Blog Yellek

Last year I blogged about the Influencers conference and those posts have been some of the most popular on my blog. This year I’m going to try and do it again with the headline speakers being Joyce Meyer, Sunday Adelaja and Matt & Laurie Crouch. The above piccy shows the new stage layout. The curved supports are entirely new, replacing the white backdrop painted for the last BU conference, as is the white paint on the sides of the steps (the tops are still black). The front steps are as before with some new curved steps in the upper section that you can’t really see from this picture. As usual there are a lot more lights. I’m hoping that the plasma screens you can see in the background are a lot less obtrusive than they were last year with them descending from the roof after worship.

Joyce Meyer is kicking off tomorrow night and it should be a blast!

Dan’s Data has an interesting piece on how video games will bring about the end of the world where he talks about a future where the virtual world is so compelling that people will become totally absorbed in it to the exclusion of participating in the real world. He then postulates dire consequences because only religious extremists will be able to resist the allure of these games and he doesn’t want to live in a world where the extremists are in charge.

It’s an interesting idea. I’ve talked before about my decision to give up games and maybe I’m fulfilling what Dan is talking about. Christianity, after all, is about dealing with the world as it is rather than retreating into a virtual world. Sin and the pain associated with this fallen world is very real. If people are retreating into their virtual worlds to avoid dealing with it there is no resolution. I feel the allure of that retreat very strongly but I know that the only way of dealing with my sorry state is not to deny that it exists but rather to acknowledge it before Jesus and allow Him to forgive me. If p[eople are retreating into virtual worlds how much more difficult will it be to reach them for the gospel?

It’s an interesting thought.

There has been a lot of discussion in the media recently about the separation of church and state, particularly in relation to the proposal by the federal government to spend AUD90M on funding chaplains in schools . This is a bold move on the government’s part because it flies in the face of so many cultural beliefs of our post modernist/humanist society. Most recently I listened to a debate between the two Chris’s via podcast from ABC local radio in Adelaide . Former Labor senator Chris Schacht , an avowed atheist, was livid that the Labor party was allowing this to be supported and was giving full reign to his outrage. Christopher Pyne , Federal Liberal member for Sturt was trying to defend the government’s position and, I thought, not doing a very good job of it. Here then are some of my thoughts on the arguments being advanced in this debate.

The Government Shouldn’t be Choosing who is and is not a Suitable Person to Be a Chaplain.

This is ludicrous. The government chooses now who is and isn’t a suitable person to be employed in a school. This is to protect the children from either incompetence or malicious intent. If a school decided to employ someone who was a paedophile, advocating violent Jihad or promoting animal sacrifices I would hope that the government would have something to say about it. These standards apply to all people employed in schools and I don’t see this program as any different. As for the suggestion that the government will be vetting people’s religious beliefs and only allowing those who agree with the government’s particular ideology, that is simply scaremongering.

Look at all the Problems the Church has had with Paedophiles, We Don’t Want People Like that Looking After our Kids.

Indeed we don’t. The fallacy here is associating the church necessarily with paedophilia. Yes there have been examples of paedophiles in the church but is the incidence really greater than that in the rest of society? Is it just that the media rightly holds the church to a higher standard that cases of paedophilia receive more prominence? Is it just that the church is such a big prominent organization that it presents an easier target? Because of that prominence it is easy to hold up the examples and characterise all churches that way but is that fair? Haven’t all churches taken steps to ensure that a higher standard of child protection is in place? I know the measures taken by my church and they have been so successful that our program is being used across the country as an example of how to do child protection. With these standards in place can people really say that to employ someone from a church is to employ a paedophile?

My real argument here is that the government has to assess school workers now and do background checks and that this process be no different with those appointed as school chaplains - there really should be no difference.

Won’t the Chaplains be Brainwashing our Kids?

I have two arguments with this. Firstly, from a Christian perspective, becoming a Christian is entirely a person’s choice. You can’t be brainwashed into it because the relationship is between God and you directly. This can happen because Jesus died on the cross so that you can be holy enough to have a direct relationship with God. No brainwashing can get around the requirement of your own choice.

Secondly, what is everyone so afraid of in Christianity? What are the churches teaching that is so objectionable? Aren’t our laws based on the ten commandments anyway? Are the virtues of grace and love so hard to swallow? Quite apart from the fact that Christianity isn’t primarily about the requirements to live a good life aren’t the churches teaching things that our society values anyway?

Wouldn’t Secular Counsellors be Better?

