Category Archives: Heaven

May 20 2013
Bible, Christianity, Church, Demons, Elijah, Evangelism, Faith, Healing, Heaven, history, Holy Spirit, Jesus, leadership, Prayer, prophecy, Religion, Theology, Worship

Fire carriers – Rachel Hickson at the Message Prayer day

rachel_hickson_800 copy

What are Fire Carriers?

People who carry presence, passion and power

Lk 3:16
We are meant to be baptised with the Holy Spirit and with fire! Fire and water mix in God’s economy.

Stay wet – monastic
And on fire – mission

When dry people carry fire it’s dangerous.

But we get wet and put our feet on Britain’s dry ground.
Isaiah 44:3
This is not just for us, it’s for our descendents.

Wet people burn!

If we are dry and we burn we get burnt out. Some people are scary for all the wrong reasons. So stay wet in the presence of God
1 Kings 18:33-38
The prophets of Baal were the new spirituality.
They set up a dry altar. Prayed to the God of fire.

Elijah says – wet it again and again. Let the water overflow. It’s seriously wet! Because you have serious challenges and God wants to put some serious fire on you. Fire that touches you touches everything around you.
Are you a fire carrier?

It’s great to touch the dry ground – but we have to be wet first.

Ps 42:2
Are you thirsty?!

Where can I go?! Ever feel that?

Acts 3:19
Change your mind and priority. Think different!
Be far more determined to be close to Jesus.

Don’t look at who you are – you can’t even preach one sermon without Him!

God has a call on you and he wants you to hit the mark. The designation on your life is different to anyone else’s.

Have a time of refreshing!

Dt 28:12
Let the rain fall – open up heaven I’ve me!

2. God wants you to be Passionate People

You will make friends, and others will hate your passion.
Nothing great was ever accomplished with Passion.

The Enemy wants to silence true passion.
Passion is irritating. It causes a response. Others get their status quo threatened and want us to calm down. Like the crowd in Mk10:48 – who tried to calm Bartimaeus’ shout.

What’s the cry in you?
The Jesus shout!

Acts 4 – here was a passionate church. And a passionate church is usually a persecuted church. History tells us this. We think miracles are all we need. But look at Acts 4:16-20

Jesus is always the name they want to shut up and spread it. But Peter & John say ‘We have a Passion for that name!’

You carry a heavenly virus
It lives on dead people
Those who have died to our name
And come alive to his name.

There will never be an innoculation that works against this virus.

Jer 20:9
There’s a fire inside you. When we yet to hold it in, we get weary. Our weariness comes because we stopped letting Jesus out. We are Jesus people.

Don’t run out of steam
Don’t lose the main thing!

3. Be Power Carriers

Isaiah 8:18
We are for signs and wonders in the land!
Let signs & wonders be the children, the twins we walk around with.

Signs and wonders are extraordinary events that make people Wonder about God!

So many people need that key of hope to unlock the gates.

Mk 16:17-18
We are to change atmospheres!
To set people free from whatever torments them.

Be people of Presence. Passion and Power to make a difference.

May 14 2013
1 Comment
Bible, Christianity, dreams, Faith, Heaven, Jesus, Prayer, REVIVAL, Worship

Dream Of A Coming Revival

Anyone who knows my wife Zoe well will know over the years she has a great prophetic gift in dreams, really insightful and occasionally scary! The wonderful thing is how they come true in detail. It’s no exaggeration to say that every major move in our life has been foretold in a dream she’s documented.

So the other night she had a dream – about a move of GOD that’s coming our way. This ties in with an increasing excitement I have been feeling, many reporting a palpable sense of the presence of God last Sunday in our service at Kingsway, a number of miraculous answers to prayer here at Ivy recently, one of our sites (the new one at Ivy Sharston) getting over 100 new people turn up last week; and reports from various sites I’m connected to of outpourings in various churches (especially that at my friend Richard Taylor’s church in Wales). It seems the spiritual temperature is being turned up! 

Here’s Zoe’s dream, from her notes. The bits in brackets are my explanatory notes.

I was with a few others (women friends/prayer partners) were in an upstairs room – when a storm was coming up outside. I told someone there how bad it looked but they weren’t at all worried by the storm (this was one of the friends who’s a mighty woman of God who has lived through revival when she was in Brazil). 


 

The sea was swelling and then a huge, enormous wave came up, not like a tidal wave – instead it was like the whole of the sea, came flooding in with tremendous force.

 wave

It flooded everywhere below us. The house shook but still my friend was not phased by it at all. 

 

When all went quiet I went and looked outside. Everywhere looked beautiful, as though the wave had washed everything and made it brighter. The shore was clean, not trashed like you’d expect after a storm.

 

I asked the person with me to cut my fringe so I could see properly. 


