Thought provoking quotes

"Death is a sobering agent to a world that is drunk on triviality."
Larry, Photizo blog (Here)

What are you worth?

This is an old post of mine written for easter a few years ago, copied straight from Facebook:

I was wondering this week, 'What gives a person worth?' In this note I hope to address a few opinions that people hold and look and whether they hold water or not.

Is it something we earn? Do the rich have more worth?Perhaps the good, the kind, the loving? Is it a status quality: You are worth more because you are a king/queen/prime minister, an MP? What about is we are poor, failures, we mess up, of a lowly position? Are we then worth less or even worthless? Would you give more for the queen then you would your family, even if they were poor or even bad? If its not something we earn then what is it?

Is it something that we automatically have? Is it an intrinsic quality in all of man-kind? I'm dubious. If this is true then why is there inequality in the world. Why are some given more worth then others? Perhaps we have different levels of intrinsic worth? Perhaps a tramp is born with less worth then I am. I think that most peoples consciences would tell them otherwise. The disgust we all felt when we heard about the tramp getting set alight last year in the happy slap incident.

If it isn't earnt and neither is it intrinsic to us what is it that gives us worth? Or am I being an optimist, assuming I am worth anything? Perhaps I am worthless. Do we really believe that, do we live like we are worthless. Even a child cries "Its not fair" and its something we never stop. We constantly protest when our 'rights' are stepped on. If we are worthless and believed ourselves to be so would we bother? What about others? Are they worthless, do we care when others, even strangers are hurt? Of course we do. How do we know its not an illusion, a coping mechanism, a survival of the fittest tactic? Well would we care for strangers, even those outside our community if that's all it was? I don't think so and neither do most the world if their actions are anything to go by.

Do we give ourselves worth? Our we only worth any thing because we say we are? What then of those who actually think they're worthless? Are they really? Do we then treat them as if they are? No, we treat them as human beings, as someone who is worth something.

There is only one more option left as far as I can see:We are given worth by others. We decide how much people are worth. Would you die for your partner, a family member or a friend? What about a stranger or an enemy? Does this add up fully? What if no-one knows you, or even worse, what if they do and still think you're worthless? Are you then worthless? So If we are given worth and yet people don't give it to us who does?The only reasonable answer is that we are given worth by someone unwavering: God. The one who loves us all the same, created us all by choice, who calls us all back to him. You are worth something because God said you are. More then that he proved it. Who else suffered for you, died for you and called you back? Jesus is the only one I know.

Why have I bothered with this note? Well I believe we are worth something and the only thing that accounts for that worth is God. He gave you worth, he gave you his all. Why not thank him? Stopped running from the one who gives you worth. Stop. Thank him. Turn back to him. Thanks for reading this note, even if it was so you don't have to do work! Please ask me, or another Christian about what and why they believe. Happy Easter!

She thinks she's worth £150, what do you think your worth?

What is a Christian and how do I become one?

A Christian is someone who is a follower of Jesus Christ. It means "Christ-like" or "Little Christs" and was used to mock early Christians. They liked the term however and it stuck with us, even till today. Christians today are people who have committed to follow Jesus everyday of thier lives because of wat Jesus has done for them.

So what does it mean to be a Christian? The Bible tells us:

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." The book of Romans, Chapter 10, Verses 9 & 10.

Lets look at each bit of this a little:

1) Confess that Jesus is Lord: This means that we hand ourselves over to Jesus for him to lead us. It also means that Jesus is the most important thing and that we put him first in our lives. When the Bible uses words like 'Lord' it is trying to make us think of Jesus as a king and to follow him as such.

2) Believe that Jesus was raised from the dead: This is supposed to remind us of the Easter story. Jesus came to Earth as both human and God to die on a cross and then to raise from the dead three days later. This means that the wrong things we do that hurt others and seperate us from God (sometimes known as sin) have been taken away by Jesus and that he has beaten death so that although our bodies will die now, Jesus will rise us up from the dead just like he rose from the dead. These promises of God are for those who believe in Jesus.

3) Saved: We all know what this word means but the Bible uses it in a way which we do not in our culture anymore. Here saved means that the wrong things we have done have been dealt with by Jesus so that we my have a relationship with God now and when die Jesus will bring us back to live, fix all the wrong in the world and that we will live with him for eternity.

So this is what a Christian is:

1) Someone who believes that Jesus is King of their life.
2) Someone who believes that Jesus, as both God and human, died in our place to sort out the wrong we have done because we couldn't do it ourselves, and rose from the dead so that we will also one day.
3) Someone who has said sorry for the wrong they have done and seek to live for Jesus as their king now.

