For the weekend...

 A little something you might find valuable to take you into 2023.

Mercy

 "And so he went to the one in need and bound up the wounds, pouring in healing ointments, setting the victim on his own horse, and taking them to an inn". Luke 10:34.

Once, there was a Californian woman who was related to the owner of a popular social media app. All seemed well in her life until the day she found that she had been doxed on this very app, and she and her family were suddenly at serious risk.

Not knowing what to do or where to turn, she found herself being called by someone from the other side of the country who had heard of her predicament and was offering a lifeline.

Sounds to good to be true?

It happened in America this week - and the person offering this young woman assistance (in the form of giving her a place to stay in his own home) was none other than Florida Governor, Ron De Santis.

When the world becomes criminal in its actions and attitudes to others, the only answer is unmerited mercy.

That is why the answer to our troubles is the Good News of Christianity.

When Heaven Breaks In

 "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God". Luke 2:13.

The big moments in history are marked by something very unique - heaven truly breaks in.

Job tells us that when the Lord took of the mass that was darkness and began His masterpiece of creation, that the 'morning stars' sang for joy at what they beheld (Job 38:7). Equally, when God delivers Israel from Egypt, the angelic hosts are never very far away (Exodus 14:19), so it is no great surprise that when God comes amongst us, this same throng cannot but come down to revel in the hour.

Yet it is a marvel of that night.

A young couple being rejected by their own when the woman is pregnant and thereby facing difficult circumstances is an all too common story in our world, but as this new family face their night of such trouble, a group of local shepherds visit them and tell of the marvel they have witnessed which has brought them there - heaven has broken in to proclaim the wonderful news of this child's birth, because no child before or since was as unique or remarkable as the one resting in a animal trough that night in Bethlehem.

Such interventions are rare in the history of our little world, but when they happen, we should sit up and take notice.

Christmas marks the most important of these times since creation itself, because what happened around that birth brings the world into an eternal new day.

May that brightness truly resonate for each of us this holiday.

A bright Christmas to us all!

Seasonal Joy

 May this joy be ours this Christmas.

Piercing the new Iron Curtain

 "The things that the Lord hates - haughtiness, the lying tongue, the hands which shed the blood of the innocent, hearts which only devise wickedness, feet which run to action such evil, a false witness which promotes nothing but lies, and the one who sows discord upon the premise of all of these" Proverbs 6:16-19.

US Governor Ron De Santis initiated the first steps this week to bring about an assembly of a Grand Jury of Florida's Supreme Court to examine and judge on the issue of the suppression of vital information concerning the mRNA vaccination program and the promotion of false information by various official bodies and those who preside over them regarding the use of these same materials. He also announced a new Health directorate will be established in the state of Florida to replace these bodies and to prevent such astonishing circumstances from occurring again.

This is almost certainly the first official step of significance to seek to call to account those who have construed the poisonous narrative of the last two and a half years and to allow the public at large to be given the full facts regarding what has happened in respect to the impact (impairment and death) of millions, not from a virus, but from the authorised response to this.

In the UK this week, Tory MP Andrew Bridgen also sought to bring this matter to Parliament, providing in a speech some of the irrefutable data on this.

You can view a candid discussion and analysis of this here, in Andrew's latest interview on the matter with Irreverend's Reverend Jamie Franklin.

Please pray that these men will be heard, and the truth will prevail, and please give your support in prayer and by other means when possible.

A couple of things

One of things I love about the faith is that there's always more to learn, as is the case with these two fascinating videos.

The first looks at the issue of what exactly was the sin of Ham against Noah.

The second examines the fascinating issue of the actual birthday of Jesus, based upon John's astonishing vision in the book of Revelation.

Enjoy!

I N C A R C E R A T I O N

"Such things have the appearance of wisdom, promoting self-imposed religion in expressions of asceticism or severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh". Colossians 2:23.

"For creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of who subjected it, in the confident expectation of what is coming, when it is set free from such bondage". Romans 8:20,21.

How do we define virtue in respect to 'godliness'?

