Windows On The Soul

In 2 Corinthians , Paul explains that “ In Christ, old things are passed away and all things are made new” ( 5:17 ). On becoming a Christian, we must understand that our commitment to the gospel affects every aspect of our lives. Becoming a Christian means that things change. In Christian terms, renewal is never a ‘state’ at which we have arrived. In New Testament times, ‘Christians’ were known as ‘ Followers of The Way ’. The use of ‘Christian’ and ‘non-Christian’ labels are too often used to feed our natural desire for status. The number one thing in our lives that must change, are the values that drive us and that we use to judge, assess and measure our own and others success or failure. We are called to live by different standards: " Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. " ( Col.3:2 ), to put to death all those natural desires, to be the servant of all. Every day we must refocus our eyes on ‘things above’, and at the end of every day, if review...

In this age of Industry Restructuring and Business Process Re-engineering, everyone seems to be preparing "Mission Statements".  Even when one consults a Financial Adviser, he asks, "What are your Life Goals?". Anyone of "?0 something" asks "What have I done with my life so far? What will I do with the rest of it?". As we start this "Missions Month", it would be instructive to look at Jesus' personal "Mission Statements". Matt.5:17 "Don't think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, rather I have come to fulfil them" Matt.20:28 "The son of man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many" Luke 4:18 "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to free those that are bruised, to p...

“ What the Church needs are more ‘deep’ Christians ” (Richard Foster, “Celebration of Discipline”).  The Apostle Paul wrote, “ Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!!” ( Rom.11:33 ) How does one become a ‘deeper’ Christian? It takes ‘Time’ and ‘Experience’. To know the depth of something, one must have ‘plumbed’ the depth, that is attempted some sort of measure. To have some knowledge of the depth of God, one must explore the consequences and implications of Christian faith on one’s life and society, and thus to start to see the vast possibilities. Such exploration, takes time in God’s word, time with Him in prayer, and time in constructive, exploratory fellowship together. But most of all, depth of understanding and knowledge of the wisdom, grace and ways of God, come from experience. We learn only a small amount from what we hear, a larger amount from what we read and s...

One of the special aspects of Christianity, is that we have a personal God who desires to have a personal relationship with us. One of the ways that this is conveyed in the Bible, is the expression of “walking with God”. In 19 different passages, we read of people walking with God or of God walking among His people. For most of history, walking has been common to nearly every aspect of mankind’s life, whether for travel, work, socialising, holidaying, going to synagogue or simply to draw water. Walking with God represents sharing in life at an all-pervasive level. But more than simply walking with God, on at least 62 occasions, the Bible talks about the quality of our walk. Foremost, we are called to walk in His ways, paths, statutes, ordinances, light and judgments. Our walk is to be pleasing to God, by faith, in the spirit, circumspectly and honestly, in the new life of love, liberty, truth, integrity, wisdom and uprightness, worthily in the fear of God. We are called to wa...

Our family’s most prized piece of family history would have to be my great-great-grandfather’s apprenticeship indenture certificate from the 1860’s. To modern eyes, the terms and conditions border on slave labour. The young teenage George had to leave home to live and work with his ‘master’, who in turn had to teach him the mysteries and secrets of the trade of clothier, as well as house, clothe and feed him, and pay him the princely sum of two shillings at Christmas. When the Bible talks about Jesus’ disciples, the concept of Disciple is very similar to that of Apprentice. The disciples lived, traveled and worked with Jesus, learning ‘on-the-job’. The commitment, to which they were called, included leaving their homes and jobs. As we celebrate with the young people being baptised tonight, lets encourage them in their commitment. For the commitment of ‘becoming a Christian’ is not like joining an organisation, but rather the commitment of entering into a life-long relatio...

The Bible uses a number of different analogies to describe The Church, such as a ‘body’ ( 1 Cor.12 ), a ‘garden’ ( Isa.61:3 , Jn.15:5 ), a ‘family’ ( Jn.3:29 , Rev.21:9 ), or a ‘building’ ( 2 Cor.5:1 , Eph.2:21 ). All of these images illustrate multi-faceted growth, extension and adaptation, and all apply equally to The Church, any individual congregation or individual Christians. I’ve always liked the slogan, “ Please be patient. God hasn’t finished with me yet ”. When a ‘lost soul’ finds Christ, there is a sense of completeness in that a void has been filled. But as we grow in Christ, there is another sort of sense of incompleteness, not like an emptiness that needs to be filled, but rather being called onward in constant improvement. As God is constantly revealing areas of our lives that are not ‘up to scratch’, we are challenged to renewal. As our lives encounter new experiences and situations, we are challenged to meet them like Christ, with love. We are called to st...

