"While the cargo was being unloaded, we looked up the local disciples and stayed with them seven days. Their message to Paul, from insight given by the Spirit, was "Don't go to Jerusalem."" Acts 21:3-4
The local disciple's message to Paul was "Don't go to Jerusalem". Agabus the prophet's message was "This is what the Holy Spirit says: The Jews in Jerusalem are going to tie up the man who owns this belt just like this and hand him over to godless unbelievers." Paul's response was "The issue in Jerusalem is not what they do to me, whether arrest or murder, but what the Master Jesus does through my obedience. Can't you see that?"
Who was right? The local disciples and Agabus both warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem. Both claimed it to be a word from the Holy Spirit. Paul claimed to be being obedient to Jesus. So, did God want Paul in Jerusalem or not? Someone wasn't hearing the word of God correctly.
I can actually take some encouragement from this. Sometimes when I read about the early church they seem to have a direct line to God. Everything is so clear cut as though God is speaking audibly to them. Yet, even the most spiritual of them seem to be hearing different messages from God.
There have been times in my life when people have literally said to me "God has said to me...." Yet what they have told me just doesn't sound right. I have questioned whether I am so out of touch with God that I'm just not hearing what they are telling me I should be hearing.
There will be occasions when the word from God is so loud and clear that there is no doubt. But more often than not the message from God isn't quite as clear as some people would like to make out. It's probably just as well as it encourages me to keep listening and not be so arrogant as to think that hearing from God is as simple as turning on the radio and hearing the word of God for my life at that time.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Moral bludgeoning
I read the following comment today in a financial newsletter that I receive: "The Future Fund, so far at least, seems to be oblivious to the notion of ethical investing with investments in weapons manufacturers and tobacco companies." It's a funny world in which we live where many in the 'chattering class'* are regularly up in arms about anyone with a conservative point of view having the temerity to voice that point of view. At the same time our enlightened chatterers are working tirelessly to get their liberal, left leaning point of view made law, often at the expense of democracy and freedom and all the while earning a generous tax payer funded salary that it my opinion would be better spent on hospital beds.
I mean, is a weapons manufacturer actually ethically worse than a wind farm company? If democratic countries such as USA, Britain & Australia left the development work on weapons to such bastions of humans rights as Iran, North Korea, China and so on, then it wouldn't be long until the meaning of justice was a distant memory to those of us in the West, just as it would have been had Britain rolled over and allowed Hitler to rule Europe. On the other hand, wind farms are a blight on our landscape, kill native birds, cost millions of tax payer's dollars and are an unreliable source of power generation at best. Which is the ethical investment? Gosh, I can hear them making a path to my door now to take me away for re-education at Senator Brown's gulag.
And what of our great minds frothing at the mouth over Gina Rinehart's purchase of shares in Fairfax. What will happen to the climate change reporting they ask? Well, maybe both sides of the story might make it into the paper for a change.
OK, this is a strange way for me to commence my first blog in I don't know how many months. I am not actually quite as far right leaning as it may seem from my comments above. I am conservative leaning but quite liberal in other ways. But if people want to enlighten me about issues such as ethical investing, climate change, aboriginal affairs or same sex relationships they are going about it the wrong way. By trying to ram their moral statements down my throat they are turning me off. If I could read both sides of the climate change debate in The Age rather than have a bunch of academics beating their chest about their moral superiority and the evilness of those who don't accept their faith, then I might actually be on their side.
This isn't just a rant. The point of my ramblings is because what I am seeing and hearing reminds me of the way we Christians have tried, and often still do try, to force our views on the population. Sometimes we could question how many of those views God would actually agree with. Surely quite a bit of what we 'believe' has been drummed into us from a young age but the chances are we wouldn't be able to mount a strong Biblical argument as to why we believe it. To a degree, the church is now paying the price for its moralising and lack of compassion when dealing with sensitive issues. It's something that the Greens and other activist groups would do well to learn from (hello to everyone at Crikey!). But, as for me, how have I learned from the mistakes of the past? Of the things I believe in, how many can I honestly defend and how many are just cultural things that have been passed down and are not Biblically sound? And, most importantly, are my actions more likely to bring people closer to God or drive them away?
*Wikipedia/s definition. "The chattering classes is a generally derogatory[1] term first coined by Auberon Waugh[2] often used by pundits and political commentators to refer to a politically active, socially concerned and highly educated section of the "metropolitan middle class,"[1] especially those with political, media, and academic connections."
