“When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
“What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
“ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer. ”” Mark 9:14-29 NIV
Comment: The verse from the story above, was my ” song in the night” last night. And thus I was led to share as a follow up to the message from yesterday. And more! For last night – I am going though Mark’s gospel – on engaging in my #latenightdevotions, this verse struck me forcibly:
Mark 6: 5-6 NIV
“And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.”
The unbelief of those in His own hometown, Nazareth.
Finally, as the Spirit moved this morning, I was led to read, before writing this message, the readings in the Anglican Church for the First Sunday after Christmas.
And this verse left an indelible impression on my soul, as I continued to contemplate on the critical importance of believing in the Son of God:
Extract from the Gospel – John 1:1-18
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
Comment: All of this underscores the fact that if we are going to rescue our nation from evil, from the abyss into which it has descended, then is it not going to happen ” on tippy toe”. We cannot do it by our own strength and wisdom. But by believing in the Only One that can, and has done, again and again, the impossible. Even Jesus Christ our Savior.
Peace.
In obedience on this glorious Sunday morning. A reminder of that which was even more glorious, Easter! When this same Christ-child, now become Savior of the world, was, with great power, raised from the dead. So that, all who believing in His Atonement for Sin, might have new and and unending life. And in Him, help to ” make all things new”, in a broken and confused, and confusing, world.
LWJ
So Christmas is done. All done! For most of us, except those denominations, like mine, Anglicans, that follow a Liturgical Calendar. So we celebrate tomorrow, Sunday 29th December as the 1st Sunday after Christmas. And then January 5th as the 2nd Sunday after Christmas followed by Monday January 6th as the Epiphany – the revelation of Jesus as God -, which marks the end of the Christmas season. For us, and others. But not for the merchants. For you know that there are some shops that sell Christmas stuff all year round. I am sure others would like to prolong the season, but opportunity knocks with Valentine Day coming up. They haven’t quite worked out how to commercialize, read monetize, Easter as yet, but the Easter egg stories are a feeble attempt to capitalize on another of, if not the greatest, Bible Story.
In a sense, its a good thing that Christmas and the the attempts to trivialize the entrance of God into the world to save us from our sins, is all done. For it is time, according to one of St. Paul’s famous injunction, in 1 Cor. to “ stop feeding on milk”, and move on to maturity; a command which is repeated with greater clarity in the Letter to the Hebrews:
“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
The problem is that far too many people are comfortable with the idea of “ baby Jesus”, and the well known childlike prayer:
GENTLE Jesus, meek and mild,
Look upon a little child,
Pity my simplicity,
Suffer me to come to thee;
reveals where the world is, and where unbelievers are most comfortable, and sadly some Christians too. But the Christian faith is much more robust and mature than that. And perhaps the lyrics of a popular song, made famous by Mahalia Jackson and Aretha Franklin, and more recently Pentatonix, is a good launching pad to a better understanding of who is this Jesus. 229 million views perhaps is an indicator of the hunger of folks for a more a truer understanding of Jesus:
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you
Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God
Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know?
Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know?
The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb
Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect lamb?
That sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am
Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know?
Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Oh
Mary did you know?
So it is time, full time, as mayhem in communities – 11 murdered in 2 days, as reported by Nationwide90FM on Twitter
Despite the holiday period, the bloodletting across the island has continued with 11 people being murdered between Christmas Eve and today.
⁃ it’s past time for all Christians to move to maturity in Christ, if we are going to be able to make a difference and stop the bloodletting in our beleaguered nation.
What then did I learn, not from “flesh and blood”, not from a gift from family or friends, not from the movies or reading a good book, not from CNN or Netflix or BBC, but by revelation over the Christmas? That the old Jamaica adage “ Belief kills and belief cures”, is the most profound message that Jesus taught.
Which is the main story line in the encounter between Jesus and Jairus whose daughter was sick unto death. A story I read last night, with great joy in my heart, in my #latenightdevotions. We all know the story. Jairus was the leader of the Synagogue, a high ranking official in the “ church” – which by the way for the most part did not believe that Jesus was God -and he came to Jesus, and “ fell at his feet” in worship, and begged Jesus to save his daughter who was “ at the point of death”.
So Jesus, filled with compassion for this desperate man, went with him to his house. Eventually! For first Jesus stopped to help the “ woman with the issue of blood”. She had been having an abnormal bleeding for 12 years. Then, this must have tried Jairus’ patience to the nth degree, Jesus finally set off again to heal Jairus’ daughter. All this time the “ village lawyers” and other “ talking heads”, and Pollsters no doubt were telling Jairus that his daughter was dead. What’s the point of Jesus going to see her?
Pretty much like what’s happening in Jamaica. What can the Church do about the Crime and violence? They are so many churches and so much prayers going up, and yet, rather than improving, the situation is getting worst. What’s the point of calling for “ Divine Intervention”? Plus, isn’t Jesus dead and gone long time, and there is no hard evidence that He was raised from the dead!
Then for for me, Jesus utters the most important message to the world, and not just to Jairus, “ Do not fear, just believe “. And as they say, the rest is history. But history that not everyone believes. Not even in the church. That Jesus can “ raise the dead “ in any circumstance. For He is, not was, God Almighty.
It is in this context then that I believe I was led to write to my church this very profound message inspired by a meditation on “belief kills and belief cures”.
