Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Characters: The Wilson Family

Today is the last in my series Christmas characters.

If you view the attachment you will see a photo of my family; myself and Pauline my wife. Mark my son and Sharon on the right with his three girls, Victoria, Jillian and Kaitlin. In the green is my son in law, Mark with Sharon my elder daughter and their three boys Eli, Tate and Finn. In the purple is my daughter Sarah with husband Cam and Emily, Kyla and Jesse. All seventeen of us wish you a joy-filled and blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year.



I won’t be bothering you with my “breakfasts” until the first of the New Year, then it will be back to morning cereals once again.

Ian

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christmas Characters: The Shepherds

Today in the theme of Christmas characters we consider the shepherds.

From the Magi, the rich and the wise, we pass to the shepherds. They were poor, illiterate and landless men, and yet it was to these country-folk that the Lord first announced the “good tidings of great joy”. God chose to pass over the theologians and gray beards of Jerusalem to come in the form of His angels to the hills of Bethlehem.

Why would God choose the simple and the poor to be the first to see His only begotten Son? There may be many reasons, but one of the simplest answers is that there are more poor than any other class of people on earth.

We in the West have little idea of what poverty means, but a trip across a couple of oceans to drop down, say in Mumbai India, would clear up any doubts in our mind about the poor and the conditions in which they live.

In His opening manifesto, Christ declared; “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach the Gospel to the POOR”.

In the shepherds, the poor of the earth are represented, countless millions of them. The Gospel message came first to them. And rest assured there is going to be a lot of them in heaven

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Christmas Characters: Herod

Today, in our list of Christmas characters, we come to King Herod.

Herod was not only a killer but he was  also a consummate politician. To the wise men he gave the syrupy speech: “Say chaps, how great that you are looking for this new born prince. When you find him let me know. I’ll be along to pay him my respects.”

We know that if he had had his way he would have taken Christ right out of Christmas. Herod is long gone but his spirit lives on. Still we have the push from the anti Christian lobby to have a politically correct “Happy Holidays” and remove Christ from Christmas, Christmas from schools, carols from the radio, crèches from public buildings and even turn Christmas trees into holiday trees. Anything to kill the babe in his manger.

Thank God, Herod failed then and his spirit is foiled today. Only this morning I read of “flash mobs”, one 5000 in number, descending on malls to spontaneously sing the Hallelujah chorus and “HE INDEED SHALL REIGN FOR EVER AND EVER”

How about that king Herod!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Christmas Characters: Wise Men

This morning.” breakfast with Ian” looks at the wise men. We don’t know the exact number of the Magi. We assume that there were three because there were three gifts that were brought. We do know that to find their way from the East to the Holy Land they combined study, reason and revelation.

The star that they followed moved contrary to all other star patterns to bring these men to the Land of Israel. Once there, REASON told them that if a king was to be born, he most surely would be in a palace in Jerusalem. So that is where they went and consorted with Herod and his priests. REASON had led them astray.

It was not until they left the palace that the star appeared unto them again, this time to lead them to their precise destination.

What lessons do we learn from the wise men? Well here is one. Wisdom and learning and reason have their place in finding the guidance of God, but all are superseded by “Lo the star!”

Everyone of us must have our own star: call it a life dream, a living word in our hearts, a fervent hope, the “shining path that groweth brighter and brighter to the perfect day”

God has given you a star. Keep sight of it and never let it be eclipsed by clouds of reason - yours or other peoples.

Christmas Characters: The Angel Gabriel

This week is our week of Christmas Characters.  Today, Angel Gabriel.

The Christmas message would not be the same without the angels. In Luke’s account the story of Jesus begins six months earlier with the announcement of Gabriel to Zechariah concerning the birth of John. Zechariah was in the temple performing his priestly duties. Suddenly a routine morning service was transformed. Totally transformed. We have the electrifying account of how the Angel Gabriel appeared at the right hand side of the altar of incense and took over the morning ministrations with his own message from God. Where had the Angel come from? He gave the answer to Zechariah. “I am Gabriel that stands in the Presence of God.”

But where was God? Zechariah knew the answer to that question: God was a matter of a few feet away, hidden by the great curtain.

