The Smile That Drives Personal Clouds Away

This is probably the cloudiest time in human history. I don't mean the clouds associated with climate change but the kind of clouds that bring a gloom to the human heart. It strikes me as very odd indeed that in the era of the most highly educated and enlightened people in all history, the best solutions they can offer to this growing cloudy gloom only attempt to address the symptoms and not its cause. If you feel like your head, heart, and soul are cloudy, I would like to offer an ancient time-tested and proven solution.

As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man. Proverbs 27:19

People hide their clouds. It requires the wearing of masks. Masks can look like a smile, a laugh, fresh make-up, a new set of clothes, busy-ness, or new toys. But masks do not rid anyone of their clouds. Many people confuse their cloud-symptoms (sadness, worry, insecurity, embarrassment, tiredness) with cause of the cloudiness. Consequently they believe their ache is alleviated by fulfilling their quest to be happy. In fact, in this cloudiest time in history it seems that many younger people have been lured to believe that happiness is the goal to life. Most alarmingly is the way young Christians now mingle the pursuit of happiness with God's will for their lives. 

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.Matthew 5:30

In past few weeks I have been saddened by several Christians justifying their unbiblical choices with the defence, "God wouldn't want me to be unhappy." Was Jesus always happy? Did Jesus teach that our happiness was the ultimate goal for our lives? Could it be that following Christ might have to be done in adverse circumstances which naturally are not conducive to our happiness? Based on what we read in Scripture, can we conclude that God wouldn't ever want us to endure unhappiness?

Even in laughter the heart may ache,
and the end of joy may be grief.
Proverbs 14:13

Happiness has become an idol for many people. This false god might offer fleeting pleasure, but it comes with an eternal price-tag. It fills its worshipers with lust and the delusion that satisfying this illegitimate lust is integral to their true identity. Worshiping this false god will always bring clouds to a person's heart, mind and soul. It's important for the follower of Jesus to understand that God's will and desire for you is to be saved and holy - and this may mean temporary unhappiness due to the sacrifices which have to be made to follow Christ. You could therefore be living the most virtuous life in following Christ and not be happy all the time. But because holiness through knowing and beholding God in His Word is the goal of life, this doesn't trouble the believer like it does the worshipers of Happiness. Sadly, sometimes it's too late for many idol worshipers of Happiness to realise that their idol does not, cannot, has not, will not, ever delivered true, lasting, soul-soothing, abiding happiness. This kind of happiness and cloud-clearing can only come from seeking first God and His Kingdom in our lives (Matthew 6:33). This is why the true believer gladly worships Jesus and follows Him faithfully through whatever cloudy storms and difficulties life may force us to endure. When John Sammis realised this, he wrote that it was the smile of Jesus toward a trusting obedient child of God that would quickly drive away all clouds...

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.  

Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. 

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.  

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.  

But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.  

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we'll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey. 

If you want to know the secret to having personal clouds driven away, you'll discover what John Henry Sammis did over a century ago: it's in bringing a smile to Jesus. Sammis shares a profound Biblical insight into how this canb be done in his famous hymn - "Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, but His smile quickly drives it away; not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear, can abide while we trust and obey."

Lord God,
We ask you to forgive us for when we have not trusted or obeyed You. Forgive us for pursuing things, pleasures, relationships or achievements instead of seeking You. Help us to grow our trust in You through a growing knowledge of Your Word. Help us to trust You in the midst of life's storms and near over-whelming disappointments. Lord, help us to obey You - to avoid what You forbid, even though we crave it - and to do what You require of us, even though we lack the courage to do it. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Ps. Andrew

NOT WHAT WE ONCE WERE

When Paul wrote to the Turkish Christians in Colossae, he was writing as a redeemed man to redeemed people. This is what Jesus does. He redeems. He takes broken lives and heals them. He takes lost lives and directs them. He takes loveless lives and adopts them. He takes enemies and makes them His friends. Jesus redeems. Paul reminded the Colossians about their redemption by Christ and it's good for us to be reminded of ours too.

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins

Colossians 1:14

Everyday you pass by hundreds, if not thousands, of broken, lost, lonely, angry, people. These people are torn. They intuitively know that they are not at peace with God - and yet they are very wary of the Church. Who can blame them? Some people in some churches have been very poor ambassadors for Christ and have even been, at times, misrepresentations of Christ. Some. Not all. Not most. Not even the majority. Some. For the most part, most Christians in most churches were once-fallen once-broken once-lost once-unloved once-angry people, who have now been redeemed. These redeemed followers of Christ still struggle, still stumble, still fail - yet they are being transformed. They are no longer who they once were.

