2 Corinthians 5 - Seeking a refund for your Christianity?

For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies … we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

It seems that there are certain verses in the Bible that are hard to swallow. At times, the difference between what I feel God has promised me in his word, and the reality of my existence, confuses me. Let me point out a few examples:

• Romans 6:22 - But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
• Matthew 7:7 - “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
• John 16:24b – “Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.”
• 2 Corinthians 9:8 - And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need”
• Malachi 3:10 - Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
• James 5:15 - Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well.

Don’t get me wrong – I know that God is able, and that his power is very present. It’s just that sometimes I look around at my friends, many of whom are on anti-depressants, and most of which are struggling with debt, sickness and sin (or all three), and I start to wonder. There seem to be a lot of confused people walking around wishing they could find the packing of the Gospel they bought to see if they read the contents correctly. “It’s perplexing” says a relative, when pondering why it looks like God hasn’t come through for them financially – even though they have consistently sacrificed and put him first. Another friend wonders why he is still single, approaching 40, despite all of his prayers for a wife.

And yet it’s funny how you can look around during a church service and find people singing God’s praises with such certainty, such faith. There have been times when I’ve been unable to sing the lines to the song because I’m so overwhelmed by the gap between premise and reality.

I read that in Hebrews 11:6 it says “It is impossible to please God without faith … anyone who wants to come to him must believe … that he rewards those who sincerely seek him” – and I feel like arguing with him over the fact that I feel ‘significantly under-rewarded’ – perhaps he’d like to lower the bar just a little?

You get the picture.

Often I find myself clinging on to the words of Philip Yancey (a man who has experienced much more doubt than me) – “It is on the dry bones of doubt that the flesh of life grows” (or something to that effect, the book is packed away). At least I’m willing to believe – in the words of the father in Mark 9:24; “I believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.”

I’m hoping here to be able to share some light that God has been shining on my darkness recently. Not enough light for me to be able to declare I have the answer, but enough light to believe that the fuller picture does actually exist. And I’m happy with that.

I have come to find evidence in the Scriptures for three major themes: That God is bigger than me, that God has different priorities to me, and that our suffering is actually normal.

1. God is bigger than me

Let’s start with the usual big 3 scriptures on this topic:

Romans 8:28	And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Isaiah 55:9	For just as the heavens are higher than the Earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.
1 Corinthians 13:12	Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Long story short, we are not God. We’re not really qualified to judge him. While it’s not exactly encouraging, it might be a good idea to reflect on the words of the Prophet Isaiah (29:16):

How foolish can you be?

He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay!

Should the created thing say of the one who made it,

“He didn’t make me”?

Does a jar ever say,

“The potter who made me is stupid”?

Ultimately, things will probably not make sense until we get to have a long chat with God in the light of eternity. Really looking forward to that conversation.

2. God’s priorities are bigger than mine

As a follow on from number 1, it would seem that the things I want (more money, designer clothing, a hot/intelligent/funny/caring/loving wife) are not exactly at the top of God’s make-over list for me. God (again, to quote Yancey) wants us to grow up into Adulthood, to a place where we do not need to be propped up by manna and miracle water every day. He is after endurance: Dear brothers and sisters, whenever troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy… and when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

I guess it’s sort of like someone going on a make-over TV show concerned about a scar on their thigh when they’re 50kg overweight. The professional knows what really needs to be stripped away and added on.

3. Suffering is not unusual in our age

The most recent revelation God’s given me is that that suffering in our age is – to a certain extent – normal. Now, when I say ‘normal’, I don’t mean ‘intentional’, the way it’s ‘meant to be’, or even ‘expected’. I just mean that Scripture warns us that this life – regardless of how “rich and satisfying” (John 10:10) it can be – is not the same as participating in a child’s birthday party where there’s abundant fairy bread and you get to have the cake all to yourself.

And it’s late, so I’m going to leave that part of the blog until tomorrow night.

Psalm 119:55 - We sin because we don't know God

Psalm 119:55 – “I reflect at night on who you are, O Lord, and I obey your Law because of this.”