Christian piety is often misconstrued as a stringent form of total moral restraint - a wilful suppression of 'natural' inclinations that would keep any Fraudian analyst busy for many moons.

It is believed that such "behaviour" is the opposite of the licence of an amoral hedonism that intoxicates the modern world, but as two political extremes often meet, so these two approaches (hedonism and asceticism) are essentially expressions of the same malady.

In the present climate of immediate access to unceasing expressions of sexual gratification, many young men are now binding themselves to a chastity that relinquishes all and any relationship to sex. This is not happening out of an orientation towards previously held commonplace spiritual beliefs, but because these males believe their sexuality has been claimed by the crude forces of the present culture, and therefore needs to be taken back by them from such predatory means.

This is a highly significant trend - the 'ownership' of what, it is believed, fundamentally belongs to and defines you, because this mirrors what we have witnessed on other similar moments to what is currently in play.

Usually defined as Vitalism, we can find examples of this amongst Hellenic and Roman schools of thought (Philosophical schools), as well as in the various native "Volk" (life) movements in Germany and Austria which became popular after the great war. These notions were then politicised once more in a union with American political and economic pursuits which used the works of men like William Reich to promote the notion that a particular rendition of sexual promiscuity was to be deemed healthy in the modern world - a notion coupled in the sixties to the prescribed 'freedom' of the permissive society.

Which brings us back to the church.

Paul notes in his Colossians letter just how readily believers can fall into similar notions which inform them that various traits of external behaviour (abstinence from various behaviours) supposedly amounts to a modesty that dislocated them from society and therefore must be valuable in attaining godliness, but the Apostle warns us that such devices can readily become despicable dead ends for the faith. This is because they readily cause us to focus upon what we believe we achieve rather than the perfect work and merits of Jesus, which alone make us what God requires.

Paul tells us that both moral abandonment AND moral self-control, detached from God's saving grace, amount to the SAME end - unproductive beliefs that leave us empty of what is vitally needed - the truth that rescues and holds us.

When the Lord Jesus returns from the cross and the tomb to His friends, He has no problem allowing them examine His wounds, or allowing them see His bodily ascension. In like fashion, you and I are currently invited to participate in His blood and flesh when we attend His table, because these are the very means God provides for our vital, material redemption. Our faith, our life, needs to be folded into this rich and glorious reality, so what we believe and what we practice has to derive from our union - our marriage - to this eternal state, and not some contrived dualistic based folly.

The church historically fights hard to uphold a outward image of chastity (which is clearly far more mixed when you begin to examine the actual lives of believers - in keeping with Paul in Romans 7), but it has very little concern with the trouble Paul raises in passages like the one in Colossians, because this manner of flattering the flesh is more "moral" to our own self-reliance, yet the Apostle clearly notes it as dangerously seductive in its goals and where it leads.

True liberation for all of creation only resides in the blood-bought rescue of Jesus for us, so let us hang all our confidence in respect to the troubles of sin, death, the world and the devil on His atoning grace.

Immaculate attire

"Put on Christ, and thereby make no provision for the mere gratification of unwholesome pursuits and ambitions". Romans 13:14.

It's been a somewhat "bracing" week here in the UK, with temperatures allowing frost and ice and a biting reminder that winter is truly upon us.

With the current "visitation" of national energy constraints, the imperative to 'wrap up warm' is truly apt, and yet, on a morning like today, there is still something truly toasty about awaking in the morning chill and golden light wrapped in nothing but a cosy duvet.

This is because, of course, of the majesty and dignity the Lord Himself has invested in the splendour of what He has made us (Genesis 1 & 2), materially and spiritually, to be - so how do we bring such gifts into their true place of both delight and service? How, indeed, do we heed Paul's exhortation above and be those clothed in our beloved Lord?

In his epistle to the Colossians, the same Paul pens "As those chosen by God, beloved and holy, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility and patience" (3:12). The Apostle tells us that in Christ, we are already furnished with astounding care and complete righteousness (that is exactly what holiness amounts to), but that as such beloved people, we can now dress our lives with virtues that will 'speak' so beautifully of the life that we have inherited.

