God will bring justice for his chosen ones! Luke 18:1-8

Luke 18:1-8 

Good morning my friends,

Happy new year!

At times, we may think that the Lord is taking so long to answer our prayers that maybe we are asking for the wrong things and we should forget about it. 

In this specific example, Jesus considers a widow who has trouble getting justice. We are not told exactly why however there is no doubt in her mind that she won't give up. 

1- Jesus explains the parable! 

2 - Was this judge a good judge? It seems not. Jesus stresses out that the judge didn't fear God or care about men. 

3- The character of the widow. Being a widow in those days (or our present days) was difficult! She was a woman and women weren't always respected! However she was a fighter! She wouldn't give up! She persevered! 

4- The core of the issue: justice! This is not a trivial matter in the eyes of our heavenly Father. God is just, it is part of his character! A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)

“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.” (Psalm 89:14)

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).

Today, it may be that you live in a difficult situation and that you struggle, do not fear any longer, do not delay, keep on asking our Father to bring justice in your life!

Windrush victims

Windrush campaigners have criticised the “injustice and humiliation” of being deemed illegal immigrants in the country they have called home for more than half a decade, on the 72nd anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks.

The Home Secretary has announced a cross-government working group to address the challenges faced by the affected families.

Will you join me in prayers for the families who have been traumatised by this injustice. May the Lord heal them, protect them and pour abundant blessings on all of them in the mighty name of Jesus-Christ, our Saviour, in the power of the Holy Spirit, amen!

Do not worry about your life...

 Matthew 6:25-33

When I was a youngster it was meat and two veg, by and large. There were no curries, pizzas, spaghettis - unless it was from a tin, no Chinese meals and some of the fruit and veg was delivered by Mr Jarvis with his horse drawn trailer and the horse ate oats from it's nose bag. The veg we got were the more traditional; carrots, peas, cabbage, cauliflower, various beans and I am not sure about broccoli - don't think that was around much.

 We didn't have a TV until I was six and there were two channels with 405 lines - no 625 lines or pixels or colour for that matter and it wasn't all day and night. We didn't have a phone until I was about 13 and I didn't have a mobile phone till I was 50 and it was a phone and had text and nothing else.

 It was only in the mid 60's we started to try curry and from that time that the world started to shrink in a variety of ways and it wasn't because I was getting bigger. It was the advent of what we might now refer to as instant global communications - I remember Sputnik 1 the first satellite and a few years later the first transatlantic satellite broadcast which lasted about 30 minutes. Men going to the moon, the first digital watches in the 70's. I started with computers - if you could call them that - in 1984; 1k of memory!

 The world has got smaller, in a way, and we know more about what is happening; what people eat, how they live and we hear more about earthquakes, famines, storms etc. and all very quickly. We see graphic pictures from far and wide and a lot of the world comes to our living room or even mobile phone!Hence, knowing so much about our world and being able to enjoy a much wider variety of what is produced our Harvest Celebration can take on something bigger and with that has to come our care for planet earth which we realise has been increasingly abused since probably the late 17th century and the start of industrialisation. Of course, some things have improved in our corner of the world: beaches are cleaner, rivers that had lost fish have them again and the old pea-souper fogs seem to have gone. But we hear of climate change - is it or isn't it? Who knows except I can't help but think we are doing some damage and that therefore part of our husbandry - a duty given by God in the first pages of Genesis  and which should naturally arise from Harvest Celebration - is something we should take seriously as a matter of course and not because of fear.

 Planet earth is awesome and what it can produce - often with a little (or much) help from our friends - is incredible, and, today we have the opportunity to enjoy more of it . Wearing it, eating it, going to It, experiencing it etc.

 Thanksgiving is good and proper; appreciation is helpful and the two should lead us to respect and use aright, as best we can, what is here so that whatever changes are taking place, natural or otherwise, we and others can continue to enjoy the good things that are around.

   There is no point worrying about the basics of life as life is more than this.

 Jesus was speaking into the materialism of his day which compared to ours was very different. However, materialism is not about how much or what we can get and have, it is an attitude of mind and anyone in any society in any age can be materialistic. What Jesus is saying is that there is more. Having it all, whatever it all is, does not make life or indeed happiness.

 There is much in the world that looks after itself very nicely

And he gives some simple examples of birds and flowers and the wonder of what they are without toil and the like. He is not laying down concrete facts but is being illustrative. We know that much in the world about us can be devastated by adverse conditions and Jesus knew that too. But he doesn't dot i's and cross t's because he is using broad pictures that are meant to make a simple point to us, and if we let them, they do. He is also saying that this life is passing and not lasting so why look to things that are and which will perish and fade.

 The Priority is God, his Kingdom and what he wants

 Here we come to the focus and pattern of Jesus and what he calls us to and that is, above all, to be in tune with God and His ways, His rule and His priorities.

In Jesus' book here we have a focus that is beyond the passing and of the things that fade and perish. More, this is a regular thrust from him in one form or another. Don't get it wrong, Jesus isn't anti the material world. He made it and enjoyed lots of the good things in life whilst he was here. What he is saying is there is more . . don't miss is, don't lose sight of it.

Thanksgiving, such as we are doing today, giving, receiving, sharing and celebrating are an antidote to being materialistic  because then we are appreciating the giver rather than what is given in a wrong way and being bound to it.

We live in a material world but we don't have to be bound to it. It is a world God loves and for which Jesus died so it and those within it can be restored and made new.

