Windows On The Soul

" Live creatively "; thus starts Peterson's paraphrase of Gal.6:1 . The traditional translations start with the situation of a Christian succumbing to sin. But the important focus of this verse is on the response of the spiritually mature members of the church. We are called to gently, humbly and forgivingly restore such people to the full fellowship, because one day we may be the one needing forgiveness. The concepts of creativity and restoration, suggest bringing something beautiful to life out of something that was dead. Further, the creation of something beautiful is not something that the 'dead' object or person can achieve by themselves, but only as the hands of the creator lovingly moulds and shapes. Of course it is God through Jesus who is the master craftsman who can turn sinful men into 'children of God'. But it is the church who is called to the curators job of constant tending and restoration of one-another.

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...

“Reconciliation” is very much in the news at the moment, particularly with regard to Australia’s ‘Anglo’ and aboriginal peoples. This is a subject that Christians should be seriously thinking and speaking about. Firstly, because it was often through “Christian missions” that past government policies of removing aboriginal children from their parents, was implemented. Though done with the ‘best intentions’ of wanting to provide a ‘better environment’ for the children, emotional needs of the children and parents, and differing cultural understanding of what a ‘better  environment’ is, were ignored. The wisdom required of missionaries in cross-cultural work is indeed that of Solomon. Secondly, Christians have something to say about “Reconciliation” because this is the very basis of our standing with God. Reconciliation with Him is necessary because of our sinful nature. We have said “Sorry!” (repented), but that is not enough. For some sin (like theft), restitution can ...

Two centuries ago with 'The Enlightenment', philosophers rejected the biblical doctrine of sin and began to teach that people are basically good - that only social structures are evil. If that is true, then to eradicate evil you do not have to change individual behaviour - only social structure. Moral effort was directed away from personal ethics and toward economics and politics. Jesus said that the one who is faithful in small things will be faithful in big things. It’s a matter of character. You see, the man who will cheat on his wife will cheat in his professional life. The man who has no self-restraint in his personal life will have no self-restraint in his political life. You can't have social morality without personal morality." Charles Colson, " A Dance with Deception " ----xxxXxxx---- Lk.16:10 "Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large matters; whoever is dishonest in small ones will be dishonest in large ones" ...