Thankfulness

 Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 
always giving thanks to God the Father for everything,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph. 5:19.20)

When I started this series of e-letters I entitled is Praise and Prayer News but like so much in life, each issue has tended to be more about prayer requests than about praise.  In both our personal devotional times and in a worship together with others, there is often no space for thanksgiving.  In days gone by, it was the practice in the Salvation Army and Pentecostal denominations to have specific testimony time when items for thanksgiving were regularly shared.  I believe that this is much less common today, and rare in many - possibly most - other denominations.

One of my favourite passages on prayer in the Bible is Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God".  Throughout Paul's letters in the New Testament he often expresses thanks to God for the faith lived out in the churches for which he cared.  In the gospels thanksgiving is mentioned several times in relation to food, but little else.  One outstanding exception is the healing of ten men who had leprosy (See Luke 17:11-19) where only one man in ten gave thanks for healing.

As a child I was taught to mind my Ps and Qs, meaning to remember good manners and say please and thank you.  You may remember my encouragements in previous issue to express thanks to people doing mundane jobs.  How often a few words of thanks have brought pleasure to such situations.  I sometimes wonder whether God is disappointed in us if we fail to genuinely thank him for answers to prayer and blessings we experience each day.  Do we normally give thanks to God for our food (and do you do that publicly in restaurants)?  Do we give thanks for safe journeys and convenient parking spaces?

Some charismatic churches place emphasis on 'praise times' which is good but has the risk of becoming a time for self indulgence in joyful singing rather than heartfelt thanksgiving.  One of the newer songs (now old) is "Give thanks with a grateful heart", written by Henry Smith in 1978 during a difficult time in his life and facing a degenerative condition that would make him legally blind.  I find the words and music very moving.  It challenges me to be more faithful in thanksgiving to God.  I have so much blessing in my life that he certainly deserved more thanksgiving.

I am sure that you are capable of developing this theme further, so I will leave it here, with the hope that you and I will be better in future at setting aside time to say thank you to God before we start asking again!

Introducing Martin
Thank you for your prayers as we have moved through the process of seeking an Operations Manager who could lift some of the administrative and management work from my shoulders and help us to grow and develop this ministry as we face the challenge of millions of men, women and children in rural UK who have yet to hear clearly the good news about Jesus.

Martin Scheller has now joined the team and hit the ground running.  Please pray for Martin as he settles into this role and learns our ways.  Pray too for me as I plan and carry out the process of delegation.

Our trustees were unanimous in offering the role to Martin.  That was not easy as we had several other good applicant.  So, give thanks for the trustees and their care in the process.

We give thanks to God for you, and for your love and prayers.

Barry Osborne- 15th November 2021.

A Reason for Our Hope

 A Reason for Our Hope

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” (1 Peter 3:15)

This is a verse of scripture that has always intrigued me.  Peter’s letter was written to Christians who had been scattered under persecution.  What, I wonder, might be the context in which they might be asked to explain the reason for their hope?  Most communities in those days probably would have been small enough for a stranger to be noticed.  Since the reason for their arrival would soon be known, Peter presumes that there is every possibility that the curiosity of their new neighbours will be aroused.  While that might not be the same in our context, the issue of being ready to articulate something about our faith remains as important today wherever we live.

It is also interesting that Peter presumes that it is “their hope” that will be the focus of curiosity.  This is the fifth time that Peter has used this wod.  In his first reference (1 Peter 1:3) he refers to regeneration into a living hope through the resurrection of Christ.  Because Jesus rose from the dead, he demonstrated his Messiahship and divine nature, but this also gives us the expectation that one day we too will rise and live with him forever.  It was such an expectation, or hope, that enabled early Christians to endure persecution.

This then is the reason for their hope, as is also explained in 1 Peter  1:13 and 21. The other reference Peter makes about hope was to talk about the character of Christian wives.  While some find such veres as (1Peter 3:5) controversial it does bring home to us all that people will make judgements about our faith by how we relate and behave towards one another.  It was also for this reason that Peter writes about the manner in which we explain our hope, or our faith in Christ  (see verse 16).

