Home & Away

I've been reading a biography on a bloke called Jim Elliot (1927-56) and have been loving it! He seems to have a very similar thought pattern as me and has faced almost the exact same problems and decisions I am and will soon face.

I ran across his thought on mission abroad and his response to the challenge to stay in America and grow God's kingdom there.

"I dare not stay home while Quichuas perish. So what if the well-fed Church in the homeland needs stirring? They have the Scriptures, Moses and the Prophets, and a whole lot more. Their condemnation is written on their bankbooks and in the dust on their Bible covers."

There is a lot of truth in that we already have the gospel established in Australia and there are other countries who are in desperate need to hear the saving grace of God, perhaps more than Australia. However, I wonder if our situation is much different now. We are in a post-Christian society where Church and Jesus is a thing of the past, something for oldies. Perhaps there is a greater need in Australia now since Jesus is on the way out? But the name of the Lord doesn't just belong to Australia but all Nations. Everyone needs to Praise the Lord and fear His name. If I am willing and able...why not?

Should I stay or should I go?

Broken Car Radio

So my car radio/CD player broke last night. It's been a bit of a blessing in disguise though. I've spent my time travelling to a from Mt. Kariong singing and praying so far. Any other thoughts about how this time might otherwise be used?

I'm planning on listening to some sermons tonight on my Samsung MP3 player (I don't like iPods) but is this a bit dangerous? Am I more susceptible to crashing if I have earplugs in since I wont be able to hear my surroundings as clearly?

Sin as a Lack of Faith

I wonder if sin is sometimes (maybe all the time) a lack of faith for now and what we will one day receive? Sin says to us 'come this is more appealing here and now, look at the immediate benefits' but we forget that the satisfaction from sin is short lived and will not last. God tells us that we should be future orientated, satisfied in him and live for the things we will one day receive. Jesus died to free us from sin and we now live for him. In not sinning and living for Him we are glorifying Him and storing up for ourselves a reward (Mt 6, Eph6, Col3)

Perhaps things like speeding is sin saying to us 'just do it, you wont be late this way' or 'you will get there faster and not waste any time' but forgetting that by obeying the government (put in place by God) we are obeying God and storing up treasures in heaven. Surely it is more worthwhile to live for God and be satisfied in obeying him than seek the short lived pleasures of speeding and efficiency. Perhaps it is a lack of faith in God's wisdom and his timing.

(h/t)

Don't Pray For Rain

It's a pretty instinctive thing to pray for rain in light of the Victorian bushfires but at this point rain would actually make the situation worse! Due to the loss of vegetation from the ferocious bushfire there is very little holding the soil intact. Rain would only cause huge mudslides on the scorched and charred hillsides. A very similar thing happened in California.

Better to pray for strength and favorable winds for our fire-fighters and that God may comfort and provide for those affected by the bushfires.

Christians and the Defence Force 'Gap Year'

In case you haven't heard, the Australian Government has released a program to increase recruitment into the Australian Defence Force (ADF). This program is called a 'Gap Year' in which you can join the Army, Navy or Air Force in a non-technical role for 21 months and then leave if you want to. Basically, you can join and serve for 1 year instead of the normal 5-6 years service and fill in some time between school and uni/TAFE/work etc while you try to work out your life.

There are some good things about it. The ADF is a great place in which you learn discipline, perseverance, initiative, teamwork and heaps more, but, it's also a very hard and secular environment. I believe the Australian Government at the moment is founded on good Christian values and many of the current operations have huge humanitarian ramifications. Romans 13 tells us that the government is under the control of God and that they do not bear the sword for nothing. The Australian government is an authority put in place by God and He acts through it to defend the defenseless and is 'an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer'. Serving in the ADF can be seen as serving God in a kind of round about way.

Doing this Gap Year may have some benefits, however, I think it is a very dangerous idea for young Christians. Chances are, you will be posted to a unit with very few (if any) Christians, and the first few years after you leave school are crucial. They are the years that make or break you in terms of your christian life. They are you first few years out of school and into the real, adult world with more freedom of choice than you have had while at school. Going straight into the ADF will be hard as there won't be anyone close at hand to keep you accountable, no weekly bible study or youth-group, no opportunities to serve or be involved in local missions etc. Going The lifestyle of the defence force is going to pressure you to make decisions that don't reflect Jesus' Lordship.

If you are thinking about joining the ADF focus on your christian life first and growing a firm foundation on Jesus and God's word. Don't overestimate your own will and strength to live as a Christian in a secular environment. It's always much harder than you think. If you are seriously going to go through with it, you really need to develop your personal bible reading and start thinking through how you are going to keep growing as a christian in isolation. You're pretty much going to be alone, so reading christian literature, long distance correspondence and liaising with your unit chaplain are going to be your only sources of Christian growth.

I'd also encourage you to think about why you want to join the ADF. A job in the ADF reflects a career more than a job. That is, it isn't something you do to put food on the table, it will take up your whole life.

It's important to remember that during your years of service you will be encouraged to devote yourself fully to your job. I believe the bible puts forward the idea of a job as something to put food on the table, to provide for yourself and others. (This is a bit different if your job is in service of God through Christian ministry, financial support to others, humanitarian efforts etc, in which you should give yourself fully to it.)

But are you attracted by the glossy pictures (like the one I've posted on this blog)? The cool videos of guys jumping out of helicopters and blowing stuff up? Are you looking for the respect from your peers when you get to ask: 'so what do you do for a living? You work at Coles? I'm a soldier in the Australian Army!'

But you may genuinely want to join the ADF to show others to Christ though living differently amongst non-christians and serve other nations who are unable to support or defend themselves, which is fantastic. Just remember that God is more concerned that you work with godliness and grow in godliness. If you think you are liable to slip from the Christian life as a result of joining the ADF think hard about why it is your joining.

Jackie Chan & St. Paul

In Acts 17, Paul gives a fantastic example of how to go about telling people about Jesus while using everything at your disposal. It is in Athens that Paul speaks to a people whose lives were saturated with foreign gods and knew next to nothing about the God of Israel let alone Jesus. Just like Jackie Chan in any fight scene he uses everything around him (even things belonging to his opponents) to forward the good news of Jesus (h/t).

Paul doesn't start with Jesus, he starts where the Athenians are: "as I walked around ...I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you." v23. WHAM! Jackie Chan smashes a henchman in the face using a horseshoe bringing him to the ground.

Paul then keeps up the momentum and uses some Athenian poetry to point them to the true God: "God...is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" POW! Jackie Chan smashes a villain in the chest using a ski from the rack behind him.

There are heaps of stimuli in culture that I think we can use to forward the gospel. Here is one such example. Can you think of any others? My mates like to have sculling competitions and with it goes a song:

'Here's to [insert name] he's true blue,
He's a piss pot through and through,
He's a b*****d so they say,
He tried to go to heaven but he went the other way,
He went down, down, down, down...'

We all hope we are headed for heaven. We sometimes like to think that's where most people go when they die. Isn't God on about accepting everyone? No. The bible tells us we can't. It says that 'whoever believes in Jesus will have eternal life, but whoever doesn't will go the other way. And it doesn't matter how hard we try we can't be right with God without Jesus. Just as that drinking song says: "He tried to go to heaven but he went the other way, He went down, down, down, down...".

Heroes Who Made Science Fun For Me

Do you remember Bill Nye (the Science Guy)? He made science fun. He made Saturday Mornings entertaining and educational. He's the reason I'm studying science at uni now.