Life Works 012 - What the Shongololo Said

Summary

Christopher Shennan shares a lesson he learned from watching a South African centipede!

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What the Shongololo Said

Most of my listeners will have exclaimed when they heard the title of this pod-cast, “What on earth is a Shongololo?

It is an African centipede particularly common in the Natal Province in South Africa. They can grow quite large, as centipedes go, and can be seen crawling across sidewalks and pathways. You can usual avoid stepping on them since they are red-brown in colour, and therefore quite visible. Sometimes you will see half a Shongololo moving merrily along, apparently unaware (or uncaring) that half its assigned body weight is missing.

I encountered one such creature some thirty years ago in Dundee, South Africa, in the grounds of a church I pastored there. Perhaps he had been in someone’s garden and the gardener had chopped him in half with a spade. Whatever! I was walking and meditating in the sun when I noticed the little beast making good progress along the cement pathway. The tiny legs he still possessed were working well enough without those he had lost. And, would you believe it, this half-creature spoke to me.

Now you know I do not mean he opened his miniscule mouth and issued forth with words my human ears could hear. No, but he spoke to me nevertheless. Here he was only half of his original self (when he lifted his head for any reason, he would fall over, for the rest of his body was not there to give him stability), yet in everything but the missing portion, he was a normal, healthy Shongololo. And this is what the Shongololo said:

“If you want to kill a Shongololo, you have got to crush its head. If you don’t get its head, in all but a few ways it can function as before. Destroy part of its body, and if the head is untouched, you have not destroyed the Shongololo.”

At least, that’s the message I got from observing that Shongololo. And of course it became evident to me that what was true of the Shongololo was also true of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

From the outset there have been devil-inspired attempts to destroy the Church (I capitalize the word advisedly, since we are not talking about the church building down the street, but the Church Jesus said He would build, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it). From the persecution of the Church in Jerusalem and across the Roman world at the outset, to the persecutions initiated by the Roman emperors, to the persecutions flaring up in various places over the past 2,000 years, the attempts to destroy the Church have always failed. Indeed, the Church has almost always grown in numbers, become more vital in times of persecution, than at any other time, except divinely sent revivals.

Persecution is not the only device Satan has used, nor the most effective, to attempt to destroy the body of Christ. When the Church has been most popular, it has often been the most ineffective. Wealth and prosperity has often led to laxity and complacency. Whatever the wiles the devil has employed, whether by persecution or the subtlety of lies; whether it has been by false doctrine, political pressure, or the intrusion of the world into the Church, his goal has been the same --- to destroy the body of Christ, or render it ineffective.

But the Shongololo taught me a valuable, no, a vital, lesson: You can ravage the body, but if the Head remains untouched, the Church will never be vanquished. There will always be a remnant to preserve the purity of the Faith, and to declare to its generation the unpolluted Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The head of the Church is untouchable and unreachable; He is incorruptible. He will always breathe Life into His body, the Church. No matter how ravaged or crippled the Church may appear, by virtue of its head, it will continue to go about its business.

I hesitate to quote a rather lengthy passage from the Bible, for I don’t want to lose your attention. I’m going to do it anyway because I don’t want you to think I invented the idea of Christ being the Head, and the Church being His Body. So listen carefully:

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16 – NKJV))

So there you have it: Christ is the head, and all true believers are the body. Can the Church ever be ultimately defeated? As long as Christ, the Head of the Church, remains, the Church will be triumphant. We may suffer humiliation, suffering, death, even failure at times, but no-one can kill the Church, because no-one can kill Christ. He died once, but lives forevermore. We can join with the apostle Paul in his great cry of victory:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39 - NKJV)

So the Shongololo was right, at least in terms governing the lives of centipedes --- if you want to kill a Shongololo, you have got to destroy its head. And if you want to destroy the Church, you will have to achieve the impossible; you will have to destroy Christ Himself.

As Martin Luther expressed in his hymn, A Mighty fortress is our God:

Let Goods and kindred go ---

This mortal life also,

The body they may kill;

God’s truth abideth still.

His kingdom is forever.

