Verity Christian Fellowship

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the LORD will reward you.

Proverbs 25:21-22

Last week the Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, took the decision to release from prison Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the only person who has been convicted of the 747 aircraft bombing over Lockerbie. The release was on compassionate grounds as al-Megrahi is dying of cancer and is expected to have only a few months to live. The result of this has been an international political storm with claims of all sorts of underhand deals being done. There are also doubts expressed about whether al-Megrahi was even guilty in the first place.

I cannot comment about whether he is guilty or not or whether anyone has taken or will take advantage of the situation to make deals. I do not know enough about the case to state categorically what went on and give an opinion, and knowing a little about human nature I expect there will always be people who officially or unofficially will try to gain an advantage in any situation.

The question that does interest me though, is ‘was the Justice Secretary right to release the prisoner on compassionate grounds?’

From reading the various comments from people on the news websites, the main argument against releasing him was ‘the Lockerbie bomber showed no compassion to his victims, so why should we show compassion to him?’ This is a very natural and understandable reaction. However is it the one that God would have us make?

The quote from Proverbs 25 above can be simplified as ‘Show compassion to your enemies and they will feel shame for what they do’. I don’t know that Libya was Scotland’s enemy or that they feel shame for what happened at Lockerbie. But from the waving of Scottish flags at al-Magrahi’s return it is obvious that they now feel more respect than they probably did.

Also it is true that terrorists show no compassion. That is the futility of what they do. It is why terrorism will never achieve anything. Indiscriminate killing just hardens people’s hearts and their resolve to get revenge and not give in. And by showing no compassion in return we are becoming just like them. We may not instigate the spilling of innocent blood but we are certainly doing nothing to prevent it. We need to prove we are better than them. That we have higher ideals, higher values.

Jesus instructed us that if an enemy strikes us, we should turn the other cheek. This is not simply doing nothing and giving in, but is showing resistance. By releasing al-Megrahi we have proved that we will not be brought down by terrorists, but that we will stand by our principles and stand proud.

Jesus showed compassion on those who crucified him when he said ‘Father forgive them, they know not what they do’. These words marked his victory.

I therefore think that Mr MacAskill’s actions were not a submission as some would say but in fact a victory. A victory cry we should all take up.

I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified

1 Corinthians 9:27

Not many people leave comments on this site, and most comments are fairly innocuous. However one came in last week that sort of caught me off guard. It was very flattering and asked if I were a journalist by profession. I am not a journalist or professional writer in any sense so having read this I could feel my head getting bigger by the second.

But that was just the problem. My pride got the better of me. For you see the programme that formats this site had identified the message as SPAM. Now I am not very technically proficient in these matters and I could see nothing wrong with the message, so I let it go. But something inside me had nagging doubts. It was too flattering.

So I investigated further and found that within the post was a link to a web site selling pharmaceuticals. I then checked back on a number of previous comments and found the same thing.

Now maybe this site has some special interest to those working in the pharmaceutical industry, but I doubt it. It may also be that those who sent the comments were totally innocent and their computers are infected, but the incidence of this was very high. Only one external comment was not so affected. I can therefore conclude that this is how some people try to get hidden advertising onto the site, and in that case I can only thank God that the links were not worse.

The point of all this is that the enemy can trick us if we are not careful. He will not trick us by obvious deceits but by very subtle ones. If we are not careful it is easy to fall into sin and before we know it we are trapped.

However, the enemy usually overplays his hand and gives the game away. In this case the flattery was too much.

The answer is to always follow the rules. Don’t try and convince yourself that you are a special exception and that God has given you special permission. He has not. If you stick to the rules you can stay on the path and ultimately you will be happier.

In my case I will take more notice of what the system tells me in future.

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

When Magellan brought back the first example of a Bird of Paradise from the Far East, people did not know what to make of it. For you see he brought back not a live sample but a mounted display one. This example had had its wings and feet removed as the display was to show off the exquisite feathers, not the bird itself.

However the ornithologists of the day thought this was the whole thing and so concocted the theory of a wingless creature that never landed (and so needed no feet) and did not fly but just floated in the heavens (as they had no wings), hence its name Bird of Paradise.

This theory lasted for many years and was written in the scientific books of the time.

