Feb | 21 | Lydia E Pinkham’s, Vegetable Compound

Key Word:- CHOOSE

Title:- Lydia E Pinkham’s, Vegetable Compound 

Acts 8:18,19

And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
 

After her husband went bankrupt, in 1875 Lydia Estes Pinkham started what was probably the first widely successful business run by a woman in America. Her product was a medicine for “All those painful Complaints and Weaknesses so common to our best female population.” It claimed to remove among other things, “faintness, flatulence, bloating, headaches, nervous prostration, debility, depression, back-ache, kidney complaints, and even dissolve and dispel cancerous tumors from the ovaries.”

Lydia E Pinkham’s vegetable compound was a concoction of various weird herbs, but her main and secret ingredient (which she said acted “as solvent and preservative”) was in fact 22% pure alcohol! It has been said that by having the morals of a saint and the business practices of a bootlegger, Lilly the Pink achieved her greatest success during the prohibition era!

Bootleggers totting large cases full of spiritual snake-oil are with us still today. Even from the beginning, God the Holy Spirit has been viewed as a commodity to sell in some form or fashion. God however, is not for sale. He cannot be forced to jump through doctrinal hoops, or emotional ones for that matter. He is not the God of a sanitised and systematised theology; neither is He the God of good business ideas or the next seven-step process! He is not a drink to be dispensed by some bewitched bartender, or a fix, or a hit from some baldy shouting ‘boom’! Yes, neither magician nor motivational guru, God is rather the Lord, the Most High God, the Maker of heaven and earth, in whom we live and move and have our being; who has chosen, through Jesus Christ His lovely Son, and our Lord and Saviour, to encamp, in all His fullness amidst our meager littleness. Repentance, faith, humility, and an open mouth, are all He seeks and the cries of pleading forgiveness for all our sins, are all we have to freely offer, (and that is enough!)

 The Holy Spirit will solve all of our problems. Baptising us into the body of Christ through the washing of us in the precious and shed blood of Jesus, we find that stinky and sorry stain on our soul, placed there by the puking of our sickly and selfish sin, permanently, yes permanently and once and for all dear friends, totally and absolutely removed. Gone forever! He will also preserve us in this washed and waiting state, until the time to come.

Ladies and gentlemen, yes sir indeedy, may I present to you, heaven’s strongest solvent and heaven’s prime preservative, God the Holy Spirit, 100% proof of the faithfulness and goodness of the Father. You cannot buy Him friends, yet if you repent of all your sins today, He shall freely make you His! So, if you are consumed with the cancer of your sin, shaking in fear of judgment, full of nervous and farting flatulence, perilous of mind and prostrate of position! Then step right up and buy something that will cost you both nothing and everything all at the same time. Now lean on back and just open your mouth wide and He will fill it.

Listen: “if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:13 

 Pray: Majestic and Holy God give me the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Feb | 21 | All About Eve

Dream Word – POWER

Colossians 1:16-17 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. NKJV

All About Eve

Charterhouse public school boy, Peter Gabriel, founder of the hit band Genesis, later continued with his own solo career having his first top ten hit with ‘Jeux Sans Frontieres’ or ‘Games without Frontiers.’ Gabriel probably based his song lyrics on a popular and ‘lavish’ Pan European game-show of the same name. The British copied this show and called it ‘It’s A Knockout’ putting Stuart ‘Mad as a hatter’ Hall, as its host. Laugh! Everybody laughed so much at this show that they cried! In this respect then, Gabriel’s repetitive lyric of everyone playing ‘Games without frontiers and war without tears’ was on the one hand quite funnily wrong.

Maybe it is just too cold and boring in Iceland, for it was an Icelandic gaming corporation that created a player-driven, persistent-world, massive multiplayer online game called ‘Eve’. Set in a science fiction space setting, players pilot a wide variety of customizable ships through a universe comprising of over, not a few thousand virtual, stargate connected solar systems! Conquest, cloning, acquisition, economic accrual, manufacturing, trading, alliance building, wars and a multitude of other real time experiences, can all be most thoroughly experienced in the ‘New Eden,’ once accessed through the games fictional Wormhole, which by the way, is called Eve. The game is played in real time and is very, very addictive and at the time of my writing, has over ¼ million practicing players! I tell you tonight, that whole worlds have been created in virtual reality where thousands upon thousands of human beings, right now, are hiding themselves and wasting away their time and talents. There a multitude of Christians amongst them as well. Why such popularity? Well I believe Peter Gabriel, that great angelic messenger of the 1980’s, had it right, for there is something attractive about ‘Games without Frontiers and War without tears.’
On the negative side, has there ever been a time in history where a pastor has had to try and pull people from an unreal pit of virtual reality, though the mud of material reality and then up and out the womb-like wormhole of true spirituality? On the plus side, has there ever been a time where we can now truly show people how to virtually live, in a spiritual reality, within a thoroughly material world? No, I do not think there has never been a time like this! Ever!

Surely the real possibility of functioning in the spiritual realm, of receiving a new name, new character, new destiny and participating in power anointings, angelic visitations, hyper travel, intuitive intensity, insight, healing, visions and violence and much, much more, would be a far better draw for the game players of today than the life-consuming, virtual dreams of a few bored and cold Icelanders? You would think so wouldn’t you? But we have a couple of problems to overcome before we can bait this particular hook with attractive lures.

Firstly of course, is that those of us participating in dimensions and worlds unknown to other men, need first to begin to move into those spiritual realms and so much the more. “Higher up and further in,” as a brave mouse once declared on reaching the edge of Aslan’s land, “higher up and further in” indeed. Yet so many of us are still struggling with mouse clicks on the edge of this vast unknown which lies still so silently set before us. Tell me, if we cannot lead the way into living with Christ in the heavenlies, then who can follow?

Secondly of course, despite our ignorance of it, there nevertheless lies before us a world of waiting wonder and also of most dreadful danger. This is no game without frontiers here, this is no war without tears here either! This is the real world, the solid world of set spiritual density, and if you’re not careful, then it will wound you like a knife, burn you like fire, consume you like quicksand, cower you like a whipped dog and haunt you like following shadows cast along the damp and silent, frost-ridden lanes of your life. This is the spiritual realm of which we are the rulers and the takers. Yes, this is the realm of the shining ones, but of the shadow creatures as well.