 

We went down to the shore which was now full of fishing boats laden with fish. An abundance! Fish of all shapes and sizes. I’d never seen so many or such variety before it was amazing.

 

There were so many that the cost of food went down and even the poor could eat well.

 

Also beautiful creatures came out of the sea, including sea lions. I showed others there that the sea lions were friendly/tame, even though they tried to bite their teeth did not puncture my skin. I held and cared for a ragged brown one.

 

Others helped at other boats, because there were so many fish. Some of the boats had landed sharks in them but no one seemed to be afraid.

 

I asked if Kohl my Grandson would see this and was told, “Yes he will – and he’ll see even more!”

 

 

Zoe says, ‘My interpretation is…

 

There’s a move of God coming that will come with all the force and power of heaven. This is not just going to crash in one area but to sweep over a vast area.

 

It will come shaking ministries. God is very much in control of it.

 

It will cleanse our land, renewing and refreshing it.

 

The Holy Spirit will clean the dirty and remove the rubbish from people’s lives.

 

Thousands will be saved, people of all different backgrounds, races, colours and creeds.

 

Cutting my hair so I can see better is obvious. (Anthony’s note; hair in dreams is often a sign of knowledge or wisdom, so here human ‘knowledge’ can get in the way of spiritual revelation).

 

The poor will eat well – obvious too!

 

God’s people will not be afraid of the creatures that bite (spiritual attack? People who seem far away from God we’re scared of?).

 

We will nurture all those who come to Christ and encourage them in all compassion and humility.

 

People that were seen as dangerous and the enemy, including many criminals and drug dealers etc. will be ‘caught’ too – and born again.

 

What do you think? I’ve never had such a hard time trying to post a blog post on WordPress. Someone doesn’t want us to get too EXCITED! Are you ready for the MOVE? Spread the word!

Let’s pray – ‘Lord, send the wave!’

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Mar 30 2013
Bible, Christianity, Cross, Discipleship, Easter, Failure, Faith, Friends, Good Friday, Grief, Heaven, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Manchester, Men, Prayer, Quotes, Religion, Theology, Worship

CROSSED OUT – Carpenter worth less than the wood and nails?

The cross was not jewellery – it was  an obscenity. 2000 years ago if someone carved up your chariot on the road to Milan, you’d not stick two fingers or one finger or any other creative hand gesture. You’d make the sign of the cross in their direction. What starts and finishes many people’s prayers, began with an obscenity.

It was devised to be the most terrible  and humiliating way to die,  so that to say your leader went to a cross was the worst possible way to start a movement. It was foolishness to the Greeks and anathema to the Jews to say, ‘Our guy was crucified, come and join us.’ We cannot imagine the ‘Yuk’ factor that would bring to the common mind of the Roman empire which applauded the strength and might of its heroes.

Crucifixion was invented by the Phoenicians but perfected by the Romans and intended to be the most stigmatising (it has links to what we get the word stigmatising from), debasing and humiliating and agonizing experience. The idea was that NOBODY would ever want to be associated with anyone who died on a cross. There were lots of pretended Messiahs around at the time, but after the cross – nobody bothered to talk about any of them.

The cross, crossed people out. They didn’t matter anymore.

It was a death that deliberately stripped all dignity. You were belittled. That means you were being, littled.

After the death sentence was passed, the condemned person was stripped and paraded naked through the streets of the city, so that his punishment would be seen by all. The Jewish Law required that executions be made outside the city walls and the Romans accommodated this custom with criminals prominently put to death on a hill outside of Jerusalem. They wanted executions near well-travelled roads so all could see what became of any who were not a friend of Caesar.

You probably know how they had beaten this carpenter turned preacher, Jesus of Nazareth.  They flogged him with a whip laced with bone or lead to flay off the skin and bare the internals – they stuck his back together with a rough purple horse blanket and mocked him as they placed a crown of thorns upon his head and beat it into place with a stick. When they were finally tired of scorning him, they ripped off the ‘robe’ and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

Literary sources detailing the history indicate that the condemned person would carry to the execution site only the heavy crossbar (stipes). Wood was scarce and the vertical pole (patibulum) was kept stationary and used repeatedly. As he stumbled toward his execution the soldiers would follow closely behind, whipping him along the way.

When they arrived at the place of execution, the criminal would be both nailed and tied by rope to the cross beam. Recent archaeology indicates nails only 4.5 inches long would be used, in fact re-examination of a famous crucifixion victim may indicate that just one nail driven through one heel bone would suffice to keep a man on a cross if he were then tied with ropes. We know that Jesus’ hands were pierced but still this carpenter would be worth less than the nails and the wood – they often didn’t want to use too many nails or ruin the wood with nail marks too quickly so would often use a rope to hold the upper body. The victim would slowly die of asphyxiation just the same.

