ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK I STAND: EVERYTHING ELSE IS SINKING SAND
Whenever I hear about a plane crashing and people dying, and the fate of the passengers on #EGYPTAIR reminded me of it, one of the things I think about, is the absolute terror that ‘ condemned ‘ folks must feel, when they sense that there is no hope of surviving.
And this absence of hope, on the one hand, and conviction that ‘ better must come’, on the other hand, is the driving force for the large scale migration to North America, in particular, and Europe to a certain extent, over the centuries.
For most, the ‘ tipping point’ has been economic; but for many others, violence has played a major role.
Perhaps the many young people in my country, who a recent poll suggest would vote ” with their feet” against the policies being pursued in Jamaica, and migrate ‘ in a heart beat ‘ to the USA, have been plagued by both factors. Regardless of the reasons, however, the reality is that they see no hope for them in this place.
So when I read the Epistle for tomorrow in the worldwide Anglican Church, again, the first time when I read it, the ‘ penny did not drop’, I understood, very clearly the only true basis for peace in this ‘ broken world’.
A world that ” bold and necessary ‘ tax policies, according to the IMF, giving a ‘ thumbs up’ to the new government’s much heralded #1.5 election promise, cannot in and by itself fix. A policy that according to the opposition leader, in her response during her budget speech, has brought #Tax-perity and will not result in Jamaica entering the ‘ promised land ‘ of #Prosperity. And so the politicians argue, and the cynics would say ‘ play games’, and ‘ Jah kingdom goes to waste’- in the words of one of our famous reggae artist.
So where is the Hope going to come from for a nation rocked by violence day after day, and night after night.
Last night night’s latest episode on TV featured a woman boasting that ‘ mi stab him’. The end result of which, was the death of a young boy, who allegedly hit her son! A nation and a world where cancer takes away our loved ones every day.
Only in Jesus, declares the very Word of God.
THE WORD OF GOD – NRSV
Therefore, since we are justified through faith, we have peace God through out Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
And not only that, but we boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produced endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love had been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5
So we have access to God’s peace ‘ which passeth all human understanding ‘.
The kind of peace that ‘ a body to die for ‘ cannot give – although many by their actions ‘ vote otherwise ‘. The kind of peace that ‘ money ‘ cannot buy. Nor can music, even it ‘ blows your mind’, or marijuana for that matter! Not even the birth of a long awaited child.
But having access alone will not bring us the Peace which Jesus offers. We have to, as the Psalmist recommends, ” dwell in the secret place of the most High”. (91). Or ” One thing I asked of the Lord…..to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life”. (27)
And ‘ I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than dwell in the tents of the wicked ‘. (85)
All of which came into my heart as I wrote.
But how do we dwell in God’s house continuously when, ‘ there is so much to do’. A family to care for, a country to govern, professional duties to be carried out, justice to be dispensed, human rights to protect, people to be interviewed on radio, Facebook Twitter…..time for relaxation #Fridaynightmovies.
Two answers came to me!
One, a popular Word from Jeremiah given to the children of Israel when they were in exile:
” Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you in exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because of it prospers, you too will prosper”.
Jeremiah 7. NIV.
The other from a meditation by Chris Tiegreen which greeted me as I opened his book randomly yesterday.
” Stand firm then ( on the mighty power of the Lord) Ephesians 6:14.
So Jeremiah validates our efforts to contribute meaningfully to the community in which we live, including caring for our families. But warns that all of this is for the Glory of God. So that we be careful not to end up ‘ worshiping ‘ our families, our jobs, our efforts to secure human rights and justice and our political parties and our ‘ downtime’ and pleasures.
For against such ‘madness’ is the essential warning from the other popular Word from Ephesians. Stand Firm, against the wiles of the evil powers of this world; not just flesh and blood like Donald Trump.
For the goal of such evil is to ‘ steal, to kill and ultimately to destroy’.
Therefore bringing down a plane filled with people is not the ultimate goal. But rather to tempt us away from ” dwelling in the secret place of the Most High”. And therefore drawing us away from the access to the only True Peace that is available on earth.
So what does Tigreen recommend as we engage in ‘ spiritual warfare ‘ with evil. And Stand Firm!
” Pray for God’s Kingdom to come; refuse to be swayed by false philosophies or umbilical ideas about God; cling to the truth and unshakable faith; know your Scripture and use your knowledge often; and ground yourself thoroughly in the gospel and share it readily”.
And we ought to recall, from the passage in Romans, that the Christian life is about ‘ building character ‘. And having the ‘ same mind which was in Christ Jesus ‘. So suffering ( for Christ…and not because of our own foolishness) is an important part of the process of ‘ dwelling in the Most High’
There is much here for us to consider. And I leave you with a profound word from.a famous Russian author who was a child of God:
The devil wrestles with God, and the field of the battle is the human heart – Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
And a hymn which came into my heart as I prepare to preach on this topic tomorrow in an inner city where hope is fast disappearing.
