“Self-sacrifice might save the planet but it won’t get your DNA reproduced.”

Courtesy of Sentient Developments

Having begun holidays I can now indulge in reading the paper, which admittedly has become a newfound delight. This morning I came across something almost chillingly surreal, as secular thought sometimes touches on but doesn’t quite break into a Biblical understanding of our world.

So I was reading this article in The Sun-Herald entitled System error: how our will to live could crash the program woven by the mind of Sam de Brito. Being the secret philosopher that I am, I indulged myself in his thoughts about the nature of human life.

He began by referencing the classic “human life is nothing but an illusion” thought experiment. The brain in the jar. We are all part of a complex design by a higher being, but in this case it’s usually the highly advanced technology of The Matrix or Nick Bostrom’s “supercomputor built by an incredibly advanced civilisation”. And so de Brito, in this article, placed himself in the shoes of this ‘incredibly advanced civilisation’ and staring at his imaginary supercomputor screen set out to decide what the base properties of humanity are. And his conclusions are startlingly Biblical.

He states that “the most obvious is the will to live” which he fleshes out as “self-preservation, selfishness or self-interest”. Essentially, self-centredness. Concern for ones own welfare over anyone else’s. His second, and equally important, base element of humanity is the “will to reproduce”. It’s also interesting that he paints this in a self-centered light, he admits that he likes to think his love and protectiveness for his child as selflessness but he also recognises it is the justification for many horrific disasters in history from colonisation to cruelty and crime; just people fighting for their families. He claims “Our savage love for our own has made Homo sapiens the most powerful and destructive species on the planet in just 160,000 short years.”

Let’s just pause for a minute and actually think about what this guy is saying. Humanity is inherently self-centered and as a result, destructive. I studied James earlier this year with some of my girls and one of the verses left this unforgettable and graphic image in my mind:

“But each person is temped when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown bring forth death.”
James 1:29

What de Brito eloquently phrases as “our will to live”, the Bible describes as “sin”, the selfish desire that is the nature of humanity. What struck me here is that de Brito isn’t suggesting that the problem is only some particularly bad people, or that it’s dependent on one’s upbringing or environmental influences. He actually is stating that each individual human has an inherent self-centered element that is the basis of their being. This may surprise you, but Jesus taught the same thing:

“Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes from the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.”
Matthew 15:17-17

One of the central factors of the gospel of Jesus Christ, is that humanity is the problem, their hearts are the problem. That was the other thing that struck me about this article, de Brito seemed to think these elements of humanity problematic. I may not be a well-read as others, but I seem to think that secular thoughts tends more to encourage self-satisfaction and selfish thinking. The eye-catching phrases “How to have the best sex now”, “These Proven Mind Tricks Will Get You What You Want”, “Live Your Best Life Now” etc etc. Just read some headlines and you’ll see the trend. Rarely does someone stop and say…hold on, I think we are the problem here.

So what’s de Brito’s proposed solution to this problem? He concludes with this statement:: “This makes me wonder if the purpose of the grand experiment we call life is to see whether our species can make the leap of consciousness to override our own base coding and put others before ourselves?”. Ironically, that seems to suggest we can solve our own problem and I think just sticks us right back into our inherent “will to live” or sinful desire to solve our own problems the way that we want to.

Seeing as Jesus seemed to recognise that we had this same problem 2000 years ago, what was his solution? Firstly, the problem is defined in slightly more depth in the Bible. Sin isn’t just following our own desires, but it is rooted in our rejection of God, our Creator. That’s an element de Brito left out of his created universe, he separated them from himself. Creator and creation were distant but clearly distinct entities, de Brito didn’t include a relational element. However, the apostle Paul paints the picture like this:

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
Romans 1:21-25

That is why humanity is like it is. Cut off from the creator by de Brito’s “will to live” which is essentially what the Bible describes as the “lusts of their hearts”. Ok, so now we’ve laid out the problem in more depth, what exactly did Jesus do about it?

