Old Nick, 777, and Travel

Cannot make sense of the title? Then read on. It will soon become clear...

 

Some years ago I read a true story of a church pastor or elder attending a function at the home of one of his congregation. Nearby there was a female among the group, probably having not taken off her coat or clothed in some other protective garment. Then all of a sudden the Pastor approached her, took hold of both edges of her clothing, and pulled the garment open, exposing a considerable amount of flesh before standing back to look upon his work. She just stood there mortified, without saying a word, until he came to his senses and began to deliver a torrent of apologies. However, the lady must have been spiritual enough to assure him that he was forgiven and not to allow the incident to overcome him. Nevertheless, whether he stayed at the party afterwards, or made a quick exit, I wasn't sure, but it was impossible not to imagine the embarrassment he must have felt after returning home.

 

As I would have imagined, he most likely had wished the ground would swallow him up. He dreaded the next Sunday, when he had to stand at the pulpit in front of everyone. It was most likely that he appointed someone else to preach that week, or he might have even gone for a holiday, possibly a sabbatical. But without a doubt, he must have sat down and asked himself how he was so capable of such acts.

 

Then wind forward to October 1992. For the past eleven years leading up to that date, Fred and I had developed a good, sturdy friendship. Once a week we both turned up at the local Sport Centre for a game of squash, a contest which I initially taught him, but before long overtook me in his skill, and won more games than lost. Eventually, after a few years, I agreed to clean the windows of his house for a fee. As his residence was separate from all the others scheduled for the day, his home was always the first in the morning, and every month he would answer the door dressed in pyjamas under a loose housecoat. 

 

Then one Monday morning of October 1992, I called as normal, and he answered the door to let me in for a coffee, as was the custom. But this time he was fully dressed, wearing a business shirt buttoned up but without a tie. Then all of a sudden, I lunged forward and tried to pull his shirt open at the neck. I failed. But unlike the female as narrated above, this guy went ballistic. He shouted at me to get out of the house, and not to bother with his windows any more.

And I don't want to see you here until you get your life sorted out!

He then slammed the door behind me as I sulkily made my way to the main estate.

 

That morning I felt crushed, ashamed, and embarrassed. I got on with my work, but saddened at the sudden termination of our friendship. I was also surprised at his reaction, a facet of his character I never thought he had. I was shocked by it all. I guess it was the same kind of story as with the pastor, as I refer to this sudden, sinful impulse as Old Nick. If I, along with the church elder, had not let our spiritual guards down, then Old Nick would not have been able to rear his ugly head. 

 

But that wasn't the end of the story. If there was a time when I was at my lowest ebb, deep in the emotional pit, it was that morning. But while up on the ladder, I had a kind of revelation passing through my mind, so intense that I had to stop working for a moment.

Go to Jerusalem, spend a week there and pray over the city.

Jerusalem! I have been to Jerusalem before as a backpacker in 1976, and I remember the city well. On top of this, this would be the first time I would board an airline after fifteen years, since arriving home from the USA in 1978. This long abstinence from flying was due to time spent building up a business. Therefore, this revelation came as a surprise, but was it from God?

 

I then prayed, "Lord, may I have two weeks in Israel?"

Okay, you can have two weeks.

 

I was beginning to feel convinced that this revelation was from God, as it seemed so out-of-order from what took place that morning. But why me? Here were two men, both single, with five years age difference (myself being the older) - yet one tried to take advantage of the other, the one wronged showed his anger quite rightly, the other totally guilty of what could be interpreted as attempted rape; and surely, in the opinion of all other Christians - had there been an audience watching the whole scenario - if God wanted to reveal something, it would have been to the other fellow, the innocent victim. But no, instead God spoke to me, the perpetrator. He told me to go to Jerusalem to pray over the city, and not Fred, even though he was in the right.

Jerusalem from the Mt. of Olives, taken 1993.
 

Up to that particular morning, I had just managed to stay above water financially, with a weekly budget allowing for apartment rental, the payment of all the bills including the income tax, and the groceries. After all that I had little left for pocket money, and what I did have went to the weekend sauna sessions. But after that revelation, things changed, and that despite earning not a penny more than previously, I found that I could put £20 away in the savings account every week for the next ten months - to give me enough funds for a two-week trip to Israel, as usual, as a lone, independent traveller. And I spent that time at a tiny backpackers hostel in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem - a lot cheaper than hotels and hostels outside the walled city. And yes, I did pray over Jerusalem - from the summit of the Mount of Olives, just as I visualised on that gloomy October morning.

