Author: Adrian Clark

With the country in virtual lock down, social contact discouraged, non-food shops closed, along with leisure places such as pubs, clubs, hotels, gyms and restaurants, even caravan parks, society as we know it has almost ceased to exist. Even our churches and religious activities have been closed down, at least when and where they involve people coming together. People are having to stay at home, working there if they can, or perhaps sitting in front of mind-numbing daytime television riddled with doom and gloom news broadcasts. Jigsaws have been dusted off. Table games have emerged from the bottom drawer. Social media is being overworked, belching forth a plethora of comments and posts good and bad. The news reports are, as usual, skewed towards the most negative accounts of life. If one supermarket experiences a food riot, all of a sudden they all have them. If one person dies from catching the virus, all of a sudden we are all going to die as well. Through it all, those people who don’t know God are gripped by an underlying fear. Questions such as, “How am I going to cope if I lose my job?” or “Will Mum get sick?” or “If I get it will I die?” and many more are foremost in their minds. People have lost control of their destinies. Their mortality suddenly rises up before them. But God’s people have a secret weapon – faith.

There are some rays of light shining in the darkness. A leader columnist in a broadsheet a few days ago concluded that if science is unable to resolve this virus problem soon it will most likely drive him towards going to church again. And an on-line prayer meeting in London yesterday saw a big increase in people dialling in, over and above the numbers they would normally expect. Because of the media bias against anything Christian, there must be many more such tales that fail to reach the news outlets. As people generally come face to face with the reality of our times, God’s common grace becomes evident. Communities are coming together to help their most vulnerable. Random acts of kindness are happening in every street, every workplace, supermarkets, anywhere where there are people.

There have been parallels drawn between now and the war time years, with society fragmented and under attack then as now. But at least in the war, people could get together and pray, and there were well-documented occasions when the prayers of God’s people changed the progress of the war. In today’s viral mayhem, people are discouraged – may soon even be banned – from meeting together. In some ways the enemy’s scheme, if that is what it is, seems to be very effective. The enemy doesn’t want God’s people to meet together and pray, because he knows how effective it is.  But God likes nothing more than to interact with His children through prayer. And prayer changes things.  Thankfully we have technology that can work instead. Livestreamed prayer sessions and services, group chats on a variety of platforms, even low-tech phone calls all fill the gap. And we also have the benefit of communicating with our loving Heavenly Father individually from our homes (and out walking the dog – I think that is still allowed!). 

So what is God doing in this season? I know what I would like Him to do. I would like Him to stop this virus in its tracks, at a stroke. And in some way communicate this to the secular society in which we live so that He gets all the glory and a revival breaks out in response. However, God’s agenda is not the same as mine. He sees the end from the beginning. He may still answer my prayers (I’m sure I’m not the only person praying this way), but He has a higher, eternal purpose at heart which may yet surprise us all. And in times of fear – we all experience it at times – we have the privilege of being able to turn to our Heavenly Father and feel His comfort flood over us. We have something precious that the world does not have. Let’s not despise it but instead use these times to reach out to anyone we can, to introduce them to the love of Jesus.

There seems to be a view within Christian circles that we in Western society don’t suffer from persecution. And it is true that the physical and emotional violence experienced by our Christian brothers and sisters in many parts of the world are not present in our society. But nevertheless Western Christians are also under attack, with a persecution of a more subtle kind. In the UK, our governments are increasingly passing laws and regulations that are at variance with Scripture. It has been said that the Scottish government is the Western leader in the race to try and convert society into a non-religious, amorphous mass where the moral foundations of previous generations count for nothing. Yes, we still have the freedom to meet in our churches and places of worship, but even there it is becoming increasingly clear that the words from the pulpit have to be carefully weighed in the light of certain types of legislation. Our schools and universities promote the strident calls from minority groups in a frenzy of liberalism, implementing “no-platforming” policies to silence those who dare to stand up and call out such policies. The nation’s children are being indoctrinated into such nonsense as the fluidity of gender, and “educated” with so-called morals that can never be reconciled with God’s laws. Even the BBC, the bastion of previous generations, is now riddled with a liberalistic “wokeness”, largely at variance with their audience around the country. Social media erupts in a cacophony of abuse should a Christian post dare to contradict the minority views of certain groups. Franklin Graham’s attempts to reach the nation for Jesus have come under attack from local councils because he dares to stand for the sanctity of God’s Word, with previously-booked venues being closed to him. And sadly, there are many in the traditional church who are now embracing liberalistic theology that denies the very Biblical precepts that God has been teaching through His servants for millennia.

