EmmDev 2020-04-29 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] The Bottom-Line

The Bottom-Line

In South Africa we are nearing the end of lockdown which is level 5 on our Corona "states of emergency". Unfortunately, gatherings like sports and church, will only be allowed at level 1 and in level 4 we are being encouraged to stay at home as much as possible and to exercise great care and physical distancing when we do go out.

It's very easy to lament the difficulties and frustrations and the challenges of having to build community in new ways. It's also easy to be very aware of the challenges in the next few months and want to push hard to be ready and prepared.

But I had an email by a Brian Darroll who has been a friend and mentor for many years. He pointed me to the end of Ps.73 and the very important "bottom line" it offers us.

Psalm 73 documents the struggle of someone who is experiencing hardship (although he has tried to live righteously) and he is incensed that the wicked prosper and have no worries.

The first half of the psalm records his struggle: "It's just not fair!!!" Then, after the arguments and righteous indignation, comes the turning-point: he goes to worship in the sanctuary and there he gains two incredible insights:

Firstly comes the gift of perspective: Life is more than just the here and now. He realises that the wicked will ultimately answer for their evil, that the scales will be balanced and that his faithfulness will have been worth it.

Secondly he realises that he has the incredible privilege of a relationship with God. He can know God! He can pray to and praise the Almighty and Ever-living God of the Universe. He realises that even when his own heart and flesh fails, he is held and carried by an awesome God.

We face challenging times as never before.

• We're learning that our buildings and gatherings are secondary.
• We're learning that our jobs and qualifications are secondary.
• Many of the things we thought were important are secondary.
• We're learning that
  - life is a gift.
  - our relationship with God is a gift
  - not only in this life, but in the next.

As the chorus puts it:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
look full in His wonderful face
and the things of the earth will grow strangely dim
in the light of His glory and grace. 

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.      (Psalms73:25-26)

---

EmmDev 2020-04-28 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] God's care...

God's care...

The main point of of the book of Jonah is not the big fish, but Jonah's hard heart and his exclusive theology contrasted to God's heart for the world.

The book, recounting a story of a barely known prophet of yesteryear, was written in a time where the Israelites had become exclusive and nationalistic. Foreigners were seen as unclean and unacceptable.

Jonah's hard heart is on display throughout the book:

• When God sends him to Nineveh, Jonah heads in the opposite direction: to a place called Tarshish (Which means "Where God is not").
• When the storm comes and the sailors are praying, Jonah is sleeping below decks in depressive denial.
• When he reveals himself as a "prophet of the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land" the sailors believe, but Jonah fatalistically asks to be thrown into the sea.
• His prayer in the belly of the fish appears very pious, but the rest of his actions imply that this was not a prayer from the heart. The fish vomits him up on the land as though it can't stand the hypocrisy anymore!
• I imagine a gastric-juice-bleached Jonah preaching in Nineveh, finally in his element: pronouncing doom and destruction on the city. But the city does something that Jerusalem never did - it repents and God shows mercy.
• Jonah waits in the desert for the promised destruction. He's pouting: more upset about his reputation than about God's mercy for the Ninevites who have repented.
• When God grows a vine overnight in the desert to give him shade and then takes it away, Jonah loses it: "I am angry enough to die!"

What comes next is a breath-taking picture of God's heart:

• He's been patient with Jonah, treating the pouting prophet with tenderness and going to great lengths to soften his hard heart.
• He is concerned for the people of Nineveh who don't know their right from their left. We hear the same thing at the cross: "Father forgive them - they don't know what they are doing."
• God cares even about the animals: the rest of creation impacted by human brokenness.

The bottom line of the book is that God cares: He cares for Jonah, for heathen sailors, for the people of Nineveh and for their animals. He has a heart for the world and He will always surprise us with the depths of His mercy and love.
The book ends abruptly. We get a breath-taking picture of God's heart and we are left with Jonah's heart-state undecided. We don't know if Jonah "got it"...
Read verse 11 softly and slowly.

This is God's heart...

Many of us are upset about Covid19 and especially the effects of poverty and hunger. In my sermon on Sunday I suggested that we are in a "Loaves and Fishes Season" - We're all going to need to bring what we can to this crisis to make a difference.

In some ways our lockdown was our desert testing time... how are our hearts after our creature comforts (like Jonah's vine) were impacted? Are our hearts more like Jonah's or God's?

But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"       (Jonah4:10-11)

---

EmmDev 2020-04-24 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] Clear thinking#4: What a clear mind looks like.

Clear thinking#4: What a clear mind looks like.

There's a chain of convenience stores that were called 7-11 because they were open from 7 in the morning until 11 at night and they carried a broad range of household goods that people often needed outside of "normal" working hours.

