This long-tailed tit came into my garden while I was writing this post.
One of the stories in the Gospels which most people are familiar with is that of the paralytic man whose friends had to make a hole in the roof to let him down so he could get near Jesus. It occurs in Luke Chapter 5 verses 17-26. Why could they not get near him because of all the religious people who had come to see Jesus. How many other needy people gave up and went away because of all the religious types in their way? Now, most of us would be very pleased if people came from miles around to hear us speak as the Scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus. But our natural instincts would be to try and please them. But instead Jesus set off their alarm bells rather than tick off their mental check lists. The thing is are we any different? If Jesus had just healed the man they would have been wowed, but he said “Your sins are forgiven.” There must have been a deathly silence after this because instead of ticking a box in their minds, the tick was replaced by a cross. With one mind they were all thinking one word “blasphemy!” Only God can forgive sins, they thought, but Jesus was God and he was challenging them. So he then proved he had the power to forgive sins by healing the man.
Now, we may not physically impede those are trying to get to Jesus in their need, but with negative attitudes, unjustified criticisms of other Christians and churches, etc. We put up psychological barriers which can deter people by putting Christianity in such a bad light. Considering that secular forces are reinforcing these negative perceptions of Christianity in the media we should be looking long and hard at how others perceive our thoughts and actions. In the West religion is increasingly seen in negative terms as a cause of problems rather than the answer. They forget how many have died at the hands of atheists. On the other hand we must not be afraid of listening to challenging messages and not just those that tickle our ears and egos. We must admit our imperfections, yet strive to become more Christ-like, however much we fall short. That is why we need to listen to the Holy Spirit and not overrule Him. Otherwise we revert to Pharisaism. It is by God’s grace that we are saved and not by our own merits. Nor must we assume that others are beyond redemption. It is our role to lead others to Christ and not stand in the way.
David Rose, 2018.
This is a picture of a female red-breasted merganser and it was the first time had seen one. At first I was unsure of what I was seeing. It is slightly smaller than a goosander of which I am more familiar. In fact there was also a male goosander within sight of this bird which confused me because on the one hand you could tell by its size that it was smaller, yet I was worried that there might some variation in the plumage of a female goosander that I was unaware of. So when I got home I checked my bird identification books and found that the closest to what I had photographed was a female red-breasted merganser (only the male has the eponymous red breast). I still had my doubts though. While the feathers that stick out of the back of its head are characteristic of the merganser, maybe I feared this was just a scruffy looking female goosander so to make sure I decided to consult a work colleague who is more expert than myself in these matters. When I showed this picture to him he immediately confirmed that this was a merganser though when I had first broached the subject he was somewhat sceptical. So as a result it was several days before I felt it safe to post this picture on Facebook. However, another person posted a picture that he claimed were red-breasted mergansers which were in fact goosanders.
People are always decrying Christmas for its commercialism, whether it is Santa Specials on steam railways like this one, or big businesses with billions over turnover. Equally, there are those who dismiss Christmas as purely pagan. The danger with this type of argument is that if it is taken to extremes it questions the sovereignty of God. In Genesis Chapter 1 every stage of creation as being good or very good, yet if you accept everything that is coming from those who attack traditional Christian festivals for their alleged pagan origins seem to give the impression that Adam and Eve were confined to the Garden of Eden because everything outside was pagan and demonic. True, a lot of pagan imagery reflects the seasonal variations but God created the seasons. So one can argue that the pagans have borrowed their imagery from God’s creation in the first place, in that case the Church is only reclaiming what was rightfully theirs anyway. When people hear the teaching that everything is pagan they become very fearful of offending God in some trivial that they lose their freedom in Christ.
I took this picture several years ago during a very cold and snowy winter. But it would be difficult to repeat it now. Not just because there is a lot less snow. But also because the land this side of the fence has changed hands and been bought by the neighbouring householder and contractors have been fencing it off with head-height timber and felling some of the trees either side thus all but ruining the view for the general public. It seems that the line from the old Joni Mitchell song that “you do not know what you’ve got until its gone” is suddenly very appropriate. True, one could still take a picture from the other side of the gate, but what one would not have are the trees that frame the shot. It is a shock when something you think as timeless suddenly comes to an end. Even so how many times have we been aware of a time limitation only to realise too late that the time has passed. Like vouchers which are often given out like confetti. Occasionally you are reminded of some voucher that you have been given only to find that it had expired or that the conditions did not apply in your case. But there is one offer that is time limited which we need to take up before it is too late. And that is the offer of salvation which Christ paid for on the cross. We have to repent and accept what Christ has done for us, and we only have this life in which to do so. Get right with God now and do not leave too late.
