My city of Ruins

There is a blood red circle
On the cold dark ground
And the rain is falling down
The church door's thrown open
I can hear the organ's song
But the congregation's gone
My city of ruins
My city of ruins

Now the sweet bells of mercy
Drift through the evening trees
Young men on the corner
Like scattered leaves,
The boarded up windows,
The empty streets
While my brother's down on his knees
My city of ruins
My city of ruins

Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!

Now's there's tears on the pillow
Darlin' where we slept
And you took my heart when you left
Without your sweet kiss
My soul is lost, my friend
Tell me how do I begin again?
My city's in ruins
My city's in ruins

Now with these hands,
With these hands,
With these hands,
I pray Lord
With these hands,
With these hands,
I pray for the strength, Lord
With these hands,
With these hands,
I pray for the faith, Lord
We pray for your love, Lord
We pray for the lost, Lord
We pray for this world, Lord
We pray for the strength, Lord
We pray for the strength, Lord

Come on
Come on
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up


For those who would say the boss hasn't produced anything great since the 80's (they're talking rubbish!), this song stands as a great challenge. I say if the boss had only recorded this song since the 80's that would be enough.
It is the final track from the album 'The rising' which, except for this track interestingly, was written after september 11, 2001. The album is one of the most moving and nuanced commentaries on that event that has been produced.
This track is outstanding, and for our purposes is a perplexing testimony to the need for resurrection (It is almost a modern exposition of Ezekiel 37). The reality of death and desolation; the need for renewal and new birth; the powerlessness of man and the prayers for divine intervention are all beautifully witnessed. When connected to the september 11 attacks and the experience of New York as a city, the impact of the poetry is amplified.
We need a new land; a new place free from the evil, destruction and desolation of this world. How can we possibly get there?
"With these hands, I pray for the strength, Lord. With these hands, I pray for the faith, Lord. We pray for your love, Lord. We pray for the lost, Lord. We pray for this world, Lord."

Deep Water

Deep water
soothes;
it cools.
I float effortlessly.
The current moves me where it wills,
and I wait.
Depth disarms,
and can alarm.
What lies beneath?
Unknowable,
untameable,
deep water.

Top Five - Christmas Carols (in order)

Christmas carols are an indispensable part of Christmas. Here are my top five:


1. O Holy Night - performance appended.
2. Joy to the World.
3. Hark the Herald angels sing.
4. O come all ye faithful.
5. God rest ye merry, gentlemen.

Broken

I am broken
It goes unspoken
I'm not a local
In this world of pain and grief.

And I'm an outcast
This world moves so fast
each day just won't last
and I feel so weak and small.

I'm a winner
and I'm a sinner
sometimes a grinner
but I am in between today.

But there's a man upon a cross
his love just won't be stopped
so I'm gonna give it all I've got
and somehow he'll pull me through...

through all this sadness
to a place of gladness
to a place of no tears
where I don't have to fear.

Movember - III

The end of the matter

Ecclesiates is one of my favourite books of the bible. I find that it clears away much of the dross that can confuse my perspective on life. I call it biblical existentialism; it reminds me that there can be pleasure in simple things; that there are rhythms to life that should be expected and accepted; that there are things I will never fully comprehend, and ultimately that I am accountable to God.

Here is the teacher's final words.

Ecclesiates 12:13-14.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Top Five - Sandwichs

I love a good sandwich. There are many types. Here are a few of my fav's.

Top Five Sandwichs.

1. Cream cheese, Roma Tomato, Salami on crusty italian loaf.
2. Subway Meatball sub with the lot (yes, that includes jalapenos).
3. White slice, beef sausage, sauce oozing onto the hand...
4. The great aussie bacon and egg roll (BBQ or tomato sauce depending on the mood).
5. Chicken schnitzel, lettuce, mayo, salt and pepper on wholemeal.

Because He Lives

God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.


How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives.
But greater still the calm assurance,
This child can face uncertain days because He lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.


And then one day I'll cross the river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain.
And then as death gives way to victory,
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone!
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives!



This great song was written by Bill and Gloria Gaither in 1971. This couple from the southern states of the USA have been writing gospel choruses for over 40 years. This is their best known.

Movember - II

Slipping

At sixteen I knew who I was;
I'd figured out the world and God;
Counted all my costs;
I was in control, yeah.
I was in control of my life.

But now at last I've lost my way,
I'm slipping through another day.
I've wandered from the narrow way,
I'm slipping through another day.

I'm afraid they'll be disappointed;
she already feels neglect.
Everybody wants a piece of my,
but I've nothing to invest, yeah.
I've nothing to invest anymore.

Now at last I've lost my way,
I'm slipping through another day.
It's hard to stand on feet of clay
when you're slipping through another day.

Now all I've got's this piece of wood;
a hand; a nail; some blood; my food.
One man; an act; a death; some grace.
There I find my only place.
Yes all I've got's this piece of wood;
a hand; a nail; some blood; my food.
One man; an act; a death; some grace.
There I find my only place.

Otherwise I'm blown astray;
Slipping through another day.
Slipping through another day.
Oh Lord, don't let me slide away.
Oh Lord, don't let me slide away.

Movember - It begins

I've joined a team to celebrate Movember (check out the website for information). This is the first instalment of a short photo diary of my experience.
I've decided to grow my Mo in homage to Errol Flynn.

A Holy Meal

Just finished this marvelous little book, A Holy Meal: The Lord's Supper in the Life of the Church.
It is a brilliantly constructed, brief, insightful, holistic discussion of the significance of, what we at my church call, Holy Communion.
I think anyone would be hard pressed to find such an accessible and thorough treatment of the topic.
Smith takes time to explain the importance of the sacraments as symbols in the life of the church.

"Like a sign a sacrament points to another reality without necessarily looking like that reality. A sacrament is an external symbol that is visual an sensory, but its primary significance is that it is a gesture, a communal act, or a ritual that points to and enables a community to join together in something of spiritual significance. What is noteworthy is the close connection between the symbol and what is symbolized, so close, indeed, that in human speech they are identical, as with a photograph. I can hold up a picture of my grandsons and say, "These are my grandsons," and no one wonders whether I am confused by a little piece of coloured paper. We understand this kind of language; it is customary in our common life to use photographs and speak of symbols in this way. To take this kind of language literally would miss the point and would rob us of both the capacity to use language well and the wonderful gift of symbols. Without symbols our lives would be flat and one-dimensional. Symbols and sacraments enrich our lives, enabling us to engage spiritual reality with heart and mind, indeed, with our whole selves."*

He then proceeds to celebrate the meaning of this sacrament of the Lord's supper using 7 words; Memorial, Communion, Forgiveness, Covenant, Nourishment, Anticipation and Eucharist. Here is one of his lovely summary statements;

"When we celebrate the Lord's supper, the ascended Lord Jesus Christ himself is in our midst as one who will ultimately host us at the marriage supper of the Lamb. We believe in the "Real Presence," one might say. But as Jesus himself stresses, he is among us as one who serves. This is the wonder of this table. Jesus meets us and hosts a meal; he forgives us and feeds us. Through intimate communion and fellowship with him and with our sisters and brothers, we look back (in remembrance), but we also look ahead to the kingdom that is yet to come. We renew our baptismal identity and vows as people of the new covenant. And with hope we identify with the Lord himself, who is the servant of all."**

Excellent read.


* Gordon T. Smith. A Holy Meal: The Lord's Supper in the Life of the Church. pp24. Baker Academic, Michigan USA (2005).
**Gordon T. Smith. A Holy Meal: The Lord's Supper in the Life of the Church. pp98. Baker Academic, Michigan USA (2005).

