My friend Tom

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My friend Tom.

I first met Tom in January 1979. My wife and I went to Tasmania for a holiday, along with our young daughter. On the Sunday we went to a local Church. Tom was an elder aged in his 40s, spoke to us after the service and invited us to his place for lunch. His wife was away, so it was Tom, his young daughter and us for lunch. We ate, talked and went on our way with a feeling of warm welcome.

I was struck by Tom’s hospitality to us strangers and used it a few times in stories over the years.

34 years later I went to the same church, this time to speak at something. I was sent to Tom’s house for my billet and met his wife Nola for the first time. I was again there a couple more times in the following years.

Nothing much has changed.

Tom is not as mentally sharp as he was in 1979 and sometimes forgets things. Nola is also getting on. But Tom and Nola still invite strangers home to stay or for meals. They maintain a global missions awareness and pray for missions daily. They are active church members, are found at every church event and take a keen interest in people from other lands who come to their city.  Tom and Nola have widespread global contacts and dropped in on these wherever they went on a recent and extended oversees trip.

Tom and Nola will never lack friends. Their warm Christian hospitality echos the hospitality of God. The number they have served and the blessing they have been to them is known only to heaven.

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers …(Heb 13:1)

Therefore an elder … must be hospitable (1 Tim 3:2)

The daily habit that changes lives

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The daily habit that changes lives

Christians of all traditions have been found by a daily habit, which changes their lives.

It’s a habit that rebalances the day. It refocuses the inner person. Its sets a frame in which to face the movement, challenges, opportunities and shades of grey that beyond in our outer world.

It’s the habit of personal daily prayer and Bible, known as personal devotions, quiet time, God-time or just plain Bible and prayer.

Where did this habit come from? Here and there we catch glimpses of it in the Bible. The ‘blessed man’ of Psalm 1 mediated on God’s word as a daily habit (Ps 1:2). David prayed morning and evening (Ps 5:3). Daniel had a habit of triple daily prayers that not even the threat of lions should shake (Dn 6:10). Jesus rose before the sun to pray (Mrk 1:35).

Patterns vary, but here are some things people find helpful:

A habit

·      Make it a habit that’s as fixed as your morning shower, coffee or breakfast. (Or as fixed as your evening routines.)

The timing

·      Do God-time before the day gets moving. Some do it as they have breakfast. Others arrive at work early and do it before opening email. (Of course, others will equally well find that it is best to do this as part of the day-end routine.)

·      Allow good leisured time for this. Think of it as a conversation with a friend where there is the pleasure of lingering in their presence and where initial small talk on mundane matters sets the platform for a deeper conversation.

·      Use a timing device to set a boundary to your God-time. Few of us will need it to limit the time, but many will need it to keep in God’s presence God for a decent time. For starters, try for a 15-minute slot and then work up towards the target you set.

Get moving

·      Sit somewhere where you won’t be disturbed by your environment or by other people. A habitual place is good.

·      Remember why you are doing this. It is because God is all in all (Rom 11:36). He made you, sustains the universe and has loved you into life. Spending time with him is like breathing. It is also a delight ...more lastingly and deeply delightful than those lingering times with an earthly loved one.

·      Begin the time with prayer that God will be present through his Spirit to meet with you.

·      Play some sacred music as you start, preferably something that puts your attention of God and not on you or your response to him. This is the time to listen to the sacred music that touches you, whatever the style is.

Bible

·      Read the text of the Bible. Good devotional notes can be useful, but the closer we get to God’s word the better.

·      Read in different translations.

·      Read in your mother tongue.

·      Read an appropriately sized portion: think of it as a meal rather than as a snack.

·      Take time to reflect on what you read … maybe jot some notes ...and certainly take time to pray God’s word into your heart and day. Ask what there is for you to know, believe and do.

Prayer

·      Consider using a prayer book such as Valley of Vision, not as a substitute for your own prayers but to get them moving.

·      Keep a prayer diary and write in it.

·      Remember that writing a point in a prayer diary is not the same as praying.

·      Pray over each point (or section of points) as you write them. Many find that this enables more focussed prayer then writing a long prayer list and praying it all in one longer prayer.

