John Stott Remembered           Word on the Week          3^rd July 2021.

A decade has passed since Stott died.   His influence on evangelicals over the last century was enormous.   He remained within the Church of England and was based at All Souls Church, Langham Place, London.   From there he was able to carry on a global ministry assisting churches with the Gospel.

What is this Gospel which turned his life around?   He heard it at age 17 from the evangelist Eric Nash.   The sermon was taken from Pilates pathetic comment recorded in St Matthew Chapter 27 verse 22 “What Then Shall I Do with Jesus, Who Is Called the Christ?” Afterwards Nash pointed Stott to Revelation Chapter 3 verse 20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Stott later described the impact this verse had upon him as follows:

“Here, then, is the crucial question which we have been leading up to. Have we ever opened our door to Christ? Have we ever invited him in? This was exactly the question which I needed to have put to me. For, intellectually speaking, I had believed in Jesus all my life, on the other side of the door. I had regularly struggled to say my prayers through the key-hole. I had even pushed pennies under the door in a vain attempt to pacify him.

I had been baptized, yes and confirmed as well. I went to church, read my Bible, had high ideals, and tried to be good and do good. But all the time, often without realising it, I was holding Christ at arm’s length, and keeping him outside. I knew that to open the door might have momentous consequences. I am profoundly grateful to him for enabling me to open the door. Looking back now over more than fifty years, I realise that that simple step has changed the entire direction, course and quality of my life.”

Stott’s abiding passion was summed up in what he called “double listening”.   It involved listening to the culture and discerning where it was at.  He then would listen for the voice of God to speak to the culture scriptural truths to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ.    The link would be made in texts such as “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter Chapter 3 verse 18).

I heard him preach on his 80^th birthday.   It was on the same theme.   His ability to handle words with precision had not left him.  Indeed, it is reflected in his many books not least of which is his “Through the Bible through the Year” which is our household’s this year’s breakfast fare!

Gender Distress              Word on the Week          26th June 2021.

We were reminiscing this week about some of the characters we have known and the peculiarities that marked them out from others.   The conversation turned to one called Peter (not his real name) who had a habit of wearing his underwear as outerwear.    He would often visit us at church especially when there was a clean-up day.  He came at other times too when we were closed and would break into the premises.  We would know it was him because he always emptied the tin of chocolate biscuits!

Apparently before he had reached teenage years he was told he was someone else.   This had a confusing effect which never left him.   The bizarre wearing of clothing was one way he attempted to deal with it.    Sadly, we seem to be in a day when there are many suffering from gender distress and feel they have been born into the wrong body.  Although one could be forgiven for thinking that the current wave of gender dysphoria is being encouraged by the media.

Having cast off from its traditional moorings the nuclear family has morphed into variegated arrangements, some looking for stability others looking for excitement.    Children, for economic reasons or else for hedonistic ones are late in arriving and may no longer be greeted with pink for a girl and blue for a boy!    Gender has become fluid!   The medics have the tools in their bag to arrange gender reassignment.    Naming the child could be more complicated.

The sexualisation of Western Society proceeds at a pace.    In a few days we are to have the ‘pride parades’ publicising the LGBTQ etc. movement with its rainbow colours.   It was interesting to hear the RTE’s ‘Morning Ireland’ commentator remonstrate with a Cabinet Minister who had failed, in her eyes, to censure the Football Association for acceding to the request not to festoon the Munich Stadium with LGBT colours.    “We have to be inclusive” she said.

Now we have talk of a conversion ban.   It seems that having turned their back on God, society does not wish to have their form of conversion upstaged by Him!    Imagine if the tax-collector Matthew responded to Christ’s call to follow him today and to celebrate his conversion he held a large party.  The wider society complained to Christ’s followers, “Why do you celebrate conversion?”   “We want to have it banned!”    Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.   I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (St Luke Chapter 5 verses 29 to 32). And He still does.

How we need the winds of Christian revival to sweep through this land and in its loving wake produce from the broken and disorientated lives followers of Jesus.

Conversations                            Word on the Week                    19^th June 2021.

