It's just turned 9:35pm, I've finally cleared my in-box and my desk and I've penned the notes I wanted to write to a couple of our key players - I'm free to go - I'm done! My holiday starts here! (Ok, so I've got a visit to make tomorrow but apart from that, apart from that....I'm finished!) I love the feeling - always have.
I'm sitting at the bottom of the stairs to my office as I write......the building's silent. All I can here are the occasional shouts and screams of the YP out on the street who would normally be hanging out in our building next door at this time. But it's the holidays and everyone needs a break.
Time to go. One of the things I love about Louise is that she releases me on nights like this to do what has to be done in order to finish well (even though I'd said I'd be back at 5, and then 6 and then "It's probably going to be more like 8") - and I have.
I'm leaving the building!
Friday 14 August 2009
Wednesday 12 August 2009
The Sinfullness of Sin
I had a sight test yesterday. At the same time as that bit of excitement I was (and am) reflecting on some of the pastoral issues that I’ve become involved in over the years through my calling to be a Pastor. So much havoc has been caused by spiritual blindness.
Sin is grievous and one of the main reasons is that it blinds us to the Truth. It keeps us from seeing the reality of our Father in heaven and what he says about the wonderful life we can enjoy as his children. Sin results in us believing lies that in turn take us further and further away from the Life and Truth that we can have in Jesus.
That’s the sinfulness of sin!
We end up believing that up is down, that black is white and left is right and we even quote scripture to back our position – we become that blind!
How I need to ensure that I have 20/20 spiritual vision lest I miss the incredible grace-filled, Spirit empowered life that Christ offers me. I wonder what I’m currently missing because of dodgy vision.
Spurgeon, in his devotional Morning and Evening wrote on the sinfulness of sin and the danger of tolerating it. It messes you up and more….it robs you of what you might have.
“Sin . . . exceeding sinful.” —Romans 7:13
Beware of light thoughts of sin. At the time of conversion, the conscience is so tender, that we are afraid of the slightest sin. Young converts have a holy timidity, a godly fear lest they should offend against God. But alas! very soon the fine bloom upon these first ripe fruits is removed by the rough handling of the surrounding world: the sensitive plant of young piety turns into a willow in after life, too pliant, too easily yielding.
It is sadly true, that even a Christian may grow by degrees so callous, that the sin which once startled him does not alarm him in the least. By degrees men get familiar with sin. The ear in which the cannon has been booming will not notice slight sounds. At first a little sin startles us; but soon we say, “Is it not a little one?” Then there comes another, larger, and then another, until by degrees we begin to regard sin as but a little ill; and then follows an unholy presumption: “We have not fallen into open sin. True, we tripped a little, but we stood upright in the main. We may have uttered one unholy word, but as for the most of our conversation, it has been consistent.” So we palliate sin; we throw a cloak over it; we call it by dainty names.
Christian, beware how thou thinkest lightly of sin. Take heed lest thou fall by little and little. Sin, a little thing? Is it not a poison? Who knows its deadliness? Sin, a little thing? Do not the little foxes spoil the grapes? Doth not the tiny coral insect build a rock which wrecks a navy? Do not little strokes fell lofty oaks? Will not continual droppings wear away stones? Sin, a little thing? It girded the Redeemer’s head with thorns, and pierced His heart! It made Him suffer anguish, bitterness, and woe. Could you weigh the least sin in the scales of eternity, you would fly from it as from a serpent, and abhor the least appearance of evil. Look upon all sin as that which crucified the Saviour, and you will see it to be “exceeding sinful.”
Sin is grievous and one of the main reasons is that it blinds us to the Truth. It keeps us from seeing the reality of our Father in heaven and what he says about the wonderful life we can enjoy as his children. Sin results in us believing lies that in turn take us further and further away from the Life and Truth that we can have in Jesus.
That’s the sinfulness of sin!
We end up believing that up is down, that black is white and left is right and we even quote scripture to back our position – we become that blind!