¶ We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,

Colossians 1:3-4 

When Jesus redeems someone they feel different about others. Where they once felt indifferent they begin to feel a growing interest and love for others - especially their brothers and sisters. It's too easy in a Me-Centred World to be fooled into thinking that we only give our love to those who love us. This is conditional love. Too many people are loveless, not because they are not loved, but because they are difficult to love when they themselves do not give love. Jesus didn't become incarnate to be loved. He came to earth to love. He loves unconditionally. He loves limitlessly. Yet, we now love Him because He first loved us (1John 4:19). Christ's work of redemption transforms a human heart. It dramtically affects how and when we show love. This love from Jesus is different to earthly/natural love. It is a God-love called agapé. Agapé love is selfless love. Agapé love gives expecting nothing in return. It is described in First Corinthians 13. It doesn't have an ulterior motive. It gives and gives and gives. When I prepare a couple for marriage I try and try and try to give them a vision of this kind of love. I rarely succeed. I remind them that they are about to vow "to love...for better or for worse". I ask them if they still want to proceed with the wedding despite the eternal enormity of this vow. Only occasionally have I seen one of them hesitate in answering which gives me some glimmer of hope that they may have caught just a brief glimpse of what they are about to vow. I try to explain that this is agapé love that never gives up (1Cor. 13:1-4). It is the kind of love that is demonstrated before and sometimes even despite of the feelings of love. It is how God has loved us and demonstrated it by redeeming us. Our love from God is first an action then a feeling. It causes us to roll our sleeves up to help another person.

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 
First John 3:17

Paul reminds the Colossians that the means of their redemption was the Gospel. It was upon hearing the Gospel that their hearts were transformed. 

because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,
Colossians 1:5

The Gospel calls people to accept the truth. It requires of us that we accept the truth about ourselves. This takes unnatural humility to admit that we are rebellious, wayward sinners. It requires that we accept the truth about God being the holy, just, and loving Creator. It confronts us with our need for a Saviour and that this Saviour is Jesus the Christ. The Gospel declares that our salvation is provided unconditionally by God as an act of His grace. The Gospel then summons us to respond to this offer of grace. And the Gospel of a loving, giving, sacrificial Saviour motivates us to bear fruit that glorifies God.

...the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,
Colossians 1:5b-6

ONCE PROUD NOW HUMBLE

Jesus wants His followers to be blessed and effective at whatever they are called to do. He has ensured every possible means for this to happen: His Word, His Ministers and His Church. 

just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf
Colossians 1:7

For these means of success to be realised, it requires the follower of Christ to adopt a posture of humility. This too is a major component of our newly redeemed life. Once we were proud, angry, envious and unforgiving. But Jesus has redeemed us. His Spirit within us enables us to humbly walk after Christ by applying the Word of God prayerfully to our souls (who can read Romans 12:1-3 and not be humbled?). His Spirit enables us to humbly receive direction, correction and instruction from God's appointed ministers who steward His Word to His people. And the Holy Spirit places the believer into a local church where the graces of God are ministered to, through, and by the fellow members of this local assembly of believers. Paul told the Colossians that their redemption was being made effective as they learned about the grace of God they had received and loved one another with the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
Colossians 1:8 

KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING

God's primary concern for you is not your happiness - it's your fruitfulness. You can only begin to reach your potential as a human being by being redeemed by Christ. Once redeemed, God is able to redeem your past - your past failures, your past mistakes, your past regrets - He redeems all of you! It was the Apostle's prayer for the Colossians that they grew in their understanding of what it meant to be redeemed. 

¶ And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Colossians 1:9

Paul had already told the redeemed Colossians how God brought about this - by being taught the Word of Grace from God's appointed ministers of Grace. He now prays that it will happen in a blessed way. Added to this he prays that they might also be given wisdom (knowing how to apply this knowledge for the benefit of themselves and others) and understanding (a deepening sense of trust in God amidst the times of intense confusion of what God is doing and why He might be doing it). Knowledge, wisdom and understanding are the graces to Christian maturity for the redeemed.

so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
Colossians 1:10

I pray this prayer for my own life. And like any prayer we pray to God for our hearts to be conformed to His, the opportunities for God to positively answer it come when I find it most difficult to do so. The virtues of godliness listed in Second Peter chapter 1 can only be experienced where there is opposition to them. I can only truly develop the virtue of steadfastness when I am feeling like quitting (2Pet. 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 2Pet. 1:6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 2Pet. 1:7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love). I can only acquire the maturing virtue of love when I am sorely tried by hard-to-love people. I wonder how different our city would look if all the redeemed of God walked in a manner worthy of the Lord being fully pleasing to Him who also were bearing fruit in every good work? My hunch is: different. 

