Dec | 07 | 'Young, Reformed and Restless?'

OBEY

'Young, Reformed and Restless?'

Psalms 71:17-21
O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come. Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You? You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, Shall revive me again, And bring me up again from the depths of the earth. You shall increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side.


I am writing today’s Bible insight from a position of someone who is ‘Old, Misinformed and Tired’ and I also suspect, that I am part of an increasingly large camp of believers who is still waiting for that rising ‘new generation’ of superstars to come and ‘shake the earth once more.’ Listen; it just ‘aint happening.

I am way past believing that God, like some lecherous old geezer, is always looking for younger models to have His way with. Does that offend you? Well, let me tell you that I am offended at being treated as a cast off from the great works and purposes of God just because some older guy with a goatee who hides his supposed wisdom with hair dye, says otherwise. Listen: if I am alive; God has use for me. Listen: if I am willing to pay the price; God has use for me. Listen: if I am rooted in His Word; God has use for me. Listen: if I don’t have my own shining and enameled teeth; God still has use for me. Listen: if I don’t look like a stud; God still has use for me. Listen: I don’t need a new tattoo; I don’t need to grow some freaky facial hair; I don’t need a new vocabulary, a new book or an app of my own to be used by God; I don’t need some new leather wrist strap, or a string of plastic neck beads; I don’t need to smoke the odd cigar or surreptitiously sup on artesian ale while lying on my mission finance application form; I need to know the Lord and so much so that my face shines with heaven’s glory and my words pack some dynamite!


You have probably spotted that I am tired of hearing about the reformed the young and the restless, and all the glories that the new generation will usher in. Lord! ‘Conform’ us to Your Word. Lord! Let the youngsters get in line for we the older are pressing ahead to the finish line. Old war horses maybe, but we know that our time is running out and so we are galloping harder still. Restless Lord, restless! Lord, today I pray that you will put a bomb in the boomer generation! Listen, I tell you, if you are older, you have probably been very mis-informed. God is not over with you! I am tired of hearing this. Get up….even if it does take a little longer….get up and get involved in the work of the Lord. God gave older people hemorrhoids for a reason you know, so they wouldn’t just settle down and sit on it! Look you, it’s time to get re-tyred! It’s time to get up and get on with it.


Listen:- My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only. Psalms 71:15-16 NKJV

Pray: - O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! Let them be confounded and consumed Who are adversaries of my life; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor Who seek my hurt. But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more. (Psalms 71:12-14 NKJV)

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Feb | 23 | Woe three of five – and the consolation of the planet

OBEY

Woe three of five – and the consolation of the planet

Habakkuk 2:12-14
"Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, Who who establishes a city by iniquity! Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts That that the peoples labor to feed the fire, And and nations weary themselves in vain? For the earth will be filled With with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As as the waters cover the sea. NKJV

Now we come to a most wonderful and most glorious emphatic statement which is the cuddling consolation of the weeping earth, whose atlas pillars have shouldered pig sties for far too many millennia. It is the song of the planets singing hope, for that time when earth shall become heaven:

“For the earth will be filled With with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As as the waters cover the sea.” NKJV

The comets of righteous judgments always leave a greater knowledge of God in their trail and just as Babylon past became forgotten ash and compost for the soil, so any future Babylon rising shall also become the same and so shall every institution, organization or nation which rejects and resists the right and might of God.

“For the earth will be filled With with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As as the waters cover the sea.” NKJV

The Gospel will, can and must be spread to every tribe and tongue, yet it is not the good news of the grace of the King towards rebellious sinners which shall change the earth for good, no, but it is the very presence of the King of the Gospel which shall do that, and shall do it for a thousand years! When this happens, the knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall smooth out the jagged rocks of all unrighteousness and bury the radioactive stinkers in its all consuming depths. When He comes to rule and reign, then the people shall walk upright once again and the stupefied shall become the sensible, the sleeping ignorant shall wake up wise, the wild and angry shall be flat calm and happy, the hateful shall be lovable, yes, the hedonist shall become the selfless and even the mockers shall close their mouths and applaud in appreciation, and in response, even nature herself with all her interwoven kingdoms, shall also change her clothes to smiling brightness and her manners along with them, giving up her rain in right measure, while the black panther which always walks by her side, shall only leave the dark forest to come and nuzzle the baby’s head.

“For the earth will be filled With with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As as the waters cover the sea.” NKJV

It is the churches job and privilege to proclaim her Master’s grace across her Master’s world but it is only the Master’s arrival and the Masters presence which shall change the earth for good.

Listen:- The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; Their their young ones shall lie down together; And and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, And and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord As as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:6-9 NKJV

Pray: -  Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, You who are, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty and everlasting Savior, come quickly. Amen and let it be so.

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Dec | 31 | The Drinking Songs of The Spirit

Dream Word – OBEY

Psalms 90:12 So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. NKJV

The Drinking Songs of The Spirit

Dylan Thomas, the Welsh bard who killed himself with booze at just 39 years of age, wrote, for me, one of the most influential pieces of prose ever to touch my ears and my heart. ‘Under Milk Wood, A play written for voices,’ is a most remarkable verbal wonder and the beauty of the opening words always, I mean always, moves me to tears. It took Thomas some ten years to write it and indeed, it was the last thing he ever wrote; his Magnum Opus if you will. Tonight, on this last night of the year, I refer to this play by Thomas and quote you an opening paragraph:

Listen. It is night moving in the streets, the processional salt slow musical wind in Coronation Street and Cockle Row, it is the grass growing on Llareggub Hill, dew fall, star fall, the sleep of birds in Milk Wood. Listen. It is night in the chill, squat chapel, hymning, in bonnet and brooch and bombazine black, butterfly choker and bootlace bow, coughing like nannygoats, sucking mintoes, fortywinking hallelujah; night in the four-ale, quiet as a domino; in Ocky Milkman's loft like a mouse with gloves; in Dai Bread's bakery flying like black flour. It is tonight in Donkey Street, trotting silent, with seaweed on its hooves, along the cockled cobbles, past curtained fernpot, text and trinket, harmonium, holy dresser, watercolours done by hand, china dog and rosy tin teacaddy. It is night neddying among the snuggeries of babies. Look. It is night, dumbly, royally winding through the Coronation cherry trees; going through the graveyard of Bethesda with winds gloved and folded, and dew doffed; tumbling by the Sailors Arms. Time passes. Listen. Time passes.

At the end of this year, on this night of endings and new beginnings, I call you to listen! Time passes. Listen! Time passes. Now let me ask you, “What have you done with your time this year, these last years of your life?”

