Jun | 04 | Will the Heron be in heaven?

CLEAN

Will the Heron be in heaven?

Leviticus 11:9-17
'These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers — that you may eat. But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you. They shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination. Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales — that shall be an abomination to you. 'And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, the kite, and the falcon after its kind; every raven after its kind, the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind; the little owl, the fisher owl, and the screech owl;

Until the Jackdaw attacked it, did not see the waiting grey ghost hid silent and sentinel like amidst the dense green canopy of enveloping tree tops above me. Reluctantly it was forced out of its waiting place and opening its vast wings somehow was able, with quietness and with great winged dexterity, to navigate itself through the roof top foliage and out across the open water and away, to find another spear snipering position, where, no doubt, in unbreathable stillness, this patient, unrelenting, voracious and seemingly ever inwardly angry carnivore would wait once more to consume its prey.

I dislike the Grey Heron. It worries me with waiting death, and seems to be a sleek salesman of the same. To me, it is a wayward glazier that breaks windows in the darkness only to then go and offer repairs of the same in the day. It is a grey coat tailed killer and a cut price undertaker all rolled into one, which, like cold standing stone, just sits and waits to spear its customers, with cauldron bubbling anger, just sits there and waits and then waits some more.

 I don’t like Heron and as it is on the list of abominations, I wonder if we shall find the Heron in heaven? An abomination is something which should be regarded as disgusting and to which the appropriate response is a proper aversion to the same. I of course have my own personal and extended list of abominations: Wooden lollipop sticks; deep fried chicken claw; hairy oily men wearing nothing but ‘budgie smugglers’; and Hershey’s Kisses, to name but four of the nasty things on my personal list of abominations. No matter to you though, for these are my personal abominations and frankly, what is an abomination to me may be a delight to you! You weird, wood sucking chicken clawed, chocolate-poo fat hairy thing you!

However, surely what God the Creator regards to be an abomination matters. So we do well to take note that God commands certain things and actions to regarded as abominations to His people: Yes, He demands certain things to be regarded as disgusting and defiling to us and to which our response should be a personal aversion and thorough avoidance.

The reasons for these commands of regarded abomination and for those subsequent lists of abominations are sometimes protective in terms of good health, sometimes preventative in terms of avoiding perversion and consequent destruction, sometimes pictorial in the avoiding spiritual pollution and sometimes, are just plainly indicative of those practices which God Himself abhors! There are some things, you see, which God hates almost as much as I hate deep fried chicken claw. Almost.

Look now; God made the Heron but He does not hate it. God made shrimp and He does not hate them either, but for whatever reason, the consuming of these creatures was to be regarded as an abomination to His people, that is, was to be regarded as something disgusting and consequently something which should produce in them a strong aversion to the same.

 In addition to ‘things’ there are, in particular, certain lifestyle practices, which, in olden times we lined up with the Bible and called sins, which God also abhors and places on His very own abomination list and to which, He calls His people to also regard as a disgust to them and a repugnant aversion: Pride, homosexuality, incest, bestiality, lying lips, fork tongues, evil and hurtful schemes and devices and Biblical injustice.

 On reflection, God does not hate shrimp nor the Heron and so maybe we shall see them both in heaven. However, these perverted pracices, these sins, He most thoroughly abhors, yes, He detests with a loathsome disgust and hatred and there is, according to the Bible, no way that we shall the grey ghost propagators and the lay in wait practitioners of the same in heaven.

What abhorrent practice on God’s abomination list do you need to repent of today? 

Listen:- These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19

Pray: -  Father, not that we would be defiled by hate; not that we would be ruled by hate neither consumed by it; but let us, even so, hate those practices which You hate and especially abhor that great abomination of ‘sowing discord’ amongst Your people. Amen and amen.

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Dec | 30 | Bomb Da House!

Key Word:- CLEAN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dec | 28 | ‘Die Hard 42’ - Applying Newness

Dream Word – CLEAN

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

‘Die Hard 42’ - Applying Newness

Will you allow me tonight to take a practical principle from the spiritual reality that our text places before us tonight, for in England, these are the dog days of the Holiday season, those quite few hours, the darkest and quietest of all maybe, between the passing of the night and the coming of the dawn. Christmas is over and everyone is waiting expectantly for the celebration of the coming New Year. Plans and preparations are afoot!

