Confessions and Church order

A quick post to recommend this book - 'The Confessions and the Church order of the Protestant Reformed Churches'.

Not the shortest or perhaps catchiest title, but it does what it says on the tin. Very user friendly and readable, even for those unaccustomed to the language of the King James version.

It contains various creeds and both the Belgic Confession of Faith and the Heidelberg catechism and references in full scripture to reinforce each point/answer. (I say full as the whole verse is given, not just a reference - which saves you having to leaf through your bible to check every one).

Its only £9 a copy and well worth it!

You can buy it here.

1 Kings 17: 1 -7 (part 3)

Here is the third and final part of the study on Elijah at the brook Cherith.

Read the verses here: 1 Kings 17: 1 - 7

Here are the first 2 parts to the study - Part 1 and Part 2

Faith from the Father


Hoeksema (I think) said of faith that ‘our faith was merely us clinging to His faith’. Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones phrased it slightly differently – in the context of our faith he commented that it was “not my grasp of Him but His mighty grasp of me!” He has control, He is sovereign and He is faithful in all.

All His promises will come to pass regardless of our personal faith in Him or even our actions, what God wills happens. We have seen this as we have studied the Exodus and Moses. Moses griped, 'not me Lord?' He made excuses and tried to avoid responsibility, but God’s will was fulfilled. Jonah too. He ran away! But was ultimately delivered to do God’s will.
Time and again in scripture we read of men of God doubting and avoiding God’s direction and we wonder why? Men like Elijah are rare, we don’t hear of his failings and his flaws so much. Moses ducked and dived, Noah got drunk, David was David, even the Apostle Peter was a prejudiced hothead. In Acts we hear about the Apostles arguing and going their separate ways. They were after all just sinful men and as prone as we are to sinful traits, temptations and behaviour.
But here is Elijah – a picture of faith and obedience. But he was still just a man. It stillappears though so very strong. Why?

Elijah clung tighter than most to the Lord’s promises and directions. He felt fear, anxiety, hunger, heat, pain, discomfort (this fear and anxiety is reflected in 1 Kings 19:10 where he says “they seek to take my life away”). He was tempted and attacked by Satan – but his faith stayed strong, he applied his faith in God’s service.

Dr Lloyd Jones used an analogy to explain faith like this: a man and a baby possess strength. The man is stronger, but both possess some element of strength. Yet a baby using every ounce of its strength is stronger than the man who uses none of his at all.

Using and applying one’s faith is what makes the difference. Having faith and keeping it wrapped up and hidden renders it powerless. Straining with every sinew of the faith we do have in His service will affect others.

What helped him to stay so faithful? He was prayerful. He spoke to God, communicated with him. Not going through the motions, but active, live prayer.
I will use an analogy of a boxer to illustrate how faith develops. A boxer has 3 main areas of training – fitness, coaching/padwork, sparring. In the Christian context we can consider this as prayer (our fitness/stamina), padwork and coaching in his word by the Holy Spirit and sparring in witnessing and testifying to the Lord Jesus.

• Fitness (or prayer) - to develop fully this requires time and quality. No corners can be cut. An unfit fighter cannot last the distance. An unpraying Christian has no stamina for the spiritual fight. Elijah was fit – his prayer life and coaching supreme.

• The coaching/Holy Spirit’s guidance – the coach first teaches simple combinations, 2, 4, 6 punch combinations, then parrying, bobbing and weaving and so on. As the fighter’s knowledge and skill increases he becomes more dangerous to his foe with an understanding of the nuances how to fight. A Christian coached in the Word is a well equipped fighter. The coach will gradually and surely impart his knowledge to the fighter, but only as he sees fit.

• Sparring – witnessing and testifying. A fighter doesn’t enter the ring cold. He is well versed and hardened from sparring. He learns how to take blows and continue fighting, sometimes when badly hurt. But it is here that his fitness and his coaching comes through, helping him through the fight. Without testifying to the Lord Jesus a Christian cannot and will not become battle hardened and when he does he runs the risk of getting badly winded, or his spiritual eyes blacked.

As time goes on the understanding and the relationship between the fighter and coach develops too, they are more familiar with each other, the coach knows the fighter's strengths and weaknesses, the fighter may even express lack of confidence in one area. There may even be times when the fighter needs disciplining and reminding of who has control and who taught him what he knows. In this respect Elijah was a world beater, his communication and daily devotions to God would put most to shame. Great also fighters apply themselves, they don’t sit around waiting for the coach to just ‘make them great’. His Sovereignty, our responsibility.

It must be stressed that faith is not a power we possess in ourselves or can generate. Many can view faith like a willpower – ‘if I really, really believe my faith will make this happen’... GOD makes things happen, not our faith. Many think faith is like that TV programme 'Deal or no deal'. That in some way their hope, they're relying on the faith they have in fate will provide for them. Our faith should be that God is right and just and that He has things well in order, that He will always make good on His promises. Our faith itself cannot generate or 'do' anything in itself, it is not like 'the force' in the Star Wars films. This is not to say that faith does not have a powerful impact in our lives, but the power is of God's hand.

Gifts of grace Elijah had in the brook and the ravens’ provision God increases it as He wills. We can ‘work’ at our faith in what we do, and God will bless sincere devotion and obedience. But as with saving faith which justifies, it is a gift of grace. Our responsibility is to do the things which will increase our ‘fitness’ for gracious faith to be increased. We must turn up for training ready to sweat.
Elijah knew (had faith) that God would provide and protect him, but the fears and discomforts remained. Peter Jeffrey tells a story about when he was open air preaching saying if he died that night, he knew where he would be going. Then a heart attack! But he commented in hospital that he was sure of his place in heaven had he passed. He was in discomfort and pain and the experience was surely distressing and frightening, but his faith never left him.

God has promised us over and over again in His word that we are His. Elijah did God’s will regardless of his fears, because it was God’s will. Fear is borne of Satan, he wants us to be distracted and to prevent us from doing the Lord’s work, but we should remember:

Romans 8: 39 “nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus”
John 10: 28 – 30 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.
Our faith must be that Jesus Christ is our Saviour and that in Him lies the only way we can be justified. In our repentance and His atoning sacrifice we are freed from the bondage of sin and consequently fear too.

He has promised to do this and will always stay perfectly faithful to His promises.

We can cling to His faith and pray that ours increases. We can do as Elijah did, we can be bold and confident, even if our knees knock and our lip quivers, because we “can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” Phil 4: 13
We can trust him for our eternal salvation, we can trust him to feed, clothe and house us, we can trust him to put the right words in our mouths and a truer more loyal friend there cannot be. Fall on him in faith, pray and read His promises in this His God breathed infallible word.

We should be as Elijah, we should listen and obey the Lord and if need be suffer discomfort and trials to do his will. The blessings which come from serving him far outweigh any worldly comforts. When we profess the Lord Jesus Christ and our love and service of the Lord God Almighty, he smiles on us, blesses us and sates our every thirst and hunger.

Serve him, love him and your faith will be increased.

1 Kings 17: 1 -7 (part 2)

This is the second part to my notes on 1 Kings 17. For the first instalment look here.

You can read verses 1 to 7 here.

Food for the prayful – verses 3 to 7

Elijah is obedient. We had seen how he has trusted in the Lord and witnessed in a hostile culture, one that had grown alien to God. This obedience had taken him to the throne room of an evil Godless monarchy.

 Here in v.3 God moves him on with a new directive. He is to go and hide out in the desert – this in itself was a step of faith on Elijah's part. He was from Tishbe near Cherith and would have known the land well most likely. But heading out into a drying desert when he himself had issued a drought forecast of undefined length must've caused him some concern, nevertheless he goes.

