I was asked yesterday if I would cancel Christmas if I had the chance. Without hesitation I said yes. That wouldn't surprise anyone that knows me! But why?
Well, it is the busiest time of the year. Everything goes up a notch. The band & to a lesser extent the songsters have a lot more commitments. Also, everyone seems to think that it is a good idea to have a Christmas breakup or that Christmas is a great time to catch up. And, for the last 21 years, 31/12 has been end of financial year at work. Being a 'beanie' it means December is busy.
This year the Amazon rainforest has been trying to reclaim the block of land on which I live. The council has given me until 13th December to clear my land or they will fine me. With no free weekends before then and having had monsoon conditions almost every weekend for a couple of months, it seems an impossible task. Another reason to cancel Christmas.
And finally, on top of everything else there is the situation at work where we may well be handing people redundancy letters. Ho Ho Merry Christmas everyone.
Surely this isn't what Christmas is all about. Contrary to popular opinon (and one that I actively promote!) I do quite like Christmas music and I do listen to it in my car on my commute. This morning I grabbed a couple of Christmas cd's as I flew out of the door and on one is a song that we sang a few year ago. The chorus says:
Let the world take the glitter and the greed,
The only Christmas presence that I need
Is you beside me like you were at the start
Then I'll know it's Christmas
Then I'll know it's Christmas in my heart.
It's not going to happen, but it would be great one year to have nothing except the celebration of Christ at Christmas.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Nowhere is safe!
"When Jesus got the news, he slipped away by boat to an out-of-the-way place by himself. But unsuccessfully—someone saw him and the word got around. Soon a lot of people from the nearby villages walked around the lake to where he was. When he saw them coming, he was overcome with pity and healed their sick." Matthew 14: 13-14
Jesus had received the news of John's execution. His response was much the same as mine would have been, and probably that of most people. He wanted to get away to a secluded place to be alone and contemplate what had happened and try to come to grips with and deal with his emotions.
But, even in that remote place he was spotted and Jesus would have seen a large group of people heading his way. This is where his reaction differed to what mine would most likely have been in the same circumstances. I would have groaned and maybe tried to disappear before the crowd reached me. Or maybe I would have told them "Not now. I can't handle this at the moment".
Jesus' reaction? He was overcome with pity and healed the sick. Jesus was so full of love that often he would react in a way that was best for others rather than what was best for himself.
It's a challenge for me to examine how I react when people put demands on my life and when the circumstances aren't always convenient.
God, help me to be filled with love that has compassion for people even when it doesn't fit with what I want or think I need at the time.
Jesus had received the news of John's execution. His response was much the same as mine would have been, and probably that of most people. He wanted to get away to a secluded place to be alone and contemplate what had happened and try to come to grips with and deal with his emotions.
But, even in that remote place he was spotted and Jesus would have seen a large group of people heading his way. This is where his reaction differed to what mine would most likely have been in the same circumstances. I would have groaned and maybe tried to disappear before the crowd reached me. Or maybe I would have told them "Not now. I can't handle this at the moment".
Jesus' reaction? He was overcome with pity and healed the sick. Jesus was so full of love that often he would react in a way that was best for others rather than what was best for himself.
It's a challenge for me to examine how I react when people put demands on my life and when the circumstances aren't always convenient.
God, help me to be filled with love that has compassion for people even when it doesn't fit with what I want or think I need at the time.
Monday, November 22, 2010
A total absence of proof
"The only proof you're going to get is what looks like the absence of proof: Jonah-evidence. Like Jonah, three days and nights in the fish's belly, the Son of Man will be gone three days and nights in a deep grave." Matt 12:39-40
These days I guess we forget, or don't realise, the despair and hopelessness that must have been in the lives of Jesus' followers following his crucifixion. How could anything good possibly come out of the killing of Jesus, let alone proof of his divinity?
A few religion scholars and the obligatory Pharisees had asked Jesus to prove his credentials. "How about a miracle?", they said. Jesus responded that the evidence he was going to give them would appear to be an absence of proof i.e. his death.
Today, the things we look for as proof of Jesus' credentials are usually obvious and grand such as miracles, the great moving of the Holy Spirit in our church services and so on. We still tend to underestimate God's ability and desire to move in ways that seem, at the time, to look more like a complete absence of his presence rather than proof that he is God.
