Dec | 06 | A Truth Unshared

STRENGTH

A Truth Unshared

John 8:31-32
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." NKJV

Again, I ‘wowed’ last night over yet another superb film from yet another stunning Steinbeck Novel called ‘East of Eden.’ From the multitude of scenes which deals with secrets, self righteousness and truth, and a thousand other human frailties besides, it is that particular scene where the enigmatic and wild Caleb introduces his proud and ignorant brother Aaron to the truth that: not only is his mother not dead but is alive, and successfully running a house of ‘ill repute,’ whilst having utter disdain for them as her children and for their father who brought them up. Aaron’s exposure to this truth sends him mad, destroys his world and spins him into self destruction when he signs up as a ‘certain death’ soldier to be fed as fodder to the rattling German machine guns of the first world war. That part of the scene where semi-sober Aaron smashes his head through the train carriage window and laughs like a crazed gargoyle all covered in splinters of glass and drunken spittle as the train removes him forever from their lives, yes, even as the Father ‘strokes out’ nearly dead on the ground in response to the horror of the fractured picture of his beloved son before him, is one of the greatest cameos of the results of a truth unsheathed. There is no freedom here. Only utter destruction. Steinbeck in his observation of the same is quite, quite brilliant.

Now I share this cameo today with you, for we come to probably the most misunderstood and misapplied verse in Scripture and speaking as a pastor I can tell you that the misapplication of this verse has done great damage to situations, relationships, families and individuals, for the bare naked truth of a sinful situation, the unsheathed facts of a dark and once hidden matter, have sent mad not a few individuals; have blasted brains and sensibilities across once quiet magnolia walls; have scorched the earth like some angry ‘little boy’ leaving but shadows of dead men on concrete walls; have firebombed once green forests leaving nothing but matchstick splinters; have left a barren and shell pocked ruined and turned over land, so deeply cratered in desolation that only owls and pussycats will roam there now amongst the embittered, angry and much deformed wanderers left behind. Listen: The facts of the sinful matter, the truth of the situations of sin, are all Chernobyls in the making. They can bring cancers to the brains of the ignorant, desolate the soul of the simple, and empty all the cities of sociability and love. Truth, that is, the basic facts of sinful matters, rarely set people free. They kill them.

Now then, should you feel the great need to unburden yourself of your secret sins, please consider the consequences before you pull the pin from that grenade. Cast all your care upon Jesus friend, don’t dump the steaming pile over those you love and destroy them with your stink. Yes, if you are carrying a confession which will change the lives of others then I counsel you to seek the prayerful guidance of your Pastor. Oh, and make sure he is an older grey haired guy and not some young buck, for I have learned that there are some ‘sinful truths’ that need to be taken to the grave, and only those who have been to many a funeral know this. Great wisdom is needed in these things, for at times it will be appropriate to share a particular ‘confessional truth’ and then much prayer and preparation needs to be carried out.

Friends, it is the truth of who Jesus is and what He has done for us on Calvary’s cross to bring us to the Father which will set us free from the condemnation of sin, free from religious self justification and free from the application of guilt that we might live a life of joyous obedience pleasing to Him. Now that’s freedom!

Listen:- A talebearer reveals secrets, But he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety. Proverbs 11:13-14NKJV

Pray: -  Father, grant is wisdom to know when to spill our beans and friends and counselors who love us to help us in the so doing. Where O such knowledge would destroy, grant us the strength to keep our mouths shut, cast all our care on You and then grant us the peace and joy to live a righteous, holy and changed life. Amen and let it be so.

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Jan | 05 | Pinocchio People

STRENGTH

Pinnochio People

Isaiah 3:12
As for my people, children are there oppresors and women rule over them. NKJV


“A tree is masculine, but when it is turned into wood, it becomes feminine…..The same is true of many of the nouns in our language. When something becomes useful, its gender becomes female. Matriliny breeds a culture of men who feel useless.” So goes some remarks made by BBC reporter Timothy Allen reporting on Meghalaya, India: Where women rule and men are suffragettes.

In the small hilly Indian state of Meghalaya, a matrilineal system operates with property names and wealth passing from mother to daughter rather than father to son and in so doing, men have politically, socially and politically, had their nerve removed.

Yesterday I was in London, chasing some business regarding roof and table. A friend of mine had emailed me a Church position offering rent-free housing, a standard salary and a great mission field. The church was led and run by a sister. “Would I consider applying?” he had asked. I said “No.”

