There’s a brilliantly written scene in Blackadder Goes Forth, where to prove his insanity, and therefore ensure his safety, Blackadder puts his underwear on his head, pushes a pencil up each nostril and responds to every question with the word “Wibble”.

At the end of the episode, inevitably, he is sent to his death, like so many others during the war, in a futile attack that was insane in it’s conception and execution.

Because the leadership didn’t learn to listen and actually hear the reports coming back from their troops, or they just plain didn’t understand the messages.

A more serious movie, Gallipoli, had a young Mel Gibson in his pre-meltdown youth as a trench runner carrying a message to halt the attack back to his commanding officer – arriving seconds too late to save the lives of hundreds of young men from being needlessly slaughtered.

Again, miscommunication was the cause.

So what does this have to do with Christianity?

Consider the language we use in churches. Words like “Gospel, evangelise, advance, retreat, home-group, neighbour, idol” and a host of others flood the pews (there’s another) with images of starched collars and grim-faced patriarchs screaming “You’re all going to Hell, Directly to Hell. Do not pass ‘Go’, Do not collect $200” (Thanks Tony Campolo at Greenbelt 1990 for that phrase!) Campolo said he had imagined God as a “transcendental Shylock demanding His pound of Flesh” from us (Tony Campolo “The Kingdom of God is a Party”, Greenbelt 1990). Let’s be honest, most of us see that image portrayed in the news. Battles described as being fought between “christians” and “muslims” in Africa are common in the news here in Cape Town, with unimaginable atrocities committed by both sides. Churches barricaded closed with the congregations inside and then burned down like a scene from “The Patriot” (I seem to be on a Mel Gibson theme today) or Muslims being machine-gunned down as they approach their mosque by “christians” are so common they barely raise an eyebrow here. It’s just something that happens.

The language used is “christianese” to justify these actions inspired by the Genghis Khan Evangelical Method. Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying “The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend”, although I can’t give a reference to time and date, and I’m assuming he didn’t manage with John Wilkes Booth, but he was right. Once a man is a friend you can disagree, but he isn’t an enemy an more – simply a friend with a different viewpoint.

I struggle with my temper. I have a tendency towards violence if I’m honest, and recently it manifested in a very ugly way. I’m repentant, obviously. It’s ten years or more since I exploded like that, but it happened. And my wife caught the fallout. And the blast-wave.

But here’s my issue. As a Christian I know what “repent” means. But we have so many terms that leave non-Christians baffled. Even some of those who are Christians are confused by the terms. I don’t know if I’m a “conservative”, “liberal”, “post-modern” or a plethora of other terms used to describe “brands” of Christianity as we have them today. If I’m confused as a Christian writer who’s been a Christian for well over 20 years, how much more confused must someone new to the Faith be?

The language has become exclusive. And it has been for centuries.

In the dark and middle ages the church kept latin as the language of the scripture, resulting in people being guilty of heresy they didn’t even understand. Today we use terminology that excludes anyone outside the denomination. Some words have so many different meanings it’s simply frightening, and it drives people away from the Church.

That’s the point.

This exclusivity can only come from one place. It pushes people away from God. It drives a wedge between christians and the world that makes a chasm that seems uncrossable. The simple language of Love and Hope and Faith that Jesus taught has been corrupted and twisted into a legalistic minefield that the Pharisees would be proud of, and a language concocted that would baffle a skilled linguist to unravel.

It can only be the work of a power seeking to keep people from meeting Jesus and finding Salvation. (oops, there’s another confusing word).

What is Salvation?

It’s simple: a concept so straightforward that it had to be undermined, twisted and demonstrated to be irrelevant to life on this plain of existence in order to keep mankind from realising their innate fallibility, frailty and need for strength beyond themselves.

Huh?

Salvation = Relationship

Now.

