Walking the line

I work with street people, people with no homes, no link to society and no faith in their fellow man. These people often have no one and have been treat so badly in the past and often the present that they can not see it ever changing in the future. My role is to build relationships with these people and help them integrate in their own time and in their own unique way not by telling them how to fix their lives but walking alongside them helping to take the load when it becomes too much for them.

One phrase we have at work is that our best work is done when we are not only on the line, but sometimes when our toes are just over the line. For me this is an amazing way to work, helping people rebuild their lives themselves, giving them the option to fail and still provide the support and friendship, becoming more than just another worker pushing another agenda.

Since beginning this job 6 months ago I have come to realise that this way of working is also the way I act as a Christian. A way that I feel may not win more souls than other methods, but has a better chance of truly saving people heart mind and soul. This is because in my interactions with people I am not preaching sermons to them or trying to force people to live as I do. I am giving people the option to make their own decisions and never leaving because they act contrary to my beliefs. But day by day in every interaction I am showing them who I am, and through me I hope they see my Lord and Saviour, I hope they feel his love flowing from me. In seeing me and feeling the love Jesus has for them it leads me to a place where I have their trust and confidence where they know who I am and what I am where they know I will not judge them or condemn them. In this safe relationship they can then ask the questions burning in their hearts and minds and because they respect and trust me as I have respected and trusted them my words can carry more weight than a street preacher or another form of outreach. I see this way of working as very similar to that of our Lord and Saviour, getting out there and on to the same level as the people who need Him more than anything else. Not presenting myself as anything special, not acting as if I am better than them, but being willing to serve them and work for their benefit. 

John 15:19
If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world's terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God's terms and no longer on the world's terms, the world is going to hate you.

We need to be in the world, how else could we complete the great commission that Jesus gave us? Yet we can not be of the world because to be so would mean that we had not accepted the Fathers love and have been saved. I think though that the "best" work done by missionaries, ministers and believers through the many centuries has been done when men and women of faith have been right on the line between being in the world and of the world. It is a hard place to be a Christian, it is open and exposed to the enemy and you are open to attack. Yet if our faith is strong and we can walk the line with Jesus at our side then we can do amazing work in this dark world. If more people were willing to leave their comfort zones, to put their faith into action I feel that we would see a true revival in our time, a revival that I hear many people calling for but see few taking action towards.

A while ago I posted about loving the unlovable and with this post I want to make that point again, we as followers of Christ should be getting out there and showing Christ's love in the many dark corners out there. We need to look hard at the example that Jesus left us and think about how we are acting as His disciples on earth now. Jesus preached to those who came to listen to Him, to those who wanted to know, but he also went out there and spent time with those who didn't on a level they could relate to, helping them without asking for anything in return knowing that in their own time they would seek him out. Love the unlovable, look for the lost, but don't force your expectations or desires onto them. Show these people the love of Christ, show them that Jesus is the one who will never give up on them through your actions. When their hearts are ready they will seek him out, it may not be the fastest road to conversion but a personal relationship with God will help these people more than any amount of sermons, study or preaching ever could.

It's not just god who has plans

This post is something that has been on my mind for a few days now and something I have been hesitant to write about. The reason that I want to write about is because it is something that just will not go away and it is something I think we should all be concious of. However I am hesitant to write about it because the majority of this post will be about the enemy.

This post began due to the fact that I have been struggling and I have been thinking a lot about the plans that God has for me. I have been looking for signs and looking for direction form God, I feel that I know the beginnings of the outlines of the plan God has for me, I feel I know the direction but the details are sparse in places.

In thinking about the fact that God has plans for all of us I began to think about the fact that the enemy has very real plans as for what he wants us to do as well. The fact is that the enemy knows that God has plans for us and these plans are the very best, and so he will do anything he can to overcome these plans if he can. The enemy has plans, plans to destroy you, plans to harm you and plans to deny you of a hope and future.

The thing is that the enemy is very good at making his plans look fair, he is accomplished at making his plans attractive and alluring. The enemy is known in the Old Testament as the tempter and he is well deserving of that title as he is the original and most practised tempter in the universe.

We often talk about god and his plans, we mention Jesus and His love for the world and the Holy Spirit being in us and setting us on fire. But we forget about the fact that although the enemy is not perfect as God is and though his power is a fraction of His he is still throwing everything he has at us in an attempt to draw us away from the path we should be walking.

The enemy will tempt you in every way he can, he will send trials your way that will tempt you in ways that will break you and cause you to sin. The only way to successfully resist the enemy is to ask God for help, to pray ceaselessly that He will help you in your daily battle. There are going to be times when the devil will tempt you and cause you to sin, but if you accept the saving grace of Jesus and return to God with a repentant heart you will not be turned away. The best way to defend against a threat is to know it exists, don't ignore the enemy, do not belittle his power. He is very real and he has powers that are greater than we are, but God is greater still and it is only through Him that we can have eternal life.

Is Jesus the light of your heart?