 

From August 1993 when this trip to Israel took place, things were never the same. With the exception of 1996, when I remained in the UK, each year I went abroad for backpacking and hosteling. This is how they panned out:

 

1993 - Israel, prayer over Jerusalem.

1994 - Return to Israel as a volunteer at a Christian Conference Centre.

1995 - Backpacking trip to the USA.

1997 - Round the World special airfare deal - Singapore, Australia, California.

1998 - New York and Boston, Massachusetts.

1999 - Honeymoon at Rhodes.

2000 - 1st wedding anniversary in Israel.

 

As each year came and went, one foreign holiday followed another, with 1997 reaching the peak of ultimate travel. Of course, I had no idea what was going on in the long term basis. But while I was meditating all these things recently with my wife, I realised that there was a set pattern emerging - a series of "sevens" - God's unique number, and three in all, which panned out like this:

 

1. October 1992 - when I had the vision and revelation; to October 1999 - our wedding day - seven years.

2. Seven foreign holidays.

3. Seven years from the start of Israel 1993 to the end of Israel 2000 inclusive, by then my wife was 20 weeks pregnant with our first daughter, thus bringing this special seven year period to an end.

 

As each of these seven years elapsed, it was natural to believe that with God's will and permission, I chose my destinations and planned each trip carefully, working extra hard at my window cleaning business to ensure that I saved up adequately to meet the needs and expenses of all these trips. Except for take off for the 1993 flight from London to Tel Aviv, when there was a six-hour delay, there were no further problems on all the other flights, no health worries, and all bills and creditors fully paid up and met. But only God could see what was really happening, and by his loving grace and mercy, ensured that every detail of his will was worked out to plan.

 

Looking back over these years, this special time of my life was the confirmation I needed as proof, that the revelation I received with a vision of myself on the summit of the Mount of Olives overlooking the city of Jerusalem, was from Heaven. It was extraordinary, as this came within an hour or so after upsetting a Christian brother and bringing to end an eleven-year friendship. So what the significance of all this?

 

I think all these things demonstrates the omniscience of God, as well as his omnipotence and omnipresence. Long, long before I was even born, God knew of that particular day in October 1992. He already knew about the insult thrown to my good friend, and the revelation I would receive soon afterwards. And furthermore, God had already known that that day would not come until almost twenty years after I first believed. Here seems to be the solving of the apparent contradiction between the Sovereignty of God and human choice. In all these trips, I chose each set of destinations, to prepare myself for each trip, and go. But nothing was done outside the Sovereign power of God. The inclusion of the fall before my friend has also reminded me why I believe in Once Saved Always Saved so passionately. The omniscience of God. The day I first believed twenty years earlier, God had already known of that particular Monday morning in 1992. He was able to see exactly what will happen, and the seven-year travel experience that will follow as a result.

 

If ever there was a time I could have lost my salvation, I think that Monday morning was it. But instead, God, through his grace and mercy, spoke to me. In addition to all this, there was even a time when, during 1994, I felt so discouraged by the attitudes of other Christians at the conference centre, that on one occasion I lay on the bed at the backpacker's hostel in Jerusalem (the same one as in 1993) with the intention of renouncing my faith forever. None of these Christians believed in eternal security, and they had given me a very hard time. I have decided to renounce the faith and begin to do things my own way. But as I lay on the bed, alone in the dormitory in the middle of the day, I felt the Lord calling me, ever so gently. When he called again, I responded with a "Yes, Lord" - and slowly resumed my walk with God as a believer, although it took me a year and a trip to the USA to fully recover from my ordeal. And did you know how this trip to the USA in 1995 came about? It was while I was standing on the summit of the Mount of Olives, and gazing over the city I so passionately love, that I had a sudden inspiration to travel across the Atlantic, very similar to the vision of 1992. And it was so. And furthermore, I knew this was from God too. And yet this was all part of the special seven years following that first vision.

