Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:48 ESV We're all naturally people of dust. God formed the first man Adam out of the dust of the earth. And we all turn back to dust when the breath of life departs from our bodies. If all we are is animated dust, then our lives would be mundane and destined for destruction. We may as well just eat, drink, and try to be merry because tomorrow we die. Thankfully, we can get adopted into the heavenly family. As children of dust, we're destined to return to dust. But if we get adopted into God's family, we can enjoy eternal, perfect life. Some have objected to me that eternity sounds boring. But boredom will be abolished and all will be superfluously fascinating. How do we get adopted into God's family? Through faith in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we have eternal life. In Adam we face death; in Jesus we face et

 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." Luke 13:5 ESV Jesus was referring to some horrific instances of suffering in His days on earth. In one, Pilate gratuitously massacred some worshippers at the temple of God in Jerusalem. In another, a tower fell and killed many people. The assumption sometimes is with tragic, untimely deaths, that those who die must be especially bad people. Hopefully we can see that this is a cruel assumption when we think of all those who have died of the virus. Jesus too challenged that assumption. Jesus turns the focus from the sufferers to the survivors. We all need to repent. We need to turn from our sinful ways, to trust in and to follow the Lord. We're all going to die at some point, unless Jesus returns first. But if we turn from our wrongdoing, we can avoid perishing ultimately. Our fate doesn't have to be destruction, it can be deliverance.  'Dear Lord, please forgive us and turn us from our sins to live f

 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.Exodus 9:16 ESVhttps://bible.com/bible/59/exo.9.16.ESV  Secular historians point to the lack of extra-biblical evidence of Hebrew slavery in Egypt and ensuing exodus. But here in this verse, God describes how this anonymous Pharoah has been immortalised in the annals of the Hebrews, so that God is proclaimed in all the earth. The mighty men of the world might think they can stand against God and win, but resistance is futile!  The more stubborn Pharoah was, the more the Lord was able to display His power. The more insistent Pharoah was of keeping his slaves, the more unreasonable he appeared. It was a battle of wills, and the will of Yahweh prevailed.  In the end, Pharoah will have been broken by the plagues. In the final plague, his own firstborn son was killed, the next in line to the throne of the world superpower. He might have tried to put a brave face on it, but he

 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Exodus 8:19 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/exo.8.19.ESV The Egyptian magicians were able to replicate some of Moses' plagues from God, by their dark arts. But they couldn't produce gnats like God could to plague the rebellious land of Egypt. Even they were forced to admit to their boss that this plague was the finger of God Himself. They weren't referring to any of their false, demonic gods, but the God of the Hebrew slaves. Pharoah's heart however was hardened. Sometimes he is referred to as hardening his own heart. Here it is implied that God Himself hardened Pharoah's heart. So which is it? Not either/or but both/and. God is sovereign even over those who reject Him. Pharoah would be condemned by the Lord for his hard heart. But God in His sovereignty allowed Pharoah's heart to be hardened. We

 And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself." Luke 10:27 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/luk.10.27.ESV Someone asked Jesus how he could live forever. Jesus' response is surprising. We might have assumed He would simply tell them to trust in Him. But He didn't, He took them to God's Law, which they knew was best summarised by this verse.  So if we wholeheartedly loved God and our neighbour as ourselves, we would live forever. The problem is we don't. Even the questioner knew that deep down. So seeking to justify himself, he asked who his neighbour was. Jesus responded with the story of the good Samaritan. Culturally, Samaritans were not seen as good. They were seen to be a mongrel people to pure blooded Jews (a bit like how some Celtic people might view the English!). They had different religious beliefs to the Jews as well.  Just

(I'm aware of the duplicity of being polemic against polemicism!) This post is a response to David Robertson in his blog theweeflea.com which is well worth checking out. He is often polemic against 'Big Tech' which I'm sure is justifiable, I just think as Christians we should focus on the Gospel (Good News) rather than the bad news that big tech isn't altruistic. ... As a trainee history teacher, I think some of your rather exaggerated language is unhelpful. For example, I'm sure the Medieval Roman Catholic Church and the popes in that time wielded far more power than big tech nowadays.  Also, note that Martin Luther didn't go on some crusade to democratise the printing press. He, at his best, focused on the gospel. We would do well to do the same. Do we need Google Ad Words to share the gospel? Not really. Like John Wycliffe's followers we can just low key take the gospel to our communities. I know lockdown makes that difficult, but as long as we focus