What might God be doing in my life, at my church, in the lives of my friends at the moment that looks more like a total absence of proof? And what does that say about my trust and faith in God?
These days I guess we forget, or don't realise, the despair and hopelessness that must have been in the lives of Jesus' followers following his crucifixion. How could anything good possibly come out of the killing of Jesus, let alone proof of his divinity?
A few religion scholars and the obligatory Pharisees had asked Jesus to prove his credentials. "How about a miracle?", they said. Jesus responded that the evidence he was going to give them would appear to be an absence of proof i.e. his death.
Today, the things we look for as proof of Jesus' credentials are usually obvious and grand such as miracles, the great moving of the Holy Spirit in our church services and so on. We still tend to underestimate God's ability and desire to move in ways that seem, at the time, to look more like a complete absence of his presence rather than proof that he is God.
What might God be doing in my life, at my church, in the lives of my friends at the moment that looks more like a total absence of proof? And what does that say about my trust and faith in God?
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
No extreme makeover required
"We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives....You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at." 2 Cor 4:7-8
In recent years there have been a plethora of extreme makeover type shows on tv where people, unhappy with their appearance, have all sorts of plastic surgery and so on in order to look more beautiful.
Sometimes, when a person has a birth defect or has been burnt, this sort of treatment is totally acceptable. But on these makeover shows all too often the people are relatively average/normal. They tend to have incredibly low self esteem as a result of taunting in their life, often by family, or are just worn down by the suffocating culture of 'beauty is important' so prevalent in the western world.
Paul, we suspect, was no oil painting. Far from it. And in 2 Cor he says "we're not much to look at". Yet Paul has gone down in history as one of the world's most important people. He recognised that he had to be an 'unadorned clay pot' so as to not get in the way of God's incomparable power.
It's all about God, not us. We don't need to have an extreme makeover to be successful for God, or to be beautiful in his eyes.
In recent years there have been a plethora of extreme makeover type shows on tv where people, unhappy with their appearance, have all sorts of plastic surgery and so on in order to look more beautiful.
Sometimes, when a person has a birth defect or has been burnt, this sort of treatment is totally acceptable. But on these makeover shows all too often the people are relatively average/normal. They tend to have incredibly low self esteem as a result of taunting in their life, often by family, or are just worn down by the suffocating culture of 'beauty is important' so prevalent in the western world.
Paul, we suspect, was no oil painting. Far from it. And in 2 Cor he says "we're not much to look at". Yet Paul has gone down in history as one of the world's most important people. He recognised that he had to be an 'unadorned clay pot' so as to not get in the way of God's incomparable power.
It's all about God, not us. We don't need to have an extreme makeover to be successful for God, or to be beautiful in his eyes.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Covenant is...
"Marriage is not a place to "stand up for your rights." Marriage is a decision to serve the other..." 1 Cor 7:4
A bit of waffle today!
In this chapter Paul is talking about whether to be married or single but I found this verse, or part thereof, interesting because it says something about covenant and made me think a bit about Salvation Army Soldiership too. There is so much in the scriptures about covenant, about serving one another in more than a superficial way, and it seems to me that we don't grasp the concept too well these days, or we choose not to grasp the concept because it doesn't fit with what we want.
I suppose it isn't a new problem and the fact that Paul had to address some of the issues, such as in 1 Cor 7, bears out that point. So much of our life revolves around commitments with one another - the marriage covenant, the soldier's covenant and the new covenant between Jesus and us.
There are many theories around as to why soldiership is not embraced by young people growing up in the Salvation Army these days. For some the idea is that it's a bit pointless. What difference does it make? Some years ago now a group of us from our church got together to draft some recommendations to our church leadership team about making our music groups 'open groups'. Traditionally, a person has needed to be a uniform wearing Salvationist to be a part of music group. We were opening up the groups as part of the change from the 'believing before belonging' to 'belonging before believing' concept. Some people would have seen it as dumbing down soldiership. But to me it was about raising the bar. When we think about it, it is quite ridiculous that the only time most of us Salvos wear uniform now is to attend church. It's hard to dumb down soldiership more than making it just a right of entry into a music group where uniform is worn one day a week inside of our church building. Somehow, soldiers needed to understand again a higher calling and the higher expectation of soldiers when discipling new members and building friendships with new members of our music groups who weren't yet Christians. It was, in my opinion anyway, a way of lifting the bar, not lowering of it.
