The shooting in town

A man has been shot with a pellet gun in his flat in the middle of town. the police were still there today. They had two cars in the street which is a pedestrian precinct and there was a police van at the bottom of the road.

out with the old and in with the new.

My old bedroom window is out and the frame is in bits.  Goodbye old window. You have served me well.  However, I expect even more from the new.

New window in the bedroom

As I write this, my bedroom window is being removed, and a new one put in.  I was told a few years ago this would happen when money was available to do it and it is happening today.  I was told it would happen yesterday, but it was delayed.  I find the heat in the bedroom perfectly acceptable, but perhaps it will be even better with the new window.

As someone who is not a tradesman, I admire those who work in all weather conditions. I would not like it for myself.  I am also surprised at  how quickly glass can be removed.  They have only been here for minutes and already two panes are out.

How well do we know the lord in provision?

When a woman indicated that she loves the lord and would not put her husband first in her heart, and she loves the lord first and foremost. I wonder if she really knows what she is talking about.  When we talk about the heart, we really mean the will and that  is not a fixed size.  One also has to question how much she loves the lord if that is based on owning property.  If a man does not own property, then he is a weak leader. In that case most minister or vicars are weak leaders by that measure. 

I think God is more interested in Character.  How much do our hearts, ( wills belong to him)?  How much do we trust him to supply our need?

Often we think we know that the bible teaches and at an academic level we do.  However I have found that I learned far more about what it means by being in situations where I had to do it and trust the lord all the more to get me through difficulties.

I think that for some they are so blind that they cannot see that their trust is limited.  They trust the lord for salvation, but they will not trust him for daily provision even though Jesus himself taught us to pray for daily provision.  He called it, "Daily bread".  Many of us want it all in advance before we will really believe and God may force us into situations were we are not in control and we cry out to him for help.  One gets to know him so much better this way.

Who am I?

At the team meeting today, our field leader said that if we were interested in money we were in the wrong job. We put so much emphasis in OM on a high calling because we are serving the lord. After the on line argument I had with Dian and the impertinence from her, I found myself saying yes, exactly, that is who I am, someone serving the lord. I felt so refreshed and refocused on hearing what the field leader said in those few simple words.  It made me all the more determined to press on and not be distracted.


I think Dian had no idea about the level of commitment it takes, and would always complain about provision.  The people of Israel did nothing to make manna grow in the wilderness.  God provided it, but then they complained and talked about the wonderful food they had in Egypt ( when they were slaves)  they rejected god and grumbled against him for they wanted meat.  God said to moses he would provide it. Even Moses was astonished and told God that even if they killed all the cattle there would not be enough.  God brought qual in abundance. Too much in fact that it went off and he punished Israel for their complaining.

I see myself as being like Peter, who got out of the boat to walk on the water.  People dwell on him sinking in unbelief, but fail to remember that at least he had faith to get out of the boat.  None of the others did.

Being in mission makes me all the more aware of Gods provision. 

Levites unlike the other tribes were not Land owners. the other tribes supported them as they went about their priestly duties serving the lord and that is what we are like.

Gods provision and friends first and foremost.

I suppose Dian had one view beyond which she was not willing to go.  I find myself dwelling more and more on Gods provision and a greater calling to trust him for provision and it is to this that I cling to.  God does not provide for me in the common way.  I knew this to be the case when I joined OM and I did that with fear and trembling. 20 years further on, I still find I am learning about his provision.  It is however a pity, that she was not willing to look.  To actually meet me and find out.  However, she was insensitive and rude, and I suspect would have been a liability.  I have decided to join Friends first. I have been putting this off as it costs and other people would be doing the work for me.  However, one of the examples of their clientele identified herself as a missionary and my plan is to identify myself in that fashion so that my cards are on the table right at the start and not likely to attract time wasters who would be better off appealing to someone who only does conventional work.

team focus days

It was just brilliant to have our team focus days at this time. For the first time in all the years I have been here the extended team were here for the christmas party.  Also as I looked round them, I thought, "This is me, a missionary and for all its pitfalls I love it".  It reminded me of who I am against the rudeness of a certain person who has not even met me.  All of these people at the focus days are people I love and by whom I am loved who understand Gods provision in a way that the offending party does not, nor wants to.  She even would not look at the chapters I sent her which is at least consistent with her rudeness and also I think fear, as in reading them she may be confronted by God and realise that I am actually a human being used by God in a way that is further than even I realise. 

I wonder if she will have achieved her ambition by March or will she just change the month but stick to the plan?  I expect I will never know. 

If she listened, she would learn so much more.

As usual, however, I found the focus day both challenging and thrilling.  We had a good discussion about who we are as a team.  One man in particular whom I have always admired gave a perspective on the team DNA.  He pointed out that if we change the way we operate, then that becomes who we are.  As an example he said that we did not turn the telephones off when he joined.  When we did, it changed the way that we engage with people.  ( this was before email)  I think we all learn a lot from him.

Hight earners

A person claims to have gone out with older men and been loved by them.  Men who were doctors or certainly high earners.  I found this person fun, intelligent, but emotionally lacking and rude.  On more than one occassion she could see that I reacted emotionally but said she did not understand why.  The first time, I dismissed it, the second, I paid more attention and reached the conclusion that she was not willing to listen to anything I say about Gods provision, or being prescriptive about what she wanted to have from God by March, namely a husband whom she has not met yet who is a home owner.  Her aunt has done this.   I told her that I did not think that wise.  One should get to know people and I in view of her cutting remarks, I told her she was rude.  She called it telling the truth, but lets face it, if you are rude, it is because it is part of your character and insensitivity often lies behind rudeness.  I would rather be used of God, sensitive and even emotional and depend on him for provision than be in her shoes.

I fear that if she finds such a husband, he will find that she is emotionally bankrupt. I suspect all those men she went out with discovered this.

Going down

Sometimes, I look back on some people and I see them for what they are rather than what I once thought they were and I realise that God prevented me from being with them for they would have dragged me down.

hmmmmm. I have my doubts.

There are some people, who are Christians and very well meaning, but they have a private agenda and in the pursuit of it, they are rude.  They also expect God to be like Aladdin genie and grant them their wishes and in the time they want.  In so doing, they show what they really are and the are deceiving themselves.  They have no concept of mission and make Gods word say things they want it to say.  They also claim to be following the holy spirit.

North Parish Sermon for 16/11/14

Genesis 12: 1-7

Acts 9:1-31

WE ARE ALL WITHOUT EXCEPTION CALLED TO MISSION.

That may seem like a bold statement, but we are indeed all called to mission for Gods instrument for world evangelism is the church.  Christ himself founded the church and it is the church that he uses to reach the world

All of us in OM are members of the church. 

I am a member of the North Parish and my own call to mission is in administration or what the king James Version calls the gift of governments. 

For some it means going to the mission field

For others it is prayer and supporting those who have gone,  but all of us are called in some form or another.

Abraham was called.

Abraham was the first missionary

God told him to leave his home and go to  land that God would show him.  Abraham did not argue about it.  He left all that he had known and took his wife, his nephew and his possessions.

It was a life changing decision, but Abraham did it in accordance with his call and in obedient to God.

God promised him that he would become a great nation and through him, all the nations of the world would be blessed, and Abraham believed God.

Note that the promise extended to the whole world.  In that promise God was promising that not only would he bless Abrahams family and descendants, but every nation in the world and that is mission.

If you have trusted in Christ and accepted him as your saviour, then you are part of the promise that God made to Abraham that day.  We are grafted in to Gods family. We are adopted sons and daughter with all the rights of family members as if we had never sinned.

We can see that as we reach out in love to all the nations of the world down through the ages to the present day, then God is Faithful. 

