God’s grace and our character

Through this series of blog posts we’ve explored something of the seven deadly sins, what they can do to us, what they might look like in everyday life, where the world might reflect or even celebrate them, and some encouragements from the Bible as we deal with them. For there are resources to deal with sin. We serve King Jesus, conqueror of sin, who declared the war won. He has done it, “it is finished!”, so the ultimate power of sin’s grip on us is broken. Yet we still feel its influence now. Sin creeps in, we need to be aware.

From sloth to passion

It has been said that if you aim for nothing you might just hit it. Set low expectations and be confident of meeting them. Hardly a message of ‘going for it’. I can’t imagine Nike selling quite as many trainers if their logo had the strapline ‘Just … whatever’.

Apathy and indifference can creep up on us all at times. The DIY job that really does need doing (leaking shower, dodgy light fitting, broken fence) but somehow never quite gets anywhere near the top of our ‘to do’ list. Or the friend we know we should contact as they’re going through a tough time and would value time with a mate, only this mate can’t rustle up the drive to pick up the phone.

From anger to peace

In August 2017, more than 60,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Frankfurt after an unexploded bomb was uncovered during construction work. The 1,400kg device– codenamed  ‘Cookie’ by the RAF– was dropped by a British wartime bomber in WW2. That’s quite some cookie. The evacuation was one of the biggest such operations of recent times, but vital to allow the device to be made safe.

From gluttony to self-control

Have you ever realised just how ‘pro-food’ the Bible is?

Read through the Old Testament and God frequently turns up over a meal, or calls people to have a meal (Passover being the most famous but certainly not the only one). The land given to the people of Israel is famed for its food; the first spies infiltrate the land and return with super-sized fruit to prove it. Grapes the size of space hoppers. Food is not just a detail or in the background, it’s a sign of God’s goodness and provision. Enjoy!

From envy to contentment

“I wish … I had their car.”

“I wish … I had their house.”

“I wish … I had their fitness.”

“I wish … I had their ministry, popularity, kids, teeth, status, pension, hair …!”

Why are we not content?

In spiritual terms, we have something wrong with us. Even as Christians, saved by God’s power, with the Holy Spirit within us and new life in Christ, we still live in mortal bodies. The old me is still here! Our mind and our body are influenced by our old nature which was ruled by sin. But wonderfully as Christians we are no longer to be slaves to sin, ruled by it, but slaves to righteousness and ruled by Christ.

From lust to love

When an unexploded bomb is discovered in one of the many harbour and dockyard areas which operate around the English Channel, such as an old WW2 mine or a payload from a bomber, the Royal Navy will often tow the device out into the Channel before dealing with it safely at a distance. A controlled explosion is an interesting spectacle, still risky and time-consuming, but far better than potential tragedy. Making devices safe, perhaps removing them to destroy them, is part of the bomb squad’s ‘bread and butter’, despite the hazards.

From greed to generosity

The experience of Britain in the early 1940’s demonstrated again and again how an unexploded bomb (UXB) in an oil refinery, a railway yard, or a factory could create wider chaos in the transport links. It would disrupt the network of communications – railways especially – and significantly impacted alternative supply chains. Blocking access to a port on the English Channel, through a bomb on the rail access routes, created a 1940’s version of the Operation Stack; in place of the lorry queue for the Channel Tunnel it was scores of freight trains bunched in other places, presenting new and attractive targets for the Luftwaffe.

From pride to humility

When you do a good job, it’s nice to get the appreciation, the praise; just a simple “thank you” can make a difference to the whole day. That might be from solving the missing number on a spreadsheet, bringing a team member up to speed on recent plans, fixing the wonky pedal on a child’s bike, calming the storm after a family argument, or simply loading the dishwasher. A bit of gratitude goes a long way.

Dealing with the Seven Deadly Sins

When I look out of the kitchen window at home, I marvel at how prolific and healthy the garden is.  Not the good stuff (flowers or shrubs which we might actually have chosen and planted) but the weeds – they seem unstoppable!  Every nook and cranny of soil or gaps between paving seems to be just right for flourishing weeds, nettles, the odd thistle, and a range of things I can’t identify but don’t look like they are worth cultivating.

I’ve never been a fan of bumper sticker theology. Even less so twitter theology. John 3:16 is a pretty good attempt at condensing the Gospel into 280 characters but that was God inspired Apostolic writing. #Blessed. 

Whilst there is a place for very clever, laconic soundbites, they can sometimes err on the over simplistic and in some cases be misleading. And this is one of them: ‘God is my co-pilot’. I’m not the first to notice this or comment on it. People then started to say, ‘If God is your co-pilot, swap seats’ and then simply ‘God is my pilot’.