There is a spiritual reality that far outstrips any player-driven, persistent-world, massive multiplayer online game. One day, as we fall headlong into its limitless and starry depths, it shall be revealed to us in all its fullness. For now though, it is open only to those who have the time and the inclination to gain the skills and the gifts to function in it.
Beware all who enter here! For this is no online game and you are no avatars in that game. It’s all real! Real flesh, real blood, real soul, real spirit. Tell me tonight then, O Gameboy guru, are you wise enough to let go of unreality? Are you brave enough to enter here? I say, are you brave enough to enter here?

Listen: - For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12-13 NKJV

Pray:- While I draw this fleeting breath, when mine eyes shall close in death, when I soar to worlds unknown, see Thee on Thy judgment throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee. Amen.

Feb | 20 | Hot and Alcoholic!

Key Word:- BECOME

Title:- Hot and Alcoholic!

Acts 2: 13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”


Do you remember in John 11:49-52 that it says: “And one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, “You stupid idiots let this one man die for the people why should the whole nation perish?” This prophecy that Jesus should die for the entire nation came from Caiaphas in his position as High Priest, he didn't think of it by himself, but was inspired to say it. It was a prediction that Jesus' death would not be for Israel only, but for all the children of God scattered around the world. (TLB.) Isn’t it amazing that prophetic declaration about the Lord of life should pour forth from the angry and hateful lips of such a man? Remember though, nothing is impossible for God, for God can even speak through donkeys and as many of you know, graciously does so on many a Sunday morning! And so I wonder if maybe in the same way, from the mouth of other cynics, the Word of God has also slipped out?

You see in a sense, in our text for today, the ‘others mocking’ were right, for these crazy disciples were full of ‘New Wine’. Yes indeed, the fermentation of the fullness of God’s salvation to all tribes, and tongues was frothing from their lips! The old wineskins just couldn’t cope with it, for it’s effervescent rambunctiousness would surely have burst their forms and structures, ripped out the pages of their established 'systems' of theology, opened Paracletes box and finally let God out, to kick open the doors and let in those 'other sheep' that did not quite fit their now moldy old mould. In other words, a magnificent mess was about to follow this New Wine party! It always does! Remember that.

In my opinion, it is always a dangerous thing to invite Jesus to your religious party and say “Hey Lord, please do what ever You want.” If you ever dare do that, then watch out! For Jesus never behaves Himself. Salvation is often a very messy and embarrassing affair.

Listen: - And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.” Mark 2:22

Pray: - Dear Jesus, fill me with the ‘New Wine’ of the Holy Spirit. If it needs to bubble and froth and break this moldy old bag of religious treasures and quaint curiosities from another age; if it needs to drown some of my pet doctrines, if it needs to put me off balance a bit and shake my world so I view it, as one stood on top of the mast of a ship in a stormy gale; then do it Lord, just do it; make me sick of all that is not life and light; of all that is not grace and truth in the magnificent triumph of Your Son, my Prince of Life, Jesus Christ my Lord I pray, amen.

Feb | 20 | Good for Gonads

Dream Word – CLEAN

Exodus 34:6-7 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation." NKJV

Good for Gonads

The problem with sin is that is damages the whole man and tonight, I would like to speak primarily to men and to those prospective fathers who, in their sin, are most certainly not only damaging themselves but their offspring to come, even up to the third and fourth generations! Tonight, I not only call your attention to or text, but also quote from some recent scientific research and apply to that, a good old dose of common sense.

A US study recently presented to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) suggests that a father's health plays a greater role in the health of future generations than has previously been thought. A team from the University of Idaho in Moscow tested the effects of a hormone-disrupting fungicide chemical called vinclozolin on embryonic male rats and found that the damage caused to them, was also present in rats some four generations down the line! Now a man is not a rat that’s for sure and some might say they wish men were as a nice as rats, but never the less, science is science and facts are facts. When you put a spanner in the sperm, the repercussions are generational. God has been saying this for thousands of years.

The problem with sin is that is damages the whole man. If I seek satisfaction outside of the boundaries laid down by God, the repercussion are seen in H.I.V., Gonorreah, Chlamydia and the like. Unwanted children, privations, poverty and a billion pitiful existences. Sin damages men spiritually, sexually, emotionally, socially, physically and economically. Sin has an holistic infiltration. Indeed, the latest scientific results also affirm the Scriptures, in that not only does sin effect your money sack for generations, but it effects your sperm sack for generations as well. Am I being too crude, rude, lewd? Well someone needs to be, yes someone needs to be telling young men and prospective fathers that “Sin puts a spanner in your sperm!” Make no mistake that this is the truth, for even Professor Cynthia Daniels, from Rutgers University in New Jersey, regarding damage to male sperm and seminal fluid says “We need to open up our eyes and look at the evidence!” Further to this, Professor Neil McClure, a fertility expert at Queen's University Belfast, UK, acknowledged that once sperm cell DNA was damaged, it had no mechanism by which to effect repairs! He said: “There is no doubt that if you smoke like a chimney or drink vast amounts of alcohol it will result in sperm damage, and probably damage in the DNA of the sperm. My advice to any man trying for a baby would be to lead as healthy a lifestyle as possible.” Now there’s some good advice! You might be a sex bomb, but be sure of this, sin is a rampant repercussion bomb, which when not diffused, explodes through the generations of mankind! Your future generations.

I have no scientific proof, neither do I have Scriptural warrant for what I am about to suggest but I wonder if repentance and faith which receives the mercy and goodness of God, might just provide such a deep cleansing, that it could, with time, reach down to the DNA level of sperm and do some fixing? What I am saying is this: I wonder if mercy can mend sperm? What results, I wonder, would tests on the testes of righteous men provide, if done every seven years? Yes, I wonder if God’s goodness and I wonder if God’s grace is really good for our gonads as well?

Listen: - How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. Psalm 119:9

Pray:- With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes. With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. (from Psalms 119:10-16)

Feb | 19 | Of Seekers and Cynics

Key Word:- CONSIDER

Title:- Of Seekers and Cynics

Acts 2: 12,13 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”

Diogenes of Sinope. You remember him of course! Acknowledging his debt to Antisthenes (c. 445-365 BC), he is nonetheless credited by some, with originating the Cynic way of life. He conveyed his Cynic philosophy by personal example rather than by any system of thought, in particular, in striving to destroy social conventions (including family life) and in the so doing, to therefore make a way of returning to a more “natural” life. To this end, Diogenes of Sinope lived as a vagabond pauper, sleeping in public buildings and begging for food. He also advocated shamelessness (performing harmless unconventional actions), outspokenness, and training in austerity. In other words, “Tell it how YOU feel it, tell it how YOU see it, without regard to any one else’s feelings or intentions.” This kind of cynicism is on the rise today both within the church and the world. It is an attitude that at the heart level, refuses to enter into the open investigation of other people's ideas and opinions.

