G R A C E

 The beauty of the Gospel, with Ted and Rod Rosenbladt.

Beyond Caesar's Coin

 "And they sought to trap Him with their words... Is it lawful?". Mark12:13-17.

It seemed perfect to those seeking to maintain the status quo. Put before Jesus an issue that will mean He has to upset the authorities in one way or another, then we can rid ourselves of His naked display of something we cannot control.

It seemed perfect, but even as they became staggered, again, at the wisdom of HIs words, they still failed to see what was implicit in His answer to them.

It's not just about throwing a few pieces of metal back to someone who believes he owns them - it's about what that truth actually states.

Men and Woman have an 'image' - a nature and status that isn't meant to be ruined in the furnace that the Caesar's and sanctimonious of the world want to feed us to continually. The very fact that these men and women were inhabiting a realm filled with all manner of inventive splendours, including currency, bountifully conveys the marvel of the inter-action between men and nature the Lord above provides to facilitate our well-being and development. Though marred by our fall, the vital image of our profound worth is clearly expressed in these gifts, and they are not to be taken lightly.

The reading of the law common amongst the religious leaders of that day had made people less than animals, and the imperious bonds of the empire equally demanded allegiance to all manner of errors, but amidst all this, Jesus points us to a far deeper truth - that men are only free when God is allowed to be vitally good amongst them; to restore what we have so readily smeared.

Like the ancients, we still fumble around with our home-spun "virtues", seeking to compress and reduce everything to that image, especially when it comes to our religious and/or social morality.

The blunt truth is only in the beauty and radiance of this Jesus do we inhale the fragrance of true Godliness and true humanity - here is the genuine currency of the transcendent, and the full verification of unspoilt humanity.

Such considerations bring us to the confession that what we need is "not more conferences or programs, or celebrities... but a living communion with this Christ, day by day, helping us escape our momentary 'google' attitudes. A fellowship radiant with crucifixion mercy, which is the touchstone of our actions. Such a gospel is more than enough - it is everything. The church needs this singular gift to be reaffirmed as the power for our day". (Michael Horton and Chad Bird).

We can either live 'under the mark' of laws and requirements that dictate endless repression of the truth, or we can be free to live well before God's abounding grace and care.

The choice is ours.

Politics?

"And he asked, 'what, then, is the meaning of these bleating sheep?" 1 Samuel 15:14.

In a highly pertinent piece on the CW website today, Kathy Gyngell correctly asks some very telling questions regarding a particular MP's unexpected confession this week regarding his 'lone voice' position in the UK cabinet over the last few years. The question that troubles me the most, however, assuming he's being truthful, is why was it that he was unable to be "heard" in any fashion that mattered during the whole affair - what caused the circumstances that meant that he only felt he could come forward after the government he served with was busy directing the removal men into number 10?

In the verse above, we find the Prophet Samuel having to deal with King Saul's 'political expediency' - not only did he keep the best of what he should have destroyed for himself, but he also failed to execute a King whose own name meant 'ablaze' (as violently exertive ) - Agag of the Amalekites. Saul thought he knew what was best, especially when it came to his own aggrandisement, so he certainly wasn't going to listen to anyone else when it came to doing what he decided would bring him more prestige.

The cost for this action to Saul was total, in respect to his rule in the kingdom, but the cost was equally great to Samuel. Because he acted to fulfil what was necessary, he was severed from the King from that day on.

The cost of doing what is right in the face of genuine and complete opposition is always very high, but absolutely essential for righteousness to prevail.

We have lived through a moment when the wisdom of what was required to keep us through the trial of a viral outbreak was thrown aside in favour of "new" measures and new medications. The reasons why these requirements were set no doubt had a great deal to do with the manner of ambition we see in the character of Saul, but the voice raised against this goal in our day only came from outside of the seats of central power both here and in many other nations.  That meant they have essentially remained unheard in the mainstream beyond follies to be ridiculed - at least until recently, as the data has become more public and more prolific to convey that those deemed peripheral were more correct than previously thought.

The damage of all of this is both deep and extensive. If only there had been a clear voice within the system, early in the 'program', that had spoken up - how many lives would not have been wrecked or lost if it had been possible to create a pause when needed.

