Marks of Authentic Mission

Philippians

2012-01-28T15:04:00.000-08:00

“Go west, young man, go west.”
–Horace Greeley

Philippians 1:2-6

From "Portrait of a Christian"
Not only in the words you say,
Not only in your deeds confessed.
But in the most unconscious way
Is Christ expressed.
Is it a beatific smile?
A holy light upon your brow?
Oh no, I felt His presence when
You laughed just now.
For me ‘twas not the truth you taught,
To you so clear, to me so dim.
But when you came to me,
You brought a sense of Him.
And from your eyes He beckons me,
From your lips His love is shed,
'Til I lose sight of you and see
The Christ instead.
–Beatrice Clelland

Philippians 1:14-30

“When I go down to the grave I can say I’ve finished my day’s work, but I cannot say I finished my life. My life’s work will begin the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley. It is a thoroughfare. It closes with the twilight to open with the dawn.”
–Victor Hugo

Philippians 2:1-6

Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us:
Ye call Me Master and obey Me not.
Ye call Me Light and see Me not.
Ye call Me Way and walk Me not.
Ye call Me Life and desire Me not.
Ye call Me Wise and follow Me not.
Ye call Me Fair and love Me not.
Ye call Me Rich and ask Me not.
Ye call Me Eternal and seek Me not.
Ye call Me Gracious and trust Me not.
Ye call Me Noble and serve Me not.
Ye call Me Mighty and honor me not.
Ye call Me Just and fear Me not.
If I condemn you, blame Me not.
–Inscription in the cathedral in Lubeck

Phillipians 2:8-11

Consider Him
When the storm is raging high,
When the tempest rends the sky,
When my eyes with tears are dim,
Then, my soul, consider HIM.
When my plans are in the dust,
When my dearest hopes are crushed,
When is passed each foolish whim,
Then, my soul, consider HIM.
When with dearest friends I part,
When deep sorrow fills my heart,
When pain racks each weary limb,
Then, my soul, consider HIM.
When I track my weary way,
When fresh trials come each day,
When my faith and hope are dim,
Then, my soul, consider HIM.
Clouds or sunshine, dark or bright,
Evening shades or morning light,
When my cup flows o’er the brim,
Then, my soul, consider HIM.
–Author unknown

Philippians 2:12-26

“Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone.”
–John Calvin

Philippians 3:7-14

“When I was converted, I lost my religion.”
–Dr. W.I. Carroll

Philippians 3:15-20

“To be anxious for souls, and yet not impatient; to be patient, and yet not indifferent; to bear the infirmities of the weak without fostering them; to testify against sin and unfaithfulness and a low standard of spiritual life, and yet to keep the stream of love full and free and open. To have the mind of a faithful, loving shepherd, a hopeful physician, a tender nurse, a skillful teacher requires the continual renewal of the Lord’s grace.”
–Missionary in Guatemala

I’ll stay where You put me, I will, dear Lord,
Though I wanted so badly to go.
I was eager to march with the rank and file,
Yes, I wanted to lead them, you know.
I planned to keep step to the music loud,
To cheer when the banner’s unfurled,
To stand in the midst of the fight, straight and proud,
But I’ll stay where you put me.
I’ll stay where you put me, I’ll work, dear Lord,
Though the field be narrow and small
And the ground be fallow and the stones are thick
And there seems to be no life at all.
The field is Thine own, only give me the seed.
I’ll sow it with never a fear.
I’ll till the dry soil while I wait for the rain
And rejoice when the green blades appear.
I’ll work where You put me.
I’ll stay where You put me, I will, dear Lord.
I’ll face the day’s burden and heat,
Always trusting Thee fully. When even has come,
I’ll lay heavy sheaves at Thy feet.
And then when my earth work is ended and done,
In bright eternity’s glow,
Life’s record all closed, I surely shall find
It was better to stay than to go.
I’ll stay where you put me.
–Mrs. Charles Cowman

“For our city home is in heaven.”
–Mrs. Montgomery

“Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone.”
–John Calvin

Philippians 3:20—4:3

“All the way to heaven is heaven.”
–Dr. Herbert Bieber

Philippians 4:4-6

“Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one's heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles, that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you to conquer them; talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your heart, that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself as to others. If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject. It is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back; neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of the heart, without consideration, just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God.”
–Fenelon

“I carry this in the back of my Bible, everywhere I go, and every now and then I get it out and read it. This was written by Fenelon, a great saint and mystic of the Middle Ages.”
–Dr. J. Vernon McGee

The Deer' Cry-The Prayer of St Patrick

2012-01-16T13:33:00.000-08:00

Apologetic Sound Bites: ‘Why do you want to force your opinion on me?’ Tim Chester

2012-01-07T05:20:00.001-08:00

Continuing the Apologetic Sound Bites series, here are some pointers suggesting how to answer the question ’Why do you want to force your opinion on me?’
1. Avoid trading personal opinions by pointing people to something Jesus said or did. Confront people with Jesus so it becomes their opinion verses Jesus.
2. Suppose I spot a serious fault with your car that will soon cause a life-threatening accident and so I warn you of it. It would be madness to say, ‘Don’t force your opinion on me.’ Suppose I knew of a wonderful free gift available for all who ask. It would be madness to say, ‘Don’t force your opinion on me.’
3. ‘You may make it sound like a noble struggle for freedom. But the truth is you simply want the right to be selfish.’
4. When you say, ‘Let me decide for myself,’ you are saying, in effect, ‘I know better than God. I make a better god than God.’
5. “One of the most frequent statements I heard was that ‘Every person has to define right and wrong for him- or herself.’ I always responded to the speakers by asking, ‘Is there anyone in the world right now doing things you believe they should stop doing no matter what they personally believe about the correctness of their behaviour?’ They would invariably say, ‘Yes, our course.’ Then I would ask, ‘Doesn’t that mean that you do believe there is some kind of moral reality that is “there” that is not defined by us, that must be abided by regardless of what a person feels or things?’ Almost always, the response to that question was a silence, either a thoughtful or a grumpy one.”1
6. Christian missionaries are often accused of destroying indigenous cultures. Sometimes this has been true, but more often Christianity has adapted to, and reinforced, local culture. God himself came not in a transcultural form, but as a first century Jewish man. Unlike Islam, Christianity has always translated its message into local languages and practices. This has often created a new sense of cultural identity. ‘Now God speaks to us in our own language,’ said one tribal leader. The Bible celebrates cultural diversity and looks forward to a future when people from ‘every tongue, tribe, people and nation’ worship Jesus together and bring their glory into his kingdom (Revelation 7:9, 21:24-26).
1 Cited in Tim Keller, The Reason for God, Dutton, 2008, 47.

Apologetic Sound Bites: ‘How can you claim there’s only one true religion?’ Tim Chester

2011-12-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

.‘How can you claim there’s only one true religion?’ You may be asked this question as you’re at the photocopier at work or at the bar buying a round. Here’s the second part in the apologetics series that will give you some ideas of how to respond when you only have five minutes.

1. People often liken religions to blind men encountering an elephant. The first blind man feels the stomach of the elephant and concludes it is a wall. The second feels the trunk and concludes it is a snake. The rest conclude it is a spear, tree, fan and rope, depending upon where they touch. The story purports to prove that all religions reflect the truth, but none grasps the whole truth. If people tell this story, ask them: ‘How do you know it’s an elephant?’ In other words, the story assumes the teller is as enlightened, objective observer.

2. People may say: ‘If you were born in Iran, you’d be a Muslim not a Christian.’ But the same goes for the pluralist. ‘If you’d been born in Iran, you wouldn’t be a pluralist.’ In other words, your belief that all religions are equal (or misguided) is as culturally and social conditioned as my belief in Jesus (more so since going to church is now a minority activity in our society).

3. Jesus claimed he was the only way to God (John 14:6). If all religious roads lead to God then Jesus was a liar and Christianity is false. In which case, not all religions lead to God.

4. People sometimes ask if you fully investigated all religions before deciding to follow Christ. Two responses: (1) You don’t need comprehensive knowledge before you can be confident something is true. You don’t read every newspaper and interview multiple eye-witnesses before believing a sports result. (2) I didn’t decide Christianity was the best religion; Jesus laid claim to my life.

5. Ask people to define religion. Jesus is not another religious figure, but the end or opposite of all religion. Religion is about an upwards movement of humanity towards God. Jesus represents of downward movement of God towards humanity.

6. Because Jesus is God’s initiative towards humanity, the message of Jesus is a message of grace. It is not dependant on human achievement, but upon God’s gracious and completed work. So Jesus alone gives assurance of salvation.

This material is adapted from a Porterbrook Learning module.

TAKING THE LEAD-George Verwer

2011-12-08T03:45:00.000-08:00

What a huge need there is for people to serve as leaders. If you want evidence of the shortage of potential leaders, look at the painful process by which the United Nations struggled to find a new Secretary General or the process by which the USA and other countries select the handful of people who are fit and willing to stand for the highest political offices. There is a need for Christians to take up leadership too, not as an honour or a prize but as a way of serving the Body of Christ with the gifts and ministries given them. Many will become leaders, especially in their local church, who never expected it.

We need more of an emphasis in the church on the training of leaders, old and young. I am often reminded that those leaders of the church in Thessalonica with whom Paul corresponded were just a few weeks old in the faith. Training can start young. I am committed to the task of training people for leadership right where they happen to be while at the same time presenting them with the truth of a world vision. What a power house the church would be if we could find an amalgamation of the kind of biblical teaching that creates dynamic spiritual leaders in home countries with the kind of vision which we read about in Acts 1:8. This would lead the church into a greater forward thrust into world missions. There is a need for leaders who will "mobilise the people of God for adventurous and imaginative mission". (Paul Beasley-Murray in "A Call to Excellence") May God give them to us.

BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

Much of what I have to say in this chapter concerns the tough reality of being a leader in the church and mission work today, but I won't finish without reminding you of the glorious resources available to leaders in Christ. Over the years as director of Operation Mobilisation I have spent much time in the training of leaders. Sometimes when speaking at a leaders' conference I will deal with the special spiritual and character qualities needed by leaders in God's work. These are important and I will write about them later in the chapter. Sometimes I even get down to the details of how to make decisions as a leader and how to organise yourself. This too is important. Most often, however, I find myself speaking to leaders about the need for them to work on the basics of the Christian life - their own walk with God and spiritual development. Nothing is more important for leaders than this. It follows that in their relationships with others, leaders must do everything possible to edify, build up and help people come more and more into conformity with Jesus Christ; giving full consideration to the different circumstances in which people work in the organisations and movements that have been raised up by God to work together in the task of world evangelism.

Most of all what I want to emphasise when speaking to leaders is, "Be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18) because it is the Spirit who is the director of all Christian work. Oswald J Sanders in his book "Spiritual Leadership" calls his chapter on the Holy Spirit "The Indispensable Requirement". He says that there may be many desirable qualities for spiritual leaders but only one is indispensable - that they should be Spirit-filled. I am convinced that there needs to be a greater consciousness of the Holy Spirit and His work in believers. Each one must be taught that it is a privilege to know daily the fullness of the Holy Spirit as He exalts the Lord Jesus and is sovereign director of our lives and our affairs. This fullness is not only to do with the emotions and the inner spiritual life. It is also to do with the quiet reality of how we live our lives from day to day (see Galatians 5:22-25) and with the making of plans and the development of strategy in our Christian work. I am especially concerned to say to leaders that we must depend more on the Holy Spirit for directing us as we move forward in mission work. It is so clear from the book of Acts that the Holy Spirit directs missions work.

"But you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
(Acts1:8)

"While they were worshipping the Lord and
fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me
Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I
have called them.'" (Acts 13:2)

The book of Acts also makes it clear that those who lead missions work need to be filled with the Spirit. J Oswald Sanders says,

"It stands clear in the book of Acts that the
leaders who significantly influenced the
Christian movement were men who were
filled with the Holy Spirit. It is recorded of
Him who commanded his disciples to tarry
in Jerusalem until they were endued with
power from on high that He was Himself
"anointed...with the Holy Spirit and with power"
(10:38). The privileged one hundred twenty in
the upper room were all filled with the Spirit
(2:4). Peter was filled with the Spirit when he
addressed the Sanhedrin (4:8). Stephen, filled
with the Spirit, was able to bear irresistible
witness to Christ and to die as a radiant martyr
(6:3,5; 7:55). It was in the Spirit's fullness that
Paul commenced and exercised his unique
ministry (9:17; 13:9). His missionary
companion Barnabas was filled with the
Spirit (11:24). He would be strangely blind
who did not discern in that fact the
fundamental criterion and equipment for
spiritual leadership."

Some people regret the passing of the fervour often associated with an early experience of the fullness of the Holy Spirit but as H A Hodges says in his book "Unseen Warfare" this loss of fervour may be a sign of getting beyond the early stages and of "growing up". If you are going to be a Christian leader you have to grow up. You have to settle into a steady routine of having the Spirit guide you in the daily pursuit of your work and your plans just as we have seen in the book of Acts. This should be a constant daily filling but not a restless search for new "experiences". Many people feel that they need a fresh touch in their life and they go from conference to conference seeking something new. Of course I am not excluding the possibility of crisis experiences with God but there needs to be a "continuing programme for spiritual growth" to quote the subtitle of Ralph Shallis's book "From Now On". When God saved you and put the Holy Spirit into your life He put the ball into your court. He may be waiting for you to hit it back. To use another analogy, it may be that God is urging you, as Nehemiah urged the people of Israel, to "rise and build" (Nehemiah 2:18).

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy." Revelation 3:4

2011-12-08T03:34:00.000-08:00

We may understand this to refer to justification. "They shall walk in white"; that is, they shall enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by faith; they shall understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, that they have all been washed and made whiter than the newly-fallen snow.

Again, it refers to joy and gladness: for white robes were holiday dresses among the Jews. They who have not defiled their garments shall have their faces always bright; they shall understand what Solomon meant when he said "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. Let thy garments be always white, for God hath accepted thy works." He who is accepted of God shall wear white garments of joy and gladness, while he walks in sweet communion with the Lord Jesus. Whence so many doubts, so much misery, and mourning? It is because so many believers defile their garments with sin and error, and hence they lose the joy of their salvation, and the comfortable fellowship of the Lord Jesus, they do not here below walk in white.

The promise also refers to walking in white before the throne of God. Those who have not defiled their garments here shall most certainly walk in white up yonder, where the white-robed hosts sing perpetual hallelujahs to the Most High. They shall possess joys inconceivable, happiness beyond a dream, bliss which imagination knoweth not, blessedness which even the stretch of desire hath not reached. The "undefiled in the way" shall have all this-not of merit, nor of works, but of grace. They shall walk with Christ in white, for he has made them "worthy." In his sweet company they shall drink of the living fountains of waters.
CHS

Base things of the world has God chosen."—1 Corinthians 1:28.

2011-12-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

WALK the streets by moonlight, if you dare, and you will see sinners then.
Watch when the night is dark, and the wind is howling, and the picklock is grating in the door, and you will see sinners then.
Go to yon jail, and walk through the wards, and mark the men with heavy over-hanging brows, men whom you would not like to meet at night, and there are sinners there.
Go to the Reformatories, and note those who have betrayed a rampant juvenile depravity, and you will see sinners there.
Go across the seas to the place where a man will gnaw a bone upon which is reeking human flesh, and there is a sinner there.

Go where you will, you need not ransack earth to find sinners, for they are common enough; you may find them in every lane and street of every city, and town, and village, and hamlet.

It is for such that Jesus died. If you will select me the grossest specimen of humanity, if he be but born of woman, I will have hope of him yet, because Jesus Christ is come to seek and to save sinners. Electing love has selected some of the worst to be made the best. Pebbles of the brook grace turns into jewels for the crown-royal. Worthless dross He transforms into pure gold. Redeeming love has set apart many of the worst of mankind to be the reward of the Saviour's passion. Effectual grace calls forth many of the vilest of the vile to sit at the table of mercy, and therefore let none despair.

Reader, by that love looking out of Jesus' tearful eyes, by that love streaming from those bleeding wounds, by that faithful love, that strong love, that pure, disinterested, and abiding love; by the heart of the Saviour's compassion, we conjure you turn not away as though it were nothing to you; but believe on Him and you shall be saved.

Trust your soul with Him and He will bring you to His Father's right hand in glory everlasting.
CHM

Our Response To God's Goodness-What Can I do For You?

2011-11-21T17:06:00.000-08:00

You have given everything to me
What can I do for You?
You have given me eyes to see
What can I do for You?

Pulled me out of bondage and You made me renewed inside
Filled up a hunger that had always been denied
Opened up a door no man can shut and You opened it up so wide
And You’ve chosen me to be among the few
What can I do for You?

You have laid down Your life for me
What can I do for You?
You have explained every mystery
What can I do for You?

Soon as a man is born, you know the sparks begin to fly
He gets wise in his own eyes and he’s made to believe a lie
Who would deliver him from the death he’s bound to die?
Well, You’ve done it all and there’s no more anyone can pretend to do
What can I do for You?

You have given all there is to give
What can I do for You?
You have given me life to live
How can I live for You?

I know all about poison, I know all about fiery darts
I don’t care how rough the road is, show me where it starts
Whatever pleases You, tell it to my heart
Well, I don’t deserve it but I sure did make it through
What can I do for You?

Copyright © 1980 by Special Rider Music

PRAYING AS JESUS PRAYED Graham Cray

2011-11-17T08:34:00.001-08:00

Each of the four gospels tells us that Jesus prayed, but it is John’s gospel which reveals, most fully, how he prayed. This reaches a climax in the great prayer recorded in John 17.

‘After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father” (v1)
Jesus looks up and says ‘Abba’, the unique word expressing his intimate and reverent relationship with God. This is also the heart of all Christian prayer. By grace we share Jesus’ relationship with the Father. It is also the heart of mission, as we long for women and men across our nations to come to the Father through him and learn to say the same.

But this is also the classic passage linking mission and unity. “I ask … that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.’ (v20-21) The inseparable connection between mission and unity is expressed in prayer. How then should those committed to mission in unity pray? How can our prayer be shaped by his prayer?

This prayer has seven petitions – two for Jesus himself, three for his disciples, and two for those who will become disciples through them.

The first petition is ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you.’ (v1)

Can we pray to be glorified? Only if we understand that, for him, to be glorified means to be empowered to go to the cross. In John’s gospel Jesus’ glorification is his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension all rolled into one. He prays this prayer on the eve of his crucifixion. His only motive is the Father’s glory; ‘that the Son may glorify you’. The only authentic motive for us to ask for God’s glory, is so that we may glorify him. ‘Let you glory fall’ is a prayer that we may give ourselves up in his service. ‘Glorify me’ has nothing to do with my glory, but God’s.

Note also that ‘glory’ is demonstrated in the way the Father and the Son continually honour, or give glory to, one another. Jesus’ only concern is the Father and the Father’s will. All the Father’s delight is in Jesus and he has given all authority to his Son. Lesslie Newbigin wrote that ‘The glory of God is a reciprocal relationship: it is something forever freely given . Reciprocal honour and respect is the mark of good church, and inter church, relationships too.

1. So we pray that we, also, will glorify the Father

The second petition is, ‘Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.’ (v5)

In effect he prays, ‘Father, I can come home now. I have finished the work you gave me to do.’ (v4)

It is his desire to reproduce in us the same faithfulness and perseverance, which sees the work he has given us through to the end. This is wonderfully demonstrated in the ministry of St, Paul. In his last will and testament (sometimes known as 2Timothy) he says ‘As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.’ (2Tim. 4:6-8)

But Jesus has no wish to come home ‘alone. Later in the prayer he says ‘Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.’ (v24) As missioners and evangelists, that has to be our prayer also,, not to come home to the Father alone.

2. We pray for the grace and strength to finish the work.

Then Jesus prays for the disciples.
‘Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.’ (v11)

My colleague in York, Canon David Watson, wrote ‘The true basis for all fellowship is when two or more persons kneel at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ, trusting wholly in his mercy and love.’ Unity is a gift of God through the cross, but it needs divine protection. The unity of believers is a prime target for spiritual assault. And when Christians fall out the Devil had had a victory. The preservation of unity is a priority for prayer. And unity isn’t simply the absence of discord. Jesus prays to the Father that we will be one as he and the Father are one. We have been given a costly gift, bought for us on the cross: the possibility of a life of mutual trust, mutual honour, and mutual sacrifice, in the service of Christ We need to guard it, and, like the divine hospitality of the Father and the Son, keep it wide open for others to join.

3. We pray for divine protection of our unity

The fourth petition is: ‘I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.’ (v15-16)

The prayer is that the Church is to be in the world but protected, not out of the world as a way of protecting ourselves. We are to be n the world, but outclassing the world. I sometimes think that many Christians believe the Bible says ‘He who is in the world is greater than he who is in you,’ rather than the other way round! Many Christians are fearful that the world will rub off on us, when we are meant to rub off on it! I must have read 1Corinthians dozens of times, before some verse in chapter five struck home. Paul says ‘I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral persons, not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or idolaters, since you would then need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother or sister who is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber. Do not even eat with such a one.’ (1Cor. 5:9-11) In other words we are to withdraw from Christians who live a double standard, but we are to associate with those whose way of life grieves or angers God, to offer then a better way! Just like the one called ‘a friend of sinners’ who said. ‘“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

4. We pray for the grace to permeate society with lives of Christian integrity

The fifth petition is ‘Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth’ (v17-19)

Jesus prays, set them apart to serve your truth, equip them to live your truth, wherever I send them. We are a sent people. As the impact of Christendom fades, so the days of ‘come to us’ mission are largely over. The majority of the population of these nations no longer responds to the invitation. A third have never been connected to church. It is an alien culture to them. Another third used to have a connection and have chosen to break it; or at least to stop coming.
We need to go to them, not as a raiding party bringing them back, but to stay; and to plant culturally appropriate churches which engage God’s holy truth with their lives as they are now. In my work we call these new congregations and fellowships ‘fresh expressions of church’.

We are a sent people, an apostolic people, hearing the call to go.

5. We pray for the grace to live, share and embody God’s truth, wherever he sends us.

Then Jesus prays for those who will come to faith through the witness of his disciples.
Do we ever pray for those whom we do not yet know, but whom we will lead to Christ, or who will be led to Christ by those we lead to Christ. I realized I had never done so!

The sixth petition is “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.’ (v20-21)

Jesus knows that the good news will be fruitful in his disciples’ ministries. He prays that their witness will create communities of love which draw even more people to faith, and which validate the claims Christians make, by the lives Christians live. We are to do the same. Our prayer is not just for a chain of witness where each leads others to faith. It is for communities of faith whose way of life demonstrates the love of God and the truth of the gospel

We are seeing the emergence of a new relationship between mission and unity. While it is always right to work towards unity so that our mission may have integrity, the more significant insight is that we deepen unity through sharing in mission together. Act together and so grow together.

6. We pray for the planting of churches which demonstrate the love of God

The final petition is ‘Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.’ (v24)

He longs for us, and all who believe in him, to be with him. Jesus longs for our company!
That is why he is about to go to the cross. He thinks we’re worth it His next prayer will be in Gethsemane.

7. We pray that we will share his love of lost men and women, so much, that we will sacrifice ourselves to have them in his presence with us.

We pray that we will glorify the Father
We pray for the grace and strength to finish the work.
We pray for divine protection of our unity
We pray for the grace to permeate society with lives of Christian integrity
We pray for the grace to live, share and embody God’s truth wherever he sends us
We pray for the planting of churches which demonstrate the love of God
We pray that we will share his love of lost men and women so much, that we will sacrifice ourselves to have them in his presence with us.

May the prayer of Jesus shape our prayer, and our lives in his service. Amen

The Lay Ministry Dynamic by Tim Keller

2011-11-15T13:25:00.000-08:00

The growth of a big passive ‘middle’ happens to all churches as they grow larger. This growth in passivity weakens what I will call the “lay ministry dynamic.” That dynamic happens when a significant percentage of Christians engage in lay ministry “behaviors” because they are trained and coached—informally and personally—by the pastors and staff of the church. These lay ministry behaviors result in many new people, including many people without faith, being brought by Christian friends into the services and life of the church community.

