First blog post
This is the post excerpt.
Sing to the Lord a new Song. Of mercy and thanksgiving for victory over sin in Jesus Christ. And protection from earthquakes and from His wrath!
The Response
Psalm 98
Cantate Domino
1 Sing to the Lord a new song, *
for he has done marvelous things.
2 With his right hand and his holy arm *
has he won for himself the victory.
3 The Lord has made known his victory; *
his righteousness has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.
4 He remembers his mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel, *
and all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
5 Shout with joy to the Lord, all you lands; *
lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.
6 Sing to the Lord with the harp, *
with the harp and the voice of song.
Comment:This morning I went back to the readings appointed for Sunday coming. This, after the Lord woke me up, no drama, just woke up, at 5 mins to 4:am. To read about his wrath in Zephaniah:
”The great day of the Lord is near— near and coming quickly. The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter; the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry. That day will be a day of wrath— a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness— a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. “I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.” In the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth.“
Zephaniah 1:14-18 NIV
And the passage which greeted me on opening my Bible randomly was this:
”Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.“
Zephaniah 2:3 NIV
Seek righteousness ! The Word from the Gospel for Sunday:
The Gospel
John 15:9-17
Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
Comment: what do I glean from all of this? That we hug up sin at own peril. Individually, and collectively as a church, and even more dangerous as a nation – a reproach. This as the insidious nature of sin in the world has somehow crept into the church, so that in some measure and by some metrics, we are not much different from the world. Mercy! This happening when the Lord God of Israel told his people repeatedly, and which message rings true for us, even more so since we have been “ washed and sanctified by the precious blood of the Lamb, to “ Do not do what they do”. And “ Be holy as I am holy”. The truth of the matter is that God’s ( promised) wrath on sinful mankind, Adam’s helpless race, has been thwarted, paid for, substituted by the shed blood of the Lamb of God, even Jesus Christ our Savior. For those how believe in the gift of God. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…and the wages of sin is death…..but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ. But for those who don’t believe and for those who like Saul disobey ( worse than divination) the commands of Jesus, the wrath of God hangs over their collective heads like the proverbial sword of Damocles. That’s Bible truth! Whether you want to accept it or not. And therefore earthquakes and other natural disasters pose an existential threat to the disobedient and to those who have rejected the gift of God.
A final message :
”And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.“
Matthew 5:30 NIV
Lord renew thy church with those who completely abhor sin and cry you to you day and night for mercy and forgiveness: Lord renew thy church we pray thee, that the church may renew the nation(s) standing in judgment for rejecting the shed blood of the Lamb of God. This as peace in anyone’s soul, in a community, and in a nation comes only when Christ rules within out hearts. In the classroom and in the whole nation. And then help us O Lord to sing to you a new song of praise and of thanksgiving. Just like the Psalmist did!
In obedience
Shalom
LWJ
The Weekend blog: Schoolboy anarchy, and the ultimate solution to ” things fall apart, the centre cannot hold”.
I had the privilege of attending one of the best schools, bar none, not even the great Kingston College. And there at Jamaica College, I, and many other young men, who according to the late ” Jimmy MossSolomon, were trained to be leaders, committed to memory, ” The heights by great men reached and kept, were not attained by sudden flight, but they while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night” ( Longfellow). We didn’t go there, as Bob Marley sang, ” to study war”, whether in Half-Way-Tree or elsewhere, to engage, over many days, in a battle with students from other schools, whether from, Calabar or St. George’s, or Campion College, or Kingston College, or, well Mona High, wasn’t even around as yet. So quo vadis, whence cometh this sustained madness which has been the ” talk of the town”, on mainstream and social media, for days. I can hear, in my imagination the cynic, the late Mutty Perkins, repeating ad nauseum
” Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed,and everywhere, The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst, Are full of passionate intensity….” And the poet who Mutty favored, Yeats, continues:
” Surely some revelation is at hand,
Surely the Second Coming is at hand”.
