May 4-5 – Enjoy!

“People ought to enjoy every day of their lives, no matter how long they live” (Ecclesiastes 11:8 NCV).

It’s the first common denominator of great families: Awesome families are playful. They know how to play. They know how to have fun. They enjoy life together. This is the missing ingredient in so many families today. Today our families are too busy, too tired, too negative, too worn out, and too serious. Who wants to come home from school to that? Families should be fun.

The Bible talks about this and actually commands it. Ecclesiastes 11:8 says, “People ought to enjoy every day of their lives, no matter how long they live” (NCV).

Just recently in London, the day began as any other day had begun – the usual sqabbles over the bathroom, breakfast on the run, and the commute into the city. Tourists to the capital were looking forward to a good day's sightseeing....then it happened. As they walked across Weatminster Bridge, a vehicle mounted the pavement and the driver deliberately mowed the pedestrians down, killing many, and seriously injuring others. Whatever plans they had for the day, and their return home in the evening....ended.

This is why it is important for you to enjoy every day. Because you don’t know how long you’re going to live. You don’t know if you’ve got next week or next month. You don’t even know if you’ve got tomorrow. So whatever living you’re going to do, you'd better do it now.

When Rick Warren's kids were growing up, he determined that the number one thing he wanted them to know about their family was not that theye were good or smart or whatever. He wanted them to know that they were loved and that they had fun together. He created all kinds of things just to have fun.

He goes on to describe one of them called 'Daddy’s Magical Mystery Tour. The kids loved it. It’s a hallowed reputation in our family. Now I do it with grandkids! When the kids were in preschool or grade school, I’d wake them up about midnight and yell, “Get out of bed! It’s time for Daddy’s Magical Mystery Tour!” And they’d get excited because they knew that meant that they didn’t have to go to school and that we were about to do something really fun, whether it was driving to a hotel with a pool or making an ice cream run.'

Think back to your own childhood and what we remember most. Was it what our parents said, or how they made you feel. That’s important advice for a boss, a boyfriend or girlfriend, a parent, or a husband or wife.

My siblings and I don’t remember anything my parents said to us in the early years of our lives. But we do remember the laughter and the fun – the hours happily spent with Dad, beachcombing, looking under rocks to discover the rich sea-life hiding under them. We remember the love, the fun.

As Rick Warren says, 'Awesome families are playful.'

“I recommend having fun …. That way [you] will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives [you]” (Ecclesiastes 8:15 NLT, second edition)

Music today is God Never Stopped Loving Me - Country Gospel by Keith Rath. Click on the picture to listen.

 ‘No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.’ Matthew 6:24

On April 24^th, I blogged about Russia banning the Jehovah Witness. The headline read ‘Russia bans Jehovah's Witnesses after supreme court rules Christian sect 'extremists.' If you want to read the article click on the underlined words and it will open to another page.

I made this statement then, ‘If Russia can do that to one church organization then why can’t they do it to another? How long before Seventh-day Adventists, already labelled as a cult in some quarters, fall foul of the state, whichever state that may be.’ This week my attention was drawn to this headline ‘Moscow court considers a ban on Adventist Church as over 12 million sign petition.’ It look like things are moving pretty quickly, or does it?

Sure, I read a lot of current day news and try my best to map it against what the bible says, but I would not say that was a student of prophesy. However, even I can see that governments around the world are becoming unstable as the leaders are all vying for worldly power. There is a blur between the leadership exhibited in what was once called the ‘third’ world counties and those of the so called ‘first’ world countries. The state is firmly interfering with the church. Matthew 6:24 gives us a clear answer, ‘No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.’ You cannot serve God and the state, you have to choose. Politics are useful but they should not override thus saith the Lord.

Russia has spoken. As a country, the government there has begun the persecution of Christian churches. Are we ready to defend what we believe?

The Gaither Vocal Band sing ‘I believe in a hill called Mount Calvary.’ Click on the picture to listen.

