Archives for February 2017

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. – Romans 3

I read a treatise recently, written by a current well known evangelist from Europe, on what the Gospel really is in their view. While lots of Biblical text was used, I couldn’t help notice that there wasn’t a single use of the word ‘Grace’. Yet for Paul, God’s grace first, and our faith second is the entirety of the Gospel. No other religion contains the word Grace. Could it be simpler?

Last Sunday we spent a glorious few hours in ‘church’, which was actually a smoke-filled apartment with a bunch of ragamuffins, us included. The overwhelming discussion in the room was whether those gathered were ‘good enough’ and each in turn clung onto God by their fingertips. Are you like that today? Sin was confessed as a result, addictions were laid bare and as we listened I was prompted to read this passage in Romans. There is no greater passage to provide assurance that we are saved, not because of anything we do, but because of everything Jesus has done. Reading this, watching those in the room, you get the impression God bypasses the proud in the world, and goes looking for ragamuffins, those who struggle to know whether they are good enough in his sight.

Is it enough though? What about doing something with the faith you have, being obedient to Christ along with all the other things that make up the Gospel?

Well, I don’t believe any of us are that good at loving God in spite of our efforts and what we think. Deep down, we struggle to give him the priority he deserves, and all of us sin to some degree or other. Even Paul wrestled with this, and God reminded him, as he reminds us, that his grace is sufficient.

There is also maturity in the faith that we must consider; some of us have been around the block a few times with God, and in so doing we have a clearer understanding of his expectation of us. We must be careful, especially with ragamuffins that we allow God to be the gardener with his tender green shoots. I have seen and heard far too much recently, of our inclination to put unrealistic demands on others if they aren’t correctly ‘rinsed’ through some process, which is eagerly pointed to in Scripture as being essential for true belief. In so doing, we can crush the spirit of those who are simply unable to comprehend, for whom life started well behind the starting line of most, or for whom life has been derailed because of sin along the way. I’ve never yet met another sinner who isn’t more aware of their shortcomings than they are. Are we to remind them?

I question sometimes whether we think that God does want to save some people, that he will take them as he finds them and love them anyway; we often seem more willing to judge than God, when our expectations are not met. A chapter earlier in Romans, God reminds us that when we believe, his Spirit begins the process of changing our hearts. God does so much of the work in our lives, he alone can change us. Do we get in his way?

Many will attest to the end result of God disciplining us through the years, as he makes us more into the likeness of his Son. It is almost inevitably painful, but as we look back we see how he has drawn us more closely to him, and in course, we have been changed. His, and our expectation of a certain standard changes. Still though, there is grace.

On the streets, in the workplace, wherever you bring Jesus, you will meet people who are at the end. Life is one of an endless cycle which is not easily broken, whatever the cycle is – violence, addiction, depression, mental illness, wrong relationships there are many. God in the person of Jesus treated such people with great care, preferring to minister to them first with his grace. For many, simply understanding and being able to believe that there is somebody in this world who loves them that much is enough to start the change.

When we next come across a ragamuffin in need of some grace, perhaps we can start with what God has done for us through his Son, and how simple faith in that can begin to change our world.

Less of us, more of Him. Amen to that.

“But why can’t I come now Lord?”  he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.”

“Die for me?” Jesus answered. I tell you the truth Peter – John 13:37-38

It’s a universal tale isn’t it, one that everyone knows how to finish. The cock crows, and Peter (and Jesus) suffers great anguish. As I read this time and again, it is Jesus’ reply that catches my attention. You can hear the tone through the scathing comeback – “Die for me?” Peter had no idea what was coming, and had no right to be so presumptuous.

But, because of Christ, the story doesn’t end there. In fact, Jesus’ other prophesy about Peter alsocame true. When filled with God’s Spirit, he went from a brazen, brash weakling, to a bold yet humble leader. In the end, by all accounts, Peter was also crucified, upside down as he considered himself unworthy to be hung the same way as his Lord.

I’ve been reading these past few months, and praying, and thinking about this word ‘die’. If I am not mistaken, our willingness today not to die to ourselves and take up our cross, is the very reason why we, modern Christendom, are as weak as we are. We simply don’t take Jesus seriously enough as he urges us to ‘take up our cross daily and deny ourselves – before following him’. In fact it is far worse than we can ever imagine.

Today, rather than simply taking up our cross and follow the Lord at undoubtedly great cost to ourselves, we have paid others to do that for us. Rather than smash the idols in our lives that Paul refers to in the very first chapter of Romans, we have assumed that we can live with them happily by our side.  If we can do the very minimum – attend a weekly service, listen to somebody else’s interpretation of Scripture (presumably because we don’t have time to read it and listen to the Holy Spirit ourselves) and sing some ‘worship’ songs, then we can get out and get on with our lives as normal people do.

We have been conned into thinking that this is enough to get us a ‘ticket to heaven’ which after all is simply brilliant, because it means we can have our cake and eat it too. We get the benefits of this life here, and eternity with Christ in the next. We will gladly sacrifice a small “fee” to enjoy these ‘out of this world’ benefits, and anyway the fee is Biblical and such a small price out of our standard of living, that we are glad to pay it so someone else can “do” our Christianity for us. We are in short, the most deluded group of people alive today.

There was a time in Peter’s life when he could say with absolute certainty, “Lord, I’m ready to die for you,” and be willing to follow through on it. But for you, or for me, is that the real truth? What remains in my life that I have not yet died to? Television, instead of prayer? Families, work, lifestyle, fear, pride, church, the list is endless. Do we understand what Jesus said though:

“If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Do you find that, like me, you read parts of what Jesus said and skip over it because it simply doesn’t make sense, or it’s too difficult? We have created a Jesus in our own image, but friends, this IS Jesus, and it is the only one we have. There is no other.

