May 25, 2021 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone
If you were God, what would you be like? It’s a challenging question. I was driving home the other night and I was aware of the various, foolish drivers around me. One was ducking and weaving in the traffic, others were driving at snail pace, some were speeding, then there were the lane drifters, the road rager abusing everyone in their way, and of course there was the one that ran the red light. As I sat behind the wheel, I could hear my automatic thoughts declaring “if I was a police officer, I’d book that person, I’d put that driver in jail, I’d make sure that driver lost all their points as well as their license.” My judgments went on and on with no mercy. I just kept hammering the guilty gavel. Clearly, I was the only perfect driver on the road with my “super-sized cop” attitude, being judge and jury all at once. I had everyone being booked and thrown into jail with no reprieve. Afterall, shouldn’t they pay for all this irresponsible behaviour that put others at risk? Suddenly I began to think if I was God what would I be like?
God is holy, loving, kind, merciful, forgiving, gracious, wise, and perfect in character. He is the rightful judge of everything, and He is the only one worthy to hold that position. James 4:12. God is watching on as humanity drives through life cutting corners, lane drifting across God’s moral framework, living outside God’s road rules for life, speeding past His truth, running the red lights of God’s authority and road raging others causing relationship breakdown and abuse. Shouldn’t we be fined for the behaviour we exhibit to God on the roadways of life? If you were God, what would you be like? Unlike me, God is gracious. He is a just but merciful judge. If we run the red light of life and rebel against God, we are guilty. Yet when God drops His heavenly gavel, He declares us as righteous and we get a clean slate. Whilst He doesn’t give us a free pass to live however we want, when we offend Him, He has changed the way the penalty is paid. God’s judgment is still active, but our guilty verdict is transferred to Jesus. This is a daily gift to us. The One who is not guilty pays the penalty on our behalf and we are shown grace and mercy. Additionally, in God’s world we continuously retain our demerit points. Jesus not only pays the fine we owe, but He also deposits the demerit points straight back into our faith-account. We can never lose our license to be a child of God because God has stamped our licenses with a red cross that marks us as approved and forever His. It’s a hefty price that Jesus paid on our behalf, but it shows exactly the type of God our God is. So, if you were God, what would you be like?
Let’s all pull over to the side of the road for a moment and ask ourselves the question, answering honestly, “if you were God, what would you be like?” When you get behind the steering wheel of life today, will you be gracious, slow to anger, fair and wise in judgement, forgiving, encouraging, loving, merciful, and kind? I am so grateful for God’s perfection over my imperfect life. I also confess, I’m so glad for the world that I’m not God. Just a thought 😊.
So, friends, get your “God character” on today.
Best days to come.
Wen
May 25, 2021 | Care Conversations
16. Faith and Growth Development (Part Four)
We have discussed how our children begin with an “Experienced” faith where it is assumed that their parents and significant adults are correct. The hypothesis is, “This is what we do. This is how we act.”
The second phase is the “joining” or “belonging” stage “This is what we believe and do. This is our group/community. My Identity is connected to belonging”.
The third stage is exploration and questioning, “Is this what I believe?”
Let us remember that each stage is not replaced by the ensuing phase but adds to it.
The fourth stage Westerhoff labels “Owning Faith”. The person’s statement now becomes, “This is what I believe.”
This may occur after a long period of questioning, or very quickly after doubts are seemingly resolved.
For some people this is a dramatic moment of realisation, there is a clear revelation that all that Christ claims is true. This leads to a change of behaviour, a clarity of purpose and a commitment to a radically changed life.
For others the certainty may be faltering or shaky; there may be frequent returns to doubt and questioning. As we mature, we begin to understand the need for interdependence; the help and support of others is needed and valued to help sustain faith and assist us in our journey of exploration.
For some, the owned faith may not be a faith in Christ but a faith in some other ideology, philosophy, or a rejection of any faith.
Remember that these stages are generalised observations.
Remember that none of us moves to another stage having abandoned the previous ones.
Remember that God will work in His way and His time.
But understanding these general trends will enable us to relate with our young people with sensitivity, grace, and intentionality. We will try to nurture our children to faith without despair or anxiety, but with trust and hope in God.
Blessings
Brian
May 18, 2021 | Hope_Tina
The idea of contentment presupposes God is enough. We are designed to be content in God and as we pursue our purpose which is to know God, we find contentment. Yet the nature of the fall disrupted the creative design of God in our humanity. In our broken world, contentment has been replaced with an insatiable desire for more. Not only does this impact our capacity to be content, but it also undermines our purpose.
