Christians and Clubbing...

At a recent camp I was a leader at, there was a question panel which I was on. The question came up, "can a Christian go clubbing?" I was not satisfied with my answer on the evening so I would now like to clarify my answer having had some time to reflect on the subject.



Can a Christian go clubbing? I think the answer to this question is undoubtedly yes they can. The teaching of justification through faith makes it clear that our salvation, our right relationship with God, is based solely on Christ's finished work on our behalf and that faith in Christ is the thing that brings us right relationship with God. So in one sense our actions don't matter, when talking to the Galatian Christians about the temptation to be circumcised Paul tells them that there is no need to be circumcised and that actually having found freedom they had to stand fast in it.


"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1




So can a Christian go clubbing? I think the Bible's answer would be that yes it is possible for a Christian to go clubbing because in Christ we have freedom, freedom from keeping laws and freedom from trying to be good enough for God.




However if we change the question slightly to should a Christian go clubbing? We can come to a very different answer. Should a Christian go clubbing? I think in 99.99 times out of a hundred the answer will be no and I will try to explain why now.


Firstly in 1 Corinthians 10 I think we can see probably one of the strongest arguments against clubbing, Paul says, "All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful, All things are lawful but not all things build up." Paul's argument to the Christians at Corinth is that all things are lawful for them, all things are O.K. for them to do because of their new standing in Christ, but actually not all things are beneficial for them, not all things serve to advance their Christian life. If we apply this to clubbing, obviously it is possible for Christians to go to nightclubs but will it serve to build up their Christian lives? Will it make their walk with God closer? I think the answer is no and I would argue that actually the opposite may be true, it may cause them to slip further and further away from God.


Secondly I would argue that Christians shouldn't go clubbing because it doesn't set a good example to outsiders. Again Paul speaks on this issue in Ephesians 5: 15 "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise making the best use of time, because the days are evil." Paul tells the believers at Ephesus to live wise lives because the days are evil, because the days in which they lived where evil and the days in which we live are still evil. If we are Christians and we go night clubbing, I think it makes the evil world around us assume that the way they are living is O.K. because they see the Christians around them living in much the same way. They see Christians at nightclubs and assume that all the things they are doing is the same as what the Christians do. As Christians we are no longer to hold to the same values as the world, to chase after the same things as the world but instead we are to chase after the things of God.



Thirdly Christians who go to nightclubs are opening themselves up to temptation that they don't need to open themselves up to. The temptation of scantily clad women, the temptation of drink and drugs, all temptations that a Christian can easily avoid by not going to the nightclubs.




So can a Christian go clubbing? The answer is yes they can, but should they go clubbing? There are some questions we need to ask, is my clubbing going to serve to build up or tear down my Christian faith? Is going clubbing making the best use of my time? Is it living a wise life and setting good examples to outsiders? Will going clubbing open me up to temptation that I don't need to exposed to? Finally will my clubbing glorify God, will it bring the glory and honour to God's name that is due to Him? These are all questions that can be asked of any activity that we engage in.

Reforming the Reformation

Just recently I have been reading two books about the reformation, largely because my knowledge of the people, places and events of the Reformation was somewhat patchy, which is very poor for someone who claims to be Reformed. The two books in question are Reformation by Carl Trueman and The Unquenchable Flame by Michael Reeves.

Both of these books provide a fascinating introduction to the Reformation with Reeves providing slightly more detail and focus on individuals and Trueman providing a focus on the general themes of the Reformation.

One of the great principles that the Reformation was based upon was that the Reformed church must always be reforming and must be being reformed by the word. Today, for many us, the reformation was something that happened in the past, something to which we are committed as a historical event but something which has no impact on our churches today.

However this was never the intention of the Reformers, for them the Reformation meant more than just ridding the church of the widespread abuses of the Roman Catholic church. For them the Reformation was about always testing what we did in our churches by the word of God.

I know many of you reading this post will claim to be Reformed but are we actually living out the practice of the reformers? Are we testing what happens in our churches by how the word of God says that we should 'do church'? Has the reformation lost all meaning for us? Is it a historical event that serves no purpose today?

Just a thought....