I believe that it is in the collegiate model, in which congregations are led by lead pastors and their pastoral teams, that Redeemer has an opportunity to renew and strengthen that lay ministry dynamic. The highest priority is to again draw a significant percentage of church members into active ministry of the gospel with their relationships in the city. At the heart of the RENEW Campaign, we said that we were sending our lay people out into their neighborhoods to serve and reach their friends for Christ. We are reorganizing Redeemer into a network of neighborhood-based, generative congregations. Outreach and evangelism is on the front burner in this model, as is lay-driven ministry and evangelism. Redeemer began more as a “go and share” church, but evolved into more of a “come and see” church—come and hear the music, come see the masses of people, come listen to the teaching, come profit from the programs. Now we are going back from “come and see” to “go and share.”

Here are some examples of the kind of ‘lay ministry’ we want our people to be doing:

•Catherine prays for her friend Megan for months. Megan responds well to two short books on Christian subjects that Catherine has given her. Finally she invites and takes Megan to an evangelistic event in which Christian truth is presented. On the way home she fields Megan’s questions.
•Jack and Jill help their two sons, age 5 and 7, to do Scripture memory and learn a simple catechism. They field questions and help the boys understand what the texts mean.
•Fred has been going to a small group for months. At one point he realizes that he assesses the value of the group strictly on what he gets out of it. Instead, he begins to go each week by preparing well (studying the passage) and praying for the group. When he comes, he looks for every opportunity to help the Bible study leader by making good contributions, and for ways to speak the truth in love so that others are encouraged and helped to grow.
•Jim and Cynthia are both artists and are part of city wide Christian artists’ fellowship that is based in their local church. The fellowship is usually a discussion of the relationship of faith to art that assumes a Christian belief, but the artists have four events a year that will be either a gallery showing or a book event in which some very respectable artist gets a chance to talk about how his or her faith relates to their art to a general audience. Jim and Cynthia are very diligent in bringing non-Christian artists or art-appreciators to these events.
Notice that not all of these examples are directly evangelistic. Some are instances of the encouragement and building up of new believers, some are ways of spurring Christians on to greater growth in Christ, and others are cases of helping believers address particular problems in their lives. Nevertheless, each example is every-member-gospel ministry. That is, each example is a) organic—it is ministry that happens spontaneously, outside the organized programs of the church (even when making use of formal programs). b) Relational—it is ministry using informal, personal relationships. c) Word deploying—it is ministry of prayerfully bringing the Bible and gospel into connection with people’s lives. d) Active, not passive. Each person in these examples assumes personal responsibility for being a producer rather than only a consumer of ministry. For example, even though Fred continues to come to the small group as he always has, his mindset changed and he transformed from being a passive consumer of ministry to an active producer of ministry. Yes, direct evangelistic ministry is only one piece of this, but it will grow as every member Word ministry grows.

Lay Ministry Behaviors

Above is a set of brief case studies. Here is a more distilled set of what we will call “lay ministry behaviors.” This is not the same as ‘lay leadership’ in which your leaders have a job or responsibility in the church. It’s possible to have a duty as a volunteer but not contribute to every-member-gospel ministry. That consists of behaviors like the following. Notice that seven out of ten do not require as much knowledge as courage and compassion. Your lay people will carry them out if they feel empowered to do so through pastoral contact.

1.Let others know of your Christian faith and activities in natural ways (e.g. talking casually about church attendance and events).
2.Ask questions about other people’s beliefs and experiences with faith and church and simply listen appreciatively and sympathetically.
3.Describe briefly and naturally how you process some difficult personal problem—some misfortune or some mistreatment—by using your faith to help you get strength or grant forgiveness.
4.Offer to pray regularly for a friend, neighbor, or colleague who is facing a challenging situation.
5.Share your spiritual ‘narrative’—your testimony of Christian experience.
6.Offer books or recordings about Christian issues and discuss them.
7.Initiate a discussion about a friends’ biggest problem or objection to Christianity.
8.Invite friends to venues where they meet believers but don’t listen to gospel communication.
9.Offer and then read a part of the Bible together—preferably one of the gospels—to discuss the character of Jesus.
10.Invite friends to venues where they hear the gospel communicated. (#8 may be more intense/demanding for the Christian than #9, but for many non-believers, #8 is less intense/demanding than #9—going to some Christian event.)
11.Share the basics of the Christian faith with your friend, lay out how to become a Christian, and invite them to make a commitment.
When 15-30% of a congregation’s lay people are engaged in this kind of ‘lay ministry,’ this organic, relational, lay gospel ministry, it creates a powerful dynamism that infuses the whole church. Encouraging and supporting lay ministry of this nature is crucial for us as we launch the four Redeemers.

World Evangelism -- Is It Possible? by George Verwer

2011-11-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

Never in the history of the church have there been so many special programmes and campaigns, literally around the entire world. The highest goals and aims in the history of the church are being set by many different denominations and agencies. Many of these organizations are now linked through the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement. The overall goals is that everyone in the world receives the gospel and that the church be planted in every Peoples’ Group. The Missions Mobilization Network of the AD 2000 concerned with the mobilization of new missionaries has set as a goal the mobilization of 200,000 new missionaries in the next few years. In God’s providence, I am the Chairman of this Track. Part of me cries out, ‘Lord, how did I get into this?’
It does seem that across the world there is a great desire to work together more, as hard as that may seem in the pluralistic societies in which we live. It is encouraging to see major, mega denominations in many lands setting powerful goals and aims in the area of church growth and evangelism. Testimonies from Korea, Ghana are especially encouraging.
The main focus of the AD 2000 is the 10/40 Window where about 90% of the unreached peoples area is located. When some have complained to me regarding t he 1040 Window, I have told them to go and build their own window. Of course the whole world is our field.
I have sensed a renewal in my own life and vision through the AD2000 Movement. I have a negative and cynical streak that constantly needs attention. Waves of discouragement seem to daily come on me and I am trying to learn how to spiritually ‘surfboard’ on them. To me, the task, especially the Muslim World, seems like a triple Mt Everest. Some of the goals and aims of some groups seem not only unrealistic, but ridiculous, and in some cases not in line with what the Bible teaches. At the same time, I’m convinced that the positives in all this far outweigh the negatives and I want to lock hands and hearts with all who build upon the Word of God and love the Lord Jesus. One thing for sure is the fact that the goals and visions of this Movement and other movements will never become a reality without the massive mobilization and education of millions of believers and of the church.
Let us be honest and admit that at present only a tiny percentage of believers are really taking ownership of the Great Commission. In most places there is more talk than walk and some it leads to a cloud of deception and unreality. Many times people are willing to talk (and even pray) about missions, but when young people volunteer, they are unwilling or unable (so they say), to come up with the money to send them out - we are seeing that in certain new mission-sending countries right now. People often get defensive at this point and give wonderful stories of workers being sent out by the church, but in fact it’s the exception rather than the rule. A major grassroots missions movement is on the way… but it’s not here yet!!
Education is not the whole answer, but it is a vital part of the answer. Believers everywhere need to be taught the basics of evangelism and world missions. They need to know what the Bible says. They need to know something of what has been done and then they need to know what needs to be done and how vital their part is in it all.
Before we can blanket the world with the Gospel, we must blanket the church and God’s people with the biblical vision and reality of what this is all about. This must not be just the English-speaking world, but the whole world!
Those who already have this vision must unite and make every effort to bring a greater part of the body of Christ into action. There are prayer movements, but this must increase ten-fold and strengthened so that it will lead to real commitments, perseverance and obedience on the part of millions of believers.
We need to see the financial breakthrough for at least 100 million vision-building missionary books, leaflets, tapes and videos in at least 30 languages flood out across the world. Since pastors are so key, and often the bottleneck in world missions, we need to make sure that every Christian pastor in the world gets at least some of this material. This will not be done by one organization in some centrally controlled way. As much as possible, those involved should be linked together in some kind of network. For me, AD2000 is the ideal network, but whether people are linked into that or not they can be part of this great vision and mobilization. History is on our side as it has proven a thousand times over that powerful Christian literature and communication has been part of the backbone of the entire world-wide church growth and missionary movement.
When this communication is received and read I believe it will result in vision and obedience. That has been proven again and again. There are thousands of testimonies as to how God has used such communication to change individual lives and churches. Think of how God has used such books as Operation World. Think of how God has used the writings and communication of Ralph Winter, Billy Graham, OJ Smith, Elizabeth Elliot and a host of others. All we need to do is multiply all that has been done by 100 and make sure it gets into all the other major languages as well, not just English. It’s so simple in some ways that every believer can get involved. Write to your favorite mission group and get a good supply of their books, literature and tapes and start to read and distribute it. Can you imagine if simultaneously around the world God’s people would do this? Backed with love, action and prayer I believe it would be a major factor in enabling us to reach the goals and aims that are burning on so many hearts in these days. There are hundreds of publishing houses willing to help. There are hundreds of Bible schools and similar training centers who are ready to train the workers raised up by prayer and communication. Of course, much of the action will be in local fellowships across the world. There are thousands of agencies, missions and groups that would provide much of the structure and pastoral care that is needed for major missions thrusts. Not so many of these are in the 10/40 Window, but many are starting to aim in that direction and materials we distribute can be used of God to move the attention of people more in the direction of the unreached people groups.
Let us pray for the release of finance needed for this huge foundation laying, mobilization and educational effort. Finance seems to be the great obstacle as books and tapes cost money. The real obstacle is a lack of love, faith and biblical commitment. We can’t separate what I’m saying here from personal reformation, reality and revival. It is a mistake to think that the next big move is God’s. His big moves have already taken place – the Cross; the empty tomb; and Pentecost. Now it is our turn!! We need to repent and turn from all that is hindering us from doing God’s will in our day.

The Evangelist: Like Father,like son.'IF'

2011-11-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Rudyard Kipling

Evangelist's Care for his Spiritual Children

2011-10-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

Praying and preaching go hand in hand. I do not just mean
by this that .our sermons must be begotten and nurtured by
prayer, or that we must pray for ourselves before we mount
the pUlpit steps, but that we must pray for those to whom we
preach. It cannot have escaped us how the Lord.] esus would
spend the day preaching and teaching, and then go out into
the hills alone to pray for those to whom He had ministered;
nor with what regularity Paul assured his friends whom he
instructed in his Epistles that he also prayed for them, yes, all
of them, and that without ceasing. This is the balanced ministry,
to 'devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the
word',l
.And only love will make us thus diligent, for prayer is hard
work and secret work. Because it is an exacting ministry, we
shall make time for it only if we love people enough not to'
deny them its benefit. Because it is secret and therefore unrewarded
by men, we shall undertake it only if we long for
their spiritual welfare more than for their thanks. Paul could
write: 'Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
Israel is, that they might be saved." This is the meaning' of
prayer. It is an expression of the heart's desire. Intercession
is impossible without love. Let Richard Baxter put it succinctly
for us: 'Prayer must carry on our work as well as preaching:
he preacheth not heartily to his people, that will not pray
for them."
We do not have this love for people by nature; we can ·receive
it only by grace. By nature we are selfish, lazy, and
hungry for the praise of men. There is only one way to learn
to love, and that is, to yearn for people, in Paul's phrase, 'with
the affection of Christ Jesus'.' If His unsearchable, unquenchable
love for people could fill us, we could love them with
His love. And such love, utterly un-self-regarding, preoccupied
only with the positive good of others even at a cost to ourselves,
will make us· care for our people, as a father cares for
his children. Such love will make us understanding and gentle,
simple and earnest, consistent in our example and conscientious
in our prayers.
THE PREACHER'S PORTRAIT
J.Stott

The Importance of Prayer in Evangelism By John Godson

2011-10-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:5-6).

Prayer is communion with God. It is going into God’s presence to be with him. Prayer is bringing God and his resources into our earthly realities. Prayer is drawing upon divine resources to influence human reality. Prayer is breathing the breath of heaven. It is the master key to everything we have been called to do. Without it, our activities are empty, human and lack the breath of heaven. Our works will be temporal and will never last.

In evangelism, the need is even more acute. Evangelism is snatching souls from the grips of Satan and bringing them into God’s kingdom. This means conflict between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. Without deep, fervent and intense prayer, the results of our efforts will be meager and beggarly. Why should we pray? Why is prayer so important in the work of evangelism? Here are eight reasons.

1. The knowledge of God. The most important reason we need to pray is not just to evangelize; rather, it is to get to know God. Those who spend time with God know him better. Those who know their God shall be strong. Those who abide in God’s presence are those who bear fruit. Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.”

2. Release of laborers. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 9:37-38, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” True laborers are released into the harvest through our prayers.

3. Evil forces opposing the harvest are bound. Evangelism is frontier spiritual warfare. It involves physically going into enemy territory and releasing prisoners. Satan is not just going to sit down and watch us do that. He is going to do everything in his power to stop us. That was why Jesus said in Mark 3:27, “No one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house.” Jesus has given us power such that whatever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Mathew 18:18). He also said in Luke 10:19, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.

4. Release of God’s presence and power for evangelism. Prayer, one of the greatest tools God has given us, is also the one that is the most neglected. Prayer releases God’s presence in our lives and empowers us as we reach out to others. A very modern illustration would be the mobile phone. If we use it continuously without charging it, there will come a time when the battery will die. No matter how expensive and how modern it is, it is useless unless you recharge it. Similarly, if we do not get charged, we are useless as a force in expanding God’s kingdom. A praying Christian is filled with God’s presence, power, boldness and unction. It is the anointing that breaks the yoke, not our eloquence and logic.

5. Prayer prepares us to receive answers. When we pray, we are brought to a spiritual level where we can receive answers to our prayers. A mass conversion of souls to a dead and worldly church is worse than if they had never heard the gospel. God touches and changes our hearts as we passionately pray for the harvest. We are prepared to love them and make sacrifices. Our coldness and indifference are turned into passion and enthusiasm for the lost. This creates a warm and loving spiritual atmosphere where these spiritual children can grow and flourish.

6. The fruits are lasting. Souls won through prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit are different from souls won out of human ingenuity, logic and wisdom. Such souls have come into a place of being born again spiritually. Jesus said in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” We can use all the human and material resources we want and get results, but these results will be temporal and have no lasting spiritual impact. Prayer changes this reality.

7. We can also evangelize by praying for people. Do you know what will happen when we begin to really pray for our friends, neighbors and family? Do you know how they will feel when we ask them what we can pray for them about? Do you know what a testimony it will be when they receive answers to our prayers? Prayer is not just an indirect tool in evangelism, we can also evangelize by praying.

8. The example of Jesus. Jesus prayed and preached the gospel. It was his habit to wake up a great while before it was day to go to a solitary place to pray. He sometimes spent all night in prayer. He often separated himself to be alone with God. Jesus is our example. If Jesus, being the Son of God, needed to spend so much time in prayer, how much more do we need to spend time with God?

It is not enough to talk, write and read about prayer. We need to pray. The men and women God used in the annals of history had different qualities and came from different backgrounds; however, they had one thing in common: they prayed. We are living in a generation that has all the material resources needed to evangelize the world. So why have we not completed the task? Why has twenty-seven percent of the world never heard the gospel? Because we do not pray. Much evangelistic effort and money is wasted in the name of missions. We cannot accomplish what God has committed into our hands unless we make a full use of the resources (including prayer!) that he has put to our disposal.

Let us make prayer a conspicuous part of our lives. Let us cry out to God for help. Let us humble ourselves and declare our spiritual bankruptcy. Let us seek him with all our hearts. God will hearken. He will send revival. May God teach us what an infinite resource he has placed at our disposal. May he give us the faith and tenacity to take hold of him for our generation.

E.M. Bounds once said, “We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel....What the church needs today is…men whom the Holy Spirit can use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men."

Let God work through us in prayer.

John Abraham Godson is a member of the Polish parliament. He came to Poland in 1993 as a missionary with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES). He served as deputy chair of the Intercession Working Group of The Lausanne Movement between 2005 and 2010. He is married with four children. They make their home in Lodz, Central Poland

2011-10-20T10:52:00.001-07:00

How Does Christian Hedonism Relate to Evangelism? John Piper

2011-10-11T12:43:00.001-07:00

One of the basic premises of Christian Hedonism is that the joy which is our Christian duty to pursue does not reach its climax in a private communion with God. Rather, it reaches its fullest extent only when it is compounded by the joy of seeing others share in it with us. And these are not two different joys as if the good of man were somehow in competition with the glory of God. The sharing of a joy is that same joy in consummation.

Evangelism is a word used to describe the different ways God uses us, along with His Word and Spirit, to transform unbelievers into people whose great delight in life is to know and trust in him. Therefore, under God, our goal in evangelism is to be his instruments in creating new people who delight in God through Jesus Christ and who thus bring us great joy. There is no escape: if we, by God's grace, are successful in evangelism we will be happier. Our joy in God will be increased. Does this imply that we are only out to get notches on our fishing pole that we can boast about without really caring for the other person's good? No! It is that person's infinite and eternal welfare that makes us happy. The only boasting we care for is in the glorious grace of God. He is at work in us and in the new convert to make us gradually into the kind of people who love God more and who, therefore, will inevitably make each other glad.

Do we not admire people who have the virtues we value most? And is not admiration a tremendous pleasure? (Witness how people love to cheer and talk about their heroes.) Can you not then feel a desire kindling in your heart for God to use you to create out of unbelievers people who have the virtue you value the most—a joyful trust in God? It is a tragic thing to let so many people go on without admiring God. We could be enjoying their worship of God instead of lamenting the dishonor they do to him.

So evangelism is not necessarily aimed at people we like; it is aimed to create people we like—people we admire for their love of God. Evangelism is done in the hope of creating new people whom it will be a pleasure to be with because they admire most the one we admire most. There is every reason for a Christian Hedonist to bear witness to his faith and thus be like the Apostle John in his first letter, who said, “we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete” (1 John 1:4).

© Desiring God

Sowing to the flesh

2011-10-06T03:42:00.000-07:00

To 'sow to the flesh' is to pander to it, to cosset, cuddle and
stroke it, instead of crucifying it. The seeds we sow are
largely thoughts and deeds. Every time we allow our mind to
harbour a grudge, nurse a grievance, entertain an impure
fantasy, or wallow in self-pity, we are sowing to the flesh.
Every time we linger in bad company whose insidious influence we
know we cannot resist, every time we lie in bed when we ought to
be up and praying, every time we read pornographic literature,
every time we take a risk which strains our self-control, we are
sowing, sowing, sowing to the flesh. Some Christians sow to the
flesh every day and wonder why they do not reap holiness.John Stott

Generational Conflict in Ministry:D. A. Carson research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

2011-10-03T05:59:00.000-07:00

'Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.Bob Dylan.

About five years after the Berlin wall came down and the communist regimes of Central and Eastern Europe had mostly fallen or been transmuted into something rather different, I had the privilege of speaking at a conference for pastors in one of those formerly eastern-bloc countries. The numbers were not large. Most interesting was the way this group of men reflected a natural breakdown. They were clearly divided into two groups. The older group—say, over forty or forty-five—had served their small congregations under the former communist government. Few of them had been allowed to pursue any tertiary education, let alone formal theological training. Most of them had served in considerable poverty, learning to trust God for the food they and their families needed to survive. Some had been incarcerated for the sake of the gospel; all had been harassed. The men in the younger group—say, under forty or so—without exception were university graduates. Several had pursued formal theological education; two or three were beginning their doctorates. They were interested in ideas and in the rapidly evolving cultural developments taking place in their country now that their media were a good deal freer. Quite a number were engaged in university evangelism and wanted to talk about postmodern epistemology.

The older group viewed the younger men as untested, ignorant of the lessons learned by suffering, far too cerebral, dizzyingly scattered and ill-focused, cocky, impatient, even arrogant. The younger group viewed the older men as, at best, out of date: they had slipped past their “sell by” date as much as had the communist regimes. They were ill-trained, defined too narrowly by yesterday’s conflicts, unable to evangelize the new generation, vainly clutching to power, consumed rather more by tradition than by truth. And in very large measure, both sides were right.

More recently I spoke at a denominational meeting of ministers in a Western country. Again there was a generational breakdown, cast somewhat differently. The older men had, during the decades of their ministry, combated the old-fashioned liberalism that had threatened their denomination in their youth. Many of them had been converted out of rough backgrounds and subsequently built strong fences around their churches to keep out alcohol and sleaze of every sort. Most of their congregations were aging along with their ministers; only a handful of them were growing. They loved older hymns and patterns of worship. The younger men dressed in jeans, loved corporate worship where the music was at least 95 decibels, were interested in evangelism, and loved to talk to the ecclesiastically disaffected—homosexuals, self-proclaimed atheists, mystically orientated “spiritual” artists. Some were starting Bible studies, fledgling churches, in pubs. This group thought the older men were out of date, too defensive, unable to communicate with people under twenty-five without sounding stuffy and even condescending, much too linear and boring in their thinking, and largely unable to communicate in the digital world (except by emails, already largely dismissed as belonging to the age of dinosaurs), mere traditionalists. The older group thought the younger men were brash, disrespectful, far too enamored with what’s “in” and far too ignorant of a well-integrated theology, frenetic but not deep, energetic but not wise, and more than a little cocky.And in very large measure, both sides were right.

Doubtless there have always been generational conflicts of one sort or another. Arguably, however, in some ways they are becoming worse. There are at least two reasons for this. First, the rate of cultural change has sped up, making it far more difficult for older people to empathize with a world so very different from the one in which they grew up three or four decades earlier, while making it far more difficult for younger people to empathize with a world in which people used typewriters and wired telephones and had never heard of Facebook or Twitter. Second, and far more important, the social dynamics of most Western cultures have been changing dramatically for decades. The Sixties tore huge breaches into the fabric that had united young and old, assigning more and more authority to the young. The cult of youth and health that characterized the Eighties and Nineties, complete with hair transplants and liposuction, along with gated communities for the middle-class elderly and social welfare that meant families did not really have to care for, or even interact much with, the older generation, built a world in which integration across generational lines could be happily avoided. Even the new digital tools that facilitate interaction tend to enable people to link up with very similar people—very much unlike the way the church is supposed to be, bringing together very different redeemed people who have but one thing in common, Jesus Christ and his gospel. 1 Ideally, how should both sides act so as to honor Christ and advance the gospel?

1. Listen to criticism in a non-defensive way. This needs to be done on both sides of the divide. It is easy to label criticism as hostile or non-empathetic and write it off. Nevertheless the path of wisdom is to try to discern what validity the criticism may have and learn from it. It may be that some older pastors do not know very well how to communicate with a younger generation. How, then, could they strengthen their ministry in these domains? It may be that some younger pastors are brash and intemperate in speech, finding it easy to build a following out of the gift of the gab. How then might reflection on 1 Cor 2 modify their speech? Even well-intentioned criticism hurts enough that we are sometimes seduced into a defensive posture because we have forgotten that the wounds inflicted by a friend are faithful and helpful, but wisdom also listens carefully and respectfully even to disrespectful speech in order to learn lessons not otherwise picked up.

2. Be prepared to ask the question, “What are we doing in our church, especially in our public meetings, that is not mandated by Scripture and that may, however unwittingly, be functioning as a barrier to getting the gospel out?” That question is of course merely another way of probing the extent to which tradition has trumped Scripture. There is no value in changing a tradition merely for the sake of changing a tradition. The two tests buried in my question must be rigorously observed: (a) Is the tradition itself mandated by Scripture, or, in all fairness, is its connection with Scripture highly dubious? (b) Is the tradition helpful only to the traditionalists, while getting in the way of outreach?

Even when the question is asked, the answers are rarely easy or clear-cut. The answers may bear on, say, what we wear, styles of music, the order of service, what we do with our massive pulpit. In each case, the bearing of Scripture and tradition can lead to conflicting inferences. Obviously there is no specific biblical mandate for a large pulpit in the middle of the front, preferably elevated to ensure the minister is six feet above contradiction. Knowledge of historic disputes reminds us of the way this arrangement has functioned in the past: the Reformation taught us that not the “altar” 2 was to be central but the Word of God—so the large pulpits were installed in the center. In today’s climate, however, the very same furniture may signal something else to casual visitors—not the centrality of the Word, but the lecture hall, or talking down to others. How can one rightly emphasize the authority of the Word of God without, on the one hand, erecting unnecessary barriers, and without, on the other hand, turning the front of the building into a “stage” associated with entertainment and performance arts? Fine pastors may disagree on the prudential outworking of such reflections in their specific contexts. Unless the questions are addressed with ruthless rigor, however, unbending lines will be drawn and positions staked out that serve only to foster division, not thought.

