Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 13/Jun/2017]

I remember John Bowden telling me how God looked after him and Dorothy when they were driving in Spain. The car had broken down and after they prayed some young men arrived in a car, sorted out the problem and drove off. They drove away in the same direction from which they had come and so John was convinced they were angels sent by God.

I was recently driving to the coast in Australia and I was thinking what would happen if I broke down or had a puncture. I remembered John’s story but didn’t dwell on the thought. On arrival we had a lovely sunny walk along a beautiful sandy beach and then back through a water park where children and parents were keeping themselves cool in fountains and jets of water. As we got back to the car, the young man parked next to us met us and pointed out that we had a flat tyre. He offered to change the wheel for us and he and the man parked on the other side of us quickly changed the wheel. They then drove off. However I knew they weren’t angels because angels don’t have wives and children as these men did, but I knew that this was God’s way of helping us as he had done so often in the past.

This was a relatively minor problem, but what about those times when the problem is more serious. A couple of weeks later a massive cyclone hit the northern Queensland coast, causing great damage, floods and devastation. We were only on the edge of the cyclone and not affected very much, and although there was mercifully little loss of life many people lost all that they had.

Tragically a mother and three children from a Christian family were driving home when their car slid into the floods. The eight year old daughter managed to escape and raise the alarm, but local residents were unable to rescue the others. When the police raised the car they said that the mother was a hero. She had tried unsuccessfully to rescue the other children and had died cradling one of them in her arms. How can we reconcile God’s help in such a terrifying situation from the everyday problems we face? I believe that God gave that mother and children strength and comfort as He cradled them in His arms. I pray that he continues to do the same for her husband and the surviving little girl.

There may be times when we face serious or life threatening situations. When I was ill a year ago hospital staff told me that I was fortunate to survive and yet I felt complete peace that my life was in God’s hands. If and when we face those experiences may we feel that Jesus is with us and know that

“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deut. 33:27)

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[This Reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 14/May/2017]

How do you envisage eternity? Perhaps your mind goes to the length of last week’s sermon, or maybe the wait until your next payday.

Picture, if you will, a simple railway station of the type beloved by makers of cowboy movies, a stop on some mid-western prairie or a wayside halt on Australia’s Nullarbor Plain where the track extends uninterrupted for hundreds of miles. Our vantage point gives a good view of the platform and the rails for a short distance either side. To the east, the light of dawn reveals two silver rails stretching beyond our vision whilst to the west the setting sun will give those rails a golden hue as they stretch out of sight.

 
A train arrives; a youth steps down – he seems too young to be travelling alone. There is something familiar about him, but we cannot place it. His backpack is light upon his shoulders and he sets off into the surrounding area with a confident air.
As evening draws in, an old man approaches the station; his step is slow and he walks with a stick. His backpack is heavy but he has a determined manner. Again, we think we recognise him. He gets onto the train and it moves off, disappearing into the sunset.

 
Did you recognise your role in our little scenario?
The rails stretch from eternity past to eternity future, beyond our range of vision, and the train of history pauses only for a day. As Shakespeare might have written – “All the world’s a platform, and all the men and women merely travellers …”.
 
What is in your backpack of experiences and, more importantly, where is your ticket taking you?
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[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, May 2017]

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation — if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.” Colossians 1: 21-23

Even when I look at the part of the text which seems to be conditional “if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel”, I can take comfort into some other words from Paul, which state that it is God who works in us to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose (Philippians 2:13). Also we are reminded by Zechariah that it is “’Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6

So, if I were to keep a record on how well I keep to God’s promises in the coming week, I can predict, with better certainty than the political pundits, that I am likely to fall short of the mark. It won’t be the first time that’s happened either.

When Guy Partridge was preaching on Colossians 1 last week, he said we should read the words and be exceedingly joyful. I had never thought of the words in this light before. For someone who is more likely to fall short of the mark than hit it every day of his life, it leaves me in awe of a God who cared so much that I would miss out on eternity with Him, that He chose to pay the price for my sin, clear the slate and reconcile me to Him.

So, on that day as the song goes, “when the saints go marching in, Oh Lord I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in”. And when I march in by His grace, and I behold his glory, rather than cower in fear, the words of this song will prove true:

Boldly I approach your throne,
Blameless now I’m running home
By your blood I come,
Welcomed as your own,
Into the arms of majesty

Let these words be a source of joy and peace as you face the week ahead.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1: 20-21.

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[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 17/Apr/2017]

I hope that Neil Robinson doesn’t mind me carrying on from his article last week as I didn’t get any inspiration for this week’s article until I read his words about the “hows” of creation. I know that many Christians believe that God made the universe and the earth in seven literal days, which is fine. But that for me raises problems that I can’t go into now. Like Neil, I concentrate on “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”.

