Culture wars (IX) Blessed are the peace makers

There is a real sense in which the culture wars remind me of a marriage on the rocks,  with anger, accusations, hate, fear, everybody talking (shouting) and nobody listening. And when the breakup turns bitter, a lot of innocents get caught in the crossfire. In particular the one parent will likely vilify the other, unconsciously or consciously pressuring the kids to take sides. If you know there might be a custody battle, you really need to make sure the kids would want to choose you, and the battle for the hearts and minds of the kids can be intense. And of course each side will want to dismiss what the other sides is saying as propaganda or outright lies. Occasionally, but far too infrequently, one of the children is old enough and mature enough to act as a mediator saying something along the lines of “We love you both, and this is tearing us apart!”


From where I stand, this seems to me to be a quite accurate picture of what is happening in the culture wars. And I write because I believe that there are those who are wise enough and mature enough on both sides  of the polarization, to pour oil on the troubles waters,  seeking  to bring some balance, some middle ground in order that at least some of the problems might be solved. But it’s difficult because, also as in a marriage, there are those who are convinced the other side is totally evil, and that the best way to proceed is to work towards their annihilation. So the questions I am asking this morning, are if there are mediators out there, and if there are those who are willing to listen? There is a proverb that says that the one who speaks first seems to be right , until his neighbour comes and examines him. But if his neighbour, for whatever reason, is not allowed to examine him, he will seem right to himself even when he is in gross error.


Into all of this  are two verses on my heart this morning. The first is “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”  The other the  “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 5:9; 11:15). Part of why we have been given ears so we can listen, not only to Him, but to each other. So how can we apply this to the culture wars? I want to suggest that we need to start at home. We need to come out of denial that we can do this without God's help. We need to listen, which in Biblical understanding includes obedience. Peacemakers then, first  need to have peace with God, then peace with ourself (engaging in ongoing recovery). We need as much as possible to live at peace with our significant other, with our family, and with our communities.  This is God’s agenda and it is intended to flow over into the transformation of cities, provinces, nations and the world. But it must start with me. If I don’t have peace with God and with myself, I will not be able to bring peace anywhere else.


Father, there have been times in seeking to be a peacemaker, that I have been “sat on” by both sides. And this is even now happening to Your peace makers in the culture wars. Please give us Your Grace Lord to go forward and not to give up. I know the rewards are great. In Jesus Name Amen

Culture wars (VIII) Victimizing victims: The need for respectful informed dialogue

The dictionary defines polarization as a sharp division of people, into opposing factions. Over the past fifty years Western society has become more and more polarized. It didn't used to matter if you voted Liberal or Conservative (Democrat or Republican), because there wasn't that much difference. Not so today. And perhaps the greatest polarization is along the lines of social justice. I have been reluctant to share this post because of its possible explosive nature, and my heart is for reconciliation. But I have noticed that if left unchecked the radicals tend to use issues to polarized us for political or other gain. Since radicals on either the left or right believe so passionately (and often blindly) in their ideology, they tend to operate out of a “The ends justify the means” mentality. And again, more harm has been done by those who were perfectly sure they knew what the were doing. But there are always unwanted consequences to our actions, and there are always those who are willing to exploit.

I am not into conspiracy theories, but it is interesting to me that changes proposed in the manifesto outlined below started about the same time Saul Alinsky came out in 1971, with his 12 rules for radicals. His “eight levels of control that must be attained before you can create a socialist state” follow. This can be googled!

1. Healthcare - Control healthcare and you control the people.

2. Increase poverty level as much as possible, poor people are easier to control and will not fight back if you are providing everything for them to live.

      3. Debt - Increase debt to an unsustainable level. That way you are able to increase taxes, and this will produce more poverty.

4. Gun Control - Remove people’s ability to protect themselves from the government. That way you are able to create a Police State.

5. Welfare - Take control over every aspect of their lives (Food, Housing and Income).

6. Education - Take control over what people read and listen to - take control of what children learn in school.

7. Religion - Remove God from the government and the schools.

8. Class Warfare - Divide the people into the wealthy and the poor. This will cause more discontent, and it will be easier to take (Tax) the wealthy with the support of the poor.

So is this happening? You be the judge! It's not as though it's not been tried before! I don’t know exactly who, or how many deliberately follow this kind of manifesto. What I do know, is that to a large extent we are already there, and to the extent that it is deliberate, it’s not compassionate. I don’t know if Alinsky didn’t think of this, but you can also use victimhood to stir up the poor, and since you are doing everything for them, you can expect gratitude at election time! You can also stir the youth up to attack free speech in the name of acceptance, inclusion and compassion to hide the truth of what is really going on. We desperately need respectful informed dialogue

Father, as I come to You this morning, the commands “Love your enemies,” and “Be angry and sin not,” are on my heart. I need Your help to not become like those who are exploiting the poor. I need Your wisdom, and Your Holy Spirit to direct my passion in directions that help rather than hinder. I do not know what to do, but my eyes are on You Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Toxic compassion: The poison of affirming and enabling victimhood

I suppose I was naive, but I was simply trying to live the sermon on the mount, and in particular going the second mile. I had encountered him through prison ministry. He told me many tales of woe, which at the time, I swallowed hook line and sinker. Well he  could lie brilliantly, and I chose to trust him long after he had shown himself untrustworthy. I told myself “If I don’t trust him, how will he ever learn to trust?” But I woke realizing he despised me when said “You can’t say no (to me).” He was wrong about that! Apart from that slip, he knew exactly what he was doing, but many are not so self aware, and are trapped in real or imagined victimhood. Please don’t get me wrong, we need compassion, but compassion becomes toxic when we don’t at some stage, encourage a victim to deal with bitterness and unforgiveness, for their own sake, and to encourage them to take responsibility so as to put the past behind them, and start to live life again. I know of those who decades after a divorce still blame their ex for everything that goes wrong.  “Well he messed me up, and left me unable to deal with life.” That is toxic victimhood, and it’s not loving to enable a person to stay stuck there.

I still don’t know how much of what my “friend” told me was true, but he was playing the victim card to manipulate me,  playing on my sympathy and compassion. After the first world war the people of Germany were victims of a punishing armistice. The injustice was real, and needed to be addressed. There were other factors of course, but Hitler was able to play on the injustice of it all, and he used this, his hatred of the Jews, and the human propensity to blame to move Germany forwards (but really backwards) towards what essentially was a police state. They say that those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it, but I am getting a bit ahead of myself here.

What I am wanting to say, is that with the best (or the worst) intentions in the world (compassion), we can inadvertently (or deliberately) do victims of real injustice, absolutely not favour. And we can do this by talking and acting in ways that enable them to stay stuck in their victimhood. I am not saying that we should not come along side and help them. But it is a helping principle, that we should not do for a someone what they can reasonably be expected to do for themselves. To do more in the end, is to either enable victimhood,   or to enable them to stay stuck in it. There is also, it seems to me, to be a lot of cheap compassion out there, compassion that cries loudly about another's injustice, but is not willing to do anything but shout at the real, or imagined, perpetrators. Such compassion does nothing to alleviate the suffering, and can too easily keep the victims stuck in their victimhood.

Father, Your Word tells us that we are to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. So I am asking this morning Lord, that You help us to know and understand when our compassion is likely to turn, or to be, toxic. Help us Lord to act, and not just talk, and help us be wise in our acts of compassion in Jesus Name Amen

Culture wars (VII) Come out from among them? Yes but who is “them”?