3. Always focus most attention on the most important things, what Paul calls the matters of first importance—and that means the gospel, with all its rich intertwinings, its focus on Christ and his death and resurrection, its setting people right with God and its power to transform. So when we take a dislike of another’s ministry primarily because he belongs to that other generation, must we not first of all ask whether the man in question heralds the gospel? If so, the most precious kinship already exists and should be nurtured. This is not to say that every other consideration can be ignored. Some ministers are pretty poor at addressing homosexuals in a faithful and winsome way, at speaking the truth in love, at coping with the rising relativism without sounding angry all the time, at avoiding the unpretty habit of nurturing a smart mouth. But Paul in Phil 1 understands that whatever the shortcomings and confused motives of some ministers, if they preach Christ faithfully, he will cheer them on, and be grateful.

4. Work hard at developing and fostering good relations with those from the other generation. This means meeting with them, even if, initially at least, you don’t like them. It means listening patiently, explaining a different point of view with gentleness. It means that the new generation of ministers should be publicly thanking God for the older ministers, praying for them with respect and gratitude; it means that the older generations of ministers should be publicly thanking God for the new generation, seeking to encourage them while publicly praying for them. It means that ideally, disputes should be negotiated in person, winsomely, not by blogposts that are ill-tempered and capable of doing nothing more than ensuring deeper divisions by cheering on one’s supporters. It means shared meals, shared prayer meetings, shared discussions. It means younger men will seek out older men for their wisdom in a plethora of pastorally challenging situations; it means older men will be trying to find out what these younger men are doing effectively and well, and how they see the world and understand their culture in the light of Scripture. It means that younger men will listen carefully in order better to understand the past; it means that older men will listen carefully in order better to understand the present. It means humility of mind and heart, and a passion for the glory of God and the good of others.

1.^ On the changing social dynamics, it is worth reading Matthew Shaffer, "Ages Apart: How modernity has separated the generations, and why we should care," National Review 68/11 (June 20, 2011): 35–37.
2.^"Altar"? What new covenant warrant is there for such terminology?

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Authentic Mission will involve bearing the Cross and Suffering for Christ's sake.

2011-09-07T04:39:00.000-07:00

George Verwer the founder of Operation Mobilization writes:
'We seem to have a strange idea of Christian service. We will buy books, travel miles to hear a speaker on blessings, pay large sums to hear a group singing the latest Christian songs- but we forget we are soldiers.’

Suffering has always been part and parcel of Christian mission. The founder of Christianity died on a cross, virtually all the apostles were put to death, and the Christians in the early church until the conversion of the Emperor Constantine were often thrown to the lions or burned at the stake for the amusement of the onlookers.

Throughout Church history it has been the same when the Church tries to reach out in an enemy environment. Jesus had warned his followers that it would be so:
‘They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict’.
I think of the hymn :
'Must I be carried to the skies on a flowery bed of ease
when others sought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas'?

The mission of Christ was certainly no ‘flowery bed of ease’. It was foretold by Isaiah that Christ would be a suffering servant ‘a man of sorrows and one acquainted with grief’ He was denied and betrayed by his friends before being beaten , tortured and then finally suffering and dying on the cross . Before his death Jesus told his disciples:

“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honour. (John 12 .23.)

Today in many parts of the world Christians are going through terrible persecution. China, India, Sudan and Vietnam to name a few. The Marechale ( see picture below) the eldest daughter of General Booth of the Salvation Army wrote from her prison cell in the 1880’s:

'Jesus was crucified .. Ever since that day, men have tried to find an easier way, but the easier ways fail. If you are to win thousands who are without Christ, you must be ready to be crucified: your plans , your ideas , your likes and your inclinations. Things have changed , you say you have liberty now. Is there? Go and live Christ’s life, speak as he spoke, teach what he taught, denounce sin whenever you find it, and see if the enemy will not turn on you with all the fury of hell… Christ wasn’t crucified in a drawing room. He was no easy chair business… Do you shrink from being bated, misrepresented and spoken evil of ? it is time you were crucified..'
At one stage in my work among among teenagers things were starting to get messy. Though we found it a testing time it was still small beer compared to those suffering in other countries. I had my tyres slashed and some of the other leaders wanted to leave. It was then that certain scriptures (like the ones below) came alive to us. I certainly hadn't needed them for quite a while.

‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance’ (James 1.2.)

'But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.'2 Cor4.7

These became food and drink for the leaders. It was then I realised that God was perhaps doing more in us than he was doing with the youth. The enemy hates what we do and will oppose it.
If things go well all the time, if we never face any opposition perhaps we are not doing the Kingdom of darkness any damage. Will we give up when things get hard? Will we take it as a sign that God isn’t in it. Paul warns the younger Timothy who was prone to timidity in 2 Timothy 4:2‘Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction’.2.Tim. 4.2

We shouldn’t be surprised when Satan tries to prevent us reaching out to the lost. He will try to cripple us with fear. He will try and make us take the easier option so we don’t have face the flack or the jibs or the gossip.
Let us take Paul encouragement to Timothy as our own.
2 Timothy 2:3‘Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.’

Authentic mission will both originate and be sustained by prayer

2011-08-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

One has only to read the gospels to see how much Jesus the Son of God prayed. After his baptism he was driven into the wilderness where he prayed and fasted. He spent whole nights in prayer and taught his disciples both how to and what to pray.

The Church before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost when 3000 were converted was at prayer.( Acts 1.14)

Acts 2.42 They devoted themselves to prayer.

Acts 3.1 They were on there way to prayer when they healed the cripple. This resulted in a massive evangelistic meeting which saw many come to faith.

Acts 4.23-31 After Peter and John’s release from prison they prayed for boldness to preach along with signs and wonders.

Acts 10.31 Cornelius prayers became instrumental for the gospel coming to the Gentiles.

Acts 26.29 Paul speaks of his prayers for those at his trial that they will come to the Lord.

Rom. 1.10 Paul prays that he will have at last an open door to come to them in order to minister.

Eph. 6.19 Paul asks for prayer that he will fearlessly preach the gospel.

Consider also Jesus’ prayers for his disciples and Paul’s prayers for the young Churches.

There is often a link between prayer and the Holy Spirit. If we don’t pray we are unlikely to be filled with the Holy Spirit, yet even in our weakness it is the Holy Spirit that helps us to pray. As we practise the presence of God and in each moment give our hearts to him asking him to help and guide us He will put prayers on our heart and make prayer a delight.

One of the most memorable 'revival' stories is told of a retired Presbyterian
minister in America who was known as 'Father' Nash and a contemporary of
the famous evangelist Charles Finney. Nash had a problem with his
sight which caused him to spend long pours away from the sunlight. However he was able to use this as a spur to seek other methods of serving God. It was through disability this he learned how to pray-really pray. He would groan, sigh, plead and cry to the Lord that Holy Spirit would
come down in order to save souls. He would like Paul travail in prayer for the lost.

When Finney was on a preaching tour he would send Nash ahead to the city that he was to preach at.So Nash would book himself into a hotel or boarding house three or four weeks before Finney was scheduled to preach there. He would also gather a few like minded people in the city to pray with him-often they would not even eat but instead continually pray down God's Spirit upon the city or town. Nash would rarely attend the actual meetings but continue to pray for revival.

It has been said that by the time Finney arrived in the town to preach, revival had sometimes already broken out!

Daniel 'Father' Nash

Authentic Mission will be practised in a spirit of humility and servanthood

2011-08-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

In the Lausanne Covenant under the title ‘Wanted: Humble messengers of the gospel’ the following points were made in its analysis of missionary humility.

First, there is the humility to acknowledge the problem which culture presents, and not to avoid or over-simplify it.

Secondly, there is the humility to take the trouble to understand and appreciate the culture of those to whom we go.

Thirdly, there is the humility to begin our communication where people actually are and not where we would like them to be.

Fourthly, there is the humility to recognize that even the most gifted, dedicated and experienced missionary can seldom communicate the gospel in another language or culture as effectively as a trained local Christian.

Fifthly, there is the humility to trust in the Holy Spirit of God, who is always the chief communicator, who alone opens the eyes of the blind and brings people to new birth. "Without his witness, ours is futile”

Authentic Mission must neither be swashbuckling nor triumphalist. During the great missionary enterprises of the 19th Century this was not always the case. Mindsets of 'West is Best' and grand goals of building up empires for their church were often found among them. This often reflected the Colonialism of Britain and other European nations at the time.

Sadly this spirit is still seen today in evangelists and preachers who come across in an arrogant or proud manner. In their fervour to build up their own organization or church they frequently leave those who listen to them feeling both spiritually and financially exploited.Others make promises of health, wealth and power but when the problems arise or the promises are not fulfilled they are not there to help them.

The offer that if you come to Christ 'all your problems will be solved' or the use of psychological techniques on people in order to induce them to become Christians, or at least join their brand of Christianity, are all unworthy of the true Christian Mission. Likewise preachers drawing other Christians away from their own churches with the enticement that they will become part of God's elite, or where God is moving, likewise bring dishonour to Christ.

Yet even in modernity there were many examples of authentic missionarys. Men such as William Carey, Hudson Taylor, Sadu Sundar Singh to name a few among thousands were truly humble servants of God. They never exploited: They more often than not gave up their lives. They truly loved the people, living among them ( see blog on incarnational mission) in a spirit of humility seeking to bring them the word of Christ in the context of the culture. This was often at great cost to themselves and their families. Many of those who went into all the world to bring the good news never returned, often dying within the first year.

Jesus came as a servant and to give up his life for many: authentic mission requires that we do the same.

In the gospels Jesus was more often hardest on the religious leaders than he was on the ordinary man and woman.People do not have to listen to us and we need to have the attitude that they are doing us the favour by listening to us, not the other way round.Humility and servanthood and love should be the marks of those who want to share the life of God.

The famous missionary E. Stanley Jones founded what he called Round Table Conferences which became known to the world through his book 'Christ at the Round Table'. His attitude towards evangelism was similar to that of Ikon.

He wrote:'The Crusaders conquered Jerusalem and in the end that Christ was not there. They lost Him through the very spirit and methods by which they sought to serve Him. Many more modern and more refined crusaders end in that same barrenness of victory. Mere proselytisation partakes of these methods and shares the same barrenness of results.'

The approach by Stanley Jones towards those of other Faiths ( be they Hindu, Muslim or Buddhist) where they each shared their experiences of the divine, was much deeper than mere 'Dialogue', that of discussing propositional truths. It was being honest and vulnerable together. It was also at these Round Tables that many came to experience, then follow the risen Christ.

As regards strangers or visiters who come to our meetings or gatherings we should go out of our way to make them feel welcome. They should be seen as our quests. It is a sad fact that many churches and fellowships be they evangelical, charismatic or postmodern show a lack of hospitality and friendship towards outsiders.

People will not care how much you know until they know how much you care.I'm sure all of us have gone into a place where we were made to feel invisible or even a nuisance. It's not a nice feeling.We should therefore see it as a crime when we do it to others.Postmodern people care less about whether a religion is true or not, but what they do want to know is whether it works. Remember how St Francis who kissed the hand of the leper: Are we not even prepared to walk a few feet to talk to a stranger who is alone, or looks a little uncool,or strange. Many miss out on lasting friendships by not making a little effort and being friendly to the friendless person. 'Whatever you do on to the least' says the Master 'you do it on to me'.

This is especially important for postmodern people who are looking for something real, something authentic. Anyone can put on a show of religion or spirituality. We can have the talk but not the walk but at the end of the day it's all sham and we have only fooled ourselves.

It should be noted that when I speak of Christianity or someone being a Christian I am not talking about someone who has joined a Cult (A group that practices religious ritual), or merely believed a Creed ( be it the Westminster Confession of Faith, The Nicene Creed or even the Bible), or even one who follows a Code of Conduct ( be it the Golden Rule, Sermon on the Mount etc.see John Stott Christian Basics). Rather, it is someone who who has come to know and serve the living Christ.

That means walking with Christ as our friend, trusting him as Saviour and following Christ as Lord. It is his life within us that we must nurture. It is listening attentively to His voice and seeking to do His bidding.

If you don't know him yet as your personal friend, Lord and saviour you can do so. He still speaks to men and woman today as he did 2000 years ago when he said : ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me'.

He stands at the outside of each heart and life. He will not force his way in by kicking in or breaking down the door. The handle is in fact on the inside of the door. The decision is with us. Will we open the door?

The Lifeboat Station

2011-08-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little lifeboat station. The building was no more than a hut, and there was only one boat; but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea. With no thought for themselves, they went out day and night, tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to be associated with the station and give their time, money, and effort to support the work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little lifeboat station grew.
Some of these new members of the lifeboat station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those who were saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the lifeboat station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely because they used it as sort of a club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in this club’s decoration, and there was a memorial lifeboat in the room where the club initiations were held.
About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick, and some of them were foreigners. The beautiful new club was in chaos. Immediately, the property committee hired someone to rig up a shower house outside the club, where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.
At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s lifesaving activities because they felt they were unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. A small number of members insisted upon lifesaving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. The small group’s members were voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives, they could begin their own lifeboat station down the coast.
They did.
As the years went by, however, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old station. It evolved into a club, and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that seacoast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore.
Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the passengers drown.

As disciples of Jesus, our primary task is to go and make disciples. (See Matthew 28:19.) To put it another way, we are to go and save lives. Unfortunately, we sometimes forget our purpose. We need to recover our passion for lifesaving. We need to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. (See James 1:22).

Authentic Mission and the Awesomeness of God.

2011-08-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

It is sometimes perceived that the “fear of the Lord” (meaning, to be concerned with a God of judgment) is not relevant for those living since the New Testament era. It is true that the fear of the Lord seems more prominent in the Old Testament than the New Testament. Nevertheless, the New Testament still concerns itself with this important subject. God is still holy (Hebrews 12:14; 2 Corinthians 7:1) and there is still a final judgment (Matthew 25:41).

The fear of the Lord means living our lives to please the Lord. While on earth, Jesus sought to please his Father. Christians must also seek to please God and live a life worthy of him (Colossians 1:10). In 1 Corinthians 5:9, Paul writes that it was his goal to please God. Why was he motivated as he was? Verse 10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” As a result, Paul encouraged his readers to “persuade men” (v.11).

Michael Green notes, “This fear of which he speaks is not the craven fear of the underdog, but the loving fear of the friend and trusted servant who dreads disappointing his beloved Master.”2 He goes on to write, “This fear was a contributory factor in the ceaseless evangelistic activity of the apostle Paul.”3 In seeking to persuade men, we can begin to understand Paul’s concern for those who were not in Christ. Paul saw himself as similar to the prophet Ezekiel, who had been called to be God’s watchman. Similar to Ezekiel, Paul declared to the Ephesian elders, “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:26). He believed he was “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (2 Timothy 1), a herald and teacher (1 Timothy 1:11) and an ambassador of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).

He was like Isaiah, who having seen God in his awesome majesty, could not refuse his invitation to “go and tell this people” (Isaiah 6:9). Like Jeremiah, Paul could not hold in God’s Word. This holy compulsion was a combination of both the love of God for the people and a grave concern that the trust committed to Paul should be discharged (1 Corinthians 9:17). The Church’s mission should still be motivated by a healthy appreciation of the fear of God, which will give to the Church a sense of its own holy calling to reach the lost. The Church will then become fearless in the midst of fierce opposition. Paul the great missionary had to endure great sufferings in order to fulfill the ministry to which God had called him.

Authentic Mission and the love of God.

2011-07-31T14:34:00.000-07:00

Christian Mission springs from the very heart of the Godhead. Regarding the ‘love of God’ as perhaps the overriding motive for mission it contains at least three elements all of which are significant.
Firstly, God’s love for us,
Secondly, our love for God which is proved by our obedience to God "If you love me, you will obey what I command. (John 14.15), and
Thirdly God’s love working through us to others.
The love of the missionary God is seen in the tremendous act of the Father giving up his only begotten son in the incarnation, and his son being willing to come and live a life of self sacrifice and ultimately to die on the cross for mankind e.g. For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son (John 3.16).

John also states that ‘we love because he first loved us’(1 John 4.19). If our response is to truly love Christ in return, Jesus tells us we will obey his commands and God will live in us. God therefore expects disciples of Christ to be motivated by the love of God. His love has been poured out in our hearts (Rom.5.5) and Jesus who commanded us to love one another, also promised that if we obeyed him the world would know that we were his (John 13.34-35).

The love that Jesus spoke of was much more than just an emotional feeling which would come and go, but was an act of the will and also one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. (Gal.5.1) It was also what compelled Paul in his mission (2 Cor.5.14). Christ had also told the disciples ‘As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’(John 20.21) As disciples we are obliged to follow his example.

In a similar manner our love for God must be shown in ‘incarnational mission’, that is identifying with the people we seek to reach, entering into their worlds, their pains and their sorrows. Like Christ we must seek and save that which was lost.

Having an holistic approach ( a mission not only of words of which evangelicals emphasize,but also with good works, acts of kindness, fighting for justice for the weak and disenfranchised) to mission and being motivated by the love of God would certainly limit the abuses towards those we seek to reach.

The Crusades and Inquisitions are a blight on the history of the Church and for that we must hold our heads in shame, but also the imperialistic and triumphalistic attitudes of the present day Church are equally a denial of the love of God. It is here that the definition of evangelism as 'one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread' is apt. We have nothing that we have not received freely from God. Freely we have received let us freely give.
If we are motivated by this love surely our natural response will be to share it with others and join with Wesley's heart cry:

Oh that the world might taste and see
the riches of His grace
The arms of love that compass me
would all mankind embrace

John Stott's Last Sermon At Keswick

2011-07-28T02:12:00.000-07:00

John Stott was certainly one of the finest Christian leaders of the twentieth century. Though he had an upper class English background ( his father was a Harley Street surgeon), thousands of men and woman all over the world from less favourable backgrounds would be proud to call him their friend and mentor.
Check out his audio sermons by clicking 'John Stott's sermons' on my favourite links. I've reposted this article in the light of his death yesterday. 'Uncle John was ninety years old. AK

I remember very vividly, some years ago, that the question which perplexed me as a younger Christian (and some of my friends as well) was this: what is God’s purpose for His people? Granted that we have been converted, granted that we have been saved and received new life in Jesus Christ, what comes next? Of course, we knew the famous statement of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: that man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever: we knew that, and we believed it. We also toyed with some briefer statements, like one of only five words – love God, love your neighbour. But somehow neither of these, nor some others that we could mention, seemed wholly satisfactory. So I want to share with you where my mind has come to rest as I approach the end of my pilgrimage on earth and it is – God wants His people to become like Christ. Christlikeness is the will of God for the people of God.

So if that is true, I am proposing the following: first to lay down the biblical basis for the call to Christlikeness: secondly, to give some New Testament examples of this; thirdly, to draw some practical conclusions. And it all relates to becoming like Christ.

So first is the biblical basis for the call to Christlikeness. This basis is not a single text: the basis is more substantial than can be encapsulated in a single text. The basis consists rather of three texts which we would do well to hold together in our Christian thinking and living: Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18 and 1 John 3:2. Lets look at these three briefly.

Romans 8:29 reads that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son: that is, to become like Jesus. We all know that when Adam fell he lost much – though not all – of the divine image in which he had been created. But God has restored it in Christ. Conformity to the image of God means to become like Jesus: Christlikeness is the eternal predestinating purpose of God.

My second text is 2 Corinthians 3:18: ‘And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness, from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.’ So it is by the indwelling Spirit Himself that we are being changed from glory to glory – it is a magnificent vision.

In this second stage of becoming like Christ, you will notice that the perspective has changed from the past to the present, from God’s eternal predestination to His present transformation of us by the Holy Spirit. It has changed from God’s eternal purpose to make us like Christ, to His historical work by His Holy Spirit to transform us into the image of Jesus.

That brings me to my third text: 1 John 3:2. ‘Beloved, we are God’s children now and it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he appears, we will be like him, for we shall see him as he is.’ We don’t know in any detail what we shall be in the last day, but we do know that we will be like Christ. There is really no need for us to know any more than this. We are content with the glorious truth that we will be with Christ, like Christ, for ever.

Here are three perspectives – past, present and future. All of them are pointing in the same direction: there is God’s eternal purpose, we have been predestined; there is God’s historical purpose, we are being changed, transformed by the Holy Spirit; and there is God’s final or eschatalogical purpose, we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. All three, the eternal, the historical and the eschatalogical, combine towards the same end of Christlikeness. This, I suggest, is the purpose of God for the people of God. That is the biblical basis for becoming like Christ: it is the purpose of God for the people of God.

John Stott's last sermon (2)

2011-07-28T02:11:00.001-07:00

I want to move on to illustrate this truth with a number of New Testament examples. First, I think it is important for us to make a general statement, as the apostle John does in 1 John 2:6: ‘he who says he abides in Christ ought to walk in the same way as he walked.’ In other words, if we claim to be a Christian, we must be Christlike. Here is the first New Testament example: we are to be like Christ in his Incarnation.
Some of you may immediately recoil in horror from such an idea. Surely, you will say to me, the Incarnation was an altogether unique event and cannot possibly be imitated in any way? My answer to that question is yes and no. Yes, it was unique, in the sense that the Son of God took our humanity to himself in Jesus of Nazareth, once and for all and forever, never to be repeated. That is true. But there is another sense in which the Incarnation was not unique: the amazing grace of God in the Incarnation of Christ is to be followed by all of us. The Incarnation, in that sense, was not unique but universal. We are all called to follow the example of His great humility in coming down from heaven to earth. So Paul could write in Philippians 2:5-8: ‘Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God some thing to be grasped for his own selfish enjoyment, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.’ We are to be like Christ in his Incarnation in the amazing self-humbling which lies behind the Incarnation.
Secondly, we are to be like Christ in His service. We move on now from his Incarnation to His life of service; from His birth to His life, from the beginning to the end. Let me invite you to come with me to the upper room where Jesus spent his last evening with His disciples, recorded in John’s gospel chapter 13: ‘He took off his outer garments, he tied a towel round him, he poured water into a basin and washed his disciples’ feet. When he had finished, he resumed his place and said, “If then I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet, for I have given you an example’ – notice the word – ‘ that you should do as I have done to you.’
Some Christians take Jesus’ command literally and have a foot-washing ceremony in their Lord’s Supper once a month or on Maundy Thursday – and they may be right to do it. But I think most of us transpose Jesus’ command culturally: that is just as Jesus performed what in His culture was the work of a slave, so we in our cultures must regard no task too menial or degrading to undertake for each other.
Thirdly, we are to be like Christ in His love. I think particularly now of Ephesians 5:2 – ‘walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.’ Notice that the text is in two parts. The first part is walk in love, an injunction that all our behaviour should be characterised by love, but the second part of the verse says that He gave Himself for us, which is not a continuous thing but an aorist, a past tense, a clear reference to the cross. Paul is urging us to be like Christ in his death, to love with self-giving Calvary love. Notice what is developing: Paul is urging us to be like the Christ of the Incarnation, to be like the Christ of the foot washing and to be like the Christ of the cross. These three events of the life of Christ indicate clearly what Christlikeness means in practice.
Fourthly, we are to be like Christ in His patient endurance. In this next example we consider not the teaching of Paul but of Peter. Every chapter of the first letter of Peter contains an allusion to our suffering like Christ, for the background to the letter is the beginnings of persecution. In chapter 2 of 1 Peter in particular, Peter urges Christian slaves, if punished unjustly, to bear it and not to repay evil for evil. For, Peter goes on, you and we have been called to this because Christ also suffered, leaving us an example – there is that word again – so that we may follow in His steps. This call to Christlikeness in suffering unjustly may well become increasingly relevant as persecution increasesin many cultures in the world today.
My fifth and last example from the New Testament is that we are to be like Christ in His mission. Having looked at the teaching of Paul and Peter, we come now to the teaching of Jesus recorded by John. In John 20:21, in prayer, Jesus said ‘As you, Father, have sent me into the world, so I send them into the world’ – that is us. And in his commissioning in John 17 he says ‘As the Father sent me into the world, so I send you.’ These words are immensely significant. This is not just the Johannine version of the Great Commission but it also an instruction that their mission in the world was to resemble Christ’s mission. In what respect? The key words in these texts are ’sent into the world’. As Christ had entered our world, so we are to enter other people’s worlds. It was eloquently explained by Archbishop Michael Ramsey some years ago: ‘We state and commend the faith only in so far as we go out and put ourselves with loving sympathy inside the doubts of the doubters, the questions of the questioners and the loneliness of those who have lost the way.’
This entering into other people’s worlds is exactly what we mean by incarnational evangelism. All authentic mission is incarnational mission. We are to be like Christ in his mission. These are the five main ways in which we are to be Christlike: in His Incarnation, in His service, in His love, in His endurance and in His mission.

