Easter sunday

What better way to start Easter Day than with Dolly and Don Fransisco  

Jesus is alive !  Hallelujah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbRPWUHM80M

Lent 46 Saturday

So Friday has come and gone and now it's Saturday.  The disciples are left sitting stunned....wondering what on earth they are going to do now.  Its all over.   It all came to nothing and they have to work out how to carry on from here.  They are deep in grief.  They don't understand.  It all looks very grim and scary and impossibly sad.

We all go through Saturday at one point or another.   We all live through times when God seems to have gone forever and we cant see any future or hope.  We wonder what we are going to do now - there is no point any more.  Perhaps we feel like this because some tragedy has befallen us.   I know of people who's faith has been so badly shaken by the breakdown of a marriage that they feel they will never be able to trust God again.  I know someone who lost almost their entire family in a house fire.  Their Saturday probably lasted for a long time.  It's hard to imagine isn't it?   I know several people who have lost children - so difficult to see Jesus  when you have prayed and prayed for a miracle which hasnt happened.   Saturday is grim.   God has gone.  You are on your own.

And the thing is that, with the benefit of hindsight, we know Sunday is coming and Jesus is about to rise from the dead and the disciples will be filled with insurmountable joy and faith and belief.  But on Saturday nobody knows that.  On Saturday you believe that Saturday is how its always going to be.    And the truth is that sometimes the situation of Saturday might be permanent.  We might always be a bereaved parent or a divorced spouse or the victim of a crime or an accident. We might always be in a difficult marriage or have caring responsibilities which severely restrict our own plans.  We

can't kid ourselves that Sunday is going to come and set all our wrongs right  - but we can be assured that after the aloneness and isolation and grief of Saturday, Sunday brings the presence of Jesus back to us.  And with the return of Jesus comes the return of hope, of purpose, of faith and vision and yes, even joy.

And as it was 2000 years ago in Jerusalem, and as it is for each of us in our personal Saturday experiences, so it is with the world which is waiting and groaning for the return of the Lord.  The world is currently experiencing Saturday.   We are grieving at the state of the nations and wondering what to do next.   It is hard to see God and many believe He has gone for good ( if indeed He was ever here at all)   But Sunday is coming.  Jesus is coming back.  In person. Just like He did the last time.  And with Him He will bring passion and fire, hope and faith, glory and power, judgement and mercy and a fierce and holy love.

Don't lose heart - either about your own Saturday or the Saturday the world is currently experiencing.  Hold on.  Sunday is coming.

Lent 45 The Blood

Why is it so important that Jesus shed His blood for us?

It all goes back to the beginning.

In the garden when Adam and Eve sinned God killed an animal to use the skins to cover their nakedness.  This was the first shedding of blood in the history of the world and it signified that God placed his relationship with man above His relationship with the rest of creation.  He was able to make the sacrifice because He knew that Jesus was already slain before the foundation of the world and therefore that the blood of that animal - and all subsequent sacrifices, had already been paid for on the cross.     The shedding of blood established a covenant between God and man which was an agreement that their sins would be covered over so that they could continue to have a relationship with God.   Thereafter the blood of a goat or lamb was required to symbolise that covenant - foreshadowing the blood of Jesus which would take away the sins of the world once and for all.

The shedding of blood is therefore crucial to the establishing of a covenant.  It can be seen throughout the old testament whenever God is doing something important between Himself and man.  And it can also be seen in one special act between people - the act of sexual consummation.   Which is why sex equals marriage in God's eyes.  When a woman loses her virginity blood is shed.  Sealing the covenant between her and her husband.  


On Good Friday Jesus was not only shedding His blood for the remission of our sins, He was also taking us to be His bride.    His covenant with us is not just a legal 'document' but it is a contract of loving commitment to us for eternity.  When we get married we promise to love and honour and submit and remain faithful till death us do part  - but when Jesus takes us to be His bride He does so for ever. And He will never break His promise to us.

 He can't.

 It is sealed in His blood.

Lent 44 Maundy Thursday

Two things stand out about the Thursday of Holy week.   Foot washing.  And a new commandment.

