How do we respond to challenges? How do you respond when you’re faced with a dilemma where you are faced with a difficult decision to make? On the one hand, if you stand for God you will suffer at the hands of those challenging you. On the other hand, if you don’t stand for God, you will avoid the imminent consequences, but have denied the Lord in some way. When Jesus was being tried before his execution on the cross, when challenged, Peter denied him twice (Luke 22:54-62). Yet, he was later forgiven and restored by the Lord (John 21:15-19). Christians often face challenges, whether large or small, with the threat of ostracism on the one hand to death on the other hand (moreso in other countries around the world than here in Ireland). How do we respond? If a Christian, what question do we want to be asked least? What situation do we want avoid most? Are we more afraid of upsetting other people than God? The Lord is with his followers in the middle of their trials In Daniel 3:1-30, Daniel’s three friends face a life-threatening question. But they refuse to compromise on their faith in the Lord God, even when threatened with death. In the end, God eventually saves them from death, and they are strengthened in their faith, to God’s glory. Yet, even during the trial that they endured, the Lord was present with them in a very real way. And when they came through it, they were not injured from their experience at all. Yet, are we prepared for the ultimate sacrifice? But not everyone can come through it the same way. Sometimes the Lord doesn’t rescue us, and we have to face suffering or even death. Are we prepared to stand for the Lord even when we know it means facing death? Here is an (edited) extract from an account of the death of Rachel Scott, who died because she refused to deny Jesus. Rachel Scott, one of the martyrs killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, would be 31 today, if she were alive. Though Rachel’s life was tragically cut short at the age of 17, her story continues to inspire people today, more than a decade after her death. Rachel’s faith in Christ was no secret to her peers in Littleton, Colorado, which made her a target that fateful day when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire at their high school. Rachel was asked by the gunmen if she believed in Christ, and when she answered in the affirmative, she was shot. She was the first person shot that day, including 12 students, one teacher (and the two gunmen later on committed suicide). Minutes later, they returned to her, as she was lying on the ground wounded, asking her a second time if she still believed. On answering yes again, she was shot in the head. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Rachel’s journey was the premonition she had a year before she was killed. On May 2, 1998, she wrote in her journal: “This will be my last year, Lord. I have gotten what I can. Thank you.” She knew that her faith could cost her. Shortly after her conversion, it began costing her friends that no longer wanted to associate with her. Rachel took it hard, as any teenage girl would, but she didn’t reconsider her commitment to Jesus. “I am not going to apologize for speaking the Name of Jesus,” she wrote in a letter to her friend one year to the day before her death. “I am not going to justify my faith to them, and I am not going to hide the light that God has put into me. If I have to sacrifice everything…I will.” Rachels’ funeral, which was broadcast on CNN, reportedly was the most widely watched programme in CNN’s history [funeral in television history]. The funeral consisted of, among other things, testimonies from her friends concerning her strong commitment to Christ. In her death, Rachel was able to spread the gospel via CNN, to people who may have otherwise gone unreached. Pastor Bruce Porter spoke at Rachel’s funeral, addressing the young people in the crowd: “Rachel carried a torch, the torch of truth, the torch of compassion, the torch of love, the torch of the good news of Jesus Christ, her Savior and Lord, whom she was not ashamed of even in her hour of death. I want to lay a challenge before each and every one of you young people here today. The torch has fallen from Rachel’s hand. Who will pick it up again? Who will pick up the torch again.” When we are faced with difficult choices like this, it helps if we are already prepared in our minds beforehand as to how we will respond. If we suffer, the Lord is with us in the midst of our trials. If we are faithful to him and are spared, our faith is strengthened. If as believers we suffer the ultimate sacrifice, death, we go to be with the Lord which is far better (Phil 1:21-23). Edit: There is another girl, Cassie Bernall, who was also killed at Columbine as well as Rachel. she was reported to have said something similar to Rachel before being shot. However, since posting this, I have learned of the conflicting accounts of what is believed to have been said, or not said. It appears that neither may have actually been questioned about their faith. However, as another post similarly concludes; “Rachel’s parents maintain their daughter was targeted because she was a Christian and that videos which were part of the investigation prove that she was harassed by the gunmen for her faith.” Regardless of what was said or not, Rachel’s diary shows that she was prepared to give up her life for her Lord and Saviour. She is with him now.

