I read my newspapers to see what men are doing; and read my Bible to see what men ought to do – A Saint of yore.

MY NEWSPAPERS

“MIAMI (AP) — The premier of the British Virgin Islands appeared in federal court in Miami on Friday after his arrest on cocaine smuggling charges.

At the same time, Britain’s governor of the Caribbean territory announced that a corruption inquiry found ample reason to suspend the islands’ elected government.

The arrest of Premier Andrew Alturo Fahie, 51, in Florida prompted the UK-appointed governor of the British Virgin Islands to release a damning report Friday from a probe into separate wide-ranging allegations of corruption….”  Extract from The  Daily Gleaner.

The revelation this week that a sitting head of Government in the Carribbean, in the Brtish Virgin Islands to be exact, sent shock waves throughout the region. And based on the  social media led interconnectivity, this damming news no doubt spread across the entire world in minutes. To read about it is one thing but to hear the riveting and sordid details read out on radio was quite another matter. To hear that Premier behaved like a common criminal, and led down the proverbial garden path on account of greed and lust – I must have it all now and to hell with consequences- was mind blowing. How could he? What kind of society throws up, and allows such wantoness to assume the highest office of the land – well, just below Her Majesty? Is the whole nation corrupt? How do you rescue such a society?

All kinds of question come to mind, and if you take a long view history, questions which have occupied the minds of well thinking individuals over the centuries. More recently Donald Trump after his self reported ” frontal attack on women”  was elected President of the USA. Tricky Dicky, the sobriquet which attached itself to President Richard Nixon, even before he was unceremoniously booted out of office for his role in the Watergate Scandal. The many kleptomaniacs, masquerading as heads of state, who have looted the treasury in Africa, and contributed to ” How Europe underdeveloped Africa ” ( Walter Rodney). And even now the oligarch of all oligarchs, Putin, head of state in Russia, making life a hell for the people Ukraine, with no one, so far, brave enough to stop him. Except the God who reading

MY BIBLE – reveals. And who one fine day will put an end to all despots, and those who have raped the treasury of their countries and made life hell for the poor and disenfranchised.

This week I was led to write letters to my church, and to the state, about the need to depend on God, and God alone. A message that ought to be reminder for the church but perhaps a challenge for a powerful institution elected by the people to rule.

FIRST EMAIL

I have inserted the cartoon above,  featuring my friend and classmate, Minister Horace Chang, who Clovis has decided to lampoon this morning. Not because I am in agreement with his  characterization, but on account of a reminder from the Lord, through one of his ‘ prophets’ that only God has the answer to our problems. And the sooner we admit it and seek his intervention, the better for us as individuals and as a nation, and indeed a world.

This morning as I began my early morning devotions, in fact from last night during a very fruitful discussion with four men of God including three Pastors, about the state of our nation and the existential challenge that our high murder rate poses, a prayer of the late Rev. Peter Marshall came to mind. 

Peter Marshall emigrated, like so many others in that era, to the USA from Scotland. And under God’s guidance and direction he pastored one of the largest churches in Washington D.C. and became the Chaplain to the United States Senate. 

History records, primarily ( shades of Oswald Chambers) through the efforts of his wife Catherine, that he prayed for this august body during one of the most challenging periods of world history. Marshall served the Senate for two years until he died in 1949. World War 11 ended in 1945, so his prayer, which came to mind, addressed not the efforts to defeat the evil that Hitler and the Nazis, posed. But most certainly the post war reconstruction efforts to which the US was called upon to be a major player. And perhaps looking ahead with a hope that ” never again” should evil of such magnitude be allowed to emerge on the world scene. 

The parallel to our situation here in Jamaica is multilayered and nuanced , as ours is both a, developing, and developed, story. This as bloodshed follows bloodshed, as prophesied centuries ago to a people accused of :

” There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land…..only cursing, lying and murder, they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed”. Hosea 4:1-2 NIV.

I suppose some would argue that, the situation, on account of the ministry of the church in this age, is far removed from the charge of apostasy leveled at Israel. But I would suggest that the root cause of Israel’s problems ” my people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge ” is a matter that ought to concentrate our minds fully, rather than mount a defense of the church’s ministry. A reality which provoked a commonly shared sentiment last night, ” How have we ( as church) allowed this ( madness and evil) to happen “. Right around, in some cases, the church building! 

It is in this context then, of a grave problem facing our nation and the eternal message from the Lord, that , ” Unless the Lord watches over the city the watchmen stand guard in vain “, that I am led to share this prayer from ” A Man Called Peter”. A Pastor and a man of God.

FOR GOD’S GRACE IN OUR HELPLESSNESS 

Peter Marshall

Verse: Judges 7: 2 ” The Lord said to Gideon, ” You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her.

We know, our Father, that at this desperate hour in world affairs, we need thee. We need thy strength, thy guidance, thy wisdom. 

May thy wisdom and thy power come upon on the President ( Prime Minister of Jamaica) of these United States, the Senators and Congressmen ( The Upper and Lower House in Jamaica) , to whom have been entrusted leadership. 

May the responsibility lie heavily on their hearts, until they are ready to acknowledge their helplessness and turn to thee. Give to them the honesty, the courage, and the moral integrity to confess that they don’t know what to do. Only then can they lead this us as a nation beyond human wisdom to thee, who alone hast the answer.

Lead us to this high adventure. Remind us that a ” mighty fortress is our God” – not a hiding place where we can escape for a easy life, but rather an arsenal of courage and strength – the mightiest of all, who will march beside us into the battle for righteousness and world brotherhood.

O our God, may we never recover from our feeling of helplessness and our need of thee ! In the strong name of Jesus, our Lord, we pray. Amen

Good and gracious Lord, hear our prayer and renew thy church by reminding us of our helplessness before thee. And that only in and through Christ and Him Crucified can we renew a nation lost in sin and shame. To your glory and honor that no one should boast against thee that their own power and might has saved them. 

Peace and in obedience 

LWJ 

SECOND EMAIL

Yesterday at work, one of my patients, whose husband is a pastor, asked me ( she receives and reads the weekly blog) if I believe in ( divine) healing. After I assured her that I most certainly did, she lamented that some churches are of the view that such supernatural events happened in the past,  but was no longer in this age a  part of the Christian experience. So I told her that anyone who believes in a Risen Lord ought to believe in miracles.

Then this morning the Lord woke me up at 5:30, a bit unusual, so I was tempted to enjoy the sleep a bit longer, but eventually got up to read what ” Christ the King, my everything… I give myself to you ( wonderful song on YouTube which came into my mind) had to say to me.

And what He had to say took me right back to yesterday’s message. About Gideon!
You recall that the angel came and spoke to Gideon. And the rest as they say is history. The kind of history which inspired the Zonderan Publishing House, to insert in my Classics Devotional Bible, a devotion from, A Man Called Peter, right beside this Word of God. So that years later a nation of once enslaved people ( the majority) may reflect on the following.

That in the same way, and this is what the Lord just placed in my head), that Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, so too  were our forebears sold into slavery by their brothers. And in the same way, ” they meant it for evil”, and evil it was, a ” descreable act according to John Wesley”, and our colonial masters stand equally  accused of this wickedness, ” God meant it for good”.

The full explanation, the complete revelation, of this parallel between the children of Israel and the people of this nation was not part of the conversation with the Lord  this morning. So I go no further with that intriguing question. But what I do know on reading the context, the story leading up to God using Gideon, at that hour, to rescue his people, to ” heal the land”, in a way that the recipients of his grace would be fully aware of his mercy and not their strength, is that like us in Jamaica, the called out people of God, then, had turned away from obeying His commands. And so the story unfolded in this manner:

Judges 2:10-16, 18-19 (KJV)  And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:
And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.
And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.
And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.”

The huge difference between the experience of the children of Israel, rescued from slavery by the mighty hand of God, and then from the Midianites, another type of enslavement, is that Gideon and Deborah and other Judges who God used at that time, with temporary effect, is that they all died. But in 

experience of the children of Israel, rescued from slavery by the mighty hand of God, and then from the Midianites, another type of enslavement, is that Gideon and Deborah and other Judges who God used at that time, with temporary effect, is that they all died. But in our case,  the Puppa Jesus loved and obeyed by our emancipated slave forebears, and which love and commitment to righteousness and justice, was the author of a once peaceful and gracious people, this Judge is Risen from the dead.
I am tempted to go further. But that’s the end of this message. At least for now. So that I as a writer,  may decrease,  and our understanding of the power and grace and mercy, available to all who obey, of the Living God as fully manifested in Christ The King, my everything, I give myself to you, may increase.
Peace and in obedience
LWJ

Risen and Ascended Lord Jesus, and soon coming Judge, we pray you as you reveal yourself to us through your Word, to renew your Church through this same Word. Renew your church Lord in the same way you told Peter who wished to have not just his feet washed, but his entire body, that they were already clean because of the Words you had given to them. And as you renew us your Body, we pray that we may help to rescue a nation, a generation who know neither you nor what you did for our forebears, and because of this lack of knowledge our people are perishing. And the land mourns as bloodshed follows bloodshed. Mercy Lord. Mercy. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 

THE THIRD AND FINAL EMAIL

Last night my song in the night was ” Christ the King, my everything”. Then this morning as I began my early morning devotions, and turning the pages of my Classics Devotional Bible to the Gospel reading for Sunday, to prepare a Sermon for a Service in an Inner City Community, Bonhoeffer appeared.

Now, as many of you would know, this much revered Christian theologian died at the hands of the Nazis a few months before the end of the war. His crime? Plotting to kill Hitler is the official report! But those of us who have read about him, above and beyond what the movie Valrykie sought to portray, is that Bonhoeffer put his life on the line in defense of Christ and Him Crucified. And was an integral part of what he termed  the Confessing church vis a vis the “church ” which gave succor to Hitler and his idea of a Third Reich and Ayran purity. A philosophy which led to the ” extermination of the Jews”, and the loss of millions of lives during World War 11.  The consequences of which evil are still alive and well with us to this very day in Ukraine and Russia.
All of which leads us back to the pastor, one of the three with whom I met this week, and mentioned in the first message and his lament: “How did  all of this ( this murder and murder most foul ) happen right around the church; literally, in his case”?
In the context of the message from Bonhoeffer which I am led to share with Church and State this morning, the Word is that, as has been stated elsewhere referencing the ” salt and light” metaphor, when a society goes bad, at the very least, the church has to shoulder some of the blame. And I would argue,  based on how this message has developed, that the root of it all, the mischief, is a church and a society and its leaders, in both Church and State, who have developed for themselves an ” improvement ” of what it means to follow Christ. And like elsewhere,  as history records, starting with the immature disciple  Peter who famously  attempted to prevent Jesus from going to the Cross,  such ” improvement ” is to be regarded as coming from the devil himself. And inevitably is attended by a society that ” no longer even knows how to blush”. This  as moral confusion sets in, and the land mourns, as murder follows murder. Right outside the church gates!
So let us be very careful when we ask God to bless Jamaica land we love. As ultimately the blessing of God for all mankind is The Crucified, Risen, Ascended, ever interceeding, and soon coming Christ. As Judge! Who is the One that the Confessing Church ought to proclaim in season and out of season. Regardless and to whomsoever! And if persecution comes. Glory to God.