I pray God that those who read this blog may come to true faith, if they are still at the “ Gentle Jesus meek and mild “ kind of prayer and understanding stage. And help to rescue a broken and dying and impeachable, by a holy God, world. For this is our destiny, our true calling, our responsibility, to become Ambassadors for Christ. Spreading and becoming the message of God reconciling the world to Himself in and through Christ and Him Crucified. The same one about whom the lyrics said to Mary. And to all the world! Didn’t you know?
But first for a better appreciation of the Word from the Lord, we need to ponder deeply on this Truth from Oswald Chambers which I posted on Facebook yesterday:
It’s important to maintain the balance!
Wisdom from Oswald Chambers
The main characteristic which is the proof of the indwelling Spirit is an amazing tenderness in personal dealing, and a blazing truthfulness with regard to God’s Word.
And this prayer which I also posted on Facebook:
Rule over me this day, O God, leading me on the path of righteousness. Put your Word in my mind and your truth in my heart, that this day I neither think nor feel anything except what is good and honest – part of an early morning prayer. Jacob Boehme.
THE MESSAGE
“Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.”
I happened upon this verse of Scripture this morning. I was actually searching for another one. 1 John 5, in order to better understand the second reflection. – the first one I wrote about yesterday – on this passage by Chris Tiegreeen.
This passage above, is used as a source of inspiration to help understand a meditation by one of the all time great modern preachers of the gospel, A.W. Tozer, who speaks a word about the Church.
WHAT IS THE CHURCH?
A.W. TOZER
The true church is …composed of regenerated persons who differ from other human beings in that they have a superior kind of life impacted to them at the time of their inward renewal…….
They have espoused the cause of a rejected and crucified man who claimed to be God and who has pledged his sacred honor that he will prepare a place for them in his Father’s house and return again to conduct them there with rejoicing.
In the meanwhile they carry his cross,suffer whatever indignities men may heap upon them for his sake, act as his ambassadors and do good to all men in his name.
They steadfastly believe that they will share his triumph, and for this reason they are perfectly willing to share his rejection by a society that does not understand them.
And they have no hard feelings – only charity and compassion. And a strong desire that all men may come to repentance and be reconciled to God.
Having read the reflection above, after reading the first four verse of 2 Thessalonians, I read on and discovered this challenging Word about judgment. A Word that should not only help us to keep a healthy balance between preaching about God’s love and God’s judgment, but ought to spur us to share urgently, the Good News about Christmas and Salvation, for people’s lives, in this world and the next, depend on it. Salvation!
THE WORD OF GOD
“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.
Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing.
They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”
One of, if not the main reason, why people reject the gospel, is that they feel that they can manage on their own. They have not been convicted of sin, and filed with the desperate need for salvation. They may dress upon this fallacy by calling for proof that Jesus was raised from the dead, or posit that if God really was all powerful and filled with love, then babies would not perish and disasters would not take place. But the real problem is unbelief, and ignorance about their sinfulness before a holy God. And note that at one time we were there too, and maybe some in the very church, are still there.
So God works in mysterious ways indeed. For as I went on to read the second of Tiegreen’s mediation from 1 John 5, belief in God is the central message. And not just belief in any God, but belief in the Father of our Redeemer and soon coming King, our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the only message we can offer a dying and broken world, a world of unbelievers, even in our own families, who if they do not repent, whether by our sharing with them, in word and in deed, the gospel, or someone or something else, they will perish in their unbelief on the day of judgment. Frightening isn’t it! So we have to persevere in our prayers and in our sharing of the Gospel with others, and not spend too much time criticizing them, and worse condemning them. For if truth be told, the ‘ lawless one’ is already at work. In Jamaica and in the USA where I am now. And everywhere!
BELIEVERS
Chris Tiegreen
Who is it that overcomes the world ? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:5
( Just imagine as I begin, that last night we went to the movies. To watch the last Star Wars Episode. And in it Luke SkyWalker was ‘raised from the dead’. Really a movie isn’t it)
Throughout history, people have tried to reach beyond the confines of our own humanity – to connect with a world beyond space and time, to rise above struggles, and to understand beyond human wisdom, to live beyond death. But creatures of dust that we all are, we fall short. No human invention has allowed us to discover the transcendence we seek. We are, by nature, more limited than we want to be.
The promise of the gospel changes that. We are still finite creatures, but we are integrally connected with the life of our God. We are still human flesh, but we are filled with a supernatural Spirit. We still die, but we live forever. In profound and mysterious ways, we have overcome the world.
How? Not by the normal means human beings have attempted. Not by magic or rituals, nor by education and experiences, nor by simply persevering or praying or fighting for our lives. There is only one God-ordained way to overcome the world: by believing. And not just by believing, but by believing in Jesus as the Son of God.
That seems simple enough doesn’t it? But surprisingly, we forsake simplicity for human effort. We still try to receive God’s blessing by earning them. We still try to do the work of the Spirit in the strength of the flesh ( my words …remember Jesus …summarizing ……The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. And these words I give you are Spirit and they are life…John 6:63). We have a multitude of ways to rely on the our techniques other than simple faith. Still, God insists. Those who overcome must believe. ( Then this passage of Scripture from Romans 10, comes to my mind…how can they call upon one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard. And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent…….the question is, “ do we understand that as redeemed people of God, we are sent to proclaim Christ….How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news).
