Witnesses.

It's been a busy few days - attending a Fellowship Group, an all-day Seminar, and Café Church fellowship Lunch and monthly gathering - interspersed with some house viewings - all in Bergerac and its environs.  Our sincere thanks to the Coles for providing the hospitality that saved us countless 104-mile round trips from the static!

The one thing that stands out from all of that is, in fact, something of which we were reminded at the Seminar.  Apparently, only about 4% of disciples of Jesus are called and equipped to be evangelists.  However, when it comes to being a witness, the number rises - to 100%!

So what is a witness?  In legal terms, a witness is someone who tells what they know.  What they think, or what they have heard someone else tell, is irrelevant, and any jury would be instructed to disregard such "second-hand" testimony.  They are not allowed to share an opinion (unless called as an "expert witness" for that very purpose).  A witness is someone who "tells it as it is".

Sometimes, in a Christian context, that 'telling' will be vocal.  Someone will ask a particular type of question (perhaps to do with morals) and, in my response, I will be 'witnessing' to the Gospel truth.  More often, however, we are witnesses by the manner in which we live our lives.  Annie Flint (1862-1932) knew that, and was inspired to write a poem:

Christ has no hands but our hands, to do His work today,
He has no feet but our feet to lead men in His way.
He has no tongue but  our tongue to tell men how He died,
He has no help but our help to bring them to His side.

We are the only Bible, the careless world will read,
We are  the sinners' gospel, we are the scoffers' creed.
We are the Lord's last message, given in deed and word,
What if the type is crooked, what if the print is blurred?

What if our hands are busy, with other work than  His,
What if our feet are walking, where sin's allurement is?
What if our tongues are speaking, of things His lips would  spurn,
How can we hope to help Him, and hasten His return?

I wonder if you find those words as challenging as I do?  When we live, and behave, just as our unsaved friends do, we are doing them no favours.  When we criticise, and complain, we are being no different than the unsaved.  When we spend more time on worldly pleasures than we do in His service, and in seeking to know Him better, then we are allowing ourselves to drift away from Him - and the one who delights in that is the enemy, the satan!

Any barrister will tell you that there are good witnesses, and there are bad witnesses.  The same is true for the confessed disciple of Jesus.  I am either a good witness - in which case the praise and glory go to Him; or I am a bad witness - in which case the fault is entirely mine.   Only one thing is certain - I am a witness.

If you claim to be a disciple of Jesus, then you are also a witness.  Are you a good one - or a bad one? 

Shalom.

This evening, at Café Church (now known as Café Christian Fellowship), Bergerac, I had the privilege of bringing the message.  It was based on John 20:19-31, and was titled Being a Peacemaker.  We looked at the wonderful Hebrew word, 'shalom', which is translated 'peace' in English-language translations.  The Greek word in the passage that we read is 'eirene' - but that word is translated by 'shalom' in the Greek-language version of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament).

Okay, so that's the linguistic introduction!  'Shalom' is, however, much more than 'peace' in the sense of 'absence of hostility.  It is, in fact, the peace of Almighty God - an absolute, and total, contentment - and it's available to you, and to me!  It's a personal peace.

However, it is also a relational peace.  I quoted Charlie Brown (from the Snoopy cartoon strips) this evening.  In one particular strip, he said: "I love this beautiful world that God has made.  It's just the people I can't stand!"  I also quoted the older 'jingle': "To be above with saints we love, will be the purest glory.  To be below with saints we know - well, that's a different story"!   Most of us live in some sort of community or other, and it's important that we develop a strategy to cope with this togetherness.  At least part of that strategy is given by the Lord Jesus in the passage.  It's to do with forgiveness!  Is it easy?  Absolutely not!  But if we are partakers of the 'shalom' of God, that will make it easier!   If we are at peace with ourselves, we can be at peace with others, and we can gladly forgive.

The third aspect of 'shalom' is the eternal one, as we find ourselves at peace with God.  That, after all, is the most crucial objective of the coming of the Lord Jesus into the time-space continuum in which we live out our mortal lives.  Paul wrote: "... if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, Who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them..  And He has committed to us, the message of reconciliation." (II Cor.5:17-19).  Indeed, it is out of His forgiveness of us, that we are called to forgive those around us!

Jesus said: "Blessed (and the word means 'Happy'!) are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the sons of God."(Matt.5:9).  But I can't be a peacemaker if I don't know peace with God myself!

Shalom!  It's a great word: speaking of peace within, as I experience forgiveness of my personal sins; peace with others, as I am enabled, by the grace of God, to forgive them in turn; peace with God, as I am reconciled to my Father in heaven, through the precious blood of Jesus, shed for me at Calvary.

Do you know that 'shalom' in your own life?  If not, do you long to experience it?  I would be delighted to be of some assistance to you.  Please feel free to contact me using the e-mail address at the top of the page.  Alternatively, if you go to 'My favourite links', you will find a coupls of links that may be of help.

Blessings, and shalom.

Philip's egg.

