Passion Gifting and Power

One Day I Will Ask You

A few months ago I had a clear word from Jesus as my first conscious thought of the day, (this kind of thing happens to Christians, it's good to be ready for it and take note or it can just dissolve away like smoke, as a dream does).

Jesus said, very softly: "one day I will ask you, what did you do with all the passion, gifting and power that I gave you?"

Since then this future requirement from Jesus has been weighing on me and I've been looking for "passion", "gifts" and "power", in my Bible and in my life. These qualities are everywhere in the New Testament, under the New Covenant. I realise that most of my time is spent on the things of the world rather than the things of Heaven, so my balance is not yet fully right. 

There is a lovely song: ".. and the things of the world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace" (Matthew 6:33-34). 

The parable of the sower includes the warning "but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the Word, and it proves unfruitful" (Mark 4:19).

So in the time I have left on this Earth I am trying to lift my game. This kind of desire is a place where Jesus and Holy Spirit together are always ready to help. I've heard so many testimonies where the person earnestly sought after Jesus, and He invariably made Himself available by His Spirit (Jeremiah 29:13, Proverbs 8:17, Matthew 5:6).

Where am I now? I am praying more and have been this whole year. Even as the world seems to be going downhill, Jesus' call to prayer is increasing, not just in me, but in many others I see in meetings and in day-to-day life. This is a common theme amongst God's people; whoever I read, and from whatever century or season in history, there are those who feel to pray more. Even in His own day, Jesus said ".. This is an evil generation .." (Luke 11:29, Ephesians 6:12), these days seem to be no different. Today there are many who are calling evil good and calling good evil (Isaiah 5:21). This is so contrary to God who made everything "very good" (Genesis 1:31), and who loves truth (John 14:6) and light (John 1:4).

Some years ago I bought E. M. Bounds' "Complete Works on Prayer", for my wife, Trish, and now feel called to read it again, (see Note 1). It's a big book, (eight books in one volume), and I'm cherry-picking subjects and chapters. It is a delight. Bounds places great importance on Jesus' words to me: "passion", "gifts", and "power", and many more strong words besides: faith, trust, desire, fervency, character, obedience, humility, devotion, trouble, mission, promises, miracles, providence, sacredness, purpose, unction (anointing), deliberation .. and includes a great many stories of prayer heroes from both the Old and the New Testaments of the Bible. Very encouraging. 

Time and again Bounds reminds us that prayer is God's idea. It is an essential inclusion in His design for humankind and for each of our unique relationships with our Abba Father; our Saviour and Lord, Jesus; and our Counsellor and Comforter, Holy Spirit. Essential!

As I spend time in my Bibles, (Trish and I are blessed to have many different Bible translations, see Note 2), I am every day reminded that part of Jesus plan in rescuing us from the world is that He will ultimately sanctify us: "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). 

This means that He will lead and guide and help us to leave our sin behind .. He will clean us up and develop our ministry in the world "until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature person-hood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (Ephesians 4:13-14). 

This is very good news; it means that, more and more, we are able to live lighter, yet with great purpose (2 Timothy 1:9), and live free (Galatians 5:1). Over the past months I have grown in my determination to participate more in Jesus' work, to be more aware, to try harder!

Prayer works. Trish and I both got to know Jesus and who He is through prayer meetings and getting to know born-again Christians on a personal level. God makes prayer possible by equipping us, then He asks us to pray. Trish and I set aside time to pray together and I love to take part in prayer groups. Another application of passion, gifts and power.

Surveys of hospital patients show that those who pray, or are prayed for, show fewer deaths and markedly better and faster recoveries from operations, procedures and treatments than do those who receive no prayer; this was in the same hospitals with the same doctors and nurses and the same operations, procedures and treatments performed for the same symptoms. The only things different were the prayers. Prayer works.

It is no wonder then that 82% of all the people in the world believe that the spiritual world is real and influential, even powerful. That is more than four out of every five people. This number comes from a Pew study, Pew are a very well established and trusted survey company.

Trish and I recently heard a report of a testimony about prayer, (so it was not first hand, nonetheless we found it to be entirely believable). A man was saying that he used to be a Satanist and had lots of fun praying to Satan that people's troubles would increase; he found that these prayers were effective and the people he prayed for got into all sorts of difficulties. 

Later he found that when he made these prayers towards people who were being prayed for by Christians, nothing happened; his prayers fell to the ground. The man said that this took all the fun out of his "game" so he stopped trusting in Satan and became a Christian, and is now very happy with that decision! Prayer works!

Prayer is global in scope and it is also intimate. Our prayers effectively help God to do His will in the world! Testimonies abound, from the smallest things, to lives being saved or radically changed. As a computer programmer and data-base expert I was trained to see patterns; with prayer I find it hard to see any. For every rule or guide-line I could offer, I could also list exceptions. The important thing is to follow Jesus, let Holy Spirit be your guide, your prayer leader, and to listen to His heart and your conscience.

Although I am a house husband for Trish and a helper for all our family, I now see my main work as writing PsalmsOfJohn.com. I love this work because I work so closely with Jesus. He is my Ideas Man, all the concepts and ideas come from Him, He is also my Mentor and helps in a hundred ways as I work, and He is my Editor-in-Chief, nothing is considered to be complete until Jesus has given His approval. This is extraordinarily satisfying and I am ever so thankful. I plan to continue working hard at this as it needs all the passion, gifting and power Jesus gives me.