“The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”
John 1:14-17

Jesus came, and dealt with it himself. He wasn’t just a man, he was God and man. “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was in the world. In him was life…” (John 1:2-3). The Creator himself came into his creation to save his creatures from their inward looking and darkened hearts. This isn’t a problem we can solve by gathering our human strength and conquering it. Although, de Brito has the right idea, put others before yourself, life isn’t just about you. But neither is it just about humanity, it’s about the Creator, ‘the mind behind the mega computor’.

Except the Creator didn’t make any errors in his creating, it is the creation that corrupted itself. The base coding of “the will to live” can manifest in one of two ways: living as you want, pursuing your hearts desires, or living as you are created to, glorifying and praising your Creator. de Brito discovered that the outcome of the first option was pretty grim and maybe you think so too. Have a read of what God’s intended plan is for Creation, the details of his solution played out through history and you may find something more satisfying.

Beautiful, but Deadly.

Courtesy to Mathiole (DevientArt)

So many things in this world are aesthetically pleasing but potentially deadly. Brightly coloured plants, flowers and animals scatter the earth that could end our lives if we made direct contact. Often I marvel at these things in creation, beautifully and wonderfully made by my opinion.

They also come to mind when I consider the spread of the gospel. Throughout Paul’s letters in the New Testament he often warns new churches against sugar-coated messages. The genius that allows these messages to survive is that they contain just enough of the truth within them that they could be seen as plausible despite being spiritually deadly. We live in a time where “people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suite their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

I see these churches that include false messages and promises growing rapidly. People are drawn to them because they appeal to their passions. Often these churches grow faster and larger than those that preach the straight truth.

Why is that? Wouldn’t people want to hear the truth? The gospel is essentially offensive. Since “the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel”(2 Cor 4:4) we can often be discouraged by our efforts to spread the word in light of the growth in these other churches. But Paul urges that since “this ministry is by the mercy of God, we of not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:1-3).

In sadness I have seen friends committing their lives to Christ in these churches that have promised things such as healing, earthly comfort and wealth and on seeing none of these fulfilled have been disoriented, discouraged and essentially lost all confidence in our Lord. So I urge you, as Paul does in his letters to “always be sober-minded, endure suffering, so the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry.” (2 Tim 4:5). Be aware of the teachings in your church and test them against the word of God.

As an interesting aside, if this interests you, Cole Brown has written a short and relevant account of his challenge to his church. It’s called Lies My Pastor Told Me, Cole pulls apart these lies, often common amongst these churches, using  gospel evidence. Check it out, the e-book is free to download here.

Understanding the Times

Jacek Yerka

Writing about time leaves open a huge realm of surrealist art, which is something that I personally love. If you like that kind of stuff as well, I recommend Jacek Yerka, who created the beautiful image above. Anyway, on with the post….

Understanding the times seems to be a common quest amongst us, who strive to become a meaningful and acknowledged part of the world. We constantly want to be able to predict things, to understand things and to do that seeing the patterns and coming to conclusions is the way to go, yes?

Tonight I was reminded of where my own answers to such desires comes from. As Jesus addressed a crowd of the curious and uncommitted he said,

“Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?”

Luke 12:56

Jesus came as the fulfilment of centuries of promises from God. These people have been waiting for this King. Here he stands before them speaking with powerful words that he supports with powerful actions. Before this passage Luke had recorded a huge array of these phenomenal acts. Jesus had cast out demons (Luke 4:33-37), healed a leper (Luke 5:12-16), forgave sins ( Luke 5:20), healed the paralytic (Luke 5:22-26) and raised the dead ( Luke 7:11-17; 8:47-56), just to name a few.

His works were so mind-blowing that even his enemies would not deny them, but instead sought to question by what authority he did them. You can imagine that that would be why so many curious people are drawn to him.

Why did he come? Jesus came bearing a message. One that holds profound significance for us today.

Jesus came to inform humanity that they are in debt. God has turned up on our doorstep to inform us that we’ve committed an offence for which our fine is still outstanding. He’s created us, made this world, gave us life and we’ve ignored him. Often, we’re not even thankful for what we have. I definitely know I’m guilty of this.

