A King is Not a King Unless he Rules

A King that does not rule is no king at all. Now granted in our day and age, being King is more of a governmental status than anything else. More for pomp and circumstance than a real live ruling kind of king. However, back in Jesus day, a King that did not rule was not a king at all.
The wise men arrived in Jerusalem asking questions about one who was born king of the Jews. Upon hearing this news King Herod became very suspicious and it disturbed him very much. Those wise men had some stones going to a king asking for directions to another king born to the Jews! Herod had a terrible history of violence and insecurity and so it followed that the whole city of Jerusalem was very nervous and disturbed not knowing how this insanely jealous King Herod would react.
Herod called two strategic meetings. One a public one were he gathered all the religious leaders together to discern the foretold birthplace of the King born to the Jews. Once finding out the information he called a private meeting with the wise men; telling them of the prophecy that Bethlehem would be the birth place of such a king. Finding out when the star had first appeared he sent them on their way only asking that when they find the child they return and tell him so he could also go and “worship” him too.
After the wise men had found the little king and worshipped him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod but to go home another way. Which they did post haste.
When Herod found out he had been outwitted he went from disturbed to furious. In his uncontrollable rage he issued an order to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and surrounding area under the age of two. He did this based on the intelligence gathered from the wise men regarding when they had first seen the star.
This part of the Christmas story is not often told. We hear of peace on earth and good will toward all people in songs and carols and Christmas readings. But, try and tell that to all the moms and dads of Bethlehem. Try and explain to them that Christmas is the happiest season of all or the most wonderful time of the year.
You see the existence of another king is serious business. A king demands allegiance. A king demands loyalty. A king demands your life. Or more simply a king demands…full stop!
If Jesus really is a King then his demands must be met or the consequences could be very dire! We are not accustom to being told how to live. We humans like to think we are the masters of our own destiny. We all think we are like royalty. Nobody has the right to tell us anything, especially how to live!
But King Jesus is very clear about this. If we try to save our own lives, if we try to rule them and be the masters of our own destiny then we will lose our lives. However, if we lose our lives, if we submit to him, if we give him rulership of our lives, then we will find our lives full and rich and rewarding forever.
This Christmas try and think through how the birth of Jesus was responded to by King Herod. Think of how those families in Bethlehem, for the rest of their lives, were minus one little boy. The pain never went away completely like a not so wonderful Christmas gift that keeps on delivering grief.
Jesus is a king. He makes demands. The question is will we react like Herod trying desperately to hang on to the rulership of our own lives or will we respond differently, handing over our lives to King Jesus and in doing so find true life.
The darker side of Christmas is not often spoken of. But now you know the rest of the story.

