“All Scripture is God-Breathed.”

Posted on February 22, 2015 by davidgrose

2 Timothy Chapter 3 verse 16 starts by saying that “all Scripture is God-breathed,” or inspired and most Christians would at least give lip-service to that. If that is the case then why do many believers underline or highlight verses in their Bibles, often at the behest of preachers who will insist that members of their congregations must underline this or that verse? Are we saying that we regard some portions of Scripture as being more inspired than others. Inadvertently that might be the case. I hasten to add that I have heard many fine and solid preachers of the Word tell their listeners to do the above and this is not meant as criticism of any one individual. The question we need to ask ourselves is “Do I regard some of Scripture as being more inspired than others?”
Imagine a diagram or graph, along the base is written the names of the various books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and on the vertical axis the percentage to which we believe the Word of God to be inspired. In theory there should be a straight line at a hundred per cent from one side to the other. But in reality is this the case? I think not. If I am honest then I have to admit that some passages of Scripture leave me rather cold. We can try and argue that verses that excite us are 200 per cent inspired, but surely either a verse of Scripture is inspired or it is not. In arguing that some verses are more inspired, inevitably we are at the same time arguing that some verses are less inspired.
Going back to our imaginary diagram; the Sadducees only believed that the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch) were inspired so the diagram for them would be a straight line for the first five books then steeply falling towards zero. The Pharisees believed what is the whole of the Old Testament to be Scripture. In theory the diagram for them would be straight until the New Testament was reached. After Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem he was able to cause division between the two factions largely because of their attitudes to what parts of Scripture were inspired or not. Today when Christians from different strands of Christianity discuss matters they often find themselves talking at cross purposes. How much of this is because we think that Scripture that agrees with our theology is more inspired than that which might challenge it? To simplify matters imagine the discussion between an Orthodox Jew and an Evangelical Christian. Both use verses as if they were playing a card game, hoping that each card they play will win the trick. The Orthodox Jew not regarding the New Testament as Scripture will find the Evangelical’s favourite quotes from either Jesus or Paul as being invalid. Likewise, the Evangelical finds that the Orthodox Jew’s quoting of the Torah as being “Old Covenant,” that has been superceeded by the “New.” The problem being that it is if each other does not recognise the suit which they have called trumps, leading to increasing frustration.
If we do not accept the first part of the verse then it is no use for “teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” Jesus when arguing with the Sadducees had to quote from the Torah to contradict their unbelief in the concept of resurrection when said “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” thus proving the Lord was the God of the living and not the dead.
David Rose, 2015.

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Do We Resent It When Those Who Were Once Dependent On Us Show Independence And Maturity?

Posted on February 15, 2015 by davidgrose

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Last year I published a post on Acts Chapter 3 on beggar who was healed at the gate Beautiful, this morning I read in my daily devotional I use (Word for Today) a piece on the same chapter. As usual my mind went off at a tangent and thought on an entirely different aspect of this chapter than that which the devotional dwelt on. I thought of the men who had been observed carrying him to the vicinity of the Temple. There is no record of them thanking Peter and John for healing the beggar. As Peter and John were arrested in the evening which was when one would expect they men to have returned to collect the beggar and take him home. Possibly expecting a share of his takings for carrying there and back. No doubt they thought that they were doing a good deed only to be upstaged…

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Do We Resent It When Those Who Were Once Dependent On Us Show Independence And Maturity?

