Advertising Ignorance

Advertising Our Ignorance!

I am writing this from deep in the middle of Advent, a season I both love and need, because it heralds the coming of Christmas and the birth of Jesus was the best thing, ever! Of course, not everyone agrees with me! (who'd've thought!) One of the first aberrations I read about was the British humanists campaign to advertise on the sides of buses their philosophy: 'there is no God, just be good for goodness sake!' and 'there probably is no God, now stop worrying and enjoy your life'. How very sad! Many years ago I remember a conversation with a wise mentor about the outrageous claims being made by those wanting to outlaw the creation story in school curriculums. To me, a scientist (then, pre minister!), their claims seemed unfounded and almost nonsensical. I asked what was their source, he replied, 'the problem is, too many people, when they open their mouths, do nothing but advertise their ignorance!' Too often, opinionated people don't spout opinions based on fact, rather they describe life as they would like it to be! And God is often the target of their diatribes!

Now, after 30 years as a minister, I think it is still true! I read fairly widely about a lot of things, but I don't offer public opinions because I am not understanding enough. However, when it comes to the God question, I have read, prayed and studied widely, (for example: Colson and Pearcy: 'How Now Shall We Live?'; Pearcey: 'Total Truth'; Strobel 'The Case for a Creator' and McDowell 'New Evidence That Demands a Verdict'.), and I do have some convictions. The biblical worldview and life-instruction is the only one that ultimately makes total sense. The God of creation and love is the only place where unconditional love is found, giving joy and hope to those who are bold enough to accept it, and live it! The God of Christian faith did not remain a distant mysterious figure from his creation, rather he became visible and intimate with his creation through the person of his son. Jesus is "Emmanuel", 'God with us' - not God near us, or God over us, or God apart from us. Only in this way could the depth and joy of love be truly shown and known.

What seems to bother people is that when we receive God's love through a relationship with Jesus, there is a call on our lives to share the love with others! This requires that we live not just for our own selfish pleasure but for the good of others, also. My absolute conviction, borne out by my observation of life around me, is that the more we try to prove we do not need God to live, the more we prove we do!

So, I will put up my Christmas lights to show that God's love resides in my house and to invite others to find it; I will wish you a Merry and Blessed Christmas and not Happy Holidays; and I will sing Joy to the World the Lord Has Come and especially my two favorite Christmas songs 'O Holy Night' (the majesty of God's love) and 'The Drummer Boy' (the joy of sharing God's love).
My bus sign would be 'Grab a bible, read John 3:16, it's true!'

Shalom
Pastor Greg

The Ups and Downs of a Fall !!

Recently, as I was contemplating my navel about the approach of Fall (or as we call it down under:autumn); I started to think about what I liked and will miss in Fall 2008. Things like slightly cooler (it is Florida!) weather (but I love summer); the end of hurricane season (but we need more rain); the leaves put on a color festival (but then they drop!); the growth of the garden slows (but the pruning begins!); the Rays made the World Series (great job, guys!); we wind the clocks back (but it still gets dark too early!); Halloween candy is everywhere (sadly I am not a dentist! Plus I really am not fond of how ghoulish it has all become) - you get my mindset, right?

As I wandered in the garden one evening, there was no breeze at all, only a beautiful stillness - it felt like the quiet after a long hot busy summer. Which is good, because in America, when the 'Holiday Season' kicks in, the pace becomes quite frantic and doesn't slow till New Year!

Feeling tired again? Let me offer you a bible verse that came to my mind and which is sage advice for this season: "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10). For me this keeps the next two months in perspective.

As soon as Halloween is done (enjoy, but be careful), America will elect a new President. There are courageous decisions to be made to move this country to a better place, I pray daily that the person God needs to lead will emerge and that the whole country will unite to work for a better situation for all 300 million of its citizens that will bring back the joy!

Moving right along, the next things to come out are the cornucopias and the turkeys ready for Thanksgiving! There will be dinners in homes and all over the community, the desire is for everyone to have a Thanksgiving feast in thanks for God's provision - and God's provision is awesome indeed! If only we would share it more equitably and more often!

Now we need the running shoes, for the day after Thanksgiving is 'very-early- morning-get-up-and-stand-in-line-to-get-great-bargains-for-Christmas-gifts-day!"
They are promising great bargains this year, but please remember the true spirit of giving is not only the gift but the meaning of giving. It's a Christmas thaanng!

