Encouragements for Spiritual Warfare

Until we know that we are in Christ, nothing will help – we need to recognise who we are and who our leader is, to live in him in practice and draw on grace.

Jesus understands temptation and has been there with us (Heb 4:15)

Temptation is not the same as sin, although it may lead to it (Lk 4)

Temptation is not only a problem, but also an opportunity to grow – it presents us with a choice (Js 1)

We need to know and admit to ourselves our weaknesses, which means being humble – pride is an ever present enemy

There is genuine and certain hope of victory because Jesus has won it (1 Cor 10; Js 1; 1 Jn 4:4)

We pray as we fight!

Taking ethics seriously – or how not to end up like Jack Bauer

Lighthearted musings on why Christian doctors should prioritise ethical decision making (in press) available in draft here. Enjoy!

No slippery slope?

A helpful extract concerning the recent report on Dutch Euthanasia:

About every five years, statistics on Dutch euthanasia are released. The figures for 2005, published in May this year and highlighted today, show that the number of euthanasia cases in the Netherlands fell from 3,500 in 2001 to 2,325 in 2005. The drop, from 2.6% to 1.7% for euthanasia cases as a percentage of all deaths, may appear reassuring on the surface and this is indeed how it is being spun.

However, these figures, which were set out in a detailed report in the New England Journal of Medicine by a group of Dutch doctors, including some of the country’s leading advocates of euthanasia, on deeper scrutiny reveal a very different picture. They show that a small decrease in voluntary euthanasia has been more than offset by a hefty increase in what is called “terminal sedation”. Patients are given drugs which sedate them “continuously and deeply” until death, in 8.2% of all deaths! To put it more starkly, voluntary euthanasia (1.7%), non-voluntary euthanasia (0.4%) and terminal sedation accompanied by withdrawal of nutrition and hydration, now account for nearly one in ten Dutch deaths. Even if we were to disregard the increasing use of “terminal sedation” by Dutch doctors the argument that legalising euthanasia in the Netherlands has not led to an increase in people having their lives ended without giving consent is deeply flawed for the very simple reason that euthanasia has been legally sanctioned in the Netherlands for over 20 years.

Full article below:
http://www.carenotkilling.org.uk/?show=435

Thought provoking

http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf

When I don’t desire God: bitesize (3)

5 reasons why we need to take God’s demand for joy seriously

1. Tasting His goodness and desiring other things instead is the essence of evil (Jer 2:13):

My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

2. Our eternal destiny rests on our “rejoicing in” God’s commands e.g. Jn 3:19, Phil 1:23, not just in our obeying them e.g. Jn 14:15

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil (Jn 3:19).

3. Faith includes the taste for joy (Jn 6:35; Ps 111:2)

4. The fight for faith IS the fight for joy! (1 Tim 6:12)

- We need to regain this (Js 1:12; Rev 2:10)

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him (Js 1:12).

5. The fight itself is good – it’s against evil, God will help us (Phil 2:12-13), it is a fight for freedom from worry, it involves humbling, God is glorified when we resist idolatory, it encapsulates Paul’s ministry and what ours should be.

Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm (2 Cor 1:24)

Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith (Phil 1:25)

When I don’t desire God: bitesize (2)

We are supposed to both desire God (Ps 73:25-26; 16:2,5; 63:1,3) and delight in Him (Hab 3:17-18; Phil 4:4; Mt 13:44). How are desire and delight related and why should I care?

i) Desires can be in themselves pleasant and therefore part of delight (e.g. physical attraction).

ii) Desire is awakened only by the taste of pleasure i.e. it is delight experienced in the form of anticipation (Ps 1:2 cf. Ps 19:10):

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Notice that:

• Ultimately it is not desire or delight that we want but God (2 Cor 4:4)

• God demands that we fight for it:

Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you (Deut 28:47-48).

• God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him i.e. when we desire his ways above all else

Here’s what it looks like:

You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions (Heb 10:34).

• There will always be more to enjoy!

When I don’t desire God: bitesize (1)

The problem:

I was astonished that although I now loved you … I did not persist in my enjoyment of God. Your beauty drew me to you, but soon I was dragged away from you by my own weight and in dismay I plunged again into the things of this world (Augustine)

The context:

Conversion is the creation of new desires:

[Ps 34:8] Taste and see that the Lord is good!