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,Colossians 1:11-13 

Those Christ has redeemed are no longer who they once were. They have received a supernatural strength from God and even though their circumstances are adverse they are enabled to endure and be patient with joy. And Paul has said all this so that he could remind the Colossians of this - 

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:14 

In other words, we are not who we once were. And as we continue to follow Christ, we will not be who we currently are. We are redeemed by the Redeeming God. This the God who hears our cries, sees our tears, and knows our thoughts. He knows what's been done to us. He knows what we've done. He knows where we hurt and why we do so. And despite our brokenness, lostness, ugliness, He has redeemed us and loved us. And now He works by His Spirit to strengthen us, bless us, and make us into highly fruitful vessels of His love. We are no longer what we once were. We are redeemed.

Ps. Andrew

GOD'S TWO-FOLD DESIRE

What does God want? Theologians will quickly refer us to the aseity of God and remind us that God does not  need anything. Yet, we might respond to these doctors of the Queen of the Sciences by pointing out that we didn't ask about God's needs but rather His wants or desires. In the New Testament there are three desires of God revealed, but one of these is actually a two-fold desire. Understanding this might help us to realise what the Enemy of God is vigorously working to undermine and prevent. And it might help us to see that the first of these desires can only be achieved if we simultaneously work on the second.

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ JesusFirst Timothy 2:3-5

Firstly, God desires all people to be saved. While most Evangelists depict being saved as "going to heaven" or even as "not going to hell", it is not merely about our after-life climate (perfect or blazing hot!) that being saved entails. Rather, and if you can apprehend this, it will transform your understanding about God and His plan for you, it is about being reconciled to God through the forgiveness made possible by Christ's substitutionary atonement (His death on the Cross in our place). But this is not all. Being reconciled to God goes way beyond just having our sins forgiven. God not only forgives those He reconciles, He also justifies us with Christ's righteousness. This is not merely fancy religious language - it's legal language. It means that we are eternally deemed to be sinless and thus qualified by Christ to be adopted as God's children. 

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"Romans 8:15  

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 
Galatians 4:4-5

This paramount desire of God to save all people is not involuntarily imposed upon people - each person must choose to turn to God for this forgiveness of their sins, have the meriting of the legal status of innocence and be adopted as a child of God. This enables the creature created in the image of God to have fellowship with their Creator. He desires this! He wants us to love Him and experience His love! But being saved also involves receiving an inheritance that jointly belongs to Christ, His only begotten (not created) Son. Our salvation means we become joint-heirs with Christ!

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 
Romans 8:16-17

God's desire to save all people involves forgiveness of sins, justification, adoption as children of God, an infinitely valuable inheritance which grants us immediate and unimpeded access to God Himself anytime, and the hope of a new, glorified, super body that will never tire, expire, or perspire! For those who refuse God's offer of salvation - the consequences are eternally dire. Eternally. God does not desire that any should eternally perish. And neither should we. 

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
Luke 13:5
¶ "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

AND TO COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH

As much as God wants all people to be saved, He simultaneously wants all people to come to the knowledge of the truth. This is the second half of God's two-fold desire. This Divine Two-fold Desire is not an "or" - it's an "and". When a lost lamb turns back to the Searching Good Shepherd they become aware of the truth in a way they weren't before. They also become increasingly compelled by God's desire to help others to know the truth.

In a very compelling presentation called Christianity and The Problem of Popular Culture, Dr. John M. Reynolds (of BIOLA University) makes the case that through the 19th century people valued truth - especially Christians. In fact, Christians were more often than not the promoters of truth in popular culture throughout the early 1800s. But then naturalists (those who rejected the supernatural including God) began to claim that there were different kinds of truth and relegated Christians to promoting only "a religious truth" rather than the truth. Truth was being dumbed down. Around this time Charles Darwin published Origins Of The Species and increasingly Christians were regarded as intellectually backward and subject to ridicule. Careful thinking, once a hallmark of Christianity, became increasingly neglected as the Church appealed to people to come to Christ by not thinking but rather taking a step of faith - as if faith was wishful thinking rather than careful and truthful thinking. The 20th century saw the invention of film and the rise of the entertainment industry - which began to amuse people. Where once culture drew its recreation from reading, it had begun to value amusement over reflection as its source of recreation. People used to read Dickens, Tolstoy, and Verne, around the family's nightly fireside gathering. Thoughtful Christians down through the centuries had made Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, their sources of theological reflection, but into the 20th Century along with popular culture amusement became prized over musement (thoughtfulness). 

Dr Reynolds sees an analogy between what people think about, with what people eat. He asks whether there is anything wrong with eating food which tastes really nice but has no nutritional value? He concludes, no. He calls this type of "food" 'yum yum'. Modern culture has largely become addicted to a diet of intellectual yum yum. This is reflected in "pop" songs, "pop" movies, and "pop" video clips. He goes on to say that this presents a huge problem for the Church today. He's not bemoaning culture's craving for yum yum (as many sour Christians do). Rather, he's trying to get the Church to realise that we are now trying to reach a culture that is not familiar with careful thinking or the nature of truth. He suggests that Christians "slowly educate" their friends and colleagues about the truth and careful thinking, so that they can eventually share the Gospel with them. Readers will note that this is precisely the second half of the Divine Twofold Desire.

Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.Isaiah 59:14 

This is why we must persist in defending the truth about God, the Bible, salvation through Christ alone, sexuality, marriage, the dignity of human life, and freedom to worship. We do this, not to win an argument, but to remove the obstacles to winning a soul. The Gospel is grounded in truth. Christians need to be prepared to use "truth language" when responding to those who ask us why we are Christians and why we believe the Bible. Rather than simply responding, "I believe the Bible because I believe it's the Word of God" we could use 'truth language' and respond, "I believe the Bible is God's Word because there are good reasons for believing so." People aren't used to hearing Christians using words like- "reasons", "evidence", "proof", "reliable sources", and "historical data".

As believers we can enjoy yum yum too. But if that's all we are feeding our minds on, we won't be in a position to fulfil the second part of God's twofold desire. 

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect
First Peter 3:15

As a church we want to help equip each of our church family to fulfil God's twofold desire by being committed to helping people come to a saving knowledge of Christ while simultaneously affirming the truth to a world that thinks truth is determined by each individual. For the Christian truth is not merely about correct facts. Truth is firstly an integral attribute of God. Jesus declared Himself to be "the Truth" (Jn. 14:6). Truth is instrinsically beautiful ('glorious', John 1:14). Truth involves doing right (Rom. 2:8; Gal. 5:7). Truth corresponds to reality. And truth can be verified - that is, it can be put to the test (1Thess. 5:21). We need to help our friends and colleagues understand the truth. This may take a while, but it may also help them to appreciate that Christians love the truth and that faith in Christ is the result of careful thinking - not the absence of it. By doing this, we are working toward the goal of satisfying God's great twofold desire.

Ps. Andrew

To Hear You Must Get Closer

THE GENTLE RHYTHMIC POUNDING

The Son of God told a story to those who also called God "Father" about a Father who had two sons. The first son was asked to go and he said he would but he didn't. The second son was also asked to go and he said that he wouldn't but he did. Jesus asked, "Which one did the will of his Father?" And asking the same question a different way He might have asked, Which one felt his Father's heart more?

Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.Matthew 21:31 

When King David had won the heart of his men they went off into battle and in a brief moment of respite David let out an ever so-feint sigh. His closest comrades where his mightiest soldiers and all three of them were moved by the sight of David sighing and heard what he sighed. 

And David said longingly, "Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!"  Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the LORD."Second Samuel 23:15-16 

In this graphic episode of devotion David and his mighty men show us what it means to love God. This kind of love is not minimum love. It's not lip-service love. It's not mere dutiful love. It's heartfelt love. It's the kind of love that goes beyond reasonable expectations or requirements. It's not just selfless love, it's another-focussed love. These men were watching and listening to the one they loved. It wasn't that David caught their attention with an abrupt command - it was that they were already voluntarily giving their attention to him so that they detected even his faintest sigh. To love God like this is to not merely be dutifully moved to obey His commands, but also to heed His warnings (which may not be commands), to welcome His advice (which may not be warnings), and then to be attentive to His desires which may not be immediately obvious. The Apostle Paul describes this progression as the progress of the mature. Not all Christians are sensitive to God's desires and thoughts. But the spiritually mature have learned to go beyond cold obedience to the laws of God to becoming sensitive to those things which God gently warns about, and then responding to God's heart desires.

Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
Philippians 3:15

God has certain desires. We can discern these from His Word and cultivate them by having a prayerful heart attuned to His. When the father of Jesus' story asked his sons to go and work in his vineyard there was a price to pay. Working in the open in the middle of a Middle Eastern summer's day is not pleasant. Little wonder the immediate reaction of his son was to say "No". But something happened in the heart that weighed up the costs between personal cost and discomfort with breaking his father's heart. How many of us see 'sin' as merely breaking the commands of God, rather than breaking the heart of God? How many read of a Biblical warning and fail to hear the heart of God behind the warning? Can you hear the warning in the New Testament command to not let the sun go down on your anger (Ephesians 4:26), or do you only hear a cold command? Can you hear the warning in the Scriptures about drunkenness (Ephesians 5:18), or do you only hear an alcohol limit? When we read 'that God desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth' (1Tim. 2:4) are we merely theologically informed or are we deeply moved to action - just like David's mighty men were? 

