Dec | 23 | Hook’s Pure Poison or Le Jardin D'Amour

Dream Word – FORGIVE

Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. NKJV

Hook’s Pure Poison or Le Jardin D'Amour

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, Order of Merit, was the Scottish novelist best remembered for creating ‘Peter Pan’! The ninth of ten children, J.M. Barrie was just six years of age when his mother's favourite son James, on the eve of his 14th birthday, died in a skating accident. His mother never got over this loss and spent the remaining 29 years of her life in deep depression, her only consolation being that her lost boy, would always remain a child. One time when the Novelist entered her room, and heard his mother say “Is that you?” he knew it was the dead boy she was hoping to see and so he replied in a very little, lonely, rejected and dejected voice, “No, it's no' him, it's just me.” All of this had such a profound impact on Barrie, that he himself never grew much beyond five foot! It would appear that J.M. Barrie was very familiar with malice, jealousy and disappointment. It resided in his stunted bones.

So, with that interesting and opening thought, let's get back to Christmas time and how to further avoid Satan’s Claws, that old devil's pirate captain’s hook.

Remember last night, that I counselled you in over extending yourself in both expenditure and expectation. Now remember you must not do this, because as soon as you find that it is neither appreciated nor reciprocated and worst of all, does not have the desired effect, then a poison will build in the red corner of your eye!

Jason Isaacs plays the character of Captain Hook in the 2003, P.J. Hogan version of 'Peter Pan' starring a very young Jeremy Sumpter. The screenplay records that captain Hook tried to take Peter Pan’s life by poisoning his medicine, even by corrupting that which should have been good for him. Hook could do this for “Lest he should be taken alive, Hook always carried upon his person a dreadful poison distilled when he was weeping from the red of his eye. A mixture of malice, jealousy and disappointment, it was instantly fatal and without antidote.” Did you get that? This poisonous mixture is instantaneously fatal to any relationship and to your own heart in particular.

I tell you, if you want to increase in stature this Christmas, if you want to stop the stunting rot settling into your bones, especially around your loved ones, then you had better empty out that poison you have secretly carried hidden away in your pocket for all these many a year, and dab on your welcoming cheeks, some fragrance of free and tender forgiveness, some love from the Garden of God, that very best perfume of Christmas time. Tell me, which fragrance will you be wearing this coming Christmas Eve?

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

Pray:- Lord, help me not to neither poison nor disembowel myself or others this Christmas time, in Jesus name I ask it, amen.

Nov | 25 | The Plays & All The Picture Painting of Redemption

Dream Word – FORGIVE

2 Samuel 12:1-4 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: "There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveller came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him." NKJV.

The Plays & All The Picture Painting of Redemption

It is Shakespeare in ‘Hamlet,’ Act 2 Scene 2, who has the Danish Prince, seeking to gain visible proof that his uncle, King Claudius, had indeed murdered his dear father, the former king. To this end, Hamlet himself turns playwright, constructing a picture wherein he impregnates the play with references to regicide. Knowing that the present King, his uncle Claudius will be watching the play at court, Hamlet looks and waits for the flinching signs of sin. Hamlet is so confident of this happening that he says, “The play's the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.”

In the first instance, I find it profitable, if not uncomfortable, to examine my own reactions to all the stories, scenes and sentiments which I might find in the many plays and pictures which I expose myself to. Sometimes when I do this, the overt glance of a long since silenced conscience, often creeps across my barrier mountains and meets my eyes once more, inviting confession and even demanding repentance and restitution. Hamlet was right.

In the second instance it is also of interest to observe another person’s reaction to stories, scenes and sentiments which they are also exposed to, for these reactions, especially if the response is grossly out of proportion to the pictorial ignition point, show large a person’s pain in terms of them either being victim or villain. Every time I preach, every time I paint pictures with my words, here and there in the congregation of the listeners, it is often in the well-shuffled buttock, the wet eye, and the bowed head, where I too see that 'the play is the thing which shall catch the conscience of the King.'

All good pictures call forth truth, confession and repentance, restitution and restoration. Yes, in all good pictures, unlike the heart of Hamlet who was only intent on self justified revenge, there always lies the possibility of redemption. If God keeps bringing pictures across your petrified path, I tell you, He is but seeking your redemption.

Listen: - So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity." Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! (2 Samuel 12:5-7a NKJV)

Pray:- Lord, in all Your drawings on the wall of my soul, lead me to those places of restoration and redemption in Jesus name I pray, amen.

Oct | 14 | Touching Tornadoes

Key Word:- FORGIVE

Title:- Touching Tornadoes

Jeremiah 23:19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD has gone forth in fury---A violent whirlwind!

It seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was like a train screaming over the top of my apartment. Furious in its arrival it left a trail of destruction in its departure. Interestingly this was no vast swathe of devastation, but a selective ‘finger dragging in the dirt’ demarcation of what would be pummelled and pounded and what would be spared. Unlike the hurricane, those vast weather systems that can be intricately tracked, tornadoes cannot. Yes, you can observe the gathering of the ingredients that make their appearance likely, but you cannot plan for their horrible arrival. It’s just there! It just reaches from the dark clouds and touches down in intense, disordered, and often destructive rage like a fast-striking monster from the sky, capable of sudden and unpredictable acts of death and devastation. Undealt with unforgiveness is just like this. Don’t be fooled, for Christians are particularly prone to shocking acts of fury and it is often the perpetrators and producers of such tornadic turmoil that are the most surprised! Often you will find them shocked and horribly amazed, standing besides the devastation of their fury, asking in dire disbelief, “Where on earth did that come from?”

What has happened here? Why should the Christian be so surprised and unprepared? Especially when the God of revelation presents Himself clothed in the same striding and awful garb?

The answer I believe is in wrong restraint and incorrect response. So many Christians have been dealt dastardly blows whose natural consequences within them have been rage, violence, disgust and vengeance. However, the call to forgiveness and restoration has led to these furious feelings being suppressed rather than expressed. No place has been made for the righteous venting of these hateful hurts, these screaming emotions. No place in our theology, no place in our culture and no place in our churches. “Suck it up, push it down, repent, forgive, and do not frown!”

The problem is that these emotions may be suppressed for years, until dark clouds that eventually gather in the moisture of unforgiveness, couple up with some instability provided by a repeated or similar experience, which then inevitably lifts the lid on the fastened fury within. All that’s left now is for an unpredictable wind shear to arrive on the scene. You know? A wrong word, not enough sleep, illness, tension, financial hardship, anything out of the ordinary really and WHOOMPETA! Tornado touchdown!

This is a big problem. Where do we find the place and the people who can deal with our hurts in such a way as to vent the flame rather than stoke the fire? For believe me, these things need dealing with correctly else we shall indeed fan the flame and not finish the fury. For fury must be dissipated righteously, else it will lead to disaster.

First, let us begin to acknowledge both our humanity and our hurt. That will at least be a start. From here let us establish some safe houses, some directed places of weeping and wailing if you will. Let us be wise and know that the furious are often not the fallen but saints, fighting with forgiveness.

My reading of scripture tells me that God is well acquainted with fury. It would appear that only He can deal delicately and righteously with such raging winds of emotion. For many of us, precious peace and gem-like joy can only appear after we have “Touched the Tornado.”

May I counsel you today that if a fury is rocking your inner world, that you get in a safe place with Jesus and let it rip with the Lord! God will direct and guide you in this. Get angry, get it out, and get healed, today. May God blessings be upon you.

Listen:- Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:19-21

Pray: - Lord. Teach me today how to entrust my fury to you. So still my storms, that grace would truly flow from felt rivers of peace and surface springs of deepest joy. Do the miraculous in me today O my God, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.

 

Sep | 22 | Release From The Moorings of Memory

Key Word:- FORGIVE

Title:- Release From The Moorings of Memory

Jeremiah 31:34 “No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

'Proprioception' may give you awareness of your position and space, but memories are the moorings of your place in time. Without your memory how on earth can you begin to fit and function in the now? Memory may not be a sense, but we are senseless without it. The odd and godless, shocking surrealist Luis Buñuel remarks, “You have to begin to lose your memory, if only in bits and pieces, to realize that memory is what makes our lives. Life without memory is no life at all, just as an intelligence without the possibility of expression. Our memory is our coherence, our reason, our feeling, even our action. Without it, we are nothing.”

Without dissecting the many propositions in this statement, let's just agree on the importance of memory. Not that it is of primary importance of course, for men are more than a collection of memories; yet memories do moor us in time and do define us to ourselves and to others. Memory can be such a blessing. Yet if our memories are ones of abuse, or ones of perpetrated or even perpetrating violence, or maybe hatred, then memory leads to regret, imprisonment and even torture. If memory then becomes the unrelenting torturer of the mind, then memory can also mean madness! So we can conclude than that our capacity to remember and our choice to forget are both paramount to our personal wholeness. You will notice I did not say 'repress' memories but forget them, and 'choosing to forget' them at that.