Well, Yeats may very well be in sync with the feeling running through the minds of many evangelical Christians that these are the signs of the times. That ” Massa God soon come for his world. The challenge for the church, of which I am a very grateful part ( saved by grace) is how to respond to ” mere anarchy loosed upon the world”. Whether in Jamaica, in Haiti, in Gaza, in Israel or in Iran. Whether over a ” young girl”, or ” tribal war inna Babylon”.
I saw a video of one method by which the church can help this morning posted by a friend who is a pastor who has a ministry to rescue young men:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C58vP6hu2zg/?igsh=dTFvMjZrYWJ1Mmhx.
But what really inspired this introduction to the ultimate solution, about which I wrote to my church this week, is related to the quote from Henry Woodworth Longfellow, with which I started. But a quote ftom an entirely different level altogether:
THE WORD OF GOD
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Hebrews 5:7 NIV
This as while others are ” a duh road”, whether at Carnival or Reggae Sunsplash or the various forms of ” Round Robin “, or on the other hand, engaging in many worthy social justice issues, like climate change and feeding the poor, a set of people need to be ” toiling upward in the night”, in unceasing prayer, to the Only One who can rescue Jamaica from schoolboy madness and Adult madness.
In this context then I wrote to my church about the reality that God changes hearts. And that only He can change hearts. Intent on ” Letting lose anarchy on the world “.
God’s love for all mankind
The Epistle
1 John 3:16-24
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us…..
and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.
Excerpt from the New Testament reading appointed for next Sunday in the Anglican Liturgy.
In response to this love, William Boothe of The Salvation Army fame, which changed Britain fundamentally in the18th century, declared and so should we, if we wish to see fundamental change in Jamaica land we love, or in the USA or anywhere – Gaza -, that “ God shall have all there is of William Boothe’. Such love! died for my sins, and the sins of the whole world John 3:16. And was raised from the dead to give us new life – The Holy Spirit. So that we can lay down our lives in service to others…..living in sin and in the shadow of death. And shackled in any way by the agents of Satan who has come to “ steal and kill and destroy”. Anyone who is not in Christ! Who has come that we may have life and life more abundantly.
Risen Christ, we pray thee to renew thy church beginning with those who commit to “ God shall have all there is of me”, because of “ such love”; Lord renew they church that the church may new the nation(s)
In obedience
Shalom
LWJ
Weekend Blog. Introduction -murder and sex and strangulation; Blog – the God of mercy shall have all of me
Kishera …… Murdered on
Wednesday April 3rd 10.30pm
In St Elizabeth
Part of a note sent to me by Kishera’s mother. She was not yet 21. Only 20. She received 30 shots. Another person was killed in the brutal attack. The mother was so distraught, that it took her a while to share the awful news with me. Both mother and daughter have been my patients for years. Kishera died leaving a young baby. Last time I saw her was late 2023. How do you respond, how do you help, what do you say, when you receive such devastating news. Again! And again! Tried my best to console her, after listening carefully. As a Christian she was already being comforted by the eternal Word of God, and so we spoke along those lines. Offered to help in whatever way I could, as she was completely in the dark why this happened. Mercy!
Then last night I was moved to post on Facebook, excerpts from an article in the well respected New York Times, how porn in America has invaded main stream sexual activity. Among teenagers!
This is how I introduced the news:
INTRODUCTION
Today on New York Times. Remember “ Believe it or not”! Puppa Jesus…tek de case. And when America has a cold we here in Jamaica get Pneumonia. How do we protect our young people from stuff like this? And can we? Or should we try in this “ everything is everything age? . Where do you draw the line? Or what people do in the privacy of their bedroom is their business.
OPINION
GUEST ESSAY
The Troubling Trend in Teenage Sex
April 12, 2024
Image
By Peggy Orenstein
Ms. Orenstein is the author of “Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent and Navigating the New Masculinity” and “Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape.”
” For the past four years, Dr. Herbenick has been tracking the rapid rise of “rough sex” among college students, particularly sexual strangulation, or what is colloquially referred to as choking. Nearly two-thirds of women in her most recent campus-representative survey of 5,000 students at an anonymized “major Midwestern university” said a partner had choked them during sex (one-third in their most recent encounter). The rate of those women who said they were between the ages 12 and 17 the first time that happened had shot up to 40 percent from one in four…….”
