Standing on Holy Ground

Standing on Holy Ground

Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5 – NASB)

Two people enjoying time together? Looks like Holy Ground to me.

When we read the account of Moses standing on Holy Ground and being told to take the shoes from off his feet, we are captivated by the dramatic scene and wish, perhaps we could have and experience like that.

I think we are missing the point.

Holy ground is all around us.

There may not be a burning bush and we may not hear God’s voice emanating from it. We nevertheless encounter many situations in life that should cause us to tread carefully; they are just as much Holy Ground as that on which Moses trod. We come across these situations and carelessly pass them by; we do not recognize them as a sacred trust God has brought our way. We are being given an opportunity to respond with compassion, and demonstrate the Love of Christ in them. They, however just seem like the common occurrences of life and we don’t realize they are holy ground to God.

Two friends enjoying time together
A friend suffering from depression
A pregnant teen
A wayward son or daughter

I don’t think I have to make the list any longer. Each of us come across people suffering varied forms of trouble and anguish. All we need to do is recognize them as Holy Ground, and respond accordingly.

Holy Ground

(6th June 1992)

Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5 – NASB)

I envied Moses as He stood

On Holy Ground back then

And heard the voice of God Most High —

Most privileged of men.

“Why can’t I stand like Moses on

The ground of Holy kind,

And hear the voice of God breathe out

His Words into my mind.”

Such were my thoughts, such my complaint,

In holy reverence prayed,

Whenever I bowed my head to seek

The pathway Christ had made.

And soon the answer sounded forth

Upon my inner ear:

The still small voice of God that said,

“Come listen! Come and hear!

“The Holy Ground of Scripture lies

Within your view, my child.

Take off the shoes of careless thought

Lest Truth be soiled – defiled.

“And then there is the Holy Ground

Of foreign missions, see,

A precious tract of land to Christ

Who said, ‘Come unto me.’

“Tread softly, Christian, on the ground

Where lost souls’ feet have trod.

Take now the shoes from off your feet —

It is Holy Ground to God.

“Where ever you look, both far and near,

You find some holy place.

What’s common ground to careless souls

May be the ground of Grace.

“Perhaps it is your brother’s need,

His mountain of distress,

That you conceive as nothing more

Than mild unhappiness.

It is Holy Ground, don’t dare to walk

Across your brother’s need,

Till Faith and Love have filled your heart,

And Mercy has agreed.”

This image is in the public domain.
Please visit My website: www.christophershennan.ca
My blog: https://christophershennan.wordpress.com/
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherShennanAuthor

The Necessity of Rest

The Necessity of Rest

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters. (Psalm 23:1-2 – NASB)

I was rushed to hospital three times in the past month, having had to call 911.

I had separate stays in the hospital, to a total of twelve days, covering most of the month of August. This explains, for those who have been wondering, why my blogs have been so infrequent of late. My hospital stays brought to mind a true story I heard when I was in Missionary Training College during my late twenties.

Charlton Smith, one of the leaders of WEC (Worldwide Evangelization Crusade) at the time, was in South Africa with His wife, helping out at the college.

His wife (I can’t remember her name) told us a story about her husband that left an impression upon us all.

Charlton was working at WEC Headquarters in London England when he fell ill had landed in hospital. A writer like myself, he just didn’t know when to stop, burning the candle at both ends, and taking on more duties than he was able to handle.

When his wife went to visit him in hospital he sheepishly told her, “I believer the lord spoke to me today.”

“Oh? And what did he say to you?”

“The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down…”

My family tells me the Lord is saying the same thing to me, and that, at 72, I need to stop taking on new ministries. They believe my landing in hospital is God’s way of telling me to slow down.

Whether they are right, or not, rest is one of God’s gifts to us as His servants.

It is vain for you to rise up early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
For He gives to His beloved [even in his] sleep. Psalm 127: 2 – NASB)

Over exertion in God’s service could be an indication we are not trusting Him to work His works through us; we feel it is all up to us

Resting

(© Thursday 27^th August 2015 – by Christopher Shennan)

He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters. (Psalm 23:2 – NASB)

Come ye apart and rest awhile,

To renew your strength and your zeal;

Christ has your labour in His hands –

He is giving you time to heal.

Anxious labour, without full trust,

Cannot be pleasing to our Lord;

He gives sound sleep, and perfect rest,

While you are trusting in His Word.

So, labour long, but take your rest;

It’s a gift from Heaven above –

You’ll find your strength will be renewed,

And you will sense, once more – His love.

