Back to Work!

Betty & I have returned from 2 wonderful weeks of holiday in Cornwall, where the weather was so good that we were able to enjoy good walking every day. The scenery along the North Cornwall coast is stunning, the sea birds are numerous, and the challenges to our increasingly creaking joints of getting up and down the coast path were significant. We had a great time!

But we are now back, facing the challenges of this coming week - like everyone else. And what help can we expect from our Lord for the week ahead?

Hundreds of years before the time of Jesus, God made a great promise that He would equip people to live differently, so that He was glorified and they were agents of His blessing and mercy to the people around them.

'“Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
    Your old men will dream dreams,
    and your young men will see visions.

In those days I will pour out my Spirit
    even on servants—men and women alike.' (Joel 2.28-29)

For each of us, whatever we face today, God's promise holds true. We can both see things differently (visions and dreams), and speak differently (prophesy), enabled by God's Spirit. 

These terms may sound unusual and not what we might expect or even want for ourselves, but they can all be thought of as being open to God using us at any moment of every day. He can plant thoughts and words into our minds, as we are available and open to Him, which can help us to make the most of every day.

So we can face today with a deep God-resourced confidence, which makes Monday morning seem manageable!

Best wishes,

Richard

Chosen & Loved

I am taking a wedding today.

We shall hear the couple telling one another (and the rest of us, and in the sight of God) that they have deliberately chosen one another. 

We will also hear them say in practical and realistic terms how their love for one another will be lived out, 'for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer', and so on.

In a world where many see marriage as one of many alternative and entirely equivalent lifestyle choices, the Marriage Service affirms with conviction that 'marriage is a gift of God in creation', and that it is designed by God to be a lifelong and life-giving relationship between one man and one woman.

St. Paul describes the relationship between husband and wife within marriage as modelled on the relationship between Jesus and his followers. 'Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 

For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.' (Ephesians 5.21, 22, 25, 26)

In a similar letter, Paul describes God's attitude to those who are following Christ. 'Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.'  (Colossians 3.12)

Such qualities are needed in all relationships, but they grow from hearts and lives that are secure in the knowledge that we are people whom God chose and loves to be in relationship with him.

We can encourage one another to live like this, as we remind one another that we are chosen and loved by the God who made the universe. How astonishing that is!

Best wishes,

Richard

Can the Broken be Fixed?

News from Iraq is deeply disturbing. We may have thought that that Iraqi disaster was getting fixed, but the ISIS capture of Mosul opens new chasms of disintegration down which the many peoples of Iraq may now plunge.

In most places in the world that we may choose to look - Ukraine, Syria, Northern Ireland, Nigeria, Kenya, Sudan, the UN General Assembly, the EU, Brazil, our own Government, Egypt, the wider Muslim world - disintegration is the name of the game. Serious minded destroyers are doing very well these days.

So I wonder 'Can the Broking be Fixed?

St. Paul was thoroughly convinced that God is capable of fixing our broken world. 'Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. 

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.' (1 Corinthians 15.1-4)

God's decisive action in and through Jesus has both overcome the destructive forces of human rebellion, and the power of death and decay. Love in action has reversed the effects of human wickedness, and brought hope to victims and perpetrators alike.

As Paul wrote to his Roman friends, living at the heart of that godless and destructive empire, 'Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. 

And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.' (Romans 5.2, 5)

Being loved by God puts everything else into perspective. It is love that fixes our brokenness, and tells us that in God's eyes we are worth it (not the Loreal advert!)

Today, we can bring this fixing power of God's love to one another. 

How about sending a text message or email to another Christian friend today, to encourage them to recall that they too are loved by God. It might make all the difference for them. Broken people like us need to be fixed!

Best wishes,

Richard

Who am I?

Questions of identity are much in the news.

Behind all the Trojan Horse allegations and enquiries in Birmingham schools lie the deeper questions of identity. 

All teenagers ask the question 'Who am I?', and many are the angst-driven crises that we have all experienced. But if your identity is linked to your culture and religion, and you feel that you don't belong, and that you are seen as a threat to the British way of life, I am not sure that we should be surprised that radical answers emerge from the 'Who am I?' question. 

Neither Michael Gove nor Teresa May seem to understand these deeper identity issues, and I doubt whether David Cameron does either. Everything is presented as a political issue of one sort or another.

But all of us face the same question, 'Who am I?' How we answer will determine what we do with our lives.

And Jesus also faced the same question, and we discover that his inner security came from his understanding exactly who he was.

