It is grace all the way. [ Romans 16 v 24 ]

Many foolish people deney that they are sinners ,even though the word of God clearly teaches that we are all are sinners. When the Spirit of God convicts a person ,then the arguments cease, the protesting stops,and the only thing they can say is, God be merciful to me a sinner. We say amen to the truth in 1 John 1 v 8, which reads, if we say that we have no sin we decieve ourselves, and the truth is not in us. The Christian will always be but a sinner saved by grace , and will never cease to be amazed what God has done in saving them by His grace through His son Jesus.The words of that wonderful hymn by R Robinson come to mind, /
O to grace how great a debtor,
Daily Im constrained to be,
Let that grace ,Lord , like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander ,Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the God Ilove,
Here,s my heart, Lord , take and seal it,
Seal it from Thy courts above.
A prayer..../Dear God we marvel at the wonders of Your grace in saving us, and keeping us,
grant us today an outpouring of that grace , in Jesus name Amen. /

Freedom is worth everything. [ John v 34 - 36 ]

It was rememberance Sunday yesterday, when most people wore poppies,and through out our land people stood before momuments ,and laid wreaths,we do such things to honour and remember, those who died in present, and past wars.We like to think that they died for us ,so we could live in what is known as a free country, so we honour them. I saw part of TV show presented by Sir David Jason one our countries finest actors, he was speaking to a war veteran , who had escaped from a prisoner of war camp, he said that he had vowed never to be a prisoner again, and then he said, / Freedom is worth everything/.I am sure he is right, freedom trully is worth everything, Jesus believed this so much so that He gave His everything, that He could set people free, from the greatest bondage that people suffer from, sin.In Romans 6 v 17, declares ,once you were slaves of sin, in Christ and through His death on the cross we have been set free fom sin.
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
fast bound in sin and natures night,
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the duneon flamed with light,
my chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
A prayer..../ Dear God we thank You for the freedom we have through Jesus Your Son. Amen.
[I will return to my blog Thursday morning ]

Strange heroes. [ Hebrews 11 v 31 - 38 ]

I like old cowboy movies , when I was young one of my favourite actors was Audie Murphy, now the thing about Audie ,he looked really young, no one would have thought that he was especially brave. The parts he acted in were mostly cowboy movies and he was the hero, but the fact about Audie he was a real life hero. In the second world war he was one of America,s most decorated soldiers, strange but true, and it reminds me of a Bible character called David. Initially David was overlooked by his father, when Samuel came to annoint a new king.Later on when all Israel were afraid because a big giant was threatening them it was David who volunteered to fight the giant. Well, when he faced the giant, the giant as much as laughed at him, but the giant learned to his cost, that you dont judge a book by its cover. I dont know if A.M.knew the Lord, but I know David did , and his success in all his battles was down to that one thing. It would do us all good to remember the words of 1 Samuel 16 v 7,/ the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
A prayer.../Dear Father we thank You that when we know Your son Jesus it makes us special,and though we are ordinary human beings, we can accomplish extraordinary things. Amen/

Healing .[ James 5 v 14- 15 ]

Recently we were having an open discussion on healing in the church I attend, the pastor led the discussion, most of us have thoughts on this subject. Some people say that miraculous healings are not for today, it would be interesting to know if any of the people, who read this blog, have been healed.In some ways the subject appears to be a minefield, many people have prayed for healing and have not been healed, my first wife died from cancer, I did pray for healing, the night before she died I read a scripture,that indicated that she was going to die. There are no easy answers, of course we all believe that God can heal,but will He?,that is the question. Even today a girl came into the church hall were we run a group, she could not get into the chuch building to light a candle,it seems her friend is dying in a hospice,she is a single parent and has three children, I assured her that I would pray for her[ Will you pray for her as God leads ]. Coming back to that discussion, it ended with the pastor giving an invitation for anyone who wanted to be prayed for, to indicate so, I was one of those who did, it was not emotional or pressurized , he simply annointed us with oil and prayed a simple prayer.I was not healed, but this will not stop me from believing that God still heals.
A prayer...../Dear God we struggle with suffering,we think of that dear girl dying leaving 3 chidren,we know you can heal, but often it does not happen,guide us in this by Your Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen ]

Never cancelled, never rescinded.[ 1 Corinthians 9 v16 ]

It is that time again the anniversary of my coming to England to be a minister, much has happened since then, I still consider myself as a minister. Recently a person called me a lay preacher, I did not say anything but I did not appreciate what he said,in Romans 11v 29, we read,/ for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable, / the message puts it like this,/ Gods gifts and Gods call are under warranty- never cancelled,never rescinded/. When I became a minister a friend said to me they cant take that away from you, they have tried but they never will. It is not about status, it is about the importance of my ministry, often my ministry has come under attack, but I have continued to be faithful to my calling. One hears people saying that they are no longer in the ministry,but as far as I am concerned,I have always been in the ministry, and will always be in the ministry. Because the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, yes I will always be Bill the preacher.
A prayer....../Dear God help us be faithful to our calling , be it a nurse, fireman, or whatever in Jesus name. Amen/

Wonder and worship. [ Psalm 19 ]

I read this today, /We miss the experance of awe, reverence,and wonder /, [ B Manning ] I am sure that this is true of many of us, our senses have been dulled by modern technology. Many of us have become blase, indifferent to the wonders all around us we are so under pressure , as the poet wrote ,we never stop and stare. There are I am sure many reasons why, we have reached the point we are at, we are distracted by financial pressures ,family pressures, personal pressures. We read in Psalm 8v3, When I consider Thy heavens , the works of Thy fingers, the moon, and the stars, which Thou hast ordained/, I remember the American astronaut while he circled the earth ,reading from Genesis 1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Mybe here is the reason why we are no longer filled awe, reverence and wonder, consider the program I watched earlier, about the origins of the universe, many brilliant people have theories, and thats all they have. As a Christian I believe this universe did not come into place by chance, it would be impossible for this to happen , I just hope I never forget this truth unfortunately many have,. There was a song that was popular many years ago called , I believe, here are some of the words.
I believe for every drop of rain that falls,
A flower grows.
Everytime I hear a new born baby cry,
Or touch a leaf , or see the sky,
Then I know why I believe.
A prayer....../ Dear God help us to never loose a sense of wonder of Thy creation, but let us above all else be filled with worship for You the Creator, in Jesus name, Amen ./

Coffee or tea. [ 1 Corinthians 14 v 33 ]

I was in a local garden center, and I read this,/ Orchard coffee bar,now serving afternoon tea every Sunday/, we all know what they mean, but I saw the humour in what I read. Now let see where we will go with this, as a preacher it is no good saying one thing and preaching another. When I preach, I try to make it as clear as I can, and I seek to proclaim a Biblical message , I must never forget my grave responsibility,that of the telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It appears that certain ministers appear to forget their grave responsibility, that people need to hear clearly that they need to be saved. As a youngster I heard about sin and its consequences ,and about Jesus who became my Saviour, if the speaker had not told me this then, I would still be lost. The greatest need of mankind is to hear a clear Gospel message, and the greatest responsibility of the minister is to proclaim it, otherwise people are turning up for coffee and being offered tea.
A prayer..../ Dear Father help us to be true to You, and Your truth, in Jesus name Amen /