The Words of Christ on the Cross 2

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46 ESV)


If ever there was a cry of desolation, here it is. We are all familiar with the experience of God seeming to be distant, or unavailable. Our hardened hearts make it easy for us to exist without knowing His presence. But for Jesus this was different. Here was the Word who was with God in the beginning. He had always known fellowship with his Father. He could pray: "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me” (John 11:41-42 ESV). Nothing could break this fellowship, because Jesus is the Beloved, in whom the Father is well pleased.

The Words of Christ on the Cross

One of the many things on which Christians have been meditating over Easter are the words which Christ spoke when he was dying. The last words of anyone are considered to be important, especially when they are coherent. and not suppressed by the palliative drugs which are administered these days. Therefore the words of one whose life and death have affected this world more than any other living being are surely worth considering.


The Bible records seven sayings, and they are all pointers to what Jesus intended to be and do here in this world. Volumes could be written about each saying, but here are some openings to get people thinking.

Free Grace - Costly Grace 3

When we talk about a Christianity which calls us to sacrifice, we are always in danger of falling into the legalistic trap. We begin to believe that “If I don’t do certain things then I can’t possibly have received grace.” So our faith descends into a set of rules. The only antidote to this is to make our whole lives a matter of making Christ our treasure.

Free Grace - Costly Grace (2)

Did I say that true grace is costly? It is only relatively so.

When the world looks upon the followers of Jesus it says that He asks too much. He asked the wealthy young man to sell all his possessions, give them to the poor and follow him. (Mathew 19:16 – 21) He called his disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. (Mathew 16:24) Peter, the apostle who was to lead the first church according to tradition was crucified; James was beheaded; John was exiled to the island of Patmos for years; Paul was spurned by his own nation, underwent numerous beatings and floggings, imprisonments and trials before being executed.

Free Grace - Costly Grace

Grace is one of my favourite words. It is a word which gives me hope, and tells me of a loving Father in heaven who, despite my horrible rebellion against Him, has taken me to be his own.

0 - 60 Eventually

I don’t know whether you take any notice of car stickers – they can be amusing enough at times – “Midwives help people out” was one which made me smile; “Mother-in-law in boot” was another.

One which I haven’t seen for a while, but which used to be seen fairly regularly on old bangers was “0 to 60 eventually!” Of course, no self-respecting young driver would have such a sticker on his car. But it seems to me that this may be something of a motto which I would take for my own desires now – not with reference to my VW golf which I drive, but to my Christian life.

Journey to Riga 5

Sunday in Riga was an opportunity for me to preach in the Riga Baptist Mission Church where the conference had been for the past three days. The Pastor, Petr Samoylich,(seen in the picture below)was born in the Ukraine, but had been in the US, where he had built up a successful property development business before coming to Latvia to help the church. This is an old church, dating back to pre communist days. During the communist era the building had been commandeered by the authorities, but after independence came in 1991 it was returned to the church.

Journey to Riga 4

God is to be worshipped. Our great privilege is to be the worshippers that the Father seeks, and Romans 12:1 tells us that all of the Christian’s life is to be lived as telling forth the glory of God. Worship is not confined to the time we gather together as God’s people in church. However there is such a thing as corporate worship, when we focus our attention together on the One in whom we live, move and have our being.

Journey to Riga 3

There were many things which moved me in Latvia, making me think, pray and worship.
The country itself is amongst the most seriously affected by the world financial crisis. Many of the banks had allowed borrowers to take huge loans with no security, and when the crunch came with unemployment soaring, many have found themselves unable to repay their debts. Some therefore travel abroad to seek work (The population is decreasing dramatically). Others sink under the pressure. The suicide rate is the second highest in the world (with a large number of these among those from 50 years old upwards). Alcoholism is an enormous problem, as is corruption in both Government and Business circles. This combined with the long history of a country ruled by others makes for a people with a great lack of self-esteem.

Journey to Riga 2

The conference which we were attending in Riga was called Mission Days and was organised by Bridge Builders International. This is an organisation begun by a Latvian American, Charles David Kelley. Chuck, as he is called by all who know him here, was brought up in the USA. His grandfather was a Latvian who had fled the country with his family towards the end of the second World War, eventually reaching America. Chuck himself was born in the US, and pastored baptist churches in Corvallis for twenty years before giving himself to the vision of building bridges for the gospel to and from Latvia.
(A fuller account can be found in “Surprised By The Father’s Plan” by Charles David Kelley with Kristen Zetzsche)

Journey to Riga

This blog has been silent for some months. There are many reasons, but I’m not going to try to justify this silence. I’ve wanted to write more, but wanting is not the same as doing. I just didn’t get round to it!But following this last weekend, here is an attempt at writing again.

Anyone who knows me realises that I have an interest in the church in former Communist countries. Whilst Communism was the ruling power in Eastern Europe I visited Christians in Prague to encourage and learn. Following the collapse of communism I have always been glad of the opportunity to visit churches in Eastern Europe, again to encourage and learn, but also to be encouraged as I see how God has answered those prayers of over thirty five years ago. So when I was invited to accompany Lindsay Brown to a conference in Latvia I was happy to accept, and to see what was happening there.

The conference we were attending was called MISSION DAYS, and brought Christians from both the student world and churches in the country together to consider the call to mission. Lindsay (former General Secretary of IFES) was asked to give five talks on Mission, and there were opportunities for seminars, Bible studies and much fellowship.

There are a number of things which I hope will be helpful for me to share, and I trust will both encourage us, inform our prayers, and will compel us forward in obedience to the great commission.

Firstly, some general points.
We are all encouraged when God answers prayer. However we in the West tend to be a bit impatient. Our prayers are often general and vague, and we often miss what God is doing. When I think back to the mid-seventies when I became a Christian, we were challenged often to pray for Christians in Eastern Europe who suffered under communist regimes. Open Doors, Friedenstimme, and other societies encouraged us with exciting stories, but there was much suffering at that time. I don’t know whether over the years we have forgotten those prayers. But God has not forgotten, and He is still answering them. Seeing this is a sure aid, both in our own faith and worship, and in our commitment to the Gospel. Having an old woman with a wizened face come and embrace me, thanking me for our prayers was both a humbling and motivating experience.

Secondly, Latvia is a country which has suffered much over the years, and since the year 1300 has known almost constant domination by other nations. There is something in the Latvian psyche which corresponds very much with the Welsh inferiority complex, built over years of domination by another culture. There is an affinity which makes it particularly easy to minister to them.

Thirdly, it is a very needy country. Economically it is one of the worst hit in the recent economic crisis. The hopelessness, especially among the middle aged, has led to the country having the second highest suicide rate in the world. The young are leaving the country in droves, and the population is decreasing. There is much corruption in government and business.

Fourthly, the churches there are encouraged in many ways, but the workers are few. Many are missionaries who have come from other countries. The dominant church would be the Lutheran church. But liberalism has left its’ mark on much of the church. However there are good things happening in many Lutheran churches. There are also Baptist and Pentecostal churches which are growing. There are gifted young men and women who can be trained, and it was a joy to meet some 250 of these people in the Mission Days Conference.
I will try to give a taste of the conference in the next couple of blogs