 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23 ESV Early on in His ministry, Jesus was really popular. Even just earlier in this chapter, Jesus fed 5,000 men, plus women and children miraculously. But when He started making statements like this verse, He understandably became less popular. Basically, Jesus was asking those who would follow Him to go on 'death row'. Following Jesus in 1st Century Roman Palestine wasn't about pressing a button on social media. It was about changing the entire orientation of your life to live for the promised Messiah.  Understandably, not many people signed up to 'death row for Jesus'. As Jesus made His way inexorably to the cross, the crowds peeled away. They were no better than the Romans, hankering after 'free bread and circuses', and when Jesus didn't play ball, they turned away disillusioned. Note however that Jesus isn't simply ca

 If I remember correctly, 'ministry' means service. Sadly it has taken on a meaningless religious aura. People nowadays often name ministries after themselves- like me establishing the Robert Ministries. The question is, if ministry is service, and I've just named my service after myself, then who am I ministering to, the God I profess to live for, or myself?  I know which answer seems most credible about the 'Robert Ministries' that I trust there will never be, not just literally, but also rather more metaphorically!

 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? Exodus 5:22 ESV One might have thought that once God finally persuaded Moses to help set His people free, that it would be relatively plain sailing. Of course, life rarely is so easy, and this time was no exception. Moses and Aaron went to Pharoah to ask him to set God's people free, and of course he refused to let go of his slave labour. In fact, Pharoah decided the Israelites had it too easy, so he increased the burdens upon them. Of course, God's people scapegoated Moses and his spokesman brother Aaron. Moses deflected the blame to God. It must have felt like Moses had taken on some thankless task: this smelly shepherd telling the perfumed Pharoah to let his people go. Of course Pharoah refused, why would we expect otherwise. God was going to have to weigh in with some major miracles to tip the scales in Israel's favour. In the midst of a yet thankless

 Then Moses answered, "But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, 'The Lord did not appear to you.'" Exodus 4:1 ESV Moses might have tried a number of excuses to try and get out of serving God. But to be fair to him, his excuse in this verse is pretty credible. He knew the Egyptian elite, having lived as one of them.  Moses knew that Pharoah was seen to be divine, amongst a myriad of gods who were believed to ensure Egypt's superpower status. Why would Egyptians listen to the God of the despised Hebrew slaves? God graciously responded to Moses' concern by providing him with a couple of miraculous signs to illustrate the fact that the Lord truly is the one true God.  Moses might have been slow to take up his great commission to help liberate his people. God's patience would eventually be tried, a few excuses down the line. But it's better to be honest with Him about how we're feeling than to just ignore Him. It wo

 'Service is Universal' Harry and Meghan Amen. 'You gotta serve somebody. Well it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody' Bob Dylan Amen! No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. The Lord Jesus Christ Amen! :) 

  But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" Exodus 3:11 ESV To be fair to Moses, he had a point. He'd been shepherding his father-in-law's flocks for 40 years. How was this country bumpkin going to persuade the most powerful man in the world to let God's people go? Not only so, but Moses had fled Egypt in ignominy, with blood on his hands. Any advantage he may have had by being the previous Pharoah's adopted grandson had been ruined by the fact he'd murdered an Egyptian oppressor of one of his fellow Hebrews. And if he had once been in the royal family, he had now made himself a murderous stench to the Egyptians, and the new Pharoah wouldn't welcome his return at all. Having said that, Moses had enjoyed the best start in life as the adopted son of Pharoah's daughter. If anyone could speak to the Egyptians on the Hebrews' behalf, it was him. And though the old testament paints