I am occasionally asked why I moved from Sussex to the East Midlands.  An easy and simple answer would be to state that it was to do with my work, but the real reason is that  I believed that God was calling me here.  The real reason for that is because Jesus Christ gave his life for me, I have felt it right to surrender my life to do his will.  There is absolutely no reason why I should be embarrassed or afraid to tell people that.

While it is unlikely that anyone in the general culture of the UK would ever ask about your hope in God, it ought not to be unusual or surprising if they asked something about the way we behave.  For example, “I notice you never use bad language, why is that?”  But this begs the question whether our lives are attractively and noticeably different from the way others behave.  I emphasise the word “attractively”.  This is another point that Peter makes.  Our response should be with gentleness and respect.

One way by which I try to bring God and Jesus into the conversation is to make reference to the fact that I go to church.  For example, I might be able to say, “Someone made a similar remark at church last Sunday!”  When new people move into the street I offer to give them the names of good local churches if they are interested.  Just such a comment provoked my most recent new neighbour to reveal that she was also a Christian.  Now the neighbour we have between us has two neighbours praying for him!

Times may have changed since Peter wrote his letter, but human needs remain the same.  People in the communities in which we live, shop and work, are deeply loved by a God who gave his life for their salvation.  Helping them to discover that kove and a personal relationship with God is the best thing we could ever do for them.  So, let's make sure that there is something attractive about how we live, and then be ready to explain it with gentleness and respect.  Where we live, and the communities in which we move are God’s gift to us, and an opportunity for sharing good news.  Let’s “be prepared”.

Barry Osborne 18the September 2021

No Disappointment

I am writing this on 12th July 2021, the day after England’s defeat in the Euro 2020 Football Competition.  Hopes had been running high as time and again England had come through victorious.  Now we were to face a team with a far better record in international football for the final match.  England flags were flying from buildings, and many people really believed that this year, at last this year, we would bring home the cup.  But we didn’t.

It would be easy to look for someone to blame, or to blame the team as a whole, or to lay all the blame at the feet of Gareth Southgate, the manager and the man who chose those who would take the penalties that failed.  When we experience disappointment, especially when our expectations have been high, it is natural to seek to deal with how we feel ,by blaming or scapegoating somebody - or anybody!

When I woke this morning, I found the words of an old gospel song were in my head.

He is not a disappointment, Jesus is far more to me

Than in all my glowing daydreams I imagined he could be.

And the more I get to know him, so the more I find him true,

And the more I long that others would be led to know him too.

I remember singing this often in the sixties and seventies.  I wondered whether YouTube might have a recording.  Unfortunately the few recordings there used a different and far less effective tune than the one we used.  But while there, my eye was caught by a video on how women should handle disappointment in their love life.  Intrigued, I listened for a while and heard this “You need to find a man who wants you just as much as you want him”.  Wow! I could feel this resounding with good theology and so supporting what I am trying to share with you.

There is a significant difference between being disappointed that we did not win the cup, and focusing our disappointment on the team or any individuals.  We all experience disappointments in our lives.  I could provide you with quite a list!  But when it comes to faith, how should we deal with disappointments?  Perhaps a good place to start would be to pick up on that advice to lovelorn women, and ask the question, “Do we really believe that God loves us?”  In the light of Calvary, how could we question his love?  If Jesus gave his life for us and our salvation, how much more will he care for us as we follow him!

People fascinate me.  When reading the gospels, the pen portraits they provide of the people that encounter Jesus is often thrilling.  Take, for example, the family of two sisters and a brother who lived at Bethany   In John 11:5 we learn that Jesus loved all three of them.  When serious illness cast a shadow over their lives, the women sent a message to Jesus  telling him that someone he and they loved was ill.  Doubtless they presumed that because Jesus cared for this family he would come and perform one of his miracles.  But he did not and Lazarus died.  Can you imagine their disappointment?