·      Take time for intentional prayer across the spectrum of ACTS (adoration, confession, thanks, supplication).

·      Put your prayers of supplication on the big frames of God’s name, kingdom and will (Matt 6:9-10).

·      Do a reverse Acts 1:8 prayer. Pray on the distant horizons of God’s wider kingdom and work before you come to your own needs. We will always pray for ourselves, but if we start there, we may not rise above it.

·      Before praying about some matter, consider how God may see it. What would most please God and serve his kingdom glory in this matter? That’s bound to be a prayer more within his will (1 Jn 5:14) than a prayer framed through our needs or those of the people we pray for.

Closing

·      Allow some time at the end to close your eyes, be still and know that he is God (Ps 46:10). This may be a time for some more sacred music, but don’t let it crowd out the voice of God as he speaks to your soul.
·      Don’t forget that you can pray more than once during the day. Consider setting an electronic reminder to foster a habit of shorter prayers, maybe three times daily.

We will all have good and less good days with this daily habit. Persist anyway, knowing that prayer and Bible are two of the means of grace that god habitually uses to draw near to his people.  And, of course, supplement these private means of grace with the public means: sharing in the sacraments that point us to saving grace in Jesus and meeting with God’s people that we may encourage one another as we wait for the day of his appearing (Heb 10:25).

Recipients and people

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There is a person reading the email

Do we think about what happens when we send an email?

A person reads it. They are not a ‘receipient’, but a living, breathing person.

This is someone made in God’s image and of great value in his eyes. This person has thoughts, feelings, fears, agendas, needs and wants of their own. These may or may not coincide, clash, overlap with ours.

How easy it is to rush through our email in-box in a frenzied desire to ‘deal, delegate, defer or delete’ in a ruthless task orientated manner.

And so we toss out replies, with barely a personal word anywhere, not bothering to correct typos and not considering the reader’s frame. I confess to all this and worse when in a high-output mode,

What to do? Slow down! Breathe! Think about the person! Correct the typos! And pause to pray for the reader and the subject matter before hitting send.

Swooning with the world

Swooning with the world

One of my morning pleasures is to arrive early at work and listen to a classical music radio station through the laptop as I settle into the day with Bible and prayer. This reverie ends with their swoon segment, about an hour into the working day, after which I switch to the job list. The swoon piece typically features an evocative romantic composition.

It’s my habit to turn away from the desk, close my eyes and retreat into a Cartesian ‘stove’ during this swoon. However, the retreat is often short-lived for the world intrudes. And so today, the noise of overheard jets, outside concrete trucks and a fire engine broke the swoon.

And so I wonder: is our calling to find retreat by fleeing from the world (if this possible) or to find retreat in the world?

Cancer in Biblical perspective

A Biblical theology of cancer

Introduction

One lay source defines cancer as follows:

Cancer is not just one disease, but a large group of almost 100 diseases. Its two main characteristics are uncontrolled growth of the cells in the human body and the ability of these cells to migrate from the original site and spread to distant sites. If the spread is not controlled, cancer can result in death.

(http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Cancer)

And another:

An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, in some cases, to metastasize (spread). Cancer is not one disease. It is a group of more than 100 different and distinctive diseases. Cancer can involve any tissue of the body and have many different forms in each body area. Most cancers are named for the type of cell or organ in which they start. If a cancer spreads (metastasizes), the new tumor bears the same name as the original (primary) tumor. (http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2580)

Cancer can occur in many parts of the body and affects all manner and conditions of people. Environmental factors and human can play a part in its occurrence (eg, the established link between sun exposure and melanoma; or between smoking and lung cancer). Genetic factors can also have impact (eg, the so-called ‘Celtic skin’ is more susceptible to cancer than other skin types). Much remains yet unknown about cancer.

The purpose of this article is to try and put cancer in perspective against the Christian Scriptures.

Creation, fall redemption

Much that can be said about disease in general can also be said about cancer, as it is located within the Biblical storyline of creation-fall-redemption.

