Windows On The Soul

Thus goes this gem of potted philosophy advertising some already forgotten product.  First comes the dream, vision or hope of what could be - blessed are those who can see their need. Then comes the leap: what the motivational speakers might term "belief in yourself", or that "can do attitude"; what we call faith. With this attitude of faith, anything is possible: moving mountains, creating the vision. To the world, this is success, yet time and again, we hear of such self-made, successful people who are still unfulfilled. The apostle Paul, the greatest motivational writer of history, re-iterates the enduring importance of hope and faith. But greater than these is Love. Only in love does success find meaning, worth and true fulfilment of the heart's deepest desires. ----xxxXxxx---- Heb.11:1 "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen" 1 Cor.13:13 "These three things endure, hope, faith & love,...

“ I ask... that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ” ( John 17:20,21 ). The squabbles in the church must sadden our Lord who prayed that his followers may be one. If the church worldwide were united (in spirit, not necessarily in one organisation), the world would take notice. As it is, critics of the church are constantly mocking us for our sectarian divisiveness. The church is both human and divine. It comprises fallible humans, and has yet to be perfectly redeemed. It is divine - the Body of Christ. So we need to be patient with an imperfect church. Henry Scott Holland put it this way in 1914 when the Bishop of Zanzibar wrote a pamphlet asking where the church stood. Scott Holland said that it did not stand at all, but 'moves and pushes and slides and staggers and falls and gets up again, and stumbles on and presses forward and falls into the right positi...

Have you ever considered your bible as God’s Valentine Card to you? That’s right. We were created in God’s image, and He is calling us to be His lovers. The God of the bible is a God of love. Christianity is not (just) a philosophy or set of teachings or laws. Our God is not a God of fear or one needing to be constantly placated. Our God is not distant and disinterested. Sadly, his desire that the object of his love should be beautifully pure, acceptable and set apart, is often interpreted as prohibition. Before you came to church this morning, did you check to see who was preaching, or weigh-up who did or didn’t speak to you last week, or check whether it was better weather for the beach? Or did you come full of anticipation of meeting with your Valentine? Could I suggest that “ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul ” ( Mk.12:30-31 ) should NOT be seen as a “ command ”, but rather an “ invitation too good to refuse ” in the vein of “ Be My Valentin...

The saddest forms of violence in the community would have to be ‘domestic violence’ and the extreme of the ‘murder suicide’. Sad, because they are a reflection of the complete breakdown of the love relationship, when physical force becomes the ‘normal’ method of achieving one’s will. And yet, as long as ‘love relationships’ are based on ‘ attraction, enjoyment, I want...’ , then breakdown of one form or another is inevitable because the foundations are wrong. As our Pastor reminded us last week, blind Bartimaeus ( Mk.10:46 ) was not immediately healed by Jesus until Jesus had asked him what he wanted - (even) God’s love is not imposed. Love is not primarily about attraction or compatibility, but about wills. The will to love the other, come-what-may and the will to allow the other to exercise their own free will. Two such loving wills, together become ‘ our will ’ or ‘ one flesh ’ ( Mk.10:8 ). Without free will, there cannot be love. God’s love for us allows us our ‘free...

My computer Bible Search tells me that the above phrase appears 32 times through-out the New Testament, from Jesus’ verbal command ( John.13:34,35 ), through the epistles of Paul, Peter and John. Interestingly, it is the only new commandment that Jesus gave to His follows, because it distilled the essence of all the ‘old’ commandments that had gone before.  But Jesus then went on to say three more very important things about this commandment. He pointed to Himself (“ As I have loved you... ”) as an example, an inspiration, and in a sense as our ‘debt’ to love. He reinforced the imperativeness of the command with “ ...so you must love... ”. The powerful impact of this type of love will be such that it will be the mark of His disciples within the world. The Apostles then go on to teach what this type of love involves.  It will be familial and honouring ( Rom.12:10 ), serving ( Gal.5:13 ), humble, gentle, patient and fore-bearing ( Eph.4:2 ), considerate and encouraging ...