What relevance does a young man deciding to eat a vegetarian diet about 2,500 years ago have for today? Not much, if it just relates to what he eats. Yet, if we see the significance of his decision, his motivation and action applies very much to us today also. Daniel was among the people who were exiled from their homeland. He was pressurised to succumb to a foreign culture and political control. Yet, just like Jeremiah 29:4-7 prophesied, Daniel sought the good of his new city, rather than resisting and working against it. Yet, he and three of his compatriots decided to draw a line in the sand. They would not eat the meat and drink the wine from the king’s provision for them. Instead, they ate vegetables. This was a largely private matter, and one that proved to Daniel and his friends that their good health, and blessing in their learning and work, were not due to the king’s beneficence, but the Lord’s. Today, Christians live in what could be described as exile, to greater or lesser extents. We look forward to our heavenly home, and consider ourselves as strangers in this largely sinful world in which we feel out of place. Christians therefore, like Daniel, find themselves drawing lines in the sand – we can go so far, but no further, in terms of compromise and inculturisation into this world where sin and ungodliness is so dominant. Think about it – when was the last time that you drew a line in the sand, made a stand in some way, to keep on the right side of the constant erosion towards unholiness? Do we do this regularly in order to keep close to the Lord God? If not, then worldliness and unholiness will erode whatever holiness we do have. Let’s do as Daniel did, and remember where our blessing really comes from, and seek to obey the higher throne, trusting in the Lord God alone.

Christians are in a spiritual battle Christians sometimes don’t realise that they are in a battle, a spiritual battle. There is an unseen enemy who works hard to spread evil and destruction in the world. This enemy works against God’s people too. “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:11–13, NIV) Paul teaches that battles against the Devil (which are often against demons doing the Devil’s work, not direct contact with the Devil himself) may appear to be battles with people. But we’re not battling against flesh and blood (that is, people), even though the battle appears to be just with people. There are real forces of evil in the heavenly realms (the spirit world). These battles might seem to be through governments, authorities, or individuals, etc. But behind these visible opponents there is an invisible enemy. (This is not to say that everyone who gives Christians a hard time is doing the work of the Devil. Far from it. There are many Christians who bring opposition and hard times on themselves, and many who disagree or politely oppose with Christians, who either just have a difference of opinion on neutral matters or who sin on their own without demonic backing.) Against demonic spiritual opposition, Paul tells Christians to be strong ‘in the Lord.’ Christians have been allocated battle armour from their quartermaster, the Lord. We ought to wear our spiritual armour because we need it. Soldiers who go into battle without the proper protective equipment are either poorly supplied or foolish if they don’t utilise their armour that is provided. Christians too should wear the people battle gear in order to withstand the attacks of the enemy. The Christian’s battle armour Belt of truth Breastplate of righteousness Shoes of readiness to share the gospel of peace Shield of faith Helmet of salvation Sword of the Spirit – the Word of God It seems as though Paul would have also added another piece of armour to the list, if he had found a suitable part of the Roman soldier’s battle armour that suited the illustration: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Ephesians 6:18, NIV) Prayer is essential in order to rely on the protection that comes from God. So too is perseverance. If Christians were to wear this battle armour more often, we would find that we are wounded less frequently, and more effective in the Lord’s service.

Who wears the trousers in a marriage? The typical view of ‘wearing the trousers’ means being the boss, being in charge and expecting everyone else to do as you say. In a real sense, the Bible doesn’t allow anyone to ‘wear the trousers’ in this sense. Instead, as the apostle Paul teaches in Ephesians 5:21, Christians should submit to each other. This means that wives should submit to their husbands, and husbands should submit to the needs of their wives in Ephesians 5:22-33. He also teaches that they are not ultimately submitting to each other, but to Christ himself, as each fulfills their role before God, with each one being equally valued and loved by God. When people are not trying to get their own way, but they are seeking to be obedient to the Lord, and wanting the good of others, marriage works well, as do other relationships. There is much that the Bible does not teach about in these verses, which needs to be clarified in order to present a balanced view of what it does teach. Paul’s teaching can be considered under three headings: Wives, respect your husbands Husbands, love your wives, Our example is Jesus Christ When we follow the Lord’s pattern, we can naturally expect the Lord’s blessing.