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

Life Works 011 - Little Foxes

Summary

Christopher Shennan discusses how to safeguard your marriage against the "small" irritations and hurts that threaten to destroy it.

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Little Foxes

Catch us the foxes,
The little foxes that spoil the vines,
For our vines have tender grapes. (Song of Solomon 2:15 – New King James Version)

I was once asked to comment on this verse as it related to marriage. I am happy to do so, though I believe it has a much wider application than just marriage. The spoiling of vines by little foxes provides an imagery that is at once graphic and memorable.

A vine speaks of fruitfulness and positive outcome to life’s endeavours.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:5-6 – NKJV)

Bearing “much fruit” in every endeavour in life is, of course, what every one of us aims for. It is inconceivable for anyone to want to fail in an undertaking. We all want to succeed in one form or another, whatever our idea of success may be. Given that Jesus Christ is the true vine, and true success can only come through Him, let us consider what can spoil the fruitful vine of marriage as God intended it. Foxes represent the destructive forces that can undo all our efforts to have a truly happy marriage.

Note first that these foxes that are spoiling the vine are little foxes.

The trouble with little things is that they often escape our notice; and if they don’t we may consider them too insignificant to matter. Even worse, we may notice the small faults our partner displays, but be totally blind to the larger faults we ourselves possess.

And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3-4 – NKJV)

We all know we have to deal with the big issues, but the small faults we won’t forgive are the ones that sneak into our hearts unobserved. The tiny resentments we will not purge from our hearts are the ones that build walls between husbands and wives. Or they become tiny drops of acid that slowly erode the foundations of love, honour and commitment we started out with.

Be aware also that the moment you start to love someone, you expose yourself to hurts. It hurts to love because love makes you vulnerable. You let the one you love see parts of yourself you allow no one else to see. In so doing you are making it possible for them to inflict pain in places no one else is aware even exists. In the early stages these hurts may be inflicted involuntarily; a thoughtless word or an unintended slight. Once a relationship is in serious trouble, partners can graduate to using their special knowledge of the other’s vulnerability as a weapon. They can use words and phrases they know will inflict psychological pain upon their spouse.

But let us stay with the involuntary infliction of pain, the unintentional exposure of a sensitive area; this is the word uttered without due thought, or the well-intentioned deed that falls short of its goal. Be sure of one thing, these hurts (or little foxes) will take place, no matter how deep the relationship, or how pure the love. It is part of being human.

That is why love is not primarily a feeling. When you have hurt your spouse, or they have hurt you, the overwhelming feeling you get is hurt, disappointment, anger, resentment, and self-pity. If love were just a feeling, it would be overwhelmed by the negative feelings stirred by the hurt you have suffered. Love is not primarily a feeling. It often produces feelings; it often stirs the emotions and leads to gratitude and contentment. But it is not itself a feeling. It is a choice. It is and obedience.

Jesus said: This is my commandment, that you love one another. (John 15:12 - NKJV) The apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said, Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it. (Ephesians 5:25 - NKJV)

Love is Not a Feeling

(c. Friday 19th February 1999)

1.
I prayed for love’s sweet feeling
To overwhelm my heart.
I wanted it to enter
And Saturate each part.
For years I sat and waited,
And pined, and longed, and sought ---
But love stayed vague and distant;
Dwelt only in my thoughts.

Chorus:
Love is not a feeling
Until it’s on its way,
Comforting and healing
The hurting ones who stray.
It’s something planted in you
By the Spirit’s gracious hand ---
And then you let it fill you
By doing what you can.

2.
At Last my Lord was gracious
And revealed to me His plan
To impart His Loving Nature
Into my inner man.
And long before the feeling
Of Love invaded me,
I started loving others
In a manner bold and free.

For . . . Love is not a feeling etc.

3.
I know now that the secret
Of loving others, true,
Is to do the deeds of love,
Even while I’m feeling blue;
My feelings may be restless,
Like the waves upon the sea,
But I’ll trust my Lord to kindle
Right feelings deep in me.

There are only two things you can do with a commandment: you can either obey it, or disobey it. There is no middle ground. When hurts and wounds are inflicted in a marriage (and they will be), they can only be overcome by making the choice to love your spouse in spite of them. A conscious decision to obey Christ is the only thing that will rob hurt feelings from undermining the relationship.