Home

Isn't it great to feel comfortable somewhere; to feel secure and relaxed; to be grounded in a place and know your surroundings; to be familiar with the smell, colour, sounds.
I've been at home for a couple of days recently.
I know that on a sunny day I can lie on the bed and read in the afternoon and watch the trees sway in the breeze, see a couple of rosella's fly by and doze off for 20 minutes or more.

It's challenging to feel out of place; to be not at home; to be surrounded by the unfamiliar. You find yourself hyper-alert, forced to make uncomfortable decisions out of necessity.
I just started a new job this week; working with new people; in new places; with new expectations placed upon me.

It must be strange to be at home, but not at home at the same time.

Here's some thoughts from the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10.

"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad."


This reminds me of, tunes me into, the discordance that is part of our experience as Christians. Somedays I feel it intensely. Other days, I need to be encouraged not to forget it.

Top Five - Music Albums

I love music. There a great songs, there are great artists, and there are great albums; when all the songs combined create a tone, a shape, a feel that surpasses the achievement of each individual song.

Top five music albums I own.

1. U2 - The Joshua Tree.
2. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run.
3. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue.
4. Norah Jones - Come Away with Me.
5. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet.




[I know this is cheating, but some others that could have made the list...
Oasis - What's the Story Morning Glory.
Pearl Jam - Verses.
Radiohead - The Bends.
Texas - White on Blonde.
Sting - Brand New Day.
Counting Crows - August and Everything After...]

Idol worship?

Check out this article - 'Ten slaps gag on Idol worship' - in the herald today. Most of you would be familiar with the 'Today/Tonight' segments exposing the so-called AOG church affiliations of the Australia idol finalists.
I quote from the article;

"After television reports suggested some finalists were being supported by a huge Christian voting audience, the makers of the show have tried to distance themselves from the issue.
Although no wrongdoing has been proved (most Idol contestants have huge communities supporting them, whether it be a country town or a church community) television chiefs are concerned about the effect of the stories on the "street cred" of the show."

Is it just me, or is this so typical of our secular-materialist society. Vocal community support of individuals in sport, music, the arts is widely praised unless it comes from a religious organisation. Then it is weird, subversive, conspiratorial. People have been taught to be paranoid about organised spirituality. Thoughts?

Underground

Big night last night.
I can't remember her name,
but her face lingers in my mind.
Another piece of me wrapped up
in our selfish history.
Another scar burned deep in my soul.

Big night last night.
I can't remember the place,
but the beat lingers in my mind
Another piece of me wrapped up
in the laserlight ecstasy.
Another scar formed deep in my soul.

We go round and round and round and round;
we're twisting through this underground.
Where it stops nobody knows,
and all the while destruction grows.
Round and round and round and round and...

Big night last night.
I can't remember the reasons,
but the pain lingers in my mind.
Another piece of me wrapped up
in our brokendown dependency.
Another scar burnt deep in my soul.

We go round and round and round and round;
we're twisting through this underground.
Where it stops nobody knows,
and all the while destruction grows.

Round and round and round and round;
we're ducking, weaving through this underground.
Where it stops nobody knows,
and all the while destruction grows

Ugly death

I write this post having just been involved in the care of an adolescent that died soon after coming to hospital. The experience is raw.

Having watched the life of a person extinguished before my eyes despite our attempts to save that life, I cry with the Psalmist,
"My heart pounds in my chest.
The terror of death assaults me."*

Having watched a family overwhelmed with grief clinging to the lifeless body of their loved one, I weep;
"...you have crushed us in the jackal’s desert home.
You have covered us with darkness and death."**

With the teacher, I am perplexed;
"I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people."***

With the apostle, I exclaim,
"Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?"
With sober joy, and sympathy for the lost, I trust;
"Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord."****

Like creation, I groan,
"...with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."*****

And I wait;
"Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ."******




*Psalm 55:4.
**Psalm 44:19.
***Ecclesiates 7:15.
****Romans 7:24-25.
*****Romans 8:21-22.
******1 Corinthians 15:54-57.

To the last Ridge - IV

At the battle of Villers-Bretonneux. April, 1918.

"Several men arrived at a chateau on the outskirts of the town. It had belonged to a millionaire, and was regally furnished. There was an aviary in the grounds where birds from all parts of the world were kept. They were all dead - killed by the gas that the Germans had poured into the town before their attack. The men entered the chateau, found a billiard table, and with a typical gaiety began to play while bullets smacked through the window above their heads. They sniped the enemy through a hole in the wall between shots. One of them was pounding ragtime choruses on a grand piano."

To the Last Ridge, W.H Downing. p 123. Duffy and Snellgrove, Sydney (1998).

Top Five - Sydney Tourist Activities.

As a bit of light relief (and because I think it's fun) I'm going to start a new series called 'Top Fives'. It will be a broad ranging tour of things I think are good and will hopefully get you thinking about things you like (things to be thankful for?).

To Begin...


The Top Five Activities for tourists/visitors in Sydney.

1. Bronte to Bondi Walk.
2. Circular Quay to Manly Ferry.
3. Fish and Chips at Balmoral Beach.
4. Picnic in the Royal National Park at Wattmolla Beach.
5. Dinner then whatever's on at the Opera House.


You can see I have a bias for beaches...

Jerusalem, my happy home!

Jerusalem, my happy home!
Name ever dear to me;
When shall my labors have an end,
In joy, and peace, and thee?

When shall these eyes thy heaven built walls
And pearly gates behold?
Thy bulwarks, with salvation strong,
And streets of shining gold?

There happier bowers than Eden’s bloom,
Nor sin nor sorrow know:
Blest seats, through rude and stormy scenes,
I onward press to you.

Why should I shrink at pain and woe?
Or feel at death dismay?
I’ve Canaan’s goodly land in view,
And realms of endless day.

Apostles, martyrs, prophets there
Around my Savior stand;
And soon my friends in Christ below
Will join the glorious band.

Jerusalem, my happy home!
My soul still pants for thee;
Then shall my labors have an end,
When I thy joys shall see.

O Christ do Thou my soul prepare
For that bright home of love;
That I may see Thee and adore,
With all Thy saints above.



This hymn by Joseph Bromhead and was published in 'Psalms and Hymns for Public or Private Devotion' ( Brittania Press, Sheffield, 1795). Bromhead is thought to have been a Catholic priest who reportedly based the hymn on the writings of St. Augustine.

To the last Ridge - III

Of being shelled at Polygon Wood, the third battle of Ypres. September, 1917;

"By the red and flickering light of the sheelbursts men could be seen running and staggering, bent low. They dropped into what had been a trench, into shellholes, enduring, enduring with tautened faces, lying close to the ground, crouching as they burrowed for dear life with their entrenching tools, while the storm of steel wreaked its fury on tortured earth and tortured flesh. There were on all sides the groans and the waling of mangled men. A seargent ran around his platoon. He saw by the flashes bodies twisted and doubled and still, and dying men with eyeballs protruding and slightly wavering, blowing bubbles of blood from their lips as they breathed. Then the top of his skull was lifted from his forehead by a bullet, as on a hinge, and his body fell on two crouching men, washing them with his blood and brains. We were in the front line, but did not immediately know it. The din was frightful. A man with a blackened face and shattered arm ran bleeding towards the rear. A officer was seen in flashlights yelling in a corporal's ear. The answer was unheard. The corporal moved hither and thither, found what men he could, and motioned them forward. We stumbled from shellhole to shellhole by ones and twos with panting breath and shiny faces. One fell writhing. They disappeared in the flickering luminous smoke. The smell of burnt explosive was thick and pungent. Bodies, living and dead, were buried, tossed up and the torn fragments buried again."

To the Last Ridge, W.H Downing. p 76-77. Duffy and Snellgrove, Sydney (1998).

John Piper Friday

I'll let John Piper speak for himself this week on Nominalism in the Church.

Phews 14: Monday, July 16, 2001.

MEANINGLESS RELIGION:
I preached yesterday (15/7/01) from Ecclesiastes 5:1-7. I had 4 points that I wanted to share with you all.

