On Saturday 26 of March 2011 many cities will observe earth hour.
This is a one-hour switch off for lights. It started in Sydney Australia and has gone globally viral. As such, it’s been an effective public event. However, does it raise environmental awareness to change behaviour beyond its hour?
A parallel can be drawn with Lent.
This is a 40-day time of various spiritual disciplines before Easter and is globally viral for a very long time. It is an effective public event. However, does it raise spiritual awareness to change behaviour beyond its ‘hour’?
Isaiah 58 is relevant. The context was one of religious fasting that was conducted with great display and fanfare. In God’s name he calls for what we can call a life-fast where people departed from wickedness and showed God’s righteousness in their day to day. Calvin somewhere picks up this theme and urges his readers to make the whole of life a fast to and before the Lord.
On this year’s earth hour we are urged to action ‘beyond the hour’. A life-habit of sacrifice to lessen our personal energy consumption is surely better than the hour. Likewise, a life-habit of abstinence and spiritual discipline is surely better than just the 40 days.
By all means let’s choose to observe things like Lent and earth hour. But let’s ensure that they are more than tokens by turning the ‘hour’ into the habit of a lifetime.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Home and away
Exile, or being away, was a tough experience for Old Testament Israel after the fall of Jerusalem. There they were, dispossessed and far from the land promised to Abraham (Gen 12:1; 15:18f). No wonder they found it hard to sing the Lord’s song in exile and far from the place that they regarded as home (eg Ps 137).
This language of home and exile is picked up in the New Testament. Thus Peter can address his readers as ‘elect exiles of the dispersion’ and urge them to conduct themselves with fear through the time of their exile (1 Pet 1:1; 17).
Christian believers, as much as the old heroes of the faith are strangers and exiles who seek the homeland which is the city to come (Heb 11:14-16; 13:14). Our real sense of home is to be with the Lord and away from the flesh (2 Cor 5:6-8; Phil 1:23) which is to occupy our room in the prepared place of the new creation (Jn 14:2-3).
Yet we are called to be in the world rather than to escape from it (Jn 17:15). We cannot live in a ghetto of the coming age and refuse engagement with the present.
How do we put this together?
Perhaps we can use a human comparison.
Let’s imagine a person who is living in a country other than their heartland. Their citizenship, identity and love lies elsewhere, especially if they were wrenched from the heartland. Yet they recognise that they are, for the time being, in another land. Thus they strive to make a fulfilling life in the new, live responsibly there and enjoy what life there brings. However, their sense of who they are and where they are has two dimensions. There is the adopted ‘home’ of the present and the ‘Home’ of their heartland (or, as we call it, homeland). Add to that a Christian identity and we add a third sense of ‘HOME’ as the place of the deepest Christian longing.
This sense of ‘home’, ‘Home’ and ‘HOME’ can help the exile find a working equilibrium in their inner and outer life. She is at home where she is and engages with the life that God gives. Yet he maintains an interest in, love and loyalty to the Home from which he is removed. And beyond that, a sense that all life lived in this age is a homeless exile and thus a refusal to unduly attach to home or Home, lest that tear the affections from HOME.
This language of home and exile is picked up in the New Testament. Thus Peter can address his readers as ‘elect exiles of the dispersion’ and urge them to conduct themselves with fear through the time of their exile (1 Pet 1:1; 17).
Christian believers, as much as the old heroes of the faith are strangers and exiles who seek the homeland which is the city to come (Heb 11:14-16; 13:14). Our real sense of home is to be with the Lord and away from the flesh (2 Cor 5:6-8; Phil 1:23) which is to occupy our room in the prepared place of the new creation (Jn 14:2-3).
Yet we are called to be in the world rather than to escape from it (Jn 17:15). We cannot live in a ghetto of the coming age and refuse engagement with the present.
How do we put this together?
Perhaps we can use a human comparison.
Let’s imagine a person who is living in a country other than their heartland. Their citizenship, identity and love lies elsewhere, especially if they were wrenched from the heartland. Yet they recognise that they are, for the time being, in another land. Thus they strive to make a fulfilling life in the new, live responsibly there and enjoy what life there brings. However, their sense of who they are and where they are has two dimensions. There is the adopted ‘home’ of the present and the ‘Home’ of their heartland (or, as we call it, homeland). Add to that a Christian identity and we add a third sense of ‘HOME’ as the place of the deepest Christian longing.
