Holiday reading!

After the initial interest, sales of my first book, Great Words of the Faith, appear to have come to an end.  All of the feedback has been very good and, of course, 30% of the profit goes to support the persecuted church!

If you are planning a wee holiday, and would like to have some informative, Biblically-sound, not-too-heavy reading, then I can recommend it.  The Kindle version is less than a fiver, so won't break the bank.

Details at the top of the page, including how to obtain the paperback.  However, as the latter is available only from me, and as we expect to be heading off to France by the middle of June, paperback orders would require to be made very, very soon!

Please also recommend the book to your friends!!!  :-)

Just one of those weeks!

I suspect that everyone has "one of those weeks" from time to time.  The one that is drawing to a close has certainly been so for me - and, indeed, in some respects, for the family!

I don't intend going into the details.  Suffice it to say that we have had to deal with a number of situations that came at us 'out of the blue'.  One that I will share is that yesterday I paid a visit to the International Christian College in Glasgow.  As a former student of one of its 'grandparents' - The Bible Training Institute - I have had access to the Library there for many years.  I really appreciated that access while I was completing my M.Div., and continued to use it for research when writing a book.

As I entered the Library yesterday, I stopped.  Surely I was in the wrong place!  So many empty shelves - and people making up boxes that I knew were designed to hold books.  I already knew that there were problems - I am on the College mailing list - but had expected to be able to use the Library for at least another year.  Not so.  I spoke with one of the Librarians, and discovered that it will no longer be available after the end of June.  As we expect to leave to return to France in the middle of June, it looks as if I will only manage one (or, at most, two) more visit(s).

Apart from the death of a fellow human being, especially someone known and loved by me, the two things that probably tear most at my heart-strings are the sinking of a ship, and the destroying of books.  Now I have been assured that the ICC Library books are going to be either passed over to another establishment, archived, or stored in a basement.  However, as far as I am concerned, they will be gone forever.  I had even intended leaving most of my own modest library to ICC in my will!  Little point, now, in doing that!

However, one thing does hearten me.  If you have read my book Great Words of the Faith (details above!), you will know my position on the relationship between time and eternity.   I won't go into detail here (but please feel free to purchase the book - either in paperback, or Kindle) but it does mean that I am assured that nothing ever takes the Lord by surprise.  It's not just that He is able to 'look forward' into the 'future'.  It's more that He sees all of time, simultaneously, in an eternal present.   He is already watching those books being stored - and, I trust, being restored to those who would wish to make use of them.  He is the One Who knows the end from the beginning.

That is also true for your life, and for mine.  We may often be surprised by what happens in our lives - whether for good, or for bad.  He never is.  Your whole life is spread out before Him, and nothing, but nothing, happens without His knowledge and permission.  And, of course, because He sees, and knows, all; and because He is working out His own perfect plan and purpose for our lives, and for mankind; and because He is Sovereign; we may be assured that what happens, as we abide in His will, is for our ultimate good.

So, when you have 'one of those weeks' - or even days - hand it over to Him.  You may even wish to use this brief prayer that I lifted from a young friend's Facebook page: "Dear God, I may not understand why everything is happening in my life just now, but I just wanted to say that I trust You and I love You.  In Jesus' Name."

Blessings, and shalom.

Following Jesus.

As those who know me well are aware, I believe that the term 'Christian' has been so badly devalued - at least in the 'developed' west - that it has become close to meaningless.  Nowadays, I usually refer to 'disciples of Jesus' instead.

However, in the earliest days of the church, those people were often known simply as 'followers of the Way'.  In the Greek language of the New Testament, there are a number of words for 'following' each of which has a slightly different meaning from the rest.  Three of them are: 'akoloutheo', 'epakoloutheo', and 'parakoloutheo' (you can see the common root!).  So what are the differences?

'akoloutheo' suggests following - but at a distance.  This, sadly, is the way in which many, today, follow Jesus.  They are not very close to Him; indeed, they may be a long way off.  Have you ever watched a film in which the police are 'tailing' the car of a suspect?  The first thing they must be certain of is that the suspect doesn't become suspicious.  However, equally important is that they don't allow themselves to get too far behind, as then they may lose sight of their target!  If we follow Jesus at too great a distance, we run the danger of doing the same thing - of losing sight of Him!  It is possible for so many things to come between Him and us.  We may be taken up by so many things that are not bad in themselves, but that gradually destroy the passion of our first love for the Lord.  His Lordship in our lives becomes secondary.   He is a distant figure Whom we are following, but with Whom we have lost any real relationship.

The second word, 'epakoloutheo', is more intimate.  It means 'to follow close to a person'.  It has the idea of being so close as to be walking in the person's footsteps.   I know that we are officially into spring-time (at least in the northern hemisphere!), but I find myself thinking of the Christmas song, 'Good King Wenceslas'.  Remember that verse that tells us that the king encouraged his servant to walk in his footsteps so that he would not be as cold?  That's the sort of picture that 'epakoloutheo' paints for us.

Then there is 'parakoloutheo'.  This is the most intimate word of all.  It means to be following someone so closely that one is walking alongside the other person.  It suggests companionship, rather than servanthood.  In John 15:15, we read these recorded words of the Lord Jesus to His closest disciples: "No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends , for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you."

I wonder, is this what the Lord is saying to many of us today?  "Don't walk at a distance; don't even walk closely behind me; walk beside me. Be My companion on the way; share the road with Me; allow Me to share more and more of Myself with you!"  I love the Old Testament saint, Enoch, of whom it is recorded: "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." (Gen 5:24).  Enoch walked so closely with the Lord that, when his time on earth was over, he just walked through the veil into eternity. (see my book, Great Words of the Faith).

