Computers for the Slightly Less Terrified

Since I last posted on the computer classes  they have gone from strength to strength and now run on Wednesday afternoons as well as Fridays. There seems to be a real interest and many who have never previously touched a computer are gaining more and more confidence

Haiti

Compassion have produced an excellent video following what’s gone on in Haiti. It isn’t graphic and only lasts just over two minutes.

After a disaster, the news agenda eventually moves on to somewhere else in the world, that is their role after all. It’s good to know that followers of Jesus will be serving in Haiti in the long term.

Let us be faithful in support and in prayer.

The Compassion blog is here.

Update

Good news today in that Durly the little girl sponsored by Mike and Beth is in an area not badly affected by the quake.

Isaiah 35. The Joy of the Redeemed

This week my friend Jonathan finished our series in Daniel in the morning and I took the evening talk from Isaiah 35

You can read the chapter here and listen to it by clicking here, click on the download, then the open option and it should play through your default media player.

On the one hand Isaiah is prophesying of a time when the exiles will return to Jerusalem following a period of captivity but it could also be said that he is speaking of a glorious future restoration for the people of God.

Five headings today

• Abundance instead of desert
• Strength instead of weakness
• Sight instead of blindness
• Travel instead of captivity
• Joy instead of sorrow

Abundance instead of desert – verses 1-2

• A desert is not a impossible for God. In ancient times deserts were great barriers that were difficult to cross and were usually avoided.

• God is not content with a desert. Creation has been subjected to frustration.

• God can turn a desert into a garden. The barren lifeless desert can become a place of beauty and refreshment.

• God is going to change the ecosystem. Just as in the chapter 11 where animals both predator and prey lie down together, the way the planet works will be changed by divine intervention.

• Creation itself will rejoice one day (Romans 8:18-22)

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

• God can make deserts bloom in our lives. We often have parts of our lives that we consider barren and lifeless. We know the Lord could change them but we often doubt that he actually will. It could be something for which you have prayed for many years or a personal struggle. God can make our deserts bloom.

• God’s glory and splendour will be seen. Even in the desert god will be glorified.

Strength instead of weakness – verses 3-4

• Hands for working and serving

• Knees for praying and walking

• Be strong, do not fear, your God will come. The answer to those feelings of inadequacy is to look to God

• Get moving. The picture is of a person who is wasting away through lack of movement.

• This verse is quoted in Hebrews in relation to discipline (Hebrews 12:11-13)

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”

Sight instead of blindness – verses 5-7

• Often Isaiah uses blindness and deafness as a metaphor (Isaiah 6:9-10, 29:9-12). A person can be spiritually blind or spiritually deaf. They cannot see or hear the truth.

• One day this spiritual sight will be restored (Isaiah 29:18)

• Isaiah also speaks of one who would come and open the eyes of the blind (Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 4:16-21). Jesus after publically reading this passage proclaimed that it was fulfilled in him.

• When John the Baptist had doubts, Jesus when seems to picture passages like this in his response. (Luke 7:22)

“So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”

• Where Jesus is present, eyes will be opened

Travel instead of captivity – verses 8-9

• In ancient times no one built roads through deserts it would have been pointless

• Through God a high-way is found, literally a road raised above its surroundings.

• A way of holiness

• Without holiness, no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). Only by grasping something of God’s awesome holiness can we begin to appreciate who he is.

• Jesus is the only way to the Father (John 14:6, Hebrews 10:20)

• The road is for the redeemed

• The road is safe; there are no lions or ferocious beasts on the road. In the UK we take safe roads for granted, after hearing Ray and Anne on Wednesday, it’s clear that dangerous animals are still a threat in some parts of the world and they certainly were in Isaiah’s time.

Joy instead of sorrow – verse 10

• The way of holiness leads to Zion, the City of God.

• Sometimes knowing doctrine is not enough, we have to sing. To know something intellectually is one thing but if we really know it then it just has to be expressed. Our salvation is surely something to sing about.

