All by myself:- the clique

How many times have you been invited to a party by a friend and ended up stood in a corner beacuse you don't know anybody and therefore are out of the circle?
In a non-beliving context like that, such things are to be expected.
How many times have you walked into your church building on a sunday morning and been completely out of the circles that have been made?
Or how often when you look around the CU meeting, how people have grouped themselves, into year groups and church groups, while new people are left to fend for themselves and forge together?
I've been to churches in the past where the entire congregation is in it's own groups and I've ended up standing alone at the back. I've been to gatherings where one side of the room has been taken up exclusively by members of a certain church, while everyone else congregates on the other side, excluded.
I lost count of the amount of times that CU members cliqued themselves by church or by year, and avoided all else. It saddened me very, very recently when members of my church cliqued themselves off from everyone else at a party, and indeed at church the next day. It actually really saddens me, for this is not the right attitude for a Christian gathering, a church.

We have to be aware of this. The temptation is of course to gater around your church family, you know them, you love them, and vice versa. Church familes can become very close, which is to be applauded. Church familes that seperate themselves off at CU meetings or parties and excludes any outsiders are to be challenged not to. How can we welcome an outsider and glorify God by living for Him by turning our backs on a non-member of our church?

How can we set apart Christ as Lord in our hearts, if we adamantely cling to our comfort zones and those that we have allowed in, and not welcome new people?!

It is a terrible trap that the satan can use to compromise the unity of the church, and indeed the CU as churches battle to win the most Godly church in CU contest, and I'm afraid it is most apparent during your time as a student.

I'll hold my hand high up right now and freely admit that I am a shy person, I rarely go out to talk to new people at church, and usually mess it up the very rare times that I have done so. We cling desperately to our comfort zones like a lifeline, when, in actuallity, we should be clinging to the cross of Christ, nailing our fear to the cross, and setting apart Christ as Lord in our hearts.

It is not just the church barring the way to outsiders, it is the church within the church. Students, when was the last time you spoke to a non-student? And I don't mean the recent graduate you went to univeristy with up until this year. What about the families, the older members, even the children? And the same to non-students, when was the last time you went up to a student that you don't know, and welcome them?

When? If ever?

A student church like the one I attend is terrifying to a non-student, the gap between them and the rest of the family is massive. I'm even now, having literally just graduated, finding a gap expanding between myself and the students.

We cling to people and comfort, when actually, we need to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Christ. Be it to that terrified group of freshers who have just walked in the door, be it to an older church regular whom you have seen for three years, but NEVER spoken to. Be it to anyone at all, except your best friend who belongs to your year, your course, your church, your comfort zone. I find it horrible to see student church members grouped together on one side of a room, talking only amongst themselves, and not to the non believing, or indeed members of other churches that are sat merely feet away, having to talk to themselves.

Wrestling with Worry

"When faced with trials on every side, we know the outcome is secure"-Stuart Townend, O Church Arise.

How do we work that out in practice? Yes we know the outcome is secure, for we know the truths of the Bible. However, do we remember that the outcome is secure?

Now, I am a worrier, a very anxious person. It does not at all take much to get me worried at all. For example, today, I have just retured from what will be (if all the forms clear) my new place of work, and have just been informed that it is going to cost me 50 pounds to get a medical form cleared, this is money that I do not have. So it's going to be interesting!

Anyway, I'm very ready to hold my hand up and confess that I am a worrier. When trials come at me, I melt very, very quickly.

But worrying is like guilt, it is a feeling that is irrelevant and illogical, yet still felt by many of us. And again, it is not a feeling that we can dismiss as weak and needs to be swept under the carpet with glib phrases of comfort or randomly quoted Bible verses with no understanding behind them.

We worry because we are scared. The satan convinces us that whatever we are going through will completely consume and defeat us. And yes, on our own, it would do. What the accuser tries to make us forget is that we are saved, part of God's plan, cleanses by the blood of Christ.

Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. Suffering will end. (Revelation 21-22). That is what the devil wants us to forget. We need to remember that truth when we worry.

Jesus addresses the issue of worry here in Matthew 6:25-34. Why not have it open in front of you (just type in the passage reference into www.biblegateway.com if you don't have one on you.