‘Nor will I flatter any man.’ Job 32:21 NIV (1984 Edition)

When Stephen Spielberg was a skinny teenager, he became the target of a bully. Fed up with the constant harassment which he later described as ‘hell on earth’, he decided to flatter the bully by telling him he looked like John Wayne and should consider playing the hero in an eight-millimetre movie about World War ll he was thinking of making. Once Spielberg outfitted him and cast him as a heroic squad leader, the bully became putty in his hands.

However, unlike Spielberg’s bully, emotionally healthy people only appreciate sincere praise they have earned. And they can detect a compliment given with an ulterior motive or to gain their favour. The paradox is that most people tend to look with disfavour on someone who compliments them, for no apparent reason. Elihu - the patriarch Job’s friend - said, ‘I will show partiality to no-one, nor will I flatter any man; for if I were skilled in flattery, my Maker would soon take me away’ (vv. 21-22 NIV 1984 Edition). And the psalmist tells us, ‘The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips’ (Psalm 12:3 KJV).

So here’s the question: is flattery worth being cut off from the blessing of God? When you engage in or become susceptible to flattery, it’s clear evidence of your lack of faith in God’s ability to give you favour with other people. Favour is a fringe benefit of being in right standing with Him. ‘Surely…LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favour as with a shield’ (Psalm 5:12 NIVUK 1984 Edition).

Taken from UCB 2017

Gaither Vocal Band sing ‘We’ll talk it over’. Click on the picture to listen.

April 28-29 – We're on a promise!

“He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation” - Isaiah 25:8-9

In his book, Glory Days, Max Lucado reminds us that our Canaan – our promised land is ready and waiting. He writes: Perhaps you can relate to the deflated little fellow I saw in an airport terminal. Everything about the dad’s expression said, “Hurry up! We have to run if we’re going to make the connection.” Can the little fellow keep up? Mom could. The big brothers could. But the little guy? He tried to match his parents’ pace, but he just couldn’t. Can you relate? Sometimes the challenge is just too much. It’s not that you don’t try. You just run out of fight.

The story of Joshua in the Bible dares us to believe our best days are ahead of us. A life in which the Bible says we are anxious for nothing, we are praying always; a life in which Paul says, we are giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Philippians 4:6). We may stumble but we don’t collapse. God has a promised land for us to take!

Think about the Christian you want to be. What qualities do you want to have? More compassion? More conviction? More courage? What attitudes do you want to discontinue? Greed? Guilt? Endless negativity? Here’s the good news. You can. With God’s help you can close the gap between the person you are and the person you want to be—indeed, the person God made you to be. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that we can live “from glory to glory.”

The walls of Jericho—they are already condemned. The giants are already on the run. The deed to your new life is already signed. It just falls to you to possess the land. Joshua 21:43 says, “So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to their fathers—and they took possession of it and dwelt in it.”

Your promised-land life— It's yours for the taking – what a glorious day that will be!

“No More Night” (LIVE) sung by David Phelps is today's music. Click on the picture to listen.

April 27 – Up, down, or inward?

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” - Isaiah 26:3

We could well be forgiven for feeling in despair as we listen day after day to the world and local newscasts. All channels spill out the bad news of the previous 24 hours, and portent of expected issues in the days to come. There seems to be an explosion of intolerance and violence taking place throughout the world, and family relationships have broken down. We have sexual predators loose in unknown locations all over the country, targeting our children and destroying their young lives. Politically there's corruption and posturing. Even nature is showing it's distress as storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions create havoc around the world.

Is there any good in all of that bad news?

The good news is that the clock is ticking down to the second coming of Christ. There may be some difficult times to get through. Jesus said about those times close to the end; "men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Luke 21:26)

But here is the hope in the verse that follows: "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." (Verse 27 & 28)

Each piece of bad news is a sign for us that the really good news is close at hand. Don't be afraid. As the world news gets worse and worse, let us encourage each other.

There is a lot going on in our world at this time. There are wars, and bombings; the killing of innocent men, women and children around the world. There is financial ruin and devastation on a daily basis. It is easy to take our eyes off of God as we watch all the turmoil taking place round us. These things may shape our world but they do not have to shape our lives. What shapes our world as believers is that God is alive and working in our heart as we focus our eyes on Him. This is what shapes our present and our future.

