He humbled Himself, even to the point of dying on the cross. Mark’s gospel says about Him,
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
If I were asked to choose a role model (apart from Jesus!) it would be Caleb in the Old Testament. When Moses sent out twelve men to reconnoitre the Promised Land before the people entered, they came up with a discouraging report. Only Caleb and Joshua objected and said how good the land was, just as God promised it would be. But that isn’t the last we hear of Caleb. At 85 years old he presents himself to Joshua, now leader of God’s people in Moses’ place, and announces,
“… my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said” (Joshua 14:8-12).
I don’t say I’m like Caleb, only that I aspire to be like him, with his positive spirit and his refusal to be beaten by age and frailty. May God make me a lifelong soldier for the Christ who saved me. And may I reflect Christ so well that others will see something of Him in me.
Monday 23 November 2015
Unexpected residents in heaven?
In my last blog entry but one I wrote myself off as something of a Philistine, in the sense of not being given to appreciating art. Yet maybe even I have my moments of artistic discernment. Many years ago I went to an art exhibition in the north Welsh seaside resort of Llandudno. One item in this involved you in opening a door and entering a small room. It turned out that the room was completely unfurnished - except for a number of small terra-cotta figures dotted around the floor. These were stylised little people, just head and body. It turned out that they represented aborted human foetuses. I found myself deeply moved. I visualised a whole town full of people - people who never had the opportunity to be born. It is an image that has stayed with me ever since.
Could there be countless thousands of such individuals peopling the City of God, the Kingdom of Heaven? The status of tiny children in the sight of God has long been a matter of debate. The doctrine of Original Sin claims that we all inherit sin from our first ancestors, Adam and Eve. According to this, humans are automatically sinners simply by being part of the human race. Thus there is no such thing as a time of innocence before the first conscious sin takes place. While the matter is not spelt out in that precise way in the Bible, support for it can readily be found in its pages.
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5 ESV).
Certainly I smile when I hear of arguments about raising the legal age of responsibility. I was probably not yet four years old when I became aware, for the first time, of doing something really wrong. I wandered up the lane to the side of our house and took a fancy to a glass bauble floating in someone’s pond. I fished it out and walked down the lane with it. Soon afterwards Mum saw me. When I spotted her, to use her words, I “destroyed the evidence”. In other words, I smashed the bauble by the side of the road.
Jesus had no illusions about children. He knew their failings, including how small-minded and quarrelsome they could be. He gives us this vivid picture of children moaning when others did not join in their games:
“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,
“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn’.” (Matthew 11:16-17.)
Yet He also talked as though they had a special place in God’s heart.
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 18:10.)
Who exactly the “little ones” were that Jesus had in mind, we are not sure. They might simply have been new Christians. But all around this passage Jesus is talking about children.
When His disciples wanted to discourage parents from bringing children for Him to bless, He protested:
“Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14).
We dare not speculate about heaven beyond what God says in His word, the Bible. The only sure way to heaven is by deliberate trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Yet somehow I would love to think that there is space in heaven for many who never had a chance to walk this earth because powerful and influential interests denied it to them.
Could there be countless thousands of such individuals peopling the City of God, the Kingdom of Heaven? The status of tiny children in the sight of God has long been a matter of debate. The doctrine of Original Sin claims that we all inherit sin from our first ancestors, Adam and Eve. According to this, humans are automatically sinners simply by being part of the human race. Thus there is no such thing as a time of innocence before the first conscious sin takes place. While the matter is not spelt out in that precise way in the Bible, support for it can readily be found in its pages.
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5 ESV).
Certainly I smile when I hear of arguments about raising the legal age of responsibility. I was probably not yet four years old when I became aware, for the first time, of doing something really wrong. I wandered up the lane to the side of our house and took a fancy to a glass bauble floating in someone’s pond. I fished it out and walked down the lane with it. Soon afterwards Mum saw me. When I spotted her, to use her words, I “destroyed the evidence”. In other words, I smashed the bauble by the side of the road.
Jesus had no illusions about children. He knew their failings, including how small-minded and quarrelsome they could be. He gives us this vivid picture of children moaning when others did not join in their games:
“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,
“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn’.” (Matthew 11:16-17.)
Yet He also talked as though they had a special place in God’s heart.
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 18:10.)
Who exactly the “little ones” were that Jesus had in mind, we are not sure. They might simply have been new Christians. But all around this passage Jesus is talking about children.
When His disciples wanted to discourage parents from bringing children for Him to bless, He protested:
“Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14).
We dare not speculate about heaven beyond what God says in His word, the Bible. The only sure way to heaven is by deliberate trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Yet somehow I would love to think that there is space in heaven for many who never had a chance to walk this earth because powerful and influential interests denied it to them.
Tuesday 10 November 2015
Forecasting the Weather
As I prepare to move down south any time now, I am keenly following the weather forecasts to see what the conditions will be like when furniture is going into the van and coming out of it. Will it rain? Will it be windy? Both of those things could drastically affect the way the move goes.
It's all part of a lifelong interest in the weather. I love to learn about changing weather patterns mean. I enjoy identifying the various types of cloud and getting to know what they indicate. I once read the book The Cloudspotter's Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney. He used to spend hours and hours apparently whiling away time but was in fact intently studying cloud formations and everything connected with them. I also own a weather station that enables me to gather all the relevant information together and try to make my own forecast.
In fact simply making sense of other people's weather forecasts is hard enough. I think of the airport weather forecasts. Their detailed, coded data are supposed to help pilots of aircraft who need to be sure of weather conditions before they fly. Understanding them is often a question of trying to work out what it is indicated by probabilities. Say they give a 30% chance of rain. Well, does that mean it will rain or doesn't it? I find the whole approach very frustrating.
In fact most forecasting involves percentages. It's a way of hedging your bets!
I am intrigued by a weather forecast in the Bible. It comes when Jesus confronted some of his opponents over their narrow-mindedness and foolishness and inability to see what was coming the way He could. You can find that story in Matthew's gospel chapter 16.
And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed (Matthew 16:1-4 ESV).
The Pharisees were looking for some spectacular demonstration of Jesus' power, as if they hadn't seen enough of those already. Jesus points out the inconsistency of their position. They are instinctively able to tell the weather to come from the weather lore. Yet Jesus' coming should give thoughtful hearers a pointer to the state of God's world now and where it is heading. Jesus' opponents are blind to the signs - signs that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, that new conditions are approaching where God is seen to be in charge, where wrongs will be seen to be righted and a new order of things put into place.
We too can be guilty of looking at the world around us with blinkers on. I hear people obsessing about which news item fulfils which Bible prophecy. We may well be wasting our time looking for these often fanciful connections while the real signs go tragically unnoticed.
Jesus counsels the Pharisees and Sadducees to study the sign of Jonah. That presumably means the way that prophet was three days in the belly of the big fish before emerging into daylight again. This would be paralleled spectacularly by the way the Lord Jesus would be three days dead and then after that time rise again to newness of life, to bring about conditions of forgiveness and healing for all who believe.
Let's be keen on understanding the future - as God sees it. That will mean gaining Holy Spirit wisdom to sift out the relevant from the irrelevant in our quest for signs.
(By way of a footnote: moving day, 9 November, started off wet but ended much drier. After a very long day I was finally and happily installed in my new home in Wiltshire.)
It's all part of a lifelong interest in the weather. I love to learn about changing weather patterns mean. I enjoy identifying the various types of cloud and getting to know what they indicate. I once read the book The Cloudspotter's Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney. He used to spend hours and hours apparently whiling away time but was in fact intently studying cloud formations and everything connected with them. I also own a weather station that enables me to gather all the relevant information together and try to make my own forecast.
In fact simply making sense of other people's weather forecasts is hard enough. I think of the airport weather forecasts. Their detailed, coded data are supposed to help pilots of aircraft who need to be sure of weather conditions before they fly. Understanding them is often a question of trying to work out what it is indicated by probabilities. Say they give a 30% chance of rain. Well, does that mean it will rain or doesn't it? I find the whole approach very frustrating.
In fact most forecasting involves percentages. It's a way of hedging your bets!
I am intrigued by a weather forecast in the Bible. It comes when Jesus confronted some of his opponents over their narrow-mindedness and foolishness and inability to see what was coming the way He could. You can find that story in Matthew's gospel chapter 16.
And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed (Matthew 16:1-4 ESV).
The Pharisees were looking for some spectacular demonstration of Jesus' power, as if they hadn't seen enough of those already. Jesus points out the inconsistency of their position. They are instinctively able to tell the weather to come from the weather lore. Yet Jesus' coming should give thoughtful hearers a pointer to the state of God's world now and where it is heading. Jesus' opponents are blind to the signs - signs that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, that new conditions are approaching where God is seen to be in charge, where wrongs will be seen to be righted and a new order of things put into place.
We too can be guilty of looking at the world around us with blinkers on. I hear people obsessing about which news item fulfils which Bible prophecy. We may well be wasting our time looking for these often fanciful connections while the real signs go tragically unnoticed.
Jesus counsels the Pharisees and Sadducees to study the sign of Jonah. That presumably means the way that prophet was three days in the belly of the big fish before emerging into daylight again. This would be paralleled spectacularly by the way the Lord Jesus would be three days dead and then after that time rise again to newness of life, to bring about conditions of forgiveness and healing for all who believe.
Let's be keen on understanding the future - as God sees it. That will mean gaining Holy Spirit wisdom to sift out the relevant from the irrelevant in our quest for signs.
(By way of a footnote: moving day, 9 November, started off wet but ended much drier. After a very long day I was finally and happily installed in my new home in Wiltshire.)
Friday 23 October 2015
Philistines
I am surely the despair of any culture vulture I happen to meet.