The position made it progressively difficult to exhale. The word excruciating was coined from this terrible pain. His legs were bent and his feet or heels nailed near the base of the cross—so he could push his torso a few inches and gasp for breath, until the pain in his legs became unbearable and he collapsed again.

It was not uncommon for death to take two days. Whenever the authorities decided (for whatever reason) to expedite the criminal’s death, his legs would be broken so that he could no longer push himself up for breath, and he would suffocate within a matter of minutes. Jesus died before that happened to him.

Unlike medieval art depictions, the cross didn’t tower high above the crowd. The dying would experience the torment of dangling just above the ground, at eye level, so tormentors could easily spit in his face, or set the dogs on them. The word crucify literally means ‘impale on a plank.’ Throughout the history of the Roman Empire, untold thousands were executed in this fashion. In AD70 after a rebellion they crucified so many they ran out of wood and just nailed them to the walls. We only remember one cross.

But Jesus’ cross was inconsequential. The sign above his head ‘King of the Jews’ – a bitter irony. He was nothing. Crossed out. As Jesus hung there naked, beaten and bloody, they taunted him, even the thieves he was crucified together with mocked him; his enemies watching him die helpless as the soldiers gambled for his clothes alone must have made his claim seem laughable.

Leading religious figures applauded, saying, “Let this Messiah come down off the cross so that we can see it and believe in him.”

And his friends – those who had believed in him – their worlds were spinning out right of control, and everything going wrong… they’re asking ‘WHAT IS GOING ON?!’’

What was going on? The Bible tells us what at the time only heaven could see, in Philippians 2:

When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honour of God the Father.

Jesus Christ hung there – because everything hung on it.

He was there, not as the victim of circumstances beyond his control, but because he chose to lay down his life for the sake of the world. As he had said to his friends in so many ways as he predicted the detail of what would happen: I am the good shepherd….No one can take my life from me. I lay down my life voluntarily. I have the power to lay it down when I want to and also the power to take it again. (John 10)

As Jesus was arrested, he said to his disciples, “Don’t you realise that I am able right now to call to my Father, and twelve companies—more, if I want them—of fighting angels would be here, battle-ready? But if I did that, how would the Scriptures come true that say this is the way it has to be?” (Matthew 26:53)

He was saying ‘I could save myself ANY time, but if I did, how could YOU be saved?’

Jesus could have saved himself, any minute of that long Good Friday. But He could not save himself, because He wanted to save – you. Saving us, forgiving all our sins and giving us eternal life meant that he had to die on the cross to pay the price for your sins. It was not that HE was crossed out, but our sins were crossed out, forever.

And he was willing to do whatever it took, for that to happen. For the glory of his Father, and because he thinks we were worth it.

Jesus’ death on the cross is the only one that is remembered, the death symbol that brings life – because that’s what it took to bring about our reconciliation, and that was a price he was willing to pay. In the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prayed, “If it is possible, take this cup from me” — but it was not possible. That cup could not be taken away… someone had to drink it. Him or us…

He did what it took. He took what it took. Despite all the power available to the Son of God, the King of kings, he knew he couldn’t save himself, because he wanted to save me and you.

(This is part of my notes from our Good Friday service yesterday – the talk in full will be available soon as a free podcast at www.ivymanchester.org/podcasts)

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Mar 23 2013
Bible, Christianity, Discipleship, Faith, Father God, Healing, Heaven, Jesus, Prayer, Religion, stress., Theology, Worship

‘Could You Not Watch One Hour?’ – Er… to be honest… no.

Matthew 26:36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. 38 Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.”39 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.”40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? 41 Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial;[e] the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Years ago, when I was new to church – not long a Christian, our church put on a musical about Easter. It was pretty awful mostly. They had an old guy sing mournfully a hymn solo over and over… ‘Could you not watch one hour?’’

Over and over…

I’d invited someone to come with and I did pray a bit, mostly thanking God  that they hadn’t come…

But I also felt so bad… about prayer.

I felt so GUILTY about prayer! I was always so rubbish at it.  Anyone else?

Maybe it was working shifts in the Police? No!  It happened a lot at theological college too - maybe it was Taize chants or something, but I would regularly know just how Peter and the guys felt with those heavy eyes and often fall asleep in the prayer times in church. Head on pew in front. Trying to focus. Daydreaming away as we all just really prayed Lord for all the really lovely children Lord in the really lovely world Lord… on more than one occasion waking to see a pool of slobber below me…

Could you not watch one hour?? 

I was struggling to break through to five minutes.

I got a book called ‘The Hour That Changes The World,’ to help me pray an hour a day. Here’s how that says you get the breakthrough -

prayerwheel

Personal training for prayer! He shows you how to man up and push through an hour, splitting it up 5 minutes at a time.