John the Baptist announced Jesus with the words: "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Matthew 3:11).

Baptise means "immerse in", Scripture also tells us that we are filled with Holy Spirit. It's not surprising that Jesus expects us to have, and to show, fire. After all, as born-again Christian, we are filled with Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4, 4:13, 9:17, 13:52). Holy Spirit is the power who raised Jesus from the dead. "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you" (Romans 8:11). 

Paul is famous for comparing himself to an athlete; he was ready to press on to win the race and receive the prize (1 Corinthians 9:25, Philippians 3:13-14). This is a great way to look at Christian life. There is a prize and it is very precious; the prize is eternal life with Jesus! It is so very good to press on .. "perseverance" is one of my favourite Bible words ..

"My beloved spoke and said to me, "Arise, my love, my fair one, come away. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me" (Song of Solomon 2:10-13).

And, as we live our Christian life each of us can rejoice that it will not run dry; there is no end to it: "Now there are also many other things which Jesus did. If they should be all recorded one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain (have room for) the books that would be written" (John 21:25).

Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus.

Note 1: Bounds, E. M. 2004. "The Complete Works of E. M. Bounds on Prayer". Baker Books. Paperback Edition.

Note 2: Bibles - Reading, spending time immersed in, and pondering the content of the Bible is a vital part of Christian life. At Bible college we were taught to ask: "What does the text say?" We were told to consider how the reader at the time would have understood the passage in question. What was the writer of the passage trying to pass on to the people of his time?

I read English translations, they all have differences from one another. We can read a passage in more than one translation and work out what God is saying. Also, at Bible College I learned Greek (from Bible times), which is the original language of the New Testament, I still use my Nestlé Greek/English New Testament. There were no sentences or paragraphs in the original languages so the structures in our translations vary. Ultimately how we read the Bible reflects how we know Jesus, on our own personal relationship with Him and our Father, and what Jesus reveals to us. Jesus is the Word of God and the Bible is simply Jesus written down (John 1:1-4). God is the God who reveals Himself (Amos 4:13, Jeremiah 29:13, Proverbs 8:17, Matthew 5:6).

"Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy" (1 Corinthians 14:1). 

Jesus wants us to hear from Him and be able to share what He says.

King James was King, his word was law. He instructed his translators to tone down the "everyone" (Colossians 3:11) language of the New Testament so that people would continue to respect and honour the authority structures in the land and in the church.

There is much talk of "men" in the King James Version even though, since Jesus' ministry on Earth, God includes everyone; men, women, slaves, free people, citizens, visitors, Jews and others. Many newer translation have continued this masculine focus. (It is also widespread in the church in recent times; E. M. Bounds' book, written in the early 20th Century), is full of "men" and hardly mentions women). 

The idea that "church" is an institution and a social and authority structure is strongly reinforced in the KJV, and in many later English language translations; but the word for "church" is the Greek word, "ecclesia", which means "the gathering of God's people"! Nothing about leadership, or hierarchy structures or buildings. King James supported this distorted view and, sadly, we often still tend to be presented with this error. "Church" is often a "service". In the King James Version Holy Spirit is referred to as the Holy Ghost; I believe this to be a terrible piece of translation because our beloved Holy Spirit is definitely not a ghost, He is not a spirit of a dead person. Yet today pastors and others seem to love using this misleading word!

God never changes (Hebrews 13:8), so we can expect to find the same awesome, loving, powerful, creative and good God everywhere we look. For years my life was tough and I came to think that God had a closed hand towards me, that I wasn't good enough. I let these thoughts affect me in very negative ways. At the time I knew that my thoughts were wrong but still allowed them to affect me. Thankfully I am now past this piece of foolishness. It took a long time for me to correct my own wrong translation and find Bible verses which would help me. A long time to learn, in my heart, "what the text says"! Now I know, Jesus loves me, unconditionally !!

Amen.

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Praise our lovely Lord Jesus.

Perfectly

Nurture And Protect

"It is I who made the earth and created humankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshalled their starry hosts" (Isaiah 45:12). 

Over the past few months I've encountered some great science commentary. There are always new things being written and discovered which point ever more clearly to their being an intelligent and benign Designer and Creator of everything from the tiniest sub-atomic particle through every cell and life form, to our Solar System and Milky Way Galaxy and the entire Universe. I did only high school science so have to work hard to be clear on some of the more complex subjects, and trust that I can express that clarity here ..

Science is so very good at explaining many things the Bible mentions only briefly. It seems that planet Earth was created just as it is and just where it is expressly because it was to be home for us humans, all of us, who are made in God's image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). The way we are made requires that we have light, air, fire and water, and an abundance of food, and weather and seasons to grow the food. God Himself is a family, and, so that we can truly be in His image, he gave us to be marriageable and able to have babies "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them, and God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth'" (Genesis 1:27-28).

These verses are seen by some as a license for humankind to dominate and exploit our planet, and take anything we want from it. I do not agree with this. As God created over the six days He stated that everything He made was "good" (Genesis 1:10). As we serve God and love Him we will also honour the "good" of our environment and nurture and protect it. In Genesis 2:15 God put Adam into a magnificent garden "to work it and take care of it". Adam was given Eve as "a helper suitable for him" (Genesis 2:18). We, like Adam and Eve, are to participate with God in His sustaining work of the "good" creation. We are to be stewards and serve our planet as we serve our God.

