Change. ( Job 2 v 9 - 10 )

We live in a world that is changing,and like every one else the Christian church has had to adopt to change,many churches are adopting in the area of technology. How people  dress has changed,becoming more informal, girls do wear what was considered men's clothes, which they are not.There was a time when it was thought that women using make up was wrong, considered worldly, in the Song of Solomon,we read of  the use of perfume,and even in the New Testament, Most of these changes in my opinion are       unimportant, many churches do not sing the old hymns,I suppose because they are old,I have no objection to the new music, although  it is hard on some old people , and just maybe we need to bear that in mind,be a bit more tolerant and less intolerant in this area. In a changing world the question is this,what we can change and what we can't change.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      A prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            God grant me the grace to accept with serenity,                                                                                        The things that cannot be change                                                                                                               Courage to change the things ,which should be changed,                                                                        And the wisdom to distinguish, the one from the other.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Living one day at a time,enjoying one moment at a time,                                                                        Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,                                                                                                Taking as Jesus did ,this sinful world as it is,                                                                                            Not as I would have it,trusting that you will make all things right,                                                          If I surrender to your will,so that I may be reasonably happy in this life,                                                And supremely happy with you,  forever in the next.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

One day ( 1 John 3 v 3 - 2 )

The Christian life is very challenging,because we continually have to cope with the world ,the flesh, and the devil.Sometimes one feels one is making headway.Of course we cope ,because the dear Holy Spirit helps,and by Gods grace I can say , I am not what I once was,but I am not what I want to be,I wish I could love God as much as I should,I wish I. could love others as much as I should,but I don't I opened up dear old C.H.Spurgeon, ' Morning and Evening', and was encouraged  by what I read,''At present, corruption yet remains even in the breasts of the regenerate- experience soon teaches us this. Within us are still lust and evil imaginations.'' we all can identify  with those words,written by a man of God. ''But I rejoice to know that the day is coming when God shall finish the work He has begun.Yes one day no more wrestling no more striving, one day,yes one day,when we will be removed out of the place of striving against all sorts of evil,yes one day.

Driverless Cars ( Hebrews 13 v 8 )

''Who will win the race for a driverless car?'',so read the words in a national news paper, the question on my mind is this,if one has an accident ,who pays out on the insurance. You can imagine someone saying it was not me it was the cars fault.Also will it do away with driving and drinking.?will it do away with breaking speed limit?. Would you drive one?,will tell us off, for being a backseat driver? when you are selling it,you can say it only had one driver,well enough of my frivolity. Lets face it we live in a very serious world, and I know there is an awful lot of suffering,pain and hardship for many people. As a minister and a Christian I deal with very serious issues,yet the scripture tells us, that 'there is a time weep, and time to laugh', ( Ecclesiastes 3 v 4 ) Derek Kidner writing on Ecc 3 v 1 -8 about all the different  contrasts in life says, ' Whatever may be our skill and initiative, our  real masters seem to be these these inexorable seasons:not only those of the calendar, but that tide of events which moves us to one kind of action which seems fitting,now to another which puts it all in reverse'. I wonder what season are you in now?In such changeable situations it is great to in a wonderful relationship  with a wonderful Saviour who .never changes..

My Father watches over me ( Matthew 6 v 25 - 34 )

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    I trust in God, wherever I may be,                                                                                                            Upon the land,or on the rolling sea,                                                                                                          For come what may from day to day,                                                                                                        My heav'nly Father watches over me.                                                                                                                         Refrain                                                                                                                                      I trust in God, I know He cares for me,                                                                                                      On mountain bleak ,  or on the stormy sea,                                                                                                Though billows roll,He keeps my soul,                                                                                                    My heav'nly   Father watches over me.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          He makes the rose an object of His care,                                                                                                  He guides the eagle through the pathless air,                                                                                            And surely He remembers me,                                                                                                                  My heav'nly Father watches over me.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            I trust in God, for, in the lions den,                                                                                                            On battlefield,or in the prison pen,                                                                                                            Through praise or blame,through flood or flame,                                                                                      My heav'nly Father watches over me.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            The valley may be dark, the shadows deep,                                                                                              But, oh, the shepherd guards His lonely sheep,                                                                                        And through the gloom, He'll lead me home,                                                                                            My heav'nly Father watches over me.                                                                                                               (Words .....William C Martin  )                                                                                                                                                     

How to escape ( 1 John 4 v 10 )

We looked yesterday at love,loving totally and loving others unreservedly,in other to love as God perfectly,it is no good saying well no ones perfect,true,but unless we love perfectly we sin. And as we said sin is repugnant to God, will judge all mankind.John Piper writes,''Sin is not small ........since God is just He does not sweep  these crimes under the universe.He feels a holy wrath against them''.We must be judged if we die in our sin,yet God loves us sinners,hell awaits all of us,the gates of  heaven , are firmly closed against us.We are talking about Gods justice ,but God is also a God of love,the best verse in the Bible tell us simple Gods solution John 3 v 16 ,''For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son ,that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life''.On the cross Christ was a sacrifice for sin ,as John Piper writes,'' He absorbed the wrath of God'' ,that we should not bear it,He became out substitute.'Of course this only comes into effect when we trust Jesus as our own and personal saviour, then and only then will we escape God wrath.

But God is love. ( Romans 1 v 18 )

I am reminded often, that this generation has not a clue as regards Christianity, this is true, I have a window cleaner ,a nice young lad,but he knows nothing about Christianity. So what is one to do? I suppose we have to take into consideration how we communicate the gospel.When we speak about sin, how should we make the meaning known I want to quote from John Piper's little book', ''Fifty reasons why Jesus came to die''. Hear is  what he has to say about sin,''God's law demanded ,  /You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might, Deuteronomy 6 v 5./But we have all loved other things more.This is what sin is- dishonouring God by preferring other things over Him, and acting on these preferences''. Jesus followed this by also saying, '' The second is this; Love your neighbour as yourself '', neighbour just means anybody and everybody.Now lets be honest with ourselves,let us all be honest, none of us have ever,or will ever love, to the extent that these two commandments demand..In that case we are all sinners,sin must be judged,must be, for God can,nor will he ever look kindly on sin,he cannot ignore   sin,He must ,again I stress, God must judge sin.People cannot bear to think that God, the God of love would judge people. Yes He is a God of love, but He is also called a judge, who will meet out justice to the guilty, The question is how can He save people from judgement ,next time we will consider how He did this.

The man I could be. (v 1 Timothy 1 v 12 - 17 )

The poet  Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote,                                                                                                                                                            ''Could'st thou in vision see                                                                                                                          Thyself the man God meant,                                                                                                                       Thou never more could be                                                                                                                         The man thou art- content.''                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  One of my sons when he left college, threw of all restraint,and got  into all sorts of trouble,ending up on remand in prison. While in prison ,in desperation he cried unto God,and God heard,and He told him the following ,''Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem?, or have I no power to deliver'', ( Isaiah 50 v 2 ). God worked in a marvellous manner, and he did not go to prison, he was once again on the right road,eventually he became a youth leader in his church, and then he became the full time minister.He moved from that to serving God in 24/7,which  emphasises prayer,now he is ministering all over world as the international director of  24/ 7. From the man  he was to the man God has made him,all who encounter the risen Christ in their lives, can be transformed by Gods grace to the person he desires them to be.                                                                                                                                                                      Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he                                                                                                            is a new creation  ,the old has gone                                                                                                            the new has come.                                                                                                                                           ( 2 Corinthians 5 v 17 )