• There will be no more tears, sorrow and sighing will flee away.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

• Gladness and joy will overtake them. Like a many wave, the joy of heaven will sweep over the redeemed

There are questions that spring from this chapter; are you on the road? Are you moving? Do you have the joy of the redeemed?

Caperwray Students 2010

It was great to meet the students who will be with us for ten days at the end of the month last weekend. They will be with us for ten days and be involved in most things around the church.

They are Alex, Christian, Caitlin and Gillian and they are from Canada and the US though Christian is originally from Germany. Please pray for the students that they will be blessed in their time with us.

Angela

As many will know, most Friday mornings I meet up with Graham. As I’ve mentioned before, Graham’s family sponsor a child in Haiti as we do and during the week Graham had emailed with the news that their child, Anderson, is in one of the worst affected centres. Graham then explained where to find the details of our child’s centre from the Compassion material.

If I’m honest, I haven’t tried very hard to gain specific information in the hope that good news would arrive any day. After all although the Compassion children affected by the quake in Haiti amount to around 6,000, that figure only represents less than 10% of the total number of Compassion children in Haiti, there were grounds for optimism. On my return I found Angela’s centre number and started to trawl through the latest list from Compassion, first through ‘Not directly affected’ list, then through the ‘Moderately affected centres’ and the finally with that sinking feeling, located her centre HA 741 in the ‘Significantly affected’ list. My grounds for optimism were well and truly swept away. To quote from Compassion’s definition of what it means to be significantly affected;

 “Located in a zone officially reported as impacted by the United Nations. The Child Development Centre reports deaths or injuries of children. The Child Development Centre reports significant damage to the church or to its facilities. There is extensive damage to, or destruction of, children’s homes.”

It will take some time for definite news as things on the ground are understandably chaotic. Some families are likely to move away, some to another country. The Compassion team in Haiti are doing an amazing job, still working in really difficult conditions and many still dealing with grief themselves.

Please continue to pray for the situation in Haiti and please pray for Anderson and Angela. Angela’s faith in God shone through her letters, a real faith. We know that she is in God’s hands and there is no better place to be.

Compassion’s blog with the latest information is here.

Psalm 27:1

The LORD is my light and my salvation—

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life—

of whom shall I be afraid?

Ray and Anne

Last night being the first Wednesday in the month, we met in the church rather than in home groups and our visitors this month were Ray and Anne Lee.

Ray and Anne have been missionaries in Africa since 1973 and actually met in Sudan that year. They shared something of the work in Southern Sudan, a little of the ministry of SIM around the world and finally their new role in the UK.

Southern Sudan often features in the news as some areas are unstable and violent. There are a number of people groups with different languages some of which are not written. It’s a region of strategic importance with the presence of oil and it being a gateway south to the rest of Africa. The presidential elections later this year and next a referendum on independence for the south, have a great potential for violence. On top of all this, there are the challenges of very poor roads where for much of the region boats are the only effective means of transport and a lack of the things we in the west take for granted.

It was encouraging to hear of the work that is going on in spite of all these difficulties. Missionaries from Europe, India and other countries in Africa are building relationships and sharing the gospel. Many of these missionaries face great danger in their own countries as well as in Sudan. In some groups there is a hunger to hear the word.

Ray and Anne’s new role is to support missionaries in the UK. Missionaries sometimes have to wait for many months after being accepted by SIM sometimes to raise funds and on other occasions for visas etc. Some missionaries return home on furlough exhausted and in need of support and encouragement. This is Ray and Anne’s ministry, standing with other missionaries in prayer and support. They also encourage churches that support a missionary.

Anne shared with us that on New Year’s Eve she had a sudden urge to pray for the folk that she knew in southern Sudan. It was only later that they heard that one of the compounds had been attacked by rebels and bullets had passed through the rooms where the missionaries and their children were lying on the floor. Some of the men had suffered burns but by a miracle everyone survived. It probably goes without saying that to hear these things is a challenge.

