Jun | 15 | True Paranymphonia and the prophets of darkness

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True Paranymphonia and the prophets of darkness

John 3:28-30E
You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.' He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. NKJV

At the date of my writing, 2014, ‘Forced Marriage’ in England and Wales has now become a punishable crime. There is however, a great deal of difference between an arranged marriage and a forced marriage and certainly in the ancient near east, and therefore in the Bible, it was the duty of the Father to arrange a marriage for his son, yes, it was the duty and the privilege of the King to arrange a marriage, to procure a bride for His Prince. “The kingdom of heaven” says Jesus, “is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,” Matthew 22:2 NKJV

Such an arranged marriage would have had a couple of Paranymphs floating around, one for the bride and one for the bridegroom, who would both be there to ensure the encouragement, safety, and smooth running of all things related to the bride and the groom of the wedding. The lately demised Western marriage ceremony once, even be it ever so poorly, reflected this in the presence of the Best man and his groomsmen, and the Maid of honor, or the Matron of honor, that Chief bridesmaid and her bridesmaids. That once majestic emblem of the union of Christ and His church has now received its final death blow and for now, the present manifestation of marriage now presents us with the stained white of a vomitarian monstrosity. The present offers us no true picture of that symbolic union, no, for these truer wedding pictures of a real mystical union, we now have to look to the past and look to the future.

The Scriptures consistently present the Church as the Bride of Christ, a chosen people betrothed to the Son of God. This is a great simplicity which has now become so corrupted, that we are, on the back of this corruption, and from the source of a very different spirit, now being presented with what is in effect another Christ and another Gospel. ( 2 Corinthians 11;1-4)

True ministers of the Gospel cannot make a marriage out of monstrosity. Let the devil have as many midnight ceremonies as he might, but the true ministers of light cannot get involved in this, and all who do, show themselves to be nothing but the blinded ministers of darkness, heretics, wolves in sheep’s clothing, emissaries of Satan, even though they tote a Bible and once called themselves Evangelical. True Christians must separate themselves from such dangerous compromiser's, from such prophets of darkness, from those repenter’s from the light, from those embracer's and therefore promoters of corrupting darkness. Come out from among them and be separate.

The promotion of unbiblical gender roles within the home and the local church, the acceptance of homosexuality as a legitimate lifestyle and along with it, the attempted forcing of the acceptance of same sex marriage has now finally split the church and separated the true believer from the charlatan. I say again then, let the devil have as many ceremonies as he will, but let the church be sanctified, let the church be holy, let the church be separate from any and all maligning of this so heavenly ‘type’, this marriage of one man to one woman, in enduring respect and sacrificial love.

John felt honored to be the friend of the groom. He was happy to be so. When you stand for Biblical marriage, know too that you are honored for being a friend of the groom. Rejoice in this. I say again, rejoice! All monstrous marriages, both taint and decrease the depicted glory of Christ which should enfold such a holy union. Decide today whether you shall increase spreading darkness or increase the light of Christ.

Listen:- Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:2 NKJV

Pray: -  Father, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this age and of spiritual wickedness in high places. So then O Lord, be true to Your heart and to Your word, and bring them down our God, yes, bring them down to the pit, even to everlasting chains where they shall wait for the judgment of the great day. Amen and let it be so.

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Jan | 26 | Convenience: The pink pig of death

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Convenience: The pink pig of death

1 Kings 12:28-30
Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!" And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. NKJV

When the word ‘wisdom’ is used to qualify and justify ‘convenience’, then more than often than not, someone has very simply put a petticoat on a pig. It is a ridiculous thing to do for one big reason, and that is, that no matter how much cloth is used to make the petticoat, the pig’s big pink fat ass will stick out still for all the world to see. Try this: When you see that little curly tail hanging down from someone’s coccyx just give it a swift kick! If the curly tailed wearer squeals and grunts a bit, and they surely will, then you have found the not so fair pig of convenience.

Convenience for the Christian is an opportunity to lay aside the difficult convictions of His conscience.

Convenience for the Christian is compromise of the worst kind, for it means killing all the children of their conscience, it means committing infanticide upon those desires and visions, those certainties and seeming absolutes, which if rightly maintained, shall grow straighter still, mature, guide and provide for them in the future.

Convenience for the Christian is a gross act of cowardice, it is the apartheid of the conscience, and it is the selling out of one’s own soul.

Convenience for the Christian is a step over the style into the grounds of giant despair.

Convenience for the Christian man is the shaving of the beard, the donning of a mini skirt and the baring of one’s stone cold pimply buttocks to all the laughing world.

Convenience for the Christian is a base covenant with mediocrity. It is journey down the trail to reefer induced mind numbing awesomelessness.

Today, if following your convictions means separation and hard choices, then still choose the way of conviction. If, however, some nice numpty suggest that to be wise you need to really disregard your convictions, just for a while, you know, cover them up and gag them, just for a bit, then friends, turn him around real quick, and, if you see a curly tail hanging down from his coccyx, give it a swift kick. The grunt and squeal is merely the discovery of the pink pig of death. Remember. Pork was to be avoided for a reason.

 So, tell me boy, would you like some applesauce with that slice of convenient compromise? 