A TRUE RELATION WITH CHRIST

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Verse: Matthew 9:9

When we are called to follow Christ, we are summoned to an exclusive attachment to this person. The grace of his call bursts all the bonds of legalism. It is a gracious call, a gracious commandment. It transcends the difference between the law and the gospel. Christ calls, the disciple follows; that is grace and commandment in one.  ” I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts “. Psalm 119:45.

Discipleship means adherence to Christ, and because Christ is the object of that  adherence, it must take the form of disciplesip. An abstract Christology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge on the subject of grace or on the forgiveness of sins, render disciplesip superfluous, and in  fact they positively exclude any idea of disciplesip whatever, and are essentially inimical to the whole conception of following Christ. With an abstract idea it is possible to enter into a relationship of formal knowledge, to become enthusiastic about it, and perhaps even to put it into practice; but it can never be followed in personal obedience.

Christianity without the living Christ is essentially Christianity without disciplesip, and Christianity without it  is always Christianity without Christ.  It remains an abstract idea, a myth which has a place for the Fatherhood of God, but omits Christ as the living Son. And Christianity of that kind is nothing more or less than the end of disciplesip. In such a religion there is trust in God, but no following of Christ. Because the Son of God became man, because he is the mediator, for that reason alone the only true relation we can have with him is to follow him. Disciplesip is  bound to Christ as the mediator,  and where it is properly understood, it necessarily implies faith in the Son of God as the mediator. Only the  mediator, the God-man, can call men to follow him.

Comments. None really! There is of course a lot to unpack here. But not by me. In fact as I wrote and reflected at the same time, the temptation, to behave like a Pentecostal preacher ” Am I talking to somebody here”, came to mind.  But I resisted for very good Biblical reasons.

And so we pray:
Lord Jesus Christ Son of the Living God, we pray that you may renew those whom you have called, equipped with your Word,  and empowered by your Holy Spirit. We pray that a church renewed by  its obedience to the call to be your disciples, may be salt and light in this dark and corrupt world, and rescue people in nations where murder follows murder and where  the land  mourns. Helplessly. And without a basis for the hope that we have. ” Christ in you the hope of glory”.
Peace and in obedience.
LWJ 

I read my newspapers to see what men are doing; and read my Bible to see what men ought to do – A Saint of yore

This week, one phrase from the story featured below, stayed with me and disturbed my soul deeply. ” Him gone ( just) like that”. The storyline, writ large, for over one thousand Jamaican families, year after, year, after year, for many sad years now. This as Jamaica, land we love, has become one of the murder capitals of the world. And collectively as a nation we have absolutely no idea, despite many valiant attempts to stop the killings, and killers, how to solve this existential problem.

‘Him gone like that’

Him gone like that,” the elderly woman lamented on Thursday, hours after her grandson, 27-year-old beekeeper Tavaris Stephens, and three-year-old Kamoil Williams had been shot dead by criminals travelling in a Toyota Axio motor car.

It is against this background that I believe I was led to write to my church, in obedience, and as inspired by what I read in the Bible this week.

FIRST LETTER

The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I recall, very vividly, a former Pastor, and Lecturer at UTC, Rev. David Kuck, posing a question in a sermon, and then providing a very, in my view, profound answer himself. ” What happens after Easter”? And the answer: ” We go back to Good Friday”.
Which is exactly what happened in the wonderful teaching sermon yesterday. Back to Good Friday to ponder more deeply, for the first time for some, or once again for others, what exactly does Tetelestai mean. What was finished on Calvary? What was achieved by Christ’s Mission on earth, which based on evidence offered up by Christ at the Last Supper on the night before he died, John Stott the famous theologian, suggests that this Mission was completed in Christ’s final three hours on earth?

What stood out for me, in addition to the fundamental issue of ” forgiveness of sins”, the penalty for which Sin is death, and Christ’s shed blood paid that penalty, was the revelation, also made by John Stott in a book about which I shared some notes, that in Christ and Him Crucified we have a new status in this life on earth. Being heirs and coheirs with Christ. There is more, but we can start there, in fashioning a response to the probing implied question in the Collect above.

“Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith”.

For the reality is that a redeemed child of God cannot show forth in his or her life, what is the will of God, unless they have a clear understanding of what they profess by their faith.

So what really does it mean to be a coheir with Christ here on earth? And how is this new status to be manifested in our lives.

I suggest that we examine very carefully the context provided for Romans 8:17. The text leading up to the revelation about our new status, shows that it is those who are led by the Spirit of God who are sons of God. And therefore coheirs with the Son of God. Vis a vis those who continue to live according to the ( old) sinful nature. And the one thing that is mentioned in this context, although there are many others revealed elsewhere in Holy Scripture, is that we did not receive a spirit that leads to fear, but One which leads to sonship. And by which new status we are privileged to call God, ” Abba”. The same term Jesus uses.

So if we are faithful to the text brought to us in the context of the sermon yesterday. and the Collect for next Sunday, we can say with assurance that being coheirs with Christ means that we should no longer live fearful lives, in the midst of trials and stresses, but be of good courage as the Holy Spirit is with us, in us, and is working his purpose through us.

Further, if we examine the text after Roman’s 8: 17, we find a startling and for some a troubling revelation. Troubling, however, only if we forget that under no circumstances should we be fearful as children of God.
So if we are heirs and coheirs with Christ, we will also share in his suffering – troubling for some ; and his glory – startling for all us if we really understand what that means here on earth as it will be heaven. Always remember that ” Christ though he was a Son, learnt obedience by what he suffered”. This as we will all go through some measure, according to God’s will and purpose, of suffering if we are indeed coheirs with Christ. Some less, some more. That’s up to God alone. But be assured that with suffering comes obedience and glory and power to do God’s will on earth.

There is one more thing as we consider what is means to have a new status and to be heirs and coheirs with Christ. And look a bit further after Romans 8:17. That the very liberation of creation awaits the glory that will be revealed in us. And brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We who are now in Christ, and set free by the shed blood of Christ and Him Crucified.
Clearly this is more that we can manage to understand and contemplate here. But the implications of that event which has set us free from Sin and death and Evil, and was declared to be ” Tetelestai “, is literally out of this world.

Therefore we ought not to look at any child of God lightly anymore, nor regard ourselves lightly anymore, as we show forth in our lives what we ( ought to) confess by our faith. Our faith that we are heirs and coheirs with Christ as we seek, as Easter people, to rescue the perishing and search for the lost and bind up the wounded, and fight valiantly against Satan. With supernatural power! And this we confess because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ told us on the Cross that ” Tetelestai “.

I pray God that in and through the finished work of Christ and Him Crucified on Calvary, he may renew the church daily, with his sanctifying Spirit, so that the renewed church may renew the nation(s), still living by the sinful nature and wreaking havoc in the world.

In obedience.
Peace.
LWJ

SECOND LETTER

Going back to the Cross can mean different things to different people. But on this matter of a new status, a new identity, a gift offered on Good Friday, as church we need to in one accord.

That’s why I don’t believe it is by coincidence that last night’s bedtime reading of Chris Tigreen’s The One Year Wonder of the Cross Devotional, went like this , in part:

THE HOLY ONES

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. 1 Peter 2:9

IN WORD

The new community in Christ has a new identity. We aren’t just people who have made a religious decision or aligned ourselves with a social movement. We aren’t an organization or an institution. We are a people hand-selected by God to be like Him – to be different, to be holy.

That’s how the early believers saw themselves, and Apostles like Peter helped cultivate this sense of identity. It was important to understand that this community was not just a religious movement but a new kind of humanity. There was no room for any sense of superiority – anyone who believed could join this new creation. No, it was a humbling calling and a sacred indentity. The children of God had been born. The world had never seen anything like this.

That’s our identity too. We forget it often, seeing ourselves simply as believers, or churchgoers, or evangelicals. We are characterized by our society as a subculture or a social sector. We have been explained in psychological, sociological, and historical terms, as one religious movement among the many that the world has known ( see Dr. Garth Rattay’s column in the Daily Gleaner today and the writings of misguided ” believers ” on Facebook).
But in our hearts we have to go beyond those designations. We have to understand that the life we live is humanity fulfilled, a completion of what was lacking, and a restoration of what was lost with the first ( original….my word) sin. We are unlike any other human being. We are born of God’s Spirit.

IN DEED

Do you believe that? Let it sink in………

Prayer: Mighty and everliving God, we pray that you may renew your church, by convicting your called out people, by the power of your Holy Spirit, of their new identity in Christ and Him Crucified. We pray you then O Mighty God, that your renewed church, filled with your Holy Spirit may wage war against evil in this land. Waging war not with the weapons of this world, but with weapons that have divine power to demolish strongholds. Demolishing Strongholds in the church that keep your redeemed people from claiming the power of their new identity. And demolishing Strongholds that prevent non-believers from loving the Light who has come into the world, but choose to remain loving the darkness because thier deeds are evil. John 3: 19 -20. NIV.
Peace and in obedience on this night, the second one in Easter Week. To the glory of God and for the renewal of the Church.
LWJ

THIRD LETTER

The Psalm
Psalm 118:14-29
Confitemini Domino

14 The Lord is my strength and my song, *
and he has become my salvation.

15 There is a sound of exultation and victory *
in the tents of the righteous:

16 “The right hand of the Lord has triumphed! *
the right hand of the Lord is exalted!
the right hand of the Lord has triumphed!”

17 I shall not die, but live, *
and declare the works of the Lord.

18 The Lord has punished me sorely, *
but he did not hand me over to death.

19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; *
I will enter them;
I will offer thanks to the Lord.

20 “This is the gate of the Lord; *
he who is righteous may enter.”

21 I will give thanks to you, for you answered me *
and have become my salvation.

22 The same stone which the builders rejected *
has become the chief cornerstone.

23 This is the Lord’S doing, *
and it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 On this day the Lord has acted; *
we will rejoice and be glad in it.

25 Hosannah, Lord, hosannah! *
Lord, send us now success.

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; *
we bless you from the house of the Lord.

27 God is the Lord; he has shined upon us; *
form a procession with branches up to the horns of the altar.

28 “You are my God, and I will thank you; *
you are my God, and I will exalt you.”

29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; *
his mercy endures for ever.

The first of two Psalms, above, and appointed for the Second Sunday in Easter, evokes memories of the revelation shared by another Word which has been a source of comfort for many believers over the years, including Martin Luther King Jr: though weeping may come at night, joy ( surely) cometh in the morning.

This, as the “same stone that the builders rejected”, the commands of God that the Israelites ignored and disobeyed and which action led to their exile in Babylon, in that hour of exaltation, when this same God, in his mercy, brought them back to Jerusalem, the Psalmist declared: has ( in Christ Jesus….looking ahead prophetically to the Mighty Salvation sung by John the Baptist’s father in The Benedictus) become the chief cornerstone.

