The Final Countdown

In life we have many final countdown's. In a couple of months time I am retiring after working for 47 years. In June the last of my three daughter's is getting married. Two down one to go. We are in the final countdown towards that event. I have 34 working days, 6 bank holidays and 11 days holiday before I retire. (Does it look like I am keeping count)?

We are all in another Final countdown. I believe with all my heart that we are in the last days, the speed at which our western world is departing from the moral law of God is staggering. To even suggest that we would be redefining the concept of marriage between a man and a woman a few years ago would have been thought of as being absurd.

Yes! we are in the final countdown before The Lord returns to claim this world back to God, to return it to how things in God's kingdom work.

Let us all look up and wait our coming Lord and Saviour. The countdown is very close to zero.

Thought for today ......................... Time we all thought about what comes next. Are we all prepared?

A Child's Question contd..

As I said at the end my last post that you can trace the genealogy of Jesus through the lineage of Mary and Joseph back to King David and back to Abraham.

The Jewish people up to and past the time of Jesus took great pride in keeping the records of genealogies but with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in AD70 all these historic records were destroyed.

The fact is that no living Jew can trace their lineage back to King David and back to Abraham. That is why both Matthew and Luke were able to trace the lineage of Jesus because the records were in existence and available for study and review after the Lord's crucifixion in AD32, but before AD70.

But going back to the original question posed by Richard Herring, when he said that the bible was wrong if it said the Holy Spirit was the father of Jesus. If that were the case he reasoned that Jesus could not be related back to King David and Abraham.

Why was it vitally important that the Holy Sprit be the father of Jesus and not Joseph?

In Genesis 2:16-17the Lord God commanded Adam, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

When Adam sinned by eating the fruit of that tree sin entered into the human race through Adam. Eve was deceived by Satan but Adam was instructed by God not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and he sinned when he ate the fruit from the tree.

The penalty for this sin was death and separation from God, and the magnitude of this sin had far reaching repercussions even to this day. This sin nature is passed down from parent to children like DNA is passed down from our parents.

I believe that when a human egg is fertilised that a new human life begins. At that very moment not only does the baby start to form but their soul and with it the sin nature is already in place. I believe that our sin nature is passed down from the man. It is the effect of Adam's original sin passed to all human beings.

I also believe that is why it was necessary that the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary so that Jesus could be born a perfect man, a man without the sin nature, the spotless lamb of God, the second Adam. But more that that, much more than that He was born a human being, but also fully God.

The saviour sent to the world take back what was stolen by Satan from the first Adam, to give us all a route back to God. The word became flesh, the creator entered His creation as a baby and as a perfect human man died to pay for our sins, and the sins of the world. (Joh 3:16) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Finally ............................... a thought for today

For time and eternity, Jesus is all we need.

A Child's Question contd ..

The bible tells us that the promised Messiah was to come from the Royal line of David. But in the Old Testament the degeneration and wickedness of the kings of Judah was so bad that God pronounced a blood curse on the line of Kings!

In Jeremiah 22:30 Thus says the LORD: 'Write this man down as childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days; For none of his descendants shall prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling anymore in Judah.'. So for God to say that the Messiah would come from David's line must now seemed impossible!

However, a close investigation of the genealogies outlined in Matthew and Luke are identical from Abraham to King David. When they get to David the two genealogies take different paths.

The genealogy in Matthew goes through Solomon the son of Bathsheba; through Rehoboam and down the line to Jehoiachin whose son Jeconiah, was the subject of this blood line curse from God. The blood line finally ends in Matthew with Joseph, who is the legal father of Jesus but not the blood father. Jesus in accordance with Jewish law is only the legal son of Joseph with no rights to the lineage of King David.

When Luke gets to King David he traces the genealogy to Jesus through Nathan, the second surviving son of Bathsheba, and on through Heli the father of Mary and the father-in-law of Joseph.

Why is this important? This is an application of the provision in the Torah where the daughters of Zelophehad (numbers 27: 1-11 ; Joshua 17: 3-6) in which the father of the bride adopts her husband as His son. So although the Holy Spirit was the father of Jesus, by adoption Jesus became the legal son of Heli who was in the in the genealogy of King David that did not have this blood curse. The Virgin Birth hinted at in Genesis 3:15 and prophesied in Isaiah gets round the seemingly impossible problem of the blood curse on Jeconiah.

By this the God Man who is Jesus came to earth to seek and to save sinners.

In my next and last post on this topic I will add what I consider to be the most important aspect as to why the the Holy Spirit and not Joseph had to be the father of the Lord Jesus. Some aspects of my next post I have never heard or read about but I believe that the the Lord gave me an insight that you can either prayerfully accept or reject. Until the next post take care my friends. The Lord bless you.

Finally ............ a thought for today

Through the cross, Jesus rescued and redeemed the rebellious.