Listen:- Then David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me." So David sent by the hand of his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the people of Ammon. And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?" Therefore Hanun took David's servants, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away. When they told David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, "Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return." 2 Samuel 10:2-5 NKJV

Pray: -  Father, give me the courage not to compromise my convictions for the sake of convenience of any kind. Amen and amen.

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Jan | 10 | Genesis revisited

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Genesis revisited

John 1:10-13
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. NKJV

Who can be saved? The whole world. Who shall be saved? As many as received Him. Who will be saved? Those born by the will of God.

Now then, just to confound us, just to rightly wrong foot us and humble us, God the Holy Spirit, expressing Himself through John, moves the spotlight of personal responsibility to a fitting counter balance to yesterday’s Bible insight, which now illuminates for us, in apple gold brightness on a silver framed and shimmering backdrop, that magnificence which is the total sovereignty of God.

For sure then, being of the physical blood line of Abraham and Sarah is not enough to be allowed a home in the courts of the King of Kings and to be empowered with the rights and privileges of son-ship. Neither is being the child of Christian parents enough to be part of God’s great house. Indeed, no mingled bloods can impart the son-ship of heaven, not even the mixed blood of the rite of circumcision and the slit throat roasted remembrance of the Passover lamb, could make you a son of God and neither can water, sprinkled upon, or dunked underneath. No, The only way you can become a son God is by spiritual regeneration and this is a creative act of God alone. Regeneration is a spiritual resurrection, no, it is more than that, it is a spiritual impartation of the new heart and the new man which leads to a renewal of the mind and a sin overthrowing revolution of the old life.

Now then, the Scriptures clearly teach that humanity is dead in trespasses and sins. We are not as bad as we could be, for sure, and the depth of sinful expression in each of us varies according to the length that our person is allowed to express itself, and like I say, even in this, we differ one from another. Yet still, every part of our being is tainted by sin, touched with a malignant blackness, and that means even our will. How then can a such sin tainted people ever choose God without that Divine touch of regeneration? And again, once regenerated from on High how can there be a stopping or a reversal of this mighty and magnificent change? Of course there cannot be! He who begins a good work in us, never leaves off.

So, to the Calvinist and the Armenianist and even to the very hip, but lesser gloried Open Theist ,I say: “Behold human responsibility and God’s Sovereignty. This a mystery, never the less, we have a Gospel to declare. Now then, get over it and get on with it! For Praise His Holy name, it is God alone that makes bad men good, old men new and keeps them so forever.”

Listen:- Therefore, brethren, we are debtors — not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out," Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Romans 8:12-17 NKJV

Pray: -  Father help us to know how to conduct ourselves in your great house, the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth for great is the mystery of godliness. We declare today then our responsibility to agree with what You say, to repent and to believe, trust and obey, and in all the so doing we also three times declare, God is good, God is gracious, God is great. Amen and amen.

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Jan | 08 | Next please!

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Next please!

John 1:11-12
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: NKJV

Jesus came first to that Apple of God’s eye, the Jewish people. Now then, today, it’s not so much the eschatology, dispensational or otherwise, or the missiology that I want to look at, but rather, it is that rotten propensity of familial familiarity and its natural consequences.

The strangeness of humanity is that sons and daughters often reject the blessings which their parents have received. I have been a Pastor long enough to see that not only must each generation choose for themselves which path they shall tread, but that path is often contrary to the one chosen by their parents. I have observed that there is no formula to be applied to families to ensure right generational choices, there is no equation to be followed which lead to the right outworking of the sum of all sensibleness. No, each generation chooses their own direction and often it is contrary to the good direction chosen by their parents. This is the prodigal propensity of familial familiarity. When we allow family and church education and all social connectivity to become subject to the louder, greater, cooler, sexier, secular and all intrusive world. What else can we expect? DO NOT underestimate the seductive power of the present world. When this happens, we go to or own and they reject us. when Jesus came to His own, they rejected Him. The power of their present day pulverized their capacity to see and desire the grace that was set before them.

The consequence of such rejection is that God will take His offer elsewhere. God is no sullen eyed rejected lover. He knows that His offerings are awesome. If you don’t want them, then someone else will. I agree with the Driscoll approach to courtship when a young man can approach a young woman and say “ I have a job and a Bible will you marry me?” and if the answer is “No”, then them simply responding by saying “next please!” over his right shoulder and moving on. Jesus came to the Jews of his day, in familial contempt they said “No” to His offers and he said “Next please” and moved on.

 DO NOT MISS OUT ON GODS GOOD GRACE TODAY.  

He might just move on.


Listen:- Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him," Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!" Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.' But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.' And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.' Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.' And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.' Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'" Luke 14:15-24 NKJV

Pray: -  Father, come once and twice, and a thousand times more knocking upon the closed doors of the deaf and the ungrateful dead. Father, wait once more at all our unopened doors, and please Great Heart, do no depart from the dwellings of those we love and long for, nor ever move the nightlight of Your presence from the halls of our abode. amidst all our faithlessness, be faithful. Amongst all our waywardness be steadfast, straight and true. Father, be all that we are not, for we have forgot Your goodness and your greatness toward us. Father, forget me not

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Nov | 10 | Forming the Famous One!