All of us in this sick world carry the scars of things we have done and had done to us. The memories of these things can be overwhelming and dreadfully debilitating. When we are brave enough, or desperate enough, or sick enough, I wonder if God would then have us face our knife-edged problems, mourn them, grieve them, get angry over them, forgive them even and then choose to forget them; instead of using them like sharp pieces of broken vases to continually gouge the running poisoned puss out of the sores of our sorry souls? You see friends, I do believe there is a knowing forgetfulness that is rooted in forgiveness, that with it brings the healing and wholeness we so desperately crave. Most of us need to take an axe to the moorings that hold us in our unhappy harbours of hopelessness and start facing, forgiving and forgetting!

Don’t think that this is without cost. Look at Calvary. Here God paves the way for us His children and shows us that His forgiveness is His ultimate goal. With payment made in full, the all knowing God, chooses to forgive and to forget. This choosing of 'forgetting' allows Him to enter into areas of the darkest destruction and then build a holy and an immovable city. Do you see that friends? Do you want that?

Listen:- “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that the city shall be built for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. The surveyor's line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath. And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.” Jeremiah 31:38-40

Pray:- Lord, give me the courage, give me the package, give me the desire, give me the desperateness, give me the wherewith all; to face, forgive and choose to forget. Then O Lord, together, let us build upon this cleared devastation a most holy and immovable, eternal habitation for Your glory and my comfort, in Jesus name I ask it, Amen.

 

Aug | 01 | Coiled Cobras

Key Word:-FORGIVE

Title:- Coiled Cobras

2 Samuel 13:30-32 And it came to pass, while they were on the way, that news came to David, saying, “Absalom has killed all the king's sons, and not one of them is left!” So the king arose and tore his garments and lay on the ground, and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn. Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother, answered and said, “Let not my lord suppose they have killed all the young men, the king's sons, for only Amnon is dead. For by the command of Absalom this has been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar."

Bohun Upas, the ‘Tree of Poisons’ is a mythical plant from the middle ages.’ The first travellers returning from South East Asia told tales of a tree that gave out such toxic fumes that it would kill plants and animals for miles around. Like old fishing stories, the power of the tree seemed to grow more with the telling. One such story was that ‘prisoners sentenced to death would be forced to sit the night under the tree of poisons and so were gruesomely dispatched’; or that ‘out of twenty warriors sent to harvest the sap of the tree of poisons, well, only two or maybe three would return alive!’

The Upas tree does in fact exist and yes, its latex sap is extremely deadly and has over the years, been used to make the tips of arrows and spears and blowpipe darts, both the definite and certain instruments of death. William Blake’s poem, ‘A Poison Tree’ is based on the existence of the Upas. His opening Stanza is most instructive: -

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I water'd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright;
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole
When the night had veil'd the pole:
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree.

King David’s son Amnon, had raped and disgraced his half sister, Absalom’s full sister that was, Tamar. Amnon had so called 'loved' her in unrequited lust and then once he had his way, hated her with a passion. Tamar was brutally and culturally shamed. Absalom, said nothing that terrible day but he planted a tree of hateful revenge in his own heart and meticulously watered it. The growth and grotesque beauty of his poison tree was enough to have Amnon take a bite of it's fruit and in the morning be found underneath it. Dead.

Look! Poison trees grow stronger once their fruit is picked. The death of Amnon did not kill it when Absolom’s revenge was poured upon him but rather, its blood-leeched roots now reached deeper still within the heart of Absolom the bitter avenger. In just over 40 years time, Absalom’s now deeper rooted poison tree will fully blossom and cause so great a stench on the plains of Israel that it will split the kingdom and break his father' heart. Yes, Israel will never be the same again after Absalom’s pure latex poison shall pierce the flesh of David. Mark this well friends and be afraid. Poison trees are host to all the chickens that will eventually come home to roost.
Tell me, do you feel its serpentine root formation around those festering areas of your own offended heart? Today, all those dreams, all those projects, all those people you are touching, are they living or dying beneath your leafy boughs? Tell me, what particular slimy snake is trying to coil itself around your hurting heart today dear friend? Do you not know, that it is simply trying to squeeze out your poison and drip it on all and everything that walks beneath your tree? If you see the snake today, then kill it, before death permanently encamps beneath the beastly boughs of those hate dripping holes of your own pierced and scarred little heart. Deal with the damage, else it shall most surely deal with you.

Listen:- “Though evil is sweet in his mouth, And he hides it under his tongue, Though he spares it and does not forsake it, But still keeps it in his mouth, Yet his food in his stomach turns sour; It becomes cobra venom within him. Job 20:12-14

Pray:- Lord. Help me to acknowledge my hurt, and command and vent my poisonous wrath into Your cleansing and waiting wind. Bring up all the coiled cobras of my twisted soul, O Lord that I might kill them dead! Amen.

