Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
"Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from deceitful speech.
He must turn from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Brother, my brother.
And so the two brothers parted ways in discord and disharmony, and there arose a fued between the two. As one went and called up his friends, so to did the other, and war broke out. And so taken in their wrath were they that thouyght their father sickened, and then died, they did not notice. And so the father died with no son beside his bedside to grieve at his passing. And no son was their to notice as their father passed over the inheritance to another, a stranger, a servant, one not of their blood.
And so the question was, who was to blame, and what, if anything, could have been changed?
Monday, November 27, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Rahab: the challenge for internationals and the rest of us
1. Loyalty.
I found it interesting that one of the biggest struggles with a number of people seemed to be the issue of Rahab betraying her country. I guess this may stem somewhat from my third-culture-ness, and also from my more western perspective as well. I don't have quite the same patriotism that i see in many of my friends. I will have to say that this is especially true of Chinese, who have a very strong sense of patriotism, but also of most asian countries. It is something that i had never thought much of and so found any difficulty with before, Rahab being willing to betray her country to follow God. Because that is what she did. She decided that God was to be feared and followed above all other things, even her country. She realized that it was to God that demanded her first allegiance, even above her country, even to the point of betraying her country. Yes, and it was this action that resulted in her being called righteous for what she did concerning the two spies. And today, the same truth applies. God comes before any other allegiance, even to the point of betraying that allegiance, if it means following God. I am reminded also of the story of Ruth. Her story is of less obvious betrayal because in it noone is killed by her betrayal. But yet her actions are the same. She decides to forsake her home, her country, her religion, her family, for the sake of Naomi and her God. In the new testament it only gets more difficult as we hear from the lips of Jesus in Matthew 10 where he points ou that he has "come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - a mans enemies will be the members of his own household.' Anyone who loves his father or mother more then me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more then me is not worthy of me." ...anyone who loves his wife or husband, boyfriend or girlfriend, dog or cat, more then me is not worthy of Him. I see great patriotism in my asian friends, and i really respect that, i also see a massive sense of family obligation and closeness, and that too i respect. And yet, sometimes it tears my heart. For often it is also this that comes in the way of their following God wholeheartedly. God is God, and man is not. Your mother is not God, your father is not God. Your father and your mother have less right ot your obediance then your creator, then God. Less right to your love, your time, your finances, your respect, your life.
How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. - Mark 10.23
2. Justice.
In the city of Jericho, there were many people. Many old, and many young. A wide spectrum of people, many of whom were terrified of God. Some of whom may have feared God. Some were tiny innocent babes, some were hardened murderers. And yet, at God's command, and with God's help and sanction, the Jews killed "devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed withe the sword every living thing in it - men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys." Joshua 6.21 Wow.
Why? This is a difficult question. And the answers are hard and difficult to accept. I don't know the complete answer, but will put forward some thoughts.
Ecclesiastes 7.20 "there is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins."
Psalms 51.5 "surely i was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me."
Luke 13.4 "or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty then all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
Luke 12.4,5 "i tell you friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after taht can do no more. But i will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, i tell you, fear Him."
We have such a view of death. Such a high view. Why? Is it because we have such a low view of what comes after? Death is a tragic thing. It is a horrific thing, but it is not the end. We should uphold and strive to protect life, because it is a gift of God, not because it is all there is. When God withdraws His gift, that is not judgment. No, that comes after. For there is a day when each man and woman, animal and creature will stand before the Lord and will give an accounting of what they have done. The earth is the Lords and everything in it, to do with as He pleases, but He is a Loving God and cares for all that He has created. God causes the good and the bad in the world and that too we must accept. Gods ways are higher then our ways, His plans loftier then ours, His vision stretches from the begining of time to the end. One view is that what is one mans death when it can save thousand? For by these actions has God's salvation come about, and so many have been saved. But no, that is not it at all. God acts for His glory.
So how do we accept this? First we must accept that God is God, that He does have the right to do with as He wills, what He does is right (and to be able to do this, we must know God, as He is, in all His fullness of glory, majesty, holiness, love, and righteousness). We must also accept that we are held accountable for our actions and also that our actions are not individual, but community based. (just think, the great atrocities that have been perpetrated on this world, they are not just someone doing something wrong, but someone not doing something right, if the right do not stand for what is right, they are condoning what is wrong). And finally that death is not the everything.
Friday, November 03, 2006
love
Love. what is it. people think all sorts of things at different times. It made me think. I have always agreed with the statement - God is Love. It is a christian sentiment, but i fear, not much of a non-christian sentiment. Now there is the opposite, love is God. What does this mean in comparison. I think that this is the approach of most non-christians, but should it also be the approach of christians. not so sure. it has much to say i guess, but i would rather go with this - love is: God.
Monday, October 30, 2006
What is Ministry?