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 people's, after all how can two walk together unless they are agreed? Of course when that happens, the ensuing clash of agendas 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 programme. 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 programme 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.

 

Oct | 18 | The Big Kahuna

Key Word:- CHOOSE

Title:- The Big Kahuna

Matthew 13:44
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

 
“Seawards Folly” was finally purchased today in 1867 from the Russians for a mere $7 million. A massive 591,000 square miles of land, this territory twice the size of Texas and equal to nearly a fifth of the continental United States, was acquired by President Andrew Johnson’s Secretary of State, William Seward, who saw the purchase of gigantic Alaska as a chance to cheaply expand the size of the nation. For years, Seaward's critics would ridicule him for purchasing the largest icebox in existence, that is, until the discoveries of vast quantities of gold and oil, proving Alaska to be a seeming untapped and limitless, national treasure trove.

Jesus says today, BUY, BUY, BUY! Buy the field, get the treasure, be the trading merchant who discovers the pearl of great price and sells all that he has to get it. Jesus is clearly saying that when we have Him, for He is the pearl of great price, when we possess the kingdom, for that is the treasure in the field, we have acquired something of inestimable and indescribable value; something exceeding abundantly above and beyond all that we can ask about or think about. This treasure we possess will provide for us an eternal and infinite unfolding income of blessing and adventure, which we cannot begin to properly dream about, for we quite simply do not have the capacity to comprehend our possession!

However, unlike the purchase of Alaska, this acquisition will not be cheap. It will cost you everything you have. Everything! It is the same price tag for one and all. It is the same price tag for the very rich and the very poor, it will cost you everything.

Some of us possess a whole lot more of nothing than other people. Condo’s, commodities, temporal futures, stock holdings, cars, houses, ‘bling bling’ of all kinds, jingly jangly, shiny, glittering, presently all powerful, rust and rot! For that’s the lot of all you’ve got in the end. Naked you came and naked, yes sir, buck, stark staring naked, you shall go. Never the less it is always a continual horror to me regarding the 240 volt, shaking electric life-killing grip these earthly treasures, these expensive ruins, have on many of us. Jesus was right, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. In this respect we can say in truth, “blessed are the poor.”

Over 6 billion people are alive on planet earth at the moment. In less than 100 years we shall all be food for worms. Don’t plan for the next 30 years but rather plan for the next 3 trillion. Where are you going to be then and where is everything you love and long for going to be?

Know for sure these two things. Following Jesus, will cost you everything. Following Jesus will gain for you more than you can ever imagine.

Listen:- But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

Pray: - Blessed Holy Spirit You have revealed, according to our present capacity, a little of what we possess. Through dark glasses we have strained to see Zion, our city of destiny, the city of God. Lord, the rumours we have heard and the writings we have read, excite our little hearts. Today take our lives, take everything we have and are and will be. Take us Lord, and make us Lord, sons of the Living God, possessors of a vast inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, reserved in heaven for us. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

 

Oct | 12 | Dealing with ‘Dike’

Key Word:- CHOOSE

Title:- Dealing with ‘Dike’

Acts 28:3,4
But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”

In the Southern part of my homeland, the county of Cornwall lays its rugged-rocked coastline into the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean . It is not too long ago, that these same sharp shores, were utilized by ‘wreckers’. By moving navigation lanterns, robbers, rascals and murderers, would lure old wooden ships, heavy laden with imported goods, onto ripping reefs.
The disintegrated vessels, smashed into splinter wood by the pounding waves, would yield up surviving and half-drowned sailors, only to have them mercilessly ‘dispatched’ on the beaches. The wet goods, retrieved from the waves, would be crawled over by these awful ants, quickly divided, disposed of and stored. It was a gruesome trade.

It was not ‘wreckers’ that had washed the Apostle Paul upon these heathen shores, but God. I often wonder why God has not got better modes of delivery than puking whales and wrecked ships? Let’s face it, God’s ways are truly weird! I wonder if it is only the fog of spiritual warfare and the roar of canons thunder, that can account for such difficulties in mission.

God had already promised Paul that the whole crew would be redeemed from the waves and miraculously, they were. An astonished crowd, whilst retrieving what they could of the crashed cargo, would have looked on in amazement at the miracle of these standing survivors. Not one lost in this awful storm. Not one. It was unbelievable! It was against all the odds! Even so, LOOK! One of them hasn’t escaped Dike, the goddess of justice, oh no, she has got him now, even though he escaped the waves.

The word we have translated in our verse today as ‘Justice’ is in fact the name of this goddess, Dike. In Greek mythology, Dike, one of the three Horai, was reputed to have seen that justice was done, especially to murderers. The viper hanging from the hand of Paul seemed to indicate her pursuant vengeance to the watching Greeks.

The onlookers had of course completely misunderstood what was going on here. However it is noteworthy that like us, they knew, looked for and expected, justice on the earth. No matter how far you ran, no matter where you escaped, Dike, justice, would eventually get you. Even today we have this encapsulated in the most modern phrase, “What goes around, comes around.” It’s the same thing. We expect the pursuance of justice. Even upon ourselves. In our nightmares, we know that the terrible trio of Vengeance, Retribution and Justice are the dark riders that follow on the heels of all our crimes. In our modern terminology and misled understanding, we may have watered down the terrible strength of this foaming cup of justice. Yet, we all know in our hearts, that justice will in the end be applied. No one shall escape.