Jun | 29 | The 3rd Hardest Thing

Key Word:- FORGIVE

Title:- The 3rd Hardest Thing

Genesis 50:15-17 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, 'Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.”' Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

Let me conclude this little trilogy on forgiveness with the weeping test. It is a common misconception from those outside Christ to look into the confessional and grieving aspects of the repentant sinner and conclude that Christianity is a miserable path to walk. Indeed, the fact that many of us in the church are strangely and wonderfully happy to remain in the ‘wormology’ that the Biblical presentation of original sin seems to present, simply re-enforces that observation. To the astonished outside I say, “Behold the journeying Christian. What a cup of groaning Joy!” To the dour dark and dismal wormologist brethren continually groaning under the burdens of their failings and freakishly enjoying it, I say, “For goodness sake. STOP IT! You’re getting Jesus a bad name. Be that cup of groaning joy you should be!”

The problem here is both simple and profound. It is simply that we have yet to acquiesce and splash around like little children, like kittens fire-cracking in fighting, rolling and biting, kicking and meowing on the soft carpeted floors of the outrageous all forgiving nature of God. It seems that our cultural Christianity has deemd that we should be more humbly thankful and respectfully quiet regarding our forgiveness, than astonishingly vocal and as happy as a hippy on speed and friends, don’t wheel out the old ‘Aunt Sally’s’ of the fixed-in-stone nature of both temperament and culture. We are supposed to be joyful and there is nothing more outrageously joyful than found and felt forgiveness! The problem is, we have failed to possess such forgiveness and the evidence of this is three fold:-

Firstly, our miserable hands in the pockets, 'good grief not this old chorus again', lackadaisical and pathetic excuses for worship celebration services.

Secondly, a distasteful slowness in the forgiveness of others and

Thirdly, a reluctance to forgive ourselves.

This last one is important and no doubt is the cause of the first two problems.

You see, the third hardest thing to do friends is to receive forgiveness. The brothers had already been thoroughly forgiven by Joseph and their concocted story regarding the care of their departed Father was simply an echo of their inability to forgive themselves. They still condemned themselves and feared his retribution. At this, Joseph wept.

Today friends let me ask you this; does Jesus weep for wriggling worms that should be splashing children? What will He do with you eh? You old misery guts! What will He do with you who are still waiting for the non-existant hammer to fall?

Listen:- “……Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.” Genesis 50:17

Pray:- Let me hear Your gentle words today say to me “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Amen. Luke 12:32-33

Jun | 28 | The Right Words At The Right Time

Key Word:- FORGIVE

Title:- The Right Words At The Right Time

Jeremiah 3:12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: 'Return, backsliding Israel,' says the LORD; 'I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful,' says the 
LORD; 'I will not remain angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity,


In the United Kingdom it was Ronan Keating of ‘Boyzone’ that popularised the lyrics of the song 'Baby Can I hold You Tonight'. In North America, that job was left to Tracy Chapman.

I truly believe that God is not silent in culture. Maybe the author of the books ‘Peace Child’ and ‘Lords of the Earth’, Don Richardson, had it right many years ago when he postulated that “Every culture is bejeweled by relevant images of redemption and we just have to find them.” I believe he was correct! Much more, I believe that God speaks today and constantly so, both in culture and through culture. You may have to pan the muddy rivers friends, but the good gold of God is shining there. So it is, with the profound lyrics of this song listen:-


Sorry
Is all that you can't say
Years gone by and still
Words don't come easily
Like sorry, like sorry

Forgive me
Is all that you can't say
Years gone by and still
Words don't come easily
Like forgive me, forgive me

I love you
Is all that you can't say
Years gone by and still
Words don't come easily
Like I love you, I love you

But you can say baby
Baby can I hold you tonight
Maybe if I told you the right words
At the right time you'd be mine

This song tells, even re-enforces two things for us today.

Firstly, that true repentance does not come easily. It really is a work of grace that may sometimes take the years of a lifetime. Sorry, does not come easily.

Secondly, that confession, regret and turning can be encapsulated, indeed, must be encapsulated at the right time, with the right words of ‘sorry, forgive me and I love you.’ When this is done the God who appears to be afar off, will be draw near to us and we shall know that He is ours and we shall know that we are His.

Maybe Elton John was right as well!? For all of us, ‘Sorry seems to be the hardest word!’ Never the less, let us seek with tenacity and tears, these true places of repentance so that we may say…

Listen:- I am my beloved's, And my beloved is mine…….S.O.S. 6:3

Pray:- For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight — That You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Lord, I am so sorry for my sin. Please forgive me.

