The path of the bride is converging with the groom as we enter the climax of the ages

I am told that Voltaire once referred to the Apostle Paul as an “ugly little Jew”. How he even drew his conclusions so many centuries after the great man lived and died, is a bit of a mystery. That said, appearances never defined great men. Rather Paul referred to the sweet fragrance of Christ in His life, the powerful essence that endows the faithful with a regal air. Paul added, that the same fragrance, whilst alluring to many, remained a deep offence to others.

Now Paul also alluded to one of the key factors for that sweet fragrance. In Ephesians 4 he makes the point that, despite many differences in administration there is still one Lord, one Faith, On Baptism, One God and Father over us all.

Read more ...

Jesus is the only name given amongst men whereby we might be saved

Just two days ago I posted a blog on Newton's involvement in Arianism and how that signalled one of the great threats to our faith. I made the point that it is not the glaringly obvious errors that we must worry about, especially in this age of compromise, it is more the insiduous, subtle shifts in doctrine that are sadly quite widespread in modern Christendom. The more we try to contemporise the church, the more we expose ourselves to the risk of drifting off course and becoming assimilated into the world culture.

Well, today I found that on this day in 1553, John Servetus was arrested as a heretic and subsequently burnt at the stake. As a scientist and philosopher his public stature was significant, but we must add to that the fact that he actively participated in the reformation. He was no obvious heretic and even his Arianist views were ever so subtly removed from the central dogmas of the Christian faith. He accepted that the Logos, as described in Genesis 1 and John 1, was the eternal word of God and the force of creation. However, that Word only became Jesus when the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us. Accordingly, He regarded Jesus as a created being, less than God. In no other respect did He discredit Jesus. 

Read more ...

Its time to let go and move on, time to walk on the waters and live again

No matter what part we play in initiating our own crises, more often than not there is a degree of injustice in it all. If you think back to David's struggle with Saul, you might argue that David got ahead of himself and thus provoked the king to jealousy, but the ongoing persecution of David was still unwarranted and unjust. Yet David submitted to God and did little to defend his own cause until Saul fell on his own sword. The resulting closure enabled David to move on and live again.

Similarly Moses, who had done astonishing things, was challenged by Korah and his sons. Instead of defending himself, Moses turned to God, surrendered his rights and submitted the issue to divine counsel. When the disputing parties met again, God made His own position very clear by causing the earth to open up and swallow Korah and his family. God, not Moses, saw that justice was done.

Read more ...

In the living years: settling accounts whilst we can so we leave with peace

In the beautiful movie, "The blind side", Lee Ann Touhy bemoans the fact that Michael, her adopted, black giant of a son, so struggles to remember his school work. Her husband then interrupts to say what will stay with me forever: "Michael's greatest gft is forgetting". After years of being rejected, forced to forage for food, facing cold and lonely nights or walking in the rain, Michael learnt to forget, let go and move on.

Today my own father told me of the reasons he wants to die and go. I told him stuff I can't fully share here, except to say that there are many outstanding accounts in his life. I urged him to call in each of his children, to forgve them and secure their forgiveness - as an act of release.

Read more ...

Through the breech

Another time, another place,
tears of blood course His face.
the shepherd cries for His flock
and gazes up at yonder rock …
as the giant repeats his call,
“this time you must surely fall”.
Stony hide cuts His stride
ploughed back, stifled cry
on wounded shoulder borne
thorny cross and bloody crown.
Alone he hangs on mortal cross
alone atop His destined rock.

Men on knees, cry to God.
Eyes well and flood each heart.
Look beyond, there the start,
where Christ did chasms part …
alone on rocky mound,
amongst hell’s rabid hound.
His life like surest stone
cast darkness from its throne.
A shout breeched death’s span
‘tis finished, so died the man …
yet on this rock shall He stand
with His royal, blood-washed band.

A taste of heaven ...

Is heaven a vacant cloud, where we will occupy time with harps and things and watch eternity go by?

In December we went for a drive that took us along a famous mountain pass. The pass hugs the coast, with precarious overhangs and steep cliffs. The sea below is one of the most treacherous on earth, having claimed many ships throughout history.

