Tag: God

Where we were once slaves

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‘I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: “The Voice of the Irish”. As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea – and they cried out, as with one voice: “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us”.’ Patrick of Ireland from his letter, Declaration.

A great deal of history, legend, folklore and truth swirls around the great name of St Patrick, especially recalled today, St Patrick’s Day.

In his own words, we learn of a call, not unlike Paul’s to Macedonia, to go to Ireland, where he had previously been a slave, and ‘walk among us’.

The same God calls us today to walk in places where we were once slaves, and graciously and lovingly demonstrate the love of God.  The God of redemption takes the very prison that enslaved us and turns it into a field of salvation, if we choose to walk there. PH

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

Heavenly vision in practical issues

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I am a first time reader of Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost for His Highest and so it was a special moment when I came across the phrase in a daily reading that lends itself to the title of the collection:

‘If we do not run our belief about God into practical issues, it is all up with the vision God has given. The only way to be obedient to the heavenly vision is to give our utmost for God’s highest, and this can only be done by continually and resolutely recalling the vision. The test is the sixty seconds of every minute, and the sixty minutes of every hour, not our times of prayer and devotional meetings.’ March 11

What is it that God has shown you and to what extent has this vision leaked? Take a moment to recall it and then do something, even tiny, to put it into action. PH

Chuck Norris turns 70 and needs Jesus

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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 »

Silent Bob while Safran peels Dawkins!!??

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Popularising priest, Father Bob, said last night on his Triple J show that he intended not to open his mouth today as Father Bob Maguirehe sat in a studio while co-host John Safran did a pre-recorded interview with scientist Richard Dawkins, the author of The God Delusion, during which Safran intends to peel back the personal layers of Dawkins’ objection to God.

I’m trying to decide what is more unlikely – Father Bob remaining silent, Richard Dawkins revealing any vulnerability of  heart or Safran managing to ask a straight question.

I heard Dawkins interviewed elsewhere recently and in response to a question, he spent about 30 seconds breathlessly describing the wonder of apparent design seen in the run of a cheetah or leap of a kangaroo. Almost as if he had forgotten himself, he did what sounded like a double-take and then added that of course the real surprise was to learn it wasn’t design but evolution that created such beauty. Sorry Richard, you sounded more convincing when describing the sense of design. It was almost as if your right brain was betraying your left. Or maybe it was your spirit.

I hope Father Bob does say something, especially if it’s hilarious and also if he can come out with similar comments as these found on his blog:

I think it’s inhospitable to deny God entry to our company. He’s clearly indicated a preference (known as Jesus) to be part of us rather than greater than us, the reputation which sabotaged divine/human relations from the beginning of humanity’s religious awakening until now.

Not sure I entirely agree with Father Bob’s theology (although I prefer his to Dawkins’) but you can’t deny his ability to get into places few other Christian leaders even dare think of going. PH

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…

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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

Jesus out-socialists the socialists

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Following on from yesterday’s blog post All you have to do is live your life comes this gem from Oswald Chambers:

“Jesus Christ out-socialists the socialists. He says that in His kingdom he that is greatest shall be the servant all. The real test of the saint is not preaching the gospel, but washing disciples’ feet, that is, doing the things that do not count in the actual estimate of men but count everything in the estimate of God.” (My Utmost for His Highest, February 25).

Both quotes question our definition of success. Is a good life that quietly leaves a wake of happiness rated below a great life that is noticed and acclaimed?

Is being visible and acclaimed as preacher (or celebrity) to be more highly valued than the simple humility of servanthood? Is it possible to be both good and great?

What of the partly reformed alcoholic standing next to me, singing his lungs out and often teary because of how much he feels loved at his little church? Is he a picture of success greater or lesser than a large auditorium of well-heeled, attractive young people with hands raised?

