Broad versus Narrow

I recently came across a copy I have of an old Victorian poster - the type you would find in the church Sunday School room. It is called The Broad and Narrow way and is based on Jesus' words in Matthew 7:13-14;

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

In the poster the two ways are detailed with many Bible verses illustrating on the one hand the dangers of the broad way and on the other the way to live on the narrow way. On the broad way there are, disturbingly, some contemporary references in the poster which is, in fact, well over 100 years old. For instance, the lottery, the Loan Office and the Gambling House (although you don't have to go there today to get lose money, you can just log on to a gaming website). Sunday trains are also seen as a scourge in those days - today the complaint is not enough trains because they are always working on the line on Sunday!

I love the poster! It's a great example of the Victorian way of putting across these principles. But the point it made is still relevant today, even if we wouldn't illustrate it in the same way. All the temptations on the poster may seem attractive to many - for the road is wide, and many do indeed find it - but as the poster graphically illustrates, they lead ultimately to destruction.

I remember many years ago someone who was having an affair saying, "How can this be wrong when it feels so good?" The answer is simple. If sin wasn't so attractive, no-one would bother with it! But it does feel good, and people go down the road of pleasure now, whatever the cost to themselves or others. But the good news is perhaps encapsulated in a verse that's on the wall by the entrance to the narrow way. It is John 6:37 where Jesus promises, "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away."

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Above is a photograph of my poster and if you click on it, you can load a larger image. Or you can go to
http://pictureswithamessage.com/81/cat81.htm?743 where you can view the poster, read about it and (of course!) buy a copy.

Enjoyable serving or not?

Just recently I've read two contrasting quotes. They are both actually quotes of quotes. The first one comes from Donald Whitney's book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. In the chapter on "Serving" as a spiritual discipline he quotes what a missionary in Africa said in response to the question as to whether he really liked what he was doing.

His answer was "No. My wife and I do not like dirt. We have reasonably refined sensibilities. We do not like crawling into vile huts through goat refuse ..." So why does he do it? Because Christ says go and, "the love of Christ constrains us."

I must admit this disturbed me a little. Then I read something that Gerard Hughes quoted in Day by Day (volume 3). It's Frederich Buechner's "rule of thumb for vocation" and it is this; "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

On that basis, the missionary in Africa is misplaced, because "deep gladness" certainly did not come across from what he said!

Whitney quoted that missionary to illustrate we must be obedient to Christ. But it does seem to say we may well have be miserable to be obedient. However I think Buechner has it right. When God calls you to serve he gives you a passion for that service and so you serve with gladness because you are fulfilling your God-given passion.

In fact earlier Whitney quotes Psalm100:2, which says, "Serve the Lord with gladness". Now that's more like it!

Praising God

There are a whole plethora of versions of the Bible out there. I tend to use the New International Version (NIV), but sometimes it's good to read a passage from a different version from the one you are used to.

Earlier this week in a meeting at our church someone read Psalm 103 from the New Living Translation. Now I know quite a lot of the Psalm from the NIV, but it really brought the words to life for me, hearing it from a different translation.

Here are some of the verses:

Praise the Lord, I tell myself;
with my whole heart I will praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, I tell myself,
and never forget the good things he has done for me.
He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.
He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
For he knows how weak we are;
he remembers we are only dust.

Praise the Lord, you angels of his,
you mighty creatures who carry out his plans,
listening for each of his commands.
Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels
who serve him and do his will!
Praise the Lord, everything he has created,
everywhere in his kingdom.
As for me - I, too, will praise the Lord.


Sometimes we don't feel like praising God, due to how we feel, or what's happening around us. These words can put us back on track!

Terror laws in Brentwood

The local paper placard spoke of Police abusing terror laws -this is about "stop and search". Apparently Essex Police have made 7,578 searches in the last 4 years under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Out of this came 6 arrests, that is 0.08% of those searched. Well, it does seem a bit high.

But the paper reported also that trainspotters are being stopped and searched, many by the British Transport Police. Some trainspotters claim it's becoming such a headache that their hobby is in danger of dying out. Not all bad news, then!

My apologies to any ferroequinologists reading this blog!

Fuel costs continued

Two blogs back I wrote about the fact that I had only just received my Winter Fuel Payment. Yesterday I received the following letter (click on it to obtain a larger image). It tells me that I will receive my payment between 15/09/08 to 21/09/08. In case you are thinking that maybe the letter got lost in the post, no! It is dated 7/01/09!




So they are telling me I WILL receive my payment 4 months ago.



Is there any hope for the world when a letters like this are sent out?

Joyce Grenfell

Yesterday evening we caught part of a recreation of Maureen Lipman's stage show celebration of Joyce Grenfell (it was on BBC3). You oldies out there will not doubt remember Joyce, her 'teacher' monolgues in particular ("George, don't do that," always got a laugh).

"Joyce" said that she wasn't interested in the pursuit of happiness, rather the discovery of joy.

Now there's something to think about.

Fuel costs ...

My sister-in-law has been on at me because I hadn't received my winter fuel allowance from the government, which, due to my age, I'm now entitled to. I rang up the people and was told that as I am on jobseeker's allowance at the moment, it comes through them. Seems to me a fairly incomprehensible piece of logic, but there you are.

Now it takes a number of phone calls over a number of days to manage to get through to the jobseeker's allowance number, but I finally succeed. By the time the phone is answered, the music has all but driven me mad! But I'm still sane enough to explain the situation and I must compliment the man I spoke to because he rang me back later and then rang me again today to say that the allowance should now be in my bank account. And it is!

In the meantime I decided to work out to see whether my energy providers (Scottish Power) are overcharging me on the monthly direct debit, which we hear British Gas are doing. Calculating the gas payment is not easy! But I constructed a spreadsheet on the computer which worked out the monthly charge, based on today's prices, on a year's worth of meter readings. It came out at £106.80. What are they charging me? £106! I was gutted! I was all ready to write and complain!

Oh well, never mind. It's good that they are not overcharging. But I will keep watch when energy prices go down - as they say they must. Well, the government say they must, the energy companies don't seem so sure!

Epiphany

It's Epiphany this Tuesday- when we celebrate the visit of the wise men to the baby Jesus. Today I was preaching at an Anglican church, and as the story of the wise men was the Gospel reading, I took that as my subject.

What I find particularly interesting is that although many Christmas cards have a picture of three wise men on camels going through the desert following a star, the Bible doesn't actually say that's what happened. They go to King Herod and enquire where the new king is. They say, "We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him." It doesn't say they followed the star, only that they saw it. In fact, if they did follow the star, it led them astray! For they went to Jerusalem, but Jesus wasn't born there.

If you know the story, you will know that Herod summons the Jewish religious leaders and asks them where the Messiah is to be born. They reply "Bethlehem" and quote Micah in the Old Testament who prophesies about him and his birthplace.

So, off they go, and we read they are overjoyed because the star they saw in the east is there again! And it goes before them. But they don't need it to follow, because they know they are going to Bethlehem because that's what the Bible says!

So, one of the morals of this story must be, if you want guidance, don't follow the stars but read your Bible!