May 28, 2020 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone,
The mystery of mysteries! Now, there is something that should spark our inquisitive natures. We all love a mystery. They arouse our curiosity and entice us into a journey of discovery, promising the unearthing of what is hidden. In unravelling a mystery we unstitch the pieces bit by bit in order to see what all the pieces together reveal. Every person has an innate sense of curiosity to pursue the mystery of life and follow the trail to meaning, purpose, fulfilment, acceptance and destiny.
In Colossians 1:26-27 we are told of the mystery of mysteries. In reading the Biblical story, we discover a broken and lost humanity, plunged into a current of life, flowing into a sea of death over which there was no control. What a predicament for humanity! But, God began to reveal His redemptive plan – the mystery of salvation. Like all good mysteries, God’s plan was concealed for a long time. Finally, the redemption plan revealed Jesus as the mystery of mysteries. If we read through Hebrews 10, we see the momentum of this mystery culminating in Jesus; and at a great cost to Himself and all for our sake. How can we comprehend this? The result of the revelation of God’s mystery of mysteries is that as we pursue this mystery of life, Jesus makes us holy – once and for all and there is not a thing we can add or take away from His completed work. Nor can we earn it by merit. Before the revelation of the mystery of mysteries, we would have lived under the sacrificial system with an ever-growing awareness of not being able to measure up. Let that marinate in your spirit for a moment. Wow! This marvelous revelation of Jesus, means our pursuit of truth results in us gaining the status of being blameless and holy. It is undeserved, incomprehensible, and incomparable to any other option, but it is a reality of the mystery of mysteries! Today you are deemed holy and blameless because of Jesus.
This mystery continues to unravel as “the depths of mystery and love found in the Cross can never be fully plumbed, but it must be the lifelong pursuit of the Christian to marvel at its costliness and to celebrate its meaning.” [1]
So, friends get your ‘mystery’ on today. Have a listen to this worship song that will remind us of Jesus our mystery of mysteries.
Best days to come
Wen
[1] Ravi Zacharias
May 27, 2020 | Care Conversations
Continuing with Compassion.
God IS Love not just a good example OF love, but Love itself. Without Him there is no love. God IS justice, not a good example OF justice but justice itself. Without Him we would have no hunger for justice within us.
Because He is Holy, He is the origin of purity and thus more opposed to evil, immorality and unrighteousness than we could even begin to imagine. Because of the disobedience of all humanity, sin has catastrophic effects in our individual lives, our relationships, our families, our countries and our world. This shows itself in relational breakdown, human conflict and “natural disasters”.
God is so utterly Love and so utterly Holy that He, and He alone, knows true compassion. He chooses from His position of eternally untainted Holiness to “suffer together with us” to reconcile us to himself and renew His likeness within us because He is also Love.
Through the Cross of Jesus Christ our sin is dealt with. Through the triune God, in grace and compassion, we are reconciled, redeemed and renewed. The Father sent the Son to be the sacrifice for forgiveness and the Holy Spirit to restore relationship with us by witnessing to the truth of redemption.
What a securing thing it is to know that our standing with God does not depend upon us or our actions but on His nature and His initiative. Our continuing relationship with Him does not depend upon how tightly we hold His hand, but the eternal security of His everlasting arms. [1]
We were guilty but now forgiven; we were rejected but now accepted; we were alienated but now intimate; we were dead in our sins but now alive in His righteousness. We were impoverished but now we are rich beyond understanding; and all this because God chose through His love and His holiness to come to us in the person of Jesus Christ. He chose to suffer our pain and to restore us. How can we not be overwhelmed with joy, gratitude and excitement about this!!!
If this is indeed the compassionate nature of God, then He expects us to reflect that nature in our relationships with the rest of humanity. God did not simply sit in His heaven and feel sorry for us; he didn’t just send “extra resources”; He came Himself; He identified through Love and redemption. We are called to humanly relate with, and identify with, hurting people and people who are in need, not just to provide “material things” to solve their problems; but through active movement and involvement.