It seems he has no way of supporting himself when he goes, but throws himself utterly on God's provision. We all know that God provides for us in everything, but we like to think we have control over such things; to do such a thing is testimony to how closely Elijah was walking with God. God assures him in v4 of his provision.

 V.5 to 7. Elijah stays at Cherith and the brook continues to flow. Months pass and Elijah remains sustained by God's hand. The drought itself lasted 31/2 years; a significant proportion of this was surely spent in that wadi by the brook. The ravens brought food, the brook provided water and the Lord provided spiritual comfort, support and company for Elijah.

 Elijah had been concealed here for his protection – Ahab had sent men out to look for him, probably continually. It was far easier to blame Elijah for the curse of the drought than to admit that it was his and the nation's sin that had brought God's judgement on them. In Ch18: 10 Obadiah admitted to Elijah that "there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you".

 But Ahab and his men were barking up the wrong tree in blaming Elijah, as only God can cause it to rain. Man can no more make it rain than they can make their own heart beat. Jeremiah 14: 22 tells us "Are there any among the vanities of the gentiles that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Art not thou he, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things."

God provides all for Elijah – shelter, food, water, safety, faith and assurance. But again, Elijah was a man, a sinful man. Satan would have many, many times sought to distract, discourage and tempt Elijah. Sewing seeds of doubt and fear. What if the brook dries up? What if I'm found? What if the ravens don't come? Or someone follows them? I'm fed up of being here! Hurry up Lord! I've been good Lord, I've done what you wanted... why punish me?

 But God provides all. Peter Jeffrey in a sermon I heard some time ago said somrthing like this – "how can we trust God for our eternal salvation, but not for our bread and jam?" We trust God with the biggest things in our lives not least our eternal salvation, but leave him out of all the small things. He is all sufficient. Elijah was filled and provided for because he pursued God in all things, he hungered after God's presence – see Matthew 5: 6 for confirmation of this.

Elijah stayed put. This he knew, he wasn't to move until God told him to. Just as Moses didn't move until the pillar of cloud moved. When the cloud stopped so did he. When it moved, day or night, so did Moses. We should do likewise – in our prayers we should continually look for His guidance in all things. When we pray specifically he will specifically guide. But if we move without him, we move alone.

 No new directive will be given until we have been obedient fully to his last instruction, we don't move when we think the job is done.

 V7 the prompt to move comes. The brook dries up. This was not solely to just get Elijah going but ensured that Elijah didn't rely on the gifts, but that he relied solely on God. We can also see in v8 that 'the word of the Lord came to him' prompting him on to Zarephath. What a relief! Out of that prison cell that the brook had become... but was the grass greener?

 Elijah was sustained in body and spirit by grace. And through faith and prayerful obedience he was able to walk closely with the Lord. We have the same offer of sustinence! John 6: 35 "and Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst"

 We need never fear for our bodily sustenance when the Lord has promised to feed our souls. Elijah's was obedient and prayerful and he knew what it meant to be fully cared for by the Lord God of Israel, the same God who has promised us that he "will never leave thee nor forsake thee" Hebrews 13:5

The third and final part will come shortly.

1 Kings 17: 1 – 7, Elijah at Cherith

1 Kings 17: 1 -7

Elijah and Ahab, the brook at Cherith

There are 3 parts to this post and I'll post them separately, one post for each of the following points.

1. The faithful obedience
2. Food for the prayerful
3. Faith from the Father

Context

• Ahab King of Israel, Phoenician wife Jezebel supporter of 100s of prophets of Baal. She would slaughter many men of God.
• Prior to Ahab there had been many kings descending from David. In ch.16 we see Baasha, Elah, Zimri and Omri had all done "evil in God's eyes" (Ch15:34, 16: 7, 19, 25, and 30). They had also (v.13) "provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols."
• Judgement was coming. They were sinful, worshiped idols and mocked God.
   

The faithful obedience – verses 1 and 2
Text suggests Elijah 'popped up from nowhere', but consider his situation. A faithful, prayerful man of God in a land filled with sin and idolatry. Indeed the Lord had given them over to their sins. Elijah had clearly felt the call to speak out against their sin.
Verse 1 – Elijah's witness and statement. He testifies to the living God of Israel. Baal had replaced God, God had been declared dead even (just as science has declared God dead once again in our day – science is just the new Baal in this respect). In walks Elijah, to the throne room! He makes his proclamation doubtless to incredulity, scorn and resentment – who does he think he is?!?! (Picture that today?)
Prior to this proclamation Elijah's preparation would have been deeply prayerful and also filled with anxieties, fears and doubts. He was a man, a sinner like you and me, maybe even not as brave! He was a man, not a robot. A lot of his time would've been spent in prayerful consideration.
AW Pink on Elijah's prayerful preparation – "Prayer in private was the source of his power in public: he could stand unabashed in the presence of the wicked monarch because he had knelt in humility before God"

But Elijah trusts in the Lord and in v2 we read that 'the word of the Lord came to him' at just the right time. If we too are prayerful, obedient and trust the Lord to do so he will do this for us when we testify of our love for Christ Jesus.
Psalm 81:10 tells us "open thy mouth wide and I will fill it" if we're hungry for the word of God, he will feed us and at the right time the words will be put in our mouths by Him. This is why studying your bible and memorising verses is so important. We can at the right time recall infallible words and instructions from our fallible, sinful lips. It avoids conjecture and gives us a biblical basis for our words.
Elijah's faith wasn't perfect however. God's is. As a fallible man he will have worried unnecessarily. God had things in hand – he must have wondered what they would do to him, would they lock him up? Kill him? Laugh at him and ignore him? All of the great men of the bible felt doubt and fear, Noah, Moses, David and here I am sure so did Elijah, the Apostles too. We can empathise a little I'm sure – creeping anxiety that we later look back on and shake our heads saying 'I should've trusted him more!"

Part 2 coming soon!

Jesus is trust in us.

I did a new bible study/sermon last week and the following was part of it - I cut it out completely though as it didn't fit the text in question at all. I've posted it here instead as a 'blog' as I've neglected entering anything for quite a while now. So see what you make of it... as ever all comments are welcomed!

"We often ask people ‘don’t you trust me?’ or if we don't ask it we certainly resent the thought that someone isn't trusting in us. I've done it and I'm sure you have too.

We feel so hurt when we detect any faltering or wavering in their faith in us. But we’re self confessed sinners! We’re riddled with sin and lies and ‘no good thing’. We don’t deserve to be trusted! If we got what we deserved no one would ever believe a word that fell from our lips. The blackness of our state cannot afford us any trust. But, as children of God we can trust him. As a sinless righteous Saviour, Jesus IS trust, He IS faith.

When we have Christ we have him in us, in our hearts and He is what is trustworthy in us.

Galatians 2: 20 tell us “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

If we wait on him, if we trust in Him and if the life we live in the flesh is by faith in the Son of God there is a growing trustworthy element that is not of us, but in us.

We’re still sinners, still black and putrid, but the light of life that should shine from us – people should see that in us shouldn’t they? They should be able to detect it glowing within every Christian heart.

Some people may despise it, others may be drawn to it, but that light is utterly trustworthy.

So as we wait on the Lord and we consider his steadfastness, his faithfulness and immutability we can do so in confidence and fully assured faith of never being failed. We should remember that Christ liveth in us and that he has promised that he will never leave us nor forsake us."

