The different manner wherein God is pleased to work

Thu 18 Nov 1742: I could not but observe the different manner wherein God is pleased to work in different places. The grace of God flows here [Newcastle] with a wider stream than it did at first either in Bristol or Kingswood. But it does not sink so deep as it did there. Few are thoroughly convinced of sin, and scarce any can witness that the Lamb of God has taken away their sins.

They lived like believers

Wed 17 Nov 1762: I rode on to Sevenoaks. But it was with much difficulty; for it was a sharp frost, and our horses could very hardly keep their feet. Here, likewise, I found several who believed that God had cleansed them from all sin; and all of them (except perhaps one) lived so that one might believe them.

The Ancient Practices

This is an excellent series of books edited by Phyllis Tickle and written by some of today's best known contemporary writers, such as Brian McLaren and Scot McKnight. I strongly recommend this series for all Christians and I hope to blog on all of them, beginning with

The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister Read my review here

Other titles I have read are:
Finding Our Way Again by Brian D. McLaren This is the introduction to the series and obviously the best place to start. The rest are in the order I have read them:

In Constant Prayer by Robert Benson


Sabbath by Dan Allender

The above are the ones I have already read, while the one below is on my "next to read" shelf,

Fasting by Scot McKnight

You won't regret reading any of these and I strongly recommend they go onto your Christmas list, Birthday list or Just Spoil Me list.

How the Americans have betrayed King George

Sat 13 to Sat 20 Nov 1779: I had the pleasure of an hour’s conversation with Mr. Galloway, one of the members of the first Congress in America. He unfolded a strange tale indeed! How has poor King George been betrayed on every side! But this is our comfort: there is One higher than they. And He will command all things to work together for good.
The following week I examined the rest of our society, but did not find such an increase as I expected. Nay, there was a considerable decrease, plainly owing to a senseless jealousy that had crept in between our preachers, which had grieved the Holy Spirit of God and greatly hindered his work.

JW's Notes on RCL Gospel reading for Sunday 21th November

Sun 21 Nov Luke 23:33-43

Luk 23:34 Then said Jesus - Our Lord passed most of the time on the cross in silence: yet seven sentences which he spoke thereon are recorded by the four evangelists, though no one evangelist has recorded them all. Hence it appears that the four Gospels are, as it were, four parts, which, joined together, make one symphony. Sometimes one of these only, sometimes two or three, sometimes all sound together. Father - So he speaks both in the beginning and at the end of his sufferings on the cross: Forgive them - How striking is this passage! While they are actually nailing him to the cross, he seems to feel the injury they did to their own souls more than the wounds they gave him; and as it were to forget his own anguish out of a concern for their own salvation. And how eminently was his prayer heard! It procured forgiveness for all that were penitent, and a suspension of vengeance even for the impenitent.
Luk 23:35 If thou be the Christ. If thou be the king - The priests deride the name of Messiah: the soldiers the name of king.
Luk 23:39 And one of the malefactors reviled him - St. Matthew says, the robbers: St. Mark, they that were crucified with him, reviled him. Either therefore St. Matthew and Mark put the plural for the singular (as the best authors sometimes do) or both reviled him at the first, till one of them felt "the overwhelming power of saving grace."
Luk 23:40 The other rebuked him - What a surprising degree was here of repentance, faith, and other graces! And what abundance of good works, in his public confession of his sin, reproof of his fellow criminal, his honourable testimony to Christ, and profession of faith in him, while he was in so disgraceful circumstances as were stumbling even to his disciples! This shows the power of Divine grace. But it encourages none to put off their repentance to the last hour; since, as far as appears, this was the first time this criminal had an opportunity of knowing any thing of Christ, and his conversion was designed to put a peculiar glory on our Saviour in his lowest state, while his enemies derided him, and his own disciples either denied or forsook him.
Luk 23:42 Remember me when thou comest - From heaven, in thy kingdom - He acknowledges him a king, and such a king, as after he is dead, can profit the dead. The apostles themselves had not then so clear conceptions of the kingdom of Christ.
Luk 23:43 In paradise - The place where the souls of the righteous remain from death till the resurrection. As if he had said, I will not only remember thee then, but this very day.