[Ps 51:12] Restore to me the joy of your salvation!

[Calvin's Institutes] If human happiness, whose perfection is to be united with God, were hidden from man, he would in fact be bereft of the principle use of his understanding.

[Jonathan Edwards] We should endeavour by all possible ways to inflame our desires and obtain more spiritual pleasures … our hungering after God, Jesus and holiness can’t be too great, for the value of these things is infinite.

[Piper] To desire God is to recover a joy in Christ so deep and strong I will make sacrifices (of mercy and mission) and be sustained [in offering my whole life in service of him].

Want to take it further? Rom 3:5; Mt 5:11-12; Js 1:2-3; Acts 5:41; Heb 10:34; Phil 3:8, 1:21; Heb 13:13-14

The Life of David Gale

This is another of those extraordinarily multilayered films that I love! It’s also a film in which the brilliance of the acting can’t be fully understood until you finally realise just where the plot is heading – and yes, it’s worth the wait.

It’s tough subject matter though – a man on death row for assault and murder of a former colleague. However, as the story unfolds it quickly becomes clear that things are not quite what they appear to be. The film takes us on a journey of flashbacks (as David recounts his story) and journalistic detective work as a reporter – Davids last hope of vindication, tries to put together the pieces.

Along the way, we see the lostness of a man highly respected in the worlds eyes, when circumstances tear the trappings of his status away from him. But lostness isn’t the final word, because David thinks he can “win” by placing his hope elsewhere – whether his thinking is misplaced or not I leave you to judge.

 

Ultimately, however, in different ways, the main characters all reveal a passion to look beyond their own interests, to try and achieve (what they believed) was a greater good. Laudable as this is, it couldn’t help but remind me of another man – a man who also looked beyond his own interests to acheive a greater good; a man who also was tried, sentenced and executed unjustly; and yet a man who not only predicted it all beforehand, but proved he had achieved his purpose by rising from the dead …. Only this man isn’t a work of fiction.

A case for teaching the Bible in schools

Not mine I’m afraid but David Van Biema, Time Magazine’s senior religion writer. His angle is a new drive to set up non evangelistic Bible appreciation courses in the states. He interviews a number of people (both teachers and activists) and makes some interesting observations on the American scene. To whet your appetite:

“In 1995 a federal appeals court upheld the overturn of a death sentence in a Colorado kidnap-rape-murder case because jurors had inappropriately brought in extraneous material–Bibles–for an unsanctioned discussion of the Exodus verse “an eye for eye, tooth for tooth … whoever … kills a man shall be put to death.” The Christian group Focus on the Family complained, “It is a sad day when the Bible is banned from the jury room.” Who’s most at fault here? The jurors, who perhaps hadn’t noticed that in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus rejects the eye-for-an-eye rule, word for word, in favor of turning the other cheek? The Focus spokesman, who may well have known of Jesus’ repudiation of the old law but chose to ignore it? Or any liberal who didn’t know enough to bring it up?”

Ok, I’ve read enough – I want to read the original piece – Click here

Sounds interesting, but can’t be bothered to surf – can you give me the highlights? – Well, here’s an interesting excerpt:

According to Religious Literacy, polls show that nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the Bible holds the answers to “all or most of life’s basic questions,” but pollster George Gallup has dubbed us “a nation of biblical illiterates.” Only half of U.S. adults know the title of even one Gospel. Most can’t name the Bible’s first book. The trend extends even to Evangelicals, only 44% of whose teens could identify a particular quote as coming from the Sermon on the Mount.

The Prestige

The Prestige is a great film. This complex drama about the rivalry between two stage magicians paints vividly many realities about human character. Extremely well acted by Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Michael Caine, it starts as a simple tale of commitment to a craft, and the pursuit of excellence. However, after a number of clever twists (and the appearance of David Bowie) it begins to portray the stark truth that inordinate desire leads to calamity. Along the way it also illustrates how ambition can destroy relationships, and how one decision to deceive can lead to a string of more sinister deceptions. There are layers and layers in this film that will keep you gripped to the bitter end and I don’t want to spoil it. Go see it!