I believe that a Christian called Arminius summed up well what a Christian believes when he wrote:

"...Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, died for all men and for every man, so that he has obtained for them all, by his death on the cross, redemption and the forgiveness of sins; yet that no one actually enjoys this forgiveness of sins except the believer, according to the word of the gospel of John 3:16: "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And in the First Epistle of John 2:2: "And [Jesus] is the [one who paid the price] for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
(Article II of The Remonstrance)

If you want to become a Christian then please read this prayer (prayer is just talking with God) then if you believe it then say it to God and you will have become a Christian:

Dear God,
Thank you for sending Jesus. I am sorry for the wrong things I have done and admit that I cannot be good enough without you. I ask that you will forgive the wrong I’ve done and accept me as your follower and your child. Please help me to follow you as king everyday and to tell others of you,
I ask this because of what Jesus has done for me,
Amen (This means you agree with that was said)

If you said that then welcome into the family of God. I encourage you to go to a local church and tell them what you have done. They will help you to grow as a Christian and to understand it more. If you didn't pray then I ask that you look more into what Christianity is. Maybe try a local Alpha course at one of the churches in your area.

How to read the Bible

When reading the Bible it is very easy to get confused and lost. One only needs to search for a single passage to find a thousand interpretations. Is that how its meant to be? I believe not. The books (whatever you believe about them) were written for a specific purpose and therefore there is a correct reading somewhere. So what's gone wrong? I suggest two issues: 1) What the Bible is has been misunderstood, and 2) People do not know how to read a text properly. In this post I briefly want to talk about what the bible is and how it effects our reading of it and also give some simple skills which will helps you be able to understand the Bible as we ought. This is sometimes known as Hermeneutics or Exegesis). Please also bear in mind that I'm not there myself either, however this is simply trying to convey what I have learnt in the hope that it will bless you and your walk with God:

What is the Bible?
The Book that we know as the Bible is often misused, mainly because it is misunderstood. If you fancy reading another post I wrote on it see here. What follows is a list of things that the Bible is and its counterparts:

- The Bible was written by humans. Often Christians hold that the Bible was given to us by god verbatim. This is not true. Now that is not to say that God did not have a hand in its authorship (I believe he did) but it was by inspiration, not by dictation.

- The Bible contains stories. Often people take random quotes out of books and cite them to you as proof as if the whole of the Bible were a saying document of sorts. This is simply not the case. This is a miss-use of the Bible as it ignores both Genre and context (explored later).

- The Bible must be accompanied by the Holy Spirit to be of any use. The Bible itself (book) is not the word of God! It's a collection on ink marks of paper. Jesus is the word of God and I believe that we often mix the two up. The Bible is a great resource and contains the words that the Holy Spirit by inspiration can bring alive to us. We can learn from it by in-depth study but it is the Holy Spirit that speaks them to us and used it to change us

- The Bible is for us to learn and guide. Anyone who ever discussed Theology of any sort will know that soon the Bible is used as a weapon to break down. Used to quote at people to prove them wrong and you right, and not to build up, grow and learn. I'm guilty of this and need to watch myself. I even sometimes study for long periods, again, not to grow but to be smarter or to beat my opponents.

So now that we've looked about what the Bible is how do we access what it contains?

How to read the Bible

1) Pray: Like was said above if we expect to grow we need to be taught by God. Before we read then we need to pray, set our hearts at rest with him (as much as possible) and ask that he would teach us, and that we'd be different because of the reading.

2)Context: Don Carson once said at a Christian conference, "There are three rules of hermeneutics: Context, context, context!" Now that might sound quite strong but in reality its not. We do this with everything, from watching TV to playing sport. Say for example that you and a friend went to a sandwich shop and your friend didn't buy a sandwich but instead came up to you a said, "Mind if I have a bite?" Of course being the kind person you are you say "Not at all", at which point he leans across and bites you on the arm. You of course are shocked and enraged because although you didn't clearly state that you meant he may have a bite of your sandwich it was implied. There are various types of context, too many to go into now but a good place to start is to ask a few questions:
1) Where in the book is this placed?
2) What comes before it?
3) What comes after it?
This gives the literary context. If you get this then try historical context. These questions may help you start off:
1) Who was the author?
2) When was he writing?
3) Where was he writing to?
4) Why was he writing?
We all know the game. How many cars can you find in the Bible? Its not long till "He rides forth in Triumph" is quoted. Of course the context tells us that cars didn't exist yet and therefore not what its getting at!

3) Genre: Question: How many horns will you see on the Lambs head? Answer: None! Revelation is an apocalypse and not to be taken literally. It uses cryptography (hidden images) to explain things we don't understand. The same principle must be applied to all the books in the Bible. What Genre are they and how do I interpret them in light of it. The Bible contains poetry, song, history, prophecy, apocalypse, philosophy, wisdom literature, theological prose, but to name a few. Please treat it as such.

4) Cohesion: This works on a few levels. Firstly the book is coherent. so where there are apparent differences you must see whether these are there intentionally or not. For example in 1 Corinthians Paul says that women who prophesy must cover their heads, and then he says women shouldn’t speak. Obviously he is not saying that women must be mute in church. I'll leave you to look at the rest of the conclusions (*controversial*). Then we have other books the author has written, other books in that testament, then the whole Bible. The Bible cannot teach anything which a single book, on its own, doesn't teach, or even contradicts. It’s a logical conclusion but one which people often skip over.