1) Religion can only be meaningful if it is directed towards the true God. This is implicit in verse 1.

2) Religion that comes to God to give rather than receive is meaningless. This is what is meant by the sacrifice of fools in verse 1. God does not need us, we need God this is foundational to the gospel, and yet so many christians live their lives with a mindset of giving back to God (attempting to repay the debt). We should always come to God seeking to be healed, and strengthened by Him. It is we who are impoverished.

3) Religion that makes false promises is meaningless (the vow of fools). Making promises to God that either we cannot keep, or do not intend to keep trivialises God. It treats Him like a man, and raises our intentions above His.

4) Meaningful religion arises only out of awe for who God is. Proverbs phrases it (multiple times) like this. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom". Only if we perceive God as infinitely greater, more powerful, more significant, more wise, more pure, more righteous... than us can we begin to have a meaningful religion. Everthing else is like chasing after the wind.

To the last Ridge - II

Of being in the mud at Montauban, France, 1916.

"The dead lay everywhere. The deeper one dug, the more bodies one exhumed. Hands and faces protruded from the slimy, toppling walls of the trenches. Knees, shoulders, and buttocks poked from the foul morass, as many as the pebbles of a brook. Here had been a heavy slaughter of English lads four days before; so great had been the price in blood and sweat and tears of those few acres. There were also German dead, but it was hard to tell them from the resr, for khaki is grey when soaked and muddy.
Our clothes, our very underclothing, were ponderous with the weight of half and inch of mud on the outer surface, and nearly as much on the inner. Casualties were heavy in the sixty hours we were in that place. The days were bad, but sixteen hours of a cold, pitchy night was a burden not easily borne. We were shot at from three sides, and it was torment. There was no hot food and no prospect of it. We drank shellhole water, as it was too cold for the corpses to rot. We were soaked from head to feet (the feet that were never dry all that winter) with sweat and icy mud"

To the Last Ridge, W.H Downing. p 17. Duffy and Snellgrove, Sydney (1998).

Strong Man

Jeremiah 9:23-24.

This is what the LORD says:
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,

but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,"
declares the LORD.

Devils and Dust

I got my finger on the trigger
But I don't know who to trust
When I look into your eyes
There's just devils and dust
We're a long, long way from home, Bobbie
Home's a long, long way from us
I feel a dirty wind blowing
Devils and dust

I got God on my side
I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing
It can turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
And fill it with devils and dust

Well I dreamed of you last night
In a field of blood and stone
The blood began to dry
The smell began to rise
Well I dreamed of you last night
In a field of mud and bone
Your blood began to dry
The smell began to rise

We've got God on our side
We're just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing
It'll turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust

Now every woman and every man
They want to take a righteous stand
Find the love that God wills
And the faith that He commands
I've got my finger on the trigger
And tonight faith just ain't enough
When I look inside my heart
There's just devils and dust

Well I've got God on my side
And I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a dangerous thing
It can turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust

It'll take your God filled soul

Fill it with devils and dust


This brilliant song by the Boss is written to express the devastating experience of young American soldiers in the Iraq war. It is a painful, stark and honest description of the way in which violence and fear can corrupt the soul. This is certainly the road away from the promised land; it is hope destroyed, love undone and faith exhausted.

John Piper Friday

If you didn't catch it in Sunday night's sermon:


"God’s holiness is his infinite value as the absolutely unique, morally perfect, permanent person that he is and who by grace has made himself accessible in Jesus Christ."

Wines worth trying

For September's tasting:

Nepenthe Wines, Adelaide Hills, South Australia.
2006 - Pinot Gris.


Pinot Gris as an unblended varietal is coming into vogue, especially coming out of regions known for great white wines - Adelaide Hills, Margaret River, Clare Valley. I was fortunate enough to visit Nepenthe on a recent trip to SA. They are best known for their Sauvignon Blanc, but I prefer this. Almost translucent, peach in colour, and very light in texture. It is herbaceous and sharp with a hint of orange zest.
We had it with a baby spinach, chorizo, roasted tomato and brie salad. Beautiful!

Emergency Sex

About 3 weeks ago I finished reading a book with this provocative title, 'Emergency Sex (and other desperate measures)'. It is the short recollections of 3 young people who worked for the United Nations in the ninety's spliced together chronologically. Their work spanned 4 continents; the conflict zones of Cambodia (where they all met), Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia and Liberia. Each person - Ken Cain, Heidi Postlewait and Andrew Thompson - became involved with the UN for very different reasons and brought very different skills, motivations and expectations to their tasks. It is the convergence and divergence of these three's relationship that shapes the narrative, but it is their 'unedited' experiences of field work that forms the content of the book.
This is a raw, funny, confronting and troubling insight into the reality of international diplomatic work; It is an open window on the lives of the very ordinary people who work in extraordinary circumstances; it is an expose of the paradox that is the United Nations.
If you don't believe that human beings are capable of both great good and terrifying evil, this book is convincing evidence. It is also convincing evidence that this world is not a happy place for massive numbers of our fellow men, women and children.
I thoroughly recommend it. Thanks to my colleague on the clubbe ward at the Children's Hospital who lent it to me.

Here are some excerpts:

Andrew, Rwanda
"This is an average massacre by Rwandan standards, unremarkable in scale or circumstance. Several thousand civilians had gathered in the church grounds, promised protection by th Hutu governor. Hutu militias went methodically through the crowd instructing other Hutus to leave, and government soldiers cut off the escape routes. Then the governor fired his weapon in the air as a kill-the-tutsis signal and the young men drunk on banana beer hacked them all to pieces. It's hard work killing that many people in a confined space with only machetes and clubs, so the killers returned home to their families each night to rest and drink before the next days work. It took three days and so far we know of only two survivors...
What's difficult now, five weeks and four hundred bodies into the dig, is the pile of entwined corpses several yards down in the grave. There's just no way to find the bottom, no matter how often the backhoe goes in. It's a wicked game of pick-up-sticks, whrer I grab a leg or arm of what looks to be the easiest corpse to lift off, only to find that another part of the same bofy is buried under half a dozen others, all of which have the same problem. Sometimes I get obsessed over one that won't release and spend hours on it with a pick and trowel. This annoys my team, because they have to heave off other bodies just so I can extract mine, but I can't face the same body two days in a row."

Ken, Liberia
"We estimate that a third of the women in displaced persons camps have been raped. Half the population of the country was displaced during the war, so if we're right, that means one in six women has been raped. We give questionnaires to demobilized fighters and ten percent of the fighters admit to having raped more than ten times during the war. Not a single prosecution, investigation, UN report, press expose, nothing. It's as if 100,000 rapes never happened.
I shake Mr. Ignatius Peabody's hand. We shake our heads. He's going back out there, through the gates, through the checkpoints. I have to go to a morning staff meeting.
'Thankyou Mr. Ignatius. I can't promise that anything will happen with these reports, but I will pass them on to New York.'
'Ah say, ma people, what we have done-oh'
'Godspeed Ignatius'
'Tank Gawd for life, Mr. Ken.'"



Emergency Sex (and other desperate measures). Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait and Andrew Thompson. Erbury Press, London (2004).

Lost

I walk along these streets at night,
my path is lit by all these bright lights.
The rapper tells my to "walk this way,"
His homeboy replies, "talk this way."

Coke tells me to "drink always,"
but Pepsi is the "choice of my generation."
By this shirt and you'll be cool.
Don't listen to others, live by your own rules.

But I don't know where to go.
And I don't know what to do.
I don't know where to go,
because I am lost without you.
I am...

Don't touch this. Please take that.
My head is spinning, can't find the track.
Everyone says that they have the truth,
but at the same time they ask, "what is truth?"