Collect of the Day: Consecration of Samuel Seabury, First American Bishop, 1784

We give you thanks, O Lord our God, for your goodness in bestowing upon this Church the gift of the episcopate, which we celebrate in this remembrance of the consecration of Samuel Seabury; and we pray that, joined together in unity with our bishops, and nourished by your holy Sacraments, we may proclaim the Gospel of redemption with apostolic zeal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Reprove those who walk disorderly

Mon 15 Nov 1742: I began at five expounding the Acts of the Apostles. In the afternoon (and every afternoon this week) I spoke severally with the members of the society. On Tuesday evening I began the Epistle to the Romans. After sermon the society met. I reproved some among them who walked disorderly; and earnestly besought them all to beware lest, by reason of their sins, the way of truth should be evil spoken of.

Hymn for the Week: Before reading the Scriptures

Inspirer of the ancient seers, (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
Who wrote from thee the sacred page,
The same through all succeeding years;
To us in our degenerate age
The spirit of thy Word impart,
And breathe the life into our heart.

While now thine oracles we read (Acts 7:38, etc.)
With earnest prayer and strong desire,
O let thy Spirit from thee proceed
Our souls to waken and inspire,
Our weakness help, our darkness chase,
And guide us by the light of grace.

Whene'er in error's paths we rove,
The living God through sin forsake,
Our conscience by thy Word reprove,
Convince, and bring the wanderers back;
Deep wounded by thy Spirit's sword, (Eph. 6:17)
And then by Gilead's balm restored. (Jer. 8:22; 46:11)

The secret lessons of thy grace
Transmitted through the Word, repeat,
And train us up in all thy ways
To make us in thy will complete;
Fulfil thy love's redeeming plan,
And bring us to a perfect man. (Eph. 4:13)

Furnished out of thy treasury,
O may we always ready stand
To help the souls redeemed by thee
In what their various states demand;
To teach, convince, correct, reprove, (2 Tim. 4:2)
And build them up in holiest love.

Hail stops for JW to Preach

Sun 14 Nov 1742: I began preaching at five o’clock (a thing never heard of before in these parts), on, ‘I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’ And the victorious sweetness of the grace of God was present with his word. At ten we went to All Saints’, where was such a number of communicants as I have scarce seen but at Bristol or London. At four I preached in the square of the Keelman’s Hospital, on, ‘By grace ye are saved, through faith.’ It rained and hailed hard, both before and after; but there were only some scattering drops while I preached, which frightened away a few careless hearers. I met the society at six, and exhorted all who had ‘set their hand to the plough’ not to ‘look back’.

Right Now In This Place... God Is Making a New Earth

Right now in this place God is making a new Earth

[This sermon was based on the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel reading for Sunday, 14 November 2010.]

Text: Isaiah 65:17-25 and Luke 21:5-19


Our Old Testament reading from Isaiah and our gospel reading from Luke really compliment each other today and I'm going to move between the two, referring to one, then to the other, because they both speak of the same reality, namely:

Right now, God is making a new Earth, and you and I are not only living in it, but are even invited to be part of God’s creative effort…. part of the building process.

Here in South Africa we just had the Fifa 2010 World Cup, part of which was a massive building programme, huge construction projects, but you and I didn't really play a role in the building process, other than through our taxes.

God is making a new Earth and you and I, and all people in fact, are called to be involved, not just with our money, but by hands on construction work. And there is no job reservation, there is no special skill required, in fact you are equipped and empowered on the job, and best of all, it is a project, which although huge in nature, definitely has no trace and no possibility of corruption scandal. Your effort will make a difference and will not be wasted.

All people can do this work, in fact all people need to do this work and be involved in project re-creation. Every worker can be assured that the work they are doing is making a difference and best of all, each of us can do our part of the job to perfection.

I am making a new earth, says God through the prophet Isaiah….. not…. one day I will make a new Earth and until then you are stuck with the earth you are living in….. no….. I am making a new earth.

