Wednesday, November 18, 2009



The Cherry Tree in our Front Garden has lost nearly all it's leaves.

In Christ alone my hope is found;
he is my light, my strength, my song.
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I'll stand.
+
In Christ alone - who took on flesh,
fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
scorned by the ones he came to save,
till on that cross as Jesus died
the wrath of God was satisfied -
for every sin on him was laid:
here in the death of Christ I live.
+
There in the ground his body lay:
Light of the world by darkness slain.
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
up from the grave he rose again!
And as he stands in victory,
sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
for I am his and he is mine -
bought with the precious blood of Christ.
+
No guilt in life, no fear in death;
this is the power of Christ in me;
from life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of Hell, no scheme of man
can ever pluck me from his hand:
till he returns or calls me home,
here in the power of Christ I'll stand!

Yesterday's developments at The Shard!

Monday, November 09, 2009

"YOU SWEEP THEM AWAY AS WITH A FLOOD; THEY ARE LIKE A DREAM."

Twenty years ago today the Berlin Wall was breached signalling the end of the Communist experiment in Europe. Within a few years the Soviet Union folded up and the world seemed destined for a unipolar future. Some even speculated that with the apparent triumph of Liberal - Capitalist- Democracy history itself had reached some sort of definitive conclusion.

Growing up in the 60's and 70's the mighty USSR seemed to be a monolithic power structure which would certainly outlast me - how wrong I was. As ludicrous as it seems now the Soviet Union and its empire seemed an unassailable fact of life and some of my contemporaries even saw it, on balance, as a force for good!

Psalm 90 seems apt;
"You return man to dust
and say, "Return, o children of man!"
For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night."

It would be a bad mistake to put our trust in Mankind - whatever the political or economic ideology. The lesson of history is not the triumph of capitalism or democracy but the fragility of all that Man constructs and the hubris which asserts its ascendancy. Only God is "from everlasting to everlasting" and security is only found in Him! "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations". Amen.

11th November 2009. A Wonderful Addendum!
I would like to add this additional comment: God sweeps aside these pretentions of Mankind - these mighty empires come for a season and wither; they are utterly insignificant to God. But in case we are tempted to feel that our individual lives have even less significance 2 Peter 3v8 relecting on Psalm 90 says this, "with the Lord one day is as a thousand years...." Nothing is insignificant to the Lord - He has all the time in the world for you!