What “count[s] everything in the estimate of God” in your life? Can you esteem it highly too or are have you given away the high ground of goodness and servanthood to greatness and worldly success? PH

Red castanets and other amazing things

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Yesterday my father lay in intensive care having come through a long and delicate operation to remove a tumour on his spine and to repair the damaged vertebrae. With wires and tubes protruding everywhere, and a neck brace surrounding his head, he raised his eyes and in his post-surgery  voice said, “He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities… and by His stripes we are healed. Thank you, Father. You know its amazing that this God of ours is called Father.” And tears came to his eyes as he contemplated the love of God. Faith well in tact I’d say…

Today as I walked through Leichhardt I came across an old man, grey hair and beard, skinny legs protruding from crumpled shorts, walking with stilted step. He gazed around with a slightly bewildered look and with each step he shook a bright red castanet. As I continued down Leichhardt St, I could hear the regular shake of the castanet as he slowly followed my path. Strange? Perhaps. But give me a red castanet over the hammer and knife wielded on the same streets just days before.

On King St south Newtown we followed a golden Honda Jazz with its back windscreen covered by an intriguing web address – www.yumchaatyourplace.com.au Now there’s a thought….

And the most unbelievable thing of the week – I took my father’s car to the Kmart Auto in Annandale to investigate possible problems with the brakes and some strange noises. After a thorough inspection, Peter told me the car was perfectly safe and although some work was required in the future, “it would be a waste of money to do it now”. Bring it back in a couple of months was his suggestion, “And, there’ s no charge today. I hope your old man is ok.” A mechanic choosing not to do some work now but send you home with no charge. That’s mighty unusual… but beautiful! PH

Do Unto Others and to Yourself

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‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ This is a powerful call to kindness and mutual respect. By gaining insight into the value of others, relative to our own, we act more justly.

‘Do unto you what you have been expecting others to do for you.’ This is a powerful call to take responsibility for our own well-being rather than demanding others to fill our needs, which they never can. By choosing not to blame or bargain, we mature as people and allow others the freedom to give kindness, unhindered by demand.

Neither statement can be fulfilled by humankind without the grace of God abounding in our hearts, restoring true humanity. PH

Ordinary miracles everywhere

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I stood in a hospital ward on Friday night and listened to my 76-year-old father give his medical history to a junior doctor at Prince of Wales Hospital.

This was after he had explained, slowly and deliberately, to the young doctor, that he was a man of faith, had been a minister most of his life and believed in the healing power of Jesus.

His medical history began with having his tonsils out when he was a boy. (I thought, “We could be here for a long time…” I was wrong.) He had them out twice in fact – they either grew back or they didn’t get them all the first time.

Also as a boy, he had an abscess behind his knee. He thought for a while and then recounted his next item – a hernia operation in his sixties. As an after thought he remembered dislocating his elbow.

“Dad”, I said incredulously, “that was when I was about seven – over 40 years ago… and I can’t believe you can remember an abscess on your leg as boy.”

The doctor asked if there was anything else, and there wasn’t. Not bad for someone a few years short of 80.

Then the doctor asked what medications he took. This list was even shorter. “A vitamin C tablet, a vitamin E tablet and a fish oil tablet.”

The doctors stared, wrote something down, and nodded. “That’s very good. You are very healthy.” 

Dad, by way of explanation, told him that he didn’t drink or smoke although he had drunk heavily until he became a Christian aged 32, when “God and I agreed I’d done my fair share of drinking.” He has not touched alcohol since.

Tomorrow my father will have a very delicate operation to strengthen a vertebrae in his neck largely destroyed by a tumour. Once they strengthen his neck, they’ll worry about the tumour. He has spent his time in hospital while waiting for the operation reading the Bible, a book called Faith Like Potatoes, and praying.

When doctors first saw the size of the tumour, its location and the damage it had caused, they could not believe the lack of pain and other symptoms dad had been experiencing.  They felt certain he should have had a range of neurological symptoms but all he has had is a bit of stiff neck.