For nothing, ‘ neither life nor death, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future’, can separate us from Gods Peace and Love that is in Christ Jesus.
My Hope is Built on Nothing Less”
by Edward Mote, 1797-1874
1. My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
Refrain.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
2. When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
3. His oath, His covenant, and blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When every earthly prop gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand
GM: GOD, PRAYER, CLIMATE CHANGE AND CROAKING LIZARDS
I have two friends on Twitter who are non – believers. Atheists? Not sure. But serious doubters about God and Jesus and Elijah and ‘ Chariots of Fire’, etc.
One, Dr. Michael Abrahams, who featured in the previous message, is a colleague: a well respected Gynaecologist, but is more famous as comedian. Recently he wrote a satirical piece on Prayer. That praying to God, will give the same results as if we were praying to a croaking lizard!
Then this evening in a #breakingnewsstory #Dionnejacksonmiller host of the popular evening program on #rjrfm94 #BeyondTheHeadlines declared her great fear and dislike of croaking lizards. Despite the fact that they are useful in the fight against the mosquitoes which carry the dreaded Zika Virus; the original topic that triggered the news item when someone sent a text recommending the their effectiveness. ( My house has been lizard proof for years. And I am the official croaking lizard killer. Or else no peace)
So I tweeted at Michael provokingly:
So DJM you definitely would not be praying to any croaking lizard. Right! @mikeyabrahams @djmillerJA @Petchary @souldancing #BTH
And predictably Michael responded with:
@lucienforJesus @djmillerJA @Petchary @souldancing The outcome would be no different: yes, no or wait.
And the follow up:
@lucienforJesus @djmillerJA @Petchary @souldancing Intercessory prayer is a colossal failure.
One more thing. A couple days ago, Petchary and I, the other bon-believing friend on Twitter, and an Oxford scholar, had a conversation on Twitter about Climate Change, Creation and Sin. And she was astounded, and ‘ parted company’ with me, philosophically, on account of my assertion that there was a connection.
Then last night, before retiring to bed, I opened Oswald Chambers’ Complete Works, ‘randomly’ and found this:
CLIMATE AND SPIRITUAL LIFE
November 26,1916, Zeitoun (Egypt World War 1) Sunday Morning Service
And he woke, rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39 (RV)
This verse is a picture of of our own spiritual life; there are occasions, such as this war, when it looks as if God is asleep, as if all our prayers were of no use; there are breakers ahead and it looks like destruction. But when He awakens in us, He calms the storm and rebukes our unbelief.
The life of Our Lord exhibits the influence of character on climate. It is easy to make this absurd, but looked at from the attitude of the Spirit of God, you find there is an amazing connection between the storm and distresses and wild confusion of the earth just now, and the waywardness and wrong of man; when the waywardness of Man ceases and the sons of God are manifested, then ” the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God”. ( Romans 8:19-23)
The Bible reveals that there is a close connection between character and climate. Ruskin ( one of the great Russian writers) is almost the only writer who recognizes it, and in this respect he is akin to the great prophets. The reason for the connection is fundamental. According to the Bible revelation, God created man a mixture of dust and Deity, and when the Redemption comes to its full scope, the whole earth is going to partake in it. Because man’s body and his earthly setting have been affected by sin, we are apt to think that being made out of dust of the ground is his shame; the Bible implies that it is his chief glory, because it is in that body the Son of God was manifested.
Comment: Two things. One is the mystery of how God uses seemingly ordinary conversations to show us a glimpse of His Glory. For if anyone can only see a coincidence between Dr. Michael Abrahams’ questioning of God’s Sovereignty, and an answer provided by our, apparently random, reading of Oswald Chambers’ struggles to see God at work in the horrors of WW1, and Jesus calming the raging storm, in response to the Intercessionary prayers of the terrified disciples, then such a person is stifling his or her conscience.
And two, the powerful message of God awakening in us, is so profoundly reassuring. But such a growth, such a development, as Chambers taught, only comes about the more we pray.
For prayer nourishes the transcendent nature of the God who lives in us in and through Christ Jesus. And when He is fully awakened in an individual, and in a Church, no power, no storm, no trial, on earth can resist Him.
I pray God, that despite the supernatural attempt to confuse and discourage, over the centuries, not just today, God’s people will persevere in praying without ceasing. For in such a way, is a nation, and a civilization, and the very creation itself, rescued from the wages of Sin, by The One Who died on Calvary. Christ Jesus!
#TheFiveMarksofMission of the Worldwide Anglican Church.
Peace
Last night, in fact, early this morning, as I slept, two passages of Scripture entered my mind.
The first one is a Revelation of the Cosmic battle that is raging at one level about the Root cause of Sin.
Whilst at another level we are preoccupied with the manifestations, the symptoms, of Sin; murdering a bus driver in an inner city for $700; selling polluted gas at some stations; the vulgarity which has characterized, so far, the phenomenon of Donald Trump; defeating ISIS in Ramadi, and hoping to drive them out of Mosul in Iraq; the flight of the ‘Affluenza kid’ – too rich to know right from wrong: Seriously! – and Bill Cosby’s spectacular and very disappointing ‘ fall from grace’.