When all else fails, simply believe. Believe what God promises, trust in His strength, rest in His grace. Life is much less complicated than we try and make it. Our connection with God’s presence is not a matter of striving but accepting. When you go to the end of your own efforts and still haven’t overcome, remember the Overcomer. Believe and trust. The rest is up to Him.
Our life is grounded in faith, with hope and loves besides – Julian of Norwich.
In obedience. Lord renew thy church beginning with me ( and all of us); Lord renew thy church that the church may renew the nation(s).
Peace
LWJ
Sent from my iPad
It’s sign of how much Jamaicans are longing for good news that we have been so excited about the recent elevation of Toni-Ann Singh to the title of Miss World. I believe that in any case, the spontaneous outflow of adulation and joy that greeted the announcement by the organizer of the competition that “ Jamaica”, has won, would have happened anyhow. But in the context of so many gruesome murders being committed in our country, and the not unrelated carnage on the roads, we desperately needed some good news.
So, beginning with the celebration at the airport last night when she touched down at Norman Manley, and continuing with official visits and participation in The Unruly Show by dance hall artiste Popcaan, Toni-Ann will be the toast of the town for the next four days or so, before she jets off again to begin her reign.
Perhaps what endeared her more than anything, to the hearts of a lot of people, including music aficionados, is her peerless, almost Whitney Houstonesque voice. This girl can certainly sing! And Jamaicans absolutely love music and dancing. We’ve been there before, as everyone knows. Carol Joan Crawford, Cindy Breakespeare, Lisa Hanna, and now Toni-Ann Singh. Once again a small country “ punching above its weight “. With only India and Venezuela coping more Miss World’s than Jamaica.
We are indeed a very special nation, with people like Usain Bolt and Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce carrying our flag, far and wide.
But my God, as especially good we are in many areas, we are really sick when it comes to interpersonal relationships as is manifest in our extraordinarily high murder rate and road crashes and fatalities.
So can we ride the wave of goodwill and pride generated by Toni-Ann’s victory? No, that’s not going to happen. If fact cynical young people might answer in this fashion. “ Seriously”! For if Usain’s exploits which put Jamaica on the map, or for that matter Shelly Ann’s, a.k.a., #mommyrocket, then ain’t no other performance going to achieve that feat. None! So let’s get real. The answer, to the problem of murder most foul in our country was the subject of a very fruitful discussion with a fellow traveler, a perfect stranger, but a concerned Jamaican, 30,000 ft in the air today, as I traveled to Florida to be with family for the Christmas. Fix the family life in the country! And which organization is specially gifted and has access to homes, that can carry out that task. The Church! No one else. So what’s up with the church why this madness has gone on for so long? Or is it that modern people no longer have much regard for God’s Word, made flesh in the body of Christ – the Church. Perhaps a mixture of both, faulty witness and rejection of God, otherwise known as “ Disobedience “ might get us closer to the truth.
So what’s to be done? Trust in God, who alone, can rescue a nation from destroying itself. And faith must play a vital role in this quest. Hence why I was led to write to my church, two emails, this week and now to share it with you:
EMAIL ONE
Awakened to read. So I was obedient. And opening the Bible randomly I found this:
The word of the Lord came to Samuel: “ I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me, and has not carried out my commands.”
Samuel was very angry; and he called out to the Lord all night……..
And Samuel said,
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obedience to the voice of the Lord?
Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is no less a sin than divination,
and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you from being king.
1 Samuel 15:10 & 22-23 NRSV.
Comments: Surely, disobedience is not a good thing before the Lord. For this continued disobedience, inherited from Adam, “ for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, is why Jesus, volunteered, offered up Himself, in love for fallen humanity, and in obedience to His Father, and our Father, to suffer and to die on Calvary. So that, fallen humanity, everyone, rich and poor, black and white, born in Africa or born in India, gay or straight, might have new and unending life.
Then the Spirit of the Lord reminded me about this passage of Scripture:
“ If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful declaration of judgment and of a raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” Hebrews 10:26-27 NIV.
There is more but the Lord then reminded me of this companion verse:
“ For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life.” Romans 5:10 NIV.
Comments: Lord Jesus have mercy on my soul! Came to mind. For there are two messages. One is that like Saul, we may be guilty of disobedience because of this:
“ I have sinned …..because I feared the people and obeyed their voice”. But it really doesn’t matter the genesis of our “ deliberate sinning”, after we have received salvation wrought by Jesus on Calvary. Because if we continue judgment awaits.
The other message is that, all who have not repented of the sin inherited from Adam, remain “ enemies of God”. Which was our former status before a Holy God. Therefore, like Samuel, perhaps not in anger, but out of deep love for all unsaved mankind, we to whom the glory of the Lord, in Christ Jesus, has been revealed, need to “ cry our all night”, seek with all our hearts, the salvation of those who still continue to be disobedient. Whether in the church or without ! And our first concern ought to be self. Then others. Praise God.
Then the strains of a song that has become not only an anthem, but a deep prayer, and acknowledgement of the goodness and faithfulness of God, came into my mind:
I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Ps. 34.
Let us magnify the name of Jesus, and glorify Him who suffered and died, that we might no longer be disobedient to God. But have everlasting life. O praise His Holy Name!
Lord renew thy church beginning with me; Lord renew thy church that the church may renew the nation(s).
Peace and in obedience.
LWJ
EMAIL TWO
This is the exact sequence in which this message from the Lord unfolded.