Every “Christian” word was originally used to simplify and make the Good News of Jesus – that we can be returned to a relationship with God that we all are seeking – easier to grasp. Jesus didn’t talk about nuclear physics and particle accelerators. The people were shepherds, widows, fishermen and prostitutes. He used terms they understood. We think of a shepherd as some guy sitting in a field with a border collie in a land-rover. If we look back, we think of a guy standing in a field with a long stick with a bent end – a “crook” – with the collie and everything else. But in Jesus’ day the shepherd was the guy out in the mountains, armed with a sling who fought lions, wolves and bears. Jesus didn’t have a land-rover.

We need to find a new way of expressing Christianity that retains the power of the message, and keeps it accessible.

I don’t pretend to know what that language is in full, but I find when I am in a situation where someone asks me about my faith – which thankfully happens quite frequently these days – I can rely on the Holy Spirit to give me the words to tell the person I’m talking to that my Faith is relevant to today, essential to my daily life, defines who I am and what I do, and most importantly is something that will allow me to reach beyond anything I could dream of doing in my own strength – and see it happen.

So this lent let’s find a way to make our language relevant and welcoming.

Just like Jesus.

We live our lives enslaved to fears much of the time. So much of it that we’ve lost sight of the cage. We look around and see things we actually need – not a new car or a bigger house, but a better quality of meat or veg. Something that will nourish our bodies and minds

Needs, not wants.

And we get hit with the accusation “What if you ‘need’ that money later in the month?”

So we buy the cheaper cut. Or the lower quality veg.

And it ends up costing us more.

Our health suffers. We go on fad diets “in case” we develop weight problems or heart disease or diabetes. The irony that the stress we pile onto ourselves about having a perfect figure and being “healthy” actually often is what triggers the very condition we were stressing about avoiding!

I take medication for diabetes. I refuse to say “I’m diabetic” or “my diabetes” (except in these circumstances) because I do not feel that it is “mine”, and I know it doesn’t define me.

In South Africa, Diabetes is considered a “disability”, and if left out of control it can cause disabilities such as blindness, sexual dysfunction, nerve damage, kidney damage and more. But controlled properly I can live a completely normal life.

And I do. I eat and drink what I feel like. The only difference is I jab myself with a pin a few times a day to see what my blood sugar level is. And it’s (usually) normal.

But I digress.

Fear grips us. We live under it constantly.

I live on the coast – South facing – of South Africa. The next land-mass is Antarctica.

After the tsunami hit Japan, my wife said “What if that happens here? We’d be killed!”

Huh? Seriously?

I suggested we move up and live on the mountain instead. Her response: “What if the snakes come in?”

Fear rules us. We live as slaves to it without even being aware of it.

I know one person who is so afraid of dying from an illness they caught that they are seriously contemplating suicide – and in retrospect, I’ve known several others (including myself) who have been through something similar. My own story is that – and I admit it was a bad year – the final straw was being diagnosed with diabetes. I thought my life was over. And that belief was a huge part in not one, but four (yes 4) attempted suicides on my part. I wasn’t prepared to live with this illness.

That was 15 years ago, and I’ve not had the thoughts since. But I understand them. Rational thought goes out the window, and fear takes over, often masquerading as rationality. It’s insidious, and unchecked it will destroy us. That’s the enemy’s plan. Steal, kill and destroy.

But what if we learn to recognise it.

What if we choose to not be afraid?

Viktor Frankl, who survived the Nazi concentration camps, did so by choosing to focus on freedom. He summarizes that he had more freedom than his guards.

If one man can do it, we all can. God won’t withold that.

What if we stop being afraid?

What if there is no spoon?

Neo’s experience in the Matrix is like ours as Christians. The World tells us what is and isn’t possible, and we believe it. Accept it. We don’t question it. But what if there is no spoon? What if what we fear most is smoke and mirrors?

Often it is. Just smoke and mirrors.

What if we choose to look beyond it.

What if we choose Eternal Life? What if we choose to believe we are not given a spirit of fear, but of power, Love and Sound Mind? “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7) How would we live differently?

Would we in fact take the chances we believe God is pointing us to? I believe we would.