How you respond to this kind of ” scary stuff”, murder most foul, happening on a regular basis in a once peaceful country, and the insertion of pornography into the lives of young people in America, more ” scary stuff”, especially when so many of us have “kith and kin there”, depends on whether or not you believe in a God of mercy. Believe in a God who in Christ Jesus died to rescue all mankind from Sin, and death and evil. And therefore like William Booth, who started the world famous and highly acclaimed until now, the Salvation Army, and which Army of Christian soldiers famously led the charge to rescue thousands of poor people in East London, in the first instance, before going on to become a worldwide organization, we need to declare like him that ” God shall have all there is of William Booth”. And so in that context I wrote a letter to my church, please read it, about the God of mercy. Who alone is, as Helen Baylor sings, able to rescue us from this “generation of vipers”.
” Didn’t look too good for Daniel but he put his trust in God” ( Lyrics from the song)
The Weekend Blog: After Champs on Good Friday the best is yet to come
He, my son, was probably about ten, big man now, just south of fifty, when on the way home one day, I remember the exact road, he asked me the most important question in life. Daddy what is life all about? And having been properly schooled by my spiritual mentor then, the late Bishop, pastor then, Herman Spence, and having been tutored properly about Jesus, by my dear mother ( who certainly did not spare the rod of correction, when, she thought it necessary.. and yet I loved her so much), I didn’t have to think about a clever answer. This Word came to mind:
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10 NIV. That’s the big picture about life. Not going to, nor, running at Champs, as I was privileged to do – was in the first final that the great DQ, Don Quarrie won – as I thought as youngster attending Jamaica College. Not loving and providing for my family – a gift from God – which why, in the first instance, I decided to become a Family Physician. And then was blessed and sustained, by the love and appreciation of my patients, and their prayers. As a result, I told my children to work, not for money, but that people will pray for you! Not looking forward always to the day when my political party would win the elections – been there done that, moved along. Not waiting every four years for the greatest show on earth, when Brazil would win the World Cup. Not hoping to go back to Africa one day, like Jah Rastafari! Not hoping and praying for grandchildren, spoiling them rotten, and then sending then back to their parents for correction – we did none of that. Not hoping and praying for a long life and good health, and enough money to enjoy retirement. This as ultimately, ” our times are in the hands of God”. Not in the advanced technology of the age to save life, nor in our efforts to live a healthy lifestyle.
But as much as the Word I was led to share with son, many moons ago, is important in our walk with God, this week, after writing to my church in the link below, the Lord added further clarity. That life, the big picture, is about two things. On the one hand, forgiveness of Sin. And on the other hand, acceptance of the gift of Salvation. #RedemptionStory. Both of which will be celebrated next week, on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Right after Champs, after all the medals have been given out, the best is yet to come. For as the song in the video, reminds us, again, as I have shared it before, ” If it had not been for the Lord, where would we, my family and I, and all of us in this broken and fallen world be.”. Eternally separated from our Creator God. A hell of a thing! Been playing it all Lent. And will continue after Champs and Lent. Long after!
https://danielgodsurelywilldeliver.wordpress.com/
If it had not been for the Lord ( on Calvary) where would I be – like Beachy Stout
One of the things the Lord said to me at the start of this ministry, many years ago, is not to worry about how people will react or respond to the messages that He inspires me to write. Well this morning I was quite disobedient. Worrying that maybe folks would not appreciate having received a message last night and then another one this morning, instead I tried to post it on Facebook. Which promptly rejected it! As it is wont to do sometimes when I try to post the gospel on it. So here is what I ought to have shared with you in the first place. Hallelujah, as I write it’s now on :
How does one spell mercy? The reading in the worldwide Anglican Church for the fourth Sunday of Lent, next Sunday, has in it the most famous, the most popular, passage in Holy Scriptures. Which is all about mercy! The mercy of the Creator God. God Almighty!