After the early morning prayer, “ Living Lord, you have watched over me, and put your hand on my head…….continue to watch over me and bless me during the hours of the day ( Jacob Boehme), I opened Chris Tiegreen’s One Day of the Cross Devotional Book, randomly, and found this:
PLEASING GOD
Without faith it is impossible to please God. Hebrew 11:6
So in preparation for reading the meditation by Tiegreen, I went to the chapter and began reading. And these verses, in particular struck me:
“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.”
And then the Lord, reminded me of another passage which is one we ought to ponder on deeply:
“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
Therefore, one of the things, if not the only thing, that God has planned, is to make, all who die in Christ, and in Him are raised from the dead, perfect. Or holy! That’s the eternal promise found in the same Hebrews, but in chapter 12:
“For they ( our parents) disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he ( God) disciplines us for our own good, in order that we might share in his holiness. Vs 10.
The verses cited about the mind of Moses ought to concentrate our minds on our own desires. Do we really abhor the “ fleeting pleasures of sin”, and consider “ abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt ( of what the world offers, and entices, and is alluring, especially at Christmas)? Food for thought isn’t it?
What “ troubled “ my mind in addition to these thoughts, was the question which follows from reading vs 39-40. What promises has God made to all His called out people, both the children of Israel and now the church, upon whom the blessings of the ages has fallen?
So I began to to think, and think, and then the meditation by Oswald Chambers last night came to mind. Read and see for yourself, if the the question, an important, nay existential, question, is not answered.
DECEMBER 18
Test of Faithfulness
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God…
ROMANS 8:28
It is only a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls his circumstances. We take our circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but not really believing it. We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people. To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, or object of our faith— the Lord Jesus Christ.
God may cause our circumstances to suddenly fall apart, which may bring the realization of our unfaithfulness to Him for not recognizing that He had ordained the situation. We never saw what He was trying to accomplish, and that exact event will never be repeated in our life. This is where the test of our faithfulness comes. If we will just learn to worship God even during the difficult circumstances, He will change them for the better very quickly if He so chooses.
Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work, to serving others, or to anything else; just don’t ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers.
The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities on us. He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His part. God wants to use us as He used His own Son.
Did you “ hear” the answer ? The only promise that God has made to us, is a life, eternal life, which begins right here on earth, in Christ Jesus and Him Crucified. And which life in the Resurrected Christ, is a holy life, pleasing to God.
And don’t miss, “ God wants to use us as He used His Son”. Now I know that Oswald Chambers’ writings aren’t necessarily gospel truth. But in the context of the sequence in which this message has been constructed, I would think about it long and hard. Always remembering that God will validate His Word. If you continue to immerse yourself in His Word, He will.
CHRIS TIEGREEN
Pleasing God
It’s a startling claim, isn’t it? We’re told not only that God is pleased with our faith. That would be simple and encouraging enough. No, we’re told that it’s impossible to please God without faith. If we don’t allow ourselves to be in a position to believe what we can’t see, we can’t experience His pleasure.
We have a lot of subtle ( or not so subtle) ways of rebelling against faith. We get discouraged and frustrated when we have to wait for answers to our prayers. We assume God hasn’t answered us when we hear nothing but silence. We base our decisions on the evidence before us rather than the promises and wisdom of God. But when we demand to see those things we’re supposed to believe in, we’re really demanding to move from a state that pleases Him into a state that doesn’t seem to affect Him at all. We’re revolting against an opportunity to please Him.
That’s why it is essential to become comfortable with waiting on God,with trusting in His character when circumstances would pressure us not to, and with disregarding any evidence contrary to His promises. Life gives us plenty of opportunities to make a statement about who God is and about the integrity of His Word. When confronted with tension between what we see and what He says, which will we choose? The way of faith pleases Him. Anything less than faith doesn’t.
Maintaining faith can be difficult, but it’s absolutely necessary of we are to please God. The tension between faith and sight becomes our testing ground to demonstrate what we believe about God. Will we hang on to what we know to be true, or will we live under the tyranny of all things visible? The line between the two can become very fuzzy sometimes, but the choices we make on our testing ground can be monumental. Regardless of what you see, choose faith. It always pleases God.
Faith is blind – except upward. It is blind to impossibilities and deaf to doubt – S. D. Gordon.
Peace, and in obedience.
Lord renew thy church beginning with me; Lord renew thy church that the church may renew the nation(s). Especially in regard to the headlines in the Gleaner this morning. A reality to which I can attest. May God have mercy on our people. Especially the vulnerable and the marginalized! Through us the people of faith; called out to set the captives free,and to bring good news to the poor.
Yes, I am aware that it’s almost Christmas, and that I ought to write about something that will lift up our spirits. But Christ didn’t come to help Macy’s and KFC sell more stuff and to bring joy and peace to a disobedient world. But rather to ” destroy the works of the devil”. Including ignorance about Who God is.
Ignorance is a hell of thing. And in our context where men filled with all kinds of evil thoughts, and driven by evil intent, behead not one but two women in a once peaceful district, such lack of knowledge about God, can lead to literal hell in Jamaica. Which is precisely where we are as country now, for a great many people, despite the veneer of civility projected on Television ads, “ Jamaica no problem”.
We are not war with each other. At least not officially. We are not fighting against an evil regime like those desperate people in war torn Syria. We are not fighting against invaders like the people of Afghanistan have been doing for over fifty years, as one Uber driver told me recently; nor struggling to maintain their Independence like the people of Eritrea, as another Uber driver told me on my way back to the airport.
