Psalm 91:

²I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

³Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

⁴He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Heard on High

The mid-week evening service had just concluded at Victory Tabernacle and Assistant Pastor Michael was spending a few moments with Board member Jake Klassen at the back of the sanctuary. The service had been pleasant with a sense of some liberty in the people to give testimony or a word of scripture in the "sharing time".But the topic of their discussion was the Sunday morning service just past. It had been the launch of a new format which had been under consideration for months. New "renewal" praise. A larger, more contemporary band. A new audio-visual system to facilitate sermon messages and to hook into satellite meetings from ministries of interest.They were discussing what they had observed in the praise session. New songs which were an adjustment for the people. No matter. The band had jacked up the volume. The praise team carried the lyrics with gusto. The people would catch on to the use of the overhead screen. Hadn't used the old Hymn Books once that morning. Neither the old choruses. Had avoided straight out Bible reading for more time in the music. Unquestionably the experiment had proved exciting. They were really moving into a new era. Perhaps now more people might come. Praise God!

Suddenly they noticed a tall stranger standing closer to the back door with coat on and head bowed. It was obvious that he had been listening, but he took no step forward to engage. They smiled courteously and continued their discussion. Five minutes later it was time to wrap up. He was still there, but now his gaze was fixed upon them.

Pastor Mike said, "What's your name friend? May we help you somehow?"

The stranger took a few seconds to respond. He appeared in his late thirties. His look and his dress were anything but contemporary. His salt and pepper brown hair perhaps a little too long.

He responded, "My name is Jordan. I was just wondering whether you folks cancelled the service on Sunday morning past?"

"Far from it, Jordan," blurted Jake, "we had one of our greatest gatherings. Such enthusiasm. Such excitement. Such freshness. Quite a new thing for us all."

The visitor responded, "I am the Angel Jordan. Several of us have been assigned to watch over your flock and to report. This past Sunday we heard nothing from you people and wondered what was wrong."

Then he was gone.

Luke 12:

8Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:

I Will Not Smell, I Will Not Hear...

Amos was a farmer, a shepherd and a tender of sycamore fruit in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. His very name meant "Burden" or "Burden-bearer". He was destined by the will of God to deliver a message of warning and rebuke to the idolatrous Northern Kingdom. There was no prophet or priest in his family line; no formal training. But his words were articulate and his message as sharp as a surgeon's scalpel.

Many of the warnings ring true in our age:

1. You have assimilated the idolatry and false hopes of your neighbours.

2. You see no coming rod of correction.

3. You delight in the excess of ill-gotten gain snatched from the poor and the vulnerable.

4. You see nothing but clear skies ahead.

5. You can hardly tolerate the pause of the sabbath.

6. Your sacrifices are insincere. I will not smell them.

7. Your praise is irreverent. I will not listen.

8. Your idea of the Day of the Lord is simply more pandering of yourselves.

9. If you were to serve me in truth, there would be much more charity and social justice.

10. You are experiencing a famine for the Word of God in progressive measure.

11. I have laid a plumb-line to that which you have built; found it grievously wanting; intend serious judgment.

12. Many a difficulty, many a disaster have I set before you to cause you to return to me.

13. A remnant shall be saved and brought again to blessing and security.

If one looks at the last recorded messages of Jesus in the Letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation one sees much of the same "burden". (See Robert Murray M'Cheyne's excellent book on this. Banner of Truth Trust) Today's churches miss this. They emphasize that Jesus is love; Jesus is inclusive; Jesus' mercy rejoices against judgment. Pastors will not issue the necessary rebukes. Sometimes even when they try, the message falls upon deaf ears. (Ezekiel 33: 30-33) Is it too late?

Be warned! The "famine" is coming; has already come.

The Achiever's Hymn

(Sung to the tune of "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus")Tell me the stories of powerI long to hear.Things I would askMachiavelliIf he were here.Moves in the market,Deeds of duress,Stories of power

I love the best.

First I would learn about leverage

Closing the deal.

Facts from the foe's

Underbelly,

Clinching the steal.

Sure props to image,

Names dropped and used,

Staff disadvantaged,

Pushed hard, abused.

Next I would custom our message,

Stretching the truth.

Everyone pads

Advertising.

Spare me reproof.

