Pressing On

Last week, like many others, I ventured to the Cinema to watch "Exodus - Gods and Kings"   Of course, as with any other film based on a biblical narrative, there is always the hope that it will amount to more than a film ... but as is normally the case, it doesn't.  So, to summarise, as far as biblical accuracy goes it is poor, as an adventure film goes it is all right. However, that is okay as I don't often go to the cinema for the furtherance of my theological convictions or doctrinal understandings - that is best left to the place of prayer and obedience.  Having said that, I hope that I am always open to be challenged to think about things from a fresh perspective and I am not averse to the Spirit using an experience, image, news item, music track etc, to highlight something that He wants to be a blessing, encouragement or challenge to me.  So it was the case in this film ... Towards the end of the film there is quite a most moving scene as th...

The following is an extract from an email that WEC sends out each week to facilitate prayer for the nations. If you would like to receive these directly you can subscribe here and receive them by email every Sunday morning! "When man works, man works. But when man prays, God works!" Patrick Johnstone, Operation World. The emails are intended to provide us with key information that will enable the growth of an informed, sustained and persistent wave of prayer. Please join with us! Praying for the muslim world. In Islam there are five pillars: Declaration of faith Prayer Giving to the poor Fasting Pilgrimage or Hajj Hajj should be performed at least once in a Muslim’s lifetime, provided they are physically and financially able to do so. In 2012, about 3.5 million Muslims gathered in Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj. Of a number of rites that pilgrims perform, one is celebrating the festival of Eid al-Adha with the sacrifice of an animal. “Whoever performs ...

Available  here as a free .pdf. A quick book summary for those interested in what he, and others, call the “higher life”. I feel this is a poor name as it implies something that is perhaps for a select few - whereas my conviction would be that it is rather the “normal Christian life” for all, and it is the “fulness of life” that Christ came to accomplish for all His children. He writes “The condition of God’s blessing is absolute surrender of all into His hands. Praise God! If our hearts are willing for that, there is no end to what God will do for us, and to the blessing God will bestow. Absolute surrender to God is the one thing. The condition for obtaining God’s full blessing is absolute surrender to Him." God Expects Your Surrender - He is worthy and expects the creation to acknowledge who He is both in words and actions. God Accomplishes Your Surrender - God comes and offers to work this absolute surrender in you, as the Holy Spirit draws us through hungering after...

The following has been adapted from a prayer by the monastic community Jesusbruderschaft, and communicates the daily process of consecration and motivation to rest in, yield to and serve God empowered by the Holy Spirit. For your reflection.... Holy Spirit of the living God I thank you that, by faith, I know That You are alive in me. In the depth of my being, Deeper than all my thoughts, Deeper than ally feelings, deeper than my will, You have made your home. I praise you, I worship you, I love you I thank you That you have made my body your home, That you even call it your temple. I thank you, first and foremost,  That you have revealed Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour to me,  And all the blessings of his atoning sacrifice are now mine. I offer myself to you for this new day, Your purposes and your guidance, And hold nothing back. Lead me, And prepare me for every opportunity to experience your mighty power. Give me a special opportunity  To put to death my selfish natur...

I have been fascinated recently at the increase in attention given to what I have always taken/assumed to be the fundamental purpose of the ministry of the Church ... discipleship. In a recent article I read of five changes that the author believes the Church need to make. From Reaching to Making From Teaching to Modeling (from Leading to being Led) From Attending to Participating From Connecting to Transforming From Attracting to Deploying An article that is worth reflecting on to see what changes could be made to any current practice. At the same time I was somewhat amused by the initial comment ... "God is doing a new thing with Christians around the world and it’s finally coming to the United States. Of course, it’s not really a new thing, its actually an old thing. It’s called “making disciples.” A very godly man said to me recently "God is always doing the same thing differently!" So how is good doing this today?   I have been pondering th...

I love the book of James . As a very pragmatic person I enjoy thinking through a theological truth convin ced that it must somehow express itself in lifestyle and practice. T he book of James is intensely practical and incredibly blunt in places , I might not find it easy reading but I find it accessible and readily applicable. Chapter 4 deals with one key issue and ' submission' - W hat in our lives do we submit ourselves or yield to? For e ach of us there must be something, or someone, who i s enthroned and who will act as the catalyst / initiator of what we do, the decisions we make , and w ho will shape our thinki ng.   I t might be that we e nthrone self, its 'me' who makes all the decisions about what I say and do. I t may be another person, perhaps a parent or significant other. It may be some conversation we had as a child, a word spoken to us or over us that we still allow to shape our lives. Perhaps we choose a direction so that we do...

