The Wonder

 "As they pass through the valley of Baca (weeping), they make it a place of springs". Psalm 84:6.

Do you ever stop and wonder what all of this is really about?

The universe, though containing real splendour, appears to be quite cold and barren. Life here, whilst adorned with all manner of astonishing moments, is deeply marked with trouble and suffering which conclude in death.

It all looks pretty bleak in many respects.

No one could have gone through the last few years on this planet without noticing that there's been a real shift - a major upturn - in the propensity of evil almost everywhere, and that uprising appears to be growing and deepening all of the time, but there is, when you look closely enough, a good reason for this.

This comes in two parts.

First, there's the dreadful aspect - not in respect to even more suffering, although that is most certainly true for many - but in regards to who is generating this malevolence, and, more importantly, why they are doing so.

Have a listen to this superb explanation by David Wood on what's actually taking place here. The 'fools' are doing what they are doing because the provocation of the divine is so strong, their reaction is to war against it.

Secondly, there's the refining consequence of what is happening as a result. 

Let me give you an example.

The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland is almost gone in many parts of the country. It was found to be ineffective in respect to facing and overcoming the forces of secularism, both internally and externally - much like the Church of England. What is replacing this is a flourishing of new Eastern European and African missionary churches which are seeing large numbers of Irish people returning to Christianity. The interesting thing here is that many of these never lost faith in God but entirely lost confidence in the institutions that had so failed them.

It's also important to understand that many of these new churches have grown out of the seeds which were planted in Africa by Christian missionaries from the UK in the 19th and 20th centuries and through the Bible smuggling that occurred into communist countries in the 1970's, 80's and 90's - we are witnessing the results of that work.

We are living at a very telling moment in cosmic affairs - a real defining of where men and women stand is taking place, so as bizarre new definitions of marriage, dietary requirements and social devotion arise and become enforced, it's imperative that we are like the sons of Korah in the Psalm - we're passing through the valley of sorrows, but we've seen what's ahead, and we rejoice amidst the trial because of that splendour.

The Lord said to Abraham that what He was seeking was a preparation of a place He could make home, right here amongst us.

That is the mission objective, and Jesus will return at the Father's hour to make it so.

Backwards

 "And those who appeared to be influential (but God shows no partiality) added nothing to me" (Galatians 2:6).

So - why do we gather as congregations of God's people?

For many, the answer that appears to come to mind first is to worship God.

That's interesting, because according to some research of churches in America, the 'highlight' of the service is usually associated with this for many, and what follows from there (the key worship usually occurs at the start of a service) is deemed as secondary, in respect to impact and significance, to what happens in the 'praise' or worship time. It's interesting to note that in some 'high' church traditions, peoples emotional responses are often wrapped around a liturgy that is 'above and beyond' them (such as latin masses or the employment of "high" liturgy in a mystical fashion). What then follows for many is a lesson on how to do better, either in yourself, or in respect to what you do to the world in general - be the 'Good Samaritan' type.

I wonder what would happen if next Sunday, you walked into church and found something like this facing you:

Most of us don't recognise our weekly church attendance as a deeply "catastrophizing"  (think Lewis and Tolkien here) time, but that is almost certainly because the way such activity is usually 'done' today. The aim is to usually bring us 'into' a realm of sweetness in respect to God and our fellow company, but that raises a question - what is actually going on, and why is it happening?

It's so easy to be, at first, carried up by the swell of good music and lyrics, and then to be drowned afterwards by the overwhelming 'must' ness of duty and another week of 'plodding' in that service.

So is that what church is actually about?

The image here should shout at us that it's actually about something more than any of that cycle. Liturgy, Preaching, Sacraments all have a role - but this is sorely missed much of the time because the goal of gathering isn't what it should be.

Recall the story of Peter in Acts 11. In the middle of a session of prayer on a roof in the city of Joppa, God breaks in and entirely upsets his theology - 'that which I say is clean is clean'.

What's important to note here is Peter had a tendency to 'go' for the kind of approach to spirituality that would fit quite well into most regular church services, but God is saying to him and us that this just isn't radical enough.

Christians gathering together is suppose to be about one principal matter.

The Gospel is spoken, confession and absolution take place, the supper is shared, and baptisms unite us to Christ -

they convey the goodness of God's astonishing grace.

We don't mind a little of that, of course, but we don't particularly want it to overwhelm us and everything else, but that's exactly what should take place.

If church-going becomes about anything else, then we are Peter, refusing to accept what God is laying down from heaven itself for us. We're making excuses for not attending the feast.

So with that in mind, what is going in your church life? Is it about the very vital splendour that is the beating heart of the New Testament (and much of the rest of scripture besides) - the good news of our redemption - or is it all about a cycle whereby God, in effect, always ends up being downgraded because of what's continually given priority (what we have made important)?