Please visit My website: www.christophershennan.ca
My blog: https://christophershennan.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CNShennan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherShennanAuthor

The Invalid by Louis Lang in the Brooklyn Museum. 1870. This image is in the public domain.

The Trembling Heart

The Trembling Heart

But to this one I will look,

To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. (Isaiah 66:2b – NASB)

I read of a Scottish preacher during the Reformation period of the church who was about to be burned at the stake for his Biblical preaching.

Asked if he wanted to say a final word before the flame was lighted, he declared, “I stand here ready to give my life for Christ with far less fear than ever I had when mounting the pulpit to declare the Word of God.”

What was he saying? Was he being flippant in the face of death? Was his declaration an act of bravado denying he felt any fear at all?

No. He admitted to some fear of death; he just wanted his hearers to know he had a fear that was greater than the fear of death. He trembled at the possibility he may have taken God’s Word lightly, or that he had not treated it with the respect it deserved. He did not want to offend God by adding or taking away from it, or in misinterpreting it. He held it in such high regard as the message of a loving God to lost sinners, he was afraid to misrepresent it – a fear that overshadowed any fear of death he might have been feeling.

Would that more modern preachers approached God’s Word, the Bible, in that way. Would that the lukewarm climate of the present-day church would be invaded with this kind of Godly fear. We may yet see a revival before the awesome coming of our Lord.

The Trembling Heart

(1992)

“But to this one I will look,

To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. (Isaiah 66:2b – NASB)

Give me a heart that trembles

At the entrance of Thy Word;

Give me a life that follows

At the slightest whisper heard.

If there’s a doubt in reading

What the meaning of it is,

Give me the lips for pleading

To know what the answer is.

Give me a mind anointed;

Give me a heart on fire.

Give me the Spirit’s wooing

To keep my feet from mire.

Sometimes a fond persuasion

Takes root in the human mind;

If it differs from Thy thinking’

Grant that I be not blind.

Oh for a heart that trembles’

Oh for a heart that finds,

That the simplest word God’s spoken

Is above mere human minds.

Photo of Portrait of an old woman reading by Gerrit Dou. This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less.

Standing on Holy Ground

Standing on Holy Ground

Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5 – NASB)

Two people enjoying time together? Looks like Holy Ground to me.

I think we are missing the point.

Holy ground is all around us.

Two friends enjoying time together
A friend suffering from depression
A pregnant teen
A wayward son or daughter

I don’t think I have to make the list any longer. Each of us come across people suffering varied forms of trouble ans anguish. All we need to do is recognize them as Holy Ground, and respond accordingly.

Holy Ground

(6th June 1992)

Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5 – NASB)

I envied Moses as He stood

On Holy Ground back then

And heard the voice of God Most High —

Most privileged of men.

“Why can’t I stand like Moses on

The ground of Holy kind,

And hear the voice of God breathe out

His Words into my mind.”

Such were my thoughts, such my complaint,

In holy reverence prayed,

Whenever I bowed my head to seek

The pathway Christ had made.

And soon the answer sounded forth

Upon my inner ear:

The still small voice of God that said,

“Come listen! Come and hear!

“The Holy Ground of Scripture lies

Within your view, my child.

Take off the shoes of careless thought

Lest Truth be soiled – defiled.

“And then there is the Holy Ground

Of foreign missions, see,

A precious tract of land to Christ

Who said, ‘Come unto me.’

“Tread softly, Christian, on the ground

Where lost souls’ feet have trod.

Take now the shoes from off your feet —

It is Holy Ground to God.

“Where ever you look, both far and near,

You find some holy place.

What’s common ground to careless souls

May be the ground of Grace.

“Perhaps it is your brother’s need,

His mountain of distress,

That you conceive as nothing more

Than mild unhappiness.

It is Holy Ground, don’t dare to walk

Across your brother’s need,

Till Faith and Love have filled your heart,

And Mercy has agreed.”

This image is in the public domain.

A Writer’s Journey

A Writer’s Journey

I’ve just sent a new book to the publisher, one that proved to be my greatest challenge. I’ll give you a description of it at the end, but I thought you might like a personal glimpse at how it finally came together.

I stopped writing DOUBLE DECEIT – The Transformation of Jonathan Ward fifteen years ago. I got to chapter seven, and stopped dead.

Here’s why:

The plot had such a classical theme, like Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice, I felt I was playing in the shallows of the great literary sea. I doubted I was up to it. So I shelved it – indefinitely.

