Our world is changing, the pictures we see of what it looks like will sometimes shock you and will sometimes make you laugh. These both made me laugh, what makes you laugh?
Friday, April 20, 2007
Photos of a post modern world
Our world is changing, the pictures we see of what it looks like will sometimes shock you and will sometimes make you laugh. These both made me laugh, what makes you laugh?
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Forgiven
Psalm 32 presents a picture of what it is to be forgiven and what it is to not be.
NIV Psalm 32:1 Of David. A maskil.
Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
To be forgiven is to know freedom from sin, is to have your sins covered so that they cannot be seen. The sins are no longer counted against him, so that your sins are not only forgiven but they are forgotten (or are they???) Being forgiven means that there is nothing between you and God there is no impediment to relationship with God.
The person who is unforgiven is in pain, they groan they are wasting away. God's hand is heavy upon them, they seem to be completely affected by God's hand on them they are sapped of all strength, David compares it to the effect of the heat of summer. If I remember back to the 1st of January 2006 where it was 37 degrees in my Brother in Laws air conditioned house all you could do was think about the heat, the body was incapable of doing much else. The summer heat can be completely oppressive, and this is how I imagine David is describing the effect of knowing that he was unforgiven by GOd.
Although I think we know the feeling, when there is something between us and someone we love, it is hard to do much else until it is dealt with. Until you have asked for forgiveness or received forgiveness there isn't a great deal you can do with it. It is necessary that you be forgiven for the relationship to return to what it was before, it is important because without that you are stuck.
THe bridge from being unforgiven to being forgiven in the psalm is that David confessed his transgressions to the LORD, he acknowledged his sins to the LORD, he did not cover up his iniquities. Confession seems to be the answer, acknowledging himself as a sinner before the LORD led to his being forgiven.
Being forgiven is truly a wonderful status to have, I think status is a good way to think about it, abit like asking someone their marital status, you could ask someones status with God are they unforgiven or forgiven?
To be forgiven is wonderful because there you cannot be judged by God, you have been delivered, and with that Status God instructs and teaches, he counsels, he gives wisdom with which a person can live a person can live surrounded by GOd's unfailing love.
Thank God that he is a forgiving God.
NIV Psalm 32:1 Of David. A maskil.
Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
To be forgiven is to know freedom from sin, is to have your sins covered so that they cannot be seen. The sins are no longer counted against him, so that your sins are not only forgiven but they are forgotten (or are they???) Being forgiven means that there is nothing between you and God there is no impediment to relationship with God.
The person who is unforgiven is in pain, they groan they are wasting away. God's hand is heavy upon them, they seem to be completely affected by God's hand on them they are sapped of all strength, David compares it to the effect of the heat of summer. If I remember back to the 1st of January 2006 where it was 37 degrees in my Brother in Laws air conditioned house all you could do was think about the heat, the body was incapable of doing much else. The summer heat can be completely oppressive, and this is how I imagine David is describing the effect of knowing that he was unforgiven by GOd.
Although I think we know the feeling, when there is something between us and someone we love, it is hard to do much else until it is dealt with. Until you have asked for forgiveness or received forgiveness there isn't a great deal you can do with it. It is necessary that you be forgiven for the relationship to return to what it was before, it is important because without that you are stuck.
THe bridge from being unforgiven to being forgiven in the psalm is that David confessed his transgressions to the LORD, he acknowledged his sins to the LORD, he did not cover up his iniquities. Confession seems to be the answer, acknowledging himself as a sinner before the LORD led to his being forgiven.
Being forgiven is truly a wonderful status to have, I think status is a good way to think about it, abit like asking someone their marital status, you could ask someones status with God are they unforgiven or forgiven?
To be forgiven is wonderful because there you cannot be judged by God, you have been delivered, and with that Status God instructs and teaches, he counsels, he gives wisdom with which a person can live a person can live surrounded by GOd's unfailing love.
Thank God that he is a forgiving God.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Reaching Teens for Christ?
I have been reading a book on Youth Evangelism. It seems that the standard method of reaching kids (teenagers) for Christ, is to do it by stealth. That is, you get the kids into your building and play games and have music and food, and then while they are unaware and having a good time you present them with the truth about Jesus and wham bam thank you mam the kids are Christian.
The book I am reading by Ken Moser, frowns on this method and says that this basically does not work, kids may continue to come along, but they very rarely come into relationship with God through this method.