"Just in time" buying;

Take months to pay;

Life's for the winning.

We'll lead the way.

Plus, on the side, speculation,

Junk bought and sold

Flipping frail options and futures

To finest gold.

Please heed the proverb

Since days of yore.

Always the wealthy

Still must have more.

Don't ask me how this got started.

Dad worked long days,

Taking whatever they paid him,

Duped by their ways.

My path, not his path.

Faster the climb.

"Fortune Five Hundred"

In record time.

Note: In the final Audit, one will not be allowed to keep two sets of books. One for the secular, the other, the spiritual

As For Me and My House with John Waller

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jjRiNL1HKns

Judas Departs

I can’t believe, I won’t believe,

That this is how it goes.

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords,

A victim of his foes!

The man who won the crowds with food,

With talks of realms of peace,

A fool, who should have used such power

To gain the Jews’ release!

For Rome could not have proved a match

For quickened Hebrew zeal,

The kind that often sparked their eyes,

While he would teach or heal.

But he is fixed upon a path

Of suffering and shame;

And says that such may be the lot

Of those who bear his name.

Pathetic! Just a mendicant!

No current house or trade!

Depending on the charity

Of friends, recently made.

And now he bids us share his feast

In Passover retreat…

Behold, the Master strips himself

To wash and soothe our feet!

A common slave would do the task

In any other case,

But Jesus still perversely seeks

The lowly servant’s place.

It is enough! I can’t go on;

Hence, I have seized a plan

To set the stage for his arrest,

And merchandise the man.

Jesus, you proved a dreamer

That the times can ill afford.

I can’t believe; I won’t believe;

And so I leave, M’Lord.

See the ebook "Betrayal! Beware!"

http://issuu.com/deedub51/docs/betrayal

Lunch-Time Analysts

Sometimes the conversation gets quite animated in our Lunch Room at the factory. Today as in a couple of other occasions the subject was the current sit-down "Occupy protests" in front of the various financial centres of the Western world.Groups of disgruntled dissidents have placed themselves in a rather poorly articulated statement against big business, big markets and insensitive government. Their posters, soap boxes and music seem to say, "Where is the little guy's break on taxes, on a decent job, on a workable chance at good education or good health care and social aid? Why should the so-called democratic process do so little to hear the voice of the masses between elections? These systems are broken! Our elected representatives have forgotten us. The real king-pins are the multi-national corporations, and they are just plain wicked!"

Although one can sympathize with their pain and perplexity, it is likely that continued stale-mate on the lawns will result in riot gear, tear gas, sound cannons, batons and lock-up. To some this whole exercise seems to be a "dry run" before the time comes for responses to major civil disobedience.

In the Lunch Room opinions were split between sympathy and cat-calls about unemployed bums and anarchists who simply wanted to make trouble and get "their fifteen minutes of fame". I seized the moment to suggest how the whole problem of attitude had been forecast in the Bible. I pulled out the Book and my friends respectfully listened:

2 Timothy 3:

1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Idols. Watch Out!

I come behind in no spiritual gift

Not a one.

Signs and wonders occur

As I share the Word.

Stubborn hearts soften

And Jesus gains new siblings.

I am constrained to do these things.

By Love, and not of my origin.

But the gainsayers are suspicious

They allege I have no diplomas on the wall.

(Heavens, I have no wall.)

I do not hold my breath for their approval.

Their measure is evil.

Competitive and fleshly.

I battle against it

Like some plague.

Until the Spirit within laughs

And liberates.

He nudges, saying

“How can you boast in a gift?

Wasn't earned or learned, Son.

Be thankful. Period.

And occupy.

You wrote, yourself, that the dispensation

Is all of my choosing.

The Body develops

In harmony.

If it will only listen

And take the small roles

Member by member.”

Yes I hear you, Comforter

And your irony.

Better I boast in my infirmities

The stretchings, the slander,

The stoning, the shipwrecks

The starvings and sleeplessness

For sake of my Master.

And His glorious grace.

Yes, better I boast of such.

And leave the swelled heads in a tizzy.

(2 Corinthians chapters 10 and 11)

Not Even Blushing

Jeremiah 6:

13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.