John Stott's Last Sermon (3)

2011-07-28T02:10:00.001-07:00

Firstly, Christlikeness and the mystery of suffering. Suffering is a huge subject in itself and there are many ways in which Christians try to understand it. One way stands out: that suffering is part of God’s process of making us like Christ. Whether we suffer from a disappointment, a frustration or some other painful tragedy, we need to try to see this in the light of Romans 8:28-29. According to Romans 8:28, God is always working for the good of his people, and according to Romans 8:29, this good purpose is to make us like Christ.
Secondly, Christlikeness and the challenge of evangelism. Why is it, you must have asked, as I have, that in many situations our evangelistic efforts are often fraught with failure? Several reasons may be given and I do not want to over-simplify but one main reason is that we don’t look like the Christ we are proclaiming. John Poulton, who has written about this in a perceptive little book entitled A today sort of evangelism, wrote this:
‘The most effective preaching comes from those who embody the things they are saying. They are their message. Christians need to look like what they are talking about. It is people who communicate primarily, not words or ideas. Authenticity gets across. deep down in side people, what communicates now is basically personal authenticity.’
That is Christlikeness. Let me give you another example. There was a Hindu professor in India who once identified one of his students as a Christian and said to him: ‘If you Christians lived like Jesus Christ, India would be at your feet tomorrow.’ I think India would be at their feet today if we Christians lived like Christ. From the Islamic world, the Reverend Iskandar Jadeed, a former Arab Muslim, has said ‘If all Christians were Christians – that is, Christlike – there would be no more Islam today.’
That brings me to my third point – Christlikeness and the indwelling of the Spirit. I have spoken much tonight about Christlikeness but is it attainable? In our own strength it is clearly not attainable but God has given us his Holy Spirit to dwell within us, to change us from within. William Temple, Archbishop in the 1940s, used to illustrate this point from Shakespeare:
‘It is no good giving me a play like Hamlet or King Lear and telling me to write a play like that. Shakespeare could do it – I can’t. And it is no good showing me a life like the life of Jesus and telling me to live a life like that. Jesus could do it – I can’t. But if the genius of Shakespeare could come and live in me, then I could write plays like this. And if the Spirit could come into me, then I could live a life like His.’
So I conclude, as a brief summary of what we have tried to say to one another: God’s purpose is to make us like Christ. God’s way to make us like Christ is to fill us with his Spirit. In other words, it is a Trinitarian conclusion, concerning the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Evangelist as a Sower.

2011-07-09T18:08:00.001-07:00

In the New Testament both Jesus and Paul use the metaphor of the sower
for the evangelist or proclaimer of the good news. From Jesus’ parable
of the sower (or ‘of the soils’) the evangelist should learn to be
develop three of the attributes found in the sower. The first
attribute we notice in the sower is that he is generous in his
sowing. He had plenty of seed and spread it widely, causing it to land
on different types of soils. We too should be generous in our
sharing of the message of grace-as Jesus encouraged us :‘freely you
have received so freely give! We should not be stingy with this
message nor seek to keep to ourselves, our family, friends or
countrymen but rather share it with all, even to those whom we
consider don't deserve it-for of course we don't deserve it! Of course
this doesn’t mean that we should ‘throw our pearls before swine’
as the Master told us, but we should still be generous and seek to
spread it where we have an opportunity to do so.
As Charles Wesley declared:

Come sinners to the gospel feast
Let every one be Jesu’s guest.
There need not one be left behind
For God has bidden all mankind.

The second attribute I see in the sower is that he is man who has faith.
He believes that the seed has power to take root, grow and
reproduce-it is what seeds do! We too should should have faith when we
sow the seed of God’s word. As Paul declared regarding the gospel: I
am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the
salvation of everyone who believes. We should not lose heart or become
weary in well doing –keep sowing, keep praying and God will give the
growth and if it lands on good soil it could produce a crop, 'some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.'

The third attribute I see in the sower is that he is patient as he
waits for the seed to grow. He does not panic despite the weather be
it rain, hail, snow or scorching sun! The evangelist likewise should take
encouragement to wait patiently when he shares the gospel. This is
also seen when God speaks in the book of Isaiah :

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

The seed will take time to develop in the ground then after its time
has been fulfilled the fruit will be seen for all to see.

Paul also emphasises that it is not the sower that gives the growth,
but God. It is not the sower that can boast or receive any glory, but
God. Our calling is not to give the growth, rather our calling is to sow generously, in faith and patiently that in due time God would give growth to the seed sown in his name.
AK

Send me,' he cries, his sin-purged lips with altar fires aglow:
'I'll bear the living message of free forgiving love;
O let me win the wand'rers to the path that leads above.'
`Spite all the ties of nature, he leaves his friends and home,
A lonely witness o'er the world, despised and poor, to roam.
Nought takes he for his service, but freely in His name
Who sent him and supplies his need, the Gospel would proclaim.
Within his yearning bosom, love to the Savior reigns:
In all the labors of his life no other power constrains.
Deep are his tender feelings, sweet is his pleading tone,
As he described the glories of yon Man on Heaven's throne.
His heart the heavy burden of sinful souls must bear;
He wrestles for them at God's throne through hours of midnight prayer.
Eternity before him more real than Time appears:
Oh, wonder not he pleadeth with the eloquence of tears!
Anointed by God's Spirit, trained at the Master's feet,
Commissioned and sent forth by Him, all furnished and complete.
No human art or wisdom his talent could assist:
A heavenly-moulded, God-sent man is the evangelist.
He is the weeping sower who shall with singing come,
Bringing his gathered sheaves from earth to Heaven's harvest home.
And when with joy he lays them down at the Master's feet,
His own 'Well done! thou faithful one,' will make his bliss
complete.—William Blane

1 Corinthians 4: The Nature of True Apostleship

2011-05-27T03:48:00.000-07:00

1 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

6 Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. 7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! 9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

Paul’s Appeal and Warning

14 I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

18 Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

1 Corinthians 3 The Church and Its Leaders

2011-05-25T04:53:00.000-07:00

1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” 21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

1 Corinthians 2. Paul stresses the importance of the Holy Spirit.

2011-05-23T02:58:00.000-07:00

1 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit

6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—

10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 1-Paul's letter to his spiritual children

2011-05-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

A Church Divided Over Leaders

10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom

18 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. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[c]

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 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. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Acquaint now yourself with Him." --Job 22:21

2011-05-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

If we would rightly "acquaint ourselves with God, and be at peace," we must know Him as He has revealed Himself, not only in the unity of His essence and subsistence, but also in the plurality of His persons. God said, "Let us make man in our own image"--let not man be content until he knows something of the "us" from whom his being was derived.

Endeavour to know the Father; bury your head in His bosom in deep repentance, and confess that you are not worthy to be called His son; receive the kiss of His love; let the ring which is the token of His eternal faithfulness be on your finger; sit at His table and let your heart make merry in His grace.

Then press forward and seek to know much of the Son of God who is the brightness of His Father's glory, and yet in unspeakable condescension of grace became man for our sakes; know Him in the singular complexity of His nature: eternal God, and yet suffering, finite man; follow Him as He walks the waters with the tread of deity, and as He sits upon the well in the weariness of humanity. Be not satisfied unless you know much of Jesus Christ as your Friend, your Brother, your Husband, your all.

Forget not the Holy Spirit; endeavour to obtain a clear view of His nature and character, His attributes, and His works. Behold that Spirit of the Lord, who first of all moved upon chaos, and brought forth order; who now visits the chaos of your soul, and creates the order of holiness. Behold Him as the Lord and giver of spiritual life, the Illuminator, the Instructor, the Comforter, and the Sanctifier. Behold Him as, like holy unction, He descends upon the head of Jesus, and then afterwards rests upon you who are as the skirts of His garments.

Such an intelligent, scriptural, and experimental belief in the Trinity in Unity is yours if you truly know God; and such knowledge brings peace indeed.

C.H. Spurgeon

David Wilkerson Promoted to Glory

2011-04-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

The article below is written by David Wilkerson's son Gary.I had the pleasure of meeting them both some years ago in Belfast.Most Christians, certainly all who are part of my generation would have heard of his famous book 'the Cross and the Switchblade'. He was an inspiring preacher though in some of his prophetic declarations he was probably wrong.He was fearless and never pulled his punches when preaching. Thanks also to David, many were inspired to preach the gospel, including Nicky Cruz his famous convert who went on to start his own ministry of evangelism.

David served the purposes of God in his generation, then he died” (Acts 13:36).

On Wednesday afternoon my father, David Wilkerson, passed away in a car accident. We grieve the loss of a beloved father, a faithful husband and a holy man of God. My mother, Gwen, his wife of 57 years, was in the car also, but we are told she will recover fully.

Dad’s 60-plus years of ministry have impacted the lives of those closest to him and extended to millions around the world. Today we feel a personal loss, but at the same time we rejoice knowing Dad lived life to the fullest, obeying God with devotion and loving Jesus radically.

He was known for his unlimited faith. He believed God could change the lives of gang members and transform the most desperate drug addicts. He believed that a dynamic church could be launched in the heart of Times Square, New York City. He believed he could be a man who loved his wife and children well. And he did.

Dad was not one for fanfare, acclaim or ceremony. He turned down invitations to meet with world leaders yet would give everything he owned to support a poor orphan or a widow in distress.

Like King David of old, Dad served God’s purposes in his generation. He preached with uncompromising passion and relentless grace. He wrote with amazing insight, clarity and conviction. He ran his race well and when his work was done, he was called home.

I don’t think my father would have retired well. I don’t think he was one to sit in a rocking chair and reminisce about times past. I believe that Jesus, knowing this, graciously called him home.

Dad’s last mission on earth was to be an advocate for the poorest of the poor—to provide relief and support for hungry children and widows and orphans. After founding Teen Challenge, World Challenge and Times Square Church, he sought to feed starving children in the most impoverished countries in the world. Today, Please Pass the Bread is saving the lives of thousands of children, through 56 outreaches in 8 countries.

Like King David of old, after having served God’s purpose, he died. I know if my father were able to encourage you with his words today, he would invite you to give your all to Jesus, to love God deeply and to give yourself away to the needs of others.

The works he began outlive him. We can all attest to his impacting us—not only in his preaching, writing and founding of world-changing ministries, but in his love, devotion, compassion and ability to stir our faith for greater works.

St Paul's Prayer for the Church

2011-04-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

For this reason I kneel before the Father,
From whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
May have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,
To grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
And to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
To him be glory in the church
And in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
Amen.

Ephesians 3.14-21

The Prayer of Charles Wesley,

2011-04-12T03:39:00.000-07:00

This relatively unknown hymn is really the prayer of an evangelist and through its words touches the deepest recesses of an evangelist's innermost spirit.It might also be viewed as a commentary or exposition of the words from that most famous of prayers: 'Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven' as regards humankind hearing and heeding the message of gospel grace.As with many of Wesley's hymns it is full of Biblical imagery, be it from Isaiah, the gospels or the apostle Paul.We could do much worse than make it our own.

Thou, Jesus, Thou my breast inspire,
And touch my lips with hallowed fire,
And loose a stammering infant's tongue;
Prepare the vessel of Thy grace,
Adorn me with the robes of praise,
And mercy shall be all my song.
Mercy for all who know not God,
Mercy for all in Jesu's blood,
Mercy, that earth and heaven transcends;
Love, that o'erwhelms the saints in light,
The length, and breadth, and depth, and height
O love divine which never ends!

A faithful witness of Thy grace,
Well may I fill the alloted space,
And answer all Thy great design;
Walk in the works by Thee prepared;
And find annexed the vast reward,
The crown of righteousness divine.
When I have lived to Thee alone,
Pronounce the welcome word: Well done!
And let me take my place above,
Enter into my Master's joy,
And all eternity employ
In praise, and ecstasy, and love.

Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

For there stood by me this night the angel of God."—Acts 27:23.

2011-04-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

TEMPEST and long darkness, coupled with imminent risk of shipwreck, had brought the crew of the vessel into a sad case; one man alone among them remained perfectly calm, and by his word the rest were reassured. Paul was the only man who had heart enough to say, "Sirs, be of good cheer." There were veteran Roman legionaries on board, and brave old mariners, and yet their poor Jewish prisoner had more spirit than they all. He had a secret Friend who kept his courage up. The Lord Jesus despatched a heavenly messenger to whisper words of consolation in the ear of His faithful servant, therefore he wore a shining countenance and spoke like a man at ease.

If we fear the Lord, we may look for timely interventions when our case is at its worst. Angels are not kept from us by storms, or hindered by darkness. Seraphs think it no humiliation to visit the poorest of the heavenly family. If angel's visits are few and far between at ordinary times, they shall be frequent in our nights of tempest and tossing. Friends may drop from us when we are under pressure, but our intercourse with the inhabitants of the angelic world shall be more abundant; and in the strength of love-words, brought to us from the throne by the way of Jacob's ladder, we shall be strong to do exploits.

Dear reader, is this an hour of distress with you? then ask for peculiar help. Jesus is the angel of the covenant, and if His presence be now earnestly sought, it will not be denied. What that presence brings in heart-cheer those remember who, like Paul, have had the angel of God standing by them in a night of storm, when anchors would no longer hold, and rocks were nigh.

"O angel of my God, be near,
Amid the darkness hush my fear;
Loud roars the wild tempestuous sea,
Thy presence, Lord, shall comfort me."

C.H. Spurgeon

'He gave him no answer, not even to one word'. Matthew 27.14

2011-04-02T03:53:00.001-07:00

He had never been slow of speech when he could bless the sons of men,
but he would not say a single word for himself.
“Never man spake like this man,”
and never man was silent like him.

Was this singular silence the index of his perfect self-sacrifice?
Did it show that he would not utter a word to stay the slaughter of his sacred person, which he had dedicated as an offering for us?
Had he so entirely surrendered himself that he would not interfere in his own behalf, even in the minutest degree, but be bound and slain an unstruggling, uncomplaining victim?

Was this silence a type of the defencelessness of sin?
Nothing can be said in palliation or excuse of human guilt; and, therefore, he who bore its whole weight stood speechless before his judge.
Is not patient silence the best reply to a gainsaying world? Calm endurance answers some questions infinitely more conclusively than the loftiest eloquence.

The best apologists for Christianity in the early days were its martyrs.
The anvil breaks a host of hammers by quietly bearing their blows.
Did not the silent Lamb of God furnish us with a grand example of wisdom?
Where every word was occasion for new blasphemy, it was the line of duty to afford no fuel for the flame of sin.

The ambiguous and the false, the unworthy and mean, will ere long overthrow and confute themselves, and therefore the true can afford to be quiet, and finds silence to be its wisdom.

Evidently our Lord, by his silence, furnished a remarkable fulfilment of prophecy.
A long defence of himself would have been contrary to Isaiah’s prediction: “He is led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”

By his quiet he conclusively proved himself to be the true Lamb of God. As such we salute him this morning.

Be with us, Jesus, and in the silence of our heart, let us hear the voice of thy love.

C H Spurgeon

'Peace Child' by Don Richardson

2011-03-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

I've just finished reading Don Richardson's excellent book 'Peace Child':I've also posted two short videos about it above to whet your appetite! It is a truly 'unputdownable' book, one of the best I've read in a long time and I guarantee you'll not be disappointed if you decide to read it. 'Peace Child' is inspiring in that it shows us how God was already at work when Don, along with his wife decided to obey God's call to bring the Good News to the Swasi tribe of New Guinea. Not only did the tribe speak in an unwritten language,they were also head hunters and cannibals to boot.One reviewer from Amazon writing about the book states:

Talk about living on the edge, Don Richardson, his newlywed wife Carol and seven-month old son Stephen step from the 20th century into a stone-age cannabilistic cultural with gruesome and horrific practices. This book reads like the true adventure it is, starting with the narration of life, death, betrayal, parties where the honored guests become the special of the day. Enter this family of three into the midst of suspicious cannibals bringing three rival factions together each vying jealously for the knifes, steel axes, matches, machetes, mirrors and medicine, you get a powder keg with small to large explosions daily. Imagine living in a grass hut with your wife and baby huddled inside while fierce warriors and arrows fly throughout the sky. Imagine facing an entire clan beating and burning a man that the sorceress has declared to be a soul-less zombie and praying him back to life, only by a miracle of God. These and other adventures show what it's really like to walk by faith, trusting only God to protect you, and doing His will to win people to Christ. There are many hair-prickling turns in this story, leaving you at the edge of your seat, wondering if it'll all end in disaster. But the glory of the Lord is that He had left Himself a witness in the strange custom of the "Peace Child" that Richardson was able to use to point to the Perfect Peace Child, the Son of God, Prince of Peace, to bring the Sawi tribe to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. Truly awe inspiring. I am now reading the sequel "Lords of the Earth".

After writing this post I had lunch with Pastor Don Palmer, an old school friend from my 'Sullivan' days. It turned out that this Don studied at a Bible College in Canada with Don Richardson's son and had even met the great missionary himself. It's a small world!

I've been so impressed with 'Peace Child' that I've also started to read his second book 'Eternity in their hearts' which I hope will inspire me to find keys into reaching more of our local 'tribes' with the message of hope!

Check out Don Richardson's website at http://www.donrichardsonbooksales.com/

Be Thou my vision O Lord of my heart

2011-03-21T04:42:00.000-07:00

Be Thou my vision, oh Lord of my heart
Nought be all else to me, save that Thy art
Thou my best thought in the day and the night
Waking or sleeping, Thou presence my light

Be Thou my wisdom, be Thou my true word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me Lord
Thou my great Father and I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one

Be Thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight
Be Thou my armour and be Thou my might
Thou my soul shelter, and Thy my high tower
Raise Thou me heavenwards, oh power of my power

Riches I need not, nor man's empty praise
Thou mine inheritance through all of my days
Thou and Thou only though first in my heart
High king of heaven my treasure Thou art

Oh high king of heaven, when battle is done
Grant heaven's joy to me, bright heaven sun
Christ of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my vision, though ruler of all

St Patrick

2011-03-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

Slemish where Patrick as a slave had to tend the sheep of his master.

The patron saint of Ireland is St. Patrick (373-465 AD), and long before man gave him the title of saint, God had already made him one. "Unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be Saints" (1Corinthians 1:2). Though the Church of Rome claims St. Patrick as its own, he is more appropriately owned by the "General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in Heaven" (Hebrews 12:23), where "Christ is the Head of the Church: and He is the Saviour of the Body" (Ephesians 5:23).

“Patrick was descended of a family which, for two generations at least, had publicly professed the Gospel. His father, Calpurnius, was a deacon, and his grandfather, Potitus, a presbyter in the Christian Church. He was well born, as the phrase is, seeing his father held the rank of 'decurio,' that is, was a member of the council of magistracy in a Roman provincial town. These facts we have under Patrick's own hand. In his autobiography... written but a little while before his death, and known as 'Patrick's Confession,' he says, 'I, Patrick, a sinner, had for my father, Calpurnius, a deacon, and for my grandfather, Potitus, a presbyter.' We should like to know what sort of woman his mother was, seeing mothers not infrequently live over again in their sons. Patrick nowhere mentions his mother, save under the general term of 'parents.' But judging from the robust and unselfish qualities of the son, we are inclined to infer that tradition speaks truth when it describes 'Conchessa,' the mother of the future apostle, as a woman of talent, who began early to instruct her son in divine things, and to instill into his heart the fear of that God whom his father and grandfather had served” --from St. Patrick: Apostle of Ireland ---New Window, A Ten Chapter Excerpt (Chapters 9-18) from "History of the Scottish Nation" by James A. Wylie ---New Window.

Historians believe that St. Patrick's missionary career in Ireland took place in the 5th Century, though they are uncertain of the date of his birth. "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered [by God]" (Matthew 10:30). Born in Britain (373 AD), Patrick was kidnapped into slavery at the age of sixteen to serve as a herdsman in Ireland for six years, where he turned in faith to the LORD Jesus Christ. "When He [God] slew them, then they sought Him: and they returned and enquired early after God" (Psalm 78:34). During the second half of the 4th Century, when Roman power was in decline in Italy and Britain, Irish raiding expeditions were common along the west coast of Britain, and unconverted Patrick was seized by such raiders. "I will go and return to My place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek My face: in their affliction they will seek Me early" (Hosea 5:15). In a dream, he heard that the ship in which he was to make his escape was ready, so he fled his master and found his way back to Britain. "I being in the way, the LORD led me" (Genesis 24:27).

A passage from Patrick's spiritual biography, "Confessio" [Latin, Confession], tells of a dream that came to Patrick after he had escaped from Ireland and returned to Britain. One Victoricus appeared to Patrick, delivering him a letter entitled, "The Voice of the Hibernians". Hibernia is the Latin name for the island of Ireland. As Patrick read the letter, he seemed to hear a company of Irish beseeching him to return to Ireland. "9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the LORD had called us for to preach the Gospel unto them" (Acts 16:9-10). Though Patrick doubted his fitness and educational preparation for such a task, he entered his missionary task to the Irish people (405 AD) with the zeal of an Apostle Paul. "19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more... 22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (1Corinthians 9:19, 22). He met with great success in Ulster and Tara, though he faced the continual threat of martyrdom. Remember, he preached the Gospel where pagan idols were worshipped and Druid human sacrifice was still practiced. "For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the Living and True God" (1Thessalonians 1:9). His success with the Irish was matched by his trouble with his ecclesiastical superiors in Britain; but through it all, he humbly promoted the "Gospel of the Grace of God" (Acts 20:24).

by Tom Stewart

Psalm 46 'Be still, and know that I am God.'

2011-03-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come and see what the LORD has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress

'For Ever and Ever. Amen'

2011-03-01T02:46:00.000-08:00

This post closes my thoughts on what is known as ‘the Lord’s Prayer’, though in actual fact it should be known as ‘the disciple’s prayer’. Feel free to add to the comments on it.

When I was a child, at the instigation of my brother I would imagine what it was like before time and the world were created. What was there when there was nothing? Also when it was created what was on the other side of the universe-did it actually stop? What was infinity actually like? What in fact was eternity-time never ending?

At school I studied Religious Education, Biology, Physics and Geography and each subject blew my mind away as each in turn made me want to bow down and worship the God who had made such an truly awesome universe. Through my study of the natural world I began to understand to a small degree why many of the early scientists saw these subjects as a premise to worship the creator. Atoms, electrons, cells, ecology, botany, human biology, geology, the Scriptures all had me absorbed and fascinated, though in their workings I understood some better than others.

To me there was no conflict with what I read in Scripture.That the earth was millions of years old according to the geology books only made me appreciate how insignificant I was along with the rest of humankind, and how great the creator was! In fact if the earth was only 15,000 years old I would have thought it much less impressive than what scientists claimed it was.

These millions, or even billions of years helped me understand a little of the sheer enormity of what ‘for ever and ever’ and eternity of God really meant. Peter tells us: 'but do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. It might equally have said a million years or even a billion years but the readers of the first century would have found it harder to grasp this than those of the twenty first! There probably wasn't even a greek word for million or billion anyway!

God is outside the time dimension though at different points he did enter it. His name be praised forever that he did, especially when, ‘in the fullness of time’ he entered it as a little baby boy as the Christ, becoming God incarnate in order to redeem humankind back to himself.

'For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory.'

2011-02-23T15:17:00.000-08:00

What a finish to this great prayer, addressed to, not only the Christian's heavenly Father but also the real and one and only Master of the Universe.These words truly acknowledge the source of all things:'For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory!' It is not mine but Thine.It is not my Kingdom, or my power or my glory: or Billy Graham's or Brian McLaren's, or the Pope's,or the Archbishop's Kingdom, or the Kingdom of any of the great religious, political or intellectual people who have ever lived on this planet.

Neither is it Satan's, though he likes to think it is, or at least he tries to make people believe it through his bullying and deceptive ways. Though still powerful, like a wounded lion, he is still a defeated enemy. Jesus told his disciples :'Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.'If we truly fear God all our other fears will disappear.

There is probably nothing sadder than seeing a church or one of God's own people build their own little Kingdom and live for their own glory.That church or man is deceived though they don't realise it.These words in the Lord's prayer teach us a great lesson and give us proper focus, and if we mean them will save us from such a sad predicament as building our own little kingdom, built with wood, hay and stubble - on a foundation of sand. Rather let us seek His Kingdom, His power, His glory and we'll get all we need in life thrown in.

Jesus, the Conqueror, reigns,
In glorious strength arrayed,
His kingdom over all maintains,
And bids the earth be glad.
Ye sons of men, rejoice
In Jesus' mighty love,
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice
To Him who rules above.