In the midst of all of this, and as we approach a New Year 2016 AD – Anno Domini, which is the Latin for ‘ the year of our Lord, lest we forget – Jesus reminds us that:
” The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full ( more abundantly) “. John 10:10
The challenge for the Church, in 2016, and has always been throughout the ages, is to insert this narrative into a conversation dominated by: Star Wars, ‘The Force Awakens’; Sting, the ‘ bashment party of the year’; Lebron James vs Steve Curry or ‘ MSN’ of Barcelona in La Liga vs Sanchez et al of The Gunners in BCL; Justin Bieber in the US and Popcaan in Ja; the agenda and focus of a DjmillerJA and Cliff Hughes in Ja, and CNN and The New York Times in the US; and most importantly in this age, the discussions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
So as we contemplate this eternal struggle to make an Old Story, The Gospel of Christ, relevant in a changing world, this is where the second passage of Scripture helps us.
” A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will beat fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will test on him –
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of God – and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. ” Isaiah 11:1-3
I close with the observation that all of Scripture points us on one direction:
‘to have the mind of Christ’.
But that wisdom, that knowledge, that power which the Holy Spirit imparts to us, to ‘ build up the body of Christ’ – The Church – and to fight against the Thief who has come to Destroy, comes only when, as Bonhoeffer states:
‘ When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die’.
Otherwise, my understanding, is that we are building a Church whose foundation is ‘ Cheap Grace’. And children of Cheap Grace cannot rescue a country from ‘ murder for $700’. Or from the madness of Affluenza!
I pray God then, that in this New Year, we will be prepared to ‘ die to self’ and follow the Only One who gives Life, and Life more abundantly. Even Christ Jesus. Otherwise, as we say in Jamaica, ‘ dog nyam we supper’.
Or in the more acceptable language of the Bible, The Thief who has come, not just to steal and kill us, but to destroy our very souls, will overcome us. And continue to reign in Jamaica and in the US and elsewhere!
But only for a time, as the Old and unchanging Message from the Cross, is that Sin and Death and all Evil have been overcome. Forever!
Peace. And Happy New Year when it comes tomorrow.
And so we sing with the song writers, one of whom bids us: ‘ hush the noise ye men of strife and hear the angels sing’. And another who helps us to sing the glorious song; at the end of the year, at the end of a particularly difficult struggle, and a song all who love Jesus ought to sing daily, even in the midst of the struggles of life.
Your grace and mercy, brought me through. I’m living this day because of you.
I want to thank you and praise your name. Your grace and mercy brought me through.(2015) And will sustain me in 2016 and forevermore.
O Jesus!
GM: I did not watch the W 4×100 nor the M 4×100. Me, not just a track and field fan, but a former athlete who ran at Champs! Why? For while #RealShellyAnn and company and #KickOutBolt and company were bringing glory to #Jamaicalandwelove The Lord God was teaching me a profound lesson in my early morning devotions, and early morning walk.
It came during a reflection, again, on one of my favorite songs in our Anglican Liturgical worship form for Morning Prayer.
Words written by Zechariah, the Father of John the Baptist, as recorded in Luke 1:68-79, KJV when he regained his speech. In our Church it is known as :
The Benedictus…….Edited
Blessed by the Lord God of Israel:
for He hath visited, and redeemed his people;
And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us: in the house of his servant David;
As he spake by the mouths of his holy Prophets: which have been since the world began;
That we should be saved from all our enemies: and from the hands of all who hate us;……
That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies: might serve him without fear;
In holiness and righteousness before him: all the days of our lives.
And thou, child, shall be called the Prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people: for the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God: whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us:
To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be: world without end. Amen.
Comments:
1. A revelation from God, that once we repent of our sins and accept the free Gift of The Mighty Salvation wrought by Christ on Calvary, we are ‘ Delivered’ from all our enemies, and those that hate us.
In this context, we have to recall, as I was led to write earlier this week, that we do not ‘ fight against flesh and blood’. And therefore, that our enemies are really the spiritual forces of evil in this world.
What Satan, the captain of these forces wishes to do, and which evil began with Adam’s disobedience, The Fall ( after God made everything good and perfect), is to hold us ‘ captive to Sin and Death’. And both of these terrible things from the ‘ pit of hell,’ are manifested in many and various ways in the lives of all mankind.
Including the the list of evil which come from ‘ within’ as revealed in the Gospel appointed for tomorrow at my Church.
