Seeing the signs!

It was not  a matter of national importance but, about a year ago, the Dartford Crossing over (and under!) the River Thames, closed its Toll Booths, and "went automatic"!  Now, vehicle registration numbers are scanned by special cameras, and payment is made online - with a heavy fine for failure to pay within the allotted time! 

Recently, a number of people have mentioned to us that they, or friends, have received notice of the fine - and that they had not realised that the system had changed, but thought that the tolls had simply been cancelled!

Yesterday,  my wife and I drove from Wishaw to Maidstone (Kent) to spend the evening with longstanding friends before boarding the ferry for France this afternoon.  The first mention of the new Dartford Crossing was a full 171 miles from the crossing.  Then, at 137 miles, there was a second warning of the tolls that have to be paid.  And so it went on.  I simply fail to understand how some people can claim that they didn't know!

There is a coming event of cataclysmic proportions.  It is the Rapture of the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He meets with His people "in the air" (I Thess.4:17).  It will be followed by a time of tribulation that will make the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to which I referred yesterday seem like a playground scuffle!  That will last for seven years, at the end of which the Lord Jesus will return, with His bride (His disciples) to reign on earth for a thousand years.

My point is that no-one should be surprised by all of this.  He is constantly providing 'warning signs'.  The Bible is full of them -

• The return of Israel to their land (1948)
• Decline of morality
• Natural Disasters
• Wars and rumors of wars
• Increased Technology
• Global Government
• False Prophets and False teaching
• People will follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
• Exponential global population growth
• Translation of the Gospel and preaching of the Gospel to the whole world. 

 
      The tragedy is not simply that so many seem to ignore the signs, but that the consequence of               doing so will be, not a monetary fine, but eternity cut off from the God Who longs to have them         with Him.

     Jesus said: "You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the        signs of the times." (Matt 16:3).

The point of tension!

Yesterday, my wife and I drove down, via Manchester, to Maidstone, Kent, where we spent the night with dear friends prior to crossing the Channel (La Manche!) in the very early hours of tomorrow (Saturday), leaving at 0030!.

As we drove down through Scotland, and northern England, I was struck by the number of wind turbines that were standing there, in the calm, almost totally still, weather conditions, with not even a hint of movement from their massive, propellor-like, vanes.  I have always thought of these monstrosities as a blot on so much of the landscape, but now they were showing themselves to be absolutely useless.  They were not generating a single watt of electricity.  They were merely taking up space!

Of course, I am aware that, as the wind strength increases, then the vanes begin to turn, increasingly quickly (although, if the wind is too strong, then the turbines must be turned off, lest the vanes spin off and cause much damage!) and that they would, then, be generating power at a substantial rate.  However, with no force coming against them, they just stood there - achieving nothing!

I suddenly found myself thinking of so many "church members"in the affluent western church.  Looking important, as they make their way to their particular meeting-place each Sunday (or less often!), they are achieving nothing!  Their idea of the Christian faith is built upon social requirements, rather than upon a living relationship with the Creator, through the Son, in the strength of the Spirit.

Then I thought of those in what we refer to, simply, as "the persecuted church".  They know what it is to face up to challenge, to hardship, to adversity.  They have experienced, and continue to experience, the harsh wind of secular humanism blowing hard against them.  And the result?  They grow!  It is in such difficult circumstances that their trust in the Lord Jesus is purified - as gold in the refiner's furnace.

The last thing that I want, for myself or for those who are nearest and dearest to me, is the same kind of physical persecution that is suffered by my brothers and sisters, in Christ Jesus, in North Korea; in northern Nigeria; in Iraq; in Iran; in a total of more than fifty countries around the world.  However, such persecution could well come!  If it does, I predict two things - (a) there will be droves of people who will leave the church (whatever the denomination) as quickly as they possibly can.  They will be those who like to look good, and who are content to stand up in the calm, but who have no personal relationship with the Lord, and no true allegiance to Him; (b) the church will grow!  This is the experience in countries in which disciples of Jesus are persecuted.  As someone has said: "A faith worth dying for is a faith worth living"!

A minister with whom I worked, a long time ago, had a background in engineering.  He was constantly reminding me that "the point of tension is the point of growth."  I have never been absolutely sure what that means in engineering terms, but I do know that is has been shown to be true in terms of church growth.   If, and when, real persecution comes to "the west", I trust that those who follow this blog (and its writer!) will be found among those who are, if necessary, "faithful unto death". (Rev.2:10).

Thorns and brambles.

It's been a long week - with a lot of it spent in travelling, as we (my wife and I) made our way back to our static caravan in the Gironde area of France.  We are, once again, so very grateful to friends who provide us with hospitality on out journeys - on this occasion, specifically the Loudons in Maidstone, and the Rouffets in Seclin.

This afternoon, we took a wee walk around the lake at the camp-site in order to gather some brambles (blackberries in the UK furth of Scotland, and mûres in France!).  A lot are not quite ripe, so there will be much more harvesting over the next week or two!

