The Duty of a Church Planter: Part 2

2. Church planters must warn

Lighthouses are wonderful things. They are great feats of architecture, for, despite constant battering from wind and rain and the crashing of waves against their walls they still remain, resolute and strong, without giving way. Nevertheless some guy didn’t just come up with the idea of such a structure for cosmetic reasons or for character building, because lighthouses have a very useful and practical purpose. What is that purpose? Classic dictionary-like definition: A house that shines light. Obviously. The thing is if people wanted to see a ‘light-show’ they generally would not venture off the coast of an island or country in the middle of the night during a howling gale, risking life and limb to see it – a science museum is a bit safer. So what is the purpose of the light-houses light? Very simply to warn ships of hidden rocks, reefs, and other destructive objects and point out the safe way of passage. Without the lighthouse, many thousands of ships and their crews might well be lost due to failure to spot areas of danger.

In the church and among Christians there are many rocks, many of them hidden. Paul speaks of those who having rejected faith and good conscience have made ‘shipwreck’ of their faith (1 Timothy 1:19-20) and Jude speaks of ‘reefs’ that harm the fellowship of believers (Jude 12). Going back to our initial text in Acts 20, however, we see danger and destruction in the terminology of ‘fierce wolves’ who ‘will come in among you, not sparing the flock’ (Acts 20:29) Let us not be naïve. In context, Paul is not speaking of Muslim, Hindu, or Communist radicals. He continues in verse 30 saying, ‘from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away disciples after them.’ All too often we are all too aware of the problems outside the church at the cost of overlooking the pretenders within the church. We fall into fearing those outside the churches who present a temporary physical danger and neglect finding those inside the churches who present eternal spiritual dangers. All too often we have given way to these wolves, many of them having come in sheep’s clothing and have allowed ourselves to be overcome by what unholy men want to see in a church rather than what the Holy God has commanded to be done in the church. The result in many places and in many lives is a highly secular, distinctly sensual, overtly sexual, and inherently sinful cesspit of spiritual deadness. Why? Because we have not warned as we ought. What then are we to do? Paul sets an example, by his example for church-planters and pastors to follow. In application there are certain principles we can outline: 1) Declare anything that is profitable (v. 20). Doubtless ‘profitable’ can be different things to different people. Discernment and wisdom is needed here as certain subjects that may be profitable in certain contexts and for certain specific people are not always appropriate for everyone. 2) Teach in public and from house to house (v. 20). This applies both to teaching those who are Christians and those who are lost in public and from house to house. Some may doubt the effectiveness of street evangelism and door to door in certain environments and desire to find other ‘new’ ways of outreach. Nevertheless whatever else is done, teaching in public and from house to house is the specific example we see in Scripture and thus should never be removed from local church practice. 3) Testify to all of repentance toward God and of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to gospel of the grace of God (vv. 21, 24). The Gospel is to be proclaimed so that lost sinners may turn in repentance and faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and have their lives transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. You cannot be a church planter or pastor if you leave Gospel-witness in word and action outside. 4) Do not shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God. From beginning to end. Genesis 1:1 – Revelation 22:21. Book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. People can enjoy and benefit from topical messages in certain settings and occasions, however as a general principle, expositional, verse by verse teaching will be more profitable and reap greater rewards for the health of the church. Without such teaching believers will not be effectively or sufficiently warned against the trials and troubles they will certainly encounter in their Christian walk. 5) Finally, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock (v. 28). There is no room for naivety. Too many leaders in the church are maintaining an idealized view of their congregation’s personal lives. They are out of touch with what is going on and are blind to the sometimes blatant immorality that they would see present in the thought, word, and action of many members. Paying careful attention to the lives of church members can be accomplished through presence (and correction when necessary) on social networking sites, through meeting individually with members in their own homes or at their work place (this can be enjoyable for all parties), through small group studies, emphasis on prayer and Bible study in the context of church meetings and at home, and even through interaction with the people after services and studies. It is, however, impossible to pay careful attention to the flock, if the leader does not first pay careful attention to himself through reading the word, praying in the Spirit, holding himself accountable before God and various godly men in the church.

Following these basic principles will not stop spiritual wolves from arising within the church or doing harm to various people within the congregation (Paul says that he knew wolves would come in), however following these will enable greater awareness of these wolves and will aid in our response and reaction when we encounter the difficulties they will bring. Surely there are other principles or ways to fight off wolves? Maybe, but using anything in this context that is not based firmly in Scripture would be like a man trying to use a lighter to warn ships of rock compared to a lighthouse. Basically, despite the noble effort of the man, no one, including himself will survive.

In Christ
Regan

The Duty of a Church Planter : Part 1

Church Planters must war.