Where are you walking, today, in relation to Jesus?   Are you merely following Him at a distance, sometimes losing sight of Him completely?  Or perhaps you are walking just a little behind Him, but still missing some of what He would say to you!   Why don't you come alongside Him, and enjoy His presence day by day?  It will be for your own good, and will bring glory to His Name.

If I were to become a Christian!

One of the aids that I use in my personal devotions is a Prayer Guide produced by the Revival Prayer Ministry.  Yesterday and the day before were covered by one item - about the Christian church in South Sudan.  I was struck by a quote from Bishop Elias Taban of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.  He said: "In my area of Africa, many people think they are Christians because they have a Christian name.   Sadly, many have not heard or understood the message of salvation."

Equally sadly, the same thing could be said of many living in Scotland, the rest of the United Kingdom and, indeed, any part of the world today.

Over the years during which I have been publishing this blog, I have dealt with the question "What is a Christian" on more than one occasion (use the 'search' box at the top left-hand corner of the blog to remind yourself of what I wrote!).  This time, I want to ask what becoming a true Christian - a follower, and disciple, of Jesus the Christ - will bring to you if you are willing to surrender to Him; commit yourself to Him; and seek to show your love for Him by obedience to Him.

It will, first of all, be the greatest discovery you will ever make! Sir James Young Simpson, the discoverer of chloroform – a tremendous benefit to those who had to undergo all kinds of operations and amputations – was asked during his own last illness, ‘What do you consider to be your greatest discovery?’  Back came the answer, without moment’s hesitation – and there was no mention of chloroform!  “On the morning of Christmas Day, 1861," he said, "I discovered that I was a sinner, and that Jesus Christ was my Saviour.”

You see, it's only when I realise that I am a sinner, and am unable to do anything about it - regardless of the number of New Year's Resolutions I may make - that I will seriously even look for a Saviour.  The wonderful discovery that James Simpson, and every other true disciple of Jesus, made is that Jesus can be, and is, that Saviour.  Through Him, and Him alone, my sins not only can be, but are, forgiven!  John assures us that "... if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (I John 1:7).  Did you notice that?  It's all sin!  That includes even the sins that I have not yet committed!  Now, to begin to grasp something of the dynamics of that, one needs to have some insight to the relationship between time and eternity.  Much too big a subject for a blog post but, if you are really interested, I devote a full chapter to the topic in my book, Great Words of the Faith - details above!

My sins are forgiven, through Jesus; and my life is changed, by Jesus.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (II Cor 5:17).  But yielding your life to the Christ, you will discover, is also the greatest decision that you can ever take. It is one that involves accepting His salvation.  It affects the whole person – body and spirit; what we become here and now, as well as where we shall spend eternity.  And, in accepting His salvation, I find that I am accepted for His service.

I love those two little verses in Mark’s account of the Gospel.  “Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and they told [Jesus] about her at once. So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.” (1:30-31; NKJV)  Saved – to serve.  When I accept Jesus as my Saviour, I acknowledge Him as Lord.  It’s no longer what I want to do that’s important, but what He wants me to do.  And, for some, most amazing thing is that there’s so much He does want us to do!

Finally, there is in store for you, if you decide to follow Jesus, the greatest difference anyone can ever know.   If everyday decisions can make the differences they do to your life and to mine, how much more can one as momentous as accepting God the son as your Saviour, and Lord - and Friend!  He gives you a new start in life. 

If you have discovered that when Paul says that “…all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal;” (Rom.3:23; LB), his “all” includes you; but you have also discovered that “…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” (I Tim 1:15; TLB), and have now decided to surrender to His loving control; then the change in you is so radical that it can only be compared to being born all over again – a new birth; a completely new start.  

However, that's not all.  He gives you, not just a new start to life, but also a new life with which to start!  Instead of stumbling along in darkness, you walk in light with Him.  From being in bondage to sin, you are set free from its penalty, its power and, ultimately, its presence.  Instead of being tormented by a guilty conscience, you have peace with God through the Son, and the very love of God fills your heart and life.  In receiving Him, you change from being a creature of God to being a child of God, adopted into His family.

The greatest discovery that anyone can make; the greatest decision anyone can ever take; the greatest difference anyone can know.  Why not make that difference yours, right now, just where you are, by quietly handing yourself over to the Saviour.  He is waiting for you to trust Him, and He will never disappoint you.  Will you let Him be your Saviour, and Lord, and Friend?  Will you?  You’ll never regret it if you do.

 

 

It's here!

Front Cover

Back Cover

Further to the notice at the top of the page (which not everyone will read!), I wish to announce the publication of the paperback version of Great Words of the Faith - the first in a planned series of books, under the general title Getting to know you.

Somewhere in the middle!

The book, including the introductory pages, is 230 pages long - a substantial wee volume! - and sells for the modest sum of £8.99 (plus postage & package, if required).  If convenient, copies may be collected in person.  I am hoping to add a free, surprise, gift to posted copies, to help make up for the extra cost!  As well intimated, 30% of the net profit on both paperback, and Kindle, goes to support the persecuted church in some 50 countries around the world.  Copies my be ordered by leaving a message, in the form of a comment to the latest post, providing contact details.  The comment will NOT be published, but I will then be able to contact you to make the necessary arrangements. :-)

If the book sells at all well, I do envisage being able to persuade a couple of Christian Bookshops to stock it - but that is still in the (hopefully near!) future.  One friend, who already has the Kindle version, believes that it is an excellent volume for a new disciple of Jesus.  Christmas isn't all that far away!

If you wish to have a wee preview of the beginning of the book - including the whole of chapter 1 - then follow the link at the top of the page to the Kindle version.