An Eye for an Eye or Turn the Other Cheek?

If anyone injures his neighbour, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. (Leviticus 24:19-20)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Matthew 5:38-39)


It is probably the most famous "contradiction" in the Bible, and one that I have been asked about on several occasions. It also touches on one of the most important issues of life - how do we react when someone does us wrong?

So which is it? Turn the other cheek or an eye for an eye? And if it is one why does the bible contradict itself by also mentioning the other?

As with so many matters of biblical interpretation it is very important to understand the context. If the context of these two passages were the same it would indeed be a profound contradiction. But they are not the same and so we are not comparing apples with apples but apples with oranges.

In the Leviticus passage the context is social justice. God is giving the people the laws of the land which they are to live by and which the courts and judges among them are to apply. The principle of "an eye for an eye" is a very important one here. It basically means this: Justice should be just! The punishment should fit the crime. Most people have inbuilt sense of justice and understand the moral outrage when a vicious criminal who has inflicted callous hurt to his victims is allowed to walk out of the courtroom with a smirk on his face. Equally we know the pain we feel when we hear of travesties of justice where people are imprisoned or executed by the courts of the land for "crimes" that are trivial or in most people's view no crimes at all!

This sense of justice comes from God. He feels the same.

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord. (Proverbs 17:15)

Strong words! And ones that illustrate how important the issue of justice is the the Lord. He is after all the Judge of all men. He is the one who will ultimately settle all scores, right all wrongs, issue recompense or punishment where it is due and give to all men according to their deeds. It is God's heart that his heavenly standard of justice be represented in the earth. That kings and rulers, courts and officials execute their duties without corruption or bias.

However when Jesus is talking about turning the other cheek the context is different. He is not speaking about making just laws for the land but about interpersonal relationships. Specifically he is dealing with the issue of how we should react when we are wronged, hurt, upset or in any other way aggrieved by someone we are in any form of relationship with.

When we are wronged or hurt unfairly by someone it is very easy to feel a "righteous anger" about the injustice of it all. Our natural inclination is to take matters into our own hands; to treat the other person in the same manner as they have treated us (or worse!). However, as the bible points out, a man's anger when he has been wronged is very rarely righteous!

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1:19-20)

Jesus is saying that we should not try to be the source of our own justice. Just as it is wrong for a lynch mob to try to enforce their own interpretation of the law of the land and the justice that is due, it is wrong for us to try to enforce the justice we feel we are due in our relationships with others. It's not for us to try to bring them to account. Instead we should trust in the justice that God himself will provide.

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honourable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21)

Another common reaction when we are wronged or hurt is to put up our defences. We may not actively seek retribution but we avoid, ignore and generally go out of our way to not be anywhere near the person who has hurt us. Whether we acknowledge it or not we are thinking, "I'll never let them make me feel that way again."

This is the powerful impact of Jesus' words to turn the other cheek. Because he is not just telling us not to seek retribution on the ones who have hurt us. He is telling us not to raise our defences too! Don't shun them. Don't cut them out. Don't ignore them or blank them. Stay vulnerable. Stay open. Stay in touch. Continue to show them love and kindness even if it means they have the opportunity to hurt you again!

Wow!

I'm not saying it's easy. I'm certainly not claiming that I've got it all right. To be honest I struggle in these areas too. But I do believe this is the standard that God wants us to live by. Lord, by your grace enable us to do so. Amen.

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Breakfast Boy

I had a dream last night. I very rarely remember my dreams, but when I do they are often significant. As a preface I think the lessons in the dream are for me, but I share them in the hope they may speak to others too. While I dreamt I had no thoughts that there was anything meaningful or symbolic happening. It felt like a real experience where the dream scenario and my real memories and emotions merged into something I just accepted.

I was in the servant quarters of a large stately home. A man who reminded me a lot of Mr Carson from Downton Abbey was briefing me on my new job which I was to start the next day.

I had been given the lowest position in the house; that of Breakfast Boy. My duties were simple. I was to report early in the morning before the master awoke and wait outside his room. When he came out for his breakfast if there was anything he required or desired he would tell me and I was to get it for him.