War is not a very nice thing. It often means leaving good, dear, and comfortable things behind and entering a world of pain. Indeed the pain begins long before your life is in real danger. Elite forces such as the SAS, Navy Seals, and Green Berets pride themselves on the gruelling process in which a soldier becomes Special ops material. Many enlist, but only a few pass the tests and trials. As hard as it is for someone to make a good soldier in the regular army, the pain, sickness, and trial of the Green Beret’s is known to only allow 3 men out of 100 into that elite force. Once the soldier, regardless of rank or division is out on the battlefield, he will have to fight in order to stay alive and progress in reaching whatever goal or target has been set. Sometimes, it takes only one mistake, sometimes small, to cost the lives of many soldiers and civilians. The good soldier must serve faithfully and regardless of oncoming danger must not shrink from his task. He must not allow his judgement or effectiveness to be clouded by discouragement, doubts, or distractions and so he wages not only a physical war, but also an emotional and mental war.

The war without

The Christian life is often described as a battlefield and Christians as soldiers in the service of the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. While we are all equal and there is no hierarchy or delineation based on rank, it is probably fair to say that church planters, pastors, and evangelists are in the Special ops category of spiritual warfare, a warfare that can often be experienced in very physical ways. Paul is probably the greatest Christian preacher and church planter since the ascension of Jesus Christ. In Acts 20, Paul speaks his final words to the elders of the church he began and saw grow in Ephesus. In this message, Paul speaks of the reality of opposition and persecution toward those who proclaim Christ. He speaks in v. 19 of the trials that come through the plots of the Jews and in v 23 he says that the Holy Spirit has testified that imprisonment and affliction await him in every city. We might suppose that these things would be real distractions and would hinder Paul in his ministry. We would think that the weakness of his body from the whippings, beatings, stoning, imprisonments, and other items related to his persecution would cause to just throw in the towel and retire from the call he had received – tradition tells us that Paul was not a strong or physically robust man to begin with. And yet in v. 24 he explains why these distracting events have not had effect on him, saying ‘I do not count my life of any value or as precious to myself if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.’ Paul was called to be a soldier for Christ Jesus and knew that the warfare the Christian faces often is found in the context of persecution, sometimes severe, and opposition, sometimes great. And so he soldiered on regardless of his very real physical enemies.

The war within

I hear it said quite a bit that it does not take much to encourage a church planter and have had that experience of taking joy in small blessings, myself. Nevertheless encouragement implies the presence to some extent of previous or event present discouragement. Satan and his demons attack us, trying to make us doubt, depressed, or discouraged. We are reminded in sometimes brutal ways, as Paul was of the hatred in the world to Christ and His people – sometimes from people we grew up among, love, and desire to help (in Paul’s case, the Jews who were plotting against him from v. 19) and are inwardly distressed and saddened by this. Like sickness, war, and poverty, until Christ comes again, discouragements will always be with us and will come in all sizes. For the Church planter they come when you find you cannot trust certain people to fulfil important responsibilities, whether in leadership or membership (Confidence in an unfaithful man is like a broken tooth or a foot out of joint – Proverbs 25:19). They come when you find fellow leaders have an idea of evangelism and outreach that panders more to worldly ideas and philosophies than conforms to God’s Word. They come when you see families breaking apart and the continuing consequences of pre-conversion sin in people’s lives. They come when you see professing Christians wander away after aberrant teachings or when professing Christians come in (even on the first visit) and are argumentative, condescending, and through their words and actions disturb weaker believers with their many times wacky and weird ideas (believe me, some of the ones I have heard really take the cake). They come when you sometimes find yourself alone with no one joining you for worship or study. They come when people don’t give in a Biblical, Christ honouring way. They come with illness and weariness. What must we do? Do we just quit? The soldier who quits serving while on the battlefield is useless and might as well be dead – he is even endangering the lives of his comrades. The servant who stops serving his master is useless – the master has no other option than to consider his laziness and fire him. The son who does not serve, help, and love his parents, dishonours them and is an embarrassment and slander upon those who do seek to honour their parents. The church planter who quits in the face of discouragements and distractions shows that he counts his own life as too valuable and precious and so he doesn’t even bother to finish the course – not that through various reasons he can’t – he just won’t. We are in a very real battle, but to be overcome by doubts, distractions, and discouragements and quit or to fall into sin, is to lose sight of the fact that the battle has already been won and that we merely have to finish the course and fulfil Christ’s calling to reach the nations with the Gospel of Christ. Realization of victory in Christ will bring unceasing joy and will put our battle into a whole new light. This war is not just a reality for the church planter – it is reality for all who have been born again by the Holy Spirit. Are you with me in fighting it?

