Husbands love your wives

Posted on February 26, 2013 by pneumaandlogos

The apostle Paul is often accused of putting women down because he says a wife should submit to her husband, but most people forget that the same writer had some very strong words for the Christian husband. In this short article I am not going to tackle the subject of women’s submission, but instead I will look briefly at this command to husbands.

First of all lets see exactly what Paul has said,

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26       to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27       and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28       In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29       After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—30       for we are members of his body. 31       “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32       This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33       However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Eph 5:25–33).

This command is one that should fill any Christian husband with awe, the Apostle calls us to love our wives in the same way as Christ loves the Church, it seems to me that this command is so much greater than anything the word of God requires of our wives. We are to show the same self sacrificial love to our wives as Christ showed to the church, how then any Christian husband think of himself as the lord of the home. Surely we are called to give up everything we hold dear if need be for the sake of our wives. This is radical stuff surely submission would not be a problem if there was this depth of love in a relationship. A wife knowing that her husband has her best interests at heart a wife will return that love. I have been in Christian homes where the husband orders the wife about as if she was his servant, this attitude runs contrary to the teaching of the Apostle Paul in this passage.

Furthermore we are called to love our wives in the same way as we love our own bodies and then Paul makes this amazing statement,

      In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29       After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— (Eph 5:28–29).

Self centeredness is ruled out of the marriage relationship because of the profound union between a man and his wife. We are called to care for our wives, to shower them with love which mirrors the grace of God. I believe that too often we ignore this command to love because it will be costly to us. Surely we dare not make demands of submission from our wives if we are not willing to submit to this as the Lord’s command to us. The Christian husband is called to a radical love for his wife,when he recognises this he will see how far he has to go and as a result will do two things, (!) He will seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of love, (2) He will seek to love his wife in deeper ways.

At times I feel overwhelmed by this command, but I can not escape from the fact that this is what I am called to as a Christian husband.

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A Sick Woman and a Dying Girl:An example of the Compassion of Jesus

Posted on February 22, 2013 by pneumaandlogos

Mark  records the narrative of two healings in Mark 5:21-43 and at the same time shows how Jesus brought his healing power to the needy.  It also shows that Jesus was full of compassion, but at the same time he would not be hurried by others. He listened to what his Father showed him and was obedient to that voice. We see in the account of these healings that he treats each person as an individual and therefore one cannot reduce what Jesus does to a neat formula. In both cases he encourages the faith of the one who has come to him.

   When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22       Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23       He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24    So Jesus went with him.

We see here how Jairus believed that Jesus could bring healing to his daughter and yet we cannot but help notice his desperation, he obviously loved his daughter and wanted to see her healed. He certainly made his desperation known to Jesus as he pleads with Jesus to come with him so that his daughter can be healed. His only hope was that Jesus could bring  his healing power to bear on the situation. Jesus was quick to respond to the pleading of Jairus, but a large crowd hindered their progress.

   A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25       And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26       She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27       When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28       because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29       Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30       At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31       “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33      Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34       He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
(Mark 5:24–34).

In this large crowd was a sick woman, she had been bleeding for twelve years and although she had tried all the remedies then known nothing did her any good. Her money was gone because she had spent it all on doctors bills. More importantly she was not only sick but she was considered to be unclean by the law of Moses and this would have made her an outcast in society. This poor woman had been suffering in a very real way for the past 12 years and she was desperate to get help, but she was also fearful that she would not receive it. She realised that Jesus could heal her, but she had not the courage to go and ask him to heal her. In those days it was thought that if you could touch a holy man’s clothes, you could get healed. Her belief in Jesus was distorted by this idea of magical transference. this is why Jesus wanted to speak to her, he wanted to show to her that it was not by magic that she was healed but rather by the will of God. God had honoured her faith but she needed to understand that her faith was to be in a person. Jesus calls her by enquiring gently who had touched him. At this point we see the disciples impatience with Jesus, all they wanted to do is get to the home of Jairus. They saw all the people around Jesus and basically accused Jesus of asking a silly question. Jesus was not put off by the disciples he was determined to minister to the person who had been healed. He knew that this person need to be assured that it was by faith they had been healed and not by magic. Jesus dealt gently with this fearful lady and inspired her continued trust in him, he had assured her that this was not just a temporary relief, but a healing that would last.

During the time that Jesus was ministering to this needy lady, Jairus daughter was  getting weaker and weaker and eventually she died.