Today's passage is my 7-11 store because it gives me the things I need "outside of normality".

The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.       (1Peter4:7-11)

Peter is writing to the church in Asia Minor. They're experiencing the start of a contraction and are feeling the reality of being the church in the end times.

He writes to them about how to live in difficult times and starts off by calling them to be "clear-minded". This clear (or sober) mind is the starting place for everything. When our thoughts are orderly and on a clear foundation, then we live well (self-controlled) and we function well spiritually (we can pray).

This clear-mindedness helps us to love graciously and hospitably and helps us use our spiritual gifts for the benefit of others and the glory of God.

But it starts with being clear-minded...

Think about when you've been the opposite of self-controlled.
Has it been when your mind has been cluttered, overloaded and stressed?
Has it been when you haven't been clear about God's love for you?
Or when you've majored on minors?
(I found this very apt meme:
"My mind is like my internet browser:
19 open tabs with three that are frozen
and I have no clue where the music is coming from!"
- If this is you - it's time to de-clutter.)

Have you failed in the areas of love and service? Has it been when your mind has been "possessed" by your possessions, your agenda, your to-do list and when you've convinced yourself that everything depends on you?

Some have suggested that lockdown could and should slow us down enough for clarity to emerge again.

Being clear-minded means:

1. I'm secure in the love and forgiveness of God.
   
   
2. I'm thankful and not driven in my actions
   
   
3. I understand the world doesn't revolve around me but I can serve.
   
   
4. Things turn out best when I "Begin with the End in mind" and the "End" is "that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."

Let's be clear-minded to the end of lockdown...

---

EmmDev 2020-04-23 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] Clear thinking#3 - Beasts and their numbers

Clear thinking#3 - Beasts and their numbers

I've had a number of queries about people being "chipped" as part of the rolling out process of the Covid19 vaccine or as part of contact-tracing and this has fueled all the concerns about the "Mark of the Beast."
Let's do some clear thinking about this:

First, let me reiterate a point from yesterday which is that Revelation isn't true only once. (Otherwise, what comfort would the book have been to Christians 2000 years ago?) It is true every time history goes through a "contraction". (Using Jesus' analogy that the End Times are like a woman in labour.)

In his commentary on Revelation, Michael Wilcock sees Revelation as a series of "acts" in a play. (If you think of Romeo and Juliet, one act tells the story from the Capulet perspective while the next act, which could describe events that happen at the same time is the Montague perspective.) This means that one doesn't read the book in a linear fashion, but rather that different "acts" look at the "End Times" from different perspectives (By now we know we mean the period from Ascension to Second Coming when we use the phrase "End Times".)

The "Act" that today's reading is part of is an overview of the history of the church, and these visions are firmly rooted in John's own historical experience.

In the previous chapter we saw how the dragon (Satan) tried to destroy the Child (Christ) but failed. Now he is trying to destroy the woman (the church.)
The dragon calls forth two beasts: one is a figure of authority. The other is the quasi-religious system that serves the first beast. In John's historical context, the first beast was Caesar who declared himself as god, and the second beast was Roman culture and military power that enforced "Emperor Worship." Christians could be required by law to burn a pinch of incense before the statue of Caesar and bow down before it. Failure to do this resulted in removal of their right to have a business in the marketplace, at the least, and being thrown to the lions in the arena at the worst. (You burned incense with your hand and you bowed your head to Caesar's statue - hence John's anatomical references.)

Like most of the numbers in Revelation, the "mark of the beast" is symbolic. If seven is a symbol of God's holiness and perfection then six is to fall short of that. 666 is a trinity of imperfection. It is a "man's number" and Paul reminds us that as far as humankind goes "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 666 is a human god-wannabe. Wearing the mark of the beast is to worship an imperfect human god-wannabe. There is a touch of humour in the mark - it indicates a triune failure to be God.

Many conspiracy theorists have panicked about the barcodes on food, chip implants or the implementation of the European Union arguing that these are the 666, but the point is that you don't get the mark of the beast by accident, you get it by worshipping the first beast through the system of the second.

Two nice examples of how this repeats itself through history would be:

• Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: The first beast was Nebuchadnezzar who wanted to be honoured as God, the second beast was the religious system with its "band" - trumpet, horn, zither etc. Now bear in mind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were in Nebuchadnezzar's employ. They worked for him. But this was not the problem. The problem came when they were asked to bow down (the 666).
  
  
• Then there's the way Hitler (first beast) created a cult around himself ("Heil Hitler" implied that salvation came from him) and set up the Getstapo (second beast) to enforce the Hitler Salute in society and establish the state church where people sacrificed true faith for obsessive nationalism (the 666).
  