And I don't know where to go.
I don't know what to do.
Yes I don't know where to go,
because I am lost without you.
I am lost without you.
Yes I am...

John Piper Friday

"If God exists, then He is the measure of all things, and what He thinks about all things is the measure of what we should think. Not to care about truth is not to care about God. To love God passionately is to love truth passionately. Being God centered in life means being truth-driven in ministry. What is not true is not of God. What is false is anti-God. Indifference to the truth is indifference to the mind of God. Pretense is rebellion against reality, and what makes reality reality is God. Our concern with truth is simply an echo of our concern with God. And all this is rooted in God's concern with God, or God's passion for the glory of God."


-Sorry I can't find the exact reference for this, though I think it is somewhere in The Pleasures of God.

To the last Ridge - I

Reading the first world war memoirs of W.H Downing* (see current reading menu). I was given the book by my father with the recommendation that this was 'the best' Australian war memoir.
It is a deeply emotional experience to read this book.
I feel sympathy for the young men whose lives were shattered. I feel revulsion at the horror of war. I feel pride for their incredible courage. I feel fondness for their larrikin humour. I feel shame and anger over the reality of evil. I feel unworthy of their sacrifice. I feel challenged by their persistance and perseverance...

Here are some excerpts. Tell me how they make you feel.

Scores of stammering German machine-guns spluttered violently, drowning the noise of the cannonade. The air was thick with bullets, swishing in a flat lattice of death. There were gaps in the lines of men - wide ones, small ones. The survivors spread across the front, keeping the line straight. There was no hesitation, no recoil, no dropping of the unwounded into shellholes. The bullets skimmed low, from knee to groin, riddling the tumbling bodies before they touched the ground. Still the line kept on.

Hundreds were mown down in the flicker of an eyelid, like great rows of teeth knocked from a comb, but still the line went on, thinning and stretching. Wounded riggled into shellholes or were hit again. Men were cut in two by streams of bullets. And still the line went on.

*To the Last Ridge, W.H Downing. Duffy and Snellgrove, Sydney (1998).

Chaff

This picture sent in by Jill W.


Psalm 1:4-6

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.





A further reminder that is is an open series to anyone who has a photo that adds texture/colour/shape to a part of scripture. Email phil_and_al@yahoo.com.au

125th

Today at my church we held services for the 125th anniversary of ministry on the church property in Croydon. I was asked to pray in the evening service with thanks for the history of the church. I chose to modify David's prayer in 2 Samuel 7. Here is the text of my prayer.


Who are We, O Sovereign LORD, and what is this church, that you have brought us this far?
And now, Sovereign LORD, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving us a future, of your desire to see us prosper and not to harm us!
Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign LORD? What more can we say?
You know what we are really like, Sovereign LORD. For the sake of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have shown them to us.
How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you--there is no other God. We have never even heard of another god like you!
What other people on earth are like your people? What other people, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to sin to be your own people? You have made a great name for yourself when you rescued your people from Sin and Death.
You have performed awesome miracles of salvation in your Son Jesus, and amongst us by the Holy Spirit. You have made us your people forever, and you, O LORD, have become our God.
And now, O LORD God, do as you have promised concerning your Son Jesus. May His name be honored forever so that all the world will say, 'The LORD Almighty is God’. And may your people, the church, prosper as they declare His praises.
O LORD Almighty, God and Father of our Lord Jesus, I have been bold enough to pray this prayer because you have revealed that you will build your church, and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it! For you are God, O Sovereign LORD. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things us.
And now, may it please you to bless this church, St James, our family and your people here. For when you grant a blessing to your servants, O Sovereign LORD, it is an eternal blessing!

Choked

Luke 8:7

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.

up your nose

When one blows one's nose,
no one knows
What one holds
In one's hands.
Can one plan
what comes out,
when one blows one's snout?
When one sees
what has grown
in the depth of one's nose,
Can one fathom what is there?
Does one dare
choose to share?
Together, might we become aware?

As I ponder these my queries,
and develop an obscure theory,
within my nose there is an itch,
feel my face begin to twitch,
and I reach towards my pocket,
for my hanky, to quell this rocket,
that is ready for the launch,
300km up my......
AAAAAAAAAAAAAchew!!!

Is it meant to be green?

Phews 16: Tue, 31 Jul 2001.

WHAT A MESS:
I led church on Sunday night. The sermon was from Ezekiel 33 talking about our responsibility to warn the lost. I closed the service with Philippians 2:14-16a. When I got home, on quite a high after the joy of worship with God's people, I was confronted by this headline in the Sunday paper, '70 girls attacked by rape gangs'. With horror I read about the violent attacks on these young girls. The words of Philippians rang in my head, "...a crooked and depraved generation..."
In an instant I stood face to face with the ugliness of our world. I realised again how much I hate what this place has become, I hate man and his sin. I felt nauseas knowing that the ugliness before me was less about what was outside as about what lay within. I cried for those girls and their families, I cried for those evil boys, and I cried for me. May God come quickly and consume our unrighteousness... come make me anew.

Created

Psalm 139:13

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

Peterson on The Holy

"The Holy, as a name for God, emphsises that God is other, above, majestic. God cannot be understood from below. God cannot be accounted for by what we imagine God might be. God cannot be argued into belief by philosophical reasoning. God cannot be explained or interpreted by notions we have aquired by assembling feelings of reverence from sunsets, spiked with a few stories of miracles, and then legitimated with some comments that we pick up from celebrity interviews. God cannot be subsumed under the categories that we use to classify and order our experience. Holy alerts us to an awareness that God "is different, that in his way he is himself, though not far away, but rather near at hand, in the sphere of the present, inflaming and assuaging convention." God reveals himself. Because of who God is, The Holy, we have to let God tell us who he is. If we insist on using our ideas to form our image of God, we will get it all wrong."


- Eugene H. Peterson, The Jesus Way. p141. Hodder and Stoughton, London (2007).
Quote from K.H Miskotte, When the Gods are silent, p. 183. Collins, London (1967)

wines worth trying

For August I have chosen a wine that was a bargain find for a friend of mine.

Jim Barry Wines, Clare Valley, South Australia.
2003 - Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon.


Bold and full from the Shiraz and with Cabernet tartness. This is Aussie Red, made for barbecued meat. What else can say!

On Jordan's stormy banks

Jordan's stormy banks I stand, and cast a wishful eye
to Canaan's fair and happy land where my possessions lie.

Refrain:
I'm bound for the promised land,
I'm bound for the promised land.
Oh, who will come and go with me?
I'm bound for the promised land.

There gen'rous fruits that never fail, on trees immortal grow.
There rocks and hills and brooks and vales with milk and honey flow.


Refrain

All o'er those wide-extended plains shines one eternal day;
there God the Son forever reigns and scatters night away.


Refrain

No chilling wind nor pois'nous breath can reach that healthful shore;
sickness and sorrow pain and death are felt and feared no more.


Refrain

When shall I reach that happy place and be forever blest?
When shall I see my Father's face and in his bosom rest?


Refrain


The hymn was written by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Stennett (1727­1795). It first appeared in 'Selection of Hymns', a celebrated hymnal compiled by the Baptist editor John Rippon. Samuel Stennett was born in Exeter, but spent his childhood in London where his father served a Baptist church as pastor. In 1758, he succeeded his father in the pastorate of the Baptist church in Little Wild Street, London, where he served until his death. Stennett authored 39 hymns. This hymn is also known by the title Stennett gave it, "Promised Land."
More than any other of Stennett's hymns, "Promised Land" found enormous popularity in 19th-century America. The hymn has appeared in each American Methodist hymnal since Francis Asbury included it in his Supplement to the Pocket Hymn Book (1808). Stennett's eight stanzas are generally reduced to three or four, and several of these may be slightly altered. At some times in American history, evangelicals have reinterpreted Stennett's biblical metaphors with a this-worldly eye toward the promised land just over the horizon on the western frontier.

