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.

Joy & Sadness - the offering of Christmas

Joy and sorrow are opposite emotional experiences that all of us know throughout our lifetime. Life is like a tapestry of bright and dark colours and often the bright parts shine the brighter when set against a dark background. 

I am reminded of Benjamin Malachi Franklin’s poem ‘Just a Weaver’, 

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

One of the things that I really love about this time of year is the music. I mean all of it, I love all the songs but particularly the Christmas Carols.

We sing the same songs, year after year, and the words get stuck in our heads; we can often recite the words without even thinking about it. 

Many people attend Carol Services and Concerts and while a wide range of songs are sung the majority are still Carols. The words of the Carols can teach us a lot about the message of Christmas. 

Psalm 130 - There is forgiveness with God

This psalm is one of a group of fifteen which are called the ‘Songs of degrees’. The 19^th Century preacher Mr. Spurgeon said that they could also be called ‘The Songs of the Goings Up’ as it is certain that they were sung by Jewish pilgrims as they made their journey up to the temple. In these fifteen psalms selected truths are highlighted. This highlights the issues that God thought were important for his people to attend to if they were to know his presence and his blessing on their arrival.

A New Year - A New Challenge

NEW YEAR CHALLENGES & CHANGES

A new year brings challenges and changes. Can I remind you of some of the more important challenges we may meet in this life, and the changes we need to make to be prepared.

NEW YEAR CHALLENGES

A New Year brings fresh challenges and opportunities but life is so unpredictable! At times, the variety life brings can be very exciting but sometimes it’s a bit frightening. That flood in the house, the illness that took us by surprise! The speed of change and our helplessness can be disconcerting! As mere mortals, we cannot control our circumstances and have to try to cope with what is inevitable as well as we possibly can.

UNAVOIDABLE SITUATIONS

There are many situations like this in life. Illness often cannot be avoided, we are affected by what other people do, and often circumstances are out of our control. Most of the time we are quite skilful at coping but sometimes we just have to go with the flow. I am not a laid back type of person so I often wonder what it must be like to be relaxed and unaffected by changeable circumstances.

DEATH

The ultimate uncontrollable event is death. It creeps up on every one of us. We may prolong life and improve the quality of our twilight years but we cannot evade death in the long term! I believe, and the Bible teaches, that there is hope in Jesus.

JESUS HAS CONTROL OVER DEATH

He is the only man who ever had control over his own death. It is recorded that Jesus brought at least three people back to life – see the accounts in the Bible in John 11, Luke 7:11-17 and Luke 8:40-56. When it came to His own death, Jesus voluntarily sacrificed His life. By this, I don’t mean only that He went the place of His execution willingly but that at His crucifixion His life did not ebb away, as it would with us. He consciously laid down His life so that we might have eternal life. Read it for yourself in the Bible, Luke 23.46. The Bible states it explicitly when it says ‘Christ died for our sins’.

THE PROFOUND MESSAGE OF CHRISTIANITY

The profound message of Christianity is this! My sinful behaviour has moral consequences. God is loving but He is also holy. His distaste of sin is such that it would be an insult to His character to allow people into His presence who have been marked by it. The dilemma is that God wants to share eternal life with His creatures but we, historically, have distanced ourselves from Him.

THE BIBLICAL SOLUTION

What is the solution according to the Bible? The Son of God became a man through a miraculous conception but a normal birth. In His life of thirty-three years, He demonstrated that He was God by His miracles and His knowledge. He proved that He was holy and flawless in character by how he lived – even his enemies stated that there were no flaws in Him. All men die because of sin but Jesus could not die as He was without sin, fault, wrong or error. His death was a voluntary payment for guilty humanity. As a result, God offers us pardon and forgiveness.

RECEIVING FORGIVENESS

So how do you get this forgiveness? God treats His creatures as thinking individuals. He has given them the capacity to choose. The offer is still on the table. Consider, grieve about and admit your sin to God, not a religious person or organisation. Believe and depend on what the Lord Jesus has done and accept Him as your Saviour.