So what should Bible-believing Christians in this country do? First and foremost we must pray for those people in authority in the UK (1 Timothy 2:1-4). There is a very active group of Christian parliamentarians at Westminster who need our prayers. I haven’t, sadly, found any such group in Holyrood but there is one SNP, recently elected, Christian politician who needs our prayers – Kate Forbes (new Scottish Government Finance Minister). And we should pray for organisations such as the Christian Institute, CARE and Christian Voice, as they courageously uphold Godly principles in our society. Secondly, we should be discerning of the times and take every opportunity to lovingly correct our friends and families if they start to embrace sinful or worldly philosophies. Thirdly, we should develop our “stories” so that we are certain of what we believe and why we believe it, readying ourselves to share at appropriate times with those in our communities. Fourthly, pray for a Holy Spirit revival to erupt in our nation, our communities, our families, bringing an outpouring of God’s grace like we have never seen before.

The encouraging thing in all of this is that God is still on His throne. He never slumbers or sleeps. He is watching what is going on. And He always answers our prayers with perfect timing.

The past few weeks seem to have been dominated by storms. The Met Office gives them names, as though they are people, or have personalities. Ciara, then Dennis and now Jorge. They all have one thing in common though – copious amounts of rain, damaging winds, flooding; all weather events that inconvenience many people dwelling in this country and in particular those living in certain low-lying areas, or next to flooding rivers, bringing damage to property and disruption and danger to lives.

Those people involved in weather forecasting give each storm a name, perhaps to shift the blame for bad weather onto malevolent “gods” who are out to get us. The prophets of environmental doom blame “climate change” or “global warming”. They cry out their predictions about global temperature rises and the consequences for us all, with emotion and censure unhelpfully clouding the science and ways to mitigate the consequences. And militant environmentalists try and shift the blame onto previous generations, seemingly blind to the hypocrisy of their own life styles and carbon footprints.

But is there anything we can do to prevent the global warming and climate change that we are currently experiencing? There may well be but there won’t be a “quick fix” because the consequential behavioural implications for global societies would seem to be unpalatable to say the least. We live in a society underpinned by, or even addicted to, the need for unlimited quantities of cheap energy, and it seems that this is where the potential damage is coming from.

So how should Christians approach this thorny issue? Current opinion lies between the extremes of denial on the one hand, and an apocryphal event just round the corner on the other. Unhelpful, to say the least. But common sense should indicate that we all need to do our bit to reduce our “carbon footprint” and look after our environment. And, as with all societal issues, we should pray for our government, our scientists and our communities. And keep open to God and His Spirit – He holds our future in His hands.

The New Year’s Honours List for 2020 has just been announced. A fine list of people, with many deserving men and women, enjoying their moment of recognition in society. Beneficiaries of a system that harks back to the grand old days of the British Empire and its dubious times of colonialism. But to many people the system will seem unfair, and they may be right, but regardless of that I am always heartened by how ordinary people automatically help each other, as a natural act of kindness or charity. They perform unsung acts of benevolence that deserve recognition just as much as those who are recorded in the Honours List. Acts of kindness dispensed spontaneously, and without a thought that perhaps some form of acknowledgement will come one day. In this life we have many opportunities to look out for each other, our neighbours, friends, family. Even total strangers. Helping one another is so important that Jesus told a story about it, about a Samaritan man. Jesus’ story was in response to a question, “Who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:25-37). The Samaritan man helped a total stranger who was injured; it involved a cost – money and time. But never a mention of reluctance.

In the community of faith of which I am privileged to be a part I am always blessed by the different ways our folks try and outdo each other in helpful ways. Even those battling with illness or infirmities. The Craft Group of ladies on a Monday do much to help each other with their projects, their needs, their challenges. Our Soup Kitchen on a Friday welcomes in those who are lonely and in need, providing a basic meal and friendly ear to the less fortunate in the Alloa community. And visitors join us on a Sunday, most to hear the Word of God preached, but one or two just come in for a coffee and biscuit, or turn up when we have a meal after our family service. And there are other charitable acts that take place behind the scenes.