The consumer culture of today that promises contentment and fulfilment is a false economy. It is never static and as such can never deliver what it promises. Consumerism demands we pursue more and more and drives us to lay hold of everything at our disposal to ensure we are fulfilled. We want that “one more thing”. No quicker do we lay our hands on one thing, we are quickly found with desire for whatever the next “one more thing” may be. The pursuit of the “one more thing” has no shelf life in a world that does not have God at the centre. It is endless and it is ultimately unfulfilling.
The desire for “one more thing” is shaped in us from birth because we are born with a bias towards sin. Then it grows and grows in response to the driving consumer culture we live in. As I listen to my grandchildren play, the moment they are required to finish a game the cry on their lips is “just one more”; one more minute, one more lolly, one more tv show and the list goes on. Whilst this may be a child’s response, it has been further embedded by clever marketing campaigns that sit afront of a worldview that drives the need for more. Contentment is overthrown by the desire for “one more thing”.
In a redeemed world, contentment looks differently. When God restores us to our original creative purpose, contentment is a by-product. It is not devoid of desires but the insatiable need to find fulfilment outside of God is replaced by the willingness to delight in God in all situations and to pursue His purposes. God calls us to delight in Him and as our desires are aligned with Him, He will fulfill us. Proverbs 37:4. We are wired to know God, and, in that space, there is contentment. But it no longer comes naturally to us because there has been a short circuit in our wiring that looks inward to find fulfilment or to things and experiences that will satisfy us. Blaise Pascal once said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made know through Jesus Christ.” [1]
Following the example of Jesus will give us insight into a life of true contentment. Jesus lived His life honouring the Father and doing the Father’s will. He was “Father-centred”. (Davies, 2019)[2]. Think of Jesus who was content in the perfection of the Trinitarian relationship. Jesus was also co-creator of all things with the Father. Hebrews 1:2. Sitting on His kingly throne with the Father, the earth was His footstool (Isaiah 66:1) and together they stretched out the heavens and called for the stary hosts (Isaiah 40:22, 26). Jesus was already in perfect contentment.
Yet Jesus turned and emptied Himself of all that was rightfully His, entered the realm of humanity and suffered unimaginably on their behalf and did so knowing what was coming. Jesus lived in perfect obedience to the Father and was content to do the will of God. He was Father-centric.
Imagine for a moment if Jesus began to compare His existence as God before He came to earth to His life, living in a human body. Perhaps He would have been filled with such discontent, He could have shifted gears and pursued His own desires and needs. In the contained space of being human, encountering abuse from others, in the garden, in His journey to the cross and in that violent, horrendous death on the cross, Jesus could have called on the Father and the Father would have given Him twelve legions of angels to remove Him from this horror. Matthew 26:53. What if He followed a life of discontentment? What if the “one more thing” for Jesus was to escape His predicament? The implications for humanity would have been catastrophic. There would be no new covenant of grace.
Jesus lived in contentment with the Father and pursued His Father’s purposes because His Father was enough for Him. He kept His life Father-centred. Jesus invites us into this relationship of contentment and to be restored to our original creative purpose – to know the Father and do His will. We don’t need the “one more thing”. The Father is enough. The “one more thing” will keep us imprisoned in a cell self-pursuit and ultimately dissatisfaction.
Friends, what a gracious Father we have. What a hope we have, knowing that Jesus is our “one more thing” and in that place we will find contentment.
Blessings
Tina
[1] Blaise Pascal Quotes – Goodreads
[2] Davies, A. (2019), The Power of Christian Contentment, BakerBooks.
May 18, 2021 | Teachers Talking
The Word in Person
My first visit to a Max Brenner chocolate bar was a delight for a chocolate lover such as myself. Entering one of his stores is meant to re-create the sensory experience of something like the fantasy world of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory where there is music, colourful gift tins, aromas and of course the desserts to share with your companions. But what captivated me most was the invitation painted on the wall ‘I want you to watch, smell, taste and feel my love story.‘ Chocolate lovers come, taste and see that it is good and buy gifts to express love to others.