I walked back to Victoria station to get by train and yet another incident of some kind, had caused raging Police Cars and Ambulances to speed by me. They were mostly occupied and driven by women. Even if it is hard to take a little woman in a blond ponytail wearing slight make-up that seriously, women police officers increasingly patrol the streets of all our cities. At the time of my writing, I am 52, and remembered that recently, the last male bastion in the Royal Navy had fallen as women are now allowed to serve on Submarines. I wondered, “are we men, is the church, and is our society better for all this seeming gender emancipation?” Well, despite the ‘Next Generation’ ‘Voyager’ ‘Deep Space Nine’ ideal, no, I think we are far worse, and I do not think it is the case of men simply having to reset their thinking to match the so-called gender liberated and now ‘enlightened’ age, for you see, despite being mostly educated by women, healed by women, judged and policed by women, and soon no doubt, front line protected by women, a man is still a man for all that. It is he that needs to rule, provide and protect. Bad grammar maybe, but good living never the less, for if men do not fulfil this Trinitarian imperative, they become sick in oh so many ways.

My twice herniated, surgical gauze upheld Himalayan topographied fatty abdomen has long since sucked the macho out of my bones. In addition, I have also been married to my wife for 33 years now and I love her dearly. She is cleverer than I am and in so many respects, much nicer as well. I have supported her through college and in her role as Director of an organisation, and I believe she feels loved, honoured and respected by me. I tell you this because I am in no way a macho misogynist. I am however, Biblically active, and thus being, have to measure where we have arrived at, alongside the Bible command and the Biblical ideal.

You see, a vast majority of men, both young and old, in our society and church are sexually, morally and directionally lost. They have no idea what it means to be a man. There is no apprentiship for this, there is no band of brothers to model this, and unfortunately, there is very little strong male righteous leadership anywhere, especially in the church, to lead the way in this. This means that we as a church have become thoroughly effeminate in words, worship and practical living.

Not a few atheistic social demographers are already prophesying the doom of western society over the loss of the Biblical family, yet there is no strong prophetic voice crying for the honouring of Biblical manhood and womanhood, which has currently been heeded and adopted by our church. On the contrary, we have sped headlong with ‘Uriah Heep’ like gratuitous deference to political correctness. Therefore, we have to ask ourselves, “Is there any hope for our continuance and blessing as a church, as a nation?” My answer to that question is both a no and a yes. In the negative, there is no hope, because we are not changing the church, and that is the problem. You see, a strong unambiguous church will change society. A Biblically weak church, however, will be changed by society. In the positive, there is hope, because if we change the church, if we start again on Biblical gender foundations then there is hope for the redmption of Biblical order. It will be hard and very difficult work, but it can be done. It will take time, but it can be done!

“A tree is masculine, but when it is turned into wood, it becomes feminine.” You cannot change institutions, organisations, and forces that are already made up of strong bombastic women and men of Balsa wood. You must come out from among them and be separate. You must start again from scratch. This will be hard, but if there is to be any redemption of our church and then our society, then such a revolution is absolutely necessary.

This means now that in the church and in Christian communities (let the world do what it will – I say again, let the world do what it will) men need to become male orientated. Yes, in provision, practice, education, training, business, mentoring and coaching, in the real church, men must now positively discriminate in favour of other men. Male or female reading this, take your positive stand right now and choose to become part of this revolution back to Biblical Manhood.

Listen:- Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people." Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you." 'I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 NKJV 

Pray: -  To neither the detriment nor the dishonouring of women O Lord, whether they are mother, wife or sister, colleague, champion or Queen, today we pray a blessing and honouring upon your men. Please, for the sake of Your church, let men be who You created them to be. Bless them in such a way Lord, so as to enable them to rule and reign, provide and protect with all integrity, righteousness and honour. In Jesus name we pray this, amen.

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Dec | 12 | Blue Collar Glory

Key Word:- STRENGTH

Title:- Blue Collar Glory

Isaiah 40:3 
“Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth;”
 
The smiling face of the Christian Orthodontist beamed out of the advertisement he had placed in the local press. All of his ‘family friendly’ services were neatly placed under a section of our verse for today: “…the crooked places shall be made straight.” Very droll.
Seinfeld has already pointed out the dangers of being ‘anti-dentite’ and certainly that is not what I want to appear, but maybe, that was an advert too far. “Maybe,” I say, smiling, remembering the grinding drill on my collapsing molars and the heavy low frequency throb from a torturous cold and burning bit that still haunts me in my dental nightmares. Imagine all that work without anaesthetic. No friends, I am certainly not anti-dentite and I am so thankful that they make the crooked places straight. In this way in particular, dentists are GOD-LIKE!

Jacob the man, is firmly rooted in the meaning of this Hebrew word that we have here translated in out text today as 'crooked.' The crooked Jacob of the Bible is in his pre-wrestling life, presented to us as a deceitful, sly and very slippery customer. Jacob was so crooked to the core that if had swallowed a nail he would have spit out a screw! Yet he wasn’t abandoned, no sir, rather he was chosen and it was God Himself who orchestrated Jacob’s graduation ceremony from 'Straight School' at the Jabbok crossing and then sent him away with a limping leg as an eternal reminder, that it was only when Jacob was without the power of his crookedness, that he could hang on for dear life and simply ask to be blessed by his dark night conqueror, the Eternal Wrestling Federation champion Himself, Jesus Christ the Lord! It could be said that after this hand to hand encounter with God Almighty, Jacob the twister, limped a little straighter on his way. (Genesis 32:22-32)

