Are you struggling with a storm in your life?

Photo by Nathan Hurst on Unsplash

Photo by Jason Blackeye on Unsplash

Photo by Erik Hathaway on Unsplash

There is an old seafaring tradition that if the ship sinks the captain should go down with the ship. Now I will be the first to admit that I don’t know much about sailing, but that sounds like the stupidest tradition of which  I have ever heard.  I think jumping into a life boat and living to sail another day would be much better. Many people today are in danger of going down with the ship, and have the type of attitude that says, “Since the ship is going down, I might as well go down with it.” The storm’s of discouragement, despair, and disbelief threaten to sink us, but rather than going down with the ship we must find a life boat because there is nothing noble about a senseless spiritual death. 

Storm Chasers

No one expected it to happen to him. He had been doing it for decades. He was considered a professional in the field of tornadoes research. We have all heard of adrenalin-crazed storm-chasers who, with reckless abandon, drive dangerously into storms with their cameras to prove they did it and survived. But Tim Samaras was not one of them. Samaras was respected around the world for his research into violent weather and tornadoes. He traced his fascination with tornadoes back to his childhood, when he first watched the violent storm sequence in ‘The Wizard of Oz’. That’s when he said he was ‘hooked for life.’

Samaras and his team starred on "Storm Chasers" for five years on the Discovery Channel, with the last show in the autumn of 2011. Speaking with a reporter from the National Geographic, in what would perhaps be his last interview, Samaras gave some advice about being safe in tornado country. 

Art - is it personal and subjective?

 Art is a personal and subjective matter. What you like might not appeal to me and vice versa! Having said that we all have an uncanny sense of appreciation for beauty and the value of great talent. This ability to appreciate seems to be both universal and unique to the human species.

The sheer beauty of the universe tells us something about God. Who designed the sunset, or created the backdrop of the rolling hills or the rugged mountains? Who sourced the sound of the quiet babbling of a brook or the thundering pounding of a mighty waterfall! Where did the variety of colours come from, the magnificence of natural sounds, the multiplicity of materials and texture? Was this all by chance or did the Creator design a tapestry of wonder that makes you think – why, how and who?

In general, despite all our brilliance, we have damaged our world. The Bible explains ‘by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin’, Romans 5:12. Sin and evil has damaged the beauty of our planet, and lives, as a result of our actions and behaviour. The Bible compares the original state of our world with it’s current state in these terms - “You made him (Adam, the first man) for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honour, putting everything in subjection under his feet…..at present we do not see yet everything in subjection to him….but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour that he by the grace of God should taste death for everyone”.

Life and it’s beauty do not last for ever; in fact things normally degenerate. God in the Bible offers to reverse the trend of deterioration in our lives by giving ‘beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness’. This offer is because of and through trust in His Son, Jesus Christ.

C S Lewis, the famous English author, spent many years of his life as a confirmed atheist. When he was 30 he became convinced that God was a reality. Two years later on the 1^st October 1931 he wrote to his friend Arthur, “I have just passed on from believing in God to definitely believing in Christ – in Christianity. The great story really is true. God really sent his Son. He really died for our sins. We really can have forgiveness and eternal life in the presence of the One to whom all the Joy was pointing”1.

“Tolle, quæso, tempus ad meditandum”

1.      The collected writings of C. S. Lewis, Vol. 1, Family Letters 1905-1931, ed Walter Hooper (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2004), p 974

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

Storm Survival Advice

Scripture Reading

Acts chapter 27

Scripture Verse

‘I believe God that it will be just as it was told me’

Acts 27:25

This part of the story is scary for anyone who does not like sailing. Paul is starting his journey to Rome where he will meet the Roman Emperor. The soldier who is guarding him is called, Julius.  Julius is a nice man. He is kind, thoughtful and polite. He must also have been good at his job. He was part of a group of important soldiers and he was the boss.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Judges

 

The book of Judges covers a period when the nation of Israel should have been settled and thriving in their land. It is the record of a history of thirteen men and one woman who guided their country through a period of roughly 450 years.

One of the key lessons from the book of Judges is that we all have a tendency to be disobedient to God. However, God often provides us with opportunities for recovery. After we are restored, it can be easy to fall back into a pattern of self-obsession, leading us to rebel again and eventually face God's discipline in our lives. This reflects many people's experiences: we don't consistently live in a way that pleases God and often revert to old patterns of sin and disobedience. This is why we need a fresh start (salvation), the forgiveness of sins and the new life that comes through repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ - see Bible quotations at the end of this post.

The main messages of the book emphasise that turning away from God leads to severe consequences in our lives. Nevertheless, Judges also reminds us of God's grace; He never gives up on us and always seeks to bring us back to Himself.

Through the Bible in 66 days - Joshua

 

The next book in the Bible is also full of excitement, the same as we have discovered in the previous books. In this book, Joshua, the military commander, has been instructed to take his nation into the land which God promised for his people, Israel. Imagine you have been presented with a new land to live in. Everything in it is going to be yours: towns, farms, food, animals, and wealth. The problem you're facing is this: it belongs to you, but you don't actually occupy it. You have to go into that new country and get rid of your enemies, and then enjoy the land that has been entrusted to you.

This might seem somewhat unfair to those who are already living in that land. To fully understand what's going on, you have to realise that the people and nations who occupied that land had for hundreds of years been involved in child abuse, child sacrifice, abuse of women, self-harming and many other practices which are so sinful, demeaning and damaging to people. God had warned them that He would judge them if they did not repent, and they had refused to listen to him. It's a bit like the story of Noah leading up to the flood. God had warned people for a long, long time that judgment would come, but they refused to listen.

Anstruther Lifeboat Station

 

At Anstruther in Fife, a new lifeboat station is being built with a new slipway to facilitate launching. Seven lifeboats have been stationed there since 1865, the latest being the Kingdom of Fife from 1991 to 2024. It was a Mersey class boat, but reaching the end of its operational life, it has been replaced by a Shannon class vessel, the beautiful, 13-47 Robert and Catherine Steen which arrived just over a year ago. It is superior in many ways, upgraded throughout and with a top speed of 25 knots. 

However, it is too big to fit inside the existing boathouse. So, at a cost of around £100,000, this new facility will be an all-round improvement for the benefit of the volunteer crew and for accommodating and launching the lifeboat to respond to emergency calls for help at sea.

“Saving lives at sea” has become a familiar slogan for the RNLI, and indeed that is its mission. Since its foundation in 1824 its crews have saved ​over 140,000 lives, some in the most difficult and dangerous conditions. Probably very few of us have had to call on them, but those who have, and have been rescued, are overwhelmingly grateful.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Deuteronomy

 

After 40 years in the desert, God's people are on the very edge of the Promised Land. It took a long time to get here; it should have taken 11 days to cross the desert, but due to their lack of faith, they ended up wandering as nomads for 40 years. Often, we take the hard road by not listening to God, not trusting Him and making life much more difficult for ourselves.

Eventually, they are finally ready for life to get better and to enjoy the amazing life that God has for them but they must adhere to His promises. In Deuteronomy, Moses repeats God's laws for Israel. The name of the book itself reminds us that this is the second time the law has been presented to the people.

How many times has God had to tell you the truth and you refuse to listen? Thankfully, He comes back time and again so that we can eventually understand. The Bible states that God speaks once and then twice, but that man often fails to grasp it.

Through Moses' words, God reveals His heart. He loves the nation of Israel and wishes them to love and trust Him in return. However, God doesn't want people who are simply robotic; He wants a genuine relationship with us. In fact, Deuteronomy feels almost like a wedding, where God binds Himself to this nation with promises of love and faithfulness. They responded with a dramatic mountain experience, pledging to be faithful to Him and to keep His law. While this was a promising start to their new life, their history shows it was not ultimately followed through.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Numbers

 

Unless you're a toddler or a maths teacher, the book of Numbers may not sound like an exciting read. However, several chapters in this book are particularly engaging, so don't be fooled. The events in Numbers are filled with drama, unexpected plot twists, and life lessons that are very relevant for today!

