Woody's Words

LIVING THE KINGDOM LIFESTYLE Part 3 A LETTER FROM PETER - 4:12-16 Suffering for Being a Christian 12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. 14 If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. 15 If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. 16 But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!  (1 Peter 4:12-16 - NLT) We need to keep in mind that these are not Jewish people to whom Peter is writing, used to being persecuted, taken into slavery and discriminated against, but rather Gentiles, to who

LIVING THE KINGDOM LIFESTYLE Part 1 A LETTER FROM PETER -  4:1-3 Living for God So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. 2 You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. 3 You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols. (1 Peter 4:1-3 - NLT) Peter has developed his blueprint for the new Christian community and in 2:9-10 he has outlined God’s exciting and grand plan for His new, holy nation. Peter has gone on to flesh out behaviour norms for the citizens of this holy nation and what the kingdom lifestyle will look like. He has looked at domestic, fellowship and external relationships and he now moves on to

IS THE SALVATION ARMY FACING AN IDENTITY CRISIS? By David Woodbury General Brian Peddle There has been quite some discussion on the place of soldiership in the contemporary Salvation Army. However, it may well be that the discussion is a symptom of a deeper malaise. On the subject of soldiership Colonel Laurie Robertson spoke with General Brian Peddle during his visit to Australia: ”there has been a view expressed in our Other’s magazine by someone: Let’s lower it to just being a Christian.”   The General’s reply was in the least, highly definitive: “I’m not on that page, I’d lift it, I’d make it something quite significant for our young people. Young people who want to identify with something worth living for, or even dying for; it’s a cause, it’s a calling. If God’s calling me to that, don’t dumb it down,” The reference was to an article by Captain Peter Hobbs in Others , July 2018. I would want to affirm Peter for his enthusiasm, commitment, and his courage i

DEFENDING OUR FAITH A LETTER FROM PETER Chapter 3 – part 4 Suffering for Doing Good 13 Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats.15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. 17 Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong! ( 1 Peter  3:13-17 – NLT) Eager to do good Peter zeroes in on one of the primary targets of the kingdom lifestyle, the desire to do good. There are times when we do the right thing because it is the right thing; However, there are times when we pursue an acti

RESOURCES FOR THE DISCIPLE Part 2 By David Woodbury As we have noted, the call to following Jesus as a disciple is a challenging call, yet resourced and supported by Him. However, once again we must fix in our minds on the need to take the teachings of Jesus in their totality. If we cherry pick his teachings we run the real risk of not only distorting biblical teaching but also giving people false hope. ETERNAL LIFE 16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. 18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.   (John 3:16-18 - NLT) 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyo

The way Christians live 1 Peter chapter 3 - part 3 Peter now turns his attention to how the Christian behaves within the community. Many of our base human reactions need to be filtered and monitored through the lens of the kingdom lifestyle, and some of the human reactions which may seem acceptable within the community that surrounds us, don’t fit within the environment of Christian behaviour. 9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.  Revenge and retaliation For this Christian community payback or revenge can never be on the table. No matter how grievous the wrong perpetrated against us we can never stoop one of humanity’s most base reactions. Both the Old and New Testament speak directly against such actions: Don’t say, “I will get even for this wrong. ” Wait for the Lord to handle the matter. (Proverbs 20:22

Crucial building blocks in the kingdom 1 Peter 3 – Part 2 In this section Peter deals with more of the nuts and bolts issues in building this new kingdom of God. However, this time he looks at some the issues that will directly involve the Christian community. All Christians 8 Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.  Peter now turns from relationships in the home to relationships within the Christian community. However, we need to understand what he means when he bids us to be one mind. Disunity seems to have been an issue that has plagued the church since its inception and still continues until this day. It is certainly not a new concept in biblical literature, nor in the mind of Jesus. In His great high priestly prayer Jesus utters these words: I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their mes