I have yet to figure out how to upload or attach audio files here so instead of adding audio of the 2 studies/sermons I did on 1 Kings 17 I'll edit and summarise the notes into essay form and post them here shortly.

In the meantime I'm working on a couple of studies on Psalm 40: 1 -3, then later hopefully the whole Psalm.

Apologies...

I've been a little pre-occupied of late, not to mention busy! I delivered my first bible study on Tuesday and will do a follow up this coming Tuesday, so much of the time where I would've been blogging I have been preparing them.

The first study was on 1 Kings 17: 1 -7, the well read beginning of the account of Elijah's faithful obedience to the Lord God of Israel. I have typed up the notes I used and the study was recorded. So I will shortly post either a link to the audio file or a readable version of the notes.

I've really enjoyed preparing for these studies and hope that those listening were in some way assured, challenged or blessed. I know it made me scrutinise the scriptures even closer to prevent error... not that that stopped me fumbling my words when speaking about faith. It irritated me no end afterward as I thought about it as I made no sense in my own mind let alone in anyone else's ears! In hindsight I should've just stopped rather than fumble on! But I've learned from it no doubt.

Anyway this is really just an interim post so you know I'm alive! I've been tracking the stats on the page and am grateful to all you readers in the USA as you have streaked ahead of your UK counterparts in the #1 spot. Others around the world are viewing the page too, Japan and Singapore have joined the list... Hiraeth from all over the world! Great stuff!

This verse encouraged me greatly this week and I texted it to a few people to share it. What a wonder to think that in all we do, at all times, forever even, His mighty and loving arms are there to catch us every time we fall! A refuge indeed.

"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms..." Deuteronomy 33:27(a)

The picture says it all.

I saw this just this morning and it says plenty. Hope it raises a wry smile!

I've said many times at work - if we put a button like this in the corridor and could track the percentage of times it'd get pressed as someone walked passed it would exceed 100%.

Why? Because so many would stop and press it more than just the once. They'd actually stand there and press it over and over again because they'd think there was no consequence to the action and it was 'funny'.

On the other hand this picture (below) has no specific spiritual or theological subtext... unless you consider the exegetical ability of the author!? Tenuous... but it made me laugh alright!

Who is reading this?

I've recently discovered the 'statistics' section for my blog and have been more than a little surprised and pleased. It seems that my blogs are not just getting read by friends and family, or friends of my family... I've gone international!!!

(Countries in green have shown 'hits')
In the last month pages have been viewed by people in the UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Israel, Canada, USA, Nigeria and Pakistan. I have also seen in past weeks hits from Luxembourg, Australia, China, Chile and South Africa and others I can't remember off the top of my head.

I realise that some of these hits are 'accidental' following a search engine look for something else. But some at least will have stopped to read something of what I've written.

If you're a regular reader or just passing through I'd love to hear where you're from and any comments on my posts. I'd love to hear about your own walk with the Lord and would love to pray for you wherever you are!

Either post a comment here or email me - da_ig_bear@yahoo.co.uk

God bless you and the whole Church worldwide!

Who have you told about Jesus?

For any of you reading my blog who don’t know I am still a baby as a Christian. I was baptised last year (nearly a year ago) at the age of 35, having been converted in the early part of 2009. So in many respects I am toddling around at 19 spiritual months old. Until this last few days I hadn’t really looked at Ezekiel... and in many respects still haven’t. I have read only a few chapters over the last couple of mornings as I have followed Peter Jeffrey’s study notes in 'Enjoying God Always'.


Anyway, I have thus far read only 4 selected chapters and they have given me so many things to consider. I’m in the habit of scrutinising books little by little when I can as you may have seen in my Romans blogs... but Ezekiel... Wow. Where do I start!?

So many things have crossed my mind reading Ezekiel about the nature of God’s judgement, the attributes of God, the UK and World Church today and its growing apostasy, Idolatry, the sheer power of the Lord, but mostly the liberties the church takes with an Almighty, omnipotent God!

I’ll try and summarise my thoughts or else I’ll end up doing what I’ve done with Romans.

I started in Ezekiel 9 and the vision of God’s Holy judgement and the idolaters killed. Those without the mark on their foreheads, put there by the ‘man clothed in linen’ (Jesus) were killed – men, women and children. The men with 'weapons for slaughter' told to do the killing were instructed to ‘not spare’ and to ‘show no pity’. But also not to touch those with the mark on their forehead (the redeemed).

Peter Jeffrey’s comment was that many people may read this and say ‘how cruel!’ but should rather read it and say ‘how righteous!’. Thinking otherwise makes God indifferent to sin. He also continues to mention that maybe people may feel the God of hellfire and judgement is old fashioned and that now God is more ‘modern’ and that this Old Testament message belongs in the past. But this cannot be. God is immutable, unchanging and faithful to His word. The same God that judged Egypt in Exodus, the same God who the prophets spoke of, the same God who sent His Son to die that we might live. That same God will one day judge YOU. And me. And everyone, ever. His wrath will be poured out on sin and those without Jesus will be condemned and separated from Him. And He is utterly just and Holy in doing this.

Now what really struck me about this was not so much the judgement of God or even His immutability, but this:

That person who sat next to you on the bus today, your best mate at work, a relative or close friend, your next door neighbours... if they don’t have Jesus they will die. They will be dead to God in their sin and forever condemned. I don’t want that for any of my unconverted friends or family... I don’t want it for the guy who swore at me the other week or even the boy who bullied me at school.

I’m sure you don’t either... but ask yourself this.

What did you actually do about it today?

Not in general over time, not last week or next week, not at some unspecified time somewhere somehow.

Today.

Because they could’ve been killed driving home never knowing Jesus.

Sobering thought eh? I hope I’m brave enough to tell someone tomorrow about Jesus.

They must know, their life depends on it.

The Holy Spirit - Comforter, Cousellor, Helper.

I was just reading CH Spurgeon's 'Morning and Evening' for today (if you don't have a copy I'd highly recommend one or click here.)The passage was based on John 14: 26 and made reference to the 'comforter that is the Holy Spirit. The verse reads:

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."

Now clearly the context here is of the Holy Spirit being a teacher, a guide if you like. So why use the word 'comforter'? Spurgeon explains it thus:

"It is His (The Holy Spirit's) office to console the hearts of God's people. He convinces of sin; He illuminates and instructs; but still the main part of His work lies in making glad the hearts of the renewed, in confirming the weak, and lifting up all those that he bowed down... The Holy Spirit consoles, but Christ is the consolation.... The Holy Spirit is the physician, but Jesus is the medicine... If one be the Comforter, the other is the Comfort." Read the whole thing here.

Now I'm glad Spurgeon was so enlightened as to the traits of the Holy Spirit and could put it as eloquently and succinctly as that. He also manages so well to convey the unity of the trinity by wording it like this, the interwoven traits of each triune part.

It may seem so obvious to you now reading this but I was mightily confused. Why?

Because I skim read Spurgeon's words first time round. Then I looked up the verse his writing was based on and saw that in the NIV it used the word 'counsellor' where the KJV used 'comforter'... to make matters more puzzling I then checked in the ESV, only to find that it used 'helper' and the footnotes read "Or advocate, or counsellor".

So I was confronted with the Holy Spirit as a Comforter, Cousellor, Helper and Advocate. In light of Spurgeon's words I think he managed to convey each of those traits admirably! And he didn't have 2 of those 3 versions to compare!

Re-read the quote I put in from Spurgeon and see if you can see where each trait is referenced. It makes an interesting study to compare words in different versions. In this case I enjoyed seeing the attributes of God summarised so neatly.

