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Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves.
(Romans 12:9-10, NIV)
We are blessed in Australia with some fantastic beaches. When I was growing up, we lived near the coast and a large part of my life was spent at the beach. I remember one day, after we'd been swimming for a while, my brother and I decided to climb one of the cliffs dividing the sand dunes at the back of the beach.
We'd been climbing for a while, clambering up the side, and had reached the edge of the cliff. We were fairly high up and the view was fantastic, as was the adrenaline rush of being so close to the edge. As we turned to go, we realised we were in a pretty dangerous position. In order to get to the very edge of the cliff, we had climbed down a little onto a small flat section and this meant we had to climb back upwards before we could get off the cliff.
The surface we had to climb had been affected by the salt and was so brittle, it came away in our hands. The wind had smoothed the rock and there were no bushes or hand-holds we could use. Feeling myself slipping, I called out to my brother for help but he too was barely holding on and could only turn around, his face pressed against the cliff surface while he clung on for dear life, to give me possible instructions on how to pick my way up the cliff.
An older couple walking on the sand down below saw us and asked if we needed help. For some reason, we told them we were fine and continued to inch ourselves upwards. I remember my brother holding onto the cliff and extending his hand out while I hooked two fingers into his and moved up beside him. What seemed like hours passed before we made it to a more secure patch of cliff and climbed out, making the trek back down to the beach.
In a similar way, Romans 12:9 says we are to “cling” to “what is good”. But it also says we are to hate—“hate what is evil”. This is a simple and clear command and yet one that is quite difficult. Too often we are confused about what it is to “hate” and, instead, I find myself focusing on other parts of the Christian life, such as love, encouragement and worship. It's more confusing because the idea of “evil” is not popular to our modern ears and the preaching and rhetoric around the term, “tolerance,” comes at the expense of a discussion on “hate”.
I think the emotion of “hate” is most often related to movements such as the Klu Klux Klan and the rise of the Nazi Regime. Yet to hate is the appropriate response to actions of, say, child molesters—to anything that is evil, including sin. Learning to hate comes through experience. It may seem strange, training the mind towards such a goal, yet, being caught in sin, and giving into temptation and evil, must give rise to this sort of training.
Sin, such as lust and anger, has patterns. In our minds and in our hearts, we play with sin—we mess around with it, we enjoy it and sometimes we love it. This is wrong; we are called to hate it. If we know God, who is perfect and holy and asks us to be too—if we trust in Jesus, who is our sinless saviour—then we must heed the call to “love”, the call to “cling” and the call to “hate”.
Knowing this will help us not to fall into unhelpful ways of thinking and behaving, for example,
Returning to my opening story, I'd like to make a couple of points. Firstly, find that which is good—Jesus, God's word, his people—and cling to them.
Secondly, find a brother or sister—a helping hand close by who can help pull you up to safety—to stronger ground—even if it's only with two fingers.
Thirdly, ask for, or accept, help when it is offered. Be aware; don't miss the way out that is given to you (1 Cor 10:13).
Fourthly, don't hold onto this world; it is crumbling and fading away.
Remember,
]]>Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves.
My favourite TV shows at the moment are the British comedy series Black Books, The Office and Arrested Development from the US. I find myself saying, “I love these shows. I love the characters,” by which I mean I love the way they make me feel—make me think—make me laugh.
I've been lending the DVDs to my Christian friends, telling them that they need to experience what I have (though they should be careful with some of the sexual references, swear words, and the glorification of drunkeness and immorality). My evanglestic zeal is acceptable I think. To share laughter and joy is a way of easing pain. Providing an escape is a noble purpose in this world with all its hurt and brokeness.
But I have recently been struck by something I read in Ecclesiastes:
It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will lay it to heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter,
for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
(Ecclesiastes 7:2-3)
The idea that “sorrow is better than laughter” really grinds against me and what I believe. Because this is one line from a book of the Old Testament, I'm hoping to ignore it. Ecclesiates says some strange things, anyway.
I remember one day I was struggling with my faith. I looked around, unhappy with the world as I saw it and with who I had become. I was searching for meaning and I was desperate for hope, and I prayed to the Lord and opened up to the middle of the Bible to Ecclesiastes 1:2 for some reassurance from his word. It said:
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
“Man,” I thought, “that's rough!” But I had to admit that God has a sense of humour; reading that made me laugh and then I began to feel better. I started to think seriously about how to read the Bible and I sat down and read the rest of the book of Ecclesiastes.
In the first few chapters the Teacher seeks and searches out wisdom. Finding it meaningless, he turns his mind to pleasure, making the statement that “[Laughter] is mad” (2:2). He then turns his journey to foolishness,
I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.