Just as God expresses His compassion in a Triune way; we are to express our compassion as a community of God’s people. Yes, we may make individual responses, but God’s greater desire is that His people will be recognized by their love for others. Love means getting alongside. Love means suffering with. Love means doing what we can to bring justice and healing. Love is active, relational and life changing; because that’s what God has brought to our lives in abundance.
Blessings
[1] Deuteronomy 33:27
May 27, 2020 | Teachers Talking
In his quest to take the ring of power which is putting Middle Earth into terror and darkness back to the volcano where it was forged, Frodo, the hobbit in Tolkein’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ comments to Gandalf the wise, “I wish it need not have happened in my time”, in relation to his redemptive task. “So do I,” said Gandalf “and so do all who live in such times. But that is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” [1]
John Boyton Priestly, a social commentator, in the late 1920’s said, “We are perpetually disillusioned. The perfect life is set before us every day but it changes and withers at a touch.” [2] Stories of freedom to be whatever you want to be and material prosperity constantly enchant and blind our imaginations. But it seems in every age, events of the day shatter our illusions that we can be masters of our own destinies. From the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, the tragedies of 9/11 and the South-East Asian tsunami in the early part of this century and the current global health crisis, our finitude and frailty as human beings is reaffirmed. It seems there are more questions than answers and in the complex search for answers, we wish that God might communicate more clearly to us for teachers are meant to have answers!
But we know that reality is both the seen and the unseen. The glorious Gospel of Christ has made the living God visible. Through His Gospel work, God reached down from heaven to earth and now dwells in His temple. In the faces of our brothers and sisters in Christ, the living stones, we see the light of Jesus shining in the darkness. Having received the abundance of God’s grace, we are to embody the spiritual blessings we have received in Christ.
As you read this, reflect on and marvel at the myriad of ways your colleagues have embodied kindness and compassion as you have struggled to do learning differently. Consider the many acts of hospitality offered without grumbling to students and families. Ponder the words of your leaders that have directed your hearts to the Lord, and strengthened your spirit so that you can continue to persevere. Many words of unshakeable hope will have been shared with the members of your community. This is staff “faithfully using their gifts to minister God’s grace” [3] for such a time as this.
One parent wrote a letter of thanks to her child’s school for all they are doing “… I’m so grateful to be part of our school community and enjoying the opportunity to connect more deeply with God and my daughter. It has been so far a time of reflection, reassessment of my priorities and an opportunity to strengthen my faith and increase my compassion and empathy for others …”
If we look closely, we can see God at work through us as we strain toward the One who is making all things new. May our students see in us the face of Jesus as we love and serve our school communities in these strange days. For what other God communicates to us so personally and through the lives of those who reflect His heart.
“Christ is faithful as a Son over God’s house. And we are His house if we hold fast to our courage and the hope of which we boast.” (Hebrews 5:3-7)
Grace and Peace
The Team
The Excellence Centre
[1] Tolkien, JRR. The Lord of the Rings Pg1
[2] Priestly, JB. The Disillusioned (Balconing and Other Essays 1929)
[3] 1 Peter 4:10
May 20, 2020 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone,
Endurance – it’s never about isolation. As Christians we are called to endure when the gavel of trouble falls so we can develop immovable faith (James 1:2-4). But the call to endure is never independent of the Body of Christ. A popularised word in this global pandemic is ‘#isolation’ which trends on social media daily. But isolation is not God’s intention when it comes to endurance. We are often enticed to endure in times of difficulty by listening to the drum beat of urban myths that set us off with a false start. Culture promotes the single lane of life, pushing us to be self-motivated, mustering up our own strength and generating a cast iron sense of resolve that propels our capacity to persevere no matter what. But this goes against our design. It sets us up for motivational and personal collapse because we were never meant to endure hardship in isolation of the Body of Christ. What happens when our individual motivation and strength runs out?