A Child's Question contd......................

These prophetic words came to life with the birth, life, death and resurrection of our Lord.

1. He was to be of King David's family -  2Sam 7:12-16; Ps 89:3-4; 110:1; 132:11; Isa 9:6-7; 11:1
2. He would be born of a Virgin -  Gen 3:15; Isa 7:14.
3. He would be born in Bethlehem -  Micha 5:2
4. He would sojourn in Egypt  -  Hos 11:1
5. He would live in Galilee  -  Isa 9:1-2
6. He would live in Nazareth - Isa 11:1
7. He would be announced by an Elijah like herald -  Isa 40:3-5; Mal3:1; 4:5
8. His birth would occasion a massacre of Bethlehem's children - Gen 35: 19-20 ; Jer 31:15
9. His birth would proclaim a jubilee to the world - Isa 58:6; 61:1
10. His mission would include the Gentiles - Isa 42: 1-4
11. He would teach using parables - Isa 6: 9-10; Ps 78:2
12. His ministry would be one of healing - Isa 53:4
13. He would be disbelieved and rejected by the rulers - Ps 69:4; 118:22; Isa 6:10; 29:13; 53:1
14. He would make a triumphal entry into Jerusalem - Zech 9:9; Ps 188:26
15. He would be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver - Zech 11: 1-13; Ps 41:9
16. He would be given vinegar and gall - Ps 69:21
17. He would be like a smitten shepherd - Zech 13:7
18. His garments would have lots cast for them - Ps 22:18
19. His side would be pierced - Zech 12:10; Ps 22:16
20. He would have no broken bones through his crucifixion - Ex 12:46; Num 9:12; Ps 34:20
21. He would die among the wicked - Isa 53: 9, 12
22. His dying words foretold - Ps 22:1; 31:5
23. He would be buried by a rich man - Isa 53:9
24. He would rise from the dead on the 3rd day - Gen 22:4; Ps 16: 10-11; Jon 1:17
25. Resurrection followed by the destruction of Jerusalem - Dan 9:26; 11:31; 12: 1,11

Remember that these verses were written hundreds and hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Truly only Jesus fulfilled all these prophesies.

Finally  .................. a thought for today

If you know that God's hand is in everything, you can leave everything in God's hands.

A Child's Question contd......

Yesterday I started to answer a question posed by Richard Herring to his mother when he was eight years old. He said that he noticed a 'discrepancy' on the first page of the New Testament' about the genealogy of Jesus, which shows that he is related to David and Abraham via Joseph. Apparently he said to his mother that if the Holy Spirit was the Lord's father then he couldn't be related to them (David & Abraham).

I intend to answer the question via a number of points which with the Lord's help will link together into a complete answer. These points are:

• Evidence through prophesy for Jesus being who he claimed to be
• The lineage to King David through Joseph
• The lineage to King David through Mary
• Jewish law and the rules of inheritance

The New Testament presents the Lord Jesus to different audiences as the promised Messiah and shows what is in the Old Testament concealed now in the New Testament becomes revealed.  What I find fascinating is that these Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament were translated into Greek three centuries BEFORE the Lord Jesus was born. Why is that important? Nobody and say that the facts about Jesus were later twisted to fit in with the events that occurred in the life of Jesus.

I work as a statistical expert in one of the leading aerospace companies in the UK. I have spent my working life teaching the use of statistics. I am a man that needs data, needs to see the evidence before I believe something is real, and I need to be convinced to my own satisfaction. It was through statistics and probabilities that the Lord reached out to me, and showed me the data the facts that Jesus was who He said He was the Son of God was 'statistically' certain.

Big claims I know! But God is a BIG God. Seek and you shall find says God's word. I did seek and I did find the living Lord God.

So where is this 'statistical' proof you might ask? If I were to say to you that a rare event was to happen next week I would be making a prediction. In biblical terms a prophesy. If I then went on to make other predictions that came true then you would have to admit that I, as a human being would be unique. How many predictions I would have to make to achieve this 'unique' accolade would be determined by the degree of proof you as an individual would need to be convinced. Some people might only need two or three predictions to come true to be convinced, while other more sceptical people might need more many more events to come true before agreeing that I was 'different'.

In the Old Testament there are well over 300 prophetic reference to Jesus Christ. Some have already been fulfilled, some are currently being fulfilled and some will be fulfilled in the future. If we just list 25 of these old testament prophesise and calculate the probabilities that one individual could fulfil all 25 predictions the odds on achieving all 25 are so long to be beyond chance. What about 100, 200 ......

In my next segment I will list as an example 25 prophesises and then expand on how the Lord Jesus can be of David's line by both blood and by Jewish law.

Finally .................................... a thought for today

Patience means awaiting God's time without doubting God's love.

