The indelible mark

 "In Him we live and move and have our being". Acts 17:28.

Every one of us has that moment of reckoning.

After the 'glory days' of David and Solomon, Israel sank into a cycle of rebellious and tyrannical kings until it finally knew the open evil of Ahab and his perniciously malicious wife, Jezebel (1 Kings 16:29).

It appeared like no one was equal to the task of confronting such a vortex of unbridled disregard for genuine worth and dignity, but God sends His word of reckoning to this hellish couple through a man whom he empowers to bring a reckoning, and from that moment on, the land and the people encounter a day similar to our own - when 'powers' raise themselves in denial of the divine mark upon us, but found themselves inheriting the whirlwind of forces they cannot circumvent or bring to the whim of their will - forces that unveil their smallness and the eternal majesty of whom they deny.

It is not easy to live through such a day. Elijah - God's prophet - found himself undone by the magnitude of those moments. Imagine being at sea in a ship in the foulest of storms - where the waves move so high that all you can see is water one moment, and nothing but sky the next. That was the age of Ahab and Elijah, and that is the day we now face.

The reasons for this are clear. Never before in human history has there been a day when we have unveiled such astonishing evidence through the instrument of science of the perfection of the work of God in the structural formation and function of life (the data on the complexity of the cell is breath-taking), and yet, so many dismiss such unique and unrepeatable processes as if they were nothing. Vaunting ourselves as creatures holding power over life and death (though, in truth, this is only a contrived vanity on our part), we think we know better than what the splendour of creation actually tells us, and go on to make ourselves the single arbiters of what is good and evil and require the annihilation of anyone or any truth which stands against that.

We must weather the storm. The Mount Carmel moment, when God finally answers by unquenchable fire, is coming. For those who trust, that moment will be one of astonishing radiance and splendour - a wrapping up the old and a glorious unfolding of the new. For those who aggressively reject, it will be a day of terror, as the realisation of the absolute nature of the Lord in respect to His intentions becomes undeniable.

You were impressed with His image, and whilst you can currently deny this all you wish, the day is coming where that denial is exposed as a total sham.

God is watching us, and we are drawing close to the hour where the distance between ourselves and that gaze becomes indescribably small.

Better to live each day now "Corum Deo', and be ready.

Seek the truth, and find it uniquely in Jesus Christ.

Outside of Us

 What does it mean to be 'in' the world but not 'of' it?

Let's ask that in another way - what does Christianity bring to today that is entirely distinct and unique to what the everyday defines as 'life'?

Well, there are those who would want to rush in and say something dull like 'religion' (in an entirely negative sense), but a quick referring to the dictionary would show that the practice of such a behaviour is far more comprehensive amongst even atheists than most would care to admit, and if you follow that with a visit to Tom Holland's work, Dominion, you soon realise that Christianity has actually given the everyday world we all enjoy a great deal more than prayers and chapels, so, no, that's clearly not it.

Those who take a more 'religious' position amongst us than the secularist might then step forward and seek to speak of virtues like morality or piety as being the stamp we should parade, but again, any student worth the name would quickly reply to state how many different beliefs (and none at all in respect to a divine perspective) can and do produce people of moral virtue that have given all manner of aid to others through their lives, so again, that isn't it.

The point is that when we seek to look at the faith through these kind of 'spectacles', we will always miss its true place and purpose amongst us, because  there's a plethora of other things which can provide what we think we need, but there's only a singular remedy to what we truly require.

Here's what Paul states is the defining nature of the Christian faith:

"But now the righteousness of God has been extended towards us, distinct from a religion of law (although God's law and teacher's bear witness towards it) - God's righteousness evidenced through faith in Jesus Christ, bringing a justification because of this pure grace as a gift (to us), because our redemption is entirely in Jesus Christ" (Romans 3:21,22).