Seasons

Our lovely blue planet doesn't just sit still, but rotates on its axis to give us days and nights, for work and living and for rest and sleep. It also rotates around the Sun and this gives us seasons and years; the seasons mainly come from the tilt of Earth on its axis and the varying distance of Earth from our Sun. I find all this really exciting, awesome. It perfectly fits what we find beautiful in our environment and in life.

Our Sun

It turns out that our Sun has great characteristics all its own, it is not any ordinary star. All stars emit flares, huge bursts of very hot fire rising from their surface; the Sun emits only moderate flares so we are never all burned up with all our water evaporated into the clouds. If the Sun were one of the hot stars it would emit too much ultraviolet radiation, that is the kind that gives us sunburn, but not just us, the cows and lions and other animals would also not be able to survive greater ultraviolet. Cooler stars emit more infrared heat and wouldn't work for us either.

The Sun is the perfect star for planet Earth in another way. As we humans go about our lives the Sun's ultraviolet light causes our skin to generate vitamin D (which is really more of a hormone than a vitamin), this can also come from our diet but for most people 90% to 95% of our vitamin D comes from the Sun. It used to be thought that vitamin D was just for our bones but research over the past 50 years or so shows that it also plays very big rôle in our whole musculoskeletal system, our heart health, our fertility, our brain health and emotional balance and wellbeing, our immune system, our ability to prevent or fight infectious diseases, cancers and type 2 diabetes, and fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, and much else besides. So we need that perfect Sun for life and health. Thank you Jesus!

The estimates that our Sun is billions of years old are now in doubt. What we see of the Sun is the result of nuclear fission, if this process was billions of years old the Sun would have been substantially cooler billions of years ago, perhaps 30%, so would not have supported life, even the primitive forms that those who believe in evolution of the species talk about. Our Sun is just right, perfect for us and for life.

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place" (Psalm 8:3)

"He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names" (Psalm 147:4).

"Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars!" (Psalm 148:4).

The location of our Solar System is also perfect for us. We are located in the nicely stable Milky Way Galaxy, not near its core where intense radiation would prohibit life, and not near its edge where half our night sky would be empty of stars and other objects thus making it hard to navigate and investigate the Universe.

It's fun watching movie heroes jump into Saturn rockets and zoom off into space to intercept and blow up asteroids which would soon collide with Earth causing great destruction. But you needn't worry that these guys are all getting old now; it's most unlikely that they'll ever be needed. Four of the Solar system planets are many times the size of Earth and, as they sweep through the Heavens on their own orbits, their greater gravities also sweep up the bigger bits of space junk which may have been a risk to us. Earth's geography shows that we probably have had some massive crashes in the distant past but it is likely that Jesus will return before the next big one ..

Dark Mysteries

While figuring out gravity and the Universe, scientists found questions without answers and have proposed that Dark Matter and Dark Energy offer hypothetical (theoretical) answers. 

Dark Matter, (if it indeed exists), doesn't interact with light so cannot be seen, but it seems to exert a gravitational pull on everything else and may make up 22% of the Universe's mass/energy total.

Dark Energy may be the unexplained force which appears to be driving galaxies away from each other against the pull of gravity, and is estimated to represent a huge 74% of the mass/energy total. This leaves only 4% of the total mass/energy that can be seen, as galaxies, nebulae, stars and planets! Great mysteries here.

Perhaps we'll discover that Dark Matter and Dark Energy are manifestations of God's presence and continuing authority over the Universe. God is omnipresent, everywhere, all the time (1 Kings 8:27). We know that He created "all things", and He sustains "all things" .. His loving interest and influence continues:

"This is what the Lord says - your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: 'I am the Lord, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense'" (Isaiah 44:24).

"'Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?' declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:24).

"For in [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:16).

Thermodynamics

Because we know that God created everything, it is clear that He also created the laws of science and engineering; of physics, chemistry, biology and thermodynamics, or "heat power", and many others. The First Law of Thermodynamics, known as the Law of Conservation of Energy, states that energy cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system, for example, the Universe. The Second Law states that the entropy, (or the percentage of un-usable energy within an isolated system), always increases. And the Third Law states that the entropy of a system approaches a constant value as the temperature approaches absolute zero, which it is bound to do, (at absolute zero, or 0° Kelvin, atoms would stop moving, nothing would work, indeed, everything would collapse, every atom).

The inference of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is big. The Universe is constantly losing usable energy and never gaining it back. We therefore can logically conclude that the Universe has to have had a beginning. Like a wind-up clock, the Universe is winding down. The obvious question: who built and wound up the clock?

NASA Astronomer Robert Jastrow addressed this question, "Theologians generally are delighted with the proof that the Universe had a beginning, but astronomers are curiously upset. It turns out that the scientist behaves the way the rest of us do when our beliefs are in conflict with the evidence", (see Note 4).

Quantum Physics

Quantum physicists are discovering more and more about the very nature of matter and energy, and seem now to agree that everything in the Universe is a part of one great undivided Whole which is in a continuous state of dynamic flux; the whole Universe can be viewed as a gigantic field of energy where matter is simply a "slowed down" and compacted form of energy.