Posted on February 8, 2015 by davidgrose

Last year I published a post on Acts Chapter 3 on beggar who was healed at the gate Beautiful, this morning I read in my daily devotional I use (Word for Today) a piece on the same chapter. As usual my mind went off at a tangent and thought on an entirely different aspect of this chapter than that which the devotional dwelt on. I thought of the men who had been observed carrying him to the vicinity of the Temple. There is no record of them thanking Peter and John for healing the beggar. As Peter and John were arrested in the evening which was when one would expect they men to have returned to collect the beggar and take him home. Possibly expecting a share of his takings for carrying there and back. No doubt they thought that they were doing a good deed only to be upstaged by the apostles. My suspicion is that they then complained to the Temple authorities which then resulted in the arrests. After all the former beggar had been celebrating his healing for several hours before any action was taken. Their relationship with the beggar had clearly changed. He was no longer dependent on them for his mobility. It could have easily caused their resentment, how much is, of course, speculation. When a child is born it is dependent upon its parents, but as it grows it slowly becomes stronger it becomes more independent. Some parents have difficulty in accepting how much their children are maturing and are sometimes shocked when they begin to act independently. In the Christian life spiritual authority figures can be glad when new believers mature sufficiently that they are no longer the spiritual equivalent of being breast-fed and needing their nappies changed. But when they begin to listen to other preachers, or adopt other styles of worship, then resentment can easily arise and they try to become very controlling. Parents can sometimes be shocked when their children reach some milestone or another. Equally, there are occasions where parents still treat their adult offspring as if they were children. My father related to me that his mother would insist on holding his hand if they were crossing a road as if he was still a schoolboy, he said he was mortified when that happened. It is impossible to stop children getting older, but spiritually we can remain immature. The danger is that church leadership want people to be disciples of themselves rather than Christ and that causes resentment when young believers show too much initiative. Paul claimed that some Christians were still on milk when they should be eating meat, the question today is:- “are some churches deliberately keeping their congregations on spiritual baby food?”
David Rose, 2015.

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When Your Way is Blocked.

Posted on February 1, 2015 by davidgrose

SONY DSCA couple of weeks ago we suffered some very high winds and much damage done and when I went for a walk last weekend I came across a number of signs of the damage included this tree which was blocking the path I was on. Sometimes we find that as we go on through life we find our way is blocked unexpectedly. What is our reaction when this happens? Do we say and act like Job after he received a catalogue of bad news including the death of his children:- “At this Job and tore his clothes and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.””(Job 1vv21-22)? Or do we have a good whinge at God? One of the reasons that Satan is quite happy for no one to believe him is that people then blame God for his workmanship. After all, the setbacks that happened to Job were Satan’s work and not God’s. The problems that Job had were exacerbated by his comforters who assumed that Jobs misfortunes were as a result of some hidden sin which they encouraged him to repent of. This eventually wore Job down and he found himself trying to justify himself. We are often in a similar position where we begin quite philosophical but become increasingly agitated when things do not improve. This is not helped when instead of Job’s comforters we have preachers on TV who will attribute other people’s setbacks to a lack of faith and all people need to do to reverse this is send a fat cheque in their direction. Now there many testimonies of believers who have had positive outcomes and the Christian media is not shy in broadcasting them. Though what about the many other cases where healings do not occur, financial problems are not overcome, addictions are not cured? Now when politicians are asked such questions will say:- “That’s a good question!” And hope the questioner will be so pleased that they have asked a good question that they will forget that it has not been answered. Sometimes there are no easy answers. Paul survived many hardships, including beatings, shipwrecks and imprisonments, yet early Christian tradition claims that he was executed at the end of his second imprisonment in Rome. In what Bible scholars believe to be his last letter (2 Timothy) Paul wrote:- “I am already at the point of being poured out like a sacrifice, and it is now time for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course God had for me and I have been faithful. Now the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that Day; and not only to me, but all who have longed for His appearing.” [2 Tim. vv6-8 The Truth] Even though things were bleak for Paul he asked Timothy to come and visit and bring others who would help him in his ministry. He was persevering to the end. Job said in reply to his ‘comforters’:- “Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless man would dare come before Him.” [Job 13 vv15-16.] The danger is that when things go wrong that instead of running the race we give up too soon. As someone once said we have to keep on keeping on.
David Rose. 2015

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The Difficulty in Pioneering a Trail.