Another piece published today, seeking to address the issue of what should be acceptable in the realms of social media in respect to being reasonable, shows how easily we can allow the violent 'kings' of our day take hold of the spheres of exchange and use them, like Haman amidst the Jewish exiles, to bring about malevolence.

The last voice so often heard is the one we should genuinely consider - it annihilates the destructive nature of those pretending to have our 'best interests', and exposes us again to the true intents and purposes of what is genuinely righteous and true, bringing renewal and health.

Things can only get...

 Two fascinating entries today from the Archbishop Cranmer site.

First, Anglicans apparently accept Papal headship (!). According to one Mr Welby, at least, as reported here.

Second, the Anglican Cathedral in Norwich appears to have entirely forgotten the uniqueness of the work and stature of a pretty significant person, named Jesus. According to their own material on the subject, Jesus is someone about as interesting as some other historical characters, but probably not much besides.

You really couldn't make it up.

Fractures

 "His strength is what becomes complete through our weaknesses".

2 Corinthians 12:9.

I've never got on with electric razors, enjoyed certain types of soda drinks, and find myself intolerant to a couple of desserts... and tomatoes are now a no no.

We all have things like that.

Recently, I purchased a new electric razor, just to see if my opinion of such a thing should change. After using it, it felt like I hadn't shaved.

Sometimes, our reservations are entirely justified.

This week, Doug Wilson posted a really interesting blog on recent public goings on in respect to his church's social event, and the "curiosity" shown towards this by a certain federal agency. What I especially liked about his insights was his notation that you don't get this level of attention from said 'powers' unless you're saying or doing something that warrants such, and that should cause us to sit up and tune in.

When he speaks of the necessity for Christians to be noticed in this fashion, he isn't just mouthing platitudes. Some churches in the last few years literally put their whole presence on the line because they knew that the entire conformity routine that was imposed was pure control in realms where it did not belong. That meant they found themselves oppressed by local and even state legislators to buckle and relent, but they knew that their dissent was lawful and moral, and even more important, a spiritual necessity for both themselves and the health of the world around them. Being genuinely neighbourly requires going the extra mile for others and laying the axe to the root of all the pretences and outright lies behind what is 'required'.

Most, as Doug points out, were entirely unprepared - quite literally non-equipped - to gear up to do what was required, so when the pushing started, they found themselves scrambling for a belief structure that allowed for their conformity to state requirements.

It isn't the first time the majority of the church has done so.

In the horrendous 1914-18 destruction of Europe, conscientious objectors were publicly shunned for their "cowardice" for rejecting state policy, and the church in England, for example, echoed everything stated in respect of the nation giving 'its full measure' on the bloody, unrelenting wastelands in France. Similarly, the majority of the German church which sided or passively accepted the hydra-like squeeze of the National Socialists upon the Christian authorities, even when this meant a total bleaching of semitism from the essential roots of the faith.

So, where does that leave us?

Well, like those politicians who fervently supported policy on lockdowns, social hygiene requirements and virtually enforced vaccination, we have a striking number of churches and church leaders who not only gave no resistance when the mandates imposed closure of places of worship, but would almost certainly co-operate with similar circumstances again in future, even though the social effects have been brutally destructive and the mounting numbers of new excess deaths are now casting a long shadow over the 'effectiveness' of what was implemented medically.

We need to heed the lesson that we think we can neglect.

We need to come to terms with what has really happened here.

It's really easy for the mainstream bodies to disqualify this as a 'single' voice that they can ignore.

Nathan was just that to David.

Jeremiah was just that to Judah.

Paul was exactly that to churches that had departed from the faith.

Jesus Himself is exactly this when He issues His warnings to the seven churches.

This isn't about personal preferences or even individual choices.

It is about the future well being of the body of Christ on earth.

So, take a listen to Doug, and think about how these matters apply to us... right now.

Oil and Wine

"(He) has given me wine, to bring delight to my heart, and oil, so that my face shines".

Psalm 104:15.

There's something that holds us in the words of a love song.

"Sweet love, sweet love, trapped in your love,

I've opened up, unsure I can trust,

My heart and I were buried in dust,

Free me, free us.

I found the one that I can trust,

and, oh, I believe in us,

I am terrified to love for the first time,

Can't you see I'm bound in chains,

I'm bound to you.

