Category: FindingFaith

Seeking the face of Jesus in Turin’s Shroud

Peter Hallett4 Comments
A screen shot showing 3D modelling in progress.

‘You have to really seek the face of Jesus if you’re going to find it,’ says 3D computer graphics artist Ray Downing, the man responsible for an ambitious project to recreate the actual face of Jesus from the faint image on the Shroud of Turin. 

‘Something extraordinary had happened here. Something beyond human reason,’ said Ray describing his experience in working with the Shroud.

The incredible results feature in the History Channel’s premiere documentary, The Real face of Jesus, which screened in the US on March 30 and will again on April 3. It is unclear when it will screen in Australia. 

The 2D Shroud image transformed by 3D computer graphics

The History Channel said, ‘For the devout and curious alike, this documentary feature may bring us the closest we have ever come to seeing what Jesus actually looked like. 

‘Science and religion join together, bringing cutting-edge computer technology to an ancient stretch of fabric, and creating a living, moving 3D image of the man many believe to be Jesus Christ.’

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‘Miracle of God’ saves driver

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I am perennially ‘God-spotting’ or ‘finding-faith – looking for those little heartfelt references to God in popular culture or current events.

This morning a garbage truck ran into a house in Haberfield (saw it for myself while driving my wife to work) and the man living there, Danny, told ABC radio that he’d been thinking the house would be better as open plan but this was more than he’d bargained for.

He went on to say that after the impact he ran out of the bedroom and found the driver emerging from the living room saying, ‘I hit a tree.’

‘You hit my house too, mate,’ he countered in typical Aussie fashion.

Then, seeing the state of the truck’s cabin – with the steering wheel impaling the driver’s seat – he said it was a ‘miracle of God’ that the driver survived. He also ‘thanked God’ that his wife and two small children were also unharmed.

Thanks God! We love it when you show up.

Typically, one of Dan’s little kids slept through the whole thing and was taken to his grandmother’s for a ‘special breakfast, none the wiser… PH

Why die, why rise?

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This is my take on connecting with our community this Easter.

‘Christian tradition, pagan festival, money-making exercise… what exactly is Easter?

If it is about someone dying on a cross, and rising from the dead, why?

If it is supposed to have something to do with me, why? If it is supposed to change the world, why?

Easter 2010 at Eternity Christian Church is an opportunity for asking and answering questions; for reflecting, belonging and celebrating.

You may leave with as many questions as you came with or you might just feel you found something…’

The painting is by Canberra artist Ben Sherwood who did this pastel on cardboard piece in about 30 minutes during an Easter service at Newtown Neighbourhood Centre quite a few years ago (if your out there somewhere Ben, drop me a line!) It now hangs in our church and is one of our favourite works of art.

We borrowed the Good Friday Candlelight Service idea from a church in Port Macquarie (saw their posters one year) and it works nicely with the quieter, reflective feel of Good Friday.

Anyway, beyond all the ideas, the spin, the occasion – we really do long to see the mystery of His cross and resurrection undone in our own hearts and for others too.  PH

Living a life of action

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To some, living a life of action might suggest bungy jumping and skydiving. But according to dynamic-speaking-duo, Jeremy and Catherine Hallett (Eternity, March 28), it runs much deeper than extreme sports.

The ‘why’ of living a life of action is to glorify God and see his kingdom advance.

The ‘what’ is to move from apathy (going through the motions) to action to kingdom by identifying ourselves as followers of Christ and stepping into a new boldness.

The ‘who’ of a life of action is everyone, or more specifically, everyone who makes themselves available. The ‘when’ is now and forever, in season and out of season – providing we have taken time out to hear what God wants us to do.

The ‘where’ of living a life of action is to start at home – our relationships, family, daily lives – and allow God to grow it from there.

Finally, the ‘how’ will be different for everyone but starts with rejecting fear and embracing the truth that God gives us abundant life.

Hear anything good at church today? Add it as a comment! PH

Millionaire gives away fortune after pact with God

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Sandwiched between the headlines ‘Sex claims: Hey Dad star to see police’ and ‘Drunk charged after trying to revive dead possum’ is the news that a British millionaire is to give most of his empire to charity after making a ‘pact with God’.

Albert Gubay was broke and selling lollies in Wales after World War 2 when he told God in his prayers, ‘Make me a millionaire and you can have half of my money.’