‘GIMME 5!! GIMME ANOTHER 5!  Do me an Hour! Could you not do that?’

Well isn’t half an hour okay? No! What kind of a Christian are you?

‘Could you not watch, one hour with me..’ 

But I’m busy! I have all these other things going on. How do I get 25 hours in a day? I’m rubbish at praying!

So I got more and more books about prayer, all guaranteed to help me feel worse about my struggling prayer life.

Now some of you, this is your thing. You don’t understand why every Christian doesn’t find it easy to spend hours and hours in intercession.

You need to know – nobody likes you. You make us feel bad!! You make me feel guilty.

Then over the years as I’ve gone into church ministry somehow I picked up that preparing for sermons doesn’t count as praying, that’s work, not proper praying at all… (what?!)

So I had to do a lot extra… how?

Well get up an hour earlier!  All the mighty men of God do this… get up really early, apparently.

‘Could you not watch one hour…’ 

It felt fine, once or twice… but then I started to get grumpy. With my family, With myself. Even with God if I’m honest for bothering me at that time…

‘Could you not watch…’ NO!  I want to sleep Lord! I want to snuggle up..

(This is the first part of my notes for my talk tomorrow at Ivy MCR. I’ll put the rest up in the week). 

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Feb 14 2013
Atheism, Bible, Christianity, Discipleship, Father God, Funerals, Healing, Heaven, Jesus, Prayer, Religion, Worship

What To Say At A Funeral?

ImageI have been invited by my friend J.John to contribute to a few books, one of the new ones will be a collection of funeral talks. I include my submission below. I have done so many hundreds of funerals but it’s always a great privilege. I offer the below to anyone who finds themselves in the position of doing a eulogy but more particularly Ministers of Religion leading services. Names and details etc have been changed.
Notes –  I am delighted to be asked to provide a talk in this collection. I believe that the opportunity to present the love, truth and hope of Christ at funerals is so great, and so often so greatly missed. Jesus must weep again at the graves of his friends as horror stories abound of Vicars forgetting the deceased person’s name etc. Not good enough! To be asked to speak at a funeral is one of the greatest privileges of ministry or indeed life. It deserves our prayerful hard work, full attention and every skill of pastoral ministry we can muster.  My old Vicar the late Alan Buckley told me to ALWAYS start by saying ‘I am very sorry,’ sincerely, at the beginning of the address – to the family. I have never forgotten to do so and it has always been well received. People don’t care what you know until they know you care.  

These notes are from the funeral some years back of a well known local pub landlady and animal lover. I had spent some time before visiting her in the hospice and preparing her for death which came as a welcome release for someone with a deep, personal faith. I always get details of the person’s biography and intersperse something of their life story and interests within the talk. There was more of that in the original talk. It makes the event less preachy and more personal.

 

I always conclude by praying for comfort for CLOSE family (and friends if appropriate) BY NAME.

 

I also as you will see at the end pray for the person by inviting everyone present to remember them ‘as you knew her..’ and painting a little word picture. I usually ask the family beforehand, ‘If you were only allowed single words not sentences, what words would you use to describe the type of person she was?’

 

I also ask, ‘If you were to picture her at her happiest, what would she be doing?’ I make notes on all this and that forms much of the content of my prayer. In doing so I invite everyone to remember with thanks the person in prayer and in some way that memory brings the person to life again…

 

 

 

 
Once again I’d like to say to Jim and the boys how sorry I was to hear that Mrs. __________ had died. It was such a privilege to get to know her, thank you for the invitation to lead the service today.I doubt that there’s a better known passage of Scripture than the 23rd Psalm. I read it to Ruth as I prayed with her and it’s kept coming to me as I’ve talked with Jim in recent weeks too. I have read this passage so many times at so many funeral services I have given, because after the death of a loved one, people need to be reminded that God walks beside you.God knew Ruth before she was born, walked with her since she was born in ____ , and he still does now.She was a remarkable lady. Brought up a farmer’s daughter with her younger sister Ann in a small village in Cambridgeshire, encouraged to know her bible and trust God from her early childhood she said yes to Jesus’ love at the age of 6 and was baptised in a bath at 10.Now I suppose the words of the 23rd Psalm have offered more comfort, calmed more fears, and encouraged more hearts than any other poem ever written, and that’s what it is: A poem written by King David, from the perspective of a sheep. I don’t know what kind of farm it was Ruth grew up on but I can’t imagine a farm without sheep. And I always picture a sheep in this Psalm as enjoying a pretty peaceful and contented life – because the sheep has the ultimate shepherd watching.King David wrote this Psalm to convince us that God has our best interest in mind- God wants to give us a fulfilling, hope-filled life, and that even extends beyond the grave. David had learned to care for people by first learning to care for animals, something you all know was true of Ruth hey?