Quick Questions

Over the past number of days exams have been very much in the news. Be it with questions that couldn't be answered on Further Mathematics papers or business studies modules.

The papers have rightly focused on the emotional turmoil that this has caused students during an already very stressful time in their lives. Many students are worried that the marks and time lost trying to figure out these unanswerable questions could cost them university places.

As Jesus was travelling around some towns and villages teaching a man comes up to him with a question, "Lord will those who are saved be few?" The man wants to know how many people will be saved at the end of time, some people thought the whole of the Jewish nation would be saved while others thought that some very obvious un-repentant sinners would be lost but the rest of the Jewish nation would be saved.

But how would Jesus answer? Jesus tells the man "Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." Jesus doesn't answer the mans question directly, he doesn't tell him that 2 million people or whatever will be saved but rather tells the man to make sure that he himself was among the number that would be saved. This was the most important thing not the number of people who would be saved but that we ourselves are among the number that are saved.

How can we do this though? How can we know for definite that we are saved? Well when we enter through the narrow door, when we come to put our trust in Jesus Christ and say sorry for our sin, then we can know for sure that we will be saved. Don't worry about the number of people who will be saved but rather let's focus on our own relationship with God...

A Translation Fit For A King

As many of you who will be reading this blog are aware this year marks the 400th year since the King James Version, or Authorised Version of the bible was released. This was a watershed moment for the church and any number of churches you may care to visit today will still be using the King James Version.

In it's this version was a literary masterpiece and many of the phrases contained within it are still in widespread use today. "A fly in the ointment" "By the skin of your teeth" being just two examples but many more can be found here.

But what i want to consider in this post is the very emotive question does the King James Version actually break one of the fundamental rules of protestantism today? The King James version was a child of the reformation, born at a time when religion and the way we did "church" was changing forever. The protestant reformers had 3 main points that differentiated them from their Catholic opponents.

The first of these was "Sola Fida" by faith alone, that the only way we could come to know God was through faith in his son Jesus Christ, that faith in Jesus was the only way to have right relationship with God, not through performing acts or supporting the church well enough but only through faith.

Secondly there was the idea of the priesthood of all believers. For the catholics only ordained ministers where suitable to read the scriptures, only they could understand them, only the ordained could hold office within a church. The protestants believed that all men should be able to read the scriptures that all men should be eligible to hold office within the church.

Finally then there was the idea of "Sola Scriptura". That the bible alone is the Word of God revealed to us. The reformers believed that the bible should be available to all men to read in a language that they understood. For the catholics the bible could only be read in Latin, which the uneducated man in the pew had no access to and couldn't understand. But the reformers wanted to change this and made the bible accessible to all men.

This is the point where i feel that the King James Version really falls down today, a wonderful translation...yes. Used by God...undoubtedly but how many of us really understand what the King James is saying today? Most of us today do not speak in the language of thee's and thou's we speak in modern English and in my opinion the bible should be read both privately and corporately in a translation that makes it as easy as possible for the people reading it to understand, which is essentially what the reformers proposed in not having the bible read in Latin.

Perhaps the final word belongs to the preface to the King James Version itself, where it claims not to be a new translation but rather to build on the work of William Tyndale in translating the bible. Many modern translations today build upon the fine work of the translators of the King James Version, especially the English Standard Version. Is it now on the translations 400th birthday time to be thankful for the translation but also a time to switch to those who have picked up the baton and carried it forward?

"No News Is Good News"

Over the past wee while I have begun reading a daily newspaper. The paper in question is the i paper, a kinda thinned out (or dumbed down in my case) version of The Independent. I thoroughly recommend reading this newspaper as you can get everything that's going in the world in around an hour.