Sweet love, so pure".

(Bound to You - Christina Aguilera).

One of the very deep points in scripture comes at the core of the Song of Songs.

In chapter 2 and verse 9, the author draws our attention to the gaze of the youth seeking his beloved from outside of the house where she and her family reside. The 'walls' of the building divide them, but the gaze of the one outside is eagerly within, seeking to look upon the visage of the one he pursues. This is all evidenced by the woman he seeks, who, peering through a lattice, is clearly delighting in the stature and the visual pursuit of the one seeking her. Although they are still apart, this mutual exchange of view allows for a look that is beyond the merely peripheral or superficial - each of them are truly revelling in the splendour of the other.

The writer wants us to go beyond what is happening externally - to see that the joy of the moment is generated by the sheer wonder each has within for the other.

The description of the moment, then - the poise, the situation, the searching out to see, is all meant to draw us into the actual potential of what is unfolding here. The man is about to begin to convey what both of them desire - to be joined as one, beyond any material or external confines, that they may truly share of the exquisite bounty of their love (2:10-14).

The sheer busyness of life can often keep us away from such a 'window'. We can become so confined by the daily 'noise' that passes for what's real, that we fail to gaze outside into the realm of the one who has come to us. The "safety" of routine, of the known factors of what surround us, be they religious or secular, can hinder us from seeing and hearing what has come to us from afar - come to woo us and revive the deepest longings within our innermost essential image (the marred, but still present image of the beloved).

Like the woman here, we must become those whose hearts and lives are raised from the dust, that our gaze may be brought upward to become enthralled by the one who has come for us, to take us far beyond the bounds of what we have known, to a realm eternally filled with the splendour and fragrance of unceasing love.

Therein resides the beauty of genuine holiness.

Credible.

 "If anyone thinks he has reason to be justified by his merits, I have more".

Paul - Philippians 3:4.

It's late 2020, and you're a leading consultant on medical issues for various national bodies. You're invited to take a simple test that shows the veracity of a new product - a rapid confirmation of just how safe it is and how effective it will be for the vast majority of people. You're so convinced by the results, that you happily go on national media and inform those that are hesitant about using this that they're perfectly safe to do so...

Two years later, you have discovered the truth of what was actually happening - the 'proof' was actually irrelevant, and the danger was terribly real.

That's the story behind this latest interview on the untold story (for most of the public) in regards to what happened in respect to mRNA vaccines last year.

Truth is the currency that God requires us to deal with in respect to our lives here. It's the case in respect to our faith, and it has to be so in our dealings with life in general if we are to live well.

Like the Apostle Paul, a wake up is required in respect to where we are and what truly matters, and that wake up has to be evidenced in the church.

May God help us to come clean on this issue.

The scourge of the Sentinels

 "I opened to my beloved, but he had turned and had gone. My soul failed me... I sought him, but could not find him. I cried out, but there was no answer.

Making their rounds, the Sentinels came upon me - they beat and wounded me, taking away my mantle - the 'guards' of the city walls" Song of Songs 5:6 & 7.

It is terrible when hope is taken from us. As with the woman in this love poem, we die inside, but something even worse can then follow. When we loose our intimate connection with the one who is the dayspring of existence, we find ourselves left only with the rude and punishing requirements of the 'sentinels' - those precepts which wish to reduce to something viewed as unworthy of any such splendour and affection.

A good example of this manner of trouble is seen in John 5, with the healing of a man who had been lame for 38 years.  The "crowd" are so perplexed by their pedantic fixation on what was lawful, that they entirely loose sight of Jesus, and end up not knowing who had actually performed the healing. As with the guards of the city in the song, they have absolutely no conception of what is actually taking place around them, or its profound significance, so they behave purely from their own, entirely incorrect instincts.

The writer of the song was very wise. In his book on the subject (proverbs), he speaks of the 'first tier' of such understanding being evidenced when we live our lives with genuine virtue. The 'second tier' is when we learn to accomodate suffering, respond well to injustice, and work through numerous times of hardship and perplexity. Jesus teaches us that there is a vital third tier - the 'dying' to live, the loosing to gain - the 'wild' drive of the lover in the poem, in other words, which compels us like her to pour out our lives in what is so risky, or viewed as wasteful, or foolish... pouring it all out as if there was an infinite capacity to expend what you are and what you have.

