Finished with Syrup

photo by lkireland (on instagram)

Pilgrim Talk 68: Finished with Syrup

When you taste honey you can truly say "I'm finished with syrup". The best will spoil you for the good and so it is with the sure promises of God. Even though we battle through set backs and disappointments we can press on because the One who gave the promise is, and always is, faithful. William Wilberforce persevered for a long time to see the abolition of slavery and while he almost gave up the fight..he didn't. He was motivated by a dream and couldn't settle for anything short of this. Enjoy this episode where Ant and dave again chew the spiritual cud. Listen here

EVANGELISM: MOTIVATED OR TERRORIZED?

Joe recently joined us for some outreach and we are blessed to have one of the most "chilled out" fishers of men you could imagine. Here he is outside the Aviva stadium after the recent American football game

It's been a while since the last post, mostly because of the time I have been giving to Radio and Podcast work (see Pilgrim Talk on the left hand side of this page) but I thought I'd "catch up" with a few thoughts. It's hard to believe that the weekly podcasts have been going for more than a year and that we have a small audience but my main passion remains EVANGELISM which means getting the good news out. Jesus did a truly amazing job at Calvary and we are the delivery boys with this message. The rising tide of secular humanism, atheism and Darwinism, especially in churches, make this message more vital than ever. 

Evangelism is the one word that motivates some believers and terrorizes others. Why is that? We have all witnessed bad evangelism done under compulsion, yet some of us at times have experienced God's grace operate through us in sharing His message on occasion and the feeling is truly irreplaceable. It is this type I encourage yet I know we don't do so that we feel good, we do it because of our hearts for Jesus and for the lost (..ehem..pre-believer).

AND THE CROWDS ROAR!

CONGRATULATIONS to Katie Taylor. When I heard the enormous roar she received in getting her gold medel at the Olympic games in London yesterday I immediately thought that that roar will not compare with the roar she will receive when she enters the gates of heaven. Not just her alone but all who have their trust in Jesus will receive a roof lifting ovation in due course. That my friends should spur you on to achieve Gold in your life regarding the call of God.

IMAGINE IF....

IMAGINE IF…

There were no monkeys in your ancestry, but only people.

IMAGINE IF you were not the product of a series of accidents, but were in fact intelligently designed.

IMAGINE IF the Designer allowed free will, even if it meant the risk of a malfunction in His creation.

IMAGINE IF this malfunction made the created people different, offensive and incompatible with Him.

IMAGINE IF He continued to care for His creation after this malfunction happened.

IMAGINE IF all the wicked acts from all ages that were caused by this malfunction were concentrated and put onto the shoulders of the Creator's innocent Son.

IMAGINE IF He died as a result and this satisfied the perfect Creator's justice.

IMAGINE IF the Innocent died for the guilty.

IMAGINE IF you failed to believe this, turn your life around and ask His forgiveness and imagine if you continued for now and eternity in hell to live a separated life

IMAGINE WHAT A MONKEY YOU'D FEEL.        

WHY BOTHER WITH THE HORRIBLE CROSS?

I often ask people "Why did Jesus die on the cross?"
"Because he loved us"...Well I love my wife but I wont jump in front of the Luas to prove it, that's stupid!
"Because the Romans nabbed Him"...He was the creator of the universe and had power to save himself, yet He willingly went like a lamb to the slaughter. He even told the guy who ratted on Him (Judas) to go do his thing! (not something you normally tell a betrayer to do!)
"Because He wanted to prove a point"...He was already God almighty, the miracles proved that.
"Because He wanted it"....Why then did he ask the Father to take away this cup of suffering from Him at the Garden of Getsemane? In Himself He didn't want crucifixion but He obeyed His Father in becoming the acceptable sacrifice for sin.

The true answer can only be understood when we realize that God is Holy and the only ever truly innocent person Jesus took it on the neck for you and me who broke God's perfect law (lying, stealing etc..). The Hebrew scriptures say that anyone hung on   tree is cursed. He became a curse for us so that we could be set free from the curse of sin.  Without Jesus and His forgiveness we are truly GUILTY...Yikes!

...WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS COME UPON YOU (Acts 1:8)

Here's my current top ten reasons why we need the Holy Spirit:

Only He convicts the world of sin

Only He gives us true motives

Only He gives us the ability to be representatives of Jesus

Only He gives eternal life

Only He can help man to give honour to God

Only He can give us the word we need to share the gospel

Only He can teach us how to conduct ourselves

Only He convicts the world of (His ) righteousness 

Only He gives true power

Only He leads to Jesus

Without the Holy Spirit in our ministry we are in a sorry and sad if not dangerous place. Fill us Lord!

With huge crowds on Grafton Street a few of us went out on Saturday (St Patrick's Day) to hold high the name of Jesus and witness and preach the gospel. We had a very busy day with not a few interesting encounters and one to one discussions. While I do believe we sowed eternal seed I can't deny that we need a new pentecost on the streets in Ireland. 

We are currently reading the glorious accounts of God's visitation to the Hebrides Islands in the 1940's. Duncan Campbell was a humble servant used by God in this revival and he wrote a jaw dropping account here http://www.revival-library.org/catalogues/20thcentury/campbell.html

It is slowly dawning on me that...there is no Plan B to such a visitation.

AN END TO DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR

When someone's life is characterized by destructive behaviour that is a sure sign of spitiual activity in that person which is not godly. When Lucifer was cast out of heaven he took a third of the angels and it was to Earth that they were cast down. You and me (ie mankind) has a three fold nature: spirit, soul and body. The spirit is the real you andis the part where God can inhabit by His Holy Spirit. The soul is the mind, will and emotions and don't forget that animals who have no spirit do have a soul. Finally there is the body, the bit we can see and the place where the 5 senses reign.
Jesus arrived one day at a place on the shores of the sea of Gallilee and met a naked mad man. It transpired that this man was possessed, not in his spirit but in his soul, by many demons. The demons themselves begged to stay on earth longer and so Jesus cast them into the nearby herd of pigs (the pig's souls that is). The swine then promptly committed suicide by jumping off the cliff. The man was instantly and completely set free and "in his right mind". Great story...and it's true.
We have all heard that Jesus came to save the lost (includes us all..and His mother!) but few know that the word used in the original greek text is "Sozo" which means to "save, heal and deliver". This is exciting. The work of Calvery was to save our spirits, heal our bodies and deliver our souls from demonic activity, put a different way: it was a complete work! Remember that He publicly displayed every demonic power as defeated after His death (see Ephesisans Chapter 4). Now that's how we can truly see an end to destructive behaviour. Good News!