I know I have talked about callings a number of times, and I have talked about my own calling a few times without really expanding on it, which I will do one day. I have been struggling with things recently, self doubts, problems with the logistics and at times I have felt a little bit like Sisyphus. Not many people know this as I have been trying to keep a positive face to the world and have been trying to trust that it will all work out right.

I mentioned last night that I attended a study group for people who feel they are being called to God's work. During this session there were a couple of not to lightly veiled references to the fact that it has taken me some time to get everything I need to do for the current stage of the process  I am on done and some of it is still outstanding. After a small amount of discussion I made the point that I had been taking my time to ensure I had done everything to my satisfaction and that I feel no pressure from God to do things any quicker than I am.

I know what it is that I feel God is calling me to do and I am confident that in this I do have things the right way round. But there is a raft of things that I feel God is directing me towards doing before I officially commit to what it is He wants me to do. It is sometimes difficult for me to explain the reasons for doing what it is I feel I need to be doing, and if I am completely honest often I do not know why I am doing what I am doing more than half of the time, I just know it is the right thing to do. Because of this I find it is often difficult for other people to understand my "reasoning" behind the things I do, and I find it very difficult to explain my "reasoning" too.

The thing that keeps me going on the track that I am on and that keeps me faithful despite the fact that I often don't know where it is I am going is because Jesus is the light of my heart. Since giving my heart to Jesus I have never been let down by Him, every time I put my trust in Him I am amazed at the blessings He heaps onto me. I know that God is there for me in all things, good and bad, that no matter what the world and the enemy throw at me that God is greater and that He has greater plans for me just around the corner. Since allowing Jesus into my heart to become the light in there I have found that He has worked such a change. Life is not any easier or less painful, there are still many things I need to change about my life, but there have been so many changes and blessings so far that I look forward to looking back over my whole life and seeing how much He will do in all my life. I hope I can always put my whole trust in God and that I can always follow His direction.

Why do you still willingly crucify Jesus?

Now this post was triggered by something that happened yesterday, it is not a dig at anyone in particular or a personal attack but it is a heartfelt plea. In our lives we have a choice of what to do with our lives, we can choose to follow Christ or we can go and do what we want, do it our way. Doing it our way is not necessarily sinful, but when attempting to do things on our own we have neither the strength or the ability to hold out against the methods of the enemy for long. I know that we can choose to sin without the enemy being behind it, but when we weaken ourselves by excluding Christ we only make it easier for him when he does launch an inevitable attack.

When we have a choice to do things in a way that we know Christ would not have done then we are making a concious choice to sin. When we make these concious choices to sin we are turning or backs on Christ's teachings. Worse than that, we add to the suffering Christ bore for us on the cross. Christ died for all our sins, past present and future and non of us will be sinless, it is an impossible goal. But that does not allow us scope to sin when we feel like it, it does not give us carte blanc to do what we feel like when we feel like it.

We all have the capacity to sin, we are all human after all, but that also means we have the capacity, especially through Christ to choose not to sin also. Think about your life and think about the choices you make, your actions and your motivations. Are they all that they should be, or does sin enter in from time to time, is it that you are sometimes doing the right thing for the wrong reason. Even an action that looks right can be sinful if it is done with sinful and wrong motives.

If you want to live for Christ it requires a whole of life change, it is not enough to just say that you believe in Christ and want to live for Him. If that was true then you would be making the changes to live like Christ, you can't truly believe in the saving Grace and Love of Christ if you are content to remain the way that you were before you "found" Christ. Sure believing in Christ and the desire to live for Him is a good thing, but it is but one step of many steps to following Christ, taking one step towards Him is not following, following requires step after step after step, you have to walk. Just taking one step leaves the rest of your personal path with Christ unwalked and unexplored.

Each time we sin, each time we choose to go against Christ we are contributing to the suffering of our crucified Lord, we drive the nails further in we add to the weight on His heart and shoulders. When we knowingly and willingly choose to do what we know is wrong in Christ we become as much a part of the crucifixion as the centurion, Pilate or the Pharisees.

We know what Christ wants us to do, we also know our own human wants and desires, but we need to be mindful of where these desires come from and the price we pay for giving in to them. We need to ask God to help us with our weaknesses and to help us live without giving into them, but we also need to accept that help. We gain nothing from praying time and time again for help if when it comes along we choose not to accept it. Take a look at your life, look and see the places when you need it to be cleaned or even the parts that need to be cut away. Ask for help in doing this and then set to work with God's guidance.

Philippians 4:13 (KJV)

     I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

Institutionalised sexism

Now I am about to wade in to a discussion that can be a sensitive subject. It is a subject that I feel is ridiculous in nature and should have no place in our modern world. These thoughts have been triggered by a "scandal" in the English Premiership over sexism in and around the sport.

I find it terribly stupid that in this day and age people can still think that it is acceptable to discriminate against someone for any reason be that sex, race or anything else. Not that I think everyone is capable of doing anything, that is obviously not true as God has given us each different gifts. But these gifts do not make anyone any better than anyone else. But if you are capable of doing something I see no reason why you should not be able to do it, if you have been given a gift by God, who is man to say otherwise.

