Three lessons from "Hacksaw Ridge"

One of the top ten films awarded by the American Film Institute in 2016 was "Hacksaw Ridge"

 directed by Mel Gibson of "Braveheart" and "The Passion of Christ" fame.

 The true World War11 drama set during the battle of Okinawa tells the story of Desmond Doss. Desmond was a Conscientious Objector who signed up to save lives, rather than take them. He was a Combat Medic and a Christian.

He refused to carry or use firearms or weapons of any kind.  Desmond went to battle with his Bible in his back pack. I won't spoil the film for you, but for me three things stood out as a disciple of Christ. There my be some scenes which the squeamish my like to look away.

The Call 

We ought never underestimate the training of children who come to our early years Sunday School classes in teaching them God's Word and all of the years that follow. As adults we are a not passed learning and sharing the difference our Faith effects the way we live as disciples of Jesus. This is training is for action: when God calls us  into service.
Lets give a pat on the back to all those teachers and leaders who answer God's call to serve in this way.
Of course there are children and adults who never have, or get any religious teaching. For what ever reason it be, it is God, by his Holy Spirit which can change their  lives. It is our responsibility to show and share with them the Love of God through our actions to them.    

The Courage

"I lost all my friends at school. Now that I've begun to walk my talk, they make fun of me"
Rachel Scott's journal entries showed her disappointment that the very people to whom she wanted to show Christ's love turned away from her. But she wouldn't give in."I'm not going to apologise for speaking the name of Jesus, I will take it"
Rachel was a student at Columbine High School in Colorado the day two students opened fire in the school. One gunman asked her if she still believed in God. She looked him in the eye and said yes she still believed. He asked her why,but he didn't let her answer before killing her.


The Cost
I feel challenged in that if I was called to give up my life for Jesus sake, would I have the courage to give all for my Lord. As the persecuted believers around the world are being horrifically treated around the world daily, their courage under fire makes me feel ashamed. Their extreme devotion burns into my heart and deserves my regular prayers. If it played such a large part in the life of Jesus and the many times He encouraged us to do it,then we have to believe it works.
Why should I cower under a blanket of embarrassment to speak of Jesus?
I take courage from martyrs' present and past for my call,courage and past costs.

"Dear friends do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering ,as though something strange were happening to you"   1 Peter 4: 12

Papyrus to ipad

Original Letter on Papyrus 3rd Century BCE

I suppose it is well known that the ancient Chinese sent messages of greetings to friends and to convey information of importance. 

The early Egyptians used Papyrus to communicate  a variety of instruction, commands and  throughout their land.

What a revolution in the mid 16th Century the printing press made to the greeting card market.   

We now in the 21st Century have cards for everything. Birthdays,Get well cards, thanks cards, not to mention Christmas and New Year cards and the list goes on.

Sending cards is not a bad thing even if it does become a bit of labour before Christmas time.

Many take great comfort in receiving cards during loneliness. So I am not knocking sending them.

Along came social media sites,allowing sending greetings with the click of a button. No effort and no stamps! Progress has come a long way. 

The downside is that it can be a cover up for not putting the saved time to good use.

 Anyone have friends or family you have had a disagreement with,or of those elderly neighbours, those who are lonely and depressed or are in hospital?  

I would suggest that we use our modern cell phones to brighten up their Christmas and OUR OWN. There is a blessing in using our time in giving and forgiving. 

Visiting with them is even better, chatting face to face -- no substitute for a cupa and a smile. 

Choose stress wisely

I don't think we will ever get rid of stress, controlling it is the difficult part. countless publications and courses are available. Prioritising, identifying stressors,  making lists of life plans, talking to a friend or family,the Internal and External factors,the coping advice is endless.We are also told that stress is
a good thing, maximising our potential.

It's a well known fact that life has lots of opportunities to live a life free of some hassle. Opportunities which cover just one area of life.

We can decide what is important and what is not worth bothering about. 

Just take complaining for instance. Life seldom goes the way we want it. So why make ourselves ill by cultivating stressful situations. Why not choose our complaining about situations and people wisely ? If not we will complain about everything and everybody.

Why not listen to some advice from God's Word. Take a quiet moment and think what The Psalmist says about meditation in Psalm 19v14:

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be pleasing in your sight, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer"

The Phoney Pony

It was a long siege,10 years and still the invaders couldn't break the fortified city of Troy. This Greek mythological story unfolded into an ingenious counterfeit trick.
Pretending to leave the area, the enemy built a large wooden horse. Inside the horse were 30 elite soldiers,two spying through the head. After some time when Troy felt sure the enemy had left, they wheeled the horse into the city to celebrate their victory. At night  the soldiers climbed out,and opened the gates allowing the waiting army to rush in and capture the city.

I know what you are saying. We've heard the story before. Deceit, falsehood, trickery and subterfuge, all the strategy and dirty ploys of warfare.