Do you believe the Gospel? Is Christ your lover? Do you take His passionate and sacrificial claims seriously? Or have you been just messing with God? Have you been conning others and just kidding yourself and your Christianity? Have you been half dead rather than fully alive to God, for God? Listen! Time passes. Listen! Time passes! Enough of this plastic pudding! Enough of this sham and shameful shallowness of a life. You had better get real this year, else you shall end up with nothing, yes with aboslutely nothing!

Dylan Thomas, created ‘Under Milk Wood’ and all its exciting cast of characters around a fictitious Welsh town called Llarregub. The town didn’t exist, it doesn’t exist and it never shall exist. It is pure fiction! I need to ask some of you tonight, I must ask some of you tonight, “Is ‘Pure Fiction’ the description of you Christianity?”

The fictional town of ‘Llareggub’ is of course ‘Bugger All’ spelt backwards, and I tell you at the end of this year, that is exactly what any fake Christianity will get you when you come to stand before the Judgement seat of Christ!

Forgive me for being a little rough with you tonight, but the day is far spent and I greatly fear that in the furious wind to come, many who profess life will not stand and many will end up with Llarregub. So, it’s time to get real with yourself friend for your sake and for God’s sake, for time passes. Listen. Time passes. Tell me then tonight, have you got life? Are you living life? Are you truly alive? Or are you in fact, tucked up in your coffin tonight?

Listen: - Wake up from your sleep, climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants. Don't drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ. ( Ephesians 5:14-20 from THE MESSAGE)

Pray:- O Lord, from the loneliness of Llarregub may all the “dickybird watching pictures of the dead” come visit me in my dreams tonight and talk to me of the redemption of my time. Time given, time spent, time often wasted. May their desperate words come upon me like wild waves that my ship would so tilt and ride, that it might split the hawsers tying me steadfast to my sorry, safe but fictional little harbour. Tomorrow O Lord, suck me out to sea and show to me the big seas of Your dreams, that I might see the Wonders of the Lord and so fill my empty hands with treasure from on high, that I might at last begin to live! In Jesus name I pray, amen.

Dec | 26 | Bloody Mary

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- Bloody Mary

Luke 11:27  
In addition, 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!”

So what do you do with the Christ Child the day after He is born? Ask any mother and she shall tell you: You take care of Him.

The hungry little Jesus has no doubt by now already been fed several times by his mother; washed, cuddled and caringly cosseted. She has counted each finger and each tender toe, shook her little head, stared into His seeking eyes, whilst speaking several sweet hello's. Kissed his cheeks, held His dangly little head in the palm of her hand and kept Him warm in the darkness of the tomb like manger. Mary, just recently having delivered her child, will indeed now daily hold in her loving hands, her own deliverer, her own salvation and even the salvation of the world. Imagine how special a person you would have to be to have been chosen to be the caring intimate of God, the gentle mentor of Jesus, the cleaner-upper after, the teacher, the trainer, the nurse, the advisor, the counsellor. Mary was indeed among all women, most blessed! Imagine that.

Soon Simeon, over a pair of white and bloodied, dead turtle doves, shall speak of this child’s destiny and of God’s Salvation, of Israel’s Glory, of the light of the gentiles, of the revealing of hearts and the rising and falling of many over this little, oh so little baby. And with ghastly words, shall begin to prepare even Mary’s own dear soul for the hurt that only a mother can experience, “Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also,” Luke 2:35. Ignorance is better methinks, than for years to come, to carry this shadow of hurt alongside the joy of raising up Jesus. Though God knows best and maybe she needed to know this now, even from this great distance, so to be prepared for the horror she would witness on Calvary’s tree. Imagine Mary’s bloody heart. Just imagine that.Now look at God’s grace, for together with Mary’s swallowing of this bitter medicine from the mouth of old Simeon, comes heaven’s honey from the lips of old Anna. For at the instant the message of the inevitable and coming piercing was given to Mary, Anna arrives on the scene performing two most important things. First, she gave thanks and second, she proclaimed with joy! She gave thanks to the Father for the gift of His Son and she then spoke of Him, with utter and fervent, expectant excitement, to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
In this coming year friend, so soon now to be upon us, when the Father gives you some bitter medicine, look for the accompanying honey. God will always make the bitter, sweet. Always! Imagine that.

In this coming year friend, so soon to be upon us, may you find your self in the temple of the Lord. Find yourself under the red dove of peace. Find yourself under the sacrifice. Find yourself humble before your God. Imagine that.

In this coming year friend, so soon to be upon us, may you seek out the Simeon’s of Zion. Seek out those who walk close with the Father. Seek out those who have the ear of Jesus; seek out listening and proclaiming saints. This year, may you walk with the old giants. Imagine that.

Finally, in this coming year friend, so soon to be upon us, I ask you to seek out Jesus. Walk so close to Him, that you too, like awesome Anna, will be able to speak of Him to all those who look for salvation in Jerusalem. Many do dear friend; many still do. Imagine that.

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!”

Pray: Father, may the reality of your presence be manifest in me and amongst us all in this coming year of our Lord. Amen.

Dec | 20 | The Greater Guidance Systems of God

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- The Greater Guidance Systems of God

2 Kings 8:1,2  
Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the LORD has called for a famine, and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years.” So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years.

Guidance is such a confusing issue for the Christian. One of the main reasons why this is so, comes from our perception of the exactness of God’s goodness in relation to His total control. Our thought process might go like this: “God is in control. He knows how many hairs are on my head, He knows where the sparrow falls. God is in control. He knows the thoughts in my heart the words in my head before they slip from my stammering lips. God knows everything, controls everything. He is my Dad and He will do good to me. He will never let anything bad happen to me and will always give me clear direction”. Oh and by the way, this isn't just a good internal monologue, this is also great and correct Biblical thinking! So far so good then...

So, having come to grips with and believed God’s gracious Sovereignty toward us, why then do we oftentimes then find ourselves in ungracious, difficult and even terrifying situations?! The former reasoning on God’s loving and gracious sovereignty does not go with the latter situations I have described us often finding oursleves in,  and so we when we do, we become both perplexed and worried. After all, you hadn’t been sinning; you had been seeking God and His glory and yet look at this mess. What’s happening here? Is there something more we should have known about His good will toward us?

“Ah well of course,” says the theological acrobat, “you have probably stepped into God’s permissive will, rather than His perfect will for your life, and that’s always problematic. You’ve missed your way, you’ve not been listening as acutely as you should have been somewhere along your journey, no sir, so then, right now, you had better start asking for God’s perfect will to be done in your life, mate!” My stomach get's tied in knots just thinking about such a ‘helpful’ theological conversation. What to do then, what to do?