Peterson on Biblical Worship

"A frequently used phrase by some contemporary Western Christians symptomatic of Baalistic tendencies in worship is "lets have a worship experience". It is the Baalistic perversion of "let us worship God". It is the difference between cultivating something that makes sense to an individual, and acting in response to what makes sense to God. In a "worship experience," a person sees something that excites him or her and goes about putting spiritual wrappings around it. A person experiences something in the realm of dependency, anxiety, love, loss or joy and a connection is made with the ultimate. Worship becomes a movement from what I see or experience or hear, to prayer or celebration or discussion in a religious setting. Individual feelings trump the word of God.
Biblically formed people of God do not use the term "worship" as a description of an experience, such as "I can have a worship experience with God on the golf course." What that means is, "I can have religious feelings reminding me of good things, awesome things, beautiful things nearly any place." Which is true enough. The only thing wrong with the statement is its ignorance, thinking that such experience makes up what the Christian church calls worship.
The biblical usage is very different. It talks of worship as a response to God's word in the context of the community of God's people. Worship in the biblical sources and in liturgical history is not something a person experiences, it is something we do, regardless of how we feel about it, or whether we feel anything about it at all. The experience develops out of the worship, not the other way around. Isaiah saw, heard, and felt on the day he received his prophetic call while at worship in the temple - but he didn't go there in order to have a "seraphim experience."


- Eugene H. Peterson, The Jesus Way. p111. Hodder and Stoughton, London (2007).

Living out Scripture Meme

I was tagged by Andrew (See will-god-keep-gumtrees? in the blog list) with this meme* (I'm not sure I even want to use a word coined by Richard Dawkins) - the focus of which is to identify "that verse or story from scripture which is important to you, which you find yourself re-visiting time after time."

It accords well with my 'Shaped by Scripture' series, so I should direct you to the previous posts in this series that would all be appropriate contributions to this meme, but I will add another in direct response.


Isaiah 40:21-31.

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

"To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.


These verses ( I could've quoted the entire chapter) represent to me the tip of the iceberg of the massive biblical vision of the Holiness and Majesty of Almighty God - in Creation and in Salvation. These verses remind me of the strength, authority and infinite worth of God that are the hope of weak and powerless people.

I now tag Jason Au, Jacko, Laura T, Jill W and Scotty M.





*meme - unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. [Origin: 1976; < Gk mīmeǐsthai to imitate, copy; coined by R. Dawkins, Brit. biologist]Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

Peterson on Sin and Forgiveness

"Praying with David, who knew a good deal about sin, we soon learn that the remedy for sin is not the extermination of sin, not long training in not-sinning, not a rigorous program conditioning us in a pavlovian revulsion to sin. The only effective remedy for sin is the forgiveness of sin - and only God can forgive sin. If we refuse to deal with God, we are left dealing with sin by means of punishment or moral education or concocting some strategy of denial.None seem to make much of a dent in the sin business. No. The way, the only way, is to get in on God's forgiveness. And we do that by confession. No excuses, no rationalizations, no denial, no New Year's resolutions, only 'I will confess...' "


- Eugene H. Peterson, The Jesus Way. p91-92. Hodder and Stoughton, London (2007).

The Lord, He is God

At 00:15 hrs on the 10th of August, 2007, Joel Philip Britton was born.

Joel is an old hebrew name which really is a combination of two of the words used to speak about God in the old testament - Jehovah - the exclusively Jewish name for God based upon the revelation to Moses at the burning bush - and El - a more general term for God.

The prophet Joel is most likely to have prophesied to the southern Jewsish kingdom of Judah before the babylonian exile. His prophecy consists of the declaration of God's certain judgement upon Judah, and a call for repentance in the light of this. After this mighty judgement there will be a restoration.
Chapter 2:28-32 contains a prophecy of God pouring out His Spirit on His people, one of the passages Peter declares to be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. Verse 32, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved," is also used by the apostle Paul in Romans 10 to explain the Gospel's universal call.

The writings of the prophet Joel contain (in 3 short chapters) the clear biblical message that all people will face God's judgement. It is in this context that the call to repentance makes sense, because in the face of the terrifying, powerful holiness and wrath of God, there is nowhere to hide. Only God himself can provide any protection, so we must seek it by turning to him. The magnificent truth is that God promises to respond to repentance with unmerited favour.

It is our prayer that young Joel Britton might hear the Word of the Lord, turn to Him, be saved, and receive the Holy Spirit.

Peterson on the Holiness of Words.

"Everywhere and always as Christians follow Jesus we use words that were first used by God in bringing us and the world around us into being. Our language is derivative (as everything about us is!) from the language of God. Our common speech is in continuity with the language of God. Words are essential and words are holy wherever and whenever we use them. Words are inherently holy regardless of their employment, whether we are making a shopping list, making conversation with an acquaintance on a street corner, praying in the name of Jesus, asking for directions to the bus station, reading the prophet Isaiah, or writing a letter to our MP. We do well to reverence them, to be careful in our use of them, to be alarmed at their desecration, to take responsibility for using them accurately and prayerfully. Christian followers of Jesus have an urgent mandate to care for language - spoken, heard or written - as a means by which God reveals himself to us, by which we express the truth and allegiance of our lives, and by which we give witness to the word made flesh."

- Eugene H. Peterson, The Jesus Way. p66-67. Hodder and Stoughton, London (2007).

Non-Existent Gods

He's the kind of guy, you see,
who trusts his own ability;
never really thinking that he needs a helping hand.
He's living life the worldly way;
making choices everyday,
but God is non-existent in his narrow life.

She's the kind of girl you meet,
who knows it all but just can't see
how serious it is to turn her back on God.
She only ever wants to play;
living life the worldly way,
but God is non-existent in her narrow life.

Non-existent Gods... all around us.
Non-existent Gods... all around us.

He's the kind of guy who feels
that only what he sees it real;
trying to fit it all into his little head.
He's thinking 'nothing can be grey';
making choices everyday,
but God is non-existent in his narrow mind.

Non-existent Gods... all around us.
Non-existent Gods... all around us.

He's the kind of man you meet
who's richer than he needs to be.
He never broke a law he can identify.
We're talking satisfaction guarenteed;
'A set of steak knives yours for free',
but God is non-existent in his business life.

Non-existent Gods... all around us.
Non-existent Gods... all around us.

Peterson on Sacrifice and Faith.

"Sacrifice is to faith what eating is to nutrition; it is the action that we engage in that is transformed within ourselves invisibly and unobserved into a life lived in responsive obedience to the living God who gives himself to and for us, sacrifices himself for us. Faith, of which Abraham is our father, can never be understood by means of explanation or definition, only in the practice of sacrifice. Only in the act of obedience do we realise that sacrifice is not diminishment, not a stoical "This is the cross I bear" nonsense. It does not result in less joy, less satisfaction, less fulfillment, but in more - but rarely in the ways we expect."

- Eugene H. Peterson, The Jesus Way. p51. Hodder and Stoughton, London (2007).

The Promised Land

On a rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert
I pick up my money and head back into town
Driving cross the Waynesboro county line
I got the radio on and I'm just killing time
Working all day in my daddy's garage
Driving all night chasing some mirage
Pretty soon little girl I'm gonna take charge

CHORUS
The dogs on Main Street howl
'cause they understand
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister I ain't a boy, no I'm a man
And I believe in a promised land

I've done my best to live the right way
I get up every morning and go to work each day
But your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold
Sometimes I feel so weak I just want to explode
Explode and tear this whole town apart
Take a knife and cut this pain from my heart
Find somebody itching for something to start

CHORUS

There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor
I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
That ain't got the faith to stand its ground
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted

CHORUS
I believe in a promised land...