I believe that we are both physical and spiritual beings. Any solution that ignores the spiritual component of our makeup is going to miss dealing with an essential part of our nature. Secular counsellors are not going to deal with that part of us so that, whilst what they do can be very helpful, they are not going to address the spiritual root causes of some of the problems attacking our youth.

Conclusion

In this debate we have to be mindful that a lot of the arguments are being advanced by people who are themselves religious but in different ways. Chris Schacht is an avowed atheist which is a religion in and of itself. To put atheism on a higher level than other religion whilst espousing a post modernist relativistic philosophy is the height of hypocrisy.

Gracie poses an interesting question over at .:unD0n3:. from her sociology course: Does Man make Religion or does Religion Make Man?The premise here seems to be that man makes religion as a social thing with the implication (by Karl Marx no less) that a truly enlightened person can dispense with religion because they have realized that they don’t need it.

My first reaction to this is that a system of rituals and conventions has no meaning in and of itself but rather needs to be imbued with a sense of greater truth in order to have relevance. The rituals without the truth still has an echo of it’s former meaning but increasingly it is succumbing to the trap of placing something else at the heart of life where God is supposed to be and nothing good can come of that. The worst of all people is the person who is deluded into thinking that the rituals and practices have eternal meaning when only a relationship with the person behind them can give you that. This is why “religion” is such a dirty word around PCC.

If man has to create religion in order for society to function then what are we lacking that we need to do so? Is it that we are just not enlightened enough to see that we can survive without it or is it that all of us are longing for a restored relationship with our creator? Why if humanity is the ultimate expression of the animal kingdom as some would have us believe do we need to create something above ourselves to believe in when no animal does so? Isn’t it that our nature is both physical and spiritual and that we need to come back into relationship with the almighty to fulfill the marvelous creation that each of us is?

Pity the person who denies God for they have an empty existence burying the pain of separation from the love of God all the time insisting that they are free of it when in actual fact deep down their spirit is in agony over their estrangement. It is not for nothing that Jesus says to us:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

There is an interesting comment discussion going on on a post I posted about a month ago : burnout leadership and vision the balance of attitude. I mention it because some of you might have an opinion and want to weigh in.

Pastor Ashley has been talking lately about the laws of sowing and reaping, how the bible establishes the law that what you sow you shall reap. The bible is full of examples of people who sowed good things and reaped the rewards as well as people who sowed bad things which eventually found them out.

My question is: If there is a law of sowing and reaping then what hope is there for me, a sinner, to reap the things I do not deserve in life? Jesus died on the cross for my sins by grace and I can believe for that but what about other things? What if by failing to sow good things in my relationships with my family that I will now reap the consequences of a separate life lived away from them? If sowing and reaping is really a law then can I exp[ect any different? What if by somehow failing to invest in the right relationship skills there is no hope of finding a family of my own? What if by my past actions it is too late? Can I ever be a father?

It’s dark where I’m at tonight. I stood down the front of church tonight and poured my heart out to God in worship because there is no other place for me, He is all I have. Sometimes faith is doing what you know to be true. God has a plan but sometimes it gets dark on the way and you go through those places when you wonder if all is lost and the path you had expected isn’t the one you are on. Without specific promises to guide you how can you know that what you think you want is in God’s will for your life? I have to believe Him, there is nothing else that can save me. I have to believe that the one who created me knows the desires of my heart and will bring them to pass. I have to trust Him with everything.

Yes there is a law of sowing and reaping but isn’t there also a law of grace? Sometimes when you are in a low place you have to hang on for grace too.

Over recent times I have been following a couple of sites (Lifehack.org and 43Folders) that talk about all those little productivity tips that make life easier and help you to get things done. As these sites are secular they don’t necessarily talk about all of those things in your Christian life that you never seem to be able to find time for, like praying and reading the Bible. I figure that there are heaps of things that could be contributed in this area so I thought that I’d share a couple of mine.

If you are like me there will be days when the routine just gets messed up which means that your normal time to pray and read your Bible just isn’t there anymore. Normally this happens to me when I’m up late the night before and so sleep in a little longer in the morning. I know for a fact that I’m not likely to “catch up” when I get home in the evening despite my best intentions (especially if I’m tired from being up late) so rather than get into a multi day slack cycle I sometimes need to fit these things in in the middle of my day.

