TRUTH :

Sometimes a tiny seed of truth can appear in a most unexpected place, as occurred for me recently when reading a crime novel. Whether the quotation was the novelist’s own or from some other place, I have no idea but it was this. ‘Woman is the stronger sex, because man’s weakness is the weaker sex’. Sadly, as things seem to stand, it is true. Man’s need of woman is very real and natural, after all - she was created for him by Almighty God to be as one flesh with him, but surely man’s weakness and his strength should be Our Lord and the woman, as his Helper, should love him for it , support him in it and worship with and through her man.. If she sees the beauty of Christ in the character of her husband, she will find ’submission’ is no longer an appropriate word, because the union becomes Joyful sharing, not just a question of sticking it out and ‘putting up with it‘ for sixty odd years.

Yesterday Monica and I spent a day at the Greenbelt Christian Arts festival, our first visit for some 20 years. It was interesting and challenging, but all for the wrong reasons. For me it vindicated my choice of subjects to write about, but for the 20,000 or so Christians - particularly the young and vulnerable - I fear for them, for the teaching and propaganda they received over the 4 day event. Firstly, propaganda. Greenbelt has decided to target Israel, a decision made around 3 years ago, and to highlight the plight of the Palestinians living in Gaza. That's fair enough, if a balanced view is given and their views are presented sensitively in Christian love. They decided instead to go all-out, all-guns-blazing, with a sustained attack on Israel through every way possible - talks, exhibition displays, visual aids even drama. The following little drama greeted everyone entering the field on Sunday morning for a communion service ...



The person protesting was Monica. We saw no evidence of any other protests during our time there. Incidently, the communion service itself featured a short film - without any spiritual content - of testimonies inside Gaza. Politics in a communion service!

New book back from the printers and review copies have been sent out. Got following response from David Pawson (one of my heroes), a lot better than his response from my first draft, sent many moons ago.

This time he said: “I really enjoyed reading it. You are the master of epigrams, full of Jewish wit and humour, which I love. These keep you reading and make the whole interesting. It’s so important to add gravy to the meat and you are a good chef. I hope this book will reach those who need it most though I fear they will be irritated, if not infuriated, by your dismissal of so many of their heroes!”

Epigrams eh? Now where's my dictionary??!!!

THE WORD

Since making response to Nancy in her statement that there is ‘nothing wrong with the church’, I have downloaded and listened to Pastor Mark from Worthing Tabernacle (worthingtab.org.uk), whose Sermon yesterday dealt with seeking to understand the Hebrew mindset in going much deeper into The Word than is usually done on Sunday mornings in our churches. A truly helpful message for anyone who is genuine about getting serious with Almighty God. Just in case any guest to the site might imagine that somehow there has been a kind of ‘fix’ between Saltshakers website, Worthing Tabernacle (which I have referred to before) and myself - let me assure you - absolutely not. It has been quite an extraordinary, and in my mind totally God-given set of circumstances that has created the link which I hope will continue to grow in mutual understanding. I do not have their intellect or capability, for one thing I totally believe in the leadership of men and want to see far more men of all ages really moving in obedience to Our Father God now, but I do share with them a desire to bring Our Lord alive in the hearts and minds of us all - we have slept long enough.

Download, listen, Praise God for the teaching which is available to all, and enjoy the wonder of this amazing world and Our Almighty and Wondrous God.
God Bless

Mustard seed

At last I'm now free to wrap my mind around the next book - How The Church Lost The Life ... and how it can find it again. This is the book I've always wanted to write, but I'm having trouble getting started. The general theme is this:

"To understand the Hebraic mindset of Jesus and the first Apostles and to live your Christian life accordingly"

In this book, one thing I want to address is a list of things that, I think, are wrong with the modern church e.g. why so many denominations? Then I'm going to try and systematise them and pass them through a "Hebraic" filter. That's the general idea, anyway ... how I'm going to do this is going to have to be the result of much prayer!

Feedback would be apprecaited here ... what are your bugbears about today's Church? What are the main problems, do you think? Could do with some help here ...