It is not as though I am devoid of refined feelings. I have at home a DVD of a lovely production about the life of Jesus. This combines the skills of Russian puppet makers and Welsh cartoonists. It sees the whole story from the point of view of Jairus’ daughter, whom Jesus raises from death (Luke 8:41-42 and 49-56). The plot imagines the little girl, now recovered, to have become a lifelong follower of Jesus in gratitude. I always weep as I watch this.
My reactions to highbrow productions, though, usually range from indifference to unbounded mirth.
The thought of people talking to each other in blank verse - as in Shakespeare’s plays - or, worse still, singing to each other as in opera, causes me huge amusement. I haven’t yet learned to take ballet seriously either. As a non-dancer I can imagine myself playing the part in Swan Lake where the duck drops dead. As a modern art critic I am foremost among those who declare that a bunch of monkeys could do just as well … you get the idea. Any sophisticated person would undoubtedly dismiss me as a Philistine.
This term of abuse refers to what my copy of the Shorter Oxford Dictionary describes as
“An uneducated or unenlightened person; a person indifferent or hostile to culture, or whose interests and tastes are commonplace and material."
This, incidentally, is a misunderstanding of what the original Philistines were like. These enemies of the Israelites who occupied part of the west coast of Palestine in Bible times were certainly warlike, but they were also highly cultured and advanced.
The towns of these Sea People show much evidence of careful planning, with industrial zones just as there are in the cities of today. Philistine pottery ware was of remarkable design. The Philistines seem to have exercised control over iron working. 1 Samuel 13 tells us that God’s people had to go to them to have their tools and weapons sharpened. It is not for nothing that the land of Palestine is named after them.
One thing about them, however, was definitely primitive and crude: their religion. In reality, they seem to have had none of their own. They borrowed the debased gods of the local Canaanites.
I remember seeing the film Samson and Delilah as a child. I was scared witless by the horrible statue of the god Dagon tottering and crashing to the ground. This took place when strong man Samson, blinded and humiliated by the Philistines, brought down their pagan temple and thus took revenge on his tormentors (Judges 16:23-31).
There never has been a place in the religion of God’s people for idolatry. The Ten Commandments condemned it. They also outlined a wholesome way of life that stood in sharp contrast to the unseemly goings-on among their neighbours. From their Jewish heritage stemmed the Lord Jesus Christ. He personally kept the Commandments perfectly. Yet He went much further than the Law of Moses. He died and rose again so that those who trust in Him could find forgiveness of sin and favour with God. This free mercy truly is divine wisdom. It is a height that no other religion can seriously approach.
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’
“Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18-25 NIV).
All believers have a responsibility to live right, but no longer need anyone live in terror and superstition. I fear somewhat for those who call themselves sophisticated but have no time for God. When the dust has settled they are likely to find that they, not genuine Christian believers, have been the real Philistines.
It is not as though I am devoid of refined feelings. I have at home a DVD of a lovely production about the life of Jesus. This combines the skills of Russian puppet makers and Welsh cartoonists. It sees the whole story from the point of view of Jairus’ daughter, whom Jesus raises from death (Luke 8:41-42 and 49-56). The plot imagines the little girl, now recovered, to have become a lifelong follower of Jesus in gratitude. I always weep as I watch this.
My reactions to highbrow productions, though, usually range from indifference to unbounded mirth.
The thought of people talking to each other in blank verse - as in Shakespeare’s plays - or, worse still, singing to each other as in opera, causes me huge amusement. I haven’t yet learned to take ballet seriously either. As a non-dancer I can imagine myself playing the part in Swan Lake where the duck drops dead. As a modern art critic I am foremost among those who declare that a bunch of monkeys could do just as well … you get the idea. Any sophisticated person would undoubtedly dismiss me as a Philistine.
This term of abuse refers to what my copy of the Shorter Oxford Dictionary describes as
“An uneducated or unenlightened person; a person indifferent or hostile to culture, or whose interests and tastes are commonplace and material."
This, incidentally, is a misunderstanding of what the original Philistines were like. These enemies of the Israelites who occupied part of the west coast of Palestine in Bible times were certainly warlike, but they were also highly cultured and advanced.
The towns of these Sea People show much evidence of careful planning, with industrial zones just as there are in the cities of today. Philistine pottery ware was of remarkable design. The Philistines seem to have exercised control over iron working. 1 Samuel 13 tells us that God’s people had to go to them to have their tools and weapons sharpened. It is not for nothing that the land of Palestine is named after them.
One thing about them, however, was definitely primitive and crude: their religion. In reality, they seem to have had none of their own. They borrowed the debased gods of the local Canaanites.
I remember seeing the film Samson and Delilah as a child. I was scared witless by the horrible statue of the god Dagon tottering and crashing to the ground. This took place when strong man Samson, blinded and humiliated by the Philistines, brought down their pagan temple and thus took revenge on his tormentors (Judges 16:23-31).
There never has been a place in the religion of God’s people for idolatry. The Ten Commandments condemned it. They also outlined a wholesome way of life that stood in sharp contrast to the unseemly goings-on among their neighbours. From their Jewish heritage stemmed the Lord Jesus Christ. He personally kept the Commandments perfectly. Yet He went much further than the Law of Moses. He died and rose again so that those who trust in Him could find forgiveness of sin and favour with God. This free mercy truly is divine wisdom. It is a height that no other religion can seriously approach.
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’
“Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18-25 NIV).
All believers have a responsibility to live right, but no longer need anyone live in terror and superstition. I fear somewhat for those who call themselves sophisticated but have no time for God. When the dust has settled they are likely to find that they, not genuine Christian believers, have been the real Philistines.
Saturday 10 October 2015
Bone Idle
It feels like a bit of a challenge to move back into employment.
I’ve been in that ambiguous state that could be regarded either as “between churches” or “retired early”. Life for me has mostly gone on at a stately pace.
Many senior Christians with busier personalities and better connections than mine fill their time to capacity, even without paid employment. “We are so busy now we are retired,” they cry, “that we don’t know how we found time to work!”
When I’ve been at home, I’ve got by through having a daily routine. Behind it all are twin basic aims: to make sure to speak to someone and to get out of the four walls each day.
The routine involves plenty of time spent behind a desk. I have a rich and varied devotional time in the mornings. Then comes preaching and teaching preparation. At some point in the day I will go out walking or shopping for an hour or so, always hoping to have a chat to at least one other person on the way. Other elements in the mix include educational TV watching and a great deal of resting. Apart from that, filling the hours has often been a matter of doing the rounds of coffee events like an old timer!
The opportunity to do guest house ministry in Wales has been a Godsend. This season I will have spent some 60 days in Llandudno and Conwy. This has given me a real focus of interest.
To be fair to myself, I have endeavoured to do volunteering work in my local community, and have been enriched by joining community organisations. Yet it’s amazing how often you find you simply aren’t needed.
All in all, I can understand why people go on pre-retirement courses; it is very easy to vegetate if you don’t plan for all those empty hours and set goals for yourself.
What does the great adventure of a new pastorate do for my use of time? In many ways that remains to be seen. When you are looking after one small church, there are limits to what you can do. I know some pastors who cope with that by deliberately making work for themselves in order to justify their existence. That is not my approach. Of course I hope the new appointment will generate enough activity, as the months go by, to keep me fully occupied simply doing what God puts my way. Until that happens, my pattern may not look vastly different from the routine described above. But I would rather be busy in God’s way than mine.
The Bible is firm with idle and lazy people.
Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
Without having any chief, officer, or ruler,
she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest.
How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
(Proverbs 6:6-11 ESV)
“Be diligent,” counselled John Wesley right at the start of his “Twelve Rules of a Helper”. “Never be unemployed a moment. Never be triflingly employed. Never while away time.” And lower down: “You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work.”
It did him no harm; he lived for some 88 years! At the same time, being human is about “being” as well as “doing”, and I trust Christians will encourage church workers to have sanctified leisure as well as being busy, busy, busy. Our Saviour sets the pattern.
On the lone mountain side,
Before the morning’s light,
The Man of sorrows wept and cried,
And rose refreshed with might.
Oh, hear us then, for we
Are very weak and frail,
We make the Saviour’s Name our plea,
And surely must prevail.
From C.H. Spurgeon, "Sweetly the holy hymn" in Hymns for an Early Morning Prayer Meeting (perhaps inspired by Matthew 14:23 “And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone …” )
I’ve been in that ambiguous state that could be regarded either as “between churches” or “retired early”. Life for me has mostly gone on at a stately pace.
Many senior Christians with busier personalities and better connections than mine fill their time to capacity, even without paid employment. “We are so busy now we are retired,” they cry, “that we don’t know how we found time to work!”
When I’ve been at home, I’ve got by through having a daily routine. Behind it all are twin basic aims: to make sure to speak to someone and to get out of the four walls each day.
The routine involves plenty of time spent behind a desk. I have a rich and varied devotional time in the mornings. Then comes preaching and teaching preparation. At some point in the day I will go out walking or shopping for an hour or so, always hoping to have a chat to at least one other person on the way. Other elements in the mix include educational TV watching and a great deal of resting. Apart from that, filling the hours has often been a matter of doing the rounds of coffee events like an old timer!
The opportunity to do guest house ministry in Wales has been a Godsend. This season I will have spent some 60 days in Llandudno and Conwy. This has given me a real focus of interest.
To be fair to myself, I have endeavoured to do volunteering work in my local community, and have been enriched by joining community organisations. Yet it’s amazing how often you find you simply aren’t needed.
All in all, I can understand why people go on pre-retirement courses; it is very easy to vegetate if you don’t plan for all those empty hours and set goals for yourself.
What does the great adventure of a new pastorate do for my use of time? In many ways that remains to be seen. When you are looking after one small church, there are limits to what you can do. I know some pastors who cope with that by deliberately making work for themselves in order to justify their existence. That is not my approach. Of course I hope the new appointment will generate enough activity, as the months go by, to keep me fully occupied simply doing what God puts my way. Until that happens, my pattern may not look vastly different from the routine described above. But I would rather be busy in God’s way than mine.