So what the hell are we fighting for, and killing off in excess of a thousand precious souls made in the image and likeness of God, year after. Four in Dover, three in Portmore, and the beat goes on. And on! May God have mercy on us all.

So why can’t we live like one big family like Serena and Venus? Because, as one of my favorite theologians, the late John Stott wrote in his book ‘ Decisive Issues Facing Christians Today’:
“ when a society goes bad, it is not the fault of the society, but the Christians within, who ought to salt and light.”
So when we all get upset because we are distressed over the senseless murders, and feel so impotent to do anything about it, let us remember, at least from a Christian point of view, and I am not even sure that all Christians would agree with John Stott, that the onus rests with us, the disciples of Christ, to be “ salt of the earth and light of the world”. Not with Major General Anthony Anderson and the well respected head of the army, known to many, simply and familiarly, if not fondly, as Rocky Meade, and their command over the SOE’s.
History is replete with stories how individual and collectively Christians have fulfilled this mandate to be salt and light in a decaying society. And of course, it all began on the Cross when the seemingly disgraced and defeated Christ exulted “ It is finished “. The victory over sin and death and evil!
So exhibit A, the story of how a nation regained its soul, is as good as any to cite in defense of John Stott’s proposition based on the Word of God.

Part 1: Christians in a non-Christian society
1. Involvement; Is it our concern ?
It is exceedingly strange that any followers of Jesus Christ should ever have needed to ask whether social involvement was their concern, and that controversy should have blown up over the relationship between evangelism and social responsibility. For it is evident that in his public ministry Jesus both “ went about ….teaching …..and preaching” ( Matthew 4:23; 9:35. RSV). In consequence, ‘ evangelism and social concern have been intimately related to one another throughout the history of the church……

Historians have attributed to John Wesley’s influence rather than any other the fact that Britain was spared the horrors of a bloody revolution like France’s.
The change which came over Britain during this is well documented in J. Wesley Bready’s remarkable book , England before and after Wesley, subtitled The Evangelical Revival and Social Reform. His research forced him to conclude that “ the true nursing-mother of of the spirit and character values that have created and sustained the Free Institutions throughout the English-speaking world”, indeed “ the moral watershed of Anglo-Saxon history”, was “
the much -neglected and oft-lampooned Evangelical Revival”.
Bready describes “ the deep savagery of much of the 18th century, which was characterized by “ the wanton torture of animals for sport, the bestial drunkenness of the population, the inhuman traffic in African negroes, the kidnapping of fellow countrymen for exportation and sale as slaves, the mortality of the parish children, the universal gambling obsession, the savagery of the prison system and penal code, the welter of immorality, the prostitution of the theatre, the growing prevalence of lawlessness, superstition and lewdness; the political bribery and corruption, the ecclesiastical arrogance and truculence, the shallow pretentious of Deism, the insincerity and debasement rampant in Church and State – such manifestations suggest that the British were then perhaps as deeply degraded and debauched as any people in Christendom.
But then things began to change. And in the 19th century the slave trade was abolished, the prison system was humanized, conditions in factory and mine were improved, education became available to the poor, trade unions began, etc., etc.
“ When , then, this pronounced humanity? – this passion for social justice, and sensitivity to human wrongs ? There is but one answer commensurate with stubborn historical truth. It derived from a new social conscience. And if that social conscience, admittedly was the offspring of more than one progenitor, it nonetheless was mothered and nurtured by the Evangelical Revival of viral, practical Christianity – a revival which illumined the central postulates of the New Testament ethic, which made real the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of men, and which directed heart, soul and mind, towards the establishment of the Kingdom of Righteousness on earth.
The Evangelical Revival “ did more to transfigure the moral character of the general populace , than any other movement British history can record”. For Wesley was both a preacher of the gospel and a prophet of social righteousness. He was “ the amen who restored to a nation its soul’.
Comment : Wow! If anyone can not locate the headlines in the Gleaner today, then we are blind.
If anyone can not locate the corruption in politics, the trafficking of human beings, the lewdness of some of the dancehall lyrics, the “ big up your ….. self”, the behavior of the taximen and the coaster drivers, the fascination of and dependence on, Lotto, to “ bruk outta brukness”, and other current social ills, then we have no discernment. The point is that the situation we face in Jamaica is “ nothing new under the sun”, and what God has done elsewhere, He can do for us, right here in Jamaica, under the gun, under corruption, under immorality and under loss of hope. But only in and through Christ and Him Crucified.
In this context then I was led to write to my Church. About ignorance about Who God is. And how should the Church, the body of Christ, function in this society.
THE FIRST EMAIL
The Gospel
Matthew 11:2-11
When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
As I read the Gospel reading for Sunday, the final verse had a lasting impression on me. And the following thoughts came into my head.
John the Baptist is safe in heaven with Jesus. Don’t worry about his salvation. But John was “ born of women”. However, if you recall the narrative leading up to the most famous verse in Scripture, “ For God so loved the world……..not perish but have everlasting life”, John 3:16, “ unless you are born again you cannot enter the kingdom of God”. Born again of the Spirit, a gift given to repentant sinners who believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And even the least of those is greater than anyone who is born “ of women”. Of the flesh. For “ flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of God”.
Why is this important? Read the Gleaner headlines this morning about the continued “ bloodshed following bloodshed in the land….and the land mourns”.
