Food for Thought - Martin Lloyd-Jones

"The man who is trying to be a Christian is trying to hold on to something. The man who is a Christian feels that he is being held by something. It has been put to him, it is there; it may even seem to be in spite of him, but it is there. It is not what he is doing that matters to him; it is what has been done to him." - Martyn Lloyd-Jones What do you think?

The Night the Wall Came Down

Do you remember where you were the night the wall came down? I was at home in the first flat my wife and I had after getting married. I watched the news in disbelief as the Berlin wall crumbled and fell with joyous East German’s clambering over it to celebrate freedom.

Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s the ‘cold war’ was rarely off the news. Phrases like, ‘mutually assured destruction’ were well known and there was even the occasional TV advert about what to do in the event of a nuclear war! Somehow I remember thinking hiding behind the couch wouldn’t quite do it. Then on this November night in 1989 the wall fell, the cold war thawed out and a reasonably peaceful revolution swept Eastern Europe consigning European communism to the dustbin of history.

Watching the 20th anniversary coverage of this momentous event recently made me think of the night another wall was torn down. It was a night two thousand or so years ago and there was no TV to cover it, but on a hill as Jesus hung on a cross and bled and died to pay the price for the sins of his people and to bear the punishment for that sin a wall was torn down.

Across town in the temple there was a great wall of curtain. That sounds silly doesn’t it; a wall of curtain! But it was as thick as the span of a man’s hand and it hung in the temple separating the ‘holies of holies’ off from the rest of temple. Only one man could ever go beyond this curtain into the presence of God and he was the High Priest and he could only go beyond it into the presence of God once per year. It was like a big no entry sign; a big keep out sign. Sinful men and women separated from a holy God. But as Jesus died on the cross for sin; at the moment of his death, this wall of curtain was supernaturally torn down from top to bottom and the way into the presence of God open.

Jesus death on the cross smashed the wall of sin that separates us from a holy God and makes it possible that sinful people like us might have a relationship with the awesome God of the universe. Since then countless millions from every nation on the planet have celebrated the freedom that comes from faith in Christ.

About 18 months before the Berlin wall came down God convicted me of my sin. God showed me that going my own way would lead to my spending forever in hell. He showed me that ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’. He showed me that Jesus paid a price I could never pay. I remember praying to him and asking him to forgive me; to come into my life and to be my Lord and Saviour. And he smashed the wall of sin forever. I thank God for the night the wall came down.

Maybe you would like to use the comments section to tell of the night (or day) that the wall came down in your life.

Food for Thought

"The life of a Christian is one perpetual good work which God begins, continues, and completes." - Ulrich Zwingli (1484 - 1531)Discuss

Songs of Heaven

Worship has been a theme that has emerged here on several occasions. I wonder have you noticed the songs of heaven in Revelation 5. I don’t know about you, but whenever I read Revelation 5 my focus tends (probably rightly) to be on the first nine verses. They paint an awesome picture of heaven where there seems to be no-one worthy to open the scroll. John weeps and weeps until one of the elders says to him, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David has triumphed”. John lifts his head and saw a lamb looking as if it had been slain. It is hard to take your eyes off of Jesus in this passage.

That is exactly the experience of those who were there in that vision, they couldn’t take their eyes off of Jesus and so they worshipped him. There are three songs sung in Revelation 5. The first is “The Gospel Song”. The four living creatures and the 24 elders sang a new song:
“"You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth."
This first song sings of the gospel and of how Jesus was slain and with his shed blood on the cross purchased men and women from all over the globe for God. It is the gospel song and there are only a few singing it; the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders. But the song grows!

The second song is, “The Glory Song”. John says that he looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands, No! Ten thousand upon ten thousand! All the heavenly host have joined in the song; all the heavenly host can’t take their eyes of Jesus and they sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"
All of heaven focused on Jesus the Lamb who was slain; all the heavenly host singing the praise of the King, the one who is to receive all power and wealth and wisdom and strength. But still the song grows! How can it grow beyond ten thousand times ten thousand angelic beings?

The third song is, “The Global Song”. Just when it seems that things can’t get anymore awesome John says then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them singing. This song now encapsulates every living thing that ever has been whether spiritual or physical, all that there is will praise the Lord in this global song!
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honour and glory and power,
for ever and ever!"
All that there is or ever has been singing praise, honour, glory and power be to the Lamb for ever and ever. And the heavenly song grows!

I wonder if the clearer we see the heavenly scene; the more exuberantly we will sing the heavenly song.

Extravagant Worship

Extravagant Worship, that is a popular phrase in the church today and in what I understand that is meant by it, I wonder if I ever enter in.

In my mind if someone comes to our church and asks are we extravagant worshipers, I would say no, not at all, for in my mind when I think of extravagant worship I think to my days growing up in a Charismatic Church and all the extremes that happened in the name of extravagant worship.  So Again, if asked about PEC are you extravagant Worshipers, then I would say no.

As I have been thinking about this phrase for a while I thought I would look at some definitions of what the word Extravagant actually means and found that the definition confirmed my negative association with it as far as worship of God by His people is concerned.  The definitions were as follows: "excessive: unrestrained, especially with regard to feelings" 

HOWEVER, as I have continued to look at this over time, I am becoming more and more challenged that my attitude to worship and my expressions of worship,are way to safe when compared to what I see in Scripture.  Let me list some verses that have played their part in shaking my thinking:

Psalm 9:1
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
       I will tell of all your wonders.

