Having a handicap

Having a Handicap.
I sit writing this, I reflect on a question that I was asked this very day regarding coping with what he described as 'a handicap'. Here is how I truthfully answered the enquirer. "Many decades ago when I was a child at primary school, I would rather read than participate in sporting activities. However at the school's annual sports carnival, running races were mandatory for all students. My teacher, a Miss Pierre, realised that I would be unlikely to run competitively against my classmates who spent every opportunity at recess and lunchtime to run and play in the school playgrounds while I sat and read books. So Miss Pierre took me to one side and said, 'Lionel, today for your race I am giving you a handicap.''What's that?', I asked.'It's a head start! When I start the race I will tell you to go first and then I will blow the whistle for the rest of the class to start running.'Well, I still came in last in the race, but I have always remembered that to have a handicap is to have a head start."
-- Lionel Hartley (Reprinted from an editorial written 3rd July 2005)

Chronicles in the Life of Peter Blank, Part 14

Episode 14: Theology For Peter
Peter had been married almost a year, had ceased employment, and was attending a church camp, uncertain of the direction for his future. He had a number of options, one of which was returning to study, perhaps obtaining a degree in theology. However to seek that option would require perhaps a further $1000 more than he had saved. He considered completing an earlier interrupted teaching diploma. These and other possibilities were discussed often with his wife, Mary, but still a definite direction was illusive. The local Church Conference President was a close friend and, on Christmas Eve Peter sought an opportunity to share prayer with him and seek counsel. The wise pastor listened patiently as Peter shared the possibilities he and his wife had discussed. Then his counsellor suggested something rather strange. He asked what was preventing Peter doing what he believed God wanted him to do. Assuming it to be obtaining a theology degree, he mentioned the need of a further $1000. The pastor immediately suggested that if that was all he needed then he could determine God's will by testing out the Lord.  With them praying about it together, yet neither mentioning it to any-one else, Peter would challenge God to show him how he could raise $1000 within the following week IF God wanted him to pursue that option.
Peter didn't have long to wait for an answer, for the very next day, a Godly relative was sharing Christmas Dinner with them in their caravan. "What are you doing next year, Peter?" she asked as the meal concluded. "I'm not sure yet," he replied, "perhaps I'll do some further study."
"That'll be expensive with a family to care for as well." she mused. "I've put aside some money I'm willing to contribute if you choose theology;" she ventured, and then quickly added, "One thousand dollars!"
Needless to say, Peter considered it an answer to prayer and a little more than a month later was attending his first theology lecture.
Although God was moving his life, the lesson for Peter is not finished yet.


-- Lionel Hartley, Not Finished Yet -- Chronicles in the Life of Peter Blank
"This serial saga, although novel, is not a novel. It is merely a series of true-life episodes highlighting the extraordinary working of an extraordinary God in a very ordinary life. Each episode contained a lesson for Peter Blank, a lesson we can all learn, from a lesson-book life that is not finished yet."
As first appeared in FreEzine Magazine July 2000 ff

Hidden Treasures

These hidden treasures are found by reading the verse and selecting each letter of each word only in the order that they were written. The words are chosen to describe what the verse is saying to you.
This exercise is to encourage you to read the verse many times and to look for the deeper personal meanings.
It is not an appropriate method of building theology.

Valentine:
For God so loVed the world,
That He gAve
his onLy
BegottEn
SoN
That whosoever
believeth In Him
Should Not perish,
But have Everlasting life.'
John 3:16

Phrase: Goodness to us all
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Here are some more that I found: God’s Valentine; God loves even me!; God loved even Satan; God loves you all; Great Love; Eternal life; Forever; Good Hope; Love divine; Great Trust; Faith in Him; God gave to us life; Favourite; Greater honour; God’s love is so true; The world sees that wonder; Will I have everlasting life?; Glory to who ever believes; God invites all.

