The Life Works Podcast

2008-08-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

Life Works 035 - An Allegory of Prayer

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Overview:

Christopher Shennan teaches from Exodus 17:8-13, the passage where Moses keeps his hands raised during a battle.

Credits:

The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.
The intro voice belongs to Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

2008-08-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

Life Works 034 - Story: Sarah's Rose

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Sarah's Rose

All Sarah Osborne remembered of that interview was the single rose on the doctor's desk, and the clear, compassionate tones of his voice. The window revealing a landscaped garden; the examining couch in the corner; the certificates of qualification on the wall -- all dissolved into a featureless mist. All she could think of was that the rose, like her beautiful body, would one day lose its petals. The petals would simply fall off; hers would be ruthlessly severed by a surgeon's knife. The humiliation of it swamped her.

The doctor's voice droned on, "This need not be a negative experience, Sarah."

He was an old family friend, but his words had the opposite of the intended effect. They struck a note of despair and vibrated faintly with bitterness. He was too kind for her to be angry with him, but how could he know? Was it his breast that would be removed? ( Removed? She hated the innocuous word: severed, violated, destroyed, dismembered, seemed more appropriate) A man could only experience sympathy if his chest was disfigured in some way.

With a woman it was different. Her breasts were more than a mundane part of her physical make-up. They were a symbol of femininity; a focus of male attention; to herself and others an essential part of womanhood. A woman with her breast removed was an object, not of sympathy, but of pity. Even to herself, viewed in her own mirror, such a woman would see herself as her own bad dream.

". . . talk to David for you?"

The words shocked Sarah our of her private thoughts, "Er . . . what?"

"I was saying," said Dr. Morgan, "asking you really, if you would want me to talk to David for you . . . explain some of the medical angles, and the psychological ones too. It might make it easier for him . . . and for you also." His voice was gentle, just as it had always been. She could remember the same tone of voice soothing her during many of her childhood ills. Now he was using it again, almost understanding the hurt and the pain she would go through -- was going through.

What had Dr. Morgan said? He had said something about David? A new scene of horror opened up in the corridors of her mind. David, her fiance, and soon to be husband and lover. How would he react to the stripping of petals from his marital rose? Shame? Embarrassment? How would she react? How could her wedding night be anything approaching normal, even supposing there would be a wedding night now. Slowly, her eyes focussed on the rose perched on the edge of the doctor's desk again. Her heart skipped a beat. During the brief period of her gloomy reverie, a single petal had broken loose and fluttered to the floor. It seemed like an omen.

.............................................

A week passed before Sarah came out of the daze that had descended upon her when Dr. Morgan had broken the news of her impending mastectomy. She was not entirely sure she had come out of it, for the sense of unreality still hovered at the edges of her consciousness. She was aware that the term "deflowered" had sexual connotations, but she still thought it appropriate; the flower of her femininity was to be stripped from her.

"Dear Sarah," her mother was saying, "no one can blame you for being shocked, even devastated, by what is happening to you, but please reconsider. At least tell David why you are breaking off your engagement."

Sarah turned, trying not to see her reflection in the side-board mirror. She knew she was beautiful, even stunning. But the fact had never seemed important to her. Beauty faded, and in the end, all you were left with was the kind of person you were. If you were not inwardly beautiful, any outward beauty would be marred. At least, that is what she had always believed. It had been imprinted on her from childhood by her father, who had done his best to protect his daughter from vanity.

What she had never realized before was how much her sub-conscious mind still clung to the opposite notion; that a change in her physical body would ultimately lead to a change in identity. She could not shake off the feeling that when her body was altered by surgery, her personality would be altered as well. She would no longer be Sarah Osborne, or the Sarah David had known, or the woman David visualized as his future wife.

She spoke gently, "I can't tell David, mother. I just can't. Dr. Morgan offered to explain things to him from the medical point of view, but I told him not to. I also hold you and dad to your promise not to tell him either, or even hint that I'm going to be . . . to be . . . de-flowered." A sob broke from her, but she continued, "I would much rather he believed I am refusing to marry him because I no longer love him.

Mrs. Osborne came close and put an arm around her daughter, "And is that the truth? Do you no longer love David?"

Sarah drew away and her voice rose on a note of panic, "Of course not! Of course it's not true. I love David more now than ever. It's just that . . . well . . . I can't bear to have him marry me out of . . . out of pity." Having said that, she released herself from her mother's embrace and fled into the garden.

As she walked numbly along the paths, and across the well-kept lawns, the memory of her telephone conversation with David filled her mind.

"At least tell me why?" David had pleaded. "I keep telling myself it's something I've said or done that's causing you to act this way."

"It has nothing to do with you, David. Why can't you just accept that I'm not the one for you. I couldn't make you the kind of wife you would . . . want."

"At least let me come and see you so we can talk about it. There has to be a way to work things out."

"No, David! Just leave things as they are. Find another girl who can really make you happy.

"Sarah please . . ."

"Goodbye David!" Sarah had replaced the receiver, then fled to her room. It was a long time before her tears stopped flowing, or the sobs stopped wracking her still beautiful body.

Now, as Sarah stood in the garden amidst the roses, she felt empty and alone. She had always found tears a kind of therapy; a healing balm in the face of overwhelming grief. That was not the case now. The only result of her bout of sobbing had been a deeper loneliness; a more profound emptiness than before. It was as if the tears had merely sucked more of the life-principle from her being, and left a shadow of hopelessness in its place.

A foot scraped on the footpath and Sarah turned. The straight, kindly figure of her father stood before her -- non-intrusive. He simply stood there as he had a thousand times in her growing years, solid, like a pillar in the temple of Solomon -- supportive. John Reginald Osborne: the name echoed in her consciousness, seeming to replace the thin tendrils of hope her tears had leaked from her. He was the one man she knew loved her -- would love her -- regardless of her outward appearance. The grey of his eyes penetrated beyond mere form, though he was by no means immune to his daughter's beauty.

Taking Sarah by the arm, John Osborne walked with her down the path, "There's something I want you to see." He paused, then said, "No, I don't want you to merely see it. I want you to look at it until you really understand." His voice was still gentle, but there was an urgency to it that faintly alarmed her.

"But why don't you just explain it to me? You've always been good at explaining things." Her tone was affectionate.

He stopped near a bed of roses, "If I did that you may feel I was pressuring you to see things my way."

"I would never . . ."

"Perhaps not consciously," Sarah's father interrupted, " but the idea would be lurking there, ready to overshadow any future happiness you might find. I would not want that for my little girl."

The sun shimmered on Sarah's golden locks as she jerked her head bitterly, "If any such happiness were possible! I don't suppose it is . . . now."

"Anything is possible, but you must believe in it and seek it with all your heart."

Sarah sighed, "I'm not sure I can believe in anything right now, except . .."

"Except what?

"Except your and mother's care for me. It's the only thing that's real to me at the moment. Everything else seems like a dream -- a very bad dream."

"There will be other dreams, and other loves," John Osborne said. "It just takes a little time, and a little careful consideration to realise it. Now take that rose, for instance. It has a story to tell that just may open your eyes to one of the mysteries of life." He indicated a full-bloomed rose that was beginning to fade at the edges. Its yellow petals seemed to have only a tenuous hold on the central bud that bore them. The stem itself was bent, with a tiny bud of new growth showing close to where it joined the main bush.

"Look at it, Sarah. I'll leave you alone now, but look at that rose till you can read its message."

When he had gone, Sarah tried to follow her father's advice, but all she could see was a wilting rose with the petals ready to fall. The sight did nothing but remind her, in graphic detail, of her own predicament. More depressed than ever, she turned away to wrestle with the anger and hurt churning inside her.

The sun was already low on the horizon when Sarah moved disconsolately back toward the house, oblivious to the grating of the garden gate and the shadow ofa tall figure approaching her.

Sarah jumped when he tapped her on the shoulder, shocked out of her private world. She turned on the man, knowing it would be David, and knowing that the emotions in her were mixed anger and relief. She was angry he would violate her specific desire to be left alone; relieved the matter could at last be thrashed out and disposed of.

"You shouldn't have come," Sarah said helplessly, backing away from his tall, athletic frame; from the blond good looks and the grey, pleading eyes.

"I had to come, Sarah. I promise I won't press myself on you if you insist on breaking it off. It's just that I'm going crazy trying to think what I've done wrong. Knowing the reason may not fix things, but at least I can stop tormenting myself." He took a gentle hold on her elbow and eased her toward a bench. The shadows were growing longer. The sun would soon dip below the trees and the gloom would hide at least some of the pain in her eyes.

Sarah had dreaded this moment, and the dread had not been entirely without warrant. She quite simply loved David, and seeing him again compounded the agony of the inevitable parting. Seeing him beside her, hearing the slight panting of his breath that gave evidence of his distress, Sarah's resolve faltered. Perhap's she was wrong. Perhaps she was being unfair to him in assuming his love for her revolved around her physical beauty. Perhaps there was that quality in him that could endure a wedding night; that could endure a lifetime of intimacy with one stripped of the symbol of womanhood.

"I don't care what the problem is, " David was saying, "nothing will stop me loving you."

Hope fluttered softly. Sarah started to speak, then fell silent.

Please, Sarah! His fingers caressed the golden strands of her hair.

"Are you . . . sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Nothing could be worse than this torment of not knowing."

So she told him. She told him of the doctor's diagnosis and the scheduled operation. She shared her shame and her fears and her terror that he would stop loving her. And while she talked she watched. It was as though her senses had been fine-tuned. She could read every expression on his face while she looked desperately for signs of the moral power that would sweep her fears away. She looked for the softening of his features into an all-encompassing love. She waited for the words that would mock her fears and tell her that nothing . . . nothing could stand between their love. They did not come.

Horrified, she watched David's features change from passion, to disbelief, to shock , and finally to something she could only interpret as disgust. Then came the platitudes, the explanations and the justifications. What was happening to her was not quite natural, after all. Sarah had been right to break their engagement. He really admired her for her good common sense. He wished her well for the future, but he really had to go. It took longer than that, the excuses wrapped in good manners and a concerned tone of voice. But the end result was the same: David scurrying out of the garden gate and Sarah shrinking on her seat as though the weight of her inward pain was trying to crush her.

The sun was long gone while Sarah sat motionless. The moon rose over the treetops and shed a silvery light on the garden -- a full moon. Still she sat, till a chill wind drove her along the path toward the house. She stopped near the rose her father had urged her to study, and found that the moonlight had somehow transformed it. It was more like a vision than a mere flower of a day. She saw the wilted petals and the new bud courageously protruding from the stem and understanding settled upon her like a soft rain.

The petals were falling from the full-blown rose, but the bud spoke of renewal and hope. One part of her womanhood was about to die, but Sarah Osborne still carried within her a life that would burst into new beauty. Different beauty, but nevertheless real. She breathed deeply and ran into her house. Hope for the future was still only a tiny flutter in her breast, but that it was real and vibrant she had no doubt at all.

Credits

The rose picture is by Mundoo , found on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License.

The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.
The intro voice belongs to Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

2008-07-10T18:46:00.000-07:00

Life Works 033 - Wrestling in Prayer

This bible study is from the book Exploring Biblical Prayer by Christopher Shennan, available at christophershennanbooks.com and lulu.com.

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Wrestling in Prayer

© Christopher Shennan 2008

So Jacob was alone, and a man came and wrestled with him until the sun came up. When the man saw he could not defeat Jacob, he struck Jacob's hip and put it out of joint. Then he said to Jacob, "Let me go. The sun is coming up."
But Jacob said, "I will let you go if you will bless me.
The man said to him, "What is your name?"
And he answered, "Jacob."
Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob. Your name will now be Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with people, and you have won."(Genesis 32:24-28 - NCV)

It is clear that though we are told a "man" wrestled with Jacob, the One who wrestle with Jacob was more than a man. For one thing, the power and blessing He bestowed on Jacob was more than any man could do. For another, we are told specifically Jacob had "wrestled with God." What an awesome thing! The infinite God stooped to wrestle with a finite man --- and lost the fight. Naturally, Jacob did not win because he was stronger than God, but because his hunger for God's blessing on his life pleased God.
One thing that must be understood is that Jacob did not initiate the wrestling. Nor, in the end, was Jacob wrestling at all. He was merely hanging on for dear life.
Jacob had no desire for a wrestling match at this particular time in his life. He had a confrontation with Laban behind him, and he was in fear and trembling at the prospect of meeting his brother Esau. We are simply told that when Jacob was left alone, a "man" wrestled with him.

It was as much a surprise to Jacob as it would be to a man attacked while strolling down a country lane. It was God's appointment, not Jacob's. However, there was one thing Jacob had in his favour: He had always demonstrated a singular desire for spiritual things, though he often went about it in the wrong way. Learn from this that God will, sooner or later, meet with a man or woman who hungers and thirsts after Him.
"Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6- KJV)

1. Wrestling with God in Prayer Requires Solitude.
What was it, then, that brought Jacob to this wrestling match that so radically changed his life? (Sometime, make a study of how different Jacob was before and after this experience).
Apart from God's sovereign intervention in his life, there was something else that brought. Jacob to the point of Crisis: Jacob was left alone.
There are lots of people who cannot stand to be alone. They surround themselves continually with people. And even when they are forced into solitude, they surround themselves with distractions, like books and television. Not that it is wrong to have some distractions. It is just that if you never have time when you are really alone, you never have an opportunity to grapple with the really important things in your life that need change.
Perhaps that is why some avoid real solitude at any cost. They sense if they ever become truly alone, they will be unable to escape the voice of conscience. They will have to face up to the kind of people they have become, and remove the mask they have worn to hide from the world -- and from themselves. Unaware of God's love for them, they may even be subconsciously afraid to place themselves in a position where they can hear the Voice of God in their souls.
Even as Christians there may be some areas in our lives we don't really want to face. Not as yet anyway. So we engage in all kinds of Christian activity -- all of it good -- not realizing we may be avoiding a meeting with God that would transform us completely.

Remember, we are not talking here about loneliness. Loneliness can be a great trial, and we should be very sensitive to the needs of those who must live alone, or for some other reason suffer the ravages of loneliness. I don't believe God ever wants us to be lonely; cut off psychologically and physically from all human companionship for extended periods of time. But I do believe He wants us to experience regular periods of alone-ness; times when we are free from the distractions of constant human company and perpetual activity. He wants us to take opportunity to hear His Voice, and to confront the crisis areas of our lives.
It was when he was alone that the angel wrestled with Jacob.
Perhaps that is when you are most likely to have a real wrestling in prayer. When you allow yourself to be really alone, and stop evading the still, small Voice of God as he uncovers the weak places in your Christian armour.
If you carefully examine the life of Jesus, you will find he took definite steps to be alone in between all the hustle and bustle of his public ministry:
". . . he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities." (Matthew 14:13 - KJV)
Jesus attempted to escape the crowds by going into the desert, but the people followed him. So He ministered to them with compassion, performed the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, and made another attempt to be alone:
"And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone." (Matthew 14:22-23 - KJV)
There is no doubt Jesus wrestled in prayer on that mountain, though only in the garden of Gethsemane are we given a glimpse of its intensity, where he sweat great drops of blood. But whatever else wrestling in prayer requires, it seems to require solitude.

2. Wrestling with God in Prayer Requires a Passionate Interest in the Subject of Your Prayer.
(i) Jacob was afraid to face his brother Esau. He had just narrowly escaped retribution from his uncle Laban, and Jacob had always displayed an intense desire for the blessing of God. All in all, Jacob was a prime candidate for a heavenly wrestling match that brought down special blessing upon his life. If he had not truly cared for God's blessing, he could never have prayed, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." God will not answer a prayer you have little interest in having answered.
(ii) The one passion of Jesus' life was His desire for His Father's will. While He would have liked to put aside the cup of suffering, his commitment to the Father's will was greater. Such intense wrestling in the garden would not have taken place had Jesus not cared passionately for the Fathers Plan to redeem lost sinners.
(iii) You will only wrestle in prayer if spiritual things really matter to you. If you don't really care, you could never really bear the intensity of a wrestling match with God. Indeed, it is doubtful you will ever get the chance. You will probably be relegated to that vast company of lukewarm Christians who sit in pews, but never spread the news of God's own Son.

I WILL NOT LET YOU GO!
(c. 16th September 1995 By Christopher Shennan)

I will not let You go, my Lord,
Unless You bless me well;
Unless you bring relief, my Lord,
To this child of death and hell.

I have no strength to plead, my Lord,
Beyond a feeble cry;
Beyond a whispered call for help;
Beyond a stifled sigh.

Though my heart seems faint, my Lord,
Though my strength seems small,
I cannot seem to lose my grip
Until you grant me all.

It seems that life and death, my Lord;
It seems that life and limb
Depend on how I cling, my Lord,
To the Truth -- that it not dim.

I seem to feel Your answer, Lord,
Is not too far away,
Is not too far from falling, Lord,
On my spirit as I pray.

I did not let you go, my Lord,
I did not let You by,
Until Your Mercy came to me
With Your Blessing, from on high.

3. Wrestling with God in Prayer Will Generally Leave Its Mark on You.
"And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
"Therefore the children of Israel eat not [of] the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank." (Genesis 32:31-32)

Wrestling with God resulted in Jacob limping on his way. Wrestling in prayer caused blood to ooze from Jesus' brow, and led Him finally to the Cross. Those not physically marked, are nevertheless marked in other ways. After Peter wept bitterly over his denial of the Lord, he was a much humbler man than he was before.
The real issue the LORD wanted to confront in Jacob's life was the matter of self-reliance. Jacob even tried to gain spiritual goals by guile and deception. Did the Lord Jesus perhaps have Jacob in mind when he said of Nathanael, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile"? It would seem so, since he said to Nathanael, "Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." This is an obvious allusion to Jacob who saw a vision of ascending and descending angels. There is a stunning contrast between Jacob's deceptive way of life and the clear assessment Jesus gave of Nathanael, "…an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." Jacob conducted his walk with God according to his own rules: if things weren't working out to his liking he would manipulate circumstances to serve his own ends. God wanted that to end. He wanted Jacob to depend entirely upon Him. That is why Jacob limped away from that wrestling match. The limp was to remind him of his own weakness, so he would remember to depend wholly on God.
God’s goal with each of us is the same as it was with Jacob. If we truly learn how to wrestle in prayer we will most likely come away from it with some kind of limp, physical, spiritual, or emotional. God’s purpose is not to cripple us, but to become our only life support.

LEAVE YOUR MARK ON ME!
(c. 26th November 1999 By Christopher Shennan)

Oh, Leave Your Mark on me, dear Lord;
Just leave Your Mark on me.
I care not what dread form it takes,
Or what its nature be,
So long as, when the dawn shines through,
You’ve left Your Mark on me.

I want to wholly lean on You;
I want my spirit free.
I want the stamp of Your approval
Out where all can see;
So wrestle long into the night,
And leave Your Mark on me.

Don’t leave me to myself, dear Lord,
Unmarked by Destiny,
Or by Your wondrous, perfect Plan
That You would work in me.
So, in Your gracious mercy, Lord,
Please leave Your mark on me.

FOR HOME STUDY
1. Are there other examples in Scripture where men of God triumphed in prayer when they were alone?
2. What were the results of Jacob's wrestling match, and what kind of mark do you expect will be left on you, if you wrestle in prayer?
3. Is there some matter in your own life you have been unwilling to face; something that needs desperately to be confronted? Are you willing for God to have it out with you?
4. Do you have a problem of self-reliance. Do you even try to gain spiritual goals in your own way?

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Exodus 32:31,32; 2 Corinthians 1:8,9; 1 Kings 19:1-18
Assignment:
Part 1
(i) Read the entire lesson again
(ii) Answer the Questions under "For Home Study."
(iii) Look up all references under "For Further Study."
Part 2
Read the lesson again from start to finish and answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. Who initiated the wrestling match between the LORD and Jacob? Why do you think Jacob was chosen for this singular honour?
2. What will happen, sooner or later, to the man or woman who hungers and thirsts after God? Do you think you may be a candidate for this kind of experience?
3. How important is solitude in your personal relationship with God? Can you think of any other Bible characters having unusual experiences with God in solitude?
4. Why do you think some people cannot bear to be really alone?
5. Explain the difference between alone-ness and loneliness.
6. Why do you think Jesus took steps to be alone? Why would He want to get away from the crowds that swarmed over Him in His public ministry?
7. How much do you think Jacob's fear of his brother Esau contributed to the desperation he displayed in this singular experience? Do you think God can use desperate circumstances in your life, to make you more earnest in prayer so he can ultimately bless you? Explain.
8. From the point of view of prayer, explain why it is important to take spiritual matters seriously.
9. What contrast do you see between Jacob in the Old Testament, and Nathanael in the New Testament? Who do you think you are most like, Jacob, or Nathanael?
10. What was the main issue God wanted to confront in Jacob's life? What main issue do you think God wants to confront in your life?
11. What "mark" would you want God to leave on you, should He grant you the privilege of wrestling in prayer?
Part 3
Write a short essay (one or two paragraphs) outlining what this study has meant to you, and how you mean to implement its lessons in your life. Writing it down in this way will help imprint it more surely on your heart.

Credits

The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.
The intro voice belongs to Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

2008-06-19T21:35:00.000-07:00

Life Works 032 - Story: I Will

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I Will

Skip Rooney knew something was wrong.

It wasn't just the abandoned look of the farmhouse, stark and ghostly in the moonlight, that gave that impression, or that Kerry Moses had gone missing. It was something else!

He had felt it the moment he had gotten into town. After three years in the big city he had expected some changes. You lose touch with people when you are not there to notice things happening in their lives. It is natural to feel a little strange with old acquaintances, till you have a chance to talk and catch up on things that have happened since you saw them last. He had expected that.

What Skip had not expected was the sudden silence that greeted him when he entered a room, or met a friend on the street. It was not unkindness that caused the silence. He would have picked up on that right away. They were not hostile to him, but he got the idea they were embarrassed; as if they had some secret knowledge, and were not sure how he would react if they told him. It made him feel uneasy -- and anxious.

He was sure of one thing: whatever was bothering the town people it had something to do with Kerry Moses -- the girl he loved.

