Church Blog (Page 64)
The Present#1. “Here and Now.”
On one of our coldest nights of the New Zealand winter, many homes faced sudden cold and darkness when their electricity was cut off. This was no accident. The low temperatures caused a spike in electricity usage and the national grid could no longer deliver what was needed. Thus, they cut power to various provincial areas. When your world suddenly goes dark and cold, your mind is exclusively centred on the ‘present.’ No matter how much time seems to pass,…
The Past#4. “A great teacher.”
I was halfway to Nashville, and I needed to stop. So, I left the freeway and arrived at a tiny, poorly lit gas station. The attached store was but a glorified prefab (USA trailer home), filled with every kind of convenience food that ever fed a heart attack. The two ladies manning the store were friendly and happy to meet a strangely accented traveller “not from these parts.” One of the ladies had “Billy Jo” tattooed in big bold letters…
The Past#3. “No place to live.”
I always enjoyed listening to my mother’s childhood stories. Her tales of life growing up with 8 siblings in the hills behind Matata (the town in which I was raised as a child) seemed surreal to me. Her Depression Era beginnings had all its associated privations of poverty—too little food, rags for clothing, and substandard housing; things she was determined not to pass on to us. But she didn’t live in the past. She had a family to raise—that was…
The Past#2. “God remembers.”
I have a preacher friend who was unceremoniously moved on by the congregation with which he had been working. Having a clear conscience, he didn’t concern himself with his reputation, but only that he continue to provide for his family. However, there was also the ever-present possibility of having to move to another town to preach—moving house, kids in new schools and a new beginning. But all this was circumvented when a nearby congregation asked him to preach for them.…
The Past#1. “Your records do not lie.”
If you are a Kiwi, you can now access your medical records online. When accessing mine, I was most interested to note the acceleration of medical care that I required the closer I got to my sixtieth birthday. The one-off episodes came and went, but it was the tracking of key indicators that were most telling. The doctors’ micro-comments revealed their greatest concerns over high blood pressure, too much weight and high cholesterol levels. I might have had more concern…
Wise as Serpents#5. “When men revile you. Part 2.”
“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me” (Mt.5:11). When someone is out to get you, expect a flood of emails, texts, phone calls, random visits and godless social media posts. You can even expect them to use your very children in their wretched cause against your faith. I have heard Christians reassure others by saying, “There are laws against slander and harassment.” And ‘calling the…
Wise as Serpents#5. “When men revile you. Part 1.”
“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me” (Mt.5:11). Don’t you wish that your spiritual detractors would stay strictly to the subject of faith in their efforts to persecute us? But instead, their opposition begins to permeate every aspect of your life, and you wonder why you are starting to feel violated and helpless. Persecution is a paradigm in which the Christian must learn to thrive.…
Wise as Serpents#4. “Pearls before swine.”
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Mt.7:6). I have never been concerned about the thought of “Prayer” being excluded from our House of Parliament. I know there are believers within (bless them), but most of the others, in my opinion, have proven that faith is something they would rather live without. Rather than fight with…
Wise as Serpents#3. “Robbing Churches.”
I was standing on the church building steps when an eight-year-old girl came up the drive and asked if I could come and speak to her Father. He was sitting in his car when I met him, and he looked so sad that my heart immediately went out to him. If that wasn’t hard enough to bear, he bowed his head and said, “Sorry to disturb you pastor, but my missus died, and I don’t have enough petrol to get…
Wise as Serpents#2. “Become sober-minded.”
Late one Saturday night I picked up a man walking on the side of the road. He was very thankful and asked me if I was a Christian. When I told him I was, he said, “I knew it. I can tell. I want to come to your church tomorrow. What time do you start?” His eyes filled with tears as he told me that he was away from the Lord, and that he was going to ‘get back to…