How I need to ensure that I have 20/20 spiritual vision lest I miss the incredible grace-filled, Spirit empowered life that Christ offers me. I wonder what I’m currently missing because of dodgy vision.
Spurgeon, in his devotional Morning and Evening wrote on the sinfulness of sin and the danger of tolerating it. It messes you up and more….it robs you of what you might have.
“Sin . . . exceeding sinful.” —Romans 7:13
Beware of light thoughts of sin. At the time of conversion, the conscience is so tender, that we are afraid of the slightest sin. Young converts have a holy timidity, a godly fear lest they should offend against God. But alas! very soon the fine bloom upon these first ripe fruits is removed by the rough handling of the surrounding world: the sensitive plant of young piety turns into a willow in after life, too pliant, too easily yielding.
It is sadly true, that even a Christian may grow by degrees so callous, that the sin which once startled him does not alarm him in the least. By degrees men get familiar with sin. The ear in which the cannon has been booming will not notice slight sounds. At first a little sin startles us; but soon we say, “Is it not a little one?” Then there comes another, larger, and then another, until by degrees we begin to regard sin as but a little ill; and then follows an unholy presumption: “We have not fallen into open sin. True, we tripped a little, but we stood upright in the main. We may have uttered one unholy word, but as for the most of our conversation, it has been consistent.” So we palliate sin; we throw a cloak over it; we call it by dainty names.
Christian, beware how thou thinkest lightly of sin. Take heed lest thou fall by little and little. Sin, a little thing? Is it not a poison? Who knows its deadliness? Sin, a little thing? Do not the little foxes spoil the grapes? Doth not the tiny coral insect build a rock which wrecks a navy? Do not little strokes fell lofty oaks? Will not continual droppings wear away stones? Sin, a little thing? It girded the Redeemer’s head with thorns, and pierced His heart! It made Him suffer anguish, bitterness, and woe. Could you weigh the least sin in the scales of eternity, you would fly from it as from a serpent, and abhor the least appearance of evil. Look upon all sin as that which crucified the Saviour, and you will see it to be “exceeding sinful.”
Friday 7 August 2009
Pay and Display?
I've just returned to the picnic table that's adjacent to one of the New Forest car parks. I'd pulled in en route home from a hospital visit to take time to read my Bible and pray...... there were a number of things weighing heavy on my mind and I knew that once home it probably wouldn't happen.
Anyway I decided that I didn't need to do the old "pay and display" as I wasn't staying long and I was practically in (well reasonably close to) the car park. Surely I didn't need to pay the £1.50, or whatever the sign would say, for a brief stop off? So having justified it to myself I read the first of today's Psalms - it was great! But, I've still got this nagging concern, partly about the ethics of not paying but more about about the size of fine I'd get once the guy in the yellow van paid a visit and spotted my car......"would I see him before he saw my windscreen?".
So then it's into Psalm 32 and the Lord hits me in the second verse with "Blessed is the man....in whose spirit there is no deceit." Thanks Lord for speaking so clearly. In that momet the bubble was burst. There was deceit in my heart. I was trying to get for nothing something that should have been paid for. Not the biggest deal in the world but big enough to warrant God bringing his Word to bear like a laser on my heart. Not a big deal..... but maybe in that phrase lies the problem.....
So I got up and went to the machine, feeling a strange sense of relief (which was interesting) and found I wasn't required to pay afterall.
Thanks Father for the lesson and thanks too for the power of your Word.
Anyway I decided that I didn't need to do the old "pay and display" as I wasn't staying long and I was practically in (well reasonably close to) the car park. Surely I didn't need to pay the £1.50, or whatever the sign would say, for a brief stop off? So having justified it to myself I read the first of today's Psalms - it was great! But, I've still got this nagging concern, partly about the ethics of not paying but more about about the size of fine I'd get once the guy in the yellow van paid a visit and spotted my car......"would I see him before he saw my windscreen?".