The Gospel
John 3:14-21
Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
And then we Jon with Helen Baylor and sing ( all together ) “ If it had not been for the Lord, on my side, where would I be”.
https://youtu.be/Hg4k1itIkjk?si=z7etbhPiwxZ249BX
There’s a song I want to do right now, that reminds me of my grandmother
And you’ve heard me tell my history how she prayed me through
When I got saved, when I got delivered from drugs and alcohol, my grandmother, she told me
She said, “There’s a sound I want you to learn
And when you come back to my church, I want you to sing it”
If it had not been for the Lord on my side
Tell me where would I be? Where would I be?
If it had not been for the Lord on my side
Tell me, where would I be? Where would I be?
He kept my enemies away
He let the sun shine through a cloudy day
Oh, he wrapped me in the cradle of his arms
When he knew I’d been battered and torn, so
If it had not been for the Lord on my side
Tell me where would I be? I wanna know where would I be?
Said if it had not been for the Lord on my side
Tell me, where would I be? Where would I be? Oh, yeah
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For it hadn’t been for the Lord, where would we be?
Hallelujah!
Good and gracious and merciful Lord, we thank Thee for thy mercy and grace in Christ and him crucified. And pray Thee that in and through the gift of the Holy Spirit, as church we may be renewed and share the gospel so that more and more people will come to fully know, if it had not been for Jesus, there would have been no hope and and no salvation story.
In obedience ( this time)
Shalom
LWJ
Warmy and Meadows sorrow and Godly sorrow. Not necessarily the same. Discipline by man and discipline by God. Definitely not the same!
The Collect
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Comment: It’s not that former Minister Warmington and aspiring to be a MP, Dennis Meadows, alone have sinned. However egregiously! For “ all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. So yes , they have “ fallen short” morally and “ politically “ and deserved to be disciplined. But the discipline meted out by the Prime Minister and the leader of the Parliamentary Opposition, if it does not lead to what the Bible calls “ godly sorrow “, will be of no avail from a spiritual point of view. And as the prayer, the Collective prayer for the Third Sunday in Lent, above avers , “ more evil thoughts may assault and hurt their souls”. And we all know from one of the most familiar Words of Holy Scripture the most important thing in this life, is to avoid “ losing your very soul”.
That’s why the Lord placed this Word in my heart as I got up this morning, with “Warmy and Meadows” on my mind, after having listened to last evening’s discussion on popular roadie program “ Beyond The Headlines”.
THE WORD OF GOD
”In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.“
Hebrews 12:4-11 NIV
And then this other also:
”Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.“
2 Corinthians 7:8-11 NIV
Godly sorrow then is our aim in this life. And only God alone fully knows if Warmy and Meadows are really sorry for what they did and said. But as Minsters of the Defense of the Gospel of Christ, which is what the church is called to be, this is our aim for Lent and forever. To repent with Godly sorrow. To accept the discipline of our Father – which leads to holiness. And not just to “ societal” acceptance and forgiveness. This as one leads to salvation while the other, worldly sorrow, leads to death. One leads to inter Alia “ readiness to see justice done”. The other opens the door to “ further evil thoughts which may hurt the soul”. And ultimately lead to judgement.
Choose well “ this day” then. Whether “ Godly sorrow” or “worldly sorrow”. And thank God for His discipline as this helps, nay empowers us, to make the right choices in life, if we humble ourselves and accept his correction. To the glory of God, the salvation of our souls and the renewal of this “ choppin and corrupt “ society, that like the great city of Nineveh, whether elections or not, is in terrible danger of judgement, unless we all repent and believe the gospel.
May God have mercy on all our souls in and through belief in the Atonement for Sin by Christ and him Crucified.
In obedience
Shalom
LWJ
The Lord’s Report or the headlines of the newspapers! Which one is of greater importance
”Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord.“
1 Samuel 2:12 NIV
Comment: This is the Word which the Lord woke me up at 4:am this morning, to read. In fact my Classic Devotional Bible uses a stronger word:
“ Eli’s sons were wicked men, they had no regard for the Lord”. Now the Bible, as we see the big picture being revealed to us, is not describing the ordinary Jewish people, but those called to be priests, in that age. For this is we are told later in the story :
”Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to your ancestor’s family when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh? I chose your ancestor out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your ancestor’s family all the food offerings presented by the Israelites. Why do you scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?’“
1 Samuel 2:27-29 NIV
And what therefore was the nature of the egregious sins being committed by the sons of Eli why Holy Scripture calls them “ wicked”, and having no regard for the Lord? One was greed. The other was gross immorality, presumptuous sin: “ sleeping with the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting”. Members of the priestly order under the Old Covenant!. Having no regard for the Lord.