Man can only deduce theory’s from what is observed and already understood, not from actual truth. This is why we can make spectacular mistakes as with the Bird of Paradise.

The same is true when we try to second guess God. A good example of this is in the book of 2 Chronicles and the book of Ezra. Here we have the story of the fall and destruction of Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple 70 years later.

Now if you asked someone what is the best way to make God known to the nations you would probably not say ‘destroy the one civilisation that knows all about him’. But that is exactly what happened. The Jewish nation was whittled down from its might at the time of Solomon until its final conquest by the Babylonians.

But instead of destroying God’s reputation this seems to have made it stronger. For in the book of Ezra we have the account of King Cyrus decreeing that God’s temple should be rebuilt and this being confirmed by King Darius. And they both use the term ‘The God of Heaven’. This is an amazing turn around, for these civilisations did not believe in god before the fall of Jerusalem.

Human wisdom says that the religion of the powerful dominates the religion of the weak. And so with the conquest of the Jews, the theology of God should have disappeared, replaced by the beliefs of polytheism. But instead God comes back stronger than ever.

And there are countless other examples of this happening throughout history. The persecution of the early Christian church did not lead to its destruction but to its growth. This has been repeated many times over. This is not Man’s way of doing things and seems to make no sense. But we do not see with God’s eyes.

So when people say ‘science has proved God does not exist’, just think of what science had to say about the Bird of Paradise, and say ‘We shall see….’

It has been a while since I last wrote a post for the site. We had hoped to get the recorded talks back on line but there has been a delay in this. The other big delay in everything however has been due to the economy.

As everyone knows things have been tough for a lot of people just lately. I have a full time job, so for me this is no exception. We had two pay cuts and work was drying up. It looked like redundancy was on the cards. We have a small prayer group at work and we were praying hard for God to give us a hand but so far had seen no change.

Then one day I was praying at home with my wife about the situation when she got an answer. God gave her a bible passage. It was Psalm 2:7 and in ‘The Mesage’ version it said ‘Let me tell you what God said next. He said, “You’re my son, And today is your birthday. What do you want? Name it:’. This was not an invitation to turn up. We wasted no time in asking for more work as this was not just for me but for everyone else in the company.

A week later the company found out we had won a government contract which has given us more work than we can handle. We have had to take on several extra staff to cope. I have been incredibly busy.

When God steps in be ready for a deluge. His measures are huge. I have been so busy that it has even crossed my mind to ask for a break but you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when it comes as a gift from God. So I say thank you Lord and all honour to your name.

I encourage you all to keep praying. God can help. Just be ready for when he answers.

Mathew 4:2

For forty days and forty nights he ate nothing and became very hungry

To my understanding there seems to be a lot of confusion about lent and the virtues of giving something up for Lent. Lent is not mentioned in the bible. It was something that was instituted by the early church.
New converts were to be baptised at Easter, to mark their entry in to eternal life as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and his victory over death. In order to prepare themselves they were to undertake a fast for forty days as Jesus fasted in the desert.

The point of fasting is not to make a sacrifice but a way of getting spiritually closer to God. During the period of the fast, time seems to stretch out and allow God in. It is this purpose of getting close to God that seems to have been forgotten in Lent and instead it seems to have become a sacrificial offering as we ‘give up’ something for God.

God says he does not want our sacrifices but our hearts. He wants a relationship with us not just obedience.

So this Lent, and it’s not too late to start, take some time out and reflect on God. Don’t just give up chocolate, but take some time to get close to the maker of the universe. Connect with the real purpose of Easter and that celebration on Easter Sunday will be all the sweeter.

Proverbs 22:6

Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it

Sometimes the world gets on top of us and we forget what is really important. The results of this can have a long lasting negative impact especially when it comes to forging relationships with our children. They are easy to push aside in the hustle of everyday life and the damage is easily done. However the damage is also easily repaired if we take the time to mend it. So for those fortunate enough to be blessed with kids the following is for you.

To My Child

Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I feel like crying.

Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is.

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles..

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by.

Just for this afternoon, I won’t worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won’t stand over you trying to fix them.

Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald’s and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys..

Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.

Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.

Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children’s graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can’t handle it anymore.

And when I kiss you goodnight I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day….