He has not forgotten his promise

He is still carrying it out.

Those around Abraham were blessed.  There were those who trusted in Abrahams God the only God.

Even when Abraham was called by god it seemed to Sacrifice Isaac his only son, Abraham still believed the promise and that God was well able to carry it out, and we must also learn to trust the lord like Abraham did.

God sometimes works in ways that we would never dream of.  In the promise to Abraham, we see that God promised that the gentiles would be blessed. We would be grafted in and Gods instrument for doing that was his bitter enemy, a man called Saul of Tarsus

In acts 9 v1 we see that Saul was not a nice man

In fact he breathed threats and murder against the disciples

If we had a company meeting about strategy and how to move world evangelism forward, it would not occur to us that we would use a man like that.  Saul hated the disciples and had the them in prison and many faced death.

It was on the road to Demascus to arrest the disciples that God confronted Saul

Note what God said to him, “Saul, why are you persecuting ME?”

Saul in his misplaced zeal was persecuting the very God whom he thought he was serving.

God also said to him, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting”.

If I had been in Sauls sandals that day ( not shoes), I would have been terrified.

We also read in V10 that there was in Demascus ( the city Saul was traveling to) a disciple called Ananias and in a vision, God told him to go to a street called straight and enquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus called Saul, FOR HE IS PRAYING.

In that moment as Saul was praying God was acting in response.

God told him that in a vision, Saul had seen a man named Ananias come in and lay hands on him that he may receive his sight.

BLINDNESS DID NOT STOP SAUL SEEING GODS VISION

Ananias did not understand why God would send him to Saul, for he knew that Saul had come to arrest the disciples.

God however told GO FOR HE IS A CHOSEN INSTRUMENT TO BEAR MY NAME BEFORE THE GENTILES AND KINGS AND SONS OF ISRAEL.

I will show him what HE MUST SUFFER FOR MY NAMES SAKE.

Ananias did as he was told and when he got there he said

BROTHER SAUL. Can you imagine it?

The enemy, the persecuter for the first time is called Brother.

Can you see how precious those words must have been to Saul?

As soon as Saul had his sight and had stayed with the disciples learning more of Jesus Saul set about going to the synagogue and proclaiming Christ.

THE MINISTRY HE WAS CALLED TO STARTED IMMEDIATELY.

WE ALSE SEE THAT SAUL, WHO BECAME PAUL, STARTED OUT WITH A PLAN, BUT GOD HAD A DIFFERENT PLAN FOR HIM

MY OWN LIFE IS LIKE THAT

I grew up in another church which is now closed and at 17 years old, I decided that I had enough and did not want to go to church again, so my plan was that I would go round a number of different churches each Sunday to satisfy my parents ( who wanted me to go to church) and then when I had been around a lot they would be so tired that they would not concern themselves about the matter.

The first church I went to was this one.  MY INTENTION WAS TO COME FOR ONE SERVICE.

As I set out that day, “If I am ever going to go to this place a second time then I will have to be impressed with the preaching and as I have never heard impressive preaching, that is not likely to happen, is it”?

How wrong I was

BALCONY/ PREACHING

STOPPED AT DOOR, /MEETING KATE/ BILL AND JEAN TAIT.

I CAME A SECOND TIME, THEN THIRD AND A FORTH. Six months passed, I was in the youth fellowship and the prayer meeting .

We see from the passage we read, that when Paul started his ministry there were those who did not believe him and were afraid. 

HAVE YOU EVER FELT THE NEED OF A BARNABUS?

Sometimes you need another believer to re assure you and encourage you.  I have had many such people who were once members of this church who are now with the lord.

Agnes Whiteford encouraged me to come to the prayer meeting. I had never been to a prayer meeting before ( Tell the story)

West Smethick Rally

I went to the EFCC West Midlands Rally in West Smethick today.  I met an Asian man, who was converted in the very church we were meeting in at a film event about  Sheik man who became a christian and then the man himself ( who thought he was going to see a James Bond film) had discussion and he himself was converted.  OM was behind the event and he still links in with us. He was converted in 1977.  He know several people whom I also know.

God delivers, but in his way

As we were reminded in devotions this morning.  God delivers, but not always in the way that we imagine

10 commandments

I downloaded something called the 10 Commandments of dating and there is a bit on failure that just inspired me.  After yesterday failing to meet the tick list in that I am a renter, not a home owner it was an inspiration.

I also dreamed that there was a Doctor Who Computer game featuring Sylvester McCoy.

a georgeous dog

I had a dream last night about a dog with a green ruff collar round its neck. I think it was a fantasy dog as it was not any breed I have ever seen and it had lovely eyes. they were big and they seemed to get bigger and smaller and change in colour as I petted it. It seemed like a large puppy.  At one point its eyes were green and round.  Its body was black and white.

figuratively my head is off

As I expected Dian did not go for it.  However she has not even seen the content of my attachments yet she behaved as though she knew what I would say. She was wrong. I did not say the things that she assumes I would say. Instead I sent a long detailed biblical argument.  Never the less, my head is off.  She had a schedule, which I thought was a bad idea, she will not comprimise, another bad idea and she is desperate which is also bad. 

I would have worked with her if she was willing to listen.

long email attachment to Dian

I sent a long message to Dian in an attachment.  My head is now on the block.

Writing the stories for the future

Yesterday, in our team meeting, our MD quoted from a book about the beginnings of OM India. At the time we wanted  8 people in OM India. We now have over 1000.  They were well in the red and looked to the lord to provide. Here we are all those years later.  God provided and he still does and there are still challenges.  I found it inspirational.

He then said that we do not read these to look to the past, but in looking back we see Gods provision so that we can write new stories and move forward.  This made me think of my own writing.  Yesterday morning a secular publisher whom I sent a couple of chapters to contacted me and asked to see the full manuscript.  This was a massive encouragement.  There is no commitment to publish, but It was never the less a Yahooooooooooooooooo moment.  There is hOpe.

dian

Dian whom I am now having telephone conversations with sounds like the sort of woman who would appeal to me.  She looks lovely, and she is very visionary.  She loves films and theaters.  She loves my voice and she said she always wanted a Scottish boyfriend.  she is not attracted to black men and she likes older men.  I am 13 year older.  She finds a man who leads attractive.  It will be interesting when we meet.

Going through Jessica

I decided to go through Jessica to get to the man I met on Saturday in the shop.  I sent our Global magazine.  She seemed to know him, so I am hoping she can forward it to him.

Jessica Fox

I was privileged to meet Jessica Fox at the Wigtown book festival on Saturday.  She does not know it, but our meeting was in fact an answer to prayer. I was only going to be at the festival for one day and I asked the lord if I could meet her.  I had hoped to see her as she went or returned from yoga class she was running that morning, but I did not see her arrive or leave.  I was there to take in the atmosphere of the festival so I was always going to achieve that objective, but I wanted to meet Jessica because I found her book inspirational for my own writing.  I had been in the town three weeks previously and met a young woman in the bookshop and when I talked about the book and refered to "Ewan", she corrected me and said "Sean".  I wondered where I got the name "Ewan " from as I could swear that was what he was called. 

Indeed he is called "Ewan" in the book.  I met him later and asked if Jessica was around. She was not, but he said that if I left my copy of Jessicas book then he would get her to sign it and he would send it back.  I thought that was very kind.  My dealings with him on facebook made him seem like a clown and someone who said cutting things about people behind their backs. I hinted at this with him when I met only to find that he never named people and that what he did on facebook is a coping mechanism of working in a shop.  As I spent five years working in a shop, I understand that.

