durhamlass

What did it mean that John was sent to "testify" to the light? I see this as witnessing to the light, i.e telling others about what he knew about the light. Ok it can be difficult telling people about what you don't know i.e. the things that you are in the dark about. Yet all of us who have encountered the light have some kind of expereince about it that we can share with others. In what sense are you put here with the purpose of "testifying" to the light? What do we know about the light? Many of us have been in dark places but then found that the light of God has reached us. Because of this experience it means that it is easier for us to share the way this light can shine into dark places or even lead the way out of them. How are you doing in this regard? There have been times when I have done really badly with this and hindered rather than helped people because I did not understand how to be a light in that situation. It did not help that it was hard to keep my own personal light lit at that time. In one such case I have been led to believe that their darkness is now so deep that they will never escape from it. Zechariah tells us that there are some people who have heard other people so much that even if they scream for help he will no longer hear them. This fits in with proverbs 1 and also where the writer of Hebrews suggest for for some people there is no way back to the Lord after they have succumbed to persecution. So although is not a commonly accepted idea it does pass the test of having 2 witnesses to it. What happened to John the Baptist? He said he must decrease and then lost his head! Ok that is not the sort of decrease he meant. However, his truth-telling did make him some powerful enemies who made sure that he met his end. What might happen to you if you testify clearly? There are some of us who are called to shine a light to reveal truths within the church itself. You only have to look at 16th century Europe to see the consequences of this. I once went to a church where the vicar said if you go a few yards that way along the street you will find the site where we burnt them. If you go a few yards that way along the street you will come to the site were they burnt us. I am not sure about how clearly they were testifying of the light but it does show what people who call themselves Christians can do to each other. So sure their viewpoint was right that they literally set light to members of another church. What is worse is that the UK has a sort of folk celebration that started as a result of how the political/religious situation developed during that period. At that "celebration" a representation of one particular man is burnt on a fire. We call November 5th Fireworks night or Bonfire night. Yes trying to blow up parliament was not a good idea to say the least, but his terrorism was fueled by religious disagreements. Strange to think how some people telling the truth as they understood in the 1500s led to that kind of social event in the 21st century. It has also provided an excuse to sell fireworks in the shops for a few weeks a year, fireworks which have damaged property and injured or killed people on occasions. There again as a child my dad used to persaude me to go with him and the rest of the family to the "celebration" put on by the organisation he worked for. It was dark, cold and worse still sometimes damp therefore not always a pleasant experience. We still have some disagreements and misunderstandng these days but the consequences are not nearly so dire. Although one of the major reasons why there have been so many church splits and even new denominations created is because some have shone the light on the basis of their understanding and problems have erupted. These kind of consequences have sometimes lasted a long time. Why start on this tack? I feel called to testify to some of the things that I have been shown by God to my brothers and sisters. There again I had a somewhat unusual response when they were talking about making cutbacks because giving had gone down, i..e. what is the church doing to help people earn more. People cannot give what they do not have. When I told some people this it made them see things in a different way. Well how many church leaders have been asked what they are doing to help their church members set up business so that other people have jobs and therefore more money to give to good causes like the church? There were definitely some very surprised people when I shared that approach! What might happen to the people to whom you testify? If you shine a light on a situation then surely your hope is that they would see it in a different light. Sadly not everyone who sees things differently does so in a possitive manner. It could have a negative effect.

I pariticipated in the email only bible studies when we were put into groups. That seems a world away now. Those were the days when I would have said I was tying to survive a difficult marriage. Today I am recovering after the Lord rescued me what I would now describe as a long and abusive marriage. Those were the days when I feared divorce. Today I am thankful for that being part of God's rescue plan for me. I had found myself in quicksand. As I struggled I sank further and further until I was only surviving because of a God given-breathing tube. When I finally agreed to being rescued, and did not put any conditions on how that happened. Everything was organised for me. I now look back and wonder if some of the folk at church actually prayed me out of that situation. I did not dare ask them before I moved on to pastures new. See what I mean about the old studies seeming to be a world away. My life has changed so much since then that it really does seem like a dfferent world. My journey has left me with some unusual interpretations of some bible passages. So beware. Oops I did not mention where I am. I am in north east England at the moment. I live in a different village in County Durham now than I did then. However, at the beginning of September 2012 I decided that I should be trying to move closer to my family who are clustered in the Chester/North Wales area. I am still trying. A load of my stuff went before me into storage in November 2012, including most of my books including commentaries and some of my less used bibles. So I am commited to going forwards and moving but no one will buy this house so I cannot move. I cannot even look for a new home or do anything more about settling down there. One of these days at the right time I will move but it is something of a test. My prayer to start with was to move and be settled somewhere before my mum's 80th birthday. That is now 3 1/2 months away. Its still possible but it is now a lot tighter timing than I wanted. Susan

