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Chapter 52

Good Monday Morning to this week 52 of 2021

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Isaiah 9:2

Let’s look at this passage of Isaiah 9.

I love the idea of prophecies referring to a future event in the past tense; not because the event has necessarily happened, but because its occurrence is concrete. There is a finality and certainty to it. It is as if it’s already taken place.

And I love the idea that the future tense of what Jesus will be called isn’t so much an event of the future, but a continuing event of past, present and future. 

Who walks when you walk in darkness?

Who walks when you walk in darkness?
Who stands straight?
Who treads firm?
Who lives in the 
true meaning of the word?

All fade away.
There is no trust
No solid ground.
No resting place,
No journey’s end.

There is no quiet,
No sense of peace,
No sight to guide,
No knowledge to lead.

I ask, who walks when you walk in darkness?

But now, a light has come,
The day has dawned,
The brilliance of the Holy One
Has shone upon the earth.

An heir is born,
A kinsman lives,
A child of ancient promise
Has arrived.

He holds the crown of David
And wears the robe of Solomon,
But as lord of both
He sits.

No dominion endures before him,
No war prevails against him.
No darkness can diminish him
And no depth can consume him.

For the LORD has given him all things,
That he may free the nations.
He loves the ways of justice
And his kingdom of light is eternal.

Wishing you a great start to this last week of 2021 , a transition and expectation
of the new year to come.

Philemon

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Good Monday Morning to this week 51 of 2021

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. Psalm 22.27

Have you ever been to Palau? Or do you have Palau on your bucket list? It would be a good idea, the island is subjected to sea level rise that threatens low-lying coastal infrastructure, including schools and transportation, as well as ecosystems and cultural sites.

Palau is a country in the western Pacific Ocean somewhat at the end of the world!
It consists of some 340 coral and volcanic islands perched on the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. The Palau archipelago lies in the southwest corner of Micronesia, with Guam 1,300 to the northeast, Papua New Guinea 650 km to the south, and the Philippines 890 km to the west.

Reading in the magazine of PMA (Pacific Mission Aviation) that both my Mum and Dad were involved in over many years, I see and read some of the urgency that is mentioned in Psalm 22 mentioned above. The Psalm begins abruptly; My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me: a disturbing scene: someone who knows and trusts God is forsaken and cries out to God in agony.

The Cambridge Bible put it this way:
There was a knowledge of God, to which the nations might attain through the witness of His works without and the witness of conscience within. But they ‘forgot Him’ and turned away from Him to idols of their own imagination. But one day they will ‘remember’ and ‘return.’

Martin Luther wrote to this Psalm:
This is a kind of gem among the Psalms and is peculiarly excellent and remarkable. It contains those deep, sublime, and heavy sufferings when agonizing in the midst of the terrors and pangs of divine wrath and death which surpass all human thought and comprehension.

Then after vers 21 something changes, it’s the last: Hasten to help me…

After pouring out his soul in agony, now the Forsaken One has a glorious sense that God has answered Him. The crisis became bearable in the knowledge that God is not removed from His suffering nor silent in it. The deliverance from the crisis itself may be yet to come, but the deliverance from the sense of being forsaken by God in the midst of the crisis was his.

For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to him, he heard.

The poor shall eat and be satisfied: If God shows such faithfulness to the afflicted, there is hope for the poor. The good God will take care of the poor who trust Him and seek Him. The faithfulness of God to the Forsaken One becomes a foundation for His faithfulness to others in need, such as the poor.

This Psalm 22 shows us much of God in Jesus coming to this world, with a special highlight on the group of those that would “remember and return to the Lord”.

Let’s take this thought into these Christmas days.

Remember and return!

Wishing you a blessed start to this week!

Philemon

Chapter 50

Good Monday Morning to this week 50 of 2021

Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Exodus 23.20

Let’s give this interpretation an attempt, today using an old joke.

A man is walking alone in the desert, his camel has run away with water and food.
After a while, he sees a merchant. He approaches him and says:
Water, please, do you have me some water?
Sorry, Sir, I don’t have water, I only sell ties!

Then the man resumes his road, he is more and more tired and the sun shines high in the sky. A few hours later the man sees a second merchant. Dying of thirst he walks towards him on his knees. And he says to him: Please Sir, I need water… please!
Again this man answers, sorry I only sell ties.