Amazing things can happen when an act of kindness or charity is performed in Jesus’ name. There was a young man with a packed lunch that he offered to Jesus, and then watched 5000 people being fed from it (John 6:1-14). I wonder what he told his mum when he got home! And did she believe him? But it can be the same with us. The little we have will be multiplied many times when offered to God.

But returning to the Honours List, the temporal recognition of those men and women will die with them. At the pearly gates, Saint Peter will sadly have to inform them that an MBE or knighthood is not an “honour” recognised in the Kingdom of God – there is only one thing that gains us entry. So how do we get our names onto God’s Honours List? The amazing thing is that it is not based on works or good deeds, unlike the worldly system. In fact, no amount of effort expended in acts of benevolence or charity will ever get us into God’s presence. To get listed in God’s Honours List (the Lamb’s Book of Life) is simple, and amazingly we don’t have to be nominated – all that is required is for us to respond as a sinner to the Gospel message.  So I now have my name listed on God’s Honours List. And I don’t have “MBE” written after my name, I have “MKG” (Member of the Kingdom of God) or “SLG” (Son of the Living God), and rather than being a “Sir” I am a “priest” (1 Peter 2:5) and not just any old priest, but a “royal priest” (1 Peter 2:9). And I’m a “saint” – there are many Biblical references to this. We mustn’t forget that values in the Kingdom of God are very different to those in the kingdom of the world. “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27). So, fellow foolish and weak Christians, let’s look out for ways we can help each other, and opportunities to invite the wise and strong to put their names on the only “Honours List” that matters.

A cold and frosty December morning; a semicircular moon gleaming through the stark denuded tree branches, like a scene that reminds of the Hansel and Gretel story. A still morning, no wind, just a peaceful icy world. The stillness only disturbed by the occasional tweet of a foraging bird and the distant muffled background noise of commuting traffic passing on the local A road. As an aside, with all the technological advances of the current age, no-one has yet invented tyres that make contact with tarmac quietly. Strange.

So what is God saying to me this morning? It’s a question I ask regularly and sometimes the answers surprise me. On the one hand this morning I have the peaceful natural environment around me, so full of God’s creative genius, so stress-free. An environment that seems in tune with my spirit. On the other hand society is full of reports about the political fallout from the recent election, with all its recriminations and triumphalism, the “blame game”, the strident calls for the break up of the UK. All news dominated by evil attempts of one individual or group trying to get one over another. And that bastion of British institutionalism, the BBC, under attack as never before, as it fails to adapt to a new generation’s desire for “on-demand” TV services and maintain true impartiality in a political world dominated by accusations of bias. Who would have ever thought it!

So back to my question; what is God saying to me this morning? Well, the spiritual and political thoughts merge this morning. The country has to be governed and I pray for the political leaders daily, but no amount of referendums or elections can ever replace the need for people to come to know our loving Heavenly Father. Independence in Scotland might be utopian for some, but it’s not independence that Scotland needs, it’s revival. No political outcome can replace the fact that 95% of the Scottish population are heading for a lost eternity. Call it “hell” if you like. So God is saying to me this morning – spread the message, His message of hope.

This year I have been particularly aware of, and enthralled by, the numbers of geese that have passed overhead, their ragged “V’s” flaking their way through the autumn skies, punctuated by honking, squawks and squeaks. They have a purpose, a goal, intent on reaching some verdant pasture or Scottish loch, and the lead goose heads in just the right direction, navigating by some GPS mechanism that was invented by its loving Heavenly Father long before man claimed the glory. Several early morning flights have been made all the more spectacular by the morning sun, peeping over the horizon, and reflecting from their underbodies, applying a bright yellow glow to their normally dull colours, in stark contrast to the light blues and greys of the morning sky. But there was one strange happening a short while ago – a group of about twenty geese appeared with more of the usual audio accompaniment than usual, but there was no “V”. In fact they were all over the place. They were heading in roughly the same direction, but they kept veering away from each other and then, directly above my head, the group split into two, about five of them flew South rather hesitantly, and the remainder continued towards the East. But there was still no “V” displayed. More of a gaggle than the normal skein or wedge. Too many leaders and not enough followers, I suspect.