David understood from the time he served out in the Judean fields how vital a shepherd was to the well being of the sheep.

I’m a city boy, though I’ve lived and worked in various rural settings.

I’m no sheep expert, but I’ve stayed awake counting them enough, and I do know they’re not the smartest animals in the barn and they smell pretty bad. That’s about the limit of my knowledge of sheep. But David knows his stuff when he talks about being a shepherd. This is his old stomping ground, literally. He knows what it’s like. To him, all the sheep were individuals, they all had names- he cared for each one.

Year ago as part of an outreach I’d been invited to speak at I had the opportunity to stay on a farm. A real, working farm. I’d never been that close to nature and this was something of an adventure. As I went to bed I asked the farmer to wake me up in the morning. A few minutes later it seemed I heard a knock at the door. The day on the farm starts early! We were off to go and look after the animals. I walked ahead of him to a field, and saw it was full of sheep. I didn’t know what to say to them. I nodded a ‘Good morning,’ and they all ran away!

I should have known – in The New Testament, the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, said Sheep don’t follow a stranger’s voice but flee from him. Suddenly the farmer turned up, made some strange farmer noise, and all the sheep came running to him- or more precisely to the feed in his buckets.

Where do you look for comfort – on a day like today? People look for comfort in the bottom of a bottle, or in buying something new, but there’s not much comfort there. There’s some comfort from friends who love you. And there’s great comfort in the voice of the Good Shepherd.

I wonder what your favourite line is from that well known psalm? Look what it tells us -

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

The Hebrew word here literally means that nothing will be lacking. Where? He goes on to say: “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” In other words, God provides a place of rest for us. // For you, me, Ruth. To get sheep to rest, they must be free from fear and sickness, there must be no worry among them, they must not be aggravated by the weather conditions, and they can’t be hungry. They have to learn to trust the shepherd for all these things. Then they can lie down, because they know the shepherd.

Verse 2: “He leads me beside quiet waters.”  God is not behind us shouting ‘go on’! He goes ahead of us bidding, inviting, “Come!” He is in front, clearing the path for us, making the way straight and safe. On the night before his death, Jesus reassured his friends, ‘Don’t be worried or afraid – I am going to prepare a place for you, so that you may be where I am.”

I love verse three: “He restores my soul.” I’ve had so many people tell me time and again (whether they would describe themselves as believers or not) that they came into this church just feeling down, sad, exhausted, but something happens in this place and they walked out like a different person with a different attitude. What happened? The Good Shepherd restored your soul. With hope. He will restore your soul today if you ask him to. He is the good shepherd.

He directs; because sheep go astray. They’re needy, defenseless, they get nervous. They are easily led. Sheep on their own are soon lost. That’s why we have the picture in the New Testament of the good shepherd leaving the ninety-nine to go and get the one.

That time I was on the farm, somehow the farmer was counting all the sheep. They just looked like a dirty cloud of hooves and teeth to me. But he said, ‘One’s missing!’ Then he marched off to the far end of the field, and looking far into the distance, I saw that missing sheep too. The farmer made that funny noise again – and the sheep set off full speed toward him, and food, and safety.

Maybe that’s why there are so many comparisons to people and sheep in the Bible. Maybe that’s why God is like a Shepherd. We can all lose our way, especially when times are hard- when we need some divine intervention from the Good Shepherd to get back on track.

Now in the first three verses of Psalm 23, God is referred to as He, but in the next three verses the focus shifts his thoughts – he calls God You. At first we were you’re seeing God from a distance, but now He’s up close and personal. Why do you think that it?

Because of where he’s going; Psalm 23:4; “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

“The valley of the shadow of death” is an actual location in Palestine. A narrow pass through a mountain range. It’s four-and-a-half miles long with sidewalls over 1000 feet high in places, while it’s only ten or twelve feet wide at the bottom. Travelling through that valley is dangerous and scary. But if you stick close to the shepherd, you have nothing to fear. There is one who will protect you, who’ll walk beside you through that temporary darkness, and bring you out into the light.

Shadows can be frightening, especially the one cast by Death. Without a shepherd we’d be entirely fearful here. But it’s just a shadow. We can struggle with other enemies like pain, suffering, disease, and injury. But we can’t make it through this valley without the Shepherd leading us.

You all know Ruth was an overcomer- she achieved amazing things in this life that will echo in eternity and in a moment we’re going to remember them and her. But no amount of courage, strength, imagination, perseverance – can finally overcome death. We can’t do that ourselves!