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name..." (ESV)

Father, Son and Holy Spirit working as one and fulfilling every promise, comforting every soul, loving, teaching, guiding, protecting, chastising, redeeming, justifying, sanctifying and one day glorifying.

Triune, Sovereign God!

Good works... for the Lord, or for yourself?

I wrote this a while back, not for this blog but for another reason. I came across it in the last week and thought it'd go well on here and offer food for thought for some of you out there in cyberspace.

Matthew 5: 16 “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Well that sounds easy doesn’t it? Do something good. Help an old lady across the street, carry someone’s shopping, maybe even give some money to a charity? Let’s look at good works in the church also. Put a big cheque in the offering plate, run the Sunday school, work as a Deacon, preach even. Surely all good works? Guaranteed to let your light shine before men no doubt, they will see your good works and praise you for them too. But ‘glorify your Father in heaven’? Well maybe that’d have to be a ‘perhaps’, or a ‘possibly’.

The most important, the most vital words in that verse are “...glorify your Father...” Not “your light” or “your good works”. There is a trap here, into which we all fall, have fallen previously and will doubtless fall again and that trap is laid by our own foolish, sinful ego and consequent self righteous pride. Our motivations get muddled and cloudy without us even realising. Are we motivated to do what we term ‘The Lord’s work’ to purely, solely glorify God. Do we only ever aim to please Him with our contributions in church or our professions of faith in public? Or are we trying to win the approval of men?

Consider this analogy. A man professes to love his wife dearly and one day brings her flowers as a surprise present. He may even buy flowers and gifts for her regularly. He hands them over with the pronunciation that he “loves her dearly”. But what is his motivation? Outwardly it is an act of love. All who witness this or hear of it would say that he must surely love his wife to have done so. However if we look behind the act and the verbal profession of love was the ‘good work’ motivated by pure love? Was he offering the flowers as a peace offering following an argument perhaps? Was he giving the flowers because he enjoys the intrinsic sense of satisfaction from giving her the gift? Was he even carrying out the act of offering the gift and saying ‘I love you’ to counter or to cover some guilt of an indiscretion on his part?

The point is this. Unless those flowers were offered out of love and nothing more it is a self motivated act. In doing it in love the man must not expect anything in return, or else he is ‘working for a payoff’. True love is not self serving, but self-less. This is not to say he cannot enjoy and revel in the subsequent returned love, the satisfaction of the act or the reconciliation it may offer. But for it to be an act of love the motivation must be just that and that alone. Love and nothing else. No anticipation or expectation of a ‘payoff’. The motivation that prompted the act is so very important.

In context we must consider how our good works glorify God. Firstly all our good works must be done out of love for the Lord. They must then also be motivated to solely bring glory to His name, with no other purpose in mind. If our motivation is elsewhere the offering is sullied, dirtied and unacceptable. If the wife knew that the husband’s motivation was to win her over with a gift, or to cover an indiscretion, or to please himself, what value would she hold in the offering? None. She would most likely throw the flowers back at her husband and not speak to him for a week! Thankfully the Lord is more gracious and understanding of us as sinners and the ease in which we are influenced by our worldly, self serving natures.

Another aspect to consider of course is God’s will. It is perfect, it is right. We should never second guess his will. So all our good works should “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God “ (Romans 12:2) In our good works, our offerings, our teaching, administration and preaching we must exercise caution in carrying out God’s will and not replacing it with our own. He is right we are wrong. We are too swift too often to imply, suggest, influence or force our ideas and opinions as being right. This is not to say they cannot be right, but we must at all times endeavour to ensure we are performing our good works according to His perfect will.

Good works should start in the hearts and spring forth in obedient acts of love for our Saviour and loving, gracious, heavenly Father. To offer good works as a sacrifice of love to God in any other way is an affront.

“...love Him, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

Romans 5:2... we got there in the end!

 "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Romans 5:2

I noticed as I was looking at this verse (in the KJV, ESV and the NIV) that the footnotes explain that some manuscripts omit the 'by faith'. While it may seem somewhat innocuous to do so it would rather be like omitting the 'through our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of verse one.

It doesn't add to the understanding of the action of our faith and justification by leaving 'by faith' out, but it does sort of detract from the heavy emphasis that Paul has put on faith in chapter 4. Also it describes rather well the key that is required for us to enter the room wherein we will stand in the Almighty's grace.

It is yet again an example of that multi-faceted elements of justification, faith and grace and the many many contexts in which those words can apply to us as Christians... while remaining so very very singular in purpose. Vast applications, but ultimately serving a single purpose.

I realise my painkiller addled mind may have wandered into a theological La-la land so I'll try and expand on how this line of thinking presented itself. Below is what I wrote immediately following my first full look at verse 2.

'Following the declaration at the close of verse 1 that peace has been achieved 'with God through our Lord Jesus Christ' Paul adds a most important point regarding this access. The same sacrifice that affords us this peace (where there was once enmity) and the propitiation that allowed us to ultimately be justified also allows us to access an inner sanctum of grace. A condition or place where we can stand in his grace.  

Now grace is so very multi layered while remaining in essence so simple. Grace means of course 'unmerited favour' and it is only by grace that our justification and peace with God can be achieved (through our Lord Jesus Christ!). But grace means even more than just an action of favour. An indication and my reason for saying this lies in the words "wherein we stand" (KJV) or "in which we stand" (ESV). It (grace) is also a condition or state, a 'place' even if I can put it such a way.

'The grace in which we stand' - once found not guilty and even righteous we can stand in the very presence of Jehovah, our spiritual being is in a state of grace. Grace (unmerited favour) affords the chance to be in grace (standing in his presence spiritually).

It is rather like being so blessed as to be invited to the King's palace quite undeservedly and through no action or deed on our part. In receiving the invitation we are conscious that just to be invited and to attend the palace alone is an act of great favour by the King. Then on arrival and we are invited directly into an audience with the King. Once there we are made to feel so very comfortable and the King is so approachable answering all of our questions in full. A wonderful place to stand... in the very presence of the King. Invited by grace, attending by grace and in his throne room basking in his grace.

And to top it all His son stopped us at the door and gave us some of His finest clothes to wear so the King would find us acceptable and worthy of seeing.'

I hope that cleared up why I thought what I did.

Grace is my new favourite word!

Romans 5:1... one more time!

I had some interesting feedback from the blogs I posted about Romans 5:1, generally positive... which was annoying as I prefer criticism on such things as they make me re-scrutinise what I've written. I did have a comment passed about my post on 'Peace with God'. In it I talked about God's hate of sin. It seems that when I commented that God could not sin as we knew it (actual quote was: "He cannot hate as we understand the word, for to hate is to sin") it was taken to mean that God doesn't hate. Well He does, which is why I then added the example of Hoeksema's 'Holy NO'.

In hindsight maybe I should have described His hate as one that we cannot know, as our understanding is of hate is sinful. The Almighty has a divine, Holy, wrathful hate that is utterly just and pure... not something we can fully, truly appreciate.

I hope that clears up any confusion on that matter. I endeavour to make my posts clear and theologically sound, but am aware that I will frequently muddle my thoughts and consequently perhaps not do my biblical opinion justice.

But on with Romans 5:1 once again. I was greatly reassured that having written the posts without commentary support and having (in all honesty) just written them off the cuff, that on listening to a Peter Jeffery sermon (listen to the one titled 'Peace') on the verse and reading the chapter on the verse in 'Righteous by Faith Alone' (Herman Hoeksema) I had covered in brief many of their points. Just not quite as eloquently!

