Monday Message

Sometimes I get angry. Something happens, and the red fog descends. I’ve been known to get very angry, very quickly, and often with little or no reason for it. I even get angry at people for doing something to me, that I do to them. Ahh the joy of double standards... And so this has raised a question in my mind; If anger is a sin, how come God and Jesus got angry? Saint Augustine said: “Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they don’t remain the way they are.” To be honest, I’ve never considered anger to be a thing of beauty. When I think of anger, I think of myself not being rational, being violent, shouting, and saying or doing things I’d never normally do. And all too often I do these things to the ones I love. So what’s different about how I get angry, and how Jesus got angry? Let’s take a look at Matthew 21:12-13: Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying...

Twice God has given people different languages, and each served a different purpose, and had a different outcome. First, let’s take a look at the Tower of Babel. (Babel is similar to the Hebrew word balal, which translates to confuse ). Genesis 11:1-9 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their la...

Healing the sick, raising the dead, and preaching justice, peace, forgiveness, and the coming of God's kingdom? Do these sound like capital crimes to you?  They did to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders of Jesus time. And because of this, Jesus was beaten, disfigured, and hung on a cross to die. His body laid in a tomb and a huge stone, to stop the body being stolen, rolled across the entrance. But on that very first Easter morning, an angel rolled the stone away, and waited to tell Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of Jesus, what had happened. How awesomely terrifying and joyful that meeting must have been for the Marys. Not only had they been visited by and angel, but Jesus, whom they loved dearly had risen from the dead! As they left, Jesus appeared to them before they ran to tell the disciples. The disciples were afraid. They did not want to be associated with Jesus, because he had just been condemned and executed. They had experienced this personally, and were te...

This is a repeat of a poem I wrote for last Easter. It tries to capture the scene on the hill from the view of Jesus, and the crowd. Crucifixion: The echoes of the hammer have fallen away Now just heard are the moans of those hung from the trees Three have a view over the crowd And one, the innocent His view is of eternity seen through a veil Of blood and pain From a body battered and torn Thorn crown on his head mocks His station before the crowd And His gaze settles on each one Both then and now Not eyes that accuse, condemn or show vengeance Only love and forgiveness are shown thos...

This past week, I have had the immense honour of being a part of Easter Alive . Jesus on the cross as depicted for Easter Alive. (Credit: www.facebook.com/npeasteralive/) Throughout the week there were three things that struck me: the honour of participating, not getting lost in the part, and having to live forgiveness everyday. I am fortunate enough to live in a country where it's not illegal to be Christian. Nor is it illegal to gather believers, or to evangelise to the wider community. Easter Alive is a bi-yearly walk-through dramatisation of the story of Jesus death and resurrection, starting with his arrival in Jerusalem. And this year I had the part of Peter, the denier of Jesus. I view it as a true honour to be allowed to act the part of someone who was so important in the Bible, and was a true and close friend of Jesus, in the physical sense. I really tried to capture what I thought it would have been like for Peter in those times, as he watched his friend die. ...

Here in New Zealand it's Father's Day. I am eternally grateful to my father for what he taught me and how he helped me to become the man I am today. Also, I'm grateful to my children because, without them, I wouldn't be a father. All in all, I've had a good upbringing and life to follow as I was fortunate enough to be from a loving home that taught me the values I needed to set out on my own way into the world. Not all people are this fortunate. For some the word 'father' carries dread, sorrow, hate or a myriad of other connotations. For them Father's Day is a day better forgotten. However, no matter our upbringing, our experiences, the fathers we had, or didn't, there is hope for us all. We all have a heavenly father who loves us. Abba, Father. God; The very creator of all we see and the One to whom we owe our very being. People will let us down. People will be flawed and have issues. I know I do! God will always love us. He is the sa...

My sister has been involved in youth ministry for quite some time now and she told me about an example she used once, which I'll relate here. In the hall, all the lights were turned off and people were standing in random places. My sister would walk around and when she came to someone she'd shine a torch in their eyes. As you can imagine, the people would throw their hands up and shy away from the bright light. Once she'd done this several times, she moved to the centre of the room and shone the torch at the ceiling. Now everyone could see the light, but no one needed to shy away. Our lives are like the torch. Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. We are cal...

Jeremiah 31:29-30 “The people will no longer quote this proverb: ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,     but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste.’ All people will die for their own sins—those who eat the sour grapes will be the ones whose mouths will pucker. Each person will be held to account for their actions and made to pay for their choices. Sounds pretty bleak to me. If I make a misstep, then I will die. God despises sin and tells us quite plainly in Romans that the wages of sin is death. Put simply, if we sin, someone has to die. And yet this isn't the end of the plan God laid out to Jeremiah. Jeremiah 31:31-34  “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. “...

