The happendedness of the Christ Event

All the world religions have been developed through history in a continuing tradition of rational argument. No religion exists apart from such a historical tradition. And all religions appeal to the authority of great teachers in the past. Nevertheless the distiction is real. The truths which Buddhism teaches would (as Buddhists understand them) be true whether or not Gautama had discovered and promulgated them. But the whole of Christian teaching would fall to the ground if it were the case that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus were not events in real history but stories told to illustrate truths which are a valid apart from these happening....

... The issue is this: Is this relationship with God seperate from your involvement in the ongoing life of the world, your family, your neighbourhood, your nation in the family of nations. Or is your relationship with God necessary bound up with your acceptance of the part God assigns for you in his purpose for his world? If the latter is the case, then your relationship with God cannot be seperated from those acts in which God has revealed and effected his purpose for for the world. Your devotion to God will be expressed in and through your involvement with history as you are now part of it. You will understand your own life as part of a story which is not a story made up by you, not just the story of your decisions and actions, but the story which is being enacted under God's creative and providential control in the events of contemporary history.

Lesslie Newbigan - The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society

Loving Like Jesus Loved

I know this feels kind of cliche, but this is where I am at at the moment, hopefully the thoughts may lead to action...

Jesus said whatever you do to the least of these my brothers you’ve done it to me. And this is what I’ve come to think. That if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ, who I claim to be my savior and Lord, the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong. They’re not bad, they’re just wrong. Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in a beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken ' - Rich Mullins

Unrelenting love

I could sense very deeply that God wanted a relationship with Laura. Ultimately, I beleive that God wants a relationship with every human being, but with Laura I could feel Gods urgency. Laura, however wanted little to do with it. She never brought up the idea of God, so I didn't either. - Donald Millar - Blue Like Jazz.

I read these words today with a strong sense of conviction. Lying on the ground, soaking in the sun, these words went off like a bomb in my soul. It shocked me to my very core again. God is unrelentently seeking relationship with us. God is seeking to know you, to dance in the dance of life with you once again.

You and I are broken, we seek to live good lives, but our fear, of lack of conviction holds. We seek to be great, but when we look back at the successes they often feel hollow. But, there is a greater plan.

God has been recklessly seeking out humanity. He came into human history 2000 years ago, as a man, Jesus Christ. Lived amongst us, us broken eikons, eating, living, serving, joking, caring, being with Humainity. He showed what it means to be truly human, to be truly love through and through. He would do anything to show that what we thought was living the good life was really not the good life but was just a bad imitation, a scribble compared to the great movie in vivid colours that we were meant to live in. He showed that we are to love and serve everyone, no matter thier convictions, no matter thier past actions. He showed that God loves everyone, no matter thier convictions, no matter thier action and wants to know them know matter what the cost.

Jesus showed that God loves all, and is passionately wanting to know you by going through severe beating, being spat on, becoming the most despised, and slowing aspixiating on a Cross so that you may come to know him and live a life of joy, grace, peace, wholeness.

God loves you, what are you going to do about it? God loves you, what am I going to do about it?

Lauryn Hill on The Gospel and her Journey

One of the little gems in my music collection is the Lauryn Hill MTV Unpluged. The album is basically the story of her struggle with fame and the music industry and her discovery of herself and God.

Listen to this interlude...

Sycretism and Joel Osteen

I don't always agree with Mark Driscoll on all theological questions, but I think he gets it pretty right when he critiques Joel Osteen, a pastor of one of the largest churches in America. Listen to this and post your thoughts.

Like everyone else...

He was like everyone else, he walked the streets like everyone else. He ate and drank, needed the basic necessities. He cried when his best mate died, he needed rest and felt an inner torment at the destiny that lay ahead of him. Yet something was different about him. He was seen as a dangerous force by the fundamentalists of his city, a challenge to their hold over the status qou. He was seen as a source of hope for the poor and the marginalised. He hung out, and served them. He was seen as a liberator and healer of the country, a revolutionary who would bring his people out of oppression. He claimed to be God, he claimed to be the Messiah the one to lead his people to freedom.


He was a young man, like everyone else. He lived in his city, worked in a job, went out for beers on the weekend with his mates. But he lived in a way that was intentional. He went out of his way at work to get to know people on their own turf. In his times out with people he would listen. He would seek to listen and bring life to those around him. He would seek to be a servant in every area. People knew something was different about him. They found that when they spent time with him, they were at ease, they found healing in their conversations with him. They longed to get to know him more, spend time with him. He was willing to give up all he could to serve them and show them a new way to live. He claimed to know God, to know the Messiah who is the way to freedom.