Hiking the Grand Canyon, USA - taken 1995.
 

And what became of Fred? Well somewhere between one to two years after that incident, we passed each other on our bicycles on a quiet road in the heart of a housing estate. We stopped and began to talk to each other cordially. The conversation was long and cheerful, and no mention was made about the incident in 1992, Gradually, he invited me to his house for coffee, but I never offered to clean his windows again. Eventually, our friendship was restored to the full, we prayed for full forgiveness on both sides, and at present he delights in visiting us as husband and wife, although he remains single to this day.

 

The sovereign grace of God prevails. He knew all this from eternity past. That is the main reason why I believe in Once Saved Always Saved.

 

 

Calling God A Liar...

Anyone who is familiar with my blog archive may have come to the conclusion that I am rather amazed and astonished with the English; their culture, their way of thinking, what they believe, and their attitude. Probably as one like myself who speaks with an accent, appear different, that is, having a Continental appearance, and especially during my schooldays; prone to show emotion, lacking physical strength, useless as a popped balloon at team sports, and subject to verbal bullying, I had never felt that I fully belonged here. Even when I was older, more than once was I told to go back to my own country - but wait - England is my own country. I was born here, grew up here, and became very well acquainted with the English way of life over a span of sixty years. Nothing about my homeland should take me by surprise, even from one whose both parents arrived from Italy soon after the War, making me a full-blood Italian with a British citizenship.

 

Maybe it was the luck of the draw, or perhaps the Sovereign plan of God, that while my mother was pregnant with me throughout 1952, she frequently breathed in air which was polluted with London smog. Smoke from the city chimneys, both domestic and industrial, spewed daily into the air along with fumes from cars, buses, trucks and even steam-powered locomotives. When there was no wind, this stratum of smoke particles remained hanging in the air, combining with the winter fog to produce smog, hence the term. This gaseous gloup which Mum had to inhale surely brought no good whatsoever to this unfortunate foetus; as its mother was so familiar with the state of the buildings, Victoria Station in particular, being literally blackened with soot before the Clean Air Act was passed by the Government around 1962. But by then it was already too late. What if Mum lived by the coast throughout 1952, enjoying the daily sea breeze which was free from any pollution? Instead of failing at school, would I have had success in graduating as a doctor, which was my childhood dream?

So I could toss the argument back and forth. A developing foetus - better off by the sea, blown daily by a chilly sea breeze? Or being subjected to thick city smog marooned over the city by an area of meteorological calm? Whatever the outcome would have been, one famous guy I always have a liking for is Andrew Marr; journalist, news reporter, documentary presenter, and author.

 

Andrew Marr, in one of his more jovial moments.

 

To be honest, I have no idea of the condition the city of Glasgow was like in 1959 when Marr's mother walked the streets to complete her errands. Perhaps being much further up north, the constant chilly breeze kept the city free of smog, despite the presence of heavy, smoke-spewing industry at the time. But whatever the case might have been, towards the end of July of that year, a baby boy let out his first ever cry as he was brought into the world, destined for greatness.

 

And what was the difference between us two children? While I was a slow learner (although certainly not stupid) and already "doomed" for a life of menial tasks; several hundred miles to the north, young Andrew was making rapid progress in his primary school, which looked very promising - and perhaps assurance to his parents that their son will not end up scraping a living in some smoke-billowing, dirty, noisy factory or mill.

 

It doesn't seem fair, does it? Who knows what I could have been if my mother lived at an area well away from London. And another characteristic strength Andrew Marr seemed to have had as a boy which I didn't - stoicism, emotional suppression, the stiff upper lip. Could this have been the making of the British Empire? The master race? National superiority? Not to forget, also - greater advance in biological and social evolution? As a victim of bullying, I had shed tears often. Andrew apparently did not, as this extract from a recent article, about a severe stroke he had suffered recently and came close to death, had shown:

 

I have known Andrew Marr for many years,and he is not a man given to showing his emotions, let alone to talking about them.

 

He says: "Some people told me after what happened that I had to express my emotions - that I had to cry and let it out. Perhaps it's my Presbyterian upbringing, but there were no tears from me - even though there were many from others.

 

"I remember thinking that if I allowed myself to cry, who knows where it would stop. There are few things less attractive than self pity.