Those words at the beginning of Genesis, I believe describe the whole of God’s creative acts from, dare I say it, the Big Bang and His creation of the universe “out of nothing”, to His later formation of the earth. He then focuses His attention on the earth which at that stage was formless, empty and covered in darkness, so that the following six “days” plus one symbolical day of rest was not a description of the whole of the creation by God but the preparation of the earth for the ultimate creation of us in God’s image. There are a number of suggestions put forward for the “days”. I prefer the suggestion by Professor Wiseman that the “days” were a series of dreams or visions received by the writer of Genesis between the “evening and the morning” of each day.

I can only consider two of the days or dreams which are the first and fourth days. Scientists have suggested that the earth was originally covered by a dense atmosphere, which for us may account for the darkness over the earth. Then over the ages, the first day, the atmosphere thinned in response to God’s command “Let there be light”. The light filtered through the thinning atmosphere so that day and night became apparent although the source of the light was not seen. If we skip to the fourth day we find that source. “Let there be lights”. The atmosphere thinned even more so that the sun, and ultimately the moon and stars became visible. They were not created on the fourth day but had been there all the time as part of God’s creation in Genesis 1:1. It’s just that they now came into view. If so, that explains why there was light on the first day as the light of the sun, otherwise unseen, shone through the darkness.

Then following the creation of man on the sixth day He prepared a paradise in Genesis 2, the Garden of Eden, for us to live in. It’s sad that we lost our home there by our disobedience to the One who created it for us. Praise Him that through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and as we have faith in His forgiveness, we shall have a new home in paradise in the new heaven and earth of Revelation 21 and 22. The creations of Genesis and Revelation are for us the beginning and the end.

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[This Reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 19/Mar/2017]

From my terrace at home I can often see flocks of sheep grazing on the surrounding hills. Throughout summer and autumn they stay there but during the winter and spring they are bought into the village for overnight shelter. Each morning they are taken out again to the fields. Does this suggest an idyllic rural scene in which the sheep follow the shepherd’s voice as he leads them out to find pasture?

Not exactly! The shepherd and his dogs encourage the sheep to move along, but not by calling them from the front. Collectively, the flock knows where it is going; it has done this trip many times and indeed one of the local flocks is actually led by a couple of old goats – perhaps some of us feel that we can identify with that!

We do not have the lion and the bear which honed David barJesse’s skills but the Romanian shepherd has a similar role – that of protecting the flock from danger. In this case the main risk is from passing traffic on the journey to and from the fields; the shepherd walks behind the flock and, by looking ahead, he will be able to see any approaching danger. He can encourage any stragglers and will move alongside any sheep that he feels is threatened.

Is there a spiritual parallel? We hear the Good Shepherd calling us onward to the green pastures and still waters but how often do we wander along, thinking that we know the best way to get there, or perhaps content to follow our own equivalent of the goats? Take a moment to ponder again on these words from Psalm 25:
Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long (NKJV).

Thank God that His Spirit is with us, to encourage us when we fall behind, to redirect us when we turn aside and to defend us when trouble comes.
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[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, February 2017]

The last time I wrote one of these articles, it was titled ‘Perspective’. With all that is happening in the world – natural disasters, surprising changes on the political landscape, challenges the internet brings to raising our young ones…, it is understandable that one might feel uncertain at times of what to think and what to do.

Perhaps again, it is a question of approaching things from what we could term a Christian perspective. Andrae Crouch, renowned Gospel singer’s song ‘It won’t be long’ has these lyrics:

It won’t be long, when we’ll be leaving here,
It won’t be long, we’ll be going home,
Count the years as months, count the months as weeks,
And count the weeks as days, cause any day now,
We’ll be going home.

When Jesus was asked about the end-times, He talked about turmoil, chaos and anguish, but then told those listening to “Be careful not to let yourselves become occupied with too much feasting and drinking and with the worries of this life” (Luke 21:34).

We’ll soon be going home, but what should our thoughts and actions be while we’re still here? With regard to our thoughts, the Apostle Paul has some advice for us: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” Philippians 4:8. So, as you go out into the week ahead, rather than worry about things, guard your thoughts, and choose to think on the things Paul recommends.

With regards to what we should be doing, Christ told us to go and make disciples of all men. Andrae Crouch has a few more words from one of his songs about a practical way to do this:

“Tell them, even if they don’t believe you
Just tell them, even if they don’t receive you
Oh, tell them for me, please, tell them for me
That I love them, and I came to let them know”

For the people that you will meet in the workplace, in the shops, on your travels, if – with all that’s going on – like you they feel uncertain about things, ask God for His grace to help you to tell them about Christ, that He loves them and that He came to let them know.

Lastly, for yourself, remember the words of Paul from the letter to the Philippians:
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4: 4-7.

Have a blessed week!

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