A Child's Question

I get the Readers Digest which describes itself as the worlds Biggest magazine with 50 editions in 50 languages. I have been getting this magazine for more years than I care to remember, and mainly now just  zoom to the 'laughter is the best medicine' section and read no further. (memo to self - stop subscription next year).

OK. I do read other bits and I noticed yesterday 22nd October 2011 in the May edition of the Readers Digest (I know I am a bit behind with my reading) in a section called 'Books that Changed my Life' there was a piece written by a British comedian and writer called Richard Herring and one of the books that he had chosen was the New Testament.

However, even before I started to read in detail as to why the New Testament had helped change Mr Herrings life, I knew from the introduction to this man that he was not because he got saved, nor had he found the real purpose for his life.  Anyone who was doing a stand-up comedy tour around the UK entitled 'Christ on a Bike' would only be using the Lords name and Christianity to aid his laughs. (I did go to his website and it is much worse than I can even write about, but you can easily come to the conclusion that Richard is a committed atheist with a passion for mocking Christ's followers). The Lord himself fares much better than His followers and Mr Herring compares the Lord to the Fonz - a cool guy.

Now Richard is nobody's fool (in the eyes of the world) and as a son of a headmaster went on to be educated at Oxford University. When he was eight he said that he noticed a 'discrepancy' on the first page of the New Testament' about the genealogy of Jesus, which shows that he is related to David and Abraham via Joseph. Apparently he said to his mother that if the Holy Spirit was the Lord's father then he could'nt be related to them. He states that from that moment on he wondered if any of the things he had been told were true.

He did go on to say that there is some great things in the Bible that can have an enormous influence on you, even of it's to define yourself as an atheist. So this event apparently opened new perspectives on the world for Richard, in a lot of positive ways according to the article. This positive way turns out to be in him 'losing a religion'.

This prompted me to ask:

• Was / are his mother and father practising Christians? There was a Bible in the home in his early youth!
• Why could his mother not answer the child's question?
• If she did not know the answer did she try to get Richard to talk to someone who could answer the question?

I was prompted to think about:

• The impact on a young life through ignorance of what the Bible actually says about the Lord's birth
• The eternal impact on a life, a soul that is going to be judged by the Lord himself.
• A need to respond to that question posed by Richard many years ago.

With the Lord's guidance over the coming days / weeks or however long it takes,  I will attempt to answer the question posed by Richard to his mother many years ago.

My prayer is that somehow, in someway Richard Herring will come to know the Lord as his own personal saviour and learn that Christianity is not about either losing or gaining a religion, but gaining Jesus. Knowing that Jesus Christ is alive and well and loves Richard Herring. It's all about relationship with the living God NOT religion.

Finally ......................... a thought for today

Our greatest privilege is to enjoy God's presence

Do you believe Jesus or do you believe a Theory?

I have wondered in the past how some people can call themselves Bible believing Christians, who fully accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and yet believe that God has used evolution to get us to the state of development we are in today. They somehow have to 'fit' man made theories into the biblical narrative.

I was asked the other day by a person in work if I believed the book of Genesis to be a literal history of creation, or a series of allegorical stories! My answer, was that I do believe it to be a literal history of how we humans came into existence. But my belief is more than a basic trust based on nothing, it is a trust in the word of God as spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Lord Himself believed in the Bible's teaching about the beginning of man. When replying to the Pharisee's question about divorce, our Lord asks them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,' (Mat 19:4), and if we accept that Moses wrote the first four books of the Old Testament then again how can we reconcile the fact that in Our Lord again said in John, For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. (Joh 5:46).

Our Lord speaks to us as one who clearly accepts the historical accuracy of the Old Testament. If that were not enough evidence of our Lord's views and beliefs on the accuracy of the Old Testament, he also spoke these words to the disciples after his resurrection. "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." (Luk 24:44).

He was referring to the whole of the Old Testament, Our Lord Jesus Christ accepts it ALL. He says that it all Points forward to Him. Hence, if we indulge in our own particular slant on sections of the Bible, we immediately find ourselves at odds with the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It has to be total belief in Him, in His Holiness, in His Deity. If we accept his Deity then we must accept His word is True. In other words Evolution Theory is a man made LIE.

Finally ............................... a thought for today

Every promise of God comes with His personal guarantee.

The Ideal Husband - Part 2

• What should be the degree of a husband's affection for his wife?
• Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (Eph 5:33)
• So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. (Eph 5:28)

• In addition to bestowing his love upon his wife, what honour should the husband give to her?
• Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. (1Pe 3:7)

I find it interesting, that if I as a husband do not honour my wife ,and show her understanding, my prayers will be hindered by my attitude, and demeanour.