Skip remembered how it had been that morning when he had first hit town.

'Why . . . no S . . . Skip,' Ted Engstrom stammered, his round face looking flushed and embarrassed against the background of grocery shelves. 'I can't tell you nuthin. I kinda mind my own business, like.'

"But Ted, when someone you've known all your life suddenly stops coming to your store, surely you get curious? And you say no one else has seen them in town for the past two months. People don't just disappear without questions being asked."

'Never said that,' Ted snapped, a stubborn look appearing on his face. 'I said I cud tell you nuthin' 'bout the last two months. Never said I hadn't seen her.'

'Come now, Ted, you've known me since I couldn't even peek over this counter. Why all this secrecy. You know I went away so I can come back to marry Kerry Moses. She stopped writing two months ago. Before that I got a letter two or three times a week. Every week, Ted. Then, suddenly -- nothing.'

'A hard look came into the grocer's eye, "You been a way three years. Three years! " He turned away, delivering a parting shot over his shoulder, "I got nuthin' more to say to you, Skip Rooney. Nuthin' yet anywise.'

Skip emerged onto the sunlit street with his first puzzlement deepening into alarm. Several people he had known well brushed past him on the sidewalk, with only curt greetings that held no warmth. Clearly the feeling was general that he had treated Kerry badly. That was evident from Ted's remarks and the almost identical looks he had received from the time he had first arrived in town.

He couldn't say he altogether blamed them. Three years was indeed a long time. But None of them seemed to understand he had stayed away out of a sense of honor. He loved Kerry with an intensity that almost frightened him. He had vowed to himself he would not return till he could offer her a life without toil and drudgery. He had seen his own mother, and a number of other village woman, melt like beautiful wax dolls in the summer's heat. They had changed from fine postured examples of the fair sex, into faded replicas of their former gentle loveliness. That would never happen to Kerry.

'Could anyone imagine," Skip mused, "the agony I endured to keep to my original plan; the lonely nights and labour-filled days; the thousands of times I almost packed up and come home to marry Kerry -- with or without enough money to set up home. Nevertheless, I kept true to my principles -- for Kerry's sake.'

Still, Skip admitted to himself that however much money he had saved, it had never been enough. When he was able to buy out Ted Engstrom, who was near retirement, the vision of owning Ma Benson's Haberdashery store kept him working and saving. Next, Bud Everett's saw-mill rose up to claim another year of his labour. The original one year's planned absence had stretched into three.

He snapped out of his reverie when he noticed a girl coming out of a store across the street. She wore a powder-blue dress that contrasted fetchingly with her wavy dark tresses, reaching almost to her waist. He cried out as he raced to intercept her, dodging a youth on a bicycle, who swerved wildly to avoid crashing into him. The unpaved street sent up a protesting cloud of dust, but Skip hardly noticed.

'Mary! Mary Bennett!'

The girl had progressed half a block along the wooden side-walk before turning at the sound of her name.

He had expected the same hard look he'd been getting all morning. Instead, her large dark eyes regarded him with a kindly, almost pitying benevolence. The old quality of friendship was also there. After all, Kerry, Mary, and he, had been inseparable throughout their childhood years. Looking at her, Skip knew that none of that old comradeship had changed, except that now there was a mild reproach in her manner.

'I expect you want to know about Kerry?' She avoided his gaze, toying nervously with her purse.

'You know I do! Mary, what's all this mystery about Kerry? She wasn't at the farmhouse. No one was there, neither her mother nor her brother. Now people I've known all my life will hardly speak to me. Even old Ted is secretive, even offensive. "What's going on?'

'You've been away three years, Skip.'

'That's what Ted said. Don't you understand. I was doing it all for Kerry. I vowed I'd never let her be broken by hardship and poverty.'

Mary said gently, 'You never even came back for a visit.'

Skip sighed, "Mary, believe me. I couldn't! Not if I was going to fulfill my goal in the shortest time possible. Besides, I wrote to Kerry nearly every day. She knew what I was doing and how much I loved her.'

Now it was Mary's turn to sigh, 'Do you really think that was enough, Skip Rooney. Can a girl in love with her man clasp paper and ink to her heart for three years and be satisfied with words, instead of the warmth of his embrace.'

'But that's not . . .'

'No, Skip. You listen to me!' She glanced around.

Till then Skip had not noticed how people had stopped to eavesdrop on the conversation. Now he realized a dozen or more town folk, most of them old friends, were unashamedly watching the exchange between Mary and himself, like spectators at a fist-fight. He wanted to escape, but the force of Mary's speech held him transfixed. There was still something he wanted ask her.

'I doubt whether you've ever really seen Kerry,' Mary was saying, "I sure you love her, but your way of showing it ignores what the real Kerry Moses is like. You see her flaming hair, flashing green eyes and perfect complexion. You're terrified something will mar that vision of loveliness and leave you with a worn out shell.

'Well, I have news for you, Skip Rooney. Even if hard work doesn't bend her figure; if drudgery doesn't spoil the smoothness of her skin -- she won't escape. Time will ravage her. Age will bend her and form wrinkles on her face. Life will deal her blows that will form frown marks on her forehead and bring a pained expression into her eyes.

'What will you do then? Will you still love her when she no longer fits the perfect picture of your dreams? Perhaps you don't love her at all. Perhaps you're in love with the "idea" of Kerry Moses -- the "beautiful maiden" Kerry Moses. You've never seen the Kerry Moses that is faithful and true and caring and brave -- qualities that won't fade with time or hardship. Perhaps you have fallen in love with the wrong Kerry Moses.'

Mary's eloquence stunned him. Skip realized she must have rehearsed this speech countless times in the last year or more. After all, she was Kerry's closest friend. Now, she turned and walked away, leaving him standing. He did not move until the small crowd had dispersed -- then he hightailed it after her.

She had turned the corner into a side-street before he caught up. He was breathless and ashamed when she faced him. Nevertheless, in spite of the hardness of her speech, there was sympathy in her gaze.

'What is it, Skip.'

He stared down at his city-bought shoes, 'I . . . I . . . have to ask you . . .something. I've got to know. Has Kerry . . . I mean . . . has she found someone else?'

'I'm sorry, Skip,' Mary said softly, 'but I can't tell you that.' Then, sensing his pain, she said, 'I'll tell you this much. If you'll be at the old farmhouse at seven tonight, I'll see if Kerry will agree to see you. I don't promise . . . but I'll try.' Then she was gone. There was nothing left for Skip to do but hope blindly that all was not lost.

That had been at midday. Now it was after seven and the darkened and deserted farmhouse mocked the tiniest shadow of hope he had entertained during the afternoon. She had not come. She was finished with him. He suddenly saw how blind he had been. Tendrils of despair tugged at his heart. He admitted that his obsession had been foolish, however well-intentioned. Kerry had every right to dump him.

Skip shook himself. He could at least walk down the hill and make sure she was not waiting for him in the dark, though why she should do that was beyond him. He smoothed his hands over his expensive jacket and tested the knife-edge pleats of his trousers with his fingers, before forcing himself to walk mechanically to what he now believed was a futile exercise.

The door creaked on its hinges, but otherwise made no other protest as he opened it. The interior of the house was pitch dark. He found a lamp hanging on hook near the door and lighted it. The place was deserted. A candelabra, devoid of candles, stood on the piano. Beside it was a photograph he had not seen before. He moved forward and held the lamp high. It was a picture of Kerry and her brother, and with them a young man of stunning appearance. He was tall and masculine, with the classic features of a Greek god. He seemed the ideal compliment to Kerry's beauty.

Skip felt an unaccustomed jealously boil and seethe within him. However, he was too honest and fair-minded to allow it to overflow into vengeful action. He had deserved whatever pain and anguish there was to endure. There was nothing left but to walk out of Kerry's life and allow her to choose her own path of happiness. So that is what he did. He blew out the lamp and hung it in his place. He did not search the house for he sensed his barrenness. Besides, even if Kerry was there, it would be too painful to see her now. He slammed the door and walked out across the yard toward town.

He was almost to the gate when he saw the barn. He thought he had seen a flicker of light around the edges of the door. There had been no light in it earlier. He might well be mistaken, but the incident peaked his curiosity. He veered off toward the barn to investigate.

For the first moments after Skip opened the door, he stared into utter darkness. Then, all over the interior lamps were lighted and greetings burst from a hundred throats. Nevertheless, it was not the greetings, or the lighting of lamps, that drew his attention.

On a platform, no doubt rigged for the occasion, stood the pastor of the local church. Beside him, resplendent in a wedding-dress so white it hurt his eyes, stood Kerry Moses. Skip had blundered into a wedding party. His worst fears had been realized. Not only had Kerry found another man in his absence, she was going to marry him tonight.

He had decided to flee when he noticed something: Kerry and the preacher were on the platform, but there was no bridegroom to be seen. Mary Bennett stood in a bridesmaid dress beside the Greek god character he had seen in the picture, but he was totally absorbed in Mary. He seemed to have no eyes for the bride. Smiling faces beamed at him from everywhere: townsfolk who had acted strangely all day but now seemed delighted to see him.

And Kerry? She was gazing at him across the barn floor with such loving devotion he thought he would faint from sheer joy.

Suddenly the preacher called out in his deep, resonant voice, 'Skip Rooney, will you take this woman, Kerry Moses, to be your lawfully wedded wife.'

The world seemed to spin as Skip almost staggered toward the girl of his dreams, managing to croak out in a hoarse whisper, 'I will!'
Then he swallowed and said it louder, 'I will!'

Credits

The barn photograph is by Brian Everett, found on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License.

The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.
The intro voice belongs to Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

2008-06-15T05:14:00.000-07:00

Life Works 031 - The Main Condition to Prayer

This bible study is from the book Exploring Biblical Prayer by Christopher Shennan, available at christophershennanbooks.com and lulu.com.

Listen Here:

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The Main Condition to Prayer

I am the vine, and you are the branches. If any remain in me and I remain in them, they produce much fruit. But without me they can do nothing. If any do not remain in me, they are like a branch that is thrown away and dies. People pick up dead branches, throw them into the fire, and burn them. If you remain in me and follow my teachings, you can ask anything you want, and it will be given to you." (John 15:5-7 – NCV)
Nothing is more important for an effective prayer life than abiding, or remaining, in Christ. Jesus' makes a stunning declaration when He says: "If you remain in me and follow my teachings, you can ask anything you want, and it will be given to you." You can have "anything you want" providing you abide or remain in Christ. The scope of such a statement is staggering. Of course, it is a given that the things you want will be radically modified by the reality of the abiding life. With Christ's life flowing through you, you could hardly want anything that He does not want. Your desires will be limited, and expanded, to those things that fit perfectly into the will of God. I say limited and expanded, because your longing for worldly pleasures will shrink, and your thirst for God and His Kingdom will increase. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33 – KJV)

So what does "abiding" or "remaining" in Christ, mean?
In the physical, there is no difficulty in understanding what abiding is. Jesus, in His matchless way, put it in terms a farmer or common gardener can understand. He said it was like a branch grafted into a vine. The vine has the life-giving sap coursing through it. Once the branch is grafted into the vine, it starts to draw that sap from the vine, and so starts to share its life. Cut it off, and you cut off its life. It can no longer bring forth fruit.
But how does this apply in the spiritual realm? How do we get into Christ in the first place, and how do we then remain in Him?
"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth with you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." (1 John 2:27 - KJV)
When John speaks of the anointing, he means the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He means that the Holy Spirit teaches a believer how to abide in Christ. It is not a task the natural man can undertake. To "abide," you need to depend on the Holy Spirit for His enlightenment and power.

To abide in Christ we need to:
1. Continue in an Active Faith in God through Christ.
…everyone who is a child of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world --- our faith. So the one who conquers the world is the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. (1 John 5:4-5 - NCV.)
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God has God living inside, and that person lives in God. (1John 4:15 – New NCV)
The faith we are talking about here is not the faith we exercise in prayer to bring us answers. Rather it is the foundation faith we have in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; the faith that brings us into union with God through Christ. The just shall live by faith. That is, the just will continue looking to the Gospel of God as the ONLY pathway to Eternal life. They will have an ongoing, permanent trust in Jesus Christ. They will abide, or remain, in union with Him by clinging to His promises alone as contained in Holy Scripture. This is the first condition to abiding in Christ.
Faith is a choice. Jesus said to the Pharisees who opposed Him, 'But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life." (John 5:40 NKJV) They would not come to Him in faith, because they had so many self-interests that effected their choice. This is often the case with Christians. Though we have come to Christ, and truly believe in Him, there are areas of our lives that are sensitive. We have not yet made the choice to believe God to deal with them.
"But without faith [it is] impossible to please [Him}, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and [that] He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV

I WILL BELIEVE
(September 2nd 1992)
By Christopher Shennan

I will believe though Satan's voice
Assaults my ears,
And my fears
Invade my thoughts -- it is my choice.
For though the mountains crumble soon
And all my hopes and dreams grow dim;
Though all the prophets speak of doom
And half the world's forsaking Him --
I will believe!

I will believe though troubled times
Cause endless grief,
With no relief,
And clouds still hide the sun that shines.
For though the pain seems far beyond
All reason and the future bleak;
Though mistrust severs friendship's bond
And strong aggressors kill the weak --
I will believe!

I will believe though doubt and fear
Stand at my door,
Tormenting more
Than has been true for many a year.
And though my generation die
While darkness covers all the earth.
Though men refuse to lift Christ high
And mock the sons of second birth --
I will believe!

I will believe because I know
God's only Son
Will be the One
To make Hope spring up, and to grow.
No matter what the present brings,
Or how the past's dread shadow looms:
The Word my God has spoken sings,
And builds again what Satan ruins --
I will believe!

To abide in Christ we need to:
2. Continue in Sound Doctrine According to God's Word.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:42)
"But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you." (Romans 6:17)
"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
"For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." (Romans 16:17-18 - KJV)
"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
"As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:8-9 - KJV)
The above scriptures make it clear that sincere faith is not enough to ensure salvation. It must be sincere faith in SOUND DOCTRINE, as taught in the Word of God.
It is common to hear people say, "We don't want to know about doctrine. Love is more important than doctrine. My friend, unless you are sound in doctrine, you will never discover true love. The Love of Christ, His death on the Cross, His resurrection, Ascension and Second Coming are all doctrines.
Make no mistake: correct doctrine without love is deadly; but no love is genuine that rejects the sound teaching (or doctrine) of God's Word.

Consider someone who claims to love his family. He sends them on a journey with a map to help them get to their destination. However, he has deliberately tampered with the map. By following its directions his family would be led into danger --- even death. Who could claim that such a man loved his family? Would we not be justified in believing the man hated his family, and was intent on seeing them destroyed? Would we not be justified in accusing him of attempted murder --- or murder itself?
The Bible is God’s map. It has sure directions to lead men, women, boys and girls to a Heavenly destination. Its doctrines reveal the pattern of God’s purpose for each individual, each family, each group, each tribe or nation. To tamper with this map; to twist its doctrines and distort the pattern God has revealed, is to put multitudes in danger of death and damnation. Anyone who commits such a crime could not be said to “love the brethren.”
If that sounds extreme, it is no more so than the Bible itself: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
"As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:8-9)

Everything in the Bible testifies to the truth that the Gospel, as proclaimed in both the Old and New Testaments is specific, not general. That is, any departure from what God has declared the Gospel to be, is error. While there are a number of issues we may disagree on and still remain in the family of God, there are specifics that we change to the peril of our souls, and the eternal damnation of those to whom we preach. So the apostle John declared of those who changed the doctrine of the incarnation into something else.
“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
“But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
“I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
“Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.” (1 John 2:18-23 - KJV)
You see, these “antichrists” were condemned on the basis of doctrine alone. How careful we need to be in the manner in which we approach God’s word. No casual approach will do. As Moses was told to take the shoes from his feet because he was standing on holy ground in the Presence of the LORD, so we are standing on holy ground when we come to the Word of God. The LORD Himself showed how we should approach His Word when He declared through Isaiah:
“Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
“For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. (Isaiah 66:1-2)
No-one should study and preach God’s word without a certain element of “trembling” in his soul. Not abject fear, but reverential awe, mixed with faith.

One Scottish saint when being led to the scaffold to give his life for Christ was asked if he wanted to say one final message before he died. His final words were: "I mount this scaffold to give my life for Christ with far less fear than when I mounted the pulpit to declare the Word of God."
Jesus Himself gave a promise in this regard: If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. (John 7:17)
All we need is the genuine will to do God’s will, and we will know of the doctrine. Now while Christ was speaking specifically of people knowing whether or not He Himself was speaking the right doctrine, He was at the same time declaring a general principle. Do you think God would not make a man or woman inwardly know of the doctrine, if they were studying God’s word with a genuine desire to do His will?
How does all this relate to prayer? Just that abiding in Christ is a condition of answered prayer, and no-one can abide in Christ while not abiding in the truth of His Word. And abiding in Christ is the main condition to answered prayer.

To abide in Christ we need to:
3. Continue in Genuine Love For God and His People.
"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:16)
Abiding also means: continuing in an attitude of open-hearted acceptance of others, whether or not they deserve it. After all, we do not deserve God's love. That does not mean we should approve of them in every way, or accept their ungodly life-style; but it does mean we bear them no malice. It means we do not look down on others because they are in a different class or caste to us. It means we do not envy others if they appear to be better off than we are, nor despise them if they did not have the same opportunities as we had.
It is vital to remember that the love spoken of here is not human love. It is the kind of love that is totally absent from the human frame. It cannot be stirred up from some secret store of “inner potential.” Without Christ the only potential we have is to sin. In simple terms, the love demanded of us is a love that is totally beyond us. We have none of our own to give. We are called to dwell in love. That is, we must live in an environment of love that is not our own. We must get that love from a source other than ourselves.
The glad news is that, while we have none of our own, an abundant supply of love is available to us:
“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
“And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

To abide in Christ we need to:
4. Continue in Willing Obedience to God and Christ.
"There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
"And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
"And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
"And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
"For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother." (Mark 3:31-35 - KJV)
Obedience is proof of genuine faith in Christ. All professing Christians need to meditate long and hard upon this truth. Jesus made it very clear that obedience proves the genuineness of my relationship with him: "For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
Faith in Christ will produce obedience. If it does not, it is not genuine faith:
"Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
"Thou believest there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." (James 2:18-19 KJV)
Obedience to God is often felt by many to be some hard, almost impossible thing. That we often feel this way about obedience is testimony to the low level of love we have for the Master. To the lover of God, obedience is a delight. So Jesus felt about doing the will of the Father:
“Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalm 40:7-8 - KJV)
Such is the nature of obedience: If it is not motivated by love, it becomes a burden; it appears to the soul as a form of slavery.

I heard a story once of a wife whose husband treated her like a servant. He made a list of all the things he expected her to do while he was away at work. And what abuse she had to endure if she happened to neglect one or more of those tasks. You can imagine the cloud of unhappiness this woman lived under. After several years of this, her husband died.
In time, this woman met and married a man of a different sort. He treated her with the love and respect she deserved, and there followed years of real marital happiness. One day she happened to be searching through a box in the attic and discovered the old list her previous husband had terrorized her with. To her amazement, she realized that she was now performing for her present husband all the tasks on the list, plus many more that were not on the list. And she was doing it all willingly with no sense of compulsion weighing her down. Indeed, she performed her tasks with joy. What made the difference? Why, it was love that made the difference.

Two things can turn our obedience from a delight to a burden:
(a) An unworthy concept of God.
If we see God as some kind of tyrant, demanding from us an obedience we feel to be unreasonable, or at least impossible, there will be no joy in our service.
The danger also lies in allowing a subtle shift in your thinking, so you see God in human terms. Your thoughts of Him are limited by what your intellect can conceive Him to be. Such a God will be unable to measure up to the challenges you will have to meet in the spiritual battles we all have to face. Burn-out will be the result. By faith we need to reach beyond the limits of out intellect, and believe in a God without limits.
One line stands out in a poem by Piper: "God is kind in ways that will not fit your mind." The following poem seeks to express a broader application of that thought:

OUR INFINITE GOD
(c. Sunday 13th August, 2006 ---
by Christopher Shennan)

I heard a wise man say:
"God is kind in ways that will not fit your mind."
And my heart leapt,
And kept on beating with the thought:
"God is everything in ways we cannot comprehend."

He's bigger than my greatest thought
And vaster than the noblest deed
Human minds can conceive.
I receive the revelation and bow in adoration.
For I could not worship One
Who somehow fit the pattern of my finite intellect.
My soul craves infinitude.

I'm destitute if I cannot reach into the limitless expanse of a Love I cannot comprehend.
Oh, send me rather knowledge from above.
When my mind cannot wrap around the thought of an infinite God --- my heart can.
My heart ran in pursuit when my mind was blind.
So I revel in the "cloud of unknowing"
That draws me into the very Presence of His infinitude.
My love cannot burn-out if it is anchored in the limitless depths of His Love.

(b) If the love of God is not yet been shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Spirit.
Anyone who has come to know God in the light of John 3:16, will find themselves trying to do a little more that is required, and do it with joy.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 - KJV)

MY SIMPLE RULE
(© January 2006 by Christopher Shennan)

I try to live by a simple rule:
To always do a little more
Than the call of duty states,
Or what I’m responsible for

For a little less is not my best,
And robs my brother blind;
It bleeds my life of character ---
Until it’s hard to find.

But someone says, “You rob yourself
If you give a little more;
Your riches will be depleted ---
All you’ve been working for.”

But I answer, “Oh the riches
I am storing up above ---
The strength of soul I’m gaining ---
The storing up of love.

“When my earthly life is ended,
The little more I’ve given
Will be a crown I can cast before
My Saviour up in Heaven.

