God Be Merciful to Me

10 years ago I was at a UCCF team day - in many ways It had not been a good year for me: there were personal and professional tensions in my life and work, I was discouraged and feeling a bit overwhelmed by the circumstances. I also felt far from God - mostly due to the fact that I had neglected His Word and intimacy with Him in favour of burrying myself in being 'busy' for Him. I knew this was useless, stupid and sinful.

Whilst at the team days, I browsed through a hymn book - and in there discovered a treasure that has often come to mind and brought me to a deeper conviction of the joy and priviledges of grace.

Sometimes, a decade on, I marvel at the continuing sinfulness of my heart. Why do I not do that which I know to be right and good, how can I settle for second best again and again, why do I not choose the great over the convenient?

WHAT IS IT IN ME THAT WILL NOT SURRENDER TO THE MAGNIFICENCE OF GRACE?

Romans 7.:24-25

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind,
but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

It is sin: the self-reliance of the human heart on human strength; the innate denial of our need of God, our attempt at living as the Master of our own universe.

Jeremiah 2.12-13:

Be appalled, O heavens, at this;be shocked, be utterly desolate,declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils:they have forsaken me,the fountain of living waters,and hewed out cisterns for themselves,broken cisterns that can hold no water

And so the treasures of the hymn that I found a decade ago reminds me again of my need of grace and the confidence with which we can come:

.

SINFUL, SIGHING TO BE BLESSED (John Henry Monsall Jnr. 1857)

.

Sinful, sighing to be blessed;

bound, and longing to be free;

weary, waiting for my rest:

God be merciful to me.

.

Goodness I have none to plead,

sinfulness in all I see,

I can only bring my need:

God be merciful to me.

.

Broken heart and downcast eyes

dare not lift themselves to thee;

yet thou canst interpret sighs:

God be merciful to me.

.

From this sinful heart of mine

to thy bosom I would flee:

I am not mine own, but thine:

God be merciful to me.

.

There is One beside the throne,

and my only hope and plea

are in him and him alone:

God be merciful to me.

.

He my cause will undertake,

my interpreter will be;

he's my all; and for his sake

God be merciful to me.

.

1 John 1.6-10

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Hebrews 4.14-16

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The Da Vinci Film

I saw the Da Vinci Code film today. I went with a group of students from AUT. I enjoyed the book but I thought the film varied between laughable and deplorable.

It's major fault is that it is boring. In sticks too closely to the book in some places and in the unfolding of intricate conspiracy details and it departs from the subtle and thrilling plotline that Brown succeeded in stringing around the conspiracy.

The dialogue is woeful - I laughed out loud (and I laugh loudly!) when Tom Hanks (Robert Langdon) looked deep into Audrey Tatou's (Sophie Neveu) eyes and said ponderously [cue musical crescendo] "you are the end of the blood line, you are the last living descendant of Jesus" it had more corn than Butterkist.

The saving grace of the film is that it makes clear the complete nonsence of the hypothesis - a conspiracy theory akin to so many others. Just because it is said confidently and with glitz does not make it true. The film also makes an attempt at offering some corrections of Dan Brown's factual inaccuracies (Dan Brown says 8 million women were killed during the witch hunts - the film offers a more realistic 50,000) but it does repeat some of the glaring stupidities (the council of Nicea did not discuss or address the Canon of Scripture).

It's a boring film that betrays rather than portrays an exciting book. It still propagates the theory that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and that she was pregnant at the time of the crucifiction and that there is still a traceable bloodline to the modern day which is a threat to the Roman Catholic Church. It is all nonsence. Not because I say so but because there is no historical evidence of any kind for this fiction.

Truth is there to be found - for all who have the eyes to see, ears to hear and a hearts that want to find the freedom of relationship with God.

Loved...

Yesterday two parcels arrived in the post. The first contained three comics for the kids and a short note for us. The second a webcam and headset to be used with Skype/MSN. Both came with a lot of thought and love from friends back in the UK. Both parcels felt more 'weighty' because of the thought that had gone into them. Neither were necessary for life to continue both have made a significant difference to how we felt about the day.


Last night as a family read a chapter from Prince Caspian (the 4th Narnia Chronicle) where Lucy sees Aslan again for the first time since they arrive back in Narnia. As always Lewis' writing turned my heart to Jesus:

"I was so pleased at finding you again. And I thought you'd let me stay. And I thought you'd come rairing in and frighten all the enemies away - like last time. And now everthing is going be be horrid"
"It is hard for you little one," said Alsan. "But things never happen the same way twice. It has been hard for us all in Narnia before now."
Lucy buried her head in his mane to hide from his face. But there must have been magic in his mane. She could feel lion-strength going into her. Quite suddenly she sat up.
"I'm sorry, Alsan," she said. "I'm ready now."

We are loved - not for coming so far, not for doing anything. We are loved because He (Jesus, not Alsan) has loved us. Love makes all the difference.

In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4.10

And as I listened to Prince Caspian and reflected on the day a song, that I've not sung for maybe 8 years, came to mind:

.

Here am I a sinner free,
pardoned by Your Majesty

Your love has led me into liberty.

.

Holy King upon the throne,
You've made this heart Your very own

I feel like the leper who's beed healed!

.

Lost and dirty yet You found me

Stained by sin but you have cleansed me

Can it be I'm precious in you sight?

.

What is a man and who am I?

I'm a child of God my father's pride

What a joy to be the Lord's delight!

.