Now people may have realised by this point that I am not still talking about a female assistant referee in the English Premier League. I am talking about the position of females in the Church. I know that some people will disagree with me on this point, but I confident in my belief in God calling both men and women to work for Him in many different capacities. As someone who was raised in a Church that has advocated the rights and position of women in the Church since the 1800's I have had over the years many sermons preached to me by women preachers. In many cases I feel that these women have at times been more gifted speakers and more on fire with the Holy Spirit than many men I have heard speak.

Jesus came to Earth for the disenfranchised, for those who were downtrodden and those who were discriminated against. Jesus did not come with a message just meant for some people but not others, He did not limit His work to only one race or sex, He was here for all mankind.

I do not believe that God only calls men or only calls a certain race, He calls on each and every one of us. I believe that God can and does use people of all ages, all races, both sexes and all backgrounds. He has use for all who come to Him and I do not believe He limits what we can do down to differences that will not be important in Heaven.

Galatians 3:28 (NIV)
     There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

If we truly believe the lessons we are taught in the Bible, if we believe what we read in the verse above then there can be no argument against women in ministry, there can be no way of supporting this outmoded outdated sexist view. We can not allow this institutionalised sexism to continue, it is in my opinion unchristian and not biblical. When will we learn to be truly like Christ and open our arms to all everyone regardless of who or what they are. We need to stop putting blockades and difficulties in the way of people coming to Christ through the Church we need to stop making these "problems" into flash points which cause the Church to become further divided. We can not allow these divisions to continue, they only provide the enemy with more ammunition.

Anglican defection - just another Church squabble

Now I don't want to go into the story in detail, I am sure if you don't already know about the story of three Anglican Bishops being ordained as Catholic Priests a quick web search will bring up the stories for you. What I want to talk about is the way that we view our Churches, The Church and the Body of Christ.

Surely I am not the only one who finds the way that this has been covered and the way people have reacted to it as possibly a little unchristian? I know that we are only human and that means that in anything we do there is going to be flaws in it, and from that comes disagreements and conflict. I also know that people can become offended very easily at times and especially so when religion is involved.

What seems to have been forgotten in this situation is that nothing really has changed. Ok the priests are now in the Catholic communion and not the Anglican communion, but they are human definitions. They still have the same Saviour, they still worship the same God, in all things that are important, i.e. the teachings of Christ, nothing has changed. I am not that naive to think that nothing has changed, certain things will be different and some things will have to change as part of the Church they are now a part of, but these are all human trappings that we have added on. And it is the human side of it that has caused this fracture in the first place, the question of do men have a monopoly on priesthood.

But I am not going to get into that question here, the point I want to make is that we often talk about the Churches. Plural? Are we getting this right? Surely there is no plural in it, surely we are all part of one Church, one Body of Christ. There are different denominations, different worship styles and we have some differing views on some things. But we are all followers of Christ, we are all born again Children of God, why do we insist on drawing lines in the sand, why do we look to our differences and not our similarities.

If you follow the teachings of Christ and accept Him as your Lord and Saviour then you are a part of His Body, a member in His Church. It does not matter which "Church" you belong to as they are all part of the Church of Christ. If you are Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox, if you are one of the many other denominations you are part of something much more than that "Church", you are part of The Church.

If we let divisions like this become big issues then we are setting ourselves up for failure. When we allow these issues to become points of conflict we open up doors for the enemy to come in and work towards our downfall. We are the Church of Christ in whatever way we worship, we are all brothers and sisters in Him, lets stand in a united front and show the enemy that we stand for Christ, that we will battle him on every front, and by Jesus' grace we will win.

1 Peter 5:8-11

1 Peter 5:8-11
     Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won't last forever. It won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ-eternal and glorious plans they are!-will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.

May the words of my mouth

While reading the other day I came across the words for Psalm 19 verse 14 and it reminded me of a paraphrase that I used to sing as a benediction at Church years ago. This benediction song is short and yet it says everything it needs to in a simple and beautiful way. There words are:

May the words of my mouth, 
And the meditations of my heart 
Be acceptable in your sight, 
O Lord my strength and my Redeemer 
     Amen.

I love these words and since being reminded of them don't seem to be able to shift them from my mind. I will be adding this short prayerful verse to my arsenal for those times when prayer comes with difficulty and I need help. This short prayer and ones like it, in my mind, are certainly what I would consider to be powerful weapons to have in our daily struggle against the enemy.Because when we are alone we are powerless, but through God we become powerful, through Him all things are possible, including victory.

Sin

Read a book from the Old Testament

This week has been a very busy week, with Christmas preparations, present buying, work and Church commitments I have not had a great deal of time. But nevertheless the challenge for this week had to be done, and so a small amount of time to read the book of Obadiah was found.