There are modern day Pharisees on both the left and the right, you know those who think that they alone are right, and that everybody else is wrong. It makes for polarization, where in our isolation it is far too easy to hate, fear and vilify everyone who is “not us.” There are some in Christendom, who think it's Biblical, quoting “Come out from among them and be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17). But it’s far more than a false understanding of this verse that has led Christians into such isolation, and separation not only from the world, but from each other. To get the balance here, let me also quote “I wrote to you .. not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world” (1 Corinthians 5:9, 10). Indeed, we are told to be salt and light bringing Kingdom values to the World. Salt changes the nature of things. But it can’t change the nature, if it is separate from that which it's meant to change, or if the salt has lost its saltiness (Matthew 5:13), or if we refuse to be shown where we are wrong. We need to earn the right to be heard, and we can’t do this living in our Christian bubbles.

The command then, is not that we separate from the sexually immoral of the World etc, for how then can we be salt and light? So what is Paul saying? The context of the 2 Corinthian exhortation, is the command “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (verse 14). To be yoked in this sense, is to team up in indissoluble partnership. Applications include marriage and business partnership. It seems to be sad but true, that in such situations more often than not, the one who compromises morally, is the believer. So from whom then are we to separate? It is from a brother or sister who is sexually immoral, or covetous etc., etc. And this brings up the whole question of the how, the why and the when of Church discipline. Relevant scriptures here include Matthew 18 ; Galatians 6:1; 1 Corinthians 5:11; 2 Corinthians 2:6,7. But we cannot go into the details here.

So then scripture actually encourage us to have some sort of communion with unbelievers. This is not so much to be in indissoluble partnerships, but not excluding, I believe, working together on common goals. Clearly in order to do that, we cannot, and must not insist that they embrace all of our values, nor we theirs. Can we start by admitting that something is very wrong? It is easy to see the faults and the destruction that comes from the other side. But as long as we sit in splendid isolation (often in self righteous), dismissing everything that does not conform to our view as propaganda (both sides do this), we will not be doing all we can to live at peace with each other, and we will not solve the problems.

Father, it's Your stated goal to unite all things together in You (Ephesians 1:10). We have not done well in cooperating with You in this Lord. And we are reaping the consequences of all sides refusing to honour and respect those who are not us. Forgive us Lord, have mercy on us, and help us, in Jesus Name Amen.

Culture wars (VI) Can we disagree and still love and respect each other?

Is the Old Testament law “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” barbaric (Exodus 21:24)? I think we need to understand the context in which this law was given. It was given to prevent escalation, in situations where it was two teeth for one tooth, and two eyes for one eye. Jesus tells us to love our enemies, but that also required a context, and a lot more maturity. Think about it, if you tell squabbling siblings to apologize, do you really expect them to be sincere? But in fact, Jesus did love his enemies, for as they drove cruel spikes through his hands and feet, He asked the Father to forgive them (Luke 23:34). And if we can't disagree and still love and respect one another, there's no hope for marriage! But actually, husbands and wives are commanded to love and respect one another (Ephesians 5:33). We have a ways to go, but when it works as intended, the beauty, love, forgiveness and respect in Christian marriages is a parable to the world of the reconciling power of Christ.

In terms of how this applies to culture wars, let me say again that there are people of goodwill, and those ready to exploit on all sides of the great cultural divide. Divide and conquer is an old strategy that ultimately comes from the thief (John 10:10a). And if we Christians are to be salt and light in the world, we must first and foremost demonstrate in our marriages and churches, that it is indeed possible to disagree and still love one another. We must then seek as much as is possible within us, to live at peace with all (Romans 12:18). I could wish that the accusations of hate, fear and lack of compassion that are levelled left, right and centre, was without foundation. And certainly there are some on all sides that exhibit these characteristics. And though hate and fear are wrong, they are understandable when for example, it was not at all clear that the courts would not side with a mother who had told her 3-year-old boy that he was a girl!

The Scripture tells us that we (that includes all of us, left right and middle) only know in part (1 Corinthians 13:9). But far too often  we all act as if we (not Jesus) are the way the truth and the life! When we act in this way we are deceived. And there are many on all sides who, by acting in this way, show they are indeed deceived. As Christians who have access to the peace of God that passes all understanding, we need to cease from being so reactive (I am talking to myself too), and learn that a soft answer turns away wrath. We also need to be well informed about the issues, so that we may be ready to give an answer of the hope that is within us. In this way we can start to love and respect and honour those with whom we disagree.

Father, You have called us to be salt and light in this wicked and hurting world, we cannot do this Lord unless we are vitally connected to you. Principles are not enough, truth is not enough, we need to be full of both grace and truth (John 1:17). Have mercy upon us Lord, draws us deeper into Your embrace, so we can demonstrate the truth that Jesus is the hope of the world. It's in His holy Name that I pray these things Amen

Come unto Me all you who are heavy laden … I will give you rest

I had to resign again this morning, as caretaker of the universe. The Lord reminded me of yesterday’s closing prayer “It's such a mess Lord ... Our eyes are on You Lord to do Your part, and to show us ours.” We are such creatures of imbalance, I am! I either take on too much responsibility, or not enough. But the Lord further reminded me this morning of a lesson He was teaching me years ago. I was visiting a colleague in LA, as I was passing through on my way to Australia. I had lost my passport. My friend took me to this and that place making a frantic effort to get a new passport and visa. And he used waiting times to read a new publication. It turned out to super be important to both our research interests, and on the drive back to his home he started telling me about it.

I had been supper stressed, but then when I had done everything I could, I returned to peace. And because I had been so stressed, my friend was amazed that I was able to absorb what he was telling me. But the Lord had been teaching me how, when I have done everything I can, to leave it with Him. The Lord is a good teacher! I am still learning not to stress when I am doing my part. But when I had done all I could, I had been able to let go and leave the outcome to Him. In terms of what is happening at the moment, I have been deeply grieved at a case going through the US courts. It concerns a seven year old biological boy, who at the age of three was told by his mother that he's a girl. The father had calmly (I don’t know how he could to that calmly) recorded an interview with the boy. He related that his mother had told him he was a girl, but when he father asked if he was, you could see the conflict in him. The boy’s eyes have haunted me.

On the other side of the coin, I know a mother who has difficulty loving her male child because he is the result of a rape. So often the children suffer for our frailty, but I have learned not to judge. And I needed to take a step back this morning, because if I don’t it will crush me. It did before! Feel free to pray for me, please! I do have a part to play, and I need to do my part, and then leave it with Him. And part of my part is to be informed, and to speak respectfully and in love to all who will listen. We don’t know what we don’t know, and we all, I believe, are deceived at some level by the father of lies (John 8:44). Ultimately our struggle is not against people (Ephesians 6:10). Our struggle most often, I believe, is against the lies people have believed, and against blocked communication. And I believe blocked communication is part of the thief’s agenda, because without the truth we will not be set free.

Father, I come to You again this morning in need of Your soul rest (Matthew 11:28). Please give me peace, and help me not to take on what I cannot change. Give me the courage to do my part, and the wisdom to know what is what. Help me to keep my eyes on You Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Culture wars (V) Politically incorrect desires, and the invalidation of regret

It's one thing to affirm politically correct (PC) feelings, and  quite another to invalidated those same feelings when they are unwanted, or to invalidate the later regret of those who change their mind? The reaction to those who change there minds, be it by personal attacks, hate and even death threats, is disturbing. Consider that is dubbed gender fluidity, and the anecdotal evidence given of harm, for not affirming transgender feelings in children as young as three. But actually research shows fluidity in a quite different direction, in that it documents that many children exhibiting gender confusion, grow out of it as they pass though adolescence, or even later. Consider the case of Walter Heyer, who at 42 transitioned to female, complete with hormones and surgery. At 50 however, he transitioned back to male, and now ministers to those with transgender regret. According to his webpage, more than 40% attempt suicide after having irreversible sex change operations. His webpage points to many studies in this area. But of course all such studies are highly contested.