Luke 12:6-7 “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. I like to think I'm making God's job a little easier everyday. As I loose my hair, He can count a little faster and have more time for others. I know that's not how God works, but it makes me more comfortable with inevitable baldness. Bad jokes aside, sparrows were about the cheapest thing you could buy to be sacrificed at the temple. Pretty much even the poorest people could offer a sparrow or two when needed. The most basic of gifts to be given to God. A sparrow sacrificed before God was pleasing to Him. Some days it's easy to think we shouldn't present ourselves before God. We've done or said something that we're ashamed of. At the very time we most need God, we seem to be most likely to turn from Him. To th...

Psalm 128:1-6 How joyful are those who fear the Lord -  All who follow His ways! You will enjoy the fruit of your labour. How joyful and prosperous you will be! Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine, flourishing within your home. Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees as they sit around your table. That is the Lord's blessing for those that fear Him. May the Lord continually bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live. May you live to enjoy your grandchildren. May Israel have peace! This psalm gives me both great peace and great worry. On the one hand, I'm promised joy and prosperity. On the other, a fruitful wife. A couple of years ago I thought along these lines: My wife would have lots of kids, who'd grow up to be full of energy, whilst becoming wealthy and living a comfortable life. If that was what I was expecting, I'd say I was disappointed. We have not had any children biologically, yet o...

This week, one of my very dear friends went through something I can only describe as shattering. His precious, 13 day old son, Zethan, died in his mother's arms. Zethan only had a few short days with his parents, but in that time he touched the hearts of an untold number of people. Although most of us only knew Zethan for 13 days, his parents knew him for the 9 months previous; Praying for him and loving him even as he was forming in his mother's womb. More than that though, God knew him from time immemorial. Psalm 139:13-16 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body     and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!     Your workmanship is marvellous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,     as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born.     Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was lai...

Fear of the unknown; Of discomfort; Of having to give up the things I enjoy. I know I'll be better off if I truly surrender to Him, but I'm a stubborn young man. I want what I have that keeps me comfortable. And I want what God has for me too! Mark 4:3-9 With last week's post , I looked at the parable of the sower, but only the last line. The focus being on hearing and listening. This week I'm going to focus on the parable itself and the explanation that followed. “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they...

I'm working through a reading plan that will see me read the entire Bible in a year. It's the first time I've done this and it's been an eye opening experience. Sometimes it's a passage I've heard others mention or a saying I didn't realise was in the Bible in the first place. Today's Monday Message is based off a different connection that I occasionally see in my reading. In this case a well known phrase from the New Testament that looks to be linked to the Old Testament. Not an unusual occurrence I'm sure, but one that gone me thinking. Mark 4:9 Then He said "Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand." Matthew 13:9 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand." Both of these verses directly follow the Parable of the Sower, just in the different Gospels. Jesus uses this phrase to indicate that the meaning is hidden in the parable. Even His disciples have to ask him it's meaning. But why the...

Again this week, I'm using one of my old sermons for the message as it has been something I've been brought back to over the last week as I dwell on the idea of grace and adoption. The audio file is available here: Download The new testament comes after 400 years of silence from God. So the start of the new testament must be full of action and drama. Surely it must! But no! Matthew starts with a list. A list! What kind of start is that after 400 years of silence. As if the old testament wasn’t full enough of lists as it is, now we start to new testament with a list. Seriously, It better be a good list. Fortunately, this isn’t just any list. This is a list of Jesus ancestors. All the way from Abraham down to Joseph and Mary. Funnily enough, most of the names on the list are men. In fact, there are only 5 women listed and today’s woman of faith is one of them. Rahab lived in the fortress city of Jericho, near the River Jordan. Despite living in a walled city, Rahab was...

Last Sunday, I presented the message at church. The topic was 'Why did Jesus die?' and the verses were Mark 8:22-33. I struggled a lot in writing the message, but in the end was able to marry the topic and the verses together. The title of the message is: Nothing, Something, Everything. I present the original version below and also provide a link to the audio of the actual delivered message as well because, as we probably all know, what we write and what we say are often a little different. Audio version hosted on West Baptist website. At the end of Monty Python's The Life of Brian, Eric Idle proclaims: "You know, you come from nothing; You're going back to nothing. What have you lost? Nothing!" Today I want to look at why that statement just isn't true! Mark 8:22-25 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out...