Thought of the Week

City Lights

Posted on by Shannon

As a young family heading home on the highway from trips away, we’d often pass by the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia. It literally sits on top of a huge hill, hundreds of feet high. At night, you could see its lights sparkling in the distance, often looking like a crown on top a regal head. It reminded us that we were getting close to home.

In Bible times, you can imagine how a city would look at night on top a hill. No electric lights invaded the darkness, but the oil lamps and cooking fires of a community would easily mark its location. Jesus said our lives as disciples need to be like that. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden…Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14, 16).

When Jesus taught these principles in his Sermon on the Mount, he had the sterile, cold lives of the Pharisees in mind. Instead of following their unsympathetic lives, he challenged the people to genuinely care for others and become lights in the world.

Kind, helpful good works are always appreciated. People are drawn to the thoughtfulness of others. They are remembered for a long time. When Jesus did kind things for people, they were recorded in the New Testament and studied by followers for centuries.

Good works aren’t to be deliberately shown off, like medals on a uniform. It’s just that they can’t really be hidden. When we’re busy doing them, people naturally notice what you’re doing. And if you’re doing them with humility and care, you will be like city lights on a hill. God will be glorified.

What a great challenge from the Lord of good works.

– Tim Johnson

What Makes Us Tick Inside?

Posted on by Shannon

The great philosophers of ancient Greece sought to understand the inner nature of man, what made him tick. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle wrote down their thoughts which have been studied for thousands of years. Some people find Plato’s thoughts to be difficult and a little strange, but overall, he made a lot of sense. He lived roughly about the time of Israel’s Babylonian captivity.

No one knows the inner nature of man more than God himself, our creator. David recognized this shortly after he realized he was guilty of some shocking sins. In Psalm 51:6-7, by inspiration, he wrote down some great truths. He said, “Behold thou dost desire truth in the innermost being” (NASV). Deep inside of us, one of the greatest things we can do is be a people of truth. Not only should we speak truth to others but know the truth about ourselves: we are flawed and need God’s help and forgiveness. This breeds deep humility, enabling us to treat others with “gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love” (Eph.4:2).

The second truth David pointed out was that “in the hidden part Thou wilt make me know wisdom” (Ps.51:7). God himself can give us wisdom deep inside, which adds great quality and character to man. Philosophers have come up with some profound things, but wisdom from God truly enriches a life. If we ask him for it, he will give it to us “generously and without reproach” (James 1:5).

Sometimes we just need strength to carry on. Our inward man needs to come up with it at the worst of times. It is said in scripture that we can be “strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph.3:16). This is a blessing accessed in prayer by any Christian.

So, what makes us tick in our inner man? Truth, wisdom and strength – all from God through Jesus Christ. Look into the Scriptures every day and feast upon the truths found there. Pray to Him for help and wisdom – and do it with a humble attitude. That’s what makes us healthy and strong deep inside.

– Tim Johnson

The Great Reversal

Posted on by Shannon

Sport has a large place in the lives of many people. By and large, sports fans love the underdog, especially when a team or individual comes from behind and wins the championship – a reversal of fortune.

In the Bible we see a similar kind of reversal. Jesus said, “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it” (Matt.10:39). What is high is brought low. What is low is brought high. What is proud is humbled. What is out is in. What is in is out. That is because the standards and values of the kingdom are different than that of the world.

For example, it was David the shepherd boy who was picked to become king of Israel and not his older, stronger brothers. It was Jacob, the quiet man, who loved to stay around the tents, not Esau, the skillful hunter, who was given the birthright – although by cunning. It was Mary who was chosen to give birth to Jesus, not one of the thousands of women from better circumstances.

And how can we not mention the humble nature of our Saviour? Isaiah said of Him, “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him” (Isaiah 53:2-3). Yet in his death he saved the world, his resurrection gives all men hope, and he ascended to heaven to sit at God’s right hand (Acts 2:36).

The theme of the great reversal is carried out through the whole of the scriptures. The book of James and the Sermon on the Mount turn upside down the values of much of the world.

Are your values in line with His?

– David Johnson, with additions from Tim Johnson

The Greatest Father

Posted on by Shannon

There’s a lot of angst in the world about fathers. How many television shows feature people trying to find missing fathers, or absent fathers trying to reconcile with their children, or people struggling to grow up without a father at all? It would be nice if all families had kind and devoted fathers, but that’s not the case. But there have been some exceptional ones in history.

Charlemagne, king of the Franks (ancient France) and of the Romans in the 8th century, had 20 children. He was careful to educate all of them – even the girls, which was unusual at the time. One of his sons was found guilty of conspiring to kill the king, but Charlemagne took pity on him and found a way to save him from execution. He was a father who cared.

One of history’s worst fathers was, surprisingly, Constantine the great who made life much easier for early Christians in the 4th century. One of his sons carried out many of his father’s military campaigns, and they were quite close. But for some unknown reason, Constantine had him executed and all monuments dedicated to him destroyed.

Most men try to be good fathers, but the job comes with little training. Whether you’re ready or not, fatherhood is thrust upon you when you have a child. We look for models to follow, and the best of all is God Himself.

God is the father of all mankind (Acts 17:24) and provides for all of us, whether we are good or evil. He created the nation of Israel and treated them as His sons. “When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son” (Hos.11:1). Through the sacrifice of Jesus, He adopted us as sons and cares for us every day. “And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor.6:18). Through God we learn to care for our families, to love each one of our children, to shield them from danger, to treat them special, and provide them with guidance.

Kings, emperors and ordinary men have all struggled with fatherhood. You don’t have to be rich and powerful to be a good one. God Himself shows us how to perform this most important role He has bestowed upon men. Whatever your circumstances, if you’re a father you can do it well.

 

– Tim Johnson

A Citizen of the Kingdom

Posted on by Shannon

The poet Maya Angelou once wrote, “There is nothing quite so tragic as a young cynic, because it means the person has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.”  Cynicism is something that seems to be entrenched in our society, just ask any of the teachers in our congregation and they will tell you how difficult it is to teach someone who is indifferent to the world around them.  Theodore Roosevelt once gave a speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris during his presidency entitled “Duties of a Citizen”, which had some encouraging words on how to view cynicism.  “The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer. There are many men who feel a kind of twisted pride in cynicism; there are many who confine themselves to criticism of the way others do what they themselves dare not even attempt.  There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes to second achievement.” It is easy to fall in line with the cynicism of our culture, but as Christians we are held to a higher standard concerning attitudes toward life.  As we read in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” We are to be an example to those who are mired in negativity, “so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:10).

-Jon Jackson