Here I was back in Wigtown yet again. I prayed to meet Jessica.  As I wandered round the festival and the other shops all of which were crowded, I spotted a shop on a corner that had  sign saying that it changed proprietors every two weeks. There was a notice in the window asking people to write three words for a blog about their festival experience.  I went in to do that and as I was at the counter trying to think of three words to write down, Jessica walked in to see the man behind the counter.  She stood beside me and spoke to him. I introduced myself, shook hands with her and thanked her for signing my book.  She recognised my name and she introduced me to the man behind the counter.  She told the man that I had written a book and she knew what the title was.  Evidently Sean must have told her this.  I asked her if there were people at the festival who had contact details for proof reading and she directed me to people who were in an ambulance down the road.

When she left, the man behind the counter talked to me and seemed very interested in what I do.  I may try to go through Jessica to get in touch with him.

Peter Bevington

I saw something today that I never thought I would ever see.  Peter Bevington was in the office wearing a visitors badge.  Can you believe it?  Peter Bevington, a visitor.  Without his vision and sheer hard work, none of us would be here.

food blender

A good friend gave me a food blender today. A lovely gift.

the morning after

The Yes Scotland campaign has been defeated.  We are indeed better together.  On a personal note, I thought contemplating separation was foolish.  However, constitutional change for the rest of the country will now have to be considered.

Having said that, the country is divided and feelings will be raw.

There has been a lot of selfishness in the whole process.

I think a revival is far more important.  Mankind has to recognise sin in human nature and let God deal with it.  Scotland was once known as, " The Land of the book".  That could not be said now.  It will take a movement of God to bring people to him.

We need to be magnanimous at this time and not be crowing over the YES defeat.

The No victory, has solved some problems, but it will create others.

The West Lothian Question will have to be addressed.

I listened to the results of the referendum on the radio, but when I knew Alec Salmond was going to concede defeat, I got up and turned on the television to watch it.  I think he was magnanimous.  I also watched Alastair Darlings victory speech.

I think the real leader of Better Together proved to be Gordon Brown.

I now await to see how the Westminster establishment address the west Lothian question.

18th September 2014 remember this

September the 18th 2014 the referendum

The referendum on Scottish independence takes place today. As I live in England, I do not have a vote. There are however things that are now of concern to me. If the poles are correct, the outcome is on a knife edge and could go either way on a very small margin. This means the country is deeply divided on this issue and there are already people who are very angry indeed. Whatever the outcome, it means that those who lose are likely to still be very angry. This is not a good thing. We christians need to be magnanimous and be seen to be caring and compassionate peace makers. There are people dear to me who will be deeply affected by this if the YES camp win, and there are people in my family who will be disappointed if the NO camp win. Therefore, I need to assert my primary identity as a citizen of Heaven. I am that before I am British, Scottish or European. There could be families who remain divided for years to come. One only has to look at how bitterly divided some families still are after the 1984 miners strike. Some people do not talk to their fathers who remained on strike when they went back to work and the feelings are still raw. I trust my own family not to behave like that, but I am not so sure about other peoples. When I was in Stornoway, Kathleen said of the referendum that people at the church have all sorts of opinions, so they do not talk about it. I think this wise. However the day of reckoning is here and tomorrow we will know the result.

the first epistle of John chapter one

John 1:1 to john 1:2:1 I went to visit a former member of the team in Stornoway. While I was there, it was communion season. ( Describe it) The speaker was Fred Drummond, a man from my home town but we had never met. He preached for five nights from John’s first epistle I found it good for me, I had not planned on being there during communion season, but I felt that God wanted me there to hear what this man had to say and I found it so refreshing for my soul. It was about getting close to God To touch God He mimicked Fifers. It is getting close to God by dealing with sin that John concerns himself. V1)” That which was from the beginning “, seems to elude to Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created etc etc. John is presenting himself as a witness to what God had declared. He had seen, heard and touched the son of God. He now proclaims it to the readers and hearers of his letters in order that they may have fellowship one with another and with God. V 5- 7 This concerns fellowship with God. God is light, he his holy and if we say that we have fellowship with him but walk in darkness we lie. But if we walk in the light with him then we have fellowship with him. We are told in other scriptures that the human heard is deceitful and desperately wicked. If I lie to someone else and they are taken in by the lie then I have deceived them. However the devil is a deceiver. He makes sin look good, exciting and attractive. He also minimises sin and so through his enticing we practice self-deception. In the light of what God reveals, we need to be constantly examining our motives our hearts and asking ourselves the questions such as, am I truly walking in the light and having fellowship with the father, or have I been deceived by a lie. Is my walk with God getting stronger or weaker? We can never stand still. We are either walking forward with God, or we are going backwards and while still serving, perhaps we are colder than we once were. Sometimes it is good, to take time out and re-evaluate ourselves. I started such a process some time ago (Tim Chester’s book) There is nothing new in it, it just made me look at sin afresh and what leads to sin and what sin ultimately will lead to. While in Stornoway, this epistle was preached over five nights and I have read it several times since and experienced anew the forgiveness of God. If we sin, note IF we sin, then we have an advocate who speaks to the father on our behalf. It is this same advocate whom John saw touched and experienced. We to need to touch God. There is an inclination for when we sin to hide. When Adam and Eve sinned the hid from God. We do the same thing. We minimise sin, but our consciences say, you did wrong or you thought wrong and you are guilty. We need to go against that response of hiding and bring it out into the light and allow God to deal with it. Only then can we experience his forgiveness. That process involves confession of sin and drawing close to God and we may still find that there are consequences to what we did, but we still need to expose the sin for his forgiveness and then make adjustments so that we do not go on sinning. Recently in church we read Ezekiel 44 where God punished Levite priests by making them do the lesser tasks in the temple and they were not allowed to draw close to God like the other priests who remained loyal to him. Those who misled the people were not disqualified from serving God, but they were disqualified from being close to him and serving in the way that they otherwise could have and that stood as a stark warning to me. Am I serving as I should. I believe so, but I should not become complacent. I could be held at a distance from God. Still saved, but distant. I do not want that for myself. I need to check myself more and more in the light of God’s word. To do that I need to start by not neglecting his word. I then need to not to ignore his word when it prompts me and I need to take whatever measures big or small to avoid sin. To be close to God is an amazing thing and a costly thing. John is able to say, he saw, he touched and he heard that message that Jesus brought.

Stornoway

The time is Stornoway was good for me. It was communion season and the guest speaker came from my home town. We had never met, but he and I had a lot of people in common including his wife. He spent 5 nights preaching from the first three chapters of Johns first epistle. It gave me a sense of getting closer to God and forgiveness in the aftermath of reading chesters book. It was also good to spend a lot of time in praise of god. the referendum was in full swing. it will be a moment in history no matter what the outcome is. I wish I had a vote,but whatever way I look at it, Scotland is no longer the place that I left and people are expected to vote with their emotions without grasping the implications and being asked the question, "Are you ready, willing and able to live with the consequenses of being a smaller economy and paying higher taxes to support a socialist state?"

Cabin lane.

Yesterday, I preached in Cabin lane church on two verses in mathew, "Judge not that you be not Judged" and where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Somehow, judging by the reaction, it seems to have been appropriate.

Early morning trip and holiday.

An early morning trip this morning to the industrial estate following Andrew D who was returning a van that had been hired for New wine. I am off to stornoway in a couple of weeks to see an old friend.

