A new era?

There has been much talk over the last little while of a new era, not just a new day or season, but a new era. Some may say I do not see anything that different. Where is this new era?

However, if we look at new eras in the Bible, none of them started that auspiciously but they all became planet changing; Noah, Abraham, Moses / Joshua, King David and Jesus himself.

Noah’s obedience ushered in a whole new era based on righteousness when God washed the planet of sin and iniquity through the flood, but it started with Noah obediently spending 120 years building an ark in the desert. For over a century, he would have had to endure the mocking of his contemporaries but even they must have wondered when all those animals turned up and entered the ark and it began to rain. Once the planet had been cleansed, God started again with Noah and his family – a new era that had started very inauspiciously.

Next, God called Abraham to found his dynasty, his people, the Jewish nation through a son not yet born to an old couple, because ‘Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness’ Genesis 15: 6. He trusted God, despite his and Sarah’s old age to give them a son. He was even prepared to sacrifice this son of the promise.  Now, despite every attempt of man and the enemy, the Jewish people flourish and have returned to their Promised Land. 

Moses too could never have realised the call on his life after his aborted attempt to fulfil his calling in his own strength. For 40 years Moses lived in the desert with the sheep, probably wondering if the call on his life had been lost forever with his reckless act of murder. For 40 years the entitlement and privilege of the royal Egyptian lifestyle was removed till all that was left was a man who had no illusions about who he was. ‘Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody; 40 years learning he was nobody; and 40 years discovering what God can do with a nobody.’ 

Yet when God called him, he didn’t even jump up and say, ‘Here I am God. Send me.’ Five times he told God, ‘No!’. But God knew what was in him and by the time of the announcement of the tenth plague, Moses left the great Pharaoh’s presence ‘hot with anger.’ He was now so confident of who God was and what He could do that he led the Israelites out of the slavery of Egypt, took them across the Red Sea and despite all their moaning and complaining, led them for 40 years in the wilderness. God used Moses to build a new nation based on worship to their God at the tabernacle. It was a new era and foreshadowed the later great act of deliverance of the Son of God. Moses’ assistant Joshua completed the assignment and took the next generation into their Promised Land. 

Then Jesus himself, the ultimate promise of redemption for all mankind, started with a baby born to poor parents, placed in a manger because there was nowhere else to put the infant Son of God. Hardly the expected start. Even after his 3 years of ministry doing good and preaching the Kingdom of God, the crowds that had been so blessed, turned on him and demanded he be crucified. Yet that was all in God’s plans and crucifixion led to resurrection and the coming of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost ushering in THE new era – salvation for all. 

The hallmark of all these new eras were obedient men and women, doing what God asked of them. It’s the same in our day We are called to walk in obedience to what God is saying to us and the Church. Has the new era already started with the revivals spreading across the universities and campuses in USA? Time will tell but we do know: 

28 “And afterward,

    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

    your old men will dream dreams,

    your young men will see visions.

29 Even on my servants, both men and women,

    I will pour out my Spirit in those days. Joel 2: 28 – 29 

May we too be men and women of obedience and faith to trust that God is bringing about incredible events in our day that will see millions swept into the Kingdom ready for the return of the King of the Kings. 

Emmanuel - God with us

At this Christmas time, we remember that Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us. Jesus came to show what God is like as well as to die for the sins of the world. He told Thomas ‘if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the father.’

If we stop and think what Jesus is like, we see someone with a huge heart for the lost and dying, someone who loved people, who helped and healed those whom society had little time for. 

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and illness among the people.  News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralysed; and he healed them. Matthew 4: 23 – 24.

Having met their needs, he then sat down and taught the crowd, the teaching now known as The Beatitudes. The first one was ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’ Matthew 5: 3. Who were the ‘poor in spirit’? I believe, as Dallas Willard wrote, that the poor in spirit were this crowd of needy people – the sick, demon possessed, those in pain and paralysed. They had been blessed because the Kingdom had come to them. 

When John the Baptist, discouraged and in prison sent his disciples to ask Jesus if her was the one, he told them; ‘Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor’ Luke 7: 22.

The sign of the Kingdom (the King’s domain) and of the Messiah, the King was wonderful things happening and good news proclaimed to the poor.

As I have written before God gets a bad press. People are very quick to believe that God is an angry, vindictive God just itching to judge and condemn the world but nothing could be further from the truth. … God is love.  This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4: 8 – 10.

Jesus was only ever angry with the religious leaders and temple authorities who should have

known better. Right from his birth they stubbornly refused to believe that Jesus was the longed for Messiah. They opposed him who came to bring life in all its fullness. Jesus never was angry, cross or irritated by the poor, ignorant and needy people. He had compassion on them but those who led the people astray into dead religion he condemned.

