Jun 25, 2020 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone,
The story of all stories. Stories are enchanting as they immerse us into the narrative and we begin to recognise ourselves in the characters, cultures and common things of life. Stories are about connection, tradition, identification, values and inspiration. They are relatable. And they must be authentic. As we sit around our campfires of life and tell stories, they powerfully touch our thoughts and emotions. Stories can also be markers about life and reality as they point us towards meaning. Stories ignite imagination, stir innovation, kindle hope, create wonder, inflame inspiration and author our memories.
Deep down every heart longs for a story that explains the reality of life; a story that will never disappoint. The story of all stories is one such story. It is the great story of God. He is the author, narrator and director of this epic story. The story of all stories is God’s overarching meta-narrative of life. It is authentic and totally relatable and we locate our own story within the story of all stories. It is the greatest love-story of all time where “once upon a time, the King of all Kings had a kingdom that He extended into the earthly realms. He created magnificent creatures and placed them into His Edenic garden of paradise. The people he made were unique because they reflected their King. They lived in purity, perfection, peace and with purpose. But one day the King’s people assaulted their King after they made an agreement with the evil serpent prince. They traded their first love; they lost their innocence. In the flash of one moment; yes just one moment, where man attempted to be king, the people fell and the creation began to crumble. Dislocated from their King; disorientated in meaning; distorted perspectives, life would never be the same again. Death that was never intended became part of life. They were lost. Yet the King of all Kings loved His people and set about to restore them to their original creative purpose. He gave them a great book to teach them how to live. The words were golden and of great value. But the people kept breaking their covenant with their Kinsman Redeemer. So, He came to their earth to restore His kingdom and rescue His people. His love was so great He laid down His royal crown and chose a cruel crown of thorns and sacrificed Himself on their behalf to restore them once and for all. It cost the King His life. He was innocent and they were guilty. They deserved to be punished but instead He loved them. But the story goes on and this King of all Kings was raised from death to life and He took up His victor’s crown and He is seated in the heavenly realms on His eternal throne. Moment by moment He reaches down, helping, protecting, loving and comforting His people. But, one day, like a thief in the night, the King of all Kings will come back again. In a final blow He will defeat the evil serpent prince and will create a new heaven and earth. He will be enthroned and glorious and His people will be pure and they will love Him eternally. In this story, the people who belong to the King of all Kings will live happily ever after.”
The script of the story of all stories is our script and we are living it out. As we enter into this grand, grace-based narrative we find a connection to the King; one who identifies with our humanity, gives us a tradition of faith, offers His presence, gives us His kingdom values to live by, restores our purpose and fulfilment and secures our destiny by writing our names in His eternal Book of Life. Oh, what a story we are living out and living in; the story of all stories.
So, friends, get your story on today.
Best days to come
Wen
Jun 17, 2020 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone,
At His table. There is something incredibly unique about a table. During recent times of restriction, one of the things we have missed most is gathering around our tables with others. A table is where we gather to enjoy a meal and to share our stories, dreams, heartaches, and joys. Tables in a sense unite us and our moments around our tables often become our most treasured memories. But a table is also a place of privilege. Think of your table. Think about our kids at our tables. When they misbehave or show disrespect, they are dismissed and banished to their bedrooms. They are deprived of the company and the culinary delights (particularly if ice cream is on the menu). There is privilege and great enjoyment when a friend extends an invitation to join them at their tables. It is one of the delights of life. But, imagine also if we offended our hosts, like the children, we may be dismissed. The offence would violate the privilege and there may be a rift in the relationships. Perhaps we may not be so welcome.
There are many varied tables around the globe, expressed differently in the varying cultures. But a royal table is one we would all love to dine at. Imagine for a moment if you were invited to dine with the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Would you feel accepted and relaxed and free to tell your story or your heartaches at this royal table? I think not. You would be following the strictest of protocols and would probably not get an audience of one with the Queen. Any violation of this privileged invitation would guarantee your removal with no repeat opportunities. But there is a table; a royal table where a golden invitation has been extended to us to sit at His table; God’s table. It is the grandest banquet table of all. This table is unique because the host invites His enemies to enter in and dine in unimaginable extravagance. It’s a King’s table and is it set with all the riches and trappings of heavenly royalty. It is set with amazing grace, forgiveness, acceptance, love, joy, peace, kindness, generosity and the banquet is eternal. At His table we don’t just get a transitory party hat, we get an eternal crown. At His table, although it is the most important table in the universe, we have an audience of one with the King and we get to tell our stories. At His table our places are secure and we have permanent name plates with our names etched in permanent marker ink. It is a table where we will, more than once offend the host, but we will not be dismissed or banished. If we ever leave His table and wish to return, He will always welcome us back. At His table, there is no class distinctions or exclusions. There’s no dress code because the King provides everyone with a royal robe. At His table Jesus, the ultimate host pays the cost of the banquet and pays for everyone who takes a seat. We sit at His table now and we will sit at His table then. But until then, we partake, not as beggars and paupers, but as royal daughters and sons at His table, and we simply give thanks.
So, friends, seat yourself to His table today.
