In the last couple of months, we have had the usual mix of weather that goes to make up an English summer.  Some days have seen blazing hot sunshine.  On others, a whole month’s worth of rain has fallen in a single day.  We have seen the wonderful Olympics and now are watching the amazing Paralympics. Wimbledon saw one of the most nailbiting men’s singles finals any of us can remember.  Days are full of the familiar summer scents of newly-mown grass and barbecue smoke.  The jingle of the ice-cream van is heard on every street corner.  If you grow any vegetables, this is the best time of year! 

In summertime, the living really does seem easy. Yet, day by day, I meet people who – despite the glorious summer sunshine – face real pressures in their lives.  For example, illness, bereavement, huge rises in the cost of living and, for those who are employed, the ever increasing demands of their employers. 

If we carry a picture in our minds that the life that God offers us is only made up of sunshine and roses, the chances are that our faith will be dented by hard times.  Yet Jesus warned His followers that they should expect troubles; we are not immune from the hardships of life.  The Bible asks, and then answers, an interesting question: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship….No! In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” 

The writer goes on to say that in all creation there is nothing that will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus. Because of Him, we can know that God loves us and, knowing this, we can face – with renewed hope – anything that life may throw at us.

So, whether right now the sun is shining for you or the days seem dark, live today in the knowledge that God loves you and He cares for you. 

Pentecost 2012 – Holy Spirit? What Holy Spirit?   

Please read Acts 2: 1-4 and Acts 19:1-9

In John 20 the risen Jesus, who had promised the gift of God’s Holy Spirit to the church, appeared at the centre of His disciples in the upper room.  Neither sealed doors nor sealed hearts could keep Him out.  Frightened, disheartened and confused, they were hiding away from the world.  But when Jesus came and convinced them that it was really Him, He breathed on them and said “Receive the breath of God”.  Like you and me, they had to go on believing in this promise before they had the experience of the Spirit that proved the promise had been true.

Today I want to ask “Holy Spirit? What Holy Spirit?” and I invite you to travel in time with me some 20 or so years after the story of God’s breath coming to His people at Pentecost. 

Picture in your minds a town full of every nationality.  Where different languages are spoken on each street corner. 

Imagine large numbers of people travelling into and out of that town each day.  There are many shops and alongside the shops there are street traders calling out to the passers-by.  Heavy traffic pushes along the roads; some of it carrying people and others goods for the shops or food and drink for the pubs.

One of the things you notice as you go into this town is that the girls and some of the men show off their bodies in a way that catches the eye.

Then imagine that the busiest place in that town is a huge building that towers over all the others.  People are going in and out and a great deal of buying and selling is going on, especially silver statues.

The temple is much larger than most other buildings in the world at this point in human history.  A building so marvellous that it was acclaimed as one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.  

Having travelled in time some 20 or so years, we find the apostle Paul is in Ephesus and here he finds some “disciples”.  

Paul asks them if they have received the Holy Spirit since they were baptized.  They reply honestly:  “What Holy Spirit?  We didn’t even know there was a Holy Spirit!”  

Paul then asks, “Whose baptism were you baptized with?” Their answer: John’s.  We know they mean John the Baptist because Paul responds by saying to them that John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance.  

Thousands had come out to the desert to wash away their mistakes and wrongs by being baptised (dipped in water) by this man. 

Perhaps these Ephesian believers were just seeking God at first. Though not Jews, they sought to worship the one true God.  In any event, they had been baptised with the baptism of John, not Jesus.  

Paul carefully points them to Jesus.  John had said they should follow the one who came after him, Jesus.  

On hearing this, they then were baptized in the name of Jesus.  After their baptism, Paul lays his hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit, spoke in strange languages and announced the good news of God boldly!

Now imagine that you’re one of these Ephesian believers. You want to serve God, the one true God, not some other god.  You hear about John and what he teaches and you do what John tells you. You are baptized because you want to leave the meaningless rituals of religion and find the real God.