In Christ
Regan

The testimony of a restless heart - Shalim Jacob

St. Augustine, an early defender of Christianity, is popular for the maxim, “Our hearts are restless until they find rest in God”. A restless person may be pictured as someone who is never at ease with himself. They constantly skip from one craze to another trying to find meaning, hope, and fulfilment, to fill the empty void inside them. In other words, a restless person is someone who “goes with the flow” or with what popular culture feeds them. They assume that being the loudest, most impressively dressed and most liked, will somehow convince people to recognise them... I was one of these restless people.

The story of how I became a Christian is simple. I wasn’t thrown off a horse nor did lightning strike bringing me to saving faith. However, it is a journey which many young people growing up in modern-Britain can relate to.

During my years at secondary school, I remember meeting one guy from Poland and over a few weeks, we became good friends. We began meeting at each other’s houses and sharing common interests. I recall a day somewhere between the months of October and December, we decided to stay at my house and chill after school. As it became dark, it was time for him to leave and I offered to walk him to the bus stop. As we waited at the bus stop, in the cold winter, I remember an angry young man in his teenage years, walking towards us. Looking at my friend aggressively, he accused him of looking intently at him. My friend, in fear responded with only a few words. Going back to the morning on the same day, I remember looking at my friends newly bought jacket and admiring how great it looked. And now as we stand in front of this guy with a knife in his hand facing my friend, this £60 jacket held no worth as he reluctantly handed over his jacket. Looking back at the day now, it only reminds me of how we admire the worthless things of this world. This young man walked away with my friends’ jacket, holding it from the corner as if it were cheap and unclean. I recall two other accounts that share resemblance to the one above. In all three situations, I came out without physical injury and did not have anything stolen from me. After these events, I would thankfully tell people that God was “protecting me”. But in all this my heart was far from God.

Around this time, grime was a very popular music genre amongst young people. Grime is a form of musical expression that brings together the styles of Garage, Drum & Base and Hip-Hop. This wasn’t just an art; it was a culture which dominated lives. I was inspired to mc because it looked appealing seeing others do it on Channel U (Now called Channel AKA). Under this craze, popularised by Channel U, the popular guys started rapping, and I jumped on the movement. People liked me. I recorded one song professionally with some friends from school and others in my bedroom, with some freestyles being posted to YouTube. Brainwashed by the violence in the mainstream rap culture, I did not care what I rapped about, as long as it sounded impressive and people got to see me perform.

I was raised in a largely Christian atmosphere. In my country, I can remember our father taking us to church functions and charismatic tent gatherings. After we settled in the United Kingdom in late 1999, we went to a Church of England fellowship where my aunty was a non-stipendiary priest (i.e., religious ministers who don’t receive payments for their work). In the years that followed, we changed churches many times. I hated the idea of being awakened in the mornings, with my parents pestering me about Sunday services. Also, I couldn’t wait for the long-prayers to start, so then I could pretend I was praying when I would be catching up with sleep for being woken up in the morning.

One afternoon, as my dad was flicking through the channels, I came across a song called “Goodness to Repentance”. I asked him to keep the channel on to see what it was talking about. I came to discover it was a Christian artist, Flame. The “Goodness to Repentance” song addressed the ever-increasing shootings and tragic deaths of American rappers. This is what he said about 50 Cent, “He took 5 shots look at his face. If you look a little closer you can see God’s grace”. Through this medium I was having questions that were more feelings but weren’t in-your-face type questions. These included things about mortality: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going and the like. Just to clarify I personally never joined gangs or lived that lifestyle, I was raised by loving Christian parents who wanted the best for me and I’m thankful for them. However, one could ask a young person especially in those days what culture and lifestyle dominated, and they would say the Grime culture. Everyone had experienced it then.

Overtime I gained an unceasing passion for Jesus and His glory, and it has by God’s grace grown ever since. Jesus says in John 8:34 that a person who sins becomes a slave of sin. None are exempt from that statement. Sin is not necessarily the ‘bad’ things we do, they can be good things that we idolise and give first priority to where God deserves to be. The ‘thing’ which becomes our greatest treasure becomes our slave-master, and it steers everything we do. Being God Himself, Jesus knew all too well of the reality of everyone’s sinfulness. Then why did he say that everyone who sins is a slave of it? In essence the fact of our depravity is meant to shatter us into pieces, smash human pride and prepare us to be forgiven. We can’t see that we need help until we are shown how helpless we really are.

Maybe your ultimate goal is drinking till becoming unconscious; ‘partying hard’ and having sex outside of marriage (fornication and adultery). Maybe you don’t want anyone challenging, questioning and ‘judging’ your rock-and-roll lifestyle. I am far from one to make judgements. But you have to answer to the One who has given you the ability to breathe the air you’re freely breathing; it’s God’s air! If having a good time was really a good and satisfying time, why then would you always search for the higher pleasure, the greater thrill? As though what came before grew tired.

