reflection

A Letter from a Friend

/ sweetpeacardco
Some of you may remember that we prayed for a brother in Christ in Canada recently who was very ill. The Lord saw him through that illness and he wanted to express his thanks to us for our prayer support and offer some lessons and encouragements from his experience:
Hello to my brothers and sisters in Christ!
 
My name is Shawn Robinson.  I’m a good friend of your pastor and he was telling me just the other day that many of you were praying for me over the last little while.  I wanted to write to you and thank you as well as share with you a little of what God has taught me over this time.
 
Back in January, right at the end of the month, we had the privilege of invited a large group of Muslims to our church on a Sunday evening for a dinner and we were able to share the gospel with them clearly in Arabic.  It was a great privilege for us as we had more people out to that evening than we would typically have to a Sunday morning service!  Unfortunately, I had just started developing some pain in my left eye and two days later was diagnosed with Shingles in the eye and up the scalp.  It was hard to minister to those visiting and heading the gospel due to the pain and discomfort, but as Paul wrote, “Power is perfected in weakness.”  The morning after being diagnosed with Shingles, I passed out just after breakfast, stopped breathing and had a seizure, all in front of my wife and two young sons.
 
By the weekend, I was diagnosed with encephalitis which can cause death or serious brain damage.  It is amazing to me how the Lord cares for us through all of this.  I can see the hand of our great God in protecting me through the seizure—without which the encephalitis may not have been caught.
 
Prior to all this, ministry had been going wonderful with incredible opportunities for the gospel.  I was being very disciplined in my time and focus.  My health was good and I was feeling great!  But within days of “feeling great” I was in isolation in a hospital bed.  One of the beautiful things the Lord taught me through this is that my health and my life are entirely out of my control.  I do not choose how my days will progress or even if I will live to see tomorrow, this is in the hands of God.  There is great peace in knowing that a loving, good God is in control of our health and strength.  His goodness and greatness means we can trust Him with our lives!
 
As I lay in the hospital, one of the struggles I faced was the thought of possibly passing away and leaving my wife and two sons without a husband and father.  This was a painful thought for me as I imagined my children and their grief and my wife struggling forward.  As I brought this before the Lord, He taught me that not only can I trust Him with my own life, but I can trust Him with my family.  If He chose to take me from them or to leave me with serious brain damage and unable to love and care for my family as I wish to, I can trust the Lord with them.  He knows what is needed and He knows my family.  God is good and can be trusted in all areas of life!
 
Thank you all for your prayers.  It means more than I can express.  I know we have not met, but I also know we are planning on spending a lot of time together in eternity so if the Lord does not cause our paths to cross now, we can maybe catch up then!
 
God bless you all and thank you again for your love and concern for me, my family and my church.
 
Shawn Robinson
Truth Community Church
Thamesford, ON

Two types of Christians I really respect…part II

/ sweetpeacardco

A couple weeks ago I posted a blog with this title and now answer the second half of it, another type of Christian I have immense respect for, and for whom we should all unite our prayers.

The unequally yoked after marriage

The Bible envisions the possibility of one person in a marriage becoming a believer, what then?

1 Cor 7:12–16 says (emphasis added):

12 To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy[1] because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean,[2] but as it is, they are holy. 15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved.[3] God has called you to peace. 16 For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Jesus teaching had not handled the situation of one spouse becoming a believer but Paul here (with inspired authority) applies Jesus’ teaching to this new situation.

I know of a number of women who have come to faith later in life (or “returned to the Lord”) who now find themselves in this tricky situation and the tension that introducing heavenly values into what had been a marriage of worldly standards can produce in a marriage. In spite of these trials the spouse should seek to be gracious so they might be won by their conduct (1 Pet 3:1, though this is given to wives the principle would extend to a husband).

I am also aware of many women whose husbands left them after they became a Christian. One such woman was married for 11 years when she became a Christian and had 3 children. Two years later the husband had enough of her new found faith and gave the ultimatum that it was either himself or Jesus. She choose Jesus and he divorced her.

For women (and men) who find themselves in such situations, let us unite our prayers, asking that the Lord would sustain them in any trial related to their faith but ultimately that the unbelieving spouse might be won over by their good conduct.

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

[1] Open to Christian influence. This should not be read as “saved.”

[2] Similarly, this should be taken to mean under sound moral and spiritual influence from the believing parent and not “saved.”

[3] Not compelled to seek reconciliation.

Be on the lookout!

/ sweetpeacardco

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

In January we looked at Jesus’ promise from Matthew 16:18, I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Jesus is on the offensive, the devil is on the defensive. Yet while his power was defeated at the cross it would be a mistake to let down our guard because he is still dangerous. This is exactly the spiritual wisdom Peter gives us in a passage we’ll be examining at Bible study this spring. It is generally when things are going well as a chapel and as individuals that the devil chooses to strike. Why? Often in those instances we let our guard down. Peter, however, says we should never be spiritually naive and always have our guard up because 1) lions strike without notice, 2) they are always on the prowl, and 3) if we’re unprepared the results can be messy.

