Marriage, ministry, Mutual responsibility

Lately there has been much discussion about women in ministry. Alongside of this has appeared wife abuse. This blog would like to take you along a path in relation to husband and wives in Christian ministry. When Adam was created God gave Eve to him to be the man’s help mate. There wasn’t any intention of competition or inferiority. God’s principle inherent in that relationship still exists and should be best expressed within the marriage of a minister and his wife. It is called 'one flesh.' That has no emphasis on rank but on oneness and finding each one's differences woven together for mutual strength and honour.  That is a challenge to both. How well do I release my wife to fulfil the Lord’s calling upon her life? Do I have any idea what her gifts and abilities may be? How well am I sustained and encouraged by my 'help-mate!'  

In 1 Corinthians 9:5 there is a snippet concerning the Apostle Peter. It regards to the unsung role of an apostle’s wife. The Apostle Paul wrote, ‘Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?’ Why would Peter have Mrs. ‘Peter’ accompany him on at least some of his ministry ventures? Once again the silence of Scripture intrigues and teases the imagination. The macho apostle in a male chauvinistic world was uninhibited and unashamed to have his wife by his side. What Peter wrote about wives and husbands in 1 Peter 3:1-7 was it out of personal experience. Could he have been showing appreciation of a ‘one flesh’ relationship within ministry? It must have motivated him (with her encouragement?) to see converts separated by their faith woo and win their spouses to the Lord. His advice is still relevant.

There is another couple within Scripture about whom we know a little more and yet not enough. Aquila and Priscilla stand out as a wonderful, faithful, energetic couple. Something which has aroused some commentary responses are the occasions when Priscilla is given precedence over her husband. Again we do not know much about their relationship or up-bringing. We do however gain insights about their team ministry. It wouldn’t be far from the mark to say they were comfortable with each other’s role. Neither would have felt threatened when the other was mentioned first in despatches. How different it has been with some others in the Christian ministry.

The male ego is often fragile while at the same time lapping up the ‘crumbs’ of public applause. Sometimes an immature personality is unsettled or jealous when his wife receives accolades for  exercising her gifts and abilities. The attitude of Diotrephes (3 John) can be rampant within the minister’s house as well as with a local congregation. Where, O where, is the beautiful Biblical incentive of ‘Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others’ Philippians 2:3, 4. In the context of a minister’s relationship with his wife and her expressions of ministry surely the same rule applies.

Proverbs 4:5-9 is about Wisdom. This information can be so easily applied by a minister to his wife. There is great benefit to him personally and therefore to his ministry in treating his wife as Proverbs explained Wisdom. The word ‘Wisdom’ has been change in the following passage to ‘wife.’ ‘Do not forsake your wife, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you… Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honour you. She will set a garland of grace on your head and present you with a crown of splendour.’ Such an outlook releases the wife to express her gifts and abilities with the husband’s encouragement and pride. The consequences of all this trust is to enrich her life and expands her love, respect and admiration for her man. The testimony of such a mutual ministry and relationship is a wonderful attraction and a strong challenge. 

When asked what has been my greatest asset in ministry I unhesitatingly reply, ‘My wife!’ Mary has been my help-mate in every area of my life and ministry. From a human perspective without her I could not have had our fulfilled and successful ministries. She has been God's gift to me!
Ray Hawkins August2017.

Why God is Deaf!

“Why doesn’t God (if there is a God) do something? The world is in a mess and He sits on His throne somewhere watching. Can’t He hear the cries of people in pain? Isn’t He unmoved by domestic abuse? When was the last time He ‘zapped’ someone for paedophilia? So people wave an accusative finger and hostile words towards Heaven.

However, could it be that the reverse is the actual fact? God has spoken! It is we (or many of us) who are deaf, or at best, we exercise selective hearing.

God as Creator has spoken to this world through His artistry in the sky. The hearing impaired claim it is a chance thing. Such an attitude puts ‘plugs’ in the ears of the soul when God has a word to say. What may that have been? Judgement in the form of a worldwide flood is coming. Self-indulgent perverted and violent relationships drowned out the warnings. It also made them ‘blind’ to an escape plan from the flood. Noah’s Ark was the Judge of the whole Worlds’ act of mercy. Only eight (8) grasped it, went into the ark and rode out the judgement.

Time after time the Lord God Almighty has spoken until (with respect) He lost His voice. He has spoken in sign language through the religious system of sacrifice in the Jewish worship. The sophisticated people of today would call it animal cruelty and fail to discern the significance of substitution and the penalty of death. Through specially selected men and women the Lord recorded His plans, pleasure, promises, punishment and power. It wasn’t illiteracy which prevented the words being read. It wasn’t then and isn’t now. The underlying reason for not at least perusing the Bible is so a person can claim innocent through ignorance. That hasn’t a chance of holding up before the Great White Throne of Judgement. Ignorance is fed by self-righteousness which sets its own rules and demotes what God has recorded as so out of date with today’s wisdom.