In such a harsh environment faith can never be a game, missionaries place themselves in harm’s way every day and by comparison our struggles can seem trivial. Yet we have a role in the Kingdom of God. We too are part of the Body of Christ. Here are the areas where the Lord is challenging me;

1. Live it. The Christian faith isn’t a Sunday morning hobby; it’s a new way of living. There are things that we don’t do, things that are contrary to the teaching of scripture and are not pleasing to God. There are also things that we do, to be the Lord’s ‘hands and feet’ to share his love in the world.

2. Say it. What we do and what we say are both vital. I don’t think you can practice just one. I remember hearing Jeff Marshall’s testimony some years ago; he said that before he was a Christian he was employed with a lot of people some of whom were Christians. He was desperate at the time but the only thing that marked out the Christians was that they smiled a lot. It’s easy to judge and many could truthfully say far worse things about me but do we want to be known as the people who smile a lot? The gospel has been spread by word of mouth, often by people who were afraid at the time. If believers can share the gospel in the Sudan, surely we can share it here.

3. Pray it. Paul encourages the Romans to be faithful in prayer. Not all of us are called to serve in other countries but we are all called to pray. I know from personal experience that to know even in a difficult situation people are praying is such an encouragement. Missionaries should never be ‘out of sight out of mind’. Anne’s account of praying on New Year’s Eve really challenged me. How often do we feel an urge to pray?

4. Hear it. Is God calling you to a ministry? Some will be called to serve abroad and if God is calling you and you are sure then be obedient. God calls all his people to minister and there is huge need in our own community. It should not escape our notice that many so called developing countries are sending missionaries to the UK. May our response be like that of Samuel when still a child “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening”.

Genesis 1/2/10 Indian Night

Last Monday in Genesis was an Indian Night. It was one of our special events and we celebrated the great subcontinent. I wasn’t able to be there myself as I wasn’t well but from what I’ve managed to glean from others, things seemed to go on pretty well without me.

There was good food from the local takeaway “The Raj” and various games including an observation round from the film “Slumdog Millionaire” and a chance to join in the dance at the end of the film (this would obviously be much better had I been there since I have a wonderful gift in expressing myself through the medium of dance). Unusually, some of the young people took the opportunity to dress up.

Daniel 5. The Writing on the Wall

The sermon on Daniel 5 can be heard here, big thanks to Ken and Paul who have reduced the file size to 6 MB

The reading can be found online here.

“The writing is on the wall” or “his days are numbered” are phrases that have entered our language whether being applied to a football manager or a politician. The phrases come from one of the most dramatic incidents in scripture found in Daniel chapter 5 but is it more than just a good story?

The list of Babylonian kings has been known since classical times and there is no record of a King Belshazzar. In the past this has been seen by those who dispute the book’s claims as evidence for a much later date. These days Belshazzar is known to be a historical figure. The Nabonidus Cylinder, (pictured and the answer to last week’s teaser) provides details of Belshazzar’s life and his role in the history of Babylon.

Belshazzar was the oldest son of Babylon’s last king Nabonidus. It seems that early in his reign Nabonidus left Babylon to build a temple to the moon god in Arabia charging Belshazzar with the running of the empire. This went on for thirteen years, Nabonidus returning probably to deal with the growing threat of the Medes and Persians in 540 BC. Shortly before the fall of Babylon, Nabonidus led the army in a major battle which he lost leaving Belshazzar in control of the city.

I’m told that the word king can also mean ruler and the word father can mean predecessor. Belshazzar’s reward or third highest in the kingdom makes complete sense as Nabonidus was king and Belshazzar second in the kingdom. The queen mother could easily be Nabonidus’ wife, Belshazzar’s mother and Nebuchadnezzar’s daughter which would make Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson.