Psalm 30:11 
You turned my wailing into dancing;
       you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

Psalm 95:6
Come, let us bow down in worship,
       let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

Psalm 100:1-2 
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
       come before him with joyful songs.

Psalm 138:1 
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
       before the "gods" I will sing your praise.

Psalm 149:3 3
Let them praise his name with dancing
       and make music to him with tambourine and harp.

Psalm 150

1 Praise the LORD. 
       Praise God in his sanctuary;
       praise him in his mighty heavens.

2 Praise him for his acts of power;
       praise him for his surpassing greatness.

3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
       praise him with the harp and lyre,

4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
       praise him with the strings and flute,

5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
       praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
       Praise the LORD.

And one from the New Testament that shows how things will be forever around the Throne of God:

Rev 5:13-14
 13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
   "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
   be praise and honour and glory and power,
         for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped. 13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
   "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
   be praise and honour and glory and power,
         for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.

The other thing that challenges me about a lack of expression and perhaps even extravagance in my worship to God is that if you read through the Bible looking for references to the praises of God you will find that these perhaps to us, extravagant expressions of worship are all responses to how awesome God is and the wonderful deeds He has wrought for His people, not the least of which the saving of my sinful heart from worshiping myself instead of Him.  So why aren't my expressions of worship as extravagant as theirs, as God has Done as much for me as them, and I also have the privilege of relating to God in the light of the cross, which most of them didn't!

Let me address the most common objections in general to expressiveness in worship, that it is just not culturally what we are comfortable with or secondly that these extravagant worship expressions are all for show and that it is the heart that matters.
    Well I will address the culture point first, I agree that perhaps how the Israelites responded to God was sensitive to the culture of the time, perhaps, culturally they were more prone to shouting for Joy or bowing low in adoration or dancing a jig.  However, this hasn't helped me absolve myself of the nagging doubt that this is just an excuse to hide behind.  The question is that if people from Plains come in and observe how I worship this amazing God I have told them about, would they, who are from my culture, look and say wow see how extravagant he is in the praise of his God.
    Secondly, the matter of extravagant expressions of worship are all about show and it is really the response of the heart that is important.  Well as someone who has come from a Charismatic background I know al about the excesses that are a dangerous possibility in public worship.  However, am I sure that my lack of expressions in worship is as a result of a pure heart?  It can be true that the peer pressure that exists in a Charismatic church to be extravagant in worship can be just the same in a more reserved church to be more restrained in our worship.  What I should surely be striving for is freedom to from a pure heart respond with as much passion as I can muster to my all awesome God.

Let me finish up by making clear the challenge I am working through in all this, have I fully apprehended the enormity of how Glorious our God is, and is my body, mind, heart, soul etc responding accordingly in public worship, not showing off, not inhibited to fit in with those around me but a heart responding rightly to an Awesome God.  If as John Piper says, God is most Glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him then I want to be extravagantly joyfully deeply  seriously overwhelmingly  satisfied in Him and as Psalm 138 says I will praise Him with my WHOLE heart before all these other “gods” that vie for my affections!

Jim

as usual comments welcome just click the link below to leave one.

Bodies - Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams is back with his new single called ‘Bodies’ which was first heard on the ‘Chris Moyles’ show and then performed live on the X-Factor. For the past month his song has been played on the radio, on TV, in shops, almost everywhere you go, and the line, “And your Jesus really died for me, Then Jesus really tried for me” is heard throughout the song.

The song seems to explore the spiritual confusion that is going on in Robbie’s mind. He sings of the bodhi tree under which Buddha supposedly gained his revelations; he sings of the image conscious narcissism that only wants to ‘look good naked’ and of how he loves living like a deity. Yet time and again the line comes, ‘And your Jesus really died for me’.

The bible teaches that Jesus Christ went to the cross and really died as a sacrifice for sin; he went to the cross to pay the price for sin that men and women could never pay; he bore the punishment that men and women deserve. The bible teaches that, ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’. Saved from Sin and death because of what Jesus did.

As Robbie’s song continues he seems to struggle with the idea of Jesus dying for people and ends with a line of rejection, “Jesus didn’t die for you, what do you want? Jesus didn’t die for you, what are you on?”

Robbie Williams’ song really just points up the struggle going on in the heart of man. He is more than simply a body located in space and time and he knows it. He has everything a young man could want, fame, fortune and world wide acclaim and yet he seems sad and troubled. He reminds me a little bit (just a little bit mind you) of the Rich Young man. He came searching for Jesus, but went away sad for he wanted his money more than a Saviour. I sense as Robbie concludes that ‘Jesus didn’t die for you’, he also walks away sad in his soul.

I have no idea what’s going on in Robbie Williams mind; but if those who listen to his music; or happen to hear it while driving their cars or while doing their shopping start to ponder the idea that Jesus might just have died for them, then that’s no bad thing!

So thanks Robbie, and Jesus might very well have died for you!

Reaching A New Generation

I was reading a blog series recently by Kevin DeYoung.  It was very interesting and to be honest I a m still working through what it means for myself and our church.  

Kevin’s Premise was that if you need to reach or in fact keep young  people for Jesus then the best way to do that is not by trying to always being young hip and trendy (Culturally relevant) but by going after them with the following 5 principles:

1. Grab them with passion
2. Win them with love
3. Hold them with holiness
4. Challenge them with truth
5. Amaze them with God

I am sure you will agree all very interesting and thought provoking, you can read how he unpacks each of these by clicking the relevant point above.

Much Blessings
Jim