Whats This Life For?

... for we all live under the reign of one king."
Creed, Whats this Life For?

Many times we feel like we walk through the motions, taking steps wondering where we are about to go next. Many of us feel like we are just existing and do not know how to move forward. We are afraid, ashamed of who we are. We are scared of letting go if our past and taking the step into something more, something bigger than ourselves. Forgetting the glorious work that God has done on the cross.

Then others of us are enslaved to a weird view of our salvation, we beleive that everything is after the fact, that since we have been "saved", there is no work to do now in the present. We have heaven coming, we don't need to worry about the present and we do not need to do anything now.

But this isn't the case. Jesus' eschatology and Pauls eschatology and indeed a Jewish view of the world never hint to this. Jesus says the the Kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus declares in his example of how we should pray,

"Our father in heaven, may tour name be kept holy.
May your kingdom come on earth as it is heaven"

Jesus' introduction to ministry started with his declaration that the Kingdom has come, the salvation has come, where he takes the scroll of Isiah and does dis exegisis on it, declaring

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, doe hw has annointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord's favor has come."

Jesus' declaration is that the Kingdom has come, it has spiritual, emotional, and political significance to the world we live in. He declares that the broken can find healing, that the oppressed can find freedom, that Israel is to be redeemed, that the world is to be healed and redeemed.

So what does this mean for us, I don't beleive salvation means we get to live happilly in the reality that since we are saved we wait to do nothing, we are called as followers of Christ, that we are called to live in a way that declares that Jesus is Lord.

Jesus addressed, that for the kinfdom to come, there needs to be workers. He said

"The harvest is great, but the workers are few"

I do not beleive in the rapture, if it happens then I'm wrong, but I don't really think its one of the questions that matters at all to my salvation, but it matters to the way I live. People who live looking forward to being taken away forget the importance of our mission here on earth. To be agents of change and transformation. To bring the gospel to the lost. To be agents of change in our city.

I don't beleive we will ever get to an utopian ideal this side of eternity, but seeing people changed, people find wholeness, seeing cities changed (like Ninevah was in the bible in the story of Jonah, Like Jerusalem and the nation of Israel was in the story of Nehemiah) is what I look forward to.

I will end on this point, at the end of the bible, we see the fulfilment of Gods victory, the restoration of a new heaven and a new earth. God brings heaven down to earth and lives again amongst humanity. Relationship between God and his creation is restored. He reigns!

Narnia Qoutes - CS Lewis

I enjoyed these qoutes - they kind of explain some of my understandings of Jesus. Read and take in, they are good.

“‘They say that Aslan is on the move’
And now a very curious thing happened.
None of the children know who Aslan was more than any of you do; but the moment Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different… … At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delight strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.”

I'm not going to explain this, its too hard for me at the moment!

"'Ooh!' Susan, "I thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel nervous meeting a lion."
"That you will, dearie, and no mistake,' said Mrs Beaver; 'if theres anyone who can appear before Aslan without thier knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly.'
'Then he isn’t safe?' said Lucy.
'Safe?' Said Mr Beaver; 'don’t you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you? Who said any about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king, I tell you.'” (My Emphasis)

I've thought about this qoute often, it has made a deep impression on me about my lord and saviour. As I've read the story of The Lion the Which and the Wardrobe this qoute has stayed in my mind constantly. The story shows these kids who form a relationship with the King of the whole world, Aslan. It is interesting, they know he will protect them, but they know that if he wanted to that at a single swipe they could be gone. But they cherish his freindship, his wisdom and guidance. He shows his love and care for them by sacrificing himself for the life of Edmund on the stone table (remind you of anything?) Remember this week that Jesus isn't safe, his message is not that of a meek mild man but of radical loving world-shattering saviour. His way isn't safe or easy, its challenging and dangerous. Follow him though because his way is good.

Christs Reworking of Israels Story - from NT Wright

This quote is from NT Wright's Simply Christian. Over the past few years I have come to the belief that we have to remember the context of Jesus’ message and teaching. He was ministering to a Palestinian Jewish culture. One shaped by its past and looking forward to the establishment of the Messiahs reign. In Jesus we find the proclamation of the kingdom of God. This reworks the story of Israel and the role of Israels Messiah. Jesus calls Israel back to the heart of God – the redemption of the whole world.

