Monday, November 30, 2009

IS CHRIST THE CENTRE THIS CHRISTMAS?

Can you believe that the so-called festive season is upon us once again? Apart from the usual over- indulgence that marks this season, the church community manages to get itself in a knot over something that has important connotations, in terms of associations, but in the greater scheme of things is quite insignificant.

Is December 25th the birthday of Jesus? To be honest, I am sure it is not – after all, who would leave their sheep out in the open in mid-winter? However, whether it is or not is an argument that rather detracts from more meaningful truths associated with the Incarnation.

Let us take stock: The God of all, the ultimate Master of the Universe, the Planet-Breather, comes into our world in the most vulnerable way. He makes use of the womb of a teenager as a foyer through which He may enter the main house, which is life upon the planet of man.

This God of gods becomes so many cells multiplying on the wall of a uterus and then develops into a crying baby yearning for sustenance and security in the midst of a squawking and mooing stable: God in a donkey’s food trough.

He grows through toddler stage, still so vulnerable to all that the evil of this world can summon against Him: Jesus, the teenager, suffering all of the temptations so that one day He might walk through the same with others. God, the Creator of trees, learns to work wood as a craftsman; on through His twenties, watching His friends wed, produce children and build homes.

Then, one day, on the banks of the River Jordan, God the Father announces that the time of God the Son had come.

The wonder of God becoming flesh must never be sacrificed upon the altar of doctrinal dogmatism. God as a helpless baby in the arms of a frightened teenager in a world of uncertainty is not to be brushed aside so that one group may argue with another over the significance of so-called ‘special days’.

It is a wonder that He came at all to this rebellious, uncouth and evil humanity. The presumed importance of the date of His arrival fades into nothing in comparison with the fact that He did come, stayed and fulfilled the task for which He came.

25th of December most definitely has its roots in Babylonian activity and associated pagan feasts and celebrations and, on closer inspection, it becomes even clearer that Christmas Day has nothing at all to do with the birth of the Saviour. Having said all that, does it really matter? Jesus, the Son of God, came. That is certain. That is beyond dispute. I am living testimony to the fact that He came and redeemed me.

To all those who so strongly protect the presumed sanctity of Christmas Day, 25th December, why not make a change this year that would have a profound impact upon this world?

Instead of wasting money on gifts that no one actually wants, or would not have wanted if they had not received them; instead of maxing out the cards and buying gifts because someone might just buy you one and you do not want to be embarrassed; instead of spoiling the kids with things they hardly need - take all the money that would be spent on gifts, dinners, alcohol and the rest and give it to the work of God on this earth. Imagine what mission and evangelistic societies/ministries could do with the money that will leave Christian accounts to further bloat the coffers of ungodly commerce.

God gave us the ultimate gift of His Son. What about us giving the gift that really matters, the financing of the propagation of the Gospel upon this earth? What a gift to our Father - the multiple hundreds of thousands of penitent sinners who otherwise would not be won because of a lack of funds.

Just a thought ...

Saturday, November 21, 2009

A HUNT FOR KOSHER IMAMS AND HALAAL RABBIS

WARNING – THIS BLOG COULD SERIOUSLY AFFECT YOUR MOOD AND, IF NOT MONITORED, YOUR HEALTH.

WARNING – SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO READ THIS YOU MAY BECOME ANGRY. IS YOUR FAITH STRONG ENOUGH TO PREVENT A ROOT OF BITTERNESS FROM SPRINGING UP?

The Israeli/Palestinian conflict is a dog-eat-dog situation with neither side genuinely intending to cede a single inch to the other. Jew and Palestinian: a clash of cultures. Jew and Muslim: a clash of religions. The Middle East is an Oriental muddle. Is religion the dividing issue or is it culture? The Muslim will say they cannot be separated. The Jew will say, “Ah; there is a problem” straightaway. Is the Jew in question secular or orthodox? The former is a contradiction in terms. Being a Jew means, primarily, someone who is in relationship with Jehovah (YHWH). In the New Testament sense, a true Jew is one who has the mark of God on his heart, not the surgical removal of living flesh. On the other hand, is the Muslim devoted to Allah or was he just born into a Muslim household?

