May | 31 | Sweet Salbenduft

WORK

Sweet Salbenduft

Song of Solomon 1:3  
Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth;

The ‘latest’ show shenanigan in the Christian world is the poorer spectacle of the ‘Outpouring’. My brief observation is that this is totally man made and as heavenly as a revival meeting being held every other night at 7:30pm if its not raining. Prominent ‘Outpouring’ people say that these events are not of course revivals but rather prayerful and hopeful precursors to a bigger footprint of the ‘Divine touchdown,’ where the spiritual atmosphere is thick and heavy with the glory of the Lord. Hogwash. I have seen this ‘guff’ and despite the hype, it is invariably a mixture of exceptionally poor preaching, bad exegesis and obvious psychological manipulation which always ends up with someone making a fast buck and having their profile and branding raised substantially.

How can we know Christ? By the preaching of His word. “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:14-15 

Sent preachers of God’s Word are the means by which the box of the sealed up special fragrance of Jesus is opened up to be so mightily diffused into this stinky world. Yes, sent preachers of God’s Word are the means by which the warm bottle of the liquid compound of all that is Jesus is poured out onto cold and stony hearts. The Word, preachers and the mighty act of proclamation are the keys to the Kingdom of God. If this is the case, then it behooves such preachers, such handlers of the very oracles of God, to know what they are talking about and to be prayed up, practiced out, and thoroughly prophetic in their calling. I see little of this at the moment, but rather, the very poorest of preaching cheered on by menopausal women and middle aged men acting like menopausal women.

The great Baptist preacher John Ryland was so short sighted that he examined a text quite literally as one would put words underneath a microscope. Consequently, his writing were so intricate yet perfect in construction that many of his letters are preserved for posterity. All preachers must get back to an intricate examination of the text, a fuller understanding of what the Lord is saying and then couple it with cultural and contextual application. This is no mean feat and such preparation takes hours, if not days. Without this, the name of Christ is no longer made precious nor is it like ointment poured forth.

It was the German Theologian, Georg Heinrich August Ewald (*B.T.S.O.A.P.) that compounds the words ‘ointment poured forth’ into a German common name, ‘Salbenduft’, meaning: 'fragrant anointing'. Christ’s name then is a sweet and fragrant anointing. Now then, here is the test for the preacher and the meeting. Does the preacher or the meeting cause a stink? Do folks lose their mind and marbles in the fog of deception? Or does the preacher disappear behind the sweet pungent unguent from the preaching that should permeate the mind, the heart, and the will of hearers. I tell you now, once you have sniffed of the latter, you will need a clothes peg to go near the former.

Pray for your preacher. Encourage him in his preparation. Do not disturb him when he is in his study. For you see, not much prayer, too little study and far too much disturbance always produces a stink instead of a Sweet Salbenduft.

Listen:- Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV

Pray: -  Father, once again, send us men who are mighty in the Word. amen and amen.

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May | 28 | Taking Comfort In The Dark side of The Divine

CONTINUE

Taking Comfort In The Dark side of The Divine

1 Kings 19:18 
Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.

Does God need a disaster recovery plan? Does God need a billion disaster recovery plans for each one of his failing children throughout the ages? Does a person in Sovereign control need a plan for disaster? Maybe I am asking the wrong question here and asking it from the position of a mere microbe even. So, maybe a better question should spring from the obvious disasters in our lives and from those points of disaster, yes, maybe we should ask, "If/when disaster should come upon us, does God have the capacity to recover the vision, the mission, and me and mine?"

Now, in terms of internet technology there is not time today to look at the history of the rise of optical dark fiber networks, suffice to say that the available of unused bandwidth and unused optical cables led to a rise in the term ‘dark fiber’ and this, together with the evolution of the Data Center and the parallel development of Disaster Recovery, led to the rise of Dark Data Centers; that is, operationally ready but unused and hidden facilities which could be switched on should the functioning unit be in some way ‘destroyed’ . With that of course, came the Dark Websites, all waiting to go live in an instant, to report to shareholders and other interested parties, what the CEO and the company were doing to restore communication and recover any losses. In terms of maintaining mission, you see, continued customer communication is paramount.