But over the past while it seems that no news is good news, the paper is full of distressing images from around the world. If it's not civil unrest and the overthrow of General Mubarak in Egypt, then its the distressing scenes from Libya and the reaction against Colonel Gaddafi and his oppressive regime. Or more recently the terrible scenes from the earthquake in New Zealand. With so much evil in the world, with so many bad things happening (or good things happening in a bad way) how is it reasonable or coherent to believe in a God who rules the world and is in control of everything that happens? Let me suggest 4 reasons why I think the evil in the world doesn't rule out a loving, living God:

Firstly this isn't the way it is supposed to be. We are told in the book of Genesis that God created the world and when he created it is was very good. Now this doesn't mean that it was OK, that the world that God had created was better than average, it means the world that God had created was perfect, there was nothing wrong with it. But we all know that this isn't the way it is now? Events in Egypt, Libya and New Zealand show us that the world is no longer perfect and is stained with sin. But sin and all these bad things that happen are not the way it is supposed to be, they are an un-natural intervention into God's good and perfect world. Ever since Adam and Eve we have been living with the consequences of sin which unfortunately includes death and suffering.

Secondly this isn't the way its going to be forever. The bible also tells us that God has appointed a day in the future when he will judge the world, when the world will be returned to the perfect state that it once enjoyed. There will be a perfect world, a new heavens and a new earth, in which there will be no more sin, no more suffering and no more death. So this world is not all there is going to be, one day there will be a new heavens and a new earth which will be perfect. The only way to experience this new heavens and earth is to put our trust in God's son Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, God is sovereign and in control. The bible tells us that God works all things together for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose. At times in our lives and times of extreme suffering in the world it can be hard for us to to see this and hard to believe this. But knowing that its all part of some larger purpose, knowing that God will somehow work good out of our suffering is one of the few things that give suffering purpose and meaning. Knowing that God will work out all things for our good enables us to endure and make sense out our suffering. I am not saying this to make light of the suffering of the Christian people in New Zealand or the Middle East but rather to try and encourage them that their suffering is not pointless, is not the product of simple bad luck but rather has been ordained by a sovereign God, who works all things together for the good of His people.

All this may leave us with one question, why doesnt God just wrap the whole thing up? If he is as powerful and in control as I say he is why doesnt he just put the world to an end? Which leads on to our fourth reason, God wants us all to come to know him and put our trust in Him. The bible tells us that God is patient with us, wanting us to repent and not wanting any of us to perish. Naturally we are all enemies of God and we all deserve God's punishment but God sent his son to die in our place, so that if we put our trust in Christ then we can experience this new heavens and new earth, which will be perfect. God is giving us opportunites to repent and come to know him for the mean time we live in this sinful fallen world waiting for our new eternal home...

Happiness in Every Stitch

On Friday my wife and I went shopping in Belfast. There are two types of shopping as far as I am concerned, there is the type of shopping that involves looking for something in particular and buying it. And then there is the other type of shopping that involves looking for nothing in particular and spending quite a long time doing it.


On Friday we were doing the second type of shopping, my wife knows that I can only tolerate this second type of shopping for around an hour and after that I begin to get grumpy (or grumpier). So we set off around Victoria Square and Holister, most likely the darkest shop in the world and had a look around. Then we came to a shop that has just opened recently, White Stuff.


The shop itself is not really my style (if i have one) but my wife enjoys looking round the shop and so I did the loving husband thing and went in with her. Now the motto of the shop, something that is engraved on every hanger is the phrase "happiness in every stitch."


To me this perfectly summed up the consumer society that we live in. The society says that if we buy enough clothes, if we wear the right brand of clothes then we will be happy, if we eat the right food and drink the right drinks then that is how we will be truly happy. If only we have that pair of jeans, that shirt, then we will be truly happy. But the thing is that we know that's not the case, because we we get something the happiness and buzz we get off it lasts for a little while but then eventually it wears off and we are left no happier but just financially poorer.

Paul addresses this issue of happiness in his letter to the Philippians, he tells them:

"I rejoiced in the LORD greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for i have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

For Paul he had learned the secret of being truly happy, the secret of being truly content and it was not being well fed, it was not being clad in all the latest designer gear but was rather about trusting in Jesus Christ. This is how we can be truly happy and content, this is the only contentment that will last forever. Happiness does not come in every stitch but comes from knowing God, from having a right relationship with him through his Son.

My soul finds rest in God alone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHNEexLL3R8
Hey guys just a sneaky wee video but an awesome song that I have just discovered, a paraphrase of Psalm 62:

For God alone my soul waits in silence;from him comes my salvation.2 He only is my rock and my salvation,my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

3 How long will all of you attack a man to batter him,like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?4 They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.They take pleasure in falsehood.They bless with their mouths,but inwardly they curse.