So, the man gets on his way. Half an hour later he came across a third merchant. The man moves forward with difficulty (he crawls) and says breathlessly:

Water…I…beg…you…water!

Oh, sorry my good man, I only sell ties. But a little further, in this direction, there is a bistro where you can get water to drink.

Thank you… Thank you very much!

So the man continues in the direction of the bistro, five minutes later he finally sees the bistro, he starts to run and finally arrives at the entrance of the bar, he practically collapses on the counter and asks:

Waiter, water, water please, I desperately need to drink.

And the waiter answers him:

Sorry sir but here we only serve those who have ties on!

Why did the camel run away, to begin with?
Why were there three merchants on the way, trying to sell ties?
Where exactly was the place that was prepared for him?
Which one of the three merchants was the angel?

We begin this week with a riddle, yet we are not clueless, nor are we lost!
There are provisions on the way, there are signposts, there are angles, the question is if we recognize them!

Wishing you a good morning.
Philemon

Chapter 49

Good Monday Morning to this week 49 of 2021

The king said to them,
“I had a dream, and I’m troubled by it. I want to know what the dream was.”

I had a dream. I had a dream of a GP, of a General Practitioner. This
man lived out in a subdivision of Lome. Around his cabinet were a few homes,
a football field, a few kiosks, a few clothes shops and many motorbikes
that would pass around his place on the red road in front of his entry.
Let’s call the GP Jean. Jean came to the entry, close to his customer stopper
with a big poster on it offering his services, looking out to the soccer field
while greeting Marie as she passed with a lot of cosmetic products on her head,
greeting him with a big smile. How are you children asks Jean, thanks they are
all well replies Marie.

Jean looks back at his poster, he thinks of the many services he has offered. All
three pregnancies, all the checkups and even two of the three children he delivered
with a midwife right in his little cabinet out in Agoé. Jean smiles as he thinks of these
kids, this family and looks over to the soccer field and then over to the school behind the field. Jean also remembers the last child and the rush to the hospital with both mother and
child being in great danger.

Jean smiles, and then he frowns, he is troubled. What will become of these children?
Of course, he has often blessed the families and the children with the verse from Isaiah

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jean is even reminded of the Message and how well he gets the meaning of the verse

I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

Or the Jewish approach;

For I know what plans I have in mind for you,’ says Adonai,

Or the Voice which ends with a very nice little command;

 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Eternal, “plans for peace, not evil, to give you a future and hope—never forget that.

These passages give him hope, fill his mind and heart with deep satisfaction, knowing that the God he knows is able to do this and will prepare a home for him somewhere yonder.

Back to Jean standing at the entry of his cabinet, his heart and mind are at peace, but his spirit is troubled. He is reminded of Jesus going through cities and villages and finally speaks to his disciples:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few;  therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”

Jean is still deeply in thought of all these passages as a young man passes by on the road, while he’s knocking on a piece of wood. Hey, what’s it you’re selling today? The man on the road turns and shows him the empty bag. Oh, remarks Jean, why this – why is your bag empty? I’ve sold all my candies and many other things, my bag is empty but what I have now is worth so much more, because I had a dream last night. I had a dream that I would stop selling candies. Every time someone stops to buy something after them hearing the sound, I will stop, I will sit down with them and talk to them about their past and speak to them about their future. I will start to help them to build a vision for their life.

Jean went back to his desk, got out a big marker, quickly went out the poster on the road
and added one more service to his list, right after the “check-up” he wrote:

New Life Vision

The man on the street is touched, excited and walks straight to the next seamstress
and gets the same title sown onto his backpack. New life Vision!

Jean goes back to his cabinet, drinks some Vitale water and lets the next mother with her kids in. Again all three have a cough to which he has some medication, but the words on his lips are the ones he just took in from the encounter with the young man outside.

New Life Vision. For I know what plans I have in mind for you,’ says Adonai!

Wishing you a good start to this week.
Philemon

Chapter 48

Good Monday Morning to this week 48 of 2021

It’s been a day full of many impressions, smiles, talks, blessings, prayers and much more.
What a priviledge to be back in Lomé with the La Vigne churches, Nouvelle Perspective and the many friends I have and know here.

Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
Out of Romans 12

I’m touched by deep spirituality and faithful comittment I see and experience here in Lomé. This morning I spoke about this passage. On a side note I mentioned that when someone is blind it’s amazing how the other senses are activated and “jump” in to compensate the loss of sight.