An acknowledgement has arrived

I have an email. It is an acknowledgement of the arrival of the chapters of my book that I sent to them. They say that they will go to the Editorial department and they will get back to me in due course. At least they bothered to reply so that shows that they show respect for those who submit material to them, which is more than some do. Having looked at their web site, I see that they are reformed. They say that authors may not be reformed, but they do not accept material to the contrary. They also use STL to distribute books on the USA. I pointed out to them that I am an OM er and I included the blurb that George Verwer wrote for me. When I sent the chapters, I wrote a covering letter explaining what the book is about and a line or two about each chapter. This is the advice I got from Sinclair Ferguson, whom I knew very slightly a long time ago when he and his wife were attending what is now my sending church.

publish

Today, I am sending a few chapters of my book and a letter explaining what the book is about to a publisher at the advice of Sinclair. I do not expect a quick response, but I am excited that I have got this far.

A presentation document

i have re created the introduction letter for my sending church. I could not find the one I wrote in March, so I have written a new one. I need to discuss with the minister when I can present this, but in my view it should not be in the holiday period as so many people are likely to be away, but If I can get it on a weekend in September or even August the 31st that would be good. If this goes ahead and I present it, it will seem strange re introducing myself to a church I first joined 40 years ago and looking around it and seeing faces I do not know, and seeing places where in my mind there is a gap. A gap that was once occupied by individuals who did me good. Who loved me, welcomed me, befriended me and taught me a great deal about God. I say a gap, for they are no longer with us but with the lord. I mean people like Bill and Jean Tait, Michael Blair, Jean Pettigrew, Mrs Allen, and several others. the only people int he place who seem to know me now are the elderly, my brother, his wife and one young man. I have met the current minister several times.

An invitation to Cabin lane

Subject to the agreement of the elders, I have been asked to speak at Cabin Lane church. I know a good number of them, and it is an honour to be asked. I hope they agree and the invitation goes ahead.

The food festival

the food festival was good as usual. I had curried goat with rice and beans for breakfast. I bought an expresso maker and a CD album

Legal action: Christian bakers in gay campaign cake row

New machine

It is lunchtime, and I have just used the new franking machine. MAY GOD BLESS ALL THOSE WHO FRANK ON HER

Surprise visitor and marking departures

Our chairman is retiring. For me it was just lovely to be the man who picked him up from the Railway station on what will be his final day. However, I am pleasantly surprised to see that George Verwer is also here as we had not been told he was coming. I expect he wants to mark Mike standing down. Lunch today is in the sunshine and it will all be lovely. Peter is also standing down. I remember when he started with us and I regard him as a friend. I will miss his visits

The weekend with the family in North Berwick was great. It is lovely to sit down to breakfast with a large group in a large house, with people I love and to spend all weekend with them. the babies were there as were charlie and Betty so all four generations were in the town. I went to abbey church where I met a couple who know Julian and Lenna. They are also related to Caroline. It was lovely weather. I time to enjoy each others company. I am glad I went. I enjoyed every second of it. I shot lots of pictures and a few videos.

GV

Yesterday George Verwer was with us. It was nice to see him again and I plan to see him again in Bolton on Friday

Being inticed away from God

Is one is getting images in ones mine, or feelings of what God is saying with no references to the bible or quoting it out of context. Far from being drawn to God and his word, I believe one is being drawn away. I sat there in the room last night and thought, "Am I the only person in this room who can see this?". God speaks through the bible None of the people in the video were actually healed. they walked awkwardly and the man had crooked thumb on a shaking hand, yet people will believe they are healed and when this is seen to not be the case, Gods name in defamed.

more rubbish from the dreadful meeting

Furthermore, with reference to that scripture where a woman was caught in adultery and Jesus wrote in the sand, the woman leading the meeting stooped down as Jesus would have and said that as he wrote in the sand she believed that Jesus was waiting for god to reveal to him. Jesus knew their hearts. We have no idea what Jesus wrote, but whatever it was, it shocked those who were present. Jesus as not waiting for anything. The Whole meeting ploughed on with little to no references from scripture to support what was said and it was not challenged. As a visitor and also an OMer, I did not think it my place to throw a spanner in the works by quoting the sciptures they ignore that fly in the face of their theology, but I did leave the meeting with what I can only describe as a holy anger they even seem to have a new version of the bible to suppor their way of thinking and it appears to have been done by one man. He is not likely to be any better than any other translator. I think very sincere people are being mis led some of them had hands laid on them to be filled with the holy spirit, which tells me that they have no idea what being filled with the holy spirit means. It means to be controled by holy spirit.

to add to the dreadful meeting

During the dreadful meeting I sat through this evening they showed a video of so called healings two of them were ladies who could not walk and one was a man with a deformed hand. All of them supposedly healed. However neither of the ladies were walking properly. One walked keeping her legs straight even going up steps. she said she could not do that as she had no knee caps. Anyone with eyes could see that she was not healed. She still did not walk properly and was walking in fashion consistent with bad knees. The second lady seemed propel herself with her back bent. It was very obvious that they were on an adrenaline high which temporarily overcomes pain. Anybody could do that, yet this was being port-raid as a miracle from God. the man with a bad hand, was being told he was healed and the voice telling him this seemed to be the voice of the woman leading the dreadful meeting I sat through. the camera zoomed in on the mans hand. It was shaking and he had a crooked thumb so again, I say, he was not healed. when jesus healed the man with withered right hand, he held it out straight. Also we were told that not all miracles were instant. I can think of no healing in the bible that was not instant, except one where jesus healed a blind man who said that he could see men as trees walking and then Jesus put mud on his eyes and the man saw clearly, so even that was pretty close to complete and instant. yet today people believe any rubbish they are told that miracles have happened when on examination, they clearly have not and we are not honouring God by making out that miracles have happened when they have not. I firmly believe God is well able to heal and if he did it would be instant, complete and beyond dispute.

A dreadful meeting

I have just been to a dreadful meeting. It makes me angry to see christians being so gullible, having the word of God mis represented to them and then they believe every bit of the nonsense they have heard. They claim to have god giving them pictures and words of knownledge and that tongues take them to the presence of God and pray right prayers Far from valuing the word of God I felt the whole meeeting from beginning to end debased it and most of if was pure imagination. I think the woman who led is deceived and she herself leads others into the deception that their imaginations are God speaking to them. The bible clearly teaches that tongues were a sign to unbelievers and to unbelieving Jews. Gods judgement was upon them for their unbelief, but that woman never mentioned those scriptures i asked her a question about Joni Earickson and pointed out that she is not healed. the woman accepts that some christians are not healed and that in fact leads to their ministry which i agree with. However she also told me that she does not prepare for meetings, she does not write notes she just prays and lets the spirit speak which would account for why she is so appallingly bad at it. there was a long prayer session which was really just babbling and telling imaginative stories some of which I have covertly filmed. It will never see the light of day on facebook, but I am keeping it for myself as it will remind me that I have a responsibility before God to faithfully and rightly expound his word because those of us who teach will be judged all the more severely. If anything, I have just seen this evening an example of how teaching in the west is entered into far too lightly and absolute devilish nonsense is preached. We are told the bible to test everything and that means test what is preached and ask ourselves the question, What does the bible say. Unfortunately most christians do not do that hence they are easily taken in by nonsense such as I heard tonight.

Children in the church

We welcomed three children into the membership of the church last night. It was great to read their testimonies and hear why they wanted to join the church. Gordon Booth prayed for young people. God is answering that prayer after Gordons earthly life has passed.

Birthday

It is my birthday today

Change

We are changing franking machines in a couple of weeks. After about five years ( Perhaps six) there is a service the present one cannot do, so we are changing.

the weekend and endorsements.

the weekend concerts with Rob Halligan and Not Completely Blonde were great. I loved every second of them. I hope we can repeat it all next year. I loved the choirs and I had never spoken to Hugh before. This evening I am returning for the art exhibition. Also GV has endorsed my book. I have now sent a couple of chapter to SF to see if he will also endorse it.

