The most frequently mentioned command in the Bible is ‘do not fear’. Both Old Testament (OT) and New Testament (NT). That little command is mentioned approximately 365 times. Just sufficient mentions to remind us, every day of the year that we should not be afraid. I’ve often thought that Scripture says it so often exactly because God knows that we will fear and so He needs to remind us every day not to! The biggest overarching theme in the Bible is likely the Kingdom of God. In a way it links to the most common command, ‘do not fear.’ 

Christmas season is a challenging time for many. It’s a lovely time for some. It’s a significant spiritual celebration for most who are on the Way. But it is a difficult and lonely time for so many people in the world. I’ve been preaching on crisis and healing over the past while. Christmas comes as a historical crisis time to some. A season that comes upon them as a historical and annually lived, mini-crisis. This month’s blog is more sermonic than usual. Human existence is oftentimes about dealing with crisis and loss. If you’ve not yet realized it, following Jesus is not a detour around crisis, loss and suffering.

As Western Society becomes increasingly secular, any knowledge of scripture in society is mostly reduced to phrases we use in ordinary speech not necessarily knowing they originate from the Bible. Phrases like ‘a drop in the bucket’, or ‘the root of the matter’, or ‘a little bird told me’, or ‘by the sweat of your brow’, or ‘eat drink and be merry’, or ‘pride goes before a fall’ are all derived from scripture and are all used in our everyday conversation. A common attitude toward scripture now, is that the Bible is an antiquated,  irrelevant book that a group of people called Christians base their dated faith on.

I have never been a party-political animal. Not even in South Africa, where the stakes were and remain very high. And since I cannot yet vote in Canada, even less so here. I have at times proudly referred to myself at as ‘apolitical.’ Well, apolitical at least in a party-political sense. I have always been more about the politics of Jesus. Sort of a Jesus revolution, ‘I belong to a different Kingdom attitude.’ Vote? Why bother…As Church leaders our call is to preach and embody the Gospel of the Kingdom and to let the chips fall where they will.

Traditionally, when we are speaking about taming or binding the strong man, it would be relating to spiritual warfare and drawing, with fairly free interpretation, from Scriptures such as, Psalms 18, 11, 35, 91, 56, 124; Is. 49; Jn. 12 and more. In my previous blog I hinted at discussing the use of the imprecatory Psalms as it relates to defeating our real enemy who is the Satan- the Hebrew includes the definite article the (ha-Satan). In English we tend just to say Satan as a proper noun, but I suggest that loses emphasis on who he is as our accuser or adversary.

I am fascinated by the vengeance or ‘imprecatory / cursing’ Psalms. What are they doing in Scripture? Are we meant to be praying them? I mean, I’ve heard people advocating that we can pray this against our ‘enemies’, but that we need to ensure that our hands and hearts are clean in the process. Seriously? I don’t know who you are, but my ‘hands and heart’ are never that clean! In any event, Jesus says something radically different and we are the people of His Way.