The mindset, the spiritual reality that we who weep for our country daily, because of murder and murder most foul, and now a teenager and her grandmother swept away by raging waters, must constantly encourage, is that one fine day, joy is going to come in the morning in this same country. The same one that, in its mad rush to achieve economic prosperity, collectively and individually, in its mad rush to be unfettered by anyone claiming to have authority – in the home, in the school, in the community, and even in the church – in our mad rush to preserve our cultural indentity in our music and in the arts, and in our mad rush on the streets going helter skelter, to, God He alone knows where, we as a society have in great measure rejected the Word of God.

But as the hymn writer inspired by the Word of God, reaffirms that one day ” the earth will be filled with the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea”.

I close with an extract from a meditation from Martin Luther King jnr on this matter of faith in the goodness of God.

HE WHO TURNS BLACKNESS INTO DAWN

Verse Amos. 5: 8.

Midnight ( and in this context it’s past midnight in Jamaica, and in America and Ukraine, and for some of us in our personal lives) is a confusing hour when it is difficult to be faithful. The most inspiring word that the church may speak is that no midnight long remains…….Our eternal message of hope is that dawn will come

Our slave foreparents realized this. They were never unmindful of the fact of midnight, for always, there was the rawhide whip of the overseer and the auction block where families were torn asunder to remind them of its reality……..

Encompassed by a staggering midnight but believing that morning would come, they sang:

I’m so glad trouble don’t last alway.

O my Lord, O my Lord, what shall I do ( anybody feel like crying).

Their positive belief in the dawn was the growing edge of the hope that the slaves faithful amidst the most barren and tragic circumstances.

Faith in dawn arises from the faith that God is good and just. When one believes this, he knows that the contradictions of life are neither final nor ultimate. He can walk through the dark night and radiant conviction that all things work for the good for those that love God. Even the most starless midnight may herald the dawn of some great fulfillment.

Comment. Not much needs to be said. Nuh say nutten, the street talk says it all. Respect due to MLK Jr. And glory to God. All because of Tetelestai. All done.

May the God of all comfort and mercy, whose love for his creation, fully expressed in Christ and Him Crucified, is new every morning and of whose faithfulness the songwriter reminds us ‘ there is no shadow of change”, may this God renew his church. So that his renewed church can with power assure our weeping country, through Word and action and acts of mercy, that one day, one fine day, rejoicing will come at dawn. To the glory of this God and the salvation of this troubled land.

Peace and in obedience
LWJ

FINAL NOTE
https://youtu.be/h1c3m8mRb8g

And as I knelt down to pray and give thanks to this faithful God, and that my whole life might bring him honor, this song above entered my mind. So I got up in obedience to copy and share with you, and listen again. One more time! For it is not only about the words that we speak, or the songs that we sing, but in ” all that I do”, that may be pleasing to this God of mercy. This holy God. This God who in Christ Jesus died for me. All that I do and think. Glory!
Ain’t no rock…..ain’t no bird….ain’t no tree…..as long as I am alive to praise his holy name. They call Him Jesus…..
Show quoted text

I read my newspapers to see what men are doing; and read my Bible to see what men ought to do – A Saint of yore

This week, one phrase from the story featured below, stayed with me and disturbed my soul deeply. ” Him gone ( just) like that”. The storyline, writ large, for over one thousand Jamaican families, year after, year, after year, for many sad years now. This as Jamaica, land we love, has become one of the murder capitals of the world. And collectively as a nation we have absolutely no idea, despite many valiant attempts to stop the killings, and killers, how to solve this existential problem.

‘Him gone like that’

Him gone like that,” the elderly woman lamented on Thursday, hours after her grandson, 27-year-old beekeeper Tavaris Stephens, and three-year-old Kamoil Williams had been shot dead by criminals travelling in a Toyota Axio motor car.

It is against this background that I believe I was led to write to my church, in obedience, and as inspired by what I read in the Bible this week.

FIRST LETTER

The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I recall, very vividly, a former Pastor, and Lecturer at UTC, Rev. David Kuck, posing a question in a sermon, and then providing a very, in my view, profound answer himself. ” What happens after Easter”? And the answer: ” We go back to Good Friday”.
Which is exactly what happened in the wonderful teaching sermon yesterday. Back to Good Friday to ponder more deeply, for the first time for some, or once again for others, what exactly does Tetelestai mean. What was finished on Calvary? What was achieved by Christ’s Mission on earth, which based on evidence offered up by Christ at the Last Supper on the night before he died, John Stott the famous theologian, suggests that this Mission was completed in Christ’s final three hours on earth?

What stood out for me, in addition to the fundamental issue of ” forgiveness of sins”, the penalty for which Sin is death, and Christ’s shed blood paid that penalty, was the revelation, also made by John Stott in a book about which I shared some notes, that in Christ and Him Crucified we have a new status in this life on earth. Being heirs and coheirs with Christ. There is more, but we can start there, in fashioning a response to the probing implied question in the Collect above.

“Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith”.

For the reality is that a redeemed child of God cannot show forth in his or her life, what is the will of God, unless they have a clear understanding of what they profess by their faith.

So what really does it mean to be a coheir with Christ here on earth? And how is this new status to be manifested in our lives.

I suggest that we examine very carefully the context provided for Romans 8:17. The text leading up to the revelation about our new status, shows that it is those who are led by the Spirit of God who are sons of God. And therefore coheirs with the Son of God. Vis a vis those who continue to live according to the ( old) sinful nature. And the one thing that is mentioned in this context, although there are many others revealed elsewhere in Holy Scripture, is that we did not receive a spirit that leads to fear, but One which leads to sonship. And by which new status we are privileged to call God, ” Abba”. The same term Jesus uses.

So if we are faithful to the text brought to us in the context of the sermon yesterday. and the Collect for next Sunday, we can say with assurance that being coheirs with Christ means that we should no longer live fearful lives, in the midst of trials and stresses, but be of good courage as the Holy Spirit is with us, in us, and is working his purpose through us.

Further, if we examine the text after Roman’s 8: 17, we find a startling and for some a troubling revelation. Troubling, however, only if we forget that under no circumstances should we be fearful as children of God.
So if we are heirs and coheirs with Christ, we will also share in his suffering – troubling for some ; and his glory – startling for all us if we really understand what that means here on earth as it will be heaven. Always remember that ” Christ though he was a Son, learnt obedience by what he suffered”. This as we will all go through some measure, according to God’s will and purpose, of suffering if we are indeed coheirs with Christ. Some less, some more. That’s up to God alone. But be assured that with suffering comes obedience and glory and power to do God’s will on earth.

There is one more thing as we consider what is means to have a new status and to be heirs and coheirs with Christ. And look a bit further after Romans 8:17. That the very liberation of creation awaits the glory that will be revealed in us. And brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We who are now in Christ, and set free by the shed blood of Christ and Him Crucified.
Clearly this is more that we can manage to understand and contemplate here. But the implications of that event which has set us free from Sin and death and Evil, and was declared to be ” Tetelestai “, is literally out of this world.

Therefore we ought not to look at any child of God lightly anymore, nor regard ourselves lightly anymore, as we show forth in our lives what we ( ought to) confess by our faith. Our faith that we are heirs and coheirs with Christ as we seek, as Easter people, to rescue the perishing and search for the lost and bind up the wounded, and fight valiantly against Satan. With supernatural power! And this we confess because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ told us on the Cross that ” Tetelestai “.

I pray God that in and through the finished work of Christ and Him Crucified on Calvary, he may renew the church daily, with his sanctifying Spirit, so that the renewed church may renew the nation(s), still living by the sinful nature and wreaking havoc in the world.

In obedience.
Peace.
LWJ

SECOND LETTER

Going back to the Cross can mean different things to different people. But on this matter of a new status, a new identity, a gift offered on Good Friday, as church we need to in one accord.

That’s why I don’t believe it is by coincidence that last night’s bedtime reading of Chris Tigreen’s The One Year Wonder of the Cross Devotional, went like this , in part:

THE HOLY ONES

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. 1 Peter 2:9

IN WORD

The new community in Christ has a new identity. We aren’t just people who have made a religious decision or aligned ourselves with a social movement. We aren’t an organization or an institution. We are a people hand-selected by God to be like Him – to be different, to be holy.

That’s how the early believers saw themselves, and Apostles like Peter helped cultivate this sense of identity. It was important to understand that this community was not just a religious movement but a new kind of humanity. There was no room for any sense of superiority – anyone who believed could join this new creation. No, it was a humbling calling and a sacred indentity. The children of God had been born. The world had never seen anything like this.

That’s our identity too. We forget it often, seeing ourselves simply as believers, or churchgoers, or evangelicals. We are characterized by our society as a subculture or a social sector. We have been explained in psychological, sociological, and historical terms, as one religious movement among the many that the world has known ( see Dr. Garth Rattay’s column in the Daily Gleaner today and the writings of misguided ” believers ” on Facebook).
But in our hearts we have to go beyond those designations. We have to understand that the life we live is humanity fulfilled, a completion of what was lacking, and a restoration of what was lost with the first ( original….my word) sin. We are unlike any other human being. We are born of God’s Spirit.

IN DEED

Do you believe that? Let it sink in………

Prayer: Mighty and everliving God, we pray that you may renew your church, by convicting your called out people, by the power of your Holy Spirit, of their new identity in Christ and Him Crucified. We pray you then O Mighty God, that your renewed church, filled with your Holy Spirit may wage war against evil in this land. Waging war not with the weapons of this world, but with weapons that have divine power to demolish strongholds. Demolishing Strongholds in the church that keep your redeemed people from claiming the power of their new identity. And demolishing Strongholds that prevent non-believers from loving the Light who has come into the world, but choose to remain loving the darkness because thier deeds are evil. John 3: 19 -20. NIV.
Peace and in obedience on this night, the second one in Easter Week. To the glory of God and for the renewal of the Church.
LWJ

THIRD LETTER

The Psalm
Psalm 118:14-29
Confitemini Domino

14 The Lord is my strength and my song, *
and he has become my salvation.

15 There is a sound of exultation and victory *
in the tents of the righteous:

16 “The right hand of the Lord has triumphed! *
the right hand of the Lord is exalted!
the right hand of the Lord has triumphed!”

17 I shall not die, but live, *
and declare the works of the Lord.

18 The Lord has punished me sorely, *
but he did not hand me over to death.

19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; *
I will enter them;
I will offer thanks to the Lord.

20 “This is the gate of the Lord; *
he who is righteous may enter.”

21 I will give thanks to you, for you answered me *
and have become my salvation.

22 The same stone which the builders rejected *
has become the chief cornerstone.

23 This is the Lord’S doing, *
and it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 On this day the Lord has acted; *
we will rejoice and be glad in it.

25 Hosannah, Lord, hosannah! *
Lord, send us now success.

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; *
we bless you from the house of the Lord.

