Wine...

…for rest
Wine is an evening drink, a drink for the end of the day. When the jobs are done, the children are in bed and the phone is switched off, the wine comes out. Wine is a drink for those who have completed their tasks – those who are at rest. We drink wine at the Lord’s Supper on the seventh day to show that we are at rest. At rest not only from work but from the worry that sin brings. We confess our sins and come and drink the drink of rest.
(HT: Steve Hayhow)
…for peace
‘Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken,’ Micah 4:4. Wine is a sign that a country is at peace. Vines take time to grow and require a lot of attention, they need someone to tend to them, to cultivate them. At a time of war, no one will have time to tend their vines. At a time of war, armies will come and destroy the vines. The vines (and the drink that comes from them) are a symbol of peace. When we drink the wine at the Lord’s Supper we are taking part in a banquet of peace. We remember that the battle is won and the Prince of Peace is sitting on the throne.
…for life
Wine is a drink of life. We come to the Lord’s Supper to drink the symbol of the blood of the immortal Jesus, the one who has the gift of eternal life. In the blood is the life – when we sip the ‘blood’ of Christ, we share in His life.
(HT: Brad Belschner)

The City

In the Song of Songs the girl goes to the city in order to look for her lover (3:1-4, 5:2-7). The city is a place of darkness (3:1) and danger (5:7).
In Revelation the bride has grown up - she is now the city. This city is a place where safety abounds because God is there (21:3-4) She is a place where 'night will be no more...the Lord God will be their light' (22:5). She is a place where the husband will stay forever - there will be no need for his bride to go and search for him.

Finished with Facebook

Today I deleted my Facebook account. It was fun, so fun that I almost want to resurrect it so I can delete it again. But that would be silly. I’m done with Facebook and it’s such a good feeling! There were two moments that really made up my mind on this.
Firstly, the moment when I realised how much I liked it. No, I’m not becoming one of those, ‘If you like, get rid of it’ people but some things worried me a bit. I’d take a photo and think, ‘That would look good on Facebook’ and before I knew it, I would be creating an album in my head with great photos and witty captions. The motive? So that people would look at it, admire the photos, laugh at the captions and come away with a better view of me. It had become all about me. I started off genuinely wanting to keep up with people I hadn’t seen for a while but Facebook didn’t really help with this. There’s no space for proper conversation unless you count: ‘oh my word, i haven’t seen you in so long!!!! how are you doing – what are you up to. lots of love xxxxxxxxxxxx.’ I don’t. I want real relationships with people. I want face to face conversation or failing that, at least an email. My ‘friend’ circle will drop considerably but that’s fine with me. In fact, it’s more than fine. I’m really looking forward to it.
Secondly (and much more importantly), the moment when I realised how screwed up my priorities were. I’d get up in the morning, turn my computer on, check my emails and reply to the Facebook related emails that were always in my inbox. But I didn’t have time every morning to read my Bible. Not good. New life motto: Shut the laptop, open the Bible.

Song of the Day

'He's Always Been Faithful' by Sara Groves

(This video was the only way I could get the whole song.)


Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

Morning by morning I wake up to find
The power and comfort of God’s hand in mine
Season by season I watch Him, amazed
In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful to me.

I can’t remember a trial or a pain
He did not recycle to bring me gain
I can’t remember one single regret
In serving God only, and trusting His hand
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful to me.

This is my anthem, this is my song
The theme of the stories I’ve heard for so long
God has been faithful, He will be again
His loving compassion, it knows no end
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful, He’s always been faithful
He’s always been faithful to me.

20 years

It’s the end of an era – in my life anyway. In just under 2 weeks I will no longer be a teenager. I’m very much looking forward to it but in a way turning twenty makes me very sad. As I look back (and feel very old!) the things that I notice are the bad things – the things I have done and the things I have left undone. My mind fills with a list of ‘I wish I had...’