Well, look at God’s will here in our verse today. “I am sending a famine. Get out and go ANYWHERE but here.” In light of God’s Sovereignty this seems pretty poor direction doesn’t it? If God told me something like this I would say, “Lord, thanks, but shall I go to the South where the sun is shining bright and my rheumatism may find some relief? Should I go to the North where the cost of housing is cheaper? Should I go to the East and have a greater witness amongst people that do not know the Lord? Should I go to the dangerous badlands of the West, where amongst the raucous mountains, sinners abound? Lord, where should I go?” Well, the answer of God towards us right here would still be: “GO ANYWHERE but here!”

Now don’t get me wrong, I do believe that God is into specific direction giving. Not all the time though and not here in our verse for today. He is certainly not saying to the Shunamite, “you are so insignificant in the big play, it does not matter where you are on the field girl, just go. ANYWHERE!” Nope, He warns her only to leave the land, and in so doing, she is exceptionally blessed and supremely loved. She matters to Him. “Get up, get out and go ANYWHERE but here.” says God. "I'm gonna leave the 'where' to you and your wisdom, you and your desire, you and your own possibilities." Can you see that?

Let us relax a little more in the three greater truths of direction finding:

Greater truth No1: It doesn’t matter where you live, but it matters HOW you live, where you live.
Greater truth No2: You can only serve God, where you are right now.
Greater truth No3: Your influence is greater when you live abundantly in your time frame. Don’t wait for your space frame to be more pleasing to you. How we live in time is of more eternal consequence than where we live in space. 'Now,' is much more important than 'where.'

Friend, if you are fretting today about the coming New year and about your geographical locale within it, then maybe some prayerful consideration of this trinity of truth will help focus you a little more. Of course like all great trinities, they are in fact, all one and the same truth. Here it is:-How and now, is always greater than where and when. This should be our priceless and well practiced phonetic.

Listen:- We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:1-2

Pray: - Lord, don’t let me grow old waiting to be in the right place to serve You, to be Your salt and to be Your light. Rather, help me today to live in the now and in the how, trusting You, O wise and loving Father to take care of all my where’s and of all my when’s. Amen.

 

Dec | 13 | Silent & Salient Speaking

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- Silent & Salient Speaking

Mark 4:34 
But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.
 
In 1938, with the help of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis had secured ‘Bodley Head’ to publish and release his book ‘Out of the Silent Planet.’ An ‘outer space’ adventure story, like new cut stone it was mostly marbled with metaphysics rather than the then more familiar, Newtonian one! Despite it’s obvious metaphysical overtones with the Christian meta-narrative, Lewis was aghast that only two out of the sixty reviewers spotted that his character, ‘The Bent One,’ was in fact a representation of the devil. Addressing this conundrum, he remarked that “It’s quite obvious any amount of theology can be smuggled into people’s minds under the cover of an adventure story without them knowing it.” Have you got that?!

Currently, it is the general consensus of opinion that post-modern man rejects the Christian meta-narrative. In other words, post modern man hates the bigger picture of Christianity's ‘real absolutes.’ In other words, post moderns cannot abide a story, a framework with an absolute reference point, a certain guide, a definite and divine mandate, the ‘real thing’, that challenges their experience and stands in direct opposition to the lifestyle they have chosen to live. Well, nothing new there then, for sinful man has always 'kicked against the pricks!'

In light of such a post modern ardent dismissive of the Christian message, Christian apologetics should unsheathe its shiny and sharp guilt edged sword, and the clang of wielded metal and the clash of arms should be heard around the land, more louder than ever before in history. But it isn’t is it? Why is that?

Well, I believe it is because most post moderns won’t even fight! For relativism and pan spirituality simply leads post modern man to look at the apologetic sword and say “so what! As long as by law and legislation,” have you got that? “So what! As long as by law and legislation, you don’t affect me, then you can live in your own limited law infested fearful little ghetto and I shall live in the vast expanse of mine.” Ah, there we have it: law and legislation. Christianity and its intrusion into politics.

Make no mistake about it, politics is going to be the hot place in the present battle. So I have two calls today and this is the first one:

Christians must get involved in politics! In grace and in love, in truth and in the real absolute of the Christian world view, the story of God must be shared with a forgetting and rejecting nation. We need to send more people into politics as a legitimate field of mission, where the prophetic projecting of the notable mandates of God are clearly, lovingly and powerfully set forth for all to see. This is salient speaking. This is needed today!

My second cry is to artists. All purveyors of communication in its many forms. Here is where the real absolute, the meta-narrative of God Almighty, can be spoken with great legitimacy and at all times. Post moderns, pan spiritualists, relativists, are on the whole, currently, for now that is, accepting of art. Art is a level playing field where words are received and examined. It is an open forum for flashing fragments of the Divine story. Lewis was right when he said, “It’s quite obvious any amount of theology can be smuggled into people’s minds under the cover of an adventure story without them knowing it.” This is silent speaking and this is needed today.

Maybe friends, in the coming hot political climate, these silent words of the artist will remain inextinguishable messages to a mad and miserable ‘post modern man?’

Listen:- Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. Psalm 78:1-4

Pray: - O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. (Psalm 51:15 )

 

Dec | 05 | Chocolate Pockets & Ripples of Goodness

Dream Word – OBEY

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. NKJV 

Chocolate Pockets & Ripples of Goodness

John Cadbury was outdone in terms of the number of children he had, in that his son Richard Cadbury had eight! One of these good chocolate soldiers, the granddaughter of the famous founder of the best chcololate company in the whole world, was a young lady called Helen Cadbury.

Helen’s father Richard was a practicing Christian (is there any other?) and had set up a mission hall outside of the then most ‘Heavenly Ville,’ of Bourneville, in one of the slum districts of the city of Birmingham. Helen, used to the regular visitors of evangelical Christians to her home, used to the daily morning family prayer and Bible readings led by her father, was moved to accompany him one night to that same little Christian mission hall. Here, Helen was well aware of the two kinds of people in the hall. The first kind were the hopeless, the hurt and the destitute. The second kind were those who USED TO BE hopeless, hurt and destitute! The source of change in these latter folk with respect to their new possessions of hope, purpose and presence was Christ and Christ alone! The invitation from the preacher that night for people to come forward and believe on this life-changing Christ, was met by the trembling legs of little Helen. It was her father, in the little back room of the Christian mission hall that led the quaking hearts of men and women to faith and peace in Jesus Christ. That particular and blessed night, his daughter Helen was among them. How wonderful.