This book is officially the shortest book in the Bible, not a fact I knew when I began to read it. I knew it was one of the shorter ones but did not know it was the shortest. It is an interesting book as the prophesy in it is not for the Israelites, it is written for and given to those who lived in the land of Edom. If you know your Old Testament history you will know that Edom was the country that was born of Esau and as such were kin to the Israelites.

Obadiah warned the Edomites that God was displeased with them for not helping the Israelites when they needed it and as such were marked for destruction. They were warned that although they believed they lived in impenetrable fortresses they would not be safe from God's judgement. They should have helped and protected the people who were their family through God's bounty.

When I was reading this I thought about the Church. God's family through His son Jesus and of all the internal struggle and fractures in this family. There are many different branches of this family such as the Catholics, the Orthodox and the Protestants, and many denominations more. Yet how often do we all stand united, how often do we help each other when we are struggling or under threat. Have we stood back and been guilty of benefiting from the fall or failing of another Church when we could have helped them to survive. We often forget that other Churches are still part of God's family, they are still His children and our brothers and sisters through Christ. We are not in competition with each other, we should be allies against the forces of the enemy. The book of Obadiah may not be written to us, but we can learn from the lessons of the past and make sure we do not make the same mistake.

The next task which has been drawn from the hat is the task to write a memory verse on my fridge. This is a nice easy one to see me through the holiday period and the inevitable lull in activity after such a busy period. Check back next week to see which verse I choose and the reasons behind it. Until then, take care and God bless.

Advent Challenge Day 16

This challenge is now complete, please feel free to browse all of the 

completed tasks via the Advent Challenge tab.

The task for yesterday was to read a section of scripture, it is a section that I have looked at recently in my linked Bible study so I have  already considered it recently. The section is Isaiah 9:1-7 which when  looked at it last time I only focused on verse 2. This time however I want to look at a bit more of it.

Isaiah 9:1-7

    But there'll be no darkness for those who were in trouble. Earlier he did bring the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali into disrepute, but the time is coming when he'll make that whole area glorious—the road along the Sea, the country past the Jordan, international Galilee.

        The people who walked in darkness
            have seen a great light.
        For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
            light! sunbursts of light! 
        You repopulated the nation,
            you expanded its joy.
        Oh, they're so glad in your presence!
            Festival joy!
        The joy of a great celebration,
            sharing rich gifts and warm greetings. 
        The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—
            all their whips and cudgels and curses—
        Is gone, done away with, a deliverance
            as surprising and sudden as Gideon's old victory over Midian. 
        The boots of all those invading troops,
            along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood,
        Will be piled in a heap and burned,
            a fire that will burn for days! 
        For a child has been born—for us!
            the gift of a son—for us!
        He'll take over
            the running of the world.
        His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
            Strong God,
        Eternal Father,
            Prince of Wholeness. 
        His ruling authority will grow,
            and there'll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
        He'll rule from the historic David throne
            over that promised kingdom.
        He'll put that kingdom on a firm footing
            and keep it going
        With fair dealing and right living,
            beginning now and lasting always.
        The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
            will do all this.

This passage is packed with promises from God, what He intends and how He intends to do it. The light which is prophesied about here has a huge job to live up to just by this short passage. Deliverance from oppressors and invading troops, a leader who will be an amazing counsellor, a prince of peace and an eternal father. His authority will grow, He will fix the nation starting now and lasting forever.

It is easy to see why the Jews built up so much expectation around the coming Messiah, there was so much that was said about Him by the prophets, they expected so much. So how was it that they missed Him when He finally came?

The Jews were expecting someone to come in with amazing power to sweep away the forces of evil and tyranny with military strength and his awesome power. They were wanting a Messiah who would utterly destroy their enemies so that the Jews could rule forever in a land of peace. But they forgot God's awesomeness and His love for all mankind, they forgot about the fact that we are all God's children and He loves each one of us.

The truth is that God sent His son in to the world to do all of these things, and Jesus did do them, but His plans were not like our plans, His ways were not like our ways. Jesus came and taught us the way to live, led us by His example. He showed us how to beat the oppressors and tyrants not by being strong, but by being weak and humble. Yes Jesus did have enough power to have completed these prophesies in anyway He chose, He could have led a great army of Jews and conquered the world, but that would not have shown the world God's love for us, it would not have been in His character.

Yes God does sometimes show an angry and jealous side to His personality, He does want us all to love Him, follow Him and worship Him. But that is because He loves us unconditionally, He knows what the enemy is like, He knows what the enemy can do. We can not understand the heartbreak humanity must cause God through our actions and behaviour, yet still He loves us. Jesus displayed God's character on earth, He was loving and kind but He also showed the anger and jealousness of God in the temple. We sometimes forget when we are looking at Jesus we are looking at God too, the Father and the Son, the same and indivisible, one and the same, there are three persons in the Godhead-the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory.

This was a slightly different look at the same verses that I considered last time, please let me know what you thin of both of them, do you agree or not? If so why not? I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. The task selected for today has been task number 22. Put a Christmas Bible verse on your Christmas tree. I'm glad that this one has only just come up now otherwise it may have been a difficult one to complete, the reason being that our Christmas tree only went up last night. Check back tomorrow to see which Bible verse I selected and why, but until then, Merry Christmas.

