Apr 29, 2020 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone,
God is able! No situation in our lives is beyond the reach and scope of God. It does not matter what our circumstances are, big or small, God is able.
If we are truthful, this statement can make us feel both assured and full of faith, yet apprehensive and fearing He is able but He might not. We have no doubt about who God is and His capacity to miraculously transform anything we face. Yet, a tension can invade our faith when God doesn’t respond according to our timetable for what we envision or expect. So, we shift our footing and become apprehensive. This tension can lead us on a pathway of trust or it can divert us on a pathway of doubt and disappointment. There is one reality in this life and that is God is God. That inherently makes God able and also willing. His sovereignty becomes the overarching assumption by which we live out our own stories. God is able and He is willing but He is also sovereign.
Ephesians 3:20 speaks of a transformative truth, declaring that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or imagine. Our role is to live in the light of this reality, asking Him to reach into every crevasse of our lives, to touch and transform it. We must take assurance in the fact that God is able and not allow our faith to remain in the prison walls of apprehension. Why would we allow apprehension to confine us when we have a God who is able. So, ask Him; ask big; ask boldly; ask for everything in every sphere of your life, big or small, and trust Him with every outcome, because He is able.
So, friends, get your ‘God is able’ on today.
Best days to come
Wen
Apr 30, 2020 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone,
I am a child of God! When we look into the man-made mirror of the world, we see a multiplicity of images that seek to define us. Numerous messages are coming at us that create false illusions of our humanity and seek to sink any notion of our unique identity as a treasured creation of God. The atheists tell us we are random products of chance. The naturalists tell us we are nothing more than material beings. Eastern philosophy tells us we have are all part of the whole. Modern day pop-psychology seeks to help us find our better self, but constantly comes up short. Those messages leave us cold. So, what is missing from this picture? The real mirror. The real mirror is God’s mirror that reflects exactly who we are. I am a child of God. What a different narrative it is to understand we are exactly who God says we are; His children.
What does a child of God look like?. We have a perfect, benevolent Father who intentionally and uniquely created us. We are distinctive, unconditionally loved, treasured, valuable, favoured, accepted, nurtured, protected, comforted. Our Father passionately and relentlessly pursues us and acts on our behalf. We belong to Him and can never be abandoned. We are safe. As a child of God we have the right to be everything God created us to be. Imagine that! I am a child of God. His DNA is woven into the fabric of my being and I have the right to be exactly who my Father says I am and flourish as He intends. And then there’s the fact that as a child of God, my Father just happens to be the creator of the universe. My Dad wears the Sherriff’s badge of the universe and his jurisdiction is infinite. I am a child of God, and nothing can change that.
So, friends, ‘God’s kid’ on today and nestle into your Father’s arms . Hillsong Worship reminds us today that we are children of God.
Best days to come
Wen
Who You Say I am By Hillsong Worship
Who am I that the highest King
Would welcome me
I was lost but He brought me in
Oh His love for me
Oh His love for meWho the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed
I’m a child of God
Yes I amFree at last He has ransomed me
His grace runs deep
While I was a slave to sin
Jesus died for me
Yes He died for meWho the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed
I’m a child of God
Yes I am
In my Father’s house
There’s a place for me
I’m a child of God
Yes I amI am chosen, not forsaken
I am who You say I am
You are for me, not against me
I am who You say I am
I am chosen, not forsaken
I am who You say I am
You are for me, not against me
I am who You say I am
I am who You say I am
Who the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed
I’m a child of God
Yes I am
In my Father’s house
There’s a place for me
I’m a child of God
Yes I am
Apr 28, 2020 | Teachers Talking
There is always tension between the outworking of God’s promises and the present reality. As has happened in the past, history has a way of shaking our confidence in the existence of a God who cares for us. Questions come: Why has God allowed this to happen? Is God listening to my prayers?
Our Sovereign Creator is always working and near. “God is always coming,” says Carlo Caretto. “God is always coming because God is life, and life is the unbridled force of creation. God comes because God is light and light cannot be hidden.” [1]
Our story is one of hope because it is the story of a God who is always coming.
In the beginning, God creates a cosmic temple which is filled with His presence. The image of God is the divine imprint God placed upon humanity, identifying each person as a special creation. In Eden, God dwelt with His people who were His agents to rule over His world as they multiplied and filled the earth.
Despite humanity’s rejection of God’s right to rule their lives and the catastrophic impact on the whole cosmos, God comes to Abraham promising that through him would come the One who would put everything right. Israel, God’s rescued-from-slavery people, are called to worship and love Him. The Temple, the focal point of creation in the heart of Jerusalem was “designed as a small working model of the entire cosmos.” [2]
The temple where God put His name, His presence and His glory was a signpost to the deeper reality that God’s desire is to dwell with humanity. The Temple was to also be a house of prayer for all nations. [3] As Israel lived God’s way in the land, their communal lives would flourish. Their nation where God ruled would be a light to the surrounding nations.