Helen, then aged just thirteen, finding it difficult to share her new found faith and intimate experience of Jesus with her peers, found that simply reading the Bible in front of them solicited many questions, from which she could then answer by reading to them from the Scriptures. Ever the little organizer, from this practice, Helen founded a club with her friends, called the ‘Pocket Testament League’. This little group of girls issued hand-made membership cards and the girls even sewed pockets in their dresses to carry these small Pocket Testaments. Their goal was simply to “Read, Carry and Share.” Little did she know, but Helen, through this small collection of female friends, was in process of making another chocolate ripple on the dark surface of humanity.

The well-focused child became a lovely and organised, wealthy single woman. Just then, as often happens in stories, a single and well-connected man came upon the scene who was associated with Moody and Torrey and Chapman, all prominent World Wide Evangelists of the time. The man was Helen’s soon-to-be husband, the Gospel singing Charles McCallon Alexander, who had also become a Christian aged just thirteen, and had been involved in innovative city-wide simultaneous mission meetings for many years. It was this same Charles, who with love and connectivity, helped take the once schoolgirl organisation of the Pocket Testament League into an official body which on this day of my writing, has over 170,000 members and has distributed over 100 million Pocket New Testaments to people around the world! Amazing or what! You see, it was God, who joined up the dots. It was God, who hooked Helen up with the right man at the right time with all the right connections. It was God who also no doubt answered exceedingly abundantly, all that could be asked and thought of, in the prayers of a young and quaking ‘Chocolatier.’

How did this little schoolgirl cause such a splash through the depression and two world wars? Well you see, Helen didn’t just have any old chocolate in her pockets dear friends, no, she had a Cadbury’s 'Ripple' tucked away in there as well, which in obedience and faith, she cast upon the water’s of the world. What ripple effect of good might it have on the world if you were also to cast that good chocolate in your own pocket, and also cast on waters of your life in obedience and faith?

C'mon, tell me. What’s that in your pocket tonight and what are you doing with it?

Listen: - Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21NKJV

Pray: - Lord, come join up my dots. Lord, help me to strike the waters in such mighty believing faith that lives in this and coming generations will be touched and changed forever. In Jesus name I ask it, amen!

Dec | 01 | A Martian with a Message

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- A Martian with a Message

Jonah 4:9 
Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”

British poet, Craig Raine is reputed to be the founder of ‘Martian Poetry.’ That is, poetry that takes the every day common things of life and by seeing them from a different perspective, a different pair of eyes even, is able to magnify their properties purpose and being to such an extent, that the wonder and quality of what they are can be more clearly seen and then in new found freshness, be that much more excitedly appreciated!

It’s not a new technique, indeed, it is an ancient and Biblical form of communication. Painting pictures, vast canvases of communicative convection, which lift us up like soaring eagles, forcing us to fly against the gold basement entrance door to the heavenly city, is not new. No, this is the way God has always communicated to us. Through the visual.

It is true that the Word became flesh and when He clothed Himself with the body prepared for Him, He then focused for thirty years on His job as carpenter and creator of both form and function. Aged thirty however, He took off the workman’s pouch and decked Himself with the robe of the painting prophet and whilst purposely pacing the road to Jerusalem, producing a million pictures to communicate to the listening lost and the watching and weeping masses, He magnificently portrayed the love of the Father through: ‘sheep, shepherds, vines, camels, candles, gates, wolves, needles, hens and chicks, roads and robbers, bread and gates, millipedes and mustard seeds, leaven and lost coins……well, you see what I mean? A picture is worth a thousand words, and Jesus knew it and utilised it.
As students of effective communication, we Christians should be examining the canvas in which we live to see what relevant similes and metaphors exist so that we too can effectively utilize them to communicate Biblical truth to people who are lost and going to hell! Some people have suggested that God is already doing this through non Christian Hollywood directors anyway and we simply need to get with His programme! It’s an interesting thought but again, it’s not a new one. Many years ago, Don Richardson, reputedly one of the most wildly read authors on missions at the end of the twentieth century, produced a book called ‘Eternity in their Hearts,’ proposing the idea that each culture has some God embedded story, ritual, or tradition that can be used to illustrate and apply the Christian gospel message. Hmm. I wonder?

If God is at work in our world today, is it inconceivable that He might be embedding pictures of redemption in the visual and audible canvass of contemporary culture? Is God embossing His redemptive truth upon Hollywood movies? Is God implanting His truth in sitcoms and television programmes? Is God repeatedly reaching out to people in these ways, despite the slowness of His church in taking up the challenge and reaching for the golden thread, running rich and coated red amongst the rolling reels? Is it a concept worthy of consideration? Many Christians certainly think so. After all, just how much does God love the world?

So friend, if these things are indeed so, then the implications on evangelism are far reaching. Dare I suggest, that God has left us many opportunities for communication of the gospel within our own contemporary culture and that if only our skin got a little thicker and our heart a little bigger, we might just be able to change from being viewed as weird and wacky, angry little aliens from another planet, with no relevance to real life at all, to becoming viewed as maybe “Martians with a message worth listening to!” For the sake of the millions without Jesus, it’s surely worth thinking about. Isn’t it? What and how are you watching the images of your contemporary culture? Do you see pictures of redemption to build your conversations on? Are you contemporary? Are you redemptively relevant?

Listen:- But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left — and much livestock?” Jonah 4:10-11

Pray: - Lord; lover, writer, potter, painter, touch the dead hearts of grey ghosts we live with and cover them with the resplendent and living colours of Your seeking, searching and sacrificial love. Do it through us and O God make us Your brushstrokes please and if we will not willingly be dipped in Your paint, please grab us anyhow and then do it anyway; do it despite us dear Jesus. Make us contemporary, make us Martians. Amen.

Nov | 20 | The Frozen Chosen & The Daring & Dangerous Disciples

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- The Frozen Chosen & The Daring, Dangerous Disciples

Luke 7:34, 35 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” But wisdom is justified by all her children.

The longer I live and the more I see grace bend and reach in its attempts to gather and to embrace those that are contrary to the gospel, the more I see the rise of religious protectionism. Such protectionism dresses itself up in the most seemingly righteous of garbs. The oldest of fashions worn by such ‘Evangelical Protectionists’ is that tasty little number called ‘defending the truth once delivered to the saints.’ This is rich and well hung material, draped over the whole being and covering the total body from the 'paps' to the pavement, making sure there is nothing to embarrass or reveal. It is a full, four season ensemble and its various forms are called:

‘protecting the pulpit’,
‘turning our nation back to God,’
‘defending our children,’ and
‘standing firm on the Word of God.’