NEW YEAR CHANGES

I cannot describe the change that you will find when you come. It cannot be defined in words. It does not guarantee a problem-free existence. It will bring about changes in your lifestyle, not enforced change as a result of rules but changes in interests and desires for better things. It will mean your guilty status before God has been resolved. You will be saved forever.

Read the Bible and seek the Lord while He may be found.

Images Courtesy of:

2019   – Covi

Cafe – Pexels

Cemetery – TazzAnderson

Woman and clock  –EnginAkyurt

Singing our way out of Lockdown!

 

All photos courtesy of unsplash

Our Singing

 

Who would have thought that the last year would pass so quickly? At first, we wondered how we would cope with all those restrictions for so long, but here we are. And now we are being promised some gradual moves towards “normality”, but old fashioned “normal” may never return, or not for a long time yet.

 

Among the more normal things, we would love to see soon would be the opportunity to meet with our Christian brothers and sisters in proper church gatherings, to remember our Lord, to listen to His Word, to pray together, to sing again in harmony or unison. At least we try to do that, but maybe in future, our singing will have to be a bit more subdued because they are telling us that sometimes singing can spread things like viruses! We’re not there yet, so meantime, we can listen to messages of hope and cheer online. And we all can, and we all should keep reading our Bibles and praying every day. As an old Sunday School song says:

 

Read your Bible, pray every day ...  and you’ll grow, grow, grow!

 

You may remember the other verse, which is:

 

I will make you fishers of men ... if you follow Me!

 

In our reading and praying, we communicate with the Lord, one to one, but what about our singing? It’s great to sing along with others, but what if you can’t do that just now? Can we sing to ourselves? Some people speak to themselves, and that’s OK sometimes. Ephesians 5.19 tells us that both speaking to yourself and singing to yourself is a good thing: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” The inspired words in the Psalms, and the beautiful words of hymn-writers, are often the very words we need to express how we feel some days or lift our hearts in appreciation and worship to God at any time. We know that the Lord hears and appreciates it, for He says, “Whoever offers praise, glorifies me,” Psalm 50.23.

 

When other people hear us singing, it can have an effect on them. When Paul and Silas were in prison in Philippi (for preaching the Gospel), they “prayed and sang praises to God” – at midnight! We might have thought that wasn’t a good time to sing and not a good place to be singing, especially after they had been beaten up by the jailor. But they were singing, and we read that the prisoners in that jail were listening to them.

 

God got the praise, and others got the blessing, for as you read this story in Acts 16.19-34, you are reminded that the jailor, who also must have heard them, came and asked, “What must I do to be saved?” And the great answers was and still is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!”

 

Looking back, I seem to remember that years ago, many Christians went about singing a lot more than we do now – in the house, at their work, on the land, and on the sea! We have more recorded music and singing to listen to nowadays, and that’s good sometimes. But let’s not forget to sing for ourselves, maybe along with the recordings if you are enjoying it! You never know who is listening! God certainly is, but perhaps someone else will get a blessing too.

 

So, what about this one?

 

I will sing of my Redeemer.

And His wondrous love to me!

On the cruel cross, He suffered.

From the curse to set me free!

 

Sing, oh sing ... of my Redeemer,

With His blood He purchased me.

On the cross, He sealed my pardon

Paid my debt and made me free!

 

[Philipp Bliss, 1838-1876]

 

 

 

 

Written by Bert Cargill, St Monans and used by kind permission

Resurrection Day

Mark 16:6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

 The resurrection of Jesus Christ is foundational for Christianity. If He had not risen from the dead then we could not be saved. What great hope we have knowing that Jesus Christ is alive today. A man in heaven who one day we will see!

Paul wrote in 1 Cor 15 that if Christ is not risen then our faith is in vain. He goes on to say that we would be of all men most miserable. The resurrection is at the root of all that we believe. Christianity is unique in this. Religion boasts in its dead leaders. They cannot take you to an empty tomb and say He is not here but is risen.