But it doesnt go any further than that.  That's as far as you go.  Like the disciples before the Breath of God first came upon them, you get stuck in a place because you’re afraid of what’s happening around you.  All the while the gigantic temple of Artemis looms over you and where you live.  Later on, Paul has a serious run-in with a local businessman, Demetrius, a silversmith who controls the trade in silver statues of Artemis.  The freedom from religion that Paul speaks of is damaging his business!  So this new ‘freedom’ has to be run out of town.  It is too dangerous;  too unsettling.

There may be no huge temple looming over your life but this world muscles-in and makes itself known very loudly when we tyry to follow Christ. If you worship God, you do it quietly, secretly, just to stay out of trouble.  Does that strike any chords with you?

But when we receive the Holy Breath of God, everything changes.   You are able to boldly share the whole story of God in new ways, with a boldness you have never known.  

Now do you begin to see the point?  Just as the Spirit came to the first believers at Pentecost, so He also comes to every believer in every place where Jesus is followed.

No longer will these Christians, or any that follow after, have to hide as the disciples did before Pentecost.  No longer will they live in fear, hiding away.  The promise is that the Breath of God will be poured out on all humankind as it says in the Bible’s prophecy of Joel 

Now what of us?  We are living in an age that is a long way from God, his freedom and his truth.  Like these Christians, we no longer hold centre stage in public life.  We are increasingly ignored.  Other gods dominate the scene:  not always religious gods but the divine ‘money, sex and power.’

What is our response as believers?  Often we act like we have never heard of the Holy Spirit.  We complain about the loss of Christian values, and yet what do we do?  Christians blend in with society or, hiding away through in fear, believe that there is nothing we can do that would make a difference.

We are missing the same thing these believers were missing —Christ made available to us though the Holy Breath of God.  We need this Holy Spirit, the breath of God, as much today as they did then.  So let’s ask the One who loves to give good gifts…..

Can one day really be any more important than another?  Well, maybe the answer is yes when something truly significant happened on that day in the distant past. 

Yesterday was St George’s Day. He is thought to have lived up to 1,800 years ago. Shakespeare died on 23^rd April in 1616.  It is also the feast of St Adalbert of Prague, martyred by the Prussians in 997AD. Let no one say that this blog isn’t educational!!

This is a busy season in more modern history, too. This week in 1968 saw the first appearance of decimal coinage, leading to lots of head-scratching as people who were used to counting their money in twelves and twenties had to get used to thinking now in tens. 

A little further back in time, in 1962, the first US rocket landed on the moon – not yet with people on board but a vital step in the moon race nonetheless.

And 52 years ago yesterday, Mrs King gave birth to her first child, a fine baby boy. Me. So, I’m rather positive about the significance of special days, especially ones that involve chocolate cake and the love of family and friends.

Is there one day in human history that is truly significant for you?  In the Bible, a servant of God called Paul writes “now is the time of God's favour, now is the day of salvation.”  It means that whatever is happening around us God is there, reaching out to us. On special days - and ordinary days too. The way to Him is open once again through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The day I first believed that for myself was truly the most significant day of my life.  May it be so for you too.

The following was written by someone called Jon Swanson.  I saw it and wanted to re-post it here.

Ivan

Lots of people are wondering what God is calling them to do. And that is a good question. But on the way to the answer, we fill in many answers. So let me suggest some of the things that God did not call you to.

You are not called to be me.
You are not called to be your mother or father.
You are not called to be your pastor.
You are not called to be happy all the time.
You are not called to be rich.
You are not called to be as organized as the neighbour on the right.
You are not called to be as disorganized as the neighbour on the left.
You are not called to be as ___ as your uncle Dave.
You are not called to be your sister.
You are not called to be the guy in all the ads.
You are not called to be the perfect family.
You are not called to smile every moment.
You are not called to have every answer.
You are not called to say ‘yes’ to every request.
You are not called to work 24/7.
You are not called to read the Bible through every year.
You are not called to measure up.
You are not called to do it all.
You are not called to remember every detail.
You are not called to run their lives.
You are not called to do everything right the first time.
You are not called to stop everything.
You are not called to save the world.
That was covered.
That’s why we’re called to follow Him.
A step at a time.
And that feeling of relief?
You are called to that.

