Taking Christ out of Christmas

Something struck me today, and got me thinking - a dangerous prospect I know, but still, the ramblings of the inner workings of my mind sometimes come up with something interesting, and this was one of those things.

At this time of the year you always see the shops with decorations and such like, and I remember seeing over the years a bunch of places that would make a point of putting Merry Xmas in the windows, I would guess the idea is not to offend people at this time of year.

After all there are many people that do not celebrate Christmas. Some out of religious belief, some from an issue with it being about Jesus being born in December when they believe he was not. Others have their own reasons and my point is not really about that.

However in this country, we have gone politically correct mad, and as a result people have tried to take Christ out of Christmas with their Xmas banners.

I started thinking about this today - first we know that one of the major reasons that we celebrate Jesus birth at this time of the year is down to Roman Catholics way back when Rome had power over a vast majority of the world, their Emperor Constantine who had once been a pagan was converted to Christianity, however did not wish to alienate the people by removing a long standing tradition and so simply replaced it with a Holy day for the people as the time to celebrate Christmas and the birth of our saviour.

Now the bible doesn't actually state when Jesus was born, and the experts tend to lean towards some point at the end of September - due to the facts stated in the bible, Mary would likely not have travelled in the harsh cold that this time of year brings in the region. But it was very common and acceptable for people to travel at the end of September during a season called feast of the tabernacles.

But whenever Jesus was actually born, or why we have this date in December as a celebration doesn't really change the point of the celebration. You see without Christ there can not be a Christmas.

Let me explain.

Christmas itself comes from the joining of two words Christ (obviously) and mass which originally one form of the word meant sent. So although we often celebrate it as the birth of Christ the celebration itself is actually of the fact that Christ was sent.  Mass is also what liturgical Churches call the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and what we refer to as communion. So you take the celebration of the Lord's supper, and the celebration of the sending of the Christ, and it doesn't matter what the date it -

1 corinthians 11:23-26  Paul tells us of the words of Jesus himself, that every time we eat and drink of the bread and cup we proclaim Christ - you don't need a set date for that - a lot of churches do it every week, some every month.


However there is something else that made me think about all this. The political correctness try to stop offending other faiths by taking Christ out of the Christmas celebration, they call this time of year the holiday season, or chance the very name of Christmas itself to simple Xmas.

That is the part that I get a kick out of - they try, but they can not take Christ out of this time of year. And here is why - before the Cross became a symbol of Christianity, a widely recognised symbol for Christians was the Chi Rho.

The symbol is that of an X and a P merged. So why the X???

The X is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ - Χριστός

So when you see X mas in place of Christmas - its not actually any different - its still proclaiming Christ Sent!!!!!

How great is that!!!!!!

Self Sufficient or Christ Sufficiency?

I recently gave this word in our Church service, its something that God has been speaking to me about recently, something that I am learning to walk out.

This is something that right now I feel is a vital message to the church at large.

You see, no matter what you are facing, good bad or otherwise, you have before you a set of circumstances. And while seeking God about a situation in my life He led me to Philippians 4, where Paul is talking about this very thing.

I want to set a little background for you, in case you are unfamiliar with the history of books of the bible. Phillipians is a letter Paul wrote to the first church that he had planted in Europe. Philippi was a Roman colony in Macedonia. At the time that Paul is writing this letter to them, they were a strong and healthy congragation. Doing well and Paul is writing to them as an encouragement - A letter to say - keep going, your doing well, stay strong and vigilent, follow Christ and the examples of the Godly men set in your midst, such as Timothy.

As you read towards the end of the letter, specifically Philippians 4:10-20 - you find that Paul is explaining his contentment.

Philippians 4:10-11 

Paul makes mention of two aspects that bring about this contentment.

The first is about generosity - something that is a whole message in itself and one that I may look at in a later blog. But the sencond aspect Paul refers to is about attitude, more importantly attitude towards circumstances.

As I have already stated, no matter what you are facing in your life right now, it is a set of circumstances. Sometimes they are good circumstances and we hope that they last a long time, othertimes they are not good, and we hope they change quickly. SOmetimes we pray for those to change.

I once heard someone teach that, when you pray for your circumstances to change and they do, what are you left with? - Another set of circumstances.