27 God is the Lord; he has shined upon us; *
form a procession with branches up to the horns of the altar.

28 “You are my God, and I will thank you; *
you are my God, and I will exalt you.”

29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; *
his mercy endures for ever.

The first of two Psalms, above, and appointed for the Second Sunday in Easter, evokes memories of the revelation shared by another Word which has been a source of comfort for many believers over the years, including Martin Luther King Jr: though weeping may come at night, joy ( surely) cometh in the morning.

This, as the “same stone that the builders rejected”, the commands of God that the Israelites ignored and disobeyed and which action led to their exile in Babylon, in that hour of exaltation, when this same God, in his mercy, brought them back to Jerusalem, the Psalmist declared: has ( in Christ Jesus….looking ahead prophetically to the Mighty Salvation sung by John the Baptist’s father in The Benedictus) become the chief cornerstone.

The mindset, the spiritual reality that we who weep for our country daily, because of murder and murder most foul, and now a teenager and her grandmother swept away by raging waters, must constantly encourage, is that one fine day, joy is going to come in the morning in this same country. The same one that, in its mad rush to achieve economic prosperity, collectively and individually, in its mad rush to be unfettered by anyone claiming to have authority – in the home, in the school, in the community, and even in the church – in our mad rush to preserve our cultural indentity in our music and in the arts, and in our mad rush on the streets going helter skelter, to, God He alone knows where, we as a society have in great measure rejected the Word of God.

But as the hymn writer inspired by the Word of God, reaffirms that one day ” the earth will be filled with the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea”.

I close with an extract from a meditation from Martin Luther King jnr on this matter of faith in the goodness of God.

HE WHO TURNS BLACKNESS INTO DAWN

Verse Amos. 5: 8.

Midnight ( and in this context it’s past midnight in Jamaica, and in America and Ukraine, and for some of us in our personal lives) is a confusing hour when it is difficult to be faithful. The most inspiring word that the church may speak is that no midnight long remains…….Our eternal message of hope is that dawn will come

Our slave foreparents realized this. They were never unmindful of the fact of midnight, for always, there was the rawhide whip of the overseer and the auction block where families were torn asunder to remind them of its reality……..

Encompassed by a staggering midnight but believing that morning would come, they sang:

I’m so glad trouble don’t last alway.

O my Lord, O my Lord, what shall I do ( anybody feel like crying).

Their positive belief in the dawn was the growing edge of the hope that the slaves faithful amidst the most barren and tragic circumstances.

Faith in dawn arises from the faith that God is good and just. When one believes this, he knows that the contradictions of life are neither final nor ultimate. He can walk through the dark night and radiant conviction that all things work for the good for those that love God. Even the most starless midnight may herald the dawn of some great fulfillment.

Comment. Not much needs to be said. Nuh say nutten, the street talk says it all. Respect due to MLK Jr. And glory to God. All because of Tetelestai. All done.

May the God of all comfort and mercy, whose love for his creation, fully expressed in Christ and Him Crucified, is new every morning and of whose faithfulness the songwriter reminds us ‘ there is no shadow of change”, may this God renew his church. So that his renewed church can with power assure our weeping country, through Word and action and acts of mercy, that one day, one fine day, rejoicing will come at dawn. To the glory of this God and the salvation of this troubled land.

Peace and in obedience
LWJ

FINAL NOTE
https://youtu.be/h1c3m8mRb8g

And as I knelt down to pray and give thanks to this faithful God, and that my whole life might bring him honor, this song above entered my mind. So I got up in obedience to copy and share with you, and listen again. One more time! For it is not only about the words that we speak, or the songs that we sing, but in ” all that I do”, that may be pleasing to this God of mercy. This holy God. This God who in Christ Jesus died for me. All that I do and think. Glory!
Ain’t no rock…..ain’t no bird….ain’t no tree…..as long as I am alive to praise his holy name. They call Him Jesus…..
Show quoted text

I read my newspapers to see what men are doing; and read my Bible to see what men ought to do  – A Saint of yore 
This week, one phrase from the story featured below, stayed with me and disturbed my soul deeply. ” Him gone ( just) like that”. The storyline, writ large, for over one thousand Jamaican families, year after, year, after year, for many sad years now. This as Jamaica, land  we love,  has become one of the murder capitals of the world. And collectively as a nation we have absolutely no idea, despite many valiant attempts to stop the killings, and killers, how to solve this existential problem.

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/him-gone-like-that/

Him gone like that,” the elderly woman lamented on Thursday, hours after her grandson, 27-year-old beekeeper Tavaris Stephens, and three-year-old Kamoil Williams had been shot dead by criminals travelling in a Toyota Axio motor car.
It is against this background that I believe I was led to write to my church, in obedience, and as inspired by what I read in the Bible this week. 

FIRST LETTER 

The Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
I recall, very vividly, a former Pastor, and Lecturer at UTC, Rev. David Kuck, posing a question in a sermon, and then providing a very, in my view, profound answer himself. ” What happens after Easter”? And the answer: ” We go back to Good Friday”.Which is exactly what happened in the wonderful teaching sermon yesterday. Back to Good Friday to ponder more deeply, for the first time for some, or once again for others, what exactly does Tetelestai mean. What was finished on Calvary? What was achieved by Christ’s Mission on earth, which based on evidence offered up by Christ at the Last Supper on the night before he died, John Stott the famous theologian, suggests that this Mission was completed in Christ’s final three hours on earth?
What stood out for me, in addition to the fundamental issue of ” forgiveness of sins”, the penalty for which Sin is death, and Christ’s shed blood paid that penalty, was the revelation, also made by John Stott in a book about which I shared some notes, that in Christ and Him Crucified we have a new status in this life on earth. Being heirs and coheirs with Christ. There is more, but we can start there, in fashioning a response to the probing implied question in the Collect above.
“Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith”.
For the reality is that a redeemed child of God cannot show forth in his or her life, what is the will of God, unless they have a clear understanding of what they profess by their faith.
So what really does it mean to be a coheir with Christ here on earth? And how is this new status to be manifested in our lives.
I suggest that we examine very carefully the context provided for Romans 8:17. The text leading up to the revelation about our new status, shows that it is those who are led by the Spirit of God who are sons of God. And therefore coheirs with the Son of God. Vis a vis those who continue to live according to the ( old) sinful nature. And the one thing that is mentioned in this context, although there are many others revealed elsewhere in Holy Scripture, is that we did not receive a spirit that leads to fear, but One which leads to sonship. And by which new status we are privileged to call God, ” Abba”. The same term Jesus uses.
So if we are faithful to the text brought to us in the context of the sermon yesterday. and the Collect for next Sunday, we can say with assurance that being coheirs with Christ means that we should no longer live fearful lives, in the midst of trials and stresses, but be of good courage as the Holy Spirit is with us, in us, and is working his purpose through us.
Further, if we examine the text after Roman’s 8: 17, we find a startling and for some a troubling revelation. Troubling, however, only if we forget that under no circumstances should we be fearful as children of God.So if we are heirs and coheirs with Christ, we will also share in his suffering – troubling for some ; and his glory – startling for all us if we really understand what that means here on earth as it will be heaven. Always remember that ” Christ though he was a Son, learnt obedience by what he suffered”. This as we will all go through some measure, according to God’s will and purpose, of suffering if we are indeed coheirs with Christ. Some less, some more. That’s up to God alone. But be assured that with suffering comes obedience and glory and power to do God’s will on earth.
There is one more thing as we consider what is means to have a new status and to be heirs and coheirs with Christ. And look a bit further after Romans 8:17. That the very liberation of creation awaits the glory that will be revealed in us. And brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We who are now in Christ, and set free by the shed blood of Christ and Him Crucified.Clearly this is more that we can manage to understand and contemplate here. But the implications of that event which has set us free from Sin and death and Evil, and was declared to be ” Tetelestai “, is literally out of this world.
Therefore we ought not to look at any child of God lightly anymore, nor regard ourselves lightly anymore, as we show forth in our lives what we ( ought to) confess by our faith. Our faith that we are heirs and coheirs with Christ as we seek, as Easter people, to rescue the perishing and search for the lost and bind up the wounded, and fight valiantly against Satan. With supernatural power! And this we confess because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ told us on the Cross that ” Tetelestai “.
I pray God that in and through the finished work of Christ and Him Crucified on Calvary, he may renew the church daily, with his sanctifying Spirit, so that the renewed church may renew the nation(s), still living by the sinful nature and wreaking havoc in the world.
In obedience.Peace.LWJ

 SECOND LETTER 

Going back to the Cross can mean different things to different people. But on this matter of a new status, a new identity, a gift offered on Good Friday, as church we need to in one accord.
That’s why I don’t believe it is by coincidence that last night’s bedtime reading of Chris Tigreen’s The One Year Wonder of the Cross Devotional, went like this , in part:

THE HOLY ONES
You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. 1 Peter 2:9
IN WORD
The new community in Christ has a new identity. We aren’t just people who have made a religious decision or aligned ourselves with a social movement. We aren’t an organization or an institution. We are a people hand-selected by God to be like Him – to be different, to be holy.
That’s how the early believers saw themselves, and Apostles like Peter helped cultivate this sense of identity. It was important to understand that this community was not just a religious movement but a new kind of humanity. There was no room for any sense of superiority – anyone who believed could join this new creation. No, it was a humbling calling and a sacred indentity. The children of God had been born. The world had never seen anything like this.
That’s our identity too. We forget it often, seeing ourselves simply as believers, or churchgoers, or evangelicals. We are characterized by our society as a subculture or a social sector. We have been explained in psychological, sociological, and historical terms, as one religious movement among the many that the world has known ( see Dr. Garth Rattay’s column in the Daily Gleaner today and the writings of misguided ” believers ” on Facebook).But in our hearts we have to go beyond those designations. We have to understand that the life we live is humanity fulfilled, a completion of what was lacking, and a restoration of what was lost with the first ( original….my word) sin. We are unlike any other human being. We are born of God’s Spirit.
IN DEED
Do you believe that? Let it sink in………
Prayer: Mighty and everliving God, we pray that you may renew your church, by convicting your called out people, by the power of your Holy Spirit, of their new identity in Christ and Him Crucified. We pray you then O Mighty God, that your renewed church, filled with your Holy Spirit may wage war against evil in this land. Waging war not with the weapons of this world, but with weapons that have divine power to demolish strongholds. Demolishing Strongholds in the church that keep your redeemed people from claiming the power of their new identity. And demolishing Strongholds that prevent non-believers from loving the Light who has come into the world, but choose to remain loving the darkness because thier deeds are evil. John 3: 19 -20. NIV.Peace and in obedience on this night, the second one in Easter Week. To the glory of God and for the renewal of the Church.LWJ

THIRD LETTER 
The PsalmPsalm 118:14-29Confitemini Domino
14 The Lord is my strength and my song, *and he has become my salvation.
15 There is a sound of exultation and victory *in the tents of the righteous:
16 “The right hand of the Lord has triumphed! *the right hand of the Lord is exalted!the right hand of the Lord has triumphed!”
17 I shall not die, but live, *and declare the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord has punished me sorely, *but he did not hand me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; *I will enter them;I will offer thanks to the Lord.
20 “This is the gate of the Lord; *he who is righteous may enter.”
21 I will give thanks to you, for you answered me *and have become my salvation.
22 The same stone which the builders rejected *has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord’S doing, *and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 On this day the Lord has acted; *we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Hosannah, Lord, hosannah! *Lord, send us now success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; *we bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 God is the Lord; he has shined upon us; *form a procession with branches up to the horns of the altar.
28 “You are my God, and I will thank you; *you are my God, and I will exalt you.”
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; *his mercy endures for ever.

