An earthquake day[ Luke 24 v 13-

Yesterday was good Friday,tomorrow will be Easter Sunday,but what about today?,it has no special name that I know off. In the tale of two cities,we have these words,/ It was the best of times,it was the worst of times,it was the age of seismology,a study of earthquakes.Those followers  of Jesus had experienced,an earthquake,I have never been in an earthquake but I have witnessed them on the TV,and the utter devastation they bring.People who have lived through such events never forget such an experience,they stand among the rubble.That how the those followers of Jesus,they thought this
man was going to fix everything,after all they had witnessed His power.He actually stilled a storm ,which left them spellbound and asking,/What manner of man is this,that even the wind and the sea obey Him[Mark 4 v41]
With Jesus all things would be possible,the overthrow of their enemies,that long awaited day of the Lord had come,no one would be able to stop them,no one,He would rule,and they would rule with him,even arguing among themselves who would be greatest in His kingdom[Luke 22 v24.]Then on that faithful night they had watch Him being arrested,and meekly being led away,no demonstrations of power . Surely they must have thought,when is He going set things right,but no,the unthinkable happened ,they put Him to death,and even that most horrible of deaths,a Crucifixion,and that was that.One can only imagine what thoughts where going through their heads,and it seemed there was no answers,it truly was the worst of days.They had followed a failure,now they where paying the price ,on this earthquake day.But this, in between day as they will see, would soon pass,and very shortly all would be changed,and they would be changed.the world would be changed forever,and if you hold on,maybe tomorrow you may be changed.
                                             A  prayer
Dear God,when devastation comes into our lives,help us not to give up,
help us to wait,knowing that joy will come in the morning,in Jesus name Amen.  [

Good Friday.[ Isaiah 53 ]

Today is good Friday,I wonder how many think about this,how can we celebrate and call a day in which our Saviour was crucified?.As one reads the account of His arrest,His mock trial,for those at that time it was unbelievable,it was so unfair.A man hanging on a cross is not good,it is awful,it is cruel in the extreme,after all ,here is a man who did so much good,a wonderful teacher,yet there He was crucified,like a common criminal.It is D.A.Carson who wrote a book called scandalous,and I suppose
it was Scandalous,but is that all there is to it?.No of course not,it is only
understanding the reason as to why it happened,yes it was scandalous,it was awful,but it was necessary,it was Gods only answer,to great delema,caused by sin,when sin entered the world,everything in the natural universe was effected. From being innocent ,mankind became filled with a fallen nature
with the capacity to commit awful things,things so evil,unbelieveable evil,make no mistake there is a beast within all of us.The awful consequences of our sin is separation from a Holy God,and judgement,let
me be very clear Hell is not something ,anyone has made up,no more than
heaven is made up.We can refuse to accept,the Bibles teaching,on sin,and Hell,that is up to us,but if it is true,what then?. What makes good Friday
good,is the reason, which is summed up in the words of a hymn.
                              
                             He died that we might be forgiven,
                             He died to make us good .
                             That we might go at last to heaven,
                             Saved by His precious blood.

Open the eyes of our understanding. [ John 9 v25]

Iris Murdoch once commented;'We live a fantasy world, a world of illusion.
The great task in life is to find reality.'With so many people watching TV,or working on their computers,one has to ask why?.When I was young I loved to escape reality by going to the cinema,I remember as a child thinking how wonderful it would be to actually live in the cinema.And so it has come to pass as now I have a cinema in my home,in the presence of a large TV. But
now I do not live in a way to escape reality,I know that, is not the answer,
The apostle Paul wrote,that when he was a child,he spoke,and thought,and
reasoned as a child. But when he grew up,he put away childish things.[1 Corinthians 13 v11]My growing up came when I met the Saviour, I had to face the reality of sin,and the reality of what that meant.Real life involves
real problems,that we do well to face up to,and the greatest reality we all have to face is death. Philip Yancey wrote,'Our ancestors feared God;we
moderns fear death.'Do you ? well when I trusted Jesus,I could look at death differently,with Him in my life,I can say,' Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.[Psalm 23 v4 ]
                                           A  prayer.
Dear God open the eyes of our understanding,that we may see what is real and what is unreal,open the eyes of our understanding that we see our need of Christ,who can help us to face lifes realities,in His name we ask this Amen.

Age is no excuse. [ Galations 5 v 16- 25]

Peter Adam, writing about Thomas Brooks says,/ He was a generous preacher , because his nickname  was 'Babbling Brooks',He said.''Two things are very rare; to see a young man humble and watchful;and the other
is,to see an old man contented and cheerful''./ Humility,consider He who made all things,who sustains all things,humbled himself,he became obedient unto death,even the death of the cross[Philippians 2 v8].Watchful
I suppose the young are impetuous,not cautious,or careful,they rush in were angels fear to tread. Brooks points that the old are rarely contented, or cheerful,why is that?,is that  me, is that you?.Lacking humility,being prone to act without thinking,not contented,and not cheerful.Let consider
Christ, his humility,we are told ,that what he experienced was ,a incredibly
humbling process,we all want to rise higher,he did the opposite.Jesus never acted in an impetuous way,he walked in step with God His Fathers will.Jesus had little of this worlds goods,in fact he had nowhere to lay His head,yet he must have been the most contented person who ever lived.Was Jesus a cheerful person?,we know that he was a man of sorrows,what do you think?.The thought came to me,surley he would have manifested,love,
joy,and peace.
                                        A prayer.
Dear Saviour ,help us to reflect all that you are in our lives,and let us not make age an excuse for those failings in our lives, Amen.

Sow a thought. [ 1 Corinthians 6 v 9-11 ]

Peter Adams ,wrote the following,/ Sin binds,because every time we sin we weaken our power to resist sinning,and take the first steps in forming the habit of repeating that sin. As has often been said,'Sow a thought ,and you reap an act. Sow an act,and you reap a habit.Sow a habit,and you reap a
character,and reap a destiny./Think of Judas one of the 12 apostles who
betrayed his Lord,he did it for money,this was not a one of act,the fact of the matter was, he was a thief,his thieving starting with a thought,he acted on that thought,got away with it,then did it again and again,he had formed a habit,these acts formed his character,and alas ,for him his awful destiny/.
Jesus said that he was destined to be lost[John 17 v12],and it started with a thought,a wrong thought,so many are in slavery ,because they ran with their
wrong thoughts,and they acted on their thoughts,very soon they had formed
a destructive habit, that formed their character,and alas like Judas an awful destiny.
                                            A  prayer.
Dear Saviour ,we ask that you would deliver us from all evil,from acting on our evil thoughts,deliver us from sinful habits,set us free from all that blinds us and binds us Amen

No Pharisee. [Isaiah 6 v 5]

As a minister of the word of God,I am called upon to be faithful,to preach the whole council of God.This may appear obvious,but for many they fall short of this,because they struggle with doctrines like sin, and Hell.It appears to some if you do,you are judging and condemning people,after all they say Jesus did not come to condemn the world. They say that many evangelicals are like the Pharisees,I hope not,but maybe some are.An old Puritan preacher ,said he was a dying man preaching to dying men.In one sense we are all the same,and yet we are not,the Christian has experienced
the saving grace of God.Most us our familiar with John Newtons hymn, Amazing grace,the opening verse has the words ,that saved a wretch like me.In other words John Newton,was no self righteous Pharisee,judging others,the apostle Paul called himself the chief of sinners [1Timothy 1 v15]
When I preach about sin  ,I am but speaking the truth,because I know
my own heart and history,and I know the consequences,of sin,the door of
heaven will remain shut,and the doors  of Hell open,if our sins are not forgiven.The purpose of Christs coming was to save people from their sin
[Matthew 1 v21/ John 1 v29],we cannot water this down,nor to neglect
to preach,in love,as a dying man,to dying men.
                                    A Prayer.
Dear God help all of us to tell people about sin and its consequences,and most of all the  remedy,Jesus who died for sinners,Amen.

The bad news,the good news.[Revelation 2-3]

I remember a Pastor in a south American country,speaking of many, so called evangelical Christian leaders,who milked their congregations,for money.He said he was asked was he a Pastor,and he denied it,because he did not want to be associated with,those so called Christian leaders.My favourite author was brought up in a racist church,I could mention many
other serious shortcoming.In the end the Lord knows, who are His,and who are not,yet all these things are a hindrance to many coming to the Lord,after
all who wants to be associated with such people.I have to confess that often we have not always reflected that Christ likeness that we should.But let us get some balance into this,I know many fine Christians,a couple in the church I attend ,fostered many children,and ended up adopting a brood of them,she had children of her own.I know of many fine people working
among the poor,needy people of this world.After over fifty years following the Lord Jesus, I have met many truly nice kind Christians.As I read the Bible I have confidence that Christ will deal with the shortcomings of  His
church.Read the letters to the seven churches in Asia,in the book of Revelation,and we see that our Lord misses nothing,He sees all ,knows all,and will act accordingly.
                                             A prayer.
Dear Lord Jesus,we bring your people to you,ourselves included,and ask that you would send a revival,also help us all,not to be part of the problem,Amen