Along the way it has had other consequences too as people choose to no longer wear uniform and, maybe take a step in the other direction. That's a subject for another 20 page blog though!
One reason given for not taking the step of commitment for soldiership would be that 'I don't have to be a soldier or wear uniform to be a Christian'. Similarly, many today say, 'I don't need to be married to have a successful relationship'. Both are true to an extent but my view on both is that there are times when it is important to demonstrate how important something is to us. The marriage commitment is a public showing of commitment by two people to each other. They say that they are so committed to each other that they publicly make vows that for the rest of their lives, in the good times and bad, they will stick with each other. And for a Christian it would be a commitment made in God's presence as well as in front of family and friends. They don't have to make those public vows but if you are really committed to your partner, why wouldn't you?
Salvation Army soldiership is something similar. We don't have to do it. But why wouldn't we? If we truly want to serve God why would we shy away from making a public declaration in front of friends, family and God? Certain things are important enough to make our declaration of commitment public.
So, my relationship with Jesus is not about standing up for my rights . It is a decision to serve him as He served me by going to the cross on my behalf. It is a decision to serve each other.
God, help me to remember, understand and value my relationship with you through my life as a believer and soldier of the Salvation Army.
A bit of waffle today!
In this chapter Paul is talking about whether to be married or single but I found this verse, or part thereof, interesting because it says something about covenant and made me think a bit about Salvation Army Soldiership too. There is so much in the scriptures about covenant, about serving one another in more than a superficial way, and it seems to me that we don't grasp the concept too well these days, or we choose not to grasp the concept because it doesn't fit with what we want.
I suppose it isn't a new problem and the fact that Paul had to address some of the issues, such as in 1 Cor 7, bears out that point. So much of our life revolves around commitments with one another - the marriage covenant, the soldier's covenant and the new covenant between Jesus and us.
There are many theories around as to why soldiership is not embraced by young people growing up in the Salvation Army these days. For some the idea is that it's a bit pointless. What difference does it make? Some years ago now a group of us from our church got together to draft some recommendations to our church leadership team about making our music groups 'open groups'. Traditionally, a person has needed to be a uniform wearing Salvationist to be a part of music group. We were opening up the groups as part of the change from the 'believing before belonging' to 'belonging before believing' concept. Some people would have seen it as dumbing down soldiership. But to me it was about raising the bar. When we think about it, it is quite ridiculous that the only time most of us Salvos wear uniform now is to attend church. It's hard to dumb down soldiership more than making it just a right of entry into a music group where uniform is worn one day a week inside of our church building. Somehow, soldiers needed to understand again a higher calling and the higher expectation of soldiers when discipling new members and building friendships with new members of our music groups who weren't yet Christians. It was, in my opinion anyway, a way of lifting the bar, not lowering of it.
Along the way it has had other consequences too as people choose to no longer wear uniform and, maybe take a step in the other direction. That's a subject for another 20 page blog though!
One reason given for not taking the step of commitment for soldiership would be that 'I don't have to be a soldier or wear uniform to be a Christian'. Similarly, many today say, 'I don't need to be married to have a successful relationship'. Both are true to an extent but my view on both is that there are times when it is important to demonstrate how important something is to us. The marriage commitment is a public showing of commitment by two people to each other. They say that they are so committed to each other that they publicly make vows that for the rest of their lives, in the good times and bad, they will stick with each other. And for a Christian it would be a commitment made in God's presence as well as in front of family and friends. They don't have to make those public vows but if you are really committed to your partner, why wouldn't you?
Salvation Army soldiership is something similar. We don't have to do it. But why wouldn't we? If we truly want to serve God why would we shy away from making a public declaration in front of friends, family and God? Certain things are important enough to make our declaration of commitment public.
So, my relationship with Jesus is not about standing up for my rights . It is a decision to serve him as He served me by going to the cross on my behalf. It is a decision to serve each other.