My eyes are dry
My faith is old
My heart is hard
My prayers are cold
And I know how I ought to be
Alive to You and dead to me

But what can be done
For an old heart like mine
Soften it up With oil and wine
The oil is You, Your Spirit of love
Please wash me anew
With the wine of Your Blood MY EYES ARE DRY, Keith Green

Behind every command of God is a warning. It's like God saying don't walk through that field of land-mines. Initially it sounds like a command. And whenever a born-rebel like me hears a command my most natural response is "Don't tell me what to do!" But behind this prohibition to walk through the field of land-mines is a warning: This field contains land-mines which could harm or kill you. Yet, if I "listen" to God even more intently, I hear not merely a command or a warning, but His heart: I love you and want the best for you and I don't want to see you hurt. Please don't go through that field. You might read the command of Hebrews 10:25 which commands believers not forsake weekly church attendance and only ever hear a cold command. You may have matured to the point where you recognise the warning behind the command. But too few have have pressed their ears to the pages of this Scripture and heard the gentle rhythmic pounding of God's heart for His children to be together in His Name as a witness to a world He desires to save.

¶ Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
Romans 10:1

Ps. Andrew

COME ABOARD THE HMS CONTENT

You choose your ship. If you choose the MV More you will sail life's journey through the Siren sounding Sea of Discontent. If you choose the HMS Content you will be sailing through the Sea of Satisfaction. One of first differences you'll notice if you change ships mid-voyage is that the HMS Content doesn't have many of the same trappings that the MV More has - but it does have bigger windows. Through these windows passengers can see the wonders and beauty that those on the MV More sail blithely past.

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.First Timothy 6:6-8 

The most dangerous person in the world is usually considered to be the desperate person. It's hard to argue with this. But I wonder if we have underestimated the content person? This person is motivated by noble causes - causes that benefit others. They can't be bought. They can't be bribed. They can't be deterred. The enticements of this world are not what motivates them. This kind of person can be dangerously good. On the other hand, the person is discontent because they entertain coveting is far less dangerous. This is because they can be easily enticed, lured, ensnared. This means that they can be easily controlled. To want is not a bad thing. But it can be. Two of the Ten Commandments are directed against its dark side. The first forbids stealing, the second commands against coveting(Deut. 5). This is striking considering that murder gets one prohibitive command and coveting gets two. Coveting is wanting what is not yours to have. It is eternally perilous to the human soul. Jesus lists it among the deadliest sins-

For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."Mark 7:21-23 

The content person is a thankful person. I suspect that thankfulness is the means to achieving contentment. Thankfulness helps the content person to rest. This restfulness is a position despite the circumstances. The content person is positioned to think, I am thankful for what I have. If I have only this, I am thankful for it. If I achieve no more than what I have done, I am at rest. This week, in the Bible Study Group meeting that I lead, one of our African members said wistfully,"If African young people from my country had the opportunities that Tasmanian young people are ignoring they would transform not only their lives but the entire nation!" This highlights the irony of discontentedness: Even what a discontent person has, they don't appreciate or even use. I would love to see the world, but there are still parts of my own State, that despite living here for the past twenty years I have not yet discovered. As a pastor I would like to see our church grow and become bigger with expanded facilities and exquisitely landscaped gardens and sealed carpark - but I am deeply grateful for what God has already given us (both people and facilities). I am becoming content.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
First Timothy 6:9

Are you grateful? "Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your blessings. See what God has done!" Johnson Oatman Jr wrote.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the Cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, everydoubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings - money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS, Johnson Oatman Jr., 1897

Francis of Assissi who forsook his family's fortune to serve Christ among the poor of Italy, was once asked by a fellow monk, "What would you do if you knew your life was going to end in a few moments?" Francis is reported to have answered, "I would finish weeding this vegetable garden." Francis had learned the art of contentment. What many people see as mundane and perhaps pointless, Francis viewed as sacred. Contentment has spiritual implications. Things that are seemingless insignificant, when done by the spiritually content, become acts of worship. Jesus gives this principle in Matthew 25.

Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'Matthew 25:45

When you weed your garden, attend your child's Parent-Teacher night, hand out Communion, or serve someone a cup of coffee, and you do it gladly, thankfully, you are learning the art of contentment. And in this world where most people are sailing on the Merchant Vessel More, your passage on His Majesty's Content will cause people to realise there is another way to sail life's ocean.

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
Philippians 4:11

Ps. Andrew

AFTER ALL THE EFFORTS TO GET RID OF IT, WHY IS THE CHURCH STILL HERE?

5 REASONS THE CHURCH IS STILL AROUND

It's actually remarkable. Considering the virulent, persistent, aggressive attacks on the Church over the past 1,985 years, it's remarkable that not only has the Church survived, but it has flourished and spread around the world. The fact that you attend a church today, in the twenty-first century, is due to five profound reasons that should lead the reader to wonder.

...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.JESUS OF NAZARETH (later of Capernaum) Matthew 16:18b 

The Church has survived through to the present day because it has been an agent of good and progress in the world. From its outset, the Church began to care for those the world deemed outcasts. This included, widows, orphans, lepers, and the aged.