So in all our lives we have two choices.

1) You can complain about things
2) You can choose to discipline yourself to be content in all things, reckoning that we have enough, no matter what.

Now thing is not something that comes overnight, not something that just happens - its something that we have to work on in our lives.

Philippians4:12

Its a practise that we need to go through, Paul tells us. As he himself went through degrees of progressive detachment from the things of this world, its comforts and discomforts alike.

Detachment being the release from desire and consequently from suffering.

Paul tells us that he has 'finally' come to maturity in this. He says 'I have learned the secret'

By Pauls example, we know that contentment doesnt come easily - its purchased at the price of discipline.

There are two main keys that Paul gives within this chapter that unlock the secret that Paul talks about

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me - Philippians 4:13

This is a well known verse, often quoted for any number of things, but consider it this way - Paul is telling us that he has come to understand that no circumstance could ever arise that was bigger than His God.

This is a truth that we need to grasp hold of in the church today - one I feel we cant afford to miss out on.

One commentary I was reading put it this way

'the real source of our contentment will never run dry, no matter the circumstance'

The second key then is: - 

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:19 

As well as never being overwhelmed by our circumstances, as He is bigger than anything that we could ever face - God gives us a promise in this verse, He will meet/provide for our every need in full.

Now understand that I am not saying that God will provide everything that you ever want, thats not the promise here at all.

The Rolling Stones songs tells it well - 'You cant always get what you want, but i you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need'

But the promise here goes further than just providing, its tells us its a provision according to His riches in glory.

God is not limited by your circumstance or by the size of your needs, but ONLY by His rihes in glory - thats unlimited - The promise is in proportion to His infinate resources. and the good news is taht this is not a promise of what God intends to do for His children when they reach heaven, but of what He will do for them here on earth.

Contentment - Aristotle says is 'possessing all things and needing nothing'

but for the Christian we need to see it so differently.

The vital backbone for these two keys Paul gives us, the FUNDERMENTAL, FOUNDATIONAL key to the whole thing

IN HIM/IN CHRIST JESUS

It means literally joined with Christ.
The Isrealites at Passover, when they had spread the sacrificed lambs blood around the door frame would have been known to be 'in the lamb' this is what it is talking about

David in the psalms talks about this very thing over nd over again - you find it all through the psalms examples are psalms 17, 61, 91 - Hiding in the shadow of His wings, my strong tower, my place of refuge.

Its means you have to turn and run to Jesus, seek Him, surround yourself with Him, His word, His presence in everything, every aspect of your daily life.

The backbone of it all is relationship with Jesus.

For the person who possesses Christ posseses all.
however a relation can only be enjoyed by consiously attending it, you have to choose to give it your time and your effort and give your eneergy to it.

You see other religions believe Christ existed, JW's do, muslims believe Jesus to be a prophet second only to mohammed, buddists see him as a friend of Budda. Even history books can provide more documentation to prove the existance of Jesus, than they can produce to prove the existance of the ceasers of Rome.

But it only the Christian that gets to experience a truth far greater than existance - Jesus is alive - he wants us to have, and we can have relationship with Him.

Personal, intimate relationship.

I finished my message in church this past sunday with a bit of a chalenge to the congregation, one that I would like to repeat here  -

Take a look at your life, whatever you are facing, whatever circumstances that you are going through - Do you consiously attend your relationship with Christ?

The amplified bible for Philippians 4:13 has Paul telling us 'I am self sufficient in Christ sufficiency'

Your see our goal in this walk with God is not self sufficiency, but rather an utter dependance on God.

Rainbows in Strangest places

Its been quite some time since I last wrote a blog, and although I have been busy putting together a few things that I will share in due time, I have not really had a lot to put up here.

However today I would like to share something. A little while ago I read an article on the Daily Mail website about a guy who while travelling on the motorway took a photo of the end of the rainbow. The photo from the article is the on the left here and the article can be found here

I had thought at the time that it was crazy how lucky someone could have been to have seen this. I remember as a child that I was told that you could never see the end of a rainbow, mostly because of the way that a rainbow is formed. That however is obviously not true.

Now for the Christian, the rainbow holds a different meaning - its a reminder of the promise of God to Noah after the flood as can be found in Genesis.