It is often very windy up there and engineering has had to be done to restrain rock falls, so it is not a safe place: neither is heaven.

We found a lookout point and took out our picnic baskets to enjoy the last of a perfect day. The sun was setting over the bay on a windless evening. Colors and hues reflected over the shimmering seas and two whales frolicked in the cold water. The air was still as though even heaven held its breath at the wonder before us.

I said to my family, “Right now, this is one of the ten most profound moments on the planet.” The sun slowly melted into the horizon, boiling the sea in a riot of colors until its orb slipped away: the day was done, but its glory lingered for a long while before the night came. We had seen something of the wonder of God.

A few nights later we returned, but the wind was up and so we could not relive the earlier moment. Instead we drove down to a beach which was sheltered from the wind. There we walked along sandy shore through icy water, whilst the shadows lengthened. Then we climbed some dunes that gave us a 360 degree view of the bay: town lights lay behind us, mountains flanked us and the sun-washed sea lay ahead. We played in the dunes and talked well beyond sunset and finally retreated in the darkness that followed.

That was one of the most memorable moments of my life. But more importantly, it was the greater picture of glory. For heaven is not a scene or vista, nor is it a place of imposing architecture and golden highways. It is that too, but the essence of heaven is relationship. Experiences will be rich in shared memories, stories of everyday heroism and a common destiny in the future of the kingdom. The fabric of the place will knit hearts into divine purpose, raising an army of priests that will be co-laborers and co-heirs with Jesus through the countless sunrises and sunsets, of eternities yet to come.

© Peter Eleazar at http://www.bethelstone.com

Breakthrough

Swirling mists, stinging cordite:
streaming eyes pursue the light.
Young hearts, open ground
burst of fire, cannons pound.
Surge through fiery breech,
rise from burning beach.
Mounting up on solid rock,
breathless shaking shock …
Pipes sound, flags unfurl;
the ground holds, it is well.
Look beyond, it’s just begun
Now this evil overcome.

Across the gulf, a shout,
stirs fear and troubled doubt.
Ragged battle lines are drawn,
watch as giant meets fragile pawn
Strong men cower on victory mound,
huddled stand, uncertain ground.
“His fight’s not won, until I fall”,
the dread giant makes his call.
Another cry from yonder rock,
cuts across the giant’s mock.
Stone cuts through air and brow
So it ends, the foe is cowed.

(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

Don't despise small beginnings

I have rarely been lost. My love for hiking goes back to my youth - a love that I introduced to my family as I lead them across steep crags, high above foaming beaches, deep river gorges and wild places. Yet despite a great sense of direction I recently got lost within a mile of my holiday home.

I loved to go walking at night to pray and meditate, but one night I took a wrong turn. I wasn't worried, initially anyway, because I trusted my sense of direction, but all the roads were cresent-shaped, so whenever I trusted my instincts and headed off in one direction I ended up where I least expected to. After a few hours of plodding around I realised I was lost, despite the presence of normally reliable reference points.

So I prayed for direction. Just then I felt a tug in my heart and looking down I saw the name plate of the house in front of me. It read, "Small beginnings".

After two years of deep turmoil in my life, I understood the relevance of what God was saying. I was lost within a mile from home, just as lost as I had become within the proximity of friends, church, colleagues and other familiar surroundings. But the way back was not along the highway. I needed to stoop low and start at a small beginning, following the first principles of the rod and staff of God, out of the miry clay and back onto solid ground.

A security guard rode by and I waved him down to ask where the village was. "Round the next bend you will find the traffic lights ..." That was a good enough starting point. From there I followed the road that led back home. At night it looked so unfamiliar, but I knew it was the right road, so I stuck with it.

When we get lost in life, the right thing to do is not to carry on struggling, turning along new roads that get us more lost. We need to stop and find a small beginning, not a popular beginning, but a point of departure close to His feet. As we humble ourselves to His way, the mist will clear. Then we will follow the road less travelled, over unfamiliar ground, back to a place of restoration and wholeness.

Never despise a small beginning.

(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

The King arises ....

In a celebrated wildlife DVD, a cobra bit a lioness and her cubs. The cubs died and she was left to work poison through her system and grief through her heart. She received no help because hers was a personal struggle that she had to win to reclaim her place in the pride.

