SHOUT!

God's word and warnings are given into the hands of His people to declare the danger in time and space of our accountability before almighty God.

Well, I was late posting this blog so thanks to Becky and Kevin for bearing with me. We arrived back off holiday to be plunged into some confusion with my father taken ill and zoomed into hospital. I remembered a few times that I needed to write something but the time and headspace eluded me. I woke up in the middle of the night last night, and I was prompted to cry to the Lord about a number of things - then I remembered again that it is my turn to write a blog. What should I write Lord I asked?

What came to mind was that scripture: Isaiah 40:6-9 (NLT) - A voice said, “SHOUT!” I asked, “What should I shout? “SHOUT that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD. And so it is with people.

The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” O Zion, messenger of good news, SHOUT from the mountaintops! Shout it louder, O Jerusalem. SHOUT, and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!”

There was a three-year period where I got a scripture for each year and each year that scripture came to pass or started to come to pass. In 2018 the scripture was: Haggai 2:6-7 (NLT) - “For this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. I will shake all the nations...” 

The sense that I had with the scripture was that a shaking would begin and continue. A shaking in which God's people would not be observers but participants - a shaking which I, our family, our friends, our fellowship, the wider church would experience first-hand in a very direct way. God was about to start to shake the trees to see what would remain - and so, arguably from different people's standpoint, in various ways, it has happened and started to happen.

From when we were on holiday one of the prevailing images that I have in mind is a scene from Herculaneum. This is one of the towns overtaken by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD79. (Future Roman emperor Titus besieged Jerusalem and destroyed the second temple in AD70 – a contemporary historian commented that Titus’ reign was unnaturally accompanied by disasters). 

Both Pompeii and Herculaneum were overtaken by the erupting volcano - Pompeii was submerged in pumice and ash and Herculaneum blasted by fearsome heat. The image that remains is of the skeletons of people who had not run but waited at their boat houses to be rescued by the Roman fleet. The fleet never came. There was a Tsunami and the ships could not get to the people to lift them off. Instead, these comfortably well-off people in their holiday homes were scorched to death in seconds where they stood waiting... You can see them today their skeletons mark where they fell.

What if you knew this was going to happen and did nothing? What if you had science beyond the ages and a report saying that in on August 24th AD79 Mount Vesuvius was going to violently eject a cloud of super-heated tephra and gases to a height of 33 km (21 mi), ejecting molten rock, pulverized pumice and hot ash at 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing 100,000 times the thermal energy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which would destroy both towns - and did nothing?

So, we are urged "SHOUT"! ... God has determined that His word will endure forever. Jesus said that the testimony of the words that He spoke will never pass away. The Lord has declared that His word and His Name are exalted above all things. His word is our notice of warning. The “shakings” so far are nothing compared to what is to come. Do we stand by and let the bodies pile up on the beach or do we "SHOUT"?

God's word and warnings are given into the hands of His people to declare the danger in time and space of our accountability before almighty God. Jesus declares to the church "don't be caught sleeping yourselves"! “Be ready”! “Get oil”! “You are the watchmen”! We need to know that in the time of shaking there is only peace and refuge in one place - in Jesus. Whatever our path, no matter how we are shaken, He is the only saviour. His is the only salvation. He alone has the words of eternal life.

Now reaching older years, I have almost experienced all of the stages of our life on earth. I am slower than I was, I am more tired than I was, I think about things differently than I did, I have a different lens on life. As the song goes "nothing lasts except the grace of God but which I stand in Jesus". So those who know the Lord in my generation have a duty to KEEP SHOUTING – “Build on the rock”! “Build your life on Jesus”! “Give your life to Him”!

Nothing lasts except His word, His promises, His love and what we need most desperately all of us - His grace and mercy shown through the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Let us heed His warnings. Let us not be found asleep. Let His people SHOUT!

Author: Chris Pearson

May God bless and enrich your life

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Evenings and Mornings

We can be assured that if we commit the day and our way to Him, He will make His plans and paths plain to us

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Recently, along with my daily reading of Gods word, I felt encouraged by the Lord to read a Psalm each day. I find the psalms both encouraging, and challenging. All of life is in the psalms and the psalmist often speaks from real life experiences.  But I noticed in some of the earlier psalms that David refers often to night times and mornings, and the way the Lord watches over him at these times, but also the way David responds to the Lord at these times too. I don’t know about you but I find the hours of the night a time where I often reflect on and sift through the events of the day. These can be good and productive times, but there are often times when the hours of the night bring distorted and worrying thoughts. When everything seems swirl around your head and become confused and sometimes frightening. David is no stranger to the night times and mornings of lives and what a difference knowing and trusting the Lord can bring to them. And what he says about them is both challenging and encouraging.