This coming Sunday is Advent Sunday - it's the first of four Sundays before Christmas Day. Advent means coming or arrival and the excitement about Christmas - Jesus being born into this world - builds durng those four weeks.

Here's something I love, which helps me to focus on the meaning of Advent and Christmas. Maybe it will help you too...

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where he worked in a carpenter's shop until he was thirty. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never went to college. He never visited a big city. He never travelled more than two hundred miles from the place where he was born.

He did none of the things usually associated with greatness. He had no credentials but himself. He was only thirty three. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies. And went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves and, while dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing: the only property he had on earth.

When he was dead He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen centuries have come and gone and today Jesus is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind's progress.

All the armies that have ever marched; all the navies that have ever sailed; all the parliaments that have ever sat; all the kings that ever reigned - put together - have not affected the life of mankind on earth as powerfully as that one solitary life...

Here's a talk I gave at West Leigh Baptist Church recently for you to listen to.  I would welcome any thoughts or comments and, of course, everything I say here is open to challenge! Press the 'Play' button to listen.

{audio}mediafiles/whereisgodwhenbadthingshappen.mp3{/audio}

When I was a lad, at about this time of year we got some old clothes, stuffed them full of other old rags, put them in a wheelbarrow and either went door to door or stood outside the shops. If you are over 40, you will have no difficulty recollecting what this process was called: “Penny for the Guy”.

The 5^th of November wasn’t simply Fireworks Night or Bonfire Night, it was Guy Fawkes’ Night. “Remember, remember the 5^th of November, Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.” It had been held ever since the gunpowder plot when people tried to blow up parliament with King James inside it. Not a very nice thing to do, although they regarded James as a tyrant. Guy Fawkes and his friends were planning something rather nasty but they met a rather sticky end themselves. For those with delicate digestions I wont go into all the details but they were longer, thinner and in more pieces at the end of it than they started out. Somehow, in the many years since I went collecting “penny for the Guy”, we’ve stopped doing it and something else has taken its place.

Have you been into Sainsbury’s, Co-op or Tesco’s in the last two weeks? Have you noticed the way in which they each have displays about Halloween which falls on 31st October You can’t avoid it. Supermarket masks and pictures of ghostly faces stare at you from the aisles. You can't turn on the television without these images appearing. Pictures of spooks and ghouls are glaring at you everywhere you go as we approach "Halloween." But its not just in shops. It’s in schools too; it’s in the pubs and clubs and we now have the annual event of “trick or treating”.

I want to think about two things today. The first is to touch base with what the bible says about such things. The second is to think about how we will be light when all around are celebrating darkness.

There is much evil at large in this world. Some of it is human evil – the selfishness that we show in our dealings with one another and with God. Some of it is ‘directed’ evil. Evil with a purpose and that purpose is to distract us from the truth. The Bible says quite a bit about this type of evil. One of the reasons to be concerned about Halloween is that evil is at work here among ordinary human beings. Jesus Christ encountered evil many times during His ministry on earth. The disciples reported that evil retreated before them when they spoke in Christ’s name and the Apostle Paul tells of "the messenger of Satan" sent to "buffet" him, to torment him (II Corinthians 12:7). The Apostle Paul spoke of this kind of evil when he said, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world" (Ephesians 6:12). Every Christian "wrestles" against evil. That's why it's so important to pray for God to protect you and guide you through "the darkness of this world."

Halloween focuses on evil: dressed up for popular consumption. Costumes of witches and demons will be worn in abundance, paper cut-out bats and ghosts decorate restaurants and businesses, and sneering "jack-o-lantern" pumpkins will be found alight in many a window all in the name of fun. Thousands of people - many of them professing Christians - will engage in a hearty embracing of the evening with little thought as to the underlying significance of what they are doing. Few can deny awareness of Halloween's dark, even frightening, overtones but fewer seem to even care. So why do we – people of the Light of the world – delight in dark things?