Nowadays, we have so sanitized Christianity that the thought of Jesus getting up off His throne and grappling with a few hairy sinners is most distasteful. Yes indeed, we can handle the clothing of God appearing as a cute and cooing little brown baby, but imaging Him as a sweaty old wrestler, well that’s a picture too far! Yet thank God, Jesus is a sweaty old wrestler. God has not changed and in making crooked places straight, Jesus is still in the business of crippling the central core of our personal power base, you know, that ‘old man’ driving force that powers us and sends us on our winding and slithering way. Yes indeed, it's quite a battle when God truly gets to grips with us. He knows it and so He always comes to His sanctifying work in us with His sleeves rolled up and His mighty arms ready for action. Yes He does! For, if you think that most of us will allow that breaking of our old man power base to happen without a fight, then may I suggest that you need to become an even greater student of the workings of God in men. Jesus is in the construction business you see.

The workings of God in men and families are very similar to the major road constructions we see around our lands. It’s mostly done at night, by ‘secret’ workers, lighting up the darkness with noisy machines, ripping up our settled way with jumping jack hammers which, will in the morning, inevitably cause gross inconvenience, traffic jams, and fill our nostrils with the pungent smells of hot tar and diesel fumes, which then aggravates even further the drumming fingers of our gross impatience, that sits below the large red and white signs in our spirit proclaiming: 'GOD AT WORK…BE PATIENT!' As we think about the baby Jesus this Christmas time, think on a little farther, think on a little deeper, for our Jesus is a wrestler and a road construction worker, a ripper up of crooked concrete, a re-setter of winding ways and broken thighs, a smoother if you will, of rough and ragged roads.

Jesus you see, is very blue collar and in the un-sanitized non-religious world, the real world that is, Jesus wears a construction helmet and wanders around picking fights with rascals, poking them in their ears and spitting in their eyes, touching hearts and shrinking their thighs. So this Christmas time dear friend, if everything is a mess on your road at the moment and you feel weak at the knees, take great heart and simply hang on to Jesus and ask for His blessing for I tell you friend, Glory is a coming this Christmas time and it’s blue collar Glory prepared in heaven for you!

Listen:- The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” Isaiah 40:5
 
Pray: - Lord, help me to take a new grip with my tired hands and stand firm on my shaky legs and mark out a straight smooth path for my feet so that those who follow me, though weak and lame, will not fall and hurt themselves but become strong in You! In Jesus name I pray. (from Hebrews 12:12-13 TLB)

 

Nov | 01 | Of Wolves & Shattered Shields

Key Word:- STRENGTH

Title:- Of Wolves & Shattered Shields

Isaiah 28:5,6 In that day the LORD of hosts will be For a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty To the remnant of His people, For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, And for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

It is true that over a billion people are presently more familiar with the fictitious names of Frodo, King Aragorn, Gandalf, and the terrible Sauron who has finally been met at the black gates of Mordor, rather than the real names of Goliath, Gath, (a heavily fortified wall city of giants) Ekron (the seat of Bealzebub) and the double gates of Shaaraim. Never the less, both the fictional and real, paint the same double message for us today. Evil dwells behind strong black gates, and those who are more than conquerors, must turn back their advancing foes and pursue them to these very gates of origin, root them out and utterly destroy them.

The fundamental idea that John Eldridge presents in his book ‘Waking the Dead’ that: ‘the only way we can understand the world and our place in it is that we are in a dreadful battle for our hearts’ is more than a proposition for calm consideration; it is a Biblical presentation of dreadful fact, that calls us to arms. Jesus places us upon a fortified rock and calls His church into existence in the midst of this mighty conflict! Listen “I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” . Matthew 16:18-19.You can't get away from it friends, we are born for bruising, birthed for battle and made to be more than conquerors amidst this red and roaring, ripping rumble of all out war. Christianity is not about old ladies in furry hats sipping tea on a Tuesday afternoon, eating cake and cooing over the nice young vicar! It’s not about nice suits and tidy children, marching into shiny pews on a Sunday to hear some overqualified youngster droning on about Greek grammar and the exciting twist of a Hebrew nuance! It’s about war! It’s about conquest! It’s about fighting! Fighting for our hearts and the hearts of others. It’s about rescue, recovery and redemption. It’s about facing the fiercest foe that ever existed, chopping his head off and pursuing his dreadful demons back to and behind, the very gates from whence they came, rooting them out, burning down their towers and claiming all the land for your self. Indeed, every place your foot shall tread shall be yours!