So, the orthodox Jew wants the real estate known as the Holy Land because he believes that God gave it to him or her. The secular citizen (who cannot really call himself a Jew because he is ‘secular’ i.e. not a believer in God – they do not mix) rides on the shirt tails of the orthodox and claims the land is his because the God he does not honour, nor believes in for that matter, gave it to an ancestor.

Does this put the Muslim in the box seat? No. What about the Christian Palestinians? Are they to be given the land? - Yes, all you ‘Left Behind’ devotees, there are Jesus Christ-honouring believers who are Palestinian. Every Dollar, Pound, Euro or Yen that you send to support the state of Israel is a potential blow struck against your Christian Palestinian brother and sister - No, the Palestinian Christian has no sole right to that land either, because it is not about the land; God is not concerned with real estate.

The land that is now called Israel was given by God to a people who were then called upon to obey Him in all things. Israel as a whole failed in that task. Read the Old Testament - they were eventually deported: Israel (ten tribes) to Assyria and then later, Judah was dragged off to Babylon. A remnant returned and subsequently rejected their own Messiah and the same sorry story happened all over again with the sack of Jerusalem, in AD 70, acting as a historical marker.

The only true Israel is made up of the righteous of the Old Testament and the righteous of the New who have been united in Jesus Christ. There is no disconnection between the two covenants. This is the true Israel of God. Now, since the establishment of the New Covenant, if you are not born again according to the Scriptures, then you have no claim on any promise of God outside of the forgiveness of the Father that is always available to the truly penitent.

God loves the orthodox and secular Jew as much as He loves Muslims, Hindus and atheists. All are equally in need of salvation; after all, everyone has fallen short of the glory of God.

Once this fact is realized it becomes quite clear that all arguments over the so-called ‘Holy Land’ are irrelevant. The issue is not land but a Person. Man’s standing before God is wholly dependent upon his relationship with the Person of Jesus Christ.

While the Church at large bickers with the unsaved and among themselves over a piece of real estate, influencing American foreign policy in the Middle East, or attempting to, the world is charging headlong towards a Christless eternity.

To believe you are siding with God because you partner with those who support Zionism (in its various guises) is to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. True Zionism does not recognize or receive Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Therefore, every cent a Christian gives to Christian Zionism, an oxymoron, is money given in support of an ungodly vision.

The only political/social/community solution that stands any chance of resolving the Holy Land issue is as follows: the Palestinians, and the Arab/Islamic world at large, have to accept that there is an Israeli population in situ who cannot be made to disappear, no matter how hard they may wish for it or try to achieve it. The Israelis, for their part, must accept that the Palestinians have been there for century upon century and they too are not likely to dissipate like morning mist. Both groups need to grow up and accept a partnership that will benefit everyone, in a State that promises and promotes religious freedom for all.

The ultimate solution, of course, is that revival breaks out in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank and everyone gets saved and serves the King of kings - end of problem. Or is it? It would not be long before ‘flesh-dominated Christians’ birth denominationalism, sectarianism and doctrinal spats that would doubtless cause another Oriental muddle.

If Jesus Christ is not at the centre of whatever we attempt in this world then we are doomed to failure. This universal principle applies to our individual lives, our family lives, our community interactions, in business, in politics, and so on. No Christ at the centre, no reliable pivot around which all can turn in harmony. Remove the sun from our solar system and the planets will veer off course and become a danger to every other planet and moon that are also wandering without a central, pivotal point. Jesus Christ is the fulcrum, the source of necessary gravity. Place Him where He belongs and order will prevail and that order will permit prosperity (in the truly Biblical sense) and peace in every dimension of our human lives.

When we place land at the centre, conflict is the result. When the Prince of Peace is at the centre... well, you work it out.



AN INVITATION TO ALL TO VISIT THE SITES BELOW:

Visit www.biblealiveteachingministry.com
Visit www.face2facechurch.com
Visit www.neillandjennyjakins.org

Monday, November 16, 2009

Relationship holds it all together.