The devout Catholic has exceeded his side of the bargain, as has God, with Gubay giving to charity all but 10 million pounds of his 480 million pound ($787 million AUD) fortune to charity.

The Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation is required to invest about half of the money into the Catholic Church and the rest can be used at the discretion of the charity’s board.

Gubay made his money through Kwik Save grocery stores and Fitness First gyms, both of which he sold before investing in property.

While I doubt God makes bargains like that, he answers prayer and blesses faith and integrity which Mr Gubay seems to possess, along with keen business skills.

Faith, prayer, hard work, gifting and generosity – a great recipe for success. PH

Source: SMH

Overcoming walls, discerning calls

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‘So how do you know if God is calling you into an area of ministry or service?’ the young person asked as we stirred our flat whites at Deus ex Machina.

It’s a question you are asked many times as a pastor and it is rarely as black and white as people would like.

I told some of my own story of leaving* my ‘calling’ as a journalist to take up a ‘calling’ as a pastor many years earlier. The point being that we serve God in whatever we do when it is submitted to him.

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Just enough bread

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I nearly forgot… Also in the Utterance side-bar, strategically placed at the top, is a Bible verse for the day automatically updated by BibleGateway . The verse appearing right now as a I write – 2.29pm, March 24, 2010, is James 1:12. Here’s my comment on this verse (also verse 11) appearing in my devotional book, Transform Your Faith:

‘James continues to assault the false sense of security we draw from material things. He focuses on that human tendency to try and give our lives meaning by accumulating money, possessions, power, position, fame, and accomplishments. These things aren’t necessarily wrong in themselves, but if we use them as a substitute for God then we are in serious danger. We are reminded that “people will fade away with all their achievements” just like the grass dries up and the flowers wither and fade. Secretly we all know this, even if we do tend to buy into this materialistic approach to life. Something deep inside yearns for eternal things. The good news is that God offers a “crown of [eternal] life” to those who love him and stay faithful to him, regardless of the opposition we may face. This is an offer that does not depend on our works because in the long run, nothing we can do will earn us a spot in heaven. Instead we are encouraged to enter into a relationship with God through Jesus – a relationship built on life-long love. Rich or poor, we can look forward to our earthly lives being crowned with eternal life if we make loving God our first priority…

Growing through serving

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Often our greatest growth comes in the act of serving because the act of serving exposes our greatest vulnerabilities.

Whether these are fear, frustration, impatience, weariness, anger, pride or apathy – once exposed, we have a powerful moment of clarity in which to give our weakness to God and allow him to teach and counsel us.

If we hadn’t served – forcing ourselves to be stretched by circumstance, sandpapered by people and sifted by our own emotions – we might have never realised our need, and remained unchanged.

As we approach Easter we recall two friends of Jesus whose vulnerabilities were shockingly exposed as they served and followed their Master. One acknowledged his grief and drew close to his companions, putting himself in reach of resurrected restoration. The other hated himself and withdrew in shame, positioning himself for self-destruction.

Whether sitting in a conference or working on the streets, both moments present an opportunity to take in and give out. If we make it either/or, we have already stalled our growth. PH

Imagine beyond what we think we’ve learned

Peter Hallett2 Comments

When Jesus reiterated the command to love God  (Mark 12:30)with everything we have he included the mind in the sense of our faculty for deep thought or imagination.

The human capacity to see something first in our imagination before seeing it formed (by the work of our hands or words of our mouth) is drawn from the very image of Creator God who spoke into being what he held in his heart.

Mark Youens, speaking this week in Port Macquarie, challenged the church to rediscover imagination. Just as Einstein’s creative approach to physics led to many of his great discoveries such as the theory of relativity, so too church leaders need to look afresh at the church to see what the real ‘constants’ are. Perhaps, Mark said, it is not Sunday services and church buildings but the making of disciples (Matthew 28:19-20).

Imagination is the ‘playground of the prophetic’ but there are also vain imaginations, such as the kind that led to the Tower of Babel. These imaginations are empty and profitless, manipulated as they are by human ambition.

Too often the church fails in imagination, Mark said, because its leaders have become institutionalised, begging the question, ‘Can we imagine beyond what we think we have learned?’ Another cause is that our imagination is manipulated by our own reason. We take what God has given creatively and make it less so we can hold it more easily in our hands. ‘Some things are never meant to be held in our hands,’ Mark said.