A visit

I had three visitors today. Two very small ones and a big one. Colin Wilson came as his wife vicky was attending a meeting in North Wales. He brought the children, Samuel and Pheobe with him. It was good to see them. As usual we talked about our mutual friend Jimmy. Colin is also not getting any replies from him.

Rally

It was a good Rally on Saturday. We went to the standing stones and I filmed it. I took a good number of pictures. It is good to connect with Christians from all over the UK. It was good to see people I have met before. It was also good to meet new people. there was a girl who was on holiday staying with a couple who brought her. She is from Namibia. When I took them to the OM meeting room she took more free literature than anyone else. She had never heard of OM. Who knows what God may do in her life as a result of coming here?

Rob Halligan - Can Anyone Hear

PM

On my first day in OM, I accompanied a disabled man on my way to debron. He was driving and picking up passengers at an airport and he needed someone to go into the arrivals lounge to meet the passengers. I volunteered to do this. It was by doing this that I met Peter Magnusson. He and his family are currently here on Holiday and I have just picked them up from a marina and taken them to a railway station. Doing things for people has unplanned blessings. You get to know and love them

Rob Halligan - Dancing with Seagulls

God's Not Dead | Official Full Movie Trailer

30th Wedding Anniversary and other fun things

I was in Dunfermline at the weekend as part of a surprise party for the 30th wedding anniversary for my brother and his wife. It was fun. I went to see Alison on Saturday and it was nice shopping with her. Janice was completely fooled. she had no idea about the party. This coming weekend, my church host the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches West Midlands Rally. I look forward to that and we will be promoting the festival that will be taking place the following weekend. We have Rob Halligan, Joyful noise, the Llangollen Male voice choir and Not Completely Blonde. I am introducing it. It will be fun.

Royal mail interuption

Today I let devotions in Mathew 28 and when I was about half way through the Royal Mail turned up to collect the yorks i booked on Friday. I thought that I would be interepted like that one day.

Prayer video April 2014

prayer video

I made a prayer video a few days ago and I distributed it today. It is all part of my stategy to re introduce myself to my sending church.

Communicaton

I thought todays meeting on communication could be divided in two. first, playing a game. I hate playing games so it produced instant bordom in me. I believe in cutting to the chase and talking about live issues, their positive or negative impact and how I or others feel. the second part by Derek was highly informative and did get to issues.

The Skids - Into The Valley

Rob Halligan - Dancing with Seagulls

The lead up to Easter Gethsemane

Mathew 26: 31-46 Mathew 26: 69-75 Jesus told the disciples that they would all fall away that night. Peter said that he would not. He said that even if everyone else fell away, he never would. They all said the same. None of them could conceive of themselves letting Jesus down. They had followed him for three years, how could they let him down? Not only did he say that they would fall away, he said they would fall away that very night. They were all so confident in themselves. HOW DID JESUS KNOW THAT THEY WOULD ALL FALL AWAY? It is found in Zachariah 13:7 Here is something baffling. Not only were the disciples not as strong and loyal as they thought they would be, the fact that they fell away fulfilled the old testament prophecy. I expect they did not understand that at the time that Jesus quoted it, but when Mathew wrote about it later and shows us how Jesus quoted that prophecy, it was then that he understood it. WE FINITE CREATURES OFTEN ONLY SEE THINGS RETROSPECTIVELY. Jesus knows every little detail. He told Peter that before the cock crowed, he would deny him three times. In spite of the fact that he knew they would all fall away, he took all the disciples to Gethsemane to pray, sat them down and then selected three of them to be with him as he prayed. He selected James and John, and he also selected Peter, whom he had just told would deny him three times. ( Remember he had told Peter he would deny him that very night, Yet Peter was still chosen to be in this privileged position). If I wanted some encouragement, I do not think I would select people whom I thought would betray me, and in Jesus case, he knew that they would definitely fall away. Among them was the one who thought to well of himself that he boasted that even if everybody else fell away, he never would. He over estimated his ability. Even as they were with him, they still let him down for they were told that his soul was deeply grieved to the point of death, please keep watch with me, yet they fell asleep. The did not keep watch. It must have been a tiring day to fall asleep in the open. It is from this passage we get the saying, “THE SPIRIT IS WILLING BUT THE FLESH IS WEAK”. They were willing to keep watch, and I expect they wanted to, but their bodies were not up to it. Each time, Jesus prays, he asks the Father if it be possible to take this cup from him, yet not his will but the fathers. It is at this point that I see difficulty and no conclusive answers. The father, son and holy ghost are one, yet Jesus seems to have a different will to the father. How can that be? He then says not my will but yours. He is submitting his will to that of the father. He knew that he had come to earth to die, yet at this point, he agonises. It is almost like at this last hurdle, he is looking for another way. Remember at the start the devil tempted him and told him to turn the stones into bread when he was hungry or throw himself off the temple roof. I think that it is like that here. Jesus is wrestling with temptation. He had the power to pull out if he wanted to, yet he submitted to the father. The devil was trying to present another way for him, but there was no other way, only the fathers. A few weeks ago, James touched on this. It is not reciting bible verses that make the devil run away. It is submitting to God, and that was what Jesus was doing. He was submitting to the father. He was not going to fail at the end. V69 Peter is in the courtyard when he was approached by a girl. I think that when Jesus told Peter that he would deny him; this was not the scenario that would come to mind. I think that he would have thought about being arrested and questioned and withstanding pressure from questioning. Here was a simple recognition by a girl. He was not being heavily questioned. It was just one statement in front of other people. Jesus was arrested by now, a large number of Jews were now against him, and presumably many of them were present when the girl made this statement, and Peter instinctively denied Christ. In the gateway, another girl recognised him and made a similar statement in front of people. Again, peter denied Christ Then by standers came up to him and accused him of being one of Jesus disciples. Not only did Peter deny Christ, he denied him vehemently swearing oaths. Then the cock crowed, and Peter remembered what Christ had told him, and he wept bitterly. He had done the very thing he said he would never do, even if everyone else did, and not only did he do it, he did it three times and emphatically. I wonder if there are times when we are like Peter. We know that we are failures. We do not just feel like it, we are in fact failures. Peter was restored. He went on to be a leader in the early church, and he did die for his faith. Even though sometimes, he still failed such as when he showed favour to the Jews over the gentiles and the apostle Paul had to reprimand him. Paul said, “I WITHSTOOD HIM TO THE FACE” He still worried at times about what other people thought. Pauls intervention I presume paid dividends, and it would be known the church that Paul had reprimanded him. God accepts and uses failures. Which I am glad about, for I have failed many times, yet I am still part of Gods family and he uses me. Let us take heart, if Peter could be restored and mightily used of the Lord, then he also accepts us Easter is only three weeks away; Let us give thanks for what God has done for us in sending Christ, the saviour of failures. Let us not however just remember Easter once a year, let us remember it every day in our hearts. It is generally thought that the reason churches meet on Sunday, is that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, which is Sunday. Happy Easter when it comes

Warhorse

It is Friday, and I plan to have a lovely afternoon tomorrow stewarding for the live stream of Warhorse.