I love New Beginnings! Every Lord's day for me is the beginning of a brand new week! So you can imagine how excited I get about the coming of a brand New Year and all the New Year’s resolutions, New Year plans, and New Year actions I have lined up. However, I am sure you will agree with me when I say that often, it is only a very few days into the New Year, when the old habits so completely take over your life once more, that disappointment, disillusion, settled acceptance and sameness, take up their residence in the house they were so determinedly thrown out of just a few days previously. Why does this happen?

Well it is a true saying that “Old habits die hard!” In other words, habits are so linked to ways of thinking, so rooted to heart attitudes, so entrenched in the groove of our life, that resolution alone will not break them! No it takes nothing short of mental, emotional and physical annihilation to get rid of them! If you're going to be a pussycat about your New Year’s resolutions, then in a few days they will have vanished like the morning mist. Some things in you have to die this New Year and friend, it is you that is going to have to kill them!
So tonight, here a just four short thoughts for you to consider, to ruminate on and to hopefully, put into action:

1. Identify those things which have to go

2. Identify those things which are perpetuating the existence of those things you wish to eliminate. Consider:-
a. What location do they thrive in –CHANGE them
b. What thought processes feed them –MODIFY them
c. What heart desires attract them – KILL them

3. CHANGE MODIFY & KILL are however not enough. At best they will leave a yawning vacuum which will be filled and usually by things nastier than you tried to get rid of. No honest, this is a terrible spiritual principle, ‘A vacuum of vacant badness, will attract more of the same!’ So, it is absolutely necessary and life-giving to yourself, that once you’ve created a space, you must fill it with good things!
a. Change – Get some different friends, catch a different train, get up at a different time, read some different books, watch some different movies, etc etc. CHANGE=DIFFERENT

b. Modify your thought patterns. Open the Scriptures. Memorize a verse per day; a promise to be yours. Read it out loud. Read it aloud some seven times per day!

c. Kill your sinful, unhealthy, death-laden desires. Show no mercy to them, do not heed their pleading screams. Kill them! Then go and court some more, no really, stir up the good desires in whatever righteous way you can. Think about how to do that! What GIVES YOU LIFE?

4. Yes, old habits die hard, so the last thing I want to say to you tonight is get ready for the long, long haul. For you must consistently apply the newness. Indeed, I would say to you tonight that the main key to opening the newness of the coming year is CONSISTENCY.

This year, if you follow my advice, you shall see the Lord Jesus like never before and others still mourning will not believe your fresh new vision and the change wrought in you!

Listen: - Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. Mark 16:9-11NKJV

Pray:- Lord, help me to prepare to throw these scabby things out of my life! Lord, heal me, help me and fill me with a passionate and merciless consistency that this coming year, I might see You as I have never seen You before. Amen Lord, amen!
 

Dec | 19 | Of Dogma and Dynamite

Key Word:- CLEAN

Title:- Of Dogma and Dynamite

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dec | 10 | Leading Hands

Key Word:- CLEAN

Title:- Leading Hands

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

A clean handed person according to our text, may begin to ascend the hill of the Lord; that is, may approach the precious and powerful presence of the living and loving, gloriously effulgent Almighty God! Ah, clean hands. Have you got them today?When examine my hands I see evidence of previous involvements, articles of participation if you will, writings of recent history. The calloused palms of hard labor, the nibbled nails of present anxiety, and the deformed finger protruding from the damaged knuckle, all say something. Hands tell stories you know? Take just a few minutes of quiet to examine your hands. What stories do they tell? Ah, clean hands. Have you got them today?


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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Nov | 19 | The Shining!

Key Word:- CLEAN

Title:- The Shining!

Exodus 3:5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Oct | 28 | Fling Out The Old Hag Today

Key Word:-CLEAN

Title:- Fling Out The Old Hag Today

2 Kings 9:30-33
Now when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked through a window. Then, as Jehu entered at the gate, she said, "Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of your master?" And he looked up at the window, and said, "Who is on my side? Who?" So two or three eunuchs looked out at him. Then he said, "Throw her down."