Christianity only imparts what's good when it gives what God gives to the world - His one and only Son. When the wondrous story is all, then the sweetness of heaven will be evident in all we're doing.

Something to think about next Sunday!

Negligence

 "To obey is better than sacrifice". 1 Samuel 15:22.

When it is sinful to forgive?

When the sin is not only not acknowledged and confessed, but when the person concerned seeks to justify the evil they are continuing to deem as good.

In the times when Israel was going through the birth pains of becoming a nation, the people found the idea of being directly responsible - socially and spiritually - to God made them uncomfortable, especially when they looked at the manner in which the pagan nations were ruled.

This angst became vocalised in a particular request - we want to have a material ruler, just like everyone else. The Lord sought to warn them that this would cost them dearly (the designated monarch would take in a manner which would cost from them all), but He relented to their request, and Samuel anoints a man that they all think will do well.

The first test proves to be the protection of the people themselves. A vicious, pernicious war monger named Agag needs to be removed, so the new King Saul is sent to deal with this enemy by killing him.

Saul fails miserably because, as he begins the task, he decides he can aggrandise his own wealth and power by 'adjusting' God's requirements and seceding in victory to the will of that power (rebel against the command to destroy everything, choosing to keep the best of Agag's wealth for themselves).

The consequences, of course, are dire, for the people and for Saul, and requires God to take the reins (in respect to judgement) once more.

Samuel confronts Saul after the battle, asking him why the material goods of Agag (cattle), which God had commanded be destroyed, was literally "bleating" outside the tent, and why Agag is still alive. Saul seeks to wheedle his way out of his compromise by saying he intended to give the livestock in sacrifice, but Samuel reads right through the lies and, taking a sword, does what Saul has not, killing Agag.

The 'political' actions of Saul in these events is a rebellion against the fundamental behaviours the Lord desires (love for Him and our neighbour). It's a poison that not only murders God's work in the service of one man, but threatens to, once again, infect the entire behaviour of the nation (if the leader(s) can do this and it's OK, so can we).

This manner of active negligence is everywhere in civil and social behaviour today.

The UK Government was once again, for example, presented with their own damning data this week on the impact of MRNA gene therapy 'vaccines' by Andrew Bridgen, but refused to recognise this horrifying truth, because they are very aware that they are the cause of such a nightmare (Big Pharma may have produced the materials, but they are the people responsible for the use of these deadly 'safe and effective' methods). The US Government has done the same, and has also closed its eyes and ears to the dreadful mistakes made to the banking industry in 2008, allowing many of the very same people who caused this global injury then to repeat it over the last ten days once more.

The truth is we have a cabal of Saul's - a council of evil, perpetuating nothing but utter negligence when it comes to our true status before the most High and each other, and it cannot continue unchecked.

The good news is that this house has already been raided by a 'stronger man' - the one who has conquered in this battle  - "Christ Jesus is His name".

Stand fast in His mercy and truth, and the day of glorious light, which devours the darkness and brings eternal joy in what is whole, will come.

Twixt Paradise and Perdition

 "Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?"

Romans 7:24.

One of the great joys of Christianity is the manner in which it conveys truth to us through the vital method of the arts (language, music and images), and this is particularly true when it comes to our own nature.

Recently I watched a two hour special on You Tube on the music of the Jesus movement of the 70's, and heard a new song by the superb Randy Stonehill. Listen to these lyrics: 

 Like a man who has lost his memory,  we got in this calamity.The Truth of who we are Is distant as the stars, so we paint our portraits in the dark, and build this lonely house of cards,  but we are not sure what is real, and we are aching to be healed, And the hours we would cling to flow like water through our hands, and we hear and see and think and feel, but we never understand, all the Glory and the meaning of our days,

      Abandon your Heart and it will take flight O its beating like an angel's wings that long for heavens light,   Abandon your heart, just set it free The Mighty Love of God is calling -  Abandon your heart to me.

 We'd deified our wilfulness, our prison walls are made of this, our only hope awaits just beyond those wicket gates. We would go to almost any length to preserve this weakness we call strength, but peace can never dwell in a house of infidels.     Then the fire of life burns in us, but it's power is denied.   We are lost in frantic motion, We are never satisfied, But I swear it does not have to be this way

     Abandon your Heart and it will take flight.   O it's beating like an angel's wings that long for heavens light.   Abandon your heart, just set it free The Mighty Love of God is calling -   Abandon your heart to me. 

 All these things we try to hold,   They only rob our thirsting souls and make us old But when we dare to let go, We will finally know the joy that always alludes our grasp.

     Abandon your heart.