I mean, is a weapons manufacturer actually ethically worse than a wind farm company? If democratic countries such as USA, Britain & Australia left the development work on weapons to such bastions of humans rights as Iran, North Korea, China and so on, then it wouldn't be long until the meaning of justice was a distant memory to those of us in the West, just as it would have been had Britain rolled over and allowed Hitler to rule Europe. On the other hand, wind farms are a blight on our landscape, kill native birds, cost millions of tax payer's dollars and are an unreliable source of power generation at best. Which is the ethical investment? Gosh, I can hear them making a path to my door now to take me away for re-education at Senator Brown's gulag.
And what of our great minds frothing at the mouth over Gina Rinehart's purchase of shares in Fairfax. What will happen to the climate change reporting they ask? Well, maybe both sides of the story might make it into the paper for a change.
OK, this is a strange way for me to commence my first blog in I don't know how many months. I am not actually quite as far right leaning as it may seem from my comments above. I am conservative leaning but quite liberal in other ways. But if people want to enlighten me about issues such as ethical investing, climate change, aboriginal affairs or same sex relationships they are going about it the wrong way. By trying to ram their moral statements down my throat they are turning me off. If I could read both sides of the climate change debate in The Age rather than have a bunch of academics beating their chest about their moral superiority and the evilness of those who don't accept their faith, then I might actually be on their side.
This isn't just a rant. The point of my ramblings is because what I am seeing and hearing reminds me of the way we Christians have tried, and often still do try, to force our views on the population. Sometimes we could question how many of those views God would actually agree with. Surely quite a bit of what we 'believe' has been drummed into us from a young age but the chances are we wouldn't be able to mount a strong Biblical argument as to why we believe it. To a degree, the church is now paying the price for its moralising and lack of compassion when dealing with sensitive issues. It's something that the Greens and other activist groups would do well to learn from (hello to everyone at Crikey!). But, as for me, how have I learned from the mistakes of the past? Of the things I believe in, how many can I honestly defend and how many are just cultural things that have been passed down and are not Biblically sound? And, most importantly, are my actions more likely to bring people closer to God or drive them away?
*Wikipedia/s definition. "The chattering classes is a generally derogatory[1] term first coined by Auberon Waugh[2] often used by pundits and political commentators to refer to a politically active, socially concerned and highly educated section of the "metropolitan middle class,"[1] especially those with political, media, and academic connections."
Thursday, September 15, 2011
R.I.P. Andrew Jackson
Every now and then you meet someone who leaves quite an impression on you. Padre Andy was one of those guys. Andy was here for treatment on a brain tumour and, being the cousin of my friend Cathy, spent a fair bit of time at the Christelow household. So, Andy became 'one of us' in our Bible study group.
It's very easy to become insular in a church setting. Churches have that horrible ability to develop a culture which ends up being about ways to behave, dress, speak and reverence for traditions. And so it morphs into some sort of correct Christian behaviour model that ends up being totally irrelevant to world in which we live and, as a result, makes God look weird and irrelevant to those who don't yet know him.
One of Andy's endearing qualities was that he a follower of Christ who connected easily with people who weren't church goers. He was politically incorrect from a Christian perspective yet, what is our role? Is it help people connect with our God who wanted reconciliation so badly that he chose to sacrifice his own son on a cross? Is it to help those in need and be there for them? If the answer to those questions is yes, then Andy was a great example of how to do that and not care what other more 'holy' people thought about him.
I didn't know Andy for all that long but I valued him as a friend. And he challenged me about how I carry out my role in life as a disciple of Jesus.
Enjoy your reward Padre!
It's very easy to become insular in a church setting. Churches have that horrible ability to develop a culture which ends up being about ways to behave, dress, speak and reverence for traditions. And so it morphs into some sort of correct Christian behaviour model that ends up being totally irrelevant to world in which we live and, as a result, makes God look weird and irrelevant to those who don't yet know him.
One of Andy's endearing qualities was that he a follower of Christ who connected easily with people who weren't church goers. He was politically incorrect from a Christian perspective yet, what is our role? Is it help people connect with our God who wanted reconciliation so badly that he chose to sacrifice his own son on a cross? Is it to help those in need and be there for them? If the answer to those questions is yes, then Andy was a great example of how to do that and not care what other more 'holy' people thought about him.
I didn't know Andy for all that long but I valued him as a friend. And he challenged me about how I carry out my role in life as a disciple of Jesus.