In the background of daily work therefore, wise Companies invest vast amounts of time and money in the preparation and maintenance of all things ‘Dark.’ From a purely human perspective, there is, I think, a Dark side to the Divine. In God’s ‘A’ plan, for I do not believe He has a plan ‘B’, there is obviously prepared capacity and bandwidth, even an accommodation for human failing. No matter how big the disaster, God has His Dark side ready to be switched on, ready to take over, ready to come on line, should He so wish.


 To those pressing on, my counsel is this: Where we can avoid disaster, we should. Where we can prepare for disaster, we should. However, when the action is not sinful but the outcome is unpredictable, yes, when the command is clear but the backup solutions are negligible even seemingly absent, then we must press on regardless anyhow, taking comfort in the preordained preparations of the Dark side of the Divine. 

Listen:-  "Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life"?  But what does the divine response say to him? "I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal."  Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Romans 11:3-5 

 Pray: -  Father, help me neither to be stupid nor presumptuous. Father, help me not to invoke wisdom and preparation as excuses for disobedience and cowardice. Father, in all things help me to be obedient to the leadings of Your Holy Spirit and then Lord, as each step on the way is committed you in acknowledgement of our need and Your grace, direct our paths for Your glory and our safety in Jesus name, Amen and amen.

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May | 20 | Vikings and The Long Boats of The Lord.

CHANGE

Vikings and The Long Boats of The Lord

Acts 17:6,7
 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king — Jesus." NKJV 

 I rarely do this, but I had far too much oven baked Camembert, French bread, chocolate and peanuts these last few days. I am just recovering…..Yuk. Why? Well, since WWII, once a year, the nations of Europe get together for a song contest. No it’s true! You see, after what has been estimated by some to be over 100 million war dead on that continent in the 20th century, such a competition was sought to both prosper understanding and acceptance of national differences and singing together beats killing each other for sure. For me, despites its plastic facade, ‘Eurovision’ a bigger spectacle than the Olympics, European cup and FA cup finals all rolled into one, after all, when you can't polish a turd the best thing to do is roll it in glitter! And let me tell you, you have never seen so much glitter gazed at by around 125 million people. I laugh out load for nearly 4 hours.

For those who see past the singing and dancing to all the real political and social interplay portrayed there; the whole ‘set piece’ of the programming publicly pushes all the driving forces of current popular culture down the watchers and the listeners throats! This year, 2013, a smorgasbord of current culture was pushed down our throats by Switzerland in a public display of ‘woman on woman’ kissing, ‘man on man’ kissing, and at the very front, gazing adoringly on to the main stage, what looked like a rabid ‘mosh pit’ scene from the gay proms. ‘Dancing queens’ indeed.

Betwean the end of the contest and the scores announcement, whilst the votes were being counted in the interlude, Compare and Comedienne, ‘Petra Mede’ produced a little vocal ditty which tried to convey her own countries culture and that of Europe's. It was very illuminating when she sang:

 "Our roles are reversing - our daddies are nursing - in all of our cities the men have no titties but they still say at home to raise the kids - and the girls can handle the balls with the best kick line of them all" 

The following verse finished with a line of butch sporty women, a gay marriage and the man on man kiss, all to loud cheers led by the ‘mosh pit’ queens. Now, “In all of our cities the men have no titties but they still say at home to raise the kids’ is a line you are not so easily going to forget! It might be both an observation and even an affirmation of this western role reversal but like it or not, it is killing our societies and leaving many young men adrift in a feminised society that offers them no hope.

Again, on this very day in 2013, the UK parliament, once more tried to pass an unpopular bill on ‘gay marriage’, whilst at the same time the Church of Scotland debated on whether or not to allow openly and active gay men to be ministers. if this was not bad enough, some of the current ‘evangelical lights’ had already designed their own wedding ceremony for the sanctifying of sodomites in marriage and many, if not most, of the UK’s Evangelicals have already quietly re-interpreted Biblical gender leadership roles under the banner of a ‘spiritually politically correct but most corrupt ‘Culturally relevant-Kingdom’ theology.