FOR HOME STUDY
1. Read John chapter fifteen through and meditate on the meaning of abiding. Share your thoughts with us during the next class.
2. Examine your own life in the light of the four elements of an abiding life.
3. Is abiding a minor or major issue in the Christian life. Explain in light of John 15:5.
4. Explain how important sound doctrine is, in the light of 1 John 2:22 and 2 John 7.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Acts 15:8,9; 1 Corinthians 16:13; Ephesians 4:14; 1 Timothy 4:6,16; Psalm 1:1-6; John 15:13,14; John 15:9; John 13:34
Assignment:
Part 1
(i) Read the entire lesson again
(ii) Answer the Questions under "For Home Study."
(iii) Look up all references under "For Further Study."
Part 2
Read the lesson again from start to finish and answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. How does remaining in Christ both limit and expand the scope of your desires?
2. In your own words, explain how important it is to abide in Christ, and how important abiding is to prayer. Include a consideration of John 15:7 in your answer.
3. What part does the Holy Spirit play in the life of abiding? How would you enlist His aid?
4. Take time to meditate on 1 John 5:4-5 and 1 John 4:15. Now share, in your own words, what believing in, and confessing Christ, can do for you.
5. What is the first condition to abiding in Christ, and how would you implement it in your life?
6. If it is impossible to please God without faith, how much impact will faith have on your prayer life?
7. After reading the poem I Will Believe!, how far are you prepared to go with your faith in Christ should some of those circumstances descend on you? (This question is mainly for your own prayerful consideration. You may, however, wish to share some things that are not too personal.
8. Read again the Scriptures quoted regarding doctrine (under point # 2). Now explain the importance of doctrine as it applies to your prayer life.
9. How does reading a map relate to preaching and teaching the doctrines of the Bible?
10. Comment on the phrase, "Correct doctrine without love is deadly." Is this a true statement? Are there other considerations to take into account? If so, what are they?
11. Does loving others mean we must approve of them in every way? Must we accept their ungodly life-style? Explain.
12. If the divine love expected of us is not in us, how are we expected to show this love to others?
13. How does obedience prove the genuineness of your faith?
14. Why do you think the idea of obedience often seems like a burden to us, when it should be a delight?
Part 3
Write a short essay (one or two paragraphs) outlining what this study has meant to you, and how you mean to implement its lessons in your life. Writing it down in this way will help imprint it more surely on your heart.

Credits

This bible study is from the book Exploring Biblical Prayer by Christopher Shennan, available at christophershennanbooks.com and lulu.com.

The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.
The intro voice belongs to Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

2008-06-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

Life Works 030 - Story: The Odd Bird

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The Odd Bird

The trouble began at almost the same moment Gilmore Randall walked down the main street.

Rushmore was not a place that tolerated peculiarity in any of its residents. They were even less tolerant with this stranger. He ambled into town with three day's growth of beard and a pair of spectacles that magnified his eyes three times their size. Even that would not have spooked the populace as much if his eyes had been the same colour, which they weren't. One eye was a kind of brown and hazel mix; the other an intense blue that seemed to glow at times, like a gem under the light. Real queer it was.

That was not the whole of it. Several other things about this Randall fellow made you sit up and take notice. His suit was shiny, as if it had been ironed without a damp cloth -- and it was the wrong size. It was too big, and I was sure he had a stiff knee, for he swung one leg in a kind of circular movement. The swing wasn't too obvious, mind you, but enough to draw attention. It gave the impression he was not quite walking, but rolling along. Perhaps you think I'm exaggerating, but that's how it appeared to me, and I know other folks would have added even more detail than I have.

In any case, he came into the hotel lobby and went right up to Andy Everett, who owned the place. He had no luggage to speak of; just a leather case about the size of a Webster Dictionary, and a bill-fold in his left hand. He had cash all right, but Andy took no notice of that.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, with no welcome in his voice. You had to be suspicious of a man with a pile of money, hardly any luggage, and the look of someone who'd just escaped from some institution or other.

"I'd like a room," said the odd character, holding out the billfold. He seemed to be making the point that, in spite of his appearance, he had the money to pay for it.

I was standing behind Andy, and a little to once side, so I both heard the voice and got a grandstand view of his expression. The voice was nothing like I'd ever heard. It made me feel all queer, as if I was hearing the voice of God for the first time. The expression I never did figure out, all the time he stayed in Rushmore. It was not so much the expression itself, but what it made you feel like, as if something inside you were beginning to melt. I confess, I'd have given him a room right off. But the decision wasn't mine. Andy may have been my father-in-law, and he was training me to take over as manager, but at the time I am speaking of, he was still the boss.

"There are no rooms available," said Andy.

Now, I knew there were at least six rooms with no one in them, and they weren't booked for any future time either. Anyhow, Andy hadn't said he didn't have any rooms. He had just said they weren't available.

Gilmore Randall [I saw his name on the little leather case] never even blinked.

"I'll only need it for a few days, till I can find permanent lodging."

"I said," Andy snapped, "there are no rooms available!"

Silence, for about fifteen seconds, then the odd bird turned and walked out of the lobby and into the street. I followed to the entrance and watched as he made his way over to Ma Skinner's boarding house. After a few minutes he came out and went further down the street, most every eye fixed on him. I hadn't figured he'd have any more success with Ma Skinner than he'd had with Andy. I heard later he'd found lodging with an old widow who lived in a tumble-down place at the edge of town, Alice Jensen by name.

I should have guessed that was where he would end up. Alice was all twisted up with arthritis, and was more or less shunned by the rest of the community, on account of her looks, and some vague scandal that shadowed her past. The talk was she'd had a daughter who'd died mysteriously. In any case, him going to live at the Jensen place did his reputation no good. There was no doubt she needed the money, but nevertheless that old saying was circulated, "Birds of a feather flock together."

I remember sitting on the porch a few days later with a few of my buddies, when the talk got round to the "odd bird," as he was now being called. Now the word "odd," in Rushmore, was a word you could have swapped with bad, evil or wicked, without changing the meaning any. If you fitted in, you were considered a mighty fine person. If not, it would take a million years to get accepted, if ever.

Like I said, we got to talking and Jimmy Gates, who ran the Service Station on Ruby Street, started the ball rolling with a question:

"What you think 'bout that odd bird that just rolled into town?"

The other guys grunted out replies that weren't important, one way or the other. I kept quiet 'cos I didn't know what to think. I also kept quiet 'cause I felt strangely attracted to the man, but was afraid to say so. That's one of my faults: I have my own thoughts and convictions, but I put a great deal of store on what other folks think of me. I'm inclined to follow the crowd.

"Well I'll tell you," said Jimmy, pushing his cap way to the back of his head, "I've got a feeling he's up to no good."

"Why you say that?"

"Well, I've been hearing talk. Did you know he hasn't changed his clothes in the three days he's been here? Yet he went into Ted's Clothing store and bought a whole new outfit. Next day, Bert Lang came strutting out in that same outfit."

Now, Bert Lang was one of the rejects of the Rushmore community. He'd been caught stealing, and gone to jail for it. Ever since that, no one would give him a job. I guess they thought he'd start his thieving ways on them. He lived with an aunt who more or less supported him, though she had little enough to support herself.

"Makes you wonder, don't it?" Jimmy was saying. Seems like he could've known Bert in prison, got friendly with him, and now he's come to help him out. Makes you wonder where he got all that cash he's flashing around."

"Think he might have got it in a robbery or something?" Asked Billy Trent, who was having trouble hitching his belt over his belly.

"Seems likely," said Jimmy, "all things considered.

We were quiet for some time after that, each of us busy with his own thoughts. Jimmy had given us quite a lot to think about. Somehow, though, I couldn't square the insinuations Jimmy was making with the sound of Gilmore Randall's voice -- or the expression I'd seen on his face that first day he'd come to town. In any case, I could see Jimmy's words had made an impression on the others, and I wasn't about to rock the boat by giving an opposite opinion.

"There's something else, too," said Badger, another of my buddies, "Odd Bird has had some strange effect on Mad Elly."

"What's that?" we all asked together. Our curiosity was peaked by the remark.

Elly was not shunned, but tolerated, because her madness, or imbecility, was of the harmless, dead-pan variety that harmed nobody, and stirred vague feelings of pity. She was part of the scenery, and a kind of symbol of Rushmore's more gentle nature.

"Well, you know how Elly never smiles, and her bottom lip curls up over the top one? And you know how dead her eyes are, and the way she drags her feet?"

We all nodded.

"Well, some of us saw Odd Bird talking to her for quite some time yesterday. Next thing, she pops into Ben's Grocery for her usual candy stick, and what do you think? She stands in front of Ben and smiles at him; actually smiles. Then she says 'Thank you!' bright as you please, and walks out without dragging her feet. Folks that've seen her since say her eyes are alive, an' she talks to her family quite normal, instead of that droning babble she's known for."

That piece of news really stunned us, for Elly was one of those comfortable reminders that some things never change. It clean knocked the foundation from under us and made us feel uneasy, though I can't say there wasn't a tiny thrill of excitement stirring in me somewhere.

Jimmy said, "How can one account for that?"

Some say it's that eye of his: the shining blue one. Something to do with witchery or necro-something."

"Necromancy," I said. I read it in the dictionary once. "Something to do with magic, when they're supposed to raise up dead people and make them talk to you."

That killed our free discussion, because a shiver of fear ran through us. One by one we got up and went our own ways.

During the next two weeks other things began to happen: Alice Jensen, all twisted up with arthritis, got untwisted. She was the one who first gave lodgings to the Odd Bird. She walked down the street with her back straight, a smile on her face, and her once-twisted hands gracefully holding the handle of her grocery basket. Bert Lang suddenly got industrious and started making lawn ornaments. He took them out of town (no one would have bought them in Rushmore) and sold them. For the first time he was a help to his aunt, and they both began to look better, and more prosperous.

That was enough to get the tongues wagging, and stories began to circulate. Odd Bird was credited with the most fantastic powers, both good and evil, most of them centering on his un-natural eye colouring. Even then, he might have weathered the storm, had there not been another disturbing quality to his presence in the town: He triggered off a "quake" in the shadier areas of Rushmore's social life.

The first of these took place in the hotel bar, which was a kind of gathering point for the rougher elements in the town. Andy Everett knew a lot of the men spent a good deal of their pay-checks on drink before it got to their families, but that was one of the facts of life. No one could hold him responsible for what the men had chosen to do of their own free will. That was the way of it until one Friday night, at the height of the drinking. Gilmore Randall walked into the bar and took up a position at one end of the bar. That gave him a clear view of almost everyone in the room.

He didn't do anything except scan the room with those eyes of his, occasionally fixing the bright blue one on some half drunk individual. His expression was not harsh or condemning. Nevertheless, after a few minutes of his presence the atmosphere changed. The men began to feel uncomfortable and glanced over their shoulders. They shuffled their feet. The free, alcohol-induced chatter, died. They began to leave and the cash-register stopped ringing. By the time he left, there was no more point in keeping the doors open, and Andy was forced to shut up shop. It hurt like crazy to see the night's takings at an all-time low. The same thing happened at other places in town, too.

By the sixth month of Gilmore Randall's presence in the town, the fires of resistance to him in Rushmore had begun to blaze. Groups of people stood in the street discussing nothing else but how to get rid of this odd specimen of humanity (even this was held in doubt), who had somehow disrupted their comfortable existence. As it turned out, this was easier than expected.

On the last Saturday of June his customary walk down the sidewalk of the main street was interrupted by half a dozen of the more prominent residents. They blocked his progress and gave him hostile stares. For the first time I saw a sadness slide across his features. His eyes loomed large behind the thick lenses, but totally without a hint of hostility.

Mayor Jordon spoke first, aware of the sudden silence and the intensely watching crowd, "Mr. Randall, sir, I'm sorry to tell you that you are no longer welcome in the town of Rushmore."

The odd figure before him acknowledged the term of respect with a nod of the head, then said, "You want me to leave?"

"I'm afraid so, "the mayor breathed, elated at the gentle inquiry. It seemed this was not going to be as difficult as he had imagined.

"Are you sure?" The question was addressed to the crowd, as well as to their spokesman.

"Why . . . why . . . yes!" At that point Mayor Jordan seemed to feel an apology was required. "You understand, it's not that we feel anything personal against you, but . . ."

"I quite understand!" said Gilmore Randall. "There is no need to explain." With that he stepped off the sidewalk. With the small leather case in one hand, and the bill-fold in the other, he slowly made his way down the street, and out of sight. No one in Rushmore ever saw him again.

Perhaps you're doubting my strange story. Maybe you don't even believe the town of Rushmore exists -- and you'd be right. It doesn't exist. Not anymore, that is. From the moment "Odd Bird disappeared over the horizon, Rushmore began to die. The built a highway, diverting through-traffic, and the life-line of commerce was stifled. That's the way ghost-towns are made.

Why do I keep remembering that word from the Bible, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels unawares." There's something else, too: Why do I get the feeling that Rushmore was given a mighty big privilege; a great opportunity -- and we blew it."

Credits

The Main Street photograph (used under a Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic license) is by StarrGazr, found on Flickr.

The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.
The intro voice belongs to Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

2008-06-05T18:31:00.000-07:00

Life Works 029 - The Path of Prayer

This bible study is from the book Exploring Biblical Prayer by Christopher Shennan, available at christophershennanbooks.com and lulu.com.

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The Path of Prayer

© Christopher Shennan 2008

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
"By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil . . ." (Hebrews 10:19-20 - KJV)

The path of prayer, like salvation, is a blood-sprinkled way. Indeed, at the root of every spiritual work a Christian can engage in, lies the blood of Christ shed for you and me.

Just as we cannot expect to be saved and go to Heaven without the shed blood of Christ, so we cannot expect to get into God's presence without that same blood. It is the foundation and building material of all dealings with God. God does nothing and says nothing to mankind to his profit, apart from the blood. The Cross is the cornerstone of all His dealings with us.

It is obvious then, that the more we base our prayers on the death and resurrection of Jesus, the firmer will be the ground of our prayers; the more confidence we will have when we pray. Nothing will be able to move us from the ground of prayer, since the answers are not based on human endeavour, but on the finished work of Christ.

In the Tabernacle, a veil separated the Holy place from the most Holy place, where the Shikinah Glory dwelt (Symbol of the Presence of God). The above passage tells us that the veil was only a picture of the flesh of the Son of God. His flesh was torn to give us access to the very Presence of the Father. And in the tearing of that flesh His blood was shed for you and me.

My Sin, Your Love

'It was my sin that put You there,
And filled your cup with bitterest grief.
My hand that stripped you bare;
That in your thirst, denied relief.
I drove the nails that pierced Your hand
And held You to the tree.
I wove the twisted band:
The thorns that made Your blood run free.

It was my sharp and thoughtless word
That pierced Your side so deep;
My anger and my sword
That made the host of angels weep.
My lust and foolish pride
Made You bear the cross alone;
My hate Your love denied
And had no pity when you died.

And yet . . .

'It was Your Love that sent You down
To bear this sinner's sin;
Your Grace that forged my crown,
And wove the robe to clothe me in.
'It was Your Righteousness I found
When of my own I'd none;
Your blood upon the ground
That washed away the sin I'd done.

Compassion from Your heart streamed out
In answer to my need.
Your Peace replaced my doubt,
Your Love replaced my greed.
Dear Jesus, Saviour, Lord and Friend;
The mystery is great:
That You could love one to the end,
Who learned to love so late.

--- By Christopher Shennan

1. The Blood of Christ Brings Us Near to God

" . . . at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:12, 13 - KJV)

The apostle here is speaking about Gentiles. Those of us who are not Jews had no part in the special relationship God had initiated and maintained with the Nation of Israel. Jews generally referred to non-Jews as Gentile dogs. As harsh and unloving as this may be, it is an accurate description of the unregenerate nature. It vividly portrays what we are like apart from Grace:

A fool who repeats his foolishness is like a dog that goes back to what it has thrown up. (Proverbs 26:11- NCV)

Do you remember repeatedly making up your mind to do better, to live more honourably, cease some unworthy habit? What about those New Year's Resolutions that hardly lasted to the middle of January? In some measure, we were all like dogs returning to our vomit. Not a pretty picture, but a true one.

"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:12, 13 - KJV)

As far as we were from God, He made a plan to bring us near. He made us part of His wonderful plan of Salvation. He brought together Jew and Gentile. We have become one flock and one fold. We have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

2. The Blood of Christ Brings Us into the Presence of God.

As wonderful as it is to be brought near to God, it is even more wonderful to enter into the very Presence of God. Again, this happens through the shed blood of Christ.

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

"By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. . ." (Hebrews 10:19,20)

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16 - KJV)

Imagine, you could never feel God's presence, know His comfort, hear His voice, if the blood of Christ had not been shed. Your prayer time would be sterile; empty. The heavens would be like brass, and your prayers like broken arrows. Only the fact that the blood of Christ was shed for you, gives any meaning to a life of prayer.

3. The Blood of Christ has Power to Cleanse the Conscience.

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a cow are sprinkled on people who are unclean, and this makes their bodies clean again. How much more is done by the blood of Christ. He offered himself through the eternal Spirit as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will make our consciences pure from useless acts so we may serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:13-14 – NCV)

It is one thing to deal with the sin. It is quite another to cleanse the conscience. There can be no confidence in prayer while your conscience is continually condemning you. Faith in the blood of Christ alone can cleanse your conscience, and set you free to enjoy God's Presence.

FOR HOME STUDY
1. Search for other passages that show how the blood is the basis of our access to God.
2. What is the cornerstone of all God's dealings with us?
3. How can you have a pure conscience before God?
4. If the blood of Christ had not been shed, would there be any way to enter into the Presence of God? Explain.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
1 Peter 1:18

Assignment:
Part 1
(i) Read the entire lesson again
(ii) Answer the Questions under "For Home Study."
(iii) Look up all references under "For Further Study."

Part 2
Read the lesson again from start to finish and answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1 What lies at the root of every spiritual work a Christian can engage in.
2. Why was the flesh of the Son of God torn, and how does this relate to the tabernacle?
3. What is an accurate description of the unregenerate nature? Explain.
4. What did the blood of Christ accomplish so far as we gentiles are concerned?
5. What would prayer be like if Christ's blood had not been shed?
6. What is the key to having a clean conscience?
7. Carefully read 1 Peter 1:18 and comment on what it says the blood of Christ did for us.
8. What part will the blood of Christ play in your future prayer life?

Part 3
Write a short essay (one or two paragraphs) outlining what this study has meant to you, and how you mean to implement its lessons in your life. Writing it down in this way will help imprint it more surely on your heart.

Credits

This bible study is from the book Exploring Biblical Prayer by Christopher Shennan, available at christophershennanbooks.com and lulu.com.

The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.
The intro voice belongs to Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

2008-05-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

Life Works 026 - Story: Miss Parsimon's Dream

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Miss Parsimon's Dream

Miss Mildred Parsimon, elderly, sweet, noble, determined -- had nevertheless failed in the one driving ambition that had consumed her since childhood. She would never be the missionary she had longed to be, or the instrument in God's hands in bringing heathen hearts to the Savior.

Miss Parsimon had developed callouses on her knees praying for that very thing. Yet she had failed. Miserably. Finally.

"Why, Lord? Why? Haven't I earned the right to ask that question -- at least once? How many times have I come from prayer with assurance? How many times have I believed Your promises, and clung to Your faithfulness? I asked for one thousand souls because I couldn't go to the mission field where my heart led me."

She gazed at her wrinkled image with its wispy, silver halo in the bathroom mirror. The blue eyes stared back at her with an intensity age had failed to dim. The line of her mouth was still set, and her jaw firm, despite the glistening wetness on her cheeks. Miss Parsimon was crying.

She dried her cheeks and patted them with a tiny amount of powder. It would never do for that fine new minister to see she'd been crying. Such an upright young man; so intense and full of zeal for the Lord. He and his sweet new wife would arrive for tea in half an hour, and she still had to set out the old china and take the biscuits from the oven. Whatever would Katherine think if she could she see her giving way to self pity like this? At last, she felt reasonably in control of herself, and went to prepare for her soon-to-arrive guests.

"Yes, she is a lovely girl, isn't she?" Miss Parsimon said to the minister and his wife as they sat in the kitchen, sipping tea.

Pastor Ridgeway had commented on the picture of Katherine propped up on the kitchen dresser. Below it, still un-opened, was a letter from Katherine that had arrived at almost the same moment as the minister and his wife. The colourful African stamps, and Katherine's familiar handwriting, were like landmarks in her fading world. She had been tempted to settle her visitors in the kitchen, then retreat to the kitchen to read the letter. But no, she would discipline herself and enjoy the reading of it much more for the waiting. Still, it beckoned to her like the Macedonian in the apostle's dream.

"She's a missionary you know." A wistfulness crept into Miss Parsimon's voice, "Something I've always wanted for myself, but somehow . . ."

"Oh, do tell us about it, Miss Parsimon!" cajoled Jessica, bright, youthful, still flushed with the newness of marriage. "About Katherine, I mean . . ."

Miss Parsimon understood perfectly. She knew the question that had sprung into the younger woman's mind. How come, seeing she had never married, was Katherine's picture in such a prominent place? How come the affection in her eyes when she spoke of her was more that of a mother for a well-beloved daughter? "In a way," she said pensively, absently fingering the handle of the china cup, "Katherine is my daughter."

"Jessica!" said Pastor Ridgeway, his handsome face flushed with embarrassment, "we shouldn't pry into Miss Parsimon's affairs."

"Mildred," said Miss Parsimon. "My name is Mildred. I'd like you to call me by my first name. And no, I don't consider it prying to ask about Katherine." Then she surprised herself by saying, "Perhaps I need to tell someone the whole story -- from the beginning."

"If you would rather not . . .?"

Miss Parsimon placed her cup delicately on the saucer and continued as though the minister had not spoken. Her eyes misted over with a dreamlike quality as though she had left the present company for other times, as indeed she had. Even her voice slipped into the dream mode. She told her story as one speaking in the past, from the past.

......................

"I never thought you could be so inconsiderate -- so cruel," Mrs. Regina Parsimon said to her nineteen year-old daughter. "You've never been so before, and I can't think why you should be so now."

"Mother, please believe me!" said Mildred. "I'm not being inconsiderate or cruel. I'll make proper arrangements for you and grandmother, and I'll write often. It's just that I've got this call to be a missionary. I must answer that call."

"And that's another thing, said the invalid mother. "Where you got all this fanatical religion from is anybody's guess. Neither your father nor I subscribed to that sort of thing, though God knows we've never been irreligious. I think you'll agree we were good parents. We did go to church, you know."

