Anthony Hopkins ( Psalm 119 v 129 - 136 )4

One of the movies that Anthony Hopkins acted in was ,'The two Popes',he played the role of Pope Benedict,who did an surprising thing,by resigning from the papacy.In the movie he was talking to his successor I think his name is Pope Francis and he says,'The hardest things is to listen,to hear His voice,God's voice'.Even though it is a Pope depicted saying this,it is still true. Either we are to busy like Martha,or blinded by our preconceived opinions,or like  the religious leaders of Jesus day,there are so many reasons.Of course there are obvious reasons, we are too lazy,it is also sad that so many who have been given the gift of being able to read, do not read their Bible, and so miss out in a very definite way of hearing God speaking to them.Their is a lot of people who read their Bible but it is just skimming reading, they don't take in all that they read,they skim over it.  Charles Bridges said this,'To simply read the scriptures, instead of ''searching the Scriptures ,'' is only to skim the surface, and gather up a few superficial notions'. It is not sufficient just to depend solely on your ministers Sundays sermon, we need to learn to feed ourselves,The writer of Hebrews rebuked his readers for their lack of spiritual growth (5 v 11-14 ), if we are to be mature Christians we must read the Word of God,seek to understand it,and get to know our God more intimately.

Anthony Hopkins ( John 3 v16 ) 3

 Let's continue to consider the interview of Anthony Hopkins, and something else he said,' We are but dust and ashes,we are not special', in one sense he is right,for we are told in Genesis 2 v7 that God formed man  from the dust of the ground'In the burial service we pray,' earth to earth ,ashes to ashes, dust to dust'.But the prayer of committal goes unto say, ' in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ'. The resurrection  of our Lord Jesus Christ is a historical fact,witnessed by over 500 people 1 Corinthians 15 v 3-9. Yes we are dust but the resurrection points us to something greater a new existence,with a spiritual body,in which disease and death will not touch us. Then lets consider his other statement, 'we are not special', are we just animals to be slaughtered?, it appears this is so ,when we consider the slaughter of infants in their mothers womb.It is obvious that there are many who throughout history appeared to think  that humanity was not special.Are we just flesh and blood? convenient cremations seem to be highlighting our nothingness.All that is challenged by God's word and the coming of Christ into this world,which proclaims  not only are we special, but we are also loved, by our Creator.

                                                      'If you want to know just how 

                                                      special you are , look to the 

                                                      cross where Jesus died.'

Anthony Hopkins (2 Thessalonians 2 v 5 v 12 ) 2

 Let us continue to consider what Anthony Hopkins had to say when he was interviewed,,'Life is a mystery,I know nothing,I do not know who I am,I don't know where I came from,I don't know where I'm going'' If truth were told these sentiments are the voice of most people , in particular those who profess to know so much, in reality they are all Anthony Hopkins,they don't just know,so they want everyone to join  them in their delusional club whose motto is,'it just happened'.As a Christian the only logical answer to those words uttered by  AH, is God. On Christmas Eve Dec 1968  the three crew members  of Apollo 8 read  from Genesis 1  v 1 -10, It begins,'In the beginning God created heaven and earth', that's the answer, the only answer,yes you need faith to believe that, not a cop out of accepting,their leader, him who must not be mentioned, and I don't mean Anthony Hopkins. CP 2 Corinthians 4 v4.

Anthony Hopkins ( Matthew 7 v 24 -27 )

 I listed  to Anthony Hopkins being interviewed and found it very interesting,in case you didn't know he is a very famous British actor who was born in Wales.He mentioned that when he was a young lad,he said that he was an ,idiot and that he was told that he  would never amount to anything,well they got that wrong.I want to highlight some of the things he said , '' To live continually in doubt, I know nothing , if you know  certainties your dead',He mentioned as examples of the danger of holding certainties , Hitler and Stalin.Let us ask the question is it true if you hold certainties,you are dead? It depends on what the certainties are.are they built on truth,Nazism was not built on truth,but on a fabrication of lies, likewise Stalin's socialism promising an equality of  ownership and well being,turned out to be a monstrous nightmare,it was on a par with Nazism, uncle Joe didn't live up to his friendly name.There are so many examples of people we could mention who held to perverted certainties,in religion ,politics and in  so many areas of. life.Now just to end off , lets consider Christ ,now we have to be honest and say that in the visible church there have always been those who have held certainties that were were far removed  from Him who is the way the truth and the life. (John 1 we4 v 6 ) When we consider Christ,as revealed in the  scriptures we discover one in whom  we can  have a sure and certain hope.