The G7 (Group of Seven) is an organisation of the world’s seven largest so-called advanced economies. They are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States. Included, by invitation, is the EU.   They met, last weekend, in the Carbis Bay Hotel near St Ives in Cornwall in blazing sunshine!

There followed three days of face to face conversations following the guidelines their subordinates had prepared to produce an agreed joint statement on health, vaccines, the economy, the environment and foreign policy.

The elephant in the room – the UK’s non-compliance with the Northern Ireland Protocol which, although only agreed earlier this year, Prime Minister Johnson wished to ditch!   The US sent a rebuke to the UK over this matter some two weeks before the G7 meeting.   It wisely singled out the discordant matters from the conversation!

Speaking after the G7, Boris Johnson said that there was “complete harmony on the need to keep going, find solutions and make sure we uphold the Belfast Good Friday Agreement”.  This piece of fiction presumably allows Johnson to make a meal of the British sausage which will have to pay a tariff to enter Northern Ireland at the end of this month!

Meeting of leaders is deemed to be important in order to get to know each other, to some extent and see how they react to the various crises.  Biden’s meeting with Putin gave each a better understanding of the other.   The fact that the meeting terminated earlier than the allotted time probably means that the existing views of each were confirmed!

On an everyday level sometimes a conversation will stick in your mind.   John Chapman was a well-known evangelist in Australia who visited this country a number of times.   He told the story of the time he brought his vestments to the dry cleaners to be laundered.   There was a feisty assistant behind the counter.   She asked, “Are you a clergyman”?   “You know I am” John replied; “Well why are you not wearing your white neck thing”?   “We are out to get you” John said, “there are hundreds of us you know”!

The conversation paused then she asked, “What I want to know is this, can you forgive sin”?  “Not in a million years John replied”.   “That’s what I thought to” she said – “but I know someone who can” John added.   John then introduced the lady to Jesus!   

He always carried a Bible and took her to the passage where the Apostle Peter wrote about Jesus, who was God incarnate, bearing our sins when he died on the cross (1 Peter Chapter 2 verse 24).   

He explained that another of the Apostles, John, had written that Jesus’s death had the power to purify us from all sin when received with faith by the believer.   He went on to encourage the acknowledgement of our sins in prayer to God and to rely on His faithfulness to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John Chapter 1 verses 7 – 9).

Gospel, (that is ‘good news’) conversations can, by the power of the Holy Spirit, bring about lasting change for the better and grant the forgiveness she was looking for.  She would also receive the peace of mind that the Apostle Paul speaks about in his letter to the church in Philippi “And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians chapter 4 verse 7).

And that peace does not need a protocol it is guaranteed by Christ!  

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs   Word on the Week   12^th June 2021.

Christians sing!   The singing may not always be very musical but since it comes as an expression of the heart it will express profound feelings.   The King James version of the Bible translates Psalm 100 ‘Make a joyful noise unto the Lord’!   It is an exuberant call to ‘all the earth’ i.e. including the Gentile nations to join in thanksgiving to our Maker for his love and faithfulness extend to all generations.

Hymns do not need to be sung!   The Apostle Paul writes in his Ephesian letter to “Speak to one another in Hymns”.    In a testimony which we heard this week the speaker punctuated the different episodes of his life with a hymn which summed up his relationship with the Lord.   Sinclair Ferguson, in his book dealing with the 20 centuries of Christian witness since Christ, concludes each chapter with a hymn written in that century.   Some of these hymns are still being sung today!

One of the earliest accounts of singing in the Bible is Miriam’s song recorded in Exodus Chapter 15 verses 1 to 18.   In it she rejoices in Jehovah’s display of power in delivering the Israelites out of the hand of the Egyptians.    Never before nor since has an entire nation been brought out of another after hundreds of years of captivity.

The book of the Psalms is the ‘songbook’ of the Bible.    During a second period of exile the Israelites find themselves being taunted by their Babylonian captors to sing to them the songs of Zion.   These must have been known to the Babylonians who wanted to hear them.   Indeed, in recent years the words of one of these songs have been recast to produce the popular “By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept – when we remembered Zion” (Psalm 137 verses 1 to 6)! 