Loneliness

Last night I was sitting doing some thinking about the future. The result of this was that I managed to get myself slightly depressed. This is mainly because I am feeling quite lonely at the moment. I live a long way from my friends at the moment, I have few people to talk to here where I live and no one at the moment who I feel I can call on whenever I need someone. The other thing is that I am very aware that the path my life is taking means that this is not going to change for the better any time soon. In fact it is most probably going to get worse.

I know this sounds a lot like self pity, and in a certain sense it probably is. I also know that the times I feel like this are moments when I am about to make significant steps in the direction God wants me to go. I am aware that the enemy is going to do everything he can to put me off following God, trying to put me off folloing the plan for my life. The thing is, although I know these feelings are the result of an attack I also know there is an element of truth in them which makes them that bit more powerful. I am not naturally someone who enjoys being isolated and alone. I do like to have my space from time to time but I love being surrounded by friends and loved ones.

I know that whatever my lot in life I should be happy in it, I have a lot more than most people. Although I have been through some rough patches I have sailed through life relatively unscathed. I know that I will receive everything in life that I need at the time that I need it and that I need to wait with patience. But patience is something that I'm struggling with at the moment. I want to run headlong into these plans and want everything now. I have been told by a few people now that I should take some time to reflect on things and proceed prayerfully, and I know they are right. But just because I know that that is the way I should be does not change the fact that I am an impatient person.

I know that life will turn out for the best if I just hand it over to Him. I know that no matter what my thought and feelings about the plan are it is infinitely better than any plan that I could come up with. Patience is a virtue, or so I am told, and it is something that I need to work hard on to develop. I know these feelings will go away in the next few days, but it does not mean that because I know this they will be easier to deal with. I know God will help me battle these daemons and together we will overcome, until then I just need to pray for strength.

Stormy weather of the soul

The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear. It is the storm within which endangers him, not the storm without.
                    (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

This quote is something we should all remember. We need to be watchful for the things within and without that can come between us and God. We need to be careful that we do not let anything stop us being as close to God as it is possible for us to be. The enemy will launch many attacks in many different ways to try and break the bond we have with God. He know he can not stop God from loving us, but he can have a good shot at driving us away from God. We need to pray always and ask him to help us with that which threatens to get in the way. Once the storms within are calmed, the ones without will seem so much smaller.

The worlds ways

1 John 2:15-17
    Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world-wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important-has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out-but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.

I already wrote a post on sinning and why the enemies side seems so good, but I want to take a look at the same thing in respect to scripture here.

The worlds ways are not our ways, as Christians we should be in the world but not of the world. When we become wrapped up in worldly ways and worldly things we lose sight of what is truly important. We end up following our own desires and fulfilling our own plans. In the past when I was wrapped up in the world and its ways I thought I was happy. But when I was able to look objectively at it from a different perspective I saw how empty it really was.

I can't claim now that I am not of the world anymore, I try my hardest but there are many things I struggle with. But can anyone really be not of the world? Is it possible to be in the world but not of it? I think it is a really tough thing to do in life. However that should not stop us trying our hardest to follow these commands. As with many things in life we know what we are told to do and we know the reality of the situation. But just because we can not attain perfection in this life does not mean we should not strive with all our being to get there. Surely it is better to shoot and miss than to never try at all. The harder and more often we try the closer we will get to our goal. God knows we will never be perfect, we are after all only human, but he does ask that we try.

Warnings from little brother

It's that time again! Yes it's time for the latest linked Bible post brought to you by Sam and Caron. Please follow the link and check out Caron's blog and read her thoughts on today's topic too. Also please check out the previous linked blog posts from both me and Caron here.

This linked post was chosen by me, so if it turns out terrible, you don't like it or disagree you now know who to blame. So for this post I decided that I would quite like to have a closer look at Jude, use it as an exercise to really get to grips with this short yet powerful book. Check here to read it online.

I love the beginning of this book, it is such a wonderful way to start a letter to anyone;

Jude 1:2   

    Relax, everything's going to be all right; rest, everything's coming together; open your hearts, love is on the way! 

Now as an opening to a letter this has to rank amongst the best. Jude is pretty much saying, "hey guys, chill, it's all going great, it's all going to be great. Oh, and Jesus is on His way!" I don't know exactly who it was written to but it appears to be an open letter to all believers of the Church. Whoever it was sent to though this is an awesome opening.

But hold on a second, lets skip back to the first verse. Here we read that this letter is from Jude who is a servant of Christ and brother to James. The use of servant here is used in other parts of the New Tetament and suggests that the author was an Apostle of Christ. Not only that but it is very possible that this man was one of Jesus brothers. Jude and Judas are both different Anglicised versions of the same Jewish name, and if we look at Matthew 15:55;

Matthew 13:55  

    But in the next breath they were cutting him down: "We've known him since he was a kid; he's the carpenter's son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. 

