Thursday, November 28, 2013

My trip to Scotland










I am currently in the North of Scotland for a week visiting a High School in Lossiemouth. My aim is to talk to young people about the greatest man who ever lived. You might have an opinion about who that person was! I am persuaded that it was Jesus Christ. His influence lives on not only in terms of those who personally believe in him as their Saviour but in the way our society operates.

For instance:

Our dating system (2013 AD) starts from the birth of Christ.
Our civil rights are based on his teachings.
Our healthcare system is based on the care of the individual and compassion that Jesus taught.
Our legal system operates on the principles that were established in scripture and made popular by Jesus Christ.

and so on....

I wonder if you realise the effect that this man, the Son of God, has had on our world. In some ways it is not enough. The failure does not lie in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ but our unwillingness to submit to his authority, to confess our guilt before God and to rest on Christ as Saviour and Lord.

Imagine what society would be like if there was no theft, no anger management required, no embezzling of funds, no greed in business, no abuse, no murder, no broken homes, no addiction! Wow, it would be incredible.

I could introduce you to homes where repentance of sin and faith in Christ has brought about many of these changes.

One day, the bible teaches, Jesus will return and set up a world wide government and he will show the world what it would have been like if things had been done God's way. As a Christian I cannot wait to see this happen!


"TRUTH TO TRUST"
Access bible teaching videos, podcasts and blogs at www.seekthetruth.org.uk


All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.

Location:Lossiemouth

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My trip to the North of Scotland



I am currently in the North of Scotland for a week visiting a High School in Lossiemouth. My aim is to talk to young people about the greatest man who ever lived. You might have an opinion about who that person was! I am persuaded that it was Jesus Christ. His influence lives on not only in terms of those who personally believe in him as their Saviour but in the way our society operates.

For instance:

Our dating system (2013 AD) starts from the birth of Christ.
Our civil rights are based on his teachings.
Our healthcare system is based on the care of the individual and compassion that Jesus taught.
Our legal system operates on the principles that were established in scripture and made popular by Jesus Christ.

and so on....

I wonder if you realise the effect that this man, the Son of God, has had on our world. In some ways it is not enough. The failure does not lie in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ but our unwillingness to submit to his authority, to confess our guilt before God and to rest on Christ as Saviour and Lord.

Imagine what society would be like if there was no theft, no anger management required, no embezzling of funds, no greed in business, no abuse, no murder, no broken homes, no addiction! Wow, it would be incredible.

I could introduce you to homes where repentance of sin and faith in Christ has brought about many of these changes.

One day, the bible teaches, Jesus will return and set up a world wide government and he will show the world what it would have been like if things had been done God's way. As a Christian I cannot wait to see these things happen.

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Friday, November 22, 2013

President J F Kennedy




Today is the day when 50 years ago the then current President of the United States of America was cut off in his prime. A waste of life, energy talent etc. We remember with the sadness the bitterness of the violence of men and the devastation it produced in a home, a government, a nation and across the world.

It reminds me of the abrupt cutting off another life - Jesus of Nazareth. Rumour and conspiracy theorists may tell us that people knew in advance of JFK's sudden demise. That may be open to debate but one thing is true the scriptures had predicted the death of Messiah (Jesus Christ) millennia in advance.

Daniel writes in chapter nine verse twenty six that 'shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself'. That could either mean - 'his demise was not as a result of anything he had done' or 'the reason for his demise was not to benefit himself but on the behalf of others'. Both are true.

The old song says 'he died that we might be forgiven, he died to make us good, that we might go one day to heaven, saved by his precious blood'.

Can you say 'he died for me'?