Take a look at the churches today. Are they honestly addressing the hurt of the daughters and sons of their people? Or are they too much dedicated to keeping the merry-go-round of program going. All must be smiles and positive comment. The worldly pre-occupations of the people (covetousness) must be given appropriate “teaching”. So-called sermons on prosperity and fulfilling lifestyle take up precious time from the pulpit.

Jesus said that he came to act as physician for the sick and heavy laden. We won’t even acknowledge that we are sick. Envious. Gossiping. Posturing. Haughty. Insincere. Prayer-less. Cowardly in testimony. Unsympathetic. Unfamiliar with the real Jesus of the Gospels.

I remember Steve Brown of the Key Life radio broadcast saying something to the following effect:

‘Find a church of messed up people who know that they are messed up and not reluctant to admit it, but are honestly in love with the righteous Elder Brother Jesus, and seeking more each day to understand and walk in His footsteps and to seize opportunities to pass on His promises and warnings.’

The prophet Jeremiah, in addressing the religion of his day saw a frail papier mache edifice about to crumble, although many of the right words and religious forms continued to issue forth. Our churches sound the part, but are departing from the heart, honesty and healing of the Gospel. Similarly they are not checked, convicted or found blushing.

Did the Church Need a Mother?

For the last couple of days I have been thinking seriously about the place of the Roman Catholic Church in the world.

I have always seen in its members a special sense of reverence. A holy focus on family and the sanctity of life. A number of inspiring celibate priests who have impacted my life ( a basketball coach and worthy opponent; a broadcaster who preached the message that brought me to point of decision for Christ; some provocative Christian writers and commentators – Muggeridge and Girzone).

Recently I have used this blog to comment on the riches of a newfound book entitled Altogether Gift: A Trinitarian Spirituality by Michael Downey.

My concern is usually with the perspective on Mary of Nazareth. It is as if a fourth person must be added to the Trinity. This is error. On another blog I wrote the poem Mary Looks Down. There are links on that blog to a number of other articles.

http://momentsmidstream.blogspot.ca/2014/06/mary-looks-down.html

http://momentsmidstream.blogspot.ca/2009/07/heaven-looks-upon-mary.html

The very day of writing my poem I went shopping with Hilary at Walmart. As is my custom I passed by the bookstands. I saw a new book by the new Pope Francis (The Church of Mercy, 2014). I breezed through the index and did not see any chapter titles of concern. I turned to the last chapter and there it was!

The distortion persisted in and concerning Mary. Pope Francis is telling the entire Catholic world that Jesus would not leave from Calvary’s Mount without giving the Church a Mother, and her peculiar care. And for his authority the Pope uses John 19: 26, 27. He suggests that Jesus is telling Mother Mary in effect to adopt John the beloved disciple; telling John as representative of all believers to accept the “blessed Virgin’s” mothering and comfort.

Hold on now; back in the Upper Room at the Last Supper Jesus had assured His friends that they would be receiving another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. They tarried in Jerusalem, as did the mother Mary for the promise of the Father arriving on the Day of Pentecost. They all needed the arrival and energizing of the paraclete, the standby, the advocate, the Comforter, the Third Person. Mary included.

In making such an assertion Pope Francis is behaving like those in Peter’s seat from very long ago. He is assuming that believers do not have Bibles of their own to check him out. Or perhaps that Vatican light may again over-ride the very clear words of scripture.

Is it the case that without magnified versions of Mary Roman Catholicism cannot survive? I hope not. I also pray for light and clarity for a large body of people attempting to honour and follow Jesus as the “poor in spirit” and very intent upon blessing the poor and outcast (Matthew 25: 31-46).

http://momentsmidstream.blogspot.ca/2011/01/reconciliation.html

The Noise of the Wings

I have just about had it, I tellya!I go to their services and I watch plastic faces fall into line. I see them sit under pablum from the pulpit for far too long. I see the clock govern any sovereign move of God. I see pillar personalities who covetously guard their territory of service. Stubborn people doing what they have always done. Proving once again Newton's Law of Inertia. Xenophobes who doubt whether a stranger to their gatherings might have anything of anointing or brokenness to contribute. Full-fledged families dwindle. Old seasoned heads of Pentecost are shaking without any idea of alternatives. Talk of revival is just noise. New houses, new jobs, new connections, new exotic destinations get first billing. Summer hiatus in faith's swordplay apparently a sad and cowardly reality.But listen to this voice...

