Psychic phenomena – Part 1

There is a tremendous interest in psychic phenomena at the moment. This is probably the result of John Edwards and his Crossing Over shows, and some programs on TV where psychics help police to solve crimes.

I have often been asked if I believe in the ability of people to be able to predict the future, or to tell about past events, etc. My answer is “yes” and I have personally witnessed some incredible things first-hand where someone has predicted something about someone’s future and it has come to pass within days, or has called someone out and told them very detailed facts about their lives without having ever met them before.

For example, a couple I knew were on honeymoon in New Zealand and they were traveling south stopping at various places. They came to a beautiful lake and had a swim. The water was icy cold and the new bride lost her wedding ring because her fingers shrunk. Some days later they stopped at a preacher friend of theirs who told them, “When you return, stop at the lake and go into the water where you think you were swimming (don’t worry if you are not one-hundred percent certain about the place). Walk into the water 8 steps and look down and you will see your ring.” The couple did that and in the crystal-clear water, when the young bride looked down, she saw her ring shining through the water at her feet. She had lost it more than a week before.

Another example, a preacher friend of mine has this as a gift and uses it often. I have seen some amazing things when with him. On one occasion we were in a church where he knew no-one. He preached there a few nights in a row and the crowds grew in numbers and on the last night he walked down the isle and stopped next to a women. He told her that she had an adult son who was in trouble. She admitted it. He continued that, in fact, he was in such trouble that he had just been imprisoned with a long sentence. He then told her what her son’s name was. By this time she was beside herself and weeping. He proceeded to tell her things that would happen to her son and how in prison he would become a changed man because of an encounter with God (the woman was from another country and I’m not sure what the final outcome was).

I could go on and on telling about some things I’ve seen. The above were in a Christian church context where the Bible teaches that God would give gifts to the Church through the Holy Spirit. There are some Christians who are troubled by these gifts and don’t accept them. That’s probably because they have never witnessed them and so explain them away – but I have witnessed them over and over again.

I have also witnessed a few things outside of the church. People doing similar kinds of things and some of them quite amazing. What is interesting is that none of these people, whether in the church or outside the church, claim that they are able to do them under their own power. They all admit that something outside of themselves informs them of the details they tell about (whether past or present).

Of course, not everyone who claims to be psychic or not every Christian who claims to have a gift is genuine. That’s not the point of my entry.

I am going to continue my discussion in future posts. For now, so long.

Fashions change but God does not

Carrying on from my last entry, I am going to end my series on sin tonight though I have not said all that could be said. Since starting on this series I have come across an excellent book called The Sinfulness of Sin by Ralph Venning (a Puritan Paperback). I am half-way through and recommend it highly – the author is a far better writer than what I am.

I want to end by reminding you that though some sins become so common that they become acceptable in a society but that does not make them any less sinful. In Australia there is a man – an ex-Roman Catholic priest, I understand, who is a homosexual. He calls himself Pope Alice. Pope Alice is organising a kind of protest to coincide with the Pope’s visit to Sydney for World Youth Day. Pope Alice says he wants to bring it to the attention of the church that they need to shed aspects of a medieval religion and update their thinking.

Well, guess what, Sodom and Gomorra were destroyed for the “medieval” sins Pope Alice has embraced. If you care to read one of my earliest posts on sin, I showed that sin is not so much the things that we do but sin is rebellion against God. The things we do are the outworking of that rebellion. Homosexuality has always been sinful and will always be sinful. But so is adultery – so you live with your partner and you are not married. How fashionable is that!? God still calls it adultery and it is still wrong. Young man, young lady, you’re disrespectful to your parents and to your elders – it seems to be the way it is today. But I read in my Bible that God says, honour your parents, and elsewhere, respect the elderly. Listen to the swearing and blasphemy on television – even on the cooking programs – and no one is ashamed. In fact this kind of behaviour is laughed at and even encouraged.

This is what God says, Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! This is what our new morality is – we are not enlightened, we are simply calling evil things “good” but they’re still evil.

Jesus came to deal with sin: to pay the price for all the sin you’ve committed; to forgive you if you ask Him; to cleanse you from your sin so that in God’s sight it’s just as if you never sinned; and to help you become strong in the battle against sin by helping you to say “no” to sin and “yes” to righteousness. All you have to do is mention all these things in this paragraph to God.