Belief in the resurrection is vital for salvation. Rom 10:9 tells us ‘that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Great efforts were made to ensure that the body of Jesus could not be taken away by his disciples. A large stone with a seal and Roman guard however could not keep the Lord in the tomb. The stone was rolled away and the guards became as dead men at the sight of the angel. Of course it was only rolled away to show that the tomb was empty. No doubt rumours of the resurrection spread and the soldiers were paid to lie. Those rumours could have easily been stopped. All the authorities needed to do was to show the His body. But they did not because they could not because He had risen.

 No one has ever been able to disprove the resurrection. The evidence to support it far outweighs the contrary. What hope and joy we have because HE IS ALIVE!

A new baby

Most people love a new baby. The recent arrival of Prince Louis Arthur Charles Windsor has filled columns of newsprint and helped sell celebrity magazines as well as bringing some joy into our national life for a moment or two. I am sure it is not why Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, have had another child but it’s amazing what the arrival of a baby can do.

I know the feeling well. My daughter has recently given birth to her second child, a gorgeous baby boy - and as you can tell, I am genuinely not biased!

An Invitation to a Royal Wedding

This year, so far, I’ve been invited to three weddings. We all like to be invited to a wedding. When the invite drops on the doormat it is so exciting. A new outfit, meeting old friends, a relaxing day, sharing joy with the happy couple. One problem for the couple is - who to invite? If you have lots of friends the bigger problem is - who to leave out?

Driven & Contented!

One major feature of modern life seems to be people's constant ability to complain. If it's too hot we moan, if it's too cold we complain and so on. The bible encourages us to be 'be content'.  In fact in 1 Timothy 6.8 it states that if we have clothes on our back and food in our stomach we should be content with that. Many in the world do not enjoy these simple blessings and therefore those who do should be grateful for the blessings they enjoy. The same passage of scripture warns against the driving passion for wealth. The bible is often misquoted, probably no passage is more misquoted than this one. People often say 'money is the root of all evil' however the bible actually says 'the love of money is the root of all evil'. The driving desire for wealth is the problem, not money in itself.

How to rejoice in the face of adversity

In every thing give thanks – 1 Thessalonians 5. 18

Thankfulness is not dependant on our present circumstances. How will you react to things that happen to you today? Will you be thankful? 

Art and Beauty - Why we all have a view!

Earlier this year the town of Heswall had an exhausting but exciting two weeks when the Heswall Arts Festival took place. The number of events and performers were quite outstanding for a relatively small town but as many of us small people know great talent doesn’t need to come in large packages!

Art is a personal and subjective matter. What you like might not appeal to me and vice versa! Having said that we all have an uncanny sense of appreciation for beauty and the value of great talent. This ability to appreciate seems to be both universal and unique to the human species.

The sheer beauty of the universe tells us something about God. Who designed the sunset, or created the backdrop of the rolling hills or the rugged mountains? Who sourced the sound of the quiet babbling of a brook or the thundering pounding of a mighty waterfall! Where did the variety of colours come from, the magnificence of natural sounds, the multiplicity of materials and texture? Was this all by chance or did the Creator design a tapestry of wonder that makes you think – why, how and who?

In general, despite all our brilliance, we have damaged our world. The Bible explains ‘by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin’, Romans 5:12. Sin and evil has damaged the beauty of our planet, and lives, as a result of our actions and behaviour. The Bible compares the original state of our world with it’s current state in these terms - “You made him (Adam, the first man) for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honour, putting everything in subjection under his feet…..at present we do not see yet everything in subjection to him….but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour that he by the grace of God should taste death for everyone”.

Life and it’s beauty do not last for ever; in fact things normally degenerate. God in the Bible offers to reverse the trend of deterioration in our lives by giving ‘beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness’. This offer is because of and through trust in His Son, Jesus Christ.