Foot washing was something practical and necessary I suppose in a country where everyone wore sandals or similar and there was no tarmac on the roads :-)  Jesus makes a point of taking a towel and adopting the stance of a servant in order to emphasise the point that in the Kingdom of God there is no such thing as master and slave.   We see the reaction of the disciples - most notably Peter - to this outrageous breaking of the cultural rules but Im left wondering about the reaction of the servant whos job it was to do the foot washing.  I wonder how he/she felt watching Jesus , the Master, doing the very job he/she was supposed to be doing.   I bet they never washed another foot again after that without thinking about Jesus.   He had somehow given great worth and value to a job which had previously been considered so menial as to be not worth noticing.

Thats one of the many brilliant things about Jesus.  The more you look at Him the more you see His love.  When I am doing the menial thankless tasks of life - washing the bathroom floor, changing the beds, dusting - the jobs which no-one ever notices until they havent been done and for which no-one ever thanks you - I can picture Jesus taking up the mop and joining me.  Nothing is beneath Him and everything has value.

Then there is the other outrageous thing He does at the Passover meal.  He gives a new commandment.

If we stop to think about that for a moment - for the Jews the commandments given to Moses are the basis of everything on which their relationship with God is built.  Moses is the great prophet, the saviour and

deliverer and God has spoken to him face to face and given him the rules by which His people are to live.   The thought that anything could be added to the ten commandments and the laws must have been utterly shocking.  What was Jesus saying??   A new commandment?   ( John 13: 34)

The new commandment takes the 'old commandments' and catapults them into a new league.   The commandments of Moses were about minimum standards of behaviour I suppose.  Dont steal, dont murder, dont lie ...  keep these rules and you will be able to live together as a society under God.   But Jesus sets a new standard - that of love;  serving, giving, humble, kind love.   As He has loved us.   Impossible of course.  Unless He is living in us.

Lent 43 Brussels

Woke up to the breaking news of another country suffering another atrocity and more bombs causing chaos in yet another capital city.   Spent all day listening to various reports and statistics whilst friends changed their facebook profile pictures and everyone wondered if we are now going to have to be scanned on the way into airports instead of half way through the airport.


Every time something like Paris or Brussels happens a shockwave of fear ripples out into the world.   Security is ramped up.  Everyone is super vigilant waiting for the next time.  We all look over our shoulders and another brick is placed in the wall of suspicion and mistrust.  This is the enemy strategy.  To make us fear - because fear displaces faith and is the antithesis of trusting God.  Having lived for the last 16 years in Northern Ireland I have witnessed the legacy of 30 years of fear and it is not pretty.  It divides and separates - it shrinks vision and tells lies - it changes the spiritual atmosphere and is passed down the generations.    Fear is one of the weeds in the field which stunts and strangles the growth of the seed the sower has sown.   Not surprising that the constant message to us through the Scriptures is  DO NOT BE AFRAID.

28 Verses to Remind Us - We Do Not Have to Fear:

1.  “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

2.

3.  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

4.  “Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.” John 14:27

5.  “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

6.  “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18

7.  “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” Psalm 94:19

8.

9. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4

10. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

11. “Tell everyone who is discouraged, Be strong and don’t be afraid! God is coming to your rescue…” Isaiah 35:4

12. “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

13. “Immediately he spoke to them and said, 'Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.'” Mark 6:50

14. “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

15. “'For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.  Do not be afraid, for I myself will help you,' declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 41:13-14

16. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1

17. “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?  The Lord is with me; he is my helper.” Psalm 118:6-7

18. “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” Proverbs 29:25

19. “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.  He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Mark 4:39-40

20. 

21. “But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats.” 1 Peter 3:14

22. “I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.  He freed me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4

23. “Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.” Deuteronomy 3:22

24. “Then he placed his right hand on me and said: 'Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.'” Revelation 1:17

25. “Jesus told him, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’” Mark 5:36

26. “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” Romans 8:38-39

27. “The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” Zephaniah 3:17

28. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”…He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.  You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.  A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you…For he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways…“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.  He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him…” from Psalm 91:1-16

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Lent 42. Pause

These days I very rarely just sit down and watch the telly.   Usually I've got the telly on and Im also doing something else.  Im either tidying up and stacking the dishwasher and doing houseworky stuff.
 Or Im in bed with the telly on but also on the laptop chatting to friends, playing Scrabble or, indeed, writing this blog :)   The telly is sort of like the raido.  On in the background and Im listening to it.  And every now and again I stop typing or tidying or whatever to watch for a while.   But mostly Im doing two things at once

This morning in the car I was listening to the radio  ( there I go again..... two things at once :) )  and there was a discussion about the pace of life.   How technology has speeded things up beyond all recognition in the past twenty years.   We used to have to wait for the news until the next days papers were printed.  Now the news is tweeted as it happens and is old an hour after it happens.  We communicate quickly, travel quickly, develop products and ideas quickly.  Speed is of the essence it would appear.    And then theres the sort of backlash response to it by people who think that everything is getting a bit ridiculous -  which is slow food and mindfulness and that sort of thing.