Extol His kingly power,
Kiss the exalted Son,
Who died, and lives, to die no more,
High on His Father's throne;
Our Advocate with God,
He undertakes our cause,
And spreads through all the earth abroad
The victory of His cross.

That bloody banner see,
And in your Captain's sight,
Fight the good fight of faith with me,
My fellow soldiers, fight!
In mighty phalanx joined,
To battle all proceed;
Armed with the unconquerable mind
Which was in Christ your Head.

Urge on your rapid course,
Ye blood besprinkled bands;
The heavenly kingdom suffers force,
'Tis seized by violent hands;
See there the starry crown
That glitters through the skies!
Satan, the world, and sin, tread down,
And take the glorious prize.

Through much distress and pain,
Through many a conflict here,
Through blood, ye must the entrance gain;
Yet, O disdain to fear!
Courage! your Captain cries,
Who all your toil foreknew
Toil ye shall have; yet all despise,
I have o'ercome for you.

The world cannot withstand
Its ancient conqueror,
The world must sink beneath
The hand which arms us for the war;
This is the victory!
Before our faith they fall;
Jesus hath died for you and me;
Believe, and conquer all!

Charles Wesley

'But Deliver Us from Evil'

2011-02-19T08:36:00.000-08:00

All Christians must realise that they are in a battle and have an enemy (also known as the evil one, Satan or the devil) to war against. Thank God that Christ is stronger than our enemy and even though he does his worst against us, as Paul declares,‘I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’(Romans 8).

We also have the armour of God that we must put on to protect ourselves from Satan’s attacks which he will surely bring against us ( Ephes.6). Christ here gives us a general prayer to pray to our Father to deliver us from evil and by praying it in faith and sincerity we can be assured that he will hear our cry and work out his purposes in our life.Other key verses that promise deliverance are found in Acts and Joel where it states that 'he who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (delivered)'.

Why are we attacked by Satan? There are at least two reasons. The first reason is that we were made in the image of God and Satan hates us for that, even more so if we have been adopted into his family. The second reason is that if we have already battled in prayer, asking that God's Kingdom and will would be done on earth it would mean that Satan's kingdom would be getting smaller and his will thwarted. We have therefore made ourselves his enemies by combating against him and he will certainly want to attack us in order to stop us! Where will he attack us? He is a dirty fighter who knows every trick in the business and will attack us where we are weakest and also when we are weakest!He will attack us with doubts and fears and may even attack us physically through other people, as Christ himself warns his disciples he comes to 'kill,steal and destroy' John 10.10. But like Job we must be patient and hold unto our trust in God's faithfulness and goodness and through this we are assured of victory.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Edward Mote

Workman of God! O lose not heart,
But learn what God is like;
And in the darkest battlefield
Thou shalt know where to strike.

Thrice blest is he to whom is giv’n
The instinct that can tell
That God is on the field, when He
Is most invisible.

Blest too is he who can divine
Where real right doth lie,
And dares to take the side that seems
Wrong to man’s blindfold eye.

Then learn to scorn the praise of men,
And learn to lose with God;
For Jesus won the world through shame,
And beckons thee His road.

For right is right, since God is God,
And right the day must win;
To doubt would be disloyalty,
To falter would be sin.

F.W.Faber

'Lead us not into Temptation'

2011-02-14T12:56:00.000-08:00

It might seem more sense to change this to 'let me not be led into temptation' because Scripture clearly states:
'When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone', otherwise Scripture would be contradicting itself.
The theologian Jim Packer ( author of ‘Knowing God’) however makes some insightful comments regarding this. The word ‘temptation’ may also be used to mean ‘test’ or ‘trial’. He uses the analogy of the driving test which has been instituted to show that the driver can do everything right and in that regard is a ‘temptation’ of sorts. Packer goes on ‘In God’s programme for the spiritual education and growth of Christians, the same applies. God does and must test us regularly , to prove what is in us and to show how far we have got….Thus he ‘‘tested’’ Abraham (RSV “tempt” AV “prove” ) by telling him to sacrifice Isaac and after the test promised him great blessing “because you have obeyed my voice”. (Gen 22)
Why should we then pray to God that we should not be tempted or tested? Packer notes three reasons
1. When God tests us for our good Satan seeks to exploit the situation for our harm. c.p.Satan with Jesus in the wilderness.
2.Temptation is no picnic and ‘no sane Christian can do no other than shrink from them. For both reasons Jesus was as right to start his prayer in Gethsemane with “Father, remove this cup” as he was to end it with “yet not my will but yours be done.”
3. Our track record of weakness, stupidity, vulnerability should make us humble enough to cry out “Lord if be possible, please no temptation.’ Packer goes on ‘only a fool will make it his preference .

Nevertheless we have the promise that ‘no temptation has overtaken us that is not common to man, but with the temptation God will provide a way of escape that we will be able to endure it.’ (2 Cor.). We may also resist the devil and he will flee from us while at the same time we should also ‘watch and pray lest we enter temptation’. The armour of God (Ephes. 6) has also been give to us to carefully put on in order to protect ourselves from the attacks of the evil. One thing that is for certain is that we should recognise is that we are no match for Satan in our own strength. He is the dirtiest, meanest fighter imaginable who will use all the tricks he has come up with since mankind was created. Christ fully wipped Satan in the wilderness, in Gethsemane and on the cross and it is only in Christ that we can defeat him.

The hymn by Martin Luther and video clip below I have posted before and feel it is appropriate again to post it in the context of this present discussion.

A safe stronghold our God is still,
A trusty shield and weapon;
He’ll help us clear from all the ill
That hath us now o’ertaken.
The ancient prince of hell
Hath risen with purpose fell;
Strong mail of craft and power
He weareth in this hour;
On earth is not his fellow.

With force of arms we nothing can,
Full soon were we down-ridden;
But for us fights the proper Man,
Whom God Himself hath bidden.
Ask ye, who is this same?
Christ Jesus is His Name,
The Lord Sabaoth’s Son;
He, and no other one,
Shall conquer in the battle.

And were this world all devils o’er,
And watching to devour us,
We lay it not to heart so sore;
Not they can overpower us.
And let the prince of ill
Look grim as e’er he will,
He harms us not a whit;
For why? — his doom is writ;
A word shall quickly slay him.

God’s Word, for all their craft and force,
One moment will not linger,
But, spite of hell, shall have its course;
’Tis written by His finger.
And though they take our life,
Goods, honor, children, wife,
Yet is their profit small;
These things shall vanish all:
The City of God remaineth!

'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us'

2011-02-10T04:03:00.000-08:00

To be honest I never use the word trespasses here,instead I would use the word sins which has the same meaning.Having already spoken to God as Father,worshipped him as Lord of all,asked that his kingdom and will would be done on earth and requested that he would provide for our needs, we now can, on the authority of Jesus who told us to pray this prayer, ask him that our sins be forgiven.Once we have asked we can be assured that he will forgive us. What a joy that is! The richest or most famous person on earth for all their glory, without Christ can not know the joy of knowing their sins forgiven.How much do you think they would have to pay to know that? In fact no amount of money could pay the price for our sins,as the children's hymn makes clear:

'There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin, he ( Christ) only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in.'

But does God also forget- or does He always remember our sins so when we go to pray we still feel guilty and ashamed? Psalm 103 declares: 'As far as the East lies from the West so far has he removed our transgressions form us.' That's pretty far! God again says in Isaiah 44:'I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist' and the prophet Micah also states:'He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.'

Before I could drive a car I used to love sitting in the passenger's seat and look out at the sea as we would travel along a coast road. It brought a real sense of calm to my heart and I could then visualise all my sins in the depths of the Irish Sea or the Atlantic Ocean - never to be brought up again.I was forgiven by God and he wasn't going to bring them out to haunt me.It you don't live near the sea you might like to click on the photo above to make it larger then imagine your sins being cast by God into the depths of the sea.

There is an apocryphal story of a woman who lived in the south of Ireland who claimed to have had visions of Jesus. The Bishop got to hear of this and told her that the next time she had a vision of Jesus she was to ask him to tell her what sins the Bishop had confessed at his last Confession.Sure enough she had another vision and she requested that the Bishop come round to her house. He then asked her to tell him what Jesus had said when she asked him what sins the Bishop had last confessed. She replied: 'He said:"I don't remember".' So it is, as this story makes clear, God both forgives and forgets.

The Rev. William Still of Aberdeen was always concerned that many sincere Christians became too preoccupied with their past sins instead of focusing on their new life in Christ.In exposing the folly of this he gave the example of the a man who would normally keep himself clean and tidy but while gardening got his hands covered in muck. When he went inside he went straight to the tap and with soap and water washed the muck away.Did he then become preoccupied with the dirt on his hands and bemoan the fact his hands had been dirty? Of course not! And neither should we once we have asked for forgiveness: our sins like the dirt have been washed way and should be forgotten.

Having been forgiven so much it is our obligation then to forgive the sins of others as he has forgiven us.Stephen,like his Master before him, forgave those who stoned him to death, and from that Saul was later to become the great apostle Paul.

'Give us this day our daily bread'

2011-02-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

Here we are encouraged to ask our heavenly Father for our daily bread or daily necessities. These would include such things as our food,health, shelter, job etc.All good gifts come from God and we must look to him only for them and acknowledge our daily dependence on him.It is true that God is not only concerned about our spiritual well being but also our physical one.Sadly, extreme ascetics in order to try to get closer to God saw the physical body and natural things as evil. J.I.Packer calls such thinking hypo-spirituality and 'an unspiritual ego trip'.On the other hand an example of how concerned Jesus was about man's basic needs was seen when he fed the 5000 and 4000 during his earthly ministry.

'Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be down on earth as it is in heaven.'

2011-02-01T07:03:00.000-08:00

In this petition our Lord teaches us to become intercessors as we pray for his kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth.Sometimes we hear ministers telling us to become specific in our prayers. Here Jesus teaches us to become almost childlike in our prayers. For instance we would smile if we hear a child pray:'Bless everyone in the world because we know you love everyone.'

This prayer encourages us to bring big petitions to God such as : 'Let your Kingdom come in Iran and Iraq' or 'Let your will be done in this country!'We are encouraged to pray as children because we are praying to our Father.

But as we think about this petition: to pray for his Kingdom and his will to come on earth it also implies that his kingdom would have to come in my life, my family, my street, my country, my continent. It therefore leaves nothing and no one out at all- everything is covered, with nothing too great that it can not be asked for. It is up to our Father to decide whether to act upon it.Jesus personified the Man who had fully the reign and will of God in his life and so desires that we as children of God should have the same.

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare:
Jesus loves to answer prayer;
He himself has bid thee pray,
Therefore will not say thee nay.

Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For his grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much.

With my burden I begin:
Lord, remove this load of sin;
Let thy blood, for sinners spilt,
Set my conscience free from guilt.

Lord, I come to thee for rest,
Take possession of my breast;
There thy blood-bought right maintain,
And without a rival reign.

While I am a pilgrim here,
Let thy love my spirit cheer;
As my Guide, my Guard, my Friend,
Lead me to my journey's end.

John Newton

'Hallowed be Thy Name'

2011-01-27T03:21:00.000-08:00

Some versions of the Lord's prayer translate this part of the prayer as 'Holy is Your Name'. From addressing God as a child at the begining of the prayer we now address Him as a worshipper.I appreciate the fact, as one who is unworthy to enter the presence of God in his own goodness, that the Lord has encouraged us to go through the door to speak to Him as part of His family.

How great indeed is the Name of the Lord at every level. It is the highest name and the only name under heaven through which we can be saved.It is at the name of Jesus that demons must flee and through which the apostles healed the sick.It is this name and the person the bears it that must be first in our hearts and the name we must never take it in vain or use it in a self serving way. Phil.2:9-11 states(see also Isa.45:23-24): "Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." For the Jews the holy name of God was so revered that it was never casually spoken or written of.Likewise for us it must then be held in the highest honour and be our desire 'to spread through all the earth abroad',the honour of honours of it! And by the same token, grieve us deeply when we hear it being dishonoured or taken in vain.

How precious it is for those who know the name of Jesus Christ and know him as Saviour,Lord and Friend.How well did the former slave trader John Newton write of how this name was be a healing balm for his wounded soul and for all those who call upon it:

How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary, rest.

Dear Name, the Rock on which I build,
My Shield and Hiding Place,
My never failing treasury, filled
With boundless stores of grace!

By Thee my prayers acceptance gain,
Although with sin defiled;
Satan accuses me in vain,
And I am owned a child.

Jesus! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
O Prophet, Priest and King,
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring.

Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I’ll praise Thee as I ought.

Till then I would Thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath,
And may the music of Thy Name
Refresh my soul in death!

Our Father Who is in Heaven

2011-01-20T13:54:00.000-08:00

Jesus tells us that when we are to address God in prayer we are to call Him Father. I think that by and large we take this too often for granted for we do not realize fully what an incredible privilege this is or the great implications that this means for us as children of God.I think we would do well to meditate on this great truth.

I remember when I was in my twenties when I was studying for a theology exam on Methodist doctrine. I was learning John Wesley's definition of 'the witness of the Spirit', and at the time was worried because it was just a few hours before the exam took took place. I decided to learn it line by line.

'The testimony of the Spirit as an inward impression on the soul, whereby the Spirit of God directly witnesses to my spirit, that I am a child of God; that Jesus Christ hath loved, and given himself for me; and that all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled to God'.

At first I was anxious about the exam, but as I repeated the words: 'the Spirit of God directly witnesses to my spirit, that I am a child of God', something happened within my heart and the words became alive to me by the Spirit who did in fact witness to the fact that I was indeed a child of God. Then added to that were the words:'
that Jesus Christ hath loved, and given himself for me; and that all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled to God'. I became ecstatic and experienced such joy and blessing that I had not had for such a long time.I was a child of God, Jesus did not only love me,but gave his life for me and that I,even I was now reconciled to God. All anxiety about the exam then disappeared because I could now see it in the correct perspective.
Before my dog died a few years ago I used to walk him along a certain route which lasted about twenty minutes or so.During that time I would try to use it as an opportunity to draw close to God through praying the Lord's prayer. However, more often than not I would not have finished the prayer as I would sometimes get stuck at 'Our Father who is in heaven' and be unable to pray on.I didn't want to move on because the implicaton of those words was just so powerful to me and by moving on I was worried that I would lose the closeness that I was experiencing through meditating on it and by praying to God as a young child would talk to his father.

Reader if you are a Christian, I would encourage you to meditate upon this wonderful blessing for some time, for surely if you are a child of the King you are then so richly blessed by Him.Thank Him and praise Him continually that it is so.For it is a gift from the King of Kings to you.Go to Him and talk to Him as a child would his father and let your requests, fears, desires and hurts be known to Him.His heart for you is a heart of love.'O what manner of love the Father has given on to us, that we should be called the children of God.'Amen.

'

The Lord's Prayer: The Greatest Prayer in the World.

2011-01-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

Our Father Who is in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
Forgive us our sins,as we also forgive those who have sinned against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but
Deliver us from the evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen

Over the next few days I aim to look at what is commonly known as the 'Lord's Prayer' commenting on each phrase and petition one by one. We can take confidence when we pray it because it is the prayer that the Lord taught His disciples to pray. We therefore don't have to second guess what He teaches us:He taught us to say these words so now we can pray them in faith, not worrying whether we are praying things which are beyond us or that we have no right to pray. What relief is that- We know that He will hear us and that He wants to answer our requests.

Spurgeon one time discovered a book of children's addresses which had broken the Lord's prayer into the following heads:
Father who is in heaven: A child away from home
Hallowed be Your name: A worshipper
Thy kingdom come: A subject.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven: A servant.
Give us this day our daily bread: A beggar.
Forgive us our sins: A sinner
Lead us not into temptation: A sinner in danger of being a greater sinner still.

Spurgeon goes on to state that the petitions are like a ladder, beginning at the top then descending down.The petition of the child is at the top and is the highest position that any man can have:'See what manner of love the Father has given onto us that we should be called the sons of God' 1 John 3.2. Not even the angels can achieve this position.
The next rung down is that of the worshipper. How high and glorious is this.It is indeed high but not as high as that of a child, but with the angels we may worship the triune God.Below this we have the subject of the King asking : 'Thy Kingdom come '. He is lower than the worshipper but higher indeed than the servant who prays 'Thy will be done'. Next is the beggar who asks for bread. Then beneath this is the sinner who asks for his sins to be forgiven, Spurgeon states that asking someone to forgive is always lower than asking them to give. As long as we are on this earth we should be praying that God would have mercy on us. Lastly is the sinner who is frightened of becoming an even greater sinner who prays 'Lead us not into temptation.' Yet as Spurgeon points out it is perhaps only the mature child of God who is aware of his own frailties. It is only the son of the Father who in devoted service and has suffered the onslaughts of Satan who knows how much he needs mercy when his back is being hard pressed against the wall.

1 Timothy 6

2011-01-12T07:10:00.000-08:00

1 All those under the yoke of slavery must have unqualified respect for their masters, so that the name of God and our teaching are not brought into disrepute.

2 Those whose masters are believers are not to respect them less because they are brothers; on the contrary, they should serve them all the better, since those who have the benefit of their services are believers and dear to God. This is what you are to teach and urge.

Teachers and the Love of Money

3 Anyone who teaches anything different and does not keep to the sound teaching which is that of our Lord Jesus Christ, the doctrine which is in accordance with true religion,

4 is proud and has no understanding, but rather a weakness for questioning everything and arguing about words. All that can come of this is jealousy, contention, abuse and evil mistrust;

5 and unending disputes by people who are depraved in mind and deprived of truth, and imagine that religion is a way of making a profit.

6 Religion, of course, does bring large profits, but only to those who are content with what they have.

7 We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it;

8 but as long as we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that.

9 People who long to be rich are a prey to trial; they get trapped into all sorts of foolish and harmful ambitions which plunge people into ruin and destruction.

10 'The love of money is the root of all evils' and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds.

Final Charge to Timothy

11 But, as for you Man of God, avoid all that. You must aim to be upright and religious, filled with faith and love, perseverance and gentleness.

12 Fight the good fight of faith and win the eternal life to which you were called and for which you made your noble profession of faith before many witnesses.

13 Now, before God, the source of all life, and before Jesus Christ, who witnessed to his noble profession of faith before Pontius Pilate, I charge you

14 to do all that you have been told, with no faults or failures, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15 who at the due time will be revealed by God, the blessed and only Ruler of all, the King of kings and the Lord of lords,

16 who alone is immortal, whose home is in inaccessible light, whom no human being has seen or is able to see: to him be honour and everlasting power. Amen.

17 Instruct those who are rich in this world's goods that they should not be proud and should set their hopes not on money, which is untrustworthy, but on God who gives us richly all that we need for our happiness.

18 They are to do good and be rich in good works, generous in giving and always ready to share-

19 this is the way they can amass a good capital sum for the future if they want to possess the only life that is real.

20 My dear Timothy, take great care of all that has been entrusted to you. Turn away from godless philosophical discussions and the contradictions of the 'knowledge' which is not knowledge at all;

21 by adopting this, some have missed the goal of faith. Grace be with you

1 Timothy 5

2011-01-11T14:11:00.000-08:00

Treatment of Church Members
1 Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.
3 Honor widows who are really widows. 4 But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God. 5 Now she who is really a widow, and left alone, trusts in God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. 6 But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. 7 And these things command, that they may be blameless. 8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
9 Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man, 10 well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.
11 But refuse the younger widows; for when they have begun to grow wanton against Christ, they desire to marry, 12 having condemnation because they have cast off their first faith. 13 And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not. 14 Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. 15 For some have already turned aside after Satan. 16 If any believing man or[b] woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows.

Honor the Elders
17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,”[c] and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”[d] 19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. 20 Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.
21 I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. 22 Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure.
23 No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities.
24 Some men’s sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later. 25 Likewise, the good works of some are clearly evident, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden.

1 Timothy 4

2011-01-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

Some Will Depart from the Faith
4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

A Good Servant of Christ Jesus
6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

1 Timothy 3

2011-01-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

Qualifications of Overseers
1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money,but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Qualifications of Deacons
8 Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 10 But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. 11 Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 2

2011-01-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

Pray for All Men
1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, 7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ[a]and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Men and Women in the Church
8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; 9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, 10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. 11 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. 12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. 15 Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

1 Timothy 1

2010-12-29T12:15:00.000-08:00

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

2 To Timothy my true son in the faith:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Timothy Charged to Oppose False Teachers
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

The Lord’s Grace to Paul
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The Charge to Timothy Renewed
18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

Friendship : Wisdom from Ecclesiasticus

2010-12-20T09:22:00.000-08:00

I remember as a young enthusiastic Christian thinking that the Apocrypha ( that is the writings found between the Old Testament and the New Testament in some Bibles such as the Common Bible and the Jerusalem Bible.)should be treated as either 100% God inspired or rejected completely as false teaching.

The Westminster Confession of Faith states:
“The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the Canon of Scripture; and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings.”Despite that the Apocrypha has much wisdom in it.

Through reading the books of people such as A.W.Tozer, C.S.Lewis, the Church Fathers or John Stott we can gain great benefit, likewise from reading the Apocrypha we can also can gain great wisdom. When I first became a Christian I had a friend who used to say when reading certain Christian books: 'Eat the meat and spit out the bones'. My thanks to Romanos my Eastern Orthodox from America who originally posted this on his blog.

A kindly turn of speech multiplies a man's friends,
and a courteous way of speaking invites many a friendly reply.

Let your acquaintances be many,
but your advisors one in a thousand.

If you want to make a friend, take him on trial,
and be in no hurry to trust him;

for one kind of friend is only so when it suits him
but will not stand by you in your day of trouble.

Another kind of friend will fall out with you
and to your dismay will make your quarrel public,

and a third kind of friend will share your table,
but not stand by you in your day of trouble:
when you are doing well he will be your second self,
ordering your servants about;
but if ever you are brought low he will turn against you
and will hide himself from you.

Keep well clear of your enemies,
and be wary of your friends.

A faithful friend is a sure shelter,
whoever finds one has found a rare treasure.

A faithful friend is something beyond price,
there is no measuring his worth.

A faithful friend is the elixir of life,
and those who fear the Lord will find one.

Whoever fears the Lord makes true friends,
for as a man is, so is his friend.

Ecclesiasticus 6:5-17 Jerusalem Bible

Prick an eye and you will draw a tear,
prick a heart and you will bring its feelings to light.
Throw stones at birds and you scare them away,
revile a friend and you break up friendship.

If you have drawn your sword on a friend,
do not despair; there is a way back.
If you have opened your mouth against your friend,
do not worry; there is hope for reconciliation;

but insult, arrogance, betrayal of secrets, and the stab in the back—
in these cases, any friend will run away.

Ecclesiasticus 22:19-22 Jerusalem Bible

Psalm 62:He only is my rock and my salvation

2010-12-16T03:19:00.000-08:00

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse.
Selah

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock,my refuge is God.

Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is
a refuge for us.
Selah

Those of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
Put no trust in extortion;
set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
according to his work

2 Timothy 4 :Paul's Last Written Words To His Spiritual Son

2010-12-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

Preach the Word
1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Paul’s Valedictory
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

The Abandoned Apostle
9 Be diligent to come to me quickly; 10 for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. 12 And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments.
14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. 15 You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.
16 At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.

The Lord Is Faithful
17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 18 And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

Come Before Winter
19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick.
21 Do your utmost to come before winter.
Eubulus greets you, as well as Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren.
Farewell

22 The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

2 Timothy 3 :Paul's 'Last Will and Testament' to Timothy

2010-12-09T11:46:00.000-08:00

Perilous Times and Perilous Men
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.
The Man of God and the Word of God
10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, 11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 2 : Paul's Last will and Testimony

2010-12-05T17:19:00.000-08:00

Be Strong in Grace
1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops.
7 Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.8 Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, 9 for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
11 This is a faithful saying:
For if we died with Him,
We shall also live with Him.
12 If we endure,
We shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him,
He also will deny us.
13 If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself.