Q1. (2:19-21) Why was Timothy's selfless concern so rare among church leaders? Rather than pointing the finger at others in your church, consider yourself. What things has Jesus had to deal with in your life that has helped you to become genuinely selfless and focused on the concerns of others? How has he refined you? (Of course, he is still at work in us!) I have not been around this board for a while and boy does this hit home after my experiences in the past 10 days. Not at church but at home. Basically I have been going around pointing the finger at my husband saying you have made me feel bad therefore I don't want to behave very well towards you. He then turned round and said he was walking out because of my behaviour. Some wake up call! Now no matter how dreadful he is I am trying not to repeat that behaviour and put him first no matter how much he hurts me. Trouble is some of the things that have hurt me for a long time now have not disappeared. I still had the physical symptoms of an anxiety attack yesterday due to his words but I still have to get on and love him and not retaliate. I would leave if I was sure that God wanted me to do but until he says give up and go I will stay. From my own experience it is very difficult to keep going and going when you are being hurt one way or another. No one who gives out in leadership can avoid being hurt by the things that their imperfect flock does. What is needed is a way of dealing with it so that it does not cause any unnecessary hurt. Prayer partners, spouses, close friends even journals have a role in that situation. What is also needed is communication saying what has upset them in such a way that it brings improvement in behaviour rather than more hurt. That is not easy. It is really difficult to keep going and going without venting your own feelings. I have seen pastors vent their feelings about situations from the platform and it has been ugly. The pressure became too much and off they went. The lesson in this is that everyone needs the opportunity to vent their feelings somehow. The way that I am coping now is writing my feelings down at a time of my choosing so that my husband can read them at a time of his choosing. The way that I used to cope in one really bad situation was to talk to someone who then caused me more problems by the way they dealt with what I told them. We are part of a body and there is only one head i.e. Jesus the rest of us have to work together as a team. There is very little that we can do without affecting someone else. Rather than knocking down we should be building up but it is not easy. The God who knows us will give us the strategy to deal with situations. The one he gave me was to stop protecting hubby by not expressing my own feelings but to tell him what I really felt. I am now doiing that. Susan

Q4. (1:23) What do Philippians 1:23 and 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 teach about the state of Christians immediately after death? When you think about it people have died at the hands of other so called Christians because of their different ideas about this verse. I had to look at the idea of purgatory for the syllabus I was supposed to be teaching. I had always been told it was not right but knew very little about it other than it was linked in with Luther's 95 arguments that became the spark for the reformation. What I realised was that the idea of going straight to heaven, no stopping points, involves a greater trust in the ability of God to deal with the sin in our lives. It was Luther's 'discovery' that if you had faith in God that God's grace was enough to send you straight to heaven that led to him to start arguing with the church in Rome. I am pleased that my God does not really need a two stage process because he cannot organise a single stage process. It will definitely be a an express service, no stopping on the way. In other words my God is fully strong enough to deal with my sin. He does not need the extra ideas introduced by the tradition of purgatory. How does this comfort you? I find it comforting in a strange way. I see God protecting us from man's ideas about religion. God does not want his people confined by wrong thinking but wants to set them free. How does this energize you? Well it makes me want to know how God wants to influence my thinking about religion. In many debates over Christian custom and practice Christians end up arguing over different interpretations of various bible verses. I don't like this. I don't want to argue from my personal position of bias towards an interpretation of the Bible but I really want to know what God's views on various issues actually. This of course demands research and prayer as so many times the evil one gets into the church and stirs it up so that we end up fighting. I don't want to fight in an angry sense but I would like to know enough to argue what I believe to be God's point of view. Susan

