Elijah - a good man to have on a camping trip

This past week, as I've been preparing for Sunday's talk on the Old Testament prophet Elijah, it was clear that there was far too much for one message - there was probably enough for a whole series. So over the next couple of days I'll look at a few of the bits of Elijah's life we couldn't cover yesterday.

Yesterday I briefly mentioned that our introduction to Elijah (1 Kings 17:1) is as he gives king Ahab the message that there will be no more rain in the next few years unless Elijah gives the say so. Such a claim is pretty amazing in and of itself - for anyone who can control the weather is clearly getting help from a greater authority than themselves.

But this claim becomes more significant when we look back to 1 Kings 16:31 and see that king Ahab had chosen to neglect the worship of the true God, and has instead aligned himself with the worship of Baal. The item below is a small statue of Baal, displayed in the British Museum; although this statue is much older than the time of Elijah. It is not complete - whatever was in Baal's raised hand is now missing but the view is that it was either a club or a thunder bolt - because Baal was a storm-god.

And so when Elijah makes this claim that there will be no rain, it is a direct challenge to Ahab and his new god - who is a storm-god, and supposed to be able to bring rain. Therefore the drought that followed was a clear message - Baal is powerless in the face of the one true God.

God is all powerful. Ahab made the wrong choice of whom to worship with disastrous consequences as we shall see over the next few days. Where is our allegiance?

We can all do something

What's your promise? from Micah Challenge in the UK on Vimeo.

Start well...Finish well

Incomplete DIY projects, an exercise bike covered in dust, exercise equipment in the loft, a discarded gym membership card - all testimony to the fact that it's a lot easier to start something than it is to finish it. Anyone can start running a marathon, but to complete the course takes dedication, commitment, hard work, determination, training...

Paul, one of the major writers of the New Testament said in Acts 20:24 that his only aim was to finish the race and complete the job that Jesus had given him to do. He knew that even though he had done some amazing stuff in the past he could not bask in past glories - he had to keep on going - right to the end of the race.

Asa was King of Judah between 913-911 BC and we read about him in 1 Kings 15, and 2 Chronicles 14-16. He was a king who started really well, but it all went wrong at the end.


Whenever we're in a new situation we need to try and start well. We want to make a good impression. But who are we trying to impress? Asa knew that it was more important to impress God than to try and please people. Asa made God his number one priority. Whenever we start something new we need to take the decision that God is going to be our priority - and allow that fact to influence all of our decisions and choices.

So for those who will be starting university in the next couple of weeks here are three pieces of advice. Find a good church, join a Christian student group, and join another student group (sports club etc etc).

But Asa let things slip, and so the end of his reign is marked with war rather than peace. He took his eyes off God, and began to rely on himself. Maybe as we look at our Christian walk we see that things have slipped. We're not doing the things we once did. God is gracious and compassionate and therefore he wants us to start again - yes it will be hard and difficult, but the invitation is there. The invitation is there to finish well - because there is a prize in store for those who finish well.

Lessons from 930 BC

Last Sunday we began a new sermon series at church. The title of the series is 'From Empire to Exile' and looks at the period of Old Testament history that starts with the death of king Solomon in 930 BC and ends with the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Each week we are going to look at a different character, either a king or a prophet, and see what these ancient stories have to say to us as we seek to live a followers of Jesus in 2010.


We started with king Rehoboam and focused on 2 Chronicles 12 and drew out three short points for reflection.

First we saw the danger of blessings. After a time of struggle Rehoboam became established and strong. It was at this point that he and the people deserted God's way. Many of us turn to God in times of hardship, distress and turmoil, but when things settle down, when things are going well, the danger is that we drift away from God and start to rely on ourselves and on our own strengths, abilities and resources.

This morning I came across a quote from C.S. Lewis' The Problem of Pain

Everyone has noticed how hard it is to turn our thoughts to God when everything is going well with us

The second thing we saw was the God was in control. Humanly speaking - at this time in history Egypt was a world superpower, and could flex her muscles as she wished. But verse 2 makes it clear that it was because the people had abandoned God that the king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. God was working out his purposes. God allowed this to happen. The people may have wondered 'where is God in all of this?' The answer is that he is closer than you think.

And our final point was that because Rehoboam did not seek God, because often he did his own thing, his life was not all it could have been. God promises us life to the full. Rehoboam settled for a life of bronze imitations rather than the genuine gold. How much do we miss out on because we do things our way rather than God's?

To listen to this message click here