We have five headings today;

• Denying the danger
• Defying the Lord
• Declaring the truth
• Dying alone
• Deliverance is possible

Denying the danger

• Babylon was under siege by the Medes and Persians
• Its army had been completely defeated
• Belshazzar throws a party
• Like many today it seems Belshazzar drinks to forget and to push away the terrible reality he is facing
• Belshazzar is in denial

Defying the Lord

• There was a religious element to the feast hence Daniel’s refusal to eat royal food in chapter 1
• In these feats, the Babylonian god was placed in a position of prominence with all gods from defeated nations in a lower position.
• My god is greater than you god
• Desecrating what was holy
• God will not be mocked, not in 539 BC or in our day
• God is constantly defied today 
• When confronted with reality Belshazzar is terrified

Declaring the truth

• Daniel had been sidelined, he wasn’t called in with the wise men
• He was by now in his 80s
• When the wisdom of Babylon had run out, Daniel speaks by the Holy Spirit
• Numbered, weighed and divided
• God judged him by what he knew

“But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this.

Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.” (Daniel 5:22-23)

Dying alone

• Belshazzar may have thought he had plenty of time, it was not unusual for cities to survive for months or even years
• The events of that night are recorded in a number of classical sources
• That night the Euphrates was diverted into a nearby swamp and the army entered through the river
• The huge doors to the inner city were found unlocked and the defenders drunk
• Unusually for the fall of a city in war, very few people died
• Belshazzar died that night
• God’s word is true, as prophesied by both Isaiah and Jeremiah

^“I will make her officials and wise men drunk,

her governors, officers and warriors as well;

they will sleep forever and not awake,”

declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.

This is what the LORD Almighty says:

“Babylon’s thick wall will be leveled

and her high gates set on fire;

the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing.” (Jeremiah 57-58)

Deliverance is possible    

• What if Belshazzar had repented, could he have been forgiven at such a late stage?
• What about us, who could stand under the scrutiny of a God who is so completely holy righteous and true?
• Form a New Testament perspective we compare Belshazzar with one who came because we are all weighed and found wanting
• Christ’s days were numbered; the eternal Word became a human being. His days were numbered in that he came to die
• Christ was weighed and yet found to be perfect, those who knew him best testified to the fact that he was different, without sin. The Father testifies of him “This is my son in whom I am well pleased”
• Christ was judged that we might be forgiven, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
• Deliverance is possible because of Jesus. However far we may have fallen short, however deep the guilt that we feel, Christ sacrifice on the cross means that we can be right with God and part of his family

Saturday, Saturday

There’s a lot going on for the next few days. I’m in Parc Prison Saturday morning, I’m hoping to visit someone in Hospital in the afternoon and we have four students from Capernwray Bible School with us for the weekend.

We’ve had visits from Capernwray teams for the last few years and this weekend is a ‘getting to know you’ weekend (we are hiding some of our more dodgy members in case the students get put off). The plan tomorrow is to have a Tramps Supper which involves the young people receiving a course of the meal in different member’s homes, the advantage being that if they get food poisoning, no one can be blamed. The starter will be at Mark and Sarah’s, the main at Andy and Debbie’s and the dessert at ours.

The students are staying at Stuart and Sue’s for the weekend and they are from the US, Canada and Germany.

A Brainteaser

I thought I’d set a little teaser today. The picture shows a very important discovery that has changed the way that next Sunday morning’s passage is viewed by many. The passage is Daniel 5 and you can read it online here.

As to the picture, you could either wait until Sunday or have a look around the net.

Update on the Equality Bill

Good news for Christian organisations and other faith groups as the Government’s amendment to the Equality Bill has been defeated in the House of Lords. You can read the background in an earlier post here and a Reuters report on the vote here.

It’s a victory for many who have campaigned hard on the subject, the FIEC (read their statement here) among many others. It’s also a battle in a long war in that the amendment had the backing of the European Commission, the Government and many very vocal pressure groups. According to Reuters, “The National Secular Society had warned before the debate that it would complain to the EC if the government “gave in to religious pressure.”

Let us give thanks for answered prayer and pray that the freedoms we enjoy will be maintained.

Can You Hear the Good News?

For the past few days I’ve been trying to find a way to play sermons online. This has proved much more difficult than I had imagined and though there are plenty of solutions available, none are without drawbacks.

The method that I’ve settled on, at least for the time being is to upload the sermons to a free Google site and provide a link should anyone want to download them. It’s a bit clumsy but it should work.