All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.
Location:Liverpool
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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The World is heading for Utter Chaos


My studies in the gospel of Matthew have taken me to chapter twenty four where the Lord Jesus talks to His disciples about future events on God's agenda. For me, it has reinforced the reality of what is known by Christians as the 'Rapture'. Therefore I feel a need to apologise in advance if    the following happens:

  • to my employer, colleagues and patients for either not appearing at work one day, or disappearing during the course of my duties;
  • to those hurt, and for the damage done in the event of my car swerving off the road because no-one is at the wheel;
  • for the fire caused in my house in the event of suddenly stopping watching the dinner cooking on the gas hob;
  • to the electricity and gas companies for not paying the bills I run up whilst leaving utilities       running unattended indefinitely;
  • to the people I may suddenly disappear from mid conversation in a very abrupt fashion;
  • my pets left abandoned;
  • the unlocked door of my home; Feel free to walk in and take anything     you want. We don't need it any more.

Mind you, I don't think anyone will particularly notice my failings, as the world will be in utter       chaos. 

Planes will have crashed, 
trains come off the rails, 
multiple car crashes will have taken place, 
fires will rage, 
operations will cease, 
wards will empty, 
staff will disappear, 
pupils will be abandoned, 
shops will be unmanned, 
houses empty, 
doors open, 
dogs running wild, 
people will be scared... really, really scared.


The day the Lord Jesus comes to gather up all those on earth who are indwelt by His Holy Spirit to be with Him in heaven (1 Thess, 4. 16-17), is the day that God's agenda becomes visible       again. It is the sign that He is about to intervene and has therefore sent His Son into the skies to  call up those who trust in Him so they don't go through the awful tribulation and judgment assigned to those who reject His forgiveness. 

I won't be left behind, will you?

Written by a guest blogger (please note the chaos in the article - we can write we just want to make a point!)
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Friday, November 15, 2013

The clocks on the Liver Birds Tower stand 18 feet high


It is good to know the time. This is true in every day terms but also good in terms of the moral state of the world and it is definitely important in terms of our personal moral state. The bible says that 'it is time to seek the Lord'. The following quotation from the bible highlights the urgency of hearing God's voice before it is too late. 

“In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

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Saturday, November 09, 2013

Putting the Clock Back



At 2am on Sunday 27th. October, clocks were put back an hour in the UK to correct the hour of daylight saving time when they were put forward in April.

Returning home that evening from a preaching engagement at Luton we entered Northampton and drove past the illuminated Eleanor Cross. Seeing this grand Historic Monument prompted a comment to my wife regarding the many such interesting ancient sites in the town. Just down the hill from the Cross is a district known as Far Cotton. The website, <cottonites.co.uk/history/queen_eleanor> carries the following information. ‘King Edward I was devastated when his Queen, Eleanor of Castille, died at Harby on 28 November 1290. What had started as a marriage of political convenience became a marriage of love. The nation mourned as the funeral cortege set off for Westminster Abbey, Eleanor's burial ground Eleanor was 45 when she died of a slow fever. After three days of mourning at Harby, she was taken to Lincoln where her body was embalmed. The cortege set off from Lincoln and passed through Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Hardingstone (Northampton), Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St. Albans, Waltham, West-Cheap, to the final stopping place at| Charing, London. This somewhat unusual route allowed her corpse to pass through more frequented areas where she was well known and loved - news traveled fast that she had saved her husband's life during the Seige of Acre in 1272 by sucking poison from his arm from an assassin's dagger.’ More text and photographs are on this site and Wikipedia has expansive details of each stopover of the cortège. The three locations in bold type are the only crosses that remain and Geddington near Kettering is the most complete, near the bridge over the river Ise, circa 1250 and still in use.

Continuing our journey home through Northampton we came to traffic lights at the junction of two roads, St. Peter’s Way and Marefair, that half a square mile area contains rich history from Roman times. Putting the clock back to the 11th. Century the Castle was built N/W of the junction. Only a small postern gate remains of the Castle, a few yards from the traffic lights, a railway station stands on the site today. Early in the 12th. Century, St. Peter’s Church was built S/W of that crossroad. A hundred yards from the Church is another place, Oliver Cromwell allegedly stayed the night in mid-June 1645, the night before the Battle of Naseby. King John of Magna Carte fame spent the festivals of Easter, Whitsun and Christmas at the Castle, at least thirty times he came, and he also moved the Royal Treasury from London to the Castle. John’s son Henry 111 continued his father’s connection with Northampton, as did Edward 1. 11 and 111 who held Parliaments and Tournaments in the Castle. 