All of this got me to thinking about a word in the Psalms.   Selah.   Pause.   Stop to consider.   Reflect and digest what has just been said.  Chew over the words and let them have an effect.   Did you know that the more slowly you do something or learn something the better your cognition ( understanding, intellectual capacity)?  You actually better your brains by taking things more slowly.   The radio man this morning said of multi-tasking  '  of course multi tasking isnt being able to do several things at once.  It's being able to switch attention rapidly between different things.   So each task is getting a fraction of your attention before you switch to the next task.   Tasks are completed to a higher standard and in less time if you do one at a time.  Multi-tasking is no great achievement'.    Interesting.

Another astonishing fact.   According to the man on the radio average life expectancy has increased by six hours a day every day since World War Two  !!  Isnt that an amazing statistic?   So we are all living longer and we are living faster.   Cramming more in.  Taking less time to do more things less well.

The Bible encourages us to slow down.  Pause.  Breathe deep.  Meditate.  Pray.  Worship.  Care for each other.  Develop character and nurture faith.   You cant do those things on speed dial.  They take time.

Jesus took 40 days.   Time out with His Father.   No work.  No relationships.  No demands on His time or expectations of others.  Just wilderness and aloneness, silence and peace.   If Jesus needed that time in an age where the pace of life was slow how much more do we need it in our super speedy zip zap hyperactive era?   God commanded that we have a day of rest every week .  A day.  A whole 24 hours.  Because we need it to function well as human beings.  And to function optimally, rather than doing more more quickly, maybe we need to be slowing down a bit - taking time to think about things properly, finish things off well, give our full attention to people who matter.

Just a thought

Selah

Lent 41 Sold out

How much do you earn in a year?   Or perhaps a better question, what is your annual income?
Got a number in mind?    Good.

Now.......

Another question.    What is your most expensive possession?  The highest value item that you own?   For most of us, even with a mortgage, this is probably going to be our house I suppose.   If you don't own a house then it might be your car or your home furnishings.   Possibly it's something else.  Whatever it is hold it in your mind's eye for a minute.    OK?

Right.   Now God says  ' If you love me then you will give me your house ( item of highest value)   I would like you to sell it and give all of the money to Me   ( My church/ the poor/ a charity/ the lady down the road)
Or God says   ' I love you, but I need you to give me a whole year's worth of your income.   Right now.  '

How do you react?   Not ' in theory'  how do you react, but really.   If God were to ask you to give up your home or to give £15,000  / £25,000 / £50,000  right now, today - how would you react?

The reason I ask is because yesterdays sermon was about the woman with the alabaster jar.   Well, it wasnt about her it was about being passionately in love with Jesus.  And she was the example used to demonstrate an extravagant, wholehearted, passionate love.   We all know the story and we have thought about it before but something struck me anew about it yesterday.     Firstly I wondered how
the woman had come to have such a ridiculously expensive jar of perfume in the first place.    Was she one of the preposterously rich elite of her day - probably famous in the area for being the wife of some fabulously wealthy merchant or aristocrat?  Was the alabaster jar a family heirloom?  Or maybe it was her pension plan - her guarantee of an income in her old age?   I have no idea how someone could possibly afford a bottle of perfume which in todays money would be worth £20k or £30k.    But she had it.   And she wasted the lot on Jesus.

The preacher yesterday said something interesting.   He pointed out that the spiritual temperature in the room that day was measured by the horror of the onlookers as they watched her pour thousands of pounds worth of perfume over Jesus.   Their justifications as to why it was a terrible thing to do.   Jesus appears to be the only person in the room  NOT to have been horrified.   He saw the immense love behind the gesture.  Nobody else there saw it because nobody else in the room felt it.