It’s taken me 20 years to start writing in a place where people can see what I’ve written. In the last 3 years since I started this blog there have been over 3000 hits from all over the world. America, Russia, China, Europe. People I’ve never met have read what I’ve written. It excites me when I get another “view” on the site. Maybe someone’s life has been touched by what I wrote, but mine has definitely been touched by them just opening the page. And what’s more, some of the hits come from people who entered the actual address of the blog – that means you came back.

20 years ago I was too scared to try writing. Now I’m almost finished writing a book and looking into how to publish. And regretting letting fear steal 20 years of my life.

What if you learn from my mistake? What if you step out?

Peter was going to drown if he stayed in the boat. He had nothing to lose by getting out.

What if we do the same?

w

Watche and be chllenged…

We all do it. We all judge other people. Their actions, clothing, lifestyle, choice of car. We judge.

Worse, we condemn. After passing judgement, we sentence the offender.

It’s said that what a writer writes often reveals more about the writer than the subject. I accept that. I write about what’s important to me, issues I struggle with and things that just plain tick me off. (Censored!)

I don’t try to hide who I am. If you don’t like me or my writing, it’s unlikely you’ll find me behind you with a large gun trying to force you to. (It doesn’t work anyway)

Something that bugs me is judgement issued by other people on individuals.

Now I’m not talking about a juror weighing evidence and deciding if the defendant is guilty or not. It’s the judgement we pass in our hearts on other people’s choices.

Paul tells us we will judge the angels (1 Corinthians 6:3), but nowhere does he allow us to judge one another. Jesus didn’t condemn sinners during His earthly life. He will bring Judgement on the Last Day – something we conveniently forget in these days teaching about Grace and nothing but Grace – but it’s His place to Judge, not ours. And the only unforgiveable sin will be blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29/Luke 12:10). Now my understanding – by which I mean what I have been taight by the (few) teachers I’ve sat under – is that the Sin referred to is to reject Christ’s Sacrifice. That was the most significant work of the Holy Spirit – the Resurrection, and this fits with Jesus declaring nobody can come to God except through Him.

I try, thanks to the wisdom of several excellent teachers such as Andrew Wommack, Dave Duell, the late Paul Wilson (my old vicar in Buckfastleigh), and many others, to use the Bible as a commentary on itself. Many passages refer to other sections of Scripture and expound on them in more detail. This is seen in Kings, Chronicles, Psalms and several of the Prophets. Peter refers to Isaiah, Stephen refers back to the Old Testament saints and Prophets standing before the Sanhedrin and speaks more explanation than is found in the current texts.

Using this method you can glean an almost infinite amount of wisdom – limited only by our lifetime – about what and who God is, and His plans and desires for us.

But there’s nothing allowing us to judge other people.

In fact, we are warned against it. If we judge others then we will be judged by the same measure we use. It’s one reason I try to stop judging – I’ll be in in serious trouble!

Condemnation is reserved for God. His judgement is final, and only He can condemn.

And condemn He will. Anyone who can read Revelation and not see the condemnation the devil and his followers will suffer is blind to the Truth in the book.

But we judge and condemn in our hearts. It’s a dangerous path to walk. If we will be judged, then we surely will also be condemned. The wages – the condemnation sentence – for Sin is Death. There’s no probation. Purgatory is not a concept I’ve found in Scripture (but please, comment with book, chapter and verse if you have it and I’m wrong). There’s no “penalty box”, no “time-out”. Just Death.

Jesus said that Eternal Life was knowing God and Jesus Christ sent by Him (see John 17:3). Perhaps everlasting existence knowing God is there but being unable to have access to Him and His presence it the opposite – eternal death? Again, it’s a theory – and one I’ve wondered about for a long time without being able to find an answer from outside my own thoughts and contemplations. And again, I want – no, I need –  to hear feedback from people on the idea.

 “I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty andlive in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency andenough to spare or going without and being in want. I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].” (Philippians 4:12-13 [Amplified])

Now it’s irrelevant what the sin is. Greed, idolatry, murder, sexual immorality, any sin puts a barrier between us and our experience of God in a relationship. If I repeatedly do something that my wife can’t live with then it will break down our relationship, and if I don’t change then the relationship ceases to exist. Why should God be any different? It’s our behaviours that lead to judgement – and our behaviours are motivated by our hearts.