Until next time, so long.

All that glitters is not…

I’m continuing, although sporadically, on the topic of sin. Today I want to demonstrate what a valueless thing sin is.

Some time ago I was sitting having a cup of coffee at a large shopping mall. The coffee shop was not enclosed and gave a good view of the comings and goings of people (“people watching” is a pleasant pastime). I saw a young woman who was wheelchair bound and severely disabled physically and mentally. She had some kind of bauble – I think a Christmas tree decoration – which she was totally engrossed in. It seemed to me this “thing” had been well-handled with much of the glitter having been rubbed off.

When you compare human beings who have such limited knowledge and ability, especially since we’ve been cursed because of sin and have fallen short of God’s glory, we are worse off in our relationship with God than that young disabled girl is to the rest of normal humanity. In other words, we are spiritually and morally retarded. How can that young girl converse with normal humanity? How can she appreciate the value of so much that others enjoy? How can she realise that her bauble is nothing and rubbish?

And you, man, how can you appreciate what God has prepared for those who love Him? How can you appreciate the peace and joy that Christ has promised when you seem to live in a pseudo peace? How can you appreciate the greatness of God’s love when you stand afar off and mock His precious Son? How can you appreciate the glory of God when and so much more when you are in love with your sin – that shining worthless bauble?

It’s only those who have put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who relate to God spiritually, who live a life of faith, who can appreciate God. We see as through a darkened glass, says the apostle Paul. We can hardly make out what God has done for this life, and especially what He has prepared for us in eternity. Nevertheless, we catch a dim glimpse from time to time and are convinced that God is, and is a rewarder of those who search for Him.

Search for Him, I implore you. Grasp His great and precious gifts and drop your life of sin.

Until next time, so long. 

So ugly

I’m sure everyone who blogs will agree that it takes discipline to write at least once a day. So many things press in and I’ve missed a few days. Anyway, in case you’re reading my writings for the first time I have been speaking on sin. My entries are random and not in the right order because I’m writing as I’m cogitating. If you look at my previous posts you’ll see that “cogitate” is a favourite word and means “deep thinking”. I have been doing some deep thinking on this subject.

Just a short entry on sin tonight. The first human sin was committed by Adam & Eve who disobeyed God and ate fruit from a tree from which they were forbidden to eat. Eve was tempted by the devil and Adam, in effect, responded to urging of his wife. Here’s what I think…

Firstly, the devil tempted Eve but did not compel her. The decision to do what God had expressly forbidden was her choice. The responsibility for sin always lies with the sinner. A tempter may make it hard to say “no” but there is always the option of saying “no”. The devil still tempts us and sometimes other humans tempt us, but more often we do things without being tempted simply because we are sinful and want to sin.

Secondly, and this was going to be my main point as per my title, sin is extremely ugly. It is interesting that when Eve looked at the fruit she saw that the tree was good…that it was a delight…and that the tree was desirable. Sin mostly looks like this but Bible writers rightly describe it in vile terms like: dung, a menstrual cloth, poison, vomit, putrefaction (as of a dead body), etc.

No matter how pleasing sin may appear, if fact, it is as ugly and horrible as! It looks like this to God but even if it does not look like this to you, it is like that! Sin did no good when Adam & Eve sinned – it resulted in the most unspeakable and horrific consequences. As pleasant or as harmless as it may appear in your life and mine, it will likewise result in the most terrible consequence. And the more sin, the more consequential will be the results.

Who can save me from my sin? Only Jesus. I hope at a later stage to more fully develop Christ’s relationship to sin and the sinner but for now let me quote from The Messenger: All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God’s order. Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They’ve got him all backward. (1 John 3:4-5) You see? No-one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. Only those who have put their trust in Christ have been forgiven and are helped to overcome the power of sin (a lifetime work).

Enemies of God

Continuing on from my last post.

What sin has done is to make us enemies of God. God’s creation – angels, man and the whole universe – was created in perfection – it was holy as God is holy. The moment we sin we declare war on God and the moment we declare war on God we have become His enemy.