And then today I was driving (I finally passed my test and bought a car) back from Cardiff after doing some shopping, the sun was shining a fantastic Autumn sunny day, as I approached Bridgend it began to rain hard, but the sun still shone brightly. 

I looked in my rear view mirror in order to change lanes, like you should and low and behold, I too saw the same event that's described in the daily mail article. A rainbow appeared from the sky and hit the motorway behind the car.


I am sharing this because over the past few months I have been faced with a situation that's been pretty stressful, and although I will not go into it here, I have been trusting in God to get me through it.


This week there was breakthrough in this situation and things have turned out well, all sorted and its nothing that I could have done to sort out, I have left the situation in the hands of Christ and trusted that He will get me through and that is just what He has done.


I felt like that rainbow today was a little message to me, remember my promise. The bible tells us God has plans for us, to prosper us and to give us hope and a future, a promise you can find in Jeremiah 29:11

I guess the purpose of this quick blog is as an encouragement, for those going through things or are awaiting God on something in Prayer - remember His promises.

Update

Well after the last blog the world didnt end, and we can be sure that in this fact the Bible and once again not man is the authority on ALL things.

Praise the LORD for that at least.

SO today my youngest turned 1 year old, and I got to thinking (I know - surprise it was not a movie related thing for a change) about how fast time goes by.

I recently talked touched upon evangelism is a rather broad and sweeping way, and I guess thats on the forefront of my mind again as I type this blog tonight.

This past weekend I was leading worship at an outreach event in Cearau for a good friend of mine, and as per usual when asked to lead worship I have been battling with a flu type virus. The event over all was good, if not massively attended, but these things are about planting seeds and making first steps.

Evangelism then, I am saying its a marathon and not a sprint? well I guess in some ways yeah it is. Albeit a marathon with a limited time frame.

As I said in my last blog matthew 24-36 tells us that no one knows when the return will be, and so we need to make the most of the time we have.

In my old church back in london there was a poster on the wall of a Calin and Hobbes and a quote from its creator that used to make me laugh but has stuck with me through the years

'God put me on earth to do certain things, right now I am so far behind I will never die' Bill Watterson




Another oft seen quote is

Now I am not the overly religious tye, and find these things funny, but there are elements of truth to all sarcasm, and this is a truth that we as Christians need to grasp.

2 Peter 3:9   The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance .

The scary fact is that God has chosen in His infinite and unparalleled wisdon to use YOU and ME as the tools for this very thing. Its doesnt matter which side of the predestination coin your view lies, the bible gives Jesus' command to each of us.

The Great Commission as we find in Matthew 28 gives clear instruction -
Go then and make disciples of all nations

what does this really mean - well whats a disciple?

simply a follower of a teaching

But how can someone be a follower of a teaching that they neer hear, and they never hear because you are too afraid to tell them???

Thats just not going to cut it.

ANd I am talking to myself as I write this blog, I am no evangelist, I am not winning souls to the kingdom everyday, in fact to my knowledge I have not singlehandedly lead even one to the Lord through my words.

But we need something in this country. Our ground is hard and the roots of our past spiritul revivals have dried up. Our wells have been blocked, and we need to have something happen to change that.

Its starts with the power of the word. We need to stop looking back on the past and telling ourselves it will never be like that again. This nation was labelled Godless recently, that it was hard to win souls to God as people here think they have it all sussed, we need to change that mind in the church, and then get the church into the world.

You can not make a disciple by sitting inside your four walls each sunday morning and tuesday night, you got to be getting out there telling people about the great and wonderful gift that you have recieved through Christ on the cross.

People are going to hell, and I believe I have said this before, but you sit around doing nothing, living in your shell is just buying the people around you a one way ticket to damnation.

You, me, and the next brother in Christ have to pull our finger out, get out to the world and tell the world what Jesus did.

Jesus is coming, you dont need to look busy, you need to get busy, get busy praying as if it all depends on God, and live like it all depends on you!!!!

what follows is the words of a peom that were written o the wall of a 24/7 prayer room, they are the words of a man named Peter Grieg

'The words of 'The Vision' were written late one night on the wall of the first ever 24-7 Prayer Room. It wasn't a big deal, says Pete Greig, ... just a very personal thing - trying to work out the call on my life and why I was awake at 0300 praying when sane people are all tucked up in bed! But somehow the words of The Vision escaped that Prayer Room! They must have been copied off the wall by someone and sent as an email to a friend. Pete recalls: I didn't realise any of this until someone in Canada emailed my own poem to me saying they had come across it and thought I might like it!