But independent of the truth of it all, it is politically incorrect to have a change of heart in this,  or on any other PC position. Lisa Diamond, a self-identified Lesbian and feminist scholar, is best known for her research on sexual fluidity. She documents how same sex attraction changes over time in a large percentage of those identifying as homosexual or lesbian. In spite of this, there is legislation in place in several states making illegal   the giving of psychological help for unwanted same sex desires (google “reparative therapy illegal”). If sexual orientation is fluid, and you have unwanted same sex desires, why should you not be allowed to seek help in this area? In another PC area abortion. If you google “abortion and infertility” you get a variety of opinions. But even the NHS says “Having an abortion will not usually affect your chances of becoming pregnant.” But think about it, when drugs are advertised on TV, there is always a warning about possible side effects,  even if the risks are small. But the NHS essentially dismisses it. Can you imagine the regret of someone who aborted their only pregnancy, became  infertile because of it, and then, discover that it's politically incorrect to have the very regrets that are tearing you apart? Thus does PC strike again, invalidating not only politically incorrect desires, but also politically incorrect grief!

Concerning the controversy surrounding research, much of it is flawed and skewed, including by ideological bias. In terms of suicide attempts, there is anecdotal evidence, that with the best or the worst intentions, throw statistics around “proving” the ideological position of the speaker. Many question are left unanswered. Is Heyer's 40%, based solely on his clients, or is it more substantial? Those who are said to attempt suicide after failed therapy for homosexuality, would they have attempted suicide anyway? I have confidence the truth will eventually prevail, but in the face of such uncertainty, should we rush to legislate what is is essentially ideologically motivated morality, or allow irreversible changes to a child's sex at ever younger ages? Reputable paediatricians have called this child abuse.

Father, hate, accusations and threats are been thrown around here on both sides, stirred up by hearsay and flawed research. It's such a mess Lord, we cannot solve it without Your help. Our eyes are on You Father to do what only You can do, and to show us our part in Jesus Name Amen

Culture wars (IV) Compassion: unintended consequences and exploitation

It is heartening to see the outpouring of practical compassion by ordinary people in response to crises, be it earthquakes, or tsunamis, or 9/11 etc., etc. It can restore one’s faith in human nature to see the best in people coming out, in the worst of times. But there is much truth to the saying that as much evil has been committed by well intentioned people, as by evil. And such things are independent of political or religious affiliation. Robert Lupton in his book “Toxic Charity” tells that in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, thousands volunteers continued to pour into New Orleans distributing free food, long after the city should have shifted into long term development projects. He says “When relief does not transition into development in a timely way, compassion becomes toxic.” In third world countries, time after time uninformed compassion has lead to the flooding of marketS with grain, putting the local farmers out of business, and in this way creating dependence long after the crisis should have been solved. There are a number principles that can be put in pace to avoid toxic charity. For example never do for the poor what they can do for themselves. It's a good idea to limit one way sharing to emergency situations, and strive to empower through employment, lending, investing, education, and the facilitation of community encouraging the taking of responsibility and mutual accountability. This form of charity affords dignity to those we are seeking to help. “Opportunity International” is a charity that does these things in spades.

So firstly then, too often there are unintended and toxic consequences to actions taken with the best intentions in the world. But secondly there are aways those who are willing to exploit. The creativity of the criminal mind knows no limits. Corruption among those who are distributing aid for example, can result in black market prices being imposed on the distribution of free food, or strings might be attached with promises of favours returned can be demanded. Then there is the favouritism that exists when those of a particular tribe or political stripe, are given the lions share of the aid. Need I go on? Closer to home, corruption among politicians of all political persuasions is well documented. And then political posturing and image is often more important than substance, and tokenism and favouritism can, and does result. 

So let me ask “It is possible that good will and politically imposed solutions to the gross social ills and inequalities of our society can have unintended consequences and/or be used for political gain?” Well not with those on my side of the political divide! Please forgive my sarcasm. Can we admit there are both good and bad on both sides? We need to stop taking at each other and listen, for “there is none so deaf as those who will not hear!” And is there not a danger here, in the push to legislate against free speech (google it). Yes there is hate speech, but if we ban free speech altogether, how will we hold each other accountable, and how will we correct both unintended consequences and expose exploitation. I am not saying there are simple solutions to these things.

Father, please help us to stop vilifying the entirety of those who are “not us.” There are surly people of good will on both sides. Help us Lord to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves, and help us to listen to each other rather than dismissing each other in Jesus Name Amen

Culture wars (III) Do we have a right to not be offended?

Let me say up front, I do not approve of,  nor use offensive language, nor do I behave in Let me say up front, I do not approve of,  nor use offensive language, nor do I behave in offensive ways. I am for inclusion,  acceptance and respect, no matter what the person’s views. I had a homosexual man in my fellowship many times and he was always made to feel welcome. We are all made in God’s image, and as a believer it is incumbent upon me to relate to people as Jesus did with dignity and respect. In fact I use the story of the woman taken in adultery (John 8:1-11), as a model. Jesus did not condemn her, but neither did he condone her adultery (verse 11). I believe it is Holy Spirit's job to convict, not mine (John16:8). But I do need to say that in the same way LGBT+ groups would not allow me to promote traditional morality at their meetings, neither do I permit the promotion of homosexuality at ours.What Jesus did condemn was hypocrisy (Matthew 23:13). And just as there are people of integrity on both the left and the right, there are unfortunately hypocrites there too, people who are willing to use, and even promote, the culture wars for political gain!




As I say, I try to treat everyone with dignity and respect, but it's not always reciprocated. For some the world is divided into either the oppressed, or the oppressor.  So then  if you are not oppressed, you must be an oppressor. In particular if you are white (even apparently if you are oppressed), then you are the recipient of “white privilege,” the system of unearned privileges and advantages, that have been unjustly provided to white people simply because of their race. And since I am white, it seems that in some circles my very presence (regardless of my behaviour or attitude) is offensive. And since I am also a Christian, it's ten times worse! So let me ask again, do you have the right to not to be offended in this, or in any other way? I do not deny you the freedom to choose to be offended, you are free to do that. But if you do, you are not free from the consequences of living your entire life trapped in the prison of offence (see 19 October 2019 “The power and pollution of offence and resentment”)!




In a viral Youtube video, Cathy Newman asked Jordon Peterson why his right to freedom of speech should trump a person’s right not to be offended. He replied “You’re certainly willing to risk offending me in the pursuit of truth. It’s been rather uncomfortable. Why should you have the right to do that? You’re doing what you should do, which is digging a bit to see what the hell is going on.” Many may not see the double standard here. What if I am offended at you rejecting me simply because I am white? Will you extend to me the right not to be offended in this way? But actually I would choose not to be offended, because I cannot stay offended and still be free. I do however have the right to put appropriate boundaries in place to block offensive communication.