Jesus tells us in verse 25 to not be anxious about our lives, what we will eat and what we will drink and wear. v26 tells us to consider the birds, whom do not earn a living in order to feed themselves, but God still provides for them, and we, who are made in the image of God, are so much more valuable than they. For Christ died for us, and that alone elevates us away forever from hopeless and destitute neglect, though that is what we deserve.

The point Jesus makes here is very interesting, and points us primarily to the truth that our Heavenly Father is completely in control of the universe. He feeds the birds, who have no jobs or income, yet He feeds them. So much will be more for us so, for we, created in God's image and cleanesd by the blood of Christ, are of much more value than the birds (v26).

Jesus goes on to make a similar point about clothing (v28-31), asking why are we anxious about what we wear, for God grows the lillies of the field, clothing them, and the grass, in such a way that King Solomon in all of his own glory (for he was a famous king in Israel long ago, and was indeed very rich and finely attired [see 1 Kings 10:14-29]), did not match up.

Jesus then points out in verse 30 that if God so finely clothes grass, which grows today and is gone tomorrow, how much more will He clothe us, His people.

This is what we need to remember. It is in our sinful nature to worry, a lot of people do it. It is a strategy of the devil in effort to undermine God's Word and kingdom progressing, by attacking us, the vulnerable, who are so suseptible to attack. We forget the sovereignty of God, we all do it. We need to be constantly striving to remember the gospel and not succumbing to fear. We need to adhere strongly to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness...Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matthew 6:33-34.)

We are called to stand firm in our fear, yet we always succumb to faith. Let us consider Mark's gospel for a moment. When studying it, it becomes noticible that fear occurs a great number of times. For example, when Jesus stands up in a boat and calms a storm in Mark 4:35-41, His response to the disciples fear is "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" (Mark 4:40). This event is soon followed by the faith demonstrated by a very ill woman, who, knowing Jesus has the power to heal, reaches out and touches His garment (Mark 5:21-34). Jesus has these words to say to her "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." (Mark 5:34)

So already we see, our natural response is to fear, when in fact we are called by God to have faith. Consider the disciples' reaction to seeing Jesus walk on the water towards them in Mark 6:45-52: "for they all saw him and were terrified." (Mark 6:50). How does Jesus respond? Well, with the very name of God Himself: "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afriad." (Mark 6:50b) It is I can also be translated as I AM, which, as we see in Exodus 3:14, is the name of God Himself. We are called to have faith in God.

After all, this is the challenge at the end of Mark's gospel. Some keen readers may see that it ends in a rather strange way, almost in the manner of a cliffhanger. The earliest (and therefore more reliable) manuscripts of Mark's gospel do not include 16:9-20, so ignore that. The style completley changes, and it is indeed a fearful way to try and clarify what can be seen as an ambiguous ending.

Forgetting this added extra, Mark's gospel ends with two women visiting the tomb of Jesus, to find His body gone, and a yong man sat there, who informs them thus: "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you." (Mark 16:6-7).

For indeed, three times Jesus has told of how He would die, and later rise again (Mark 8:31, 9:31 and 10:33-34). Everything he has said has come true so far. He has suffered and died for us. Now these two women stand at the tomb and hear that Jesus has risen again. What do they do? Tragically, verse 8, the last verse of Mark's gospel records thus: "And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." (Mark 16:8)

We fear, but what we are called to do is have faith. Fear is followed by faith in this gospel, and how it ends is Mark's challenge. Do you have faith? Here is the evidence, what do you think?

We naturally worry, but we are called to be faithful. Worriers, do not get sucked in to fears about food, clothing, money, grades. God is in control and takes care of His people. Rememer the gospel, keep remembering the promises of Christ, never made redundant, but everlasting. Do not fear, have faith.

Those of you who have worriers for friends, get alongside them, and love them by gentely leading them through the passages I've mentioned. Calm them, and remind them again gently of the wrath you have been saved from, and the glorious, everlasting, overcoming truth of the gospel.

"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God...For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world-our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:1, 4-5.)