Enjoy your reward Padre!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Does God still have power?
I managed to get a doughnut for August - no blog postings at all. Almost 2 months between posts. Bit slack...
I'm not sure what day I'm supposed to be up to in the devotional booklet we were all given at church for our planned giving programme, but I was reading day 13 today. One part of scripture quoted was 2 Timothy 3: 1-5 and this bit particularly caught my eye "...having a form of godliness but denying its power."
I mentioned briefly when doing devotions at songster practice that my theology over time has become much more liberal in some areas but one of the downsides of that was that I somehow also lost a bit of belief in God to work miracles.
Some areas where I am a bit more liberal these days are regarding a 7 day creation and some of the Old Testament miracles. I very much believe in intelligent design but, whilst I think that God could easily have created the word in 7 literal days, and make it look millions of years old, I don't think he did.
Similarly, was Jonah swallowed by a big fish? Did some of those things that we read about Elijah and Elisha happen exactly as explained in the Bible?
These days I am comfortable that those questions don't threaten my faith. But reading "having a form of godliness but denying its power" challenges whether I am somehow making God smaller. The God who created life is no less powerful if he then let it evolve rather than create everything over a 7 day period.
The challenge in moving in a more liberal direction when it comes to theology is to not throw the baby out with the bath water - not to have a form of godliness but deny its power. God is still able to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to do it. I need to remember that God is still the God of miracles and make sure that I don't make him small enough to fit into my very limited intellectual capacity.
I'm not sure what day I'm supposed to be up to in the devotional booklet we were all given at church for our planned giving programme, but I was reading day 13 today. One part of scripture quoted was 2 Timothy 3: 1-5 and this bit particularly caught my eye "...having a form of godliness but denying its power."
I mentioned briefly when doing devotions at songster practice that my theology over time has become much more liberal in some areas but one of the downsides of that was that I somehow also lost a bit of belief in God to work miracles.
Some areas where I am a bit more liberal these days are regarding a 7 day creation and some of the Old Testament miracles. I very much believe in intelligent design but, whilst I think that God could easily have created the word in 7 literal days, and make it look millions of years old, I don't think he did.
Similarly, was Jonah swallowed by a big fish? Did some of those things that we read about Elijah and Elisha happen exactly as explained in the Bible?
These days I am comfortable that those questions don't threaten my faith. But reading "having a form of godliness but denying its power" challenges whether I am somehow making God smaller. The God who created life is no less powerful if he then let it evolve rather than create everything over a 7 day period.
The challenge in moving in a more liberal direction when it comes to theology is to not throw the baby out with the bath water - not to have a form of godliness but deny its power. God is still able to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to do it. I need to remember that God is still the God of miracles and make sure that I don't make him small enough to fit into my very limited intellectual capacity.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Engraved on my heart
" This new plan I'm making with Israel
isn't going to be written on paper,
isn't going to be chiseled in stone;
This time I'm writing out the plan in them,
carving it on the lining of their hearts.
I'll be their God,
they'll be my people.
They won't go to school to learn about me,
or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons.
They'll all get to know me firsthand,
the little and the big, the small and the great.
They'll get to know me by being kindly forgiven,
with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.
By coming up with a new plan, a new covenant between God and his people, God put the old plan on the shelf. And there it stays, gathering dust." Heb 8
The heart is the centre of our being, the thing that keeps us alive. And God has carved his new plan on the very thing central to keeping us alive.
When you carve something it stays carved. It isn't something temporary. God's salvation is not temporary. It isn't God's intention that this salvation is some sort of passing fad. It is God's permanent gift of eternal life.
God didn't sacrifice his son for some temporary quick fix. He meant it to be eternal and intensely personal.
As it says in verse 13 - "God put the old plan on the shelf. And there it stays, gathering dust." It's never to be used again.
And we don't have to have a privileged upbringing attending Scotch College or Geelong Grammar to get to know God personally. Little, big, small or great, we are all the object of his love.
Thank you God for making a permanent way for me to spend time with you. And thank you for engraving your plan on my heart, never to be removed again.
isn't going to be written on paper,
isn't going to be chiseled in stone;
This time I'm writing out the plan in them,
carving it on the lining of their hearts.
I'll be their God,
they'll be my people.
They won't go to school to learn about me,
or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons.
They'll all get to know me firsthand,
the little and the big, the small and the great.
They'll get to know me by being kindly forgiven,
with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.
