SAINTS ALIVE!!?

POPE BENEDICT XVI NAMES 5 new saints. We see him here waving to the faithful as he arrives to celebrate a mass for their canonisation.

'...the Pope claims the authority to declare certain individuals as saints after their death on the basis of certain criteria established by the Catholic Church. from among the millions of Catholics only a tiny minority would ever be recognised as saints by the Vatican.'

I remember my mother often declared people to be saints! If someone ever came to our special aid in time of need, she would say that he or she 'is a real saint'! To her anyone who did some special act of goodness or kindness was a saint. No doubt the early Fathers of the Church may have felt that the Apostles, including Paul, deserved to be singled out as 'special' Saints, and thus given the 'title' of Saint; thus St. Paul, St. Luke and so on! JESUS seems to have missed out on that. He was altogether against giving people titles, including Himself. He was against any thing that would assist us in being puffed up with self conceit and pride. One wonders then how long it took the Church Fathers to decide on designating the Apostles as Saints. Even today the Catholic Church appears to wait until a person is long dead before conceding they may have been good enough to be a Saint.
BUT the question should be asked - ' Does a person have to be proved good in order to be recognised as a Saint?' When Jesus was addressed as 'Good Master' he said - 'Why do you call Me good? There is none good save One?' Yes indeed the Bible says there is none good, no not one! Of course, to actually recognise that He is Good we have also recognise that He is in fact GOD' - or that God dwells in Him. Only another person that might believe to have God IN him might consider that all his own sin and fault has been covered up by the Goodness of God which has come to dwell in him. And, of course, this IS the Good News, that God has loved us enough to let our badness to be covered up by His Goodness in Christ Jesus. Christ has become our Righteousness, our Rightness and Goodness, and everyone that has believed and accepted this has in effect become a Saint of God. Sainthood is achieved by believing in the Work of Salvation purchased for us by Christ on the Cross. It is Jesus that MAKES and CREATES Saints. No man in whose flesh sin still dwells can do this. It is the Work of God Himself.
It is interesting that Paul, the Apostle, addressed his Letters to the Churches by referring to those in the Church as 'saints' 1.Corinthians 1v2 / 2.Corinthians 1v1 / Ephesians 1v1 / Philippians 1v1 / Colossians 1v1. In those days if you were a Believer then you were a saint by faith. This was the Calling and the Vocation upon each brother and sister in the Lord Jesus. Wonderful! I mean we are, all of us in Christ, still men and women, imperfect, and able to be tempted to sin. YET we may be seen as saints in the making, working flat out to attain our full potential in Jesus. I do not have to put a Capital letter to the word and make it a title to be known by. No, I am a saint in the rough, not yet finished; still being polished, but none the less a saint by description because of Christ IN me. Think about it. If you have called upon Christ, then you have turned your life around from being a willful and intentional sinner, to being a willful and intentional SAINT. This is now your goal as you head home to God.

MAYBE someone reading this will think I am pushing Christian ideas to much. Sorry, no apology. The Way to sainthood and perfection may ONLY be found by imitating Christ. He says of Himself, I AM the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE. There is no other way to go, no other example to follow. WOW. Think about this in all seriousness, and do not MISS your way. Do not follow the wrong person.

And just to CEMENT these words a little, I want to quote from Colossians 1v15-23 and also 3v5-13 I am using the JB PHILLIPS translation of these verses as found in his little book 'Letters to Young Churches'.

NOW CHRIST is the visible expression of the invisible God.

He existed before creation began, for it was through Him that everything was made,

whether spiritual or material, seen or unseen.

Through Him and for him, also, were created power and dominion, ownership and authority.

In fact every single thing was created through, and for Him.

He is both the First Principle and the Upholding Principle of the whole scheme of creation.

And now He is the head of the Body which is composed of all Christian people.

Life from nothing began through Him, and life from the dead began through Him,

and He is, therefore, justly called the Lord of all.

It was in Him that the full nature of God chose to live,

and through him God planned to reconcile in His Own Person, as it were,

everything on earth, and everything in Heaven by virtue of the sacrifice of the Cross

AND YOU YOURSELVES, who were strangers to God,

and in fact, through the evil things you had done, His spiritual enemies, He has now reconciled

through the death of His Body on the Cross, so that He might welcome you to His presence clean and pure,

without blame or reproach.