The Bible is firm with idle and lazy people.
Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
Without having any chief, officer, or ruler,
she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest.
How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
(Proverbs 6:6-11 ESV)
“Be diligent,” counselled John Wesley right at the start of his “Twelve Rules of a Helper”. “Never be unemployed a moment. Never be triflingly employed. Never while away time.” And lower down: “You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work.”
It did him no harm; he lived for some 88 years! At the same time, being human is about “being” as well as “doing”, and I trust Christians will encourage church workers to have sanctified leisure as well as being busy, busy, busy. Our Saviour sets the pattern.
On the lone mountain side,
Before the morning’s light,
The Man of sorrows wept and cried,
And rose refreshed with might.
Oh, hear us then, for we
Are very weak and frail,
We make the Saviour’s Name our plea,
And surely must prevail.
From C.H. Spurgeon, "Sweetly the holy hymn" in Hymns for an Early Morning Prayer Meeting (perhaps inspired by Matthew 14:23 “And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone …” )
Friday 25 September 2015
Migrations - the sequel
The move south is a few weeks away yet. My life, though, is gradually being transferred to storage bins and boxes. It is a familiar routine. On average, in recent times, I have moved once every four years.
Perhaps I’m something of a nomad. And perhaps that’s the way God wants it, but I’ve been resistant.
You see, I have a couple of dreams. One is definitely within God’s will. The other I’m more doubtful about.
The doubtful dream is one about eventually being settled. On retirement you find a pleasant home where you can put down roots in a healthful area that you already know reasonably well.
The facilities are good and there are friendly people who know you and will welcome you. Within easy reach are to be found a sound gospel church and community groups to join. You have a garden you can get established and enough space in the house to accommodate an array of exciting electronic gadgets. The neighbourhood is quiet; country lanes are not far away. The noise pollution of barking, yelping pet dogs is mercifully a thing of the past. A sufficient, guaranteed pension income allows you to explore new possibilities.
Sounds good at first. It fails to take account of a number of things.
First, I have yet to master this retirement business. When faced with enforced leisure I don’t function well.
Second, in God’s purposes there is no real retirement. The Promised Land was supposed to be journey’s end for the Israelites of old. Yet they were expected to leave their houses once a year and build shelters for themselves out in the open - it was called the Feast of Tabernacles - to remind them of the Exodus from Egypt. This festival is no longer binding on Christians, but they are told in Hebrews 13:14
For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come (NIV).
This should be a warning. A long, settled earthly retirement is not wrong for the Christian, but it is not an automatic entitlement either.
The other dream is more likely to be within God’s will. It is about being pastor of a church where I can serve God productively among people who understand what that service means.
“Surely,” you say to yourself, “that would describe any church.” Yet it is astonishing how many put road blocks in front of a pastor that are totally uncalled for. In situations like that a pastor will feel that he is a guest at the table, not a member of the family. Meaningful service becomes impossible and survival or departure is the name of the game.
As the next stage of my life’s journey takes me to Wiltshire, I have high hopes that the experience will be positive both for the new pastor and for the church.
It will be a joy to find the elusive pastorate which works out. Yet that joy, like all earthly joys, is a guide and a pointer rather than an end in itself. For those who remain faithful unto death, through all the ups and downs, there is a heavenly home yet to be revealed.
Years ago, God spoke to me dramatically through Psalm 138:8 -
The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me.
The Holy Spirit brings this up to date for the Christian in another verse, Philippians 1:6 -
… he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Make that Day your goal, and both disappointments and joys fall into their God-given place.
Monday 14 September 2015
Migrations
Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: "My father was a wandering Aramaean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians ill-treated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labour. Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And now I bring the first fruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me." Deuteronomy 26:5-10 NIV
Migration
is a phenomenon
that applies
not only
to
the human race but
also to
much of nature. We
wonder at
the extraordinary movements of birds, summer by summer, making their
way to their northern feeding grounds and then returning southwards
for the winter.
Among
humans
there were vast
migrations even
before written
history began.
As a student of languages, I used
to learn
about the massive people movements that must have taken place in time
out of mind. Early
populations would have moved en
masse from
central Asia and fanned
out right through Europe, taking their languages with them.
Nowadays
the issue of migration is very much a talking point. Many thousands
are desperate to get from their homelands in Africa and Asia and make
their way to the west. In an effort to make sense of it all, we try
to classify them as either economic migrants or political refugees.
Economic migrants are mostly seen as wishing to take advantage of the
affluence of the developed world, unless they can contribute skills
that the receiving country particularly needs. Political migrants may
find a more sympathetic reception. These are people who go in the
fear of their lives because of conditions in their home countries. In
practice it is often not possible to determine which motive is
uppermost in the mind of a particular migrant.
There
is much about migration in the Bible. The Exodus of the Israelites
from Egypt into the Promised Land is burned into the consciousness of
the Jewish people and indeed Christians to this very day. The model of Christians as people on a journey looms large in the book of Hebrews. In
Hebrews 12:13-14
we read that
the Lord Jesus was hounded to death as an outsider and His followers
too are outsiders in this world:
“…
Jesus
also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people
through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp
and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city,
but we seek the city that is to come.” (ESV)
Because
true
citizens of God’s Kingdom
are looking for another and better country, they are never prepared to
compromise with the worldly conditions and expectations that they
find around them. We may have all the trappings of affluence. Yet we
cannot simply rest content with the status we have
now. The Lord Jesus made
these pointed remarks:
And
when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they
disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others.
Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward (Matthew 6:16)
In
other words, in the admiration people give them they have already had
all the reward they are going to get.
In
what I call the Great Reversal, Jesus repeatedly
states
how the downtrodden will receive blessing in the next life. Remember,
too, that He said about Himself that He had nowhere to lay His head
(Matthew
8:20).
None
of this means that we can in any way romanticise the aching issues of
migration, the human dramas that are going on around us. But it does
remind us that the human race is not programmed to be stuck in a
groove. We are to embrace change – first and foremost the change of
repentance: the 180° turnaround from sin to righteousness, from
rejecting Christ to accepting Him. Then we go on to move deliberately
to the pattern of service that God has for us, which may take us well
away from the familiar and comfortable.
Friday 28 August 2015
Monumental Vanity
“Vanity of vanities,” exclaimed the fabulously wealthy King Solomon after conducting a long experiment in enjoying every kind of luxury. “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2 NKJV).
During the past couple of years, travelling about with time to spare, I have discovered a number of things about myself. One is that I have mixed feelings about stately homes.
As a member of the National Trust I have the privilege of free access, during the season, to over 300 historic buildings all round the country. I wouldn’t say that I don’t still enjoy visiting such places. There’s always some new focus of interest. I am not even too bothered by having to fight my way through crowds (sometimes almost literally) to get round. I appreciate that the Trust is very popular and others have just the same right to be there as I do.
It’s really a case of knowing too much about how these places came into existence. The two words “conspicuous consumption” just about cover it. If you had the good(?) fortune to rise in wealth or status in past times, the social set you moved among would expect you to keep up appearances. To do this meant spending your gains on colossal building projects, on acquiring curios, engaging in the social whirl, travel and other pursuits that made a good impression in the right places.
What of the people who were involved in providing the services that kept this aristocratic leisure industry in being? The whole enterprise would certainly provide employment for a large workforce in the professions, the crafts and trades. It was, in that sense, good for the local economy. But then there were the countless menial workers who lived a life of sheer drudgery and often danger to keep the whole business going.
Sometimes you can spot in the great houses a hint of recognition of the roles of these lowly people. I am thinking of Penrhyn Castle in North Wales. This full-scale mock-Norman castle was a massive statement of the power of the Pennant family. For many generations they had profited from the slave trade. When this was abolished they continued to amass enormous wealth, but did so now from the slate mines at nearby Bethesda.
Amid all the signs of showy opulence in the Castle there hangs a painting depicting quarry workers at their perilous and wretched toil. It is sobering to study the picture and consider how the Castle, that overbearing monument to the vain pretensions of man, stands today as a result of their humble labours. It is also pleasing that, in the work of art, these toilers gain at least a little belated credit.
But back to King Solomon and the Bible book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon was like one of the castle-building landed gentry but with a philosophical turn of mind. For him the years of leisure and wealth were the opportunity for a giant experiment to find out what really matters in life. At various times he tried laughter, alcohol, building projects, financial investment and wisdom. He concluded that all were pointless.
Solomon seemed to sink into despair until the very last two verses.
Fear God and keep his commandments,
For this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether it is good or whether it is evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
In other words, every activity is meaningful after all … because God judges it! Everything is significant because nothing escapes His notice.
It is easy to feel that you are just a meaningless cog in a wheel, engaged in dead-end work, going nowhere. But that is not how God sees us. As the Lord Jesus says,
“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Therefore whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:29-32).
As for my visits to the former estates of the rich, I get more pleasure out of going round the gardens than the houses nowadays. There is more room to move. Nature is better than man-made display. The gardens also give me ideas for plants for when I again have a workable garden of my own.
Saturday 8 August 2015
Firstfruits
Most of the fruit here in the north-west of England is still green. However, some early ripening brambles have already begun to mature, as I discovered the weekend before last. I had nothing handy to put any fruit in, but still couldn’t resist picking some. Home wasn’t far away, and I took back all I could in my cupped hand.
The first instalment - the firstfruits. These are important in the Bible. Exodus 23 talks of the Feast of Harvest to be celebrated with
“the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field” (verse 16, NIV)
and directs,
“Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God” (verse 19).
The books of Leviticus and Numbers describe how the firstfruits should be brought to God as a ritual offering. But firstfruits need not simply be grain. They could be human as well. Deuteronomy 21:15-17 describes a situation sadly common in early Bible times when a man had two wives, one of whom he came to prefer to the other.