This building project is nothing other than the kingdom of God coming on earth. Isaiah describes such a place, such a kingdom, such a new earth:
it is a kingdom where the people of full of joy;
a kingdom where there will be no weeping, no distress, or calling for help.
It is a kingdom where there will be no more babies dying in infancy…. our own country has a shockingly high infant mortality rate, doesn't it?
It is a kingdom in which people will live out their lifespan.
The Psalmist considered three score years and ten as the blessed life, 70 years, but in this new Earth, 100 years old will be common and even considered young!
People will build homes and get to live in them, they will not be used by someone else, says God through the prophet Isaiah.
We live in a country where the majority of people who build homes, laying one brick upon another, then plastering, then painting etc….. the people who do this in South Africa generally never get to live in a house themselves. Homelessness in our nation is a disgrace.
Against this background, doesn't the kingdom of God sound good? Many of you have never lived in your own home, and some in our congregation live on the streets of Parow.
Doesn't this kingdom, this new earth that God is making right now sound good?

Isaiah goes on and says that the work you do in this new earth that God is building, that He invites us to be a part of, will be successful.

And best of all, this new place will be peaceful.

On Thursday we remembered fallen soldiers on Remembrance Day, millions who have died on battlefields. God says this new earth which I am building and which I invite you to help me build, is a place which is as peaceful as a world where wolves and lambs eat together, not each other, where lions eat with cattle, and snakes will no longer be dangerous!
That's a peace that passes all understanding, isn't it?

And yet, God says, it's what I am doing. That is what I am making, right now. Do you want to help me?

Jesus began his ministry, as you might remember, with words like this: ' The kingdom of God is at hand ' meaning, this kingdom, this new earth which Isaiah spoke about, is close.

Jesus would teach us to pray: ' your kingdom come '; in other words, this new earth, let it come, let it be,….NOW.

And then He showed in his life how, when you live like him, this kingdom comes, this new earth... happens. We see in the Gospels that where Jesus was, and especially when he was accepted and really made welcome into people's lives, there was joy, even in the midst of the brutal Roman occupation.

He showed that this new earth was coming and being established, because when people died before the proper age for their dying, well, he stood at the deathbed or the grave, of children and adults, and said: 'Wake up! In this new earth you which I have begun making, you need not die before its actually time to die. '

Jesus showed and taught in many different ways that with his arrival on earth, the new earth, the kingdom of God, was and is, in our midst.

And he showed how by a small step of faith one can enter into this new earth, and be born again and empowered and equipped for life and work in this new earth.

Are you born again, and have you received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and his power, and are you living and working in and for the kingdom of God, so that where you are, the kingdom of God is coming, and where you are, God's will is being done?

The old Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town had to be destroyed before the new Cape Town 2010 Stadium could be built. Sometimes things have to be destroyed, broken down, before new and better things can come about.

The Temple in Jerusalem was one such place. It was a hindrance to the fulfilment of Judaism, which is what Christianity is. It was a hindrance to God's promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob being fulfilled at the time of Jesus and after his ministry.

In verse five of Luke chapter 21, we see pride in the disciples as they look at the Temple, marvelling at its beauty, and the beauty of the gifts, the sacrifices, the fine bulls, and sheep and lambs being offered to God. The first fruits and the tithes of all harvests going up to the Temple.

King Solomon had built the first Temple in about 900 BC and it was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. 70 years later, Zerrubabbel rebuilt the Temple, and about 500 years later, when Jesus was born, Herod the Great built the new Temple, huge and grand, it took him 46 years and it was the Temple that was in Jerusalem during the life of Jesus. It was a source of great pride in Judaism.

And in this reading Jesus is predicting/prophesying/foretelling the destruction of this temple. Listen to verse six: “all this you see, the time will come when not a single stone here will be left in its place, every one will be thrown down.”

And that prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70, just 37 years after Jesus spoke it. The Romans absolutely destroyed the Temple and all the things Jesus prophesied, wars, revolutions, earthquakes, famines, strange and terrifying things in the sky….. all these came about in A.D. 69 and 70. You can Google ' fall of Jerusalem and Jesus prophecies ' and you will see Roman historians and Jewish historians recording all these things.

Of course for the disciples hearing these words, it sounded like the end of the world. They could not imagine a world without a Temple. Where would they bring their fine cattle, and lambs, and calves,… where would they bring their beautiful first fruits, their produce and harvests? Most of all, where would they bring their tithes?

And there we see why the Temple had to be destroyed,…. because what people had to learn is that God doesn't want your best bull, your finest lamb, one 10th of all your income………………..,

He wants….. YOU! (He knows that when he really gets you, he gets everything else.)