"What God does through us"
"Anything in your life through which others can see God"
"Sharing the Word of God"
"Using ones gifts to serve in the area you are in"
Friday, October 27, 2006
the me i am
was born from birth
the me i am
have grown from child
the me i am
to learn to find
the me i am
through wounds that mar
the me i am
and tears that scar
the me i am
to step a step
the me i am
to think to know
the me i am
in all my points
the me i am
and try to be
the me i am
the this who is
the me i am
to move from what
the me i am
to more then just
the me i am
till then i come
the me i am
the time when done
the me i am
who then shall know
the me i am
how life i lived
the me i am
and death i died
the me i am
and if at last
the me i am
did reach the goal
to see I AM.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
macadamia
to let the life out
one must crack the shell
the macadamia nut is one of the hardest nuts to crack. small and compact, keeping itself wrapped up within. And yet, when it grows, a small fragile and tender shoot is put forth, cracking its hard exterior. Calmy and gently, without qualm, the nut cracks, and allows forth itself.
And who causes all things to grow? 1 Corinthians 3:7, 'so neither he who plants or he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things Grow.' It is our Father in heaven.
Are not people like nuts. Us: we cannot grow unless we are willing to crack forth through our shell. Others: we cannot crack them open, but they must crack open themselves through the power of God.
Friday, October 13, 2006
selflessness
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Correspondence
When i think of all the sources that have built into me in terms of ministry. I think TSCF has been instrumental, my parents - naturally, also Xiao Ou and the trip to china, also Kingston St and this new teaching approach and seeing some of the behind the scenes stuff, another recent push is the difficulties that are facing another church at the moment and having discussions about how to move forward through them, but i think that the most influential thing for me has just been in working through OCF. Seeing the needs that arise in individuals and using my skills or those of others to try and meet those needs, seeing my incapability in some areas, seeing something work and others fail, seeing new issues that arise from them all. It is these things that are truly causing me to think deeper and deeper into how to minister in truth to the needs of people. How did Christ minister to people, how does the Spirit guide us and help us and empower us, in what ways can we both help and guide, and in what ways does any of this differ from person to person, situation to situation. I think one of the things that i find most helpful is just the breadth of people that i have been able to talk to over the last year, with so many different thoughts. Some have been positive, while others have caused me to learn through my disagreement, and my evaluation of the disagreement.
One of the things that i am trying to do at the moment is to take a few sermons from different people and approaches and really look at what makes them different. I am also going to pass it on to my mentor and see what they would think as well. (I have one on transcript and will try and get the other one or two i want to do from audio onto transcript this week so that i can compare them both through the same medium and thus be a little more methodical).
When i look to next year, i can see here in Palmy many from whom i can still learn much from, be they right or wrong. I see much opportunity here through individuals whom i respect and individuals whom i see growing in their faith and in their grasp of what it means to follow and serve God. Through doing bible studies here and through seeing young Christians come to and through difficulties and questions.
One of the reasons i would really like to work with Kingston St is that there is within it a diverse group of leaders, all thinking hard about what ministry is, and from whom i can learn a lot.
In that then i guess i am really quite set on staying here and on the possibilities that are here. I think that though, as a friend shared with me, that no matter what situation we are in, it is our attitude that really shapes our views on ministry as well. For how willing we are to learn, how we learn, and the personalities of people that we are able to connect most easily with are what most shape our ministry approach. And so i pray that God will continue to work within me, opening me up and leading me to listen to those that He wants me to listen to, to be able to hear and discern what is best.
In Him through whom all things have their being.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Passion
This is the original definition for passion as a friend and i would define it. But i think that when looking into Christian ministry the definition needs to change slightly:
Definition: A commitment and enthusiasm for someone shown through something.
This definition for passion stems from a discussion we had on a leadership retreat when looking for what it meant to have a passion for the group we are leaders in. I think that there is a lot of things that can be brought out of this quote. I think that first it can be seen that neither commitment or enthusiasm is enough on its own. Both are great but with only one, whats the point. I think one of the things that i have felt when reflecting on ministry from the Bible is the idea of joyful sacrifice. (This also touches on the idea of giving and tithing found in Matthew). Commitment will engender sacrifice but it is a worthless offering to God if it is not from your heart with joy and enthusiam. The most marked change between the two definitions comes now though in the next part. Here you see that the sentence has been significantly changed. I think this came about from our realization that action is always secondary to people. But then when we started to look at the who, it also brought to light that the only appropriate who was one person: God. When looking at the practicalities, sure, you can put others into that sentence as individual ministries focus as such, but i think that it is an important realization that all ministries need to come back to. The focus of any of our passions should always be God. Not the actions we do, not the people we meet. All these will at times tire us, at times fustrate us, and at times our passion for them will seem to die. That is when we must return to the realization that our passion is centered on God. God can ignite any passion. What we are doing should always and only be a reflection of our passion for God. We commit to something, because it is our way of serving God, of sacrificing ourselfishness for Him, we are enthusiastic about something because we know that God is enthusiastic about it, that it is building into God's kingdom. And so passion must always stem from the someone, which is why personal time to grow your own faith must be put at the top of any list of priorities above any ministries that people get involved in. Because your passion for that ministry needs to stem from your passion for God which stems from your growing relationship with Him.