God is everything that is good and kind. He is gracious, merciful and he showed this by sending his son into the world to show the world just what he is like. Jesus is Emmanuel.

But now as Bill Johnson said: Its all about us becoming a generation who can authentically display who Jesus is. He is the desire of the nations. (Haggai 2: 7). He is what everybody wants they just don’t know it.  The more we represent Jesus as he genuinely is, the more desirable we become to the nations.  Our job is to destroy the works of the devil, just as Jesus did – heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons and cleanse lepers (Matthew 10: 8).

So this Christmas as the world turns albeit briefly to remember Jesus let’s be those who represent Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, to the world by doing the things he did and by bringing his presence wherever we go.

No filters please

This morning I heard two things that deeply impacted me.  Firstly I was listening to a message from John 4 about the Samaritan woman that Jesus met at the well in Sychar. The woman had more than a bit of a past but Jesus didn’t hesitate to get into conversation with her.

The speaker spoke about how we can filter out certain people in our lives. It may be the rich or the poor, the sexually immoral, the educated or uneducated, foreigners or certain foreigners but we all place filters on others as to whether we wish to come into contact, socialise or get to know certain people but not others.

Jesus placed no filters on his life. He came into contact and spoke and ate with the rich or poor, educated, uneducated, prostitutes, tax collectors, foreigners – in fact anybody and everybody - even Samaritans. Jews and Samaritans didn’t mix – Samaritans were mixed-blood race of Jews and there was great hostility between them. 

The disciples who had gone into the village to buy food were more than a little surprised to return and find Jesus in conversation first with a woman and then a Samaritan but through his contact they all stayed two days and the whole village got saved.

The second thing I heard was of the Irish band Bluetree going to Pattaya in Thailand – a hotbed of the sex tourism trade. They went to minister in the city.  One of the brothel and bar owners asked them to come and play in his bar as it would be good for trade. Instead of being offended, the band worshipped for two hours in the midst of this bar and brothel and spontaneously the song God of This City was born.

Suppose the band had filtered out this brothel, the owner and the prostitutes as not an appropriate place to worship. Instead they brought light into one of the darkest places – surely bringing love, grace and hope.

I am challenged by who I filter out and yet I am encouraged by those who take the good news of Jesus and his love to the ‘least of these’ – the very people God loves and wants to rescue. As Christians we are all trophies of grace. None of us had anything to bring to Jesus and yet he came and rescued us. 

I pray God touches our hearts with compassion for the lost and shines light on our filters that we may see past our prejudices to people who need Jesus just as much as we do. 

Receiving well

I have been struck afresh this year by the advertisements for Christmas on the radio. Many of them promise that if you use their products or services it will be your best, greatest, most marvellous Christmas ever. Maybe you would like to visit the Ultimate Gift Ideas website.  One advert even promised that if you bought their gold goblets (four for £10) it would make your Christmas table the best ever. Excuse my cynicism.

But this is the problem with all if these advertisements. As the superlatives flourish, their promises inevitably lead to disappointment and cynicism which after all protects us from disappointment. We are all familiar I am sure with Jesus words “It is more blessed to give than to receive” which is a great antidote to both disappointment and cynicism for the focus shifts away from ourselves, our wants, our desires, our needs onto others.

As we give to others we can share in their joy. I love anonymous giving as you get to enjoy others’ pleasure secretly. God, the greatest giver, must have great pleasure in giving not just to his children but everyone.  Of course the best gift God gave us was his Son which is or should be the focus of Christmas.

However I am also struck by the importance of how we receive gifts. Recently I have witnessed gifts that were of huge significance to the giver been treated quite casually by the recipient.  This can be very hurtful.

How must God feel then when his greatest gift, his Son Jesus, is treated casually or ignored by most people?  His sorrow must be deep. God has provided all that man needs to deal with sin and to live a happy, fulfilled and deeply satisfying life. Through Jesus men and women can fulfill their God given destiny. The majority choose to reject this gift.

This Christmas as we receive gifts let’s make sure we receive them all – the big and the small with thankfulness and gratitude. However I want to make sure that this Christmas I take my eyes off the glitter and nonsense that will only disappoint and with a thankful heart place my focus firmly on the greatest gift of all.

Gerard van Honthorst Nativity

Jesus is the Son of God

On the terrible day that Jesus was crucified on the cross, it must have tested the faith of all his disciples and followers to the core. Despite Jesus telling them several times that this was exactly what was going to happen, the reality of it just hadn't sunk in.

Why was Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah being crucified like the common criminals that hung on his left and right? Surely if he was the Son of God the angels would come and rescue him or why did he not just come down from the cross like his mockers suggested?

How terrible to not just witness Jesus' crucifixion but to have to listen to the taunts and scorn being heaped upon him by the religious leaders and passersby.