5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,for my hope is from him.6 He only is my rock and my salvation,my fortress; I shall not be shaken.7 On God rests my salvation and my glory;my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

8 Trust in him at all times, O people;pour out your heart before him;God is a refuge for us.

9 Those of low estate are but a breath;those of high estate are a delusion;in the balances they go up;they are together lighter than a breath.10 Put no trust in extortion;set no vain hopes on robbery;if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

11 Once God has spoken;twice have I heard this:that power belongs to God,12 and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.For you will render to a man according to his work.

Enjoy our rest in God alone

Crime and Punishment

In Northern Ireland yesterday there was a very odd news story the caught my eye, a woman from Strabane was caught shoplifting and sentenced to 3 months in prison. Nothing that unusual there really, if you do the crime you do the time, but when I tell you the value of the jeans was £10 and that this was indeed her first involvement with the law courts something doesn't seem to add up does it? The punishment doesn't quite seem to fit the crime committed.


It later emerged that the same judge who had judged this woman had also judged a drink driving case last year, the offender had committed 54 other motoring offences, but this time the judge decided to show leniency on the driver and not to send him to prison at all.



My sense of justice tells me that the woman committed the crime therefore she should have to take the punishment that her crime warranted, but when we see drug dealers and other people getting much lighter sentencing than this something just doesn't add up.


But what are we going to do about it? I mean it doesn't affect most (or any i suspect) of us directly, so why should we care? Well the public outcry over the event has taught me one thing about humanity, and that's that we all have a desire to see justice done, to see the person who commits a crime paying the appropriate penalty, and in this case the penalty meted out was deemed to be too harsh.



But as Christians how should we respond to injustice? How should we respond when we see people being disproportionately punished? Well as always we look to the Bible and we look to the example of our Saviour Jesus Christ. We read in 1 Peter 2:

"To this you where called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered he made no threats. Instead he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."

Christ is the ultimate example of someone who suffered unjustly, he committed no wrongs, there was never a time when he did not submit himself to his father's will. He never wronged anyone, yet the people of the day where jealous of him, jealous of his power and authority, jealous of the people's response to him and they decided to kill him and how did he react? Did he cry out injustice? Did he seek to have the sentence repealed? Did he claim that the judge was lousy and he needed a retrial? No, he instead entrusted himself to him who judges justly, more than this because he had done no wrong he didn't deserve any punishment, but he took our punishment upon himself, he paid the price for all the wrong things we have done, all the times we have ignored God and run our life our own way. He entrusted himself to his father, trusting his father to judge fairly and justly.

When is a joke not a joke........when its about a female linesman apparently

There has been much furore in recent days surrounding Andy Gray, his views on feminism and a throw away remark about a female assistant being able to understand the offside law. Gray's comments were seen by some as sexist, others as funny and others as just stupid.

The final nail in Gray's coffin at Sky came a few hours later when it later emerged that he had made inappropriate sexual remarks to a female co-host.

But why? Why has there been such an outcry against Andy Gray and his comments? Well largely it has been down to the feminist revolution of the 1960's and 70's and the advance of what i would call Germaine Greer feminism, which at its core states that women are equal with men, that they should have the same jobs and same opportunities open to them because we are all equal.

Now working for an evangelical church, an institution not noted for its positive attitude towards the feminist movement, I would agree to a certain extent with the feminist movement. We read in the book of Genesis,

"So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female He created them."

The view many people have about evangelical Christianity is that we view women as worthless, as nothing more than people who should be in the kitchen and looking after the children. But this is simply not true. Women have intrinsic value because they are created in the image of God just as men are, women are image bearers of God, just like men. Men and women are equal in the eyes of God, they are both God's creation and God's image bearers.

But this equality does not mean that we have the same roles, men have been called to be the leaders of churches and leaders of their families, this is not to demean the role of women. Women have many qualities that men do not, as a general rule women are far more caring, far more compassionate and empathetic than men.