A poor eyesighted pink-faced albino, with a head too large for his little body, the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930) for some 60 years lectured at Oxford University in history, philosophy and divinity, eventually serving as both Dean and President. The problem with Spooner was that his tongue could not keep up with the lightening speed of his brain! A kind, hospitable, absent-minded professor, he was renowned for the frequent and hilarious slips of his tongue. 'Spoonerisms', now so famous, are phrases, sentences or words in language that have swapped sounds. For example Reverend Spooner, when one day eulogising about Britain’s farmers, called them “Noble tons of soil.” instead of noble sons of toil. Quoting 1 Cor 13:12, and wanting to encourage his hearers that their Lord was a loving shepherd, instead said that, “Our Lord is a shoving leopard.” Or when officiating at a wedding, he prompted a hesitant bridegroom by saying, “Son, it is now kisstomary to cuss the bride!” And finally, for today, during WWI he may well have wanted to hang out the flags when the boys came home from France, but in trying to re-assure his students he actually said, “When our boys come home from France, we will have the hags flung out.”!

Jehu, driving furiously, returned from war. His hands bloody with the death of bad kings, this hurricane of a half-hearted hero, swept clean the land of the ashes of Jezebel's tragic magic. She was waiting for him.

Even after the death of her husband Ahab, Jezebel, beautiful and powerful, still managed to infest the land with idolatry and manipulating witchcraft as her son, Joram, remained simply a pathetic puppet in her continuing strong hand. There is no question in my mind, that Jezebel follows the etymology of the word “hag,” in that she was demonised, and to such an extent, that her very spirit was corrupted, aged, ugly, slatternly, evil looking and frightening. All of this inward corruption mind you, was somehow seemingly cloaked in the dignity of an alluring royalty, her deep and suggestive eyes highlighted with inviting antimony. Even as her prophesied death approaches, the old hag still tries to summon up her proud seductions to use against Jehu; but not this time though Jezebel, not this time.

I am no misogynist when I say that Jezebel, that wild and wanton, wayward woman, has become a picture of every seducing, manipulative and powerful spirit, which will deceive and lure people away from God. There is something about this spirit that wants the power to rule; teach heresy in God’s name; encourage the eating of unclean things, and the immorality of unfaithfulness in all its forms. Such a marching monstrosity, you would think, would be seen in all its detestableness from a great distance; history shows us however that this is not the case. The utter blindness that the wide eyes of the sweet talking Jezebel spirit bring to us is truly astonishing. Friends look at the state of the organised church. Look at what we allow and are allowing in our very midst. What just a few years ago, would have been dismissed out of hand in our congregations as abhorrent sin, is now embraced wholesale and done so in terms of love and “live and let live,” compassionate understanding. Today, many of our bishops are full of her sins and her diseases and today, many of us are tainted with her awful antimony. It seems we need some eye salve from heaven's pharmacy to get the ruinous rot out of our heads.

When there is no fear of God Almighty; when all is calm in troubled “blighty” then maybe it is time for some of our fighters to return from the field? And maybe, when some of our boys come home, they will fling out the old hag once more?

Listen: “Nonetheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts.” Revelation 2:20-23.

Pray: We bow our hearts, we bend our knees, O Spirit come make us humble. We turn our eyes from evil things, O Lord we cast down our idols. Give us clean hearts, give us clean hands, let us not lift our souls to another. Give us clean hearts, give us clean hands, let us not lift our souls to another. O God let us be, a generation that seeks; that seeks your face, O God of Jacob!

 

Sep | 02 | Sun Down

Dream Word – CLEAN

Ephesians 4:26-28 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. NKJV
 
Sun Down

Leaping from last night’s meditation, allow me take the out of context springboard tonight and jump right into Lake Extrapolation will you? Remember in the Gospel according to Matthew it says, ‘But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place….”’ Matthew 26:52, Yes? Well here we go then, you see Jesus says, very simply, put YOUR sword in its sheath. Make sure that it is you that that have your sword in your sheath. Make sure that you are in control of your body. In this rather large lake of Extrapolation, just kick back and swim with me here will you?

The problem we all have is at times some of the parts of our sheath get occupied and used by the enemy. The text for tonight is very honest in saying that it’s OK to be angry, but it’s dangerous and especially dangerous to remain so after Sun Down! Anger is an emotion that rises within us and is often connected to righteous indignation. Indignation in the spirit will cause a rising of anger in the soul. That’s OK, but when this happens the sheath is open more than it is safe to be so. Anger that remains in the soul manifests itself in the body. Anger than remains in the soul can and often does turn poisonous even toxic. Anger if not dealt with, if left in the soul causes an occupation of sorts in the body for toxic poison and the eventual presence of darkness.