Scientists also have confidence in a theory called "The Observer Effect" which says that the existence of an observer is fundamental to the existence of the Universe. This means that the Universe is a product of consciousness; and we can see that this consciousness is God as we know Him (Genesis 1 and 2, and John 1) through both Scripture and life!

These understandings help clarify my thinking about the six days of Creation. The Sun and Moon and the stars were spoken into being on the fourth day; before that Jesus was all the light the Universe needed (John 1:1-4, Genesis 1:3). And in the new Heaven and the new Earth, Jesus will again be the light (Revelation 21:23-24). The Psalmist says that God reached out His hand and put each star into place, and that He knows all their names (Psalm 8:3, 104:19, 147:4).

Did God simply convert some of His energy into the forms of energy and matter necessary to make the space objects and the World? On the third and later days whole ecosystems were created, clearly they were in full working form; there would have to be soil containing all the bacteria and bugs that soil needs to even be soil, and humus from rotted vegetation, and trace elements, moisture and warmth. Some of the plants would need to be dead and being eaten by termites and grubs so that the termites and grubs had a home. When we accept that it was created on the Word of God, this all makes sense ..

"By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible" (Hebrews 11:3).

Symbiosis

Our global ecosystem is fully symbiotic, if any major element is not present and working, then the whole thing will quickly grind to a halt. We need climate, geology, geography, enzymes, bacteria, fungi, plants, insects, birds, sea creatures and animals, males and females and on and on .. Every part is needed. The Creation account in Scripture gives a clear, though very brief, description of that time, and it seems to be supported by what science is telling us; our Creator God spoke and whatever form of matter was called for in His design was created, and then He gave life to all the organisms, all the creatures. Scientists have no believable explanation for the existence of life and consciousness, and no proofs at all. Every single cell which has ever existed has its own life and was able to reproduce itself!

Non-locality is a quantum physics term and is defined as the phenomenon where objects are able to instantaneously know about each other’s state, even when separated by enormous distances. Albert Einstein called non-locality “spooky actions at a distance”.

To me, as I live in the reality of the spiritual world, and see and have experienced supernatural, miraculous events, non-locality sounds like a God thing; everything physical has been "designed in" to His spiritual foundation, ("God is Spirit" (John 4:24)), so can be subject to it. The supernatural is simply God's beginning place, the spiritual, from where He arranged all things outside and beyond the physical laws, according to His will.

Our spiritual self can "know" to pray for someone or for an event on the other side of the world, then subsequently learn that a tragedy was narrowly averted at the very time of our prayer .. prayers have no boundaries of distance or time (Matthew 8:13), but do have great power, this is an expression of the supernatural power of God, ".. God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will" (Hebrews 2:4). Many people have spiritual experiences, not just Christians: déjà vu, whirring dervishes and fire-walking for example; those people too will understand the nature of non-locality.

"And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God" (Romans 8:27).

"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse" (Romans 1:19-20).

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as children through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will" (Ephesians 1:3-4).

Thank You Science

It is lovely to learn, once again, how perfectly God has provided for all us people! Not only does everything hold together, but it is beautiful and delights our senses. Sure, there is much trouble in the world, and some people are greedy and wasteful and squander resources, causing ecological degradation. But science and Christian faith still belong together just as Galileo Galilei, Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Kelvin (William Thomson), Albert Einstein and countless other giants of science always knew and still do today.

Praise Jesus. Bless all the scientists, and bless us too ..

NOTES:

Note 1.

heic1509a-NASA-ESA-Hubble-Westerlund-2.jpg - The Cluster Westerlund 2 and its Surroundings - https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1509a/ Apr 23, 2015 - This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of the cluster Westerlund 2 and its surroundings has been released to celebrate Hubble's 25th year in orbit and a quarter of a century of new discoveries, stunning images and outstanding science. The image’s central region, containing the star cluster, blends visible-light data taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys and near-infrared exposures taken by the Wide Field Camera 3. The surrounding region is composed of visible-light observations taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys. Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team.

Note 2.

Our Milky Way Galaxy NASA photo - https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/milkyway1.html

Note 3.

Earth: Blue Marble Eastern Hemisphere: NASA photo - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2015/R1/v/Blue_Marble_Eastern_Hemisphere.jpg From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository 29 Nov 2018

Note 4.

(Robert Jastrow, 'God and the Astronomers', 1978, page 16. Quoted in https://www.allaboutscience.org/second-law-of-thermodynamics.htm)

Note 5.

Galileo Galilei, astronomer, mathematician, and physicist, saw only a healthy marriage between science and religion: "God is known by nature in his works, and by doctrine in his revealed word"

(https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/scholarsandscientists/galileo-galilei.html)  8 Dec 2018

Sir Isaac Newton has been called "the greatest scientific genius the world has known". Yet he spent less time on science than on theology, often spending whole days studying the Bible.