The Real Unsung Hero of Christmas

Jesus Birth: Through the eyes of Joseph Matt 1:16-24
Have you ever just wondered about Joseph? Who was he? Where did he come from? Talk about a quick entrance and a mostly unnoticed exit in story of the nativity. But what would the Christmas story be like without old Joe? The expressions "second fiddle" and "unsung hero" definitely come to mind when we examine this remarkable man. His short but rich documentary is found mostly in the first chapter of Matthew in the New Testament.
We are introduced to him at the end of a long genealogy where he is uncharacteristically and certainly in ancient Middle Eastern culture, unceremoniously noted as the "husband of Mary". I'm not sure we can fully appreciate this description in our day and age but back then, in a deeply entrenched patriarchal society, was there a more profound insult than to be known as somebody’s husband? This is where he appears on the pages of scripture and then a few verses later he disappears never to be seen or heard from again. Mostly unsung, certainly un-thanked, largely unrecognized, and almost completely unknown in life. I guess in some ways you could say like most of us! And yet, what we do know of Joe is anything but unimportant. He is profoundly faithful, seriously devoted to Mary, meticulously righteous, and wonderfully gracious. Pretty much what every man wants to be like and pretty much what every women wants her man to be like. Good ol' Joe!
But how did the birth of Jesus affect him? A pledge to be married was only broken through death or divorce. A year long waiting period as the couple prepared for married life after the dowry was paid and the transaction was complete. Yet, his bride to be is suddenly found to be pregnant and not just pregnant but apparently loosing her mind becuase she was blaming the pregnancy on God! And just like real life, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, all his dreams are shattered! The little white tent, 3.4 goats, 20 or so sheep, a wood shop to ply his trade and somewhere between 10 and 15 children running around. All of it gone with the wind. Crushed, destroyed, and broken, all his future dreams vanished. He knows he not the father. He believes his beloved Mary has been unfaithful to him. Why else would she run off to her relative Elizabeth's place for 3 months without a word to him. Now he must make the most painful decision of his life. He must divorce her to protect his righteous reputation. To salvage at least his clean name. Yet, his profound commitment to her pushes his broken heart to quietly get this done and save as much face for Mary as could be saved in such a nasty situation.
Exhausted and worn out from his most horrible bad day, his head hits the pillow and the tears begin to flow and he falls into a restless sleep. Thinking he has only two options before him, to stone his bride to death or to simply divorce her.
But God.... those two famous words appear on the page. When those two words appear we can with certainly know that God can make a way when there seems to be no way forward. When all is lost and our dreams are crushed, God steps in, and brings about things that we could never have imagined. And God's way, well, his way is truely astonishing. The child is from God. Mary is not deluted. She will be his again, he will be given the most sacred responsibility of any human father... to raise a son that was not his own, and to bring him up in the fear and admiration of the Lord.
The new dream is so delightful that Joseph wakes, gets dressed and does exactly as the Lord told him without hesitation. Who cares what everybody thinks. I'm going to raise the son of the living God. Who cares about my old dreams... this dream supersedes them all by far!
So, he doesn't mind being known as Mary's husband because Mary was the mother of Jesus. He can handle the scandal this little fella would make because he, Joseph son of Jacob, son of the great King David, is a significant part of a grand play written by the God of the universe.

Joe, a man for all men to model their lives after. Joe. A man that every woman would be proud to marry. What a treasure his man's life is for us to ponder this Christmas. The real unsung hero of Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone

Mary's Boy Child

Yesterday afternoon we enjoyed our churches Christmas car park party to bring in the 2009 Christmas season. Before that we had spent time at the Howick Christmas Parade. A float went by that was a giant birthday cake with big letters spelling out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS" around the cake. Both events help put us in the spirit of the great season of Christmas. Birthday parties at our house have always been massive events, a kind of season if you like, as all three of our girls share the same birthday. My wife Cheryl has always been very creative at putting together a celebration that the kids all enjoyed. When babies are born, most of the time any way, it is an occasion of great joy and rejoicing for the parents and surrounding family and friends.
My thoughts this Christmas have turned to a unique prophecy that was spoken by one of Israel’s ancient prophets named Isaiah. In the book of the bible that bears his name Isaiah 9:6-7 it reads, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Many people have heard these lines in Handles great musical piece known as "Handle's Messiah." But have you ever slowed down and noticed the subtle yet powerful way in which Mary's boy child is described here? A child is born...a son is given. It is the primary reason for this Christmas season otherwise it would simply be the birth of any other person in history. But a child is born... a son is given makes all the difference in the whole world. A child is born speaks to the human nature of Christ the messiah. He was human as we are human and was tempted as you and I are tempted. He can identify with all we face as humans. But a son is given changes everything. The son pre-existed. He was not born he was given to us by God the Father. Yes he was tempted in all ways we are tempted yet…. without sin! He was perfect in every way. He was God wrapped like a Christmas gift in human skin! That is why we celebrate his birthday. It is the reason we have this strange ritual of giving gifts to each other at someone else’s birthday party. Because we have all been given a gift from God the Father…. A son is given. Mary’s boy child… Jesus Christ. Have you by faith recieved this wonderful gift? Merry Christmas everyone!

Uniformed Imaginations...