Idea 1: Read on the Bus
I have an old Palm Pilot PDA with Bible software on it. This morning I managed to read all 5 chapters of our church devotions at the bus stop before the bus came. Sure I didn’t have time to write it all down in a journal like I should but reading on the run is certainly better than missing it all together. You don’t necessarily need a PDA to do this, a small pocket Bible would do just as well.

Idea 2: Pray in your Lunchour
I’m someone that likes to pray whilst I walk so if I miss my usual time to pray in the mornings I can go for a walk at lunchtime and do it instead of what I usually do.

These are simple (and obvious) steps but the trick is to have the discipline to step out of your normal routine and use your available time to do the things that are important to you.

What are your hacks for fitting in your prayer and bible reading when you are busy?

At around 4pm yesterday afternoon Annette’s struggles over the past week finally ended and she went to be with Jesus. Although we knew it was coming there is still a sadness that the vibrant loving friend that we all knew isn’t with us any more.

Annette we are going to miss you. We will miss the way you used to put salt on everything. We will miss your lack of a sense of direction. We will miss the way we used to joke with you and stir you all the time. We will miss the times that we sat across a lunch table at the Paradise hotel after church and laughed and laughed whilst we talked about everything and nothing. We will miss playing Brighton Rummy late at night around Manny’s kitchen table.

We will miss you wisdom. We will miss your attitude that never gave up. We will miss your dedication to Christ that infused everything you were. We will miss your love for those around you. We will miss your no nonsense attitude. We will miss the way that you used to push through anything that was getting you down and press on towards the goal. We will miss the fact that despite the fact that your life hadn’t been easy that you were one of the most positive people we knew.

Annette right now you are enjoying the new body that God has given you in heaven and the blessed fellowship with the Father who has welcomed you home. We can only dream of the day that we will join you when we too can rejoice in His wonderful presence when we will all be together again. Until then we can only hear the echo of you that is left behind in the hearts and lives of so many who were touched by who you are and the way that you brought Jesus closer to all of us.

Annette we both rejoice and mourn. Goodbye till we meet again.

There’s a friend of mine lying in a hospital bed not very far from where I’m typing this and by the time you read this it is likely that she will be dead. Not dead in the eternal sense but certainly the body that she has now will be gone. Every hour that goes by I wait for the phone call that will bring the inevitable.

The final chapter started on Friday when I received a phone call from another friend saying that Annette had taken a turn for the worse and was not expected to live more than a day. I hadn’t even known she was in hospital. I knew that Annette had been fighting a second round of cancer after apparently beating leukemia last year but I didn’t know to what stage the disease had progressed.

I immediately left work and walked down to the hospital because I knew that another friend of mine was there by herself having just heard the news with Annette. Sometimes the carers need our support more than the person who is dying. As I arrived at ICU one of Annette’s sons arrived and went in so I could spend some time with my other friend in the waiting room. I’m not one of Annette’s “inner circle” or family but I wanted to be there to support those that I could. After a time several of the pastors from church and another friend came down to see Annette. As Pastor Mark came out he beckoned to me and I was able to go in to say goodbye. Annette was fairly vague from Morphine but we talked about stuff, about heaven and what it would be like mostly as I recall. Annette and I both knew that she was going to a better place. As I left Annette, most likely for the last time, I told her that I would see her in heaven. With Annette you never have to wonder if she will get there, it’s obvious.

Friday night life group was hard in a way. Annette has been a member of the group I lead for about a year now and a number of the people there are close to her. It was a pretty somber mood. There were tears. Some of them were mine even. In other ways the fact that this was only temporary and that we would get to spend eternity with Annette helped is celebrate the person that she was, except she wasn’t gone, yet.

Over the weekend Annette’s condition improved. Those who went in to see her mentioned that she seemed much brighter and wasn’t even using an oxygen mask. My other friend from the hospital was telling me at church on Sunday how much they had laughed together the day before. Knowing Annette that didn’t surprise me.

I know that because of the weekend there are a number of people believing for the miraculous, that Annette could be healed. I know God can do it but somehow I think that maybe her time on earth is at an end and that we will catch up in heaven. Sometimes the gap between faith and denial is a very thin line indeed but so is the gap between realism and doubt. I’ll keep praying.

Today Annette is worse and I think that sometime soon I will hear that she is no longer with us. We are going to miss her.

Interesting discussion over at Moonshadow’s blog on whether such a thing as deadly sin exists (in both this life and eternally) and what that is. I don’t subscribe to the concept of 7 deadly sins so I think that this refers to Mark 3:29 (a difficult theological concept to grasp to be sure).

What do others think?