Daniel 2 & 3 are available now and anyone wishing to listen should click on the link below (the words in blue) and then click on the word download near the bottom of the new web page. The sermon will then be downloaded to a temporary file and should start playing automatically through your default media player, which is usually Windows Media Player. The file could also be loaded onto a mobile device and then there would be no escape!

The sermon from January 17th on Daniel 2 is available here – Daniel 2

The sermon from January 24th on Daniel 3 is available here – Daniel 3

Daniel 3. Faith under Trial

We have been continued our look at Daniel this week with the account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in chapter three. Below is the outline that was used.

We cannot know what influenced Nebuchadnezzar to build such an image of gold, it could have been his dream, a statue to his god or an obelisk but it was bad news for the three Hebrews. For Nebuchadnezzar it was probably a pragmatic decision intended to gain a pledge of allegiance from his officials. He knew that the Hebrews worshiped their own God and probably didn’t care so long as they bowed down to his image and therefore submitted to him. We had four headings;

• Faithful before men
• Faithful through a trail
• Faithful to God
• God is faithful to his people

Faithful before men

The three Hebrews faced opposition from the state

• When the music plays all bow down
• Three remain standing
• Being faithful to God meant opposing the state
• Will we ever have to oppose the state?
• The UK is in the process of making things more difficult for churches and large organisations
• Politicians compete to oppose the church
• “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29)

They also faced personal opposition which is sometimes more of a challenge

• The king is reasonable at first
• Sometimes it is more difficult to stand against a person
• The king is then furious
• The pressure to conform

Faithful through a trail

• Where was Daniel? He is the dominant character in the book and was their friend
• They had been faithful in the small things
• Trials can set you free, when they entered the furnace the only things consumed were their bonds
• Trials build faith

^{1Pe 1:6} In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

^{1Pe 1:7} These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.

^{Jas 1:2} Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴ Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Faithful to God

• An assault on the senses, the sight of the image and the forces of the state, the sound of the music and the furnace and the feel of the heat from the furnace
• They were faithful to one who could not be seen
• The believed in God’s power “the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.”
• Do we believe God when it seems to make no sense?
• They submitted to his will, “But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
• Do we trust God when he says no?

God is faithful to his people

• They were not alone
• The fourth person in the furnace seems to be the pre-existent Christ
• They may not have seen him
• The Lord stands at our side
• “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5)

Haiti

It’s been over a week since the terrible earth quake in Haiti. As we’ve watched the news unfold it’s like watching a car crash in slow motion. The fact that no one should be surprised when the broken and inadequate infrastructure of such a poor country simply cannot cope with the relief effort doesn’t make it any easier.

There is no news yet of any of the three children sponsored by people at Eb (Jackie’s mum also sponsors a child in Haiti). Like everyone else Compassion has been deeply affected by the disaster. The main Compassion centre has been damaged and work is continuing from the car park. Many of those working are themselves dealing with the loss of loved ones, are homeless and some are injured.

Compassion sponsor 65,000 children in Haiti, and more than 6,000 of them are in the Port-au-Prince area which was the region worst affected.

There is a blog regularly updated on the situation here. It reads;

“Our latest estimates are that about 50 child development centers were seriously hit. We have made contact with more than half of the affected centers and are assessing the immediate needs.

We do not have complete details on the extent or type of damage each center received. However, as a snapshot, in the 28 centers, there were more than:

• 100 deaths
• 40 severely wounded
• 1,200 homes destroyed
• 650 homes damaged

These numbers include children, family members, development center staff and church members.

We continue to work diligently to collect accurate information to share with you; however, this process will take some time, even in regards to the church partners and children outside of Port-au-Prince.”

For those able to give, you can give online through Compassion here and Tearfund here. We are also sending a gift as a church to Tearfund and there will be a box for gifts available again this Sunday.

Money is desperately needed but we also need to pray to one who can act in this chaos and even bring something beautiful from it. Please pray for the situation in Haiti today.

Lord as we come to you today we pray for Haiti.

We pray for our leaders making important decisions with regard to resources.

We pray for the relief agencies and all of those who are working to help those in need.