Lord Kelvin, born William Thomson, is a giant of 19th Century science. In addition to the Kelvin Scale of absolute temperature, his pioneering research in the fields of mechanical energy and mathematics proved vital in the task of laying the first transatlantic communication cable which connects Europe to America. Kelvin believed science must be treated with reverence, as he explained:

"I have long felt that there was a general impression that the scientific world believes science has discovered ways of explaining all the facts of nature without adopting any definite belief in a Creator. I have never doubted that impression was utterly groundless. The more thoroughly I conduct scientific research, the more I believe science excludes atheism. If you think strongly enough you will be forced by science to the belief in God, which is the foundation of all religion". Kelvin attended Chapel daily.

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24535331) 28 Nov 2018).

Albert Einstein: In January of 1936, a school girl named Phyllis wrote to Einstein to ask whether you could believe in science and religion. His reply concluded with these words:

" .. everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of man. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is surely quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive.

With cordial greetings,

your A. Einstein"

(https://bigthink.com/did-einstein-pray-what-the-great-genius-thought-about-god)  8 Dec 2018)

Amen.

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Praise Jesus.

Fearfully And Wonderfully

What Great Design!

Over the past few weeks I've seen five medical specialists. This is just part of getting older, and some might say, also from having lived life a little faster than would have been wise. Happily all the doctors were very positive about my wellbeing and immediate future; the bones guy even said that I was "going great"! This helps me to continue to do the things that I am doing right, like eating well and not too too much, exercising and keeping my head busy.

As I received each of these good reports I would wonder at my old worn body and think about Jesus: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are marvelous, I know that full well" (Psalm 139:14).

What great design! What fabulous engineering! And it's (largely) self-maintaining, (largely) self-repairing. Our bodies can convert countless kinds of delicious foods into fuel, and we can even (help) make the next generation of our families!

In my many years I have worn out bikes and cars, cassette and CD players, and skill-saws, and so very many pairs of boots and pants but most of me is still working fine. Sure, I'm not as strong or as fast or as nimble as I once was, but here are some things I still delight to do:

Hang Out

Sedentary things are easy; reading is a joy, studying is a vital part of life, and I enjoy music and movies and TV and hanging out with people.

Get About

I can get about: I walk a lot for housework and getting-on-with-life. The last time I ran for a bus was my last run, thank you. But riding a bike is fun and I can drive cars, busses, trucks and tractors, without prescription glasses!

Sport

Most sport is past tense for me: overnight hikes, sailing, basketball and tennis. But I can still row a machine at the gym and hike in the bush for an hour or two, and I love to walk in our local community pool or along the sea shore.

Work:

Now that I'm a househusband work is quieter, thankfully I'm still a handyman. But no more battling through committee meetings, preparing complex designs or reports or managing staff. No more operating huge mining machines or laying kilometres of farm fencing. In my twenties I spent time in a factory manufacturing farm fencing; one afternoon I put my back out, my boss noticed that my machine was not making its hard-at-work sound so investigated. There I was on the ground curled into a tight ball, completely unable to move. One of my workmates backed his station wagon into the factory and four guys picked me up, just as I was, slid me into the back of the wagon and took me to the hospital. The doctors said they couldn't do much, I had to rest and progress through my physio, but after a few weeks I was back at work (almost) as good as new. Talk about great design and engineering - our bodies truly are "fearfully and wonderfully made"! Another time I was in a car crash, they did a good (and expensive) job fixing the car but it was never the same again and I was happy to sell it. But my amazing body, I'm so very glad and grateful to still live in it.

"For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church" (Ephesians 5:29).

Love:

"God is love" (1 John 4:8, 4:16), and because we are made in the "image" and "likeness" of God (Genesis 1:26), who is Elohim, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are made for love and family and for relationship. Praise Jesus that I still have the strength and energy to be family with my family, and to share in so many relationships .. this adds a great beauty to life. "Love" is a "doing word", a verb. It takes effort and often sacrifice to love. Scripture tells us: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25), so I do ..

Love comes in many forms and it is good to know how to be in different relationships. Trish and I agree that marriage is hard work but extremely rewarding, after 38 years our love, and our relationship are still growing. I believe that this is as close as we humans can get to the uniquely intimate and caring relationship between our Abba Father God, our Saviour Jesus, His Son, and our Comforter and Counsellor, Holy Spirit; these are three persons yet one God.

Many times the Bible tells us that it is what is in our heart that is important. So true. Our relationships are fueled from our heart so I remind myself to dwell on positive things, and not on the negative; a friend said that I am getting sweeter as I grow older; I was greatly touched by that remark! Me? Sweet? How lovely! What a great work our lovely Lord is doing in me. "How precious is your unfailing love, O God! We take refuge in the shadow of your wings" (Psalm 36:7). Ultimately love is what equips each of us to be fully human.

Spiritual Life:

Now that I'm convinced that my spirit is the most important part of me, I worry less about my body and try to balance my living towards Jesus rather than towards my own self. I'm coming into line with how Paul felt as he wrote to the Philippians: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (1:21).

Part of a Christian life is constant learning and I've always seen that Christians never stop studying; we are like those amazing redwood trees Trish and I saw in California, (that is her, by the tree), they start so tiny and grow and grow!

Our salvation happens in an instant, then the rest of our life we are being sanctified; this is where learning and growth are so important. Jesus always has more to teach us and learning becomes part of the "exercising of our minds".

Because I'm now more sedentary I have more time to read and pray and praise Jesus. This makes it easy to be positive and to be very grateful for how I'm made and how He has kept and preserved me ..

