How to join the winning side

 

When I was in grammar school many years ago, I can always remember counting how many boys were in my class on the days when football took place.  Inevitably there were some who would have been off ill with some malady or other, but I was always delighted if the absentees were an odd number.

Why?  Well, let me explain.

We were an even number of boys in the class – 32 to be exact – so if an odd number of boys were not in school, it meant there would be an odd number reporting for football that afternoon.

And that was important to me.

Have I captured your curiosity?  Let me explain further.

The Lord is my Shepherd - Psalm 23

The title of this article is a phrase which is found twice in the Holy Bible, in Psalm 23.6 and Psalm 27.4. It is amazing that when we are looking forward we think of years, for example Luke 12.19: “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry’”, but when we are looking back over the landscape of life we think of days that stand out in our memories. When the Pharaoh of Egypt asked the aged Jacob, “How old art thou?” his response was, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage” Genesis 47.8,9.

Perhaps now you are recalling some of the days of your life: the day you started school, the day you left school, the day you were married, the day you graduated from university; of course none of us remembers the first day of our life and eventually the last day will arrive for “life at best is very brief”. There have been happy days, of laughter, and sad days, of crying. There are days we recall with great joy and others are painful as we remember the passing of loved ones which left an aching void in our lives. What a variety of days we experience in a lifetime: days of success and applause, and days of failure and embarrassment. Life is the aggregate of all these days and God has numbered our days and set bounds to our fleeting lifetime. We too are advised to “number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” Psalm 90.12. Let us never forget that we will not be here forever; for there is “a time to be born, and a time to die” Ecclesiastes 3.2.

Punished for something you did not do!

All photos courtesy of Unsplash 

I can remember once in my school days being punished by having to stand on tiptoes with my nose above a strategically placed line of chalk on the board. I hated it for several reasons. Firstly, my legs ached after a while, secondly the chalk made me sneeze and thirdly and more importantly I did not do what I was accused of. This made me indignant!

Imagine being punished for something you did not do! I can remember a story that my father told me around about that time. It was of when he was about the same age back in the 1950s. School looked vastly different, no iPads, no computers, and no interactive whiteboards, in fact the boards were black, and chalk was used constantly. The cane was prevalent, and discipline was strict.

A young boy was brought up by his grandmother, he had lost his parents and although his grandmother tried her best, she struggled. He was small, grubby and his uniform had seen far better days. His teacher was kind and often quietly provided some food for him as she was sure that he often went hungry.

One day the teacher returned to the classroom to find her handbag open and so was her purse and money was missing. The teacher was obviously angry and extremely disappointed. She stated that if the money was  returned then nothing else would be said. The money was not returned, and no one owed up. She was left no other choice but to call the headteacher. He stormed into the classroom with his gown flowing and the cane in his hand. He swung the cane over the tops of the children’s heads and the ‘swoosh’ sound made each one of them fear greatly. After his fearsome routine yielded no result, the headteacher demanded that the whole school assembled in the hall. Here he repeated his antics and declared that because of what had taken place someone would receive six of the headmaster’s best!

A deathly hush fell over the hall, no one spoke, nobody dared! After what seemed like an eternity, sobbing could be heard from the corner of the hall. It was the young poor boy, who everyone felt sorry for, but not apparently the headteacher, who took this as an admission of guilt and hauled him up onto the stage. He demanded that he turn out his pockets to no avail. Then roll down his socks, as he rolled down his left sock, out fell the money. With no further ado, the headteacher raised his cane high above his head to strike the child. The pupils winced waiting for the impact, even some of the teachers turned away.

Suddenly, a cry of ‘Stop!’ was heard from the back of the hall, everyone turned to look. Who dared to shout at the headteacher?

Walking slowly to the front was an eleven-year-old boy, the biggest boy in the school, the captain of the rugby team, but nevertheless, just an eleven-year-old boy. The headteacher glared at him. Slowly, with a trembling voice the boy spoke, ‘Sir, you said that someone had to receive six lashes with the cane because of what was done.’

The headteacher nodded!

‘Sir’ the boy continued, ‘let it be me not him.’

The older boy held out his hand and turned away so that no one could see his tears and the headteacher caned him instead.

The little boy would never have forgotten that, and neither did all the staff and children in the school that day. My father was sat in that hall and he certainly remembers how that heroic boy took the punishment for another.

The Lord Jesus took our punishment in His own body on the cross, He was perfect and deserved no punishment whatsoever. We on the other hand deserve the wages of our sin. What is our reaction as He took our place and received our punishment? Do we repent and turn from our sin? Do we trust in Him and what He has done for us? Do we worship Him for His demonstration of love to us?

Messages with Meaning (31/03/21) Written by Stuart Scammell for Your542Day

How to live for the good of others

It is reported that there are 7.5 billion people living on planet earth today and sad to say not many of them could say that they have never misappropriated something that belonged to another person i.e. that they have not committed theft. Possibly, the same could be said about lying but that is another subject.  