Here’s the hope I offer you all today. Christians believe there is one person who can walk with us through death’s dark valley and bring us safely to the other side. It’s not wishful thinking, it’s historical fact that  Jesus, our Good Shepherd, experienced the cruellest death but then conquered the grave. He’s been there! And you can trust him when He says, “I’ll take you through…”

Time and again I have been at the bedside of someone who knows they haven’t got long ahead of them in this life, as I was with Ruth in the morning of her last day here. People ask me – ‘What do you say?’

Well what would you say? What do you think happens when you die? Where is your hope? Is it just for this life?

I try to remind the person… The Lord is Your Shepherd.

Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death… David writes; I will fear no evil, (WHY?) for you are – — with me.

Who you are with makes all the difference. Thank you to all the friends here today to support the family – I know they’d want me to say it makes all the difference. We need each other. In the same way, sheep need the companionship of a shepherd. The Good Shepherd who provides for our needs, protects us through the shadow of death, and finally he promises to reward us.

Psalm 23:5b, 6: “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

“My cup overflows.” What a lovely picture of hospitality! Bedouin shepherds have an ancient tradition that when travellers are coming through they always let the visitors stay in their house. When the travellers want something to drink, they fill their cup up to the top. But after they have worn out their welcome and stayed longer than they should, the next day, their cup will be only half filled. It’s a nice way of saying, ‘Time Gentlemen Please!’

That helps me understand what the writer of this Psalm is saying. Ruth would know it too from her years of hospitality at the Ox and Plough. “My cup overflows.” The image is that when you come to the table of the Lord, just come as you are today when we pray in a minute – he welcomes you in, and says, “Stay. Stay as long as you want.”

He keeps filling the cup full. I don’t have to rush away and he has nothing and nobody he would rather be with. The cup’s not just full, it’s overflowing.

“Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

As we commit Ruth now to that person, in that place he has prepared -

Let’s pray… (here’s how I’d start to pray)

Ruth has been described by those who knew her best as a kind, funny, thoughtful lady who always had a word of encouragement and treated people like they were welcome guests, not just customers.

Maybe you’ll picture her as you pray, standing ready to greet you at the pub, or walking her dogs around the village, or as she was at their Golden wedding celebration surrounded by her kids and grandkids…

However you remember her – why don’t you offer that picture to the Lord now, the Good Shepherd…
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Jan 12 2013
Apologetics, Atheism, Bible, Christianity, Faith, Father God, Friends, Heaven, history, Jesus, leadership, philosophy, Religion, Theology, Worship

J. John puts down Darwin the dog (humanely)

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I met with my friend @canonjjohn this week and was interviewed by him on my life story for UCB TV. The guy is a force of nature! Always a great encouragement.

I subscribe to regular updates in my email from him (available free from the Philo trust) and was amused, informed and challenged by this one that arrived today -

New Year, New Atheism, New Challenges
12 Jan 2013

It’s rather a scary thought that we are already over one eighth of the way through the twenty-first century. And even though year seems to follow year at an increasingly rapid rate, our culture changes even more speedily. One feature of the last decade that shows no sign of going away has been the rise of the ‘New Atheism’. It’s easy to dismiss the New Atheism as no more than a warmed-up version of old-fashioned humanism and in terms of substance there is little new. What is truly novel and troubling is the movement’s aggressive and bitter hostility to religious faith in general and Christianity in particular.

A fascinating revelation into where things are going with the New Atheism is to be found in a website www.kidswithoutgod.org, created to help children and parents live ‘a life without God’. Actually, the very existence of the site is significant. For years atheists have been saying how unfair it is of Christians to teach or – as they charmingly term it – ‘indoctrinate’ our children about God. In the past sceptics used to claim that children should be left to make their own decisions on matters of belief. Well this website suggests that such guidance is now buried: it is apparently legitimate to teach children about ultimate values.

There is actually a great deal of unintended amusement to be found on the site. So, for instance, children are introduced to a dog called Darwin. Darwin tells us that he is a ‘humanist’. At this point isn’t any smart child going to wonder why Darwin isn’t a ‘doggist’? Actually, it may simply be that Darwin the dog is stupid because reading on we are told that he only believes in things that he ‘can see in the real world, like friendship, and being nice, and learning’. Well, when I last looked friendship, niceness and knowledge were actually invisible. It’s also a little unfortunate that Darwin’s exclusion of anything ‘unseen’ prevents him from believing in such rather useful things as electricity, scent, sound waves, X-rays, infinity and gravity. This tripping up over logical shoelaces is all rather embarrassing given the New Atheism’s claim that it is seizing the intellectual high ground.

