Preaching with a purpose

I went to the usual Monday meeting.   The subject was exclusive faith.   The DVD spoke about other “faiths” and used philosophical arguments to speak about the differences in these faiths.   The conclusion was that Christianity is exclusive because it preaches that Jesus is the only way to God.   I found it to be a bit too intellectual for my liking.   I would say that as Christians we are bound to give offence.   Have they never heard of the offence of the gospel?   I am beginning to get used to the style of these DVDs and even afraid I am being sucked in by them.   They blur the gospel and numb the mind.I only go because I have friends there and I want to do any damage limitation I can.   We usually discuss them again on Tuesday evenings at our Bible study group.

Always optimism should be accompanied by a large dose of realism. There are those who say the world is getting better and will lead to the coming of God’s kingdom.   They are obviously wearing blinkers.   Our world is in a huge mess of our own making.   Some of us are very fortunate to live in peace and tranquillity, but this is not the situation for the greater part of the world’s population. The kingdom of God will only come when Jesus returns as He promised.   Until then there will be trouble and strife. Of course we should do our best to alleviate the problems others face.   However who can we trust with the money we would send to help?   What people need is Jesus and I do not want to commit my money to people who will give help for the body but not for the soul. I know some missionaries who are doing both in Papua New Guinea and so I give to them.

I’m sure no one would disagree with me when I say, “ The world is in a mess.” But how should we react to this?   It is so easy to sit comfortably in front of the T.V. and because there is the need to protect oneself, to calmly eat tea whilst watching the most awful scenes. A large dose of denial helps one brush it all aside as happening a long way away. However problems are coming home to roost.   Migrants are invading our borders and expecting to be assimilated into our own countries.   Who is responsible for all the chaos in the world?   We all are, our collective sinfulness causes all these problems.   The Western world is responsible for grabbing more than its share of the natural resources of other lands and thereby causing the poverty of millions. The chickens are definitely coming home to roost. However many migrants are not a drain on the country.   There are many immigrants keeping our health service, in Britain, from crumbling.   The...

Tonight’s topic was about religion and violence.   Many people claim that religion leads to violence and war.   Many wars have been fought in the name of Christianity but although the instigators may have called themselves Christians they were not necessarily so.   We decided in the discussion time that war is much more to do with commodities such as oil and the wish to control it. Some talked of Jesus being a bringer of peace but I pointed out He said, “ 10:34 “Do not think that I have come to bring 60 peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. 10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, 10:36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household . 6 Trust me to put a spanner in the works, but then I like to give a more rounded picture of things in the Bible.   These days so many aspects of our faith are squeezed out, supposedly to make it...

The Lord’s Prayer, as it is known, was never meant to be something to chant down the centuries together.   It was meant as a template of the sort of things to pray. Jesus taught that we were not meant to pray in public in order to impress each other with our spirituality, but to pray in secret in the privacy of our home alone. When the prayer is just between us and God there is no room for pride and we certainly can’t impress God. Prayer is not for us to change what God is doing but to get ourselves in line with His wishes, “thy will be done.”   That is my favourite line from this prayer.   When you submit to God’s will peace comes, because you know His will is the very best, even though it may be difficult to live through.

There are some who think we can bring in the kingdom of heaven here on Earth by our own efforts.   Have they not been watching the T.V. news programmes?   This world is in a mess and not improving one bit.   It will take the coming of Jesus in all His power to sort things out.     So pray for His coming to be soon instead of making vain efforts to bring in the kingdom now.   By all means help your neighbour and live a kindly life where you are, but don’t expect to do what only the king of the kingdom can do.