The Vision

So this guy comes up to me and says "what's the vision? What's the big idea?" I open my mouth and words come out like this… The vision?
The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.
The vision is an army of young people.

You see bones? I see an army. And they are FREE from materialism.
They laugh at 9-5 little prisons. They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday. They wouldn't even notice. They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won. They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport..

People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence. They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying. What is the vision ? The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars. It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation. It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games. This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause. A million times a day its soldiers
choose to lose that they might one day win the great 'Well done' of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night. They don't need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"

And this is the sound of the underground The whisper of history in the making Foundations shaking Revolutionaries dreaming once again Mystery is scheming in whispers Conspiracy is breathing… This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed.

Young people who beat their bodies into submission.
Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms. The tattoo on their back boasts "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain".

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes. Winners. Martyrs. Who can stop them ? Can hormones hold them back? Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them ?

And the generation prays

like a dying man with groans beyond talking, with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and with great barrow loads of laughter! Waiting.

Watching: 24 – 7 – 365.

Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules. Shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide. Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mould them. Hollywood cannot hold them. Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.
They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive
inside.

On the outside? They hardly care. They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide. Would they surrender their image or their popularity? They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row - guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,

they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.) Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus. Their words make demons scream in shopping centres. Don't you hear them coming? Herald the weirdo's! Summon the losers and the freaks. Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes. They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon. How do I know? Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God. My tomorrow is his today. My distant hope is his 3D. And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great 'Amen!' from countless angels, from hero's of the faith, from Christ himself. And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.

Guaranteed.

this poem has been taken from the 24-7 prayer website here and has no ownership by myself.

End of the World

Welcome to judgement day, apparently.

It was said that today the world would end right about now, that a massive earthquake would bring about the end of the world and with it usher in judgement day.

This got me thinking, especially as the predicted time (at least where I live in the world) came and went without incident, in as much as there was no earthquake in the UK.

As Christians, we believe that the rapture is coming, and the end of the world will come with the judgement of God.

But as Christians, should we be trying to predict when?

Matthew 24:36 is a passage of scripture that for me makes it really clear. NO ONE knows the time or the day.

This is the word of God, so shouldn't we be paying attention to that fact.

Now I don't wish to seem judging of those that feel lead to make these predictions, but my view point is, why waste that time when God has already told us that we can not know the time. This is Jesus telling us that while here on earth that only the Father will know when these events will happen.

What does this mean for us here on earth.

We have a ticking timer, that will run out. What are we to do. Surely there is no better time than right now to do what we were commanded to do.

What follows are my notes from a sermon by a good friend of mine, Pastor Josh Hannah from Friendship World Outreach in Tennessee. Taken at a recent service at Bethel Elim Church.

GO

The greatest challenge facing the church, the biggest obstacle - changing your mindset to make a difference.

We don't need to get the world into the church, we need to get the church into the world.

Jesus said Go.

Luke 10 - Go to Homes, that's what Jesus said, and if you find a man of peace you stay, meet the needs.

The challenge is not to pray 'Oh world come' its to pray 'Oh church Go'

Mark 16:15 

If its got breath and its kicking Preach to it

Revival is coming but its not like we have ever seen before. Its NOT going to be people coming in.
Its gonna be the few that are willing to Go - that's whats gonna bring in revival.

Pray that they will be sent to the harvest

Luke 14:23 - Go and compel them to come in

1 John 3:18 

Anybody can go, its not about your Words. Jesus didn't just love in words, Jesus loved people in His deeds too.

Matt 5:16 

What is your light? What do people see?

Its your good works that they see, and when they do they glorify your Father in heaven.

And its not about your money either, You can never ever out give God.
What you do for others, God will do for you.

John 2 -  Canaan wedding, and the first miracle.

Jesus had done nothing by this point, He had not walked on water, healed the sick or any of that stuff.

The servants didn't have to obey Him, they didn't have to do anything Jesus said, yet they chose to serve Him.