• What responsibility has the husband to his wife and to his household?
• Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. (1Co 7:3)
• But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1Ti 5:8)

• What blessings does God promise to a Godly husband?
• Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the LORD. (Psa 128:3-4)
• Yes, may you see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel! (Psa 128:6)

Paul lays down the basis for happy wedded life in the words – “Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them”. Perhaps these instructions are not always well understood. Sometimes one of verses, and sometimes the other, is unduly emphasised.

Some men insist upon the first – “Wives, be in subjection to your husbands.” They interpret the words somewhat harshly, as if a wife were to be only as a servant to her husband, whose duty is to minister to his desires, to please him, to run at his every call and command. But it is not a Christian teaching.

In some older marriage services the words 'to love, honour and obey' as vows that are taken. It is to be particularly noted that Paul nowhere says – “Wives, obey your husbands.” In another place, where Paul gives another instruction, his words are – “Wives be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is head of the Church”. No doubt the husband is the head of the household; but what a responsibility this teaching puts upon him! His wife is to be in subjection to him, “as unto the Lord.” He is to be to her what Christ is to the Church.

If a man will insist on his wife fulfilling her part, he must also insist on honestly fulfilling his own part, – all the sacred duties which are his as a husband. What, then, is the husband’s share in this happy home making? “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself up for it”. A husband is to love his wife. Is love despotic? Does love put its object in a servant’s place? No; love serves. It seeks not its own. It desires “not to be served, but to serve.” It does not demand attention, deference, service, subjection. It seeks rather to serve, to give, to honor.

Finally .................................. a thought for today

Looking for perfection in a man? Look to Jesus.

The Ideal Husband - Part 1

• What position does the husband occupy in the family?
• "For the husband is the head of the wife" (Eph 5:23)

• What beautiful illustration of head ship precludes any abuse of this prerogative?
• For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. (Eph 5:23)

• To whom will the godly husband be subject?
• But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. (1Co 11:3)

• How should husbands relate to their wives?
• Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. (Col 3:19)

J. R Miller wrote in "Week - Day Religion". Religion is love, and a religious home is one in which love reigns. There must be love in action, love that flows out of all the house intercourse, showing itself in a thousand little expressions of thoughtfulness, kindness and unselfishness, and gentle courtesy.

There can be very few more beautiful pictures of wedded love that were penned by the wife of Charles Kingsley as she closed her loving memoir with these words : “The outside world must judge him as an author, a preacher, a member of society, but those only who lived with him in the intimacy of every day life at home can tell what he was as a man. Over the real romance of his life and over the tenderest, loveliest passages in his private letters a veil must be thrown, but it will not be lifting it too far to say that if in the highest, closest of earthly relationships a love that never failed – pure, patient, passionate – for six and thirty years, a love which never stooped from its own lofty level to a hasty word, an impatient gesture or a selfish act, in sickness or in health, in sunshine or in storm, by day or by night, could prove that the age of chivalry has not passed away for ever, then Charles Kingsley fulfilled the ideal of a ‘most true and perfect knight’ to the one woman blest with that love in time and to eternity. To eternity, for such love is eternal, and he is not dead. He himself, the man, the lover, husband, father friend – he still lives in God, who is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” And why should not every marriage in Christ realize all that lies in this picture? It is possible, and yet only noble manhood and womanhood, with truest views of marriage and inspired by the holiest love, can realize it.

Surely true head ship is a picture of this type of love. The love that Christ has for his Church

Finally ..................... a thought for today

What matters to Jesus is what's on the inside.

In His Grip

Isa 49:15-16
"Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.
See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands".

Psalm 40:1
I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit,out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock. He put a new song in my mouth.

I think that no matter how old we are we need to be in a safe pair of hands. The weaker you are the more support you need. I would imagine that if you were in a slimy pit full of mud, slowly going under you would cry out for help, hoping upon hope that someone strong enough will pass by that can get you out. I can see me stretching out my mud covered hands in desperation. Then the 'grip' that will never slip, never weaken, never let go is felt and we know instinctively that we will be saved from the pit.

Thank you Lord for your hands, pierced for my sins, thank you Lord that your hands reach out to us in love and compassion, to save us from the pit of hell, to a new life based on you as our sure foundation.

Still About, but Missing the Posts

Sorry for the delay in posting my thoughts. The two useful brain cells are currently being overloaded with work. The old body is being abused by attending two of my daughter’s graduations and preparing for one daughter’s wedding on the 25th of this month.

This Friday I am attending Amanda’s graduation at Queens University at Belfast in Northern Ireland. She has qualified with a Bachelors degree in Theology from Queens University. She intends to return to complete a Masters degree in September after she gets married and settles into married life.

A couple of weeks ago my wife Hazel and myself attended the graduation of Amanda’s twin sister Gillian. She graduated from Stirling University in Scotland with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and she also is returning there to do a Masters degree in Social Work.