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’. [And]: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

Amen!

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Praise Jesus.

Is Jesus Visible?

Spiritual And Christ Centred

The kind of Christian events I mostly go to are very encouraging. The people there come because they are passionate about Jesus, His life, His gospel, and His Kingdom. I find these people to be like-minded (Romans 15:5). Even though we may be very different in background, temperament and lifestyle, we have a healthy kind of unity and this is something Jesus asks of us all (John 17:23, Ephesians 4:11).

I see Jesus clearly at these prayer meetings, discussion groups, house church meetings and other places; He is clearly in every part of the meetings regardless of their stated purpose; often the whole time is worship in different forms, and is very lovely. One can feel optimistic about our future when the "the Kingdom of God is at hand" (Matthew 10:6-8) in this way.

Perhaps it is just me, but these days I seem to hear a great many testimonies, both the kind where people relate the brilliant changes that knowing Jesus has brought to their lives, and also the testimonies of supernatural miracles people have seen or been blessed by.

Recently a fellow told of a desperate time in his life. His name is Colin. When he was only 4 years old he was placed in a Salvation Army foster home because there was so much trouble between his parents. He remembers sitting on the back steps of the house feeling very alone and thinking that he may never again have a dad. Suddenly Colin was aware that his Heavenly Father was there with him and was filling him with the certain knowledge that He would always be there for him, that regardless of his relationship with his earthly parents, God would be his Abba Father forever! Amazing. Colin has never forgotten that moment, or Father God's promise. What I found so compelling was his age at the time, just 4. I have no memories before age 5 and those are vague. Colin's memory of that time is still crystal clear and he has become a man who is sold out for Jesus; he aches for our country and the legacy our generation will leave to our children.

In the Old Testament Israel would often remember what God had done for their country's fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Today we don't have to look so far back; we can see Jesus and Abba Father at work all around us. We have been given the heart and the eyes to see (1 John 2:20,27, 2 Corinthians 1:21), we live under the New Covenant. Not only do we have Jesus dwelling within each one of us (John 14:16-17, Colossians 3:3), not only are we filled with His Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4, 4:31), we stand (present tense continuous) in the very grace of God (Romans 5:2)!

When Jesus was ministering on the earth many people could see Him, and many others wanted to see Him. At a Passover festival some Greeks came up to the disciple Philip and said "Sir, we would like to see Jesus" (John 12:21). At the same time the Pharisees, who were very important people in the Jewish faith, were angry and saying "We are getting nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him" (John 12:19). Clearly Jesus was very visible at that time.

These days, I believe, are different. I think that to vast rafts of people, Jesus is not visible. Today the population of our land seems to be little impacted by Christianity.

At Bible College we learned about "the visible church" and "the invisible church". These are terms I had not previously encountered but now find meaningful. The visible church is visible to the world, sometimes seen only as buildings we drive past. At other times we may see Christian people on the panels of TV shows, where they seem to share or agree with the views and values of the non-Christian panel members, (perhaps this is why they were chosen). The visible church often has more form than faith and can be religious, (Jesus got upset when He saw people being religious (Matthew 23:23, 23:25-33)). The visible church is hierarchical and corporate in structure and function, and very concerned with money and celebrity, it also tends to adopt, or at least accommodate, the world's trends and fashions. Happily we also often see strong Christians and moral values, and excellent social programs, in the visible church.

Only God can discern who is in the invisible church. It is purely spiritual and is Christ centred. It comprises God's children (Romans 8:14, 16), and demonstrates a certain unity; it was described by Paul as “we, though many, are one body” (Romans 12:5). Mostly, the people who are the invisible church are members of the visible church but are not its main influencers. They stay focused on Jesus, His Gospel and His work in the world, they are repentant, born again, in-filled with Jesus by His Spirit, and humble; their lives have been radically changed. Many Scriptures tell us what to expect:

"Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a person is born again they cannot see the Kingdom of God'" (John 3:3).

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he [or she] is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:17-18).

"For neither is circumcision of any importance, nor un-circumcision, but [only] a new creation [the result of a new birth and a new nature in Christ Jesus, the Messiah]" (Galatians 6:15 Amplified).

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3).

An example of visible and invisible church can be seen during the ascendancy of Adolph Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the 1930s. Hitler blamed the Jews for everything wrong in the world and set about ridding Germany of the whole Jewish population. In November of 1938 paramilitary forces and civilians were encouraged to round up Jewish men and attack Jewish synagogues, hospitals, schools, businesses and homes. This event is called Kristallnacht, (crystal night), because people all over Germany would remember the sound of breaking glass. Nearly 100 were killed during that night, more than 30,000 men were imprisoned, many never to be seen or heard from again. More than 1000 synagogues were trashed or destroyed.

It may seem strange to us, but the Christian church was virtually silent about this atrocity. Indeed a large portion of the church in Germany commended Hitler for his actions and set about removing Jewish people from their congregations and Jewish references from the canon of the Bible, they began by removing the whole of the Old Testament. These church people were keen to be visible to the world.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a true Christian during the Hitler years. However, moral opposition proved increasingly ineffective as avenues of public dissent were shut down by government authorities; Christian dissenters became virtually invisible to the world. Bonhoeffer was imprisoned and then executed a few days before WWII ended. He is now rightly regarded as a Christian hero.