King David is described many times as a man after God’s heart, yet he committed murder to cover an adulterous affair. The issue was not his action, but the attitude of his heart when he was challenged. Saul flew into a rage when confronted with his sin. David repented and humbled himself before God. Saul was judged by God through Samuel. David was forgiven – the Grace of Christ extending through all time. Abraham was justified by Faith thousands of years before Jesus was born, but the Faith he had was in the mercy of God which we now see through Jesus. Lot’s wife was destroyed by her unwillingness to let go of her past life in Sodom, but Lot walked on. Noah was righteous in the sight of God, but he failed after the flood. But although God reprimanded him, he wasn’t condemned. Neither was Moses after he killed the Egyptian.

Neither was the woman caught in adultery.

Neither are we.

There will be judgement. For those guilty of the “unforgiveable” there will be condemnation.

But it will be God who passes sentence.

Until then, starting now in Lent and going on beyond, it’s another thing we need to give up.

It’s something I find myself saying a lot.

It used to be when I was asked if I was “up to doing” something.

“Yes, but don’t expect too much” or “Yes, but I may not be very good”

I realised it was a form of pride actually. By emphasising how inexperienced or incapable I implied I was, I would pretty much universally be complimented when it went well.

Now it wasn’t always pride. Although I enjoy writing this blog and I’m working on a book I primarily write because it’s my heart to write. I believe God’s placed writing in me – NOT scripture, don’t misunderstand me here – but a message nonetheless. Sometimes it’s only me that reads it, and that’s ok. Sometimes it strikes a chord with someone else, and that’s cool too. I don’t “Yes, but” when it comes to writing.

But I do with other stuff. We all do.

We seem to have a need to be praised for our accomplishments and skills. Sometimes we express it forcefully and arrogantly – some “celebrities” are like that. When they don’t get the top position they complain bitterly. As if their fame and talent are synonymous.

They aren’t.

Other people try to pry praise out of people through self-deprecation. They make themselves out to be less than they know themselves to be, and when they then perform at a higher standard than they have suggested they were able to, naturally others praise them.

I’ve fallen foul of both, as most people who are users of oxygen do. Puffed up and arrogant or self-deprecating makes no difference. It’s all pride.

Jesus gave us a model for behaviour. “Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (John 5:19) This was His response when the religious leaders wanted to condemn Him for claiming equality with God – announcing His Divinity. There’s no arrogance here. No self-deprecating “Yes, but”. All He gives is a simple statement that boils down to “this is who I am, take it or leave it – but I won’t exaggerate it by making myself to be any more or less than who I am”.

So something else for us to try to surrender from Lent onwards. We all seek relationship with God in our hearts – an equality with Jesus. We do this because we were designed to do it. Made in God’s own image, Adam rejected himself as well as God, and all Adam’s descendants desperately seek to recover that which was lost.

Let’s surrender Pride. Both arrogance and false humility.

Give up making ourselves to be either more or less than we know ourselves to be. Acknowledge who God says we are, the gifting He placed in us. Don’t minimise it. Don’t exaggerate it. Accept it.

It takes a humble individual to acknowledge fully who they are.

But until we get there, here’s something to remember if you honestly think God can’t use you as you are…

I’ve read a lot recently from other bloggers, “christian” writers and magazines about Christianity and what it’s about.

The overwhelming feeling I get is that many people are diluting Jesus’s message to make it “relevant” or “acceptable” to young people, old people, “hip” people, or any other group of people they can think of.

Now I’ve been in churches where in forty years nobody had taught on the Second Coming. I can deal with that, although I believe we need to get back to the sense of urgency the original 12 had.

But aspects of the core of the message Jesus taught are being omitted.

Parts essential to being able to ask for forgiveness of sin – such as the definition of sin – have been eroded to the point that if they were the foundations of a physical building any structural engineer would condemn the place.

But not only do we (and yes, I include myself in this as an offender) dilute the message, we try to make out that under the circumstances where we were it was the “right” thing to do.