We pray for the injured that they will receive the medical care that they need.

For the homeless that they will find shelter.

We pray for food and water for the people.

We pray for those who are grieving and for the orphaned children.

We pray for those waiting for news of loved ones.

We pray for your church in Haiti, our brothers and sisters, may they rise up and share your love with this broken nation.

We pray for Compassion, its staff and church partners and the sponsored children and their families.

Bring help and healing to Haiti Lord we pray.

For we ask in the mighty name of Jesus.

Amen.

God is Good

Last night we had a church meeting where we discussed the ongoing work of the church. These meetings take place in January and July though they can drift a bit.

Many consider church meetings to be worthy but boring. If I’m honest before I was involved in the leadership and when our children were small I would volunteer for babysitting duty when the church meetings came around! Last night we looked at some of the church programmes in greater depth and agreed to pray for them in the future.

Today God has already answered prayer. It would be wrong to go into any detail but I’ve been contacted today by someone that I’ve never met who has been looking for something to meet a particular need in this area. This person doesn’t live locally but found the church website and found the very activity that we were praying about last night.

Sometimes we can only smile as we see God at work. It could be a coincidence of course but we see too many coincidences when we pray not to be convinced. God answers prayer. God is good.

Lifting the Veil, Daniel 2

We’re planning something new on the blog this week as we are trying to make the sermons available in an MP3 file. This will mean that anyone can click on and hear the sermon online. Unfortunately it isn’t as simple as I had imagined and is a bit beyond my IT skill level at present though hopefully things will be sorted in the next few days.

In the meantime, the outline from last Sunday is found below along with the images of the statue and charts used. The passage is Daniel Chapter 2 and you can read it online here.      

Setting the scene.

• Early in his reign, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream.  
• He tells his wise men to interpret the dream,
• A carrot and stick approach is used.
• When they are unable to reveal the dream. the king orders all the wise men executed.
• Daniel and co ask for time and start a serious prayer meeting.
• During the night God reveals the dream and its meaning to Daniel.
• After Daniel has told the king the dream and its meaning, he bows before Daniel and then promotes him  

Filling some gaps.

• In chapter two and verse four the book of Daniel changes language from Hebrew to Aramaic and six stories are told before Daniel reverts to Hebrew in chapter eight.
• The six stories are set out in a chiastic sequence as seen below.

• If chapter 7 were to be placed chronologically, it would be placed between chapters 4 and 5 so we see that the order is important and Daniel wants the two kingdom prophecies taken side by side.

Daniel 2		Daniel 7
Head of gold	Babylonian	Winged lion
Chest and arms of silver	Medeo-Persian	One sided bear
Belly and thighs of bronze	Greek	Four headed leopard
Legs of iron	Roman	Beast with iron teeth
Feet of iron and clay		Beast slain and judgement
Rock that breaks the image	Kingdom of God	Son of Man comes in the clouds

• The four metals represent four kingdoms that will come upon the earth.
• Daniel identifies the head of gold with the Babylonian Empire.
• The chest and arms of silver are the Medeo-Persian Empire which conquered Babylon in chapter 5.
• The belly and arms of bronze stand for the Greco-Macedonian Empire which came to prominence under Alexander the Great.  
• The legs of iron speak of the Roman Empire.
• There is plenty of debate about the feet but since the rock hits the image at the feet it suggests it is something going on at the return of Christ.
• The rock that grows to fill the whole earth is the kingdom of God which replaces earthly kingdoms.  

There is much to be said about the dream and its meaning but today we will be thinking how the Lord protected Daniel and his friends and how our only response to him is to bow and worship.

The Lord hears.

• Daniel is a man of prayer.
• He prays with his friends.
• This was passionate prayer.
• They asked for the impossible.
• There was no other hope.
• How different is our situation? We need a miracle to change our community.

The Lord is worthy.

• It was still dark.
• Daniel was still under sentence of death.
• “Then Daniel praised the God of heaven.”
• A life of faith involves praising God when it’s still dark.
• Daniel would not take the glory himself.
• “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name.” – Hebrews 13:15

The Lord reveals.

