{"id":1922,"date":"2011-11-09T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2011-11-09T08:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=1922"},"modified":"2011-11-08T10:33:39","modified_gmt":"2011-11-08T10:33:39","slug":"crouching-sin-hidden-welford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/crouching-sin-hidden-welford\/","title":{"rendered":"Crouching Sin, Hidden Welford"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In our old house there was a cupboard that could comfortably contain a full grown man. I know this because I would often slip inside the cupboard and wait, sat in darkness trying to contain the giggles that threatened to explode at my wittiness, to hear my wife moving around in the room. Upon hearing this I would leap out on her and shout \u2018BOO!\u2019. I\u2019m not sure how often I risked my marriage in this way, but I do remember Anna becoming wary of walking past the said cupboard just incase I was crouching inside waiting to pounce. Which I found hilarious, Anna not so much.<\/p>\n<p>We often talk about sin in a very casual way. When we struggle with something we talk about \u2018falling into\u2019 a pattern of behaviour. As though everything was fine and we suddenly tripped over into a massive vat of sin. However we don\u2019t have to travel very far into the Bible to see that this is not the case. In Genesis 4 we find Cain and Abel, both bring sacrifices to God and Cain is lazy. When God doesn\u2019t accept his offering Cain starts to sulk. In verses 6 &amp; 7 we find God\u2019s reply:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2018Then the LORD said to Cain, \u201cWhy are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.\u201d\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Sin is crouching at the door. Why does something crouch? In order to pounce! The suggestion is that sin is not some inactive thing that we can fall into, but something that desires to possess us, that is waiting for us to make any mistake that it can take advantage of, including walking past ignorant of it.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>1 Peter 5:8-9 \u2018Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.\u00a0<sup>9<\/sup>\u00a0Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Anna learnt to walk past a cupboard cautiously because her\u00a0<em>adorable<\/em>\u00a0husband might be waiting to jump out on her. For us the stakes are much higher than that.<\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/crouching-sin-hidden-welford\/\"><\/div><script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png?w=750\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In our old house there was a cupboard that could comfortably contain a full grown man. I know this because I would often slip inside the cupboard and wait, sat in darkness trying to contain the giggles that threatened to explode at my wittiness, to hear my wife moving around in the room. Upon hearing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[312],"tags":[20,23,79,87,90,125,287],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PoLK-v0","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2555,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/accidentally-on-purpose\/","url_meta":{"origin":1922,"position":0},"title":"Accidentally on Purpose","date":"9 May 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Do you ever have one of those moments when time seems to freeze and all the possible choices are laid out before you? I often choose to do stupid things. I\u2019m allowed a glimpse of the options and I choose the worst one. Whether big obvious sins like shoplifting or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Welford&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2478,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/counter-balance\/","url_meta":{"origin":1922,"position":1},"title":"Counter Balance","date":"11 April 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, we were holidaying in Crete with another couple when we decided to hire a couple of mopeds. At the rental shop they asked us all if we had ridden a moped before. I said yes. (I lied). 'How hard can it be I thought?' I don\u2019t want to appear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Welford&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2212,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/man-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":1922,"position":2},"title":"Man Love","date":"25 January 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Love. Love. Love. All you need is love. If that\u2019s the case why is it so hard for Christian men to say they love Jesus? I can understand a certain reticence to be too lovey dovey when trying to talk to non-Christian men about Jesus. I can understand focusing on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Welford&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/friends-blog-640x360.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2356,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/a-letter-from-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":1922,"position":3},"title":"A Letter from Jesus","date":"7 March 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"My friend. I want to tell you that the light inside you is stronger than the darkness that surrounds you. That if your every request would result in your happiness I would surely give them to you. If giving you your desires would be truly beneficial, you would have them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Welford&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4074,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/the-first-man-pt-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":1922,"position":4},"title":"The First Man &#8211; Pt 1","date":"24 April 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I was recently asked to do a five minute talk for a mens breakfast. As I pondered what to talk about I thought about Adam. The first man. The blueprint. But as it turns out Adam didn\u2019t do all that well. The story goes that God made a helper for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Welford&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2856,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/low-sperm-count-boy-firing-blanks-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":1922,"position":5},"title":"Low Sperm Count Boy &#8211; Firing Blanks (Part 1)","date":"12 September 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this year Nick led a seminar at the Northallerton CVM Men\u2019s day on disappointment with God. During this seminar he talked about Anna and his journey through infertility. After he remarked to Carl that although he was happy to share his story, he didn\u2019t want to be labelled \u2018low\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Welford&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1922"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1922\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}