TRAPPINGS

Time with Jesus - 26 Oct 2013

Hi all,

Old fashioned British comedy continues to be a favourite for Phyllida and me. “Steptoe and Son”, “Dad’s Army”, “Surgical Spirits”, “The Thin Blue Line”, just about everything produced by Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett along with John Cleese. We also love the James Herriot series, “All Creatures Great and Small”. People say to us that we are still stuck back in the 1980’s. 
“Times have changed!” we are told. “Don’t you think you should get up to date?” I suppose there is some justification in this criticism. But have things got better or are they truly worse? Put it this way. For forty years after WWII, we could go to the movies, turn on the radio or TV and look at programmes that contained virtually no bad language. Today, wherever you go, you are confronted by men and women using the “F” word as though it was a part of normal, everyday speech. Judging from what we hear in public, it’s from the lips of men and women. So much so, we are no longer shocked. Offended? - Yes! Shocked? - No!

This has become more obvious as we watch DSTV. The antics and gyrations of the people advertising anything and everything are deliberately intended to inflame passion. In our case it does. We become passionate in our drive to switch the thing off. The easy method once was by changing channels. That no longer works. 

Car for sale?

The whole thing has been programmed such that if you change from one channel to another, you are in the middle of their adverts, which are mostly worse than the ones you switched off. In the early days of movies, there was a rule which stated that no possible sexual situation could be “shot” unless the actors had one foot on the ground. Now it’s gone. Instead, the young ladies compete with each other to see how little they can wear and get away with society’s almost non-existent decency requirements. 

We get a clue from the advertising billboards we see wherever we go. Filth has become fashionable. Instead of sex being reserved for one partner for life, we have been “liberated” to be as debauched as we want to be. You know what I mean. If it feels good, do it.

Selling cars or legs

The western world is beginning to be much as it was in the days of Methuselah and Noah. ⁵ The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. Genesis 6:5 TNIV Back then He decided it was time to wash the planet clean. He did so in His own inimitable way. A worldwide flood did the trick. Mind you, He had warned mankind for over a millennium that He would do so. In that instance, Methuselah’s name and Noah’s building the ark were His means of advertising. 

He is Coming

Noah’s ark was much bigger than any advertising billboard we have ever seen. Nevertheless, Methuselah’s name was ignored, much as our morality requirements are ignored today. As for Noah! He was a wonderful boat builder. But he was not much good as a preacher. “Hey Noah, what you building in that corn patch?” “An Ark!” “Why Noah?” “Because it’s going to rain!” “What’s rain Noah?” We get the picture.

Later on, during the days of Abraham and Lot, God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of the wickedness of the inhabitants. On that occasion, He used fire and brimstone. I suppose it looked something like what we see when a volcano erupts. There is a difference though. The Almighty God can pour down fire and brimstone from nothing. If He could create the universe from nothing with only a word or two, fire and brimstone from nothing is little more than a side show.

An Advert for Holiness?

One of the biggest differences between marketing methods and our God, is that He has no need to repeat Himself. Just a word is all it takes. I’m reminded of the sign erected at the end of the pier. It said, “No Parking Beyond this Point!” You don’t have to believe it. However, if you try and push the boundaries, you and your car will get wet. Funnily enough, the sign was put up for our benefit. It wasn’t erected on the whim of the pier owner to make life difficult. Another example is when we tell our children “Don’t touch the hot plate on the stove. It will burn you.” You say it to protect them. It’s much the same as His instruction to Adam in the garden. “Don’t eat the fruit from that tree, if you do, it will kill you!” Adam did and he died! Don’t blame God.

Look at the accessories

The closest we come in the Old Testament, of God resorting to advertising methods, was when He gave the Moral Law to Moses. It happened on the top of a mountain amid an array of “advertisements”. Thunder, clouds, and lightning flashes; it’s what we would call a “pyrotechnic display” today. The Israelites were terrified. I’m not surprised. (It would be some +200 generations later that one of Jacob’s offspring, Stephen Spielberg, would be around to direct the cameras). This “display” certainly intimidated the people.

Nevertheless, God gave the Moral Law to Moses engraved by His finger on two tablets of stone. We call them the Ten Commandments. We should call them the Ten Freedoms. If you remain within the limits of these freedoms, all will go well with you. Most of them are not too difficult. I don’t want to steal or murder, because of what that will do to me. Adultery is the same. The consequences and ramifications from doing so are not very nice.

For most of us, the 10^th one is the hardest and where we all come a cropper. In essence it says, “don’t even want to break the other 9!” It’s a bit like the old couple being interviewed after 50 years of marriage. “Have you ever thought about divorce”, the old man was asked. “Divorce? Never! Murder? Many, many times!” Mmmmm!