The scenario goes on to assume that the man had boy children by them both. He was not to give the child of the loved wife precedence over the child of the unloved. If the son of the unloved is the firstborn, he must be given
“a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength”.
So “firstfruits” can be extended to mean the first instalment of anything. It is not surprising that the Lord Jesus Christ is described as firstfruits. He achieved many spectacular firsts - most of all when He rose again from death. 1 Corinthians 15:20 goes,
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep”, in other words, those who die believing in Him will follow in His footsteps and rise again - that is a promise!
Romans 8:23 talks about believers having “the firstfruits of the Spirit”. The new, spiritual lease of life that is breathed into us when we become Christians is like a down-payment on the eternal glory to come in God’s heavenly kingdom. In a similar way the earliest Christians are thought of in the Bible as the firstfruits of the great multitude of those who will be saved down the centuries by trusting in Jesus.
The firstfruits were collected a long time ago. But, tell me, are you part of that great harvest that follows them, to God’s glory?
I look forward to another bumper crop of blackberries - the first few I held in my hand a couple of weeks ago being just the firstfruits. I won’t be able to keep them in the freezer this time, though. You see, God has graciously given me another opportunity to be the Pastor of a church. Within a few months I expect to be on the move down south. It is wonderful to have this new opening for service. May God give me and all His faithful labourers an abundant harvest.
Thursday 30 July 2015
Faith - not so unreachable
It is ever so frustrating to have someone say to you, “I wish I had your faith”, when you know perfectly well there is nothing stopping them!
People of firm Christian faith are not a different species from anyone else, nor do they live on a different planet. They are not saintly Olympians who can strain every muscle to achieve world records in some hugely daunting spiritual discipline.
Persons of weak faith and those of strong faith all share a common humanity and are all alike created in God’s image. God thinks of unbelievers in exactly the same terms as He thinks of Christians:
“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23 ESV)
Two war veterans were responding to their experience of the Vietnam conflict. One declared,
“I do not believe in God, because God couldn’t allow something so appallingly bad.”
The other declared,
“I believe in God, because there has to be something better than this.”
Here, I would suggest, is the difference. Both men had endured the same things. On one level the viewpoint of the second man was just a hair’s breadth away from that of the first. On another level it was a world away. He had some faith. The other had none.
The following very thoughtful description of faith is from a Lebanese Christian who chose to stay in her own country, at great personal risk, instead of leaving to seek peace and security abroad. It comes down to five straightforward affirmations she makes about God.
Faith is:
From “Day by Day With the Persecuted Church” (ed. Jan Pit)
Are you willing to believe
And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” (Luke 17:6)
In hope, against all human hope,
self-desperate, I believe;
Thy quickening word shall raise me up,
Thou shalt Thy Spirit give.
Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,
and looks to that alone;
laughs at impossibilities,
and cries: It shall be done!
Charles Wesley, 1707-88
People of firm Christian faith are not a different species from anyone else, nor do they live on a different planet. They are not saintly Olympians who can strain every muscle to achieve world records in some hugely daunting spiritual discipline.
Persons of weak faith and those of strong faith all share a common humanity and are all alike created in God’s image. God thinks of unbelievers in exactly the same terms as He thinks of Christians:
“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23 ESV)
Two war veterans were responding to their experience of the Vietnam conflict. One declared,
“I do not believe in God, because God couldn’t allow something so appallingly bad.”
The other declared,
“I believe in God, because there has to be something better than this.”
Here, I would suggest, is the difference. Both men had endured the same things. On one level the viewpoint of the second man was just a hair’s breadth away from that of the first. On another level it was a world away. He had some faith. The other had none.
The following very thoughtful description of faith is from a Lebanese Christian who chose to stay in her own country, at great personal risk, instead of leaving to seek peace and security abroad. It comes down to five straightforward affirmations she makes about God.
Faith is:
- Expecting God to accomplish miracles through my five loaves and two fishes. He can use me.
- Rejecting the feeling of panic when things seem out of control. He is in control.
- Confidence in God's faithfulness to me in an uncertain world. He holds the future.
- Depending on the fact that God loves me, not on my ability to figure out how or why. He can be trusted.
- Thanking God for his gift of emotional health, not assuming it all stems from my ability to cope with stress. He provides.
From “Day by Day With the Persecuted Church” (ed. Jan Pit)
Are you willing to believe
- that God can use you?
- That He is in control?
- That He holds the future?
- That He can be trusted?
- That He provides?
And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” (Luke 17:6)
In hope, against all human hope,
self-desperate, I believe;
Thy quickening word shall raise me up,
Thou shalt Thy Spirit give.
Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,
and looks to that alone;
laughs at impossibilities,
and cries: It shall be done!
Charles Wesley, 1707-88
Tuesday 14 July 2015
Miracles
The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary defines "miracle" as "an act or event that does not follow the laws of nature and is believed to be caused by God". Today, experts seem determined to exclude the miraculous when trying to explain the universe. I believe it is a huge mistake to banish miracles. If you do so, explaining the universe becomes like putting together a jigsaw with some important pieces missing.
The Lord Jesus Christ made use of miracles so that intelligent observers could form a clear picture of who He really was. The Gospel of Mark describes how He did this. A thoughtful Our Daily Bread Ministries writer shows how Mark puts it over for us. The section from chapter 4 verse 35 to chapter 5 verse 43 records four miracles. After the first, the disciples are "very much afraid" and ask one another, "Who then is this ...?" (Mark 4:41 NASB). This is exactly what Jesus means them to do, so they can learn the truth about Him.
The first in this series of miracles is the stilling of the storm (4:35-41). It demonstrates Jesus’ absolute power over nature. Incidentally, it also shows He is completely human too, with a human being's weakness. He was so tired that even the violent tossing of the waves did not wake Him at first, so that the disciples were scared at first that their boat would capsize before He could help!
The second miracle shows Jesus' total command of the spiritual world (5:1-20). It is the healing of a man who was so profoundly deranged as to be beyond all human help. However sceptical you may be about demons leaving the man and entering an enormous herd of pigs, the simultaneous jumping of the pigs into the sea would only have added to the onlookers' sense of how awesome the miracle was.
Not only did wonders never before seen occur during Jesus' ministry, wonder often followed wonder in quick succession. Jesus' reputation for healing the sick was growing apace. A woman with a haemorrhage testified to having tapped into healing power from Jesus (5:33). The Saviour was already on His way to lay healing hands on a desperately sick small girl. After the previous healing incident, word came that the girl had died. Undaunted, Jesus went on to reveal that He had power even over death: He raised the girl back to life.
"Who then is this?" Each miracle shows Jesus as the Omnipotent Sovereign God. To a first century Jew who knew his Bible, these works echoed Old Testament stories which would have been familiar to him. The days of Moses who parted the seas, and Elijah who breathed life back into the dead, were back. It was as though God's ancient power had returned to earth and gone into overdrive. "In Jewish minds," says our thoughtful writer, "the power to control the sea and the waves was exclusive to God (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 65:5-7; Isaiah 51:10; Nahum 1:3-5)."
You can refuse, if you like, to believe in miracles or to see through the eyes of His onlookers what Jesus did. Some did indeed refuse to believe. But surely you, like these nay-sayers, will be missing the whole point!
Who is He, in yonder stall,
At whose feet the shepherds fall? ...
Who is He that from the grave
Comes to heal and help and save? ...
Who is He that from His throne
Rules through all the worlds alone?
'Tis the Lord! O wondrous story!
'Tis the Lord, the King of Glory!
At His feet we humbly fall;
Crown Him, crown Him Lord of all.
Benjamin Russell Hanby, 1833-67
The Lord Jesus Christ made use of miracles so that intelligent observers could form a clear picture of who He really was. The Gospel of Mark describes how He did this. A thoughtful Our Daily Bread Ministries writer shows how Mark puts it over for us. The section from chapter 4 verse 35 to chapter 5 verse 43 records four miracles. After the first, the disciples are "very much afraid" and ask one another, "Who then is this ...?" (Mark 4:41 NASB). This is exactly what Jesus means them to do, so they can learn the truth about Him.
The first in this series of miracles is the stilling of the storm (4:35-41). It demonstrates Jesus’ absolute power over nature. Incidentally, it also shows He is completely human too, with a human being's weakness. He was so tired that even the violent tossing of the waves did not wake Him at first, so that the disciples were scared at first that their boat would capsize before He could help!
The second miracle shows Jesus' total command of the spiritual world (5:1-20). It is the healing of a man who was so profoundly deranged as to be beyond all human help. However sceptical you may be about demons leaving the man and entering an enormous herd of pigs, the simultaneous jumping of the pigs into the sea would only have added to the onlookers' sense of how awesome the miracle was.
Not only did wonders never before seen occur during Jesus' ministry, wonder often followed wonder in quick succession. Jesus' reputation for healing the sick was growing apace. A woman with a haemorrhage testified to having tapped into healing power from Jesus (5:33). The Saviour was already on His way to lay healing hands on a desperately sick small girl. After the previous healing incident, word came that the girl had died. Undaunted, Jesus went on to reveal that He had power even over death: He raised the girl back to life.
"Who then is this?" Each miracle shows Jesus as the Omnipotent Sovereign God. To a first century Jew who knew his Bible, these works echoed Old Testament stories which would have been familiar to him. The days of Moses who parted the seas, and Elijah who breathed life back into the dead, were back. It was as though God's ancient power had returned to earth and gone into overdrive. "In Jewish minds," says our thoughtful writer, "the power to control the sea and the waves was exclusive to God (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 65:5-7; Isaiah 51:10; Nahum 1:3-5)."