The 'guardians', no doubt, believed their role was to maintain some semblance of 'first tier' order, but the truth, of course, is their behaviour was well below even the most rudimentary requirements of such virtue (hence, their violence and malice in their behaviour). In contrast, the woman is acting at the highest level of what counts, because she faces her anguish and such aggression against her due to her total commitment to what mattered - re-uniting with the one she lived for.

Most of us, no doubt, vacilate on this scale. We can easily be as brutish as the sentinels in both our behaviour and our reductionism of what counts to a 'legal' rendering which leaves us way outside the actual bounds of what is desired to convey what is good, but hopefully, we will know the overwhelming beauty of the passion of the beloved - that all of life is worthwhile, even the painful aspects, because we are so totally and entirely loved by the one who has captured us.

It is when such virtue is in full flow that life reaches its true realm of joy bestowed through trial, because the love that surrounds us in such splendour cannot be quashed or denied, can never be suppressed, even by death.

May you and I be 'set as a seal' of such beauty upon the heart of the lover of us all!

Between the Cracks

"How come everyday, I'm waiting for the change?

How come I still say, give me strength to live".

Pavement Cracks - Annie Lennox.

Outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, outplanned.

Is it any wonder we sometimes gain a sense of paralysis!

When we read the narrative of those who desire to do something beyond conforming to the ugliness of life, it is most certainly like looking for something rare amidst the broken highways of the world. Where is the strength that cuts iron bars, breaks apart those brazen gates of bronze, and turns mountains taller than Everest into smooth paths to walk on? Where is the precious bounty from the deep places that, surely, should accompany those times of trial and hardship?

God's hero's and millionaires are often those that serve amidst the broken places. They are the richest of people, because they have discovered how to be grateful in the most common things of life, because the deepest wealth is when we share unmerited love amongst all of us broken souls. Genuine, everlasting love is something way out of our control, that brings a sweetness and beauty that wonderfully transcends all the pain and the misery. It makes us thankful to be alive.

God's house is a refuge for those, notes Chad Bird, who know of the 'streaks of blood upon the floor, from the wounded who drag themselves there after a week of addictions, griefs, and family fragmentation. Scratches are evident on the walls from those seeking to claw their way free from the demons they harbour within. Vomit is on the carpet from women seeking to free themselves from men ruined by anger. Everywhere you look there are faces marked by the trails of tears upon children longing to be freed from the famine of despair' (Unsexy church).

These should all be present, he notes, because beneath all the veneer of our exterior 'niceness', we are wretches marked by filthy rags, needing the singular salve of the blood of Jesus, over and over again.

This is our only Bethel, our only hostel at the gateway to what is so far, so very much 'higher' than us. 

The vital truth, notes Chad, is that the Lamb of God stands firm in our midst, taking away the sins of the world. That is the stone upon which we can rest and see heaven open.

The people of God have often been a band that you would not look at twice on a normal day, but behind all the hobbling and the need, there is the blood-bought mantle of God, making them a army, fierce in prospect, arrayed in banners.

May we be so clothed today in all our 'small corners'.

Clarity

 "Beloved, if anyone becomes caught in any particular sin, you who are free and discerning in the Gospel should restore them in a spirit of gentleness, keeping guard on yourselves so that you are not tempted by such a sin. By bearing each others faults, we fulfil the will of Jesus Christ". Galatians 6:1 & 2.

Any time we put our heads above the trenches these days, the sexuality issue is everywhere.

In a day when , because our culture has lost God, it’s no surprise that we loose ourselves.

This message, given by Jackie Hill Perry, is a genuine salve to the soul.

Ending the harm

 "He who forgives all your sins, and heals all your diseases". Psalm 103:3.

"As the sun was setting, they brought all those who were sick with various diseases to Him, and laying His hands on them, He healed each of them". Luke 4:40.

Back in my twenties, I had an opportunity to vacation on the Greek island of Kos. Hiring a bicycle, I proceeded to zoom around various parts of the island, and thereby found myself outside the ruins of the school of Hippocrates on a bank holiday when entrance was free. The ancient forum is famous because it was here that the universal credo of the medical profession - 'do no harm' - was supposedly born.