Jun | 27 | The 2nd Hardest Thing To Do

Key Word:- FORGIVE

Title:- The 2nd Hardest Thing To Do

Luke 15:18-19 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”'

It took a combination of poverty and the pig pen to drive the prodigal home. It took the prophet Nathan and nine months of fear to break the heart and knees of the adulterer and murderer, King David. The passage of time and the death of a loved one, always sink their hooks into the prodigal's heart to help drag the buggers back.

A poem written in Derbyshire dialect, based on a prodigal hurriedly rushing into the local hospital before his father dies, reads:

Avf cumm tu see me fatheh
Is jus cum in todayh
I wint te see im at is aahse
But thid whisked him reet away

Avf cum tu see me fatheh
Cause we avn’t spoken much
An I’ve missed is kindly words
Ave missed is gentle touch

Avf cum tu see me fatheh
Cause I’ve only got but one
And I yam is bloody prodigal
And I yam ‘is loving son

Avf cum tu see me fatheh
Afore he gus away
I’ve come to tell ‘im “sorry dad
I wish that you would stay

I wish I hadn’t let thee dahn
I wish I weren’t reet freetened
I wish me eyes were cool deep pools
I wish me lips were sweetened”

Avf cum tu see me fatheh
Before it’s all too late
To tell ‘im that I love him
That I’ve left the land of hate

Avf cum tu see me fatheh
Ave come to get me ring
I’ve come to hold his old grey head
And hear his strong heart sing

The first hardest thing may be to forgive the persistent ‘pig penner’ but the second hardest thing to do, is to ask for forgiveness from others. Friends, what will it take? What will it take, to gain the gift of a broken heart that only God can fix? If you want to be whole, if you want to be restored, then you must seek forgiveness from those YOU have hurt, offended and let down. Do it today.

Listen:- If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 1 John 1:9-10

Pray: - Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your loving kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Amen and Amen.

Jun | 26 | When 'Ilunga' is not good enough!

Key Word:- FORGIVE


Title:- When 'Ilunga' is not good enough!

Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors

The BBC's Oliver Conway reported on a list of 'the hardest words to translate' which was drawn up from a consultation with 1,000 linguists. At the top of the list, from the DR Congo came the word "Ilunga." Ilunga means "a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time but never a third time." Now friends that may be a hard word to translate, but it seems incredibly gracious and realistic to practice. Don’t you think?

Whatever, the sin, if I forgive you once, then to myself and others I can appear to be magnificently magnanimous. It may cost me, it may cost me dearly but I, yes I, have forgiven you. I feel better than you when I do this. Yes, that’s the right thing to do, yes, that’s gracious, yes, that’s reasonable. Should you commit a sin against me for a second time, then I can choose to tolerate it. My forgiveness would be less magnanimous, maybe tainted with a not a little annoyance, but everyone would understand why. Yes ,that’s right, yes, that’s kind of gracious, yes, that’s just about reasonable. Now, sin against me the same sin a third time and I would be a fool to let it go! To let my grace be stomped on, to let my grace toward you be abused, even raped, I would be a fool. Three strikes and your out! That's reasonable friends. Yes, that's very reasonable! Don’t you think? Of course you do.

The hardest thing to do is to forgive the deliberate and persistent sinner! It’s most unreasonable. However, the apostles came to realize that they were not following a reasonable Master. Jesus demanded total obedience, not a reasonable following. Jesus raised the bar far higher than any human could reach by themselves, for Jesus expected His followers in forgiveness, to be like God! To a man, the apostles all baulked at this, for truly, forgiving others their persistent sins against us, is the hardest thing on earth to do and frankly, it cannot be done, I say again, it cannot be done, not without the grace of God o’er flowing our hearts and our trusting totally on Him for help in both the forgiving and the forgetting. You see, ‘Ilunga’ is just not good enough for grace, so you had better get on your knees, for you need more faith!

Listen:- Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him." And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." Luke 17:3-5 

Pray:- And when seven seems leap-able, You raise it to seventy O Lord, and when that is visible, You raise it to seventy times seventy. How can this be done? Except You give wings to my feet and put heaven and eternity in my eyes and grant an openness to my hard heart, and a deep, so very deep, consciousness of all You have forgiven me, I just cannot forgive in the way You want me to. Great God grant it, and increase my faith in doing so, help me to never settle for Ilunga, when Ilunga is not good enough. Amen.

Jun | 11 | The Burying Of Our Pale Poppet Corpses

Key Word:- FORGIVE

Title:- The Burying of Our Pale Poppet Corpses


Psalm 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.

If you do just about any reading of Christian writers from previous centuries, they all seem to make mention of a place of restitution, a place of disentanglement, of deliverance,of righting, and of justice which they call the “Great Assizes.”