So I believe this verse is saying to us, ‘Come Sun Down, deal with anger! Vent it, bleed it, vomit it away! Make peace with the person and or the problem even if this peace between person or problem can only be constructed in the spiritual realm, do it! Empty your sheath, because if you do not, then you will give your sheath to the devil!
God gives us days to live by. Sufficient for the day is the evil that comes against us and the strength we are given to combat it. God gives us days to live by, twilights of dealing time and blazing sunsets to incinerate our septic toxins in. God gives us Sun Downs to do the business of emptying the sheath of all the poisons and possessions of the day.

Most healthy people at the end of the day defecate their waste away. In the same way, we too must emotionally defecate our spiritual waste away. If not, then unhealthiness and all the manifest possessions of darkness will make themselves known in our bodies.That’s something worth considering tonight, and practicing at every future Sun Down. Let wholeness and light fill our temples. Let our soul and spirit fully fill our sheaths lest we have some squatters move in.

Listen:- "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation." Matthew 12:43-45 NKJV
 
Pray:- Lord tonight with every exhaled breath, I let go of all the hurts of the day. Lord with every exhaled breath, I breathe forgiveness on those who have wronged me. Lord, with every inhaled breath, I take in your comfort and Your great forgiveness. Thank You Lord! Amen.

Aug | 04 | Of Socks & Sweat

Dream Word – CLEAN

John 13:7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this." NKJV

Of Socks & Sweat

In Europe it is of course the Fins who keep wiping the floor with all contenders concerning their ability to ‘sauna sit’ for the longest of times! The Fins consistently get the top three places in the annual World Championship Sauna Sitting Competition, braving steamy temperatures of 110 degree celsius and above. Finland is a very cold country and the winter cold snaps they get there increase sauna use to such an extent, that the whole nation has to ration their energy supplies. Let me tell you now, that’s way too cold for me!

Many years ago, having done a brief study of the Yurok Indians of North America, I became fascinated with the use and the spiritual implications of the hot rock, male communal sweat lodge. Now, although that sounds like an add you find in the San Francisco Herald, there is nothing seedy or untoward here. Nope, apart from the guys just getting together to have a good natter, the main use of the sweat lodge was to cleanse their skin and also purge their bodies of impurities. I sat in a sauna a few weeks ago with a guy who’d been out on the town over the weekend, who remarked that he could ‘still taste the booze’ in the sweat which was oozing out of his pores. It works!

Now for the Yurok and other North American Indians, this physical action of communal sweating, of group sweat therapy, obviously became for them a metaphysical act as well as a physical act, in that they felt that they were also cleansed from the evils of their sin and the sin of others, all of which had sullied their soul and that consequently they also purged from their spirit, all the collected impurities and repercussions of bad spiritual walking.

Now, there is nothing better for getting things of yer chest, for gaining instruction and wisdom and even for making you and the community feel a little better, yes, there is nothing better than talking things out in a hot communal setting, in a womb like setting of fire and water, light and dark, animal skins, plants, earth and ancient rocks. Yes, this can do an awful lot for natural grounding, for the settling of the soul and the unloading of baggage. Yes, I’m up for that! At the end of the day, it’s all good psychology, it’s all good psychotherapy, and a whole lot cheaper than you’d be paying a professional, that’s for sure.

There is something to be said for same sex communal sweating, and it appears to me that God in His good providence often turns the heat up in our lives to facilitate such a communal sweating. My suggestion as that men and women in the church have their sweat boxes built, honoured and used, in preparation for such times.

The Christian sweat box has one very distinct rite which is carried out before entering the steam. Gently, tenderly and with great respect, those with most maturity, those with most authority in the gathering, gird themselves with a towel, stoop down to undo the shoe laces and then slip the leather from the seated participant. Then, after rolling off their sweaty socks, with the coolest and clearest of fresh spring water, they wash the dirty and dusty feet of all those about to enter that cleansing heat. Along with the cleansing, such action also brings instruction. Think about that.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Listen: - And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. (John 13:2-5 NKJV.)