5) Honesty: When you approach the Bible you must be honest. Too many people use it as a proof text of what they believe and not as a source of learning a growth. We mustn’t come with any pre-conceived ideas which we aim to prove as then the Bible gets twisted. We come humbly to listen and to learn. Every side has done this at some point, each of us have. We need to leave behind our pre-conceived ideas and try to learn what the Bible teaches and not what other teach us. This means that no-one is above reproach.

6) Discussion: This is not per se a hermeneutic tool however it can be useful. Often others see something you don't. Always be open to how others sees things, even if its not 'orthodox'. You never know. They may be right and you wrong.

What about disagreements?

So both you and others around you have tried to the best of your ability to do the above and yet disagree. What then? Don't panic! This is not necessarily a bad thing.
Try to discuss your methods and reasons with others. Perhaps they can see a gap in your argument, or vice versa. Bear in mind that you understanding will be under flux. You will know more later then you do now therefore opinions on a passage will change. Ask any pastor and they will tell you that they’ve preached at least one sermon they disagree with, probably more. Sometimes the context isn't clear. E.g. was Romans written to Jews, Gentiles, or both? In which case it’s expected that there will be disagreements. The rule of thumb is not to make dogma out of these passages.

End remarks
I hope that you continue to read the Bible and grow because of it. For further reading on this subject I suggest the following books:

- For those who like a challenge yet have no life I suggest the following book but be warned its a hefty one: Hermeneutic Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, Grant. R. Osborne (Here)

- For those who are just starting out or want something a bit simpler or an overview I recommend: Digging deeper: Tools to unearth the Bible's treasure, Andrew Beynon and Andrew Sach. (Here)

- Although I've not read it (although I intend to) SCM produce a series of study guides which are amazing, one of which is called "Biblical Hermeneutics" by David Holgate and Rachel Starr. (Here)

- Trying to get to grips with the Bibles Meta-narrative? Then try these: Understanding the Bible, John Stott (Here), or The 100 minute Bible , Michael Hinton and Helen Jenkins (Here)

Thanks to Bethyada for the concept of this post. Please go Here to see his.

Till next time!

St. Georges day

Oh most glorious day of the great and mightly land known as England.
Rejoice, Rejoice, Rejoice!

In case you weren't sure I am proud to be English. I am proud be be part of a great heritage. I am proud to be part of this great nation.

Vegetarians working at a Butcher's

Anyone who has read the Metro today (22/04/09) will have been shocked by the following article: Here (The actual paper has different information)

It is about a "devout Christian" of Kingston in Surrey who has recently become the manager of a Lap-dancing club. He's a virgin and has never had a girlfriend. He claims that he has been propositioned over 20 times but its ok, he insist, as he doesn't believe in sex before marriage and therefore wasn't tempted. Apparently it took him six months to tell his Dad he took the job who supposedly wasn't very happy (Understatement?) The article seems to suggest that he justifies the placement on the £35k pa salary that will provide for his family in future.

Now it might just be me but surely a celibate man working in a lap-dancing club is like a Vegetarian working at a Butcher's shop. They just don't fit. Plus (men, I’m sure you'll agree on this one) believing that sex before marriage is wrong doesn't mean that it is not a severe temptation. Perhaps he's a better man then I am? Finally, and call me crazy if you must, but being financially secure is not the most important way to prepare for a family life. Training in Godliness and perseverance is vital to be a good husband. Sticking to ones convictions is surely more important then a big salary.

Till next time!

Can I make my way to God?

"There is no way from here to the new creation. There is no way from here to the kingdom of resurrection. The kingdom can only come. The new creation can only be given.

And the kingdom does come from God. The new creation is given by God. It pours forth from God’s own inexhaustible excess of life. While we are trying desperately to grasp after life, as much of it as possible – and don’t let anyone get in my way, or have any of what I’ve got – while we are doing that, God is pouring life out freely upon everyone – no limits, no stinginess."

From a sermon by Douglas Harink. Certainly worth a read: See here (Thanks to 'Faith & Theology')

This got me thinking about realised eschatology again. The question is not longer the traditional one of 'Will I go to heaven?', etc. but rather 'Am I part of the kingdom of God?' This then makes the searching and the arguments about getting to heaven almost void. What we are searching for is not out there but rather here. When Christ came he brought the kingdom. "Repent and believe! The Kingdom of God is at hand." he declared. And when he rose it wasn't merely a fixing of the old ways, a correction of the error, but rather it was a new thing, a re-creation! That is why he declares, "Behold! I make all things new"(Rev 21:5).

So can I make my way to God, in this life or the next? No because He is making all things new. The kingdom of God is here, now. He is giving himself and participation in his kingdom freely. We can no more make our way to God then we can cause others to love us or buy ourselves a gift. Think about it. They are oxymorons, as is making our way to God. What we are then faced with are new questions. Have we accepted the gift? Have we been made new?

The old and the new don't mix very well. As we read in Matthew 9:16-17:

"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

We need to be made new and receive the new wine of the kingdom of God. Then when the fullness of Gods kingdom comes we will fit. We will be preserved with the new as we have been made new but those who have not been made new will be thrown away as they cannot fit together.

Till next time!