If this is the case then we are dealing with someone who knew Christ exceptionally well, someone who would have heard His teachings often and spent a lot of time with our Saviour. Jude, James and the family of Jesus would have know Him and His teachings and would, in my opinion, be worth listening too.

So we know who is writing this letter, that he has a deep faith and the peace that comes with it, that he wants to share this faith and peace with all followers. But what is it he actually wants to say to us, what is the point of this letter?

This letter is a stark and clear warning, it pulls no punches. After a short and warm introduction it dives straight into the point of the letter. 

Jude 1:3  

    Dear friends, I've dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting-begging!-that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish. 

We see here that the author feels so strongly about the point of this letter that he has dropped everything. Not only that but he has been driven to insist, nay beg the readers to not just fight, but fight with all they have for their shared faith. I don't know about anyone else but as I read this passage, Jude, I get a sense of great love, love like that of an elder sibling who is desperately trying to help his younger siblings see the truth. The relationship I have with my older brother is not always great but there is one thing I know. I can always rely on, the fact he will always look out for me and my well being, that he will always give me straight, honest and good advice. That is the sense I get from this letter, it is someone older and more mature in the faith pleading with his younger faith siblings to see the truth and follow the right path.

The warning in this letter is about people. Not just any people but those who want to use the Church and the faith for their own gain. Jude is desperately trying to warn us against them. People who will look all holy and pious on the outside but are actually just using the Church for their own advancement and earthly betterment. Most of this letter is a series of references to similar cases in the past as recorded in the Bible. This is as much for the warnings and reminders of what happened in these stories as much as it is to illustrate the problem. Know your past else you will be doomed to repeat it.

Jude 1:14-19   

    Enoch, the seventh after Adam, prophesied of them: "Look! The Master comes with thousands of holy angels to bring judgment against them all, convicting each person of every defiling act of shameless sacrilege, of every dirty word they have spewed of their pious filth." These are the "grumpers," the bellyachers, grabbing for the biggest piece of the pie, talking big, saying anything they think will get them ahead. 

    But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: "In the last days there will be people who don't take these things seriously anymore. They'll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts." These are the ones who split churches, thinking only of themselves. There's nothing to them, no sign of the Spirit!

This problem was foreseen and forewarned by a number of people, people including Christ! It is a tactic well used by the enemy, to infiltrate and subvert. The enemy is not above using any technique to serve his purpose and complete his self ordained mission against God. He will use anyone and everything he can to try and defeat us and to turn us against our Lord and Saviour. And because of that these warnings from Jude, echoed in 2nd Peter and also in I, II and III John, need to be heeded. If this threat was not so great why would there be so many warnings for us.

However this letter is not just a warning, it does provide us with advice on how to avoid falling into this trap, about how to prevent this from happening in our Church.

Jude 1:20-21 

    But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God's love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life! 

If we have accepted Christ and have the Holy Spirit within us we will be protected, if we pray always and keep ourselves within God's love then we will be kept safe. But not only that if we fail there is the knowledge that if we go to Christ we can receive mercy and be given the true life in Christ, unending life. There will be many battles, we may lose a few. But if we are firm in Christ we can sure win the war.

The next two verses are possibly my current favourite verses in the whole Bible, it is something that through experience I know to be true and something I am trying hard to work into my life. 

Jude 1:22-23   

    Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven. 

The job I do brings me into close contact with many people who have sinned, some of them in the most horrendous ways. It is a daily struggle for me to act in a Christian way towards these people when I know the extent and form of these sins. But right here it gives us directions to follow, be tough on sin because the sin stinks in the most offensive way. God hates sin, he hates everything about it, but he loves us and wants us to be free of that sin. He asks that we as followers help those who have not yet found His love through Christ. We should be tender with the sinner themselves, we should try and nurture whatever good is in them and show them through our actions the life they can have through Christ if they but accept His love and follow Him. We have to remember Jesus Himself did not spend His time with those who were right with God. He went right to the people who were the worst, the least, the people society wanted nothing to do with. As followers of Christ we should be following this example and going to these outcasts and bringing them into Jesus' fold. We should be working with those the world wants nothing to do with, go love the unlovable as Christ would.

And at last that brings us to the end of the letter, Jude's doxology, his hymn of praise to our Father. It is a fantastic end that is befitting a letter with such a wonderful beginning. In my opinion it is up there amongst some of the greatest words written and I can think of no better way to finish this post. If it was good enough for Jude's letter then it is more than good enough for Sam's blog. I hope you enjoyed reading this post please leave any comments below and also check out the corresponding blog written by my friend here.

Jude 1:24-25 (KJV)  

    Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. 

Halloween

So last night was Halloween, I wonder how many of you guys were part of the "celebrations". Did you go to a themed party? Take the kids out trick or treating? Did you go out and take part in the festivities that have grown up around this night which is intimately tied in with paganism and the devil. I wonder how many little children donned horns tails and pitchforks last night?