If we go on to unpack what Paul himself says this means in the rest of the book of Romans, then we see that Christianity is all about something entirely foreign and alien to us (Unmerited mercy and right-ness before God) coming to us as a unmerited gift (because we are ungodly) and entirely rescuing us, because Jesus Christ has come and exchanged His nature for ours, that we might be once again seen as God's children.

That's essentially it, and the "deeds" which have caused this to explode into our world are not ours, but Gods - we now live in the 'shadow' (forbearance) of such a wonder as those being made ready for a new creation.

We sell God short when we try and shape this truth into something else (like those I referred to above) - it isn't about us in respect to how 'we' want to make things - it is all about Him who has done all that counts to make the world as it needs to be to see 'a great number' become children of His astonishing goodness and care, forever.

That's why we can actually live well (beyond the merely 'here and now') in the day to day - there really is a brighter day ahead, and that amazing grace already shines in our world when we understand that the truth truly is uniquely in Jesus.

One to watch

 Andrew Klavan interviewed by Eric Metaxas in the re-booted Socrates in the City evenings. Well worth a listen.

Painfully aware?

 "But the people of Israel broke faith in regards to the things that were of first import". Joshua 7:1.

This week, Ben Phillips provided a very insightful evaluation of the errors made by the Church of England during the 2020/21 crisis.

Under the heading "Covid and the Church of England's Retreat", he soberly examines what lead to the church as a whole merely submitting to the will of external forces without any real form of concern or protest as a bare minimum.

He begins by noting how there was a total lack of genuine direction with respect of how to react amongst those he knew the week prior to lockdown, and how he witnessed a sense of 'genuine relief' when the lockdown requirement was made, and the burden of decisions had been removed from the shoulders of the church itself.

He acknowledges that there were older members of the clergy, like a section of the general public, that needed to be shielded, and that as guidance became more relaxed, some bodies found ingenious ways to 'work within' these, but the tragic fact remains that so many did not.

"A faith-based system", he writes, "built on sacrifice, presence" and other vital traits, entirely withdrew behind locked doors. This, he notes, was an acceleration of a process that has been at work in the C of E for a great deal longer, where 'virtual ministry' has become a key component of what makes up service and worship each week. A very real consequence of this is as churches re-opened, long-standing members of congregations did not return.

Since the end of lockdowns, the withdrawal procedure has actually accelerated, with many meetings and other activities becoming fenced off from the day to day social dimension of church life. Creativity and vitality have become minimised and in many cases there is simply no enthusiasm to genuinely engage with the wider community, presumably because of the 'risk factor' 2020 brought to the fore.

The entire crisis, he concludes, shows just how disconnected the church has become from the real world, living in a bubble that it can continue 'warm and safe' in its little enclave whilst refusing to engage with the actual harsh realities that impact upon more and more of us each day.

What is conspicuous by its absence is good leadership, at a local and a national level, which would robustly engage with the present continuing crisis and would not be fearful to speak out and lead the church away from its stupor.

The excuses no longer stick. The time has come for a change of direction, derived from a genuine and profound change of thinking.

A Terrible Truth

 "And this is the awful thing about the coming of soft totalitarianism: it seduces those, even Christians, who have forsaken the capacity to love with endurance. They think they follow Jesus, but they merely admire a version of Him. We think we'll be different until the crunch comes, but if we accept the pervasive lie of our therapeutic culture (personal happiness is the greatest good) then we will, in effect, sign up at the very first application of pressure (from outside of the church)". Rod Dreher - Live Not by Lies.

Take a look at this very informative clip. You'll notice a particular name is provided by Dr Jay Battacharya in respect to who was responsible for de-coupling the reasonable approach to pandemic response in favour of the panic/project fear mentality that we adopted in 2020.

As I noted several moths ago, Christian journalist Megan Basham made a thorough investigation into the role Francis Collins played in 'educating' Christian leaders and churches into how they should respond to the pandemic, validating all the supposed 'necessary measures' and defining any teacher or church which questioned such as those called 'bad and ugly' in respect to the faith. This latest addition shows that he also played a key role in dismissing the numerous experts in their essential fields in respect to blocking their voice at essential moments during the crisis.