'One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”(Mark 1.9-11)

As we see, right at the start of his public ministry, Jesus is reminded by the outpouring of the Spirit, and the voice of his heavenly Father of his own identity. Instead of being caught in a tortuous crisis of being unsure of his answer to the 'Who am I?' question, he knows for sure that he is the dearly loved Son. That security about his own identity enabled him to live a life or service and risk, as he nothing to prove. Much of our own unwillingness to live like Jesus emerges because we are deeply insecure.

All of us need to know that we are dearly loved children of God. 

If we are deeply secure in that understanding of ourselves, then we, like Jesus, can learn to keep close to Jesus, with his life flowing to us and through us. '“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.' (John 15.5)

Then others are blessed, and God is glorified, which would be good.

Best wishes,

Richard

We will remember

Today's 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings remind us of the terrible cost of war. 

The vast invasion force that established the bridgehead in Normandy changed the face of Europe, and we are still living with the consequences of that. 

It is striking that while events in the east of Europe cause much alarm, as so often in the past, the post-war west European experiment is under review again, 

Living together in peace is much harder than many have imagined.

But this D-Day invasion brought overwhelming military might to bear on German forces. There was fierce resistance, but retreat and defeat followed. D-Day inevitably led to VE-Day, when the battle in Europe was over.

Christian people have often seen a parallel between D-Day and the death and resurrection of Jesus. In that decisive battle with sin, decay and death, Jesus has demonstrated that the Kingdom authority of God has been inaugurated. Final victory is only a matter of time. In spite of our present observations, our enemy is on the retreat and defeat is inevitable. This is why we read all over the New Testament statements like these:

'And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Romans 8.38-39)

The death and resurrection of Jesus affects how we live now, as our former bosses have been defeated decisively when Jesus died.

'You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He cancelled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.' (Colossians 2.13-15)

So the victory of Calvary is like the D-Day invasion. We can be confident that having started, God will finish the job, so we can always look forward trusting Him. 'And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.' (Philippians 1.6)

I trust that today you can live in thankful remembrance of what Jesus has won for us, as we also recall the sacrifice of those who gave their lives on D-Day.

Best wishes,

Richard

Free Choices?

The Presidential elections in Syria reveal the extent of the brokenness of that divided country. 

The only areas of the country that will be entitled to vote are those that are already under government control. And the only candidates are those that are approved by the government. And the rest of the world is powerless to take any action because of the refusal of the Russians to agree anything at the United Nations. The options for a free election don't look good.

And how free was the vote to allow Qatar to run the 2022 FIFA World Cup? It seems a significant number of votes were bought at the going rate, whatever that was.

And when we vote for one party or another, are we being bribed by the promises made by those we are aiming to elect? 

And when it comes to lifestyle choices, how much have we been persuaded by the clever advertising promotions, that beguile us into believing their lies?

It is hard to find free choices.
So when Jesus invites us to follow him, is this a free choice?

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11.28-30)

Jesus is not deceiving us with this invitation, as he can deliver on his promises. Many are the people who can testify quite freely that Jesus is as good as his word, and that he is the best teacher and helper we could possibly find. The price of taking him seriously is that we are willing to be directed and moulded into his pattern, and that our wills are submitted to his just and gentle rule. For some, that is too high a price, as they wish to remain independent and separate from God's will and way. They wish to remain free, but that is their choice.

Today, we are all challenged to take the invitation of Jesus seriously. That will be life-changing. Will you do that today?
Best wishes,

Richard

Alarms

FIFA is facing an alarming situation, over allegations of bribery and corruption. 

The EU is wondering who will be the next President, to lead through these turbulent times. These are alarming time for the EU, its Parliament, member states and so on.

 And news from Ukraine and Syria and many other places can fill us all with alarm.

But I was also thinking of a different sort of alarms. 

I have just set my mobile phone to give me a regular reminder today, as an aid to helping me to remember that Jesus is with me. It didn't take me long to activate the settings on my phone, and now I will wait to see how this helps me. 

My expectation and desire is that the more I remember that Jesus is with me, the more I will want to please him.

St. Paul encouraged his friends in Colossae to live their lives in the light of Jesus. 'And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.' (Colossians 3.17)

This short verse covers everything that we do every day, from the very ordinary and habitual, to the special and difficult. My experience is that when I have remembered that I am actually living as a representative of the Lord Jesus, then I behave differently. Hence, with the aid of my repeated alarms, I should have more moments of keeping connected to Jesus and his will for my life. That should make a lot of difference.

If you also want to be more like the person Jesus made you to be, why not set your phone to remind you throughout the day too?
Let me know if you are also trying this experiment.

The results, in our own lives, may be very alarming! Wouldn't that be good.

Best wishes,

Richard