Father, my aim is to be offence proof. Offence and bitterness are poison, and  so  with Your Help, I will not allow anything such thing to control me. Help me Lord when it is difficult to live this out,   in Jesus Name Amen

A resting place between dogma and relative truth (VIII) Unintended consequences

In debate over the validity of ideas and actions, we need to be aware that ideas and actions can of have unintended consequences. They can be either good or bad, but I have a reason this morning to look only at negative examples this morning. There are two aspects to consider. The first is that there will always be those who are willing to take advantage of every situation. I recently heard the true story of a problem the British had with an infestation of snakes years ago,  in India. The decision was made to pay a certain sum of money to anyone who would produce a dead snake. It was a while before it was discovered that the enterprising, had started breeding snakes for that very purpose. As another example people's compassion can be taken advantage of. In my own city, it seems some deliberately dress down to give the appearance of homelessness,  thus playing on people's compassion as they panhandle. CBC television documents that  panhandlers typically make an average of $70 and hour. And that many, after gaining a desired amount, would walk back to their car, and drive home! But  Robert Lupton suggests that even if genuine,  such charity is cheap love. The scripture tells us if someone is hungry feed them, i.e take them to a restaurant or home! I rarely give money!

Secondly there are unintended consequences to ideas that at first may seem to be perfectly good, in both moral, and safety concerns. Legislating morality does not always work. The prohibition, of alcohol in the USA in the 1930s, shows the effect of banning something that most people enjoy.  And while prohibition led to a crackdown on small breweries, it also created a lucrative trade for the criminal gangs who produced bootlegged liquor and sold it. As a safety law example, in 1990, in Australia, the state of Victoria made safety helmets mandatory for all bicycle riders. While there was a reduction in the number of head injuries, there was also an unintended reduction in the number of juvenile cyclists—fewer cyclists obviously leads to fewer injuries. However, the risk of death and serious injury per cyclist, seems to have increased.

It is believed that the helmet law lead users to take greater risks, believing themselves to be almost immune, and  perhaps overestimating the protection of the helmets. I am not necessarily saying that the helmet law should be reversed. I am talking about our common need to testing all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and to be open to the reevaluation when new facts become available. This may seem like common sense, and it is, but it tends to get thrown out of the window the minute we try to deal with controversial issues. My point here is that seemingly good ideas and actions even when motivated by compassion can have unintended negative consequences. And it is helpful to have unemotional examples at hand to establish the principle before moving on to more controversial areas. Of course we need to be informed, and to be open ourselves,  to being shown to be wrong.

Father, we need to test all things and hold to what is good. Help us to be open to being corrected even in the areas of our cherished opinions. Help us to become informed, so that we can humbly engage as Ambassadors for Christ, with wisdom and respect with those with other views. We come to You again this morning Lord, to ask You to help us in these things in Jesus Name Amen

Culture wars (II) If my people will humble themselves, pray, repent ..

We have been talking about identification repentance, about confessing corporate sins. I have often heard “I didn’t do those things, it’s nothing to do with me!” But this is to fail to acknowledge that we have corporate, as well as individual responsibility. God will judge the goat nations, as nations (Matthew 245:31-40). And there is no doubt in my mind, that over the last century we have become a goat nation. The church has largely existed in splendid isolation, failing to be salt and light to the nation, and becoming more and more irrelevant in the process. We judge Christians in Nazi Germany for not speaking up, yet in timidity we remained silent, as sin flourished and grew in our nation like weeds in an unattended garden. In this way we abdicated our corporate responsibility. Identification repentance is Biblical. Daniel did not hesitate to identify with, and repent on behalf of the nation. And this morning I am want to use his prayer at a model of repentance,  and so fulfill our part (humble ourselves, pray and repent) in the 2 Chronicles 7:14 promise , that God would forgive our sin, and heal our land. The prayer follows, please join in,  and agree with me in praying it.

“O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments. We have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. In the church we have allowed pride and self-righteousness to taint the gospel, marginalizing and judging broken people, the down and out, the drug addicts and the prostitutes. We have sung “just as I am,” telling them to come, but we needed them to clean up, before making them welcome. We have hated and feared outsiders, and stepped back with a holier than thou attitude. It is smoke in your nostrils. We have failed to hold grace and truth in tension, either teaching truth without grace, or grace without truth. In addition Lord, we have allowed pride of being right, as a reason to separate from each other. In doing so we have failed to cooperate with You in answering Jesus prayer that we be one (John 17:11).

As a nation Lord, even when we have spoken to our leaders and rulers, we have not obeyed Your voice to walk in Your precepts, which You set before us by the Apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20). O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day. We have treated our our indigenous peoples shamefully robbing them of their culture and their land. And we have tried to solve the problems by throwing money at them, but have failed to come alongside with the compassion that brings healing. On the other hand we have engaged in toxic charity, enabling a victim mentality,  and  justifying the poison of bitterness and unforgiveness,  establishing all problems as the fault of others, and in the process voiding the need to take responsibility for their own situations. But to You O Lord belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against You.

And now O Lord, please grant us true repentance, let our repentance not be empty words Father, let it be heartfelt. And Lord have please have  mercy upon us according to Your promise to forgive and cleanse us when we confess as we have today(1John 1:9).  And fulfill now O Lord, the promise of Your Word to hear from heaven and heal our land in Jesus Name Amen

Culture wars (I) The plank in our eye (A resting place .. VIII)

I was recently involved in an intense conversation on issues to do with the cultural wars. You know the war between traditional values and radical social justice. Far too often in these situations, nobody is listening, and everybody is talking. It's easy to see the faults on the other side, and the virtue on mine, but not vice versa. And when that happens we get reactive and tend to lump everyone together who is “not us” vilifying them, and identifying them, in this case with either left or right extremes. We tend forget that there are whose,  for want of a better way to say it, who are both good and not so good on the all sides of the divide (it's not as though there are only two positions!). And what I want to do in the next few days is to try and figure out the how, what, when and if, of these things. So please journey with me as I allow the Lord to test and refine my thinking where necessary, seeking to make my stand as loving and correct and Biblically balanced as possible. 


 We need to start by applying the principle “A soft answer turns away wrath (Proverbs 15:1), and realizing that no matter what “side” we are on, there is likely a “plank in our eye,” and in particular that  we are not all that perfect ourselves. In the aftermath of the conversation, which was very distressing to me, I have taken almost to week to respond,  making sure I was  not still being reactive, discussing possible responses with people I respect, and doing my very best to not first and foremost “look at the speck in my brother's eye,” but to consider “the plank” in my own, and in those with whom, for better or worse, I am identified (Matthew 7:3).


It is important to acknowledge the history of the way that the church has treated the outcasts of society in a less than Christian way (and worse). Jesus never did that, and in accordance with the principle of identification repentance, we need to repent on our own, and the church’s, behalf. "Identification Repentance" is the type of prayer which identifies with, and confesses before God the corporate sins of one's nation, people, church, or family (see for example 2 Kings 22:19; Daniel 9:1-19). We want to do this  as the fulfillment of our part in the promise “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). But please note, Jesus does go on in the rest of the Matthew reference, to tell us to live and let live, rather when we have removed the plank from in our own eye, we will see clearly to remove the speck from our brother’s eye” (verse 5). In the coming days we will be looking at the how and when and the what of how this applies to us in the midst of the cultural wars 


Father, I come before you today, and I repent on behalf of myself and your Church for the self righteous, judgmental attitudes and actions of Your Church, and for our lack of compassion. Cleanse us Lord and change us, and please come and heal our land in Jesus Name Amen

The power and pollution of resentment

This morning I am remembering, something that happened in China years ago. I was the only “foreign expert,” attending a conference in Guilin (the mountains and the mist we see in many paintings). Being the honoured guest, I was being treated like a king, being wined and dined, and I liked it, I could get used to it! On an excursion we went on a trip down the river, at the end of which there would be a bus waiting for us. But we had to walk half an hour in the rain to get to the bus, and I kept muttering to myself “this is no way to treat the king!” Actually I was at the same time laughing at myself, and thinking how easy it is to move into resentment when when we don’t feel we are getting what we so richly deserve! The Lord reminded me of this incident this morning to help me not to take myself to seriously.

