God’s plan for public services

Short Reading – Mark 10:35-45 

Longer Reading – Mark 10:28-52

Key Verse – Mark 10:45

The Lord Jesus really shook people up ,and in particular his disciples, with the teaching that he gave. I can only imagine the shocked looks on their faces when he announced that for anyone to be great in his Government they would need to serve everybody, v 44.

Following Instructions

I don’t know about you, but one of the most maddening things I find about people is that they don’t listen or follow instructions. We all know that happens so often in everyday life. We know that people are told things and don’t listen. It could be to do with our health or money, but we often ignore the advice we are given. Sometimes, people are given guidelines but ignore them and just do it their way.

I am writing to point people to what God says in the Bible. But God wants them to listen and to follow His instructions for life. For instance, Jesus said one day, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by Me” (John 14.6 – the Bible). If you follow that instruction, you will become a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ.

Ruth Bell Graham's Prayer

Many years ago, the future wife of Billy Graham prayed the prayer at the end of this post. Her prayer was undoubtedly answered. 

Have you ever made a note of your prayers? It’s the only way to know if your prayers are answered. God hears and answers prayers. 

The first prayer we need to make is the prayer of repentance. Here are some verses that confirm this truth.

Before you read the verses let me explain what the word repent means. To repent means a change of place or condition, to exercise the mind, think, comprehend. It is a change of mind or to relent. 

Theologically, it involves regret or sorrow, accompanied by a true change of heart toward God. It is distinguished from mere regret - summary of definition from 'The Complete Word Study Bible'. 

One book you ought to read more than once!

Although it is impossible to get precise statistics it is clear that the Bible is the world's best-selling and most widely distributed book. A number of years ago the Bible Society did a survey and came to the conclusion that around 2.5 billion copies of the Bible were printed between 1815 and 1975. More up to date figures put the number at more than 5 billion.

The Bible has been translated into 349 languages; 2,123 languages have at least one book of the Bible in that language source - the Bible Society.

Please read the following extract from the Bible. Listen to what God says in His timeless book. It will set you up not just for a year but for the rest of your life, if you believe it.

GQ's list of 21 Books you don't have to read - they got at least one wrong!

Many years ago GQ magazine placed the Bible on its list of "21 Books You Don't Have to Read." This is quite a ridiculous stance even in terms of literature never mind ethics and morals. 

Here are some quotes from famous people about the Bible - they are not all Christians but they testify to the value of reading the Bible:

Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it

Passage to read - Psalm 78:12-54

Verse 35 – ‘then they remembered that God was their Rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer’

Are you into history? Do you find it fascinating to talk to old people about their memories? I often forget that old people once were young (sounds pretty obvious) and that they faced lots of situations in life and can teach us so much. One of the problems of being energetic and busy is that you don’t take time to think and learn from others. Maybe you are like that.

War Heroes Remembered

GREATER LOVE

In the city of Melbourne, Australia, there is a very impressive shrine in memory of those from the state of Victoria who gave their lives for their country in times of war. The shrine was built between July 1928 and November 1934 in memory of the thousands from Victoria who served and died in the 1914 -1918 war. It has been a growing monument with other memorials added to the site as Australian soldiers fought in various campaigns. Queen Elizabeth II dedicated the forecourt in 1954 to those who served in the 1939 - 1945 war. There is a prominent inscription that declares, "Let all men know that this is holy ground". This is recognition that there is something very special about those who died on behalf of others.

Storm Chasers

No one expected it to happen to him. He had been doing it for decades. He was considered a professional in the field of tornadoes research. We have all heard of adrenalin-crazed storm-chasers who, with reckless abandon, drive dangerously into storms with their cameras to prove they did it and survived. But Tim Samaras was not one of them. Samaras was respected around the world for his research into violent weather and tornadoes. He traced his fascination with tornadoes back to his childhood, when he first watched the violent storm sequence in ‘The Wizard of Oz’. That’s when he said he was ‘hooked for life.’

Samaras and his team starred on "Storm Chasers" for five years on the Discovery Channel, with the last show in the autumn of 2011. Speaking with a reporter from the National Geographic, in what would perhaps be his last interview, Samaras gave some advice about being safe in tornado country. 