Of course, we can see in our text for today that even in the first century when God the Holy Spirit arrived on the scene, there were cynics, shaking their heads, refusing to enter into open investigation of the extraordinary happenings and declarations which they were both seeing and hearing. Maybe they said, “Ignorant Galileans speaking in other languages? Ignorant Galileans proclaiming happiness and gladness, freedom and joy, ecstasy even! Yeah that’s it! They are all probably on ‘ecstasy’ , ‘E’ you know what I mean baby, you know, we don’t need to throw rocks at ‘em cause they’re already stoned! These Galileans are smashed! They are stinking! They’re just silly idiots full of new wine. Nah, let’s just ignore them.”

Do you see it? Do you feel it? The force of death in such a cynical and derided dismissiveness. Such a spirit of cynicism squashes consideration, flatens investigation, and kicks trying, testing, touching and tasting, right into touch! Be careful here folks, for cynicism, quite frankly, is for those who mock mysteries, mishandle messages and make their bed in hell.

‘Open and Aware’ people must question such sneering Cynicism and reject the death that comes with such a derisory dismissiveness, for ‘Open and Aware’ folks are in the end, seekers after truth, followers after grace, and eventual finders of Him who’s mouth is full of grace and full of truth. Be sure, Jesus manifests Himself in the most unusual of places and the most unusual of people, so my brothers and sisters, whilst rightly testing the fruit, don’t be such a cynic!

Listen: - Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Psalm 34:8

Pray: - Lord, help me continue my journey into You and deliver me today from the quick death and ignorant exclusiveness of dismissive cynicism, in Jesus name I pray Amen.

Feb | 19 | The Trouble With Complacent Canaries

Dream Word – HAPPY

Psalms 40:1-3 I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth — Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord. NKJV

The Troubles of Complacent Canaries

South African wine-makers are presently growing roses among their vines. If the roses show signs of ‘black spot’ fungus, the growers can better treat their vines and much, much earlier than previously. In this case, the rose has become the early warning danger sign of what would have been the certain fungal destruction of the grape crop.

It was in 1986 when the last 200 canaries were made redundant from British coal mines. For many years, the brightly coloured singing birds had been used to test the air quality in mines. Canaries were particularly sensitive to the presence of Carbon Monoxide and Methane, showing noticeably visible signs of distress long before miners were aware of the danger. The canaries might stop singing, sway back and forth on their perch, fall to their small cage bottom and sometimes even die. Thankfully, new digital technology eventually replaced the miner’s feathered friend.

To those who can see and sense, there are always early warning signs of coming destruction. Much can be said about this phenomena, both globally and locally, both materially and spiritually, but tonight, I want to speak only personally, for when a Christian stops singing, it is a sure sign that they are about to fall off their perch.

For the Christian, joy is the marker of a healthy atmosphere. When joy is present, hope, faith and love all bloom in their season. However, if you remove the joy, then despondency, hopelessness, unbelief and bitterness, like some dread black spot fungus, will blight anything trying to grow both in and around such a Christan.

If the song in your heart has grown silent, then may I say that you are in the greatest of danger. Get out of that place and speedily attend to your own crop, lest the blight of death come upon you. I have seen too many Christians fallen off their perch, with their little legs stiff and upright in the pressing grey. Listen to yourself tonight. How is your singing? Test it! For you see, the trouble with complacent canaries, is that they eventually fall off their perch!

Listen: - In a year and some days You will be troubled, you complacent women; For the vintage will fail, The gathering will not come. Tremble, you women who are at ease; Be troubled, you complacent ones; Strip yourselves, make yourselves bare, And gird sackcloth on your waists. Isaiah 32:10-11 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, forgive my complacency toward the lack of my song. and forgive my love of all my nitrous oxides. Now Lord, send the fresh breeze of Your Holy Spirit into my collapsing lungs and deliver me from all my sin. Come and put a fresh song in my heart, that I may sing the songs of Zion’s comfort of Your Almighty praise, in Jesus name I ask it, amen!

Feb | 18 | Humility. The Antidote to Being Marvelled but not Moved!

Key Word - Danger

Acts 2: 7 Then they were all amazed and marvelled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?

Humility. The Antidote to Being Marvelled but not Moved!

Around this time in 1653, Milton recorded the appointment of Andrew Marvell as his assistant in his secretary-ship for foreign tongues. How very apt! Marvell, son of a vicar, is one of the worlds finest Metaphysical Poets. One of his most famous lyric verse is entitled ‘To His Coy Mistress’. The first half of the poem flatters his lover by setting out the proper time it would take for him to properly adore her and imagining that time to be of great, great length, the poet then says it would take him even, “ Till the conversion of the Jews!” How very interesting.

In the context of the hearing Jews, referring to Isaiah 28:9-14 Paul says in 1 Cor 14:22a “Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers” Tongues, you see, either awaken the unconverted to spiritual attention or, if tongues are despised, condemn those who like Israel, reject the sign and its accompanying message. 1 Cor 14:21 says ‘In the law it is written: “With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,” says the Lord.”

Even miraculous signs fail to arouse some people to repentance; therefore God says in effect, “since they will not understand, they shall not understand.” My counsel to you then dear friend, is that in all the controversies, astonishments and embarrassments sent by God into your life, you do not judge Him harshly, neither do you judge events incorrectly, for in the so doing, you may just miss the message. Such humility will make you a great secretary and receptionist to foreign tongues. Such an appointment of true humilty will open you ears.


Listen: - For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, To whom He said, “This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,” And, “This is the refreshing”; Yet they would not hear. Isaiah 28:11-12
 
Pray: - Open Your heart to me O Lord for I have wronged many, have corrupted others and have cheated myself. Great is my boldness of speech toward You, asking You to fill me with great comfort and softness in my hard heart. Deliver me and those I remember today, from the hardening of the arteries of both life and of love. Amen

Feb | 18 | Some Hat Pins For Zombies

Dream Word – CONSIDER

2 Corinthians 4:3, 4 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. NKJV
Some Hat Pins For Zombies

The Afro-Caribbean spiritual belief system and Hollywood, have given us the scary pictures of reanimated flesh eating corpses, or as they are more better known, Zombies! I bet you didn’t know it but there are in fact two types of Zombies in our world. Yes and this is good to know for I am concerned that I find myself increasingly surrounded by Zombies.