You can refuse, if you like, to believe in miracles or to see through the eyes of His onlookers what Jesus did. Some did indeed refuse to believe. But surely you, like these nay-sayers, will be missing the whole point!
Who is He, in yonder stall,
At whose feet the shepherds fall? ...
Who is He that from the grave
Comes to heal and help and save? ...
Who is He that from His throne
Rules through all the worlds alone?
'Tis the Lord! O wondrous story!
'Tis the Lord, the King of Glory!
At His feet we humbly fall;
Crown Him, crown Him Lord of all.
Benjamin Russell Hanby, 1833-67
Friday 26 June 2015
A lifelong learner
The apostle Paul mentored a young protege called Timothy. As he came to the close of his life, Paul saw it as an urgent matter to encourage Timothy to be a lifelong learner.
Timothy had clearly got off to a good start. Paul reminds his young reader in 2 Timothy 1:5,
"I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well." (ESV)
In chapter 3 he goes on,
"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."
In many different places, the Bible has been associated with learning. At schools in the developing world, it is often used not just as a textbook for teaching religious studies but also for teaching English (or the local language).
I think of the story of Mary Jones in Wales at the dawn of the 19th century. Christians who hear of the remarkable account of this young Welsh girl often travel to visit Bala, in central Wales, where she walked barefoot 26 miles to buy a Bible.
Mary was of humble stock and lived in a remote Welsh village. As a small child of nine years old, she had to help her mother with many of the household chores. Her father, a weaver who had previously supported the family, had died. She attended her local chapel and used to love looking at the Bible that the minister used. Being unschooled, though, she was unable to read it.
Then a schoolmaster, Mr Evans, moved into the village and she learned to read. Wouldn't it be wonderful, she thought, to have a Bible of her very own! But books were a costly item in those days. Mary saved and saved, doing odd jobs for people in the village. Finally after six years she scraped together enough money to buy a Bible.
Rev Thomas Charles was the nearest agent for the purchase of Bibles and he lived in Bala. Having progressed thus far in her quest, Mary was not to be daunted by the huge walking distance. Now aged fifteen, she set off, not daring to keep her shoes on in case they wore out.
When she arrived, Thomas Charles was not able to give her a Bible there and then, but after a couple of days he gave her not only one for herself but also two more copies for her family!
How happy Mary Jones was to have a Bible she could read and learn from! I hope she continued all her life to be just as keen to learn. Sadly I meet Christians who think they know it all. They may be willing to absorb ever more Bible facts but do not want anyone to suggest to them how they could work better and be more effective for their church.
I regard myself as a disciple, and I love to see others being disciples too, willing to learn. I think that would be the mind of my Master, because the Lord Jesus had sharp words for those who thought they knew it all. His story of the Pharisee and the tax-gatherer is familiar to many people. It tells of the Pharisee who thought he was well in with God and the tax-gatherer who simply asked God's mercy on him, a sinner. Luke tells us explicitly that Jesus
"told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt" (Luke 18:9).
God forbid we should be found among those who reckon they have no more need to learn! Incidentally, there is a footnote to the Mary Jones story. Rev Thomas Charles was so inspired by Mary's keenness to read the Bible that in 1804 he helped set up the British and Foreign Bible Society, which still exists today as the Bible Society.
Timothy had clearly got off to a good start. Paul reminds his young reader in 2 Timothy 1:5,
"I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well." (ESV)
In chapter 3 he goes on,
"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."
In many different places, the Bible has been associated with learning. At schools in the developing world, it is often used not just as a textbook for teaching religious studies but also for teaching English (or the local language).
I think of the story of Mary Jones in Wales at the dawn of the 19th century. Christians who hear of the remarkable account of this young Welsh girl often travel to visit Bala, in central Wales, where she walked barefoot 26 miles to buy a Bible.
Mary was of humble stock and lived in a remote Welsh village. As a small child of nine years old, she had to help her mother with many of the household chores. Her father, a weaver who had previously supported the family, had died. She attended her local chapel and used to love looking at the Bible that the minister used. Being unschooled, though, she was unable to read it.
Then a schoolmaster, Mr Evans, moved into the village and she learned to read. Wouldn't it be wonderful, she thought, to have a Bible of her very own! But books were a costly item in those days. Mary saved and saved, doing odd jobs for people in the village. Finally after six years she scraped together enough money to buy a Bible.
Rev Thomas Charles was the nearest agent for the purchase of Bibles and he lived in Bala. Having progressed thus far in her quest, Mary was not to be daunted by the huge walking distance. Now aged fifteen, she set off, not daring to keep her shoes on in case they wore out.
When she arrived, Thomas Charles was not able to give her a Bible there and then, but after a couple of days he gave her not only one for herself but also two more copies for her family!
How happy Mary Jones was to have a Bible she could read and learn from! I hope she continued all her life to be just as keen to learn. Sadly I meet Christians who think they know it all. They may be willing to absorb ever more Bible facts but do not want anyone to suggest to them how they could work better and be more effective for their church.
I regard myself as a disciple, and I love to see others being disciples too, willing to learn. I think that would be the mind of my Master, because the Lord Jesus had sharp words for those who thought they knew it all. His story of the Pharisee and the tax-gatherer is familiar to many people. It tells of the Pharisee who thought he was well in with God and the tax-gatherer who simply asked God's mercy on him, a sinner. Luke tells us explicitly that Jesus
"told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt" (Luke 18:9).
God forbid we should be found among those who reckon they have no more need to learn! Incidentally, there is a footnote to the Mary Jones story. Rev Thomas Charles was so inspired by Mary's keenness to read the Bible that in 1804 he helped set up the British and Foreign Bible Society, which still exists today as the Bible Society.
Thursday 11 June 2015
"The Size of Wales"
As I write, I am enjoying one of my frequent visits to North Wales, a delightful part of the country that I never tire of visiting.
Welsh people must think their country has somehow become the universal point of comparison. Land areas are often described as being "as big as Wales", "half the size of Wales", "double the size of Wales" or whatever. The Welsh must surely puzzle over the reasons for this.
Like most countries with a long coastline, Wales does not have a clear overall shape, but it is easy enough to size up roughly the area it covers. With the arrival of major roads where you can drive (relatively) fast, it is a measurable size. You can comfortably cover the length of it - assuming you drive parallel to it up the west of England - and the breadth of it in one day. This done, the statement that the Holy Land is "roughly the size of Wales" becomes meaningful.
This sparks off a number of points to ponder. It was a revelation to me when I realised that the events of the biblical Book of Ruth took place within a small segment of this Wales-sized country, extending a little into foreign territory, Moab, a few miles to the east. The character Ruth looms large in salvation history. This vulnerable Moabite foreigner, who needed a helping hand to gain a foothold in Israel, became the ancestor not only of the great King David but also of the Messiah Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. Massive spiritual beginnings - in such a small slice of land!
Then the Lord Jesus also limited His earthly work mostly to this small east Mediterranean country. How true it is that Jesus was
"Our God contracted to a span,
incomprehensibly made man"
as Charles Wesley put it! We see in the Gospel record the breathtaking energy that results from the universal might of God being focused on one individual in that small patch of land.
But to return to my talk of comparisons. How boldly we boost our image in this day and age when we have achieved so much! Of course, every age has produced its mighty works. The British Isles bear witness to the gigantic construction projects even of Stone Age man. The story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) is testament to a nation who presumed to create a city containing a structure that would end up as high as heaven. But God laughed at their puny efforts.
"Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech,” He resolved (Genesis 11:7, ESV). Then He "dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city."
The God of the universe bears no comparison.
"To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him?" says the Holy One.
"Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
'My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God'?"
Isaiah 40:25-27
We can never get the measure of God. It is a sobering thought that He has got the measure of us. But it is comforting that He notices those who call on Him, pleading the merits of Jesus whom He has sent into our little space.
Welsh people must think their country has somehow become the universal point of comparison. Land areas are often described as being "as big as Wales", "half the size of Wales", "double the size of Wales" or whatever. The Welsh must surely puzzle over the reasons for this.
Like most countries with a long coastline, Wales does not have a clear overall shape, but it is easy enough to size up roughly the area it covers. With the arrival of major roads where you can drive (relatively) fast, it is a measurable size. You can comfortably cover the length of it - assuming you drive parallel to it up the west of England - and the breadth of it in one day. This done, the statement that the Holy Land is "roughly the size of Wales" becomes meaningful.
This sparks off a number of points to ponder. It was a revelation to me when I realised that the events of the biblical Book of Ruth took place within a small segment of this Wales-sized country, extending a little into foreign territory, Moab, a few miles to the east. The character Ruth looms large in salvation history. This vulnerable Moabite foreigner, who needed a helping hand to gain a foothold in Israel, became the ancestor not only of the great King David but also of the Messiah Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. Massive spiritual beginnings - in such a small slice of land!
Then the Lord Jesus also limited His earthly work mostly to this small east Mediterranean country. How true it is that Jesus was
"Our God contracted to a span,
incomprehensibly made man"
as Charles Wesley put it! We see in the Gospel record the breathtaking energy that results from the universal might of God being focused on one individual in that small patch of land.
But to return to my talk of comparisons. How boldly we boost our image in this day and age when we have achieved so much! Of course, every age has produced its mighty works. The British Isles bear witness to the gigantic construction projects even of Stone Age man. The story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) is testament to a nation who presumed to create a city containing a structure that would end up as high as heaven. But God laughed at their puny efforts.
"Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech,” He resolved (Genesis 11:7, ESV). Then He "dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city."
The God of the universe bears no comparison.
"To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him?" says the Holy One.
"Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
'My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God'?"
Isaiah 40:25-27
We can never get the measure of God. It is a sobering thought that He has got the measure of us. But it is comforting that He notices those who call on Him, pleading the merits of Jesus whom He has sent into our little space.
Wednesday 27 May 2015
God's greatness in me
Where should we expect to see the greatness of God in evidence?
