[Friday's Devotional] - Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

Psalm 23: 1-3 [ESV]

 

So we have reached Friday and are starting the ‘last lap’ before the weekend.  It seems appropriate, then, that we should look at a part of a Psalm that focuses on rest.  Just as Psalm 100 reminded us on Monday that we are God’s folk, his flock and his priority is to pasture us, here we are reminded that God’s love for us longs to lead us to green pastures.  His wish is to restore our souls.  The question is, will we let God be our shepherd?  Or, do we rebel by insisting on continual business?  Do we allow the world to force us into continual business?  Are we prepared to stand our ground and take time out with God?

 

There can be times in our lives, like when we are young parents, when it is very hard to get any time out with God at all.  In these times, help has to be asked for, if it is not offered.  Don’t be frightened to do that as it is a right and godly request to make.

 

You don’t have to be a qualified vet to understand that sheep who never graze on green pastures won’t be healthy animals.  The same is true of us.  So, I have a question for you to think and pray about.  What/where is your green pasture?  Where is the place that God gives you refreshment?  I say pray and think because sometimes the things that we think of as our green pastures may not be places of wholesome refreshment at all.  For example, God can feed and pasture our inner beings through a meal and a drink out with family and friends.  But, if that is the only place where we find relaxation then something is wrong.  As a guide I would say that green pastures will, for some, be places of solitude with God (prayerful painting or model making perhaps).  They will also be places (for everyone at times) of community, laughter and fellowship, ideally with other Christians. Have a blessed weekend.

 

Click on the link below to hear a modern setting of the Psalm and use it to fuel your prayers.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN4tPkX0MG0

 

If I have been boring you all week and Psalms aren’t your thing at the moment, then thank you for staying with it and now click on the link below if you want to hear Guvna B’s latest “Nothing but the blood of Jesus”. Its great!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXFcxcgLB9I

 

John Martin-Jones

[Thursday's Devotional] - Out of the depths - De profundis

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
Psalm 130: 3-4 [ESV]  

 

This Psalm of lament and trust in God’s mercy is often suggested to be a response from David to God after his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the slaughter of her husband.  The writer is clear that God has the right to judge and that, if he chose to mark our inequities (sins) then nobody could stand as righteous in his presence.

 

If you have time read the whole psalm…

 

David goes on to say that he waits for the Lord, ”more than watchmen for the morning.”  The attitude of waiting for and waiting on God when we find ourselves in the depths of despair is a lesson that we all need to remember and relearn from time to time.  Although David did receive a reconciliation with God after his outrageous actions, the consequences had an impact on the rest of his reign.  So sadly some of our actions can have a lasting impact on our lives.  However, the point is that it doesn’t matter how deep a pit we may find ourselves in, we can wait on God’s mercy.  It will come.  There will be a new day.  David, like us, waited for God like a watchman on an ancient city wall.  David, unlike us, didn’t know that however sin impacts on our lives, thanks to Jesus, its impact will have no eternal significance. Praise God that we are redeemed!

 

For prayer: thank God for Jesus’ cross. It has spoken eternal mercy over you and sin will not have an eternal impact on you.

 

If you want to pray to a modern setting of the Psalm, click on the link below.

 

Out of the Depths: YouTube 4:40

 

If you prefer a choral version, then try this link.

 

Anglican Chant:YouTube 2:59

 

John Martin-Jones

[Wednesday's Devotional] - For his steadfast love endures forever

Praise the Lord!
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Psalm 106: 1 [ESV]

 

If you don’t know this Psalm, or have your Bible to hand, then I recommend that you read it in its entirety, or at least a good portion of it. Here is a link.

 

You will be familiar with singing a worship song based on it. YouTube 3:29

 

Sing along if you want to, but I would rather you didn’t, yet.  You see, the fact is that the worship song is wonderful, but it only makes implicit what the Psalm makes explicit.  If you read the Psalm you will read that time and time again the people of Israel saw the wonderful acts of God, sang praise and then forgot about God and turned their back on him.  

 

So, can we learn the lesson that Israel failed to learn time and time again?

 

For prayer: talk to God about remembering his marvelous deeds at all times.