Posted on January 19, 2015 by davidgrose

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This photograph of the Cairngorms was last Wednesday. I had a foot of snow outside my backdoor that morning and it seemed a good opportunity to take pictures of snowscapes. The idea was to take pictures of pristine snow rather than ones covered in footprints. When I left the house there was blue sky but it clouded over before I found a suitable place to take a panoramic shot. In order to take this shot I had to leave the main path It had to mean walking on (the Speyside Way) onto a smaller path that runs closer to the fence of the golf course. But nobody had gone along this path since the snow had fallen so I had to wade through pristine snow to reach a spot where there was a sufficiently wide gap in the trees. The problem was that the place I expected to find this gap seemed a lot further along the path than I thought. It became increasing difficult to judge where the path actually was as well. I found that in places the snow had filled hollows that were about 2 feet deep. I began to tire with the effort. Fortunately I arrived at a suitable place and managed to set up my tripod and take this picture, not to mention a few failures. I returned to the main path and continued to look for another place I was familiar with. I returned home eventually and began to realise how effort it had taken out of me when I decided to take a short cut that I found that had not been used since the snow came and had been subject to drifting snow making more hard going. I had to go out again to the shops but found it increasingly difficult by the time I returned home.
The snow is not so deep now but walking this afternoon I realised how much easier it is when one is walking where other people have trodden a path. I thought of Paul who pioneered many churches during his missionary journeys and had to overcome many difficulties. He even was looking for new challenges after his trip to Jerusalem and spoke of going on to Spain in his letter to the Romans. But compared to his Saviour that was nothing He pioneered a lonely trail that led to the cross. He lived a perfect life, set us a perfect example to follow. We rarely appreciate how many of the things that Christ achieved were trailblazing.
David Rose 2015.

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Secular State versus Islamic State.

Posted on January 15, 2015 by davidgrose

Events of the past week in France have thrown up many questions. A few weeks ago we in the West were obsessing about Christmas gifts and the commercial aspects of Christmas. Traditionally the origin of giving gifts at Christmas time is attributed to St Nicholas who lived in what is now Turkey. The story goes that a Christian father had got himself into debt and in order to pay it off he had to sell his daughters into slavery. When the first one was due to be sold a large sum of money appeared in the house during the previous night. It was sufficiently large that the father instead of selling her he had enough to provide a dowry for his daughter to get married. The same happened when the second daughter was due to be sold. When the third daughter was due to be sold the father hid himself to as to see who was the mysterious benefactor was and caught St Nicholas lowering the money down the chimney. It is ironic that not that far from where this happened in the last year Christian women have faced being sold as slaves by the forces of the “Islamic State.”
The various acts of violence that took place in France have been rightly condemned. The problem the Christians face is that if we stand in solidarity with the French Government and people then we are in danger of saying that secularism is a good thing (France being officially a secular country). This makes it difficult to oppose secularists in our own countries who often use innocuous sounding measures to disguise their ultimately immoral aims. Of course they invariably deny that their aims are immoral it is just that the morality of the Bible is outdated. “Did God really say . . ?” is how Satan questioned the authority of God in the Garden of Eden and it has worked so well for him over the centuries that he has no reason to change his tactics. But on the other hand if we do not appear to stand with them then we could be accused of tacitly approving the violence.
People are always attacking the Bible and the Judeo-Christian ethic today, but they always have. In Psalm 2 written about 3000 years ago states- “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. ‘Let us break their chains,’ they say, ‘and throw off their fetters.'” The publication “Charlie Hebdo” mocked Christianity as much as they mocked other religions so why we deplore the murders of its staff and would not condone them we would unwise to be unconditional in standing with their interpretation of freedom of speech. Freedoms in democracies come with responsibilities but those with anarchical tendencies want freedoms without responsibility. So we have to be careful. It is easy for satirists to call others to account but ignore calls for themselves to be called to account.
It is very easy to say that the Bible has been distorted, while its text may not have been its interpretation is continually being distorted in one way or another. Jesus said that the Pharisees nullified it by their tradition. One of the Ten Commandments is that “You shall do no murder.” If you say that this has been distorted what did it originally say? You shall commit murder? When we claim that theology needs to evolve to account for the modern way of life, it raises a lot of problems. True, our neighbour may not have an ox to covet but that does not mean that covetousness is not a problem today. The advertising industry is based on the hope that we will covet the products being advertised. The Islamic religion claims that the Koran was necessary because the Bible has been corrupted and effectively needed to be replaced. Just because bad Christians set a poor example this does not Scripture itself has been corrupted. Though as often been said – you are the only Bible they will ever read. So it is easy to see where the confusion has arisen.
Though one of the things I find puzzling about Islam is why they object to images portraying their prophet. They do not claim him as God so why is that seen as blasphemy regardless of subject matter?
Now it easy to see those who come against the west armed with AK47s and bombs as our enemies but what about those who come against us subtly by questioning the basis of morality like the satirists of Charlie Hebdo could they not do greater damage in the long run than terrorists. Come to think of it how did the word terrorist first arise, it was in the wake of the French Revolution when power fell into hands of the hard-line Jacobins who banned Christianity and imposed their diktats by the use of the guillotine in what became known as the “Reign of Terror,” those who supported the slaughter were the first people to be called “Terrorists.” The people of France seem to have forgotten this. Secularism can be equally as dangerous as Islamic fundamentalism we have to be wary that it is kept in check.
David Rose 2015.