Rod Stewart - "You Wear It Well" (Live 2012)

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march the 4rth

March the 4th, Murray, my great Nephew was born

Superstition

I think my eyes have been opened in the past week. I played a small part in the latest play, "Six characters in search of an author". I have come to realise that there are some people, who do things that are nice. It is charming, and it feels good, but there is more to it than that. It is superstition. It has a deep grip on them. One lady comes to the dressing rooms and greets everyone before the performance. Another gives small gifts to people after the final performance, and tonight I heard her say, "It is a tradition, I HAVE GOT TO DO IT". I think these words say it all. They are lovely ladies and I love them, but one has the appearance of faith in that she is a church goer, an Anglican. the other is not. However they both have things they have got to do connected to the theater. It seems innocent, but I now see there is the Dark power of the devil behind it. I also feel there is physiological barrier between me and them. If that could be torn down then perhaps I could open up to them and let them see that Jesus Christ died for them to set them free from sin, death Hell and the spiritual superstitions that bind them.

the end of an era

Today, Ed led devotions. It is his last day in the office. A chapter in OM is closing. He and Pauline have been my friends since I met him in the dining room at debron. I am sad to see them go.

Six characters in search of an author

I have a couple of small, but functional parts in, "Six Characters in Search of an author". It will be a busy week. One of the cast was very ill. We shall see how it all goes tonight as tonight is opening night.

book

Only one more person to get back to me about my book and then the rewriting of portions of it begins.

video and dropbox

I made a prayer video, which I hope will be the first of many. I have just about mastered dropbox which is a great tool

a prayer video

https://db.tt/LMqkeqzc

The thorn in the flesh

Romans 7:15- 25 ( on to Romans 8 1-2) Oh wretched man that I AM 2nd Corinthians 12:1-10 the thorn in the flesh. Paul struggled within himself against sin in his own body. In another passage he said that he beat his body. Dealing with sin in himself was an emotional struggle for him. I find that. We are told in Romans 8 v1 “There is therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the Law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of death.” This is true and comforting If we are in Jesus there is a putting off of sin. However, sometime we fail. Sometime there is a sin that we return to. It may be a thought or an action, but we know that it is not pleasing to god and we need forgiveness and we need to put that sin to death There is speculation about what Pauls Thorn in the flesh was. God has not revealed to us what it was, so speculation is just that, speculation, but I note what God has revealed about it. 2nd Corinthians 12. Who is the man that Paul refers to? It is generally thought that Paul is speaking of himself in the third person. He was caught up into paradise. He could have thought that he was special. Note that Paul says that he will boast of such a man but not of himself. He then says of himself that he was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him from exalting himself. As this flows from that he has just said about the man being caught up to paradise, it is more than likely that paul means himself as he reflected on what God had done 14 years prior to writing this letter. Now let us consider what he says about the thorn in the flesh He calls it A MESSENGER FROM SATAN. I think that is a very strong description. Whatever it was, It deeply perplexed him. It seems that God permitted Satan to do something to Paul that tormented him. As he calls it a thorn in the flesh, it seems to be with his body. We know that from other passages that he struggled with sin in the body. I emphasise we do not know what the thorn in the flesh was, but if it were a strong temptation, this indeed would be of the flesh and of the devil as the description suggests. Paul was in a privileged position in Gods eyes. He was a great visionary, planting churches over the known world, encouraging fellow believers and preaching to the lost and I expect seeing many saved. He was so effective in this that there was a plot against him. There were those who would gladly have seen him dead. The thorn in the flesh was given to keep him humble. He says that he besought the lord three times to take it away. I think these were times of begging God to take this messenger of Satan away. You can almost hear him saying, “Oh lord, take this terrible thing from me.” I could serve you so much better if I did not have to contend with this, and he put hours of prayer into this before the lord finally spoke and said “My Grace is sufficient for you; my power is made perfect in weakness”. God was saying that he would not take it away for he had given Paul what he needed to live with it and deal with it. God was using it to keep Paul humble. We all like to know things, especially things God has not revealed. He has not revealed what the thorn in the flesh was, but let me ask you a question Is there something in your life that torments you? Something you have asked the lord to take away, and time has gone on, and God has not taken it away? It could be anything at all, but if it torments you and God has not taken it away, is it because God is saying I have given you what you need to deal with it. I am not going to give you more I expect you to let it do the work I intend it to do ( not the devils work) I want you to be driven to cling to me all the more as you deal with this thing day by day or week by week. It keeps you humble and closer to me. Have you ever noticed that those who are used most mightily of God are usually people who do not think too highly of themselves? Paul must have had the potential to think very highly of his own position in the kingdom of heaven or else the thorn in the flesh would not have been necessary. I say as a brother and fellow traveller to you that I struggle with things. Things I would gladly be rid of, but God has not removed them, therefore they are my thorn in the flesh. I can relate to the things that paul says about the good he would but did not do but the sin which he hates he did and cry out WHO WILL DELIVER ME FROM THIS BODY OF SIN!!1 HAVE YOU EVER CRIED OUT IN DESPERATION LIKE THAT? Let us like the apostle paul, accept that there are somethings in this life that God has permitted satan to make us struggle with. Let us not give in to them. Let us cling all the more to the lord and give thanks that there is No Condemnation for those in Christ Jesus Amen

Feedback

Feedback is starting to come on the draft of my book. Much of it is what I expected and confirms some of my own thoughts. Some of it will mean adding to the book, and much of the feedback is about the difficulty of marketing such a book ( I expected that) Far from being put off, I am looking forward to acting on it.

secret sin

I think the following is good Grace To You Jesus' exposition of the law is a devastating blow against the lie that image isSecret Sins everything. Our Lord taught repeatedly that sin bottled up on the inside, concealed from everyone else's view, carries the very same guilt as sin that manifests itself in the worst forms of ungodly behavior. Those who hate others are as guilty as those who act out their hatred; and those who indulge in private lusts are as culpable as wanton adulterers (Matt. 5:21-30). So Christians are not to think of secret sins as somehow less serious and more respectable than the sins everyone sees. Here are three reasons secret sin is especially abhorrent: 1. Because God sees the heart. Scripture tells us "God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7). No sin--not even a whispered curse or a fleeting evil thought--is hidden from the view of God. In fact, if we realized that God himself is the only audience for such secret sins, we might be less inclined to write them off so lightly. The Bible declares that God will one day judge the secrets of every heart (Rom. 2:16). He "will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil" (Eccl. 12:14). Not only that, secret sins will not remain secret. "The Lord [will] bring to light the things hidden in the darkness" (1 Cor. 4:5). Jesus said, "There is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops" (Luke 12:2-3). Those who think they can evade shame by sinning in secret will discover one day that open disclosure of their secrets before the very throne of God is the worst shame of all. It is folly to think we can mitigate our sin by keeping it secret. It is double folly to tell ourselves that we are better than others because we sin in private rather than in public. And it is the very height of folly to convince ourselves that we can get away with sin by covering it up. "He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper" (Prov. 28:13). All sin is an assault against our holy God, whether it is done in public or in secret. And God, who beholds even the innermost secrets of the heart, sees our sin clearly, no matter how well we think we have covered it. 2. Because sin in the mind is a fruit of the same moral defect that produces deeds of sin. When Jesus said hatred carries the same kind of guilt as murder, and lust is the very essence of adultery, He was not suggesting that there is no difference in degree between sin that takes place in the mind and sin that is acted out. Scripture does not teach that all sins are of equal enormity. That some sins are worse than others is both patently obvious and thoroughly biblical. Scripture plainly teaches this, for example, when it tells us the sin of Judas was greater than the sin of Pilate (John 19:11). But in His Sermon on the Mount Jesus was pointing out that anger arises from the same moral defect as murder; and the one who lusts suffers from the same character flaw as the adulterer. Furthermore, those who engage in thought-sins are guilty of violating the same moral precepts as those who commit acts of murder and adultery. In other words, secret sins of the heart are morally tantamount to the worst kind of evil deeds--even if they are sins of a lesser degree. The lustful person has no right to feel morally superior to a wanton fornicator. The fact that she indulges in lust is proof she is capable of immoral acts as well. The fact that he hates his brother shows that he has murder lurking in his heart. Christ was teaching us to view our own secret sins with the same moral revulsion we feel for wanton acts of public sin. 3. Because hidden sin involves the compounding sin of hypocrisy. Those who sin secretly actually intensify their guilt, because they add the sin of hypocrisy to their offense. Hypocrisy is a grave sin in its own right. It also produces an especially debilitating kind of guilt, because by definition hypocrisy entails the concealing of sin. And the only remedy for any kind of sin involves uncovering our guilt through sincere confession. Hypocrisy therefore permeates the soul with a predisposition against genuine repentance. That is why Jesus referred to hypocrisy as "the leaven of the Pharisees" (Luke 12:1). Hypocrisy also works directly against the conscience. There's no way to be hypocritical without searing the conscience. So hypocrisy inevitably makes way for the most vile, soul-coloring, character-damaging secret sins. Thus hypocrisy compounds itself, just like leaven. Beware that sort of leaven. No matter who suggests to you that appearances are everything, don't buy that lie. As a matter of fact, your secret life is the real litmus test of your character: "As he thinks within himself, so he is" (Prov. 23:7). Do you want to know who you really are? Take a hard look at your private life--especially your innermost thoughts. Gaze into the mirror of God's Word, and allow it to disclose and correct the real thoughts and motives of your heart. Related Resources (free): Keeping a Pure Conscience What is Sin? Mourning over Your Sin How should we deal with a professing Christian who is involved in sin? Related Products (for purchase): Confessing Our Sins Free from Sin, Part 1 Free from Sin, Part 2 Freedom from Sin The Sinfulness of Sin The Vanishing Conscience (Softcover) Where Did Sin Begin? Return to Top Search GTY Resources or browse by Topic or Scripture More Latest Sermons Listen The Pathology of False Disciples, Part 3 (John 6:60-71) Listen Continuing Christ’s Work (Acts 1:1-3) Listen The Pathology of False Disciples, Part 2 (John 6) Listen The Pathology of False Disciples, Part 1 (John 6) Archive By Scripture Radio By Date Television By Series Doctrine What We Teach Our Distinctives Positions Articles Sermons Unleashing God’s Truth, One Verse at a Time Grace To You © 2014 Grace to You. All rights reserved. 5 Caxton House Ashford, Kent TN24 8ET (44-1233) 662-262 | Fax: (44-1233) 638-810 Email: info@gty.org.uk The Master's College The Master's Seminary Grace Community Church

