Trust and Obey

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While looking through old sketches and photocopies of sketches....I came across one I did years ago as a commission..... Somehow it seemed appropriate to look at it again and make it into colour.....I sketched a young woman walking through a forest full of scary trees next to a cemetery, and a freshly dug grave nearby with arrows in various places which had missed along the path. Psalm 91:4-6.."He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday." In the colour picture I placed words from the old hymn Trust and Obey.....Some how it sums up the life of a believer and all who would embrace the words and promises of God in Psalm 91.......Trust and Obey.

1 When we walk with the Lord

in the light of his word,

what a glory he sheds on our way!

While we do his good will,

he abides with us still,

and with all who will trust and obey.

Refrain:

Trust and obey, for there's no other way

to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

2 Not a burden we bear,

not a sorrow we share,

but our toil he doth richly repay;

not a grief or a loss,

not a frown or a cross,

but is blest if we trust and obey. [Refrain]

3 But we never can prove

the delights of his love

until all on the altar we lay;

for the favor he shows,

for the joy he bestows,

are for them who will trust and obey. [Refrain]

4 Then in fellowship sweet

we will sit at his feet,

or we'll walk by his side in the way;

what he says we will do,

where he sends we will go;

never fear, only trust and obey. [Refrain]

Songwriters

John H. Sammis

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Time is Short

Time is Short

I wrote to a friend in  2017 - sharing something which was significant to me about three years previously....Which now would be about 6 years ago.  I thought it worth sharing and include it below with minor editing.

The Lord has times set for us....I had been watching an old film made in 1970. Jane Eyre. It had Suzannah York and George C Scott starring. The theme music is very powerful in the film Music of Jane Eyre perhaps this might make a picture too!   Anyway, afterwards I got looking on google looking to see what happened to the lives of these stars. They are both no longer alive. I was so incredibly sad....these are the film stars I once knew so well on TV and cinema as I grew up. When I read about their lives....I was sad. their lives are gone. yesterday they are stars at the pinnacle of their careers and now their lives passed by and gone into eternity. Out of nostalgia I then went and watched A Christmas Carol on Youtube starring George C Scott. It was made in 1983-4 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire - My county town!  I remembered it as though it was yesterday being filmed, I was about 23 yrs of age.  But I never went to see the movie....I have to say A Christmas Carol is shown every Christmas in the UK so I tend to avoid it. But to my amazement and shock I saw two deeply impacting scenes in the movie. (Please see clips above) faithfully following the book.  I then understood what Charles Dickens was trying to do. I read up on Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol" - The book created some kind of social earthquake in the UK when it was first published. and could be credited with helping create and cultivating a social conscience where there hadn't been one. An incredible work of art which changed how many think about the poor. (I posted these two clips together with Portuguese subtitles) But when I look at Brazil.....and see the news, the statistics and multitudes of poor... I would to God we had artists who could bring the Kingdom of God here, instead we have this holocaust of youth dying in their thousands because of violence....which was going on before the pandemic and continues  God have mercy...we need something from Heaven.

And this is where I come to my point. I was so impacted by these films from my youth, so impacted that these stars are no longer with us...George C Scott was about my age when he made a Christmas Carol in 1984 - now he is gone.  I saw my own life in the context of this film.....to me it was like yesterday being filmed in Shrewsbury. And now I am in the blink of an eye in my middle 50s! (2014)

So I went outside late one night where we have meetings in the school. and poured out my heart to God. Life is short......and I just sensed a great need to connect with God about this and get some realignment. I sensed it was very important.......on this side of 50 we need to carefully examine our lives.  For me it was significant...... and some how that's why I am much more animated and focused about life - time is short.....I cant dawdle any longer. Time is a precious gift.     As Stanley Frodsham said.  "Make much of the Word of God, make much of the Blood, and make much of the shortness of time."

I keep being reminded every time I see an old movie - time is short.....and I got a lot of pictures to make!

Peter

Wise to Salvation

Wise to Salvation

Some days ago (March 2020) while listening to the 1984 song by Foreigner - "I want to know what love is" Somehow the thought of well known clown, singing this song before the Cross of Jesus came to mind. - I was astonished and amazed as I listened and thought of the clown singing these words! I thought Yes! Perhaps someone, somewhere impersonates this evil clown...but God has a plan! Anyway, the music and the image of the clown singing didn't go away.....and so I decided to make a picture - What the enemy meant for evil, God will turn for good! According to the Gospel there is no-one actually beyond redemption. If a lost sinner willingly come to Christ, the Lord will never cast them out or turn them away if they seek Him with all their heart and humble themselves like a little child ......The Lord indeed wants the world to know this - There is no-one too far gone or beyond redemption.....As Charles Wesley's hymn- O for a thousand tongues to sing makes perfectly clear - "His blood can make the foulest clean;" The power and the victory of Jesus Christ is total!...but we must come on His terms! He bids all sinners come to Him through His sacrifice on the Cross. Christ has made the way, and has the power to save totally all who come to Him...and has the power to transform any sin wrecked soul and make them a new creation. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation." 2 Corinthians 5: 17-19

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Scenes from the picture below  - Detail and Scripture verses

 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" 2 Timothy 3:16

"And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."  Matthew 18:3

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"  

1 Peter 1:3

Taxi to Fortaleza - Another Day in Paradise.