Its impossible to know eaxctly what 'the promised land' that the narrator believes in is like.
We know he feels entitled to it is some way ("I've done my best to live the right way; I get up every morning and go to work each day").
We know he feels a need for it ("But your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold. Sometimes I feel so weak I just want to explode...").
He knows there will be some sort of testing he will have to endure ("Gonna be a twister to blow everything down, That ain't got the faith to stand its ground...")
This is faith in the goodness of the future, and hope in the self. It is psychologically sustaining faith and hope, but is it true and ultimately substantial faith and hope? How do we judge that?

Ark and Tabernacle

Tabernacle - Johann Christoph Weigel, 1695 (left).





Ark - unknown German Artist, ~1400 (right).

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah

Some great old hymns capture the 'promised land' metaphor fantastically. I thought I'd use a few.


Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me till I want no more;
feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain,
whence the healing stream doth flow;
let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through.
Strong deliverer, strong deliverer,
be thou still my strength and shield;
be thou still my strength and shield.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside;
death of death and hell's destruction,
land me safe on Canaan's side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to thee;
I will ever give to thee.


Written originally in Welsh by William Williams (1717-1791) then translated into English with the assistance of his brother, Peter Williams. Williams was a deacon in the Established Church of Wales, and though he served as a curate in two parishes, was never Priested. He became involved in the Revivalist movement as an itinerant preacher throughout Wales for 35 years. He wrote a number of Hymns. 'Guide Me' is famous for being sung by Welsh rugby fans to urge the national team on.

stones

Another picture of mine.

Matthew 3:9

"And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. "

Restored

One of my photos.


Psalm 23:2b-3a.

"he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul."

Remainder

I recently finished this novel given to me by a friend in the publishing industry. It is written by Tom McCarthy who, amoung other things, is the General secretary of the International Necronautical Society (INS). On its website the society's 'Manifesto' contains the following;

"We, the First Committee of the International Necronautical Society, declare the following:-

1.That death is a type of space, which we intend to map, enter, colonise and, eventually, inhabit.

2. That there is no beauty without death, its immanence. We shall sing death's beauty - that is, beauty."*


These declarations already give you an insight into the themes of this interesting novel. It is really a study in existentialism; an absurd insight into the life of a character who becomes obsessed with recreating ("re-enacting") his memories(...are they his?). It is, however, disarming in its capacity to draw you (the reader) into the mind of this character. This inclusion is achieved by first person narration of such simple, honest charm that as a reader one is in the place of a special confidant.

Here are the opening paragraphs;

"About the accident itself I can say very little. Almost nothing. It involved something falling from the sky. Technology. Parts, bits. That's it, really: all I can divulge. Not much, I know.
It's not that I'm being shy. It's just that - well, for one, I don't even remember the event. it's a blank: a white slate, a black hole. I have vague images, half-impressions: of being, or having been - or, more precisely, being about to be - hit; blue light; railings; lights of other colours; being held above some kind of tray or bed. But who's to say these are genuine memories? Who's to say my traumatized mind didn't just make them up, or pull them out from somewhere else, some other slot, and stick them there to plug the gap - the crater - that the accident had blown? Minds are versatile and wily things. Real chancers."**

As a christian (ie. having a vastly different perspective on death to that of the INS), I found myself feeling a great sense of pathos for this (fictitious) person who becomes consumed with creating an eternal present out of his (imagined?) past, such that in so doing the world, and in particular other people, are collapsed into nothing more than props in his narcissitic drama. Is this the essence of sin?
As well as pathos, there was empathy. How often I have wanted other people to do things my way; to fit into my agenda; to control all the things around me so as to make the world perfect for myself.

It reminds me of these words by Iris Murdoch;
“Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.”





*http://www.necronauts.org/manifesto1.htm
**Tom McCarthy, Remainder. p3. Alma Books, Surrey, UK (2006).

John Piper Friday

"...to put it most simply and starkly: the ultimate reason that suffering exists in the universe is so that Christ might display the greatness of the glory of the grace of God by suffering in himself to overcome our suffering. The suffering of the utterly innocent and infinitely holy Son of God in the place of utterly undeserving sinners to bring us to everlasting joy is the greatest display of the glory of God’s grace that ever was, or ever could be.
In conceiving a universe in which to display the glory of his grace, God did not choose plan b. This was the moment—Good Friday—for which everything in the universe was planned. There could be no greater display of the glory of the grace of God than what happened at Calvary. Everything leading to it and everything flowing from it is explained by it, including all the suffering in the world."*

This assertion by Piper (based upon Revelation 13:8, 2 Timothy 1:9, Ephesians 1:4 and Revelation 5:9-12) leads him to the following challenging conclusion;

"Do you see what this implies about sin and suffering in the universe? According to this divine plan, God permits sin to enter the world. God ordains that what he hates will come to pass. It is not sinful in God to will that there be sin. We do not need to fathom this mystery. We may content ourselves by saying over the sin of Adam and Eve what Joseph said over the sin of his brothers, when they sold him into slavery: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20)."*

Is this true?



*The Suffering of Christ and the Sovereignty of God, 2005 Desiring God National Conference. October 9, 2005.

Phews 11: Wed, 30 May 2001.

THE PRIORITY TO REST>

The sabbath is a difficult concept under the new covenant. Clearly Jesus rebuked the legalism of the pharisees regarding the 'holy day', but it cannot be said that He removed the sabbath concept. In fact, He upheld the importance of the sabbath by claiming that it was made for man, and that He as the Son of Man was Lord of the sabbath.
So where does this leave us? I think it leaves us with christians with a priority to uphold the spirit of the sabbath as it is made for our good, as part of our appropriate operating system, so to speak.
So we return to the creation narrative in Genesis, when God rested on the seventh day. Was God tired? It would be hard to sustain such an argument in the light of the power he has just exercised. No, it seems that His 'rest' - when He reflects on the goodness of His action and rejoices in the work of His hands - is in fact the consummation of His act. The seventh day completes the creation narrative, it is not post-narrative. God rejoices and is satisfied. It is somewhat like a siesta after a great meal... it completes that which is good making it very good.
May we make it a priority to seek joy and satisfaction in the work of God in us by resting and reflecting. How you apply that is your responsibility before God, but I would note that one of the historical applications of this is the church service.

Christs Grace and Your Sufferings

This is the best talk on suffering I think I have heard. It is by a guy called David Powlison. He is involved in christian counselling. It was delivered at the 2005 Desiring God conference and can be downloaded from the desiring God resource library (see below). The other talks from the conference are worth a listen also.



http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/1672_Christs_Grace_and_Your_Sufferings/

Seek first

Matthew 6:31-34.

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."


These verses have been so central in my life. In particular during my university years, they were like my compass in navigating decisions and choices. I don't necessarily live up to the challenge (see previous 'shaped by scripture' post), but my guide and standard they remain.

Marriage

My younger brother got married a few weeks ago. It was a wonderful day; as perfect as these days can get.

It was a reminder of the great blessings of God bestowed upon us; the blessings of companionship, complementarity and commitment between a man and a woman; the blessings that the two combined (as God's image) impart into the world through wise stewardship of creation, hospitality and concern for neighbour and loving parenthood.
It was also a reminder of the blessing of God bestowed upon fallen humanity in the reconciling work of Jesus. For as a man commits to a woman in love giving sacrificially of himself, so Jesus Christ has committed himself to his people in love by giving his life as a sacrifice for our sin. As a woman responds to a man in love, so we as Jesus people respond to him in love.

We eagerly await the final consummation of Jesus love affair with his people, when the saints from every time and every place are joined with their Lord in perfect union forever.

wines worth trying

For July I have chosen:

Elliot Rocke Estate, Mudgee, NSW.
2005 - Premium Unwooded Chardonnay.