However, as is often the case, in hindsight I realised that perhaps I'd missed a massive amount out! In writing the posts I knew that there was so much more in each that could've been added. But then you'd have been reading a 45 page blog... not a habit I'll try and fall into.

But as I read Mr Hoeksema's chapter last night something was highlighted that Peter Jeffery had touched on and perhaps I hadn't.

We are either condemned in our sin or justified. Or we are either guilty or not guilty. There is no sliding scale of righteousness for that impending court case. We cannot be semi-righteous, or semi-condemned. We are of one condition or the other. In the case of the Christian of course what cause for praise and celebration there is in our new found legal position before the Lord!

But it gets better. Once declared 'not guilty', once we have been justified, no other charge can be brought to us. Consequently the position cannot be reversed; we cannot return to the dock and be found guilty. This is because when the gavel fell in judgement of our souls (or will) the great Judge doesn't just pronounce us 'not guilty'. He brings down the hammer and to our relief the words 'not guilty' are issued forth, but this is followed without hesitation by the gavel pointed at us and we are affirmed as 'righteous'! (James R Hamilton can take credit for this illustration).

For that court date our legal intercessor the Lord Jesus Christ has laid out his finest of clothes for us to wear. Gleaming and perfectly tailored they cover our filthy rags and as we stand in the dock the divine judge sees us as guiltless, adopted heirs and children. We cannot be found guilty... cannot! A perfect legal representation and promises by the Lord Jesus ensure it!


I know I may seem to be labouring the point Christian, but isn't justification a wonderful word? I want to have it tattooed on my forehead sometimes! 'Justified'. Tattoo aside surely our witness, language, demeanour, countenance and soul should shout to all who know us - 'bought and paid for'. And if anyone wants to check that the purchase is valid - the receipts can be found in the bible!


One of which, funnily enough can be found in Romans 5:1... regardless of the version!

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," (NIV)"

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:" (KJV)

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (ESV)

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," (NASB)

A boiling pot of sin.

This may seem somewhat tenuous and a rather incomplete thought, but this is the sort of path my mind takes when I'm driving to and from work.

I am umm-ing and ahh-ing about studying a Masters degree in 'Social, emotional and Behavioural Difficulties'. I work in a special needs school for boys with such problems and clearly it is a good choice of continuing professional development.

I was considering as I drove the nature of the boys and their problems and one of the given module titles for the MEd when I came up with one of my analogies/illustrations. The boiling pot on the stove.

Sometimes the lads at my school quite literally need to 'boil over' to let off some pressure. Literally they need to 'pop' as a way of venting the anxieties and frustrations of their lives and normally do so physically and emotionally as they are not equipped to manage such situations and feelings successfully. So the image is of a saucepan of water simmering, then boiling. The boiling of the water becomes more and more violent until it boils up and over the side of the pan. There is a lot of sizzling and foaming. Hot water splashes and any hand near the pan is at risk of getting scalded. The pan is stained and a big wet puddle is left surrounding the pan, which ultimatley has to be mopped up.

Now this pot if not watched carefully can easily boil over again. Certainly you wouldn't fill it up again then walk away from it. Why? Because it'll just boil over again!

To prevent the pan boiling over and making a mess it has to be watched and the flames which heat it have to be controlled to ensure it doesn't get over heated. When the pan is boiling there are things you can do to control it and ensure that it doesn't bubble over. You can turn the heat down, remove some water or take the pan off the hob completely. More specifically you can be more proactive and consider if the pan is big enough and deep enough to be placed on the flame in the first place.

In context with the boys at school - we have to monitor their emotions as they 'simmer'. If they look like they're going to boil over we have to manage the heat (or the antagonist), remove some of the boiling contents (the content of the problem) or if we can remove the 'pan' from the heatsource altogether and place it somewhere it can cool down (take the boiling 'boy' and give him an environment where there is no antagonist to get him boiling again).

Now none of these are easy. They require skill and understanding and most importantly it requires a commitment to keep revisiting that boiling pot and decide quickly which way is best to prevent a 'boil over'. Ultimately I suppose we're trying to teach the 'pan' to monitor itself, the heat that affects it and we try to instil in the pan the ability to remove itself from the heat early.

So how does this apply to the Christian?

The boiling water is sin. We are the pan. The heat is temptation.

Placing oneself knowingly on the heat of temptation we are at risk of allowing the sin in our lives to boil over, making a horrible mess that takes time to mop up. The boiling waters of sin also pose a risk of scalding to anyone close to the pan.

As we try to teach our boys at school to not put themselves on a direct source of heat, should the Christian also not place themselves knowingly in the way of the heat of temptation? We cannot, of course, always avoid heat/temptation but that doesn't abdicate us of our responsibility in trying to spot all potential sources of heat.

We should surely pursue the shade of the fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ; the calming, soothing breeze of the Holy Spirit and immerse ourselves in the cooling waters of His Word.

"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matthew 26: 41

"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." James 1: 12

"And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." Luke 22: 46

Romans 5: 1 (for the last time... until next time).

Romans 5: 1 “... peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.”


For a third time we can visit this verse and consider something more. We are justified by faith we know. We are also consequently at peace (or have peace) with God where once there was enmity. This process is by grace – our salvation, every part of it, is an act of grace. We have also established that this grace can only be imparted to us because of the Lord Jesus Christ’s propitiatory death and his glorious resurrection. The sacrifice made in atonement has allowed us to reach this state of being considered worthy in His sight, again, only as we are clothed in His righteousness.

Now while it may seem to be revisiting a point already made, these things are made possible through not only the Lord Jesus Christ but, note Paul’s words, our Lord Jesus Christ. Our personal saviour and our corporate high priest. Verse one is such a complete statement, in just 15 words Paul manages to convey and underscore so many essential aspects of our salvation. The sentence would be correct without adding ‘through our Lord Jesus Christ’. Paul has already in Romans 3 completely established our depravity and in chapter 4 he has incisively stated our justification can only be through faith, using Abraham as an example. He also underlines that out righteousness before God is imputed to us, never earned.

So again, the mention that this is achieved ‘through our Lord Jesus Christ’ is unnecessary to our understanding of the process of justification. So why add it?

Well firstly and fore mostly it is a comment surely of praise and glorification. Paul is reminding the Romans of the essential vehicle of salvation that is both the man and the Lord Jesus Christ. In all things we should include the wonder working power of Jesus and His blood. It is not enough to merely comment on the functions and legality of atonement, propitiation and justification. It is not enough to merely describe the peace in our souls gained where once there was hostility. The Lord Jesus Christ “delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification” stands astride all this in His Glory. He straddles the eternity between condemnation and salvation as a bridge for us to access eternal life. He is the peacemaker and doorway through whom we can be justified.

To omit His name is to defame His part in the process! (for without Him there would be no process!) To pay lip service to the name of Jesus is not enough! His name should not sneak quietly from the corner of our mouths or be added to a prayer as an almost forgotten addendum! We should in all things praise and magnify His name!

Paul was not merely reminding us of who our intercessor is. He is not even being repetitious or verbose in his wording. He is reinforcing and reminding the Romans and us of who achieved this wondrous work. Not some faceless god, not a legal action performed behind closed doors, but our loving, all sufficient Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. One whose name should leap fully from our mouths in praise and adoration at every possible turn. Paul was making an unambiguous statement in verse 1 of this fifth chapter, but in it he is also posing a question.

Are you adding His name to all that you do?

Is it lip service?

Are you giving Him the praise his gift of eternal life and joy should merit?

Do it today Christian, do it in everything you do!

Romans 5 blogs

Having had a little feedback on my last 2 posts I'd like to ask a favour from anyone who reads this blog regularly - make a comment please... or email me.

I'll explain why.

I write these blogs primarily as a way of ordering my thoughts and sharing them with anyone who is willing to hear them. I find that they help me to take ideas that are whizzing around my head and by presenting them to others put them in a way that a) is theologically sound, b) glorifies God, c) helps me make sense of it all. In short it helps me distil my thoughts and share them.

Posts made from here on about Romans 5 are mine and mine alone. I didn't use any commentaries in the writing of the last 2 and will continue to write them 'solo'. That being them case any constructive comments or criticisms will be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance... next up... "through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5: 1 (again!)

It may be some time before I get to Romans 6! But then again with such a rich text to study, why rush?!

Romans 5:1b 'peace with God'

Romans 5: 1b “...we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”


In my last post I hope we identified how our justification is achieved and that it is all by grace and not in any part by our works. It is a complete work of His and not of us. This has now allowed, or afforded us, ‘peace with God’. The act of repentance is turning from sin, literally to turn away. Just as the Israelites left Egypt and were not to look back, or ‘return’ to Egypt, and as Lot leaving Sodom was to not look back, neither should we.

This ‘peace with God’ is achieved first through reconciliation. This reconciliation is with God where before there was hate and enmity. As we turn in repentance, He too turns to reconcile us to Himself and shines His countenance upon us. Once again it is God who does the work here. He comes to us. He is/was the offended party and the reconciliation is His to give. Our hate, spite and ungodliness was/is an affront to Him, deserving of divine wrath and judgement. Hoeksema put it (my paraphrase) that God’s ‘hate’ of sin is rather a ‘holy NO’. He cannot hate as we understand the word, for to hate is to sin. His wrath, His hate and anger are divine and holy. God will not have sin, the price must be paid the propitiation must be made. His non tolerance of sin is an everlasting, eternal ‘NO’. There cannot be a more definite, consistent refusal.

Peace with God is not possible without Christ’s intervention. Our enmity and our sinful disposition put us on the wrathful end of this holy NO. Again, in Romans 3: 10 - 18 we get an explanation of why. ‘None are righteous’ (v10), ‘no one seeks God’ (v11b) and there is ‘no fear of God in their eyes’ (v18). Our nature is at war with God’s prior to our salvation. Our sin despises Him and seeks to keep us facing away from Him; it is comfortable in keeping its back to the sunrise of God’s glory.

‘But now’ (Romans 3: 21) Jesus has satisfied the wrath. The lamb was slain and our sins pardoned by the holy scapegoat Son of God. ‘Therefore’ (v1a) we can be justified, we can be clothed in His raiment, dressed in Jesus’ own righteousness and presented worthy in God’s sight. This and this alone grants us access to the Almighty.

To ‘have peace’ is to truly be with Him. To be in His presence ‘through our Lord Jesus Christ’ is to know peace. Peace in our mind, heart, body and soul. It is an all enveloping, complete peace that can only be found in His presence and in having full assurance that the work is finished, that we do not need to rely on ourselves to receive or earn His love and grace. Once more the work is His and the list of God’s grace to us grows longer – to be with Him, to be in His presence, to offer sacrifices of prayer and praise are further benefits of having peace with Him, all enmity dead and gone.

To be with Him Christian! Consider that.

In Jesus’ complete work you are not just afforded salvation from the condemnation of your sin, not just justified in His sight, not just made whole and worthy, not just to be ultimately glorified, not just to be an heir and adopted son, not just clothed in Jesus righteousness, not just full of His grace and love. You are granted God’s full and blessed peace... and all in His presence.

Oh what a Saviour, oh to be with Him.

Romans 5: 1

Well I sat and watched Zulu. Then I had a short bible study and prayer time on the beatitudes (Matthew 5: 1 - 12). Then I remembered my earlier mention of reopening my studies on Romans. So having read the whole chapter I scrutinsed the first verse a little closer, and felt prompted to scrawl this. I apologise for any disjointed theology or spelling/grammar I haven't properly proof read it. I shall do so when my head has stopped spinning - it took me twice as long to type it up as it did to write it!!! I hope you benefit from it somehow...

 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 5: 1

‘Therefore’ – this ‘therefore’ can be considered in context rather like the ‘But now’ at the start of Romans 3: 21. ‘As a consequence of’ or ‘resulting from’ an action not of our own, but of Christ’s. Romans 3: 21 is fundamental in our redemption as it explains to us in no uncertain terms how the new covenant is established. ‘It was like this... but now it is like this...’ (Though the Jews would have required faith too, a lone reliance on adherence to the law was still justification by works).

Romans 3: 10 - 18 outlines how we are all under sin and condemned by our nature, ‘there is none righteous, no, not one’. We must first recognise, through the Holy Spirit’s prompting, our true state and the uselessness of our reliance on works. We cannot, Paul says, justify ourselves by any means. Christ alone can satisfy for our sins and none other but He. (Romans 3: 1 - 20)

So through, or by God’s righteousness imparted to us through Jesus Christ’s atonement, we can be saved, made acceptable in His sight. ‘But now’ Christ has become our great high priest and intercessor.

Romans 3 describes how ‘by works of the law’ (3: 20) no man can be justified. And ‘(but) now’ His righteousness has been manifested apart from the law we can be clothed as righteous through faith and faith alone in Christ’s propitiation. Christ being 'put' (ESV) or 'set' (KJV) forth by God for His purposes. Therefore by faith alone we are justified. This not being an action of our own, but once again, it is an action of Him and Him alone. While we possess faith it is only a faith given to us by grace. Just as we are graciously afforded our redemption, justified with undeserved merit.

This ‘peace’ then with God (5:1) is ‘through our Lord Jesus Christ’, He is once again all sufficient. Not only is He now our high priest and intercessor, not only is He made propitiation for our iniquities, not only as a spotless lamb put forth by God for us! He is also our faith and our conduit for receiving God’s grace and peace. What a complete saviour! What a masterful work!

Every part of our salvation is by Him, just as “all things were created by Him and for Him” (Colossians 1: 16) so are we. In every part He has control and dominion, a truly sovereign Lord. Our conviction, rebirth, justification, sanctification, faith and ultimate glorification is His. We are unable to do any part of it ourselves – “for by works... no human being will be justified...” (Romans 3: 20 ESV), “by deeds... shall no flesh be justified in His sight.” (KJV).

‘Therefore’ we are left with so little required of us – simple obedience, prayer and praise. The work is complete! Rejoice and be glad Christian that your salvation depends solely on a gracious, loving, Sovereign Lord and not on your own sinful, fallible, disobedient self!

What I'm doing...

While this may seem a little 'facbook status' or 'twitter', I have pinched this idea from Kim's blog Hiraeth and will shamelessly use it for my own post today! A neat way of summarising things at da ig bear's house...

Wondering - should Christians be on Facebook? I find useful, frustrating, irritating, narcissistic and entertaining in equal measure. Hmmmm...

Liking - my summer holidays, 6 weeks of freedom! Woop!

Disliking - my summer holiday being nearly halfway done! Boo!

Reading - A W Pink on Elijah, food for the soul. Many, many lessons to be learned from Elijah's story. Not least that "God does not grant fresh revelations until there has been a compliance with those already receieved..." Think Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah... all were required to adhere to a command before the next was issued.