Pray:- Jesus, wash my feet. Jesus, help us to wash one another’s feet. Jesus help us fully enter all our providential communal sweat boxes with joy, where by the actions of Your Spirit and the application of the blood of Jesus we might be cleansed and purged, helped and instructed, envisioned and empowered, made ready to do Your full and perfect will. Amen and amen!

Jul | 29 | Listening For The Lisp

Key Word:-CLEAN

Title:- Listening For The Lisp

Proverbs 20:10 Diverse weights and diverse measures, They are both alike, an abomination to the LORD

I walked into the printing shop to pick up my photocopying and the guy who I usually deal with came over and said “Thigh!” His speech seemed to be a little slurred. I soon found out that as a founder member of the ‘Church of Body Modification’ he had by himself, with some ice, a little gauze and a scalpel the previous night,  performed a central bifurcation of his own tongue. He assured me that in a few days after the swelling had gone down, I would hardly notice the slight lisp he now had. He opened his mouth and showed me his new ‘lizard tongue.’ It matched the four spikes he had protruding from the flesh of his right arm really well. He assured me that this would also help him on his journey into spirituality, which turned out to be a veritable smorgasbord of everything that was not Christian. He seemed happy, excited and quite at peace about things. This coming weekend he and a few of his friends were going to have some Pizza and then hang themselves for a few hours on flesh hooks. I couldn’t really compete with that. Pizza, friends and a movie would be enough for me. So I thanked him for the photocopying and went on my way. His values were of a different weight to mine, his apparatus of judgement was marked by a very different scale and that was dangerous, for the weighing of flesh always needs to be upon the Master's measured scales. Remember that.

Concerning different weights and measures, I believe God speaks on two levels about this, but on both levels concerning the mususe of it, He calls it ‘abomination’. This is a strong word; it means ‘disgusting’, or even ‘a thing of horror’. If I could utilize the British way of understatement to so mark the seriousness of what is being said by this verse I might say “The LORD finds all kinds of double dealing, most distasteful!”

What is double dealing? Essentially it’s saying one thing and doing another. It’s intentionally having a ‘forked tongue’ so as to deceive the other person. Double dealing is just that, it is deception and God finds deception, most distasteful.

On the first split of the tongue all teaching that spouts a true spirituality that is contrary to God’s revealed will, is an abomination! It is from the serpent himself, it is death and not life. It’s Grandma Goldilocks with sharp teeth and bad breath and it will eat you up in the end. There is no subtlety here, it is what it is and brazenly so. Such spiritual teachings which are so contrary to the Scriptures are but sulphur-coated sayings that purport sound spirituality, real growth, true freedom, and even life but in the end, they deceive and deliver perversion, diminishment, bondage and death. Watch for such contrary teachings for in our day, they abound!

On the second split of the tongue such double dealing is often hid. You have to listen for the lisp. It’s present everywhere and God help us, if we listen closely we shall find that it is sometimes present in us, and in even in our churches. We say one thing, we do another. We praise God. We curse men. We smile with our face and hate with our hearts. We shake hands in the open and shake fists in the darkness. May God forgive us! For the Father finds our church wide double-dealings most, yes, most distasteful. Careful now.

Listen:- Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20

Pray:- Oh God, who of us has not spoken with a forked tongue, through snakeskin and lizard lips? From this day Lord, we seek the pure water from our regenerate hearts to break out and freely flow from our mouth and so to disinfect, our often most distasteful mealy mouths. Amen.

May | 22 | Bloody Pigeons!

Key Word:- CLEAN

Title:- Bloody Pigeons!

Genesis 15:9,10 “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two..

Old documents released to British National archives reveal that MI 14  the War Office Intelligence section during World War I, warned in a memo that “Pigeon research will not stand still” and further that “If we do not experiment other powers will.” The BBC reported that amongst MI 14’s proposals was the training of pigeons carrying explosives to fly into enemy searchlights! More frightening was one which proposed they even carry bacterial warfare agents. Ah, what a wonderful world it was, even way back then!

Where I come from, pigeon racing used to be very common and I still remember wicker baskets full of pigeons being loaded onto trains to be released at a certain time, many miles way. Such delightful little birds they are. Certainly, 'Pigeon Fanciers' love them with a passion that’s for sure. Maybe it’s because they report them to be ‘beautiful, innocent, and faithful feathered friends?’

Much can said about our verse today in Genesis, despite much of its imagery being hard to discern. Two things are most certainly of especial note.

