Feb 22, 2022 | Teachers Talking
Pilgrim’s Progress, written in the 1600’s by John Bunyan, is regarded as one of the most significant writings of fiction in English literature. It captures the imagination of the reader, as it tells the tale of a desperate man called Christian who starts a journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. Having gone some distance, he is directed by the gatekeeper, Goodwill, to travel the road to the House of the Interpreter, who will show him excellent things that will help him on his journey. The Interpreter gets his servant to light a candle, for it is symbolic of the Spirit’s work of illumination.
Hanging on the wall is a picture of a man with a Bible which is meant to teach Christian whom to trust during his journey. Christian will meet many people on his way to the Celestial City, but only those who follow the Bible are trustworthy guides. The Interpreter takes him from room to room, showing the new pilgrim pictures and dioramas that depict truth about the nature of the journey. The Interpreter asks Christian if he’s considered everything he’s seen and encourages him to keep all these things in his mind to spur him on his way.
Due to the loss of an overarching metanarrative which provides a lens to understand and interpret life, many young people are experiencing a loss of meaning and purpose and a collapse of hope. In our hyper-individualistic society, they are like individuals bobbing up and down in their own dinghy on turbulent waters. Many students who are entering our schools don’t acknowledge basic Christian beliefs or are struggling to connect their faith to issues in their personal lives or beyond in the wider world.
We can encourage them, like Pilgrim, to set out on the journey of their life. Author Mark Twain once commented that the two most important days in a person’s life are the day they were born and the day they discover the reason why. I like to think of teachers as interpreters who unfold God’s sacred story to their students, for it is here that together we can explore what it means to be a genuine human being.
God’s script, which we invite our students to live in, reveals to us individually and communally, what it is to build and what it is to destroy. The Bible invites the reader into a relationship with the Author of this grand drama that spans time and eternity. He is the loving Creator of the cosmos who cares intimately about His creation and desires to see all creatures flourish. This is the Redeemer who delivered His chosen people Israel from slavery and who entered history supremely in the person of Jesus whose Gospel work liberates creation from the bondage of sin and death. Our groaning world is emerging into new life as God’s people are sent out to be agents of recreation, to embody and proclaim the presence of God’s Kingdom rule. The ancient hope that the glory of God will fill the whole earth is coming true. The Author of this unfinished drama invites us into a future, where our lives and those of our students can make a difference. The Bible invites us to wrestle trustingly with God and the text of Scripture as we seek to discern the Author’s will and carry the plot of the story forward.
Guided by a vision of the new creation, teachers model a life of reforming discipleship. Learning is to occur in a school where teachers and students grapple with the reality of what God has created. Rather than the teacher providing the perspectives for students, the teacher is in the role of an unfolder of truth, designing the teaching and learning to encourage students to think critically and construct meaning in their context under the authority of the Scriptural text.
For example, both research and experience say that one of the most significant factors shaping the identity and relationships of young people is digital technology. It is part of the air they breathe and the very fabric of their everyday lives. The world’s story of technology can be seen in the advertising for mobile phones that implies you’ve got the whole world in your hand. Many years ago, they sang ‘He’s got the whole world in His Hands.’
When a created thing becomes an idol, it shapes our understanding of ourselves, others and makes it our slave. The challenge for us is to unmask the idolatry that seeks to empower our students to be masters of their own destiny and disengage from the real world. How then does a community whose meaning, identity and purpose is shaped by our Gospel-story critique this alternate story? How can we assist our students to reimagine a world where technology is used wisely to bless others?
As students learn about technology and use it to learn, they are to grow as good stewards who use technology to engage in the real world and be creative culture-makers who live in the light of a certain hope. How do we interpret this world to them?
As teachers we have the privilege to lead our students on their journey through school to form them as people with strong minds who think God’s thoughts after Him, with tender hearts orientated to their Creator and lives that express the sacrificial love of Jesus. May God’s Word be the lens for all we do, as we fulfil our role as interpreters.
