Windows On The Soul

In Romans 8:31-39 , Paul writes about being " more than conquerors " - " supra-conquerors " is the word. It means to go above and beyond mere conquest. It is not necessarily deliverance from famine and slaughter that demonstrates divine victory. The true battle against the situations and forces Paul describes is not simply against the specific tribulations and distresses, but against their tendency to separate us from the love of God. Paul does not say that the conquest consists in escaping these things, nor in their removal. To Paul, the conquest is that even the most horrible of powers and events ' cannot separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus ' ( Rom.8:39 ). What is the greatest exhibition of the power of God? Not to remove pain or take away the slaughter, but to keep us in the love of God through it all. The despair of the sufferer is not caused by the depth of the suffering but by the depth of the sense of separation from God. When y...

One of the greatest inhibitors to personal and church growth is the FUD factor (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt). After the horror of Christ’s crucifixion, the incredulity then ecstasy of His resurrection and His times of sharing with His disciples, Jesus ascended to heaven. What did the disciples feel then? I’m sure they must have felt very “flat” after their mountain-top experiences, and probably uncertainty and doubts crept in - “ What do we do now?” , “ Why has He left us like this?” . In many ways, these phases in the birth of The Church mirror the phases in the birth and growth of our children. The teenage years are times of much questioning, of moving out from under the sheltering presence of parents, to discover one’s directions and goals in the ‘real’ world - these are the “Why?” years. Then the young adult blossoms, the world is at their feet and they are prepared to take on anything, with courage and determination. Just as parents must hold back in order to release thei...

In Paul’s letter of guidance to the young new minister, Timothy, he warns him of what sort of things he can expect to see happening in his congregation in “later times” ( 1 Tim.4 ). Apart from some things we normally see as being evil, such as people being led astray by “ lying spirits ” and the “ teachings of demons ” ( v.1 ), Paul also mentions some things that we might not normally consider as being wrong. He warns against various obsessions, such as physical exercise ( v.8 ) - we saw the newspaper article just last week about people becoming “hooked” on work-outs. He warns about an obsession of celibacy ( v.3 ), and obsessions of what to eat or not to eat ( v.3 ). Whilst we don’t see much of the former (although the opposite addiction to sex is now recognised), the later obsessions about foods, diets and ‘health’ regimes are rampant. Whilst our physical ‘needs’ are important, it is more important that our spiritual needs are nurtured. The spiritual ‘food’ to take in ...

That's the title of one of the exercises I have to do in the coming weeks in preparation for a career planning seminar. I've done various goal setting and life-style evaluations in other training courses, but "Obituary" has a ring of finality about it. As an old preacher friend advised on sermon structure, "First tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em. Then tell 'em. Then tell 'em what you’ve told them". The progressive life (as in moving forward in a direction) is like that, a beginning, a middle and an end.  Another view is "Plan, Do, Evaluate". In the Christian life, the planning stage is a matter of obedience and seeking God's will personally. In obedience, the doing follows (super)naturally as we are driven and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The evaluation is ultimately the Lord's - will our obituaries include "Well done my good and faithful servant"? ----xxxXxxx---- Rom.11:29 "God's gifts...