If you are looking for a wonderful love story, look no further than to your Savior Jesus Christ and his love for you, a member of the church, his bride. For he loves you more than you know and will do so for all eternity: And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21:2).

Most everybody likes a good romance. And I’m not talking about a wishy-washy teen romance, but a good hearty love story where the characters have substance, face serious obstacles, mature, and come together in the end after much tribulation. Why is the love genre, or just a love story in a larger narrative, so captivating? Could it be because we were created to love, and we are longing to know and experience that perfect love that we so often only see shadows of?
True love is lived out by God himself for his people.
True love is understood and seen when we look at God’s love. This love is lived out by God himself for his people. One of the most beautiful images in the Scriptures is Christ Jesus, the groom, and the church as Christ’s bride.
This bride was one in need of redemption—she was a slave to sin. She was dirty—in need of cleansing. She was guilty—in need of righteousness. She was impure—in need of holiness. She was dressed in filthy rags—in need of a glorious wedding gown. None of these things that she needed could she manufacture in her own strength, and there was nothing about her that made her lovable.
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I have not yet developed a method for the quick and reliable identification of kooks, but I may begin working on it soon. Perhaps I will call it the Fawkes Protocol. The local church is a precious gift from God. It is place where Christ’s sheep should be able to rest each week in the green pastures of God’s truth and beside the still waters of his grace.

As I sipped my morning coffee on a brisk November morn, I reviewed the day’s schedule and noticed one appointment that iCalendar had scheduled without my consent: Election Day
Ignoring that intrusion for the moment, I proceeded to browse the latest headlines and, as usual, it was all bad news: War, terrorism, hate, bigotry, conspiracies, politics, scandals, indictments, etc.
After that, I visited a few Christian sites to see what was happening in the Kingdom of God and, sadly, I found much of the same (without the war and terrorism, of course). Everyone is on edge and that is a very dangerous place to be.
Two days prior was Guy Fawkes Day, so I made the mental connection: Our culture seems to be sitting on a proverbial stockpile of explosives. Whether that is due to some kind of plot or not, I will leave to the conspiracy theorists to debate. My only concern is not being around when it finally explodes.
I cannot, of course, leave the world; but I can take calculated measures to keep the world at a safe distance. You might want to do the same.
This begins in the heart as we set our minds on things above, remember that the Lord is at hand, and meditate upon worthy things.
The home must also be guarded. Turn off the news. Better yet, get rid of your television set all together. And as for that device in your pocket, try using it as an actual phone. Call someone and have a conversation.
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It’s important to remember that we are all a work in progress. That others have laboured had in us than we’ll ever know. And that men cannot be changed by giving the right answers, by guilt or beating them with the truth. We have to be patient as we call on the one who changes people from inside out to do his work. But we can be patient with others because God is very patient with us. Just look at how Jesus was patient with the disciples. Even after his death and resurrection he still has to seek them out. He still has to go for Thomas and Peter. How many times do you think God has sought you out?

The work of discipleship is both easy and hard. It is clear and messy. Straightforward and yet deeper than we imagine. It’s possible to say that person is sorted now only to find yourself dealing with the unthinkable. Easy to tick a box too early and assume growth. But the fact that we are lifelong disciples means none of us have arrived yet and it won’t be that easy discipling others. The problem comes when we start hearing the kind of answers we want to hear. We assume people who give the right answers to theological questions are ready for the next level of discipleship; leadership and teaching opportunities. We figure out if they understand predistination surely they can lead young people. They get the trinity then they can disciples others. They have read far and wide on God’s sovereignty, get them a new believers class to teach.
But perhaps instead of focusing on the answers people give we should focus more on the questions we ask. We need to be careful that people aren’t telling us exactly what we want to hear which happens a lot. We need to ask our questions in way that let’s people know it’s okay to speak their minds. In an environment that doesn’t make people feel foolish if they get things wrong. One thing I’ve learnt from many of us in Africa is that we hate to look foolish so we would rather guess or pretend to know than say something that makes people laugh at our intelligence. Perhaps that’s why question and answer sessions don’t work very well with us. You may have to draw it out and be vulnerable in a more friendly environment. And when you ask questions the last thing you want is to make us feel like we are in an examination setting. We hate that. So what kind of questions should we ask?
One I would say questions that lead us to the heart more than the head. You’ve probably heard this saying that there’s always a question behind the question. That’s the question you want to get to. If someone is asking all these hard theological questions about God’s sovereignty in suffering answering them theologically is not enough. You need to also get behind it all and see what exactly is it that they are struggling with.
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