I felt God remind me that His design for geese also applies to mankind – we are designed to be led by the Holy Spirit; He knows exactly which way we should go. And as we remain open to His gentle leading we will end up in the right pastures. I smiled at the thought that groups of Christians, the local church or community of faith, will also have its fair share of honking, squawks and squeaks, perhaps voicing complaints over the pecking orders, or who should be lead goose. And one or two, or even a group, will fall away from the rest, setting their own agendas, building their own denominations, preferring to find their own pastures. There will even be leaderless Christians, who have become deaf to the Holy Spirit’s voice, and who flap their way in the wrong direction, sadly unaware of their malfunctioning GPS, and ending up in barren places, or no place at all.

Thinking further about the sun reflecting off the geese’s underbellies, I felt God asked me what I was reflecting. Was it the light from His Son, or no light at all? In John 15:26 Jesus said, “… I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about Me.” So, hopefully, as I embrace the Holy Spirit, those around me will see the reflection of Jesus. And as the geese press on towards their goal, so must we, heading for the “Heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Phil 3:14).

So sad. It was lying on its back on the path, at the foot of a lamppost. Its red and pink breast contrasting with the grey of the tarmac. I picked it up. It was dead but no visible signs of injury. I don’t think its demise had happened much before I came along – it had probably collided with the lamppost in the half-light of the morning. But as I looked at the combination of the colours, the black and dark blues, the greys and fawns, crowned with the beautiful fluffy breast of exquisitely merged hues of red and pink I marvelled again about the wonders of our created world. I thought it was a chaffinch but it had a black head and neck, so perhaps was another member of the finch family.

The Bible contains many references to birds, but the one I immediately thought of came from Jesus – in Matthew 10:29, He said, “What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.” So my feathered friend died this morning, falling to the ground with God’s full knowledge. In verse 31 in the same passage Jesus said, “So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”

God’s creation matters enormously to Him. And mankind in particular. He loves us, provides for us, heals our sicknesses, forgives our sins, and is currently making a home for us in Heaven so that we will be with Him forever one day. Jesus said in John 14, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” Anyone troubled today? Anyone battling with the issues of life? Getting close to God will somehow make the problems of life go “strangely dim” as it says in the old song.

My feathered friend is now in the recycling bin; an ignominious end for a created wonder. But as far as we are concerned, trusting Him with our future means we don’t have to worry and fret about where we will end up. Will there be birds in Heaven? I like to think so. They’re too beautiful not to be.

We spent last weekend in Brockenhurst, a small town in the New Forest, boasting a main line station, one of the jewels in the suburban crown of the County of Hampshire. A pretty village, quirky shops, even Tesco and Sainsbury, full of tourists and locals alike, and even the occasional visitors with hooves, all intermingling in a scene of busyness. A place of affluence, expensive housing, multi-star hotels, up-market cars, Range Rovers, Audis, shouting out the prosperity of a society with money.

But in front of Tesco sat a beggar. A sad-looking man, seemingly mildly embarrassed, with a cup and a few coins on the ground in front of him. Who was he? What brought him to this place of all places? Where was he living? Why did he have to beg? Unanswered questions, but relevant nevertheless. But his presence shouted out the inherent inequalities of this age to a society populated by the have’s and the have not’s. An age with so many contradictions, so many differences, so much unfairness.

Jesus came for all men and women, rich and poor alike, beggars and accountants, single mums and doctors, paupers and priests. Matthew 5:3 states, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. Only when we truly come to that place of realising our spiritual poverty in repentance at the foot of the Cross, can we inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. We are all equal there, whether rich or poor.

But that’s all very well – what about my Brockenhurst beggar, or any beggar come to that? Society considers them a nuisance. Councils raise bye-laws banning them. The challenge to me is another verse in Matthew 5 – verse 42. “Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.” Stories abound of beggars earning large sums. Others spending what they get on drink or drugs. None of that is for me to judge – God Himself will do that one day. Perhaps I need to be more diligent in asking my heavenly Father for guidance and discernment so that I can do His will and take the time to compassionately minister to those genuinely in need. To those He wants to bless.

