Following on from an earlier post about Daniel being flung into the lions’ den when he was in his 80’s contrary to some artistic interpretations that portray him as a young man, here is an idea that may correct our usual image of another famous biblical incident: Isaac could have been 30 when Abraham bound him and placed him on an altar and raised a knife above him ready to kill him on Mount Moriah, not a child or a youth in our way of thinking and measuring such things. Other traditions and commentators say he could have been 18. Impossible to prove? Sure. However, going by some phrases in the biblical text to do with the passing of time before this incident  and the fact that the death of Sarah, Isaac’s mother, at the age of 127 is the next chronological detail we are told after the story of Mount Moriah, I think the suggestion that we should think of him as a “young man” rather than a”young boy”  is a sensible one to make. A young man could have carried the considerable weight of wood required for a sacrifice on his shoulders, a young boy could not.  The word used to describe Isaac could be translated either as “young boy” or “young man.”

As a young man,  with the physical strength to climb a mountain while carrying heavy wood upon his shoulders, Isaac could have easily overpowered his Father at several points in the story, but didn’t. That is extreme meekness. Not weakness, but meekness. Did Isaac not have plans  for his life? Dreams? Of course!

The first picture I remember seeing of Daniel in the lions’ den was of a youth. Actually, he would have been in his 80’s. Never stop daring to be a Daniel. Let’s honour every “Daniel” and “Danielle” in our fellowships. It is a shame when those who have stood for the Lord for decades are treated as though they have had their day: no longer listened to; no longer allowed to sing the songs of their earlier journey as they journey on; patronised with an accommodating smile because of their “Thee” and “Thou” language and corresponding discipleship that has not apparently caught up with the modernity of God as chum or pal, but quaintly regards their Father in Heaven as the Almighty and the Holy One of Israel, whom they love and would love still even though He should slay them.

God bless

Kenny

Advance Notice Folks! 7th – 9th June, Stornoway, Lewis. A conference with R.T. Kendall and me!! 70th. Anniversary of the much talked about Revival that began in that year and produced such amazing fruit in terms of renewal of God’s people and the salvation of the lost – many of them young people, teenagers at the time. Many people too were called into full-time ministry and mission work. Genuine Revival always overflows in salvation and mission, the fruit of which lasts in some shape or form, even spreading all over the world. I have met some of the fruit! I did not know one of the converts of the revival was standing behind me once as I stood at the church door in Barvas many years ago now, shaking hands with the worshippers after a Church meeting, but suddenly I was overcome by the presence of the Lord, by His sheer beauty. I started to weep at the church door not knowing at that point in time why I was experiencing the Lord’s presence with such fullness and beauty. It was due to a lady filled to overflowing with the Lord at her conversion in the revival and filled to overflowing still. Truest beauty.

I know it involves travel etc, but it is going to be open to all if you are able to come and wish to do so. More details to follow and will post them here, but thought I should let you know as early as possible in case some of you wanted to make arrangements to get there as time rushes on. Anyway, very humbled to be part of this as I know of no Bible teacher that is more prophetic, in the truest sense of that word, than R.T. Kendall. The anointing on him gets stronger and stronger in my opinion the older he gets. If you can afford to take time to get there and have the finances to get there then I commend it to you. I am trusting God I will be well enough, but if I have to miss one of my scheduled occasions to preach, well, that will be a blessing, because the amazing Tommy MacNeil will step in and you will be doubly blessed. Even six months ago, agreeing to go and speak at this would have been an impossibility for me and very unwise, but things are much more stable for me health wise than they have been at any time in the last 7 years since this illness, was first diagnosed.

Anyway, as I say, will post more details in due course! Cannae wait myself!! Such amazing life is springing forth in a multiplicity of ways, an explosion of the activity of God, in the church Tommy ministers in, in Stornoway, a harvest that includes another crop of young folk coming to faith in Jesus. It will be wonderful to be in the midst of the working of God’s Spirit.

(Edited this to emphasise this: The publicity and how to register is being prepared at the moment. This is really just to alert you in case you want to get travel arrangements in place. Some people are already booking up ferries etc. Details for registering etc should appear on the website of Martins Memorial Church, Stornoway, soon, or their Facebook page or both. I guess the important thing at this stage is to think about travel and accommodation if you are thinking of coming along. To keep costs down, why not fill up a car with your friends, or get your friends to go and help to fill up their car! There is the option of flying of course, but that is quite pricey, but if you have the means, and feel the go-ahead of God’s Spirit, well, go for it! Of course God is everywhere all the time, but He can also be in some places at some moments in time in a particular way. I feel in my spirit this weekend may well be one such moment.)