Honestly, any one of the four of these striking little numbers, make the wearer look as awesome and self righteous as the Statue of Liberty holding the burning lamp of freedom and like Lady Liberty, the wearers of these fine garments are also in pristine condition, well kept and stuck on an island; whose only use now is to stand as a neat, judgmental and theologically well stocked museum as to what once was a living gateway into a new and exciting life.

John the Baptizer, that preacher extraordinaire, was substantially different to Jesus in both his deportment and delivery. These museum keepers I write about watched him and then caricatured him as ‘possessed by demons’. Jesus came eating and drinking, and yes it was wine and yes it was alcoholic, and some of it was home brewed at Cana and these SAME pristine protectionists bedecked in their fine and righteous clothes watched Him closely as well and concluded that He was a glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Jesus mixed with the wrong crowd in the wrong way, yet was gracious to instruct the pristine protectionists regarding His methodology in saying that grace comes in many forms and in the end the wisdom of such a delivery is respected by those with true blood ties.

Today, Ellis Island is now closed and the Statue of Liberty is simply another well maintained national monument. People appear to be coming into America, the land of liberty, through completely different ports and by surprisingly different means. Students of Kingdom immigration should take note of this.

Grace today has moved many Christians to remove themselves from simply standing and shining, to practicing and proclaiming in daringly provocative ways. These gracious Christians, swimming in true liberty and freedom are dangerous people to the protectionists. These are people of grace who have left the well kept boundaries and ventured abroad with The Message, and ‘it’s dangerous Jerry, very, very dangerous!’ - for Kingdom immigration has always been a messy business and never neat and tidy. It always will be.

Should you be under the impression that I am advocating a social gospel, let me assure you that I am! From the get go, the gospel has always had a social impact, it always has and let’s never forget it. It is time for Lady Liberty and the Puritanical Protectionists to hitch up their fine skirts, step off the island and take that burning torch out into the milling mass of fallen and foul humanity. When the peculiar people, the strange and statuesque, get the blood of aids victims on their clothes, the stench of the poor in their nostrils and are seen to weep over the maimed and legless, blind and burned victims of war, then maybe Christianity will turn from its plummeting decline and begin to live again in our land.

So there is trouble brewing and I think there needs to be, for once statues start walking and start talking, start reaching and start embracing, they turn into human beings! That’s a blessing to those to whom they go, but a curse to those whom they leave behind. Where shall you pitch your tent today? Amongst the frozen chosen, or amongst the daring dangerous disciples of the Lord?

Listen:- The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, O LORD, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight. Put them in fear, O LORD, That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Psalm 9:17-20

Pray: - MY JESUS, MY SAVIOUR, Lord, there is none like You. All of my days I want to praise, the wonders of Your mighty love. My comfort, my shelter, Tower of refuge and strength, let every breath; all that I am, Never cease to worship You. Amen.

 

Oct | 18 | Boondockers

Dream Word – OBEY


Titus 1:5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you — NKJV

Boondockers


'Boondock' is a word originating in the Tagalog language of the Philippines and originally meaning ‘Mountain.’ This word has been adopted by contemporary culture to mean any remote area, culturally isolated from the rest of culture, forming its own distinctive culture. ‘Boondocks’ is just another word for ‘Country.’

The Country group ‘Little Big Town’ in 2007 released a hit song of the same name. Following the vocal tendencies of the ‘Starland Vocal Band’ unlike most modern bands, they do not have a designated lead singer, but rather each singer takes the lead as is necessary and appropriate.

I think our local churches would harmonize much better if the local leaders stood shoulder to shoulder. I think our local churches would function better if all the King Saul’s, standing head and shoulders above everyone else were reduced somewhat in status. I think churches then maybe would harmonize better and as a real little big town, would function better, would feel less shame, would be proud of one another, would keep hearts alive and souls in shape, fish better together, learn more about living together, learn more about loving and most of all, learn more about Jesus. Yes, if the lead singers were shoulder to shoulder, harmonizing, leading each other, and letting others free into their destinies, then what a revolution our churches would undergo. Oh that our churches would function less like cities with a Mayor to lead them, and more like little big towns with a council of servants to wash their feet and tend their wounds, shepherding them into God’s love.

I am speaking to leaders tonight. Let me ask you, “What are you? A big man on campus or a boondocker?” Beware if you are head and shoulders above anyone else in leadership. Beware if you think you should be!

I am afraid the only correction for this tall condition is either decapitation, or that you big and tall people place your head and shoulders below the knees of the people whose feet you are washing. If you refuse to do this, then watch out big boy, for troubles a-coming and it’s only a matter of when.

Listen: - Your fierceness has deceived you,The pride of your heart,O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,Who hold the height of the hill!Though you make your nest as high as the eagle,I will bring you down from there," says the Lord. Jeremiah 49:16 NKJV

Pray:- From heaven you came, helpless babe, entered our world, Your glory veiled; not to be served but to serve, and give Your life That we might live. You are our God, the servant king, You calls us now to follow You, to bring our lives as a daily offering, of worship to You, the Servant King. Tonight great king, I enthrone You in my heart, I kneel before Your majesty and don Your apron of servanthood, bowing my head and shoulders beneath the knees of others. Let it be so on the morrow and until the end of time, for Your glory and my growth, amen.

Oct | 17 | Shades of ‘Jesus’

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- Shades of ‘Jesus’

Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.

A soldier, a peacekeeper, somewhere in a worn torn country, gingerly makes his way through the blackened shell of a now grotesquely, gutted house. The quietness and the too familiar smell hits him as he approaches the cracked open door of the inner room. Rifle at the ready, he slips in and beholds the carnage. Before the small child’s remains, his very being crumples like pressed paper and from his angry mouth slips the words, “Oh Jesus.”

The house seemed empty. Her 50th Birthday and no one had remembered. The children had flown the coop years ago, and were now across country, far, far away, taking care of their own families and business. He had taken their red Coupe, all their savings, found a younger model and after 30 years of marriage, was taking care of the other woman’s family now. No one, it seemed, cared for her. The Sunday school had helped and the pills, some, but there seemed nothing that could take away the pain of returning to an empty house, an empty bed. She flicked the switched and the roar of the word hit her “Surprise!”.  Leaping up from behind the furniture, underneath balloons and banners and falling streamers, were the happy faces of her children, her grandchildren and her dearest friends. Faces full of care, now filled the aching void of her tired mind. She lifted up her hands and pressed her shaking fingers to her cheeks cupping her astonished jaw and out slipped the wondrous words, “Oh Jesus.”