Does that not indicate a restlessness of the heart?

Look to Jesus, read the book God wrote through men of old, the Bible, and you will find Him to be the perfect Saviour. In Jesus everything makes sense. We don’t have to constantly wander from one synthetic personality to another trying to fit in. We can be wrong because Jesus is always right. We can fail because Jesus has overcome all of life’s obstacles when he became a man and died for our sins.
For me, the greatest scene in the movie of my life was when God intervened to remind me through His precious book that I can’t be morally upright to please Him. If we are unable to do that someone must be the morally upright one who represents us. This morally upright person must therefore be perfect because God is perfect. If we beat ourselves down to be good moral people, we would only come to see that even some of our good deeds are done with bad motives. We question, if I do this what will I get in return? This morally upright person then must be perfect. If this morally upright person must be perfect and must represent us, he must also be human, because angels can’t represent us; they don’t know our feelings or what we go through.

2,000 years ago, Jesus who eternally existed as God, entered into human history. We refer to him as the God-Man. He entered human history as God, but took on human flesh while remaining God. When he entered humanity, He was brutally hanged on a Roman cross and crucified. The reason He was crucified was to pay for our sinfulness. If you heartily repent today, trusting in Jesus Christ alone you will receive forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God.

That’s the highest and greatest thing someone could ever do!



Shalim is doing a combined honours in Law and Sociology at London South Bank University, Southwark. He is 19 years old and frequently blogs about a variety of things like theology, apologetics and modern-culture, for instance bringing issues in modern-culture to light from a Biblical view-point. You can find him at www.theocentricthoughts.wordpress.com

My testimony: Marvin Gardner

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 6.23

My name is Marvin Gardner, and I am 29 years of age. Born and raised in London, England.

Up until three years ago I was your usual 26 year old modern day man. I had everything the world has to offer. I lived in a 2.5 million pound bachelor pad on the Chelsea/Fulham borderline, I had many women, I was an international DJ and a university graduate working for a top luxury travel firm travelling the globe.
Despite having all of this something was still missing and my life was a mess. As a result I set out in search of what that something was.

This is my testimony.

The beginning:
I grew up between two homes as a youngster. At the age of nine months my father left my mother, leaving yet another single mother & fatherless child to struggle. To help with the burden of single parenthood my grandparents assisted my mother in caring for me.

At the age of 7, I moved to my grandparent’s home in Northolt, on the outskirts of London. I spent the next 11 years of my life growing up with them in a well-disciplined, typical Jamaican home. As a youngster my grandparents would take me to a local Baptist church where I heard the people speak often about God & Jesus but I did not ever hear about the Gospel, who Jesus is or what he came to do.
My perception of Christianity as a boy was that I was already a Christian as I went to church & I was a good person as I never did bad things.

My high school years were spent at Cardinal Wiseman Roman Catholic High School, Greenford a local school in the area. Here I would attend mass on a regular basis and say the ritual prayers and partake in the eating of bread and wine although I never understood their meaning. I would as they say in Jamaica “follow fashion” which means to follow the in-crowd!

During my GCSE years I remember studying Mark’s Gospel and the impression I had of Jesus was that he was just a morally good teacher.

As a young teenager I enjoyed football, tennis, girls, girls, and more girls, I also collected House & Garage records which enabled me to become a DJ.
During my latter teen years I began to DJ on London’s major pirate radio stations and in nightclubs sometimes with crowds as large as 2000 people.

With the DJ-ing came media attention and as a result my fame in the local area began to increase and with it also came more female attention and money. It wasn’t long before I began to fully involve myself with the opposite sex and to my shame I encountered sexual one-night stands where-by I would use the opposite sex to satisfy my own selfish sexual lusts and desires.

Following 6th form at the same high school, I went on to university where I studied a 3 year Management & Tourism course, at the University of Surrey.

At university I continued to DJ across the UK and overseas also. Along with studying came even more women of different shades and sizes, money & more problems.
At the age of 21 I tried illegal drugs for the first time and I began to seek pleasure in alcohol, having many drunken nights.

God was the furthest thing from my mind and all I worried about was where my next DJ booking, next woman, or next high was going to come from.

If I could be renamed at that point in my life my name would be “SELF”.

I began full time work at age 22 and held down good jobs in the luxury travel business working for numerous reputable brands. But rather than stop sinning, my sins continued and I found myself carrying out acts of fraud at work stealing from the very hand that fed me.