Many people convince themselves they are not so bad (see a previous post) and therefore do not deserve the kind of judgement described in the Bible. But the Bible also tells us that if you break even the least law you are guilty of breaking the whole. Like a strong chain used to life a massive weight, if one link breaks the weight falls. In that case we say that the chain broke even if only one link failed.

Brave sinner who sins in the face of God. You have total freedom now but there will come a day when God will say of you, “enough” and you will find yourself at death’s door and when you pass through that door, God’s messengers will be there to greet you. There will be no bravado there, no freedom, no doing as you please. You will be taken and imprisoned to await God’s judgement.

The only hope is here, in this life. Jesus came to break down the wall of hostility between God and man. Because of Christ, God will forgive man’s sin and deal with sin in the sinner’s life. The Christian continues to sin but as he follows Christ as one of His disciples, God helps us to deal with the sinful nature.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes (trusts) in Him shall have eternal life (life from God).

Sin’s deceitfulness

Carrying on from my previous post.

Adam and Eve had so much from God and there was only one thing they were not allowed and that was to eat the fruit from one tree. Instead of obeying God, they chose to disobey. This is how the Bible describes it: And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Sin has always appeared to man this way – like something pleasant and with personal benefits. And the idea in the back of Eve’s mind was that God was withholding something valuable. But think for a minute what the result of her disobedience was remembering that Adam’s offspring came under the curse (in fact the whole of creation is under the curse). War, violence, dissatisfaction, greed, poverty, sickness, family break-up, distrust, lack of self-esteem, natural disasters, fatigue, and death. Of course this is just a little list and as you know, the full list would take up the whole internet.

Sin seems pleasing but it is, as I wrote in my last post, disobedience against God that carries terrible consequence. God says, the soul that sins will definitely die. I hear people boast of their sin almost on a daily basis (especially on Monday morning).  There is coming a day of accountability!

Now, this is all negative. Jesus came to die for sin. He shed His blood and God requires that blood be sacrificially shed before He would forgive. Jesus shed his blood and we receive God’s forgiveness. But this is a gift that God offers. A gift remains with the one who offers it until the one to whom it is offered receives it. You are not forgiven until you receive God’s gift.

More on this subject in future posts. Until then, so long.

What is sin

This is a massive topic but I am giving a concise definition here and might add to it in future posts. The first sin gives us a clue. Adam and Eve were given a huge variety of “food trees” whose fruit they were allowed to eat. However there was one tree in the middle of the garden and God said, “You can eat any fruit from any tree but the fruit of this one tree you may not eat.”

God created man knowing exactly what man requires. God designs a world tailor-made for the crowning glory of His creation. Man is perfect and living in perfect union with God. There are no laws, no rules and regulations, except one: “Do not eat from that one tree. And if you do, the day that you eat from it, you will definitely die.” We read that Adam and Eve did not drop dead the day they ate from the tree, but from that day they became mortal and, worse, they were under a curse and cut off from God.

Adam and Eve ate the fruit that was forbidden and immediately something happened – they became aware of their nakedness and were ashamed and they hid from God. Sin affected them without a word or a pointing finger from God.

What was their sin? It was to disobey God. Instead of embracing the will of God for life they chose rather to live by their own will. It’s not as if God was stingy. People often say that God is a party-pooper because He doesn’t want us to have fun. But God created an incredibly beautiful world with so much to see and do and discover, and God created such a variety of good food, and God provided an environment that was so perfect, etc. Furthermore, God did not create man to be like robots or servants to live to strict laws (as mentioned, there was only one law) and to live in fear of his maker. Man had a will and free choice, man had perfect relationship with the world he lived in, with one another, and with God.

Let me continue on with this tomorrow. So long, until then.

Not being able to see a Holy God

Continuing on from my last post…

If we cannot see God and so appreciate his holiness compared to our sinfulness, how can we ever appreciate how terrible sin is? Before I answer that let me say that a few men are permitted to see but a minute glimpse of God’s holiness in order to see the sinfulness of sin. Two examples that immediately spring to mind are Job and Isaiah.

There are other things that give us a clue how terrible sin is and if you sit and cogitate on this you are bound to say, “Hey, you’re right!” (I like the word “cogitate”.) I am not going to give an exhaustive list but mention a few obvious things (and not necessarily in order of importance but as they come to mind).