God, help me to remember, understand and value my relationship with you through my life as a believer and soldier of the Salvation Army.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Plain & simple
"You'll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God's master stroke, I didn't try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified." 1 Cor 2:1-2
I always tend to think of Paul as a very intelligent and persuasive personality; one who knew his scripture backwards and used the power of his oratory to encourage people into faith. This may well be true to an extent but here, Paul is reminding the Church at Corinth that his efforts to spread the gospel were simple at best. In fact, as the Message puts it, he was 'scared to death'. Yet his simple message, spread with nervousness still produced fruit. Why? Because it was God's Spirit and God's power that impressed upon the people the power of the message.
What a great encouragement and relief it is to know that even the great Paul suffered the same issues as us - nerves and insecurities. But the church still grew.
It's a reminder that God doesn't expect perfect people, and in fact, in chapter 1 we read that God chooses 'nobodies' rather than 'somebodies'. He wants people who are willing to put their faith and trust in him and believe that the Holy Spirit will do the convicting work.
I always tend to think of Paul as a very intelligent and persuasive personality; one who knew his scripture backwards and used the power of his oratory to encourage people into faith. This may well be true to an extent but here, Paul is reminding the Church at Corinth that his efforts to spread the gospel were simple at best. In fact, as the Message puts it, he was 'scared to death'. Yet his simple message, spread with nervousness still produced fruit. Why? Because it was God's Spirit and God's power that impressed upon the people the power of the message.
What a great encouragement and relief it is to know that even the great Paul suffered the same issues as us - nerves and insecurities. But the church still grew.
It's a reminder that God doesn't expect perfect people, and in fact, in chapter 1 we read that God chooses 'nobodies' rather than 'somebodies'. He wants people who are willing to put their faith and trust in him and believe that the Holy Spirit will do the convicting work.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wretched computers
Computers can be fantastic things. It's hard to imagine life without them now. But, gee, they can be frustrating and make you wonder whether technology has made things more complicated than was the case prior to their invention.
I am leading our Bible Study tomorrow and for the study that I had decided to use I had a dvd, leader's guide but no participant's guide. The good part about computers/Internet is that it is possible to download a PDF version of the participant's guide. The bad part is trying to actually do it! Having found the guide I needed to purchase it. To purchase it I needed register with the supplier. Of course, registering requires a user name that hasn't already been taken and a password that requires upper case/lower case/numbers/Mesopotamian hieroglyphics, plus some Arabic and Greek letters.
Having spent 10 minutes trying to register for my $1.99 purchase the system took me to a shipping page where I had to fill in a shipping address, despite the fact that I was downloading my purchase, plus a phone number that had to be in a specific format.
Then it told me there had been an error and I needed to ring somebody to fix it. Close and reboot is always a preferable option and, on this occasion it worked and I finally purchased my $1.99 participant's guide. But wait, there's more! An email arrives with a link to download my purchase. But, of course, I have to register with another site to download my guide. Eventually, with dilating pupils, red face and raised blood pressure, the file opened and there was my precious participant's guide. It better be a good study....
The most famous verse in the Bible is, of course:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
So simple. Whoever believes. No frustration trying to register online with multiple passwords and trying to fill in Australian state names when only American states are accepted. Nothing like that. Just whoever believes.
Thank you God for making it all so simple.
I am leading our Bible Study tomorrow and for the study that I had decided to use I had a dvd, leader's guide but no participant's guide. The good part about computers/Internet is that it is possible to download a PDF version of the participant's guide. The bad part is trying to actually do it! Having found the guide I needed to purchase it. To purchase it I needed register with the supplier. Of course, registering requires a user name that hasn't already been taken and a password that requires upper case/lower case/numbers/Mesopotamian hieroglyphics, plus some Arabic and Greek letters.
Having spent 10 minutes trying to register for my $1.99 purchase the system took me to a shipping page where I had to fill in a shipping address, despite the fact that I was downloading my purchase, plus a phone number that had to be in a specific format.
Then it told me there had been an error and I needed to ring somebody to fix it. Close and reboot is always a preferable option and, on this occasion it worked and I finally purchased my $1.99 participant's guide. But wait, there's more! An email arrives with a link to download my purchase. But, of course, I have to register with another site to download my guide. Eventually, with dilating pupils, red face and raised blood pressure, the file opened and there was my precious participant's guide. It better be a good study....
The most famous verse in the Bible is, of course:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
So simple. Whoever believes. No frustration trying to register online with multiple passwords and trying to fill in Australian state names when only American states are accepted. Nothing like that. Just whoever believes.
Thank you God for making it all so simple.
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