The path to freedom

R. T. Kendall was minister at Westminster Chapel in London for 25 years. I am told he has written more than 50 books. Although officially retired, he still preaches by invitation and he still writes. (He's a little bit younger than I am, so there's hope for him yet.)

One of his best known and most successful books is called Total Forgiveness. After he wrote that, he wrote another called Totally Forgiving Yourself. (If you haven't read it, you can see the video here.)

Now there's a subject that needed to be written about, without a doubt. Sometimes we make mistakes. We know that we have been completely forgiven, but we can't forgive ourselves. We insist on going back in our minds and beating ourselves up, with thoughts like "How different things could have been, if only. . ." 

If God has forgiven us and we haven't forgiven ourselves, we are living in disobedience, beneath the privilege of grace. Forgiving ourselves, says R. T., is what God wants us to do, it's what the devil doesn't want us to do, and it will bring us inner peace and freedom.

If this is your problem, you can be set free as you listen to the video.

 If the enemy takes you back into your past,  says R. T., there is one thing you can do. Remind him of his future.
            

The power of forgiveness

In 2006, a young man walked into a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, ordered the teacher, a teacher's help and the boys to leave, shot the 10 girls one by one, then turned the gun on himself.

Two years ago I wrote about the almost incredible love and forgiveness showed by the Amish people to the gunman's widow. Now the gunman's mother, Terri Roberts, is telling her story.

On that never-to-be-forgotten morning, after hearing a garbled report of the shooting on the radio, she drove to her son's house, where she met her husband and a state trooper. She asked the trooper "Is my son alive?" The trooper said "No, ma'am." She collapsed in a heap on the ground.

That afternoon her husband was saying "Those poor parents, those poor children, we will have to move far away from our Amish neighbours. . . " Henry, their Amish neighbour, insisted the Amish wanted them to stay.

"The Amish. . . attended our son's burial, surrounding us and protecting us from the media cameras. The first parents to greet us that day had lost two daughters at the hand of our son. They asked us how we were doing."

The following July many of the Amish attended a picnic at her home. "The loving atmosphere was incredible, demonstrating how, even through the hardest of situations, we can surrender our angst and discover peace and joy.

"Knowing that I am battling stage four cancer, this past Christmas a school bus pulled into my driveway with 35 Amish friends singing carols to me."

Her conclusions?

"Bitterness and anger are worse than any cancer, eating away at our souls. Even in hardship, praising God for His provision changes our perspective, granting grace for the 'next step.'

"Surrender and submission have become words of great strength to me. By submitting to a higher plan I've found joy in the midst of the trials of tragedy and health.

"I've been in the lowest pit, in the deepest depths, but God's grace provides a way out through daily surrender - and I see His goodness."
             

When we make a mistake

We all make mistakes.

I have made mistakes in the Christian life, which I have later bitterly regretted. When that happens, we have a tendency to despair. We think "I've made a mess of it. What's the use of trying now?"

Consider the story beginning at Matt 26:36. They were in Gethsemane, shortly before Jesus was crucified. He asked His disciples to pray with Him. They fell asleep. Twice.

He said "The hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going." The damage was done, and could not be undone. But Jesus did not condemn. It was as though He was saying "Come on. Let's go on to what's next." 

I remember once when I was bemoaning my failings. It was as though God spoke to me. He said *You're my son." Just three words. But those three words kept me going for days.

If we make a mistake, it isn't the end. There are still lessons to be learned; still more victories to be won. Pick yourself up and keep on going. Have we entered into a personal relationship with Christ? We are still citizens of the kingdom. Still sons of a loving Heavenly Father.
    

Lessons learned in prison

Daniel Waheli, with his wife and children, was serving as a missionary in a predominantly Muslim country in Africa. One night, six men came. Four of them had guns. They took him and put him in a small cell with a thin mattress.

He had been questioned by authorities before. He would tell them that he loved their country and he had started a successful business there. Then he noticed the writing on the wall of the cell: "Oh God, it has been more than five months. Please, help me to get out of here." He realised this might take longer than he had thought.