Now, wait a minute young Frodo, don’t go charging off towards the black gates of Mordor by yourself just yet. Our foe is truly, a black evil that never sleeps. He has been around a long time, is well organized, fortified and supplied. Me thinks though, that a Caleb might show us how to overcome him , or a band of three brothers might dare into captured Bethlehem once more and bring some freshness to a thirsty king. Truth is, in this fearful fight, we need one another. Truth is that we need to be band of brothers, especially when we are tired, especially when we have pursued the enemy back to his lair, and the towering black gates before us make us drip with fear. Community and conquering kings, are the only things that will keep us men of the west, facing the foe and overcoming our fears.
So today, to all my tired and retreat tempted warrior friends who are drawing back at the serpentine sound from behind those big black gates and shivering with fear; I counsel you to listen to the true words of a fictional king, that never the less, have a few fine words for warriors like you that have dared to come so far and have besieged the gates of Mordor:

“Hold your ground—hold your ground! Sons of Gondor—of Rohan, my brothers!
I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.
The day may come when the courage of men fails,
when we forsake our friends and break all bands of fellowship
—but it is not this day!
An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the Age of Man comes crashing down
—but it is not this day!
This day we fight!
By all that you hold dear in this good earth,
I bid you stand,
men of the West!

Listen:- Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. 1 Samuel 17:52

Pray: - Master and Commander of the armies of heaven; fairest Lord Jesus, we shout with You today, for those walls we see are coming down! Even the gate bar of Damascus will shatter before our hearts of pounding faith! For Surely, if You are for us great King, then who can stand against us? Lord, by your grace and power, this day we shall stand and fight.

 

Aug | 05 | The Terrible Loss of A Load of Old Bulls

Dream Word – STRENGTH

Titus 2:2-3 Guide older men into lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom, into healthy faith, love, and endurance. (from THE MESSAGE)

The Most Terrible Loss, Of A Load Of Old Bulls

Regarding the questions as to whether or not elephants have good memories, an American reporter in Chicago recently recorded the following incident at the Chicago Zoo:

“In 1986, Mike Hogan was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from North-western University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed so Mike approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Mike worked the wood out with his hunting knife. The elephant gingerly put down his foot. The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Mike stood frozen, thinking about being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away. Mike never forgot that elephant or the events of that day. Over thirty years later, Mike was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his own teenaged sons. As they approached the elephant closure, one of the elephants turned and walked over to where Mike and his son were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mike, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man. Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mike couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Mike summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mike’s legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly....

It probably wasn't the same elephant.”

For some years now teenage pachyderms have been roaming in wild and angry packs, seemingly reeking revenge on human settlements in their area. An examination of the increasingly savage problem of young elephants on the rampage, tusking each other to death, vandalising crops and houses and killing human beings, seems to indicate that it is linked to the killing of old bulls. In other words, a major problem in elephant herds has been that of absent fathers and the destruction of the secure mentoring of a patriarchal system. Without the strength and leadership and no doubt the giving of ‘a good slap of an old trunk behind large floppy ears,’ the teenagers have had all boundaries removed and in the end have just gone wild. You will forgive the poor pun.

In Western society it is evident that the emasculation of old bulls, by political feminisation and the intentional and continuing dismantling of our own patriarchal system, has also led to the takeover and self-destructive rampage of teenagers. Knife crime, gun crime, sex crime, abused and abandoned single mums are all signs of a removed patriarchal system. Our young men have been purposefully and deliberately delivered up to the politically correct knife of emasculation, whilst the old bulls have been killed off. I tell you, for society to continue, this feminisation must come to a fatal end.

There is a call out tonight then, to all seemingly younger folks in the church of the living God. I am afraid that many of you need to grow up real quickly. Where the older bulls have been blown away or have blown it, you in great maturity must now grow up quickly and lead the way in wisdom and patriarchal manliness. If this is true for the young men of our churches, then may I say that it is even more applicable to the young women. You too must grow up and lead the way in godliness, honour and true love among the sisters.

It’s time to rid the world of these chav-like packs of pitiful packyderms! We can only do that by letting men be men, letting them live like men and allowing them to teach the younger blokes. Only men can teach boys how to be men. If this is not honoured in action, then all we can expect in our world is rampage, killing and wild anarchy. I am afraid this is the awful truth.

Listen: - Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don't want anyone looking down on God's Message because of their behaviour. Also, guide the young men to live disciplined lives. (Titus 2:3-6 from THE MESSAGE)

Pray:- Lord, help us to be, in the most irreligious and un-pompous of ways, to become the very best of ear- flicking mentors. In Jesus name we ask it, amen.

Jul | 06 | Gluttonus Maximus, Big Boys & The Giant Greedy

Key Word:- STRENGTH

Title:- Gluttonus Maximus, Big Boys & The Giant Greedy 

Deuteronomy 21:20-21 And they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.'

Gluttonus Maximus was a Roman butcher who kept a small shop on the Appian Way. Famous for his sausages, livers and lambs legs, he never the less died aged just 28 and weighing 412lbs. A nice man, but being lavish and unrestrained, he died of a heart attack from greed and excess. Many of our generation shall follow his direction and demise on our way to Krispee Kreme, Home Town Buffet, TGI Friday, Frisch’s or wherever else we can fill our plates up to the ceiling with weighted excess.