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."James 1:27 

This became the foundation for the establishment of hospitals, welfare agencies, and schools. The Christian worldview values each human being as bearing the image of God (imago dei) and therefore possessing inherent dignity. This means that a person who is newborn or even preborn is worthy of our care and support, as is a person with a highly contagious incurable disease, or a person at the end of their life.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."
John 13:34

An atheist was once decrying the missionary activity of Christians among Pacific Islanders - in particular, how Christians had "destroyed the existing native culture of the islanders." As chance would have it, there happened to be a person at that public meeting who was a native of one of the islands which the atheist had referred to. During the Q&A he asked the Professor whether he realised that his native ancestors had been cannibals? His question to the atheist professor continued, "Do you know what my ancestors would have done to you if you had arrived on our island before the Gospel came?" The audience instantly recognised that the Pacific Islander had shown the atheist's case to be ill-informed. Ravi Zacharias makes a similar point to atheists when he asks them how they might feel, if on a dark late night inner city street four pierced and tattooed large black men came out of a dimly lit alley carrying objects in their hands and were approaching you - if it would make any difference to how you felt if you learned that they were Christians who were just leaving their weekly BIble Sudy meeting? Yes, the Church has been a positive agent for good and progress in the world.

And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
Second Timothy 2:24-26 

The Church has given expression for mankind's most natural purpose: to worship God through singing, poetry, music, art, drama, and literature. The question for any person is never Do you worship? But, What or Who do you worship? Every person worships. Just as ducks are designed and created to paddle across water, fly closer toward the Equator in Winter, quack, and waddle - so every human being is designed and created to meet with other humans and worship the Creator who is the Kings of Kings and Lord of Lords.

All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name." Selah.Psalm 66:4

Jesus said that if people didn't declare the praises of God, "the stones would cry out" (Luke 19:40). It should be every person's priority to be in the House of God with other worshipers worshiping The Lord of The Universe. Wise Christian parents know that their children learn more about devotion to God by what they see their parents do than what they hear their parents tell them they should do.

The Church's ministers have been agents of comfort, consolation, reconciliation, and guidance to people - often in their darkest days. Jesus described Himself as the "Good Shepherd' (John 10)and all who minister on His behalf follow in His blood-stained footprints and are to be His underShepherds. They are called to care, lead, guide, feed, tend to, watch over, the community given to them by Christ. Down through the past two millennia, literallly hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of men and women have done just that. Most of these ministers have gone unnoticed by the world, unknown to those outside of their charge, and often unappreciated by most in their charge - yet they have gladly laid down their lives for their community because of the deep love of Christ for God in their lives. 

In my own city of Launceston, ministers of The Christ played a tremendously important role in the establishment and ongoing welfare of our city. I think of Pastor John West, a Congregational Minister, who worked to abolish the convict colony and promote free speech by establishing The Examiner Newspaper. We could also reminisce about some of the more well now ministers of the Gospel who worked as agents of peace and inspiration - not just to their churches, but to their communities and nation. I think of Pastor Charles Simeon who served as the Pastor of Kings Church, Cambridge England for 53 years and contributed not just to the religious life of Cambridge, but its educational and social life as well. In the United States we think fondly of Pastor Martin Luther King Jnr and the amazing impact he led for the cause of Civil Rights there. In Australia, ministers such as F.W. Boreham and Gordon Moyes have contributed to the welfare of our nation and played a positive role in sport, business and politics.

The Church's establishment, spread, and sustainance is due to the decree of Jesus Christ and His abiding Word. Jesus Christ is the omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (all-present), omniscient (all-knowing), eternal, risen Lord. The Church is His "Plan A". He not only decreed that it should it be established (Matthew 16:18), He has decreed that it should spread throughout the world - 

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus Christ not only sustains the Church "unto the end of the age", He sustains every molecule in the cosmos!

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:16-17 

The Church is the visible expression of the Kingdom of Christ now and a portend of its ultimate expression after all evil is vanquished from the Universe. It is a majestic sign and wonder to the limitless power and majesty of The Christ. It was prophesied of in Daniel 2:44 as a stone that struck the feet of Nebuchadnezzar's statue and then grew into a great mountain which filled the earth (Dan. 2:34-35). This speaks of Christ and His Body - the Church. 

The Church's existence has been enabled by the presence of the Holy Spirit Who has empowered Christ's followers as well as filling them Christ's presence and gifts, and has led and guided the Church througout the ages and world. The Church was conceived in the heart of Christ and born on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out. The Church is comprised of Spirit regenerated, Spirit empowered, Spirit filled, Spirit baptised, Spirit enabled, Spirit led, followers of Christ. He is the "oil" in our "lamps" (Matthew 25) and He is the One that the Apostle Paul exhorted all believers should continually seek and be filled with (Eph. 4). 

