On The Buses

The bus came late this morning and so whilst getting on one of the customers complained to the driver of how outrageous it was for the bus to come at that time. I reflected on this and thought which is more important the lateness of the bus or the fact that the bus arrived?

I went on to question how we’d respond to something similar happening if we had an urgent appointment and our only mode of transport was public and we made it on time to wait for the transport having given ample time to make the appointment only for the transport to turn up very late how would we respond? Would we be angry at the lateness or grateful that it arrived?

The anger, I believe, would blind us to many of the opportunities to help others – it’s amazing how people in a mood really look like they’ve got thunder-clouds over their heads and shouldn’t be approached because there’s a storm a brewing. Sure it’s hugely inconvenient and may have really bad consequences, but put things into perspective. Why was the bus late – how do you know there wasn’t something going on that delayed the traffic? How do you know that there wasn’t something going on with the driver in his/her personal life? Even if there’s nothing there, what good is being angry? Does it really lead to doing the right thing? Does it really make things any better? You may get things off your chest, but it doesn’t do anyone else any good.

The challenge as ever in the area of patience is to focus on God and His mercy on us to even provide transport for us. To even bless us with a driver to take us to the destination is something for which we should still be grateful.

4 His Name’s Sake
Shalom
da man cd

Daily Thoughts - Parental Respect

I don't usually post my daily thoughts on this blog because I tend to think that's cheating this blog from more original thought. However, as I read the thought that I wrote for today and because it's got to do with two of the most important people in my life, I'd thought I'd make an exception to my usual rule.

Honour your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 5:16)

The family is the cornerstone of society – values, experiences, and worldviews are largely formed by them especially our parents. There are those that have abused this responsibility, but it doesn’t deny how important it is to honour parents, it highlights what it takes to be good ones. Valuing parents is even more important when we have children as how we value our parents helps our children know how to value us as well as others. And how we value our parents will also inform the next generation on how to value the heavenly Father. Thank God for parents.

4 His Name's Sake

Shalom

da man cd

The Christian and The State

As I understand the Great Commission on which the church is authorised, we’re called to go and make disciples teaching them to observe all things and we have the guaranteed presence of Jesus Christ Himself with us. That’s a commission for good news spreading and encouraging others to be a part of this. Nowhere in this and throughout the rest of the Word do I note any instructions for the establishment of a Christian state – the church is the only body that will be run on theocratic principles because it is the very bride of Christ through which His rule is revealed.

With those certainties established we’re left to ask how are we to conduct ourselves in a society that rejects the sovereignty of the Almighty and looks to accommodate all other faiths into mainstream community life. What should be the overriding aim of engagement in society? Are we to embrace multi-faith partnerships in a bid to create a ‘better’ society? Are we to seek a greater level influence on government policy and political developments on a whole? Within all this are we motivated by a Christ-honouring agenda – is it really Christ that commands us to go in these areas?

4 His Name’s Sake
Shalom
da man cd

Reflections

While I was reigning on the throne and passing judgement on that which needed to be expelled from my kingdom (IOW on the toilet) I contemplated something about the great tension of the Christian. We serve our Father in heaven and we want His will done on earth as it is in heaven. Never really hit me like that before, but that’s the reality – we want God’s reality to be evident in our reality. We want His rule to be manifest in our spheres of existence.

We want that because we don’t have it. We want it because the Light that was shed in our hearts illuminates the dark world we live in and the path to a better one that is readily accessible through relationship with God through the Son. We want it because we know our struggles and pitfalls are examples of our fallen nature. We want it because the news continues to pump out 24 hours a day the depravity of humanity in all its guises. We want it because we’re sick of divorce. We want it because we’re sick of politicians being greedy and thinking of themselves first. We want it because we’re sick of people dying in Africa due to starvation while the European Union wastes billions of pounds worth of food that could feed the continent of Africa many times over. We want it because we’re sick of the prejudice and the selfishness in this world, in our communities and in our lives. We want it because we’re sick of being sick.

We want it because such is the brilliance of His glory, such is the majesty of His rule, such is the awesomeness of His rule, such is His lovingkindness, such is His grace, such is His compassion, such is His righteousness, such is His holiness, such is His wholeness, such is the brilliance of His glory that all else including our world pales into insignificance. Yet daily we live in our world longing for His and tasting His with every moment of communion with Him and His people. We want it … we need it because we feel in our hearts by the quickening power of the Spirit that this is where we belong. This is where we always belonged – with Him, in His presence, forever praising Him – in peace, in joy, in love. When we talk about being real it’s not about paying bills, dealing with children, coping with rising costs of living or the declining moral standards of life – it’s about God’s kingdom coming – God’s will being done to see those mundane matters of our dreary lives through a new eternal perspective and actually seeing where they fit in God’s scheme of things.

Yet the tension is always evident. We can feel as Paul did that to live is Christ and to die is gain. We only live by God’s grace but we earnestly long for the day when the glorification process is complete at the coming of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

4 His Name’s Sake
Shalom
da man cd