Night Time

Encouragement

In Psalm 3 we find David surrounded by enemies and on the run from his son Absalom. The words of the Psalm are David's declaration of how he sees the situation. “O Lord I have many enemies; so many are against me. So many are saying God will never rescue him!" (v1 NLT). How many times in our life do we feel like the situations (enemies) that surround us seem bigger than we can handle. And those thoughts of how will my situation change, how will I escape these circumstances etc. loom large in our mind. Sometimes even the best shared thoughts and empathy of other people can reinforce the magnitude of the situation, which encourages us to think; there is no way out, nothing can change, it’s a hopeless case. But we can take heart from David’s declaration “But you O Lord are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who hold my head high. I cried out to the Lord and he answered me from his holy mountain" (v3 & 4 NLT). David put the Lord front and centre of the situation. Reinforcing the place of the Lord in his life, that it was the Lord of heaven and earth that was his shield, his glory, and the one that sustains him (holds his head high). David declares that he is not trusting in his own achievements or strengths, but that of the one who is over all and who has never been defeated. And because of that awareness and declaration he is at peace. “I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me.” (v5 NLT). In other words I let go of my concerns, I stop carrying my worries, I put down the need to know how things would turn out and how change would be achieved, I stopped trying to look after myself/others. Instead, I slept (rested) and I woke in safety, for the Lord was watching over me. The Lord took care of him while he rested. This was such a good reminder to me to allow myself not to have to carry the concerns or find the solutions. But to rest on the understanding that the Lord has it in hand and will affect all that is needed to keep me and those I love safe. David reiterates further in Psalm 4 just so we get the message “Many people say “who will show us better times? Let your face smile on us, Lord. You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine. In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O lord, will keep me safe” (v6-8 NLT).  

Challenge

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The word of the Lord is both encouraging, and directive. There are times when we need to do something in answer to the situations that trouble us. This can be challenging. I find one of the most challenging directives for my life is around anger. How quickly it can become inflamed in our lives, and result in words or actions that can hurt others or damage relationships for ever. Anger is a powerful emotion that demands action, either in word or deed against the one that has angered us. And I have always found that nothing done in anger is profitable to me or others. Yet even the knowledge of that does not stop me acting out of anger.  David must have experienced this because he gives one of the best pieces of advice to us, if only we can take it on board. Psalm 4v 4&5 (NLT) “Don’t sin by letting anger control you”. Excellent advice, but my goodness how hard it is to not let anger control you; how do we do that? Paul in his letter to the Ephesians gives direction about anger, he says “Don’t let the sun go down while you are angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.” Ephesians 4v26 (NLT) which is good advice if you can get on top of your anger and put the situation right before you go to bed. But if that is not possible David gives some wise words in this area.  “Think about it overnight……And remain silent. Offer sacrifices in the right spirit and trust the Lord”. There are two keys here. One is; shutting up!! The hardest thing to do. If you’re not in the right place to speak without inflaming the anger more; shut up and sleep on it. But David advises not to leave it at that. He says if we then offer sacrifices to the Lord (pray and seek his face) in the right spirit, we can then trust the Lord to put the situation right, either by equipping us to overcome the anger and speak or act in the right way to heal the situation. Or let it go and trust him to put the situation right. This really can be a challenge but if we only dealt with anger as these great men of God advise, then there would be much let conflict in the world and the Church.

Morning

Challenge

So that covers the night time. What about the morning? David uses the morning to pray. David says “Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord” Psalm 5v3 (NLT). If you’re not a morning person praying in the morning can be hard. Hurtling last minute out of bed and rushing off into the day, may work for you. But taking time to prepare yourself for the day by coming before the Lord is so much better. Setting the alarm a few minutes earlier and actually getting out of bed to commit the day to the Lord really does set your life on a better course for the day. But David adds an extra little insight to his prayer life that actually is so important. “Each morning, I bring my requests to you, and wait expectantly” it’s the word expectantly. In our church there is a plaque which says `Expect a Miracle` I find that so challenging.  Do I really expect a miracle, every morning when I pray, do I really wait expectantly for the Lord to take control of the day and answer my prayers how he wills. If I don’t then why am I praying? My prayer is that as I pray the Lord will help me to increase the expectancy in my heart so that I do wait expectantly and expect a miracle every day.