"Mother, I told you how it happened. It was at a meeting at . . ."

"I know, I know! You had some kind of religious experience that's made you want to rush off to the ends of the earth. The point is, if you're so religious, doesn't your religion teach you to honour your parents? Your poor father's dead, but there's still your grandmother and myself. Don't we count for anything?"

Mildred stifled a reply. It was no use trying to explain. She'd tried often enough. Still, was there not a tiny grain of truth in her mother's argument? Was not honouring one's parents a very serious Scriptural obligation? On the other hand, the words of Christ burned into her soul, "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me."

For weeks, these two apparently contradictory ideas swung back and forth in her mind; pulled her viciously from one decision to the other. One moment her heart soared on the wings of missionary zeal; the next, her mind dragged her back to filial duty.

She could not have endured this inward tug-o-war had she not had the solace of prayer. She had no doubt God would make His will known to her. She must have patience. At the right time, God's perfect will would be revealed to her. However, when the assurance of God's will finally came to her, it did not settle the issue as clearly as she had expected.

She felt certain God would have her remain, for some time at least, to tend to the needs of her two closest relatives. Knowing this was one thing; dealing with the disappointment was another. A heavy lump of unaccustomed resentment settled somewhere in the region of her diaphragm, and festered, filling all her thoughts. God knew how much she wanted to go to the mission field. How then could He allow her mother's selfishness to hinder the call He himself had placed on her heart? It was six months before she could surrender her own longing and submit willingly to the indefinite postponement of her dream.

Once she did, her joy returned and she found the years of service less a trial than she imagined they might be. Regina Parsimon's attitude toward her daughter softened when she observed her inward battle, and final surrender to a path not of her own choosing. Mildred was never quite sure whether her mother quite came to accept her faith. Nevertheless, in the thirteen years before her death, Regina Parsimon mellowed; became more sympathetic to Mildred's undimmed vision to convert the heathen tribes across the sea. They were good years; mother and daughter enjoying a closeness they had seldom known in Mildred's growing years.

Mildred was thirty two years old when she was at last free to pursue her dream. Her grandmother had died seven years earlier, leaving her a modest inheritance. She was free to attend missionary training college and prepare for the work to which destiny had called her. She was still young, with a good portion of her life available for service to the Lord. Departure for college was only three days away when a childhood friend died in childbirth. It was just one tragedy amongst the many that happen in large cities. However, there were unique features to this one that dashed her dreams of a missionary career for the second time.

Mildred had been with Helen Gates when the labour pains were still far enough apart to allow intelligent conversation.

"Mildred, you have got to promise me something!" There was a desperate gleam in Helen's eyes, almost of fear.

"You know I'll do whatever I can," Mildred responded, "but you've got to calm yourself. You mustnt work yourself up into . . ."

"Listen Mildred! You've got to listen to me! There may not be time after . . ." Her voice trailed away.

"After what?"

"You're going to think I'm crazy, but . . . but I have this funny feeling . . . premonition really -- that I'm not going to make it."

"Helen! Whatever do you mean?"

"I think I'm going to die. I think giving birth to this baby's going to kill me."

"Helen, you're imagining things. There's nothing wrong with you. You've carried to term without any problem, and the doctor says it's all going to be fine."

"Doctor's don't know everything, Mildred. Now stop arguing with me. I've got to ask you. Will you care for the baby if . . . if I don't . . . make it?

"Helen, there's not going to be any need. Besides, wouldn't your parents be the logical ones to care for it. I mean . . ."

"Mom's had emotional problems lately, and dad . . . Well, Dad's too busy with his mistresses to care." She cried out as her body was momentarily convulsed with pain. By the time she spoke again and was breathing more easily, the perspiration stood in beads on her forehead.

"I . . . I know you've been disappointed in me, Mildred. I can't even say for certain who the father is. In any case, I've set my heart on you bringing up my child. That way it's less likely to turn out . . . like I have." Another pain wracked her body before she could continue.

"Now open the top draw in my side table. That's right, take out the large buff envelope. I've signed papers that say, if I die, you are to have legal guardianship. Please, Mildred, don't say no to me. Not now!"

.................................................

Mildred Parsimon sipped her tea and peered over the cup at pastor Ridgeway and his wife, "That was twenty-seven years ago. Complications set in and Helen died, just as she had thought she might. The baby, Catherine, survived. Of course, I brought her home and cared for her. What else could I do?"

"I never imagined . . ." said Jessica Ridgeway.

"Few people did. In those days it was unheard of, and frowned upon, for a single lady to adopt a child. Of course, my dream died, too. Oh, I tried . . . both then, and when Katherine applied for missionary training college herself. Oh, they were very polite, and apologetic, about turning me down. In the beginning it was because I had a baby, and one couldn't take a baby to the mission-field. At least, not as a single parent. Later, it was because of my age. I had hardly enough years of active service left to justify the study and expense involved. They were right, of course, but that didn't make it any easier to accept."

The Ridgeways, sensing Mildred's pain, changed the subject. Then they prayed with her and left her to her broken dream. Curiously, the mere telling of it had wrought a measure of healing. The hard core of disappointment within her seemed lighter, more manageable. She sat motionless for several minutes before the bright stamps on Katherine's letter caught her eye. Rising, she ferreted her reading glasses from the top drawer of the writing desk, and settled herself on the sofa to read.

Before Miss Parsimon had finished reading the second paragraph she was crying, joyously, unashamedly.

"You know," Katherine's letter said,"how that for seven years my colleagues and I have laboured in this tribal community. They have been dry, fruitless years. Or, that is how we saw it. It was difficult to stay here, with no response to our preaching of the Gospel. I would never have lasted had I not known you were praying, even pleading for the conversion of these people. Knowing that, I couldn't quite give up.

"Well, last week your prayers were answered. An old time revival has broken out here. Rev. Ingles says the converts number in the thousands. If it hadn't been for you . . ."

Credits

The Tanzanian sunset photograph (used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License) is by Marion A, found on Flickr.

The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.
The intro voice belongs to Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

2008-05-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

Life Works 027 - Direction in Prayer

This bible study is from the book Exploring Biblical Prayer by Christopher Shennan, available at christophershennanbooks.com and lulu.com.

Listen Here:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/thelifeworkspodcast

Direction in Prayer

"And this is the boldness we have in God's presence: that if we ask God for anything that agrees with what he wants, he hears us. If we know he hears us every time we ask him, we know we have what we ask from him" (1 John 5:14,15 – New Century Version)
An 81 year old professor of biology, when receiving a 1975 Headliner award from the San Diego Press Club, said, "I really don't know why I'm receiving this. All I've ever done in life is exactly what I wanted to do." (7700 Illustrations, page 864, Ill no. 3715)
Such a declaration can never be part of the Christian's life, least of all for the praying man or woman.
The most basic thing we need to know about prayer is that true prayer is inseparable from knowing and desiring God's will. No prayer that is contrary to God's will, will ever be answered to our profit; and no prayer prayed according to God's will ever be denied. God sometimes grants stubborn requests for things that do not please Him, but they will not tend toward our greatest good. This aspect of prayer will be covered in another lesson.
Of course, the 81 year old professor was not totally in error. If he meant by his statement (which I doubt) that all he ever wanted to do was to do the will of God, then he was right. If we, like Jesus, can say, “I delight to do thy will,” then doing exactly what we want to do is the right course to follow. God's will is the highest law of the praying saint.

The highest expression of the Saviour's life was to do the will of the Father. This can be seen:
(i) Through Prophecy
"Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God." (Hebrews 10:7)
(ii) Through His Own Testimony
"And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him." (John 8:29)
(iii) Through His Own Example
"And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. . . .He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away, except I drink it, thy will be done." (Matthew 26:39-42 - KJV)

Let us not pretend it is always easy to find God's will. And once we find His will, it is only by Grace we are able to walk in it. Ask Abraham if he found it easy to bind Isaac to the altar and prepare to slay him. Ask Jacob if he did not limp after wrestling with the angel. Ask Moses why he argued with the LORD when he was being sent to Pharaoh to demand the release of the Israelites. But all these found Grace sufficient for their need.
On the other hand we must not let ourselves be deceived into believing God's will is so difficult to find, we may as well not bother. It is God's will that we know His will. Do you believe that? I hope so! Praying for God's will is the one prayer that is in His will. You can be sure God will answer it, because he always answers those prayers that lie within His will.
Does that sound complicated? Not really. If you are doubtful as to what His will is, you can pray for the knowledge of His will. If you pray in faith, God will reveal it to you. Not only can you know God's will through prayer, but you can be filled with the knowledge of His will. Hear what the apostle prayed for the Colossians:
For this cause we also, since the day we heard[ it], do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:9-10 KJV)

Why will God fill you with the knowledge of His will? So you can: walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.
You can know His will if you really want His will for your life. It will take diligence and persistence, but God will not deny the knowledge of His will to anyone who is sincere in seeking it.
Though finding God's will in the specific, intimate areas of our lives may not always be easy, there are some general guidelines that should help us.

1. It is always God's will to Build Character
You have no doubt heard someone say that God is more interested in our character than in our comfort. That is more than a clever saying. God does want to comfort us. That is one of the reasons He sent His Holy Spirit, Whom He called the "Comforter." But God's prime object is to mould us into Christ-likeness.
"But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV)
So, as we keep our focus on Christ the Spirit of the Lord gets busy with the miraculous transformation of our characters. His goal is always to mould our characters into Christ-likeness. We may have doubts about some specific aspects of God's will, but we will never miss the mark if we pray for growth in character. A holy and loving character is God's design for us.

GOD'S WILL
(c. 1988 by Christopher Shennan)

What is God's will? . . .
Is it to travel on the 10.35
instead of the 4.22?
Or travel to India or Asia Minor
Or visit the wild kangaroo?
Perhaps it's the thing that I choose
For my work,
Or the girl that I troth myself to;
The money I make or the time that I wake;
Or paying the bills that are due.
Or maybe to go to the graduate ball
Or fish with a friend on the lake.

A thousand-and-one-things are claiming
My time . . .
Oh, what is the course I should take?
I wonder if this or if that is God's will?
Maybe it is or it ain't.
Do I go visit with Mary or Bill?
Either I may or I mayn't.

Now listen, friend, you are surely confused,
You're missing the point of it all.
You're tied up in knots and storing up lots
of trouble.
So why don't you call on the Lord
For His Light on your way?

A great many things may prey on your mind
And claim your attention too;
But only one thing is of real concern:
"What kind of a person are you?"

It's character, friend that falls
In His will,
Character: holy and true.
The things that you do and the places you go
Depend on this:
"What kind of a person are you?"

For love and holiness;
Kindness and lowliness
Are in God's perfect will.
So you won't need to ask,
"Where to go?"
"What to do?"
Till you've answered this question:
"What kind of a person are you?"

In the book, How to be a motivated Christian, Stewart Briscoe relates the story of a man who came out of his club and went to his brand new Cadillac. He saw a shadowy figure bent over it. He ran over, grabbed the arm of the stranger, and demanded to know what he thought he was doing. It turned out it was only a boy of eleven fascinated with such a fine and expensive vehicle.
The boy seemed to know a great deal about the car, as if he had poured over magazines and articles to find out everything he could about its make, year and capabilities. He expressed wonder that the man was able to afford such a car.
"I didn't buy it," the man replied, going on to explain his brother had bought it for him.
"I wish …" the boy began.
The man interrupted, "You were going to say you wish you had a brother like that."
"No," the boy replied. I was going to say I wish I could be a brother like that."
It turned out the boy had a very sick brother whom his parents could not look after. His only desire was to serve his brother.
(Adapted from How To Be A Motivated Christian - by Stuart Briscoe - p.29-30 Victor Books, Wheaton, Illinois.)

That is the kind of desire that gets results in prayer, because holy character is always in the will of God. Not that we should not pray about the "unimportant" little things of daily life. Of course we should - but I think we will find God's will regarding those things fall into place --- once He answers prayer for growth in character. To a great extent it is what we are that determines what we do and where we go.
This search for character in prayer is not confined to a personal need for growth. It is extended to the most intensive kind of prayer for others:
"My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you . . ." (Galatians 4:19)

The background to this prayer is revealing. The Galatians were getting away from the central theme of the Gospel. They started putting more emphasis on ceremonial law, the celebration of days and special occasions. They also returned to the rite of circumcision as necessary to salvation. Paul told them plainly that if they got circumcised they were actually departing from the Gospel message. He said Christ would be of no value to them if they were circumcised. Then he tells them it has become necessary to travail in birth again for them. Christ must be formed in them. Christ must become the ruling principle in their lives. He had travailed for them before, now he would have to do it again.
This is very strong language. As every mother knows, the birth process is no casual incident in a woman's life. Paul says that though he is a man, he knows all about it. He knows the agony of spiritual contractions. He has travailed in spiritual birth. To what purpose was he prepared to go through all this travail? For no other reason than to see the character of the Galatians conformed into the character of Christ.

2. It is always God's Will to Love Others
I saw a poster that asked the question; "What is Love?"
It went on to list seven or eight popular concepts of love, including, "A warm feeling inside," and, "Getting turned on to somebody." All these were crossed out as obviously contrary to the truth. The one at the bottom was left untouched. It read: "Treating others according to God's commands."
How marvellous! How true! The only problem is that knowing what love is does not guarantee we will really love others in a Christ-like manner at all times. Most of us love in fits and starts. We get overwhelmed by the heat of the moment and the pressure of circumstances. Only later do we look back and say with regret, "How come I couldn't show love in that situation?" The truth is that a loving heart does not come naturally, or even supernaturally, without a great deal of faith and prayer.

Another way of putting the above definition of love could be: Making a commitment to always seek the best interests of the other person. This may lead, eventually, to deep emotional attachment; but at the outset love seldom has anything to do with feelings or emotions. It begins with a desire to do God's will, and a commitment to serve someone else’s best interest.
Unless we become men and women of prayer, and pray constantly about our relationship to others, we will often find ourselves falling short in this area. Remember, I am not speaking about the response of others to your love for them, but of God enabling you to actually love them.
The question is not whether others perceive that you love them, but whether or not you demonstrate love toward them according to the Grace of Christ that works in you.

A loving heart is often misunderstood by people. Indeed, we often misunderstand our own actions and motivations. But God will never misunderstand. He knows when we have depended on Him to love others; and while He knows this in secret, He will reward us openly.
I am convinced that if we constantly make loving others a prayer priority, God will answer in ways beyond our comprehension. We will find an ever growing list of things to pray about on behalf of others. And because those requests have been motivated by love, most, if not all, will fall within God's will.

LOVE IS NOT A FEELING
By Christopher Shennan
(c. Friday 19th February 1999)

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.

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;
It dwelt only in my thoughts.

But . . . Love is not a feeling etc.

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. It is always God's Will to live a Holy Life
"Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6)
How is this hungering and thirsting after righteousness expressed? Through prayer, of course! When a child is hungry, where does he go? He goes to one of his parents and asks. He inquires how long it will be before dinner, or if he may raid the refrigerator for a snack. What is the response of any loving parent? According to Scripture, even sinful humanity responds positively and with sensitivity:
"If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if [he ask] a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
"Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall [your] heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"(Luke 11:11-13 - KJV)
The argument is undeniable! If imperfect humanity will respond positively to requests for physical needs, how much more will an infinitely loving Heavenly Father respond to our spiritual needs?

I WANT YOUR HOLINESS
(c. Wednesday 17th March, 1999, by Christopher Shennan

I want Your holiness: Your love
Mingled with truth and purity.
I want the sanctity you give
To those once blind, but now who see.

I want your Holiness, unmixed
With legalism’s subtle brew;
The purity that comes by faith ---
That wondrous gift of love from You.

I want Your holiness to come
Each moment on a wave of Grace,
Breaking freely on my needy soul,
And showing me Your lovely Face.

I want Your holiness to pour
From the reservoirs You hold
For those who will not let You go
‘Till hell lies destitute and cold.

I know Your holiness is mine,
For all Your promises don’t lie;
They’re keys to open every door
To every treasure, till I die!

FOR HOME STUDY
1. Look up other Scriptures that show how important God's will is in the matter of prayer.
2. With the help of a concordance, see if you can add to the list of things that are always in God's will
3. Comment on the truth, or otherwise, of the statement, "God is more interested in our character, than in our comfort."
4. When we genuinely love others, will our loving actions always be understood by them? How would you deal with the hurts that come to you through this kind of misunderstanding?

FOR FURTHER STUDY
John 15:7; James 1:5,6; Psalm 31:22; Psalm 34:17; James 4:3.
Your Assignment:
Part 1
(i) Read the entire lesson again
(ii) Answer the Questions under "For Home Study."
(iii) Look up all references under "For Further Study."
Part 2
Read the lesson again from start to finish and answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What is the most basic thing to know about prayer?
2. What was the highest expression of the Saviour's life? Make your own comments on the Scriptures quoted in this regard.
3. While Abraham, Jacob and Moses did not find it easy to walk in the will of God, what did they find to help them?
4. What are the three general guidelines to discovering God's will in the specific, intimate areas of your life?
5. What is God's "prime object" in your life? Give your own personal impression of 2 Corinthians 3:18, after careful reading and meditation.
6. How does the story in How to be a Motivated Christian, impress you?
7. How does the search for character relate to others, and what part should you play in the process?
8. What is the best definition of LOVE you can think of?
9. Write a paragraph on, "Why Christians often fall short in Loving others?
10. How does a life of prayer relate to holiness?
Part 3
Write a short essay (one or two paragraphs) outlining what this study has meant to you, and how you mean to implement its lessons in your life. Writing it down in this way will help imprint it more surely on your heart.

Credits

This bible study is from the book Exploring Biblical Prayer by Christopher Shennan, available at christophershennanbooks.com and lulu.com.

The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.
The intro voice belongs to Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

2008-05-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

Life Works 026 - Story: Yella!

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Yella!

Reggie Wilson sat on a pile of rocks near the lake, fighting the gloom that threatened to engulf him. The water stretched out, mirror-like and placid, except for patches of rippled surface shimmering in the afternoon sun. The mood of the lake was light and summery; the mood of his heart as heavy as the slime-covered rocks on its bottom.

A group of young people, too far away to identify, cavorted on the opposite shore. The noise of their tom-foolery reached his ears unintelligibly across the watery expanse. The sound dug up painful memories. Faces flashed vividly on his mind's eye.

He saw Harry Boober as he had looked this morning, belligerent and boastful, confident of the admiring support of the local youth as he tried to humiliate Reggie.

"Yer nuthin' but a yella dawg!" he said. "Cain't even defend yourself like a man." Hands on hips, he swiveled the upper part of his body to take in the gathering crowd, stopping when he saw Candy Roberts.

Reggie did not reply. Holding himself taut to hold back the rising anger, and watching the expression on Harry's face as he looked at Candy. He suddenly knew the reason for this seemingly unprovoked attack. Candy Roberts, apart from being the most attractive girl he had ever seen, had also shown some interest when Reggie had tried to tell her about Christ. Long walks by the lake had given him an opportunity to tell her of the difference Christ had made in his life. Those walks had not escaped Harry Boober's notice. He was jealous and no doubt thought a scene like this would bring Reggie down a peg. He obviously intended to make Reggie look foolish in Candy's eyes

"I'm not yellow," Reggie said, "but I don't see any point in fighting when I see no reason. I've got nothing against you, and there's no cause to make trouble for nothing."

"Got nuthin' against me, have ye?" Turning back to Reggie, he made a sudden lunge. Heavy muscled arms gripped him powerfully and threw his lanky frame to the ground. He hit the sand and gravel surface of the road and skidded into a humiliating heap not far from Candy's feet. As he pulled himself painfully to his feet, Reggie caught the expression in her dark eyes; saw the frown of puzzlement and indecision. One strand of jet-black hair fell over one eye. He knew she was trying to make up her mind about him.

A familiar though long restrained anger began to boil in Reggie's soul. Who was this lout, oversized and running to fat, to attack him so viciously when he was minding his own business? Surely the Lord wouldn't mind if he taught him a lesson.

The crowd, seeing the thin-ness of his body and the adolescent awkwardness of his movements, could not guess at the cat-like agility locked up inside him. He would surprise them; take advantage of the hundred's of hours his father had spent in preparing his gangly son to defend himself. A semi-professional boxer, he had also been an instructor in self-defense. Until he had died a year ago, Reggie's father had labored to offset his boy's weak appearance. He taught him every trick and technique he knew.

What his father hadn't reckoned on was Reggie's other weakness - a short temper and a tendency to blind rage. It was only since Christ had entered his life that he had been able to exercise some control. Until now.

He set his feet apart and regarded Harry coldly. He felt like a stick of dynamite with the fuse lit. Help, Lord. I'm about to explode. You know what happened last time. If I win this fight I'm sure to lose my testimony. Yet if I refuse to fight, Candy Roberts will think I'm yellow. Help me to know what to do.

"What you say to that, you yella dawg?" Harry bawled,

By now the rage inside Reggie was reaching danger levels, like the red lights flashing on a nuclear installation. He was beginning to see visions, conjured up by his own imagination, of Harry Boober's face beaten to a pulp under his fists. At the same time panic was growing in him. If he yielded to this rage he'd have a brief moment of triumph; but he'd also be one more step along the road to becoming the kind of person he despised. If he acted like Harry Boober, he would become like Harry Boober.

Mr. Miles, Reggie's Sunday School teacher, had done some character studies with his students. He showed, by using Bible characters as examples, how their choices led them along different roads.

Reggie saw it all clearly in one part of his brain, even while the other part was clouded over with rage. Suddenly, a voice seemed to sound inside his head, softly, but repeatedly, "Run, Reggie, run. Don't go the way Harry Boober is headed. That will be worse than being thought a coward. Run, Reggie, run."

So Reggie had obeyed that inner voice. As he ran past Candy Roberts he glimpsed her expression. Her face was a picture of surprise and disappointment. That look was more painful to him than any blows Harry could give him. He shouldered his way through the taunting onlookers and sped through the woods to his secret hiding place.