 

"I was never angry and I never asked, 'Why did it happen to me?'

 

In hospital I was surrounded by people in far worse situations than I was. They were all very brave, very tough and very cheerful. Being around people like that is a great antidote for self pity.

 

"In any case, I have had a very lucky life. I would have been pathetic to collapse at the first bit of bad luck."
Citation: The Daily Mail, Saturday June 29th, 2013.

Now if anyone said those words to me privately, I would have thought, What a pillock! - and took it no further. But instead, his words were published to the world and were available to anyone who could rustle up a quid from his loose change in his pocket. It was this widespread publicity which moved me to write this blog in response.
 

The interviewer was none other than journalist Amanda Platell, a strong advocate of British stoicism and the stiff upper lip. By reading the article, it was without doubt that Platell coaxed him with questions throughout the interview, and being as she is, wanted to bring their discussion to a climax of true British heroism, with the implication that Bulldog Britain has indeed evolved into a white master race from which other nationalities can look upon with reverential respect. Platell herself was born in 1957 and grew up in Perth, Australia. In the 1980s she backpacked to the UK with her partner at the time because, according to her own words, she was impressed with British stoicism which, we assume, made it the motherland of the greatest empire the world has ever had, and she wanted to experience life in the UK for herself, against the wishes of her partner, who eventually returned alone to Australia, leaving her to pursue her career in journalism as a lifelong single. 

Amanda Platell 

Marr and Platell represent two typical, well educated, middle class Brits. To them, showing emotion was considered very un-British, and Platell herself laments the decline of Britain to a sentimental, mawkish, emotional society since the death of Princess Diana in August, 1997, not long, as a matter of fact, after my own worldwide backpacking trip to Australia, going as far as Sydney. It is clear that if Marr and Platell typify Britain as it should be, I can't help feeling that there is something seriously wrong with a culture which classify itself as Christian.

Andrew Marr admits in growing up as a Presbyterian, a major Scottish denomination, which creed he renounced as early as fifteen years of age. He believes Charles Robert Darwin to have been the greatest Briton to have ever lived, and like Richard Dawkins, he became an ardent advocate of organic evolution as opposed to Divine Creation as taught by his Presbyterian church.  He had also visited and made documentaries at the Galapagos Islands, where Charles Darwin found his inspiration to write his thesis, On the Origin of Species. It looks apparent to me that there is a close link between Darwinism and British stoicism.

Not that I'm against stoicism. It is in itself a good characteristic quality to have, particularly in a crisis. Rather than explode in panic or end up tied in emotional knots, stoicism goes a long way towards tackling the task to either solving the problem, averting a disaster or saving lives. But where I disagree strongly with Platell, and perhaps Marr as well, is that those two believe stoicism is uniquely British. Here I can quote two examples of human stoicism outside the UK. One was of the pilot and crew of Flight 1549 New York La Guarda Airport to Charlotte, Carolina on January 15th, 2009. The 'plane came down soon after take off and fell into the Hudson River, most likely due to a bird strike at both of the 'plane's engines. The pilot in particular, an American, was hugely praised for calmly taking the right action in saving the lives of all the passengers and crew.

But the greatest example of non-British stoicism must be the 33 miners trapped in an underground mine cavern at St. Jose, Chile for several weeks before finally being rescued, with every life saved. This crisis was the result of the collapse of the access shaft leading to the chamber, which happened on August 5th, 2010. Rather than screaming in panic or gripped by terror, the trapped miners, with enough fuel for lighting and with available tools, converted one end of the chamber into a chapel, from where the miners prayed each day to be rescued. They eventually attracted attention from outside and a shaft was excavated to the roof of the mine chamber, with which a special elevator lifted each miner, one by one, six weeks after the initial disaster. It was a stupendous feat, carried out slowly and with meticulous care. There were no reports of panic, even though some of these miners remained mentally traumatic for years afterwards.

An elevator lifts a miner out of the doomed mine chamber, Chile.

