Moggerhanger - Trusting the Lord

Jim had invited me to join the Moggerhanger Park staff prayer meeting and today for the first time I was able to do so. It was lovely. We met around a table and there were two other visitors this morning, a couple who plan to hold their wedding reception at the Park. The three of us almost outnumbered the staff!

Jim began by reading from Proverbs 3:5, then sharing about trusting the Lord. The entire chapter puts the verse in context. There is a section on wisdom, and trusting the Almighty is an important aspect of wisdom!)

We prayed for a number of sick friends, and listened as the Spirit encouraged us. He said that this house is a holy place because it is filled by his holy people. And he said that we would receive what we hoped to receive from him but that he would also surprise us with what we do not expect.

Afterwards Jim and I were able to spend a few minutes together with tea and coffee before I had to head back for a day working at home.

UPDATE - Better Place rolls out first trial

Here's the latest on Shai Agassi's Better Place company. The trial rollout of a few hundred cars has begun in Israel.



See main article >

Little Paxton - Ten pin bowling

Jim and Sean have been reading through Acts, Jim mentioned Acts 16 which had made quite an impression on him because it shows that Paul was very human and came to the end of his tether with the slave girl (verse 18).

But when they were whipped and thrown into prison, they didn't lose heart but were praying and singing in their cell. Not only that, when the order came for their release they even protested to the magistrates about their mistreatment. Paul could also be very bold!

Sean reminded us that on another occasion Paul actually ran away (Acts 14:5-7). here Paul shows a very human side, escaping when afraid.

After this, Sean and I spent some time explaining what we had seen and heard on Friday in Nottingham.

We also drove to town and booked the bowling alley for 6th April. This will be a great opportunity to encourage the kids from last years camp, get to know the parents better, and have some fun together. Perhaps we can also use it as an opportunity to announce the date for this years camp (the weekend of the 25th of July).

And finally Jim encouraged me to be bold in sharing the good news about Jesus. He suggests that I make a good start but don't really follow it through. I think he's right - perhaps there's room for improvement!

Hebrew origins - recent evidence

A pottery shard found in 2008 may be the earliest known text in an early form of Hebrew and dates to the 10th century BC. This is around the time of King David and would push the archaeological record of the language back by about 400 years from the previous oldest recorded sample.

The new evidence may also support the idea that parts of the Bible were written far earlier than previously thought. The piece of pottery recently unearthed at Khirbet Qeiyafa carries an ink inscription. As recently interpreted by Gershon Galil it closely resembles several Bible passages from Exodus, Psalms, and Isaiah. Earlier translations are less clear.

Gershon Galil's version reads

You shall not do [it], but worship the [Lord]. Judge the sla[ve] and the wid[ow] / Judge the orph[an] [and] the stranger. [Pl]ead for the infant / plead for the po[or and] the widow. Rehabilitate [the poor] at the hands of the king. Protect the po[or and] the slave / [supp]ort the stranger.

Colworth (CU) - The ladder

I had prepared a topic for today's meeting. We discussed Bernard of Clairvaux's 'Ladder of Love'. This extract from an earlier meeting in St Neots gives the background.

Bernard of Clairvaux's treatise 'On Loving God' describes a 'ladder' of love. The steps are first 'loving self for self's sake', then 'loving God for self's sake', thirdly 'loving God for God's sake', and finally 'loving self for God's sake'. The Bishop of Huntingdon, David Thomson, wrote about this recently in his blog. The original passage from Bernard of Clairvaux's work is in Chapter XV. 

We began by considering the idea of 'Loving self for self's sake' and agreed that this is always the starting point. Everyone has a built-in urge for self-preservation, we are often selfish (though not always) but even at our best we are likely to avoid danger whenever possible.

'Loving God for self's sake' takes this to a new level. Once we realise that Jesus is able to save us we can begin to love him for our own safety and preservation. Dud mentioned how the world can accuse believers of using their faith as a sort of crutch to lean on. And the world is right! We talked about how we can know that there is a creator. Something as amazing and beautiful as a bird may engender real wonder in our hearts. Whether we think the mechanism was evolution or a six day period of creation is neither here nor there, the important fact is that we are observing something amazing that cannot be merely accidental. Once we know he is real and is holy, self preservation may be enough to make us cling to him.

Thinking about 'Loving God for God's sake' brought us onto comfortable ground. This is no longer about having our needs met, it's now a matter of understanding what our Father is really like. We read 1 Corinthians 13 (especially verses 4 to 7) and Galatians 5:22-26. These passages tell us so much about the Lord's nature. They describe the One we love for his own sake.

Then we turned to the most difficult part, 'Loving self for God's sake'. If Bernard had lived in our day he might have called his study a 'four quadrant model'. Effectively he discovered this part by noticing the empty 'quadrant'.

Felix made the point that it's a matter of loving ourselves as God loves us. We can become the person he wants us to be, and then we are in a place where we can begin to give love to others. In other words, if Jesus loves me (and he does) who am I to say I cannot and do not love myself? Unless I can accept that I am loved how can I expect others to accept that they are loved?

As we were coming to the end of the meeting, Dud shared a profound and beautiful picture with us. He saw a person on the ladder, trying to climb to the higher levels. But they were wearing a harness with a loosely held rope attached to it. Right away, he could see that the harness will stop us from falling if we slip. And if we do manage to progress a little higher, the rope will prevent us from going back down again.

We prayed for one another, for continued progress on the ladder and a right mind to see ourselves as the Lord sees us.

NEWS - Victor Choudrie speaks out

Victor Choudhrie is a man who has given up a prestigious career as a surgeon in order to devote himself to following Yahshua. This post on the Simple Church Journal is challenging, provocative, brief, gripping, and important. Every believer should read it!

Victor Choudhrie is behind a huge growth in house churches in several countries, especially India. In this article he outlines some of the history of the church and suggests that the fifty-year-long revival in China is now struggling because of the return of foreign influence. Today he sees a rapid return of the house churches in China, India, and other areas, including North America.

If you have an appetite for more, the full document is online at the House2House website.