Khan Academy Meets the Bible

This initiative looks amazing.

Look at the Book is kind of like Khan Academy ( http://www.youtube.com/user/khanacademy ) but for studying the Bible.

 http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-legacy-i-want-to-leave

I can't wait to see this  in action.  I think it's going to be great.

Trinity Sunday - a Bit of Satire

It was Trinity Sunday the week before last and Ros did a great job of proclaiming how we can know God as Father (it was also Father's Day) through the Son and by the Spirit.

Thought this video from the Lutheran Satire guys was great:

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

Called to be Incendiary!

Loved this talk by Simon Ponsonby given at Pentecost.   His scholarship plus passion for Jesus is infectious.   How we need to get ourselves ignited with the Holy Spirit!  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42fRCqdT6oE

 

Ascension Day

It's Ascension Day today and Jonny Woodrow and Tim Chester's little book, "The Ascension: Humanity in the Presence of God" has really inspired me to pay much greater attention to this much neglected doctrine.   

Here's a great quote.....

The Ascension reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven, our inheritance is in heaven, our treasure is in heaven and our saviour is in heaven. Everything we have of real value is in heaven. Why would we lay up treasure on earth when we can lay up eternal treasure in heaven? 

The Ascension, therefore, impacts our lifestyle decisions: the things we buy, the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the holidays we take.   All will be shaped by the Ascension. 

What's more, our heavenly treasure is secure. So we can take risks with our property, our salary and pensions - not because God guarantees to prevent bad things happening in our lives on earth, but because everything we have of real value is in heaven and it is there fore secure.   

Toxic Religion

On Sunday we looked at how Jesus, in Luke 20 and 21, once again deconstructed religion showing it to be dangerous and damaging.  

The gospel of grace is about what God in Christ has DONE for us whereas religion is about what we DO to gain a right standing before God.
Gospel is about the NEWS of what God has graciously DONE for us, it's about what has happened that we then get to respond to.  
Religion is more about responding to ADVICE through which we can DO things to make ourselves okay.  

And deep within all of us is the desire to earn, to deserve.  The natural inclination of our heart is religion - to do rather than to receive, to earn rather than accept.  

It's dangerous because we become our own saviour through what we do.  Our confidence, significance, peace, joy and sense of acceptance is located in what we make happen.   Consequently we look down on those who don't do what we do and we get pretty cross or frightened when what we do isn't appreciated or affirmed.  When it's all going well for us we feel confident but when it's not we feel crushed.

The answer is the gospel.   When we see what Jesus has done for us and all we are in God because of His work for us, everything changes including our deep desires.  No longer is it about outward action to "tick a box" but it's about a changed heart that becomes the source of a whole new motivation.

Tim Chester in his book The Everyday Gospel uses the analogy of washing the dishes to show the difference between law and grace.  He asks the question: "How can you tell if a religious person has washed the dishes?"   The answer: "They leave the pans in to soak"  Ouch!  Are there any dirty dishes?  No.  Box ticked.  Job done.  You get the points for doing the dishes because technically it's been done.  But you're motivated by law not grace.  The gospel oriented person does the dishes because they want to serve or because they're grateful or because they want to create a place where others can flourish or because they want to model something to others for whom they have a responsibility.

Religion causes damage but the gospel....the Good News of God's loving kindness....creates life.

Distracted by Petty Things

The other day I read an article (Barnabus Fund magazine, March/April 2014) about a little 7 year old boy called Anmol Gemethi.  He went missing on 17 November 2013 after setting off for Sunday school in his village in India.  He was later found having been tortured and murdered.  Anmol’s father said that during the 10 years since he had become a Christian he and his family had received numerous death threats from Hindu extremists.  He had told the police but they appeared to take no notice.  

I share this because it put the rather petty things that distract me from discipleship into context.  I have to be honest and say that compared to a small child who had his toes broken, his body burned and his life taken simply for being a Christian my own reasons for not being more wholehearted in living for Christ seem somewhat pathetic.  

Lord, teach me more about what it means to follow you as I listen to the voices of those persecuted for their love of you.

Golf to the Glory of God

I love 1 Corinthians 10:21: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God".  I love how we're encouraged to do all things in such a way as a spotlight is shone on the all powerful, loving and sufficient Jesus Christ.  But how do  we do that in the ordinary, everyday.  How do we do "whatever we do" to the glory of God?  How do we display the majesty and splendour of God and his amazing grace in all we do?  

What about golf for example?  Surely this must be included in the "whatever you do" so how can those who like to have "a good walk spoiled"(!) play to the glory of God.  If you play or you're friends with someone who does let me encourage you with this article that I read recently by David Mathis.  But as you read be thinking how the principles here might apply to other activities so that we might "do it all for the glory of God".  