By coming up with a new plan, a new covenant between God and his people, God put the old plan on the shelf. And there it stays, gathering dust." Heb 8
The heart is the centre of our being, the thing that keeps us alive. And God has carved his new plan on the very thing central to keeping us alive.
When you carve something it stays carved. It isn't something temporary. God's salvation is not temporary. It isn't God's intention that this salvation is some sort of passing fad. It is God's permanent gift of eternal life.
God didn't sacrifice his son for some temporary quick fix. He meant it to be eternal and intensely personal.
As it says in verse 13 - "God put the old plan on the shelf. And there it stays, gathering dust." It's never to be used again.
And we don't have to have a privileged upbringing attending Scotch College or Geelong Grammar to get to know God personally. Little, big, small or great, we are all the object of his love.
Thank you God for making a permanent way for me to spend time with you. And thank you for engraving your plan on my heart, never to be removed again.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Feeling flat? Try preparing better.
Am I listening to God?
Do I prepare myself to listen to God?
Am I doing the long term things - not taking shortcuts?
How desperate am I to find Jesus?
These questions are written in the front cover of one of my old journals. I don't recall whether they are my words or something I had read and decided to write in my journal as a reminder. Either way, I had forgotten that they were there so it didn't really work!
We have just participated in another Pentecost Sunday. Not all of our Sunday meetings seem to be blessed with the feeling of the closeness of God. Sometimes that's just my state of mind. Other times it's the way in which the congregation as a whole approaches worship. Whenever we take our focus off God our worship time will suffer. And, as humans, we are very good at taking our eyes off God.
On Pentecost Sunday there is a focus on asking the Holy Spirit to come. When our focus is on God and we spend an hour or so waiting on Him and asking for that rushing wind and tongues of fire to come upon us we usually sense a presence of God that is stronger than other times.
For some reason, the special event that is Pentecost makes us focus a little more on God than we seem to do on a 'normal' Sunday.
When I look at those questions at the top of the post I realise that most of the time I am nowhere near prepared to hear from God when I read the scripture, pray, attend music rehearsals, attend Bible Study or roll up to the Sunday meetings. Is it any wonder then that sometimes I leave feeling flat and unfulfilled.
Do I prepare myself to listen to God?
Am I doing the long term things - not taking shortcuts?
How desperate am I to find Jesus?
These questions are written in the front cover of one of my old journals. I don't recall whether they are my words or something I had read and decided to write in my journal as a reminder. Either way, I had forgotten that they were there so it didn't really work!
We have just participated in another Pentecost Sunday. Not all of our Sunday meetings seem to be blessed with the feeling of the closeness of God. Sometimes that's just my state of mind. Other times it's the way in which the congregation as a whole approaches worship. Whenever we take our focus off God our worship time will suffer. And, as humans, we are very good at taking our eyes off God.
On Pentecost Sunday there is a focus on asking the Holy Spirit to come. When our focus is on God and we spend an hour or so waiting on Him and asking for that rushing wind and tongues of fire to come upon us we usually sense a presence of God that is stronger than other times.
For some reason, the special event that is Pentecost makes us focus a little more on God than we seem to do on a 'normal' Sunday.
When I look at those questions at the top of the post I realise that most of the time I am nowhere near prepared to hear from God when I read the scripture, pray, attend music rehearsals, attend Bible Study or roll up to the Sunday meetings. Is it any wonder then that sometimes I leave feeling flat and unfulfilled.
Monday, May 30, 2011
WWBD
Another year, another Red Shield done and dusted (for me anyway). I really appreciate Bunnings' willingness to let us park ourselves outside of their front door for 3 weekends in a row to collect. It is a great location for us but our presence brings no benefit to them I wouldn't have thought. So their generosity is much appreciated.
I found myself again this year pondering the success of the Bunnings model. People come and go in their hundreds and what's interesting is the large number of kids who go along. Bunnings are smart. They cater for the kids. There is Rudy the one man band and the gentleman who blows up balloons. They wander the store entertaining the children. And then they hand out flags and blow up hammers, do face painting etc.
So, to my title 'WWBD'. Nothing to do with the Western Bulldogs (great win Hawks!). It is a rip off of the 'WWJD' "What would Jesus do'. 'WWBD - What would Bunnings Do'.
If Bunnings were a church, what would they do. What can we learn from Bunnings that would make us better at being 'church'.