That leads me to another aspect of the “little foxes,” when they seek to spoil the tender vine of marriage --- how to deal with them.

There are two basic ways to deal with little foxes when they are troubling a marriage:

First, you can keep alert every moment; you can chase them away when they appear. This is the least effective strategy, and exhausting if you have to resort to it often enough. With this strategy you may chase them away, but you always have to deal with the possibility, or the certainty, that they will come back. In that case you will have to start all over again. At times, particularly in the early years of marriage, that will be all you will be able to do --- just chase them away when they appear.

How does one do that?

When the “little fox,” irritation, resentment, hurt, appears, do the following:

Go immediately to prayer. Pray for your spouse, and yourself that may have the right attitude, and respond as Jesus would.

Seek reconciliation. Apologize if needed, and forgive right away. The need to make the other feel they have transgressed is strong. After all, if I forgive them too quickly they may not take it to heart. That is not your business; it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Do not attempt to do the Holy Spirit’s work. If you need to have a discussion to resolve and issue, do so, but remember to follower the Biblical pattern: And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32 – NKJV)

The second way to keep little foxes away is to build a wall, or a fence to keep them out. You may have to do the occasional inspection to make sure there are no holes in the fence, or weaknesses in the wall, but altogether this is a better solution.

How does one build a wall of protection to keep the “little foxes” out?

It is a major spiritual undertaking.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11 – NKJV)

The wall of protection must be built by seeking a major transformation in the “inner man.” We need to adopt the “mind” of Christ. He gave up all his rights and became a servant, obedient even to death.

How did this play out in actual life situations?

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he went back to the Temple, and all the people came to him, and he sat and taught them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They forced her to stand before the people. They said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught having sexual relations with a man who is not her husband. The law of Moses commands that we stone to death every woman who does this. What do you say we should do?" They were asking this to trick Jesus so that they could have some charge against him.

But Jesus bent over and started writing on the ground with his finger. When they continued to ask Jesus their question, he raised up and said, "Anyone here who has never sinned can throw the first stone at her." Then Jesus bent over again and wrote on the ground.

Those who heard Jesus began to leave one by one, first the older men and then the others. Jesus was left there alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus raised up again and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one judged you guilty?"

She answered, "No one, sir."

Then Jesus said, "I also don't judge you guilty. You may go now, but don't sin anymore." (John 8:1-12 - NKJV)

I said this would be a major spiritual undertaking. When we have the mind (or attitude) of Christ, the “little foxes” will find it impossible to get in to spoil vine of marriage as God intended it to be. Most of us, however, will find ourselves having to employ both strategies; we will be chasing the foxes even while we are building the wall to keep them out

I would like to end with a true life illustration of a “little fox” that was seriously eating into the marriage of a beautiful young Christian couple in South Africa. It was the little fox of insensitivity. It took the following form:

The young wife would labour to prepare the best meal she could for her man. The husband would make comments like, “What on earth is this?” Or, “Can’t you do better?” Or, “You can’t actually expect me to eat this, do you?”

The wife was the daughter of a friend, with whom I lost contact due to my travels. So I don’t know the outcome of this scenario. Before I left, the mother did indicate the marriage was in trouble. That was no surprise, and I would expect, that, unless the husband came to his senses, that marriage would have ended in disaster. Lack of appreciation for your partner’s sincere efforts to please, can be a particularly nasty fox that can reek havoc with a marriage. May the Lord make us alert and industrious in dealing with the little foxes that spoil the vines in our lives that have been planted by the Lord.

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

Life Works 010 - What Is Beautiful?

Summary

Christopher Shennan discusses unconventional beauty.

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What Is Beautiful?

Everybody knows that beauty is skin deep.

At least that is what we tell ourselves. In the real world we are attracted to outward beauty, and repelled, or at least fail to value one who is outwardly plain. Perhaps it is part of the order of things for guys to be drawn to a beautiful woman, and pass over the apparently plain Jane. Girls go for the "cute" guys and make light of or ignore those who look like geeks or fail the feminine test of being "exciting."