  
• (As an aside, you even see this reflected in the fiction and movies - look at "Star Wars" with the Emperor, Darth Vader and the shift from Republic to Empire)

Throughout history we have seen and will see these beasts and their mark.
The important things to understand are:

• The Mark of the Beast is about worship and allegiance to someone who is pretending to be God.
• You don't get this mark by accident - it requires a decision about worship and allegiance.
• It's not about the number 666 itself, but rather this idea of being a God-wannabe.

Where does our comfort come from?
Three important thoughts:

1. God was with the three in the fiery furnace and he closed mouths in Daniel's den of lions.
2. His Holy Spirit gives us the words to speak when we are brought before authorities (Mark 13:11)
3. And even if the worst happens and we have to die for our faith, then Paul's words are true - "To live is Christ and to die is gain."

1 And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. ... 11 Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast ... 16 He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.       (Revelation13:1-18)

---

EmmDev 2020-04-22 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] Clear thinking#2 - Is there a "Rapture"?

Clear thinking#2 - Is there a "Rapture"?

Today's devotion is of a more technical nature, but it raises a deep and important underlying issue.

The idea of the Rapture has been popularised in recent times by the "Left Behind" book series which was followed by a movie starring a famous Hollywood actor.

In a nutshell, those who espouse the idea of the Rapture teach that that before the final judgement, Jesus will return to take His children to be with Him while the final chapter of earth's history plays out. This is described as a trumpet call that only Christians will hear and they will be raptured (teleported) into God's presence and those "left behind" have one last chance to turn to Christ while the apocalyptic times of Revelation: the beast, the mark of the beast and the trumpets, seals and bowls unfold. The word "rapture" implies "snatched up" and the Afrikaans phrase "wegraping" really portrays the sense of a sudden and sneaky rescue of Christians from a bad and evil world.

There are some serious problems with this idea:

• It means that Jesus actually comes three times:
  - The first when He came to earth in the incarnation to die for us.
  - The second is a "stealth" return that only Christians know about.
  - The third is to return as Lord over all for the final judgement
  There is no solid biblical support for this.
  The clear expectation is that when He returns:
  - every eye will see Him (Rev1:7)
  - He will judge the living and the dead (2Tim4:1)
  - When the trumpet sounds all the nations will see Him (Mt.24:30-31)
  - When the trumpet sounds the dead will be raised (this is the time for the final judgement) (1Cor15:52) (1Thes4:15-16)
  
  
• It mis-interprets Revelation by portraying it as a step by step explanation of the final end-times (This approach was popularised by Hal Lindsey's "Late Great Planet Earth" and other books like it.) As I explained in a previous devotion, I believe that the book of Revelation is a symbolic and poetic framework that is applicable every time the church goes through suffering and persecution. This fits in with Jesus describing the end-times as a woman in labour. There are times of contraction and times of relief. Revelation is applicable every time there is a contraction. For John and the early church, the beast was Caesar and the "mark of the beast" was having to burn incense to the statue of Caesar. For Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the faithful church in Nazi Germany, the beast was Hitler and the "mark of the beast" was to become the state church, preaching state approved doctrines.
  
  Just imagine, John coming to the persecuted church in his time saying: "I've been given this vision guys and it's very exciting but it's only about things that will happen in some 2000 years plus...!" What comfort would Revelation have given them??
  
  
  
• The idea of the "rapture" is unknown in the early church. It is a recent development which can be traced back to 1830 when a young Scottish woman named Margaret MacDonald had a dream about the events we now describe as the "rapture". These ideas were popularised by William Darby who was well-known preacher of the time. These ideas were taken up by Cyrus Scofield who published the "Scofield Reference Bible" which was published in the early 1900's and became a staple for American Evangelicalism.
  
  Our mainline churches, Reformed, Anglican, Methodist and Roman Catholic do not subscribe to or teach about the rapture. But the idea is very popular among churches that have a "Dispensationalist" view of history. They believe that history is marching along a set path to the "end times" goes through various dispensations. The problem with this is that they have to keep on stretching out the dispensations - imagine if Jesus only comes in 1000 years time? The "mainline" view is that the end-times began when Jesus ascended and is an ongoing cycle of contractions and relief until one of the contractions results in His return.
  

For many people the idea of the rapture has floated around in church culture and has become well accepted. But we need to face facts: It has no real roots in long standing theological traditions and is actually not tenable when one does responsible Bible Study.