The eighth commandment is ‘Thou shalt not steal’, the sixth is ‘Thou shalt not kill’, the seventh ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’. So, God was precise in giving us an exact code of moral conduct for life.  

The definition of theft is to ‘dishonestly appropriate property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it’. The word ‘theft’ covers many acts of misappropriation - larceny (theft of personal property), robbery, fraud (identity, benefits, expenses, mortgage, insurance etc), embezzlement and burglary.  

Did you enjoy Latin at school?

Latin was obligatory when I was at school. It was one of the standard subjects on the curriculum. I actually quite enjoyed Latin despite the old adage we used to repeat under our breath:

Latins a dead language

As dead as dead can be 

First it killed the Romans

And now, it’s killing me

It might have felt tough going at school, but it is actually very useful to know some Latin as a lot of Latin motto’s can be found over the entrance of many listed buildings. For instance, the motto of the University of Oxford is ‘Dominus illuminatio mea’. These are the opening words of Psalm 27 (the Bible) meaning The Lord is my Light. One of the long-established independent schools on the Wirral has the motto ‘Beati Mundo Corde’. This means Blessed are the Pure in Heart, again a quotation taken out of the Bible (the Beatitudes). It is quite significant that public institutions saw the value of quoting the Bible. This book was once the backbone of our nation’s progress and development.

Three cheers for Tuesday

Well that's another day gone; an enjoyable one to be honest. I spent most of today in St Geraldine's Primary School in Lossiemouth, Grampian, Scotland. I have visited this school before but not for a few years. 

The school day started at 9 a.m. with a visit to Primary 2, not quite the youngest class but young enough. They really enjoyed learning about 'respect' and the story of David, the shepherd, being anointed as King. Saul, the existing King, wasn't too respectful when it came to Samuel, the prophet, God or David. David, however, had learned to practise what the Lord Jesus would teach many years later - 'love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you,' Matthew 5;44.

Each class really enjoyed singing our song for the day which was:

It was 2000 years ago, 
Christ Jesus came to earth to show, 
the love of God for all humanity
He helped and healed 
And share and taught
And everyone who met Him thought
He was a special friend from Galilee

It was 2000 years ago, 
Christ Jesus came to earth to show, 
the love of God for all humanity
He bled and died
And then arose
And everyone who trusts Him knows
He is the Saviour Christ of Calvary

This song goes to a tune that the children really like and sing well. By the end of the session all the children knew where Galilee is, what a Saviour is and where Calvary is? Do you? I am sure you do, any questions please get in touch. 

What is so special about being involved in these types of activities is that I am sharing great principles about how to live well and be respectful. In addition to this I am able to explain why we don't behave well at times, why God calls it sin, what the consequences of sin are and how God loves everyone of us and sent His 'Son to be the Saviour of the world,' 1 John 4:14. Ultimately this means that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, can be your Saviour when you confess your sin and trust Him for salvation.

Today was a good day in Lossiemouth, I wonder if it a good day in your life and if in heaven there was rejoicing over one sinner who repented of their sin and was saved and safe for eternity, Luke 15:7. 
   

Troublesome Tuesday

Tuesday's for me are usually very busy; and so I shouldn't have been surprised that today was manic. I started off in a School in Rainhill where I was talking about 'Respect' and David's (the King in waiting) care for those who were discontented, distressed and in debt. David is a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who said 'come unto me' to those who are weary and burdened with sin. He alone can give rest and peace to troubled hearts as he made peace available as a result of shedding his blood when he died on the cross. 

After that I came back to my office and prepared a radio program for Vintage Radio (www.vintageradio.org.uk). This (the program is called 'The Living Hope Show) goes out on a Saturday morning at 0830 and then again at 1530. If you would like to listen please do, we would love to have your company. 

At 12.30 I left the office and visited a family who I try to keep in touch with on my way to Liverpool City  Centre where were running one of our twice weekly Street Meetings. We got quite a lot of response today. One man shouted at us as he thought that we should not be preaching in public. It's a great opportunity to share the truth of the gospel of God's grace. Sin and death are awful but in Jesus Christ we have the answer. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

After that I spent an hour with a friend who enjoys studying the bible with me. We continued to look at 2 Corinthians 8 in the New Testament. 

Home beckoned after that as my wife, Carole, is visiting her parents in Ballymena, NI and I am the chief cook and bottle washer at the moment. I excelled with my culinary skills tonight - I made a chicken and chilli stir fry. What a tasty meal!

I spent an hour with my son and then we both headed out to a weekly bible study we attend. There were seven of us, apart from me they are young men. We are studying in Romans 12; it's really challenging stuff. By 9 pm they were on the football pitch ready to play football but before that started, Simon, one of the leaders spoke for about five minutes about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I then headed home as I had some invoices to arrange payment for (for the renovations that are taking place in the church building we meet in) and I had still had to do some preparation to do for my first school assembly tomorrow morning. 

And so to bed zzzzzzzzzz

Sleep well.