Tag: Religion and Spirituality

Emmanuel?


  • Little Ezra. Ms SS. Madam Lee. Madam Lim. One little boy and three elderly ladies.
  • 2 elderly men, both tethered on life’s edge and back again. Back again to give thanks to God in a church service.
  • Ms BS. Smart, educated and looked like awarm loving lady, incapacitated by long term illness. Gave thanks to God for others who could live normal lives.
  • Ms YLT. Strong willed lady who willed her family through storms. Husband fought against stage 4 cancer and came out healed. Willed her children through poignant moments of challenges.
  • Mr MS. Smart, successful, educated and warm and loving man who carried his family strongly in support.
  • Ms N and Mr A J. Smart, energetic and sacrificial servants of God. Qualified business people, they headed offshore and have had to deal with wide range of challenges in serving God in obedience.

God has blessed us with a journey that helped us come into connection with such people in the past few weeks. Some closer than others, some more distant. Every one of those people touched us in ways which made us reflect on life, God and our journey on earth. These connections, whether by merely listening to them in a public forum or sitting in their kitchen listening to them, deepened my conviction that engagement and a desire to be there with and for someone is fundamental to ministry.

This is against type for me. I have been one for being by myself – in a corner at home reading a book, listening to a CD or watching a movie has always been a preferred activity for me. Yet this wasn’t what God did. He always wanted to engage with His people – be among them, eat, work, weep, teach and make lives better by being with His people. Jesus died so that God’s people can be with Him in perpetuity.

With about 4 weeks to Christmas, this message of Emmanuel is a timely one perhaps…

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Reports Galore and Hazy Moments


A few weeks ago I was asked to write a church report. It was to be one of several reports this new regime wanted to include in an AGM report, beyond just the statutory financial stuff. I was reminded about it a few days later and I needed to get it in before the end of the week. So I got home, got it done, and sent it in and it was about mid week. About a week later after a board meeting we were circulated a compilation of all reports submitted. I looked at them and when I got to mine I noted that it hasn’t been read at all.

So I got a bit disappointed.

Over the weekend there were more emails and more reports requested. I decided a de minimis approach was the order of the day.

All these reports. All on stuff we have already talked about repeatedly. It isn’t like there are reporting requirements put in place in a general meeting or the board. Why are we making ministry in a local church so bureaucratic and paper laden? If there is evidence that these reports are read meaningfully and analytically then I’d be more supportive but for the moment it looks like a form over substance stage, which given the context of a local church such as mine, is probably just a meaningless exercise.

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We were at Jason and Mel’s on Friday night till late. After the cell meeting a few of us stayed behind and just chatted and it was about midnight when we left.

On Sat morning Tress and I had our usual coffee session first thing in the morning (after sleeping in a bit), went to the dry cleaning place for my stuff, and then went home for some gardening. I cut the hedges at the back fence, which are probably over 4 meters in height now. The green bin was filling up really quickly so I couldnt have them all trimmed the way I wanted – had to leave it for another day. We then worked on the pine tree at the front. A big branch had grown towards the roof of the house and we’ve been hearing noices in that part of the house at night, and we suspect they’re possums. I thought the branches were making it easy for these possums to getonto the roof.  So I had the big branch lopped off and we had to leave a big section of it in the front lawn towards one side.

We got a video from Video Ezy later that night and I gave the Little Black Jedi a bath but other than that I really couldnt remember what else we did. Just as it was a bit of a blur for me last night – not sure what I did, other than speaking to Kiddo over Skype.  We went to church of course, and after that we had lunch with Auntie Hooi and Uncle Marloney, after which we went and got some grocery, got home and cooked some food for the week’s lunches and dinners. We took the Little Black Jedi for a long walk later that evening and other than these things I really couldn’t remember what else we did.

I dont know if that is why we need written reports… sigh

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Time with friends and family – what is the cost?


This is a busy time for most people. Periods leading up to Christmas is a hectic time for work, and prevalence of school exams  plus end of school terms also add up to mean a busy period for kids and parents. At such times, the church becomes an important source of respite, refreshments and affirmation and encouragement. Given the centrality of Sunday services, church at this time is an important factor.

This is also a time for planning for the coming year. Ministers generally embark on the planning process at this time and often lend support and momentum to the process and all who are involved in it.

Notwithstanding a long weekend (Melbourne Cup Day) therefore, the question of everyone counting on everyone else to be around on Sundays is one all church goers need to think about at this time. We cannot exhort each other, hand on heart, and expect to prop each other up, build each other and encourage each other if we are consistently away on Sundays. It becomes even more difficult when Sundays are often the only times we have where we can otherwise expect to see each other.