How to change your life in a moment

I remember once that my attention was caught by a Scottish Widows advertising campaign slogan, it said...

‘Change your life today’! 

That seems a bit dramatic - Is it really possibly to have a personal revolution in a day?

Being honest there are not many things that cause a transformation in a day; but it could happen. Let me give you one example  there are others. For instance, you could meet an individual who changes your life for ever. The love of your life! You have just been introduced or your paths have only crossed but immediately your heart is captured and things are never quite the same again. 

For some people their first encounter with Jesus of Nazareth changed them from that day forward. His grace and love captured their hearts. The voice of God stirred their spirit and they became aware of their failings and sin. The feeling of guilt was crushing as they discovered how rebellious they were by nature and why life hurt so much. The outcomes and consequences of sins were devastating but what blew them away was that 'Christ died for our sins'. He, the holy Son of God paid in person the full price God required to clear the guilty and forgive the fallen.

The words of the Bible, despite being shocking in their starkness and truthfulness, ring true to reality and are in tune with the human conscience. 

Let me remind you of the blunt, basic but honest truths of the Bible:

In respect of wrong that is found in every human being: 

‘All have sinned’

‘The soul that sins shall die’

‘The wages of sin is death’ 

Sinful people 'will be cast into hell’

In supporting the claim that Jesus is the only means of rescue (salvation) 

Jesus said ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life no one comes to the Father (God) but by me’

'Neither is there salvation in any other' (only Jesus)

'Through this man (Jesus) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins'

In explaining what you need to do to take advantage of God’s rescue plan

'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved'

'Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved'

'Repent and believe the gospel'

The truth is there!

The choice is will you believe!

Your life could be changed, in a moment!

Last Days

Over 30 years ago a young couple and their family had a little time free, before going to Brazil as missionaries, to help me in Cornwall do some personal evangelism. We went to a popular beach at Bude and positioned ourselves in the car park and gave gospel leaflets to people passing by. One holiday maker saw us and approached us saying, “Are we in the last days then?” to which I replied “It depends which last days you are thinking about”. He engaged in conversation with us and told us that for the past five years he had been associating with Jehovah Witnesses in Derbyshire. We spoke about the Bible and the Person of Christ. He surprised us by saying, “I am fast coming to the realization that the Jehovah of the Old Testament in the Jesus of the New”. I replied “That’s great! You are half way there”. What did I mean by that? He had come to understand that Jesus is not only the Son of God but also God the Son. What he needed to do was to acknowledge that he was a sinner for whom Christ died and to ask His forgiveness and receive Him as his Lord and Saviour. How lovely it would be if he went all the way!

A message for everyone in Liverpool

The first man Adam died, the oldest man Methuselah died, the wisest man Solomon died, the meekest man Moses died. 

Patriarchs, prophets, princes, princesses, prime ministers, presidents, politicians, philosophers, peasants and paupers all die. 

The mighty Pharaohs passed away, the conquering emperors of Rome had to succumb to this mighty foe, Alexander the Great could not withstand the onslaught of death. 

The rich, the poor, the famous, the unknown, the wise and unwise, the religious and the heathen, the terrorist and the law abiding alike must fall beneath its cruel stroke.

Is your life being refined?

This blog really only applies to those who are saved and trusting in Jesus Christ for their eternal welfare. It may have an application in measure to others in the experiences of life but you can't claim that God is working in your life and seeking to refine you if you don't trust Him for your destiny in the next life.

For many people there is an unanswered question in life. ‘If God really loves us why does he allow storms to come into our lives at all?’ Two reasons. First, we bring many of our problems on ourselves. Someone has said, ‘If you could kick the person responsible for most of your troubles in the backside, you wouldn’t be able to sit down for two weeks’.

Why do we have a sense of justice?

We now live in a society where the general opinion about whether things are right or wrong can at times be vague.

I believe that, in the Bible, God has given us clear information about what is right and what is wrong. There is a reality about things being just or unjust.

Here are some things to consider:

·      Why do children cry “that’s not fair” or “it’s not right”!