The book encourages youth leaders to treat teenagers like real people who need to understand God through the bible, to have a relationship with God they must know him through his word and to be able to share the gospel they must know the bible, they must be able to explain the gospel to their friends.
I am looking at getting more involved with youth ministry this year, and am thinking through how to do it well. My goal really is for mature Christians, not just lots of kids playing games. Will stopping the games see us lose lots of kids??
God is a great God and can use any of my foolish methods to bring people to him, but it does seem very logical to use his word as your most potent tool rather than games, food, fart jokes, doesn't it.
The book I am reading by Ken Moser, frowns on this method and says that this basically does not work, kids may continue to come along, but they very rarely come into relationship with God through this method.
The book encourages youth leaders to treat teenagers like real people who need to understand God through the bible, to have a relationship with God they must know him through his word and to be able to share the gospel they must know the bible, they must be able to explain the gospel to their friends.
I am looking at getting more involved with youth ministry this year, and am thinking through how to do it well. My goal really is for mature Christians, not just lots of kids playing games. Will stopping the games see us lose lots of kids??
God is a great God and can use any of my foolish methods to bring people to him, but it does seem very logical to use his word as your most potent tool rather than games, food, fart jokes, doesn't it.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Christmas is coming, it's time for fat men to rejoice.
He's making a list and checking it twice, he's got to send the Christmas cards to all the appropriate people, CHristmas time is just about upon us.
I don't know about you, but it seems like a stressful time, one where alot more should be done than is done, and it seems pretty likely that it will not all get done.
I've got to preach 3 times on Sunday (Christmas Eve) I am deciding whether or not to mention the fat man with the beard at all, it is an issue that people are very passionate about. SOme people upset that you would not have him, others upset that you would. In my home the only fat man present at Christmas is me, but I do gladly receive beer and biscuits.
For a Christian knowing what Christmas is really about, I have to wonder whether it is a better statement to the world, if we don't have anything to do with fat beardies at all at Christmas, but it is hard when the bloke gets around so much, he is everywhere, he is impossible to avoid, although unlike when I was a kid, now there are so many of him around sometimes he looks to weigh about 45kgs as he stands in the hot sun waving a placard advertising cheap pizza or lights giong cheap.
I think it is best if we keep the fat man down and ignore him, what do you reckon?
I don't know about you, but it seems like a stressful time, one where alot more should be done than is done, and it seems pretty likely that it will not all get done.
I've got to preach 3 times on Sunday (Christmas Eve) I am deciding whether or not to mention the fat man with the beard at all, it is an issue that people are very passionate about. SOme people upset that you would not have him, others upset that you would. In my home the only fat man present at Christmas is me, but I do gladly receive beer and biscuits.
For a Christian knowing what Christmas is really about, I have to wonder whether it is a better statement to the world, if we don't have anything to do with fat beardies at all at Christmas, but it is hard when the bloke gets around so much, he is everywhere, he is impossible to avoid, although unlike when I was a kid, now there are so many of him around sometimes he looks to weigh about 45kgs as he stands in the hot sun waving a placard advertising cheap pizza or lights giong cheap.
I think it is best if we keep the fat man down and ignore him, what do you reckon?
Christmas sermon
Santa gives out of obligation, he gives because you've been good.
We give either out of obligation (everybody in the family gets a present) or becasue it makes us feel good or because we love people.
God gives because he is generous, becasue he loves us and because we need it.
God has given the greatest gift of all and yet, we seem to ignore him at Christmas and celebrate the fat man who is allknowing and only gives to those who have been good. We celebrate teh baby who will be our saviour, but we ignore the giver, the generous Father who gave his SOn, who gave not because we were good, but becasue we are bad and we need a saviour.
SO Happy Christmas, may we all thank God for his great gift to us.
We give either out of obligation (everybody in the family gets a present) or becasue it makes us feel good or because we love people.
God gives because he is generous, becasue he loves us and because we need it.
God has given the greatest gift of all and yet, we seem to ignore him at Christmas and celebrate the fat man who is allknowing and only gives to those who have been good. We celebrate teh baby who will be our saviour, but we ignore the giver, the generous Father who gave his SOn, who gave not because we were good, but becasue we are bad and we need a saviour.
SO Happy Christmas, may we all thank God for his great gift to us.
Friday, September 22, 2006
I have a blog
NOt quite sure why, but it seems everybody is doing it, and I can only stand out from the crowd for so long.
SO here it is.
SO here it is.
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