I spend much of my time in a uniform which 'identifies' me as a particular kind of worker in a very specific workplace - it 'clothes' me with particular roles and responsibilities that facilitate my engagement with my associates and the business, so there are clear benefits (necessities) in being so adorned, but it would be foolish of me to believe that these garments, duties and actions alone actually define me or even the total extent of my relationship at the office - they are a means to an end - a channel to something even richer and deeper.

God has clothed us in the 'uniform' of Christ because he wants that adorning to allow an even more marvellous splendour to flourish from this source - one replete in the virtues Paul points to here. Christ's life poured into us "clothes" us with a beauty and splendour above and beyond the 'norm'. It is married to a 'joy unspeakable', and a relish to engage with the "Father of light', who has seen fit to prepare a table of every good gift for us, even in the wilderness of this present evil age.

We can indeed, as Carrie Willard notes, "take our rest in the knowledge that God sees us now holy and beloved even if we can't see or feel that holy clothing ourselves. He is the one who wraps us in compassion and kindness, provides humility, meekness and patience (what a mercy!), because He has chosen to do this for us".

As we face the 'winter's rage' or revel in the golden rays of another morning, may this amazing treasure truly furnish us in our everyday lives. Jesus, our only saviour, lives with us.

I C H A B O D

 "Necessity has been placed upon me, so I would indeed be wretched if I ceased from conveying the Gospel". Paul -1 Corinthians 9:16.

The Church of England has published its "Statistics for Mission (2021)" analysis and report this past week, which provides us with some telling data regarding the impact of the previous few years on this denomination.

Prior to the pandemic, regular in-person attendance at services was around 845,000 people, but the report shows that this figure dropped substantially following the events of 2020/1, and now stands at around 605,000 nationally - that is a loss of 249,000 people from regular attendance.

Perhaps the most appalling piece of this examination is the fact that there has been a 38% loss in children and young people, meaning that, once again, it is the next generation that are seeing the greatest departure from engagement with mainstream Christian activity.

Whilst the report - like much of the census analysis last week - seeks to view such results as only slightly disturbing, the reality is that many long-term believers who had often attended churches for long periods are now outside of that realm, purely because of the behaviour of our national authorities, and the response of the authorities of the church to this (in respect to immediate acceptance and total conformity).

The painful truth is that whilst a small number of pentecostal groups were seeing some measure of growth prior to 2020, the majority of mainline churches in the country were witnessing comprehensive decline. John Hayward's analysis of these issues prior to the pandemic was stark enough (as was his conclusion - that Christianity itself has become the offence to God), but the clear loss of so many in recent days tells us that this is, indeed, a Gospel issue, and can no longer afford to be dismissed or minimalised.

The church was clearly wrong to pursue the line adopted in respect to the pandemic, and if it truly desires to see a change of direction in respect to its decline, it must indeed face that error and seek to repent. The consequences if it refuses to do so are clear - and terribly tragic.

Pranged

 "Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and the hallowing of the angelic, going on in detail about such 'spirituality', proud to be in such a frame of mind, but not actually holding fast to the source from whom the whole body of the faithful is nourished and knit together and through that union, grows through the life from God".

Colossians 2:18,19.

A video came up on my recommendation list this week entitled 'God is beginning to reveal things - a lot of us need to open our eyes to the truth'. 

The piece begins by saying that to be truly 'spiritual' believers, we need to see behind the material dimension of what we're encountering, and discern the spiritual reality of what's unfolding. That's fine, but I was already sensing that the very tone of this requirement was missing something in regards to what is actually happening around us in respect to the manner of struggle we currently face. It's easy to place the real problem 'over there', when it's actually far closer to home.

The latter half begins to offer up all manner of suggestions about how we become those with our spiritual sight operating, like distancing ourselves from certain people and taking what can only be defined as a more ascetic approach to life.