So then it's into Psalm 32 and the Lord hits me in the second verse with "Blessed is the man....in whose spirit there is no deceit." Thanks Lord for speaking so clearly. In that momet the bubble was burst. There was deceit in my heart. I was trying to get for nothing something that should have been paid for. Not the biggest deal in the world but big enough to warrant God bringing his Word to bear like a laser on my heart. Not a big deal..... but maybe in that phrase lies the problem.....
So I got up and went to the machine, feeling a strange sense of relief (which was interesting) and found I wasn't required to pay afterall.
Thanks Father for the lesson and thanks too for the power of your Word.
Monday 3 August 2009
Just Me and My Bible?
Picked this up from Adrian Warnock's blog who got it from Justin Taylor.....worth a read I think:
A Teachable Spirit by Justin Taylor
Only one book is absolutely essential to save us, to equip us to obey God’s will, and to glorify Him in whatever we do. Only one book gives us undiluted truth — the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Only one book serves as our ultimate and final authority in all that it affirms. That book, of course, is the Bible, God’s Holy Word. No wonder John Wesley once exclaimed, “Let me be homo unius libri” — a man of one book!
And yet the irony is that if we use only this book, we may in fact be in disobedience to it. We should count good teaching about the Bible — whether through commentaries, books, sermons, study Bibles, and so on — to be a gift from God for the good of His church (see Eph. 4:11; James 1:17). So what may look pious on the outside (“Just me and my Bible!”) can actually mask pride on the inside.
Acts 8 describes a story that might help us think through this. An Ethiopian eunuch — a God-fearing Gentile who served as treasurer to the Ethiopian queen — had made a five-month journey by chariot to Jerusalem in order to worship God. During his return trip he was puzzling out loud over the Isaiah scroll that he held in his hands. And the Holy Spirit appointed Philip to help him understand the meaning of the Bible. Philip first asked this man if he understood the passage that he was reading (chap. 53). The Ethiopian responded, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” (v. 31). After inviting Philip to sit in his chariot, he asked him about whom this passage spoke. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus” (v. 35). Soon after, the eunuch insisted they stop the chariot in order to be baptized by Philip in obedience to his new savior and king, Jesus Christ.
To be sure, this is a historical narrative recounting an event. The purpose is not necessarily to guide believers today in how to read their Bibles or how to think about the teaching of God’s Word. But the elements within it nonetheless correspond to some wise principles we can adopt as our own. So let’s work through the passage again, letting the various points serve as triggers for our own reflection on understanding the Word of God and those who teach it.
First, the Ethiopian wrestles with and labors to understand the meaning of God’s Word. He doesn’t wait for help; he first tries on his own to figure out what the text is saying. He is not content merely to skim the Scriptures, putting a check mark next to his reading in the scroll for that day. And so it is with us — we must spend time in the Bible, working hard and trusting God for insight into its meaning. Paul expressed this as a command followed by a promise: “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (2 Tim. 2:7).
Second, the eunuch humbly acknowledges his own insufficiency and lack of understanding. He desires to understand what the Word says, he admits that he needs help, and then he asks for it. We should approach God first remembering that He wants to be asked and that He promises to assist us: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5). And what should we pray? Psalm 119 provides many examples of how to pray for understanding and application. For example, verses 33–36: "Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!"
Third, the eunuch asks a good, clear, relevant question based upon his own wrestling with the meaning of the text. Asking good questions is evidence of good thinking. If you don’t ask good questions about the text, you won’t engage your mind and you won’t be able to evaluate the answers.
Fourth, he listens carefully to the Christ-centered, gospel-focused teaching before him. Jesus warned that we must take care how we listen (Luke 8:18), and the Ethiopian eunuch does just that. For many of us, our inclination is to talk first and listen second, but Christ-followers must be “quick to hear” and “slow to speak” (James 1:19).
Finally, he puts into practice what he has just learned from the Word and from his commentator. Philip had told him “the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35), which probably included the teaching that members of God’s covenant community will publicly identify with Christ in the act of baptism.