(Ecclesiastes 2:3)
These odd-sounding statements express for me clearly a certain time in my life. During my early 20s, I had seen the world as absurd and his the creatures on this planet as the same. I had sought to investigate what was worthwhile by drinking heaps, and enjoying laughter and foolish behaviour. And at Uni there were plenty of people willing to do likewise.
I realised, though, that the true absurdity is attempting to live without God—even denying his existence. I needed to see the world as owned by a Creator God. While the world is fallen, broken and perishing, it contains a hope that is held out by a loving God—a redemption offered freely to us through His Son Jesus. The work of God is a powerful, beautiful statement. My reaction, therefore, should be to fear God (5:7). In fact, if we want to understand the world, we need look no farther than the conclusion of Ecclesiastes: “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (12:13).
I think we humans are entertaining ourselves to death. We're laughing—seeking pleasure—chasing after shallow lifestyles of fun and whimsy. But while fun and laughter are gifts to be enjoyed in this world, we need to understand that we will all die and be called to account for our lives. God asks for our lives so that we will seek Him and know Him. We are to give him the whole of our lives for the whole of our whole lives.
Spending time with my friends laughing is wonderful, but we need to spend time together crying also—thinking on death and focusing on God. At the moment I'm spending time thinking of a funny way to end this article and I’ve got a good joke—a joke that made me laugh ... laugh so hard I cried.
]]>“And then, on Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change...”
This struck me as a particularly anti-Semitic, vapid sort of viewpoint, because essentially Adams is saying the reason for Jesus' execution was His teaching that we should be “nice to people for a change...” This portrays the executors as either grotesquely unfair, or the most bitter, twisted people in history.
For surely to carry out a ghastly execution on a human being for such a ridiculous statement is an indication of the executors' hatred for niceness, as indeed the linking of this statement and it's apparent consequence by Adams seems to indicate. Surely that man, Jesus, had something far more incendiary to say than, “let's be nice to people for a change.” Perhaps something worth hating? Perhaps His real statements appeared to tear at the very fabric of the Jewish nation, piercing the heart and soul of all their expectations and beliefs, shattering their hopes and generally raising their hackles? You may think I'm being too hard on Adams for his over-simplification, but I think a quick dip into the biographies of Jesus justifies this.
For hundreds of years, the words of the Jewish prophet, Isaiah, had been read in Synagogues full of expectant, or perhaps tiring followers of Yahweh. One day, in His home town, after returning from making quite a splash in Galilee, Jesus read these words from the scroll of Isaiah:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.Source: Luke 4:18-19 (quoting Isaiah 61:1-2)
Sounds pretty good right? Maybe even Marvin the terminally depressed robot would have been excited.
The Israelites of that time were in a pretty sticky situation. A foreign army was occupying their land and oppressing them with heavy taxes for an Emperor they had never seen. A long, long time before, God had promised their second king, David, that one of his offspring would sit on the throne of God's people for eternity—a king, a Messiah—and yet now, they were being ruled by a Roman king, thousands of miles away. The Israelites weren't waiting for the Great White Handkerchief, or the reappearance of Zarquon, they were waiting for their eternal king.
And now, a local boy, Jesus, stood in the synagogue in Nazareth and read those words from Isaiah. But what He did next was amazing. He said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” and then sat down to teach. Jesus, this boy who grew up in Nazareth, was claiming to be the long awaited King.
Furthermore, the Bible itself shows that being nice had nothing to do with Jesus' death. After He had said this, all the people were furious. Luke's biography tells us they drove Jesus out to the brow of the hill on which the town was built in order to throw Him off the cliff! Clearly He had offended them.
He made other outrageous claims as well. Like the Vogons suddenly appearing and announcing that Earth was being demolished to make way for a hyper-space bypass, turning the world upside-down in panic and probably anger. Jesus declared that if the leaders of the Jewish community would destroy the Temple, He would raise it again in three days. This was a shocking suggestion. The Temple was at the centre of Jewish life, it was literally the house of God, and it had taken them forty-six years to build. But what Jesus was really saying was even more astounding. Jesus wasn't talking about the structure that stood on the Mount of Zion in Jerusalem; He was talking about His own body. And when the leaders of the Jewish community did succeed in having His “temple” destroyed, He did raise it up after three days.
Surely it was because of these outrageous claims that the leaders of the Jewish community succeeded in having Jesus killed. His real claims struck at the heart of their religion, the identity of their nation. Surely this was what raised their hackles; rather than some wimpy, clichéd plea that we “all be nice to people for a change.” This over-simplification of the real issues is inaccurate not only because it makes a mockery of Jesus' death, but it is strangely unfair to His prosecutors and those seeking His death. They may not have truly understood His mission, but they understood Him a lot better than Douglas Adams. Jesus was not saying we should be nice to people for a change. He was saying that He is God's long-awaited King, that He sets the captives free and restores sight to the blind, and that it is through Him that you can be blessed by God.