For the next 3 years life continued in the same vein. Every time I set myself a new goal, when I had achieved it, I always wanted more.
Looking back I can relate to the words of King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 2:10 who said.

“And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure”

A few years later I could relate to Solomon’s words Ecclesiastes 2:11 in the next verse which read.

“Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expanded in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and striving after wind & there was nothing to be gained under the sun”

At this point in time I was living in a 2.5 million pound penthouse which was spread over 3 floors. If you are familiar with the TV program MTV cribs this was it. I had my own personal bar, which could hold 50 people at a time, a pool table room, a DJ booth, and 3 balconies, one of which looked over the River Thames. To most people in life this is what one wants and strives for, but for me it was vanity and instead I wrestled with the question that there must be more to life than this. I wanted to know the answers to life’s big questions, 1) “Who am I?” 2) “Why am I here?” 3) “What is life’s meaning?” 4) and “Where do I go when life is over?”.

I had come to the conclusion that the penthouse was nothing more than bricks and mortar, the women I had in multiples were using me just as I used them, the money I had would not last forever, and the music I collected would one day gather dust and be replaced by something new.

The sin I was in love with began to spiral out of control. I was fed up of lying to people, hurting women, partying till late hours and drunken nights. To top this off my family, friends and girlfriend believed I was a good person, which was apparent on the outside, but they did not know that I was living a double life.

I was a lying, cheating, lost fool and I knew it. I was chasing the best the world had to offer and it did not satisfy. I wanted out.

To try and get answers to life’s meaning I began a new quest and search, turning to spiritual books and religion.
My first stop was Rhonda Byrne’s new age book “The Secret”. I read this with an open mind and I understood that its main point was that the author believed in the law of attraction. The law of attraction is a metaphysical belief that believes “like attracts like” for example if you believe you will gain more money earnestly enough you will begin to gain more money.

I tried and toiled with this idea for some time but it came to no avail. I figured either Ms Byrne had some secret knowledge that I had yet to tap into or the system of thought was false. I believed the latter to be true so I moved on from this.
Next up I began to read extensively on the religion of Rastafarianism. As a young black male I wanted to trace my meaning and existence as a black man by going back to my roots. I read much material on the subject, but yet again I found flaws which I believe, if held up with honesty, do not answer key questions:
1) What happens when I die?
2) I found various issues regarding race where by the black man is viewed as the supreme race and Gods people.
3) I never understood why the Rastafarian religion would read the Bible but claimed it was not 100% accurate. Many within this system of thought believe the Bible has been tampered with by man and cannot be trusted as a result.
These 3 major points as well as others led me to the place I least expected - the Bible. To begin, I wanted to know why the Rastafarian religion would not trust the Bible 100%, yet would pick and choose certain segments.

As I was on a quest for truth I saw no harm in looking at the Bible next.
One evening I went to my mother’s home where my aunt also resides and I asked my aunt (who is not a Christian) whether she had a Bible. She did and she gave me a Bible she had been given in her school days. That evening I took the Bible with me back to my penthouse and began to read the Gospel of Matthew. I read the first 5 chapters which made sense and were clear. In chapter 5 of Matthew, I came to the “Sermon on the Mount” where I was stunned to read much of what Jesus said. Up until that point I didn’t realize that the Bible warned that “whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her in his heart” Matthew 5:28. I was shocked to read in Matthew 5:48-49 in answer to people who claimed “you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy” that Jesus reply was “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”.

Up until that point I thought that as long as I believed in God and tried to live a good life, I would go to heaven when I died. I was so wrong and realized that there was nothing I could do to wash away my sins. I knew that if God judged me by this standard on Judgment Day, I would end up guilty, and go to hell."

That evening coming face to face with who the Bible stated Jesus was, I spoke to God and said “God if this is true what I have read please show me more and continue to reveal yourself to me through my reading, I am sorry I have sinned against you.”
Thereafter for the next 5 weeks I continued to read the Bible and my heart and mind were changed. I later learned that what had happened was that I had been born again (John 3). I believed what was written in the Bible to be 100% true. I acknowledged my sins and I began to understand why Jesus died. It was to take the punishment for my sins, and the sins of the world."

At this stage I knew no Christians but I knew I had changed as I found myself loving the things that God stated in his word and I now hated and wanted to run away from the things I once loved.

One of the first things I did was go to my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) and tell her that we could no longer fornicate with one another as I was now a Christian and the Bible states that this is sin and sex is for marriage. I told her that God is Holy and I wanted to live right before him and obey his word. I gave her a Bible and told her to read and test the scriptures to see if they are true. I shared the gospel with all of my family in London, Greater London, Canada, America and Jamaica and came under heavy persecution from some who believed they were Christians but showed no evidence of this by their life pattern. I also sent several good friends letters breaking down the gospel to them and advising them that I was a changed man and that Christ had saved me and changed me. I advised them all that there is a judgment to come and they must repent and put their trust in Christ & flee from the wrath to come. Some mocked and some thought I was crazy but as the Bible in Matthew 5:11-12 states “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you”. This only strengthened my faith and made me realize that the words in scripture are true and living.