” …..evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness ( leggo beast), envy, slander, arrogance and folly ”
Mark 7 : 20-22 NIV
And just in case anyone is so presumptuousness to declare that he or she ‘ is not on that list’, recall the Word that says: ” All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
So whatever Satan has used to hold us ‘ captive’, whether it be irrational fears, or real issues; evil thoughts in our hearts which sometimes ‘ bruk out into actions’ , for which we may or may not be sorry; disobedience to the Word of God, seeking other things first, instead of God’s Kingdom; sicknesses – in some but not all instances as God sometimes uses illness to teach us lessons; and it the wise person who knows the difference – financial problems ( the same caveat applies here too) ; whatever, in Christ we have been ‘ set free’ – Delivered.
But most important of all Delivered from Sin and Death unto Eternal Life.
So who must rejoice more? Those who are pleased with our Gold Medal performances in Beijing by #TeamJamaica or those who have been Delivered by A Mighty Salvation in and through Jesus Christ?
Your grace and mercy……
2. As we celebrate this mighty Salvation let let us not miss the following revelations:
That we should live now without fear. For
if God in Christ is for us, who or what can be against us.
That we should live Righteousness lives. For, in Christ, living by The Spirit , we no longer ‘ have to sin’. And if we do, and repent with ‘ a pure and contrite heart’, immediately ( repentance is never a tomorrow story) then a merciful God will forgive us.
That we are called now to ‘ spread the Word, the Gospel’ to ‘ them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death’.
That means all with whom we come in contact who are not yet ‘ Saved’. Have not yet committed their lives to Christ. All! Whether they be JLo, Serena, Bolt, Gatlin, Beanie Man, Chronixx, the person who sits next to you at work, whoever , and wherever.
And if you don’t feel comfortable speaking to that person, pray for their souls, as we are only here to ‘ prepare the way for The Holy Spirit ‘. And Prayer opens doors for the Lord to act.
Finally that ‘ people who sit in darkness’ can be interpreted to mean many things. But the Word of God always speaks about Justice in the same breath with Righteousness. They are inseparable. So we are also ‘ Delivered’ so that we can work to set free others who are held captive by Injustice anywhere. Whether it be as a result of breeches of Human Rights or Human Trafficking or Exploitation by Unjust Economic systems, Illiteracy, whatever, we the children of the Resurrection are called to ,’ set the captives free.
So my friends what is of greater importance to you. Victory by Bolt and Shelly Ann or Deliverance from Evil!
Peace.
O Praise the Lord. Thank you Jesus.
Amen.
I read my Bible to see what men ought to do ; and read my newspapers to see what men are doing.
Lord renew thy church beginning with me; Lord renew the church that the church may renew the nation(s)
THE NEWS
1. The big news this week in my country was bed. Very bad! And the follow up even worse. For a family, a community and nation mourned this week when news broke of the gruesome murder of a 14 year old girl, who was hacked to death, in the early morning before daybreak, and near to her home. Days later we were informed that young Kayalecia Simpson had been pregnant at the time of her death.
2. The Lenten discipline continued, as we await the climax of Lent – Good Friday and Easter.
Yes there were other newsworthy stories, but none touched mu soul as those listed. Not even President Obama’s, widely hailed ” We ” speech on the anniversary of Selma. Nor the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Natenyahu’s, controversial speech to the US Senate. Nor the news of Boko Haran linking up with ISIS, and yet more mayhem and murder in my country.
THE WORD OF GOD
So in the midst of the almost palpable pain coarsing through the nation; and grief enveloping the family and community, what Word or inspired word did The Lord send as ‘ the devil was let loose in Lent’ in my country? A few sent out on WhatsApp, and an important one which I received during my lunch time reading this week, but which I did not have the time to share. In that context then, what is clear to me, despite the many recommendations, from ‘high and from low’, seeking better protection of the safety of our women and girls, that ‘ unless the Lord build the house, we labor in vain’. For my people, I don’t know about anywhere else, will never change unless they come to fear The Living God. And right now many of them neither fear God nor man! Neither the Priest or the house of God, or the Policeman! Here then is the passage I was led to read this week.
Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king and strengthened himself against Israel. He stationed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah and put garrisons in Judah and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel. The Lord established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor. His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah. In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the towns of Judah. With them were certain Levites—Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah—and the priests Elishama and Jehoram. They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the Lord; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people. The fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not go to war against Jehoshaphat. Some Philistines brought Jehoshaphat gifts and silver as tribute, and the Arabs brought him flocks: seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred goats. http://bible.com/111/2ch.17.1-11.niv
So what the Lord is saying here, my people, is use the opportunity of Lent to repent. And help to spread the Word of God, which is ‘ sharper than any two-edged sword’, and thus cause people to fear the Lord once again in this country. As they did in the early post emancipation days, when Sam Sharpe, Paul Bogle, George William Gordon and others helped to shape the lives of former slaves and their children, as inspired by The Word of God. For the reality is that people in high and exalted positions, and also within the ‘masses’, having forgotten their history, have ‘rebelled’ against The Living God; on radio, on Television, in our music and in our homes. With devastating consequences! Releasing the kind of evil which destroyed the life of young Kayalecia, and others before her also; and against which they have no idea how to fight, and ironically, have turned their backs on the only Power which can overcome evil. Pray God that as Passion Week comes again once more this year, we might heed the Lord’s call to repent of our collective madness.