• Religion is reaching up towards heaven.
• The wise men are powerless.
• Christianity is founded on revelation.
• The Lord knows the future.
• He reveals it to his people.

The Lord acts.

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;

wisdom and power are his.

^{Da 2:21} He changes times and seasons;

he sets up kings and deposes them.

He gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to the discerning.

^{Da 2:22} He reveals deep and hidden things;

he knows what lies in darkness,

and light dwells with him.

^{Da 2:23} I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers:

You have given me wisdom and power,

you have made known to me what we asked of you,

you have made known to us the dream of the king.”

• The Lord is not merely an observer.
• He acts in history.
• He has a plan for the ages.
• Jesus will return.
• Every knee will bow.

The Lord reigns.

• Nebuchadnezzar stepped down and prostrated himself before a young Hebrew captive.
• “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”

Behind the Mask

We had some more physical games in Genesis last night with human netball and dodgeball among others. This was the cue for much banter and debate as to what was fair, what are the rules, are the sides even, are you cheating? etc etc.

For the talk Bethan spoke on playing a part and how it’s so easy to get swept along with the crowd rather than make a stand. When you think about it the bible has a lot to say about this, Jesus referred to the Pharisees as hypocrites meaning they were pretending to be something that they were not. Jesus had enormous patience with sinful people yet condemned hypocrisy when he saw it.   

 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (Matthew 23:27-28)

In the New International Encyclopaedia of Bible Words the Greek words for hypocrite are defined thus;

“The Greek words hypokrinomai (appears once in the NT), hypokrisis (6 times in the NT), and hypokrites (20 times in the NT) denote someone acting out the part of a character in a play. In Greek drama the actors held over their faces oversized masks painted to represent the character they were portraying. In life, the hypocrite is a person who masks his real self while he plays a part for his audience.”

The picture above is of part of a mosaic from Hadrian’s Villa showing masks of comedy and tragedy.

In John 4 Jesus states that what matters in worship is to worship in spirit and truth. He also tells the woman at the well that the Father is actively seeking out those who will worship in truth, in reality, without the mask.

What masks do we use? What image are we seeking to portray? One thing is certain; God is not interested in our pretence. He wants us to be real with him and each other.

On the Front Line

I’ve been thinking about John Lennox lately. He is according to his website, “John Lennox MA, MA (Bioethics), PhD., DPhil, DSc., is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science, and Pastoral Advisor at Green Templeton College. He is also Lecturer at Wycliffe-Hall, University of Oxford.” He has participated in many public debates with prominent atheists and much of it is available online.

What some may not know is that John lived for many years in Cardiff, was actively involved in his local church and on at least one occasion even came to speak at Eb. I also had the privilege a few years ago of hearing him speak again at Highfields Church in Cardiff on the Book of Daniel, it was amazing.

Last night during the Youth Bible study one of the guys prayed for John and for Alister McGrath that the Lord would help and protect them. I think this is a really good prayer as they and others are on the front line of a battle.

We are living in a culture where militant atheism is becoming more pronounced. Last week Simon Mayo a major BBC presenter, expressed in the Daily Telegraph, concern over the way that religious belief is treated by the BBC, you can read it here. He writes  “I’ve just listened to David Tennant on Desert Island Discs. His father was a minister and that was seen to be a problem [by Kirsty Young, presenter].” In this climate we need Christians who can engage in the debate and put forward a coherent and reasoned approach to faith in Christ.

In his letter Jude encourages believers to contend for the faith (Jude v3), it is more necessary today than ever and if we are not personally able to debate with Richard Dawkins and co, let’s pray for those who do.

John’s Wikipedia entry is here and his website here. Both videos are quite short but well worth watching.      

2009-2010

A few weeks ago we spent a couple of minutes on a Sunday morning looking back on 2009 and looking forward to 2010. So many things came out of the discussion that I thought it would be good to put the list up again so that we can give thanks for the past and ask for the Lord’s help in the year ahead.