The account of the attempt to push Jesus off a cliff near his home town of Nazareth is recorded in Luke Chapter 4 verses 28-30, following on from His reading of Isaiah 61 in the synagogue there. “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up and drove Him out of the town, and took Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built , in order to throw Him down the cliff. But He walked right through the crowd and went on His way.” There have been many suggestions over the years as to what actually happened. One explanation that I have heard of in recent years is that of an “event horizon,” whereby spiritual forces somehow intervene in the physical and temporal universe. Though I find this as an admission that there is no natural explanation without actually saying how the heavenly realm actually intervened. A few weeks ago I heard Terry Crist of Hillsong Church Phoenix (on the Hillsong Channel) state his opinion that he thought that Jesus became invisible so He could just disappear through the crowd. Personally, I don’t buy it, no disrespect to him but I think there is another possible clue as to how it occurred earlier in the same chapter. While Jesus is being tempted by Satan, the Devil quotes part of Psalm 91. “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Of course, we are all aware of how the Devil used, or rather misused, this quote but surely it refers to an instance where angels would intervene to prevent harm happening to the Messiah rather than voluntarily jumping off a high building. So maybe it was an invisible force of angels that blocked the way to the cliff-edge, forcing those man-handling Jesus to let go, and then make a path through the crowd for Jesus to escape. If you have a better explanation I would to hear it.
At this time of year in Britain we remember the dead of the Two World Wars and subsequent conflicts. The Christian Church as a whole has historically a problem with when the prospect of war arises. There is a strong element of pacifism within the Church. When King David proposed to build the first temple in 2 Samuel chapter 7 the Lord spoke to Nathan the prophet to say that it was not for David to build the temple but his son. The reason given later by Solomon was that David was a man of war. Despite David writing most of the Psalms pacifists will leap on this as support for their position. Yet come to chapter 11 when David encounters Bathsheba preachers line up to decry David for staying in Jerusalem and succumbing to temptation. It seems to me that David is in a no-win situation. Either he is a warmonger who can’t build the temple or he doesn’t fight and is a moral failure. Later in 2 Samuel chapter 21 David was nearly killed when fighting the Philistines and had to be persuaded not to go into battle in future as he was getting too old. So maybe David’s fault in staying in Jerusalem was in being premature in delegating the fighting to Joab. After all the siege of Rabbah did not take much in manoeuvring of forces, rather just a case of not letting any of the Ammonites escaping before they were starved into submission. In fact David had stayed in Jerusalem when the war broke out against the Ammonites the previous year, only coming on the scene after reinforcements were required. Yet he did not fall into temptation then. There is nothing wrong in delegation, yet the way I have heard some preachers teach on this episode you might begin to think that there was.
This male chaffinch has something wrong with its right foot. I am not sure whether it is because of a birth defect, accident or disease. It is unable to perch at the bird-feeders in my garden so it has to depend on that which the other birds chuck out to get at the ones they prefer. There are some types of birdseed that are marketed as being “no mess.” That is, that there are none of the larger seeds like wheat which smaller birds that are able to use the feeders find too big and discard them. But if I bought such seed this chaffinch would find it more difficult to feed. On a previous post a couple of years ago I likened to the feeder as a source of spiritual food for Christians, i.e., the Word of God, The Bible. Also that those that just listened to Christian messages, whether in the local church or the media were effectively getting second-hand spiritual food. But some Christians find it difficult to read the Scriptures systematically for whatever reason. But how many churches would like a no mess form of Christianity? Where new believers behave perfectly, attending all the right meetings, develop good prayer habits, follow a good Bible-reading plan, etc. And, of course, never have an episode of back-sliding. The problem today is that many converts are coming from chaotic lifestyles and they bring their poor choices with them. There are also a lot more distractions with the rise of social media, gaming, and other online activities which previous generations did not have to deal with. So it would appear that the Church in general will have to develop strategies which allow for the expected inconsistencies of new believers without lowering the Biblical standards of our forefathers in the faith when it comes to the long-term aim of sanctification. To me it looks like Christianity if it is to recover its lost ground will have to accept that life is going to get messier.
cairngormmusings 