The deep and underlying issue that concerns me about the "Rapture" idea is the "escapist mentality" that it creates. It encourages people to disengage from the problems of the world because Jesus is going to come and rescue us from all the "yucky stuff" - "He's gonna toot and I'm gonna scoot." We can't afford to be so "heavenly minded that we are of no earthly use". During this Covid19 time good Christians who could make a real practical difference through giving and service are being distracted by flights of fancy as they try to figure out if the rapture is around the corner.

(Two final technical issues:

• In the reading below, Jesus says "...this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened." Matthew 24 is Jesus' discourse on the "end times" which is started off by His prediction of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70AD. It is well-accepted that this event became the signpost and signal that the church was now in the "end-times". When understood in this way then Jesus' comment makes perfect sense.

• When Jesus talks about one being "taken" and one being "left" it can as easily apply to the final judgement and is just another way of describing Jesus' parable of the separation of the "sheep and the goats". )

The great comfort we take from this is that God is in control - we don't know the when and where of His Second Coming, but if we've been in the end times for 2000 years, and He has sustained the church, then He is able to sustain us now.

"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 32 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.      (Matthew24:30-41)

---

EmmDev 2020-04-21 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] Clear thinking#1 - Who's to blame?

Clear thinking#1 - Who's to blame?

I'm a very aware that many of us in lockdown are starting to feel the strain and so I've battled with whether to focus on giving you some encouragement or to address some of the theological issues that have emerged. In the end I've decided to do a bit of both...

For this week I want to come back to some of the fuzzy thinking we have around tragedy and just try do some clear thinking on a couple of these issues but at the end of each devotion I'll include an inspirational passage you can reflect on...

For today's thoughts I've borrowed abundantly from a message preached by my friend Francois Mulder at the NG Kerk in Blanco, George.

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."                    (Luke13:1-5)

The issue for today is our constant need to find something or someone to blame when horrible things happen. People were talking to Jesus about two tragedies that had been "headline news":

• A senseless act of violence perpetrated by Pilate's soldiers who killed some worshippers while they were making sacrifices in worship.
• A disaster in which 18 people were killed when a tower collapsed.

They were asking:
- "Whose fault is this?"
- "Were these people more sinful than others?"
- "Had they stepped out from under God's protective umbrella?"
- "Is this God's judgement on them?"

This is very typical of our human nature. Someone must be to blame and almost without fail the erroneous conclusion is that these are His actions and they are punitive in nature.

Jesus goes right to the heart of the matter:
- Stop trying to be "Judge and Jury" over the lives of others.
- God doesn't push towers onto people to punish them.
- Final judgement is coming.
- You have to face God yourself one day
- The real stakes are not physical death but spiritual death (perishing).

Our newspapers, fireside chats, "intellectual" debates all hinge around "solving" the problem of pain. We think that if we can explain it, we can compartmentalize and contain it. But all of this avoids the real issue: Pain reminds us all that we are mortal. We will die and we will face God's Ultimate Reckoning. Whether we die in tragedy or quietly slip away after a long life we still face God's judgement. And, unless we repent, we will perish.

If you're wriggling in your seat thinking that this is starting to sound like a "Turn or Burn" sermon, please understand that it makes me wriggle too. But we can't escape the urgency of Jesus' message. We can't hide in philosophical debates. We are either right with God or we are not. We have to get down to the bottom line.

We must not miss the real message of pain: Pain reminds us of our mortality and asks us

• "Are you ready to meet the Lord? Have you repented?"
• "Do you understand that there aren't 'big sinners' and 'little sinners' but just sinners who need forgiveness?"
• "Do you understand that physical death is not finality - we must face God's reckoning?"

And when we have repented and put our trust in God, we have the incredible comfort that no matter what happens, we will be accompanied and carried by God's never-ending love.

(You can watch Francois' sermon at www.youtube.com/watch?v=my1fAjkN3u4 )

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.                                                                      (Rom 8:35-39)

---

EmmDev 2020-04-17 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] Prepare your minds...

Prepare your minds...

Peter wrote to the churches scattered in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). He wrote to them as persecution was starting to increase. At this point it had not reached the levels of Rome under Nero and the really hard persecution that would take place under Domitian had yet to come.

Peter is writing to a church in transition - yet there was some inkling of what was to come (and it looked pretty challenging!) but for now it was not yet arrived.

His first chapter is a beautiful "equipping" for what was coming.
Here are just some key-points:

1. We have an immovable solid foundation. Birth through resurrection into an eternal imperishable destiny. The Heidelberg Catechism says: "My only comfort in life and in death is that I belong to Jesus Christ..."
   
   
2. We are shielded by God's power until the "coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time" (The Second Coming). Peter is clear that this time is at hand, but still approaching (in other words, he doesn't try to predict it, but just declares that it is imminent.) But, we will not be "raptured" out of the world, we will be shielded by God's power - we will endure.
   