From a great little boutique winery in Mudgee, this fresh, vibrant, sharp unwooded chardonnay is a lovely wine. Unwooded chardonnays, unlike their bigger oaked brothers (which I like, though many avoid), are accessible, and complement a wide variety of foods. I'd try this one with a non-cream based indian curry like Balti.

Sinai

Rembrandt - Moses Smashing the Tablets of the Law, 1659 (left).





Poussin - The adoration of the golden calf, 1634 (right).

Exclusion and Embrace – V

Volf carefully teases out the challenges of seeking justice in this age, and in so doing establishes the necessary injustice of all human attempts at justice. However, he does not deny the necessity of this 'unjust justice' in a world of violence and evil, but argues that, "There can be no justice without the will to embrace".

"... to agree on justice you need to make space in yourself for the perspective of the other, and in order to make space, you need to want to embrace the other. If you insist that others do not belong to you and you to them, that their perspective should not muddle yours, you will have your justice and they will have theirs; your justices will clash and there will be no justice between you. The knowledge of justice depends on the will to embrace. The relationship between justice and embrace goes deeper, however. Embrace is part and parcel of the very definition of justice. I am not talking about soft mercy tampering harsh justice, but about love shaping the very content of justice."*

Volf goes on to emphasise that practicing this kind of justice is grounded in the salvation activities of God in which evil is named, restrained and judged but within the context of gracious forgiveness and the eschatological reality of perfect justice in which the justice of this age will be transcended by freedom and love.



*Miroslav Volf. Exclusion and Embrace: A theological exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation. p220. Abingdon Press, Nashville (1996).

John Piper Friday (...on saturday)

"Prayer pursues joy in fellowship with Jesus and in the power to share his life with others. And prayer pursues God's glory by treating him as the inexhaustible resevoir of hope and help. In prayer we admit our poverty and God's prosperity, our bankruptcy and his bounty, our misery and his mercy. Therefore, prayer highly exalts and glorifies God precisely by pursuing everything we long for in him and not in ourselves."

Desiring God. p150. Multnomah Press (1989).

Mute

These provocative words sent in by Jill W.
Psalm 115: 2-7

Why do the nations say,
"Where is their God?"
Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
But their idols are silver and gold,
made by the hands of men.
They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but they cannot see;
they have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but they cannot smell;
they have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but they cannot walk;
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

Exclusion and Embrace – IV

Volf expounds the self-sacrifice involved in the new covenant, and so challenges our thinking on the way of seeking reconciliation in relationships.

"The 'blood' in which the new covenant was made is not simply the blood that holds up the threat of breaking the covenant or that portrays common belonging; it is the blood but of self-giving, even self-sacrifice. The one party has broken the covenant, and the other suffers the breach because it will not let the covenant be undone. If such suffering of the innocent party strikes us as unjust, in an important sense it is unjust. Yet the 'injustice' is precisely what it takes to renew the covenant. One of the biggest obstacles to repairing broken covenants is that they invariably entail deep disagreements over what constitutes a breach and who is responsible for it. Partly because of the desire to shirk the responsibilities that acceptance of guilt involves those who break the covenant do not (or will not) recognize that they have broken it. In a world of clashing perspectives and strenuous self-justifications, of crumbling commitments and strong animosities, covenants are kept and renewed because those who, from their perspective, have not broken the covenant are willing to do the hard work of repairing it. Such work is self-sacrificial; something of the individual or communal self dies in performing it. Yet the self by no means perishes, but is renewed in the truly communal self, fashioned in the image of the triune God who will not be without the other."*



*Miroslav Volf. Exclusion and Embrace: A theological exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation. p155. Abingdon Press, Nashville (1996).

Teenage affluenza is spreading fast.

Well worth a view, just in case you forgot about the rest of the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFZz6ICzpjI

Don't think too much...?

Check out this 'opinion' article in the herald by Lisa Pryor. Is it just me, or is the gist of her opinion that no-one should (or does) think too much about what they believe, which is why we all have equally valid beliefs. I would note, however, her bitterness about her previous church experience and her pleasure in the publishing success of the militant atheists Dawkins and Hitchings. This is, in my opinion, simply space filler for the Herald. Surely there is more quality writing out there than this?


http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/ah-the-fervour-in-returning-to-my-flock/2007/07/06/1183351452264.html

Grace

Who am I?
What have I done?
Is this just a game?
Then I've got nowhere to run.

The blood cries out.
My bones dried out.
Where is my good?
Judgement pronounced.

Then it's your grace when you come to me.
You pick me out and bring me in.
You lift me up and draw me near.
You talk to me and you walk with me.
You hold my hand I find relief.
I love you... Lord.

The blood cries out.
My bones dried out.
Where is my good?
Judgement pronounced.

Then it's your grace when you come to me.
You pick me out and bring me in.
You lift me up and draw me near.
You talk to me and you walk with me.
You hold my hand I find relief.
I love you... Lord.

Exclusion and Embrace – III

Volf emphasises the centrality of the crucified Christ in his reflections on the way to reconciliation between enemies.

“At the heart of the cross is Christ’s stance of not letting the other remain an enemy and creating space in himself for the offender to come in. Read as the culmination of the larger narrative of God’s dealing with humanity, the cross says that despite its manifest enmity toward God humanity belongs to God; God will not be God without humanity. “While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son,” writes the Apostle Paul (Romans 5:10). The cross is the giving up of God’s self in order to not give up on humanity; it is the consequence of God’s desire to break the power of human enmity without violence and receive human beings into divine communion. The goal of the cross is the dwelling of human beings “in the Spirit”, “in Christ”, and “in God”. Forgiveness is therefore not the culmination of Christ’s relation to the offending other; it is the passage leading to embrace. The arms of the crucified are open – a sign of a space in God’s self and an invitation for the enemy to come in.”*



*Miroslav Volf. Exclusion and Embrace: A theological exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation. p126. Abingdon Press, Nashville (1996).

John Piper Friday

When commenting on Galations 2:10, Piper concludes;

"The point is: the apostles were agreed on the importance of ministry to the poor because it flows from the center of the gospel—the cross—and because Jesus lived it out. The apostles were eager to bless the poor. It was part of their foundational ministry. I assume therefore it should be a crucial commitment in the church today—in missions and in the ongoing ministry of the church."

Sermon - Gospel to the Nations, Generosity to the Poor. October 23, 2005.

Oil - security - war?

It is reported in the herald that the government is open about the fact that oil supply is a factor in Australia's involvement in Iraq.

What concerns me is the connection drawn between economic security and the role of the defence force. Particularly in the context of a pre-emtive action like that taken by the 'coalition of the willing' in Iraq.

Exclusion and Embrace – II

Volf argues brilliantly, and might I say courageously, for the non-innocence of all parties (perpetrators, victims and the ‘third-party’ observers) involved in conflict and violence*. He therefore establishes the primacy of undeserved grace in the work of reconciliation;

“Where does the ‘no-innocence’ perspective leave us? Gazing paralysed at a world in which “fair is foul and foul is fair”? Listlessly withdrawn from a world in which no improvement is possible, because every action is a shot in the dark? What gain does recognition of solidarity in sin bring? In addition to freeing us “from delusions about the perfectablility of ourselves and our institutions” (Wink, 1992), it pricks the balloons of the self-righteousness of perpetrator and victim alike and protects all from perpetuating evil in the name of presumed goodness. Solidarity in sin underscores that no salvation can be expected from an approach that rests fundamentally on the moral assignment of blame and innocence. The question cannot be how to locate ‘innocence’ either on the intellectual or social map and work our way toward it. Rather, the question is how to live with integrity and bring healing to a world of inescapable noninnocence that often parades as its opposite. The answer: in the name of the one truly innocent victim and what he stood for, the crucified Messiah of God, we should damask as inescapably sinful the world constructed around exclusive moral polarities – here, on our side, ‘the just’, ‘the pure’, ‘the innocent’, ‘the true’, ‘the good’, and there, on the other side, ‘the unjust’, ‘the corrupt’, ‘the guilty’, ‘the liars’, ‘the evil’ – and then seek to transform the world in which justice and injustice, goodness and evil, innocence and guilt, purity and corruption, truth and deception crisscross and intersect, guided by the recognition that the economy of undeserved grace has primacy over the economy of moral deserts. Under the conditions of pervasive noninnocence, the work of reconciliation should proceed under the assumption that, though the behaviour of a person may be judged as deplorable, even demonic, no-one should ever be excluded from the will of embrace, because, at the deepest level, the relationship to others does not rest on their moral performance and therefore cannot be undone by the lack of it.”**



*Volf carefully, however, differentiates what he calls solidarity in sin (the non-innocence of all parties) from equality of sin.
**Miroslav Volf. Exclusion and Embrace: A theological exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation. pp84-85. Abingdon Press, Nashville (1996).

