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

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.

Analogies are a bit like...

I like Mr Herman Hoeksema. I like him a lot. He has a knack of using analogies that I understand. Now I use them a lot as you may have noticed but I am always conscious that in giving an analogy it is hard to appreciate how it will be received. I mean, I know what I’m talking about and in my own mind the analogical image is crystal clear... but does anyone else get it? Not always.


Mr Hoeksema doesn’t have this problem I don’t think, nor does Peter Jeffery. Each time I have read or heard an analogy by either of them I have re-wound or re-read it a few times, enjoying the laser beam accurate image I believe they intended to portray.

Most recently I liked Mr Jeffery’s example of our sin being like a big strong, nasty Rottweiler (it may have been a Doberman, but it hardly affects the analogy). We need to keep that vicious dog on a short lead and well under control. If we were to let out too much lead or to release it, it would cause untold damage and pain. So the danger needs to be disciplined and kept reined in tightly and under our control and command.

Mr Hoeksema provided another analogy for me this morning as I continued my reading of 'Wonder of Grace'. I shan’t paraphrase him though, this is what he wrote. The chapter was entitled ‘Believing through Grace’ and the particular section was referring to our faith in Christ.

“The difference between a believer and an unbeliever is not unlike that between a living young tree and a dead fence post. You can plant that fence post deep into the ground, but you do not expect that it will show signs of life and develop branches and fruit. On the contrary, it will rot in the soil in which it is planted. But plant a young sapling in the same soil, and it will strike its roots into the ground and draw nourishment from it, grow and bear fruit.”

This reflects something that I mentioned in my last blog about Mr Jeffery’s ‘Whitewash’ sermon. Someone can outwardly be gleaming white, a Doctor who has attended church for 40 years and does many good works... but he can be as dead as that fence post despite being buried deep in the ground of a church if he is an unbeliever. He may even frequently study the bible or expound its contents from a pulpit. But he’s still dead in his unbelief.

Take a believer however, an uneducated labourer who is that young sapling. He has no knowledge of the bible, little understanding of the nuances and details of scripture, he doesn't even think he is doing so... but that sapling starts to bear fruit. The love and grace in his life shines through and bears fruit. Burying his roots deep into Christ, the gospel and His church the sapling grows into a mighty solid oak, rock solid in faith in Christ.

To use Mr Hoeksema’s example (which I semi plagiarised in the last 2 paragraphs) the same said doctor and labourer are fed a meal. The doctor understands the nutritional value of the food, he is aware that the proteins, carbohydrates,  vitamins and minerals are essential for all manner of reasons. He knows the value of the food. But he has a terminal illness which sees him struggle to eat. The food will make him sick and nauseous. He can tell you the value of the food, but rejects the chance to eat it.

The labourer knows none of this. He knows he is hungry, he knows his appetite needs sating and he eats and eats and eats until his plate is as clean as a whistle. He is ignorant of the nutritional benefits of the food other than it makes him satisfied, but he still benefits from the content of what he has taken in - each meal making him stronger.

Oh to be a doctor who can labour during the mornings uprooting fence posts and planting saplings in their place, then spend the afternoons collecting and distributing the fruit collected from the mature, fully grown trees planted years before.

You can’t fault a good analogy can you? (That last one was mine... I do hope it made sense!!!!)

Being vague...

I listened to a Peter Jeffery sermon on my way to and from work today about 'Whitewashing' and Ezekiel 13. Effectively it was about false prophets and their perversion of the gospel. The whitewash reference being to how if a building is whitewashed it can camouflage the true state of the crumbling, damaged and weakened walls. The veneer of the church goer who isn’t saved – they whitewash their life in good works and regular church attendance, but inside are rotten and decaying.

Rather like the comparison made about (I can’t recall, or find, where it says so  ) the sepulchre being white and clean and well kept on the outside and rotten and dead inside.