Ezekiel 3:

⁵ For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;

⁶ Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.

⁷ But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.

⁸ Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.

⁹ As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

¹⁰ Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.

¹¹ And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.

¹² Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place.

¹³ I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.

¹⁴ So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.

It is the noise of the wings that I cannot shake. Most penetrating at the time of appearance of the four glorious creatures. When the Glory of God hushed my mouth, buckled my knees, as it did to faithful friends then with me. I cannot shake it, or settle for sweet stuff meeting with general approval.

Tissot Comes Alive

So little time,So much to paint Of lasting worth.The years mis-spent.The social rave.The treats of earth.Those cities gayWhere I would playWith earl and wench.My shame today.Take them away.Their swirl, their stench!For I have found

Much richer ground

From which to paint.

The Life of Christ

Pearl of Great Price

For every saint.

Let canvas fly!

Be quick to dry!

Scenes of the King.

Of those He blessed

The poor, distressed.

Let my brush sing.

A Case for the Innocents

2 Samuel 12 contains a message of arresting importance. In their sin David and Bathsheba have conceived a child. After Uriah’s death they marry to cover up the shame. But the child becomes deathly ill.David separates himself for intense fasting and prayer for the little boy’s recovery. But the child dies all the same. When his servants bring him the bad news, David simply washes up and returns to normal activity with nothing more being said than to comfort his grieving new wife.Listen to his answer:23. But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.

It was King David’s assurance that this child of tender years would not be at peril of God’s wrath. As an innocent, he would clearly be a recipient of mercy and bound for the place of the righteous dead, a place which the father saw as his own intended destination.

What does this say about the panic in some churches and families for the administration of infant baptism, of Christening. How do the supposedly evangelical churches participate in this, and then go on with a message of “repentance unto life” for the adult crowd? Would a young man whose parents had done all the right things through the church stand in any peril of conviction, of judgment? Would he still need his own “sorry night of sin”?

What does this story say also about prayer for the dead, about the Mass, about purgatory? David’s comment was that no further effort would be effective. It was a done deal. The pie was out of the oven.

Read very carefully Mark 16:16b.

Plague of Complaint

It's coffee shop time

And griping begun

What's wrong with the nation

And how it is run

What grates at thejob

What's wrong with our youth

And oh how the Web

Distorts all the Truth.

It only takes one

To make the muck start

When men could have lifted

And revived the heart

When men could have rallied

With Gospel Good News

Or shared a true story

With colourful hues.

So let's make the choice

How time is applied

How Hope is at hand now

Or how it has died.

Easy Sundays

Are you caught in the snareOf the preacher?In the logical loopOf his art?In the comfort and easeOf the teaching?In the flow of his

Overhead chart?

Is the God you now serve

Proving pliant?

Are His ways now within

Mortal span?

Has the Bible become

Less a mainstay.

As you harvest the truth

From one man?

Will it prove your escape

From the struggle?

From the bleary nights

Given to prayer?

From the battle with

Concepts of scripture?

And the sense you are

Getting nowhere?

Does the Cross now appear

Isolated?

And “reproach” just a word

From the past?

As you perch on the

Threshold of victory,

Reassured current clear

Skies will last?

Such a joyful, new-found

Revelation.

And a quicker ascent

To the height.

And a confidence one

Now is certain

Both in grasp of the

Good and the right.

But I doubt such convenience

Is Holy.

Nor the path which, before,

Saints have trod.

For the trials which they bore

In the night-time,

Brought a richer sun- rise

With their God.

Like a Dog in the Park

Don's wife had asked him how the Men's Study Group had gone. She knew that they had just polished off the final chapter in some topical book. Job, she thought. He had come home week after week for ten weeks, saying very little. Don was now being called upon to summarize, and he was finding it difficult. Being with the guys was always good, but it seemed that there was never any room in the evening for spontaneity. The role of facilitator was passed around from chapter to chapter, but the underlying agenda was always to get through the assigned pages. His attention had been drifting this time around and he found that he could not accurately report to Becky, although she was truly interested. Some author that everybody said was good, but still second-hand information when compared to the Book of books. Why did they persist in doing this? Running to some study guide with one man's spin on things? Considering that in this fashion they were "doing their duty"? Was this truly fellowship? Two weeks ago it had seemed that it was on the tip of Brad's tongue to let go with some personal problem. Something was eating at him. His face said that he was elsewhere. But there was that chapter to get through. The opportunity was lost.