Eager to please I arrived with plenty of time the next day and took up my position.

But as I waited and waited I became dissatisfied. I started to look around for something to do. I felt I needed to be doing something to justify my employment. In my search for these small jobs I wandered a little way from my post.

As I performed these tasks I started to think about my new job. What would my friends and family think about me being a Breakfast Boy? It didn't sound very glamorous. How did it fit with my qualifications and my experience? Was I really being used to my full potential? As I had wandered I had discovered that this was not just a stately home but a palace. And the master was actually the king. This made me feel better. If anyone asked I would tell them I was the king's servant. That sounded better. Spiritual even! Perhaps when I got to know the king I could arrange for friends to come and visit. That would make me popular. I was now even further from my post.

Finally I found myself in a church conference setting [I don't know how, but in the dream it seemed to make sense]. Lots of people I knew where there. I mingled and listened to the speaker for a bit.

Suddenly I remembered my duties and realised how far I was from my post. I looked at my watch. I was late! I rushed back but on the way I bumped into the Carson character. He was seriously unimpressed. He gave me a good dressing down for being late on my first day! I tried to protest that I had been there in time but he didn't want to hear any of my excuses.

That's where the dream ended. And I forgot all about it until later in the morning when I realised what day it was. On holiday, days tend to merge into one. I had completely forgotten it was Easter Sunday. It was only when I saw some of the, "He is risen!" posts on Facebook that I realised. I remembered my dream and suddenly realised the significance of being available for the risen king!

Breakfast Boy may have seemed a lowly and insignificant position. But actually it was one of great honour and importance. It was a position of intimacy close to the king. To see him risen. To be trusted with his first requests of the day.

I realised how much of my thinking was taken up with what other people think of me, and how easy it is to get distracted from what is important and look for significance in the wrong places. How readily positions of service are turned into titles of ministry. How easy it is to measure our importance to the master by our activity. How we can become distracted in the familiarity of our meeting settings or measure our worth by which conferences we attend and who we rub shoulders with when we are there.

All that matters is that we are servants of the risen king available to do his bidding.

I am his Breakfast Boy. That is enough.

Seventy Sevens

"Seventy weeks [sevens] are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place [one]." Daniel 9:24

 The "seventy sevens" of Daniel are a matter of much confusion and debate. However rather than shy away from this difficult passage, I think it has an important message.

One obvious interpretation is that the "weeks" or "sevens" represent seven years. As Daniel was prophesying around 500 years before the birth of Christ, and 7 times 70 is 490, this is not insignificant. In fact if you pick out the important points from the passage, you see that Daniel is given a message from the angel Gabriel concerning the coming of an anointed one who will put an end to sin and fulfil all prophecy. It's not too difficult to join the dots and work out that he is being told about Jesus!

However as with most prophetic numbers in scripture the importance is not so much the exact numeric value as the meanings behind the numbers.

Context too is very important. It is significant that Daniel's answer about the "seventy sevens" is given in response to a question and a prayer concerning one "seventy."

"In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years." Dan 9:2

Daniel asked a question of God concerning one seventy - that represented the restoration of the Jewish people from exile in Babylon. God answered this question, but went much further, talking about not just the one seventy, but a seven times seventy, a fullness of restoration that would be not just for one ethnic group but a restoration of all peoples from their captivity to sin. The anointed one who would come would not just fulfil Jeremiah's prophecy, but all the prophecies of scripture!

How often are our questions of God too small? We are concerned about our own blessings and prosperity when God wants to lift our eyes to see how we fit into his big plan for the whole world, that the blessings we have in Christ might be a blessing for all those around us.

Next, it is important to let scripture interpret itself. Seventy sevens is a theme that has been introduced before.

Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:

I have killed a man for wounding me,

a young man for striking me.

If Cain's revenge is sevenfold,

then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.” Gen 4:23-24

This Old Testament motif of vengeance, is the same that Jesus takes and transforms to represent a fullness of forgiveness.

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Mt 18:21-22

It is in Christ that the seventy sevens are fulfilled and the judgement of God that kept all men exiles in sin is transformed by the cross to be a means of forgiveness and restoration for all peoples to restore the relationship with God.