THE FIRST MESSAGE – in it the Lord reminds us that He is a faithful God. Even when we are unfaithful.
Death in our communities. Death in our families. Sudden death on our roads. Disappointments in life. Trouble knocking on our doors. Challenges awaiting us today. And yet we serve a faithful God, ‘ there is no shadow of turning with Him’.
This morning I woke up with Luciano’s, ” Lord give me strength to face another day”. But just could not find the right video. Came across Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir’s ‘ Nothing is impossible with God’. Good but not ‘ in my soul’ this morning. Then began my devotions with JACOB
BOEHME’ s Morning Watch.
Living Lord, you have watched over me, and put your hand on my head through the long dark hours of night. Your holy angels have protected me from all harm and pain. Continue to watch over me and bless me during the hours of day.
And while thanking God for mercy, this song came into my heart. Praise God.
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father, There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
CHO
“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!” Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided— “Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!
2
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon and stars in their courses above, Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Chorus
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Chorus
THE SECOND MESSAGE – O, how I wish that this song from the Lord, could replace the slackness of the dance hall lyrics, and also those which are ‘trotted out’ at Carnival, and really get into the heads of our youngsters, and old ones too. Thus releasing the power of God to help spread abroad the ‘ holy fear of God’ in our communities. And then enable us to see God’s Glory in Jesus Christ, as first revealed on the Cross of Calvary and validated by The Resurrection on Easter morning.
THE GLORY OF GOD
Sometimes trouble or the good life combine to make us forget The Glory of the God we serve. This morning as I began to praise God, just because He is worthy of praise, this song came into my heart. And then a powerful reminder of the image in the Bible of God and His Son who are both worthy. As you sing the song/prayer, remember the three songs which glorify The Father and The Son in heaven. Even as we battle with trials here on earth
THE SONG
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord Open the eyes of my heart I want to see You I want to see You
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord Open the eyes of my heart I want to see You I want to see You
To see You high and lifted up Shinin’ in the light of Your glory Pour out Your power and love As we sing holy, holy, holy
THE WORD OF GOD – THREE SONGS IN HEAVEN
Revelation 4:2 NIV
At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.
Revelation 4:8 NIV
Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”
Revelation 5:8-9 NIV
And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
Let us therefore sing a new song on earth, regardless of our circumstances, as our God is always worthy to be praised. ” Open the eyes of my heart Lord, I want to see you……..”
THE THIRD MESSAGE – One of the ‘popular’ ways of gaining attention in my country now, is to write unvarnished rubbish that ” God is dead”. Or ‘God is something or someone who Christians made up’. And so many ‘fools have tread where angels do not dare to go’! Thus, my God, The Living God, sends a reminder in song, that He is very real indeed. Further, that one day, there will be a ‘verdict’ passed against those who refuse to come into The Light of Christ, The Incarnate Word of God. No wonder then that wickedness often flourishes in the ‘dark”.
GOD IS VERY REAL
God is made very real in the Life, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. And so I awoke with song in my heart this morning. One which I had not sung for a long time. Amazing !
Then at the end of my Bible readings for this Sunday, came a Verdict for those who do not believe that God is real.
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
THE SONG
There are some things
I may not know
There are some places
Oh Lord, I cannot go
But I am sure
Of this one thing
That God is real
For I can feel
Him in my soul
Yes, God is real
Oh, He’s real in my soul
Yes, God is real
For He has a washed
And made me whole
His love for me
Is just like pure gold, oh Lord
My God is real
For I can feel
Him in my soul
Yes, God is real
Oh yes, God is real in my soul
Yes, God is real
For He has washed
And made me whole
Please do not make, ‘ ghost fool you’, as we say in Jamaica. For God is very real. That’s why Lent climaxes in Good Friday and the Blessed Resurrection – Easter.
Lent is a good time to escape from the darkness, and avoid the ‘ Verdict’.
THE FOURTH MESSAGE – of all the messages this one, more than any other touched the hearts of those who are on my WhatsApp contact list. I hope it gets deep in your soul also, as it has been in mine over the years, every time I read it. For herein lies a great truth. We have not really loved The Living God as much as we should. Whether within or without the church! And so our land mourns.For God requires all our love and worship. Not just in times of trouble, or for ceremonial purposes!
Many years ago, my spiritual father, the late Bishop Herman Spence, of blessed memory, who was then my Rector, invited a priest to conduct a mission in the church. I think it was for the period of Lent. The lasting memory of that mission, is a prayer he shared with us. One which has ‘ haunted’ my soul over the years. I have been led by the Lord to share it with you. That it may ‘ haunt’ your soul also. And move all of us to seek the Lord more diligently. As Lent is a time to think on these things.