Many believers must have turned away from Jesus that day. Their faith was tested and they gave in to doubt and unbelief. By the day of Pentecost there was only 120 believers left praying. Where was everyone else? Jesus had spent three years miraculously ministering to every hopeless situation and circumstance, teaching thousands about their loving heavenly Father yet at the sight of Jesus on the cross, most abandoned him.

Even when darkness covered the earth. Even when Jesus cried out in a loud voice as he gave up his spirit which was impossible for a dying man suffocating  on a cross. Even when the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom, no one expected anything more from the Son of God. That was it - all over. 

The brave Joseph of Arimathea just wanted to give him the best burial possible in his own brand new tomb. It took courage to go to Pilate to ask for the body. Having buried him he sealed the tomb to make sure no one got in and desecrated it. The faithful women wanted to make sure his body was properly embalmed either that day or after the Sabbath. Even the guards were only placed to make sure the sealed tomb could not be broken into because the religious leaders did not want the disciples faking a resurrection.

No criminal crucifixion though, no sealed tomb, no guards, no disbelieving disciples or followers could stop Jesus rising in triumph from the dead because Jesus is the Son of God. What God has purposed will happen. Jesus overcame sin and death and made a way for everyone born on the planet to come and know their loving heavenly Father and Creator - just as planned. 

Father forgive us when we lose faith in the face of difficulties that seem overwhelming. Help us to persevere and trust you because you are the Christ, the Son of the living God and nothing is impossible for you. Amen.

Death the final destination

 Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.’ John 11:25 – 26.

Death like heaven and hell is not usually a subject discussed in Western society if at all possible. Yet as J John says the most undeniable of all statistics is that life is 100% fatal.

However despite its certainty, most people will go to any lengths to not just avoid talking about it but also to avoid the event as well. When it becomes inevitable people will usually be overcome by fear based on uncertainty.

The one group of people for whom this should not be the case are Christians. Thanks to Jesus we can have full assurance that the grave is not our final destination – heaven is.

However it is amazing how far people will go to try to ignore God in their beliefs.   Many today confidently assert that there is nothing after death. Not only does life end, so does existence. The problem with nothing after death is that when the believer of this hypothesis dies, it will be too late to find out they were wrong. If there is indeed life after death, their eternal destination is settled and it may not be the choice of their dreams.

Someone told me the other day all about the aura or incandescence lingering around a dead body for three days after death. What is the evidence for this?

The evidence for heaven or hell however is great. The Bible frequently talks about death and the afterlife in both the Old and New Testaments. Jesus very clearly explained that heaven is the eternal destination for those who believe and trust in him.

In addition there are many many people who have had ‘out of body’ or ‘near death’ experiences. All of these seem to back up the Bible’s version of life after death. No one talks about their aura hanging around the body for three days and no one says everything just went black and I ceased to exist. 

However visions of heaven, Jesus, family members who have already died and yes even hell have been told by far too many people to be ignored. It might be nice to think they are all wrong especially if you are determined to ignore God but the evidence is pretty overwhelming.

The comfort that comes both to the dying and those remaining that heaven is not just a reality but also their own destination is too good to ignore. Anyone who believes that Christians are deluded should read the Scriptures and any of the many books about ‘out of body’ experiences. The details these people include are too compelling to be dismissed.

Heaven is too marvellous a place to take a chance on getting there. Hoping that our good works will open the door is a risky strategy as is ignoring death and hoping for the best. Assurance is what we all long for and as Christians we have that assurance.

Unfortunately many Christians are not only shaky about going to heaven but very shaky about what it will be like. I believe as we read the Bible and other books on the subject by authors grounded in the Scriptures we can start to get revelation on just how truly amazing heaven is.

Not only is it far better than our wildest imaginations – it is also too wonderful a place not to talk about to others. Everyone needs to know not just the reality of the wonders of heaven but also how to get there. As Christians that is both our responsibility and our joy. 

The joy of the cross

.. fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

I am sure we are all familiar with this well known verse and when I read it my focus has always been on persevering and running a good race like Jesus. I have never really thought before about the joy that Jesus experienced or focused on as he endured the cross. It seems impossible for Jesus to experience or anticipate joy when facing the cross.

I believe that is because we only focus on our side of the cross; sinful man saved by a perfect Saviour. Wonderful though it undoubtedly is, the perspective of the cross from God’s viewpoint is quite different.

I do not know if you have ever enjoyed a relationship or friendship that was just wonderful but then it went wrong. For some reason, the relationship was broken and you no longer enjoyed the fellowship that you once had. This can cause grief and an enormous heaviness of heart especially if the one you no longer have fellowship or relationship with is a son, daughter or other family member.