The photo shows Gillian and Hazel my wife relaxing after the graduation. These are just two out of the four beautiful women in my family. Beautiful women not only in how they look, but beautiful in terms of their hearts, minds and souls. I am a blessed man and I praise the Lord for his favour on my life.

I still have not got my computer fixed which does cause me problems in posting to my blog. I am hopeful that tomorrow the HP technical person will have finally found out what they are going to do to fix the problem, once and for all time.

Finally……… a thought for to-day

How to Avoid Frustration
Keep your shoulder to the wheel
Your hand to the helm
Your eye on the ball!
Your nose to the grindstone
Your ear to the ground
And you will not have time to
Put your foot in your mouth.

IT Strikes Back

Well! It had to happen. I took all my toys on holiday and I broke a couple of them. Mini Computer, PDA, Smartphone and mobile. It used to be work related books, much to Hazel's annayance, but now I have progressed to IT toys.

My equipent load had a few unexpected problems for us. I had to say sorry to my daughter Jennifer who was carrying my hand luggage through airport security, and was stopped and searched due to the amount of wires in the bag. Over 90% of these wires were mine. I had all the power adaptors a human being could ever need in that bag.

Just after my last post while in Spain on holiday, the computer 'froze' and stopped working. Ever try to get technical support while in a foreign country? Not to be recommended for those who have a problem with patience. Cutting a long story short I had to wait until my return home from holiday to get this problem addressed, but I did correspond with some nice people in the USA and in India to see if I could solve the problem while in Spain.

The computer people told me that I should have the small computer operating next week! That is the promise, but I will wait and see.

After my computer failure I started to use my smartphone and updated some software while in Spain. Only to find out that I had to be in the UK to get it to work when the software was installed. Now no smartphone was available.

The PDA worked well. I use it primarily for E-Sword bible software which is wonderful. However, the screen is so small that it is only useful for 'short' messages. Add to this the fact that I could not get my hands on it due to my two daughters using it for 'Facebook', messaging updates etc, I was down to the mobile phone as a last means for communication to the outside world.

I thank the Lord that communication with Him is available 24/7. No need for hard discs, only soft hearts, no need for RAM, we only have to remember HIM, and we can enter his throne room.

With all our obsession with communication with the outside world, such as blogs, twitter and facebook etc. how easy it is for us to forget the ultimate communication medium available to us 'Prayer'. May we rely more on that perfect and fully reliable heavenly system than the man made communication devices that we use each day.

Finally ................ a thought for to-day

The 'windows' of heaven are always open to our prayers

On Holiday

I am sitting in Southern Spain as I write this. I am looking out over the Mediterranean sea, listening to the sounds of the children in the swimming pool mixed with the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. The photo has just been taken from my room, using the webcam on the computer.

Years ago I would have been thrilled to be here. It would have been magical, but now, I confess that I have become blasé about going on holiday. I rarely every think about the holiday before I get to the airport to catch the flight. I rarely count my annual holiday as a blessing!

I wonder how many other blessings in my life have I not counted lately?

I over heard a lady on the plane saying to her daughter that she could not wait to get into the swimming pool so that she could 'chillax'. That is a new 'combination' word that I had not come across before. Then I was reminded that at the end of the post I made a few weeks ago on the 'Daily Affirmation of Faith', there is a sentence at the end of it which says:-

I now receive God’s promised rest for this day (Heb. 4: 1-13). Therefore, I relax in the trust of faith, knowing that in the moment of temptation, trial, or need, the Lord Himself will be there as my strength and sufficiency (1 Cor. 10: 13).

So instead of continually dipping myself in a swimming pool for my relaxation, I intend (when possible) to quiet my mind and my heart before the Lord and use the holiday time to 'chillax' in thinking about the many blessings that He has given to me, which includes this holiday.

Finally a thought for to-day

Putting Christ first brings a blessing that lasts

A Close Encounter of a 'Bird' Kind

I love this time of year, smelling the cut grass, seeing trees come to life. I have to say that spring to early summer are my favourite seasons.

One morning last week. I was carrying our wee dog Pebbles out to the garden for a run around. (Being a near blind dog, it is wonderful to watch her once her paws hit the grass, her tail goes up and she trots around, nose in the air, off on her adventures).

Well! on this particular morning as I opened the back door of the house I disturbed the birds feeding on the grass. I then spotted a young collared dove heading straight for me on a 'kamikaze' flight path. My reactions kicked in immediately! I blinked!!!

Sometime during that blink and at the last possible moment the bird swerved round me, clipping my leg with her wing, flew threw the utility room and into the kitchen were my mother-in-laws dog 'Pippen' was waiting.

'Pippen' is a half sister of Pebbles, and like Pebbles is 12 years old. We have been looking after her for a couple of years now. When she arrived with us she was a mad and 'hyper' dog. Whereas Pebbles is slow and deliberate in her actions, Pippen is on the other end of the same scale, a 100mph racer.