Frisch’s restaurant chain was founded in America nearly one hundred years ago in the city of Cincinnati and of course in 1946, introduced their full 1/2lb beef double decker ‘Big Boy’ onto the market. The big-eyed plastic waiter with red checkered dungarees, has become their national icon for the 'Big Boy' and today the plastic icon and the 'Big Boy Burger' are both on sale behind every Frisch’s counter!

Now let me tell you friends, that I am partial to an ‘all you can eat’ menu, and my Scots blood likes to get more than its money’s worth. So, just the other day, in we went to trawl the breakfast bar. It was a holiday and the place was packed. Those leaving, even though they waddled out of the door, were still getting ‘to go’ bags, or ‘to go’ cups so they could continue munching in the car, (America is a country that walks very little.) Meanwhile, the food that was left behind on the plates, if gathered up, could feed a small African nation! The 'Big Boys' weren’t just on the shelves waiting to be purchased, oh no, they perambulated and bounced alongside numerous big mommas on their way to their third of fourth helping. And where were we? Stuck in up to our elbows with the rest of them, chowing down. It’s got to be said, we’re a fat nation! We’re killing ourselves, and I’m sorry, but it’s a sin.

Now let’s clear some issues out of the way. As a former fitness instructor, I advised a lot of people on their diets and remember meeting a man who had lost 60 lbs in 6 months. “Yup, once the doctor gave me the correct medication for my thyroid,” he remarked, “All my right eating and exercising kicked in and the weight fell off.” Hmmm? It’s obvious that maybe some of us have a medical problem that needs checking out. Every overweight person should first visit the doctor before starting any exercise programme. However, if you check out ok with the doctor friends and you're still fat, then brother, sister, I am afraid that you are simply eating too much. End of story. The Bible calls this gluttony.

If under pressure we continually and habitually turn to drugs, we are classed as an addict. If under pressure we consistently turn to drink we are classed as an alcoholic. If under pressure we continually turn to chocolate or ice-cream or cake, or food in general, then at the most, we are classed as 'a bit of a joke', a silent laugh line in a comedy sketch. However don’t be deceived friends, for in the end it is all rebellion, idolatry, excessiveness and lavishness that leads to slavery and death. Gluttony is all of this, for it is a seeking of satisfaction and comfort in something other than God. I am not innocent, for I am a chocoholic and it is no joke! Ask my dentist. Ask my bank manager.

Look, enjoy your food and even pig out a little sometimes, but if food is overtaking you, overcoming you, eating you up and has become the comforter you turn to in times of trouble, then your excess is a sin that needs repenting of and by now, probably a physical problem that needs attending to. God helps all repentant sinners, and so in this He can help us gluttons as well. Turn to Him when He calls you. If you don’t, then it’s bad manners and you might just end up busting a blood vessel and falling into a pig trough.

Listen:- Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16

Pray:- Jesus I am sorry when I turn to candy and brandy instead of You. O Lord my God, let my soul delight itself in true fatness, because I know You and am always a familiar and open-mouthed at Your most healthy table. Amen.

Jul | 06 | When Amzi Looked Longingly, Over His Trailing Flowered Wall

Dream Word – STRENGTH

Ezekiel 37:1-4 The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord God, You know." Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! NKJV

When Amzi Looked Longingly, Over His Trailing Flowered Wall

Today in 1854, Amzi Clarence Dixon, that is A.C. Dixon, was born on a plantation in Shelby, North Carolina. Amzi and his brother Thomas both followed in their father’s footsteps as Baptist preachers. Whilst the life path of Thomas zigzagged its way in preaching, politics, law and lecturing, it is his writing that is now very far behind the racial acceptances of today. Indeed, Thomas Dixon even advocated white supremacy, especially in the form of the Klu Klux Klan. His brother Amzi on the other hand, was a straight career preacher, a pulpiteer of power and eloquence, a graduate of the Southern Baptist Seminary, even pastoring such famous churches as Moody Bible Church and Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle. I am sure having Thomas as a brother was an ever present challenge for old A.C. Dixon! There’s a couple of lessons there for us for sure, but not for tonight. No tonight, I want to suck on some of Amzi’s comments from his sermon entitled ‘The Raising of Dry Bones.’

Regarding Israel of old, decay and disintegration surely did ride on the coat tails of sin. Ezekiel’s vision of a valley of dry bones was truly all that was left of them and that is where Ezekiel dwelt. Amzi says this, ‘The temptation is for us to seek the garden with its flowers rather than the valley with its bones. The prophet also responds when God's hand sets him down in the midst of the bones. Dwelling with the bones is more trying than just going to them on a temporary mission. To have bones for neighbours and companions may not be pleasant. We have a taste for the company of living people. But unless we are ready to respond to the hand of God which would lead us to the bones and make us dwell among them, we are not prepared for the work of raising them to life. The work cannot be done at a distance. The millions who throng the streets, crowd the theatres, drink in saloons and revel in dance halls, shunning the church as they would the pest house, cannot be reached by the pastor in his study making eloquent sermons for his cultured congregation, nor by the Christians who meet in parlours, halls and churches for fellowship and Bible study. Thank God for the men and women who gladly respond to the hand of God leading them to the most sinful and hopeless.’ Amen! I believe this statement of Anzi’s was quite revolutionary for his time and I tell you what, the Southern States of America and in most Southern Baptist Circles down there, his statement is still a revolutionary one today!