With such a display of stoicism, the weekend after the rescue was completed, I bought a copy of the Daily Mail newspaper hoping to read Platell's verdict at her weekly column. Surely, this journalist would have poured praise upon praise to those who rescued the miners and to the miners themselves. What a demonstration of stoicism! But, much to my disappointment, Amanda Platell was away that weekend. Her very absence had sent a strong message which was this: Faced with a situation contrary to her pet opinion, she had done a runner. If the rescue had taken place in Britain, especially southern England, she would without doubt splashed several pages of the newspaper with adoring praise and declaring that the British Bulldog hadn't died with Princess Diana after all!

Also noted in Platell's interview with the TV presenter, Marr was right about self-pity. Self-pity is actually a sin, and according to one American Christian psychologist Tim LaHaye, this emotion is the universal cause of depression, with extreme cases of suicide. Worldwide, and certainly in Britain, depression is a universal mental and emotional malady, experienced by just about everyone to one degree or another. A number of times lately I have experienced train delays and journey disruptions due to someone jumping in front of a moving train, all in the prosperous south of England. Self-pity - feeling sorry for oneself - is wrong. The one proper remedy for this is to trust in the atonement Jesus Christ had made on the cross and his resurrection, and be filled daily with the Holy Spirit, which entails becoming familiar and knowledgeable with the Bible. I should know. There was a time I was tempted to commit suicide myself before I met Jesus Christ.

But this blog is not primarily aimed at self-pity and depression. Rather, it is allowing one to express emotions freely when at certain circumstances, some positive. To say that displaying emotion in public is sentimental, mawkish or un-British is making a declaration that the British bulldog is above God and stronger than the Almighty. This considering that at two recorded occasions Jesus wept in public. The first occasion occurred on the way to the city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives (KJV):

And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it. Saying, if  thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. Luke 19:41-42.

The second was over the death of Lazarus, to whom Jesus wept (John 11:35) and to whom the Pharisees remarked how Jesus loved him, v. 36.

It is important to note that in neither occasion did Jesus weep out of self-pity, but from a genuine grief over someone's demise or the fate of a city. This is the very same set of emotions Platell criticises British society of mawkishness. If a loved one dies, and the widowed cannot hold his or her emotions in a public setting, then that person should be comforted, not frowned upon, especially if the widowed is male.

But does Paul the apostle mention stoicism as a Fruit of the Spirit in one of his letters? I'm referring to Galatians 5:22-23, which reads (NIV):

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law.

Self control as a fruit of the Spirit could well be similar to stoicism, but British culture leaves out the rest! - Although their ability to form orderly queues may consider patience as included. But these virtues which Platell promotes are not fruits of the Holy Spirit, as the vast majority of the British are unbelievers. British stoicism therefore must be counterfeit to the real fruit which is divine. The unbelieving British, or of any other nationality, does not have the Holy Spirit manifesting from within, so therefore cannot produce any of his fruits. Stoicism is a counterfeit, based on human strength and pride, leading to a lost eternity in Hell, and therefore cannot be the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The genuine fruit of self control has the ability to return evil with goodness. If a person wrongs a believer, or even verbally or physically abuses him, the believer, instead of retaliating, treats his foe with kindness and compassion. That is self control. Divine fruit is far superior to British stoicism!

How I wish I could sit opposite Amanda Platell at her office desk, look hard into her eyes and let her see the truth which she had been blinded from all her life. How I long for her to see the love of Jesus Christ, who died for her! But I guess that would never happen, not because such a meeting would be considered a waste of her time, although that would be the excuse she would come up with. The real reason why I would never meet her is because such a confrontation with one who has the truth would terrify her.

As for Andrew Marr, he is a staunch evolutionist who nominated Charles Darwin as the greatest Briton in history. Evolution is contrary to Divine Creation. The Bible says that the heavens and the earth were created in six literal days and nights, the Hebrew evening and morning making a whole day, as the Jewish day ends at sundown. Uniformitarian geology and organic evolution says that it took billions of years for both rock strata and living things to arrive to where they are at present. The two cannot be both right. One says one thing, the other says something totally different.

If God says that he created everything in six literal days and nights, then the evolutionist who denies this is calling God a liar. Lucifer accused God of lying to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. To this day the snake in the garden is still talking. And he is using the academic and the well educated to spread his Edenic lie. Darwin was an Englishman. Geologist Charles Lyell, who wrote Principles of Geology and coined up the theory of Uniformitarianism, was a Scotsman. Is it a coincidence that the twofold lie which is keeping people away from Jesus Christ began here in the UK?