As I pondered on that invitation, the words reminded me of the greatest love story where “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) This reality changes everything. The baby Jesus was born, but the Word never was. The Word of God, Maker of the universe and Creator of human breath was born in a lowly stable. Christ was in Mary and God was in Christ. The entire Scriptures testify to Jesus, God’s promised redeemer. He fulfilled what had been typified through the lives of the Old Testament people of faith, pictured in events, symbols and prophesies. The Gospels reveal Jesus as the teacher who masterfully uses different means – stories, parables, instructions and miracles to reframe the thinking of his disciples and those He meets with the goal that their encounter will be no less than life-changing. He orchestrated these transformations in the bodies, hearts and minds of individuals by expressing the love of God and enabling them to see the world in a new way. Zacchaeus was lost and alienated from others because of his greed. But when ‘salvation came to his house” (Luke 19:9) through the visit of Jesus, the value of his money was completely re-orientated. Its value was now in its capacity to make restitution to those he cheated.
There is no other place in the world where love, forgiveness, holiness and justice come together except for the Cross where Jesus died for each person. At the foot of the cross, the burden of our sin is taken and forgiveness is freely given and relationship with our Creator is restored. For the Cross is the profound answer to our foolish ways of thinking and living. For this is the wisdom of God and the grace of God overcoming our self-centredness. Through His death and resurrection, He has re-established His Kingship over the whole world. He defeated the power of Satan, sin and death. The resurrection inaugurates the kingdom of God and Jesus has promised to completely restore the new heaven and earth. The ancient hope that the glory of God would fill the earth is coming true.
If God has revealed Himself so sublimely in the incarnation, then the reality of loving God and neighbour is to be lived out in the classroom, playground, in staff meetings and in service beyond the school walls. Neither is excluded from the scope of Christ’s Kingship. Every area of life becomes a place of nearness and service to the Lord. We are participants in God’s great recreation project.
I remember a senior student who was a dedicated disciple of Jesus and was part of a team that we took to serve in a Christian school in a slum area of Kampala. In that time, the students be-friended some teenagers whose poverty was visibly seen in their unwashed and ripped jeans and T-shirts. This student was touched by the plight of these teenagers and sought to reach out with the love of Jesus. She also commented about the fact that jeans with holes in them were a fashion statement in Australia and could cost a couple of hundred dollars to buy.
She suddenly saw the materialism of her culture in a new light and saw that the true love of the Saviour inspires sacrificial love. How could she steward her resources to bring the love of Jesus to others? The Spirit had touched her heart and made the Word of God life-changing for the way she lived. In Christ’s hands, our students can become channels for divine human interaction, whereby God can enter the lives of others and change them.
Young people, like this student, can be used by God to change the lives of others.
May the Lord lead us to design teaching and learning strategies that teach and engage the whole person – not just the intellect. For as we live in God’s story, we give a picture of what it looks like to live a truly human life – it looks like Jesus.
“For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…” (Romans 8:29)
Grace and Peace
The Excellence Centre
May 18, 2021 | Care Conversations
15. Faith and Growth Development (Part Three)
We continue to think about how our young people develop in ways that enable a faith that is meaningful and increasingly robust.
We are examining Westerhoff’s understanding of faith stages and today we deal with the period he labels as “searching faith”.
This is the period that comes closest to temporary independence – the driving question becomes, “Is this what I believe?”
Up to this point relationship and emotion have been the driving forces. I follow the faith of my parents because they love me, and I trust them. I enjoy being part of a like-minded group because I am contributing and growing in community and I have obvious meaning and purpose.
The searching phase becomes something of a quest for certainty; something that can be justified. The faith being searched for needs to satisfy the mind as well as the heart.
This is potentially a concerning phase for parents and teachers. Superficially it appears that our child, or student, is abandoning what once appeared to be a simple but strong faith. Our young person is no longer prepared to take things on face value; all that you thought they held strongly is now being subjected to stringent evaluation. Parents can wrongly assume that this is rebellion against them. It is not.
This is a time for young people to critique the faith of their parents, to question the norms of the community, to validate what is true for their own mind, heart, and life.
Searching for what is true, may include an examination of things that are not true. It may involve our young people looking at other faiths or even examining the value of not having any religious faith.
This period of exploration may seem completely unstable as young people seem to lurch from one ideology to another.
Parents and teachers can panic at this point. We want to find ways to return to the stage where our children agreed with us and were compliant. We apply pressure for them to behave in previous ways. This takes us down the dangerous path of manipulative conformity, whereas the goal is transformation.
Our other response is to leave our children to find themselves – let them freely explore – hopefully they will return to the fold.
This also is an error. We need to assist them in their deep exploration. We need to be available for meaningful conversation; we need to encourage their involvement with other non-parental adults who can help them in their quest. And we need to pray that their journey will lead them to the only One who can satisfy their hearts and minds.
Blessings
Brian