So what do you do? Jesus says:

“While you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled to him on the way, or he may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

Luke 12: 58-59

The only way to get out of your debt, is to accept the deal Jesus has offered you. To our trust in the payment his death is on your behalf. The next bit of the passage may be a bit perplexing but let’s try and unpack it. Some people tell Jesus of some tragedies that have occurred: some people who were killed. He responds:

“Unless you repent, you too will all perish”

Luke 13:3

That comes across as a little insensitive, right? It seems like these people did nothing to deserve their sudden deaths. But what Jesus is getting at is that these people, and everyone else, don’t really deserve anything. Everything we receive is a merciful gift from God. Every moment a gift given in the hope that we will take him up on his offer.

So God is patient and merciful. I need to learn to remember that all that I have, I don’t deserve. This is something you should seriously think about too. Have you understood the times?

The Moon Is Round

A 14 year old girl who was slowly decaying from cancer was asked by her family to keep a journal. When she died, they found a note that said: “The moon is round.” As they read your journal they learnt that she meant that even when you can only see a sliver of the moon, you still know it is round. In the same way, she knew that even though she couldn’t fully understand what was going on, that God was sovereign.

That was an illustration in a talk over KEC 2012 that I was really encouraged by. I went back this year to yet again serve the senior high kids and they in turn were such an encouragement to me. One of them said one day, that in our busy city lives, when we look up at the stars we can’t see them. But when you strip away the busyness, head out into the country and lie in the middle of a field, all the glory of God’s creation is stretched out before you and you can’t help but marvel. I was so encouraged to not let my earthly life cloud my vision of God’s immense holiness and wonder.

As we sat together under the word of God we were blown away by the infinite becoming intimate as God transfers his holiness to us as we are made right by God and for God. (Isaiah 6:1-9). And how perceiving truly his holiness we should be driven to our deeds as we see the horror of our sin. We learnt how unfair the truth is. That Christ would lovingly save his enemies from what they deserved, so that we can have no punishment, no penalty but peace (Romans 5:1-11). So that even in suffering, we can have tears of joy, knowing we are united in Christ and that even our sin and shame can’t prevent him from loving us.

Even though God will continue to forgive us our sins, this grace is not a licence to sin. Instead, the old person that we were is crucified along with Christ so that we bear condemnation no more. We are made a new creation, born again, united with Christ in his resurrection. Our new selves are called to do things that are not to our earthly advantage, but these earthly risks are for eternal values. No longer does God dwell separate from us but instead with us, as the Holy Spirit, no longer slaves to sin, we are empowered to face and overcome sin. (Romans 6:1-14)

We have a God who is faithful to his promises, Merciful to his people and so we endure in the hope we have been given and are driven to share that hope.

As we were talking in our discussion group, someone said, “But we’re young and often I don’t feel equipped to tell people what I believe.” Someone pulled out Job 32:6-10:

“And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said:
I am young in years,
and you are aged;
therefore I was timid and afraid
to declare my opinion to you.
I said,’Let days speak,
and many years teach wisdom.’
But it is the spirit in man,
the breath of the Almighty, that
makes him understand.
It is not the old who are wise,
nor the aged who understand what
is right.
Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;
let me also declare my opinion.’

I Am Second

 

Doubts, Questions, Queries, Thoughts…

Just because I know you’re out there, I thought I’d just remind you that the ‘Itching Questions’ tab still exists.

I absolutely love questions. Even when I can’t answer them, they open an opportunity for thought.

Don’t be intimidated because I don’t know anywhere near everything and I never will.

Don’t be afraid because my aim isn’t to cut you down but to draw light on your questions/thoughts from the Bible.

Don’t hesitate because you might learn something you didn’t know before.

Don’t hold back because getting into the depths of the Bible is something I find fascinating and I can guarantee it’s worthwhile.

So there, hopefully that’s reason enough to just ask away.

Everyone’s Religious: whether you like it or not.

 

To some this may come as a shock, maybe not to others, but it’s true: everyone is religious.  People often think of religion as a set of defining rules that guide life based on some supernatural power they call their God(s).

Check out the Oxford dictionary definition of Religion: “a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion.”