prayer as entertainment, Britains God talent and the X factor

I am a the start of a prayer meeting, and it is one of those rare occasions where i feel uncomfortable in my spirit. there were papers layed out on the floor to write on and verses of the bible printed out. a corner with Juice and bread and juice to have communion alone ( something I cannot find in the bible) there is a bowl to wash hand in to symbolise washing away of inner sin. people are lying on the floor, or sitting. I could easily wash my hands and it would mean nothing unless I actually forsake sin. We were told to hang out with God. I liken it to entertainment and I cannot take it seriously. I am so glad that in my sending church I learned from the minister that prayer is hard work and you have to persevere with it. I cannot think of any occasion when the disciples acted in the manner we are acting now. They prayed and prayed hard into desperate situations. they did not relax. On the contrary they were alert and on guard. The western church seems to be far too relaxed about prayer, about serious concentration on scripture, prefering entertainment and in my view not very good entertainment that would not fayre well on Britains Got Talent or The X Factor.

What is the real issue?

Numbers chapter 12 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because he married a Cushite woman. I note that nowhere does scripture say that this was wrong. V2 Miriam and Aaron say, “Has God ONLY spoken through Moses, has he not spoken through us as well?” They were claiming authority that they did not have. As God did not say that the marriage was wrong, I think that the Cushite woman Moses married probably adopted Judaism as her own faith, and was thus grafted in to the people of Israel. Cush was South of Ethiopia so she may have been black. V3 I do not hold with favourite bible verses but I do find some more influential than others and for me Verse three stands out as something to aspire to. Moses, was a humble man, more humble then anyone else on the face of the earth. Note, this is what God said of Moses. I also think that as Moses was the leader, and it was Aaron who publicly spoke to the people, this was not a private family dispute. It is likely that this was a well known national dispute. We are told that Aaron and Miriam spoke against Moses. It does not say that they spoke To Moses ( but they probably did) when they spoke against his marriage, I think it likely that they were gossiping to other people about it, undermining him. They were technically right that God did not just speak through moses but them also. However even if God does speak through anyone, they have no right to take on authority that does not belong to them Finally God speaks to all three of them and tells them to come out to the tent of meeting. If Miriam and Aaron thought that Moses was going to be confronted by God and told that he was wrong and his he should listen to his Brother and sister, they were very wrong indeed. From verses 6 to 8, God takes them up on their own words. If there is a prophet among you, I the lord shall make myself known to him in a vision or a dream. God was saying that he would take the initiative to speak. Aeron and Miriam had not seen the lord in vision or dream telling them to confront Moses about the Cushite woman Then God says Not so with my servant Moses. I do not speak to him through dreams and visions, but face to face, openly and he beholds the form of the lord. This was an awesome thing. To see the lord was considered to bring death for we are sinners. Moses did not die, God preserved him Therefore Aeron and Miriam should have considered well, and not said anything against him. NOTE THAT GOD DID NOT MENTION THE CUSHITE WIFE If the real issue was the Cushite wife, God would have taken that up with them. Instead he chastises them about authority. Moses was the leader, yet he was the youngest of the family. Aaron was the High Priest and Miriam was a prophetess, so there were as they rightly implied times when God spoke to the nation through them, but it seems they were not satisfied with that and rather than criticise God for not putting them up higher, they criticised Moses and argument about the cushite wife was a smoke screen for the real issue. Sometimes in life, we have grievances’, But we do not bring them up, or deal with them directly. We bring up another issue instead. Also note that it seems Moses did not argue with them to defend himself. He did not inflame the situation even more. It was God who confronted the real issue. We are told the anger of the lord burned against them. The lord departed. It did not end there. Moses and his family were public figures and speaking against him was a public sin, so God Judged them in an equally public manner for all the nation to see. When the cloud which was the presence of God left, Miriam was leprous. Aeron is repentant and asks that she should not be like one dead Moses asks Oh Lord please heal her. I think they expected an instant miracle, but God says, “if her father spat in her face, she would bear her shame 7 days.” God granted what they asked, but there were rules about lepers being put out of the camp. All the nation would know about her being put out and this was SHAME. God made it clear that her condition would last for seven days, then she would be permitted to come back in. It was the High Priest who checked and declared Leprosy. AERON WAS THE HIGH PRIEST. Therefore it is likely that it fell to him to put his own sister outside the camp. He shared in her guilt. You can almost hear it, “Oh Lord I do not want the shame of putting my own sister outside the camp. I feel so guilty”. God gave Aeron and Moses what they asked, but God did it in a way that would make it clear that he was holy and that What Aeron and Miriam had said, was wrong. I think that apart from punishing Miriam, it was a public and stern warning to the people or Israel not to gossip as they did against Moses. The Cushite woman was welcome. The tongue is an instrument of communication. It can speak Gods word of encouragement, but it can also tear down reputations. It is also difficult to tame. We know that a day of judgement is coming, and every word carelessly uttered will have to be accounted for, particularly if it was damaging to leaders and to brothers and sisters. Someone once gave me some guidance on what to think before I say anything. 1) Is it kind? 2) Is it true 3) Is it necessary? Evidently what Aeron and Miriam said was damaging to Gods reputation. They were really speaking against God even if it seemed they spoke against Moses. Let us take heed.

