Ramblings along the narrow way

For a while, David Ould has been putting links to Pearls Before Swine in his blog. For a while I resisted adding it to my blogroll as I wasn’t entirely sure it was that funny. (Almost said worthy, but there some really curious entries in my blogroll, not to mention the value of this blog itself!) However, today’s comic is priceless! Resistance is futile. 🙂

Eternity. Do we ever consider it? The Psalmist considers the one who is eternal, the God who has no beginning and no end. The one who has been in eternal Trinity, in eternal love. The one who is not constrained in any way by time. With our finite minds we find it hard to grasp the whole concept of eternity.

God is not constrained by time, because he created it. He is able to see time throughout its entirety, from beginning to end.

Yet he does not leave the universe and time to roll along like a clockwork toy. He intervenes in time and space, the “Word became flesh and made his dweeling amongst us”.

Whilst we may not be able to fully grasp eternity, nor even consider it much, we still have an inkling of eternity. For we are created in the image of God, with souls which will never die, and so we are aware that there is more to this life than our finite time on earth.

We have two possible eventualities in eternity. If we have our sins dealt with by faith in the only one who can deal with them – Jesus Christ, we can have peace with God and spend eternity under his grace. If our sins are not dealt with, eternity will be spent under the wrath of a holy God who cannot allow sin in his presence to go unpunished.

Another Saturday – another birthday! Slightly different though, as it involved travelling down to Salisbury. Despite my unfamiliarity with the area, we arrived at our intended destination with a little help from the birthday girl’s brother. After a meal of chilli and cheesecake – although not at the same time, we then played party games for the rest of the evening. I sometimes forget what it was like to be young! I think I’m showing my age when I can’t remember the last time I played pass the parcel and musical statues. Despite my growing decrecipitude, the younger partygoers appeared to have a good time, with the birthday girl seeming enjoying the organising as well as the taking part.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean
in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me,
is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward
to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth,
changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones,
died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth,
watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
love of every love the best!
‘Tis an ocean full of blessing,
’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory,
for it lifts me up to Thee!

Samuel T. Francis

Moving swiftly on from second position, I’m now being taught the scale of D major in two octaves which requires knowledge of third position. It’s a little bit tricky as I’m prone to hanging onto the neck for dear life in case I lose my reference points. The two-octave scale of C major in second position wasn’t so bad, as I merely shifted by a semitone and gripped on for dear life again. Alas, to achieve a two-octave D major scale requires shifting from first to third position mid scale! I’m going to have to relinquish my grip if I’m to progress.

For the first time in my life, I had a look at the inside of the Palace of Westminster. It was fascinating wandering around the debating chambers, halls and corridors of one of the oldest democracies in the world.

The tour started with the hall where many previous monarchs and prime ministers had lain in state, and where, in the past, the highest courts in the land convened, even to try a king. The hall was vast and airy, yet had a great sense of occassion about it.

We were then led to the House of Lords, where the monarch presides over her parliament, and where the lords and nobles discuss matters of state. The surroundings were opulent, with large areas layered in gold for the monarch, and the nobles and lords resided on red leather upholstered benches. We listened in as a lord debated legislation concerning compensation, although to be honest not many were present.

Next port of call was the House of Commons, where the elected representatives of the people debate and put bills forward. The decor was more puritanical, with simple functional carving and understated green leather clad benches. We entered as the opposition were arguing against government proposals for extending state education to very young children. It was notable that the opposition were fewer in number and consisted mostly of men, whilst the ruling party had more members seated, being made-up predominantly of women.

Our penultimate stop was the terrace, overlooking the Thames, the London Eye and the former GLC building. One can imagine it being a fairly pleasant place to unwind on a warm summer’s evening, although we didn’t stay there too long due to the biting wind of a bitter winter’s evening.

We finished in the chapel, a colourfully decorated sanctuary where members of parliament could go to get away from the hustle and bustle and pray in peace. Throughout the tour, the Christian heritage of the country could be seen in its parliament, even the daily order of events on the agenda for the House of Commons included an opening in prayer.

All in all, a good experience, where parliament seems a little closer and just a little bit less remote.