I don’t think one can go through life without having an interest that they devote themselves to. Even the atheist, they have devoted themselves to denying the existence of God, a sportsman has a religious attitude towards their sport, or a businessman has devoted themselves to growth and profit, etc etc.

Think about some of the things you devote yourself to, are they worth the effort? Or are they essentially futile and keep you busy while you live on this earth?

I was reading Acts 17 this morning and I was struck by how little humanity has changed, if at all. After Jesus ascended into heaven, his disciples took the truth to the nations. Paul, who was once called Saul, and he was “ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” (Acts 8:3). He was heading off to Damascus to find “any belonging to the Way, men or women” to “bring them bound back to Jerusalem”(Acts 9:2) when he had a revelation, and became one of the most influential people in the Bible.

So Paul travels around, going into churches, starting churches and just telling anyone and everyone the truth offered through and in Jesus. Acts Chapter 17 records Paul’s work in Athens. So he’s arrived at Athens and walked into the Areopagus to address them. The Areopagus is the judicial body of aristocratic origin that subsequently formed the higher court of modern Greece.

“So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god’. What therefore you worship is unknown, this I proclaim to you.”

Acts 17:22-23

Paul’s picked up on all the things these people dedicate themselves to, many of which are man-made and some they can’t even name or know. He addresses Athens because “he saw that the city was full of idols” (Acts 17:16).

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives all mankind life and breath and everything.”

Acts 17:25

Paul reveals the real God, who doesn’t need us to help him out, who isn’t restricted to temples. A God who is the creator and the provider and the sustainer providing mankind even with breath. Is that not more worthwhile of devotion than an ‘unknown god’ or a material god? But why devote yourself to a God that has no need of us? Paul continues:

“And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

‘we are indeed his offspring.'”

Acts 17:26-28

Why should we bother following God? Because God created us with a purpose, he gave us life so that we should ‘seek God’. But God isn’t this abstract force, we are made in his image, ‘his offspring’. We exist because of him, so isn’t that reason enough to exist for him?

“Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Acts 17:29-31

Not only should we seek God, but there are consequences for your decisions. Because we are in his image, his ‘offspring’, we shouldn’t replace him with things he’s made. How ridiculous to think that a material object that God has created is more worthy of devotion or pursuit than the being that created it!

God has not just left us with no direction as to how to come to him, he sent us his son Jesus Christ (who is the man appointed to judge). He’s given us the opportunity to repent and have assurance, even through judgement, despite the fact we’ve offended him by replacing him with these inanimate objects. This judgement is guaranteed by Jesus resurrection. He is often referred to as the ‘firstborn among the dead’ (Col 1:18). Everyone will be judged based upon this decision. So what are our options then?

“Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this”. So Paul went out of their midst. But some men joined him and believed.”

Acts 17:32-34

A claim like this demands a response. Either you can see a vivid reality of judgement and a conviction of your offense toward the Creator and repent, or you can see this as the folly of ignorant and mislead people. Think about it. This decision has real consequence, eternal consequence.

So what have you placed where the living God of the universe should be? Or do you think He is unworthy of that position and you would prefer to devote yourself to the created, the mortal and fleeting? It’s up to you, but it’s not a decision you should treat lightly.

Yet another Fresh Start…

For the past two years I’ve ended the year and started the new year on beach mission, finishing and beginning with actively proclaiming the word. Mission is a great opportunity that I would encourage you to embrace. This year it really reminded me of the urgency with which I should be telling others what I live for and the hope it offers them too, particularly those close to me.

Living for 2 weeks amongst an amazingly encouraging group of people, determined to serve and build each other up was a truly a taste of heaven. We spent solid time in the Bible and in prayer, learning and growing together.

As we built relationships with the community in the van park, I was really struck by how little they knew about what Christ did for them! Having grown up in a Christian family, I think I grew accustomed to some dangerous assumptions. To me it is by Christ that “all things were created…..and he is before all things and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:16-17. It just struck me that this is so foundational to reality that everyone should know it too! It is Christ who made peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:20). Not only is Christ creator and sustainer but also Saviour.

