Wake Up! - Dynamite For The Daytime

Dec | 31 | The Glory of God is Person Who Is Completeley Alive

2011-12-31T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- BECOME

Title:- The Glory of God Is A Person Who Is Completely Alive

Philippians 3:12-14
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I think I like this time of year. I am the kind of man who loves the planning rather than the implementation of things, so, setting out goals for the coming year is quite exciting and though achieving them will be somewhat more excruciating, I do like all the planning, all the expectation of change, all the anticipation of newness and the bringing into order of all my most disordered days. I like this time of year as well because my parents were Scots. Glaswegians to be precise. Some of you will understand then that Christmas took a poor second place during our family’s winter holiday season. Hogmanay or New Year’s Eve was the big event in our house.

In preparation for the event, my mother would clean the house, wash all her glasses and china, clean out the old ashes from the grate, get on her glad rags and then of course, together with my father all booted and spurred and suitably juiced up, would celebrate both well before and well after midnight, bringing a bunch of friends and inebriated strays home from the local pub to join them in the partying. I tell you, Karaoke is not some new torture friends! Tipply pub singers have been around a long, long time and as a youngster, up at midnight during Hogmanay, I saw many of them arrive at our house, still sloshed and singing, melancholy and teary eyed, waiting for midnight and the first foot of a tall dark stranger to enter the house at the front carrying some coal to add to the fire and bringing some good luck with him, having a wee dram and a toast of good luck, only then being allowed to leave the house at the back, taking the old years bad luck away and away forever and ever, amen. Better luck for the coming year was all they wanted. However, this fascinating combination of strange superstition and ancient practice, never ever worked; certainly not at our house anyway. Never the less, it’s a good plan to welcome guests though for in the so doing, some have entertained angels unawares and it’s an excellent picture of what we all truly desire for the coming year. Good fortune! So tonight dear friend I want you to first foot yourself into the New Year. How?

Well first of all, simply refuse to carry some of your unnecessary burdens into the awaiting future. Did He not say “cast all your care” upon Him? Yes He did! So why not finally do so tonight and then daily refuse to lay hold on them again. Is some of that anxiety bubbling up in your being and burning your voice and destroying you? Then simply refuse t carry it anymore. Choose the settling words of His grace instead, yes, cast all Your care on Him and refuse to be anxious! Be stupid in the world’s eyes and become that beaming idiot abroad and because you totally trust in Jesus to take care of you, throw your shoulders back, take a deep breath and sing a little. So tonight, first foot yourself by casting all your cares on Him, and refusing to let worry live on your back. Yes, it is as easy as that!

Oh and secondly, how about some of that old glory, that old gold of yours. Is it a bit tarnished? A bit well worn? Past deeds and good works, excellent achievements and goals achieved, are all well and good but sometimes they hang like a tarnished gold 'macho man medallion' around an open shirted hairy chest for all to see. It's very nice dear, but a bit old and a bit of a joke. So move on. Let past achievements go as well along with all the other nonsense and put that heaving chest away. Please! Tonight, let go of both the bad and let go of the old good! Forget them and move on. It's all in the past. Choose to let them go so you have freer hands to embrace a better future! Cast both the cares of your back and the weights of your front all upon Him today.

Do remember however, that in all this effort of letting go, in all this work of throwing away, so’s not to be so uneasily encumbered about again in the coming year, it is important to speedily and correctly lay hold of the right thing. I mean, just look down friend, what do you have in your hand right now? Should that be there? I didn’t think so! So make sure, that you lay hold of the right thing this coming year. Reach out, strain forward toward the prize. Lay hold of that which is ahead of you. You know, the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Eh? You know, that supreme and heavenly prize which God is calling us up to heaven to get because of what Christ Jesus did for us? That prize, you know? The one that gets real Christians all excited and gives them goose bumps. You know, that prize your spirit yearns for. You know, the prize that brings a warm joy to your heart when it gets a little cold. Ahh… that prize! You know what I am talking about and you do know how to set your heart on it? Don’t you?

I am not talking about just ‘Jam tomorrow’ here dear friends, for Ignatius sees this prize as a deposit in the now. In other words it is the 'purse' and not the belt; it is the 'crock' and not the crown. The prize then is the realisation of the future reward that can both begin to be spent and enjoyed right now. The prize is the realization of our incorruptible and eternal life which is rooted and enjoyed through God, because of God, with God and in God. This prize is to be 'all we truly are.'

Yes, this prize of becoming all we truly are, and is the commencement and continuing fulfilment of our eternal and happy destiny with Jesus. This prize is our tailored and thrice tested, all singing, all dancing, go faster, you can’t bend it or break it, capacity to happily become all we ever could be with Jesus. This prize, is supremely precious and highly personal and it is yours for the living this coming year. Be sure that this is the best of prizes, for this prize is the glory of God and this prize is you, fully alive!!

So, why not right now, let go and then lay hold of this prize of a life which becomes a child of God like you. Do this in the coming year by: pursuing God with all your heart; possessing who you are in Jesus and practicing what He preaches. Let the coming year then, be a pursued pilgrimage of released life for you. Yes, this coming year, why not at last become fully alive and so start glorifying God in the best ways possible. I mean come on friend, start living this year why don’t you!

Oh and finally, may I be the first to wish you, a very Happy New Year!

Listen:- May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord. I say it again: rejoice! Philippians 4:4 TEV

Pray: - As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for You O God, for the living God! When I remember this past year, I pour out my soul within me. Let me enter the courts of this coming year of grace with the voice of joy and praise, along with a multitude of runners that keeps the pilgrim feast. O remember me my God as I remember You. From the heights of my hopes and the depths of my despairs. Lord, command Your loving kindness to caress me in the daytime, and in the nights of this coming year, surround me with Your singing songs of comfort, Your joy and consolation, Your happiness and continuing restoration, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

Dec | 30 | Bomb Da House!

2011-12-30T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- CLEAN

Luke 11:24-26
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

Bomb Da House!

A common site in South Florida is to see whole houses encased in tarpaulin and wrapped up like some gigantic Christmas present without the ribbon on top! The purpose of this is 'pest control' or more particular, 'termite termination.' The whole house is about to be 'bombed' with a highly toxic 'fogger' which will penetrate all cracks and spaces and do its deadly work. Subterranean termites are highly concentrated in this part of the United States and it is estimated that across the whole of America these most destructive of insect pests, cost people up to $2 billion per year in total wood damage.

It is thought that termites can chemically sense the presence of wood. The worker termites are always searching for new places of feeding. When they find it, they return to the colony to get more workers to help feed in the new location.

Essentially secretive in their feeding and design, termite infestation is usually only noticed when thorough tunneling and eating, leads to structural weakening and collapse. It is said in the pest control trade that there are only two types of houses: Those under attack by termites and those that will be under attack by termites!

May I say there are only two types of Christian: Those under attack by demonic evil spirits and those that will be! Imagine if you will that your whole being is a spiritual house. It provides food, sustenance, and shelter even, for those spirits that are wandering, dry and thirsty. If we have failed in erecting barriers of protection in the form of confession, forgiveness, avoidance and warfare, then it is likely that at some point we have allowed 'access' into our spiritual house and are now secretly troubled by unwanted intrusions. Where we thought all was well, an eating has taken place below our surface. A quick temper, an annoying attitude, an unpleasant thought life, an inability to believe God, weakness in faith, the rise of old habitual sins, heaviness, depression, and the list goes on; all of these things could be indicative of secret eating, malevolent invasion, open windows, open doors and unwanted guests if you will. I am talking about oppression here rather than possession.

At the end of the year, it's probably a good time to do some spiritual fumigation, de-festation and barrier erection. Oh come on friend, get real. Wouldn't you like to be rid of that problem? Wouldn't you like to be rid of those most intrusive thoughts, those devilish doubts and those fiendish feelings? Where do you think they are coming from? You just may have a bad infestation! Demonization does not mean that you sit there with your head spinning around puking green vomit all over the place. It usually means your ‘bothered’’ and feeling dirty and in need of a good old clean. We’ve left some doors or windows open and in they’ve come, these dirty squatters, making a right old mess! We all need a good and regular clean out friends and this time of year is a good time to begin this process.

The Christian bait, the barrier and the bomb for dealing with such spiritual infestation is all one and the same. It is truth. Truth in context and truth applied. It is the truth of God’s word. It is God’s word, correctly applied. Though applied truth is not toxic, even so, truth when placed in contact with lies and deception can make life a bit messy, a bit smelly, and a little unpleasant and unhealthy for those around us. So here is my advice for safe and productive, protective cleaning:
Get with a good friend, preferably someone who knows a little about pest control. Encase your spiritual house in the tarpaulin of prayerful solitude. This is not a public thing remember; the public don't need to see. Now, remove all living things from your area, and oh yes, remove all ignition points. Turn off pilot lights. In other words if you know a thing will 'set you off,' acknowledge that before you begin, make peace with it. Now are you ready? Good. Set the bomb off!

Invite God the Holy Spirit to walk you through your spiritual house, exposing the lies and deathly destructive ways that the enemy has catacombed your foundations with. Confess your sins. Repent of believing this deathly 'stuff,' and declare that you now choose life and truth. Invite the light of His truth to explode through your whole house, exposing the enemy and exposing his lies and death. Give possession of yourself totally and completely over to God. Begin now to thoroughly reclaim your spiritual house. Once you have done this, remove the tarpaulin, and clean up any mess. Simple eh? No! For this is just the beginning.

You must understand that thorough cleansing takes time. This takes effort on your part. Often it is a continual process over many years. Sometimes the infestation is so widespread, so endemic, that you will need to bomb and clean up one room at a time. God must help you with this. The important thing is that you acknowledge the infestation and start to do something about it. Begin! Begin to hear the Word of God and keep it, begin to hear the Word of God and apply it. This coming year, begin!

Listen: - And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Luke 11:27-28

Pray: - Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle. Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; and on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God. Psalm 43:3-4

Dec | 29 | Believing, Way Beyond Any Reasonable Doubt

2011-12-29T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- BELIEVE

Title: Believing, Way Beyond Any Reasonable Doubt

Luke 1:20
“But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”

Dear Archangel Gabriel,

I do hope this little letter finds you well and happy. Standing always in the presence of God must be an unbelievable experience! Sorry, I shouldn’t have used that word, you know, “unbelievable,” as I know how much it seems to annoy you. However, it’s a good introduction Gabriel because that is what I want to really speak to you about, you know, belief!

You see, it seems to me that you angels and dare I say, you in particular Gabriel, are pretty unbending when is comes to believing words from God. Now don’t get me wrong here, I know that’s the right thing to do, however Gabriel, you’re a bit brash with us humans aren’t you, a bit unmerciful, a bit robot like, a bit inhuman really in applying that principal of total belief and consequent judgment for any hint of unbelief! That’s pretty frightening for us sir, ‘cause I am assuming that you are indeed a person of great authority and power, with the ability to smite at will. (Poor Will, he’s always getting in the neck! Just a little joke there Gabriel : -))

Look Gabriel, Zacharias is my case in point. As a young and righteous newly wed, he was exceptionally disappointed (cultural understatement!) when his wife Elisabeth could not and would not fall pregnant. How many long years followed then Gabriel, when their daily prayers for an opening up of her womb came up to the throne of God? How many Gabriel? Come on, you know, you stand in the presence of God after all. It was a lot wasn’t it? No doubt you are also aware that as the flower of Elizabeth’s womanhood shrivelled and fell to the ground and old age, crept upon them like a mangy dog with flees, their prayers, virtually whimpered out as they resigned themselves, with lots of regret, to the good will of their good God. You know all this though? Then, as Zacharias gets the job of burning incense in the temple of the Lord, you turn up in all your magnificence and scare the poor old guy almost out of his holy little socks. Man! You put him on the spot didn’t you? An old geezer like that, he could have had a heart attack! Then out of nowhere when his little heart is still all a racing you smilingly announce (I am assuming you were happy for him) that he is going to have a child, a son, already named John who is going to be magnificent in the Kingdom. Marvellous news I agree, but a little overwhelming don’t you think?! All those years of praying with no answer and then when it’s way, I mean way past midnight, you turn up in all your glory, scare him almost to death and then answer all his deepest desires. Seems like Christmas already eh! Especially for old Zachy baby.

Now then honoured Gabriel, listen in, for here is where I take umbrage with you. I do not and say again, I do not think it unreasonable for an old man, well frightened and well advanced in years, to have just a little bit of doubt slip out of his mouth. Saying “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years,” is not unreasonable is it Gabriel? Of course not! However, I beg to suggest, that your response of striking him dumb just because he didn’t believe your words was not only unreasonable but down right insensitive, embarrassing and frankly, on your part, very, very rude. Hence the reason for my letter. Mr Gabriel. This is just not on.

The problem with you angels, if I might say so without being disrespectful, is your so inhuman and that being the case, are so, well so, non-linear. Time has passed you know? Duh. Didn’t you see that Zacharias and Elizabeth were both passed it? He knows it, she knows it, but it seems you don’t care about it. Oh no! Time in your gross non-linear thinking is completely irrelevant to you. What does it matter to you if all your equipment is shrivelled up, unattractive and not in best working order, so what! “God’s said it, you’d better believe it!” That’s your very inhuman approach isn’t it? I mean, what does it matter if the answer to their prayers at their age is now so very inappropriate? Old people with rheumatism, smelling of “Ben Gay” and “Vicks Vapo-rub” taking care of a small child, come on! Social services would never allow a kid to be adopted by people this old. Zachy knew this. Completely inappropriate timing Gabriel, completely inappropriate! Didn’t you see that? Oh no, obviously not, it was wham bam thank you maam, smack him in the gob and so, “because you didn’t believe,” nine months of being dumb and stupid looking! Ha! What an unmerciful, unthinking, and completely inappropriate response on your part mate. Completely inappropriate. I’m sorry, but I’m annoyed and these things just had to be said.

Well Gabriel, I shall close now, hoping that when we meet you will have learnt to be a little bit more linear in your understanding and a bit more merciful when it comes to just a little reasonable doubt. More human maybe. Please don’t get annoyed when we simpletons don’t believe beyond this reasonable doubt. I think it is because unlike you, we live such linear lives.

It’s hard for us to believe beyond reasonable doubt, even though you Gabriel seem to find it oh so very easy. I suppose standing in the presence of God so often and for so long seems to help you with this? We know all things are possible with God. We know that, honest we do. It’s just that unlike you, we don’t really know that it means that ‘He will take care of every little speck of a thing related to and regarding His spoken word that requires us to believe beyond any reasonable doubt.’ Do you see what I mean? I think maybe you do. Anyway, I hope this clears matters up a little and assists you in all your future dealings with the elderly. Don’t bother replying, I know you are busy, but remember when you are dealing with us, “think linear!”

My kind regards, yours disappointed of Tunbridge Wells, etc… etc…

Listen: “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Luke 1:36

Pray: My Lord Jesus, thank you for your servants, all the angels of the Most High God. In the coming year please make us as unswerving in believing as those angels of Your light, in Jesus name we ask it, amen.

Dec | 28 | Sanity! The Advantage of Listening to Vintage Verbosity

2011-12-28T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- CONSIDER

Title:- Sanity! The Advantage of Listening to Vintage Verbosity

Isaiah 28:23
Give ear and hear my voice, Listen and hear my speech.

“Oh what I would do to have the kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I’m in, onto the crashing waves. To step out of my comfort zone into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is…” So goes the opening lines of Casting Crowns choicest song on choosing truth. Got it? Choosing truth!

I will act on what I truly believe. Action is based on what we truly believe, on what drives us deep down inside. This internal engine of basic belief and pushing progression is in turn fuelled by high-octane words, or voices, if you will. It is frightening to hear the voice in your heart echo in your head. Friend, you do not have to be insane to hear voices. Believe me, we all do.

Bosses, spouses, children, relatives, friends, dogs, cats, radio, email, fax, pop ups, instant messengers, texting, talking pages, cell phones, landlines, iPods, iPads, Tablets, DVDs CDs, internet broadband, web casting, podcasting, television, video, news, PDAs, magazines, soaps, movies, newspapers, advertising, billboards, are all voices, all selling, buying, dying to be vying for just a little piece of your already overwhelmed attention. Voices are heard all over the place and are all-intruding. These demanding sales voices, for that is mostly what they are, are most disconcerting but it is the other voices that are the most damaging and hurting.

The internal voice of conscience for example, if it still hasn’t had it’s beak fully seared in the hot houses of our silly little hearts, every day begins its squawking, constantly repeating the truth to us of His broken laws. Yes, that often and mostly all bombastic bird of condemnation, often squawks it’s insane accusation, chattering away like “Polly the Parakeet” high on speed, until for the Christian, that great bird, bigger than our hearts, bigger than our conscience, that larger dove, that blessed ‘Paraclete,’ swoops upon the scene and drowns out the squawk of conscience, by singing His even louder song of loving forgiveness. Even so, conscience can still be that all too prevalent and troubling voice.

As well as the squawking, the internal voice from the place of unhealed pain can still cry out from the wet chasm of open wounds, whilst the untrusting, self-protecting voice cries, “Watch it! Careful now, not too much information. Don’t trust, back off, hide, don’t reveal don’t let them see!” These deep wounds and their bodyguard are debilitating and minimising voices from a place of pain that needs the quieting and healing oil of the great Samaritan poured into it beyond measure and then lovingly massaged into silence. The voices of deep wounds and self-policing, self-protection, speak very loudly don’t they friends?

In addition, the voices of internal declarations and self-curses which we have installed in our own self-protected lunacy, can appear like armed security officers, rude and not listening, commanding us to “cease and desist” from freedom and any attempt at bounded perimeter crossing, openness, and reaching out again. These security voices will not listen; they only speak loudly, protectivly and proudly.

Lastly and most disconcertingly to our inner ears, are the demonic voices which we have allowed to laugh and lie through our open windows and cracked doors. They squeeze themselves in on our weakness and stand on lost ground preaching lies, telling disconcerting tales and interrupting every holy thought.

Now, because belief still needs the fuel of high-octane words, voices to kick it into action if you will, these other loud and speaking voices will never let faith flourish. So yes, out of all we listen to today, we need to actively take the advice of Casting Crowns and “choose to listen and believe the voice of truth”. You see there is an advantage to listening to vintage verbosity and that advantage is a rich red clarity, yes, it is nothing short of sober sanity. So, be sure to get into to the Word of God this coming year, and get the Word into you. Do have your reading plan ready to begin on January 1st? Then get to it guy; get to it! Because you will be listening to loads of voicesin the coming year, make sure your hear the voice of truth.

Listen: “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.” John 8:43-44

Pray: Lord the devil has within his dominion the capacity to make ears deaf to Your word. Lord, now, and in this coming year, plant a seed of desire that will grow into a tree of satisfaction planted by the waters which are ever budding with ten thousand open ear, all attentive to Your voice of truth. In Jesus name I ask it, amen.

Dec | 27 | Talkin Tsunami's

2011-12-27T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:-TRUST

Title:- Talking Tsunami’s

Matthew 24:7,8
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Now dear friends, stick close to my words this morning, right to the end and you shall be rightly encouraged. However, before we get there today, we must traverse some terrible terrain. So stick with me right to the end.

As we move towards the end of the year, it has been my observation that in my whole life, whenever I arrive at this point of observing my planet and its peoples, I am amazed at the advances in technology and medical care, in fashion and in fun. Yet when I examine the human condition expressed in community, both local and global, I despairingly come to the same conclusion: nothing changes; nothing gets better. Indeed, things are getting worse. (Stick with me now, stick with me.)

Our text today is part of an answer given by Jesus to a particular question posed by the disciples sat with Him on the Mount of Olives. He has just wept in anger and despair over the coming desolation and destruction of Jerusalem, when they ask, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) We have no time today to proceed to cover His reply with an eschatalogically fine toothcomb. Let’s just be a little shaken today when Jesus says in effect, “It’s gonna be bad and it’s gonna get worse!” (Stick with me now, stick with me.)

Tsunamis are viewed by the scientific community as natural disasters. Tsunamis are still currently viewed by the financial community as “acts of God,” that is, actions that are both terrible and out of their control. Tsunamis are viewed by the victims as inexplicable. I met an old lady, a Christian, who after many years was still suffering the after effects of holidaying with her husband on a secluded beach, where a freak wave reached onto the shore and before her face, snatched her loved one away to a watery grave. The sea reluctantly but eventually gave up its dead and she spent the next few weeks battling to get the corpse of her beloved, back to the dry ground of her homeland to be buried. As she recounted her story to me, her face and especially her eyes, were a constant witness to the fact that she had never really recovered from this. There are some things we must never recover from. (Stick with me now, stick with me.)

There are some things we must never recover from and despite government control of battlefield information, there are horrors that must not be hidden from us. Despite the glib mental sickness smiles of made up news presenters, that can through shiny teeth and loud lip gloss, tell of both death and destruction and the drop of a few degrees in temperature in the same smiling sentence, there are things we must be sad and very sorrowful about. Remember, no anaesthetic last’s forever. Jesus replies sadly and honestly about the signs prefixing His return. It would appear that the enemy will try to apply a scorched earth policy to His impending arrival, as well as Jesus Himself “eating up the ground” before Him in righteous indignation. Look. What is to come is not lovely! Look. It is not lovely!

At the end of this year let us talk tsunamis. Let us look at the devastation around us. Let us lay aside our numbing novocain and see that all these things are indeed but the “beginning of sorrows”. Prophecy shall be fulfilled and friends, before we get to a better chapter, we must read ourselves through this next horrific one.

So how can we possible be encouraged by what we see around us? Well in truth we cannot. Except that Jesus foretold that this is how it should be. His word is true, and if His word regarding these things is true then so are His other words. All His words are true. He shall make all things well. Yes, in the end, He shall make all things good.

Listen: “Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money (including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions) and be satisfied with your present (circumstances and with what you have); for He (God) Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. (I will) not,(I will) not, (I will) not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor (let you) down (relax My hold on you)! (Assuredly not!) So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm (I will not fear or dread or be terrified). What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6 AMP

Pray: My Lord, I will not fear, even though the earth be removed and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; even though its waters roar and be troubled, even though the mountains shake with its swelling. For I know that there is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God. Amen and amen.

Dec | 26 | Bloody Mary

2011-12-26T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- Bloody Mary

Luke 11:27
In addition, it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!”

So what do you do with the Christ Child the day after He is born? Ask any mother and she shall tell you. You take care of Him.

The hungry little Jesus has no doubt now been fed several times by his mother; washed, cuddled and caringly cosseted. She has counted each finger and each tender toe, shook her little head, stared into His seeking eyes, whilst speaking several sweet hellos. Kissed his cheeks, held His dangly little head in the palm of her hand and kept Him warm in the darkness of the tomb like manger. Mary, just recently delivered her child, will indeed now daily hold in her loving hands, her own deliverer, her own salvation and even the salvation of the world. Imagine how special a person you would have to be to have been chosen to be the caring intimate of God, the gentle mentor of Jesus, the cleaner upper after, the teacher, the trainer, the nurse, the advisor, the counsellor. Mary was indeed among all women, most blessed! Imagine that.

Soon Simeon, over a pair of white and bloodied, dead turtle doves, shall speak of this child’s destiny and of God’s Salvation, of Israel’s Glory, of the light of the gentiles, of the revealing of hearts and the rising and falling of many over this little, oh so little baby. And with ghastly words shall begin to prepare even Mary’s own dear soul for the hurt that only a mother can experience, “Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also,” Luke 2:35. Ignorance is better me thinks, than for years to come, to carry this shadow of hurt alongside the joy of raising up Jesus. Though God knows best and maybe she needed to know this now, even from this great distance, so to be prepared for the horror she would witness on Calvary’s tree. Imagine Mary’s bloody heart. Just imagine that.

Now look at God’s grace, for together with Mary’s swallowing of this bitter medicine from the mouth of old Simeon, comes heaven’s honey from the lips of old Anna. For at the instant the message of the inevitable and coming piercing was given to Mary, Anna arrives on the scene performing two most important things. First, she gave thanks and second, she proclaimed with joy! She gave thanks to the Father for the gift of His Son and she then spoke of Him, with utter and fervent, expectant excitement, to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
In this coming year friend, so soon now to be upon us, when the Father gives you some bitter medicine, look for the accompanying honey. God will always make the bitter, sweet. Always! Imagine that.

In this coming year friend, so soon to be upon us, may you find your self in the temple of the Lord. Find yourself under the red dove of peace. Find yourself under the sacrifice. Find yourself humble before your God. Imagine that.

In this coming year friend, so soon to be upon us, may you seek out the Simeon’s of Zion. Seek out those who walk close with the Father. Seek out those who have the ear of Jesus; seek out listening and proclaiming saints. This year, may you walk with the old giants. Imagine that.

Finally, in this coming year friend, so soon to be upon us, I ask you to seek out Jesus. Walk so close to Him, that you too, like awesome Anna, will be able to speak of Him to all those who look for salvation in Jerusalem. Many do dear friend; many still do. Imagine that.

Listen: And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!”

Pray: Father, may the reality of your presence be manifest in me and amongst us in this coming year of our Lord. Amen.

Dec | 25 | True Wisdom Out of a Christmas Gone Crackers!

2011-12-25T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word: WISDOM

Title:- True Wisdom out of a Christmas Gone Crackers!

1 Kings 4:33,34
Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

Tom Smith invented the cracker in 1848. Now for my American friends let me tell you that a cracker has nothing to do with cornmeal, grits or liquor! No sir, at this time of year, a Christmas cracker is an integral part of every British celebration.

Around the meal table at Christmas, at every place today there will be silver cutlery and a shining cracker. Upon being seated, the first thing that will be done before eating will be to, pull the crackers! A small cardboard tube covered with brightly coloured and twisted paper at the ends, the Christmas cracker will be pulled apart by two people. A small strip of chemically impregnated paper is eventually popped apart producing a small bang, and out of the fun packed centre of the cracker will fall the contents of the cardboard holder. Usually a paper hat, an unnecessary plastic object that will never be seen or used again, maybe a balloon and most definitely a small piece of paper containing the lamest joke you have ever heard or a daft piece of Christmas wisdom. Ah, I remember and always look forward to the Christmas wisdom of crackers!

Political correctness is rampant at the moment. Today, even 'Google the Good,' will have some completely Christmas disconnected imagery on its main search page and the sound of “happy holidays” from every politically correct goods outlet, is still ringing in my ears. I was out shopping just yesterday (I’m mad I know!) and saw not one ounce of happiness in tons and tons of overweight and over spent, sick, sad and surly shoppers. I am no grinch at Chrsitmas time but I tell you friends, Christmas is being so successfully redefined and its partakers so alarmingly reconditioned, that there is no Holy day and there is no happiness. Let’s face it shall we, take Christ out of Christmas and all you are left with is a mess. It’s all a bit mad, it’s all a bit bonkers and it’s all a bit crackers really!

The only way we can redeem the situation is to instil some Christian wisdom back into the leaders and the landowners, the moneymen and shareholders, the decision makers and agenda shakers. But it must be the sweet smelling, stargazing, treasure carrying, come to worship, camel riding, desperate “We Three Kings of Orient Are” kind of wisdom which we see in the Bible. A wisdom which seeks and speaks of Jesus.

The world shall speak of everything except Jesus this Christmas, and seek happiness and joy at the bottom of empty glasses, empty flashing lights and red ripped up paper. Let us make sure that we, His purchased people, seek and speak of Jesus, the Lord of the Universe and Saviour of the world, at this wondrous time of year.

Happy Christmas!