 

John Martin-Jones

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Who stood by night in the house of the Lord

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
Lift up your hands to the holy place
and bless the Lord!
May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who made heaven and earth!   
Psalm 134: 1-3 [ESV]

 

I first came across this Psalm when it was being sung to a very rocky tune in a large independent church in Leicester.  Since then I have found the words of this Psalm powerful and instructive.  It is one of the Psalms categorized as a ‘Song of Ascents’, these were the Psalms that were sung as pilgrims entered the city of Jerusalem and climbed the temple mount.  I have always found it particularly meaningful that a song of praise calls those who stand ‘by night’ in the house of the Lord to praise and bless him.  Standing by night in the house of the Lord can mean simply that.  It can be a call to those who wait on the Lord night and day in the temple to praise him.  In fact I always think of Simeon and Anna when I hear this Psalm.  They were two faithful people who spent their days and nights waiting on the Lord in the temple.  Their faithful vigil was certainly rewarded.  But standing waiting on the Lord by night can mean more than that.  Night doesn’t simply mean the hours of darkness.  It can also mean the hours of the powers of darkness.  The Psalm calls those who are standing waiting on the Lord in the troubles of their lives to be faithful to him and to continue to give God the praise that he is due.

 

It is interesting to note that this call to faithfulness in the hard times is being sung during a Psalm of ascent.  It is a call to faithfulness to be sung by those on the spiritual high of completing a pilgrimage to the temple to those who are struggling in more difficult times. The challenge laid down to us is obvious: can we help those are struggling while we are having a good time?

 

For prayer: talk to God about standing in his house by night, or about standing with those who do so.

 

If you would like to listen to a good modern take on the Psalm, the click on this link.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BRpuxWd1T8

 

John Martin-Jones

[Monday's Devotional] - Old Hundredth

Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his,
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
Psalm 100: 3 [ESV]

 

My day now starts differently to how it used to. I seem to have finally cracked daily Bible reading by doing it first thing in the morning.  My alarm rings at 6 and I pick up my Bible before I do anything else.  Most days my prescribed reading takes in a Psalm.  It is interesting to note, when reading them, how often they sound familiar.  These ancient hymns have been used down the millennia to inspire Christian worship songs.  So I thought that this week, we would look at some of the Psalms that more modern Christians have found to particularly speak to their generations.

 

I was brought up in a very traditional church with a choral tradition.  I can well remember singing ‘All people that on earth do dwell’ which is based on Psalm 100 as a teenager.  The church seemed to fill with the sound of choir and organ from the moment that the hymn started.  You can listen to a recording of this old hymn by clicking on the link below.  But before you lose your church in the glorious choral music, or not depending on your taste, I want to think for a few moments with you about verse 3.

 

Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his,
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

 

Now read the verse again.  Go on do it.  Have you read it properly?  Ok, I will take my teacher hat off now.  But the point is obvious, whatever you are facing today, rest in this truth.  God is God.  End of!  He made us and we are his.  There is nothing heading in our direction today that can separate us from him because he made us and we are the sheep of his pasture.  He made us for his pasture, to prosper and love us.  However, you may feel about today that is the truth that you need to base your day on.

 

Click on the link if you want to experience the glory of a traditional choral setting of the Psalm.

 

All people that on earth do dwell YouTube 4:41

 

Come ye before him and rejoice!

 

John Martin-Jones

[Friday's Devotional] - Go in peace to love and serve the Lord

Yes, there can be more! Sometimes a service will have its final ending using these words. Again words that we might not even listen to. Those of us of a certain age will remember the scratchy, crackly sound at the end of a vinyl record. The noise after the last track signaled to us that it is time to get out of our chair and turn the disk over or switch off. We have seen this week that the end of a service can be like that: words that we subconsciously hear, don’t particularly listen to but that trigger a reaction in us. But do we, can we, go in peace? Well, if we have participated in the service then we should be more likely to do so than when we arrived. However, there may still be other things on our hearts that we need to share with our brothers and sisters and receive prayer for after the service too.

Let me suggest something to you here: the whole point of the service is so that you can go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Now obviously that is the whole point of God’s salvation work and this is mirrored in the service. We meet with God, have our sins forgiven, worship, praise, grow, learn, become more the person that God created us to be and then go in peace. The service is a gift from God so that we can go with renewed peace. It is a place of recreation. It doesn’t matter how big, small, guitar-orientated or formally liturgical the church is. All types can be a place where we can receive God’s peace.