So this unfortunate bird had flown straight into where Pippen was running around. I heard a bit of a flurry in the kitchen and was expecting to go and see Pippen standing, 'retriever' like with said bird in her mouth. But what greeted me was the bird sitting on the kitchen floor with Pippen's eyes glued to the bird's eyes, nose to nose or in this case nose to beak. No barking, no attack, no aggression, just calm, interested attention. I am convinced that even if I had not been there that the bird would have been left unharmed.

So after putting Pebbles down on the floor, I was able to pick up the young dove, who by this time was minus quite a few feathers that were strewn around the kitchen floor and take the bird outside where she flew off into the nearby trees.

I got a lesson from this encounter. Pippen reacted differently than I expected. Her bark was worse than her bite and I am convinced that she is a real softy at heart. I was sure the young dove was going to be in trouble but I was proved wrong.

I reflected that over the past couple of years Pippen has mellowed and become more like Pebbles and I do not believe that this mellowing is due to her age, she still can move at 100mph. I think it is down to the influence of Pebbles, the 'Mother Theresa of the dog world.

Makes you think that the more time we spend being close with our Lord and Saviour under His influence and His work on our hearts, we become more 'Christ like' in our natures and in our outlook. Putting into our lives His attributes, His love.

Joh 17:21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

Finally .......... a thought for to-day

Being Christlike is always in season

Pentecost

Today on this Sunday we celebrate one of the moat momentous days in Christian history, the day of Pentecost. Christmas and Easter are the well known days in the Christian calendar but Pentecost is largely ignored. Yet for those of us who know and believe that the Holy Spirit is indwelling us in our lives then it is a very significant day.

My prayer is for the Holy Spirit come to us and fill us -

Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

For the Holy Spirit to teach us all things concerning our Lord and bring to remembrance his words -

Joh 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

For the Holy Spirit to let us understand the heart of God our Father who will equip us for life in the Lord's service -

Joh 15:26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.

Finally .............. a thought for to-day

Let God's Word and Truth fill our minds, rule our hearts, and guide our tongues

Take Time to Smell the Roses

Yesterday I drove my car for a total of 9 hours. Two hours from our home in Northern Ireland down to Dublin in Southern Ireland. This was followed by a two hour high speed ferry crossing to Wales and then a 7 hour drive across the top of Wales, then a drive down the full length of Wales as far as Cardiff, and then over into England past the city of Bath to Bradford-on-Avon where my brother-in-law Ken and his wife Ann lives.

Driving alone on this long journey my directions were guided by satellite signals beamed from space. The route my satnav took me was through some beautiful parts of Wales, but every few miles I would hit a small town and have to slow down, and then there were the dreaded roundabouts. In the US you do not have too many roundabouts but in the UK they are the preferred means for controlling traffic at road junctions.

There was so many roundabouts and stoppages that I stopped and checked that the settings on my satnav were set for 'fastest route'! The satnav settings were set for the fastest route, but in hindsight if I had looked at a map and used my own judgement, I believe that I would have saved at least a hour on that journey. If I had gone into England much sooner and hit one of the main motorways going south the journey would have been a shorter one.

But thinking back, if I had indeed used a map, I 'might' have got to my destination sooner, but I would have missed out on the lovely scenery, especially a valley I went through in southern Wales. I would have missed 'driving' through the twists and turns in the road. I would have missed the small towns and the people walking through them. Instead I would have gone mile after mile on boring motorways.

Funny how as I go down the road of life I come across junctions, were my decisions on which way to turn, can have major impact on the various destinations I reach in my life. I like most people have found that between these junctions, and destinations the road of life has many twists and turns.

Life is so frantic, I want to get everywhere in the shortest time possible. I usually focus my attention on getting to the destination but the Lord wants me to enjoy the journey with him.

I still believe that satnavs are not to be fully trusted for car journey's but I have one navigator in life, Jesus that knows the road ahead in my life and in your life, a He knows the perfect route for each and every one of us.

He knows the junctions in our lives that have to be negotiated, he knows when we have to slow down, and when we can speed up. He knows the people who we will encounter on this journey of life, and he knows that if we let him drive and if we would only take our eyes of the immediate road ahead, there is beauty and wonder all around us.

Joh 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

How I love to rush ahead following my own direction and plan, under my own steam, while the Lord asks me to walk with Him under His loving care and guidance.

Neh 9:12 Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, And by night with a pillar of fire, To give them light on the road Which they should travel.

Finally ......... a thought for to-day

If you know Jesus, you'll never travel alone

Our 'wee' Dog

Being away from home quite a bit with my job I have been asked a few times if the kids love to see me come home. I can honestly say that to this day I get the most wonderful reception as I enter the front door on a Friday evening. Our 'wee' dog Pebbles loves to see me coming home. She runs rings round me, jumps up on me and generally goes mad for a few minutes.