Men and women are equal but not the same, and this is something that the feminist movement fails to take into account, today we have very much a blurring of the sexes, where the difference between the sexes is becoming less and less obvious. And this is where I have the real difficulty, men and women are image bearers of God, but we don't have the same roles. Let us celebrate these differences, celebrate what it truly means to be a feminist in the eyes of the bible, rather than confusing the issue by saying that men and women are the same in all respects.

What is our biggest problem?

My wife and I had some guests round for Sunday lunch and over the course of lunch a wide range of subjects was discussed everything from Agape F.C. to the state of the England cricket team.

But one of the most interesting things that we discussed was what is the biggest problem facing the church today? Most of this discussion was prompted by a sermon that we had heard at the start of the year. Obviously all the normal answers where discussed, there was the problem of sin, the problem of increasing liberalism, but the discussion then turned to our biggest problem being that we are not taking the Word of God seriously, we are not allowing the Word of God to change and affect the way that we live.

But why? Why are we not allowing the word of God to change and shape us? Well I think it all comes down to what we view the Bible as, is it just a handy guide that has some nice advice when we are in times of trouble? Is it just an irrelevance to us? What does the bible say about itself? 2 Timothy 3:

"All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in rigtheousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

So the Bible is the word of God, the Bible is how God communicates to us today, God tells us how He expects us how to live, what His standards are for our lives and how we can relate to a Holy God. So knowing this about the Bible, which any of us who are in any way reformed will know, the question we come back to is why are we not allowing the bible to change us and shape us?

I don't know the answer to that question but the only thing i can guess is that when people hear the word of God preached, they hear a nice sermon, a nice talk but they don't think that what is said applies to them. That what is said from the pulpit is something that applies to someone else but not to me. I want to encourage us to listen to the bible being taught, listen as it is applied to our lives and more than that actually live out what the bible says. Take what James says seriously:

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

What means most to you in the world?

It's funny how adverts can have a lasting effect on you some for good reasons and others for more annoying reasons, I only need to say the word "simples" and you all know instantly what advert I'm talking about, its the compare the meerkat adverts. Or "go Harvey go" and you know that its Harvey Norman.

There is an advert on T.V. at the minute for security alarms, the premise of the advert is very simple, there are a number of people who are asked what means most to you in the world? There are the range of answers you would expect. For some people it may be their family, their wife, others choose things that are perhaps not as worthy such as their lap-top or their sound system is another one.

But the basic idea of the advert is that whatever the most important thing in the world is to you, you should protect it by purchasing one of these home alarms to give you peace of mind that its protected even when you are not there.

In His great sermon, Jesus asked people what means most to them in the world, we read in Matthew 6:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Contrary to what many people think Jesus here is not telling people not to have stuff, but rather putting their faith in their things, in their things that they own. Jesus points out to his hearers that if you just collect things people will break in and steal or eventually it will wear out. Jesus tells his hearers that where your treasure is, that's where you will put all your faith and trust. The only thing that will never disappoint you is Jesus Christ and heavenly treasure that he can offer us.

So what means the most to you in the world? Is it your family, your job, your money or your social status? The thing which should mean the most to us and the thing that will never disappoint us, that will never break and that no one can ever steal is heavenly treasure and storing that up for ourselves.

Rude Awakenings

This morning my wife and I woke up to the dulcet tones of William Crawley and his Sunday Sequence programme on BBC Radio Ulster, nothing new or unusual about this as this is always the radio station that we wake up. First up this morning was a very famous preacher from Northern Ireland, and a very fine public speaker he is as well. Much of what the contributor had to say was good and worthy and encouraged the soul. His desire to reach out into the Catholic community in West Belfast, was particularly praiseworthy initiative, and his recognition that the Holy Spirits working was what was required for true conversion also drew a loud AMEN.

But it would be wrong for me to suggest to you that everything he said was perfect, that everything he said was useful and I have two points in particular where I diverge from what was said on this mornings programme.

Firstly for me there was a little too much of the praise of man in the interview and not enough of the praise of God. Two statements for me highlight this fact:

"I established a work in Dublin."

"I lost 350(from the church), but i got 350 back " Italics mine.