A poem: - Still Looking - Still speaking

Wise men speak of trees
From the Cedar to the Hyssop
Springing from the wall
From the Aspen to the Alder
Beside the water fall

Wise men speak of animals of creeping things and fish
Of birds and bees and smooth black cats
That lap the dainty dish

Wise men sing of love and capture moments in a jar
Wise men suck the juice of days
Wise men shop at Spar

Wise men count the fallen ticks
Of old clocks running down
Wise men number muscles
That help create the frown

Wise men follow after
Wise men follow far
Wise men seek the Saviour
Beneath the wandering star

Listen: Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” Matt 2:1-2

Pray: King of all days, oh so highly exalted, glorious in heaven above. Humbly You came to the earth you created, all for love’s sake became poor. So here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that You’re my God. You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me. Thank You my Lord, thank You.

Dec | 24 | The Baby Jesus. A Lovely Little Body but a Horribly Big Skull!

2011-12-24T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- BECOME

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

The Baby Jesus. A Lovely Little Body but a Horribly Big Skull

It is a well-known fact that childlessness is hereditary; if your parents don’t have children, then in all probability, neither will you! Unless of course, you are a miracle baby. Enter Jesus, stage right.

Well on the eve of God’s official birthday let’s celebrate what actually happened and take in the wonder of it all, for Joseph having wandered from Inn to Inn trying to find a place in Bethlehem, (they couldn't get a room because they were Jewish), has his wife Mary, about to give birth in a stable. Out in the cold fields under an open and starry sky, stinky footed, sin defeated shepherds, quietly wash their socks by night, only to be very soon surprised by a multitude of celebrating and proclamating heavenly hosts, all singing and dancing in the dark dank fields of Bethlehem of a Saviour born in a manger. Yes, it’s Christmas time in Bethlehem and Mary shall give birth to the Messiah the promised Saviour of old. However, it’s not His miracle birth the angels are celebrating, no! On this most wonderful night of nights, the heavens are rejoicing in totality over the cord separating arrival of the Saviour. For you see, what is going to happen physically is in fact the most beautiful but the most natural thing in the world: Childbirth! No, despite the rejoicing of the angels, this is not the miracle of Christmas. So where is it?

The Scriptures are clear that life begins at the point of conception. So the real miracle actually took place nine months previous at the home of Mary in Galilee at that very point of conception. You see at Christmas we must remember that the Christ, already given the name Jesus by His Father, had been with us for the full term of this pregnancy, a whole nine months; and hidden away in Galilean embarrassment and obscurity! Yes embarrassment! For a virgin conceived! “Oh really,” said the neighbours. “Yes really!” was God’s happy reply.

A virgin conceived a child from the Almighty. A virgin conceived and carried within her the Holy thing! God clothed Himself with flesh and quietly grew from molecular proportions within the warm womb of this frightened yet faithful young virgin, to be the baby of nine months popping His head out into the world in a stable on Christmas morning, to the young boy poising eternal questions in the temple, to the young prophet terrifying all the religious hypocrites around the roads to Jerusalem, touching the lost and the leprous, dining with the downcast and outcast, loving the lame to leaping joy, the unseeing to sight sublime and raising the dead to live again. Aged thirty three, He will lovingly release the whole world of the weight of it’s amassed and terrible sin, and place them all upon his magnificent and manly shoulders and take them to Calvary’s cross where with shredded flesh and pierced head, with holy hands and love set, love sick heart, He shall pay in full the penalty we all so deeply deserve and buy us back from the devil.

The purpose of the conception was always Calvary and Mary knew it. She shall watch Him there and Scripture shall again be fulfilled when a sword, more terrible and sharp than the sword of the wraith witch king, hot from the burning coals of hell, shall pierce her pitiful little mummy’s heart, when they take down her lovely and beloved son’s broken and bloodied body from the terrifying cross. But today it is Christmas Eve. All is bright and all is white. Tomorrow the promise, indeed all the promises from Adam onwards, all the deliberations and plans between the persons of the Holy Trinity, all that is yet to come in the eternal ages now bound up and encased in the organic safe of Mary’s marvellous little womb; shall be born! Even Mary's personal Saviour.

Yes, Mary, though a most magnificent woman, from her own lips rightly testifies that she was a sinner, in need of a Saviour. The miracle is that God took residence in her womb, took DNA and sustenance from her body and became fully human, in need of her tender care and loving direction. This virgin conception of the Christ child is no invention, no trap nor trick nor contrivance. This virgin conception is necessary, unsullied, pure, holy, and immaculate. There was no sexual intercourse with God the Father as some have taught over the centuries, else she would not have remained a virgin. No, from the text and the tenor of the Scriptures we can make a reasonable assumption that within the home, the room and the womb of Mary, nine months ago, there was an “enveloping in a haze of brilliancy”. Possibly Mary was surrounded by a shining cloud of brightness which infused her whole being and touched her with preternatural influence as God clothed Himself with flesh and to the astonishment of gaping mouthed angels, stepped through the shining protected portal of eternal proportions and contracted Himself to embryonic dependence.

The real miracle of Christmas friends, took place nine months ago! Tomorrow the safe and natural arrival of the Christ child will be celebrated when Jesus pops out his gentle head and begins His own independent journey towards His prepared destiny outside the city walls of Jerusalem, all the way to that grotesque Golgotha, that hard and horrid, place of the skull. That is what Christmas is all about dear friends. Amidst the snowy white, is the flowing red of blood that will be shed for us and the living verdant green of life, that shall be given to us.

Listen: “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” And Joseph and His mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:29-35

Pray: O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.

Dec | 23 | Warped Factor 7 Scotty, Warped factor 7!

2011-12-23T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- FOCUS

Title:- Warped Factor 7 Scotty, Warp factor 7!

Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

The context of our verse today lies in the strengthening of the Christian by Christ our Master to provide us with the ability to be abased and to be abounding in every place and in every circumstance and situation. “It's no problem” says Paul in our text for today, “I have learned how to do this.” Now I do believe the reception of this truth must first be advanced by clearly seeing three important points.

First that it is not a sign of Christ's desertion or judgement, indifference or aggression, when Paul is hungry abased and abandoned.

Secondly, and subsequently then, it was also not necesserily a sign of Christ's faithfulness and pleasure, attentiveness and gentle care, when Paul had more than enough for himself and others.

Now these first two points are fascinating for they produce imprints onto the spirit of a person like convex and concave mirrors imprint images of the self onto the mind. In other words, that which we judge when we see, may give a very false representation of what is in fact true. In other words then, don’t believe everything you see! Indeed, Paul appears to be saying here that the presence or absence of either ‘much or need’ may have direct effect on his bodily and social condition but actually, has no affect whatsoever on his position in or relationship with Christ and when we believe they do, then we are in fact staring into warped mirrors. So never judge your true stature in Jesus by your present circumstance alone! Doesn't Paul says in another place, “Mostly the Holy Spirit has bad news for me anyway so I expect it. It is my calling. None of these things move me.” Tell me, do your circumstances move you?

Thirdly now friend, think on this. Would you consider someone struggling to keep a roof over his head, on the Dole, Medicaid, Social security; someone derided by his neighbours and near kin and scourged with various illness and misfortune as someone blessed by God? Of course you wouldn't! However, we may well be wrong! Maybe our judgement according to Paul is not so much like seeing through a glass darkly but more like looking into a mirror warpedly! (I may have just invented a new word there!). Bottom line is this: we might appear to see right but we rarely judge right and if we don’t judge right then maybe we don’t see right after all?

The challenge may lay in our understanding of blessing. For example, if we want to bless someone, then usually we want to see them prosper, and that prosperity we wish upon them is for us inevitably within a material context. We at the very least want to bring them up to our level in material benefits. After all these material things are evident signs to us of God's favor. Aren't they? Well of course they are! Every tele-evangelist tells us so in glorious Technicolor, so it's got to be true. I mean look at the social fabric of our post Christian society! It may be collapsing in on itself and all around us whilst the chasm of secular humanism is opening it's jaws so wide that like some great snake it is about to swallow up the people of God whole and alive down into it's torturous and confined politically correct little belly, yet we still cry out for all the world to hear, that we are truly blessed by God and I mean, just look at all the 'stuff'' we have to prove it! Yes, the slithering is getting louder and the dead scales of the great serpent, cover our feet but we are truly blessed indeed, honest we are! Hmmm?

Evidently, we are using the wrong measuring stick. How can we be blessed, possessing so much stuff as evidence of those blessings, whilst Zion like Atlantis seems to be slipping below the waves of the secular world, forever?

How can we be blessed, sitting rich and happy at the Gates of Sodom and Gomorrah whilst the smell of unleashed sulphur lingers in the late morning air?

How can we be blessed, when we are cocooned and cosseted into spiritual immaturity, immobility and inactivity by petty little messages from post modern, post Christian pulpits?

How can we be blessed, when our eyes are on bulls and bears and stocks and shares, instead of firmly fixed upon the coming King?

It makes you think doesn't it? Let me ask you this then, if, and God forbid this happens dear friend but if you were to find yourself destitute, would your heavenly focus and your eternal investment be of such strength and consequence to you that you too could say with Paul, “none of these hardships move me.” Would you shout to your aghast and on-looking family friends and peers, “Hey listen, I said none of these hardships move me!”

It makes you think dear friends, it makes you think. Tell me today, what kind of glass are you looking into? To what factor is your vision warped dear Scotty?

Listen:- “You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:18-24.

Pray: - Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die): Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches — Feed me with the food allotted to me; Lest I be full and deny You, And say, “Who is the LORD?” Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God. Proverbs 30:7-9

Dec | 22 | How To Eat Your Enemies

2011-12-22T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- FIGHT

Title:- How To Eat Your Enemies

2 Kings 6:28,29
Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son"

Guidance is such a confusing issue for the Christian. The old search committee interview joke goes like this- the committee ask the prospective Pastor, “Do you like children?” to which he replies, “I love them, but I can never eat more than one!” Now before you slam today's little devotional shut with a loud offended bang! Look at our text again and tell me just how such a horror, can be dutifully dealt with? For that is what it is, it is sheer horror!

Robert Benigni's intriguing film, 'La Vita è bella': 'Life is Beautiful', 1997, is about an Italian Jew's use of humor to help his small child survive the Nazi death camps. This kind of use of humor in the context of overt horror is the nearest thing I have found to so terrifyingly display the grotesqueness of such a horror! Look at today's verses again. Just look at the cocktail of terror, the despicable and devilish desperation which must have been shaken together so consistently and violently, that the bubbles of personal survival took two mothers way over the brink of outrage! Lest we judge this to be simply ancient horror, or deep jungled tribal eating habits, let's remember that it was today in 1972, that 14 'civilised' survivors of a plane crash in the Argentine Andes owned up the to the fact that they had eaten human flesh to survive. The Bible is outrageously blunt. God then, is outrageously blunt. Let me then be, outrageously blunt!

Ben Hadad king of Samaria was employing a well used and effective method of war against the people of God called 'siege'. The results of such siege warfare are seen in our verse today and that is the resultant destruction of the very thin cords of civilisation that stop each of us, from devouring one another. We must therefore be very careful and also be very aware of all the manifold consequences of war before we so called civilised nations take ourselves to arms. Winston Churchill was correct when he said, to “Jaw, jaw, is always better than to war, war!” This terrible verse can be applied to us in three ways today:

First, let us be aware of the righteousness of our cause before removing our sword from its sheath in either retribution or protection. This applies to us individually as well as nationally. There is a time for war friends but let us approach it gingerly and fearfully, for its consequences are manifestly terrible. Be careful today, before you start that argument, bring up that issue and grab that particular dog by its insolent little ears. Be careful and be prepared for the consequences.

Secondly, let us be aware of the terrible propensity that still lies within the heart of the old man, the flesh, the sinful nature. It is still in darkness and it is still a monster which the removal of laws through desperate war will assuredly unleash. Let us be aware with what devilish fires we are playing with here, when so called 'civilisation' is removed from any single one of us.

Thirdly, let us labour to do good. Let us follow the example of Elisha earlier in this passage and of Christ in the gospels, when He tells us to feed, clothe and bless our enemies.

“Love our enemies!?” These are hard words in the best of circumstances and virtually impossible in the worst. Let us never the less pursue such commands to love, knowing that when such love does not propitiate the aggressor, that it is then the responsibility of right government to unsheathe its sword and go about its terrible and righteous killing work. May we always tremble at all the horrific consequences that come with such unsheathing of the sword of war.

Listen:- So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. Now Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” But he led them to Samaria. So it was, when they had come to Samaria, that Elisha said, “LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and there they were, inside Samaria! Now when the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?” But he answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” Then he prepared a great feast for them; and after they ate and drank, he sent them away and they went to their master. So the bands of Syrian raiders came no more into the land of Israel. 2 Kings 6:17-23

Pray: - Lord, teach me how to build the city of God in the middle of my enemies, with food in my pocket, good will on my lips, a trowel in my left hand and my sword in my right. O Lord for grace, truth, wisdom and strength I truly pray to You today, in Jesus name, amen.

Dec | 21 | Rhythmic Fluidity

2011-12-21T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- PEACE

Title:- Rhythmic Fluidity

Psalm 55:12
Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

Chopin’s, “Funeral March” in B flat minor, is embedded in our psyche as a sombre plodding tone that clothes our very inner self with grey and dreariness as we trudge towards the open grave. It's not the nicest piece of music to greet the day with. Thank God it wasn't the only piece of music he wrote!

Some days are like a death march though. No matter how hard you rebuke and bind the mail box in the name of Jesus, the bills keep coming in. Even if you're getting sick from eating too much humble pie, your spouse is still angry with you. You don't want to go to school, because none of the kids like you, and neither do the teachers but you're the Principal, so you've to get up and go anyway! Life and certain days seem to sometimes posses within them the B flat trudging rhythm of the death march, don’t they? And so with deep sighs and head's down, we eventually cave in to the inevitable, depressive death of ourselves! “Da Dt….D Da.. Da Da Dah D Dt… Da Dah…”

However friends, it doesn't have to be that way. Even in the most difficult of circumstances instead of marching to the rhythm of death, we can march to the sound of the rhythm of life. It can be as simple as making sure we gaze outwards to Jesus and then handle all things we are involved in with the lightest of touches. This too shall pass you see? Let the Lord take care of a few issues eh? Shall we give them over to Him?

‘Chopin, Polish composer and pianist, made his debut at the age of eight. As a performer, Chopin revolutionized the technique of pianoforte-playing, turning the hands outward and favoring a light, responsive touch. His compositions for piano, which include two concertos and other works with orchestra, are characterized by great volatility of mood, and rhythmic fluidity.’ Yes indeed, Chopin favored a Light responsive touch! Do you get it?

Today, hand some stuff over to Jesus, say to him “here you are Lord, this is killing me! Please take care of it for me.” Don’t get too serous about things even the most important of things! Have a light responsive touch. Look to Jesus, and then let go of a few things, listen to the Holy Spirit, let Him tell you when to pick it up, make that phone call, nudge that person, address that issue. Let God's rhythm of life flow through you today, adopt the lightest of touches, breathe deeply, relax and live! When we do this dear friends, when we have the lightest of touches, both today's destinations and tomorrow's departures, will all be life itself to us!

Listen:- Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21

Pray:- Lord God , let me have a lightest of touch on the silliest and most serious of things that present themselves in my life today. In Jesus name, amen.

Dec | 20 | The Greater Guidance Systems of God

2011-12-20T01:30:00.000Z

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- The Greater Guidance Systems of God

2 Kings 8:1,2
Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the LORD has called for a famine, and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years.” So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years.

Guidance is such a confusing issue for the Christian. One of the main reasons why this is so, comes from our perception of the exactness of God’s goodness in relation to His total control. Our thought process might go like this: “God is in control. He knows how many hairs are on my head, He knows where the sparrow falls. God is in control. He knows the thoughts in my heart the words in my head before they slip from my stammering lips. God knows everything, controls everything. He is my Dad and He will do good to me. He will never let anything bad happen to me and will always give me clear direction” Oh and by the way, this isn't just a good internal monologue, this is also great and correct Biblical thinking! So far so good then...

So, having come to grips with and believed God’s gracious Sovereignty toward us, why then do we oftentimes then find ourselves in ungracious, difficult and even terrifying situations?! The former reasoning on God’s loving and gracious sovereignty does not go with the latter situations I have described us often finding oursleves in and so we when we do, we become both perplexed and worried. After all, you hadn’t been sinning; you had been seeking God and His glory and yet look at this mess. What’s happening here? Is there something more we should have known about His good will toward us?

“Ah well of course,” says the theological acrobat, “you have probably stepped into God’s permissive will, rather than His perfect will for your life, and that’s always problematic. You’ve missed your way, you’ve not been listening as acutely as you should have been somewhere along your journey, no sir, so then, right now, you had better start asking for God’s perfect will to be done in your life, mate!” My stomach get's tied in knots just thinking about such a ‘helpful’ theological conversation. What to do then, what to do?

Well, look at God’s will here in our verse today. “I am sending a famine. Get out and go ANYWHERE but here.” In light of God’s Sovereignty this seems pretty poor direction doesn’t it? If God told me something like this I would say, “Lord, thanks, but shall I go to the South where the sun is shining bright and my rheumatism may find some relief? Should I go to the North where the cost of housing is cheaper? Should I go to East and have a greater witness amongst people that do not know the Lord. Should I go to the dangerous badlands of the West, where amongst the raucous mountains, sinners abound? Lord, where should I go?” Well, the answer of God towards us right here would still be: “GO ANYWHERE but here!”

Now don’t get me wrong, I do believe that God is into specific direction giving. Not all the time though and not here in our verse for today. He is certainly not saying to the Shunamite, “you are so insignificant in the big play, it does not matter where you are on the field girl, just go. ANYWHERE!” Nope, He warns only her to leave the land, and in so doing, she is exceptionally blessed and supremely loved. She matters to Him. “Get up, get out and go ANYWHERE but here.” says God. "I'm gonna leave the 'where' to you and our wisdom, you and your desire, you and your own possibilities." Can you see that?

Let us relax a little more in the three greater truths of direction finding:

Greater truth No1: It doesn’t matter where you live but it matters HOW you live, where you live.
Greater truth No2: You can only serve God, where you are right now.
Greater truth No3: Your influence is greater when you live abundantly in your time frame. Don’t wait for your space frame to be more pleasing to you. How we live in time is of more eternal consequence than where we live in space. 'Now,' is much more important than 'where.'

Friend, if you are fretting today about the coming New year and about your geographical locale within it, then maybe some prayerful consideration of this trinity of truth will help focus you a little more. Of course like all great trinities, they are in fact, all one and the same truth. Here it is:-How and now, is always greater than where and when. This should be our priceless and well practiced phonetic.

Listen:- We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:1-2

Pray: - Lord, don’t let me grow old waiting to be in the right place to serve You, to be Your salt and to be Your light. Rather, help me today to live in the now and in the how, trusting You, O wise and loving Father to take care of all my where’s and of all my when’s. Amen.

Dec | 19 | Of Dogma and Dynamite

2011-12-19T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- CLEAN

Title:- Of Dogma and Dynamite

Jeremiah 8:22
Is there no balm in Gilead, Is there no physician there?

It has been my observation that with the fall of the established churches, ‘spirituality’ has increased and with the fall of the Curate, there has come the rise of the meta physician. When I talk of ‘spirituality’ I am not assigning good or bad to the definition but simply recognizing that people at the beginning of the 21st century are very aware of both the spiritual side of their nature and the spiritual world and are comfortable to explore both of these arenas. In addition to this, when I talk of the ‘Curate’ I am of course referring to a very old but wonderful name for any Pastor or Clergyman. It now seems too long ago that Pastors were known as ‘curers of souls’. Their work then was essentially metaphysical, dealing with the unseen spirit of a man as it inhabited the unseen spiritual world. Pastors today, especially in our larger churches are more likely to be corporate managers, business executives, purveyors of purposes, principles, and mission statements, being more au fait with bank statements and collection campaigns than the Word of God and the blessed Holy Spirit. So the ancient curate of old, the meta physician of times past in the Christian church and the true Pastors of ages gone by are all in this respect, mostly extinct. So as spirituality rises, a vacuum has been left by the church and it is being filled!

Most general car mechanics are ‘pan manufacturer.’ In other words they recognise a combustion engine, whether it sits in a Ford or a Chevy, a Honda or a Toyota, it doesn’t matter, it’s a combustion engine! In the same way, most meta-physicians today are ‘pan spiritual.’ Spirituality is spirituality; truth is truth, whether it resides with Buddhism or Baptists. However 'spirituality' is deemed by today’s meta physicians to be mostly likely found in Buddhism! These meta physicians have vast followings. The reason is simple, and let’s not use 'the blindness of demonization' card just yet. The reason they are on the rise is because they have such a good measure of success! They are able to come up with the goods they have promised. Their methods seemingly work, for to some extent they can cure souls and relieve spirits of many hindrances, which in turn has led to peace, sometimes physical healing and definitely a greater awareness of self, personal gifting and the 'divine'. These are the facts presented to us by multitudes of personal testimony. They are not all lying and they are not all deceived. So, just what is happening here? Why such success?

Three things and I believe three answers:

First there has been a misuse of language and subsequent loss of linguistics. Theological terms have been replaced with more acceptable ones. To the ‘Pan-whateverists’ it doesn’t matter what we call 'it' after all? So:
‘sin’ has become, ‘baggage’ or ‘hindrance’;
it’s ‘deathly killing power’ has been called ‘toxicity’;
‘repentance’ is simply ‘letting go’;
‘walking in the Spirit’ is called ‘positive living;’
‘peace’ is just ‘being centered’; ‘
God’ is ‘the greater good’ the ‘ultimate intention,’ the source of all ‘positive power’.

Language then has become pan dimensional, pan denominational, pan theistic. This is much more acceptable to pan spiritual post modern man for the edges of the absolutes have been truly blurred indeed. The warping and blurring of Christian theological terms has made Hollywood Buddhism very attractive.

Secondly, ‘self realization’ has become the forefront of all metaphysical endeavor. “For”, as they will tell you, “how can we know God if we do not know ourselves?” After all, the divine will only speak to our true selves. So it is imperative to walk in the newness and trueness of who we really are. We need to focus on our selves for people are lost not only in theological terms but also lost in cyberspace, lost in an overwhelming technological tsunami, lost in financial slavery, lost in family fragmentation. In many, many ways, people have lost themselves! The quest to reclaim who they are and the dignity that goes with that, is in and of itself, very attractive. Who wouldn’t want to truly find themselves? The searching for and the embracing of one's true self, is seen is now a great journey which is most worthy of pursuance.

Thirdly, true wholeness, that is, the defragmentation of the individual, can only be achieved by going on this journey of self realization. It is only then that we can know the divine, that is, when we are authentic, that is, when we are whole! After all, people still have eternity in their hearts, still have a God shaped hole within them that needs filling. This journey then of a self realization that in the end may find God, is also remarkably attractive. However, the message that we will find Christ when we find our true selves is one that needs much further examination. Still, the defragmentation of the personal self which pushes us towards personal wholeness is an attractive prospect for many.

What should the response of the church be to these three reasons for the 'success' of post modern pan-spirituality? What should your response dear friend?

Well first of all, we need to corporately repent. We have failed to come up with ‘the goods’ for both ourselves and other people. We have failed in our pastoral training by churning out politicians, managers and corporate executives from our seminaries rather than Doctors of the spirit! There has been for many years, no balm in Gilead. The church has shamed itself and failed humanity in not coming up with good doctors.

Second, we need to reclaim our linguistic ability, for when we find our voice, our words will have power. Remember, truth is only truth, when it is found in context. That context is the meta-narrative of the revelation of God’s Holy Word, the Bible. We must know and use The Word, like we have never known it or used it before. Dogma alone though will not do, no, our doctrine must be linked again to the dynamite of the Holy Spirit.

Lastly and individually, we need to repent of our own lack of power; our own petty walk of religion that is often times seen in our seemingly magnificent outwardness but most truly manifest in our secret our most pathetic inwardness.

Today then, let us covenant to begin our real journey, our deep sanctification with Jesus. Let such repentance and heavenly resolve, so renew our inheritance and so reclaim our power, that our position, presence and prominence in the spiritual world, would be as it should be! May God so help us in this. Amen.

Listen:- ….if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14-15

Pray: - Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise. Jeremiah 17:14

Dec | 18 | Staying out of the Currents of The Ship Swallower

2011-12-18T01:30:00.004Z

Key Word:- DISCOVER

Title:- Staying out of the Currents of The Ship Swallower

1 Timothy 1:18,19
This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck…

In 11th Century England, the Earl of Godwin was the most powerful Anglo-Saxon then around. A large landowner in the South East of the country, he also was responsible for a strip of land, a small low lying island called Lomea, just a few miles off the coastal town of Deal. It is reported that either his mismanagement of funds designated for the upkeep of the sea wall on Lomea, or direct judgment from God against his disloyal and deceitful actions regarding the king, led to the disappearance of Lomea in such a fantastic storm, that like Atlantis, it sunk below the waves.

The name ‘Godwin’ may be mean ‘God’s friend’ but history paints this infamous Englishman in a very different light. Like most of his contemporaries at the time, his life and legacy was full of intrigue and deadly political maneuvering. However, the sinking of his island of Lomea into the English Channel has left an even more deadly mark for mariners over the centuries, in the form of the infamous ‘Goodwin Sands’.

Having lived for some months in the coastal towns of Deal and Walmer I remember walking along the coastline of the English Channel and gazing out onto the distant breakers running up and into these same sands at low tide. In the summer, it is possible to land your boat there and walk across the hardened, rippled surface and play cricket and even soccer on what must be the most unique playground in the middle of the English Channel!

Twelve miles long and five miles across at their widest point, the shape of The Goodwin Sands changes so constantly, that charting them with accuracy is impossible. A combination of bad weather and the pull of strong currents in the area, turn these quiet and quaint sandy playing fields into moving and monstrous magnets and so to thousands of ships and some estimated 50,000 dead over the years, the sands are anything but playful! Yes, I said 50,000! These sands are dreadful and deceitful; a sucking graveyard of an open mouthed and ever hungry, accursed ship swallowing monster!

Now friends let’s learn some lessons from the Goodwin Sands. Goodwin may be Anglo-Saxon for God’s friend, but today you must:

First know that not everyone who claims to be a friend of God, is a friend of God. Not everyone who claims to be a Christian is a Christian. Satan has planted tares amongst the wheat; has sent wolves amongst the sheep. Be careful now and watch for fruit. Especially if these ‘nice’ Christians are more concerned with dollars for Jesus than dying for Jesus! You know what I mean, don’t follow them, don’t be so gullible for in the end, their heritage to others will be nothing but cursing, death and destruction. Watch them now. Watch them.

Secondly, know that our enemy, though sometimes so clearly seen, can shift his shape and disappear below the waves. He is movable, monstrous and magnetic. The strong tides of this world will always lead you upon his gaping and growling mouth. Keep clear then, of this world's currents, for no matter how tall the guarding buoy of faith, or how loud the ringing bell of a good conscience, when a storm comes down, he shall shift his shape and the currents he has instigated, shall pull you onto himself. Note the markers of faith, and the sounds of good conscience, but most of all, most of all, keep out of the currents if you can. Keep out of this worlds currents. Keep out of his currents!

Thirdly, and most importantly, the best form of defense for the Christian is attack. There is something positive we can do. Paul, says “WAGE A GOOD WARFARE.” To Timothy he instructs him to make use of the ‘prophetic words’ granted to him regarding his calling, his purpose, his destiny and his person. Paul seems to be saying here, “Remember who you are; who you have been proclaimed to be in Jesus! Remember who you are in Jesus and what He has commissioned you to do! Remember who you are, what you are to do and the promises and power He has equipped you with to fulfil His will! Believe it and like that Popeye, that strong sailor of old, so when the enemy comes in like a flood, you might reach into your heart and pull out a large can of 'whoopass' spinach and pour it down your pipe of power. Get bulked up, pumped up and then by those words from Him who is both faithful and true, from the eternal Amen, FIGHT REAL GOOD IN THE LORD’S BATTLES.