THE PRAYER
O God, we have loved thee but not enough; We have sought thee but not diligently. We have seen but not perceived. We have heard but not understood. We have hoped for things heavenly but we have clung to the things of this earth and our hearts are far from thee the Holy One. Draw us now in thy mercy, unto thyself, O God, that the time to come my not be as the past, but that seeing, perceiving, understanding and loving Thee, Thy Kingdom may come, and we may find joy in thy service; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Perhaps a Word which has ‘ haunted’ my soul this week, will help us understand better the message in the prayer. With God, ‘it’s all or nothing’. Which in a very real sense is the Good Friday message – the beginning of the climax of Lent.
THE WORD
” In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple”. Luke 14:33 NIV
THE FINAL MESSAGE – this one offers the simplest and yet most profound understanding of the Gospel message. That unless we are in Christ, terror awaits us. Eternally! On the day of Judgment. And God so loves us, that He sent His Son, His only Son to die on an old wooden Cross, so that we may not be eternally separated from Him – which is the correct interpretation of hell. Further, no one can ‘cross over’ to come and help when that happens. So the time to listen is now. To the words in the Old Testament, and even better, to the Incarnate Word, who with Power, rose from the dead, on that first Easter morning, over two thousand years ago. For if we fail to listen, there is no remedy. And life here is but a short period of time, despite the bling and the hype and the trappings of power; only a fleeting moment when compared to eternity
ALL ABOUT LENT
I had already turned off the phone when I read the story of The Rich Man ( Dives) and Lazarus as my bedtime reading last night. That’s the only reason why I did not share it at that time. But then I would not have known that the 14 year young lady Kayalecia, who so brutally murdered, was four months pregnant. But does it really matter as murder is still wickedness regardless of the motive? True! But now there are two messages. Thou shalt not kill. And thou shalt not ‘ interfere with people’s girl children’. No doubt there are other messages to be considered – the wider context of the consequences of immorality. And ‘ greed’ and lust. But we shall not dwell on those more difficult ones at a time like this when a family is mourning, and indeed a community and an entire nation. The question which arises though, which Easter and Good Friday, the climax of Lent, poses, and the Word of God, is ‘ will we listen when God speaks’?
THE WORD OF GOD
Luke 16:27-31 NIV
“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
And what is the essential message that ‘ the God-man Jesus who rose from the dead’ brought to us. Two Words. John 3:16 the most widely Bible verse ” For God so loved the world….. .”
And another : ” All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. And: The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:23
The NRSC notes with deep regret and sadness the news of the terrible tragedy which occurred in the early hours of March 1st. At a time when the nation is already struggling to deal with the rising number of road fatalities, the sudden death of four persons on the Braco road in Trelawny is a disaster of no mean order. And one that ought to galvanize the entire nation to take the issue of road safety much more seriously, at all levels of our society, than has hitherto been the case. For despite recurrent events like what happened this morning, leaving families and loved ones to mourn, sometimes for years, and oftentimes with an attendant dire financial burden, we have tended, as a people, to continue to use the roads with less care and responsibility than is required.
Our prayers and condolences go out to families of those who died. And we pledge our continued commitment to work tirelessly, with government agencies and Ministers whose portfolio responsibilities impact on road safety, and with the private sector to promote safety on the nation’s roads.
In this context we urge the nation to take note of the fact that the United Nations Global Road Safety Week will be celebrated from May 4-10, 2015. An event for which the NRSC has already began to plan. And although the focus will be on child safety,
#SaveKidsLives, it is our hope that all lives will be spared from death and injury on account of the planned activities.
I read my Bible to see what men ought to do; and read my newspapers to see what men are doing
Lord renew thy church beginning with me; Lord renew the church that the church may renew the nation(s)
NEWS
1. Two Policemen killed in New York….with the attendant grief and pain for the families. But also the potential to derail some of the gains made by the #BlackLivesMatter protest movement, as already there has been some backlash from the NYPD and others, given the comments made by the killer before committing this heinous crime.
2. Massacre in Peshawar, Pakistan – Horrible crime against humanity, as 148 children perish in an attack on a school by The Taliban in Pakistan. Regardless of whose children, it takes an especially warped and sick mind to target children, and randomly kill them. This will certainly go down as one of the worse acts of violence for 2014 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30529135
4. Despite the above mentioned news item, all worthy of serious considerations, the bigs news all across the world, trumping everything else, is that in a few days time, it will be Christmas day. And yet again Peace and Goodwill to all men will be proclaimed across the globe. An event which changed the entire world, to the extent that history is now divided into clearly defined periods. Before Christ – BC, and After Christ – AD…Ano Domini. And the central message sent by God to the world through His Son, properly understood is that, after Sin entered the world through rebellion by Adam, and all of us have inherited this tendency, in Christ we have a second chance to achieve the holiness and perfection which God intends for His Creation. Truly a message of Hope at a time when there is so much violence in the world. So much unrighteousness in the world. So much injustice. And so much sickness and disasters happening across the entire globe. So,yes, families get together to celebrate! Yes, people are busy buying gifts! Yes, others are busy having the best parties for the whole year. Yes, people will go to church on Christmas day. But most importantly, thank God, yes, since that first Christmas and that first Good Friday and Easter, mankind has been a feee and unmerited gift, grace, to enter and new relationship with our Creator God.