Fast forward several centuries to the present, and the scope of the Hippocratic oath in respect to the preservation of life has well and truly been re-defined.

In a week where a British mother's very reasonable request for more time in respect to her son's brain injury has been refused by both the medical profession and the courts, we face the stark reality of the ramifications of that change. The reality is that authorities of 'free' countries have taken it upon themselves to own comprehensive measures of well-nigh exclusive boundaries of control to those they deem 'qualified' to determine the health and medical rights of everyone else (and, as is being evidenced right now, they do not intend to stop there). This has all been predicated upon the idea that these 'experts' know exactly what is best for everyone, and therefore, legislation is imposed to insure that total conformity is maintained, even to the point where "DNR" notices are given without any reference to the desires of the patient or their families.

How such 'procedures' become acceptable has been evidenced in the devastation now beginning to emerge as a direct result of the pandemic policies of the last few years. In the last few weeks, Germany, France and Sweden have all published initial materials which reveal serious adverse consequences of the rapid, inadequately tested mRNA materials employed against Covid, and other studies show that this is almost certainly the tip of a much larger series of consequences in respect to long-term health in realms such as natural immunity against disease and male and female fertility.  In truth, then, it appears that the pharmaceutical corporations have been given free reign to introduce an agent into the very vital chemistry of people's bodies that is essentially poisonous to life.

The great tragedy here is that several medical voices have been raising these manner of concerns since the very beginning of this outbreak, publicly questioning the veracity of both social restrictions and the well-nigh mandatory imposition of the vaccination program. They have been muted by the mainstream and ridiculed by authorities, but the growing body of data validates their concerns - our medical bodies have been turned into a singular point of delivery to provide little above and beyond the authorised "remedy" of these highly dangerous materials.

Now, we are witnessing the unveiling of the awful economic, medical and social consequences of this vile policy. Thousands of excess deaths are being reported, access to vital health services are being curtailed so that many cannot consult with doctors or obtain essential medical treatments. Young children have been drastically impaired in their essential development due to school closures and social distancing/masking regimes, and are now being required to take a substance into their bodies for a threat that almost exclusively kills the elderly.

The consequences of the actions of the last two years are horrendous, and those who sought to say this must be challenged are being proved right, but for most of us, this leaves us in a state of deep vulnerability. The fact is that the institutions that most of us have depended upon for much of our lives have been seriously crippled by what has been imposed upon them. Just a few months ago, a large body of nurses, for example, were protesting outside of hospitals because they were about to be forcefully expelled from their profession because they refused to be injected with this deadly substance.

What are we to do?

Where can we find aid in this time of need?

The churches in general have taken the view that these policies have all been good, closing their doors when told and even becoming vaccination centres, holding out a poison as remedy instead of remaining open to hold out the genuine word of life. This is a ringing inditement against their 'faith', especially as it amounted to the ostracism of any medical or theological questioning of the well-nigh mandatory requirements. Only when we reached the point where society would only allow the vaccinated access to normal activities was there any form of concern.

We have to be pragmatic, taking 'a little wine' (medication) for our health where required, and seeking to eat and exercise as best as we can to keep ourselves in good health, but the honest truth is that most of us will continue to need the assistance of this crippled service.

My own hope is that after such abuse, we will begin to see a reversal of the madness in what unfolds next - that some in places of authority will begin to speak up and aim to undo some of the damage that has been done. This isn't going to be a panacea that will remedy all the ills by any means, but we can pray that this will be a genuine step in the right direction.

What is required now is a great deal of care, discernment and wisdom on our part in respect to what we say and do, seasoning the days where possible with what needs to be addressed, and seeking to show by our own example that the life bestowed by heaven is one of blessing and goodness, even amidst such pestilent days.

The vital remedy is always the healing of our souls, so that though this body is indeed destroyed, yet in this very flesh we shall see God.

Redemption for the individual and the world as a whole only comes through the death and resurrection evidenced in the Cross of Jesus Christ, so all that is truly vital for us, must be bestowed from that eternal source.

May God continue to give us wisdom and mercy in these days, and may they indeed be rich because He does so.