It's all him, there is no mention of God, in speaking of the split from his church, he said that he lost 350, not that the church lost 350 but he personally lost 350. I could cope with that to a degree but the next statement really galled me, I got 350 back, not Jesus Christ, not God, not the gospel but he himself. I think this man is in danger of worshipping at the shrine of self, its all about him, there is no sense in which God was at work it was him.

But so what why did this annoy me so much at such an early hour of the morning? Well it annoyed me because the church where we praise/serve/minister is not our church, well it is in some senses but ultimately the church where we praise/serve/minister is part of the body of Christ and ultimately belongs to Him because He paid the price for it. It also annoyed me because not one of us is able to bring people to know God, and in fairness he did mention that the Holy Spirit had to convict people but this was not carried through with the later message he brought about the success of his ministry. We read in 1 Corinthians 3:

"What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the LORD assigned to each.I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants or he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."

Its always God who gives the growth, never our snazzy programmes, our catchy sermon headings, never the buzz around our youth group, we plant the seed and God is the one who makes it grow, and none of us really matter but only God who makes the seed grow.

I suppose the second thing where I disagreed with the contributor was his definition of success in terms of sharing the gospel, talking about his upcoming event in West Belfast William Crawley asked him "What is your test of whether this mission in west Belfast succeeds for you?" To which he replied "I know by the response of the people I know by the sincerity of the people." Basically success boiled down to the number of people who responded in a positive fashion to his message. Success in ministry is never about numbers, its never about the number of people that we convert, success in ministry should always be about being faithful to God's word, faithful to the gospel that we find in there. Again we read in 1 Corinthians 4:

"Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful."

The test of true success in ministry is being a steward of the mysteries of God, is that one be found faithful, not that one be found with massive numbers, not that one be found with ultra tight doctrine but rather that one be found faithful to God's word and the message contained within it.

I don't want this post to come across as negative and bringing the man down, much of what was said was good and excellent and praiseworthy but for me these two issues are not ones that can be overlooked, i pray that his ministry in west Belfast will bring many to know our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ...

Worshipping at The Shrine Of Ministry

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/the-son-of-man-must-suffer-many-things


Whilst at the gym this morning i was listening to this sermon by John Piper, it was one of the sermons that he preached regarding his leave of absence from Bethlehem Baptist, and one of the things that struck me from it was when he talked about ministry becoming an idol to us. It just got me thinking about how easy this is for it to happen to us. I think one of the reasons for this is because essentially we are doing a good work, the bible tells us that he who desires the task of an overseer desires a noble task.


Its easy for us to take pride in our work for the kingdom, to think that because we are working so hard, or seeing growth in our ministry that its because of something good in us, and before we know it, our ministry is actually the thing that we are trusting for our right relationship with God rather than Jesus Christ and our ministry has become our idol.


I only flag this up because it is something that can slip in so easily so unnoticed to our lives. Anyway if you are in some position of ministry then i encourage you to listen to this sermon and check your own life, i know that it certainly has caused me to think about my ministry and my life and make sure that i am following only Jesus Christ.

Patience

I believe it was the great sooth-Sayer Gary Barlow who penned the words:

"Just have a little patience, I'm still hurting from a love I lost."

In our modern day society and culture patience is not a thing that we are used to is it? We live in a society of instant gratification, a society that says I want it and I want it now, we are not used to waiting for things. From T.V. dinners to buy now pay later furniture we are used to having the every desire of our heart satisfied when we want it satisfied.

But how different things are for those of us who are Christians, who love the Lord Jesus Christ, we are still the same people who want our desires to be satisfied instantly, but sometimes for us what God requires of us is a little patience. In my bible reading recently I have been reading the story of Joseph, and in particular the story of Joseph in prison for a crime that he didn't commit. Joseph had interpreted a dream for the cup bearer and the baker, and asked them to remember him when they where released from prison. But they didn't, they promptly forgot about him and left him languishing in prison for two whole years.

During those two years there must have been times when Joseph's mind began to wonder, when Joseph felt as if God had abandoned him, had left him alone. But really Joseph just had to wait in patience for the Lord to act. As Christians we need to remember that, that sometimes all God is telling us to do is to go on in faith, go on trusting Him and His word and carry on until He reveals his plans to us. As Gary said all we need is a little patience. The world around us is used to always getting what it wants when it wants it, but that's not the Christian life, we get what we need when God decides that we need it.