Reading further in this account in John 11, we read that when Jesus did turn up, Lazarus had been dead for four days.  Martha was the first to go to meet him, leaving her sister, Mary.  Her words to Jesus are fascinating.  She said,”‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”  Later, Mary could only manage the first of those sentences.  Martha might have realised that by the time the message had reached Jesus, it was already too late.  However, it would have been clear that Jesus had not come rushing to their aid.  But, despite this, she did not lose her confidence in Jesus, and in his care for her as a friend.

Along the lines of the advice to the lovelorn, it would be reasonable to infer that she had found in Jesus a man who cared as much about her family as they did about him.  The circumstances were disappointing, but Jesus was not.  When you know that Jesus loves you so much he would die for you, you will never feel disappointed in him.  If bad things happen, if he keeps you waiting for that answer to prayer, or even if he says “No”, he will never - can never - stop loving you - more deeply than you will ever understand.

Knowing that might not take away all the disappointments we experience in life, but it will certainly help us to manage them.  Hats off to Garteh Southgate who, in the depths of disappointment, declared that his team had “given it all they could”.  That showed considerable grace.

We have to handle the disappointments that God allows to come along in our life, but we are the better men and women when we do not indulge in the blame game.  When you know him, you know that he will never let you down.

Barry Osborne 12th July 2021

Hope Deferred and Hope Assured

 Hope Deferred and Hope Assured

Over recent months, most if not all people in the UK have been living with deferred hope.  Like children in the backseat of a car we have found ourselves wondering “Are we there yet?”  Covid-19 and its variants has kept us hoping it will soon be over, while at the same time living with deferred government deadlines as various predictions have been found false occasionally.

Many still long to be reunited with family members and to enjoy a warm embrace.  Some feel desperate for a good holiday, but are frustrated by travel restrictions.  Some wonder whether they will have a job once their furlough ends.  When this all began in March 2020 I thought that perhaps restrictions might last a few months, but month after month has passed and there is still some uncertainty whether the light at the end of the tunnel is the way out or another train hurtling towards us!

Proverbs 13:12 describes it in this way:  “Hope deferred makes the heart sick”.   While some people are able to accept the inevitability of having to live with restrictions a little longer, many others find it a struggle.  Only a few days ago I heard someone say, “I am sick of all this waiting”.

Early Christians, anticipating the imminent return of Christ, also found the waiting a problem.  Peter, writing to scattered Christians, addressed this in his second letter, writing, ”The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”. (2Peter 3:9).  They could not have imagined that 2,000 years later we would still be eagerly waiting for his return.  But unlike our hope that we will be completely free from the virus this year, our hope in Christ is certain.

One of my favourite passages about this hope is found in Hebrews 6:19,20, where we read, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.”  The imagery is largely lost in these days of motorised shipping, as sailing ships were more familiar to the writer.  The master of a large sailing ship desiring to anchor at a specific point in a harbour would furl his sails to slow the ship as it came into the harbour.  He would then lower a boat from the ship, and lower the anchor into the boat.  The boat then rowed to the desired destination where the anchor would then be dropped.  Back on board the ship, men would start turning the capstan so that each turn of the capstan would bring the ship to the anchor.

Since Jesus has already entered heaven and our hope is in him, it is this hope that draws us ever closer to the Lord and to heaven.  In 1882 when Priscilla Jane Owens wrote “Will your anchor hold in the storms of life” she must have been unfamiliar with the way of the seas.  An anchor “fastened to the rock” in a storm would inevitably capsize the ship as waves rose 20 feet causing the anchor to drag it under the water!  It's great to sing but, sadly, the wrong image.  The more appropriate hymn is “With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm”. (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptruPe5AuBU).

John Newton, a man who knew a thing or two about surviving storms at sea, wrote the following.