The X rays were not clear. The mass was visible even to the untrained eye. The doctors words echoed in the distance, and seemed to be heard from an unreal and ‘other’ place. “I’m so sorry, we shall do all we can of course but…….” Staring straight ahead, his astonished facial muscles were fixed in unbelief, yet his mouth still moved and out slipped the words again, “Oh Jesus.”

Not far way in another building, a brand new father is given a tiny bundle. His wife lays exhausted, sweaty and smiling on the bed before him, but in the blanket wriggles a new life, full of energy. Things will never be the same again. With two fingers he gently pulls back the blanket and reveals the new pink flesh, the damp black hair and the palest, bluest eyes. He shakes his head and tastes the salty tear that has rolled down his cheek and slipped into the corner of his smile. With a sigh he says, “Oh Jesus.”

To His dearly beloved, to His chosen children; His name alone is prayer poured fourth. The new man, the hidden heart, moved by the Holy One indwelling us, takes His wonderful name and whether birthed upon our lips in anger, in despair, or in happiness, or thankfulness, takes that saving name, and be it from our mountain tops of exultation, or our darkest morgues of mourning, sets it in its many shades of clear and spoken colours; carefully shaping it, into pleading petitions, arrows of thankfulness, cries for mercy, calls for help, courage, clarity, or closeness and gently lays them before the Mighty throne of God most High. “Oh Jesus,” “Oh Jesus,” “Oh Jesus.”

Listen:- Your name is ointment poured forth; …….S.O.S. 1:3b

Pray: - Lord. When words are not enough, let me find Your name alone to be more than enough. Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus, amen.

 

Oct | 16 | The Evocations of Bagpipe Music & Other Weird Skirlings

Dream Word – OBEY

Jeremiah 18:15 "Because My people have forgotten Me, They have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, From the ancient paths…” NKJV

The Evocations of Bagpipe Music & Other Weird Skirlings

Today, I was again reading one of the best devotionals ever written, Nicholas Albery’s, ‘Poem for the Day.’ I came across a piece by British poet, Louis MacNeice, called ‘Bagpipe Music.’ The poem is most certainly a crashing and crusading, inviting and indicting, cacophony of skirling and moving music! I loved it, I enjoyed it, I was moved by it and read it several times whilst wondering what on earth that it meant!?

One of the wonderful aspects about poetry is its evocative nature. The poem itself might present itself to be so complex and full of colour that even a third and fourth reading may still leave you with the sense that you ‘didn’t get it,’ or you ‘missed the point,’ never the less, it stirred something in you, it revived that something which was almost a remembrance of something else and for a few moments, it hooked you, it took you somewhere into your past, into a memory, into a sound maybe, a smell, a sight, a circumstance and it reminded you, it warned you, it warmed you, it caressed you and maybe even comforted you. Yes, one of the wonderful aspects of poetry, even if you don’t fully understand the totality of the piece itself , is its evocative nature.

Sermons too have an evocative aspect to them. Many times folks have left me in confusion, when coming up to me after a sermon they say, “I really was blessed by that point you made….,” or “It was so helpful when you said….,” or “God really spoke to me when you made reference to….” Yes, it has been confusing because often I wasn’t making that point, or wasn’t speaking on that matter and certainly had made no reference to the thing they thought I had! Yes, though not half as much fun, listening to a sermon is like listening to poetry, in that though the point may be missed, some other new spiritual synaptic pathway is never the less being burrowed into the brain, or more often than not, an old way of remembrance, like an old mine shaft, is being surprisingly opened up again! The new spiritual synaptic pathway will bring all the connectivity of light and life and joy whilst when the latter happens, that is, when old mine shafts are opened up by words, ghosts are released, sometimes weeping, sometimes screaming, sometimes laughing but always, yes always bringing the haunting to a close. This is good, for when a haunting’s over, then the rubbish can be removed, the wells can be unclogged and fresh air allowed to circulate once more in the inner recesses of our being.

Sometimes, often times, in both poetry and in sermons, it’s O.K to miss the point, as long as you let the words do their most wonderful of works. No matter how poor the human messenger, let God do His evocative burrowing, and His sealed mineshaft-revealing.

Listen: - Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; Jeremiah 15:16 NKJV

Pray:- I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts. I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers, nor did I rejoice; No, I sat alone because of Your hand, for You have filled me with indignation. So, why is my pain perpetual and my wound incurable, why does it refuse to be healed? Will You surely be to me like an unreliable stream, like failing waters? No, I know that if I return, then You will bring me back; So Lord, in all Your words, come and stand before me and reveal the hidden shaft and help me take out the precious from the vile, yes, with all your evocative drilling, come burrow in my brain right through to my 'knower', in Jesus name I pray, amen.

___________________

Bagpipe Music

It's no go the merrygoround, it's no go the rickshaw,
All we want is a limousine and a ticket for the peepshow.
Their knickers are made of crepe-de-chine, their shoes are made of python,
Their halls are lined with tiger rugs and their walls with head of bison.

John MacDonald found a corpse, put it under the sofa,
Waited till it came to life and hit it with a poker,
Sold its eyes for souvenirs, sold its blood for whiskey,
Kept its bones for dumbbells to use when he was fifty.

It's no go the Yogi-man, it's no go Blavatsky,
All we want is a bank balance and a bit of skirt in a taxi.

Annie MacDougall went to milk, caught her foot in the heather,
Woke to hear a dance record playing of Old Vienna.
It's no go your maidenheads, it's no go your culture,
All we want is a Dunlop tire and the devil mend the puncture.

The Laird o' Phelps spent Hogmanay declaring he was sober,
Counted his feet to prove the fact and found he had one foot over.
Mrs. Carmichael had her fifth, looked at the job with repulsion,
Said to the midwife "Take it away; I'm through with overproduction."

It's no go the gossip column, it's no go the Ceilidh,
All we want is a mother's help and a sugar-stick for the baby.

Willie Murray cut his thumb, couldn't count the damage,
Took the hide of an Ayrshire cow and used it for a bandage.
His brother caught three hundred cran when the seas were lavish,
Threw the bleeders back in the sea and went upon the parish.

It's no go the Herring Board, it's no go the Bible,
All we want is a packet of fags when our hands are idle.

It's no go the picture palace, it's no go the stadium,
It's no go the country cot with a pot of pink geraniums,
It's no go the Government grants, it's no go the elections,
Sit on your arse for fifty years and hang your hat on a pension.