I appreciate that this is quite a long passage, but I wanted to include chapter ten in order to be able to strike a more positive note! Chapter nine is pretty discouraging, in talking about the lack of positive spiritual impact that suffering can bring. Nowadays, we tend to talk of pandemics rather than plagues, but when we read of plagues in the Bible, we can't help but compare them with the present day. So to read in John's revelation from God that the survivors of an apocalyptic pandemic won't repent is pretty depressing.  John must have felt like packing up and going home. He must have wanted to throw in the towel, humanly speaking. No doubt John applied chapter nine to his own days, as we do to ours, and we trust our children will do to theirs', should Christ's return be later than our departures. If reading chapter nine in isolation seems to tempt us to despair, reading it in the context of chapter ten encourages us to look upwards and see Him there, who made

 Strong in the arm and weak in the chest Cold in my feet and hot in temper Constant in work and wearied in love Hungry for success, lacking in rest Knowing there's hope in this, a new day Despite the dullness of all this grey Today I'm not going to be lukewarm This miserable world needs brightening up I know I don't have to fit a mould  Which would have me as boring as death I would rather stride out bright and bold My enemies can stay in the dark ... Stopping to listen, pausing to breathe Wanting to go, not willing to leave Yearning for beauty, seeing decay Wanting food, but not what's on the tray Surrounded by people, none are friends No new start, for this is now the end I could just bow, but I'm going to fight My weapons aren't metal, I won't bite I will not tow their line, I'll tow His If He wants me to tow some of them I'll tense my muscles, drag them along- All the while, I will sing them a song ... All of my folks, they would kowtow They are

 Long may I live in the land God has given Sweet be the rest for which I have striven Cold be the shower that wakes me from my slumber Remembering my blessings without number Light be the sun that shines its beams upon me The dark and blackest night is what I flee Gentle is the shelter from the burning sun Happy leaps my heart when victory is won Soon it will be that the eternal day does dawn And on that day, the darkness I will scorn The presence of the Son is what I desire The reality of it will transpire Never on my own do I walk out this life The Spirit is within me despite strife The brethren beside me are cheering me on Whilst others invite to where they have gone When weary in the battle I look to Christ I don't dare despair when he's paid the price It's not too much of Him to ask for my all When He humbled Himself to cattle stall Dark may be the mocking of the evil one But I will fix my eyes on God's own Son Never be distracted from the task at hand To focus on

 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live." Acts 28:4 ESV To be human is to have a sense of justice. A child might rage against their sibling stealing a cookie from the jar. If they were the guilty party however, they would probably plead for mercy. We tend to want justice for others and forgiveness for ourselves. Nowadays, the Maltese natives might describe a snake bite as karma: the idea that we get what we deserve/you reap what you sow/what goes around comes around (although a Hindu once told me my definition was wrong and I never found out a more correct one). There is of course some truth to that idea, although the book of Job makes clear that it's a general principle rather than a universal truth in this life. Thankfully, the Maltese karma theory was disproved by God, by not letting Paul get poisoned by the snake t

 "Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish." Esther 4:16 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/est.4.16.ESV Esther's last phrase might seem rather fatalistic. When we consider that the book of Esther never explicitly mentions God, we might be tempted to come to that conclusion. But read in context, I think we see Esther's faith rather than fatalism. Esther's Jewish people have been condemned to death by the genocidal politician Haman. She however is wife to the king, although she is out of favour, and has kept her ethnicity a secret. When her cousin tells her of the planned holocaust however, and informs her that she may well be her people's only hope, she steps up to the mark. Esther's call for her people to fast isn't fatalistic, it's fai

 Two thousand years ago, This land lay shrouded in snow And in the East a star Guided men from afar. In Israel a child was born And soon a new day would dawn This Child, this King who was born Would wear a crown of thorns. In Bethlehem David's town Shepherds settled down Watching over their flocks Among the cold, grey rocks. Then in the sky: an angel! On this the first nowell 'Good tidings of great joy For to you's been born a boy. The shepherds hurried down To search the streets of the town The crying of a babe Gave away where He was laid. Many months later on After that angel song Wise men came from the East Expecting a Royal feast. King Herod was afraid: 'Where is the Baby laid?' 'In Bethlehem David's town, Maybe we should go down!' When the men found the Boy They gave Him some strange toys- Gold and incense and myrrh- His Deity they did infer. In a dream Joseph did see They'd have to be refugees. In Egypt they found a home Til Herod lay dead as a

