Wednesday 29 February 2012

I asked the Lord…

 

   I found this hymn 3rd hand, via challies.com, this week.

   It is a lesser-known song from John Newton. I think it definitely echoes amongst many, if not all, Christians to various degrees of accord:

 

I asked the Lord, that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know;
And seek more earnestly His face.


Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust has answered prayer;
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair!


I hoped that in some favoured hour,
At once He'd answer my request;
And by His love's constraining power,
Subdue my sins- and give me rest!


Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part!


Yes more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe!
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds- and laid me low!


"Lord, why is this!" I trembling cried,
"Will you pursue your worm to death?"
"This is the way," the Lord replied,
"I answer prayer for grace and faith."


"These inward trials I employ,
From self and pride to set you free;
And break your schemes of earthly joy,
That you may seek your all in Me!"

John Newton, Olney Hymns

Friday 24 February 2012

Oh, the depth of God!

 

“OH, THE DEPTH OF THE RICHES AND WISDOM

AND KNOWLEDGE OF GOD!

 

HOW UNSEARCHABLE ARE HIS JUDGMENTS

AND INSCRUTABLE HIS WAYS!”

 

Romans Chapter 11 verse 33

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Coalition for Marriage (C4M)

 

     Have a look at the C4M website, if you haven’t already been invited to, and sign the online petition. It is unashamedly simple, thoroughly biblical and of vital importance. It will require no more than 2 minutes of your busy schedule to read through and sign up!

    The petition was launched Monday and within 24 hours over 15,000 people had signed up. As of 6pm yesterday, the number was over 18,000. Now, at 12 noon, the number has surpassed 24,000.  Over to you….

 

coalition-for-marriage

          http://c4m.org.uk/

 

   P.S.  I hope you haven’t forgotten my plug for Summer Evangelism earlier this year:

http://minibakey.blogspot.com/2012/01/get-up-shake-yourself-act.html

   There is still plenty of time to apply for a position on a UBM team or on any one of the many other opportunities available. If you still need convincing, here is a Beach Mission promotional video…

 

Monday 13 February 2012

The most Illiterate Yokels

  

   Brilliant quote here from ‘Hitting the Holy Road’ about the early Christian Church and her Roman fellows,

“Some non-Christian writers devoted a great deal of energy to attacking Christians and the Christian Faith. The most famous was Celsus. He condemned Christianity as appealing only to the ignorant and weak.Writing sometime in the second century, he attacked Christianity as a Faith for “wool-workers, cobblers, laundry-workers, and the most illiterate and bucolic yokels, who would not dare to say anything at all in front of their elders and more intelligent masters.”

     Not much has changed then!

Wednesday 8 February 2012

A King, a Revolutionary, a Murder and a Mystery revealed…

 

“Acting is all about truth….” (so far, so good)….
“…if you can fake that, then you will have a jolly good career.” (eh oh)

   ….thus speaks Sir Laurence Olivier.

      The very idea that truth is not a set figure, a constant thing, indisputable and unchangeable is, in fact, contrary both to scripture and to nature.

      The Bible clearly says that men (or women), because of the wicked intentions of their hearts and minds, 4actually supress the truth.

    “….they did not honour… God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools…”

    People- you and me- actually ignore the obvious truth which we see when we look at bumble bees and flowers and mountains and rivers, and which we also know in our heart of hearts: God is the Creator King over all. We bottle up this truth and put it into the deepest darkest cellar of our minds. Instead we ‘live as if there was no tomorrow’, we live for the ‘here and now’. We pretend and act as if there isn’t a God.

“Be careful what you wish for… you might just get it.”

     Seeing that we have- voluntarily and with full use of our thinking faculties- chosen to ignore the truth, then God lets us have what we wished for: soon we fully believe the lie and jump in deeper than we originally dreamed. We become thoughtless liars, consumed with self indulgence and petty disputes; gradually we become less like the “Gods” we dreamed ourselves to be, and more like the demons we profess not to believe in.

  

      But God will not allow us to continue in our rebellion forever…

Wig2

 

“They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?””

   “God is a righteous judge,
          and a God who feels indignation every day.”

    “If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
        he has bent and readied his bow;
    he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
        making his arrows fiery shafts.”

 

    God will not allow wrongs to go unpunished. It is in his very nature that he is a good God. He is perfect. He is Holy. He hates wickedness. He hates rebellion. He cannot allow murderers, liars, thieves, gossipers, dissenters and swearers to go without the punishment they deserve for their crimes.

 

What is the verdict? “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

What is the punishment?  “For the wages of sin is death”

   We are all guilty, condemned by the Holy Judge. Jesus said that whoever hates someone has murdered them, whoever lusts after someone has committed adultery.  God doesn’t just examine the DNA, the evidence and the witnesses: he also examines the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. He knows that we have ignored and supressed the truth and have followed a lie.

     The truth? God is King over all His Creation, including us.

     The lie? We are Kings! We are the Lords of our own destinies. We can live without Judge and without Law.

   Where does that leave us? Condemned. Awaiting a penalty of death. Eternal, and everlasting death.

 

      Or that is where it would leave us if it wasn’t for God’s great mercy and grace. He loves us. He actually loves us rebels. So much, in fact, that he staged the greatest rescue mission of all time! You have all heard the words of John 3 and verse 16,

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
   

   Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and yet God himself, was born and IMG008lived a perfect Holy life here on earth.

   What happened to Jesus?

   He was unjustly tried by an illegal court, he was ignored by the cowardly authorities and he was murdered. He was beaten, humiliated and hung on a tree, where he suffered the wrath and punishment which we deserve. His Father abandoned him upon that cross. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have been bound together in love for all eternity, and yet, in those moments on the cross, Jesus was abandoned.

   Why? Because God so loved us, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

   But Jesus was not left in the grave where he was placed. No. Death could not possibly attempt to contain the very Author of Life! The Bible says that the ‘sting of death’ is sin. And Jesus had conquered the effects of sin when he was punished on the cross! Therefore death had lost its power.

   Jesus rose triumphant from the grave! He lives! He lives!

  Now we are each left with a vital decision. It is a decision which will mould our entire eternities. Do we abandon the rebellion against God and name Him as King and Lord, confessing our own wickedness and trusting in Jesus’ work for our salvation and hope. Or do we continue with our doomed revolution, desperately trying to cling on to our lies, while simultaneously supressing the truth the Jesus is King.

crown

 

 

For to us a child is born,
        to us a son is given;
    and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
        and his name shall be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
        Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
    Of the increase of his government and of peace
        there will be no end,
    on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
        to establish it and to uphold it
    with justice and with righteousness
        from this time forth and forevermore.
    The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

          (Isaiah 9:6-7 ESV)