If we say that we give our lives to Jesus, that we invite Him in to every part of us, that he is Lord and in control and that we love Him then it should cause us no pain, no offence, no difficulty to give Him everything we have.   Not just in theory but literally.   For love of our wonderful Saviour can we loosen our hold on the ' stuff' and give as freely as we have received?   Will we be the woman with the jar or the rich young ruler?

I was challenged yesterday.   When we have very little it is easy to give it away.  When we have a lot it seems to be much harder.  How much do I really love the Jesus who stretched out His arms for me and died?   Enough to give Him everything?   Or only enough for a tithe and an offering and a standing order to a charity?

Lent 40 Palm Sunday

What would you do if you knew you had five days to live?

What would you do today if you knew you were going to die on Friday?

Would you visit your parents, siblings, other family members to say goodbye?  Would you try to find all those odd documents, pensions, investments, savings books etc and make sure that someone knew where everything important was so that they could sort out your affairs after you were gone?   Would you write your life story for those coming after you?  Arrange all your photographs in date order and put peoples names on the back?   Perhaps you would talk to your minister and make a last confession and receive communion and prayer.   You probably wouldnt choose to spend your last five days on earth in the way Jesus chose to spend His.

There are a couple of things which strike me about Jesus's entry into Jerusalem on palm sunday.  Firstly the colt or young donkey.   Nowhere else in the gospels are we told that Jesus rode anywhere.  He seems to have walked from place to place so we have to assume that today he is riding on a colt so that the Biblical prophecies can be fulfilled.   But what I love about this is that Jesus has pinpoint accurate knowledge about where this colt will be and what its owners will say.  This is the gift of the word of knowledge operating at its best.  Im absolutely sure that Jesus hadnt set up the donkey to be there beforehand.  He just knew, by the gift of God operating within Him, where a suitable donkey would be and that He needed to be on it that day.   Always obedient.  Ever faithful.  Our Jesus.

The next thing I notice is that the disciples put their cloaks over the back of the colt - and the crowds throw their coats on the floor for it to walk on.
Both strike me as being somewhat.... odd gestures.
Im not really sure why Jesus would have needed any sort of saddle in order to ride into town.  People rode horses and mules all the time in those days and probably few of them could afford or would have need of a saddle.  So the norm must have been for people just to ride bareback.   Im sure Jesus would have been happy enough to ride bareback.  But the disciples felt led to ' honour' him with a covering for the beast.    I wonder if this was because they secretly believed that Jesus was going down to Jerusalem to start an uprising.  To declare Himself as Messiah.  To establish an earthly Kingdom.     If you think about it, what the crowds were doing was throwing quite probably their only coat on the floor to be trampled on by a horse.    Put yourself in their shoes.   Picture your favourite coat.  Are you happy to throw it on the floor and let it be trampled on just because the guy next to you is doing the same??    There must have been some extraordinary atmosphere there that day and such an excitement in the air.

 In scripture garments often represent authority.  I think that people were spontaneously honouring the Jesus they loved, submitting to Him in a sacrificial gesture, full of belief that they were about to witness the rising of a great leader.   THE great leader.   The anticipation must have been palpable.  Sobering to realise that only five days later these adoring crowds had vanished and the coats were firmly returned to peoples backs.

Then there are the stones.   When Jesus said that if the people didnt praise Him then the stones would - I really believe He meant it!   And I SO wish the people had shut up so that the stones could have had a chance at praising Him.   What do stones sound like when they praise God?   Well what do you know?  I Googled it.  And here is what stones sound like    Awesome!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUaPeyxjKgE

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBfrLoBpsIQ

What I love about science is that the more it probes, the more it discovers about how exquisitely the world is made.   We now know that whales sing songs and dolphins communicate over miles of ocean.  We can hear the tones in the buzz of a bee and the sounds of cells dividing in the leaf of a tree.   I recently heard on the radio the sound made by a black hole in space!!    Scientists have been able to record the singing of the stars for a while now.   The whole of the universe is indeed giving God praise.   All the time.   The Psalmist couldnt possibly have known it but he was so right when he said in Psalm 96


Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
    he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.

We know what lay ahead of Jesus on Palm Sunday and so did He.  But those around and with Him didnt.  They were caught up in the excitement of the Festival and the possibility that Jesus was going to Jerusalem to take His place as Messiah.  It is all too easy to misread the signs.  To gloss over the uncomfortable truth because it doesnt make sense to us and to grasp on to our own understanding.   We all do it all the time.    How we need those spiritual gifts of knowledge and discernment so that we can read the signs of the times and not miss what God is really doing.   Let us not be carried along by a crowd which is praising God one minute and shouting ' crucify' the next ; honouring and submitting on Sunday and vanishing into the background on Friday when its time to stand up and be counted.   