 I wonder if, after 2,000 years of Christianity on the European and American continent, the problems exhibited among our societies are almost always down to us. I wonder if it is the church who are to blame for the state of family deconstruction, and societal collapse? You see, if we truly are the revolving hub around which the universe so presently rotates, then with respect to gender roles, the church has so obviously compromised the male gender leadership message of the Bible, that it is evident that the spokes are now breaking off that increasingly faster rotating wheel of time, and ‘soon and very soon’ we just might crash into an ever widening truly misogynistic ditch of another religions making.

The Gospel message to our cities is the same it has always been you know… "Repent and believe the Gospel" ….… and should REAL revival come through the preaching of the Word, should there indeed be a 'fresh outpouring' from God Most High, the evidence will not be seen inside the four walls of some sad shed on an industrial estate or even in the plush suites of Pensacola beach, no, real revival shall be evidenced in such a cultural role reversal, such an upsurge of Biblical order, that it will be revolutionary in content and destructive in design! Listen up now, “In a POST CHRISTIAN or PRECHRISTIAN environment real revival has always been marked by trouble.”

 I ask you to consider today then, that whilst respectable Evangelicals are still settling for quietness and peace, it might just be that God's after causing some 'trouble'? Maybe the question we have to ask ourselves is “Do we have any men left in our churches who are the instigators of such holy trouble?” If the answer is no, them maybe those kingdom taking maurauders no longer sit in the long boats of the Lord? Indeed, maybe the Vikings have now long since left the building.

Listen:- And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. Acts 17:8

Pray: - Father, raise up once more those hairy men of old, those rough shirted warriors who have counted the cost in following you; those big sea salted broad shouldered men of old who put their backs into gathering fish. Amen & amen.

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Jun | 06 | Womens Sex Education

LOVE

Song of Solomon 3:9-11  
Of the wood of Lebanon Solomon the King Made himself a Palanquin. He made its pillars of silver, Its support of gold, Its seat of purple, Its interior paved with love By the daughters of Jerusalem. Go forth, O daughters of Zion, And see King Solomon with the crown With which his mother crowned him On the day of his wedding, The day of the gladness of his heart. NKJV

A Palanquin is a regal mode of transportation, an highly decorated covered litter carried on the shoulders of men. Again this is a picture of the church, which, like the Ark of God, was only ever meant to be carried in this world on the shoulders of redeemed humanity, and this bed of journeying and intimate communion in our text for today is indeed sumptuous in every respect, with each piece becoming a descriptive type of the blessings of being with Christ the King. Interestingly this bed of intimacy has it’s interior ‘paved with love’ by the daughters of Jerusalem.

A better understanding of this paved palanquin would be to say that its interior was embroidered with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.Now look, it is the responsibility of older women in the church, the daughters of Jerusalem, to teach the younger daughters how to love.

The sixty sentinel soldiers are there to show men how to love sacrificially, laying down their lives for their wives and their family, their sisters. Meranwhile, the daughters of Jerusalem have the holy duty of making sure that love is at the centre of the all things beginning in the centre of the marriage bed, for there is power and beauty in the embroidered and bejeweled centre of the very act of marriage.

Sex education in the church and real love lessons, if you will, should spring from the sisters of the church to the sisters of the church and let me tell you, it’s more than the practicalities of action, true love, beginning in the bed is an all spreading woven bejeweled cloth of fragrant loveliness which permeates to the whole of marriage life. Now then, there’s a woman’s Sunday school class that would prove to be exceptionally useful and I suspect, would be very well attended!

Listen:- the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things — that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Titus 2:3-5NKJV

Pray: - Father, bless the women of our churches with strength and openness, with all holiness and all practicality, yes, help them embrace, as daughters of Jerusalem the hold duty of making the loveliness of love the undefiled centre of every marriage, that Christ would be glorified. Amen and amen

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