In our years of “coffee shop” youth out-reach work, we put up with being sworn at, occasionally spat upon, and personal property damage. But I can’t think of any time when we felt in bodily danger. However, a week ago, such an incident did arise. In our 26 years of fund-raising for the Royal Children’s Hospital, we have volunteered our services to sell the Herald-Sun ‘WEG’ Premiership posters. Unfortunately, this year, the ‘out-of-towners’, Adelaide, won, and we were faced with trying to sell Adelaide premiership posters in the face of a rather angry, parochial crowd. Football crowds have always been a noisy fickle lot, but this was the worst I have ever endured. A boozed load-mouth slew our stock off the table, and as I turned, a swinging fist caught my cheek. I must confess, that my immediate thoughts did not include offering him my other one. Fortunately, his cohorts dragged him away and the incident was over as quickly as at started, but leaving my onlooking...

“In spring, blossom decorates the land and transforms familiar sites (and sights) into fairytale settings. Sedentary souls stir from winter’s long sleep and awake into spell-bound romantics. Hope comes alive - In Spring”. The tragedy of this past week has seen another young woman cut down in the prime of life, like our first spring flowers crushed by the hail storm. Not even a Shakespearian tragedy comes close to portraying the intrigue, manipulations, jealousies, bigotry, adulation, etc. that has surrounded this kindergarten teacher come princess. Yet it will be her charitable and humanitarian work that the world will remember, at least in the short term. How history records these events remains to be seen - history’s record is not good in remembering good works. It is these later works that remind us of another young man, in another place and time, cut down in the prime of his life. A man tempted in every manner possible, yet free of sin. A man who dared to touch l...

“ I ask... that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ” ( John 17:20,21 ). The squabbles in the church must sadden our Lord who prayed that his followers may be one. If the church worldwide were united (in spirit, not necessarily in one organisation), the world would take notice. As it is, critics of the church are constantly mocking us for our sectarian divisiveness. The church is both human and divine. It comprises fallible humans, and has yet to be perfectly redeemed. It is divine - the Body of Christ. So we need to be patient with an imperfect church. Henry Scott Holland put it this way in 1914 when the Bishop of Zanzibar wrote a pamphlet asking where the church stood. Scott Holland said that it did not stand at all, but 'moves and pushes and slides and staggers and falls and gets up again, and stumbles on and presses forward and falls into the right positi...

One of the more common deep spiritual questions I hear, is “ How do I know God’s will for my life? ”. Whilst meditation and study of His Word will reveal general guide-lines, the application to any person’s specific situation is in the realm of the dynamic of Holy Spirit. We are not given a map showing every bend and hill on the road of life ahead, but rather the bends are revealed only as and when we need to know about them as we walk by faith. Its' no use whingeing about not achieving some high personal aspirations, when Jesus’ general command is to “ start washing feet (dishes, floors, tables, bed-pans, etc.) ”. Then as we show our faithfulness in the small things, God can start putting situations across our path, or using our words, or people start to seek us out - then we start to see God ‘nudging’ us around a bend, or challenging us to climb a hill. It can be quite surprising, humbling, even scary, when someone says to me, “ How did you know I needed to read/hear th...

One of the greatest inhibitors to personal and church growth is the FUD factor (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt). After the horror of Christ’s crucifixion, the incredulity then ecstasy of His resurrection and His times of sharing with His disciples, Jesus ascended to heaven. What did the disciples feel then? I’m sure they must have felt very “flat” after their mountain-top experiences, and probably uncertainty and doubts crept in - “ What do we do now?” , “ Why has He left us like this?” . In many ways, these phases in the birth of The Church mirror the phases in the birth and growth of our children. The teenage years are times of much questioning, of moving out from under the sheltering presence of parents, to discover one’s directions and goals in the ‘real’ world - these are the “Why?” years. Then the young adult blossoms, the world is at their feet and they are prepared to take on anything, with courage and determination. Just as parents must hold back in order to release thei...

My computer Bible Search tells me that the above phrase appears 32 times through-out the New Testament, from Jesus’ verbal command ( John.13:34,35 ), through the epistles of Paul, Peter and John. Interestingly, it is the only new commandment that Jesus gave to His follows, because it distilled the essence of all the ‘old’ commandments that had gone before.  But Jesus then went on to say three more very important things about this commandment. He pointed to Himself (“ As I have loved you... ”) as an example, an inspiration, and in a sense as our ‘debt’ to love. He reinforced the imperativeness of the command with “ ...so you must love... ”. The powerful impact of this type of love will be such that it will be the mark of His disciples within the world. The Apostles then go on to teach what this type of love involves.  It will be familial and honouring ( Rom.12:10 ), serving ( Gal.5:13 ), humble, gentle, patient and fore-bearing ( Eph.4:2 ), considerate and encouraging ...