A little over a year ago I was teaching a Creative Writing Course and used the first chapter to illustrated a point to my students. That reading simply blew them away – and me, too. With one voice they urged me to finish the book.

I’d like to tell you everything went smoothly after that and I forged ahead with no problems at all. I did not. I was plagued with doubts and had to pray more over this book than any other writing project I have ever undertaken. It was only the “still small voice” urging me to continue that got me through.

When it was done my wife read it and declared, “This is the best book you have ever written.” My proof-reader made three comments as she progressed through the book. The first was after chapter five: “Wow,” she said, “what a story!”

About midway she said, “You really write cliffhangers!”

Near the end, she just used one word, “Riveting!”

All I can do is give glory to God for staying with me every inch of the way:

I would never have done it, Lord

Without your constant, loving care;

With every word that was written down

I just knew that You were there.

Here follows a brief description of the book:

DOUBLE DECEIT – The Transformation of Jonathan Ward

Jonathan Ward’s brother, Arthur, has been murdered. The murderer has escaped out the back door, but the bloody murder weapon is in Jonathan’s hand. Con-man that he is, and given the argument he had had with Arthur an hour earlier, he knows he will be the prime suspect in his brother’s death. He cannot afford to come under the close scrutiny of the law. He just may have to perpetrate the greatest, and most challenging con of his life, but is he up to it?

To pull off the most daring stunt of his life, Jonathan will not only have to convince Arthur’s friends, the police, and the public, but— worst of all—the beautiful Angela Milford by his monumental deception.

Having rejected his brother’s faith, however, and his godly life-style, the changes he will have to make, may just be more than he is willing to endure. With the murderer still lurking in the shadows, he may not just be risking his own life, but also that of the woman who has captured his heart.

To get an update on when DOBLE DECEIT is coming out, keep checking my website at www.christophershennan.ca

My website: www.christophershennan.ca
My blog: https://christophershennan.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CNShennan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherShennanAuthor

A Good Conscience

How important is a good conscience?

What part does conscience play in determining the kinds of lives we will live, and the characters we will develop? Could conscience even effect the eternal destiny of our souls?

The parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates the difference between a good and a bad conscience.

Two men in their religious pomposity ignored their consciences when they encountered a seriously injured man at the side of the road. I cannot believe they did not feel at least a twinge of conscience telling them to do the right thing. Before they turned away, leaving the man to almost certain death, they must have considered their options. They must have considered their religious duties and considered them more important than the life of a man they did not know.

In his letter to Timothy the apostle Paul warns:

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will ^[a]fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, ²by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron… (1 Timothy4:1-2 – NASB)

What does it mean to “sear” your conscience?

It means to violate your conscience (ignore it) so many times it becomes insensitive and no longer warns you; it no longer has the power to prick you and tell you what you are doing is wrong. In consequence you can actually engage in all kinds of wickedness and sincerely believe you are doing right. “I see nothing wrong with it and everybody is doing it, so it must be right. Evil will v called good and good labelled as evil, who sounds suspiciously like the social climate we are living in today.

We can murder unborn babies in the womb and call it free choice. We can engage in unnatural sexual behaviour and say it is our “right” to do so.

It won’t be long before we will say mentally handicapped people do not have enough of a quality of life and it would be a kindness to terminate them.

The apostle was shooting pretty straight when he said:

This command I entrust to you, Timothy, [my] son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy 1:18-20 – NASB)

So I guess keeping a good conscience is pretty important if we are not going to be swept away by the ungodliness all around us.

Conscience*

(July 28th 1992)

Conscience started with me

On the path that I’ve trod,

And kept me from taking

The wrong way, with a prod.

At first I thought him handsome,

Fit companion for my way;

But soon I thought it better

If he would go away.

“You cramp my style,” I told him.

“You won’t let me have fun.

At least you should keep silent

Until the deed is done.

He sadly lagged behind me

And let me do my will,

But soon I was in trouble:

My peace of heart was nil.

At last I saw my error

And called him to come near’

And when he stood beside me

I lost my doubt and fear

For conscience showed me clearly

A pathway for my feet,

And with the Holy Scriptures,

A pathway that was meet.

Photo provided to wikimedia from Wellcome Images. Copyright. Used under the CC BY 4.0 license: please note the Disclaimer at this link. No changes were made to this image.

Seeking Guidance

Seeking Guidance

So you thought, when you saw the title, I was going to tell you how to find God’s guidance? Well, almost.

What I am going to do is lay down the first principle without which seeking God’s guidance can be a rocky path – we just can’t do it. It is not in us; we can’t find the right path on our own. We are lost and don’t have a clue of how to find our way.