It's no go my honey love, it's no go my poppet;
Work your hands from day to day, the winds will blow the profit.
The glass is falling hour by hour, the glass will fall forever,
But if you break the bloody glass you won't hold up the weather.

-- Louis MacNeice (British Poet - Northern Ireland - Father - A Rector- Written in 1930's)

Oct | 10 | The Whispering Word

Dream Word – OBEY

Luke 21:25-28 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. KJV

The Whispering Word

Outside my window, tall and solid, sentinel like in standing and spreading its rich red, fruit laden branches, is a ‘Whispering Tree.’ Warding off witches and wafting its knowledge in the warm autumn wind, through the slight crack of my one ajar’d window pane, its ancient words land with feather like gentleness upon my listening ears. They say, “Be ready. Look up. For your salvation draweth nigh.” Yes, Rowan, the ancient and scarlet clad woman of autumn, is now ready to speak her secrets to all who shall take the time to listen.

As I write this 'Whisper' on this autumn day of 2008, the global financial crash is already beginning to bite. It may take some time for the tidal wave to reach all our inlands, but the outcome is sure: the world shall never be the same again and soon, the tsunamious repercussions of all our gaudy greed shall wet the lowland waiting fields, though many shall never 'wipe their face' again. Yet still, amidst the shocking turmoil, still talked up on all our 24 hour astonished and fear-filled news channels, there is not one head that is turned to God. Not one eye that looketh up. Not one mouth that cries to God for help. My God! Even the church sits stupefyingly quiet, saucer-eyed and gormless, twitching toddler-like in its dung filled nappy, sucking on a yellow plastic hammer. It has nothing to say. For what can it say? It regressed into an imbecilic infancy long, long time ago, when in its old and aged, worldly wisdom, it rejected the revolution of repentance, scolded Scripture for its brashness and took on both ‘inoffensive safety’ as its nanny and the virgin of ‘acceptant spirituality’ to lie between its sheets and keep warm its old and cold, now most impotent of feet. You see, a church without a Scriptural centre is sterile, old and wrinkly and full of rotting balls. It is ready to die.

The banquet of the Rowan tree, ‘the bird catcher,’ standing sentinel outside my window, will however, fill the bellies of those feather ideas of the heavens, those hungry birds, with orange flesh and rich seedlings all wrapped in small, coal-coloured black jackets. These same full birds, then on their travels of speaking testimony to the goodness of God, will fertilisingly deposit the Rowan seeds into the waiting arches of other trees, high crags, weather split rocks, and all the other hard to reach and impossible places of the earth, the seeds carrying with them all the possibilities of a future rich, red goodness. Taking root in unusual places then, these small fresh trees, these so called ‘Flying Rowans’ will become even more mythical and valuable in their prowess and their power. Revealed secrets you see, implanted words, when they produce a crop in the most unlikeliest of places, take on a miraculous power of their own. The ancients knew this; we have forgotten it.

The Bible is a Rowan Tree which whispers its secrets to all who hungrily sit beneath its rich and hanging, red fruit-bending boughs. The Word of God is a seed to be planted, a red fruit to be sought after, full of orange sun, and its squeezed juices, when mingled with our daily wine, shall make us glad indeed. To all who love the Lord then and also long for His appearing, I say that now, yes now more than any other, is the time to sit beneath His Rowan tree Word and listen to His whispers for He is coming soon and there are things you need to know. Get back to the Scriptures now, and plant its seed in all the impossible places of the earth. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Listen: - "A word came to me in secret — a mere whisper of a word, but I heard it clearly. It came in a scary dream one night,after I had fallen into a deep, deep sleep. Dread stared me in the face, and Terror.I was scared to death — I shook from head to foot. A spirit glided right in front of me — the hair on my head stood on end. I couldn't tell what it was that appeared there — a blur . . . and then I heard a muffled voice: “How can mere mortals be more righteous than God? How can humans be purer than their Creator? Why, God doesn't even trust his own servants,doesn't even cheer his angels, So how much less these bodies composed of mud, fragile as moths? These bodies of ours are here today and gone tomorrow, and no one even notices — gone without a trace. When the tent stakes are ripped up, the tent collapses — we die and are never the wiser for having lived.” (Job 4:12-21 THE MESSAGE )

Pray:- Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way. Establish Your word to Your servant, who is devoted to fearing You. Turn away my reproach which I dread, for Your judgments are good. Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness. (Psalms 119:33-40 NKJV)

Sep | 24 | Seeing Songs

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- Seeing Songs

Psalm 40:3 He has put a new song in my mouth — Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD.

I seem to be one of those people who lately, cannot carry a tune in a bucket! Violence to vocal chords has limited my range of expression considerably. Never the less, the God of the Bible still encourages even me to sing!

I am reminded that The Scriptures speak not once of old songs, but consistently of new ones. You see, there seems to be a freshness of expression that should be expected with each new generation, even with each new Christian. I wonder if everyday we should all be singing skillfully, new songs that contain shouts of joy?

Have you noticed that many songs have a 'sell by' date. That's ok, but the problem is when we insist on parcelling the 'well overdue and well overdone' up in books and laying them out before our congregations and insisting they then turn to page 'so and so' and then drone on and on, whilst drowning in old froth, well, it is then that the once new songs become simply old hat.It seems to me that worship should find a new voice, and yes indeed, a new expression in each new generation and in each new Christian.

Now let me really scare all our English readers of a certain age by saying that these new songs are animated. No, not the 'Our God is so big, so strong and so mighty' or ‘If I were a Billy Goat’, silly animations for the over 40’s and early demented kind of songs, no, these are spirit animated songs. Let me explain.

The New Songs, the living water springing up in our heart, welling up into praise, will both activate us and animate us. 'Big Daddy Brubeck' got it right, for truly 'There is Rhythm in Life!' Oh when we worship, we might raise our hands, we might even close our eyes and some of us might even get down and get with it, but it's not that which the Scripture is talking about. Not really.

It's about how the new song, like a great river is eroding all the old banks of long set feelings, habits and previous passions and replacing, changing and improving our inner landscape. So much so, that the outward cloth laid over us, is also fluctuating and morphing into new and winsome shapes, for you see friend, that cloth laid over our inner landscape is weaved into our countenance, our hands, our feet, our eyes, our actions, our relationships, our giving, our attitude, our fashion, our vision, our decision, our mission, and most especially, our mouth. Think about this though. All I have mentioned is in fact 'our mouth', for this new song is a song that is SEEN RATHER THAN HEARD! He has put a new song in my mouth — Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, for sweet charity always brings the real rhythm of life.