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“We Do Not Celebrate Christmas Because . . .”

Posted on December 28, 2014 by davidgrose

Every year I hear these these words or some variation of them. The surprising thing is that it comes from Christians rather than Non-Christians. Sometimes what they mean is that they do not indulge in gluttony and drunkenness. Sometimes they descry the commercialism. Sometimes they attribute Christmas to pagan traditions. Sometimes they say that Jesus was not born at this time of year. All these reasons have some degree of validity but the statement begs the question – “If you really believe Jesus was your Saviour why do you not want to celebrate His birth?” Such an attitude must bewilder other Christians and non-Christians alike. It seems to me that the Christians from a low church tradition have problem with the concept of celebration. In part this is a reaction to the high church practice of calling priests ‘celebrants’ of Holy Communion/Mass therefore all forms of celebration tend to be treated with suspicion if not downright hostility. Under Cromwell when Puritanism held sway celebrating Christmas was forbidden. It was done in such an oppressive manner that the hitherto unpopular Stewart monarchy seemed not so bad after all and was eventually restored to the throne after Cromwell’s death. An historical lesson which Christians should remember when they would like to impose their beliefs and values on an unbelieving majority.
Instead of trying to find fault in how other people celebrate Christmas, should we not try to celebrate it properly. Matthew’s Gospel says that the Magi “worshipped Him,” so should we. Luke says that the shepherds were “glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen,” so should we. If you are wondering why Matthew did not mention the shepherds it was because shepherds were despised in Israel in Jesus’ day and Matthew’s Gospel was written with a Jewish readership in mind. Though it is ironic a former tax-collector thought that shepherds were too untrustworthy to be included in his Gospel.
David Rose, 2014.

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Using Your Gifts – A Cautionary Tale.

Posted on December 14, 2014 by davidgrose

When I was growing up we had an old-fashioned larder. In it were all sorts of things, as well as fresh food there was a selection of tins and jars. The stock changed from day to day. But there was one tin that remained on the its shelf. It was a tin of sugar from Australia. I given to understand that it had been originally send over as part of a food parcel from Australia. A friend of my mother had emigrated to Australia in the post-war years when there was still food rationing in Britain. As a consequence she sought to send food parcels to my parents each Christmas. This one tin remained, kept for use in an emergency, because it was easier to open a packet. The tin must have been several years older than I was. Eventually, when I was a teenager my mother decided to open it and use it. By that time I think there must have been at least some specks of surface rust. When it was opened there was a lot of rust on the inside which had contaminated the sugar so my mother had to throw it out. It was a gift that was wasted.
As I write this in the run up to Christmas there is a lot about gifts and giving. But what about the gifts that God gives us, how often do we put them on the shelf and leave them there. It is something to which I have to admit my guilt over the years. How many can read or hear the parable of the talents without a twinge of guilt. We may fail to use God’s gifts given to us for several reasons. Firstly, sometimes we simply do not recognise the gift as a talent. Using Paul’s analogy of our being different parts of the body, when we fail to understand which part of the body we are then we fail to see the talents that will be helpful to us. If a ‘hand’ thinks its an ‘eye’ then it won’t value the sense of touch. Secondly, we treat the gift as something to use in an emergency. The problem with that is that if we don’t use then we lose it. Talents need to be developed. If we do not read our bibles regularly then we will not know where to look when we need to. The list of excuses is endless, another is that we think we are not good enough. We are not by ourselves, but by the grace of God we can be. I know that at Christmas we often get gifts we do not actually want, but God only gives us gifts we need, even if we do not appreciate why he has given them. There will come a time when we will be able to see why. Use them or lose.
David Rose 2014

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Beauty After a Toxic Past.