C S Lewis, the famous English author, spent many years of his life as a confirmed atheist. When he was 30 he became convinced that God was a reality. Two years later on the 1st October 1931 he wrote to his friend Arthur, “I have just passed on from believing in God to definitely believing in Christ – in Christianity. The great story really is true. God really sent his Son. He really died for our sins. We really can have forgiveness and eternal life in the presence of the One to whom all the Joy was pointing”1.

“Tolle, quæso, tempus ad meditandum”

1. The collected writings of C. S. Lewis, Vol. 1, Family Letters 1905-1931, ed Walter Hooper (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2004), p 974

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Radicalisation

I thought that the definition of radicalisation found in Wikipedia  was helpful, it says, ‘Radicalisation is a process by which an individual or group comes to adopt increasingly extreme political, social, or religious ideals and aspirations that (1) reject or undermine the status quo or (2) reject and/or undermine contemporary ideas and expressions of freedom of choice. For example, radicalism can originate from a broad social consensus against progressive changes in society. Radicalization can be both violent and nonviolent, although most academic literature focuses on radicalization into violent extremism There are multiple pathways that constitute the process of radicalization, which can be independent but are usually mutually reinforcing Radicalization that occurs across multiple reinforcing pathways greatly increases a group’s resilience and lethality. Furthermore, by compromising its ability to blend in with non-radical society and participate in a modern economy, radicalization serves as a kind of sociological trap that gives individuals no other place to go to satisfy their material and spiritual needs.’

Much concern is being experienced by some Muslim families because of their sons and daughters radicalised by the extremists of ISIS.  Three teenage Muslim girls recently walked out on their families and flew from London to Turkey where they were smuggled across the border into Syria to join ISIS.  Concern has been voiced in the House of Commons about pupils in some faith schools in the UK being exposed to erroneous teaching causing them to become disillusioned about their present life and promising false hopes for their future life.

Two years ago, a young 24 year old man named Mohammed Emwazi (Jihadi John) left the UK to join ISIL He was born in Kuwait but was brought as a child by his parents to Britain. His teachers said that he was a good student causing no concern about extremism. He went on to University and got a BSc 2.2 degree. How could this young fellow turn into the monster that he became, being responsible for the beheading of a number people who did not share his brand of religion? The USA has put a $10 million reward on his head for his capture to bring him to trial for his actions.

Many other barbaric acts of beheading have taken place throughout the world. Christian parents having to stand and watch their children beheaded by fanatics. Jewish shopkeepers in Paris slaughtered, etc. etc. and so it goes on!

The surviving brother of the two young men that planted bombs at the Boston Marathon, killing three people and maiming many others, is currently being tried for that offence. Also those plotting to place bombs in Manchester shopping centre and the New York subway have been brought to trial in America.

The Hitler Youth movement is another example of young people being radicalised in fascism and hatred towards the Jews, and where did that take them?

Revelation ch.13 tells us of two beasts, one that comes up out of the Sea, and one out of the Land. Bible students tell us that the Sea represents the Nations and the Land is Israel. The Beast out of the Sea is a man who will yield worldwide political power, which he receives, from Satan. It is he who enforces the system of buying and selling for those who have his mark in their hand or forehead. Those who refuse his mark are beheaded.

The end of the Beast is revealed in Revelation 19:20, it says, “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

Chapter 20 begins, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

John the Baptist was beheaded for testifying about Jesus, he said,  “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the World.” He wanted the whole world to look to Christ because it is only in Him that personal sin can be forgiven, all sin taken away and eternal life given. This is wonderful. There are many people in the world who are looking in the wrong direction, they look to pleasure or prosperity, some look to religion to deal with the guilt of their sin and others don’t bother to look at all. It is a wise person that takes John the Baptist’s advice to look to Jesus Christ for salvation. Acts ch.4:12 reads, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” John lost his head but did not lose his soul and no one else who receives Jesus as their Saviour will ever perish. This choice does not trap, it liberates, it does not promote violence it brings a peace that passes all understanding, hate is dispelled and the love of God enjoyed for all eternity. Don’t be radicalised by eroneus doctrine, follow the truth of the Bible and be free.  God bless.

