Christian Lifestyle

Bishop Gene Robinson from USA has caused quite a stir over the weekend and no doubt will continue to do so for the forthcoming week.

I don't actually want to talk about the Bish or gay christians - for me all this has highlighted his opponents!!

Did you see the chap who heckled the Bishop at St Mary's Putney?
Is he a member of the Church of England or even a christian? If he is not then I dont think he has any right to be interfering in church matters, just as the church has no right to interfere in his matters!

If he is a christian then he should consider these matters, all to be found as guidance for the conduct of christians within the Bible:
Is he without sin? He can only throw stones if he is
Is he a recognised church leader? He would need to be of equal or senior 'rank' to speak to a Bishop in such a manner.
Has he followed the biblical 'complaints procedure'? Speak privately to the person who has caused offence first - then go to the ministers and the Bishop's seniors and only then can the complaint be made publicly by those to whom the Bishop is under authority.

Has the heckler expressed Christ's love and grace to the Bishop? Or has he judged the Bishop with human eyes and mind?
Anyone who quotes the verses from Leviticus has immediately lost any argument or authority as the Old Testament (or covenant) has been surpassed by the New Covenant, the covenant that says jesus paid the price for sin.

Personally I have no problem with the Church of England splitting or even disbanding completely. Maybe when that happens people will stop looking at 'the Church' and look to God; stop leaning on the institution and lean on God, in faith!

There is a certain security in being 'religious' as opposed to having a living, or active, faith.

Be blessed. 

A brief look at 1 Corinthians 11:29

For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgement on himself.

The Greek word which is translated 'body' is the same word which is used to talk of the 'body of Christ', meaning the church.

It would be convenient to believe and understand this to mean recognising Christians as fellow Christians but I think that is rather too simplistic.

Let us bear in mind that this was a letter which was not written in chapters and verses but as a continuous piece of text with standard punctuation rather than verses etc..

Virtually the whole of the letter up to this point has been talking about divisions in the church caused or threatened by different matters, or manifest in different ways.

Recognising fellow Christians as such would still allow room for division for whatever reason and would not be in line with the unity that Paul was working so hard to promote.

What I believe Paul was actually saying was, "recognise in each and every member of the Body of Christ, the working of the grace of God, His power and authority invested in and used through them, and treat all brothers and sisters, in love, with all due respect and submission."

The longest prayer of Jesus found in John 17 was almost entirely on the subject of unity within the family of God. Whereas Paul's letter was written at the time specifically to the church at Corinth, Jesus' prayer was addressed to the Father and was for believers worldwide. Unity, in other words 'recognising the body', is for all believers and between all believers.

I believe that 'recognising the body' is particularly and practically worked out in a lifestyle of submission.

We must be submitted first and foremost to Christ's working and purposes in our life. If his Lordship in our life is not our hearts desire and evident in our lives, then unity is not possible. The result of this is alienation from Jesus, and the Spirit of God working in our lives being quenched. Our hearts need to be surrendered and submitted to God to do His work of changing us according to His pattern. A lack of God's grace in our own lives (and grace comes from an ever-deepening knowledge of Jesus) will hinder us recognising the working of grace in another's life.

Next we need to be submitted to our church leaders.
Staying or being in a church is not submission. Judas stayed as a disciple of Jesus, yet his heart was far from Him and in no way submitted to Him.
An example of submission is this: A leader asks me to do 'A'. If I do not think this is a good idea, then I should say so constructively, humbly and with respect for my leader’ position. If he asks me again, then I should do it, eagerly, without complaining, fully supporting his decision because he is God's anointed leader. Our leaders have Christ's authority in church and Kingdom matters, they are also held responsible for what he does so decisions are not taken lightly.
Consider King David, he had two opportunities to kill Saul, but his submission to God's authority structure would not allow him to do it. In human terms, David taking Saul's life could be considered wholly justified.
Within Kingdom authority structures though there is no justification (except as shown in matters of church discipline) for lack of submission to godly authority.
Even if I believe wholeheartedly and am totally convinced that a leader may be wrong, submission is accepting who and what he is in the Kingdom, and I must support him in that role.
If we are unable to respond in this way then we are not accepting his leadership, his authority and anointing, and we have no right to be in that church.
Submission is not slavery. We submit to others from a heart of love. The heart of love overflows in expressions of support.
If things do go wrong later, or a decision proves to be a wrong one, a heart of love does not say "I told you so". It helps pick up the pieces, supports through any crises, states continued support, and rejects criticism or critical attitudes that foster and create division.