]]>When: 9:30a.m.–3:30p.m. Saturday 14th May, 2005.
Where: RSVP to me to find out the location.
Cost: We'll be buying lunch at the local shops so bring $5-10 for that or bring your own lunch. If it's your first time for the year, $5 for materials for the year (folder, paper etc.).
Bring: Bible, pen, paper, something you've written and are happy to share for review.
Then Moses said to Yahweh, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant, but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue”. So Yahweh said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, Yahweh? Now, therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”
Exodus 4:10-12 (NKJV)
During my early teenage years I was a student at a Catholic boys high school on the lower north shore of Sydney where every student was required to attend Religious Education classes. Although few were truly interested in paying attention to the Bible stories that were taught—unless they included sexual innuendo and blood-thirsty war—I was always confused about whether or not the characters of the Biblical accounts of the Old Testament were meant to be models of fine, godly virtue or pilloried examples of human fallenness. Solomon was meant to be the great Hebrew king, the fulfilment of divine prophecy, and yet he was sexually immoral, a factor that lead to the kingdom of Israel being split in two (1 Kings 11:9-11). Samson was meant to be a great example of superhuman strength and of having God’s favour and yet he allowed himself to be lead astray by a Philistine woman who was only interested in his destruction (Judges 16). Eleven of the holy nation's forefathers were envious (Genesis 37:3-4,11), full of hatred towards their brother (Genesis 37:8), and attempted murderers (Genesis 37:18-24). King David, the mighty warrior who captured the promised land of Canaan for Israel, murdered another man for the purpose of committing adultery with the deceased's wife (Psalm 51).
Exactly what these forefathers were meant to be, heroes or villains, I could never tell at the time but I found it difficult to fulfil the request of my teachers that I seek to be like them.
]]> Although being one of the Old Testament's most promising and spectacular figures, Moses wasn't too different to the other characters in that he too erred and sinned. During the Egyptian Oppression Moses committed murder by slaying an Egyptian, an act that prompted him to flee to the land of Midian where he married his wife and began a family (Exodus 2:14-15). After settling down for a while Moses encountered the burning bush where Yahweh, the God of Israel, spoke to him and requested that he be the deliverer of Israel from their bondage to gentile slavery. Moses, however, seemed to be doubtful of whether or not God would be able to use him for the almighty task of overcoming 430 years of bondage and answered God back with comments like, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Ex. 3:11) and “... suppose [the Israelites] will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you’” (Ex. 4:1). In verse 10 Moses went another step in his dialogue with God in saying “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant, but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” God reinforced the point that since He made the disabled and the abled alike that all His purposes would be achieved and yet, discontent with that response, Moses laboured the point a little further in verse 13, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.” Regardless of what God—the divine, sovereign deity who would have His will completed irrespective of sinful men—wanted, Moses just didn't want to be the deliverer of the Israelites. He clearly wanted God to use someone else for the job and tried to use his poor public speaking abilities as a ‘get out of gaol free’ card, an attempt that aroused the righteous anger of God (Exodus 4:14).As much as Moses' prayers reveal the extent to which he was trying to get out of the task assigned him, the prayers he had with God offer amazing insight into the closeness and personal intimacy that existed between the two parties. In other parts of the Exodus account Moses cried out to God in moments of great need and anguish, such as when the Israelites were ready to kill him when their was no food in the wilderness (Exodus 17:3-4, cf. Psalm 90). Even when he tested God's patience (e.g. Exodus 19:21-24) Moses was still willing and daring to come before God and speak to Him in prayer. Arguably the most astounding intercession between God and man in the Old Testament was the one which Moses gave on behalf of Israel in Exodus 32:7-14. When the Israelites performed their greatest act of spiritual prostitution by worshipping the Golden Calf, God vowed solemnly to destroy them because of their unfaithfulness (32:7-10), and yet He relented because Moses was brave enough to ask for mercy on account of God's promises to the patriarchs as well as the desire to avoid international political embarrassment (32:11-13).
In my time as a Christian I've heard many different things about prayer; one view is that when people talk to God they ought to use a ‘spiritual’ tongue in order to more effectively communicate with God when ordinary words just don't suffice. Another perspective is that prayer is a means of God talking to us, rather than the other way around. Yet as one surveys the words of Moses as he spoke to God all those millennia ago—the same God that now listens and speaks to us through His Son Jesus Christ and who answers our prayers today irrespective of our lingual backgrounds—one can see that God cares about what we have to say to Him and that He is keenly interested in our affairs. When we pray to Him in trusting dependence we may not be theologically correct all the time; we may even be testing God in certain ways, as Moses did.