Another feature of the site is the way in which it inadvertently reveals some of the gaping problems in atheism. One of the difficulties in talking to children is that you have to use plain language and plain language allows very little scope for the sort of fancy wordplay that atheists can use to cover over difficulties. Such problems are highlighted when the site’s authors attempt to give children a moral code. Darwin the dog suggests that his young readers might like to follow his principles. (He doesn’t actually call them ‘principles’ presumably because as a dog sympathetic to modern worldviews he knows better than to try and impose his values on others; instead they are ‘things he has promised to do’.) There are seven of them:

  • “I promise to be nice to other people, just because it’s the right thing to do.”
  • “I promise to help take care of the Earth, because this is our home and we need it to stay healthy and safe.”
  • “I promise that I will think about the questions I have, and learn as much as I can about how things work.”
  • “I promise that before I say something or do something to another person, I will stop to think about how I would feel if somebody else said that or did that to me.”
  • “I promise that I will always tell the truth and take responsibility for my own actions.”
  • “I promise that I will help those who are sad or angry by being a good friend to them.”
  • “I promise to eat healthy, get plenty of sleep and exercise, and practice good personal hygiene.”

Why is ‘being nice to other people’ the ‘right thing’ to do? Says who? If the only basis for morality is evolution then why not push and shove your way to the top and, in the process, make sure that your genes get circulated as widely as possible? Why ‘be a good friend’ to those who are sad or angry? Doesn’t evolution demand that we walk over life’s losers? I could go on.

Yet beyond all the accidental amusement it provides, ‘Kids without God’ is a troubling website. You do not have to go far in it to find Christianity ridiculed and misrepresented. For all the proud claims that atheism is about truth there is no attempt at discussion, only distortion and sneering innuendo. What this website does present is a much-needed reminder that as Christians we are, like it or not, being increasingly drawn into a bitter conflict with the New Atheists. Traditionally, most Christians have adopted a bemused, live-and-let-live attitude towards atheists. That attitude was something that we had assumed was mutual. Yet it is now plain that for the New Atheists, the world has changed and tolerance is not a virtue. Christians are now clearly seen as an enemy to be fought and beaten.

At this point it is easy to shrug and say that the Church has faced such challenges before and survived them. Yes, it did, and God is greater than all the powers of this world put together, but it is worth remembering that the Church survived because Christians were prepared to pay a heavy price. The followers of Christ lived better, thought better, cared better and, quite often, died better than their opponents. Will the same be true of us?

Agapé,

Revd Canon J.John

www.philotrust.com

 

 

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Aug 09 2012
Heaven, Jesus, leadership, Holy Spirit, Father God, Ivy Manchester Grow Group Notes, Graham Cooke

How are you known in heaven?

Ivy MCR grow group notes; content inspired by Graham Cooke/ Keys to the City

You can grow up with a negative and positive part of your personality. You’ll act out of either –

maybe you’ll be judgemental, fearful, prone to deception, or too self conscious.

OR you can be someone who loves a challenge, a risk taker, trusting, self aware. 

Both of these personalities are in us, to a greater or lesser extent. 

Jesus wants to bring out all those positives in us.

 DISCUSS: Which of these two personalities is usually dominant in you? 

Read Mk 827  And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples,“Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him,“John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”30  And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

This is an occasion where Peter got it RIGHT!

DISCUSS: Can you recall the times he got it wrong?

GC: ‘Don’t worry about things you haven’t been able to do perfectly. You learn by failing.’ 

Why do we find it easier to recall failures than successes?

Jesus was always making I am statements. 

So was God the Father. 

Because when we have an identity we have to declare that so others know how to relate to that.

Read Exodus 33:12-end

Moses was asking to see the glory of God. God says ‘My goodness will blast you – I’d better just show you my back.” 

Then he declares his IDENTITY - God says, ‘I am compassionate. merciful, slow to anger etc…’ 

DISCUSS: What other words would you want to add to describe God? What’s his identity to you? 

Look at Luke 4:16 Jesus came to his home town, stood up to read – and read from the wrong place! Isaiah 61. ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

What was he saying? ‘This is how I am known in heaven…’

In John 16, Jesus says ‘It’s better for you if I go away.’  They’re saying, ‘No way.’

Jesus replies, ‘Yes it is – so HE can come!’ Who? The IDENTITY of the Holy Spirit is described:

Here’s how he is known in heaven: He’s going to convict the world of sin and righteousness. He’ll lead us into all truth. He’ll glorify Jesus in us and to us. He’s a comforter and helper. 

Discuss: What would you like to be known in heaven for? What are you going to do with this one short life to make a difference? 

Luke 1. The angel shows up to talk to Zechariah about how his son John is known in heaven – and he’s not even born yet!

- ‘He’ll be great in the sight of God. He’ll make a way for the Lord.’  

