Isaiah 12

In that day you will say:

"I will praise you, O Lord.

Although you were angry with me,

your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.

Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust and not be afraid.

The Lord, The Lord is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation."

In that day you will say:

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;

make known among the nations what he has done,

and proclaim that his name is exalted.

Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;

let this be known to all the world.

Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,

for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

Is reading worth it?

I suppose in some way it's ironic that one would have to "read" this blog in order to understand the purpose of this blog...

I've recently been watching the televised speeches, debates and such from the Sydney Writer's Festival. There was a man, he was a critic and he was discussing the idea of whether reading's really worth anything along with two other on the panel.

He happened to bring up a quote from C.S Lewis, a famed writer of Christian faith. In my own experience of C.S Lewis i can bear witness to what a beautiful and gifted mind God bestowed on Him, but then again i am entirely aware that this is of my own perspective.

"We read to know that we are not alone"

The critic questioned this statement as he had with the quotes of others authors. The topic that arose and as i could see, could be detrimental to the Christian way of life is the question of "What about those who cannot read".

As a Christian with the Word of God readily available, i could give an answer from scripture. When looking at Romans 1:18-20

"¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."

But say i couldn't read? Say i didn't have the bible to go from? Theoretically speaking, say i was a person with faith yet no Word. I have been affected by creation, and it has led to a wonder whether there is something beyond my own existence, the existence of a greater divine and intelligent being, but that's where it would end. God could work in many ways from here so that i might know Him, revelation, direct appearance (which only through provision of the word we can udnerstand would lead to death) so that i might know him more, but there's no way i could expect this to happen.

So if we do not withold the ability to read, are we alone? If i had no ability to read the word of God could i ever understand and know truly that i am not alone? How does this affect our understanding that God is a good and loving God? Up until the point where faith is consolidated in the word, faith takes on the appearance of "feeling". i "feel" like theres something more than my own existence here on this land. Therein lies another issue, from the word we understand that feelings are deceptive, but without the word our feelings take on the purpose of pure faith.

Is that what we're truly trying to question? The idea of faith? Lately through much thought in many different arenas i've been openly confessing the idea that faith is reasonable. That assumption lies on the precedent that we have the bible to relate to. Take the bible out of the picture, one could say that faith is then unreasonable however there is no denying that it is faith all the same.

But is this unreasonable faith, without the Word of the Bible, a faith that can save? From creation we can certainly wonder if there is more, or even find truth in that for ourselves, but without the Word there is no Jesus (i say this in consideration of ancient tribes hidden away in the furthest ends of the earth).

I think at this point i've reached an end in my thought process where we need to consider that this is within God's jurisdiction and He will choose to affect those people or He won't. How He will do that and whether He intends to do it is not something we can't know.

I hope some of you followed and understood. This is a battle, and i'm just trying to reconcile how a faith in God and an academic philosophy can go hand-in-hand.

Peace and blessings

Serious service..

I write this in a mood of frustration and at the same time a mood of great disorientation. In recent time's God's blessed me with a number of people who have really challenged my idea of church and mission. Through many recent encounters and conversations, as well as the amazing opportunity to serve on Parish Council i've come to consider the reasons why i find myself so frustrated with my own generation. On a broader scale i've been also considering how to get people into the doors of church, how to share with them the love of Christ, ultimately so that we might be Christ's tools in the bid to grow a church of disciples who love and serve Christ.

One of the big things that have really stuck out to me is the subtle yet toxic temptation for people to rest back into their Christian circles. I've observed, and been guilty of this very thing myself that we delight in fellowship to the extent that all we do is be with our Christian brothers and sisters. The issue is not that our churches are necessarily inward focussed, but that we get so hyped on the beauty of the church and in awe of the great gifts God has bestowed upon its people that we forget that we have those connections within the church so that we might be doing His work. Fellowship is a beautiful gift from God however it is useless if not through edification and encouragement, we are building up a united front for the fight in which the winning of souls for the sake of Christ should be our prime objective, as Jesus told us to do in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:16-20, to the glory of God!

God's word does not promise a comfortable life for Christians. One the contrary, Jesus said in John 15:18-25 that the world would hate the disciples, because the world hated Christ Jesus, and as He explains, therefore also God the Father. We cannot shy away from our ultimate mission because of discomfort. Things will happen in life, unexpected things that will have a great impact on us. They will truly be a test of character, but what we live in as Christians is the certain hope that we have a guaranteed inheritance of an eternity under God's rule in His kingdom. Let us continue to pray with humility that we might place the needs of others first, and that especially includes those who yet do not know Christ's love. This means leaving our insecurities at the door, not focussing on the personal loss of boldly speaking the gospel as in comparison to the larger scheme of the winning of souls this is merely a foolish act of selfishness. Amen?

Peace and blessings

2011what?

(Newtown, Sydney, photograph by Alex Archer, 2008)

Well it sure has been a while.

I'm sitting here this sunday morning looking onto a grey sydney day, the mist fogging my view of the city. I've been thinking what i could write for this post, and to be honest, i'm a little stumped.

So much has been happening, my life is moving on, but what's harder to keep up with? Everyone else's lives are moving on.

It's a massive time of change, the transition isn't fun at all, but here's some simple truths that are pulling me through:

> God is in control

> He has a plan for His people

> Although we may feel useless and hopeless, God will use us at our lowest

> Pride and selfishness are like sunglasses.. they polarise your view of everything (that was a joke; yes it was)

I really don't know what else to say, my head feels empty. Maybe i need to get back into some form of education? my brain needs some stimulation.. deeper thoughts are on their way!

Peace and blessings