Anyway, in Mr Jeffery’s sermon he said something which struck me as blindingly obvious, yet not always altogether clear to see. He said (here I paraphrase as best I can, hoping I can do justice to his words... and wincing at the thought of getting it wrong) that - if one is vague or ‘loose’ in one’s understanding of scripture, then so too will be one’s grasp and appreciation of what sin is and where it occurs in one’s life.

I certainly have experienced that feeling of realisation several times in the last year where I have been studying my bible only to come across a verse that allows aspects of my sin to drop firmly and clearly into focus. It was perhaps something which up to that point I hadn’t even realised was necessarily wrong.

I find it increasingly difficult to understand how Christians cannot spend more time trying to seek out and destroy sin in their lives. I realise I am ‘young’ and enthusiastic about the gospel, but its all there in His Word. All we have to do is read it! The task of ridding oneself of sin is never a finished task, until He does the job for us in Glory. But one feeds the other.


The more we know of the gospel = the more readily we can recognise and are equipped to kill sin in our lives.

The more we know of our sin = the less hypocritical we can be in living out our Christian lives and the greater our appreciation can be of the Grace God has afforded us in saving such wretches.

Returning to your own vomit?

I was listening to a Chris Hand sermon on the way to and from work today and he made reference to "The dog is turned to his own vomit again." from 2 Peter 2:22 (KJV) the full verse being:

"But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."

This is (as I have since discovered) Paul's reference to Proverbs 26:11 (KJV) which reads:

"As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly."

This painted a wonderfully disgusting picture for me. Let me explain.

Since I was converted nearly a year ago I have struggled with varying degree with my propensity to stumble, slip, wander and even at times stride straight back into my sinful ways. Now I'm fully aware of my state as a 'wretched man' and a full blown sinner (who is saved by grace... *here is where you see me grinning ear to ear*). So it doesn't surprise me that I do sin... regularly. Hourly in fact. As do you.

What does confuse me at times like these though is the stupidity of us all. Many a time over the years I knew of people who woke up after a hard night on the town, reeking of booze, with a filthy hangover. Said drunkard would clutch their head, groan and utter "never again... that's it... I'm never ever drinking again..." Cue a week later and there you have them, knocking back another shot of liver killer with a smile on their face and wreckless abandon in their heart.

I'm as stupid and wreckless as any of the boozers in town this past Saturday. Why? Because so often there are things I say or do that my conscience tells me are wrong. 'Don't do/say/think/behave like that' it says... 'you'll be sorry', 'you'll regret it!' And time after time I end up like that drinker... hopelessly drawn into doing something I know I'm going to plead with God to forgive me for... again.

'The temptation is too much'. 'I can't resist it'. 'It won't hurt just the once'. 'It's a bit naughty, but I'm only human'. Sound familiar? I'm sure there's plenty of excuses that could be added to that list. But they're all feeble excuses and don't stand up. So picture this:

Imagine eating a spoonful of vomit. Your own. Imagine the bitter, acidic slime. The smell and taste deep in the back of your nasal cavity. The heat of the juices and the sticky, yet watery texture of the liquid and the soft partly digested chunks of meat and vegetables. Imagine the sickening heave as you close your mouth and swallow. Horrible yes? Ok now consider this.

Your sin (and mine) is far more vile and disgusting than that spoonful of sick. Yet if you picture the sick as sin which you've been purged of. Poison that is forced up and out of you in a painful, yet necessary action of rejection by the stomach of the soul. Why would you gladly spoon it back in?

Would you sit and watch someone eat a bowl of their own vomit? Would you want to stop them? Would you even contemplate eating it yourself? Or would the thought itself make you want to vomit some more?

We should view our sin as such a vile substance as this. We should turn our noses up at it every time, but we don't because we're stupid. Just like the Saturday night binge drinker. We validate and accept our sins as being part of us without resisting enough. Sure we'll slip and stumble, we have sinful natures every man has. But we can resist... I wish I could remember the verse about God not allowing us to experience a temptation we couldn't resist. You know the one?

I hate it when I behave like that dog, lapping up its own sick before its even cold. I'll be praying this week and for a long time to come that I see my vomit/sin for what it is... then carry on my way, leaving it far behind.