Halloween. [ 2 Corinthians 10 v 3 - 5 ]

One translation of the Bible tells us to not let the world squeeze us into its mould, if we are Christians, ambassadors for Christ ,then we must reflect the kingdom of God, at all times. Now I write this, because we are at that time of the year called Halloween, personally I dont have strong veiws on this occasion , it appears to me it has no real significance, but let me tell you something that has me think. My oldest son was staying with us last night,and we got talking about Halloween, he at this time is living with his daughter, they have two dogs, they sleep in the kitchen.Well like many people my granddaugther bought a pumpkin did the usual thing with it, then placed the pumpkin on the window leadge. During the night the household was wakened by the dogs howling like wolves, something they have never did before. When they took the pumpkin out of the room ,the dogs stopped howling, this really happened, now I am not telling you this to scare you, nor for any of us to overreact ,it has made me think. Wizards and witches to most people, are funny make believe creatures, but in Africa the witch doctor is a sinister force, and those involed in witchcraft in this country seek to connect with a world that is opposed to Gods kingdom.
A prayer..../Dear God help us to not just to accept all that our culture presents to us, gave us grace and wisdom in all things, in Jesus name Amen./

Families.[ Hebrews 13 v 4 ]

We decided to go that famous store Ikea ,it sells mainly furniture, it is Swedish, it is very popular especially the resturant,if you go between 9.30 and 11.30 during the week,you can have a breakfast for 99 pence,which includes a drink. I have a confession to make I treated myself to a croissant and a coffee which I really enjoyed, as I sat eating my breakfast, I thought ,if I wanted to have a quite breakfast I wouldnt go to Ikea , the store has a emphasis on families. It is nice to see people together as a family, anything that promotes family life can only be good,there is so much that works ill for families,throughout the world,in many countries it is poverty, violence,unfaithfulness,the list goes on, today let us pray for families.
A prayer..../ Dear God have mercy upon the families of our world,our country,our town, our street, in Jesus name. Amen /

Yes we can . [ Philippians 4 v 13 ]

Let me pick out a verse from my daily Bible reading , 2 Timothy 2 v 1,this letter was written by Paul to this young man who overseeing the church at Ephesus, so Paul wrote to him, to instruct, encourage, and to challenge him. Verse one declares,/Thou therefore my son, be strong, / I remember a person replied when she was told to pull her self together, I am not a pair of curtains. It is easy to say to someone stop that habit,stop those recurring angry outbursts, stop those lustful thoughts, etc. What they may reply ,I cannnot do it, I have tried, and tried, and have failed, have we not all been there,that sin that so easily besets us,and beats us time and time again. Well of course Paul did not just say ,/Thou therefore my son, be strong,/ he goes on to say,/ in the grace that is in Christ Jesus/, now that puts a whole different emphasis on what Paul was saying. We cannot pull ourselves together in our own strength,but we can, by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,through that grace we can beat , the devil , the flesh, and the world.
A prayer.../ Father grant us the grace we need, in our service for You,in the temptations we meet, and the tasks we have to perform, in Jesus name Amen ./

Grace for the needy.[Luke18 v 9 -14 ]

I have just stared to read a book called,/The Ragamuffin Gospel it emphasies the grace of God ,remember read every book ,and listen to every sermon with discernment based on Gods word,ask God the Holy Spirit to help you,He will [John 16v13 ] Well what can one say about the Grace of God, firstly it is an act of God by a gracious God, it is granted to the undeserving, or to those who acknowledge they are undeserving, a quotation from this book, /Grace has to be drunk straight, no water, no ice,and certainly no ginger ale, neither goodness, nor badness, nor the flowers that bloom in the spring of super spirituality could be allowed to enter into the case./I was speaking to a person pointing that the Bible says we are all without exception sinners, he replied, I am not a sinner. It is very hard for the not so bad people to accept that they are in fact sinners, and it is even harder to accept the consequences of that truth. The result, they place themselves outside the grace of God,they reject the need of Biblical grace, for it is only for the needy. It was the needy that responded to Jesus, not the selfrighteous,those selfrighteous people despised the needy, Jesus welcomed them with open arms,with His last breath, He welcomed a thief ,and granted him eternal life. [ Luke 23 v39- 43 ]I am sure when we get to heaven we will be surprised as to those our Saviour has saved, and if we are trully honest the greatest surprise will be the fact that we are in heaven, a sinner saved by grace.
A prayer..../ Dear God , we are all without exception needy ,and our deepest need is for Your grace,help us to see this,and to seek Your Son Jesus Amen ./

He loves us all. [Acts 15 v36 -41 ]

I have just finished reading a message by George Whitefield ,he ministered at the time of the Wesleys and was used by God in the revival that swept this country , America , even my own country. As I have travelled through this country,I have passed many Methodist chapels,many are empty,just buildings, np longer places of worship,yet there are still many in use. While the Wesleys created a network of churches, Whitefield didnt,and did not want to, be that as it may,we honour the memory of these men of God.It is interesting that the Wesleys, had their differences ,George was a Calvinist, the Wesleys were Arminians,yet God used them both. From early on in my Christian life I have seen the importance of honouring all true Christians, and loving them, and to realize that God can use all of us, as He sees fit, and He loves us all.
A prayer / Dear God bless all Thy people, help us to love all Thy people, in Jesus name Amen /

Never forget Jesus. [ Deuteronomy 4v 23 ]

I read in the obituaries column of a newspaper, about a Leif Hovelse an Norwegian, a resistance fighter at the time of the Nazi occupation,on the night he was arrested,and as he was taken , his dear mother cried out,/ Leif, never forget Jesus. /, and He never did.It appears that many people forget all about Jesus, they appear to forget what He taught them, and what He has done for them, in the case of Leif Heif, he acted out the part , by forgiving those who tortured him. He said, /When I answered the Nazis with the same treatment meted out to me, their spirit had conquered me/.I must confess I sometimes forget Jesus, and I put self first, when I think thoughts I shouldnt, when I say things I shouldnt. In Psalm 16 v8 we read,/ I have set the Lord always before me/, here is the secret of not forgetting Jesus. I am sure we have all had the experienced ,of watching T V, and someone stands in front of the screen, what do you do? you say, would you move please. Well why dont we do that when worries blot out Jesus,or temptation comes as so often they do,tell then to get out of the way. In Hebrews 12 we read,/ And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus./
A prayer.../Dear Lord Jesus, strange though it be, I do not always keep my eyes on You, I am inclined to forget how much I need You, grant that this day may be different. Amen /

Getting our wires crossed. [Reveltation 2 v 1- 7 ]

The football team I support got beaten 6/1 many would see this as a tradgedy, a disaster, the worst day in their lives, but then on the news we hear that an earthquake has struck in Turkey, with the loss of many, many lives.Now that is a tragedy , a disaster, and for those involved in it, it trully is the worst day of their lives. If only we could see what is important, not the trivia, the preacher yesterday ,has a young son who has cancer, my dear wife died of cancer, now these things are tragic and affect us more deeply than a football team loosing 6/1. Let me tell you a terrible tragedy ,in fact a disaster, people are so taken up with things, and are blind to their souls need, now that is a tragedy.people treasure so much that is of no importance, and forget what is important, their souls well being , their spiritual needs, which can only be fulfilled in Christ.
A prayer /Dear God forgive us for getting our wires crossed ,for loosing sight of what is really imporant, in Jesus name Amen.