Being the relational Father that He is though, God wants eagerly to interact with us and is gracious enough to not only expose our sinfulness where necessary and to save us from judgement but actually takes on board what we have say to Him. He is affected by our prayers and answers us according to His sovereign will. (Jesus Himself was no stranger to bold prayer as He laboured in the Garden of Gethsemane, begging God that the cup of wrath be taken away [Mark 14:35-36].)
Moses may not have been the sharpest hacksaw in the spiritual toolkit of the Bible but his prayers are an apt reminder of what an amazing, loving, and almighty God there is, who loved the world so much that He sent His own son to die for sin. May the prayers of Israel's patriarch serve as an encouragement.
]]>St. Augustine (354–430) taught that suicide was a terrible sin and St. Thomas Aquinas (1225?–1274) taught that the person who committed it would go to hell because they had no opportunity to repent of a mortal sin.
What do you think? Can a suicider be saved? Does the motive make a difference? Is it ever excusable or even right? What does the Bible say?
Use the comments section below to discuss the issue.
]]>It was National Training Event mission and I was attending a men’s barbecue (long story, don’t ask). We were all standing around in the minister’s backyard, eating prawns, drinking beer and punch, and enjoying the warm summer night. I was in conversation with an older parishioner in the church who had a very interesting life story that spanned three continents.
“How did you come to know Jesus?”
“I read this book,” he said.
“Really? What book was it?” Possible titles flashed through my head—A Fresh Start ... Mere Christianity ... Simply Christianity ... perhaps More Than a Carpenter. But it wasn’t any of those.
“A biography ... well, an autobiography. Of a monk.”
]]> This got me thinking. As Phillip Jensen repeatedly pointed out during our five-day conference on evangelism, “Evangelism is just the proclamation of the gospel.” Of course evangelism can be done through writing. Where would the world be if God had not given us the gift of writing? Oral tradition would be stronger and perhaps our memories would be sharper, but we would lose some of the clarity and precision that comes from having an enduring form in which to preserve knowledge—a form that transmits easily through space and time so that we, in the twenty-first century in the land Down Under, can read something written in Ancient Mesopotamia four thousand years ago. The Bible exists primarily in written form and therefore writing is an ideal medium for evangelism. Through writing you can evangelise someone on the other side of the world twenty years in the future. Writing allows you to take your time in crafting a phrase or fashioning and argument. Writing gives your reader the opportunity to read and re-read at his or her leisure.But writing has limitations that balance its advantages. The relationship between writer and reader can bridge space and time but lacks the intimacy of relationships in contemporary space and time. Unless there is some form of personal relationship, the reader can never discuss a point further with the writer. Writing also narrows expression into one stylised form, bound by the rules of characters, alphabets, syntax and grammar; it cannot make use of oral tools like pitch and tone, or visual tools like hand gestures or body language. This leaves the door wide open for misinterpretation so that, a simple statement like, “Jesus is the only way that you can get to heaven; all other religions are false,” can be met with rage and accusations of bigotry and intolerance.
Furthermore, writing is a bit of a dangerous activity when you think about it. Someone once told me that writers oscillate between self-flagellation and arrogance—self-flagellation when it’s not working or when writer’s block gets in the way, and arrogance because of the sin of pride. The problem with writing is that one’s ego always gets in the way. When I finish writing this article, I know I’ll secretly be gloating over my success and achievement; I’ll be fishing for compliments—*ahem*—feedback from others; and, of course, I’ll be applying subtle pressure on you, Dear Reader, to peruse my scribblings right to the very end. That sort of behaviour might be all right if I had just written Ulysses or The Da Vinci Code but it’s not a good mentality to have when I do evangelism. I need to be mindful and humble before the word of God—I need to acknowledge that I rely and depend on my Lord and Saviour. Even though, to tell the gospel, I need not launch into a prolonged explanation of 2 Ways to Live, I must not commit either of the twin errors of adding to or subtracting from God’s word or else I will suffer dire consequences (see Revelation 22:18-19). Writing is a dangerous activity. So approach with care.
That said, there are myriad ways in which you can do evangelism through writing. In order to give my ideas some order, I’ve grouped them roughly into three categories. But don’t let my imagination confine you—let it be a springboard for you to come up with ways of your own.
A didactic form allows you to clearly teach and explain the gospel. However, it may also cause some people to switch off.
Personal forms have the advantage of allowing you to tailor your explanation of the gospel to a very specific audience, eg. Jews, university Arts students, cooking enthusiasts, your best friend. (Note that “tailoring” does not mean “changing”.) Being less didactic means you can share the gospel in a way that’s more accessible and friendly than any of the means listed above. However, be aware of the limitations of writing and the limitations of online relationships.
