GOD ENJOYING HIS PEOPLE

There is nothing that can surely surpass the thought of God enjoying us!  Calvin made this very daring statement in his sermons on Isa 53.  Yet, this ought not to surprise us because we were created for His pleasure.  We want God to be pleased with us in all we do and in all we are.  So God wants to enjoy and take pleasure from and take pleasure in His redeemed children.  That God wants to enjoy us is the normal relationship that ought to exist between God and us.  But the thought of God sitting in heaven and looking down on us, and saying, "I am enjoying my people; I am enjoying you at this moment; you are thrilling my heart as I look upon you.  I see that you take pleasure in worshipping and serving me, and that pleases Me enormously."

Is God enjoying you just now?  When He looks down on you, what does He see?  Someone like His Son, Jesus Christ?  Does He see someone who reflects His glory and beauty?  Does He see holiness in the heart?  Does He see someone who is so devoted to Him, that what the word does to him matters nothing at all?  A totally surrendered life?  A life that is lived in the Word and Gospel of God?  


Or does He see something different?  Don't fool yourself into thinking that because you lived a life that is good in your own eyes that is necessarily pleases God!  Only a life lived exclusively for Christ is well-pleasing to God. 


Does that describe you?  


To see what God expects of you, read the Bible with a hunger to now that impels you towards Christ.  Having God pleased with our lives is surely the most important thing we can do.  For only then can we expect to enter God's pure Heaven!

The Digital King James Version of the Bible

Did you know that you can get a digital version of the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible that you can download to your computer? Well, you can.  Just imagine how useful this will be for you. 

And more.  You can a digital version of this same Bible that you can download to your iPhone!  Yes.

If you are interested in either or both of these, then click here.  This digital version of the Bible can be yours in minutes.  What a tool for Bible reading and Bible study.

Perhaps there is a birthday coming up soon, and you're wondering about a present.  Why not pay for a friend to get this digital version of the Bible, and they'll thank you for years to come.  Visit here NOW!

Sin, Hatred and His Death on Calvary

A.   Isn’t it utterly amazing how sin destroys our ability to think clearly about things!  This takes us down the most irrational road imaginable!  Paul was a highly educated man, a Pharisee, a man who was taught and trained how to think, and yet he sets aside his thinking faculties and goes on a rant against the Lord’s disciple’s.  But my friends, that’s what sin does to people.  Education is no protection against unreasonableness.  Sin makes people take leave of their senses, and do the most foolish of things.  Intelligent people driven, not by their minds, but by their emotions.  Driven by blind prejudice against what they do not like.  And we have them in the church today, you know.  There they are in all their pride and self-righteousness, sitting under the preaching of the Gospel but hating every moment of it.  These clever people, these educated people. And how different are they from Paul and his passionate hatred towards Christians!  None at all.

B.    But look further.  These same hot-heads know enough to hate Christians, but not enough to realise that their hatred is directed exclusively against Lord Jesus Christ.   It is Christ they hate. It is Christ they are opposing.  Look at Paul the Pharisee.  His very breath was burning with slaughter and murder against God’s redeemed people.  This graduate of at least three universities.  Where is his logic, you ask? Where is his reason?  Where is his ability to think?  They have deserted him.  And the same is true of many in church and world today.  Their opposition to Gospel is utterly irrational.  What are they opposing?  And Who are they opposing?  Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  Who was He?  He was a man Who went about doing good.  And they hate Him for that! He taught His discs, “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you,” (Mt.7:12).  He healed the sick, lame, deaf, blind, dumb.  And you hate Him for doing that!  And look!  He even raised the dead to life.  You are opposing a Man like that! 

Do you see the sheer irrationality of your reaction and opposition to Christ?  Do you see what it is leading you to do?  Sin drives people mad!  These are the reactions of mad people.  Sane, sensible people would never reject Someone Who did all these good things.  Never.  

C.    But look at the climax of what He did.  He died for you.  He loved you so much that He took your sins in His own Body on the tree, and died for them.  He took in His own Body the wrath of God that your sin deserved – why?  Because He loved you!  And you still persecute Him!  See the awful power of sin!  Sin enables the lost, the blind, the guilty to do those very things.  That’s what Paul did, and why.  And that’s what you’re doing, and why.

