St Valentin

First point - the spelling is correct! "Valentine" (with an 'e') is the feminine form of the name!

However, it was earlier, on Facebook, that a friend had posted a picture - a likeness (one presumes) of Valentin with, above it, the familiar words: "Roses are red; violets are blue;" Then underneath were the words: "I was beaten with clubs; beheaded; buried under cover of darkness; and disinterred by my followers. And you commemorate my martyrdom by sending each other chocolates!" (slightly amended!).

It's an interesting point, is it not?! Those familiar words at the top usually continue: "sugar is sweet; and so are you!". They are intended to be an expression of love - but it's a love that is more "Mills & Boon" than anything else! Valentin, however, had discovered a deeper love that led to his martyrdom. It's the love of which the Paul writes to the disciples of Jesus in Corinth - a city that was known, contemporaneously, as the centre of immorality. The late Prof. William Barclay writes: "She had a reputation for commercial prosperity, but she was also a byword for evil living. The very word korinthiazesthai - to live like a Corinthian - had become a part of the Greek language, and meant to live with drunken and immoral debauchery. ... Aelien, the late Greek writer, tells us that if ever a Corinthian was shown on the stage in a Greek play, he was shown drunk. The very name Corinth was synonymous with debauchery and there was one source of evil that was known all over the civilised world. Above the isthmus towered the hill of the Acropolis and, on it, stood the great temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. To that temple there were attached one thousand priestesses who were sacred prostitutes and, in the evenings, they descended from the Acropolis and plied their trade upon the streets of Corinth until it became a Greek proverb, 'It is not every man who can afford a journey to Corinth.' In addition to these cruder sins, there flourished far more recondite vices, which had come in with the traders and sailors from the ends of the earth until Corinth became not only a synonym for wealth and luxury, drunkenness and debauchery, but also for filth."

It was to people living in that kind of environment that Paul wrote: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (I Cor.13).

This is the love that is based on the love of the God Who is love (I John 4:8,16). This is the love that is so great, that as we shall shortly be remembering in a special way, it paid the penalty for your sin, and for mine, on a cross outside Jerusalem. 

Sadly, much of what modern society terms love is little (if any!) more than lust. Real love is commitment! It was his commitment to the Lord Jesus that led Valentin to his death. It is that same commitment to that same Jesus that enables so many, even today, to die rather than deny Him. I don't need to remind you of those Coptic Christians who were so callously murdered and beheaded on a Libyan beach, by thugs who were serving the moon-god cult of Islam; of those who were burned alive in cages, for the same reason; of women and girls gang-raped to satisfy the lust of the Muslim men who had captured them.

So, as we come to the end of Valentin's Day 2018, please consider the kind of love that you show to others - and remember the love that Father God shows to you, and to which you may respond while you have time. As always, if I can be of any further help at a personal level, please contact me using the e-mail address at the top of the page. I don't check that Inbox every day - but I shall get back to you as quickly as possible.

So - what IS a "Christian"?

It was a headline in an online newspaper that first caught my eye: "A third of French ISIS fighters were born CHRISTIAN and converted to Islam, expert reveals." (emphasis in the original).

My first thought was, of course, that no-one is "born a Christian".  That, as Jesus pointed out very clearly to Nicodemus, requires that one be "born again"! (See John 3).  My second thought, coming from a Christian perspective, was that no-one is "converted" to Islam. If anything, one would be PERverted to that particular ideology.

So, what is a Christian?  Well, I am not the only preacher to have preached on that question - and on more than one occasion!  I could give a list of criteria that would define a Christian, in Biblical terms - and anything else is, at best, suspect!  My idea was to share some of the points that I have made, in the past, in this post.