That had been this morning, not far from the convenience store where many of the local youths gathered. Now, as the shadows grew longer, and the surface of the lake darkened to its evening shade, Reggie had to face another problem. He knew the incident this morning had not ended it. It was only the beginning. The crowd imagined he had run for fear of Harry Boober. It was fear that had made him run, all right, but not fear of Harry Boober. He was much more afraid of the forces within himself that, if uncontrolled, could destroy him. Mr. Miles had read his class stories from the newspaper where uncontrolled anger had led to murder, and worse.

Reggie stirred. He would have to be heading home soon, but first he must work out a strategy for tomorrow. As certain as the sun rose and set he would have to face the fickle crowd, and Harry Boober, tomorrow. Five minutes later he rose to his feet and made his way home. There was a determined set to his jaw.

As Reggie had known, they were waiting for him the following morning. The gathering place was a little distance from the convenience store. It was sheltered from the view of any curious adult by a bank of trees. Reggie made straight for it, searching for a glimpse of Candy Roberts. He was relieved at first when he did not see her. Then the shop door opened and she bounded out after him, shouting something. Because of the distance, and because of the rising murmur of excited voices, he could not make out clearly what she was saying. Something about stopping and turning back; but it was too late for that. This thing had to be settled once and for all.

"So the yella dawg has come back," shouted Harry as he approached. He strutted forward. He held his hands on his hips and pushed his over-sized chest out in front.

Reggie walked right up to the heavier youth till less than two feet separated them. He spoke quietly, but boldly, "I'm not afraid of you, Harry. As I said yesterday I have no quarrel with you, and I see no reason to fight you. I ran away yesterday because I did not want to hurt you."

Reggie had intended his speech as an attempt to make Harry see reason. It had the exact opposite effect. Some odd twist in Harry's thought processes saw Reggie's words as a challenge.

"You didn't want to hurt me did you? So you can hurt me any time you want, can you?" He grabbed Reggie by the shoulders, hooked a foot behind a leg, and threw him to the ground.

Suddenly someone in the crowd shouted, "Harry, don't be stupid. Reggie here has been specially trained in self-defense. I've seen him fight in competitions. He'll turn you into fish-paste if you get him mad."

Reggie struggled to his feet. He hoped the stranger's words would have some effect. He was dusting the dirt off his trousers when Harry hit him. It was a mighty blow delivered with all the force of his muscular body. A gasp went up from the crowd even as Reggie lifted off the ground and went backward into a nearby tree. Blood was streaming from his nose, and he was certain there was a gash over his left eye. Also, a lump was rapidly forming on the back of his head where he had hit the tree. Two fellows, shocked at Harry's unfair tactics, helped Reggie to his feet.

Even now Reggie knew he could beat Harry. All he had to do was give himself permission. All he had to do was to let the anger take over and the rest would be easy. He'd give Harry a lesson he'd never forget. He'd prove to everyone he was no coward; that he had enough skill in his lanky frame, and enough courage in his heart to lay the bigger boy in the dust.

He squared his shoulders, but in the end he couldn't do it. He took a step toward Harry and stretched out his hand, "I want to be your friend."

Harry hit him again.

..........................................................

When Reggie opened his eyes he was sure he was dreaming. He was lying stretched out on the ground, but his head was lying on something soft. It took a moment for him to realize it was resting on a girl's lap. Also, the arms cradling him were those of Candy Roberts. She was looking down at him with such admiration in her eyes he had to blink to prove to himself he was awake.

Her voice was like music, "I'm proud of you Reggie Wilson. Right proud."

Credits

The fist photograph (used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License) is by Robbie Veldwijk, found on Flickr.

The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.
The intro voice belongs to Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

2008-05-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

Life Works 025 - Purpose in Prayer

This bible study is from the book Exploring Biblical Prayer by Christopher Shennan, available at christophershennanbooks.com and lulu.com.

Listen Here:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/thelifeworkspodcast

Purpose in Prayer

Few of us can perform well if we are not convinced of the value of what we do -- and why we do it. If there is a worthwhile purpose behind a task, and we believe in that purpose, the drudgery is removed. We will perform that task with greater diligence and enthusiasm.

For that reason it is important to understand the purpose of prayer. If we approach prayer as a mere duty; or as a necessary infringement upon our time; or as a valuable religious act, we will hardly get beyond first base. It is unlikely we will ever discover a life of prayer such as God designed for us.

But if we discover the true purpose of prayer through Bible study and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who knows what might happen? It is certain our usefulness to God and man will be revolutionized. We will become channels for God's blessing in a way we could never have imagined. Prayer will be transformed for us into a holy exercise. While it will never be easy or void of spiritual conflict, we will be filled with such a sense of destiny that no device of Satan will easily defeat us.

What, then, is the purpose of prayer?

1. To Glorify the Father through the Son
"And if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it for you so that the Father's glory will be shown through the Son. If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it." (John 14:13-14 – NCV)

One of the great catechisms of the Christian Church insists that the chief end of man (or the main purpose for his existence), is, "…to glorify God, and enjoy Him forever."

The main purpose of prayer is to glorify God. It is not primarily to get things from God, though He delights to give what will be for our highest good. It is not to make us happy, though deep spiritual satisfaction will result from a life of prayer. When we pray to the Father in the Name of the Son, and the Son performs that request --- God is glorified. That is the highest purpose of prayer.

Andrew Murray says: "For this reason Jesus on His throne in glory will do what we ask in His name. Every answer to prayer He gives will have this as its object: When there is no prospect of the Father being glorified, He will not answer. So, with us as with Jesus, the essential element in our petitions must be that the glory of the Father be the aim and the end, the very soul and life of our prayer." (The Believers School of Prayer - p.115 - Bethany House Publishers - Copyright 1982)

Jesus constantly longs to glorify the Father, so He will lose no time in answering a prayer that in the smallest way brings glory to the Father.

When this great truth dawns upon us we will begin to know what prayer is all about.

There is virtually no end to the categories of prayer that can glorify God if they are prayed with the right attitude and in faith. Yet there are two matters specifically mentioned in scripture that bring glory to God. Both of them will bear praying about.

(i) The first is in the area of GOOD WORKS:
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 – KJV)

We should pray about our works. They do not save us, but they do bring glory to God when we perform them out of a motive of love toward God. No Christian should be fruitless, or forgetful of good works. Sometimes Evangelicals have stressed Salvation by faith to such a degree, that good works get pushed into the background. Yet they are an integral part of God's plan for our lives. Immediately after telling us that nobody is saved by good works, the Apostle Paul continues: God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing. (Ephesians 2:10 – NCV)

When we pray that God will produce good works in and through us, that prayer will be answered, since the result will bring glory to God. Provided we pray for the right reasons, a prayer for good works will reach God's heart. Good works is one of the reasons we were created in Christ Jesus. Furthermore, God prepared those good works beforehand.

It is wonderful to realize that when we start praying for good works, God has already prepared them for us. We will be able to perform them because they are part of God's plan for us. When we understand this, we will be able to move forward with great confidence. God is working in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. So, praying for good works will glorify God because when God answers, others will see those good works and glorify our Father in Heaven.

(ii) Another thing that glorifies God is PRAISE.
Many congregations have found that when they made it a point to praise God, things started happening in their church. The reason for this is that praise glorifies God: "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God." (Psalm 50:23)

Imagine what would happen to our personal lives if we really learned to praise God in everything. Real praise is what I am talking about. If we learned in our public meetings to praise God from the heart without embarrassment, and without dead form, who knows what might happen. "But thou [art] holy, O [thou] that inhabitest the praises of Israel." (Psalm 22:3)

Another purpose of prayer is:

2. To Bring Fullness of Joy to the Christian
"Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy" (John 16:24 – New Century Version)

Joy is a very important part of the Christian life. Without it we become uncertain and weak (worse, we are in danger of becoming sour). The book of Nehemiah assures us that the joy of the Lord is our strength.

A Christian who often experiences answered prayer cannot help but be joyful. Indeed, Jesus tells us that the fullest possible joy will result from answers to our prayers.

Surely, this is one prescription many in the modern church need to have filled. Could it be that the psychological problems many Christians seem to be suffering (depression, uncertainty, unbelief, inner conflict, lack of spiritual growth, etc.) has more to do with an unproductive prayer life than the need to engage in endless psychological counselling. Answered prayer will undoubtedly produce, among other things, a joyful disposition.

Why would this be so? Simply because answered prayer gives valid testimony to the Eternal God’s active involvement in our lives. Some Christians go around with the secret sense that the world around them (things they can see, touch, or feel) is more real that the unseen spiritual world. As a result their Christian lives are subject to the vagaries and tyranny of circumstance. A healthy prayer life would effectively banish such a disposition. Regular answers to prayer would bring God out of the closet. His loving involvement in the details of our lives, even when His answers come in ways we do not anticipate, will always produce a joy and peace that surpasses human reasoning.

How else could Paul and Silas sing in prison (Acts 16:16-34) than by the conscious awareness that God was real, His promises were shown true by frequent demonstrations of answered prayer. God was not slow to demonstrate His pleasure in the faith of his servants. He caused an earthquake that opened the prison doors, and ultimately brought the jailer and his family to faith in Christ.

Joy is one of the neglected evangelistic tools of the church: there is little that will convince an unbeliever more of the reality of our faith in Christ, than to observe how we continue to express joy in the face of trial. They may even think we’re crazy, but they could hardly ignore such a demonstration.

Christian joy is an undervalued commodity in our times, and the world needs to see more of it along with our sound theological declarations. How can we experience more joy? The first step is to understand more fully that the purpose of prayer is to bring fullness of joy to the Christian.

3. To Grow in the Knowledge of God
"Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation [is] thy people." (Exodus 33:13 - KJV)

We will deal with this verse in greater detail later. For now, note one supreme truth: Prayer, to Moses, was not only a means of getting things from God; it was a way to nurture a relationship. After forty years in the wilderness Moses knew God. And he had an awesome revelation of God at the burning bush. Yet Moses continues to pray, "…that I may know thee ..."

Prayer is more than a religious exercise. It is the active participation of a human being with his or her God. How else can we “pray always” as the Scripture urges us to, except by seeing prayer as an unbroken two-way communication between God and His people?

Andrew Murray stopped suddenly in the midst of a Cape Town street, his head down. A policeman, who knew the minister well, was alarmed at the sight, thinking he may be ill, or suffering a heart attack. Rushing over, he just reached the minister when he looked up, an expression of joy on his face. In answer to the policeman’s enquiries, Andrew Murray said, “I am fine. I just lost fellowship with my Lord for a moment. I wouldn’t take another step till that fellowship was restored.”

Such is the power of prayer, not only to have our prayers answered, but to enter into ever deepening intimacy with God.

FOR HOME STUDY
1. Try to find other Biblical purposes for prayer.
2. Choose one or more character from the Bible, and try to identify his or her purpose in prayer.
3. What is one way we can glorify God? (Matthew 5:16) Can you think of any others?
4. What effect will a strong, pure purpose in prayer have upon our Christian lives?

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Philippians 2:9-11; Ephesians 3:21; John 15:7-16; John 16:23; Matthew 7:7; Matthew 21:22; Mark 11:24; 1 John 3:22; 1 John 5:14-15.
Your Assignment:

Part 1
(i) Read the entire lesson again
(ii) Answer the Questions under "For Home Study."
(iii) Look up all references under "For Further Study."

Part 2
Read the lesson again from start to finish and answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. Why is it important to understand the purpose of prayer?
2. What is the MAIN purpose of prayer?
3. When there is no prospect of the Father being glorified, what chance do we have of our prayers being answered?
4. What two matters, specifically mentioned in Scripture, glorify God? How should this affect your prayer life?
5. Why is joy important in the Christian life? How important is it to you?
6. How did joy operate in the lives of Paul and Silas?
7. What is one of the surest methods of obtaining joy?
8. What part does prayer play in getting to know God?

Part 3
Write a short essay (one or two paragraphs) outlining what this study has meant to you, and how you mean to implement its lessons in your life. Writing it down in this way will help imprint it more surely on your heart.

Credits

This bible study is from the book Exploring Biblical Prayer by Christopher Shennan, available at christophershennanbooks.com and lulu.com.

The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.
The intro voice belongs to Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

2008-04-25T05:46:00.000-07:00

Life Works 024 - Story: The Closed Door

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The Closed Door

The man seated across from Dan Phillips dusted the sleeves of his jacket in a gesture that only subtly suggested impatience. The atmosphere of a successful banking career was palpable. It wafted toward Dan and made him feel he was drowning in memories of his own frequent failures.

Of course Lillian would deny they had been failures; only the herd reaction of insensitive hearts unwilling to heed the message of the Lord. Dan was too honest to allow the biased opinion of a devoted wife to delude him. If three failed pastorates and an impending fourth were not evidence of ministerial incompetence, he didn't know what was. Even the half-read letter in his hand brought back a flood of memories that made him wince.

The letter in question was bittersweet; it reminded him at once of his first failure in ministry, and his only victory in the midst of that failure. Richard Mason, fondly known as Dick to Dan and Lillian, had found Christ under Dan's earnest preaching. He forced his mind back to the present.

It was difficult to decide whether Eldon Winterton's tone was kind or condescending. He had a voice and persuasive manner that was no doubt an asset in the inner sanctum of banker's board meetings. That, no doubt, was why the board of deacons had sent him to speak to what they considered their "misguided pastor."

"I am sure you understand," Eldon Winterton was saying, "that we are not harshly criticizing your ministry. It is just that . . . well, you come over rather strong. I mean, this insistence on a standard of holiness clearly beyond the capacity of . . . er . . . mere mortals . . ."

Dan had heard it all before: the platitudes, the evasions, the justifications for not taking God's Word seriously. And yet, could he be at fault? Was his preaching filled with criticism and condemnation? Was there not room, however passionately he felt about preaching the unadulterated truth of God's Word, for more compassion; for more of a pleading, winsome manner? Somewhere deep inside him Dan Phillips knew the answer to that one.

Dan stood up, somehow drawing strength from the scent of fresh roses on his desk, placed there for his pleasure by Lillian. She was so loyal, so certain of the rightness of his stance on Biblical truth. He wished he could be as sure as she was.

"Thank you Eldon," Dan said, forcing himself to continue on first name terms, "I appreciate you coming to me, and for being so frank." He fought to keep the strain from his voice, and the sinking feeling from overwhelming him. "I can only tell you I will give the matter a great deal of prayer. One way or another you will notice a difference in next Sunday's sermon."

Eldon Winterton had risen, fingering his hat in anticipation of departure. His expression was complacent, triumphant. He said, "I knew it! I told the others you would see reason. There is no call for any . . . er . . . unpleasantness." He rammed the hat on his balding head and turned briskly to the door. "I look forward to next Sunday's sermon." Then he was gone, a ripple of self-assurance wafting toward Dan in his wake -- drowning him.

Dan Phillips arrived at the door of his apartment in some trepidation. He was still fingering the long, white envelope he had thrust into his overcoat pocket. At least he had some good news for Lillian.

His hand was still on the door-knob when it opened and he was drawn in by that vibrant, diminutive fireball that was his wife. The door closed and she clung to him possessively, protectively -- which was odd for one so lacking in bulk. He looked down at her dark tresses.

"You know?" he asked gently.

She looked up, her eyes doe-like with a softness that never failed to make his heart swell, "Of course! Do you think I don't know my husband after seven years of marriage?"

"And three failed pastorates."

"Now stop that! You don't have the right to run yourself down for simply sticking to your convictions." She helped him with his coat and led him to the living room where she established him on a sofa. Then she sat on the rug at his feet, hugging her knees.

"I have the right," Don answered, adjusting his glasses, "to be honest with myself."

"I know all about your honesty," Lillian shot back. It's a one-sided examination of all the mistakes you've ever made, together with a list of your weaknesses. Has it ever occurred to you that with whatever mistakes you've made, you've also been faithful to your calling?" She let out a long sigh, "But leave that for the moment. Tell me what happened today?"

"You know Eldon Winterton came to see me?"

"You didn't choose to impart that morsel of information, but I guessed something like that was planned. When you're pre-occupied at the breakfast table, I know something is up. What did he have to say?"

Dan sighed, "Oh, the usual. Just a replay of the three previous church board ultimatums in our other pastorates. Veiled, of course. Couched in kind words and apologetic nuances, but the bottom line was plain: either change, or suffer the indignity of dismissal." His shoulders dropped in an unconscious expression of discouragement. "The thing is, if I fail to get the board behind me this time, my ministry is finished."

"Are you sure?"

"Isn't it obvious? What church in the denomination is going to call a man known to engender conflict."

"You didn't engender conflict! The conflict resulted from the board's unwillingness to receive sound doctrine!" Lillian hugged her knees so tightly, her laced fingers showed white.

"It could also have been a lack of wisdom on my part," said Dan. He ignored her contemptuous snort at this remark, and continued, "Whatever. It doesn't really matter who caused the conflict. What sticks in the mind of a board member, is that there was conflict."

"But you've tried to resolve it. Two weeks ago you visited every board member privately. You reasoned with them, even pled with them."

Dan spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness, "If Eldon Winterton's visit to my study means anything, that didn't help in the least."

The expression of stubborn defensiveness melted from Lillian's face; the firm line of her jaw relaxed. Dan saw the signs of unshed tears in her eyes before she leaped up and clung to him, trembling. "Oh Dan, what will become of us?" Her voice was smothered as he held her close, "It isn't as if you haven't had some success. There are several whose lives have been changed under your ministry."

Dan took her by the shoulders, holding her away from him, gazing at her fondly. "If you have a fault," he said gently, it's your blindness to my faults. God grant that I never let you down. But you've reminded me of something."

He rose, went quickly to the entrance hall and returned with the envelope he had retrieved from his coat pocket. "There's a letter from Dick. He says he's coming our way. He'll be in the service on Sunday morning."

Lillian's face brightened. "At least you'll have one friendly face staring back at you from the pews," she said.

In reality, there were two friendly and one neutral face in the sea of hostility that confronted Dan on Sunday morning. Predictably, the encouraging smiles came from Lillian and Dick. Even the hostility was not uniform; more intense from the benches occupied by the deacon's and their wives.

The neutral expression belonged to the face of a stranger who had entered the church in company with Dick Mason, and now sat stolidly beside him. He was a middle aged man with thinning hair and heavy features. His arms were folded as he leaned back against the hard back of the pew, taking no interest in his surroundings. All his attention was centered on Dick, who felt cold sweat on his brow and fought a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

No one but Lillian could even guess at the hours he had spent wrestling in prayer. Over and over he had reviewed his past teaching, checking and re-checking its conformity to Scripture. He ruthlessly bludgeoned himself with questions: "Did I always have the right attitude? Were my words unnecessarily sharp at times? Was I ever self-righteous in my presentation? Did kindness and consideration underlie all my actions; run through all my dealings with those under my care?

Measuring himself by such a straight rule, he did not come through such heart-searching unscathed. The arrows of conviction struck often, and drew tears of repentance from his eyes. However, by the end of the week he was convinced none of his offenses were the cause of his present predicament. His preaching had been true, and, in general, he had conducted himself with integrity.

Was not the Word of God like a two-edged sword? Did it not search the heart and the mind, as well as the thoughts and the intents of the heart? Did not even the preaching of Christ draw negative response from those who were unwilling to be exposed to the truth? Was Peter not cast into prison for preaching doctrines that offended the religious leaders? John was exiled and St. Paul suffered many things for the sake of the Gospel. Could he expect anything less?

He became aware of the heavy silence that had settled on the congregation; tense and expectant. The hymns had been sung. Eldon Winterton had read the announcements in measured tones. They somehow came across with an ominous ring, like the slow-measured beat of a funeral march. It was time for him preach. It was time to tie his future to the altar and wait for the knife to strike; to sever his hopes and cut off his dreams. He had no choice. He had bound himself to the Truth with the cords of love, and he suddenly knew what Queen Esther had felt when she had declared, "If I perish, I perish."

Daniel announced his text: ". . .holiness, without which no one will see the Lord." He felt the strained atmosphere fall from him. The sea of faces fled away like clouds before a mighty wind. In his mind he had only One to hear him preach; One to pass judgment; One to please. His voice rose on the wings of inspiration, and his lips uttered things that seemed touched with the dew of heaven. He had never preached with more power, or tenderness. At times his words seemed to strike like arrows into the hearts of his hearers; at others, like ointment that brought healing and strength.

At last he stepped down from the pulpit and went through the door to the vestry. Many of his hearers were moved as never before. The stony expressions on many faces had melted so that their eyes reflected a hunger for God. Masks of hypocrisy had fallen away, and those who had worn them cried out for forgiveness and blessing. He was overwhelmed with the gracious moving of God and hope rose in his heart. Perhaps the door was not closing on his ministry in this place. Perhaps the wind of change was blowing and . . .

The train of thought died. Five angry men faced him as he came through the door, all deacons. Eldon Winterton was foremost among them, advancing with cold rage etched into every line of his features.

"I really thought, pastor Phillips, that our little talk had brought you to your senses. Evidently I was mistaken. The kind of nonsense you were spewing out just now, was precisely the reason the church board has been dissatisfied with your ministry." His nostrils flared as he spoke, the only outward indication of rage, held in check by impeccable manners.

Dan stared blankly at the five men. He was speechless. The powerful sense of God's presence in the service had left them completely unmoved. If anything, they were incensed by it. At last he found himself able to speak:

"I am sorry you feel that way, gentleman. However, I must tell you that if you are asking me to stop preaching the way I have this morning, you are wasting your time. In the words of the reformer, 'Here I stand, I can do no other.' "

"In that case," said Eldon Winterton, extracting a slim envelope from his breast pocket, "I have no alternative but to give you this. It is written notice of your dismissal as pastor of this church." He thrust it at Dan, then turned and left the room through the door into the foyer, followed by the four other deacons.

As bold as he had been before them, Dan was devastated. True, he had held to his convictions, but his ministry was finished. However was he going to break the news to Lillian?

"Don't look so glum," said a bright voice from the doorway, "it's not the end of the world." Lillian, aglow with happiness, came to him. Her body was vibrant, excitement flowing from her like an electric current. Clearly, she had not seen the deacon's leave. She could not be aware of the meaning of the envelope he held in his hand.