Van Morrison’s song “Bright side of the road” encourages us to move from the dark side (of the street) to the bright side (of the road). The illustration of moving from the dark to the light was used by the apostle Paul many years beforehand, in his letter to Christians in and around the ancient city of Ephesus: “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!” (Ephesians 5:8, NLT) Paul’s encouragement to the believers can be summarised under three headings: You have been called out of darkness Leave the dark side and be enlightened by Christ Walk as children of light If Christians have left the darkness of unbelief and sin behind (in principle while they are striving to do so in practice, as they wait until going to be with the Lord when they will have left it behind completely), if they have crossed over to the bright side, they ought not to walk in the dark side any longer.

Slaves and masters Paul did not support slavery Paul did not support slavery as it is commonly understood, in terms of the African-American slavery common a couple of centuries ago. Instead, he argued against the status quo in the letter to Philemon. In Philemon 1:15-16 he argues that a runaway slave should be received back as a brother in Christ, and not as a slave: “Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever—no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.” (Philemon 15–16, NIV) Workers and employers Instead, when Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:5-9 about the attitude of slaves to their masters, he had in mind more the attitude of workers to their employers. Many people today describe themselves at work like being slaves to their bosses. The principle is the same, even if the employment relationship is officially different. Employees – Who do you work for? Paul teaches that employees should consider that they work not just for their immediate boss(es), but for the Lord Jesus with all our heart. We should do everything to please him. Often, we don’t get praise from our bosses, and if we were working to get praise from them we could get frustrated quickly through lack of recognition of our efforts. The Lord rewards all our efforts too, so we will never lose out on the ultimate management appraisal. Employers – Who do you work for? Employers often act as if they are a law unto themselves, lording it over their employees with the threat of redundancy or demotion. But Paul tells Christian employers that they have to remember that they too have a boss in Heaven. (The context is towards believers, not employers in general, although the principles apply to all employers since they will have to answer to the Lord for how they treat their employees, whether they like it or not, Romans 2:4–11.) Do you need a change of employer? If we want to work for the best boss there is, we ought to live our lives for the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only one who ultimately treats us fairly, and who we can expect a fair and proper end of term appraisal from. The only problem is that because of our sin, no-one will receive the reward of eternal life because of their own efforts (Romans 3:10-20). However, we can have his righteousness, or his work record, in our employment file, and look forward to receive an eternal reward (2 Corinthians 5:21). The way to receive this is by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is not because we deserve it, but because God is gracious and merciful. When we do everything primarily for our heavenly employer we can be joyful and content, even if our immediate earthly superior gives us a hard time. And even if we happen to be technically unemployed, we can still be employed in the Master’s service in all that we do.

Living the new life I’m not the person I used to be, thank God. And what’s more, I’m not the person I’m going to be, thank God. That is what every believer should be able to say. On the one hand, we look back to before we trusted in Jesus for forgiveness, and received his Holy Spirit to change us. On the other hand, we look forward to when the change that the Holy Spirit makes will be complete and clear. In the meantime, we live in the in-between time of starting to live a new life of pure holiness by God’s strength, but still trying to shake off the remnants of the old life of sin. Both coexist, to our frustration. Why not live the old life? Paul gives three reasons why his hearers should to throw off the old sinful life, and to put on the new life which is already theirs, in Christ: Because the old life is degraded (Ephesians 4:17-19). Because believers have been created to be like God (Ephesians 4:20-24). Because it grieves God’s Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). How should I live the new life? Paul gives four examples of transformed living, although he could have pointed to any number of other changes in lifestyle: Don’t tell lies or untruths (Ephesians 4:25). Don’t loss your control over anger (Ephesians 4:26-27). Work and contribute to others (Ephesians 4:28). Speak positively (Ephesians 4:29). In summary… In Ephesians 4:31-32 we read that we ought to get rid of all that is bad from the old life, and be kind and tender-hearted to each other. And since we are still not perfected and sin, we ought to forgive one another, just as Christ freely forgave those who believe in him (John 3:16, Romans 3:24). It’s a constant struggle, this side of going to be with the Lord. We ought to not grieve God’s Spirit by living the old way of life by sinning, but instead put on the new way of living, through faith in Christ.