Since we have received such a great forgiveness let us not go back to the old way of vengeance and unforgiveness against our brothers. But forgive in the same measure that we have been forgiven.

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honourable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Ro 12:17-21

Attainable!

I was reading Ephesians 4 again today, and I was struck by the phrase. "Attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." And in particular the word, "Attaining!"

Reaching fullness in Christ is not an impossible dream, but an intended design. It is attainable, because it is what Christ has purposed for his church.

BUT... it is not something that we can attain on our own. That was never the design. It is only attainable in the corporate setting of the church. No one individual can ever represent the fullness of Christ. It even takes five types of ascension ministry gifts to represent the nature of Christ's gift to his body. But we each have a measure of Christ's grace and a unique portion of his gift.

We need each other. To reach the fullness of the head requires a fullness in the working of the body. Ephesians 4 talks about the maturity requirement of both "every part" and "every joint". "Each part working properly" is not enough. We also need "every joint with which it is equipped." It is a connected body where the members have concern for each other and work together in love that takes us closer to the "attaining" we are destined for.

It Takes Two

And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Ex 25:18

It's amazing the detail you can see in even a very familiar passage of scripture. I was reading this passage about how God instructed the mercy seat to be made, the place where his glory would be manifest, where he would speak to his people. It struck me that there needed to be two cherubim of gold.

Even in the case of heavenly beings, there still needs to be a plurality to display the glory of God.

Making God's glory known has always been a corporate activity. Right from the Garden God said, "Let us make man in our image." He made them. Male and female. Adam and Eve. Two human beings to bring God's rule and display his glory in the earth.

When Jesus sent out the disciples to preach the gospel, heal the sick and cast out the demons to demonstrate that the kingdom of God was at hand, he sent them out in twos.

Right the way through to the final book of the bible, where in Revelation we read of God's "Two Witnesses." It has always been God's plan and his purpose to display his glory through a people. Not individuals, but community. Even if that community is just two or three.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. Mt 18:20

Too often the church is seen as just the staging post for individuals' mission out in the world. The place where they come in, get blessed up, and then sent out again as individuals. We need to capture again the wisdom of God. That it is now, through the church in all it's manifold variety in unity that God desires to display his glory.

On our own we can still demonstrate the love and compassion of God. But to display his glory... that takes two! (or more!)

Looking forward to meeting with City Church Coventry this morning. To know him better and to better make him known.

Just a thought

Faith is pushing the door and believing it will open. Wisdom is knowing when to move on to the next door.

The Look of Love

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. (Mark 10:21a)

How do you react when you notice a deficiency in a brother or sister in Christ? Anyone can be a critic, and there are plenty around! But that is not the way that Jesus reacted. When the rich young ruler came to him, he saw a man whose life was in the grip of the love of money. Yet his first reaction was one of love. He saw beyond the man's limitations and saw the man himself.

Jesus says elsewhere that if we gave our own lives the same level of scrutiny that we give to others we would have enough "plank-like" work to keep us busy before we considered having a go at anyone else! But even if we reach anywhere near Christ-like perfection, this doesn't give us licence to throw the first stone. Our motivation should always be one of love.

Love doesn't put people down to make itself look bigger or better. Love doesn't try to score points at someone else's expense. Love takes no delight in keeping someone down. Love sees the best; believes the best; wants the best for the one loved. God is love. Jesus is the "Agapeton" - The Beloved or the Agape-one - the perfect expression of God's covenant Agape love.

Next time you see a brother or sister who falls short (locally or in Christ's wider body), don't look with the eyes of a critic. Look with the eyes of Christ. Before you speak make sure you look and love.

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh [continued]

"You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. A cubit shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And you shall make a moulding of gold around it." (Exodus 30:1-3)

The Lord said to Moses, "Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of aromatic cane, 24 and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil." (Exodus 30:22-25 ESV)

The Lord said to Moses, "Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part), and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you." (Exodus 30:34-36)

In this one chapter of Exodus, chapter 30, where God informs Moses the procedure where the priest may enter into the presence of God himself, we encounter the Magi's gifts again. Gold, frankincense and myrrh. I believe this reveals the most significant and prophetic aspect of these three gifts: They relate to the presence of God himself!