I had found myself this morning overwhelmed with negative feelings from a recent slight. As I cried out to the Lord asking for help, He reminded me that I had been teaching recently, that we humans have this unique ability to think about what we are thinking about. And in my mind’s eye I then imagined myself looking down on me wrestling with resentment. I then chose to think about things that are pure, lovely etc., etc. (Philippians 4:8). As I did this the feelings started to lift. For me this was relatively quick, but I have had a lot of practice taking my thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5), I have needed to. You see one of my addictions was obsessive thinking, and in the beginning it was much more of a struggle to take my thoughts captive than it was this morning. But reaping the consequences of my addictive obsessive thinking was one of my wake-up calls.

The writer to the Hebrews warns us that we must take care that we do not fail to receive the grace of God “lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled” (Hebrews 12:15). You see resentment and bitterness are poison. And first and foremost we poison ourselves with our negativity, but we also poison those around us whom we love. And at the time of my wake up call I certainly needed His grace to overcome my addictive obsessive thinking, and still do at times. So this morning I asked Him to help me receive His Grace. It’s all about forgiveness of course, and depending on the hurt, and the length of time we spent resenting, receiving His grace is either easier, or harder. And for most of us, forgiving others, and getting rid of our resentment is a process that we need to practice, practice, practice.

Father, You tell us to be kind and compassionate one to another, forgiving one another just as You forgave us (Ephesians 4:32). We need to forgive Father, because over and over we need to be forgiven, and unless we forgive, You will not forgive us (Matthew 6:15). But Lord we also need to forgive for our own sake, because life does not go well when we sit in the prison of bitterness and resentment. So this morning Lord, I’m asking for Grace for myself and all those reading this blog, Grace to forgive from the heart. And we will give you the honour, and glory and praise in Jesus Name Amen

The need for church to be a safe place (III) Healing, community and Testimony

In a loving, healthy, family when a child is naughty, and confesses when gently confronted, and then, if he is then quickly forgiven, the child will almost immediately bounce back to joy. I remember an incident with one of my grandchildren who was being particularly stubborn, and my giving him the choice of compliance, or of the incident being reported to his mother. Next thing I knew we were walking hand in hand and chatting happily, as if the incident had never happened. When we know it is safe to confess, and that we will be quickly forgiven when we do, we can get to the place, even as adults, where we actually welcome the exposure of our denial, of the hidden things that hinder our fellowship with God, and each other. I mean it brings healing. It's also part of being childlike, and what we are called to, as His disciples.

The Scripture I am thinking of this morning is “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ keeps on cleansing us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7). If we are afraid to reveal who we truly are, we are not waking in the light, we are walking in darkness. There is a recovery saying that we are only as sick as our secrets. Shame for example, multiplies in the dark, and if not brought to the light, it can too easily  lead us into control,  fear and pain. And what we fear is judgement and rejection, but will likely only come from the self righteous. Being part of a number of step studies where,  with Christ as our higher power,  we work the twelve steps, I have been delighted and blessed by the openness, honesty and transparency of the members. It is here were we truly see the reality that there is no difference for all have sinned (Romans 3:23). And we are able to lift one another up, and pray for one another. And you can see the miracle of healing and deliverance and acceptance in awesome community.

Can this only happen in twelve step groups? Of course not, but clearly real and true community cannot happen in hiding and isolation. And I believe that it has to start small, and where confidentially is stressed, honoured and monitored. The basic underlying principles also need to be taught, and those who teach these things need to demonstrate openness and vulnerably too. It is risky, but we will not love one another well if we are not open and vulnerable with each other, and we will not be a testimony to the world if we don’t love one another in this way. The world need to be able to say “Well if they can accept him, they will accept me.” If they can’t see that, why would they ever want to be part of us? These are the things I believe the Lord wants for His church.

Father, far too meany people have been hurt by church, and this must grieve your heart even more than it grieves mine. Lord we are so very far from perfect, and we need Your help. Lord You have promised to give us shepherds according to Your heart, shepherds who have knowledge and understanding of these things (Jeremiah 3:15). So Lord please come quickly with these things in Jesus Name Amen

Our hurts, habits and hang ups (V) Denial, responsibility and healing

I know of someone who had been in recovery long term,  before he came into the Christ centred twelve-step program Celebrate Recovery (CR). He had been learning recovery principles from other sources, and had had a measure of healing and numerous periods of sobriety. After entering CR, he almost immediately fell off the wagon. The way he tells it, as he embraced step one “I admitted I was powerless over my addictions,” he ditched that part of recovery that, at some level, was working for him. He did however quickly lean to walk in full victory and healing. I want to say two things this morning. Firstly in coming out of denial and admitting our powerlessness in the area of our difficulties, we must be careful not to give up on what we can do. Secondly I want to acknowledge that there are those who seem to find it possible, with extraordinary willpower to change, but they never seem to loose the craving, and there is no healing.

The picture I have of these things, is of a whirlpool where the current at the edges is relatively weak, but increases towards the vertex. Depending on how strong a swimmer you are, you can go deeper into the whirlpool, and still be able to swim out. But there comes a point at which you will not get out without help. The point is that when we ask Him, God will make up for what we cannot do, but like a parent who shouldn't still be tying a ten year old child’s shoes, He will not do for us what we can do for ourselves. That would be to negate growth. Though the denial step is designed and phrased to bring those out of denial who are hopelessly out of control, the way these things work, is that by working the steps, we grow in self-control (Galatians 5:23). It is as though God brings us to the place in the whirlpool where we have the strength to swim out, and then we have to do it. And the man in the story had simply stopped swimming. To put it another way, he surrendered responsibility for what he could do.

About the second point, I know of people with tremendous will power who for example, by it are able to quit smoking. But they never loose the craving, and it’s a battle every day. I describe myself as a dry drunk for the first couple of decades of my Christian walk. I had stopped drinking, but neither healed nor dealt with the issues that lead me to drink in the first place. Healing, deliverance, dealing with the issues and having a change of heart (desires) are all related. The Scriptures tell us that “God is at work in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him” (Philippians 2:13), but the context makes it very clear that this is dependent on our cooperating with Him with everything we are, and have (verse 12). As always I need to make it clear this is not about earning the justification part of salvation (freedom from the penalty of sin), it is about getting and staying fee (John 8:31ff).

Father, what a wise and loving Father You are, teaching us in Your Word about denial, responsibility and healing. You seem to be more interested in our growth, than our arriving at perfection. Thank You Lord for this, and the corresponding significance and self confidence we find in these things, in Jesus Name Amen

The need for church to be a safe place (II) Denial, repentance and healing

As I said last day, we cannot expect people to come out of denial, if it's not safe. Clearly some churches are safer than others, but surly we need to examine ourselves concerning these things (1 Corinthians 11:28). And where we fall short we need to repent. In order to facilitate this, I want to mention three areas where we need to examine ourselves. Firstly concerning the way of love, we need to “believe all things, hope all things and endure all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). In particular, we need to believe in others even when they don’t believe in themselves. And if and when they fall, we can hope, and if they fall so often we loose hope, we can still love them as we endure.

Secondly Church will not be a safe place while we are still hiding behind masks. In such an atmosphere we will either be covered in shame fearing that someone might find out what we are like and so reject us, or we will likely self righteously condemn those who don’t sin the same way we do.  Oh how we love to look down on others, but it's sinful and we need to repent. We need to learn again that mercy triumphs over judgement (James 2:13), and to see that compared to our standard Jesus, there is not one of us who is in in any position to judge anyone. If the verse “with the measure that you judge , you will be judged” (Matthew 7:2) does not scare the living daylights out of you, it should!