Despite Israel’s failure to live up to their high calling, God comes to us in the person of Jesus. Jesus is Immanuel, the Word becomes flesh and ‘tabernacles’ among us, full of grace and truth. [4]
Jesus is the human temple, [5] where the heaven and earth reality has come together in His birth. Through his shameful death and resurrection, He has reconciled all things to the Creator. The ancient hope that the glory of God would fill the whole earth is coming true. Through the Gospel and the coming of the Spirit, God is putting people right with Himself so they may become like Jesus and be agents of transformation.
This is truly an amazing story, “a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved.” [6]
Our groaning world is emerging into new life as God’s people are sent to be agents of re-creation under the rule of Jesus. “The triune Lord of Creation who is the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among human beings, has invited all who would follow Him to enter into what the Triune Lord of creation is doing.” [7]
In our current context how can we assist our students to see the reality of God’s Kingdom in their midst? It is a world where things are being reconciled, a world of gratitude and wonder and a world where love looks like the Lord Jesus who gave His life a ransom for many and is now alive. It looks like a new community where each one lives sacrificially for the others. In the midst of global pain, suffering and death the Lord Jesus comes. He reaches out with nail-pierced hands to heal the broken-hearted and to bind up wounds even though the pain may still persist, His indwelling presence is there for us and our students.
For our story is that God always comes.
I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you will also live.” (John 14: 18,19)
Grace and Peace
The Team
The Excellence Centre
[1] Caretto, C. The God who comes (1974) pg3
[2] Wright, NT. Paul – A Biography pg48
[3] Isaiah 56:7
[4] John 1:14
[5] John 2:19
[6] Peck, S. The Road Less Travelled (1990, 2003, 2012)
[7] Fisher, M. 2008
Apr 28, 2020 | Care Conversations
We finished last term concluding that we cannot know Truth, or more importantly the One who is Truth, by our own efforts.
When we say that God is Truth, we are saying more than He is honest, or He has integrity. We are saying that He is perfect Truth in every way and that the Truth in very other situation is only to be found in relation to Him. So Truth is not just a set of doctrines or protocols but also a way of being. The concept of truth in the Scriptures often means “living in the right way”.
So, when Paul says,
“Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.” [1]
Our English translation is a little deficient – what is meant here is “truthing in love” – or speaking and living the truth in a loving manner.
One of our many problems is that no human being is exempt from bias. Everyone of us is unable to see things completely truly. Our truth understanding is affected by our personal stories, our experiences, our knowledge, our political views… so many factors
Paul writes to Timothy and talks about people who have the appearance of Godliness but are tragically, “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” [2]
Paul continues in this letter to encourage Timothy and other readers, to be people who pay close attention to the Word of God, so that their understanding of Truth in God can be understood more clearly and truly.
So how does all of this inform some community values?
| VIRTUE |
BIBLICAL BASIS |
VALUES |
| TRUTH |
“Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.”
John 17:17 |
Integrity
Honesty
Excellence |
Integrity seems obvious. The word means “whole” or “undivided”. It means consistent adherence to a standard of Truth. It means we hold to Truth publicly and privately.
Honesty, seems straightforward also, it partners Integrity. It means truthfulness and sincerity no matter what.
Excellence, may seem a little odd here. But it relates to our virtue of Truth. It means that we seek to live our lives to the highest possible standard to honour the One who is Truth. So we will strive for excellence in relationship, in engaging redemptively, in being trustworthy and True.
| Truth |
 |
Integrity, Honesty, Excellence |
Knowing that God is Truth encourages the values of Integrity, Honesty and Excellence.
Blessings
[1] Ephesians 4:15
[2] 2 Timothy 3:7
Apr 28, 2020 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone,
Fight, yes, fight the good fight! Media reports heralding the downward curve of COVID can lure us into a false sense of security where we rest on our laurels and let our guards down. But we must continue to fight. This physical reality also highlights a spiritual reality; a parallel track we travel on in our journey of faith that calls us to fight the good fight. 1 Timothy 6:11-12 calls us to fight the good fight and to exchange the riches of this world for the riches of eternity.
To fight assumes something is worthy of the fight; that something valuable is at stake. We notice two words that call us to battle and one word that secures the battle. The first word is ‘pursue’; to go after godliness and godly character (that’s valuable and worth fighting for). The second word is ‘fight’; to offensively engage in the battle and to stare down it’s barrel in the might of Jesus and all He has invested in us. Both words are action words but also faith words. The word that secures us in this battle is our ‘eternal life’. It is a sealed position of victory. Our role is to co-labour with God, in engaging the fight, always knowing our victory is secure because of Him. To fight means we intentionally keep our guard up, continuously laying hold of Jesus.
We have an enemy who is a strategic player, who prepares a precise, targeted assault. If our guards are down, we are vulnerable to these attacks. But, remember, to fight the good fight is to shift the victory curve in our favour.
So, friends, get your fight on today.
Best days to come
Wen