Work had kept him busy. Here, he had time to listen to God's voice. He prayed for hours at a time. God began to speak to his heart. He could barely keep up with all the things God told him. After they gave him his Bible back, he pulled strings from the mattress to serve as bookmarks. He looked at the places he had marked each day to remember the things God had told him. Eventually, he had more than 120 bookmarks.

He was released after almost three months. The presence and the voice of Jesus were clearer to him than ever they had been before. 

Waheli says God taught him five principles about suffering that every follower of Jesus should remember:

1.  Be ready for persecution. Suffering is promised for every person who seeks to live a holy life before God, regardless of calling (2 Tim 3:12).

2.  Rejoice in your sufferings. Suffering can help us develop character which can lead to a hope that does not disappoint (Rom 5;3 - 5).

3.  You are blessed by God in your suffering (1 Pet 4:14; Matt 5:11).

4.  Seek to "bless those who persecute you" (Rom 12:14). The power of love and forgiveness in action helps suffering Christians to bless their persecutors. Pray that God gives you eyes to see your persecutors as people who know not what they are doing and who deeply need Jesus.

5.  Suffering will help you comfort others. God often allows something to happen to you so that you can learn and "be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (2 Cor 1:4).

God intends to build our character to help us better serve Him in love and perseverance. Waheli says his suffering induced indescribable peace, joy and hope in God and in His promises that with and through Him, we will lack nothing.

May we endure hardship with joy and perseverance.
               

Can anybody have written more?

Charles Wesley, one of the 19 children of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, joined the Holy Club at Oxford, covenanted with the other members "to live disciplined Christian lives, given to serious study of the Bible, prayer, fasting and charitable works." He was ordained to the Anglican ministry and went as a missionary to the American state of Georgia, but came back a failure. 

While still a young man, he was taken ill and was in such extreme pain that he expected to die. He was visited by a young German Moravian missionary, Peter Boehler. Boehler (who was also largely incidental in the conversion of Charles' brother, John Wesley) asked him: "Do you hope to be saved?"

"Yes," he said. "For what reason do you hope it?" "Because I have used my best endeavours to serve God." Boehler shook his head, and said no more. "I thought him very uncharitable," wrote Charles, "saying in my heart: 'What? Are not my endeavours a sufficient ground of hope? Would he rob me of my endeavours? I have nothing else to trust to.'"

Boehler continued to visit, and to pray that Charles would again consider the doctrine of salvation by faith in Christ, examine himself whether he was in the faith, and if not, "never cease seeking and longing after it" until he attained it. 

Charles' deliverance came on Pentecost Sunday that same year. He said he felt the Spirit of God striving with his spirit until by degrees the darkness of his unbelief was chased away. "I now found myself at peace with God, and rejoiced in hope of loving Christ."

During the next 50 years, Charles wrote more than six thousand hymns. That's 120 a year; an average of one every three days. Some 250 years later, some of them are still among the nation's favourites: 

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
  Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
  I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
  I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
      

Well, are you?

In his book Crazy Love,* former American pastor Francis Chan tells the story of a businessman named Stan Gerlach.

Gerlach was giving the eulogy at a funeral service when he decided to share the gospel. "You never know when God is going to take your life," he said. "At that moment, there's nothing you can do about it. Are you ready?"

Then he sat down, fell over and died. His wife and sons tried to resuscitate him, but there was nothing they could do.

When the pastor arrived at the family home, his widow and his son John were crying. "Did you hear?" said John. "I'm so proud of him. My dad died doing what he loved doing most. He was telling people about Jesus."

The pastor was asked to give a word to the family and friends. He opened his Bible at Matt 10:32, 33: "Therefore whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven."

He asked everyone to imagine what it must have felt like for Stan Gerlach. "One moment, he was at a memorial service saying to a crowd 'This is who Jesus is!' The next, he was before God hearing Jesus say 'This is who Stan Gerlach is!'

"One second he was confessing Jesus; a second later, Jesus was confessing him. It happens that quickly. And it could happen to any of us. In the words of Stan Gerlach," he said, " 'Are you ready?'"

That's a good question.

*Second edition. Colorado Springs, Colorado: David C. Cook, 2013.
     

Is anyone listening?

When sin begins, it doesn't add up; it multiplies. We are living in desperate days. For hundreds of years marriage was only between a man and a woman: it never entered anyone's head that this was in any way unequal.