Thirdly, notwithstanding what I just said, we need to stop conforming to the world in its soft peddling of sin. I am not talking about not showing mercy, nor about not granting unconditional acceptance of the person. But if something is wrong , it will have negative consequences (Galatians 6:7; Genesis 3:17 NKJV see January 25), and if we stay in denial blaming others for our pain, are we likely to change? Paul admonishes us to warn “everyone and teach everyone in all wisdom, that we may present everyone perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:28). I like what Kris Volloton says about the prodigal father's example “he didn’t accept his son's sinful lifestyle to woo the boy homeward. And his son respected his father’s nobility and understood that he couldn’t bring his immoral lifestyle to the father’s farm.” We need to ask ourselves “Is it love to affirm someone in their sin?” Sin is always destructive and surly to affirm them in it, is to enable destruction! To sum up, we need to ask the Lord where we may be in denial,   and then to walk  in  love and humility and  in an attitude of repentance. And we need to lovingly and humbly teach about these things (Galatians 6:1).

Father, I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have see the King, the Lord of Hosts (Isaiah 6:5). Lord though I see the weakness of Your church,  especially in the West, I also see weakness in me.  We have such an opportunity Father to reach this wicked and hurting world, but we need to come out of our denial that everything is okay with us.  Show us where we are part of the problem, and grant us repentance.  Forgive us Lord and equip us  in this way to be in process of being changed into Your glorious likeness in Jesus Name Amen

The need for church to be a safe place (I) Denail and Relevance

Sadly in a church where there is little persecution, the default is for the church to have “a form of religion, but deny it's power” (2 Timothy 3:5; Luke 10:19). But actually For many years in the West, the church had too much of the wrong kind of power, and the default kicked in. While things are changing, especially in the atmosphere of hostile political correctness, much of the church is in still in denial about its ineffectiveness and irrelevance to it's own problems and pain and those of the age. But as our society becomes sicker and sicker, the principles and promises of Scripture, and the power of the Holy Spirit's work to heal, and bring the abundant life, become more,  and more relevant. And with it comes the opportunity to teach and demonstrate the good news that Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted, and to set the captives free (Luke 4:18).

Sadly (again) part of the church denies even the need for recovery and inner healing (see 20, 21 May). We need to come out of such denial, and tap into the resources the Lord is opening up in this season, to accomplish His Luke 4:18 agenda. “What resources” you ask? Well, When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD always lifts up a standard against him (Isaiah 59:19). And in face of the success of the enemy's current killing, stealing and destroying (John 10:0a), the Lord is raising up many inner healing ministries both secular and sacred. I'll mention several, Restoring the Foundations, Elijah house ministries, Shiloh Place Ministries, Celebrate Recovery, but there are many,  more. Since I'm most familiar with the first and last of these, I tend to reference them.

Now there are clear commands in the Scripture, that are either ignored, or have fallen into disuse. The one I am about to mention will be familiar to those who read my blog. It is “confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed” (James 5:16). It’s not a suggestion by the way, it’s a command. The problem though, is that it’s not safe, and the problem with that, is that when it’s not safe,  we are not going to obey the command. What I am saying then,  is that we need to create safe places, and we need to create them in Church. If we don't do this, the Church won't be the hospital for the sin sick it's intended to be. Celebrate Recovery (CR) gives us one model. It takes Jesus as our higher power, but otherwise follows traditional twelve-step programs. Even within the fellowship of such programs, is the recognition we need to start small. In particular step five reads “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.” We confess to God to be forgiven and cleansed, we confess to each other to be healed (1 John 1:9; James 5:16). I have been talking about denial, but we cannot expect the church to come out of hiding, without it being transformed into a safe place.It has to start with us.

Father, we need Your help to transform church into safe places. Be it in small groups, or in programs like CR, please bring it to pass. Unless we can be honest with ourselves we will not be real, and we will not be relevant to the sickness of the age. Please Lord do not leave us in our dysfunction in Jesus Name Amen

Our hurts, habits and hang ups (IV) Coming out of denial

Denial, in the recovery sense, is about an unwillingness to see something that, for whatever reason, we don’t want to see. It is recognized in Psychology as a widespread coping mechanism to help us to deal with a variety of circumstances and issues. When my father died my first response was “I don’t believe it.” Well I just didn’t want it to be true. In cases like this, it can be helpful in terms of the process of coming to terms with the loss. But if it had gone on for too long it would have been dysfunctional. Dysfunctional denial is widespread, and I dare say that at some level we are all there. The Scriptural indication of this comes in John 16:12 where Jesus told the disciples “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” If those who had lived in close quarters with Him 24/7 still had issues, it’s likely we do too!

Denial and rationalization are closely related, and it’s so much easier to blame others. Many times it takes crisis after crisis before we become willing to see what we don’t want to see. At the breakup of a marriage for example you either learn a great deal, or you learn virtually nothing. And if we learn nothing, we go on to make the same choices that ended the previous marriage. C.S. Lewis said that “God whispers to us in our pleasures, but shouts to us in our pain, it is God’s megaphone to tell us something's wrong.” There is a recovery saying that we don’t change (in particular we don’t come out of denial) when we see the light, we change when we feel the heat! And this will not likely happen until the pain of being stuck becomes greater than the pain and fear of change.

We may have to come to a series of bottoms (crises - places where we reach the end of our rope), before we come out of denial and become willing to  examine our choices. For myself there were two phases to this, one that lead to conversion, and the other to my entering recovery. With regard to recovery, I had been learning recovery principles for some time in order to help “those people.” Then in crisis I discovered I am one of you! If we come out of denial and into recovery this way, we will need help. We will need a safe place to unburden, and many go to therapists, or close friends. For me both of my  “bottoms”  ultimately drove me to the Lord, where I “poured out my complaint” (Psalm 142:2) to Him. I did go to a Christian therapist for a while. He told me “For a very good reason, you don’t trust anyone.” But I did trust the Lord, and my initial healings came from Him! But there was much more work to be done!

Father, I have the sense that we are either growing in recovery, or we are falling back (1 Corinthians 10:12). As with many things in life, in recovery there is no fence! That is not to say we need to do recovery 24/7,we do need sabbaths, but they is part of our healing, our convalescence.  Nobody is saying this is easy,  we need Your help, and in fact we need the help of others too. You made us that way. Open up safe places for us Lord, safe places in You, and safe places in community, in Jesus Name Amen in recovery

Our hurts, habits and hang ups (III) Conviction is an invitation, not condemnation

There is a kind of catch 22 about the gospel. When we have believed lies about God especially that He is out to get us, then we don’t know that there is a cure for sin sickness. And if we don’t know there's a cure, what else can we do but we try to cover it up and deny that it’s there, or at least that it’s serious?  To admit it, would be to open up a can of worms.  So we hide the truth, even from ourselves. It is helpful to see that there is a difference between conviction,  and condemnation. To condemn someone is to declare them to be reprehensible, and evil. And the  feelings of condemnation can be crushing. But God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but rather  that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17). Conviction is different, though we are still made aware of our wrong doing, conviction is not a guilt trip, it has a purpose and comes with an invitation. Conviction is the Holy Spirit's job, not ours (John 16:18). And part of the problem is the self-righteous hypocritical attitudes  and guilt trips of some!