I have a good friend from childhood with whom I differ on several things, including the nature of sin with regard to sexuality. I have spent, I realised when I started writing this blog, 30 years or more avoiding certain topics from my Faith to avoid making people uncomfortable. Greed, sexuality, idolatry, self-righteousness and more get swept out of the way as an embarrassing faux-pas on the part of the church now we are in a more “enlightened” time.

But God’s wisdom is foolishness to men, and God laughs at man’s wisdom. While we swallow camels and strain gnats in our conversations and outreach we can never make true disciples. We may make socially acceptable ones. Disciples who don’t make waves, whose primary drive is social conscience and equal rights. Disciples whose version of christianity bears a terrifying similarity to marxism in its pure form (as opposed to Soviet, Chinese and Korean interpretations).

Jesus did say we were all equal. All of us are equal in that we have Sinned and fallen short of God’s Glory.

We have forgotten that we, the Church, are the ones through whom the World will see True Righteousness.

That unnerves me. I don’t feel righteous. I certainly don’t feel like an example to be held up as a way to do things. Possibly as a cautionary tale…

But Christ in me allows me to be an example.

The problem is that in our haste to make converts we forget that Jesus gave us a Commission to make Disciples of all Nations. So we tend to present a socially acceptable version of the christian faith, playing down the concepts of sin, Hell and Judgement – all of which are warned of in Revelation, just so anyone has any doubt can remember that. Jesus will return to Judge the living and the dead.

Makes a sudden difference to the urgency of the message, doesn’t it?

I knew a biker a few years ago who had a great badge. It said “If you meet me today, and forget me tomorrow, who cares? But if you meet Christ today and forget Him tomorrow, you will.”

The message had punch and was simple. It invited people to ask him questions about his Faith, and if you are called to talk to bikers, you really need boldness and, often but not always, an invitation. Questions are an invitation.

I’ve never seen a placard waving, condemning and screaming person protesting on the news or in the street being approached by someone broken considering an abortion, or hurting because their entire earthly family has rejected them because of their orientation, or shattered because of physical, psychological or sexual abuse drawn to one of those people. And I’m certain Jesus would ignore these people too. They don’t offer Love. They push people away.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in calling sin a sin. It’s essential to Salvation and Relationship. If you were to try to be my friend and every time you saw me you kicked me in the crotch, I’m not sure I’d be convinced of the sincerity of your friendship if I’d told you not to. The relationship would not be sincere, and your continued assault would be proof that you didn’t want it anyway.

So why do we treat Jesus any differently?

Sin is sin. Yes, Jesus forgives us. He paid the price at Calvary. There’s an excellent line in a Don Francisco song called “It Ain’t no Sin to Get The Blues” from the late 1990s that says “Jesus paid your lifetime membership, But you still gotta pay some dues”. Take what you like from that, but what I found in it was the realisation that – Like St Paul – I often find myself doing what my Spirit tells me, and I know to be opposed to what Jesus would do. I am absolutely certain that Jesus would not have responded the way I do to my neighbour shouting at my dogs. I battle daily to find just one thing that the surgeon whose mis-management of my wife post-operatively almost resulted in her death so I can find a place in my heart to forgive him. So far the list is not long, but every day it gets easier. He was a gentleman who never made her feel judged, ridiculed or inferior. Yes he made a mistake in the after-care, but he actually did care about her recovery – he just got blinkered and didn’t put the collection of symptoms together.

But I’m not trying to forgive him for his sake. I’m trying for mine.

I don’t subscribe to a Jesus “Lite” version of Christianity. Cutting bits out to make it easier to accept results in death. Jesus was hard with people. Read the Gospels and you can see it. But the way He was hard drew people to Him.

He didn’t condemn the woman caught in adultery, but He told her to stop sinning. He didn’t condemn the Samaritan woman living with her boyfriend, but He told her to stop sinning. He healed the cripple, but warned him to stop sinning so nothing worse would happen to him! (see John 5:14)

The people flocked to Jesus. Zaccheus, a tax collector who was the most despised man in his town, climbed a tree, allowed Jesus to invite Himself to dinner and repented, giving back more than he had cheated people out of – and Jesus didn’t tell him that was a condition of Salvation. Infact, Jesus declared it to be a sign of Salvation. This fits with the idea of signs and wonders following the believer. First believe – wholly and completely – then act.