"Everywhere," you might instinctively reply. But isn't this too vague? By looking for it in a number of different areas we may see sides to it that we would otherwise overlook.
The magnificent nineteenth psalm shows the greatness of God in a variety of different settings. The third is less obvious than the first two.
The first six verses show forth God's glory in creation.
"The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork"
goes the first verse (ESV). The celestial bodies are pictured as chattering away to each other constantly about the majesty of God in creation, in "words" which we pick up only spiritually, not by our organs of hearing. Human beings may boast of their own or someone else's greatness, but the manner in which creation glorifies God is of a totally different order. You cannot hide from it any more than you can hide from the heat of the sun.
All of a sudden, from verse 7, the psalmist takes a different tack and praises the greatness of God in His law. Even when stressing the limitations of God's law, the apostle Paul claims that
"... the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good" (Romans 7:12).
This is despite the fact that God's commandments put us under a death sentence because we can never keep them perfectly! The law is
It has many effects as well as qualities:
- though, as I say, Paul struggled to make spiritual progress precisely because nobody is entirely innocent before God's law. As the Law sheds light on our inmost being, so it gives us the opportunity to reform. Of course, we can only be reformed in God's strength, not our own.
For Christians, the whole of God's written word, not just the Law of Moses, shows forth His greatness. The wisdom writings are profound. The words of the prophets are majestic and challenging. They show forth God's grasp of history because He uses them both to make sense of the present and to foretell what is to come - often in astonishing detail. Then the crowning expression of the greatness of God is found in the gospels, where it is recorded how He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to die a cruel death and rise again to bring salvation to all who trust in Him.
The wonder of creation and God's wise and perfect written word declare His greatness in different and remarkable ways. But have we exhausted the list in Psalm 19?
No, because at the very end of the psalm comes one further verse. It is a prayer which has often been used by preachers before embarking on their sermon:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
It says in effect, "When I think and speak, may my thoughts and words be mirrors reflecting your greatness back to you". God's greatness shown in creation; God's greatness shown in His word; God's greatness shown ... through me!
You cannot show forth God's greatness if all that God and others see is your own self-promotion. His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), and in our life submitted to Him. Could someone else gain a glimpse of God's greatness through seeing your devoted life?
"Everywhere," you might instinctively reply. But isn't this too vague? By looking for it in a number of different areas we may see sides to it that we would otherwise overlook.
The magnificent nineteenth psalm shows the greatness of God in a variety of different settings. The third is less obvious than the first two.
The first six verses show forth God's glory in creation.
"The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork"
goes the first verse (ESV). The celestial bodies are pictured as chattering away to each other constantly about the majesty of God in creation, in "words" which we pick up only spiritually, not by our organs of hearing. Human beings may boast of their own or someone else's greatness, but the manner in which creation glorifies God is of a totally different order. You cannot hide from it any more than you can hide from the heat of the sun.
All of a sudden, from verse 7, the psalmist takes a different tack and praises the greatness of God in His law. Even when stressing the limitations of God's law, the apostle Paul claims that
"... the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good" (Romans 7:12).
This is despite the fact that God's commandments put us under a death sentence because we can never keep them perfectly! The law is
- perfect
- sure
- right
- pure
- clean
- true
- altogether righteous
- desired
- sweet.
It has many effects as well as qualities:
- reviving
- making wise
- causing rejoicing
- enlightening
- warning
- rewarding
- exposing secret thoughts
- vindicating
- though, as I say, Paul struggled to make spiritual progress precisely because nobody is entirely innocent before God's law. As the Law sheds light on our inmost being, so it gives us the opportunity to reform. Of course, we can only be reformed in God's strength, not our own.
For Christians, the whole of God's written word, not just the Law of Moses, shows forth His greatness. The wisdom writings are profound. The words of the prophets are majestic and challenging. They show forth God's grasp of history because He uses them both to make sense of the present and to foretell what is to come - often in astonishing detail. Then the crowning expression of the greatness of God is found in the gospels, where it is recorded how He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to die a cruel death and rise again to bring salvation to all who trust in Him.
The wonder of creation and God's wise and perfect written word declare His greatness in different and remarkable ways. But have we exhausted the list in Psalm 19?
No, because at the very end of the psalm comes one further verse. It is a prayer which has often been used by preachers before embarking on their sermon:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
It says in effect, "When I think and speak, may my thoughts and words be mirrors reflecting your greatness back to you". God's greatness shown in creation; God's greatness shown in His word; God's greatness shown ... through me!
You cannot show forth God's greatness if all that God and others see is your own self-promotion. His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), and in our life submitted to Him. Could someone else gain a glimpse of God's greatness through seeing your devoted life?
Monday 11 May 2015
Wonderfully Made
There are many arguments in favour of the existence of God. Yet in a way we need look no further for evidence than the human body. We are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14 KJV).
Christians believe that creation was an immensely powerful and yet warmly personal act by the Creator. All of God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - was fully involved and fully committed. There was a definite end point to this glorious first phase of the divine work: we are told in Genesis 2:2
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work” (NIV).
The legacy of the original creation remains breathtaking to this very day.
At the beginning of each day I have a clear reminder of the differences in efficiency between humans created by God and artifacts created by man. Not everybody is instantly alert on waking up. Some are downright drowsy. They moan and groan and turn over, longing to snooze on. They resist getting up until the very last minute and take quite a while to get into the day. Others are morning people. They bounce out of bed, alert and ready for anything straight away. I am somewhere in between. When I wake up, I may not feel refreshed, but at least I still become quickly aware of myself and my surroundings.
With my mobile phone, however, it is quite different. I leave it switched off completely overnight. When I turn it back on in the morning, it takes ages to come into full operation again. Partly this is because its contents are encrypted for security’s sake. But basically, like any computer, it has to remind itself each and every time what it is, what its different parts are for, and how they all work together. Only then can it even begin to burst into life. You would think the computer marks a high point in human creative ingenuity. Yet compared to humans it is comically slow and stupid.
You will now understand why I smiled when I read this extract from an evangelistic booklet by John E. Davis:
Have you ever stopped and marvelled at the wonder of the human body? When was the last time you woke up and had to remind your heart to start beating or your wounds to start healing? The Bible says "… in him we live, and move, and have our being …" (Acts 17:28). Have you considered the workings of the human eye or the complexity of the human brain, which is far beyond the capabilities of any computer? The human body is truly amazing, beyond our comprehension, no wonder David in the Psalms wrote "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works”.
(Remember, this is simply a comment on the first creation! It says nothing about how, in Jesus Christ, God has a long-term programme of re-creating us spiritually following the fall from grace of our first ancestors.)
Science goes on making amazing discoveries about the human body, some of which unfortunately lead a number of scientists to think they can “play God” with the physical matter that constitutes us. This has potentially disastrous consequences.
A bit of due humility is called for here. I once asked a scientist, a committed Christian to address a church Men’s Supper Club gathering on Creation. I fear this audience was sceptical, even hostile. But what stuck with me was the faithful scientist's parting comment.
“The most we can do,” he affirmed in his closing sentence, “is think God’s thoughts after Him.”
Christians believe that creation was an immensely powerful and yet warmly personal act by the Creator. All of God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - was fully involved and fully committed. There was a definite end point to this glorious first phase of the divine work: we are told in Genesis 2:2
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work” (NIV).
The legacy of the original creation remains breathtaking to this very day.
At the beginning of each day I have a clear reminder of the differences in efficiency between humans created by God and artifacts created by man. Not everybody is instantly alert on waking up. Some are downright drowsy. They moan and groan and turn over, longing to snooze on. They resist getting up until the very last minute and take quite a while to get into the day. Others are morning people. They bounce out of bed, alert and ready for anything straight away. I am somewhere in between. When I wake up, I may not feel refreshed, but at least I still become quickly aware of myself and my surroundings.
With my mobile phone, however, it is quite different. I leave it switched off completely overnight. When I turn it back on in the morning, it takes ages to come into full operation again. Partly this is because its contents are encrypted for security’s sake. But basically, like any computer, it has to remind itself each and every time what it is, what its different parts are for, and how they all work together. Only then can it even begin to burst into life. You would think the computer marks a high point in human creative ingenuity. Yet compared to humans it is comically slow and stupid.
You will now understand why I smiled when I read this extract from an evangelistic booklet by John E. Davis:
Have you ever stopped and marvelled at the wonder of the human body? When was the last time you woke up and had to remind your heart to start beating or your wounds to start healing? The Bible says "… in him we live, and move, and have our being …" (Acts 17:28). Have you considered the workings of the human eye or the complexity of the human brain, which is far beyond the capabilities of any computer? The human body is truly amazing, beyond our comprehension, no wonder David in the Psalms wrote "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works”.
(Remember, this is simply a comment on the first creation! It says nothing about how, in Jesus Christ, God has a long-term programme of re-creating us spiritually following the fall from grace of our first ancestors.)
Science goes on making amazing discoveries about the human body, some of which unfortunately lead a number of scientists to think they can “play God” with the physical matter that constitutes us. This has potentially disastrous consequences.
A bit of due humility is called for here. I once asked a scientist, a committed Christian to address a church Men’s Supper Club gathering on Creation. I fear this audience was sceptical, even hostile. But what stuck with me was the faithful scientist's parting comment.
“The most we can do,” he affirmed in his closing sentence, “is think God’s thoughts after Him.”
Sunday 26 April 2015
Bible Man
Thinking back, I have always been a Bible man.
I once remember being quizzed by our church minister. I was probably not even converted by that time. “What do you believe?” he asked. “I believe in the Bible,” was my decided reply. An unmistakable frown of concern crossed his face. I have often wondered about it since. He surely wouldn’t have thought that I treated the Bible as God. Obviously, what I meant was, “My faith is based on the reliability of the Bible”.