"Lillian," he said seriously, gripping her shoulders and holding her away from him so he could look into her eyes, "I've been fired! Sacked! Dismissed!"

Her expression did not change. Her eyes twinkled. She said, "Oh, don't worry about that silly old envelope. I knew they'd get rid of you anyway." He had expected her to be brave, understanding, supportive. He had not expected this scintillating bundle of joy at this, the lowest point in his life and ministry. She kissed him on the cheek.

"What would you say if I told you, Dan Phillips, that the friend Dick brought with him has an envelope almost exactly like the one those stuffy old deacons gave you. And inside, he told me, is an offer from the board of the church in Haslington. It's a church filled with people hungry for just the kind of preaching you can deliver. And they want you to be their pastor."

Credits

The door photograph (used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License) is by /elkabong, found on Flickr.
The intro voice belongs to 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.

2008-04-25T05:45:00.000-07:00

Life Works 023 - How Do You Hold a Moonbeam?

©Christopher Seufert Photography

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How Do You Hold a Moonbeam?

When I last watched the musical, The Sound of Music (for about the thirtieth time), I thrilled again to the rather humorous words of a song sung by a group of Nuns regarding a postulate named Maria. They were apparently at their wits end in how to deal with what they called “The problem of Maria.” She was a free spirited girl who, in spite of sincere devotion, did not seem to fit into the rigid world of the cloister. She was far too awed by the beauty of the world around her, and by the throbbing pulse of life in her inner being, to submit easily to fixed times and seasons.

I quote only the last few lines of the song:

“How do you hold a wave upon the sand?

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?”

Quite apart from the problem of Maria, the words hold a life message for the Church that could be transforming, exhilarating, and dynamic. To truly understand the concept, would be to shake us out of our lethargy and restore an element of awe to our worship, and a holy zeal to our service.

It is extremely important to have a clear, Bible-based theology and a solid grasp of doctrine. Yet, however correct your theology it can never fully describe the Eternal God, any more than you can hold a wave upon the sand, or hold a moonbeam in your hand.

Biblical theology is intended to help us form a right concept of God, and avoid erroneous ideas about Him. But it is not meant to limit Him to an intellectual concept.

I have mentioned this before, and I will probably mention it many times again, but I had a godly visitor in my home named Andrew who prayed , to my mind, a very significant prayer. He prayed, “Lord, help us to come to You as You are, and not as we conceive You to be?”

If God is not limitless, and incomprehensible to you, all you will be worshiping is an image created by your own ideas and intellectual callisthenics. He will not be the Supreme Master of the Universe, the Ruler of Time and Eternity. Real contact with the Almighty, by its very nature will of necessity cause profound changes in the one who approaches Him. It cannot be otherwise. Come to a God Who is small in your imagination and you will find it easy to be casual with Him; come to Him as the limitless, incomprehensible God and Creator, and you will of necessity fall down before Him with awe and astonishment.

I found an account in an old volume whose publishing date I could not find. The author refers to him as Frances Junius, about whom I also know nothing. Apparently this man had very loose views about God and religion. His father left the first 3 verses of John chapter one for him to find: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3 – KJV)

The author continues, “He says that he observed such a divinity in the argument, such an authority and majesty in the style, that his flesh trembled; and he was struck into such and amazement, that for a whole day he scarce knew where he was, or what he did, and from thence he dates the beginning of his being religious.”

Bear in mind that these early servants of God used the word “religion” very differently than we do today. Our generation treats the word almost with contempt. In earlier days the word meant to live a life of true godliness.

How often does a verse of Scripture affect us as profoundly as it did Francis Junius? How often does the thought of approaching God in prayer stir in us the kind of trembling Junius felt at merely reading a text from the Bible? How often do we fit the profile of Isaiah 66:2:

But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.(Isaiah 66: 2 – NKJV)

To nurture a sense of awe in our worship of God we must gain an awareness of the impossible. What do I mean by this? Well, if I undertake a task I believe is possible for me to achieve, there will be no wonder and awe in me if I somehow achieve it. On the other hand, if I know it is impossible, I may never even attempt the task in the first place. So then I will know there is nothing in me that could achieve my goal. What then, if God would then come along and accomplish that impossible thing in me anyway, how filled with awe would I be? How overwhelmed with admiration I would find myself? Amazement and gratitude would flow from me. I would not have to stir it up or manufacture a sense of wonder. I would just find myself carried along by the stunning reality of it.

Get this embedded in your thinking: The Christian life is not about striving for the possible; it is about stepping out into the realm of the impossible.

Listen for a moment to the story of the rich young ruler. It is a fascinating story in itself, but my reason for quoting it is to give context to the last few verses:

Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good^[a] Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”
So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good?^[b] No one is good but One, that is, God.^[c] But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He said to Him, “Which ones?”
Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’^[d] and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”^[e]
The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth.^[f] What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:16-26 – NKJV)

You see, the Christian life is all about impossibilities, because we are dealing with God, with whom nothing is impossible.

A.W Tozer in his matchless work, The Knowledge of the Holy, shared the following:

“Everyone who possesses the gift of faith will recognise the wisdom of those daring words of one of the early Church fathers: ‘I believe that Christ Died for me because it is incredible; I believe that He rose from the dead because it is impossible.’ ”

Once we have become over familiar with the moonbeam, and learned to accept the wave upon the sand as a common thing, we will soon come to ignore them.

Could we in the Church have for so long ‘believed’ that Christ died for us, and rose again on the third day, that it has ceased to amaze us. The idea that ‘God should love a sinner such as I’ is a solid fact, not a wonder anymore. Our hearts no longer exclaim, ‘How wonderful, wonderful, wonderful is love like this!’

Observe what happens when someone has a real encounter with the Living God:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”

And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The LORD of hosts.”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.” (Isaiah 6:1-7 – NKJV)

Two things happened to Isaiah when he had this vision of the LORD:

First, he was overwhelmed with his own unworthiness. Second, he became the recipient of a cleansing that met his specific need --- the cleansing of his unclean lips.

The apostle John had an extremely close relationship with Jesus before his resurrection and glorification. Nevertheless, when the Lord revealed himself to John on the island of Patmos, he had a completely different reaction: When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man…

It is one thing to have a close relationship with God; it is another to be so familiar with Him that we lose the sense of wonder that always possessed the saints of God through the ages.

The hymn writer had it right when he penned the words:

“I stand amazed in the presence

Of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how he could love me,

A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Worship

Thursday April 17, 2008 – By Christopher Shennan

I cannot hold a moonbeam
In this earthly hand of mine,
And neither can I grasp Your Love,
Or see Your grand design.

But I can fall down in wonder
At your feet and worship, true;
So long as I know that nothing
Can ever limit You.

I cannot hold the waves that fall
Upon the sandy beach,
And neither can I comprehend
The length Your Hand can reach.

But I can reach out and touch You
By faith, though eyes can’t see;
And I can bow down and worship,
In awe of Your Majesty.

Oh fill me, Lord, with wonder;
Amaze me with Your Love;
Astound me with Your Mercy;
Give blessing from above.

Don’t let me lose the wonder
Of a heart You set aflame;
Just let me fall and worship
At the Mention of Your Name.

Credits

The beautiful photograph (used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License) is by Chris Suefert, found on Flickr. (©Christopher Seufert Photography)
The intro voice belongs to 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.

2008-04-25T05:42:00.000-07:00

Life Works 022 - Story: Gone "Fishing"

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Gone "Fishing"

The Rev. Seth Williams faced the spectre of death with a degree of resistance surprising to his friends, not least to his son, pacing nervously in the hospital corridor. Godfrey had always entertained an idealistic image of the last hours of his father's life, and the contrast to what he was actually witnessing was disturbing in the extreme.

He had read all the classic books on the passing of saints and sinners. He had always placed his father in the category of those who met their Maker with joy -- even rapture. The sweaty-palmed, restless man, twisting under the steadying hand of his wife, bore no resemblance to the triumphant prophet figure he had known all his life.

A vision of the past shimmered in Godfrey's memory. He saw his father with that wispy white hair, pleading with sinners to yield to the Savior. He saw him, too, with tear-stained cheeks, weeping with joy over one sinner repenting. A small man, who in other circumstances may have gone through life as a jockey or a banker, seeming to glow with inner fire from behind the pulpit.

The pulpit had not been the only platform Seth Williams had occupied to advantage. Godfrey had seen him in Africa, in Asia and the Carribean, holding audiences transfixed with his quiet but compelling delivery. He had preached in the open spaces, on street corners, and under the spreading branches of the Oak or the towering height of a Bluegum. Even in these informal places Godfrey had seen his father's simple presentation of truth settle on the crowds like the early morning dew. And this was the man wrestling uneasily with the enclosing presence of death.

The hospital room door opened and Godfrey's mother paused momentarily before catching sight of him. He met her half way and asked, "How is he, mother?"

Samantha Williams was a short woman with a tendency to overweight. This negative feature was compensated for by a grace of movement and a" presence" that made it of no consequence at all. Her eyes were the color and intensity of blue sapphire. Now her lips were trembling; her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

She regarded her son encouragingly, "He's not bad, really." A thoughtful frown crinkling her forehead. Then she blurted out, "Godfrey, you mustn't think your father is not ready for . . . for death. He is. He welcomes it as any faithful servant of the Lord should. Only . . .."

Godfrey encircled her in his arms, "What is it, mother?"

"It's just . . ." The tears brimmed over and Godfrey squeezed her tightly, getting that odd feeling of reversed rolls. How often in his growing years had she offered him the same warm embraces.

He waited till the trembling ceased before he said, "You don't need to explain." He did not want to admit how shaken he was - how deeply the vision of his father struggling with death had penetrated. He did not want her to see how starkly the contrast between the saintly life of Seth Williams and his cowering end, had affected him. Was that life to have no meaning, simply because the old man was not meeting death courageously?

Samantha Williams released herself from her son's embrace and faced him with something of her old spark. She had sensed his mood, "But I must explain! It's important you understand why your father . . ." She paused, her voice faltering, "Why your father is having . . ."

Godfrey finished for her. "Having such a hard time dying?" He could not keep the tremor from his voice.

"Yes," she said boldly, as though relieved the thing was out in the open. He had verbalized the problem and thereby robbed it of its insidiousness - its half-truths and subtle suggestions. It could be faced openly. "Come," she said calmly. "Let's sit down on that bench and I'll tell you what's troubling your father. It's not what you think!" She added pointedly.

They found the visitor's bench and sat facing one another. He sat stiffly, she with growing courage while wiping her eyes with an embroidered handkerchief. She blurted out, "You are the one troubling your father."

Godfrey's mouth fell open in astonishment, "Me? But . . ."

"Well," she said with a sigh, passing a hand across her brow, "not you exactly. Just a feeling that he has somehow failed you - let you down."

"How could he possibly think that, mother. I have never given the impression I felt that way, neither has it ever crossed my mind!" Godfrey was struggling with the unexpected revelation like a man convinced he is having a hallucination.

"I know . . . Nevertheless, that is the reason for your father's restlessness. That's why he is troubled."

"Do you know what it is, mother? I mean, exactly how does he think he failed me?"

"Yes, son. I do." She paused, searching for the best way of telling him. At last she said, "Do you remember how your father always wanted to take you fishing? You will also remember how often he planned a fishing trip. None of them ever happened. Some last minute call to ministry always intervened."

"Mother, you can't be serious!" He was incredulous. "You cannot mean Dad's in this unhappy state because of a silly old fishing trip?"

"I mean exactly that."

"But it's so unimportant!"

"It is not unimportant to your father. He holds it in his mind as a kind of symbol of his success as a father. I know it seems silly to you, but every great man I've ever read about has had some quirk. They get some idea that seems foolish to others but makes perfect sense to them. Seth Williams is a great man. This is simply his oddity, and I love him for it."

Godfrey saw she was no longer talking to him. She had withdrawn into a private world where he could not enter. It was a world of past intimacies and mutual understanding built up over forty five years of married life.

They sat together on the bench in companionable silence. Godfrey's thoughts flashed back twenty years. It was like a scene in an epic movie, so vivid were the images presented to his mind's eye.

"Love is stronger than death," Seth Williams cried into the darkness beyond the street lamp. There had been political riots in the African township only the previous week. Several people had died and reprisals were under way. Grievous sorrow had wounded the spirit of the people.

Normally the people came out of their humble dwellings to hear him and other preachers as they declared the Good News in the streets. Tonight, few people were about. Those who were, rushed by for fear of being singled out. The others lurked in shadowy doorways, listening to Seth Williams, but surreptitiously, as though the mere listening would bring them into danger.

"Love is stronger than death," Seth repeated, while fifteen year old Godfrey stood near his father, searching the dark doorways for the shadows of his father's audience. "Love is stronger than fear and pain and anguish. The God I proclaim is a God of love. He proved it when he sent Jesus . . ."

The preaching continued, and under its influence the shadows moved. They came out of the darkness and encircled the small company of believers. They listened to the inspired words of a man aflame with the love of which he spoke.

"Love is stronger than hate . . ." And indeed the darkness seemed pushed back. The pulse, at least of those gathered, seemed to throb again into new life.

Later, some of the leaders of the local revolution came to Seth Williams. These were the same who had earlier forbidden any street preaching during the time of unrest. "Preach on," they said in Godfrey's hearing, "you are bringing healing to our people."

Godfrey remembered other times and other season where he had seen a true fisherman at work - a fisher of men. Suddenly, there was a lump in his throat and his eyes stung with unshed tears. Had any other boy had as good a training as he? He doubted it. He sat next to his mother on the hospital bench and knew there was no need to comfort her. She understood his father -- had always understood him. Now, he too, understood.

Godfrey rose to his feet, "Mother, I'm going in to see Dad now. I think the Lord has given me the words that he needs just now." She nodded and he walked to the door of his father's private ward and opened it.

The figure on the bed stirred as Godfrey approached. His eyes were closed but he seemed aware of his son's presence. I moan escaped his lips.

Godfrey stood looking at his father and longed for one of those talks they'd often had on their trips together. He wanted to tell his father of the church he was pastoring,and of God's blessing his ministry. He wanted to tell him how precious the trips abroad had been, and how they had laid the foundation for his present success.

He wanted to say he had learned the patience and compassion of a soul-winner by example and precept. He wanted to say he had never missed the cancelled fishing trips, that he had gained more in the rough and ready world of a poor preacher. He wanted to say all this but he knew there may not be time. Seth Williams only became conscious for short spells, before slipping back into that uneasy sleep.

While he watched, the man on the bed opened his eyes. "Godfrey," he said huskily, his frail fingers reaching for his son's hand.

"Godfrey," he said again. "I have to ask your forgiveness. . ."

"Dad, there's nothing to forgive . . ."

"But there is! You don't understand! I must explain -- the fishing. I should have taken you fishing. I always planned to. I tried . . ."

Godfrey leaned forward so that his lips came near to his father's ear, "Dad, I want to say something very important. Don't say anything till I'm finished. There may not be time."

Seth nodded and Godfrey continued, "Dad, you did take me fishing. You took me on many fishing trips."

"But . . . but . . ."

"Dad, you did take me fishing. You took me on the only kind of fishing trip that matters.

A light of understanding dawned on Seth Williams' features and a weak smile appeared on his lips, "You . . .think so?"

"Yes, I do!"

"Did you . . .enjoy . . .those fishing trips, I mean?

"Yes, Dad. I enjoyed them very much. They are the only fishing trips I've ever cared about."

Credits

The beautiful photograph (used under Creative Commons Attribution License) is by linz_ellinas, found on Flickr.
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.

2008-04-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

Life Works 021 - The Pain of Love

Summary

Christopher Shennan discusses why loving someone can be a painful experience.

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The Pain of Love

Today I want to speak of love from a different standpoint than I have spoken of it before. I have spoken of it as an act of the will and of obedience. Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another.” Then there is the apostle Paul’s injunction, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.” There are only two ways you can respond to a command. You can only obey it, or disobey it. There is no middle ground. If you fail to love, it is not that you have somehow failed to reach an impossible goal. At some point you have simply refused to obey. There may be many reasons for this disobedience, harking back to some inward struggle. I am not saying we are all perfect and that loving is simple and devoid of spiritual conflict. I just mean to point out that our view of love as some kind of mysterious force can often hinder us from getting down to business. We expect it to somehow emerge from the blue yonder and hit us between the eyes, and by virtue of that supernatural blow to the head, we will suddenly become loving people.

Of course, no genuine love can be accomplished without the supernatural working of the Holy Spirit. You must have received a new nature. You must have been born again, and become a new creature in Christ. This new nature will enable you to make the choice to love. From that point on, since you have the resources of Heaven at your disposal, to love or not to love becomes a matter of obedience. When you love someone you are simply drawing from the limitless supply of love from the heart of God. And by doing so you are being obedient to the Heavenly vision.

I am aware some will say this makes love cold and emotionless. By no means; once you obey the command to love, all kinds of emotions follow. God has made us as emotional beings, and He will not leave us emotionless and cold when we step out in obedience. It is just that we must not depend upon the emotional rush to propel us into loving. The first step is to just start putting the needs of others before your own.

That’s what I have learned about love; when I fail to love I make no bones about it. I call it what it is --- disobedience. I then repent, ask God’s forgiveness, and move on. The same idea is express in the book of Revelation:

To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. (Revelation 2:1-4 – NKJV)

With all the positive attributes of the church at Ephesus, the Lord says they have left their first love. It was a deliberate choice to leave the first love and replace it with dedicated service. Now what would motivate anyone to make a choice like that? Surely first love is a prize to cherish; it is a heart treasure worth holding on to. I think it is because real love comes with a price-tag; by choosing to love you are inviting pain as well as pleasure. Love makes you vulnerable to hurt as well as harmony.

I have the permission of a young lady I was counselling on this matter to share with you my reply to one of her queries:

Dear …,

I did not respond to your letter right away, since I was praying for words of wisdom to help lighten your burden. Then the Lord reminded me of a poem I wrote some years ago. It was written more on the general theme of loving, rather than romantic love, but I think it still applies. Once you start on the path of love, whether it is to love your fellow man, or love toward your intended life mate, the same principle applies. Together with the joys and benefits of Love, you are also signing up for pain. That's what Jesus did. When He said, "I love you!" He stretched out His arms, and submitted himself to the suffering of the cross. You cannot fully embrace the beauty of the rose, without also embracing the thorns. It may not be very comforting at this juncture, but you can either choose to embrace the imitation plastic rose, without pain, or the living, breathing rose of love, that delivers both sharp pain and the sweet fragrance.

Since you have started upon the path of love, I suggest you accept that it includes the fragrance, the beauty, and the thorns. Embrace it all, even when it draws blood, for at last it will yield the deepest satisfaction. Of course, to do this you need to believe. You need to trust that whatever happens, God means you well. Read the following poem, and tell me what you think. God bless,

Christopher

It Hurts to Love

(Wednesday 18th June 2003)

It hurts to love, and overcome the

Un-love in us.

For loving makes us vulnerable to

All the many foibles of the human state—

Too late to put up barriers. Love makes us

Willing to expose our hearts to folks

Who may not know they hold that

Precious part of us, beyond all price,

And treat our offered vulnerability

As a common thing.

It hurts to love, and that is why

We often shrink from pressing on

In the face of the unloving responses,

That come like barbs, or sharpened

Knives, from the lips and attitudes

Of those we aim to love.

True lovers always find new wounds

Each time they stretch their hands

In loving service, or use their feet

As they go forth on errands of mercy.

It hurts to love when conflicts come.

It seems much easier to run away,

Than follow the searing path of reconciliation—

We make initial efforts, then draw back

When immediate success does not greet us,

Or meet us with encouraging signs.

For the path of love is not about success,

But sacrifice— about the seed of love

Placed in the ground to die.

That's why so little love is shown.

It hurts to love,

For love makes no demands except to

Spend itself on those well-loved

Individuals, or those of lowly class,

Or those of a different race, or merely

The folk in the same congregation.

Love knows it may receive a bitter

Answer, and an angry glance, or

Spittle in the face.

But love loves on— it is its nature.

It has no choice but to brave the firing squad

Of misunderstanding, or

Be stoned with the stones of opposition.

Love loves on.

If you and I want to be true lovers, we will have to count the cost and accept the pain with the pleasure. We will have to accept that love makes us vulnerable, and embrace it.

Jesus outlined the principle when he said:

For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? (Luke 14:28-30 – NKJV)

It is all well and good to get all mushy and sentimental about love, it is quite another to weigh its true value and walk its path wherever it leads --- whether rough or smooth. The Song of Solomon gives us a graphic evaluation of love:

Many waters cannot quench love,

Nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love

All the wealth of his house, It would be utterly despised. (Song of Solomon 8:7 – NKJV)

The question is, “Will you and I put such a high value on love that we will embrace it, in spite of how vulnerable it may makes us feel, or what pain it may cause us? Will you and I follow in the steps of the Master? “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 – NKJV)

For the joy that love will finally yield, are we willing to endure whatever pain may come as a consequence?

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.

2008-03-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

Life Works 020 - Conceived of the Holy Spirit?

Summary

Christopher Shennan explains the spiritual meaning of the phrase "conceived of the Holy Spirit."

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Conceived of the Holy Spirit?

Reading: Matthew 1:18-25

"Now the Birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

"Then Joseph her husband, being a just [man], and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly n.

"But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

" 'And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.'

"So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:

" ' Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, ' God with us.'

"Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,

"and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.

And he called His name JESUS." (Matthew 1:18-25 NKJV)

Text:

". . . that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." (Matthew 1:20)

Introduction:

There is a sense in which Mary's experience is unrepeatable. She was unique, in that she bore in her womb the very Son of God. In that physical, historical sense, that will never be duplicated in your life or mine. TO NO WOMAN OF ANY AGE, BESIDES Mary, can it ever be said that what is conceived in her womb, is of the Holy Ghost.

As true as this is in the PHYSICAL sense, it is a different matter when it comes to spiritual things. Spiritually, many things can be, and are, conceived in us. Some of them are definitely not of the Holy Spirit. However, there are some things that, when they are found in men and woman, can truthfully be said to be "of the Holy Spirit."