David is talking about how he obeys God because he understands who he is. In other words, when we truly understand how loving, good and all-knowing God is, we have no reason at all to disobey him. I guess all of our disobedience, then, is rooted in a misunderstanding of God’s character.

I think at the moment I’m learning to re-trust God is certain areas of my life. God nailed me about it last night; this morning, it really hit home to me that there are areas that I don’t trust God in.

Help me to know you better, God.

Update: Just realised that 1 John 3:2 - "...he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. Adds further proof to my hyposthesis that our sin is rooted in mistrust of God.

2 Corinthians 12:9 - God requires our weakness to operate

9 Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

This is one of my more recent memory verses (aiming to reach 200 by then end of the year - only 173 to go...) One of the things I love about scripture memorisation is that when you memorise something, it forces to you really pay attention to the 'nuances' of each verse. You have to really soak in it, otherwise it's not going to stick. Sort of like tasting a fine wine.... Anyhoo..

So with this verse here, the thing that struck me is that we have to be able to boast about our weakness - otherwise Christ's power can't work through us.. In our attempt to become completely functional and self-dependent, we can effectively stop God from working miracles through us. Sobering thought, hey...

By the way, both my gym-attending and blog-writing habits are back with a vengeance...

A manifesto

I only have one life. And this life has been given to me for a purpose. In order to be happy, I must live out that purpose.

But my life is also a life of extremes.

On one side I have the flesh who seeks the immediate satisfaction of fleshly temptation, to deodorise my life with what makes sense now. To escape pain, to seek pleasure, to hide from reality.

On the other hand there is the “Steve in Christ”. Dedicated, genuinely wanting to make other people’s lives better. Knowledgeable, articulate, able to make things happen if he really wants to. A leader.

This is my manifesto.

I will rely on God for the strength to continue. I will not moan about my existence, point to obvious points of lack and accuse God of leaving me in the cold. I will start to see pain as a meaningful part of growth, rather than an inconsistency in the character of God that I need to continually point out to him. I will realise that God has a bigger picture in his heart that will not always make sense to me. I will start to genuinely desire to please God, by remaining joyful in the midst of adversity, as a child who deeply trusts his father. I will rise above.

I will choose to love even though at times I feel I have no love in me. I will encourage others to pray, even when I struggle with doubt myself. In my weakness God’s goodness will be revealed.

I will ignore the urges in me that seek immediate comfort, who seek to focus my strength on the pursuit of earthly beauty. I must change my diet (both emotionally and spiritually) from sugar-filled take-away, to meat, fruit and vegetables. True refreshment and beauty is found in putting the desires of the Kingdom above my own.

I’ve noticed something: my desire for God, and my desire to serve him, comes alive when I realise that I’ve been given something real and tangible to give to others. To more I realise I am a powerful agent of change, the more I want to be a part of the battle.

By God’s grace, I can only focus on one thing at a time – either the gaping wound in my side, or the powerful sword by my side. Herein lies a very powerful choice – where do I focus? In keeping my eyes focussed on the sword given to me, personal problems will fade away, along with the apathy, resentment and nausea that accompany it. I am able, and it is my capacity that defines me, not my doubt of God.

Above all else I will make it a priority to relate well to God. It must be in the forefront of my mind at all times. My diary must centre around this attempt. The entire world can go jump if I haven’t had a chance to place God first.

We were not designed to focus on our problems. We were designed to relate to God. Henceforth, as Job said, “though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”

Philemon 6 - Just add evangelism...

6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

Feeling down? Overwhelmed? Lacking that special spring in your step?

The answer is simple! Share your faith!

Leaves your friends whiter than the driven snow and smelling oh so fresh. Okay so maybe not that...


But really, this is way cool. In order to realise how amazing our riches are in Christ Jesus, we need to be telling others about them. This was a big revelation for me. Think I'll memorise this verse.

Romans 2:16 - It's not even cheating

The day will surely come when God, by Jesus Christ, will judge everyone's secret life. This is my message.