   35       While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
36       Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
37       He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38   When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39    He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him.
After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41       He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42       Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43       He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.
(Mark 5:35–43).

Jairus received the message that his daughter had died and his friend advised him not to bother Jesus anymore, but Jesus had very different ideas and he told Jairus that he need only believe, in the original this is in the present imperative sense, which means that Jesus told him to believe and continue to believe. It must have been hard for Jairus to believe in the light of all the evidence, yet somehow he did. The presence and confidence of Jesus must have inspired him to believe and he was soon to see that his faith was not misplaced. The mourners were all ready gathered and wailing and the words of Jesus seemed like nonsense to them, sop Jesus had to have them put out of the house. After that had been done Jesus the little girl’s parents and some disciple went into the room where she lay, and then Jesus simply takes the girl by the hand and tells her to get up and she responds to his voice and he is able to restore the daughter to her grateful parents. But notice this is not the end of the matter,Jesus realises that after the ordeal the girl has gone through she will be in need of food and he tells the parents to get her something to eat. This is just goes to show that Jesus is concerned about all the little details of life, he does not just come in and do some grand thing and then leave but rather he shows his compassion in the little things as well.

This passage tells us that Jesus was willing to heal when faith was not strong, his interest is not in the amount of faith,but rather that is placed in him. He desires a relationship with people,but he does not demand of us a level of faith we cannot produce, rather he honours the faith we place in him. The important person in the healing ministry is Jesus Christ himself and not the level of faith we have in him. Sometimes we worry about the level of our faith when we need to be reminded that it is the person that we put our faith in is the most important factor. If Jesus is truly at the centre we can not go wrong and we know that he will do what is best even if he keeps us waiting as he did in the case of Jairus. The Lord Jesus is full of grace and truth so lets come to him and bring to him all our problems knowing that he we deal with us graciously.

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Grace Displayed: The Samaritan Woman and Jesus

Posted on February 8, 2013 by pneumaandlogos

The account of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well is one that teaches us much about the grace of God. There are several aspects of this account that I want to look at each one in their own way showing something of the grace of God.

Firstly Grace breaks through cultural barriers. We see Jesus heading back to Galilee by a surprising route he goes through Samaria, historically there had been much tension between the Samaritans and the Jews as John makes clear, he says,

   Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John—2       although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3       So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4       Now he had to go through Samaria. 5       So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6       Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7       When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8       (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)        The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) .John 4:1-9.

The woman expects nothing except hostility from a Jew, and the Samaritans were hostile to the Jews, this is a conversation that should not be taking place according to the social norms of the day. To make it worse Jewish men were not expected to address women they did not know. The fact that Jesus spoke to her shows his gracious attitude to her, he broke cultural convention to speak to her.

Secondly, he used his physical need to show her, her spiritual need. As we see him engage this woman in conversation, he asks her to help him by giving him a drink. The result of this conversation is that Jesus highlights the woman’s deep need, he gently opens her soul to the truth, one step at a time. Look at how John records this,

         Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11       “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12       Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13       Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14      , but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15       The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
(Jn 4:10–15).

Jesus says to her that he has water that he can give to her, this sparks the woman’s curiosity and she asks Jesus how he can get water without tools. the reply that Jesus gives is to promise a well of water in the spirit of those who come to him, a well that springs up to give eternal life. the woman immediately responds and yet she misunderstands Jesus, she has not absorbed the fact that he is talking about spiritual things. So Jesus graciously but firmly challenges her in the next part of the conversation,

16       He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”    17       “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18       The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19       “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.(Jn 4:16–19).

Jesus using his prophetic knowledge says, “go call your husband” Jesus here graciously and yet with firmness exposes the real need of this woman and she realises that she is in the presence of a prophet, this causes her to ask Jesus about the true nature of worship. She needs her questions answered about what is the truth, she knew what she had been taught but here was a Jewish prophet exposing her sinful lifestyle. As she realises her own sinfulness she realises that she needs to understand how to worship God.

   20       Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21       “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22       You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23       Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24       God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25       The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26       Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he (Jn 4:20–26).

She is genuinely confused and needs to know the answer because if she is to put things right she needs to how and where God wants to be worshipped. Her questions is not a smoke screen but rather a genuine question about how to relate to God. In his answer Jesus upholds the Jewish revelation but shows her that the Father is more concerned about the Spirit of worship than the place of worship. God wants to see worship in spirit and in truth not just following the customs of man. Jesus is showing this lady that God’s grace transcends racial and cultural barriers. The woman realises that when the messiah comes, he will explain all things, much to her surprise she found that she was talking to the messiah. This resulted in her going to the town and telling every one that a prophet was in town.

   Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28       Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29       “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30       They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31       Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32       But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33       Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34       “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35       Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36       Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37       Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38       I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

39       Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40       So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41       And because of his words many more became believers.
42       They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
(Jn 4:27–42).

She declares that this man has told her everything that she ever did, she wants her neighbours to meet the messiah and they come out of curiosity to hear this man for themselves. As a result many of them when they had heard Jesus speaking were convinced for themselves that Jesus is the saviour of the world.

This passage teaches much about the grace of god and should remind us that relationships are more important than techniques. We have a fondness for techniques in evangelical circles today, but we must realise that allthough a technique may remind us of elements of God’s truth, it ultimately fails because it tends to deal with all people in the same way rather than developing a relational attitude which listens to what the person has to say. If we would let Jesus and the apostles be our model for evangelism, we would realise that there are diverse ways to bring sinners to repentance and faith. Let us glory in the grace and love of God and extend that same grace to others.

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Created to Relate.

Posted on January 31, 2013 by pneumaandlogos

From the beginning of the Bible we are told that mankind was created to relate both to God and to other human beings. Relationships are central to the whole Bible story from Genesis to Revelation. we need to see how important relationships are in God’s eyes because the God of the bible is not some distant deity reigning in splendid isolation, but rather a God who relates in his own being as the triune God of the Bible. We see this in the mission of Jesus Christ in his life we see him seeking the Father’s will and at the same time he was full of the Holy Spirit. at his ascension he sent The Holy Spirit to empower the church and draw people into a living and dynamic relationship to himself. Time after time in the Old Testament we see the prophets convey the truth that God wants to see his people restored to a right relationship with himself. This comes to its peak in the New Testament Revelation of the finished work of Christ (which is comprised of both his active and passive obedience).

Ther Bible also stresses human relationship pointing out some of the great lessons we can learn from both the successes and failures of human relationships. King Dav id is held up as an example of both good and bad relationships. David’s relationship to Jonathan was that of an extraordinary friendship, but his relationship with Bathsheba shows how low he could fall. The story of ruth shows how good relationships are prized and valued by God and other human beings. We could go on providing examples of relationships both good and bad from the Bible. And we see both the love and the tensions that were found in the early church.

The hope the Bible gives to us is that when Christ returns all those who have been saved by his grace will live in a perfect relationship both with god and his whole family. Eternity is not just some endless duration of time, but rather a time when relationship will be perfect, our relationship with god will be full and our fellowship with others will be perfect and will overflow in worship of our great God.

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What Must I Do To Be Saved?

Posted on January 22, 2013 by pneumaandlogos

Many people think that the only way to be acceptable to God is to be good enough, The problem is that they try and try, and yet they always seem to fail. The good news is that we do not have to do good works to merit salvation. salvation is a free gift from God, and all we need to do is to receive it. I want to look briefly in this post at what God has done for us.

Firstly lets have a look at how Paul describes the gift of salvation in his letter to the Ephesians.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2       in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3       All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4       But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5       made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6       And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7       in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8       For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9       not by works, so that no one can boast. 10       For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  (Eph 2:1–10).

In this passage we notice that first of all Paul shows us that we cannot help ourselves because we are by nature dead in sin. We therefore need God to change us from the inside out. God is shown to be a god who is merciful and who therefore gave his son the Lord Jesus Christ to be our Saviour.  It is because of what Jesus did for us that we can be saved, Jesus was willing and able to pay the price for our salvation. All we have to do is put out the empty hands of faith and receive him as our Lord and Saviour at this time we will ask him to forgive us all our sins. When God forgives us he imparts to us a new life which is eternal and it is a life that transforms us. that is what Paul is talking about when he says that we are God’s handiwork. Because God has changed us we are now able to good works. most people think that good works precede salvation, but the Bible shows that it is the other way round,good works follow salvation.

Some people will object that this is just Paul’s teaching so let me show you from some other books of the Bible that this is what is taught by all the leaders of the New Testament Church. If you look at the book of Acts you will see this clearly spelt out, see for example the Apostle Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost(Acts 2). In chapter 15 we find the Apostle wanting to preserve the purity of the Gospel, they resisted those who wanted to add works of the law to the gospel. In his first letter Peter put it like this,

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4       and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5       who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  (1 Pe 1:3–5).