When the kids were at home it was a "Hi dad" and a quick kiss before they went about their activities, normal life as far as they were concerned. Pebbles on the other hand would follow me around for the next half hour or so just wanting to be stroked, to welcome me back home. She still does it to this day. She is trustworthy, loyal, kind, quite spirited, a dog with a calm nature, but most of all a loving dog.

Now with that last paragraph you would think that the poor dog is neglected by the rest of the family, by the way that she greets me! That paints a wrong picture. This dog is loved, cherished and cared for beyond what anyone could consider as normal. She has pride of place on Hazel's lap each night and when the girls are at home it is more cuddles, more attention, more care.

Pebbles is a miniature Schnauzer with some physical problems. She is 12 years old prone to fits, now controlled by drugs and by my estimate she 95% blind. She had problems with her eyes for a few years and Hazel treated those eyes day and daily, to hold back the degradation that was taking place in both eyes.

For some reason that we cannot fathom, she went into a Anaphylactic shock some time last year, and was at death's door for over a week. She spent that time at the vet's and with his care and lots of prayer she was well enough to return home. Unfortunately, her eyes were not treated during that time and she lost her sight. A few months later we had to have one of her eyes removed and now there is a hole right in the centre of the remaining eye, but we are convinced that she can see things (shadows) when it is bright enough. I am amazed how she navigates around things in the house, and seldom bumps into anything. You would never know that she is nearly blind by the way she acts.

We have spent a fortune on our wee dog, what with medicines and vet bills etc, but she is part of the family and has been a real blessing to us all since we got her as a puppy. So we will continue to do all we can for her, for the rest of her remaining years. Giving back what she has freely given to us ........Love.

In work I have a poster on the wall that says "Lord make me the type of person my dog thinks I am".

So finally ............. a thought for to-day must be

Lord, make me the type of person my dog thinks I am!

What's in a Name

After a couple of days rest feel like my 'old' self. I have the house to myself to-day and I am presently just watching the birds at the bird feeder in the garden.

My eldest daughter has just phoned to say that she has passed one of her bank exams. It was something that she was worried about for a couple of weeks. Once again it made me think that everyone has some form of stress and pressure in day to day living. Pressure in work, pressure at home, pressure from others forcing you to do what thy want you to do.

I think of the pressures that our children face day and daily, to conform to the worlds standards. The pressure must be immense. It has taken me years to realise, that it is only by God's love and protection, and a parents love, can our children have any hope of standing firm on what they know and have been taught to be, the 'correct' way to live their lives.

The role of the family unit has a key part to play in a child's development into a young adult. The trust, respect and love between parents and their children are vital if our children are to mature into the kind of people that we would like them to be. But more importantly into the kind of people who know the Lord and walk in his steps.

My daughter Gillian (who's flat I have just cleared last weekend) told me a few weeks ago that her friends thought it strange that she called me 'dad' and my wife Hazel 'mum', and they were surprised to hear that my other two girls do the same. Apparently the 'cool thing' now is to use the parents first name, when they became teenagers. I have no problem with that, for other teenagers / young adults to call their parents by their first name, but what would I feel like if my girls started to call me Trevor? Call me un-cool, but I know I would hate it!

I was blessed more than Gillian will ever know, when she said she could never consider calling me anything but Dad or Daddy. Funny how a simple sentence can mean so much. Sentimental old fool some might say! Guilty! as charged I would reply, with a heart lifted by her words.

So what's in a name? Gillian's comment made me realise that this name, this title of 'DAD', 'DADDY' or 'MUM', 'MUMMY' are names and titles of honour. I did not esteem my title until she told me this story, and what it meant to her to call me Dad.

Makes you realise that our father in heaven must love it when we lovingly call him 'ABBA', 'PAPA'.

Lord, Help me fulfil the intent of the thought for to-day.

Finally ............ a thought for to-day

A godly parent is a child's best guide to God.

Things

Home safe in Ireland, 470 miles under my belt for part one of the journey. My comment in the last post on me being a not so fit manual labourer proved well founded. I was exhausted after all the driving, packing, driving on Saturday. The journey up to Scotland was uneventful. Being a bank holiday weekend in the UK the usual lorries and trucks were replaced by cars pulling caravans, boats, trailer tents etc. All going to either the Lake District in England or further north to Scotland.

It was a good job I took the car up to 'help' Gillian remove her stuff from the flat. The car was full by the time we had finished packing and there was plenty left over for her Scottish friends to look after, until she returns to Scotland next February. How so much 'stuff' had been accumulated over the three years she spent in Stirling I will never know. Still it was an improvement over her sister Jennifer who required three car loads when she removed the contents of her flat at the end of her degree course.