So why would he have looked so troubled? Maybe his whole training led him to believe that there were flaws in the Bible, as in any other “human” book. He would have been warned that there were naive “fundamentalists” out there hoodwinking others into believing that the Bible was infallible. This supposed menace needed putting straight, along with the victims of such warped ideas.
This is guesswork, of course. The minister didn’t say why he looked worried. He may simply have found my prompt and clear answer to his question rather disconcerting. He would not want to let any faulty thinking I had go unchallenged. On the other hand, was it the right time to be putting roadblocks in the way of a young man starting out on Christian service? It was a dilemma for the clergyman, and no mistake.
It seems I carried on being a thorn in the side of the Bible’s liberal critics. I understand that, many years later, my old arch-liberal ex-college tutor commented ruefully, “I never was able to bring Timothy Demore round to my way of thinking”. I continue to believe today that the Bible is on a different plane from ordinary human writings.
I’ve been exposed in my time to the whole sweep of French literature. French is the language with probably the longest continuous literary output of any in the world. Yet nothing in it compares with the challenge, the riches and the truthfulness of the Bible. A single verse may say more than an entire book of secular writing. What book is there on earth that can communicate more than these twenty-four words:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV)?
The work of the Gideons worldwide is greatly to be admired. This long-established organisation is named for the Biblical character Gideon, who won victory over the Midianites in Judges chapter 7. It is dedicated to distributing Bibles round the world. The count, amazingly, is now fast approaching two billion!
Sadly, this worthy cause finds itself battling opposition where there was none before. Schools, hospitals and other organisations are now frequently timid about the placing of Bibles on their premises and bold in placing obstacles in front of the Gideons. Sometimes opposition gives way in answer to much prayer and persistence, sometimes not.
The tragedy of this opposition is that lives may be lost that would otherwise have been saved! There are frequent stories of suicidal people in hotel rooms who have picked up the Gideon Bible and been transformed. One man climbed up onto the window sill in his room and prepared to leap to his death. He steadied himself by putting his hand on a wardrobe. That hand came down on a Bible which was perched up there. Reading God’s word, the man turned away from his intended self-destruction and accepted Christ.
Surely a book by which God spares even one life, for time and eternity, should be allowed into the spaces where people gather.
Saturday 11 April 2015
Trees
Somehow a number of meditations on trees have recently caught my eye. Trees are certainly important symbols in the Bible. Right at the start, God sets boundaries for our first ancestors by telling them not to eat the fruit of a certain tree.
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Genesis 2:15-17 NIV
Another significant tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden was the tree of life. Right at the end of the Bible this tree features again:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1-2
As well as picking up on Genesis 2, this echoes Ezekiel 47, where water flows from the threshold of Ezekiel’s ideal temple and trees grow on both banks of the stream. There too, the fruits give nourishment month by month and the leaves healing. There are many other Bible references to the significance of trees besides.
Perhaps the most telling is Calvary’s tree where our Saviour gave up His life. A contributor to Our Daily Bread, Dave Branon, did a spot of tree felling and then pondered this.
“I thought about the first tree - the one on which hung the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve just couldn't resist. God used that tree to test their loyalty and trust. Then there is the tree in Psalm 1 that reminds us of the fruitfulness of godly living. And in Proverbs 3:18, wisdom is personified as a tree of life.
“But it is a transplanted tree that is most important – the crude cross of Calvary that was hewn from a sturdy tree. There our Saviour hung between heaven and earth to bear every sin of every generation on his shoulders. It stands above all trees as a symbol of love, sacrifice and salvation.
“At Calvary, God’s only Son suffered a horrible death on a cross. That's the tree of life for us."
The trees of Eden and Calvary stand as a challenge to us, to our sin and rebellion against God. Calvary is also a place of hope, because the Son of God not only carried our sin there but also dealt with it for good and all. And then in many other ways trees are a comfort. A persecuted Lebanese Christian once considered the Cedar of Lebanon, the symbol of his native land. This species of tree is mentioned some twenty times in the Bible. This man was thinking of Psalm 92:12 “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like the cedar of Lebanon."
"First, the cedar tree is ever green. It is always fresh throughout the changing seasons. And so is the believer who has received the overflowing life of Christ. His faith and joy are fresh as the Lord nurtures and looks after him.
"Second, the cedar tree grows on high altitudes and it opens its branches to the skies. So does the believer who is called to live on higher ground and who keeps his thoughts and affections in the heavenlies. He opens up his soul to heaven in worship and supplication. He generously receives grace and power. In turn, he becomes a blessing to others.
“Third, a cedar tree is deeply rooted and could live for thousands of years. So is the believer who is standing on the Rock of Ages and has received everlasting life from Christ.
"Fourth, the cedar tree spreads an elegant fragrance and its wood is very expensive. Likewise is the Christian, who was bought with an extremely precious price and was graciously brought into the family of God. Consequently, he is commissioned to spread the fragrance of Christ and to be an open letter of love, faith, and hope to all the nations of this earth.”
But perhaps we should return to Psalm 1 and let the Bible have the last word.
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1:1-3
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Genesis 2:15-17 NIV
Another significant tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden was the tree of life. Right at the end of the Bible this tree features again:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1-2
As well as picking up on Genesis 2, this echoes Ezekiel 47, where water flows from the threshold of Ezekiel’s ideal temple and trees grow on both banks of the stream. There too, the fruits give nourishment month by month and the leaves healing. There are many other Bible references to the significance of trees besides.
Perhaps the most telling is Calvary’s tree where our Saviour gave up His life. A contributor to Our Daily Bread, Dave Branon, did a spot of tree felling and then pondered this.
“I thought about the first tree - the one on which hung the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve just couldn't resist. God used that tree to test their loyalty and trust. Then there is the tree in Psalm 1 that reminds us of the fruitfulness of godly living. And in Proverbs 3:18, wisdom is personified as a tree of life.
“But it is a transplanted tree that is most important – the crude cross of Calvary that was hewn from a sturdy tree. There our Saviour hung between heaven and earth to bear every sin of every generation on his shoulders. It stands above all trees as a symbol of love, sacrifice and salvation.
“At Calvary, God’s only Son suffered a horrible death on a cross. That's the tree of life for us."
The trees of Eden and Calvary stand as a challenge to us, to our sin and rebellion against God. Calvary is also a place of hope, because the Son of God not only carried our sin there but also dealt with it for good and all. And then in many other ways trees are a comfort. A persecuted Lebanese Christian once considered the Cedar of Lebanon, the symbol of his native land. This species of tree is mentioned some twenty times in the Bible. This man was thinking of Psalm 92:12 “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like the cedar of Lebanon."
"First, the cedar tree is ever green. It is always fresh throughout the changing seasons. And so is the believer who has received the overflowing life of Christ. His faith and joy are fresh as the Lord nurtures and looks after him.
"Second, the cedar tree grows on high altitudes and it opens its branches to the skies. So does the believer who is called to live on higher ground and who keeps his thoughts and affections in the heavenlies. He opens up his soul to heaven in worship and supplication. He generously receives grace and power. In turn, he becomes a blessing to others.
“Third, a cedar tree is deeply rooted and could live for thousands of years. So is the believer who is standing on the Rock of Ages and has received everlasting life from Christ.
"Fourth, the cedar tree spreads an elegant fragrance and its wood is very expensive. Likewise is the Christian, who was bought with an extremely precious price and was graciously brought into the family of God. Consequently, he is commissioned to spread the fragrance of Christ and to be an open letter of love, faith, and hope to all the nations of this earth.”
But perhaps we should return to Psalm 1 and let the Bible have the last word.
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1:1-3
Tuesday 31 March 2015
The Patience of Job
The patience of Job has long been proverbial — "You must have the patience of Job to cope with that situation". The saying goes back at least 500 years in our language!
Job, you may remember, is the (human) hero of the Bible book of the same name. Blighted with loss and disease as the result of a fiendish test by Satan, he refuses to curse God for his situation. After a series of frustrating conversations with well-meaning but unhelpful friends, Job has his health and wealth restored by God.
"The patience of Job." The expression comes from the King James Version translation of James 5:10 and 11 —
"Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."
Yet Job under testing is anything but "patient" in the way we understand it today! He bemoans the fact that he was ever born. He berates God for not letting him have his day in court so he can plead his innocence. So what kind of patience is really in view?
Recently in the Our Daily Bread notes I found an article by Joe Stowell which isn't about Job, yet perfectly illustrates the Bible concept of patience — or "endurance" as we would put it today.
As a lad, Stowell had a punchball that sprang back upright when hit. However hard he hit it, he could not make it stay down. "The secret? There was a lead weight in the bottom that always kept it upright. Sailboats operate by the same principle. The lead weights in their keels provide the ballast to keep them balanced and upright in strong winds."
Stowell comments,
"It’s like that in the life of a believer in Christ. Our power to survive challenges resides not in us but with God, who dwells within us. We’re not exempt from the punches that life throws at us nor from the storms that inevitably threaten our stability. But with full confidence in His power to sustain us, we can say with Paul,
'We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)'."
God's sufficient grace, and His strength which is made perfect in our weakness, can be the ballast for our souls. Our plea is that the Lord Jesus Christ, who was hounded even to His death, rose again with power and now prepares a future reward and glory for all who believe in Him. That is the real story of Christian endurance and its outcome! Remember, as the article reminds us,
"The power of God within you is greater than the pressure of troubles around you."
Job, you may remember, is the (human) hero of the Bible book of the same name. Blighted with loss and disease as the result of a fiendish test by Satan, he refuses to curse God for his situation. After a series of frustrating conversations with well-meaning but unhelpful friends, Job has his health and wealth restored by God.
"The patience of Job." The expression comes from the King James Version translation of James 5:10 and 11 —
"Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."