Back in the car, my friend mentions, there will be a musician in the afternoon program that is blind. He’s a great musician and greatly helped us transition through a period of loss.

Much later in the day I got to hear his talent on the keyboard and even got to greet him.
As we talked a little a sentence followed that touched me deeply, and think I’ll never forget.

I remember you Philemon! You used to come visit us when were still at the other building.

This little sentence spoke to me deeply.

Yes we belong to each other!

You might be out there alone, thinking no one see’s you, cares about you. But in the spiritual
realm there is a belonging, there is a spiritual mystery in being one, belonging, being one part of a whole, of something complete.

Wishing you a blessed start to this week!
Philemon

Chapter 47

Good Monday Morning to this week 47 of 2021

Reading an article called, The Church of the future, I found a
a very helpful passage.

I did a quick and incomplete translation out of the German passage.
Einführung in die Evangelische Theologie U. Schnelle

The Church must be a spiritual Church,
one that is indebted to the Spirit and gives space to the
the creative Spirit of God, because the creative Spirit of God is the Spirit of life.

This, “Spirit” is by no means simply the uncontrollable, spectacular seizure by an incalculable power. Rather, the term “spirit” is to be differentiated and concretised in three different terms.

Pneuma, (breath of life)
Nous (reason, intellect or intelligence)
Logos (word, speech)

All three Greek terms are closely related to each other (cf. Romans 12:3-8) and yet
set their own accents and significance.

Pneuma; is the Spirit in the fullest sense”,
which is our being shaped and being gripped
holistically by the entire existence, the breath of God.
Pneuma makes it clear that there is a
deeper spiritual experience that moves and blows far beyond words.

Nous; as reason, intelligence
and insight by the Spirit. This
intellectual dimension of the
of spiritual activity is more and more relevant.
The general, accessible and rational
perception of self and the world, along
with critical consideration and judgement, lead
by Gods Spirit is greatly needed within the Church.

Logos; as “speech, power of thought and spirit”
represents the rhetorical and pedagogical
presentation of the word of the cross and the word of reconciliation.
and shows its priority and deliberate focus.

The Spirit is seen as a transforming
power, as knowledge and power of speech, the representation
a divine gift, which experiences its highest
form in the presence and inhabitancy of love.

In summary,
The level of experience, the level of thought and the level of representation of the Spirit,
build a holistic vocation and calling of our human existence as a Gods creation. Being open to all dimensions of the Spirit of God is a door, a path, a direction to the future of the Church.

Wishing us all a good and blessed start to this week as we wrestle with the implications of the questions of the cooperate future along with our personal calling within the Church.

Philemon

Chapter 46

Good Monday Morning to this week 46 of 2021

Moreover, I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the stony heart from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Ruach within you. Then I will cause you to walk in My laws, so you will keep My rulings and do them. Then you will live in the land that I gave to your fathers. You will be My people and I will be your God.
Ezekiel 36 26-28

Yesterday evening I was reminded by an old friend of my dad how greatly he was inspired by Martin Loyd Jones while doing training in London. Yes, I remember a lot later of all the books still on my Dads bookshelf. Maybe it influenced my theology as well!

In one of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermons “A new Heart,” he elaborates : Man’s greatest need is not that he should become wealthy or emotionally fulfilled. Man’s greatest need is to be made right with God.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981) was a Welsh Protestant minister and medical doctor who was influential in the Calvinist wing of the British evangelical movement in the 20th century. For almost 30 years, he was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London.

This is something that happens to you: it is God dealing with you, and God acting upon you by His Spirit; it is something you become aware of rather than what you do.  It is thrust upon you; it is presented to you and almost forced upon you constantly in this way.

It is a kingdom which is to come, yes.  But it is also a kingdom which has come. “The kingdom of God is among you” and “within you.”  The kingdom of God is in every true Christian.  He reigns in the Church when she acknowledges Him truly.  The kingdom has come, the kingdom is coming, the kingdom is yet to come.  Now we must always bear that in mind.  Whenever Christ is enthroned as King, the kingdom of God is come, so that, while we cannot say that He is ruling overall in the world at the present time, He is certainly ruling in that way in the hearts and lives of all His people

The ultimate test of our spirituality is the measure of our amazement at the grace of God.