Friends, there may be some cold comfort in the fact that persons who have done us unspeakable wrongs shall not escape the judgment of God, but we must remember this; unless we take refuge in the rock of Christ and the city of God, the horses hooves of these dark riders shall one day trample us all under their pounding feet.

Listen:- Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.' Deuteronomy 32:35

Pray: - I know O God, that you take care of ‘business.’ Jesus, righteous judge of the whole earth have mercy upon me today. Let your blood alone be my sure defence against all the accusations of the enemy. Let mercy and grace be found in abundant quantities in my camp O God. In Jesus name, Amen.

 

Oct | 09 | Some New Math

Dream Word – CHOOSE

1 Peter 3:8-10 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. NKJV


Some New Math

In the United Kingdom, the roundabout is a feat of mental and physical engineering, providing both safety and continuous traffic movement along every road. You slow down a little but you keep on moving, saving on the use of petrol, saving on the use of breaks, saving on the use of neck muscles, yup, in the United Kingdom, the roundabout is an economic masterpiece as well!

When I lived in small town America, there was but one roundabout and what a dog’s breakfast my American friends used to make of it! The old courthouse still stands in the centre of this roundabout and therefore the roundabout has four if not five, pedestrian crossings to get to it. Now, these crossings are but two parallel lines painted on the road and without light or sound, pedestrians walk across them, eyes facing straight ahead, whilst walking nonchalantly towards the courthouse at the centre of the roundabout! In the country where the car is king, you would think this is tantamount to suicide but no, people walk the walk, paying no attention to giant trucks full of bourbon or corn, and the drivers, well the drivers just have to stop in their tracks! Now to compound matters even further, this single roundabout also has four yield signs! So we have five poor crossings and four yield signs all on the same roundabout! Crazy or what! Yes, my American brethren have absolutely no idea how to run a roundabout. Though to my knowledge, no one has been hurt on it yet, I am convinced that it is only a matter of time.

The building of American cities on a grid and block system means that nowhere else in the world is there the conglomeration of millions of intersections and subsequent four-way 'Stop' signs. At the end of every block, you have to stop at a four-way intersection! Can you imagine what this does for increased fuel consumption, for break wear, for neck muscle wear and even bowel twist wear! It is just ridiculous and I tell you what, as an Englishman driving in America, I still do not fully understand the polite protocol of who moves first when four cars arrive at exactly the same time at the same intersection! Four-way stops are the most confusing constructions I have ever come across. Oh please God give me once again the speed and sensibility of roundabouts!

Even so, the freaky little Bardstown roundabout and the millions upon millions of four-way stops, all seem to work. Yes, they seem to function so well, that people are on the whole, quite, quite safe. I have never yet seen an accident at a four-way 'Stop' and not even on the freaky Bardstown roundabout, and I believe I know why. You see these American drivers are utilising three important tools, which the British driver is rarely seen with. Tonight, even though it is the last and most important tool, which is the key to both peace in driving and in peace life, I shall also throw the other two simply for good measure.

Now before I give you these tools, let me say that, they are only utilized by sane people! Thus, you will never see them in play in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, or in America’s open-air asylum, the whole of South Florida! With these most obvious exceptions I shall now proceed!
So, the first tool is ‘less haste!’ I cannot tell you how many old Chevy trucks I have been stuck behind where to the driver; every day seems to be a Sunday afternoon, even if it's 08.00am in the morning! It’s as though there is common acknowledgement that “Hey, it’ll still be there when you get there!” These country folks always smile and I will overtake them at the first unsafe opportunity.

The second tool is a most uncomfortable obedience to traffic laws and speed limits. I know, this is almost unheard of in the UK yet over here, in small town America especially, most people obey the traffic laws, even at 02:00am in the morning when no one is around!

However, the third and most powerful tool of all, so fully expressed, seen and tasted at the four- way stop sign, is that most magnificent tool of ‘deference.’

Deference is the practice of deferring your practice and even sometimes your rights, to both the practice and action of others. Now stick with me please, for there grows out of deference a most remarkable life equation. However, first let me say, that deference coupled with reluctance leads to bitterness. This is deference with a snarl you see. I have seen this in practice but little however, and I think that is because of the nasty taste it leaves in the mouth of the practitioner! No, deference, especially at four-way 'Stop' signs, is usually practiced with kindness, and deference plus kindness equals common courtesy. Now, this amazing equation of d + k = cc, is most magnificent math, for when worked out with consistency it brings a safe pace to both driving and to life, and a safe pace brings sight! Yes, you begin see things that you might never have been able to see before. You smell the roses a little better, you breathe a little deeper, you work with more ease and completion, good grief, even your bowel movements begin to assume a released regularity! Yes indeed, you literally move to a more seated, unstrained, relaxed enjoyed approach to people, jobs, life, relationships and problems of every kind and sort!  

Common courtesy is brotherly kindness on legs and that, dear friends, is the beginning of selflessness, the beginning of the humbling of pride, which in turn is the preparation of the heart for the poured in, poured out, poured through goodness of God! Imagine that.