The book of Numbers continues to narrate the journey of God's people (Israel) through the desert as they travel to a new land. A journey that could have taken 11 days if they had listened to God and obeyed Him took forty years. Eventually, Moses brought them right to the edge of the Promised Land. Instead of entering it and trusting in God's power and promises, the people focused on all the dangers. You may remember the story of the twelve spies sent to explore the land. As children, we used to sing a song that said, "Ten were bad, two were good." The essence of the story teaches us that they should have believed that God could lead them into the land and protect them from their enemies. Ten of the spies focused on the problems and viewed the situation as an absolute disaster. This is often how people approach life: some see the positives, while others only see the problems. The bottom line is that God had promised to lead them from Egypt through the Red Sea, across the desert, and into the Promised Land, but they didn't trust Him.

High Flight by John Gillespie Magee Jr.

 

Just last week I was looking through a book compiled by Tim Peake where he showed some of the amazing pictures taken while he was on the International Space Station.  As an introduction to the book, Tim quoted the opening lines of the poem “High Flight” and, as I read it I was transported back to my school days when my English teacher Graham “Gunner” Davies used the poem as one of his lessons.

High Flight is a sonnet written in 1941 by war poet John Gillespie Magee Jr. and inspired by his experiences as a fighter pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. Magee began writing the poem on 18 August, while stationed outside London, and mailed a completed manuscript to his family on 3 September.

Magee's poem captures the exhilaration of flight and concludes with a sense of reaching toward the divine.

The poem goes like this………

"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.

Where never lark, or even eagle flew —

And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

– Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."

Blackpool - Pleasure & Poverty

 

The name of Blackpool, the Lancashire seaside town, brings to mind the many famous features that have kept the resort busy since the railway arrived in the middle of the nineteenth century.

The town, however, had humble beginnings, for it was a coastal hamlet in Medieval and Early Modern Times. Fleetwood was the main resort but its founder Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood went bankrupt. Thus, its decline led to an upsurge in visitors to Blackpool. This resulted in extensive development, generating even more visitors. Gas lighting arrived in 1852, water on the mains in 1864 and the town became the first municipality in the world to have electric street lighting in 1879. In 1885, the first section of the tramway appeared on the Promenade, being extended in later years. Blackpool became the only coastal town in the British Isles to have three piers.

This tremendous growth was brought about by the Lancashire Cotton Mill owners closing their factories for one week each year to service the machinery. Known as ‘Wakes Weeks’, each town’s mill would close for a different week. This provided nearby Blackpool with a frequent stream of workers and their families keen to enjoy a week away by the sea, The 1890’s saw the Blackpool Tower and the Grand Theatre opened. Along came the Golden Mile and the Pleasure Beach. The first Illuminations appeared in 1912,  extending the holiday season into October. Between the wars, Blackpool boomed, being a firm favourite with northeners, but by the 1960’s holidaymakers began to venture to sunnier places. The M55 motorway opened in 1975, making a day trip easier rather than a stayover.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - Leviticus

 

Have you ever watched a fantastic film that you wanted to see again and again? The story of God's rescue plan through Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection is just like that. It's so wonderful that the Bible talks about it repeatedly. One fascinating aspect of the salvation story is that it's predicted and described long before Jesus was born. This is the main point of Leviticus.

If you read Leviticus, you might think it's just a guide for priests on how to make different kinds of sacrifices, which can seem very old-fashioned and strange. The book provides detailed information about the steps and rules for these sacrifices.

Unlike many other books in the Bible, Leviticus is not a story. Instead, it serves as a detailed guide for God's people, Israel, on how to worship Him. It provided specific instructions that were to be followed closely.