Verse 9 says that the master of the house did not know where the wine had come from.

The servants know what nobody else does.

Jesus didn't make them serve, and He will not make you serve either.

But its not about what happens to you if you don't serve that should motivate you, - its the things that God would do in your sight if you serve that should motive you.

You'll see God more if you serve.

When you do a good deed, you release endorphins in your body. Science proves that serving God by serving others put you into the joy of the Lord.

When you serve others, God will do for you.

Ephesians 2:10

Blessed means happy

We need to go out - Go into the world.

Go make a difference.

(I would like to point out once more that these constitute my notes of the preach, they are the things that stood out to me in the sermon, and are not Josh's notes - so as a disclaimer, the content is my interpretation of the message given only)

To finish I would like to share one other thing that Josh shared and that I already had knowledge of from the person involved testimony, but I feel its important to realise.

Another friend of mine committed his life to Christ just about a year ago now, and His journey to God began because one christian said five simple words to my friend. But those 5 words changed His life forever - all because one person was willing to Go, be obedient to the command of Jesus.

Those words

'Put Your Faith In God'

If that was enough to change one persons life, Why not another person.

Time is running out. Go

Current affairs dilemma

I recently saw this article posted up by a friend of mine on facebook. I fond it very interesting and since it was something very similar that I recently chatted with my wife about, I thought I would paste it on my blog in its entirity.



How Should Religious People Respond To Bin Laden's Death?
 
By Kevin Eckstrom



Religion News Service






This story was reported by Daniel Burke, Adelle M. Banks, Nicole Neroulias, Omar Sacirbey and Alessandro Speciale.






WASHINGTON (RNS) Jesus said "love your enemies." If only he had said how we should react when they die at our own hands.


After President Obama announced that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been shot dead in Pakistan, ebullient crowds gathered outside the White House and at Ground Zero to cheer the demise of the world's most wanted terrorist, smoking cigars and breaking into chest-thumping chants of "USA! USA!"


Watching from her home in suburban Virginia, Christian ethicist Diana Butler Bass felt a growing sense of unease.


"What if we responded in reverent prayer and quiet introspection instead of patriotic frenzy?" she posted on Facebook. "That would be truly American exceptionalism."


At the Vatican, too, where church leaders had just wrapped up joyous celebrations elevating the late Pope John Paul II to one step below sainthood, officials urged caution.


"A Christian never rejoices" in the death of any man, no matter how evil, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said, but instead "reflects on the serious responsibility of each and every one of us has before God and before man."


For many Americans, bin Laden's death was quite literally an answer to prayer. Muslims who saw bin Laden as an apostate breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Ethicists and pastors searched for the appropriate space between vindication and vengeance.


U.S. special forces did what they had to do. How everyone else is supposed to feel about it is a little less clear.


"As Christians, we believe that there can be no celebrating, no dancing in the streets, no joy, in relation to the death of Osama bin Laden," Christian ethicist David Gushee said. "In obedience to Scripture, there can be no rejoicing when our enemies fall."


Indeed, the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel warned that our enemies are not necessarily God's, who takes "no pleasure in the death of wicked people," preferring only that they "turn from their wicked ways so they can live."


The questions around bin Laden's demise tended to break into two different camps: Were we right to kill him? And is his death something to cheer?


For many, what set bin Laden apart was his defiance, unrepentant violence and coldly calculating designs to rain destruction upon Americans, innocent civilians and even fellow Muslims.


"While vengeance is not a responsibility of us mortals, the pursuit of justice is," said a statement from Agudath Israel, an Orthodox umbrella group. "As believing Jews, we see in bin Laden's demise the clear hand of God."


In a larger sense, removing the singular threat of bin Laden can also lessen the violent threat of radical extremism and terrorism. Put another way, taking one life can save countless others.


"It is a sad truth that one man's death can represent a step forward in the progress of human relations," said Zainab Al-Suwaij, president of the Washington-based American Islamic Congress.


For many people, bin Laden's guilt or innocence never needed to be adjudicated in a court of law, and an American bullet to his head was judgment enough. Scholars cautioned, however, that there's a difference between judging a man's actions and judging his soul.