Now, in the name of equality, the US Supreme Court has followed the UK's example and legalised same-sex marriage in all 50 states. (Critics say the Supreme Court justices have ignored the law and the Constitution and rewritten the law according to their left-wing mindset.)

More and more denominations are accepting same-sex marriage. More and more churches are in agreement with divorce and remarriage.

Have you noticed the state of British television? More and more programmes are based on sex. Programme makers appear to be vying with each other to see who can be the more explicit. Blasphemy, which would have been unheard of on television a few years ago, is now the common language on some programmes.

Many would say that legalised abortion is so entrenched that it would be impossible to reverse. The Bible says that nothing is impossible with God. Six hundred unborn babies are being killed each day in the UK.

I am told that some Christian groups are now trying to live outside of society,  without reference to the standards of society around them. Their attitude is incorrect. Christians are meant to take a stand on all these issues.

Corporate prayer is desperately needed.

What is required is not sympathy, but action. Is anybody listening?
    

Equality and diversity? Not in the NHS

Victoria Wasteney was a senior occupational health therapist in the NHS for eight years and had an exemplary record. She is also a Christian.

A Muslim colleague often initiated conversations about Victoria's faith. She willingly agreed that Victoria could pray for her when she was upset, and accepted an invitation to a church charity event.

Victoria gave her a book about a Muslim woman who had an encounter with the Christian God. The woman made a formal complaint, alleging Victoria had tried to convert her. Victoria was suspended for nine months pending an internal investigation, then given a written warning for "bullying and harassment." She also had to accept conditions designed to stop her discussing her faith with colleagues.

She took her employer to an employment tribunal partly because she felt it was an issue that needed to be discussed. The tribunal agreed with her employer.

Victoria is now waiting for an appeal.

You may think that a Christian has a right to talk about her faith. Not, apparently, in the NHS.
       

Separated to the gospel

"We have been made as the filth of the world, the scum of all things," wrote Paul (1 Cor 4:13). The trouble with us is that sometimes we don't want to be as the filth of the world; we want everyone to think what fine Christians we are.

Some years ago, God sent me to work in a steel works. The men in that steel works knew how to give me a hard time.

One morning a young man, his friends around him, was having a go at me. He had an obscene picture he had taken from some pornographic magazine which he held in front of me. "There you are," he said. "What do you think about that, eh?"

Some time later I found myself standing at a bus stop with that same young man. Just the two of us. I didn't apeak to him. If I had been firendly; if I had treated him as a friend, I might perhaps have won him to Christ.

Oswald Chambers points out that Paul described himself as "separated to the gospel of God" (Rom 1:1). I wasn't separated to the gospel. I was prepared to testify to my faith in Christ, but I was still concerned about what people thought about me.

When Paul talked about his conversion to Christ, he didn't say "When it pleased God to show what a wonderful man he could make me." He said "When it pleased God to reveal his Son in me" (Gal 1:15, 16).
       

Billy Graham (96) plans for 2015

Billy Graham, who is 96, used to make a long list of New Year's resolutions, but got discouraged when he didn't keep them. So this year he's concentrating on just one: to become more and more like Christ.

"To be like Christ," he says, "means to be like Him in behaviour - rejecting sin, living pure and godly lives, and sharing His love with others. It also means to be like Him in character - in love and peace and patience, and all the other fruit of the Spirit

"If you've never invited Christ to come into your life, do so today. Then ask Him to help you become more like Christ this year, as you submit to His word and follow Him."

Not a bad resolution for a 96-year-old. Not a bad resolution for someone of any age, come to that. 
     

Love is not soft

The love of God is greater far
  Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
  And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
  God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
  And pardoned from his sin.

 Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
  How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure -
  The saints' and angels' song.

 You might find the words above a blessing. Or they might be just words. But one thing is sure: the love of God is a marvellous thing.

You may remember the Prodigal Son. He persuaded his father to give him his inheritance. although his father wasn't dead yet. Then he went off and blew it in. Destitute, starving and repentant, he came home, intending to ask for a servant's job. But his father saw him coming, ran to meet him, embraced him, ordered the fatted calf to be killed and proclaimed a party.