The prophet Jeremiah laid it out for us:

“O LORD I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23)

He says the way of man is not in himself. And lest we don’t get the point he uses different words to say the same thing: “…it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”

The ability to choose the right path is not in us; it is completely absent. I’m not sure if this ability existed before the Fall, but I doubt it. The complete absence of the ability to direct our own steps is the one thing that keeps us dependent upon God. We cannot do it on our own.

So long as we think we can reason it out, figure it out, or lay it out – seeking God’s guidance will be something of a farce. Asking God for guidance while still thinking you can do it yourself is like asking for advice in the certain knowledge you are not going to take.

Our Lord delights to direct men and women who know God is their only option.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:
and he delighteth in his way. (Psalm 37:23 – AKJV)

When we trust God completely we know our way has already been determined. We also know we will be delighted with the outcome. If we need special guidance we are equally assured He will reveal it to us.

Man’s Way

(1992)

“O LORD I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23)

It is not in man, my brother,

To direct the way he goes;

Or even to tell another

The way his destiny flows.

For the prophet has said so clearly

In the book the Lord has given,

That the plans of man are merely

As the chaff the wind has driven.

The prophet said he knew very well

Man’s way was not his own,

And the man that walks can never tell,

What paths his feet may roam.

It is only God, my brother,

Who has power to plan your way;

So don’t be proud, but rather,

Give Him the final say!

My website: www.christophershennan.ca
My blog: https://christophershennan.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CNShennan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherShennanAuthor

Photo of Walking Man in Munich (Schwabing) by Guido Radig. Copyright. Used under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license: please note the Disclaimer at this link. We have made no changes to this photo.

Where Have You Been?

Where Have You Been?

My readers will, by now, be saying, “Where have you been; why have you been absent from the blogger’s scene?

I thought I would answer that question by giving you all a personal glimpse into what I have been doing, are doing now, and what will be happening in the near future.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, the picture above will tell you where I have been for at least some of the time – in hospital having surgery, and at home recovering. Beyond that I am slap dab in the middle of teaching an intense course on the parables of Jesus under the title Practical Insights into the Parables of Jesus.

Add to that the completion of my latest novel, DOUBLE DECEIT: The Transformation of Jonathan Ward, due for publication within the next month or two. My wife tells me this is my best work of fiction yet, though you may believe her to be prejudiced in my favour. All I can say to that is that I spent a lot of time praying for God’s guidance and inspiration, under difficult circumstances, to finally finish the novel just a few weeks ago.

Also to be published within the next few weeks is The Toymaker’s Dream, first published in 1980 and since published and presented on stage (including a musical) in five languages. The English edition of this book, unfortunately, has been out of print for a very long time. I decided at last to re-publish this book in a Deluxe Edition.

I found an artist, Anita Stephen, of extraordinary talent who has produce illustrations of incredible quality. It has taken her sixteen months to finally complete them to her own satisfaction, and that has not been easy. She is one of those perfectionists who will not allow her name to be associated with anything but her very best work. How blessed I have to find her.

OK, so now that I am “retired,” what lies ahead?

I am being pressured to complete the third book in the SKIP JORDAN series, finish the second volume of EXPLORING BIBLICAL PRAYER, and launch into a new gendre with a novel entitled, UNBLEMISHED,

Oh, and I also have to write two or three blogs per week.

So there you have it. You not only know where I have been, but where I am going to be for a considerable length of time ahead. I ask my readers for two things: to visit my web page at www.christophershennanica, and pray that all I do will bring glory to God and bring honour to the name of Jesus Christ.

I Have Nothing

I have nothing but what received

From your gracious, loving had, Lord;

Nothing to tell the world about,

But what’s found in your precious Word.

I have nothing in my treasure house

That You did not place there first,

And taught me how to utilize

In my hunger and my thirst.

I bring these gifts, that You first gave,

And now lay them down at your feet;

Please cause them to bring lost sinners,

To kneel down at your Mercy Seat.

My website: www.christophershennan.ca
My blog: https://christophershennan.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CNShennan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherShennanAuthor

Photo by Joanne Shennan – used by permission

Leaving a Legacy

Leaving a Legacy

A good friend of mine, Rod Guptil, announced one message in a series of sermons he was about to preach in the following way:

“EVERYONE LEAVES A LEGACY. Not just the good and admirable leave legacies. Hitler, Jack the Ripper, Osama bin Laden all left legacies. You can’t choose ‘whether’ to leave a legacy, you only choose ‘which’ legacy you will leave.”

