Windows On The Soul

Among the many miracles of construction of the human body, is the wonderful structure of bones, muscles, flesh and skin. Without bones, we would be mere blobs of flesh, unable to stand or move. Without flesh and muscles, the bones would collapse into a heap. Although each individual bone is rigid, the skeleton being a jointed structure, is not rigid. It relies on pairs of muscles and sinews connecting pairs of jointed bones, with opposing muscles maintaining perfectly balanced tension. Further, the flesh and skin cover the harsh, hard bones, with the soft, flexible, cuddly exterior to the world. Paul's analogy of the body to the church, in many ways also applies to our individual spiritual "bodies". We must have a skeleton of doctrine, rigid in part, but jointed and movable, kept strong and in balance by the paradoxes of Righteousness and Mercy. Then our doctrine must be clothed with the warm, soft, tender "flesh" of love as our face to the external world. --...

"In a time when blood transfusion was unknown, Jesus chose the perplexing figure of drinking His blood. Ever since, Christians have wrestled with the theology of the Eucharist. Who can describe the process by which Christ's body and blood become part of my own? We are brought near to Him; we participate in Him; He feeds us - any of these phrases only hint at the mystery. Jesus used the analogy of branches attached to a vine. The more contemporary metaphor of blood transfusion opens the way for me to grasp the intended meaning. The communion service reminds me that Christ is not dead and removed from me, but alive and present in me. Every cell in His Body (the Church) is linked, unified, and bathed by the nutrients of a common source - blood feeds life. The infusion of fresh blood also helps explain the process of cleansing. I focus on the toxins accumulating in scattered cells of my body and the happy relief that comes when blood washes away those poisons. And f...

If you weren't at the evening service a couple of weeks ago to see 50 of our young people, fresh back from camp, arms linked, singing God's praise, you missed out on a great soul stirring night. Yet our children grow up so quickly. In a matter of 5 years or less, a thriving church can go into decline if there is no on-going flow through from nursery, pre-school, primary, juniors to youth groups. But even with the best Christian parenting, our children must become children of God in their own right - God has no Grandchildren . They must discover for them-selves God's salvation. So continue to pray for the youth and children’s leaders and teachers at all levels. The children of today are the church leaders of tomorrow. ----xxxXxxx---- Pr.15:20 "A wise son makes his father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother" Ecl.12:1 "Remember your creator in the days of your youth" Pr.29:5 "The rod and reproof bring wisdom. A child left...

99% of the admonitions in the New Testament are for Christians to love each other. If we can really learn to love Jesus and each other, everything else that is supposed to happen will. If we learn to do that right, the world will be knocking on our doors. The command to "love our neighbours as much as ourselves" not only applies individually but corporately. The Church does not exist for ministry, but rather to be the Body of Christ . And as the trinity loves itself, so must "the body", and that love is the measure of our love for the unsaved world. Our ministry must be an outgrowth of our being the Body of Christ. (Selections from - "Living Together in a World Falling Apart" Dave & Neta Jackson) ----xxxXxxx---- Rom.12:5 "So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are parts one of another - mutually dependent on one another" Eph.4:12 "His intention was the perfecting and full equipment of the saints, ...

The Lord God - the pre-eminent command, demanding total love with every fibre of our being. One's Self - when natural self-love is put under submission to the Holy Spirit, healthy self-respect and self-control develops as the miracle of the Holy Spirit making our bodies His temple, dawns upon us. Neighbours - the people we encounter in our daily walk, especially anyone in need, is loved by God, equally a (potential) temple of the Holy Spirit, to whom we must show equal love as for our-selves. Each Other - familial and sibling love now extends to the whole "family" of God into which we have been reborn/adopted as sons and daughters. This is the principal sign to the world around of our membership in this family. The Stranger - even the stranger who we will never see again, who has no particular need, deserves our hospitality - no strings attached. The Lost  - these have a need far deeper than our "neighbours". This is the love of Christ on the c...

In earliest times, God appeared to dwell in nature, and made His presence known from time to time in fire, cloud and earthquake. As the Israelites settled down in the promised land instead of a nomadic life, a permanent ‘residence’ was built for God on Zion - The Temple. The time of building was a time of great joy as people sacrificially brought gifts of material, time and skill. When Jesus came on the scene, Temple tradition was upset, when Jesus claimed that God lived in him - Jn.14:10 (‘How can that be when God lives down the road in The Temple?’). Not only that, but Jesus declared and foretold the end of ‘Temple Worship’ ( Jn.2:19-21 ), in the rending of the temple curtain, the physical destruction of The Temple, and his own bodily death. In His resurrection, He instituted the era of God’s spirit indwelling the hearts of believers. But Jesus did not just bring about a spatial change, from centralised to distributed, but rather completion of God’s plan for His relati...