Some people might say, what does it matter, one day in the year when children are allowed to dress up, have fun and eat for too many sweets. With the exception of increased dental cavities surely none. But are we in danger of trivialising the enemy and his works. Are we creating a caricature of the devil and kidding ourselves that he has no power. If we are then we should be worried because it is then when he will have his greatest power, when we assume he has none.

I'll admit it though, this year I did attend a Halloween party, I carved a pumpkin and took part in a slightly "spooky" evening. But This is not an issue if we are aware of the enemy, as long as we do not trivialise him. The best thing to do is to use a situation like this to your advantage. For example Saturday night I had a wonderful chance to evangelise to a group of young adults who have no faith. In a setting of a student house which had been decorated to be "spooky", surrounded by people dressed as devils and other pagan costumes and where copious amounts of alcohol were being consumed I was able to freely talk about my faith and my Saviour.

Being in a setting where these people felt comfortable, where they did not feel threatened by my words we were able to have a constructive and in depth conversation about the Church and Jesus. Because no one felt uncomfortable there was no feelings of being under attack or forced upon and this led to some interesting discussions. I wont claim that anyone "saw the light" or was saved by my input on Saturday, but I have no doubt that they saw a side of Christianity that was new to them. No miraculous conversions were made but all parties involved in the conversation expressed that they had a much better view and understanding of the Church as a result.

Like I said earlier on Halloween itself is not an issue, lack of knowledge and understanding is. Ignorance is something we should confront head on and try to do something about always. But remember God's power too, the enemy may be strong, but he is nothing compared to our God! The power of our Father can be used to turn things back on the enemy if we are aware of Him. As long as we remember that we are God's people and in all things we honour Him then we can not go wrong. Just do not forget that the enemy will strike when we ignore his power or let our guards down.

I just want to leave you with a daily verse from a website I read regularly, the verse posted for Halloween. Please check it out here, daily verses with a short though.

James 2:19
     You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder.

Responding no matter what

Isaiah 66:5  
        But listen to what God has to say
            to you who reverently respond to his Word:
        "Your own families hate you
            and turn you out because of me.
        They taunt you, 'Let us see God's glory!
            If God's so great, why aren't you happy?'
        But they're the ones
            who are going to end up shamed."

If God is calling then there is nothing else that you can do and be happy and fulfilled. God made each one of us and He made us for a plan, if we don't follow it we will be going against what we were made to be. Because we are human though there is often doubt in our minds and many things tempt us away from the path. The enemy puts many obstacles in our paths. If we are truly for God then we will follow His commands no matter what, even if your own family ends up hating you. As Christians we will be subject to taunting and attacks prompted by the enemy who is desperate to get us to turn away from God.

No matter what happens in life following God is the best and greatest thing any of us can do. It may not always be nice, it may not always be easy. In the end however you will be rewarded for your loyalty and service when our Saviour welcomes you in to His Father's house.

It's not just God who is calling

I have been thinking about the things I want in life. This is mostly because I have been thinking heavily about my past and my prospective future. I know there are two routes I could take, two very clear and very different routes. I know on the one hand God is calling me to do something very different from what I have been doing in my life so far. And on the other has been the life I thought I wanted, the one I have spent years preparing for. There is the saying that if you are not for God you are against God. And therefore it follows that if you are not working for God then you are working against Him. So I can follow God's calling and do the work He wants me to do or I can go the other way and do what I want.

The thought that triggered this line of logic was one about my past. I was feeling nostalgic again for my past life, wanting what I had and was taken away from me.

Then the thought hit me, the last thing that the enemy wants is for us to follow God's calling in our lives. And so the enemy is calling us, calling us to do anything but what God wants us to do. He knows he can never win the war and so he is doing everything he can to win each battle. He is using everything at his disposal to stop us following God's plan. There is nothing he will not do, nothing he will not try in order to steal us away from God. I wrote a post awhile ago called Why does the enemies side seem so good? and the thing is often it does seem very good. Jesus never promised us an easy life, He never once told us it would be plain sailing. In fact He specifically told us the opposite, that we would be hated and persecuted because we love Him. The enemy plays on this and offers us things in this life that seem good, fun and fulfilling. The truth is though that these things are empty, even good works are empty if they are not done for God and His glory.

So what are we to make of all of this? Are we working against God every time we do something we want, or something that makes us happy now? I think that this is not the case, God does want us to be happy in this life, he does want the best for us. But He also wants us to want to do His will, and that sometimes requires sacrifice. As Christians we are called to be like Jesus. Look at His life, look at the way He lived and acted. It is certainly not an easy life, it is anything but a life chasing worldly joys. Even so we do not need to deny ourselves of every pleasure in life, as long as we know them for what they are. If it is not sinful and done in a God honouring way, and we thank God for it the pleasurable things in life are perfectly acceptable. If this is not the case though it plays right into the enemies hands, and as I said earlier, he will use any advantage he can find.