The creative form is even less didactic and therefore may be more appealing. However, because of its subtleties, it can lose clarity. Don’t expect your audience to know immediately what you’re talking about if you sing, “There is love in the red letters,” or if you utilise the language of allegory.
Over the years I have had plenty of opportunities to evangelise my family and friends, using the medium of writing or something else. I have never seen any of them come to a real relationship with Christ. But I need to remember that, no matter how brilliantly I might argue or how eloquently I might wax, it is God who changes (or does not change) the hearts of men and women, not me. The pen might be mightier than the sword but nothing is mightier than the Lord of all.
Acknowledgements: I am deeply indebted to Greg Clarke and Guan Un for much of this material. Many thanks.
]]>Simon invited Jesus in,
gave Him a seat upon which
to recline.
Simon, master of his own home,
sat
and observed.
Jesus—guest in his house,
never his heart.
She came, uninvited.
Nameless
save for the title, ‘sinful’.
Jesus knew her;
Her faith knew Him.
She brought gifts,
“a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart”1
and an alabaster jar.
She asked without words,
begged in silent tears.
Gestures of love.
Lips parted to kiss
the feet of He
who would stumble,
for her—
on way to a Cross.
He cancelled a debt she
could never hope to pay...
“For you have delivered me from death
and my feet from stumbling”2
She shamed Simon.
Her faith exposed his doubt.
A broken jar... A hard heart
Fumes for burial ... Testing thoughts:
‘if this man were a prophet,
he would know’.
He knew.
Neglect versus worship:
Simon lost.
I fear I am like him, like
Simon, man of the house.
Everyday I invite you in, Lord,
but what then?
Do I serve you, Lord?
Do I humble myself...
Do I caress you with tears and love
Or
do I sit, master of my heart,
And watch?
I fail to do
my duty...
to welcome you in.
Hostess:
I seek to please
others, yet
forget the Guest of Honour.
She let down her hair for you.
She knelt at your feet.
Deaf to slander, risking all
for the One she loved...
Simon! “Do you see this woman?”
Her heart is not like yours—
Unbroken,
hard.
Hers is humbled.
She claims the dirt of the road;
Jesus claims the sin of her walk.
Her all is on the alter—
she doesn't care who scoffs!
Why did you ask him, Simon?
You were not ready to let Him in.
Would I give up all for you, Lord?
Among accusers, could I see Only You?
You gave her peace,
a new life
“...that I may walk before God in the light of life”2.
Lord, let it be so for me.
To seek you even where I am
not wanted.
Numb to piercing eyes
and telling tongues.
Like her, let nothing stop my display.
Let me be consumed with serving you.
Do not let me sit
and grow cold.
To think my thoughts and
watch the world as I paint it.
To be another Simon,
who let you in
and sat idly by.
Seeking little, loving little,
needing much.
For let me be forgiven much, Lord.
Amen.
(Luke 7:36–50)
]]>So how is your quiet time going? I think most of us, if we were honest, would admit that we are not having it as regularly as we would like, or praying for as long as we would like, or feeling as productive as we would like.
But what is it that we're doing when we have our quiet time? We know what we aren't doing—a quiet time isn't a way of getting right with God, or being at peace with God. That comes from our justification by faith (Romans 5:1). It also isn't the way we get “close to God”, as we draw near to God through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:19-22).
So what are we doing? I believe that a way forward in thinking about our quiet times is as a time set aside for conversation with God, on the basis of the relationship that he has already established. God speaks to us through our reading of his Spirit-illuminated word (1 Corinthians 2:11-13) and we respond by addressing God in prayer through the intercession of Christ, our great high priest.
The “conversation” understanding has implications for how we approach our quiet times. The nature of the conversations that we have with a person depends on our relationship with that person. One of the fundamental aspects of our relationship with God is that he is the Lord, and we are his servants.
It is in fact for this very purpose that we have been saved, to serve him by walking in the good works that he has prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10)! What are the good works? Our job description is to love one another (John 13:34). How are we trained to perform these good works? Our training program is understanding and applying Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Our quiet times can then be thought of as a staff meeting with God, where he sets the agenda, explains to us what we should do for others, trains us how to do it and encourages us to ask for the resources that we will need. We respond by praising God for the good things he has done for us, thanking him for the opportunities that we have to serve others and asking him to prepare the way for our work. This is the pattern of prayer that Paul uses in Philippians 1:3-11 and Colossians 1:9-12.
The length our of prayers is of much less significance than their sincerity. In Matthew 6:7-15, Jesus rebukes the Gentiles for heaping up empty phrases, thinking that they'll be heard for the length of their prayers, but instead teaches them to pray a 51-word prayer.