Formerly in 'Ye Olde England,' these Great Assizes, were periodical sessions of the superior courts held in English counties (States) for the trial of civil and criminal cases. These were enormous events and to those not involved, they were almost festive like occasions. In Lancashire for example, the judges would be met at the County border and escorted into town with a great fanfare of trumpets and following lawyers all dressed in their wigs, and whilst their gowns were billowing in the breeze, people in frenzied excitement would run about like headless chickens (eat your heart out Judge Judy!).

In essence these Assizes were places and times that justice was done and was also, SEEN to be done. The writers of old therefore often referred to 'THE GREAT ASSIZES' as when God would at last show everything for what it is and justify, reward, or embarrass that which shall indeed, be brought for an examination at such a great throne of justice. There are many things that will have to wait until the Great Assizes. Indeed, all things will.

There is however friends a big problem here, when people, rather than dealing with issues, decide to wait for the Great Assizes. Pastorally I see this problem pictured chiefly, in the continual embracing of death by the hurt, wronged and bitter members of the church.

Let me explain. I have seen people dress their stillborn child and take their little corpse finger prints and footprints, then coddle, caress hold and photograph the pale poppet of a corpse, before laying them in the grave. Years after though, the pictures of the dead child's corpse can still be found on the mantelpiece and nestled on the sideboard amongst photographs of the living. Others may forget, but these so very hurt and dispossessed of parents, will never forget, yes, they will never forget their so great a loss. Do you see what I mean?

Let me ask you today then, what have you lost, or had taken from you that you seek justice for? What has been done to you, said about you, that you believe is wrong? What dead child, what pale poppet of a corpse do you hold to your bosom until the Great Assizes? Is it stinking yet? Look at your sideboard, do you see it there today, that little coffin on the counter top?

It has been my observation that people hold on to hurts, both great and small, when justice does not seem to have been done. People cosset these weeping sores and hold those dead children to themselves, because they feel that if they are healed, if that pail poppet of a corpse is finally laid to rest, that they and their unjust hurt, they and their imputed pain will be forgotten and never truly dealt with, never justly dealt with. This kind of fear is not a bad thing, for you see, the true honouring of self, does require the application of justice and we know that such justice may only come at the Great Assizes and lest the Great Judge forget, and frankly we think He just might, then we hold on to our death, we continue to parade its macabre memory in our living areas, so that when we appear before him, He will smell it! He will see it and remember it! You see the cadaverous problem here don’t you my dear friends?

There is something deadly debilitating and incessantly insane about such much-loved hurt, such much-loved pain. It really needs to be healed and in the healing it must be buried, and therefore in the beginning and in the end, it must be let go of. Let it be so, for the Righteous Judge will not forget. His throne is one of justice. So, today, O crippled and smelly friend, you must put away the pictures and all the remembrances of seeming injustice and debilitating, unanswered pain. You must begin to live again. Methinks then, that the best of cures for these terrible maladies is that we begin to seek more of mercy than of justice for ourselves and that we also do the same for those others, even for those perpetrators of our hurts.

Let us then dear friends, show mercy today towards ourselves, towards our families, towards those who have hurt us and especially towards those who seek forgiveness from us. If we are big enough, as we get healed enough, then maybe let us go and seek mercy, even towards those hard or ignorant, unrepentant perpetrators of our hurt.

Forgiveness is good ground in which to bury our dead and mercy is a great balm to pour into our still smelly, sore and open wounds.

Listen:-

Once there was a broken heart
Way too human from the start
And all the years left it torn apart
Hopeless and afraid

Walls I never meant to build
Left this prisoner unfulfilled
Freedom called but even still
It seemed so far away

I was bound by the chains
From the wages of my sin
Just when I felt like giving in
Mercy came running
Like a prisoner set free
Past all my failures to the point of my need
When the sin that I carried
Was all I could see
And when I could not reach mercy
Mercy came running
To me

(Mercy Came Running - Phillips, Craig & Dean (Trust)

Pray:- Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. Psalm 57:1

Mar | 27 | Quality Control

Key Word:- FORGIVE


Title:- Quality Control

Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.

The story goes that, “A man was driving his Rolls Royce in Europe. The car broke down and the local garage told him that a part would need to be gotten from the manufacturer. Rolls Royce was contacted and the required part was flown out to Europe from mainland Britain. Some time after returning home, the man telephoned Rolls Royce recounting the incident with the faulty part, and thanking Rolls Royce for their speedy response, finally remarking that, the only problem he had was that he hadn’t yet received a bill for all the work, and imagining it to be quite a sum, was a little concerned. The voice on the line from Rolls Royce replied, "Don’t worry sir there will not be a bill; we are not sure what your talking about, as that particular part has never failed in a Rolls Royce Engine and never will!”