Hyenas worried her for ten days as she fought to regain her health and recover. As the season of struggle continued, she slowly regained strength to make a full recovery. She triumphed over the serpent and the hyenas.

Hyenas are good archetypes of the demonic, opressive, spiritual forces that worry, persecute, frustrate and hound believers.

Soon after this, the lioness was watching one of the big males of her pride move through a clearing, marking pride boundaries. The spiritual principles are so clear, for the essence of our spiritual struggle is to enter our heritage, establish our boundaries and come to a place of certainty and rest, something that Satan will opppose furiously

The large matriarch of the hyenas that had once troubled her, followed the Lion and scratched at his markings. This was an open challenge of his territorial claims and the claims of the pride.

The weak lioness saw this. In light of her recent struggle, something exploded in her. She started chasing the hyena. Just then, the dominant male in her pride entered the clearing, some distance behind her own position in the charge.

He quickly summed up the situation and knew she was not yet ready to hold such a charge. But more because of the offence and the fact that she had already borne enough sorrow, He charged. Within moments he overhauled her - it was no longer her fight, but a contest between the King and his "eternal enemy". Bounding through the air in mighty leaps and with an awesome display of power, the huge male bore down on a deeply frightened and regretful hyena.

A hyena is no sloth and is also a very effective hunter, but she was no match for a big lion at full flight. He closed the distance and with one, well-timed swipe of his mighty paw, broke the hyena's back. The King had spoken .... that is why few hyenas would dare get in the way of a male lion.

There is and has been a hounding of believers, a season of many struggles of diverse kinds that has been on the church. It reflects what ancient Israel contuously faced at the hands of the neighbouring Philistines: a persistent badgering that mindlessly undermines the resolve of God's people and leaves them in despair.

But the time will come in every cycle of crisis, when the King will arise, overtake us and haul in our immortal enemies to drive them away. The King will arise, He will have the final word ... for the shout of a King is amongst us and to they that overcome will be given the prize reserved for the faithful.

Jesus is not some tame Lion, to be domesticated within our religious, cultured, safe contexts. Like Aslan of Narnia, He is the mighty lion who appears in the fullness of time to break the cycle and end our struggles.

Arise, Shine, for your light has come and the glory of the lord is risen on you: Isaiah 60:1.

(c) Peter Eleazar at http://www.bethelstone.com/

On 20 October 2007, the South African rugby Springboks lifted the William Webb Ellis world cup from England. Blood that once flowed red flowed green and South Africans enjoyed a moment of sublime bliss. Everyone joined in the celebrations - it was awesome. I have never known a moment of such personal relief and national wonderment.

Its strange how so many people can become so engrossed in what used to be a pig's bladder, but is now an oval ball (bigger than the gridiron ball), where gentlemen watch thugs trade blows on a large green field (as opposed to soccer, where thugs watch gentlemen in what is called the "beautiful game").

But rugby is enthralling. It is a legalised war between nations and teams, legitimate thuggery between some of the strongest, fittest and slickest athletes in the world.

Evidently a rugby team at Fort Brag in the US, challenged the base gridiron team to a game of rugby - the latter was so exhausted and beaten up afterwards that the rugby players commanded enduring respect, for unlike gridiron, rugby doesn't stop for adbreaks, dancing girls or to bring on a fresh team. It is a fluid, running, energetic and exceedingly demanding game that demands great ball skills, imagination, intense skills and a total team effort - it reflects the diversity of a modern army, with infanty (fronts), artillery (half-backs) and snipers (backs).

What stood out for me in the climax to World Cup 2007, was the value of two outstanding principles: territory and possession. The team that commands these two variables, will almost always win.

It reflects on a biblical principle, one that Joshua and David and others appreciated so well: the promises of God must be occupied, possessed and dominated. We must drive out the enemy and never lower our guard and we must never drop the ball to surrender possession of our priceless heritage to the world or to our spiritual foe. Getting to heaven is a war that will be won by those who are (forgive me) "bloody minded" enough to run their race with defiant patience, holding on to the end, never giving up - until they hear the great words, "well done" and receive the prize for overcoming.

(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com