The Cup

What I can see, at this time
Is the true and perfect sacrifice:
I can see beyond the ceiling high
Beyond the limit of my eyes;
Conjured up within my mind
I feel that I was even there.

So, Saintly holding crumb of bread
I think of what the Saviour said;
And not devouring, but instead
I place the piece within my mouth
And feed on it with all my soul
Thinking what this meant to them.

I lift my lids and looking up
Am greeted with the Saintly cup
So giving thanks I raise it up
To my prayerful lips to drink;
And leaning back, I start to think:
What would I have done if I were there?

I see the cup is empty and
Finally I understand
How the very soul within that man
Was emptied for the likes of me
To lift me up, to set me free
Not just a man - my Saviour, Lord.

But still within the cup I see
The essence of what used to be;
So when my Saviour died for me
Suffering all the guilt and shame
My Lord, creator still remained
Within Him, to be raised again.

So handing back this cup, I give
My very soul, with hope, to live
Worship, praise and love to Him:
The one who sent His Son for me.
So this true and perfect sacrifice
Is all I see at this time.



Taken from the Brickbat album "This Is Life".

Creation

Exodus 20:11 says

"For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

It is totally illogical for a Christian to not believe the Creation narrative as literal!

1) Jesus died on The Cross to take away the sins of the world.
2) Where did that sin come from? It came from Man's disobedience to God; in particular, as Scripture tells us, it came from Adam and Eve's rebellion in the Garden of Eden.
3) For sin to enter the world, that rebellion has to have taken place. No literal Adam, no rebellion - so where did sin come from?
4) Therefore, if there's no Adam, and therefore sin is not a product of Man's rebellion against God, then Christ's death on The Cross is completely meaningless, as is The Christian Faith.

You see, you cannot have one without the other - both Adam and Jesus are essential in the framework of the history of salvation.
Conversely, what evolution (the main leader and influencer of the myriad other theories about the universe's and life's existence) says is that death, disease and struggle all came about before Man arrived on the planet!

Now, Evangelicals are often criticised for taking The Bible literally, but it is definitely not "blinkered" (as I have heard it said) to do so. If anything, the opposite is true! If you can't believe that God could create the universe in 6 days (in fact, why did He take as long as 6 days??), then you have a very limited view of Him indeed! In my opinion, it is "blinkered" to accept what the world teaches, with all its correctable, much altered theories, assumptions and guesses. If you can't believe in Creation, then yours is not a God of miracles. Neither is yours a God who could bring about The Virgin Birth, the calling of Elijah into Heaven before he died, the raising of Jesus, Lazarus, or anyone else from the dead, the feeding of the five thousand, etc, etc, etc! All these things are "impossible" according to Mankind's assertions of what they call "science", yet Scripture says they all happened.Take one of them, take all of them.

The accusations of "pride" against those who actually believe what The Bible says are rather laughable, actually. It is certainly proud to not believe what The Bible says, but definitely not proud to believe it! There is no erudite "interpretation" going on here, merely the belief in what The Bible says, and a respect for The One who inspired it (thereby making it perfect).

Our Time At Work

Luke 12:42-46 says

"The Lord answered, 'Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.' "

Quite often, I can be a couple of minutes late for work. One morning last week, I arrived at work at 9.09am, when I am supposed to start each morning at 9.00am. What I have done with those 9 minutes is, in fact, stolen them. The question then remains, should I pay them back?

Of course, there are other questions, such as, 'Should I feel guilty?', 'Do I need to repent?', 'What happens if I don't pay them back?', 'Do I pay them back in time or money?'. Fortunately, my bosses appreciate the work I do to such an extent that if I am a few minutes late arriving, then I can work a few minutes into lunch, or even at the end of the day, and even if I don't, they aren't counting each minute! I know that all employees do not have the same favourable circumstances - those who have to clock in and out, for instance. The point isn't though, that I can 'get away with it', but that I have wronged my employers in the first place. Not only should I be in the building at 9.00am, but I should also be at my desk, ready to start work at that time - after all, I am paid from 9.00am to 5.00pm.