The game of golf has tied itself to the beauty of God’s created world like few other competitive pastimes. This is at the heart of the sport’s allure. With no standardized playing area, the designers and groundskeepers are commissioned to nest the course in the splendor of the natural terrain. “The heavens declare the glory of God,” says Psalm 19:1, and the best of links do the same, if you have eyes to see it.

But enjoying creation is one thing, and giving hours on end to playing a game can be quite another. We may be able to drink orange juice to the glory of God, but what about playing golf?

Hazards on the Links

Those of us who might defend our annual watching of the Masters, and playing eighteen every so often, should be swift to acknowledge that the game is not without its spiritual dangers. If we are to play golf to the glory of God, we must beware the aspects of the game that appeal so strongly to our indwelling sin, and our deep yearning for the new creation before it’s time.

Time Consumption. It’s not arbitrary that “golf widow” is a popularly understood term. A single round of golf can quickly consume half a day or more. And it takes an extraordinary amount of time not only to play the game, but to hone the skills, and keep them sharp. This, in itself, is not evil, but Christians will want to wisely assess the time demands, in view of what’s at stake in this “mist” of our lives (James 4:14) and our summons to “make the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). Eternity may give us endless days for feasting in the joys of golf, but for now, we have only tastes.

Expense. Clubs, balls, shoes, bag, apparel, greens fees, club dues, cart fees, and more. Golf is a rich man’s game, and it’s worth approaching this aspect of the sport with Christian conviction. We have been rescued from the world’s patterns of wealth by a Savior who guides us not to lay up treasures on earth (Matthew 6:19). We put our hope in God, “who richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17), and tells us the enjoyment is richest not when it’s hoarded, but used to bless others — “to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:18–19).

Addiction. Those who know golf best can testify to how hooking it can be. You rarely ever hit what feels like the perfect shot, but when you do, that’s what you remember most, and has you itching for another round as soon as possible. And unlike team sports that require other people to play, golf is especially individualistic; you can scratch the itch anytime without need of a companion. But the Christian who enjoys golf will say with the apostle Paul, “I will not be enslaved by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Golf to the Glory of God

Conscious, then, of these hazards, and more, how might we keep it in the fairway and enjoy such a game in a distinctly Christian fashion? Here are four ways, among others, to make the most of golf for our enduring joy, the good of others, and the glory of God.

1. Enjoy God in His Creation

Such is the allure of the Masters, and the game in general. Golf affords a ripe opportunity to experience the beauty of God’s creation, cultivated with skill and meticulous care by his image-bearers. For the born-again believer, freed by the Spirit from suppressing the truth of God’s eternal power and divine nature plainly on display in creation (Romans 1:18–20), golf can be an awe-inspiring and worship-fostering experience (though no replacement for corporate worship!). Pray before hitting the links, sanctifying the experience to Christ, and make a conscious effort to take in the bigness and beauty of your surroundings and not get lost in the scorecard. Thank God for his beauty on display in the course.

2. Rest, Recreate, and Exercise

Golf may be, as some say, “a good walk spoiled,” but it does make for a good walk. Too often motorized carts keep us from enduring the exhilarating exercise that is walking eighteen holes with a bag of fourteen clubs on your back. As for rest and recreation, God blessed the seventh day and made it holy (Genesis 2:3). They are his design and gift, and when we keep our play in proportion, he smiles upon our acknowledgement that we are not God and need not uphold the universe with our unrelenting labors. He means for us to work earnestly, as to him (Ephesians 6:7), and has purpose in our faith-filled leisure as well.

3. Make It a Medium for Relationship

One way to redeem the time-consuming aspect of golf is meaningful conversation. Whether it’s speaking good news to a fellow saint or sharing what truly matters with an unbeliever, few pastimes unfold at such a pace that substantive interaction can occur during the contest. This is one of the key ways that golf can be made useful for the good of our neighbor. Be intentional about who you play with, and what you say.

4. Learn to Deal with Failure

One day, there will be no more failure, only victory. But until then, we limp from one mistake to another, from bogey to double bogey — and golf, like baseball, is a greenhouse for learning to deal with failure. Even the pros rarely hit a shot exactly as they hoped — how much more does golf force us amateurs to reckon with our failures and deal with disappointment?

Alongside exploring the attributes of God, the doctrines of grace, and the doctrine of sin, C.J. Mahaney gives this practical counsel for cultivating humility: “play as much golf as possible.”

In my athletic experience, I don’t think there’s a more difficult or more humbling sport. Rather, make that humiliating — because if you play at all, you know all about those shots that result in laughter from your partners and humiliation for you. No one escapes them — not even Tiger Woods, and certainly not me. (Humility, 94)

We Christians should be the people in the world least afraid of failing. We have a champion who has succeeded for us definitively in all the ways that matter most. Our ongoing sins and miscues are relativized by our union with a victor so great that he frees us to find recreation and humility where others drown in idolatry and pride. The grace of God is deep enough, and the work of Christ is comprehensive enough, that we might even play golf to the glory of God.