Begone unbelief, my Savior is near,

And for my relief will surely appear:

By prayer let me wrestle, and He wilt perform,

With Christ in the vessel, I smile at the storm.

 

Though dark be my way, since He is my Guide,

’Tis mine to obey, ’tis His to provide;

Though cisterns be broken, and creatures all fail,

The Word He has spoken shall surely prevail.

 

His love in time past forbids me to think

He’ll leave me at last in trouble to sink;

Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review,

Confirms His good pleasure to help me quite through.

 

Hope, in this sense, is a confident expectation - hope assured of fulfilment..

An Imperfect Faith?

 An Imperfect Faith?

It is probable that every Christian at some time, or even frequently, wishes that they had more faith, a stronger faith, or were more faithful.  If, like me, you can identify yourself in at least one of those categories, I wonder to whom, or to what, you are comparing yourself.  Furthermore, while there is some benefit with a little self criticism, it is easy to become unrealistic, and that can be harmful.

Over Easter, in our online services, we mentioned on several occasions the issue of faith, doubt, unbelief, and disbelief.  We did so because it is a topic well worth exploring, and on which the Easter narratives cast helpful light.  While we do not know what was going on in the hearts and minds of most of the disciples, we have been able to study three of them in particular.

The Gospels indicate that all twelve disciples participated fully in the ministry of Jesus.  He gave them all authority to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom and to heal the sick.  They saw the blind, the deaf the lame and those with skin diseases healed.  On three occasions they saw dead people brought back to life.  They saw the wind and the waves grow suddenly calm at his command, and even saw him walk on water.  Yet almost all of them fled when Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane.  Matthew tells us that even though they worshipped the risen Christ, some still doubted (Matt 28:17).

Peter, so sure of himself, had pledged total faithfulness to Jesus, but under pressure and clearly afraid of possible consequences, his faithfulness wavered, though his faith may not have completely failed.  We note that, whatever he thought of himself after that failure, Jesus did not condemn him, but recommissioned him as a  disciple.

Despite the testimony of his friends, Thomas, could not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead.  When he finally got the evidence he longed for, we do not see an exasperated Jesus, but we see Jesus encouraging Thomas. Furthermore, it is Thomas who makes that extraordinary declaration, “My Lord and my God”.

And what about Judas?  There is so much that we do not know.  Was he motivated by greed?  Had he got wrong expectations regarding how King Jesus would reign?  Was Jesus not the Saviour Judas wanted him to be?  Was he trying to force Jesus’ hand?  Had he grown tired of the Jesus agenda?  Had he put his faith in an imagined Messiah?

Peter became unfaithful, Thomas was unbelieving, and possibly Judas was disbelieving.  But all had met with Jesus and spent three years in his physical company, which is a lot more than you and I have experienced.  So, to what standard of faith do you compare yourself?

The Hebrew scriptures bear witness that even among those commended for their faith, there are men who have ‘feet of clay’.  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, all had moments of weakness when their faith failed them.
In the Gospels there are three occasions recorded where Jesus commended the faith of someone.  The only Jew that Jesus commended for faith was the woman with the issue of blood.  There are also occasions where miracles of healing are linked to the faith of either the person being healed or those who brought that person.  However, it is probable that it is not so much the degree of faith they had, but in whom they were placing their faith that is important.  The only reference to faith where Jesus clearly speaks about the degree of faith, as far as I can recall relates to the cursing of the fruitless fig tree outside Jerusalem.

To whom do you turn when faced with a challenge such as sickness?  By your very act of praying you are demonstrating your faith, providing you have come to God in prayer because you believe that God both cares and does answer prayer.  We know that with God all things are possible, and so we pray.

In the scriptures, and throughout history there are occasions when miracles happened because of special faith, but none of these are about normal everyday life.  The Bible lists faith as both a gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12: 9) and part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5: 22), but we note that both come from God and have nothing to do with the degree of trust.  Faith is not something you can work up or try to grasp more firmly.