Conclusion

 I wonder - if we could look at the world, life, what we have and don't have more as Jesus would have us look - how would it be different? Would we be more chilled, a little less held by the growing grip of consumerism. Liberated more to see the beauty and wonder of the natural world as we see how it is and the awesome way it is held under God's creative care and love?

S. Abram

Not ashamed of the cross

Last week, I received three postcards to support Shirley. I will send them to David Cameron, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. I think that we should have total freedom to wear a cross if we wish to therefore I support Not ashamed of the cross, an initiative led by Christian Concern..for the benefit of church and nation.
If you want to find out more, click here. http://notashamed.org.uk/.
I quote:
The high visibility of the campaign should also give rise to many opportunities to explain to others why Jesus is such good news for individuals and for our society. We hope that wearing the distinctive Not Ashamed logo, backed by the national profile will help in this. We’d love to hear encouraging stories – contact us here
Also on the same website, you can read, listen and watch Christians who are hugely involved in serving their communities, fuelled by their faith in Jesus Christ. Listen to Jonathan Bellamy who founded Cross Rhythms, a local radio.

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May the Lord bless you. Yours in Christ. N.

Tempted to buy a new mobile?

Think again! Is your phone fuelling the conflict in Eastern Congo? The film Blood in the Mobile released last October exposes how minerals used in mobile-phone manufacture are tainted with blood and conflict. This is a wake-up call to all mobile phone owners about how raw materials are sourced and the human cost of “conflict minerals”.

FACTS
“Blood in the Mobile” is the story about how our phones are connected to illegal mining in Congo (DRC). Every time we communicate through our cell phones we are associated with the crimes in Congo.
Congo is a country of many natural resources like gold, diamonds, rubber, coltan and cassiterite. But instead of causing Congo wealth, these resources have ended up fuelling the bloodiest war since WWII. 5 million people have died, estimated 300.000 women have been raped.
The film focuses on the mineral cassiterite - a mineral used for producing tin, which is used for the production of all kinds of electronic devices - including mobile phones.
Director Frank Piasecki Poulsen visits a mine in Bisie. Bisie is one of the largest and most notorious illegal mines in the region. It happens frequently that some of the mineshafts collapse and miners are being buried alive.
Child labor, prostitution of under age girls and lack of rights and protection of miners are some of the conditions around the mining operations of cassiterite. The money from the minerals is financing the war in the region.

Find out more, click on these links http://bloodinthemobile.org/the-film/video-blog/  or  http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/ To know how your favorite tech company is ranking, click on this link http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/content/conflict-minerals-company-rankings

Also, I recommend the following websites http://www.frontline.org.za/news.htm and  http://www.sendtheroths.com/  where you will find out more about mission in Congo. Will you join me in praying for all the Christian missionaries, in Congo, and Africa,  may the Lord protects them, guides them and strengthens them everyday as they seek to advance the Kingdom of God there, training other missionaries and giving hope to the orphans and victims of the war. In the name of Jesus, our Saviour. Amen.

Pastor Zhang Rongliang released after nearly 7 years behind bars

CHINA – Pastor released early.

After nearly seven years behind bars Chinese house church leader Pastor Zhang Rongliang has been freed from jail early – after almost seven years' detention.
Release has learnt that he was released from prison in Kaifeng on August 31 – nine months before his seven-and-a-half-year sentence was officially due to end. 

Pastor Zhang leads the Fangcheng Mother Church in central China's Henan province and also heads up one of China's largest church networks, the China for Christ Church. 

He was detained in December 2004 and convicted of 'obtaining a passport through cheating' and 'illegal border crossing' in July 2006. He had frequently attended mission conferences abroad. 

Concerns over his poor health had prompted repeated international calls for his release. Pastor Zhang is said to have suffered several chronic diseases during his imprisonment, including diabetes – and had a stroke in 2007.
A house church leader of some 30 years' standing, Pastor Zhang had already served a total of 12 years in prison during five previous periods of detention. He spent seven years in the Xi Hua labour camp for the crime of 'counter-revolution under the guise of religion'.
Speaking of his most recent detention, Pastor Zhang has said that he was able to share the Gospel with many of his fellow inmates – including former high-ranking officials. He has returned to his home near Zhengzhou, provincial capital of Henan.
Meanwhile, China Aid President Bob Fu is currently in the UK for Release International, to talk about the situation for Christians in China following the recent clampdown on human rights lawyers. Bob will be the speaker at a Release meeting on Saturday in Birmingham – and at a prayer breakfast next Tuesday during the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. 

(For more details, visit www.releaseinternational.org (http://www.releaseinternational.org/) or ring 01689 823491.) 

Bob is a leading advocate on behalf of the persecuted church in China. Once a house church pastor, he was driven out of China due to persecution.

Lenten Meditation 2

Last night, we reflected upon Jesus'arrest. Even though Jesus was totally innocent, 'reasons' were found to incriminate him.
Mainly two reasons: leading a rebellion and speaking blasphemy. We know that the increasing support of the Jews for Jesus, especially when he entered Jerusalem scared the Jewish authority. The charge of blasphemy is not completely false as Jesus was telling the truth: He is God. For centuries, these reasons have been the used by dictators and still are. The circumstances are similar too. The Gestapo and the KGB arrested anybody they suspected to be against their regime.  In countries where dictatorship or fake democratic governments reign, innocents are still hounded and murdered.

In Matthew 26, we read : Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹ With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
   ⁵² “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³ Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”
 ⁵⁵ In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. ⁵⁶ But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

   ⁶⁴ “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

 ⁶⁵ Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy!