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Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese every day life. This ferry from Omdurman to Tuti Island has operated for many years. Passengers who want to cross the Nile, where the White and Blue rivers meet, know exactly where they have to go to join the boat. The short journey happens for hundreds of people many times every day. New bridges are being built, but this time honoured method of crossing will always hold good memories for me. There is choice for travellers wanting to go to Tuti. Other boats cross the Blue Nile further up river. The peak journey times, when people are rushing to and from work, are very busy. Yet there always seems to be enough room. If the worst comes to the worst a late passenger may have to wait for the next boat. Suppose you want to go to Heaven, not just to Tuti Island. How would you get to Heaven? Do you know where you must go to join up? Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”, John 14:6. He spoke these words immediately after He had told his followers He was soon going to die. I learn from these words that an individual living friendship with Jesus is the way into Heaven for us all. This is the true way – we must not be taken in by any false offers. This is the only way – we are mistaken if we think there are others. This is the living way – we can enjoy knowing the certainty of it in our daily lives now. Every day in our lives we have the opportunity to start the Jesus way to Heaven. We first come to meet him at His cross, where He died as a substitute. He was punished for our sin. The punishment due to God’s wrath He took Himself. Holy Heaven is opened to me because the merits of Jesus’ death far outweigh my bad (or good) deeds. Are you coming to heaven too? March 2008.

Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese every day life. Shoes get dirty as we walk around every day. The dust and the sticky rubbish or mud cling on to our shoes. Because we walk our streets, we need our shoes cleaned regularly. Our lives also get “dirty” as we live in the everyday world. We rub shoulders with other people at work and we keep on hearing some of their bad language. We sometimes use it ourselves, although we know we shouldn’t. Some of our friends have an illegal drink of morrissa. We are offered some when we are at a celebration with them. We drink it. We break the law of Sudan, when we know God tells us to honour those in authority. The pressure for sex outside of marriage is intense. We feel we cannot wait with the one we love. It seems just right and so natural. We sin, and our lives gradually become more and more dirty. You can probably think of many other ways your life is contaminated – made less than pure – by things you have done. I certainly can in my life: not only actions, but inside thoughts and bad attitudes as well. The cross of Jesus is not for clean people! Meeting Jesus at His cross is meeting the only One who can properly clean up a dirty sinner. The cross is the place to visit when you come to understand just how dirty you are – and that you cannot wash it all away by yourself. Washing your body does not get the muck from your soul! A shoe-shine boy can help you by cleaning your dirty shoes. Only the Saviour Jesus can help you with a messed up life. “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”. “He has appeared once for all to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself”, Hebrews 9:22,26. April 2008.

Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese every day life. What does God mean when He tells us to “submit to the governing authorities”? (See Romans 13:1-7). The Sudanese parliament building, by the White Nile in Omdurman, can remind us that human government is God’s idea. Those who rule nations serve God as they work – even if they do not know that they do. Because they are “God’s servants”, they are accountable to God. He is their ultimate Master, not the President, nor the Parliament, nor even the will of the People. God will judge them for everything they do – good and bad. It can be difficult to submit to a government when you think it is doing bad things. Yet God does not say “submit to the governing authorities only when they do the things you want”. In submitting to a government, you are in fact choosing to obey God. In rebelling against a government, you are disobeying what God has told you to do. You can, of course, exercise any legal rights Opposition may have. Only if a government orders you to do something which is clearly against God’s will as shown in the Bible, can a Christian disobey. In this circumstance he or she must obey God rather than man. Such Christians are called to accept the consequences of their disobedience. It is part of the price to be paid for being a Christian anywhere in the world. Salt sacrifices itself while giving flavour to a meal. Take up your cross and follow Jesus. This world does not honour God – Christians must show that they do! Jesus told his immediate followers to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to give to God what belongs to God. The ways of this world belong to the rulers of this world. Christian ways belong to God. May 2008.

Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese every day life. These two men were taking a small group of us to watch birds on Crocodile Island in the Blue Nile. When boatmen like these pull on their oars they cannot see where they are going. They know where they want to go. They untie their boat and set out in the right direction. But for most of the journey they sit facing one way while pulling powerfully on the oars. The boat goes the opposite way! They can see clearly where they have come from. But they must glance over their shoulders from time to time in order to check where they are going. For most of our outward journey these men were rowing against the current flowing down the river. It was hard work in the hot sun. They kept at it. And because they did, we all arrived safely and enjoyed our afternoon. Peter, Andrew, James and John were four of the first disciples of Jesus Christ. He met them when they were fishing by their boats. The invitation Jesus gave to them, He gives to you too: “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”, Matthew 4:19. You may not be able to easily see your future. You may look back and see you are leaving familiar things behind. Following Jesus through your life will bring many changes. But this is how God makes out of you the man, or the woman, He wants you to be. A year or two later Jesus said to these disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”, Matthew 16:24-26. Christians live against the flow. Our reward is more than this world can ever give us. Jesus lives on the other side of His death. And so will we. June 2008.

Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese every day life. I have been blessed by God with two grown up children. So far one has married, effectively giving me a third child, her own chosen husband. My daughter and son-in-law have been blessed by God in bringing me two young grandsons. What a privilege it is to be a father and a grandfather! God does not grant this to everyone. Each must accept his own calling. (See 1 Corinthians 7:7 and around). “Children’s children are a crown to the aged”, Proverbs 17:6. Wearing a crown is also a Christian responsibility I accept before God: “Train (start) a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it”, Proverbs 22:6. Christian parents should sow God’s word deeply into young hearts and lives. It must have more influence than culture or peer pressure. It has living power. “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die”, Proverbs 23:13. Christian parents should gently teach right and wrong, and firmly show there are consequences for wrongdoing. Correction must be lovingly instructive. “Fathers, (parents?), do not exasperate your children; instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord”, Ephesians 6:4. Christian parents are to be living examples to their children and young people. Showing a life that is lived under the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our homes and in our daily lives is our goal. Our life attitudes must be worth copying! Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these”, Matthew 19:14. Our Lord was not too busy for children – and neither must we be. Possibly the greatest influence we will ever have on our world is the Christian way we nurture our children. Our children must learn from us to take up the cross and follow Jesus. July 2008.

Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese every day life. When the devil wanted to make our Lord Jesus sin, he used the simplest and most basic of things. Jesus was hungry after a forty day, twenty four hour-a-day, fast. There is nothing wrong with feeling hungry! It’s perfectly natural. Knowing Jesus was the Son of God, and knowing therefore that Jesus could easily do what for other people would be miracles, the devil tempted Jesus to turn the scattered stones into warm and enjoyable bread. “You’re naturally hungry. Surely you can make a meal from a stone?” In fact, we know Jesus didn’t even need the stones! Remember, He created all things out of nothing by the power of His word, John 1:3; Colossians 1:16. Later He showed that He was able to multiply the lunch for a young lad and feed more than 5,000 people from it, Matthew 14:13-21. But this time and in this circumstance it was wrong for Jesus to do what He could easily have done. To give in to His own legitimate hunger would be to give the devil the obedience that is God’s alone. Jesus’ spiritual commitment to God the Father’s will, meant more to Him than filling His empty tummy! Jesus refused the devil’s temptation. He quoted Scripture from the Old Testament as His reason. “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”, Deuteronomy 8:3. In our daily lives walking with God there are things that seem naturally right for us to do. We must be careful not to give in to all such desires! We may be surrendering to the devil as we do! Only the Christian, who is in close touch with God through spending time with Him, will be able to know the difference. “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world”, Galatians 6:14. August 2008.

Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese every day life. God loves people! It is why He made so many of us. The variety of human beings shows us the greatness of God’s love. He loves every person whom He has ever made, including all Arabs and all Africans. Once, and only once, God Himself became a man. He lived on earth as a man, without surrendering the fact He was still God. This one man’s name was JESUS. He lived 2,000 years ago around about Jerusalem. God miniaturised as Jesus, yet still being “fully God”. Our worship magnifies incredibly as we understand more of God and His love. God loves people enough to come to us and live among us. God wants us to understand Himself. God knows our limited understanding so He showed Himself to us in a way we can more easily understand. It is as if God says, “If I was one of you people, this is what I would be like”. Christianity has a much higher view of Jesus than any other world religion. Some admit Jesus was a prophet. Others know Jesus was a good teacher. Christianity alone says more – that Jesus was (and is) God in human form. The reason God came like this was to bring every man, woman and child on earth into a relationship of PEACE with Himself. “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him (Jesus), and through Jesus to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross”. Colossians 1:19-20. Are you at peace with God? Have you asked Jesus to save you? Do it now! September 2008.

Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese every day life. Early on winter mornings I used to walk across the Nile bridge between Khartoum North and Omdurman. The 45 minutes each way gave me time to pray for the coming day. As well as the busy traffic on the road I looked down on several fishermen on the river. They had fires in their boats. They came ashore after fishing. After Jesus was crucified his disciples were unsure exactly what had happened. What should they should do now? Life had not worked out as they had expected. Their hopes and dreams of life with Jesus appeared broken. Naturally enough, Peter suggested to the others they could join him on a fishing trip. Peter and some of his friends were skilled fishermen. They all needed food to eat. They could use their God-given skills. The peace and quiet of a night on the lake would give them time to think and to pray. By early morning they had caught nothing. A man they did not recognise called to them from the shore. Their boat was close in. He told them to fish to starboard – the right side of the boat. They did. Their catch was a very good one! John and Peter thought, “This man is Jesus! The same Jesus we saw crucified is risen from the dead”. At breakfast together on the shore Jesus prepared cooked bread and fish for his disciples. He knew what they needed. He helped them work to catch what they could for themselves, and He probably supplied the rest. The Scripture is not clear who brought the bread! Sometimes in life we are uncertain of our own future. We need a quiet break to help us think and pray things through. Our Lord Jesus is always waiting to meet us at the place we choose to go to. He will provide for us. All we need to do is to make the time. Read John 21:1-14. October 2008.

Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese everyday life. God promises to supply our daily needs for food and water. God promised Noah after the worldwide flood that the cycles of seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, would never finish. And they never have. We should not be surprised by that. God always does what He says He will do. Sadly, we don’t always share what He gives us. This picture I took of a foule seller near my home in Khartoum Bahri reminds me of many delicious breakfasts made from the cooked beans, with either added onions or cheese or tomato or some other tasty things. God gives so generously, even to people who do not stop to thank Him. The rain falls on all people, the good and the bad. Everyone can drink, wash and water their seeds planted in the ground. God’s gifts are for everyone without distinction. The sun shines it’s life giving rays on all planted crops to make them grow. God does not choose to help only the good people and reject the badly behaved. I am so glad He does not do that, because I would be in trouble! I try to thank God for His generous gifts of food and water for life, just before I eat every meal. It is a good reminder for me. God gives me more than I ever deserve. When Jesus died on the cross of Calvary He did not deserve what happened to Him. Jesus loved sinful people so much that He took on Himself the separation from God that we all deserved because of our sin. I don’t deserve to receive that kind of love! But I have received it. Jesus died in my place. I can really live before God – because of Jesus. “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”, Romans 6:23. Have you remembered to say, “Thank you” to Him? Thank God for the practical things of this life, and thank God we are made ready in the Saviour Jesus for our real life, which is yet to come. November 2008.

Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese everyday life. Several people have asked me this question recently. I knew what they meant, but that was not what I thought about. What hit me was this question: “Where is my real home?” At Christmas many people think of travelling home to be with family and friends. My wife is planning for us to welcome our family. As a Christian I believe I have a heavenly home which was definitely not built in Cornwall, England in 1892! (The home I live in now is that). The daily newspaper carries obituaries and death announcements. People are always coming to the end of their earthly lives and moving on. Death is part of life, even if we don’t like to talk about it. My personal battle with cancer these two years has made me think a lot more about my next home. Who knows when my time to move on will come? I love my home in Cornwall, and love being here with family and friends. Yet I also eagerly look forward to my new home in heaven. My Saviour Jesus is awaiting me there. There was no room for Him when he was born, except in a stable. But before His death He delivered the most important message of life. He said, “In My Father’s house are many rooms ... I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am”, John. 14:2-3. I may be living in my Cornwall home this Christmas, but one day soon I will be living in my heavenly home. And it is all thanks to Jesus who, according to the Christmas story, came to “save His people from their sins”, Matthew. 1:21. I hope you will accept His offer of a place in heaven that He is preparing for you. You can do this simply by asking Him to save you from your sins. It is why Jesus came from heaven to earth. From Grace & Truth magazine, December 2008. By Colin Salter.

Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese life everyday. A new calendar year begins. What does the future hold in store for us? God lives outside of time in eternity. He knows the end from the beginning. We don’t. The closer we live to God the more He can share His heart with us. Here are two of Jesus’ thoughts about new beginnings: 1. “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds”, John 12:24. Good seed is buried by a farmer into well-prepared soil long before the farmer can enjoy a fruitful crop. As Christians we must let God plant us firmly where He plans to use us fruitfully in due time. All circumstances are under God’s ultimate control. God works in our tough dark times as well as in our easier brighter moments. God grows His people into women and men He will work through to accomplish His will. A farmer works hard and hopes for the best. He relies on good weather and other growing conditions outside of his control. God knows what He will bring to pass. There is no doubt God’s purpose will always prevail. Don’t fight against God just because what He is doing with you is hard! God is so great! Put your confidence in Him alone. 2. “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am my servant will also be. My Father will honour the one who serves me”, John 12:26. Jesus spoke these words while explaining to His disciples He must soon go to His death on the cross. The cross is not an option for any Christian – it is a necessity. Without the cross there is no Christianity. God judges success in terms of our faithfulness, and nothing else. There can never be any faithful Christian service without following in our Master’s steps. By taking up the cross today we receive a guaranteed heavenly reward tomorrow. Thanks to God and the way of life which embraces Jesus’ cross, we can all know what our ultimate future holds! January 2009.

Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese life everyday. Drought sometimes comes into the heart and soul of a person, as well as to the land of our country! Rivers, like this White Nile, fall before they rise again. Their levels reflect the seasonal rainfall (or the lack of it) miles away, unseen, higher upstream. God promises to send a physical drought as a judgement when His people disobey Him, (see Deuteronomy 28:22). A spiritual drought develops quickly in the inner life of any Christian who neglects to keep their regular personal time with God. This is the heart of disobedience in a love relationship. God is disappointed every day we do not keep our appointment with Him. He misses us! So He reminds us of our absence by withholding the refreshing flow of His life-sustaining spiritual water into our lives. We soon become dry and barren. In quiet moments we may honestly recognise that our Christian walk is not what it once used to be. Our joy has become only hollow laughter. Our peace is only thanks to our deafness to reality. Our service is found in too much human doing – we dare not “Be still, and know that God is God”, Psalm 46:10. Every thriving tree we walk past in daily life is a God-given visual aid of what our Christian lives should be like. A Christian who is living with the cross of Christ central to his or her daily routine is: “Like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit”, Jeremiah 17:8. February 2009.