But do you know what is really happening here?  You are meeting Jesus Christ face to face, and you don’t like it.  This always happens in true conversion.  That’s what conversion is – a personal meeting with Jesus Christ face to face.  P was meeting Christ, and he did  not know it.  “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”  “Who are You, Lord?”  “I am Jesus Whom you are persecuting.”  In persecuting the disc’s, he was persecuting Christ Himself.  You see, you can’t lay a rough finger on any of Lord’s people and not touch Christ at the same time.  You cannot.   If you touch them, you touch Him.  And you’ll have Him to answer to.  And to answer to Him, you’ll have to meet with Him personally.  Paul was touching God’s people; and in so doing, he was touching God Himself. How foolish!  How mad!  And the amazing thing is, Christ met him on the Damascus Road.  Conversion is always a meeting face to face with Christ.  

Have you met Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of the world face to face?  Are you converted?  Have you been converted?  Have you repented of your sins and come to and trusted Christ as your Lord and Saviour?  Do you belong to Him?  Have you changed kingdoms?  Have you been delivered from the kingdom of darkness and death, and been brought into the Kingdom of light and life?  Have you personally believed the Gospel?  Do you belong to God?  If ever you are to enter God's Kingdom, then you, too, must be converted to Christ.

Church Elder Bullies Church Members

Bullying within organisations is not a new phenomenon; nor is bullying within the Christian Church.  And the bullying of minsters by elders and members is not the only form this bullying takes, nor is it the only target group that gets 'the treatment.'

In my work with the victims of bullying which goes over the past 14 years, I have had one case where a female church worker was bullied by her female minister boss. In addition, I have only had one case where a church member was bullied by an elder.

So, bullying in the church and by the church is still a problem; but the sad thing is that the churches are utterly incompetent to deal with this anti-social behaviour within its own ranks.  They may have experience of being bullies, but they do not have experience of being bullied.  At least, not those who are detailled with responsibility of sorting out church bullying issues. 

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) has a somewhat chequered history so far as bullying is concerned. This is not the only church denomination that is involved in this evil behaviour, as a cursory visit to the Internet will reveal.  But PCI is one case in question.  It formed a Reconciliation Service which purportedly has responsibility for dealing with such conflict issues within congregations.  The really bizarre thing is that, as is often the case in industry and business, the people responsibility for dealing with these matters are themselves the bullies; and if they are not the direct bullies, they are too closely aligned with those who are.

How do church bodies deal with bullying issues?  It's very simple.  They simply close one door after another so that the victims of church bullying are left even more devastated than was hitherto the case.  They close ranks against "the troubler of Israel," and offer protection to the system, and also to the system's 'blue-eyed boys.'  You could write the script!

Further, the more inexperienced the ministers are, and the less capable they are of dealing with elders who step grossly out of line, the more obvious becomes their ineptitude in this situation. This is shown by the old time resort to pious platitudes.  "It's always darkest before the dawn."  "God has a plan in this that you cannot see."  Or, the most recent one that I heard, "'Let's agree to disagree' and ... we will 'find out in heaven who is right'.  The niggling thing about platitudes is that they do in fact contain some truth.  The exasperating thing about them is that they are not at all helpful when addressed by an incompetent person as he disguises his own pastoral incompetence.

You would expect ministers, of all people, to have a bit of compassion for the poor victim, but alas, they are amongst the biggest offenders in this regard.  They are way out of their depth here, and it does not take the long to show it. 

And what of the victims of bullying?  Well, they are left licking their wounds, with no one within a shout to give any comfort or help.

For anyone wanting not only research-based information on bullying, but a genuine pastoral approach to dealing with this matter, then please visit this website.  If you fear your children might be affected by your bullying, then please click this link and discover what might be happening to them, and how you might be able to help them. 

WANTED! AN EVANGELIST.

Can anyone explain to me how the post of "evangelist" can be filled without first assessing the evangelistic content and methodology of the prospective evangelist?  Can a suitable candidate be found through the interview process alone? 

This is what one religious denomination is doing in order to find someone who could fulfil this task.  There was no concern about whether or not a candidate could preach the Gospel with power; only his past experience and his understanding of the Gospel, which had to 'dot every eye and cross every tee' of the prospective employer, were relevant.

Indeed, it seems to be the case that the title 'evangelist' was merely a cover-up for what was essentially a community worker.  There does not seem to be any real preaching opportunities, but sufficient 'baby-sitting' work and the supervisions of congregational organisations. 

But, is an evangelist in the biblical understanding just another name for a church community worker? Or is it something quite different?  When Paul told young Timothy to "do the work of an evangelist" (2 Tim.4:5), what did he mean by that?  Philip was also described as an evangelist (Acts 21:8)?  What was his work?  Indeed, the risen Christ gave evangelists to the church as His gift to her.  But what were they to do?  Be community workers?  Act as church 'baby-sitters' for children?  Run organisations?