We need to preach the Word of God to dry bones and to do this, the hand of the Lord will take us and push us, shake us and place us, right there in the middle of those valleys of dry bones and command, no, demand, that we should preach His word to them. It’s as simple and as scary as that.

So where has God’s powerful hand been leading you today? As for Amzi, despite his powerful message, he was never the less placed in the flower garden’s of cultured congregations and the pansy’d parlours of plump pastor’s wives, yes, Amzi could only preach about such a courageous and honoured placing! I wonder tonight if despite his honoured pulpit, Amzi often stood on his tippy toes and peered over the wall and looked longingly down into the valley of dry bones and wished he had both the bottle and the mettle to be permanently placed amongst them. How about you?

Listen: - Thus says the Lord God to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord." Ezekiel 37:5-6 NKJV

Pray:- Give us the willingness O Lord, to be placed amongst the long gone dead and the faith and courage to speak Your word to them. Allow us then O Lord, the tenacity to stick around to see you rattle them together and put life both on them and in them and all around them dear Jesus. Amen!

May | 06 | Thundereggs

Dream Word – STRENGTH

Matthew 13:15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.' NKJV.

Thundereggs

In the U.S.A., the old native Americans describe the appearance of the Thunder Spirits, who when consumed with their anger with one another, threw rocks the size of baseballs at each other's faces. These hollowed out, rough, spherical rocks, are called ‘Thundereggs’ and have all their real treasure, all their real beauty, all their real and colourful shining propensity, sealed up inside them, even seemingly locked away forever within them. There is no key of release, there is no easy way to access that inner glory, for the hot lava of their bubbled birth has condemned both them and their treasure to darkness forever. So, all that is ever truly seen on the outside of these thundereggs, is an old round rock, well worn, hard and impenetrable.

Last night I listened to two “poster children” speaking. In other words, I listened to two folks on the television who were in my opinion, the epitome of those strands of culture, those strands of society and sin, which they so ably represented, those being, the succulent sinner and the pompous justifier of the succulent sinner. The woman of the pair, a clinical psychologist, with each breath seemed to caress the sin of the other much older man in non-judgemental affirmation, even an affirmation that verged on the mad and smiling justification of a reckless and wanton selfishness, which in turn, revealed the old star to be a continuing raging sea, still foaming up his own shame after all these years for everyone else to see. It was frightening.

Now the world is full of sinners, of whom I am one and frankly, whose own sins in certain areas far exceed the sad old shell of a that seductive sinner, that rapped his way through the silly questions of the shrunken head, that justified his madness with every ‘There, there, poor sweet baby’ breath. No, I am not judging here! However, I am making a judgement. For what astonished me most in watching this bizarre and black, interview expose, was the continued presence of that evil self -justifying and seductive spirit, which still relished in the reliving of all its former sins and given half the chance, yes given half the chance, would do them all again and this time with twice the gusto. From that insane interviewing of that now aged slug of a man who had lost his incredible handsomeness so many years before, there could be found no evidence repentance, no remorse, save for the remorse of not protecting himself more from the hurt of others and the hurt of self. No, just a reliving and a recollection of sins so thoroughly indulged in, in the not so long ago. I have witnessed many old people locked away in the past. What they are now has been birthed in the bubble of their previous hot and sinful lava flow. Anything that is good and worthy of honour, any original glory, has not and indeed, may never see the light of day. You see, there is a most terrible hardness that comes with a lifetime of self indulgent sinning.

To stop becoming thundereggs ourselves, we must step out of from all the hot lava flows of our sin and the sin of others, and in turn, actively live a life of continual repentance, whose marks are clearly seen in service, softness and most especially, selflessness. We must live this life of repentance every single day, lest we too become locked away within our own self-justifying madness and in our spiteful anger, especially in our later days, insanely throw the dark, rough edged, spherical rocks, at one another’s bloody heads.


Listen: - So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, saying, 'Go to this people and say: 'Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; And seeing you will see, and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them."' "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!" And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. Acts 28:25-29 NKJV.