This sense of ‘home’, ‘Home’ and ‘HOME’ can help the exile find a working equilibrium in their inner and outer life. She is at home where she is and engages with the life that God gives. Yet he maintains an interest in, love and loyalty to the Home from which he is removed. And beyond that, a sense that all life lived in this age is a homeless exile and thus a refusal to unduly attach to home or Home, lest that tear the affections from HOME.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Come you weak
My wife and I went to a church service recently. As we walked in we could hear a group of people singing praise choruses with weak voices and no accompaniment.
There were about 30 of us there. About half came from a nearby home for people with mental and emotional disorders, many due to substance abuse. They would occasionally interrupt the service with odd remarks and wander in and out. The church ensured that these folk were given a worksheet to colour and complete during the service and the more regular members were careful to sit among the people from the home to help keep order. Of the rest, only one man was in modest employment and the rest were retired.
We met in a hall that had recently been renovated with the effect of a warm and welcoming appearance. All the singing was by voice alone and attuned to heaven if not to musical pitch. The preaching was workmanlike and adjusted to the audience and the fellowship cuppa afterwards was warm.
It’s a service we’d go back to despite its modest nature. Why? The caring and thoughtful welcome and reception of the weak and meek from the nearby home. The genuine warmth of welcome to us. But also the kingdom-minded heart of the congregation. This is visibly evident in their finances where this little group gave about $33,000 in offering last year and almost one third of it given to missions.
Here is a little local church in tough circumstances but with a big heart for God’s work. The open door of the church onto the street is a symbol of their heart for the community. An outpost of heaven.
There were about 30 of us there. About half came from a nearby home for people with mental and emotional disorders, many due to substance abuse. They would occasionally interrupt the service with odd remarks and wander in and out. The church ensured that these folk were given a worksheet to colour and complete during the service and the more regular members were careful to sit among the people from the home to help keep order. Of the rest, only one man was in modest employment and the rest were retired.
We met in a hall that had recently been renovated with the effect of a warm and welcoming appearance. All the singing was by voice alone and attuned to heaven if not to musical pitch. The preaching was workmanlike and adjusted to the audience and the fellowship cuppa afterwards was warm.
It’s a service we’d go back to despite its modest nature. Why? The caring and thoughtful welcome and reception of the weak and meek from the nearby home. The genuine warmth of welcome to us. But also the kingdom-minded heart of the congregation. This is visibly evident in their finances where this little group gave about $33,000 in offering last year and almost one third of it given to missions.
Here is a little local church in tough circumstances but with a big heart for God’s work. The open door of the church onto the street is a symbol of their heart for the community. An outpost of heaven.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
A second look at Lent
We are now well into the season of Lent – the 40 days before Easter when many Christians observe a fast of some kind before the Easter feast.
Observing Lent is prominent in some Christian traditions as a way of identifying with the sufferings of Jesus and preparing for the glorious release of resurrection Sunday. Within these traditions, a variety of extra practices have accumulated around the basic themes of self-denial and discipline.
Lent tends to be rejected within strong protestant traditions because of its associations with Roman Catholicism; its compulsion as a man-made practice; the superstitious practices associated with it and because of the easy slide into a view that observing Lent impresses the Lord and earns merit points in heaven.
These are weighty concerns and, put together, make good reasons to steer away from the traditional Lent observances.
However, is Lent worth a second look? Can this season be kept as a time of voluntary and private self-denial in order to give oneself more fervently to the word and prayer and to develop the discipline of self-denial and self-control?
Perhaps a pattern like this can be useful:
Word: extended daily readings in Scripture with appropriate reflection and journaling.
Prayer: extended prayerfulness with particular attention to examine our own soul before the Lord with a view to its improvement and also keeping a balance by focussed prayer on a matter outside of the normal prayer horizon.
Self-denial: choosing to deny or minimise indulgence in something that we are free to do, normally do and enjoy. Thus learning to say ‘no’ to ourselves is a help in developing the discipline to say no to things that we are not free to do but find it hard to resist.
Voluntary: there should be no sense of compulsion on ourselves or an attempt to force or pressure others to participate (eg close friends or family members). Such compulsion quite destroys the moment.
Private: Jesus teaches to keep our praying, fasting and alms giving between God and us and not make a public show. Thus someone keeping a Lenten fast may tell an accountability partner, but otherwise should discreetly keep their fast from public view.