Grappling with guilt

"6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6-8)

We are given a chance to escape the wrath of the God of the Universe, which we deserve, by trusting that Jesus died for us on the cross, which we do not deserve. There is nothing we can do to escape the reality that we are rebels against God. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves from that wrath. All we can do is completely surrender ourselves, our sinful, rebellious natures, and nail them down to the cross with Christ Jesus, who took the punishment for that very nature by dying a death He did not deserve. The guiltless made guilty, making the truly guilty completely guiltless. It is all God's doing, His salvation in Christ, nothing to do with us. It is for the glory of God to fulfill His plan in bringing His people under Him as God, we are a part of that plan because God wants us to be, nothing at all to do with us at all.

So why do we feel guilty?

If we think this through, it is thoroughly illogical to feel guilty now, because Christ died for us. He took that punishment, so that we can be free. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" says Romans 8:1. We are free, not because we deserve to be, but because Christ conquered sin and death by dying Himself, and later rising again as endorsement from God, that victory assured and complete.

Yet, we still feel guilty. I feel guilty. In fact, it's something I can greatly struggle with. Guilt is a very dangerous feeling, a redundant feeling, yet not one we can simply brush under the carpet and dismiss anyone feeling guilty as a weak person who needs to read the Bible properly. We all fall into THAT category!

Guilt is a tool of the satan, the accuser. Defeated at the cross of Jesus forever, the satan now seeks to undermine the progression of God's Word in the world by attacking the most vulnerable point, us. We know our grace is utterly undeserved, and we are not led to forget that. Unfortunately, the accuser sends us the other way. We feel responsible for the death of Christ, and when we mess up again and again as people under that grace of God, our thoughts of remorse and guilt consume us. We forget that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While it is of course a right response to recognise our sinfulness, it is dangerous to neglect the flip side of the coin, that though we are sinners, we are washed clean of our sin by the blood of Jesus. He died so that we may live, and one day be made righteous and perfect with God (Ephesians 1:3-10), and nothing we do changes that.
If we adhere to the Biblical truth that God set us apart before the creation of the world, in order to be one day made holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4, 5, 11, 2:1-10, Romans 8:28-39, Romans 9:14-29; Acts 13:48; John 6:44), we find great comfort in many facts:

Firstly, the Sovereignty of God, who saw fit to unite His people, sinners as they are, under Him, to be made Holy and blameless, achieving this by the cross of Jesus Christ and that alone.

Secondly, the cleansing of God's people. Sinners though we are and will continue to be until the New Creation (Revelation 21-22), the blood of Christ has cleansed us from our sin. We are not perfect now, but we are forgiven now.

Thirdly, the permanence of the truth. Jesus died once, and for all "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" says 1 Peter 3:18a. This death was not a case of dying for specific sins, and some being outside of it. This death was for the forgiveness of sin, past, present and future. You can't commit a sin and not be saved by the blood. If you commit something on purpose and do not repent, then you are not trusting in God and are outside of the promise anyway. You would not do that if you knew the score, for, as Romans 8:38-39 states: "38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So we see, we need not feel guilty, for Christ has borne our punishment, permanently, as part of God's Sovereign and merciful plan in uniting us under Him, which He decided before we existed. What I am NOT saying however, is that this is an excuse to sit back and dismiss the active sin in your life. It is important to maintain a balance in this case between focusing on the grace, and always repenting. If we trust in Christ, then naturally we will want to live for Christ. Don't let guilt be a stumbling block. Keep repenting out of love for the God who died for you.

I often struggle greatly with guilt. For me anyway, part of it is indeed a pride issue, wanting to do the right thing, say the right thing, be righteous, basically. What a wrong attitude though. All we do is tainted with our sinful desires and motivations behind it. We are imperfect made worthy by Christ's blood alone.

Thinking back to a time about half way through my third year of university, I was greatly struggling with guilt, of how rubbish I was, and worthless, not deserving to be counted amongst the saved. At the time I was attending a conference on the cross of Christ, a subject so key to our understanding of what we believe, and yet a subject I had not given much time and study for. Being refreshed on the doctrine of the cross, there came a most wonderful feeling of relief that rushed over me as I was again reminded that Jesus died for me, and took my guilt and shame away. What a love, what a cost! (For further reading I fully and warmly recommend my favourite Christian book outside of the Bible, The Cross of Christ, by John Stott)

If you struggle with guilt, I urge you to take time to sit down, take a deep breath, and reflect on the truth of the Bible. We are all sinners, you are not alone. Those feelings of worthlessness and that you are the worst Christian around are echoed by many others, me included. Yes we are rubbish, but not worthless, for Christ Jesus died for us to make us worthy. Yes we are undeserving, but yes we are made righteous, more than conquerors by the sacrifice of Christ, and Christ alone. Reflect on the passages in this section, and pray to our Heavenly Father, in the name of the Son, by the Holy Spirit to guard you against guilt, keep you repentant and keep you focused and reminded of the awesome truth of the gospel, that while we were still sinners, Christ did die for us. And that grace never ends because you keep slipping up. Keep recognising and repenting, keep trusting, keep fighting, for one day you will see perfection, by Christ.