More thoughts from my guest blogger, Malcolm Gr a y - Thailand.   “Why did you stay among the campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks?” (Judges 5:16).  Israel have settled in the promised land of Canaan. There is an uprising under Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army with their 900 iron chariots. Israel are too disunited and afraid to face the enemy. Owing to a lack of willing male warriors, God chooses a courageous woman, Deborah, to lead the Israelite army into battle, consequently shaming the men. Predictably, God pulls through, and an amazing battle is won in the shadow of Armageddon (Mount Megiddo). God sends rain, the plain of Megiddo turns to a sticky mess, rendering the chariots useless, and Sisera flees on foot to a friend’s tent. Jael is the welcoming hostess, allowing the exhausted commander to sleep – just long enough for her to drive a tent peg through his temple, rendering ...

This year marks the centenary of WEC International . It is great to give thanks for what the Lord has done these last 100 years with and through the WEC fellowship - but I also want ed to mark what is happening in the world today ... So here are some more details ... "My name is Malcolm Gray, living in Thailand with my wife Kerstin and ten-year old daughter, Amy. We are a family of ‘missionary kids’ – or ‘MKs’ according to mission lingo. My daughter and I were born in Thailand. My wife was born in Burundi, each of us to missionary parents – who are not coined ‘MPs’ by the inconsistent lingo ! Our passports state that we are British and Swedish, though, if my Dutch mother was the type, she may feel slightly hard done by – but she’s not. She taught me about g race rather than being Dutch. And that’s what we aim to teach the Thai – what Grace is as opposed to what being Dutch ...

Following on from my recent blog on Captivity ... here is my second thought stemming from reading Philemon. It concerns v6 "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." I saw this posted on a friends Facebook page recently, whic h sums up in a very clear way what I think the Apostle Paul was trying to tell Philemon. It is never the Lord's intention that we live our lives as consumers. Partly, because then the tendency is that everything becom es inward looking rather than outw ard and p artly, because those with the desire to serve end up serving almost exclusively within the Church and to a Churc h - so we lose out on tw o levels. It is a common statistic that about 20% of the Church for 80% of the work. Or, as one Pastor once tol d me, "I have a Church of 350 going on 40 people! " People with a consumer mentality or within a consumer led system...

In 1 Chronicles 5:20 we read ... "(God ) a nswered their prayers beca use they trusted i n Him ." We know that across the world the re are many people that pray . For example, i n the book " Christian Prayer for Dummies " a survey is quoted stating that in the UK 82% of adults and 89% of teenagers pray at least once a week!  We kno w, too, that prayer s may be directed to a 'god ' , 'divine being' or 'some one/something' that it is supposed can hel p in time of need, whether or not there is an experience of being in a relationship w ith the object of the prayers or not.  However, what strikes me in this verse is t hat the peoples prayers w ere answered not simply beca use they pr ayed, but because they exercised faith, they trusted in the One they were prayin g to ... which leads me to the question " How do we have faith?" How can our experience m ove beyond a blind hope into a confident trust? For me the answer ...

Recently I was reading in the book of Philemon, which doesn't often happen because it is so small and easy to overlook, so let me start with a quick plug extolling the benefits of systematic reading of scripture if nothing else! This time, as I read, I was struck by a couple of verses - in this blog I will focus on the first .... in verse 1 we read "Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus..."  Which is an interesting way to start a letter, especially when we consider that Paul was in f act a prisoner of the Rom an state ... so why does he refer to himself in this way? W hat is captivity?   The greek word 'prisoner' is transl ated as " a captive (as bound):--in bonds, prisoner." The idea of captivity can be expressed as follows; The dictionary defi nes cap tive as; n. 1. One, such as a prisoner of war, who is forcibly confined, subjugated, or enslaved. 2. One held in the grip of a strong emotion or passion. Which interestingly leads us to reflect o...

Recently I received some notes, in advance of a small group meeting, containing the following question "Do you feel that God is pleased with you? why?" How would you respond to this question?  My first reactive answer to this was 'sometimes!' then as I reflected a little deeper I've come to the conclusion that this is not the answer and that it can never be the answer. The answer must either be 'always' or 'never'!  Here is my thought processes that led me to that conclusion ... Firstly, the work Christ on the cross. If you do not please God you must be displeasing Him - in which case you have fallen short of his expectations, which is our imperfection or sin. On the cross Jesus perfectly, and completely, paid the price for our sin. This is either a perfect and complete work or it isn't and, somehow, God kept back a little punishment for us ... which, of course, he hasn't which means God looks at us through the filter of ...

The question mark should help you differentiate the blog title from a song title of one of my favourite prog rock bands of the seventies - if you don't know what I am talking about then just let it pass, if you do please read on, though I hope you won't be too disappointed to discover that it has no further connection with music! As is my want I am in the habit of seeking the Lord for a word at the beginning of each new year. Of course it is not the only time in the year when the Lord speaks but I have found it a healthy discipline and have, at the end of the year, been very blessed to look back and see how apt the word has been. (But then this should not surprise in the least as we know that He knows the end from the beginning...) I share these thoughts with you for two reasons: Firstly, anything based on the word of God has to be good for edifying and building people up, and I hope that this is the case for any and all who stumble upon this blog. Secondly, I trust ...