Posted on November 30, 2014 by davidgrose

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The bird in the photograph above is a great crested grebe in its winter plumage. One might think that it was taken in some unspoilt part of the Cairngorms, but it wasn’t. It was in fact taken near Sheffield in what was once a heavily industrialised landscape, not the place you would think of as a destination for wildlife photography. But when the industry closed down along this stretch of the Rother valley it was decided to form a country park. But there was a problem, the ground that the various industrial processes had left behind was toxic. Anybody looking on the industrial dereliction would have looked in disbelief when plans were announced to make it into a country park. Of course, the country park did not come about by leaving things as they were, it required a lot of effort. Presumably, good soil, landscaping, tree-planting, etc., were all required.
There are many people who have a toxic past. The good news is that in Christ when we repent of our sin, our past is dead and buried. That does not necessarily mean that everything will be easy. It is not unusual for new believers to have their ups and downs. Paul in his letters refers to the “renewing of the mind” and like reclaiming an industrial wasteland this does not happen overnight. At first it may appear to be a bigger mess that before it started. When cleaning up toxic land there is always the possibility that hitherto unknown toxins might be discovered during the process that otherwise might have remained hidden. Now suppose that someone argues that because this piece of land has been declared a country park that this toxin should not be there. Saying, “How dare you call this a country park?” This is like saying that a new believer, because of their difficult past, has a relapse of some kind can’t be a Christian. It is easier in the short term to take that approach with those that are high maintenance, rather than persist in helping them along their bumpy ride. It is only in the long-term that such an approach produces fruit.
I visited the Rother Country Park with my brother-in-law for an afternoon walk with the intention to walk round the reservoir there. We lost our way because the trees that had been just saplings the last time he was there 15 years or so ago. By the time we got to the reservoir the sun was getting low. We noticed quite a lot of wildfowl including mallard and Canada geese. It was only after a few minutes of walking along the edge of the lake that he noticed the first grebe. It turned out there were several. The one shown was taken as we began to walk back looking into the setting sun. It was difficult if not impossible to imagine what the land had previously looked. So, it should be likewise with those who come to the Lord with a toxic past whether abuse or addictions or whatever. Showing beauty after a toxic past.
David Rose, 2014.

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“Through Gates of Splendour”

Posted on November 9, 2014 by davidgrose

Many years ago when I was a teenager and the family was on holiday in Cornwall we visited a church which had a bookstall. My mother bought a copy of the book “Through Gates of Splendour” by Russell T. Hitt. This is the story of Nate Saint of Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF), and his fellow missionaries who were martyred by Amazonian Indians then known as “Aucas” in Ecuador in the 1950s. Unfortunately, by the time my mother had read most of it she found that the penultimate section of the book was missing. By this time we had moved on and could not return to exchange it for another copy. The missing part contained the actual account of the murders of the missionaries. She was most disappointed. In recent years there have been a number of documentaries about those events shown on the Christian media as well as a film entitled “The End of the Spear.” For those who are not familiar with the story, after the men were killed the tribe was reached by the Gospel through Rachel Saint, Nate Saint’s sister, and others. Nate Saint left a widow and two small children. His son, Steve Saint, spent part of his childhood amongst the tribesmen who killed his father.
When we look back on our lives if we are honest we could all think of episodes which we would wish were missing from the story of our lives. Steve Saint must have wished many times that the death of his father had never happened. One of the Indians who had been most reluctant to come to Christ was Mincaye and he was responsible the actual death of Nate Saint. He came to regret that this chapter in his life had happened. There is an old hymn that has as its chorus the phrase “What sin?” The devil is known as the accuser of the brethren and will always try to raise our sins in the past. If we plead the blood of Christ then our sin is dead and buried. It will be as if that chapter in our lives never happened. There is a saying that if the Devil reminds of your past remind him of his future. Mincaye confessed his killing of Nate Saint to Steve Saint when Steve was a young man. Steve forgave him, so much so that Steve regards Mincaye as his step-father. I believe that when Mincaye dies and meets the Lord and is judged then because his sins have been forgiven then he will find that it will be as if that part of his life never happened.
David Rose. 2014

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