The devil is especially concerned when people and churches draw near to Jesus. He doesn’t want that and will stop at NOTHING to disrupt this. As a Christian, do not think temptations and trials of various kinds will diminish the more mature you become, rather the devil’s attacks will intensify. Likewise, he’ll seek to disrupt the unity, faith and peace of a growing congregation. How does he do this? Often by fostering a spirit of jealousy, bitterness, strife, pride and rebelliousness that will show itself in gossip, slander, anger, a reliance on worldy wisdom, and disrespect toward others and leaders (see Eph 4). In effect he tries to take our eyes off Jesus. So let us resist the devil, be on our guard and be on the lookout—firm in our faith—fixing our eyes on our shied and defender, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

Isaiah 66:2b in Review

/ sweetpeacardco

“This is the one to whom I will look,’ declares the LORD, ‘he who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at my word.”

2016 at the chapel was a delight for me. I thoroughly enjoyed our initiative under our theme verse of reading the Bible through chronologically while at the same time preaching through the grand story of salvation. We were able to preach on many familiar and unfamiliar passages and no doubt discover in our readings things we had never noticed before, even if we had read the whole Bible many times. I was very encouraged by the majority of our folks who took up this challenge (which was made easier than “going it alone” because of our constant group emphasis). A special congratulation to those for who this challenge marked the first time you read the whole Bible. I was also very encouraged by the other Christians outside the chapel who followed along with us. Now, whether you’ve completed this challenge or sense the need to get into God’s word more than you have in the past, don’t STOP reading. Rebekah and I will be doing the McCheyne reading plan in 2017 but there are others great and small. Please speak with me if you’d like any ideas. We will only find God’s favour as individuals and a chapel fellowship when we “tremble at God’s word.”

This involves a continual diet of heavenly nourishment:

“Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.’ Then I ate, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey.” (Jer 3:3)

When we eat spiritually healthy food we will be healthy and grow. So take your fill! As you feed on God’s word you “taste and see that the Lord is good” as “sweet as honey.”

Continually being in God’s word is not only important for your personal health but also to be discerning in this “wicked and twisted generation” to discern the true way of God from the false way of this world:

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Col 2:8)

How will we be able to discern the truth if we are not continually sharpening ourselves with Christ’s truth and a constant relationship with Him fed by His word?

May you continue to abide in His word and as you do so may you discover the riches that it is to know Christ, and grow in Him.

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings

Pastor Chris

Looking Forward to Christmas

/ sweetpeacardco

Christmas is just around the corner—it is almost here! Perhaps you’re looking forward to Christmas? Maybe you’re looking forward and seeing all that you need to do to make this Christmas a success? It could also be that as you look forward to Christmas you’re looking back to attempt to recapture some nostalgic ideal of a Christmas long, long ago?

I’d encourage you to look to Jesus this Christmas and there find a Christmas to look forward to. Millions of people this Christmas will have the worst Christmas imaginable. They’ll think it is going to be great, the presents, the trimmings, the food and the fun, but when it’s past they’ll look back in regret. Something just wasn’t quite right. There always next year…I guess.

Allow me to let you in on a secret. The angels, Joseph and Mary, the shepherds, the wisemen, they all had the perfect Christmas! The key to their success…not Sainsbury’s, nor John Lewis…it was Jesus! They stood in awe of God’s plan in history, they focused on Jesus, they appreciated His coming, they worshipped Him and praised God the Father for sending His Son.

The trimmings are in part meant to recreate the wonder and the joy of that first Christmas. Far too often they crowd Jesus out. Take time this December to worship Jesus and make Him number one on your Christmas list and I’ll guarantee you that you’ll have a Christmas to look forward to, and one to remember.

Happy Christmas,

Pastor Chris

A Faith Like Hannah’s

/ sweetpeacardco

Today our chronological reading plan has brought us to the book of Daniel. What an incredible book about the sovereignty of God and of His people trusting Him exclusively. These are two truths that the church in exile here in England deeply need to know. The latter point also brought my attention to another great figure of faith outside of Daniel who exemplifies a similar unapologetic faith in the Lord, Hannah.

Hannah’s well known story kick starts the book of Samuel. She is childless (both an old-age security worry but also a burden upon any would be mothers’ heart). As a result she comes to the tabernacle (the temple had not yet been built) to cry out to the LORD (and a priest happens to be watching her):

She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”

As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. (1 Samuel 1:10-15 ESV)

Hannah was on a mission, she had an appointment to meet with her God. She was troubled in spirit and poured out her soul before the Lord. In the process she was misinterpreted and chastised for being drunk! Oh how genuine faith is often the subject of scorn by the unbelieving and religious, by those whose jealousy for what Hannah has lead them into spiteful action rather than to adopt a similar posture before the Lord

Today, be like Hannah. Do not be afraid to live out your faith. Live it fully, live it boldly.

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

What if…?