I am not just imagining this. Strong imagery in both Old and New Testaments suggest that the physical relationship between man and wife; between man and woman, are pictures of the spiritual relationship between God and His people.

1. THE IDEA OF SPIRITUAL CONCEPTION

(i) The Idea of Spiritual Adultery

For the moment, till you can read the context for yourself, you will have to take my word for it that the passage I am about to quote, is referring to the spiritual adultery Israel had committed against the Lord:

"I will not have mercy on her children,

For they are the children of harlotry.

For their mother has played the harlot;

She who conceived them has behaved shamefully.

For she said, 'I will go after my lovers,

Who give [me] my bread and my

water, my wool and my linen,

My oil and my drink. (Hosea 2:5,5 - NKJV)

The entire book of Hosea is filled with such imagery. When Israel made unholy alliances with the surrounding nations, and got involved in idol worship and covetous practices, God spoke of it as harlotry -- spiritual adultery.

That is the negative side of it. There is a positive side:

(ii) The idea of Spiritual rebirth.

"Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, , he cannot see the kingdom of God.' " (John 3:3 - KJV)

We all know that birth cannot take place without conception.

(iii) The Idea of Christ and the Church

"For we are members of His body, of His flesh and His bones.

" For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.'

"This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church." (Ephesians 5:30-32 - NKJV)

Add to this John the Baptists description of Christ and His followers as bride and bridegroom, and you have strong Biblical backing for the idea of spiritual conception:

"He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, greatly rejoices because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled."

(John 3:29 - NKJV)

I have gone to all this trouble to show you I am not out of line in making a spiritual application of Mary's experience when that which was conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit.

We can now consider:

2. THINGS NOT CONCEIVED OF THE HOLY GHOST

(i) Materialism

"Therefore put to death your members which are on earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Idolatry, in the Old Testament, was seen as harlotry, or spiritual adultery.

(ii) Gossip and Slander

(iii) Sensualality - thoughts dwelling on erotic behaviour outside of marriage.

(iv) An unforgiving spirit, selfishness, apathy, a critical spirit etc.

3. THINGS DEFINITELY CONCEIVED OF THE HOLY GHOST

(i) A Spirit of Prayer

(ii) A Passion for Souls

(iii) A Spirit of Forgiveness

(iv) Bearing the burdens of others, and so fulfilling the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)

4. HOW TO MAKE CERTAIN EVERYTHING IN YOU IS OF THE HOLY GHOST.

(i) In the same way a young girl can make certain what is conceived in her womb is of the man she loves and is married to. She must cease all intimate contact with other men. So we must cease all intimate contact with the world, and any questionable practice.

This does not mean no contact with the world at all; since this would mean going out of the world altogether. No intimate contact. A girl who gets married may still meet men in public and on a social footing, but she cuts off all intimate contact -- suddenly and permanently.

In order to reach people for Christ we must have contact with people of the world, but we must separate ourselves completely from their life-styles, and the worldly principle by which they live.

(ii) A girl must commit herself to the man she loves; marry him; "till death do us part"; live with him; be faithful to him. Such must be our relationship with Christ. We will be certain then that what is conceived in us is of the Holy Ghost.

(iii) If we want things in us to be conceived of the Holy Spirit, we must occupy ourselves with what the Holy Spirit Himself has conceived -- namely, the Word of God:

"Your word I have hidden in my heart,

That I might not sin against You." (Psalm 119:11 - NKJV)

Conceived in Me?

(Saturday 8^th March 2008 – By Christopher Shennan

So many things conceived in me ---

Within this heart of mine ---

Have brought forth sin and shame;

The name of Christ has not been raised,

Or praised, or glorified.

How could this be, since by His blood I’m saved?

How could the seed of worldly lust have entered?

I’ve been mentored by my Lord, and taught His Holy Word.

His touch has thrilled me;

He has filled me with desire for holy things,

He’s given me a peace that only Mercy brings.

How then were all these other works conceived?

How came these other children born of darkness?

How came they since the day I first believed?

I know, I know, I know from whence they came!

I was seduced by worldly goals.

I grew too intimate with worldly pleasures;

Its treasures seemed so much to be desired;

I grew too intimate with attitudes,

And platitudes that made excuse for things

I’d labelled wrong.

The current in the river I sought to cross was strong;

It swept me on a course my heart would not have chosen.

Save me, Lord, from seductions such as these;

Let the Holy Spirit conceive in me

Your holy calling.

No falling into patterns of behaviour that

Put me at risk. May all that is conceived in me,

Be conceived of You alone.

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.

2008-03-20T17:42:00.000-07:00

Life Works 019 - More About Writing… and Life

Summary

Christopher Shennan talks briefly about writing, then discusses editing with Steve Saylor and Shane Shennan. (This episode is to 25 minutes.)

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More About Writing… and Life

Previously I have spoken of the writing life as a benevolent disease, a kind of gentle obsession. It turns a dabbler into a soldier wielding words like swords, and sentences like an artists brush. As valid as the imagery of the writer’s life as a benevolent disease is, it may give the impression (a false one) that the writer has no control over the development of his or her gift. This is not true, at least not entirely.

At times, when the creative juices are flowing, or when they are not, and yet the necessity is laid upon you to write anyway, you feel like a juggernaut careering downhill, uncertain you will be able to navigate the curves. However, in spite of the out-of-control sensations one experiences, the writing life is governed by certain principles that can help the writer have some control. For the purpose of this Pod cast I mention two of these, and leave any others for another time.

I call the first, the PRIMARY, and the Second, the POST.

The primary requirement must be a passion for the subject or theme you are writing about. Not only must you have a passion for the theme, the theme must in some measure take hold of you. No one can reach a higher level of the craft than what he himself has become. To be a great writer you must, in some measure, be a great person. This is just one way of saying you have to be a person of character, with noble ideals and noble ambitions. Anything you write is of necessity the overflow of who you are.

My heart is overflowing with a good theme;
I recite my composition concerning the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. (Psalm 45:1 NKJV)

It follows that, as writers, our primary goal must be to aspire to true greatness. Even if we don’t reach our ultimate goal, we must have a passion to fill our lives with those things we will not be ashamed to pass on to others. For our writing is always the overflow of what and who we are. What we write will influence the lives of others for good or ill.

I used to tell my students when I taught a creative writing class, “Choose a noble theme, and don’t be seduced into the current fashion using coarse language under the pretext that you are simply depicting life as it is. If we ever have to be graphic about the evil that is in the world, let it be for the purpose of pointing the way to hope. Choose a noble theme; choose to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

Of course you cannot provide that solution if you have not discovered it in your own heart. If your own heart is full of darkness and despair, that is all you will be able to convey in your writing. Your heart must be overflowing with a good theme, or all you will be accomplishing through your writing is to spread the darkness of your own heart.

There are two sources for this overflow. First, there is the overflow from what you already are. Whatever you have become at this point in your life is going to overflow into your writing, and so into the world around you. You can seek to ignore what you are, or you can accept reality and say, “Whatever I am, I am going to be the best me I can be.” This very attitude will flow into your writing.

The second source of the overflow is much more under your control. What you choose to fill your life with from this point on will be added to what you were and shape your character, so what overflows into your writing will gradually change. If you add ignoble thoughts and attitudes, it will infect everything you touch. If, on the other hand you pursue noble ideals and noble themes, they will naturally flow from your thoughts, your pen, and into the lives of your readers. The psalmist seemed to understand this when he said:

My heart is overflowing with a good theme;
I recite my composition concerning the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

Not a bad example to follow.

My Overflow

(Monday 10th March 2008 – By Christopher Shennan)

Dear Lord I long that You
Would be my life-long theme;
That You would be my anchor,
My love-life and my dream.

My Lord you can transform
My nature so that I
May overflow in writing
Your praises till I die.

Give me noble themes, Lord;
Give diligence to seek
The knowledge that will edify
The burdened and the weak.

There is so much that’s evil,
That fills the world with woe;
Give me words of power
To overcome the foe.

I cannot do much more, Lord,
Than take what is inside
And let it fill my writing ---
So, please, Lord, be my guide!

Now what I have shared is the PRIMARY concern of the writer. So what comes at the end of the writing process? It is what I call the POST process, or in common language, editing the first draft of a completed project.

Many writers hate the editing side of the writing life. I think that is regrettable. I find editing the most exciting phase of the writing life. I don’t see it as a necessary evil. It is very much part of the creative process. Now listen to a conversation I had with Steve Saylor, author of recently posted audio book entitled, Black Shadow. Our discussion is concerned mainly with editing as an essential part of the creative process:

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Steve Saylor for the use of his recording of this conversation.

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.

2008-03-14T16:06:00.000-07:00

Life Works 018 - Pre-Forgiveness

Summary

Christopher Shennan shares a lesson he has learned about forgiveness.

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Pre-Forgiveness

Forgiveness is such a critical part of the life of faith that to ignore it, or to give it less than its due emphasis, would be to put your relationship with God in dire peril. It can be simple, or complicated, depending on how you approach it.

I am speaking of the forgiveness we owe each other, not the divine gift that follows faith in Jesus Christ. For the purpose of this article I am going to assume you have already received the forgiveness of sins on the ground of Christ’s death on the Cross of Calvary. You have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and have received eternal salvation through faith in Christ, and Christ alone. You are not saved by your good works, nevertheless good works flow from you as the supernatural outflow of the blessed Holy Spirit. You have not reached perfection, but you are striving for it.

Of course, you are engaged in spiritual conflict. Being human, you find yourself grappling with situations and attitudes as the result of dealing with humanity in general, and personal weaknesses in particular. There is the battlefield of the mind, where the subtle lies of the enemy seek to deflect you from your holy calling.

One of these battlefields is in the area of forgiveness. The first step is to face the issue of forgiveness with extreme seriousness. To treat it in any other way could lead to spiritual disaster, as the following passage illustrates:

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, when my fellow believer sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven. "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him.

When the king began to collect his money, a servant who owed him several million dollars was brought to him.

But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant's wife and children. Then the money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.

"But the servant fell on his knees and begged, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.' 27 The master felt sorry for his servant and told him he did not have to pay it back. Then he let the servant go free.

"Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant grabbed him around the neck and said, 'Pay me the money you owe me!'

The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.'

But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed.

When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened.

Then the master called his servant in and said, 'You evil servant! Because you begged me to forget what you owed, I told you that you did not have to pay anything.

You should have showed mercy to that other servant, just as I showed mercy to you.'

The master was very angry and put the servant in prison to be punished until he could pay everything he owed.

"This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart." (Matthew 18:21-35 – New Century Version)

Can it be that refusal to forgive others will lead to a withdrawal of the forgiveness God has given you? It would certainly seem so.

I heard a story, a true one I believe, about a woman who came regularly to the altar of prayer for healing. The pastor and congregation came to expect her to come forward week by week without fail, seeking healing from some serious ailment. Years passed while the woman’s condition worsened. At last the pastor left and a new pastor took over. This new pastor noticed the woman’s regular appearance at the altar for healing, without any healing taking place, or any improvement in her state of mind. By careful counselling he determined that she harboured a deep-seated resentment toward someone who had injured her in some way. Finally he confronted her on the issue. To get through to her he had to be quite blunt:

“You will never be healed,” he said, until you are willing to forgive the one who has injured you.”

The woman’s response was incredible, “If I can’t have healing without forgiving that woman, I would rather not be healed.” Never again did she go to the altar for healing again, and to my knowledge, she never found healing either.

Now I am not saying this woman would necessarily have been healed had she had a forgiving heart. That is something we can leave to the Providence of God. But I agree with the pastor that a refusal to forgive can hinder the work of Grace in a believer’s heart.

So does that make forgiveness easy? No, it just makes it an imperative – a necessity, without which you cannot survive the spiritual life.

How does one do it? How does one overcome the natural propensity to hold a grudge and want revenge?

Given a sincere desire for a Christ-like attitude, the next thing is to understand the process. The best way I can illustrate this is to refer to a personal experience.

I was having issues with forgiving a certain individual. I prayed, “Lord, why am I having so much trouble forgiving? I must have forgiven him a thousand times. Why am I still struggling with feelings of resentment?”

I felt that the Lord was saying to me, “If you had forgiven him properly the first time, you wouldn’t have had to do so the other 999 times.”

So I started seeking God to help me understand the process of forgiveness. Over time that understanding gradually dawned.

Imagine forgiveness as a full circle made up of two parts, the negative and the positive. Most of us are only aware of the negative part. We say, albeit silently and unconsciously, “I forgive you for the wrongs you have committed against me,” unaware we have only travelled half-way around the circle of forgiveness. We have not gone all the way. We have not completed the process by moving from negatively trying to dismiss the grievance, into actively blessing those who have caused the grievance. Jesus said:

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,(Matthew 5:44 – NKJV)

I’m not just quoting chapter and verse here in order to support a theory; I have discovered experientially that actively participating in the blessing of those who have hurt me is the only way for true forgiveness to take effect. I need to do good to those who hate me, and pray for those who spitefully use me and persecute me. It is the only way to purge my heart of the poison of resentment that entered when the injustice or vindictiveness was practiced against me. Merely trying to dismiss the evil deed from our consciousness is not enough. It always seems to come back at the slightest reminder of what they have done to me. But deliberate obedience to Jesus’ command to love those who spitefully use us and persecute us, effectively wipes the slate clean, and I am free to move forward, unshackled by past hurts and grievances that hinder me from pleasing Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Now let me ward you, this kind of forgiveness does not guarantee your enemy will accept your act of love. They may indeed reject your attempts to bless them. They may question your motives and mock your attempt at reconciliation. Their positive reaction is totally irrelevant. What matters is that you have been obedient to your Lord, and He has freed you from the curse of an unforgiving heart.

Now I have taken all this time to lay the groundwork for a discussion of the theme which is the title of this article --- pre-forgiveness.

An old Scottish ballad expresses the following:

“You’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low road,

And I’ll be in Scotland before thee;

Where me and I my true love will never meet a gain

On the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond.

Of course the song-writer meant high and low to mean “the long way and the short way.” I want to use it in a different sense. By the “high road” I mean the best way of doing things, and the most noble. By the “low road” I mean the path of least resistance; I mean taking the easiest way out.

Now there is nothing mean about learning to forgive in the manner I have described. If you have managed to go the full circle and forgiven your enemies from the heart, you have done well, and you will reap the benefits.

Nevertheless, what you have accomplished is just the “low road” of forgiveness. It simply deals with the hurts and grievances as they take place. It is like receiving an unexpected punch in the head. You first reel from the blow, and then struggle to find your balance. There is a higher road than this. I call it the path of pre-forgiveness.

What is pre-forgiveness?

Pre-forgiveness operates on the assumption that you will receive injustices. You will be treated unfairly; you will be spoken against; you will suffer injury. When you practice pre-forgiveness you develop a spirit of forgiveness to those who have injured you in the past, those who are doing so in the present, and those who will spitefully use you and persecute you in the future. In short you are adopting the spirit of Christ. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” You simply adopt the attitude that was in Christ and allow it to cover injustices past, present, and future. You forgive them before they have injured you. You don’t have to reel from unexpected blows, because they have already been expected and dealt with before they happen.

Too Late

(Saturday 1^st March, 2008 – By Christopher Shennan)

It’s too late for you to injure me

And think to take me by surprise;

Too late to plan an evil deed,

And think you’ll cause my ire to rise.

You see I’ve taken care of all

The wicked thoughts you harbour now,

Of all the evil deeds you plan

To harm this once forgiven man.

You see I’ve learned the secret, sir,

And madam, how to deal with hate ---

How to deal with vengeful acts ---

No matter when they come, they’re late.

I’ve learned forgiveness by God’s power

Long, long before an evil deed

Can reach me, and do me harm;

Before hate binds, I’m already freed.

Before you strike with a bitter tongue

You’re already too late to get me riled;

Before your words were ever conceived.

My heart was already --- reconciled.

I call it pre-forgiveness sir,

A skill that tender hearts can learn;

Forgive before the hurt arrives;

It’s a skill that only fools will spurn.

And do not think this is a new invention? We are told that Jesus is the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. Before Adam and Eve sinned, before your guilt and mine stained the records of Heaven, God had already planned the sacrifice that would provide for our forgiveness. In the heart of God the price for our sin was already paid, long before the fist sinner sinned, and before the actual death of Christ took place. Pre-forgives was God’s idea, not 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.

2008-03-08T16:23:00.000-08:00

Life Works 017 - Cutting or Comforting

Summary

Christopher Shennan talks about the sharpness of the Word of God.

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Cutting or Comforting

Ask patients who are scheduled for surgery and the removal of a tumour if they would rather have cutting or comforting, and the answer might surprise you. Nine times out of ten the answer will be “cutting.” They may say, “I would rather have cutting with the hope of healing, than comforting together with the sentence of death.”

This may be a merely academic question, unless you are yourself facing the knife. When you are, you are driven to two basic choices --- life or death.

It is easy to grasp the truth of this when we are speaking of physical life, and physical death. The issues are blurred when we are dealing with spiritual life, and spiritual death. It has been my experience that a vast number of people would rather be comforted, than endure the sharpness of the word of truth.

Before I share with you my personal experience in this regard, I should explain my approach to preaching and teaching the Word of God. I have extreme confidence in the power of God’s Word, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, to do its own work. The Bible is, after all, the Sword of the Spirit. I explain, Illustrate, I emphasize, but I do my best not to put my own slant on the Word of God itself.

I have often used the following illustration explain my approach:

If I have a lead box containing uranium or other radioactive material, what do I have to do to expose others in a room to radioactivity? Not much. All I have to do is open the box. The radioactive material will, by its very nature, spread to everyone in the room.

The Word of God is like that, except that it is like a two-edged sword:

God's word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword. It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones. And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. (Hebrews 4:12 – New Century Version)

If I am faithful in presenting God’s Word, it will be wielded by the Holy Spirit and have both a cutting and healing effect on my listeners. Of course, I must bring my own personality and life experiences to my presentation, as God intended. But essentially it is God’s Word that is doing the work, and not me. The Word of God, if faithfully presented, without compromise, will have both a cutting and a healing result. Yet, as I said before, a vast number of people would rather be comforted, than endure the sharpness of the word of truth.

To illustrate this I should share a personal experience:

While a missionary in Zimbabwe I had the privilege of establishing a work amongst the Shona speaking people. I was assisted by a man from the Ndebele tribe named Nathan nTombeni who was himself married to a Shona woman. I was grooming him to take over from me when I left for Canada.

To facilitate this I gave Nathan the responsibility of leading more and more of the church events. I stayed home more and more so the congregation could become accustomed to his leadership.

We invited another preacher to conduct a seminar As I said, I stayed home for the entire week of the seminar for the reason stated. At the end of the week I met with Nathan informally in the church vestry.

“How did the seminar go?” I asked.

“It was alright.” Nathan responded.

Sensing I was getting less than a complete answer, I asked again, “Nathan, how was the seminar?”

“Pastor,” he said, “it was fine.”

He continued to give evasive answers till at last my persistent inquiry caused him to ask, “Pastor, do you really want to know how it went?”

“Yes,” I said, “I really want to know how it went.”

So Nathan explained, “Pastor, let me put it this way, we are accustomed to a word that cuts. This word we received at the seminar did not cut.”

What was Nathan saying?

He was saying that the Word of God, properly presented brings conviction to the hearers. It exposes the thoughts of the heart and, even when it encourages, has a radical effect upon the heart and mind of the hearers. A double-edged sword cannot but have a cutting effect when it does its work, even when it is employed as a scalpel to bring ultimate healing.

When I arrived in Canada I preached the same word in the same manner I had done in Zimbabwe --- but it producing a totally different reaction. I had several people say to me, “You frighten me.”

Why the difference?

I can only conclude that the Zimbabweans understood the need for cutting as a necessity in the healing process, while my Canadian hearers were intimidated by it. Accustomed for years with a steady diet of messages meant to soothe and not offend, the cutting effect of plain preaching is strange and intimidating.

This is not meant as censure, only as a description of two radically different responses to the same word.

I simply pose the question, “Have we in North America adopted an attitude to the plain teaching of Scripture that is resistant to the cutting that is essential for ultimate healing? Are we content to let the Truth penetrate only so far as to effect only the outward, and refuse to let it go deeper into the inner man? Have we failed to accept what the Bible says about itself?:

Would we rather blunt the sword of the Spirit than allow it to do its full work? We seem to want a non-judgmental Gospel that lulls us to sleep rather challenge us to godly living, convicting our conscience and confronting us with the living God.

We would do well to take heed to the word God spoke through Joel the prophet:

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. (Joel 2:12-13 – KJV)

I Rend My Heart

(Thursday 24^th January, 2008 – By Christopher Shennan)

I rend my heart, and not my garment, Lord;

For outward acts may not reflect reality ---

May not express the true intent that dwells within the heart.

I rend my heart, and tear apart that part of me

That hides from truth, and will not let the Master see

The shame, the sin, the ignominy.

He sees, so what is this parody you enact

Upon the stage of your own duplicity?

You tear your outer garments, you grind

Your teeth and cry out loud. The foolish crowd

Is taken in, and cheers your star performance;

You’ll welcome classic drama just so long as

There’s no interference with what lies hidden

In the core of your being, but God is seeing.

He says:

“Rend your heart and not your garment.”

He wants us, you and I, to deal with reality,

Not with a pretence that leads to insanity.

He wants the sin laid bare so the balm that

Heals may be applied.

When pride has died He’ll enter in

And re-create the desperate longing

For Him, and Him alone.

I rend my heart, and not my garment, Lord,

For inwardly I know there’s no relief,

Or lifting of the burden, grief,

Until pretence is torn away, until the lie

Lies bleeding and exposed.

Until the truth is resurrected from its silent tomb

And stands bare-naked on the Hill of God,

No restoration will emerge.

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.

2008-02-27T19:47:00.000-08:00

Life Works 016 - A Broken Vessel

Summary

Christopher Shennan shares a message from Psalm 31 about brokenness, hope and healing.