In other words, when God sent Gabriel to speak to Zechariah he only had to move a few feet to pass through the veil to give his message. Heaven was that close.

Actually heaven is always that close, and it seems to me that the Christmas season brings heaven even that much closer, even to our very finger tips. The art of living by faith is to keep heaven that close through out the year.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Romeo and Juliet

To end our week on Shakespeare here is a quote from “Romeo and Juliet”

Juliet speaks:

“A name! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”

I do not think we should take the words of a love-sick lass to be the clearest of voices on this subject.

What’s in a name? The words from angel Gabriel to Mary were:

“Thou shalt call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins.”

The responsibility of naming God’ Son was not left to chance. Before He was born He was given the sweetest of names, “Jesus”, by His Father.

I’m so glad that God did not call Him Billy or Bert. Not that I have anything against boys being called Bill and Bert.  But there is just something about the Name of Jesus.

“How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear.  It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds and drives away his fear.”

Thou shalt call His Name Jesus. I’m sure you will agree with me that when you are singing the timeless carols of Christmas that in JESUS, God could not have chosen a more perfect name for His Son.

A name! What’s in a name? EVERYTHING…. including our salvation.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Measure for Measure

Another “Measure for Measure” quote today.

“Man, proud man, dressed in a little brief authority, ignorant of what thou art most assured, play such fantastic tricks before high heaven, as make the angels weep.”

We are blessed beyond words to enjoy the freedoms, the affluence and the rich heritage of Christian faith that have come down to us in our Western world.

Is it not disturbing then, to see a new generation repudiating the faith upon which our civilization was founded, swarming to druid solstices, smoking bong pipes, chanting naked in sweat lodges, rolfing and rolling new age crystals? In other words because “they are ignorant of what they are most assured”, they give themselves over to antics “that make the angels weep.”

This week was the anniversary of John Lennon’s death. For him it was indeed a “very brief authority”. I have always felt that it was the beginning of the end for the Beatles when they proclaimed themselves more popular than Jesus. After that, the tricks began in earnest.

Have you been assured of your Christian faith? Then stay assured. Let others perform the antics that make the angels weep.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

A Word from William

Today’s word from William is taken from “ Measure for Measure”.

“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”

Shakespeare was not a theologian but a playwright, yet this quote would make a worthy text for any preacher’s sermon. I offer it as motto for someone to embrace for the coming year of 2011.

If Christ gave the human heart a single pre-eminent gift it was that of courage: courage to move beyond our personal fears and paradigms of our own making, to become better people and bigger people.

How do you think the apostle Peter felt when he got back in the boat having walked on the water to Jesus?

We know he sank, but for a few sublime moments he defied his reason and the law of gravity and walked with God and showed the rest of the boat huggers it could be done.

This morning let’s tell the negative committee that meets in our head to sit down and shut up, throw the newspaper in the trash and walk with God.

Yes William, those doubts really are traitors!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Hamlet II

This morning another quotation from Hamlet.

“Nothing is either good nor bad, but thinking makes it so.”

The judgment as to whether a matter is good or bad is rarely objective. It often hinges on how we are personally affected.

As Christians, have you not found that the worst possible events can work out to the best possible conclusions given time for God’s purpose to process.

One of my favorite statements in scripture is made by Joseph in the last chapter of Genesis. He says to his brothers, who had sold him as a slave into Egypt many years before: “You thought evil against me, but God meant it to me for good.”

If 2010 was not a good year for you, take heart, the book is still being written. Joseph’s observation on the perfect program of God’s will was given in the last chapter, from Pharaoh’s palace, not in chapter 40, from Pharaoh’s prison.

Words from William: Hamlet

John Wesley once referred to William Shakespeare as “the heathen bard”. I agree that there may be some truth in that.

But Shakespeare had some rare insights into human kind and an unmatched gift to express what he saw.

I taught Shakespeare in high schools both in England and in the States and have often quoted him when preaching.

This week I’ll pass on some of my favorite “Words from William.”

Today a quote from ‘Hamlet’.