Note though, that God never promises that this will be easy or emotionally uplifting or satisfying. In Colossians 4:12, Paul describes Epaphras as always “struggling” on behalf of the Colossians in his prayers.
How are your quiet times? Are you, like me, sometimes motivated by a guilty conscience for having been slack recently? Or do you sometimes feel that you need to compete in the “Most Spiritual” stakes with the prayer warriors at church? Do you approach God as a powerpoint into which you feel you must plug yourself daily to recharge your spiritual batteries? Or do you instead come with a shopping list of requests like he's a sales assistant rather than the Lord of the Universe?
As for me, I'm looking forward to staff meetings that equip me to be a better servant of others, quiet times that are other-person-focused even when I'm alone. And I expect it sometimes (like staff meetings) to be a hard slog.
]]>21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
We don't “die and go to heaven” we live on a new earth.
First heaven and earth pass away—but the new heaven and the new earth are permanent. C.S. Lewis depicted the permanence of the new creation by everything being rock hard and unchangeable—the person who wasn't from heaven couldn't even walk on the grass—it would pierce his feet. (The Great Divorce)
Hebrews 12:26–27 says it in terms of what can and can't be “shaken”: “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken...”
This affects all of our thinking about this world, e.g. how we view our possessions, environmentalism
“No more sea” Not necessarily literal but what is the symbolic meaning? Could be:
21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Why is God marrying Jerusalem?
Jerusalem is a lot more important than we think (Zion is the mountain Jerusalem is built on):
Psalm 128:5 “The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!”
Psalm 137:5–6 “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!”
Psalm 135:21 “Blessed be the Lord from Zion, he who dwells in Jerusalem! Praise the Lord!”
Psalm 125:1 “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.”
Ezekiel 16: the story of God's love for Jerusalem. It is shocking that he is still marrying her given her chasing after other lovers and prostituting herself.
“Out of heaven from God” Perhaps Jerusalem is God's gift for the earth? It's set in place like a jewel in a crown—the greatest part of the new creation, the capital city of the world.
“Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” Ephesians 5:25–27 “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
The Bible is the history of God wanting to live with his people:
Now it is accomplished permanently in the new creation—the problem of sin is dealt with.
21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Knowing that such a future is coming helps us to endure the pain and suffering of these “former things”.
“Death shall be no more” So we live forever. Nothing will separate us from God.
21:5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
“Making all things new” The new creation started with us (2 Corinthians 5) and is now completed.
21:6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
“It is done!” Similar to Jesus on the cross: “It is finished”. Taken together these statements indicate that God's purposes are accomplished.
“Alpha and the Omega” It all begins in God, ends in God. God began everything for his purposes and brings it to completion.
“To the thirsty...” Are you thirsty? Aware of your spiritual poverty? John 4:10: “Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink,” you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’”
“Without payment” It's all grace—we can't contribute to our salvation, we just need to admit we're thirsty.
21:7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
“The one who conquers” See the letters to the churches in chapters 2 and 3—it's the Christian who makes it to the end who gets this inheritance. Starting as a Christian and getting distracted won't do any good.
“He will be my son.” Not only talking about men but symbolically about all Christians. Girls (in Bible times) get married to other people's heirs and leave the family—these sons (men and women) are all God's heirs, receiving his inheritance.
21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Why cowardly? Is it those who've denied Christ?
Evil is destroyed for ever by destroying people. “God hates the sin but loves the sinner” is mistaken. It's the sinner that must be destroyed.
Lying is characteristic of evil, which doesn't love the truth.
21:9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” | Change of scene. Verses 1–8 have been one picture, now a more detailed picture of the same thing. “the wife of the Lamb” Jonathan Edwards said that this was “the end for which God created the world”: giving a bride to his son. I think it is only part of the picture and shouldn't be taken too literally. Earthly marriage is (in part) to help us understand closeness of relationship that we will have with God. |
21:10–11 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. | Jerusalem, God's people, have the glory of God. That is, when you see them, you see how good God is; you can tell they are of God; he is seen in them. “like a most rare jewel” The city, the bride, is very precious and very beautiful. |
21:12–14 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. | The great high wall indicates that it is a secure place, with angels at the gates. But later we learn that the gates are always open for the nations to come in. “on the gates (were) the names of the twelve tribes” Israel is the way in to the kingdom of God. The world has been blessed through Abraham's offspring; salvation is of the Jews. The foundations of the kingdom of God are the apostles (see Ephesians 2). The kingdom of God is built through the preaching of the gospel, a message which was taught and written down for all time by the apostles. The church is built on their testimony about Jesus. They are the apostles of the Lamb—his servants and the means through which his message is proclaimed in the world. |
21:15–17 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare; its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. | The city is enormous! 12,000 stadia is 2220km (see picture).