If you know someone struggling with guilt, get alongside them and love them. Remind them of your own sinfulness, as well as every single person on earth's, and keep gently pointing them to the truths of the gospel. Any of the passages here will be good places to point them towards, and gently remind them of that grace that we put our trust in.

Keep praying, keep fighting, keep trusting in God.

Living and speaking for Jesus

Up until the beginning of last year, I never thought of myself as a competative person. The sad truth is, I so am.
At the White Cross weekly pub quiz last night, as usual, I was striving to get all right, got cross when corrected, sulked when we got answers wrong, and felt a bit light headed afterwards (maybe two pints was a bit much). All in front of someone I did not know, whilst wearing a CU t shirt.
I confess I am a very prideful person (just count the amount of I's so far...), it's something I struggle with a lot actually: hating being wrong, hating being corrected, hating the fact I have to type this...
It's annoying, and it's wrong, it is typical human behaviour, wanting to be God instead of letting God do it, and to top it all, doing it in a very, very visible way.
I hate to lose, especially at something I consider myself good at, and I like to be in control, not being told what to do. However, I am not perfect, I am not God, I have to surrender my pride, nail it to the cross with Christ, and follow my Lord.
It isn't easy, and ironically enough, it really bugs me when other people do what I do, being prideful, putting people down. I do it all the time, and I hate it when others do it to. I'm a hypocrite, then again, to a point, most of us are. We hardly practice what we preach.
At the prayer supper that Moorlands holds the first Sunday evening of the month (last sunday) we looked at 1 Peter 2:9-12, which reads:

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."

The big challenge that this passage presents is that God has chosen us as His people by sending Jesus to die for us, so we may proclaim Jesus, and live for Jesus by abstaining from worldly things such as drunkeness, sexual immorality, which of course is going to cause conflict for us. We are to mark ourselves by our behaviour as Christians, so that the non-believer may see us, and glorify God when Jesus comes back.
Now that is hard, and I think we're often focusing on one thing or the other. We're either seeking oppertunities to tell the gospel, but in practice not living as Jesus has called us to by His own blood, or we are trying to live for God, but not actually doing it so people may see it, or not telling people why we are doing it.
You'll find at university that you will be surrounded by so many people, and all eyes will be on you. It's natural, everyone is out for themselves. Plus, if your known as a Christian, they will be watching you to fall.
That is why it is imperative to remember the challenge of this passage, as the slogan of UCCF (Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship-the support group for University and college CU's throughout Britain) says, how they want to encourage students to live and speak for Jesus during their time at university.
If the book I am writing ever gets done, that is my aim too. As we have seen and I will constantly tell you, I am rubbish at both living and speaking for Jesus. I am a hypocrite who needs one to preach, and two to practice what he preaches most of the time! However, because of Jesus, I am made worthy by His blood, His grace alone, and I want you all to know the importance of living and speaking for Jesus, especially during your time at university. With God's help and strength, by His grace, how can you live and speak for Jesus today? What needs to change?
That is your challenge from the Bible.

Procrastination

Mind you, is it procrastination if I am not actually doing any work at the moment?

I've had this blog two minutes, and already I'm distracted from what I'm doing, which at the moment is sitting in Faraday computer lab (also known as Narnia-the hangout for Lancaster University Christian Union members), conducting a bit of market research for a book I'm working on (which you will read more and more about I can tell you).
The room is very quiet at the moment, I'm the only one in here. It's quite funny really, as I am no longer a student. I graduated in July this year, but I have no internet at home and my student account is still active for another year so...there we are really.
As usual for Lancaster, it's a wet say outside...and here I am painfully reminded of my advancing age as discussing the weather has already entered this blog. Ahh well, it's something I suppose :)