THE WORD OF GOD
So what Word did the Lord send, or inspired word, in the midst of this spasm of violence across the world as we prepare to celebrate, once again the birth of His Son, Jesus our Savior.
One of the great challenges of our times, and a matter addressed by the ArchBishop of Canterbury, the ‘spiritual” leader of the worldwide Anglican church – he has no administrative nor ecclesiastical authority outside of the UK, unlike the Roman Catholic Pope – is the hot button issue of human sexuality and the Church. Or to be more precise, how does God view the lifestyle of LBGT persons, given the growing acceptance of this ‘different from heterosexual’ lifestyle, within some societies and even within some churches, including the Anglican church.
Archbishop Justin Welby On Anglican Communion: ‘There Is A Possibility That We Will Not Hold Together’
THE FIRST MESSAGE – sent out on WhatsApp features a song which really ‘got into my head’, this week. A Repentance Song. But an appropriate song for the Christmas, as this is what Jesus came to do- call people to repentance from their sins, and turn to God.
THE MESSAGE
Just before taking Holy Communion in out church, we sing or say the Agnus Dei; an ancient rite of the church coming from the days of Ambrose, one of the early church fathers.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us….repeated twice. And then the third time ….grant us thy peace.
Of late we have’ jazzed’ it up with a reggae/rasta beat. And the song has just gotten into my head. I keep singing the first part time and time again. This morning I woke up with the song in my heart. Try it. It should be easy. And it will get ‘ into your head’, as it’s a repentance song which is appropriate as we celebrate the first coming of Jesus as Savior. And not as Judge, which is a different matter altogether. Then the world will come to an end, and all those who only understand Christmas as time of Peace, and Goodwill towards all men, and ignore the call to Repentance will have a time of reckoning.
O Lamb of God.,..bum bum….you take away the sins of the world… bum bum….have mercy on my soul… grant us thy Peace
My wife and I leave for Miami to spend time with our children and grands. I will be back in a week. May the Lord’s Peace, the presence of the Risen Christ, be with all of us in a special way, this Christmas.
THE SECOND MESSAGE again sent out on WhatsApp reflects on the supernatural nature of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of the central messages of Christmas – that The Almighty God can come and live in us by faith, and by the Power of The Holy Spirit. And change our lives forever. A humanly impossible task. But with God ‘nothing is impossible’.
The essence of the Christmas story is revealed in Mary’s experience with The Angel Gabriel when she was told that she would ‘ with child’. And she questioned, ‘ how will this be?’
Then she was told about the power of The Holy Spirit and that
‘ For with God nothing is impossible’.
It’s a message of tremendous hope as we celebrate this Christmas amidst harsh economic times, a reduction in the murder rate, the washing of the feet of persons who some believe cannot change and therefore by extension do not need to repent of the sin of homosexuality, governance issues, Barack Obama’s brave moves in recent times, police brutality in the USA #BlackLivesMatter, madness in Pakistan, and in Nigeria, personal challenges with relationships illness and finances, greed, pride, anxiety, anger, envy and lust; madness in Australia; all of which ills and challenges God can change with the same Power that Mary experienced, and which caused Jesus to Rise from the dead. That’s the real message of Christmas from Jesus The Savior of all mankind.
Peace.
THE THIRD AND FOURTH MESSAGES – were sent to senior members of my church and other Priests, as a follow up to the action taken by one of our Priests to ‘wash the feet’, of LGBT persons inside a church, and social media discussions on this issuE. But the message transcends the homosexual issue and goes to the heart of the Christmas message – that as God did not have any sympathy for Sin, but rather sent His Son to die because of it, so too, we the Baptized, must never tolerate or sympathize nor excuse Sin. The sinner yes. But not the sin. As, ultimately, God calls us to a life of holiness. And which life of holiness is only possible in and through Christ Jesus
THE THIRD MESSAGE
In defense of The Full Gospel of Christ against ill informed ” Human Rights activists”
I arrived in Miami this morning to spend the Christmas with family. Took us two hours to clear immigration and customs. Long lines! Seems a lot of people had the same idea. Picked up by my daughter and her two boys. Went for lunch. Tagged along for the obligatory shopping. Taken home with the boys and the ladies went back out.
So I am here with the boys, and, surprise surpise, video games trump the intial excitement of seeing grandpa. So grandpa turns to the Bible to read the Christmas story in Luke’s gospel. And what do I find:
” I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God…and now you will be silent until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words”. Luke 1: 19-20 NIV…..addressing Zechariah after the priest had questioned God’s ability to give him a child – John the Baptist – in his old age.