So tomorrow, especially if today you have been a miserable old trout, why not amaze your colleagues, your family and your friends, yes, why not even trick the rest of humanity into thinking your mentally ill, by practicing some common courtesy. Go on; amaze people with your new math, by adding deference with kindness to your daily walk. I tell you, it will change your world.

Maybe, in the United Kingdom for the sole purpose of promoting common courtesy, we should get rid of all our roundabouts! Yeah right.

Listen: - For "He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." 1 Peter 3:10-12 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, help me practice the good selflessness of deferent kindness. So may You be glorified, so may I be granted peace, so may my prayers be granted favour in Your ears, in Jesus name I pray, amen!

Oct | 08 | Marksmen

Key Word:- CHOOSE

Title:- Marksmen

Romans 13:3,4 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

This wasn’t ‘Backwoods Tennessee,’ this was Broward County, Florida. Yet the shooting range a good friend of mine took me to (he was a member of the local Sheriffs dept) was full of men with high caliber weapons, firing away. The noise of some of this armoury was enough to frighten any assailant, never mind the seen impact damage! Certainly some of these sharp shooters took what they were doing very seriously indeed, each shot being intricately examined through high powered telescopes to see just how left of centre it might have been. The fact that these guys were going to be returning to heavily populated (and well armed!) suburbs in South Florida, rather than an isolated log cabin in the Smokey Mountains, did make me wonder a little about all this heavy metal!

Sergeant Alvin C York’s parents were British, however he was born in America and was in fact, a real live sharp shooter from ‘Backwoods Tennessee,’ a born-again, real life, Bible believing, God honouring, Christian fundamentalist and one time, ardent pacifist! No doubt some of you might remember the old and excellent 1941 movie, where Gary ‘Coop’ Cooper plays the real life American Hero ‘Sergeant York’. For that is indeed what this backwoods Tennessean was to become; A Hero.

It was today in 1918 in the Argonne Forest in France, where the then Corporal York, and fifteen others in an American patrol, got lost behind enemy lines. This ‘unfortunate’ situation led to half of the patrol, including the leading sergeant, being killed by a superior German force. It was York, who with his marksman's eye picked off the enemy and then led the charge of the remaining eight survivors onto the enemy machine gun nest and trenches, thereby killing 25 and capturing 132 as prisoners. For this, York was awarded the nations highest military decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honour.

You know, Sergeant York was no gun-toting loudmouthed ‘hoopin an’a hollerin’ Hollywood redneck. Nope, he was a real live old log cabin man of principle. Sure, in his early days he was known as a ‘good for nothing hell raiser’, but the death of a friend in a bar fight, stopped him in his tracks, felled him to his knees and led him to the Saviour. He was an ardent Sunday School teacher and song leader in his local church; a principled and thinking, gentle, conscientious objector. How then did he come to find himself in the 82nd Infantry Division in this ‘unfortunate’ position?

The film wrongly portrays him charging the machine gun nest with a ‘Luger’ pistol in his hand; it was in fact, a Colt .45. However, the film does very accurately portray York’s prayerful meditation, struggle and seriously taken decision, to fight for a cause that he considered to be just. There we have it. Today I want to challenge us all as each of us prayerfully decides whether the cause we are embroiled in, individually, locally, and especially nationally, is JUST! Also we must each decide if it is right to take life or to save life. Each of us must decide.

If our cause is ‘Just.’ Then maybe we should fight? If our cause is not ‘Just’, then maybe we should fight those bad regimes who would have us fight unjust causes? Brother York may teach us much about the former but German poet and pastor, Brother Bonhoeffer will teach us more about the latter. Get hold of Bonhoeffer, he will do you good.

There are difficult days ahead for the people of God. We dare not shirk our spiritual and civil responsibilities in these matters. The course of His story depends upon it.

Listen:- After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men. He was with David at Pasdammim. Now there the Philistines were gathered for battle, and there was a piece of ground full of barley. So the people fled from the Philistines. But they stationed themselves in the middle of that field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the LORD brought about a great victory. 1 Chronicles 11:12-14

Pray: - Oh famous three, Father Son and Holy Spirit, who wrought THE VICTORY in the barley field of Golgotha, help us to be a people of principle. Help us to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with You, our loving Lord. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

 

Jul | 30 | Refluxology

Key Word:-CHOOSE


Title:- Refluxology

Luke 15:28 “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him....."

It's a nasty condition and the effect on the esophagus can be profound. Acid bubbling up out of the stomach into the esophagus can burn lesions into the tissues. For a preacher one of the more disconcerting aspects of acid reflux is its tendency to reach up to the vocal cords and eat them away. At night time many people take their teeth out and put them in water; for those people with acid reflux, eat the wrong food at the wrong time and it’s like putting your vocal chords in acid over night. After a while it becomes painful to speak and your power of projection is virtually gone and many times, even your ability to maintain a healthy sounding discourse is also ruined. Acid reflux is nasty.