Whether we see ourselves as akin to Edmund (The Chronicles of Narnia), giving ground to the allure of Turkish delight, or far more in the vein of the twisted genius of William Minor, the truth we cannot escape is our 'hearts' indeed enslave us to the manner of wretchedness Paul is unpacking in Romans 7 (which is why good Christian liturgy always revolves around confession, absolution, Gospel declaration and the mediation of the Lord's supper). We were indeed made to fly to heights that truly astonish (as any work of genius reveals), but we are brought low by our vices and our continuing propensity to these. We, in effect, destroy ourselves by our own bent towards murder (anger), lust (with our hearts, if not with our bodies), and greed, but God has recused us from all our evil by the giving up of His beloved Son.

We are called to cast all our burdens, all our terrible woes and inclinations to what is worse upon Him, because at the cross, He carried these for the whole world, and brought a merciful reconciliation to our Father that cannot be broken - nothing now, because of Calvary, can ever sever us from that love. That is the mark God wishes us to bare before the world - naked souls redeemed entirely by His care, that can then dance without shame before His abiding presence in the ecstasy of unequaled joy.

Observations

 "Go, set the watchman, says the Lord, and let him declare what he sees". 

Isaiah 21:6.

It's surely a time for astute observations, so here's a few that have impressed upon me of late (the last few days) -

1. People are waking up to what is happening. To give just a few examples, there's been some really useful You Tube postings, including a discussion between Jordan Peterson and Konstantin Kisin on the need for God ( yes, you heard that right), and a new documentary on the uniqueness of the Bible. As a 60's song might have put it, the answer is 'blowing' in these winds.

2. Good theology must prevail. There have been some presentations this week by Christians on You Tube, where the theology has not been refined enough to get across what really matters on a subject in respect to truth, and this creates confusion or miss-direction. We really have to be careful to speak the truth well and with care.

3. It's pretty clear that 2020 replaced the conventional manner of doing all kinds of key things (Politics, Medicine, Journalism, Church, Science) with a 'top-down' determinism that has ruined so much. As a result, we're now living in a realm where better things once prevailed, but have now been hollowed out and almost abandoned by the new regime. It's a dreadful state of affairs, and we need to pray that those seeking to press through the malaise by their commitment to truth are heard and the mind-fog of repression evidenced in so many is cleared by such integrity.

4. Christianity is the honest evaluation of what we are and what God does about this. It means we live between the heights of God's astonishing reconciliation and the lows of our own depravity. How does this play out? More on that next time.

Breaking the Wasteland

 "A severe famine rose in that country". Luke 15:14.

"The days of famine are coming - not of bread, but of hearing my Word" Amos 8:11.

It's been a festival of gluttony.

Virtually everything we could have wanted or needed, and more besides - money, power, distraction, it's all been there for the taking, and goodness, have we taken - decade after decade we have aggrandised our lives with the notion that today is all that really matters - live for the moment as Atheist Sam Harris puts it.

That was until recently.

Abruptly, all this manner of consumerism, and any street-level view supporting it, was deemed morally bankrupt and a genuine manifestation of evil against the true 'virtues' of the day - the moral correctness of the new social correction movements supposedly bringing a new, virtuous good for all.

There is, no doubt, some validity entangled amongst the blinkered vision of these new idealists. The 2008 crash revealed just how readily people will acquiesce to the belief that greed is good and let this consume them, if it means they reach the top of the money tree (just look at Bill Gates latest accumulation through the Vaccine shares he recently dumped, and then informed everyone how poor these materials actually are). Notions of prudence, moderation and everyday common sense caution were thrown away with the Tsunami of having more and more of it all right now became the supposedly attainable goal of some of the biggest financial companies in the world - all by merely re-valuing atrocious property deals.

The ideological backlash, swinging the pendulum to the goal of heralding global austerity, is generated by the necessity of revulsion at such wanton selfishness. The trouble is that the zealotry of such activism derives not from some genuine desire for a better world, but the very same lust to control and manipulate, evidenced when Capitalism became consumed by absolute greed.

The motivation behind both spheres of misery is not beneficence, but a endemic hatred for nurturing what is actually good.

We may inhabit a realm of plenty provided by the Lord, but we hate that same Lord with a passion, and act continually to reject His good.Gorging ourselves, in one manner or another, is merely the terrible expression of this.

The consequences of such revolt are always the same.

We squander the bestowed benefits until they are spent and then we discover ourselves profoundly starved of what we need at our point of deepest need.

That realisation leaves only two options - starvation in the desert or a contrite return to our true Father.

Christianity is paramount here, because it conveys that the real source of meaning and provision resides beyond our own devices and genuine health is only encountered when we discover this (a truly rude awakening for people going no where without it).

The problem right now is that multitudes believe they should simply remain where they are, residing in plague territory, applying some notion of self-help to quash their vital hunger with the notion that it's an illusion and their gnostic goal (self-referential meaning) can be met. This is facilitating a manner of culture that is truly satanic in nature. Here, in our nightmare, only our own perceptions are the dearth of identity, believed viable to manufacture a 'good' society.