God has designed us for community and connectedness. Think about what we have missed most in this time of hardship whilst in isolation. It is people. Being called to endure is one thing, but doing it in isolation is like living out of tune with God’s rhythm for life. Hebrews 10:23-25 calls us to cling to our faithful God, but it also exhorts us to remain in community, connected to the Body of Christ, urging each other onward. When life shakes us, our ability to remain in unshakable faith is determined firstly, by God’s faithfulness and secondly, the Body of Christ who become our collective champions; enduring with us when we can no longer stand. They not only hold us up in the race but help us cross the finish line together. Endurance – it’s never about isolation.
It seems the enemy has assaulted the Body of Christ and camped on the need to isolate, making us think we have to endure alone. But! The Body of Christ has risen and the flame of hope is burning. The Body of Christ is enduring together, finding creative platforms for gathering and connecting, expressing acts of kindness, generosity and love. We are not in isolation! We are #the Body of Christ and unswerving faith is being etched into our story in this time of hardship.
So, friends, get ‘the Body of Christ’ on today.
Best days to come
Wen
May 20, 2020 | TEC Connects
In our current climate, where the global COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have had us all confined to a designated space, the word ‘isolation’ has been heard daily. #isolation has been trending on social media every day for months, but for us isolation is not a Biblical concept, particularly when the gavel of trouble falls.
According to God’s design, God’s community is the place where hope and perseverance reach its peak in the midst of difficulty. God created us for connectedness and we function best within community; especially in the face of trials. Isolation is pernicious and unhealthy as it keeps us from thriving and relating together in unswerving faith; God never intended for life to be a solo flight.
When we think of perseverance, we often image ourselves running our own race; in our own lane of life, persevering through difficulty. We grip the anchor of hope, whilst trying to maintain a cast iron sense of resolve to survive in times of crisis. The more the pressure mounts however, the more positive-self talk we need and we are at risk of a motivational collapse and the dimming of hope. This view of perseverance is not what God intended. Finding hope and persevering in the midst of suffering is not the ability to talk ourselves into a position of strength. Whilst a positive mindset is important and healthy, enduring is not based on our ability to remain unwavering in our own resolve. God’s model for enduring in times of suffering is connectedness, where the Body of Christ functions as a nurturing community and the balm of love, encouragement, reassurance, kindness, and goodness is applied to the one seeking to persevere and navigate life’s complexities and obstacles.
Perseverance in isolation of the Body of Christ is like being totally out of tune with God’s rhythm for life. Life is not to be played on one string. We are not called to persevere in isolation, but rather we are called to persevere with others who will run alongside us and help us reach the finish line. We hold each other up. Perseverance in the context of community then, is given the wings of hope.
In Hebrews 10:23-25 we see the context for finding immovable hope as we persevere through troubled waters. It is a fusion of the faithfulness of God who is in perfect control of all things and the people of God who embody His kingdom values which lights up hope for every member of the Body of Christ. We can persevere because we know God is faithful. We can persevere because our fellow Christians become our collective champions and cheer squad.
Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic has assaulted the heart of community and put people into isolation, we have also seen the Body of Christ rise up in hope and faith. Life is shaking us but we are persevering with unshakable faith. Why? Because we know God is faithful and we are drawing strength from each other. We are seeing the Body of Christ in action. In this season, we are enduring together as we see acts of kindness, the spirit of generosity, the voluntary actions of people who step up in the face of threat, enacting love and kindness. We are forging ahead with community and maintaining connectedness through technological platforms. We are looking to Jesus with anticipation and expectation of how He will redeem this season that the enemy intended for destruction through isolation. The Body of Christ is stronger, more resilient and hopeful as we raise each other up. No one person has to persevere in isolation.
God has given us the gift of His community where Jesus is central and He calls us to persevere with steadfast hope, running together in the lane of life, helping each other finish the race collectively. The flame of hope is burning and perseverance is possible.
May God bless you and keep you as we persevere together in unswerving faith and hope.