It is a season to re-imagine the kingdom of God as opposed to being preoccupied with the singular goal of building large churches.

Imagine if… PH

Recognise your enemy, especially if it’s a crocodile

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Christian speaker Lynn Tobin of Western Australia tells an amazing story from the rugged north of her state in which a work crew, camped out in the wilderness one night, suddenly hear some raucous singing in the distance.

Being miles from anywhere and anyone, they were stunned to hear any sounds of human origin and so quickly checked around their camp to see where it was coming from.

To their amazement, they saw a man, drunk out of his brain, walking through the marshy countryside, and attached to his leg was a crocodile! The man carried on singing, clearly unaware that the crocodile was trying to drag him off as a meal.

They rushed to their ute to grab tools with which to scare off the beast and had to beat it on the snout before eventually being able to pull the still singing and oblivious man free.

If that was not surprising enough, as soon as they had him free he quickly dashed off into the darkened landscape and out of sight.

The moral to this apparently true story – you can’t deal with an enemy you can’t recognise.

In life we encounter many enemies to our wellbeing, of spiritual or other origin, and too often we fail to let God help us see the true source of our affliction, or even that we are afflicted and could be rescued by his grace. We walk through life singing, with a crocodile on our leg.

As an aside, Lynn also mentioned that when people report having seen or been attacked by a crocodile, the average length is 30 feet when in fact the average size of crocodiles in 12-15 feet. Apparently, the opposite problem to the one above is just as likely – over-estimating our enemy. PH

No growth without change

Peter Hallett1 Comment

Growth is change
              in a positive direction
                         towards Christlikeness
                                we won’t grow if we won’t change.

Change involves continuing to let go of wrongdoing (repentance).
Change involves continuing to let go of hurt and blame (forgiveness).
Change involves continuing to renew our mind with God’s word (learning).
Change involves continuing to enlarge capacity through the Spirit (experiencing).
Change involves continuing to surrender all to the will of God (Lordship).
Change involves continuing to take responsibility for life (self-control).

Obstacles to growth/change include:

  • Failure to decide and commit – we must be intentional about growth
  • Ongoing criticism and judgement – our critical spirit locks us into forced superiority
  • Low self-esteem and pride –   they both say, ‘I can’t be better’ but for different reasons
  • Laziness – we want the benefit but won’t pay the price; we won’t it now or not at all
  • Depression – a loss of the any sense of possibilities. Begin with the small things
  • Being ruled by our emotions – our desire to grow may waiver but the need remains

Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. Gal 6:4-5 TMB

The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. 1 Corinthians 2:14 TMB

Go and see The Blind Side

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“A project for the projects,” jokes one of Leigh Anne Tuohy’s well-to do friends about her taking a poor, black American teenager into her home.

“Count me in”, she says. But want she doesn’t realise is that it isn’t a project, it’s personal.

When one human heart is moved by God and broken for another human being, projects, politics and political correctness go out the window.

As Shane Claiborne said in the Irresistible Revolution, it’s not that Christians don’t care for the poor, it’s that they don’t know the poor.

What  this true story shows is a wealthy middle American mum stepping out of her charity mentality and putting herself in another person’s world and allowing them into hers.

This will always create miracles, regardless of your politics, and your colour.

At the end, Sandra Bullock playing Leigh Anne Tuohy thanks God for the privilege of being able to share her life with Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron).

Well she might. Afterall, it was God who sent His Son to share his life not only with us, but as one of us, that we might live. PH

Transform Your Faith now available

Peter Hallett3 Comments

To the right of this post you can see a ‘badge’ for my self-published book called Transform Your Faith.

It is my first attempt at self-publishing and hopefully not my last foray into the world of publishing!

I have just received the first ‘test’ run of 10 copies. They look pretty good and if you would like one, please let me know asap – they cost $30 which might seem a little high but it includes a $10 donation to aid projects I’m involved in through ChangeMakers. The rest of the cover price covers the cost of printing and delivery.

Actually, you can purchase a copy directly for yourself by clicking on the Transform Your Life badge but if you would like to see one first (which is fair enough) then there’ll be copies on display at Eternity this weekend.

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Oscar puts Avatar in the Hurt Locker

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It was hard to feel sorry for Avatar director, James Cameron, when his film missed out on all the major Academy Awards this week. After all, he does have billions at the box office for consolation.