And then consider this passage of Scripture which I was led to read yesterday at 37,000 feet up in the skies as the huge 747 bounced about like a ping pong ball in turbulence caused by wind.
THE WORD OF GOD
“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”
Read it again. The same ( incomparable) power which is available to us who believe, is the same power, the same mighty strength that God used when He raised Jesus from the dead. Isn’t this mind blowing. And this and other passages calmed soul in the midst of danger. Including this other one “ O ye of little faith, why did ye fear”. This as Jesus who was sitting in the boat in the midst of a terrible storm got was awakened by the frightened disciples, spoke Peace to the wind and sea, and “ there was a dead calm”. And so the rest of my trip, thank God was uneventful. But I was left haunted by the words, “ O ye of little faith”.
In addition to which I was also led, in recent times, I always carry my Bible with me when I travel, to “ Without faith it is impossible to please God”.
What’s the connection all of of this to the gospel and the reign of terror in Jamaica?
Those in the kingdom of God, even the least, those who truly believe in that Jesus died for their sins, and was raised from the dead with power, for their sanctification – the gift of the Holy Spirt – are greater than any evil power let loose in the land. And possess the same power to fight against evil that currently stalks the land like a roaring lion, that was used by God to raise Christ from the dead.
So why are the people of the kingdom just as afraid and bemused, and perhaps even helpless, in the struggle to overcome evil in the land.
Only three answers are possible. The fourth one, that all of this is the will of God, does not appeal to me. For Jesus died to “ destroy the works of the devil”.
So we are left with:
• the reality that many Christians don’t fully understand the power that is available in Christ Jesus
• the reality that many Christians don’t fully believe what the Bible says
• that the prayer life of many Christians, and the collective Church, is “weak and faint” according to the hymn writer.
Food for thought isn’t it. The land is mourning because of evil, but also because of unbelief of people who are “ in the kingdom of God”.
Lord renew thy church beginning with me; Lord renew thy church that the church may renew the nation(s). A prayer crafted many years ago for a Decade of Evangelism. And imprinted indelibly in my mind by Bishop Herman of blessed memory. And who famously told us that “ You can’t give what you don’t have”.
So if we lack faith, let us cry out to God for help, like the father whose son was attacked by demons and who cried out, “ Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief”, which was my cry essentially yesterday, as I cried out to the Lord:
“ I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears”. Psalm 34. Listen again to this song which has become my anthem, and remembering it, not the song in and by itself, but the word of God, brought me peace yesterday. In the midst of the storm.

THE SECOND EMAIL
If you have been reading the messages I have been led to send, and I hope you have, the one today will be recognized, as I have, as a direct response to the last one about the power of God which ought to reside in the church to fight against evil.
Read carefully, as I have, and see the “ more and better particulars “ about the antecedents of this wonderful feature of God and His Church. A reflection which I read this morning in my early morning devotions, by opening randomly Chris Tiegreen’s book.
Remember this verse as you read. It came to me as I read past the passage of Scripture which inspired this meditation from Chris Tiegreen:
“ And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God gives to those who obey him”. Acts 5:32. NRSV
THE GOD OF AUTHORITY
Chris Tiegreen
The One Year Wonder of the Cross Devotional
Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.
Acts 5: 16
God has not worked so clearly in every age of church history. We wish the miracles of Acts were an everyday experience, but they are rarer than we hoped. We long for God’s power to be made visible all the time in miraculous ways.
Or do we? We forget that those early days were more than about miracles. Yes, the onlooking world was drawn to Christians, but that was not a one-dimensional attraction. Before the miracles of Acts 5, there was the persecution of Acts 4, and the elimination of Ananias and Sapphira, for their dishonesty before God ( Acts 5:1-11). The believers were in awe of God, not just because He healed a few people, but because His Presence defined their lives. And His Presence was more than a supernatural sideshow; it was holiness and love, power and purpose, an overwhelming sense that they were under authority from above.
We often long for God’s miracles without His holiness and authority. We are on a futile search for a one-sided coin. When God works in our lives, it’s in His complete presence. He doesn’t show up in power without showing up in authority. His love and His holiness are inseparable. If we want God, we have to want all of Him.
If you want to impact your world for the mission of Jesus, don’t forget the terms of the calling. We aren’t simply called to display His power; we are called to represent all of His attributes. In order to do so, we have to live them. In our desire for a miracle-Lord, we have to take the “ Lord” with the miracle-working”. Otherwise we are searching for a God who doesn’t exist. We really want an idol.
Awe and submission are prerequisites to seeing the power of God. And seeing the power of God is a prerequisite to affecting your world for Him. When we respect the progression, God works. He may not work the way we expect Him to – that’s where the awe comes from – but He will work. And it will always , in one way or another, be miraculous.
Obedience is the key to every door – George McDonald.
Lord renew the church beginning with me; Lord renew the church that the church may renew the nation(s).
Peace and in obedience.
LWJ
As I wrote, strains of this song came into my mind: “ Holiness, that’s what I long for……”
THE THIRD AND FINAL EMAIL
Part Two
“For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”
This passage of Scripture above came into my mind today. As it did 37,000 feet up in the air on Wednesday. The point is that, in the context of today’s message, if you believe and the Holy Spirt is with you, if God’s presence is going to define your life, if God’s holiness and love and authority in you leads to the manifestation of His Power, then persecution will follow as night follows day. But thank God for Jesus, so too will consolation. Praise God.
