Why Should I?

I caught myself asking a dangerous question recently. It can easily become a refrain in my head, like that annoying song that won't go away, but I finally saw what was happening.

Why should I?

Why should I keep trying to repair a broken relationship?

Why should I call her when she never calls me?

Why should I help him out when he never helps me?

Why should I keep my sick kids at home when no one else does?

Why should I go to so much effort when no one has ever done anything for me?

In our human world we like things to be equal and fair. We like to get what we paid for, whether we paid with money, time, effort or emotion. We want to feel like the effort to do right is worth it – like we're getting some kind of return.

When I caught myself asking that question of why should I a few weeks ago, I thought about Jesus Christ. What if he had thought that way? Imagine the questions Jesus could have asked himself.

Why should I work with this man who's going to deny he even knows me?

Why should I invest three years of my life into someone who will just betray me?

Why should I heal people who won't do anything for me?

Why should I teach a bunch of people who will try to stone me?

Why should I feed people who don't even believe in me?

Jesus Christ didn't just die for our sins, He lived in a world full of sinners, loving and serving them every minute that He had. I'm so thankful He didn't first weigh up what we could do for Him (nothing) before laying down His life (which was worth billions of ours). The Bible tells followers of Christ to become like Him. The apostle Paul said:

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. (I Corinthians 11:1)

In his letter to the Romans Paul said:

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind … (Romans 12:2)

The answer to the question why should I is simple. Because Jesus would. In a few days followers of Jesus Christ around the world will be remembering His death and resurrection by observing the Passover as He did. The words He spoke in prayer to God shortly before His brutal crucifixion were not why should I, but:

...Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done. (Luke 22:42)

May that be our prayer also.

My Gut Lied

I went with my gut. Ten minutes later I regretted it. An hour later I really, really regretted it. Twenty years later, I don't think I'll ever forget it. Thankfully, there's a happy ending to the story and I didn't end up lying in a gutter. These days it's a funny story I tell.

The young man on the tram asked me the time. Then he sat next to me. Then he asked me how many stops it was until Bell St. I'll tell you when we get there, I said.

He started to pour his heart out about how lonely he was in Australia. Will you be my friend? He asked. Soon he was writing down my phone number. I went with my gut. He seemed friendly and lonely. He decided not to get off the tram at Bell street. I had two choices of tram stop, both equally close to home. Thoroughly frightened by now, I got off at the first one. My new “friend” followed me off the tram.

He started asking increasingly personal questions. I think by now we can agree, my gut had lied to me. What felt right had turned out to be wrong. Can I come home with you? He asked. Over and over. After about the third or fourth no, he asked rather mournfully, wouldn't your parents approve? I jumped at the chance.

No, I said, definitely not. (No my parents, who were far, far away across the water in another state, would definitely not approve of me taking a complete stranger to an empty house with none of my house mates home.)

I was infinitely relieved when he gave up, and I was finally able to walk home without him following me. Shortly after I got home the phone rang. For me. My new “friend” asked when he could see me again. Nothing I said seemed to put him off. At last he told me, You're the only girl in my heart. If I don't see you again, I will die.

This time I didn't do what felt right. Fine, I said. And hung up. I never heard from him again. Probably he was just a foreign student wanting to marry an Aussie and become a citizen. Or something like that. I don't know. What I do know is that my gut lied to me.

Go with your gut.

Just do what feels right.

Stay true to yourself.

We hear and see these a lot. They seem to be the catch-cry everywhere I go. Hidden in those phrases is a tiny grain of truth. Scientists have shown that our instincts, fuelled by mirror neurons, can help us make decisions our rational brains can't explain. If properly trained those instincts can be lifesavers in emergencies. However, our gut has a dark side.

The Bible sheds light on the whole truth.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:12)

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

In other words, our instincts are unreliable and sometimes downright deceptive. How do we know when to trust our instincts? For a start, nothing that compromises on God's law or contradicts the Bible is right... Even when it seems like the only way out of a stick situation. Beyond that, the more we train our instincts and emotions with truth, the more we get in the habit of doing the right thing when it's really, really hard, the more reliable our instincts will become. The Bible says:

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

But not only that:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)

Had I turned to God for wisdom before giving away my phone number, I might have been spared a lot of fear and anxiety.

Everywhere we turn there are catchy slogans and eye-catching memes, but before we go with our gut, nod our heads and click the like button, we need to ask ourselves if they are Truth, or just a little bit of truth mixed in with some dangerous lies. The truth may not look or feel as good, but it's always the best option.