The caption reads "
Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground"
Last week I wrote of the power of prayer to open up our imaginations to all the goodness that God has in store for all of us. Most of us, if not all of us, use our imaginations to dream of a life that is beyond words to describe. A life full of joy and marvellous in as many ways as it could be here on earth. We imagine for ourselves and for those who we love “great things” that are all positive and glorious and wonderful. We often use our imaginations as a form of “escape” from this current life of hardship, difficulty, trial, suffering, cruelty and pain. When we come to prayer with our imaginations engaged our prayers take on this type of language as well. We mostly pray for good things, great things, remarkable things, miracles, bliss, healing and basically all things positive, glorious and wonderful. I pray this way too but I wonder, I wonder if this is all that God has in mind when he speaks to us about his will for us as immeasurable more than we could ever think or imagine? Is there a way to inform our imaginations so that what we actually dream about is saturated with what the Holy Spirit really desires for us and not so much what we want the Holy Spirit to desire for us?
Remember Peter, after Jesus had informed him of his soon coming suffering and death. Remember how he responded? Even in his wildest imaginations he could not for the life of him imagine that the Messiah would have to endure such horrible things nor should he have to. The Son of God, the Anointed One, the Chosen One, the Holy One of God, most certainly would not have to go through such terrible things! In essence, his imagination was more informed by his religious culture than the words that had just come out of the Son of God’s mouth. The Son was trying to inform the disciple’s imaginations of what was truly great, what was truly positive, glorious and wonderful. Peter took offense; he took Jesus aside and in no uncertain terms told the Lord of the Universe that he shouldn’t talk like that.
I think Paul worked hard in most of his letters to debunk poorly informed imaginations about what the Christian life is all about. In what could be argued as his literary master piece, known as the Christ Hymn in Philippians 2:4-13, his writing is beautiful, poetic and dripping with powerful imagery to inform our imaginations of the true pathway to greatness, to glory, to wonder and to exaltation according to the mind of God.
When we imagine great things in the Lord, we must include this vital information about the pathway to the great things we imagine when we pray. Remember Peter? Remember what Christ said to him? Jesus responded to Peter’s rebuke with a shocking rebuke of his own, “Get behind me Satan! For you only have in mind the things of men and not the things of God!”
When we pray with our imaginations intact and engaged let us never be guilty of having only the things of men in our imaginations and not the things of God!
Let your imagination be well informed and stop trying to arm wrestle what we consider good things, great things, wonderful and positive things out of God and calling it prayer!

5 Habits in Spiritual Formation

I have been asked a couple of times to summarize the sermon on Saturday evening by reviewing the 5 habits we discussed. These habits are essential to good healthy growth in our spiritual lives. However, unless we are genuinely dissatisfied with our current rate of growth or perhaps our overall lack of growth in our Christian life these habits will become rigid and rule driven rather than stemming from a deep desire for greater intimacy with the Lord and each other.

Habit #1: regularly meditating and studying the scripture (2 Tim 3:16, Luke 4:4, Rom. 15:4)
Habit #2: a progressive, contemplative & imaginative prayer life. (Lk 5:16 & 18:1-8; Eph. 3:20)
Habit #3: cultivating relationships with fellow believers (Acts 2:46; Heb. 10:25)
Habit #4: an attitude and general posture in life of being a generous person (2 Cor. 8:7)
Habit #5: Volunteering in the greater community ( Mt.5:16 & 1 Peter 2:12)

Repetition, doing something over and over is the only way for it to turn into a habit. Not sure where this saying comes from but it is a good.
Sow a thought, reap an act
Sow an act, reap a habit
Sow a habit, reap a character
Sow a character, reap a destiny!

Happy Growing...

Imagine...