The first type is the C.N.C. Zombie, that is, the 'Consumer ridden Non-Christian'. They may be ‘Chav’-like, or boys from Charter House. They may be shopping at Argos or even at Harrods. They may be layabouts or playboys, professionals or stupid! It doesn’t matter. The common factor is that these CNC Zombies are focused only on what is before them. Arms outstretched, vacant eyes, drool at the side of their mouth, they are interested in only consuming and if the eating is at the expense of someone else, or IS someone else, then so be it. The CNC Zombie is unaware of their own death and is merrily happy at the blindness of a sorcerous slavery that binds them in their chains. Yes, the worldwide economic enslavement of the CNC zombies by the enemy of their souls continues, but no matter to them, for as long as they are feeding, whether on crepes or crap, it doesn’t matter, not as long as they are simply consuming! As they do this, and this alone, that full and happy, monosodium glutamate glaze of overfed blindness will continue. Zombies! I see these every day.

The second type is the F.F.C. Zombie, the 'Fixed and Focused Christian Zombie'. I detest these the most, for they are fixed and focused on anything other than the simple love of God in the face of Christ Jesus. They are fixed and focused on anything other than the naked revelations of revealed truth. The hammering and beating, the drilling and the banging of the workers of the man of sin constructing his kingdom around their very feet is of no concern to them, for they are fixed on their own churches, focused on their own pet doctrines and pet pastors, fixed on their denominational peccadilloes, focused on feeding the machine and keeping it happy, quiet, functioning and controllable. Focused on wet worship and soft pre-sucked morsels, for as long as they can sing well and have some tasty teat to suck on, on a Sunday morning, they’ll be satisfied with minute microwaved Christianity. They cannot abide strong meat, only milk, lukewarm, watery milk at that, which will be poorly digested, with only just enough spiritual nutrition to make them feel saved and certainly not enough to make them grow and walk properly! Zombies, nice, well-dressed, well-spoken, well-ordered ‘pooperninkums,’ all joining in the fiddling, while the true saints of Christ burn. As long as they are given a free bunny rabbit when they give their lives to Christ and get their hair stroked regularly with a "there, there, there, poor sweet baby," then they are somewhat happy. Zombies!

Meanwhile, Satan’s New World Order, so enslaves their minds that they refuse to face the smell of the rising stench of Christian decay and see the settling of dust from the crumbling edifice that was once the church, pouring in on them from un-repented and un-repointed brickwork, letting in the devil’s damp and spreading black death, like a lousy leak from the Hoover Dam all across their “praize” focused faces. Good grief, it’s the entertainment industry that is setting most of our teaching titles and discussion groups. Yes sir indeed, it’s consumer Christianity at its best, but unfortunately the best it can do,  is to reanimate a corpse and keep it drooling. In the end, whether C.N.C or F.C.C. it doesn’t matter, they are both Zombies.

When the real Christians arrive on the scene, we won't have questions regarding revival! For the clash of arms, the fall of Kingdoms, the leaping lame, the shouts of happiness breaking out of the open mouths of those delivered from deep gloom and a multitude of other magnificent testimonies to the touchdown of God Almighty, will be unchallenged evidence of God amongst us, which in the end, is all that the real people of God are truly longing for. (And, 'No thanks', I don’t want to buy that latest CD).

Meantime, I am keeping the drool from the sides of my own mouth, keeping my arms up toward heaven, instead of outstretched toward the earth. Keeping my eyes and ears open, my sword unsheathed and my shield well up. I have also bought some old hat pins, they are a mite long mind you, but never the less, they are still sharp, ready to be sunk deep into a few pink professing buttocks. Tomorrow, I’m off to try and wake up a few Zombies. Do you want to join me?

Listen: - I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one. NKJV

Pray:- Lord, break this great witchcraft of the enemy, that dulls Your churches ears to the sound of his hammering and blinds us to his wicked machinations. Father, please ram the hatpin of the Holy Spirit’s conviction right up our rear end, in Jesus name I ask it, amen!

Feb | 17 | Prophetic Chatter

Key Word:- REAL

Title:- Prophetic Chatter

Acts 2: 3,4 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.


The motto of the British Submarine Service is “We come unseen.” Some while ago now, I served on board two of Her Majesty’s submarines, HMSM Renown and HMSM Revenge. As machines of stealth and destruction, I still remember them to be then, strangely beautiful, akin to a panther, sleek dark and invisible, that is, until they bare their teeth and growl.

Today in 1864, the first successful submarine torpedo attack took place when the USS Housatonic was sunk by the Confederate submarine Hunley in Charleston harbour; however, the force of the explosion was so great that the submarine itself was also blown up, killing all on board.

Friends, the ‘Promise of the Father’, did not come unseen! The most powerful force in the universe, in the person of God the Holy Spirit, the invisible, unseen God, exploded onto the seen with such a cacophony of light and noise, that frankly, it should have killed both the sender and the receivers! But it didn’t! Rather, it ‘lit up’ the spiritual airwaves. Yes, after 400 years of prophetic stillness, with the coming and filling of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual airwaves began blasting out a prophetic chatter that has never ended and please God, it never will. Silence no more!

Yet, for so many of us, within the silence of our own hearts, the prophetic stillness appears to continue. We say, “If God is speaking then why don’t I hear Him?” If that’s you, then today, get with someone, and say to them “The God who speaks through many tongues, appears not to speak to me. Please, help me find out why.”

Listen: -Isa 30:21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,”

Pray: - Speak Lord in my stillness, while I wait, on Thee, hush my heart to listen, in expectancy.

Feb | 17 | The Money in God’s Pocket

Dream Word – OBEY

Mark 8:17-19 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?" NKJV

The Money in God’s Pocket

It is rumoured that the present Queen of England does not carry any cash upon her person. Not that Royalty should have any need to carry money in their pocket mind you! However, I am inclined to believe that God Almighty does in fact carry a few spare coins around with Him, which I am sure in His quieter moments, whilst leaning back with both hands in His pockets, arching His spine and looking out over His creation, He thoughtfully fumbles and jingles through His fingers. Yes, I am pretty sure that God carries at least four coins of remembrance in Hs own right trouser pocket, those being: the widows mite and three cents once belonging to little Hattie May Wiatte. One cent each this time, for the Father, the Son & the Holy Ghost.

The story goes that Russell Conwell, that first great Biblical prosperity preacher, was attending a small but busy church, where tickets for the gatherings were obtained weeks in advance of the services! The church was so busy, that eight year old Hattie May had problems trying to get into her Sunday school. Conwell comforted her, by saying that as soon as they obtained funds, they would be building a larger Sunday school for little children. Little Hattie May immediately got behind the project and before her very early death, managed to save some 57 cents. A lot of money for a little girl in those days!

