Things I Learnt

Not to believe God is restricted by my small theology.

Calm Down

Here are some scriptures about being radically uncluttered:

"This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength" (Isaiah 30v15, NIV)

"You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you" (2 Chronicles 20v17, NKJV) Jesus has already won the battle.

"Stand in awe and sin not; commune with your own heart on your bed, and be still. Selah." (Psalm 4v4, KJV)

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody" (1 Thessalonians 4v11-12, NIV)

Peace.

Sad Beauty

I was sitting on the train this evening between Manchester and Leamington, feeling sorry for myself with a swollen jaw and insuring myself holy points for the day to make up for missing the morning service by listening to a sermon on my iPod on 'awareness of sin'. The passage was about Jesus when he ate at Simon's house and Simon gave no water for Jesus' feet and no oil for his head, but the immoral woman washed Jesus with her tears and her perfume. The preacher showed how Simon was not aware of his sin, he was a Pharisee, a morally upright guy who was looked up to by society as a religious zealot. But the woman was known for who she was, which was probably a prostitute. She knew exactly how sinful she was, and was thankful in accordance. Jesus tells the parable of the two men, one who owed about £4,000 (in modern terms) and the other £40,000. Who loved the gracious debtor more?

This is not the point of why I am writing. Whilst listening to this sermon, I was looking out the window. I always notice how trains run through some of the most beautiful desolate British countryside. I have been blessed this weekend to see some beautiful sights with some beautiful people, and these days I find myself just gazing and thanking God that He is so gracious to bless sinners such as myself, knowing how I have thrown myself on idols and committed adultery with false gods, just like the immoral woman.

As well as this revelation of God's grace in natural beauty, I was struck by two films this weekend. God keeps bringing things to me in pairs. The first film was 'Revolutionary Road', and the second 'The Blindness', both recent films. I won't bore you with an amateur synopsis of either. Both films made me realise how the human race appreciates films with unhappy endings, and it is most often these films which win Oscars, or are treated as 'serious' films, whilst happy endings are seen as trivial and light entertainment. That's a massive generalisation of course. But I will hypothesise that films with unhappy endings ring a bell with people because life itself is bittersweet, and these films reflect that reality.

This led me to think about how you can sum up the whole world as Sad Beauty. The world that God has given us, and I do not now simply talk of sunsets, mountains, coral reefs and sunshine, but marriage, honest work, family, animals, artistic talents. This world is beautiful - we are made in God's image, he has blessed us with all these things. This is the Beauty. The Sadness is the sin which takes all of these things and corrupts them. It takes the mountains and turns them to avalanches which kill holidaymakers. It takes the ocean and turns it into tidal waves and fierce storms. It takes marriages and demeans them with extramarital sex. It takes artistic talents and turns them into abhorrent monstrosities and nightmare visions. It takes family and rips it apart. It devours everything eventually with death. This is the Sadness.

After thinking this, I thought that no, it is only a Sad Beauty for those who do not have the Hope. For those who have the certain knowledge of a home in heaven and a Saviour who has defeated the grave once and for all, it is a Beautiful Sadness, and that sadness is temporary and fleeting. It will end when our mortal bodies shut down, or when Jesus descends in perfect and awful judgment on the Final Day.

"this is the new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us through the sacred curtain, by means of his death for us" (10v20).

On Real Prayer and Obesity

These past two days, I have been reading Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, which is a devotional book, where Spurgeon takes a verse and writes about 500 words on it, one for the morning, and a second to be read in the evening, two for each day of the year. I always find it encouraging, more so than any other devotional aid I have used. The passages for last night and this morning have particularly impressed upon me the dangers of apathy and a lukewarm faith. I would like to share my thoughts on these verses, and pray that the Word of God will have the supernatural changing effect on the listener that is necessary to live in the fulness of His plan.

July 2nd (evening) - "To You I call, O Lord my Rock. Do not turn a deaf ear to me! For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit". (Psalm 28v1)

It is useless to cry out for help to any other than God. Who can help us in our time of need other than the originator and author of our souls? Spurgeon speaks of 'mere formalists' who may be content with simply the act of prayer, and feel good about themselves for performing a religious ritual, and how different they are from the 'genuine suppliant', who is not content with God's silence, but must hear an answer. I wonder how often I truly strive in prayer to hear an answer from God, or whether too often I simply pray nonchalantly at a time that is convenient for me because I am doing nothing 'more important', and think 'well it would be nice if God answers, but I'm not expecting too much'. I keep getting the image of Elijah, who when he prayed for rain, sat down with his head between his knees (not the most comfortable position), and prayed seven times for God to send rain on Samaria. We see the persistent widow in Luke 18, who keeps persisting in approaching the judge until he gives her an answer. Jesus says "will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night?". We cannot be content with praying just to gain a self-comforting peace of mind. We should strive to hear from the God who will not ignore those whom He has chosen from eternity past!