This cycle of self-justification leaves us beyond the reach of the banquet of reconciliation and celebration upon a return home, viewing any such realm as entirely incredulous to our (miserable) estate. We cannot cross a threshold of unmerited care because to do so would abandon our confidence in what we are and do, however brutalised this may have become by the cruelty of the age; better that than actual dependence upon the hated mercy of a benevolent redeemer.

The two sons reflected here from Christ's story in a modern fashion were both strangers in a realm where they could not see what was actually before them. Only later did one of them (at least in the tale) realise what he was meant to be a part of.

Ours is a world of broken and dreadful things, unless that same awakening happens to each of us. 

Discernment

 "Not from the East or West, and not from the desert comes vindication, but from the Lord who executes judgement, bringing down some and raising others". 

Psalm 75: 6& 7.

Around a decade ago, I was prompted to examine the written materials of Charles Taylor, known for his insights on dealing with the inherent beliefs regarding the present. Fortunately, Professor James Smith (also an award-winning author), had just produced a work (How Not to be Secular) to provide a means to unpack Taylor's work, hence supplying a gateway into this body of writings.

Taylor's analysis on the present ideological state of play is deemed as vital by many modern writers and teaches (especially those affirming the social justice version of Christianity). Tim Keller (a good representative of this clan), for example, views the insights provided by Taylor as a means of valuable impact on what should often be provided through the pulpit.

So what does such material have to say?

Smith's examination unpacks the gradual shift in culture from what had been assumed ("Cosmos") to what is presently assumed ("Universe"), where reform became the driving force as the means of reducing what was valued (supposedly deriving entirely from the application of reason). This, he argues, allowed both Calvin and Loyola to be defined as true agents of such radical but 'essential' change. Where Taylor's analysis of all this crucially fails is the manner in which he sees the source of secularism as being purely this mode of 'reforming' (a rejection of 'old religion' and it's immersion in the mystical and sacramental). Emptying the meta-narrative of the transcendent, we equally dismiss the role of the sacred and hence, modernity then gradually moves society to the entirely secular.

Taylor views all of this as a 'radical simplification' of what counts, divorcing the actual higher (spiritual) realm from our pursuit of the imminent, but an equally serious fault lies in his very analysis.

Professor of Sociology and History, Jacques Ellul, in the opening chapter of his sobering work, The Subversion of Christianity, shows that the acidic 'Secularism' which Taylor identifies as the bane of genuine spirituality was clearly at work in the church much, much earlier, not merely in the 1500's, but at the close of the 4th century, culminating in the employment of religious power which allowed the rising call for reform to gain a means of expression so many centuries later.

This was not, as Taylor and others suggest, through the 'twinned' expressions of Geneva and Trent (however dominant they are today), but the theological imperatives, saturated in classical Christianity, expressed in the church and university of Wittenberg - the work of the likes of Martin Luther.

It is essential that this key distinction is made, because the actual reform draws directly from the Apostolic source of the faith and not the philosophical 'adjustments' which followed on the heels of this.

Just as there is a fundamental difference in both the source and consequences between the revolutions of 1776 (America - Christianity) and 1789 (France - Modernism), so it is in respect to the reformational events in Europe in the 1500's. As theologian Alister Mc Grath notes in his work, Reformation Thought, the true reform movement in Wittenberg was born of purely theological imperatives (the very nature of the Gospel) - what then followed in Geneva was equally attributable  to essentially humanistic considerations.

The consequences of the social and political polarisation of the 'elites' (secularised reformers), be they Politicians or Bishops, is a presumption that such have gained almost entire control of the vital organs of the various cultural systems, but focusing here has meant an ignoring of the 'muscle and sinew' of this very system, causing it to gradually atrophy and wither. Thankfully, there are those even now who look beyond such fevered means for nourishment and truth - to that which is Apostolic in nature, escaping the canker currently ruining so much.

Pernicious, despotic 'ideals' leave us disrobed of what must teach us.

Christ was stripped of all dignity and worth at the Cross. Those who believed they had power viewed Him as properly disgraced by their will, but they had no conception of what was actually occurring - a total redemption that entirely overturns the "natural" order (and assures the "weighing" of all those who view themselves as right and strong, by the Lord who truly executes eternal power).

The Gospel upturns our world entirely, and theology must always be sourced from this vibrant, unchanging core.

When the church builds a Christendom uncoupled from the bedrock of the faith, then we derive what is valid from a foul, polluted source. What must be faced is such a degradation, evidenced in much of church history. This has lead to a paganising of the present 'practice' of the faith in so many religious realms and the key demeaning of culture.

We must return to the 'old paths, wherein lies the good way', and there find Christ alone.