When you get a prophetic word, it’s God describing you. God is telling you, ‘This is who you are.’ Then for the next while, everything in your life is training you for who you are. If you get a word that you’re a warrior when you’re a wimp, you’re on a journey now! In the place between prophecy spoken and fulfilled there’s some boldness to walk in now. Every situation is designed to help you become that. AND even if you don’t accept that word, he’s going to do in you. 

He also gives us scripture. He loves to tell us who we are from his word. He wants you to have very specific passages that are talking to you about how he sees you.

DISCUSS what passages and words have been spoken to you and resonated recently? Pray that you’ll co-operate to become who you’re known in heaven to be!

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Jul 21 2012
Bible, Faith, Family, Heaven, leadership, Marriage, Prayer

The BEST Marriage – available at the Kindle store

Just finished the wedding of a fab Ivy couple. Congrats to Pete and Chloe!

This is not them by the way – they’re way younger but I’m praying their love will go the distance and they field-tested my new book as part of their marriage prep. It’s now available (today is the first day it’s out) on Kindle. So if you love your e-reader, ipad or Kindle (like me) go to this link to check it out, take a peek inside and if you do download it PLEASE review it so others can be encouraged.

I’ve been blogging about the book at http://bestmarriage.org too, so check that out if you have time.

Thank you!

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Apr 07 2012
2 Comments
Bible, Christianity, Cross, Easter, Heaven, Jesus, Prayer, Religion, Theology Image

The Cross That Sets Us Free

Colossians 2:13,14 “…you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

I took this photo on my iPhone the other day, just passing the Albert Pub in Didsbury and noticed how they’d put up a warning sign to deter parkers, on a cross.

Ever been clamped? I got my car clamped once – and I could tell the guys who did it just loved their job! Grrr… it was so frustrating to be stuck like that, subject to punishment. Not able to go where I wanted. Captive! I didn’t have the money to pay them and contested it vigorously because (unlike this one) the sign wasn’t clear or even visible from where I parked.

Finally, a friend agreed to pay half and then I paid the vultures who held my car, and was free!

I was so struck by how this pub has put their notice on a cross like this.

Jesus’ final shout of triumph from the cross on Good Friday was ‘It is finished!’ which we could translate as ‘paid in full!’ That’s what this friend did so we could be free – not stuck. He paid the penalty though he’d done nothing wrong – and it’s not paid with money but the most precious substance in the universe, his own blood.

The good news of Easter is you don’t have to be stuck anymore. He who the Son sets free, is free indeed!

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Jun 05 2011
1 Comment
Bible, Christianity, Faith, Heaven, Jesus, Prayer, prophecy

Lynn Swart: True or False? Sermon at Ivy MCR today on Nehemiah 6:9-14

Lynn Swart: Sermon on Nehemiah 6:9-14

Nehemiah 6:9

For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.” 
Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. 
10 Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was a secret informer; and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.” 
11 And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!” 12 Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me. 
14 My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid.

Whenever God wants to build, there is always opposition: INSIDE and OUT! Fear comes to take hold of our spirit, and freezes us.

FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real!

Don’t succumb to that false evidence. God wants to strengthen us in faith, not yield to untrue statements. Someone’s saying ‘it won’t happen. you’ll give in – you have weak hands.’

When fear comes – I can REACT or RESPOND TO GOD. Nehemiah knew the nature and character of God. Not just as information but a revelation in our lives. So we don’t try to fight like for like.

Nehemiah lifts his GAZE and he lifts his HANDS yielding to a higher strength. lift your hands! Nehemiah went to Shemaiah’s house and it was a house full of fear and intimidation – a trap. There were enemies outside AND inside.

Not every message, however spiritual it sounds, is from God. We need discernment.

‘Let’s go to the temple.’ What could be holier than that? BUT this ‘prophet’ was shut in. Self-preserving, and not joining in the work.

And he says, ‘They are going to kill you. Let’s hide in the temple.’ But only the Levites were allowed in there. It was not Nehemiah’s PLACE. He’d have stepped out and been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Prophecy from God when done RIGHT – gives life. But it can also be LETHAL. If it comes out of a place of fear.

How do we test a prophecy?

1. Test the character of the ‘prophet-’ Do they walk the walk? Or just talk the talk.

2. God will never violate his written Word.

Nehemiah could smell a rat because he knew the fragrance of heaven.

So he STANDS – and refuses to run away. And then he prays… focusing on the Lord. about ALL the false prophets.. because he only wanted the truth.

The work WAS completed – in record time. And if WE can hold our ground, and have our arms strengthened, we will see many miracle moments!

We need to be:

1. Convinced in purpose; knowing what I’m called to

2. Committed in vision: if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it.

3. Constant in prayer: let intercession & intimacy be part of our rhythm.

4. Courageous in your journey. And EN-courage others. Add courage to them!

 

Note: image above from http://www.janeng.com/portfolio2/rotk_01.html

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