The ramps hit the sand and our men poured on to the beach. Darkness covered everything and the soft sounds of small waves tumbling onto the beach is all that was heard- besides the rustling of hardened woolen soldier attire and the rattling of the metal machinery.
Our commanding officer had earlier reasserted the significance of the clash at hand. "If we stop them here, if we block their channel, we will starve their main army of supplies..."
With iron determination and eyes set, with aspirations of routing the enemy, we were all advancing. As men before me descended from the ship to the beach, an ill-timed cloud hazed my thinking. "What if..."
Abruptly, the silence was broken and machine gun fire pierced the air! My haze vanished and cries of agony echoed over the beach. The men on the beach were bowing dead to the ground in groups.
My legs kept rushing forwards, but everything in me was pushing the other way. I heard my officer shout 'Courage!'
And like never again I pushed forwards.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
evangelism
37 Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
I would say evangelism fulfils both of these laws pretty well
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Reading the Word
I started reading 'Knowing God' by J I Packer and within the first few pages I was struck head on...
As Christians we read and desire to increase our knowledge of Him. But why? For what reason?
In the answer to this question lies our motives. Now, uncovering motives can be like walking through a muddy field looking for a something that's been lost, like a ring. It's hard! And rarely do we find exactly what we're looking for. But in the process, it can be impossible not to realise that our motives are varied and mixed and do not resemble the undivided and wholehearted devotion to God's glory that is worthy of Him.
So, at least in regards to increasing our knowledge of Him, we need to ask God to make known our motives, purify them until we, like David in Psalm 119 (v1,2,5), learn in order to know and enjoy God, desiring to understand God's truth in order that our heart and life might respond appropriately to it.
As Christians we read and desire to increase our knowledge of Him. But why? For what reason?
In the answer to this question lies our motives. Now, uncovering motives can be like walking through a muddy field looking for a something that's been lost, like a ring. It's hard! And rarely do we find exactly what we're looking for. But in the process, it can be impossible not to realise that our motives are varied and mixed and do not resemble the undivided and wholehearted devotion to God's glory that is worthy of Him.
So, at least in regards to increasing our knowledge of Him, we need to ask God to make known our motives, purify them until we, like David in Psalm 119 (v1,2,5), learn in order to know and enjoy God, desiring to understand God's truth in order that our heart and life might respond appropriately to it.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Psalm 22
What a Psalm!
It's so nice to hear such a familiar New Testament message told so beautifully in the Old Testament. It's the gospel that the OT points forward to...
Beginning with Jesus crying out in agony and feeling almost despondent on the cross, cut off from life, that is, the Father (v1). The Son pleads with the Father (v2), but He does not answer, but still the Father is holy and worthy to be trusted (v3-5).
He's like a worm! A worm! The Son of God - God himself- is treated as if a worm. Bare and made physically and emotionally empty. Scorned and despised. Mocked. (v6-9)
Here comes the prophecy: surrounded, bones out of joint (v14), as brittle as dried up pottery, dying. Pierced hands and feet, so skinny that his bones can be counted and his garments divided among the executioners. Yet still, his trust, reliance and dependence is unwaveringly caught on the Father to rescue him (v19-21).
As unexpected as it might be for a man to rise from death, comes the joy of the next few verses (v22-24). Something's happened. The affliction's over, he's made alive, free from the pain, now praising the Father's name!
Verses 27-31: He's been made King over the whole Earth, everybody needs to turn to Him and He welcomes all who come. He will be judge (v29). His story, his achievement, his salvation, will be told to the ends of the Earth "that he has DONE IT!"
It's so nice to hear such a familiar New Testament message told so beautifully in the Old Testament. It's the gospel that the OT points forward to...
Beginning with Jesus crying out in agony and feeling almost despondent on the cross, cut off from life, that is, the Father (v1). The Son pleads with the Father (v2), but He does not answer, but still the Father is holy and worthy to be trusted (v3-5).
He's like a worm! A worm! The Son of God - God himself- is treated as if a worm. Bare and made physically and emotionally empty. Scorned and despised. Mocked. (v6-9)
Here comes the prophecy: surrounded, bones out of joint (v14), as brittle as dried up pottery, dying. Pierced hands and feet, so skinny that his bones can be counted and his garments divided among the executioners. Yet still, his trust, reliance and dependence is unwaveringly caught on the Father to rescue him (v19-21).
As unexpected as it might be for a man to rise from death, comes the joy of the next few verses (v22-24). Something's happened. The affliction's over, he's made alive, free from the pain, now praising the Father's name!
Verses 27-31: He's been made King over the whole Earth, everybody needs to turn to Him and He welcomes all who come. He will be judge (v29). His story, his achievement, his salvation, will be told to the ends of the Earth "that he has DONE IT!"
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Bunyan's Burden
Just finished The Pilgrim's Progress
Sin so affected Bunyan. Christian walked with such a burden, it weighed upon him like nothing else, but how great it was when he came to the cross and the whole burden was lifted!
How about Ignorance! He got so close! His theology would have sounded okay to so many Christians, I mean, he mentioned Jesus in his spiel. But to Bunyan, or Christian, he was clearly in the wrong: he didn't understand the base nature of man and so didn't really understand the need for Christ. And it made ALL the difference!
To see and taste the wrong things I do, to be reminded of how aweful my condition is outside of Christ and how ghastly my sins are in comparison to the glory of God and his grace toward me- I will pray these things weigh upon me heavily, at least from time to time...
And so how sweet the grace of God will always taste
Sin so affected Bunyan. Christian walked with such a burden, it weighed upon him like nothing else, but how great it was when he came to the cross and the whole burden was lifted!
How about Ignorance! He got so close! His theology would have sounded okay to so many Christians, I mean, he mentioned Jesus in his spiel. But to Bunyan, or Christian, he was clearly in the wrong: he didn't understand the base nature of man and so didn't really understand the need for Christ. And it made ALL the difference!
To see and taste the wrong things I do, to be reminded of how aweful my condition is outside of Christ and how ghastly my sins are in comparison to the glory of God and his grace toward me- I will pray these things weigh upon me heavily, at least from time to time...
And so how sweet the grace of God will always taste
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