Taxi to Fortaleza - Another Day in Paradise.

It was a very hot day last week 20/03/2020 in Caucaia and so I decided to take a taxi to Fortaleza, at least the queues to pay bills should not take hours.. The taxi was a good one, nice air conditioning... and sound system.......and so settling down for the journey, my thoughts once again returned to the health crisis engulfing the world.....and certainly apprehension for Brazil, for friends, neighbors and the vulnerable ....But just as we are driving along The taxi driver reaches for another music disc to put in the player. Deep in thought, I am not paying much attention...but then begins a familiar sound I have not heard in years, its one of Phil Collins - As I listen ....its as though I had never listened to the words before, and somehow I was transfixed by what was sung. I could see a scene being played out, a scene which must have been played out a million times before in Brazil...It was as though God showed me In all this world crisis.....What He sees everyday.......The poor and forgotten, the street kids, the street dwellers and the marginalized. There in that taxi...I was shocked. When we arrived at Fortaleza.....What was I going to do about what I saw. The picture - Another Day in Paradise - (I made a few changes to the words of the song).

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The Stone Prayer Rail - 2 Chronicles 7:14

The Stone Prayer Rail

I woke one morning......dreaming of a man who was weeping at a prayer rail made of stone....On the old stone rail covered in moss and lichen were the words "if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14. Then I awoke, and wondered what can this mean....A Stone Prayer Rail?.....One can usually see them in some old churches....but usually they are used for receiving communion and blessings. But this stone rail in the dream was for prayer and situated outside. I have prayerfully meditated on this and this is my visual interpretation of the dream I added a scripture in the picture "Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning's womb." Psalm 110:3. The world is getting darker and everything that can be shaken is being shaken......only unshakable things will remain....We as people of God must do our part...allow Christ in us to reign through our lives...live out 2 Chronicles 7:14 - The Lord has promised to fulfill His Word if we humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. As the scripture says Psalm 110:3 His troops will be willing on the day of battle.....are we ready for the day of Battle? ....We just need to look at Church History and we will see.....ordinary people with an extraordinary God.....do extraordinary things through Christ - .if you know Christ - Then this is your destiny!

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Franz Jägerstätter - The Dream of a Beautiful Train.

Franz Jägerstätter - The Dream of a Beautiful Train.

While recovering from an injury to my arm a few months ago - It was as though I took a last days tour on youtube!

During that time I listened to many messages on youtube...but one in particular caught my attention, Pastor Anton Bosch shared a story about travelling on a train in the UK.  And it got me thinking very deeply.....and took me back to memories I hadn't thought of for years - about the story of another train journey and the sobering dream of a man who saw a beautiful train on a journey to Hell.

I had more or less forgotten about this.... I must have been in my twenties, I first saw a documentary which mentioned the dream and the man who saw it - it left a deep impression.  And the memories came back after all these years and after pondering and meditating on the subject what Pastor Anton Bosch was preaching about out. I was determined to follow this up and started to search online about the dream and the train. The documentary was about a Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector who died a martyr's death protesting against the Nazi regime.  And to my very great surprise it so happens, a film is released this year about the story of Franz Jägerstätter.   The film is due to be in film theatres this month of December 2019. A Hidden Life

"From 1938 on, Jägerstätter told the story of a dream that he had about a train. It was a beautiful train – attractive especially to the youth that streamed toward it. The voice in the dream was unequivocal, “This train is going to hell.” The dream served as a warning to Jägerstätter that no matter how attractive the Nazi movement seemed – especially to young people – it was nothing but pure evil.

The Falling Away

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.  Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

  

Well what does this falling away look like, someone might ask? Well, we don't have to look very far for an example! In many ways what happened to Germany not so long ago is a prelude, a dry run - the Evangelical Church in Germany started falling away late Victorian period….  but this was not worldwide…this falling away was in one nation and it prepared the way for Adolf Hitler to gain power.  

During the time I was recovering, I had also been listening to Derek Prince preach what I thought was a completely different subject - But when I settle down to listen - Derek more or less starts off his message talking about the great falling away and mentioning the state of the German Church at the start of the last century...leading to Adolf Hitler!.   You could say, indeed the Lord had my attention!...and it was as though pieces of a jigsaw puzzle falling into place!

What is happening today in the main stream churches is a falling away…How else can we explain what is happening!  How this will unfold worldwide we don't know yet, but it looks like it will be a precursor for the real Anti Christ and all we have been warned would happen.    