Q3. (1:20-21) How can fear keep us from being a bold witness? Strangely work wise I tend to be quite bold. I find myself standing up for all sorts of things. I had one group of teenagers surprised wit my answer about what I would do if I was on some kind of life support system just waiting to die. When I said that I believed that I would not find myself in that situation because the world would end before I died. It was one puzzled teenage questioner. What did surprise me was the other teenager who then came out and said that she agreed with me. Now that was the one that took some courage to admit in front of others. I don

Q2. (1:18b-19) Why is our ability to rejoice so dependent upon our faith that God is in control, working even in the midst of difficulty? In q1 I mentioned that I had an inspection coming up and boy is this becoming a battle. Tuesday I spent most of the day trying to make my printer behave so could not make a start on the paperwork required. I see my boss on Wednesday lunchtime and what paperwork I thought was filed away could not be found. At the end of Wednesday I am told that I did very badly in the last inspection in November. Believe it or not no-one had told me before. I then end up staying up half the night writing up the necessary documentation. Next day (Thursday) as I was sorting out stuff for the inspection someone else told me that they had had a bad report but then as she was given the feedback immediately she had been able to put enough material together to defend herself. Apparently he was a particularly harsh inspector. Later in the day I find myself talking to a colleague saying that I don't know where I am and just have to trust God to find me the work I need. Today (Friday) it has got worse as I have been tormented with thoughts that I have to do really well in this inspection before I am offered a contract for next year. This has left me feeling down and definitely struggling to rejoice. I am trying to lean on God to help me prepare for this week

(1:12-14) From the standpoint of witness to others, you are much more credible when you are undergoing personal struggles, stress, and problems. Why is this so? Why should we be any different from Jesus? He became man so that he could understand the problems involved in being a man. Why was Paul's witness so powerful? Paul had an excellent grounding in God from his Jewish background. All this training would not be wasted but built on by the new ideas he gained as he grew in the Christian faith. Then he had a rather dramatic introduction to Jesus on the Damascus Road. There could be no doubt about his conversion. After that his first task was getting to know the people who he had been going to kill before his conversion. It was not long after that that he experienced what it was like to be one of the persecuted and left the city covertly. In other words he had loads of adventures and situations that would have built up his experience and knowledge about dealing with trials. There is nothing quite like being able to face one trial and that giving you the strength experience etc to get you through the next trial. Each trial and act of obedience would have led to a greater trust and dependence on God and an expectation that he would come through the other end. What personal struggle are you going through that could enhance your testimony if you handled it right? I find the work I do quite a challenge. First I still have not quite got my head around all the topics I am supposed to teach e.g. determinism libertarianism and compatibilism yet I have done the lecture on these topics and am supposed to be sitting down and marking some. When I took on this job I only knew what the first terms topicswere and I knew those quite well but then I found that I hardly knew anything about the other subjects on the syllabus. The theology part was OK but the philosophy of religion and ethics was weak so I have been madly trying to teach myself these things before sorting out how to teach them to the students. I am supposed to be teaching them but I am finding that I am getting a good foundation in some topics that are useful to any teacher/speaker in the church. Secondly I am not the best of disciplinarians and managing a class of teenagers even ones who want to learn this is definitely required. I did OK in last years inspections but struggled with this years and will need to repeat them next week. Thirdly my lesson planning has to start with prayer and I have seen how useful this can be. I find that doing this when the exams comes around that the bits I have missed out have not appeared in the external exams and vice versa. Fourthly last year I started teaching a completely new subject for me and had very little support. It was a huge change as I went from showing adults to how to use computers to teaching philosophy and ethics to teenagers. I love doing one to one stuff and find that easy but working with larger groups is not so easy for me. I was thrown into the deep end and told to go away and learn to swim. I have learnt to float but I still have to learn to do the stylish strokes and develop my skills and stamina so I can do an even better job. Susan