Even in the previous passage relating to Solomon we can see imagery that is rich with symbolism of the presence of God himself. The column of smoke in the wilderness and the golden "seat" transported on two poles. Strong parallels with the presence of God above the ark during the time of the exodus.

Before Jesus came to die, he came to live and fulfil the prophecy of Immanuel - God with us. Jesus was (and is!) the very presence of God in the midst of his people in a way that the ark and the temple could only foreshadow. God himself became flesh and dwelt among us. The Magi's gifts were thus also a fitting prophetic declaration that now one greater than the temple was here!

Frankincense was made into incense used by the high priest when he entered before the presence of God.

Myrrh was made into the holy anointing oil used on God's prophets, priests and kings.

Gold was used to cover everything in the temple that communicated the glorious presence of God himself.

Jesus came as our great high priest to bring us back into the presence of God. He came as the Christ - the anointed one - to live a life full of the power of the Holy Spirit. He came as king and to reveal the glory of God the father.

But there is still one more truth to unlock. For the true message of Christmas is not the gifts the Magi gave to the Christ, but the gift God in Christ gave to the world. The gold, frankincense and myrrh are also prophetic of the gifts that Christ still gives to us.

He has opened up the way for us to come freely into the presence of God. He has poured out the Holy Spirit for us to live in his anointing. He has given us authority to demonstrate the glory of his presence - his here and now kingdom rule on earth as it is in heaven. Frankincense, myrrh and gold - given by Christ to all those who have called on his name.

Have a wonderful Christmas.

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11 ESV)

'Tis the time of year when thoughts turn to all things Christmas. Family, turkey dinners, shopping, carols, fir trees, tinsel and of course the tableau of the baby in the manger - the greatest gift ever given - that of God himself who so loved the world that he gave his only son.

We all know the story of the wise men / kings / magi who came from the east to worship the baby king, and of the three gifts they gave. The way the bible records these gifts shows that they were clearly significant.

Conventional wisdom states that the gold was a gift for a king, and the other two fragrant gifts were to prepare him for burial. Perhaps so. He certainly was the king who was born with a mission to die. He came to take upon himself the punishment that we deserved so that all might be forgiven freely by his grace if they accept him as Lord.

But perhaps there is more here to dig out. Even if the death symbolism is correct, I certainly doubt it was what the Magi had in mind. They went to lengths to save him from Herod's machinations. Even his own disciples who had been with him three years struggled to grasp the significance of his death until after the resurrection. As always the best reference to biblical imagery and symbolism is the bible itself. So what does the bible say about gold, frankincense and myrrh? Where else do we find these three together in the scriptures?

One description I believe is highly significant is that of Solomon, the Son of David, riding out of the wilderness in his kingly glory:

What is that coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of a merchant? Behold, it is the litter of Solomon! King Solomon made himself a carriage from the wood of Lebanon. He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem. (Song of Songs 3:6-7a,9-10 ESV)

This would certainly fit with the messianic expectation surrounding God's promised king. He would be the son of David, like Solomon, smelling of myrrh and frankincense and seated on gold. This was how many people received Jesus, especially those who were looking for deliverance: "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!" or those who were looking for a restoration of the kingdom of Israel, "Hosanna to the son of David!"

Jesus may have been born in a manger, but the Magi recognised that this was God's chosen king. The promised son of David come to bring deliverance and restoration whose kingdom rule would never end.

But this is not the only place these three are found together. There is I believe an even more significant occurrence in the temple of God itself...

[Continued here]

What must I do?

"What must I do to be saved?" Acts 16:30b

It's great to be involved with the "Who is Jesus?" course at City Church Coventry. It's wonderful to get an open invitation to share your faith with those who want to listen. It has made me think back to time when as an eleven-year-old boy at a Scripture Union camp in Scotland, I asked the question of my tent-leader, "What do you have to do to be saved?"

Over the past few days I've tried to think again about how I would answer that question myself. In the simplest way possible. Using the fewest Bible verses.

What I came up with was R.B.S. Not the bank! But Repent. Believe. Speak.