“[Jesus] believed that the ancient [Jewish] prophecies were being fulfilled. He believed that Israel’s God was doing a new thing, renewing and reconstituting Israel in a radical way… … It wasn’t a matter of the God of Israel simply fighting off the wicked pagans and vindicating his own people. It wasn't about God judging not only the pagans but also Israel; about God fulfilling his promises, but doing so in a way that nobody had expected or anticipated. God was issuing a fresh challenge to Israel, echoing back to his promises to Abraham: Israel is indeed the light of the world, but its present policies have been putting that light under the bucket. It’s time for drastic action. Instead of the usual military revolt, it was time to show the pagans what the true God was really like, not by fighting and violence but by loving ones enemies, turning the other cheek, going the second mile. That is the challenge which Jesus issues in his series of teachings that we call the “sermon on the mount.””

I will come back to this quote at a later time, for a while think on it, give your opinions and thoughts; I will try to comment when I have time.

Posts of Note # 2

The Blogosphere has been heating up again so I am going to make some general references to my favourite blog posts and websites at the moment, as usual I'm about two weeks behind the times, but hey here is a few blogs that interest me.

Mak from Swinging from the Vine has written a very nice post called Lest we forget the Mystical. I found it interesting to hear her view that we are going through a period of renewal or revival within the Christian church which is being led by the emerging/emergent churches. It would be interesting to hear thoughts from anyone, both positive or critical of this. The term mystic is growing on me and I may be using it one day on myself ;-) Anyway, I think Mysticism and the holy spirit are highly important, but as me and Matt were talking about, the need for a plan can be necessary to get things sometimes working and shaped. More on this topic later....

Mak has another great post about her Cat and comparisons with herself. Sym will like this as I know one of his most favourite books flows into this topic. She states...
"I’m an eager little lap cat with hungry eyes jumping up into God’s lap for some warmth until I have something more interesting to do. I’m not interested in the give and take of relationship, just the warmth I feel from the experience.

And hey, I’m not stupid, I’m not going to bite the hand that feeds me right? I’ll put up with some attention and maybe even listen long enough to hear a few words but that’s about the extent of it.

Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner."

It seems our desire for warmth, food and security drives us many times, rather than a love for our father. Just to sit at his feet panting like a dog, being loyal to our maker becuase we know God is good, picking up the stick becuase we know it pleases the master, living to please him because our master is good to us.

More on this kind of topic, read another brilliant post by Mike Brantley on Spotlight Rangers. I know that many times in my journey I have been the spotlight ranger, making it look like I'm all strong and mighty, but running for cover, looking for security when the perverbial hits the fan. I don't look for security in God, rather I look for it in stuff, in a job and a career, or my credentials.


Reid S Monagan has done a good review of Christianity Dangerous Idea, which is a history of the Reformation. After having a rather stimulating conversation about the differences of opinion on scripture with a newly catholic convert, I think I may need to read this! I certainly have been spending a lot of time reading my history of christian theology over the last few days.

Last but not least, Alan Hirsh has put up on his blog a interview from openheaven. This gives a good entree of the ideas that you will find in Alan's book "The Forgotten Ways" which I would highly recommend to anyone who is planting a church in a western, post-christian culture.

Being a Christ Follower

How do we read the bible, how do we take the words and transform these into meaning, into thought, into spiritual food? How can we keep from having these words from being slanted to a viewpoint? I have really struggled question. How do we read the bible without putting our slant onto it or viewing it through our own personal lens (if I am left liberal I read the verses about social justice but forget about sin and hell because its too difficult, if I am a conservative evangelical I care about sin and hell but I don't take the fact that the bible asks me to feed the sick, care for the hungry seriously, or any other view that you can put on the bible.)

For me I believe that the bible is more than a set of guidelines for life, its is a means to getting to know GOD, getting to know Jesus and forming a relationship with the divine. The whole story of the bible relates to this idea. We sinned, we fell short, God out of his glorious goodness and grace sent his son Jesus to the world, so that we could come into relationship with him, in this relationship we are transformed, changed, made new. This is a continual process, the end point occurs some time in the future.

I believe the Christians are in relationship with a true personal God, who wants relationship with all his children.

For me, I understand the whole story of the bible through the gospels. The story of Jesus on earth, in Jesus we have a revelation of Gods love for the world, for all people. Jesus's walk on the earth showed us a new way to live - a new way to be human.

I believe that the gospels are the centre to our understanding, but its not just the gospels but the God man at the centre of that story, Jesus Christ. At the moment I have become more used to reading the gospels, I need to, I need to come and read more and more about my Rabbi, my Lord, my saviour, my God, Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate hero, Jesus is the ultimate example of how to live.