I bring this up because I have seen the pained looks on the faces of both genders who, while being beautiful on the inside, somehow fail to get a date, or feel they are being "left on the shelf." The natural longing to find someone to love, and to be loved, often ends in a plaintive cry of unfulfilled dreams. The cry, though silent, is nevertheless heard by those whose hearts are tuned to hear it.

I know a girl at work who, when I asked if she had a boyfriend, answered with an apologetic smile. "Not yet. Hopefully, someday," she said. Yet I have seldom seen a more beautiful smile, or perceived a more beautiful spirit. She is a positive, caring individual who spreads sunshine wherever she goes. Did I forget to mention she is very much overweight and is hardly noticed when a prettier girl is sitting beside her? If she is noticed, it is with that patronizing look that is easy to read. It is the "Why don't you do something about your weight?" kind of look. Yet I have known beautiful woman that don't come close to her in terms of personal warmth or moral goodness. They say that love is blind. I disagree, at least in cases like this. Real love learns to look below the surface and look for the qualities that endure. Do not mistake me. There is no wrong in being attracted to outward beauty. It only becomes wrong when outward beauty becomes the only standard by which we value other human beings.

It has been well said,

"As a ring of gold in a swine's snout, So is a lovely woman who lacks discretion." (Proverbs 11:22 - NKJV). Discretion means to have intelligence, good judgement that leads to good behaviour. The image of a pig covered in mire, with a gold ring in its nose, strikes us as inappropriate. So is beauty without those heart qualities that gives it true value.

"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." (Proverbs 31:30 -NKJV) Lest I be perceived to overemphasizing feminine beauty, the same holds true for both genders.

In my younger days I was quite taken by the works of a Russian artist whose paintings were fascinating for their attention to detail. His name is Tretchikoff (I'm guessing the spelling). At one time the prints of his paintings were hanging in a large proportion of the homes in the land of my birth. He had a totally unique style, and a unique choice of subject matter. He had one painting of a garbage can outside the stage door of a theatre. Another was of an old boot lying beside some steps in a back alley. Then there was one of a discarded corsage left to be trampled on in the street after a wedding. Need I state that the artist's skill had transformed the ugly and discarded items into a work of art people were proud to display in their living-rooms. He had the gift of being able to see past the common perception of beauty. He had learned to dig into the garbage cans of life, and bring the hidden beauty out of its hiding place.

I long that our Western society could get past the shallow perceptions that Hollywood, the media, and social pressure has hoisted upon us. May we be given hearts, and the will, to rescue true beauty from the clutches of those who have stolen it from us.

Beautiful Things

(Friday March 16th, 2007)

I saw a beautiful thing:
A tear in a mother's eye;
A drop of love squeezed from her heart
As the child she had borne passed by.
You could see in the tear reflected
Her hopes and her fears and dreams,
And the prayer she had spent and was spending
With no thought of herself, it seemed.

I heard a beautiful thing:
A tender word that was spoken,
Sent forth with a gentle touch
To someone whose heart was broken.
The word and the touch brought some healing
To a soul who stumbled and fell;
And I knew that somehow the future
Of that soul would soon be well.

I received a beautiful thing:
A smile that was warm and sincere,
And the hurt I'd been feeling inside
Was then so easy to bear.
For the smile had come at a juncture
When my heart could have gone astray.
But the smile, that sweet smile,
Washed all that was bitter away.

I encountered a beautiful thing:
An old rugged cross on a hill,
And the sins of a lifetime were taken
And purged from my heart and will.
There's nowhere this cross can't reach me
When I humble my heart in prayer;
And the Saviour Who loved me comes gently
And bears all my burdens there.

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

Life Works 009 - The Dark Side of Success

Summary

Christopher Shennan discusses true success.

Listen

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The Dark Side of Success

You’ve heard about serendipity --- and family games.

Well, both came together recently to give me the subject for this pod-cast. a life lesson plucked from the air without conscious effort.

Let me first explain about the game.

We have a white board in the kitchen we use for messages --- and other fun activities. It began with my wife posting unusual words gleaned from an ancient oversized English dictionary we acquired, I’ve forgotten quite where. The rest of us (two grown-up children living at home included) were encouraged to guess the meaning of the word. We went through the alphabet several times, till we thought we needed a change. So we would write a long sentence with blanks to be filled in. This, in turn, lasted for a while till another change seemed in order. So I started writing simple lines of poetry for the others to finish, like:

When the fish of the sea are happy

They gather together in schools …

Then one day I thought I’d finish one myself, just to give an example of what I expected. The first two lines were:

The mountaineer climbed to the top of the world

And stood on its peak with pride…

Without much thought I added:

While his children at home were pining

For a pony, a horse, and a ride.

I was left with:

The mountaineer climbed to the top of the world

And stood on its peak with pride,

While his children at home were pining

For a pony, a horse, and a ride.

I stared at the silly little rhyme till the truth in it dawned on me. Can we focus so much on our desire to achieve we lose perspective? Are we in danger of reaching our place “at the top of the world,” while leaving behind those things that really matter? How do we balance the legitimate need to achieve, and the necessity of preserving those things that really matter?

First we need to understand what success is, and what it is not.

Unfortunately, in recent (and not so recent) years, there has been a great deal of confusion in the Christian Church on the subject. I have heard pastors, teachers and Laymen chanting the mantra, “If you are a Christian, God wants you to be successful.” The trouble is, their definition of success has mostly been success in business; success in growing big churches; success in personal prosperity.

Now, please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying these things are wrong in and of themselves. It is good to have ambition and reach for worthy goals. It is only when these become the sole measure of success that they begin to represent the dark side of success. Like the mountaineer on the top of the world, we may reach our goals, yet be utter failures in the things that really matter.

A Christian pursuing these goals could reach the top in the business world, at the cost of his family. A pastor can find himself with a thriving Church, rich in numbers and financial return, but find he has had to compromise doctrinal integrity to do it. He has had to stay off certain topics and adjust his approach, lest the crowds be offended and leave. The end result is a message that is not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, but a supped up 21^st Century version that brings no one to the recognition of their sinful state, and their need of a Saviour.

So, what is success if it is not to be defined by worldly standards?

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
“ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

Then said I:

“ Ah, Lord GOD!
Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”

But the LORD said to me:

“ Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’
For you shall go to all to whom I send you,
And whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of their faces,
For I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD.

Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me:

“ Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To root out and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
To build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:4-10)

Note that Jeremiah never achieved success in any of the conventional ways. He never had anyone respond positively to his message, ever. Not even once did his audience, whether king or commoner, ever accept the word from God he delivered to them. Why not? They never responded positively to him because he was following God’s mandate. God had not called him to that kind of success. He was delivering a message God had told him beforehand would not be accepted

God had called him:

To root out and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
To build and to plant.

So Jeremiah was a success, be cause he accomplished what God had called him do. That is the only measure of success we should be ruled by; it is the only measure acceptable to God.

Nehemiah was successful in rebuilding the broken-down walls of Jerusalem, because that was what God had called him to do.

Paul the apostle was successful in a large measure in his ministry to the Gentiles, but a miserable failure in convincing the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. We can only ever succeed in that which we are called to do. Any achievement outside of that framework, God considers a failure.

Paul said: Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him (2 Corinthians 5:9).

My Aim

(By Christopher Shennan - 25th December 2007)

I make it my aim to please You Lord,
That is my life-long quest.
Whether or not You smile at me,
Becomes for me, “The test.”

I know if I reach some goal I crave,
That is outside Your Perfect Will,
I’ll hang my head in shame and loss,
When I stand on Your Holy Hill.

So make me a true success, my Lord;
Grant me Your Grace divine,
That I will succeed in pleasing You,
And Your Words “Well done” will be mine.

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

Life Works 008 - The Island of Salt

Summary

This is the final part in Christopher Shennan's series about Superman and the Savior.

