Happiness Is To Know Christ

Many in our world are hungering for many things. Some hunger for riches, and upon accumulating them, find the need to accumulate more an all consuming passion. They finally conclude that there are not enough riches in the whole universe to satisfy man’s overwhelming desire for more affluence. At the end of the way they inevitably find the acquisition of riches is a vanity of all vanities. They find the words of our Savior about the temporal nature of riches all too apt. No matter how much a man may accumulate, when he leaves this world he leaves it all behind. Those seeking fortune always find it cannot buy the simplest joy or real happiness.

Some hunger for fame, and upon achieving it, find the fleeting fragility of fame and fortune. Just a surface survey of the recent history of popular politicians, entertainers and entrepreneurs, easily confirms the illusory nature of imagined fulfilment through fame. How many spend their last days amid the ashes of decaying memories of fleeting moments spent in the fading spotlight of public popularity?

Some hunger for power as the ultimate high of human experience. Only those who have experienced power over the lives of others can really know how seducing this temptress can be. As it is said, "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts, absolutely." But one only has to consider the end of some of the most powerful men of history to realise the futility of such hungering.

Jesus said that only those who hunger for and find His righteousness will find happiness.  Only those who realize the vanity and emptiness of a life without Christ, can be happy in this world and the world to come. The basis of eternal happiness is the forgiveness of sin, the removal of guilt, the restoration of a right relationship with the Creator and the appropriation of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ by faith in Him. The only truly happy place in this world is at the foot of the cross where Jesus died for our sins and paid the price that we might wear the eternal robes of His perfect righteousness forever. Only when we stand upon this sure foundation can we have a real hunger for the holiness and happiness God has for us.- Pastor John White

Building Up or Tearing Down?

None of us can deny the importance of our Christian service and influence upon the world around us. Someone has said, "The best defence of Christianity is a dedicated Christian. A Christian is either a blight or blessing, but never a blank." Influence is like our shadow on a sunny day. It's always with us. We can't escape it. It follows us wherever we go. Much like the old song, "Me and My Shadow," implies, our influence is always there, affecting those around us for better or worse.

Sometimes when you walk into a crowded room notice the people around you. Each one in the room will be doing two things. Each heart will be beating, faithfully pumping life-giving blood, laden with essential oxygen and nutrients, through the miles of arteries, veins and capillaries of the circulatory system. And returning waste that would soon form deadly toxins and poisons, back through the veins to the organs that process and dispose of it. Each pair of lungs will also be faithfully performing their vital function of oxygen acquisition and carbon dioxide disposal as a basis of the oxidation processes that are the foundation of continuing life. These functions are controlled at a subconscious level of the brain. No one really sits around all the time and thinks and commands, "Beat heart!" "Breathe lungs!" It just happens naturally and automatically.  This is all part of what is called the autonomic functions of our body

It's the same with our influence. It is somewhat reflexive as well. It goes on naturally and automatically. But, unlike our heartbeat and breathing, it is not always a positive function. It is not always for the best. We can either have a good or bad influence. But we will have an influence, an effect on those around us. We will either build them up or tear them down. We will either help or hinder them on their way through life. We will either heal or hurt, encourage or discourage those we contact from day to day.

Even though our heart beat and breathing are both, to a great degree, autonomic brain functions, we do have a certain degree of control. We can breath faster to the point of hyperventilation or hold our breath for a deep dive under water. We can increase or decrease our heart rate by exercise. Some studies indicate we might even be able to consciously slow or speed up our heart through practising certain thought patterns.

By God's power we can control the positive or negative effect of our ever present influence and cast a shadow of good influence on those around us. The shadow of our influence will one day be cast all the way to the Judgement Seat of Christ. Will we then hear Him say, "Well done thy good and faithful servant...?"?    - Pastor John White

God’s Kind Of Love

What is the strongest power in this universe? Is it nuclear fission or fusion? It is said that if man could unlock the power of controlled nuclear fusion; the power of the sun, he would have unlimited power to probe the uttermost reaches of the galaxy in which we live. Couple this with a viable superconductor and an industrial and technological revolution of unimaginable dimensions might be possible.

But what is really the greatest power in the universe? Paul defined it when he penned his famous love poem. The power of love. What is the most powerful force that could be brought to bear in this time of economic turmoil, political upheaval, cultural dissolution and societal breakdown? The old song said it all, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.”

Not the mushy, sentimental sort, written about in the romantic ballads of days gone by. Not the erotic, sexual exploitative emotions, permeating so much of today’s so-called entertainment. An emotion that could be more accurately characterised as lust rather than love.

But the sort that has its source and power in God. An agape love. A Godlike love. The word love (agape) is essentially a Christian word. It has been defined by a selfless act and haloed with a glory that only God could provide. He used it to express His attitude toward all men and women.

The overwhelming thing about this love is that God has made it freely available to all mankind. But He has especially given it as a gift to His children. Paul said this love is shed abroad in a Christian’s heart by the Spirit of the Living God. He also characterised this love as the constraining and motive force that under-girds and lifts up the Christian as he lovingly serves His Lord by serving those around him.

Love finds its highest example in the perfect life and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. His love was unconditional. A love freely given to and for the unlovely and unlovable; without any strings attached or the requirement or expectation of reciprocation or reward. As Paul also said, “But He commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This is a love that is so foreign to the flesh and so strange to the situation of human kind, that it is hard to even conceive it, much less express it in its purest form.

God’s kind of love is not characterised in the life of a Christian by seeking or expressing some sort of constant emotional high. Rather, it is the ongoing totality of one’s utter dedication to serving the Lord and those around him; without an expectation, condition or anticipation of recognition, reciprocation or reward. A presenting of one’s self as a living sacrifice. A pouring out of one’s self upon the altar of selfless service. A giving that continues, come weal or come woe, in  the lean or rich times of life’s experiences. No matter which side of the bed one might arise from in the mornings or what headaches, physical or mental, might afflict one’s day, the constancy of agape love should always prevail. - John White