·      Is there is an inbuilt awareness of fairness in a child!

·      Why is it common for people to have a really well developed feeling for what is right and what is        wrong?

The Bible gives us the explanation. It teaches that God “has written His law in our hearts”. God gave us this inbuilt awareness of right and wrong. Holy scripture (the Bible) teaches that we have a conscience. It teaches that we have an inbuilt knowledge within ourselves and a knowledge about ourselves. We automatically can clarify the reality of the rightness or wrongness of the things that we say, feel and do.

For example, most of us feel impulsively that to tell blatant lies is wrong. We instinctively know that to remove property that belongs to someone else is wrong. The Bible teaches these principles but somehow we know them to be true! Is that significant or co-incidental?

The ‘ten commandments’ teach that you shouldn’t steal, you shouldn’t lie, and that you shouldn’t take somebody else’s wife and so on. The list defines prohibitions as well as teaching positive things that we should do. Things like loving God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind (and Jesus summarized the rest by saying “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” – Matthew 22:39).

You may say to yourself, “I’m not really sure why we all know those things?” Let me come back to what the Bible says - God has planted within us an awareness of right and wrong. Just look across society for a moment. People are very interested in equal rights and equal opportunities. We are very concerned that disabled people are cared for, that ethnic minorities aren’t disadvantaged, that there is religious freedom, freedom of thought and freedom of belief. We campaign for the rights of the unborn child plus we debate people’s rights for free speech. Public behavior is monitored ensuring that people do not overreach themselves and inflict damage on other people or their property. In all of this we try to balance the rights of a society to be free and yet free of criminal activities.

These things are right. I believe we are like this in society because God has implanted in us an awareness of things that are very important to Him - a consciousness of right and wrong and of the realities of living in a way that is fair and equitable. God describes Himself as a just, as well as righteous, doing right. He is a God of light; God is love, a God who is eternal and a God who is all-knowing!

We wouldn’t know these things if God hadn’t revealed them to us in the Bible. This is why the Bible is such a key book for us to read. In fact it is God’s message to humanity and it’s an amazing thing that we have it so freely available despite some societies today that still restrict access to the Word of God.

Let me leave you with a statement from the Bible, the Bible says this, “For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God”, 1 Peter 3:18. This verse is saying that if God was being just, if God was being fair He would punish is for our sin, He would penalize us, He would judge us for breaking His law because we are guilty. But the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world and suffered for sins to bring us to God. He personally suffered the penalty for sin by dying for us. Three days later He was brought up back to life. His resurrection is sufficient evidence that the price for sin was fully paid. His resurrection establishes that you can take advantage of salvation. You do this by confessing your sin (to God, not a religious representative) and asking God to forgive you. You are effectively asking for God’s blessing upon your life.

I wonder if you would take advantage of a God’s offer of salvation today. Will you come to Him for forgiveness and rest upon Him for salvation? You can know what it is to be forgiven and saved.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved – the Bible, Acts 16:31

For more information please visit our webpage www.seekthetruth.org.uk

Does It Matter Who Jesus Is?

Is Jesus Christ the Son of God? 

Why are Christians are so convinced that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and why is it deemed to be so important? It’s an excellent question! Christian belief is laid on a very solid foundation. First of all we believe that God has revealed information, to the prophets who wrote the Bible, to point us in the right direction. Our beliefs are not just based on human research or discovery. 

In other areas of life when we want to learn about something outside of our sphere of experience we seek information from a trustworthy source. So if you are researching space travel for the first time you would go to NASA or some other space agency to ask them questions. It is wise practice to go a reliable source. 

Jesus is alive - Fact or Fantasy?

In this article, I want to share with you five reasons I believe Jesus' resurrection actually took place. 

You can remember these five reasons with the acronym:

R.I.S.E.N.

The first reason I believe Jesus' resurrection is a fact of history is… 

1. The RISE of Christianity in Jerusalem

It is an accepted historical fact that the Christian faith (a religion built upon the preaching of the resurrection of its leader) originated in approximately A.D. 32 right in the very city of Jerusalem where Jesus had been publicly crucified and buried. This has been verified by historical sources outside the Bible. Now, this in itself is a good piece of evidence that the resurrection actually occurred. Why?