Lent 39. Feminism?

I had a very interesting conversation with Sam ( 14) yesterday when he suddenly , out of the blue, asked why some of the things he hears in church are so sexist.  I wasnt expecting that!   So I asked him what he meant.  And he elaborated very specifically about how the men in the church talk about the women - quite often in the form of people joking about their wives or about stereotypical gender roles... but I was fascinated that Sam perceived this not as humour but as sexism.  He was right I suppose.  It is.

How we speak about each other in church sends out a message to the world about the sort of people we are.   If the people up at the front are all men then that will send a very specific message to women in the church.   If children are talked down to or excluded from participation in church life then they will pretty quickly get the message that church isnt for them.   If people in leadership positions make jokes about their spouses in public the congregation will buy into a culture of subtle disrespect.   If the women are always in the kitchen making tea whilst the men are doing the preaching and looking after the church chequebook...... well, you get my point.   Sam was concerned about the message he was picking up from the most subtle nuances of elements of church life.   If he is feeling like that then so will the visitors who come through our doors. the unchurched and the not-yet-saved.

But Sam wasnt going to leave it there.  He then went on to ask why, if there is such a thing as feminism, is there not an equivalent movement for men.  Because he feels men need a voice to stand up for them in a world where women are celebrated and noticed and marked out when they do something unusual or extraordinary, but men are ignored or criticised or condemned.   I thought this was an exceptionally mature observation from a 14 year old.   But it also made me realise how far we have come in the space of a generation.   My parents grew up in a world when male and female roles were pretty much prescribed and inflexible.  Their language and attitudes reflected those social mores.  My generation began to question gender stereotypes and become politically correct and now Sams generation dont actually see any difference between men and women and wonder why everyone of our generation makes such a big deal about it.   In fact , as a young man in the 21st century Sam feels the pendulum has swung a bit too far in the feminists direction and men now need a break.

The Bible tells us that we are all essentially THE SAME in Jesus.  That what binds us together is so much more significant than the things which separate us.  Yet we seem to find it so difficult to fully embrace this and live it out in practice.  Age, race, gender, status, political persuasion, education - none of these matter to God.   He doesnt see the trappings He looks at the heart and we need to be better at doing the same.

Let us celebrate people for who they are on the inside and not what they look like on the outside. Let's be careful of the way we speak to and about each other and become more aware of the impact of our words, our jokes, our attitudes on those who are looking in from the outside.   Let us speak out against prejudice wherever we see it and stand up for anyone who is struggling to find their true identity.  It can only be found in Jesus.  Because He is the only one who makes us fully alive and therefore whole and truly 'us'.  It is easy to be lazy in our speaking and our thinking.  Lets try to wise up and have the mind of Christ.   Not easy.  But possible.

Lent 38 Bodies

Isnt the human body just the most amazing thing?  We know so much about how it works and how it is put together from the first division of cells.  We understand about the systems which keep us
alive and the diseases which can kill us.  We know how to cure thousands of sicknesses and transplant organs from one person into another.  And still there is more to discover about how we work and why. So often we take our bodies for granted - especially when we are young.  They work so we dont give them a second thought.   But as we get older most of us start to consider our physical frame as it starts to creak and groan, leak and falter,shake and break.

Did you know that the Jews have a prayer for going to the toilet?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asher_yatzar
They thank God for their bowels and bladder and kidneys - that everything is in working order and pray that it might continue to work all the days of their life.   Or something along those lines.   Awesome.  When was the last time you prayed for your internal workings?   Thanked God for your liver and spleen?  Blessed your pancreas and asked God for strength for your heart and lungs.?   We should do it all the time, every day.  We are fearfully and wonderfully made and only sustained by His decision to keep us alive.