Henry Royce was born today in 1863. The vehicles produced by his company were known around the world for quality and reliability. Every effort was made to make sure that this reputation was maintained. Any difficulties or problems within the company with respect to quality control and production, remained within the company. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, the product was completely and totally reliable. Oh that the church took a similar view in things! It takes great wisdom to know how to address issues, and problems within the church, so here is my advice from the Scriptures.

Above all things, let love cover a multitude of sins. Above all things let Christ be glorified in the doing of this. Then, address the sinful issue within the circle of its offence. If it is personal, keep it personal; if it is a wider circle, keep it never the less, within that wider circle; if it is public, than address it publicly; however, remember and remember well, that if you must suffer, it is better to suffer for the sake of righteousness and not for the sake of hanging out someone else’s offensive washing for all the world to see, especially when God has forgiven the offence already. Such public revelation of someone else’s covered sin, almost always has repercussive kickbacks for the whistle blower. Yes, deal with sin, but yet let every effort be made to make sure that blood washed righteous reputations are maintained. Whatever happens within the church with respect to quality control, and production, let it remain within the church. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, let grace reign, righteousness, wisdom, and let saintly discretion, be seen to be totally reliable. Oh that the church took a similar view in things as Rolls Royce! In the doing of our sins, we the redeemed will thoroughly shame our Saviour, but in the dealing with these sins, let us the church, be careful not put Christ to open shame again.

Finally then, let me say this today. There is a vast difference between a cover up and a cover over. There is a vast difference between the pretence of righteousness and the practice of righteousness redeemed. Think about that. So even if you lose your shirt, let sins that have been confronted, then dealt with and forgiven, be also then covered over.

Listen: - If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. Matthew 5:40

Pray: - Lord. This is hard. Help us respond in courage, wisdom and grace to all offences, that Your name might be glorified and righteousness be maintained. Let ‘honour’ Oh God, let grace be our watchword, indeed, and let Christ’s blood be all our sure coverings. Amen and Amen!


 

Mar | 15 | “Et tu, Brute?”

Key Word:- FORGIVE

Title:- “Et tu, Brute?”

Psalm 41:9 Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me. 

Today in 44 B.C., Julius Caesar was stabbed. Caesar’s friends feared the potentate's growing power and the people’s comparison of him to Alexander the great and so ‘for the good of Rome,’ decided to assassinate him. Shakespeare, in his tragedy of Julius Caesar (Act I, scene ii). Portrays Caesar being stabbed in the back by his friend Marcus Brutus and falling to the ground uttering those famous last words, “Et tu, Brute?” (And you, Brutus?)

Betrayal is a common theme in the Holy Scriptures in both specific and general terms. So when this happens to you dear friend, as it surely will, do not think that you are the first and most slighted of all people upon the earth! People, you see, often let you down and from friends, fiancées, children and spouses, we might all at some point, feel the sharp stab of betrayal in our bewildered little backs. The closer the friend, the deeper the wound. Remember that.

When we feel such betrayal, whether it is real or imagined, whether it is intended or an unfortunate happenstance; our tendency will be to eventually withdraw. However, though we might feel angry and bitter and these two nasty little twisted twins, drunk on a cocktail of hurt and revenge and partying in our seeming disaster, may cause some devastation in ourselves and our relationships. The more gruesome of facts is that the deeper damage, is not from the knife in our back, but rather from the one we place ourselves, deep into our own belly, when we testify and prophecy even further distraught devastation to our own turtle-headed death, as we withdraw even more from both the broken relationship and the stabbing scene..

You see, when we pronounce our protective declaration of “I will never let that happen to me again!” We do in fact by degrees, lock ourselves away and throw away the key, bend upon our knee, take the devils knife of bitter glee and disembowel ourselves before him! To many of you I have to say today: "Look! Spread before you on the floor is all that that you once were; is all that you should have been and it is put there mostly, by your very own bloody hands and not by those who stabbed you in the back!"With shaking shock, let God begin to heal those wounds today. Are you ready? For you need to know that God has dealt with betrayal ever since Adam and Eve dug deep their teeth into the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Betrayal, like bittersweet juice, has run down the haughty chin of men since that tearing fruity crunch echoed through the halls of heaven and called the Father to come and search for the very first couple of naked betrayers. God knows about this kind of stuff. He can help. He wants to help. Only He can help.

I am afraid betrayal is in us. You, yes you yourself O wounded one, are by nature a betrayer yourself, and you need forgiveness for your betrayal of God and for the betrayal of yourself! For we both know that your greatest betrayal probably took place after your baptism. Didn’t it? Of course it did. Face it! It is You that needs forgiveness first.