But it’s also great to see many of the bad things turn to good. The main thing that sticks out over the past 7 years has been my health getting worse. To be perfectly honest it’s pretty rubbish but looking at it big picture rather than day by day I can see the good stuff that comes out of it. I’ve learned lots of things that I wouldn’t have learned if I had been well. If I had been well, I wouldn’t have the free time I do have to use as I like. What a privilege. Just think of all the books I read on all those days I didn’t have energy. All those sermons I listened to on sick days. All those times I got to clear out my room just cos I had the time! All those random pictures I painted because I didn’t have anything else I needed to do. All those Oak Hill lectures I’ve gone to. And the list goes on and on.

Being ill also makes you view God in a different way. There’s a need for him that is always in your mind. On the days that I can breathe more easily, I am noticeably less aware of the need for God to give me every breath than I am on the days when I am conscious of the breaths I have to take. There’s an awareness of the sustaining power needed to get me through a day. And there’s a future perspective. If all I have to focus on is today then I might be forgiven for being a little depressed but with a Romans 8.28 and a Revelation 21 perspective then life seems a lot happier. Things are happening for my good and there will be a day when I don’t have to worry about how I feel every day. A day when I will be able to run without having to stop and cough. A day when I won’t have to think and plan due to lack of energy. I get excited just thinking about it!

I was reminded yesterday of the five ‘finger blessings’ (which I still can’t remember without counting them on my fingers!) They are: God the Father loves me, God the Son died for me, God the Spirit lives in me, all things work for my good, I am going to Glory. Compared to those blessings everything else pales into insignificance. It doesn’t really matter if I don’t have a lot of energy - God the Father loves me, why would I want anything that he hasn’t given me? God the Son died for me – it’s not physical health that matters, there’s something far more important. God the Spirit lives in me – I have the Breath of God in me, so what if my lungs don’t work as well as they should? All things work for my good – so I can be content. I am going to Glory – where there will be no mourning, no crying and no pain for eternity, look to the future!

So looking back is interesting but looking forward is exciting. I do have to keep reminding myself of one thing – no matter how many resolutions I make or how many to-do lists I write, I can’t change myself. I can’t rely on myself to make the next 20 years better than the past 20 years. Only God can do that. So my prayer for today (and for many days to come) is:
Lord, thank you for what you have given me, forgive me for what I have been and help me to become more like your Son in this next year and throughout the rest of my life. Amen.

Just because it's funny...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5XX9LX2es4

A Thorn in the Flesh

I recently finished A Thorn in the Flesh: Finding Strength and Hope Amid Suffering by Pablo Martinez. I've read a couple of books on/about suffering and have found that they tend to address the topic by stating over and over (in different ways) that suffering, while hard, is for our good. I know that this is true - I believe the declaration in Romans 8:28 that for those who love God all things work together for good. But while it is true, saying it over and over is not the best way to help those who deal with suffering.

Dr Martinez looks at suffering in a different way. As a man who has dealt with his own 'thorn in the flesh' (reference to 2 Cor 12:7) - his thorn being an ongoing eye disease - he understands not only what suffering means but also how someone in a hard situation can deal with it.

The first chapter, 'Paul's thorn and ours', looks at the meaning of a 'thorn', different types of thorn and how thorns affect daily life. Dr Martinez then goes to look more closely at Paul's thorn in various ways including the origin of the thorn and seeing the thorn as a gift rather than as a problem - 'In God's hands, the thorn ceased to be a curse and became a source of blessing...[it] constantly reminded [Paul] not so much of his own inadequacy, but of Christ's full adequacy to strengthen him.' (p25)
The rest of chapter one focuses on God's action in suffering:
He has the 'right' to keep secrets, we can't expect to always know why.
God suffers with us - he is not only a seeing God but an experiencing God (Exodus 3:7).
God has intervened through the cross of Christ.