A few people that I got to know over mission had lost faith because of suffering that they couldn’t make sense of, which is something that I haven’t really yet faced. It reminded me of the brokenness of the world now and the perfection of the life to come, promised only in Christ. Giving up on Jesus in times of suffering is not the right response, because it is in him that we have hope for a time when it will no longer be there. Suffering is a reminder that the world isn’t right, but as a believer I “rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-8. So I’ll keep those people in my prayers, that as they come across these struggles that they’ll come to find satisfaction in Christ.

Another thing I was challenged by on mission was the idea of glory now or glory later. That in “whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord.” Colossians 3:23-24. I’m so conscious of other people and what they think of me, it’s so easy to fall into the trap of a selfish attitude of self glorification. Over mission I was struck by how our team worked so hard to serve each other, not for their own glory, but purely out of love and a desire to serve God.

So there’s my super quick ramblings on what I learnt over mission. As much as people think they can just make “a fresh start” at the beginning of every year, the only true fresh start comes when you give up your old self and take on a new identity in Christ (Colossians 2). I hope and pray that my year will be one of transformation as Christ continues to teach me his ways and I continue to entrust myself to him.

Life, Death and Everything in Between so far…

I’ve just come back from serving a church alongside a group of students from uni. During those few days, a number of us shared how they came to know Christ and how God has been working in their lives. It made me realise the value of testimonies to reveal the power of God in your life. I’ve never really thought about my testimony, and when one of the team members asked me about it I decided it would be valuable if I had a go at it. Most people when presenting their testimony centre it around a certain period in their life but I’m just going to give it a go.

To begin with I think I’ve always been a Christian, I grew up in a Christian family and many of my extended family are also believers. There has not been a moment when I would deny having faith. I asked my Mum this morning if she remembers if there was a time in my childhood when I came to trust Jesus. She said that as early as three years old I told her I was friends with Jesus. So my story is one of periods of growth rather than massive leaps in understanding.

Through my early days Jesus Christ was my friend, I learnt about him and I prayed to him. I understood him as my protector and someone who loved me. My father had a significant role in the youth group programs at our church so I tagged along and hung out with the big kids, some of which I’ve run into in recent years. We moved when I was about 5 so I could start at a Christian school. At this stage I ignorantly assumed that everyone knew Jesus and I distinctly remember being confused that one of my friends in my class didn’t believe in God.

Moving into high school I was confident in my faith. I changed into the public system and confronted many things I hadn’t really been aware of before. Most of my friends had broken families, some had alcoholic parents. God really used me in these early days, I started high school without any friends and as I made them I brought them along to youth. I have to admit I invited them partly because there were few people in my age group but now I can see the transformations God has made in these people. I became so confident in my faith that I started inviting people to church that I would normally never speak to. In Christian Education classes I had noticed some of the ‘popular’ girls were asking hugely profound questions so I gave them John Dickson books and invited them to youth, although none of them came I prayed that they’d read the books.

As I reached mid high school, I was on fire for God. I revelled in his word and often shared it with others. I read it with people at school in recess times and prayed with people when they struggled. When my friends, even non-Christians, faced issues such as abortion and family struggles they’d come to me and ask me what my God said about it. I prayed for them.

When I was in year 10, I was at a stage where I felt most stable and established in life. I was getting amazing marks, I had a great group of friends, I had just been elected into the prefect team for the following year. Life was going amazingly. I was counting down the days to my 16th, when reality reared its ugly head.

I remember distinctly sitting in a meeting about our prefect induction, I was totally pumped about my birthday that weekend when my friend turns to me and tells me the news. All morning people had been talking about a car accident a few suburbs over, but she told me that it was one of my friends from primary school that had died in it. At 15, I had confronted death before, but only that of my grandparents which in a sense is more natural. It was one of those surreal moments when the news became a reality. So often i would let these tragedies just roll
over me but now when i hear them. i think of the effect this had on her family and friends and I pray for those affected.
This was someone who was the same age as me, who I knew, who I had grown up with and was just like me, I had learnt to ski with her and holidayed with her. She was someone who trusted Jesus just like I did.