-- Lionel Hartley Feb ©2009

Chronicles in the Life of Peter Blank, Part 13

Episode 13: The Hitch-hiker
Peter was planning the return to the land of his birth. His bride-to-be, also born in that same land, was to follow some months later. They decided that the bulk of her luggage, which was in storage, could be air-freighted along with Peter's luggage to save her the burden of organising it later in the year. A taxi-truck was duly rented and the cabin trunk and boxes were delivered, along with Peter and Mary, to the Air Cargo depot in one of the outer suburbs of the city.
Peter and Mary felt a little anxious as the items were weighed. They only had limited funds, some which would be required for their return journey from the city. They prayed silently as the scales creaked under the weight of their parcels. The depot attendant asked how much they anticipated paying. A chin-scratching "Hmmmm" followed their reply, and he sighed, "I'll see what I can do."
A few minutes later he smilingly announced that, due to a reclassifying the luggage as household effects, the amount they had suggested would be the exact amount he would receipt for them.
Peter and Mary had gone to the suburban depot in a taxi-truck -- they now had to find a way back to the Central Railway Station in the heart of the city. They felt their best option would be to walk the several kilometres to the International Airport and travel from there to the Central Railway Station on the Airport Shuttle Bus.
As they waited to cross a busy intersection, Peter jokingly pointed out a 'bus to Mary which had the word AIRPORT emblazoned across the front. Peter's pointing digit had apparently caught the eye of the driver who, it seems, mistook it for a gesture for him to stop. He signalled a reply, to the effect that he would wait for them on the other side of the intersection.
They boarded the 'bus and were immediately directed by the driver, without verbal interchange, to jostle to the back of the 'bus. In bewilderment, they did so, but were even more surprised when the 'bus failed to turn off at the side road to the airport, but proceeded immediately into the city and stopped outside the Central railway Station. Amid the clambering passengers they made their way to the front of the 'bus. The driver was nowhere to be seen! A perambulated circuit around the 'bus revealed the driver, an Oriental gentleman, unloading suitcases from the stowage area under the 'bus. Upon asking how much they owed for the journey, he said, "You hitch-hikers. No pay!"
With gratitude they made their way to the relevant platform and caught a much earlier train than was originally planned, thanking God once again for attending to the minutest detail.
However, the lessons for Peter are not finished yet.


-- Lionel Hartley, Not Finished Yet -- Chronicles in the Life of Peter Blank
"This serial saga, although novel, is not a novel. It is merely a series of true-life episodes highlighting the extraordinary working of an extraordinary God in a very ordinary life. Each episode contained a lesson for Peter Blank, a lesson we can all learn, from a lesson-book life that is not finished yet."
As first appeared in FreEzine Magazine July 2000 ff

 He lives, He lives.

A number of years ago I filmed a documentary to promote the ministry of the Crossroads Christian Fellowship to the Disabled in Newcastle, New South Wales. 

As I filmed one of their gatherings, I was moved to tears by about 50 persons, some quite severely disabled and many obviously in great pain, singing with gusto and enthusiasm, some with slurred voices, others with distorted facial features, some with contorted bodies, most in wheelchairs unintentionally advertising their disabilities.

 

And what were they singing? "He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart."

 

---  Lionel Hartley

Praying in the Spirit

Praying in the Spirit

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Ephesians 6:18 (KJV) 

What does it mean to Pray in the Spirit.

Most commentators and many translations (such as the King James, above) translate the Greek as “Pray in the Spirit” (Spirit with a capital ‘S’).

But is this true to the original language and consistent with the rest of Scripture?

Those of Charismatic persuasion often place tremendous emphasis on being, walking, praying and living IN the Spirit. This focus on IN the Spirit is epitomised by glossolalia – speaking (tongues) in the Spirit. The verse that is often used in argument of this is Romans 8:9 – “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit…”

There is a semantic problem with this, and that is the difference between being in and having in (within). Building a doctrine on semantics is a very dangerous thing. Proponents of this view neglect the second part of the verse which goes on to say, “… if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you…”

So to focus solely on us being IN the Spirit or IN Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30, 4:15, 15:18-19, 22, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 1:22, 3:28, Ephesians 1:1, Philippians 1:1, 1 Thessalonians 2:14, 4:1, Philemon 1:8, 1 Peter 5:14) without considering the necessity for us to be filled personally, is considering the Holy Spirit to be the vessel and our human spirit the power within. We are the vessel (Isaiah 64:8, Jeremiah 18:4-7), God is the potter and the Holy Spirit is the oil that fill us (Matthew 25:1-13) so that we may be lights to the world (Matthew 5:14).

James S. Hewett writes in Illustrations Unlimited (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, Wheaton, Ill. 1988, p303), ‘One Sunday on their way home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, the preacher's sermon this morning confused me. The mother said, "Oh? Why is that?" The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. Is that true?" The mother replied, "Yes, that's true, honey." "And he also said that God lives in us? Is that true Mommy?" Again the mother replied, "Yes." "Well," said the little girl, "if God is bigger than us and he lives in us, wouldn't He show through?"’

If you placed a bath-sponge in a container of water you could legitimately say that the sponge is IN the water. But as the sponge does what all sponges do (soaks up the water), it would be more accurate to say that the water is IN the sponge. This does not negate the former, but focuses our attention upon the latter. When we daily invite the baptism of the Spirit, we become baptised (literally fully immersed) in Him, and like the sponge, we become fully absorbed with Him.

A second consideration when considering the argument for ‘Praying in the Spirit’ is that when the phrase ‘in the spirit’ is used in Scripture, the word ‘spirit’ does not necessarily always refer to the Holy Spirit. In some verses it is obvious that God’s Spirit is being referred to (see, for example, Ezekiel 37:1, Revelation 1:10, 4:2, 17:3, 21:10).

John the Baptist being ‘in the spirit’ in Luke 1:17 refers to the spirit power (pneuma dunamis) of Elijah. Undoubtedly this came from God, but the verse does not claim that John was ‘in the Spirit’. In Galatians 5:16 and 25, Paul talks about living and walking in the Spirit, but the development of this outward habit requires inward habitation (of the Holy Spirit).

I wrote to a theologian colleague to ask for a peer-to-peer comment on this concept, and this is what he wrote in reply (Email 10 Dec 2008):

“It is very brave of you to argue with the scholars and commentary writers, but I must concur – your argument alleviates my anxiety over the divinium mysterium. Your erudition has me kicking myself for not seeing it that way it first.”

– Dr Arthur N Patrick (BA, MA, MDiv, DMin, MLitt, PhD)

So let us focus, not on being and doing IN the Spirit, but focus on inviting the Spirit’s being and doing in and through us. We cannot ever smugly assert that we are in the Spirit or that we walk and  talk in the Spirit. But let us humbly ask the Spirit’s help for us to empty ourselves and be filled with Him.

– Lionel Hartley

Chronicles in the Life of Peter Blank, Part 12

Episode 12: Peter Misses A Train
Peter, escorted by his nursing-qualified bride-to-be, was to go to a distant
town for special tissue x-rays to aid the physicians in the treatment of a
cancer which was invading his body. The journey was to be by car to the
nearest railway station and then by train to the particular town. The X-ray
rooms were on the outskirts of the town and they would need get a 'bus or
taxi from the railway station to their final destination. With a limited
train schedule to work around, you may well imagine their frustration when
their car transport was delayed and they arrived at the station in time to
see only the end of the train snaking away in the distance. A conversation
with the stationmaster confirmed what Peter imagined to be fact -- that the
train they had just missed was the last for many hours. However, to his
surprise, the stationmaster asked them to wait on the platform. Obediently
Peter and Mary waited on the deserted platform while the stationmaster
walked along the tracks and out of sight around a bend in the line. Within
minutes a freight train was slowly rumbling past and mysteriously the
guard's van shuddered to a stop right in front of the bewildered pair. From
along the line the voice of the stationmaster called for them to board the
train before he waved it on, and then he waved to them as the train rumbled
passed him. A puzzled guard in the dirty caboose, embarrassed at Mary's
presence due to the female-nude postered walls, asked how the train happened
to stop for them to board. Their explanation carried little weight as he was
quick to advise us that the train did not go right into the town, but would
pass the passenger train along the journey and arrive sooner but on the town
outskirts at a railway freight siding -- nowhere near a railway station!
Undaunted and convinced of God's leading, Mary and Peter sat on a wooden box
for the rattling journey.
The junket ended in a railway siding and concluded with instructions from
the guard to cautiously cross the many criss-crossed tracks to a small gate,
which would lead to a main road into the town.
Peter and Mary, now close to the town earlier than they had planned, were
already thanking God for His helping hand when they passed through the gate
and saw the X-ray rooms immediately across the road. A train fare saved, a
'bus or taxi fare saved, and then to be early for the appointment! There was
little doubting the providence of God, although the lesson for Peter is not
finished yet.


-- Lionel Hartley, Not Finished Yet -- Chronicles in the Life of Peter Blank
"This serial saga, although novel, is not a novel. It is merely a series of true-life episodes highlighting the extraordinary working of an extraordinary God in a very ordinary life. Each episode contained a lesson for Peter Blank, a lesson we can all learn, from a lesson-book life that is not finished yet."
As first appeared in FreEzine Magazine July 2000 ff