This is often the 'go to' definition for many Christian videos with respect to a 'wholesome' definition of godliness, thereby seeing this as the manner we remain 'undefiled' in the present (just take a look at one of the numerous believer videos on the subject of modesty).

With regards to the first part of this material, there's a key question that needs to be addressed, and yet is entirely avoided in the 'advice' presented - where is the battle right now? What is the nature of the conflict that we should be engaged in at this moment?

Christian writer and speaker Eric Metaxas appeared on an American broadcast a few days ago to speak about his new warning issued to the church in respect to this very matter, and it's clear that those who believe they are spiritually 'discerning' are entirely missing the vital nature of this.

The real trouble, however, is in respect to how these 'teachers' view the nature of living the Christian life - asceticism. Notice the passage I've referred to above from Paul. Notice the reputation the Pharisees attributed to Jesus (someone who loved socialising). Notice Paul's advice to the church that they should in no manner cut themselves off from the sexual immoral in society (1 Corinthians 5:9-13).

Christian pastor Francis Chan was shaken recently to discover the historical church's teaching on the Lord's Supper (the REAL presence of Christ in the bread and wine, as argued by Martin Luther). Imagine how shaken believers today are going to be when they comprehend the early church's naturalness towards the body in respect to issues of social nakedness (as I've covered here recently).

The DANGER here is that we're actually, according to Paul's words in Colossians, peddling a FALSE rendition of the faith, and that can prove DEADLY (See Galatians chapter 1).

The common pitfall of popular piety today is to see ourselves not as Paul defines us (Romans 7), but as more than capable of being 'sanctified' by what WE define and advance as proper - a pathway which perpetually embraces detachment from the real world (and pulling up the drawbridge), but effectual faith is about something VERY different - it comprehends that God is at work through bread, wine, water and the astonishing coming of God in the flesh (the total humanity of Jesus), because it also knows -

That there is only ONE continual medium where we meet and know God, and that is through the means of the "very good" realm of the material, made to furnish just that goal in the beginning, and redeemed by Christ's blood to fulfil that purpose throughout the ages we shall share with the Lamb and one another.

Christians MUST revel in Paul's teaching in Romans 8 and 1 Corinthians 15, gazed upon by John in Revelation 21 and 22 - that is the 'home' Jesus is now preparing for our resurrected living (John 14).

So, by all means speak of the 'powers' we are in conflict with, but truly SEE where these principalities seek to wield that authority amongst this present age (Psalm 2) and EQUIP the Saints to discern (wise up) on what that equates to in our everyday walk in this world, as anti-Christian ideals and goals pervade the general bent of what is at work around us, speaking against such by our lives and our holding out of the Word of Life - the death and resurrection of Jesus - as the ONE and ONLY hope.

If we do so, we shall truly being walking well before God and Men.

Carried

 "Realise who you are through humility before the mighty nature of the most High, so at the proper time, He can raise you up. Place your cares and concerns upon Him, because He truly cares for you". 1 Peter 5:6 & 7.

Any of you who have caught the teaser of the new series of talks on Exodus this past week will probably have been overwhelmed by the insight into the difference in respect of power they have identified between the likes of Moses and Pharaoh (see here to view what I'm referring to).

God alone can take the chaos, be it cosmological, social or personal, and fashion it into something reflective of true beauty and splendour, but it takes the working of His word to bring about such a healing through a redemptive process (think about creation itself as a taking of what was 'empty' and framing it into something exceedingly good).

It was with these ideas in play that I came across Leanne Rimes recent new release this week. As an artists that has often gone against the grain, this song does not hold back on 'telling it like it is' in respect to the profound need we all share for release from these present trials, cleverly weaving some current popular aspirations with a far more continual longing we all share, as evidenced in earlier popular songs.

I valued the honesty Leanne conveys, both in the anguish and the cry of the soul, but this needs to be married to the union Peter expounds in the verses above.

Jesus Christ brings us the 'sweet chariot' of Himself, veiled in genuine humanity, that we may become participants of the most precious union in heaven and earth - that is where we find our way home.