Grace and consequences
So I said to someone today, "I need to go do this, because there's the point to which God has grace, and then there's the point at which there are consequences." I decided later on that I disagreed with myself. Basically it's because the two are not mutually exclusive. There is always grace. Grace always exists, whether are consequences or not, grace always exists. So consequences don't negate grace. But I also realised that grace doesn't negate consequences. For example, with Ninevah, there was grace for the people who repented, but the town was destroyed anyway. Grace exists yes, but there has been an order set in place for this world and actions have consequences. There are some things that have to happen. Grace means that your sins are forgiven and that you are counted as righteous. It doesn't always mean that there aren't repercussions. So grace doesn't negate consequences either.
In the midst of it all
Found this and liked it. I want to be like this, preaching and continuing on in spite of extreme adversity, speaking without wrong intentions and not for the pleasure of man, but for the pleasure of God. It's good stuff. 1 Thessalonians 2:2-4But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.
Battle Zone
I have said before that when you live in the DTES it is easy to be reminded that you are in a war zone. But particularly this week you are reminded that we are in a war and this is a battle. If you are living here you know what all this is about. If you are connected with our community and not living here, you probably still know, so I don't need to tell you. If you aren't in our community, that's ok, you don't need to know, because God does. Please pray. And to all those in my community who are living here, this is my offer to you all. I can't go up to you all and ask how you are. I know me, and I will forget or miss someone or something like that. But this is my offer to you, if I am in my house it means, "Would you like to talk?" This will be my position all week (to be extended if necessary). So if you want to, take me up on it. I am available for it. Love you guys all heaps.
I feel pretty
I have a new dress. It is very pretty. It is white. It is for Phantom of the Opera. I like my dress. It is nice.
Chain of events
I love stories, and one of the places that I am in at the moment is 2 Samuel, which is as good as story as you have ever heard. And it's probably all the more so because of the Hebrew tradition of story telling. I figure they include things to tell it like a story and so you see how it all connects and why it's in there and they weave the threads through as they go. One interesting thing to do is the track the story of Joab, he is such an interesting character. But I've actually been looking at the implications of David's actions. This stuff has impacted me before, but even more so on a second reading of it. So here's somewhat of how it goes.David should have been off at war. Instead he's at home, congratulating himself on what a great state his kingdom is in. Then he gets distracted and ends up committing adultery, murder, thievery, deception and who knows, probably other things that I haven't pointed out. And yes he comes before God and asks for forgiveness and receives this. But it does say that God was displeased with David (2 Sam. 11:27) and then Nathan tells David that the sword will never pass from his house and that evil will be raised up against him out of his own house (2 Sam. 12:9-10). So God forgives him, but there are still consequences. Watch what happens. In the very next story we have Amnon and Tamar where Amnon molests his half-sister and gets Absalom really mad because Tamar was his sister (2 Sam. 13:1-22). There is so much significance in this being the next story. Not only do you have this mirroring of David's actions in his family, but in many ways, it is this incident that sets up the rest of the flow. In a few years Absalom murders Amnon and it had been after plotting and scheming and waiting until exactly the right time (2 Sam. 13:23-29). Because of this he fears David and runs off and this sets up this whole exile situation between Absalom and David (2 Sam. 13:37-39). Then David is convinced to let Absalom come back to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 14:22-24) but still Absalom doesn't come into David's presence for another two years (2 Sam. 14:33). So you can imagine the kind of relationship that there must be between the king and his son and the time. David did welcome him and love him, but there has got to have been some tension. It would certainly seem that Absalom felt this way. After another four years it seems that Absalom decides to exact more revenge, this time on his father (2 Sam. 15:7-12). And he ends up getting a whole bunch of people on his side and the come against David. Through a bunch of decetion (2 Sam. 15:32-34; 16:15-19; 17:7-14) David ends up not being defeated by Absalom and instead Absalom ends up getting killed (2 Sam. 18:14-15). But this is not before Absalom has slept with all of David's concubines in public view of everyone (2 Sam. 16:22). From this David returns to his people but we also see here the beginnings of the split of Judah and Israel (2 Sam. 19:41-43). Talk about nothing in a vacuum. If that isn't evil rising up against you, then I don't know what is. And we have swords out and about everywhere. There is also the direct fulfillment of the private actions turned public prophecy. It's all there. And then it sets up the divisions of the kingdom. And it all comes from one action. It's got to be the same in our own lives. Do we notice it? Are we that mindful of it? Yes, God is gracious and loving, but God is just, and there are consequences. And sometimes the consequences are infathomable. I wonder if David ever realised it. I wonder how he felt if he did. I wonder how we would feel if we saw how our actions can change the course of lives. It's worth thinking about.