“The friends thou hast, their adoption tried, grapple them to thy heart with hooks of steel.”

I had an uncle who used a further quote from this passage “neither a borrower nor a lender be.” He kept to this principle assiduously but he was a reclusive man and had few friends.

Who would you count as truly close friends? Draw a circle round their names and call them “God given relationships”

Cherish these people; pray for them, affirm them, communicate with them and express to them your appreciation.

These are the “hooks of steel “ with which we grapple them to our hearts.

Thus we will have friendships that last for a lifetime and maybe, they will be among those who Jesus said “would welcome us into everlasting habitations” Luke 16.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Best Seat in the House

This picture gives us a new understanding about Jesus’ admonition to “take the lowest seat and stay there until you are called to come up higher”.



Admittedly there are better views up there, but be careful, hidden dangers lurk.

Someone once said “Be kind to people on the way up the ladder, you will be meeting them again on the way down".

There is a profound, God-given peace when you are sitting in the seat that has been appointed to you.  Stay there until He issues you another ticket.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Taking a Dog by the Ears

I think the scriptures speak somewhere about “Taking a dog by the ears.” Not to be advised if you want to keep all your fingers intact. 



Solomon was talking about staying out of trouble if you can possibly avoid it. Situations crop up in life and bring to every person a share of aggravation and stress. For such tests we are promised a full measure of the grace, wisdom and help of God. But let’s not be deliberately taking dogs by their ears or hefting bear cubs by the scruff of their necks.

We might find ourselves stranded up a tree calling on angels to help us, only to find that they are busy with other jobs.

The First Law of Holes

Original Post Date: December 7, 2010


Here is an interesting picture. 



Someone once said that the first law of holes is “If you are in one, stop digging”.

This is never so true as when the hole is a financial hole.

Christmas is indeed the season to be merry, but it is often followed by the season “when we are buried”

If you can’t afford it this Christmas don’t let Santa persuade you that you can!

This will help you to start the New Year with your back-hoe on firm ground!

Gods Instruction Manual

Original Post Date: December 6, 2010


Here we have a couple of photos of a brand new aircraft about to be flown to the Emirates from Toulouse airport in France. 





The pilots failed to read the instruction manual. They throttled up with the laps still down. When the automatic alarm went off they disconnected it. Here is the result. A $250,000,000 aircraft totalled. These pictures were banned from publication and a news blackout was demanded by the Arab government. However, the truth will get out!

The instruction manual for life is given to us in the form of the Bible. Have you taken the trouble to read it recently?

If you have not, it is quite possible that the Holy Spirit is sounding an alarm in your command cockpit.

Please don’t disconnect from His voice. Bad things can happen!


A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Original Post Date: December 5, 2010

This weeks’ breakfasts are based on the old adage “ A picture is worth a thousand words”

I need scarcely remind you of the parable told by Jesus of the foolish man who built his house upon the sand.

Here is an up to date photo from China of what happens when there is no adequate underpinning to an apartment building. How do you say “Ooops” in Chinese?



The other man in the parable was counted wise, in so far as he dug until he reached the rock and then built up from there.

Let’s take time, as we face 2011 and an increasingly frenetic world that seems to be accelerating to it’s own oblivion, to dig deeper and build on Jesus. He alone is the Rock that is both unshakeable and unchanging.

Breakfast with Dave (5 of 5)

Original Post Date: December 2, 2010


Our thanks to Dave Campbell for his unique contribution to our morning menus. If anyone wishes to contact Dave for further explanations feel free post a comment to this blog. I will pass on your questions.

Have a blessed weekend


The Biblical Revolution II 


But the Bible goes beyond this. Its message breaks the power of the honour and shame system. It teaches that every person is of infinite worth and value, There is an infinite amount of honour available, because honour comes from the infinite and unlimited God who bestows it freely upon His people. True, we have fallen short of God's standard through transgression, which the Bible understands as the violation of God's law. But this transgression is thus defined as guilt, and for this there is a solution -- forgiveness. Better yet, this forgiveness has been provided by God Himself, who sent His own Son to die for us. 