Speaking of Christmas, the very best part of Fall is that we start the season of Advent, the time to prepare our hearts to celebrate again the coming of the Christ-child. Starting with the lights in the garden, and ending with Christmas Eve candlelight services - this is truly a time to 'be still and listen for God.' Which leads me to tell you that as I contemplated the excitement I know I will feel as the season begins, the words of a beautiful Christmas carol came to mind:

"It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old

from angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold

Peace on the earth, goodwill to men, from heaven's all gracious King.

The world in solemn stillness lay, to hear the angels sing."

Personally, I can't wait; and I hope you are the same.

Shalom

Pastor Greg

Choose Well to do Well

Catchy phrase! In a world where we are bombarded by 'catchy phrases', let me throw this one into the pot. The goal of course is to draw your attention to whatever is being promoted, sold or written about. They are prevalent in political campaigns; advertising for products, TV shows and movies; lifestyle choices and much more. My catch phrase is all about priorities, choosing them carefully and wisely and then sticking to them.

There is of course much heated debate and discussion at the moment about the priorities of government in America - what should be addressed most urgently and by whom. I regularly pray for wisdom, courage and the empowering of God's spirit for all leaders in this country.

Recently I attended a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) ministers retreat where 300 ministers fervently prayed and sought God's guidance in setting priorities that will help the church to become a more effective ministry presence in our communities. Even more recently I attended the Centennial Regional Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Florida, in Orlando. The emphasis was again setting priorities that will guide and inspire the church to more powerful mission and witness in Florida. Both events had moments of inspiration and moments of struggle for these are urgent and difficult times and to be a witnessing church is high priority.

However (ah yes, the big 'however'!) setting our priorities is but the first half of the adventure! The true adventure and inspiration is in our efforts to maintain them! Evidence the huge lack of success of most New Years resolutions! Or those who continually complain that there are 'just not enough hours in the day!' Well, I did some in depth research on this and found that there ars still 168 hours in every week, plenty of time to get done what we need to do; provided our priorities are well chosen and our commitment to them is also a priority! It has been said by many that a good way to discover the priorities by which you are living is to study closely your diary and your checkbook. How and where do you spend your money and your time?

This is for me a daunting task, balancing preacher, husband, father and friend (not to mention a Brisbane Lions fan!) What I want to say is that I whole heartedly and faithfully agree with Joshua who stated as his #1 priority in life: "As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord!" And do you know, when I do this, life is good!

Shalom
Pastor Greg

What To Do After Beijing?

Now that the closing ceremony is over, the red is slowly disappearing from our eyes as we catch up on all that lost sleep! Of course the question is.... what do we watch when the Olympic games are done??

The obvious first response is 'the political race', what with conventions and all. Without getting into this arena, all I will say is 'don't just watch, get involved, make a difference!'

Also now, school is back in, new adventures are beginning for millions of our young people. Listen to the warnings and watch out for the kids! But not just when you are driving; we have some serious work to do in relating to our kids and we need to give them a much better grounding in life as they grow, educationally, socially and emotionally. And when you get a chance, listen to the kids, they need you to. They have great things to say and they can teach us and keep us young.

Of course, the new TV viewing season is almost upon us; lots of our favs returning plus many new programs. There is a lot of great entertainment and learning to be enjoyed on TV, but please, be a little discerning about what you watch and what you let your kids watch. TV can be as great or as awful as you allow it to be. By the way, don't forget that reading is also a glorious adventure and very relaxing. (oh boy, oh boy, #14 is coming!)

What else to watch? Well, the weather reports for one. Be careful, be safe, be in prayer for those having a rough time of it around the country. And help where you can. For two, watch your garden grow; you can discover so much of God's love by observing his beautiful creation. And do what you can to preserve and keep it green. For three, if you are lucky, watch the Aussie rules football final if it's available, round the end of September.

Well, that's my potpourri of what to watch for a while, and remember the Winter Olympics are only 2 years away.

Shalom

Pastor Greg

A Little Perspective Needed!

Numbers are fun, informative and beguiling; but they can blur our vision sometimes! You have probably heard about the value of time:
To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of one month, ask a mother who gave birth prematurely.
To realize the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly newsletter.
To realize the value of one hour, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one minute, ask a person who just missed a train.
To realize the value of one second, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of one millisecond, ask a person who won an Olympic silver medal.

