As we all know and have experienced, New Year’s resolutions don’t usually work out that well due to the ingrained weakness and habits of our human nature. However, as we prepare to plunge into a new year, let us remind ourselves that we as born-again, Spirit-filled Christians have access by faith to His higher power that can fundamentally and totally transform us and our world. Paul’s word, “if anyone in Christ, he is a new creation” can and should be a recurrent reality, not just at the moment of conversion but throughout our earthly existence. It is a reality that is to be daily, even moment by moment experienced by those who walk in the Spirit through a life of prayer.
Now, at one year minus 70 years of age, I can fully agree with the former Rt. Rev. John R. W. Stott, the much-esteemed British preacher, when he bravely admitted to us young seminary students: “I am continually repenting.” Whatever sins and failures are part of our past, we can repent of and be recreated in His image. Wow, there is nothing like the Gospel and its ability to continually reinvigorate and thus transform anyone who repents, turns away from sin to trust in that power from above that can make all things new.
Two poems by my old friend, Don McCurry, former missionary to Pakistan who at about 90 years of age now is a prime example of how the Lord can continually renew and empower a human being. To the admiration of many, he still itinerates globally, making Jesus known to Muslims and teaching Christians how to love and reach out to them. What an inspiration!
Don is also a gifted poet who penned the following two very touching poems and is graciously allowing me to share them with you. They capture the continual total cleansing and supernatural new life that flow to us from Jesus’ all-powerful sacrifice and His victorious resurrection. It is these two things freely given that are the real meaning of Christmas and that guarantee that 2017 can be a year of wondrous, joyous transformation for us and also our world.
I PRESS MY CHEEK AGAINST YOUR BLEEDING SIDE
I press my cheek against your bleeding side;
My sins I no longer want to hide.
Because of what I ‘ve done, You suffered so.
There is no other place I want to go.
At your feet I sit in grief and pain,
Saying Lord, “I never want to sin again.”
It was my sin that drove You to your death,
While You cried, “Forgive him,” with your dying breath.
In sorrow and shame I sit and weep:
My heart breaks before love so deep.
“Now you are clean through my life I’ve given,
Washed by the blood from my side riven.”
Words fail – my tears are all I can provide,
As I press my cheek against your bleeding side.
Mary
Forlorn, standing there in the morning gloom;
My heart breaking besides the empty tomb.
Blinded by tears, I could not see
Christ standing there from death now free.
Supposing Him to be the garden care-taker,
I did not recognize the Lord, my Maker.
With the veil of grief covering my eyes,
I asked him to tell me where the body lies.
Then He spoke my name that glorious morn;
My heart awakened with hope reborn.
Joy filled me soul as I fell at his feet
To worship the one who death did defeat.
He would not let me hold him there;
For He had others under his care.
“Run and tell them I’m alive again;
Now they are free new life to begin.”
Listen to Him, friend, calling you by name;
From the Father for you He came.
Death, sin and Satan are defeated now;
Come to the Savior, before Him bow.
Let’s go with Him, the Lord of life and new beginnings, full of confidence and expectation as to what He can and will do through our prayers and actions this New Year!
250 million downloads of Bible app
The free YouVersion Bible App, which lets the user read, watch, listen, and share the Word of God, has reached 250 million downloads. ‘We are humbled by how many people use the Bible App on a regular basis,’ stated Rev Bobby Gruenewald, who devised it. ‘When we made the Bible available as an app, we never imagined how much it would revolutionise the way people engage with Scripture.’ Statistics estimated that 13 billion Bible chapters have been read and listened to, and there are more than one billion highlighted bookmarks. The most popular verse of 2016 is Romans 8:28: ’And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.’