July 3rd (morning) - "And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows" (Genesis 41v4)

Spurgeon shares his thoughts in this passage about times of famine and times of plenty in his personal relationship with God. He talks about the times of drought as of when he backslides, and does not seek fresh stores of heavenly grain. He talks about the times of plenty as when he is soaked in the scripture, and in line with the Holy Spirit. I find it encouraging that a man so greatly used by God freely admits that he too had times of self-inflicted spiritual dryness. It serves to show more of the magnitude of God's grace, that He would use such broken vessels as you and I for His purposes! We need to seek to be fat in spirit from the meadows of God's revelation, by His Spirit, by His Word, and by striving in prayer and listening.

I trust that God will listen to your earnest prayers and keep you sharp to guard against the danger of leanness.

Eyelashes are Important

When did life not consist of
Sex, cigarettes, the next round of applause?
It's false and results in obvious flaws.

There's liberating freedom in the place you were meant for,
But not freedom that should entail a need to create more
Distance between you and the God who made you,
It's one thing to label and another to know.

So quit while you're ahead, look not to yourself,
But above and around and inside for the help
To live your life well with wisdom and scope
To bring salt and light and give others the Hope.

The Art

"I will fulfil my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people" - Psalm 116

These (two) verses from Psalm 116 struck me today, for various reasons. But that is not what I want to write about.

God is sovereign.

I can be a rather cynical person, and when it comes to the more amazing workings of the Holy Spirit, this cynicism tends to be somewhere in the background (or sometimes in the foreground). This is probably a mixture of my experiences and my previous teachings in a cessationalist church. God keeps gently nudging me out of my cynicism and further into liberating realisations that He is not confined to doctrine, to theology or some next man's four-walled interpretations. This is not to say that a small amount of cynicism is not healthy.

But to repeat, God is sovereign.

I mention this because the cynical portion of me reared his head on Sunday morning. We were asked to pray for God to show us a picture of something (an item of clothing, a face, an object, maybe all of these or none of these) related to a person whom He wanted us to talk to in the following week. I will admit to not putting much stock in such suggestions, not because I don't believe God can do it, but because I'm not used to seeing Him work in that way. This time I prayed, however, and got a very clear picture of a man's tshirt / jumper. As it was so clear, I immediately thought that I must have seen somebody in church wearing the top, but I looked around after praying and realised that the person I thought may have been wearing it was wearing a plain black cardigan.

Monday and Tuesday came and went (with some very welcome distractions including an impromptu trip to Chester, being interviewed on the street about the male pill, and two full English breakfasts).

After the second breakfast (I have two breakfasts every day) on Wednesday morning, I walked out of the salubrious Gemini's cafe, bid goodbye to Dave and wandered homeward, enjoying the sunshine and thinking about where I could hand my CV in. Then who walks past but a guy wearing the very tshirt I'd seen in my head on Sunday. No question. So I stood on the corner for a while, deciding that I couldn't conscientiously pray for opportunities to serve God and then ignore them when they arise. So I walked back down the Oxford Road and after about 7 minutes caught up with him. I proceeded to freak him out, but hopefully God will take hold of His life and not let him go.

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. The Lord works out everything for his own ends" - Proverbs 16

Saturday 11th August: Living to Tell the Tale

"From a very early age, I´ve had to interrupt my education to go to school" - G.B. Shaw

What books are worth reading? Only those which you can read, and when finished, say that your understanding has been added to? Probably, but this leaves a vast array of reasons for reading. Escapism itself adds to understanding, if it only provides a relapse from the everyday which reinvigorates one´s perspective on life. Then there are those books which are defined Classics, or fashionably cultish authors (Marquez, Guevara, Camus - those whom communists, hippies or poseurs will say they read). If for no other reason than to be familiar with a noted artist´s work, these are worth reading, if not for the subtexts of philosophy, hedonism, cigarettes, alternative viewpoints, etc...

But what use is it for me to read Vonnegut and feign enjoyment? If it was to pass an exam or to impress a girl, maybe it would be worth the effort. But an education in itself?

The Gloaming

“It should be common in our churches to see people weeping in worship, overwhelmed at the sheer mercy of God. It should be common to hear people singing at the tops of their voices, passionately expressing the love that God has lavished upon us. It should be common to see people dancing like lunatics, freely and with abandon, responding to God’s salvation. It should be common to see people rapt in silence, lost in wonder, completely transfixed at the transcendence of our God. We have an amazing God, and our worship should be real, honest, authentic, engaged, expressive, and wholehearted; we should be holding nothing back.”

- Tim Hughes