We often talk about God calling us to service or God's plans, but as Christians these days we often shy away from talk of the enemy. Why is this? Surely the best way to fight an enemy is to know him and be prepared for his attacks. We should be aware of the enemy, be aware of his plans for us. He does not want our salvation or for us to enter Heaven. Every day he will be calling to us, tempting us away from the things we should be doing. Using our desires and worldly dreams to distract us from the path we have been set upon by God.

I am sure there is much doctrine and scripture that I could quote in this post, but to be honest I don not see a need. We know the enemy is evil, we know he hates God. With this hatred comes a desire for him to destroy as much of Gods creation as he can. We can easily read of his ways in the Bible and see his actions in the world. But the greatest weapons we have against him are firstly God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, if we love God, follow Jesus and have the Holy Spirit within us the enemy can not win us. Secondly if we are aware of his desire to steal us from God then we will be aware of his attacks in our lives. When this happens we can then turn to God and ask for help. In all things first look to God.

Job - How would you handle it (Part 9) The finale

Or at least the finish anyway.

If you want to read the previous Job posts please follow these links 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8.

I was discussing the case of Job with a minister recently and we had quite a long conversation about it. One of the points of discussion we had was about why God would allow all of this to happen to one of His faithful followers and why He would be for want of a better phrase at a party with the enemy. The minister I was talking with then told me about a theory there is about the book of Job. There is a school of thought that the book of Job is not a historical story about an actual man, but rather that it is a parable. Now for me personally this would make more sense. The dealings with the enemy, the willingness of God to allow the enemy to destroy His faithful servant.

Parables are a common feature in the Bible and for me take nothing away from the message contained within. There are parts of the Bible where the only way God could have passed on His knowledge is in the form of stories and parables. There is no way we can know the mind of God, there is no way to know the plans of God. Yet through these stories He can pass on a message to us, give us a small piece of understanding so that we may be everything He wants us to be. Jesus Himself often taught in parables because the only way people would understand His message would be if they could picture it with an example. But for me, parable or not really does not make too much difference. What matters is the message God is trying to send to us.

So what is the message that can be taken from Job. Well there really is no simple answer, there are many lessons to be taken from this book, it all depends on the depth to which you read it and meditate on it. However there is one message that stands out and can be read no matter how deep you go. God is an awesome God, there is nothing that the enemy can do that God can not undo. It tells us that no matter how much the enemy attacks you or how far the enemy pulls you down, belief in God can protect us in the long run. If we always remember to glorify God at all times, if we remember that God is always worth of praise then He will provide for us. No matter what the enemy throws at you in life if we give our lives and hearts to God then He will always come through for us. Anything the enemy tries to take away from us the Lord will return many times over.

This series has been a little bit of a labour of love, but I have enjoyed writing it, I hope you have enjoyed reading it. I hope to attempt another series at some point in the future, if anyone has any ideas for books to look at please let me know on jerrathorn@gmail.com or by leaving a comment.

Proverbs 5:3-6

Proverbs 5:3-6
        The lips of a seductive woman are oh so sweet,
            her soft words are oh so smooth.
        But it won't be long before she's gravel in your mouth,
            a pain in your gut, a wound in your heart.
        She's dancing down the primrose path to Death;
            she's headed straight for Hell and taking you with her.
        She hasn't a clue about Real Life,
            about who she is or where she's going.

I have talked before about how the Bible is an incredibly personal book and that at times when reading it there can be passages that seem to be written just for you. Sometimes it is a passage that is relevant to your life right now, other times it is as if god is highlighting features of your past in order to teach you something.

Recently there have been a number of instances where my past has been highlighted to me. These include the posts Why does the Enemies side seem so good? Self reflection - Where are you at and The Reason. The 5 years I ran away from the Church can be almost perfectly summed up by Proverbs 5:3-6.

In the beginning I was amazingly happy with her, everything was going great, I didn't need anyone or anything else, especially not God. He had done nothing for me in my life except waste every Sunday. I was much better off doing my own thing and being happy doing so. But as Proverbs 5:3-6 says, it was not long until it all went sour and became a source of huge pain. I was plunging headlong into disaster and Hell. Together we were heading for destruction and neither of us knew how, why or how to prevent it.

In the end I was rescued from this inevitable fate because of God. Although I had forgotten Him, He never forgot or gave up on me. Despite the fact that there was almost no way to place myself further from Him, He continually watched over me until the time was right. And at that time He moved in and began rebuilding my life. He placed me in an amazing Church with fantastic friends and provided for me daily. Even though the trials I faced after returning to the Church were greater they seemed smaller and not so dark as I had help through it all. In all things God has been there and provided for me both materially and spiritually when there was no way to survive on my own. Because of this I am now in the position where I am happy to offer everything I have materially and spiritually to Him. These things came from God and in thanks to Him I am now offering them back to Him to use as He will. God still has a lot to teach me and has many tasks for me to fulfil, I know that with Him I have a very interesting life ahead of me.

I do have some blog news to share, the Job series is finally complete. I finished writing the last post today which will be posted on Monday at 6pm GMT, I hope you enjoy it.