Yesterday I went to visit my best mate Gladys.  She is 91 and barely any part of her functions well.  Her hands have seized up , she is pretty much completely deaf, she manages to stand only with the help of a rise and recline chair and someone holding onto her and she walks slowly a few paces from her room to the dining room with a walking aid.  For someone who used to be a championship tennis player in her youth and has had a constantly active life it must be frustrating to be dependent on other people for every last thing.  I know she has struggled to let go of her independence as her body has aged.   And then again I was watching a 92 year old on the television yesterday who still lives on her own, does all her own shopping and chores and seems to be as fit as a sixty year old.  And thats the thing isnt it?  You just dont know how your own particular body is going to hold out as you get older

We all seem to be living longer these days.  We are bombarded by messages about ' maintaining a healthy lifestyle'.  We know we need to exercise more and eat less saturated fat and not smoke. But
perhaps we also need to thank God for all the parts of us that work so miraculously together all the time without us ever having to think about it.  Maybe the more thankful we are the more healthy we will be?  if our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit perhaps we need to be taking better care of the temple and not taking it for granted so much,

And one more thing.   When God tells us in the Bible to do or not to do various things with our bodies, He does so for a reason. So for example men of african or asian descent who are circumcised are 60% less likely to get prostate cancer.  Which is why God tells His people to be circumcised.  Its not just a sign of belonging.  It's GOOD for you !!    As is having a day of rest.  As is fasting.  All those things which we might think of as being a bit odd or old fashioned or unnecessary - well God knows better.  So if He highlights something which you should or should not be doing to or with your body you had better pay attention.

And if you want to live a long and healthy life then honour your father and mother.

Lent 37 40 days

40 days is a long time to spend in the wilderness.   It's a very long time to spend without food.   It's possibly an even longer time to spend completely alone  -  imagine no phone, television, music, conversation, company, laughs.   We arent told too much about what Jesus was doing when He was in the desert for 40 days.   Did the testing by the devil happen over a protracted period of days or was it all on the last day?  Or the first day?  Mark 1:12-13 says that He was with the wild animals.   Do we assume that He was able to snuggle up to mountain cats to keep warm at night - or was it more that He had to fend off the snakes and scorpions and spend 40 days trying not to be dinner for a prairie dog  ( excuse my lack of knowledge of what sort of animals might have been around at the time :) )

What were you doing on Feb 7th can you remember?  That was 40 days ago.  End of April will be 40 days time.  If someone told you you were going to have to live outside with no food from now till the end of April.........

Isolation isnt good for us in general.  But Jesus chose to exile Himself to the wilderness - the hot days and perishingly cold nights with no protection from the elements and no water.  Im sure He did it for numerous good theological reasons but today as I was thinking about it , it occurred to me that for Jesus the wilderness experience was pretty similar to the experience of people in prison. And people experiencing mental illness.  Lonely and dangerous with a battle going on between God and the devil for the very soul of man.

I firmly believe that when we get to stand before Jesus we are not going to be able to say to Him ' Ah but you dont understand because you never.......'   I suspect that alot more was going on in the wilderness time than the gospel writers ever knew as Jesus battled with temptation and embraced the hard reality of His destiny.  When we go through battles in our heads about who we really are and what we are here for  - Jesus understands what that is like.  When we havent spoken to anyone for a week and could really do with a hug - Jesus knows how that feels.   When we are lying in the dark listening to something scuttling under the floorboards and waiting for morning to come cos we know we arent going to get any sleep - Jesus has been there and done that.  When we have felt cold and hungry and at the point of giving up - He really does identify.   Jesus was a real man who experienced the full range of human emotion and the best and worst of what people can be like.    His love for us goes right down into the detail.  He didnt wash His hair or change his clothes for six weeks!  Horrors!   :)

Lord , thank you for understanding how it feels to be human. Thank you for setting aside your deity to come and get your feet and hands dirty, your belly rumbling, your mind assaulted, your body in peril so that you could bear all our human experience to the cross.   We will probably never fully understand what it is that you accomplished in those 40 wilderness days.  But thank you that you emerged with the strength and the sense of purpose which drove you on to fulfil your mission.  let us learn from You as we face our own wildernesses.   Amen

Lent 36 The final taboo?

There are things that people find hard to talk about.  And if something is hard to talk about it is usually because we perceive it to be shameful.   We fear being judged, misunderstood,  being diminished in the eyes of other people or having to change our ways.   As Christians sometimes we put even more pressure on ourselves than ' the world' does.  We are supposed to be good people.  Yes, of course we all know we are sinners saved by grace - but when it actually comes down to the wire....well we ' grade' our sins and our failings.  We are all happy to admit that we might tell an occasional lie or not pay a parking ticket.   But what if we are self harming?  Or have an eating disorder?  Or have had an abortion?  Or think we might be gay?   Those things are MUCH more tricky to talk about.