As music was a huge idol in my life at the time, one day upon return from a DJ set I decided to destroy all of my records and CD’s. I took a hammer to the nearly 2000 records and CDs in my collection. The reason I did this was because I no longer wanted any worldly attachments and I knew the lure of music had the potential to lure me back to my old ways. All I wanted to do was serve the Lord with all my heart. I was rebelling against everything in the world that had enslaved me for so long.

I was amazed that the God who created the universe had sent his son to save a wretch like me. I knew my former life and who I was and I knew that I was now a disciple of Jesus Christ and I followed his words “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed when he comes in glory of his Father with the holy angels” Mark 8:34-38

After 5 weeks of no Christian fellowship I got speaking to a friend who I learned was also a Christian and he invited me to his church which I attended for some time and learned more about Gods word, having good Christian fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ. I have since moved on from that church and am married. My desire now is to grow in God’s word and use the time that the Lord has permitted me to live on this earth to bring glory to his name.

Although at times the daily walk is a struggle, I can take comfort with the Apostle Paul in Romans 7 who states that although he is saved by grace his spirit is still at war with his flesh, I am the most content I have ever been in life. The big questions I had are now answered and settled. I realize more and more as time goes on that “nothing in my hand I bring simply to the cross I cling”.
I have left the words of the Apostle Paul as my concluding remarks whose words summarize who I was and what by God’s Grace through the atonement of Christ I have become.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” Ephesians 2:1-10

The Rebellion

2011 has been a year of international change. The present day world-order is being shaken and political, economic, and military power continues to slide from West to East. Revolutions have seen governments challenged and fall in Greece, Italy, Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. Riots embarrassed and shamed Great Britain, particularly London, and called into question the continual failings of a system and society that is more or less broken. When people in the U.S.A. began to doubt whether or not the economic changes promised in 2008 by President Barack Obama were actually changes to believe in unrest grew and eventually Wall St. was ‘occupied’ – the term now used when a rather large group of angry people squat in or near a financial district (most live in tents) to heckle and moan at people on their way to work and present themselves in as distasteful a way as possible. The movement on Wall St. inspired others in London and Oakland. Looking around the site in London, outside St. Paul’s Cathedral (The Church of England has waffled on what to do about this – the Cathedral’s revenue has taken a massive drop and the Dean of St. Paul’s quit his job), it was easy to see that the group is coming from different backgrounds and with different motivations and causes, though the vast majority are of English nationality. Colourful signs and banners adorn the outside of most tents and are plastered across the columns of nearby buildings bearing colours, symbols, and slogans reminiscent of the Hippy era of the 1970s. It is clear that most of the movement’s slogans are designed to evoke strong emotions within people, yet most look like they were scripted for media hype by a drama queen with some misconceived idea of glory (e.g. a banner at the Finsbury Square, London site reading ‘Viva La Revolution’ fits this bill). Others are much more sinister and thought provoking.

One sign (pictured above) read “The Rebellion is Coming”. I think this is an interesting statement as it raises some serious questions. Is the sign denying that rebellion has already come? Is it saying that if the governments do not do something a terrible event will happen (implying that the occupy movement’s actions are not terrible or rebellious)? Certainly the implication is that rebellion has not already come. But what would happen if we rehearse the events of this year. I live in London. This year London has seen recovery from recession, the threat of a dip back into recession, Union protests (not usually very peaceful), strikes, and standoffs, and riots. The highlight of the year in the UK was the Royal Wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton, yet crime did not stop on that day – I witnessed along with others a brutal attempted murder in which a youth was repeatedly stabbed and slashed in broad daylight on Wood Green High Road and there were other incidents. Gun crimes, knife crimes, drug crimes, benefit crimes, land crimes (squatting on other people’s lived in property is common), and sex crimes are daily realities in London and probably where you are too. Crime and what it stands for (defiance of civil government) has been around not just in 2011, but it has played a key role in society for thousands of years. On the basis of these actions against civil law and government it would appear that the statement “Rebellion is Coming” is a bit out of date. Rebellion has long since come.