The Temple didn't encourage the giving of self to God, so it had to go.

It also had to go because while in the old kingdom, the old earth, God dwelt in the Temple, in the new kingdom, the new earth, God's dwelling place is with his people,….. remember,….. He is Emmanuelle,…. God with us.

So the old Temple had to go and it wasn't the end of the world, it was the beginning of a new world, the one which Isaiah had looked forward to, and which Jesus told us to pray for, and which comes when God's will is done on earth, in .... [insert your own hometown here], by you, by me, even as it is done in heaven.

When you and I walk with the Lord and do his will, there is joy….. and…. the new earth is built.
When you and I live as Jesus showed us to live,…… the new earth is built and God's kingdom comes.
Isaiah said there would be no weeping and calling for help…. well, in this new earth, there is certainly no calling for help, because we offer help before people have to call for it and if there are tears, we wipe them away as we comfort them and……as we live this new way, the Way Jesus lived and calls us to live….. the new earth is built.
As we offer our clean water to others to drink, and then perhaps even work for clean water where they live….. babies no longer die in infancy and people live out their lifespan, because waterborne diseases disappear and….. the new earth is built.
And as we follow Jesus’ example, and love instead of hate, and turn our enemies into our friends, it is like a world where wolves and lambs eat together…. it is peaceful and it remains peaceful because we let the Lamb of God give us his peace….. we no longer rely on the peace that the world offers and…….. the new earth is built.
And so we could go on and on and on.

And it is my hope that you will as you leave here, go on and on and on, reaching out to others, wiping away tears, even stopping babies from dying unnecessarily, loving your enemies, and so on and so on and so on. Because when you do these things, and of course many others, the new earth is built, brick by brick, by you and me as we work together with God.

I am making a new earth, says God.

These are ways (among many) that we can help him build it, so that his kingdom comes and his will is done, here in ....[insert your hometown], by us, even as it is done in Heaven.

Let's get busy.

A Wild Society

Sat 13 Nov 1742: I reached Newcastle. My brother had been here for some weeks before and was but just returned to London. At eight I met the wild, staring, loving society. But not them alone, as I had designed. For we could not persuade the strangers to leave us. So that we only spent about an hour in prayer.

Dogmatical

Fri 12 Nov 1756: I read over Leusden’s dissertation in defence of the Hebrew points, and was fully convinced there is at least as much to be said on this as on the other side of the question. But how is it that men are so positive on both sides, while demonstration is to be had on neither? Certainly to be peremptory and dogmatical can never be so inexcusable as in a point so doubtful as this!

Friday, the day humans killed THE HUMAN

It is no coincidence (and worth reflecting on) that Jesus, God the Son, God the human, is put to death on Friday, the very day that God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) had created humans. In my first post in this series (read it here) I discussed the blessing I have found in what I call "Biblical timing". As you read the Scriptures below (Good News Translation) you will see that Friday is 'animal' and 'human' day.

I thus often spend some time on Fridays reflecting on animals or humans or both [with the help of pictures, or just looking from my window, or from a coffee shop] and let the reflection go wherever the Spirit leads - this is really meditation, isn't it?

As this series develops, I will be posting pictures and Scriptures for you to use however you may wish, but the idea is just to get back into a "Biblical sense of timing". Today's is the first for Fridays so I publish a photo I took of the ugly hill at the Garden Tomb outside the Old City in Jerusalem which many think could be Golgotha, Place of the Skull. This is certainly close to the place where humans chose to kill THE HUMAN.

For Reflection
Humans (you and I) killed THE HUMAN on a hill outside Jerusalem

From the Scriptures
FRIDAY according to Gen 1:24-31 Then God commanded, "Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small"---and it was done.
So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw.
Then God said, "And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small." So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, blessed them, and said, "Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals. I have provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat; but for all the wild animals and for all the birds I have provided grass and leafy plants for food"---and it was done.
God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased. Evening passed and morning came---that was the sixth day.

FRIDAY in Mark's Gospel: Mar 15:42 It was toward evening when Joseph of Arimathea arrived. He was a respected member of the Council, who was waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God. It was Preparation day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), so Joseph went boldly into the presence of Pilate and asked him for the body of Jesus.