It was music and singing that marked the celebration at the sinner repenting.   The joy was not found in the elder brother who saw only the misdeeds of his young sibling.    We are told that even the angels in heaven join in the rejoicing on earth when a sinner repents (St Luke Chapter 15 verses 10 & 25).

This is the redemption which Jesus accomplished for all those who repent and believe the gospel.   It will culminate in that great festal gathering in heaven when the redeemed will sing a new song of praise to the Lamb of God (Revelation chapter 5 verse 8).

Why do Christians sing?   Because they have plenty to sing about!

60 On the Clock               Word on the Week                    5^th June 2021.

Anniversaries inexorably arrive!   They take their subjects somewhat by surprise.   Certain of them are anticipated.   The big ticket occasions!   Then there are those, although significant enough in themselves, arrive rather late for festivities!   The big 60 which Betty and I celebrated this week falls into this category.

Of course, even if we had been so minded, the advent of Covid and the limitations to gatherings imposed by the powers that be would curtail any plans to breakout.   There is also the matter of the ages of the chief participants which, despite relatively good health, impose their own limits!

It is worth casting the mind back to those moments in June, 1961, when, on my knees in front of the church, we heard the Minister utter those powerful words, “What God hath joined let no man put asunder” (St Matthew Chapter 19 verse 6).  This was a Covenant of Companionship for life.  The import of those words hit me with a freshness that came from them being personal and by God’s grace have remained with us to this day.

In this day and age, we need to define marriage.   It is between one man and one woman in a monogamous relationship for life.   In the beginning in addition to companionship, God said they were to be fruitful and increase in number (Genesis Chapter 1 verse 28).    God has blessed us with four wonderful children, each blessed in marriage.   These marriages in turn have been fruitful and we praise God for each of our 10 grandchildren.

Where there is no marriage, there may be some trust but no acknowledged commitment.   By its nature commitment unacknowledged empties the word of meaning.   These transitory affairs may appear to be fulfilling God’s purpose but are drawing water from a well that can never satisfy (St John Chapter 4 verse 13).

God’s creation of image bearers is in the plural.   It is ‘man and woman, male and female, He created them’ (Genesis Chapter 1 verse 27).    Just as God is more than one so to be in his imagine we need to be more than one.   Some believers have the gift of singleness but they are the exception.   Marriage is the rule.

We do not know how much longer we will be here but what lies ahead is the marriage feast of the Lamb.   All who are part of his Church, the Bride, called through the gospel of grace, to the marriage supper of the Lamb – Hallelujah (Revelation Chapter 19 verses 6 to 9).

An Act of Mercy               Word on the Week          29^th May 2021.

This year Betty and I became proud great grandparents!   Lily arrived in April.   She was well anticipated with plenty of photographs both inside and outside of her Mother’s womb.   Her arrival brought great joy to her father and mother and their respective families.

Contrast this with when things go wrong.   The child is unwanted.   His progress in the womb brings misery.   His life span is to be curtailed.   He is seldom spoken about.   Deep sadness attends his every move.

This child is not considered to be fully human.   He has no feelings.   He is oblivious to pain in his sheltered environment.   Mother decides he has to go.   She has made her choice – he has no choice.  It will be quick and hopefully uneventful.

A photograph appeared in the media about a year ago showing the doctor involved in an abortion.   The theatre staff were surprised to see a hand reach out and grasp one of the doctors fingers.   One of the nurses captured the moment on camera.   Such a poignant plea for mercy!

At the time of the original abortion legislation, Simon Harris, the then Minister of Health dismissed the notion of the unborn child feeling any pain.   Since then other countries have acknowledged the fact of the infant pain and apply an aesthetic to the foetus prior to the abortion operation.

The Foetal Pain Relief Bill 2021 has been introduced to the Dial this week and deserves to be passed into law.   It should make sense to both those promoting abortion as well as those opposing it.   After all we treat our animals more humanely.    The vet takes care to ensure the sick dog feels no pain.   Surely we should do likewise for our own.

What happens to these aborted lives?    The old theologians considered texts such as Revelation Chapter 7 verses 9 and 10 – After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

They reasoned that most nations had a census whereby they counted their population.   Why could the heavenly multitude not be counted?    Their conclusion was that all miscarried children or those who died in infancy were included in the heavenly roll “that no man could number”.