I say that its a relationship, because as a person I believe that the truth is "subjective truth" - now people will say that I'm postmodern and wish washy, but I don't think so. I believe that I have not go it all sorted, actually the more I realise it I know very little and I am still learning a lot, I have not got what it means to be a Christ follower, a christian down pact. I can be arrogant, I can be impatient, I can be down right annoying to people, I make myself out to be something I am not and act to make myself look better than I really am. I certainly do not have the fruits of the spirit down pact and I am really really clumsy! I am a blogger (meaning at times I blog for my own self gratification or for people to look at me!). I am learning what it means to worship God, live a Christlike life, give God glory with every second and finding that I can not do it all my own! I need God but I also need friends, my community of faith, my family to help me along. In reality I am just a leper in need of a large self help group some times and I am struggling to understand the depth of my fathers love for me, and for everyone else on earth.

I do not know if this way all meant to come out like this, but it has!

So what was the point of this whole blog?

For me, the centre of the message is found in Christ. At the moment I'm centring my life on understanding, listening and learning about Christ, what hes done for me and what it means to be a servant. I do this by centring my spiritual forays and journeys through the bible on coming back to the gospels constantly (for me this has meant focusing on the synoptics primarily - Mathew, Mark and Luke). I'm trying to go about this in a kind of systematic way. I will read a book from the bible then go back to the gospels and read the gospels, because I want my interpretive lens to be the life and teachings of Jesus!

I believe that we have to build our lives on the life and message of Jesus, the cornerstone. Then the building we create on top will be on solid ground (N.B - we may have to renovate, repaint and redesign from time to time whats on top - this can be really painful - especially if we have to go through a real gutting! - actually as I think of this let God be the one doing the designing on top, usually it leads to more even surfaces, he is the master craftsman and perfecter!)

Love is a Movement....

A day in L.A.
And millions of faces
Looking for a movement
'Cause everything's stuck
And everything's frozen

And everyone's broken
And nobody moves



And everyone's scared
That the motion will never come
This is the incompletion
Stuck in a line

Love is a movement
Love is a revolution
This is redemption



We don't have to slow back down
The stars are alive

They dance to the music
Of the deepest emotion
And all of the world
Is singing in time
As the heavens are caving in
Mysterious ways
Why God gave His life
To put motion inside my soul
It's bigger than cold religion
It's bigger than life

Chorus
We're starting now (x3)
We don't have to slow back down
This is a revolution (x2

I'm not going to write much on this, because I'm stressing over university work at the moment (My last essay Is causing me such pain that I don't know what to do!)

This song gets me, Jesus was not a man who sat in steely chambers, like an academic debating the meaning of Life, he was out there changing the world, one deed, one sentence at a time.

But he also chose a group of men and women to join him, to learn off him, he created a movement that was to change the world, that is changing to world.

As has been said, there is only one hope for humanity, and that is those people who follow Christ, the Church. It is the last and only hope for humanity.

We are to be a movement of love and grace, sharing the redemptive love of Jesus with the world.

But I'm going back to one thing here, we are a movement, an organism of men and women, working together to bring the kingdom in organic natural ways.

We an an organism, a body of people working together. In this we do have very important parts - ministerial parts that are needed if we are to be a healthy community.

We need pastors - Pastors are Shepard's, they care for the flock, they are there encouraging those within the body
We need teachers - teachers care for the word of God deeply, they carry it in there heart and want to teach it to people
We need prophets - prophets put God at the centre, they have a heart for seeing Gods righteousness and Justice done on this earth. They do not fear treading on toes for seeing the heart of God done, they have strong sense for justice to be done on earth, and will call people to action.
We need apostles - Apostles are innovators, they lead the way forward for new expressions of community, of ministry, they are willing to move the body forward if encouraged and allowed to flourish. Those that are in this category are usually artists, business entrepreneurs etc, they create forward movement in the body
and we need evangelists - Evangelists are recruiters, they love people, they seem to have an uncanny job of bringing the message of salvation into many things. They just love hanging out with people on their own turf and sharing into their lives and pushing them forward. They find new and creative ways to share Christ (If you want to meet a great evangelist friend of mine you should meet Andrew Watson, the characteristics of an evangelist just flows from him constantly!)

OK, so This has kinda just come spurting out, what am I saying, where am I going with this weird blurb on where I'm at with life, church, etc.