Dad has said several times that God has told him he will be healed. Who could argue with a man who is already a walking miracle? Please pray for him tomorrow. PH

Too close to the river to care

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Kenyan pastor Evans Mkala Mage, speaking at Eternity today,  had three points he believed God wanted Australian Christians to hear:

1. This land is a refuge ( he didn’t elaborate but the implications are profound when you consider our history and current issues.)

2. We have been given a great deal but need to live with balance.

3. God loves us so much and we need only to reach out and receive this love.

He told a Kenyan parable to highlight these points.

“In Kenya we have a saying: if you a visit a home near the river they will not have any water. This is because they know the river is near and say, ‘I can go and get water anytime’. If you visit a home a long way from the river, you will find they always have water to share with a stranger or those in need. This is because that know how difficult it is to get water, so they make sure they always have a supply.” We are a people living near the river of God’s goodness and abundance but are in danger of taking it for granted and failing to value our supply and share it with others. PH

Temptation comes and SMH falls

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The Sydney Morning Herald has today run an article about an upcoming defamation case in the Supreme Court involving the Annandale Anglican Church and an aggrieved former member.

Easily succumbing to the temptation to take a swipe at Sydney Anglicans and conservative Christian belief in general, the story almost entirely advocates the former member’s position. While that may be in part due to the reluctance of the Anglican Church to comment on specifics, the emotive language chosen and widening of the target to include the “strict Anglican doctrine of the Sydney diocese” shows another agenda at work.

Even the heading places responsibility for the “Anglican stoush” with the “Pastor’s ban” when in reality the ban came only after a long period during which concerns escalated.Read More »

55 Days of Faith and Action

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I’m putting together a devotional book based on a daily email I did in 2006 covering every verse of the book of James. This was a pivotal time for our community as we rediscovered God’s love for the lost and the least. Hopefully early copies of the book will be available by early March when we at Eternity run a conference called ChangeMakers.

James in the New Testament is often regarded as a tough book as it gives little in the way of ‘nice’ promises and plenty in the way of straight down the line challenge.

Beneath the surface though is a simple call to reject the cult of celebrity and greed that can ensnare our thinking and live a life of gentle respect for the poor, the rich and one another.

If you are interested in 55 Days of Faith and Action leave a comment or email me.

Here’s a snippet I came across while editing today:Read More »

God playing tennis

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God-spotting:

“I was dreaming about God. He was playing tennis,” says the boy Jim Graham (Christian Bale) to his mother in Empire of the Sun (Spielberg, 1987). “Perhaps God is our dream, and we are God’s dream,” he continues.

Seen God in any other unexpected places lately? Feel free to share them via a comment. PH

Beach and the blind in Bali

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Rebekah searches for shells at Turtle Beach, Bali, with some of the kids from Eternity Blessed Children's Home.
Take a few Aussies with faith and give them a chance to build relationships with people in another country and culture and God can do great things. Sharing our lives is as simple as searching for shells at the beach and as supernatural as praying for sight to be restored in a church service in a children’s home. We Sydneysiders have been here under three days and have experienced so much already, even blue Fanta… Maybe a post on that later.

Heaven is particular

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“There isn’t a soul in the world whom Heaven doesn’t regard in a particular fashion. There isn’t a sigh or a word that Heaven fails to hear.” The angel Malchiah speaking in Anne Rice’s novel, Angel Time.

We are personal beings despite relentless forces to de-personalise us. We are ‘particular’ and are known by God in a particular (unique, personal, individual) way.

This gives us hope that our particular life and this particular day are known to an infinite God, intimately. PH

Before a word…

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The world has never had so many words. When we consider how few words it took to create the universe, and how many words we produce to get much less done, the efficacy of our speaking becomes questionable. How rare is it in our emails, texts, letters, conversations, sermons, speeches, and dare I say, blogs, are we truly understood. What comfort then in these ancient words of Psalm 139: ‘Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, oh Lord’. There is Someone who always knows the full intent of our words, before we speak and better even than we know ourselves.