Roger Aubrey

Majesty

Today's post is dedicated to my dear friend Steve Brady from Grand Rapids MI, who went to be with the Majesty of Heaven yesterday. He was a lover of Jesus and a faithful friend.

When icons die

Yesterday saw the deaths of two icons: one expected, the other a total shock to many. Farrah Fawcett, original Charlie's Angel who later became an accomplished actress, died after a long battle with cancer, aged 62. Michael Jackson, self styled king of pop, died suddenly at the age of 50. I happened to be watching Sky news last night as the story of Jackson's collapse and death unfolded. Then I turned to Twitter; it was amazing to see literally thousands of messages each few minutes popping up on the screen. Fawcett's death had been reported earlier in the day with measured and prepared tributes. Jackson's passing seemed to be a media event: helicopters over his house; footage of the ambulance leaving the home; his sister and other members of the family caught on camera in their moment of grief. Even in death he had no privacy.

While one is naturally saddened by these deaths, especially since both Fawcett and Jackson were relatively young, such events make us think of our values and hopes. I can remember that in the 70s every girl wanted Fawcett's hair and teeth and be able to beat up villains; we all thought that we could dance like Jackson! I can remember him as a young boy with the Jackson 5 singing 'I want you back': just great pop music. But values and hopes must have more substance than that, because icons die. Their memories live on, but they are gone. It's true they leave us values, but the fact that they are no longer here leaves a terrible chasm in the heart of their followers.

That's why for Christians, all ultimate values and hopes can be placed only in Jesus Christ. He is not an historical, popular, dead icon, but a living person. Many people confine him to the pages of the New Testament as a man who lived and died two thousand years ago. But Jesus is the Eternal God who became a man, and still is one today. Christians should never look back with nostalgia to history and a past life, as fans of Fawcett and Jackson will have to. We don't live with the memory of Jesus; we live with him. He is alive today.

Forty day training session

The forty days between the resurrection and ascension of Jesus were important in his training of the disciples for their future. Acts 1:1-2 says that Jesus instructed them through the Holy Spirit; this was the difference between how Jesus had trained them over the previous three years. After he had risen from the dead, and having his resurrection body, he breathed on them and they received the Spirit (John 20:22). That was the moment they were 'born again'. At Pentecost they would receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. But for Jesus to instruct them through the Spirit logically means that they now had received the Spirit.

Now the disciples had to learn to relate to Jesus in a new way: not through their natural senses, because he was going to leave them, but would come to them in the Person of the Spirit at Pentecost. Therefore, Jesus spent as much time as possible preparing them for their new way of relating to him. This is important for us: it demonstrates that none of us can know Jesus through our natural senses. We too can only know him through the Holy Spirit. That's why Jesus makes no sense to the natural person - the person without the Spirit.

Image of the day

I took this at Derwentwater when I was in the Lake District a couple of weeks ago. It's on the memorial to John Ruskin that overlooks Friars Crag.

 

Right from the start

Get up and go into the city, and you will be told what to do. (Acts 9:6)

Jesus started with Paul the way he would carry on the rest of Paul's life: he told him what to do. There was no appeal to Paul to submit and follow, only a command. The issue of the Lordship of Jesus was settled in Paul the moment he heard the voice and fell to the ground under the power of God on the road to Damascus.

That's why God achieved so much in Paul: there were no wasted years waiting for Paul's will to become one with God's. In a moment, in one encounter with the living Jesus, an independent, arrogant, cruel, self-willed, religious bigot became clay in the Potter's hands.

Tweet

 Ever the adventurous one, I have taken the plunge and joined Twitter. I feel a bit like when I started blogging almost five years ago: I resisted it for ages until the blogfather - Erling Thu - convinced me I should.

I want to see what all the fuss is about; so in the grand old 'don't knock it till you've tried it' tradition, I'm going to give it a go. If you're on Twitter and want to follow me (see how quick I catch on with all the tech speak?), feel free. Should be an interesting lesson, if nothing else.

If you have no idea what I have been talking about in this post - don't be condemned. You may be the only sane ones left.

Prophetic essence

David was a prophet...Seeing what was ahead he spoke... (Acts 2:30-31)

This is the essence of the prophetic. David was a prophet; he saw what was ahead. He spoke what he saw. The prophet sees what is ahead, what is to come. What he (or she) sees in the future he speaks of in the present. In doing so he creates faith in his hearers for the future, even if that future is only a minute away. His word creates faith.

A prophetic word that doesn't create faith is not prophecy. Even a prophecy of judgement will have faith in it; everything God speaks demands faith of us. The prophet speaks only what he sees/hears from God. God has already spoken his word to the prophet and the prophet must have faith that what he has seen/heard is from God. The prophet brings the future into the present, because faith is always active in the present. Therefore, every prophet must see what is ahead.

Flight 447

I'm sure you will have heard of the recent tragedy of Air France Flight 447 that went down in the Atlantic a couple of weeks ago. 288 people lost their lives. One of the victims was an eleven year old boy, Alexander Bjoroy.

Alexander's grandfather, Bill Dougill, is a member of All Nations Church. Bill loves the Lord very much; he recently turned eighty and gave testimony of the goodness and faithfulness of God to him over his life. Naturally, Bill was devastated by the loss of his only grandson; nevertheless, the Sunday after the crash, Bill was in our Sunday meeting. He told me before the meeting that he needed to be at home with his family - the church. That Sunday I spoke on having a faith that perseveres; when I had finished I invited Bill to come forward, because he had told me he wanted to give a testimony about what had happened.

I want to encourage you to listen to what Bill said. It's at the end of my message. If you subscribe to our podcasts get it from iTunes. Or visit the ANC site to listen online or download it.

Radio 1 DJ talks up Church

Back after a refreshing break in the Lake District, walking the Fells and around Derwentwater and Ullswater. This is an interesting clip (thanks to Jonathan Cooper for telling me about it). It's from Chris Moyles, who has the breakfast show on BBC's Radio 1. He tells how fascinated he was by seeing some baptisms from a church here in the UK on TV. Enjoy.

Most Britons would like to meet Jesus

A poll for the DVD launch of the Primeval Series 3 has revealed that most Britons would like to meet Jesus. The study has found that one third of the 3,000 people polled put him at the top of their choice as the dead person they would most like to meet. Princess Diana came second. Included in the top ten were Elvis Presley, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe and Martin Luther King.

The good news about this poll is that people want to meet Jesus. And he should never be included in a list of dead people - he is very much alive! And what's more: anybody can meet him!

Here's the full article.

I will be away the rest of the week: Dianne and I are taking a few days off.

See you next week.