Like most human endeavours, the French revolutionaries got it half right.  "Liberty and Fraternity" are both things that God wants for all mankind. But His freedom, is the freedom to choose to be "disciples of Christ". His Brotherhood is not exclusive, but all inclusive, including our "enemies". Sadly, the history of mankind is littered with groups at either extreme: of legalism and licence; some of the bloodiest wars ever fought have been in the name of religious correctness. It is human nature to want to shake off the shackles of restrictive laws and rules. But freedom can be threatening and frightening, because true freedom brings responsibility. So the "freed" find comfort in banding together, conforming to new conventions and rules, as if "rules" free them from the responsibility of personal decisions. Then soon "evangelism" of the unconverted begins. What should our attitude be to differences between people? A centu...

I thank my parents that as a child I was taught to write an "I want" list. This helped me identify those things I "really" wanted well after the initial plea had faded. Then came the hard part of giving up some things to save up the money to buy my heart's desire. The same principles apply to our Christian walk. We want to serve, but are we prepared to pay the price? We want to be humble, but are we prepared to be humiliated? We want to be a true disciple, but are we prepared to truly discipline our body, mind and soul? We want to be loving, but that includes the "unlovely", and carries the cost of sacrifice, non-reciprocation, even outright hostility. We ask in pray, but are we willing to accept and obey the answers given? ----xxxXxxx---- Lk.18:18-23 "'What must I do to have eternal life?'...you lack one thing, sell all you have and distribute to the poor...he was very sorrowful for he was very rich" Mt.16:24 "If anyo...

That's the title of one of the exercises I have to do in the coming weeks in preparation for a career planning seminar. I've done various goal setting and life-style evaluations in other training courses, but "Obituary" has a ring of finality about it. As an old preacher friend advised on sermon structure, "First tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em. Then tell 'em. Then tell 'em what you’ve told them". The progressive life (as in moving forward in a direction) is like that, a beginning, a middle and an end.  Another view is "Plan, Do, Evaluate". In the Christian life, the planning stage is a matter of obedience and seeking God's will personally. In obedience, the doing follows (super)naturally as we are driven and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The evaluation is ultimately the Lord's - will our obituaries include "Well done my good and faithful servant"? ----xxxXxxx---- Rom.11:29 "God's gifts...

If you weren't at the evening service a couple of weeks ago to see 50 of our young people, fresh back from camp, arms linked, singing God's praise, you missed out on a great soul stirring night. Yet our children grow up so quickly. In a matter of 5 years or less, a thriving church can go into decline if there is no on-going flow through from nursery, pre-school, primary, juniors to youth groups. But even with the best Christian parenting, our children must become children of God in their own right - God has no Grandchildren . They must discover for them-selves God's salvation. So continue to pray for the youth and children’s leaders and teachers at all levels. The children of today are the church leaders of tomorrow. ----xxxXxxx---- Pr.15:20 "A wise son makes his father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother" Ecl.12:1 "Remember your creator in the days of your youth" Pr.29:5 "The rod and reproof bring wisdom. A child left...

What if Lazarus had decided that he did not want to "Come forth!"? After all, he was now in paradise with his Heavenly Father. The pain and disease that had killed him, had been left behind. On returning from the dead, he would face certain persecution, pain and murder ( John 12:10 ). Did Lazarus have a choice? I believe so, otherwise why would Jesus call to Lazarus. The answer lies in heaven, where our will, will be at one with the perfect will of the Father. When Jesus calls, our immediate desire must be to follow. When Jesus calls, it is not to passive "membership", but to strong, positive action - "Come", "Go", "Follow", "Love". But so often on this side of heaven, our response to "Follow me!", is "I can't", "I don't have any ability", "what about .......", "I'm afraid". Conversely, sometimes we move off on our own and ask Jesus to "Follow us"! (check...

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool; To weep is to risk appearing sentimental; To reach-out to another is to risk involvement; To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self; To place your ideas and dreams before the crowd is to risk their wrath; To love is to risk not being loved in return; To live is to risk dying; To hope is to risk despair; To try is to risk failure. BUT....Risks must be taken Because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, has nothing, does nothing, and is nothing. He simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, or live. Chained by his certitudes he is a slave; He has forfeited freedom because only a person who risks is free.