Ive noticed something in the past couple of years.  Church isnt very good at talking about marriages.  And it is almost impossible to say you are unhappy in your marriage until things have got so bad that the divorce lawyers are being called in.   We turn up on a Sunday with our nice veneer of family unity pasted in place and everyone assumes that we are doing fine.  But how many couples are really struggling - going through affairs and abuse and financial disasters?  Or just not talking to each other and feeling really miserable.  Drifting inexorably apart due to work pressures or the constraints of caring roles?  When do we get the opportunity to tell it as it is?

The problem with relationship difficulties is that they involve someone else.  If you are self harming or have an eating disorder then the shame can be enormous and the courage it takes to tell someone is immense.  But its your own problem.  You own it and if you want help then it is available to you.   But if you are struggling with your husband/wife then by definition you have to bring them into the equation if you want to start talking about it.  And as Christians we are so conditioned to not speak badly of each other and to be kind and honour each other etc etc.  If your spouse is not prepared to concede there is a problem or talk about it then are you at liberty to discuss?   Over the past couple of years I've spoken to several people who have been going through agonies in their marriages and who have not felt able to tell anyone about it until its been too late.   And if we do pluck up the courage - is the help really there?

A  few years back Keith and I were in a service which was all about the love of the Father.  There was a call at the end for anyone who felt they needed love to be reignited in them to go forward.  We were really struggling in our marriage so we decided to go up and ask if the prayer team could pray for us. The person who prayed was someone who knew me slightly but who didnt know Keith really.  As we approached with fear and trepidation and said that we really wanted to ask God to help us in our marriage the prayer person laughed and said ' Oh Im sure you are both absolutely fine.  But of course Im happy to pray'.    She thought she knew.   She assumed we were fine.  We were so far away from fine it was a miracle we were in church together at all that day.   Needless to say we didnt go up for prayer again.

The other thing we did was The Marriage Course.   Disaster.  We never fought more than when we did that!   Mind you, it was only weeks after I'd had my first baby.  We were both exhausted and stressed at having to leave the baby with Grandma for a couple of hours.  We couldnt agree on any of the stuff the course suggested and the stuff about love languages only served to reinforce the fact that we operate on completely different planes when it comes to communicating affection.  I suppose it did help to know that.  But by and large the course was the cause of more grief than good.   I suspect we did it at entirely the wrong time in our lives.  And the course left it all up to us - there was no pastoral input or help to deal with the things it raised for us.  We didnt have the internal resources as a couple to respond positively at that time.

So heres a thought.   If someone is brave enough to tell you that they are struggling in their marriage they are probably REALLY struggling.   Things will have got pretty bad for them to mention it - because its incredibly hard to talk about.

Pray for your own marriage and the marriages you know.  Especially the ones you suspect might not be doing too well

Ask your friends how they are doing.  Be direct.  If they dont want to tell you they won't.  But you might just give them the excuse they need to say that things are less than great.

Remember that the enemy does his work in the dark and that God wants us to bring things out into the light.  None of us is perfect.  Nobody has a wonderful marriage all the time.  The things you struggle with have been struggled with by generations of people before you.  SO try not to be ruled by the fear of what people might think of you.   The institution of marriage is under attack big time.  More people are struggling than you would believe.   But it is possible to have a good, long, healthy  happy marriage.  So hang on in there and dont give up

Lent 35 Light

It was the most gloriously sunny day yesterday.  Blue skies and warmth right from the start to the end of the day.  Everyone was talking about how lovely it was to see the sun again.  People were smiling and looking relaxed.   The special school I visit for work had the big beanbags outside so the kids could lie in the sunshine.   It really was a lovely day.

And it set me off thinking that human beings are designed for light.  We thrive in the light.  We need it.   If we dont get enough of it our health suffers.  We get Seasonal Affective Disorder and Vitamin D deficiency.  Being kept in the dark is a form of torture .  We just need light.