But coming back to conviction, I don’t know why it's so hard to admit it when we are wrong, but it seems to be. In fact from the beginning we tried to hide our sin (see “Where are you Adam” 22 January). However “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). When Adam and Eve sinned God cursed the earth "for our sake" (see 25 January), that is He put into motion the spiritual law that bad choices produce bad fruit. And the “for our sake” curse, is about His desire that we be drawn to Him through the consequence of our own and others sin.  When we become sick and tired of being sick and tired of it all, we can start to see the relevance of the Spirit's invitation to “come ..… let him that is thirsty come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).

As regards to  the nature of this invitation, Jesus tells us “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-30). Father God likewise invites “Come let us reason together, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). We do of course need to repent, but when  “we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). And when we do this and receive Jesus, we become His children (John 1:12), and from that point on “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ” (Romans 8:1).

Father, I want to thank You this morning that You cursed the earth for our sake. I know that it was the consequences of my own and others sins,  that made me desperate enough to try “even God” as I thought about it then. Thank You for Your invitation to taste and see that You are good (Psalm 34:8). Indeed Your are Lord, You are good all the time, and all the time You are good in Jesus Name Amen

Our hurts, habits and hang ups (II) Over what do you have control?

“I am not going to let anyone control me or tell me what to do, I'm in control, not you, not anyone, not even  God!” I hear this sentiment a lot, but do we really have control or are we kidding ourselves? Rick Warren suggests that there are at least four areas where we try to control, but where,  in the long run,  we totally fail. Firstly we try to control our pain. And we do it in thousand ways. We medicate it with alcohol, or drugs or pornography, or by being busy, by workaholism,  or trying to get getting rich, or chasing fame, anything so I don't have to slow down and think. In the end we don’t do drugs to get high, we do drugs or many of the other things on the list, to kill the pain. It might work for a while, but only for a while, and when we stop it’s worse. No, we cannot control the pain, not even close.

Secondly we try to control our image, how other people see us. We like to put our best foot forward, to show the good and hide the not so good. We may fool some, but we fool ourselves if we think nobody sees through it. Young people especially, particularly our sons and daughters, can sniff this sort of thing out from a thousand miles away. Thirdly, we try to control others. We try to do it through guilt, or anger, or  manipulation , or shame. Or or we do it passive aggressively using punishing silences. But trying to control others is one of the surest ways to sabotage relationships. You see if you don’t want to be controlled, you can be sure the other person doesn’t want to be controlled either. There is a saying that the only person you can control is you! But can we even do that? Well actually, this brings us to the fourth and final item in Rick's list. 

So finally then, we try to control our run away habits and hang ups. How often have I heard “I can quit anytime, or I change anytime (depending on the habit or hangup). I just don’t want to!” But it’s only when we try to change that we see how ingrained is the habit, and how difficult it is to quit. Have you ever noticed that good habits are hard to get into, and easy to get out of, while bad habits are easy to get into, and hard to get our of? Paul wrestling this this phenomenon could write “ I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what’s right, but I can’t. I do what I don’t want to — what I hate” (Romans 7:15). Jesus put is this way “He who sins is sin’s servant” (John 8:34). When we have developed sinful habits and appetites, and the appetite says “Jump,” we answer “How high?”

Father, a verse I keep quoting comes to mind  “Do not be deceived, whatever a man sows that will he also reap”(Galatians 6:7).  And when we sow an action over and over, we reap a habit. It's an illusion to believe that we're in control. Oh sure there are some things we can control, but not so much the things that matter. So Lord please grant me the serenity to stop trying to control the things I'm not supposed to, the courage and the Grace to change the things I can and should, and the wisdom to know what's what in Jesus Name Amen

Hurts, habits and hangups (I) Life in all its fullness

“Most men” they say, “live lives of quiet desperation.” Thank goodness it's not true about women, just joking! How did this happen? Well “the thief comes for no other reason to kill, steal and to destroy” (John 10:10a). And if you have a hurt that’s not yet healed, or some annoying habit you can’t seem to shake, or if you have hangup that prevent you doing this or that, then the devil has essentially had his with with you (and me). But Jesus came to “heal the brokenhearted, and to set the captives free” (Luke 4:18), and to bring you and me fullness of (John 10:10b). “If the Son shall set you free you will be free indeed” (John 8:35).

This morning, I’m startin a series on the Biblical recovery principles that we need to embrace in order to tap into the Lord's agenda rather than the Devil's. Many of my Christian friends tell me we don’t need recovery, or to deal with the past, because it’s all forgiven, it's under the blood. To me this is to confuse the justification part of salvation, the part that sets us free from the penalty of sin (Romans  3:24), with the sanctification part that is designed to set us free from the power, and the pollution of sin (see 30th January posts). The Lord tells us not to be deceived, because we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). And I am afraid that those who don’t think we need to deal with the issues of the past are indeed deceived. If you spent years in addictions for example, you will likely have deeply hurt those who love you. It might take some time for them to trust you. But they will not trust you if you exhibit exactly the same selfish behaviour you did when you were addicted. And you will not change that behaviour if you don't know why you engaged (often out of hurts or unforgiveness) in the first place. 

We don't go into the past to camp there, we go into the past so that the Lord can cauterize the wounds, bind them up and heal them so that they don't affect the present any more. We have to trust Him in this. If a dog has a splinter in his paw, it's no good telling the dog it's forgiven, and all under the blood. He needs to trust you to take out the barb. This is what Jesus wants to do, and it's  how He heals us.  So often we have wrong responses to wrong done to us. Two wrongs don't make a right, and we will not heal unless we cooperate with Him and do things His way. And the fact of the matter is, that we don' know what we don't know, and at many levels we have no idea how the past is affecting us.  But you can be sure it is affecting us,  and not necessarily in positive ways! So then who then needs Biblical recovery? Anyone who does not have the abundant life, anyone who as a hurt,  or a habit or a hang up. And that's me,  for one!

Lord Jesus, I want to thank You this morning that You have promised that if we fully cooperate with You, You will heal our hearts and set us free.  Give us courage  to do this Lord, and please give us the faith and trust You, and to let You into the deepest parts of our hearts and lives in Your precious Name  I pray Amen

A revelation of the hope, inheritance and power trinity

Continuing with Paul's prayer that God would grant us a spirit of revelation of hope, of our inheritance, and of God’s power towards us (Ephesians 1:17-19). Last day we were saying that a revelation  is a trinity (logos words, rhama words and the grace to appropriate them). This morning we are discussing that hope, inheritance and power are also trinity (three interconnected diversities). We need to know the facts (logos) for example that God is all powerful. Paul tells that this incredible power is the same that raised Jesus from the dead, and it is far, far greater than the power of the enemy (verses 20,21). Secondly we need to know how this relates to us, that part of our inheritance is that this power has already been made available to us, so that thirdly there is hope for every situation in which we find ourselves.

And if we don’t know our inheritance, we don’t know that we have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness, including the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy (2 Peter 1:3; Luke 10:19). And if we don't know them, how will we know to exercise that power and authority? And if we know only in our heads about the things that are freely given (1 Corinthians 2:12), but we don’t have the sure hope that flows from a vibrant faith, or we know that God is powerful but are not sure we have the authority to tap into that power, then what good it is? No, we need all three together, that is we need a revelation of these things. We need a living hope (1 Peter 1:3) that flows out of the experience of God living in us, and into the exercise of a faith that takes risks. A faith, for example that prays out loud in their presence, for people to be healed.

We read (logos word) that the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16). When we are born anew into a living hope, it becomes a rhama word and we experience it. The rhama word comes with the grace to respond (revelation). In this case to cry out “Abba Father” (verse 15). Our inheritance includes “exceedingly great and precious promises” that allow us to partake of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Many of these promises have conditions that need to be fulfilled before we can claim them. One such promise is that God will not only give us the grace to do His will, but He will actually work in our desires. Our part is to work out the sanctification part of our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12,13). This is not about working for the justification salvation, the freedom from the penalty of sin. No, it's the working out that part of salvation that increasingly frees us from the power and pollution of sin, while we wait to be delivered from its very presence (see January 30 post).