God has created a movement, not an institution, we are to move forward as communities, creating something New and fresh. It has Christ at its centre, it cannot go forward without Christ at the centre, if it attempts to it will turn into a chaotic mush! We need to recover who Jesus is, reading the stories of the Gospel. Jesus was always on the road, the most dangerous place of all in the time that he lived, sharing into the lives of people. To move forward and create momentum we may in fact have to drop the superfluous (our buildings, our structures, etc) so that we can again become a movement centred on Christ and building his kingdom. We need to focus away from all that holds us back, the comfortable pews of church and moving forward into movement that reaches the lost, the lonely, the poor, the brokenhearted. I am struggling with what this means for me, like many others, but I myself have to find movement, find where God will lead me, to become uncomfortable, to become stretched to the extremes of my limits, so that I can live an authentic, real life as a Jesus follower

Beauty

This came from the Mosaic sermon "Beauty." This video is a metaphor for what Martin Luther called "the Great exchange, where Jesus took all the crap that we have done, and took it onto himself in the process of his death on the cross. The result was that we were given new life, we are given salvation. Hope you enjoy

Becoming a Missional Christian

I wrote this post at the beginning of the year. Please forgive some of the repitition. It was written when I was processing through some stuff, this is actually not really that finished, but I want to share it with you because I was actually quite suprised to see how far this has played out in the way God is shaping me, it sums up how I'm attempting to live my life now as a christian sent out to the lost, sent to be a light, an example of something different, something fresh, something new! I will write further on contextualised faith, missional christianity, missional church and the missional God that we follow when I have some more time, but let this settle with you. Sorry about the intensity of this blog, again, it was written at a time of deep proccessing for me.

I have come to believe that a very important aspect of Christianity is that we are to be missional. A fact of Christianity is that it is a missional faith, we are called by our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ to show people who God is, to show Jesus who Jesus is, and share with them the Truth of the Gospel. The last words spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew commanded Christians to spread the gospel throughout the world. Jesus said “Go to people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world. (Matt 28:19-20) Mission is to be a focus of Christians in the way they live and act, we are to fulfil Jesus’ commission. We are to tell people the Gospel through our words and deeds, just like Jesus did. We are here to bring about Gods redemptive plan on this earth. Not here to twiddle our fingers or debate how good our navels look. Jesus said that he was here on the earth to “tell the good news to the poor … …. to announce freedom for prisoners, to give sight to the blind, to free everyone who suffers.” (Luke 4:18 paraphrase) Throughout Jesus’ time on earth he did this and showed people that the way to salvation was not through trusting in our own actions, because frankly our good actions are like s%$%*y nappies when compared to Gods Holiness.(Isaiah 64:6) Salvation cannot be earned, it is given in act on unmerited favour to those who have faith in Christ (read Romans 3) as a result of the saving act of Jesus Christ on the cross.

So as Christians we are called to preach this truth, that God came to earth as the man Jesus Christ, lived a human life, died on a cross and then rose again and ascended into heaven, that the life that no man had ever lived and ever will live. Showing us that salvation is only through God, through having faith in God and his saving grace. But how do we do this practically through our lives. How do we centre our lives around these truths and preaching them in word and deed.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and it scares me a lot, When I look at New Zealand I do not see a quarter acre, pavalova paradise, I see men and women crying out for something more, they live caught in addictions, making the wrong choices, getting drunk, living in unhealthy relationships, all of these are images of a broken nation, a nation which is not Gods Own.

So how are we to reach out and change New Zealand for the better, how are we going to change the world for the better?

I have come recently to discover that the way we need to do mission goes like this

First we need to figure out who Jesus really is, we need to figure out how he did mission, how it permeated his whole life. Read Mark, you do not find a guy who sits at his computer all day or reading books all day, he is out there, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, saving people from hell all the time, taking on the religious hypocrites of the age and kicking their butts. Read Luke, find out about how Jesus relates to people – he met them at their need. Man, he even used a drunken jewish wedding to show who he was to the people around him.
.
What I’m saying is that we need to know who Jesus really was, this is not based on our view of Jesus, in your preconceptions Jesus may be a hippy in a dress, but was he really that? Read, wrestle with what you find in the Gospels. I am coming to realise that Jesus is not a comfortable teacher that I follow. He was a radical, no-nonsense man, his words divided families and continues to divide families, it isn’t all roses. He wants us to be righteously-angry radicals willing to challenge the systems of injustice in our world. He doesn’t want us to act all high and mighty, he wants us to put all our trust in God, he wants us to do his will throughout the world and change this world for God.