Friend, who are you? What are you? What has He commanded you to do? Where are you in the line? What have you been given? What do you still need to be able to wage a good warfare? Do you know? For Gods sake, for the sake of His Kingdom, isn’t it about time these questions were answered in your own heart? Get on your knees and ask for revelation. Find people who have power with the Father and who can speak to you concerning His destiny, commission and calling for your life; get them to speak these things into and over your life, for you shall not wage a good warfare without these heaven sent revelations. You shall not!

So find out today what they are, for the swirling sands of the enemies of God, the ship swollower’s of old, are waiting open mouthed, for his deadly currents to drag such passive Christians as yourself, upon his sinking and shape shifting sands.

Listen:- Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12

Pray: - Lord. What do You have to say to me concerning these things? “Speak, LORD, for now Your servant is listening.” In Jesus name I pray, amen

Dec | 17 | Ghastly Ghosts & Great Ideas

2011-12-17T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- REDEEM

Title:- Ghastly Ghosts & Great Ideas

Luke 7:22-23
“Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

“I have endeavored in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humor with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it. Their faithful Friend and Servant, C.D.” So goes the preface of ‘A Christmas Carol’ written by Charles Dickens and first published today in 1843.

I visited Broadstairs, the summer home of Dickens, a few years ago now, with a view to pastoring a church in the area. Broadstairs was still resplendent with Dickens memorabilia and the evidence of overcoming poverty via legal and illegal methods, I am talking about smuggling of course, which still hung in the damp seaside, seagull filled air.

Dicken’s childhood experience of living in a debtor’s prison had made him into a champion against child poverty and illiteracy; indeed he was an avid supporter of the ‘Ragged School’ movement. I remember that some time around Christmas in 1981, I had preached at a small gathering of Christians who met in an old ‘Ragged School’ building in a place called Chesterfield. The building was a left over of the benevolent side of Victorian’s society’s attempt to educate poor children. You must remember, that at the time of the writing of ‘A Christmas Carol,’ it is estimated that half of all funerals held in the city of London were of children under the age of 10. Imagine that. Fortunately for us now at Christmas time, with Ghosts and a good idea, Dickens has brought poverty, greed, and the need for redemption to the forefront of generation after generation.

Wrangling with his publishers over pricing, Dickens eventually published the book himself. The binding was expensive and the profit margin was to him, negligible; however, the profit this ‘Ghostly idea’ brought to society is beyond reckoning. Contemporary author William Makepeace Thackery comments “Was there ever a better charity sermon preached in the world than Dickens’s Christmas Carol? I believe it occasioned immense hospitality throughout England; was the means of lighting up hundreds of kind fires at Christmas time; caused a wonderful outpouring of Christmas good feeling, of Christmas punch-brewing; an awful slaughter of Christmas turkeys, and roasting and basting of Christmas beef.”

Tell me today friend, who hasn’t heard of poor Tiny Tim or Bob Cratchet and the despicable Ebenezer Scrooge? Dickens did a great job in turning the misery of Christmas time into joy and today, as we are surrounded by glitzy lights, whilst running headlong into increasing debt and being constantly chased by hounding consumerism, all day and all night, let us ask ourselves what we need to do to redeem Christmas once more, this time not from poverty, but this time from gross consumerism? For surely Christmas needs redeeming once more?

I think that holidays, holy days, are never happy without Christ. They never can be. So may I say to you dear friend as we approach the festivities of this joyous season and the glorious remembrance of the arrival of the Christ child, “Merry Christmas to you and may God bless us, everyone!” Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season and so it must mean more to us than a plastic singing Billy Bass fish from Wal Mart!

Listen:- (from the mouth of the redeemed, Ebenezer Scrooge of ‘A Christmas Carol’) “It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself.” “He (Tiny Tim) told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant for them to remember, upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk and blind men see” .

Pray: - Lord, let generosity of spirit and the freedom of being Your child, be gifts to myself, my family, my friends, and all people that I touch this coming and most glorious Christmas time. Amen.

Dec | 16 | Diems, Deums & Dumb De Dumbs!

2011-12-16T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- REAL

Title:- Diems, Deums & Dumb De Dumbs!

Genesis 32:24-26
Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”.

I wonder if there are three types of people in the world today. Dumb de Dumbs, Diems and Deums.

A Dumb De Dumb could be a passive perambulator along the bright boulevard of life. Masses of money or lazy indifference or even mental illness (for believe me, each of these three types, positions or conditions can manifest the same symptoms of madness!) has led these ‘Dumb de Dumb’ people to simply disconnect from their eternal purpose and in-depth relationship with God and move to some kind of isolated observation platform, from which they simply lift their chin into the air and glance nonchalantly around, being so satisfied with their lot that they softly sing to themselves, “Dumb de dumb de dumb.... dumb de dumb de dumb.” Life holds little fear for these futile folk, because they are already the quasi dead, refusing long ago to grapple with the yawing eternity that lies within them and the mess, heaped up like old garbage, that lies outside of them. With money, indifference or mental illness, life may not be satisfying, but it is somehow, bearable and has become even acceptable. “Dumb de dumb de dumb.... dumb de dumb de dumb.”

The Diems of life are far, far different. They are the mover and shakers, the artist and decision makers. They are, at the very least, making the most of whatever their hands find to do, they are going for it! At least the ‘it’ they think they should be going for. They are sucking on the dappled green rind of the red and rich dripping water melon of life baby! They are great to be with, they are on a journey, they are connecting with life, they are engaging with purpose, far ranging in relationship, and they are seizing the day for all it’s worth, they are the ‘Carpe Diems: Seizing The Day!’ Yet at the end of the each long day, even with all this passion, they remain, uncomfortably restless. The doubting Diems always wonder if it’s all really worth it?

I woke up today with a vague remembrance of during the night, dreaming or thinking on that rascal called Jacob. He would no doubt have gotten his ‘Jewish Sandwich Soul Food’ from Wolfie Cohen’s Rascal House in Miami Beach, after a long night tending sheep along the broad beach up past the little city of Aventura. At an early age he moved from ‘Dumb de dumb’ status to being a ‘Carpe Diem’ and for many, many years, lived on the exciting roller coaster that such a lifestyle brought. He seized anything, he seized anyone and seized everything. Especially if it wasn’t his! However, this often repugnant, passionate and pugnacious individual was also in the end, still ravenously restless.

In all Jacob’s long life there is but one incident that makes him frighteningly special to me. Frightening in that he fought with God and nearly won! Special in that God, with the softest touch, graciously disabled him so that all Jacob could do was hang on to his aggressor for dear life. You see, the thing that makes Jacob so different and so blessed, is not that after this epic title fight with God, all his skies were clear, no, ‘au contraire’ dear friend ‘au contraire!’ Nope, the so amazingly special thing is that Jacob the rascal seized God and would not let Him go until he received a blessedness that he would be satisfied with! O for the fellowship of such desperate men.

I say to you today dear friend, the only way we Christians should live out our lives is to seize God, capture Him in our arms and demand a blessing! Those of you who are offended by this; those of you who think this kind of impolite and disrespectful talking, to a great and Sovereign Creator even, have a God, I imagine, who is to you, a God who is ‘afar off’. I would venture to say that all you might have is an idea of God, a beloved one maybe, yet never the less just an idea of who God is. Maybe God would grant you at some point the growing gift of desperation, together with, on some dark night of your blessed and desperate soul, the opportunity to be let loose to fight with the Lion Himself. I hope so, because until then, we all are a mocking caricature of what we should be and not even a pale shadow of what we might be. It’s only a little change of a letter to go from a Carpe Diem to a Carpe DEUM but I tell you, your life will never be the same again should you change that very little letter! Call Him out! Call Him in! Go on! Get to grips with God, go fight with Him. Go on friend, CARPE DEUM. SEIZE GOD AND LIVE!

Listen:- .. But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, Deuteronomy 4:28-31

Pray: - Lord, I don’t want to arrive in heaven without any scars; I don’t want to have never been in a fight with You and lost. So Lord I call You out today and challenge You to fight with me that You would beat me into blessedness. I dare you God! Do you dare too? Amen.

Dec | 15 | Exploding Toes & Dancing Expletives

2011-12-15T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- CONSIDER

Title:- Exploding Toes & Dancing Expletives

Psalm 91:10-12
No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

An enduring image from my childhood is that of my dancing and cursing father. The most dangerous place in our house was the hearth; a raised bricked enamel tiled area, surrounding the ever roaring fire. Its oblong shape always presented toe sharp corners to any traveler making their way across the carpet. Often wearing only his old socks after a long days work, my father would rise from his chair and step towards the door leading to the kitchen. That angular precipice would often then embed itself into his tired little toes. Then the wild dancing fun would begin with all the accompanying fireworks of many exploding expletives that I had not heard before! For the onlooker there is something hilarious about seeing a person stub his toe but for the practitioner there is both pain and embarrassment.

I don’t know but there is something interesting about toe stubbing isn’t there? It speaks somewhat of a lack of spatial awareness: “why didn’t they see that coming?”: It speaks of some stupidity: “why weren’t they wearing shoes?!” And lastly and most intriguingly, it shows us what fireworks are piled up like dry tinder on the inside of a seemingly settled person. The stubbing of the toe seems to release a lot of pent up fury that can be stored up within an individual, that’s right, watch it, it’s not just the pain and the accompanying embarrassment that bursts out of impacted little piggies, but residual anger, even pent up fury, that hitches a ride upon the exploding toes and the dancing expletives.

I suppose it’s true that any disproportionate response to stimuli of any kind needs investigating, needs examining, needs contemplating, for friend, how many times have you sat down after a surprise storm caused eruptions in your heart and venting through your vocal chords and you shook your head and said, “my goodness where on earth did that come from?”

Our text today is concerned with the practices and protections of ‘He that dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.’ The tempting of Jesus by the devil in the New Testament (see Matt 4:6, Luke 4:10) is clearly indicative that this particular passage has direct application to Jesus Himself. However, we followers of Jesus are those who also seek to dwell in the shadow of the Almighty, making Him our refuge and ever present abiding place. In this respect then, the whole of Psalm 91, especially the toe stubbing part, can also be taken to ourselves. So much so, that we can say that those magnificent creatures, those morning stars of God are also concerned about the protection of our feet! This is not a joke; this is not a little thing. Gross embarrassments, the dropping of those precious things we carry, injury to the rest of the body, danger and deadly disease, can all result from a good stub of our toe and so, the very angels of God Almighty are there to assist us in this not happening! Think about that, and do you know that this pedialogical duty is not a punishment for angels either but it is for them the highest of callings, for it seems that Jesus Himself is very concerned about our feet and our toes.

Let me ask you just two questions today then.

First, have you ‘stubbed your toe’ recently? Why? Have you removed yourself from abiding in Jesus, have you removed yourself from the shadow of the Almighty? Have you maybe even exasperated a few angels with your wayward walking? Why have you stubbed your toe dear friend?

Second, when you did this, what came out of your heart when the pain came into your being? What leapt on the rising expletives from your heart through your mouth and exposed themselves to the light?

If you’ve stubbed your toe today, then the brokenness on the outside and then the revealed brokenness on the inside both need taken to Jesus, in whose tender hands your feet shall be lovingly washed and cared for and your heart expertly dealt with and massaged into strength and wholeness once more. Today then be sure to take your stubbed little toes and your broken feet to the hands of Jesus where your way will be restored in Him.

Listen:- “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16

Pray: - Jesus, from the extremities of my being to the centre of my soul, heal me Lord O heal me, heal me and make me whole, in Your great name I ask it. Amen.

Dec | 14 | Meowing Over the Message in Mr Potter’s Mad House

2011-12-14T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- CONSIDER

Title:- Meowing Over the Message in Mr Potter’s Mad House

Job 41:12
“I will not fail to speak of his limbs, his strength and his graceful form.”

I remember visiting one happily delirious man in our local hospital, who was overcome with which psychiatrists refer to as ‘religious mania.’ Though very ill, he was ecstatic, seeing God in and through everything, imaging himself being able to be bodily connected to the internet and to God. British poet, Christopher Smart was afflicted with the same illness and confined for many years during the 1750’s in various institutions, ending up finally in 1763, in “Mr. Potters Mad House” in Bethnal Green London. Yes it was really called that!

Smart is a sad poetic character, eventually dying in debt in 1771; yet in his mania he saw himself as “the Lord's News-Writer or the Scribe-Evangelist” faithfully spreading the Word. One work he is particularly known for is his distinctive poem seemingly paying homage to his cat, Jeffrey. Taken from surviving fragments of his poem 'Jubilate Agno', (behold the lamb), which was written during his confinement, his cat Jeffrey does in fact say more about God in ways that many preachers could never even dream of! Here’s a wee portion:

“For the English Cats are the best in Europe.
For he is the cleanest in the use of his forepaws of any quadruped.
For the dexterity of his defence is an instance of the love of God to him exceedingly.
For he is the quickest to his mark of any creature.
For he is tenacious of his point.
For he is a mixture of gravity and waggery.
For he knows that God is his Saviour.
For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest.
For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion.”

I wonder if sometimes it takes a bout of madness for us to achieve a degree of seeing sanity and so to perfectly visualize what is often the visibly unseen, which before the onset of the malady, we neither truly knew nor ever truly really contemplated? ‘Smart’s’ continuing mad message to us today is maybe prophetic in it’s forceful repeat of the considerations of the Trinity, for the Father Himself in the book of Job says, “look at Leviathan consider his frame, know and learn;” and the Son in the New Testament calls us to “consider the lilies of the field and all the little sparrows; know and learn;” and the blessed Paraclete, God the Holy Spirit throughout the Scriptures and even today says “Look! What do you see? Listen what do you hear, smell, learn, know.”

May I make a suggestion today and ask you to indulge in a little religious mania with me and consider that portion of the Kingdom of God we refer to as the animal kingdom and in so doing, humbly receive the witness of God’s Word still clothed for us today in both skin and scales.

If you then find that God speaks to you more through your cat than He does your preacher, then maybe it’s time for you to either get on your knees to pray more for your 'word deliverer, 'or get on a bus and go listen elsewhere!'

Finally though, maybe you should ask for the gift of prophecy and to become what the ancients used to call a seer. Maybe Smart in all his madness saw more than many of saner folk will ever do?

Listen:- Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see a branch of an almond tree." Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word." Jeremiah 1:11-12

Pray: -

Put your Spirit on me
And commune with me in dreams of night.
Put your Spirit on me
And speak with me in visions of the day, so bright.

Put your Spirit on me
That I might complete and win this race
O speak clearly, not in riddles
O LORD, let me see Your face.

Put your Spirit on me
That I would foresee the flight of Quail
And live in peaceful surety
That your good Word and works won’t fail.

Oh! Put your Spirit on me
That I might expect a sea of fish!
That all your people would be prophets
And so fulfil your servant's wish.

Oh! Rise up O LORD!
O LORD our GOD,
May your enemies all be scattered.
May all who stand before Your move
Be well and truly battered.

Rise up O LORD!
O LORD our God,
May Your foes all flee before You,
O king of old
Be our king still
For this LORD
We implore You.

Dec | 13 | Silent & Salient Speaking

2011-12-13T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- Silent & Salient Speaking

Mark 4:34
But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.

In 1938, with the help of Tolkien, C.S. Lewes had secured ‘Bodley Head’ to publish and release his book ‘Out of the silent Planet.’ An ‘outer space’ adventure story, like new cut stone it was mostly marbled with metaphysics rather than the then more familiar, Newtonian one! Despite it’s obvious metaphysical overtones with the Christian metanarrative, Lewes was aghast that only two out of the sixty reviewers spotted that his character, ‘The Bent One,’ was in fact a representation of the devil. Addressing this conundrum, he remarked that “It’s quite obvious any amount of theology can be smuggled into people’s minds under the cover of an adventure story without them knowing it.” Have you got that?!

Currently, it is the general consensus of opinion that post-modern man rejects the Christian meta-narrative. In other words, post modern man hates the bigger picture of Christianities ‘real absolutes.’ In other words, post moderns cannot abide a story, a framework with an absolute reference point, a certain guide, a definite and divine mandate, the ‘real thing’, that challenges their experience and stands in direct opposition to the life style they have chosen to live. Well there’s nothing new there then for sinful man has always 'kicked against the pricks!'

In light of such a post modern ardent dismissive of the Christian message, Christian apologetics should unsheathe its shiny and sharp guilt edged sword and the clang of wielded metal and the clash of arms should be heard around the land, more louder than ever before in history. But it isn’t is it? Why is that?

Well, I believe it is because most post moderns won’t even fight! For relativism and pan spirituality simply leads post modern man to look at the apologetic sword and say “so what! As long as by law and legislation,” have you got that? “So what! As long as by law and legislation, you don’t affect me, then you can live in your own limited law infested fearful little ghetto and I shall live in the vast expanse of mine.” Ah, there we have it: law and legislation. Christianity and its intrusion into politics.

Make no mistake about it, politics is going to be the hot place in the present battle. So I have two calls today and this is the first one .

Christians must get involved in politics! In grace and in love, in truth and in the real absolute of the Christian world view, the story of God must be shared with a forgetting and rejecting nation. We need to send more people into politics as a legitimate field of mission, where the prophetic projecting of the notable mandates of God are clearly, lovingly and powerfully set forth for all to see. This is salient speaking. This is needed today!

My second cry is to artists. All purveyors of communication in its many forms. Here is where the real absolute, the meta narrative of God Almighty, can be spoken with great legitimacy and at all times. Post moderns, pan spiritualists, relativists, are on the whole, currently, for now that is, accepting of art. Art is a level playing field where words are received and examined. It is an open forum for flashing fragments of the Divine story. Lewes was right when he said, “It’s quite obvious any amount of theology can be smuggled into people’s minds under the cover of an adventure story without them knowing it.” This is silent speaking and this is needed today.

Maybe friends, in the coming hot political climate, these silent words of the artist will remain inextinguishable messages to a mad and miserable ‘post modern man?’

Listen:- Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. Psalm 78:1-4

Pray: - O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. (Psalm 51:15 )

Dec | 12 | Blue Collar Glory

2011-12-12T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- STRENGTH

Title:- Blue Collar Glory

Isaiah 40:3
“Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth;”

The smiling face of the Christian Orthodontist beamed out of the advertisement he had placed in the local press. All of his ‘family friendly’ services were neatly placed under a section of our verse for today: “…the crooked places shall be made straight.” Very droll.
Seinfeld has already pointed out the dangers of being ‘anti-dentite’ and certainly that is not what I want to appear but maybe, that was an advert too far. “Maybe,” I say, smiling, remembering the grinding drill on my collapsing molars and the heavy low frequency throb from a torturous cold and burning bit that still haunts me in my dental nightmares. Imagine all that work without anaesthetic. No friends, I am certainly not anti-dentite and I am so thankful that they make the crooked places straight. In this way in particular, dentists are GOD LIKE!

Jacob the man, is firmly rooted in the meaning of this Hebrew word that we have here translated in out text today as 'crooked.' The crooked Jacob of the Bible is in his pre-wrestling life, presented to us as a deceitful, sly and very slippery customer. Jacob was so crooked to the core that if had swallowed a nail he would have spit out a screw! Yet he wasn’t abandoned, no sir, rather he was chosen and it was God Himself who orchestrated Jacob’s graduation ceremony from Straight School at the Jabbok crossing and then sent him away with a limping leg as an eternal reminder that it was only when Jacob was without the power of his crookedness that he could hang on for dear life and simply ask to be blessed by his dark night conqueror, the Eternal Wrestling Federation champion Himself, Jesus Christ the Lord! It could be said that after this hand to hand encounter with God Almighty, Jacob the twister, limped a little straighter on his way. (Genesis 32:22-32)

Nowadays, we have so sanitized Christianity that the thought of Jesus getting up off His throne and grappling with a few hairy sinners is most distasteful. Yes indeed, we can handle the clothing of God appearing as a cute and cooing little brown baby, but imaging Him as a sweaty old wrestler, well that’s a picture too far! Yet thank God, Jesus is a sweaty old wrestler. God has not changed and in making crooked places straight, Jesus is still in the business of crippling the central core of our personal power base, you know, that ‘old man’ driving force that powers us and sends us on our winding and slithering way. Yes indeed, it's quite a battle when God truly gets to grips with us. He knows it and so He always comes to His sanctifying work in us with His sleeves rolled up and His mighty arms ready for action. Yes He does! For, if you think that most of us will allow that breaking of our old man power base to happen without a fight, then may I suggest that you need to become an even greater student of the workings of God in men. Jesus is in the construction business you see.

The workings of God in men and families are very similar to the major road constructions we see around our lands. It’s mostly done at night, by ‘secret’ workers, lighting up the darkness with noisy machines, ripping up our settled way with jumping jack hammers which will in the morning, inevitably cause gross inconvenience, traffic jams, and fill our nostrils with the pungent smells of hot tar and diesel fumes, which then aggravates even further the drumming fingers of our gross impatience that sits below the large red and white signs in our spirit proclaiming: 'GOD AT WORK…BE PATIENT!'

As we think about the baby Jesus this Christmas time, think on a little farther, think on a little deeper, for our Jesus is a wrestler and a road construction worker, a ripper up of crooked concrete, a re-setter of winding ways and broken thighs, a smoother if you will of rough and ragged roads.

Jesus you see, is very blue collar and in the un-sanitized non-religious world, the real world that is, Jesus wears a construction helmet and wanders around picking fights with rascals, poking them in their ears and spitting in their eyes, touching hearts and shrinking their thighs. So this Christmas time dear friend, if everything is a mess on your road at the moment and you feel weak at the knees, take great heart and simply hang on to Jesus and ask for His blessing for I tell you friend, Glory is a coming this Christmas time and it’s blue collar Glory prepared in heaven for you!

Listen:- The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” Isaiah 40:5

Pray: - Lord, help me to take a new grip with my tired hands and stand firm on my shaky legs and mark out a straight smooth path for my feet so that those who follow me, though weak and lame, will not fall and hurt themselves but become strong in You! In Jesus name I pray. (from Hebrews 12:12-13 TLB)

Dec | 11 | The Reluctant Dragon

2011-12-11T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- REPENT

Title:- The Reluctant Dragon

Isaiah 30:7
For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore I have called her Rahab-Hem-Shebeth. …...

Certainly in England, my country of origin, we have some most unusual names. I lived down the road for example from 'Pease Pottage', which literally means 'Pea Soup or Broth.' A number of local tales explain why it might be called this, but no one really knows. Most of the other unusual English names are rooted in Anglo Saxon usage and so just might sound a little silly today. America however, is unsurpassable for amusing nomenclature. How about these for a few: The Proctologist called ‘Dr Butt’, the Dentist Called ‘Dr Payne’, the town in Florida called, ‘Two Egg!’ Or how about these other names: ‘Dudley Boobus,’ ‘Bertha Clapsaddle’ and of course ‘Shanda Lear!’ Yes indeed, these are funny but I want you to know that names in the Scriptures as well as encapsulating promises are also prophetic and instructive. Yes, names encapsulating promises like: “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.” (Genesis 17:5-6) Names encapsulating the prophetic like: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) Both these names are instructive like today's verse. Here's the scene: Israel is in a mess and again, like a silly dove, is flitting to and fro to her human allies for solace and support and today, it is Egypt that appears to be Israel’s source of protection. Egypt the strong, Egypt the mighty, Egypt the powerful!

God comes to that same flitting dove of Israel and says, “you lot are rebellious kids, just heaping up sin after sin. Yes, you're taking counsel alright but not from Me! You've not asked my advice, Oh no! You're happier sitting in the seemingly strong shadow of Egypt, strengthening yourself in that over confident, pompous prig of a Pharaoh; the same type of nation and geezer that tried to annihilate you! Have you forgotten that I delivered you from such people? It's just not on,” says the Lord, “I'm gonna see to it that they let you down, so listen up. I am now calling Egypt, 'Rahab-Hem-Shebeth'. There, stick that in yer pipe and smoke it. Write it down and DON'T forget it 'Rahab-Hem-Shebeth!!”

The actual meaning of this name is 'Rahab who sits still', or 'the strong one who sits still,' or as the Living Bible so wonderfully translates it, 'THE RELUCTANT DRAGON.'

Now listen friends and listen closely. For we redeemed people are strange birds, whose natural homing device will always take us back to those crowds, peeps, lights, actions, habits, devices and ways, which though they were part of the whole package of our former enslavement, never the less, gave us some kind of belonging, some kind of familiarity and some kind of comfort. Yes, sometimes the chains of Egypt stretch a long way through space and time don't they friends?

God says "NO! Don't go back, don't rely on past experiences, and don't think your continued redemption, protection and provision lies in some proud peacock." I tell you, God may be angry at us for this regression but it is because He is jealous. He is a jealous God! He has loved us with an everlasting love and shall not share us with another. “Want to try it?” says the Lord. “Want to trust in deceiving dragons and proud peacocks? They shall fail you. I shall see to it that they do!”

So today, dear fleeing friend, maybe on your way back to Egypt, let me ask you, “Why are you going back to vain and purposeless lifestyles? Why are you going back to bondage and death?” Maybe, if I were to give you just 1000 lines of instructive discipline for you to write down, it just might open your eyes and turn you back to the land of promise. Are you ready?”

“Rahab-Hem-Shebeth. I am trusting in reluctant dragons!”
“Rahab-Hem-Shebeth. I am trusting in reluctant dragons!”
“Rahab-Hem-Shebeth. I am trusting in reluctant dragons!”

Listen:- “Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. Joel 2:12-13

Pray: - Jesus! Help me please. I am sorry for being like a dog going back to its vomit, a pig going back to its pen. I am so sorry. Now Father, let Your homing beacon come alive in me and turn my heart, my mind and my steps back home, home to Thee, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

Dec | 10 | Leading Hands

2011-12-10T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- CLEAN

Title:- Leading Hands

Psalm 24:3,4a
Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands…...

A clean handed person according to our text, may begin to ascend the hill of the Lord; that is, may approach the precious and powerful presence of the living and loving, gloriously effulgent Almighty God! Ah, clean hands. Have you got them today?

When examine my hands I see evidence of previous involvements, articles of participation if you will, writings of recent history. The calloused palms of hard labor, the nibbled nails of present anxiety, and the deformed finger protruding from the damaged knuckle, all say something. Hands tell stories you know? Take just a few minutes of quiet to examine your hands. What stories do they tell? Ah, clean hands. Have you got them today?

Hands spread disease, germs cling to them, especially in the cracks and creases of the bending joints and the tips of touching fingers, that have been in our ears, or up our nose, or on our clothes, taps and toilets, terriers and toys, you know what I mean, after all, the tips of our little feeling fingers have touched and awful lot of stuff, haven’t they! Hands communicate with the world and all things in it. Hands spread disease. Place your hands under the ultra violet light of your careful conscience. What dis-ease have you spread with your hands? Ah, clean hands. Have you got them today?

I am supposing that Jesus never bit His nails. I am supposing that He never got a splinter from working in His carpenters shop, never hit His thumb with a mallet, never shouted or uttered any expletive whilst sucking air through His gritted teeth and dancing around on one foot shaking the retreating blood back into the damaged ends of battered fingers. I am assuming that Jesus had no rope burns from fishing, no net gnarls, cuts, or scars; No grains of gravel still under the skin from falls as a rushing child pushed over in the Galilean dirt. I am assuming that no germ could survive a moment on those powerful little pinkies, those tender tendons. I am assuming that He never had to wax His ears or pick His nose, but then again dear friends, who knows, who knows? But we do like a disintected Jesus don't we? You know, all pristine and clean in the colouring books of all the little children. What do you think though? Yes, let me ask of you this question? Were the hands of Jesus always clean?