Firstly, that the pigeons were not divided. At the very least, this speaks of the ultimate preservation of the people of God. In Jesus friends we are united as one body, and will eventually been seen to be so.

Secondly, that God from the beginning, painted pictures for us in running blood. You cannot get away from it; the shedding of blood is the red dripping cord whose perpetual flow shall form a mighty river that runs throughout the Bible. This river's head is Jesus. This river's destination is you. If you are ever to be clean, this red river must wash over you.

O little pigeon, have you been washed in the blood of the spotless Lamb of God? If so, you shall know it. Why not check your feathers and see what colour they are?

Listen: - So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. Revelation 7:14-15

Pray: - There is power, power, wonder working power in the matchless blood of the Lamb. O Lord, pour Your blood over me today and cleanse me from my sin, so, so deep within, Amen.

Mar | 13 | Precious Pedicures from Stooping Servants

Key Word:- CLEAN

Title:- Precious Pedicures from Stooping Servants

John 13:6-8 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”

“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you: Ask what you can do for your country.” This well known saying from the inaugural address of President John F Kennedy, sets the tone for our meditation today, for unfortunately in the church, once Christ has once and for all saved us and washed us from our sins, we then expect little more from Him. After all, “He's done so much already, shown so much love, that surely the song is true, that 'love so amazing, so divine, demands my life my soul my all.” Now then, it’s not about what He can do for us but rather, it’s about what we can do for Him. This view sounds good. This view sounds reasonable and try as I might to dismiss it, this view sounds so very right.
This view of Christ, the no longer servant King, is strengthened much, when the clarion call from dizzy pulpits full of desperate and imbalanced pastors, close their sermons with somber presidential appeals, speaking to us fellow citizens of heaven and saying “ask not what Christ can do for you, but rather what you can do for Christ. Now let us turn to 'Mission Praise' page number 8 and begin to sing together: 'To the regions beyond I must go, I must go, where the story has never been told; to the millions that never have heard of his I must tell the sweet story of old; of old; To the regions beyond, I must go, I must go' and by the way, the building fund is short of a few hundred thousand so start dipping into those wallets brethren”…and with such a challenging closing, the booming band marches out and onwards beating the drum and parading gloriously out onto the field crying “Let us serve Him who has done so much for us and here’s an extra fifty bucks.”
Unfortunately, for most of us in these changing church times, the money raising continues but the raising of the regions beyond standard has long since gone. Yes, even if the challenge was somewhat imbalanced, at least money and mission went hand in hand! Nowadays we have moulded us such a bunch of spiritually, entrepreneurial, crippled, inept little sissies from our pulpits, that folk who should be real, folk who should be blessed, folk who should be wise, are ardently seeking His pay-rolling rather than His presence, money rather than mission. Yes, they are ferociously seeking His financing rather than His fellowship and are hungering after Christmas cake rather than the Cross. Folk might well be described today as truly at ease in Zion, but they really don’t know what Zion truly is! Sad days friends, sad days indeed, for at the least that old view of Christ, being no longer servant King, fuelled the Great Commission.

However, even if the command of sacrificial response was once heard again in this strange season of our age, and it must be heard again, we must not forget in all our powerful preaching and in all our presidential challenges, in all the demanding of total dedication and of life sacrificing, to our all conquering, all powerful potentate, no, we must not forget something rather wonderful concerning our Saviour Christ Jesus the King and His continuing servant ministry to us? After all, He is still, the Servant King! Isn’t He? Ah, that’s made you stop and think hasn’t it? Yes, believe it! To us His children, Christ Jesus the Lord, is still the Servant King! Imagine that!

Consider this then friends; maybe King Jesus is still in the business of washing feet? Think about that and imagine the implications upon your prayer life and indeed your walk and work for God, for I am afraid that many of us still have the initial attitude of Peter towards the humility and example of Christ the King in washing our feet. “Never.” We say, “Never. Not here. Not now. Surely not!”