In one final ‘shout or scream’ the Father in Heaven summed up all He could say by commissioning His only Son Jesus to be the final Word! He spoke and people liked what He said, when it was served with bread and fish. When Jesus mentioned righteousness and truth, honouring the Father and caring for others selective hearing took over. Jesus became a bore to the hierarchy, a threat to the tyranny of Rome whilst the people became upset because He didn’t meet their expectations. So, they crucified Him. That was mean to stop the Voice of God. That was so they could still curse The Father in Heaven for being a ‘do nothing God.’ It backfired! God the Father’s voice in His Son Jesus became even louder. Three days after the crucifixion came the background music of an earthquake which has shaken the spiritually and morally deaf, the blind, the mute, the ignorant, ever since. “He is risen!” “He is Lord!” Hear Him!”

God has sounded out, spelt out, signed out His intentions. He has informed us now and once for all His offer of redemption, forgiveness, relationship behaviour and morality based upon His righteousness and word. Society, family and relationships are paying the price of thinking they know better. There is still an opportunity to change for the better. That requires an openness of the ear, the heart, the mind and the will to know and do what God has already said. Not to heed His word is to invite into our realms moral confusion, the tyranny of the perverse and the desperation of the hopeless. God has spoken to us! His final word is summed up in the Christ of Calvary. Hear ye Him!

Ray Hawkins July 23rd 2017.

Assassins of Christmas

They hide behind legal jargon with godless intent. Once they were covert in their opposition to Christian festivals, now they are running rampant. Those would be Assassins of Christmas are part of a wide spread movement which seems to have hit the news lately.

Some in authority want to call Christmas holiday season or festival of lights. One Government official didn’t want the Christmas tree called by that term. Banning Nativity plays and Carols about Christ under the pretence it offends other religions is spurious nonsense. The latent animosity within the World system towards Christ, the Bible and Christian concepts and morality has broken out, with gusto!

I call such people King Herod’s kith and kin. In Matthew’s Gospel chapter 2 is the account of his endeavour to kill the Baby Jesus. To do that he was indiscriminate. All boy babies two and under were to be killed in Bethlehem. Jesus was whisked away to Egypt by Joseph and Mary. Bethlehem means ‘house of bread’ but Herod made it the town of tears.

Today’s brood of Herod sympathisers cannot get their hands on the risen Christ Jesus. So, they resort to trying to eradicate expressions of His reality and message. In extreme cases this is the ideology of IS in their killing of Christians. In less graphic ways lawsuits are filed against Christians standing for Christian marriage and morality. One non-Christian religious leader even said to his people, to wish others a “merry Christmas” was worse than murder. Even having Christian prayer breakfasts are now anathema.

Whether they realise it or not, such assassins are creating for their communities ‘township of tears’. Why do I think that? By looking into the regions where the Christian faith and heritage are either unknown or are a persecuted minority. Fatalism rules and corruption is ‘king.’ There is a hopelessness unrelieved by the compassion and promises of Christ Jesus. There isn’t anything to sing about which could rival the joy and message of Christmas carols. We hear in Australia a lot about violence against women without appreciating how the Christmas event has elevated the status of a woman. What the virgin birth tells us should flow into the mindset of a community.

What do we gain from looking at Mary as the chosen vessel for the Messiah’s coming? Women are held in high esteem by the Creator and Redeemer God. The beautiful imagery of The Church as the Bride of Christ, New Jerusalem portrayed as a bride, plus the esteemed women in biblical history reaffirm that conviction. Any man who violates a woman offends his manliness, his biblical mandate and denies the Lord Jesus Christ’s example and teachings. How superior is this to Islam’s treatment of women in their judicial system, not to mention the use of young girls as bride material!

How are we to respond to these Assassins of Christmas? By standing our ground! By expressing our Joy in the Lord! By sharing the merriment and message that the Promised One has come and his name is Jesus! By inviting the assassins to share in the celebrations we enjoy! By living out the quality of life and the treatment of each other as taught by and lived out by Jesus, the warrior babe of Bethlehem.

Ray Hawkins Dec 14th 2015.

Wolves versus the Good Shepherd

Animals are used to depict certain aspects of human behaviour or characteristics. Such metaphors are easily understood. Psalm 22 is a brilliant illustration of this. It is a prophetic insight written a thousand years before the crucifixion of Christ. The psalmist used such animals as, bulls, lion, dogs and wild oxen. You can see their human counterparts around the cross in the Gospels.

Jesus used animal terms on a number of occasions. Two of them I want to emphasise , they are Wolves and Sheep. We understand that because Jesus is the Good Shepherd the sheep are His people. Matthew 7:15 ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.’ Jesus, in His great message about the events preceding His return, highlighted the fact of false prophets proliferating. Matthew 24:24.