Thirdly, and not least important, is submitting to one another. I may not agree with what a brother does, but if he is doing it in faith believing that is what God is saying at that time, then I should support him in it. I ought to sacrifice my opinions and submit in favour of the deeds prompted by my brother’s faith.
I may not agree with the way the worship leader is leading the meeting but he has been appointed to that position by those who have authority to do so and I must submit to the wisdom expressed in that appointment.
Submission is not slavery, but it is servitude. An attitude to serve. To serve a brother or sister is to submit to being a blessing to them, to submit to meeting their needs, not in their own (selfish) interest, but in the interest of the building of the body of Christ and the extending of His Kingdom.

One other aspect in recognising the Body is, recognising the status, in our own hearts, towards Christians from other churches. They may well worship differently to ourselves. They may well believe additional bits or take away certain beliefs we hold. They may well put the emphasis on something differently to ourselves. But they are still brothers and sisters in Christ. They are equals. Recognising the Body means recognising Christians of all denominations equally, without judgement and in mutual and/or appropriate submission.

Why 'If'..

Thank God He never forces His way upon us, except perhaps in the sense of He moves people to do certain things in order to achieve His purposes.
It would be no great problem for Him to make us all into humanoid robots, obeying His every will and desire. It would be no great problem for Him to impose strict Laws that we all had to obey, but this was what went wrong with the Israelites in the Old Testament times. Apart from one or two exceptional individuals they never developed a personal relationship with the God who revealed His loving kindness and person to them in so many different ways. Despite the necessity for their rituals of sacrifice there was still room for personal relationship, but alas, few discovered it.

His overwhelming desire though, is that men and women should respond positively to Him, in obedience, but from a heart of love, and in an atmosphere of relationship, towards Him, and thus achieve His purposes.

Freewill is something that he never needed give us when he created mankind. He could easily have built in anti-independence limitations, or taken away that part of our character and personality that desires to freely express who and what we are. No, it was a great act of His love for us, to give us freewill.

He was giving us our freedom. He was allowing us to choose our lifestyle, and our destiny. His desire though, was that we love him. His eternal hope is that our obedience would be from a heart of love, and would be in response to His Fatherhood and Divinity.

1 Cor. 3:5-23 (NIV)  
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe — as the Lord has assigned to each his task.  I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.  The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labour.  For we are God's fellow-workers; you are God's field, God's building.
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.  But each one should be careful how he builds.  For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.  If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,  his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light.  It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.  If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.  If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness";  and again,  "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."  So then, no more boasting about men!  All things are yours,  whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,  and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
 
Back in the 1950's God spoke to men around the world about a new work He wanted to begin amongst those who were His and were seeking more depth in Him.  These men were spiritually hungry and responded positively to God, and the charismatic movement, which also became known as the Housechurch movement, was born.
Godly men founded 'churches' around the UK.  These churches used to meet in people's homes, and when they grew too big for the home they would split and become two house groups.  Every time a group became too big for the home it would split.  Growth was fast, and whilst the house group principle continued for many decades the larger groups also met, usually on Sundays, in schools, or wherever they could hire a hall large enough to house them.  Some of them eventually ended up buying disused cinemas, warehouse units etc..

As these groups grew and bought buildings, day to day administration and organisation became more cumbersome.  The leaders who emerged from some of these groups became household names in what became known as the 'restoration' movement.  Restoration of God's Kingdom, church and purposes was the aim, and these leaders started travelling outside of their local area and planting churches in other areas of the UK..  A few years later, they started travelling the world and planting churches elsewhere.  

It was almost as if there was a competition to see which 'group' could plant the most churches and become the biggest, though I am sure that in the leaders minds this was far from the truth.

To come up to date, here we are around 60 years later, and most of the original church 'planters' have now died.  Sad to say, mainly, though not completely, so have their 'churches'.

So what went wrong?