It is obvious to me that there is a parallel here; I may even suggest a connection, between physical acid reflux and spiritual acid reflux. Just the other day I took note of how regularly I became aware of my thoughts regurgitating painful scenarios of past conflicts. The emotions associated with each revisit were acidic. Not just one type of bad thought either, but a whole panoply of bad stuff. You know, anger, disgust, astonishment! Spiritual acid reflux is like trying to pick up a single hook from a bowl full of the same, but you can never get just one without pulling up a whole bunch of others! This regurgitated mass of kicking and screaming emotions, has a dreadfully debilitating effect on us. We become aware of a lump in our throats, a difficulty in swallowing what others have to say, a lack of enjoyment of certain foods of fellowship, an avoidance of issues and worst of all, a loss of power in that voice which is ours. The projection of our personhood and the totality of our wholeness are indeed diminished when you suffer from spiritual acid reflux disease.

There are several ways of dealing with physical acid reflux. Eat the right things at the right time, raise your bed head up 4-6 inches and of course take medication to immediatley neutralize the acid, until finally you find a medication to tone the acid down, and slowly gain some healing! You deal with Spiritual acid reflux in exactly the same way friends. What I am about to say next is good theology and excellent refluxology. So listen up! !

While the process of the healing of past hurts takes place, you may have to avoid scenarios which aggravate the issue. For sure, you may well have to deal objectivley and rightously with issues of great concern (2 Tim 4:14) but it must be at the right time. So be sure then, objectively tackle things at the right time and with that of course, learn to never stick your hand in a bowl full of hooks! Address issues objectively and do so while taking large measures of vocal forgiveness and including positive substitutionary thoughts in your mind and heart. With this you can then neutralize the acid of bitterness whenever the bile rises.

Now, all of this works well friends, but it’s very tiring when you continually have to do it! So we need to find a way of stopping the bitter and angry, deadly and depressive regurgitation today! So, just how do we turn the acid off? How do we stop the bile rising? Well, may I suggest that the best of medicine is the embracing our own sin and then the thorough embracing of our Saviour, followed by the embracing and loving of others, very much indeed. In other words, once you own your own sin, confess it and repent of it you must then thoroughly embrace the Saviour. Yes, like a legless drowning man would squeeze any buoyant object to himself, so we must thoroughly and desperately embrace the Saviour! I wonder if that when you begin embracing Jesus as your Saviour in this thankful, desperate and life-giving manner, then, and only then, are you one who realises that He has forgiven you much; very much indeed! This gripping embracing is so necessary, for you see, it’s only once you are aware of just how much you have been forgiven, that you can then begin to forgive and to love others as you should. Once you get that sense of being so very deeply forgiven yourself, only then can you truly forgive those who have trespassed against you. Does this mean you avoid the issue with the sins of other people against you? By no means! They must be objectively tackled both for yourself and the whole body. However, it is only in the forgiving of others, then and only then, that the bitter bile can be neutralised.

The truth is that some of you have got terrible spiritual acid reflux disease, because you have yet to realise just how much you have been forgiven. Do you dare to begin to enter and own the darkness which is yours today? Maybe you need to, for I am convinced that it’s only by doing this, that you are enabled personally, from your heart to truly love the Saviour and then objectively begin to confront the persons and issues of the trespasses against you, that you might begin to love them rightly.


Listen:- Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” Luke 7:44-47

Pray:- Lord, lift up my head. I have been forgiven much and no doubt, much more than I know or care to truly acknowledge. Father, help me to embrace my sin and my Saviour in such a way that I would love others well. In Jesus name I ask this, amen!

Jul | 15 | Which Side Of The Red Line of Destiny?

Dream Word – CHOOSE

Joel 2:15-17 Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare Your people, O Lord, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'" NKJV

Which Side Of The Red Line Of Destiny?

I went to meet a friend of mine arriving at St Pancras station form Paris. There, overlooking all the comings and goings of all the busy, head down, fast-moving folk, is a nine metre high bronze sculptor by ‘Paul Day,’ called ‘The Welcome.’ This stunning piece is based on a drawing of the artist embracing his French wife. However, in my opinion, ‘The Welcome’ pales into insignificance before probably one of the greatest works of arts ever produced, which I also strolled by later that same day. Yes, there alongside the River Thames, on the Victoria Embankment, commemorating the halting conflict of the aggressive, rampant Nazi forces, is Paul Day's, majestic and moving, Battle of Britain monument.

It was two weeks after the fall of Paris in June 1940 when the then Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, stood and addressed the House of Commons in what history now calls, his ‘Finest Hour’ speech. The prefix of Churchill’s spectacular and rousing speech, acknowledges what Alexander Cadogen, the then Permanent Undersecretary at the Foreign Office called, a most ‘miraculous’ and ‘marvellous’ event whereby, the defeated British Expeditionary Force, trapped and defeated on the wet dark shores of Dunkirk, waiting for destruction under the mighty jackboot of Hitler were able to be removed by an armada of small boats, back to the shores of England.