In obedience.
Peace.
LWJ
Comments : No further comments. I rest my case. Jamaica’s future is in the hands of God. Not our political or business or Civic leaders. And the obedient Church is who the Lord has raised up to do His will. Just like John Wesley. To restore to nation its soul.
It’s not often that one comes upon a passage of Scripture, written thousands of years ago, which describes, almost perfectly, our current situation in Jamaica. Think carefully about this Word from Hosea which I was led to read this week:
THE WORD OF GOD
“ Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel,
for the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness of loyalty,
and no knowledge of God in the land.
Swearing, lying and murder,
and stealing and adultery break out;
bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Therefore the land mourns,
and all who live in it languish,
together with the wild animals
and the birds of the air,
even the fish of the sea are
perishing…..
My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4: 1-3 & 6
Think about the Tesha Miller trial and the evil deeds that were highlighted. Think about headlines in the Gleaner last week, about “ Five murders per day”. About the three generations in one family in Portmore who were brutally murdered. About swear words which are used with such facility in our land, and the recent outburst at graduation ; and the subsequent attempt to sanitize the egregiously outta order act and elevate it to the level of art and creativity. The stealing, the level of corruption in high and low and in between ; and not just the constant complaint ( very real and current problem according to my driver who took me to the airport yesterday ) of traffic policemen on the take. Even the environment and the Cockpit country and our endangered reefs and “ parrot fish”, are included. Amazing isn’t it.
But the punchline, and in a sense , this falls squarely in the lap of the church, that all of this is happening, destruction of the land, because of a lack of knowledge of who God is.
So who really is this God that the church ought to “ go tell it on the mountain”?
Let’s listen in to one of the most profound conversations nuthatch ever took place between God and man.
THE WORD OF GOD
On that day, when evening has come, he said to them, “ Let us go across to the other side”. And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on a cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “ Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “ Peace! Be still! “.
Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “ Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”
And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “ Who is then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Mark 35-41.
This question that the disciples posed in exclamation marks, has a prelude and an answer. Both are found in the text. For like many in this current age, those who find it easy to dismiss Christianity, but have a real challenge trying to throw out Jesus with the bath water of Religion also, as they are at the very least fascinated by Him, they have only reached an understanding that He is at best a good Teacher. A good person to follow, and an example of how we should live our lives on this planet. Loving neighbor and reaching out to the poor, and distressed, and marginalized and stigmatized. And the standard bearer, the prime example, in this age, if you will, for all of those on the margins of life, are folks suffering with HIV/AIDS.
But the text does not allow us to romanticize, to rationalize, to lower the bar,so to speak, about who this man was. This man who was asleep and unafraid, unlike the disciples, and unlike so many of us in this age of “ Cry, (for) my beloved country “, in the midst of the storm. For only God Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and the sea, and all, that is within it – a quote from Holy Scripture – can now, and could have then, speak Peace to storms. And there was a dead calm! Don’t forget that part of the story.
And therefore we have to conclude, that Jesus, is not only Teacher, but God with us. Emanuel!
No wonder then, early this morning words from the great Advent hymn came into my consciousness in the midst of my sleep.
“ Rejoice, rejoice, Emanuel shall come to thee, O Israel “.
So two things are in play here. What has the church, through its actions and speech, taught Jamaica about Jesus? Have we demonstrated by faith in the Power of the Holy Sprit, a gift for those who believe in the Crucified and Resurrected Christ, and not just saying the right things, and preaching the correct doctrine, although that is a matter for another blog, that Jesus Christ can speak Peace to any circumstances that manifest themselves as storms in our lives. And in the lives of many who need a Savior, and not just a Teacher!
This is the heart of the problem that we face in Jamaica as Church. And I dare say, it was the same problem in the time of Hosea. For although the priests were accused of having a “ spirit of prostitution “, because they had “ rejected knowledge”, and had “ forgotten the law of your God”, the end result was the same. The people were being destroyed for a lack of knowledge. And so in ancient Israel, so in ‘kartelized ‘ Jamaica. Because the end result of the lack of faith of the Church, in many instances, is that, in addition to the natural tendency for man to be disobedient to God, from Adam and the Fall, people are seeking their “ salvation “ in those and what cannot save them. Like SOE’s and Lotto, and the “ Prosperity Gospel” being advanced by some ( misguided ) pastors. Locally and in foreign!
Remember I said two things. So the first is the storm in the sea story and how that revealed Who Jesus is. God in human form!
The second and related issue, and to which I was led to consider this week, not by chance, but by God’s design, is what is Christ calling us to do. We, and anyone who responds to the call by Jesus, “ to follow Him”, are called primarily, not to fight against the evil that the Tesha Miller case represents, although the effect will help, but we are not to mix results with the mandate, but rather to be reconciling agents of God in this broken world. For ever since, the Fall, and even before, if we read the book of Ephesians carefully, God planned in Jesus, to rescue, to reconcile sinful mankind to Himself. We are therefore, according to Holy Scriptures, “ Christ’s ambassadors”, in this fallen world.
And both are related and interrelated. For it is the same Power of the Holy Spirit, a gift for those who repent, and believe in the Salvation wrought on Calvary by Christ, that we are called to manifest and teach about in our lives, that will enable us to be ministers of the message of reconciliation. That in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself. Form the single greatest need that those with HIV/AIDS, and all “ who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” , the whole world, is the need for forgiveness of sins, even though they may have “ no knowledge of it”, which is essence results in reconciliation.