If we could take the hands of Jesus and just hold them, palms up you know, palms down, what testimonies would they give? I’d like to do that. I’d like to examine the hands of Jesus. Rub my thumbs around the whirlpool of flesh in the centre of His palms and let them rest on the nail holes, where once upon a time, there opened, right there, in the middle of his blood stained, split and tender tendons, two violent vortexes, two deeply devouring, all engulfing, sin sucking vengeance crushing black holes of all consuming judgment! Down which all the sins from my North and South, East and West poured themselves away. All that’s left now are healed scars, reminders to those who examine His hands, that though now healed and clean, they once carried in their hole pierced centre, all of our dirty and disgusting crimes. All of them. How lovely. How awesome.

It seems to me that we all need Jesus to take our grubby little hands, hold them tight in His, as He leads us up the Hill of the Lord. There is no other way to ascend the Hill of the Lord unless our hands have been held and made clean in the tight and manly grip of the Saviours loving palms. Ah, His clean hands. Have you got them in yours today?

Listen:- For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Hebrews 9:24-28 NIV

Pray:- Oh lead me, to the place where I can find you, Oh lead me to the place where You will be. Lead me to the cross, where we first met. Draw me to my knees so we can talk. Let me feel your breath. Let me know you're here with me. Amen.

Dec | 09 | Springs of Strawberry Jam

2011-12-09T01:30:00.003Z

Key Word:- GIVE

Title:- Springs of Strawberry Jam

2 Kings 4:1
A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.”

So here was once a wonderful and honourable hard working prophet. However, you might want to cut this situation up to examine it a little more. Let’s look now shall we? This man was God’s servant, a prophet, Godly and yet, he was dirt poor. More than that, it would appear that he lived out his calling in struggling debt. Many British Pastors and Evangelists especially, do exactly the same.

As someone who ‘fears the Lord’ we can assume that this prophet did not by any means lead a profligate lifestyle. Yet the Scriptures present us with an obedient man who never the less lived a life in financial lack and subsequently, died in debt, bequeathing to his wife nothing, except the forthcoming slavery of their two sons, which by the way, were her only source of income in her old age. What a mess!

King David may never have seen the righteous begging bread but here is a righteous family, fallen over the edge of disasters cliff, and plummeting to a most horrendous crash. Begging bread! Good grief, they are selling themselves! Interestingly, the side margin notes in the Geneva Bible on this verse say that he “did not fall into debt by carelessness or excess but by the hand of the Lord.” Now there’s an interesting thought. Maybe what Jesus said about the man born blind, who was thus so ill equipped to see in this world, to function in this world, is also true of this man and his family in this world? “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” John 9:3

At the beginning of the 21st Century, the British Governments national debt runs into the hundreds of billions! British personal debt has risen above the trillion barrier and rises ever still. Across the pond, the situation fairs little better for the national debt of the population of the USA rises in excess of nearly several billion dollars, per day! It’s obvious that the vast majority of people, are to some extent in financial crisis, even the whole global economy. It’s bust!

The answer to the problem of debt here in 2 Kings 4, was a miracle! As miraculous as: if you were to discover springs of strawberry jam in Devon and the open mining of clotted cream in Cornwall! It’s a miracle as awesome as that! For the prophets widow was told to take her only asset of a jar of oil, then collect every single one of her neighbors empty jars, go into her house, close the doors and begin pouring and so she did and she poured and she poured and she poured, until she could pour no more.

All Christians in want should pour! Yes, we too should we get on our knees and pray for a miracle, even go hunting for powerful Elisha’s carrying nothing with us but a big empty jar and some desperate hope? Shouldn’t we do that?

Well, when in financial need, we should certainly hope and pray for a miracle. God is clearly showing us here, that it is not beyond Him to act in such a miraculous fashion. He’s done it before and He can do it again, and all God’s people said amen and amen! However, let’s be honest, it doesn’t happen like this often. In fact, I know of no instance of this particular kind of miracle occurring in my lifetime just yet, anywhere. Why Lord? I mean, good grief, there are hundreds of thousands of the righteous in need of such a miracle. Why can’t we have some costly and consumable, self-replenishing item that will fill up every empty jar that we can lay our hands on? Sure, it would wreck the economy, but Lord, it’s wrecked already! Indeed, many Christians are wrecked already as well, for despite the gobal crisis, despite nations becoming bankrupt, debt is still a dirty word among us Christians and still brings chaos and confusion into Christian lives, yes, it still breaks hearts and families. So, what can we do O Lord? What can we do?

Well like this widow woman, we can call the man. Only Jesus can help us out of our mess. Nations and individuals do need to get down on their knees and call on Jesus for help. This is the first step, it is the vital step; call the man. When you do this, with compassion and grace, yes that’s it GRACE! Jesus will look upon you and may I say, even if you have been like the prodigal son, profligate in all your financial dealings, then still, with compassion and grace He will look upon you and help you! Undoubtedly He will then speak to us about our assets. Be they ever so meager, ever so exhausted, He will speak to us about them for even the poorest among us have jars of clay, and in those jars are dreams, in those jars are desires, in those jars are talents, in those jars are gifts, abilities, propensities, yes, in those jars are possibilities. So, let me ask you today, in the name of Jesus, “what is in your Jar of clay dear friend?”

If you read the rest of the passage from 2 Kings 4, you will notice that once the jar of oil was utilized, it was then miraculously enabled to keep on coming up with the goods. Indeed, the capacity for filling ended without the ability to pour ever diminishing in the slightest! The end product then was much more than ‘jam today’, it was a full clearing of the debt with provision of more than enough for the whole family to live on for the rest of their days! It was jam for today and jam for tomorrow!

Let’s ask Jesus, to fully utilize our assets within His fiscally secure and enormously enabled economy today.

Listen:- Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Pray: - Lord, bathe our steps with cream and pour out rivers of oil for us all, that all our debts would be stilled and all our families provided for, in Jesus name we pray, Amen. Job 29:6

Dec | 08 | Bursting Contentious Bubbles With Math

2011-12-08T01:30:00.003Z

Key Word:- FIGHT

Title:- Bursting Contentious Bubbles With Math

Acts 15:37-39
Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another.

We should of course contend earnestly for the faith. However, maybe not so earnestly for our own opinions and desires. Extrapolating from our text for today, some say that despite the contention, God was good in any event, as now two missionary teams were being sent out. One team to Cyprus and the other to Syria and then on to Silicia. On the other hand, some say that only Paul was in the right, after all it was he alone who was eventually commended by the brethren to the grace of God for Barnabus had already picked up his ball and sulked off home. Tell me, whom do you think was in the right here and does it matter anyway?

Well, of course it matters. The truth is that this fierce disputation led to many people being hurt and a useful and profitable team being split up and I tell you folks, everywhere Paul went, when his former team mate Barnabus was asked after, Paul would have to explain his absence and recount the unfortunate incident. How very embarrassing!

Ogden Nash the U.S. writer of humorous poetry concludes his poem entitled 'I never even suggested it' by saying “I recommend to you this morale: In real life it takes only one to make a quarrel.” Now that’s worth thinking about!

In any relationship, when your own thoughts and desires come before the other persons, remember this equation.

Pre-determination + insistence = contention and separation.

Listen:- A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city , And contentions are like the bars of a castle. Proverbs 18:19 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, keep me open to Your will. Keep me tuned to Your voice. Lord come blunt my prickly spirit, that I might maintain the unity of Your Holy Spirit in the bond of peace. In Your great name I pray, amen!

Dec | 07 | The Deeper Magic

2011-12-07T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- HOPE

Title:- The Deeper Magic

Hebrews 12:22-24
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom is a ‘Mecca’ for those people of longing hearts, both young and old, still seeking to get some of their wishes realized and get a big white gloved ‘high four,’ which says ‘well done and welcome,’ from the big eared little mouse-man and master of ceremonies himself, Mr. Mickey Mouse.
In Disney world, profits and good business have not yet thoroughly allowed political correctness to rob the children of what is innately theirs; that is, beauty and courage. For as you trudge the happy little streets where each hour of every single day, good is seen to triumph over evil, around your grown up feet will walk ten thousand little children, the boys wielding some kind of shining sword, slaying dragons, with all the girls dressed as Cinderella, Sleeping beauty, Ariel or some other stunnnig priness, each one waiting eagerly for their prince to come, each one naturally, innocently, unmanaged and unreservedly playing out that which has been laid up in their hearts!
Many adults wander Mickey’s Magic Kingdom without children in tow. The only child they have with them is the one that we all carry deep inside, the one that longs for the lost summers of long ago, the lost dreams, the lost hopes, lost ‘might have beens’, lost magic, if you will. If these grown ups had the chance, most of the men even now would carry a sword and all of the older women would be dressed in waiting white, decked in colour glorious, bejeweled in sparkling splendor. Maybe the Magic of Mickey’s Kingdom for both young and old is the dream of what might have been and the hope of what might yet be?

Now, away from the fantastic fireworks, the light displays and dancing lasers, the castles and the smiling faces, let me take you to another kingdom. It is a broken one and a city there is cloaked in black and a preacher long since passed yet speaking still; aptly paints its circumstance with the thickest of brushstrokes, that we who are most familiar with lost magic might at last have a little hope. Listen to an old prince of preachers from long ago now, listen:

“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.

The truth that Mickey’s Magic Kingdom encapsulates and sells so gloriously, is down to the desire and hope within us all, for better things, for renewal if you will, no more than that, for redemption! We the church, at the end of the age, need to learn from this and need to re-educate ourselves on what it means to be men and women, beautiful warrior princesses, chaste and charming princes belonging to eternal King, who has redeemed us from the Kingdom of bone gnawing darkness and despair into His glorious Kingdom of light and made us equipped, made us confident, made us surefooted, made us more than conquerors and unrelenting pursuers the fleeing serpent.

As we approach the end of all things, the howling wind may be wrapping itself about the dark night once more in it’s cold and ever tighter grip on humanity and yes indeed, self eating, self hating men and women, lost in slavery to sin, today may still sit abused in the dark corners of satanic dungeons, but look at the scathing scene and see! SEE in each ones hand, they hold in their cupped and shaking dirty little grip, something different, something lost and something yet still hoped and longed for! It is a knowledge of better things, that still carries with it a perfume of hope that even the excrement of sin cannot thoroughly overpower. Do you smell it? HOPE!

Hope may die last in Russia but when it is the last thing to die in a human being, that human being will die.

We who belong to Christ have this cup of hope and knowledge full to overflowing. Let’s today experientially sip from it in all its fullness and then, let’s SHOW THE DESPERATE HOW TO POSSES it for themselves.

May God help us in this Divine mission, this caring conquest of restoring the deeper magic to a lost and lonely stinking world.

Listen:- Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case-things that accompany salvation. God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. Hebrews 6:9-12 NIV

Pray:- Someday My Father, Jesus my prince, will come. Help me to be found abounding in redemptions fullness, fighting in this Your story glorious! In His wonderful name I pray. Amen.

Dec | 06 | Not Many Days from Now

2011-12-06T01:30:00.000Z

Key Word:- EXPECTATION

Title:- Not Many Days from Now

Acts 1:5
for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

Christopher Marlow, was born in Canterbury England, in 1564. A prolific writer, one of his best known poems is entitled, 'The Passionate Shepherd to his love'. Here, six stanzas of pure and pleasurable possibilities are capped with this final invitation, 'If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me, and be my Love'.

Jesus had previously said to his disciples, 'It is to your advantage I go away, for then I shall send the Helper to you, who will guide you into all truth, speak to you what He hears from Me, and tell you of things to come. He will make sure you do not feel deserted, so that you do not live as orphans but as sons of the living God'. In other words dear friends Jesus is saying, 'If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me, and be my Love'.

Marlow was the prodigal son who never returned. A faker and a fugitive, Marlow in his fleeing from God became a self made orphan who in the end, even denied God's existence. As an awful forger of gold coins he had been deported from the Netherlands and lastly as an angry fugitive, he was murdered in a bar brawl aged 33.

Aged 33 Christ our lover, our passionate shepherd was crucified for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day. Conquering death, He purchased our redemption, buying back all that had been lost. Everything! And to us, His beloved little lambs, He gives the Holy Spirit, the fulfillment of all the previous promises of pleasurable and pure possibilities. Dear friends, wait for what ever He has told you. For it shall surely come to pass, not many days from now.

'If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me, and be my Love'.

Listen:-“Whatever He says to you, do it.” John 2:5

Pray:- Your delights have moved me O Lord, I want to live in You and I want to live with You and I want for You to be my love.' So I will wait on You O Lord and I will hope in You forever. Amen.

Dec | 05 | Dancing Days and Party Places!

2011-12-05T01:30:00.000Z

Key Word:- REMEMBER

Title:- Dancing Days and Party Places!

Psalm 42:4 TLB
Take courage, my soul! Do you remember those times (but how could you ever forget them!) when you led a great procession to the Temple on festival days, singing with joy, praising the Lord? Why then be downcast? Why be discouraged and sad? Hope in God! I shall yet praise him again. Yes, I shall again praise him for his help.

Probably never before in history has leisure been termed an industry. That is, an industry that can be described as: ‘a composition of works and services that manufacture relaxation and diversions from the mundane and the ordinary for millions of people, which subsequently provides a vast profit margin to pay wages, satisfy stockholders and support further investment!’ From the point of view of the leisure industry, all the days that we the consumer spends imbibing on the aforesaid services during our vacations, are considered by them, as not just holidays but ‘holy’ days; for without our happy and full use of the leisure industry, it would collapse. And great would be the fall thereof! The 42 square miles (and growing) of Disney Land in South Florida is but a small example of how large this industry has become. Leisure, vacation time, holy days and holidays! What is that all about anyway?

The Holy days of feasting and celebration in the Old Testament might be summed up under three main titles.

1. Passover,
2. Pentecost and
3. Pilgrimage.

In many respects, these three celebrations are linked to an agrarian society and are therefore cyclical, expected and allowable in their context of the natural seasons of life, for there is in nature after all, a time to work and a time to rest. In specific respects, these three feasts are also the commanded remembrances of God. Three times then, God in effect commands that the people of Israel, “Take time to remember and celebrate My redemption, My provision, and your journey. Oh and when you do, be happy, eat, drink and dance!”

An examination of these Holy days of God then shows them to be focused on a linked remembrance to what He has done, what He is doing, and especially to where we are going with Him, for it is He who has redeemed us, has provided us with His presence and His power having placed our feet upon the King’s Highway setting our feet and our face towards the heavenly Jerusalem, Zion itself, the city of God, even our very own eternal home! We need to both remember and rejoice in this.

Now let’s be honest. Our journeying to heaven means so very little to many of us, for the sense of anticipation and celebration that we should have in the remembrance of these things is frankly just not there! Why is this? Can such apathy toward our eternal home be remedied and if so, then how do we do that and what difference would it make to our leisure and life if it were most rightly remedied?

Well, the Holy days of God, are for our blessing. They are our festival days. They are for the comfort of our soul, the preservation of our sanity and the good of our bodies. In this, these days are there to serve us. Remember that that Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath! Unfortunately, we believe the leisure industry is there to serve us! If they can make a few bob, a few dollars out of doing it, then all the better for them we say but their real purpose is to provide us with comfort peace and the prosperity of body soul and spirit that we so desperately long for. And if you believe that friends, then you’ll believe anything! No, regarding the leisure industry, it is just that, an industry. So, we the leisure consumer, are there to service that industry. Not the other way around. We are there for it! The leisure industry exists essentially to make the parting with our money and the escalation of their profits, as pleasant as possible for us. The Leisure industry is not about us, it is about our money. No wonder our holidays so rarely refresh us and prosper us on our spiritual journey.

The contrast is that God’s Bible Holy-days are about Him and us but our industry driven holidays are about them and us, but mostly about them and even more about us and I don’t think this can be changed. Maybe it shouldn’t be? Maybe we should just accept it for what it is. Treat the animal for what it is. Enjoy the ride. Take that vacation. However, don’t expect to get closer to God on your holidays! Don’t expect to feel more attuned to His gifts, His power, or your journey. They’re not that kind of Holy days that the leisure industry is providing you with after all! God wants you to take your spent self and be renewed for the journey. The leisure industry, simply wants you to spend.

How can we remedy our own often exhausted situation, our own lack of true spiritual reflection, true rest and remembrance, with the true impartation of power which leads to the embracing of the next steps of our long journey onwards and upwards? Well, maybe we need to look at our places of party and yes, I am talking about the local church gathering.

You see, if the gatherings of the church on the Lord’s Day are rarely marked by remembrance, rejoicing, and rededication but mostly marked by stricture, unprepared for study and sullenness, then dear friend, you will die instead of dance. I truly believe that even the very thought of the gathering of the church of God should be marked by a dancing expectation among us. How about you and your church? I mean, what are you doing on the Lord’s Day? Dying or dancing? After all, how many of your neighbours are so amazed at what God has done for you on a Sunday, that when they see you on a Monday morning they think you have been on spectacular break? Ask yourself what thankfulness you might take to the party on Sunday? What prayerful preparation can you be making for the day? What offering are you bringing? What goodness shall you share? For maybe if in the local church, our true place of party, we started providing each other with days of dancing remembrance, making the Holy day of Sunday the greatest time of the week, then maybe, just maybe, both we and the world would never be the same again? Why not make each gathering on the Lord’s Day something to remember. Be sure to thoroughly prepare for each Sunday and make it a party to remember. Maybe then it shall be a true day of rest.

Listen:- And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them -walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Acts 3:7-10

Pray: - Lord, thank You for these Your holydays and by the power of Your Holy Spirit, please mark them in my weekly calendar, by signs of life and liberty and dancing community, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

Dec | 04 | Singing Soldiers

2011-12-04T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- PREPARE

Title:- Soldiers Singing The Saviours Songs of Safety

Isaiah 26:1
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

Le Chambon-sur-Lignon is a town in France that became a haven for escaping Jews during WWII. They were hidden in homes, farms and public institutions. Whenever the Nazi patrols came searching for the Jews, the hiding hunted were taken to the countryside and let loose to lose themselves amongst the dense foliage of the surrounding woodland. As soon as the soldiers left, the French gentiles would go into the forest and sing a song. When the hidden and trembling Jews heard that tune, they knew it was safe to return. Today, this whole community of singing French folk are immortalized in ‘Yad Vashem,’ the Jewish memorial to the holocaust, as being ‘righteous amongst the nations’. Such a position entitles them and their offspring to honorary citizenship in the nation of Israel.

Though it is my opinion, that unnecessary war within the church may often be averted if we the members of the church, whilst thoroughly embracing the present in love would also set our sights on heaven’s gates, it is also my opinion, that when the gates of hell rise up and spew their mess over communities and continents, it is then when we, the truly heavenly minded, will be of most earthly use. In other words, when morality itself is being murdered, it is time for us soldiers of the cross to become singing combatants.

Our song says this: “We have a strong city! God Himself is the source of that strength. Christ in us, the hope of glory, has made us the righteous, strong walls and bulwarks within the city of His choosing. In God we are the strength of the city. We are the strength of the city and it’s gates are open wide to those who hold the truth in righteousness!”

Whilst not diminishing the land of that nation of Israel, spiritually speaking, the church is the Israel of God. When we sing our song of salvation, through our prayers, our words and our deeds, it announces protection for those fleeing the great death. Let me ask you then Christian friend, what song, if any, is your spirit singing today to bring people from the wild, wild woods into the city of God?

Listen:- “We have a strong city; God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, That the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.” Isaiah 26:1-4

Pray: - Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord , all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord , bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
3 Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.
4 For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Give to the Lord , O families of the peoples, Give to the Lord glory and strength.
8 Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9 Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, "The Lord reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously." Psalms 96:1-10 NKJV

Dec | 03 | Terminal Sickness

2011-12-03T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- PREPARE

Title:- Terminal Sickness

Philippians 1:21-24 TEV
For what is life? To me, it is Christ. Death, then, will bring more. But if by continuing to live I can do more worthwhile work, then I am not sure which I should choose. I am pulled in two directions. I want very much to leave this life and be with Christ, which is a far better thing;

In 2004, Director Stephen Spielberg teamed up with American actor Tom Hanks for the third time, to produce a film called ‘The Terminal.’ The story revolves around a fictitious eastern European immigrant, one ‘Victor Nagorski,’ whose country is overcome by revolution whilst he is in transit. On arriving in New York Nagorsky is ‘country less’ and therefore has no legal way that he can enter America. So for 9 months, Victor takes up residence in ‘terminal 1’ of J.F. Kennedy airport!

You might think this is a little too far fetched to be believed, except that it is based on the true story of ‘Merhan Karimi Nasseri,’ an Iranian immigrant, who up to and even after the filming of The Terminal in 2004, had been living in Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris since August 26th 1988. Danielle Yzerman, spokeswoman for Charles de Gaulle, comments on Nasseri’s long and continued stay in saying that “An airport is kind of a place between heaven and earth and he has found a home here.” Found a home there? Yes indeed, for you see after living in that strange bubble for so many years, Nasseri, became very quietly, quite, quite bonkers. Sad but true.

I wonder if serious Christians living gloriously in this present world, yet doing so with unremitting attention and persistent application of all their very being to their true home of heaven, have had come upon them a similar kind of madness, a sickness if you will, for Heaven’s gates? Yes a sickness, because we are all in a terminal time line and our mental, physical, psychological and spiritual health, all depend so much in the embracing of where we are on that time line right now. We Christians live on earth but our eyes and hearts are in heaven. Yes, we Heaven gazers, we longing lookers, must never-the-less, be fully present in the present to live saneley! Well how can we do this? How can who are right now also seated with Christ in the heavenlies, also live well in this present spiritual dimension between heaven and earth? Well, allow me to try and explain how we might do this by contrasting both youth and maturity.

Christian youth should carry with it, an exciting sense of destiny. There is a race to be run, there is a course to be completed, and there is a fight to be victorious in. Heaven is our hope and our goal, yet the destinies of this life and this age, have under the guidance of God the Holy Spirit, taken on a more solid form for us. We are young and we have something to accomplish, something to achieve with our life in this world. Heaven will be nice when we are dead but for now, we want to live! So goes the musings of youth and that kind of thinking, is in my mind, quite natural. Who wants heaven when there is so much to be done right here!

Christian maturity, on the other hand, should carry with it an exciting sense of completion. The race is drawing to a close, the battle has been fought and we have the scars to prove it and above all this, our reward awaits us and we know it. Under the guidance of God, the Holy Spirit our future life has taken upon itself an even more solid form, a kinder attraction, a buzzing expectation if you will. It is far better to be with Christ and we know it and now we begin to long and yearn for it all the more. Who wants this tireld old earth and this injured old body when all the happiness of our home in heaven calls us to a most glorious rest.

To be young and long only for heaven’s gates, may be indicative of some spiritual disease, some terminal disease if you will. Consequently, to be mature and long to stay here in the terminal, may be a sign of spiritual deformity, of spiritual childishness of matronly mutton being dressed as little lambs. It’s just ridiculous!
So to the Young I say: “Get on your knees and ask God to reveal to you your glorious earthly destiny. The way He wishes for you to go, the battles you are to fight, the giants you are to slay, the kingdoms you are to posses. Get on your knees and ask Him to show you this. For if you have no sense of calling, purpose or destiny, you are diseased and in need of spiritual counsel, help, healing and releasing. Get on your knees!”

To the Mature I say: “If you have no eager anticipation of that which now speedily comes upon you, then you are disabled and deformed." Yes, if you are older, then you should be ready and your desire for heaven should have increased and not wained. Only the regret of the incompletion of your task can rob you of this happy expectation. If you have been robbed of this heavenly expectation then I wonder if the good God might say to you today: “Get up! Be healed! I am able to restore to you all the years the locusts have eaten! I am able to make your end better and more prosperous than your beginning. I want you to have success in this life and the life to come! I want you to expect a glorious and joyful ‘well done you good and faithful servant!’” I tell you friend, if breath is in your body; it is not too late to achieve great things for God right here, right now, whilst you also still long and look for heaven.

You know where you are on the timeline today friends, so let me ask you: “Are you diseased or deformed? Or are you at ease and informed?” To fully possess your present you must appreciate and experience just where you are on your time line. If you aren’t possessing your present, then I wonder just what kind of terminal sickness might be upon you today?

Listen:- For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Philippians 3:19-21

Pray: - Lord, help me to abide in You in such a way, that while sojourning between my new heavenly home and this old earth, I might live well here, and may have such confidence in pleasing You that I would not be ashamed at Your glorious appearing. Amen.

Dec | 02 | The Shining

2011-12-02T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- GRACE

Title:- The Shining

John 18:34-36
… “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

Today in 1954, the U.S. Senate voted by 65 to 22 to condemn Senator Joseph R. McCarthy for ‘conduct unbecoming of a senator.’ This condemnation, which was equivalent to a censure really, related to McCarthy's callous and very controversial investigation of so called suspected communists in the then government and military, even spreading eventually to society as a whole. The Senator died in 1957 from Alcoholism.

McCarthyism has become the term deemed for any ‘witch-hunt’ and subsequent removal of, anyone who holds contrary opinions to you. Some would say that there is evidence of a rise of such 'McCarthyism' within the church of the Living God even today. If this is the case my question then is three fold:

1) Is such a searching and subsequent ejection of those with differing views in the church ever necessary?
2) Should such a searching of those who differ with us and subsequent ejection be expected and seen amongst us?
3) If so, how can we live and function in such perpetual and bitter turmoil as was clearly evidenced in the era of McCarthyism?

For a church seemingly so consitantly at war with itsef these are very important questions.

For years now I have held an ideal of the church being ‘The Safest Place on Earth.’ A place where grace reigns and sinners journey into Jesus and into the loving and waiting arms of the Father. Whilst never condoning or assisting open sin, I will always strive for this ideal. I will always be found amongst sinners, chest beaters, toenail gazers, people seeking mountains of mercy to fall upon them. I have found that there is little danger here among the truly repentant and thankful I can tell you, especially when compared to the wider and established church which is not ‘the safest place on earth’ at all but is in fact, the most dangerous place on the planet. I wonder if well established self resepctability always has been and always will be a most dangerous place for struggling sinenrs? After all, the right and the self righteous have rarely ever taken any prisoners of grace to their hearts.

Phillip Yancey records in his book, ‘Soul Survivor’ ( or how I survived the abuse of the church,) that in his own home church in Georgia, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, was referred to by many white conservative, bible believing, God honouring, patriotic people as, ‘Dr Martin Lucifer Coon.’ Interestingly, if you were a black civil rights activist then, you were also ‘McCarthyised’ by many church leaders. My point is that war in the church is not new. Even history has shown that the ecumenical councils of the early church, the shed blood of the reformation, the social restructuring of equality instead of slavery, have always produced quakes and shakes within the church. Civil wars over such matters have drenched many a battlefield with the blood of thousands who whole heartedly believed in their cause; one way or another.

Truth, it would appear, has often had to wear a blood red gauntlet. Jesus especially told us that His message would not bring community peace upon the earth, but rather the sword of separation. In addition to this, He told us that the enemy would sow tares amongst the wheat; whilst Paul also gives evidence of such tares in the form of spies and false apostles being used remarkably well by the enemy in the disruption and attempted disfiguring of the church and the gospel. The wider church it seems has always been a dangerous place to be.