My faith has so many unique qualities about it that it never ceases to amaze me. There is wisdom and insight and things that stretch even the wildest of imaginations in christianity. In the spectrum of world religions it really does make it difficult at times to see why others would want to believe in anything else! Sounds like I am bragging doesn’t it... well just maybe I am and I am doing it as one who is boasting in his Lord, and that is part of a what I believe is a healthy christian life. For too long now we christians have been told to hush up about our marvelous faith, we've been told our ideals, philosophies and values do not belong in the public arena, we've been marginalized by savvy spin-doctors and script writers from TV and movies, from tricksy authors of books and brash radio announcers and, tragically, we've been really good at doing what were told! We've forgotten the words of both the Older and Newer Testaments... Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.
Last night our church hosted something we call a Prayer Pinnacle. An evening of meditation on God and his word, a time to sing worship songs that stir the soul, a place where prayer with other likeminded believers could take place uninterrupted. It was delightful to say the least. One of the things that so impressed me about the Lord last night was his ability to stir the imagination while in prayer. In fact, I would say that the bible pushes us to pray with our imaginations fully engaged, to let the word of God and the Holy Spirit leave stretch marks on imaginations, to pray with total confidence that whatever we ask of our God it will inevitably be smaller than what the Lord had in mind for us.
God is good all the time and his desire to lead us into greater goodness knows no limits. His love for us is described as abundant, his joy over us is described as exceeding, his mercy for us is described as new every morning and faithfulness toward us is described as great!
If that was all you knew about anyone else we would boast about them to the high heavens. If that was all we knew about the Lord there is enough here to keep our imaginations going for quite some time. Truth is, this little bit of information doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and his paths are beyond tracing out...
now let your imaginations soar…
and for heaven’s sake brag a little bit more about him today…
what’s not to brag about?

The Thinker

Romans 2:4 in the NASB bible reads this way... "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience..." I suppose there could be a double meaning to the words "think lightly" here. One meaning could be to distain or hold in contempt or just not care the other meaning could be more literal, to just not give much thought to it. My challenge fell around the second meaning this morning. Not enough thought.
Thinking takes time. When we think about something intentionally we need space in our daily lives to do it. I believe that thinking time is on its death bed in our western culture. Thinking takes silence, that is the absence of noise, of T.V., telephones, text messages, DVD's, radio, CD's and MP3's and other people. Where can I go to flee from the presence of all these distractions?
Thinking needs a place. A quiet, comfortable, secluded place. A private place for solitude so that I can think undisturbed.
I think we think too little. We've lost the art of solitude. We've almost lost the capacity to think and spend intentional time thinking.
We must get it back or we will think too lightly which will lead to the first meaning. To hold in contempt; to just not care… and we breathe our last breath… and then it will be too late to think.

Death and Easter

The evening service was finished and I made my way toward the back of the sanctuary. As I stepped through the back door I noticed a group of folks, forming a tight circle around someone and they were all praying. As the circle opened up it revealed the one who was the focus of all the care and support. I saw my friend, tears streaming down her cheeks, eyes puffy, swollen from much crying, nose rimed with redness, tender from all the tissues rubbing it, and she was barely able to speak.
As it turned out, she was very sad because unknown to all of us it was the one year anniversary of her father’s passing. He had died suddenly from a heart attack and my friend missed him so much.

What can you say? Probably the better part of wisdom is just to remain silent, offer a hug, and a sigh of sympathy.

Death is such a robber. I hate it. I hate what it does to people; I hate how it separates us from each other. It steals loved ones, it steals young and it steals old, rich or poor, strong or weak. It plays no favorites and is always just a breath away from each of us.

The Bible is full of the stories of death because the Bible deals with life as it really is. No rose colored glasses there! It even provides us with a window into the origin of death. It goes way back to Adam and Eve when death was allowed to enter the human experience after the first couple disobeyed God. First it appeared in the animal skins God made for them and then it manifested its full ugliness when Cain murdered his brother Abel. And death has been with us since then. It is the wages for disobedience to God.
Jesus came to destroy death. He came to die, the perfect and pure saviour for the imperfect and impure human race. He then rose from the dead, conquered it, because it could not hold him down. He rose victorious over death 3 days later. He offers life to all but only those who receive it for themselves are saved.