As politicians and financiers talk more casually about one billion dollars, think about this:
A billion seconds ago, it was 1959.
A billion minutes ago, Jesus was alive on earth.
A billion hours ago, our ancestors were living in the stone age.
A billion days ago, no one walked on the earth on two feet.
But a billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate the government is spending.
There are more than 300 billionaires in the US alone!

The basic wage was recently raised to $6.35 an hour - at that rate it would take a person more than 18,000 years to earn one billion dollars!

Which brings me to the subject of the inequitable distribution of wealth, the love of money being the root of all evil, you can't serve God and money.......

Kind of makes you go hmmm!

Shalom

Pastor Greg

What Are We Telling the Kids?

Hi out there!
Long time no blog, sorry about that. Firstly I want to say g'day to Ian in Tassie, go Oz! Thanks for the comments, I will write more on the Lent series about reviving churches today. My comments were in response to a book by Paul Dixon called "I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church"; if you are passionate about the church being revived and renewed, you need to read this book.

However there is something else on my mind, and again it relates to our youth. You may have guessed that long long ago back in Australia I was involved in leading youth groups in several churches, and I loved it, I did quite well at it, too! In fact I planned to become a full time youth worker, but pastoral ministry intervened! A recent survey showed that the current generation of adolescents distrusts the church and christians more than any other in American history, but that same generation is more spiritual than any other in American history! Our youth are looking for God, but not in church!

In my view, they see an adult generation that does not enjoy life (even the christians!), has questionable values and cannot be trusted. For example, they work hard, graduate from college and then we tell them there are no jobs for them; so now the dropout rate is increasing, even from high school, to an alarming rate! And worse, kids who are involved in a good church youth group during high school, are walking away from the church when they go to college.

Again, in my opinion, the adult generation has spent a lifetime trying to prove that we can live without God, and yet proving the opposite! As a result, mostly we are not happy campers! So what do we do? What do we tell them? What should our youth ministry be about?

Firstly, let us stop offering 'cotton wool christianity' - your faith is OK only if you avoid the big bad evil world! So read only christian books, listen to only christian music, watch only christian movies, and go to church every Sunday! The absolute joy and power of Christianity is that it gives us a fulfilling, joyful way to live and witness to in the real world and in our real lives!

Secondly, be available whenever opportunity arises to listen to them, kids crave a sensitive, listening, understanding ear while they wrestle with how their life is turning out. And they are honest and forthright, let us return the compliment!

Thirdly, remember the words of 1Peter 3:15, 'in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." (NIV) In other words, tell them your 'Jesus story'! Tell them how having Jesus in your heart has helped you to make the most of the life God has given you. Surveys have aso shown that the large majority of adult church attenders have never done that! So, grab your favourite (low carb!)snack and a cool drink, go to a quiet place, spend time in prayer about your relationship with Jesus; then write your Jesus story. It's a great way to spend time during the slow hot summer days (or in Ian's case the long cold winter nights!); and there are kids out there waiting to hear your story, from you.

Shalom

Pastor Greg

A Plea for Face to Face Contact

You've probably gathered by now that this blogging thing is fairly new to me, in fact I learned just today that blog is short for 'weblog'! It is a little odd for me to be typing in these messages and then wondering if anyone reads them or thinks about responding. More than 50 have checked out at least one of my messages, but I don't know who or where they are! You see I am a 'face-to-face' person, I would say for me it is the most vital aspect of being a minister. When you are looking at a person while you have a conversation, you encounter them through all the senses which is what gives emotional life to a conversation. From this, a level of caring can develop most naturally, and I believe this is the goal in every encounter between two people.

While the electronic communication tools available today are very helpful in many ways, they should not be seen as a replacement for a face to face conversation. My concern is that this is exactly what is happening - especially amongst younger people. As a result, we are becoming isolated and I think, lonely. In the movie 'You've Got Mail', shopgirl and NY152 develop quite a friendship through email (I am not sure it really happens to this extent in reality), however the relationship only begins to really develop after they meet and slowly begin a friendship. Too often, I see a group of young people walking down the street together, not talking to each other at all, but rather they are each in a text message conversation with someone else!

