Christianity

Living Backwards

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Pieter Stok
Old family

My mother”s family at the time of the Great Depression

– but the Kingdom

will not come that way

My mind has occasional bizarre flashes of thought. My family would say they are more than just occasional. I thought the other day, that if I had lived backwards in history, in other words, if after having been born in 1950 I lived my life in reverse, I would be in 1887 now. I would have met my great grandparents, lived through two world wars and a great depression, gone through the period when penicillin was invented and the days before cars and planes, back to a day when many children died before they got to five years of age.

On reflection, I am happy that I went forward in history. I had an opportunity for a good education, good medical care, I providentially missed the draft to go to Vietnam, I haven’t been involved in any world wars, and the Global Financial Crisis, awful as it is, still pales before the Great Depression.

How thankful am I? Are we? Do we expect things and take life for granted? I must confess that I often do. It takes my little flights of crazy fancy to be reminded that we live, particularly in Western countries, in a very blessed time in, so many ways.

Probably the key area where we miss out today is the level of Biblical faith in our society. It is, on the whole, not a time of revival no matter how much we sing about it. How cool it would have been to have listened to Whitefield or Jonathan Edwards (there I go again -but that is more than a reversed lifetime away!) well at least Spurgeon. So as good as life is, there is that foundational area of faith where it could be much, much better.

As a chronic nostalgic I have to be reminded, and maybe we all need to be reminded, that I/we have a place and purpose in the present. This is where God wants me to be to serve Him and His Kingdom – even  (or especially, because) the level of Christian spirituality in the West is in decline. The Kingdom is still growing and still coming even if we in the West have ridiculed and devalued the idea.

It is fun to let your mind wander but it is even more exciting to prepare for the King!

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Sola Gratia

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Pieter Stok

What better text to highlight “Grace Alone” than Ephesians 2:1-10.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

If I am ever tempted to think that somehow or somewhere I have earned even a portion of my salvation, this text reminds me of what I was and what Christ alone has made me. That is Grace!

Categories: Bible, christian, Christianity, Devotional, Faith, Five Solas, Sola, Uncategorized | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Sola Fide

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Pieter Stok

Here are some texts that remind us of the importance of “Faith Alone”.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.  For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Romans 1:16-17. The Passage that transformed Luther’s thinking.

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

Acts 16:31 Paul and Silas to the Philippian gaoler

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

John 5:24  Jesus to his persecutors.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

Philippians 3:7-9 Paul again.

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Sola Scriptura

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Pieter Stok

Below are just three short passages, of the many, that remind us of the claims of God’s Word on our faith and life.

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1 20 – 21

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
1 Timothy 3:16

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
John1:1-2

Zondervan (2011-01-09). Holy Bible (NIV) Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

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Blessed

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Pieter Stok

psalm 32

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You Know

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Pieter Stok

Reflections on Matthew 10 and Psalm 139

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matt 10:30

you know meYou know my name,
my atoms and cells.
You created them.
You know the hairs on my head:
The number,
the colour.

My eyes,
My wrinkles
and every quirk,
You know.

You know my very DNA,
my core.

You know my movements
and thoughts,
my rebellion and
obedience.

But more than that,
You know my heart,
no matter what I hide.
My lies, my truth.

You know me
and you still love me!

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Don’t Be a Nabal

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Pieter Stok

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” Psalm 14:1a

In 1 Samuel 25 we read the story of Nabal, who despite David’s graciousness was quite dismissive of David and his followers. David, while hiding from Saul, stayed in Nabal’s area but did not harm Nabal’s shepherds or flocks. When David requested assistance Nabal responded churlishly. This incensed David who was prepared to teach Nabal a lesson.  Abigail, Nabal’s wife, went out to meet David and interceded for her husband and took along provisions for David and his men. Later, after after Nabal had sobered up from a drunken banquet Abigail told her husband what she had done. The Bible tells us that “his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone.” He died ten days later.

The name Nabal comes from he Hebrew word for foolish. The question arises: who would give their son a name like that? Or was it a nickname he earned? Then again, Jacob means “deceiver”. Names often have more than incidental meanings in the Bible. In Nabal’s case he lived up, or is it, down, to his name despite being a descendant of Caleb.

The text, above, from Psalm 14 is addressed, not to the world out there, but to God’s people. Our words and outward actions may give a semblance of faith. We may even have the right connections and memberships but what is in our heart? At the deepest recesses of our being is there a relationship with God or are we play acting? What motivates our actions and life? What is spoken in our heart?

David was God’s king elect. When Nabal brushed David’s request aside he was not only  brushing aside God’s plans and purposes he was also disregarding God.

The story of Nabal and Psalm 14 are clear reminders that we shouldn’t be a Nabal – a fool.

Categories: Bible, christian, Christianity, Devotional, Faith | 2 Comments

John Knox: Christ’s First Temptation

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Pieter Stok

John Knox and lessons from the temptation of Christ

“Thus are we taught, I say, by Christ Jesus, to repulse Satan and his assaults by the Word of God, and to apply the examples of His mercies, which He has shown to others before us, to our own souls in the hour of temptation, and in the time of our trouble. For what God doth to one at any time, the same appertains to all that depend upon God and His promises. And, therefore, however we are assaulted by Satan, our adversary, within the Word of God is armor and weapons sufficient. ”

(2011-03-24). The World’s Great Sermons, Volume 01 Basil to Calvin (Kindle Locations 1698-1701). . Kindle Edition.

 

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Whose Side, Mine or Yours?

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Pieter Stok

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”  “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell face-down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” Joshua 5: 13 – 14

sunsetJoshua was given a simple but profound lesson. He was told, simply, that he was serving God and His kingdom and not the other way around. God had plans and purposes to initiate a King and a Kingdom. Joshua was part of that plan even though he could never comprehend the vastness or majesty of the outcome.

How often do we make the same mistake that Joshua made, that is, making God the servant of our whims, or at least, trying to. God’s plans are eternal and perfect. We should be grateful that He includes the likes of Joshua, and us. Like Joshua, we have yet to see the majesty and perfection of the return of the king.

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The Morning Star of the C18th Welsh Revival

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Pieter Stok

It is amazing the way that God works. Forces are arrayed against His plans only to be outwitted time and again.

This occurred (once again) in the years leading up to the Methodist Revival in Wales in the C18th. An Anglican minister, Griffith Jones, sometimes referred to as the “morning Light of the Welsh Revival” was often in trouble with his superiors for his unorthodox approaches. Dallimore references him in his biography of Whitefield. For example, Jones preached outdoors when the crowds became too large. This was not the “done thing.” In all, he was too enthusiastic for his times. So the authorities restricted his ability to preach. Now, this could seem like a defeat. However, Jones, undeterred, commenced a series of circulating schools (schools that would remain in an area for a while and then move on). Many thousands of people learned to read and were presented with the gospel through his work. It also provided a wonderful foundation for the revival to come – a wonderful picture of God’s sovereignty.

Griffith Jones is an example of one who sees obstacles as opportunities. Once again, there is a lesson in that for me.

Categories: christian, Christianity, Church, George Whitefield, Reflections, Uncategorized | Tags: , , | 8 Comments

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