That's my Heavenly Father - unconditional forgiveness for the repentant sinner. But we sometimes have a strange idea about His love. It doesn't mean that He turns a blind eye to everything about us, or that He will ignore the foolish things we do.

My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
  Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him,
For whom the Lord loves he chastens. 
                                                                   Heb 12:5

He chastens us because He wants us to grow up straight. When we're chastened by the Lord, it hurts. But remember two things. First, if we're chastened by the Lord, it's evidence that we're His sons. Second, He does it because He loves us.

He's our Father, and there's no better father than He.
    

How to get to heaven

The second chapter of Ephesians explains how to get to heaven.

Once, it says, we were all sinners, full of trespasses and sins; children of disobedience, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind; by nature children of wrath. Despite what we think, nothing to commend us at all. But God so loved us that He sent His Son to die to pay the price for our salvation.

There's nothing we can do to earn it, or make ourselves fit to receive it. Because Jesus paid the price in full, there's nothing that we can add. It's a gift. It's the product of grace - God's undeserved favour. It's received simply through faith. We need to believe it and receive it. Until we do, we don't have it.

When we come to Christ, a divine exchange takes place. He takes our sin, and gives us His righteousness. We are His workmanship, Ephesians says, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

But didn't we say there was nothing we could do? Ah, nothing we could do to add to the price He paid for our salvation. After we receive Him we will do good works. Good works are the proof of our faith.

Here's something beautiful. It says we are created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. God doesn't just leave us hanging. He has a place for us in His kingdom. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives. There is something that only you can do, and a gift of grace for you to enable you to do it.

So how shall we know what it is that God has for us to do? William MacDonald says that in order to find out the good works that God has planned for our individual lives, we should

1. Confess and forsake sin as soon as we are conscious of it in our lives;

2. Be continually and unconditionally yielded to Him;

3. Study the word of God to discern His will, and then do whatever He tells us to do;

4. Spend time in prayer each day;

5. Seize opportunities of service as they arise;

6. Cultivate the fellowship and counsel of other Christians.

How are we doing?
   

Anger, hatred. . . and forgiveness

You may remember the photograph of a young girl running naked down a road in Vietnam, screaming. You may have heard that she later became a UNESCO goodwill ambassador. But have you, I wonder, heard the rest of her story.

Kim Phuc was sheltering with others in a temple in her village near Saigon during the Vietnam War. She was nine years old. A South Vietnamese soldier heard approaching aircraft and advised them to run. A South Vietnamese pilot saw them leaving the temple, mistook them for the enemy, and dropped napalm bombs.

Kim Phuc tore off her blazing clothes. She ran until she couldn't run any more, and then passed out. At hospital, they weren't going to treat her, because they didn't expect her to survive. They were eventually persuaded. She was in hospital 14 months, and had 17 surgical procedures.

She began to study to be a doctor, but the government took her from university because they wanted to use her for propaganda purposes. She was eventually given permission to study in Cuba, where she met another Vietnamese student. They married, and en route to Moscow for their honeymoon, left the plane while it stopped to refuel in Newfoundland and applied for political asylum in Canada, where they now live.

Kim Phuc established a foundation to provide medical and psychological assistance to child victims of war, and travels the world speaking of her experiences. She has received honorary doctorates from three universities. Here's how she describes her life:

The anger inside me was like a hatred as high as a mountain. I hated my life. I hated all people who were normal because I was not normal. I really wanted to die many times.

I spent my daytime in the library to read a lot of religious books to find a purpose for my life. One of the books that I read was the Holy Bible.

At Christmas 1982, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. It was an amazing turning point in my life. God helped me to learn to forgive - the most difficult of all lessons. It didn't happen in a day and it wasn't easy. But I finally got it.

Forgiveness made me free from hatred. I still have many scars on my body and severe pain most days but my heart is cleansed.

Napalm is very powerful but faith, forgiveness and love are much more powerful. We would not have war at all if everyone would learn to live with true love, hope and forgiveness.

If that little girl in the picture can do it, ask yourself. Can you? 
    