let us tame our tongues

Numbers chapter 12 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because he married a Cushite woman. I note that nowhere does scripture say that this was wrong. V2 Miriam and Aaron say, “Has God ONLY spoken through Moses, has he not spoken through us as well?” They were claiming authority that they did not have. As God did not say that the marriage was wrong, I think that the Cushite woman Moses married probably adopted Judaism as her own faith, and was thus grafted in to the people of Israel. Cush was South of Ethiopia so she may have been black. V3 I do not hold with favourite bible verses but I do find some more influential than others and for me Verse three stands out as something to aspire to. Moses, was a humble man, more humble then anyone else on the face of the earth. Note, this is what God said of Moses. I also think that as Moses was the leader, and it was Aaron who publicly spoke to the people, this was not a private family dispute. It is likely that this was a well known national dispute. We are told that Aaron and Miriam spoke against Moses. It does not say that they spoke To Moses ( but they probably did) when they spoke against his marriage, I think it likely that they were gossiping to other people about it, undermining him. They were technically right that God did not just speak through moses but them also. However even if God does speak through anyone, they have no right to take on authority that does not belong to them Finally God speaks to all three of them and tells them to come out to the tent of meeting. If Miriam and Aaron thought that Moses was going to be confronted by God and told that he was wrong and his he should listen to his Brother and sister, they were very wrong indeed. From verses 6 to 8, God takes them up on their own words. If there is a prophet among you, I the lord shall make myself known to him in a vision or a dream. God was saying that he would take the initiative to speak. Aeron and Miriam had not seen the lord in vision or dream telling them to confront Moses about the Cushite woman Then God says Not so with my servant Moses. I do not speak to him through dreams and visions, but face to face, openly and he beholds the form of the lord. This was an awesome thing. To see the lord was considered to bring death for we are sinners. Moses did not die, God preserved him Therefore Aeron and Miriam should have considered well, and not said anything against him. We are told the anger of the lord burned against them. The lord departed. It did not end there. Moses and his family were public figures and speaking against him was a public sin, so God Judged them in an equally public manner for all the nation to see. When the cloud which was the presence of God left, Miriam was leprous. Aeron is repentant and asks that she should not be like one dead Moses asks Oh Lord please heal her. I think they expected an instant miracle, but God says, “if her father spat in her face, she would bear her shame 7 days.” God granted what they asked, but there were rules about lepers being put out of the camp. All the nation would know about her being put out and this was SHAME. God made it clear that her condition would last for seven days, then she would be permitted to come back in. It was the High Priest who checked and declared Leprosy. AERON WAS THE HIGH PRIEST. Therefore it is likely that it fell to him to put his own sister outside the camp. He shared in her guilt. You can almost hear it, “Oh Lord I do not want the shame of putting my own sister outside the camp. I feel so guilty”. God gave Aeron and Moses what they asked, but God did it in a way that would make it clear that he was holy and that What Aeron and Miriam had said, was wrong. I think that apart from punishing Miriam, it was a public and stern warning to the people or Israel not to gossip as they did against Moses. The Cushite woman was welcome. The tongue is an instrument of communication. It can speak Gods word of encouragement, but it can also tear down reputations. It is also difficult to tame. We know that a day of judgement is coming, and every word carelessly uttered will have to be accounted for, particularly if it was damaging to leaders and to brothers and sisters. Someone once gave me some guidance on what to think before I say anything. 1) Is it kind? 2) Is it true 3) Is it necessary? Evidently what Aeron and Miriam said was damaging to Gods reputation. They were really speaking against God even if it seemed they spoke against Moses.

CHIC MURRAY. Telling the Long Nose Story.

Capercaillie - "Rann Na Mona"

Moses, twice asked for water and his different responses

Exodus 17:1-7 The people quarrelled with Moses saying, “Give us water that we may drink”. Note that this was quarrel, not a request of the lord. They blamed Moses. Where did they think that he would get water from? In the heat of emotion, people are often irrational and will not listen to reason or allow themselves to be ministered to by the lord or any one of his servants. It is Moses, not the people, who cries out to the lord on this matter, and God tells him what to do. God himself would stand before Moses on the rock at Horeb, and Moses was to strike the rock with his staff and water would come out. I think that apart from meeting the current need, this was symbolic. There was a need for water and Jesus is a rock that meets our needs. All that we need for life, pours out from him. 1st Corinthians 10:1-4 that rock which followed them. Numbers chapter 20 verses 1- 13 We see that once again they were at Kadesh. The very place where the spies gave their report, and the people were disheartened and did not believe the lord, thus failing to enter the land. Sometimes we do return to places where we have failed. Moses and Aaron as they prayed would have their minds filled with the memory of this. We see here a similar situation to Judges. The people needed water and this was the second generation. Because of unbelief the first generation were not permitted to enter the land, and here was the second generation being just as rebellious. Moses on the first occasion was told to strike the rock with his staff and it would pour fourth water. On this occasion he was told to speak to the rock and it would pour fourth water. However Moses spoke in anger to the people and stuck the rock twice and water poured forth. The water was a necessity and blessing. However although God poured forth his blessing, he was not pleased with Moses. In his attitude Moses had failed to hold up God before the people as being holy. It was a public sin, and God Judged Moses. Although Moses was the leader, he carried no more favour with God than anyone else when it came to sin. Just as the people of that first generation were doomed to die in the wilderness, so his own family died in the wilderness as we see with Miriam. Now Moses himself is told that he will also not enter the land because of his sin. The people had put God to the test. They had rebelled. They did not believe, and for his own names sake God preserved them. Let us not think that if we enjoy the blessing of God, it follows that we have Gods favour. God deals with sin, and we need to be aware of sin in us. God may indeed show us favour by being merciful and giving us what we need, but I as an adopted son of God am not a favourite, for God had no favourites, and Moses was also not a favourite. When we feel angry and we feel that things are happening against us. We need to trust the lord all the more and not give in to unbelief and rebellion. The people were blessed with water, but THE END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS Let us not doubt the lord, even in times of need. We are told that they tested the lord. Perhaps this is not a strong enough word. It means they doubted his care for them, and doubted that he would do what he said he would.

Paul McGann talks about returning to Doctor Who

Re Introducing myself

I have started writing a long letter to re introduce myself to my sending church. I have been gone for 19 years, and there are people in it that I do not know. Somehow, I need to connect with them, so I have written this letter specially for them, and I have flagged up the possibility with the current minister that I would like to address the Congregation next time I am in the Town. It seems odd, introducing myself to a church that I have been a member of for 40 years.

a new generation in the North Parish?????

George Verwer said that he would pray for those of us in OM UK who need more support, I fall into that category. With that in mind, I am doing something about it. Over Christmas, I was in my sending church, and looking around, it struck me that there are now people there whom I do not know. I asked how I could connect with these people and me sister in Law said that I need to write something to re-introduce myself to the Church. This I have done and I anticipate sending it late February or early March. It explains who I am what I do, what OM does with some of its history and how I got here. I had an interview today with Greg Hassall and I mentioned this and he said, “Could you be there and do a slot to introduce yourself?” I told him that it will be necessary for me to be in Dunfermline more often this year for family events, and I will ask the present minister if I can do a presentation while I am there. Somehow, it seems strange introducing myself to a church that I have been a member of for 40 years, but in some respects it is a new church. I told my sister in law that I do not know any of the young women who seem to run the Sunday School and I spotted a significant number of people who seem to be slightly younger than I am whom I have never met before. I have been of the opinion that if the church were to change and become more mission orientated then it would take a new generation to do it. Perhaps they now have that new generation and it is up to me to act immediately.