And enough of Jesus Lite.

Don’t trim the uncomfortable bits to trick people into the Kingdom.

It won’t be the Kingdom of Heaven they end up in.

If the path is broad and easy, and there’s no discomfort involved, there’s a good chance it’s the wrong path. Look for a narrow way, a steep climb, and hardship along it.

If you don’t run into opposition from the devil and his cohorts, you’re probably moving in their direction.

So continuing the “Lent” theme, if you want something else to give up: give up cutting corners to fit in. Give up making Jesus in your image. Be Transformed by the renewing of your mind.

I’m trying. I’ll be honest, since I started my life has been so much harder it’s not funny. I lost a business, my wife and my mother are both seriously ill – both potentially terminally should treatment fail, I lost a job as well, and I find myself unemployable in my location (South Africa). There’s a temptation to quit.

Every day I find a reason not to. Every day it’s the same one.

Jesus didn’t quit on me. He’ll give me strength for today. I’ll deal with tomorrow when it arrives.

No more Jesus “Lite”. It doesn’t taste right.

I’ve been mulling over some thoughts recently about what to write during the season of Lent.

Tonight I found myself with a simple question: Where’s the Line?

We need to embrace Holiness to draw close to God. As John Eldredge points out in his book”The Utter Relief of Holiness”, it’s a place we need to seek to find relief. But this destination means drawing a line between the Holy and the unholy in our lives.

I have a dear friend I care a great deal about – probably more than she realises in fact. She’s a good 15 years my junior, and I was delighted a while ago to hear she’d been baptised and committed her life to Jesus.

My question, however, concerns a part of a career choice.

She is a very attractive girl, and has some tattoos on her arms and body. I don’t have a problem with that as we live under Grace not Law, and she has excellent taste in graphics (what I’ve seen on her arms, anyway).

My problem is more where the line gets drawn.

She’s a model, and has a bright future ahead of her in that field if she chooses to pursue it, however having stumbled on some pictures of her online from a recent shoot I find myself questioning where the line is between displaying “art” and “titillation”.

The old adage sprung to my mind about knowing pornography when you see it. It alarmed me.

I don’t know if she follows my page, I don’t know if she reads this blog. The issue – although it has been brought home to me by the pictures of her – is not actually about her.

And I can’t stress that enough.

The issue is where we draw the line. Knowing her, I am certain her heart is not to cause someone else to fall into a sinful pattern. She’s an honest and sincere person. She sees the good in people and forgives past wrongs.

But there is a line.

Like I said, I have no problem with tattoos. If my wife didn’t object, I’d probably have one or two myself. That’s not the issue.

My thought is what Paul wrote about causing our brothers and sisters to stumble. An innocent action can still cause a stumbling-block to others. This article may turn into one of them.

I’ll try to move to more general issues.

I attended a church very briefly where the minister – his only income being the church’s pay packet apparently – arrived to the Sunday service in a brand new Mercedes “C” class. Beautiful car. Had it been a gift I would have rejoiced with him. A teacher I respect immensely, Dave Duell, was given a brand new Cadillac by a dealership that God inspired. Affluence is not inherently sinful. But the congregation had an average income of about $200 per month. To buy that car was insensitive at the very least.

Contrast that with my old pastor in the UK who drives (last time I saw him) a Porsche and has a large motorcycle (not sure, but may have been a Harley). Before he was a pastor he was a financial advisor – and an extremely good one. He didn’t use the income from the gifts to the “ministry” to line his pockets.

Like I said, a very different situation.

Affluence is not a sin. Modelling is not a sin.

But where does affluence become greed? Where does a shoot to show off body-art cease to be about the art and become about the body?