Preparing for revival

Many must have prayed for revival in Wales. Evan Roberts prayed for countless hours, but with no evident response. "I prayed and prayed," he said, "but nothing seemed to give me relief." Then one night, he was wakened at one o'clock in the morning.

"I found myself with unspeakable joy and awe in the very presence of the Almighty God. For the space of four hours I was privileged to speak face to face with Him as a man speaks face to face with a friend. At five o'clock it seemed to me as if I had again returned to earth.

"Every morning for three or four months always I enjoyed four hours of that wonderful communion with God. I cannot describe it. I felt it and it seemed to change all my nature. I saw things in a different light, and I knew God was going to work in this land, and not in this land only, but in all the world."

He had a crisis experience with the Holy Spirit during a meeting in the chapel at Blaenannerch. "I felt a living force come into my bosom. It held my breath and my legs shivered. . . The living force grew and grew. I was almost bursting. . . What bothered me was God commending His love.

"I fell on my knees with my arms over the seat in front of me, and the tears of perspiration flowed freely. I thought blood was gushing forth. . . For about two minutes it was fearful. I cried 'Bend me. Bend me. Bend us' . . . What bent me was God commending His love and I not seeing anything in me to commend.

"After I was bent a wave of peace came over me. . .  As they sang, I thought of the bending at the Judgment Day, and I was filled with compassion for those who would be bent on that day, and I wept."

Evan Roberts was a changed man. He wrote to a friend: "I have received three great blessings. First, I have lost all nervousness. Second, I can sing all day long. Some physical impediment obstructed me before. And third, I have gone as hard as flint. Thanks be to God, what an easy thing it is to thank now."

He asked his friend Sidney Evans: "Do you think it is too much to ask God to give one hundred thousand in Wales?"

It was not presumption. So many people were converted in the months of revival.
      

Four conditions for revival

It is said that Evan Roberts prayed for 11 years that revival would come to Wales. When he was 26 and had been for two months in Newcastle Emlyn preparing for the ministry, the former coal miner went to see the principal.

"Mr Phillips," he said, "I can't concentrate on my studies. A voice keeps telling me I must go home to speak to the young people. Is that the voice of the Spirit or the voice of the devil?" The principal was wise enough to recognise the call. "You can have a week off," he said.

When he arrived home, his parents were surprised. "Why aren't you at your studies? Have you been sent down? Are you in trouble?" "No," he said. "I've come home to speak to the young people." "What young people?" "The young people in the church." "We were in church yesterday, and we didn't hear an announcement." "No, the minister doesn't know yet."

He spoke to the minister, who suggested the Monday evening prayer meeting. The minister told the meeting: "Evan Roberts believes he has a message for you. Those of you who want to hear it can stay behind after the meeting." Seventeen people stayed behind.

Said Roberts: "I have a message for you from God. First, you must confess any known sin to God, and put any wrong to man right. Second, you must put away any doubtful habit. Third, you must obey the Spirit promptly. Fourth, you must confess Christ publicly." Sixteen people responded.

The minister asked Roberts to speak again on Tuesday evening, on Wednesday evening, on Thursday evening. . .  Finally, he said "If I can make it right with the principal, will you stay and speak for another week?" Roberts stayed for another week. Then the dam broke. Revival came.

You must confess any known sin to God, and put any wrong to man right.

You must put away any doubtful habit.

You must obey the Spirit promptly.

You must confess Christ publicly.

 How about those for conditions for revival?
    

A time for change?

Are you a Christian? Then there's something dreadfully wrong with you. You're unthinking; you're unscientific; you can't see how badly Christianity botches morality. You represent a deeply defective culture that's been getting all the most important things wrong for a hundred generations.

Did you know that?

 So says an American writer, tongue in cheek no doubt, but illustrating a point. The Christian is the odd man out in society, the barrier to scientific advancement, the hindrance to human enjoyment. Or so they would have us believe.

When they start calling good evil, and evil good, watch out.

Recently I have been studying the subject of revival; listening to tales of things that have happened during such times, particularly during the 1904 Welsh revival, when churches were packed to suffocation daily, tavern keepers went bankrupt and thousands of lives were transformed.

 The revival started in South Wales. I have been in the chapel in Loughor where Evan Roberts worshipped and where the revival largely began. It spread throughout Wales.