If this is so there will be a lot of introductions required to be made in the glory! (2 Samuel Chapter 12 verse 23).

Isaac verses Ishmael                 Word on the Week          22^nd May 2021.

The latest instalment of the age-old conflict has been played out this week in the Middle East ending in an uneasy cease fire.   There was friction from the beginning between the two half-brothers and this has been carried on down through the centuries to this day.    Isaac from whom the Jews are descended and Ishmael who is the first of the Arabs (Genesis Chapter 21 verses 8 to 20).

The land God gave Abraham to be his descendants “On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates” (Genesis Chapter 15 verse 18).   In those days the land was occupied by Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites (Genesis Chapter 15 verses 19 to 21). 

It was given to Joshua to possess the land some 500 + years after the promise was given to Abraham.   There was a certainty to Joshua’s instructions – “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you”.

Today there may be some lingering longing to once again possess the land. Certainly the events of the last 11 days have echoes of past conflicts.   But now we are in the New Covenant times.   The Jews are still warring and waiting for their Messiah refusing to recognise that he has come bringing the salvation which they long to experience (St Matthew Chapter 23 verse 37/8).

Here are some of the things that the New Testament brings to the believer in Jesus.

There is a new Exodus.   We are delivered from slavery in Egypt to slavery from sin (Romans Chapter 6 verse 18). 

The Temple in Jerusalem is gone.  Now we are the new temple.   (1 Corinthians Chapter 3 verse 16).  

We have a new Kingdom.   We have come from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Jesus. (Colossians Chapter 1 verse 13).  

There is no king in Israel.    Our king Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation Chapter 19 verse 16).

May God grant Gospel light to the Children of Isaac and the Children of Ishmael and to all who are seeking a physical solution to a spiritual problem.

Someone’s Hand in my Pocket           Word on the Week           15^th May 2021.

There is the feeling that something is not right.   Perhaps the keys are gone!   It’s like someone has been in the house, nothing seems to have been taken but the uneasy feeling remains.

Once upon a time there was a safe place in the house where you deposited your ‘treasures’.   A favourite place would have been a writing desk with a secret drawer which could only be accessed by those who knew how to find it.

Today things that are precious such as photos, letters, family documents, family trees and such things, some of which may have been passed down from previous generations can be held digitally on the computer.   This gives easy access to them and prevents them being misplaced.

Business also has moved from the old filing room to hold copies of letters, emails and documents in storage on the computer system.   These can be easily referenced and ‘losing the file’ has become almost a thing of the past.

Ireland has made a name for creating data storage warehouses.   These modern data warehouses can improve analytics, collaboration, and security of the material they house.   The data warehousing landscape is changing with evolving data needs, such as hospital records carried on our HSE system and breached this week.

In the past hackers would test their skills against Company systems, either to steal confidential data or release a ‘worm’ which would wreak havoc with the system until it is neutralised.   The present cybercrime introduces malware which renders the system unusable. 

Those responsible for the malware hold the victim to ransom.   They use the latest virus, malware, spyware or ransomware and demand a large sum of money, usually in bitcoin, in exchange for the code which cancels the virus.

The current attack could be the work of Conti ransomware.   It can steal data as well as encrypt it.   That is what thieves and robbers do according to Jesus.   In marked contrast to Jesus they steal and destroy as a way of life (St John Chapter 10 verse 10).

The way of life Jesus offered is one of service.   It culminates in the cross where Jesus paid our ransom, which we were due as a result of our sins, to his heavenly Father.  St Mark quotes Jesus, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (in Chapter 10 verse 45).

The ransom Jesus paid for believers was infinitely greater than anything Conti can extract.   Praise God and trust in the work of Jesus.

Independence – the Holy Grail           Word on the Week           8^th May 2021.

From the age when humans begin to crawl the quest for independence begins!   Later it becomes “I will manage on my own”.   And later still changes to the unspoken “I want my own way”!

The current elections in Wales and Scotland are likely to see a strengthening of the Nationalist parties – each wishing to shake off the governing influence of England.   In these post steel manufacture and post oil extraction days the desire to go separate ways smacks of ‘biting the hand that feeds you’.