Listen

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The Island of Salt

I had a dream.
In the dream I was somehow involved in a hunt for treasure. Several parties were contending in the search, one possessing one piece of the puzzle leading to the location of the treasure, and other contenders possessing other pieces.
At last I found myself following with one of the contenders who had figured out that the secret of the treasure was to be found by following the currents in a body of water. This current, or currents, she believed, would either lead to the treasure, or to the next clue in discovering it. She set some paper adrift (folded so it would float) and allowed it to be taken by the current. Presently the paper ended up at a small island, entirely made up of salt. The lady I was with was supremely disappointed
I dug around in this island of salt, suggesting to suggesting to her that perhaps the salt was the treasure. The salt itself could be mined and become the source of the wealth she sought. She showed no interest in my theory, and disappeared from the dream, while I continued to dig around in the salt until I awoke.
Now I have had lots of dreams that meant nothing more than that I had been unwise in what I had eaten the night before. I am not in the habit of analyzing every dream to discover some hidden message. I am not claiming the dream was necessarily from God, or that it was some kind of heavenly vision. Nevertheless, the imagery of salt was too powerful to ignore. Dream or not, I felt there was something to gain from seeing the dream as a kind of parable.
At first I related the words of Jesus in Matthew 5: 13:
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its salty taste, it cannot be made salty again. It is good for nothing, except to be thrown out and walked on. (Matthew 5:13 – New Century Version)
I decided against that theory because, in the dream, I had neglected to test whether the salt had flavour, or not. At last I decided on another interpretation that, whatever the source of the dream, nevertheless speaks to my own heart. Perhaps it will speak to yours as well.
In the verse quoted, Jesus says that believers are like salt. We can provide flavour and preservation (as salt does) to those around us. The point Jesus was making was that the salt in us has to be potent to have that effect on the world around us. It is a point we all need to take to heart. Yet my dream seemed to point to a different lesson. It was not the salt itself that seemed significant, but its location.
The salt was isolated far away from all human traffic. No matter how flavourful, or filled with power to preserve, it could do no good until it was brought to where it could do some good. In my dream I was digging in this reservoir of salt, even playing in it, with no thought of getting it out to the masses.
Every believer in Jesus Christ has salt. When the Holy Spirit makes us sensitive to sin and our need for the Saviour, we gain a new perspective. We no longer subscribe to the values (or lack of them) of the world, but adopt a world view that is opposite to the world’s value system. As salt burns in a wound, even as it seeks to prevent corruption, so our world view irritates the worldly man or woman.
Yet for most of us the salt (righteousness, godliness; moral rectitude; love for God) seems to gather in pools, or islands, that have little contact with the world around us. We do need to enjoy our relationship with God, but we need to spread this enjoyment with others. Are we perhaps paralyzed by the thought, “I am only one person, so what good can my small island of salt do for the rest of the world? In other words, what can one man (or woman) do when the need is so overwhelming?”

What Can One Man Do?

(1990)

"She hath done what she could . . ." (Mark 14:8a)

In the village square sat an ancient sage,
With snowy-white hair, and of uncertain age;
Ready to give word if required it might be,
To the spiritually blind and to those who could see.

To this man of God came a questioning man,
Concerned with the state of the world o'er its span,
Yet paralysed fully by thoughts, not a few,
That with all of this evil, "What can one man do?"

The sage did not answer for the longest time,
As though his mind dwelt in a different clime;
And then his eyes lit up, as if from the dead,
And these are the words that the man of God said:

"The writer can write, the sower can sow,
The thinker can think, the goer can go.
The weak one can pray and the strong one can fight
With the sword of God's spirit, and clothed with His might.
The scholar can study the ways of the Lord,
The teacher can teach the Good News from His Word.
The discouraged can rest on the promises given;
The vanquished can kneel in the place he's been driven.

"The prayer can pray, the preacher can preach,
The worker can work, the teacher can teach.
The lover can love all the loveless he finds,
And gather the homeless of all shapes and kinds.
The speaker can speak a right word in its season,
And give fainting hearts a rhyme and a reason
To continue in service to Jesus the King;
Whoever you are, you can do - some thing.

"The painter can paint, the artist can draw
The baker can bake, the woodworker saw.
The silent can wait for a word spoken true
That can make him aware of God's presence anew.
The business man buying who's taken a loss
Can let his mind dwell on the Christ of the Cross.
It doesn't much matter wherever you are,
The little you do will go mighty far.

