Category: Uncategorized

Are we suffering for the right reasons?

When we lived in Cardiff, I worked with a guy claiming to be a Christian. We”ll call him Bob.

Bob was a nice guy, but he talked a lot. He talked a lot about himself and some of the strange situations he had faced. He talked about God protecting him through angels, throwing others away, or restraining them from hurting him. Maybe it was true, maybe it was just his imagination at work. I don’t know.I suppose it was his way to glorify God. But the problem with Bob is that he was arrogant. He was also a bit lazy. After a while, people started avoiding him. He ran into troubles with our supervisor because he was always talking, and hardly working. I think he honestly thought he was being persecuted because of his faith. But really, he was paying for his own foolishness and lack of wisdom. He talked so much about himself that he never spoke about the gospel. Others had to do his work because he was talking instead of working. In the end, he was disciplined for his behavior and sacked. I was sad for him.

Over the last few weeks, I have read through 1 Peter several times. Peter talks a lot about suffering. The people he was writing to were going through serious trials. Peter writes to them insisting that their lives should be without reproach in the eyes of the world. They must be exemplary citizens, wives, husbands, workers. They must make sure that if they are persecuted, it is not because of their foolish behaviour, but because of their faith. I am certain that one of the reasons why Peter thought it was necessary to write to them was that a few christians were persecuted for the wrong reasons.

There is no doubt that many believers today suffer for their faith in Christ. But I wonder how many professing christians in the West are suffering for the wrong reasons. How many times have we brought troubles upon ourselves not because of our faith, but because we have been foolish? I wonder…

When the Scriptures are at work.

We often read Scriptures casually, out of habit, or at least I do. It doesn’t seem to have much impact. It doesn’t feel relevant. We know the stories but don’t really take time to meditate on their meaning. At this stage, many give up and stop reading altogether. What is the point?

But sometimes, when we take time to meditate, and make an effort to reflect on the Scriptures, we can really feel the impact of the Word on our life and thoughts.

Over the last few weeks, the book of Habakuk has been working in my mind and heart. I have read and re-read it several times. I have looked into commentaries, and it has been working on my mind day and night.

Hababkuk is perplex. He doesn’t understand God’s ways. He doesn’t that God would not answer his prayers about unrepentant Israël. But When God answer, he questions his method for judging Israël. His experience of God doesn’t seem to reflect what he knows. Many people today would have given up by now. But Habakuk was a man of faith. he waited patiently and God answered: “the just shall live by faith”. At the end of a long struggle, Hababkuk gets it. I’ll let you read the book to find out the answer. It will take about 10 minutes of your time.

I am slowly getting the message of Habakuk. But it is a painful process.

What about you. Is the Word at work within you?

Public meeting with the local council

The local council is organizing meetings in various parts of the town to share some of their projects, but also meet the citizens and answer some of their questions. I was able to go to the one organized in the town hall on Saturday morning. The most interesting part of the meeting was listening to the various people’s concerns and questions.

Most were elderly folks. I was one of the younger ones. Their main concern was a feeling of insecurity. There are a few young people creating trouble around. Some garages and basements are regularly broken in, and they are noisy at night. It is a pain, and a very real problem, but as people talked, I realized that one reason for these is that there probably has never been any communication with these young people when they were children. If those older folks had shown interest in these young people and their families when they were children 15 or 20 years ago, maybe they could go and talk with them, and the situation would be easier.

Someone gave an interesting testimony. He had seen an older gentleman running after some young people, accusing them to have stolen his bike. He went to talk with them and explained that the man needed his bicycle, and that if they knew who had stolen the bike, they should give it back before the man goes to the police. One hour later, the bicycle was back.

But folks here are quite cold. I can say that because I am a local. People keep to themselves and a narrow circle of friends. They hardly know each other. They don’t talk to strangers. They don’t welcome new folks. While we were in Brittany, we felt we had a warm welcome from the local population. It took a few months, but after a while, it got easier and people were more open.

Here, the only people who have welcomed us and who have come to talk to us are ‘strangers’. They come from other parts of France. We are not unique. I was sharing about this with the headmistress recently. She is also from another region. She has also found that most of the people they have come to know as a family are not locals. Strange hey? No wonder a number of young people create trouble. Nobody ever showed interest in them in the first place.

Eglise Protestante Evangélique Lyon 3eme

On Sunday, I was in Lyon with my two older boys. We were there for the football match: Lyon vs Guingamp. Kick off being at 2pm, we left early so that we could be in church in the morning. I wanted the closest church to the train station for easy access, but also to get to the stadium quickly at the end of the service.

We found the church easily. They meet in what was probably a shop. There is a big window and people walking past it can see what’s going on inside. That is great as there was a market up the road, and some shops were open in the street. Many people walked past the church during the service.

We had a warm welcome. We were there early, and the pastor welcomed us, as well as a Korean missionary. People arrived slowly. It is a small work, but I was struck by the diversity. It is a Korean church plant by the JDM (Jesus Disciple Movement). So there were Koreans. But there were some French and Cambodians too, as well as two black men. The service was straightforward, and I enjoyed the sermon from Acts 13.

If you are looking for a church in Lyon, there is no doubt you’ll be warmly welcomed there.

The school council

I was part of the school council when we were in Pabu. It was interesting. Meetings went smoothly. There was a good relationship between the teaching staff and the parents. The village council was committed to the school. It was a small village as well. But I think the Breton mentality with their hard working ethos helped make things go well.
Things are so different here. I thought it would be interesting to get elected here again. So, I am a member of the primary school council here. The first meeting was yesterday. It was the complete opposite to the situation in Brittany. The relationship with the town council could be better, and the relationship between the headmistress and the parents is not the best ever.
There were long discussions on various topics, and everyone wanted to have a say. But it is still good to be part of this.