So the Ethiopian official models for us James’ command to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22). So let us be the sort of people who prayerfully and carefully immerse ourselves day and night in God’s Word (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2). Let us also be the sort of Berean-like people who receive good teaching about God’s Word “with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11).
Justin Taylor is editorial director of Crossway Books & Bibles in Wheaton, Illinois, and is author of the weblog Between Two Worlds.
A Teachable Spirit by Justin Taylor
Only one book is absolutely essential to save us, to equip us to obey God’s will, and to glorify Him in whatever we do. Only one book gives us undiluted truth — the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Only one book serves as our ultimate and final authority in all that it affirms. That book, of course, is the Bible, God’s Holy Word. No wonder John Wesley once exclaimed, “Let me be homo unius libri” — a man of one book!
And yet the irony is that if we use only this book, we may in fact be in disobedience to it. We should count good teaching about the Bible — whether through commentaries, books, sermons, study Bibles, and so on — to be a gift from God for the good of His church (see Eph. 4:11; James 1:17). So what may look pious on the outside (“Just me and my Bible!”) can actually mask pride on the inside.
Acts 8 describes a story that might help us think through this. An Ethiopian eunuch — a God-fearing Gentile who served as treasurer to the Ethiopian queen — had made a five-month journey by chariot to Jerusalem in order to worship God. During his return trip he was puzzling out loud over the Isaiah scroll that he held in his hands. And the Holy Spirit appointed Philip to help him understand the meaning of the Bible. Philip first asked this man if he understood the passage that he was reading (chap. 53). The Ethiopian responded, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” (v. 31). After inviting Philip to sit in his chariot, he asked him about whom this passage spoke. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus” (v. 35). Soon after, the eunuch insisted they stop the chariot in order to be baptized by Philip in obedience to his new savior and king, Jesus Christ.
To be sure, this is a historical narrative recounting an event. The purpose is not necessarily to guide believers today in how to read their Bibles or how to think about the teaching of God’s Word. But the elements within it nonetheless correspond to some wise principles we can adopt as our own. So let’s work through the passage again, letting the various points serve as triggers for our own reflection on understanding the Word of God and those who teach it.
First, the Ethiopian wrestles with and labors to understand the meaning of God’s Word. He doesn’t wait for help; he first tries on his own to figure out what the text is saying. He is not content merely to skim the Scriptures, putting a check mark next to his reading in the scroll for that day. And so it is with us — we must spend time in the Bible, working hard and trusting God for insight into its meaning. Paul expressed this as a command followed by a promise: “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (2 Tim. 2:7).
Second, the eunuch humbly acknowledges his own insufficiency and lack of understanding. He desires to understand what the Word says, he admits that he needs help, and then he asks for it. We should approach God first remembering that He wants to be asked and that He promises to assist us: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5). And what should we pray? Psalm 119 provides many examples of how to pray for understanding and application. For example, verses 33–36: "Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!"
Third, the eunuch asks a good, clear, relevant question based upon his own wrestling with the meaning of the text. Asking good questions is evidence of good thinking. If you don’t ask good questions about the text, you won’t engage your mind and you won’t be able to evaluate the answers.
Fourth, he listens carefully to the Christ-centered, gospel-focused teaching before him. Jesus warned that we must take care how we listen (Luke 8:18), and the Ethiopian eunuch does just that. For many of us, our inclination is to talk first and listen second, but Christ-followers must be “quick to hear” and “slow to speak” (James 1:19).
Finally, he puts into practice what he has just learned from the Word and from his commentator. Philip had told him “the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35), which probably included the teaching that members of God’s covenant community will publicly identify with Christ in the act of baptism.
So the Ethiopian official models for us James’ command to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22). So let us be the sort of people who prayerfully and carefully immerse ourselves day and night in God’s Word (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2). Let us also be the sort of Berean-like people who receive good teaching about God’s Word “with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11).
Justin Taylor is editorial director of Crossway Books & Bibles in Wheaton, Illinois, and is author of the weblog Between Two Worlds.
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