Christian Charity World - The Prodigal Son

Welcome to Christian Charity World as we look at the story of the prodigal son.

Luke 15:11-32. The Prodigal Son

A couple of years ago I was with my wife and two boys at Camber Sands. We had pitched ourselves in the dunes on a hot, sunny, Sunday afternoon. As we were enjoying our relaxation we became aware of some children searching for something. They had lost their five year old brother. These children were obviously extremely concerned and worried and the parents were frantic. The police had been called to help find the missing boy and we joined in the hunt as well. I could only imagine the despair of the mother and father as I thought of how I'd be feeling if it was one of my two boys that had disappeared. Fortunately the story had a happy ending as one of the lifeguards on the beach spotted him.

As parents we know that we would do anything to protect our loved ones and if one of them strayed from the fold we would not rest until that child had been found. This is motherly and fatherly love; the bond that forms between parent and child. The very thought that our son or daughter is lost and they would be suffering either emotionally, physically or both, meters out such anguish and pain to a parent.

In The Story of The Prodigal Son the father despairs as his younger son takes off with his inheritance and squanders it on wild living. His son has lost his way and followed the wrong path in life. Eventually he sees the errors of his ways when all had run out. He seeks the forgiveness of his father and is truly repentant; to the point of being prepared to be one of his fathers slaves. The younger son had been humbled. Yet when his father saw his son he was overcome with joy and great celebrations took place. At first the older son could not understand his father's joy and celebration. The senior son had worked hard for his father and had never strayed. Why had a fattened calf been killed in his brother's honour?

The father explained. His son was lost and now he is found. I'm sure that every parent who reads this could understand that. We all can see how feelings of both relief and jubilation would fill our hearts if one of our own was lost and then was found.

The purpose of this parable is to make us understand how God feels when we have been treading along the wrong path and are lost. We are his children and when we are lost He is desperate for us to be found again. When we realise that the road we are on is using up all our inheritance and we humbly seek God's forgiveness, He is as jubilant as any parent who has lost a child and found them again. By turning back and following Our Father makes Him extremely happy; just like the father with the return of his prodigal son. And when we decide to follow His way we can rejoice in the security that comes from knowing Him through Christ and we can rest in His shadow.

How fantastic is that?

Mary's Tale

Welcome to Christian Charity World as we look at Mary's Tale.

Luke 1: 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”

Imagine what must have been going through Mary's mind when she was told that she would be with child despite the fact that she was a virgin. In those days girls who became pregnant out of wedlock could be stoned. It was totally frowned upon to be impregnated by any man other than the husband. And who would believe her.

" The Holy Spirit came upon you and put you in the family way? Yeh right!!"

And yet when the angel Gabriel stood before her as The Messenger from God she had the immense courage to say "OK". In Luke 1 she says

"I am the Lord's servant, may it be to me as you have said."

We can see in Mary's Tale, in her story, that she must have been extremely fearful of what the world would think of her; what the world would do to her. Yet she took on the role of being the mother to the Messiah with complete faith in God. She believed without a shadow of doubt that she was doing as God wanted.

It is probably fair to say that in the Western World, as Christians we have it relatively comfortable. Yes we have ridicule occasionally from those who really just don't "get it" but do we really suffer the backlash that Mary could possibly have received. It seems much harder to be a Christian in other areas of the world where religious conflict exists. Where Christianity is a minor religion Christians can suffer horrendous persecution; violence, attacks on their homes, imprisonment, even death. Again in our world of relative comfort it is hard to picture life under these extremes. Would our faith survive the test?

This isn't to trivialise the hardships and pressures of Christians in countries with religious freedooms. The worries of paying bills, keeping a roof over the heads of our loved ones can still weigh us down. God still tests our faith. But we must remain strong in our trust in God. It is amazing that we can off load our burdens onto God and He can sort them out for us. We can rest in His shadow if we just ask Him to.

God will only test our faith to the point that He knows we can take it. He won't try to break us. So for those who have always had life easy, never really had to face the downs in life, perhaps God hasn't felt that their faith is strong enough.

In Mary's Tale we can see that her strength of faith was tested and she was equal to it; which of course God knew it would. Which is just as well as the whole course of history would have changed and you and I wouldn't be experiencing the joy of being saved by our Saviour Jesus Christ.

How fantastic is that?

The Christmas Story

Welcome to Christian Charity World as we look at The Christmas Story.

"Luke 2: 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

A couple of years ago I rember talking to a good friend at a church service the Sunday after Christmas. I'd asked him if he'd had a good Christmas. He answered, "Yes, but I get extremely sad when people try to destroy The Christmas Story. It is such a beautiful story so why do people want to analyse and disect it so much?"