Immediately, I thought about Jesus, who is God Himself, and who told the woman caught in adultery, after encouraging her rather than condemning her, to ” go ye and sin no more”. This same Jesus who warned another person He healed to, ” stop sinning or something worse may happen to you”. This same Jesus who told us that if He had not come and spoken, “they would not be guilty of sin”, but now because He came on earth people have not ‘excuse’.
So even if we do not fully understand the reasons why some persons are sexually attracted to (” have feelings for”) others of the same sex ( and who can really fully explain sin), Paul, a man anointed, and appointed by our Lord – stood in His presence – to teach us the essence of the Christian faith clearly, includes this attraction, along with a hosts of others sins, in the fundamental Christian doctrine that ” all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.
Very clearly then, the sin of homosexuality, properly understood according to Paul, is part of the fallen nature of mankind. Regardless of the controversy over its origins!
Why then this defense of Paul tonight, and who like Gabriel, ‘stood in the presence of God”? Because there is circulating in social media, an ‘apology’ of the homosexual lifestyle, by human rights activists, that argues that, ‘because persons feel that way from an early age, and have no control over their ‘different from heterosexual ‘ desires, such behavior is not sinful. Further, that Christians who have a contrary view, are guilty of not being compassionate and caring, and even in one case cited recently, may very well be guilty of, or in some way contribute to, causing such an individual to commit sucide. In the midst of this we have persons writing ‘authoritatively’, about the faith, with litttle or no knowledge of the foundations of the faith: Creation, Fall, Redemption and final Judgement; persons, without any compassion, mocking individuals who are ‘anti-gay’ and then are found in a moment of passion and revelation to be ‘closet gays’; persons, who in anger, write that anyone who is lacking in compassion and not in support of LGBT persons, after concluding that Jesus would support them unconditiionally, recommend that such persons ought to find another religion.
Really outrageous comments which lack any understanding and honest appreciation of the long standing, but not very public knowledge of so many Christians who have struggled with homosexuals and other marginalized individuals, like prostitutes, in respect of their lifestyle and felt needs. In camera! Far away from the ‘ maddening crowd’! Not seekiing any approval nor recognition from man. Only from the God they served, and continue to serve, without accusing anyone else of being lacking in compassion.
No doubt that’s why I was drawn to a meditation by Oswald Chambers this week who reflected on the revelation that Jesus did not come to bring peace but a sword. That the sword is to deal with anything that does not accord with what Jesus taught about Himself. Which essentially is that ‘only in Him can we become the new creation’. And only Christ and Him Crucified, is the Peace that we all need. Not some diluted version of Christmas story – which ignores the Easter Vigil, and which version would have us believe that ” peace and goodwill towards all men”, can be achieved without recognition of Sin, rejection of Sin, and repentance of Sin.
If I sound passionate and distressed, it is because I am. And have been for a few days. Until tonight when the Lord, in His wisdom, and for the glory of His Son, and for the renewal of the church, led me to write.
May we all experience the Peace, this Christmas, that only The Crucified, Risen and Ascended Christ, the full gospel of Christ, can bring, and Who was sent to us from the very presence of God, on that first Christmas day, over 2000 years ago.
LWJ
THE FOURTH MESSAGE
Oswald Chambers writes in this vein as I go to my bed. after having written with no thought of what Chambers had in mind. can this really be coincidence? or a validation of a message from the Lord. You decide.
Peace.
LWJ
The Right Kind of Help
And I, if I am lifted up . . . will draw all peoples to Myself -John 12:32
Very few of us have any understanding of the reason why Jesus Christ died. If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is an absurdity and there is absolutely no need for it. What the world needs is not “a little bit of love,” but major surgery.
When you find yourself face to face with a person who is spiritually lost, remind yourself of Jesus Christ on the cross. If that person can get to God in any other way, then the Cross of Christ is unnecessary. If you think you are helping lost people with your sympathy and understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ. You must have a right-standing relationship with Him yourself, and pour your life out in helping others in His way- not in a human way that ignores God. The theme of the world’s religion today is to serve in a pleasant, non-confrontational manner.
But our only priority must be to present Jesus Christ crucified- to lift Him up all the time (see 1 Corinthians 2:2). Every belief that is not firmly rooted in the Cross of Christ will lead people astray. If the worker himself believes in Jesus Christ and is trusting in the reality of redemption, his words will be compelling to others. What is extremely important is for the worker’s simple relationship with Jesus Christ to be strong and growing. His usefulness to God depends on that, and that alone.
The calling of a New Testament worker is to expose sin and to reveal Jesus Christ as Savior. Consequently, he cannot always be charming and friendly, but must be willing to be stern to accomplish major surgery. We are sent by God to lift up Jesus Christ, not to give wonderfully beautiful speeches. We must be willing to examine others as deeply as God has examined us. We must also be sharply intent on sensing those Scripture passages that will drive the truth home, and then not be afraid to apply them.
Concluding comment – I pray then that all of us, whether in Jamaica, in New York City, or any where else, may experience, this Christmas, the true and sustained Peace, which only Jesus can give.
danielgodsurelywilldeliver 