It got me thinking how we accumulate things in our lives over the years. (Not when I was carrying the boxes, then I was more concerned with the condition of my back). I got to thinking that some things we acquire are useful for many years, and many other things we use for a short time and then becomes clutter.

Now I am a person who does not like to throw out ANYTHING. Whereas Hazel my wife is the opposite. If an item is no longer of any use? It's gone! (I like to keep myself useful)!!!!

As a child Gillian would ask me "Tell me what it was like in the olden days daddy"? So I am about to go back into the 'olden' days. When I was 15 I left home to start an apprenticeship working for the Royal Navy as a Airframe / Engine Fitter in Belfast, and then three years later went to England as a Technician Apprentice for a further two years.

I look at 15 year olds nowadays and looking back I wonder how I ever survived those times, I knew nothing about life all. We have a saying in Ireland about somebody who knows nothing about life or a particular subject! We say that person "Is wet behind the ears"!

Well I was really wet behind the ears, a potential lamb to the slaughter. But, little did I know it, the Lord was there protecting and guiding me on this start of my working life adventure, even though I did not recognise it as his doing back then)! I must tell of the events that led my to getting my apprenticeship in another story.

Since the completion of my apprenticeship I have kept all my tools and all my apprentice notebooks. Over the years Hazel has asked me "do you need these books"? to which I would usually reply "Yes! you never know when they might become useful". But a couple of years ago she made an 'executive decision' and threw them all out without telling me. How did I find out? Did I eventually find that I needed them, never having looked at them once since 1970? No, I noticed that they were not were I had left them and then enquired of their whereabouts. I realised that I would never have never looked at them, and that they were unlikely to become a family heirloom and I found it funny, not annoying that they were gone.

We hold onto so much clutter in our lives. I pass by a wetsuit hanging in the store room upstairs in the house I am sure the rubber has perished on the 35 year old wetsuit, but I will never try it on as know it would not fit me. I have gained a few pounds since I last wore it over 25 years ago. OK! I have gained LOTS of pounds since then.

But it is the clutter in our minds, that is more important than the cultter in our possessions. We feed our minds and thoughts through daily news bulletins, the daily 'world' view focusing people on self, the adverts an television promoting self advancement, self pleasing, self serving, self over all others.

The focus on improving the outward appearance rather than the inner man. Young girls trying to look like these 'stick thin' models, young men trying to emulate their 'idols', be they pop singers, movie stars or sports personalities.

Psa 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.

The world system promoting other God's before the true God in the minds of men and women.

Deu 11:16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them,

The only thing of REAL lasting value that we should desire to possess is the Lord himself. All things that we cherish to-day will eventually burn. Our Lord is our greatest possession, he is our salvation, he is our inheritance.

Finally ............ a thought for to-day

No matter where you go, God goes with you.

Daughters

Being the proud father of three wonderful daughters, all saved by the grace of God, I would do anything for each and every one of them. The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful wife and three great children, or should I say young women.

Psa 127:4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth.

I look back over the years, I see the hand of God on their lives. Last year my eldest daughter Jennifer is now working as a graduate trainee in one of the major banks in Dublin in Southern Ireland.

One of my twin girls, Amanda is graduating next month with a degree in Theology. She is also getting married in July this year, and then will return to Belfast Bible College to study for a Masters degree in Theology.

Finally, there is Gillian my other twin. I am preparing to travel to Scotland tomorrow to meet up with Gillian. She is studying at Stirling University in Scotland a mix of Biblical studies and politics and is also finishing her degree next week. She will be returning home to Ireland next Thursday the Lord willing.

This next few days could have been a very sad time for her leaving her friends she has made in the church that has adopted her as one of their own. The Lord has blessed her with Godly friends looking out got her welfare.

Pro 12:26 The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.

But this sad leaving has been put back for a couple of years. Again the Lord has blessed her by allowing her to return to Stirling University next February, to start a post graduate course studying for a MSc degree in Social Work.

So why the long trip north to meet up with Gillian? I am her 'flat contents removal team', one car, one 'not so' fit manual labourer with two arms and a desire to help.

As I write this she is meant to be deciding what items to leave with friends in Scotland and what to ship home with me to Ireland. I hope she gets the balance right. Too little, and it will have been a wasted journey and too much, well that creates it's own problem.

Interestingly, all these events in the lives of my three daughters can all be traced back to the hand of God. The jobs, the degree courses, the husband to be, are all the result of the work of the Lord. Each event has twists and turns that can only be attributed to divine interventions. I give him the praise and glory.

Lord thank you for your love and care. Thank you for family, thank you for love, thank you for your saving grace.

Finally .............. a thought for to-day

Because God gives us everything, we owe Him all our praise