Approved and Disapproved Workers
14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, 18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.
21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Last Will and Testament of an Aged Missionary to his Prodigy (Protégé) 2 Timothy 1

2010-11-29T02:17:00.000-08:00

Greeting
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

To Timothy, a beloved son:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Timothy’s Faith and Heritage
I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Not Ashamed of the Gospel
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

Stay Loyal to the Faith
Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day—and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus

Spiritual Leadership ( 1 ) by J.Oswald Sanders

2010-11-24T10:47:00.000-08:00

AN HONORABLE AMBITION
A desire to be great is not necessarily in itself sinful. It is the motivation that determines its character. To be seen and approved by men, to be popular. to stand well among one’s contemporaries., to exercise control over others. Ambitious men enjoy the power which money or authority brings Not the number of one’s servants, but the number whom one serves, is the heavenly criterion of greatness and the real preparation for leadership. True greatness, true leadership is achieved not by reducing men to one’s service but in giving oneself in selfless service to them. The true spiritual leader is concerned infinitely more with the service he can render God and his fellowmen than with the benefits and pleasures he can extract from life. He aims to put more into life than he takes out of it.
THE SEARCH FOR LEADERS
Because people love to be led by one who knows where he is going and who inspires
confidence. Spiritual leaders are not made by election or appointment, by men
or any combination of men, nor by conferences or synods. Only God can make them.
Samuel Logan Brengle was one of the truly great leaders of the Salvation Army. A man of scholarship as well as of singular spiritual power, he outlined the road to spiritual authority and leadership in challenging words. “It is not won by promotion, but by many prayers and tears. It is attained by confessions of sin, and
much heart searching and humbling before God; by self-surrender, a courageous sacrifice of every idol, a bold, deathless, uncompromising and uncomplaining
embracing of the cross, and by an eternal, unfaltering looking unto Jesus crucified.
It is not gained by seeking great things for ourselves, but rather, like Paul, by
counting those things that are gain to us as loss for Christ. That is a great price,
but it must be unflinchingly paid by him who would be not merely a nominal but a
real spiritual leader of men, a leader whose power is recognized and felt in heaven,
on earth and in hell.” God’s conditions must be complied with in secret before He
will honor a man in public.

NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP
Leadership is influence, the ability of one person to influence others. Lord Montgomery defines it in these terms: “Leadership is the capacity and will to rally
men and women to a common purpose, and the character which inspires confidence.”
Dr. John R. Mott, a world leader in student circles, gave as his definition: “A leader is a man who knows the road, who can keep ahead, and who can pull others after
him.” Spiritual leadership is a matter of superior spiritual power. We are leaders to the extent that we inspire others to follow us.“It occurs to me that perhaps the best test of whether one is a qualified leader is to find out whether anyone is following him.”
The man who is ambitious to lead is disqualified as a leader. The true leader will have no desire to lord it over God’s heritage, but will be humble, gentle, self-sacrificing and altogether as ready to follow as to lead, when the Spirit makes it clear that a wiser and more gifted man than himself has appeared.
Lord Montgomery enunciated seven ingredients necessary in a leader in war, each
of which is appropriate to the spiritual warfare: (1) He should be able to sit back
and avoid getting immersed in detail. (2) He must not be petty. (3) He must not be
pompous. (4) He must be a good picker of men. (5) He should trust those under him,
and let them get on with their job without interference. (6) He must have the
power of clear decision. (7) He should inspire confidence.

Dr. John R. Mott moved in student circles and his tests covered different territory: (1) Does he do little things well? (2) Has he learned the meaning of priorities? (3) How does he use his leisure? (4) Has he intensity? (5) Has he learned to take advantage of momentum?(6) Has he the power of growth? (7) What is his attitude to discouragements? (8)How does he face impossible situations? (9) What are his weakest points?
Leadership is essentially the power of one man to influence another. Spirituality is not easy to define but its presence or absence can easily be discerned. It has been called the diffused fragrance which has been assimilated in the garden of the Lord. It is the power to change the atmosphere by one’s presence, the unconscious influence which makes Christ and spiritual things real to others. Secular men, be they ever so gifted and charming in person, have no place in the leadership of the church, even in temporal matters. ( Notes by Dave Kraft)

Spiritual Leadership ( 2 ) by J.Oswald Sanders

2010-11-24T10:44:00.000-08:00

CRITERIA OF LEADERSHIP POETENTIAL
Have you ever broken yourself of a bad habit? To lead others, one must be master
of oneself. Do you retain control of yourself when things go wrong? The leader
who loses self-control in testing circumstances forfeits respect and loses
influence. He must be calm in crisis and resilient in adversity and disappointment.
Do you think independently? While using to the full the thought of others, the
leader cannot afford to let others do his thinking or make his decisions for him.
Can you handle criticism objectively and remain unmoved under it? Do you turn it to
good account? The humble man can derive benefit from petty and even malicious
criticism. Can you use disappointments creatively?
Do you readily secure the cooperation and win the respect and confidence of
others? An important function in leadership is conciliation—the ability to discover
common ground between opposing viewpoints and then induce both parties to
accept it. Can you accept opposition to your viewpoint or decision without
considering it a personal affront and reacting accordingly? Leaders must expect
opposition and should not be offended by it. Are you unduly dependent on the
praise or approval of others? Can you hold a steady course in the face of
disapproval and even temporary loss of confidence?
PAULINE AND PETRINE SIDELIGHTS OF LEADERSHIP
A leader must allow himself no indulgence in secret that would undermine his
character or mar his public witness. It is unwise to give key positions too early
even to those who manifest promising talent, lest it spoil them. It should be
noted that Peter did not write as chief of the apostles, but as “a fellow Elder,” one
who was bearing similar responsibilities. He spoke to them not from above, but
from alongside—a good vantage ground for the exercise of leadership.
Dr. Paul Rees suggests that greed for money is not the only thought contained in
the Greek words “shameful gain.” The phrase might as appropriately be applied to
greed for popularity or fame, an equally insidious temptation. Prestige and power
are often coveted more than money. (40) The Christian leader must not be
dictatorial. “Not as domineering over those in your charge” (5:3a, C. B. Williams).
An ambitious leader can easily degenerate into a petty tyrant with a domineering
manner. “Even a little authority is prone to turn the seemly walk into the offensive
strut.”

QUALITIES ESSENTIAL TO LEADERSHIP I
In each case these men were endowed with gifts which uniquely equipped them for
the special tasks to which they were later called. But that which raised them above
their fellows was the degree to which they developed these gifts and graces
through devotion and self-discipline. Those who rebel against authority and scorn
self-discipline seldom qualify for leadership of a high order. The young man of
leadership caliber will work while others waste time, study while others sleep, pray
while others play. There will be no place for loose or slovenly habits in word or
thought; deed or dress. He will observe a soldierly discipline in diet and
deportment, so that he might wage a good warfare. He will without reluctance
undertake the unpleasant task which others avoid, or the hidden duty which others
evade because it evokes no applause or wins no appreciation.
A Spirit-filled leader will not shrink from facing up to difficult situations or
persons, or from grasping the nettle when that is necessary. He will kindly and
courageously administer rebuke when that is called for; or he will exercise
necessary discipline when the interests of the Lord’s work demand it. He will not
procrastinate in writing the difficult letter. His letter-basket will not conceal the
evidences of his failure to grapple with urgent problems. His prayer will be:
Basically willing to respond cooperatively to the discipline he expects of them.
A leader must be able to envision the end result of the policies or methods he
advocates. Responsible leadership always looks ahead to see how policies proposed
will affect not only present, but succeeding generations. Speaking to Douglas
Thornton of Egypt, Mr. Baylis his senior missionary remarked: “Thornton, you are
different to anyone else I know. You are always looking at the end of things.
Most people, myself included, find it better to do the next thing.” Thornton’s
answer was: “I find that the constant inspiration gained by looking at the goal is
the chief thing that helps me to persevere.” Eyes that look are common. Eyes that
see are rare. The Pharisees looked at Peter and saw only a poor unlettered
fisherman, totally insignificant, not worthy of a second look.

Jesus saw Peter and discovered the prophet and preacher, saint and leader of the
unique band of men who turned the world upside down. Vision includes optimism and
hope. No pessimist ever made a great leader. The man who sees the
difficulties so clearly that he does not discern the possibilities will be unable to
impart inspiration to his followers. Wisdom is more than knowledge, which is
the accumulation of facts. It has a personal connotation and implies sagacity. It is
more than human acumen; it is heavenly discernment. It is knowledge with insight
into the heart of things, and knows them as they really are. It involves the
knowledge of God and of the intricacies of the human heart.
It is much more than knowledge; it is the right application of knowledge in moral
and spiritual matters, in meeting baffling situations and in the complexity of human
relationships. The place of wisdom in leadership was indicated in the statement of
D. E. Hoste: When a man, in virtue of an official position demands obedience of
another, irrespective of the latter’s reason and conscience, this is the spirit of
tyranny. When, on the other hand, by the exercise of tact and sympathy; by
prayer, spiritual power and sound wisdom one is able to influence and enlighten (52)
another, so that he through the medium of his own reason and conscience is led to
alter one course and adopt another, that is true spiritual leadership.
When all the facts are in, swift and clear decision is the mark of the true leader.
Once a spiritual leader is sure of the will of God, he will go into immediate action,
regardless of consequences. In pursuing his goal, he will have the courage to burn
his bridges behind him. He must be willing to accept full responsibility for
consequent failure or success, and not place any blame that might accrue on a
subordinate. The true leader will resist the temptation to procrastinate in
reaching a decision; nor will he vacillate after it has been made. These tendencies
are fatal to leadership. Usually, a sincere though mistaken decision is better than
no decision at all. In most decisions the difficult part is not in knowing what we
ought to do; it is in being willing to pay the price involved.
Courage is “that quality of mind which enables men to encounter danger or
difficulty with firmness, or without fear or depression of spirits.” The
courage of a leader is demonstrated in his being willing to face unpleasant and even
devastating facts and conditions with equanimity, and then acting with firmness in
the light of them, even though it means incurring personal unpopularity. Human
inertia and opposition do not deter him. His courage is not a thing of the moment,
but continues until the task is fully done.
The spiritual leader will choose the hidden pathway of sacrificial service and the
approval of His Lord rather than the flamboyant assignment and the adulation of
the unspiritual crowd.

Spiritual Leadershp (3) J.Oswald Sanders

2010-11-24T10:43:00.000-08:00

QUALITIES ESSENTIAL TO LEADERSHIP II“
It is the courageous and triumphant ability to bear things, which enables a man to pass breaking point and not to break, and always to greet the unseen with a cheer.” The man who is impatient with weakness will be defective in his leadership Another important ingredient in leadership is the faculty of being able to draw the best out of other people. In achieving this, personal friendliness will accomplish much more than prolonged and even successful argument. It was John R.Mott’s counsel to “rule by the heart. When logic and argument and other forms of persuasion fail, fall back on the heart-genuine friendship.”
THE INDISPENSABLE REQUIREMENT
Spiritual Leadership can be exercised only by Spirit-filled men. Other qualifications for spiritual leadership are desirable. This is indispensable. However brilliant a man may be intellectually, however capable an administrator, without this essential equipment he is incapable of giving truly spiritual leadership.Reduced to its simplest terms, to be filled with the Spirit means that, through voluntary surrender and in response to appropriating faith, the human personality is filled, mastered, controlled by the Holy Spirit.
THE LEADER AND HIS PRAYING
It is much easier to pray for temporal needs than for situations which involved the
intricacies and stubbornness of the human heart.
THE LEADER AND HIS TIME
The manner in which he employs the surplus hours after provision has been made
for work, meals and sleep will make him either a mediocrity or a man to be reckoned with. A sentence which will seldom be heart on the lips of a leader is “I don’t have the time.” Very seldom is it strictly true. It is usually the refuge of the small and inefficient person. The problem is not that of needing more time, but of making better use of the time that we have.His day should therefore be carefully planned. If it is his ambition to excel, there must be selection and rejection, then concentration on the things of paramount importance. The strength of moral character is derived and conserved by the refusing of the unimportant.
THE LEADER AND HIS READING
The man who desires to grow spiritually and intellectually will be constantly at his
books. John Wesley had a passion for reading and most of it was done on horseback. He rode sometimes ninety and often fifty miles in a day. He read deeply on a wide range of subjects. It was his habit to travel with a volume of science or history or medicine propped on the pommel of his saddle, and in that way he got through thousands of volumes. After his Greek New Testament, three great books took complete possession of Wesley’s mind and heart during his Oxford days. “It was about this time that he began the earnest study of the Imitation of Christ, Holy Living and Dying and The Serious Call. These three books became very much his spiritual guides.” He told the younger ministers of the Wesleyan societies either to read or get out of the ministry! The determination to spend a minimum of half an hour a day in reading worthwhile books which provide food for the soul and further mental and spiritual development will prove richly rewarding to those who have been inclined to limit their reading to predigested or superficial books. The spiritual leader should read for spiritual quickening…mental stimulation…cultivation of style…acquiring of information. He should read, therefore, to keep abreast of his age, and should be reasonably well informed in his own field. We can afford to read only the best, and what will be most helpful to us in the fulfillment of our mission. In other words, our reading should be regulated largely by what we are and what we do or intend to do. A student will find that his mental constitution is more affected by one book thoroughly mastered than by twenty books he has merely skimmed.
THE COST OF LEADERSHIP
The man who has absorbed the spirit of the welfare state is not of the caliber required in a leader. If he is not willing to rise earlier and stay up later than others, to work harder and study more diligently than his contemporaries, he will not greatly impress his generation. In a letter to a young minister, Fred Mitchell once wrote: “I am glad to know that you are taking any blessing there is about the criticism brought against you by________, in which case even his bitter attack will yield sweetness. A sentence which has been a great help to Mrs. Mitchell and myself is: ‘It does not matter what happens to us, but our reaction to what happens to us is of vital importance.’ I think you must expect more and more criticism, for with increasing responsibility this is inevitable. It causes one to walk humbly with God, and to take such action as He desires.”

Spiritual Leadership ( 4 ) by J.Oswald Sanders

2010-11-23T03:37:00.000-08:00

SEARCHING TESTS TO LEADERSHIP
“The frontiers of the kingdom of God were never advanced by men and women of caution,” said Mrs. H. W. K. Mowll.“How does he face impossible situations?”
was one of John R. Mott’s tests for men of leadership caliber: It was his practice
to encourage leaders to deal with impossible tasks rather than with easy ones,
because that would draw out their powers, teach them their dependence on others,
and drive them to God. “I long since ceased to occupy myself with minor things that
can be done by others,” he said. A true leader is at his best in baffling circumstances.The bracing lesson is that God delights to shut people up to Himself and then, in response to their trust, display His power and grace in doing
the impossible.
THE ART OF DELEGATION
One definition of leadership is the ability to recognize the special abilities and
limitations of others, combined with the capacity to fit each one into the job
where he will do his best. He who is successful in getting things done through
others is exercising the highest type of leadership.The man in a place of
leadership who fails to delegate is constantly enmeshed in a morass of secondary
detail that not only overburdens him but deflects him from his primary
responsibilities. He also fails to release the leadership potential of those under
him. To insist on doing things oneself because it will be done better is not only a
short-sighted policy but may be evidence of an unwarranted conceit. The leader
who is meticulous in observing priorities adds immeasurably to his own
effectiveness. Once delegation has been effected, he should manifest the utmost
confidence in his colleagues.

It was said of Dr. A. B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance,
that he trusted those in charge of the different institutions, and then left them
free to exercise their own gifts. If they did not succeed, then he felt it was a
reflection on his own leadership, for it was he who selected them for that position.
Subordinates should be utterly sure of their leader’s support in any action they
feel called upon to take, no matter what the result, so long as they have acted
within their terms of reference. This presupposes that areas of responsibility have
been clearly defined and committed to writing so that no misunderstanding can
occur. Many unhappy situations have arisen through failure to do this.
THE REPLACEMENT AND REPRODUCTION OF LEADERS
The fact is that no man, however gifted and devoted, is indispensable to the work
of the kingdom. The most gifted leader has limitations that become apparent
only after the complementary gifts of his successor cause the work to develop
along lines for which the former leader was unfitted. It is often discovered that
one who has been in a subordinate position develops totally unsuspected qualities
when the weight of responsibility is thrown upon him.To tell a man he is called to be a leader is the best way of ensuring his spiritual ruin, since in the Christian world ambition is more deadly than any other sin, and, if yielded to, makes a man unprofitable in the ministry. The need is not so much for leaders as for saints and servants, and unless this fact is held steadily in the foreground, the whole idea of leadership training becomes dangerous. Altogether apart from the merits of his movement, Frank Buchman, founder of Moral Rearmament, displayed a real flair for leadership. It was his claim that if he did not train others to do what he had been doing better than he did it, he would have failed.It remains to be said that the training of leaders cannot be done by employing the techniques of mass production. It will require patient and careful instruction and prayerful and personal guidance of the individual over a considerable period. “Disciples are not manufactured wholesale. They are produced one by one, because someone has taken the pains to discipline, to instruct and enlighten, to nurture and train one that is younger.”

When God wants to drill a man
And thrill a man
And skill a man,
When God wants to mold a man
To play the noblest part;
When He yearns with all His heart
To create so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
Watch His methods, watch His ways!
How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects!
How He hammers him and hurts him,
And with mighty blows converts him
Into trial shapes of clay which
Only God understands;
While his tortured heart is crying
And he lifts beseeching hands!
How He bends but never breaks
When his good He undertakes;
How He uses whom He chooses
And with every purpose fuses him;
By every act induces him
To try His splendor out—
God knows what He’s about!

“Church Planter” Darrin Patrick

2010-11-17T14:08:00.000-08:00

In general, complementarian churches have done a deplorable job of equipping and empowering women to use their God-given gifts in the church. I have found that the main question both liberals and conservatives often start with is not is this man a Christian but rather, can this man grow the church.
Most churches do not grow beyond the spiritual health of their leadership. In short, a rescued man is growing in genuine love for God and neighbors. Time and again, amid the challenges of pastoral ministry, this divine, more-than-subjective authorization is a major means of pastoral perseverance. Ministry is more than hard.

Ministry is impossible. And unless we have a fire inside our bones compelling us, we simply will not survive. Pastoral ministry is a calling, not a career. It is not a job you pursue just because you like attention, or because your mom thinks you’d be good at it, or because it does not involve heavy lifting. I am continually shocked at how many men are trying to do ministry without a clear sense of calling. One of the most interesting features of calling is that whether you look in the pages of the Bible or the annals of church history, God rarely calls two people in the exact same way. It is very important not to standardize the calling experience. An aspiring pastor/church planter who is seeking to test his sense of calling should look for confirmation in at least three areas:
Heart confirmation
Head confirmation
Skill confirmation.
It is important to recognize that doubts and feelings of insecurity are not signs that you aren’t called. Head Confirmation in a genuine call to ministry manifests itself not only in the thoughts and desires of the called person but also in his gifts, abilities, and skills. Skill Confirmation. Does this man have the gifts required to perform ministry? These two examinations of character and skill are paramount for the one who is called because he is able to check his subjective prompting objectively against the church’s evaluation. Mark
Driscoll often said, “Acts 29 guys are to believe in sola Scriptura but not solo Scriptura.”Because of common grace, we can glean principles from the business world—all truth is God’s truth. Being a pastor/church planter requires three basic skills: leading, teaching, and shepherding. To be the lead pastor in a church plant, however, you have to be able to lead—to cast vision, to create energy, to motivate, to inspire, and to build systems.Functionally, elders in the local church do three main things:
Guard the teaching ministry of the church.
Ensure the spiritual care of the church.
Oversee the direction of the church.
Prophets—Guardians of Truth
Priests—Shepherds of the people
Kings—Builders of the Vision
Kings tend to ask the question “How?” They function like executives of the church because they spend a great deal of time and energy building and executing plans to sustain and grow a healthy church. Deacons lead the church by serving her. Elders serve the church by leading her. C. Peter Wagner writes this about leadership: “The gift of leadership is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the body of Christ to set goals in accordance with God’s purposes for the future and to communicate these goals to others in such a way that they voluntarily and harmoniously work together to accomplish those goals for the glory of God.”
Regarding the gift of leadership, a pastor must always be fearless before his critics and fearful before his God. Being a good preacher may or may not make you a better shepherd, but being a good shepherd will definitely make you a better preacher.

The role of the pastor is to connect undisciplined people with disciplined ones so that they learn how to discipline themselves. For most of us, redeeming the time will mean that we work hard to eliminate unnecessary time suckers in our week, that we design a system for answering e-mails efficiently, that we think through our weekly schedules and priorities beforehand. The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. As Bryan Chapell often says,
“We put our do’s before our who’s. Wayne Grudem defines sanctification this way:“Sanctification is a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and more like Christ in our actual lives.” All sin flows from valuing something more highly than we value God. In his book Love Walked Among Us, Paul Miller notes that compassion is the dominant emotion that the Gospel writers ascribed to Jesus. The Gospel writers describe Jesus compassionatelylooking at people nearly forty times, indicating that it was a regular practice. I find that Ican get so immersed in the busyness of ministry that I lose the pleasure of ministry. There is a difference between simply being busy and being hurried. Being busy is about the things you have to do. Being hurried is the spiritual, mental, and emotional state that you are in when trying to do the things you have to do. You can be busy without being hurried. The Enemies of Compassion are:
Busyness
Hurriedness
Self-righteousness
Self-protection

The root of the word compassion in English means “to be together [com] with someone’s pain [passion].” So to demonstrate compassion toward someone is to agree at that moment to enter into suffering with them.
“The local church is a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus as Lord. In obedience to Scripture they organize under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, observe the biblical sacraments of baptism and Communion, are unified by the Spirit, are disciplined for holiness, and scatter to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission as missionaries to the world for God’s glory and their joy.”-Mark Driscoll “Sanctification is a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and more like Christ in our actual lives.”- Wayne Grudem.
Contextualization is speaking to people with their terms, not on their terms. A good preacher, for example, must be able to exegete not only the text but also the culture of the hearers in order to be a faithful and fruitful missionary.Kindle Notes: Dave Kraft

Prairie Chicken or Eagle:Dave Kraft

2010-11-16T13:24:00.000-08:00

While searching the internet I discovered this excellent article by Dave Kraft (author of 'Leadership of the Heart')which is a great encouragement for those who believe they are called to serve God in some particular area of ministry.I hope you enjoy it and take a look at his blog detailed below.AK

In his book “The Pursuit of Excellence” Ted W. Engstrom shares the story of a Native American brave who discovers an eagle’s egg and hides it in the nest of a prairie chicken. The little eagle eventually was hatched along with the other chicks and grew up assuming it was a prairie chicken. With that assumption in mind it lived like a prairie chicken. It flew in short bursts with a flurry of feathers and a thrashing of wings-just a few feet off the ground. It’s eating habits were those of a Prairie Chicken, not an eagle. It pecked in the dirt for insects and seeds. Years passed and the eagle aged, never discovering its true identity and potential.

One day the eagle looked up and saw a magnificent sight: a golden eagle soaring effortlessly in the heavens, taking full advantage of the powerful wind currents. “That’s so beautiful,” the eagle said to a friend. “What is it?” “Why, that’s an eagle,” said the knowing friend, “the chief of the birds; but forget it, you could never be like that.” The eagle followed his friend’s advice, never giving it a second thought. Eventually it died, having lived its entire life thinking it was a prairie chicken.

Before you read on, sit back a moment and let your emotions talk to you. What are you feeling right now? Be honest with yourself. Consider writing down your thoughts. Then read on.

Now the story is obviously apocryphal, but nonetheless loaded with meaning for us as leaders. As I look back over my life, I see specific points where I decided to go the eagle route rather than the prairie chicken route. I also see where I have stayed earthbound, going the prairie chicken route.

Most of my ministry life has been lived “in over my head.” I’m richer for it. It forced me to pray a lot, to confess fears, to worry a good bit; but God always came through for me. (What do you mean it doesn’t pay to worry? Most of the things I worry about never happen!) I live with the philosophy of not going to Jesus to tell Him how big my challenges are, but going to my challenges and telling them how big my Jesus is! For me, that is living by faith and really believing what God has promised.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover”-Mark Twain

“There's no thrill in easy sailing,
When the sky is clear and blue.
There's no joy in merely doing
Things which anyone can do.
But there is some fulfillment
That is mighty sweet to taste,
When you reach a destination,
You thought you couldn't make”

Author unknown

http://davekraft.squarespace.com/profile-dave/

Focus on the Persecuted Church :Video 'Right to Believe and article 'Making Eye Contact With God' by Al Janssen of Open Doors

2010-11-09T03:15:00.000-08:00

Last November,Brother Andrew and I celebrated IDOP Sunday with the persecuted church. My life will never be the same.At a secret location in Pakistan, I sat
with more than 30 church leadersas we read together the word ofthe Lord to Solomon: “If my people,who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray…
my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.” The leader of the meeting challenged us, “Today, let us make eye contact with God.”
After singing several hymns and psalms we heard reports from Gojra where, three months earlier, 50 homes had been destroyed,100 homes looted, and seven Christians burned to death bya fundamentalist mob. One eyewitness wrote of the horrible destruction of Hameed Masih and his family. He reported how their village had “turned into ashes. Children and women were wandering here and there beating
their chests. Seeing the whole horrifying scene,I thought that the things acquired after years might be regained, but the seven members of the single family would never be regained.” Another family, whose daughter was raped, wrote, “We request you accept our appeal, drenched with tears, to give us back our lives, for we have been buried alive with our child.” There was a time of intense prayer for Christians in Gojra. Then we sang again.One of the hymns was so melancholy, so deep in emotion, that though I couldn’t understand the Urdu words, I felt the heart cry of these people. Paul’s words to the Romans rang in my ears: if ever we needed the Spirit to help us in our weakness, it was then. We then broke into smaller groups for two hours of sharing and prayer.