Conwell, moved by the story, utilised the faith and earnest of the dead child and auctioned the pennies to his congregation for $250! This sum was in turn changed into 25,000 pennies, which were also sold to raise even more money. Out of the original 57 cents, 54 were returned to Conwell, who had them framed and exhibited. The forming of the Wiatte Mite Society, the vast funding that followed for the realization of future vision, is now history and may I say, a great history at that.

We can learn five important things here:-

• Firstly, that there was a little girl of vision.
• Secondly, that there were parents, who out of great sadness, but with tender remembrance, progressed that vision.
• Thirdly, that there was a man of influence to be moved by that vision and to cast that vision faithfully and fervently before others.
• Fourthly, that there were dedicated people willing to expend themselves to expand that cast vision and
• Fifthly and above all, when all of this is put together, it created such a momentum, such an atmosphere of faith and believing in the people of God, that enormous mountains were moved into the middle of the sea and great things were accomplished that WOULD not have been accomplished without this complete five-fingered, fist full of faith!

By the way, the missing three cents from the original 57 cents, were never returned.............I hear jingling!

Listen: - One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?" John 6:8,9 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, give me faith, give me wisdom, give me vision and give me innovation. Yes Lord, give me good ideas and give me guts, that faith may flower and belief would move mountains and make ways for Your people and Your kingdom, in Jesus name I ask it, amen.

Feb | 16 | Walking In Tension. Walking Intentionally!

Key Word:- TRUST


Title:- Walking In Tension. Walking Intentionally!

Daniel 4:35 He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?”

Matthew 13:58 says, “Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” 

Now here is a conundrum. God can do anything He wants and indeed, according to our text today found in Daniel, DOES whatever He wants! Yet the Bible again and again clearly indicates that we need to ‘believe’ so that God will accomplish His will and consequently that God is therefore ‘limited’ by our lack of belief, and further, that we are responsible for both our lack of belief and its consequences then, in His will! Like I said, “What a conundrum!”

Probably like you, while all is going well in both me and my comfort zone, I love the Sovereignty of God. It demands nothing of me, but rather allows my own spiritual muscle to indulge itself in lackadaisical laziness and to just often loll around and do nothing. Just go with the ‘good God flow’ as it were! However, if my life is full of unbelievable trials then frankly, I am not too happy with the Sovereignty of God. Indeed, I will pray and squirm and try everything I can to change things. I may even have faith in God that He will change things! Indeed, I may even begin to believe beyond the possible into the seemingly impossible, such that God is then ‘enabled’ to do exceeding abundantly above all I could ask or think. Yes, you see, my trials certainly do train my faith and exercise my belief, especially my belief for better things, better circumstances, better relationships, better providences, better deliverances, well for anything that will put a better bit of butter on my good prayer-spreading knife!

Now this brings us to just what we should believe God for? Well, it’s quite simple really, we should believe God for anything that does not break the boundaries of sin, or is evidently contrary to His Word and His revealed will. We should believe God for anything we can ask or think, after all, He is able to do exceedingly more than that anyways! So let me ask you, what do you want today? What do you want to do today? Ask! And then believe God for that.

Lastly, may I say that I think it takes great faith to say, “Never the less not my will, but Yours be done.” However, I think its laziness and lack of faith to go there straight away and I tell you, I don’t think God will let that happen! Ooops! There falls the boundaries of our comfort zones again. There goes another increase in our personal responsibility quota. There goes the rising responsibility of our reward before the judgment seat of Christ. For friends make no mistake about it; this walk of faith business is hard, especially as we have to keep keeping in triple tension the Sovereignty of God, and our walking intentionally towards faith goals and the deep desires which we have set before ourselves as individuals and others as leaders. Do you see this?

Listen: - Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” Matthew 9:29

Pray: - Father again I keep praying, I believe but please help my unbelief, in Jesus name I ask this today, amen!

Feb | 16 | The Colour Purple & Some Big News from Baghdad

Dream Word – PROSPER

Mark 8:36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? NKJV

The Colour Purple & Some Big News from Baghdad

Temple University in Philadelphia was founded in 1884 by the Rev. Dr. Russell Conwell. At the time of my writing, it is the 28th largest university in the United States and the sixth largest provider of professional education in that country, being renowned for its specialist courses in law, education, media, business, and the health sciences.

As I recounted last night, this ‘Temple’ of learning and blessing, was built through tremendous sacrificial and focused hard work and of course, lots of money! I suppose, that Conwell could be described as the first great ‘Prosperity Preacher’ to come out of America and his sermon entitled ‘Acres of Diamonds,’ has been estimated to have been preached by him over 6,000 times, across a period of 58 years, to upwards of ten million people and above!

The big idea of Conwell’s ‘Acres of Diamonds’ was that you don’t need to look elsewhere for opportunities, achievements, or fortunes because the truth is, that all the resources to acquire these good things, are in fact already present in your own back yard! With anecdote upon anecdote, Conwell pummels this theme into the ground of the hearers hearts, but the first big and titled blow, relates to a story told to Conwell by an Arab guide he met in Baghdad, when he was on his world travels.

The story is about a man who wanted to find diamonds so badly, that he sells everything, including his property and goes off in an unsuccessful and eventual suicidal search for those precious stones. Meanwhile, the new owner of the now dead, diamond-searching Arab’s home, discovered that the richest of diamond mines, was actually located right there on his newly and lately acquired property!

Conwell then repeatedly beat this same post, deep into the ground of his hearers, through successive examples of American success, American local genius and the sacrificial service of ordinary American men and women throughout the land, which then would have been contemporary to his listening audience. “Money is power,” he says, “And you ought to be reasonably ambitious to have it. You ought because you can do more good with it than you could without it. Money printed your Bible, money builds your churches, money sends your missionaries, and money pays your preachers, and you would not have many of them either, if you did not pay them. I am always willing that my church should raise my salary, because the church that pays the largest salary always raises it the easiest. You never knew an exception to it in your life. The man who gets the largest salary can do the most good with the power that is furnished to him. Of course he can if his spirit be right to use it for what it is given to him.”