It truly is an amazing story of how death brought us life! How the death of one man, Jesus Christ, has offered life to all human kind. The truly good part is that every single human being has been forgiven of every single death wage ever paid out for sin. All we have to do is humbly receive this amazing gift that is offered to us freely.

As the bible asks, “Death where is your sting?” For all who believe the sting is gone and life forever more has come.

This is the true meaning of the Easter season.

The Cry of The City....

5 conversations within a 24 hour period; 5 conversations with a common thread running through each one; 5 conversations with complete strangers, new acquaintances and intimate friends; 5 conversations expressing pain, suffering, longing, brokenness and uncertainty; 5 conversations and the city cries!
First it was my earliest encounter of the new day at the checkout counter of the grocery store. I said "good morning" she responded, "I will hold on the good"... a tale of a cancer fright, alone, with added relationship strain... all this while the queue behind us grew... Then onto a stranded woman, bonnet up, looking frustrated... I stopped and helped and out tumbled long term relationship broken, job lost and no luck finding a new one... what to do... it's been like this for year... from there I went for a cup a coffee and one of staff plunks themselves down as says, "something is wrong with me, a friend says it could be my heart, I’m kind of scared, I’m always so tired and my job is stressing me out like never before...." then later on as a conversation grew out dropped, "I feel so undervalued, so underpaid, so blah... I know that there is so much more out there for me but I feel trapped, unable because of circumstances to stretch out my wings and find it.... finally, a little boy, a broken home, he started reaching out to daddy's new girlfriend, mom freaks out and tells him to never come home again... he's 10 years old.
Pain, suffering, longing, brokenness and uncertainty and the city cries. The bible recognizes this condition of all human kind and it offers hope to the hopeless. It really is full of promises, full of wisdom, and full of stories of the human drama that can offer insights and guidance when times are tough. For example it says “The groans of those who are dying are heard from the city. Those who are wounded cry out for help.” And then it offers this council, God doesn’t hear! God refuses to move! At least that is our perception of him anyway... and ain’t that that how most of us really feel most of the time! But it goes on to tell us that He is indeed there, he is in the midst of whatever we are going through, hoping our desperate situation will cause us to call out to him for mercy and for salvation. And everyone who comes to him he will in no way cast out! He will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas. His invitation is sure… "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

You've Been Robbed!

There I was, walking along listening to my favorite podcasts on a beautiful late summer morning walk when all of a sudden I hear a voice from behind me. I turned to find a man in his mid 30's with a deeply concerned look on his face. As he spoke I immediately knew he was from South Africa by his accent and that he was not too happy about his current state of affairs. It seems that for whatever reason he had left his van unlocked during the night and for whatever reason he had left his wallet in there as well. In his hand he held his driver’s license and he was asking me if I had seen the rest of his wallet long the path I had taken for my walk. Apparently, what had happened is that when he went to hop into his van to go to work he noticed the door was ajar. He immediate made a search only to discover that his wallet was missing. He looked around, walked into a little park area where he noticed his driver’s license in the grass. He went a little further and discovered another piece of ID from his wallet. Evidently the thief had decided to chuck whatever he didn’t want from the wallet as he fled the scene of his crime. He told me his name and asked that if I see his wallet that I return it to him and I assured him that I would. We parted ways and i never saw his wallet along the rest of my journey home.
Theft is such a violation. Someone else invades your space and takes what belongs to you when you are not looking and makes it their own. The worst part about it is that they do this when you least expect it! You lock your vehicle 6 nights in a row and the 7th night you forget and that is the night someone decides to break in and steal from you.
Jesus used the image of a thief to describe what life is like. He stated that it is like a thief bent only on stealing from us, killing us and destroying us. But he said that he was the exact opposite of that. He claimed that he had come to give us life and that this life was not like anything that we’ve experienced before in this world. It is real life, more and better life than we could ever have dreamed of. He seems to be saying that anything less than what he was offering is a thief come to rip you off!
That is quite a claim. In fact the more you investigate Jesus the more you find him making these outlandish claims. As someone else has said, either Jesus was a lunatic, a liar or he was indeed telling us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!
Perhaps this week you could check into a local church near you and examine for yourself these claims.
I know you won’t feel like you just got robbed!