One of the funniest illustrations about faith I have ever heard, involved a country prayer meeting in Devon.  Asked if there was anything anyone wanted to pray about, one farmer said that there was an urgent need for rain.  On hearing this, another farmer said, “‘Tis no use praying for rain; the wind’s in the wrong direction!”  If that makes you smile, then I guess you have understood what I am trying to explain.

Be glad for the degree of faith you have and bring your concerns to Jesus.  Sometimes the only response we can give to life’s challenges, is to echo the words of an anxious father, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24)

Barry Osborne 16th April 2021

Exploring Streams

 Exploring Streams

II was fortunate to grow up close to woodland and a large Park in Hastings and St Leonard-on-Sea.  In those days it was relatively safe to allow your children to go out to play for hours.  It was an excellent playground and we had all kinds of adventures, built camps, climbed trees, and fought off attacks from rival gangs.  One of my happier memories was exploring rivers and streams.

Donning wellington boots, I used to wade through the waterways, exploring every aspect until I reached the source.  One stream flowed from the overflow of a large reservoir.  Tracing that further back took me up Old Roar Gill, a stream that passed through a deeply wooded high banked area, where a rival gang was based.  Exploring this provided hours of fun as I sought to find out where the stream started

Many years later I explored the River Manifold.  This Derbyshire waterway is particularly interesting as it flows from Axe Edge, near Buxton but mysteriously disappears along the way, only to reappear further along its route.  This phenomenon only occurs in the summer when there isn’t so much water running.  The river, of course, passes through underground caves.

This is not unlike theological streams that flow through the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament).  During a series of Bible Studies I held at HMP Gartree, I asked the men who attended the sessions how many theological themes they could spot in Genesis.  We filled up two sheets of flipchart paper!  Like the River Manifold, the streams follow an intriguing course as they flow on to the life of Jesus Christ, sometimes clearly visible, but occasionally disappearing for a while.

This Sunday, 17th January, we have mixed the metaphor as we look for some “Gospel Gems in Genesis”.  Do please join s if you can.  The link is below.

Another stream I have enjoyed exploring is my personal stream of faith.  It may have risen in my home where my father and mother both had roots within the Salvation Army, though they were not Salvationists at that time.  As the stream flowed on through Sunday School from a very early age, the flow became more obvious.  Then in my teens it seemed to disappear for a while, but even when not visible, it was being swelled from tributaries such as my RE teacher who used archaeology and science based films to help build faith.

The stream surfaced again, later in my teenage years, but its flow seemed fairly feeble until suddenly it burst out in full flow after I surrendered my life to God and was baptised at the age of 17. Since then it has flowed steadily and, I hope has helpfully overflowed its banks to water the surrounding parched land.  I find the stream of faith to be a helpful image, and I commend it to you.  Why not try mapping your own experience.  Do you know where it started?  Can you map the tributaries?

The river through the park, in which I used to wade, flowed on through various ponds, disappearing into concrete conduits through the town as it eventually flowed the short distance to join the English Channel.  On its journey from Old Roar Gill it gave life to trees and flowers, and satisfied the thirst of countless birds, animals, and helped supply the needs of  local inhabitants and helped to keep them clean.  The river of our faith is meant to do likewise as we journey on to our destination.  Jesus said, “The water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)   Let’s pray for a flood!

Love is flowing like a river,
Flowing out through you and me.
Flowing out into the desert
Setting all the people free.
Let it flow through m, let it flow through me,
Let the mighty love of God flow out through me.

Response: 

• Pause and thank God for each person and situation that fed into your personal faith stream 
• Express your thanks to anyone who is still alive. 
• Reflect on the impact your faith stream is having on others at this time.

Barry - 14th January 2021
Rev Barry Osborne
CEO Rural Mission Solutions
4 Clarence Street, Market Harborough,LE16 7NE
barry@ruralmissions.org.uk
01858 414930