Creation

God made humans as the apex of his ‘very good’ creation which, like God was flawless, even if nascent rather than then reaching its full potential in the original form. (Gen 1:26-27)

There was no death in Eden for death comes through sin (Gen 3:19; Rom 5:12,17).

Each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made, with God watching over our in-utero development. (Ps 139:14-16)

God made humans to exercise rule and stewardship over the creation which opens up the possibility of the sciences. (Gen 1:28)

Implications

Cancer, like other diseases, is not part of the created order. It is alien. It is an offense to God and does not belong here.

God made people with the capacity to tackle cancer, as part of exercising our delegated dominion over his creation.

Fall

The human choice to reject God’s rule while in God’s place affected everything:

• Our relationship with God was distorted by guilt and shame (Gen 3:7-8)
• Our relationship with one another is fractured (Gen 3:12; 4:5b-8)
• Our relationship with the physical creation is distorted as the once-perfect creation is subject to decay, with the result that our work of subduing and ruling over creation becomes ‘hard’ (Gen 3:17b-19)
• Death is introduced (Gen 3:17b& 22)

All imperfection in the creation (the non-good) is a result of the Fall in that the imperfection tracks back to Gen 3. In some instances, God may send disease (including cancer) to an individual as a direct consequence of their sin (eg Num 12:1-10). However this should not be assumed in any particular case (eg Jn 9:1-3; see also the whole of Job).

Sin is fundamentally parasitical - it has no independent life but comes to be as a distortion of the right creational order. It is a mutation within creation.

The original human sin spreads through the whole of later humanity in its consequences which include the reign of death (Rom 5:12-17).

Human sin affected the whole of creation which is presently in a state of groaning, futility and bondage to decay  (Rom 8:20-21).

Implications

Cancer, like all illness, is a result of the Fall.

Cancer, as an illness that involves a distortion of good cell processes, mirrors the parasitical nature of sin. Just as sin feeds on creational good, cancer feeds on healthy cells. Sin and cancer have no life of their own.

Subject to medical advances made under the creational mandate (Gen 1:28-29), cancer can be expected to persist until the fullness of redemption is seen in the return in Christ.

The science that leads to advances in cancer prevention, detection, management and cure may be matched by rising incidence of cancer as the Fall spreads its fruits yet wider in a world under rebellion to God.

A particular case of cancer (or other illness) is not necessarily the result of particular sin. More commonly, some cancers may be the result of folly rather than sin (eg unprotected sunbaking by a fair-skinned person).

Every incidence of cancer (like all illness) is an offense against God’s glory, a reminder of a Fallen world and a cause to pray for the fullness of redemption.

Redemption

In Christ the promised kingdom has come, but, until he returns, it has a ‘now but not yet’ nature (Mrk 1:14-15).

In Christ, believers now start to experience the new life of resurrection (Rom 6:1-14; Col 3:1-2).

However, the present remains a period of struggle as the work of sanctifying renewal persists (Rom 7:14-25; Col 3:10).

Christ is yet to come (1 Cor 15:20-24; 2 Tim 2:17-18) and when he does the fullness of his reign will be established. All will be restored and renewed to be as it should always have been in the creational good. This includes the banishment of every disease and all death (1 Cor 15:24-28; 50-54; Col 3:4; Rev 21-22).

Until the return of Christ we see personal decay and death, coupled with the hope of what will be (Rom 8:23-24; 2 Cor 4:16 - 5:5). Likewise the whole creation groans, awaiting its freedom for the present decay (Rom 8:20-22).

In his earthly ministry Christ exercised mastery over disease and death as part of his demonstration of the kingdom (eg Mrk 5:21-35). None should doubt that God is still able to do that which we reckon to be impossible (Mrk 10:27).

In this present ‘now but not yet’ of the kingdom, believers continue to suffer the fruits of the Fall. However, even here God works all things for the good of those who love him and makes them more than conquerors through the trials of this yet-imperfect life (Rom 8:28-39).

Implications

We should expect cancer to persist until Christ returns and disease and death is banished.

It is right to pray, with faith, that God will heal cancers without medical means and that he heals them through medical means. He is able!