The difference between Conwell, this man of millions and millions of dollars and the prosperity preachers of our present day, was that in getting his riches, he chose poverty for himself! In 1921, The New York times wrote concerning Conwell, “Although Dr Conwell preaches riches, for himself he has chosen poverty, His very earnings of millions have all been given away. He has built a large church. He has founded a University, which now has approximately 7,000 students. He has personally contributed to the support of thousands of students who attended various colleges and universities throughout the country. He is now at 77 engaged in building two hospitals...”

Conwell’s Sermon entitled ‘Acres of Diamonds’ is very American, it is very Capitalistic, it is very Republican, and with all that, it is very good indeed! The character of Conwell, the context of his message and all matters concerning his living, coupled to the common sense and practical power of the sermon itself, gird it even today, with a manly virility. I am pleased to tell you tonight that I personally know of a few good men who right now are intent on making millions with but the one purpose of giving them away! How about you? How’s the practicality of your giving tonight?

Listen: - Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. Acts 16:14-15 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, make me a purveyor of purple, solid in silver and all glorious in the gold of giving, for Your eternal glory and my temporal health I ask it, amen.

 

Feb | 15 | Sparks From a Bad Fire

Key Word:- BELIEVE

Title:- Sparks From a Bad Fire

Joshua 5:12 Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.

It had been a long journey for this motley crew from Egypt, following the pillar of burning fire! Forty years of wandering in the wilderness had finally ended, though a whole repentant and yet unbelieving generation had to die in the process before their children could enter the land of promise. Of the original tribal representatives sent to ‘spy out’ the Promised Land all those unbelieving years ago, only Caleb, a strong and courageous lion’s whelp from the tribe of Judah, would believe and survive. The writer of Hebrews commenting on the dead generation that did not enter the land at that first opportunity says this to us today “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;” (Hebrews 3:12)

You see, all of the twelve original scouts sent to investigate the Promised Land returned safely and successfully to give their report. All had seen the same gigantic men and cities, the fierce people and seeming impossible odds, but only Caleb had said, “let us go up for we are well able to overcome it.” The other eleven spies however, responded saying, “we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” The congregation as usual, believed the majority. No amount of clothes tearing, and earnest entreaty from Caleb or Joshua the assistant to Moses, could change their minds. From a spirit of fear, the multitude had received a spark of disbelief and had fanned it into such a flame that it consumed the nation in utter defeated and hopelessness.

Without the imploring of Moses, God would have wiped them out in an instant. He was shall we say, a little annoyed! Instead, God decided that none of that generation would be allowed to enter into the promise, none that was, except Caleb, who having seen the same as the other eleven spies, nonetheless saw it with a different spirit.

Friend, before Almighty God I ask you; what ails you, what fails you, in possessing your land today? What’s wrong for goodness sake with the eyes of your spirit? Get it changed McGoo! Else we might just have to McGo into the land without you!

Listen: -Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Pray: - Lord, I believe. You, yes I believe You! So please come and clear the fuzz of my unbelief, to clear eyes of seeing faith, in Jesus name I pray it, amen!

Feb | 15 | ‘True Friendship is Eternal’

Dream Word – FOCUS

2 Samuel 19:30 Then Mephibosheth said to the king, "Rather, let him take it all, inasmuch as my lord the king has come back in peace to his own house." NKJV
 
‘True Friendship is Eternal’

Once upon a time, there was a midget of a man, longing to make a difference. No, not much is known about Johnnie Ring, save that he was small, underdeveloped and in many respects, unwanted. Never the less, Johnnie’s amiable nature led him to be pitied. This pity and the subsequent kind condescension of others toward him, was however powerful enough to produce a revolving and fanatical faithfulness, the expression of which, would so turn a man to power the light of change, that this dark world still bathes in the light of it, even to this present day.

John Brown, the enormous abolitionist, had stayed with the Conwell’s just weeks before his hanging. Now, eighteen months later, that which Victor Hugo referred to as ‘America’s uncorrectable sin,’ Brown’s murder, had indeed ‘created in the Union a latent fissure which was now shaking American democracy to the dire dislocations of civil war. Now, just nineteen years of age, Russell Conwell had signed up to fight for the second time, his local militia this time electing him as their Captain and banding together to buy him a shiny sword of ceremonial office. At nineteen, Captain Conwell looked like a fighting man, a veteren even, sword in hand.

Johnnie ring was so underdeveloped that he looked like a boy! So much so that this precluded him signing up himself to fight in the regular forces and so the only way he could get to war, was to plead with Captain Conwell to take him along as his servant. Conwell, neither wanted nor needed a servant, yet pitied his big-hearted, little neighbour so much, that he took him along with him. The thankfulness and devotion of Johnnie ring towards Conwell for this act of kindness toward him was all-surpassing in its devotion and complete in its faithfulness, finding a particular expression in the shining and care of that sword purchased for Conwell by his comrades.

Johnnie Ring, was also a devoted Christian and when Conwell, a committed atheist took to laughing at Ring’s consistent evening reading of the Bible and his constant praying, Johnnie Ring simply took to reading his Bible outside of his Captain’s tent and polished his commander’s glittering sword, more vigorously every day!

A surprise Confederate attack on their position near New Berne led to a hasty retreat across the river by the Captain and his union soldiers , the covered bridge of which, was lit in fierce and fiery flames behind them, forming a barrier which their pursuing enemies would not and indeed, just could not pass. Through the smoke and flying shot, Johnnie Ring had not retreated, but had charged back to the Captain’s tent and retrieved the glittering sword left hanging on a pole in his comrades and Captains' most hasty retreat. Carrying his precious emblem, Johnny ran toward the burning and blazing bridge. The shooting stopped and both Union and Confederate soldiers watched the little man run headlong into the crackling flames of the frightful furnace. After some time, to the fearful cheers of all, Johnny Ring emerged out of the other side, all his clothes ablaze. He lingered in this life just a day or two after the event and awoke but once from his unconsciousness state to embrace the sword, laid so respectfully at his side, upon whose steel was etched the words, ‘True Friendship is Eternal.’

Captain Russell Conwell said that it was through Johnnie Ring, giving his life in devotion to him, that he later became a Christian. The Captain, for the rest of his life, hung this sword above his own bed. Each day the over- diligent Conwell, worked 8 hours for himself and 8 hours for Johnnie Ring. The Rev. Russell Conwell became the founder of Temple University and in his lifetime alone, he spoke to and influenced well over 10 million people! His legacy in Temple University and his many printed sermons have influenced millions and millions more since his death.

Yes, once upon a time, there was a midget of a man, longing to make a difference.

Listen: - Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father's house anymore. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armour, even to his sword and his bow and his belt. 1 Samuel 18:1-4 NKJV

Pray:- O Captain O my Captain, I give myself to You in heartfelt dedication and service that my life, even through the flames, would release blessing to the world. Amen.