Belfast Cathedral’s ‘Black Santa’
Back in 1976, concerned at the emphasis being placed on necessary and costly building programmes at Belfast Cathedral, Dean Crooks decided to stand in front of the cathedral with a small barrel for donations to charitable causes. Dressed in the familiar black Anglican clerical cloak, Dean Crooks ‘sat out’ each day of the week before Christmas and began the tradition of deans sitting out for charities. The local press described him as ‘Belfast's Black Santa’, and the description struck a lasting chord with the public. His successor, Dean Jack Shearer, involved members of the Cathedral Chapter in the ‘sit-out’. The event has continued to develop; the current Dean, John Mann, is ‘sitting out’ this week to collect money for local charities, with a proportion going to Christian Aid.
Friday Focus
The World Prayer Centre, in partnership with HOPE and the Prayer Magazine, invites you to join in with Friday Focus prayer every week,starting on Friday 6 January 2017. Friday Focus 2017 provides the opportunity for us to pray where we are and unite across our nations, supporting all ongoing mission and preparing the way for future mission. HOPE’s aim is to see the entire Church mobilised during 2018 to make Jesus known. Each week Friday Focus will take a different theme: supporting national initiatives of prayer and mission; key seasons in the church’s calendar; different people-groups highlighted in the Talking Jesus report; and prompting us to pray for those we know and meet and the communities we are part of. Will you join us in seeking our Father for His ways?
A pro-Israel prime minister
Let us give thanks that Prime Minister Theresa May has made no bones about the fact that she is a keen supporter and ally of Israel, which she called ‘a remarkable country’. In a firm speech to the Conservative Friends of Israel, our Prime Minister described Israel as ‘a beacon of tolerance, an engine of enterprise, a thriving democracy, and an example to the rest of the world for overcoming adversity and defying disadvantages.’ She talked about the shared values and positive relationship between Israel and Britain, emphasising her hopes for an even stronger friendship between the two countries post-Brexit. Crucially, in the face of parliamentary and civic attempts to derail the 2017 Balfour Centenary celebrations and force Britain to apologise for her role in creating the Jewish homeland, the PM staunchly defended the document as ‘one of the most important letters in history, which demonstrates Britain's vital role in creating a homeland for the Jewish people.’
Seasonal potential threats
The threat of a terrorist attack in the British Isles remains high, and more police have been deployed in sensitive areas after the Berlin truck massacre. Many of us are boarding planes and ferries to visit family and friends, shopping, and singing carols in prominent places - all soft terror targets. Please pray for God’s protection over all ‘gateways’ into this country: airports and aircraft, cruise liners, ferries and ports; railway stations and peak train journeys; motorways and tunnels (especially the Eurotunnel); places where large crowds gather such as sport stadiums, shopping centres, Christmas markets, theatres and concert halls; schools and colleges; and all churches. We can pray for God’s plans for peace, mercy and hope to blot out every plan and purpose of terror, death or destruction. May the British Isles be safe under God’s authority and canopy of prayer over Christmas and into 2017. See also
Prince Harry 'wants to make a difference'
In a TV programme broadcast last Monday Prince Harry said it was ‘fun to be good and boring to be bad’. And ‘If you're me, if you're your Average Joe, whoever you are, if you can't affect politics and change the big things in the world, then just do whatever you can do. Whether it's in your local community, your village, your local church, walking down the street, opening a door for an old lady, helping them cross the road. Whatever it is, just do good. Why wouldn't you?’ Prince Harry said he no longer struggles with his royal role and wants to ‘make something’ of his life. He made these comments while speaking in a documentary about his charity work in Lesotho.
‘But there was no room for them at the inn’
This Christmas please pray for those sleeping rough or in temporary B&B accommodation, and ask God to work through society to bring about more housing and adequate places for the vulnerable to settle into. Pray for the unemployed, and especially for homeless and vulnerable people selling the ‘Big Issue’ magazine on street corners. One vendor said, ‘It’s great when people stop and say hello, it’s nice to feel part of the community and feel that people actually care.’ May God’s mercy flow so that they will soon be housed adequately in a place they can call their own. Give thanks for the many churches and charities providing shelter, warmth and food for ‘rough sleepers’ over the winter; pray God’s blessing on everyone involved, and for the provision of every resource they need.