Anyway, keep looking out for publicity and details if you are interested in going.

God bless

Kenny

“Lord, teach me to be generous
to serve you as you deserve,
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to look for any reward,
save that of knowing that I do your holy will.”

On Facebook today someone asked me what I mean when I talked about some prophets being the “real deal.”  The phrase was used in the context of commenting on conflicting prophecies in the Charismatic world on Brexit! This is how I responded. I did so instantly without thinking too much. Sometimes I find if I refine my thinking too much it loses some “life” even if it becomes a bit more polished and “clever.” I have posted my comment on that reality. The definition of the “real deal” in answer to a question put to me then follows  in italics.

“What to do when prophets disagree over Brexit…. as they are doing in the charismatic world- even prophets I admire and suspect are the real deal, not always right of course, but real? Well, I guess I trust most the ones that seem to tally most with the heart of God, the priorities of God revealed in Christ. Some make no mention of that…just ardent proclamation on the political level backed up by pretty inaccurate versions of history. Others are quite beautiful, full of compassion and grace, allied to a desire for righteousness and justice, without claiming the Scriptural high ground. After all, you can make a case for or against Brexit from Scripture very easily indeed, as you can with a lot of issues, so it can’t be settled that way. Leaving aside isolated texts that folk quote to back up their case, to whom does the heart of God go out towards? I look for prophecies that reflect that. They help me to pray with hope and faith. Such prophets sound as though they have nothing to prove and no axe to grind but speak with a quiet authority.”

…

“The ‘real deal?’ Someone who knows how to be in the counsel of the Lord, to hear His voice. They are marked in my experience, with humility, Scriptural faithfulness, Christ-like character and with a level of accuracy and insightful knowledge that shows this is coming from the Lord who knows all things, even things unwitnessed or unseen on a human level. They will always obey the rule of Scripture for New Testament prophecy, which is that even if there are things difficult to say and to hear, the fruit is seen in that people are strengthened, comforted and encouraged in the will and the ways of God.”

This may be of interest to you…and it may not be!

God bless

Kenny

I had a dream last night about how often we settle for forgiveness rather than freedom, the comfort of grace rather than the true grace of God leading us to the joy of the Conqueror.

Have you settled for a circle of forgiveness and defeat? Remember that in Christ you have been given the authority and the power to live as a child of God. Don’t stop with forgiveness, though forgiveness alone  would be reason to praise God for all eternity. Pursue freedom.  In Christ you really can get past the wave that so continually seems to have washed you back to the shore in despair and seems to have mocked your desire to get beyond it to swim in the freedom of God. Don’t listen to the mockery one day longer. Ge hold of this truth: your sinful nature has been crucified with Christ.  Declare that truth over familiar temptation anytime it seems to mock you with a sense of its invincibility and of  inevitability of sin.

 ^“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior,^[b] Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds (Titus 2. 11 – 14, NRSV).”

Let the grace of God in Jesus be your personal trainer!

God bless you with hope.

Kenny

Sometimes Christians like myself make looking for guidance from God a feverish sort of enterprise. It can become a bit of a fraught and anxious affair. Well, this thought was in my mind today in my waking moments. “Put your life into His hands, walk in obedience to His commands, and trust that the ordering of your steps is happening.” As Children of God, we are being guided even when we don’t necessarily have an awareness of it happening.

I like the following words from a poem in one of the books I turn to from time to time as a daily devotional aid, “Celtic Day Prayer, Book 2 (Page 889).”

Here are 3 short posts I put on Facebook today. In my mind they are variations on a theme, but that may be clearer to me than to you when you read them. They were sparked off by reading a dismissal of the compatibility of Psychiatry and Christianity. Sadly, one often reads of those who claim to believe in the bible and to honour it making claims that deny what the bible actually states and teaches. The thoughts I read seemed to me to be a very disturbing and potentially extremely unhelpful and dangerous should they become planted in people’s minds. The following thoughts seemed to flow in rapid succession to one another..

Thought 1: “One meets incredible thoughts on Facebook at times. Read a comment today that Christianity and Psychiatry can’t coexist. Ah well, it would seem in some folks’ eyes no Psychiatrist can be a Christian and no Christian can be a Psychiatrist. The bible is so inconvenient for such opinions. It contains such a lot of excellent insight and help for the renewal and wellbeing of our minds.”