Another reason is that the Oscars ceremony took so long it was hard to feel anything by the end of it. (I recommend that the Tropfest people take over the Academy Awards and then it will all be over in the roll of a dice!)

When you consider the sweep of movies to be nominated and to win,  some clear themes emerge.Read More »

Possessed by our possesions

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‘Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you. And in this materialistic age, a great many of us are possessed by our possessions’. Mildred Lisette Norman courtesy of Criminal Minds.

‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor…then come follow me.’ Jesus courtesy of Mark’s Gospel, Ch 10:vs 21

Chuck Norris turns 70 and needs Jesus

Peter Hallett4 Comments

Chuck Norris, who turns 70 today, is a world-wide phenomenon, less for his acting attributes in shows such as Walker, Texas Ranger, as for the humorous persona of invincibility that has grown up around him.

chucknorrisfacts.com is one site that carries on the great tradition of implausible Chuck Norris feats such as: ‘According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, Chuck Norris can actually roundhouse kick you yesterday’.

Just goes to show we really do want to have someone in our life who always gets the job done.

In fact, Norris has found that ‘Someone‘ for himself. He is a devout Christian and although, in typical American style, that has sometimes meant getting entangled in right-wing politics, he is a genuine man of faith.Read More »

Into the dark places

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As part of Eternity Christian Church’s ChangeMakers conference, Live life Loud, we have heard from two outstanding Christ followers whose actions amplify their words such as they break through fear and complacency to change us.

I listened to Pastor Sharon Wright describe how she is seeking to be God’s person in the NSW town of Condobolin and was deeply moved by the sowing of her life with the love of God. “We are the prophecy,” she said. “God’s love is the reason.”

Captain Paul Moulds of the Oasis Youth Support Network told us we would be made uncomfortable as he took us into hard places in our city. It was sweet sorrow as we heard the horrific stories of broken lives but also felt the grace of God present there.

After laying a platform which is broken humanity, Paul said with knife-like clarity: “The church of God needs to be in the dark places of our city and towns. These are hard places to be, but if we don’t go there, other people will go there with different purposes and intentions. We must be in the dark places.”Read More »

Timing God’s, patience our’s

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I gave someone this advice today, spontaneously, and decided it was worth repeating:

‘Don’t give satan too much credit. Timing is usually God’s domain; trust and patience ours’.

Now, to take my own advice, that’s the real key… PH

The only way out is…

Peter Hallett5 Comments

See the long-haired, drug dealing/using skinny man with the bad teeth and flared jeans? That’s the one. With the plate of food covered in pepper. You have his measure and feel confident that your approach to life is superior.

As you share a few of your own struggles, though, he smiles, and kindly says: “The only way out is up.” And you realise that you don’t have a mortgage on faith and goodness.

See the neatly dressed older man who sits alone? The one who keeps to himself but is quick to lend a practical hand and quietly admits to you that he is a [reformed – that is, constantly battling] alcoholic.

Overhearing some of your challenges he too offers comfort: “I’ve learned over the years that whenever you attempt something for God, he looks after it.” And you wonder how you, with so much, have chosen to ignore this gracious truth.

“Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that  poor man.” Ecclesiastes 9:15

Can we co-exist downtown and in the church

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I’ve never listened to singer Patty Griffin but the title of her latest album, Downtown Church, grabbed my attention, being part of an inner city church myself.

Bernard Zuel opens his Saturday SMH review of the album with words that give us great insight into the intersection of faith and culture. Zuel, as far as I know, is not a person of religious persuasion, making his words all the more instructive:

“…this is not an album for Sunday morning coming down but for coming up. It’s a gospel record for the not-necessarily religious by a woman in the prime of her songwriting and singing life who grew up Catholic but understands that faith (held and lost) and redemption (sought but not always found) aren’t just matters of pews and pulpits.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself, Bernard. One day I hope you’ll discover for yourself that Christians aren’t (all) plastic and religious but can be real and honest and broken and hurting and alive and full of faith all at the same time.

He concluded his review, commenting on some of the tracks on the album, with further, almost prophetic, insight:

“…that special ache Griffin specialises in: neither outright sadness nor comfortably accommodated acceptance. That they fit seamlessly within this quasi-religious setting explains why Griffin can co-exist in downtown and the church – and make you feel like you could too.”

Better find me a Patty Griffin album. Oh, and by the way, Bernard, I might be able to introduce you to a ‘downtown’ church you may enjoy. PH