Watching - Zulu.. Classic line "Hitch... Hitch I've seen you... you're alive!"

In real life 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded that day in 1879. 150 Brits vs 4000 Zulus... Valley boys like a fight see. (Actually they were the 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot, which later became the South Wales Borderers in 1881).

Thinking - I have too many books to read. I should stop buying them until I've finished the ones I have!!!

Drinking - coffee which makes me hyperactive. And root beer, I love root beer :)

Studying - admittedly gone off the boil here. Will restart Romans today I think.

Training - my back and hip are sore again :( my choker chain has kicked in again, forcing me to rest.

Thanking God - for our fellowship at Fole. A small, but gracious and blessed church with sound biblical teaching. True brothers and sisters in Christ.

It is a thing most wonderful

We sang this on Sunday evening and I found it very moving. I hadn't heard it or sung it for years and years, but it did my soul good. It is essentially a children's hymn (or is so listed), but surely a hymn is a hymn is a hymn?

We are told to come with child like faith aren't we? Sometimes... no, much of the time we over complicate our salvation and make it a complex literary task to decipher the bible. In fact, in truth the gospel message is so so simple... so simple even a child can understand.

It is a thing most wonderful,

Almost too wonderful to be,

That God’s own Son should come from Heav’n,

And die to save a child like me.

And yet I know that it is true;

He chose a poor and humble lot,

And wept, and toiled, and mourned, and died,

For love of those who loved Him not.

I cannot tell how He could love

A child so weak and full of sin;

His love must be most wonderful,

If He could die my love to win.

I sometimes think about the cross,

And shut my eyes, and try to see

The cruel nails, and crown of thorns,

And Jesus crucified for me.

But even could I see Him die,

I could but see a little part

Of that great love which, like a fire

Is always burning in His heart.

It is most wonderful to know

His love for me so free and sure;

But ’tis more wonderful to see

My love for Him so faint and poor.

And yet I want to love Thee, Lord;

O light the flame within my heart,

And I will love thee more and more,

Until i see Thee as Thou art.

William Walsham How (1823 - 97)

Ultimate Food Championships

Browsing through some old files on my laptop I came across a mock up fight report of favourite foodstuffs written as a challenge. The challenge arose after a peculiar phone conversation with my girlfriend, Katie about the best 'Friday night film/TV snacks'. It has nothing at all to do with theology at all, but I thought you might enjoy it.

The context, in case you are confused, is 'which food would win in a fight?' and is based around a bout arranged between contenders for the top 'Friday night favourite' spot. Feel free to suggest your own match ups...

UFC 96 (Ultimate Food Championships)

MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas

Undercard:

Phileas Fogg Tortillas (Salsa with Mexican Chilli flavour) vs Glass of watery church orange squash

The old campaigner, watery squash made a lethargic return to the cage in this old stager vs enfant terrible. PF Tortillas has been tearing up the opposition in some fiery and brutal encounters leading up to this match up. Tortilla’s thorough demolition of a pack of Jaffa Cakes and a frighteningly harsh beatdown of Cheese Wotsits made this an uphill struggle for the old head Church Squash.

Squash started well though, using the tried and tested method of choking by powdery residue and regular visits to the toilets at the far end of the damp dark corridor out the back. Tortilla was though inexorable. Brushing off the watery Squash’s limp and lukewarm attacks Tortilla began to fire. A devastating hint of chipotle chilli combined with salty moreishness turned the contest Tortilla’s way and the finishing power of paprika aftertaste and jalapeno flakes made this an essentially one sided and unnecessary match up. PF Tortilla will no doubt move on to bigger, tougher competition and rumours abound that a possible pairing with Doritos Cool Original are promising. Watery Squash will need to review it’s involvement in such contests it is sad to see such an old favourite try and battle on in this day and age.

Main Event:


Ben and Jerry’s Choc Fudge Brownie Ice Cream vs Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked Ice Cream

Former stable mates at the famous Ben and Jerry’s camp led to much speculation about how this match up would pan out. Many felt that it was a senseless pairing and that there would be nothing to separate the two. Indeed, the delicious and tempting chunks of chocolate in a perfectly blended mix of vanilla and chocolate ice cream is a trait shared by both contestants.

Fudge Brownie came out strongly with some superbly sticky chunks of chocolatey loveliness. This was swiftly followed by a huge and damaging dose of sugar rush. Half baked responded well and threw down with its own mouth-wateringly tempting pieces of cookie dough. The heavy chunky pieces of dough combined with the vast array of chocolate chips saw the contest turn in Half Baked’s flavour.... er... favour. Fudge Brownie responded with a hefty double combo of choc within choc action, but it was to be Half Baked’s day. A finely balanced and solid mix of vanilla and choc proved too strong for Fudge Brownie and the contest came to a close with KO finish from the lingering aftertaste. So as champ Half Baked faces the prospect of a difficult contest with the winner of Mango Berry Swirl vs Cookies and Cream, a match up as intriguing as this one.

Clearly, I had too much time on my hands that day!

Christians should smile more... shouldn't they?

I had a blindingly good idea for a blog the other day... well about 2 weeks ago in fact, so the idea has faded somewhat so excuse me if I don't paint as vivid a picture as was scorching through my mind at the time.

Following a link sent to me by 'The Wap' I saw/listened to this cover of Massive Attack's song 'Teardrop' by a chap called Newton Faulkner. I'm not a big fan of the original, but am a sucker for a good voice and a guitar... it is neat, simple and unflowery. A bit like me... minus the neat.

Anyway I liked the cover and had a quick itunes browse for some of his other stuff and eventually just downloaded a whole album. One song on the album is entitled 'People should smile more'.

As I drove along tippy tapping the steering wheel and singing out of tune I pondered exactly this. I'm justified, saved by grace, loved and cherished by an all sufficient, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, sovreign, almighty God. His son died in my place and I have been granted by undeserved merit all the treasures that heaven and eternal life offer me. What's not to beam about?

The following Sunday the preacher (sorry the exact sermon is lost in the fog of my memory now!) spoke about the fact that as the wretched men we are, sinners of the darkest hue, we have no moral right to be happy.

Boom!

That dropped my 'smiling' on its head and stole its pocket money alright. Fortunately the point of the sermon was hardly to shoot my happiness down in flames, but rather to highlight the pervasive attitude that Christians should walk around with 'Colgate' grins and a chirpy countenence 24/7. This clearly is not true.

Faithful Christians should, in their self reflection often come to an stark awareness of the depth and depravity of their own sin... and of that around them. They should mourn this, grieve for their sinful mind, heart, lusts, actions and words -

"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." (Matthew 5:4 KJV)

But does this mean we cannot smile as Christians? Of course not. In fact the ironic thing is that our smiles should spread broader when we consider why we are smiling in the first place. We are saved from our sins. Those sins that grieve and hurt us, that black cloud of rebellion and hurt that plagued us as unregenerate people... they're gone!

So in those dark moments of distress, when we are at our lowest ebb, surely nothing should lift us more than the realisation that all that troubles us, all that hinders and pains us is paid for.

The debt is paid!

The curse lifted!

Our chains are fallen off, our hearts set free!

Surely in that black, dark dungeon His quickening ray should make our personal dungeon of sin flame with light... and dare I say it?

Smile.

Smile and let Him comfort you. Smile with tears in your eyes. Smile with utter relief. Smile at the thought of a love that can never be broken and never waivers.

So yes... Christians should smile more.

Chronicles of Wap

My brother-in-law has started a blog, prompted it seems by my brother's and mine. You can read it here.