God created man and woman to be with him, to walk with him, to love and be loved by him and the relationship went wrong, it was broken.  God yearns to enjoy that level of fellowship, friendship, relationship again with Man.  God loves us; the pain of separation caused by sin must be intense. I would hate to lose relationship with any of my children or grandchildren and I would do anything to try and restore that relationship.

In some infinitesimal measure that must be how God feels.  Jesus was prepared to do anything to restore relationship with sinful man – anything – including giving up his glory, confining himself to being a man and then dying the sinful, shameful death of a criminal in order to deal with sin and its consequences once and for all. He didn't do it because he had to do; he did it for the joy of seeing fellowship restored with his precious people. 

The joy God feels in restoring relationship is intense. He knows we will be together for eternity. He can love us face to face and he knows the joy we will feel in being able to see and love him face to face forever. The joy of having us as his children overwhelms God’s heart.

Not convinced?  Look at Song of Songs 4:9, Zechariah 3:17, Psalm 17:8 (apple of his eye), Exodus 19:5 (treasured possession) to name but a few. Just imagine Jesus taking you in his arms and dancing around with you, full of joy that you are his. ‘It’s finished!’ he cries, ‘nothing can ever separate us again.’

It was the joy of restored relationship that took Jesus to the cross. I believe that with thankful hearts, God wants us to revel in that joy and  rejoice in God’s love. 

Running the race with perseverance

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

I was playing a bowls match in South Africa to decide the winner of the ladies competition at our small club.  It was not an important fixture except for the two of us involved.  It was a hot day and I just about had the edge and was slightly in the lead but my opponent would not give up. She was hot, desperately wanted a drink but just kept persevering.

When she did not do well, she just said, ‘Well I must try harder and do better’ and she did. She would not give in and in the end her perseverance paid off and she won the match.  I kept thinking why don’t you just let me win but no, she was not going to be defeated.

The analogy is obvious but I know, too often, I just want to give up and give in to temptation, disappointment, hurt and rejection. It is sometimes easier to listen to the lies of the enemy and feel sorry for myself instead of persevering, standing firm and just keep trying. It is hard to do better when you feel like you are failing.  The key of course is to fix our eyes on the prize and better still the prize giving and the person who is handing out the prizes.

The prize giver is not just a celebrity who has little to be proud of other than the fame they have acquired. Our prize giver is the pre-eminent overcomer; the man who never gave in or gave up. The person who persevered and won the ultimate prize and we share in the benefits that he won for us because his race was not for his benefit but ours. Yes Jesus victory on the cross meant his glorification and exaltation to the highest place but we are the chief beneficiaries.

It can be hard when we are being tested and everything in us just wants to give up but the writer of Hebrews says in verse 3 of chapter 12 ‘Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.’ The answer is always Jesus and fixing our eyes on him and considering what he did for us, will give us the boost we need to persevere and do better.

We will see victory if we do not give up but even if we fail, God’s loving arms are there to pick us up, dust us down and help us start all over again. There is a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on who have been there before us and encouraging us to succeed. With their support and Jesus’ we have all the encouragement we need to persevere and win our race. 

The days in which we live

When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed.  Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me, you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the Gospel must first be preached to all nations.  Mark 13: 7 - 10

These verses would seem to indicate that we are indeed in the last days – the days before Jesus returns in power and glory.  North Korea is threatening all sorts of things involving nuclear weapons, Palestine and Israel are on the verge of war and there are other wars all over the planet.  There are more earthquakes now than at any time in history and certainly famine is widespread.

The rapid spread of technology means we are more aware of world affairs than at any time in history.  However there have been other times in the past when the church felt it was living in the last days.  I believe in John Wesley’s time, the church believed Jesus would be returning soon. Certainly there must have been times when believers in other parts of the world would have looked at events in the light of these verses and thought Jesus’ second coming was imminent.

So whether these are the last of the last days or just another birth pang, Jesus makes a few things clear.  The first is not to be alarmed.  Our God is in charge of world history. He is not sitting back letting it all happen and then at the last moment sending Jesus to the earth. There are verses all through the Bible which says that God is in control of the nations. Many people will be panicky but we must not.

We must of course be praying diligently and the other thing we must be prepared to do is to be a witness. The Gospel is to go out into all the world and that means each one of us must be prepared to share the good news of God’s love wherever we have opportunity. We may be taken before governments and kings and, if we are, we will be given the words to say but everyone of us will need to be praying and sharing God’s love.

Salvation is what matters most. Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost (Luke 19:10). On the cross, Jesus destroyed the power of sin and death so that by believing in him, we might all be saved from our sin to spend eternity with him (I Timothy 2:4). That is the Gospel, the good news. That is what everyone MUST hear and in these increasingly uncertain times, when there are wars and rumours of wars, of banks wobbling and financial institutions crumbling, when governments don’t really know what to do, the Church and we as Christians must speak forth God’s love and salvation to a lost and dying world.