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything.”[1]
Grace and Peace
The TEC Team
[1] Clive Staples Lewis, Is Theology Poetry? In The Weight of Glory, (New York: MacMillian & Co, 1949), 92.
Feb 22, 2022 | Care Conversations
What is this hope in which we are to believe? Where does it come from and what difference does it make?
When we talk about human hope, we’re really talking about aspirations and desires. Some might be reasonable, and some might be ridiculously optimistic.
I might hope that I can be a champion sportsperson; that’s fictitious hope! I’ve left my run a bit late (excuse the pun). Whilst I enjoy a daily walk, I simply don’t have the physical ability to achieve professional sport status.
I might hope that tomorrow it will be sunny for our family barbecue celebration; that’s a desire, a wish over which I have no control.
My hope may be for something good but wishing for it doesn’t make it certain.
For most people: Hope is when we REALLY want something. Our human understanding of hope is that good things are desired, and they might happen, but this is an anticipation which is uncertain. As Tom Wright says, “We have . . . a vague and fuzzy optimism that somehow things may work out in the end.”[1]
The hope that we Christians talk about, is not just wishful thinking, or having a positive attitude. It is a certainty. Biblical hope is a confident expectation, a firm assurance.
Simply seeing Jesus as a moral teacher will not bring us future hope. Simply living an “ethical” life will not bring us future hope. The strength of Biblical Christian hope is based on the promises and faithfulness of God.
Believing that God keeps His promises is a key truth and the foundation of faith and hope. It’s why we need to be avid Bible readers, to see again and again the faithfulness of God, the certainty of His promises and the assurance of Hope.
Blessings
Brian
[1] N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, (New York: Zondervan, 2008), 25.
Feb 22, 2022 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone
God has the panoramic view. Psalm 33:13-15. I recall flying into Sydney one afternoon and from my seat in the air, the earth below looked like a miniature toy play scene. I could see the city grid and the people who looked like miniature figurines. I could see where the roads started and finished, the detours and where they re-joined the main arterial roads, and the varying vehicles driving along like tiny matchbox cars. This panoramic view reminded me that God has the panoramic view of life. He sees all of life from the beginning to the end; He sees us before we were formed in our mother’s womb, all our days on the earth and our dwelling with Him in eternity. Psalm 139:16.
At God’s appointed time we all enter the world, step into the tracks of history and journey through our appointed days, leaving an indelible footprint on life. We live between two posts on God’s Kingdom timeline here on earth: our birth post and the finishing line post. We are gifted with life and invited into God’s story to embrace His will and purpose. It is a sacred space that God has beautifully etched out and uniquely crafted for us to dwell in for a particular span of time. During this time, we can’t see forward, but we can look upwards, knowing that God has the panoramic view, and we can trust Him to engineer all our days in His faithfulness and love. CS Lewis said, “If you picture time as a straight line along which we have to travel, then you must picture God as the whole page on which the line is drawn.”[1] God has the panoramic view and marks out all of life and holds it with the span of His hands.
God flawlessly holds the line of our lives in His masterly hands as He directs our steps. He is the only one capable of connecting our past, present, and future, keeping us continually joined to His main arterial Kingdom heart and Kingdom plans. Knowing God has the panoramic view means we can live with assurance in this broken world, and we can trust Him moment by moment for all our days.
So, friends, get your “God view” on today.
Best days to come.
Wen
[1] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity: (London, UK: Geoffrey Bles,1952), 82.
Feb 15, 2022 | Hope_Tina
Hope with Belief
As children we loved going to the beach in Summer. Our mother faithfully plastered us in sunscreen and painted our noses with neon-pink zinc cream. Our father would line us up and give us the usual beach lecture which included always swimming between the flags, not going out too deep and if at any point we got into trouble in the water, we were to put our arm up in the air to signal to the lifesavers we needed to be rescued. Then off we would go into the surf. I recall one day, the waves were rougher than usual, and a girl was carried out into the deep, choppy waters. As she was struggling to stay above the water, she shot her arm up in the air to get the attention of the lifesavers. In a flash, the rescue mission was mounted as the lifesaver jumped on his rescue board, and paddled out, to save her.