Maybe I am old schooled. Maybe my expectation that when I go to church I want to see everyone there – especially the shepherd – is misplaced, in this day and age. There is now so much emphasis on family time and time for good friends, that the cost is that of the wider community. Maybe out of necessity we focus on increasingly small groups to build relationships, especially with family, relatives and close friends. Hence if we are with these people, being with the wider community of faith becomes less important. Maybe that is acceptable now.

I guess if that is the situation it will take more effort than ever before, to build a community of faith, because the cost – that of giving up exclusive recreation time with family and close friends – gets increasingly higher and such sacrifices and priorities become increasingly harder to bear.

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John Stott – The Passing of a Giant


John Stott has died. He was 90.

John Stott is one of my most revered christian leaders. His writings have influenced me more than perhaps anyone else, although I enjoyed reading the likes of JI Packer, CS Lewis and Gordon Fee just as much. The church will miss him badly. I will miss him. Just on Tuesday night I was at Koorong and got another one of his books (The Cross of Christ). His emphasis on good preaching should be heeded by so many today.

If you have never read any of his books, go and get one – any one (start with Basic Christianity).

John Stott has run a great race, fought a great fight, and will certainly have the Lord say to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant”.

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Was Anders Breivik a Christian?


Was Anders Breivik a Christian as some news reports have suggested? Does his self declared act of war in the name of Christianity hold any water?

I agree wholly with what Tim Dalrymple has said in this matter here in the Patheos website. Have a read if you can find 10 minutes to spare

 

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Alpha Material


I have been trying to get an electronic version of the Alpha Manual (or Alpha Course: Why Jesus?) to no avail. I wonder why for a course that has attracted millions of participants the material is still so restricted. I would have thought it would be freely available but I suppose there may be an element of content, channel and course control or management which necessitates a more narrow distribution mode.

Does anyone know if I can get the electronic version of the Alpha course material?

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We’re together…


3. Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights act...
Image via Wikipedia

All I’m saying is simply this, that all life is interrelated, that somehow we’re caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.

– Martin Luther King Jr

In a network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny… wow. He’s saying we’re all in this journey called life, together and to be at my A game, I need you to be in your A game. Martin Luther King Junior – what a man huh?

Why dont we have more people who think and write like this?

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More on Stott


I was just reminding myself of something I read on the views of John Stott on gifts, as reflected in his interview with the publication Christianity Today…

On Gifts:

The most important gift today, measured by Paul’s principle that we should excel in those that build up the church, is teaching. Nothing builds up the church like the truth, and we desperately need more Christian teachers all over the world. I often say to my charismatic friends, “If only you would concentrate on praying that God would give teachers to the church who could lead all these new converts into maturity in Christ, it would be more profitable.

Objectivity and clarity of thoughts and expression is always important.

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More on Rob Bell


I was still mulling over whether to get Rob Bell‘s ‘Love Wins” on the Kindle, half thinking Paul’s ethos of becoming “all things to all men so that by all means some may be saved“. Maybe, from the perspective of reaching out to certain demographics, this book may turn out to be a gem. Yet, what is the gospel Paul’s ethos was directed at, and is this the same gospel “Love Wins” seeks to share?  I have read about half a dozen reviews on Amazon, scan through Witherington’s chapter-by-chapter response and I think it is a book I can ignore for now.

Incidentally, the following extract was from one of the Amazon reviews. I think this reviewer summed it up in funny way…

Several times he asks how can we be punished for the mistakes of a relatively short period of time (our life on earth) for all eternity? How can God be loving? How can God be fair? In answering, I’ll point out that the book makes no mention of Original Sin, and I believe that’s his undoing. When you short-change the significance the wholesale betrayal by our ancestors, then yeah, God’s judgement comes off badly. I describe Genesis 3 as spitting in the face of God, open defiance and shameless rebellion (shame followed soon enough) and anyone less merciful and loving and kind that God would simple snap his fingers, type control-z on his cosmic keyboard and undo the 6 days of Creation. No big deal, the Trinity was harmonious before Creation and we’ll be fine without those thankless twerps. Good thing I’m not God. No, God pursues us for bloody, harrowing centuries with steadfast love and his infinitely costly master plan to restore his creation to order.

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Sarcasm in theological academe


I can’t believe that having enjoyed myself in a deliciously instructive and educational treatise on the imminence of the Kingdom of God, Joel B Green et al (including I. H. Marshall no less) punctuated the discussion with this: “It is not therefore an exaggeration to say that sometimes the parables have a polemical tone in addition to their usage to illustrate the kingdom of God“. I would have thought: “like duh…” but it is nice to have an almost dead pan sarcasm in such work…

If only I could read on all night.

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