I have known a love so sweet,
a saving love that brings relief

A healing love that makes the blind eyes see.

.

King of love and Prince of peace,
Your sheperd's love is tending me

A love that satisfies my deepest needs.

(Matt Redman)

.

Loved... it is a privilge to be so loved by God and also loved by His people. It was by the Love of God that Jesus came in the flesh to save a people who were lost in sin: love providing mercy and acheiving justice at the same time. Loved, cleansed, healed, restored, forgiven; anchored in eternity, secured to a living hope, freed to live a life of God-centred, grace-fuelled, confidence.

"And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." John 17.3

.

It began with 2 parcels and a story and brought me to worship the God of all glory. Eternity is just around the corner and the signs of God's rule, reign and goodness are there for all to see: if only we look with faith.

Code and conduct...

Is this a picture from the imagination of an artist or a photograph of the actual scene?

Dan Brown seems to think Leonardo painted the scene as it happened!

I've read the Da Vinci code mostly because there are students here in NZ who have been seriously upset by what it says. I read it and I enjoyed the story - it should make a good film: the action is packed into a 24 hour period, there is a quest to discover secret identities, uncovering motives and encountering betrayal. It is a blockbuster book and should make for a similar film. However this blockbuster mixes fact and fiction, speaks of secret societies and hidden texts which point to a 'truth' about Jesus' 'real' identity and the 'truth' behind the 'myths' that Roman Catholicism has been selling for the last two millennia.

This upsets the faith of many - many who do not know the depth and power of the veracity of God's Word to tell the truth. Neither do they know the true history of the church, the facts that lie behind the formation of the Canon (collection) of the books of the Bible, they don't know how the truth about Jesus has been denied, supressed and perverted by an academic elite and how Dan Brown's book is part of the conspiracy.

The mystery buried at the heart of the Bible is an open secret - Jesus is the eternal Son of God who became human and lived a perfect life without hint of sin or shame, he took three years to teach, explain and demonstrate that He stands at the heart of the universe as the Word (Logos) which created it and rules over it and holds the universe together. He revealed God in all His Glory at the fulcrum of history - the cross: where the full power of God's love, justice, patience; the splendour of His character, the absolute Soveriengty of His power and sheer breathtaking beauty of His nature are brought together for all to see. This is cemeted and declared in the bodily resurrection of Jesus and made plain in His bodily ascension into Heaven; then as the Holy Spirit is poured out into the lives and hearts of those who follow Jesus the great conspiracy unfolds - the supression of the truth began.

People denied Jesus' divinity, and failing to destroy those who held to the true Way, the authentic teaching of Jesus, they then tried to introduce ideas that were not from Him and even began to write lies knowing they were not the truth. Those loyal to Jesus sought to record the truth and empowered by the Divine Spirit of the brotherhood of the faithful preserved the truth in documents recoring the true history and message of Jesus; these writings would survive the persectutions and adulterations of successive generations. There have always been true believers holding onto, and holding out, the word of Truth about Jesus in every generation through two thousand years - and until Jesus returns this band of brothers, this fellowship of the redeemed will live and give their lives not to hold the truth secret but to declare it to all who have ears.

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." (John's Gospel Chapter 3.36)

That is something worth explaining and getting excited about, that is why I am in New Zealand: that is the truth Dan Brown wants to hide under a pile of false theories and half truths, wrapped up in a compelling narrative. Why?

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Romans 1.28-32

If you want to do research into the truth behind the Da Vinci code go to "Da Vinci Code Truth" it really is an excellent, well researched website.

And so on, into Narnia...

We've started reading the Chronicles of Narnia with our younger two, Ruben read through them all a week ago (he was trying to break his own record: it's now reset - through the whole series in 7 days). On Sunday we began "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe". I love these books, they never fail to lift my heart and eyes back to the glory of Jesus. Lewis wrote a masterpiece in penning this. Sure the kids' characters are a bit paper thin (excuse the pun), sure it is moralistic and now feels a bit overly innocent/naive BUT it is brilliant at teaching the need for and the power of Christ in a fallen world. The narrative is compelling (our kids beg for more each night) and the anticipation of Aslan's coming is genuinely thrilling.

I've also just started reading "The Da Vinci Code" (better late than never) already I see why it is so appealing. The mystery, the implication of secrets to be discovered, the intrigue of people willing to die and to kill to hold onto or to bury the truth. I sort of know the end of the book - that Jesus has living descendants because he married Mary Magdalen and survivied the cross to live happily ever after and leave a blood line that lives in France.

To an English mind it is probably this last point that leads to great ridicule - surely Jesus' descendants wouldn't have chosen France! (I have several French friends - don't be offended, its a joke). But this airport thriller (and soon to be released film) is an interesting work of fiction that has no real roots in fact. I'll let you know more after I've finished it - but I am enjoying the fiction even if the fantasy is annoying me.

There is the contrast - Lewis in a book purporting to be a fairy tale teaches me (and any children or adults who will look and read and listen) of the reality of Jesus; Brown in a book purporting to uncover a ficitonal mystery that points to fact leads anyone who'll listen into a world of fantasy that leads them away from the Jesus of history into a Christ of fantasy.

Here is the challenge - teach, proclaim, exhort and point people to the Jesus of history: let them listen to his teaching, investigate his claims, witness his death and resurrection as they read the pages of his book and hear his call to faith and eternal life. I'm beginning to understand what that challenge looks and feels like here in NZ - a land where, when it is winter it is never Christmas!

And so to Narnia... Aslan is on the move...