My plea is don't forget that relationships are a matter of the heart, not electronic gadgetry. Our cell phones, computers and ipods are wonderful means of communication (I once called my father in Australia from the top of the Empire State building!); and they may well help us avoid the anxiety, the stammering, the sweating when we begin a conversation with someone for the first time, but these are a necessary part of 'stepping out' into life.

Of course, as a minister this is particularly important to me, I don't think this blog will ever replace the sermon. When a minister preaches the love of God from his or her heart to the congregation, they need to be face to face. After all, evangelism is a Christian having a one-on-one conversation with another person about how Jesus has enriched their life.

I am interested in hearing feedback on this, just respond to the blog message!

Pastor Greg

Happy Birthday Dear Church

After his resurrection, Jesus spent time with his first disciples, preparing them to continue the mission of sharing God's love with a searching world. One of the most important things he instructed them to do was to 'wait until the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon you.' He made it quite clear that without the power of the spirit they could do nothing! Hmm!

May 11th is Pentecost Sunday, the day when we say the church was born because on this day the Holy Spirit filled their hearts and they were ready to roll for Jesus! (It is also mother's day, so I pray for a special blessing on all mothers). But what is this power? And is it true that we can do nothing (of God's mission) without it, but empowered by the spirit, nothing is impossible? This is pretty powerful stuff!

It seems to me that we (the church) have not really come to grips with this. In the church today I see the Holy Spirit being neglected/ignored/avoided or directed and controlled to meet our own agendas!

The Spirit is from God, it is the power behind creation, it is the power that enabled a virgin to become pregnant, it is the power that raised Jesus from the dead. The power of the spirit is the power of God's love! God's very essence is love, and his deepest desire is that we might live to the full the gift of life we have been given. For this to occur requires a powerful force that can overcome our shortcomings (aka sin!), that power is the spirit of God's love. And as we learned at Pentecost, that power is poured out as promised on all who open their hearts to receive it in order to fulfill the mission of proclaiming the Good News throughout the world.

That's awesome, and more than a little intimidating! It is not a power to be used for our own selfish reasons, like Jim Carey initially in 'Bruce Almighty'; rather it is the power that enables us to love others as Jesus does. The Beatles were right when they crooned 'All You Need is Love!' It is true, we do, and praise God, we have it when we open our hearts to receive it (perhaps then we wouldn't need songs like 'All My Ex's Live in Texas!'). That's Pentecost power, and on this Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the church, go to a church near you and "more power to ya!"

Shalom

Pastor Greg

Choices of Lent #3 "Choosing Fun Over Drudgery"

Everyone would rather have fun than drudgery! However when you look around today most people are not having much fun, sadly unless they are high or drunk! Even sadder is the fact that most Christ followers are not seen as fun people either! In fact I grew up believing that anything fun, joyful or celebratory had no place in the life of the believer, we were serious and humble before the Lord! I'm pretty sure the church is still largely perceived the same today!
Shame on us! The bible is more than anything else a story of joy! Christianity is a joy-filled, exuberant faith! We recently celebrated Easter, but the church seems to focus on the sadness of Jesus' death on the cross for our sins. This is of course true, but it is not the full story! Jesus death was cruel and despicable beyond measure (watch "The Passion of the Christ"); but beyond the cross is the triumphant love and power of God who raised Jesus from death so that our lives could be renewed!
Easter released an explosion of joy in the hearts of every person who opened their heart to receive the life-giving joyful Spirit of the risen Christ. And that is still the absolute truth today! We are by definition, experience and belief the most joyful people on the face of the earth!
Why then would we choose drudgery rather than joyous, victorious living? And Jesus is the only way to receive this joy, because he is the means to live in a new relationship with God. We should be singing more songs and hymns about the joy of the Lord, then let the fun begin!

Till next time
Shalom,
Pastor Greg

After Easter - then what?