Consider the revolutionary implications of Phil 2:6-11 in the light of the Greek culture into which it was spoken. It tells us that Jesus, who held the place of highest honour, took upon Himself the form of a slave and suffered the most shameful death. Yet in the process He did not lose honour, but found it! For the place of highest honour is reserved for Him at the Father's right hand. The cross, to the Greek the symbol of awful fate, for the Christian is the sign of freedom. 

So for us, the place of greatest honour is the place of greatest service. When we are wronged, our honour is not at stake, because it does not depend on what others think of us, but only on the infinite worth and value God has already given us. Forgiveness is the way of freedom. To the pagan mind, this was and is offensive. Fate and honour glorify position and power. 

The German philosopher Nietzsche viewed Christianity the way the Greeks would, as contemptible in its care for the weak and the poor. His influence on Hitler led to a world where the strong are honoured and the weak destroyed, where appearance is everything, where fate is expressed through genetics and where might is right. Against this Paul warned the Corinthians that, while they wanted the honour of kings, he himself was without honour (1 Cor. 4:9-10). Yet He goes on to say that God delights to pour His transcendent power only into vessels that are without honour in the sight of the world (2 Cor. 4:7).  

Jesus said only those coming as little children can enter God's kingdom! 

Breakfast with Dave (4 of 5)

Original Post Date: December 1, 2010


In this breakfast thought today, Dave contrasts honour and shame. You will be amazed at how polarized these belief systems are to that of the Christian gospel. I hope you will feel more equipped to witness confidently to those who say that there is no difference between Christianity and other faiths in our Multi cultural porridge. 

Now over to Dave!

Fate and honour 

The Greek word for fate is moira, meaning a portion, something divided out from the whole. The portion fate allots to us determines our honour. The greater the portion of the pie, the greater our honour. 

For the Greeks, honour was all about position -- getting a bigger piece of the pie. As there is only so much to go around, my portion can only be increased at your expense. If someone steals a portion from me, increasing their reputation by reducing mine, my only option is revenge. Honour has nothing to do with ethics or morality. It is all about position and power. Even the gods were connivers and schemers, like many of the Hindu gods. Honour is just becoming bigger than those around us. The flip side of honour is shame.

If a woman is raped, she is shamed. Her piece of the pie is greatly diminished, along with that of her husband, whose honour has also been stolen. She has done nothing wrong, but she is damaged goods. Shame, like, honour, has nothing to do with moral worth or value. Shame is not like guilt, in that it cannot be forgiven. And since honour is allotted by fate, perhaps it was her fate to be raped and shamed. We cannot move outside the amount of honour determined for us. Even the gods cannot do so. The whole universe is caught up in a gigantic given. 

But human nature pushes us toward the possession of honour. Challenging the boundaries of fate involved transgression, or pride (hubris). Transgression has nothing to do with morality. A thief may be fated to attain honour through thievery, while an honest person may be fated to be shamed. Neither can challenge what has been allotted. The Furies were the instruments of divine punishment for any who dared transgress. 


Check back tomorrow for a different view!

Breakfast with Dave (3 of 5)

Original Post Date:  November 30, 2010


Yesterday we were following the similarities between the Ancient Greek concept of fate and the Hindu caste structure. Both of these systems imprison people in a rigid, unalterable lot during their appointed time on this earth. The Greeks saw a man’s segment of time as an enclosure. The borders of this enclosure were patrolled by the Furies. The Fates decided the appointments of a man’s life. The Furies made sure that he kept within them!

For a person to beak out from his decreed allotment of life was to incur the anger of the Furies and to tempt fate.

The crossing of the borders, which were drawn at birth, was called a transgression. In our modern parlance we understand this word to mean sin or moral violation. To the Greeks transgression meant that a man had rebelled against fate and had moved beyond the pre-set boundaries of his life. In doing so he had “transgressed”. Progress, the thought of moving forward or upward was a forbidden concept. PROgression must sooner or later lead to TRANSgression and that meant punishment.

We in our Western world, so deeply influenced by the gospel of Christ, that promises freedom and constant, transforming grace, find this philosophy of life to be both irrational and intolerable. And so we ought.