How hard it is for us to imagine laying back and letting Christ magnificently minister to us today. It is hard isn’t it? It goes against the grain of those awake in Zion, simply because the imbalance that ‘we owe Him so much that we should expect no more’ is so ingrained in us. “After all,” we say, “when Christ washed the feet of Peter, it was in His humiliation but now, Jesus is so Glorious and I mean so very Glorious, that He would certainly no longer wish to stoop to wash our feet, my feet, no not now, not at all, after all, He is sat at the right hand of the Majesty on High waiting for His enemies to become His footstool, waiting to rule the nations with a rod of iron!” With that lofty thought so at the forefront of our minds, should Jesus then ever attempt to descend from His high and Most glorious Throne towards our stinky little feet, we too would probably say with Peter, “Never Lord! We cannot believe, and do not expect or accept, that You, our glorified Christ would still don an apron and require us to stop and take off our dirty shoes, so that You would so gently minister to our most miserable of feet! Oh no Lord, for we understand that in approaching our earthly senior pastor, even we know that we have to go through four secretaries, three layers of administration, two associate ministers and a partridge in a pear tree, to even get a scribbled post-it note fixed to his 34-inch, ever busy, running and ruling, perfectly pastoric plasma screen in the inner sanctum of his throne of seclusion, so we would never expect You our Lord, I mean never expect You King Jesus, to help, to personally come a-running with tears and bowl of splashing water, to stoop and serve us so quietly and so tenderly Oh Lord. No! Never!” No, I am afraid we have not seen that example for two thousand years. The Bishop is on His throne, and is still in his oh so modern palace, and with such an example of unservant-like Kingship from His leaders, just why should expect Christ to descend from His throne to our feet today?

Think about that friend. If Jesus came now on His knees before you to minister to you, would you let Him? Man, would you really let Him? I think it would be a struggle for us friends. A real struggle. Why is this?

Possibly with respect to the servanthood of Christ our long standing church structures have effectively erected an 'idol contraire' deep down in our hearts and like some fat smiling Buddha this idol still oozes out it's mantra saying that “hey, the truth is that, those serving are after all, indeed greater, bigger and better than those supposedly being served? I mean look at the senior mega Pastor, bright red Porsche and all! “ ‘So this is how we live in our church structures and it is obvious that most of us have not yet in our hearts, grasped the topsy turvy nature of the Kingdom where “the last shall be first” and the “greatest of all, shall be the servant of all”’. Yes, remember that, the greatest shall be servant!

Yet, seminary sacks filled with career minded, well educated, Mastered and Divinely Doctored, handshaking, smiling, smarmy, smooth and well-salaried, sharply-spurred and amply-booted, exceptionally suited, very, very senior pastors, with all the associated perks and parking places, are clear evidence of the presence of this IDOL CONTRAIR. The greatest, is not the servant after all! No, an apron is no measure of success for a servant of God in our generation; Oh no! But a big church, an enormous staff, cap doffing respect and nice big car, ahhhh…now there's the blessing of the King on His faithful servant that is certainly not disguised!

Do you see the problem now?

I think that if Jesus has stopped serving us, has stopped washing feet, then we’re finished. The Scriptures tell us that if we will not allow Jesus to wash our feet, then we do not belong to Him and God help us, we have no part in Him. Oh contrite and smelly footed one, take heart today then, for if none of your leaders are willing to minister to your deepest and dirtiest of needs, yes, if they appear too high and mighty in success to even begin to contemplate the long stoop from their lofty throne to your long and cracked toenails, then always remember that Christ the servant King, waits with bowl and apron and pure clean water, to redemptively rub His Holy hands right in between your dirty little toes and then pull you from the crap and the quick skinned sinking sands of your hurting and ingrown, terrible little toenails, to make you clean once more. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30)…….Jesus says in effect, “Now put that prayerful shopping list away. Sit down, sit back, put your feet up and let Me see to you; let Me wash your feet; let Me serve you; let Me tell you; yes hush my child and listen whilst I sing to you today.” 

Listen: - Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, John 13:8-10a

Pray: Lord, despite our grotesque church structures, help me to learn how to let You wash my feet and then help me by Your example, to learn to truly wash the feet of others. 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 | 07 | An American Soldier

Key Word:- CLEAN

Title:- An American Soldier

1 Corinthians 5:6 ….. a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

It was first identified as a fatal illness in a 21year old American soldier who reported sick at a camp in South Carolina on September 19th 1918, just as his unit was preparing to head for the trenches in France. Indeed, during WW1 more than half of America’s war dead would be attributed to this viral infection, rather than all the bombs and the bullets of war. The 1918 pandemic known as ‘Spanish Flu’, would infect over 1 billion people, and actually kill between 40-50 million people world-wide, surpassing the death toll of even the ‘black death’ during the middle ages. Imagine that! 50 million people, all drowning in their own blood-tinged sputum.