The destruction in fact never happened, because for unknown reasons even today, Hitler halted and never forced home his victorious advantage. Indeed Churchill said, ‘During the last few days we have successfully brought off the great majority of the troops we had on the line of communication in France; and seven-eighths of the troops we have sent to France since the beginning of the war--that is to say, about 350,000 out of 400,000 men--are safely back in this country. Others are still fighting with the French, and fighting with considerable success in their local encounters against the enemy. We have also brought back a great mass of stores, rifles and munitions of all kinds which had been accumulated in France during the last nine months. We have, therefore, in this Island today a very large and powerful military force. This force comprises all our best-trained and our finest troops, including scores of thousands of those who have already measured their quality against the Germans and found themselves at no disadvantage. We have under arms at the present time in this Island over a million and a quarter men.’ 

Make no mistake about it, this was a mighty miracle. This miracle came about because of one reason alone and that is that on May 26th, the church finally called the WHOLE NATION to a national Day of Prayer. The nation’s churches, overflowed. As I write this night in 2008, I am undecided as to which side of the thin red line of destiny we are on. It’s a close call, for if the CHURCH mobilised itself even on the morrow, in courage and sacrificial conquest, I am not sure if it would be just in time, or frankly just far too late to save our land. In any event, we are in need of a Spiritual Churchill to once again come and steel our hearts to fight. The great problem we have is that nearly 70 years ago we had a nation that knew God, knew His Word, knew His promises. Today, we have nothing. How can we call a nation to a God they do not know?

The remnant, and God help us it is a remnant of what was once a Christian nation, MUST begin to stir itself up and lay hold of God once more. From what I have seen of the remnant however, we are all very soon to be wearing the devil’s insignia. I say again that unless we stir ourselves up to lay hold of God and beg Him to do us good, then at the very best, we shall be reduced to fighting an underground Guerrilla war, hiding and huddling whilst many of our brethren are thrown into prison, waiting and praying until someone else, at great cost, eventually comes and rescues them. Each of us need to decide which side of the line of destiny we are and make our plans and decision accordingly.

Listen: - What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.' (The Prime Minister – Winston Churhill)

Pray:- Great and Almighty God, bring us all to places of choosing and places of fighting, in Jesus name I ask it, amen.

                                                                                                         

Jun | 09 | Vergissmeinnicht (Forget-me-not)

Key Word:- CHOOSE

Title:- Vergissmeinnicht. "Forget me not"

Romans 5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.

I was brought up reading the poets of the Great War, Brooke, Sassoon, Graves etc. The sickening sites of mechanized warfare in the 1914-1918 First World War, left no sense of honour, especially in the pen of Wilfred Owen. The poem embodying what Owen calls the old lie of ‘Dulce et Decorum Est Pro-PatriaMori' (it is great and glorious to die for ones country) was written after a gas attack. I am not a pacifist, but Owen's poem needs to be read by every warrior and every old man that is part of sending younger men to war.

Today in Normandy, 1944, another poet, Keith Douglas was killed in action. In 1940, he wrote the poem, which is the title of the 'Whisper' for today, where he speaks of coming again to an area on the battleground, where previously an enemy had tried to kill him. The unburied corpse had lay in the open for three weeks. The closing stanzas of his work reads as follows:

Look. Here in the gunpit spoil
the dishonoured picture of his girl
who has put: Steffi. Vergissmeinnicht.
in a copybook gothic script.

We see him almost with content,
abased, and seeming to have paid
and mocked at by his own equipment
that's hard and good when he's decayed.

But she would weep to see today
how on his skin the swart flies move;
the dust upon the paper eye
and the burst stomach like a cave.

For here the lover and killer are mingled
who had one body and one heart.
And death who had the soldier singled
has done the lover mortal hurt.

As men in the 21st Century seek for their emasculated manhood, their stolen status of warrior and adventurer, we must remember the experiences of old, lest we too become the deceived, in thinking death in battle to be a most glorious one.

The character of ‘Williams’ in Shakespeare’s Henry V, on the eve of the battle of Agincourt, speaks unknowingly to the hidden king who is secretly and disguised, wandering among his frightened host and remarks to him that,


“ If the cause be not good, the King himself hath a heavy reckoning to make when all those legs and arms and heads, chopp'd off in a battle, shall join together at the latter day and cry all 'We died at such a place'- some swearing, some crying for a surgeon, some upon their wives left poor behind them, some upon the debts they owe, some upon their children rawly left. I am afeard there are few die well that die in a battle; for how can they charitably dispose of anything when blood is their argument?”

Friends, death is terrible and in battle, people’s lives are never lovingly disposed of. Let me ask you today then, my warrior friend, “Is the cause you might sacrifice yourself for a good one, a great one, a right one? Make sure it is, for in battle, there will be blood.”

Listen:- But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8-9

Pray:- Jesus, we are the worthy cause you died for. Help us then to find and fight in all Your worthy causes today, and if needs be…..