Good Christology (In Laymans terms – how we view Christ’s and his saving actions) will lead to good missiology. As Christians we a called to be disciples of Jesus Christ. This means that we follow the example of our teacher. Our way of living should be incarnational. This will be a change from being evangelistic (I’m stealing these terms from Michael Frosts book Exiles) We are called to be in relationship with non-Christians on a equal footing. We are called to be Christ to our non-Christian friends. An example of truth and life to those who are non-christians. This means eating with non-christians, going out to pubs with non Christians, spending good quality time with non-christians, feeding them with the truth through our actions. It means we will have to stand up for what is truth when we are with them as well.

We are called to be different from the world, but what does this really mean. In contemporary Christian culture it has meant putting up walls, closing us up. We have not been allowed to form relationship with non-christians, and become separatist in our actions toward non-christians. This is not what Jesus has called us to do. He has called us to be ambassadors of the kingdom, going out into the cultures, subcultures etc and bringing the truth of the Gospel. We are not to be closed in, but reaching out with this truth, by living out the gospel.

So how are we to be examples of Christ in the world?

What does a culturally Relevant Church look like in Wellington?

What Churches in Wellington are doing mission well? What can we learn from them about doing mission in Wellington?

What is the culture of Wellington telling us about the concerns of the citizens of Wellington?

What are the Cultural Idols of Wellington? What are the Cultural Idols of New
Zealand?

We need men and women, godly, Christ centred men and women who will cry out “Give me New Zealand, or i’ll die”

Learning to Breathe

My Brother has just bought a number of Switchfoot CDs, one of them being Learning to breath. The title track has been a really powerful song in my life over the last few days, I love the lyrics to this song, it explains so much of my journey with my Lord and saviour.

"Learning To Breathe"

Hello, good morning, how you do?
What makes your rising sun so new?
I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new
So this is the way that I say I need You
This is the way that I'm

Learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

Hello, good morning, how you been?
Yesterday left my head kicked in
I never, never thought that
I would fall like that
Never knew that I could hurt this bad

So this is the way I say I need You
This is the way that I say I love You
This is the way that I say I'm Yours
This is the way, this is the way


First Verse, the goodness of God gets me up in the morning. The saving act of Jesus on the cross has changed my life, revealed to me that there is hope for this world, hope for me as a messed up confused out of control man. I rely on the goodness of God to get me through the hard times (particularly this period of university, where I’m becoming increasingly stressed as deadlines loom and I cannot get myself to work.)

The chorus – this just sums up my journey, it’s a life of learning, a life of growing. I am learning to breath in the goodness of God, to take in his encourage, his words of love, to realize that this is all his and that he wants me to be part of his plan for the world. I am stumbling, growing, realizing that there is much more to this world and to God than meets the eyes. I desire to know the Lord deeper than I have before and worship him in spirit and in truth, with my whole life.

Third Verse – The Pain I feel when I look inside and realize how much crap there is in my life. I have to come back again and again and realize that I am in need, that I am a leper, a man deformed and in need of the touch of Christ to cleanse my life of all that is unclean and make me into something new, something different, something fresh, that when people see me they see someone changed, someone who has experienced the power of God

The Bridge: This is my cry, that I would be a tool in the hands of God, that my life would be given up to serving God, that I would say that God is my all, that I am here to serve him only, and that I would give all my moments to worship him.

Anyway, this song is really cool, would like to hear your thoughts on it!

Beauty - Creation, Awe and worship

These are thoughts and meanderings from a communion service that was held at Capital Vineyard this morning. This was taken by the working title team

Isaiah 6:1-3

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the LORD seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were the seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet , and with two they were flying. And the were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty:
The whole earth is full of his glory”

Psalm 24:1
The earth is the LORD’s. and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.

The earth is Gods, It was created to give glory to him and in a sense, it is filled with the glory of God, it is filled with his weight, his significant. Everything that has been created has been created to bring Glory to God, our LORD and saviour. All that has been made gives praise to God.

In Revelations we see another glimpse of this.
Revelations 4
After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this. At one I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashed of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass clear as crystal.
In the centre, around the throne were four living creatures, and they were covering with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God almighty
Who was, and is and is to come.”

This passage seems pretty confusing, I’m not even going to go into talking about the meaning behind the seven spirits of God etc, etc, probably because I would get it wrong. So I’m going to keep it simple before I end up looking stupid. The first part of this scripture talks about the indescribable beauty of God, and his wonderful power and glory. When prophets have written about God it always seems to turn into mish mash of words because what they have seen is so amazing and astounding, they cannot put the words together to explain what they see. Glimpses of heaven are like this, I know in my personal life, I have had these moments, moments of breathtaking beauty, some of them I have tried to take photos of or written down to try and carry a glimpse of that moment of heaven around with me always.