Then I read today's 'Daily Article' by Dr Jim Denison - whom I have quoted before in this blog. In it, he refers to a couple who appear on American television.  He states that "Their HGTV show, Fixer Upper, is one of the most popular shows on the network. They are smart, funny, and entertaining. And the good they do in helping couples renovate houses into homes is terrific." We are informed, however, that this couple are "Christians" - and when Jim Denison uses the term, he knows exactly what he means!  He tells us that a reporter from a particular publication asked this couple where they stood on the issue of same-gender "marriage" (my quotation marks), and whether or not they would ever feature a same-gender couple on their show.    

The reporter then turned her attention to the Fellowship of which this couple are a part, carefully editing a sermon by the pastor that he preached on the Sunday after the USoA Supreme Court had declared that same-gender "marriage" was to be legal in all fifty States of the Union. (Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are all officially Commonwealths, but are counted as States for all administrative purposes!).

Now you may be wondering what has all of this to do with the question "What is a Christian?"? Well, Jim Denison makes the point that "Christians facing persecution is an escalating theme today." and, while he readily concedes that "... it is unfair to compare believers facing execution and/or confiscation of their churches and property with believers being ridiculed for their biblical beliefs regarding marriage.", he also concludes that "What the two kinds of persecution have in common is that both intend to pressure Christians to change their convictions."

That, as I read it, gave me a clue to the answer to my question. What is a Christian? A Christian is one who puts Jesus first - every time, in every situation, in every place. I recalled those young Egyptian Coptic Christians, murdered on a Libyan beach simply because they were faithful followers of Jesus. It was reported that they had the opportunity to deny Jesus, and recite the shahadah (the basic Islamic creed). Each one refused, even although they knew that it might be the means of saving their lives. I think of a Pakistani Christian named Asia, who has now spent about seven years in prison because she had the temerity to offer a cup of water to a fellow-worker in the fields, on a hot day. That fellow-worker was a Muslim - and was so offended by this, that Asia was reported under the "Blasphemy Laws" of Pakistan, and sentenced to death! She has been given many opportunities to become a Muslim, and be set free - but she has steadfastly refused to do so.

I wonder where you, and I, if we claim to be disciples of Jesus, stand in our faithfulness to Him? The anonymous (human) author of the Letter to Hebrew disciples of Jesus writes: "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." (Heb 12:3-4; emphasis added). I wonder if, with the knife-blade of a fanatic already at my throat, I would be as faithful as those young Copts.  I wonder if, after about seven years in prison, in solitary confinement for my own safety, I would still be faithful to the Lord Jesus. I trust that I would - and believe that, if I were to be in any such situation, I would indeed receive the grace that I needed to remember to "... take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Eph 6:13).

Let us never forget those who, on a daily basis, are indeed called upon to show that they are truly His. Let us pray that we, who enjoy so much relative ease in the "west", will be likewise faithful if, and when, real persecution comes to us!

Pressure!

This morning, at the worship service with Wishaw Baptist Church, the young people of the Bible Class presented us with a News Bulletin!  It was, basically, sharing some of what they have been up to in recent times.  However, the script was excellent (better than much of what is delivered as "entertainment" on most TV and Radio broadcasts!), and the gathered congregation was, at times, "in stitches"!

The main part of the presentation concerned the strength of the humble egg.  The pastor was invited to attempt to crush one between his hands.  He could not do so.  We watched a video of the Bible Class themselves attempting to do the same thing.  They could not do so, either.  We saw some of them literally walking on eggs - and not one egg even cracked.  We even saw eggs bear the weight of two crushed cars, without them breaking!

The lesson from all of this fun was, and is, very serious.  It was, surely, no accident that the pastor's message was on the suffering church - and, No, there had not been any previous collusion!  Because of its unique, double-curved, shape an egg is extraordinarily strong.  Yet, it is, simultaneously, extremely fragile!  Disciples of Jesus are like that.  As we put our faith/trust in the Lord Jesus, we have a strength that the world cannot really understand.  How does one explain, in merely human terminology, how 21 young men could kneel on a Libyan beach and, knowing the fate that was about to befall them, die with the Name of Jesus on their lips?  One cannot!  It is not 'natural'!  It was, however, a wonderful testimony to the grace of God at such a time.    Tremendous strength.