What are the answers to my 3 questions then? How should we deal with those folk who are dangerously contrary to us?

Well, first, you cannot tamper with the gospel! You are twice cursed to do so, even to the emasculation of the giving of life to anyone! Yes indeed, Paul says if you’re going to tamper with grace by adding circumcision to the gospel for example, then just go ahead and chop the lot off! Paul was a radical when it came to the gospel of grace. So if the gospel of grace is being tampered with, then in this case, ejection is not only dreadful and painful but both mandatory and necessary. Grace cannot be added to. Those that try to, need to leave.

Secondly, because of this persistent infiltration of darkness and warpedness, the church like a mangy dog will often be seen to rise up from the dust and shake itself vigorously. Gentile dogs, redeemed from the termination of the pound, are always vigorous in this kind of shaking. Always. The church like any healthy and living body is always cleaning itself. But please, let's make sure though, that we only get rid of the blood sucking flees.Yes, we must get rid of the blood sucking flees.

Thirdly the church is probably one of the most dangerous places on the planet. We simply need to make peace with that and make sure we are on the right side of many a bloody conflict. This side of heaven, the church will always be a place of conflict and more so as the return of the Lord approaches and false prophets in pathetic pulpits all the more abound.

In the middle of such open war then, how can we the true church, ever hope to remain unscathed and experience at least some measure of peace and unity? After all, being a dog owner of many years, I know, that too much shaking and too much scratching, can lead to unnecessary bleeding, infection, sickness, and disability!

Well, surely Jesus in our text today is saying that we should fight, not for the Kingdoms of this world, but for His kingdom, which is remember, of another world. Again the gospel demands we lift our eyes and seek out the gates of a distant and very distinct Kingdom, coming soon in practicality but here already in a risen reality that shines from our hearts, or should do any way! The kingdom of God changes the places in which we live and we must remember that without ‘the true shining’ without the shimmering of God’s golden grace, such seeming community change is actually forced and not free and often led by the flesh and a thousand other false ideas. All communities are doomed to eventual failure unless they are built on sacrificial love and sacrificial love always fights for grace and the rights of the truly redeemed.

Lastly, let us remember that when all of our shaking exceeds its righteous bounds by beginning to bite and devour one another, then the bad bitch of death has come to gnaw our bones and soon the smell of the prison pound from which we were once so royally purchased, will be upon us once again. All our shaking and ejecting, all our pruning and protecting, must be done in Kingdom light and kingdom love.

At any cost then, we the redeemed of the Lord, must always manifest the shining of the light of the gracious Kingdom of our loving God.

Listen:- “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21

Pray: - Lord in all our shaking, in all our shedding and in all our civil wars, Shine Jesus Shine,! Let the world see the Father’s glory! Amen.

Dec | 01 | A Martian with a Message

2011-12-01T01:30:00.004Z

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- A Martian with a Message

Jonah 4:9
Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”

British poet, Craig Raine is reputed to be the founder of ‘Martian Poetry.’ That is, poetry that takes the every day common things of life and by seeing them from a different perspective, a different pair of eyes even, is able to magnify their properties purpose and being to such an extent, that the wonder and quality of what they are can be more clearly seen and then in new found freshness, be that much more excitedly appreciated!

It’s not a new technique, indeed, it is an ancient and biblical form of communication. Painting pictures, vast canvases of communicative convection, which lift us up like soaring eagles forcing us to fly against the gold basement entrance door to the heavenly cityis not new. No, this is the way God has always communicated to us. Through the visual.

It is true that the Word became flesh and when He clothed Himself with the body prepared for Him, He then focused for thirty years on His job as carpenter and creator of both form and function. Aged thirty however, He took off the workman’s pouch and decked Himself with the robe of the painting prophet and whilst purposely pacing the road to Jerusalem, producing a million pictures to communicate to the listening lost and the watching and weeping masses, He magnificently portrayed the love of the Father through: ‘sheep, shepherds, vines, camels, candles, gates, wolves, needles, hens and chicks, roads and robbers, bread and gates, millipedes and mustard seeds, leaven and lost coins……well, you see what I mean? A picture is worth a thousand words, and Jesus knew it and utilised it.

As students of effective communication, we Christians should be examining the canvass in which we live to see what relevant similes and metaphors exist so that we too can effectively utilize them to communicate Biblical truth to people who are lost and going to hell! Some people have suggested that God is already doing this through non Christian Hollywood directors anyway and we simply need to get with His program! It’s an interesting thought but again, it’s not a new one. Many Years ago, Don Richardson, reputedly one of the most wildly read authors on missions at the end of the twentieth century, produced a book called ‘Eternity in their Hearts,’ proposing the idea that each culture has some God embedded story, ritual, or tradition that can be used to illustrate and apply the Christian gospel message. Hmm. I wonder?

If God is at work in our world today, is it inconceivable that He might be embedding pictures of redemption in the visual and audible canvass of contemporary culture? Is God embossing His redemptive truth upon Hollywood movies? Is God implanting His truth in sitcoms and television programs? Is God repeatedly reaching out to people in these ways, despite the slowness of His church in taking up the challenge and reaching for the golden thread, running rich and coated red amongst the rolling reels? Is it a concept worthy of consideration? Many Christians certainly think so. After all, just how much does God love the world?

So friend, if these things are indeed so, then the implications on evangelism are far reaching. Dare I suggest, that God has left us many opportunities for communication of the gospel within our own contemporary culture and that if only our skin got a little thicker and our heart a little bigger, we might just be able to change from being viewed as weird and wacky, angry little aliens from another planet, with no relevance to real life at all, to becoming viewed as maybe “Martians with a message worth listening to!” For the sake of the millions without Jesus, it’s surely worth thinking about. Isn’t it? What and how are you watching the images of your contemporary culture? Do you see pictures of redemption to build your conversations on? Are you contemporary? Are you redemptively relevant?

Listen:- But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left — and much livestock?” Jonah 4:10-11

Pray: - Lord; lover, writer, potter, painter, touch the dead hearts of grey ghosts we live with and cover them with the resplendent and living colours of Your seeking, searching and sacrificial love. Do it through us and O God make us Your brushstrokes please and if we will not willingly be dipped in Your paint, please grab us anyhow and then do it anyway; do it despite us dear Jesus. Make us contemporary, make us Martians. Amen.

Nov | 30 | Of Delirious Proportions

2011-11-30T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- BECOME

Title:- Of Delirious Proportions

Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

Mark Twain, that ‘personality which defined an era’, was born today in 1835. His married and eldest daughter Susan, ‘passed away’ aged 24. His son Langdon, had already died of diphtheria at an early age, so the death of Susy Clemens, came as an even greater blow. Clemens was Twain’s real last name and the epitaph on his daughters grave stone reads as follows:

Warm summer sun, shine friendly here
Warm western wind, blow kindly here;
Green sod above, rest light, rest light,
Good-night, Dear heart
Goodnight, good-night.

This is in fact taken from the end of a much longer piece written by Australian Poet Robert Richardson, published in 1893. In this work entitled ‘Annette,’ the poet imagines himself standing by the graveside of this former vivacious and promiscuous young woman and saying “

If that ancient ethic view
Of Pythagoras be true,
Your light soul is surely now
In that bird upon the bough,
Singing, with soft-swelling throat,
To the wind that heeds it not;
Or in that blue butterfly,
Flitting like a jewel by,
Flashing golden to the sun.
Soon, like yours, its day is run -
Dead, and only twenty-one!

My point today is to highlight that ‘there is nothing new under the sun’ and the espousing by the ‘New Age Movement,’ of reincarnation and transmigration of the soul, is indeed nothing new, having it’s roots not only in the East, but in the ancient past.

Current Gurus, whether with flowing beards or shaved legs; or whether wearing pants or togas; decked in brilliant minds or braggart souls; are not touting, spouting any new stuff but old guff, gilded anew in political correctness! There is more to come, mark my words, there is more to come and with it, a whole panoply of deceiving spirits, ‘channeling’ pictures perspectives and power. I am convinced, we have not yet seen the half of it.

The Bible is clear. One life. One death. One judgment. I can understand how the echoes of eternity, it’s dark and empty vastness within us like some deep and bottomless well, demands to be filled by something, by someone. Deep cries to deep. Listen. Deep cries to deep. Let us be vociferously violent in our proclamation of truth, so as not to give these shallow charlatans the opportunity to try and fill this God shaped vastness with bobbing lies and sea green sewage from the shores of hell.

However friend, in doing this, the call is out: “The old will not do! A new type of disciple is required to meet this old, New Age. A disciple with the ‘goods of the gospel and not just the words;’ a disciple with true depth of and in, the Almighty; a disciple of delirious proportions, a disciple that laughs at hells gate and rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory before the mad and watching crowds.”

What age are you fit to witness to today dear friend?

Listen:- For Christ has entered into heaven itself to appear now before God as our Friend. It was not in the earthly place of worship that he did this, for that was merely a copy of the real temple in heaven. Nor has he offered himself again and again, as the high priest down here on earth offers animal blood in the Holy of Holies each year. If that had been necessary, then he would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But no! He came once for all, at the end of the age, to put away the power of sin forever by dying for us. And just as it is destined that men die only once, and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died only once as an offering for the sins of many people; and he will come again, but not to deal again with our sins. This time he will come bringing salvation to all those who are eagerly and patiently waiting for him. Hebrews 9:24-28 TLB

Pray: - Holy Spirit, dig and clear Your deep well within me. Remove the garbage and let springs of living water flow, that I and others, may draw joy from the wells of salvation. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Nov | 29 | Of Pussy Cats & Chewing Gum

2011-11-29T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- LIFE

Title:- Of Cats & Chewing Gum

Job 18:13,14
…It devours patches of his skin; The firstborn of death devours his limbs. He is uprooted from the shelter of his tent, And they parade him before the king of terrors.

Probably the smallest man in the bible, Bildad the Shuhite, is here in today’s text and with enormous poetic insensitivity, describing to poor old suffering severely Job, what the wicked can expect if they ‘cross God.’ The subtext is clear and Job obviously caught his drift. Bildad was in effect saying: “Looking at you Job, covered in festering sores and crushed like a moth, it’s obvious that you must have done something extremely wicked!” Please someone, reach out give Bildad a slap will you!

Now Bildad’s intent may not have been the most caring and instructive but his content and description at this point in the narrative, is astonishingly wonderful! The writer, moved by God the Holy Spirit, pens for us in the most picturesque of poetic terms, the incarnation of death, the ‘King of terrors’ and its firstborn son, the devourer of limbs, ‘leprosy.’

In 2003, English born, world renowned leprosy physician, Dr Paul Brand, died at his place of work in the National Leprosarium in Carville, Louisiana. A compassionate and world renowned doctor, just four of his multitude of achievements move me to tears of thankfulness, and inspire me to life and joy

The first is his apparent discovery of the reason why lepers go blind. They feel no pain or discomfort in their eyes and so do not blink! Brand solved this problem by surgically attaching a chewing muscle to their eyelid. Subsequently every time they chewed gum, they blinked! Thus their eyes were kept clean and they retained their vision. Brilliant or what!

The second is the discovery of why many lepers seemed to lose their toes and fingers overnight. Observing them whilst sleeping, he discovered that rats were stealing into their sleep area and gnawing living bones and tissue, literally chewing off the extremities of fingers and toes. Of course in the absence of pain, they could not feel what was happening. Imagine that. His solution was simple and profound. His leprous patients were required to take cats with them, wherever they decided to sleep. What simple and yet wonderful innovation!

Thirdly was his dedicated life to the unwashed, unlovely and uncared for. When he was finished with them, they were clean, helped, healed, and loved. The sweet perfume of Christ was all over his patients. What a challenge.

Fourthly and finally today, his attitude to suffering and death. It was Tim Hansel that said . “while pain is unavoidable, misery is optional!” The good Doctor Paul Brand seemed to take this philosophy and apply it to his whole personal life and was by example, able to impart this philosophy to his patients.

Brilliance; innovation; hope; love; laughter; and gentle care. What will you take to your Job today?

Listen:- You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever. Psalm 30:11-12

Pray: - “One day I shall experience a sickness unto death. I shall sense my mortal frame has no more strength to fight and that my pathway is leading into the valley of the shadow. Let me not feel the despair of one who is losing a battle, or that a triumph of evil is ahead. Focus within me, O Lord, the light of your eternal Spirit. Show me again that my body, for all that it is wonderful, is but the mantle of a greater wonder, my soul. Hold me, Lord, in such awareness of your presence and your love that my parting from my body shall be but the opening of a more vivid intimacy and union with the spirit of my Saviour. He who has been the inspiration of my stumbling body shall now be the very light and substance of my soul.” (Dr Paul Brands own prayer regarding death.)

Nov | 28 | Of Teats & Truffles

2011-11-28T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- LOVE

Title:- Of Teats & Truffles

Proverbs 5:18,19
Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love.

World-renowned chef, author, instructor and the host of popular cooking programs on public television, ‘Jacques Pépin’ has served as dean of special programs at the French Culinary Institute and as an adjunct faculty member at Boston University! After receiving his formal training at the Grand Hotel de l'Europe, and various Paris restaurants he served as personal chef to French heads of state, Felix Gaillard, Pierre Pfimlin, and Charles de Gaulle. Author of the acclaimed 'La Technique' and 'La Methode', two books that present the principles of culinary technique and artistry; he earned a place in the James Beard Foundation's Cookbook Hall of Fame. Amongst many other things he is a restaurant consultant and a contributing editor for Food & Wine Magazine and a founder of the American Institute of Wine and Food. Bearing all this in mind, I tend to believe what he tells me about the art of cuisine!

Recently on a cooking program, whilst I was observing his skills, he commented on the hunting of truffles in Italy and happened to mention that: “it was not necessary to have the correct breed of dog to do this; indeed even a mongrel could be trained to do it. The Key to success was to ensure that truffle oil was poured over the mothers teats when the dog was whelping.” It was as simple as that! The nutrition, warmth, satisfaction and comfort they felt as a whelping pup on the teats of their mother, would always be associated with the smell of truffles. This association then, would be forever imprinted upon their mind. Of course this outlines a well known cycle of: ‘attraction or recognition, leading to desire, leading to satisfaction, leading to attraction or recognition, leading to desire leading to satisfaction, leading to’….well you get the picture.

Today’s text is a wonderful and pronounced blessing, that this cycle of desire and fulfillment should be forever unbroken with the wife of your youth. It quite unashamedly says FIVE important things.

First, that what God created was good. Very good!
Second, that He intends that we rejoice in these good things. Both of them, if you will!
Thirdly, that we might be mutually satisfied and
Fourthly, that this satisfaction would take place in enraptured delight, and
Fifthly and finally, that that this delight of enraptured satisfaction, would occur in the wide and wild fields of unshakeable faithfulness.

What a glorious cycle!

It follows then, that the wrong replacement of any one of these five things, like for example, replacing the acknowledgement of goodness with shame or guilt; or replacing accepting joy with unhappiness of our possession, or replacing desire with dissatisfaction; or allowing the crude and rude lustful commonality of 'any', to replace the caring, committed and covenant exclusiveness of 'the one'. Well this kind of unholy replacement breaks the cycle of attraction, desire and fulfillment and once this happens, well let me put it this way, it will be hard to go truffle hunting again!

The spiritual application is clear. To consistently seek, pursue and find that which is good, we must get a taste of it, a smell of it, a pleasing satisfying sense of it and that, right from the start. For now though friend, if the cycle is broken; if you couldn’t find a truffle to save your life, then you must go back to the beginning, back to the start, back to the source, back to the breasts of God that fed you first! Lay aside all the unpleasing, unsatisfying, disruptive and impure aromas of sin and get on your face before God and in confession, repentance and in olfactory brokenness; open the Word, and smell once more, and suck once more, taste once more. Remember? Excellent! Now, seek what is good!

Listen:- Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Peter 2:1-3

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing. Psalm 34:8-10

Pray: - As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Psalm 42:1-2

Nov | 27 | Applying Wisdom’s Fifth Wheel

2011-11-27T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- WISDOM

Title:- Applying Wisdom’s Fifth Wheel

Proverbs 4:7
Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom.

It was apparently Sid Caesar, that icon of early American television comedy, who with much insight, declared that “The man who invented the first wheel was an idiot but the man who invented the other three, he was the genius!” It’s a good joke and is indeed, a ‘starting handle’ on wisdom.

Will Durant says that “Ideally, wisdom is total perspective -- seeing an object, event, or idea in all its pertinent relationships.” Durant continues “Spinoza defined wisdom as ‘seeing things 'sub specie eternitatis,’ or ‘in view of eternity.’ I suggest,” he says “defining wisdom as, “seeing things sub ‘specie totius,’ or in view of the whole!” Thank you Mr Durant!

However, despite that fine use of Latin, that’s exactly what Sid Caesar said, only he said it in a way most of us can understand. Oh and by the way, I’ve often observed that sad comics and unhappy humorists seem to express truth much more succinctly, than any dead philosopher ever could!

The wisdom of this world says “Money is the principle thing and with all you’re getting get more and then with it, achieve power.” Think about that. Think about how much this kind of worldly wisdom permeates and possesses the whole of Western Society and especially the church! I personally know, Oh God help me, that it is the largest lie that I have battled with all my life and friends, I continue to battle with it because the lie seems so true, doesn’t it? Getting money does seem to be the principle thing in this world and the main goal of our existence for I mean, without Money you can’t do anything! Not even the church can do anything without money. So, our Pastors most gingerly tell us, let’s get it prayerfully and carefully, humbly and openhandedly, but let’s get money and lots of it! And so, in all our fund raising and in all sewing of financial seeds, we say quite simply and so loudly that ‘Money is the principle thing, therefore get money!’

Again, Will Durant, the gentle philosopher, says of humanity and of himself, …. “We are all fragments of darkness groping for the sun. I know no more about the ‘ultimates’ than the simplest urchin in the streets.” That’s seemingly very profound and humble but God’s response to this philosophical ignorance of little man before His vast and eternal ultimates is simple! He says: “No! Wisdom IS the principle thing. SO GET IT!” In other words God says; “Stop the philosophical nonsense about not knowing and not understanding because honest, I tell you, both wisdom and understanding can be got! So GET IT!” It seems in God’s sight that none of us need be Urchins in these possessions! “Money is not the principle thing” says God, “Wisdom is and you can get it!”

In the Scriptures, this wisdom which can be acquired, is done so, always from a position of humility and awe. In other words, we acknowledge that we are the created and are accountable to receive from a benevolent and Fatherly Creator, God the Lord, God the ‘revelator’ if you will, even God the redeemer extraordinaire! This is the beginning of wisdom: humbly knowing both our position and His greatness, especially His great goodness. He is the Master and the Master of our fate.

The reverence of God may be the beginning of wisdom, yes it is, yet as I write this, even now I know I am conscious of my old man, still not dead, raising up it’s foolish fist and spouting ‘Invictus’, crying that 'I am the master of my own fate' as it marches me towards the empty halls of hell. Take note of this fist friends, for whenever we reject the gentle and constant entreaties of wisdom, whenever we refuse humility, whenever we refuse to bend the knee, we ‘Invite Invictus’ to speak its powerful foolishness once more. My being master of my fate always says that “Money is the principle thing therefore get money!” Stupid or what? No, there is no wisdom in a raised fist, never was and never will be. Cain found that out when he killed his brother. So, let’s be humble and let’s get wisdom.

In conclusion then, may I please add an extra little thought? If wisdom is better than gold, then surely understanding is better than silver. In other words, may I add to Sid Caesar’s wise comments and say “The man who invented the first wheel was an idiot and the man who invented the other three, may have been a genius but the man who put the fifth wheel in front of the driver’s seat, now there’s man who applies wisdom and understanding, lacks nothing and can go anywhere!” Do you see what I mean? Wisdom and understanding without application is shining folly. So friends, today may I leave you with some words from possibly the wisest woman that has ever lived…

Listen:- On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” John 2:1-5

Pray:- Lord, I am sorry for my arrogance in not getting what can be got. Lead me to the beginning of wisdom and guide me in understanding and bless me in application, In Jesus name pray, Amen.

Nov | 26 | Getters, Grabbers and Giving Kings

2011-11-26T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- GIVE

Title:- Getters, Grabbers and Giving Kings

Job 1:21 NIV
“Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart.

The January sales in my home country of England often produces a great rush of activity and spending as children and teenagers, their Christmas cash hot and heavy in their itchy little hands, exchange it for ‘stuff’, in all it’s promised packaging of pleasure. Mom is also ‘off down the shops’ as well searching for as many bargains as she can find and dad is down the ‘Do it Yourself’ temple to buy another tool he’ll hardly get the time to use and then begin another project, that his wife will nag him about for the next six months. Ah…..Sales time! You can feel the bargain goose bumps, dry mouth and sore feet, just thinking about it.

My goodness though! The ‘after Christmas sales’ pale into insignificance along side the ‘after Thanksgiving sale.’ Black Friday, they call it in America and it’s like a herd of wilder beast high on ‘Crystal Meth’ lining and looting the highly overstocked and under priced isles of slashed and bleeding merchandise. Even Christian Radio joins the fray insisting on playing Christmas Carols from now until the New Year, to get you in the gift hunting mood. God help us.

Yet we continue to acquire all of this ‘stuff’ despite it taking so much time to manage. You’ve got to work at a job you might not like, to pay for stuff you might not really need, to get some peace that you can’t really enjoy, because you’re worried about how you’re going to pay for the stuff you might not really be able to afford. Plus, when you get it home, you find it doesn’t work and needs a warranty exchange, and trying to get one of those done smoothly would turn Ghandi into Genghis Khan at the customer service desk, which is a misnomer anyway, because it’s just another sales outlet where they’re going to tell you that it’s not broken at all actually but is incompatible with the equipment you’ve presently got but thank God!....for a little extra money you can purchase an upgrade, oh and while your at it, it’s highly recommended that you pay for an extended warranty on everything, including the batteries and the plastic bag your going to carry your treasure home in! Then whilst the fresh air and sunshine beckon us outside, we finally sit, surrounded by our stuff, staring into glass or plasma, or liquid crystal displays, with blaring speakers selling us more of the same stuff we’ve already got and don’t really enjoy. It is utter madness!

There is no question that we are part of a system that relies heavily on us continuing to consume. It is geared to perpetually entice us to do so and so enslave us to debt and the demands of plastic, all in its various forms. This robs us. This kills us. This destroys us. Do you think this satanic system might just be distracting the church from it’s mission and it’s real family values? Real family values has little to do with stuff! Many of us have had a ‘hard time’ of it when it comes to our childhood and we certainly do not want our children to go through similar experiences of need, so we ensure they never have the need we had. However, we are blind to the fact that what we needed then was but one ten thousandth of what the system and our children’s influential and much influenced peers tell them they actually need today! So parents beware! For our careful and seemingly loving intentions often simply help us to feed the monster.

Those of us in the West are also exposed to an interesting twist of Gospel goodness, from the health wealth and glory boys, in the form of the ‘inquisition of acquisition’. After all, plenty is obviously a sign of the Masters pleasure! So get more, and make sure it’s bigger, shinier and sharper, than the world has ever seen, then they and our neighboring churches shall also truly know that God is with us. Yeah right!

Despite perceiving a kind of hot and happy, spiritual keeping up with the Joneses going on around me, when the gospel has to deck itself out with bulbous “bling bling” to justify its efficacy, it actually leaves me cold and makes me feel ever so guilty while I am sitting here in my own lack and in my own need. I wonder if this kind of Bling Bling Gospel now gone the way of Balaam, this kind of “faithing it,” is in fact just faking it really and that this pursuance of the gospel of wealth, which is was it really is, might just in the end rob us, kills us, destroys us and distract us from our true mission?

The problem is that the big attraction of possessions is that they do carry with them an attractive aura of power and protection, after all if I have much, then when want arrives, I shall possess enough to carry me and my loved ones through! If I have much, then when persecution comes, when the stock market plunderers thunder across Wall Street once more, then me and mine shall be safe. Our nest egg shall hatch and the roof shall remain over our head. Our health insurance shall also stand tall, against any onslaught of sickness or desperate need of a psychiatrist? Do I need a psychiatrist? Maybe I do because though this kind of Gospel thinking is all very enticing and seems so very wise. I wonder, yes I really do wonder, if this kind of Gospel is NO GOSPEL AT ALL but rather is in fact just a great big fat lie, to get us to get more of that all encumbering stuff?

Be honest with yourself today and ask yourself these three questions.

1) Despite all my stuff, am I happy?
2) What is my source of provision and protection and so what do I truly value?
3) Does God value what I value?

The choice is ours to be ‘wise kings seeking Jesus’, or be ‘greedy grabbing gentiles’. What are you doing today? Still trying to grab peace, provision and protection by the gentiles? Careful now, you might just lose your own right hand of peace provision and protection

Listen:- 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek.

Pray: - Father, help me not to worry but to seek Your righteousness and Your kingdom. Show me how live so much more with so much less in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Nov | 25 |Tom Wattle & Ringing Bells

2011-11-25T01:30:00.004Z

Key Word:- PRAISE

Title:- Tom Wattle & Ringing Bells

Job 39:13-17 NIV
“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork. She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain, for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.”

Since President Lincoln’s appointment of a national day of thanksgiving in 1863, each president since then has issued a Thanksgiving day proclamation, usually intended to be the fourth Thursday of each November. Unfortunately this has become known as Turkey Day! So let’s take up the theme, for birds are so prominent and emblematic in the history of nations, and biblically so full of reference and instruction, that we cannot fail to get fed!

Writing about Americas National bird, the Bald Eagle, the National Wildlife Federation tells of the first American bird controversy concerning the Eagle and the Turkey that arose between Benjamin Franklin and Congress. They write: ‘A year after the Treaty of Paris ended the conflict with Great Britain; Franklin argued that the turkey would have been a more appropriate symbol. “A much more respectable bird and a true native of America,” he pointed out. Franklin conceded that the turkey was “a little vain and silly,” but maintained that it was nonetheless a “bird of courage” that “would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards who should presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat on.” Congress was not convinced, however.’

So tell me Congress, just what is wrong with having the Turkey as the national emblem? The wild Turkey can fly faster than a horse can gallop! Each Tom's leg sports such a fearfully sharp spur and then stands so tall, that it looks like it's packing a couple of six shooters. Oh yes, a turkey is armed and extremely dangerous! As for beauty, well, when a flock of wild turkeys take to the skies their iridescent metallic glittering feathers turn the whole sky into a copper dome metallic cloud! Its brave chest bears its own medals of honor, and it’s brightly colored warlike caruncles, those fleshy masses around the head and neck, are colorfully communicative when agitated or aroused, and that happens even in the ultraviolet range that is invisible to humans! Imagine that! It seems that the majestic turkeys has undoubtedly been given a very bad name.

Our verse today is taken from a delightful diatribe of God. Gently yet forcefully and lovingly upbraiding Job, God sets out the secret and wonderful mysteries of His creation, in which He most certainly takes what appears to us to be, a sincere and hidden, daily delight. In our text, God refers to the Ostrich, purposefully created by Him to be a bird that does not act like a bird! A bird that is in effect, goofy and clumsy. Imagine that! God says “I didn’t give her the wisdom she should have to adequately take care of her young.” Oh yes, He did say that friend! However, this is no excuse for those human turkeys which we see on the Jerry Springer show!

The point of the passage is this: God made you and though compared to other people you may not be the brightest bulb on the tree; though compared to other people you may not be the biggest bulb in the flower bed; though compared to other people…….. Well, you get my point. God does not make comparisons. You are the way He made you! YES YOU ARE! It is my belief, that in some way pleasing to the Father and most surprising to others, you are gifted to excel. Find it friends! My suspicion is that you shall find it when you search for it in the deep delights of the heart that God gave you. What rings your bell brother, sister? What gives you pleasure and makes you feel His smiling delight? Find it for it is most likely there that you will excel. You see, the thing is, maybe being a bit of a Turkey is not a bad thing after all!