The most memorable occasion of this was in Russia. I was attempting to try and sing songs in Russian, and trying to learn the Cyrillic at the same time, and for the first couple of days in Russia it was really hard, the first glimpse of God I got was when I was singing Russian songs, and I realised that there were about three or four different groups of people from all corners of the world, for me that was a glimpse of heaven, I started to realise what is was going to be like, all the saints singing in unity in heaven, this added another level to praise and worship

Another moment on this trip was when me and Andre met up early in the morning and ended up having a praise and worship time together, this was just another amazing time. I can’t describe the unity, the presence of the spirit or the the realization of total communion and fellowship with one another.

Again from Russia, on the second trip, we arrived back at our base camp in Irkutsk, had dinner, and then went home. We were then invited for desert at Pavels place (I know I’ve spelt this wrong, I apologise) The table was laid out with food and it was just an amazing blessing of a time we spent together. They then told us that we were the first foreigners they had had in their house. It was a real blessing to share those moments with them, and be generously blessed by them through the food and the fellowship we shared with them.

Another Time I personally remember seeing the beauty of God in the everyday was when me and my good friend Andrew Purini on a trip up at riversdale in the Wairapa went out to see the sunrise, it was just amazing, I guess the other amazing moment was a women who was up there as well with her son came up to me and Andrew P and we got talking, found out she was a Christian and we prayed together and she prophesied over us. It was a really special God moment. We had just breathed in an amazing sight, a wonderful sunrise, which was just so special and amazing.

Many times, particularly in Pentecostal churches, we go up at the front of God, seeking a special touch from God, we get zapped, we see things differently for a while then things sometimes fizzle out. But we should seek out the abiding presence of God. God is with us in the everyday moments. As it says in the bible “The whole earth is filled with his glory”. Gods glory pervades All Creation.

Lets ask a couple of questions
Who created the world?
God

What did he say about it?
That it was Good

Who created Humanity?
God

What Did he say about it?
That it was very Good


So why do we miss these moments, what is so wrong with us that we miss the beauty and splendor in all things.

Lewis, paraphrased by John Piper in his work the “Dangerous duty of delight” states: “‘We are far too easily pleased.’ Almost all of Christs Commands are motivated by ‘the unblushing promises of reward.’ Based on ‘the staggering nature of rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our LORD finds our desires not too strong, but too weak”

In his sermon, “Beauty” Erwin McManas discussed this idea, he talks about his journey of discovery when it came to top quality coffee. When he came to the U.S. from El Salvador he would buy coffee and discover that it was too strong for his tastes. He had to train himself to accept good quality coffee, instead of the coffee which he used to drink. He also told the story of how he got a job at a steak house, he was used to eating well done steak, he asked for well done steak and was told that the restaurant did not do well done, he argued a while with the chef, who was disgusted that he would want well done steak. The chef then told him that he would make him a medium rare steak and if he didn’t enjoy it, he would cook him a well done steak. He ate the steak, and rejoiced in the occasion. The chef then said to him that he reserved the worst steak for those who ordered well done, and the best for those who ordered medium rare. He said that Erwin's taste buds had learned to accept the worst steaks rather than the best. Erwin again had to retrain himself.

As humanity we have done this as well, our desires are too week, we end up taking second best, taking phony cons rather than accepting the real deal in life. Rather than accepting the beauty and the glorious gifts that God has to offer us, we take second best.

Philippians 4:8
Finally what ever is true. Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is love, whatever is admirable – if anything is praiseworthy – think about such things

- If I want to grow in the awareness of God all the times this is a really good guide in refocusing, training our taste buds too the good and the beautiful and praiseworthy.


Anyway, so what point am I trying to make, I guess that God is in everything, the sacred and the secular, creation and in hardship. God is in all these moments. We need to seek him out. Gods beauty is there to be discovered. We should embrace the beauty in all the times of life, and live life to the full.

In these occasions, when we see glimpses of heaven, we not only drink in Gods presence, but we come to realise that there is something bigger and better, there is more to life.

If you want to know more about this subject here are a few resources that can help you.
John Piper “The Dangerous Duty of Delight” – this is from a reformed perspective, its nice a short and pretty easy to read (saying a lot when it comes to Piper)

John Piper “Desiring God” – the unabridged version of “Dangerous Duty of Delight” – More difficult to read!