More and more of the lower castes in Hinduism are coming to the same conclusion. As the influence of Christianity is spreading in India, thousands of lower class Indians are abandoning their castes and embracing another faith that offers freedom and forgiveness.

Incidentally, this allows their children to enroll in university, a privilege that formerly belonged only to the upper castes.

When Jesus said “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” there were no specifications or boundaries to that freedom. It superseded both Fates and Furies.

Breakfast with Dave (2 of 5)

Original Post Date:  November 29, 2010


Yesterday we considered how the Greeks saw the experience of human life, not as a time-line but as an arc built into the larger circle of life.

This segment was determined by Fate. Fate decided the span of a man’s life and all that transpired within that span.

A man is not to attempt to move beyond the boundaries appointed to him by the gods, nor to alter what had been allotted to him in life.

The Hindu caste system is a representation of this closed, fatalistic philosophy. There are four castes within Hinduism:

The Brahmin, the merchant, the military and the Dalit class (The lowest of all)

The Dalit’s lot is already decided for them by the god’s (who ever they may be). To seek to move beyond that allotment in life would be to incur their anger. Also it would incur the anger of the superior castes. If a Dalit is a street sweeper he will always be a street sweeper. He must accept his designation supinely, without resentment and without aspiring to be a member of a higher caste.

His only hope of betterment would be to return to earth through re-incarnation to a higher class. But there is no rising above his present, predetermined lot in THIS life.

Tomorrow we will be considering how the Christian Gospel challenges this model of fatalism with a message that promises immediate and continuous upward change. Change brought about by a man’s joyful conjunction with God’s purposes while on earth

Breakfast with Dave (1 of 5)

Original Post Date:  November 28, 2010

Good morning. Dave Campbell has been a personal friend of mine for many years.

While attending Durham University he helped found a church that has since pioneered seven associate churches.

Dave currently lives in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada with his wife Elaine and their seven children, where they lead the Trinity Christian Fellowship.

His breakfast series this week is taken from a longer message on Christian Destiny contrasted with the Ancient Greek concept of Fate.

Now on with Breakfast !

One of the concepts that we employ when thinking of time is that of a straight line; a time line. This line we think of as solid from the past to the present becoming dotted as we view an uncertain future. This is a Biblical way of how our lives are lived. The past already decided, the future yet to be written in terms of our ongoing response to God’s will.

The Greeks had a different concept of time. They saw a continuous line of life folded to form a circle. There were no dots. The circle was closed and complete.

A life of an individual was conceived as a segment of the large circle. That section of the circle was the portion allotted to that person. It was neither to be enlarged nor diminished. It was decided by the gods and it was termed as a man’s fate.

Thus we have two diametric and opposite concepts of life. One an extended time line of events, past and future. The other a closed concept, already predetermined, called Fate.

In our next step we will be considering the implications of these contrasting positions as they work out in a person’s life-view from one or another of these concepts.

Rosie the Leper

In yesterday mornings poem I mentioned Rosie the leper. I met her while preaching in a church in Adelaide, Australia.

There she was, two hands raised in worship to God; stubs where there should have been fingers, twisted slits where there should have been lips.

Ah, but Rosie’s eyes when she spoke about her love for the Lord Jesus: they glowed and her brown skin almost shone from the light within. Rosie was an Aboriginal who had lived with an abusive husband somewhere in the vast outback. She had no sensation in her hands because of leprosy and had burned her fingers to the stumps cooking over a campfire. When her husband had died, Rosie had made her way to the big city, found her way into a church, got gloriously saved and from that moment “lived full-on for Jesus” ( her words.)

As I recall, I taught in the Adelaide church for five days. I like to think that I preached some good sermons, but by far the greatest sermon was the one preached to me by a lady called Rosie, disfigured by hideous leprosy but transfigured by her love for the Lord Jesus Christ!
 

Unique people in Gods "Forever Family"

This week for our daily breakfasts I am going to introduce you to some people that I have met on the evangelistic trails around the world. I never cease to be amazed by the uniqueness of the people that God has chosen to be part of His 'forever family'

One of the roughest and most dangerous areas where I have preached was the township of Gugulethu near Cape Town.