Don't presume (2 Corinthians 6 v 2 )

 We were on our way to our church fellowship ,when my wife got a phone call from her sister, her husband was very unwell,we could hear him in the background.he sounded dreadful,so  she dropped me off at the church,and went to her sisters.When she got there my wife advised her sister to call an ambulance ,which came quickly and took him to hospital,we are waiting and praying,we do not know as yet what the problem is.It all happened so unexpectantly, and it reminds me of something the Bible tells us in Proverbs 27 v 1,'Do not boast about tomorrow,for you do not know what a day may bring'. No one knows what a day may bring, that's very obvious,I'm not saying we should live in fear,but we should live in the fear of Lord,which is the beginning  of wisdom.How many people are so unwise , careless, and live so full heartedly ,not knowing God ,or wanting God, their unpreparedness is so sad, so tragic. The  Boy Scouts motto,is,'Be Prepared', which means you are always in that readiness of mind for whatever comes.  Don't presume about tomorrow ,Charles Bridges writes,' In a moment we can be gone,remember Heaven and hell are no trifles. Tomorrow presumed upon,today neglected, ruins all,at this time the door of God's mercy is still open,one day it will be closed for ever.'  I implore you to seek the Lord Jesus while He can be found,call upon Him while He is near.

My story ( James 2 v5 )

 Following on from yesterday here is my story,'As a father of 5 children, all boys I had to laugh at what I read recently,a lady said this, ''I really want another baby,but I can't afford it ''.  If  truth were told ,I could hardly afford to have any of our children.in fact from the start of my first marriage,we could afford very little.When we got married we just had the wedding ceremony,and then we went away to Donegal for  the day and then came home.I had no  qualifications,so the jobs I got were poorly paid.My then dear wife could not work, she looked after the children,of course they were different times. Government support was limited, so one had to watch the pennies,we did have an occasional holiday in a place called Newcastle beside the lovely Mountain's of  Mourne that sweep down to the sea,and I remember having  a holiday in the sea town port of Bangor..We had very few luxuries,no washing machine,or fridge,but we did manage to get a little home,a work mate loaned me the deposit,of 50 pound,one could get a house reasonably cheap in those days.So why did we decide to go to Bible college with no money ,no grant?,well one thing we had was our faith in God,and let me tell you something God never failed us, never,oh yes  we were tested but God our loving heavenly Father brought us through ,I can say this,'I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread'. (Psalm 37 v25 )

The poor( James 2 v 1 - 13 )

Our Saviour said that the poor we will have with us always (Matthew 26 v 11), Many years ago I remember been told,that I was poor,and I suppose I was.When I was a child my mother left my father ,which meant she had to being four children up by herself,by todays standards we were poor. There are many places and organisations where the poor would be excluded,even in the early church there were those who had a wrong attitude to the poor. In the church to whom James wrote his epistles .there were those who were  discriminating against the poor.James highlighted how wrong that was.and gives an example of the preferential treatment given to the rich. There was the rich man in all his finery,and there was the poor man dressed in filthy old clothes. The rich man is given the best seat in the building,while the poor man is told to stand or to sit on the floor. (James 2 v 1-4) James classes what they were doing as evil.James reminds us of a very wonderful thing,that God chooses the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs to God's kingdom.In God's eyes,being rich,being powerful,being black or poor, means nothing , they are all but sinners saved by grace. 

                                                                Keep the royal love.

                                                                    James 2 v 8