Contrast this with:
”And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.“
1 Samuel 2:26 NIV
Finally for me, at 4:00 am this morning and now, the judgement which was to follow is important for us to ponder over. But consider this prelude to the Redemption story, the Salvation story, which is the big picture that the Bible paints:
”Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord’s people is not good. If one person sins against another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.“
1 Samuel 2:22-25 NIV
……” if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them”.
And we all know the familiar Bible passage “ For all have sinned and fallen shortly the glory of God……and that “ the wages of sin is death ( for it was the Lord’s will to put then to death) but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” The great Redemption story!
Comment: The lesson we learn from this early morning encounter with God, has nothing to do with who won the elections or who lost, or whether or not it was a tie, that both sides looking through different prisms can claim victory, the “ talk of the town “ this morning, but the eternal message of the Bible, that “ His grace is sufficient for me”. Today, yesterday and forevermore. That God did not send Jesus , that Jesus did not come to condemn the world, to ensure that wicked people like Eli’s sons, and those who continue to behave like “ such men”, and they and their neighbor, who have no regard for the Lord, go to hell. No! But that those who believe in his sacrificial death, in his Atonement for Sin, shall not perish, but have eternal life.
A message which began yesterday in my #luchtimedevotions which on opening the Bible randomly these Words presented themselves , highlighted, in my old NIV Bible:
”So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.“
Zechariah 4:6 NIV
https://youtu.be/BcsDgtI1U4c?si=s58UxFdStrZC3VUQ
Therefore, today, and tomorrow and forevermore, until “ death do us part”,as, what Helen Baylor calls, “ Ministers of Defense of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”, we shall continue against all odds, against all the forces of evil which have “ entered the minds of our people”, like how Satan “ entered Judas”, ( the cause of so much wickedness and evil in our country), and spread the Good News that Jesus saves. Even the “ vilest offender”. In the church, and outside the church! But I pray God they will not ignore that eternal Word of God that is located in the Old Testament 4:am passage I read this morning:
”“Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that members of your family would minister before me forever.’ But now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.“
1 Samuel 2:30 NIV
Let us then not, “ talking to church people here”:
”If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.“
Hebrews 10:26-27 NIV
”Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.“
Hebrews 10:28-31 NIV
So today:
”So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.“
Hebrews 3:7-14 NIV
Lord renew thy church beginning with me, and all who have sinned against you in thought world and deed; forgive us Lord and so empower us with your Holy Spirit more and more, so that we may spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and renew the nation(s) where descendants of Eli’s wicked sons live, and where “ Adam’s helpless race” reside. To your glory O God and for the rescuing of people from evil.
In obedience
Shalom
LWJ
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. Better than cook food and victory at the polls
The Collect
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Old Testament
Exodus 20:1-17
Then God spoke all these words:
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
Comment: The prelude to the Law, the Ten Commandments, above, which is the Old Testament reading for next Sunday, the third Sunday in Lent, is directly related to the Collect ( ive) prayer for the people of God. Theologians and a careful reading of the Word of God identify self-centeredness as the heart of Sin. The promotion of Self over the Living God. Making Self a god. So from the beginning, God spoke about having “ no other gods before me”. And so we now, knowing that it was Self that caused Adam and Eve to introduce Sin into God’s very good creation, are to direct our minds to the New Testament understanding of the prelude to the Law. Which is what Jesus told his disciples and the crowd in the Gospel reading yesterday for the Second Sunday in Lent.