The Rev. John Langan, a Jesuit professor of Christian ethics at Georgetown University, said killing bin Laden to prevent future attacks is morally valid, but cautioned that vengeance is ultimately a divine, not human, right.


"I knew people who died in 9/11," Langan said. "I feel deeply the evil of that action. But I am part of a religious tradition that says that we don't make final, independent judgments about the souls of other men. That rests with God."


Which all leads back to Americans' response to the death of a madman.


"You have to have compassion, even for your enemies," said A. Rashied Omar, a research scholar at the University of Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.


"The Quran teaches that you never should allow enmity to swerve you away from compassion, because without compassion, the pursuit of justice risks becoming a cycle of revenge."


Others said there is a difference between rejoicing in bin Laden's death and finding a certain degree of satisfaction -- a "subtle but important difference," said the Rev. Jay Emerson Johnson, an Episcopal priest who teaches at the Pacific School of Religion.


"I'm not sorry Bin Laden is dead," Johnson posted on Twitter. "That's not the same thing as celebrating his death."


And that, perhaps, is where Americans will live in the coming days and weeks, caught in the gray space between satisfaction and celebration, glad that bin Laden is finally gone but not wanting to dance on anyone's grave.


"Without apology, we all sleep better in our beds knowing that Osama bin Laden is no longer a threat," said R. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. "But celebration in the streets is something that falls short of the sobriety


that I think Christians should have on our hearts in reflecting on this event."
 
What would happen if you were to get to heaven and find that OBL had in fact repented of his life at the moment the bullet hit. Or found you place in heaven next to the likes of Pol Pot or Adolf Hitler???
 
Think about that in view of the teachings of Jesus.
 
Then you will get an idea of the workings of my mind this month

(I do not own the content of this report - it is simply copied from a public website - original article here)

recharging the batteries

I get UCB's Word for Today through to my email everyday, mainly because I know taht I wouldn't get round to reading it if I didn't.

This week there was a quote in the article by James MacDonald

'I've lived long enough to know men and women whose lives were sold out to God a few years ago, but who've since walked off the track... gone AWOL... lost their longing for God. Fear of following in their footsteps haunts me... and it should you, too...'

I think most Christians can think of people just like this, those that were once on fire, running after God's heart, seeking Him with their entire being. But decisions made, mistakes etc had their walks taking them away from God, taking them from the narrow path walked by Christ, and onto the highway that is the world.

The quote continues 'The faithfulness of my walk with God depends on my willingness to stay in a relationship with Him. I never want to lose the grip His greatness has on my life and the privilege it is to... serve Him till the day I'm welcomed into His presence. That passion compels me. It keeps me honest and humble... the last thing I want to do is crawl across the finish line a defeated, derailed Christian, or worse - give up the race before my life's over. I want to break that tape with arms high, my face to the sun.'

I got to thinking about this. About how our lives are paced at 100 mph most of the time, and how that fact often leads us to the place where we become dry and stale. But since our lives are not likely to get less busy, how then can we guard our lives.

1 corinthians 15:45-49 shows us that we are two things at the same time. We are natural and we are spiritual. Just as Adam was made from the earth, we too are (ashes to ashes, dust to dust - and all that)


At the same time, when Adam was created, God breathed life into Him, God breathed His spirit into Adam, and likewise when we are saved, God breaths His spirit into us.


During a recent service, my Pastor spoke much of what I am sharing with you, and He said that from that point of view, before our lives are submitted to Christ's salvation, we were spiritually dead, that without God, there is no spiritual. I agree with that statement 100%, anything claiming to be spiritual and is not of God is a deception.


Picture yourself as a rechargable battery, you meet with God, you are filled with the spirit, and you head out into your daily life, as time goes on, you are drained by the world. The everydays of life. 


For most of us, we head off to church once, maybe twice on a sunday, and for a lot of Christians, that is the extent of their walks, I myself am guilty of this sometimes. I can talk the talk, I can walk the walk, and over the years I have learned to 'play the game' I can look like the got it all together christian in church on a sunday with my 'all the time' responce when someone says 'God is good' But the reality for a lot of people is that once he service has come to a close, the rest of the week is just a tipping of the hat to God.


I think I have shared this quote previously, but Brennan Manning is credited with saying 'The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who ackonwledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny Him with their lifestyle...'