Of course, such a fast can be observed at any time and some may wish to deliberately disassociate from Lent for the reasons above. But again, there is something to be said and gained by appropriately constructed sharing in a long-established and widely-observed devotional practice.
Observing Lent is prominent in some Christian traditions as a way of identifying with the sufferings of Jesus and preparing for the glorious release of resurrection Sunday. Within these traditions, a variety of extra practices have accumulated around the basic themes of self-denial and discipline.
Lent tends to be rejected within strong protestant traditions because of its associations with Roman Catholicism; its compulsion as a man-made practice; the superstitious practices associated with it and because of the easy slide into a view that observing Lent impresses the Lord and earns merit points in heaven.
These are weighty concerns and, put together, make good reasons to steer away from the traditional Lent observances.
However, is Lent worth a second look? Can this season be kept as a time of voluntary and private self-denial in order to give oneself more fervently to the word and prayer and to develop the discipline of self-denial and self-control?
Perhaps a pattern like this can be useful:
Word: extended daily readings in Scripture with appropriate reflection and journaling.
Prayer: extended prayerfulness with particular attention to examine our own soul before the Lord with a view to its improvement and also keeping a balance by focussed prayer on a matter outside of the normal prayer horizon.
Self-denial: choosing to deny or minimise indulgence in something that we are free to do, normally do and enjoy. Thus learning to say ‘no’ to ourselves is a help in developing the discipline to say no to things that we are not free to do but find it hard to resist.
Voluntary: there should be no sense of compulsion on ourselves or an attempt to force or pressure others to participate (eg close friends or family members). Such compulsion quite destroys the moment.
Private: Jesus teaches to keep our praying, fasting and alms giving between God and us and not make a public show. Thus someone keeping a Lenten fast may tell an accountability partner, but otherwise should discreetly keep their fast from public view.
Of course, such a fast can be observed at any time and some may wish to deliberately disassociate from Lent for the reasons above. But again, there is something to be said and gained by appropriately constructed sharing in a long-established and widely-observed devotional practice.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Praying for Japan
See below for a prayer list from a mission team working in Japan and seeking to be useful for God after the earthquake and tsunami ..
ASK & RECEIVE Special JAPAN EARTHQUAKE UPDATE
MTW Tokyo Team
Dan Iverson (Tokyo MTW team leader) written 3/11/2011, excerpts below
Please pray for us as we decide where to go and help with hands, food, water, diapers, and money, etc. At this writing there are more than 1100 dead or missing, and we have the sad expectation that this number will go much higher considering how big and widespread the tsunamis were.
Where to go?
There is 130 miles (200 km) of coastal area devastation from this monster earthquake and resulting tsunamis, so it is difficult to know where we should go to help. We are looking for missionaries or churches in an area to partner with and that could be our base. Pray for wisdom: when to go, where to go, who to go to, and what to take.
So, as we and so many Christians mobilize and seek to relieve incredible suffering and pain in the name of Christ to the 5 million people of the devastated areas, pray that this will bring a turning to the true and living God, and to Christ and his grace and love. Japan really needs true hope that does not disappoint.
It needs to also break our heart that this very rich country is really so spiritually impoverished, with so many with no hope. To put the spiritual darkness of Japan in perspective, Japan averages about 90 suicides per day. It is so sad that already 1100 people appear to have died in the earthquake/tsunami, and yet a normal 12 days in Japan brings about this many suicides. Japan has grown strong economically and educationally and has "made it", with 100% literacy, longest life expectancy in the world, etc. But like in Ecclesiastes 2, so many Japanese people who sought the "abundant" life have found that "all is vanity." Pray for a new turning to the One who really does give abundant life (John 10:10b).
The stats on Japan's spiritual poverty, and especially the affected area:
The areas affected by the earthquake and tsunamis of Miyagi, Fukushima, and Ibaraki are some of the most spiritually needy places in Japan. With over 4.9 million people yet only about 9,000 active Christians (about 0.15%; about 1/6 of 1%). Fukushima has the lowest average worship attendance in all of Japan with only 19 per church. There are is one city and 44 towns with no church at all. There are 86 missionaries (adults, including husband and wife) assigned to these prefectures.
One town in Ibaraki has over 46,000 people with no church and several others have over 24,000 people with no churches. Average attendance for all the churches in Japan is the lowest in Fukushima prefecture. Ibaraki prefecture has the least number of people claiming to have any religious beliefs.
How do we help? Our plans?
We are renting a truck and preparing to go: Need to know where to go. Please pray for that.