He'd obviously dwelt upon this point over the festive period and had somewhat dampened his spirits. I can understand his sorrow. Whether it be aetheists or historians, there seems to be a body of people that are bent on discrediting The Story. We can be told that Jesus wasn't born on the 25th December and this date has been hijacked from a pagan festival. It is said that it actually took The 3 Wise Men two years to find the baby Jesus so was unlikely to be found in the stable at that point.

Despite attempts to place doubt on The Christmas Story, whatever so called facts emerge, we are still left with the one undisputable fact, that Christ was born. What ever date he was born, he did arrive, and he came as our saviour. From my understanding, this has never been disproved.

Astrologers have declared that at the time of Jesus's birth, certain stars and heavenly bodies had moved into alignment such that a bright star appeared. Facts like this are giving credence to The Christmas Story rather than discrediting it and it also shows that God is in control as the prophocies of scripture unfold.

I wonder, as various people try to place falsehood on the birth of Christ whether these same people still join in the festivities. Do aetheists eat turkey and brussel sprouts, drink wine and offer presents? If so, isn't this a bit hypocritical?

Fortunately we know differently. Jesus came to this earth, born of a virgin and laid in a manger, in a stable. He came to be our king and to save us from our sins, to give us hope and a new life.

How fantastic is that?

Manger Trail

Welcome to Christian Charity World in this Season of Advent

Luke 2: 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

I know I’m not the first to feel that the true meaning of Christmas gets left out of many people’s celebrations. How many people do we know that quite happily eat, drink and be merry without giving a thought to the birth of a baby in a stable some 2011 years ago and laying its head down in a manger. Sometimes it is nice to remind others exactly what they are celebrating.

Certainly when we watch our little one’s portray the nativity scene this gives us a good nudge in the right direction, but last weekend I was extremely fortunate to be involved in our town’s Manger Trail. For those who are unaware of the nature of a Manger Trail, it takes children (and adults if they so wish) through various scenes of the nativity as they search for the baby Jesus. Within these scenes actors act out the various roles and try to make it interactive for the children. Our town’s Manger Trail started with an actress dressed up as a Christmas decoration acting very confused as to why she came out every year. She then took the group of children on a journey via scenes of wise men, King Herod, shepherds, Roman centurion, innkeeper and finally the stable where baby Jesus was found before heading off for donkey rides. In the process the children had to find the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh and answer silly riddles from King Herod helping the children to take in the story whilst having fun at the same time.

A project such as this takes a lot of organising and being as this is the first time that a Manger Trail had been produced in the town the organizers were really unsure as to how successful this would be. Indeed, they were only aware of one other having been held in the country, so felt they were nervous trailblazers. Fortunately within the town there is a very strong Churches Together movement and it was marvellous how a combined effort spectacularly brought things together.

However, people were still wary of how many visitors would come through the doors. As the opening time drew closer the nerves set in. Yet as the doors were unlocked it was truly amazing how many children with their parents came flooding in. It was constant from start to end.

There was no entrance fee, just a suggested donation. The whole idea was to spread the Christmas message to as many children as possible, not to make it a money spinning venture. This wasn’t a professional production, just Christians working voluntarily together to help others understand the true meaning of Christmas. Everybody that took part were enthused by the experience and not one bad word was uttered.

It just goes to show that when God’s work is done with Him in mind and faith to shore it all up, God will come good every time.

How fantastic is that? 

Terry Norrington

http://www.cryinthedark.com/

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So Are We A Church?

Hebrews 10:25
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

When teaching on the subject of self growth and positive thinking many Life Coaches advocate the idea of only mixing with positive thinking people. They encourage you to socialise with the successful and avoid those who express any negative views or thoughts. Looking from the human perspective it does make sense. Being immersed in an environment where success is the only way to think will undoubtedly rub off in the end. One would no doubt start thinking in a successful and positive way.

So am I advocating that we should only mix with successful, positive thinking people?

No, not at all. I was thinking more about associating with Christians. Should we only mix with like minded people; those who follow Christ and and those have similar views on life as ourselves?

Well I answer this very ambiguously by saying Yes and No. I'll explain the "no" bit first of all. Our saviour Jesus Christ didn't continuously surround himself with believers. He mixed with sinners. He had a message to preach, souls to save. By surrounding himself with the people who got the message, those who knew and believed in all he said meant that he would not be spreading the word. He needed to address the non believers, the sinners in order to help save more souls.

Likewise we are called to witness. We are called to spread "The Gospel", the good news. This isn't going to happen if we preach to the converted. We need to engage those who don't believe, those who don't understand if we are going to fulfill our calling.

Now to answer the "yes" part of me sitting on the fence. I think it is very important that we also mix with fellow Christians and that word "fellow" means we create fellowship. If we go back to our group of success thinking people we recognise that their way of thinking rubs off on each other; they encourage each other. Likewise, being amongst other Christians our positive thoughts on life, our faith and testimonies encourages each other as we continue to experience our Christian adventures, journey on our Christian path through life. When we pray together our prayers can be so much more effective if we pray as a group.