How is your walk? At a time when lots of people in Belfast are walking or marching, supposedly in the name of Christianity, it seems coincidental that we are have arrived at the place in the letter to the Ephesians 4:1-16 where Paul considers what kind of ‘walk’ the Christians there were displaying. From the context, it is clear that he isn’t concerned with their actual walking or marching, but he is using the metaphor of how we walk to visualise how they lived: “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.” (Ephesians 4:1–3, NLT) This question is relevant to many of us today who call are called ‘Christian.’ Do we struggle to walk at all, like a young toddler who falls down every few steps? Or do we walk with a limp, with something causing visible us pain as we try to keep going regardless? Or are we walking swiftly, confidently, in a mature manner, as someone who is healthy from head to toe? The Church united Paul shows that the Church, of all believers across the world, or in any local congregation or wider grouping of believers, ought to live and walk in love and unity. We are not called to disgruntled or disunited – There is one body of Christ (Church), one Spirit, one hope and calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father over all believers. However, implicit in his statement is the fact that such unity must not be in anything else other than one salvation and relationship with God. Unity for the sake of unity, or for any other cause (cultural, political, denominational, etc), is not biblical unity. Unity must be through a common relationship to God, through saving faith in Jesus Christ, and demonstrated in love. The Church is gifted Next, in Ephesians 4:8-10, Paul goes to some lengths to explain how Christ has given the Church the gifts of leadership that it needs. He doesn’t discuss all the spiritual gifts (although he and Peter elaborate on them at greater length in other letters), but just those necessary for the healthy growth of the body of Christ, the Church – both in numbers through evangelism, and in maturity through pastors and teachers. Just like a military conqueror in ancient times would share the bounty over a victorious nation with his loyal subjects, Paul share the image of Christ having conquered sin and death, and giving spiritual gifts to his Church. The Church is to grow to maturity Getting more practical, Paul shows that the point is that the Church would grow to maturity, and not walk in an embarrassing, immature, or stunted manner. On the abilities given to leaders, he writes: “Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” (Ephesians 4:12–16, NLT) If Christians do not have good leaders, despite some individual exceptions, they can generally be expected to grow spiritually immature, being misled along one wrong path, then another, as they listen to clever sounding messages. But if they have good leadership that teaches sound doctrine, sensitively speaking the truth in love, they will grow into maturity and into the fullness of Christ. While this can never be completed this side of eternity (perfection is not possible in this fallen world), we must nevertheless strive towards it, since we can make significant growth in that direction. Praise God for his gifts and teaching, to help his children mature and walk in faith and love.

Our good friend Ricky Fawcett (from when John and Elaine lived in London), a former missionary to the homeless and travellers in and around London, shares a little about his ministry before he retired, followed by a sermon on 1 Timothy 1:12-17: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus. This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:12–17, NLT) For more information visit the London City Mission website, or the homeless centre at Waterloo.

We all change as we grow older. But some changes are not due to maturing, growing older, becoming more experienced, and so on. Some life experiences can change us dramatically. One such change is becoming a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not simply believing that he exists, or died on the cross for sins to be forgiven – that his believing in history. Instead, it is trusting in him alone for the forgiveness of our sins, by God’s grace and mercy. This results in becoming a new person, although with the same name and looks etc. We receive the Holy Spirit, to make us holy, which changes us. As a result, while many people think that they know believers because they grew up with them, or knew them before they trusted in the Lord, they may be seeing the old person, and not the new person in Christ. Paul, in Ephesians 2:1-10, shows how the believers at Ephesus should consider themselves to be different now, in contrast to what they were in the past. He outlines several contrasts between their status now and before they believed: They are now alive in Christ, and not dead spiritually. Their ancestry is now in Christ – they are no longer children of disobedience. They are now living more and more as obedient followers of God, not disobedient. They follow Christ now, not sinning like the prince of this world. They are now living with their home in the heavenly places, not in the sinful nature. They do not relate to God by obedience/disobedience (under law) resulting in his wrath, but are blessed beyond measure by God’s grace and mercy. They are saved by grace, not by their own efforts at being good. Who are we? If we are ‘in Christ’ we are blessed beyond measure and accepted by God. If not… well, there is still time to trust in Jesus!