For people reconciled to God will not behead their neighbor but rather love their neighbor. People reconciled to God in Christ will not, by their behavior, cause stealing and swearing and cause bloodshed to follow bloodshed – and in some cases it’s just a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time with no reason to die. People reconciled to God will not have whole bag a women and cause their wife or spouse pain and heartache – and no, I’m not even going to go down Konschens road. But stay on Emmanuel road. Better sanke. And people reconciled to God will seek to preserve the environment, and not allow important fauna and flora ( not just two lizard, as one politician famously declared derisively), to be destroyed nor our watershed and aquifers.
But this matter of a lack of knowledge of God has another side to it. An important aspect of who this God is. And flying in a huge jet with hundreds of people in it, sometimes requiring two gates to load, at 37,000 feet and in the midst of turbulence, even mild turbulence, will help, along with other disturbing experiences, if undertaken for Christ. Suffering, persecution, trials, sleepless nights, will attend those who follow Christ, the suffering Savior, as the disciple is not above his master. And all we have, and need, and to which passage I was directed across the Atlantic, is “ my grace is suffice to for you, for power is made perfect in weakness”. Gospel truth ! And a reality that cause many to distance themselves from any form of trial in their journey with Christ, as they “ rebuke that sickness from the pit of hell in the name of Jesus “, or that situation. In so doing many individuals and churches miss out on the power that comes because of the persecution or the trial or the misfortune, as long as we are there or the trouble because of our walk with Christ. Follow me! As the plane took off out of Miami, it began to dip and come back a bit, not much, but a little disconcerting. And immediately I said to myself, “ and we have a long way to go to London”. So I located in my “ always near me Bible”, Psalm 34, which version sang by the world famous Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir has become an anthem for me, “ I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears”. So read and prayed,
so done. Not another turbulence for the entire trip. And I have flown across the Atlantic many times, and always, always there is turbulence. But I know that I was going there on God’s business to “ rescue the perishing, across the Commonwealth and Jamaica too” from road fatalities.And so I sought the Lord. And he answered me. Dramatically.
Which then leads to the final question which is at the root of the lack of knowledge as prophesied by Hosea, then, and the reality of what is taking place in our country, if we are willing and humble enough to read beyond the headlines and look for transcendental realities? And not just what the eye can see and the ear hear.
One posed by St. Paul famously in his “ Who has bewitched you “ to the Galatians.
“Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles am on you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard.”Galatians 3: 5
Do we expect God to be a miracle working God in the 21st Century? Or are we just satisfied with part of the song by Sinach, the famous gospel singer when she declares that God is “ a promise keeper, way maker , and light in the darkness, and leave out miracle worker?
For if we, as Christians do not believe that we serve a God who can “ make the way straight “ from #BullbaytoSixmiles, and in any other area in Jamaica where so much suffering takes place, where despite adverse circumstances so much good resides, alongside the bad, then we believe in the wrong God, or as St. Paul, implies we have not believed what we have been told.
And therefore the land mourns. Jamaica land we love! For only a belief in the God, whom we are told in the book of Ephesians, to which passage I was led to read at 37000 feet up in the air, “ and what is the immeasurable greatness of the his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him in at his right hand in heavenly places ….” can save Jamaica “ I can “ from being destroyed.
For listen up folks, Dudus and Tesha Miller and the “ world boss” , Adi, are bad guys, but there is much worse and we cannot begin to imagine the power and influence they have as it took the death of Christ to conquer evil which has not yet been accepted by evil: “ For our struggle is not against enemies of flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against authorities, against cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Ephesians 5:12
As I close, spare a thought and remember to pray for the people of Afghanistan. My Uber drive is an Afghan now living in London. And is afraid to go back. Such is the condition there after 50 years of war in which the Saudis and Iran have payed a major hand : and also the Russians and the USA, who he claims have an interest in the Uranium which is their natural product. And the final quote from the passage posted on Facebook which capture some of the issues highlighted in this message tells us why. We are all in this thing together under One God. But many don’t know Him well, or at all. And so bloodshed follows bloodshed everywhere.
Facebook
Concerned about Jamaica and its crime problem! Impeachment in America, war in Syria, and Turkey, political unrest in Dominica, never ending war between Israel and the the Palestinians, trouble in the DRC, UK and Brexit, trials In Venezuela. “ Tribal war inna Babylon”! You are in good company.
A RECONCILING VIEW – CHRIS TIEGEN
From now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. 2. Cor. 5:16
……According to God there are two kinds of people in the world: those who are in Christ and those who are not. Those who are in Christ are one with us – no distinction of language, economy, race, gender, or heritage. We are united in a common Savior. Those who are not in Christ are sought by God. And if they are sought by God, they ought to be sought by God’s ministers of reconciliation.
If you are a Christian, then you are a minister of reconciliation. It’s your calling to go to the people God seeks. There are no biblical distinctions between them. Jew, Greek, black, white, male, female, rich poor -all are sought by God ( and in our context, my words, those with HIV/AIDS, the LGBT community, mentioned because of the stigma attached ). You may be more effective among some, but all are potential believers. God wants reconciliation with everyone. And Gods point of view is to be ours.
His love enables me to call every county my country, and every man my brother – Daniel Wheeler.
danielgodsurelywilldeliver 