Here is the rough text of a sermon I gave on Sunday. The passage was Joshua 2 and there were only one or two ad-libs which I am sure will not be missed.

Read the passage

Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut. Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.” “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.” So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.” Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet  in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.” “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.” Jos 2:1-21

I have been really looking forward to preaching on this passage. It sounds like one of the spy stories that Simon was telling us how much he enjoys last week. I love spy stories too. Whenever there was a spy movie (particularly James Bond) on the TV when I lived with my parents it was always on. It’s exciting, thrilling, sometimes difficult to see what is going to happen and invariably entertaining.

This part of the book of Joshua is where the story starts to pick up. Here are the Israelites encamped at Shittim and are waiting for the opportunity to step over the Jordan and take the land that God had promised them. Not too far from them is the fortress city of Jericho. Huge, imposing and seemingly impenetrable.

What does Joshua do? He thinks back to Moses and finds an idea. He remembers what Moses did when he sent 12 spies into the land across the Jordan. Joshua remembered his time as a spy and decides that will send spies to scout out the land ‘Especially Jericho!’.

This might seem a little difficult. After all, in the previous chapter, God has told Joshua not to worry because the land was theirs.  What’s the first thing he does after this? Seemingly doubt God and send spies to see what is actually happening.

This isn’t necessarily a case of doubting though. Joshua is being wise. We, as Christians, are told to have faith but faith does not mean presuming that God will do everything. Joshua does what we need to do. He looks at the principles found in scripture, he attempts to gather information all in order to make wise decisions and plan his moves. It is a principle that Jesus recommends in Luke chapter 14 when he talks about what a good King does when facing war.

Joshua tells the spies to consider ‘especially Jericho’. This is another admirable quality that we should consider. Taking Jericho would make the whole enterprise so much easier. It would split the enemy in two and make their defences weaker. When God has told us something that He wants us to do, we need to think about what the biggest challenges are, what are the priorities God wants us to focus on?

Joshua’s actions in the early part of this chapter are wise then. He isn’t doubting, he is behaving laudably. Even in his doing so secretly. This is not an excuse for leaders to act in secret but instead he is wisely remembering what happened last time. Last time the Spies were sent out it was in public and their report caused rebellion and discord! Numbers 13 and 14 would mean that of all those who crossed the Red Sea, all but 2 would perish before they crossed the Jordan. Joshua wasn’t being sneaky, he was trying to keep the eyes of the Israelites fixed on the promise of God not the problems of the world. It was something that Nehemiah would do later when he was trying to return the Jews to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:4-17)

So, off the spies go and they meet, as do we, Rahab! Rahab has caused much difficulty for the church over the years. Look at her description. In the NIV she is called a prostitute. In others she is a harlot! Still others say she was an innkeeper. The church has tried to whitewash her history as she is hardly the sort of woman one should have as an ancestor of Christ. As early as the 1^st Century Josephus called her an innkeeper in order to remove the stain of Prostitute.

However, Prostitute she was. She is mentioned in Scripture on 8 occasions and in 5 of those she has that title. It is used in Joshua 2:1, Joshua 6:17 and 25 as well as Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25. We need to be careful that we don’t change what God is happy to call her!

So why did the spies end up in her place? Let me be clear, there is absolutely zero evidence that there was any impropriety in their decision. Where else could 2 strangers go though? Where else in town was full of people who had loose tongues and questionable morals? People who might be relied upon to give up valuable information. Remember that they are spies and they are looking for military information to help defeat the Canaanites and there is a long history of links between the military and brothels.

Maybe Rahab was looking for the men. As we see later, Rahab was thinking about God and knew that the men were in town.

What is important about this encounter with Rahab is not what she was but what God thinks of what she was. It shows that God is no respecter of status or job. He doesn’t care if someone is a pope or a prostitute, he will use whomever he decides to use. It also shows, as we will see shortly, that God in in control. He directs the steps of those who are serving him and he directs the steps of those who are seeking him. He brought the spies and Rahab together for their protection and for her blessing.

You see, God could have made the spies invisible. He could have made the people of Jericho blind. Instead he chose to work with three people who were prepared to walk in faith. Are we doing that in our lives? Are we waiting for God to give us miracles? Are we asking him for out of the ordinary experiences? Or are we prepared out in our normal lives trusting that God will bring us to the right place and the right people?

Rahab is more than just a prostitute though. She is an out and out heroine! Some people think that she wasn’t in much danger. We know that the ancient world put a lot of trust in the sanctity of hospitality. A person was supposed to respect their guests and this was accepted. This was especially true of women whose rooms were held in the highest of esteem. This must partially explain why the guards didn’t just kick the door in and ransack the place in their search for the men they knew were in there.

However, the situation for Rahab was dangerous. The whole city was on alert. The Guards would have been heavily armed and the men had been seen in Rahab’s house. Rahab had the guts to say no. The oldest of all ancient codes of law, that of Hammurabi said ‘If felons are banded together in an ale-wife’s (prostitutes) house and she has not haled them to the palace, that fish-wife is to be put to death’. If the men were found in her house she faced death so Rahab told a big fat lie!

Was she allowed to do so? Doesn’t the Bible say we can’t lie? Yes, yes it does. In the 10 Commandments it’s clear and Paul points out in Romans 3:7 and 8 that we are not even allowed to lie in order to further God’s glory.

Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just! Rom 3:7-8

So was Rahab right? This passage does not condone the lying. It merely reports it (this is something many opponents of Christianity don’t get, they see something distasteful in the Bible and assume that God condones it). Had she told them the spies were inside, God may have protected them but she did what she thought was best. She had faith and she acted upon it.

Rahab did what many other Christians (and others) have done through the years. Remember that this was a time of war and that the men’s lives were in danger. The situation was similar to those many ordinary people who sheltered Jews in World War 2. People like Corrie Ten Boon or Miep Gies who told lies to the Nazis to preserve the lives of the Jews.

In the middle of this passage is a remarkable declaration of faith from Rahab. Let’s look at verses 9 to 13 of the chapter.

We see that Rahab had a lot of confidence and conviction. She had confidence and conviction in God’s power. She knew what had happened at the Red Sea all those years before. She also knew what had happened to King Og and to Sihon. (Perhaps she found out about it at work from some loose lipped soldiers!). She knew that the Israelites served a powerful God. It shows that we need to be the same. We need, as Christians, to be pointing people towards God. We are his Red Sea moments! We are the only mighty works of God that some people will see. How can we do this? Going to church and not being ashamed of it is one thing. Being willing to give a testimony as Peter commands us in 1 Peter 3:15 is another. Being God’s hands and feet out in the community is another!

Rahab also had confidence and conviction in the fact that Yahweh was the 1 True God. She knew that he was more than one of the feeble gods worshipped in Jericho. She was convinced enough to give up her existing faith and move towards following Yahweh.

This is what God wants of us, he wants us to leave the other things that we may worship in order to follow him.

More than this though, she knew that God was going to bring judgement on her people and this was another reason for her to change her allegiance. She was right, just a couple of chapters later her city would fall. We might know people in this position, people who are on the edge looking for God. Maybe that’s us who are looking for God. We need to be quick and follow the leading God gives us. One day he’s coming back and it could be soon!

Rahab’s confession of faith shows her confidence and conviction but it shows a lot more besides. It shows that even in her terrified state she had others on her mind. In V 12 she asks for kindness to her family. This wasn’t easy. She was living apart from her family, it was the House of Rahab the men went to after all, not to the house of Rahab’s father. There is a good chance that her family were ashamed of her. Most people today would be if their daughter set up a brothel. She may not have had much to do with them and yet, when push came to shove she was prepared to do her best to save them.

This is part of God’s plan for our lives. He has put us in the middle of a network of friends and family that should be a top priority for us. Their finding God and salvation should be the focus of our prayer. It is great to want to pray for others far away and God loves that but we need to focus on those closest to us as well. Even if some people don’t like us (or we don’t like them), even if they’re ashamed of us for some reason, we need to be like Rahab and be prepared to ask God to save them as well!

There is an interesting part towards the end of the passage that we read. Rahab has been speaking with the Spies when the guards had gone. She had asked them to swear an oath and the did so. They promised her that as long as her family were in her house when the Israelites attacked they would be safe; if they put the scarlet cord in their window. Rahab did, at once!

This scarlet cord doesn’t seem that useful. Surely it would have given something away. However, as her house was in the city walls, it seems likely that the cord could only be seen by those outside the city.

There is a lot more to this simple piece of rope though. It has long been seen to symbolise the redeeming nature of Jesus. There is a scarlet cord that is interwoven through the Bible leading up to the death of Jesus on the cross.

The Bible is all about Jesus and all about God’s plan for him. From the very first promise of a Serpent Crusher in Genesis 3:16, through the Passover lamb, through the use of a scapegoat on the day of Atonement, through the promised offspring of a virgin in Isaiah 7, through the story of the Suffering Servant later in Isaiah, through Jonah’s time in the whale and through the death of the Shepherd in Zechariah 13:7. All of these passages (and so many more) point to the Jesus who would come into the world at the first Christmas. The very same Jesus who would be a descendant of David who was a descendant of the pagan Prostitute saved by hanging a Scarlet cord in the window of her home in hope that Yahweh would fulfil his promise.

So what does this all tell us about Rahab? Rahab was a prostitute, a liar and a traitor. She does not sound like someone who deserves to be called a hero. However she is recorded as one of the great heroes of the faith. She is in the list with Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Gideon, Barack, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets! And she goes further than most of those. She is one of the ancestors of Christ!

She knew who God was and she was earnestly seeking to know more. She knew who she was and she wanted to change. She had heard about God and she listened to what he was saying. There is a great little verse quoted in Hebrews 3:7 but I prefer the version in Psalm 95:8

Today, if only you would hear his voice, “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah Psa 95:7-8

God is speaking in this world. He speaks to people in many different ways but when he does we need to be ready to listen. Sometimes it might be hard but we mustn’t harden our hearts. There may sometimes be another voice whispering ‘not good enough, too bad for him, unlovable’. That’s the voice we need to ignore. God will never say that.

You see, God can take anyone and completely redeem them. No matter what their past God can make them clean and make them special again. God can take a prostitute and a liar and make her a princess! Rahab went on to marry a prominent Israelite and in Matthew chapter 1 we see her among the list of Jesus’ descendants. Even though many in the church have tried to hide Rahab’s true nature in order to protect God’s reputation, knowing her true story enhances the magnificence of God.

This isn’t an isolated one off type of thing though. It is something that God does daily. One of my favourite hymn is the ‘To God be the Glory’ which contains the line

The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

What we read today opens with a secret mission. Joshua needs military information to help him capture a city. The spies leave hoping to come back with the right amount of classified information to help their people win a great victory.

Their mission is a bust though. They don’t get any other information other than ‘we are scared of you!’ They found out that the people of Jericho were terrified. Their hearts had melted and they were terrified. The problem was that this piece of information was not very helpful. They learned so little about how to get into Jericho that Joshua had to totally rely on God when the opportunity finally came.

The thing is, it wasn’t their mission. It was God’s mission. Where the spies failed, God succeeded. He had a different mission. His mission was to find a way to save the apparently un-saveable. He stooped down into the heart of an enemy city and into the life of a prostitute and a pagan. He took steps to save her. He brought himself to her attention and made it possible for her to come to him.

This has always been God's mission. Ever since the first time we sinned. He was always going to send someone to save us. He was always going to take steps to bring us back to him. It always was his mission, it is his mission and it always will be his mission. 

Sometimes it might seem that the mission God has given us isn’t going right but that doesn’t mean God’s purposes are being thwarted. Sometimes God is using us to achieve things we don’t know about. Sometimes though, just sometimes, God will guide us into the life of someone who might seem equally un-saveable. If that’s the case we need to be ready to be take tips from a former prostitute and never give up!

Apologies for not posting in a little while. It has been manic at work and at church. I am going to try and blog a lot more in the next couple of months. Lots to share

I am about to do something dangerous. Well, not dangerous per se but something that could land me in hot water with many people. I am about to make a claim that could, in some circumstances, be seen as extremist and intolerant.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only way by which we can reach heaven. All other faiths and religions are wrong and will not allow us into heaven. This teaching is Biblical and based on, alongside other verses, John 14:6 -  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me"

You see, in the modern world, such a view is unpopular. I am supposed to be tolerant of other religions and accept that they are as true as mine. I can't. They're not.

I remember years ago when I was teaching an RE lesson, I had to read through the poem 'The blind men and the elephant' where six blind men feel different parts of an elephant and declare it to be something else. One feels the tusk and says it's like a spear. One feels the leg and says it's like a tree. You get the picture.

The problem is, there are seven men in the poem. There's the poet too. he can see the whole elephant and knows it's and elephant. 

The moral of it is, apparently, that truth depends on our point of view. That's rubbish. What is true is true no matter what way I look at it. 

To be a Christian who says that there is only one God and his name is Jesus is the truth and I will never stop saying it.

Many people claim that all religions lead to God. That is simply not true and is impossible. Take Buddhism for example. They say there is no God. How does that lead to the same place as Christians who claim there is? Muslims say their God is one. Christians say theirs is Triune. How can they be the same?

As we, in the West, move further and further down the line of secularism and vociferous atheism; as we acquiesce in the demands of 'tolerance of all faiths' Christians need to remember that the truth is that Jesus is the light of the world and the only way to Heaven.

Happy New Year!

This is the seventh year of my blog and, despite not being prolific, I am pleased that I have carried on with it.

I am glad that 2016 is over. Partly because I was fed up with the 'this is the worst year ever' nonsense whenever another celebrity died. I'm sure 1914 was worse. 1348 definitely was.

I am also glad it is over because we need to move forward. God doesn't need us to dwell in the past. He wants us to look to the future. This year I am, as always, hoping that this is the year He comes back. If it isn't then I will keep looking forward to that glorious day ...

A little while ago I wrote about a sermon I had written but not delivered. Well, the week before Christmas, I was down to preach again and I went with the undelivered sermon. I have to admit that this was partially because I had no time to write a new one but I also really felt that God wanted it to be given to the congregation.

Here is the text. Whilst there were, inevitably, some ad-libs and minor changes, it is mostly accurate.

I would like to start by talking about someone I once met. Someone who has been on my mind lately. He was someone I only met once, someone whose name I cannot remember. I met him on a Sunday afternoon, way back in the 1990’s. I had not long been going to church and a group of us were invited out to a family for lunch. They had a lovely home out in the deep countryside and they had invited about a dozen of us.

Anyway, this man, and I genuinely cannot remember his name, was a recovering alcoholic. Somehow, this came up in conversation (he was very willing to share) and someone asked him how he coped when things were rough.

He did something that I will never forget, he stood up, put his Bible down on the floor and did this …

Everything he needed was in his Bible he said. He just needed to stand on its teaching and he would be fine.

Basically, this is the main point of what I want to talk about today

Read the passage and briefly outline it. 2 Timothy 3 and 4

Some of this seems difficult to understand. There is a recurring theme of persecution in the New Testament. It’s there in

Matthew 10:22, Acts 14:22, Philippians 1:29 and 1 Peter 4:12.

The church has faced persecution, is being persecuted and will continue to be persecuted. It is, getting worse.

I don’t mean the so-called ‘War on Christmas’ or the banning of prayers. I mean real persecution. Like last Sunday when a bomb was thrown into an Egyptian church killing 25 people.

This is an important theme and not one that I am playing down but neither is it one I would like to focus on today. I will save it for another day.

Instead I would like to focus on what the passage tells us about the Bible itself.

Have you ever been to a country home? I quite like it. I love looking through old houses. They look dusty and untidy and unloved at times but then you see a rope over a set of stairs. There’s a glimmer of life. Then you realise that it’s actually a home. People live here. It changes your view.

The Bible is like this. If you only pick it up occasionally it can be dry and dusty. In the past I have read the whole thing but often in small chunks, here and there. I will honestly say that it has often been dry and dusty. However, if we dig into it a bit more, read it with a bit more effort and there are signs of life.

In this passage, which I read from the NIV, Paul uses an interesting term. He says that all Scripture is ‘God-Breathed’. Other versions, particularly the KJV say inspired and we have often struggled with this word.

We talk about the Bible being the inspired word of God, what does it mean? It sometimes means ‘out of the ordinary’ as in ‘that performance was inspired’ meaning it was totally beyond your normal ways.

Or sometimes we take inspired to mean ‘dictated’ by God. As if the authors of scripture were sitting at a desk merely copying the words sent from God onto the page. Or perhaps they were under some sort of cosmic mind-control.

These don’t come close to what Paul writes. They leave no room for personality. Nobody who reads the Bible seriously could say that Isaiah, Jeremiah, David or Paul were the same authors. Their words are not the same. Jeremiah is a wonderful book but it is not the same as Ezekiel. God may have inspired these men but he was not dictating through them.

The NIV puts it beautifully. God-Breathed. There is only one other thing in the Bible that is ‘God-Breathed’ and it is us. When God made the animals of the land, the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, he gave them life and thought that it was good. When he made Adam and Eve, he breathed life into them and he saw that it was very good.

This is what Paul means when he says scripture is inspired; it is alive! The Bible (the OT in Paul’s time) was full of life and love.

Do we treat it like this?

The Bible is alive but there is more to it than that.

The Bible is not, despite what we hear constantly from secularists and atheists, a collection of myths. It is not a collection of fables. Myths and fables are excellent to read and very entertaining but they are not very useful.

Certainly not as useful as Paul tells us Scripture is. There is a long list here in verse 16 of what the bible is.

It’s useful

It’s useful for teaching.

It’s useful for rebuking.

It’s useful for training.

Reading the Bible will help us to become wise. It will teach us so much. So much about God and His plan, about the human condition, about what is the best way to live and the best way not to live. This year it has taught me so much. It has taught me that God has no favourites, he is there for everyone and, while one day it will be too late, it isn’t too late yet!

The next bit is a tough one. It is one that we don’t talk about a lot in the modern church. It is useful for rebuking. I don’t think Paul meant (or certainly not only meant) the old fashioned ‘I rebuke you in the name of the Lord because in such and such a verse God says …’ that’s not right. That’s taking scripture out of context. What I think Paul is trying to say is that when we engage with scripture, sometimes it will point something out. Perhaps it will point out that we have forgotten to forgive someone. Sometimes it will point out a sin that is part of our life. This is what it means when it says rebuke. If it happens, take it. Lear from it and you will be changed.

It has happened to me recently. Someone has been annoying me and my Bible reading has shown me gently how I need to forgive that person and pray for them. Scripture has changed me!

It is also useful for training. God has a plan for each of us, He has a role for us and he wants us to fulfil that role. This is what Scripture is for, it’s a training manual. Be prepared, if you go to the Bible ready to listen to the lessons it has, it will change you!

Something else the Bible is, is trustworthy. I have this discussion so often with non-believers. You simply cannot trust the Bible they say. It is full of errors. It is full of contradictions. I personally disagree and so do most even minded scholars. God was in control of everything that was written down and he didn’t make mistakes. It is an interesting fact that not one single piece of archaeological evidence has ever been found that contradicts a stated fact in the Bible. In fact, more and more evidence is being found to support what is said.

Please turn with me to 2 Kings 10:27

Believe it or not, in September of this year, in Israel, an old temple was discovered dating to the reign of Hezekiah. Right in the middle of it was a toilet!

If you can trust the Bible in the little things, you can certainly trust it in the big things.

The Bible should be at the centre of our faith. We should judge the values we hold in the world by it and not the other way around. Is how we treat other people Biblical? If it is, great. If it isn’t, change. Do we approach our work in a Biblical manner? We should.

A few weeks ago, the BBC broadcast a programme asking the question ‘is the Bible still relevant?’  Leaving aside the fact that they wouldn’t dare ask that question of any other Holy Book, it sums up the modern attitude to Scripture. It is old fashioned, it is irrelevant. Believe Jesus is the only way to God? That’s old fashioned. Believe in marriage? You fuddy duddy. Think God created the world? Ha! You’re an idiot!

We even have so called church leaders telling us that the Bible needs to change with the world!

In the midst of this then, Paul gives an instruction to Timothy. In v5 of chapter 4 he says ‘keep your head ’This comes in a part when Paul is guiding Timothy in what his job is. He is to correct, rebuke and encourage. He is to keep up with his duties as an evangelist.

You see, even then, Scripture had competitors. There were many different competing philosophes and, even though it was only a few years after the Resurrection, there were even competing Christianities. There were the Gnostics in particular. They saw the world divided into two, the spiritual and the physical. The Spiritual was good and the physical bad. They said that there was secret knowledge that only a few people had. They denied the real nature of Jesus.

Scripture also has competition today. The world tells us that ‘all roads lead to God’. Do no harm they say. Other religions offer a different interpretation. There are atheists and their ‘There is no God so stop worrying’ mantra. This year, as with every year, I will watch the Queen’s message. She usually mentions Jesus and shares a little of her faith. For the first time in a long time this year we have a Prime Minister who is not ashamed of her faith and yet you can almost guarantee that he official Christmas message will say ‘Christmas is a special time for people of all faiths and none’

Paul reminds Timothy that he has heard the message since he was young. If you teach children about Christianity it’s called indoctrination. If someone says that, ignore them. Helping young people to learn about Jesus is vital and no more a piece of indoctrination than telling them that 2 and 2 makes 4.

There is an interesting phrase that Paul uses in v3. He talks about sound doctrine (the sort that can only be got through good study of scripture). In all his writings, Paul mentions this 8 times. All of them in the pastoral letters!

You see, Timothy could have adapted his message. It was tempting. There is nothing worse than talking to a group of people who do not want to listen! Paul warns Timothy that there will come a time when people won’t want to listen to what he says. They will develop itchy ears that need a salve that will sooth them.

This is not what Scripture is for. If you don’t like what Scripture is telling you, sorry to say it probably isn’t scripture that has the problem!

Lots of people in the church compromise. I have heard preachers talk of how the young boy with the loaves and fishes simply inspired others to share their hidden lunches or how Moses was probably a little high on the sulphur fumes on the mountain where the bush was on fire.

All over the world people are told that the rules in the Bible don’t apply to them. You don’t have to believe all the stories; in fact you can’t really believe all of it. There are many paths to God, including through other religions, if only we are a bit more ecumenical!

We could do it. We could stand here and turn a sermon into a talk. We could give listeners platitudes instead of truths.

The thing is though, that’s heresy. People who do this with scripture forget one simple thing…

Jesus is coming back!

This month we, rightly focus on his first coming. It’s important but far too many speakers in church miss out the fact that He is coming back again! I am fully aware that some people will tell me that I’m crazy! You can’t say that. God isn’t really real. He isn’t really coming back.

Yes he is and this is the whole message of the New Testament.

This year, I have been so much more serious about my reading of scripture and I have gotten so much out of it.

I have rediscovered that the Bible is wonderful. It is beautiful. It is useful. It’s alive!

The Bible contains everything we need to know! It points the way to Jesus and he leads us into heaven.

Knowing that it is all these things and not doing anything about it is ridiculous! It is like knowing where something valuable is and ignoring it!

Yes the Bible is challenging. There are passages that make me shudder and wonder what on earth God is doing. Sometimes the Bible will take you places that you thought you wanted to avoid but maybe it is worth the challenge. This week as you read through your Bible, ask God to challenge you with something. He will do it.

I realise that this wasn’t really a ‘Christmas’ sermon. Sorry but not really sorry. If Christmas is about gifts then I for one am grateful of the gift of these 1300 pages and it’s a perfect gift for me this Christmas. I am hoping that God will use it to equip me to be what Paul told Timothy to be. Because, you can be sure, that it is a gift that the whole world needs to get better acquainted with.

Yesterday was Remembrance Sunday. It has long been one of my favourite days of the year. Even before I knew Jesus I was able to go somewhere and feel something spiritual. It is one of my thin places.

About a month ago, I realised (or rather was reminded by God) that, as we had moved to the Library in town, we would be a lot closer to the service this year. I pointed out to the other leaders that we would need to consider what we were doing that service. Either we would need to have it at a different time or we would have to interact with the community.

Thankfully, we did the latter. We decided that we would give out tea and coffee. If you know anything about the highlands then you know how cold it could be in November. Yesterday was cold and rainy.

Giving out tea and coffee doesn't seem much but it was. It was nice to be serving. Serving the community and serving the lord. There were no major conversations about Jesus and no dramatic conversions but it wasn't about that. It was about showing our congregation that we could do it as serving. Being bold for the Lord is tough at times.

We had a truncated service after that. A short time of worship followed by a short talk. I wasn't really in the mood if I am honest as I have had a little bit of bad news in the last few days. As we were worshiping, I was thinking that Jesus was my hope. Then the pastor began to preach and the verse he wanted to preach on was 1 Peter 3:15.

Christ is our hope. He is our hope in times of trouble. He was the hope for countless soldiers who gave their all for their families and their country. He is the hope of the sick and the lonely and he is the hope of the good and the bad.

Every Sunday should be a day of remembrance. Remembrance of the fact that Christ Jesus came to earth and died on a cross in our place; giving us the rarest of gifts, eternal life and eternal hope.

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I have been reading through the Bible this year. It is going really well. This week alone I have read through Habakkuk and Lamentations, finished the pastoral letters and Titus.

This is surprising really. I never expected to get this far but I have. What I thought would be the great let down would be making time in my day for it. I have always, and I mean ever since I became a Christian, found it tough to organise a regular time in my day for reading scripture. This year, the time has come easily. I do it on the bus to work. This has made for an interesting problem, I don't really find it easy on the weekends. Often I have to push myself to have read my passages before I get to church on a Sunday!

This week has been tough as I have not been well, and the kids are not well either. I had a day off yesterday and have felt well below par for most of the week. I have plowed on regardless and am over 300 days into the year.

I am sure I will complete it now. I really am. I know some people say that pride is a sin but on this one thing, I think I will be proud and I know God will also be proud of me and my efforts.

Thank you lord for your continued patience and help this year. Please make me able to continue on to the very end of the year. Amen