Still Learning

Encouraging Articles January 2021

As we come to the end of the first month of 2021 this has certainly been a difficult and tough month for many people. At the beginning of January the UK entered its third national lockdown. We have seen a new variant of coronavirus emerge with the challenges that this brings. Sadly the number of deaths continues to rise and over 100,000 have now died from the virus in the UK.

The NHS are under significant pressure in different parts of the country as they battle to help those affected by coronavirus.

On a positive notice, it has been good to see the vaccine being rolled out and hopefully that will aid in the struggle against this virus.

If we are being honest it can be quite discouraging looking back over January. Therefore I thought it would be good to share some links below to articles written by other Christians, that I have read this month and found helpful. I have included an extract from the article beneath each link to give an indication of the content of each one.

Are COVID-19 vaccines made from aborted babies? What is HEK293?

Adrian Warnock has written a very comprehensive piece on the Covid-19 vaccines and starts by saying: “Some Christians do have genuine concerns about vaccination which I will address in this article. I wish to appeal to believers to consider carefully these matters rather than reflexly reject the COVID-19 vaccines.”

3 ideas for living well in 2021

Chris Goswami gives us 3 ideas for living well in 2021 and says “As we enter what we hope is a less exciting year than the last one, few of us now doubt that we are living in historic times. You may have heard Uncle Albert’s signature line in the comedy Only Fools and Horses: “……during the war …..”. He sits in the corner and says it a lot, and it gets met with a chorus of sarcasm from Rodney and Dell Boy. Well I wonder if we will end up in our old age quipping “during the virus …..” only to be met with a chorus of “grandad you tell us that story EVERY WEEK!” I don’t know, but “the virus” is the defining narrative of our age, the story we will retell for years to come, a period of history on which school examination questions will be set.”

OK Christians, Time to Do Your Job

Jeff Weddle reminds us that it is time for Christians to do their job and says “In our current state of rancour, arguing, shouting, rioting, and clamouring, I have an idea: how about we listen to what the Bible says a follower of Christ should do and quit following the world’s example.

If we did, we would shine like lights in the world. The good news is that what we’re told to do sounds very refreshing and lovely right about now!”

Is Sin Inevitable in the Christian Life?

Randy Alcorn asks if sin is inevitable in the Christian life. “One common Christian misunderstanding today is that grace and salvation in Jesus means God has lowered His standards, as compared to the Old Testament law. That’s simply not true. God has raised His standards for the Christian life—but He has empowered us to live that Christian life through our relationship with Him and His indwelling Holy Spirit. His grace teaches us to say “no” to ungodliness (Titus 2:12).”

Tempted and Unarmed

Garrett Kell reminds us why we need the armour of God. “It was the boy’s first day of junior high. All was going well until three older kids took his lunch, ruffled his hair, and stuffed him in a locker. They snarled at his squeals and high-fived one another as they walked away. What the bullies didn’t know, though, was that the kid in the locker was the little brother of the football team’s starting middle linebacker.

After lunch, the boy told his brother what happened. His brother looked him in the eyes. “Let’s go.” As the boy came to his locker, the bullies were waiting for him, grinning. But he hadn’t come alone this time. He came in the strength of his older brother. That was the last day they messed with him.”

Find Strength in God

And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. (1 Sam 23:16)

Many people are finding life difficult at the moment. Last Monday was the day known as “Blue Monday”. According to psychologist Cliff Arnall the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year! Thus the name “Blue Monday”. Additionally, this year in the UK we are also in our third lockdown. Not really a great combination. Whether or not last Monday is the most depressing day is obviously not a fact but life is not easy for many at the moment.

What do we do in the current situation to cope in these difficult times?

Do we spend more time on social media?

Do we binge watch loads of stuff on Netflix?

Do we try and drown our sorrows by excessive drinking?

Do we go out for long walks everyday?

Do we spend all day in bed and just hope the situation improves?

David, before he came king, was facing a very difficult situation with King Saul. He was in the wilderness with his group of 600 men and Saul was searching for him with his army. We are told that day after day Saul was searching for David. This must have been a very difficult stressful time for David. Although David had known the presence of God with him, he was also, like you and I, a human being too. When you hear that someone is searching for you with the intention of killing you then it would be understandable if you got very worried and concerned.

And then we are told that Jonathan, Saul’s son, went to meet David at a place called Horesh and helped him find strength in God. We are not told what Jonathan did. Perhaps he reminded David of how God had given him victory over Goliath. Maybe he reminded David of the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians. We are not told. It simply says that he “helped him find strength in God”

Three brief but important thoughts strike me from that verse:

Look to God

When we are facing problems we need to look to God for His help. We cannot do things in our strength. Many of us think we can. But we cannot. Our pride might not like that but it is true nevertheless.

Life might be a lot easier if we just recognised that. God’s strength is mighty, ours is not. Look to Him. Do not look to the solutions I mentioned earlier, instead we should be “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:3)

We need others

We do not exist on our own as Christians. We are part of Christ’s family and share our faith with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Although we can meet God anywhere, He will often use others to help us and to be a blessing to us. You will never reach the point when you outgrow the need for the help and support of other believers.

Others need us

Jonathan was able to bless and help his friend. We should look to encourage and support our fellow believers, especially during these difficult days. Let us aim to encourage them to keep on going and not give up. Being a Christian is not just about us. There are others in our family we need to support.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (1 Thess 5:11)

Whatever situation you may be in today look to the Lord and find your strength in Him.

How Should We Use Social Media?

In the light of Donald Trump recently being banned from Twitter I thought it would be good to consider how we should use social media. It goes without saying that social media can be used for both good and bad purposes. In that light how should we use it? In no particular order here are some ideas of how we can use it well.

SPEAK THE TRUTH

When we post anything on social media we should try at all times to tell the truth. This may well mean that we have to research something, checking out the facts before posting, rather than share any old information. If it is impossible for something to be true and there is no evidence to support it, then best practice is not to post it. We should not deliberately share things that we know are lies. Instead we should aim to build our online timeline with truthful statements.

I know that some are very interested in conspiracy theories, but we need to check the credibility of the theory before posting. In recent times some have claimed that 5G is linked to coronavirus. However, there is absolutely no proof of this. Therefore posting statements linking the two is irresponsible and should be avoided.

Speaking the truth can be very powerful and the footballer Marcus Radford has done a wonderful job in the last few months raising awareness of child hunger in the United Kingdom. He has shown that injustices can be raised and tackled via social media.

THINK BEFORE YOU POST

It really should be obvious that it is important to think you post. Ask yourself: do I really need to post that? Once you post something then someone will see your post. Even if you delete it and hope no-one notices, someone will see it, and it might still come back to haunt you.

If you are angry then the best advise is do not post! Unfortunately, if you post when you are angry you will invariable post something that you will regret and could cause a whole lot of trouble, even if you delete it. Go for a walk, count to hundred, wait until you calm down before posting.

We also should be careful which posts we like and share too. When doing this we are endorsing their views and saying that we agree with it. Ask yourself if you really agree with their opinion before doing this. I know I have liked things and then realised that was not appropriate and had to go back and unlike them!

AIM FOR EDIFYING POSTS

I wonder how much different social media would be if we always aimed for our posts to be edifying to others? Why not make it your goal to post things that encourage and help others. How about having a policy of not criticising others on social media? It can be done!

We need to remember that there are real people on social media. You will never know the effect for good or bad your posting might have on others.

YOU CAN DISAGREE WITHOUT ARGUING

I am not sure why but social media does seem to encourage some to argue. Somebody may be nice and polite in real life but once behind a keyboard they become a completely different person.

Social media is not really the best place to have a proper sensible discussion, especially with the character limits in Twitter. If we do have discussions online then we need to learn to accept different views. If someone has a different view to you on a subject there is the possibility that they might be right and you might be wrong! Please remember that there are subjects on which you can disagree and still remain friends. And be ready to apologise if you are wrong about something.

Sadly it is very easy to get involved in pointless arguments. You only have to read comments to Facebook posts or YouTube videos to see this.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT REAL LIFE

Whilst social media can be enjoyable we must remember that it is not real life. There is a life outside of social media and you certainly do not need to spend your whole life on social media. Neither do you need to share everything single thing you do or think either. Take breaks from social media and enjoy the real world.

MOTTO FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

In conclusion, although social media did not exist when the New Testament was written, there is a verse in the book of James which we could aim to use as our motto for social media:

“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19)

The Magi, Chief Priests and Teachers of the Law

Today is Epiphany, when the Western Church remembers the Magi visiting Jesus as described in Matthew 2. This is a very familiar piece of scripture which many of us have probably read or heard read to us dozens of times.

Last Sunday our sermon was preached from Matthew 2:1-12 and the preacher had some interesting thoughts about the chief priests and teachers of the law, mentioned below, who I had not previously thought much about before:

When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

It is obvious from the response of the chief priests and teachers of the law that they were fully aware of where the Messiah was to be born. They knew the scriptures. However, strangely they did not seem to be interested in the journey of the Magi and meeting the child, to see if he was the fulfilment of the prophecies.

Why did they not ask to go along with the Magi? Bethlehem is only about 5 or 6 miles from Jerusalem. Surely that was not too long a journey to undertake to see if the Messiah had at last been born?

Why were they not excited and expectant on hearing about the star? They seem to have no spiritual hunger.