The Church is no accident. The Church is no mere institutional legacy. The Church is not merely an organisation - it is an organism - the living body of Christ on earth. If you are a believer, you have the utter privilege of being a part of the Church of Jesus Christ! Sundays now are not for homework, time-to-yourself, time-with-the-family, but a day we dedicate to the One who declared - I am building!

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.
Amen.
Ephesians 3:21

See you Sunday.

Ps. Andrew

5 REASONS 4U TO BE (IN) CHURCH

When I first arrived in our city I was told two things about the existing Church here. Firstly, there were lots of them. In a city of 70,000 there were some 80 churches. Secondly, the biggest church in town was the Absent Church (the second biggest was the Roamin' Church). Over the past twenty years there has been little evidence to challenge this assessment. To have any chance of leading a church which could have its best chance of representing Christ and His Building Project to our city, I knew that I would have to commit for a lifetime and weather all storms. Over this time, my conviction about what God's Word says about the local church and my love for it has only grown. And although I am sympathetic to those who call themselves Christians yet absent themselves from a local church due to some bad experiences, I have little capacity that their vexation should be directed at Christ Himself.

...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.Matthew 16:18b 

It requires a good deal of foreign toughness for a pastor to weather church storms. I say 'foreign' toughness because it doesn't come naturally to most pastors, especially this one. Most real pastors are long-term pastors. They heed The Great Shepherd's words in John 10 to not flee when wolves ('adversity') come along. They stand and endure. They do this because they inherently love people. They think about people. They care for people. They carry people. They pray for people. They spend a deal of regular time seeking to grow in God's Word and grace so they can help others to do the same. But along the way people get upset and take offence. In leaving the pastor's congregation they seek to injure while claiming that they have been injured. In my younger days as a pastor this confused me and hurt a lot. 

While we pastors don't always live up to people's expectations of care and attention, I have discovered that this same sort of thing happened in the Bible to the best pastors it describes. For example, Moses was a great pastor. He met with God face to face. Yet he had complainterisers and opponents from within his own congregation. Most of this arose when he did the right thing. In life you too may discover (especially if you are a parent) that those you care for may push back hardest when you've done the necessary thing! All leaders soon discover that not doing the right thing at the right time is nearly always the easiest thing. Moses had to become 'tough' and do the right and necessary thing even when it was difficult to do so. As if his example is not enough, my mind often thinks about Jesus as a pastor. He preached a sermon one afternoon that led to 15,000 or so people turn away from following Him! (John 6) He then received numerous complaints and allegations of being "offensive". Added to this, of the 12 specially appointed disciples, one betrayed Him and another disowned Him! 

Then the disciples came and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?"Matthew 15:12 

I have also discovered as a pastor, when you do the right thing, such as bring correction, some followers of Christ in your charge have not been sufficiently discipled to understand that correction is a Biblically necessary thing and that it is the means of God's grace for them to grow. It takes humility and a soft heart to be corrected. If we understand that the original sin wasn't so much about eating forbidden fruit as it was about the pride and arrogance to think that we (represented by Adam and Eve) could do so and get away with it! Thus, pride is our greatest obstacle to fellowship with God and attaining the beauty of Christlikeness, not the Devil, not temptations, not even acts of sin.

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
James 4:6

If you are in a church whose leaders have never been instruments of God's correction in your life - either from the public preaching or from private counsel - chances are you are rarely (if ever) offended. But greater still are the chances that your are not in a Biblically healthy church! 

And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
Second Timothy 2:24-26 

I love being a pastor. It is the most rewarding job in the world (next to being a husband and father). It is a privilege of the highest magnitude. And I similarly love being a member of a local church. The local church is God's means of grace to strengthen His children for the battles we each face in life. Simply by being together as a congregation of committed believers gathered under the ordinances of worship, partaking of the Lord's Table together, offering our prayers gifts and time, being instructed together from God's Word, and interacting with each other in fellowship (where our goal is the strengthening of our mutual relationship with God) - we are strengthened in our souls. It is a divine imperative - not a divine option - to do this weekly.

not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.Hebrews 10:25

God is not done with the Church. On the contrary. God has ordained the Church to be salt and light (Matt. 5:13-14), the pillar of truth (1Tim. 3:15), and the vessel of His grace (1Peter 4:10). God has ordained for you to follow Christ by being committed to a local body of believers constituted as a 'church'. Together then we serve God's 5 purposes for the Church. These include binge a community of believers who-

1. Worship God together.

2. Witness to the world about the truth and the nature / identity / character of God, His ways, His will and His Word.

3. Provide welfare to the needy.

4. Help people to attain wellness in body mind and soul.

5. Educate people about God and His creation, teaching people to read, write and reason to the glory of God.

God wants you to be in a church for the following reasons-

1. He has ordained the local church as the means of His grace for you (1Peter 4:10).

2. It is only through the local church that you can obey the imperatives for following Christ as listed in Romans 12:9-21.