The first of two Psalms, above, and appointed for the Second Sunday in Easter, evokes memories of the revelation shared by another Word which has been a source of comfort for many believers over the years, including Martin Luther King Jr: though weeping may come at night, joy ( surely) cometh in the morning. 
This, as the “same stone that the builders rejected”, the commands of God that the Israelites ignored and disobeyed and which action led to their exile in Babylon, in that hour of exaltation, when this same God, in his mercy, brought them back to Jerusalem, the Psalmist declared: has ( in Christ Jesus….looking ahead prophetically to the Mighty Salvation sung by John the Baptist’s father in The Benedictus) become the chief cornerstone.

The mindset, the spiritual reality that we who weep for our country daily, because of murder and murder most foul, and now a teenager and her grandmother swept away by raging waters, must constantly encourage, is that one fine day, joy is going to come in the morning in this same country. The same one that, in its mad rush to achieve economic prosperity, collectively and individually, in its mad rush to be unfettered by anyone claiming to have authority – in the home, in the school, in the community, and even in the church – in our mad rush to preserve our cultural indentity in our music and in the arts, and in our mad rush on the streets going helter skelter, to, God He alone knows where, we as a society have in great measure rejected the Word of God. 
But as the hymn writer inspired by the Word of God, reaffirms that one day ” the earth will be filled with the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea”. 

I close with an extract from a meditation from Martin Luther King jnr on this matter of faith in the goodness of God.

HE WHO TURNS BLACKNESS INTO DAWN

Verse Amos. 5: 8. 

Midnight ( and in this context it’s past midnight in Jamaica, and in America and Ukraine, and for some of us in our personal lives) is a confusing hour when it is difficult to be faithful. The most inspiring word that the church may speak is that no midnight long remains…….Our eternal message of hope is that dawn will come 

Our slave foreparents realized this. They were never unmindful of the fact of midnight, for always, there was the rawhide whip of the overseer and the auction block where families were torn asunder to remind them of its reality……..

Encompassed by a staggering midnight but believing that morning would come, they sang:
I’m so glad trouble don’t last alway.
O my Lord, O my Lord, what shall I do ( anybody feel like crying).

Their positive belief in the dawn was the growing edge of the hope that the slaves faithful amidst the most barren and tragic circumstances.
Faith in dawn arises from the faith that God is good and just. When one believes this, he knows that the contradictions of life are neither final nor ultimate. He can walk through the dark night and radiant conviction that all things work for the good for those that love God. Even the most starless midnight may herald the dawn of some great fulfillment. 
Comment. Not much needs to be said. Nuh say nutten, the street talk says it all. Respect due to MLK Jr. And glory to God. All because of Tetelestai. All done. 
May the God of all comfort and mercy, whose love for his creation, fully expressed in Christ and Him Crucified, is new every morning and of whose faithfulness the songwriter reminds us ‘ there is no shadow of change”, may this God renew his church. So that his renewed church can with power assure our weeping country, through Word and action and acts of mercy, that one day, one fine day, rejoicing will come at dawn. To the glory of this God and the salvation of this troubled land.
Peace and in obedience LWJ

FINAL NOTE https://youtu.be/h1c3m8mRb8g
And as I knelt down to pray and give thanks to this faithful God, and that my whole life might bring him honor, this song above entered my mind. So I got up in obedience to copy and share with you, and listen again. One more time! For it is not only about the words that we speak, or the songs that we sing, but in ” all that I do”, that may be pleasing to this God of mercy. This holy God. This God who in Christ Jesus died for me. All that I do and think. Glory! Ain’t no rock…..ain’t no bird….ain’t no tree…..as long as I am alive to praise his holy name. They call Him Jesus…..Show quoted text

I read my newspapers to see what men are doing and read my Bible to see what men ought to do.

Today is the second day of the period when Christians worldwide commemorate the most important event in world history. Redemption! The day after Good Friday when the suffering and shed blood of Jesus Crucified of Calvary wrought an Atonement for the sins all mankind. A burden carried ever since Sin was introduced into ‘ a very good world ‘ by Adam’s disobedience. A profound mystery indeed! And one believed and accepted by the faithful but ignored and even rejected by those uninitiated into the Christian faith.

The question on the minds on many people, from afar, and I dare say, even within the church, is how can the fundamentals of the Christian faith. Christ and Him Crucified help a confused world to deal with some of its most pressing issues?

There is no easy answer to this question. At least not what most people would like to hear or read. But I believe that the inspiration from the God I serve, which led me to write to church leaders this past week. And to post on Facebook on Good Friday, offers an account which explains the nature of the relationship between humankind created by God, and marred by the Sin of Adam which ” Let in all kinds of pirates like Putin and his ‘ military action’ in Ukraine ‘ into the affairs of God’s good creation. And which perversion of what God intended could only be redeemed by the shed blood of Christ; and offered new life by the power of The Holy Spirit on Resurrection Day. Easter!

THE FIRST LETTER – Cast sexual abuse in the family on the God of Creation

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Just finished reading a meditation by Oswald Chambers about The Holy Spirit joining with our spirit to pray ( Romans 8:26) in the depths of our souls; prayers that only the Spirit of God can pray.  And then the reading for tonight in My Utmost for His Highest is “ Cast your burdens on him”.  With the verse above being a prime example, of what that entails. Lest we forget and continue to try and work out our own salvation in this sordid mess that is Jamaica today. #ChildMolestation times two. In the family!

Our job, our calling, as children of the Living God, redeemed, adopted and branded by the Holy Spirit,  is to bring every circumstance before God, ‘cast our burdens on him’, and then the Holy Spirit will intercede with groans that we cannot understand or utter. If we believe the Word of God! And trust in God’s Son; the  Crucified, Risen, Ascended and ever Interceding, and soon coming, One. On whose shoulders everything rests, so that in Him and through Him we may have the  Peace that passeth all human  – media, academic, philosopher politician – understanding.“ It is finished”. #OntheCross. Tetelestai. 
In obedience as we draw near, again, not to, as if that which is Happax, could ever happen again, but in memory of Good Friday – The Atonement for Sin #Redemption. And then the memory of the Blessed Resurrection – The gift of new and unending life by the Holy Spirit. The only Prayer Warrior!
O Jesus Christ Son of the Living God, we pray thee, according to the power of the Holy Spirit living in and through us, to renew your church with power – the kingdom of God is about power and not talk . So that your church, sharing the Gospel  with  this dying and corrupt generation, which is  bent on carrying its own burdens, and failing daily and spectacularly, may be renewed, convicted of Sin,  and rescued and saved. 
O Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; who hath visited and redeemed his people. And raised us for us a mighty salvation; in the house of his servant David  – #Benedictus
PeaceLWJ

THE SECOND LETTER – without faith in God we cannot overcome evil

Then in my deep sleep, a ” song in the night”. Early this morning. More instructions! 
1. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is “ ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.Acts 4:8-14.

What I heard, was ” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit”. I thought it was a revelation about Peter when he was about to pray for the Crippled Beggar in Chap 3. But on reading,  I found out that the Lord was directing me, and to share with you,   another and more powerful revelation about the Holy Spirit acting in and through unschooled and ordinary men who had been with Jesus. 

2. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”.Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,  so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses,  in insults, in hardships,  in persecutions,  in difficulties.  For when I am weak,  then I am strong. 2. Corinthians 12: 9- 10.This along with the great teaching verse about the value of suffering. ” Though he was a Son he  learnt obedience by what he suffered”, underscores the value of suffering for Christ. So that the power of the Holy Spirit may come upon us and invade us, and bring glory to God. A message which began with My grace is sufficient for you. In the dead of night. And I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. 

3. This other  message began with: ” O unbelieving and perverse generation “, Jesus replied, ” how long shall I put up with you! Bring your son here. This in the Luke account. 9:41But I was not satisfied so I searched for the version of the story in Matthew:
Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”Matthew 17:18‭-‬20 NIV

4. Finally a very familiar story. But one which among other things, inter alia, highlights the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through Jesus. The same Holy Spirit who raised him from the dead, and the same Holy Spirit that can do ” abundantly and exceedingly more than we can ask or imagine”, as revealed by the Apostle Paul. If we believe the revelation of God as taught in Holy Scripture.
The Faith of the Centurion. A message, not taught to me by flesh and blood, which entered my mind with this assertion:” Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof”. And continued:For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one , ‘ Go ‘ and get goes; and that one, ‘ Come’ and he comes….
And as I read the story this morning it reminded me that Jesus ‘ was amazed’ at the man’s faith. And that not even in Israel, among God’s chosen people there existed such faith. 

A lot to consider, isn’t it. So let us trust in the Lord with all our heart, and cease leaning on our own understanding, so that times of refreshing may come upon the land as God responds to our prayers deep in our souls, which only the Holy Spirit can discern, and which groans are brought before the Livingstone God. He who Only can heal this land.  Jamaica land we love.In obedience.Peace.LWJ

THE THIRD LETTER – no boasting before the Almighty God.

A final word. This as I knelt down to pray.

All of this so that no one should boast before the Lord. Neither the ordained nor the laity.
In Jesus name.
Amen.
LWJ

ONE MORE – The Holy Spirit is the only Prayer Warrior

When the father of the son afflicted by demons cried out, ” I believe! Help thou mine unbelief”, he was as we understand ” more and better particulars”, progressive revelation, in today’s New Testament dispensation, he was crying out for the Holy Spirit, who Only can help, in whom ” no good thing resides “, to banish doubt, and fear and disobedience. And become ” a new creation”.Remember that famous last verse of the great chapter on faith, Hebrews 11, that although all the greats trusted God, the promises of God were not fulfilled when they died. For only with us, in Christ Jesus Crucufied and Risen and ever  Interceding,  are those promises fulfilled.Revelation from reflecting on ” I need thee, O I need thee……I need thee every hour; teach me thy will, and in me thy rich promises fulfil”. A Lenten Discipline O bless the Lord for the first and only Good Friday.Peace and in obedience and in prayer without ceasing for the renewal of the Church. #Revival. LWJShow quoted text

FACEBOOK

In his famous book The Cross of Christ , the late theologian Rev. John Stott, explores, deeply, ” Why did Jesus die?”.The list is long, but included are The Jewish Leaders. Because of inter alia ” Envy”!