There were nine church leaders in my group and all bared their hearts. One village pastor told how three families in his small congregation of twenty families had, under financial inducement, converted to Islam. When they tried to arrange marriages for their children they discovered that while their daughters were eagerly spoken for, no Muslim family would allow their daughters to marry these ‘Christian’
sons. “These families now want to return to the church,” the pastor reported. “But the Muslim leaders say they can’t convert from Islam or they will be killed. We want to welcome these families back and are trying to support them.”

Another leader served a far-flung congregation that could never meet together and so required him to travel constantly – he was away from his family for three weeks every month. Because he must pass through many check points he no longer carried Bibles and other literature for his flock. “I can only give them whatever Word is hidden in my heart,” he said.

There were three women in our group. Two were wives of pastors and shared about the pressures they felt on their families. A third directed a centre for women who have suffered from severe abuse because of their faith. Each time one of these leaders shared, we made eye contact with God and prayed earnestly for their needs.One man in his 30s sat quietly for most of our time. I finally asked him how we might pray for him.Hesitantly, he told us that he had attended seminary but had not found a church to pastor in his denomination, so he was starting a work among indentured servants who slave in one of the many brick factories throughout Pakistan.He didn’t know if this was God’s place for him. The other leaders immediately affirmed his work –millions of Pakistanis suffer this way and need to hear the good news of the gospel. Again we rose and laid hands on this brother as a veteran pastor prayed fervently for him.

After six hours of prayer we gathered in a candlelit dining room to celebrate communion. As the wafer of bread was snapped in two, I understood: these were my
brothers and sisters. Christ died for them, for me, for all broken people. In Christ we were truly one body and I had the privilege of sharing a little in their suffering.

This year I will spend IDOP Sunday in my home church. But my heart will be with those dear church leaders who give their lives to follow Christ. I will remember the day I spent with them and made eye contact with God.

Who Am I?

2010-10-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some powerful truths about our new identity in Christ:

I am the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13).
I am the light of the world (Matt. 5:14).
I am a child of God (John 1:12).
I am part of the true vine (John 15:1, 5).
I am Christ’s friend (John 15:15).
I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit (John 15:16).
I am a slave of righteousness (Rom. 6:18).
I am enslaved to God (Rom. 6:22).
I am a son of God (Rom. 8:14-15; Gal.. 3:26; 4:6).
I am a joint heir with Christ sharing His inheritance (Rom. 8:17).
I am a temple, a dwelling place of God (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19).
I am united to the Lord and one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).
I am a member of Christ’s body (1 Cor.12:27; Eph. 5:30).
I am a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).
I am reconciled to God and a minister of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-19).
I am an heir of God since I am a son of God (Gal. 4:6-7).
I am a saint (Eph. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; Phil. 1:1, Col. 1:2).
I am God’s workmanship, in Christ to do His work (Eph. 2:10).
I am a fellow citizen with the rest of God’s family (Eph. 2:19).
I am a prisoner of Christ (Eph. 3:1; 4:1).
I am righteous and holy (Eph. 4:24).
I am a citizen of heaven, seated in heaven (Phil. 3:20; Eph. 2:6).
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).
I am chosen of God, wholly and dearly loved(Col. 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4).
I am a son of light and not of darkness (I Thessalonians 5:5).
I am a holy partaker of a heavenly calling(Eph. 3:1).
I am a partaker of Christ, I share in His life (Hebrews 3:14).
I am one of God’s living stones being built up in Christ as a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5).
I am a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession (1 Peter 2:9-10).
I am an alien and stranger to this world (1 Peter 2:11).
I am an enemy of the devil (1 Peter 5:8).
I am born of God and the evil one, can not have me (1 John 5:18).
I am not the Great “I AM,” but by the grace of God I am what I am (1 Cor. 15:10).
______________________________________

2010-10-22T03:17:00.001-07:00

How do I know God exists? from A Passion for Life on Vimeo.

'Christ Holds It All Together' Paul

2010-10-22T01:49:00.000-07:00

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.

You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God's side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don't walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message.

I want you to know how glad I am that it's me sitting here in this jail and not you. There's a lot of suffering to be entered into in this world—the kind of suffering Christ takes on. I welcome the chance to take my share in the church's part of that suffering. When I became a servant in this church, I experienced this suffering as a sheer gift, God's way of helping me serve you, laying out the whole truth.

This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it's out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.

'The Love of Christ compels us' 2 Corinthians 5.14

2010-10-21T06:29:00.000-07:00

How much do you owe my Lord? Has he ever done anything for you? Has he forgiven your sins? Has he covered you with a robe of righteousness? Has he set your feet upon a rock? Has he established your goings? Has he prepared heaven for you? Has he prepared you for heaven? Has he written your name in his book of life? Has he given you countless blessings? Has he laid up for you a store of mercies, which eye has not seen nor ear heard? Then do something for Jesus worthy of his love. Give not a mere verbal offering to a dying Redeemer. How will you feel when your Master comes, if you have to confess that you did nothing for him, but kept your love shut up, like a stagnant pool, neither flowing forth to his poor or to his work. Throw out such love as that! What do men think of a love which never shows itself in action? Why, they say, “Open rebuke is better than secret love.”

Who will accept a love so weak that it does not actuate you to a single deed of self-denial, of generosity, of heroism, or zeal! Think how he has loved you, and given himself for you! Do you know the power of that love? Then let it be like a rushing mighty wind to your soul to sweep out the clouds of your worldliness, and clear away the mists of sin. “For Christ’s sake” be this the tongue of fire that shall sit upon you: “for Christ’s sake” be this the divine rapture, the heavenly afflatus to bear you aloft from earth, the divine spirit that shall make you bold as lions and swift as eagles in your Lord’s service. Love should give wings to the feet of service, and strength to the arms of labour.

Fixed on God with a constancy that is not to be shaken, resolute to honour him with a determination that is not to be turned aside, and pressing on with an ardour never to be wearied, let us manifest the compelling love of Jesus. May the divine lodestone draw us heavenward towards itself.

"Don't be backward about coming forward'.” Isaiah 43.6

2010-10-21T04:21:00.000-07:00

Although this message was sent to the south, and referred to the seed of Israel, it may profitably be a summons to ourselves. Backward we are naturally to all good things, and it is a lesson of grace to learn to go forward in the ways of God. Reader, are you unconverted, but do you desire to trust in the Lord Jesus? Then keep not back. Love invites you, the promises secure you success, the precious blood prepares the way. Let not sins or fears hinder you, but come to Jesus just as you are. Do you long to pray? Would you pour out your heart before the Lord? Keep not back. The mercy-seat is prepared for such as need mercy; a sinner’s cries will prevail with God. You are invited, no, you are commanded to pray; come therefore with boldness to the throne of grace.

Dear friend, are you already saved? Then keep not back from union with the Lord’s people. Neglect not the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. You may be of a timid disposition, but you must strive against it, lest it lead you into disobedience. There is a sweet promise made to those who confess Christ—by no means miss it, lest you come under the condemnation of those who deny him. If you have talents keep not back from using them. Hoard not your wealth, waste not your time; let not your abilities rust or your influence be unused.

Jesus kept not back; imitate him by being foremost in self-denials and self-sacrifices. Keep not back from close communion with God, from boldly appropriating covenant blessings, from advancing in the divine life, from prying into the precious mysteries of the love of Christ. Neither, beloved friend, be guilty of keeping others back by your coldness, harshness, or suspicions. For Jesus’ sake go forward yourself, and encourage others to do the like. Hell and the leaguered bands of superstition and infidelity are forward to the fight. O soldiers of the cross, keep not back.CHS

He only is my Rock and my Salvation, My Fortress I shall not be shaken.

2010-10-19T02:46:00.000-07:00

Today I've used an article by my good friend Romanos from Portland Oregon in the United States of America.He is talking about certainty in an uncertain age.In the UK there is not much certainty about except that people may well lose their jobs or that they may have to take a pay cut.

The postmodern mood that many people have caught also discourages us from being certain about anything. This is an sharp contrast to those who know or have known God- even in turbulent times.David and Job from the Bible are a case in point. David was on the run for his life from Saul who was trying to kill him, yet in the many Psalms that he wrote around this time he declared his certainty that God was his Rock, his Fortress and his Cleft in the Rock were he could find shelter in the midst of his trouble. His faith and hope were in the Almighty God.

Job who was also tried to a great degree but was able to declare when outwardly all was dark:'I know that my Redeemer lives' and again 'Though He slay me. yet will I trust Him'.Not that he necessarily believed God would slay him, but that even if God appeared to slay him for no reason, he had an inner sense that God was good, was trustworthy and could be fully relied upon, and therefore there must be some good reason that God would allow it to happen.Of course sometimes we fail in the trial but even then forgiveness may be found if we turn back to Him and resolve to put our trust again.

I remember well when I was about four years old and had broken my arm after falling off a wild donkey that I had climbed onto. As soon as I got on it it decided to go for a gallop before suddenly stopping and causing me to fly over its head.To cut a long story short, at the hospital in Donegal the doctors put the plaster of Paris cast on too tightly and it had to be removed when I returned to Belfast. However to get it off they had to use a type of circular saw which made a lot of noise, but which the doctor assured me would automatically stop as soon as it touched my skin. My father who I trusted completely concurred with the doctor that I would come to no harm.Did I trust my dad? I had always trusted him before, but when I heard the noise and saw the steel blade coming so close to my arm I was convinced that this time, either my dad was being tricked by the doctor and it would cut my arm off or that he knew that it would cut my arm off because it needed to come off for some medical reason that I didn't know of.Did I trust him? Sadly no, but instead decided to scream the house down to the annoyance of the doctor.Unfortunately I failed in this particular trial of trust but as far as I can remember I have never doubted him since because I knew he always wanted the best for me as one for his children.As a child of God we likewise must learn to put our trust in our faithful Father and loving God who always knows what is best for us. AK

People build their lives on a foundation of certainties. They couldn’t live them any other way. Certainties are things they can count on to be there day after day, dependably. They know for sure about these things because over a long period of time, they’ve found them to be true.

Some of these certainties are natural. The sun rises every morning. Their hearts can be depended on to keep beating. They are locked into relationships with family and co-workers. Their cars will probably start up in the morning so they can go to jobs that they will probably still have.

Again, what they consider certainties are based on what they have observed and experienced to be true. As it is with the details of daily life, so it is with matters that have a greater scope, a more enduring nature. These are certainties about one’s self and about others that matter.

Sometimes I say things about myself and others that might seem excessively optimistic, even to the point of boasting, and to many these seem to be beyond certainty. They think in their hearts, ‘How can he say that? Only God can know such things. How can he be so sure of that?’

The truth is, I am no soothsayer, no prophet. Neither am I a man confident of his own virtue. As I see others fall around me, I know I can fall, and sometimes I do fall, yet I say of myself or others, ‘Unbreakable’ and ‘You can trust him. He is faithful. He has never disappointed me.’

Yet to me, these things I say are true. They are words of my testimony. They are the certainties I build my life on. Knowing and depending on them make it possible for me to live day in, day out, despite every challenge that comes against me, every obstacle that tries to block me.

But make no mistake. I know that I can count on myself and on these others whom I call brothers and friends and more-than-friends, not only because I have observed their behavior over a long period of time (and sometimes not long) and can depend on them to be and act a certain way.

It is precisely because my confidence is not in myself or in these others, not in our strength or our love or our faithfulness, not in ours but in Christ’s, that I can live on a foundation of such certainty that even the threat of death, let alone lesser fears, cannot dislodge me, or us.

We are not play acting or giving lip service when we exclaim, ‘Not by us, Yahweh, not by us, by You alone is glory deserved! By Your love and Your faithfulness’ (Psalm 115). Brothers, we know whom we have believed in, and we know that it is He who gives us the power to stand, and His sure guarantee.

Ours is the Faithful and the True, the Living One. We know it is not by our own strength that we can be and do everything. It is only He, only He. Thank you, my friends for sharing this confidence with me, and for walking with me, helping me to follow along behind the flock of His companions, walking behind Jesus.
http://cost-of-discipleship.blogspot.com/

The Shield of Faith: Charles H. Spurgeon

2010-10-08T15:21:00.001-07:00

"Above all, taking the Shield of Faith,
which is able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked..." (Ephesians 6:16)

Like the Spartans, every Christian is born a warrior. It is his destiny to be assaulted, his duty to attack. Part of his life will be occupied with defensive warfare. He will have to defend the Faith once delivered to the saints. He will have to resist the devil. He will have to Stand against all the devil's wiles, and having done all, still to stand. He will, however, be an ineffective Christian, if he acts only on the defensive. He must be one who goes against his foes, as well as [one who] stands still to receive their advance. He must be able to say with David, "I come to thee in the Name of The LORD of Hosts, The God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied." (1 Sam. 17:45)

He must wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. He must have weapons for his warfare - not carnal - but "mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." (2 Cor. 10:4) He must not be content to live in the stronghold, though he is well guarded, and munitions of stupendous strength are at his disposal; but he must go forth to attack the castles of the enemy, pull them down, and drive the Canaanites out of the land.

There are many ways in which the Christian may, to a great degree, forget his military character. And alas, there are many who know very little of that daily warfare to which the Captain of our Salvation calls His disciples! King David's truest soldiers were willing not only to be with David when he was in Saul's court, with his fingers amid the strings of the harp, going in and out before the people so that "all Israel and Judah loved David (1 Sam. 18:16); but also to go with David into the Cave of Adullam, when he was outlawed, when his character had become a stench in the nostrils of every proud hypocrite, and when Saul the King hunted David to seek his life. Those who are willing to follow Christ in the midst of an ungodly and perverse generation must be like the men of Naphtali, who hazarded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.

You will remember that Jonathan, one of the sweetest characters in the Word of God, is one of whom, after all, there is little to be said. Jonathan's life was inglorious from the very time he forsook David, and his death was among the slain of the Philistines upon the dewless mountains of Gilboa. Alas, poor Jonathan, he could give David his bow, but he could not draw the bow for David; he could give David his garments, even his armor, but he could not put on the armor of David. The attraction of his father's court was too much for him, and there he stayed. In that Book of Chronicles, where the Holy Ghost has recorded the names of the mighty men who were with David in Adullam, we find not the name of Jonathan.

There are Christians of that kind today. They have a soft religion which shuns opposition, a reedlike religion that bows before every blast, unlike that Cedar of Godliness that stands aloft in the midst of the storm and claps its boughs in the hurricane, for the very joy of triumph. Such men, like those who shunned David in Adullam, lack the faith that shares the glory. Though saved - yet their names shall not be found written among the mighty men who, for our Great Commander's sake, are willing to suffer the loss of all things and go forth without the camp bearing His reproach [Heb._13:13].

Those Christians, too, who have separated from the world and are diligently engaged in building up the church will have to fight more than others who are rather buiilt-up than builders. You remember, in Nehemiah's day, how the Jews accomplished their work when they built the walls of Jerusalem. With one hand they held the trowel, and in the other they held a weapon. "The builders every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded (Neh. 4:18).

Moreover, there were master masons along the wall, and the laborers all actually engaged, yet here and there you might see a sentinel ready to sound the trumpet so that the workmen might prove warrriors, rush to the battle, and drive away their foes. If you are diligent in your service to the church of Christ, you shall soon have reason to defend your cause. The Lord's blessing will entail Satan's curse; the smile of God will necessarily incur the frown of man. According to your nonconformity to the world, your daring to be singular -- when to be singular is to be right -- according to your diligence in building up the walls of Jerusalem, you shall be compelled to recognize your soldierly character. To you the text shall come with great emphasis,

"Above all,
take the shield of faith
which is abble
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."

'This is Sparta.'Lessons in spiritual warfare from the 300.

2010-10-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

What a film 300 is. It appeals to all that is good and noble in a man: touching to the very depths of his soul. A true macho film indeed, exalting bravery, love,war,heroism. In 300 the heroes fight against incredible odds in order to defeat tyranny. I suspect that those who regard this film as sick because of the gore don't really understand it. There is romance it it, as well as honour to woman. There is also love of a father for his son, the love between a man and his friends and the love of a commander for his men.Greater love has no man than this that he lays down his life for his friends. In 300 they are all prepared to die for one another.In one scene Xerxessays says : It isn't wise to stand against me, Leonidas. Imagine what horrible fate awaits my enemies when I would gladly kill any of my own men for victory to which King Leonidas replies: And I would die for any one of mine.

When King Leonidas declares to the Persian messenger:'THIS IS SPARTA', it makes me think that when Satan or his minions come to the Church or to an individual Christian in order to seduce, to cause them to surrender we should be no less uncompromising and declare: 'THIS IS THE NEW ISRAEL' or 'THIS IS THE LORD'S'-then send them packing! But we live in an age of compromise, we don't like to fight even though the Bible tells us again and again that we are in a battle. True enough we wrestle not against flesh and blood but we do or at least should wrestle against principalities and powers, against a spiritual host of wickedness.We need to watch each others backs, stand up and be strong allowing no room for petty jealousies or rivalries.We have a common enemy and we must live and fight for our Commander in Chief who laid down his life for us. We need to pray the way Wesley exhorts us:

From strength to strength go on, wrestle and fight and pray,
Tread all the powers of darkness down and win the well fought day.
Still let the Spirit cry in all His soldiers, 'Come!'
Till Christ the Lord descends from high and takes the conquerors home

The danger for Christians even though they may have discovered the reality of spiritual warfare is to resist and fight Satan in their own strength. As another great hymn puts it:

'Stand up, stand up for Jesus, stand in his strength alone.
The arm of flesh will fail you, you dare not trust your own,
put on the gospel armour each piece put on with prayer,
when duty calls or danger be never wanting there'.

We must continually be filled with the Spirit and rely on his power as well as the finished work of Christ.Another thing,there may be a time when the Christian must retreat for strategic reasons. This is when we feel overwelmed by the force of evil though attacks of depression or temptation. However we don't run back to the world or find refuge in the world,instead we must run into Christ. As David, himself a great warrior declared so often-'the Lord is my rock and salvation I will not fear' and again in a prayer:'have mercy on me, have mercy me for in Thee my soul takes refuge, in the shadow of Thy wing my soul takes refuge, till the storm of destruction passes by.'Yet again we find exhortation in Proverbs when the writer declares : The name of the Lord is a strong tower,the righteous run into it and are safe(Prov. 18.10) We of course have our spiritual armour as decribed by Paul in Ephesians 6 included the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. He has provided our weapons and armour it is therefore up to us to use it in battle.In the midst of battle we should have our eyes on our Captain and have confidence that in Him the victory is secure.

Interestingly the first time I heard about the Spartans was when I was a boy of eleven at the Scripture Union Inter Schools Camp at Carrickfin in Co. Donegal. The leaders of the Camps taught us there that Christians had to be tough if we were going to make it in the Christian life-there was a cost involved in following Jesus.Those boys who were designated Spartans by the leaders at the end of the week were those who got up every day (rain ,hail or snow)15 minutes before the rest in order to run down to the beach for a swim, making sure they got our heads under the water (Muscular Christianity!). Happy days they were and the leaders formed many a young boy into a faithful soldier of Christ. One of my heroes at that time was a school teacher called Billy Burnison, who now in his 70's is still serving his Commader-in-Chief.Thanks Billy for being such a good example.

QUOTES FROM THE FILM
Xerxes: But I am a generous god. I can make you rich beyond all measure. I will make you warlord of all Greece. You will carry my battle standard to the heart of Europa. Your Athenian rivals will kneel at your feet if you will but kneel at mine.
King Leonidas: You are generous as you are divine, O king of kings. Such an offer only a madman would refuse. But the, uh, the idea of kneeling, it's- You see, slaughtering all those men of yours has, uh, well it's left a nasty cramp in my leg, so kneeling will be hard for me.

Xerxes: It isn't wise to stand against me, Leonidas. Imagine what horrible fate awaits my enemies when I would gladly kill any of my own men for victory.
King Leonidas: And I would die for any one of mine.

Queen Gorgo: There's only one woman's words that should affect the mood of my husband. Those are mine.

QUOTES FROM THE OLD WESLEYAN HYMN BOOK

Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies through His eternal Son
Strong in the Lord of hosts, and in His mighty power,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror.
Stand then in His great might, with all His strength endued,
But take, to arm you for the fight, the panoply of God;
That, having all things done, and all your conflicts passed,
Ye may o'ercome through Christ alone and stand entire at last.

Stand then against your foes, in close and firm array;
Legions of wily fiends oppose throughout the evil day;
But meet the sons of night, and mock their vain design,
Armed in the arms of heavenly light, of righteousness divine.
Leave no unguarded place, no weakness of the soul,
Take every virtue, every grace, and fortify the whole;
Indissolubly joined, to battle all proceed;
But arm yourselves with all the mind that was in Christ, your Head.

But, above all, lay hold on faith's victorious shield;
Armed with that adamant and gold, be sure to win the field:
If faith surround your heart, Satan shall be subdued,
Repelled his every fiery dart, and quenched with Jesu's blood.
Jesus hath died for you! What can His love withstand?
Believe, hold fast your shield, and who shall pluck you from His hand?
Believe that Jesus reigns; all power to Him is giv'n:
Believe, till freed from sin's remains; believe yourselves to Heav'n.

To keep your armor bright, attend with constant care,
Still walking in your Captain's sight, and watching unto prayer.
Ready for all alarms, steadfastly set your face,
And always exercise your arms, and use your every grace.
Pray without ceasing, pray, your Captain gives the word;
His summons cheerfully obey and call upon the Lord;
To God your every want in instant prayer display,
Pray always; pray and never faint; pray, without ceasing, pray!

In fellowship alone, to God with faith draw near;
Approach His courts, besiege His throne with all the powers of prayer:
Go to His temple, go, nor from His altar move;
Let every house His worship know, and every heart His love.
To God your spirits dart, your souls in words declare,
Or groan, to Him Who reads the heart, the unutterable prayer:
His mercy now implore, and now show forth His praise,
In shouts, or silent awe, adore His miracles of grace.