In university, it might surprise you to learn that I was not the most diligent student ever. My study style could very aptly be described as “cram, show up and throw up”.

Believe it or not, despite the fact that this involved very little sleep and massive doses of caffeine, most of the time this worked really well. I did really well.

But this one time, I turned up to a Maths exam, ready to regurgitate the barely-digested fragments of knowledge that had passed my tonsils but a few hours before. I was feeling confident, smug even.

One of the worst feelings in the world is turning up to an exam room to find it empty.

I had got my exams out of order – I was meaning to be sitting a Physics exam. I turned up late and very unprepared. All that I was able to put on paper were a few facts that I’d learned almost coincidentally, en route to learning about other things.

In life I believe we do very similar things. We, at the end of this age, will face an exam (Biblical reference to come). We will be judged (even as Christians) according to what we have done. Sure, it won’t determine whether or not we go to heaven or hell (that is determined by our response to the Gospel), but there are rewards in heaven for things done here on Earth.

We are one day going to be required to answer some very penetrating questions, in the big exam room in the sky. It will be the exam to end all exams. The big one. The test.

But I have this overwhelming feeling that so much of our time, we’re preparing for a different exam. An exam that doesn’t exist. And never will exist.

I feel that if I were to write the exam, it would look like this:

1. How hot was your wife?
2. How intelligent was your wife?
3. How many pastors liked and respected you?
4. Did you manage to drive a sports car?

In fact it would be a pretty short test. The bad news (or Good News, actually), is that this test can be boiled down to one question:

1. What did you do with my son Jesus?

End of test.

The good thing about this is that I don’t have to worry if I don’t have a good answer for one of the questions that is not on the test. I don’t have to worry about how superficially beautiful my wife will be because, quite frankly, it doesn’t matter in the light of eternity. That question is not on the test. In heaven there will be no such thing as marriage (Matthew 22:30). So I don’t need to worry about. It’s on the ‘optional, nice to have’ list.

God, I pray that you’ll help me to prepare for the right exam.

Titus 2:7f - Watch God nail me about my teaching

7 And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good deeds of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching. 8 Let your teaching be so correct that it can't be criticized. Then those who want to argue will be ashamed because they won't have anything bad to say about us.

God just decided to nail me about integrity with respect to my teaching. The vision I’m having is a pond, clear and still, that reflects the beauty of the nature around it in an uncorrupted, honest and truthful way.

In the same way, my life and my teaching must be such that my teaching is just a reflect of my teaching, nothing more, nothing less.

I must do good deeds of every kind – can’t remember the last time I even feed a homeless person. That’s a high benchmark.

My teaching can’t be prettied up. I need to reflect life the way I see it. There needs to be truth conveyed in my teaching, nothing more, nothing less.

It reminds me of when I was doing my research in gene therapy as part of my Science degree honours. I kept on wanting to modify the results of my experiments to fit my models. I soon learnt that there is truth even in what appear to be the anomalies. Although I might think I’m correcting errors or enhancing limitations, in reality there’s nothing I can add of value. I need merely reflect the pond.

Even if I’m only reflecting a partial picture, I hope I can reflect that part of the sky with truthfulness.

Hebrews 10:23 - Why I'm not out clubbing & on drugs

Hebrew 10:23 Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise

1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless.

1 Corinthians 15:19 And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world

You know, I can't escape the fact that as Paul said, if Jesus did not rise from the dead, the very fundamental basis of my life is worthless. If God can't be trusted, then all of my life is in vain.

Before you think I'm obviously in a depressed mood :), let me point out Hebrews 10:23 - "God can be trusted"

I'm not in the nightclubs satisfying as many biological urges as I can, as much as I can, at the same time, for this one simple reason - God can be trusted with my life. He will not let me down. I will not be disgraced because of him.

And it for this reason alone that I can say with Paul - "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of salvation."

Think I'll sleep well on that. :)

John 4:34 - For those who are weak...

John 4:34 - "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

Matthew 11 (NLT) - 28 Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light."

Matthew 11 (NIV) - 28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Sometimes I feel weak... really weak...

Every find yourself flicking through channels because you don't feel you've got the energy to do anything else? Not that you're necessarily tired, but you just can't seem to leave whatever it is you're doing because that would mean facing the world. Or maybe it's just me.

Today's Thursday. On Thursday nights I teach new Christian courses, which is great. It's fun to watch the lights switch on for people. But it's also a huge responsibility, and so it can take a lot out of you at times. Sometimes I don't feel like I've got the energy to do it..

And so I'm left with a decision to make. Do I retreat and continue to follow the path of least resistance, do nothing? I can easily rationalise this with a theology that says "if you doing it and it doesn't feel right, it's not God's will for you to be doing it". Or do I beat my flesh, crucify the flesh and persist?

In this instance, I'm choosing the get over myself and help out. The verse that really spoke to me about this today is John 4:34 - when we step out and do the will of the father, He gives us strength. Emotional, physical, and spiritual food. And we use this to keep on going.

The scary thought in this is - what happens if we don't do the will of God? Do we become malnourished? I think perhaps so.

Matthew 11 is another good one. Verse 28 and 29 (if you read the too quickly, let's say for example if you're just trying to cover ground in your Bible reading) sound really nice and mushy... "give you rest"... "humble and gentle"... "perfectly... light".

But take a closer look at this, especially verse 30 - "my burden is light". He's not talking about removing burdens from us. That's not his strategy. His strategy is to help us grow in strength so we can carry more. Historically, what they'd do is they'd get a stronger bull and tie it (using a yoke) to the younger bull so they could work in partnership. In reality though, the stronger bull did all the work. The younger bull would get to pull just enough load to be able to develop the muscles to become stronger.

God does the same with us - he let's us experience just enough tension to pull us onward, to help us to grow in maturity. James 1:2-4 talks about this as well.

So I'm off to LDC now - it's going to be great. God is going to be there and he's going to help me grow stronger.

Hope this helps for those of you who might be struggling.

Ecclesiates 3:5 - No hugs for you...

A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

This is messing with my head. It's in this fortnight's study for those of you in a Hillsong Connect Group. I'm not too sure I get it - why should there be a time to shun embracing? Being the touchy-feely guy that I am, I'm always looking to get hugs from people. Some of my friends spend there lives trying to avoid my hugs (you know who you are :P). Hi-5's all-round people...
I've looked at a few commentaries on this and found nothing. Most translations phrase it the same way (including the message, but see below for something interesting about that...).

Perhaps God is saying that there should come a time when we need to stand up on our own two feet, be an adult, and walk in the confidence God has given us? Not too sure. Feel free to leave a comment if you think of a reason.

Steve

*** On the Message side of things...

Let's look at how various translations express Eccl. 3:5a -

• NASB - "A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;"
• NKJV - "A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;"
• NIV - "a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them"
• NLT - "A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones"

So far pretty similar, right? Check out the Message paraphrase...

• Message - "A right time to make love and another to abstain"

A Jewish metaphor perhaps? Maybe :) - but I checked the commentaries again and found nothing... Plus that's just plain stretching the imagination a bit too much I think... Just a warning to those of you who rely soly on the Message for your daily reading.

Blogs on myspace

Hi all,

You should check out my myspace profile sometime (www.myspace.com/steve_gore). I'll be writing some non-scriptural blogs on there from time to time. Just finished one on speeding and sex - yuh, check it out man...

Kudos to everyone who actually read this blog - I'm genuinely flattered.

Steve

2 Timothy 2:21 - I don't want to be Tupperware

2 Timothy 2 - 20 In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. 21 If you keep yourself pure, you will be a utensil God can use for his purpose. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.

Leviticus 24:4 - The lamps on the pure gold lampstand must be tended continually in the LORD's presence.

There's something about Tupperware that I find quite disturbing. I'm not too sure if it's the vivid flashbacks to grandma's house - with the moth balls and diabetes and... well, that vague sensation that they were both just hanging around to die.. or whether it was the smell it started to give out after a while... or whether it was people's morbid obsession with getting more of it.

I'm more of a minimalistic kind of guy - give me a stainless steel and chrome appliance any day. Clean, shiny, sleek - and if you're a knife, sharp.

In the Kingdom of God you have everyday vessels - the Tupperware - and you have the good stuff - the stainless steel, the platinum, the fine china (if you're that way inclined) etc. But the funny thing is that you get to choose what you will be. By being pure or otherwise.

But you already knew that, right? Fantastic. But today I learnt something new. Leviticus 24:4 stood out to me as I was doing some research - the lamps on the pure gold lampstand must be tended continually in the LORD's presence...

• "the lamps" represent the Holy Spirit. Also might refer to the giftings we've been given as in 2Ti 1:6 (distributed by the Holy Spirit)
• "pure gold lampstand" is you and me
• "must be tended continually" i.e. they require our constant, daily attention. Activity. Action.
• "in the LORD's presence" - we can't do this on our own. This involves drawing closer to God each day, renewing our relationship with Him, 'being being' filled with the Holy Spirit and being transformed into relationship with him.

I personally think that's a beautiful picture. Hopefully I've been able to put on paper what's in my heart (in an internet sort of way :)).

Not scriptural - but got to share this

Look what happens when you take God out of the picture.... are we really just a bunch of molecules flying around?
I so love Dilbert..

Mark 4:18-19 – What are my thorns?

18 The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for nice things, so no crop is produced.

I love mountain-top experiences – in fact, I think they’re necessary. I think there are sometimes in life where you’ve got to experience God is such a way that it leaves you permanently changed. You need to experience the ‘whiter-than-OMO’ side of Jesus.

But I don’t think God calls us to stay there; he calls us down from the mountain top, to be the salt of the earth, to be ambassadors for Christ, to help the needy and liberate the oppressed, etc. He calls us down to our 9-5 existences where we struggle with mortgage repayments, broken washing machines, needing to find a place to stay and wondering if God really meant it when he said that he would always be with us to the end of the age.

That’s where I’m at right now. With the image of God’s brilliance quickly fading away in my short-term memory, I’m forced to take drastic measures to make sure that the attitude that seemed so easy on the mountain-top is maintained in the shadow of the valley.

It says in the Old Testament that when Moses returned from spending time with God they’d have to put a covering over his face because it would radiate light. I wonder if I still radiate light? Is the change in my still noticeably different?

What are the thorns that could stop the seeds that God has planted in my life from producing fruit?

• The cares of this life? Quite possibly – it’s difficult to commune with God when you feel like you’re in a cage but can’t fight your way out of paper bag.
• The lure of wealth? Perhaps not – but perhaps just enough to get buy on and not be embarrassed in certain situations.
• The desire for nice things? Hello! How is it that I can substitute the call of God with the desire to find a hot wife? How much time have a wasted fighting the wrong battles?

God help me to stay focused. I need constant reminders of your love and of the urgency of the hour. Spur me onwards towards the great deeds you have predestined me to achieve. Help me to cut the thorns out of my life and press in towards the goal. I’m nothing without you.

John 15:4 - Spend time with God or DIE

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

Sorry for the dramatic opening, but I was listening to a podcast by Joyce Meyer this morning called "The Benefits of Fellowshipping with God" (link here), and had a new revelation about this verse.

I don't know why, but I'd never before realised that this is talking about spending time with God (amongst other things). What other motivation do you need to spend time with God? As with the vine, if you don't spend time with God you will wither up and die. Become miserable and lifeless. And you won't produce fruit.

I don't know why I've never realised this before. Love how God can nail you with a verse you already know quite well.

Will definitely be spending time with God tonight...

Romans 8:28 - Playing chess with God

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Hi all,

Just finished writing this email to a friend and thought I’d share with with the entire world by posting my thoughts gratuitously on the internet.

Most definitely will be coming to Discovery tonight and my week so far has been challenging but good. God is promoting growth in my life. I feel like I’m playing chess with God and he’s checkmating me into growth. Wherever I turn, no matter what moves I make, God is able to manoeuvre it into a growth-promoting exercise. Even if I’m too lazy to pursue it myself – isn’t that cool?