What are pedagogical issues? They are issues that pertain to pedagogy. What is pedagogy? Etymologically, pedagogy is from the Greek and means the practice of leading children. In ancient Rome, a pedagogue would have been a slave who literally led children on the ‘school run’ as it were, to be schooled in the ways of rhetoric and to be groomed perhaps for high office in the Roman senate. So how has such a traditionally unglamourous practice of leading children taken on such a revered aura in the terminology of educational theory today? I have my own theory. In Roman religion, the gods were like deified humans who exploited one another, and lesser mortal beings. This philosophy of life that Romans had impacted on their treatment of one another: Roman citizens will have often treated their slaves as subhumans to be exploited (although Roman slavery didn’t necessarily have the racial element of later European slavery). So how did despised Roman pedagogues lend their name to the respected f

God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. Exodus 2:25 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/exo.2.25.ESV I think people often think of God seeing us like that song Every Breath You Take by The Police- as a sinister sounding thing. But God doesn't watch us like an authoritarian policeman, waiting for us to slip up. Instead, He watches us like a loving Heavenly Father. God doesn't just see with His eyes. He doesn't just know intellectually. He sees and knows in His heart.  Jesus is the perfect embodiment of how God feels for us. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, the city that would shortly bay for His blood. He knew that within a few decades it would be destroyed by the Romans, and far from taking sadistic pleasure in vengeance, He was sorrowful for them. The people of Israel were enslaved in Egypt. Pharoah was beginning to enact a 'final solution' to his perceived Hebrew problem- the infanticide of Israelite boys. But Pharoah's own daughter couldn't resist adopting a Hebr

 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. Exodus 1:12 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/exo.1.12.ESV There's an old saying, I believe by Foxe in Foxe's Book of Martyrs, that 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church'. I think we need to strike a note of caution however, that in many parts of the world, to openly identify as Christian is a death sentence. There's a much quicker turnaround of Christians in places like North Korea than in the United Kingdom. If to publically identify as a believer in Yahweh is a death sentence, that isn't necessarily a good thing. Granted, in places like ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, and even contemporary China, it does seem to be that the more the powers that be seek to stamp out God's people, the more we spread. But once Pharoah settled on his genocidal policy of infanticide of male Hebrews, and Christians get thr

 What does it mean to decolonise the history curriculum? Is it to teach students iconoclasm: to destroy the statues of racists? To do so is (in a rather unfortunate turn of phrase) to attempt to 'whitewash' history, in a way that has a moral equivalence to the Taliban blowing up ancient statues of Buddha. Oliver Cromwell, that flawed public figure, apocryphally ordered his painter to paint him 'warts and all'. If we paint British colonialism as a golden age of enlightenment for example, it is hypocritical to paint Islamic civilisation as purely barbaric.  Tom Holland, a popular historian, questions whether it is the responsibility of historians to sit in judgement on empires.(http://tinyurl.com/3lmjr7qa, accessed 17.2.21)He appeals to Herodotus, the Ancient Greek father of history, for whom 'history' meant 'enquiry'. Whilst I agree that we are to teach students of history to be enquiring and inquisitive, I don't think history teachers should stop the

 'Say to Joseph, "Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you."' And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Genesis 50:17 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/gen.50.17.ESV Joseph's cowardly and ashamed brothers sent a message to him, claiming it was from their now deceased dad. Knowing what we do of them, it wouldn't surprise me if they were just making this up. Maybe they were so terrified of reprisals for their mistreatment of their brother that they made up a tall story. The Bible doesn't say one way or another, so let's give the Israelites the benefit of the doubt. Understandably, Jacob would have wanted peace amongst his songs, and forgiveness for past wrongs, so he could conceivably said this. As far as Joseph was concerned, the matter had already been settled, and reconciliation had already been engineered by himself i

All of us home ed alumni are advocates for home education, one way or another. We either give a good 'sales pitch' to those who query us as to whether home education is a worthwhile endeavour; or else we might put people off. I certainly seek to do the former! It felt growing up that by the time I was enjoying home ed reunions with other youths in the same boat, that there was a good cohort of us. But I am the third son, and my parents were (I would argue) home educating pioneers in mid 1980s. I think my brothers and younger sister from time to time wished for the normality of schooling (what child likes to stick out like a sore thumb?!). I however can honestly say that I was happy with the experience.  The perennial question is whether home education negatively affects socialisation. Not in our household growing up. Apart from my parents being hospitable (not necessarily us!), we also readily took up the hospitality of friends, family and neighbours. We were actively involved