I have been pondering what is happening to our Western style of culture and of our unique constitutional and legal freedoms, all of which can be shown to have come from our Christian heritage. As in Germany in 1938, the Christian church in Australia has been strangely silent during these times where the definition of "family" has been changed and freedoms of speech, religion and association are being attacked and reduced and may soon be removed altogether. Some Christian leaders and some congregations are even accommodating to the new social trends, many of which God sees as an "abomination" (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13, Deuteronomy 22:5, Romans 1:26). 

I ask myself, how can this be? The answer I get from Scripture and prayer is clear; there is a deceiver in our midst (John 10:10, 2 John 1:7, Revelation 12:9). The deceiver is Satan and he never stops working against Jesus' truth, he spreads darkness. In these days, as in other times in history, he seems to be particularly active and we feel the impact of his work. "The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4).

All this prompts me to remember what Jesus was so clear about. We are not to focus on sin; He has dealt with all sin and will help each of us to grow out of that sin which is in our hearts and our lives. Focusing on sin just makes us judgmental. 

Instead, we are to love God with everything we have "and to Love your neighbour as yourself" (Luke 10:27). Our "neighbour" is everyone around and about us.

Again, I am encouraged. When I gather with other Christians I’ve noticed a clear increase in our mutual desire to unite as one body, a readiness to repent of our own sins and those of our nation, and an increase in prayer life. These are three critical foundations for revival, and we know that revival can turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6), (really, "right side up").

The unity, fervour and glory of the very early church brought the downfall of Rome, the biggest, most powerful, and arguably the most cruel empire the world had ever known.

In the 1700s the church was moribund, (in decline, lacking vitality or vigour), and stiff; it had become religious, with tradition and form rather than the dynamic spiritual life and the light of Jesus flowing in rivers of living water. (Much of today's church is like this). John and Charles Wesley were Anglican ministers; they reached a point where they actively sought Christ and the new life promised in Scripture. 

Ultimately they did meet Jesus in an astonishing way; He came to them personally, and filled them with "a strange warmth" as they discovered His loving forgiveness. George Whitfield joined the Wesleys and they all began to preach the gospel as they had come to know it. All three were ostracised from their denomination, and then travelled far and wide preaching Jesus crucified and risen, Saviour of sinners, bringer of life in the Spirit. This was the beginning of the Methodist movement and one of the greatest times of spiritual and social revival in all of history.

Jesus became visible to millions. Now I, and others that I know, are praying that Jesus will raise up Christians of great stature and humility, and greater obedience, to bring His Word in our time and for the next generations.

I now believe that we are in a new time when God is keeping a remnant of His people for the Kingdom of God in the future. Throughout history He has preserved people:

•  Joseph was leader of a remnant during a famine (Genesis 45) 

•  King Hezekiah was assured that a remnant of God's people would grow during the attacks of the Assyrians (2 Kings 18 and 19) 

•  In a time of Baal worshipers, high places, Asherah poles and idols, King Josiah was able to bring God's Word and revitalise the remnant who had suffered two pagan kings (2 Chronicles 34) 

•  In the time of Haggai the remnant of the people began work to restore the house of the Lord (Haggai 1); 

•  Even in New Testament times Paul reported that "at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace" (Romans 11:5).

Am I part of a remnant today? (Or do I think too highly of myself?) I cannot know; it is enough for me to press on, to seek Jesus' face, and His will for me, and to follow Him. "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain" (Psalm 127:1).

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Ephesians 5:15-21).

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14).

Hallelujah! Praise Jesus!

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Praise Jesus.

Worldview

What We Know To Be Real - A Network Of Ultimate Beliefs

Once Jesus made Himself known to me, my spirit came alive by His Spirit. Jesus is now the centre of my worldview, and therefore the centre of who I truly am and how I try to live out my life, how I try to think and act and behave. I say "try" because I am still me and am still being sanctified with much help from Holy Spirit, (even though, all those years ago, I was saved and made righteous in an instant; even my righteousness comes from Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:30)). 

It is good to know, now that I am an old man, that God is Lord and loves me and plans to keep working on me right up until the time I die and go to be with Jesus and Abba Father: "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

All this has shaped my worldview to be Theist. I know that the spiritual world is real and is ruled by God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is central to everything and to who I am. It is inside-out. God is on my inside, in my spirit. My body and soul are just the outward, earthly part of me, the part you can see and hug, the part which I can make available to Jesus to participate in His work on the earth.

James Anderson says that a worldview is an overall view of the world .. specifically, “a philosophical view of all of reality”. Everybody has a worldview and it is something uniquely personal like our fingerprints. “A worldview is a network of ultimate beliefs, assumptions, values, and ideas about the universe, and our place in it, that shapes how each of us understands our life and experiences, (and the lives and experiences of others), and how we act in response”. It reflects how you would answer all the “big questions” of human existence, the fundamental questions we ask about life, the universe, and everything".(James Anderson, "What in the World Is a Worldview?" Parts 1 to 5, 2014)

Worldviews can be seen as similar to air .. we don't see the air but know it's there, we look through it and breath it and it keeps us alive. Likewise, we don't look at our worldview, indeed many people are unaware that they have one, but it is always with us, we look at the world through it and it shapes our responses and our behaviours.