Christians should not be celebrating the darkness! But how can we, as people of the light, help correct this? On Halloween night – what can we do?

In our families - instead of focusing on the negative aspects of Halloween, you can turn the holiday into a positive, relationship-building tradition for your family. For Trick-or-Treaters who will call at your home, instead of ignoring them or turning them away, put out a bowl of Satsumas (soft fruit doesn’t break windows!) or some sweets but decorate the bowl with something that tells visitors that God loves them. If they knock, admire the effort that has gone into the costumes and say to each “God bless you!”

In all this, let us look forward to the time when, at a word, Christ shall sweep away the darkness with His glorious light. And then let us pray that prayer that countless Christians have prayed and continue to pray when darkness comes:

“Bring light to our darkness we ask you O God, and by your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night, for the sake of your only Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.”

Toad baked some cookies.

 

"These cookies smell very good," said Toad. He ate one. "And they taste even better," he said. 

 

Toad ran to Frog's house. "Frog, Frog," cried Toad, "taste these cookies that I have made."

 

Frog ate one of the cookies, "These are the best cookies I have ever eaten!" said Frog.

 

Frog and Toad ate many cookies, one after another. "You know, Toad," said Frog, with his mouth full, "I think we should stop eating. We will soon be sick."

 

"You are right," said Toad. "Let us eat one last cookie, and then we will stop." Frog and Toad ate one last cookie. 

 

There were many cookies left in the bowl.

 

"Frog," said Toad, "let us eat one very last cookie, and then we will stop." Frog and Toad ate one very last cookie.

 

"We must stop eating!" cried Toad as he ate another.

 

"Yes," said Frog, reaching for a cookie, "we need willpower."

 

"What is willpower?" asked Toad.

 

"Willpower is the power not to do something you really want to do," said Frog.

 

"You mean like trying hard not to eat all these cookies?" asked Toad.

 

"Right," said Frog.

 

Frog put the cookies in a box. "There," he said. "Now we will not eat any more cookies."

 

"But we can open the box," said Toad.

 

"That is true," said Grog.

 

Frog tied some string around the box. "There," he said. "Now we will not eat any more cookies."

 

"But we can cut the string and open the box." said Toad.

 

"That is true," said Frog. Frog got a ladder. He put the box up on a high shelf.

 

"There," said Frog. "Now we will not eat any more cookies."

 

"But we can climb the ladder and take the box down from the shelf and cut the string and open the box," said Toad.

 

"That is true," said Frog.

 

Frog climbed the ladder and took the box down from the shelf. He cut the string and opened the box. Frog took the box outside. He shouted in a loud voice. "Hey, birds, here are cookies!" Birds came from everywhere. They picked up all the cookies in their beaks and flew away.

 

"Now we have no more cookies to eat," said Toad sadly.

 

"Not even one."

 

"Yes," said Frog, "but we have lots and lots of willpower."

 

"You may keep it all, Frog," said Toad. "I am going home now to bake a cake."

Hi. In the autumn in CFS, we are going to be thinking about relationships. If you can remember any examples of really good or unhappy relationship 'issues' from your favourite TV soaps (eg Corrie? Emmerdale? Eastenders?) can you check n see if they are on Youtube and then message me the link?   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Could be the perfect love match; or conflict; family fallout; whatever. Cheers, Ivan

Hi

Actually I'm not writing about weird sex - that's just to grab your attention.  Though it says something that a blog headed "weird sex" would do that but that's for another day.....Maybe chocolate would do instead?

So far this blog has had an amazing 9,367 hits - I say amazing because I never thought it would attract such attention especially as we dont publicise it.  I'm not sure we should - it's just an occasional thought or two from me.  Not intended to be profound just sharing my thinking.

BUT the last time someone commented on anything I've written here was June 2010.  So do I need to be more provocative in what I blog to get some feedback?  Do we need to look at weird sex?   Or are there things to do with God and life and people you're interested in that we can explore here?

Comments WELCOME!

Cheers

Ivan