C.S Lewis “Surprised by Joy”

C.S Lewis “The Weight of Glory”

Erwin McManus “Beauty” – this is a podcast that you can pick up from http://www.mosaic.org/ –

Bob Sjogren and Gerald – “Cat and Dog Theology: Rethinking our relationship with our Master: Living Passionately for the Glory of God” – Again from a reformed position, one of the most life-changing books you will ever read on Christian theology and where our focus in our Christian faith should be. A must read!

Rob Bell – Breath – Part of his Nooma series

Rob Bell “Velvet Elvis” particularly “Tassels”

Matt Mansell

Communion - Beauty in Pain

Mathew 26:26-30
While they were eating, Jesus took the Bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying, “drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink anew with you in my Fathers Kingdom.”

God, we acknowledge that you are in everything, the good times and the bad times, the stunning and the mundane, creation and in pain. We thank you that you sent your only son to earth to reveal your glory to all humanity. We thank you that you came us to show us that way, and to give us a way to come into relationship with you again. Lord you used our brutality, our evil and violence in the form of the death of your son on the cross to do the most beautiful thing ever, show your love, glory and grace. In that moment where there seemed to be absolute despair, there was never-ending hope.

We are astounded by your love, that was shown by your sons brutal death on the cross, what a display of your glory, what a display of your love! We thank you Lord.

Jesus' Teaching on Fasting in the Sermon on the Mount

These are the notes for a study I did on fasting last night, Please look at this and be free to use it, critique it or whatever.

Yoke: Matthew 11:29-30 “Take My Yoke upon you and learn from me, and I will give you rest for your souls. For my burden is easy and my burden is light”

When we this verse in Mathew 11 many of us think that Jesus is talking about an ox yoke, but in Jewish culture an tradition, according to pastor and teacher Rob Bell goes deeper than this. In Jewish culture, the Yoke was a Jewish Rabbis Teachings. It was a set of interpretations of the law. In the sermon of the mount, Jesus sets out his own Yoke, his set of teachings and interpretations of the law, he refocuses the law back on what it was intended to do, bring people in line with Gods desires.

Mathew 6:16-18
When you are fasting, do not look somber like the Hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Fasting is an act of self-denial, it is the giving up of food, or something else to devote time to seeking out God and his desire for our lives. The time that we save from denying ourselves of certain activities can be given to serving others and the money saved from not spending on say those cups of coffee can be given to the poor or to the church. It can also be done as an act of worship. Many people perform the act of lent the 40 days leading up to Easter, giving up things such as TV, Chocolate, Coffee, anything as an act of worship and a living example that they want to put God first in their life during a period of time. As we all know the Baptist churches practice this act aswell with their month of self-denial leading up to Easter.


A little history lesson for us on fasting.
In Jewish Custom, there were six public fasts a year. Pharisees and devout Jews would also fast on Thurdays and Mondays, because according to Jewish tradition Moses ascended the Mount Sinai to receive the law on the Thursday and came back down on the Monday.

The Truly “Holy” person would fast more than this, and in these acts would advertise their “holiness” to the whole community – they would do this by not washing, not anointing the body, and by shaving their head and placing ashes on their head. It was said of the Rabbi Joshua that “all the days of his life his face was black by reason of his fasting.”

But what is fasting really for, is it about showing how “holy” you are? Not so, Jesus criticises these people he calls them “Hypocrites”. In the culture of the time the term hypocrite was a theatrical term used for actors, to describe people who were playing a role that they really weren’t. These Pharisees and other devout Jews were being unmasked by Jesus, he was showing them up as actors, people who did things to gain power in prestige in society, not out of a desire to get to know better.


Jesus seems to be having a good go at hypocrites. The word for hypocrite in Greek was a term used in thetheatre and was used for actors. Jesus gives a hard time to those who act like they are good and holy, but are really just all show and don’t get their stuff sorted with God.

So what is this about, is Fasting still important, and how should we conduct it. I believe that fasting is still important, I’m not very good at practising the disciple and would like to rediscover this discipline in my own life. Jesus is concerned in this passage particularly with private fasting. As Christians we should practice this privately, it shouldn’t be broadcasted to the world but practiced in secret. It is about sorting out our own personal relationship with Jesus, not about showing how holy we are to other people. If we are doing it to broadcast our holiness to people, we are missing the point.

Resurgence Remodified

If you don't know Resurgence you shoud check it out. It is a theological website run by Mars Hill Church Seattle. It runs many articles on many controversal theological issues remaining quite conservative theologically in its arguments. I went to check in out today anyway and it has had a full makeover, making it alot easier to use. Anyway, you should check it out, especially if you have an interest in theology and issues facing theology today.