O soul, are you weary and troubled?

No light in the darkness you see?

There’s light for a look at the Savior,

And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

In which direction are your eyes focused. Are you looking up, down, or inward?

“Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” (LIVE) is today's music. Click on the picture to listen.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

It is getting ever more difficult for bible believing Christians to find work. The world we live in has become a place where literally anything goes and if you dare to speak up against the status quo then you are in fear of losing not only your job, but your career.

A Christian friend, I know personally, was asked to promote the LGBT agenda at work even though they knew she was a Christian. She subsequently resigned but our faithful God has provided a better opportunity for her. This is not an isolated as a Swedish court ruled last week that a nurse in Sweden must assist with abortions if she wants to keep her job.

Ellinor Grimmark was fired from her position at a hospital in 2014 because she refused to assist abortions. She filed a claim that the hospital wrongly discriminated against her, but as she looked for other work, she said that other employers didn’t want to hire her because of her objection to abortions.

“As a midwife, I want to exercise a profession which defends life and saves lives at all cost,” she told a newspaper. “Are healthcare practitioners in Sweden to be forced to take part in procedures that extinguish life, at its beginning or final stages? Somebody has to take the little children’s side, somebody has to fight for their right to life.”

“A midwife described to me how she had held an aborted baby in her arms, still alive, and cried desperately for an hour while the baby struggled to breathe,” she added. “These children do not even have a right to pain relief. I cannot take part in this.”

As a priority, we need to pray for the working Christian community world-wide, as darker says are coming ahead.

Jeremy Camp sings ‘Give me Jesus.’ Click on the picture to listen.

‘I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.’ John 9:4

You may have missed this one; I did. Once I got over the headline and let it sink in, it dawned on me that this is the beginning of things to come. The headline; Russia bans Jehovah's Witnesses after supreme court rules Christian sect 'extremists.' What do Jehovah Witnesses have in common with the Seventh-day Adventist church? It is a protestant group. If you read the article (just click on the underlined writing above) at first glance you may think that it is about differences in theology or freedom of speech. But the truth of the matter is that it is about religious freedom.

If Russia can do that to one church organization then why can’t they do it to another? How long before Seventh-day Adventists, already labelled as a cult in some quarters, fall foul of the state, whichever state that may be. Whilst each country has its own laws, this headline will put the Jehovah witnesses under the world spot light. People will inquisitively search online to find out what they believe in and who knows might even try to attend their worship services.

In all this, the bible reminds us in Titus 3:1-2 ‘Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, ² to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.’

We must do our bit whilst we have the time as our key text reminds us; I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. John 9:4

Study, pray and you will be ready.

‘Commissioned’ sing ‘Will you be ready?’ Click on the picture to listen and listen to the words.

"I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation" 2 Philippians 3:12.  "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your heart on things above, where Christ is seated on the right hand of God" - Colossians 3:1

How many of us can truly say we are content in any and every situation - no matter what life throws at us? because contentment is all about leaning on Jesus - having a sedate spirit that bears up under pressure, disaster, or suffering.  To know the secret about the quietness of heart that gladly submits to God in all circumstances, we have to go through a learning process, a process that takes time and a great deal of effort. 

But what is 'learning'?  Learning is to make choices, to practice painful situations over and over, and the strength to do this comes from Christ.  Don't misunderstand, gaining contentment doesn't mean we will be saying "Good-bye" to sorrow and discomfort.  Second Corinthians 6:10 says we can be sorrowful, and still rejoice.  It's a life lesson that we can have nothing, yet possess everything.

It all comes down to keeping our eyes focused on Christ.  Dave Dravecky the American basket ball league player writes:
"I used to lock my eyes on my catcher's glove when I was pitching in the major leagues.  Batters were merely distractions, especially if they were good hitters.  My goal was to so focus on my catcher's glove that I wouldn't even see the batter". 

This is exactly the type of 'focus stare' we need to level on God, otherwise our eyes will drift in the direction of the countless distractions that endeavour to entice us every day of our lives - and the end of time is very near....we can't run the risk of losing the prize.  

