No letters after my name. Free to be me.

The Lion And The Man

Sit in front of a nature documentary for five minutes and you get blown away by how violent nature is.  Seems like almost everyone has a predator further up the food chain.

Some may think this is the way nature ought to be - after all, all the beast of the fields and the air need to eat to survive right?

I see things from a different perspective.  Setting aside the awesome wonder and awe of creation as it now stands, I can’t help but think that all of creation is slowly decaying and declining.

Since the fall of man, the earth and everything on it, has been cursed:

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Rom 8:19-21

So think about it for a second.  Next time you check out a documentary on nature, realise that despite the beauty that you see, it’s been slowly dying and decaying.  Then sit back and wonder how awesome things were before the fall.

But our God will restore all things to the way they were before.  And we will see just how beautiful things aught to be in God’s perfect order.

One passage of scripture that captures me in regards to this topic is:

“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Isa 11:6-9

Imagine predators and prey hanging out with each other?  A pack of animals - wolves, lambs, goats, calves, lions and cows - all led by a child as he plays blissfully over a cobra snake hole!

What makes this possible?  “The full knowledge of the Lord” will blanket all our minds - both human and animal alike.  Does all this sound too weird to believe?  I’d agree if it wasn’t for the awesome reality of Jesus.

A friend posted a video on Facebook which gave me a glimpse into what this might look like.  It’s a story of a lion and a man.  Hope you enjoy it…

Piper On Perseverance

Perseverance seems to be a bit of a buzzword in my life right now.  Deep down in my soul is an “echo” of the word as I struggle to meet the daily demands of life.

Even at church, the topic mysteriously landed on my lap.  I occasionally get asked to share a message and we’ve been going through the Sermon On The Mount found in Mathew 5,6 & 7. Lo and behold, I got asked to share on Mat 7:7-11 - which again talks about perseverance.  The audio of my message can be found below.

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And then again tonight as I was checking out some video’s on YouTube, I come across this little beauty by John Piper.  Too often, we choose the path of least resistance in our lives - and this also creeps into our faith.  As a result, faith gets shipwrecked and the hope in God fades away.

When the going gets tough, the tough should get going to God - He is the One that can sustain and deliver us from any obstacle life throws at us.  And if He doesn’t want us to survive that obstacle, He will be there side by side - accompanying us all the way.

I can almost imagine Him looking at the tears streaming down our faces as we face our obstacles and saying to Himself, “in My Kingdom, these tears I will personally wipe away,” - just learn to trust Me.

So in my soul, I’m beginning to thank God for the current hard times because He is teaching me an attribute worth it’s weight in gold - perseverance.  Check out Piper’s video below and I hope you are encouraged by it.

Free Book Offer!

If you’re an Aussie or or Kiwi, then this post is for you!  Bernie Dymet form Christianity Works is generously offering a free book to you.

“How To Get Close To God” is yours simply for the asking.  Click here to order your book right now!  I ordered my copy today and look forward to receiving the book and check out Dymet’s view on life and faith.

I must admit, I don’t know too much of where Dymet comes from and am sometimes reluctant to endorse those I know nothing about.  From his website, he is described as:

“Berni is a dynamic preacher of God’s word, with a passion for helping people to connect with God amidst the realities of life. He has a wonderful ability to communicate deep, life changing truths in a way that makes sense to the rest of us - talking about issues that really matter. Things that each one of us experiences in our own lives.”

For those out of Australia and NZ, Bernie offers the book for $5.50 AU plus postage and handling - still a bargain.

I’ll let you know what I think in due course.  But in the mean time, thank you Bernie for the generosity of your ministry.  I really appreciate it!

The theme of book seems very fitting as we are all in the continuum of life and “hecticness.” To be swamped by the everyday demands of modern life is very normal and I look forward to the advice you offer.

My God

During a season of massive change and upheaval, the following video from North Point Community Church spoke to me is a nice and personal way.  Hope you are blessed by it.

That’s My King

I am often left speechless on the reality of Jesus.  Instead of being a humble peasant living 2000 years ago, I always feel it it my heart that what we know of Him is simply a shadow.  I can’t escape the thought that what the world thinks of Him is drawn from His humble incarnation. But if we were to glimpse into the heavens, we would see a different Jesus.

Revelation does good job for us here:

“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,  and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.  In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” Rev 1:12-16

This goes far beyond the “Jesus loves you” stickers on the bumpers of our cars.  We’re talking about a Being far beyond our ability to comprehend.  And to think that He shed all His glory to walk on this ball of ours is a mind blowing experience.

But even in His incarnation, the heavily “reductionist” version of Jesus has stumped mankind ever since He graced our planet 2000 years ago.  Mankind is literally defined in time as B.C and A.D - a testimony to this great man/God who visited us.

Below is a video based on the sermon by S. M. Lockridge - Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church from 1953 to 1993.  It’s based on video footage taken from ‘The Passion Of The Christ” and it does a great job in pointing to the fact that even in Christ’s humble incarnation, He still managed to alter mankind forever.

Hillsong Conference 2008 Highlights

Check out this cool video summarising the Hillsong 2008 Conference.  So wish I was there.