How is the good the enemy of the best in our lives? I had to look twice at this question. It seemed so odd. When I have come back to it I realised how easy it is to be satisfied with something that is good and not to aim higher and gain the best. Some how the best seems to be that which is unachieveable and unreachable. Something that tires us out as we try and reach it. However with perfectionism if we try too hard to get something right we can end up in going round in circles so much that we don't actually get the job done. We can be so afraid of not doing something right that we constantly check it. I know of a church where one person who is a keyholder cannot be allowed to be last to leave the premises. They would go back and check if the lights are out the doors are locked etc for hours or until someone came to rescue them. They are so struggling so hard to be good that they cannot achieve the best. Susan

Q4. (1:9-11) Why does Paul ask God to give the Philippian Christians discernment? What will be the result of discernment in their lives? How does selfishness cloud discernment? Looking in my dictionary I see discernment means good judgement. So what are we (they) supposed to be judging? Looking at these verses again this is finding out what is God's will. Why do God's will? In my experience that is because whatever the situation God knows best. For example the room where I specifically asked God for help furnishing when we moved in here and followed his leading is the one that I am most pleased with the end result. The one where I said I know what I am doing is the one where I am least pleased. Basic example I know but you could scale it up to any situation in life. Link this question to my example. The result of discernment was a pleasantly furnished room that suits our needs and has things that match together from a variety of sources that just happened rather than being a hard slog to find. Not only that the result is very pleasing. In terms of the other room selfishness clouded my judgement. What is being selfish - back to the dictionary - it is being concerned with one's personal welfare, with total disregard to others. How could doing what I want to do be called being selfish? I was doing it in a misguided attempt to boost myself by saying that I know best and I am going to make myself look good and feel capable by doing it myself. Putting your own will before God's will not lead to the best results in any circumstance. How is the good the enemy of the best in our lives? What is the enemy of the best? Could it be our stubborn will that says we are going to do it our way rather than anyone else's? Could it be our pride that says we know better than anyone else? Could it be the temptation that is put in our way by God's enemy? In other words we are in the middle of a battle between one party wanting the best in our lives and one wanting the worse for us. Here in the UK we are in the middle of a election campaign to decide who will run parliament for next 4 or 5 years. Somehow we have to make a jugement about who is the best candidate for us locally and possibly nationally. Each side is putting forwards arguments and saying vote for us , side with us and we will do this that and the other for you. Each side is also saying don't take their side because they cannot do what they say and they cannot be trusted to do what they say. One big difference between an election like this and the battle to decide what to do in life is that it is obvious which side is which. In the battle over what to with our lives this is not always so clear. Does doing ABC this way mean that I am on God's side or not. Even once we have taken sides with God we need to know what is the right policy. We look at the handbook and see a whole series of stories and very few passages that give a list of rules and those rules that there are apply to an older and very different sort of society to ours. We look at the principles guiding their behaviour and they can be helpful but there are many things we can do or think about doing that are not mentioned in the handbook such as experimenting with animals. Somehow we need to come to some kind of conclusion on this kind of issue and that is where we need to be able to work what God wants us to do for ourselves hence our desparate need for discernment. Susan

One way of describing my situation at the moment is that in ways I am living through a time of famine. Not in a physical sense but definately in other ways. I am learning the importance of leaning on God and expecting him to advise and support me in every aspect of my life. I have an imperfect husband and I am learning to allow the God of the gaps to make up the difference between what my husband can do and what I need. Believe me at times there can be some pretty big gaps but I am learning that even these God has ways and means of dealing with, sometimes in the short term and sometimes in the long term. This work is started in me and I understand that it is part of my personalised training programme. I am not sure what I am supposed to be doing for the rest of my life but I can see a progression of learning experiences building one upon another. Some of them are on the job training as I am used in a succession of smaller roles where I am working for God but also learning as well. Looking around the church this is not exactly a unique experience. All the well-known ministers of yesteryear have had some kind of training either before doing what they became well-known for or as on the job training. Today the same sort of individual training programme is provided by God for each of his children. We see this happening in ourselves and others and can say that God will not let us down he will finish the task of honing us and purifying us and making us fit for his service. Well do you know of anyone who can truly say God let them down! Yes it was hard work and uncomfortable at times but since when has purification been easy. Paul just wanted to encourage them yes If God has started the job then he will not leave if half-finished but will take it onto completion. Susan