Feb | 14 | A Deadly Valentine

Key Word:- LOVE

Title:- A Deadly Valentine

1 John 4:18-19 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.



You will remember that the expectant disciples, bereaved of their Master, were at one point huddled in Jerusalem expecting and waiting for the sending of ‘the promise,’ which Jesus had received from the Father. They were waiting for the gift and the gift was from a lover, even the fairest of ten thousand, Jesus Himself, given to His bride, the waiting church. Maybe Carol Ann Duffy in her poem “Valentine,” can give us a slightly different aspect on this gift of the Holy Spirit? Maybe? Here we go: -

Not a red rose or a satin heart.
I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
Like the careful undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
A wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.
Not a cute card or a kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring,
if you like.
Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife

I like that, for you see this gift of the Holy Spirit is lethal to the old man. To the old man, this gift reeks of eye watering death, looks like an unmerciful blade and sounds like cold steel running across an oily stone. This gift is jealously, both possessive and gripping in its embrace; it is a luminescent scent wrapped in swaddling clothes, promising light, love and peace and then to our embarrassed surprise, it strips us to appear naked and completely undone before the Father. Maybe this gift is more than we bargained for? Maybe the gift is indeed not the ‘cutesy’ red rose or satin heart after all? Maybe this gift of the Holy Spirit really is more akin to a multi-layered onion? Think about my comments, for God’s love is tough love and He will do whatever He will, whatever He needs, whatever such jealous love demands, to possess us wholly and completely.

Oh and by the way, 'Happy Valentine’s Day!'

Listen: - Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame. Song of Solomon 8:6

Pray: - May the scent of Your sacrifice remain in me today my Lord, my lover, my faithful God and my Holy Father, in Jesus name, Amen.

Feb | 14 | The Flags of Our Fathers!

Dream Word – INTEGRITY

Numbers 2:1-2 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: "Everyone of the children of Israel shall camp by his own standard, beside the emblems of his father's house; they shall camp some distance from the tabernacle of meeting. NKJV

The Flags of Our Fathers!

As far as I am aware, I am a first generation Christian. I have no living blood relative, no father especially, to model before me how to live the Christian life. I have no spiritual inheritance from my physical line, no spiritual family traits, no family calling and no family prophetic word. On the one hand this is very sad but on the other hand, it makes me the leader of the set destiny of my family line. It makes me the maker of ways, the pronouncer of blessings, and the prophet to all of mine who might choose to follow.

Emblems, crests, mottos, seals, standards, flags and nameplates, all are powerful uniting forces to rally soldiers around. The raising of the American flag atop Mount Surribachi on Iwo Jima is testimony to this fact and has united and represented the sacrifice of a nation ever since and in addition to this, across the world. And in another camp, who could ever forget the magnificence of the Motherland Statue, the Sword of Stalingrad, which overlooks the city of the same former name?

From nations to individuals, star spangled banners and personal crests, have been thoroughly influential in people’s lives, indeed, John Calvin himself, designed his own personal
emblem and seal with the motto, “Cor Meum Tibi Offero Domine Prompte Et Sincere,” surrounding the image of a heart and hand. Its meaning being, “My Heart I Offer to You Lord, Promptly and Sincerely." This motto, desire and avowed purposes, was not only a focus of Calvin’s own life, but all of Calvin’s spiritual progeny thereafter shall we say, have loved and adopted the very same thought and intent and rallying cry, of this most personal and yet now most public emblem.

God the Father organised His redeemed Old Testament people as a marching army under Royal standards around His Shekinah glory. How about you father? Can your children point to emblems and mottoes, blessings and prophetic discourse regarding battle honours both previously won and yet to come? The flags of our fathers will always become the foundational roots of our lives and the lives of children to come. Remember that.

Listen: - So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. Isaiah 59:19 NKJV

Pray:- Rise up O Lord, O Lord my God, rise up within my heart. Set Your seal upon me and my family. Deliver to me, my families colours, our standard from the ramparts of heaven’s walls, that we might march securely under them into Your destiny for us. For Your glories name I ask it, amen!

Feb | 13 | Solid, Steadfast & Sure

Key Word:- CONSIDER

Title:- Solid, Steadfast & Sure.

Acts 1:16 “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, ..."

 
Oliver Reed, British film actor, was born today in 1938. He appeared in over a hundred movies, spanning more than forty years. His most notable role, and the one in which he died, was that of 'Proximo' the Roman trainer of ‘Gladiators’ turned 'good', in the film of the same name. As that character, his most quoted and notable phrase is his comment and observation on the human condition, “We are all shadows and dust. Shadows and dust”

Shadows pass, as day turns into night. Stone, eventually weatherworn, turns to dust and is blown away even by a faint summers breeze; and concerning mankind, the Apostle Peter, quoting Isaiah the prophet, says “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the LORD endures forever.” 1 Peter 1:24, 25a
In light of the decay all around us, in our mouth, in our rheumatoid lower back, in our grey hair, in the creaks of all our joints, in the wrinkles, in the darkness and bags underneath our eyes, we need to see the eternal contrast, the infinite contradiciton, written in frames of eternal silver again and again. You know? “The WORD of the LORD ENDURES forever!” Yes, the abiding quality of the pronouncements of God can never be eroded. They are as solid and sharp, as powerful and penetrating, as they ever were. They are indeed living words, Spirit words, having an eternal quality and an ever-present propensity. These words shall most certainly accomplish their pronouncements. Because of this, men and brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled and frankly, it could do no other than be fulfilled! It could not fail! It had to come to pass and it did! And it will! It will, it will, it will, it will, it will, it will, it will, it will, it will,….

Now tell me what has His Word been saying to you just lately? It’s time to take up the Kingly and unfailing sword of God’s Word and fight!

Listen: - 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. 1 Thess 5:23-24,
 
Pray: - Lord, Your Word fulfill, in, and over me in Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Feb | 13 | The Sound of Sharpening Knives

Dream Word – INTEGRITY

James 5:12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," lest you fall into judgment. NKJV

The Sound of Sharpening Knives

I didn’t know where I was, so, I went up to the man in the tall black hat and politely explained my situation and asked if he could help? Sniffing through his nose, while tilting his head slightly back, grimacing and arching his lips down, he seemed to chin the air with an affirmative response, then, without saying a word, with his left hand he quickly whips out a steel and with his right hand, scoops out a 12 inch black-handled blade! Without saying a word, right in front of my face mind you, he quickly began sharpening the long shiny knife across the steel. I tell you, I could see the flash of quick silver shavings, shimmer in the late afternoon sunlight, as they fell like tiny little welding sparks bouncing on the ground. Just twelve quick strokes, that’s all, but my heart was pounding out of my chest and like a rabbit in the headlights I was totally transfixed, waiting to see what he would say! But then, just as quickly, he simply popped the steel and the knife back into his belt, shook his head and walked away! I tell you I was so relieved, and I was angry as well, no, I was furious! I was ready for a fight, after all, I only wanted some directions and all he did, was sharpen a nasty looking knife right in front of my face.