Matthew 25 - Will you make it?
So parables are cool. Most people like a story, do they not? But I think the risk with parables is that they are often passages of Scripture that are used so often. We've all heard them too much that we think we must know what they are all about, and are not expecting to get anything new from them. Matthew 25 consists of three parables. Two of them are the parable of the talents and the parable of the sheep and the goats. They are both such common parables that if you know any of the parables, I really probably don't have to say any more than that and you know what I am talking about. However the first parable is the parable of the ten virgins, and I know that of all the parables, that's probably the one that I have heard the least about. Thank God for His provision, because if it wasn't the first one in the list my interest probably wouldn't have been piqued and and wouldn't have gone down the train of thought that is to follow. Here it is:One of the things that we are to notice when reading parables is that they are often linked and you can have a couple in a row that expand upon an idea to give you a whole picture. In Matthew 25 we have three stories about two groups of people and one main individual (and then one other individual, just to make life interesting) who think that they have everything worked out. In particular they think that they will make it to eternal life (whatever the individual analogy of the particular parable). However, they don't. They thought they were, but they didn't. I read it and think, "Wow, that's got to be worth taking notice of. When could you think that you would make it to heaven and you wouldn't?" Here are my thoughts on the answer. Parable of the virgins: You think that you will enter eternal life because you think that you will have time to sought out your relationship with Jesus. But because you didn't do it when you had time, you get distracted (even if it is in getting ready to find Jesus) and you miss him. Wanting to have had things in order at sometime is not enough of a reason to enter eternal life. (The other interesting individual is in this story, but I'm leaving him for this blog.)Parable of the talents:You think that you will receive eternal life because you didn't do anything wrong because you didn't do anything. However doing nothing will not be considered as merely an avoidance of wrong. Instead it is seen that you wasted what was given to you and you didn't do anything with it. You didn't use it to be more than you were given. And for the guy in the parable, what he had was taken from him and he was thrown to the place of darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth. Not doing anything to risk losing what you had is not enough to enter eternal life.Parable of the sheep and goats:It would seem that these goats had the most chance to get "in" of the lot who missed out. You are doing something. It's not even necessarily that you are doing nothing. But it would seem that what you do counts. It is not enough to be doing things that are thought to be nice or even that people might feel good about themselves for doing (this stuff is not specifically referred to, but I figure these people thought they were doing something right). You must have a focus on others. You must see other people as Jesus. You must reach beyond yourself into a broken and hurting world. Otherwise you miss Jesus. Just doing something 'nice' is not enough for you to enter eternal life. What is enough? It would seem that we need to deal with our relationship with God now. It is not enough to wait for the right time, or until we are ready. There may never be the time tomorrow. Now is the time. Second, we must be diligent with what has been given to us. We must not squander it, either by being lazy, or even afraid. Do not, in any way take for granted what God has given you. Finally, we must have our focus where it should be. It is not on ourselves. It is on others and on a hurt and broken world. And it is about reaching out to them and touching them and knowing them and caring for them. So that's my thoughts. Wow, longest blog in quite a while. And they are just the beginnings of my thoughts. Feel free to let me know what you think. I am certain I have missed stuff, and I may have interpreted stuff wrong, or I might have just missed the whole picture, so let me know!
Life keeps going on...
So I haven't written in a while. Five days I think. Wow, that's a record for longest time without posting, at least when I've had complete computer and internet access. Life is very full and very good. Sometimes life is so much beyond words that its hard to describe. That's pretty much how it has been for me. Life is beyond words at the moment. It's not a bad thing. It just means I have no idea what to put down here. God is good though. Pray that I keep faithful to Him, that I seek Him beyond all else, that I fall more in love with Him everyday and that He is glorified in my life.