   
3. In the meantime there will be trials (labour pains - see my e-devotion for 26 March) and these will test us. This testing is like the refining of gold. Apply heat and the heavy molten gold sinks down and the dross (impurities) floats to the top. Trouble refines our faith and brings glory to God.
   
   
4. Even when God's plan is hard to see in a broken world, He lights the fire of faith in us if we will let Him and will give us deep joy (not just temporary happiness).
   
   
5. Peter shows how the prophets foresaw the sufferings of Christ and that this is now an important comfort to you and I. History is not random but God is at work. It doesn't make sense that He suffered, but it comforts us.
   
   
6. So we need to prepare our minds for action!
   There is work to be done.
   Preparation means self-control (self-discipline) but also making a decision to hope in Christ and His return. This world will not have the final say.

With these key thoughts in mind, let's read the passage and receive its hope, its call and its comfort.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. 13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.      (1Peter1:3-13)

---

EmmDev 2020-04-16 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] Calibration

Calibration

Yesterday I spoke about preparing ourselves.

Mark's gospel is the shortest of the gospels, but it's not so much because he gives less information, he just packs it in very tightly. His account of Jesus' life is told with the breathless efficiency of a journalist - focusing on the core essentials of Jesus' activities and portraying Him as the tireless Son of Man who came to serve and not to be served...

So it is striking that in the first chapter Mark gives us the details of Jesus' devotional life...

In the midst of lots of output and pressure and before He makes the strategic decision to move to other villages Jesus prays.
His time of prayer seems to recharge His batteries, renew His resolve and re-calibrate His vision.

Stephen Covey makes the distinction between the "Urgent" (shouts loudly but isn't critical) and "Important" (doesn't always shout but is vital). When the disciples find Jesus they are the voice of the "Urgent" but Jesus has figured out the "Important".

During this lockdown cocoon it is vital that we learn to imitate Jesus in finding "solitary" places for prayer, Bible Study and reflection. This will recharge our batteries, renew our resolve and re-calibrate our vision.

Elsewhere I've written about how to have a Quiet Time. You can get it as a YouVersion reading plan or download a PDF here.

The key point is: while we have the relative simplicity of lockdown, it is a good time to establish a routine that Jesus Himself seemed to regard as indispensable.

Do you need to:
- recharge your batteries?
- renew your resolve?
- re-calibrate your vision?

Daily time spent with God will do that for you!

That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" 38 Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else--to the nearby villages--so I can preach there also. That is why I have come."      (Mark1:32-38)

---

EmmDev 2020-04-15 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] Horses, Thickets and Cocoons.

Horses, Thickets and Cocoons.

"If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?"      (Jeremiah12:5)

Jeremiah had one of the toughest ministries in the Old Testament. He had to repeatedly call an unrepentant Israel to "Shoev" (repent). It was a tough call and a tough congregation. During his ministry Jeremiah was locked in stocks, people plotted to kill him, he was beaten and thrown into a muddy pit and was dragged off to Egypt by a rebellious king.

Throughout the book Jeremiah is brutally honest and wrestles with God over all that is happening. While it is not easy to read, his candid wrestling with God provides us with a strange degree of "comfort" because of the honesty of the relationship and the fact that Jeremiah gets through it with faith intact and a deep love for his people still burning in his heart.

In chapter 11 Jeremiah experiences resistance from his own people who plot against him to end his life and silence him permanently. They confront him and threaten him: "Be silent - or else!"

This shakes Jeremiah to the core and he's ready to give up on them. His attitude is "Drag them off like sheep to be slaughtered!"
Surprisingly God does not comfort Jeremiah, but confronts him.
"Do you think it's going to get any easier???"

The point of God's question is that Jeremiah can't compete with horses. No man can. And no-one's skin is thick enough for the thorny thickets of Jordan. He will need help.

The only way to survive is to enter the battle with God's help. The only way to manage is to realise that I can't depend on people or my skill, my learning, my experience or even my track-record. There will come a time that I have to admit that I need help.

Coming to our own situation:

Not only has lockdown been extended, but after lockdown, we will emerge chrysalis-like from our cocoon into a changed world. We don't go back the same as we were and we are not returning to the same world we remember. This is not going to be a sprint, but a marathon. We are not competing with men, we are competing with horses, we are running into a thicket. We will need help.

And so, one of our critical tasks during this lockdown "cacoon", is to become all that God can make us to be. We are going to need His help. We are going to need to become part of the solution. We are to be agents of resurrection.

This means we will need:

1. Radical Dependence on God
2. A deep well of resilience and stamina
3. A mindset devoted to helping others and making a difference
4. A commitment to personal growth and renewal (being the best we can be)

We can start working on this now.
And it starts by admitting that we will need help.