This reconciliation assumes, of course, that you maintain a firm position in the faith,

and do not allow yourselves to be shifted away from the hope of the Gospel, which you have heard.

and which, indeed, the whole world is now having an opportunity of hearing.

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IN SO FAR, then, as you have to live upon this earth, consider yourselves dead to worldly contacts:

have nothing to do with sexual immorality, dirty-mindedness, uncontrolled passion, evil desire,

and the lust for other people's goods.

It is because of these things that the holy anger of God falls upon those who refuse to obey Him.

And never forget that you had your part in those dreadful things when you lived that old life.

BUT NOW, PUT ALL THESE THINGS BEHIND YOU.

No more evil temper or furious rage: no more evil thoughts or words about others,

no more evil thoughts or words about God, and no more filthy conversations.

Don't tell each other lies any more, for you have finished with the old man, and all that he did

and have begun life as a new man, who is out to learn what he ought to be

according to the plan of God.

In this New Man of God's Design there is no distinction between Greek and Hebrew,

Jew or Gentile, foreigner or savage, slave or free man.

Christ is all the matters, for Christ lives in them all.

AS THEREFORE GOD'S PICKED REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NEW HUMANITY

purified and beloved of God Himself, be merciful in action, kindly in heart, humble in mind.

Accept life, and be most patient and tolerant with one another,

always ready to forgive if you have a difference with anyone.

Forgive as freely as has the Lord forgiven you.'

Reading this just a few days back REFRESHED my determination to make them good in my daily life. So often we approve what we read but then neglect to implement ay of it.....so easy to go away from the 'mirror' of God's Holy Word and forget how different we are to what we saw there.

Our 'sainthood' gets a bit stale - gets a bit dimmed - THIS IS NOT right! We should not wait for the Trumpet to Sound for Christ to Come before applying ourselves to being worthy of that High Calling. THIS IS A WAKE UP CALL. WAKE UP!

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EIGHT MORE CHILDREN COMMITTED to our care this week by the Courts. AND not for three years either, but each one until they are 18! Relative to what I shared last week we can say we have a 50/50 reaction so far. But I think there is hope for a proper revision of what the Government has stated.

IT HAS CONTINUED TO RAIN, but not abnormally - gently and prolonged. Of course it ought NOT to be raining now, but we are glad to see it continuing. There has been flooding and storm damage in the West of Kenya, but so far it has not been quite so serious in our area.

Our Secondary School 4th formers commence their National Examinations next week and so quite a few tense lives trying to squeeze last minute knowledge into their memories. They will continue for 3 days. On 15th one of our boys went off to University to continue his B.Com Degree. We had to find Ksh.80,000/-. This cleared the Bank Account, and left us with only about 20 pounds sterling in the kitty! We waved goodbye and continued to pray! The next morning my Secretary came into my office with a crumpled envelope. "This was just left for you" she said. I opened it and inside was a cheque for Ksh.210,000/- (about 1900 pounds sterling). No note or letter. We knew the sender, but he could not have known our need. This was yet again an amazing unforeseen provision. Thank you Father. How truly Wonderful is Your Name.

I have missed Daryl day by day. But on the other hand his absence has not in any way upset or hindered the work. Everyone has helped, and in fact this week has been much blessed. We hear Daryl has in fact found re-employment and so at least he is secure. God knows the way we take, and He does arrange our steps (even the steps of a rebel, I think).

There was a Parent & Teachers Meeting today in the School, and Esther actually announced her impending Retirement at the end of this current Term. A lot of disappointment, but we feel the Lord has take care of it, and that the School will not suffer in any way ultimately.

Joshua Mbithi is to have a further Operation on his right leg sometime next week. The Consultant thinks another nodule has grown on the other side of his spine once again crunching against a nerve. Poor dear brother has really had to deal with further pain and discomfort, both day and night. The consultant has stated that his spine is in a degenerative condition - no treatment has so far been suggested apart from the op. Joshua is anxious about the future, and feels unwilling to continue having one operation after another indefinitely. He really does need prayer. And Miriam also of course, but she is very upset and worried about his condition.

OTHERWISE ALL IS WELL WITH US ALL, and with the children. We are thankful. We pray for your own encouragement and blessing day by day. Accept of our Love in the Lord Jesus.

John and Esther