/ sweetpeacardco

Put on your imagination hat for a moment and ponder this sad circumstance, imagine if…

Your pastor (or elder[1]):

  • Habitually failed to show up at services he was meant to preach at (leaving the chapel with no back up preacher!);
  • Felt not the need to attend services when he wasn’t preacher or leading;
  • Mis-planned his week so he was out so late on Saturday night he was too tired to come into the Lord’s house on Sunday morning;
  • Approached his duties with half-hearted drudgery rather than with delight and care;
  • Didn’t show the zeal to go above and beyond in ministerial duties;
  • Was negligent in attending weekly Bible study (skipping out even when he was scheduled to lead!);
  • Never read the Bible or prayed outside of church events;
  • Didn’t observe the Lord’s Day on holidays, or visit another church when not preaching at his own;
  • Often skipped prayer meetings or was absent at other important chapel meetings; or
  • Was one person in the pulpit and someone completely different out of it.

I would imagine they would either be rebuked or removed from their position and worse still, have their Christian character called into question. The consequences are not imaginary. This is the scrutiny a pastor is placed under in life by the Church and by the Lord (who sees and knows all things).

But what if…these same principles were applied to your walk with the Lord?

While elders and pastors are called to a higher level of responsibility and accountability, they share with all Christians the calling to conform to Christ’s standard of perfection, obedience and service.

Don’t neglect to meet together as is the habit of some, but encourage one another, all the more as you see the Day drawing near. ~Hebrew 10:25

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

[1] Or you might sub in another position of Christian leadership or service paid or voluntary.

Materialism vs. Christ-centred Contentment

/ sweetpeacardco

In the face of the materialist idols Satan so tempts the world of today with, Proverbs 30:8b–9 provides us with great alternative wisdom to the mainstream of 21st century British culture:

Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

Jesus says that it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven because their great wealth can blind them to seeing their physical and spiritual need of Him. Sadly, their wealth can corrupt their souls so they boast not in God but their wealth. On the other extreme is the person who is so poor that they sin by taking what is not theirs. They too fail to trust God to provide and take their salvation into their own hands. What is the best state to find oneself in according to this proverb? It is to have one’s daily bread, to have just enough, to be content (cf. Mt 6:11, 31–33; 1 Ti 6:6–8; Heb 13:5), and more so to be content knowing that if one has Christ they have more than enough.

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

It is because of the vast spiritual treasury available to the believer in Christ that Paul could say in Philippians 3:8, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all [material] things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

The Greatest Decision

/ sweetpeacardco

On February 20, 2016, Prime Minister David Cameron announced the referendum to decide whether we are to remain within the EU or not. He described the vote as one of the “greatest decisions of our lifetime.” It is a colossal decision. I have weighed the evidence, and of primary importance, tried to filter it through the lens of biblical values. I know how I intend to vote (yes, Canadian residents are permitted to vote!). I fundamentally disagree, however, with Mr. Cameron’s statement that this worldly decision—while important—is the greatest in our lifetime. That decision is who we profess Jesus to be! (Mt 15:16).

As we enter into this post-Christian era I am becoming increasingly a-political with the substance of my political creed simply being the Lord reigns (c.f. Prov 29:26). This whole debate got me thinking about the saying taken from John 17:14-18, “to be in the world but not of the world.” The Bible does not actually use those words but rather they are a summary of:

14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. [emphasis added].

 Working out the tension in Jesus’ command has been the subject of debate for faithful believers for centuries. In a nutshell allow me to attempt to provide the interpretive key necessary for solving the application of this tension. World (cosmos) refers to the world system ruled by Satan. The Christian is to remain in the physical world (play on words here) while not to be of the world because we have been made citizens of the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus. This is a Kingdom with a different government, set of laws, values and vision than that of the world. Until Christ comes again we are aliens in a world in which we are not citizens, wherein we are called to live as ambassadors of Christ. May the Lord give us the wisdom and grace needed for this, while we earnestly pray “come Lord Jesus!”

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris

Hanging on His Words

/ sweetpeacardco

Palm Sunday is now behind us and we have entered into Holy Week, the week where Christians remember the week of Jesus passion (or the events leading up to His death).

We were reminded of the Easter story by a storyteller who visited us last night to share Barabbas: An Easter Story and as I introduced us to the passage we will be studying this Easter at chapel, Isaiah 53. We also put up a giant cross at our local intersection to remind others that this coming week and holiday weekend are not merely about nicer weather coming (though we are grateful for that) nor simply a coming vacation but rather a time to remember and be affected by the work of Christ.

One that note I wanted to recommend a spiritual discipline that I will be taking up this week in addition to our chapel chronological Bible reading plan. Perhaps this will be something you might choose to join in on our do something similar in the week after Easter focusing on Resurrection passages.

Beginning yesterday with Luke 19:28-40 and the triumphal entry I began reading and meditating upon a passage from Luke’s Gospel that builds up to the cross. To get it all in I have roughly broken these chapters of Luke into a morning and evening reading plan.

Last night’s reading included Jesus cleansing the temple and I was struck by the fact that while the religious leaders’ annoyance of Jesus had grown to a breaking point, still they could do nothing for all the people were hanging on his words (Lk 19:48).

In whatever way you are able to buck the trend of not focusing on Christ this Easter, may we as His people be different from the world, and set the example, in whatever way we choose to observe it, by hanging upon all that Christ did that first Easter.

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,

Pastor Chris