Easter and the Cross - Verified and Proven Accurate

Why are Christians so convinced that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and why is it deemed to be so important? It's an excellent question!

Christian belief is laid on a very solid foundation. First, we believe God has revealed information to the prophets who wrote the Bible to point us in the right direction. Our beliefs are not just based on human research or discovery. In other areas of life, when we want to learn about something outside our sphere of experience, we seek information from a trustworthy source. If you are researching space travel for the first time, you should go to NASA or some other space agency to ask them questions. It is wise practice to go to a reliable source.

Would you die for a stranger?

On Wednesday the 19th. November 1997, the M.V. Green Lily ran aground on Bressay, near Grut Wick. After loading a cargo of approximately 3000 tonnes of frozen fish, bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Isles, the Croatian-born captain decided to set sail in foul weather, in spite of warnings from the Harbour Master not to leave the port at Lerwick, Shetland. Shortly after leaving the harbour, the ship suffered engine failure in a force 9 gale forecast to reach force 11 imminently and was left drifting in 50ft. waves, eventually running aground off Bressay.

Post-truth and Fake News

Every year the Oxford English Dictiounary introduce a new word to their word dictionary.

Back in November, Alison Flood wrote an interesting leader in The Guardian about post-truth, she wrote,’ In the era of Donald Trump and Brexit, Oxford Dictionaries has declared “post-truth” to be it's international word of the year. Defined by the dictionary as an adjective “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”, editors said that use of the term “post-truth” had increased by around 2,000% in 2016 compared to last year. The spike in usage, it said, is “in the context of the EU referendum in the United Kingdom and the presidential election in the United States”.

Chile or Chilly?

If you were asked to spell ‘Chile’, what would you say? Chile, chilly or chilli? Please don’t panic as it really is Chile 3 ways. It was this third chilli that I prepared for an evening meal that got me thinking of the three chilly options I’m presenting to you today.

 

The first Chile is officially known as the Republic of Chile. This is a developing country and is one of the most economically and social stable nations in South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica. The Republic of Chile occupies a narrow strip of land between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean and has Peru to the north, the Drake Passage to the south and Bolivia to the east. Santiago is the capital city and Spanish is the national language.

 

My second chilly is when it’s not warm and is typical of a winter’s day when the temperatures drop and there is a definite need for the heating to be put on. Some synonyms for chilly include crisp, brisk, wintry, and snowy. It can also be used in the context of being unfriendly or cold.

 

Our third chilli is the infamous chilli con carne, chilli with meat. Chili con carne is a spicy stew of Mexican origin containing chili peppers, meat which is typically minced beef or steak, tomatoes as well as kidney beans or pinto beans. Other ingredients used can be garlic, onions, and cumin. In our home, a tin of baked beans is often used as well as some tomato passata and a splash of tomato puree or ketchup. 

Liverpool - Once in a lifetime!

I live in Liverpool in the United Kingdom, and I see a lot of slogans as I walk around the City Centre - From 'Merseyside to Manhattan', for one. It points people back to the days when great liners regularly left Liverpool heading for the New World. In May 2015, three great ocean-going liners visited the city of Liverpool. If you went to the right spot (The Waterfront, Everton Brow, New Brighton, to name a few locations), you got a great view of 'The Three Queens' as they visited our city to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Cunard shipping line.

At that time, I was preparing to travel to Canada for a couple of weeks and had been contemplating the long journey, which was relatively short compared to the long days at sea when my grandad was a sailor. I left Liverpool at 0800 and reached Toronto at 1930 GMT (1430 local time) the same day. Travel by jet has vastly reduced travelling time and seduced us into thinking that we are just popping across the road when we are travelling across a vast ocean to another continent. I'm not complaining; I love the fact that travel has become so easy. When I was a boy, only a few people travelled these distances and often only 'once in a lifetime'. 