3. By serving in the local church God is able to fashion you into the likeness of His Servant-Son (Matt. 20:28)

4. It is only through the local church that God has decreed for you to be equipped for works of leadership (Eph. 4:11-13).

5. By you prioritising your fellowship to be in Sunday worship with your local church you are part of a glorious witness that God is using to reveal Himself to the world (Eph. 3:10).

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.
Amen.
Ephesians 3:21

See you Sunday.

Ps. Andrew

YOU SMELL!

You smell and you smell. You do both. It seems we nearly all prefer pleasant fragrances. This preference was demonstrated when each of my three daughters were young. On an excursion into town, they always wanted to detour into Myer making a bee-line for the Perfume section. Newly fragranced, they would tell me, "Just like the models Daddy!" 

¶ But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.2Cor. 2:14 

I say "nearly all" prefer pleasant fragrances because I'm not sure about some teenage boys. They've even coined a word to celebrate their mutual gagging: "getawiffofthis".

to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?2Cor. 2:16 

God has created us to see, hear, express, touch and smell. Great artists have painted portrayals of God's works and glory. Great musicians have written songs that have melodiously captured God's heart in lyrics. Great sculpturers and architects have given us objects and buildings to touch which salute God's grandeur. But I cannot think of one Christian Perfumer. Strange. Especially considering the detail of how God Himself wanted to be portrayed to the world. Each of the Old Testament aspects of the Tabernacle and its ceremonies reflect the visual beauty, the tactile grace, the audible magnificence and the 'sweet smelling aromas' associated with thoughts of God and His works.

And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the LORD throughout your generations.
Exodus 30:7-8

Each of us apparently has a detectable smell. Search and Rescue dogs use this for our advantage. God has designed us to emit a visual, audible, tactile, and fragrant impression. Our desire to smell pleasant is a testimony to this deep seated reminder of our first parents' Eden experience within each of us. When we think of Eden we might be preoccupied with the sights of the magnificent garden, animals, and pollution-free skies - or the sounds of friendly and tame animals, birds, insects. But how many of us wonder about how it would have smelt?

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:2 

There was once a man in a small town who loved his glass-house roses. Locals always knew he had just been with someone or in their home. His scent lingered. Long after he was gone the smell of rose would cause a local to fondly remember. 

his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.Hosea 14:6 

Christ has a fragrance. Those who spend time with Him end up smelling of His fragrance. This aroma is spiritually detectable. Even though people spiritually smell Christ's fragrance on us, to some it is what the Apostle Paul called "the aroma of death" because Christ smells so opposite to the fragrance of the sin which they love. Yet to some who seek to be delivered from their sin and its eternal penalty, it is "the aroma of life"

For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
Second Corinthians 2:15-16

Some people, after they've gone, leave a fragrance behind that lasts for years - sometimes decades. Their life was lived with such dignity and service to others that their fragrance still freshens our world even after centuries have passed. Their generosity leaves a legacy that is fragrant for centuries and in the case of the Philippian believers - for millennia!

I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
Philippians 4:18

I don't like to take out of Scripture what was never put there in the first place, so I beg your forgiveness for what I am about to do. If we were to understand the Song of Solomon to be a picture of Christ and His Church (which it is not, but indulge me for a moment), it is a tender moment when the two lovers in this song describe each other as much by the fragrances as they do by their appearances. Who you are on the inside, emits a 'fragrance'. The repentant, prayerful, follower of Christ emits a fragrance every time they pray that only Heaven can smell. These prayers fill Heaven with a delightful scent described metaphorically as, "incense". 

And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 5:8

THE FRAGRANCE OF EASTER

Easter has such a fragrance. You can smell it. Don't confuse the smell of Easter eggs and hot-cross buns with the real smell of Easter. Breath in the ancient-but-still-fresh fragrance of Easter and you'll detect the finest fragrance the world has ever hosted. It's the fragrance of unconditional love and undeserved forgiveness. It's the smell of Jesus of Nazareth - the One who gave His life to offer the world this love and forgiveness. If you experience Him, you smell different - both what you can smell and what you smell of. I hope you smell this Easter.

¶ Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.
Matthew 26:6-7

The irony of the Passion Week culminating in the Cross is that the One who was saturated in expensive perfume was the same One who was spat at, punched repeated so that His features were marred, and His back ripped to shreds. He would be spiked to a rough, blood-stained, cross as a bloodied, putrid, near-butchered barely recognisable man. Yet. After the stenchifying work of sin had done its best at transforming the Sinless One into its complete embodiment, His true fragrance was soon smelt again but this time surprisingly it had grown sweeter. This is the fragrance of Easter. It's the fragrance of lives transformed. It's the fragrance of the guilty being acquitted. It's the fragrance of the hopeless being granted undeserved hope. And every time a sinner is found by the Saviour, the fragrance grows sweeter still. You can smell it.

Ps. Andrew