“The Burden and Blessing of Revival” by Dr Jim Cairns
(free download available)
.
I look back again at the picture of the International Tower of Prayer, given to us by Steve recently, and to my earlier blog ‘Signs and Wonders’ pleading that we have our eyes opened to what God is saying to us today, wherever we may be, whatever our circumstances, whatever our background, whatever our difficulties, and I am prompted to do this having just listened to the weeks ‘Strongly Recommended Audio Sermon’ - given by Dr Alan Cairns from USA . Originally broadcast in 2001, at the beginning of the new millennium, and put forward this week as of some magnitude, I would be totally failing if I did not put it to Saltshakers in the form of a blog. Dr Cairns preaches powerfully and in the way of a true Irishman, like Dr Paisley, and the message cannot help but move all who have a real heart for Almighty God. Hard to take, if you don’t like this hellfire kind of powerful preaching, and are more used to the soft pedal ‘milk and water’ touch, all ‘happy clappy’ and of little substance, but I urge that it is heard through to the end.

TRUTH - Subjective or Absolute ?

This blog is simply copy of a letter submitted to the Daily Mail yesterday (Sunday) having read an item in their Saturday newspaper bearing the following heading : - Is No.10 preparing for the Archbishop of Canterbury to resign ?

Well the second book (How the Church lost The Truth) is with the printers now and I'm planning for a series of book launches on the following dates:

Friday September 10th : Tree of Life Fellowship, Ilford, Essex UK - 8pm
Sunday September 19th: Clayhall Baptist Church (as above) - 11am
Saturday September 24th: Reshet meeting, Leicester

More details will follow. Do you want me to speak at your Church / fellowship? I'm looking at planning an Autumn schedule and will even "cross the pond" to the good ol' USA if there's interest. Contact me at steve@saltshakers.com if this tickles you.

Watch this space in August for a series of short video blogs on the new book.

‘ KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL ! ‘

A little over forty years ago, when going through a very traumatic period in my life and not at all sure about what to do, I heard those words clearly in my ears - so clearly in fact that I can to this day remember looking round to see who had come into the room to say them - there was nobody there! I can remember shaking somewhat - for it was what I needed - even though there was inevitably going to be a long and hard haul ahead and I thought I was going out of my mind. Fanciful - some sceptics might say - no, it was utterly real, and it was a phrase that came into my mind this morning, suggesting I should set down a blog, having watched the England v Germany football match yesterday - for it is a phrase that this country of mine needs very much today.

Election Fever - UK

My response following interview with Peter Hain on Radio 4 this morning (Tuesday 4th May).

Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2010 9:23 AM
Subject: Today's interview on Radio 4

‘ Mr Hain, I listened to this and have to say I found something you said deeply offensive. This is not written on 'hearsay' - I actually heard you. It is this. You claimed that every decent, really caring person in this country should vote in effect, to keep out David Cameron and the Conservatives. By implication damning those of us who don't share your view, as uncaring. I am 82 yrs old, English born and love my country deeply, My family have fought for the values on which it was once built. I am also a deeply committed Christian, and have certainly not had life easy, but have worked hard all my life . Nor am I a feminist - far from it and I believe totally that leadership is male. I don't have money, although winning Scholarship to Grammar School at 10 yrs of age, my schooling ended during WW2 at 15 yrs, but the whole of life is the best education there is if we live with an open mind, and I hope that personally I go into this election with some wisdom . I loathe this constant talk of 'it's not fair.' Life isn't fair, which is precisely why Jesus Christ came to help us to grow in character and overcome the rubbish that is thrown at us by unregenerate mankind, learning to love one another as we should, which we have yet to achieve because of the total lack of real understanding of what Christianity is all about . We have experienced two PMs who have loved to quote Almighty God - Gordon Brown doing so (wrongly) only this week in a church - the other taking us into a totally unjust invasion of another country and amassing a fortune on the back of his previous Premiership , turning Catholic when he left office. Jesus, the Christ and greatest exponent of spiritual freedom and individual responsibility - must weep !!!