Peter here talks about a new birth into a living hope and here he is echoing the very words of Jesus in Johns Gospel chapter 3, when he tells Nicodemus that he must be born again. Peter like Jesus and Paul shows us that salvation is a free gift from God.

The Apostle James says exactly the same thing in his letter,

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. (Jas 1:18).

The Apostle John tells us the same thing in his gospel when he says this,

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17       For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (Jn 3:16–17).

The writer to the book of Hebrews when talking about the glory of Jesus says this,

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Heb 1:3).

This writer remind us that it is Jesus who has purified us from all sin.

If you have not come to know the Lord Jesus as your Lord and Saviour I can assure you that he is more than willing to grant you this wonderful gift, all you need to do is ask him to come into your life and grant you forgiveness for your sins and he will give you a new life.

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Sin,Guns and Violence In The Light of Paul’s Letter to the Romans

Posted on January 17, 2013 by pneumaandlogos

Introduction:Although the  views expressed in this post are applied to contemporary situations, they are views that I first developed in the early 1970’s and are therefore not a hasty reaction to what is going on now.

In the current debate about gun control in the USA one hears it said that the problem is not guns but sin, I grant that sin is the root cause of all our problems. The Apostle demonstrates the destructiveness of sin in Romans 1-3. Yet we have to admit that guns would not have existed if man had not fallen into sin, unfallen man was a vegetarian and so guns would not have been needed for hunting. What is missing from the objection that sin is the problem is that it fails to grasp that in the Bible the way sin is restrained is by law. One can see this in nearly every book of the Bible.

What is disturbing in the present discussion is that Christian leaders seem to think that it is alright for the private citizen to be an agent of vengeance, yet this is clearly against the clear teaching of the Bible. God has clearly forbidden that we take the law into our own hand and we desperately need to bring the teaching of Romans 12:17-13:10 to bear on this subject. This is a case that when chapter heading were imposed on the text in the sixteenth century, an unwise choice of division was made. Paul’s argument flows as you would expect in a letter.

Paul’s teaching on love and justice: Lets look at this text and see what it teaches and its relevance to current discussions.

   Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18       If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19       Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20       On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
21       Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

13:1       Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2       Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3       For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4       For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5       Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6       This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7       Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

8       Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9       The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10       Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Ro 12:17–13:10).

We should notice here how much stress is laid on seeking peace and the good of other people, this contrasts to today’s emphasis on my rights, the Biblical teaching teaches us to think of our responsibilities not our rights. Paul calls Christians to be people who seek for peace and to do all things in the a loving way. In this argument of Paul’s he clearly say that “we should not repay evil for evil”, we are also told very clearly not to seek vengeance but rather to trust God. Part of trusting God is see that he has ordained a way that vengeance will be administered and that is through the ruling authority in other words through the state. It is the government that bears the sword not the private citizen and it is only the agents of government that are entitled to punish criminals. This passage shows that there it is no such a thing as a right to own weapons, enlightenment thinking has made people tend to think in this way and many national constitutions reflect enlightenment thinking rather than Biblical thinking.

Is Violent Revolution Permissible: The original idea for the possession of weapons was so that a tyrannical government could be overthrown, this surely is not a Biblical position, Romans 13 does not allow for violent revolution but commands submission to the roman Emperor. Surely we can not argue that a revolution is right because taxation without representation is wrong when Paul commands believers to pay their taxes. Paul was probably writing when Nero was emperor. I have seen many arguments for trying to argue for violent revolution from a supposedly Christian base but none of them deals adequately with this passage and I have therefore never been convinced that a credible case con be made.

The call to Love: Paul’s overarching concern in this passage is to show that Christians should be loving people and he makes this very clear. Paul shows that the Biblical law calls us to love and service and not hatred and vengeance. Surely in this hour we need to make sure that our laws reflect the love and justice of God, who treasures the life of the people he created.

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Letter to The British Prime Minister

Posted on January 8, 2013 by pneumaandlogos

Shoreham-by-Sea

08/01/2013

Dear Mr Cameron,

I realise that you have a tremendous responsibility as our Prime Minister in these challenging days for our Nation, you need all the wisdom that you can get to lead us down the right path. There is some good advice given by the apostle Paul, given in the passage that you read at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Thanksgiving service. It is a passage that speaks of our not being conformed to the world and it shows to us the way that we can know God’s perfect will for us. What concerns me greatly is that you read these words from God’s Holy Word and yet you do not seem to be following the teaching of this passage. Let me remind you of some of the words you read,

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2       Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  (Romans 12:1–2).