It's all about perspective
So I walked with one of my friends last night and we went up the tower of the Harbour Centre that overlooks the city. It was an absolutely gorgeous view and it was just at sunset and it was beautiful. And we got to look down over the whole city. It is definitely worth getting up there for a look, particularly if you have a camera. There was a number of observations to be made.It is spring, and so there are trees, that a few weeks ago were bare and black are now covered with leaves coloured in the new green of spring. And it reminded me of the seasons, winter has passed, spring is here and with it comes new life. Nothing stays the same, but hope is never far around the corner.The other opportunity we had was to look down on our city. Vancouver is very beautiful, but truly, what made it so special was to be able to look down on our lives. There are so many places that you can see the locations and remember what has happened there. It was an amazing perspective, kind of like looking down on your life and reflecting on what has been. Even for me, with only 2 months here, the journey has been incredible. God has brought me so far. It was good to be able to share life and where we have been. There is something about this that draws you together so much. It is such a priviledge to have people share some life with you. I feel honoured.
Missing pieces
I often talk about my life and finding pieces of the puzzle. Well, I found some missing pieces tonight. I have been missing community, but I hadn't really been sure why, because I still have been in community but something was missing. But tonight I had the opportunity to be there for people and be real for them and feel God using me and it just being good and right and how it was supposed to be. And I realised that this is a huge way that I connect with God, Him connecting to other people through me. It's kind of sweet. And I discovered that this is what I have been missing from community. But it's so cool, because I just have so much, I have been given so much, and so I have so much to give. God is good!
A strange twist of events
So just when you think you have it all down, you don't. I'm not working anymore. I rang up and told the job that I didn't need it because those I was ministering with saw me as too valuable to lose my time, and so they are supporting me in that. It's kind of cool (actually, it's very cool and amazing, I just have a habit of saying things that way). And apparently my lack of blogging causes a disturbance in the virtual atmosphere, so apologies for that. Really, life has been on this other level. Words seem inadequate. Maybe I'll work out how to get it down at some stage... mabye not...
Signs of the times...
So I happened to look in the mirror this afternoon at X-Culture and guess what I found. There are at least 5-6 grey hairs on my left temple. Apparently the last 8 weeks have been more challenging than I really thought because they weren't there when I left for here! But God has been really good, and someone reminded me today that they are wisdom. And you never know, they just might be, because I really do feel that I have gained so much while I have been here so far.
Oh, and I heard something today that had to make me laugh."I'm not lost, I'm just temporarily displaced between two locations."Had to be a male, didn't it?! :)
Monetary Income
So I have been procrastinating about getting a job for weeks. I really don't want one, because it takes away from ministry time, but I also need one. So there had been a job that one of my friends had told me about that I had emailed and phoned about but hadn't heard anything (apparenty he didn't call because I sounded vague and slurred my words a bit because of my accent - I can do that). So we decided to actually go visit today and so I had an interview on the spot and I start training on Monday! It was bizarre and in some ways I don't think it is what you know but who you know, but praise the Lord for His provision. He is good. And now please pray that I can do call centre work, that it will fit in with all that God is calling me to and that God will use me there for His purposes. Life is good, and so is God!
A few things
Just to keep you all informed:If you hadn't worked it out yet, I am planning on staying here for more than a year. I'm pretty sure that is where God is leading me.Also, for those of you who know, Sean says he is safe!Finally, I am doing much better. Strange how things work out.
Funny Things
Sometimes you know things without knowing them.Sometimes the unexpected is not that unexpected. Sometimes the end of the world isn't.Sometimes you remember that life can never be planned.Sometimes it's funny how things work out.
If things are the same, why do they change?
If things are the same, why is it different?
If this is truth, did I believe the lie?
If this world is made of certainties, am I standing on the shore?
Nothing ever changes, nothing stays the same
Nothing lasts forever, make the most of every day
If you blink you might have missed it
If you stop it will pass you by
In this world of changing seasons
Time just keeps marching on
Don’t take it for granted
Don’t be sure that it will be there
The race is not always to the fastest
But don’t slow down on the way
Something always changes, some things stay the same
You never know which you will get, don’t waste it all away
It begins at every corner
It starts at every door
While nothing is for certain
I can’t help but ask for more
Life Lessons
For the last four years God and I have had a yearly lesson. In order they go, God's faithfulness, sacrifice and obedience, love for souls and complete dependence on God. I think I had forgotten that this was the lesson for this year. Or thought that I had learnt it. God reminded me once again that it is all about doing things His way and completely trusting and depending on Him. So once again, He gets His way, which means trusting and not doing things my way and making things happen. It means leaving it in His hands and knowing that He will take care of it. I am also incredibly grateful for friends and community who reach into your life and also speak into it when you need it. Jesus, thank you for the way that you minister to us through people.