Don was starting to suspect that the problem went beyond the Men's Group at Crosspoints. It also put off the main body of the church from real engagement, real burden bearing, real examination of the scriptures. This was nothing like the thrill in his early years of faith when he had gobbled up the wonderfully consistent message of hope and of calling from Genesis to Revelation. Largely in his private time. Light gained which would never be forgotten. A true meeting with God, His thoughts and loving kindness. A true brotherly spirit with Jesus.

The next day at work, Don found himself musing on this predicament. Then suddenly, a recollection of something his father had said. Dad had been quite an exercise enthusiast, but eventually tired of the regimen. He said that he had come to know the total number of ceramic tiles in the bottom of the YMCA pool; the number of cracks in the sidewalk jogging around the downtown park. Then he got hold of a book from the military on aerobic exercise. The writer said that a work-out program should be as spontaneous and varied as the wanderings of a big dog in the park. Watch the animal. He will run uphill; sprint downhill; stop for a sniff at a tree; look overhead at some mocking crows; lope at an easy jog across the large playing field; walk while curiously examining some children at play on the swings; stop and catch his breath.

Could one's faith walk possibly take on such a fresh approach? Could one's willingness to go with the flow of the moment open up new opportunities in fellowship, in community, in fulfilling the Great Commission? Ask the Holy Spirit for refreshment, for guidance, for Jesus in the midst?

Something was wrong. He would have to take the risk and tell the guys.

Teen Territory

David is a workmate at the factory. Yesterday we had an assignment off-site and a good opportunity to talk as we worked. This man is Cuban with wife and three children. Both sides of the family have had rich experience in Gospel ministry. Frequently their efforts have been challenged or impeded by the anti-Church policies of the Castro regime. There have been beatings, house church invasions and jail terms. The term "seditious gathering" gets used often.David has functioned as an associate pastor in a Latin American church in Kitchener. He has also examined other churches in the area looking especially for worship opportunities for his children. This he says is the biggest area of downfall in the local assemblies. The teens need to be exposed to legitimate worship opportunities with their peers and not just program.

Youth Church is not meant to be just another YMCA, bowling ally, cinema or lecture hall. The focus is not entertainment, ethics or education. It is worship and wide-open examination of the scriptures. He says, "These kids need to be exposed to the arrival of God by His Spirit in their midst. They need to be made to see that He is awesome and sovereign and available. When He takes over a service it becomes truly unforgettable and life-changing. What do our teens need more than this? They are assaulted daily by influences suggesting that righteousness, mercy and self-control are "uncool" and for losers."

Nothing could be more devastating than the encroaching attitude in society that we adults should not indoctrinate or "brainwash" the youth, but rather allow them to find their own way in the realm of spirituality, because after all, it is a large and diverse menu of options, "all leading to the same place". Nothing could be farther from the Bible's portrayal of faithful parents and their duty to children.

Great Lyrics

Readers of this blog probably have noticed that I bemoan the dwindling use of the good old hymns in our church services. Recently I posted the lyrics of the classic entitled "The Church's One Foundation". I might also think of "Christ the Lord is Risen Today", "He Leadeth Me", "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" or "It is Finished".In some sanctuaries the old hymnals are found in the pews as a testimonial to our heritage, but rarely picked up. My goodness, these songs have five or six or more verses. Much too long for the attention span of the average parishioner...and to stand while singing? Hardly.Instead we resort to the overhead screen, bright colour and selections with no more than three verses. These songs do not teach. They fail to name the name Jesus. Under the guise of worship they often state the obvious: 1."You are Lord" 2. "I give you my all" 3. "You are welcome in this place" 4. "Take us to a higher place".

To many the lyrics are unfamiliar and without order. Less rhyme. No recognizable chorus. Anyone over forty-five years old despairs of getting into the selection. No matter, the Praise Team are professional and loud and the whole thing becomes a performance rather than a participation.