I spent the rest of the week struggling with the injustice and the fragility of life. I was confronted with the concept that all the plans I had for my life could be thwarted just as easily. Her family all followed Christ, she had followed Christ, so why did she die? I didn’t go to school but instead I searched through my Bible and read every passage on death and eternal life. And one that stayed with me and I meditated on for hours was Job 1:21:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

and naked I will depart.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

may the name of the Lord be praised.”

I came not just to know but to deeply understand what was valuable in life. The life I had built up around me and the achievements I placed value in meant nothing in comparison to the eternal value of salvation in Christ. The death of my friend brought to light all the things I took for granted and the fragility of life on earth but also it revealed what is important in life. Every year on the day that she died, my best friend and I pray together and thank God for her and what He has taught us and we praise Him for what he has blessed us with. It’s a constant reminder that I’m not in control of my life but He is. That by his grace I am alive in this world and I should use that life to glorify Him instead of building up my own empire.

As I entered my senior years I was well aware of my desires to do really well and set a goal to keep going to youth, Bible Study and church regardless of how stressed I felt. The HSC year was one of the hardest for me. I’m one of those people that places pressure on themselves to get high grades, so when teachers started using their scare tactics it lead to a number of emotional breakdowns. During that year, my relationship with God fell into a routine that fit in between my study, instead of being the centre of my life, it became the peripheral that calmed my breakdowns.

When I reached the end of the HSC I realised how I had compartmentalised God. He was still a part of my life but I didn’t entirely trust him with everything, and I had been seeking approval and respect from my peers through my grades. I started to struggle with bouts of guilt which plagued me throughout my first year of uni as well. During this time I was really challenged by Pauls attitude in Philippians:

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”
Philippians 3:7-9

I noticed how my Bible readings had become shallow and so I started this blog, where I planned to post things that forced me to reflect on the word of God. The funny thing is, I started this blog with selfish intentions – to enrich my personal relationship with God, to feel that fire I had in my early years of high school. It was about satisfying myself. But then, a friend of mine started asking me questions about my beliefs, I began the “Itching Questions” tab for him. And as he questioned me, I had to do research of my own and I came to learn and understand that my purpose in life was not to merely satisfy myself, but to find that satisfaction by seeking to glorify Jesus Christ and through that I would find fulfillment and all that I needed.

Late last year, my Nonna grew very ill. She had a heart attack and miraculously survived but still with great suffering. She was a faithful follower of Jesus but a hater of the medical industry. She refused to get help so as a family we took turns looking after her. During that time, I prayed really hard and often for her. She was someone I really loved and respected, she had always seemed strong and invincible to the extent that her heart attack at 92 came as a surprise.

For months, all my aunties and uncles took turns babysitting her. She often had difficulty sleeping and would often wake up crying out to God to stop her suffering. It was a great time of tension and conflict with many family disagreements and regrets. Just when she was looking better she had her second heart attack early this year. I spent many hours by her hospital bed. I read her Psalms and sometimes we’d sing her hymns. She moved in and out of consciousness. Even through these times she cared more for her kids and grandchildren than herself. She would asked me if I was hungry or wanted something to drink even if the breathes it took to say the words caused her pain and energy. In her struggles I was shown a woman who through her own suffering, continued to be self-sacrificial, placing the well-being of others before her own even on her death bed.

As her hours grew short, we were given a private room. Most of the extended family were there – and there’s a lot of us – a classic Italian family. Each of us were permitted to speak our last words to her alone. It is one of the most vivid memories of my life, trying to form the words to say what she meant to me. Instead, I held her hand and watched her short breathes, praising God for blessing this world with such an amazing woman and prayed that I could learn her self-sacrificial ways. Her death came as a comfort for me, because she loved Christ and her life was given to serve him. It is amazing the comfort in death Christians can have even to the extent that Paul struggled to choose between which was better, life or death:

“For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.”
Philippians 1:21-24

Heading to University was the next stage and joining the Christian group there has lead me to realise that I had placed God in a grid and as I read his word I squished, twisted and folded it to fit what I wanted it to say. This year as I reflect on what I’ve learnt, I realise that the people I have met have challenged me to read God’s word for what it has to say, not what I want it to say.