The pastor with the Mercedes lined his pockets. The church was evicted for not paying its rent. It was a good thing it ceased to exist. The pastor with the Porsche lives a humble existence. He only portrays himself as how God created him, and does what God has anointed him to do – nothing more, nothing less. After some time off, I recently heard he’s now leading worship in a new church, and I’m delighted. His gift for worship and his heart for Jesus are unmissable in conversation with him – even when he’s talking about his car!

I’ve met models and actors who struggle with the pressure the job puts on them to provide a photo-set that will sell. And these days “sell” often means “sexually arouse”.

So where’s the line?

For each of us it’s different.

I love bacon, but I don’t eat it around my Jewish (or muslim for that matter) friends. Oddly, one of them encouraged me to have a bacon sandwich last time we met up for breakfast as it’s not something he has an issue with. But where’s the line?

The line is where our behaviour causes – or may cause – another person to fall into sin, to impede their walk with God.

Ouch.

How many times today have I done that?

How many times in this article?

But I must be true to what my Spirit in my Heart tells me God is saying. I don’t “follow” the professional page of my friend the model as it is a stumbling block to me. I hate summertime in Africa – I simply don’t know where to look! “Women’s Right’s” groups regularly lambast men and use the argument that women should be able to dress and behave however they wish. I agree, but just as there are consequences to wearing nothing but a bathing suit when it’s -5 degrees outside, there are consequences to provocative clothing and images in the media. In a newsagent today I could not find a single magazine that didn’t have a set of photos on the cover of the “ideal” body (male or female), and why your “natural” shape wasn’t good enough.

Garbage.

I don’t have a visible six-pack. I was a dancer for 16 years, so my legs are well developed but I have a bit of a tummy above them, and more chins than I should have that I hide with a goatee. But I have muscle strength. It just doesn’t look like it.

I have beautiful friends who don’t fit the “fashionable” appearance (thankfully).

But where’s the line between healthy and “sexy”? Look at images in paintings from the renaissance. The women in the pictures had curves! Today they’d be considered “plus-size” models.

Where’s the line?

We cross it too easily. We envy, lust and covet, and the World disguises it as aspiration, attractiveness and desirability.

But the line is crossed. And we never saw it.

So have the tattoo. Buy the sports car. Or the luxury motorcycle.

Heck, I rode a Harley myself for three years. The look of horror on the salesman’s face when I traded it in, telling him that at the end of the day it was just a lump of steel with a wheel at each end was priceless!

It’s about the heart. I bought the Harley because they’re strong, hard-wearing and reliable. Yes, I like the style, but it wasn’t my primary reason. I wasn’t part of a club. I wasn’t looking to join a group. I just wanted a bike that was good quality. I’d actually seen a Yamaha for the same price and the salesman showed me the Harley as well, pointing out the practical benefits.

My friend the model may have the heart to show the artwork of her tattoos, but I’m uessing from the photos and poses that most of the viewers haven’t even noticed the tattoos.

My old pastor doesn’t make a big deal about his car other than to be grateful that God has provided it for him.

The heart will tell you where the line is for your own motives.

But we need to be mindful of what our actions will bring for others.

Will we make them stumble?

Will we cause them to cross the line in their heart?

If there’s even a possibility, perhaps we should consider other people’s lines and struggles before we act. I for one don’t want to inadvertantly push someone away from God.

Attitudes have alienated people from acceptance as individuals because they have a particular issue that is the current “fashionable” issue. Now it’s often homosexuality. Forty years ago it was divorce. Being rich, being poor, skin clour (as in tan, not ethnicity – that’s a different issue) have all been used to push people away.

Sex is a big one. Mental illness is another, but I’ll look at that later in Lent.

Find the line – but find where your line becomes a trip-wire for others. That’s the line to avoid.

I don’t want to offend people, but I’ll let my “yes” be “Yes” and my “no”, “No!” from here on.

Draw the line.

Ok, the topic is hardly original writing for Ash Wednesday. But I’ve been thinking on it for a while.

I don’t know where the tradition started. Maybe it was an “homage” to Christ’s 40 days in the Wilderness. Maybe it was just an arbitrary decision made by the Nicean council. I don’t know – and frankly I don’t care.