Written by a Guest Blogger

Hymn Stories - "From Greenland's Icy Mountains..."

Life really hurts!

It’s our aim in this article to address some of the questions that people ask in life and to discover what the Word of God (the Bible) has to say about it. We place real confidence in the Bible because we have become convinced that the Bible is God’s communication to men and women and we wish people to benefit from what God has said.

I’m sure that most would agree that life hurts! That hurt can be caused by the normal progression from youth to old age and all the problems that come with ageing. Sickness also brings its heartaches! Natural disasters are devastating and destructive! To say nothing of the dreadful treatment that people endure at the hands of their fellow man. War and acts of terror produce unimaginable horrors. I’m sure that at times we all question why life issuch a difficult and a hurtful experience.

Is there an appropriate response to this? The first thing I’d like to say is that “it'snot personal”. What I mean is that we are not usually suffering as individuals because of something specific we have done. Before I go any further let me qualify that statement.  There are times in life when we do reap what we sow.There actually are consequencesto our actions! But all the awful things that happen in the world are not usually the direct result of our personal actions.

My main thought when I say it’s not personal is this: ;people don’t die as a result of some sinful thing that they have done; old age doesn’t come because you did something wrong. The fact that we die, that we have sickness, that we grow old is explained to us in the Bible. The bible states that all of these conditions and circumstances exist because sin came into the world. As a result of Adam, the first man in the world, disobeying God the floodgates to all that was evil and damaging were opened. The fact that all of this is the result of the first man’s rebellion to God is explained by the biblical statement “by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin”,; Romans 5:12.

The Bible clearly teaches that God gave man a choice:

Obey Him,

Enjoy His presence,

Enjoy all that He created for him….

But, there is a but, God warned him that the day he ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that he would die. And that is what happened! Adam didn’t die physically but he died as far as his relationship with God was concerned. He was dead spiritually. Sin, death, pain and suffering became the normal experience of life. He had to work by the sweat of his brow for everything. Childbirth became a painful experience for the woman and the earth was cursed. So life hurts as a result; a fact that we know only too well.

However, what is quite incredible about the biblical story of salvation is that God had already a plan in place. God’s plan to provide forgiveness and to offer salvation to men and women was devised long before time began, 1 Peter 1: 19,20.

God had always planned to send His ‘Son to be the Saviour of the world’. He made sure in the writings of the Old Testament, the first half of the Bible, that we would know Him when he visited earth. In the Old Testament, God told the prophets how to identify His Son. There were specific facts such as what family He would be born into, His distinctive and sinless lifestyle and His mode of death. Normally how people will die is an unknown fact but God was making a point in defining how Jesus would die in advance (see Psalm 22:16, Zechariah 12:10, Luke 2: 34,35 – all of these passages of scripture speak of crucifixion which at the time was unknown and of the piercing of the hands and feet of the Lord Jesus). All of this information was so that when He came we wouldknow Him.

To me the greatest and most amazing thing about this whole thing is that God came to earth in person. He was a real but sinless man. He suffered, He hurt and He endured death to pay for our sin. God wants us to be forgiven therefore the price and the legal penalty for our sin was dealt with by the Lord Jesus Christ when He died upon the cross.

The Bible explains it like this:  “Christ died for our sins.”, 1 Corinthians 15:3, “He was despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”, Isaiah 53:3.

Today God offers us not hurt but forgiveness;

Today God offers us love.

The Bible tells us, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”, John 3:16. The greatest proof of the love of God is that, “God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”, Romans 5:8.

I want to point you to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, if you pray to God, today, confessing your sins He will forgive you.

I trust that you will do this.

May God bless you!

This blog is written by Stephen at

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