Acts 3:19 (NIV) Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

Romans 10:9 (NIV) If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

To get healed by a doctor you first have to acknowledge the fact that you are sick and you have to want to get better. In the same way to be saved you have to be in a position where you acknowledge that your life as it is has not and cannot please God and that only Jesus has the answer. This is repentance.

Belief is the other side of the coin to repentance, for it is not just a turning away from sin, but a turning to God. We take "self" out of the pilot seat and hand it over to Jesus. It is the cry of "You have control." This kind of belief is more than mental assent; we are trusting God with our life.

Belief that says internalised is not enough. Something concrete and permanent happens when we give a thought a vocal expression. Telling someone that we have become a Christian is not an optional extra but an integral part of the process.

If you have never taken this step and are ready to do so, you can pray the following prayer. Then let someone know!

Jesus I'm sorry for the things I've done wrong.
I know that I cannot live my life without you.
Thank you that you died on the cross for me
and that you rose again and now live forever.
Please forgive me for all the past.
I surrender my life to you as Lord, from this day, for all my days.
Please come into my life and lead me.
Amen.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

2Samuel 19:16-40

I have been reading and meditating on the return of David to his kingdom in 2 Samuel. As well as an actual historic account it is a time period rich with prophetic significance. The king returns to unite and restore the kingdom, but at the price of the death of his own son; lifted up on a tree and pierced. David's reaction at this time is one of the few precious insights we have in the scriptures into the Father's heart as he expressed the amazing depths of his love for the world when he sent Jesus his son to die (Abraham and Jephthah are two others).

I was struck by the account just before he crossed back over the Jordan, and the three characters that came to meet him there: Barzillai the companion, Shimei the curser, and Mephibosheth the cripple. The good, the bad and the ugly. One had stayed loyal and faithful to David even in his darkest hour, one had displayed outright rebellion against him, and one despite his best intentions had felt that he had failed and let him down: The friend, the foe and the "failure".

All three present themselves to the king at his return.

Although these three characters are separate individuals in this account, I see them also as representatives of aspects of our own lives. The good, the bad and the ugly that lies within each of us. We often like to pretend that we are all "Barzillai". That's the side we like to project to the world around. We like people to see what we get right. The times when we are strong in the Lord. The exploits of faith. We are not so quick to acknowledge the times when the unruled flesh rises up in selfish rebellion to the the rule of God, or the times when despite our best efforts we fell flat on our face!

But God doesn't want us to put on a façade when we come before him. He is not fooled by our "best face". He knows us warts and all. He want us to submit all to him. The great grace of our kingly Father is revealed in this account. He does not just reward the good... he forgives the bad, and restores the ugly. No sin is too bad, no failure too shameful. The king extends his grace to all who come to him and desires to bring his rule, order and peace once again.

Jesus take me as I am,
I can come no other way,
Take me deeper into you,
Make my flesh life melt away.
Make me like a precious stone,
Crystal clear and finely honed.
Love of Jesus shining through,
Giving glory back to you.
~ Dave Bryant, 1978 Kingsway’s Thankyou Music

We See Your Glory

I have recently come back from the annual church Bible Week in Staffordshire: Refresh 2010. It was a great time of fellowship, teaching and worship. Each of the delegates received a free CD of some of the excellent worship songs written by members of the related churches. The CD is also available for free download at: http://weseeyourglory.com. Well worth a listen!

Rain and Harvest

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. (James 5:17-18 ESV)

James tells us that Elijah's prayers are a pattern for our own. Eliajh's prayers opened and closed the heavens; an authority that is now invested with the church [Matthew 18:18].

The results of Elijah's prayers are telling. There was a response both from heaven and the earth. Heaven gave forth its rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit. The Greek word used for fruit is "karpos" which can also be translated as "harvest". Elijah prayed for the rain from heaven and the harvest from the earth.

The response in the natural realm to Elijah's prayers, are a pattern for the response in the spiritual realm to the prayers of the church. We are those with authority from God to pray down the refreshing rain of the Holy Spirit from heaven, and pray forth the harvest of souls from the earth.