In the late 17th. Century, Christians at Castle Hill purchased land on the edge of the Castle grounds to build a Chapel where Phillip Doddridge preached, in the early years of the following Century. He wrote many hymns (O Happy Day) and had a Bible Academy for young men to prepare for the mission field. He also commenced the first Infirmary in the town. This good man gave John Wesley and George Whitfield opportunities to preach the gospel at Castle Hill, with many of the common people in attendance. My grandparents ran a public house in Castle Street, next door to the Chapel. My mother used to call that area ‘The Boro’s’; (Spring Boroughs). A burial ground for about 3000 bubonic plague victims (1348 to 1350) is located there. 

If we put the clock back further to Joshua’s day when the children of Israel crossed the river Jordan to enter the Promised Land. Joshua ch.4:5 says, “And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel. That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.”

Their deliverance from captivity in Egypt began on Passover night when a lamb was slain and its blood applied to the lintel and doorposts of their houses. This personal act of faith secured their salvation. The power of God seen at the Red sea and the Jordan demonstrated that their salvation makes them absolutely safe. It is God who saves; it is God who keeps safe those that believe.

It is good when children enquire about their heritage and that they are told of the deliverance that God has made for sinners through the Cross of Christ. Other crosses pale into insignificance, other king’s fade when compared to the King of Kings. Jesus bore a mocking crown upon the cross. Soon, those things that we have told our children about crossing over into Promised Land will take place. Then believers will see Him in all His glory, crowned with glory and honour. Many of my town dwellers daily pass by Cromwell House, St. Peter’s Church, the Postern Gate, in haste as they rush to catch a train at the station, little wondering about local heritage. They need to take a time check, to put the clock back and enquire what it all means. Ultimately, that faith in Christ is worth standing for and worth dying for.

An early edition of Foxes Book of Martyrs tells of a man, ‘his name was John Kurde, a shoemaker, late of the parish of Syresham, in Northamptonshire, who was imprisoned in Northampton Castle for denying the popish transubstantiation, for which cause William Binsley, Bachelor of Law, and Chancellor unto the Bishop of Peterborough, and now Archdeacon of Northampton, did pronounce sentence of death against the said Kurde, in the church of All Saints, in Northampton, in August, anno 1557. And in September following, at the commandment of Sir Thomas Tresham, Sheriff then of the shire, he was led by his officer within the North Gate of Northampton and in the stone pits was burnt.’ I salute the memory of such a man.  God bless.


Written by a guest contributor for FTMP.
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Monday, November 04, 2013

TRUTH YOU CAN TRUST
















TRUTH YOU CAN TRUST

Straight from the Bible

TITUS CHAPTER 1 VERSES 1-3

Paul, a bond- servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Saviour.

TRUTH YOU CAN TRUST

1. God cannot lie
2. You can trust what God says
3. You can know the truth
4. The truth, if believed and lived, will result in a life which is pleasing to God and good for you.
5. The truth has been revealed.
6. God wants to save those who repent and believe the gospel.


All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.

Location:Liverpool Central Library

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TRUTH YOU CAN TRUST
















TRUTH YOU CAN TRUST

Straight from the Bible

TITUS CHAPTER 1 VERSES 1-3

Paul, a bond- servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Saviour.

TRUTH YOU CAN TRUST

1. God cannot lie
2. You can trust what God says
3. You can know the truth
4. The truth, if believed and lived, will result in a life which is pleasing to God and good for you.
5. The truth has been revealed.
6. God wants to save those who repent and believe the gospel.


All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.
SHARE:
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