It may be that there is a situation in your life at the minute were you feel that there is nothing happening, when heaven is silent, but perhaps heaven is not really silent at all and maybe God is telling you that you need to have a little patience and keep going forward in faith trusting Him...

Ashes to Ashes

So the Ashes is over for another while, and it has been quite a good series spoiled only somewhat by the fact that England (Commonwealth XI) managed to win and we now have to listen to them gloat about how they are the greatest team in the world. Don't get me wrong we would have had to listen to the Aussies gloat as well but at least they would have done it from 30,000 miles away.

One of the inescapable facts of the series was the fact that the Australian cricket team are in a very real slump, they just aren't good enough. For someone who grew up watching the Australians in their hay day with the likes of McGrath and Warne taking wickets for fun and Ponting scoring runs for fun, this is very hard to watch and believe. I just never thought that it would come to this. And so evidently neither did the Australian newspapers, who are now calling for heads to roll and a root and branch review of how to take Australian cricket forward. To me it seems like the whole of Australia has been shaken by this Ashes thumping, it was just something that no one in Australia could ever see happening, and now it has. Now the Australians who had put all their faith in their cricketing ability have been shaken everything they thought they knew about life and beating the English at cricket has been shaken. But why? Why are the Australians so shaken?

Because they have put their faith in all the wrong things, put all their trust and hope in the wrong things, they have gotten their identity from being the best at the world in cricket, and now that has been shaken and they cant cope with that. Because the only thing that offers us true identity and true hope in this world is a right relationship with Jesus Christ. When we have a right relationship with Jesus Christ it puts everything else into context, it shows us how tiny and insignificant losing a game of cricket really is, how tiny and insignificant whether our football team loses or not because it gives us our true identity, we no longer have to search for it in other places and other ways.

Are the Australian cricket team in terminal decline, is Punter finished I don't know. But if this is where you are placing your identity , where you are placing your hope, in sports teams, in music bands, in academic circles, in going out with friends then you will always be disappointed because only Jesus Christ can give us true hope, only Jesus Christ can give us our true identity and show us who we really are...

Water Water Everywhere So Let's all have a drink...but no showers just incase

Everyone in Northern Ireland now has a water story, so what is yours? It may be that you were in the shower when the water went off, it may be that you had to queue for hours just to get some water to drink. But whatever it is everyone in Northern Ireland now has a water story, so here is mine...

I got an email the other day from a student in Finland, who told me that in the news in Finland it was reported that Northern Ireland was suffering from a drought and she was very concerned for our safety. Now i don't know how the news in Finland is being reported but i think the term drought was perhaps a little over the top, but I'm still proud that our wee country made the news in Finland, even if it was for being completely incompetent and unable to manage a crisis.

The Bible also tells a story about a woman who was looking for the living water, water that would satisfy her forever, and we can read about this woman in John chapter 4. Jesus is at a well and a woman comes to the well about mid-day, Jesus was tired and thirsty from a long walk and he asks the woman for a drink, the woman initally refuses but Jesus continues talking to her, and assures her that only He can offer her the living water, but she doesnt understand, she asks Jesus how he intends to get that water out seeing the well was deep and he had nothing to draw with.

Jesus then shares with her the great news, he tells her that everyone who drinks from the water of the well will be thirsty again but he who drinks of the water Jesus gives them will never thirst again, now we think we have moved on so much as cultures and nations, and to an extent we have, but the truth today is still the same, if we go to a tap and are lucky enough to get some water, eventually we will be thirsty again, we will need to keep coming back to this tap and be satisfied once again, but the truth is Jesus is the only thing that will satisy us forever. Now obviously we are not talking about physical thirst here, but spiritual thirst, our spiritual thirst to know God. Now maybe you are reading this and thinking well i have no spiritual thirst, no thirst to know God, but i can assure you, you do, you are maybe just looking in the wrong places.

So as you are going to your tap tonight, going for your shower doing whatever it is that you do with water think about your true thirst, the thirst that can never be satisfied with water and can only be satisfied by God.