We have rented one truck and are having people bring supplies to worship to take up north. Email and cell phone access are down in the Sendai area where things were the worse. We know OPC missionaries there who could be a base for us to help with their churches, if they and the churches are okay, but all we know is that "OPC missionaries the Cummings are okay, but have no electricity or other utilities" (word we finally got 2d hand). And, because the two nuclear power plants in the affected region are a very serious concern, we may not be allowed into some areas to help.
Please do pray for Japan, and for us!
Overall Prayer Points
• Pray for team members: to be prepared with earthquake necessities, to experience the peace of Christ that is greater than any tremor, and to be able to pass that on to others. Pray they would be able to set aside their own fears to comfort others. Pray as they seek to assemble a team of volunteers to go and help in the affected areas, that it would be in God’s timing and the location that would give Him the most glory.
• Pray for the Japanese Christians: Pray that after being jolted from their routines they would look to Christ, and as they contact family members and secure their safety, that God would fill them with a new desire and urgency to love and share the gospel with their families and friends. Pray that God would put it into their heart to give generously of supplies and food, time and labor, to reach their fellow countrymen for Christ.
• Pray against hopelessness – pray that many would not give in to the hopelessness that surrounds them, but would reach out to the true hope found only in Christ.
• Pray specifically for the salvation of our many contacts and friends as they process the “whys?” of this catastrophe. Many students have relatives in the affected areas and may have experienced death directly. Pray that they would be comforted and counseled with the love of Jesus.
ASK & RECEIVE Special JAPAN EARTHQUAKE UPDATE
MTW Tokyo Team
Dan Iverson (Tokyo MTW team leader) written 3/11/2011, excerpts below
Please pray for us as we decide where to go and help with hands, food, water, diapers, and money, etc. At this writing there are more than 1100 dead or missing, and we have the sad expectation that this number will go much higher considering how big and widespread the tsunamis were.
Where to go?
There is 130 miles (200 km) of coastal area devastation from this monster earthquake and resulting tsunamis, so it is difficult to know where we should go to help. We are looking for missionaries or churches in an area to partner with and that could be our base. Pray for wisdom: when to go, where to go, who to go to, and what to take.
So, as we and so many Christians mobilize and seek to relieve incredible suffering and pain in the name of Christ to the 5 million people of the devastated areas, pray that this will bring a turning to the true and living God, and to Christ and his grace and love. Japan really needs true hope that does not disappoint.
It needs to also break our heart that this very rich country is really so spiritually impoverished, with so many with no hope. To put the spiritual darkness of Japan in perspective, Japan averages about 90 suicides per day. It is so sad that already 1100 people appear to have died in the earthquake/tsunami, and yet a normal 12 days in Japan brings about this many suicides. Japan has grown strong economically and educationally and has "made it", with 100% literacy, longest life expectancy in the world, etc. But like in Ecclesiastes 2, so many Japanese people who sought the "abundant" life have found that "all is vanity." Pray for a new turning to the One who really does give abundant life (John 10:10b).
The stats on Japan's spiritual poverty, and especially the affected area:
The areas affected by the earthquake and tsunamis of Miyagi, Fukushima, and Ibaraki are some of the most spiritually needy places in Japan. With over 4.9 million people yet only about 9,000 active Christians (about 0.15%; about 1/6 of 1%). Fukushima has the lowest average worship attendance in all of Japan with only 19 per church. There are is one city and 44 towns with no church at all. There are 86 missionaries (adults, including husband and wife) assigned to these prefectures.
One town in Ibaraki has over 46,000 people with no church and several others have over 24,000 people with no churches. Average attendance for all the churches in Japan is the lowest in Fukushima prefecture. Ibaraki prefecture has the least number of people claiming to have any religious beliefs.
How do we help? Our plans?
We are renting a truck and preparing to go: Need to know where to go. Please pray for that.
We have rented one truck and are having people bring supplies to worship to take up north. Email and cell phone access are down in the Sendai area where things were the worse. We know OPC missionaries there who could be a base for us to help with their churches, if they and the churches are okay, but all we know is that "OPC missionaries the Cummings are okay, but have no electricity or other utilities" (word we finally got 2d hand). And, because the two nuclear power plants in the affected region are a very serious concern, we may not be allowed into some areas to help.
Please do pray for Japan, and for us!