Listen:- “…for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense. Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider." Job 39:17-18 NIV

Pray: - Jesus, show me my heart, the new heart placed in me, my true heart, my good heart, my restored heart; then help me to live in it and unpack it's awesome treasures, these wonderful gifts from You, that I might feel and live in Your pleasure. Amen.

Nov | 24 | A Lizard Like Jesus?

2011-11-24T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- TRUST

Title:- A Lizard Like Jesus?

Matthew 14:25
Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.

The combination of lasers, video framing and reflective molecules, has led to the discovery of the forces which allow a small Lizard called the ‘Green Basilisk’ or the ‘Jesus Lizard’ to be able to walk on water. Actually it simply runs very, very fast. Lest you think scientists have invested money into this research for some theological purpose, think again! Knowing how to walk upright on various surfaces, will be of tremendous application for the production of multi-terrain robots. Sounds quite military doesn’t it? You betcha!

From our text for today, I see that the DNA of the Church of God, was being formed in these fishermen out on the sea of Galilee in the 4th watch of the night, for what they experienced and knew, would become the bedrock of what was birthed and grew. All their life they had dealt with water and had experienced beyond the shadow of a doubt that the water, would not allow a man to remain above it. Simple! They had learnt something else as well: Storms were dangerous, storms were where the placid fluid was so antagonized by the raging wind, that in its anger it would reach up into the swaying and swinging dryness and snatch you to itself and while embracing you tightly in its all enfolding arms, would plant upon your lips, its cold wet kiss of death. This they knew. This they experienced.

Jesus has remained behind to watch and pray. From afar off, He sees His disciples struggling hard against the violent waves which might not allow them to reach their destination, and if they did, they would be exhausted. He also knew that their hearts were still not open to the fact that He was the all providing, all commanding, supernatural God. Though five thousand bellies were recently filled with bread and fish, from but five loaves and two fishes, their hearts were still dull to the fact of who He truly was. Think about that.

So, another lesson was needed. A lesson so fully immersed in their familiar and dangerous environment, that who Jesus truly was, would become both manifest and irrefutable to them. So Jesus lets the storm grow large, the day grow late, their arms grow tired ,their stomachs grow sick and their hearts grow desperate, until He begins lesson 301, regarding who He really is.

Effortlessly, Jesus steps into the waves. Not trudging up the height of each violently moving crest only to then, like some holy surfer, hands outstretched like a small aero plane, begin sliding down the tumbling trough shouting “Wha-hey-hey! Look at this guys!” and then begin yet another trudge up some other writhing, looming, rising, rough and ready monster of a wave. No. I don’t think it was like that. He was simply there, walking on the water and wherever His foot trod, they carved the calmest of passages that was never intruded upon by the raging sea. This indeed is another miracle. Like the children in the fire who had not even the smell of smoke upon them, so I wonder, if Jesus had amidst the sea, not even one drop of salt water splash against his face or lap the edges of His toenails as they peeked out of the front of His size seven sandals.

Let's not talk about Peter's darling and daring escapade for the moment but focus on this fact: The disciples needed to have this particular hardness in their hearts, softened. They needed to more fully believe! Jesus sees to this to such an extent that they are reported to have been, “greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled!” Or, “astonished exceedingly, completely amazed beyond measure, whacked in wonder, gob smacked, utterly open mouthed, unable to take it in and totally astounded!”

Now listen friends, don’t think that Jesus is not about walking on water in your life today. What areas, or what facts and truths are you so overly acquainted with; or what unbending familiarity do you have with the mundane of the day that it has left your little heart hard or dull in believing that Jesus is Lord over all? YES LORD OVER ALL! Has this truth become too much to take in?

May a storm brew in your life. May you struggle and despair even to the point of fearing the loss of all things and then may you find Jesus walking on your water, coming toward you, and climbing into your boat. If a little lizard can be like Jesus, then it’s about time you learnt to be like Him as well. How Jesus toughly trains His beloved disciples sounds quite military doesn’t it? You betcha! Now shape up! Now step out! Now believe!

Listen:- Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:33

Pray: - O Lord I believe. Help me with my unbelief. Amen.

Nov | 23 | The Wild, Wild Men of The West!

2011-11-23T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- BECOME

Title:- The Wild, Wild Men of The West!

Judges 11:1-3
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah. Gilead's wife bore sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.” Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him.

Now, the book of Judges reads better than any ‘western novel’ you will ever purchase. With plots as deep as wells, intrigues as complicated as a bowl of spaghetti and characters who’s lives and ego’s are larger than Goliaths sword, you will not want for color, excitement and controversy. The backdrop for the revelation of God Almighty in the book of Judges is truly like the ‘wild wild west’ because everyone is doing ‘that which is right in his own eyes.’ Armed, strong and ruthless men, roam and rule the land. Now enter stage left, Jephthah the Gileadite.

Not many people have heard of Jephthah but everyone has heard of ‘Billy the Kid’, who was reputed to be the world’s most famous outlaw! He was born today in 1859, possibly in New York. His life can be split into four distinct sections.

First, the story of a young mans good character, corrupted by parental loss and early abuse;

Secondly, by the near redemption of a life gone wrong through a scheming but strong Englishman in the form of Mr. John Tunstall;

Thirdly, Billy’s taking revenge at the murder of his redeeming mentor and

finally, in 1881, his death at the hands of a cowardly old friend and acquaintance, Sheriff Pat Garret, who would gun him down in the dark at Billy’s girlfriend's house in New Mexico.

Billy was just 21 when his legend was born and Hollywood as usual, has milked it for all it’s worth.

The story of Billy the Kid’s real life would not be out of place in the book of judges! Dennis Bratcher commenting on the life of Jephthah, might equally apply his comments to Billy the Kid when he notes that “there is nothing positive about the story of Jephthah. Except it is a heartrending model of what not to do!”

Actually, I think Mr Bratcher might be right if he were commenting about Billy the Kid but wrong in commenting about Jephthah. The wild, wild men of the book of Judges are not simply placed in scripture to show us what not to do! They are placed there to show us how to fight; and especially how to fight with faith! You see, these aren’t just oversized, extravagant colorful cardboard cut outs, to keep the kids entertained in a five minute slot before the sermon. No! These are real people like us; men with some of the most severe character flaws you could ever come across. To say they needed therapy is an understatement. Some of them needed locking up! However, remarkably God is there and God is using them; and finally pointing out some good things about them for our example and I believe, encouraging us to imitate them. Now that’s truly amazing and remarkably gracious.

It might be good for us to bear this in mind when we mourn the catastrophic fall of Christian leaders who crash upon the public stage. Remember that while God never overlooks, justifies or excuses sin, it also would appear that in the final analysis, God does not let sin; blot out the good things that were achieved when these same people operated in faith and righteousness.

Medals and trophies; the commendations and applause of the popular people, heard and handed to us in the world of men, mean nothing, absolutely nothing, before the judgment seat of Christ. I have decided therefore, along with the apostle Paul, to wait until then, to see what really matters and in the meantime, learn from the wild, wild men of the west by taking note of both their mistakes and their marvelous feats of faith. Dear friend what about you? How wild do you want to get? How wild dare you get?

Listen:- And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Hebrews 11:32-35

Pray: - Lord, keep me form final judgements and help me learn both from others good and great examples as well as their mistakes. Amen.

Nov | 22 | Festal Festus Finishes 'Gits R Dun'

2011-11-22T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- PERSEVERE

Title:- Festal Festus Finishes & 'Gits R Dun'

Haggai 1:8
“Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the LORD.

I suppose out of many Red Neck phrases, the one I like the most is 'Git 'R Dun.' In other words, get her done, get on with it, you now, 'stop yer whining' stop your loudmouth planning and proctrastinating and just 'Git R Dun!'

The apple of God’s eye, the Jewish people, had now returned from Babylonian exile. The task of rebuilding themselves, their nation, their families and communities, was a most enormous one and every last penny was poured into that end! That focal point for the Jews, that centre of the manifest presence of God, the temple of the LORD, was however now being left till last. They had made a good beginning but difficulties and problems had turned a temporary lull, into a long term postponement! “Now,” everyone was agreed, “Was not yet the time to rebuild the temple of the LORD.”

Unfortunately this was not a good move. Whilst leaving the temple of God undone, half built, in ruins, open to the elements, disheveled, lack luster, -you get the picture don’t you? - They had in-fact continued to invest in their own homes in a substantial manner. Indeed, what was meant for God was going to themselves. ( Oh, and by the way, this isn’t a message about money. It’s far more important than that! )

I am not a good finisher. Countless projects yet to be completed are testimony to that. Examining myself, I am aware of a number of reasons for this. However one that bobs to the surface of my unfinished waves the most, is the lack of FOCUSED PERSEVERENCE. Interestingly, I have observed that this is a particularly bad trait in the area of many of our spiritual lives. Maturity, growth, healing, possession of the land, does not come without a fight which in turn is often a grueling and exhausting experience. So when the tiredness sets in, the tendency of many of us after making such a good start, is not to press on through to completion but on reaching these difficulties, to lay our existing un-reached goals aside and like the good Christians we are, begin yet another good start! The results of this are clear, for unfinished works, especially in the spiritual realm, do not lie quietly but rather stand and shout at us as a testimony to inconsistency and then they become a further invitation to spiritual mockery and attack and accusation from the enemy. Consequently, the maintenance of such unfinished work becomes in-fact far higher than the completion of it and if you have a number of these yet to be finished, then be sure, resources across the board, will quite naturally get a little tight!

Of course, in Israel’s case there came a time when God also stepped in and said “Enough! This is embarrassing. You are spread too thin. You have not put Me first. It’s a bit of a disgrace and great danger for you. So for now my children, all My good resources are also withheld from you until you put things right! Laziness, lethargy, un-holiness, death and disease, are all spread by contact you know? Holiness, wholeness, life and prosperity, however, need to be pursued with perseverance. So go up to the mountains, start logging and then COMPLETE THE WORK YOU STARTED! I’ll take pleasure in it, I’ll be glorified, and trust Me, you will be happy. You’ll have enough, you’ll be filled and even be able to save all those resources you have lost to the hungry ground. TRUST ME, put Me first and persevere in the completion of those most spiritual of projects, that I have shown you to do.”

The good news friends, is that the Jews listened to this message from the Lord, attended to the temple and were truly blessed of God in doing so. Now what about us? It is time, isn’t it, for many of us to lay aside our fine houses and our continual good projects that we begin well, and say “Ok Lord. Enough! Where should I first begin to bring to completion, that which I have already started? “Oh Lord! Please finally turn my fretting frustration into thankful festivity.” He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Listen:- Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, spoke the LORD's message to the people, saying, “I am with you, says the LORD.” So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,….. see:- Haggai 1:12-15

Pray: - Lord, show me today, my half built houses. Lord, show me today what You would have me to first attend to and complete. Lord I want to put you first in my life. Please be my building manager today, that I may persevere in such a way, that it would lead to some completion, rest, provision and much greater glory for You, O my God. Amen.

Nov | 21 | The Ruined Truth

2011-11-21T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- VICTORY

Title:- The Ruined Truth

Job 3:14
…..With kings and counsellors of the earth, Who built ruins for themselves,

The prefix to our text today, is the extreme trial and testing of Job At this point in the narrative, after sitting in suffering silence and in communal mourning with his good friends, for 7 whole days and nights, Job finally opens his mouth, cursing the day he was born and wishing he was dead. He is utterly despondent and without hope. Many of you can say now, “been there, done that, seen the video, got the T-shirt!”

It has been my observation that often times in the extremities of our depressed and suffering states, we speak out extreme words of observations and conclusions. They are either pin point accurate assessments, that maybe previously a living ‘hope and desire’ had clothed with possible change, or they are absolute self pitying lies! This particular observation of Job is however, neither of those things.

His exclamation concludes with a statement of comparative and universally agreed support. In other words, this truth stands alone, no one will contest it. It's not just his depression and despondency speaking, no, it's the truth! Kings and counselors may build kingdoms and empires for themselves and stud them with glittering diamonds of palaces for both the winter and the summer months but in the end, they build for themselves, ruins.

This at the very least should jolt us into refocusing our eyes. As I write today, I remind myself that libraries are filled with thousands upon thousands of forgotten books. As the dead are brought back from current wars and interned in the earth, I remind myself that even Arlington cemetery was once a house for the living, that now looks out over ¼ million dead and will no doubt have it's real estate expanded even further. Some of these forgotten corpses even now lay in unmarked graves and tombs but no matter, for in the end no one will remember even those presently marked in the dirt, once loved and known, when all their left behind worldly estates, be they vast or miniscule, are possessed by someone else's driven dreams and eaten up by some one else's consuming progress until they are like them, in the end, gone and never to be thought upon! We must remember that each of us building in this world, build for ourselves ruins. It's all very depressing isn't it?

And so it should be. It takes countless repetition to knock it into our thick heads that THIS IS NOT IT! Matter is the MOST real illusion that you will ever come across. Take a piece of wood and crack yourself over the head with it and BAM! You’ll find it real. Yet catch it on time lapse photography over the years and watch it disintegrate. Throw it on the fire and watch it burn, introduce it to some termites and see it get chomped and collapse into dust. Do you get my point? Dear friends what will you make of these things and the ruined truth that Job leaves you with today? How then will you live? What will you be building today?

Listen:- According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15

Pray:-Lord, help me to build enduring works in heaven. Show me real treasure, for all I see that glitters is not gold at all. Show me the precious diamonds, for most shiny things that I lust after, do not last forever. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Nov | 20 | The Frozen Chosen & The Daring & Dangerous Disciples

2011-11-20T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- The Frozen Chosen & The Daring & Dangerous Disciples

Luke 7:34, 35
The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” But wisdom is justified by all her children.

The longer I live and the more I see grace bend and reach in it’s attempts to gather and to embrace those that are contrary to the gospel, the more I see the rise of religious protectionism. Such protectionism dresses itself up in the most seemingly righteous of garbs. The oldest of fashions worn by such ‘Evangelical Protectionists’ is that tasty little number called ‘defending the truth once delivered to the saints.’ This is rich and well hung material, draped over the whole being and covering the total body from the 'paps' to the pavement, making sure there is nothing to embarrass or reveal. It is a full and four season ensemble and its various forms are called

‘protecting the pulpit’,
‘turning our nation back to God,’
‘defending our children,’ and
‘standing firm on the word of God.’

Honestly, any one of the four of these striking little numbers, make the wearer look as awesome and self righteous as the statue of liberty holding the burning lamp of freedom and like Lady Liberty, the wearers of these fine garments are also in pristine condition, well kept and stuck on an island; whose only use now is to stand as a neat, judgmental and theologically well stocked museum as to what once was a living gateway into new and exciting life.

John the baptizer, that preacher extraordinaire, was substantially different to Jesus in both his deportment and delivery. These museum keepers I write about watched him and then caricatured him as ‘possessed by demons’. Jesus came eating and drinking, and yes it was wine and yes it was alcoholic, and some of it was home brewed at Cana and these SAME pristine protectionists bedecked in these fine and righteous clothes watched Him closely as well and concluded that He was a glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Jesus mixed with the wrong crowd in the wrong way yet was gracious to instruct the pristine protectionists regarding His methodology in saying that ‘grace comes in many forms and in the end the wisdom of such a delivery is respected by those with true blood ties.’

Today, Ellis Island is now closed and the Statue of Liberty is simply another well maintained national monument. People appear to be coming into America, the land of liberty, through completely different ports and by surprisingly different means. Students of Kingdom immigration should take note of this.

Grace today has moved many Christians to remove themselves from simply standing and shining, to practicing and proclaiming in daringly provocative ways These gracious Christians, swimming in true liberty and freedom are dangerous people to the protectionists. These are people of grace who have left the well kept boundaries and ventured abroad with The Message, and ‘it’s dangerous Jerry, very very dangerous!’ - for Kingdom immigration has always been a messy business and never neat and tidy. It always will be.

Should you be under the impression that I am advocating a social gospel, let me assure you that I am! From the get go, the gospel has always had a social impact, it always has and let’s never forget it. It is time for Lady Liberty and the Puritanical Protectionists to hitch up their fine skirts, step off the island and take that burning torch out into the milling mass of fallen and foul humanity. When the peculiar people, the strange and statuesque, get the blood of aids victims on their clothes, the stench of the poor in their nostrils and are seen to weep over the maimed and legless, blind and burned victims of war, then maybe Christianity will turn from its plummeting decline and begin to live again in our land.

So there is trouble brewing and I think there needs to be, for once statues start walking and start talking, start reaching and start embracing, they turn into human beings! That’s a blessing to those to whom they go but a curse to those whom they leave behind. Where shall you pitch your tent today? Amongst the frozen chosen, or amongst the daring dangerous disciples of the Lord?

Listen:- The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, O LORD, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight. Put them in fear, O LORD, That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Psalm 9:17-20

Pray: - MY JESUS, MY SAVIOUR, Lord, there is none like You. All of my days I want to praise, the wonders of Your mighty love. My comfort, my shelter, Tower of refuge and strength, let every breath; all that I am, Never cease to worship You. Amen.

Nov | 19 | The Shining!

2011-11-19T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- CLEAN

Title:- The Shining!

Exodus 3:7
Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

It was today in 1863 that Lincoln made his famous Gettysburg address. In the demanding times that the civil war brought upon the North, Lincoln was called upon to honor the soldiers who fought and died at Gettysburg. While opening a portion of the bloody battlefield as a commemorative cemetery, saying that it was ‘fit and proper’ that they should do this, he was quick to further honor the sacrifice by saying that “in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our power to add or detract.” Lincoln says in effect, that the action and sacrifice of the battle alone, had secured forever in history, the sacred nature of that place.

Since then many presidents, prime ministers, dictators and kings have referenced pivotal events and places in their county’s past and deemed them to be sacred. To a lesser extent we as individuals somewhat do the same with birthdays, weddings, places of conversion or calling, and why not? To us they are special times and sacred places; turning points, reference points for our very life. Why shouldn’t they be holy? After all the world is full of ‘holy places’, from Jerusalem to Canterbury; from Glastonbury to Mecca.

Barbara Streisand is reputed to have heard the song ‘Holy Ground’ at president Clintons inauguration and to have been so impressed and inspired by it, that she concluded: ‘as God is omnipresent, then everywhere must be holy. This whole planet is holy!’ Some might extrapolate the thought even further and say that ‘if God is omnipresent, then God is in hell, and then even hell is holy.’

In all this wild consecration, in all this man making of Mecca’s, of holy places and times, my personal conclusion is that it is not the actions, choices, nor the events and desires of men that makes a place holy, no, it is indeed only God that makes a place holy and it is not just the ‘presence of God’ mind you, but the actual and very ‘touchdown of God.’ This turns a humble place into a holy palace. I wonder if the command to remove our shoes in the presence of such touching, is not only a sign of respect and abandonment, but is an invitation for us to partake in His holiness? To touch the very same place that God is touching.

So I put it to you that when God is touching and inhabiting a temporal place, it is, then and there, holy ground. In this way, places are holy, in this way folks, people are holy! Dear Christian friend, IN ALL THE PLACES OF THIS WORLD, YOU ARE HOLY BECAUSE GOD IS IN YOU. YOU ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. GOD IS IN YOU. YOU ARE HOLY! Together, we the gathered church, as a body and not as a building, constitute the manifest and Holy presence of God in this world. We are holy because God is with us. Maybe people should take their shoes off when approaching us, for where they tread and touch, is truly holy ground.

So how are you living today holy friend? Consecrated? Set apart, unsullied, shining? Let me encourage you my brother and my sister, to make sure that where every place the soul of your foot shall tread today, you leave a footprint of sparkling holiness for all the world to see.

Listen:- Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13-16

Pray: - Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.
Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee

Nov | 18 | Dooms-Day ‘Date Rape’

2011-11-18T01:30:00.002Z

Key Word:- CONSIDER

Title:- Dooms-Day ‘Date Rape’

Acts 5:36-38
For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed.

There is nothing new under the sun, including the prevalence of false prophets. They are scary enough themselves but even more disconcerting and frightening are the numerous people who by deception, desperation and deprivation, follow these lunatics, these ravenous wolves, these wandering stars, in their droves!

Today is the anniversary of the Jonestown massacre of 1978 which involved the mass suicide over 900 people. It is one of many highly publicized incidents of false prophets and doomsday cults with death on their mind. I have no problem in attributing these things to demonization, especially that of the leaders.

The advent of ‘Postmodernism’, where the only real truth is your own truth, the only valid narrative is your narrative, your story; in my mind, leads us to seeing even more of these kind of incidents in the coming years. False prophets, ravenous wolves, clothed initially in gentleness and affability, will be on the increase. Empowered by demons they shall exhibit great shows of power and many lying wonders. The keyword that shall attend their ‘feasting’ shall be deception. Jesus says, “watch out, this deception shall be so thorough that even the elect may be taken in!”

Jesus has clearly warned us that these people shall come and shall deceive never the less, they shall be able to be recognized by their fruit. Now here’s the rub: what kind of fruit should we be looking for ? Shockingly, I need to tell you today that the fruit we shall see in false prophets is one of rape!

Friends, these false prophets are in the end violent rapists. They rip and tear and rob people of what is rightfully theirs. They rape people of their judgment, their emotions, their personality, their family, their self worth, their dignity and especially their goods. For sure friends, the false prophet’s message may sound all lovely and gentle at first, or righteous and revolutionary even, just what you’ve been longing for, you know? But in the end, the deceit will take from you and if needs be, shall rip from you and publicly rape what is rightfully yours, as if you had been easily drugged, deadened and dreadfully deceived in the seemingly nice nectar of a deceitfully spiked date rape. The carnage shall be such that those raped in such a manner shall appear to have been devoured by wolves.

Watch out for oversize eyes and noses today, even if they lay under your Grandma’s bonnet. If you see a flash of sharp and glittering whiteness amidst the glitzy smile, then be assured that its his razor edged carnivorous teeth you see and at some point, it will be lunchtime!

In all your journeying friends, don’t forget the common sense God gave you and remember His warnings regarding the rise of these clever and predatory religious monsters.

Listen:- “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn-bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Matthew 7:15-20

Pray: - Jesus, keep me strong in You and in Your absolute truth; make me an assured person, rooted in Your Word and bold to speak out against the sight of fangs. In your great name I pray, amen.

Nov | 17 | Maiming Mephibosheth

2011-11-17T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- REPENT

Title:- Maiming Mephibosheth

Psalm 34:18
The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Denzel Washington, plays the fallen and haunted, former U.S. Marine and lead character, in the 2004 Film, ‘Man on Fire.’ Based on the novel of the same name by A.J. Quinnell, though fiction, the film is supposed to be a construct of several true stories and personalities, especially that of the American hero, ‘Creasey.’

The selling point of the book and the film, is that great attraction to fallen humanity of ‘redemption through ordeal.’ Indeed, many have speculated that this is why Quinnell’s character ‘Creasey,’ remains very popular in Japan, where the cultural attraction of stories of ancient ‘Ronin’, or shamed Samurai, fighting to regain their lost honor, still draw greatly on Japanese cultural roots and so consequently, still retain an high dollar value! My point is this: because of the work of God’s grace, there often arises something in Christians, that both wants to redeem ourselves and make amends for what we have done. The difficulty and danger we have in religion, is marrying this desire of ‘restitution’ with the need for ‘personal redemption.’ Penance, which involves either eternal or temporal ‘redemption through ordeal,’ all sounds so honorable, so wonderful, so possible, so glorious, so why not do it; and even better why not 'can it, pack it and sell it'! We have forgotten that the backlash to this packaging of penitential redemption, was one of the main driving forces in the Reformation. Yet penance, still has great influence on our lives.

So, let me cut to the chase and ask you this: “What ‘trial by ordeal’ are you consciously or unconsciously subjecting yourself to today, in the hope of ‘penancing’ your way into feeling better, or changing your circumstances?” Or how about this: “How and why do you continue to punish yourself, for already forgiven sins?”

Now don’t get me wrong, grief, remorse, and restitution, or if you will, the practicalities of making amends; may all be a necessary part of the ‘panoply of repair’ needed for healthy emotions and relationships. I also acknowledge that these things have never been an academic or intellectual exercise. No. They cut deep into our present reality and change the course of our personal history. I think for example of the man I met a few years ago, who upon becoming a Christian, confessed to his boss, that he had been cheating on his traveling expense. Though we were talking about extremely small sums of money, he felt he needed to make open confession and restitution. He lost his job, and quite probably any hope of being hired in the same professional field he was extensively trained and superbly gifted to fill. Or, how about the former ‘playboy’ husband with four children, who over recent years has fallen in love with his wife, honored and adored his children, become a Christian and a deacon in their local church, who, wanting to make amends with those within and outside of his family that he has hurt, eventually owns up to multiple adultery, only to find himself divorced, separated, excommunicated, and penniless, living in an efficiency apartment, all alone. I wonder if both circumstances were an act of unwarranted penance?

The church has always had these problems to deal with. At the beginning of the 21st century, as the former mafia men, corporate hucksters, gang members, drug dealers, sex offenders, secret porn consumers, all come into the church, (well, admittedly, the porn consumers are already there) we shall have to deal with redemption and it’s consequences in ways we have yet to dream of. Oh, and lest we get a holier than thou kind of attitude, it is my belief, that if every Christian were to write into the Inland Revenue, confessing and making amends for every cent they had withheld from the government, then we could in one fell swoop of confession and contrition, overwhelm the beaurocracy of our land to a stunned and startling stand still!

Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, of the house of Saul, had been dropped as a child by his fleeing nurse. Consequently, he was maimed and incapable of walking at all. This is the biblical picture of a contrite heart. It is one of maimed brokenness, of poor and utter dependence. It contrasts directly with the proud, arrogant, and ‘I don’t care ‘coz’ I can fix it’, kind of heart. It does not prefix some internal or external quest for redemption by ordeal but limply and beggarly, lies weeping for grace before the eternal throne of God.

Have you got this kind of contrite heart? Good. Now be wise with it.

Listen:- “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.” Isaiah 66:2b

Pray: - Lord, You redeem. Lord, You restore. Lord, You reclaim. Lord help me today in Jesus name I pray, AMEN.

Nov | 16 | Three Answers To Envy

2011-11-16T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- PEACE

Title:- Three Answers To Envy

Mark 15:9,10
But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.

Envy has been described as a 'painful or resentful awareness of another's traits, status, abilities, or situation, joined with the desire to possess those things, or dispossess the owners of them.' Nasty eh? Very NASTY!

Over the centuries 'envy' has been described as one of the '7 BIG deadly sins', simply because of the seen and felt devastation it brings with it seemingly both here and some may say, in the hereafter. I introduce these two little words, 'here and hereafter', to give us some Biblical and necessary grounds of context. Remember, there is this life and there is the after life; there is the temporal and there is the eternal; there is a now and there is the later; there is mortality and there is immortality. Need I go on?

So the Bible presents us with a distinct contextual contrast for us to understand both this world and the battle against envy. In effect, God says we must, “experience the now, in the context of that which is to come,” and that will help us in the battle against envy. Now don't get me wrong, this is not some spin on Eastern Karmic perceptions, where you either glibly and painfully accept all social station as either your Karmic destiny or some false reality to be simply ignored! No, it’s not that. Neither is it some religious 'opiate for the masses', to try and sedate their suffering and deprive them of their true happiness in this world. No, it’s neither Karmic shackles nor religious Opium induced coma, no sir, this is a very clear and very wonderful Biblical context, for the Bible says “there is a more permanent life to come; so live in light of that and it will help you to become more than a conqueror with respect to this most destructive disease called envy.”