As much as I find that this verse gets over-used and clichéd, things feel so different when you're actually in it. And I think it's bigger than "Don't worry about this problem, good will come of it". It means that - for example - you'll download a podcast and find that God speaks to you even through that, at just the time you needed it. God is so cool.

1 Timothy 3:2 - The Bible's leadership standards test

2 For an elder must be a man whose life cannot be spoken against. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exhibit self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home and must be able to teach. 3 He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, peace loving, and not one who loves money. 4 He must manage his own family well, with children who respect and obey him. 5 For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God's church? 6 An elder must not be a new Christian, because he might be proud of being chosen so soon, and the Devil will use that pride to make him fall. 7 Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not fall into the Devil's trap and be disgraced.

I think I can consider myself well and truly in a position of 'eldership' (read: leadership) within the church. In reading this, though, I realise that I don't fully live up to the Biblical Benchmark on Being a Big Cheese. So here's a running inventory:

1. ...whose life cannot be spoken against. Generally this is true. Hopefully from now on it will always be true. (Talk about an acid test).
   
2. Faithful to his wife. No problems here. She's my imaginary friend (cheaper that way).
   
3. Exhibit self-control. Pretty good in this department, maybe with the exception of my finances.
   
4. Live wisely. This is very subjective, but I do have a stable job, investment property and I have appropriate measures of accountability and growth in my life so maybe I can say yes to this one?
   
5. Have a good reputation. Pretty sure I'm okay here - apart from the small minority of women who think I'm a coffee whore (I do coffee with too many different women).
   
6. ...must enjoy having guests in his home. Love this, no problems.
   
7. Be able to teach. That's my full-time job.
   
8. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. Check and check.
   
9. He must be gentle, peace loving. If anything I'm too gentle.
   
10. ...not one who loves money. God's working on this in me.
    
11. He must manage his own family well, with children who respect and obey him. My children haven't complained so far.
    
12. ...must not be a new Christian. Definitely okay here.
    
13. People outside the church must speak well of him. I like this one. This is very important to me. I think it's a great test of someone's character - and it's very important. I really don't want to be perceived as yet another one-dimensional Christian with no personality or life. And I don't want to be known as a hypocrite who doesn't practice what they preach. Two very important things.

So that's me. If you think I've lied for any of the questions, you're welcome to make your point known of course. :)

Peace out.

1 Timothy 4:16 - Life & Doctrine

16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Credit for today's post goes to a dear friend, Dan Changer. Dan was mentioning how 1 Timothy 4:16 states how we should look our for both our life and our doctrine. In other words, we need not only to have our theological i's dotted and our doctrinal t's crossed, we also need to have our life together, so as to bring glory to Christ - and to live the lives we were meant to live.

Our lives should be radiant with the frangrance of God's love. One of the great things about Hillsong church is that is empowers people to life Christ-filled lives, not just to be able to recite comprehensive and cogent doctrinal statements. And I like that about our church.

No church is perfect, but I'm glad we focus on helping people live lives...

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 - Run Harder

24 Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You also must run in such a way that you will win. 25 All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

God spoke to me in the gym today. I was praying to him about my life (as I tend to do), and praying "God, I pray that I will be all that you've called me to be". Then he spoke to me, very clearly - "Run harder".

It's ironic that God should speak to me about this in the gym, because the context of this verse is very much exercise-related. In the same way that I am motivated to build my body through exercise (to be more attractive, confident & healthy), God wants me to be motivated to run to the goal of self-control and disciple. Discipline for two things:

1. Building other people. God, grant me to desire and more passion to build other people in love.
2. Running away from sexual immorality (see also 1Co 6:18, 1Ti 6:11, 2Ti 2:22). God is calling me to chase him more, through purity. In purity I can draw closer to God. This will involve running. Actively running.

God is calling me to run towards him, and run away from impurity. May he grant me the desire and strength to do so. Maybe this way more people's lives will be changed for the better.

1 Thessalonians 2:7 - Motherly Leadership

7 but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.

Okay, so it's 11:54PM and I'm really tired so I'm going to keep this short... :)

Paul is writing to the Thessalonians, describing his leadership style to them (in defence of accusations he was using them for the money - interesting hey). Rather than saying "like a roaring lion leading their cubs into the charge", or "as a general to his troops, so was I", he describes himself as "motherly". Sort of like when you were sick at home so your Mum would stroke your forehead and give you ice cream.

Don't know about you but that surprised me when I saw it. Not a lot of the leadership I experience in the church is like a mother caring for her little children. I'm not even too sure I want it to be like this. And yet that is how Paul described himself. And I kind think of him describing his leadership style any differently in other passages.

Why are my experiences so different to what is described here? I don't know. I'm off to bed to think about it.

Think I'll start calling up people in my zone and ask how their day was... offer them ice cream or something...

Okay, definitely off to bed now. :)

1 Thessalonians 1:4-10 - The journey of salvation

4 We know that God loves you, dear brothers and sisters, and that he chose you to be his own people. 5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know that the way we lived among you was further proof of the truth of our message.

6 So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. 7 As a result, you yourselves became an example to all the Christians in Greece. 8 And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Greece, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don't need to tell them about it, 9 for they themselves keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the true and living God. 10 And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God's Son from heaven Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.

Ever read a passage of scripture and find that a theme or concept just jumps out at you? Well today is one of those days.

Don't know how many times I've read this but it just occurred to me that this a description of the journey of salvation of the Thessalonians. There are three means listed as being possible ways of someone finding Christ:

1. With words. There's one saying I really disagree with an that's "Preach the Gospel, and where necessary use words." That's wrong. God calls us to open our mouths - with wisdom, empathy and love - and preach the Gospel, in season and out of season.
2. With power. This is something I desperately crave to have more of. How many pathetic pseudo-philosophical arguments could be put to rest if we could just demonstrate God's power. I personally need to have more boldness in praying for healing for people.
3. Being a good ambassador of Christ. Our lives should be attractive to people. The aroma of Christ in our lives should draw people to Him, just as the smell of baking bread draws people to the kitchen (apologies for the bad illustration but you get my point). This is on three levels:
   
1. v5 - Practising what we preach. Exhibiting God's love
   
2. v5 - Demonstrating God's blessings in our lives
   
3. v6 - Demonstrating perseverance in the face of opposition/persecution

The great thing about this is that the Thessalonians then went out as Christ's ambassadors and spread the Gospel. The cycle replicates itself like tree branching out. Beautiful stuff (*sheds tear*).

How do I compare to this church? Hmmm...

1 Timothy 1:19 - Intimacy, confidence & impact

1 Timothy 1:19 - "May they give you the confidence to fight well in the Lord's battles."
Philippians 1:14 - "many of the Christians here have gained confidence and become more bold in telling others about Christ. "

I think on of the most impacting messages of Frontline Retreat for me was given by Rob Beech's wife (I know, I really should know her name). Throughout retreat, from even before the first meeting there were two things God was doing in my heart. I started to desire to:

• strip away the clouds that stopped me from being intimate with God
• rise up in leadership and become an agent of change and impact

It was this particular message that for me really tied things together. I walked away from retreat on fire, passionate for the things of God, ready to take any leadership opportunity by the throat (or other delicate parts of the human anatomy), and in general desperate to plug into God and change the world.

What was the connection? That intimacy leads to confidence, and confidence leads to influence. Sure, intimacy also leads to influence, but in reflecting this morning on how I've been changed as a result of the retreat, I've started to realise the huge role of confidence in our spiritual walks. So often I don't want to pray because I feel I'm not good enough for God. Even more, I don't step up into the things of God leadership-wise because I don't feel it's my right. Retreat helped me to realise that I'm a leader, and that God can cause things to happen through me. And the possibility of being an agent of change in people's lives draws me to God, because I know that only in his strength can I achieve anything. There is purpose in drawing close to God - He is the source.