As we gathered, I recalled what was probably the first time that we had done so in our married life together.  We were on our way back from a wee camping trip to the northernmost part of Scotland, having stayed at a site with the delightful name "Grannie's Hielan' Hame", and driven up to John o' Groats, Dunnet Head, Wick, and Thurso.  Of course, in those far-off days,  the site didn't have the heated indoor pool, and the other attractions that are advertised on its website today!  It was on our way back home, travelling along the northern shore of Loch Ness (and keeping an eye out for Nessie, of course!), that we spied a veritable plethora of those delicious black berries near to Fort Augustus.

We quickly realised that berry-picking is not as straightforward as it might be thought to be!  In spite of the abundance of that delicious fruit, it took us some time to fill every available container.  The problem was the thorns!   They tore at our hands; they caught on our clothes; they made collecting those berries a difficult task.  However, we persevered.  Why?  Because we knew that there would be a great reward - a freezer filled with bramble and apple pies that, with some custard, would provide pudding for many, many meals - and for a few months!

The life of the disciple of Jesus can be a bit like picking brambles!   There are those who claim that, if we yield our lives to His control, then everything in the garden will be, forever, rosy; that all of our problems will disappear; that life will be one big party.  That, I have to make clear, is a lie.  It is, indeed, a lie that comes from the very pit of hell.  Strong words, you might be thinking, but they are true.

In spite of the pronouncements of certain well-known preachers, Jesus never promised a life of ease, prosperity, material wealth, and freedom from disease.  Rather, throughout the Gospel records (contact me for a list of references!), He makes it clear that being His disciple will bring hardship, persecution, imprisonment, and even death.  He assures His followers that they will be despised, and reviled.  He speaks about counting the cost.   In terms of our bramble picking, He clearly points out the thorns!

However, this is the same Jesus Who has promised that He will be with His true followers to the end of the age; that He will never leave them, nor forsake them; that He has gone to prepare a place for them, and that where He is, they will be also.  That, we might say, is the brambles!

So, what I am trying to share here is simply this - that if you are a true disciple of Jesus, you may expect that life will not be smooth and trouble-free.  Indeed, it will be the very opposite as the devil prowls around, like a raging lion, seeking whom he may devour.  However, you may also be assured of His company through even the most difficult of times.  If you wish concrete proof of that, get involved with the persecuted believers in some 50 countries worldwide!

We enjoyed an apple and bramble crumble this evening.  It made the thorns worthwhile.  When we reach that eternal dimension that we refer to as 'heaven', then we will see that all of the difficulties were worthwhile, as we then spend that great eternal day in His wonderful presence - seeing Him, face-to-face, and knowing even as we are known.  Hallelujah!

The best-laid schemes ...!

It was the Scottish Bard, Rabbie Burns who, in his poem  On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough (1785), penned the words: "The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men gang aft agley".  I was reminded of those words yesterday!

The day started as expected when my wife and I took our younger daughter to hospital, for an operation.  Mind you, even that caused a change to our earlier plan.  We had expected this evening, to be stopping overnight with dear friends in Maidstone, Kent, en route to France.  The medical/surgical emergency led to that journey being postponed for a few days, as we went back this morning to collect her, and want to spend a couple of days with her before departing!   

However, it was as we returned from the hospital yesterday, that we received a 'phone-call.   Our elder daughter was heading up to the A&E Department in our local hospital with, it appeared, something stuck in her throat.   That call had hardly finished before we received yet another - this time it was our son-in-law (elder daughter's husband), informing us that the clutch in their car had given up, and that our daughter was making her way to the hospital by bus.  

We had to pass where the (now non-operating) car was, so we stopped to assist in pushing it to a place of greater safety, and less obstruction, and then went up to the hospital.  That involved a long wait - first of all until our daughter was called into the examination rooms, and then while she awaited the arrival of a doctor to provide the aforementioned examination!  By the time we took her back home, it was about 2100 hrs!

So why do I share all of that family news?  Well, as the opening paragraph suggests, none of what has happened in the past thirty-six hours was in our original planning for the period.  However, there is something else.  Anyone who has purchased my book, Great Words of the Faith (either as a paper-back, or as a Kindle e-book), and actually read it, will be aware of the way in which I see the relationship between tome and eternity.  By the way, if you haven't purchased, and read, I would encourage you to do so.  Anyway, although we were 'caught on the hop' with these recent events, Father God wasn't!  Before any of us were even born, He not only 'knew what would, in time, happen', but also, from His eternal perspective, saw it happening!   If that blows your mind, even a little, you really do need to purchase the book!  (Details at the top of the page).

However, this is where the disciple of Jesus may have a deep assurance.   I know that nothing - absolutely nothing - happens, or can happen, without His knowledge and permission.  That's why Paul was able to write those amazing words: "We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose." (Rom 8:28).

I may not always understand His ways; but I may always rest in the assurance of His love, and of His sovereign power and authority.  May you who read be able to do likewise.