Like most human endeavours, the French revolutionaries got it half right.  "Liberty and Fraternity" are both things that God wants for all mankind. But His freedom, is the freedom to choose to be "disciples of Christ". His Brotherhood is not exclusive, but all inclusive, including our "enemies". Sadly, the history of mankind is littered with groups at either extreme: of legalism and licence; some of the bloodiest wars ever fought have been in the name of religious correctness. It is human nature to want to shake off the shackles of restrictive laws and rules. But freedom can be threatening and frightening, because true freedom brings responsibility. So the "freed" find comfort in banding together, conforming to new conventions and rules, as if "rules" free them from the responsibility of personal decisions. Then soon "evangelism" of the unconverted begins. What should our attitude be to differences between people? A centu...

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. --...

"Love is the one treasure that multiplies by division. It is the one gift that grows bigger the more you take from it. It is the one business in which it pays to be an absolute spendthrift; give it away, throw it away, splash it over, empty your pockets, shake the basket, turn the glass upside down, and tomorrow you will have more than ever." (source unknown) ----xxxXxxx---- Pr.11:25 "The liberal soul shall be made fat; he that waters shall himself be watered" Isa.58:10 "If you give food to the hungry, and satisfy those in need, then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon" Lk.6:38a "Give to others and God will give to you; in full measure, a full measure poured into your hands - all that you can hold." 1 Pet.1:22 "See that you love one-another with a pure heart fervently" Jhn.15:12 "This is my commandment, that you love one-another as I have loved you" 1 Thes.3:12 "May the Lor...

Of necessity, theology uses many picture phrases to try to describe the eternal indescribable. But the image is not the real thing. Illustrations are easily distorted beyond their original intent. So it was a serendipitous discovery of the above phrase - the image of God ladling His love by His Holy Spirit over us as He the master chef sees fit by His grace. The sweetness and aroma best brought out in the oven of life. " Justice is when we get what we deserve. Mercy is when we don't get what we deserve, But Grace is when we get what we don't deserve. " Barbara Johnson, "Splashes of Joy in the Cesspool of Life" ----xxxXxxx---- 1 Tim.1:14 "The grace of our Lord over-flowed me with the faith and love that are in Christ" Dan.9:18 "We pray to you because you are merciful not because we have done right" Rom.9:16 "God's compassion is not dependent on man's will or exertion, but on God's mercy" 2...

I was saddened during the week to receive the following prayer request through the International Christian Leadership electronic network. This Elder's Church has been involved for about 2 years in outreach to chronically mentally ill patients at a home, bringing residents to worship services. Some had become members. However, a fair number of the core Church members felt uncomfortable and threatened. Consequently, the Church "Session" voted to exclude these disabled members from worship. The carers have taken to conducting special mid-week services at the home. But how does one tell these people that they cannot go to "their" Church to worship any-more? This from the land of "free speech" and "freedom of religion". Please pray for this elder and his faithful band of carers. Also pray for the other members, that they might understand the " Acceptable year of the Lord". ----xxxXxxx---- Jn.8:7 " He that is without sin a...

Although this phrase borders on American jingoism, to me it simply encapsulates the important duality of the gospel. For Jesus came to make possible the restoration of right relationships between God and man, and that there might be peace among all men. In my years in youth outreach in coffee shops and beach missions, particularly in a cross-denominational environment, the perennial discussion is about "friendship" evangelism versus "conversion" evangelism. Building friendships is fine as a means of breaking down the barriers to serious communication. But unless the friendship comes from true acceptance and humility rooted in the fact that God accepted and loved me "while I was yet a sinner", then the friendship is false. Equally important is the desire to share the good news of what God has done in my life and is available for all. Our living is the picture for the world to see, our words are the captions and sub-titles. ----xxxXxxx---- Rom.15:19 ...

I've been reminded of that corny old song a few times recently. The year 7 science class is studying methods of classification. Now classification would have to be one of the most basic human traits. Our brains are highly specialised in pattern matching. Whilst useful in understanding the world around us and our place in it, it can also mislead to the point of finding patterns that are not there such as in deja vu . The Christian is not immune either. Recently, a well meaning person (not from this church) sent me some tracts espousing anti-catholic, pre-millenial, King James only dogma. Whilst I have various views on each subject, to categorise people as either a "a carnal Christian", non-Christian, anti-Christ or simply persona non-gratis based on their belief or other-wise of any of these dogma, is I believe against both the teaching and spirit of Christ. I would rather be known as a Christian that "receives sinners and eats with them". Trusting you are the sa...

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, ...