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A Broken Vessel

". . . I am like a broken vessel." (Psalm 31:12)

Reading: Psalm 31:1-12

Introduction:

When we come to the start of a new year, we inevitably look back on some "broken" things. We may have disappointed hopes, broken friendships, unrealized ambitions and fragmented dreams. To use some popular metaphors: "The bubble has burst; We've hit bottom; We've come to the end of the road," at some point in the past year.

For most of us this glum picture is only partial. These "broken things" are merely dark patches on a bright piece of cloth; serious moments in a generally happy melody. For others the situation is more serious: they feel as if they have been put through a meat grinder, or crushed by a wheel on the road of life. With the Psalmist they are ready to say, "I am like a broken vessel. I am like one those Tera Cota pots for plants that has fallen from a height and smashed on a concrete floor. I can't seem to put things together again.

For such as these, as well as those with only a few "broken" things to look back on, I have good news. But first, let me clarify the use of the word vessel (or container) in Scripture:

(i) A Chosen Vessel

"But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before the gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.

" 'For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake.' " (Acts 9:15,16 - NKJV)

(ii) Vessels of Destruction

"[What] if God, wanting to show [His] wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction . . ." (Romans 9:23 - NKJV)

(iii) Vessels of Mercy

". . . and that he might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had prepared for destruction."

(Romans 9:23 - NKJV)

(iv) Treasure Vessels

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us."

(2 Corinthians 4:7 - NKJV)

(v) Weaker Vessels

"Likewise [you] husbands, dwell with [them] with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as [being] heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered." ( 1 Peter 3:7 - NKJV)

How do vessels get broken?

1. When there are FLAWS (Fundamental)

Sometimes a pot or vase will break, not because it has suffered any violence, but because it has a basic flaw.

Which of us, when we are honest and expose ourselves to the light of Scripture and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, do not discover some basic flaws in our nature? We cannot handle some situations, not because we have made a mistake, or made an error in judgement, but because there is a basic weakness in our character; a fundamental flaw in the way we look at things.

It is easy to blame others when things do not work out or when conflicts arise, but often there is no need to look further than our own hearts. Our reactions are wrong because our reasons are wrong. Our efforts at peacemaking fail because we lack the basic quality of peacemaking in our inward hearts. A lot of the "broken" things scattered over the landscape of our past lives can be laid at our own door. The villain who has committed the "crimes" of past failure is often the one we behold daily in the mirror.

Unless we come to terms with this, there is not much hope of healing. However, once we acknowledge our own part in the "broken" areas of our lives, then our wonderful Lord can step in:

"The Spirit of the LORD God is upon Me,

Because the LORD has anointed Me to heal the broken hearted . . ." (Isaiah 61:1a - NKJV)

2. When there are FALLS (Accidental)

Sometimes a pot is accidentally knocked off a shelf, and broken. Likewise, some of the scars and cracks, and more serious breaks in our past, are no one's fault. They are accidents.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king's horses and all the king's men,

Couldnt put Humpty together again.

Sometimes we get emotionally hurt, or crushed because we were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Sometimes an injury or a disease will rob us of a career of some fond ambition. The most innocent of mistakes can lead to the most serious consequences.

3. When there is FURY (Deliberate)

Sometimes people will smash things out of pure anger or frustration.

Likewise there are those who deliberately mean to harm us; those who, out of jealousy or plain vindictiveness, wish to hurt us. There are those with over vivid imaginations who read an offence into the most innocent of our actions; people who are vengeful and unforgiving by nature. There are those who will use slander and gossip to destroy our reputations; sincere but misguided crusaders who will sabotage our best efforts to do good.

4. When in process of FORMATION

(i) Jeremiah -- marred in the potter's hand.

"The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying; arise, 'Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.'

"Then I went to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.

"And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter, so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

"Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

" 'O house pf Israel, can I not do with you as this potter,' says the LORD. 'Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so [are] you in My hand, O house of Israel. (Jeremiah 18:1-6 - NKJV)

Think what a privilege it is to be in God's hand.

(ii) Tearing & healing; smiting and binding up.

"Come, and let us return to the LORD:

For He has torn, but He will

heal us;

He has stricken, but he will

bind us up.

"After two days he will revive

us;

On the third day He will raise

us up,

That we may live in His sight." (Hosea 6:1,2 - NKJV)

(iii) Chastening.

"Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected [us], and we paid [them] respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?

"For they indeed for a few days chastened [us] as seemed [best] to them, but He for [our] profit, that [we] may be partakers of His holiness.

"No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness tom those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:9-11 - NKJV)

Conclusion:

There is a stanza of verse that goes like this:

Friendship is like china:

Rich and pure and rare;

When broken can be mended,

But the crack is always there.

That might be true of earthly things, and of earthly friendships. But when it comes to God's supernatural work in us, He takes even the cracks away.
Notes:

God Uses Broken Things

(Author Unknown)

God uses for His glory those people and things that are most perfectly broken. Scripture bears this out.

Jacob's natural strength had to be broken through a life-and-death struggle at Peniel before God could clothe him with spiritual power. (Genesis 32:22-32)

When Gideon's men broke their pitchers, light shone forth and struck terror into the hearts of their adversaries. (Judges 7:19-25)

Mary broke her beautiful alabaster box of ointment and the aroma of lovely perfume filled the house. (Matthew 26:6-13)

When Jesus broke the five barley loaves and two small fish, the food multiplied and became sufficient to feed 5,000 people. John 6:1-14)

When Jesus' body was broken by the thorns, the nails, and the spear, redemption poured out like a crystal stream, which cleanses the sinner and gives him life. (Matthew 26:26)

Naturally our hearts shrink back from the pain of being broken. But it is God's way to fruitful service. He stands ready to bear our pain with us and to mend our broken hearts. We must be willing to be broken for Him if we truly desire to be used by Him.

The Broken Wing

(16, 17th August 1997)

I saw a bird with broken wing
That in its anguish could not sing,
Could not bring its breath to raise
A single note of heartfelt praise.

I saw this creature with its eye
Dimmed with pain, but lifted high,
Beholding sky and visions bright,
As though there were spectres in the night.

For broken bone and bloody stain
Caused hope within its breast to wane,
And rain upon its spirit fear
That flight would cost a price too dear.

But fly once more it did, my friend,
And swoop the valley end to end,
And rend the heavens with its song,
Though healing seemed to take so long.

I thought that broken wings can be
A parable to you and me.
For we, when serving Truth and Light,
Are sometimes wounded in the fight.

The darts of Satan find their mark
And plunge our spirits into dark.
The spark of pure devotion falls,
And seems stone deaf to mercy's calls.

Our wing of praise or prayer is found
With wounds, and, fallen to the ground,
Unsound, we think our days of worship gone,
And find no breast to rest upon.

And yet, if patiently we wait
In hopeful or in restful state,
Soon or late, healing will arise
From God's own heart -- our only Prize.

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.

2008-02-19T06:04:00.000-08:00

Life Works 015 - Where Did That Come From?

Summary

Christopher Shennan shares an idea that seemed to come out of nowhere!

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Where Did That Come From?

Have you ever had a thought, or uttered a phrase that was surprisingly profound and perceptive? The surprising thing about it was not that it was profound and perceptive, but that it had come from your own brain, and was uttered by your own lips. You were pretty sure you did not possess the wisdom or discernment to even think of such a thing, let alone utter it. You were forced to wonder, “Where did that come from?
Well, something of that nature happened to me not long ago. I was sharing something of a personal nature with a Christian friend. In the course of conversation I said, “You cannot spend hours and hours in the presence of God without some life-changing event taking place.”
I hardly noticed, or realized the significance of what I had said, until my friend commented on it. It had apparently struck a chord with him, though it had fallen almost carelessly from my lips. However, after his remark, the depth and meaning of it suddenly struck me, and I thought, “Where on earth did that come from?”
Thinking about it now the answer is it came from nowhere on earth, certainly not from me. I was not thinking deep thoughts at the time, or trying to be profound. Could it be that the influence of heaven formed the words on my lips and brought them to my attention by my friend’s remark?
I only know that the phrase so casually spoken means something to me now: “You cannot spend hours and hours in the presence of God without some life-changing event taking place.”
Now I am not referring here primarily to prayer, though that, no doubt, is included. You know what I mean? I mean the practice of speaking to God with audible voice or secret desire, then waiting for His voice to speak back to you in your heart, or from the words of Scripture. How precious that kind praying can be!
However, I mean just being in his Presence, consciously aware that you have passed through the veil, as described in the book of Hebrews:
So, brothers and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place without fear because of the blood of Jesus' death. We can enter through a new and living way that Jesus opened for us. It leads through the curtain—Christ's body. (Hebrews 10: 19-20 – New Century Version)
And in another place: Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God's throne where there is grace. There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it. (Hebrews 4:16 – New Century Version)
How incredible that God invites sinners into His Holy Presence, yet only because the price of our sin has already been paid.
It is entirely possible, however to appreciate the theological reality that we can spend time in the very Presence of our Holy God, yet spend very little time there. What came to me from the profound truth uttered so casually, was how different our lives would be if we availed ourselves more frequently of the privilege purchased for us by the death of God’s Son. “You cannot spend hours and hours in the presence of God without some life-changing event taking place.”
Perhaps you don’t feel the need for any significant changes in your life. I most certainly do.

(Tuesday 6th November, 2007)

I cannot feel you Presence long
Before the Spirit’s power
Begins a transformation deep
Within me, hour by hour.
I may just pray, or listen for
Your Voice to speak to me;
I may just wait in silence
For Your Truth to set me free.

Whenever You draw near to me,
Or is it I to You?
The Holy Spirit’s leading
To things both pure and true.
I find that in Your Presence,
If I wait there, deep and long,
A miracle just happens
And brings my heart, a song.

Perhaps it would be helpful if I shared how I first entered into the Presence of this Holy, Awesome God:
At some other time I may relate something of my upbringing and development before meeting the Lord. For now jus assume I had wandered far from truth and reality, having attempted suicide once, was trapped in a world of lies and fantasy, and was more lost than I even realized at the time.
That brings me to the home of a friend living in Pietersburg, a small town in the Northern Transvaal, South Africa. The year was 1967, and the day, the 29th of August, and the time approaching 3 in the afternoon.
The previous day the Baptist minister had visited my friend and his wife, and took the opportunity to share something of the Gospel with me. I was not very receptive. Nevertheless the minister, Martin Holdt by name, gave brief testimony to the power of Jesus Christ to save sinners. The next day, the morning of the 29th of August, I went to see him, mainly to argue with him concerning what he had said on his visit. He spent an hour of discussion with me, then said, “Christopher, I can’t convince you, and I am not going to try. Only God can show you the Truth.” He gave me a blue clothbound New Testament, and I left.
I went back to my friend’s house. He was at work; his wife had left to attend a ladies’ Bible Study group and I was left alone as the hour of 3pm was approaching. I opened the New Testament and was confronted with the following words:
And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask[a] anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14:13-14 – NKJV)
I have always referred to the prayer I prayed at that juncture as a “silly prayer,” but no doubt it was not silly to God. I prayed, “God, I don’t believe that you are there --- that you even exist. And I don’t believe that Jesus Christ died for me on the Cross. But if I am wrong; if you do exist and if Jesus Christ did died for me … I need You!”
What can I say, except that, He came! I sometimes tell people it was like wham bang, to describe the suddenness of it. There was no real noise, of course, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if drums had rolled, and trumpets had sounded. What really happened was that the eyes of my heart were opened, and I knew. I knew that Jesus Christ had died for me, that I was forgiven, and now had a relationship with the living God. I had entered into the Presence of God by no merit of my own. As a gospel song declares:
“I’ve discovered the way of gladness,
I’ve discovered the way of joy;
I’ve discovered relief from sadness,
And happiness without alloy.”

I wish I could say that I have always lived in the conscious presence of God every hour since, but I have not. The journey has nevertheless been a rich one over both rough and smooth terrain, and I have always know how to get back into his Presence when I have strayed. More about that at another time, but let me finish by sharing another of my poems concerning prayer:

In Prayer
(Thursday 24th August 2006 - By Christopher Shennan)

You can storm the gates of Heaven
To get the things you need,
Or seek your neighbours blessing,
And long for noble deeds.
In prayer you can accomplish
What kingdoms fail to do,
And all this power is given
In prayer, my friend, to you.

You can whisper in your closet,
So no one else can hear
But the Lord of Hosts, Who listens,
And wipes away a tear.
In prayer the highest mountain
Is cast into the sea;
Prison walls will crumble,
And set the prisoner free.

You can sit alone in silence,
When not a word is said,
And in this holy silence,
Your inner soul is fed.
In prayer, you’ll find a solace
The world can never give;
In His Holy Presence,
Your soul can really live.

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.

2008-02-14T19:03:00.000-08:00

Life Works 014 - Inspired By Evil

Summary

Christopher Shennan explains how goodness can be inspired by anything, even by evil!

Listen

http://feeds.feedburner.com/thelifeworkspodcast

Inspired By Evil

There is an incredibly evil character drawn by Dean Koonts in his novel, The Face. His name is Corky Laputa, an anarchist who is always inventing new ways to sow dissention, mayhem, and death.
I won’t go into detail, but this fictional character has an inventive imagination to commit evil that is staggering. One wonders if the author based his character on a living person, or composed him from several different characters, or dreamed him up from his own fertile imagination. Can such evil exist in the real world? And if it exists, how can it be inspiring to good men and women who make it their aim to please God?
As to the existence of such people there is no doubt. Before Dean Koonts even thought of such a character, the Bible had already described people like him.
They are filled with every kind of sin, evil, selfishness, and hatred. They are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, lying, and thinking the worst about each other. They gossip and say evil things about each other. They hate God. They are rude and conceited and brag about themselves. They invent ways of doing evil. (Romans 1:29-30 – New Century Version)
But wait! How can the evil deeds of the wicked inspire the godly? Why, by being just as inventive as they are, only in the cause of good. If you like, you and I can act as an antidote to their evil deeds, by matching their evil with goodness. To use a figure Jesus employed, we can be the salt poured into the wound created by evil men, that will prevent corruption.
We have a choice: We can either bemoan the inventive genius of evil men, or we can match it by our own Spirit inspired inventiveness in the service of Heaven.

(Friday 2nd November 2007)

When I saw the wicked prosper,
And their evil deeds abound,
I shuddered and I trembled;
I lay flat down on the ground.
I wept and sought for vengeance
To fall down from the sky,
And pleaded over and over,
“My Lord in Heaven, ‘Why?’ ”

And then I heard a whisper
From Heaven’s portal gate:
“Why don’t you learn a lesson
From those who’ve learned to hate:
They invent new ways to practice
Their wickedness and graft;
They’ve spread their evil schemes,
They then sit down and laugh.

“You, dear child should listen
To the methods that they use;
The inventive mind employed
To destroy and to confuse.
You, too, can be an inventor,
Not to evil’s service given,
But an inventor of good things
To the glory of God in Heaven.”

Evil cannot always control its own path.
When I was in the army in South Africa, many years ago, we had an NCO who exerted an influence for good in at least one area of my life. His name was Sergeant Burger. How do I describe this man? He was a shade shorter than medium height, lean but sturdy, with a perpetually fierce expression on his face. He would stand and bark at us in the typical mode of a sergeant screaming abuse at his troops. Filthy language could hardly describe what proceeded from his mouth. If he could have communicated effectively by swearing continuously, I’m sure he would have. It seemed to grieve him that he could not, and was forced to use a normal word from time to time to make his meaning clear.
What effect did this have on me? It disgusted me. It sickened me. It birthed a resolve in me to avoid filthy language at any cost. Now this was several years before I came to a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ; it was long before my heart began hungering after God. Yet this filthy-mouthed sergeant may have been the one to nudge me on to the right path.
Should not the examples of wicked men stir in us the desire to do exactly the opposite? Should we not see the hurt inflicted on others by those of a twisted mentality as an opportunity to engage in acts of kindness and healing?
It is all too easy to decry the evil deeds of others, while doing nothing to counteract that evil in the sphere of our influence. Every redeemed child of God has it in him or her to counteract the works of darkness by shedding the light of the Gospel. I do not mean by this that we simple preach the Gospel, but that we exemplify the Gospel by giving tit for tat. If you do something bad, then I am going to do something good to counteract its evil effect. I will be the antidote to the poison streaming from your heart. If you invent an evil device, I will, by the the Holy Spirit dwelling within me, invent something good to rob it of its power.
May I repeat the last verse of the poem to stir you to holy inventiveness?

“You, dear child should listen
To the methods that they use;
The inventive mind employed
To destroy and to confuse.
You, too, can be an inventor,
Not to evil’s service given,
But an inventor of good things
To the glory of God in Heaven.”

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.

2008-02-07T16:21:00.000-08:00

Life Works 013 - How to Say “I Love You!”

Summary

Christopher Shennan talks about the spiritual lesson he found in the book and movie The Princess Bride!

Listen

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How to Say, “I love You!”

I have been reading recently (at the instigation of my son) the book that gave rise to the movie, The Princess Bride. My son said I had to read the book because the movie, as good as it was, left out certain elements that gave the story depth and perspective.

I must warn you, The Princess Bride is largely a parody. It also has a number of comical elements making fun of the “The Prince rescues the Princess” genre. Yet you will be greatly impoverished if you do not catch what I consider to be the central idea of the book, how to say, “I love you!”

The story revolves around the beautiful daughter of a farmer and his wife, and a farm boy named Westley. The daughter’s name is Buttercup, and she treats Westley badly. She treats him little better than a slave.

“Do this farm boy.”

“Do that, farm boy.”

“Polish my saddle till I can see my face in it, farm boy.”

“Scrub the floor, farm boy.”

“Bale the hay, farm boy.”

Whatever buttercup asked him to do, he only ever responded, “As you wish.” He never addressed her in any other way. All he ever said was, “As you wish.” This went on for some time, perhaps years. Eventually the words themselves, and the way he said them, began to take on a different meaning, or perhaps the meaning he had intended all along. When he said, “As you wish,” what he was really saying, was, “I love you.” Willing obedience was his language of love.

Buttercup herself only realized, or admitted, her love for Westley at the end of his stay on the farm. She almost went crazy when she found a noblewoman, in all her finery, had been drawn to Westley’s charms. The realization hit her like a hurricane in full strength (You will not get this impression from the movie; only the book expresses her whirlwind of emotions. It is exhilarating to read her declaration of her love for Westley).

“I love you,” Buttercup said. “I know this must come as something of a surprise, since all I’ve done is scorn and degrade you, but I have loved you for several hours now, and every second more. I thought an hour ago that I loved you more than any woman has ever loved a man, but a half hour after that I knew that what I felt before was nothing to what I felt then. But ten minutes after that, I understood that my previous love was a puddle compared to the high seas before a storm… How many minutes ago was I? Twenty? Had I brought my feelings up to then? It doesn’t matter…I love you so much more now than twenty minutes ago that there cannot be comparison. There is no room in my body for anything but you. My arms love you, my ears adore you, my knees shake with blind affection. My mind begs you to ask it something so it can obey.”

Buttercup goes on to say they her love will lead to the most extreme acts of obedience. You see, just like Westley’s love was expressed in the simple but profound, “As you wish,” so Buttercup’s love led inevitably toward desire to obey her lover’s wishes.

Sure, the story is a parody; a fictional adventure; an overplayed comedy in parts, but it speaks truth when it describes love as more that mere emotion. It paints a picture of love in graphic detail. It presents love as a driving force that travels no other road but that of loving obedience. True love is demonstrative; it longs to act out its devotion in service to the beloved. True love is sacrificial by nature. The language of love is always expressed in terms of, “As you wish.

Westley leaves immediately after Buttercup’s declaration of love to seek his fortune, so he can adequately provide for her. The ship he sails on is attacked by the dread pirate, Roberts, and reports of his death reach Buttercup. Her devastation leads her to declare, “I will never love another!”

In human terms this kind of love can be perverted. True love will never commit evil in service of the beloved, yet its driving ambition is to give rather than to get. True love is not focussed so much on the benefits it can gain, but on the sacrifices it can make.

The Scripture agrees with the central idea of love as expressed in The Princess Bride. Jesus said: "If you love me, you will obey my commands.(John 14:15 – NCV)

And then again in the 15^th chapter of John: This is my command: Love each other as I have loved you. The greatest love a person can show is to die for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.(John 15:12-14 – NCV)

I like the way the King James Version expresses the central idea here: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus Himself laid down His life for his friends, and he clearly expects the same kind of attitude from His followers. You may never literally lay down your life, but if you are a true lover of the Lord Jesus Christ, His attitude of being willing to lay down His life will increasingly develop within you. Short of actually dying, you can give up certain aspects of your life in the service of another. Surely this is what Jesus meant when He told His followers to take up their cross daily to follow Him.

Someone I know found himself so identifying with the deep distress of another, that he asked God to take his life in exchange for theirs. I have tried to express what he felt in the following poem:

I Could Wish

(Sunday 23^rd December, 2007 – By Christopher Shennan)

I could wish the wound that pieced

Your heart had pierced my own instead;

The dark shadow that plagues your mind

Should pass and rest on mine instead.

I could wish my heart could bear

The burdens that you carry now,

To lighten your load, and see you smile,

And smooth the worry from your brow.

I could wish that I could pass to you

The confidence and hope I feel;

Could pass the balm God’s given me,

To ease your pain, and help you heal.

I could wish that I could die

Before my time, that you may live;

That you might rise and conquer fear.

And this, dear child, is all I have to give.

It may not be within my power

To make my wish come true.

But know, dear child, I’m willing

To do these things for you.

Remember, expressing love to others, as far as Jesus is concerned, is the same as loving Him: "Then the King will say to the people on his right, 'Come, my Father has given you his blessing. Receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made. I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'

"Then the good people will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you alone and away from home and invite you into our house? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?'

"Then the King will answer, 'I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me.'” (Matthew 25:34-40)

Now you and I know how to tell the Lord Jesus that we love Him; we can simply say, “As you wish, Lord.’ As you wish!”

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.

2008-01-31T20:48:00.000-08:00

Life Works 012 - What the Shongololo Said

Summary

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

Listen

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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.