Desert

Tintoretto - Moses drawing water from the rock, 1577. (left)









Roberti - The Israelites gathering Manna, 1490. (right)

Exclusion and Embrace - I

I recently finished reading ‘Exclusion and Embrace: A theological exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation’ by Miroslav Volf. It is essentially a study into the social implications of the gospel, in particular how the gospel is to be manifested in the context of violence and conflict.
I found it to be a thoroughly engaging and challenging read. I thought I might share some of Volf’s analysis over the next few weeks.

When commenting on Paul’s solution to the particularity of God’s revelation to the Jewish nation, and God’s universal intent in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Volf develops a schema for understanding Christian cultural identity;

“What are the implications of the Pauline kind of Universalism? Each culture can retain its own cultural specificity; Christians need not “loose their cultural identity as Jew or Gentile and become one new humanity which is neither” (Campbell, 1991). At the same time, no culture can retain its own tribal deities; religion must be de-ethnicized so that ethnicity can be de-sacralized. Paul deprived each culture of ultimacy in order to give them all legitimacy in the wider family of cultures. Through faith one must ‘depart’ from one’s culture because the ultimate allegiance is given to God and God’s Messiah who transcend every culture. And yet precisely because of the ultimate allegiance to God of all cultures and to Christ who offers his ‘body’ as a home for all people, Christian children of Abraham can ‘depart’ from their culture without having to leave it (in contrast to Abraham himself who had to leave his ‘country’ and ‘kindred’). Departure is no longer a spatial category; it can take place within the cultural space one inhabits. And it involves neither a typically modern attempt to build a new heaven out of the worldly hell nor a typically postmodern restless movement that fears to arrive home. Never simply distance, a genuinely Christian departure is always also presence; never simply work and struggle, it is always already rest and joy.”*



*Miroslav Volf. Exclusion and Embrace: A theological exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation. p49. Abingdon Press, Nashville (1996).

A good word...

com·ple·men·tar·i·ty [kom-pluh-men-tar-i-tee]
–noun
the quality or state of being complementary.
[Origin: 1910–15; complementar(y) + -ity]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)


com·ple·men·tar·i·ty (kŏm'plə-měn-tār'ĭ-tē)
n.
The state or quality of being complementary: "This is where the complementarity of the masculine and the feminine so acutely emerges. They are the necessary poles of a dialectic process" (Therese Namenek).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.


complementarity
noun
1. a relation between two opposite states or principles that together exhaust the possibilities
2. the interrelation of reciprocity whereby one thing supplements or depends on the other; "the complementarity of the sexes"
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.


complementarity (kŏm'plə-mən-târ'ĭ-tē)
The concept that the underlying properties of entities (especially subatomic particles) may manifest themselves in contradictory forms at different times, depending on the conditions of observation; thus, any physical model of an entity exclusively in terms of one form or the other will be necessarily incomplete. For example, although a unified quantum mechanical understanding of such phenomena as light has been developed, light sometimes exhibits properties of waves and sometimes properties of particles (an example of wave-particle duality). See also uncertainty principle.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.


com·ple·men·tar·i·ty (kmpl-mn-tr-t)
n.
The correspondence or similarity between nucleotides or strands of nucleotides of DNA and RNA molecules that allows precise pairing.
The affinity that an antigen and an antibody have for each other as a result of the chemical arrangement of their combining sites.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.


Main Entry: com·ple·men·tar·i·ty
Pronunciation: "käm-pl&-(")men-'tar-&t-E, -m&n-
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -ties
: correspondence in reverse of part of one molecule to part of another: as a : the arrangement of chemical groups and electric charges that enables a combining group of an antibody to combine with a specific determinant group of an antigen or hapten b : the correspondence between strands or nucleotides of DNA or sometimes RNA that permits their precise pairing
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Anatomy

Anatomy is a strange thing;
how all I fit within my skin,
I do not know and cannot tell.
Each organ with its own supply,
of nerves and blood...
each organ with its own personal waste removal system.
Like little people working as a team,
to keep a bigger person running.
Come spleen, come sigmoid colon,
come interventricular branch of the left coronary artery.
Each bit placed expertly,
but with seemingly so little logic, or method.
Like a child with half a puzzle
I sit here endlessly trying to make a full picture...
but left only to stare hopelessly,
as the pieces lie unmatched on the floor of my...
occipital cortex (.... brain.)

John Piper Friday

"The goal of world missions is the gladness of the peoples in the glory of God. The fuel of that goal is our own gladness in God. If we are not real and deep and fervent in our worship of God, we will not commend him among the peoples with genuineness. How can you say to the nations, "Be glad in God!" if you are not glad in God?"

Sermon - Let the Nations Be Glad. November 7, 1993.

The story so far...

It is time to summarise...
God promised land (Canaan) to Abraham's descendents.
The focus of this promise was about God dwelling on Zion in His Temple with His people such that the Nations would know Him.
His people were disobedient and were exiled from the land, God 'left' the Temple.
God promised to return to Zion and vindicate himself before Israel and the Nations - this would involve judgement and forgiveness and the pouring out of his Spirit.
Jesus (God and God's person) came to Zion (Jerusalem) and 'tore down the Temple'.
He was judged as Israel's (humankind's) representative and killed.
Jesus rebuilt the temple in His own body in Resurrection, he was declared by God to be Lord on Zion and of the entire world.
As promised forgiveness was offered to those who would turn to Jesus, and the Holy Spirit was poured out.
God was dwelling with his people in Jesus and by His Spirit in them. This involved a bringing together of different peoples in a new unified humanity, a work that was to continue...

Phews 5: Sun, 22 Apr 2001.

SECULARIST CHRISTIANITY:
Tonight, April 18 2001, the Paul Colman Trio performs at Burwood girls highschool. They are an awesome band, and one of the best live performances going around. Interestingly, however, they were advertised with the following line,
"Bring your non-christian friends to the PCT so that they'll be able to see that Christian music is cool, and Christians can have a great time too."
I'd like to point out some basic errors in thought in such an ad. Thoughts which I think are the basis of a philosophical fallacy I call Secularist Christianity.
1) Are we to think that one of the major factors preventing young people from becoming Christians is that the feel that they can't be cool and Christian? If so, I challenge you with the biblical notion of spriritual blindness. Young people fundamentally aren't Christian because they can not see their need for salvation as sinners under the wrath of God. May we thus confront them with the truth of their dire situation.
2) If we simply show them that they can be cool as a Christian, are we not putting Christianity on the same level as any other group of people? Do we not just assure them that they will not be different from everyone else, so not to worry? If so, is that not fundamentally opposed to the bible which calls us to be 'Aliens' in this world?
3) Is it not logical to conclude that by advertising in this way we are showing that as young Christians we are ourselves afraid of being rejected by the world? Is this not, however, what we are told the world will do to followers of Christ?
Many more thoughts could follow, but that will do... Responses?