Prayer for this week from Book of Common Prayer

O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Poor, loving, simple-hearted people

9-12 Nov 1773: I preached at Bury; and on Wednesday, at Colchester, where I spent a day or two with much satisfaction, among a poor, loving, simple-hearted people. I returned to London on Friday, and was fully employed in visiting the classes from that time to Saturday, 20.

Ministers: Some of us move too often, others not often enough.

Well, time to think more seriously about this whole itinerating thing (see my earlier post on the subject)seeing as we have now received a tentative date for our move from Joint Methodist Removals. Probably time to try and get hold of some boxes so that when they arrive on Monday 6 December, they can actually move us.

As I reflect on my whole life in the Methodist Church, it occurs to me that some ministers move too often, while others don't move often enough. Some don't stay long enough and others stay too long. I'm not sure we get it right as often as we should, which is quite strange, bearing in mind that we are a people primarily(hopefully) under the guidance of God. I'm not sure our training even tries to equip us to set objectives for our ministry in a particular place, let alone measure/assess our progress towards achieving those objectives. [The North Alabama Conference in the US seems to have something in place to measure efficacy of ministers and suitability in appointments, but I'll blog on that at a later stage].

John Wesley had some firm views on itinerancy, but they were obviously in a quite different context and need to be read accordingly:

"Were I myself to preach one whole year in one place, I should preach both myself and most of my congregation to sleep."(1)

"The preachers must change regularly; it would never do to let one man(sic) sit down for six months with a small society."(2)

Well, it's time to seriously consider acquiring some boxes.

References
1.The Works of John Wesley, Bicentennial Edition, Volume 1, page 16 note 11
2.The Works of John Wesley, Bicentennial Edition, Volume 1, page 16 note 12

We will leave the church

8-12 Nov 1762: I began visiting the classes; in many of which we had hot spirits to deal with. Some were vehement for, some against, the meetings for prayer, which were in several parts of the town. I said little, being afraid of taking any step which I might afterwards repent of. One I heard of on Friday, and five on Saturday, who, if I did not act as they thought best, would leave the society. I cannot help it. I must still be guided by my own conscience.

Prayer For Young Persons from Book of Common Prayer

God our Father, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world: Show them that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let’s electrocute some people (never mind what the doctors say)

Tue 9 Nov 1756: Having procured an apparatus on purpose, I ordered several persons to be electrified, who were ill of various disorders, some of whom found an immediate, some a gradual cure. From this time I appointed, first some hours in every week and afterward some hours in every day, wherein any that desired it might try the virtue of this surprising medicine. Two or three years after, our patients were so numerous that we were obliged to divide them; so part were electrified in Southwark, part at the Foundery, others near St. Paul’s, and the rest near the Seven Dials. The same method we have taken ever since. And to this day, while hundreds, perhaps thousands, have received unspeakable good, I have not known one man, woman, or child, who has received any hurt thereby. So that when I hear any talk of the danger of being electrified (especially if they are medical men who talk so), I cannot but impute it to great want either of sense or honesty.

JW's Notes on RCL Gospel reading for Sunday 14th November

Sun 14 Nov Luke 21:5-19

Luk 21:5 Goodly stones - Such as no engines now in use could have brought, or even set upon each other. Some of them (as an eye witness who lately measured them writes) were forty - five cubits long, five high, and six broad; yet brought thither from another country. And gifts - Which persons delivered from imminent dangers had, in accomplishment of their vows, hung on the walls and pillars. The marble of the temple was so white, that it appeared like a mountain of snow at a distance. And the gilding of many parts made it, especially when the sun shone, a most splendid and beautiful spectacle.
Luk 21:8 I am the Christ; and the time is near - When I will deliver you from all your enemies. They are the words of the seducers.
Luk 21:9 Commotions - Intestine broils; civil wars.
Luk 21:11 Fearful sights and signs from heaven - Of which Josephus gives a circumstantial account.
Luk 21:13 It shall turn to you for a testimony - Of your having delivered your own souls, and of their being without excuse.
Luk 21:18 Not a hair of your head - A proverbial expression, shall perish - Without the special providence of God. And then, not before the time, nor without A full reward.
Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls - Be calm and serene, masters of yourselves, and superior to all irrational and disquieting passions. By keeping the government of your spirits, you will both avoid much misery, and guard the better against all dangers.