After the conference I attended just a few days ago, Rory Shiner forced me to come head to head with my bouts of guilt. I had been struggling with the idea that I continually fail and don’t deserve God’s grace. I had fallen into the trap of trying to deal with these things thinking that it would make Christ accept me.

Rory preached from Romans 6:15-23. I realised that in Christ I am no longer a slave to sin, but a slave to righteousness. I had been freed from sin, but I had become the slave that still responds to her old master even though sin no longer owns me. Christ bought me at a price and freed me from sin so I no longer have to respond to it. Such a burden off my shoulders! So there’s a brief rendition of my testimony, I hope you are encouraged by the way God has worked in my life and I encourage you to think about your own testimony too.

Faith

Faith By Leonid Afremov

 

Faith is living and unshakeable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand death’s for it’s sake. This kind of confidence in God’s grace, this sort of knowledge of it, makes us joyful, high spirited, and eager in our relations with God and with all humanity. This is what the Holy Spirit effects through faith. Hence a man of faith, without being driven, willingly and gladly seeks to do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of hardships, for the sake of the love and glory of God who has shown his grace.

Martin Luther.

Just Because You Can’t See It, Doesn’t Mean It Isn’t There.

I was listening to this sermon this morning and I had one of those moments when you realise how big something really is. It’s like looking at a picture of the Earth in comparison to the biggest celestial object and thinking, there’s nothing I can do to control what happens to the earth. If we were to be swallowed by a black hole, I’d be helpless to stop it.

It’s almost like the approach we have to death. We pretend that we have some sort of control over it, that we have plans for when it comes and when it doesn’t. But the reality of it is. We don’t. It’s not just heaven or nothing on the line here. Hell is not just a tap on the hand and a shake of the head. It’s an eternal physical, mental, spiritual torment. Eternal. Hell is everything God is not. Think of everything good in the world and now imagine it gone. Someone once described it to me like being in a pitch black room. You know that tension you get of not knowing where things are, what’s going on. It’s eternal darkness, plus pain.

The only reason any of us is here, is because of God’s sovereign mercy. The thing is, we don’t deserve it. We live in his world, indulging in ourselves, ignoring him, destroying his creation, seeking after meaningless and fleeting things when really he deserves our attention. We have no right to think that when we get to the end, we can just smile at Him sweetly and say please, and lay out all that we’ve collected and expect Him to be impressed.

If we don’t acknowledge or show interest in the mediator, Jesus, God has no obligation to let us in. Doesn’t that frighten you. Maybe not, think about it this way.

We don’t deserve heaven. We are already under the sentence of eternal death. Damnation doesn’t sleep, it’s real and waiting. Corruption is at the heart of man. Just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean we should feel far from it. Just because we think we can get ourselves out of it when the time comes doesn’t mean we preserve ourselves, even for a moment. All your efforts to escape it are useless. God has no obligation to do anything about it. Any chance that you are given is out of God’s mere pleasure.

In the end, your ‘safety’ measures amount to nothing. When you stand in front of the creator, when your life has ended, it doesn’t matter if you donated to charity. It doesn’t matter if you provided for your family. Were faithful to your spouse. Always apologised. Were successful in your field. Were generous, and loving, or attending church regularly. If you always prayed before eating. If you don’t acknowledge Jesus, God’s merciful and completely undeserved offer of forgiveness, God will let go of that sovereign thread and without mercy let you fall into the depths of eternal suffering.

Think about it. Seriously.

What struck me about this was: if this is such a massive deal, I need to live like it is. I can’t keep living like this eternal judgement is non-existent just because I can’t see it. I need to use my youth to the best of my ability, to live out the implications that come from such a situation.

Resurrecting Church

If you ask someone what a Christian believes, almost anyone could answer you.

But ask the same people what a Christian life looks like and almost none could answer.

Jesus life on Earth was revolutionary, magnetic and controversial. He spent time with a huge diversity of people and lived a life in direct opposition to the current culture.

As followers of Jesus, our lives should come across as just as revolutionary. Our churches should be a magnetic community of hospitality, generosity, support, discipleship, peace and joy. We need to let God transform us and not be afraid to walk against the flow of culture and start seeing and living the world through God’s perspective.