“Length, width and height are equal” Two options as to what this means:
The measurements are multiples of 12—remember there were also 12 gates with the names of the 12 tribes and the foundation was the 12 apostles. 12 may indicate completeness or perfection. |
21:18–20 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. | The city (the church) is extraordinarily beautiful. The 12 precious stones remind us of the 12 precious stones in the breastplate of judgment of the high priest where they symbolised the 12 tribes of Israel (Exodus 28:15ff). |
21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass. | This is where the clichés of pearly gates and streets paved with gold come from. (St. Peter with the keys comes from Matthew 16:19 but notice he's not actually part of the picture here except as part of the foundations.) |
21:22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. | You don't go to a temple to worship God—you go directly to him. |
21:23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. | This whole chapter is like a readers' digest of the later chapters of Isaiah. This is from chapter 60. Note this is better than the garden of Eden where the sun and moon were needed. The new creation is not attempt number two, Eden was always only temporary. 2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. |
21:24–26 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. | More Isaiah. Just as a big, important city like New York or even Sydney attracts people from all over the world, all the nations come to Jerusalem, the new capital of the world, God's city. They bring all the good things of their culture into it, like Thai food coming to Sydney! Are the nations here different to God's people in the city? Earlier in Revelation Jesus said: Rev. 2:26–27 “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.” My guess is that the nations that are ruled with a rod of iron are destroyed in the judgment (“broken in pieces”) and that the nations in this chapter are just a symbol of how Jerusalem is the centre of the whole new creation where all humans are welcome (gates not shut). |
21:27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. | Earthly nations now also bring crime and corruption to the big cities but only what is good comes to the heavenly city. “Only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life” So the nations are the Christians, the saved ones, and not the same as the nations who were broken to pieces. Isaiah 60:12 “For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you (Jerusalem) shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste.” |
22:1–2 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. | Life (so much more than just “being alive”) comes from God and heals the nations. |
22:3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. | Sin has been the barrier and the reason we were separated from the original true life. Now all evil is gone and nothing gets in the way of our worship of God. |
22:4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. | Amazing! We will see God face to face. His name on our foreheads shows we belong to him. |
22:5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. | No more night—no darkness—no need to rest because it's all rest? “Reign forever and ever” Remember the original creation mandate: Genesis 1:28 “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” We'll rule the earth as God intended. |
22:6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” | You trust this picture of heaven and it can comfort you now. God has shown us ahead of time what will inevitably take place. |
22:7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” | Jesus is coming soon to bring this all to pass. He was the one able to read the scroll and begin the end in chapter 5. How do you keep the words of the prophecy of this book? Know that it is trustworthy and true and be the one who overcomes the temporary period of suffering with the knowledge of this certain future. |
Those whose behavior violates our expectations about what is normal and appropriate are dismissed as kooks, weirdos, gullible, stupid, evil or masochistic deviants.
And the way we become such things is through brainwashing by our leaders.
In a way it's a compliment. While they are asserting that someone has manipulated you, they're also implying that you're not stupid enough to believe that stuff of your own accord—someone must have forced you to believe it. As Dictionary.com says it, brainwashing is:
Intensive, forcible indoctrination, usually political or religious, aimed at destroying a person's basic convictions and attitudes and replacing them with an alternative set of fixed beliefs. (From Chinese [Mandarin] xi nao: xi, to wash + nao, brain.)
Source: Dicitionary.com brainwashing
So the person who says you've been brainwashed is actually affirming your intelligence and attacking your leaders. The more horrifying situation, to them, would be that you've actually considered this nonsense and made a level-headed decision that it was correct. You've believed it willingly. But that's impossible. You're too clever for that. You must have been brainwashed.
So how do you go about answering someone who says you've been brainwashed?
]]> First, I reckon you should think about whether they are right. Why do you believe what you believe? Is it just that your teachers are very persuasive and everyone else around you believes the same thing? Or have you decided for yourself, “Yes, this is true,” and been convinced from the Scriptures: rational, propositional, historical documents?Secondly, ask the person why they think you've been brainwashed. Is it because they are shocked you could believe something so different to them? Is it because they think what you believe is stupid or doesn't make sense? Is it because of the strength of your convictions? Is it because lots of other people you know believe the same things?
Thirdly, explain to them why you believe what you believe. Show them how it makes sense even though it is different to what they believe. If you're game, throw it back to them: “Maybe you've been brainwashed too?” They are likely to be a product of their secular culture as much as you are a product of your Christian culture.
And fourthly, invite them along to your church meetings. Then they can see for themselves the way you are taught and you can have a better discussion about it.