"If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?"      (Jeremiah12:5)

---

EmmDev 2020-04-14 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] Hope deferred and found

Hope deferred and found

Just before the Easter Weekend our President announced that our country's lockdown is to be extended by two weeks. While this decision makes sense to our heads, I think there are many whose hearts sank at the news of another two weeks of lockdown.

In Proverbs we read that "hope deferred makes the heart sick." (13:12)
This is absolutely true. No-one likes it when the goalposts are shifted. It's like chasing a rainbow or following a mirage in the desert. Every time you crest the hill, your goal has moved to just out of reach. For many who were giving their all to get through this time, the extension may seem like a mountain.

There are many in our circles of connection and influence who have "sick hearts" right now. It might be you who has a "sick heart" even as you read this.

On His most significant day, the day of His resurrection, Jesus took a chunk of time to walk with two unknown dejected disciples. (We think that they were a husband and wife, Mary and Clopas.) While it is a beautiful facet in the accounts of Jesus' Resurrection, it is also a beautiful picture of the restoration(resurrection) of hope. Jesus uses caring conversation (questions, listening and talking) and Scripture to "set their hearts on fire again."

There is another proverb that reads "Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land." Right now we are "distant" from our neighbours, friends, families, colleagues, fellow congregants and associates. Many of them are struggling with sick hearts.

Let me urge and challenge you:


You could be cold water to a weary (thirsty) soul.
- Pick up the phone
- Write a message
- Have a video call.
- Connect, Care, Listen.
- Encourage, Empathise, Listen and Comfort

And if it is your heart that is sick, maybe one of the best things you could do is reach out to someone. Ask for help or offer help - it could turn your tide.

You could set a heart on fire again.
Don't delay - it could make a world of difference.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12) He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?" They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?" "What things?" he asked. "About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.  The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.  In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning  but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.  Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."  He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?"  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. ... They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:17-32) Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land. (Proverbs 25:25)

---

EmmDev 2020-04-08 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] How to behave in a Storm

How to behave in a Storm

Today's thought is a about leadership and how we as Christians should behave in a storm.

Paul is on the way to face trial in Rome. He's a prisoner and he's a Jew.
Jews were not a sea-faring nation (their most adventurous sailing was on the Sea of Galilee.)

They're sailing for Rome, but get caught in a storm for 14 days! The storm is a one big war of attrition. If you read the whole chapter you will see all the desperate measures they take to survive:
- They tie ropes around the ship
- They cast out all the anchors to slow them down
- They throw the cargo and even the ship's tackle overboard.

Luke describes it like this: "When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved."
Can you imagine "finally giving up all hope"?

Just before the ship runs aground and is destroyed, there's an incredibly beautiful "Last Supper" moment when Paul leads the ship's locked-down occupants in a meal and prayer. Think about it: Paul is the prisoner. He's at the lowest rung on the social status ladder and as a Jew he has the lowest credibility when it comes to sea-faring know-how. But God uses Paul and gives him authority and influence in this situation...

Watch him in this chapter:

• He listens to God.
• He speaks up when it's needed.
• He prays
• He comforts, encourages and leads
• He calls out the sailors who selfishly try to steal a lifeboat
• He protects the vulnerable when the soldiers take a ruthless decision to kill the prisoners instead of risking escape.
• In the panic of the actual collision he's giving practical direction

During this Covid19 crisis where we're locked down and socially-distanced and facing enormous economic challenges we need to be the "calm in the storm" just like Paul was.

Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. "For the last fourteen days," he said, "you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food--you haven't eaten anything. 34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head." 35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36 They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves.      (Acts27:33-36)

---

EmmDev 2020-04-07 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] Doing things Differently

Doing things Differently

This time of Covid19 lockdowns and social distancing has forced a lot of change on us. People are learning to work from home, to hold meetings by video conference, to home-school children, to revalue jobs (suddenly farmers and grocery store shelf-packers are essential workers!) and to reconsider many things we've taken for granted.

One of the areas we don't like change is in the practice of our faith. Because God is the same yesterday, today and forever, we'd like our rituals and traditions of worship to remain the same too because they comfort us and anchor us in an ever-changing world.

But we've had to put church services on-line, we're doing pastoral visitation by phone calls and even putting memorial services online so that people in lockdown still have the opportunity to grieve together-while-apart.
As Easter approaches we're having to think differently.
Some are saying "let's delay it" while others are trying to make it as meaningful as possible under the circumstances.

King Hezekiah did a bit of both...