And so we have our modern duet, continuing with the Edenic lie. One maintains that inner strength through self effort and culture is a virtue in itself. The other is calling God a liar, as straightforward as that. As Lyell and Darwin had drawn the rest of us away from the truth of Christ, so Marr and Platell continue to push the Edenic lie.

Thus making all four the perpetrators of Hell, which grieves my heart. My longing is that everyone believes the Gospel and are saved, the English included.

Enough to make me weep aloud on a crowded station platform.



The Other Five Fruits Of The Spirit

Last week we looked at the first three fruits of the Holy Spirit - Joy, Peace and Patience, together with Love, making up our emotional and spiritual relationship with God. These virtues could be viewed as passive, our direct standing with God as a result of being controlled by the infilling Holy Spirit. This week we look at the last five virtues, which are practical - how we treat other people around us, especially our Christian brothers and sisters.

Also in my last blog, I gave illustrations of two real life experiences - delays at an airport departure lounge, and being stuck in a supermarket checkout line by a fickle customer who was trying to redeem a few pence from a voucher. On both occasions I did not respond well. Take the airport delay incident. I was due to fly to Israel in 1993 to backpack the Holy Land for a couple of weeks when our airplane was found to have a technical fault - the hydraulic piping had sprung a leak, and had to be replaced with a new one before the plane can take off. This caused a six-hour delay which activated my panic button and I became very fidgety. Then I prayed for God to help me, and I became much calmer, felt peace and had patience. Nearby, some Orthodox Jews who were to share my flight were very serene and took the situation so calmly, that a couple of them slept through the ordeal. How come? Why as a Christian I had to pray while those Jews were naturally calm?

I think it was Jesus himself who gave an answer to this one. He said that it was not the righteous who needed a physician, but the sick. (See Mark 2:17.) I guess as an Italian, I panic very easily at the slightest threat or mishap, therefore I need the Holy Spirit far more than one who is naturally calm or have that British stoicism!

Now, supposing that during this long wait at the airport, someone cried out in despair, thinking that his vacation is already ruined. After all, that happened in 1978, but from someone sent back to the departure lounge as a result of an industrial dispute. Do I tease or mock this desperate person? Or more realistically, tell him to grow up? No, it's none of these things. The fruit of the Spirit is love, so I would do my best to make that person feel better. I talk to him, assuring him that we will take off soon and once we had arrived there, our delay will be quickly forgotten. One fruit of the Spirit here becomes manifest, kindness.

Then I offer to buy him a cup of coffee and perhaps a bar of chocolate or a cake at the nearby cafe, and he accepts, the fruit of goodness shines through. He opens up and we start talking, and he tells me why he is flying to Israel. He had suffered a bitter divorce and also having lost the custody of his children to their mother, he decided to visit Israel to see Masada, a hill fortress where a number of Jews in AD 70 decided on mass suicide rather than submit to their Roman oppressors, after reading so much about it in a novel. I respond with gentleness, refusing to pass any judgement, and when he begs me that the talk does not leave the table, faithfulness is the fruit of the spirit which would command loyalty.

By then I would feel love, joy, peace and patience, in fact I would have almost forgotten about the delay. He then asks me why I'm visiting Israel, and I answer that as a backpacker, I love the ancient archaeological sites and I feel a special affinity for the City of Jerusalem. Then, if the circumstance is right, I might explain that Jesus Christ was crucified at Jerusalem for the forgiveness of my sins.

The delay at the airport in 1993 was real, but of course the rest of the story was fabrication, but I have given it to point out that the fruit of the Spirit becomes manifest at certain, normally unfavourable situations. In the last blog, I gave the example of Peter, Paul and Silas, all three in prison. Peter was so secure in the love of Christ that his peace allowed him to sleep. Paul and Silas, being in each other's company manifested joy which caused them to sing praises to God, which convicted and saved the jailer and his family.