If you were to follow the teaching contained here you would subject your policy decisions to God and you would seek his will both in prayer and by submitting yourself to God’s word. Your conduct over the matter of gay marriage shows that you are not willing to do this and it saddens me deeply. The state has no right to change something that God ordained at the creation of the world and that is that marriage is between one man and one woman. You simply do not understand the feeling of opposition to this legislation.  The way the consultation was set up; those of us who oppose this legislation were not allowed a credible voice. The terms of the consultation was how to implement a redefinition of marriage, it has therefore been impossible to make proper contributions to a process one opposes when the cards are already stacked against opposition.

It will not do to accuse us of being homophobic, yes I believe that homosexual behaviour is sinful but the same Bible that teaches me that also teaches me to love and respect the sinner. I have worked with gay men and have had working relationships with them, one of whom was my manager and he was one of the best men I have ever worked for. It is also interesting that the word phobic is not used against Christians when they say that fornication or adultery are not right, it only appears when we discuss issues connected with homosexuality. This demonstrates to me that gay rights have become something of a taboo to even question, yet we live in a democracy. Why can’t we  discuss these issues with a greater deal of respect. You claim that you prize the Christian influence on our country and yet at the same time you are undermining Christian morality.

If God was taken noticed of and listened to our Country would change for the better because we would see the wisdom of the creator not only in the issues surrounding marriage but in every area of government. I could give a list of other issues that need to be put in the context of biblical teaching but I will refrain from doing so.

I just want to mention one area where I hope the government will continue to maintain its policies and that is in the area of foreign aid, as a nation I believe we should give foreign aid and I am glad that you have pledged to protect it.

I would acknowledge in closing that the Bible commands me to pray for you and all those in authority, so please be assured of my prayers both for yourself and the whole cabinet.

Yours sincerely

(Rev) David P Rollings

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The Faithful God Of The Bible

Posted on January 4, 2013 by pneumaandlogos

The God who reveals himself to us in the Bible is a  covenant keeping God. He is always faithful to his word, he always keeps his promises and imparts grace to his children. sometimes as we look at the picture of God that is presented to us in the Bible we get perplexed with concepts such as our God does not change. Sometimes this is  communicated in such away that we get the impression of an immobile God but we know that cannot be correct. The Bible clearly portrays a God who reacts with us, so he can’t be unchangeable in this way of thinking.

When we think of people not changing we think of obstinate people who resist every change but the bible portrays a God who brings radical change to human beings, the new birth being the primary example. so how do we bring these two things together a God who does not change and yet delights in seeing humans change. Firstly it should be made clear that we need to define our terms the changeableness of God means that he does not change in his character or attributes. God is always a God of grace seeking to change people more and more into the image of His Son. He is the God of holy love, who has always been full of compassion for fallen human beings. He is in his character always totally pure and holy. ( see Lamentations 3 and Malachi 3)

What is more his power to express his love and grace is never diminished, when we serve others we know that we lose strength but our God does not his strength is always the same. The knowledge that this God is the Sovereign who can do whatever he wants has always been an encouragement to believers {Look at the believers prayer in Acts 4 and the prayers in Ephesian 1 and 3).

His love can never be exhausted, nor can he be emotionally drained, he is always the same in love, compassion and power. Obviously we are standing in an ocean of god’s truth that is hard to express but try we must to lisp something of his wonderful Character.

We look at the word of God and we see revealed there the perfectly righteous and Holy God before whom we stand in awe and wonder. The knowledge that our God  is so great calls us to worship and serve him.

We must realise that he also is the God who keep all of his covenant promises, He is the only person who can truly claim to have kept all of his promises. When God gives a promise in his Word we know that he will not fail to keep it. When we were born again we became part of a family that is bound by the strongest of ties to the heart of our father God, by this bond of love we can be assured that the eternal love and power of God is for us and no one can defeat him. It is because he is unchangeable in his character that we can have confidence in him and his purposes for our lives.

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Signs and Wonders,Salvation and the Kingdom of God

Posted on December 27, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

We hear a lot of talk about signs and wonders and their importance for the church in contemporary society. People are will to go to conferences, and renewal centers to get the experience and to learn to minister in power. All of this can be good but if we move our focus from the God of power to the power of God we start to lose our way. When we concentrate on the power we begin to concentrate on what is happening and what we can experience rather than seeking the presence of our gracious God.