Jesus is telling us, as he always does, that he is anti anything and everything that would cause us not to obey him, because our heart strings, comforts, prejudices and pride are tied up in something other than him. He tells us that if we don’t leave our nets there and then and follow him completely, then eventually we will fall, we will fail as Peter did, and that we are deluding ourselves about the unseen world, a world which he knows and understands everything about.

We read Acts today, and create a ‘wax museum’ alternative, before proclaiming, this is how it was! But still, we don’t die to ourselves. The price of our delusion though, is astronomic.

This week, on the streets we spoke to more than a few young people, and asked them whether we could pray, or talk to them about Spiritual things, about Jesus. Everyone to a tee, declined, even if politely. We see them walking, living, talking and eating, and completely blinded to the God that created them. Yet here is the point of all of this, all of them, without exception, talk about a ‘church’ or religion to do with an older generation and they scoff. They know, they see this ‘wax work museum’ of the real thing that we have created, how ineffective and pallid it is, how those that have gone before them have simply gone through the motions, with no authenticity. They don’t want to know. They see a wax statue of Jesus, and never experience the real thing. Is it any wonder?

Friends, it must change and for that to happen, He must change us, and we must be prepared to give up everything. Only when Jesus has the community of believers that he wants, a community that is defined by a total dying to self, and sacrificially loving all others, will the world sit up and take notice, and respond to Him.

Believe me, this present generation is only interested in the Real Thing, they, like Him, will accept no substitutes. What about us? Lord, forgive us for this, surely the very worst we could do to you.

After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me Teacher and Lord, and your are right because that is what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet.” – John 13: 12-13

I have read this passage over and over for the last few months. Just before it, Jesus tells us that he has loved, and loves, his Disciples, even Judas. That means us as well. The last third of the Gospel of John is from the night before his death, a night Jesus spent with those he loved telling them and reminding them all that was important. It starts with these few phrases on love here.

We have been wrestling a great deal of late with what it means to be community, and in Unity with each other, under Christ. For anyone who has tried that outside of ‘church’, you will realise the difficulty of the task. Yet it is so important that Jesus announced that our love for each other, would be the thing that would identify us as disciples. More than the miraculous, more than the teaching, the doctrine, more than anything, this would separate us from the world.

What is it that seems to prevent us from achieving all that he wants us to be?

Just before Christmas, we opened a box of books that we had stored for over 2 years, and had nearly forgotten about. In it, was an unexpected treasure trove a heavenly gift straight from God. There were dozens of pamphlets and books, written by a small Christ-centred community who were living out what we longed for and had been doing so for decades. God sent us precious rain, and we have soaked it up.

Let me highlight just three things, that in our view, seem to make a successful Christian community;

• Jesus is Lord. He is Lord of the community and Lord of everyone’s lives within that community. There is no leader but him, and he alone runs the agenda. Our lives are devoted to him, and all our materialism, beliefs, idols, even our families are shattered before him. When we love him enough, when we singularly devote ourselves to him, then we will devote ourselves to each other correctly, and everything falls into place.

This of course, means that some may be excluded. That doesn’t mean that we stop doing the work of reconciling everyone back to God through Christ, but it means that for those who bring other agendas, our community may not be for them. If you think that seems harsh, then watch a ‘little unleaven, destroy the whole batch.’

• Positional truths don’t save anyone, and God will have none of it. The traditions of man, with our edifices, our services, sermons, programmes, self-appointed leaders (since when did Christ give anyone permission to run His kingdom?) will not suffice. Christ must be Lord. I am so sick of hearing the different doctrines of man, that this truth is vital, or that is essential to our salvation; that baptism saves, or the gifts of the Spirit no longer exist, or being saved by tongues is true or that we can say a simple prayer and be reconciled to God without having anything further to do with His Son in our lives. All this creates division, and Jesus I am convinced, is having none of it. He will simply ignore you, or worse, admonish us for our unbelief. Let us be warned, each of us (including me) of the only truth that matters; He is Lord, and God has appointed him as the only means of Salvation.

• If we truly love Jesus, if we have accepted that we are saved by him alone and that God wants us to relate to Him, back through his Son, then we will be obedient. We will listen to what his Spirit tells us, moment by moment; we will get baptized as he commands, we will continually tell the world of His love (without being silent and ashamed of him) we will submit all to him, we will love one another as he has loved us, we will pray, give and sacrifice all in our lives that would hinder his work. We will work for him, not out of obligation, but because of what he has done for us. Then, we will know the joy that is the Lord.

If we are not living out the last one, then we have never grasped the first, and are still probably fighting with the second.

A few weeks ago, we dropped in by the beach for a swim. When we came out, a family next to us on the beach whom we had never met, were very distressed. Everything they had brought with them to the beach had been stolen – phones, glasses, car keys, wallets, clothes, children’s Christmas presents, all of it gone. Each of them were in tears, and they lived over 2 hrs drive away but now couldn’t drive. All they had were the swimmers they were wearing. We walked them to the police station, and along the way prayed, offered them a bed for the night (they didn’t stay) and gave them all the money we had.

Some days later, the mother rang my wife and said it was miraculous (her words and the police) all of their stuff had been returned the next day; she said that their 2 teenage children made mention of the contrast between the unspeakable evil that they felt in being so violated, compared to the acts of kindness from us. My wife was able to explain, albeit briefly that we do what we do because of Him, that is all. Take Him away, and we are the same as the rest.

It all starts as a community of Believers who seek nothing else but to love him, and live him out in the world. It is so easy to say, but so difficult to live out. There is much more to tell, but that is enough here.

I wasn’t going to write this week, but this morning I heard his voice. Come, let us worship Him with all of our lives, for he alone is worthy of our worship. Come Lord Jesus, come.