Pray:- Soften my heart, Lord soften my heart, from all indifference, set me apart, to feel your compassion, to weep with your tears, come soften my heart, O Lord, soften my heart. (Graham Kendrick)

Apr | 19 | The Orator Little Pleader & The Enemy of The State

Dream Word – STRENGTH

Acts 24:1-9 Now after five days Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul. And when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying: "Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight, we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your courtesy, a few words from us. For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him, and wanted to judge him according to our law. But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him." And the Jews also assented, maintaining that these things were so. NKJV

The Orator Little Pleader & The Enemy of The State

For sure, Tertullus the prosecutor, that little old Latin speaking, Italian turtle head, fully associated himself with his clients the Jews, and most thoroughly earned his wages that day! I wonder how much they paid him? He did this by presenting a very simple and strong case against the apostle Paul with the use of the clever manipulation of half truths. In so doing, he perpetrated a crime of gross injustice, by invoking plausible but dishonest pleadings in the at first, disinterested ears of Felix. Then, with the cheering affirmation of a hired mob, Tertullus iced his perfect little cake of false accusation, by trying to then strong arm the Governor himself into compliance with his twisted talking, his festering little fairy tale.

Yes, Tertullus, an hired gun, a retained lawyer of some professional and vocal strength, exuding sufficient slime to let a large elephant seal, slither down an old, cold, cobbled high street, poked Festus with the simple yet very sharp trident of Adulation, Argumentation and Affirmation. Especially of the Governor’s patriotic sensibilities, for anyone examining both Tertullus’s arguments and the accused, would himself be a senseless traitor if he continued to allow Paul, that arch enemy of the Roman State, to continue to cause civil disobedience in the face of Caesar. Yes, old Tertullus earned his fee that day, that’s for sure!

Interestingly, Tertullus is the diminutive from the Latin word ‘tetius,’ meaning, 'third'. I wonder if he was the third child? The youngster maybe, the picked on mommas boy, the little runt of the litter? Some commentators have suggested that it was Jewish humour that led him to be called Tertullus, for his name was actually Ter-Tullius, which in the Greek means, three times a liar, three times a teller of stories, or even three times a cheat! It is an interesting conjecture for sure, but who knows really? Save we all agree that Tertullus, is a great name for a lawyer!

Now, we do know that the enemies of light used every slimy means possible to stop the spread of that light. Felix, did not know too much of the so called ‘Sect of the Nazarenes’ but he was familiar somewhat with ‘The Way’ and this got his attention! Still, Felix was one of those people, who though he was warned and strangely warmed by the fire of God’s holiness, he never approached the burning bush which God had lit in his heart. These are some of the most dangerous of people for sure. They are time wasters, un-deciders, undeclared, scared folks, fearful of the fire, who, though knowing their end, never the less do not repent but rather, will abuse the saints, taking what they can from them, whilst keeping them on hand, just in case.
Without proof, Felix never the less detains the apostle Paul and after two years of this use and abuse, fat Festus succeeded Felix as Governor and kept the apostle bound for the sake of the Jews.

I wonder, if over those two years of wait, Paul or his friends should have paid the accepted and expected bribe to Felix and so secure his release? I think they should have, save for two most important points. First, that Paul knew what awaited him! The Holy Spirit had already told Paul, that in every place and maybe even in that penultimate place of Rome, chains and tribulations awaited him. (Acts 20:23) Second , that the Lord Jesus had already told him to cheer up for he was going to Rome to testify of Him!

Cheer up indeed, for knowledge of God’s will, will keep us on track, will keep us in The Way, even when there is a way out! Indeed, even orator little pleaders, will smooth the path before us.
The Way is not easy but it is right and it is correct? Do you see it yet?

Listen: - But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome." Acts 23:11 NKJV.

Pray:- O Lord my God, so speak to me, even if from my perspective I do not think it is the most cheerful of news. Amen.

Apr | 08 | Served With Sago

Dream Word – STRENGTH

Deuteronomy 23:1 "He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the Lord. NKJV

Served With Sago

They disembarked the ship at ‘Risk Point’ on the River Fly and were invited by the fierce Tribesmen into their longhouse for a meal. Little did they know that they were in fact the main ingredient of that meal. In just a few moments the stone clubs smashed into the back of their heads and then just as quickly, a bone dagger was thrust downwards into their gullets and their heads immediately sawn off their bodies with a bamboo knife. The headless corpses were then given to the women of the tribe, the flesh of which was removed and then cooked and mixed with sago, which in turn, was consumed with gladness that very day. It was via this most terrible route, that the younger missionary, Oliver Tomkins and the sixty year old walking legend of Rev. James Chalmers (Tamate, the Great Heart of Papua New Guinea,) entered into heaven.

Chalmers was known as 'Tamate,' simply because the Tribes people he took the Gospel to, could not pronounce his real name. Tamate stuck! Indeed, he stuck with his task and duty for over twenty years without taking a furlough, lost two wives to exhaustion and sickness, was shipwrecked at least four times and was in constant danger every other day and twice on Sundays! He was a sold out, eccentric man of God, a man’s man of genuine loveable character, making friends and followers ranging from Robert Louis Stevenson to even ‘Bully’ Hayes, that most infamous 6 foot 4 inched tall, 4 foot round, barrel chested pirate from Ohio! There is no time tonight to tell you of his deeds amongst the fierce, live nose-biting, eating, battling cannibals, which he came to take the Gospel to. Men like him would find no place in the churches of today. Indeed I wonder if their spirit if now placed among us, would most naturally turn to arson and burn our buildings down around our girly heads? Ladies please, no offence intended.