 "Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you. Genesis 49:8 ESV I love the Biblical practice of elders blessing their children before they go the way of the world. Jacob's blessing of his twelve (!) sons (from 4 women) is impressive not simply for his paternal affection, but also for his prophetic insight. At first glance, his blessing of Judah seems like he got the wrong son. After all, it was Joseph whose brothers praised him, whose siblings bowed down before him. And yet Jacob prophesies the same for Judah. He's anticipating that in the absence of himself, Judah will step into the breach as a paternalistic father figure. It seems strange that Jacob would anticipate such a thing, bearing in mind that Judah had three older brothers. But those brothers disqualified themselves from leadership. Firstborn Reuben slept with his father's mistress. Simeon and Levi slaughtered a whole

 If anyone could help me troubleshoot how to effectively paste my posts into Blogger.com without the formatting going wierd, I'd appreciate it!

 What does the campaign to decolonise the history curriculum mean? According to Meera Sabaratnam, a senior lecturer in international relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, it is to call 'for a greater representation of non-European thinkers, as well as a better historical awareness of the contexts in which scholarly knowledge has been produced'.  So according to my interpretation, the attempt to decolonise the history curriculum could also be described as an attempt to 'democratise' the history curriculum. The old truism (erroneously attributed to Churchill) that 'history is written by the victors' should be challenged. For example, a purely Norman account of the colonisation of England in the late 11th Century A.D. prioritises the experiences of a minority of the population of England at the time. In order to get a more nuanced understanding of the Normanisation of England, we might refer to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which we might

  No-one is to appear before me empty handed. Exodus 23:15b  This sounds a bit of a legalistic verse according to what we know of God from the new testament. As  the old hymn goes, 'nothing in my hands I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling'. But when we come empty handed to the cross, God doesn't leave us empty handed.  God entrusts His people with talents. We might come to Him empty, but He doesn't leave us that way. He fills us up, and expects us to invest what He gives us for His glory. If we have no evidence that  we've invested in our professed faith, that doesn't look good.  If nothing else, God wants our hearts. Of course, we can't tear them from our chests so we're not  empty handed. But God does expect us to hold other hands and bring other souls to the foot of the  cross.  We are not to bury our talents, but to invest them in the kingdom of God. God doesn't just want us as individuals, He wants everything we can offer Him. Our salvation mig

  Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? Acts 26:8 ESV In Paul's days, most people took for granted the existence of God/gods. But to rational Greco-Romans, the idea that God could raise the dead seemed a bit far-fetched. Of course, nowadays, many more people would subscribe to such scepticism.  But, as Paul questions here, if, as he assumes, people acknowledge the existence of God, is it really such a leap to think that God can and does raise the dead? The idea that something came from nothing is more implausible than the idea that God created us. The idea that death is our destiny goes against our innate human yearning for transcendence, or as Solomon put it, 'God has set eternity in our hearts'.  If we're going to believe in God, who spoke all things into being, it's not a massive step to consider that God could, would want to, and does raise the dead. Death is an imposter on the universal stage. Resurrection is God's way of rest

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God". And from then on no-one dared ask Him any more questions. Mark 12:34 NIV The teacher of the law knew what life was all about. There's one God, who commands us to love Him and others. So far so good. Nothing majorly controversial there.  But Jesus perceived that this man wasn't necessarily trying to be clever or to catch Him out. This man was near the kingdom of God. What's wrong with that?  Well, when you're part of Caesar's kingdom, to claim to be part of God's kingdom seems potentially treasonous. In fact, one of the reasons Jesus was crucified was because He claimed to be the King of the Jews, seemingly rebellious against Rome. So even the wise teacher of the law had no more questions when he heard Jesus' assessment of him. Are we prepared to renounce our claims of earthly citizenship, in order to stake our claims of heavenly citizenship? Of co

for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. Luke 1:49 ESV Humanly speaking, the virgin conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb was a massive inconvenience for her. As the bump became obvious, she could no longer hide that she was pregnant, and everyone would have assumed that she had either been unfaithful to her fiance Joseph, or else she'd cheated on him. Maybe that's why she went to visit her relative Elizabeth in the south of the country, away from her nosy, judgemental neighbours. Visiting Elizabeth will have been a great blessing. Elderly Elizabeth and Zechariah were expecting their own miracle baby: John 'the Baptist', as he would be known as a grown up, the herald of Mary's Son Jesus, the Saviour of the world. Whilst there, Mary broke out into a poetic expression of praise, from which we get this verse. Almighty God truly did great things for Mary. Whatever the stigma of the virgin birth, the honour and respo