However, outwardly respectable the priests’ political and theological arguments may have appeared, it was envy which led them to ‘ hand over’ Jesus to Pilate to be destroyed. ( Mark 15:1). And then Stott provocatively writes that:

The same evil passion influences our own contemporary attitudes to Jesus. He is still, as C.S. Lewis called him, ‘ a transcendental interferer’. We resent his intrusions into our privacy ( leave our bedroom alone is a constant refrain nuh true), his demand for our homage ( nuh linga nuh where else with nobady), his expectation of our obedience. Why can’t he mind his own business ( I am my own big man and woman and can do what I please) we ask petulantly, and leave us alone ( to passa passa on FameFm on Good Friday if I please) . To which he instantly replies that we are his business and that he will never leave us alone ( even if we have never set foot in a church or only went because of Covid or 9/11 or for daddy’s funeral). So we too perceive him as a threatening rival, who disturbs our peace, upsets our status quo, undermines our authority ( you stay deh, you really waan argue with God) and diminishes our self-respect ( for no matter how many followers Anju and Mark, and Miss Kitty and Cliff have on Twitter, and Instagram, God have the whole wide world in his hands, and what belong to God belong to him Son too). So we too want to get rid of him!

Guilty or not guilty? Chose well for in the process you are answering Mahalia Jackson’s haunting question: Were you there when they Crucified my Lord. And more, the Biblical revelation that ” all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”.

Facebook

John Stott then turned to Judas about his betrayal of Jesus for money. And wrote this warning:

It is not for nothing that Jesus tells us to ‘ beware of all covetousness ‘, or that Paul declares the love of money to be a ‘ root of all kinds of evil’.
For in pursuit of material gain human beings have descended to deep depravity. Magistrates have perverted justice for bribes, like the judges of Israel, of whom Amos said: ” They sell the righteous for a pair of sandals.” (2:6)
Politicians have used their power to give contracts to the highest bidder, and spies have sunk low enough to sell their country’s secrets to the enemy.
Businessmen have entered into shady transactions, jeopardizing the prosperity of others in order to get a better deal.
Even supposedly, spiritual teachers have been known to turn religion into a commercial exercise ( my Father’s house has been turned into a marketplace is a real issue in this age also ) and some are still doing it today……the language of all such people is the same as Judas: ‘ what are you willing to give me, and I will hand him over to you ‘ For ‘ everyone has his own price’, the cynic answers…..”

Guilty or not guilty of the charge that all of us were there when they Crucified my Lord. Along with Judas and the Jewish religious leaders whose behavior is just like ours,cand about which I wrote about in an earlier post.

FACEBOOK

Only the man or woman who is prepared to own their share in the guilt of the cross may share in the claim in its grace – Canon Peter Green. In other words, ‘were you there when they Crucified my Lord?

FACEBOOK

Who delivered up Jesus to die? Not Judas, for money; not Pilate, for fear; not the Jews, for envy; – but the Father, for love. ” I did it, my sins took him there”. ” He did it, his love took him there”. Stott.

“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭127:1-2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I need thee every hour,
in joy or pain;
come quickly and abide,
or life is vain

I need thee, O I need thee!
Every hour I need thee:
O bless me now, my Savior!
I come to thee.

Usually I start with the now well known quote, “I read newspapers and then Bible” which reminds us of the need to pay attention to what is happening in the world, but more importantly what God says ought to happen in the world in which we live. But this morning God is doing a new thing in leading me to highlight, in one Word from the Psalmist what really matters in life. In war torn Ukraine and in Jamaica where violence in schools, which only mirrors what is happening in the wider society, is a major discussion point in the nation. How do we solve it. This, as if God is not in the midst of the solutions, and in fact if God in Jesus Christ, is not The Solution, then we build a society and watch over it in vain. A message echoed and indeed amplified, by the songwriter who remind us of our urgent need for God. Or life is vain!

It is in this context that I share with you a seemingly useful Editorial from the Jamaica Observer yesterday, from a Christian point of view, but potentially or in reality, one which leads us back to “ in vain we build the house” if we are not careful and sufficiently discerning of the power of Satan to deceive and diminish the importance of the Word of God.

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/the-church-needs-to-reclaim-material-activism_248183

My reaction to this call by the Observer for Church and State to work together for the common good, is shared as we explore later as I read my Bible “ to see what men ought to do” after reading the newspapers to “ see what men are doing”. But for further context of how men are attempting to build the house without God, I turn to The Letter of the Day in the Daily Gleaner written by Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network. And note the concluding paragraph:

“Over the last week, there have been calls for more focus on the presence of the church in schools and using devotions to address what are clearly systematic issues. We have to stop relying on moral obligations to resolve crime in an environment where crime is pervasive, unrelenting, and profitable, and ramp up our efforts at solving crime and corruption with evidence-based measures.”

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/letters/20220409/letter-day-what-are-we-doing-about-violence-schools

Of course this week was also about CHAMPS! The most exciting and now world renowned inter secondary schools athletics championships for boys and girls in Jamaica. An event which has a rich tradition in Jamaica and from which event stars like Usain Bolt and Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce have go on to take the world by storm. Already, and today is the final day when a lot of excitement is still to come, records, including a world Junior record, have been broken. And others threatened! So as we wait on the relays and other finals, and the crowning of the champion girls and boys school, the excitement in the nation is at a fever pitch.

Finally, and of greatest importance tomorrow is Palm Sunday. The start of Passion Week. The most Holy Week in the Christian calendar which climaxes on Good Friday. And then the glorious Resurrection on the first day of next week. A day when God announced a new thing in Christ Crucified, and Raised from the dead for our sins, and to offer all mankind the free gift of salvation and new and unending life. Starting right here on earth! So that we do not build societies in vain, and have watchmen trying to end “senseless” violence in vain.

This then is what I read in context about what the Bible reveals that men ought to do in this world. And in the one to come!

THE BIBLE

SUNDAY

The Lord woke me up, a bit early, 5:20 am, on this Sunday morning. Usually when I arise on a Sunday morning, I prepare for worship by reading again, at least the Gospel appointed for the day. But this was a bit early and definitely not a 4:am call to read the Bible. Then, without missing a beat, I was led to read this Tozer Devotional that I had downloaded and never read, some time ago. The Devotional itself tells us a bit about this great man of God, and his single mindedness, like the Apostle Paul, on proclaiming Christ and Him Crucified. But a bit more on him I am sure would be useful:

Tozer, A. W. 9 1897-1963) . A lifelong pastor in the Christian and Missionary Alliance with a rich pulpit ministry. Tozer was without any formal education beyond grace school. He was intensely devotional, mystical and well-read. he drew from the writings of others, including Francis Fenelon, Bernard of Clairvaux, Julian of Norwich as well as Emerson and Shakespeare. Readers will feel the impact of Tozer’s ministry through his books in which he encourages his readers to know God personally and experientially. They include “ The Pursuit of God”; The Divine Conquest; The Knowledge of the Holy.
All of this from the blurb written abut him in my “ Classics Devotional Bible”.
And in which Bible en route to reading a verse highlighted in the Devotional below, I “happened upon”, this reflection:

WHAT IS THE TRUE CHURCH?
A.W. TOZER

VERSE: 2 Thessalonians 1:4 – Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in al persecutions and trials you are enduring.

The true church is ……composed of regenerated persons who differ from other human beings in that they have a superior kind of life imparted 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 meantime 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 string desire that all men may come to repentance and be reconciled to God.

Comment: I believe that the Lord woke me up to read and share this experience this morning, for many reasons. But perhaps the most important is that, as church in this age, we have become distracted and lost our focus on Christ and Him Crucified. No doubt, and I say this with great caution, because we live in a permissive age, on the one hand, and in an age where the church is not waging war against the evil one, and therefore, the church is ignored rather than persecuted And thus the true workers for Christ are few, though the harvest is plenty. Let us pray to the Lord of the harvest for more workers – true Christians who have rejected the deceitfulness of wealth and the pleasures of this world and what it offers, and are committed to “ wage war but not with the weapons of this world”, and thus do not fall prey to the prevailing philosophies of this age, as warned about in the Devotional below.

I pray God, that beginning with me, by grace and mercy, and all who read and believe and cherish the things of God, beginning with Christ, in their hearts, and are obedient, that He would renew his church; and that a renewed church may return, may go #BacktoBasics of our faith, and with power help to rescue the nation(s) deeply mired in sin and shame and idolatry and wickedness.
Peace and in obedience
LWJ

https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/

Tozer
Click on the link above.

MONDAY

Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday
Year C
RCL
The Liturgy of the Palms
Luke 19:28-40
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
The Liturgy of the Word
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Philippians 2:5-11
Luke 22:14-23:56
or Luke 23:1-49
Psalm 31:9-16
at The Liturgy of the Palms
The Gospel
Luke 19:28-40
After telling a parable to the crowd at Jericho, Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.'” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,
“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

One of the casualties of this fast paced world, breaking news world, where often the good often becomes the enemy of the best, is that we forget our purpose here on earth. Primarily because as a society we have long learned to ignore the manual for life – The Holy Bible. But also, even within the church, doing things for God and expecting things from God, often blinds us to the need to give God the glory. Which is what we who were created in the image and likeness of our Father who art in heaven, are called to do – give God the glory.

The first lesson for Palm Sunday above, the beginning of Passion Week, next Sunday, the day after, for many a far more exciting event, Champs, points us in that direction – give glory to God. For if we don’t “ the rocks will cry out”. In the sense that the whole of creation has this mandate – give glory to God. And the response that we ought to have deep in our hearts is well represented by the well known sanke:

Ain’t no rock gonna cry in my place
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name
Ain’t no rock gonna cry in my place
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name

Everybody praise His holy name
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name
Everybody praise His holy name
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name

Ain’t no bird gonna flap its feathers
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name
Ain’t no bird gonna flap its feathers
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name

Everybody praise His holy name
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name
Everybody praise His holy name
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name

Ain’t no tree gonna wave its branches
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name
Ain’t no tree gonna wave its branches
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name

Everybody praise His holy name
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name
Everybody praise His holy name
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name

Even the rather odd story, if we dig deep, about the disciples and the young colt tethered waiting for “ the Lord to send for it”, again points in the direction – give God the glory. For the Psalmists have much to say about this reality that everything in the universe belongs to God. The Sovereign God who can send for anything whenever he wishes, viz.,:

The Lord giveth ( life) and the Lord taketh. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty— he is the King of glory.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭24:1-10‬ ‭NIV‬‬.