Scripture gives us enough principles to piece together a Godly ethic on this subject. We are urged and encouraged to be "excellent" in our lives. This especially means in the work that we do, as our work, nomatter what job we have, is, or should be, for God's glory. If we are due to start work at 9.00am and turn up late, we are not only letting our employers down, but God aswell. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 6:5-8), encourages believers to not only obey their employers, but also to respect and fear them. If we do this we are honouring God.

The passage I have quoted from Luke is intended to be a parable about Jesus' return, but the same principles hold true for us in work - those things we should and shouldn't be doing include what we do at work. We shouldn't down tools and play when the boss isn't around or isn't watching - we should be dilligent with every minute of our working day. Your boss may not always be watching, but God is! If I'm paid for 7 working hours each day, then I should do at least 7 hours work!

That doesn't mean I worry about paying back exactly the 9 minutes, to the second! If I need to be somewhere straight after work, which means leaving immediately after 5.00pm, and I don't get a chance to pay back those minutes, then I won't fret and feel guilty all night because of it - yes, I have sinned, but I will take the matter to God in my prayers. Of course, striving to be "excellent" in the work place means that we do more than is required of us - working late if there is work which needs to be finished, arriving early and starting work before time, etc.

What we do in all circumstances of life, including work, impacts on how others see us, and consequently, how we relate Jesus to them.

"Just" Alright?

Isaiah 9:6 says

"For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

In June 1969, The Byrds recorded an Art Reynolds song called "Jesus Is Just Alright", the chorus of which is:

"Jesus is just alright with me
Jesus is just alright, oh yeah
Jesus is just alright with me
Jesus is just alright."

The question is, what does "just alright" actually mean? Is it an American term for "pretty good", "rather good" or "very good indeed"?
Listening to the song as an Englishman, it is easy to take it to mean that Jesus is just alright - He's not great, nothing special, just, well, alright, I s'pose.

As Scripture tells us, and as we should know from our own experience, Jesus is far more than just alright - He is our Wonderful Counsellor, our Mighty God; through Him the Heavens and the Earth were created (John 1:1-3). I have trouble listening to this song, as it has a catchy tune and I frequently find myself singing it around the house afterwards! At these times, I have to check and stop myself, because I believe Jesus to be more than just alright.

As Paul tells the Philippians, at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11)!

A Persistent Theme

Malachi 3:5 says

" 'So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud labourers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,' says the LORD Almighty."

Does this list of things remind you of anything? It reminded me straight away of the Ten Commandments, given by God to His people through Moses.

1st Commandment: Those who are sorcerers are dabbling in spiritual forces other than God, whereas God tells us to have no other gods before (or besides) Him.

7th Commandment: God tells not to commit adultery.

9th Commandment: Perjurers are those who lie under oath, whilst God tells us not to give false testimony against our neighbour.

8th Commandment: Those who defraud labourers of their wages are essentially stealing from them.

The last (but not least) in the list are the oppression of widows and the fatherless, and depriving aliens of justice. All these things and more are more than adequately covered by Jesus' succinct summing up of God's laws, as He condensed them into two:

i) Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and

ii) Love your neighbour as yourself.

Isn't it funny how the same old problems kept besetting God's people, and still do today? Malachi was around several hundred years after Moses, yet God needed to remind His people what His basics rules of living were! It's no surprise either, that we too need to be constantly reminded of such things, as we slip daily into the same old bad habits. The Street Bible translates "adulterers" as "sleep-around merchants" and "those who defraud labourers of their wages" as "fat-cat bosses who rip off their workers". We can all bring to mind numerous examples of these, which appear to be common practice in our modern society.

The real thing to notice here though, is that none of these people fear God. We all have faults, but we can bring them to Jesus, repentant, knowing He will forgive us. We need to make sure we fear God, that is, give Him the due respect He deserves from us. Doing these things to our fellow people is hardly "loving our neighbour as ourselves"! Let's love God and respect Him, and love each other as He has called us to do.