You cannot immediately take away the pain of betrayal but you can stop your own disemboweling and concentrate on gently removing the knives from your back. We do this in two ways and these ways friends, make most unusual marriage partners, for we must seek both vengeance and we must seek forgiveness. That’s right! Betrayal needs the response of vengeance and forgiveness. These two must needs be married.

David was honest in expressing the feelings of his heart in the book of Psalms. “Let me get better,” he often says, “so I can pay them back.” Or, “if I can’t repay them for what they have done to me God, then You go get ‘em God and get ‘em good! Sick ‘em, bite ‘em, and kill ‘em dead. O Lord smash their bloody teeth in!” Yes, in the same way as David, we do need to express how we feel and then we need to commit our cause to God, for knowing that we too are betrayers and the fact that we too will be in need of mercy ourselves someday and probably for the exact self same crime of betrayal, well, it means we should temper our demand for vengeance and that specifically means, temper the seeking and the expressing of our vengeance and this in turn will, when matched with wisdom, always propel us to leaving our revenge with the righteous judge Himself. In other words, “Express it, but let God deal with it!”

As we meditate on the fact of our own betrayal of Jesus, it will be easier to hand over our right of vengeance, to our correctly judging and most merciful Father, for in the end remember, all of us betrayers need forgiveness! As we then, with no doubt fearsome emotion, hand our hurt and claim of vengeance over to God, we can then get up from our knees, let go of the devils suicidal blade, place our hand on our own prison door of withdrawal and begin to step out into the growing light of forgiveness and freedom. Everyday, step away from vengeance, hand it over to God and walk in forgiveness, blessing and doing good, even to those that have hurt you and abused you, knowing that soon the pain will ease and in the handing over of your vengeance and the practicing forgiveness, the pain of betrayal will finally, oh finally begin to ease and to eventually cease.

Listen: - Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:17-21

Pray: And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one…..Amen. Luke 11:4

Mar | 10 | Mourning Mischief

Key Word:- FORGIVE

Title:- Mourning Mischief

Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.

Picking at scabs is the business of young boys and I well remember that as a youngster and in the age of short trousers, me and every other kid I knew had scabby knees. The daily rough and tumble of boys shinning up trees, climbing over walls, falling off bikes and slamming studs at the bottom of a soccer boot into one another from deliberately misplaced sliding tackles, just seemed to daily perpetuate the issue of scabby knees! When our happy and tired little gang did eventually take a break and sit down together (usually to discuss what TO DO next) it was with our butt on the ground, our backs leaning against a wall and our knees up towards our chin and then, we beheld the scabs! Of course, if the scabs had somewhat progressed in the process of healing, the extremities of these brown rocky outgrowths would now have already lifted up a little on the edges and were far too inviting to be left alone by little boys. You know what followed? More picking, more bleeding, more pain, and a little while longer to heal. The most intrusive and consistant picking may even have left a scar?

There is a two-fold danger concerning the hurts we encounter in life.

The first is that we are too busy, or already too injured to correctly mourn the present loss and express the present pain and, and consequently, the second danger is that we do not truly forgive from our hearts, those perpetrators of such a wounding. Beware these two dangers of lack of emotional expression and the consequent lack of true forgiveness.

For better and speedier healing of scabby little knees, the first answer then, is that we must take the time to find a safe place, and get moaning and a mourning over the hurt! That may mean getting angry and even getting upset with others and undoubtedly, even yourself, maybe, in a misunderstood and ignorant way of course, even at God!It may mean kicking a few trees and shaking your fists; it may mean venting a few appropriate expletives but whatever it takes, get that poison out. Vent and mourn. Remember that if you bottle up the hurt or repress the pain then in the end, they both shall at some point, leap up and bite you on the butt; guaranteed!

Secondly you must then begin the business of forgiving. Forgive others, and especially forgive yourself. After all, I wonder if we are always at some point maybe, ‘part of the problem?’

Oh and Finally, don’t believe that your forgiving is a one off event. Of course it isn’t, it’s a continuous act. Until that vial of poison is thoroughly emptied, until that puss has been thoroughly squeezed out of the sore, each time the pain, the loss, the hurt presents itself, you must keep venting and you must keep forgiving.

Lastly, (which always comes after a finally) remember that whatever you do when the healing has obviously begun……..STOP PICKING THE BLOODY SCABS!

Listen: - You will know when you are picking the scab, you really will! Because your own heart, God the Holy Spirit and hopefully some faithful onlookers will tell you that the healing has begun. Once the scab has covered the wound and healing has begun, stop the mourning and start living! Remember these lines from Othello, Act1, Scene 3. “To mourn a mischief that is passed and gone is the next way to draw new mischief on.”

Pray: - And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors, In Jesus name we pray, amen! Matthew 6:12