Moses built an altar and called it 'The Lord is my banner'. Exodus 17:15 NIV One might have thought that it was all about Moses. He raised his hands and Israel won; he lowered his hands and Israel lost. Moses may well have assumed that Israel's victory depended on him.  But by simply raising his hands, Moses wasn't particularly helping the war effort. What he was doing was expressing Israel's utter dependence on God. If he relied on God, Israel was winning. If he tired of waiting upon God, Israel was losing.  So Moses knew that it wasn't the strength of his arms in which the victory was won. He knew it was in the strength of the God to whom he raised his arms. The Lord was his banner, and is that of all his people.  William the Conqueror had the papal banner with him into battle at Hastings. But Moses wasn't trusting in some religious man like himself. He was trusting in the Lord his God, the banner of His people.  'Lord our God, we thank You for being t

  You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. Exodus 20:7 NIV This is often interpreted as being about swearing or blasphemy. Devout Jews take it so seriously that they will not even pronounce the name of the Lord. To be honest, if swearing is one extreme, I think refusing to mention God at all is the other.  If I know my wife's name, I shouldn't use it as a swear word whenever something bad happens. Neither however should I keep quiet about her when someone seems to be trying to flirt with me. It's about respecting the name and using it in the right contexts.  If I was to never speak my wife's name, I think you would doubt I was in love with her. If I was to constantly go on about her, it might get a bit wearisome. I think the balance is somewhere in the middle.  We don't have to repeatedly preach God to people who repeatedly refuse to listen. We don't have to throw our pearls before swin

  But the wicked will perish; the Lord's enemies will be like the beauty of the fields, they will vanish- vanish like the smoke. Psalm 37:20 NIV To the casual observer, this might seem a bit of a harsh verse. But if you don't have any enemies, maybe it's because you haven't stood up for anything worth fighting for. Of course, our battle isn't against flesh and blood, but the devil isn't above conscripting flesh and blood into his armies.  Thankfully, the wicked spawn of satan will assuredly perish, even though Jesus came so that they don't have to. We can be adopted into God's family. Thankfully we can be changed from evildoers to saints.  I live in a town that means 'Englishman's barley fields'. Lovely. The kind of place that a Viking might covet. But even the beauty of Ingleby Barwick will pass away.  A day of reckoning is coming. And unless we've made our peace with God, we're going to go up like a puff of smoke. Best to reconcile

Wait for the Lord and keep His way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it. Psalm 37:34 NIV The Day of Judgment will be a day of high drama. Some will inherit the new creation, and some will be cut off. The difference is in our relationship to the Lord. If we wait for Him and keep His way, a wonderful inheritance awaits.  We need to be patient, and we need to stick to the straight and narrow. It's a long, hard slog onwards and upwards, to the exultation of glory. We need to persevere.  We need to be in it for the long haul. We can't just give up after a hundred metres. Some people are trekking the Jesus trail, others are cruising down the highway to hell. But even if the narrow path is harder, it has a better outcome.  To go with the flow down the wide road to destruction is to be like a lemmings running off a cliff. This verse could make us shrug our shoulders, but if we have any divinity in us, we would warn people of the danger th

Because of Your wrath, there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin. Psalm 38:3 NIV It's important to clarify that just because somebody's ill, doesn't necessarily mean to say that their illness is a direct result of their sin. Job is a good example to us, in that he was a man with great integrity, and yet he still fell seriously ill. In this verse however, David seemed clear that sin was a direct cause of his illness.  Even nowadays, we can conclude that if someone has a STD, it's probably because they've been promiscuous. Knowing what we do of David, this may well have been the case here. Sometimes God punishes our sins with diseases.  Is coronavirus a direct punishment of God upon a rebellious world? Maybe. But not everyone who gets coronavirus does so as a direct result of their own personal sins, I trust that I didn't a couple of months ago!  What David is warning us here is that sin has consequences, even in this life. He'