Encouragement 

Psalm 5 v7&8 (NLT) “Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house; I will worship at your temple with the deepest awe. Lead me in the right path O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain to me to follow”. The encouragement that David brings is that because of Gods unfailing love we can enter his house. For David his place of worship was epitomised by entering the temple. Jesus says to the woman at the well that the time is coming when it will not matter where you worship the Father but only that you worship in Spirit and Truth.  And we can be can be encouraged that because Gods faithfulness, His unfailing love is renewed every day to us then we can worship with deepest awe because we know we are accepted, by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. And we can be assured that if we commit the day and our way to Him, He will make His plans and paths plain to us. Thank you, Lord, for your unfailing love to us every morning and every night. 

Author: Jan Pearson

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Fear God..for judgement comes

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments

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As I write this blog we have just returned from a short break to Norfolk; some of my friends will think that I always postpone blogs until after breaks. Norfolk was a new place for us especially on the coast, with the incredible views, but also the wondrous site of the black glossy heads of the common seals bobbing over the breakers. We found ourselves in conversation with a couple from Yorkshire who made a monthly trip to the Norfolk Broads; they forsook the Yorkshire dales with its rugged outlook for the immense open Norfolk skies. 

Even at night, as we were in a secluded place and away from the Midlands light pollution, we saw the heavens filled with those beautiful star constellations which I was able to verify with my new app and my knowledgeable wife. So with stars and seals and sky and sea, what could be a better place to jump in, than the book of revelation?

 In chapter 14:6-7:

Then I saw another angel flying in mid-air, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth – to every nation, tribe, language and people.  He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.

In recent years, I have returned to this passage many times and conclude that it is an enduring, unequivocal, declaration of truth. The Old Testament wisdom literature also concludes with something similar in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14:

Now all has been heard;

here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his commandments,

for this is the duty of all mankind.

For God will bring every deed into judgment,

including every hidden thing,

whether it is good or evil.

Today we heard news about the floods in central Europe; they were accurately forecast and the authorities predicted the rising river levels and the ensuing floods. Residents were warned that a flood would come and that they should leave their homes. But despite the warnings from the authorities, some residents did not leave their homes. We all know, if we’re honest, how hard it would be for us to act on such a warning, even from trusted authorities. It’s especially after we have experienced a relatively comfortable lifestyle for many years. 

While we were walking around Norwich cathedral I was arrested by an image that I caught with my phone, but you can easily look up on the internet, search for  ‘Thomas Gooding’ or ‘the skeleton’.

Thomas Gooding was buried vertically inside Norwich Cathedral - in order that he could spring up and be first into heaven. His tomb is now known as 'the skeleton'. It features a wonderfully poetic epitaph:

All you that do this place pass bye

Remember death for you will dye.

As you are now even so was I

And as I am so shall you be.

Thomas Gooding here do staye

Wayting for God's judgement day.

If you have read this far, then read the epitaph again for this seems an appropriate place to conclude.

Author: Richard Windridge

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Standing in the gap - Strengthening the body of Christ (re-print)

If one part of the body (of Christ) suffers, then the whole body suffers, so sometimes we may need to stand in and support each other to make the body strong again.

Julie Roach

‘What have we got in common with a dry stone wall?’ is a question I asked myself as I added the picture to the right to my social media profile. I took the photo recently whilst on holiday and I was struck once more at the skill of the people that build these walls. What at first glance may appear to be a randomly constructed pile of stones is in fact an intricate and well thought-out structure. As we continued our walk, a little further, we saw a gentleman who was in the process of re-building part of the wall.  I noticed that he quickly, but carefully felt the stones to find just the right one to put in the gap. He continued, even as he talked with us and the wall took shape surprisingly quickly.

In order to answer my question; ‘What have we got in common with a dry stone wall?’ at this point, I am like one of those stones right in the middle of the top row. Can you see where I mean? There are two stones leaning vertically into the middle, one is leaning to the right and the other to the left. In the middle there are two stones lying down horizontally, resting on the wall below them. The lower of the two horizontal stones is holding the two rows of vertical stones apart: and then there is me, the small one on top of it; acting as ‘a filler’, bridging the gap and playing just a small but significant part in strengthening the whole wall. Every component in the wall is significant and without any one of those stones the wall would be weaker and lose its strength. If a number of components were missing then when bad weather comes the wall would struggle and break down into disrepair.