Hezekiah wanted to bring the nation back to God and he believed that a meaningful observance of the Passover was the way to do it. But the priests weren't ready, the nation was separated and their hearts had grown cold.

So Hezekiah delayed Passover by a month and sent out letters to all of Israel to come together. This appeal "woke up" the religious leaders who had "fallen asleep at the wheel". And, as the momentum picked up, many Israelites joined in at the last minute. The problem was that the last-minute-joiners hadn't gone through the ritual preparations and were "unclean" and guilty before the Lord.
Hezekiah, in an incredible understanding of God's Grace, prays for pardon and we are told that God healed the people and used the Passover to bring revival.

In my context we're not delaying Easter, but we are going to celebrate it differently. I'm looking at having communion online, getting people to send short testimonies by voice-note, getting kids to send me pictures and setting up music playlists to help people contemplate the cross and the empty tomb. We're going to throw everything we can into making this Easter meaningful.

We're learning to separate the ritual from the One being pointed to.

Who knows? Maybe these tough times will bring many people in at the last minute. Maybe this "Easter Unusual" will bring in more people than ever before!

I think we are called to be the Hezekiahs who, with a profound understanding of the abundance of God's grace, will be brave enough to do things differently.

They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the temple of the LORD. 16 Then they took up their regular positions as prescribed in the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood handed to them by the Levites. 17 Since many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate their lambs to the LORD. 18 Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone 19 who sets his heart on seeking God--the LORD, the God of his fathers--even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary." 20 And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.      (2Chronicles30:15-20)

---

EmmDev 2020-04-06 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] Hosanna...

Hosanna...

Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna! " "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest!"      (Mark  11:9-10)

Yesterday was Palm Sunday.

I've been thinking about the word "Hosanna!"
If one looks at how "Hosanna" is used in many hymns and worship songs, one is left with the impression that it is a word that one sings out in praise and adoration - like "Hallelujah!" or "Glory!"

But this word is used in a very different way in the Old Testament:

• It's a cry for help and deliverance of cities under attack from an enemy. (Joshua 10:6)
• It's the cry of a widow to the king when she's lost one son and is about to lose another. (2Sam 14:4)
• It's the cry of a widow to the king when a siege of Jerusalem forces them into cannibalism (2Ki 6:26)

Then we have a number of Psalms:

• "Hosanna us, LORD! There is not a good person left;
  honest people can no longer be found." (Psa 12:1)
• "O LORD, Hosanna the king! Answer us when we call!" (Psa 20:9)
• "Hosanna your people and bless your inheritance;
  be their shepherd and carry them forever." (Psa 28:9)
• "Hosanna us by your might; answer our prayer,
  so that the people you love may be rescued." (Psa 60:5)
• "Turn to me and have mercy on me;
  grant your strength to your servant
  and Hosanna the son of your maidservant." (Psa 86:16)
• "Hosanna us by your might; answer my prayer,
  so that the people you love may be rescued." (Psa 108:6)
• "O LORD, Hosanna us; O LORD, grant us success." (Psa 118:25)
   

The other clue we must notice is the crowd's identification of Jesus as the "Son of David." This reveals a Messianic expectation. The crowd is longing for God's deliverance and rescue through the Messiah. They believed that Jesus was the Saviour-Messiah. In the case of the very first Palm Sunday, the crowds thought of a political Saviour-Messiah who would conquer the Romans and free Israel. But He came to do so much more! We know He conquered sin, death, and Satan. And so He can help us.

Yes, Hosanna is a cry of a heart in desperate need, but it has also become an expression of praise because we know that God can save and that He did and does save...

Hosanna! And Glory Hallelujah!

EmmDev 2020-04-02 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] Dislocation Guaranteed

Dislocation Guaranteed

Today I conducted a funeral in a newly planted congregation I am looking after. The rules of our South African lockdown meant that usual cultural burial customs couldn't be observed: nightly prayer vigils couldn't be held, the body couldn't go to the house the night before, there couldn't be more than 50 people present and there couldn't be refreshments afterwards.

The lady, who had passed away after a long fight with cancer, was much beloved by her family and community and I could sense the loss, but also the profound sense of dislocation when the familiar rituals of grief and parting had to be adapted for our new circumstances.

I reflected on this as I was driving home. This is the first of many changes coming our way in the wake of this pandemic... Gatherings, handshakes, travelling, the economy, the level of neglect we've tolerated for the poor and many other things are going to be changed during and after our battle with this virus.

The first and obvious thought is "Well thank goodness God doesn't change!"
And this is absolutely true and wonderfully comforting.
But there is the other side of the coin...

Change and dislocation will be a reality for many who follow Christ.