  We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Romans 15:1 ESV Spiritual strength isn't synonymous with physical, emotional or mental strength. I would define it as not necessarily having a doctorate in Biblical studies. Instead, I suspect what Paul is referring to is Christlike integrity.  Jesus didn't come across as a particularly strong man in the world's eyes. He was a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. He was known to weep as well as to rejoice at other times.  Having a stiff upper lip isn't spiritual strength, that is emotional frigidity. That's not what God calls us to. But God does call us to be people of the Book. We need to be men and women not necessarily of our own words, but certainly who align our lives to the Word of God.  Spiritual weakness might include moral failings and doubts about faith. If we're strong though, we're not to trample on the weak, but to bear with them, a

  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16 ESV Baptism is popularly described as 'an outward sign of an inward act'. But we need to clarify what we mean by baptism. Do we mean water baptism, or baptism in the Holy Spirit? And once we've established that, what do we mean by those two respective things?  Water baptism isn't having a drop of 'holy water' sprinkled on our foreheads. It is being dunked in water: symbolizing being washed in Jesus' blood and dying and rising again with Him. Water baptism doesn't save our souls.  Being baptised in the Holy Spirit isn't simply being able to speak gobbledegook. Biblically, being baptised in the Holy Spirit is synonymous with being born again. There's no 'second blessing' for the true believer, although we are leaky vessels and do need continual refilling of the Holy Spirit.  Mark is talking about baptism in the Holy Spirit here: bein

 1:1 Paul was an apostle, of whom there are many self-appointed people nowadays.  Biblically, 'apostle' isn't some demigogical office, it simply means messenger. Obviously being a messenger of the King of kings and the Lord of lords is a big deal. Paul wasn't some self-appointed messenger, he was directly commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. 2. Paul wasn't some lone ranger however. He was part of a ministry team. But it wasn't Paul Ministries, serving Paul. It was the Lord Jesus Christ's ministry. Paul and Co. were ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ. They had planted churches in the Galatian region of Asia Minor in the eastern Roman Empire, modern day Turkey, and it was to these that Paul and Co. wrote.  The fact that often Paul refers to cosignatories of his letters suggests that his letters weren't just some personal opinions, but a collaborative effort. 3. Maybe we shouldn't just say 'hi', or 'ey up' if we're from

  But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God. Job 13:3 ESV I think if we're honest, most of us wouldn't have the guts to say what Job says here. Most of us probably know deep down that if we had an encounter with the Almighty, we wouldn't come out of it too well, humanly speaking. I know for me as a sinner, to meet the Holy One is an intimidating prospect.  Job however had great integrity. He was confident that he could survive an encounter with the Sovereign Lord of glory unscathed. His hope however was not in himself, but in the Lord Himself. He acknowledged the sins of his youth, and although I'm sure he wasn't perfect at this stage, he didn't deserve the suffering he was going through.  When we have 'Job's comforters', unhelpful friends, and the devil himself accusing us of wrong when we know we have integrity, we may well with Job plead an audience with the King of kings. God is just, a terror to the unjust, and a

 I used to blog prolifically on the W*rdPress platform, but I scrapped that and have decided to migrate over here, where I have a feeling I had an abortive blog back in the day. 'Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates' is a reference to Proverbs 8:34 in the Bible, written by the wisest non-God man ever to have lived, King Solomon of ancient Israel, about 3,000 years ago. In that verse, he personifies wisdom, who says that those who watch daily at her gates are blessed (made spiritually happy by God). Solomon was a man who immersed himself into life, and tasted much of what it had to offer, which could be conveniently alliterated as Ws. God gave Solomon a blank check of whatever he liked, and he asked for Wisdom, which God gave him.  But he also tried his hand at Wine (/folly/drunkenness).  He indulged in Women (700 wives and 300 concubines!).  He did great Work (building God a temple in Jerusalem amongst many other things).  He had great Wealth (anything that money could buy at t