What is so disturbing here is that what unfolded was directly against the best medical, scientific and theological information that we have. It has created a world in which many hundreds of thousands have suffered needlessly and nothing productive has been achieved as a result of such wilful negligence of the known facts and proved methods of research and evidence based response.

This cannot be allowed to happen again.

Science and the Church must learn deeply if we are to do well in future.

Can anything good come from there?

 "Out of Egypt, I called my son". Hosea 11.1

Egypt - a arid, dry place which, in spite of all its palatial magnificence, built much of its power on oppression and slavery. Not exactly what we would deem an ideal region, then, for something truly magnificent.

Yet it was from here, after the terrors of Herod had been extinguished, that Mary and Jospeh brought the hope of the world to reside in the sleepy backwater of Nazareth until He was ready to change everywhere forever.

The Exodus from that land - the original 'calling out', which had been previewed by Abraham, shows us exactly how the Lord brings good out of what we would only deem as bad. As those who had been 'covered over' (by their participation in a spotless Lamb and the placarding of its blood) faced the fury of Pharaoh's pursuing army and the seemingly impassible boundary of the sea, the Lord once more came and fought for them, ending both threats so they could go over on dry land.

That moment resounds in the words of Paul in Romans 6. The same waters which had delivered these helpless souls from their bondage drown what remained of the powers which had incarcerated them for so long - they were now on the road to a land where their great true hope would be the provision of the Lord.

The struggle, of course, wasn't anywhere near over (hence, Romans 7!). In the wilderness, they would take another generation to learn to look beyond themselves, even amidst miracles and constant daily provision, and old troubles would re-surface, but the vital change had been made, and that would lead them to a closeness to the Lord of all that was unparalleled in the history of the ancient world.

What was true in days of old is equally true for us, Paul shows in Romans. Egypt is our past and the promised land our future, so as we travel through what surrounds us, let us lift our eyes to the Creator and Redeemer who brought His Son out of that place to save us now.

Baring the Bones

"I am truth". Jesus.

 It never ceases.

A century on, in regions of Belgium and France, special teams of men are still deployed to detect and dispose of dangerous ordinance that has emerged from beneath the earth that still causes death and harm over one hundred years after it was employed from those dismal trenches.

The heinous cost of the Great War continues today, because the very ideology that brought about the misery of the world not only generated such a nightmare, but continues to perpetuate its fury in the goals and methods of implementing these in 2023.

What should be understood today is that the evil wrought amongst us in these last few years is merely an intensification of the very same malignancy that was unleashed in the cries of 'liberty, equality, fraternity' roared in the streets of France in the 1780's or pursued by the Bolsheviks in the early 20th century - it all derives from the same common ambition to destroy order and implement social slavery.

Back in the early 1990's, Richard Milton wrote an insightful work on the failure of Darwinism - a failure as comprehensive as the other two 'great ideas' of the age (Marxism and Freudianism). The horrible error of today is we are told that these vile systems are necessary for a healthy future, when they merely invade and terrorise the soul.

Christianity is vital for the future if this nightmare is to be countered. In prior days, communities understood that purpose and meaning was sourced uniquely from the vitality which flowed from God acting upon us through His creative and redeeming work which makes us whole, but today's Nihilism conforms humanity to a valueless and purposeless mass, heading slowly but surely to the eve of its own annihilation, either through various instruments of genocide, or by 'adapting' men and women into some techno-adjusted unit, which is only valued so long as it consumes and produces what is deemed appropriate.

Heaven and earth require something far more of us than such hollow conformity.

The person of Jesus Christ towers about all our modernist claims and failures, and calls us to the challenge of finding true purpose and definition.

That is the point of reference for 2023.

Beyond the perpetual failure of our race, there is a brighter day - and it is calling to each of us.