In Anglesey, in North Wales, a policeman was standing on duty outside a courtroom. He heard the sound of singing inside the court. He went in to see what was happening. The accused had broken down, confessed he was a sinner and asked his lawyer not to defend him any more. The judge adjourned the court.

"Now," he said to the accused, "may I speak to you, not as a judge, but as a Christian? You have sinned against society, but first, let me tell you how to get right with God." The accused was converted to Christ then and there. The jury burst into a spontaneous Welsh hymn of praise, and the policeman joined in.

Lord, revive us again!
   

Precious last words

One of the last things Jesus said to His disciples before He went back to heaven was something of tremendous import.

"All authority," He said, "has been given to me in heaven and on earth" (Matt 28:18).

When God created the earth, He made man to have dominion over it. "God said, 'Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth'" (Gen 1:26).

God didn't intend to rule over the earth. He intended man to rule over it on His behalf.

Satan, who had already fallen from his position in heaven as "the anointed cherub who covers" (Ezek 28:14), tempted Adam to disobey in the Garden of Eden. Adam fell, and lost his position of authority. Satan became "the god of this age" (2 Cor 4:4).

 When Jesus came, He provided us with redemption through His blood by His death and resurrection, delivering us from the power of darkness and translating us into His own dear kingdom. But that's not all. He disarmed principalities and powers, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it (Col 1:13, 14; 2:15). Satan has lost his authority. The only weapon he has left is deceit.

Jesus was now able to say to His disciples "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore" - because of this, because all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth - "and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Matt 28:18 - 20).

That's not an option. That's a command. Having departed physically, He has left us in command again, with His authority to do what He would do if He were here. And we have this promise: "and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (v20).

How are we doing?

Anticipating heaven

When was the last time you heard a sermon about heaven?

American negro slaves sang regularly of heaven ("Swing low, Sweet Chariot, coming for to carry me home"). Former generations sang about heaven ("We're marching to Zion."  "Shall we gather at the river?")

Not quite so these days. In Christianity, there may be less interest in heaven than at any other time in history. Having settled that they'll go there one day (not by living a good life, or going to church, or doing good deeds, but by trusting in the atoning work of the Saviour) Christians seem in no particular hurry to get there. The truth is they seem to be having too comfortable a life down here, thank you.

In a new book about heaven*, Edward Donnelly bemoans the fact that many people who think they are going to heaven aren't.

"There is no evidence in their lives that they are joined to Christ. They are nurturing a false hope. We hear the flippant comments that are passed when famous men and women die. Someone says that they are looking down from above, pleasantly surprised by the large and impressive attendance at their funeral. We hear about how golfers are enjoying playing golf and fishermen are getting huge catches in heaven. They may have shown little interest in the things of God, they may never have professed faith in the Saviour, but it is taken for granted that heaven is where they now find themselves. To suggest otherwise is to be branded a ghoulish bigot. We talk to people who assume that they are going to heaven and yet they have no good reason for their careless assumption. They are facing a most appalling shock."

God offers to sinful, miserable human beings an eternity of unimaginable happiness. Jesus can bring you to glory forever. But Donnelly says we are not telling people that.

He goes on: "Most of the teaching about heaven in Scripture is not for evangelism but for pastoring the people of God. He explains heaven in his Word primarily for his own children's sake, to help and comfort us, to encourage and strengthen us, to make us more holy, to fill us with joy. . . It is an immense blessing to know much more about heaven. And we can know. . . With his Word in our hands we can know about heaven."

The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Philippi:

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labour; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.

For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.  Phil 1:21 - 24.

When David Watson became ill with cancer, David Pawson wrote to him and pointed out that there is a difference between being willing to go to be with the Lord, but eager to stay, and being eager to be with the Lord, but willing to stay. It's said that David Watson took the words to heart, and prayed through until he was eager to go, but willing to stay.

I have no desire to go before my life's work is done, but the moment that time comes I want to experience the glories of heaven, and I long to see my Saviour's face.

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
  Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love him."
But God has revealed them to us through his Spirit.  1 Cor 2:9, 10.

* Biblical Teaching on the Doctrines of Heaven and Hell. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust.