At Café Church, Bergerac, today, my good friend Brian L mentioned that he had read the post that referred to the eggciting Resurrection Day worship service in Dalziel-St.Andrew's, Motherwell, in which the eggcellent minister used some plastic eggs, in an eggsuberantly eggspert fashion, to get the full story of the Day across to the children.

He had intended sharing the following true story at Café Church, but there was so much to be included that he decided that there was insufficient time.  He asked if I would like to share it on my blog, and I am more than happy to do so.  Have a tissue handy!

"He was 9 - in a Sunday-school class of 8-year-olds.  Eight-year-olds can be cruel.

These children did not welcome Philip into their group.  Not just because he was older.  He was 'different'.  He suffered from Downs Syndrome and its obvious manifestations: facial characteristics; slow responses; symptoms of retardation.

One Sunday, after Easter, the Sunday-school teacher led the children in an activity using plastic eggs - the kind that pull apart in the middle.  The Sunday-school teacher gave one of these eggs to each child.

On that beautiful Spring day, each child was to go outdoors and discover, for themselves, some symbol of 'new life', and place that symbolic seed, or leaf, or whatever, inside their egg.

The youngsters gathered round on the appointed day, and placed their eggs on the table, and the teacher began to open them.  One child had found a flower.  All of the children 'oohed' and 'aahed' at the lovely symbol of new life.  In another was a butterfly.  'Beautiful', the girls said - and it's not easy for an 8-year-old to say 'Beautiful'!

Another egg was opened to reveal a stone.  Some of the children laughed.  'That's crazy!', one said.  'How's a stone supposed to be like a new life?'  Immediately, a little boy spoke up.  'That's mine.  I knew that everybody would get flowers, and leaves, and butterflies, and all that stuff, so I got a stone to be different!' Everybody laughed.

The teacher opened the last egg, and there was nothing inside.  'That's not fair', someone said.  'That's stupid', said another.  The teacher felt a tug on his shirt.  It was Philip.  Looking up, he said, 'It's mine.  I did do it.  It's empty.  I have new life because the tomb is empty.'

The class fell silent.

From that day on, Philip became part of the group.  They welcomed him.  Whatever had made him 'different' was never mentioned again.

Philip's family had known that he would not live a long life; just too many things were wrong with his tiny body.  That summer, overcome with infection, Philip died.

On the day of his funeral service, nine 8-year-old boys and girls confronted the reality of death, and marched up to the front of the church building - but not with flowers.

Nine children, with their Sunday-school teacher, placed on the coffin of their friend their gift of love - an empty egg."

Jesus is risen; the stone is rolled away; the tomb is empty.  And because He lives, so do all who have placed their trust, unreservedly, in Him.  Hallelujah!

No unemployment; no redundancy!

"There’s a work for Jesus, ready at your hand,
'Tis a task the Master just for you has planned.
Haste to do His bidding, yield Him service true;
There’s a work for Jesus none but you can do."

So wrote Elsie D.Yale, about a century ago - but her words remain true to day, as they have done in every generation.

This evening, in Wishaw Baptist Church, we were encouraged to share some experiences of blessing and/or encouragement from the year that has just ended.   In my own case, I was able to share the  way in which the Lord appears to be guiding my wife and me to a pastoral work in France.  As the situation unfolds, I will doubtless share more on the blog but, for the moment, I can say that it looks as if we will be involved in a 'non-stipendiary' (i.e. unpaid!) pastoral and preaching role within the ministry of Christians in Dordogne, and the associated Café Church in Bergerac.

The encouragement, of course, is that we are never too old to be used by the Lord - provided we are willing for Him to use us!  In the Kingdom of God, there is no unemployment, and no redundancy.  He doesn't even look as much at our ability as at our availability.

As we move on in this new year, may it be that all who claim to be His disciples will seek to know what is the work for Him that no-one but they can do.  I can only say that they will be blessed, and that He will be glorified - but what else is there to say?!

Time, and Eternity (3)

This is the third, and final, part of the last point in a message on Biblical Veils that I brought to the Café Church, Bergerac, France (http://www.christiansindordogne.com/cafechurch.html) in April of this year.   It should, therefore, be read in conjunction with the two previous posts. 

Sa'id Musa, a Christian employee of the Red Cross in Afghanistan, was arrested in late May, 2010 after footage of Afghan Christians being baptised was shown on national television.  Musa, a father of six, and an amputee with a prosthetic leg, was beaten, forcefully deprived of sleep, and sexually abused.  Thankfully, he was released in Feb., 2011 and granted asylum in a European country.

But on Dec 11^th 2010 he wrote, from his prison cell, that he rejoices in the Lord amidst his suffering.  “I saw a vision, during my sleep one night, of the heaven opened, and a Person – His clothes like snow, His face in dazzling light – came to me, and put His hand on my shoulder, and said to me ‘Please be happy.  I am always with you in this jail.  I chose you, and you should announce my Good News to the people of Afghanistan and all over the world.’  At that moment, I was shaking and trembling with fear.  I fell down and could not stand.  He took my hands, and I woke up.”

So what had this dear brother experienced?  Was it all just the result of indigestion?  Was he beginning to lose his mind?  Or did that veil – that fine, fine, curtain that separates time from eternity – did it part slightly to give him that glimpse of the exalted Saviour, strengthening him in his suffering, his torment, his anguish?   I know what I believe!