Shalom

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – 26 Oct 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
©	These devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it is for non-commercial Christian purposes					©
INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	TRAPPINGS
Advertising! The Western Church seems to be besotted with it. Some of our “big name” preachers have an itinerary that is fully booked for more than a year ahead. A year or so ago we went to see one of the best known names among Astronomy and Christianity. Dr David Bloch gave a presentation at a local South African Methodist Church. It was wonderful stuff. But if you want him to come and give a lecture, try booking something like two years ahead. Much the same can be said for men like Benny Hinn and T D Jakes. You may find it easier with women like Joyce Meyer or Paula White, but I have my doubts. Incidentally, I’m not seeking to criticise these men or women in any way. They are doing the best they can under tremendously difficult circumstances. Personally, I would be greatly intimidated by having to generate the finance for the number of people who are working in their ministries. They can’t afford to have a poor “turn-out” where they have been invited to preach. If this means that there is insufficient money coming in to finance them, it will very quickly be “game over”! Incidentally, don’t be put off (or on) by the comment “God will Provide”. Charlatans and wicked men have succeeded without God’s help. So don’t be impressed by the “size” of their Ministry. It can be a real trap. You have to preach what the people want to hear. If you don’t, the people will soon go elsewhere. The fame is fabulous but what about motive? Jesus put it like this: 5 "When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth that is all the reward they will ever get. Matthew 6:5 NLT Now people may point at me and say, “You are speaking from an envious spirit”. Perhaps that’s true. At least I’m willing to consider that possibility. In the final analysis, the Lord will decide! Jesus used none of these advertising tricks. He didn’t “pander to the crowd”. At times He deliberately avoided them. He didn’t publicise. He relied entirely on word of mouth and the power of the Holy Spirit. I’ve heard it said it’s doubtful if even His ministry could have survived the “fall-out” from a modern advertising campaign! I believe that people didn’t only come to watch a miracle worker. They came to see a man full of the Holy Spirit. A Man in Whom the Fruit of the Holy Spirit was visible in abundance. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Even during His closing hours, hanging on the cross, these “qualities” were on display. From these qualities, the very Nature of God was revealed. But crucifixion invariably exposes hidden agenda. He had none! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. Malachi 2:15 ESV	Jesus, when He walked the Earth, was not like us at all. His hunt for reputation was very, very small. He didn’t use the internet, or send out bulk email. He had no use for Google. And measured on a scale Of one to ten, publicity would not have helped one jot. The “Galilean Herald”, He totally forgot. He didn’t use these trappings. There truly was no need. Dependence upon word of mouth was what had been decreed. Was it a disadvantage? Not from the things I’ve read. You don’t need 10 inch headlines, to say you’ve raised the dead! And when you cleanse the lepers; and recreate an eye. You don’t need a press agent! The folk won’t pass you by! And what of competition? He didn’t really mind. If you’re not against Him, I’m sure that you will find, That He is not against you. That’s what the Scripture says. And He retained this attitude. Big-heartedness still pays! He had no hidden motives; God’s Kingdom was His goal. He came so He could rescue us and save our sinful souls. He didn’t have to look around at the itiner’y, Of other big name preachers, within the ministry. He didn’t have to do that. He knew He wouldn’t fail; And it would be accomplished on a vast eternal scale! Moses was the first one; when others prophesied. “Don’t think I am jealous” this man of God replied. “I wish the Lord’s anointing was resting on them all! If everyone could prophesy, I think we’d have a ball! So leave Eldad and Medad and do not make them stop. If it isn’t from the Lord, you’ll find their words will flop!” This was the Master’s attitude! He wanted folk to try. No lost opportunities should ever be passed by. His face was not on street-pole adds and there was no campaign. I’m sure He would regard such things with absolute disdain. If folk were not attracted, by Holy Spirit power, To come along and hear Him, the meeting would go sour! And that is what we’re seeing throughout the world today. If we advertise it, we will not have to pray! No wonder signs and miracles are now so seldom seen. The only way that this will change is when our hearts are clean. Jim Strickland Written 26th October 2012
			49 John answered, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us." 50 But Jesus said to him, "Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you." Luke 9:49-50 ESV
			54 And seeing, His disciples James and John said, Lord, do You desire that we command fire to come down from Heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did? 55 But He turned and rebuked them and said, You do not know of what spirit you are. Luke 9:54-55 MKJV
			27 And a young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, "My lord Moses, stop them." 29 But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" Numbers 11:27-29 ESV
			22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:22-26 ESV