As part of regaining the creational order as a present expression of creational dominion and of redemption, it is right that believers join with others in the pursuit of means to control, manage and treat cancer.

Cancer, like all disease and like death itself, does not have the last word. God, in his returning Christ, will banish this parasite in his new creation.

10 pastoral implications for patients and their loved ones

1. Be angry that the cancer is a parasite on God’s good creation and an offense against his glory.

2. Be worshipful, as you ponder the wonder of how cancer fits into His larger story of creation-fall-redemption.

3. Be comforted that cancer is within God’s lordship.

4. Be hopeful of the banishment of cancer in the new creation.

5. Be patient in the present, knowing that cancer will have its end.

6. Be enquiring of how God is working for the good of this person.

7. Be compassionate as others suffer, showing the love of Christ to those who were ill.

8. Be as helpful as you are enabled to be.

9. Be silent when your words are uncertain, rather than join the vexatious friends of Job.

10. Be prayerful, knowing that God is able to deal with cancer.

The last word

Someone wrote these good words at the end of a spiritual retreat during which they were diagnosed with cancer:

Appropriately, the retreat concludes with the new creation in Rev 21-22.

Cancer is not the last word.

Independence and compliance

I observe a continuum between independence and compliance.

At one end of the scale, the strongly compliant person is highly accommodative and adaptive to circumstances and people. In extreme forms, this may produce blind loyalty and compliance such that the person loses individual identity and the capacity to take their own decisions. Such characteristics help this person be a big contributor to group harmony, but limit their contributions to a group. They may not question bad ideas or add fresh insights.

At the other end of the scale there is the strongly independent person. This person has their own ideas about right and wrong and pursues them irrespective of others. In extreme forms it can produce such independence of action as to undermine a team and bring a fragmented disunity. This person's team strengths are to be an independent voice questioning what others take for granted and contributing fresh insights.

There is no best place to be on this continuum.  Note, however, that it will probably be a rare occasion that either extreme is appropriate. As with most continuums, it's usually a matter of a balance between the extremes. Different people, at different stages of their life and in different contexts may appropriately be on different parts of the scale. For example, a man may be somewhat compliant towards his boss in the workplace but move towards the independence end of the scale as he leads his family at home.

Where we are on the scale may be influenced by the inheritance from our genes, rearing, life experience, social context and immediate circumstances.  These factors may predispose us to a default position on the scale.  Analysis of these factors is useful for self- understanding, including awareness of what imbalance we need to be constantly watchful for. However, rather than being paralysed by a deterministic sense of why we are who we are, it is more useful to understand where we now are on the scale and where it is appropriate to be.

The following questions are a prompt to this process:

Where am I on the independence / compliance scale in this stage and situation?

What is the appropriate place to be?

What can I do to move from where I am to where I should be?

The colour chart of Australian politics

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The colour chart of Australian politics

Australian politics are a colourful affair.

We have the red team. It officially stands for the working person and is against big business. In recent years it has also claimed to adopt environmental agendas and has cuddled up with the green team (see below).

Then there’s the blue team. Historically this team stands for the wealthy end of town and holds the view that what is good for business is good for the country. They are also sceptical about environmental issues.

The browns are allied to the blues and stand for the man on the land.

A more recent entry is the green team – well, really a green-pink mix. They stand for the environment, income redistribution and ‘progressive ‘ social causes such as easing drug policy, abortion and same sex marriage.

At the last election the blue team defeated the red team by saying the red team had messed up the economy and also by promising no new taxes.

So now we have the first budget of the blue team.

The blue team (remember: ‘big end of town’ and ‘no new taxes’) wants to impose a new tax (sorry ‘levy’) on the big end of town and also revive an old red-team measure to index taxes on fossil fuels.To make it more confusing - it was a past leader of the blue team who had ended the indexation.

The brown team is not happy with the fuel tax indexing.

The green team is against the blue team's indexed taxes on fossil fuels and making high-income earners pay more income tax.

The red team is against the blue team’s revival of the red team’s indexing of fossil fuel taxes. They are also against the blue team’s proposal to put a new tax on the big end of town.

Clear? If so, please explain it back to me!