Put on your film-director's cap and picture the scene with me:
- Jesus has risen from the dead.
- He's helped the disciples catch another load of fish.
- They've had grilled fish on the beach.
- He invites Peter to take a walk on the beach.
- Peter is able to make a three-fold declaration of his loyalty.
(Cue the violins and sunset pastels)
Because surely this is the happy ending?

(Pause, rewind, and cue the mysterious edgy music and storm-clouds on the horizon.) But Jesus doesn't promise Peter moonshine and roses. He promises Peter not only discomfort and danger, but severe dislocation and the reality of things being the opposite of what he would have liked.

It's a very graphic picture: being dressed and led where he did not want to go. It's a picture of change and the loss of "normality." Jesus warned Peter that it would come. And for us as Christians world-wide it has come.

The comforting news is that Jesus knows about it.
He too has been where He didn't want to go.
But He chose to go to arrest, trial, crucifixion and death.
This is what Easter is about. 


For Christ-followers dislocation should not surprise or shock us.
It was promised to Peter and comes to us.
But the One who warned us it was coming will also be there to help us.

We only have to ask.

I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"       (John21:18-19)

---

EmmDev 2020-04-01 [Perspective: God, Faith and Covid19] Leveraging the Moment

Leveraging the Moment

Paul was imprisoned twice in Rome. The first time he was somewhat of a celebrity prisoner in that he was arrested in Jerusalem and was about to be left to the mercy of the Jewish Courts when he asserted his rights as a Roman Citizen and appealed to Caesar. This meant that he was escorted to Rome and there was placed under house arrest for about two years.

During this time Paul was allowed to receive visitors, he mentored church leaders, shared his faith with his guards, discipled a young convert named Onesimus and wrote letters to the churches in Colosse, Ephesus and Philippi. He also wrote to a man named Philemon about his former slave Onesimus. I think it is safe to say that he leveraged his time, that he grew when he could have shrunk.

All over the world Christians find themselves "locked-down" or "socially-distanced". This puts us in a place of restriction, limitation, isolation and frustration.

What I love about Paul is how positively he used his time. He's under house arrest, his future in uncertain and while he has friends, he also has enemies. Yet in his letter to the church in Philippi he conveys a "bounciness" (joy) and optimism (faith) that catches one by surprise.

The passage below comes from the first chapter of the letter to the Philippians and from it we can glean a couple of important facets to Paul's "lockdown mentality".

1. Paul took time pray deeply, thoughtfully and purposefully for the Philippians and others (we have detailed prayers he prayed for Colosse, Ephesus and Philemon too.)
   
   
2. Paul didn't concentrate on his predicament, but about what his predicament could produce. He shared his faith with each soldier that guarded him and it seems that his faith-sharing was winsome and attractive, because he became known throughout Caesar's Palace as someone in chains for Christ.
   
   
3. Paul looks for the positive in his circumstances. Instead of bemoaning what he couldn't do, he was excited about those who could be empowered. Instead of being a "victim" endangered by people preaching maliciously to stir up trouble, Paul is overjoyed that the gospel is preached. This is a remarkable quality. It is very easy to focus on the negatives. Paul refuses to do this.
   
   
4. Paul makes a decision to "rejoice" and "continue to rejoice". (The Greek in the second verb is in the future tense and passive voice.) The passive voice conveys the sense that joy is a state-of-mind rather than an up-and-down emotion. His attitude and mindset is shaped by his hope and confidence in God. His joy is not a fleeting emotion - it is a deliberate decision. (The passive voice also is a way of showing that God is at work, helping Paul to keep rejoicing.)
   
   
5. Paul believed that the prayers people prayed for him made a difference. We find a similar thought in 2 Corinthians where Paul noted that they "helped him by their prayers."
   
   
6. Paul trusted that God's Holy Spirit was able to "help" (supply and support) him. (Paul is using the same word here as when he talks about every "supporting ligament" in the body of Christ.
   
   
7. Paul trusted God for his future - whether that meant life or death. It's clear that Paul had asked the question: "What's the worst that could happen?" The worst that could happen was that he died, and he knew that even death was an empty threat. His trust in God was complete. Yes trouble, imprisonment and even death could come. But he trusted God.

These are the powerful qualities and attributes in Paul that leveraged his time of lockdown.
- How can we grow and not shrink in these circumstances?

- How can we be a witness?
- Who can we pray for?
- What are the "letters" we could write?
- How can we choose our attitudes and deepen our faith?

Read the passage below and review Paul's qualities above and spend some time making decisions about how you'll handle this challenging time.

Leverage the moment!

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,  so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,  filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God. Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.  As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.  Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.  The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.  The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.  But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,  for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.  I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.      (Philippians1:9-21)

---