A Facebook Post from earlier this evening…

OK, I get nostalgic these days.. but in a thankful to God way. I was just remembering after I was converted that I would listen to ministers who preached the hell and heaven out of any verse they handled along with the clear meaning to boot! Such preaching saddened me. I felt betrayed in some sense. God had invaded my life unexpectedly, the Kingdom of God had drawn near to me. Simple clear bible teaching at an S.U. camp had given me the scent of a Saviour I sought and was found by. I knew there was a hell and I knew there was a heaven. I had been born from above to live a new and eternal life to the glory of the God in Christ. (I was reminded by a friend’s Facebook post the other day that as Tom Torrance said and taught, there is no God hiding behind Jesus! Profound and beautiful as anything he ever said…. and more understandable than a lot of what he said! Would that such clarity had remained into our generation)
What I heard from pulpits as I sought to grow in my faith in the earliest year or two was dull petty moralisms, usually based more on a story than on a biblical text, that no sensible person would ever disagree with and which we hardly, it seemed to me, needed Christ to come and tell us. If it was all about little do good moralisms, the Father made a dreadful mistake sending His Son to an agonising sin bearing death when all he needed to do was get people to nod their wise heads at a few obvious truths for living. It was such a life giving joy and relief to end up at St. George’s Tron and hear the preaching of the late Rev. George B Duncan. I often sat transfixed, not really wanting to move at the end of a service because the word was so full of eternal life. I felt I wanted to bask in its effective power. The same awareness of the power of the Word when it is preached for what it is, God-breathed, blessed me too under the ministry of G.B.D’s successor, Rev. Eric J Alexander…. so grateful for these and other influences….sad for those who were brought up on preaching with hell and heaven kicked out of it. “Sheep without a Shepherd “ comes to mind…..
An odd collection of folk seem to be my Facebook friends! It may be you are not yet a Christian but you would like to find out what it is all about. Well, why not find a church where the bible is explained rather than explained away? It doesn’t really matter the banner over the door. Test the fruit if you want to know there is something life giving planted there or not. Do these people believe and live out the bible simply and faithfully, or do they question it and live in denial of what it teaches, merely following the dictates of the culture around them? If you live in a country where that is not possible for you, then I hope you may have access on line to some good bible teaching. Be discerning though. The minute it seems obvious to you that the text is being explained away rather than explained, look elsewhere, as there will be no life transforming presence of Christ to be found there. R.T. Kendall would be a good place to start. If you need more suggestions PM me.

God bless.

Kenny

P.S.

Friend, there is a heaven to be received and a hell to be shunned. Jesus died for sinners like you and me. You don’t get into heaven by being good. You need a saviour. That is why Jesus came. To bear the punishment our sins deserved and to open the door into the unending Kingdom of God to all who will repent and believe in Him. The bible says, “God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but shall have eternal life.” Friend, “Repent and believe the gospel.” the Kingdom of heaven is not just future. Jesus has made it possible for you to become part of that Kingdom now. He came to tell us this good news: “The Kingdom of heaven is near.” He opened the door into that Kingdom for all by his sin-bearing death. Trust in Him and no condemnation awaits you. Follow Him as your Lord. Ask Him to bring the forgiveness which He died to make possible into your life and to give you the power of the Spirit to live a new life as a born again child of God!

Oh, I don’t know all who will read this, but I hope some actual friends  of which there are a few, who once walked with Jesus but don’t seem to be at the moment, may come back to the One who loves you and gave himself for you. Would you not rather have Jesus than silver or gold, than riches untold, than fame, than anything this world affords? I pray that a desire will be reawakened in you to follow Him. You know He is real. You once knew the reality of His love, His power, His truth, His Word, His Spirit  coursing through your veins with the joy of salvation. You once loved His people and blessed them abundantly. Remember when He broke in! Remember! It was an unexpected miracle, not expected by you or by anyone! WHAT HAPPENED? What wrong did Christ do you that He no longer has your first love? Don’t do it for me! Do it for Him! He is worthy of all your love, all your devotion. He had it once, or so it seemed. Might this be the last chance before your heart becomes too hard? God’s Spirit will not strive with us forever.

May he give you tears and words with which to come to Him, may there be a melting caused by tenderest most trustworthy love….

1

In tenderness He sought me,
Weary and sick with sin,
And on His shoulders brought me
Into His fold again.
While angels in His presence sang
Until the courts of heaven rang.
Oh, the love that sought me!
Oh, the blood that bought me!
Oh, the grace that brought me to the fold,
Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold!

2
He washed the bleeding sin-wounds,
And poured in oil and wine;
He whispered to assure me,
“I’ve found thee, thou art Mine:”
I never heard a sweeter voice,
It made my aching heart rejoice.

Oh, the love that sought me!
Oh, the blood that bought me!
Oh, the grace that brought me to the fold,
Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold!

Christ would ask someone who reads this:  “Art thou ashamed of me, the tender lover of your soul? Art thou ashamed to be counted with my people? There is a way back, beloved. The power of my blood goes as deep as the stain has gone and deeper still. You proved that once. Prove it once more! My shed  blood never loses its power!”