This knowledge will not necessarily help us to solve the immediate challenges facing the our nation and the world – the scourge of violence sweeping across the globe. And as we well recall, this knowledge will not necessarily help us to resist the temptation to praise God, and give him the glory on Palm Sunday and then Crucify Him on Good Friday. That’s why the authentic Christian Church places such an emphasis on the Redemption – forgiveness of sins – wrought by Christ, God incarnate, on Calvary. For by this one solitary act, never to be repeated again in history, happax, God in Christ Jesus has reconciled sinful mankind to Himself. A free gift. Grace and mercy! So that we may give Him the glory and there be no boasting about anyone being good. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And those of us who have accepted this free gift, have seen the Light and not elected to remain in darkness, have admitted before God that we are “sick” and in need of salvation, are now sent, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to spread the message of reconciliation. So that in all things the Name of Jesus may be lifted up, and God be given all the glory. And in that way, we can better tackle this existential crisis of violence in our society, and all of the other ills, the manifestations of which, contend for headlines in the media each morning
So life is not about, as important as it is, ensuring that our children and grandchildren receive love and get a good education. Nor is it about, from year to year, looking forward to the glory of Champs, or any other sporting event. Nor working hard in season and out of season, so that our political party and our leader may get the glory. Nor “ they while their companions slept were working hard in the night” to achieve that which great men reached and kept in business and in their professional or creative lives”. And life is not even about seeking peace between nations or warring factions, as commendable a goal as that is.

No! Life is first and foremost, a priori, to give God the glory , and then all other things will flow. For what shall it profit a man or woman or child to gain the whole world and yet lose their very soul, because they allowed the rocks to cry out, in their place, while they were kept alive by a good and merciful God, and did not give him the glory. There’s a colt in your life tethered and waiting in your heart. Give it to God that he may inhabit it and be glorified and you will receive mercy and a better life. Here on earth and in heaven also, as you join with thousands and ten thousands praising God and telling others about the Redemption story. #BetterthanaChampsticket.

TUESDAY

The Psalm
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Confitemini Domino
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; *
his mercy endures for ever.
2 Let Israel now proclaim, *
”His mercy endures for ever.”
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; *
I will enter them;
I will offer thanks to the Lord.
20 “This is the gate of the Lord; *
he who is righteous may enter.”
21 I will give thanks to you, for you answered me *
and have become my salvation.
22 The same stone which the builders rejected *
has become the chief cornerstone

As I read the Psalm for Palm Sunday this “ more and better particulars. “ came into my mind:

“Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
‭‭John‬ ‭10:7-15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Not much comment needed or allowed on this one. The highlighted words point us in the right direction. Jesus is the chief cornerstone, the only true foundation on which God’s creation will live in peace. A message from the songwriter who penned these words:

I need thee every hour,
most gracious Lord;
no tender voice like thine
can peace afford.

I need thee, O I need thee!
Every hour I need thee;
O bless me now my Savior!
I come to thee

Every other “ foundation” that a society uses as the chief cornerstone, whether Human Resources or Material Resources, on which to build a peaceful and prosperous world or nation, will one day behave literally, or in some cases metaphorically, like the thief- come to steal and kill and destroy. This, as only the Good Shepherd, as we are reminded once again, as approach Passion Week, lays down his life for the sheep – who are always going astray from the Eternal Father; and still expect a blessing. This as the hired hands run away, and seek their own salvation, when the wolf attacks. Sadly within and without the church!
In obedience
Peace.
May the Lord Jesus who laid down his life for the sheep of this world, all who have sinned, renew his church this Passion Week, as we too undergo suffering and persecution, so that the church may renew the nation(s) where hired hands, all in whom and all in which, we placed out trust, have fled, or failed to bring peace. And a mother cries. In the ghetto!

This song always breaks my heart. The haunting music and the challenging lyrics. And not even gifted Obama was able to do anything about it there. Nor passionate Michael Manley or talented Edward Seaga here. In #wrongaddresses Only God can. And has! On #GoodFriday #redemptionstory The gate through which all who seek peace must enter. Especially in Ukraine and Russia. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Until God in Christ does a #newthing
LWJ

THURSDAY

Collect
Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Old Testament
Isaiah 50:4-9a
The Lord God has given me
the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens–
wakens my ear 
to listen as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious, 
I did not turn backward.
I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame; 
he who vindicates me is near.

As we look ahead to Passion Week, after the excitement of Champs, an exercise which is a metaphor for life, in the sense that we are always in a struggle to keep our focus on the Cross of Christ in the midst of the “ O Jesus I have promised to serve thee ….I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear “, the Collect for Palm Sunday reminds us of an eternal truth: “ Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of suffering, and also share in his resurrection “. Viz., suffering and resurrection are joined together, and therefore what God has joined together let not man try to separate. For this is the purpose of the tempter, the evil one, and he comes in different forms, even in church clothes, to separate us from carrying our cross in this life, from “ being co-heir with Christ, if indeed we share in his suffering in order that we may share in his glory”, according to the Word – Romans 8:17. NIV.
Indeed we could well heed one of the fundamentals of training for glory at Champs – no pain no gain. As so it is in the spiritual realm as we are in training as disciples to inherit the promises of God – to be heirs with God and co-heirs with Christ in the kingdom of God.

The second lesson we learn as the readings unfold, is that according to the Old Testament reading, this faithful God, who has called us to sustain the weary with a Word, will in the midst of suffering on account of His Word and His Son, once we are faithful and do not turn back, will sustain us and we will not be disgraced – not be disappointed by our faith in Him, whose love is new every morning, and in whom there is no shadow of turning.
Therefore in the midst of the “ tempting sounds” around us, much more than Passa Passa, and Carnival and the debates on the various issues of the day, let us remember that unless we bear our own cross, we will be of no help to a suffering, because of sin, nation.

A nation in distress and without answers to the internecine violence which has taken hold of our country like a pandemic; and there is no other vaccine other than what took place at the end of #PassionWeek – #GoodFriday. The free gift of #Salvation the #redemptionstory that will never make the headlines in the #Gleaner nor on #TVJNews nor a popular current affairs topic worthy of discussion on #AllAngles or That’s a Rap.
Peace and in obedience
LWJ

May the God whose Son ‘learnt obedience by what he suffered”, by grace help us to “ I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow to attain resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11). And as we again resurrection from the dead, and are thus renewed as a church, we may hep to renew a suffering nation. Where “ lady where you come from people die there every day”. #WRONGADDRESS

FRIDAY

The Epistle
Philippians 2:5-11
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God 
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave, 
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself 
and became obedient to the point of death– 
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name 
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend, 
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father.

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/the-church-needs-to-reclaim-material-activism_248183

Before I read the Epistle for Palm Sunday, I read the Editorial above in the Jamaica Observer for today. I recommend that you read it also as it, on the face of it, seeks to highlight the work of the church in post emancipation Jamaica. And then calls upon this same church, to work close in hand with the Government, to rescue our school children from “ toxic homes” – my understanding – in (sic) “ the poorest communities”. There is a lot to unpack here in terms of inherent bias, but more to the point is the presumption that the church can reclaim its “ material activism” in pursuit of national development, without the, implied, spiritual activism. Or at the very least, in the mind of the writer of the Editorial, such material activism – more palatable for some – can be delinked, from the church’s spiritual activism.

In that context then, the Epistle, highlighting the need for Christians to have the mind of Christ, and which mind led our Savior to the Cross of Calvary for the redemption of sinful mankind, and which sin is the reason for the level of disobedience and criminality amongst our schoolchildren and of concern to Observer and all of us, ought to be read very carefully indeed.
And then, in a blast from the past, I was led to read again and share the perspective on the whole matter of nation building and Christianity, by one of, if not the foremost apologist of the Christian faith, C. S. Lewis. For God will not be used “ as a convenience”!

A warning for many of us within the church, and certainly for the Observer and others in the media and the philosophers of this age! For the a priori reason for trials in this world, is Sin – red handed disobedience to God. Or as Oswald Chambers, another theologian said repeatedly “ our claim to our right to ourselves”. And thus the a priori reason why Good Friday will be celebrated again next week, and the mind that sent Jesus to the cross, and why we were enslaved in the first place and hauled across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and left to our own devices, and why the church stepped in to help, then, and will help now, has to with Sin. And not charity in the limited understanding of the word; and certainly not national development in isolation from morality.

SCREWTAPE’S STRATEGY – C. S. Lewis

( Satan writes to one of his minions). My Dear Wormwood, ……the “ Historical Jesus”, however dangerous he may seem to be to us at some particular point, is always to be encouraged. About the general connection between Christianity and politics, our position is even more delicate. Certainly we do not want men to allow their Christianity to flow over into their political life, for the establishment of a really just society would be a major disaster.
On the other hand we do want, and want very much, to make men treat Christianity as a means; preferably, of course, as a means to their own advancement, but, failing that, as a means to anything – even to social justice.
The thing to do is to is to get a man at first to value social justice as a thing which the Enemy ( God) demands, and then work him on to the stage at which he values Christianity because it may produce social justice. For the Enemy will not be used as a convenience.
Men or nations who think that they can revive the faith in order to make a good society might well think that they can use the stairs of heaven as a short cut to the pharmacy ( Lewis used the chemist’s shop, of which pharmacy is a update).
Only today I have found a passage in a Christian writer where he recommends his own version of Christianity on the ground that “ only such a faith can outlast the death of old cultures and the birth of new civilizations”. You see the little rift?” “Believe this, not because it is true, but for some other reason”. That’s the game.
Your affectionate uncle Screwtape.

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20220408/senseless

And as we read the story above in context, the “ senseless “ killing, screamed the Gleaner headlines of a 8 year old child, we pray:

Lord renew the church with the mind of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that the church may renew the nation in crisis because of Sin, by spreading the Good News of Christ and the redemption story.

Peace.
In obedience
LWJ

A week ago, last Sunday, at the Oscars, more formally known as “ The 94th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, honored the best films released between March 1 and December 31, 2021, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 27, 2022, by presenting Academy Awards to the winners.”

And then as reported by #USMagazine “Going off script. Chris Rock‘s joke about Jada Pinkett Smith during the 2022 Oscars didn’t land well with the actress or her husband, Will Smith.
“Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it. Alright?” Rock joked during the awards show on Sunday, March 27, adding, “That was a nice one.”
Jada, for her part, was seen rolling her eyes on screen before Will walked up to the stage and slapped Rock.”

This violent reaction, presumably to defend his wife’s honor, has since gone viral on social and mainstream media. Worldwide! And which incident has been adhesively tagged #Slapgate. Many and various reactions have since appeared in social media, and triggered animated discussions on mainstream.

On Facebook, well respected and still very popular basketball legend Kareem Abduljazaar shared his perspective which triggered a huge debate:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes:
“When Will Smith stormed onto the Oscar stage to strike Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife’s short hair, he did a lot more damage than just to Rock’s face. With a single petulant blow, he advocated violence, diminished women, insulted the entertainment industry, and perpetuated stereotypes about the Black community.”

The question, the only real question, at the end of the day, is not really why did Will Smith decide to hit Chris Rock, but how does a modern society, indeed the entire world in this 21st century bring an end to violence in general which as #WARINUKRAINE demonstrates, is threatening the very existence of humanity?