Breaking up the Fallow Ground

Our church moved it worship service from the traditional Sunday morning time slot to not so traditional (for us anyway) Saturday evening. As a family we really like this and are enjoying the change very much. So far my Sunday mornings have been relaxing and enjoyable and slow paced which is such a huge change of pace for me. I have preached on Sunday mornings for the past 17 years and so I have to admit a fleeting bit of uneasy guilt that comes over me every once in a while. Fortunately I can easily dismiss it as I take another sip from my coffee cup.

This morning however, I took advantage of a Sunday morning off to visit another church. Something I have wanted to do but just never got around to it until this morning. It was great to just go, relax, and take in the worship and hear a good message from the bible without having to give oversight to anything at all.

The message was just right for me. It comes from an ancient prophet named Hosea. He was writing to inspire the people back then (as well as us today) that it takes preparation from us as we understand and anticipate that God is desirous of birthing a new thing in us. The passage is found in Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

This struck a chord in my heart this morning. Fallow ground is just ground that has not been used for a while. It is good ground; it is just not ready for seed to be dropped into it. This can be like our lives. God is asking us to prepare ourselves, make ourselves ready to receive his new and often amazing plans for us. I see it as prayer, fasting, meditating on the passages of the Bible with a renewed sense of urgency.

I must begin anew to prepare myself for what it is the Lord is about to do in my life and the lives of those around me. I am excited to see where this will take me.

A Meandering Chat

Today I had a lunch date with my girlfriend. It has been a while since we just sat and enjoyed a nice sub sandwich and chatted about whatever jumped into our heads. I like how our conversation snaked its way along heading in one direction then another, then back the other way. There is something relaxing about a meandering chat. It was interrupted easily by whatever came along, a mouthful of sub or a cute little olive skinned girl or a slurp from the straw to wash down the food. I thoroughly enjoy the generally easy going nature of our relationship.

Cheryl and I will have been married 21 years in June this year and from where I am sitting it seems like just a few! Age has been very kind to her as she is even more beautiful than the first day we met.... now you know where my girls get it from!

The Legend of St. Valentine dates back as far as the mid third century AD. He was a priest who opposed the emperor Claudius II when he made a law that young men should remain single in order to build his army. Claudius thought that married men were not good soldiers so the order came down. But Valentine refused this order and secretly performed many marriages for the young men. Of course he was caught, arrested jailed and eventually martyred for his efforts. However, as legend would have it, he apparently performed a miracle and healed the daughter of the Roman Jailor at some point before he met his end. It was to this young woman that he scribbled one of his last notes addressing her as his beloved and then signing as "from your Valentine”.

Whether this story is the whole truth or part truth or just legend were not certain. The only thing we know for sure from the records is that there were several St. Valentines who suffered martyrdom for their faith during those early church years. This story comes from St. Valentine of Rome and is the one that most credit with the tradition of St. Valentine’s Day.

Whatever the case may be, I hope you have taken some time lately just to enjoy the special other person in your life. Somehow, I believe in our rush around world we forget to show appreciation to the ones we love most. Even if you missed Valentine’s Day don’t worry about it, just get out there and enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee or something of that nature and have a meandering chat.

Happy belated Valentine’s Day Sweetie!

FIRE & BLAME!