When my son was barely three years old we were missionaries in Zimbabwe, Africa.

The house we lived in had a large back yard we had turned into a vegetable garden with a compost pit at the very back.

I was in the habit pf going back there so I could pray out loud without anyone being able to hear me – except the Lord, of course.

One morning I was engaged in worship thinking I was completely alone. I raised my hands and cried out, “I praise you, Lord!”

To my complete surprise I heard a little voice call out behind me, “I praise you, Lord!”

I turned to see my son’s face turned toward Heaven, a look of absolute delight upon his face. Seeing me from the kitchen door, he had followed me and engaged himself in copying my behavior.

I have never forgotten that incident and have often speculated, “What if I had been doing something else at the back end of that garden? What if I had been cussing, or had met with someone else engaged in nefarious deeds? What then? Would my son be the godly man he is today, or would he be man of doubtful character, passing on to his progeny an ungodly life-style?

It bears thinking about, and setting a course that will not leave a shameful legacy to future generations.

The Legacy

The legacy I leave may be

A blessing or a curse, some day:

Blessing future generations,

Or leave stumbling blocks in the way.

An awesome choice we have to make;

Not if we leave a legacy,

But which one we leave behind for

Future generations to see?

People around me are watching;

Children and grandchildren will know

Just what kind of life I have lived –

To show them which way they should go.

I want to leave a legacy

That will challenge and inspire them;

A goal to strive for – to die for –

Whatever life brings to test them.

The legacy I leave behind,

Must include lost sinners, found;

For how could I whom Christ loved most –

Go all alone while Heaven bound?

Father and Son by Kwanie. Copyright. Used under the CC BY 2.0 license; please note the Disclaimer at this site. No changes were made to this photo.

Truth’s Cutting Edge

Truth’s Cutting Edge

When Stephen finished declaring the truth to his accusers, the reaction he got was anything but mild:

When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with [their] teeth. (Acts 7:54 – NASB)

They were so cut to the heart by the truth he declared that it led to his stoning.

The writer to the Hebrews confirms the sharp penetrating power of God’s Word, and how it can expose the very intentions (motives) of the heart.

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 – NASB)

It is because the sharp cutting edge of truth that people try to blunt it.

When I am shaving I don’t want to use a razor that is blunt; doing so could be quite painful, besides being ineffectual. I don’t want to use a blunt scissors, or a scalpel when a doctor is about to perform an operation.

The healing of the soul requires a very sharp instrument, but we often choose to save ourselves from the cutting edge of God’s Word, rather than allow it to do its full work in us. Why? Because the pain of confessing the sin and shame is too painful to endure. We choose comfort over character, ease rather than the courage it takes to please God.

There are preachers who shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God lest they offend the sensibilities of their hearers. They would rather risk the displeasure of Heaven, than the censure of a few prominent board members.

God help us if we don’t allow God’s Word to do its perfect work.

Come, and let us return unto the Lord:
for he hath torn, and he will heal us;
he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. (Hosea 6:1 – AKJV)

I Won’t

(Wednesday 1^st October 2003)

I won’t soften it up

Or water it down,

Or change the message because

Of a frown that comes my way.

The Truth is as sharp as a doctor’s

Scalpel, and is meant to heal, not harm —

To blunt its edge is a cruel invention,

Revealing an evil, base intention.

So, I won’t soften it up

Or water it down:

I’ll preach it straight and

Make it plain,

Regardless of whether it

Administers pain, or pleasure,

Or ecstatic joy. I’ll spread

God’s truth — without alloy.

I’ll serve it up in the spirit of Love,

With the help of Heaven and the

Host of Light:

I’m not alone as I stand my ground:

By the mercy of God

In His truth I’m found.

I won’t soften it up

Or water it down,

Or change the message because

Of a frown that comes my way,

But I need the prayers of

God’s people each day,

To keep me walking the straight,

Narrow way.

Image uploaded by Brianann MacAmhlaidh onto wikimedia. Copyright. Used under the CC BY 2.0 license; please note the Disclaimer at this link. Description: photo of a Scottish claymore replica made by Soren Niedziella. “Chieftain Limited Edition Medieval Scottish War Sword”

Gems of Discovery – Nuggets of Truth

Bible Teaching for the Hungry Soul

Standing on Holy Ground

The Necessity of Rest

The Trembling Heart

Standing on Holy Ground

A Writer’s Journey

Seeking Guidance

Leaving a Legacy

Truth’s Cutting Edge