However, most of us, including disciples of Jesus, are not immune from the lesser suffering that is common to mankind.  We live in a world that has been tainted, and corrupted, by sin.  We experience illness and disease; financial, and relational, problems; unemployment, and bereavement.  We are fragile beings, with bodies that are subject to decay as we grow older.  Each of us will, until the Rapture, experience physical, mortal, death.  The wonder is that, in Jesus, His strength can overcome our difficulties - not remove them, but see us through them.

One further point was made, this morning.  It was that, in the 'experiments', all of the eggs were facing the same way. There is great strength in unity.  That may be why the anonymous writer of the Letter to Hebrew believers wrote: "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,  not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."  (Heb.10:23-25; emphasis added).

That "Day" refers to the glorious coming again of the Lord Jesus, the Christ - not as a helpless Babe in a Bethlehem manger, but as King of kings, and Lord of lords.  Are you ready for that Day?  Will you be among those who will have loved His appearing (see II Tim.4:8)?  I trust that you will and, if I may be of any assistance at a personal level, please feel free to use the e-mail address at the top of the page, to contact me.

It's Sunday - Friday is over!

Apologies to Tony Campolo who, as far as I am aware, coined the phrase "It's Friday, but Sunday's coming."  He was referring, of course to the fact that what we have named "Good Friday" was not the end of a story.  Sunday; the day after the Jewish Shabbat; the first day of the week; the day on which the Creator said "Let there be light"; the day that millions are celebrating; the day when the tomb in which the body of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth had been laid; brought the amazing news - that the tomb was empty!

The traditional greeting used by disciples of Jesus - and still used, albeit to a lesser extent, today - was "The Lord is risen!", with the response "He is risen indeed!".  What an amazing message!  What an amazing truth!  Some have tried to deny it - but that is only to be expected.  However, any honest, unbiased, investigation of the available evidence will surely lead to the conviction that it is true.  None of the proposed 'explanations' stand up to any scrutiny at all.  I deal with the topic, more fully, in my second book in the "Getting to know you ..." series - The Apostles' Creed - which is due to be published shortly! (watch this blog for further news!).

But why is the resurrection of Jesus of such apparently great importance?  Paul tells us in I Cor 15:17-19 that: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied."   Basically, the resurrection of Jesus is the claim on which the whole Gospel message stands, or falls.  It was the resurrection that marked Jesus out as the true Messiah - the Anointed One of God.  Oh, others had been restored from death - not only by Jesus Himself, but also by Elijah; Elisha; Peter; and Paul.  However, each of these had eventually died again.  Only Jesus "... is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." (Heb 7:25; emphasis added).  It is His glorious resurrection that assure me that, at the Last Day I also shall receive a new resurrection body as He "... will change [my] lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power which enables Him even to subject all things to Himself." (Phil 3:21).

Because of the pagan association of the word "Easter", many (including me) now refer to this day as "Resurrection Day".  However, there is a very real sense that every day is Resurrection Day.  This is because we may celebrate the resurrection of Jesus at any time, and in any place.  Today is a day of great hope - and, in Jesus, every day can be a day of great hope. 

Is your hope in Him?  It's that same hope that enabled 21 young Egyptian believers to die on a Libyan beach, at the hands of evil men, with the very Name of Jesus on their lips.  When students at the Garissa university in Kenya were being murdered, some are reported as having cried out "Lord Jesus, help me."  The scoffers - including their murderers - have asked "Where was He?"  I will tell them - He was there with them.  He was administering martyr's grace, for a martyr's death.  He was reassuring them that this mortal life is not everything and, if they were true disciples, they are now with Him in a way that they could never have been while in their mortal, decaying, bodies.

It's Sunday - Friday has gone.  The Lord is risen; He is risen indeed!  Hallelujah!