“No man is an island.” So goes the old and well known saying. Isolation is the tool of the devil to bring discouragement and that most distressing of conditions, loneliness.

Jesus made it clear that relationship was at the very centre of God’s plan for mankind. He taught that the entire law hung upon two basic principles: We are to love God with all our heart (vertical relationship) and love our neighbour as we love ourselves (horizontal relationship). True love (beyond ourselves) is impossible where two or more are not present in the experience. Love only has value when it is given away.

This truth, as wonderful as it is, carries with it a great challenge. Jesus said that we could only be considered His friends (relationship) if we obeyed His commands to us. One of those commands was to love one another as that very action would let the world know whose disciples we really are. So, if I do not keep His commandments, I cannot consider myself a friend of God.

When Jesus was teaching His disciples about prayer, He ended off by saying that forgiveness was ours only in the measure that we forgave others. In other words, if I do not forgive in word, action and attitude a brother or sister who has hurt or offended me, I cannot expect to be forgiven either. Think of that for a moment – you withhold forgiveness, the same will be withheld from you. If we do not forgive one another, God will not forgive us.

So, we are called into a love relationship with one another by Jesus Himself. He makes it clear that we can only be His friends if we maintain that relationship with the commitment and dedication that He displayed in reconciling us to the Father in the first place.

On a macro level the Church has to stop the incessant bickering and subsequent offences that occur over worship style, dress sense (or the lack of it), petty doctrinal differences and the big one, who gets to be in charge. So long as one leader is estranged from another through unforgiveness, the withholder of that forgiveness is not a friend of Jesus Christ, no matter the size of his or her congregation, how many books they have published or how well they preach.

True ‘Christ at the centre Christianity’ is about relationship. The GodLife relationship that honours the individual but does not seek self-elevation, fleshly recognition or self-glorification. Benevolence is about giving and living out while not expecting a return in kind.

Jesus at the centre of my life glues me to a relationship with the triune God. This vertical relationship is relatively easy. It is the horizontal that seems to present the problems. Jesus’ hands were nailed to the horizontal beam of the cross, but love alone would have held Him there. Therein is our challenge, will our arms remain open to one another without the nails of religion, denomination and creed making our offer of embrace conditional and therefore false?

Monday, November 9, 2009

Let's keep it real.

Why am I a Christian? Answer: Jesus Christ is a real person with whom I can interact, know, love and commune with. If He were anything less He would be an 'it', a religion, a philosophy.

God's original intent for mankind was intimate communion with Himself through conversation, fellowship and the enjoying of each other's company. Yes, the God who created all is the God of love and is, in fact, love. What is true love if it is not a benevolence that springs from the extreme vulnerability of intimacy. One cannot be intimate and defensive simultaneously.

Jesus Christ is real and wants to be known. It is a fact, God wants your company. He wants to walk with you in the cool of the day. He wants you to share with Him your day.

The quality of any relationship between people is dependent upon the position held by or granted to the one with whom we have such a relationship. Jesus Christ is a Person, therefore the same principle applies to relating to Him. If Christ is at the centre of my life, the very fulcrum, then the quality of relationship and its potential is unrestricted. That quality will be the access point for blessing. To have Christ at the centre guarantees deliverance and liberty that is both permanent and ever increasing. To have Him at the centre of one's life is to give free reign to the rule of the Kingdom of God and the subsequent'release' of all that citizenship of that Kingdom guarantees.

All of this is nothing more or less than real Christianity. The life of the disciple of Jesus Christ is not without challenge, but it is full of hope because of the position of Christ in the life of the disciple. The position granted determines the quality experienced.

Jesus Christ purchased for me the immeasurable gift of right standing, i.e. righteousness. Sin's power over me has been destroyed because of what Jesus accomplished for me on Calvary. For that I am forever thankful, but I now live in the enjoyment of relationship with Him who breathed planets into being, sustains the universes and seeks me out for conversation.

Such a relationship is not possible with a relic, a proclamation or a statement of faith. Real Chrisitianity requires a real Christ at its centre. Let's keep it real.