Thought 2: “It is no dishonour at all to the uniqueness of Christ, no denial of Jesus as the only Name in which salvation can be found, to speak of God’s common grace toward all: the blessings He gives to all mankind for their good, whether a person is a Christian or not. So, for example, I am grateful for medicine, education, harvest, friendship, love, to name just a few of a thousand common grace blessings from God. I am so glad they do not just belong to Christians. I would find that intolerable. I cannot imagine anyone with the love of God in their hearts for the world in its lostness and need could ever find that anything but intolerable. Even other religions according to the bible can be seen as a feeling after God, indeed that is specifically taught in the New Testament. It is Apostolic truth. There is no need to attack everything in order to defend Christ. So often I have felt the anointing of God’s Spirit, His Presence come into the midst, as people who are not believers in Christ have spoken of their profound gratefulness to a God who they make no pretence to truly know as yet. Gratefulness is a good start.”

Thought 3: “God in the New Testament honours the preaching of His Word by interrupting it. Do we want that? Are we praying for that? Satan interrupts the Word as well. We need to learn who is interrupting and what to do when it happens, otherwise we may well reject God’s Spirit from the life of the Church because we think it is the devil at work, or welcome the devil because we think his activity is God at work. Remember when the devil interrupts in the New Testament he is usually declaring the truth of who Christ is. Biblical Orthodoxy, though it is a good thing to pursue, is not a fail-safe guide as to what is happening.”

God bless

Kenny

Felt the fire of God upon my body through the night. Wondered if I had been healed. Not the case, I think, but you know what? It showed me God can heal me any time He chooses, if He can touch me like that. You know something else? Compared with the wonder of His very own presence, healing seems a much lesser treasure to be desired. His Name shall called “Wonderful!” He is Life. His glory is not imagination but is unimaginable. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom. We could not survive it. Thank God we will be changed to bear His presence and love forever. Thank God for tastes of eternity, moments that speak to us of an eternity to come. Praise the Name of the God who appears and who hides Himself, who captures out heart and lures us deeper in. What would it be like if His presence and Fire came down on a congregation? Revival! What if that presence spilled over into the community? Awakening. This God can turn a community back to Him in a single day. I believe it! Whatever you are called to be and be doing for God, God bless you in it, but don’t stop believing for Revival, for another Awakening. The “normal” work must go on, and for that we will give account. We cannot sit back and do nothing as those who have been given the Good News, but oh for days as in times of refreshing in the past in Scotland, when all that people can say in communities across the length and breadth of this land is, “God has come!”

It has taken me nearly fifty years to understand some of what I understand about Christ and for some things about me to change by the power of God’s grace and truth. God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit has been very patient with me. Oh how patient. No doubt He has been extremely patient with you too. We need to remember that when we get frustrated with one another and don’t understand why someone or other is not getting something or other or walking in victory over something or other as quickly as we think should be the case. Why the confusion? Think often of how patient and long suffering God’s love has been with you and with me, how often we went round and round and round the roundabouts, and are still going round a few no doubt.

“Thy patience, Lord. Please help me to treasure Thy patience in me for me. Help me to want  to make room for Thy Patience in me through me for others.”

God bless

Kenny

I once shared in a conference in America with R.T. Kendall and John Paul Jackson and David Ravenhill (son of Leonard). I am not name dropping, honest! The point is, I felt afraid. I respected these men so much and felt on the human level I was out of my league. I blurted out these feelings to JPJ in the lift in the hotel one morning. I told him about my inadequacies, the shortcomings and failings and sins. I said I wanted him to know all these things about me, and how unfit I was to be sharing in the conference he had organised. He laughed and smiled with great love and said, “Kenny, years ago, God told me that he builds his flock with the spotted and the speckled, and I was to build with the spotted and the speckled too.” It was a reference to the story of Jacob. My heart was set at peace instantly, and I was set free to be me at the conference without any more worries.

That came to mind today for one or two reasons. I felt I wanted to share it. We are all spotted and speckled. Don’t turn down an opportunity God opens to you by counting yourself out. One of my heroes, JPJ, has passed into glory leaving much blessing and enduring influence. You and I are still alive. My favourite Proverb? “Better a live dog than a dead lion.” If you are alive this day, don’t let awe of lions stop you from rejoicing in the gift of a bark! Use it!

God bless

Kenny