The men of God who originally heard and received the Word of God about the new move of the Holy Spirit of God were sincere, prayerful and godly men.  Of that there is no doubt.  It was the Spirit and grace of God that made them who were they were.
I think they were 'overcome' by the results of the power of God as He honoured their faith.  They were seeing many, many people healed, and coming into a knowledge of God and relationship with His Son Jesus Christ.  I believe they wrestled fiercely in their spirit's with pride.  I personally know of that struggle, and how easy it is to allow one's heart to deceive one.  On the one hand we have the fruit of ministry, healing, salvation, deliverance, by the grace and power of God; on the other hand it is 'us' doing it.  It is very easy to slip into pride and start to believe that we really are doing all this.  That we are using God's power for His purposes rather than he is using us for His purposes.

What these men built upon was a foundation laid by God.  His revelation of His purposes and the work of the Holy Spirit as He went before.  The foundation was solid.  It was good.  Alas, the building, which I am sure had started well, was not so solid.  It was a flimsy structure ultimately based on man's ideas and pride, hence why it collapsed when the men died or moved on.

Nothing can be laid upon God's foundation, other than God's building blocks.  His way, or no way!  Human or carnal ambition has no place in the building of God's temple.  Can you mix sand with gold and expect superior strength and an eternal structure?  Pride has no place to stand with faith.

We cannot build with timber a structure to withstand holy fire, and we can be sure that the fire of God's Spirit will test all our works.

There will always be those who choose to follow their own ways, who corrupt the Bible, good character and water down faith with man made stories and inventions of worship.  They will be disowned and rejected in the final day.  Whether Paul or Appollos, or modern leaders, all our works will be tested, and we will be rewarded accordingly.

The men who founded the early charismatic church back in the 1950's were not bad men.  They will receive their reward from God.  But the lesson we must all learn is that if we want our work to withstand God's fire, God's shaking, then it must not become a new denomination, it must not become a man made structure, governed by men's rules rather than God's leading.  If the foundation is of God then we must stand together, encouraging and exhorting one another, in love, to keep the structure of God, lest all our work is in vain.  Better to judge ourselves than be judged by God.

I have spent the last ten years without church. It has been quite a solitary journey across a desert littered with occasional mirages and Job's friends.

During my journey I still heard from God. I wrote it all down and some of it has appeared in this blog. I had worried from time to time whether I was off the wall or not. A lot of what God had been telling me was very radical and could even be viewed as liberal.

Today I met with a senior church leader who I have known of for 25+ years and respected at a distance. Our paths had crossed several times over those years at various churches and conferences. I knew quite a lot about him, and knew he was a godly man to be respected.

Anyway I was having a meeting with him to discuss where church was at, what was happening and to decide if what he was doing I could join with. This despite my saying years ago I never wanted to be involved with church again. God has a wonderful way of changing our minds .

Anyway, I find, to my astonishment, that he is saying exactly the same things I have been thinking over the last ten years. This is good, very very good. It means that not only am I listening to God, but he is too. Unlike other church leaders who could live in fear for their jobs and ignore such things, Derek has gone on in faith, and is building church!!

I found we were one in mind, and am sure we will become one in heart too. I hope I have found my spiritual home.

Jesus performed many miracles in his lifetime on earth. Below I have listed them with their Bible references. I have also noted below each one HOW the miracle was performed and WHY the miracle was performed. What do the results of this brief look at the Miracles of Jesus tell us?

The water changed into wine John 2:1-11
HOW? : By His Word - requiring servants obedience
WHY? : To build His disciples faith

Healing of a nobleman’s son John 4:46-54
HOW? : By His Word - requiring recipients faith
WHY? : To build faith and make believers

Healing of a sick man John 5:1-9
HOW? : By His word - requiring recipients faith
WHY? : Part of God's plan to show man is more important than Law

Healing of a man who was born blind John 9:1-41
HOW? : Use of mud - requiring recipients faith and obedience
WHY? : To display the work of God in the Man's life

Raising Lazarus John 11:1-44
HOW? : By His Word - requiring faith
WHY? : For Gods Glory

The hundred and fifty three fish John 21:1-11
HOW? : By His Word - requiring disciples faith
WHY? : To build faith in God's Son

Walking on the sea John 6:19-21
HOW? : Control of nature (?)
WHY? : To comfort and re-assure His disciples He was with them at all times

Feeding five thousand hungry people John 6:5-13
HOW? : By His faith and the faith of his disciples
WHY? : To meet a need & to reveal His glory and that He was the Messiah

