Our Good Friday was grey and wet this year. But although the School was shut over the weekend, the Church Service was reasonably full, and the Lord was wonderfully present as children, staff and outside members of the Fellowship shared and took part in the Meeting, with song, exhortation and testimony...... it was good especially to see so many of our children ready to stand and identify with the Saviour. I spoke briefly on the amazing quality of our Father's Love that caused Jesus to offer His Own Life to save us.
Later the JESUS film based on Luke's Gospel was shown in all four Homes, and there were fellowships and prayer.
TODAY is the day in between - the dark night before the glorious dawn. A quiet day
when life goes on, and we shall meet each other and there will be talk of the One we Love.
IN TODAY'S PAPER I read the following -
FORGIVENESS, repentance and reconciliation dominated Easter Sermons across the country yesterday (Good Friday). Religious Leaders deplored the violence that was witnessed during and after the December 27th elections, and said Kenyans should never again allow electoral politics to divide them
They asked the faithful to embrace virtues such as loving one another, to prmote national cohesion.
It is strange how the media report things, and even stranger how they phrase things.
Who are these 'faithful' and to what are they faithful? Are they in fact Christians - are they faithful to Christ or to the Church? Are they referring to those who think of themselves as Christians regardless of denomination, or to those of one particular group? Either way they could merely be referring to the adherants of the 'Church' as an organisation. Then to say that such people should embrace virtues 'like' loving one another. It would of course be something wonderful to behold if the 88% or so of Kenya's population that refer to themselves as 'Christian' actually DID love one another, but those genuinely in the Ministry would say that less than 2% are actually concerned with LIVING THE LIFE of Christ, thus leaving some 80% having the name but without substance. TRULY the Faithful in and to Christ OUGHT ALL TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER in word and deed. Our Lord Himself stated that those that were truly HIS would be known (shown up to belong to Him) by their love for each other - a love just like His Own.
Then the question rises should such love be 'embraced' or should it in any case come upon us as Christ Himself enters into us by His Spirit? Should not such love actually be irristibly growing in a true Christian committed to following after His Steps?
If we are NOT so striving to let His Love flow out to others in the same Faith, our own position needs to stand in question. Without Love we are nothing. Without Love we have nothing. And the QUALITY of that Love has to match the Love with which we ourselves are loved by God the Father, and through Him, by Christ Himself upon the Cross.
The fact is in Kenya, and all over our planet, men and women that have taken Christ into their lives still often dilute HIS love with their own 'conditional love' dependant on their own traditions, human and personal inclinations and feelings. We all find it a challenge to love one another (even within the Family) unconditionally as WE ourselves are loved. One would think we all are all without sin at times! How far each one of us really is from true 'perfection'. We seem to take it for granted that because Christ died and rose again, that our manifold sins are overlooked and of little account; we are cleansed........ BUT ARE WE PERFECT? Can we afford to be arrogant and judgmental in our relationships with each other? Do we not ALL now still need to be forgiven - YES YOU AND I NEED TO BE FORGIVEN till the Trumpet sounds, and in the Great Mercy and Grace of God we are finally and forever CHANGED. Till then I need to actively and practically LOVE my brother and sister in christ, and my neighbour also, as myself.
OUR GENERATION is DARK and the work of our Enemy almost complete in overwhelming the Goodness of God. A generation has begun that hardly knows the name of Joseph!! The Disciple of the Lord has great need to be SEEN and HEARD wherever he or she goes. We need to be LIGHT. We need to keep our HEAD above water, and refuse to be washed away.
AND MOST OF ALL we need to rally each other by ensuring that we do not lose sight of the need to be in touch with each other.
Those first brothers and sisters of ours in the early Church, were daily in touch with each other. Remembering Christ's Love and Sacrifice together, rejoicing, exhorting and encouraging each other......looking all the time for His Coming. Today we have the E-mail, mobile phones that link so many of us without taking a step outside our homes and offices. We still meet together once in a while, but we could be in touch, and ought to be in touch more and more (not with ALL the Family of course but at least with our own close circle - remembering that each one in the circle has his or her own circle so that the effect finally entertains EVERYONE.
Come brethren let me encourage you. Reach out to others of a like mind and lift up Christ - Let us not be ashamed to BE part of each other's life and testimony.
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MORE THAN THIRTY THOUSAND still languish in the Eldoret Show Ground apparantly destitute and on the run from their fears. Now with the onset of the Rainy season we may also have to grapple with the possibility of disease and sickness adding to their misery.
This week TFH has taken a family of four children into care. All living with their grandparents in one tent at the Show Ground. Their parents had died, and their aged grandparents home was burned to the ground in the Trouble. Both of them are over 80. Two boys 7 and 9 and two girls 12 and 14. The Girls have gone into Jacaranda Cottage and one each of the boys into Drakely and Tyndale. The Homes are now MORE than full to capacity having 145 + in residence. We have now taken more than 10 children from the Show Ground - all orphans - since January began. The Children's Forum have taken another 40 or so between the different Homes represented. Hardly noticeable against the numbers still left there. Still the Lord knows. At least SOME have found home and safety, and MORE IMPORTANT an opportunity to grow in the knowledge of the Saviour.
We have had one or two letters asking why we do not share more about financial need and costs. We have always felt a need NOT to do this unless we are specifically asked to do so privately,. Our testimony has always been that the Lord is the one who hears our prayers and sees our need, and that if we made all this known and advertised it would be harder to give HIM all the honour and glory due to Him. But we are and always have been willing to share if asked specifically on any issue privately for the purpose of private prayer. We have no wish to be seen as 'secretive' or deceptive in any way - but we do feel that He wants us to continue in honesty and sincerety trusting in Matthew 6v6 as a means of revealing His Reallity to all men.
We have also been having quite a lot of requests for photos.
We would suggest that if you have need of photos please get in touch with our son Steven or with Ian Hogley - addresses and contach here below.
STEVEN GREEN E-mail S1green@onetel.net.ukIAN HOGLEY E-mail ianhogley@ntlworld,com
This must be all for today. Esther and I are about to go across to Tyndale Cottage to have fellowship with the 'family' there for an hour or two. Must take an umbrella - it looks like a downpour again any time.
God Bless you all
John and Esther and all at TFH
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