If we are not disturbed by the rebellion against civil law and government in society, it is very unlikely that we will be disturbed by the rebellion against the Law by which the civil law is judged and the Ruler to whom all rulers stand accountable. I am particularly addressing this to those of you who profess to know Christ yet have lives filled with worldliness. I am not talking to people who hold to a nominal Catholicism or some pompous religion of works. I am talking specifically to you who are a part of good churches, even Baptist and Independent evangelical churches. You have professed faith in Christ, followed the Lord in baptism as a believer, and partake of the elements at the Lord’s Table – some of you may even be involved in serving the church to some extent, but there is little if any practical reality of what you believe in your day to day actions, behaviour, and presentation of yourself before others. You profess Christ, but you see no problem with lying to get yourself some sort of better standing. You profess Christ but dress like a prostitute. You profess Christ, but go out and drink often to the point of drunkenness and in a way that can cause a stumbling block. You profess Christ but have seemingly few sexual inhibitions. You profess Christ, but if your sport team is on T.V. you don’t go to the worship service or Bible study (God doesn’t care or take excuses if it’s a World final any more than an average game). You profess Christ but listen to music with sinful lyrics by musicians with sinful lifestyles (e.g. Rihanna, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Madonna, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, the list goes on). You don’t see anything wrong with watching television shows that promote if not portray immoral, drunken, drugged-up behaviour. You profess Christ and yet you put up immodest pictures of yourself on Facebook (e.g. swim-wear shots) You profess Christ and yet you play and encourage others to play games that glorify gangland violence, prostitution, drug-dealing, theft, and just about any vice on earth (e.g. Grand Theft Auto series). People who watch and play this trash should not be at all surprised when their behaviour patterns, language, attitudes, and purpose is not different from their agnostic/atheist friends.

“Here we go”, you say. “Regan’s on a rant. Can’t he have fun? He must be one of these people who go around condemning others for watching television and playing video games. He could have so much fun, if he would just join the crowd and get on the scene.” For starters, yes I am upset with the trends in “Christian” youth today. They can act all spiritual when you ask them their testimony or purpose in life, yet sadly there is no Holy Spirit within them (some of you may not realise so I will clarify – being filled with the Spirit in Scripture is not speaking of the aftermath of a Bacardi drinking session). To continue, I do have a television and do enjoy certain television programs. While I do not personally own any video games, I can and have enjoyed playing certain games. I certainly enjoy fun times. I like cinema and music. I am very much into playing and watching sports of different types and can carry on a knowledgeable conversation relating to many sports teams, managers, players, etc. I enjoy reading various novels and I always like a good laugh. I actually like parties and celebrations, but I do not see nor do I attend events where "partying" and "celebrating" has the meaning of drunkenness, drugs, and animal-like behaviour. I like a good time – it’s just if your idea of a good time is sinful, count me out. I have already sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. I am already a sinner by nature. I don’t have to be taught how to sin. I have done enough that displeases God as it is. I certainly don’t need to do things or put myself in more situations where I am tempted to sin or where I could be a stumbling block.
Have I been too harsh? Many of you may now be nodding your head and saying I am just a crazy legalist. Not at all. Why? All that I have said is a response to attitudes and actions made by professing Christians who have rebelled against God’s Word for them. Take a look at Galatians 5:16-26, Colossians 3:1-17. Just because you pray on occasion, go to church, enjoy singing Christian songs, read your Bible, even lead in teaching or music in services does not mean you are a Christian. Like the people in Matthew 15:8 many among us honour God with our words, but in heart are far from him.

You may be thinking “But we won’t be able to get very far in society or earn a lot of money or get jobs as easily if we do what you are saying. We also might offend people if we don’t go out with them clubbing and what not. I don’t drink a lot and I try to stay away from the drugs, but I need to appear social.” If this is your response you are wise by worldly standards but have rebelled against the wisdom of God (read the letter of James – that’s a book in your Bible found in the New Testament. Also read 1 Corinthians 1:18-31) – you are trying to please man and not God, caring more about the judgement men make about you than the judgement of God on your heart. Have I failed? Yes. Have I sinned against the Saviour who bought me? Yes. Have I ever thought in a way according to the world and not God? Yes. I am a sinner like all of you. And yet God has shown me grace and has filled me with a desire to grow in His wisdom and has shown me the worthlessness of earthly treasures. There has been enough rebellion against God in my life. And yet there is still a rebellion at work within me. It is a rebellion against the way of this world. It is a rebellion that heard the command to stop hardening my heart against the bitter truth of my own hypocrisy and defiance of God’s Word (read Hebrews 3 – 4). Will you not hear that same command this day and in so doing be transformed (read Romans 12:2)? My prayer is that you will take to heart what I have said, not because I have said it, but because it is from the truth of God’s Word. I have said this out of love for you – any harshness in my tone has been due to the urgency of the matter. Please join me in a wholesale rebellion against this world, a rebellion found in the true salvation Christ brings. May the end of this year be filled with just as much change in your life as has taken place in the world this year.