Pour out your souls to God, and bow them with your knees,
And spread your hearts and hands abroad, and pray for Zion's peace;
Your guides and brethren bear for ever on your mind;
Extend the arms of mighty prayer, ingrasping all mankind.
From strength to strength go on, wrestle and fight and pray,
Tread all the powers of darkness down and win the well fought day.
Still let the Spirit cry in all His soldiers, 'Come!'
'Til Christ the Lord descends from high and takes the conquerors home

Billy Bray:The Uneducated Soul-winner

2010-09-23T11:52:00.001-07:00

(Billy Bray's Chapel:One of three which he built with his own hands)

I have had the little book:'The King's Son' for many years but have only ever got as far as the first chapter. The reason why I read no further was not the fault of the book, as what I had read of it was excellent, but rather, other things or books had distracted me and prevented me from finishing it.I'm now working my way through it! He certainly was a character and one that many men in particular will find a source of hope for their own lives-if God converted and used Billy Bray in such a manner as he did, there is certainly hope for any of us. He was an uneducated tin miner from Cornwall. He was also a drunk and a fighter yet God used him to bring many into the Kingdom through his ministry. He was also a Methodist and if he was around today people would think he was a Pentecostal because of his constant praising of God! One thing for sure was that though he had been far from God in his life, when God began to work in him he became bright and shining light. He could never keep quiet about his Lord who he knew as his intimate companion. Shortly after his conversion he would often pray with his fellow miners before they went into the mine shaft. Billy not only prayed for their safety but also that if one of them were to die that day, that it would be him and not one of them, because he knew God and would go to meet him. This of course broke the miners's heart so when they had finished, his fellow miners would have streams of tears running down their faces! AK

Billy Bray was was once a drunken and lascivious miner, but grace made him an intensely earnest and decided follower of the Lord Jesus. His conversion was very marked, and was attended with those violent struggles of conscience which frequently attend that great change in strong-minded and passionate natures.
His actual obtaining of peace brought the tears into our eyes as we read it, and made us remember a lad who, more than twenty years ago, found the Lord in a somewhat similar style; it also reminded us of George Fox the Quaker, and John Bunyan the Baptist, when undergoing the sacred change. Children of God are born very much alike; their divergences usually arise as a matter of after years. In their regeneration, as in their prayers, they appear as one. Bray was assailed by the fierce temptation that he would never find mercy; but with the promise, "Seek, and ye shall find," he quenched this fiery dart of the wicked one, and in due time he learned, by blessed experience, that the promise was true. Beautifully simple and touching are his own words:—"I said to the Lord, 'Thou hast said, They that ask shall receive, they that seek shall find, and to them that knock the door shall be opened, and I have faith to believe it.' In an instant the Lord made me so happy that I cannot express what I felt. I shouted for joy. I praised God with my whole heart for what he had done for a poor sinner like me: for I could say, the Lord hath pardoned all my sins. I think this was in November, 1823, but what day of the month I do not know. I remember this, that everything looked new to me; the people, the fields, the cattle, the trees. I was like a man in a new world. I spent the greater part of my time in praising the Lord. I could say with David, 'The Lord hath brought me up out of a horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings, and hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto my God.' I was a new man altogether. I told all I met what the Lord had done for my soul. I have heard some say that they have hard work to get away from their companions, but I had hard work to find them soon enough to tell them what the Lord had done for me. Some said I was mad; and others that they should get me back again next pay-day. But, praise the Lord, it is now more than forty years ago, and they have not got me yet. They said I was a mad-man, but they meant I was a glad man, and, glory be to God! I hare been glad ever since."
No sooner was Billy saved than he began at once looking after others. He prayed for his work-mates, and saw several brought to Jesus in answer to his prayer. His was a simple faith; he believed in the reality of prayer, and meant to be heard, and expected to be answered whenever he supplicated for the souls of his comrades. He was a live man, not a dummy. In his own simple style he did all that he did with rigor, physical vigor being more than sufficiently conspicuous in his shouting and leaping for joy. "He tells us, soon after his conversion, 'I was very happy in my work, and could leap and dance for joy underground as well as on the surface.'
"Bray began publicly to exhort men to repent, and turn to God, about a year after his conversion. Towards the end of 1824 his name was put on the Local Preachers' Plan, and his labors were much blessed in the conversion of souls. He did not commonly select a text, as is the general habit of preachers, but he usually began his addresses by reciting a verse of a hymn, a little of his own experience, or some telling anecdote. But he had the happy art of pleasing and profiting all classes, the rich as much as the poor; and all characters, the worldly as much as the pious, flocked to' hear him. He retained his popularity until the last. Perhaps no preacher in Cornwall ever acquired more extensive or more lasting renown, and the announcement of his name as a speaker at a missionary meeting, or on any special occasion, was a sufficient attraction, whoever else might or might not be present. Sometimes his illustrations and appeals made a powerful impression. I remember once hearing him speak with great effect to a large congregation, principally miners. In that neighborhood there were two mines, one very prosperous, and the other quite the reverse, for the work was hard and the wages low. In his sermon he represented himself as working at that mine all the week, but on the' pay-day' going to the prosperous one for his wages. Had he not been at work at the other mine? the manager inquired. He had, but he liked the wages at the good mine the best. He pleaded very earnestly, but in vain, and was dismissed with the remark, from which there was no appeal, that he must come there to work if he came there for his wages. And then he turned upon the congregation, and the effect was almost irresistible, that they must serve Christ here if they would share his glory hereafter, but if they would serve the devil now, to him they must go for their wages byand- by. A very homely illustration certainly, but one which convinced the understanding and subdued the hearts of his hearers.
"There was excitement in some of his meetings, more than sufficient to shock the prejudices of highly-sensitive or refined persons. Some even who had the fullest confidence and warmest affection for Billy could not enjoy some of the outward manifestations they occasionally witnessed to the extent that he himself did. Billy could not tolerate 'deadness,' as he expressively called it, either in a professing Christian or in a meeting. He had a,leeper sympathy with persons singing, or shouting, or leaping for joy, than he had with

'The speechless awe that dares not move,
And all the silent heaven of love.'"

Methodism is the mother church of Cornwall, and Bray was a genuine though uncultivated child of her heart. As John Wesley always associated the grace of God with the penny a week, so Bray's religion was not all shouting; it had an eminently practical turn in many directions. Billy was quite a mighty chapel builder; he began by getting a piece of freehold from his mother, which he cleared with his own hands, and then proceeded to dig out the foundations of a chapel which was to be called Bethel. Under great discouragement's, both from friends and foes, mostly, however, from the first, he actually built the place, working at it himself, and at the same time begging stone, begging timber, and begging money to pay the workmen. His little all he gave, and moved all around, who had anything to spare, to give likewise. On-lookers thought Billy to be silly, and called him so; but, as he well remarked, "Wise men could not have preached in the chapel if silly Billy had not built it." Almost as soon as one building was finished, he was moved to commence another. It was much needed, and many talked about it, but nobody had the heart to begin it but Billy Bray. He begged the land, borrowed a horse and cart of the giver; and then after doing his own hard day's work underground in the pit, and providing for five small children, he and his son worked at raising stone and building the walls; frequently working twenty hours of the twenty-four. He had a hard struggle over this second chapel; but his own account is best. "When our chapel was up about to the door-head, the devil said to me, 'They are all gone and left you and the chapel, and I would go and leave the place too.' Then I said, 'Devil, doesn't thee know me better than that; by the help of the Lord I will have the chapel up, or lose my skin on the down.' So the devil said no more to me on that subject. Sometimes I had blisters on my hands, and they have been very sore. But I felt I did not mind that, for if the chapel should stand one hundred years, and if one soul were converted in it every year, that would be a hundred souls, and that would pay me well if I got to heaven, for they that 'turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever.' So I thought I should be rich enough when I got there. The chapel was finished after a time; and the opening day came. We had preaching, but the preacher was a wise man, and a dead man. I believe there was not much good done that day, for it was a very dead time with the preacher and people; for he had a great deal of grammar, and but little of Father. 'It is not by might, nor power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord' Weir it was by wisdom or might, I should have but a small part, for my might is little and my wisdom less. Thanks be to God, the work is his, and he can work by whomsoever he pleases. The second Sunday after the chapel was opened I was 'planned' there. I said to the people, 'You know I did not work here about this chapel in order to fill my pocket, but for the good of the neighbors, and the good of souls; and souls I must have, and souls I will have.' The Lord blessed us in a wonderful manner. Two women cried to the Lord for mercy; and when I saw that I said, 'Now the chapel is paid for already.' The good Lord went on to work there; and the society soon went up from fifteen members to thirty. You see how good the Lord is to me; I spoke for one soul a year, and he gave me fifteen souls the first year. Bless and praise his holy name, for he is good, and his mercy endureth for ever, for one soul is worth a thousand worlds. Our little chapel had three windows, one on one side, and two on the other; the old devil, who does not like chapels, put his servants, by way of reproach, to call our chapel Three-Eyes. But, blessed be God, since then the chapel has become too small for the place; and it has been enlarged; now there are six windows instead of three; and they may call the chapel Six-Eyes if they will. For, glory be to God, many that have been converted there are now in heaven; and, when we get there, we will praise him with all our might; and he shall never hear the last of it."
No sooner was this second house finished, than he began a third and larger one, and in this enterprise his talent for collecting, as well as his zeal in giving and working, were well displayed. He had high—and as we believe proper—ideas of his mission, in gathering in the subscriptions of the Lord's stewards. "A friend who was with Billy on a begging expedition, suggested, as they were coming near a gentleman's house, and Billy was evidently making for the front door, that it would be better if they went to the back door. 'No,' said Billy, 'I am the son of a King, and I shall go frontways.'" "At one time, at a missionary meeting, he seemed quite vexed because there was something said in the report about money received for 'rags and bones.' when he rose to address the meeting he said: 'I don't think it is right supporting the Lord's cause with old rags and bones. The Lord deserves the best, and ought to have the best.'" Well done, Billy! This is right good, and sound divinity.
Billy knew how to fight the devil and his agents with their own weapons. Returning late from a revival meeting, on a dark night in a lonely road, "certain lewd fellows of the baser sort," tried to frighten him by making all sorts of unearthly sounds; but he went singing on his way. At last one of them said, in the most terrible tones, "But I'm the devil up here in the hedge, Billy Bray." "Bless the Lord! Bless the Lord!" said Billy, "I did not know thee 'wust' so far away as that." To use Billy's own expression, "What could the devil do with such as he?"
"One of the most blessed results of his deep piety was his unfeigned humility, and his continual sense of dependence upon God. The Lord's servants without the Lord's presence are weak like other men, like Samson, when he lost his locks. Here is one experience of Billy's: 'When I was in the St. Neot's Circuit, I was on the plan; and I remember that one Sunday I was planned at Redgate, and there was a chapel full of people, and the Lord gave me great power and liberty in speaking; but all at once the Lord took away his Spirit from me, so that I could not speak a word: and this might have been the best sermon that some of them ever heard. What! you say, and you looking like a fool and not able to speak? Yes, for it was not long before I said, I am glad I am stopped, and that for three reasons. And the first is, To humble my soul, and make me feel more dependent on my Lord, to think more fully of the Lord and less of myself. The next reason is, To convince you that are ungodly, for you say we can speak what we have a mind to, without the Lord as well as with him; but you cannot say so now, for you hear how I was speaking, but when the Lord took away his Spirit I could not say another word; without my Lord I could do nothing. And the third reason is, That some of you young men who are standing here may be called to stand in the pulpit some day as I am, and the Lord may take his Spirit from you as he has from me, and then you might say, it is no good for me to try to preach or exhort, for I was stopped the last time I tried to preach, and I shall preach no more. But now you can say, I saw poor old Billy Bray stopped once like me, and he did not mind it, and told the people that he was glad his Lord had stopped him: Billy Bray's Lord is my Lord, and I am glad he stopped me too, for if I can benefit the people and glorify God, that is what I want. I then spoke a great while, and told the people what the Lord gave me to say.'"
Preaching in such a spirit Bray was sure to have a blessing, and a blessing he had. Many orators and doctors in divinity look very small by the side of Billy Bray, if we estimate ministries by their results in soul-winning, and they will look smaller still when the souls saved by poor humble speakers shall shine forth like stars, and their own rhetorical fame and boasted learning shall be as darkness.
We say no more, but refer the reader to the memoir of Billy Bray, written by Mr. F.W. Bourne, and published at the Bible Christian Book Room, 57, Fairbank Street, East Road.

Moving Video of an Iraqi Christian Pastor which challenges our Christian way of life in the West.

2010-09-20T01:35:00.001-07:00

Ghassan from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

The video above of the brave Iraqi Pastor from Baghdad again reminds us of how easy we have it as Christians in both the UK and the USA.This story should not only inspire us to help them in whatever way can, but also to use the freedom we have to spread the Good News in our own country, in a winsome manner- and while we have yet time! Especially, but not exclusively,those called or gifted in evangelism should be praying and looking continally for open doors to go through in order to spread the Word.God has called us to be a blessing to the world,not for us to grow rich 'spiritually' and financially while we take our ease in Zion (i.e. in our holy huddle).But as the great preacher John Wesley declared in his day so I encourage each of us :“You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. And go not only to those that need you, but to those that need you most…It is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care of this or that society; but to save as many souls as you can; to bring as many sinners as you possibly can to repentance.”

'Gangs more like Family than Church' says Ex-Gang Member.

2010-09-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

“A while back a former gang member came to our church. He was heavily tattooed and rough around the edges, but he was curious to see what church was like. He had a relationship with Jesus and seemed to get fairly involved with the church. After a few months, I found out the guy was no longer coming to the church. When asked why he didn’t come anymore, he gave the following explanation: ‘I had the wrong idea of what church was going to be like. When I joined the church, I thought it was going to be like joining a gang. You see, in the gangs we weren’t just nice to each other once a week – we were family.’ That killed me because I knew that what he expected is what the church is intended to be. It saddened me to think that a gang could paint a better picture of commitment, loyalty, and family than the local church body.” Francis Chan

It is embarrassing to read the above quotation by Mr Chan-and he probably goes to a lively ,progressive hip, happy clappy church! How do 'lesser' churches among us fare.Is your church like a family? I'm not meaning is it like a family for some of the long term members who have been able to form themselves into a clique which might be defined as a small close-knit group of people who do not readily allow others to join them.What I am talking about is: Can it be family for all the strange ones who come to our meetings who love, or want to love Jesus but who may be different,punkish, working class,radical,enthusiastic,outgoing, addicts,tattooed or loud-or all of the above! My guess is that in most cases it's not family for them! Which makes me say three words: Shame on us! Remember that the now famous evangelist Nicky Cruz was once a ragamuffin, and it was for those such as him that Christ came and died!

Do you agree or do you think I am too harsh?

God is jealous.(God is Jealous?) C.H.Spurgeon

2010-09-13T01:07:00.000-07:00

Nahum 1:2
Your Lord is very jealous of your love, O believer. Did he choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did he buy you with his own blood? He cannot endure that you should think that you are your own, or that you belong to this world. He loved you with such a love that he would not stay in heaven without you; he would sooner die than you should perish, and he cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart’s love and himself. He is very jealous of your trust. He will not permit you to trust in an arm of flesh. He cannot bear that you should hew out broken cisterns, when the overflowing fountain is always free to you. When we lean upon him, he is glad, but when we transfer our dependence to another, when we rely upon our own wisdom, or the wisdom of a friend—worst of all, when we trust in any works of our own, he is displeased, and will chasten us that he may bring us to himself. He is also very jealous of our company. There should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus. To abide in him only, this is true love; but to commune with the world, to find sufficient solace in our carnal comforts, to prefer even the society of our fellow Christians to secret intercourse with him, this is grievous to our jealous Lord. He would want have us to abide in him, and enjoy constant fellowship with himself; and many of the trials which he sends us are for the purpose of weaning our hearts from the creature, and fixing them more closely upon himself. Let this jealousy which would keep us near to Christ be also a comfort to us, for if he loves us so much as to care about our love we may be sure that he will suffer nothing to harm us, and will protect us from all our enemies. Oh that we may have grace this day to keep our hearts in sacred chastity for our Beloved alone, with sacred jealousy shutting our eyes to all the fascinations of the world!

Funeral of Professor Alan Ervine

2010-09-12T03:47:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been a very sad time for my family due to the death after a short illness of my brother-in-law and friend Alan Ervine. I had known Alan for over 25 years(my wife much longer)and always appreciated his friendship. He was brought up in a Christian home and had once told me that he was named after the famous preacher Alan Redpath. During the funeral his brother Ian shared the story that in their bedroom they had a picture of a boy at his studying at his desk and underneath it was the verse:'Trust in the the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.This was to become an inspiration for their lifestyles as both choose to work hard at study as well as to develop a strong faith in God.Apart from UNiversity life Alan was very involved in both church and charity work. The last year saw him involved in water projects with Tear Fund were he offered his expertise and raised funds for various projects. At the end Alan suffered alot and on his final day had asked the Lord to take him him.During his final trial Alan was beset at times by doubts and fears though he never once lost his faith. Like Christ in the garden of Gethsemane he ultimately surrendered his will to God's.He was always able to confess like Job:'I know that my Redeemer lives'.At the bottom of this post you will find one of Alan's inspiring posts soon after he discovered he had cancer.

''Alan's funeral was held on Wednesday in the Chapel of Glasgow University, a truly beautiful setting on a wonderful sunny and warm day.
Alan's brother Ian spoke about their lives together as children in Ireland being brought up in a loving Christian family. His colleague Bill spoke about their friendship formed over many years of working together and supporting he same football team. Davy Robertson spoke eloquently on behalf of Alan's friends about what Alan was like as a friend, as a gentle, smiling person who enriched all our lives. David McCarthy told of Alan's great faith in God and how he was encouraged by Alan to be a better person and a better pastor. All of them mentioned Alan's ability to throw in the odd wee grenade to liven things up and make them more interesting. His brother, Clive, read from Revelation 21: 1-4, 22: 1-5.
His long and loving marriage to Liz and his love for and pride in his son were spoken about too.
We sang good old, well known and well loved hymns:- "Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder, Guide me O thou Great Jehovah and Thine be the glory"
The organist said later it was the best singing by a congregation he had ever heard.
The previous evening there had been a short service in St Silas where Alan's coffin was brought in to rest overnight. We prayed and had our own thoughts.
We all then proceeded to the cemetery where Alan was laid to rest in a lovely shaded spot.
The day went on from there. We joined Liz and Paul for lunch in a local restaurant and spent much of the afternoon chatting with friends, old and new.
It was a very good day for a very sad reason.
Alan is now with God. We are left to remember.
Tricia and Gordon Henderson

A post from Alan's blog 28th June

Is it possible to surrender your will to God?

May seem like a strange question coming from a Christian, but thought I would ask this today, and see where the discussion goes. All through the Bible and in Christian literature, we are encouraged to surrender every ounce of our being, our will, our personalities into his hand; it appears like a non-question. I have heard people speak in glowing terms how they have surrendered their lives and their will to God. Is this a case of self-deception? (As an aside, I came across a case of self- deception yesterday following the England debacle in the World Cup playing Germany. England had just been outclassed in every part of the field; and in fact looked more like an episode of the Keystone Cops. An interview with a few English players following the game painted a different picture of something more akin to an evenly balanced match that the Germans edged in the end. I wondered what game these players had witnessed- and reminded myself again of our great capacity towards self-deception)

My answer to the question posed in the title is yes, and I take my inspiration from Andrew Murray’s book, “Absolute Surrender”, first published in 1895 and recently up-dated in 1999.I will briefly share Murray’s argument with you for I believe “absolute surrender” has the potential to transform lives positively more than almost anything else. Murray’s basic premise is that God requires Christian followers to surrender their lives, lock, stock and barrel into his hands. This is a condition of God blessing you completely and fully and a condition for the Holy Spirit to flow through you as freely as He had intended. God expects your surrender, not in a half-hearted way as in my case, many or most Christians, for He cannot work effectively through half surrendered lives. A pen with two hands guiding it will never be able produce effective writing. Murray argues that we cannot achieve this degree of surrender on our own steam and can only reach such levels through the power of the Holy Spirit. I agree with this premise having tried on my own and failed and only making a little progress through being open to ask the Spirit for help. In other words, God accomplishes the surrender for you as long as you are willing to go through the process. I hope you will be blessed from exposure to his work and be encouraged to read it for yourself. Easy to get these old published works on Amazon- if you are so inclined.

I feel in some ways it may need a crisis or a period of discomfort or distress for us ever to get round to taking the question seriously. It shouldn’t do, but human nature being what it is, prefers sailing along in comfort and non-surrender and involved in projects, until an event or a happening intervenes that forces a re-think, a look at truly surrendering to God, and indeed a giant step towards life indeed

“Be separate.” 2 Corinthians 6:17 A reflection by C.H.Spurgeon

2010-09-12T03:40:00.000-07:00

The Christian, while in the world, is not to be of the world. He should be distinguished from it in the great object of his life. To him, “to live,” should be “Christ.” Whether he eats, or drinks, or whatever he does, he should do all to God’s glory. You may lay up treasure; but lay it up in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves break not through nor steal. You may strive to be rich; but be it your ambition to be “rich in faith,” and good works. You may have pleasure; but when you are merry, sing psalms and make melody in your hearts to the Lord. In your spirit, as well as in your aim, you should differ from the world.

Waiting humbly before God, always conscious of his presence, delighting in communion with him, and seeking to know his will, you will prove that you are of heavenly race. And you should be separate from the world in your actions. If a thing be right, though you lose by it, it must be done; if it be wrong, though you would gain by it, you must scorn the sin for your Master’s sake. You must have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Walk worthy of your high calling and dignity.

Remember, O Christian, that you are a child of the King of kings. Therefore, keep yourself unspotted from the world. Soil not the fingers which are soon to sweep celestial strings; let not these eyes become the windows of lust which are soon to see the King in his beauty—let not those feet be defiled in muddy places, which are soon to walk the golden streets—let not those hearts be filled with pride and bitterness which are before long to be filled with heaven, and to overflow with ecstatic joy.

Then rise my soul! and soar away,

Above the thoughtless crowd;

Above the pleasures of the pleasure seekers,

And splendours of the proud;

Up where eternal beauties bloom,

And pleasures all divine;

Where wealth, that never can consume,

And endless glories shine.

Conversations on Being a Heretic.Scot McKnight questioning Brian McLaren about his beliefs.

2010-08-26T04:43:00.001-07:00

Q | Conversations on Being a Heretic from Q Ideas on Vimeo.

Brian McLaren's new book 'A New kind of Christianity' has caused quite a stir.After writing several other books including his 'New Kind of Christian' trilogy we find in this new book a more systematic approach to his beliefs. To use the word 'beliefs' however is really a misnomer as McLaren does not really tell you exactly what he believes but rather dances round each of the fundamental Christian doctrines (the Bible, God,Jesus, Salvation etc)in each chapter of his book leaving you in the end more confused than before!This is because he lives in a 'postmodern' bubble in which nothing can be an absolute or dogmatic and no one can truly understand him unless they join him in it.

The evangelical Church comes in for a particularly hard time, being blamed for all that has been wrong with the church. The solution is of course to see things the way he does and if you do, you will become a new kind of Christian much better than the one before.Sadly it will not be really a biblical Christian having written off many of the core beliefs that have been held by faithful Christian believers for 2000 years.

Anyway, this interview should give you a flavour of what he stands for,or rather what he doesn't stand for!We know what Jesus,Paul and all the other New Testament writers believed on major issues. What they taught was clear and unambiguous, there was no waffle- they wrote and spoke with authority. Brian McLaren comes across as a charming man but sadly by not being clear in his teaching he undermines the Bible of whose truth alone shows us the way of salvation. A full critique of 'A New Kind of Christian' by Scot McKnight can be found at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/march/3.59.html AK

'You're Frauds'-Hard Words From the Christ!

2010-08-12T15:14:00.000-07:00

'Gentle Jesus meek and mild look upon a little child'

I'm sure these words of Charles Wesley regarding Christ are correct in their context. They also are probably the commonly held view of Jesus' character-soft as water,inoffensive,wouldn't hurt a fly type of man. Well the truth is that Jesus would sometimes get 'real mad' with those who were putting on a show, being self righteous or leading the weak astray. However, we as Christians don't like to judge and often quote the verse 'Judge not lest you be judged' as our reason for not doing so. But there is a time when we must speak out, especially when we see evil, and then of course, we should be sure our own heart is right! AK

I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God's kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won't let anyone else in either.
"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned.

"You're hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, 'If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that's nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that's serious.' What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: 'If you shake hands on a promise, that's nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that's serious'? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless...

"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.

"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You're like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it's all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin you're total frauds.

"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You build granite tombs for your prophets and marble monuments for your saints. And you say that if you had lived in the days of your ancestors, no blood would have been on your hands. You protest too much! You're cut from the same cloth as those murderers, and daily add to the death count.

"Snakes! Reptilian sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper? It's on account of people like you that I send prophets and wise guides and scholars generation after generation—and generation after generation you treat them like dirt, greeting them with lynch mobs, hounding them with abuse.

"You can't squirm out of this: Every drop of righteous blood ever spilled on this earth, beginning with the blood of that good man Abel right down to the blood of Zechariah, Barachiah's son, whom you murdered at his prayers, is on your head. All this, I'm telling you, is coming down on you, on your generation.

"Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Murderer of prophets! Killer of the ones who brought you God's news! How often I've ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn't let me. And now you're so desolate, nothing but a ghost town. What is there left to say? Only this: I'm out of here soon. The next time you see me you'll say, 'Oh, God has blessed him! He's come, bringing God's rule!'"

Religious Fashion Shows:Then and Now

2010-08-04T02:10:00.000-07:00

Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. "The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God's Law. You won't go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don't live it. They don't take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It's all spit-and-polish veneer.
"Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called 'Doctor' and 'Reverend.'

"Don't let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don't set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of 'Father'; you have only one Father, and he's in heaven. And don't let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ!

"Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.

Matthew 23