Question: do you see it as such, or have you slipped into seeing it as a Sunday morning chore before the promise of lunch, beer and a grand prix to watch? Has it become discipline and not pleasure? If the answer is yes then a conversation needs to be had with God as you are not receiving the gift that he wants to give you on a Sunday morning. You are made to be, and are most alive, when you are able to go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Make it a priority to be able to say a loud amen next time you hear that. Have a lovely weekend.

Something to listen to and think about. YouTube: Rich Mullens ‘Peace of Christ’.

 

John Martin-Jones

[Thursday's Devotional] - And the blessing of God Almighty...

And the blessing of God almighty,

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Be among us and remain with us always.

Amen

 

When you hear this start you know that coffee is getting seriously close. J The chequered flag of the service is out and you can see the finish line. You might even start working your way out of your pew, or at least start gathering your things and closing your Bible during these words. Well, we’ve all done it. It is, of course, a tragic thing that we should take the invoking and promising of God’s blessing on our lives so lightly and routinely. I know that part of the issue is that they are words we hear often and we become used to them. Familiarity may not always breed contempt, but it can certainly breed blindness and ignorance.

Last summer I had the privilege of looking after a young man with Downs syndrome at New Wine. His father is a Church of England priest and was telling me that often at the end of the service, his son will loudly dust his hands against each other and loudly proclaim “That’s it. The end.” much to the amusement of the other parishioners. Well, all my friend is doing is vocalizing what many of us are thinking at the end of the service. But, next Sunday, don’t rush from your pew. Sit quietly for a few minutes and think about what has just been prayed and promised over you. Perhaps think of something that helps you visualize what is being said so that you can engage with it. I sometimes imagine the blessing washing over me like water at a baptism.

And the blessing of God almighty,

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Be among you and remain with you always.

Amen

 

Did I just catch you speed reading that bit?

John Martin-Jones

[Wednesday's Devotional] - The joy of the Lord Jesus fill your hearts

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15.11[NIV]

Are you feeling joyous this morning? Usually I am not when I read these Devotionals as it is just too early for me to want to be up, but I am out of necessity i.e. I need to go to work. But it’s not just me. The problem is that many of us have become worn, burdened and dulled by the cares of adult life. We might remember being joyful and really happy in our childhood and / or our youthful years, but haven’t felt so since we got jobs, took on large mortgages and all the other responsibilities that go with being a grown up. What would we give to just lie on the grass with friends and laugh like we used to?

So at the start of the day remind yourself that the joy of the Lord Jesus can and should fill our hearts. Moreover, as a child of God you have a right to be joyful. Jesus wants you to be joyful. One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is joy (see Galatians 5).

So, realizing that we have a Biblical mandate to have the joy of the Lord Jesus filling our hearts, then the question is: how are we going to get it?  Well, some of it is down to us. Knowing that Jesus wants us to be happy, we need to set our stall out to be happy. Simple things like avoiding too much alcohol (depression) and too much caffeine (anxiety) are certainly a part of the answer. So too is being physically fit and active as it increases serotonin levels in our brain. However, we will be disappointed if we believe that this is the only answer. Our society is currently, quite rightly, encouraging fitness. Go out in Rugby on any evening, at any time of year and you will see large numbers of men and women running the pavements of the main roads. However, popular culture, fuelled by sports journalism (and teachers looking for quick and engaging ideas for assemblies) is starting to tell us that the way to human fulfillment is to be fit and healthy. While it is true that a healthy body will probably be inhabited by a healthier mind, we are buying into a lie if we think that this is the full answer. You don’t need to look beyond the sad cases of the athlete Oscar Pistorious or the broadcaster Jimmy Saville to realize this. Getting inspired by sport alone is certainly not the way to happiness.

No, the times in my life when I have felt the most happiness have been times when I have asked Jesus for more joy. I know from my experience that the closer my walk with Jesus, the happier I am. Also that if I want more happiness I need to be asking Jesus for more of his joy and talking to him about it. By doing so a feeling of happiness begins to grow in me. St Paul commented that he was able to be content in all circumstances (Philippians 4.10). This was not born out of physical fitness, or positive thought. No, Paul was able to feel content in any circumstance because of his relationship with Jesus. So, if you are not feeling the joy of the Lord this morning, talk to him about it.