However, the current western coaching guru says, “If you see someone better off than yourself and you wish to be like them, then improve yourself. Emulate the good and profitable things they do, so that you too may attain to what they have. Whatever that may be. After all, this is what God wants for you: Material Blessing!” Now of course, that statement by the western coaching Guru started well, but ended in the last phrase with the foundation of every Western self help tool and health, wealth and prosperity message you will ever hear, and frankly, I don't buy it friends. I just don't buy it! Our goal you see, is not material blessing.

Sure, it’s OK for us to improve ourselves and others, even though social equality is not the Christian goal either! Also I mean, c'mon, the truth is that with material improvement, social equality is rarely the true goal; self-improvement always takes precedence over social equality and the main problem we have with self improvement is that it is often to the detriment of others, which in turn, produces envy in those who do not have, and envy then grows ever bigger and like a growling mastiff, is ever and always found crouching at their door.

As a side note, I do wonder if whenever the sins of greed and repression have led to the robbery of the poor, that it is then imperative for the us, the Kings of the Kingdom to take social action for justice for the poor? For surely this Kingdom of God must be a reign of righteousness and justice? Ah maybe in this side issue, now we’re getting there! Our context must always be the Kingdom, the Kingdom which is eternal and even now touches our temporal footsteps in envy killing justice. For you see, in the Kingdom of God the poor are always catered for.

Amidst all the envy that will undoubtedly arise in our hearts at some time, from my meanderings of today, may I leave you with just three key words, three weapons, if you will, to help you in the battle.:-

First of all, CALLING. What has God called you to do? This calling may involve the sacrifice of those things that others find common place and necessary to happiness in this life. However, this calling may also mean the acquiring of those things which some people might find excessive and unnecessary to the enjoyment of this life. Who knows? It's between you and the Lord. The point is this: What is your calling? What does God want you to do? It is that calling within you, which you are accountable for. Follow this calling to the full and it will help to keep you from envy. Do not compare yourself with others, for you are fulfilling your own destiny with the Divine when you are following your own personal calling!

Secondly, CONTEXT. We live in a world that is passing away; a world of fleeting shadows. We sojourn through it in a body which is daily wearing out and pushing ever slowly on along the plains of pain, where we most certainly find ourselves 'nightly pitching our moving tent a days march nearer home.' It's all dust and air friends, everything. Bear this in mind. So give both your hearts desire and your current but passing situation, the right context to express itself which is in fact, this passing context of dust and air! This CONTEXT of rust and rot will always help keep you from envy.

Lastly, KINGDOM. Jesus was very clear on this, that whatever we do it should be done in the pursuance and in the eternal and permanent context of His Kingdom. When we live in the context of the Kingdom, we can be fully assured that on the testimony and stated word of Jesus, yes indeed, "all that we need shall be freely given to us." We have therefore no need of envy, for what has been needed has been given, and indeed, will be given!

Finally, in addition to these three words, in a very real sense we need to know this last terrible truth: Envy, will always at last give up Christ to be crucified, envy will always sacrifice others. So then I leave you with this terrible thought and three answers to envy today; 'Calling, Context and Kingdom.' He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Listen:- Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day; For surely there is a hereafter, And your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18 .

Pray:- Dear Jesus, let me emulate You. Help me to be content in the pursuance of my calling, within the furtherance of Your kingdom, to the eternal betterment of myself and all whom I touch in this context of dust and air, in Your great name I pray, Amen.

Nov | 15 | Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves

2011-11-15T01:30:00.008Z

Key Word:- BECOME

Title:- Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves

Jeremiah 35:6,7
“We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, 'You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons, forever. You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.”

One of the highlights of my pre-teenage life in the 1970s, was the annual arrival of the traveling Gypsy Fairground which would arrange itself on the coal slack floor of an abandoned railroad station in my small town. Dangerous rides, toffee apples, candy floss, small-time gambling, bright lights, orange gold fish in clear plastic bags, coconut shies and popping air guns that formed part of a comic 1812 overture of grinding Wurlitzer music, all accompanied by humming generators and the smell of diesel and air pellet cordite. It was fantastic!

At that time Gypsies, or ‘Gypos’ as we disdainfully referred to them, were the most exciting, dangerous and exotic people me and my young pals had ever come across and so like most things we don’t understand, or find frightening, or that does not conform to our norm, we held them in dreadful derision! ‘Cher’ didn’t help with the release of her 1971 hit single, ‘Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves,’ which also painted them in the same stunningly disdainful light.

More than anything though, I remember that Gypsy kids, despite always having very dirty faces, scraped knees and torn clothing and snotty noses, were never the less, seemingly stronger and healthier than many of us were and were always ready for a fight. My father, a fighter himself, stopped going to the fairs long before this, having bemoaned the passing of the gypsy boxing booths that used to accompany these traveling extravaganzas! These places of punishing pugilism, were extremely popular in his time, indeed, it was not too long ago that I myself bumped into the women's undefeated world 'fly' and 'bantam' weight boxing champion, 'Battling Barbara Buttrick,' who then in her 70's, started her career long ago, in these same Gypsy fighting arenas. Gypsies! Well so what? Well today in 1943 Heinrich Himmler made public an order which placed Gypsies on the same level as the Jews. Around ½ million gypsies were exterminated in the death camps, though many experienced fates worse than death, in the cruel experiments that preceded both their gassing and their burning.

The ‘Kenites’ of Bible times were Nomads, Gypsies if you will, who accompanied the Israelites into the land of promise. Moses favored and married a Kenite wife and Jael, of ‘tent peg through the temple’ fame, was also the wife of Heber, a ‘Kenite.’ The ‘Rechabites’, were descended from these same fiery ‘Gypo’ folk then and made sure they retained their nomadic and Gypsy like lifestyle even after Israel settled in the land. John of Jerusalem, reports that Jonadab the Rechebite was a disciple of the prophet Elisha and it was this same Jonadab that led his tribe into a religious and aesthetic lifestyle where they kept themselves as Gypsy strangers and Gypsy pilgrims in the land, separate from sin, pure in action, faithful in conduct. These particular Gypsies were neither tramps nor thieves but honored by God Himself, who pronounced that a son of Rechab would minister before Him forever. Imagine that! A ‘Gypo’ standing before God forever.

What can we take from all of this today? Well, maybe three important things.

First let’s note that in the end, racist evil is all consuming. It may begin by being discriminatory but at the last, it will burn us all up. Let’s remain at peace with all who wish to remain at peace with us. Let’s do evil to no one. Let’s not let this genocidal genie out of its bottle again.

Secondly, lets learn that God has His people everywhere. In heaven there shall appear before His great and Majestic throne, all of our brothers and sisters from every tribe and tongue.

Lastly remember, learn and never forget that God honours those who are committed to journeying with Him, whoever they are!

Let me ask you today then dear friend, does any of your life bear the marvelous mark of the Gypsy? It appears to me that God greatly loves the traveling man, the fighting man, the man of horse and no fixed abode.

Listen:- These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:13-16

Pray: - Jesus, may my vows honour You and may both they and You bless my children for ever and ever in Your great name I pray, amen.

Nov | 14 | Tattyfilarious!!

2011-11-14T01:30:00.000Z

Key Word:- GIVE

Title:- Tattyfilarious!!

2 Corinthians 9:7
So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

When it comes to communication Ken Dodd is one of my mentors. (Yes you can have mentors without them knowing about it!) He is a long standing ‘stand up’ comedian who regularly is able to place audiences consistently at the edge of their seats, as they hang on to his every word for hours at a time. Over the years, using comic hyperbole, he has invented his own words to hyper express his feelings. Life or events, for him are not nice, pleasant, cheerful, happy, or even hilarious! No, they are way beyond those common descriptions, they are ‘tattyfilarius.’ Now, believe it or not, this is the attitude that God appreciates about us most when we offer Him our hard earned cash. Yes, God loves a ‘tattyfilarius’ giver!

Now I know that whenever we stray into areas of the wallet and the bank account, we step into some very troubled waters. So today friends, be gracious with me for in my present understanding of scripture, though I see tithing as Biblical, I do not see it as a New Testament practice.

I do believe that we New Testament Christians should give and should give regularly. Those in leadership do need to set budgets and do need to present the needs to whoever benefits from their ministry, and through those same people, should expect those reasonable needs to be met! However, having made sure the people who minister to us are more than well taken care of financially, that our premises are presentable, functional, welcoming and our bank accounts are in the black; then maybe it’s between us and the Lord where we give the rest of our money? ‘Liberalism,’ I hear you shout! Fiscal Disaster for the local church!

Well, it is a bit scary having to rely on the God the Holy Spirit about where to give and how much to give isn’t it? Sometimes rules are far better, though friend they are very restrictive, and our lives shouldn’t be restricted, no, they should be ‘tattyfilarius’ , as should our giving.

The Scriptures tell us that God loves a cheerful giver and it is from this Greek word so translated in the text that we derive our English word of hilarious. Now in my mind, even Webster fails to adequately describe the intent of this word hilarious when describing it as “high spirits that may be carried to the point of boisterous conviviality or merriment”. Good grief Charlie brown, no! This biblical word is much more than that! It is an excessive word and without any restrictions, it’s boundless and even the English tramsalted word of ‘hilarious’ is just not large enough to communicate the original greek words attitude of the both the giver and the giving! It’s excessive you see and therefore no wonder then that Ken Dodd had to invent a comedic word to express his own very excessive emotions. And I suppose now I have introduced two more stumbling words for some of you! Emotion and excessive.

Well, stumble ye not. This is marvelous freedom. God says give, but when you do, make sure you do it with hilarious abandon, being emotional and excessively grateful that I have prospered you with enough faith and means to do so. “I love that” says God. “I just love it!” And in this it is evident that God wants our giving to be a blessing to Him, to us, and to others.

I heave heard of 'reverse tithers.' You know, people who give 90% and keep 10%. That's quite a feat. However, if you are a multi-millionaire then keeping 10% of what you get is still a lot of money to live on isn’t it! Now reverse tithing sounds great, but I know a few billion folk who could live like kings on the retention of less than ½% of some of these salaried reverse tithers! I’m not knocking it folks, just offering some perspective here! It’s not just the mightily rich that can give more than 10%!

As for me, I have purposed to give more than 10% of my gross income to God and presently am by faith often able to do so, on a regular basis. By faith I say because sometimes my faith doesn’t even stretch to that magic figure of 10%! My goal, percentage wise, is to give a whole lot more than the Christian mandatory and yet quite culturally acceptabe 10% of what I get given, back to God. You can be impressed at this if you want or even angered at my openness or maybe even suspicious of my designs and purposes, and no doubt possibly even 'niffed' at my supposed arrogance. But you see, I don't care! This giving is between me and my God and I want to live ‘tattyfilariusly’ in this. I have to do this folks because I have so many reasons to hang on to my money that I am like an alcoholic with it. Once I get a little I want more but the problem for me is that when I get more, I forget who I am.

Giving ‘tattyfilariusly’then is not just protectionism on my part though, Oh no! Truth is I do find this a very happy challenge. Be sure that doing it earns us no more points with God and there's no pressure from Him in it, for there is no biblical mandate for the amount we give this week or next, whatsoever, it's just something I presonally purpose to do, it's a 'personal faith challenge' if you will. Hey, and if I never make it sometimes, then that's fine as well! My point is this, I want to live life in a ‘tattyfilarius’ kind of way. Happily abandoned to the grace of God, in this particular grace of giving. Why not join me today.

Listen:- What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:31-33

Pray: - Lord, help me test You in this ‘tattyfilariusly’way of giving and then make note to see if I can out give You. Each day I know, I shall ‘tattyfilariusly’ fail in trying to do this. In any event O Lord I want to make You happy in my giving. Yes I do, in Jesus name, amen.

Nov | 13 | Dealing With Hyde, BY LIFE, not Suicide

2011-11-13T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- LIFE

Title:- Dealing With Hyde, BY LIFE, not Suicide

Romans 7:21-23
I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members

Robert Louis Stevenson was born today in 1850. Among his classic works is the novel entitled, ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.’ Stevenson’s character, Dr Jekyll, is a well brought up; happy honorable and educated man who had never the less some secret sins of which he was thoroughly ashamed. The story line is that Dr Jekyll believing the soul to contain both good and evil, experiments with various potions, to thus separate the evil from the good. Unfortunately in this process of chemical experimentation, the alter ego, the repugnant and repulsive evil persona of Mr. Hyde is unconditionally released and eventually takes the good Doctor Jekyll over and the only way he can then eventually free himself from the evil Mr Hyde’s atrocities, is by committing suicide. It’s a happy little novel! On the release of the book, one homosexual friend of Stevenson wrote to him very upset remarking , “I doubt whether anyone has a right to scrutinize the abysmal depths of personality.”In response, Stevenson wrote “Jekyll is a dreadful thing, I own; but the only thing I feel dreadful about is that damned old business of the war in the members. This time it came out; and I hope it will stay in, in future.”

Stevenson, brought up under Scottish Calvinism, was well versed in the scriptures. Whether he was eventually converted is a matter of continued discussion. However, he was aware of a gross internal struggle within him. A war in his members, in his very being between good and evil. That at least gives us some cause for rejoicing at the possibility of his salvation.

Before we become Christians the dual combination of the testimony of outward creation to the holiness and glory of God and the inward voice of that local county sheriff, called conscience, both continue to make war against that rebellious and destructive evil within us and we at times, most definitely do feel the product of this battle's gut wrenching dives, and fully experience the slamming struggle within as it slams into the wall of sin. The battle of the witness of both conscience and creation and the darkness within us may mightily rage but friends it is all to no avail and the two witnesses shall never have the victory until God’s blessed Holy Spirit, steps into our ring and then sometimes for a lifetime, along with the dynamic duo of the witness of consci3nce and creation, wrestles and strives with us to both reveal the depths of the evil Hyde hidden within us and the lovely escape route of redemption that is only found in Jesus. When we through the Holy Spirits work and revelation eventually come to Jesus for forgiveness and cleansing, when we do this, then God Almighty Himself as Victor and Conqueror, overcomes the power of sin in us by taking up residence with us, right there in the midst of our enemies and makes a table of refreshment and delight by giving us a new man beating with a new heart, totally and wholly righteous in Him, which must then become our new centre and our new inner home in which we will then reside. When we do this, when we allow the new man, the hidden man of the heart to emerge, we find this to be the new us, even THE REAL US.

We would assume then that with the presence of God Himself and the new house of the new man in us, that all would be well for the Christian. You and I know however, this it is not so. Why is that?

Well, first know this fact. The old man, the flesh, that body of evil and sin, that Hyde hidden within in, though defeated is not yet removed and being still with us, it never changes! Most us spend a lot of our lives trying to change Mr Hyde. It can never be done. He is still in us and beyond redemption! Hyde shall never get any better. Like I said, amidst the good news for the Christian is the bad news for us it that sin's foul and falling tendencies are not removed this side of the adoption, even the resurrection of our bodies. In other words we have to live with this body of death until we get to heaven, where we shall only then, at last, not only be freed from the penalty and power of sin but from its very presence within. I can’t wait for that folks! Until then though, the battle rages on.

Until heaven then, how should we live? After all, are we not the ‘much more’ generation of Romans chapter 5? Yes we are. So troubled friend here is my message in a bottle for you today, to set to float upon your trouble seas: Here it is O warring warrior: “There is no condemning of you, for you are in Jesus and you owe it to Him not to live as a servant to the sin nature still growling within you, but as a slave to Him who redeemed you. Know you are indeed forgiven in Him. So by faith believe it to be true and yield and offer yourself moment by moment to Jesus. Love Him, obey Him, live Him! Know that He has given you a good and righteous, sparkling new heart and that there is in you a deeper desire, a stronger current, a purer water that would always honor both Him and the real you. Reach in and touch it, taste it, let it refresh you today.” How do you do that? Well ask God the Holy Spirit to begin to clear the way for Lazarus to come forth. Allow God to begin to deal with the things that hinder internal resurrection and get Him to move the rocks, cut the chains, clear out the baggage, unplug the wells, you know what I mean! Then having dealt with both baggage and blockage let the new man live by asking God to ‘call Him forth’ in a multitude of ways for friend, when your split and fragmented self begins to coalesce in peace and true self worth; when the fruit of such coalescence is picked and tasted and found to be refreshing by those that sit beneath your tree. Then maybe you shall together experience the title deeds of Romans 7. Get out your Bible and read them and make them yours today.

Listen:- For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1

Pray: - Clear the way O God. Clear and call dear Jesus. Clear and Call life amongst the warring dead.

Nov | 12 | Finding the Fragments

2011-11-12T01:30:00.000Z

Key Word:- HOPE

Title:- Finding the Fragments

Micah 7:8
Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me.

Only God can put together a broken person.

My dog ‘Patch’ knew when I was coming home from school. His internal clock ticked away, accurate to a second and led to expectant barking each weekday at 3:30pm. My dad, then ill and laid off work, let him out that day to come and greet me. Now my Patch was a clever dog but had never been to traffic school. I found him dead at the side of my road home. It broke my heart.

My dad should have known better, as this wasn't my dog's first clash with traffic. The last time had led to his back leg being torn wide open. Then, Patch returned home bent and bloody and somehow, limped up the stairs and into the house, dragging his brokenness behind him. Then crawling under the bed, he protected himself as best he could, settled and staring, looking out and licking his gaping wound. Any approach, even from me, led to bared teeth, snarling snapping and grievous growling. It was some time before we could approach the hurt him, recover him and rescue him; remove him to a better place of help. Wounded animals, are very dangerous you know. Very hurt indeed.

I wonder dear friend, if today you are reading this from somewhere underneath a bed. Your wound, open red and gaping, seeping with hurt before your weeping eyes. I’m so sorry for your pain. So very sorry. “Hush little baby, don’t you cry.” For when everyone is against you, God is for You. When everyone derides you, God shall comfort you. When everyone deserts you, God shall stick with you. When you are leprous and untouchable, God shall reach out and embrace you. When all that you held dear lays shattered at your feet, God shall help you put it together again. When you, yes your very being, when all that you thought you were, is blasted, unpicked, broken and fragmented beyond description, before your little feet, God shall put you together again. There is a hidden path that you have yet to find, and Jesus shall place your shaking feet upon it. Be sure of that dear one.

He shall pick you up, put you together again, dust you off, renew, refresh, re-commission you, strengthen you with angels food for the journey, (far more substantial than any Elven loaf could ever be) and filled with hope and fresh futures, He shall direct you to lands yet travelled; where deserts are turned into gardens and darkness is banished by the light of His felt and manifest love; where you're present cramped places are pushed into wide open prairies, and you shall yet live again dear friend. You shall yet live again.

Lori Chaffer of ‘Waterdeep’ leads us, the fallen, to the elixir of heaven’s love, fizzing with hope, in the lyrics of her song entitled, ‘HUSH’

When you thought you could rest
But you found out you were wrong
And there’s another need another battle
Another one more thing that comes along
And on the inside you hear the fall
But you hate the falling sound
And on the inside you can’t
Pick another broken piece up off of the ground
Well I know

Hush little baby don’t say a word
Daddy’s gone and bought you a great big heaven to rest in
He’s bought it with blood and put the seal in you hearts
It’ll give you the hope you need to get up and start again; again and again,

Today dear friend, let go of the dead and cling to what’s alive.

Listen:- “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” John 14:1-4

Pray: - I will say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As with a breaking of my bones, My enemies reproach me, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God Psalm 42:9-11

Nov | 11 | A Vehement Flame

2011-11-11T01:30:00.000Z

Key Word:- LOVE

Title:- A Vehement Flame

1 Corinthians 13:3
…..though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

In England, under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, several Roman Catholics suffered death for reasons of treason. Previously, under the reign of ‘Mary Queen of Scots’ however, no fewer than 288 people were burned at the stake for reasons regarding their faith.

When the apostle Paul wrote these lines, it is unlikely that as yet any Christians had suffered this burning fate; though the Emperor Nero would soon light his gardens with burning Christians dipped in pitch and set aflame. Over the centuries, tens of thousands would enter heaven via the same route. Of these, I am not worthy to comment upon. The cruelty and brutality of such a fate, moves my mind to a stunned silence.

Now having faced some of the facts, let us face the text. The apostle Paul here is not using a literary device to make a point. He is, by a final and horrific contemplation of a cruel death, pointing to the over riding, all encompassing necessity, of true love. This final phrase is his terrible prefix to the unpacking of that key element, which is the only true driving force and final yardstick by which we will all be measured against. Love.

Love which is selfless, outward looking, inward longing, pleasantly pleasing, prayerfully pleading with people to come to the Saviour. Love which is unfailing, all bearing, all believing, and unrelenting in the hope of better things, regarding the object it bestows itself upon. Love that does not seek revenge for loss. Loss of face, loss of goods, loss of spouse, loss of children, loss of dignity, loss of life. Quiet love, humble love; love whose thoughts and intents, sparkle in pristine purity.

Let us stop playing games and weep before this vehement flame of love, longing for it’s possession, longing for it to be kindled in our hearts. Imagine how the world, a nation, a community, a church, or a family could be changed by such a burning love. Things would never be the same again would they?

Friends, whatever you are living for or dying for today, make sure that love is possessed by you and you are possessed by it.

Listen:- “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

Pray: - Lord, in shock and awe I lay before this text today, fearful to pray, fearful to ask to be taught to love in such a way, unable in my old self, to live in such a way. So Holy Spirit, release the hidden man of my heart and raise up the new and incorruptible man in me, that I may experience Your power today. Amen.

Nov | 10 | Forming the Famous One!

2011-11-10T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- CHOOSE

Title:- Forming the Famous One!

1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

I have been in the business of ‘Church Planting’, where everything is driven by an underlying ideology and an overlaying strategic purpose. In other words, I have had an active ‘agenda’, a list of things I desire to be completed in a certain way, at a certain time or milepost. As you can imagine, such kind of work means that you seem to live in ‘agenda’ land most of the time and consequently, become very familiar with it’s dress, language, accent and nuance. That being the case, I now easily recognize other people who have their own agendas. Some people's agenda may be overtly malevolent, some may be simply self seeking, others may simply be contrary to your own. Interestingly enough, to all but the malevolent, these ‘agendas’ may not be conscious ones at all but rather are buried, deep beneath the owners surface driving them along subconsciously yet succinctly. The truth is of course: we all have an ‘agenda,’ and then God has His.

Church planting involves a lot of investigation, communication, purposeful planning and vision casting. It’s quite godlike in a way, calling forth the things that are not, as though they were. Of course, conflicts arise when you’re agenda, clashes with other peoples, after all how can two walk together unless they are agreed? Of course when that happens, the ensuing clash of agenda’s cannot be reconciled and so subsequently there must come in some form, a parting of ways. Often times that can be quite nasty, however, with a lot of grace, a closed mouth, and two big flapping ears, most of these kind of agenda clashes can be worked out through communication, amendment, and incorporation and this without violating anyone’s underlying ideology. Most people are reasonable about their agenda. Everyone that is, except God!

God’s agenda regarding us is as profound as it is simple. He will form Christ in us. Make no mistake about this, everything in heaven and in earth is bent towards this overriding purpose of forming Christ in us and when our agendas clash with His regarding this matter, He will not amend it, neither will He accommodate us. No, He simply reaches down, grabs the little list out of our tight gripped fist and tears it up before our wide and watching eyes. No matter how grandiose our plans, or how lofty or sincere our vision, if our agenda does not agree with His, well, tough!

In all the ripping and gazing at tattered pieces trailed along the ground, I have observed one comforting thing. Nothing is wasted. Nothing! Somehow God has incorporated everything into His Sovereign agenda for our lives. Absolutely everything and so that is why we can truly say that ‘All things work together for our good.’

If you are tired of all God’s tearing, then there is only one answer and that is, to get with God’s program. Got it? Good!

Listen:- My little children, for whom I labour in birth again until Christ is formed in you… Galatians 4:19

Pray: - Help me today Holy Spirit, to get with Your program of forming Christ in me. Show me how this forming of the ‘Famous One’ works itself out in my life and in the lives of those You love. Help me to get with Your program, help me to attune my agenda to Yours O God my Father, in Your sons great name I pray, amen.

Nov | 09 | Of True Love & Hateful Halitosis

2011-11-09T01:30:00.000Z

Key Word:- TRUST

Title:- Of True Love & Hateful Halitosis

Luke 6:27-29
“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.”

If there was one verse I was permitted to remove from the Bible then it would be this one. As a man, this verse bothers me greatly. I look at the four ‘hot words’ so providentially, provocatively and purposefully placed here that they move into my heart like a sharp and slow, painfully pushed dagger. ‘Enemy,’ ‘hate,’ ‘curse’ and ‘spiteful.’ Love your enemies! You’ve got to be kidding me? For in my life, when I am so pierced by these four sharp and hot arrows, it makes me want to respond! Surely as a man, I must respond in protection and retaliation for such aggressive actions against my very being. Yes, this is a nasty verse for me and I tell you brethren, out of all four of these horrible words, it is the last one, and purposefully so me thinks, which is the most difficult for me and maybe for you, to deal with, for this word describes a close contact malevolence of the worst kind which carries with it the bad breath of the devil himself. SPITEFULL! You can’t even say it without sounding like a serpent and spitting out poison! sssssSPITEFULL! Hear it?

Scanning a number of New Testament commentaries I am told that the word ‘spiteful’ and all its implications and applications, can be summed up as follows: ‘to insult and slander; to accuse falsely with implications of threats of abuse, coupled with the insulting disdain of one who considers themselves superior.’ Nasty boys, very nasty.

For me, the very unpacking of that word alone, causes every fibre of my being to rise up in self justifying protection, revenge and destruction; and friends, I don’t believe I am talking about the sinful part of my being either but the sensible part! However, what does Jesus say that our equational response to this fourfold attack of fiery words should be?

Enemy=Love!
Hate=Do Good!
Curse=Bless!
Spite=Prayer!

And all God’s people walking in transparent authenticity say: “You’ve got to be kidding Lord!” Unfortunately, He is not.

Maybe the understanding of the whole tenure of scripture will make this verse a little more palatable? So, if I were to sum up the Bible’s teaching on this matter then I wonder if the Scriptures as a whole tell us that: ‘If a nation or an individual, purposes harm against you, then it is the civil and judicial responsibility of that government to protect you and punish them, for they do not wield the sword in vain. If they fail to do this, then that government is bankrupt before God. If however, you are individually attacked in this way, you must be like your Father in heaven, who seeks to do good to those who hate Him.’ There, that's helpful isn't it? Nope! Not really, it hasn't helped me a bit, for you can't rely on the government to help you nowadays and they certainly wont have an armed body guard available just for me twenty four hours a day. No sir a man nowadays needs some muscle, needs some swift retort, needs to look hard, needs to wear a stony countenance, needs to take no nonsense from anyone, yes sir a man today needs a gun! Lord what are You thinking when dealing in such word equations, for they are not easy, they are not sweet to me O Lord but taste so incredulously bitter, that they are almost unpalatable and that's the truth. Lord! Just what are You thinking?

Friends, I think this is as far as I can go with this verse. Except to say, that it is a command and not an instruction. It’s as far as I can personally go with this verse, except to say that Jesus says such responses to hot blades glorifies the Father. It’s as far as I can personally go with this verse, except to say that there is great reward from heaven that accompanies such selfless and seemingly stupid responses. It’s as far as I can personally go with this verse, except to say that obeying it’s commands, makes us Godlike!