Whenever I read of brethren of this stature, for what mighty warriors were both they and their dear Deborahs’, I am struck by two things.

Firstly of course is their daring, their dedication to duty and their utter death to themselves. The stories of these heroes of the faith need to be reintroduced to our young people of today, who God help us, are more familiar with the current Californian, white teeth, teenaged idol, than any of these real giants. We are breeding pussy cats dear friends, pussy cats instead of lions, and when these cosseted little kittens finally do get older, all they will do is pea on their parents, eat processed salmon from a can and become incontinent on our carpet. At least they can sing a good song and play a mean guitar, I mean that’s got to count for something? The Christian education of our children needs some meat injecting into it that’s for sure!

Secondly, the brutal method of their departure is so contrary to the very false promises which is so much spouted lately from our pulpits by Pastoral pussy cats wearing velvet collars with dangling silver bells. It seems to me, God help us, that these pussy cat silver balls are the only dangly bits that will ever be let near the testosterone free areas of our pulpits. Don’t you know that neutered males can NEVER enter the service of God! Yet there they are and friends, they can do nothing but lie to their congregations because they have already lied to themselves and sold themselves to softness!

Am I mad? Or is it really the Parididdle of the Paraclete I hear, as Drake’s drum beats once more? Or is it just my simple, wishful thinking, my desperate personal longing, to hear the roar of lions in our land once more?

Listen: - "How can I account for this generation? The people have been like spoiled children whining to their parents, 'We wanted to skip rope, and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk, but you were always too busy.' John came fasting and they called him crazy. I came feasting and they called me a lush, a friend of the riff-raff. Opinion polls don't count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating." Matthew 11:16-19 (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Pray:- Lord, raise up, train up, men of steel to ease our shame. In Jesus name we pray, amen.


                                                                                                            

Feb | 08 | Dealing With The Different Lava Flows of Both Levite and Leviathan

Dream Word – STRENGTH

Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. NKJV

Dealing With The Different Lava Flows of Both Levite and Leviathan

My friend was driving down the street in a city in South Florida when a man walking along the pavement spotted him. The well bling’d up gangsta, drew back his lips to their full extent, revealing an emblazoned gold grill’d, growling mouth. The message from this gangbanger was clear, “These are my streets, I am in control, don’t mess with me.”

Now my friend happened to be a rather large and more than well-armed deputy from the Broward County Sheriff’s Department, so in response to this silent, but exceptionally aggressive display toward him, he turned around his car, met the gangbanger for genteel conversation, politely informing him of his bad judgement regarding the ownership of the streets and carefully instructed him in both who owned the streets and who was in control. Though none of us would have liked to have been involved in that conversation, I can inform you that the results of it was that he was never, I mean never, flashed a growling grill again. The soft answer of our text if applied in this particular situation, would have got the Deputy killed at some date not long after.

Our verse for tonight speaks of a passionate display of anger. It is better understood maybe, as red hot displeasure, a most dangerous and violently bubbling pot of molten destruction born from justified rage. God Himself manifests this kind of fearful wrath, wild and intemperate, itching for vengeance. Yes He does, and it is most clearly seen when Israel, led by Aaron the High Priest, made a molten calf and worshipped and unashamedly cavorted both around it and with it. God wanted to wipe them from the face of the earth over this incident and He wanted to kill Aaron in particular! (see Deuteronomy Chapter 9). I tell you tonight, if it was not for the calf-like eye pleading gentleness of Moses, on more than one occasion for forty days and forty nights, Israel would have been consumed in God’s molten wrath on more than one occasion.

When we have been in the wrong, when we have stirred up righteous anger in others, when we have set the scene to justify wrath against us, then there is nothing better than a humble and pleading apology, an open acknowledgement of our wrong doing, seen in calf-like tenderness, with both reflective and confessional tones. Undoubtedly this kind of answer in that kind of situation, will go a long way to halt the flow of all-consuming anger. Maybe even recalling it, reversing the destruction, refreshing the relationship, restoring the peace that once was there and returning everything to normal. Yes, we need strength, wisdom, honesty and humility to rightly offer soft responses to such righteous wrath.

When we have been acting righteously however and unrighteous aggression has been directed toward us, if we are suffering directly for righteousness sake, then may God give us the grace to turn the other cheek, to walk the extra mile, to forgive our enemies. If someone however falls in the descriptive parameters of being an obnoxious jerk or a murdering madman, then maybe a visit from my friend, the very big and well-armed Deputy, would mightily help the situation. Sometimes we need to be more like a Leviathan than a Levite in our conversation, our walk and our presence. Think about that and may God grant us wisdom in the outworking of both.

Listen: - "Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, or snare his tongue with a line which you lower? Can you put a reed through his nose, or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he make many supplications to you? Will he speak softly to you? Job 41:1-3 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, make me wise tomorrow in both gentleness and strength, in Jesus name I pray, amen.