From Manchester to Greece

April 30, 2009

In a little under two weeks, I will be flying out to Athens for a few days to meet the Clarks, who I will be working with next year, and to get a feel for what will be my hometown for the next while or so. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous about this trip. Ever since I decided to apply to work with IFES in Greece, it has seemed like an eternity away, but it’s slowly crept up and all of a sudden, with this short trip it’s suddenly here.

The Acropolis in Athens

The Acropolis in Athens

However, despite my nerves, my lack of confidence in speaking Greek and pretty much everything else that comes with going somewhere new, I am really excited. Which is weird. I am finally getting seriously excited about this whole thing, whereas just 24 hours ago I was freaking out big time.

I guess it’s not actually weird at all. I think it’s because the Spirit has given me timely re-realisation of who God is…

In my church mini group, we’re starting to study through Ezekiel and yesterday evening we looked at Ezekiel 1. Once we’d waded through all the bizarre imagery in Ezekiel’s first vision, we noticed that we were being told that the Lord was travelling with his exiled people on a throne that has wheels. And in hubcaps of those throne-wheels, there were eyes.

In Ezekiel’s vision the Holy Spirit was showing him that God was still in authority even when they went into exile, and he wouldn’t let them leave his jurisdiction – his throne would move anywhere they go. And those bizarre eyes in the wheel rims showed him that God saw his people’s suffering. He went with them, he saw their suffering and struggles, and he was in authority there.

I will not exactly be going into exile in a couple of weeks, but Ezekiel’s God is my God, and just as he was with his exiled people, he will be with me as I travel out to Greece. And just as he was in authority there, he will be in authority in Greece. Just as he cared for how they were doing, he will care for how I do. It may seem completely obvious, but I think I am beginning to realise why knowing this would have been such a big deal to the exiled Israelites.

If God is with you and if he is still in total authority where you are going, what ultimately is there to be be afraid of? At all times he works for the ultimate good of those who love him. This is exactly what I need to know as I go out to Greece.

Besides this wonderful reassurance, the one thing that is incredibly exciting about next year is that I get to work hand in hand with this truly awesome and fear inspiring creator God as he opens blinded eyes, softens hardened hearts and saves people in Athens.

That he would be willing to work hand in hand with a sinner like me is way more exciting than the fears I have of learning a new language or of meeting new people or of adjusting to a quirky culture are scary.

It puts it all in perspective.

On a slightly more insignificant note, I’ve got to admit that I’m more than a little bit relieved at finally having learnt how to order beer and coffee in Greek:
Θά ήθελα μια μπύρα, παρακάλω – I would like a beer please
Θά ήθελα ένα καφέ με γάλα, παρακάλω. – I would like a white coffee please.

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Suffering

April 22, 2008
A few guys at my church recently wrote a new song. I really like it – check out the mp3 here.

One Day

The Lamb, God’s only son, bled and died, suffering Saviour.
Crucified, the sinless One took the wrath of the Father.
When despised for his name’s sake we share in his sufferings.
Unashamed, we strive for joy, looking on to his returning.

We will: set our hope in Jesus Christ our Lord,
And in a grace that never fades;
Lift our heads and see the rejected One
Now glorious.

New birth, a gift of love, undeserved but given freely.
So rejoice, though the road is hard, honour God with praise and glory.
All trials refine our faith, they have come to mature us.
Persevere, count them as joy. Take your cross and follow Jesus.

And one day our God will wipe every tear from our eyes (x2)

(c) Owen Hughes, Jeremy Poyner and David Tubbs, 2008.

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How Marvellous is My Saviour’s Love For Me!

April 21, 2008
Isn’t it great that Jesus was more Terminator 2 than Terminator 1? He could have come to Earth and punished us for our failure to live our lives in the way that God has said we should. Instead he came to save us by dieing on the cross, taking that very punishment on himself that he could have dished out.
— Phil Keymer

At The Plant on Sunday we listened to one of the most challenging talks and encouraging talks I think I have ever heard. Phil Keymer was preaching on Matthew 9:1-17 – explaining the reasons for which Jesus came. Here’s a brief summary of what we covered.

Forgiving sin is the reason Jesus came (v1-8)

Sin is putting someone in God’s place. It’s what we all do, whatever we put in God’s place it is a result of putting ourself in God’s place first. It’s our biggest problem – here Jesus forgives a paralysed man of his sins, as his biggest problem was his sin not his paralysis. It’s the same for us: our biggest problem is our sin and we are as helpless before it as the paralysed man was with his paralysis.

Jesus is the solution to this problem. Only God has the authority to forgive sins (v3) – as sin is putting God out of his place, then obviously only he can forgive it. But Jesus has the authority to forgive sin (v4-7, c.f. Matthew 1:21) and on our part only faith is required (v2,8).

Thats why Jesus came for sinners (v9-13)

Jesus came for people who need forgiveness, in other words he came for everyone as we are all sinners. Jesus also came for those who want forgiveness. Surprisingly, not everyone does want forgiveness – the problem with the Pharisees was that they were more concerned with sacrifices than with mercy. God doesn’t care for religious stuff at all, he wants people to care for and help sinners, like he does.

Jesus came for sinners like us. Thus we should be profoundly sorry, grateful, humble and hopeful. We can be profoundly sorry as we know we are forgiven. This will manifest in that we repent from our sins. We can be profoundly grateful as Jesus didn’t come into the world to punish us, instead he came to save us. We can be profoundly humble before God and each other because as we are all sinners we can only compare ourselves to Jesus, who was sinless. We can be profoundly hopeful as God doesn’t just give us a future, he gives us a wonderful sin – with no sin and no consequences of sin.

That’s how Jesus revolutionises relating to God (v14-17)

It’s right to mourn over our sins and our sinfulness (v14), but not at the expense of rejoicing because Jesus has died and risen so that our sins could be forgiven (v15.) The new way to relate to God is only by faith in Jesus Christ, not by religious observance, not by national identity and not by moral acceptability. By faith, relating to God is unrelated to sin!

But why did Jesus come to Earth to do all this? Because God is love and this is how much He loves us, that he sent his Son to be a propitiation (a sacrifice that makes us right) for our sins! (1 John 4:10)

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