Its mostly known as part of DC Talk's song 'What if I stumble' from the Jesus Freaks album.


But the scary thing is that its totally true. 


ANd for me this fact is what aids the fall of people ho were once on fire for the LORD.


As we go out into our daily lives, our 'energy' is drained, its pulled away, and since we only top up from the source once a week, we lose the ability to follow the narrow path, to fend off the temptation of the world.


How do we avoid this, the theory is simple, the practise is the harder part, the way to shore up our defenses to temptation, to make sure that we dont lose all our 'energy' is to regularly tap into the source, regularly connect with the main power (Father God)


Regular bible study, prayer, fellowship etc, brings about the filling of the Holy Spirit. 


A friend of mine, told us about a resturant he went to where the light were dimmed, and He said when they first arrived at the place, He could not even read the menu it was so dark in their, but by the time it got round to ordering sweets, there was no problem, His eyes had ajusted to the dim light.


This is what happens in our lives when we dont connect to the source regularly, your eyes become used to the darkness, and your begin to not even notice it any more.


That leads to us walking off the path and our lives, that once burned with desire for God and more of Him. Have suddenly become the same as all those people you were thinking of when I first started this blog.


How important then is it for us to guard our hearts to the darkness. How important is it that we steer clear of the dimness that sneeks in without being noticed. How much more important is it for Us to connect with God, not just on a Sunday in church, but in the week.


Don't be like those Brenan Manning talked of, don't allow your batteries to run dry. Connect to the source, relationship with God the Father is 24/7/365. Its the only way to live, the only way to protect yourself from an enemy that the bible describes as being like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour 1 peter 5:8 and The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy john 10:10

Trials

Recently my wife bought a bunch of John Grisham movie adaptations. And as usual these films have had me thinking about things, and how the natural often speaks of the spiritual.

I am not sure how familiar people are with John Grisham, but he writes legal thillers, I have read several of his books over the years and for te most part they feature around the legal system and lawyers and the like.

We watched the Pelican brief one night and as I write this blog the Firm is playing on the television in the background.

I got to thinking about how these films are all about legal proceedings or practise, the acts of lawyers and legal students and so on. And watching these two films started me thinking about another of the John Grisham adaptations we own on DVD - A Time to Kill, and how that film is based mostly within a court room.

The comparision to the spiritual really started at this point. Thinking about that court room, and its set up and how it is a very natural picture of our state as humans,

Since Adam disobeyed God and broke the command of God in the garden, we have been breaking God's law throughout history. We inherited our sinful nature, and we willing continue to participate in that sin. We enjoy it.

I once heard a speaker at a conference refer to sin as being like a Double Chocolate geteau, and that we start with the intention of just having a small slice, we eat that and enjoy it so much taht we have to go back for another 'small' slice and before we know it the entire thing is gone.

We are guilty, completely, totally and fully. Just like Carl Lee Hayley in A Time to Kill, we did exactly the thing we stand accused of.


The bible tells us that God is the judge, and that the day of judgement is coming. romans 14:10-12 is very clear that we shall all stand before the judgement seat of God and give an account of ourselves.

This is a scary place to be, knowing that we are completely guity
and will answer for our lives before a judge. This situation becomes even more frightening when it is noted that the standard that we shall be held to is not the standard that we look at.


God is Holy, he holds such a high standard that lust is comsidered adultary, and hatred considered murder. The simple fact is that you and I can never measure up to those standards, being a good person is just not going to cut it att he white throne described in Revelation.


However, as we looked at in my last blog, there is good news to be had. Jesus' actions at the cross has done the one thing we could never manage alone. He stepped into the dock for us. Took the judgement and washed us clean.


Its a case of Jesus, being God, steps down from the seat of Judge, just as sentance is cast, and takes us out of the dock and steps into it in our place, he is lead away, beaten, nailed to a cross and killed, all in our place.


The result of this, for those that believe, our names are written into God's book, the book of life.revelation 20:11-15


This is the security of salvation. That Jesus actions has placed our names on God's list and at the throne of jusgement, we answer for our lives, we are viewed through the blood covering of Christ, so that God the judge sees only His perfect spotless Son, and frees us from the wrath of the soveriegn LORD.