There are defining moments in history and in a person’s life, that point at which the essential nature or character of a person is revealed or identified or shaped. There are moments in life which seem especially significant or important, decisions which are made which can change the course of our lives or, depending on the person’s influence, which can shape history.

This week has seen the death of Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister in the UK from 1979 to 1990. I cannot change the fact that I grew up during the ‘Thatcher years’, years when this woman had significant influence in the area in which I lived for the majority of those years, years which changed the nature of the local area and which were incredibly defining for the place and people among whom I still live. As I have listened to political comment over the past few days, it is clear that she was loved and hated in equal measures and obviously left a political legacy which will be written about in the history books for years to come. (It’s always strange to me to think that I am now hearing about events in my life as historical markers, which is beginning to make me feel very old!)

Nonetheless, I am constantly reminded that we are not necessarily defined by the conditions or circumstances in which we live. These have enormous influence over us. The ‘nature vs nurture’ debate of sociology obviously does have a good deal of impact on the people we become. But as I have been meditating on the life of David – who lived among the Philistine culture for a good part of his life – and on the life of Jesus – who lived among Roman and Greek influence and yet who could never have been said to have been dominated by these cultures – I have begun to see that the kingdom of God is about more than being shaped by the culture and conditions all around us, however pervasive or dominant these may be.

The defining moment of my life occurred in October 1983, in the middle of Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister. That moment has nothing whatsoever to do with the political climate of the time. The defining moment which shaped the essential nature of my life occurred when I surrendered to Jesus for the first time and understood that His death on the cross was sufficient to atone for my sins and allow me to become a child of God. His influence on me became the defining essence of who I am.

We don’t ‘escape’ the influences of the world around us necessarily and have to be careful not to be moulded or shaped by the culture we live in. Paul tells the Romans: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom 12:2) In the Message version, we read: “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

God becomes our defining moment, the point at which we are changed from the inside out. Our values, thought patterns and actions are influenced and shaped by all we learn of Him and from Him. We will always, like Margaret Thatcher, have a date of birth and a date of death that are historical points which will tell future historians something about the times in which we lived. But when we think of great heroes of the faith, it’s not the historical circumstances they lived in which define them. It is the power of God working in their lives, often to transform the cultures, which impress us. Think of William Wilberforce influencing the prevalent culture of slavery, or Hudson-Taylor, shaping the religious life of China, or Mother Teresa, working to help the poor in India. These people lived in historical circumstances which did not define them. The power of God in their lives and their obedience to the call of God were the things we remember nowadays.

Let’s allow God to be the only One who defines us and let’s understand that what He can achieve through surrendered hearts is greater than we can possibly imagine – so great that it really can leave His impression on our culture and on history.

Aaron Shust, one of my favourite Christian artists, is set to release a new album (‘Morning Rises’) this July, an event I was already eagerly anticipating even before the release of this video of one of the tracks thereon!

The God of brilliant lights is shining down over us.
Breaking through the darkness, covering all the earth.
His love is like an ocean,
Forever overflowing,
The God of brilliant lights is shining over us. (‘God of Brilliant Lights’, Aaron Shust)
‘God of Brilliant Lights’, Aaron Shust

story behind the song

I’m just glad Garry has a birthday in July!

Last night Mark reminded us that God’s motivation for all He does is love. He also said that the thing God does best is love! So often, we value things differently, looking for manifestations of power that seem ‘remarkable’ to us (speaking in tongues, prophesying, gifts of healing, words of wisdom etc.) and scorning the everyday expressions of love. Yes, as he reminded us, it is love that is eternal, not the ‘remarkable’ things we value so much.

Ultimately, John tells us that ‘we love because He first loved us.’ (1 John 4:19) He tells us that God’s love was manifested through practical action: ‘This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.’ (1 John 4:9) Love was seen through Christ’s sacrifice for us and through the Father’s generosity in giving us His Spiri. (1 John 4:10, 13)

Jeremy Camp sings about this love in the song ‘The Way You Love Me’, rightly identifying God’s love to us as the motivation behind our love, the impetus to reach out and show others God’s love. Nothing less than our abandonment to God and our willingness to be used by Him can fully express our gratitude for His love for us.

We learn to love one another
Through the love of the Father
Who gave a righteous King…

I will reach
I will touch
Give myself
The way You love me
The way You love me (‘The Way You Love Me’, Jeremy Camp)
‘The Way You Love Me’, Jeremy Camp

Mark spoke from 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 at the family service on the theme of Faith, Hope & Love.

At Easter we think especially about all that God has done for us to allow us to become His children, the motivation for which is His love (see John 3:16). God is love (1 John 4:7-11); the motivation for everything He does is love, because love is the essence of His nature and the thing He does best!

Paul talks about love being the ‘more excellent way’. 1 Cor 12 has looked at the gifts of the Spirit and Paul urges us to desire these things (and as a Pentecostal church, we do indeed long to see the gifts of the Spirit manifested in our lives and meetings.) Nonetheless, unless these gifts are motivated by and operated in love, they are useless. The gifts are essential to healthy church life, but they are for this present age, whereas love is eternal.

1 Cor 13 gives us the true definition of love: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Cor 13:4-7) True love is hard and requires commitment and effort on our part. The eternal qualities of love are contrasted with the temporal qualities of the spiritual gifts. Faith will give way to sight; hope will give way to reality; but love will always remain. Love never fails.

Last night’s family service was on the theme ‘Faith, Hope, Love’.

We had a birthday to celebrate:

We had a treasure hunt which Stephen had faith we would do well and hoped we would enjoy it – and certainly everyone loved the prizes!

Explaining the game


Giving out clues


Team work


One of the tasks was arranging ourselves in height order

There were prize to be won!

God is eternal (see Genesis 21:33 & Deuteronomy 33:27) – everlasting, going on for ever, without beginning or end.

Because God is eternal, He talks about other things that are eternal: perhaps more often than anything else, the notion of eternal life which He is able to give to us (see John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”).

Some of the other things mentioned in the Bible that are eternal are:
• Eternal pleasures (“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Ps 16:11)
• His eternal word (“Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” Ps 119:89)
• Eternal laws (“all your righteous laws are eternal” Ps 119:160)
• Eternal kingdom (“His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.” Daniel 4:3)
• Eternal power (“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen” Rom 1:20)
• Eternal purposes (“according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” Eph 3:11)
• Eternal salvation (Jesus “became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” Hebrews 5:9)
• Eternal redemption (Jesus “entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:12)
• Eternal glory (“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Cor 4:18)
• Eternal inheritance (“Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.” Hebrews 9:15)
• An eternal covenant (mentioned in Hebrews 13:20)
• An eternal house (“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” 2 Cor 5:1)

And some things we would perhaps rather not think about which are eternal:
• Eternal fire (“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.” Matthew 18:8)
• Eternal punishment (“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:46)