More from Job: A Man's Prime

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am in the middle (well almost the end) of reading through the book of Job. What a treat, how glorious to immerse oneself in the interactions of these 'friends' and see your own thoughts summed up and expressed often.

On Sunday morning I read a verse in the 29th Chapter that struck with divine force. Basically it is a verse that gives the biblical mandate for what is man's prime! This is something that every male thinks on; it is also something that popular culture has a lot to say on that is drastically different from this biblical view. I'll share it shall I?

"Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house, when the almighty was still with me and my children were around me, when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil."

WOW! I don't want to say much more, I just want to summarize:
* Intimate friend of God
* Home atmosphere is 'affected' by this
* Knows the presence of the Almighty
* A father, or a man who seeks to be a father figure
* Path is lavishly blessed with the goodness of God

Let's seek to be such men, pursuing our prime in every life stage.

SImon

Name Change

This last Sunday we announced a name change for our church. We were Church of Christ the King Watford (most of my conversations finished before I could complete the name) and have now changed it to a very simple name but also a name which demands a lifestyle. We are now called Christ First.

In many ways if any born-again Christian wanted to be part of a church that made a huge difference to society instead of being somewhat invisible which is often the case in the UK they would just need to embrace this name this identity as the ruling motive of their existence. I guess that is what we were struck by in our seeking to name the church this. As one of my other Elders mentioned on Sunday, "It does what it says on the tin." We do want to be a church that puts Christ First in all that we do and we certainly want our people to be driven by this as their ruling passion; you can't have one without the other I would surmise.

Oh yes and we talk the extremely risky (within church circles it seems anyway) move of having a logo as an identifiable brand in this extremely visually-aesthetics driven culture. We called it 'X1'. X being the ancient summary symbol for the word KRISTOS used by the greek Christians in the first century. We'll see where God takes us, but it is an immensely exciting moment when you begin to claim your unique identity by naming it!!

Take a look...

Simon

The Heart of Job

Job is a stunning book of scripture. When one peers into the torment he receives at every side all the while retaining his righteousness and 'not sin[ning] against God', you have to be amazed. His interactions with his 'friends' are quite insightful and some of the comments made in an almost 'off the cuff' fashion are theologically rich and inspiring.

A verse that struck me today (and I have read the book of Job many times) was this verse in chapter 23. It is verse 12

"I have not departed from the commands of [God's] lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread."

Suddenly a huge area of the life and heart of Job is unveiled for me and I can see maybe one central foundational reason for his ability to endure incomparable suffering, all the while remaining a worshiper of God. He lived upon the word of God, he loved it, fed on it, no even feasted upon it! His mind was formed by the truth of God's promises and guarded with the assurance of His goodness and faithfulness.

We Western Christians do not suffer at all well today, we are barely any different to people who do not have our faith. This is a terrible tragedy and causes a lost world to turn away in confusion. Is one of the main reasons we suffer so down to our lack of hunger for the wholesome, soul-strengthening truth of God's word/
That question is almost rhetorical because I am certain that is so.

Simon

My Office Visitor

You know you're blessed when you get a visit at the office by someone as wonderful as this little dude!

Simon

The Vital Link

The Cross without the Resurrection is an incomplete gospel, the two are vitally linked:

"The cross and the resurrection of Jesus belong together. They should never have been divorced into separate and all but hermetically-sealed components of dogmatic theology. It is not the cross which saves. It is Jesus, crucified and risen. 'Jesus was put to death for our offences and raised for our justification' (Rom 4: 25). And because this link has been so often lost sight of, our grasp on both cross and resurrection has been weakened. How could the death of a self-styled messianic figure avail for anyone - if God had not raised Him from the dead. And what is the resurrection but god's vindication of that suffering figure who dies in ignominy on the public gallows... they belong together."

- Michael Green

Simon