Were they like Herod and the rest of Jerusalem disturbed by this news?

Were they scared of losing their positions in the status quo?

Were they scared of the unknown?

Did they think that God could not possibly reveal the Messiah to gentiles?

Perhaps they were scared of how Herod would react? After all, he was not known as someone who was favourably disposed towards potential rivals!

Our preacher described the chief priests and teachers of the law as having “heads of knowledge and hearts of stone.” How very sad that they could quote the Bible but it did not seem to mean anything to them.

Is there a danger that perhaps we can know spiritual truths intellectually but not in our hearts? Do we quote Bible passages parrot fashion and not know their reality in our lives?

Compare that with the Magi who were overjoyed (v10) when they saw the star stopping over the place where Jesus was, and then bowed down and worshipped Christ offering their treasures to Him (v11).

As we go through 2021 let us not be like the chief priests and teachers of the law, but instead emulate the example of the Magi and seek Him eagerly.

The End of Another Year

As we come to the end of another year we will probably read articles and watch television programmes that review the previous 12 months. I often enjoy watching television reviews of the year, especially the sporting ones. It is amazing how quickly you can forget sporting events that occurred several months ago and enjoy watching them again.

This year has obviously been a very difficult and different one for most people. The word unprecedented has been used many times to describe it. I expect most of us will be glad to see the back of it. Perhaps we hope to wake up on 1 January 2021 and discover that 2020 has just been one bad nightmare!

When reviewing and reflecting over this past year there will be both good and bad memories for all of us. There will be things that bring a smile to our face but mixed with these there will also be events that make us feel sad too. Looking back honestly normally involves laughter and tears.

When looking back we will remember our sins and mistakes of the last 12 months. These sins can spiritually cripple us if we constantly dwell on them. Instead of lingering on them we need to confess our sins to God, forsake them and receive the wonderful forgiveness that Christ Jesus offers us.

We will recall opportunities that presented themselves to us. Some of these we took but others we missed. Those missed opportunities will not return to us and this could cause us to despair. There is nothing to be gained by constantly beating ourselves up, wishing we could turn the clock back and change events. We cannot change the past. The past is the past. It is gone. Instead of despairing we must put those wasted opportunities into God’s hands and then leave them in His hands.

On thinking about the new year perhaps we are excited about the future or maybe we are very worried. None of us know what the next 12 months will bring. We hope that it will be better than the previous 12 months, but we cannot guarantee that.

We can pray about the future and make plans. However as we have seen this year sometimes unexpected events occur preventing these plans from being fulfilled. Therefore, as we face the future we need to have open hands and commit our future into God’s hands, not worrying but trusting Him to work out His good purposes in our lives.

The above thoughts are inspired by a reflection written by Oswald Chambers and I shall conclude by a direct quote from it:

Leave the broken, irreversible past in God’s hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.

Good News that will Cause Great Joy for All the People

Shortly after Jesus was born an angel of the Lord appeared to some shepherds who were nearby and said:

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12)

That is a very familiar passage of scripture to many of us and perhaps we gloss over it quickly without paying it much attention. There are some amazing truths in these words from the angel. I especially like the fact that we are told that this good news will cause great joy for all the people.

Currently there does not appear to be much good news or great joy around. Last Saturday many people’s Christmas plans were ruined following the announcement of tighter restrictions to combat the spread of the new variant of Covid-19. Sadly, due to the late change of government policy concerning Christmas, many of us will be facing a very different celebration this week then we had planned a few days ago.

However, whilst the government may have cancelled our planned Christmas celebrations, you cannot cancel Christmas itself. Why you might ask? Well because at Christmas we are remembering the birth of Jesus and that has already happened!

As we have seen in the verses from Luke, Jesus has already been born. And it is: “good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”

Maybe you are feeling fed up about your Christmas being ruined? Maybe you feel totally devastated at the end of a dreadful year? Maybe you have lost all hope?

Whatever your personal circumstances remember these three things:

The birth of Jesus was and is still in 2020 good news.
The birth of Jesus did cause great joy and will still in 2020 cause great joy.
The birth of Jesus was and still is in 2020 for all the people.

This Christmas put your hope and trust in Jesus and know He is the “good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”

Reading the Old Testament in 2021

I think that if we are honest with ourselves there are parts of the Bible that we probably do not read very often. There may even be sections of the Old Testament that we have never read at all.

With that in mind it is interesting to observe that towards the end of his life, in what was probably his final letter, Paul wrote the following words to Timothy:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3: 16-17).

The first two words of the above are especially worth noting “All Scripture”

The phrase “All Scripture” does not seem to leave much room to exclude anything! I expect on hearing that phrase some questions come to your mind such as:

But what about those last few chapters in Exodus covering the building of the tabernacle that I do not really understand?