Despite all his sin, Abraham died right with God. Not through anything he had done, for nothing he did could make him right with God, but through faith in the one who was to come, the Messiah who would come from his bloodline. For Abaraham “believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Gen 15:6) Are we right with God, have we had our sin dealt with?

Abraham’s life had ended with him “full of years”, having had a ripe, fruitful life serving God. If we put our life in God’s hands, trusting his Son, then his Spirit will dwell in us, and our lives also will be fruitful. The Spirit will work in us, changing us, sanctifying us.

For ultimately, Abraham was received into the presence of God, not as a sinner, but a sanctified, purified glorified child of God. If we are not justified before God and if we are not sanctified by God, we cannot be received by God into his presence as his children.

There do seem to be a spate of birthdays around this time of the year! This evening was spent celebrating Christine’s birthday at the Harvester in Denham. (It started off in Windsor, then Ruislip until settling in Denham!) I must admit I was a little stuck thinking of a present, but in my trek in Tesco this afternoon I found a fine example of a Poinsetta. The challenge I set Christine, when I presented it to her, was to keep it alive – although I didn’t state a duration….hmmm…anyway. The meal was good, even with a slight mix up with food and ending up with a rather rare steak! Fortunately, the conversation was better, with a few people there who I don’t see that often. Another good birthday celebration, with a seemingly very happy birthday girl!

Nur wer nicht sucht, ist vor Irrtum sicher. Albert Einstein

Q: Which is the third commandment?
A: The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Q: What is required in the third commandment?
A: The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God’s names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and works.

Q: What is forbidden in the third commandment?
A: The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of any thing whereby God maketh himself known.

Q: What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?
A: The reason annexed to the third commandment is, That however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment.

(Questions LIII, LIV, LV, and LVI from the Westminster Shorter Catechism).

To all you Americans out there (I know you exist, Google Analytics tells me you do), I wish you all a happy, and thankful, Thanksgiving. Oh, and please forgive the rest of the world for not having the foggiest idea this day is any more different to the rest. As far as we’re concerned, it’s November 24th and that’s it! (Much like the rest of the world doesn’t play baseball, and we think football should be played with the foot! Anyway, I digress.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 118:1

Now this is impressive, although possibly slightly different…

Abston Church of Christ

Another bridge evening round Sarah’s, with another partner! Saying that, this is not to say this was a bad thing, as this partner was both enthusiastic and learnt very quickly. I think I even detected her counting the cards as they were being played and playing her cards appropriately. The only tricky concept was the bidding, but that would become second-nature with time.

On either side of the card playing was good food and good conversation, on all sorts of topics and even a presentation on something biological with lots of words I didn’t understand. None the less, a very good evening.

According to the Bible, the only way to be right with God, to have our sins dealt with and be forgiven, is through faith in Jesus Christ. None of our good works, none of the status we acquire, will be enough to cover our sin. In regard to our eternal salvatoin, it doesn’t matter if we attend church regularly, if we are church members, work for the church, hold office in the church – nothing but Jesus Christ can save us from what God’s justice requires for our sin and from sin itself.

We have to determine for ourselves if Jesus in the Christ is the Messiah, the chosen one, the promised one. We have to decide if he is the one who is able to save us from our sins. In the gospel accounts, he performs many miracles, and says many things concerning his status and his abilities. The Jesus of the bible leaves us very few options.

As such, the bible is sufficient in containing everything we need of what God expects of us and what we need to know concerning salvation.

It’s Ally’s birthday soon, so today being the closest Saturday, we headed off to the Fox and Pheasant in Stoke Poges for a celebration meal. The pub offers a carvery meal for two for £10, so with fourteen of us, we went for seven of those. This allowed us to take a portion of meat and help ourselves to as many vegetables as we could fit on the plate! It’s amazing how much you can fit on one plate! After a rather hearty main course, dessert was served – with a whisper in the waiter’s ear from Mim – complete with a birthday candle in Ally’s dessert accompanied with a short refrain of ‘Happy Birthday’ thrown in for good measure (and suitable embarrassment). A good evening spent with friends, made all the better seeing the birthday girl enjoying herself.