"When injustice is stalking the breadth of the land,
You can search in the Scriptures to see what God's planned.
You can ask if there's anything God asks of you,
And when you are certain, go - get out and do.
Many a soldier of righteousness knows
That there's one piece of armour, the enemy's blows
Can never pierce deeply, can never brake through;
And that is the piece that God's given to you.

"I know of a lady confined to her bed,
Who could be complaining, but decided instead
To do what she could with a paper and pen,
To tell the Good News to the children of men.
From an apartment window, the tenth story high,
She dropped out the papers and watched them fly
In the wind to the highways and byways around,
Settling quite gently upon the ground.

"At first no response seemed to greet her attempt,
Yet slowly, but surely, the verses she'd sent,
Brought hungry hearts to her, climbing the stairs,
And came to her bedroom to unload their cares.
She told them of Jesus, with tender concern,
And with awe and wonder, she watched them learn
of the Grace that was waiting for any who'd come,
That the payment for sin is finished - it's done!"

The man who had come with the questioning mind,
was one of integrity, and of the kind
Who always weighed carefully all that was said,
By many still living, and some who were dead.
And so the truth entered his inmost being;
When he came he'd been blind, but now he was seeing.
He turned with a glint of new light in his eyes,
And ears that were open to a needy man's cries.

He remembered the question he'd asked at the first,
He remembered the anguish, the spiritual thirst.
"What must I do in my brief life-span?
I know what I'll do; I'll do what I can!"


We need to begin by transferring just a little of the savour and flavour from the island of salt within us, to the world around us. Just a small boatload will do at first; later we can build bridges over which we can transport increasing quantities of the salt within us, to the needy folks abroad.

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

Life Works 007 - Meditations on Superman (Part 4)

Summary

This is the final part in Christopher Shennan's series about Superman and the Savior.

Listen

http://feeds.feedburner.com/thelifeworkspodcast

Does the World Need Superman? (Part 4)

I have said that the whole basis of the Superman genre is that a weakling race must be there for a Superman to be needed at all. If we are all super-heroes then the playing field is level and we can all rescue ourselves, which is the contention of those who tout the “unlimited human potential idea.

I have also established that the human race fits the description of a Weakling Race (All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God) Jesus Christ is the only One who fits the requirements for the particular weakness (sin) that afflicts us.

It is also clear that some fell no need of a Superman, either in the physical or spiritual sense. This is because they have determined to be their own super power.

So it comes down to admitting who we are --- to stop deluding ourselves as to our identity. (We are sinners in need of a Saviour --- Superman) We are not super-heroes able to control our own destinies. We are spiritual weaklings in desperate need of God’s Superman, Jesus Christ, to come to our rescue.

Mankind

(Thursday 10th April, 2007)

Mankind:
A Race of weaklings --- that is what we are.
Regardless of the swelling words we speak,
Unlimited human potential and technological advances
Don’t reach to the core of our need.
Indeed
Unlimited potential for school shootings, Twin Tower Destruction, and the murder of the unborn --- we freely admit our inherent bent toward sin and destruction.
Each heart, in secret, cries out for a Superman, with X-ray vision, to plumb the depths and burn away the dross.
What a loss if a Superman does not appear
to rescue this Weakling Race.
But Superman’s a myth, a fantasy dreamed up by men
of imagination; men of vision.
Or is he?
Could it not be the dream is not a myth?
There is an empty space, a longing in the human heart
That would need to invent one, even if he did not exist.
Could it be that this space was made to be filled?
Is there a Superman out there, waiting and longing to
Come to the rescue?
In the nick of time,
Before the soul dies,
He will come to your side.
Not a myth!
Not a fantasy!
But a living reality!
All the Supermen of History are frauds,
Except the God-Man --- Jesus.
He is the Friend with Supernatural Powers
Who works by the Everlasting laws of Love..
A Supernatural Saviour
Who died for a weakling Race.
Stronger than Death, He vanquished
The Villain of the piece
And bought for His redeemed children ---
Everlasting Rest!

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.