We need warmth too.  There really is nothing much better than sitting in the sunshine feeling the warmth of those rays melting into ones skin and wrapping us in comfort and peace.  How amazing that light which has travelled squillions of miles through space and time should arrive at our planet at just about the right temperature to keep us thriving and healthy and warm.   ( Of course I live in Ireland, so its not quite warm enough here..... and if you live in the Sudan then you might complain that its a tad too hot sometimes.   But you get my general point. )

It is no coincidence that the very first thing God did was light.   He didnt make light.  He IS light.  So when He spoke light was. His words are light.  His breath is light . His light is sustaining, life giving and warm.  His DNA exploded into the universe when God spoke and it continues to create and sustain even today.  God's breath is what keeps you and I breathing, our hearts beating , our bodies and spirits alive.  His life shows us the way in what would otherwise be complete and utter darkness.   When people talk about hell I imagine it to be the absence of God - and therefore utterly utterly pitch black dark.  And cold.  ( although of course the Bible talks about fire..... I wonder if in hell the fire is cold?  :) )

Hopefully over the coming days and weeks we shall see more and more sunshine and feel more and more warmth.  The winter is over and spring is here.  New life is bursting forth and skies are blue.  As we bask in the sunshine, strip off our coats and spend longed-for hours outside let us remember that we need the light of God to shine in our spirits every bit as much as we need the ultra violet rays to shine on our bodies.   Without the light of His presence in our souls and spirits everything is dead and cold and unfruitful.

And if you want a song to remind you to shine then heres a brilliant one ( with actions) which you will be humming for the rest of the week 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XVq2z_7TLM

Lent 34 Forgetting

Ive always had a terrible memory.  I have probably told you this before but I forget  :)  My long term memory is very poor - to the extent that I can once went into a pub with some friends for lunch and said  '  Oh this is nice.  Why havent we been here before?'   At which point I was informed that we had been there before a year previously, we had sat over there in the corner, we had eaten something or other and had a conversation about such and such.  And even standing in the very same place I had no recall whatsoever about the previous visit.   Scary!

The good thing about having a bad memory is that you genuinely cant remember the bad stuff.  Its hard to hold a grudge when you cant remember who crossed you or about what!   I can remember some stuff from my childhood and various bits and pieces of things that were stressful - but by and large most of that stuff has vanished into the ether.  Along with all the good memories too.  Which is why Ive always tried to keep a diary and take lots of photos.  As a way of preserving things which most people keep in their heads.

It struck me today that God has a terrible memory. :)   He makes a big point of telling us repeatedly that when we come to Him He forgets our sins.  Erases them.  Puts them as far away from us as the East is from the West.   Remembers them no more.    And if He forgets all the bad stuff about us - then every time He looks at us all He remembers is the good stuff.   He genuinely only thinks about all the great things He has done in and through us.  The rest is forgotten.   When you forget something, with the best will in the world it is impossible for you to bring it to mind again.   You cant.  It has gone.    We have all sat and tried to remember someones name or the first line of a song or where we put something important.   But if you have forgotten you have forgotten.   God forgets all the time.   If you are living with Jesus and continually embracing His forgiveness then God does not remember the way you spoke yesterday or your bad attitude towards that traffic warden.  He genuinely can't remember that you stole something or were cruel or told lies or took drugs or raped someone or murdered someone or committed a terrible atrocity which destroyed the lives of thousands.    Hard to get your head round that isnt it?

Its almost possible to believe that He could forget that I kicked the cat........ but that He could forget the actions of the murderer, the rapist , the child killer, the terrorist ?

And the most amazing thing is that unlike me God must have to actively decide to forget.  Because if you are an eternal being then you are outside time and everything is happening now.  You have an overview of the whole of time - so to forget something as God you presumably have to make yourself selectively blind to parts of the timeline you can see quite clearly in front of you.   I have no idea how He does it.  But the fact that He tells us that He chooses to forget our sins speaks volumes about His immense love for us.   The blood Jesus spilled out for us at such enormous cost has covered all our sins and justified us before the Father.  The record has been wiped clean.  It never happened.  We are innocent. Clean.  Sinless.  He looks at us and sees Jesus.   Amazing

Father, today I am so thankful that you are a forgetful God.  Help me to understand more fully that you really do not remember my sins.  When you look at me you see me covered in the blood of Jesus, made holy by His sacrifice, with all my unrighteousness washed away.  Let me live in the joy and the freedom of Your forgiveness.  And help me to respond to others in the way You respond to me,  being quick to forgive and forget slow to anger and rich in love.  Amen.