Best days to come
Wen
Jun 10, 2020 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone,
When Jesus weighs in. The Bible speaks to us about the thick, combative, ongoing spiritual battle that we are enmeshed in where the enemy never rests from seeking to lure us into a life of destruction and defeat. Not much of a character with that motivation! Imagine his profile; the author of rebellion (Isaiah 14:12-15), the evil one (Matthew 13:19), a murderer, the father of lies (John 8:44), the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10), a thief; the one who seeks to steal our first love (God), kill every opportunity for us to flourish and mutilate our humanity (John 10:10). He is comfortable to create pain and suffering in God’s creatures (in fact the worse our suffering, the more he is delighted). He is comfortable to groom us for sin and lead us away from truth by sabotaging what we were created for. He seeks to scramble our thinking, creating questions about our creator and His character. He hopes to annihilate our purpose and short circuit our destiny. He is comfortable to drop the atomic bomb of destruction on humanity by leading any who are willing on a downward spiral of ruin to the pit of hell and he does so, rejoicing when he captures any human for eternal separation from God. And if that’s not all, he is the ultimate deflector, casting the spotlight on God, tricking humans into blaming God for the mess he makes. Sometimes he subtly launches the battle in the shadows and other times his strike is like a violent lightening show. He will do anything to rattle our spiritual cages and shackle us with the cuffs of fear. He is the general of evil in the war for our souls.
But, when Jesus weighs in, our footing is immediately shifted. Jesus is the supreme General who has already won the war and wears the victory badge that is forever flashed in the face of the enemy. When Jesus weighs in He stands in ultimate authority because he victoriously disarmed this adversary and shamed him through the cross and resurrection (Colossians 2:13-15). When Jesus weighs in, He makes sure every soldier in His army gets a new life and a victory badge that signals all debts have been paid and forgiveness is final. When Jesus weighs in, no weapon formed against us can stand (Isaiah 54:17). Jesus is our shield and our defender (Psalm 18:2) and we can claim victory (Romans 8:37). Jesus always wins because He has all authority (Matthew 28:18). But Jesus not only weighs in on the battles, He also leads us victoriously through this war, He dwells with us and gives us life in abundance, restores purpose, fulfils us, heals us, and leads us on an upward spiral towards our eternal home where we will dwell with Him forever in final fulfilment. Now, that’s a General with a perfect character, who seeks our utmost and sacrifices Himself to attain that.
The enemy may go around like a roaring lion, but Jesus has ROARED back and it’s a roar above all roars. The enemy is on borrowed time and his fate is more than sealed. There’s a final battle coming but because Jesus weighed in, the enemy is heading for final destruction and we will be in the army and presence of the greatest of all Generals; Jesus! And we will shout and scream “victory! we; He won the war!”
So, friends, get your armour on today.
Best days to come
Wen
Jun 3, 2020 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone,
Wonder. In the slipstream of everyday life, our regular routines seem to supress our appreciation of the extraordinary privileges of “being”, reducing them to familiar and ordinary. We live with a silent expectation that we are entitled to these “ordinary” offerings of life and assume they will always remain, uninterrupted . . . and familiarity sets in. But, the true fallout of familiarity is the loss of wonder.
So, what happens when a global pandemic barges in on us with turbulent force, threatening to change the trajectory of our everyday existence? Suddenly what has become familiar and ordinary is put back into its rightful context, reinvigorating our grasp of what is in fact, extraordinary. We have a heightened sense of thankfulness. We are grateful just to take a walk and notice the intricate details of creation, or to sit in a café where the alluring aroma of barista-made coffee never smelt so good; to meet up with friends who we realise are irreplaceable gifts, to have our jobs and the blessings of provision, and to spend time with our precious families. Our responses shift from the routine, familiar and ordinary to embracing our extraordinary privileges, and protectively so.
But, I wonder! Is there a deeper well out of which thankfulness springs? In response to our lives being curbed, without a doubt we have become more thankful. Yet, I think thankfulness actually does come from a deeper well; the well of wonder. Thankfulness can come and go in response to circumstances but wonder enables us to remain anchored in the truth and reality of existence. When trouble strikes at us, we can stand firm on the platform of truth and retain our sense of wonder, which enables thankfulness. Wonder is both truth and thankfulness together [1]When we embrace the reality of God in His sovereign reign as creator and sustainer of all things, our response is wonder. We see life through the lens of God’s truth and appreciate the wonder of His creation as we look upon it with fresh eyes of thankfulness. When we take that walk in God’s creation, we don’t see it as familiar; we see it clothed in all its beauty. Or when we look out at the night sky, it is no longer just familiar. We are mesmerised by the glimmer of the moon and the sparkling diamanted stars that are all embroidered in the cosmic canopy of the heavens as they affirm Psalm 19, “the heavens declare the glory of God”. Wonder also heightens our awareness and appreciation of the imago dai and uniqueness of our humanity and capacity for relationships that complement our lives. In this time of restriction, we’ve stopped to smell the roses and we like it. That’s wonder right there! The wonder of the revelation of God’s truth causes us to respond in thankfulness. As we recollect our lives, let’s never again live in the shadow of the familiar, but always in the light of wonder.
So, friends, get your wonder on today.
Best days to come
Wen
[1] Ravi Zacharias, Recapture the Wonder, (Nashville TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 87, 89
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 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