Two quotes have grabbed my attention this past week. The first from Nicky Gumbel – “Many people see only a hopeless end; but with Jesus you can enjoy an endless hope.” The second from Justin Welby during a recent television interview – “We can do nothing as Christians without a foundation of prayer”. Quotations articulating two intertwining threads, but with the common theme of communication, one with our Heavenly Father, and the other with a lost and dying world around us. Both these threads are fundamental to the Christian life.

Jesus exampled prayer. He taught His disciples how to pray. His ministry was impregnated with prayer. In John 10:30, Jesus declared that He was one with His Father. He was both God and man, but He still needed to commune with His Father, sometimes spending long hours in prayer with Him. And at the end of His ministry His selfless act at Calvary became the most significant event this world has ever seen. Is there a connection between His sacrificial death and His time spent in prayer? There has to be. Remember His prayers in Gethsemane?

And in Matthew 28, Jesus commissioned His disciples (and are we not His disciples?) to make “disciples of all the nations”. By bringing the Gospel into every opportunity afforded to them (and us). But “who?” and “where?” are questions that have to be answered as otherwise we could be in danger of wasting our time and resources. Only prayer could have preceded Jesus’ visit to the Pool of Bethesda, where he picked out just one man among many for His healing touch. And only prayer can bring into focus God’s will and purpose for reaching those heading for a “hopeless end”.  So where do we begin?

The beginning has to be on our knees. How else will we see our mandate confirmed and resourced? How else will we receive the instructions, clarifying the who and where? How else will we receive a prayer-backed, Heaven-inspired answer so essential before we venture into this world around us, riven as it is by so many issues, conflicts, distractions and miseries. The Great Commission methodology in 2019 is less likely to be a street corner, tract-based, sandwich board, “Turn or Burn”, preach, but more likely to be relationship-based, as the Holy Spirit leads us up from our knees to share the pleas from a God so filled with love, that He is desperate that none shall be lost (2 Peter 3:9). And this love encompasses our families, friends, neighbours, even “divine encounters” in the street. At least, that is, until God brings a Holy Spirit revival to this land once again, cutting through the issues of the day, and instead bringing a day far more important than the issues. Where people will once again connect with our Creator, realising their sinfulness and crying out, “How can I be saved?”. Then everything changes, and, as happened in the First Century, the world will be turned upside down once again.

So bring on revival Lord, but as we prayerfully wait, lets double and redouble our efforts in prayer and expect our Heavenly Father to speak to us, offering the insight into His will and purposes that we so desperately need. In my dog-walking meanderings through the local community, I pick out households and pray for a spirit of revival to visit them. He will one day!

Near to where I live there is a junction of a cycle path and two footpaths. The local council has thoughtfully placed a bin there. It’s a standard, rectangular-sided litter bin, about a metre or so high and sides half a metre. It’s had a hard life though, being bruised and battered and covered in graffiti. For some reason some passers by seem to want to take out their frustrations in life by abusing it. Occasionally, the bin is found on its side, no mean feat because it is attached to a slab of concrete. This has happened three times this week, but it’s been picked up and set back in its designed orientation, readying it to continue its thankless job of receiving the effluent from our throw away culture.

In the main, most members of the society in which we live conform to its social expectations without question. But there are some who don’t, and the imbibing of alcoholic beverages or other mind altering substances sometimes invokes a behavioural response that reflects the inner turmoil that must be going on within them. As someone drily said to me this week, “When the drink is in, the wits are out”.

However, this piece of litter bin mayhem reflects a degree of anti-socialism that exposes a disconnect between God’s design for mankind and how some behave. Sin plays a large part, but there is also pressure from a society that is stressed by secular, humanist and anti-God influences. In addition, the way our culture is largely based on material values and an economy dependent on mankind purchasing lots of “stuff”, just exacerbates the strains.

Jesus came for the drop-outs in society. Those who were caught up in circumstances beyond their control, such as illness, destitution, divorce, death, prostitution and so on. And in a society that had no safety net for the less fortunate. His message of hope resonated with so many in His time, and as we continue His work on earth, we must find opportunities to share the Gospel with those we meet. There has been a suicide of a young man in the next village in the past week or so. Another life lost, sacrificed on the altar of despair and hopelessness. The time is short and the harvest bountiful. Let’s pray for opportunities to share God’s love and grace with those needing to hear it.