John Martin-Jones

[Tuesday's Devotional] - The power of the Lord Jesus strengthen you in his service

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4.13 [NIV]

So said St Paul, who knew what it was to struggle with human frailty (see 2 Corinthians 12). We don’t know for definite what the thorn in the flesh that he spoke of was, but we do know that it was something that he asked God to remove three times. A lot of thought and energy has been spent trying to work out what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was: was it epilepsy or depression? Was it arthritis or temptation? The point is that is doesn’t matter as Paul’s life and ministry was not about his thorn in the flesh. It was all about ministering the love of Jesus and Paul did this so very effectively through Jesus’ strength.

So remember, that you don’t work in your own strength, but in the power of the Lord Jesus. It sounds so obvious doesn’t it? You will have heard it many, many times if you have been in church for a while, but how often have you forgotten it? How often have you felt up against it and relied on your strength, rather than turning to prayer? How often have you felt over confident in a situation and gone in there like a bull in a china shop, using your own strength? How often have you forgotten to call upon the strength of the Lord Jesus? Maybe that’s why it is such a good thing to pray over people at the end of a service: confirming and commissioning for the week ahead.

Remember too that the strength of the Lord Jesus isn’t just something that we receive supernaturally through prayer in crisis, or more lucid moments. It is something that we need to be drawing on and living in all the time. It is accessed through the gift of leisure, exercise and time with friends as well as through prayer and Bible study. Next time you are feeling guilty about resting remember that Jesus will strengthen and empower you for his service through your rest, just as much as through your work. That was, after all, the whole point of the Sabbath: the seventh day of rest, family and community time. You were created to draw strength from rest.

So thank Jesus today that his strength is enough for you and all you need and that you, like Paul can ‘do all things through him who strengthens me.’  Look again at making sure you are in a place where you can regularly draw on Jesus’s power through prayer, Bible study and rest.

John Martin-Jones

[Monday's Devotional] - The love of the Lord Jesus draw you to himself

Hannah and Olly Mears often use a blessing at the end of the service that, until they arrived, I had not heard before. Now the service often ends with the confident and joyful prayer that:

		The love of the Lord Jesus
		draw you to himself,
		the power of the Lord Jesus
		strengthen you in his service,
		the joy of the Lord Jesus fill your hearts;
		and the blessing …

 

I love it; but my enjoyment of this blessing has made me aware that I often haven’t listened to the blessing at all.  For me the blessing has been like the theme music at the end of a good TV program (Morse or Endeavour perhaps?).  It is beautiful, poetic and meaningful but ultimately it is the thing that stirs me to put the kettle on at home, or consider how I am going to negotiate my way through the body of Christ, leaving the pews, to the coffee and birthday cake at church. So this week, I want to focus on the words of this blessing and what they say to us. I also want to encourage us to focus on and swim in the blessing at the end of the service as a way of Christ ministering his love to us.

The love of the Lord Jesus draw you to himself. Just say that a couple of times to yourself and think about it. The love of the Lord Jesus draw you to himself. Just think of all those acts of mercy and healing performed by Jesus in the gospel. The love that Jesus has demonstrated to others, he feels as powerfully for you … insert name_________. Think of the arms stretched out for you on the cross. For you. The love of the Lord Jesus wants to draw you to himself. How does that make you feel? Are you going to let the love of Jesus draw you to himself? Will you let the prayer of the minister be answered in your heart? Will you let Jesus in more and more?

Becoming closer to Jesus can seem like an uphill struggle; being holy (set apart for Jesus) demands discipline and sacrifice. Well this is true, but we don’t do this in our own strength. We do this because we are drawn by the love of Jesus. The fundamental effort that we have to make is one of the heart. We have to want to be drawn in by the love of the Lord Jesus. Jesus will do the rest. We just need to want to be drawn to him and place ourselves and our lives within range of the magnet of his love.

If you want to pray this into your life again then do so now. J If you want to mediate on the love of the Lord Jesus then click on the link below. Love divine all loves excelling was my grandparents wedding hymn and Judy and I chose it for ours too. I vividly remember my grandfather in his final months quoting the final words of this hymn.

Until we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder love and praise.

Watch and listen here: Love Divine

John Martin-Jones

[Friday's Devotional] - Down and Dirty

We looked on Wednesday at the work of Robert Greenleaf and his ideas on the servant as leader.  Obviously I have reservations about the idea of the servant leader serving the perceived highest priority of the person being served.  However, there is one part of Greenleaf’s idea that I think is challenging and wonderful.  For Greenleaf, leadership is not about the leader being (somehow) above the person being led. It is about the leader being with the person that they serve.