In Christ
Regan

How to run a good race: Remember the Saviour!

So, in order to run a good spiritual race, we must relinquish sin and respect suffering. As long as we do these things and get some discipline into our routine of living we have won the race already, right? Wrong. What drives an athlete on through pain? What makes a runner come back from injury for another race? What motivates a winning athlete when he comes face to face with his opponent? In many cases it is remembering. Remembering the exuberance of races won and the pain of races lost. Remembering his heroes in whose footsteps he follows. Remembering the things both good and bad put away for the sake of running well - remembering the pain endured to become winning material.

If we are to run a good race spiritually, we have no option than to heed the words of Hebrews 12:2

...looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Why is this so important? Without Jesus, our faith and the actions that are a part of our faith are worthless. Without looking to Jesus we will fail to even consider his sufferings on our behalf, and will be in the category of people who are unfazed by the humiliation of his sufferings and are unmoved by the fact that they were like all of us among the sinners who nailed Christ to a tree. Without looking to Jesus and remembering his salvation, we will fall into discouragement and depression over some of the pettiest sufferings imaginable. When major suffering comes along, without remembering Christ. we won't have any ground on which to stand. We will not have any strength to carry on. We will wallow in the mire of self-pity, acting in such a way that betrays a higher view of our own sufferings than reality calls for. If you ever think that you are really suffering and making sacrifices, remember the Saviour and His sufferings and you will see that in that perspective, you don't know what suffering is. Isaiah 52:13-53:12 speaks of Jesus before his coming and the sufferings he would endure. Isaiah 52:14 says that his appearance was marred beyond human semblance. Christ was humiliated and torn apart despised and rejected by everyone. His life was crushed because of you and me and the gracious will of the Lord to save some undeserving sinners through Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Don't hide from this picture. It is not very nice to look at, but we must, for these sufferings are what preceded the event that gives all who believe in Christ a great hope - His resurrection from the dead.

Remembering the Saviour will enable us to obey the words of Hebrews 12:12-17. We will be energized in our race and will be strengthened to run well and finish well. As the prophet Isaiah says in 40:30-31

Even youths shall faint and be weary,and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

How to run a good race: Respect Suffering!

Respect suffering? You must be joking! Why not run from suffering? You know if we actually respect suffering, people are going to think we have some sort of psychological problem. Please notice I did not say that in order to run a good race we must enjoy suffering – I said we must respect suffering. Suffering by nature of the term is not nice. It involves pain, and death is certainly related to suffering. These are the consequences of our sin, rebellion, and defiance against God (Genesis 3). Sin is not good and its consequences are not good. Nevertheless God has taken pain and suffering and uses it for our good and his glory.

The athlete respects suffering. He disciplines his mind and his body and becomes conditioned to win. He trains to the point of exhaustion. He pushes himself, even till it hurts, pouring out literal blood, sweat, and tears. Is it worth it? The athlete who wants to win bad enough can do so – if he is willing to give up time, resources, certain foods and drinks, and experience a fair amount of pain in order to get there. Despite the suffering involved in the discipline required to run well, victory at the finish line, final whistle, or buzzer makes the pain worthwhile. If we understand that the athlete cannot win if he sits around at home watching T.V. and eating junk food all the time – calling his usage of the remote control ‘working out his thumb muscles’ and the transferral of cheese burger from plate to mouth a ‘bicep curl’, why is it that we think we can run our Christian race on spiritual junk food, without testing and trials, and with little if any application of the sound teaching that many of us do receive? Why do we disregard and look down on tests and trials of our faith in Christ?

Hebrews 12:3-11 says,

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

There are a few reasons why we should respect suffering. First, if we disrespect suffering, we disrespect Christ’s suffering on the cross (v. 3) and we will not think it worthwhile to consider Christ and the price he paid. Second, suffering in the context of this passage is discipline from the Lord and the Lord disciplines the ones whom he loves. Just the very fact our trials and tests are from the Lord and a part of his discipline is cause to respect suffering. Finally, suffering is painful and not so pleasant… but only for the moment. Through Christ Jesus’ sufferings, all who relinquish sin through repentance and turn to Him alone, are made right with God. God’s wrath and the penalty for sin were poured out on Christ and though we still suffer we can truly count it all joy, for the discipline of the Lord in trials will produce steadfastness that in turn will lead to perfection and completion when the Lord comes again (James 1:2-4). Just as an athlete is made fit to win a race and receive a medal, through suffering we are made fit to win the spiritual race we are in for the glory of Christ Jesus. Join me in respecting suffering – it will yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness to all who are trained by it.

In Christ
Regan