Jun | 07 | Another Woman - Another Well

Dream Word – CHOOSE

2 Samuel 17:17-20 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed at En Rogel, for they dared not be seen coming into the city; so a female servant would come and tell them, and they would go and tell King David. Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom. But both of them went away quickly and came to a man's house in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down into it. Then the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground grain on it; and the thing was not known. And when Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, they said, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" So the woman said to them, "They have gone over the water brook." And when they had searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem. NKJV

Another Woman - Another Well


You will agree that our text for tonight runs in some respects in parallel with the story of Rahab in the book of Joshua. Two of the well known runners of David the King are spotted by the civil war enemy and take refuge in an unnamed house and are hidden and protected by an unnamed woman. When asked a direct question by the soldiers of Absolom the usurper, she lies, she deceives them and then diverts them away from their quarry. Make no mistake about it, this unnamed woman, drawn unwillingly onto centre stage of this civil war conflict, saves the men, saves the day and saves King David and his Kingdom. Some might extrapolate further in saying that this unnamed woman saved the Messianic line, thus making way for the coming Messiah, the Saviour of the world. It is only in nice middle- class front rooms and respectable religious pulpits where such ‘lying’ is hissed at. David’s men praised her for these lies! Absolom’s men cursed her for them, and died.

Life is messy. Living righteously is messy, costly, bloody. Decisions we have to make, many of which are thrust upon us, many we wish we did not have to make, have enormous consequences attached to them. That unknown woman got up that morning to make some flour, to bake some bread and ended up saving Israel before she went to bed. Imagine that!

We live this Christian life in an already running reel, a story that flickers wildly on the walls of eternity, each frame scratched and grazed, browned by the sin of a fallen humanity and always containing the dark shadow of the black top-hatted, wax-moustached villain of Satan himself. Our biggest surprise whilst watching this story play itself out, is all of a sudden to find ourselves in the scene, cast centre stage, the whole plot seemingly pinned upon just what we shall do next? Now that’s frightening! When it happens to you, whatever you choose to do next, despite the mess, despite the machinations of your heart, always choose for King Jesus and may you always protect His Royal runners.

Listen: - Now it came to pass, after they had departed, that they came up out of the well and went and told King David, and said to David," Arise and cross over the water quickly. For thus has Ahithophel advised against you." So David and all the people who were with him arose and crossed over the Jordan. By morning light not one of them was left who had not gone over the Jordan. 2 Samuel 17:17-20 NKJV .

Pray:- Lord, when I am centre stage, saving the King's runners and all the King's men, grant me a poker face and good lies. In Jesus name I ask it, amen.

                                                                                                         

Jun | 01 | Mouthy Malice and How To Shut The Little Creep Right Up!

Key Word:- CHOOSE

Title:- Mouthy Malice and How To Shut The Little Creep Right Up!

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

I don’t know if it’s still there, but the graffiti sprayed across a bridge as you drove up the M1 in England towards the city of Luton, always grabbed my attention. In desperate scrawl it read “A Town Called Malice.” A direct reference to a song by the 1980’s group ‘The Jam’.

Paul Weller penned some incredible words to this song which was later used as part of the soundtrack in the film ‘Billy Elliot’. I suppose being British and originating from that part of British social structure, the lyrics, the location, the spirit of the song all echo deep in my being. Here’s the opening lines:-

“Better stop dreaming of the quiet life -
Cos it's the one we'll never know,-
And quit running for that runaway bus -
cos those rosey days are few-And -
Stop apologising for the things you've never done,-
Cos time is short and life is cruel -
But it's up to us to change………
This town called malice”

I am acquainted with malice. Pastorally I have seen it to be that which is most manifest in the hurt, the rejected and the robbed. Personally, malice is always my most unwelcome, yet very welcome justifying minister and mentor, even tormentor. We all have a strange love-hate relationship with malice. You know what I mean? Yes, I think you do.

The sin of malice is insidious to humanity. It is linked directly to the proud house of sinful self. Malice clings to you like old gas, passed from the cabbage you ate yesterday or like malevolent misery, it sits astride your mouth and stretches your cheeks downwards in fearful weighted frowning. Malice manipulates the mind, has menace as its cousin and murder as its twin. Malice is hate incarnate. Malice is dear friends, nothing but dark, murky and malevolent sin. Yet we so often quietly welcome it throught the back door of our heart, late at night, when all the good neigbours are asleep.

Malice is a particularly tricky form of sin. For once welcomed into our hearts, it can morph itself into seeming light and righteousness. Yes, malice is very vocal in justifying its existence. After all, “Didn’t they…” and “If he hadn’t….” and “Except for…” and “I was only…..”
Friends, malice cannot be reasoned with. It is too powerful. I would suggest that neither can it be fought against and overcome! Attack it and it only gets stronger! Rather, malice is to be dealt with in a most disdainful way. Like a child with an old toy, we must continually lay it aside. I mean persiastantly and continually! This will offend it, but I tell you friends, it will shame it, quiet it, defeat it and suck the self-justifying and sour little life out of it. Make no mistake though; the process must be a continual and disdainful laying aside.

Finally, and best of all, malice must be ignored. Mostly this is best done by taking up some new and righteous toy, even some better friend. If malice is in your house, ignore it with practical intent.
So child of God, today if your meal is mouthy malice, then why not lay the losing louse aside and start playing with the some of the better toys of the Kingdom. Yes , if you do both these things, that is, disdain it and ignore it, then eventually, malice will leave of its own accord, slinking out of the back door late at night into the foggy darkness, disgusted and hurt. It wont even slam the door. Try it and see if I am correct, for it’s up to us to change this town called malice and I tell you, this is just the way to do it!

Listen:- And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Pray:- Loving God, help me today, to lay death aside and pick up LIFE! In Jesus name I pray, amen!