We must come back to the soul and to God who made it. We were made for Him, we are meant for Him, we have a correspondence with Him, and we will never come to rest until, like that needle on the compass, we strike that northern point, and there we come to rest – nowhere else.

Our supreme need, our only need, is to know God, the living God, and the power of His might. We need nothing else. It is just that, the power of the living God, to know that the living God is among us and that nothing else matters… I say, forget everything else. Forget everything else. We need to realize the presence of the living God amongst us. Let everything else be silent. This is no time for minor differences. We all need to know the touch of the power of the living God.

Wishing you an inspiring as you continue to know this God along with the mystery of Him living in us.

Philemon 

Chapter 45

Good Monday Morning to this new week.

These last weeks have been filled with questions, reflections, even some riddles. Here is one concept that makes narrow spaces wider!

Faith

Faith is reason grown courageous.

You can do very little with faith, but you can do nothing without it.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.

Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark.

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

The smallest seed of faith is better than the largest fruit of happiness.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

Life without faith in something is too narrow a space to live.

Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Wishing you a good start to this new week!
Philemon

Chapter 44

Good Monday Morning to this week 44 of 2021

Do you remember the proverb from Amos 5. 19?

A man was attacked by a lion. By sheer accident, he was able to save himself, but then a bear ran at him. Again he escaped. With the last of his strength, he made it to his house and just barely slammed the heavy door in the bear’s face. Gasping for breath, he leaned his hands against the wall—and a snake bit him. The bite was fatal.

What could this be about? Is the meaning really obvious? Our worst enemies are not outside, they are in our own house? Or is it about our shadows? Or is it temptation that keeps returning? Or is the day of the Lord at hand, as many say?

Wow, this little passage ist is extreme!

Gerhard Lohfink … first gives the parable to many of his students – then makes an attempt to put it into context …

It has to do something about the “Day of the LORD,” the crucial phrase that frames and dominates the parable. Amos is using the parable to explain to his hearers in the Northern Kingdom of Israel what the “Day of the LORD ” means for them. Before war and deportation overtook them the people of the Northern Kingdom lived in fragile security. Their economic situation was good. The rich were getting richer all the time and exploiting the poor. Pompous worship services were celebrated, along with lavish feasts. The political situation was heating up. The people expected God to defeat their enemies, as on the “day of Midian”. For them, that was a day on which God had intervened, a day when God had rescued Israel from its foes. Now they were longing for such another “Day of the LORD .” But the prophet levels that expectation to the ground. The “Day of the LORD ” the people are wishing for will look completely different. Embedded in the prophecy of woe stands the parable of the futile flight. There is no salvation any longer for the people of the Northern Kingdom!

The discussion group then debated for a long time about how open to a variety of interpretations an isolated parable text standing by itself can be. Only the literary context or oral commentary or the actual situation in which a parable is spoken can establish its meaning without a doubt. For that very reason, Amos gave his parable a frame—the “Day of the LORD .”

After this figurative indication of the sufferings and calamities which the day of the Lord will bring, Amos once more repeats in v. 20, in a still more emphatic manner, that it will be no day of salvation, to those who seek evil and not good and trample justice and righteousness.

What is your interpretation?

So many people are talking about this day, calamity coming as the day of the Lord. What if the warning is not about the day of the Lord as a day of losing salvation or redemption, but the day of the Lord is when it’s about those not about seeking justice, but instead about trampling on the less privileged and causing injustice? For many, the bite of injustice is indeed fateful.

The encouragement today is as we had it the other day out of Micah:

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God!

Wishing you a good start to this week.
Philemon

Chapter 39

Good Monday Morning to this week 39 of 2021

In deep thought and awe I sit here in front of large mountain. The mountain is formed like a volcano. As the day passes by, so do the many different variations of clouds, colors and weather patterns. In front of the mountain is a lake and this lake reflects much of what is happening around the mountain. The lake specifically shows the wind and waves and adds to the beauty of the scenery.

Mountains are something we all have in common, we mostly have some connection to, or have experience with them in one way or another. So it was with the writers of the Bible. It’s very common imagary to many of the writers, from prophets to kings. Here a few to meditate this morning.

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it.

In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it.

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?  My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone.

For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.  In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. 

Quotes from Isaiah, Micah, Mark, Matthew, David, Jesus

Wishing you a great start to this new week.

Philemon