 

Greenleaf turns the world of leadership theory upside down. Quite simply, you can’t serve someone unless you are at their level, walking with them and breathing their air. This idea could be termed as incarnational: the idea that, like Jesus coming and living among us (John.1.14), Christians need to be among those that they seek to serve. You can’t do servant leadership at long range. I find this idea wonderful because I love the idea of the church as a community: a family sharing life with each other through the week. A family joining in with each other’s pain and joys. A family caring for and helping each other in practical ways; involved in and enriching each other’s everyday life. I love that idea. But I find it challenging too because it will involve me entering into the pain of my brothers and sisters in Christ. It will involve me opening myself up to them too. It may be costly to me too and it may mean big changes in my life. For example, helping my brothers and sisters may mean Jesus asking me to move house and be nearer to those that he has placed in my life. Being the slave of Christ for my brothers and sisters could be costly for me….. But then again, serving me cost Jesus everything.

 

For prayer…

 

Read Philippians 2 and pray that Jesus will make you a good servant leader.

Some lovely music to listen to as you pray : Brother sister let me serve you.

 

 It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, Matthew 20: 26 [NRSV]

 

John Martin-Jones

[Thursday's Devotional] - The slave of Christ

We looked yesterday at the idea of the servant as leader and discussed how, for a Christian servant leader, the person that you are primarily serving is Jesus and that all acts of service to others flow from that. I want to think today a bit more about what that means. St Paul often described himself as the servant of Christ (see for example Romans 1.1). The Greek word used for servant is doulos and can mean that the servant is literally a slave. This is different to the Greek word diakonos from which our word deacon comes. The term diakonos means servant or steward, but does not imply the same level of slave like servanthood as doulos.

 

Paul mainly describes himself as doulos of Christ and the diakonos of the church (see 1 Cor 9.19 and 2 Cor 4.5).  For Paul, his serving, or slavery to Christ takes precedence over his service of the church.

 

It is because Paul is first and foremost servant of Christ that he can serve the church so effectively. For example, because he serves Christ first he is able to rebuke the Corinthian church when it is not conducting itself in a holy manner. He loves the church but recognises that his service to the church has to flow from his love for Jesus. He is not free to decide what shape his service of the church should take and neither is the church. In short, it is all about Jesus.

 

As church we need to be constantly aware that we are the slaves of Christ and the servants of each other. As church we need to continually ask ourselves whether what we are doing is what Jesus wants us to. Points like these are often made when discussing the situation in churches which are perhaps traditional and have falling numbers in their congregation. But all churches, including modern, charismatic and numerically growing ones are quite capable of doing things that are not centred in Jesus and all churches are ultimately capable of going totally off the rails. All churches need to be constantly praying that they are led by Christ.

 

For prayer…

 

Think about Paul; the slave of Christ and the servant of the church. Ask Jesus that you are able to have the same relationship with him and his church.

 

John Martin-Jones

[Wednesday's Devotional] - The Servant as Leader

On his retirement from work, circa 1970, Robert Greenleaf set about developing a new model for leadership in business management. The model that he pioneered, known as ‘servant leadership, is now used by a number of global brands. The servant leadership model is explained below.

"The servant leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead."

"The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priorities are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servant? And what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or at least not be further deprived.1

 

Interesting idea isn’t it?  You won’t be surprised to know that Greenleaf was writing from a faith background; in fact he was a Quaker.  I really like his thinking and wonder how much more people might enjoy work if more business leaders operated on that basis.  However, I have one major problem with his idea.  As a Christian my role is not to seek to serve the highest priority of those around me.  No, ultimately I am the servant of Christ and my servant hood of others is done because Jesus has told me to.  Jesus sets the agenda from which I serve.  Because of this I need to ensure that I am not brow beaten into acts of service that are not in line with the purposes of the gospel.

 

For prayer today..

 

Ask God to make Jesus and his kingdom the highest priority in your life. Ask him that you serve others out of Jesus’ love for them and not out of their desires.

 

Some music while you pray?

Martin Layzell 'Walk as Jesus Walked'

 

 

1 Robert Greenleaf: The Servant as Leader 1970. From http://www.greenleaf.org.uk/about.php 

 

John Martin-Jones

[Tuesday's Devotional] - It shall not be so among you

Jesus said…

 

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.  It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant,  and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave;  just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  Matthew 20:25b-28 [NRSV]

 

Have you read the above? Honestly? Good; now read it again. Go on; do it now. The words of Jesus are so very challenging here. We can seek to explain them away, but really there is no getting away from what Jesus is saying Christian leadership looks like. It is about serving others. I don’t think that Jesus was saying that his followers wouldn’t need leaders (just servants) although it could be read that way. When Jesus said this he had been leading his disciples for three years and he was certainly capable of being a very clear and directive leader. He also uses himself as a leadership example in the quote. No; Christian leaders are needed, but they must be different to ‘wordly’ leaders. Christian leadership has to be about seeking to serve and grow those people in the leader’s care. Fundamentally it is not about the leader; it is about serving the people Jesus loves. Now you might be reading this thinking ok, I am not a Christian leader and so this stuff is not relevant to me. Well it is and there are two reasons for this:

 

1)    All Christians have the ability to lead and influence other Christians and so we are all in the business of church leadership. Congratulations!

2)    Whether you want to be first among Jesus followers or not doesn’t matter. Service is the hallmark of a Christian leader. Leaders set examples. We follow the examples of our leaders. Now get serving.

 

For prayer…

 

Today I want you to think about church leaders. These needn’t just be the clergy or the readers, it can be anyone who has vision or the ability to influence in our congregation. Pick two or three people and pray for them in their role.

 

You might like to think about the quote below as you pray.

 

True strength is found in accepting that we’re weak
It’s getting on our knees and washing our brothers feet1

 1 McGladius, 29^th Chapter: ‘Is it a Crime’. From ‘Underdogz’ 2006 Survivor/DTR Records

 

John Martin-Jones

[Monday's Devotional] - Leadership

This week, we will be looking at leadership. I want to start with a quote from a Christian writer on leadership:

 

Leadership is a ‘glow word’ on many lips. Politicians pretend it. Youth question it. The old yearn for it. Parents grasp it. Children defy it. Police seek it. Armies impose it. Terrorists seize it. Executives claim it. Corporations exploit it. Scholars study it. Pundits pretend it. Sound bites impose it. Media announce it. Sycophants worship it. Religions bless it. Psychologists psych it. Autocrats manipulate it. Experts teach it. Conservatives defend it. Liberals suspect it. Ethicists critique it. Philosophers debate it. Theologians integrate it. (Those who love it, one suspects should rarely be granted it; those who usurp it not allowed it; those who feel entitled to it not be trusted with it; only those who accept it as – a service delegated by community and for community – deserve to serve in it)1

 

Leaders are not just people with power and authority, neither are they simply managers.  A leader is someone who is in charge of setting the goals and the direction of travel of a group of people with a common interest; this could be any group from a desire to do something for the homeless, to a local running club, to a multi-national company. Leadership is something that we all interact with each day. Are you someone who finds themselves exercising leadership? Are you someone who aspires to be a leader? Do you regard leaders as trustworthy? Or, has life taught you not to trust people who seek to influence or lead you?  

 

Well, whatever your position with regards to leadership, it is clear that leadership is a responsibility, a huge responsibility in fact.

 

For prayer

 

Let’s start the week by praying for the leaders that we interact with. Pick two or three leaders that you come into contact with and spend some time praying for them. Ask God’s blessing on them, but also ask God what you can do or say to support them in their role.

 

1 David Augsburg ‘Evaluating Servanthood: From Servant Leadership to Leading as Serving,’ The Three Tasks of Leadership, Ed Eric O Jacobsen, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009, (99-109), 100.

 

John Martin-Jones

[Friday's Devotional] - Shall to thy happy coast repair...

For repair, read return. In his final verse, Thompson portrays the young free Briton as a ‘Muse’, a person wandering the world in search of art and knowledge and then happily returning home to Britain’s happy coasts.  Well, as we have seen this week, Britain isn’t always a happy country.  We have all sorts of problems in our land and if asked to describe Britain, happy is not the first word I would choose to use.  Still, I want to hang on to Thompson’s words here. I can sing along to them without problem because I can hold them as prophetic and turn them into prayer.

Our streets are not filled with dancing and our homes are not all filled with joy yet, but they were made to be and God does not abandon his purposes. Christians have always been praying for the coming of God’s kingdom on earth as in Heaven. It will come and as  Habakkuk prophesied:

The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.  Habakkuk  2:14 [NIV]

Only then, in proper relationship with her creator, will Britain truly be the Sceptred Isle, the other Eden, the blessed plot that she was made to be. Her coasts will be inhabited by a happy breed of people and they will be truly free.

Having reached the end of the week, I thought we might enjoy some Proms together. You might recognise a hymn tune in the sea songs, and enjoy Rule Britannia.

Sea songs and Rule Britannia 2012

In the end, the flags of all the nations will be set before the lamb who is the High King of all the nations and he will reign over them forever and ever. That is our true destiny as a nation. In the meantime, have a blessed weekend.

John Martin-Jones

[Thursday's Devotional] - "Britons never will be slaves"

Or so the song goes.  When the song is sung by thousands with gusto in the Albert Hall it is easy to call to mind times when we as an island people have been up against it and come through. For my generation, brought up on tales and films of WW2, the lyrics call to mind images of tired, drawn young men vomiting with anxiety, but still running to a parked Spitfire as the scramble bell rings, shortly before being drowned out by the roar of Merlin engines. Yes, I am convinced that Europe owes its freedom to the fact that the islands of Great Britain were able to hold out against Nazi invasion in 1940. Certainly America could never have become involved in the battle for Europe if we had fallen. But the battle for our nation certainly isn’t just something from seventy years ago.

Sadly when we look at our nation we see plenty of slavery. People enslaved by poverty and illness in our towns. People enslaved by debt, alcohol, drugs, mental illness. The contemporary hymn writer Timothy Dudley-Smith in his hymn ‘Lord, for the years’ prays for spirits oppressed by pleasure, wealth and care: in our land. The list goes on and you won’t need much imagination to add a few more examples of your own, sadly.

Added to this we are seeing a slow moving away from Christian values by government as they are replaced by so called ‘British values’. Scarcely a week goes by now when I don’t receive an email asking for prayer for a British Christian who is in legal difficulty for politely and respectfully stating their Christian beliefs in the workplace or elsewhere.

In fact it is easy to get overwhelmed when you consider how unlike the nation that we are created to be we actually are. But we don’t need to get scared or depressed. Remember that the Lamb wins!! So as Christian, British, prayer warriors we certainly have enough to keep us busy on the home front and that’s what we need to be: busy praying and working.

For prayer:

Lord, bring our nation back to you so that we might walk in freedom.

I have managed to get to Thursday without giving you any music to listen to and so today I am going to give you two tunes to encourage and motivate.

So you can have some homemade worship by handmade people:

Build your kingdom here!

Or you may prefer to pray to an old favourite.

May our homes be filled with dancing

John Martin-Jones

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Britannia rule the waves??

"Rule, Britannia! Britannia rule the waves”  …Err no! This is where James Thompson the writer of  “Rule Britannia” and I definitely part company.  As we saw yesterday, the Bible is very clear that only God rules the waves.  While it is certainly true that any successful island nation has to be very competent at seafaring, and the British certainly have been, we don’t rule the waves.  To suggest that we do, even symbolically, is to evidence an attitude that seeks to dethrone God and place the nation in his place.  James Thompson’s poem certainly shows him to be Biblically literate and I wonder if he thought through what he was suggesting here.

We do not rule the waves, only God does.  When Jesus calmed the storm (Matthew 5) the disciples asked “what sort of man is this?” as the storm stopped on Jesus’ command and they began to realize who he is.  Even if we could invent a machine to control the waves, we still wouldn’t be able to control the forces that the wind and waves point to: the power of death and ultimate destruction.  Only God can handle those and he has done for us in Jesus.  Praise God!

So here we see the negative side of nationalism. Nationalism can lead to conceit, arrogance, the belief in racial superiority. As a nation we have done many things to be proud of, but we have also done things that we need to be ashamed of.  In previous centuries, we built fortunes on slavery. We arrogantly colonized many parts of the world and claimed that we owned them. I am not saying that every action of the British Empire was wrong and certainly many of them were paternal and helpful, but who were we to claim ownership over other lands? While we are on the subject, I am not convinced that we have ever properly repented of colonialism. Even if it happened generations ago and the current generation has no personal responsibility, we need to cleanse that attitude form our national psyche or we run the risk of doing it again sometime. If the angels ever discuss individual nations, I wonder what the opinion of the Heavenly court is of Great Britain?

For prayer:

Talk to God about our actions as a nation, past and present.
Ask him what he thinks of us and seek his guidance.

John Martin-Jones

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Arose from out the azure main...

The poem, ‘Rule, Britannia!’, (later set to music in 1740) was written by a Scot named James Thompson.  He was passionate about creating a unified, British identity to replace the traditional English, Irish, Scots and Welsh identities. This is certainly interesting in light of the recent Scottish referendum.  However, many of the lines of the poem are hard to understand and use language that is now archaic.  This is not surprising as the poem is three hundred years old. The poem begins…

When Britain first, at Heaven's command

Arose from out the azure main;

 

Azure main?  What’s that supposed to mean?  Well, it translates into modern English as blue sea and this is a totally Biblical idea.  Read Genesis 1: God gathers together the waters in one place and creates dry land.  As the Old Testament continues the sea becomes poetically synonymous with destruction and death.  It is no surprise that God plunges the world back into the water to destroy it in the time of Noah.  Jonah is swallowed by a whale for three days and three nights and Jesus uses the story as a metaphor for his own coming death and resurrection (Matthew 12:40). But in all of the references to the ‘sea’ and ‘sea monsters’ in the Old Testament, one thing is very clear: only God is in charge of them.  So I have no problem in agreeing with Thompson.  Britain exists at Heaven’s command.  Have you ever considered that before?  Your country exists because God brought it into existence. We regularly talk about God making us as individuals (Psalm 139) but we rarely consider God as the sovereign of the nations (Psalms 47 and 67).

If you ever go into St Aldate’s church, Oxford, you will see an unusual sight as you approach the East end of the church. The flags of many nations line the sanctuary. The symbolism of the sight is clear: all the nations exist under God. That church now has a strong tradition of praying for the nations. Not just praying that individual wars may cease and that the world may be more peaceful, but of interceding for individual nations in prayer. This passion is born out of the belief that God is the creator of the nations and that they matter to him because he made them.

For prayer:

Find out about a different nation today and spend time praying for it.

John Martin-Jones

[Monday's Devotional] - Sentimental Britannia??

Ok, I’ll admit it; I love the Last Night of the Proms.  I may only tune in to a concert or two during the Proms season, but I will always have the last night on. It is the only night of the year when I plug my digital radio into my aged amplifier and turn the volume up high. So I sing along to Rule Britannia and the other patriotic songs and enjoy all the pomp and spectacle. It is great.

Now, this admission might make you wonder if I’m a raving nationalist. I’m not, and nor am I  particularly proud to be British. I’m also happy to agree that many of the lyrics of songs like Rule Britannia are sentimental or jingoistic.  However, I still like them and here is why: whatever the failings of our traditional patriotic songs, they speak of us a nation under God and I find that wonderful.  In the church today we talk, pray and long for revival in our nation. However, we don’t normally go beyond that. We don’t think about our purpose as a nation under God or what Britain’s destiny as a people under God is. Patriotic songs do dare, in a ham-fisted way, to imagine us as a people under God with a purpose and a destiny as a nation.

In Jesus’ time the people of Israel had a very definite understanding of themselves as a nation under God and what that meant (John 8: 37-58).  However, they had become conceited and regarded their position as descendants of Abraham as being an automatic guarantee of their position as being a nation under God.  Of course, their conceit and arrogance meant that they were missing out on their vocation as a nation. We, on the other hand, have gone to the other extreme.  Ask anyone British what thoughts and feelings spring to mind when they think about the fact that they are British and they might talk about longing for another World Cup win or our role in the last war, or the decline that the end of manufacturing brought to many of our cities. They might also think of happier things like the 2012 Olympics in London, or the way that different cultures have enriched our national life in the last sixty years. However, they probably won’t think about us as having a special role or destiny as a nation.

So, this week I want to look use some of the lyrics of Rule Britannia as a backdrop to do some reflecting about us as a nation under God and what that means.

For prayer:

Visualise a union flag and pray for Britain today.  
Talk to God about the nation that he wants us to be.

John Martin-Jones