One cannot hear oneself sing; neither the people around him, and thus the communal aspect of the worship is diminished. And the sanctuary has been darkened down for the overhead screen. No looking at your Bibles during the "segment". No observing your neighbours in the act of worship. No giving of a smile or a friendly wink to anyone nearby.

Then there is the matter of "soaking" music in some churches. Simple, reverent choruses repeated over and over and over. Eventually only the Praise Team have the stamina. The general body of worshipers appear to have gotten themselves into the eyes closed, hands folded to the lips, seemingly ecstatic phase. Meditating on the Father's love, or some such thing. At a place like Toronto Airport Church they have the "liberty" to lie down on the floor and go to sleep.

We don't need anything like this stultifying our times together, regardless of the talent up front! We need to take the effort to stand together with enthusiasm and proclaim in music the pillars of our faith, hope and overcoming. We are not consumers in all of this. We are givers...of thanks, of adoration, of respectful recitation of the great old truths most worthy of being remembered. Remembered to each other and to the next generation.

The plague of dwindling literacy is also in this. The same can be said about sermons which dare not use more than one or two Bible verses as a foundation before Pastor goes into his journey of personal comment, ethics or anecdote. Pastors, give them bread! Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts!

Homer Simpson in that irreverent, long-running TV series comments to a friend on Gospel music: "Just take your average love song and throw in the name Lord or Jesus". Evidently Homer and I have been to some of the same services.

Easy Bible Study?

Yesterday I was out again doing errands in the company truck. I had the radio on and playing the local Christian station. A Chuck Swindoll broadcast was concluding a series of messages on the life of King David. At the end of the segment the listener was invited to order an audio series of teaching helps on David - twenty-four messages!My spirit went CLUNK! Imagine any believer, new or seasoned, dedicating so much devotional time to the slant of a particular Bible teacher, and letting that one man "deliver it all". Chances are that such an effort would constitute the individual's entire devotional time for a series of weeks! Meaning no disrespect to Pastor Swindoll, or his good preaching, I must say that this is wrong. It tends toward laziness in spiritual exercise. It is like viewing the travelogue rather than making the rugged and exciting trek for one's self. Where is the liberty of being led by the Holy Spirit in scripture? Where the preparation of prayer? Where the regimen of sifting through the knotty points of the Word for one's self? Using central reference margin, concordance (Strong's), topical Bible (Nave's)and Bible dictionary (Smith's). Where the stimulus of a good exchange with a fellow believer after the study?

I must admit that in the early days I wanted a good and simple Bible commentary at my side to give me the big picture, the over-view, the perspective on history and the common thread of redemption. For me it was a brief book by F. B. Meyer and the old "Jamieson, Fausset and Brown" volume. I was also emphatic for a couple of years about going through the Word from Genesis to Revelation, and not skipping around. This was necessary in order to lay the groundwork. But now things happen differently.

I remember that quote attributed to Smith Wigglesworth:

"Some read the Bible in Hebrew; Some in Greek; I like to read it in the Holy Ghost."

This was a man who was functionally illiterate until his new wife taught him to read with a Bible. Ever after he carried a Testament with him and never read another book or newspaper. His spiritual insight was deep and sometimes cryptic. His ministry changed thousands of lives around the world.

Today he probably would amend his statement as follows:

"Some read the Bible in Swindoll or Stanley, Jakes or Copeland, Ladies Meyer or Moore. I like to read it in the Holy Ghost."

Friends, remember after all Who was given the task of inspiring Holy Writ. Peter gives us the answer in his Second Letter:

Chapter 1:

19We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

20Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

21For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

What About Prosperity?

Don't Whip Yourself

Took a drive for my workplace yesterday morning and enjoyed a radio broadcast from Charles Stanley's "In Touch" program. He was looking at Paul's situation when he wrote the "jail-house" epistles, claiming that his unfortunate circumstances were working out to the spreading of the Gospel. This was all that mattered to Paul and consequently he could affirm that he lived above the difficult circumstances. (See the first chapter of Philippians or 2 Corinthians 11)Here was an exceptional servant of Christ in custody as an enemy of the empire. He could have wallowed in self-pity or struggled with self-doubt. Instead he focused on the good results which were becoming apparent from this bad situation. He knew that he was in the will of his Master. He knew that the Lord was all love and all capable. He knew that every aspect of his situation was known to Christ. There are no words of anxiety, discouragement or self-condemnation in these epistles.