We were holding services in a bunker-like building surrounded by barbed wire. As we were in praise to God I was aware of a powerful odour. Standing next to me was Matthew. He was a homeless man who slept in cardboard box somewhere in the Township: no shower, no running water, no toilet. The poorest of the poor. 

Matthew grinned at me. His front teeth were missing, broken out as part of a tribal ritual to enrol him into manhood. My eyes watered from the aroma of Gugulethu 'old spice'.

I was looking around for another seat when the Spirit spoke to me and reminded me that Matthew was a member of the Christian Family. "Grin and bear it and be thankful you have all your teeth!"  That night I wrote this poem about the family of God. 


There's queer ones and dear ones, there's the long and the short and the tall, 

But they're washed in the blood and belong unto God, so my prayer is:

"Dear Lord bless them all."
There are a few of my kin who get under my skin and cause my spirit to fret

But when I look in the mirror I'm likely to shiver, for I know I'm not perfect yet!

I think of Big Eddy and his brother fat Freddy who were into many a heist, 

And I stand in amaze and give the Lord praise when I think who they'd be without Christ.

There's some need a bath and some make me laugh and others I'd take in small measure,

But they happen to be part of God's family and He counts them His special treasure.

There's Rosie the leper and Alice Culpepper and many whose names I've forgotten.

They're all part of the Tribe and transformed inside, by the work of God's Spirit begotten.

So we're in it together and in it forever, we belong to the Father Above,

so with sisters and brothers and angels and others, let's live as a family in love.

Tales from the Trails

Original Post Date:  November 26, 2010

Tales from the trails.

My last tale of the week is of someone who passed away in the mid 1800’s in England. 

A few years ago Pauline and I visited the picturesque village of Aysgarth Falls in Yorkshire. The graveyard of the village was bright yellow with Spring daffodils. Bordering the pathway that led to the centuries old church were several mighty elm trees. Grown into the roots of one of the biggest trees, fully a hundred feet tall, was a small white gravestone. The words inscribed on it have remained clearly in my mind. The epitaph read:

DEAF JACK.

In boyhood glad and uncomplaining.

In manhood strong and daring.

In old age firm and God-fearing,

Always staunch and faithful.



I have come to recall those words many times as I have heard people make excuses as to why they do not or cannot serve God.

Think about Deaf Jack. There were no hearing aids in his world, no special support groups, no educational or teaching helps, no standardized sign language. But hear his testimony once again:

A God-fearing man, filled with a sense of adventure. Highly regarded in his rural community, faithful and uncomplaining and who surmounted his life-long disability by the quality of his character.

It was said of the Viking chiefs, that length of life was of little importance to them. Honorable mention on the Rune Stones was all that mattered to them.

Ah the Runes Stones. What will be written about us?

Jack being dead yet speaketh.

Sad news from England

Original Post Date:  November 24, 2010

I had some sad news from England today. 

The wife of a man that I had spent several hours debating with on the beaches of Cuba called me to let me know that he had passed away this morning. His name was Bob Atkinson. He was 52 years old. The sad news really ends there.

For the past three or four years after I returned from Cuba, I continued correspondence with Bob. He lived in Scarborough, England, on the Yorkshire coast. Bob vowed that he would never be converted to Christ. However, he was asking me too many questions for me to take him seriously. When Pauline and I returned from Greece in October I had a letter from his wife awaiting me. 

Bob had cirrhosis of the liver and had only a few weeks to live (although nobody had told him). I wrote to him and made it clear that none of us are in the long-term parking lot on this earth. If the symptoms were as bad as I had heard, Bob better get ready to make his last journey. A week or two later I prayed with him over the phone that he might know peace with God through Jesus. A few days later I followed my call with another letter.

Today I heard that it was this letter that was read to Bob when he lay dying in his hospital bed.

I am so glad that one night when I was tired, I forced myself to keep awake and penned a few lines to a fellow man. These words were perhaps his last comfort as he passed through the valley of the shadow of death to meet the Lord.

Never underestimate your testimony, my friends, nor the power of personal witness. We will be surprised who we meet in Heaven because we opened our mouths and told someone about Jesus.