It was cold when I woke up. There was frost on the ground, and the sky was blue, without a cloud on the horizon. The morning service went well. I led and Emmanuel Hartiel preached on the end of James 3. There were a good number of people. After the service, we ate together before one of the members reported on a recent trip to Israel. It was a good time of fellowship, the sun was bright and for the first time this year, it was slightly warm.
Month: May 2013
Pentecost Monday in Pontivy
Each year, Evangelical churches from Brittany organise a day of ministry and fellowship in the small town of Pontivy. A speaker is invited, and about 300 people attend. This year’s theme was “suffering” and the speaker was an Englishman called Gordon Margery, who ministered in Brittany for many years before moving in another part of France. It was a good day. It didn’t rain and the children enjoyed it. Most of the Guingamp church had come along and we had a good time seeing friends.
A conversation with a Mason
This morning, I was in Lanvollon for the market. It’s a small town with a small market. We’ve had a few good conversations there in the past.
As I was standing with our little trolley, a man approached me. He first said he had tried to read the Bible but was never able to finish it. He added that he had to swear on the Bible when he was induced in a masonic lodge many years ago. We had an interesting chat. He was a very sad man. He was mourning the loss of his daughter and had also lost his wife. He said he was a Darwinist but seemed to be looking for hope by attending some spiritist meetings, going to see some mediums… he had also attended various occult movement and read a lot on the subject. I thought it was odd, and tried to point to him that Darwinism and believing in an afterlife were contradictory but he didn’t seem to catch what I said. We talked for a while and he left with a tract.
It was sad. He clearly was hopeless, and was aware of it.
When people are BIG and God is small
[amazon_link id=”0875526004″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]
[/amazon_link]I was recently given some books. One of them was [amazon_link id=”0875526004″ target=”_parent” container=”” container_class=”” ]”When people are BIG and God is small” by Edward T Welch[/amazon_link]. The title caught my attention. It starts with an observation: the fear of man is a recurrent problem. The fear of man can take different shapes and names: codependency, peer-pressure, people-pleasing… the author gives a powerful diagnostic of one of our basic problems: we put people higher than we should. He also highlights why we fear others. At the end of the day, the fear of man is a form of idolatry where we put other men above God.
What’s the proper cure for the fear of man? To learn to fear God. We must meditate on God and His character. He is much more powerful and loving than we realize. We must also understand that our basic needs are physiological and spiritual but not psychological. The idea that human beings have also some basic psychological needs is not found in Scripture. For example, it’s not so much that we “need” to be loved. In fact, we want to be loved. There’s a difference between needing something and wanting it. If there’s one thing we need it’s probably to show more love rather than wait to receive more.
It was a helpful read. I realized that many of my decisions and attitudes are often guided by the fear of man, rather than the fear of God. It is a practical book, grounded in Scriptures and with many real life examples. There’s plenty of helpful exercises that will helped me get the most of my reading. If you haven’t read it, get a copy. I am sure you will find it helpful.