Listen:- Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: “I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will exalt Him. The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name. Exodus 15:1-3

Pray:- Lord as you re-lay in me, the foundations of your world, let me hear the singing sons of the morning raise such shouts of praise, that they will shake the heavens once more. Amen.

 

Sep | 23 | Doctorates for Deacons

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- Doctorates for Deacons

Acts 6:1-3 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;
 
I used to visit regularly the local seminary for deacons. ‘Jack's Diner’ is one of those ‘All American’ places I love to go. It was late at night and this 24 hour gathering place was ticking over nicely. I sat on a blue vinyl stool at the white Formica bar and stared over into the cramped cooking area. Any second now Al Pacino, as the short order chef, would grab another slip of paper, furiously impaled on an old greasy aluminium prong beneath the brown fat matted heat lamps, where the neat cooked food waited to be whisked away by the wizened and over stressed, over busy, young- old waitress named Frankie.

As far as I know, the seminary is still decorated with shiny aluminium and magic mirrors that reflect flickering pink fluorescent lights and broken, not so new, neon signs. “Eat at Jack’s!” The “J” almost certainly still flickerng intermittently and drawing attention to itself.

The communion furniture at Jack’s Diner is common. Two miraculous royal blend never empty coffee pots eternally and slowly simmering on the side. Indeed, the brew is so powerful that even the decaf would keep a hardened platoon of tired soldiers awake for at least 3 days and nights leaving them fidgety for a fight. The coffee’s aroma buzzes in unison with the neon lighting. Very soon Professor Frankie will swish into the classroom, pad in hand and begin the lesson. It’s a repetitive dance she has, but over the years, it has served herself and others very well indeed. Listen and learn:

“Hey hun how you doin? My names Frankie and I’m your waitress for tunite. What’s yur name?”

Chewing gum and with hands on hips, the education continues.

“Do yoo need a few mower minutes hun? Let me get ya some caffee whilst yu decide what yer wantin”

The food order is given and then gently, openly and intricately examined.

“So, how do yer like yur eggs? Hmhm
Fries or baked potadah? Hmhm
Gravy? Saaad salad” Hmhm
Sassage or baycun? Hmhm
Canadian or American?” Hmhm

The delivery will be hot and quick, arriving with affirmation from professor Frankie,

“Man this sure smells guurd! Think I’ll get me some O that thur myself!”

The consumption is never silent.

“More coffee hun?” or “Is everything O.K hun? You like it?”

Searching eyes seem to be able to see through my off white and bourbon like stained plastic cup and somehow the coffee never gets below half empty and I mean, never! Whatever is left over (there are always ‘left overs’) are eventually removed and the final question is delicately broached,

“Dessert?”

The bill is written and out of respect, is placed face down on the table and with a smile, Frankie now flits away to serve another. She doesn’t wait to count her money or inspect her tip. She expects you to be honest and if she has served you well, to be generous. Satisfied and well served I leave.

“Y’all come on back now.”

Oh I will Frankie, I really will.

Kindness, fullness, warmth, consideration, attendant care and respect, will after years of selfless service, earn any prospective deacon, a Doctorate in Care. God’s seminary at Jacks Diner together with Professor Frankie, are open and available 24 hours a day for your continuing instruction. “Y’all come on down now and learn a little.”


Listen:- “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28

Pray:- Lord. Teach me to wash feet and wait on tables, to take care of the orphan and the widow. Lord teach me, pure and undefiled religion that is acceptable in Your sight, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

 

Sep | 19 | People, Pelicans & The Ancient Twitcher

Key Word:- OBEY

Title:- People, Pelicans & The Ancient Twitcher

Genesis 1:21 So God created ……. every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

I am in no doubt that there should be a law against greasy men wearing skimpy pink ‘Speedo's’. Indeed, I have come to the conclusion that in our generation, when on the beach, there are only three safe places to look:

1) out to sea,
2) down at the sand,
3) or up into the sky.

It was the nauseating appearance of this bizarre Australian aberration (Speedo's) spray painted on hairy, old, heavily greased former eastern block men, that caused me to lift my eyes once again to heaven and there they were. The Pelicans!

North American Brown Pelicans have fast become my favorite birds. Their strange pre-flood like bill gives them a wonderful pre-historic quality and the largeness of the birds, make them fascinating to watch in flight, as like old WWII bombers from 617 Squadron ( The Dam Busters), they swoop down low over the water on calm and steady bombing runs, whilst the waves crash like furious flak all around them. That day I looked up from the beach, there were two flocks of twelve, each flying in perfect ‘V’ formation.

A team from the National Centre of Scientific Research in Villiers en Bois, France, were able to measure the heart rates of eight Pelicans as they flew in a 'V' formation over Senegal. They report that “When flying alone, Pelicans beat their wings more frequently than birds flying in formation. When in formation however, their heart rates dropped. Our results provide empirical evidence that compared with solo flight; formation flight allows birds to reduce their energy expenditure while flying at a similar speed.” Their reason for this conclusion is that “when birds fly in formation each wing moves in an up wash field that is generated by the wings of the other birds in the formation.”
That’s one theory for this way of flying and another theory for the existence of this fascinating form is that ‘V’ formation geometry could simply be “Correlated with retinal features and the location of the eye on the head. In other words placement of the eyes restricts the field of vision and this motivates the use of a V formation in flight.”

So scientists at least conclude that the ‘V’ formation of flight, saves energy, keeps the flock together, keeps them all going in the same direction and maybe teaches the young birds, migratory paths. Pretty amazing eh!

It is not hard to discern the writings of God in all of this. Jeremiah (Jehovah will lift up) was a great ‘Twitcher’, you know, a bird watcher, fully aware of various types and habits of birds in Israel and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit was moved to take examples of their habits and apply them both to the actions of God and the people of God. In the spirit of Jeremiah the ancient Twitcher, we might say that Pelicans speak to us today and say, “Hey, don’t forget the gathering of yourselves together;” they say, “Make sure to surround yourself with the right kind of strong good company;” they say, “Two are better than one;” they say, “Follow me, even as I follow Christ.”

I say to you then today folks, get to an assembly, find Godly friends and follow Christ in a ‘V’ for Victory formation. This is one of the ways Jesus makes light, His lovely yoke.

Listen:- Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1

Pray: - Lord, grow us up that we may with Holy confidence speak as our brother Paul did in inviting others to follow us, as we in turn follow You dear Master. Teach us Your way O God, teach us Your way, in Jesus name we pray, Amen.