The second chapter is called 'The thorn hurts: wrestling with God and oneself.'
Starting off with a look at the pain that a thorn can cause - physical, emotional and spiritual, it then goes on to look at the various reactions that we have to that pain. Dr Martinez takes 3: anger, anxiety and depression. He reminds us that they are natural reactions and that they are not necessarily sinful reactions - there is righteous anger etc - but there is obviously a point when those feelings can become sinful.
Prayer is the next thing on the list. Going back to 2 Corinthians 12, we look at Paul's reaction to his thorn - pleading with God. Sincere prayer is the right response.
We then see the common thread in the stories of Moses, David and Jeremiah - 3 men who struggled with thorns - trust in God.

Chapter 3 - Acceptance: the key weapon for defeating the enemy.
What does it mean to accept? Not resigning yourself to the thorn, not putting up a a shield, not implying agreement with the thorn (becoming friends with the source) but to stop seeing the thorn as a foe - instead seeing it as an ally, seeing that 'God can use my life not only in spite of my thorn but precisely through it.'
Coming to this conclusion requires 3 changes: seeing differently (contentment), thinking differently (with the peace that passes understanding) and living differently (being willing to change). We then look at Christ - the perfect model of acceptance in the face of suffering.

Chapter 4 - 'When I am weak, then I am strong': God's grace and the strength of weakness.
Grace in action - three of the main effects of grace:
Renewed strength: grace empowers,
Change: grace transforms,
Maturity: grace teaches.
A lesson of a thorn - humility. 'All thorns help us to cultivate the humility that the Lord loves so much.'

Chapter 5 - 'Angels along my path: the love that heals.'
People make a difference. When you have a thorn it's not just you who deals with it or who helps you live with it. People matter - family, friends and the wider church family. We are called to 'carry each other's burdens' (Galatians 6:2), 'stir up one another to love' (Hebrews 10:24) and to pray both for and with the person/family that is suffering.
We then look at the source of grace: I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. Christ is beside, he suffers with me and he intercedes for me. 'This is the best antidote to discouragement.'

Chapter 6 - Recovering the joy of living: new values for a different life.
The priority of being.
Our society is about doing and often a thorn can stop people doing things they want to do. But in this section Dr Martinez shows us the importance of who we are as opposed to what we do - how our goal is to become more and more like Christ.
The priority of a pilgrim.
We are only here for a short while - while living now is important we need an eternal perspective.
Lastly we look at perseverence, patience and hope both for today and for the future . If we have a Revelation 21 perspective we need not fear our thorns. The book ends with a verse from William Cowper:
'Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
the clouds ye so much dread
are big with mercy, and shall break
in blessings on your head.'

I really like this book and think it's both helpful and biblical. If you're going to read a book this year on suffering, make it this one.

London Conference 2009

Doug Wilson and Roy Atwood will be speaking at a conference here in London on Fri 13th -Sat 14th February.

Great talks on the subject of 'the Family' guaranteed!

And there will be discounted Canon Press books.

Could it get better?

More details here.

Ode to Delilah the plant who died one day after over a month without water

One day a while ago I felt the need
To buy a plant to sit upon my sill.
I took a trip to ASDA, yes indeed,
And past the thyme, the basil and the dill...

I found a plant, Delilah was her name.
All beauty ever was found in a plant.
The yellow and the orange of her mane
I would describe although I really can’t.

For many days and months she graced my room,
A splash of colour on a cloudy day,
She chased away all darkness and the gloom
And made my life so happy and so gay.

But then, disaster struck, I do confess,
I failed to give her water as I should.
Her leaves they drooped and next, I’m sure you’ll guess,
They drooped as far as leaves possibly could.

They then went brown and crackled at a touch
I did not read these many warning signs.
I carried blithely on ignoring much
And did not see just how much I was blind.

My poor Delilah, oh that fateful day
When I did set my eyes upon the sill
And saw Delilah, who had passed away
And realised it was I who’d made her ill.

I wept, ‘Delilah, dear, I want you back,’
The plant I dearly loved and who I’d slain.
I placed her sad brown leaves within a sack.
Her mem’ry evermore, it shall remain.
Moral
This tale I sadly tell is for your good.
If you would like to keep your plant-like friends
Make sure you water them just as you should
And they will give you joy that never ends.

Snow Pictures

(Two were taken by my younger sister.)