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My point is that we all need each other and we need to value the part that both we and others play. If we were all the same: size, shape, skill set, age, character etc. then just like the wall would not have the same strength and the storms of life could break us into pieces. This is also the case for the unity and diversity of the body of Christ; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 ‘Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many’. God’s word then goes onto tell us why each of us are important and significant in the body of Christ; 1 Corinthians 12:17-20 ‘If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body'. 

Each and every one of us who accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour has a contribution to make to ensure that the body of Christ functions effectively. If one part of the body suffers, then the whole body suffers, so sometimes, just like the stones in a dry stone wall, we may need to stand in and support each other to make the body strong again.

As someone committed to facilitating children/adults to become the best that they can be: and as I strive to continually become the best I can be myself at any given time, I am extremely grateful that I have a diverse group of people around me that all act as stones in the wall. Each of us is prepared to fulfil our purpose in the group and in doing so we are also strengthening the body of Christ by loving and supporting each other.

So what have you got in common with a dry stone wall?  God tells us that we are important; Psalm 139:13-14 ‘For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well’. Just like the stones in a dry stone wall; without YOU the body of Christ would not be as strong and the people you interact with would miss out on the qualities that make you unique. May God bless you richly in making your contribution and fulfilling your role in the body of Christ. Praise God.

Author: Julie Roach

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Abraham’s Faith, God’s Plan

Like us Abraham wasn’t perfect, he made loads of mistakes and got things wrong, but God saw his heart.

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Romans 4 talks about Abraham’s faith in the face of impossibilities and gives us an amazing example of how we should live our lives with God.

So, I want to look at some verses in this chapter and consider what we might learn from the for our daily walk with God.

In verse 3 it says - What does the scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Firstly, Paul refers to the scriptures, this is always a safe place to start, which say that ‘Abraham believed God’. Note: it doesn’t say Abraham believed in God, but that he believed God which is why it was then credited to him as righteousness. How quickly do we turn to the scriptures and how much do we take them on board and do what they say? In other words, do we believe God for the possible when all we see is the impossible?

Paul goes on to talks about work and faith and then quotes the scriptures again from Psalm 32:1-2 where David says ‘Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.’

Do you know whether you feel like it or not, if you know Christ you are truly blessed. Paul then talks about this blessedness being for the circumcised and the uncircumcised, that is both Jew and Gentile. But very importantly in verses 13 to 15 Paul explains that this righteousness does not come through the law but by faith.

Verses 16 and 17 explain this really well but look at how verse 17 finishes off:

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. (NIV. Underline added)

Paul says that God calls things into being that don’t exist. So, what we can’t see God can. Abraham knew this truth and so believed God. Look at what verse 18 says ‘Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 

Against all hope! Abraham in hope! 'Believed.' What a challenge for each one of us, when we’re up against it and all looks lost, will we nevertheless, in hope, believe?

How does Paul say he did this? Verses 19 - 21 tells us. 

Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Abraham saw with his eyes the desperate situation he and Sarah were in, but I love what it says at the end of verse 20 and 21 ‘but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

How was his faith strengthened? In his situation he gave glory to God because he was fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised. WOW!!

Paul then tells us in verse 22 - 'This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”'

Was this righteousness just for Abraham? No! It’s for us too.

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Paul finishes Romans 4 with this declaration: verses 23-25 'The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.'

Like us Abraham wasn’t perfect, he made loads of mistakes and got things wrong, but God saw his heart. Right from the minute God called Abraham to leave his home and just go, God had a plan and Abraham believed Him for that plan, even against ‘All hope’. God also has a plan for our lives, will we believe Him even when we’re faced with what looks like complete hopelessness?

We are living in the most dangerous and the most exciting times in history. How we look at these times will determine how we walk with God. We can look at all that’s going on in this world and fall into hopelessness, or we can look up and believe that we’re living in His-story, give glory to Him and be fully persuaded that He's able to do what He's promised.

May God bless you with believing that He has the power to do all that He has promised. Walk in faith child of God and be blessed. Amen.

Author: Kevin Hunt

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