Overall Prayer Points
• Pray for team members: to be prepared with earthquake necessities, to experience the peace of Christ that is greater than any tremor, and to be able to pass that on to others. Pray they would be able to set aside their own fears to comfort others. Pray as they seek to assemble a team of volunteers to go and help in the affected areas, that it would be in God’s timing and the location that would give Him the most glory.
• Pray for the Japanese Christians: Pray that after being jolted from their routines they would look to Christ, and as they contact family members and secure their safety, that God would fill them with a new desire and urgency to love and share the gospel with their families and friends. Pray that God would put it into their heart to give generously of supplies and food, time and labor, to reach their fellow countrymen for Christ.
• Pray against hopelessness – pray that many would not give in to the hopelessness that surrounds them, but would reach out to the true hope found only in Christ.
• Pray specifically for the salvation of our many contacts and friends as they process the “whys?” of this catastrophe. Many students have relatives in the affected areas and may have experienced death directly. Pray that they would be comforted and counseled with the love of Jesus.
Friday, March 4, 2011
My Chinese mum
My Chinese mum would have turned 80 on March 5th. There were plans laid for a family dinner and the restaurant was booked. However this was not to be.
So I’ll record a few things in her memory.
She lived through tough times, including the Japanese occupation of Singapore. This meant the end of education for a promising Chinese girl. It also meant hunger and danger. For example, she spoke of a time when she and other girls were herded into a building that was being prepared for burning until a last minute order saved the day.
She became a tough one – a survivor in real life (not on a TV show). This stood her in good stead during the years of being a wife and mother, during which she also worked as a domestic helper.
She was tough, but not bitter, as some become with adversity. Her throaty chuckle, open smile and welcoming eyes spoke of a heart that stayed warm. Or was it warm because of her suffering?
From her suffering she became sensitive to the suffering of others. This made her sympathetic and a giver to others. She was also sensitive to the suffering of Jesus. And thus I recall one Good Friday service where she saw a clip from the Jesus Film and sat weeping.
It was not natural for her to become a Christian as she was raised in traditional Chinese beliefs. Although coming to church for several years she resisted conversion because it meant abandonment of her other gods and their rituals. When she did convert it was thorough. In the week she was to be baptized she took the paraphernalia back to the temple and left it there, never to return. Even in some later tough times when the Lord was slow to give what she sought, she kept her trust in him alone.
Her faith was simple and uncluttered. She loved coming to church and sat in a favourite spot. She prayed in dependence on God’s provision and learnt hymns of praise well enough to sing when her eyes faded. She enjoyed the company of the people around her, made shrewd assessments and embraced others with love.
My guess is that earthly birthdays are not celebrated in heaven (why would you?). But she is at a far better table than Imperial Treasure in Great World City. She is at the Lord’s table in the heavenly banquet. That is a better place by far and that is a great comfort.
So I’ll record a few things in her memory.
She lived through tough times, including the Japanese occupation of Singapore. This meant the end of education for a promising Chinese girl. It also meant hunger and danger. For example, she spoke of a time when she and other girls were herded into a building that was being prepared for burning until a last minute order saved the day.
She became a tough one – a survivor in real life (not on a TV show). This stood her in good stead during the years of being a wife and mother, during which she also worked as a domestic helper.
She was tough, but not bitter, as some become with adversity. Her throaty chuckle, open smile and welcoming eyes spoke of a heart that stayed warm. Or was it warm because of her suffering?
From her suffering she became sensitive to the suffering of others. This made her sympathetic and a giver to others. She was also sensitive to the suffering of Jesus. And thus I recall one Good Friday service where she saw a clip from the Jesus Film and sat weeping.
It was not natural for her to become a Christian as she was raised in traditional Chinese beliefs. Although coming to church for several years she resisted conversion because it meant abandonment of her other gods and their rituals. When she did convert it was thorough. In the week she was to be baptized she took the paraphernalia back to the temple and left it there, never to return. Even in some later tough times when the Lord was slow to give what she sought, she kept her trust in him alone.
Her faith was simple and uncluttered. She loved coming to church and sat in a favourite spot. She prayed in dependence on God’s provision and learnt hymns of praise well enough to sing when her eyes faded. She enjoyed the company of the people around her, made shrewd assessments and embraced others with love.
My guess is that earthly birthdays are not celebrated in heaven (why would you?). But she is at a far better table than Imperial Treasure in Great World City. She is at the Lord’s table in the heavenly banquet. That is a better place by far and that is a great comfort.
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