Freeing a man’s soul which was possessed by demons Luke 4:33-35
HOW? : By His word - requiring the particpants faith
WHY? : To fulfil God's calling on His life

Healing of Simon’s mother in law Luke 4:38-39
HOW? : By His Word and the recipients faith
WHY? : Compassion

The enormous catch of fish Luke 5:1-11
HOW? : By His word and the disciples obedience
WHY? : To meet a need & to reveal his glory and build faith

Healing of a leper Luke 5:12-13
HOW? : By His word and His touch WHY? : Because the man exercised faith

Healing of a man who was paralysed Luke 5:18-25
HOW? : By His word of forgiveness and required the faith of his friends
WHY? : To fulfil their faith and fulfil Gods plan with respect to His destiny

The restoration of the withered hand Luke 6:6-10
HOW? : By His Word
WHY? : To show that man is more important than Law

Healing of a centurion’s slave Luke 7:1-10
HOW? : His Word
WHY? : The centurions expression of faith

The raising of a widow’s son Luke 7:11-15
HOW? : His Word
WHY? : Compassion

The storm Luke 8:22-25
HOW? : His Word
WHY? : To calm His disciples fears

Freeing Legion from the evil spirits Luke 8:27-35
HOW? : By His Word and authority
WHY? : Compassion for the man and for God's glory

Healing of Jairus’ daughter Luke 8:41-56
HOW? : Faith of the family and His Word
WHY? : Compassion

Freeing a boy’s soul which was seized by demons Luke 9:38-43
HOW? : His Word & authority
WHY? : For God's glory

Healing a dumb demon possessed man Luke 11:14
HOW? : Finger of God
WHY? : To bring the Kingdom of God to the people

Healing a crippled woman Luke 13:11-13
HOW? : By His Word and touch and her faith
WHY? : For God's glory and to show the legalism of the Jews

Healing a man with dropsy Luke 14:1-4
HOW? : By touch
WHY? : To prove that God's healing more important than Law

Healing ten lepers Luke 17:11-19
HOW? : Jeus's Word & their faith requiring obedience
WHY? : For God's glory

Healing of a blind man Luke 18:35-43
HOW? : His Word
WHY? : Fulfilment of faith of the blind man

Healing of a slave’s ear Luke 22:50-51
HOW? : Touch
WHY? : Correcting an injustice

Healing of two blind men Matthew 9:27-31
HOW? : Their faith and His touch
WHY? : Compassion and fulfilment of faith of blind men

Healing of a dumb demon possessed man Matthew 9:32-33
HOW? : Authority
WHY? : To 'prove' the Kingdom of God

Healing of the Canaanite girl who was seized by demons Matthew 15:21-28
HOW? : Faith
WHY? : To Fulfil her faith

Feeding four thousand hungry people Matthew 15:32-38
HOW? : Faith
WHY? : Compassion

The withering of the fig tree Matthew 21:18-22
HOW? : His Word and authority
WHY? : Lesson in faith in God

Healing a deaf and mute man Mark 7:31-37
HOW? : Fingers in ears, spit & His Word & recipients faith
WHY? : To fulfil friends faith

Healing a blind man Mark 8:2-26
HOW? : Spit and touch requiring faith of recipient
WHY? : to fulfil the blind man and his friends faith

Lets look at HOW he performed these miracles

By His word of forgiveness / His Word / Touch / Authority / Faith / Fingers in ears / Spit /
Finger of God

One thing to observe is that there was no 'method'. We don't do it this way or that! All the methods were reliant upon God - God's Word, God's forgiveness, God's authority. When Jesus touched people with his 'healing hands' they were healed, similarly when the woman touched his robe the power transferred to her and she was healed.

It is the anointing and power of God that heals, not the method of laying on of hands. The finger of God was used to drive out demons, it was also used to make the deaf hear - but please note - it was the finger of GOD! It was not the finger of someone hoping and praying for the best.

Let us look at the reasons for WHY he performed the miracles He did.