Earlier this year Darrow Miller shares about the state of the Evangelical Church in Germany prewar - and it is very telling.  The pre war Church in Germany was silent and even gave their blessing for Adolf Hitler.  Only a small remnant....and this is what is the most chilling part ...a very small number stood up and opposed Hitler.  And that dear friends is what should concern us all very much today - Are the conditions right for the anti Christ to appear?  Remember out of the devastation of the 1st world war…..Adolf Hitler appeared as a saviour for Germany and ascended to power.  If another world war happens or catastrophe which shakes the world…...who do we think may appear out of the ashes?  

As a boy I listened to stories my great auntie Florence would share, she was a strong Christian. She lived through the 2nd world war and understood exactly what it would have meant if Hitler invaded the UK.    For them at that time Hitler was seen by many evangelicals as the Anti Christ.   But the state of the German church at that time and what happened to it, how do we explain this?   Hitler was seen as the saviour?  And given the way things are today....people are still looking for a saviour, but not seeking or following after Jesus Christ.  And what does God do with such a people who refuse to love the truth ? God will give them a powerful delusion....as we can see from the History of the 20th century...we can see parallels....but what of the 21st Century?

The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder, and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. For this reason, God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie, in order that judgment will come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.  2 Thessalonians 2: 9-12

Some qoutes below to reflect on:

Qoute 1

Right from the very beginning, Franz Jägerstätter refused to cooperate or support the Nazis, who took over power in Austria in 1938, as he viewed Christianity and Nazism as being completely irreconcilable. Franz Jägerstätter had a dream which he felt was a warning to him against Nazism: in it, he saw a train carrying innumerable people to perdition, and its meaning was “unveiled” to him as representing the Nazi Party with all its attached organizations. dioezese-linz.at/   

Qoute 2 

Well before the Anschluss, Franz had been an anti-Nazi, but the event that brought his aversion to a much deeper level was a remarkable dream he had in January 1938. Perhaps it was triggered by a newspaper article he had read a few days earlier reporting that 150,000 more young people had been accepted into the Hitler Youth movement.

In the dream he saw “a wonderful train” coming round a mountain. The gleaming engine and carriages seemed especially attractive to children, who “flowed to this train, and were not held back.” Then a voice said to him, “This train is going to hell.” He woke Franziska to tell her of his dream and continued to think about it long afterward. The train, he realized, symbolized the glittering Nazi regime with all its spectacles and its associated organizations, Hitler Youth being one of the most important and spiritually corrupting.

The dream seemed to Franz a clarifying message from heaven. The Nazi movement — with its racism, its cult of violence, its elimination of those members of society regarded as unfit, its efforts to suppress Christianity — was satanic. It was nothing less than a gateway to hell.

From the introduction to Franz Jägerstätter: Letters and Reflections from Prison, edited by Erna Putz and published by Orbis Books Jim and Nancy Forrest 

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© Peter N Millward

Jerusalem - William Blake

Jerusalem - William Blake

William Blake’s splendid and stirring hymn “Jerusalem”

“And did those feet in ancient time, 
Walk upon England's mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On England's pleasant pastures seen!”

It was always a mystery, singing it at school, wondering as we sang… “And did those feet in Ancient Times walk upon England’s mountains green?” Well…Did they? But I finally understood a few years ago. Blake was asking four rhetorical questions, questioning a popular myth. (There was a myth going around during the time of Blake, some believed Jesus visited England as a boy.) William Blake’s amazing response was – Jerusalem!.

Unfortunately all through my school days and even attending churches – It would seem – No one actually understood the kind of treasure this hymn represents.…So many still don’t know the meaning of William Blake’s profound poem or implications!.The poem turned into the stirring and marvelous anthem and hymn by Sir Hubert Parry, is still speaking to those who want to build Jerusalem – But Blake’s poem is for mobilizing the Church to do the works God prepared for those who love Him. Blake underneath the poem writes scripture “Would to God that all the Lord’s people were Prophets” Numbers 11:29

William Blake’s poem puts the rhetorical question, 4 times – Did Jesus visit England’s green and pleasant land? And in the last line writes – “And was Jerusalem built here, Among these dark Satanic Mills?” The answer is obviously – No! But then William Blake, a Non-Conformist Christian, concerned about all the social injustice and exploitation of the poor – gives the inspiring response in the next lines – In other words it is a prophetic call to all God’s people to be the hands and feet of Jesus in England – The true church, the body of Christ to walk upon England’s mountains green making a difference, bringing heaven to earth. In the light of Church history – With the likes of the Wesleys, Charles Spurgeon, George Muller, General Booth and many, many others….we can see Jesus did make a difference to England through His people……But if we fast forward to 1973 and listen to “Jerusalem” played by the band, Emerson Lake and Palmer – Would you believe their version got banned by the BBC in 1973! but what about today? How far have things drifted? But the call to build Jerusalem – still goes forth and will be answered by those who will understand!

And did those feet in ancient time, 
Walk upon England's mountains green: 
And was the holy Lamb of God, 
On England's pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine, 
Shine forth upon our clouded hills? 
And was Jerusalem builded here, 
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold: 
Bring me my Arrows of desire: 
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold: 
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight, 
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand: 
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In England's green & pleasant Land.

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 Artwork - © Peter N Millward