And people coming together in the name of Christ is a church. A church isn't about the bricks and mortar that makes up the building; it's about the people. In countries where Christians are persecuted people come together in the name of Christ in secret, behind closed doors. This constitutes a church every much as the ones that we attend on Sunday mornings. I attend a wonderful bible study group that totals just seven people but we have some lively and encouraging discussions mixed with prayer and worship and I see this group as part of my church also.

So as Christians we have the opportunity of weaving a wonderful tapestry as we envelope ourselves with the good and the bad, the wealthy and the needy.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

http://www.christian-charity-world.com/

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http://www.cryinthedark.org/

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Welcome to Thoughts at Christian Charity World.

Matthew 6:25-27 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Hands up all those who have complete, utter and absolute faith in God?

Can we really say that in our most dire and stress ladened moments that we don't worry or panic because we put all our trust in The Lord?

I've heard it said recently that worrying is not scriptural. I also read that to worry or be anxious is a sin. And yet it is very human to worry. Particularly in this economically burdensome times it is extremely difficult not to fret over where the next penny is coming from, how to keep the family clothed and fed. Yet the scriptures have many wonderful verses to dwell on in times of trouble. When the chips are down we can turn to the bible for help and inspiration.

From the moment I rediscovered my Christian adventure, it took another eight years before I actually understood what faith is truly about. It was my first real involvement with a Christian charity that opened my eyes to the meaning of faith, a trust in God and the power of prayer. Seeing how this charity had started with nothing; no money, no assets, just an amazing faith in God to help build a wonderful orphanage in Romania, is an incredible testimony to a belief that God will provide. And now seeing the fantastic work of many Christian charities as they do God's work with limited resources yet achieving such amazing results, strengthens my faith in God.

Let me give you some thoughtful Christian quotes about worry:

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.- Corrie Ten Boom

Knowing that God is faithful, it really helps me to not be captivated by worry. But knowing that He will do what He has said, He will cause it to happen, whatever He has promised, and then it causes me to be less involved in worrying about a situation.- Josh McDowell

Worry is the sin of distrusting the promise and providence of God, and yet it is a sin that Christians commit perhaps more frequently than any other.- John MacArthur

　

When we worry we ultimately concentrate on the problem. What we need to do is focus on the solution. If we pray to God we can then let go of the problem and allow God to come up with the answers. We can rest knowing that God will look after us if we positively believe he will.

　

How many times have we prayed to God for an answer when all else fails?

　

God ends up being the last port of call when really he should be the first. Our strength in a crisis doesn't come from our own making, it comes from God, and we should do well to remember that and give thanks and praise to him for it.

　

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

http://www.cryinthedark.org/

http://www.christian-charity-world.com/

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Delight in Doing The Lord's Work

(Psalms 40:8) I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart."

I recently attended the 50th birthday party of an old school friend (kind of gives away my age). It was a great evening and naturally at the end of the evening he gave a little speech. In this speech he imagined himself having a conversation with a stranger in a cafe. It went something like this.

Stranger: How many children do you have?

Friend: I have six.

Stranger: Wow, and where do you live?

Friend: Oh I live in a good part of town. I live in a five bedroom house and we overlook the neighbours swimming pool.

Stranger: And you have cars?

Friend: Yes my family have two cars.

Stranger: And your children, which school do they go to?

Friend: They go to a private school.

Stranger: Fantastic, and where do you go on holiday?

Friend: The last few holidays have been spent on the beach in Thailand.

Stranger: I'm so in awe of you. You must be extremely rich?

Friend: No my family and I haven't got a penny to our name.

When you look at the detail, my old school friend's lifestyle isn't quite as it seems. Yes having been married 18 years he and his wife have been blessed with six wonderful children.

The house they live in is owned by one of the organisations that he works for.

He does have two cars but he confesses that to call one of them "a car" is flattering said vehicle. The other acts purely as a family run-around.

The private education for the children comes courtesy of part time work he does for the school.

And the holiday? Well that is the give-away. He has spent the last eleven years in Thailand doing mission work. You see for the past twenty five years he and his wife have been doing God's work. His mission work has taken him to many countries visiting the poor, the sick and the vulnerable and he has spread the Word of the Lord where-ever he's gone.

He counts his blessings. He can see that the Lord has provided him with a wonderful life but he has willingly given his life to doing God's work. His faithfullness has been rewarded.

My old school friend may not have "net worth" but he has much more than that. He has the love of God, the love of a wonderful family and the love of some great friends.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

http://www.christian-charity-world.com/

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http://www.cryinthedark.org/