Putting the gospel into practice

Marie Monville was brought up in an evangelical church in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In her late teens, she married Charles Roberts. They had three children and almost 10 years together.

Over the years, Charlie's faith began to falter. The more Marie asked him to seek help, the more he withdrew. Apparently he was suffering from clinical depression.

On the morning of October 2, 2006, Marie led a prayer meeting at church. She and Charlie then walked their two oldest children, aged five and seven, to the bus stop, kissing them goodbye before Charlie left for work.

Later, Charlie telephoned. "I had never heard Charlie's voice sound like that before," said Marie, "not in almost 10 years of marriage. Something was horribly wrong."

Charlie told Marie he would not be coming home. She pleaded with him to come home, but he hung up.

Charlie went to the one-room Amish schoolhouse with a handgun, a rifle, a shotgun, a stun gun and two knives. He ordered the teacher, a teacher's help and the boys to leave. He bound 10 schoolgirls and lined them up against a blackboard. He boarded up the windows, and shot the 10 girls one by one - five were killed and five seriously injured - before turning the gun on himself.

Some time later, Marie was in the kitchen at her parents' home when she saw some Amish men coming down the street. "I knew they were coming to my parents' house," she told Piers Morgan in a television programme last week.

"I went to my mom and dad and said 'What do I do? Do I go out to talk to them?' My dad said 'You can stay inside. I'll go out and talk with them.'

"He met them on the driveway. I continued to watch from the window. And although I couldn't hear the words they spoke, I saw the embrace. You know, I saw them put their arms around my dad and put their hands on his shoulder. Everything about their gentleness conveyed the words I couldn't hear.

"When my dad came back in, we all are waiting to hear from him what they said. And he collected his thoughts, you know. And I knew it had been a deeply moving time for him as well.

"He said that they had forgiven Charlie and that they were extending grace and love to our family. They were concerned about me and concerned about our children."

Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.  Matt 5:44.

Dying can be a great opportunity

What's the worth of a human life? If it's my life, can I do what I want with it? Do I have the right to end it when I feel like it?

Listen to John Wyatt, emeritus professor of ethics and perinatology at University College, London, writing in the current issue of Catalyst, published by CARE:

Many insist that we are like chimpanzees with extra brain, just one more species on the planet. Others believe we are basically machines, with brains like computers made of flesh instead of silicon and wires.

Another common attitude is narcissism or the elevation of the self, which is a form of idolatry. 'Everything that improves my life is great. Anything that diminishes it is negative. I have the right to choose how to live my life and also when it should end.' This mindset sees suffering as something to avoid, dismissing the idea that it could ever be of positive value. We see young people caught up in addictions that deaden the pain in and around them.

In secular thinking, human beings can be 'categorised' according to their value with high achievers and celebrities at the top all the way down to those who are totally unproductive and burdensome. Just think where this leads. 'Provided I am independent and able to choose, life is worth living but once I become frail, vulnerable, limited, I become less valuable - putting me out of my misery might be doing me a favour.'

Genesis 1 is clear that every human life is made in God's image. Psalm 139 describes us as 'knit together in our mother's womb. . . fearfully and wonderfully made.' Ephesians 2:10 says 'we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.' Jesus became human like us, choosing to be vulnerable, experiencing human fragility.

God chooses for us to live in a web of dependency on Him and others. We did not choose the circumstances of our birth and arrived completely helpless. As we grow, others may rely on us, and later we might need looking after again. In love, God calls us into existence by name; His plan for us reaches beyond the grave. For someone with dementia, this is crucial. They may forget who they are, but God knows, and remembers, holding their identity safe.

Christians should be particularly concerned about protecting the most vulnerable!  The brain-damaged, the disabled baby, someone severely harmed by life's circumstances, a frail older person - are they not made in God's image - all equal, special beings?. . . 

Palliative care is about living, helping to maximise someone's final days positively. I know of many who have 'died well' - finding time to restore relationships, say goodbye and let go as they focused on meeting God, many receiving Christ as saviour. Vulnerably ill people sometimes express suicidal thoughts but skilled and compassionate caring support transforms the situation. Dying can, by God's grace, be a great adventure and an opportunity, right up to the end, for a person to find purpose in their life.