To build His disciples faith
To make believers
To show that under the grace of Jesus man is important than Law
To display the work of God in the life
For Gods Glory
To comfort and re-assure His disciples He was with them at all times
To meet a need
To confirm that Jesus was the Messiah
To fulfil God's calling on His life as Messiah
Compassion
fulfil Gods plan with respect to His destiny
To bring the Kingdom of God to the people
To show the legalism of the Jews
To prove that God's healing and grace more important than Law
Correcting an injustice
To 'prove' the Kingdom of God

Do you notice how all the reasons are God centred? He never healed everybody of everything, he admitted himself he couldn't. But everything was done for God's purposes, and our inner motivations will restrict how effective we are in 'ministry'.
Unless God says otherwise I dont believe healing today is for everybody under every circumstance - I believe it is for when God empowers us, and as Jesus realised, it is for when the anointing is upon us and we have been given that gift of faith for the occasion and we are not praying and hoping for the best. Faith is being SURE.......

May God bless you and teach you as you step out 'in faith' for him but remember what is said about Jesus in Luke 5:17, the power was with Him!!

If it isn't with us we should not feel pressured to 'perform'. Jesus didn't, He said openly, I can do nothing!!

I have been pondering a lot recently about God and who I think He is.

It occurred to me that our father on earth will dominate our perception of our Father in Heaven.
If our earthly father was abusive, strict, unloving, dominating, weak, then that is how we will perceive our heavenly Father.

Yet God is consistent. The only thing (apart from taxes and politicians) that is unchanging in this life. His love for His creation is NOT like even the best father's love on earth. It is not subject to moods or well-being. It is sacrificial and unwavering. It is unconditional and without secret motive or hidden agenda.

Father God's love comes with only one motive or agenda. That is, that we, his creation, might become the best people we can. That we achieve the great potential He has created for us and that we enjoy the benefits of His Kingdom here on earth.

God is nOT an ogre sitting in the sky with a big stick! He is wanting the very best for us and has poured out His love, as evidence, before we were even twinkles in our parents eyes!

As a christian I know how I should behave. I know how I should think and how I should respond in certain situations. I also know how I often let myself down by responding in ways that could be described as 'inappropriate' and would be more suited to the gutter.

Does that make me a bad christian? Fortunately Jesus died to forgive all my wrongdoing, not just once or twice but forever. There is no such thing as a bad christian. Because of the work He does in us, we grow, we are NOT instantly made perfect. We are still human, a fact He well understands.

I curse and hate myself when I feel I have let Him (and me) down. But it is a strange Truth that He would rather have as a friend someone who acknowledges their humanity, complete with failings and mistakes, than someone who makes no mistakes and is 'perfect'.

Being 'not good enough' makes you perfect for the Kingdom of God. Don't hate yourself, He doesnt hate you.

But remember to show others the love and grace you know He shows you.

For those who have been affected by the awful floods recently you have my heart felt sympathy and I hope you get sorted out soon. I do know what the loss of 'our homes' is like. 'Our home' is so much more than the bricks and mortar. It is all the little mementoes, the photo albums, the personal videos, the old records and tapes. We can always replace the equipment, the fabrics, the decor, but the mementoes of life cannot be replaced.

There are those that will blame 'God' for these bad weather conditions, and I briefly want to consider whether this is justified or not.

Q. Could God have stopped the rain?
A. God, has power over everything, so yes, he could have stopped/changed the bad weather.

Q. Why Didint He?
A. Why should He?

Q. Because He supposedly loves us all?
A. But you dont love him back, in fact you give Him very little consideration at all, if ever.

I dont necessarily think the rain's were 'from' God. Sure it is down to nature and no doubt He could have stopped them, but He uses the individual experiences for His own purposes in situations like this.

Q. So what is God saying to those of us who got flooded out of our homes?
A. If He is saying anything to us it is this: You have relied upon, and put your security in, bricks and mortar. You have surrounded yourself with your possessions and comforts, and in just a brief moment in time you have lost it all. But whether the rains come, the winds blow, or the sun burns bright, I am the only true security in life. I am the only real comfort in life. Whether weather, or war, I am still the same. I am always there, loving, caring, and providing for those who love me.

Q. So what about the Christians who got flooded out?
A. As Christians our persepective is different. Because we know the love and security of our Father in heaven, we rely on that. Sometimes God will use adverse circumstances to bring our focus back to Him, or to reinforce our trust in Him. But possessions and comforts should mean nothing to Christians, they are temporal. Our perspective is focussed on something more eternal.

If you have been affected by the floods, I hope and pray that you will get back to 'normal' soon. I also hope that in the midst of your own personal crisis you will discover the God who loves you, and put your hope, security and trust in Him.