Remember the classic verse on this topic that informs our attitude:
Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
Source: 1 Peter 3:14–16
But what if you can't explain what you believe, at least not in a way that makes sense to someone else? That's ok, but it would be helpful for the “someone else” if you did spend some time thinking about the reasons you believe what you believe and thinking about how it all fits together.
Find other people to talk to about it, read lots—read our website! that's what it's here for. Most importantly read the Bible lots—the more you read the more you'll see how it all fits together and why it's worth trusting.
For more information on the background of the term “brainwashing” see this wikipedia article (bearing in mind that it is a faith-based encyclopedia).
]]>Why did I write? I wrote because it was fun. Because it provided an outlet for my daydreaming habit. Because I loved to tell stories and get lost in the whole narrative process. Because it was fun.
And it's still fun. But I find I have different priorities. I have different reasons for writing. Over the years I've come to develop a kind of “creed” statement for my writing. Here it is:
(NB: I am indebted to Greg Clarke for some of this material.)
God's word is powerful. By his word he created the world and by his word he sustains it. His son is his word in the flesh (John 1:1-5, 14). Our God is a God who writes—not just the Bible through human agents—but the very finger of God is said to have etched out his commands on stone tablets in Exodus 31:18 and now continues to write his word on tablets of human hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). God chose to preserve what he wanted us to know—what he wanted to communicate to us—in written form (epistles, Psalms, law, prophecy, history, etc.) And, when God created the world and made us in his own image, he also gave us the gift of writing to use for his glory.
"Writing ... [is] words that stay,” says one of the characters from The Dark Crystal. The written word has a certain permanence that transcends time in a way that the spoken word does not. Through writing, a student in 21st century AD can read what Herodotus wrote in sixth century BC. Writing enables us to preserve and store the things we want to remember—biographies, diaries, scribbling appointments on calendars. We should be mindful of this permanence and use our words with care (in our technological text-filled age, we have grown far too casual).
]]>Writing is a word ministry. Writing is a tool by which God can achieve his master plan of bringing everything into submission under Jesus (Ephesians 1:3-10). Part of this will involve evangelism. Part of this will involve edification—the ongoing process of conformity to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29). There is power in the written word to shape people's belief. If, for example, you believe Moses, you would believe Jesus for Moses wrote of Jesus (John 5:46-47). There is power in the written word to teach, rebuke, correct and train in righteousness (1 Timothy 3:16). Though much of this has been done in nonfiction genres, much of this could be done in fiction genres. But that is the subject of a whole other article.
Christians who write are fellow workers in God's master plan. Therefore, evangelism and edification should be the primary focus for Christian writers. This does not mean that one should not write for fun or self-expression; it's just that I think writing's primary purpose should not be self-expression. We are called to be servants, not self-serving.
This means that Christians who write cannot and must not write without considering first his/her audience. The author is not dead because God is not dead; as his intents and purposes shaped his word, so must ours, as his creatures. To write without object is futile. Love your neighbour as yourself (Luke 10:27) and let that love dictate not just what you write but how you write it. For people matter more than words; words are slaves to people.
Christians have been given the deposit of God's revelation. Therefore, adding words—or even taking words away—is a dangerous kind of activity (Revelation 22:18-19). We want to be keeping in accordance with the Scriptures, not moving away from them. We have a responsibility to accurately represent the truth and not just make stuff up. We don't want to delude people with “plausible arguments” (Colossians 2:4)
Being a writer is not an identity, it is an occupation one engages in every now and then. I am not “Karen the writer” with letters to prove it before or after my name; I am “Karen, who writes, and writes quite badly from time to time, but, every now and then, pens something worthwhile”. Our identity is found in Christ, not in writing: we are children of the living God, chosen and adopted before the creation of the world to be his heirs and to bear the likeness of his family. We are members of his body—members of his church—and upon us he has bestowed the gifts, skills and passion to write.
Let us use it, then, for his glory.
This article first appeared in The Page, an ECU Wollongong publication.
]]>This come-back features a Brand New Format. In the past, Hippocampus Extensions has been an every-two-monthly-edition-based affair. But our ability to publish in such a fashion is clearly less than average. In response, we now unveil a whim-based publishing schedule wherein we post new stuff whenever we jolly well feel like it.
We expect this will lead to More Frequent Good Stuff on a Greater Variety Of Topics in a Range of Formats. We hope it also encourages you to think about writing for us on whatever topic you please, whenever you please. We'll give you feedback on your work.
What hasn't changed is our commitment to Jesus, the Lord of the universe, his message of salvation, and the promotion of a life worthy of him through the medium of writing.
This commitment involves training others to write as well, and to that end we'll be running training groups this year in Sydney. If you'd like to be involved, join our mailing list and you'll hear all about them.
So, tell your friends: Hippocampus Extensions is back. And about time too.
Ben and Karen Beilharz