Every day Paul was allowed visitors while under vigilant Roman guard, and the guards were coming under conviction and getting saved. They had to keep an eye on this special prisoner; they had to listen to what he was saying to his friends; they dare not fall asleep. It became necessary to change these guards frequently because of the impact of the prisoner upon them. Many of these Romans would be sent out to other areas of the Empire spreading the message which they had heard from the man who had appeared so victoriously triumphant over adverse circumstances because of Christ.

So when we find ourselves facing limitation or adversity we must follow the example of Paul. He knew that salvation did not bring an unconditional ticket to "easy street". He knew that he was in the right place with his Saviour (any sin having been confessed and covered). He chose to be on the lookout for the good things which would be coming out of the bad situation.

I needed to hear this message. Thank you Dr. Stanley. (www.intouch.org)

Philippians 1:

12-14 I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I'm in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they've learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah.

Covenanter's Warning

XXXIV. SAMUEL RUTHERFORD'S Letter To JOHN GORDON OF CARDONESS, the younger (See the note on his father (Letter XXXII). The son, to whom this letter was addressed, was an uncivilized loose liver, and made his home a misery. Like his others to the same address, Rutherford's letter is outspoken and straight to the point. Nor could he ignore the fact that though the young man continued to attend church at times he came late and strode out before the service was over, behaving with the utmost irreverence and as if he was deliberately trying to insult his minister.)MUCH HONORED SIR, -- I long to hear whether or not your soul be hand-fasted with Christ. Lose your time no longer: flee the follies of youth: gird up the loins of your mind, and make you ready for meeting the Lord. I have often summoned you, and now I summon you again, to compear before your Judge, to make a reckoning of your life. While ye have time, consider your ways. Oh that there were such an heart in you, as to think what an ill conscience will be to you, when ye are upon the border of eternity, and your one foot out of time! Oh then, ten thousand thousand floods of tears cannot extinguish these flames, or purchase to you one hour's release from that pain! Oh, how sweet a day have ye had! But this is a fair-day that runneth fast away. See how ye have spent it, and consider the necessity of salvation! And tell me, in the fear of God, if ye have made it sure. I am persuaded that ye have a conscience that will be speaking somewhat to you. Why will ye die, and destroy yourself? I charge you in Christ's name, to rouse up your conscience in time, while salvation is in your offer. This is the accepted time, this is the day of salvation. Therefore, let me again beseech you to consider, in this your day, the things that belong to your peace, before they be hid from your eyes. Dear brother, fulfill my joy, and begin to seek the Lord while He may be found. Forsake the follies of deceiving and vain youth: lay hold upon eterna] life. Shoring, night-drinking, and the misspending of the Sabbath, and neglecting of prayer in your house, and refusing of an offered salvation, will burn up your soul with the terrors of the Almighty, when your awakened conscience shall flee in your face. Be kind and loving to your wife: make conscience of cherishing her, and not being rigidly austere. Sir, I have not a tongue to express the glory that is laid up for you in your Father's house, if ye reform your doings, and frame your heart to return to the Lord. Ye know that this world is but a shadow, a short living creature, under the law of time. Within less than fifty years, when ye look back to it, ye shall laugh at the evanishing vanities thereof, as feathers flying in the air, and as the houses of sand within the sea-mark, which the children of men are building. Give up with courting of this vain world: seek not the bastard's moveables, but the son's heritage in heaven. Take a trial of Christ. Look unto Him, and His love will so change you, that ye shall be taken with Him, and never choose to go from Him. There is nothing that will make you a Christian indeed, but a taste of the sweetness of Christ. 'Come and see', will speak best to your soul. I would fain hope good of you. Be not discouraged at broken and spilled resolutions; but to it, and to it again! Use the means of profiting with your conscience: pray in your family and read the Word. Remember how our Lord's day was spent when I was among you. It will be a great challenge to you before God if ye forget the good that was done within the walls of your house on the Lord's day; and if ye turn aside after the fashions of this world, and if ye go not in time to the kirk, to wait on the public worship of God, and if ye tarry not at it, till all the exercises of religion be ended. Give God some of your time both morning and evening and afternoon; and in so doing, rejoice the heart of a poor, oppressed prisoner. Rue upon your own soul and from your heart fear the Lord. Now He that brought again from the dead the great Shepherd of His sheep, by the blood Of the eternal covenant, establish your heart with grace, and present you before His presence with joy.