Yet Job under testing is anything but "patient" in the way we understand it today! He bemoans the fact that he was ever born. He berates God for not letting him have his day in court so he can plead his innocence. So what kind of patience is really in view?
Recently in the Our Daily Bread notes I found an article by Joe Stowell which isn't about Job, yet perfectly illustrates the Bible concept of patience — or "endurance" as we would put it today.
As a lad, Stowell had a punchball that sprang back upright when hit. However hard he hit it, he could not make it stay down. "The secret? There was a lead weight in the bottom that always kept it upright. Sailboats operate by the same principle. The lead weights in their keels provide the ballast to keep them balanced and upright in strong winds."
Stowell comments,
"It’s like that in the life of a believer in Christ. Our power to survive challenges resides not in us but with God, who dwells within us. We’re not exempt from the punches that life throws at us nor from the storms that inevitably threaten our stability. But with full confidence in His power to sustain us, we can say with Paul,
'We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)'."
God's sufficient grace, and His strength which is made perfect in our weakness, can be the ballast for our souls. Our plea is that the Lord Jesus Christ, who was hounded even to His death, rose again with power and now prepares a future reward and glory for all who believe in Him. That is the real story of Christian endurance and its outcome! Remember, as the article reminds us,
"The power of God within you is greater than the pressure of troubles around you."
Wednesday 11 March 2015
Indicators
We long for a test, an indicator, that is totally unbiased. It should act in the same way as lichens that indicate the quality of the air we breathe. A website called air-quality.org.uk recently put it this way:
"Lichens are widely used as environmental indicators or bio-indicators. If air is very badly polluted with sulphur dioxide there may be no lichens present, just green algae may be found. If the air is clean, shrubby, hairy and leafy lichens become abundant."
Take heart! There are tell-tale pointers to the state of your Christian life that are as sure and reliable as the lichen. They are found in the Bible. Particularly I have noticed them lately in the first letter of John. You may know that as well as the gospel bearing his name John wrote three letters which come near the end of the New Testament of our Bibles. He may also be responsible for the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible.
First John is full of helpful checklists by which you can gauge where you stand. Here are those I have picked out:
Four tests of true fellowship, 1 John 1:1 to 2:17
• Affirming a proper view of Christ, 1:1-4
• Affirming sin’s reality, 1:5-2:2
• Obedience to God’s commands, 2:3-6
• Love of the brethren, 2:7-17
Three characteristics of Antichrists, 2:19, 22-23, 26
• they depart from the faithful, 19
• they deny the faith, 22-23
• they try to deceive the faithful, 26
Two characteristics of true Christians, 2:20,21,27
• the Holy Spirit guards them from error, 21
• the Holy Spirit guides them into all knowledge, 20 and 27
Five features of the believer’s hope, 2:18-3:3
- the believer abides in Christ, equivalent to finally persevering, 2:28
- the believer can’t help being righteous, 2:29
- Christians have a nature alien to the unsaved, 3:1
- God loves the believer so as to make him or her His child; we shall be like Him, 3:2
- the Christian is purifying him- or herself, 3:3
• Sin is incompatible with the law of God, 3:4
• It is incompatible with the work of Christ, 3:5
• Christ came to destroy the works of the arch-sinner, Satan, 3:8
• It is incompatible with the ministry of the Holy Spirit, 3:9
Three benefits of love, 3:11-24
• Assurance of salvation, 3:14
• Answered prayer, 3:22
• The abiding presence and empowering of the Holy Spirit, 3:23-24
Two tests of true teachers, 4:1-6 (for end of chapter 3 see next list)
They affirm that Jesus is God incarnate come in human flesh, 4:2
• They speak God’s word, following apostolic doctrine, 4:5-6
Five reasons why Christians love, 4:7-21
• Because God is the essence of love, 4:7-8
• To follow the supreme example of God’s sacrificial love in sending his Son for us, 4:9-11
• Because love is the heart of Christian witness, 4:12
• Because love is the Christian’s assurance, 4:13-16
• Because love is the Christian’s confidence in judgment, 4:17-18
Five characteristics of overcomers, 5:1-5
• Saving faith, 5:1
• Love, 5:1
• Obedience, 5:2-3
• Belief in Jesus, 5:4
• Dedication of one’s life to Him, 5:5
Five certainties, 5:13-21
• Assurance of eternal life, 5:13
• Answered prayer, 5:14-17
• Victory over sin and Satan, 5:18
• That Christians belong to God, 5:19
• That Jesus Christ is the true God, 5:20
In the face of the unsettling influence of false teachers, John wanted his readers to be happy, holy and secure. They could only be that if three things were working together in their lives. They needed to be sound in the basics of the faith, obedient towards Jesus’ commands and loving towards God and their fellow believers.
Could this checklist help you to gauge where you stand?
Thursday 26 February 2015
Mis-speaking
Lately I have been revisiting some lovely little books penned by a wonderful, godly man I met during my ministry in Banbury (1984-1994). He was a Scripture Union children’s evangelist of long standing who retired during my time there. In Christian work, however, we never really retire, and Stephen English kept busy preaching, speaking at meetings and writing.
One such book was entitled “That’s not what I meant”. It was a humorous collection of things people said which were obviously kindly meant but framed in badly chosen words.
A fair few of these came from people who were chairing the meetings where Stephen used to speak. He tells this story about one of them. “She was in charge of the meeting so she was entitled to say whatever she wished. However, I was not ready for the words about to be spoken. To the somewhat astonished company, our host announced, ‘We will not sing extra choruses this week as we usually do, for we all know that Mr English has far too much to say.'
“Oh no! I’m not that self-opinionated, am I? That is what she implied, didn't she? 'He has far too much to say.' I hope I know what she meant.”
Stephen goes on to talk about how any preacher worth his or her salt will have an endless supply of material that they could speak about - the Christian life, its joys and peace as well as its discipline and its responsibilities to others. “We are speaking about the inexhaustible riches of Christ,” he comments. “A hymn speaks of 'A deep, unfathomable mine’ of truth about him.”
"Yes, lady,” Stephen felt like saying to the woman chairing the meeting, “I am guilty of having too much to say, because of what God has done for us. There are not words enough for that."
At the same time, Stephen admits that preachers should keep reminding themselves of the basic simplicity of the good news about Jesus. After all, Jesus did announce, “Come to me … and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 ESV).
Stephen closes with a prayer, “In all the words I speak may the name of Jesus have the preeminence."
I hope I am tolerant of people who unintentionally “mis-speak”, as the expression is. We rarely think of the intricate physiological processes of speech, but it is hard work bringing ideas from the brain, putting them into words and stringing them together in spoken sentences. All too often I become aware that the things I mean to say don’t come out quite right. That doesn’t excuse me for causing offence to someone. It may dawn on me that what I said was hurtful and may need to apologise. I may also have to appeal to the other person to be patient while I re-phrase the words that went wrong.
A young Christian couple once memorably impressed me. The husband had fertility issues. His wife felt, naturally, very frustrated: her instinct to start a family was being baulked by her husband’s inability. Cruel words kept coming to her mind that would have put him down and made him feel useless. Yet time and again she resisted saying them. She was quite open about this, and her husband bravely understood and appreciated her kindness. I'm delighted to be able to add that they now have children of their own.
“Let your conversation be always gracious, and never insipid; study how best to talk with each person you meet,” advises the apostle Paul (Colossians 4:6 NEB). As my friend Stephen counselled, in all the words I speak may the name of Jesus - and the nature of Jesus too - have the preeminence.
One such book was entitled “That’s not what I meant”. It was a humorous collection of things people said which were obviously kindly meant but framed in badly chosen words.
A fair few of these came from people who were chairing the meetings where Stephen used to speak. He tells this story about one of them. “She was in charge of the meeting so she was entitled to say whatever she wished. However, I was not ready for the words about to be spoken. To the somewhat astonished company, our host announced, ‘We will not sing extra choruses this week as we usually do, for we all know that Mr English has far too much to say.'
“Oh no! I’m not that self-opinionated, am I? That is what she implied, didn't she? 'He has far too much to say.' I hope I know what she meant.”
Stephen goes on to talk about how any preacher worth his or her salt will have an endless supply of material that they could speak about - the Christian life, its joys and peace as well as its discipline and its responsibilities to others. “We are speaking about the inexhaustible riches of Christ,” he comments. “A hymn speaks of 'A deep, unfathomable mine’ of truth about him.”
"Yes, lady,” Stephen felt like saying to the woman chairing the meeting, “I am guilty of having too much to say, because of what God has done for us. There are not words enough for that."
At the same time, Stephen admits that preachers should keep reminding themselves of the basic simplicity of the good news about Jesus. After all, Jesus did announce, “Come to me … and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 ESV).
Stephen closes with a prayer, “In all the words I speak may the name of Jesus have the preeminence."
I hope I am tolerant of people who unintentionally “mis-speak”, as the expression is. We rarely think of the intricate physiological processes of speech, but it is hard work bringing ideas from the brain, putting them into words and stringing them together in spoken sentences. All too often I become aware that the things I mean to say don’t come out quite right. That doesn’t excuse me for causing offence to someone. It may dawn on me that what I said was hurtful and may need to apologise. I may also have to appeal to the other person to be patient while I re-phrase the words that went wrong.
A young Christian couple once memorably impressed me. The husband had fertility issues. His wife felt, naturally, very frustrated: her instinct to start a family was being baulked by her husband’s inability. Cruel words kept coming to her mind that would have put him down and made him feel useless. Yet time and again she resisted saying them. She was quite open about this, and her husband bravely understood and appreciated her kindness. I'm delighted to be able to add that they now have children of their own.
“Let your conversation be always gracious, and never insipid; study how best to talk with each person you meet,” advises the apostle Paul (Colossians 4:6 NEB). As my friend Stephen counselled, in all the words I speak may the name of Jesus - and the nature of Jesus too - have the preeminence.
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