1) It's obvious that there is no discrimination. One of the things that is obvious is that people of all races, skin colour, personal beliefs, income etc etc feel comfortable shopping at Bunnings. For all of its' inclusive protestations, the church is not particularly inclusive. Our beliefs, and maybe the way we have majored on the theology at the expense of seeing the person, have done a pretty good job of alienating large numbers of people. Without wanting to get into a uniform debate, what we wear in church must be pretty off putting to the average person too.
2) The staff are helpful and know their stuff. There is a person at the entrance who often greets but who answers questions. People come there with a need and there are staff who help meet their need. Around the store there are staff ready to assist.
The church has a history of welcomers at the front door and some who make it their duty to assist within the building. But my experience is that too few make it their business to be on the look out for those who need to be made feel welcome and even fewer of us who know our stuff when it comes to meeting basic human needs. I'm included in that number. Last year at Preston Salvos, we did a pilot program called 'STAMP'. It was good to learn more about the needs of people and now we could assist as well as inform us of the programs available in the Salvos to help deal with those issues. I hope it moves beyond a pilot program. Must talk to Jason about that.
3) The kids receive special attention. Attendance at Bunnings can be a fun time for both parents and children.
4) It's easy to get into a Bunnings building. The entrances to churches are often foreboding and not very welcoming. And that's even before new folk get to meet the church people who might be even more foreboding!
There's probably many more. And Bunnings is far from a church model. The DIY craze has made Bunnings a very popular place to go whereas church isn't. God is not exactly on the nose but most people don't find 'religion' to be high on their priority list. Also, once a person leaves Bunnings the relationship ends. Church is involved in serious life issues that are much more complicated than finding the right size screws.
There are many challenges to the church but sometimes, spending a lot of time outside of somewhere like Bunnings, watching how it all works, can remind us that some models in the business world operate on principals that cross over into the church world. And often, we do those things badly in the church and can learn from business. WWBD?
I found myself again this year pondering the success of the Bunnings model. People come and go in their hundreds and what's interesting is the large number of kids who go along. Bunnings are smart. They cater for the kids. There is Rudy the one man band and the gentleman who blows up balloons. They wander the store entertaining the children. And then they hand out flags and blow up hammers, do face painting etc.
So, to my title 'WWBD'. Nothing to do with the Western Bulldogs (great win Hawks!). It is a rip off of the 'WWJD' "What would Jesus do'. 'WWBD - What would Bunnings Do'.
If Bunnings were a church, what would they do. What can we learn from Bunnings that would make us better at being 'church'.
1) It's obvious that there is no discrimination. One of the things that is obvious is that people of all races, skin colour, personal beliefs, income etc etc feel comfortable shopping at Bunnings. For all of its' inclusive protestations, the church is not particularly inclusive. Our beliefs, and maybe the way we have majored on the theology at the expense of seeing the person, have done a pretty good job of alienating large numbers of people. Without wanting to get into a uniform debate, what we wear in church must be pretty off putting to the average person too.
2) The staff are helpful and know their stuff. There is a person at the entrance who often greets but who answers questions. People come there with a need and there are staff who help meet their need. Around the store there are staff ready to assist.
The church has a history of welcomers at the front door and some who make it their duty to assist within the building. But my experience is that too few make it their business to be on the look out for those who need to be made feel welcome and even fewer of us who know our stuff when it comes to meeting basic human needs. I'm included in that number. Last year at Preston Salvos, we did a pilot program called 'STAMP'. It was good to learn more about the needs of people and now we could assist as well as inform us of the programs available in the Salvos to help deal with those issues. I hope it moves beyond a pilot program. Must talk to Jason about that.
3) The kids receive special attention. Attendance at Bunnings can be a fun time for both parents and children.
4) It's easy to get into a Bunnings building. The entrances to churches are often foreboding and not very welcoming. And that's even before new folk get to meet the church people who might be even more foreboding!
There's probably many more. And Bunnings is far from a church model. The DIY craze has made Bunnings a very popular place to go whereas church isn't. God is not exactly on the nose but most people don't find 'religion' to be high on their priority list. Also, once a person leaves Bunnings the relationship ends. Church is involved in serious life issues that are much more complicated than finding the right size screws.
There are many challenges to the church but sometimes, spending a lot of time outside of somewhere like Bunnings, watching how it all works, can remind us that some models in the business world operate on principals that cross over into the church world. And often, we do those things badly in the church and can learn from business. WWBD?
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