True contentment has to be earned, and learned, and can only be obrained with strength fro above. But once you've got it, you'll never trade it for anything.  Contentment is a pearl of great price, and whoever procures it at the expense of ten thousand desires makes a wise and happy purchase – John Bulguy.

Because, The only way to get our values right is to see, not the beginning, but the end of the way, to see things, not in the light of time, but in the light of eternity. - William Barclay

"For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.   From now on the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.…" - 2 Timothy 4:6-8 (

April 20 - Tuned in?

"You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me" - John 5:39.

The garden was teeming with excited children, each holding either a bag or a small basket in their hands, jostling each other for what they felt was the best position for a quick start when "GO" was shouted.  It was Easter Sunday and the easter egg hunt was about to begin.  Jodie had got up at the crack of dawn to hide easter eggs around the garden - in the shrubs, under the plants, in tubs, and up in the tree house.  A great time was had by all the children taking part, but what Jodie hadn't considered was the devastation left behind when it was all over.  Jodie's parents wisely watched the melee from inside the house - they knew something she didn't!

Remember the Tsunami that hit Indonesia and caused such a tragic loss of life and homes?  What did the animals know that the Tsunami victims didn't? One of the side stories that has emerged after the devastating tsunami hit Indonesia is that almost no animals died. Both wild and domestic beasts seemed to sense the impending danger and ran to safety or high ground.

Dogs would not take their beloved daily run on the beach; elephants screamed and ran upward; bats frantically flew away before the wave hit; flamingoes left their low breeding areas; even zoo animals sheltered themselves in their enclosures and refused to come out.

According to a National Geographic article on their website; "Wildlife experts believe animals' more acute hearing and other senses might enable them to hear or feel the Earth's vibration, tipping them off to approaching disaster long before humans realise what's going on."

Suppose we had hearing for spiritual matters as acute as those animals did in the natural before the tsunami hit? Jesus commented often when he would finish telling a parable; "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Matthew 11:15) He was warning that not everyone has acute hearing or a desire to truly understand his words. This is every bit as true today.

Sometimes we use "selective hearing" for God's Word or for his still small voice in our heart. Like the child who turns a deaf ear to "Time for bed" we often hear only what we want to or what comforts instead of confronts us. Regretfully, I've made this mistake in my own life. Afterward, boy am I sorry I didn't listen.

If there is a spiritual tsunami headed my way I'd like to make it to the high ground before it hits, wouldn't you? Let's be ones who have ears to hear and let's listen like our life depended on it!
(Acknowledgements Barbara Landais)

"Lead Me To That Rock" - sung by Stephen Hill is the music choice.  Click on the picture to listen.

‘Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.’ Ephesians 5:21

I recently had the privilege of sitting with a young couple to help with their wedding preparations. There is a lot to think about when planning a wedding; food, clothes, music, guests and of course - costs!

The fact is, as the soon as the ceremony is over then everything stops, the counselling, the intense attention, the well wishes. In fact, the only things which continue to roll in are the bills which ned to be paid! But marriage is a great thing and indeed one of the pillars of society which God blessed. It does not come as any surprise to me then the world is trying its utmost best to tear this ceremony down.

‘Mike Pence Receives Criticism for Protecting His Marriage’ was one of two stories which demonstrate to me the current disregard the world has for marriage. Vice President of the United States of America, Mike Pence has been under criticism recently for saying that he does not attend events with other women unless his wife is present. Instead of being applauded for this he is receiving criticism from both sides of his government calling himself righteous. It seems you can’t do right for doing wrong in some quarters. The second headline was ‘Heterosexual couple lose civil partnership challenge’. This story is centred around a heterosexual couple, who did not want to want to get married, arguing that they should have their relationship recognised by the state (United Kingdom) as a civil partnership, as same sex couples did before they were allowed to marry. In effect, they were saying that by not allowing them to have the same rights as same sex couples, they were being discriminated against.

If Christ is not in it, can it really be called a marriage as the key text is being conditional; ‘Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.’ Please pray not just for the general institution of marriage, but for Christ to rule in the hearts of ALL marriages to bring them to a true knowledge of him.

John Waller sings ‘The Marriage Prayer.’ Click on the picture to listen.