Ask rain from the LORD at the time of the spring rain (Zechariah 10:1 NASB)

Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:38 ESV)

Blessed are the meek

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Matthew 5:5 ESV

This is a much misunderstood and overlooked passage of Scripture. The root of the problem is the unfortunate associations with the word "meek" in the English translation. It often puts in mind an image of one who is weak and helpless, or the kind of timid soul who wouldn't say boo to a goose. Is this the kind of meekness that is blessed by the Lord? Are these the kind of individuals that will inherit the earth?

The scriptures are clear; there is nothing weak or timid about the Spirit we have received from God.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (2Timoty 1:7 NIV)

Moreover, we know that the Spirit we have received is the Spirit of Christ, and that meekness was part of his nature [2Co 10:1]. So this Christ-kind of meekness cannot have anything to do with timidity or weakness.

Vines describes meekness as "an inwrought grace of the soul. It is that temper of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting." [Adjective,4239,praos]

A better translation might therefore be "soft-hearted" or "yielded-obedience". It is this kind of meekness towards God and our brothers and sisters in Christ that carries the blessing of God.

We know from the examples of Abraham on Moriah, and Christ in Gethsemane, that such yielded obedience, far from conveying inner weakness or timidity, is actually borne out of the toughest kind of inner steel!

Any parent will know that this kind of meekness does not come naturally to their children. There is a stubborn wilfulness that runs through the heart, and an independent streak coupled with foolish pride that thinks it knows better than the instructions given. Any parent will know the frustration in dealing with this kind of attitude in their children, and also the joy and pleasure it brings their heart when their children obey the first time without questioning or grumbling.

So it is with our heavenly father and us. True meekness is a joy to his heart. It is this kind of meekness he is looking for in his church today and in your life and mine.

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom (James 3:13 ESV)

Preaching Audio: The Prophet Like Moses

Apologies for not writing anything for a while. Blogging has slipped down on the priority list. You can listen to a word I preached a week ago at City Church Coventry, here: http://bit.ly/dyyTfY

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Rate of Change

It's been a while since I have blogged about evolution or faith and science. But this article in New Scientist has provoked me again.

The debate between evolutionists and creationists often goes nowhere, in my opinion. The Darwinists' understanding of the science is often much better and the creationists' arguments are often embarrassingly poorly constructed and as such are easily torn to pieces. However it would be a logical fallacy to assume that the more educated opinion is always correct. History has proved this to be wrong within the scientific community countless times. Copernicus's theory of a helio-centric solar system was considered poorly constructed and logically flawed by his scientific peers, and many dismissed his ideas as a result - but he was right.

Rather than get drawn into the details, that both sides are expert at shouting down, lets take a step back, and examine the big picture in simple terms.

The world is full of a diversity of life. The question is how did this diversity arise. Let's take the analogy of a bathtub full of water representing all the biodiversity on the planet. The creationist says, "God filled the tub." The evolutionist says, "The tap is running."

There then ensues an argument about the nature of the tap (which the Darwinist understands far better) and whether any water (biodiversity) is really flowing into the tub (through the process of evolution).

But there is one other important fact, which is beyond dispute by either side. The plug is out on this tub. Extinctions are irreversibly reducing the biodiversity of the planet all the time. A recent newspaper article I read suggested that as many as 11 species disappear each year. With many thousands more on the critically endangered list. (Indeed evolutionary theory relies on extinction to provide the steering hand of evolution - Natural Selection).

So let's side-step all the arguments about whether the tap is running or not, and ask a more fundamental question. Even if the tap is running; is it running sufficiently fast to explain a full tub with the plug out?

This is just a matter of empirical data. If the initial state of the bath-tub was empty, as the Darwinists propose, then the average rate of "speciation" must exceed the average rate of extinction. Or the bath tub would stay empty. The mind-bending periods of time (8.3 billion years) don't help here either, because if the car is not going forwards it doesn't matter how long it drives for, it is never going to get anywhere!

The plain and simple fact is that even taking what scientists propose to be recent speciation events (usually at least several thousand years ago) they don't add up to anywhere near 11 a year. The tub is getting more empty, not more full. Not great news for the initially-empty-bath-tub-theory.