Your affectionate and loving pastor.

ABERDEEN, 1637

Bodily Resurrection

"One of these days the graves are going to give up their dead""Where do you get that?" The man sitting across from me had been passing comment on the faith foundations listed in Hebrews 6:1Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3And this will we do, if God permit.He noted that the words were "resurrection of the dead" and not resurrection of the body. He could see the spirit journey to Heaven to meet Jesus as such a resurrection. He saw no literal promise here of some re-mix of the body out of its place of rest. He looked for no rapture of the faithful to meet the Lord; neither a pending physical Second Coming of Jesus to our beleaguered planet.

But what of Philippians 3?

21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his (Christ's) glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

And what of 1 Corinthians 15?

37And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

38But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

And what of Colossians 1?

18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Let us repeat: "One of these days the graves are going to give up their dead"

Hard to comprehend? Frequently, so is our God. Our hope is to follow in the likeness of Jesus - here and hereafter.

(Painting by Meredith Blank)

It Wasn't the Meals or the Fellowship...

Let us look at the three and a half years of joint ministry of Jesus and His disciples. The initial message, we are told in Mark's Gospel, was "Repent and believe the Gospel"; also, "the Kingdom of heaven is at hand".The ethic for this Kingdom was the Sermon on the Mount, turning upside down men's agendas for dominance, power, acclaim, comfort and provision. The Kingdom would be a training ground for the patient, forgiving, sharing, helping, non-judgmental, worshiping ones.

The emissaries were not to linger long in any particular location, but were to move about making the best possible use of a surprisingly short span of time. They were to proclaim that God was reaching out in forgiveness and drawing to Himself a family of meek and teachable children. They were to cast out devils. They were to lay hands on the sick for healing. They were to frustrate the enslaving agenda of the Devil. They were to comfort the hungry and lonely and misunderstood. They were to proclaim unequivocally their devotion to the school of the rabbi Jesus. They busied themselves with this agenda. Their comings together as a group were limited and pivotal. They were so much more occupied in outreach, that the Kingdom might grow.

As recorded in Matthew 13 the growth of the Kingdom would be mystical, unstoppable and immeasurable (the mustard seed, the yeast, the fishnet cast to the waves). God was in control and would secure His family. They considered themselves most privileged to have these basic insights, and to be busy about the Lord's affairs.

This sounds very unlike the insular, self-congratulatory, constantly fattening practices of the modern church. Our many messages to "self-improve" were not the fare of the original twelve; neither the endless dissection of spiritual gifts; neither the recreations, concerts, pot-lucks, study books or bazaars which clutter the calendar. A serious independent study of the Gospels makes this clear.

The Great Commission remains a "going forth" and not a staying inside.

Now Just Settle Down!

I listen to you as you engage with friends and family. All the things you would like to see my Church doing. All the error you have identified. All the side eddies of teaching topics which miss the major thrust of my Good News.

You say that you are weary of dishonest "positive confession", of spiritual pride, of a competitive spirit in the flock, of the lust for "new revelation".

You observe "worship sessions" which are ruled by the clock or by an order of service which is man-contrived, and not looking in the least for the Spirit's leading. You chafe at Christ-less sermons.

There is much talk of service but the unchurched, needy or broken do not become the focus of your little church family...ever.

Do you think that I will use you in this "tizzy" of criticism and restlessness? Where is my peace and unconditional love? Remember my prayer outside the Upper Room for the disciples? How I recognized the victory that would be their's, with the Father's help, even when they had yet to turn from me and run and fail miserably.

I am telling you that I wait for the longsuffering to show forth. Abide in me. Meditate on my earth walk. Stop your speaking out against shallowness or controversy. Be eloquent in intercession. That is purposeful.

Gain my stride. Watch for surprising opportunities for ministry which I will release. Not one of them will be small in my estimation. Do not go forward in the flesh.

I love you too and will see you bear fruit. Be available but do not be in a lather.

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