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
So the knowledge of grace and mercy in Jesus Christ crucified and risen, that leads to faith in the God who rescued us from Sin and Death and Evil, rescues us from the Law which led to death, the Law which we could not keep in and by ourselves; a holy Law, which reigned supreme until faith in the shed blood of Jesus came. But then now we have an option. If! If you are willing to deny self. The self-centeredness which in the first place prevented us, and encouraged us to disobey God’s perfect Law. This as the sad reality of the human condition, Sin, is that we have always been more “ concerned with human things and not divine things”. And why Jesus rebuked Peter as recorded in the Gospel:
The Gospel
Mark 8:31-38
Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
Thank God for Jesus then, by faith we can follow Jesus, and obey the Living God by the power of the Holy Spirit. The God who rescued us from Sin and death and evil, and which rescue mission was preceded by and prophesied in, the rescue of the children of Israel from Egypt.
It is therefore only because of this Redemption Story, why we can pray with confidence :
The Collect
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
And the God of all mercy, who “ knows my name”, knows the names and all of us, knows our hearts, knows how much we have denied self, and followed Christ, will grant us the peace in body mind and spirit which “ passeth all human understanding “ according to His will and purpose. And which peace is better, and more important than “ cook food” and victory at the polls later this evening. And will keep us from fear as news of sudden death swirls around us!
Lord renew thy church beginning with me; Lord renew thy church so that we may “forget about ourselves and worship you”and then by the power of the Holy Spirit ruling over us, help to renew the nation(s) where sudden death and ill health threatens on peace and voter apathy threatens our democracy.
In obedience
Shalom
LWJ
The gospel and evangelism and social societal renewal
Just posted this on Facebook and inspired to share it more widely:
Reading the Cross of Christ for a sermon this Sunday and found this interesting comment by Stott – one of the great theologians of our time;
“ Christians have often been criticized ( not least evangelical Christians) for continuously harping on sin, for becoming obsessed with it in our own lives and, particularly in our evangelism, for trying to induce in others a sense of their guilt. Nietzsche, ( a famous philosopher…reportedly loved by Hitler….my words) for example, bitterly complained that “ Christianity needs sickness…….Making sick is the true hidden objective of the church’s whole system of salvation procedures…..One is not “converted” one must be sufficiently sick for it”.
Nietzsche was partly correct, namely that Christianity is medicine for the sin-sick. After all, Jesus himself defended his concentration on ‘tax collectors and sinners’, by saying ‘ It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick’. I have not come to call the righteous’, he added, ‘ but sinners” ( Mark2:17). We vigorously deny, however, that it is the church’s role to ‘make’ people sick in order to convert them. Instead, we have to make them aware of their sickness, so that they can turn to the Great Physician.
Prayer: Lord renew thy church beginning with me, a sin-sick soul rescued by your blood on Calvary and made new, you who are always making all things new, by the gift of your Holy Spirit, by the power of your Resurrection; Lord renew thy church that the church may renew the nation(s) sin-sick people doing what sinners so, wreak havoc in the world: in Haiti, in Gaza, in Israel, in Ukraine in a prison in Russia, in a church in a America – with a child in tow. Which Lord is what we learn, what you teach us, from this other post, last night, on Facebook.
Just sent this note to a Christian brother working on a church project.and thought you might like to see it also. Living in a land desperately in need of “ an antiseptic atmosphere”:
Here’s what Stott wrote,( in another book) inter alia:
“ There are, however, two particular ways in which evangelism should be seen as a necessary prelude to social action ( social action being what the book is about….in a (challenging ) pluralistic society). First, the gospel changes people……..Faith leads to love, and love to service. So social activity, which is loving service to the needy, should be the inevitable result of saving faith, although we have to confess that this is not always so……..
When the gospel is faithfully and widely preached, it not only brings a radical renewal to individuals, but produces …….” An antiseptic atmosphere”, in which blasphemy, selfishness, greed, dishonesty, immorality, cruelty and injustice find it harder to flourish. A country which has been permeated by the gospel (and by the gospel Stott means preaching salvation by the shed blood of Christ and becoming a new man by the power of the Risen Christ, preaching what St. Paul preached, “ Christ and Him Crucified…Risen and Ascended and soon coming again) is not a soil in which these poisonous weeds can easily take root, much less flourish. “
In obedience
Shalom
LWJ
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