Phyllis Burns aged 20 years, died of this same infection in 1918. She was buried in a lead coffin, thought to be virtually airtight, and placed in a brick vault in Twickenham, South-West London. Not too long ago, scientists wearing protective clothing, removed lung samples from her well-preserved corpse, and have been able to determine that the virus jumped from birds to humans, and was able to do so, because of minimal changes in its genetic structure. A little genetic leaven you see, leavened the whole lump if you will and 50 million people died in the so doing.

Jesus Christ, Prince of Life, died aged 33 years. Three days later He rose from the dead, and through His pure blood, introduced into the human condition, the deep cleansing of all-forgiving, resurrection grace! The rotten sinful lump, its tentacles reaching like a giant ganglian cancer through the whole of creation, is even now being surpassed and purged by the goodness of God in the face of Christ Jesus, so much so, that creation itself is being cleansed of all its sinful impurities. In the end, goodness, wholeness and purity, shall once again reign through this pan-dimensional universe.

To those who believe, Jesus then is precious, He is effective, and He is unstoppable. He is the only answer to the all-consuming infection of sin and death, in the outer pan-dimensional universe and your own personal inner pan-dimensional universe. It's common sense then, for you to turn to Him today and be saved.

Did you not know that on Calvary’s cross, His blood spilt upon the very disdained and stained soul of humanity and introduced into our spiritual genes, heaven’s leaven? For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes on Him, shall be saved! This little leaven of heaven then, leavened the whole lump, so that now through Jesus, billions shall live. I believe with all my heart along with Spurgeon, that heaven shall be fuller than hell!

Tell me friend, what leaven is at work in you today? In its power, will it raise you to life and heaven or in its corruption; will it collapse you into the darkness of hell's hot and ineffectual oven? Throw out the bad leaven before it kills you, yes you and countless others! Now go and get some good stuff. Go and get Jesus!

Listen: - For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Malachi 3:6 KJV

Pray: - Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise O God my strength and my redeemer, the lifter up of my sinful head. Amen. (Jeremiah 17:14).

Feb | 02 | Our True Selves in the Saviour, Purged Pleasing and Perfectly Pink

Key Word:- CLEAN


Title:- Our True Selves in the Saviour, Purged Pleasing & Perfectly Pink.

Hebrews 1:3 when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

I drank a whole gallon of medication just twenty-four hours before a colonoscopy. The latter was an easy and heavily drugged experience compared to the former! The product I hastily imbibed was called ‘Nulytely’ and was quite simply a bowel scourer, providing fast cleansing of the gastrointestinal tract. The fact it comes in three flavours and does not taste too bad is of little consequence when the world starts to fall out of your bottom!

‘Nulytely’ provides a complete and exhaustive cathartic experience. Now, my picture may be getting a little too graphic for some of you……so I shall stop there. I think you’ve got the thorough picture of purging I intended to paint for you. Let me tell you, after this kind of purging you really do need to have a good lie down!

The word ‘purged’ here in Hebrews 1:3 in the way I have begun describing, also carries with it an understanding of a deep, cleansing force. It is the Greek word ‘Katharismos’ from which we get our English word, Catharsis, literally ‘a purification that brings release, cleansing, and spiritual renewal.’ Cathartic purging! What a relieving picture!

In vicious violence, in bloody torment, in ripping flesh amidst the raucous laughter of the doomed darkness, Jesus, once and for all, has washed away our sins forever. He has released captivity, refreshed the thirsty and re-birthed the dead back into His gloriously clean, Kingdom of light. So much so, that our position is now eternally secure and wonderfully clean. Our condition is quite simply now, bleached white in the bloody red washtub of God! In addition to this once and for all cathartic purging of our sin, the spirit cleansing sanctification still continues anew each day, as God the Holy Spirit Himself, reaches deep into our hearts and raises up the brokenness that we might be healed and released further into our position in Jesus, our true selves in the Saviour, which is, purged, pleasing and perfectly pink.

Listen: -There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

Pray: - The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day; and there would I as vile as he, wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away O Lord, wash all my sins away. Jesus, thank you for the Cross, thank you for the Cross, my friend!