Firstly, the Bible tells us from cover to cover. Here are some verses:

• For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)
• All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (as discussed yesterday) (John 3:16)
• The Son of Man will commission His angels, and they will gather out of His Kingdom all causes of sin and all who violate His laws (Matthew 13:41)
• Or if your eye should cause you to sin, tear it out. It would be better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God half-blind than remain in possession of two eyes and be thrown into Gehenna (Mark 9:47)
• Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death (James 1:15)
• Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart (Genesis 6:5).
• But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear (Isaiah 59:2)

Secondly, God has poured out His judgement on sin, individually, nationally and globally. Some examples:

• Adam and Eve were judged and the whole world is now under a terrible curse because of their sin.
• Cain came under a terrible personal judgement for killing his brother Abel and for his rebellion against God.
• The whole world was judged and condemned by a flood where only Noah and his family were saved.
• Sodom and Gomorra (and other cities of the plains) were judged because of their sin and God destroyed them.
• The Caananites were judged by God and He commanded Israel to destroy them utterly, man woman and children.
• Israel was judged by God at various times and by various means.

There are other examples but these suffice to show that God has judged and will judge sin in the future as He has warned and promised.

Thirdly, God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sin so that whoever believes in Him would not come under judgement but be forgiven. Just as we are unable to really appreciate how terrible our sin is, so we are unable to appreciate how costly a sacrifice this was on God’s part.

It was the most significant act of heaven among men. It was the most costly thing that God could do to save sinners. It is the most remarkable token of love. It was personal and costly on God’s part. Woe the man who belittles and rejects such a costly gift. Unimaginable joy for the one who finds this treasure.

I’ve written enough for one sitting even though there are thousands of things that could be said. Until next time, so long.

 

What’s the infatuation with sin?

Some years ago I was invited to preach in a church in a neighbouring town. I preached on sin. Afterwards the pastor of that church called me aside and lovingly suggested that there was no need to preach on sin since Christ had died for our sin; rather we should concentrate on grace. He hadn’t listened to my sermon.

The trouble with us humans is that we live in a world with other humans who are more or less like us. The Bible says that all have sinned…so we can only compare ourselves with ourselves. Therefore most of us come to the conclusion, “I’m not so bad.” Once a person comes to believe he’s not bad, he then cannot accept that he has done much to deserve the judgement God has promised will me meted out to sinners (and especially a loving God).

In order to understand how desperately depraved I really am (which is exactly how everyone else is), I need to compare myself to God. Is this comparison reasonable? Yes, because the Bible tells us that in the beginning God created us in His image – that is, without sin and perfect. And it tells us that all have “fallen short of the glory of God,” meaning that we have dropped from perfection where we were created to the pit of sin we now inhabit.

The trouble is, we can’t see God so how is it possible to get a glimpse of His holiness and purity in order to make a comparison between Him and us? We can’t – in fact, if we could see God in all His holiness it would kill us because we would not be able to stand ourselves because of our sin and we would not be able to stand God because of His holiness.

Now I’ve said enough for one post but enough to give some thought.

Until next time, so long.

The older you get the less time you have

“Well, duh!” I hear you say? “Obviously,” you continue, “if you are granted 70 years, by the time you’ve lived 56 of them, you only have 14 to go.”

Funny you should mention 56, ’cause that’s exactly how old I am. However, whilst you are correct in your calculation, that’s not what I meant.

What I mean is that time seems to go much faster. For instance, when I was younger I would come home from work, have a bath, have a meal (prepared by my mother), get in my car and collect a couple of buddies, and then we’d go to the squash courts and play squash for a couple of hours. After that we’d head off to a cafe and have a burger or steak roll and a milkshake (a mere snack in those days).

The night seemed to last for ages.

Now I am much older, I come home from work, have a meal (prepared by my wife), do a little reading or writing, and it seems like I’ve hardly done anything before it’s time to bath and go to bed…and I don’t go to bed all that early because I don’t want to waste my life sleeping.

Even a weekend seems to fly past with hardly anything accomplished. And, come to think of it, my life has flown past – it started off slowly but before I knew it I have aged and left youth behind.

There’s something to ponder on here but I’m not going to give any hints so you work it out.

Until next time, so long.