Our worldview is informed by what we know to be real and what we know to be unreal. From this we work out what is true and establish our beliefs. This gives a foundation to see what is good and what is bad, and this leads us to finding and holding to our own value system.

And all of these: What is real? What is true? What is good? shapes and determines what we do, our actions and inclinations, what our passions are and how we are uniquely in the world.

Four Worldviews

It can be said the there are four main worldviews: Theism (one god), Pantheism (creation as god), Polytheism (many gods), and Humanism (each person and all humankind as god).

Theism (one god) - Theism is the belief in the existence of one god who is personal and the creative source and sustainer of the universe and of the human race, who transcends yet is immanent in the world. All things are dependent on the one supreme ultimate reality. In Judaism and Christianity this ultimate reality is called God. The Islamic god is called Allah, which means "god" in some languages, but the Islamic god is very, very different from the Jewish/Christian God, and cannot possibly be the same spiritual being.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism defines of our theistic Christian God as a listing of His attributes: "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth". We Christians also see Him as love, as sovereign, triune (three persons in one God - Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit), as omniscient, faithful, omnipotent, self-existing, self-sufficient, immutable, merciful, eternal, gracious, and omnipresent, and more ..

Pantheism (creation as god) - the view that the world is either identical to God, or an expression of God’s nature: “god is everything and everything is god”. Everything shares the same spiritual essence, rather than having its own distinct spirit. A pantheistic god does not have a will and cannot act in or upon the universe, so is not a person and is not transcendent as Christians know God to be.

Polytheism (many gods) - It's hard to find a clear definition of a polytheistic religion. The term characterizes virtually all "isms", religions, faith relationships or positions, other than Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Humanism (each person and all humankind as god) - non-religious (but often faith filled) people who believe that this life is the only life we have, that the universe is entirely natural with no spiritual or supernatural aspect, and that we can live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason, the scientific method, humanity, autonomy and moral equality. Humanists tend to have strong faith positions on unproven things such as the age of the universe, the theory of evolution and even what gravity is, and on what moral equality is. (I find it interesting that "the scientific method" will not consider anything supernatural or spiritual, that is, anything not physical; "scientists" seem to be seeking answers to the biggest questions while looking at only half of all reality, (more than 4 out of 5 people believe the spiritual to be real)).

How Are We ?

As I've thought about these things I have come to see that humanism is now the dominant worldview in the Western democracies. We seem to be happy that we ourselves, and our governments, focus almost entirely on material and physical things. Because so many of us want more and more stuff, our governments borrow more and more money, millions and billions, at the eventual cost to our children and grandchildren. This satisfies our desire for more so is accepted as being "good".

"If it feels good, do it" was a mantra of the hippy movement (my generation), now it seems to be true of almost all Westerners. "I just want one" is the very catchy advertising line for one of Australia's more exotic car brands. The humanist desire for more and newer applies to everything in life, more material things, more travel, more entertainment, more sex, and on and on .. This is also where Ancient Rome was, the richest, most powerful regime in history, which eventually imploded. It seems to me that in many ways this is where our culture now is.

We can see humanist trends within the Christian church. In many of the local congregations I visit I see an ever an increasing level of physical comfort, corporate culture, and celebrity, and at the same time, a decrease in humility, prayer, sacrifice and love. The musicians sing about our urgent, even desperate, need for Jesus' presence, while seeming to not know that Jesus is so close that He is within every Christian, and that every Christian is within Him, our spirit is joined to His Spirit; truths often spoken in the New Testament:

"In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you" (John 14:20).

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch can't bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me" (John 15:4).

"My prayer is .. that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me" (John 17:20-21).

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19).

"To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

"For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).

.. and there are more similar verses .. this is a great stream of Scripture ..

Also in the New Testament we are told that, although our life will be more satisfying and fulfilling with Jesus as our Head, it will not be all beer and skittles, we will see tough times. Jesus assures us that we will have troubles (John 16:33). I'm so reassured when reading Paul's testimony of mistreatment and hardship (2 Corinthians 11:23-30), our loving and so very articulate hero from the earliest Church years just kept pushing forward (Hebrews 12:1)!

God promises to meet our needs (Luke 12:22-32). My testimony, (and many more that I've heard), is that this is true. However, God works out what our needs are, He meets those needs rather than what we may desire. Once we get used to His working, it is great, we can stop striving and relax, focusing instead on our blessings, (most of which cannot be measured in money terms), and enjoy what we do have. Our energies can be directed to our life and relationships and the work Jesus has uniquely for each one of us (Luke 16:17-18,John 14:12; 15:16).

Strongholds

We live according to our beliefs; wrong beliefs build lies which are called strongholds in the Bible (2 Corinthians 10:4), then we put our trust in these strongholds. This is deception. We are free to take on wrong beliefs (being made free in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26)). But we are equally free to take on truth (John 1:1-4) and make it a part of our very self, our worldview! I actively seek truth.

Only we ourselves can change what we believe. God our Father gives us Jesus, God's Word. Jesus is truth, God's plumb-line. Jesus will always abundantly equip us: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).

Jesus brought us to freedom as Children of Father God "Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1).

Praise Jesus .. bless us all!

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Amen.