The use of the word partnership obviously implies a two way relationship. Yet often a financial partner often means that money flows in one direction. In the world of business we talk of investing in an organisation so that you put a certain amount of money in and are given a certain amount of the profits as a result. The company uses your money and does something with it that brings about a good result that hopefully increases the amount of profit made. What sort of profitable things come about as a result of investing in a a missionary, minister ministry or church. Well primarily what God wants to happen is able to happen. A cyber-missionary cannot work without funds for computer equipment for example. How could investing in God's work benefit us? I would expect to see God's kingdom on earth growing. I mean growing both in terms of numbers of souls and growing in vitality and capability. Some say that by investing in missionary activities we will bring about the end of the world more quickly and as they think what will come after is better they work very hard towards that aim. We can make investments into people's lives in other ways providing emotional support, encouraging them, teaching them helping them mature into the people God wants them to be. We enjoy watching our children grow and develop so it is the same with people around us, especially if we know we have done something to help them. The problem is with this then becomes where do you stop! All sorts of kindnesses whether linked to financial things or spending time or listening are needed by people, just about wherever you go. How can God answer prayer without his people following his instructions? Today many people won't hear him but will hear our lives. Jesus does not walk among people doing good we do. We can go further and do more because Jesus was just one man in one place compared to the multitude Christians around the world. Imagine what the world would be like if it was full of people just like Jesus - in character at least. Susan

Sounds daft but I don't particularly like giving money I would much rather buy something for someone and give them it. I do tithe my income and find that if I don't I get into a financial mess. On the other hand if I am out shopping and see something that I think would be useful for the church kitchen I will get it and take it church with me next time. Same with charities, I would much rather buy something or even use what I bought to make something and then give it away. I would much rather buy wool and make a hat or a blanket than just send money. One thing that I do find myself giving others is useful information. This can be something like so you want to do this so why don't you go there as they will be able to point you in the right direction. Or you said you had this problem and here is a printout of something I found on the internet that you might find useful. Something I found myself doing today I tried contacting a particular church and had a look on their web site then emailed them a copy of the error message I found pointing out in as gentle way as possible their web site needed some attention. Susan

For anyone who wondered what on earth was going on when I wrote the last post. I am in the middle of a battle that revolves around the issue of obedience. I have God in one ear saying you are taking too much and allowing yourself to be abused and it is about time you stood up for yourself. In the other ear the evil one is saying no matter what is said or how it is said you will obey it. A saint is a called out one set apart for God's purposes and given the rights of an adopted heir. As a child of God obedience is expected but the motives for obedience is quite different. For the child obedience is supposed to develop character and to be something that is done out of love for the parent. For the parent obedience is something that is seen as a way of helping a child build character. For a slave obedience is forced upon them by their circumstances. They are bound up and forced to be obedient. Aristotle for one thought that it was not possible to develop a virtuous character in a slave. Susan

A slave does what they are told no questions asked. It means absolute and instant obedience no matter what the cost to them personally. They have no alternative as they are bound in chains by their master who is quite within their rights to punish them, even to kill them for not doing what they are told. They may be allowed something to eat and drink if the master sees fit. They may be allowed to have a spouse or children but this is not their free choice but that of the master. He decides if they are allowed to have contact with a spouse or their children. In other words every single decision about their lives is taken by the master and they have to learn to live with whatever decisions are made on their behalf. No wonder a slave was thankful when they had a genrous and kind owner who thought of their needs when decisions were being made. I know I am a long way off the sort of obedience that should be expected of me. I fight and I struggle and I argue for a long time before giving up and doing what I should have done in the first place. Part of the reason I want my own way far too much and part is because I find it hard to trust God the way that I should. Susan

My name is Susan. If you wanted to find where I am on a map start by looking at one of the UK. Find the east coast of the main island then measure about half way along this coast now move about 20 miles inland of the North Sea and there you will find me in County Durham. Yes I know it sounds Irish with the county at the front rather than the shire at the end but I am definitely in England. These days I go to a Baptist church although I used to go to an Anglican (Episcopalian) church as a teenager and then a Pentecostal church so I am familiar with a range of ways of doing things. This has helped me as I work with teenagers helping them gain an academic qualification that will help them get into university. Some topics for this qualification are drawn from philosophy of religion and others relate to ethical theories which are used to examine the required list of ethical issues. This believe it or not is relaxation compared to that! Susan