Father, a spirit of revelation is ongoing and progressive. I am seeing it a bit laying bricks in our wall of faith, as we grow in wisdom and knowledge and grace. In this process we do need to respond with all we are and have (fear and trembling), and we need Your help and a spirit of revelation of these things.  So we are asking for these things this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

trinity, revelation, logos and rhama

I have coined the word “trinity” (lower case “t”) to describe three interconnected diversities  (three in one). I gave humans being body, soul and spirit as a primary example (see January posts). This morning I want to  relate this to what I have been saying about (spiritual) revelation, and to indicate that this is also trinity.  I want to start by talking about the Greek words logos and rhama,  which are both rendered “word.]” in the English Bible.   This of necessity here, is a little simplistic since there is much that can be said. But with this in mind we can think of logos as the purely rational aspect of words. We use logos words to make arguments and to persuade, and they can have little or no connection  to spirituality or not. Logos words are of course, an essential part of human communication. On the other hand rhama words are primarily spiritual, they are the words the Lord speaks into our hearts. When a verse stands out to us that's likely a logos word that has become a rhama word.

Jesus tells His disciples that His rhama words are spirit and they are life (John 6:63). The context is of many being offended by His telling them that “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (verse 53). Pre-resurrection,  nobody had a clue what He was talking about (verse 52). “This is a hard saying” they said,  and many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more (verse 66). Asking the twelve if they too would go away,  Peter replies “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the rhama  of eternal life” (verse 68). Reading between the lines we see him saying “Lord we don’t have a clue what you are saying, but what we do know,  is that when You speak they are rhama words,  and they bring life,  life in all its fullness  in the here and now (John 10:10b), and life forever with You in the hereafter.”

I have said before that we know in a trinitarian way by logic, experience and intuition (17 January).  And this is in both the natural and the spiritual realms (see earlier posts on “a spirit of wisdom”). Many  logos (Bible) words can be considered as both sacred and secular wisdom (it's why Psychology that works,   and faith are deeply connected). We reap what we sow  for example (Galatians 6:7), that is poor choices produce bad fruit. We can use such words  and wisdom to communicate the value of Biblical truth to unbelievers. Peter’s words quoted above indicate,  that even though the logic was not making much sense,  nevertheless his spiritual intuition was kicking in (see 1 Corinthians 1:18). In the same sentence he indicates from experience,  that when he embraces  rhama words, he also receives the  transforming grace  that bringing life.  He is receiving both logos and rhama,  and the grace to put them into practice and thus to experience what he is receiving.  In a word he is receiving a spirit of revelation.

Father, Your (logos) word is telling us that revelation is spirit,  that rhama word is spirit,  that rhama words are a component of revelation, and that when we respond in faith as Peter did,  they bring life. So we pray this morning with Paul that You would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You (Ephesians 1:17). And we will give Your the glory and the praise in Jesus Name Amen

The first Ephesians prayer (V) The exceeding greatness of His power toward us

I have prayed for people to be healed, and the Lord has healed them, and I have prayed for others to be healed, and as far as I know nothing has happened. What I do know, is that that no matter where we are in terms of tapping into the exceeding greatness of His power, none of us has arrived. And so each and every one of us needs a spirit of revelation of the said exceeding greatness of his power “toward us.” In context, in addition to praying for a revelation of hope and inheritance, Paul prays for a revelation of “the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:19-21).

The prepositions “eis” and “kata” translated here as “towards” and “according,” are awkward to translate. Thayer says of “eis” that it denotes entrance into, so the exceeding greatness of His power to which we have access. And of “kata” he says it denotes relation or proportion. Putting this together, Paul is praying for a revelation of the overwhelming immensity and greatness of the resurrection power that has been made available to, and to which those “who believe” have access. At the risk of being overly repetitive, I want to say a revelation of this comes with the grace, the wherewithal to fully believe and to tap into these incredible resources. If you’re not there yet, you need a revelation of it. I know I do! No matter how far we have come, there is always more, exceedingly greatly more. Jesus told us that we will do greater things because He was going to the Father (John 14:12). Note the “will do” in the quote “whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these” (verse 12). Not 'might do,' 'will do.' Well who 'will do?' “Whoever believes in Me!”

And in a way, this explains why we wrestle so much, it's lac of faith. We have more faith, many times in the Devil to keep right on doing what he does best, which is to steal, kill and destroy. And we can become dazzled by his power, but he is a liar (John 10:10a; 8:44), and the only power he has, is the power we give him. God and the devil are not equal and opposite powers, it’s great big God, little biddy devil. These verses tell us it is not just 'above all powers and principalities' and it’s not just some powers and principalities, is it is FAR above ALL of them. And what we need to do is to fix our spiritual eyes not on what is seen in the natural, but on the unseen (2 Corinthians 4:18). And in order to do this, we need a revelation of the grace that is available us to tap into the exceeding greatness of His power to which we have already been granted access (2 Peter 1:4).

So Father I pray this morning for myself and all those reading this, that You would indeed give us a spirit of revelation of these things, revelation  to not only know them, but to walk in them in Jesus Name Amen

The Hope to which He has called us (VI) Christ in you the hope of glory

I am praying as I write, that the Lord would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation of the mystery of  "Christ in us the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).  And it is a mystery, a hidden or secret thing that is not obvious to the understanding, and which hides a purpose or council (Thayer), in this case the purpose and council of God. That it's described as a mystery underlines the fact that we need a revelation of it. The word “Christian” in fact means “little christ,” and while this morning's verse includes the amazing fact that we are invited into relationship with Him, it goes further in that Christ is actually inside of you and me, if we are believers. But as I keep saying, a revelation of this needs to go far, far deeper than our knowing, even in all the diverse ways that we know and experience it (Him Romans 8:16).

In particular, as with all spiritual revelation, the type of revelation of “Christ in you the hope of Glory” that we are talking  about here, comes with the Grace to unlock the hidden Christ within, and to release Him first and foremost to ourselves, and then to the World. It is His intention to release millions of Christians (little christs) as His ambassadors of hope, to this wicked and hurting world. This is so in line with His primary purpose that “He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him” (Ephesians 1:10). Before we were in Christ, we were without Him “being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). Without hope we "live" in various states of death, emotionally, spiritually and even physically (see the Stockdale paradox 26 September). But we have Christ the hope of the World actually living in us!

Part of the problem,  for both Christians and unbelievers, is that God is invisible, and that the hope we are talking about is in an invisible reality. But as Paul explains “hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (Romans 8:24, 25). And since it is so easy to get discouraged, and we need perseverance,  and so the hope.  It is vital therefore that we pray with Paul for an ongoing of spirit of revelation of the hope to which He has called us, and in particular of “Christ in us,  the hope of glory.” In this way as His ambassadors of reconciliation we are a living demonstration of the sure and living hope of the gospel to a world without hope (2 Corinthians 5:20; 1Peter 1:3). 

Father, Peter telling that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, and that the heavens and the earth will be dissolved,  asks what manner of life we should therefore live (2 Peter 3:10,11).  Clearly we need to live and demonstrate hope.  So I am asking again this morning Lord that You would fill us with hope, and help us to deal with the garbage, the issues of life that get in the way of receiving both the revelation with its accompanying enabling grace that enables us to truly live in the reality of Christ in me the hope of glory. In Jesus name Amen