Of course, more than anything, the kind of required response Jesus wants from our obedience in these matters is that which humbles us and maybe changes us, in ways we can never dream of, in ways that could be achieved by no other means than this! “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.” May God help us in this, and give us courage and wisdom.

Listen:- But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: Hebrews 10:32-36

Pray: - Lord, I confess that I cannot live like this. It is beyond me, it is not naturally in me. So grant me insight, wisdom, grace, and humility that I may respond in obedience to those hot dark daggers often thrust into my soul. Only Lord, please be sure to be gentle in Your lessons regarding this great request of mine, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

Nov | 08 | The Fair Flag of Future Glory

2011-11-08T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- CONSIDER

Title:- The Fair Flag of Future Glory

Philippians 3:19-21
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, what can I tell you about my beloved England and it’s powerful Christian legacy? The mother of parliamentary democracy, the Pilgrim Fathers, Puritan divines and of course, crumpets, wonderful crumpets! The fact is, I could leave you with such a list of honourable heritage today that it would make you want to root up your family, load up your kids and beg for entrance into such a marvelously brave and culturally diverse Kingdom! Equally, I could provide you with a list of such dreadful failings, that those of us who hail from there, would hang our head in shame and speedily wish to change our passport and our accent.

When loving our nations, true love demands the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Anything else is head-in-the-ground naivety, and dear friends, we as Christians should be mature enough to refuse to play the rah-rah card of juvenile jingoism and sing the silly songs of “how great we are” which tell to ignorant children ardent for some desperate glory, the old lie of: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (It is great and glorious to die for one’s country). Loving our countries to death, surely means leaving behind us a most powerful Christian legacy.

Lest I be misunderstood today, let me say that it is good that we love our country, wherever and whatever our country might be and if necessary, fight and die for what is right in God’s eyes. However, it is better that we as Christians, love our true and solid homeland even more. For we do not serve a monarch, a prime minister or a president, no! We serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Friends, I am convinced that our countries would be far better places if we were the true patriots and active ambassadors of our heavenly home that we should be. My oh my, if we did that what a powerful legacy we should leave behind for future generations. The treasure of a question then is, how do you know when we are not true patriots and active ambassadors of heaven? Well, here is the test: let me ask you, do you eagerly await an all-transforming and all-subduing Saviour who will take you home? Is your mind set on heaven or on this earth? After all, just where is your treasure and what are you living for friends? Your true estate or your real estate? For truly, where you lay your treasure up, there your heart shall be. I think I know the answer to these questions friends, and I think you do too, for really, just what is the legacy left amongst us of the Christian’s longing and looking for heaven, their true homeland?

Well when we look at the lack of powerful Christian legacies, we see that America alone, aborts 1.5 million babies per year. Enough have now been murdered, that the combined total would exceed the current population of a small nation; say, even the population of England! Pornography is the America’s most favourite and not-so-secret pastime, our citizens pouring billions of dollars into the industry each year; and what more could I say about the increasing rise of racism, drugs, crime, murder, sexual predators and offenders, homosexual agendas, same-sex marriage, and so on, so on and so forth. The continents of Europe and now Asia fair no better, and frankly the whole world simply increases in its stink like the old slop bucket that it is, waiting to be emptied.

Meanwhile patriotism continues to be the current hot and hungry word and in my observation, this earthly patriotism has the tendency to be particularly adept in driving dedicated, proud and prayerful Christians to wrap their faith tightly and totally, up in an earthly flag. We must beware of this for I wonder if at times, that though it is possible to wrap right causes up in an earthy flag it is almost never possible to wrap faith up in the same? After all, tell me how many hundreds of thousands of soldiers over the centuries, do you think have prayed to the same God, then rose up under their own flags and killed one another? Do you see what I mean? Faith cannot be wrapped up in an earthly flag! England and America need only look to their own civil and revolutionary wars to see this to be the truth. So I say again, just where are all the powerful Christian legacies?

No, I am not a lefty liberal, neither am I a pacifist. No sir, I am a member of the very far and extremely distant right. I am a soldier. I wear a uniform and carry a weapon. I am a freedom fighter and today, I am longing and looking for a new revolution to rise up amongst my brethren. A real revolution, which is rooted in heaven. For I wonder what our present and passing, earthly homes would look like, if the fair flag of future glory was unfurled to fully fly before them? I need to ask you today then to examine two things. First, the State of your nation and what flag you have wrapped your faith in, and secondly where you have placed your heart and your true allegiance? Surely this shall determine the power of any legacy we eventually leave behind us? THINK ABOUT THAT!

Listen:- Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. Isaiah 40:15-17

Pray: - Lord show me my true flag and the bloody and glorious banners that I march under today. Strengthen my heart, then let the seal of my citizenship break in warmth and wonder upon my blind eyes and my deaf ears. Show me heaven O God, give me a glimpse of my true home, and help me in my forthcoming departure to be assured that I have left behind some powerful Christian legacies. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

Dulce et Decorum Est ~Wilfred Owen

"Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas shells dropping softly behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, -
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori."

Nov | 07 | Of Shouts & Trumpets

2011-11-07T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- PRAISE

Title:- Of Shouts & Trumpets

Joshua 6:5a
It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. .

As a former submarine sonar operator at the end of the cold war, I spent long periods of time, listening to and identifying the sound of enemy ships and submarines. I still remember the distinctive and identifying sound signature of Soviet K Class warships: 2 shafts, 4 blades and lots of resonance. You see, the soviet design of these massive battle cruisers led to a specific structural-acoustic resonance, which produced a kind of ‘singing sound’ in the audible frequency range of humans. ‘Blade resonance’ put a loud and distinct shouting voice to these dangerous behemoths of the past and no doubt upon their detection during the cold war, caused the loading of many a torpedo tube!

On this day in 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State, collapsed into the roaring foam of the Puget Sound beneath. The 2,300 foot long suspension bridge, then the third largest in the world, though built to withstand winds of 120 mph, destroyed itself just four months after it’s completion, in moderate winds of just 42mph. Galloping Gertie, as the bridge had become known, finally fell over the fence! Most engineers now agree that the wind began to resonate with the natural frequency of the structure, causing a steady increase in amplitude, until the bridge finally collapsed.

‘Resonance is the property, which most objects have, of vibrating more strongly when exposed to an external force which is itself vibrating at the object's natural frequency. So what? Well in our text for today, some people have suggested that the combined final shouts and trumpets of the army that silently walked for 7 days around Jericho, was an example of God’s sonic weapon, ‘resonating’ down the mighty walls of Jericho!

I have three simple points today.

First of all friends, find out what it is that makes your heart sing, makes it resonate at it’s natural frequency and then amplifies it some. For example, I know that there are particular activities, people, prayers and programs, and a whole lot more that energize me and fill me with joy and I need to be around that! In this sense we are each tuned to our own particular frequency and find fun, (yes, that is a Christian word), we find fun in operating and living in that area of excitation. We need enough of this to keep us ‘alive’ in our hearts, but not too much to shatter our personhood in selfishness. Think about it and be wise.

Secondly, it is interesting that the Scriptures present sounds which accompany battle, victory, or celebration and festivity. Each sound supremely distinct and each one absolutely necessary. Undoubtedly these sounds, encased in poetic imagery, carry with them accompanying images of purpose. However, I wonder if they do more than pad out the prose? I mean could there be more? I am not talking about some wacky new age crystal vibration humbug here folks, just acknowledging that shouts and songs, tumbrel and trumpet all have a vital, communicative and resonant effect on us and the places we attack.

So let me ask you today friend, what are you listening to? I mean what kind of song is RESONATING in your heart, warming it, soothing it, exciting it, and preparing it for battle? God has put a resident and resonant frequency on your heart and you had better find it friend and live in it. I suppose I am asking you: just what is your shouting voice? Find it.

Lastly, find out what songs and sounds the enemy has robbed you of . Undoubtedly these are the ones he fears the most, for they will bring his strongholds down.

He who has ears to hear; let him hear.

Listen:- For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thess 4:16-18

Pray: - Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, mount of Thy redeeming love.
Oh, singing Saviour, shouting God, give me songs at midnight and shouts in the noon day sun. Amen.

Nov | 06 | How To Unseat The Heavy Horsemen of Hopelessness With Keys

2011-11-06T01:30:00.000Z

Key Word:- HOPE

Title:- How To Unseat The Heavy Horsemen of Hopelessness Using Keys!

Proverbs 13:12a
Hope deferred makes the heart sick. .

“When all hope was lost; he invented it.” So goes the tag line to the 1999 American remake of Frank Beyers ‘Jakob der Lugner’ or ‘Jacob the Liar.’

Robin Williams plays the part of the fictitious Jakob Heym, a poor café owner and Polish Jew held captive and dying in the Warsaw ghetto. His friend, professor and local medical practitioner Dr Kirshbaum, reports to Jakob of a distinct drop in the suicide rate since Jakob reported hearing a favourable report on the radio about allied troop advancements. The word goes out that Jakob has a secret radio and in turn, Jakob is forced into making up even more favourable but false reports to keep people alive in the ghetto, for he has no radio and never had! Even so, the brutalised ghetto population has gained hope through Jakob’s lies and so begins to hang on to the what little life it has. Maybe there is a way out of their hell? Jakob lies to give people hope and keep them alive.

The film, though set around a fictitious character is never the less rooted in both twentieth century atrocity and a timeless truth. “People cannot live without hope.” Just yesterday I met a remarkable man who had shot himself in the foot, he told me that “had heard of other people dying of non life-threatening flesh wounds just because they told themselves they were going to die. So when I accidentily shot myself I just kept telling myself you are not going to die, you are not going to die.” And die he didn’t! Hope you see, is life itself to many injured folk.

Bunyan in that other timeless classic ‘Pilgrims Progress’ has the giant named ‘Despair’ take the characters ‘Christian’ and ‘Hopeful’ into his castle-yard, and show them the high pile of other pilgrim’s bones that had failed to escape his clutches “These,” said he, “were pilgrims, as you are, once, and they trespassed on my grounds, as you have done; and when I thought fit I tore them in pieces; and so within ten days I will do to you: get you down to your den again.” And with that, says John Bunyan, he beat them all the way thither. They lay, therefore, all day on Saturday in a lamentable case, as before. Now, when night was come, and when Mrs. Diffidence and her husband the giant was got to bed, they began to renew their discourse of their prisoners; and withal, the old giant wondered that he could neither by his blows nor counsel bring them to an end. And with that his wife replied, “I fear”, said she, “that they live in hopes that some will come to relieve them;”

Dear Christian friend, if you have no hope in the betterment of your circumstance, if you have no hope of the redemption of your situation, your are in a most pitiable condition and may I tell you that you have undoubtedly been blinded by the enemy and robbed of your inheritance as well as made to suffer for the pure purpose of his own demonic pleasure. Enough, it’s time to flee doubting castle and giant despair! You need that hope you have lost and as a child of God you have every reason to both possess it and to live off it, for hope is your inalienable right and your most reasonable expectation.

This is the second time I have spoken about this despairing kind of hopelessness this year. My reason for doing so, is that I have observed HOPELESSNESS to be a most effective weapon of the enemy, that is consistently brought against the sons and daughters of the Most High God. Hopeless and miserable Christians are an open show of shame in the heavenlies. The enemy delights in such degradation and it is this time of year, this time of autumnal endings and preparations for winter, when the monsters of misery seem to leave that foul pit and plunder the promises left lying around by us lackadaisical Christians. Enough of that! Enough of it!

Recovered hope is the only solution to your despair and is as easy to get as it is difficult to apply.

First, reach into the bosom of your own heart and find the promises of God laid up for you there. He has spoken to you in the past. Remember those words?

Now secondly, reach into the Scriptures and seek out all those words which are “yes” and "let it be so in Christ Jesus.” In other words, take His promises declared to you in the Bible and stick them in your dark dungeons door lock and turn hard. Put some effort into your belief, even get a friend to help you if needs be, even get a giant slayer to pray with you maybe, for sometimes these oppressive monsters of despair almost need crow barring off the backs of beleaguered pilgrims. Yes sometimes we even need deliverance from these oppressive menaces. The lock might be hard, but it must be turned with the keys of promise.

When hope comes through that promise opened door, so comes in the light; when light comes, so comes deliverance; when deliverance comes, then comes life and joy and fruitfulness. Real hope is only contained in the promises of God made toward you in both the Scriptures and in your heart. Go find all those keys of promise for you must have hope to live! Come on now, you can do it! For if lies can keep thousands alive, then how much for the truth can make you live again.

Listen:- Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

Pray: - Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your tabernacle. Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God. Psalm 43:3-5

Nov | 05 | Of Angels Of Protection & Pyramids of Hope

2011-11-05T01:30:00.000Z

Key Word:- HOPE

Title:- Of Angels of Protection & Pyramids of Hope

Ezekiel 36:11b
I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.

I come from a mining community. A town once circled by pit head shafts and rotating wheels, dropping men like moles, into the deep darkness to dig out that black burning fossil called coal.

Just around the corner from I where I lived, Poolsbrook was once a grim dormitory village for “off shift” workers, and like a frightened puppy, lay submissively on it’s bony back, its bent little legs upright and quivering beneath the menacing, grey and growing, slithering slagheaps, whimpering prayers that the terrors of Aberfaan might not visit them there one too wet Tuesday.

Poolsbrook held the felt persona of the ruined black-faced miners, returning to the surface; always coughing, always tired and sweaty, spitting up its own blood in coal dusted coated phlegm. I always remember moving through it quickly, for Poolsbrook, was never a place to stay but always somewhere to pass through and for any youngster born there, growing up under the coal slack grey, Poolsbrook was always somewhere to get out of.

The final closing of the coal industry prefixed by long and running, scabby battles with bussed in policemen, meant in the late 80’s the village finally rolled over and seemingly breathed its last, leaving the scene, raped, ripped and ravaged. The last turn of the pithead wheel ushered in all the terrors of mass unemployment witnessed at the end of the 20th century: collapse of community, splits in family, spliffs of dope and a deluge of desperateness, drugs and crime, together with a dark felt hopelessness and huge male teenage suicide.

Friends, I paint this grim picture today for three reasons. First because that is the way I remember Poolsbrook as a child. Secondly because in my brief visits back after the long miners strike in the 1980’s that is what I witnessed there but thirdly and most remarkably, because from the distance of the 21st century, Poolsbrook seems to live again!

Over the years, government inward investment and redevelopment have led to the building of a pyramid which will be taller than that other recent sign of renewal and rejuvenation ‘The Angel of the North’. Both monuments at the heart of governement killed communities are testimonies to an attempt at successful change and area revitalization. The Poolsbrook pyramid will be seen by millions, as that major artery of transportation, the MI motorway, winds its way through that once industrialized Derbyshire. My oh my how do things change!

Laying aside the politics and maybe poor choice of spending, the message of this pyramid is of change and hope. Imagine if, twenty-five years ago, you had grabbed a youngster bouncing his ball against the walls of the grey, back to back houses and whispered in his ears that as a man he would see a preaching pyramid shouting in his fields! I tell you, he would not have believed you but now to all who see this pyramid, it shouts with defiance and thankfulness for the village of Poolsbrook saying, “We stand for something! We are not forsaken or forgotten! We are not dead! Life lives here!” So, Poolsbrook today, like Egypt of old, has now it’s pyramid now. Who would have believed it!?

Fellow Christian, destitute, empty and distraught. I speak to you today my friend and remind you of the goodness of God our Father, who is always more willing to bless than to blast. The light at the end of the tunnel is not a train, but His goodness speeding toward you. So walk among your ruins; repent where necessary and begin to believe that God is good and is in the business of such royal redemption, that from your heart of faith you may write upon your fallen towers and salted fields now flooded with grief, these true and remarkable words: bigger, better, best! The ruins of your life marked by devastation all around you, all stinking with the stench of loss and the lethargy, can all be rebuilt, rediscovered re-invigorated and renewed with strength, yes, they can be made more beautiful than before; can be better, bigger, best. Do you not know that the latter things of God are always better than the first? Do you not know that God’s gifts given later are always better bigger and longer lasting than the first gifts given? You see dear friend, restoration, renewal and redemption are all in the hands of our gracious God, who delights to paint your life afresh in these, His glorious colours three. Look in your forgotten fields for I tell you that in God, the best is always yet to come and who knows, someone may have placed a protecting angel or planted a shouting pyramid there for all the world to see? Stanger things have happened!

Listen:- For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 36:9-12

Pray: - Oh God of New Beginnings, begin again, in me today, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

*** I hear that Governement Cut Backs means that now 2010 - the Pyramid will never be built.**** http://www.peakdistrictview.com/?page=place&placeid=1747

Nov | 04 | How To Debate With The Devil

2011-11-04T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- FIGHT

Title:- How To Debate With The Devil

Isaiah 36:21
But they held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, “Do not answer him."

The siege of Jerusalem was no laughing matter. Though a city could hold out for a long time against even the staunchest attackers, a long siege would inevitably lead to starvation and sickness, coupled with all its associated evils, even to cannibalism.

In those days the fall of a city after such long sieges did not lend itself to civility. The conquerors could be brutal. It was therefore seemingly in the interests of all parties, for the city of Jerusalem to surrender at a very early stage. Sennacherib could not blow the walls of Jerusalem down, so now, he would mock them down, shock them down and lie them down, by melting the strong hearts that held them up.

It is Sennacherib’s chief officer in the field that went to speak to the wobbling warriors on the walls. He knew how to speak their language, was erudite, clever, insolent, arrogant, haughty and lying. His chief purpose was to achieve an early surrender by starting such a fire of fear in the hearts of his hearers, that the crackle of it would burst from their lips upon Hezekiah the king and force him to open the gates and so get the sucker to succumb. King Hezekiah may have been many things but in this incident, he was wise. If he couldn’t stop his enemy arriving, if he couldn’t stop his enemy speaking; if he couldn’t stop his people listening; well, he could certainly stop them replying.

Here then are five things for you to remember today. Take your right hand and place these rings of knowledge on each finger and your thumb.

First then , learn that the devil is immensely clever. He knows how to speak to you, when and where. How will you know it’s him speaking? Well a testimony to his talking, is the quivering fear you feel in your heart as you seek to obey the Lord.

Secondly note that the devil always takes some truthful facts to try and hide his massive lies. This has worked well for him for thousands of years. Wise up dear friend. If it isn’t the whole truth you are hearing, then it’s probably the devil that’s doing all the talking.

Thirdly, if at all possible, don’t give the devil an audience, don’t give him opportunity to tell you his terms, don’t let him in and don’t let him speak. Do not give him permission to speak to you. Do not make yourself available to him.

Fourthly, if the devil surprises you in his arrival, do not be polite. Don’t listen. Turn your back on him. Avert your gaze. Fill your ears with better sounds, fill your mind with Scriptural truth.

Lastly of course. DON’T SPEAK TO THE DEVIL. Yes, this is how you debate with the devil. YOU DON’T! Dear friend, never ever enter into conversation with the devil. Don’t debate, don’t justify, don’t speak.

The presence of quivering fear is a sign of the enemies voice, which will be evidenced with a little truth and a lot of lies, so don’t give him an audience, don’t be polite, don’t listen and do not reply. Got it? The only words that you should speak, if any, are those given to you by the Lord your God. The Lord knows where the devil lives. God’s got his number, God knows what’s going on. So let God speak. Got it? Good!

Listen:- “But I know your dwelling place, Your going out and your coming in, And your rage against Me. Because your rage against Me and your tumult Have come up to My ears, Therefore I will put My hook in your nose And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back By the way which you came.” Isaiah 37:28-29

Pray: - Jesus, put a guard on my lips, put Your sword in my hands, and in hearing the of the devil's monstrous lies and endemic fear, turn me again to the crystal clear, voice of Your truth, and with the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep my heart and keep my mind. Amen.

Nov | 03 | Midnight Brides

2011-11-03T01:30:00.000Z

Key Word:- BELIEVE

Title:- Midnight Brides

Isaiah 34:16a
“Search from the book of the LORD, and read: Not one of these shall fail; Not one shall lack her mate."

I have spoken with a number of single women over the years, many of whom have been friends, who have longed to be married. They have faithfully sought God in prayer that He would provide a partner for their journey. They are not called to celibacy but are ready for love, in all its forms and demands. Over the years they have been saving themselves for that beloved spouse who they dream, one day, will sweep into their lives and rescue them from their loneliness and their frustration. In every thought prayer and fantasy, in times of happy hope, as well as in times of tearful despair, Disney’s “Some Day My Prince Will Come” has played repeatedly in their minds and danced upon their hearts.”

Months of waiting turn into years and for many, years have turned into decades. Then one day when getting out of her lilac perfumed bath, the hopeful princess, who has lived her life in perpetual preparation, will stare into the mirror and this time hear the whistle of times passing train. Conducted by gravity, her gifts have begun to slowly chug South on the old sag railroad, whilst the crows of age have stepped astride her once bright eyes and pecked her furrowed forehead and dragged down her cheerful cheeks. The thought of her prince arriving right now is still a nice thought, kind of, but mixed with a little anger, a lot of regret, and a bit more fear. Frankly the timing of the prince, stinks! Whilst the thoughts of his sending father, who has been so daily implored. seems increasingly inscrutable? What is He thinking? Why hasn’t He sent the prince?

I saw her in Disney World, Florida. The white and sparkling Mickey Mouse ears, with matching bridal veil, did not become her. She was carrying a few spare tires, and her arms were bigger than Joe Bugner’s biceps. For me though, it was the shorts straining against the dammed up belly and the furry flip flops smacking loudly against the old calloused heals, that dissipated the magic of the shimmering veil into damp and soured silliness. We all know that the paraphernalia of the cartooned Princess was made for the little girl in the long dress a long way a way, dancing in the mirror with matching sparkly shoes and handfuls of smiling flowers singing “Some Day My Prince Will Come” in knowing expectancy. Friends, touched up Technicolor and cheery songs of hope may fill the life of a little girl with happy hope but it’s no good for a real woman, no good for a seemingly forgotten bride, whose flip flops seem to be a flappin. Is there an answer for all those faithful brides a waiting?

The only answer I have found for waiting brides in the midnight of their lives is to seek the far horizons beyond the eastern hills. Such far and faithful gazing will I assure you, make the now, touch and taste the fair winds of God’s fragrant future, fixed in heaven for you. Believe me when I tell you, that such far horizon gazing will bring your dreams to your side and your hopes to your breaking heart. In your frustrations with the much implored and pleaded with Father and much heart remonstrated regret, don’t dismiss these dreams of mating and hopes of marriage as mocking and idle fancies, oh no, whatever you do, don’t clear your table of these comforting delights. “What comforting delights?” I hear some of you say, “ what comforting delights is there when my time here is almost done, my beauty almost faded.” Good question.

Surely, this truth stands forever that “it is not good for man to be alone”. My mere conjecture (for Scripture is silent on this) and my firm belief, is that in the coming Kingdom, though there may not be marrying and giving in marriage, there may in fact be something better and something far more wonderful, than we ever imagined. Waiting bride, it is Jesus that has filled you with this hope of a soul mate and a stunning prince to come, Jesus has given you this desire, even this great need and it is not to mock you, nor to hurt you, but in the end to bless you! He is your all in all, for sure, no doubt about it, and amen and amen, and so I wonder, in being just that for you, if He has in turn provided for you, some Prince of God, who you will only embrace in His Glorious and coming Kingdom? I wonder. I think so. Why not?

If your lost hope has led you to desperate acts, leaving you either sad or sullied, sleepy or cynical; then may I encourage you, to look once again to His throne of grace and the eastern hills of all His promises, where you will find from Him, an even better song to sing than 'Someday my prince will come.,

Church of Christ, desperate for His appearing, look you again to the far horizon, for you are not forgotten either and the best is yet to come; is even coming very soon and hey, His reward is with Him!

Listen:- “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’

Pray:- Faithful God, fulfiller of all my dreams; bring Your far horizons close to my heart once more, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

Addendum:: In 2010 as the Church in England dies and as statistics forecast zero, nada, none, NO men in the church in the next 18 years, this will be an increasing pastoral issue. In truth, it will be one of the major issues in the church.

Nov | 02 | Of Peasants & Pancakes

2011-11-02T01:30:00.001Z

Key Word:- BECOME

Title:- Of Peasants & Pancakes

Matthew 25:34-35
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink;

The waitress said that in her country of origin she was held in awe for the simple fact that she knew how to make pancakes! As she had made them often, and consumed many, the youngsters thought, she was the bomb.

Poverty and the opportunity of work had drawn her, like so many, to the bright lights of America. Her only child stayed with her mother, while she lived in a long stay hotel-motel somewhere, saving, whilst she juggled two jobs or possibly three, getting more money together to slowly ascend the long and high, socio-economic ladder. I tell you, it’s a story that’s repeated hundreds of thousands of times all around the world. Her one gripe in all of this, and I was surprised at there being only one, was for her to witness the daily waste of precious pancakes. “One place I work,” she says, in a you–won’t-believe-what–I-am-going-to-tell-you kind of way, “One place I work, throws away more pancakes than it serves! Just throws them away! I know children, hungry children, who dream of eating pancakes and they throw them away!”

At the ‘all you can eat’ buffet we sit down to our fourth helping, surrounded by our fellow obese beasts, chowing down and troughing up, being sure of course, to sip on our DIET drinks, while in the glazed daze of overeating, we dream of surgery sucking fat machines and the precision placements of plastic surgeons, slipping shapely silicon implants that will turn us from sows and into swans overnight! Then, in the moonlight, for fun and for a little exercise, we the enormous, will waddle down to our wine lakes in the long shadows of towering ‘butter mountains’, just to flip a few pancakes and skim them across the surface of the shimmering Sangria, while we wait for our long luxurious limousine to take us just two blocks home to bed. On the way to our king size alters, resting for some of us, on concrete blocks, we remember the refrigerator and in the late and hungry midnight hours call our partners in food crime and sing into our cell phones, “Eclair de la lune mon ami Pierrot,” which roughly translated means: “My good friend Pierrot, I am mad with hunger, so be sure to save me an éclair tonight. And don’t you dare lick the chocolate off the top‘cause it’s mine all mine!!”

It isn’t hard for us to feel guilty amidst this overwhelming abundance and so, speaking for myself, I am not surprised at my capacity to willingly forget the poor and hungry. After all I don’t know these pitiful, pancake desiring peasants do I? Guilt is so bothersome and so demanding and oh so tiring! After all, I am not into general waist management, just my own waste management, and good grief that’s hard enough. No! These flat unfilled pancake peasants are not my problem. After all, my government does not hold me to account for them and so neither should my God.

Tonight, vast amounts of yet unconsumed sweets and savories will be thrown away. Economics, will not allow us to feed the poor. Imagine that! Economics, will not allow us to feed the poor and the hungry. The mournful mantra of the mad politic is “If it cannot earn, then let it burn; if we cannot store it then let us pour it.” And beneath the ledger lines of this silly song, little children with large worm filled bellies, will die tonight. Tens of thousands of them, will die this very night as we throw food away. We can do something about this you know? If we want to. We need to really because it’s not just members of the human race that are racked with hunger but members of our own kingdom family.

We in ‘the body’, should not kid ourselves that, none of the starving hungry will be our fellow Christians, for friends, unlike David of old, we the blessed, have the opportunity in glorious ‘techni-colour,’ to see the righteous, begging bread. See the righteous begging bread. Imagine that. Look and be astonished! See the righteous, begging bread.

Listen:- “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Pray: - Prince of peace, let us remember the poor when we eat our pancakes; when we pull our large pants over our growing girth, and when we are invited to super size the already oversized. O God, let us remember Your words of frightening accountability, before we die, before we sleep tonight. Amen.