Wait a second… “I don’t care“?

Yep. Doesn’t matter to me where or why it began.

The Spirit of it is what matters.

It’s a build up to the celebration of the most significant event of the Christian Year, a time when Jesus went out and his chocolate eggs all over Israel for the children to find…

Erm, no.

Ah yes: The time when Jesus commissioned a small rabbit to go… nope.

Oh yes, I remember.

The Son of God handed Himself over to be executed in our place to allow us to have relationship with God once more.

No eggs. No bunnies. A brutal and savage execution of an innocent man.

Aslan goes to the Stone Table. Jesus goes to the Cross. Narnia is released from Winter and death. Our Hearts are freed from captivity, death and torment.

40 days build-up to the biggest Victory of Christianity.

So we have pancakes. We give up sugar, or chocolate, or whatever we give up.

But Lent should be something in our heart.

So what if I give up chocolate but keep fighting with my neighbour? It’s returning to the letter of the event, not the Spirit of it.

Jesus was all about the Spirit of the Law. He declared He hadn’t come to abolish the Law, but to fulfil it. His mission was to reconcile man and God, and the Law could only bring Death. He needed something radical – perfection in God’s sight, and sacrifice in our stead.

So that’s what He did.

I read a book recently called “The Year of Living Biblically”. It’s an exceptional book as the author actually did try to fulfil the letter of the Law as set out in the Bible. It’s supposed – I think – to be satirical, but it shows the futility of even trying to be righteous by following the letter of the law. He didn’t shave for a year. Wore only natural cloth with no mixed fibres and ate only what the Bible (Old Testament) said was acceptable. The result is a hilarious book which completely missed the point Jesus tried to make, but at the same time emphasised the point the author had missed completely.

I gave up trying to follow the Letter of the law years ago. Long before any teacher told me the difference between letter and spirit. It was a relief when I was finally taught that obeying the spirit of the law is what gives relationship.

Yes, I still try not to shoot my neighbour for shouting at my dogs. But I’ve learned to appreciate he may be going through a rough time like I am, and so if they make a noise I try (mostly) to bring them in or shut their barking up so they don’t disturb him. (But I’ve not met him face-to-face and have no immediate desire to). For now that is as far as my carnal nature will allow my Spirit to work.

I’m a work in progress.

My Grandfather was 80 when he died, having been a Christian for 64 (ish) years. Just a week or two before he went Home he called me and we spoke for over an hour about God, and the changes he was experiencing as he walked the path Jesus set before him. It was an amazing conversation with my Brother in the Faith, talking as equals not as Grandfather to Grandson, but one Brother in Christ to another, encouraging each other and learning from one another. The Spirit led our conversation – the last one I would have with him – and it is one of my most precious memories.

We spoke about “head knowledge” and “heart knowledge”. That’s the difference. Grandad didn’t care about intellectual knowledge. He was all about relationship. His Love for Jesus beamed out of him (as long as he was smiling due to an “unfortunate” cast of features) and he was as at home talking to children as he was talking to pensioners. He identified with them where they were, never tried to tell them a list of “do’s” and “don’ts” to get right with God, simply “Look to Jesus and let Him make you right”

So a short thought for the beginning of Lent.

Over the next 40 days, forget quitting sugar or chocolate. Quit relying on your own effort instead, and let Jesus carry the load. Quit trying to be seen to be perfect – you aren’t.

It’s my challenge to myself.

Your move.

If a conference were to be organised, would you come? What would you want to hear? How would you want it to be arranged? Tents and Big-Tops in a camp-site or Hotels near a brick-venue?

Would you come if there were a cover charge? Would you bring your friends – Christian or not?

It’s something EWM would like to be able to arrange in the future. But in partnership with our friends and followers, to meet the needs they have.

We have followers in Africa and Europe. Would you travel? Would you travel to the other end of the world to hear the Truth in an uncompromising way?

Please let us know. This kind of event is something we’d like to arrange, and we need input to get it right.

What teachers would you want to hear? What subjects?

Talk to us. Let us make this grow in God’s way.