There are many more things that could and perhaps should be listed but these are the things that came to our minds in those few short minutes. I’ve organised them into categories because that’s how my mind works though the categories do overlap.

We give thanks for the blessings of 2009 especially;

Where individuals were blessed

• Three weddings; Bethan and Mike, Lauren and Dave and Tami and Dave (not the same Dave) Christian homes were set up
• Engagements! Anwen and Alun and Hannah and Rhys
• Bev wanted to thank God for his support during the year as recovered from potentially serious burns
• Some said that through difficult and sad times they had known God’s goodness
• Many had opportunities to share their faith personally
• Sally had known the blessing, support and prayers of people in the church

Blessings with the Youth

• The Vine group has been blessed especially during their weekend away
• The Youth Bible study groups have been a real encouragement
• Those who had been involved in the PCY Camp had the privilege of seeing young people become Christians

Blessings in the church

• Sam and Eileen were baptised
• We have seen real growth in the young people
• Prayer has become more of a priority and the 24 hr prayer sessions were precious times
• We have had opportunities to share our faith
• Members have come forward with great ideas to share the gospel – Computer club, Christmas HBC, Tesco carol singing etc
• We have seen people saved
• We have been blessed by the worship and music
• More people leading in communion and chairing etc – diversity
• Home Groups have been blessed
• Lindsey is thankful for fruit in her ministry and for the support that she had received  

In 2010 we are praying for change;

In ourselves

• Spiritual growth in us using our gifts
• Boldness to speak about God

In our community

• That we the church will have an impact with the Gospel in people’s lives
• For more Christians in our community
• That the community will be changed for the better and families restored  
• People we have been praying for over many years, that they will be saved
• For Christians living in non Christian homes that they will walk with grace and Jesus will be seen

In our land

• For a spiritual revival in Wales and the UK as a whole
• For peace and justice and that our leaders will be wise and guided by the word of God

When we look back it is easy to see the Lord’s hand at work and some of the things that he has done have astounded us. Let us use the blessing of the past to spur us on to pray more fervently and speak more boldly.

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:2-6)

Grinding to a Halt

If ever an enemy wanted to bring the UK to its knees they would not need any weapon of mass destruction, just a few inches of snow. It came yesterday afternoon and everything ground to a halt. Roads became impassable, schools closed and it took me over an hour to get the car nearly home (at the bottom of the estate where we live) from Penygawsi which is just over a mile away. Last night’s elders meeting was postponed probably because the prospect of being snowed in together was too much to contemplate.

On the BBC news website the two big stories today are the snow and the earthquake in Haiti and I have to wonder, if one of the most prosperous countries in the world can be brought to a standstill with some snow, what happens when one of the poorest is hit by a massive earthquake?

News is starting to filter through and aid agencies are gearing up for what will be a major relief operation. In the chaos, Jackie and I are praying especially for one eleven year old girl in Haiti called Angela. We have sponsored her through the Christian charity Compassion for the last few years and Jackie was writing to her last night before the news of the earthquake as her birthday is coming up. The picture is a bit old now and the scanning of poor quality.

When you pray for the situation in Haiti, please pray for Angela, for her grandmother who looks after her and for thousands like them. Pray for those who will be involved in the rescue operation, for those working to bring relief and the long term help that will be needed.

Update we received this via email from Compassion today

I know your heart must be breaking as the full horror of Haiti’s worst earthquake in 200 years comes to light. In the midst of the carnage and chaos, we’ve been unable to make contact with our Compassion Haiti staff and get news of your sponsored child, Angela.

We are working as fast as we can to get the most up-to-date news of all our Compassion sponsored children in Haiti. Please be assured we will contact you as soon as we have information about your child, Angela.

As a Compassion sponsor with a special heart for the people of Haiti, I am sure you will want to give generously to the Haiti Relief Fund. We are sending funds immediately.

Please pray for our staff and all our Compassion-assisted children and families in Haiti. We know they will be depending on us more than ever for food, clean water and the resources to rebuild their shattered lives and communities.

Thank you for your heartfelt concern, generosity and prayers at this critical time.

God bless you

You can send a gift here