Other changes from retreat: I'm focusing on God and his Kingdom a lot more. I feel capable. I feel more loving towards people. There's a sense of purpose and energy in my week.

God, I don't want to loose that feeling and perspective.

James 1:4 - God is after growth in my life

2 Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. 3 For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.

It feels like I've been going through a lot of stuff recently. To say I'm being stretched would be an understatement. Sure, there is victory as well, but with all of the arrows I've been dodging recently I'm beginning to feel like I'm the main protagonist of a blockbuster action movie.

So yesterday, I'm praying to God. "God, I need revelation for you, and it needs to be good because it's going on my blog." (Huge shout out by the way to my only subscriber at this point - you know who you are :)) And God speaks to me - James 1:4.

To be honest, it was a bit of an anticlimax because I've already got that verse memorised. But I diligently read the chapter just to make sure I'm not missing anything.

I think what God is trying to highlight is that with all of the stretching I'm going through, God is there. In fact, he might even have a hand in it. God is so committed to my development that he will let me be exposed to a variety of troubles just to get me to grow up. He must love me a lot...

Afterwards, I have another fragment of scripture going through my head - "so you may grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught" (Colossians 2:7). So there's definitely a theme.

It's always good to know that God knows what's going on and has a purpose in it.

Genesis 3:7-10 - Men and their fig leaves

7 At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they strung fig leaves together around their hips to cover themselves. 8 Toward evening they heard the LORD God walking about in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees.

9 The LORD God called to Adam, "Where are you?" 10 He replied, "I heard you, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked."

I'm a fan of John Eldrege. He writes good books. You should read some of them.

One of his sayings I'm fond of is that in order to understand man, you don't need a PhD in Psychology - all you need is to take a good look at this verse and understand the consequences.

You see, men (since the fall), have this fear within them, all of us, that we're not good enough, that we don't have what it takes, and that it's just a matter of time before we're exposed as imposters. In the back of our minds, imprinted on our DNA perhaps, is this memory of the fall, haunting us. We stuffed up. We let Eve have the forbidden fruit directly in front of our eyes. And we now doubt any of our abilities.

So we have historically resorted to two strategies to hide our ineptitude (perceived or real). Firstly, a lot of men hide. "I heard you, so I hid" (v10). We avoid any situation whatsoever in which we don't feel comfortable. I for one will do anything to avoid group sports with other men. I would rather not have a cold water tap for 6 months rather than try and fix it myself. I am forever battling against procrastination and inertia. I get paralysed with fear at times. Men hide to avoid being shown up as fakes.

Secondly, we put on fig leaves (v7). I was doing lunch with a friend of mine the other day who asked me why I have done so many degrees. Only thing is, she actually already knew the answer. My degrees, my qualifications, my displays of academia, are nothing more than very expensive and time-consuming fig-leaves. If I have enough qualifications, I will be viewed as competent (or so I've been thinking all these years). For other men, their fig leaf might be their professional persona, their sporting image, etc. etc. etc.

What's the solution? Good question. In short, spend time with God, and with other men who support you. For the long answer give me a call. :)

Welcome to my blog!

Hi all,


Due to popular request (seriously), I have started my blog! This will consist of my daily reflections on my Bible reading; what God has been saying to me, and what amazing revelation I've received.

This has been designed to perform 4 functions:

1. Be interesting to read - hopefully you will get something out of this blog by reading it daily.
2. Provide accountability for my reading - if you don't see a post for a while, you can safely assume I'm not reading my Bible and am well on my way to backsliding.
3. Hopefully provide some motivation for you to read your Bible. As they say, the best way to find your appetite is to what other people eating. Consider this your opportunity to watch me eat.
4. Provide food for the sermons I intend to preach later on. For those who don't know, I've started a preaching circle. Let me know if you're interested (although we're at the perfect size right now).

You will make my day if you leave comments!! Feel free to do so.

Much love,

Steve


P.S. The profile photo is not me! Sorry to disappoint. When I get a decent photo of myself I will put it up.