Taking a break from the "Choices for Lent" series, I want to invite us all to reflect on what comes after Easter. The death and resurrection of Jesus was the awesomely loving response of God to his erring children, we have renewed life because Jesus removed all barriers to God at the moment the 'veil of the temple was rent asunder!'
As essential as this was to God's plan for his Kingdom, what ultimately decides the issue is how christians respond to the cross and the empty tomb! Jesus said quite emphatically, 'As the Father sent me, so I send you!' 'Go into all the world to preach, teach and baptise.' 'You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth!' It can't be any clearer than that - if we call ourselves disciples of Jesus, then we are called to be a witness to the Good News everywhere we go and in everything we do. Every other part of our church life and journey is secondary, and yet it seems to me that we have made 'church life' our top priority in order to avoid being disciples!
On the cross Jesus gave his all, absolutely, we are called to do the same. We all know and can recite John 3:16, but take a moment to read 1John 3:16 - the completion of the story!
Easter is only joy when God's love overflows our hearts and is shared with others at every opportunity in our daily lives, and oh what joy it is! I am convinced that one of the main reasons many people do not come or stop coming to church is because they do not find the joy! And joy is profoundly life-giving; it is way beyond mere happiness which most people settle for - it caused Paul to sing hymns in prison before he was to die!
Take a moment to focus on the joy of Easter. Who do you know who shines with that joy? Is your heart filled with the joy of Christ-risen-from-the-dead-giving-you-new-life? My Easter prayer for each of us is that we will open our hearts as never before to receive the spirit of the risen Christ.

"Joy to the world, He is risen, hallelujah!"

Choices of Lent - Choosing Community Over Isolation

One of the most dangerous trends in our modern society (in my opinion), is the extreme individualism that has largely separated us from each other. For example, if you see 4 teens together today (or adults for that matter), they are not talking to each other; each has their cell phone out text messaging a faceless person somewhere else, and the same is true for our whole society. More than once I have observed a couple at a restaurant for a meal who spend the entire meal on their cell phones to other people! Email, IM's, voicemail, the whole bit. I know people who purposely call someone when they know they will not be there so they can leave a voice message rather than actually speak to them! And the automated voices directing us through an automated maze that too often does not include the option of actually talking to someone, not fun! Fewer and fewer people make real contact with other people any more, and we miss it and are lonely without it. And the on-line dating thing may have a place but not as the main or only way to meet people! Sadly, I have to say, this isolation is happening in many churches!

The very foundation of life is a network of meaningful one-on-one growing, personal, intimate relationships; husband and wife, parent and child, student and teacher, friend with friend, even employer and employee (wouldn't that be great!)

Of course, nowhere is community more crucial than in the church, the Body of Christ; because the essence of the Christian faith is a personal intimate conversation in which one person is sharing with another the love of Jesus who is life, and how it has enriched their own life. Because Jesus is life, forgiven, renewed, abundant, joyful life! You may want to pause here and read Ephesians 2:19-22 in the bible, but come straight back! The season of Lent is about journeying to the cross and beyond to the resurrection of Jesus, in order to find that life.

The church is called into existence to be the Body of Christ, a welcoming, meaningful, accepting, joyful, inspirational community. That's my choice, I pray it is yours.

If it is, find such a church and become part of the community, and take a friend with you! Or you may need to help your own church rediscover the joy of true community.

I look forward to your response and ideas.

Shalom, Pastor Greg

Lent - The Time for Making Life Choices

Welcome to my blog! I look forward to swapping thoughts and ideas especially related to our journey towards fulfilling life, which means for me a journey with Jesus as my travelling companion. For me, life without Jesus is at best existence, which we try to make as comfortable as we can with the resources we have. However, I want to live my life to the full, and that is where Jesus is so important. Let me explain. The christian churches are currently journeying through the season we call Lent, a period of 40 days which culminates in Holy Week and the season of Easter. The season is a time for reflecting on our lives and making choices that offer the best path to fulfilling, joyful, peaceful life. Way back in 1977, in his book "The Passion for Life - A Messianic Lifestyle", German theologian Jurgen Moltmann wrote:

"Where Jesus is, there is life. There is abundant life, vigorous life, loved life, eternal life. There is life-before-death! I find it deeply disturbing and unsettling whenever I think about how we have become accustomed to death - death of the soul, death on the street, death through violence - to death before life!"

And all this death is needless, unnecessary and contrary to God's plan! Because where the spirit of Jesus is there is abundant life, joyful life, growing life. For me, the first choice I affirm during Lent is to choose life, not mere existence, because life is a gift God gave us to treasure, to enjoy, to make the most of. And for me, this means choosing Jesus, whose death and resurrection gave us new life. You have the same choice, choose wisely.

Shalom

Pastor Greg