Perhaps the rate of extinction was not so high in the past? Well here the evidence is to the contrary too, with several well documented periods of mass-extinction or elevated extinction rates. According to Berkley's information, of all the life that has ever existed on this planet, over 99% has become extinct.

The only option left for the empty-tubbers is that the tap must have been running faster in the past than it is now. In other words it relies on conditions and processes that cannot be tested and verified in the laboratory today. Hardly the irrefutable proof, that no-one could seriously disbelieve.

People often criticise creation(ism) as being unscientific. Yes, it is. It doesn't (or shouldn't) pretend to be otherwise. But unless you are an atheist, and disbelieve that anything miraculous can happen, this doesn't automatically make it untrue.

Equally, hard evidence for mutations, genetic drift, microevolutionary changes within a species, and the process of natural selection do not mean that Darwin's theory on the origin of the species is correct.

The tub is full, yet it is draining faster than it is filling (if it is filling at all). Does this suggest that the tub was initially full or empty?

Preaching Audio: Ruth - Part 2

This is the second part of my preaching series on Ruth, which is available on the Living Rock Church podbean site. Download the audio, subscribe to the podcast or listen to it through the embedded player below.


Text: Ruth 2
Synopsis: The field of Boaz was a place of blessing for Ruth, and represents the place of Kingdom activity God desires to bring us too. Boaz's exchange of blessings with his workers is examined to illustrate how the Lord blesses us and how we bless the Lord. Boaz's instructions to Ruth are unpacked as commands from the Lord to us his people.


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Download notes from the EQUIP course I have taught on this material.

The "how" and the "what" of prayer

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1)

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (Ro 8:26)

I was very blessed to be in a great prayer meeting last night. It was full of life and faith and the dynamic presence of the Holy Spirit. We felt the presence of God, heard him speak to us through the prophetic word, and spoke out words into the heavens that will make a difference on the earth. I love meetings like that!

I hope it's not too controversial, though, to say that over the years I have been in many prayer meetings that I have not loved. Ones that have done more to stir a yawn than a prayer of faith!

I was thinking about this a couple of days ago, and it occurred to me: We need instruction to guide us how to pray; we need the Spirit to guide us what to pray. This is how is laid out in the Scriptures. When the disciples wanted to know how they should pray, they went to Jesus for instruction. When it comes to what we should pray for, Paul tells us that we need the Holy Spirit's help.

I believe the reason why many prayer meetings fall short of the mark is that they try to do things the other way round! The only instruction that comes is a list of what should be prayed for (sometimes this takes the majority of the meeting!) Very little guidance is given on how prayers will be ordered or made most effective; that is left to the Spirit.

I know that some direction on what to pray for is required. I'm not disputing that. But I don't want to go to a meeting just so I can say I've ticked all the boxes in the to-pray-for list. That has more to do with religion than faith. I'd rather leave a meeting with most of my boxes unticked, but knowing that that there had been a genuine encounter with the presence of God, and those things that did get prayed for made an impact in the heavens that will change the earth.

Preaching Audio: Ruth - Part 1

The first part of my preaching series on Ruth is now available on the Living Rock Church podbean site. Download the audio, subscribe to the podcast or listen to it through the embedded player below. I hope it's a blessing to you.


Text: Ruth 1
Synopsis: Elimelech's departure from Bethlehem to Moab is indicative of a departure from faith to compromise. God's will is to keep us in the place of his righteous order in our lives because the time of harvest is at hand.


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I have also taught this material as part of a Living Rock Church "EQUIP" course:

Download the teaching notes.

Preaching Audio: Ruth - Part 5

Living Rock Church, Coventry, have just set up a podbean site to host and stream audio from the preached word. I'm very honoured that the first message to be posted up there is one of mine. It's the final part of a five-part series I did on the book of Ruth. I'll post links to the first four as they become available.

Many thanks to Dave Palmer for all his hard work in getting this all set up.

Ruth - Part 5


Text: Ruth 4
Synopsis: Ruth's redemption by Boaz is a parallel to our own redemption by Christ. The purpose of our redemption is to bring forth the king.


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