I'm asking the Lord for rain for our neighbours across the ditch (Tasman Sea) who are continuing to battle not just the fires but the aftermath and destruction that follows those blazing hillsides. Whole town’s swallowed up as folks scramble to get out while they can... some overtaken by flames while fleeing in their cars! As the death toll climbs our hearts continue to go out to the families of those who are suffering the loss of family and friends. Not to mention the total sense of despair of those who have lost it all on top of the loss of human life. No words can say enough to bring any sort of relief. I suppose it does bring some measure of comfort just knowing that much of the rest of humanity is standing behind them to do what they can to help.
They say that South-eastern Australia becomes like a tinder box every 10-20 years as a cycle of weather patterns brings about the extremely dry conditions that make such an inferno possible. Now we are learning that this particular fire appears to have been the work of people, whether intended or not, and not a natural cause such as lightening. So now a massive hunt is on to bring some sense of justice if indeed it was set by someone. We need to hold somebody responsible for this mess either God or some person.
It seems human beings need to be able to sooth themselves through finding someone or something to blame. Don’t get me wrong; if there has been foul play then justice must be meted out. But I am speaking in simple generalities. Finding someone to blame for problems, pain, suffering, tragedy or just the trouble we find ourselves in is like a finely tuned craft that each of us is exceptionally gifted at. NOT taking responsibility for something we’ve done is as common as Marmite on toast!
Why are we like this? Why is my first reaction to flee the scene of a minor fender bender in a car park if no one is watching! Why not just take the blame, accept responsibility and the consequences for my actions?
The bible says that this type of attitude is the direct result of sin. A kind of proof if you like that each of us can act out like this even on our best days! It is proof as well that we need outside help with this problem as no amount of positive thinking or therapy can get us to abandon this stubborn streak within.
There is so much more that could be said but why not check it out for yourself by picking up a bible and giving it a read. If understanding it is what you’re looking for then perhaps connect with a church near you for some assistance. I wouldn’t blame you!

How do you see the world?

This past weekend we took a step back in pace and made our way over to the Island of Waiheke (why-he-key). A short 35 minute ferry ride full of scenery that defies description. (http://www.waihekenz.com/index.html> if you want to check out some of this beauty) By 'we' I mean my family and a friend who is visiting with us from Canada. We went over to enjoy the beauty, the people, an outdoor sculpture walk and annual horse races held on Onetangi (Owe-knee-tan-gee) Beach. The day was without a single disappointment!

The island reminds me of home back in Canada so much. It is like taking a drive from Kelowna to Osoyoos with brown rolling hills scorched from the hot summer sun with many patches of deep green from well watered vineyards. The pace of the island is like slamming the brakes on compared to the rush rush of Auckland and for that reason alone it is most enjoyable.

The place was full of people from all walks of life and from many of the nations of the world. It seems like the local population must at least double from the sleepy 8000 or so island inhabitants during the peak tourist season. That means the place is buzzing with packed, hot, sticky busses running late, shuttles services and taxi’s taking people to the various bays and beaches to enjoy the activates.

Finding a shady spot on Onetangi beach with its limited tree coverage was a challenge but we did manage. The water was turquoise and warm and the big waves coming in added an extra bonus of fun for the girls as they enjoyed their time there. We got there only to witness a couple of horse races down the beach but the girls were not too disappointed as they got to do a little beach shopping in the booths provided as a part of race day.

The sculpture walk was really terrific. It is 2 kilometers of hills along the shore line. Some very creative works were on display and everyone seemed to enjoy it. The heat was a bit much at times but ice cold water in our water bottles helped sooth us and kept us hydrated.

Along the way an interesting conversation was struck about how differently we all view the world. Our guest saw the world through words, she likes to write, and she sees the world through a written description. My daughter and my wife see the world through pictures, photographs to be exact. They look at each thing as through a lens. I see the world as people. I love people watching (something there was no shortage of during our trip to Waiheke and back).

Having said this I must hasten to add that I also see the world as a bull horn; a loud speaker shouting in every tongue, in every nook and granny of the globe, the glory of the divine. The absolute majesty, brilliance and wisdom that could only come from an intelligent designer created all this wonder. It is well past even what our most creative minds could imagine. The sculptures were good but compared to the natural beauty of the setting around them, not even close.

Perhaps today, you could ask a friend how they see the world and enjoy the conversation over a meal or cup of tea or coffee.