Another time, I was bemused by events in my life and approached my ‘bestest’ of all friends, my dearest wife, asking for her input and direction. Through her nostrils she sucked in a deep breath, tilted her head to the back and slightly off toward her right shoulder and said. very slowly, right in front of my face even, “Well, I don’t know if I should respond. No, maybe you should speak to someone else. I don’t know if you're ready to receive what I have to say. I don’t know if you would like it anyway.” Just a few quick sharp and shiny words, that’s all, but I tell you, my heart was pounding out of my chest and like a rabbit in the headlights I was totally transfixed waiting to see what she would say next. She said nothing! So I responded in quiet anger to her steel sharpening.“Go on then I said, fire away, I’m ready, I’m up for it.” Then she tilted her head the other way this time and said, “Nah. It’s not a good idea really. Speak to someone else.” Nonchalantly like, she then just turned and walked away. I tell you I was so relieved, and I was angry as well, no, I was furious! I was ready for a fight, after all, I only wanted some directions and all she did was sharpen a nasty looking knife right in front of my face.

Like it or not, our response to important questions can be really threatening and offensive. Our lack of commitment to a correct and honest answer can simply make things worse. Our text for tonight is directly related to oath taking and points to the simple necessity of an honest, direct, unambiguous, guileless response to questions asked of us. I wonder if our text also indirectly points to the need for gracious, but truthful answers to simple questions asked of us? I think it does and that being the case, some of you need to leave your steels in the kitchen and simply answer the questions asked of you! Speak the truth in love my friends but please, do not sharpen truth in someone’s face as it’s just plain wrong and so very, very provocative.

Listen: - These are the things you shall do: Speak each man the truth to his neighbour; Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace; Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbour; And do not love a false oath. For all these are things that I hate,'Says the Lord." Zechariah 8:16-17 NKJV

Pray:- Deliver me O Lord from the sound of sharpening knives, into truth and love and peace, in Jesus name I ask it, amen!

 

Feb | 12 | Of Smiling Sandals & Tsunamious Scandals

Key Word:- PREPARE


Title:- Of Smiling Sandals & Tsunamious Scandals  

John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

 
Our text and theme today is from John 16:33 and is about there being in the world for the redeemed and blessed child of God, affliction, anguish, burden, persecution, trouble and tribulation. It is not a very happy theme, nonetheless, it is a very common one in the Bible.

Actually, the first place Jesus uses the word 'tribulation' is in Matthew 13:21, which says: “Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.” Here in explaining the parable of ‘the sower’ to His disciples, it would appear that such tribulation, literally, such 'pressing pressure' follows the Word. Indeed, this kind of 'pressing pressure' arrives and is applied on us because of the Word! It's as though, when the Word comes, it brings forth such a challenge, such a change, such a bright stirring in the heavenlies that the darkness cannot abide it and so turns on the planted word and ferociously attacks it in any way it can, burdening and pressuring the lighted spirit in such a way as to bend it double, cripple it and cause it to stumble along the way, to fall, to give up and to die!

The 'stumbling' that Jesus warns of here in this parable is the Greek word from which we get our English word 'Scandal'. In context, Jesus says “the tribulation, the 'pressing pressure' I am talking about will bring about scandal in some people! Expect tribulation, expect pressing pressure because the darkness will try and snuff you out! Accept this, make peace with it; it's going to happen in the world, YOU SHALL HAVE PRESSING PRESSURE! However, be careful, because such 'pressing pressure' might cause you to collapse and crumble and cause a terrible 'tsunamious' scandal!” Even though the Word, though effective to a point has become ours, “The problem” says Jesus, “is the Word has not become rooted in you, or by you and consequently, you have no root in yourself.”

So, the answer for us now in knowing how not to crumble under such terrible 'pressing pressure' and not to produce a tsunamious scandal in us and around us, is obvious: We must get rooted! We must dig down deep! We must find the good soil and pierce the ground into the moist rich depth of both our own spirit and His!

We have some work to do here folks for I tell you, that it is not a case of us just reading the Word! No, it is having it read us and CHANGE US! It is not just us memorizing the Word; it is us, 'makerising' the Word! It's putting it into practice; it's actually doing it, obeying it, living it!

How do we face such awful and prophesied and persistent pressing pressure then friends? For, “Tribulation is going to come” says the Word, indeed, “It will follow Me” says the Word! So, how do we face such awful and prophesied and persistent pressing pressure? Well the same Word says “Have peace in Me” it says “Don’t; worry; it will be all right in the end,” it says “So be of good cheer!” Eh! You’ve got to be kidding? Right?

In the light of such 'pressing pressure', such concentration of crumbling, such possibility of tsunamious scandal, Jesus says “be of good cheer!” Now this 'good cheer’ He is talking about is not an instruction to become a sandal wearing, 'happy clappy' grinning idiot in the face of vicious onslaught. No! The verb here means something more than that, it's something for warriors. It says “in the face of such persistent and 'pressing pressure' get rooted and get going! The word says “Don't cringe my son, but cry out in rooted victory! Be bold, be daring, and be courageous! Be of that kind of ‘Good Cheer!” This little phrase is a resounding call to courage and fortitude in the face of battle and overwhelming pressure. It is literally a call to be a 'FIGHTING AND VICTORIOUS OVERCOMER.'
So what challenges and onslaughts face you today? Dear friends, stand firm in God's grace, deeply rooted in the Word and have the Word deeply rooted in you. Be bold! Be strong! And be an OVERCOMER! May your name be 'forever, Victor! 'Get in the Word! And get the Word in YOU! Because, “Be of good cheer” means FIGHT ON AND WIN!

Listen: - I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. 1 John 2:13b,

Pray: - Lamb of God, overcome me. Take me deep into You. Rid me of my sin, rid me of my shallowness and root me Lord. Deep and Wide Father! Root me deep and root me wide. In Jesus name I pray, amen!