Other Christians will say that the time of signs and wonders has ceased and will have skeptical attitudes to anything that claims to be supernatural in origin, this attitude rules out the healing presence of God and his willingness to work in power. If we go to this extreme we end up with a very narrow form of Christianity which is either very pietistic or rationalistic. The end result of this is a Christianity which embraces only part of life rather than seeing God’s great plan to transform the whole of life.

When we look at these two extremes we may despair of ever getting a truly Biblical picture but thankfully the Bible does not leave with us out clear guidelines. When the disciples were told to stay in Jerusalem until they received power from on high, it was not a not a pietistic waiting, but rather an expectation that they would be used to extend his Kingdom. The concept of the kingdom of God is central to the teaching of the New Testament Church. Everything they did was to be for the furtherance of the gospel and the extension of the rule of God. In other words, their faith and actions were God centered.

The disciples of Jesus got taken up with the power they had received to cast out demons and Luke shows how Jesus gently corrected them, just consider these words fro the gospel of Luke,

   The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
18       He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19       I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20       However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
21       At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
22       “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

The New International Version. 2011 (Lk 10:17–22). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Notice how Jesus corrects their emphasis from that of rejoicing in power to that of rejoicing in their salvation, what Jesus does here is to direct them to the fact that they could do nothing to earn their own salvation. Salvation was and is, the free gift of God that is what we are called to rejoice in. Jesus prayer shows his sensitivity to both the Holy spirit and to his heavenly Father. We are to rejoice in the God of our salvation and as we do god will use in the way he chooses. We are yo be open to all that God has for us, and that may well include ministering in signs and wonders. There are many who need to be delivered from demonic power today and the church needs to be equipped to minister to such people. It is in such a context that we will realize that we need to have our faith in God and not just concentrating on what he does. Our God is mighty to save, and we need to be his agents of salvation to a lost and needy world, we need to be open to the spirit of God and be filled with his power and grace. We will in all our ministry seek to glorify our God and Saviour. The God of love wants us to share his love with others, as we have his heart we will minister in power and love.  We will rejoice in what he is doing and not try to concentrate on what we can do but rather what he can do.

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Open Heaven by Tommy Tenney: A Book Review

Posted on December 20, 2012 by pneumaandlogos

This book is a passionate call to worship, real God centered worship that pursues God for his own sake. If you want to stay the same leave this book alone but if you are truly open to God read this prayerfully. This is not a book of nice blessed thoughts but a provocative look at how God should be at the centre of our lives. You will find no neat formulas in this book but rather a passionate pursuit of God. Our God delights in having a deep relationship with his children but that is that on his terms alone, we are called to stop confining God to our own formulas and realize that the almighty god is also the lover of our souls. Our relationship is based firmly in his grace and that is affirmed on every page.

As we worship God he will shine the light of his holy presence upon us this will call us to deep repentance for our neglect of him and his ways. Tommy Tenney believes that if we encounter God this way we will know his cleansing and gracious forgiveness. This will enable us to realize a deeper closeness to God as he opens the heavens to us.

We are taught that we need to seek the anointer not the anointing, we have got so accustomed to seeking the anointing we have tended to forget the God who anoints us.

It is a time to give up on seeker sensitive services and replace them with Spirit sensitive services, we should not be entertaining man but rather entertaining God. He highlights the path to getting to this place is not only repentance but also adversity that hammers out our character. He also shows that as Jacob was blessed and limped as a result we need similar deep encounters that will mark us for the rest of our lives.

Are you and I open to such life transforming teaching that leads right into the presence of God? if we answer affirmatively we can become channels of blessing to our families, Churches and Nations but we will need to count the cost.
This book has one passion the worship of God and for those of us with tidy theological minds its message may not seem to fit all our neat categories BUT the author puts the first thing first and that is the  glory of God. If you find yourself questioning some minor detail in the book, I plead with you to put that aside for the moment so that you will clearly hear God calling you to worship him.
Only buy this book if you are willing for God to change your life. Are you willing to be a doorkeeper in God’s house, holding open the door of God’s presence if so buy this book and read it prayerfully..

Posted in Anointing, Charismatic, Church, faith, filled with the Spirit, God, grace, holiness, Holy Spirit, love, Revival, Spiritual gifts, Word of God | Leave a comment