No, their work was carefully and clearly delineated. They were to men called and equipped to take the message of Christ to the world, as Philip did when he was sent to the Ethiopian Eunuch (Ac.8:26-40).  He was preaching the Gospel in Samaria where what has come to be known as the Samaritan Pentecost took place, a man mightily used by God to reach the lost with the Gospel.  It was at this significant time that God called Philip away from the centre of revival activity to the desert, why? because the Lord had a work that Philip was specially well fitted for, and that was powerful evangelism.  So, from this we learn that the work of an evangelist was to preach the Gospel to multitudes and crowds, as well as to individuals.  It was this work that young Timothy was to do - be a preacher of the Gospel of God.

That the church needs men with this gift is clear; and that Christ made a gift of evangelists to the church is also agreed.  They were to heralds of Christ, the messengers of God sent out into a hostile world. They had good-news for the whole world - that Christ died for all, and the Gospel now offers eternal salvation to all who put their trust in the one and only Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ. 

At no time was 'baby-sitting' children part of the evangelist's role; nor is there any indication in the New testament that the evangelist was to be a church worker in the community.  This is teaching that the modern church does not seem to understand, or even want to understand.  And it certainly has no intention of applying it to the work that she is called by God to do.

Perhaps, the real intention behind appointing these (unbiblical) evangelists is to reduce further the evangelistic responsibility of the church to the world.  I now that some churches were embarrassed by the presence of Christian workers in the Irish Republic over many years, and now that these are being 'killed off,' the replacements will never do what those men did for many years.

How blind church leaders are when it comes to reaching the lost for Christ! Our prayer must be that God will open their eyes before it is too late.

Maybe the church of today needs to return to the Scriptures and begin to take their message with utmost seriousness.  To get your own copy of the AV in digital form, please click this link. 

Billy Graham's Prayer For Our Nation

Dr Billy Graham was one of the most outstanding evangelists in the last century, a man who fearlessly preached the Word of God to the masses.  Despite his later developments into areas which he would have been much better not entering, his great catchphrase was "the Bible says."  But that aside, the 90 year old evangelist is still a man of prayer and this prayer of his is published here for your encouragement.

THIS MAN SURE HAS A GOOD VIEW OF WHAT'S HAPPENING TO OUR COUNTRY! 

'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.  We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.  We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.  We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.  We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.  We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.  Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!' 

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, 'The Rest of the Story,' and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called 'One nation under God!' 

Think about this: If you forward this prayer to everyone on your e-mail list, in less than 30 days it would be heard by the world. (It's worth a try!)  'One Nation Under God!

The Latimer Syndrome Spreads

David Latimer seems to be enjoying his celebrity status as Martin McGuinness' 'presbyterian chaplain' but he is doing it, and gaining these 'honours', by dancing on the graves of the people that McGuinness & Co sent to their deaths, including my youngest brother, Kenneth. 

His denomination, at both national and local levels, has been deafeningly silent about Dr Latimer's activities, in contradistinction to the way Rev Mervyn Gibson was brought before church authorities for walking down the Newtownards Road to the music of a hymn.  Is it a case that the Presbyterian Church in Ireland supports provo-lovers, but despises members of the orange order?  This seems to be the case, in the light of his church's recent activities.  It is very distressing for members of PCI to see their denomination applauding, by its silence, the very public support given by one of its ministers to a notorious terrorist leader, yet is prepared to take action against another minister who seeks to stand for Gospel principles. 

Indeed, the Moderator of that church is strangely quiet at present - does he also support what McGuinness has done to his own fellow members?  If not, then let him come out and say so.

Innocent victims of the IRA's terrorist campaign are especially hurt by Latimer's bare-faced support for a terrorist leader, and for a man whose organisation sent many Presbyterians et al to their untimely graves.  Whilst quite clearly there are Presbyterians who will support their church at all costs, and will go on supporting it regardless, others are much more discerning, and will now be re-assessing their position within that religious denomination.  But in all likelihood, such re-assessment will issue in no change, whatever hold a church has on its members.

But David Latimer ought to be thoroughly ashamed of himself, as ought his church.  But there again, "shame demands grace," and where there is "no grace" there will be "no shame." 

I am also wondering what Dr Lesley Carroll thinks of this - my suspicion is that she thinks that all such activity is excellent, and to pot with the innocent victims of the IRA.  She also demonstrates by her actions that every action that can be taken against Gospel ministers within PCI, ought to be done without undue delay. The very presence of these ministers is an annoyance that they could do well without.

PCI's deafening silence about this matter demonstrates that, as a church, it does not know much about true reconciliation, even at the horizontal level!