There are some experiences that are still only 'once in a lifetime' - birth, death - I know some people say they have clinically died and come back to life, but that's the exception, not the rule - and well, marriage should also be on the list unless you sadly lose a loved one and decide to remarry. I know that many will not agree with this principle, but from a Christian perspective, it is God's intention that marriage is a lifelong commitment. 

But back to our phrase - 'once in a lifetime'. The term still has some significance. It generally evokes thoughts of exciting things that we would love to do. We think that the chances of them happening are so unlikely that if they did, you would most likely only ever get a one-off chance to do it. We are all different, so for you going to a Garden Party to meet the King at Buckingham Palace might be on the list, or winning the lottery. There is no point in me drawing up a list - my bucket list would probably be vastly different to yours. 

The two main 'once in a lifetime' experiences I mentioned earlier are the two common book stops of human existence i.e. birth and death.  You have no control over the former, and the latter is out of your control unless you choose to forcefully end your life. We all know that this happens from time to time when life becomes unbearable for some individuals, but it's not normal. We need to consider whether our deaths are random events or if there is a higher power in control? 

This topic could get out of control if we explored whether we are just randomly responding to our circumstances, whether we have no real choice but act as our genetic makeup determines or whether there is a balance between our ability to reason, act and choose and God determining events at the same time and somehow allowing us the responsibility of making choices and decisions. I believe the latter is what the Bible teaches. If anyone is interested, I can show them the evidence from the bible.

So, your birthday was set by God, and your mum and dad had a part to play in bringing you into the world. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verses 1 and 2 states, 'To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die'. In Genesis chapter 17, verse 21, God tells Abraham the exact time his son will be born - you might argue that God, knowing everything, was just informing Abraham that his son would be born, not that he was involved in ensuring that it would happen. However, in Genesis chapter 21, verses 1 and 2, it is recorded that the Lord visited Sarah and did for Sarah 'as he had promised,' NASB. She gave birth to a boy. In other words, God played a key role in ensuring that conception took place. In this story, we can see that God didn't just know the future but orchestrated the child's birth. Of course, Abraham had to play his part, but God is the author of life. Every child born into this world results from God giving life. There are other references that clearly indicate that God is in control of the birth of every living being if you care to look at them. 

When we consider our mortality, it is amazing that we exist at all. In all of its disciplines, science has concluded that human existence is incredible. The conditions for our survival on this planet are so finely tuned that it is mind-blowing that everything is just right for life to exist. Our physical anatomy is also a demonstration of excellent design and precision, and we all know that we are so fragile that life can be extinguished in an instant. Who of us has not marvelled that our life has been preserved in circumstances well outside of our control! Whether it be an illness, an accident or unexpected events, we would have to admit there is a hand controlling at times when we cannot. The Bible puts it like this: 'but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways,' Daniel 6. 23. God is in control, but we usually ignore him. Job, one of the oldest writers in the Bible, states, 'In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind,' Job 12. 10. When it comes to the end of life; your death will not just be a random event. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27 makes it clear 'it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment'. That appointment has been set by God; by the way, it's not the end. It is just the transfer from this life to the next, for the verse states that each of us has an 'after this'. 

There is life after death!

You will stand before God on the day of judgment!

What you do and believe in this life will affect where you are and what your situation is in the next!

So God gave you life, and he has chosen to allow you to live up until now. 

He allows you to choose but has His plans for your life. 

What are you going to do with this information?

As described by the Lord Jesus, one man in the bible continued to make his plans, run his business and amass his wealth with total disregard for God. The Lord Jesus, being the Son of God, gives us an insight into what God was thinking about this man while he was carrying on with his life and ignoring God. God is recorded as saying, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?'  Luke 12. 20. 

A 'once in a lifetime' opportunity faces you now. You can ignore this message, carry on as you are and miss this great offer of salvation. OR 

You could get serious about your life and your future, sort out your priorities and come humbly to God. God loves you. He sent His Son, Jesus, to this world 2022 years ago to die for your sins. If you repent (change your thinking about God and stop disobeying Him) and come humbly to God confessing your sin, He (God) will forgive you, cleanse you and save you. 

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" - Acts 16:31

For more information or to get in touch, please visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk