Which way do you run?

I don't know about you, but in my life I've come across, and seen on TV, many people who have run the wrong way. They blame God for the disaster, or loss of a loved one. You can see the anger and bitterness in their eyes. These do no one any favours; anger and bitterness eat away at your insides. Stomach ulcers and stress related illnesses are all exacerbated by them. Strange, you never hear them blaming the cancer, or 'mother' nature, or Satan...Only God.

Im my time of trial, I found a better way. I turned toward God, not away from Him. The result? Forgiveness. No anger, no bitterness, no ulcer, no stress, but a peace that passes all understanding. Tell me, which sounds to you like the better way?

At church this morning (27th July 08) I witnessed one of the greatest acts of courage I have ever seen. Let me explain. A couple went on 'a holiday of a lifetime.' Safari in Africa, sounds wonderful. Sadly, the wife was taken ill and later died. This morning, the husband stood and gave us a testimony of that holiday, including all the information we needed to know about his dear wife's passing. What a blessing for us to hear the answers to all those questions we had, and from the lips of a Godly man who is still waiting for his wife to be returned to the UK. NOT ONE WORD of complaint. NOT ONE WORD of anything except praise for God whom both he and his wife love. No anger, no bitterness...What a difference to those who run the wrong way.

There's a lesson for everyone in these two testimonies...Run to God in your time of trial, He is always there to comfort you, no matter what the dilemma. For your own sake, for your peace of mind and for your life, DON'T allow Satan to turn you away from God. Anger and bitterness are killers.

To Peter I say, "Well done my brother, you are an inspiration to all of us."
To Rosaleen I say, "Dear sister, your life has been, is, and will continue to be an example of true Christianity."

Rosaleen the princess has become, Rosaleen the Queen.

To God be the glory!

The loss of a friend

Today is a sad day for me, it's the day of a friends funeral. He was way too young to die, and dyeing the way he did is just too tragic to talk about. Suffice to say that we Christians are not immune to the pressures of life, on the contrary, we face more than most. The Bible says, "A righteous man may have many troubles but the Lord rescues him from them all." I can think of no better rescue than to go and be with my Lord.

To S, a very fond farewell.
Colin.

Every day dawns eventually...

Many years ago when I was on the staff of a Bible college in the south of England, I was in the habit of getting up early and going down to the lower ground floor of the big old house I was living in to pray. I never put the light on as it seemed to help being in the dark. Anyway, on one of those mornings the Lord said to me, "Every day dawns eventually." For some reason, this struck me hard. It must have done cos it's still with me 20 years later!

So what's so profound about that you ask? Well, I've seen lots of days dawn since then. Some I really wish I hadn't, and others have been a tremendous blessing, and some, I am still waiting for. For instance: I saw the day dawn when I went to Africa on a 2 week mission. I've walked on the shores of lake Tanganyika! I've played a little battery powered keyboard with a speaker tied to a tree and seen a thousand people come to hear the gospel. I've eaten chips in a mud hut!!! I kid you not. I got my first preach in a church with no walls and a corrugated tin roof, standing on a dirt floor.

I saw the day dawn when I was the only bloke in Holloway prison playing piano for the inmates. The day I stood in Gibraltar to take a day conference. The day I taught in a Bible school in Spain without notes...All of these days I have seen.

The point is this; there's a day coming when every knee shall bow. A day when we will hear a loud shout from an Angel with a voice like a trumpet, and those of us who are born again will be caught up to meet Him in the air...Now what a day that will be.

Giving Blood...

Today has been a special day for me. It was blood donor day. Yes I wandered round to the local rugby club to sit in a queue before they stick a needle in and swipe a pint(ish). But it's a great way to be of service to our fellow man. I will never meet the folk who receive my blood, but they are out there somewhere, alive and well.

The staff are wonderful. I always have a good laugh whilst lying on the table. It's no hardship to do it, and best of all, it gives me the perfect excuse to eat chocolate!

Do something wonderful, give blood, and be a blessing to others. You'll be so glad you did.

The Train Now Arriving At Platform 60!

No, it's not a big station, it's a big birthday! I've been riding this train for 6 decades now, and there's still a long way to go. I'm old enough now to not look back. There's a lot of stuff there that's best left behind. That's one of the real joys of being a Christian, you can look ahead. You probably won't see exactly what's coming, but you know that something exciting is on the way. That little word 'hope' is wonderful, "We have a hope that is steadfast and certain."

So, the tannoy announces, "The train now arriving at platform 60 is coming in on time and in one piece!" I praise my God daily for good health and the home He has provided for me over the years. He truly is faithful to His own and has been to me since I came to know Him aged 12. Even through the dark times and wilderness years He was always there, even though I didn't see Him...Wasn't looking, but He was there none the less.

And so, on to the future, whatever that might hold. One thing I can be sure of, we'll ride the rails together, my Lord and me, right on to eternity.

To Him be the glory,
Colin. Aged 59 and 9.999 tenths!

Blair's Eyes.

Around ten years ago just before the general election that brought Tony Blair to power, there was a poster showing Blair with demonic eyes. There was quite an outcry as I remember and it was taken down. The thing is, it has turned out to be prophetically correct. Someone somewhere saw something in Blair that the rest of us didn't see until many years later.

Smiling all the way and professing Christianity he bent over backwards to further the cause of those who practice perversion. Even to the point of trying to get it taught in schools as an acceptable life style. This flies directly in the face of God's word which states clearly that homosexuality is an abomination. Seems that God isn't afraid to call a spade a spade.

Recently Blair made the news again but this time for his conversion to Roman Catholicism. No true Christian would ever do such a thing: swap relationship for ritual, truth for error...But Tony has. Another scripture, "By their fruit you shall know them." Now we can all see Tony Blair's fruit, and this conversion is just another rotten piece along the way. No doubt he was under pressure to convert from his wife. Brings to mind the first time a man allowed his wife to lead him astray, and look where that got us!

Tell it to a child.

Daddy why do we have Christmas?
Well son it's like this. Every year you have a birthday and you receive presents. We give you presents because you are very special to us and we want to celebrate the day you were born. Well, Christmas marks the birthday of another child who is very special to all of us so we give each other presents to celebrate His birthday.

And what is the child's name daddy?
His name is Jesus Christ son He was born 2000 years ago, and that's why we call it Christmas.