Why did the girl put her arm up? She did so as an act of hope with belief. Her belief that the lifesavers could and would save her fuelled her hope of being rescued. The moment she signalled she was in trouble and needed to be saved, the rescuers responded. The girl’s belief gave her hope of being saved from drowning.
The focus of a rescue mission is not on the person in trouble. Rather it is on the rescuer and what determines their capability to save someone. The role of the person in trouble is to believe, having a sure hope they will not drown and blend into the ocean, under the relentless crashing waves.
Romans 10:9 reminds us we have a qualified rescuer, Jesus. An Australian lifeguard doesn’t just front up to the beach, put on the iconic red and yellow patrol uniform, strap a flotation device to their back and hope for the best. They must be qualified. No one would believe in their ability to save people if they weren’t accredited. When it comes to life and faith, Jesus is the only one qualified to save us and connect us to God because He is our resurrected King. God’s stamp of approval for Jesus to be our uniquely qualified Saviour is the resurrection. Jesus sanctions our salvation and gives us hope.
When we declare with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that Jesus is the risen, reigning Lord, that declaration of belief is our signal to God that we need to be saved and God completes His recue mission on the basis of the finished work of Christ. We place our belief in Jesus and the hope of our salvation becomes a living reality and a daily experience. We confess Him as Lord, believe in His resurrection credentials and continue to attest to the truth that is imbedded in our hearts.
God’s rescue mission continues, not just as an initial act of our salvation but every single day. When we put our arm up in the air, needing to be saved, upon the confession of our faith and belief, Jesus saves us past, present, and future. Our belief brings us daily hope.
Hope with belief becomes a defining feature of our faith as our love for Jesus grips our hearts. There is a little saying that says, “what grips your heart wags your tongue.” Jesus is the centre of our lives. We love Him with our hearts; with our entire beings and we keep confessing this truth because want others to have a salvation story to tell. What a rescuer we have!
Friends, as you think about your own rescue story and stand in awe of Jesus, your Saviour, you do not stand alone. God joins every believer to the body of Christ and together we stand on the shores of life, confess Him as Lord and shine a beacon of light, hope and belief to the rest of the world, declaring there is a rescue mission that can lift them up and out of the torrent waters of meaninglessness and into the living waters of Christ. Be assured that your belief in Jesus will deliver you safely to the shores of hope where you can sit at His feet and continuously call him Lord.
Blessings
Tina
Feb 15, 2022 | Care Conversations
I have been living as a diabetic for several years. I have regular medical appointments that monitor the situation. Drug therapies are tweaked, blood sugars are analysed, vital organs are checked, and advice is given about diet, exercise, and life choices.
If a stranger suggested that I regularly take some unknown orange pills, I would be very hesitant. More than that – I would refuse. However, my doctor provides me with some strange orange pills and I have no hesitation in taking them daily.
The difference is not just the pills, it’s the intention, purpose and trustworthiness of the person who gives them to me. I know that my doctor’s intentions are good, I know that he knows me and my condition, and I know that he desires my health and wellbeing.
In order to trust and accept someone’s instructions, it’s essential that we trust that they want what is best for us.
It makes sense that the One who creates, redeems, and sustains us knows what is best for us.
We believe in, and hope in, our God who knows the full truth about our condition and knows the remedies that are required to bring us to wholeness.
God diagnoses our rebellion and renews our heart which is reprogrammed to love and hope in Him.
Our hope is in the only One who has the power, and the will, to transform us into the likeness of His Son.
Strong hope indeed.
Blessings
Brian