ONLY ONE DIAMOND LEFT NOW – TO THE RIGHT

A challenge for all of us in Jamaica as we confront the reality of yet another round of violence, senseless really, this week, claimed the life of a popular reggae artist, “ Tabby Diamond”. Shortly after he was caught on tape singing and dancing and having a good time with his friends, in front of his home. In fact I had just posted on twitter a message about “ five shot and two dead”, when I heard the news about the Teo who died.

“ Do not go beyond what is written” 1 Cor 4:6 in searching for solutions for Jamaica and Jamaicans created by the One who is The Word made flesh #Incarnation. #PuppaJesustekdecase 5 shot and 2 dead #TimeCome #GoodFriday and #Easter #ResurrectionDay

In this context then of egregious violence making the news across the globe, I will share what I read that men ought to do in the Bible:

MONDAY – MERCY AND JUDGEMENT

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. Then Jesus told them this parable:”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭15:1, 3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭14:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭14:7-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Dear church
I write to encourage you. But more than that, to let you know that God is listening to the cries of his people. And has given an answer!
Recently I was involved in a very heated discussion on the state of the nation, and inevitably the topic of the direction in which our country is heading came up. And it surfaced inter alia, how arrogance and pride have (re) inserted itself into the body politic! A revelation that caused most of the other participants in the discussion, to pronounce “ death “ on our country, primarily on account of the level of corruption, so rampant and in high places. That Jamaica is “ gone” on account of violence and corruption, and will never recover
Well tonight, at 4:00 am, the Lord woke me up, “ with a heavy hand”, signaling something very important. Woke me up to read. And on opening the Bible randomly, in obedience, the story of the Prodigal Son, stared me in the face; the same story in the Gospel appointed for today, and from which text the sermon was preached.

So what did I learn from the passages shared above? That Jesus did not only “ eat with sinners” as the Pharisees “ muttered” accusingly, in chap 15. But as we are told tonight, Jesus also ate with the Pharisees. Thus He was as interested in their salvation, as he was interested in the freedom from Sin of of the sinners. Just like the Lost Son and the One who stayed at home.
Further, He pronounced, in one of four parables, as He did elsewhere, and the Bible does, repeatedly, “judgement’ on the proud.
Praise God that He is faithful and that when one or two, wherever or whenever, of his people are gathered in His Name according to the prayer offered prior to the discussion, and speak to each other, according to the prophet Malachi, God listens. And spoke to me tonight!
For His glory and honor. And for our encouragement.
So be of good courage, God has not forgotten Jamaica. The only question we need to answer is the one posed in the final of the four parables. And let us never forget that the Pharisees were the leaders of the Jewish church, the called out, first Abraham, people of God at that time:

“When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ “ ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ ””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭14:15-24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

May this God who eats with Pharisees and sinners alike, until this very day, renew His church with those who respond to the invitation issued to all by Christ and Him Crucified to His banquet; may the Body of Christ, the church, thus renewed, help to renew the nation(s) where pride in self blinds people made in God’s image from accepting the invitation to experience God’s unconditional love.
In obedience.
Peace.
LWJ

TUESDAY – THE SOLUTION FOR #Slapgate AND #WARINUKAINE

The Collect
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

“Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭4:6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I have discovered, or more accurately, was led to the Word highlighted in the passage above. And shared it elsewhere with a group of church leaders!

Last night on Twitter, going through The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers, I posted this intriguing truth, in two parts, below. And tagged a few people including an atheist:

TWITTER
It has been a favorite belief of all ages that if only men were taught what good is, everyone would choose it; but history and human experience prove that that is not so. To know what is good is not to be good -Oswald Chambers #PutinWarCrimes #Sin

To say that I am persuaded that a thing is wrong I won’t do it, is not true. The mutiny of human nature is that I will do it whether it is wrong or not -Oswald Chambers. Because of Sin #apology is not enough. A change of heart and believing the Gospel is. #Repentance #Reparations

To which she, the atheist responded;

Hmm… I am thinking about this one Lucien.

And then no doubt prompted by the Holy Spirit to be obedience to the Word, “ Do not go beyond what is written”, I invited her to consider Paul’s response to his desire to do good, and his inability to do so. And the only solution available to this eternal moral conundrum which affects all of us. Sinners and Pharisees alike! Young son and elder son. Pastor and lay persons. Self-styled Princes and ‘commoners’.

THE WORD

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this what I keep on doing #workinprogress is not the solution

The answer Paul offers in Romans 8:24 to the conundrum in vs 14-23 is this: “ What a wretched man #WillSmithAssault I am! Who can save me from this body of death #PutinWarCrimes ? Thanks be to God – through Christ Jesus #GoodFriday . Oswald Chambers is on target Ems…Hmm 🔑❤️🙏

And then the Collect for the Fifth Sunday in Lent confronts and reminds me of what the song I have chosen, or was chosen for me, to reflect on in Lent, says in essence:

I need thee every hour,
in joy or pain;
come quickly and abide
or life is vain:

I need thee,O I need thee!
Every hour I need thee;
O bless me now my Savior!
I come to thee.

The Collect
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills ( including Will Smith) and affections ( Putin) of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world ( Murderer! Blood is on your shoulder), our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

May this Almighty and faithful God renew His Church this Lent as we cry out to Him in prayer and fasting and doing good, and seek Him every hour in Jesus Christ; may this renewed church spread the Gospel of Christ, the Good News, so that nations can be renewed and headlines of Murderer, Blood is on your shoulder, may be no more. Mercy Lord mercy.

Peace, and in obedience to the Word, even Jesus Christ the Word made flesh.
LWJ

THURSDAY – GOD HAS DONE A NEW THING

Fifth Sunday in Lent
Year C
RCL
Isaiah 43:16-21
Philippians 3:4b-14
John 12:1-8
Psalm 126
The Collect
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Old Testament
Isaiah 43:16-21
Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
who brings out chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
The wild animals will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.

This morning, as I was led again, to read the Collect, I marveled at the all encompassing truth contained in one short prayer. For as we well know, it is only the Holy Spirit that can convict unredeemed humanity of sin – those with “unruly wills and affections ”. And it is only by grace that we are able to love the commands of God and to desire His promises, in this ever changing world where only God and His unconditional love, remain constant. Further, that true joys in this world that sells counterfeit joys, are found only in and through Christ and Him Crucified.

Then being reminded of the Word” do not go beyond what is written’ the words of Psalmist came alive in my heart. For the truth is that although it was for good us to learn about the miracles and prophecies and promises of the Old Covenant, our salvation does not dwell there. Our salvation is not like the rescuing of the children of Israel from Pharaoh and the miraculous parting of the Red Sea where Pharaoh’s army according to the Sanke “ drowned”. Nor was our salvation, as modern 21st century man, delivered up to us at the end of World War 11, as some philosophers thought, and were bitterly disappointed when soon again other wars began to rage. Even though without a doubt God’s hand was in the midst of it!

Our Salvation likewise is not to be found in the vaccines for the Corona or any other Virus which has claimed the lives of millions across the entire globe. This because as history has taught us, and we need to be ever mindful, that pandemics will happen again. Salvation is not even found when a couple finally has a child after years of struggling with infertility, or when a family member is miraculously rescued from a dreaded disease like cancer. Worse, as we have discovered, again and again, a nation’s salvation does not rest on the victory of one political party over another. This as the reality of the pervasiveness of violent crime and “ persistent poverty “ according to the economist George Beckford, has been sadly, resistant to the “ promises” made by successive leaders.

It is in this context then that the Word, beyond which which we are cautioned not to proceed and invest our hopes, comes to us, and announces that:

I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert…. Is to be for us the only basis on which as individuals and as a nation mired in sin and its offspring – injustice, murder, immorality, corruption, greed, and hubris, can have a hope for salvation. The “ mighty salvation raised up for us by God, from the house of his servant David” as is written about in the Word which is The Benedictus. Jesus Christ and him Crucified.

For in Him God will always make a way. Which is the Word that came to me, and through me to you, to anyone in the midst of the fires of life today. Individually or collectively! As long as we call up on the Name of the Crucified and Risen Savior:

““I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭32:27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

May all the promises of God, all fulfilled in Christ and Him Crucified, which by grace we believe, help to strengthen the church so that the renewed church may help to renew the nation(s) where “ lady where you come from people die there every day #WRONGADDRESS in Kingston Jamaica, or where terror reigns in Ukraine. All because of the #Popcaan unruly wills and affections of unredeemed mankind; who only can be rescued by the church carrying out its mandate to reveal a “ new thing” to a dying world. Even Christ Jesus! #Reconciliation

FRIDAY – BASIC CHRISTIANITY

The Collect
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Last night, in fact one lunchtime this week, and a reminder last night, this Word presented itself :

“‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭33:3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

And so in obedience to the #BacktoBasics principle of “ do not go beyond what is written” this came to mind, and I called out to God to fulfill his promise of showing me great and wonderful things, as I reflected once again on the Collect for this week – what a gift from God through the inspired mind of man.

Reflected on the prayer for the grace of Almighty God to enable us to love “what you command and desire what you promise”, and this came.

(1) There are only two commands in the New Covenant, a summary of all the others in the Old Covenant, that we are called to remember:

“On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭10:25-28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

(2) All of God’s promises, to the his called out people, before and after Christ, are fulfilled in Christ

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭1:20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. 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.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:32-40‬ ‭NIV‬‬

These revelations perhaps have many other implications than what I am led to share. But none more important than, once we know that the Christian faith is not only for theologians to explain, nor is it complicated and difficult to understand, for once we are focused on, and obedient to Christ and Him Crucified, Risen, and Interceding for us, “ it is well with my soul”. And then safe in Christ Jesus “ the hope of glory”, we, by grace are called to be obedient and carry the message and ministry of reconciliation to a dying world, where the “ unruly wills and affections of sinners’, place people created in the image and likeness of God, in darkness and in the shadow of death. From which God’s plan is to rescue, that they may turn and repent, and not to “ destroy”, viz.,

“Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭18:23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Even the vilest offender!

And further, their unruly wills and affections allow the evil one to cause a desire for guard rings and unnatural sexual ( and lust, unbridled desires for what is natural) desires and murder, and injustice and greed, and all kinds of evil, to proceed from the hearts of unredeemed mankind and cause mayhem and destruction and moral confusion on the land.

Thank God for Jesus who came to destroy the works of the evil one. And so too the Body of Christ is called to love God and neighbor and seek after the lost, call people to repentance and promote righteousness and justice.
That’s it! For that is what happened on the Cross of Calvary: victory over death, and evil and sin #Redemption – forgiveness of sins. A Victory which was announced on Easter by The Resurrection – new and unending life in Christ Jesus by the Power of the Holy Spirit.

Peace, and in obedience.
May this God, who calls us to love Him and love neighbor and whose promises are all fulfilled in Christ Jesus, renew His church as we “ turn our eyes upon Jesus, and look full into His wonderful face, every hour, every hour I need thee”; and may the church renewed and militant, help to renew this and every nation, where the unruly wills and affections of mankind continue, since time immemorial, “ Cain where is your brother”, to cause pain and grief and death in the world.
LWJ