So taking a brief look at the remaining virtues:

Kindness. A lack of any form of cruelty, especially verbal. This includes teasing or mocking someone when they are in a difficult or adverse situation, or even to say that they don't have time or to declare that they have more important things to do. It also means showing a favour when others are opposed, or not have the time for. A good example of this is found in Mark 10:13-14 when some mothers came up to Jesus to ask to have their children blessed. The disciples scorned at what looked like a time-wasting request, but Jesus had the kindness to bless those children, despite what the disciples thought.

Goodness. The ability to give from the heart especially to someone who does not deserve it. The Italian word for good is bene, from which we have the English words benefit, benevolent, etc. Generally it the giving of good things which blesses the recipient. A good instruction of this is given by Paul, when he teaches: When your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he's thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Romans 12:20. Again, Jesus demonstrated this fruit of the Spirit when he miraculously fed the five thousand, some of them could well have bayed for his crucifixion later when Jesus was tried by Pilate.

Faithfulness. Believing what the other person or group of people has to say and staying loyal to them. This is quite opposite to deserting, gossipping, telling other of one's faults and as such, bringing that person to ridicule or to let him down, or to leave him in his dire situation. Moses remained faithful to the children of Israel, despite on many occasions the nation complained, moaned and were ready to desert him and flee back to Egypt. When Korah and his allies had persuaded the nation to question the leadership of Moses and Aaron, they then fell on their faces to plead for the whole nation, and punish only the conspirators (See Numbers 16:20-24.) Luke too, was faithful to Paul when he was in prison, after everyone else deserted him (2 Timothy 4:10-11).

Gentleness. I remember one house-group when we discussed this fruit of the Spirit, the general opinion of the leader was that many believed that gentleness was a lack of rugged masculinity. Having played rugby, the "he-man's game" we knew where he was coming from. We British have a history in loving to think of ourselves as a nation of conquerers, out to establish an Empire, to rule over others with force where necessary. And there are newspaper journalists even today lamenting over loss of Empire. Yet if there was a person with such gentleness, it was Jesus Christ himself, who the British say they follow as a national religion. He was particularly gentle with women, the woman at the well was one of them. He did not upbraid her for her sins, but rather, his gentleness won her heart to the point when she decided that this man must be a prophet. And he was gentle to the woman caught in the act of adultery. While the Pharisees were ready to stone her for her crime, all he said to her was, "Go, and sin no more." (John 8:11.) Yet no one could have been more masculine in human history as the Lord Jesus Christ. Another fine example of gentleness was with Peter, after delivery from prison, kept on knocking while those inside, who were praying for his release, were debating whether it was him or not. Peter's natural character was to have upbraided them for their slowness to believe and answer the door. Instead, when the door opened, Peter simply beckoned them to hold their peace, with the explanation of his deliverance (Acts 12:12-17.)

Self Control. The final virtue, this is the fruit of the Spirit which prevents a believer erupting into anger or other emotional turmoil, especially where self is directly involved. For example, if someone abuses you, how would you react? If by natural means, you retaliate or seek revenge, or even smack him in the mouth. But this fruit of the Spirit gives you the ability to return the insult with either a gentle reply or with nothing at all. One good example of this was when Jesus was slapped across the face by the soldiers just before the crucifixion, the mocking and the pressing of a crown of thorns on to his head. Jesus could have lashed out physically. He could have protested his innocence to Pilate. He could have even called down a legion of angels to slay them. Instead self control, allowed him to go to the cross without a fuss, most likely enough to convict many of their sins, and to declare, "Surely, this is the Son of God!" And I believe that self control is more than stoicism, the stiff upper lip or the bottling up of emotions. Self control involves returning evil with goodness, kindness and gentleness. It involves making sure that your enemy or adversity is fed and well looked after, a virtue that can only come from the Holy Spirit.

These are all the nine virtues which makes up the fruit of the Spirit. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control, to which there is no law. (N.I.V.) Each of these virtues is a strength to meet every need in one's walk with God and alongside others. I believe that the first four are connected vertically with our standing with God, the other five, horizontally with our relationship with other people. Therefore not only do I liken the Fruit of the Spirit as an orange with eight segments within a rind, but also to a cross, the Cross of Christ.

Galatians 5:16 (KJV) says, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh This is the key verse for all three articles in this mini-series.

Finally, God is willing for every believer to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I actually go further and say it is a command from God. But it is for believers only - those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. All he has to do is to ask, and God will fulfill his request.