What of the most crafty and eternally crushing war which we humans' and disciples of our Lord Jesus are facing every moment of our lives. A war for our souls.
I have been severely wounded by the enemy on many occasions but thanks to the God of "Amazing Grace" my wounds have been healed and welcomed back into the battle once again.

Beware of the schemes of Satan who is at war with us. "Be strong in the Lord ....put on the full armour of the Lord"  read Ephesians chapter 6.  The battle is won through the work of Jesus but the strategy of Satan is to continue fighting until his final destruction, we are besieged by him and he will attack our weakest points.

Hey, don't be disheartened, we are on the VICTORY side.        Satan is a Phony Pony.  

Until the next time............... thanks for reading this Blog: yours prayerfully.

 

The Washing Machine with Attitude

Each year in my business career I was called in for a performance review.   

So I got to thinking about my own Spiritual performance, how to check my progress on :-

LOVE - JOY - PEACE - PATIENCE - KINDNESS - GOODNESS - FAITHFULNESS -GENTLENESS - SELF CONTROL. 

My head started to spin like a washing machine. 

Where do I start ? So many things going round in my head.

 I decided to take them one by one and dissect them, break them down, and let God's Spirit speak to me. Immediately one word came into my psyche:   ATTITUDE !!  

What was my attitude to the Apostle Paul who compiled the list for discipleship. 

 Discipleship is about learning how we can have the correct mindset. 

Where do I begin ?  Back to basics.  

This is where our Cell groups are vital in taking us back to basics, making sure we grasp the fundamentals and living them out daily.

John Stott in his book "The Living church" states  :  "I do not think it is an exaggeration to say,therefore that small groups, Christian family or fellowship groups are indispensable  for our growth into spiritual maturity"

No matter what we think about groups they build upon our attitudes to how we live our lives.

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude"

( William James   Psychologist/Philosopher)

The hungry eagle that needed more !!!

 Parts of Alaska's ice was  thawing. large chunks of ice flowed on the river toward a large waterfall.

Above a Bald eagle was encircling. Its sharp eyesight spied a dead carrion on a block of ice. 

Down it swept an sunk it's powerful talons( ten times greater than humans) into the prey and began to satisfy it's hunger. 

With the waterfall near, the freezing spray increased to shower the eagle, it continued to enjoy the food. With one eye on the food and one on the approaching edge it spread it's large powerful wings to take off to freedom.......but it discovered that the spray had covered it's talons and frozen them to the ice. 

"More is not always the best" 

I suggest that we are living in one of the most dissatisfied cultures on record. It's not that having lots of things is bad or harmful, it's that our desire to have more is or can be insatiable. 

As  long as we think more will be better, we will never be satisfied.

This crushes our appreciation for life and for our many blessings.

Develop a new appreciation for the blessings you already enjoy.You can spend your life wanting more, always chasing happiness.

"Count your blessings,name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done"

Lonesome Pine

When I looked at this picture it reflected the way I feel occasionally, as many of us do.
 Alone, looking too far ahead, folks like rocks not understanding.
There are times I feel lonely in a crowd.
Being introspective can harm in many ways.
 Feeling sorry for ourselves: the "poor me syndrome" leading to a depressive state of mind.
The remarkable thing is that this tree in the picture is standing alone, surviving all that weather throws at it. 
Its roots are deep and strong to enable it to stand. Too me it is a modern day parable.

All of us have to cope with different challenges in life at one time or another. What helps us to stand?

Many turn to eastern mysticism,  to fortune tellers, daily horoscope's  or worse still they just don't know where to turn.

 Jesus, He whom our mothers sang and spoke of when we were on her knee, still is a living friend.
He says "I will never leave you or forsake you"
I have been trying to learn more of His offers to put down roots which will withstand the storms of life, and know what, it is working!!
I know we have heard all before you say,  but I have found it is all about Jesus. 

                                                Turn your eyes upon Jesus 
                                                 Look in His wonderful face
                                                 and the things of earth
                                                 will grow strangely dim
                                                  In the light of His glory 
                                                  and Grace.


I know I am writing this off the wall, if you feel I am tell me,  I won't mind. 

ESSENTALS

United in worship.

Time again to join us and have a chat around the Bible. I say a chat because that is what we are about.
How relevant is Jesus and His life, and His call to discipleship in this crazy world we live in today.
Why not join us for a time around the ESSENTIALS course.
Call any of our members or myself.

Pick & choose

The chocolate box Jesus 

I Know that many times I choose the easy way to obey God's leading. It resembles picking the bits I like, the bits that are pleasing and easy to believe. God gives us  personal opportunity to follow all flavours of His leading. Often it is in the avoided tastes that the greatest feeling of satisfaction which we call blessings is given.
I am a lazy follower of Jesus.
Any excuse not to attend church or prayer meeting, discussion group or even to give of my time to serve with practical duties around the Church building.
The thing is the less I get involved in this lax attitude the further disconnected I feel.

I don't want to be the "marzipan" in the box (the one left ) so it's time to discard the choices and follow God's call.