A similar attitude applies in Northern Ireland where the Unionist desire to remain attached to England ignores the many of the facts of geography and history.  

Of course there is a place for Patriotism.    Individual Nation States have much to be proud of.   It requires considerable ‘give and take’ abilities to get along with your neighbouring State to which the Bible would add the virtue of love!

Israel was never the shining example to the other Nations that God intended.   Moses quoted the prophesy given to Abraham that through his seed all Nations would be blessed (Genesis Chapter 12 verse 3).   But before this happened Israel was to occupy the land God gave them for the purpose of being a witness to the surrounding Nations who would marvel at the wisdom of the Mosaic laws and revere the God who gave them (Deuteronomy Chapter 4 verses 5 to 8).

It was through Isaiah the prophet that Israel was given the promise of a Servant who would be a light to the (Gentiles) other Nations (Isaiah chapter 42 verses 1 to 7).    There would also be a New Covenant in Jesus’s blood which fulfilled the Mosaic laws and made repentance and forgiveness available to the Nations (St Luke Chapters 22 verse 20 & 24 verse 47).

The bursting out of this ‘light’ is well documented in the Book of Acts.   In its global dimension mentioned in (St John Chapter 8 verse12) Jesus claims the title of ‘Light of the World’.   There are no excluded races.  Rich and poor are included.

The wonderful thing about light is that you cannot add to it.   It is complete!   Jesus salvation is complete (Acts Chapter 4 verse 12).   What we do have is light-blockers!     The Apostle John gives us our instructions as to how to deal with them and personally walk in the light. (1John Chapter 1 verses 5 to 7).  

Those called to govern need our prayers that they too may see the light and lead by their example so that there may be a harmony in these Islands which would make the world take notice that we are following Jesus.

Song of a Bird                            Word on the Week                    1^st May 2021.

The volume of birdsong has increased considerably since the mating season got under full swing.   The dawn chorus takes pride of place with the various species trying to out-sing each other.   There have been calm early mornings with virtually no wind to carry the sound away.   Oh for ears to differentiate the calls.   Instead my almost tone deaf ears simply appreciates the choir and cannot identify the solo performers!

Of course some songs stand out from others.   Take the Goldcrest for example.   It may be our smallest bird but the high pitch of its song “zi-zi-zee” is guaranteed to make the hard of hearing remove their hearing aids!  The penetrating sound can be heard echoing through the forest during winter.

Which reminds me of the debate we used to have with a “Twitcher” (bird watcher) colleague who, to support his evolutionary views, felt the need to maintain that birds only sang to attract a mate!   He could not bring himself to acknowledge that birds could sing for pleasure, least of all could he admit that they may be singing to the glory of God!    His evolutionary blinkers robber him of entering into the joy of their song.

That harbinger of the dawn, the cockerel gets a mention in the Bible (St Matthew Chapter 26 verse 34).   Normally it heralds the dawn which, in summer, is far too early to get up!  We had a very diligent cock who would sound the dawn alert if a car’s headlights picked out the henhouse as it turned in the dark!

Jesus obviously had an empathy with cockerels.   The one in High Priest’s Courtyard knew just when it had to crow at his creator’s command (St John Chapter 1 verse 3).   He crowed after Peter’s third denial that he ever knew his Lord.   He crowed right on que with shattering effects on Peter who had so brashly maintained that he would never deny Jesus.   His guilt crushed Peter who shed tears of remorse (St Matthew Chapter 26 verse 75).

After Jesus death and resurrection, the Lord reinstated Peter with a threefold questioning of his love in that famous conversation on the shore of the sea of Galilee.   Peter’s response (he could not appeal to his record) was to recognise the Lord’s omnipotence and say “You know all things; you know that I love you”.   He was then commissioned with the command to “Feed my sheep” (St John Chapter 21 verses 15 to 17).

The Apostle Peter learned his lesson well.   His life was spent in feeding the Word of God to his sheep.   In his letters he writes out of his rich experience of Christ – his Chief Shepherd – words that apply through all generations down to our day.   They are preserved for us in 1 Peter Chapter 5 verses 1 to 11.