'The Wap' is something of a confrontational character and enjoys a good debate... as I do... as does my brother. This is clearly all done in a good, fair minded and Christian manner... some of the time.

It must be quite interesting at times to watch and listen to us. Wise old bro listens and the makes significant and non judgemental comments, I attack and apply irritating cold logic (if that's what it says, that's what it means!), the Wap defends his corner no matter what. Even if behind his eyes he sometimes concedes a point, he never lets on.

I'm digressing slightly cos the point I was going to make about these 'debates' is that they wind my sister up something rotten. Quote: (when sitting down to lunch last weekend) "If you're going to carry on talking about that (election) I'm going in the other room!" Both the Wap and I glanced at each other, grinned and carried on talking... but only to wind up my sister. In truth no more was mentioned about Ephesians, predestination or limited atonement... sorry I mean particular redemption.

Healthy theological and doctrinal debate, even argument is helpful. It affirms and strengthens your own understanding of biblical 'grey' areas in a way reading alone cannot. However, there is most definitely a time and a place, often the topic of debate can dictate this. Listening to the immovable object argue with the irresistible force over an issue that has separated the church for so long is not really great for the digestion. My sister has my sympathy.

I read my brother's blog and my brother in laws, but have not necessarily agreed with everything they have written. As, I am sure they would say about mine. Differences of opinion are inevitable.

I am the sort of person that likes to pound people with my point (see Mother, I do know I do it!), until they submit, pass out, cry or run away. Doing this with a theological/doctrinal opinion is utterly wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Telling your brother the truth is right. Telling him in such a way that he can fully appreciate why you're saying what you are is right. Picking your opinion up and clubbing your brother around the head with it until he is semi conscious is not right.

Discretion, respect and Christian brotherly love are right. As is knowing when one should agree to disagree.

So let's raise a glass to healthy debate... as long as it's non alcoholic... should Christians drink?... Why shouldn't they?... here we go again!



I was right though :)

Cool

While browsing Matt Bownds' blog dunamis. I came across a link to Ray Ortlund's blog. He'd written this blog on 'cool' which I thought was great.

Thought I'd share it with you.

The 10 plagues continued...

We got as far as the lice last time, here are the rest:

Exodus 8: 20 - 32 - The Lord of the flies

Exodus 9: 1 - 12 - The hand of the Lord

Exodus 9: 13 - 35 - Educating Pharoah

Exodus 10: 21 - 29 - Blackness of darkness

Exodus 11: 1 - 11, 12: 29 - 30 - One more plague

Exodus 12: 1 - 12 - A lamb without blemish

Again, I would recommend the whole series, but I found these particularly interesting, encouraging and applicable.

The 10 plagues

My last blog was partly inspired by the series of sermons James R Hamilton has been delivering at Fole Chapel, Staffordshire. I would highly recommend the whole series, which can be found on Sermonaudio.

For me though, the sermons he delivered on the 10 plagues were particularly excellent. Not only was it good, expository preaching, but many relevant comparisons were made throughout to the present state of the UK and the 'Egypt' in which we live.

I have linked each of the sermons and titles below to save you the bother of locating them. The given verses are linked to the Authorised version on Biblegateway.

Exodus 7:1 - 7 - Sovereign God or sovereign Pharoah

Exodus 7: 8 - 13 - The prologue to the plagues

Exodus 7: 14 -25 - The first stroke

Exodus 8: 1 - 15 - The day of the frogs

Exodus 8: 16 - 19 - What price all these lice?

There is an introduction and the first 3 plagues for you, I shall post the others soon.

Idols?

Idolatry. It is an offensive word isn’t it, as a Christian? That said even to an unbeliever the word would doubtless make them frown and tut ‘no, not me’. Idolatry is rife, rampant and in your life somewhere almost certainly. All your friends all your family, they have all had their idols.

Now it’s easy to think of idols as all being like the golden calf in Exodus, the one the Israelites went back to worshiping time and again when Moses wasn’t looking. We make noises of astonishment that the foolish Israelites just forgot all about God and went back to their pagan ways that they had inherited as their own during the 430 years they were in Egypt. Its easy to see how that happened to some degree, man being as easily tempted and persuaded as he is.

Immersed in a pagan culture, idols and idol worship at every turn, an entire civilisation (if that is a suitable word) geared towards worshiping that other than God, consequently the Israelites started to pick up and use (perhaps just out of cultural politeness at first) the Egyptians’ gods. Perhaps the idolatry crept into their lives and culture without them even realising. Practices and rituals they weren’t even conscious were coming between them and their true God. Others I am sure, jumped into such practices wholeheartedly in pursuit of carnal pleasures and lusts.

The Israelites ‘turned back’ to their gods in the wilderness, but I’d rather like to think they were ‘drawn’ or ‘tempted’ to those gods as they drifted away from God, as their faith weakened. When God is pre-eminent nothing should stand between the believer and the Lord, but the sideshow of carnality and idols that litter the path to Glory are sometimes tempting enough to draw us from the narrow path. We don’t always even recognise it for what it is. Satan dresses it up as ‘acceptable’ or a ‘one off’ maybe – that is when the carnal, idolatrous mind elbows its way back into the room and demands all the attention. Idolatry is self gratification of some sort. It is all about the ‘I’... me me me!

Look at the position the Israelites were in and translate it to your life. Can you see your idols? They’re hard to spot. Sometimes they’re, as my brother called them, ‘pet’ sins. Little idols which we think can’t hurt. Ones that are tucked away from the sight of others and indulged in secretly. Some on the other hand are huge. Enormous, all consuming idols which get treated like the elephant in the corner. It’s massive, it’s apparent; it takes up a lot of room. But no one has actually pointed it out and said “what’s that elephant doing there?!” We may pretend that it doesn’t exist and that it isn’t (figuratively) crushing our spiritual furnishings and eating our daily bread.

Go back to the Israelites again, tut if you like. Frown, judge, criticise and wonder at their God-less-ness. But before you do, think on this. Idolatry is inflating something, anything in its importance to the point where it comes before or instead of God. It needn't be consciously more important, just something which is an obsatcle to your relationship with Him to which you knowingly or willingly return.

I was an idolater. My idols over the last 20 years have been various sports, mostly rugby, my fitness, Saturday nights out, my diet, beer and more recently MMA (mixed martial arts) amongst many others. At the time they were ‘hole fillers’. Something to fill the void that needed to be plugged by God’s grace and love. But now I see them as my previous gods, my idols. Certainly the MMA and the commitments I made to that sport overlapped and crept into my Christian life and for a short while impeding my spiritual growth. Any interest or hobby or activity can be inflated into an idol. Satan will happily use ANY distraction to keep you from enjoying God.

Think. Football – the World Cup. How many Christians will miss church to watch a game? What other idols are there? Any sport can be. TV, the internet, the gym and one’s own body. Food, sex, pornography, booze, drugs, fashion, music and so on ad nauseum. Within those areas you can break the idols into ‘smaller’ ones. Would you miss training or Eastenders to go to the prayer meeting? Can you last a month without booze? Can you not visit a website or watch a film that maybe you shouldn’t?

We need to be watchful and mindful of anything we can create idols from. We also need to be aware of our former idols and how strongly they can call to us, drawing us back to our own spiritual Egypt. Satan would like nothing more than for us to brush away the conscience’s knee jerk regarding a mini-idol as insignificant.

If we allow Satan to win these minor skirmishes he gains ground in the spiritual war. Yes the battle is already won, but don’t allow yourself to become an unwitting casualty in the day to day trench warfare.

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image..."