It’s a veil through which each of us must ultimately pass.   The only question concerns what we find on the other side.  For it's only for those who, having recognised their sinfulness, have come to the Saviour in repentance and faith, and accepted the salvation that He won on the cross of Calvary, that the veil leads to the heavenly places.  For all others, it leads to a lost eternity, without hope, because it is without Jesus.

May each one of us hear what God would say to us, as individuals, that others may see something of His nature in us; that we may see more of His glory in the face of the Lord Jesus; that we may spend much time within the veil, in His presence, seeking His will, receiving His blessing, that we might fulfil His purpose; that when our time comes, we might take that final step, through the veil, into His nearer Presence, to hear those wonderful words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.  Enter into the joy of your Lord.”

Time, and Eternity (2)

This is Part 2 of the final point of the message that I shared at Café Church in Bergerac, France, earlier this year.

Or what about Elijah?  Remember those words from the Second book of Kings: “When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were travelling from Gilgal.  And Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to Bethel." ... “As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.” (2:1-2, 11)

May I suggest that, once again, that veil had been parted, and this mighty servant of YHWH, was taken through to receive his reward?

Returning to the N.T., we go back to the Mount of Transfiguration.  Matthew, as we've already read, records: “Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus' appearance was transformed so that His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as light.  Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus.” (17:1-3)

What had happened?  I believe, firmly, that this veil between time and eternity had been parted; and that Moses and Elijah simply stepped through that temporary gateway between here and there.

The writers of the TV series "Stargate", if you're familiar with it, may have been much closer to reality than they would ever have believed to be really possible!

And how often have we read, or heard of a true saint of God who, on their deathbed, with face suddenly glowing, seems to be aware of those who have gone before, even of the Saviour Who awaits their homecoming?  The veil has been parted just a little for them, and they are being permitted that early vision of the glorious place to which they about to be taken.  It’s not a long journey – just a step through the veil.

(final part to follow!)

Conversion; Conviction!

Last Sunday (22nd), my wife and I paid our first - but, hopefully, not our last - visit to the Café Church in Bergerac.  This is an English-speaking Christian Fellowship that meets on a monthly basis, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them.  The speaker, last week, was Paul, a retired officer from the Metropolitan Police who had served under Met. Commissioner David (now Sir David) MacNee.  He, in turn, was a member of St George's-Tron Church in Glasgow, where my wife and I met, and were married to one another, and he even, as Chief Constable of the then City of Glasgow Police Force, signed the photographs for our first passports!  Indeed, I stood beside his dad in the bass section of the church choir!

Paul shared a good message, but one part of it stuck out for me.  He was speaking on the call of Isaiah, as recorded in what we know as the 6th chapter of that Old Testament prophet's writings.  Paul emphasised the chorus of the seraphim: "Holy, holy, holy, is YHWH Sabaoth", and spoke of the holiness - the 'otherness' of Almighty God.  He reminded us of the conviction that came upon Isaiah - "I am a man of unclean ("filthy" in my New Living Translation) lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips."  In the light of the Holy One, Isaiah knew exactly what he was, and what he deserved.  He was a sinner, who deserved only the wrath of this pure and sinless One.

As often happens - and this is no criticism of any speaker.  Indeed, I would be delighted to learn that others did the same when I am delivering a message! - my mind went off on its own; nudged in a particular direction by what was being spoken from the front.  I began to think about the difference between what often, today, seems to pass for conversion; and a genuine conviction.  It seems to me that too many claim to be converted without ever having experienced a real conviction with regard to their own sinfulness.  Is it not the case that, too often, we encourage people to repeat "the sinners' prayer" without having first made clear to them the extent of their personal sinfulness - and the fact that the holy God cannot even bear to look upon it?  In a "come to Jesus, and all will be well" situation, are we not encouraging enquirers to gloss over their sins?  In our "seeker-sensitive" services, are we not guilty of trying to make the Gospel fit the circumstances, instead of bringing people under the full light of the Gospel.?  Paul reminded us of the Hebridean Revival when people came under conviction of sin in their homes; in their workplaces; in schools; even in the street.  This, of course, is a work of God the Holy Spirit - Who alone can convict people of their sins.  However, as I suggested in the previous post, this led to the right questions being asked, and the work of those who were already disciples of Jesus was then to explain, and disciple these new lambs of the flock.

Perhaps we in the so-called "west" need to come to a new point of repentance; acknowledging that our own efforts have not resulted in any great growth in the Kingdom of God; confessing that we have, all too often, expected Almighty God to bless the plans that we have made in our human frailty; and seek His will in our efforts to evangelise, and to be the kind of witnesses that He desires us to be.  Perhaps we need to remember that, while this Almighty God deigns to use us, He is perfectly capable of working without us!  Perhaps, when we respond as Isaiah responded, to the vision of the glory of God, we will be able to respond, with greater results, as he responded to the invitation of YHWH Sabaoth - "Whom shall we send, and who will go for us?  Here am I Lord; send me"!