It seems to me that we are living in their ‘breeding and marauding season.’ The Church is being mauled by the Devil’s brood. Sadly, the non-churched community think these ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ are part of the ‘sheep’ community. This results in people cursing the Church and rejecting Christ because of the evil actions of the false prophets. There are seven species of wolves and they roam in specific areas. There’s the gray wolf and the artic, the red wolf and Himalayan, an India one plus an Ethiopian and Eastern breed. Within our Church and Society scene it is a good reminder to be on ‘red alert’ for their human counterparts.

Within the pages of the Bible the term wolves is applied to men in official positions (Ezekiel 22:27) intent on dishonest gain. Zephaniah 3:3 applies it to Judges who use their position for personal gain and revenge. It is an amazing fact that so many of the wolves in religious sheep covering strut the world’s stage. Television and the internet make them sound so plausible and personable as they promise much whilst stripping your soul and bank balance.

In an article on wolves was the following quote: ‘The majority of victims of predatory wolf attacks are children under age of 18 and, in the rare cases where adults are killed, the victims are almost always women.’ As I read the New Testament I find something very similar. The writers of the New Testament letters give strong warnings about this danger. Paul warned the Ephesian Elders that such predatory wolves were prowling even as he was talking. His warning was their call to be on guard and not be a mere hireling who runs away from protecting the flock. (John 10:12). I’m left with the impression that the majority of these mangy mongrels are males (I wouldn’t call them men).

How is this being played out today? Child abuse in Church run institutions and parish churches are under the spotlight. The predators in cleric garb have ripped out the faith and innocence of children many of whom are wrecks of what they were meant to be. Those who knew and did nothing are mere hirelings, not shepherds.  Christ Jesus speaks of a greater judgement which will fall upon such wolves (and I think it will fall on those who neglected their shepherd’s calling). I believe Christ holds such victims in a special section of His heart and affections. May they discover it, though they have to struggle through a lot of emotional and spiritual rubble!

What then is our best defence in dealing with these spiritual and moral predators? How are we able to develop an inner alarm system which gives out warning vibrations? Paul’s words to the Elders in Acts 20:32 is a good commencement place. ‘I commend you to God and to the message of His grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified.’ His words to Timothy also undergird the importance of knowing Biblical teaching. ‘Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching, continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.’ (1 Timothy 24:16)

The strange thing about Christ Jesus as the Shepherd is His command to His sheep. ‘I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them…’ Matthew 10:16-42. We are not to be cowered by the wolves but to take the message of transforming grace to the society in which they prowl. Jesus says it is nerve-wracking and dangerous but that the wolves are actually afraid of sheep with a message of the cross. He also promised personal recognition and reward for His people rising up to the challenge.

Wrongful-mess or Righteousness

Violence against women is headline news and there is much angst about it. However, who will be brave enough to confront some of the things which promote it? Many of the Television shows denigrate women.  The internet is also saturated with material designed to degrade a woman’s intrinsic worth. Add to those, certain religions which treat women as objects for men’s pleasure and second-rate citizens. But, why are such attitudes and actions wrong?

The same question can be asked about child-abuse, same-sex marriage and polygamy. What about abortion, euthanasia, drug dependence, Sharia law and corruption, are these wrong? If so, on what basis are they wrong? Are we beginning to experience the ‘fruit’ of the sowing the ‘seeds of no absolutes?’ Is society’s rejection of absolutes walking us into scary times? The forces which are turning off the lights of life’s absolutes cannot offer any flickering light in their place. This results in a creeping darkness infected by unbridled Wrongful-mess. A Proverb sums it up well: ‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.’ (Proverbs 16:25 

There are those in our society who claim it is freedom to be unfettered by moral and spiritual absolutes. Yet, without such unchanging sunlight a darkness envelops the soul and fear begins to roam, demons torment and grief explodes. Only in the Light of absolute righteousness and truth is true freedom able to exist. In the words of an old Proverb ‘Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.’ (Proverbs 14:35) In the context ‘sin’ equals unrighteousness or as I’ve put it ‘wrongful-mess.’ Christian nations which once had a certain moral nobility and godly fervour are being dragged out of the light which exalts. The result, moral and spiritual disintegration and disgrace in the prison of darkness.

The question then arises, ‘where can such absolutes be found?’ If they exist they must proceed from someone who is unchanging, whose words can be trusted who also understands us and desires the best for us. In the face of all who clamour for this title only Jesus Christ and His Word rises above the pack. He practiced what He preached and didn’t back down when faced with crucifixion. If Jesus had remained in the tomb no one would be talking about Him. His resurrection exalted Him as Lord and Saviour. Therefore, His words have the power to light up our darkness and point us to a way out of the darkness.

Across the centuries it is recorded how forces aligned with Wrongful-mess have corrupted and condemned people and society to despair. What is also revealed is that men and women with faith in Christ Jesus took on the darkness. A high price was sometimes paid but slowly the lights of Righteousness, Truth and Hope were switched on. Believers in Jesus Christ as Lord, Saviour Almighty God may be called upon in coming days to pay a similar price. Are we up to it?

 ©Ray Hawkins 1^st June 2015.