It's Not On The Outside

Have you ever been buzzing with frustration after one thing after another, after another has gone wrong?  Ever thought, "if only I could just have a break..."?  Ever felt so wound up you think you might explode?

No matter what is going on in your life, though, none of that frustration is coming from the outside.  Frustration, anger, rage... they all start on the inside.  Yes, sometimes you should be angry and frustrated by the world you live in.  We should all be upset by injustice and cruelty, but letting that anger stew on the inside is not going to help.  It's not God's way.

Jesus is the perfect example of perfect balance.  He got angry, He expressed anger, and He always did it right.  It's pretty incredible to read some of the things Jesus did and said and to realise that He was always in control - He always spoke and acted in perfect love, not simply as a reaction to how He was feeling at the time.

When God created us in His image, He gave us the power of choice.  Animals, on the other hand, simply react to the physical conditions on the outside.  They are driven by circumstances.  Too often, we behave as though we are animals.  Something happens.  It makes us feel bad.  We let the bad feeling drive our response.  We give up our power to our emotions.  But no matter how we feel, we can choose how we respond - if we depend on God to empower us to do what is right.  In fact, even when we let our emotions control us we are making a choice - the choice not to do the hard work of thinking about what we're doing.

Often we try to control life.  We try to protect ourselves from bad things and ensure that good things happen to us.  There's certainly a place for taking sensible precautions, but we can't control our world.  No amount of preparation can protect us against all disease and natural disaster.  No amount of manipulation can stop other people from doing things we don't like.  What we can control, what we can choose, and what really matters is what comes from inside us.  It's our reaction to whatever happens, whether we like it or not.  We can choose to act in love despite pain and frustration.  Or we can let our emotions carry us.  What will you choose?

A Person's A Person

Did you ever read Dr Seuss's book, "Horton Hears A Who"?  Perhaps the most memorable line in it is:

"A person's a person, no matter how small"

Dr Seuss was teaching children something profound. In the Bible, God talks about there being

"neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female..." (Galatians 3:28)

According to God, all people are of equal value.  A person's a person no matter... what.

I've just read a book called "Ghost Boy"* written by Martin Pistorius, a man who spent years unable to move or communicate on his own and yet fully alive and aware in the prison of his own body.  His story is a reminder of the truth that God told long before Martin existed: God has put a spirit in man that makes us unique in His creation.  God has given each of us something that makes us people, a completely different creation to animals.

One of my great longings is that we all remember this whenever we see a person with a disability, especially an "intellectual" disability.  The brain is just part of the body that can be broken like a leg or an arm.  The brain can get "sick" just like a heart or liver.  BUT if someone has a broken leg or heart disease or cancer, we don't assume that they are less of a person.  We don't think that they won't mind eating custard every day for the rest of their lives and sit them in front of children's television for days on end.  On the other hand, if a person drools and mumbles apparent nonsense (or doesn't talk at all) or rocks back and forth endlessly - if their brain is "broken" - we tend to treat them as though they're not people at all anymore.  In fact, we often call them "vegetables".

But God said that He is the giver of every good gift.  One of those gifts is the human spirit.  Is God capable of giving us something that is broken?  The brain might be broken, but inside every person, no matter how vacant or weird or scarey they seem, there is a human spirit, and just because the brain is broken doesn't mean the spirit is.  There is neither slave nor free to God - surely being trapped in the prison of a dysfunctional brain is another kind of slavery.  But God sees the person inside the prison.  A person is a person no matter what.

Jesus came so that everyone could have an opportunity for eternal life.  No exceptions.  God sees and values the person inside the prison.  God sees everyone as equally valuable.  Do we?

*While this was an excellent book in many ways, it does include some very disturbing content about the author being horribly abused in a care home.  Sensitive readers may prefer to skip chapters 35 and 36 (titled "Memories" and "Lurking in Plain Sight").  I would have preferred not to read the graphic details myself.

Why Do I Feel Like Such a Failure?

Do you?  I'll bet if you're a woman, especially if you have kids, you feel like a failure a lot.  Am I right?  Every day?  Many times a day?  You may not even be sure what The Standard is that you're trying to achieve, but every day you feel pretty sure - even convicted, perhaps - that you haven't reached it.

Well.  You feel like a failure because you are a failure.  As am I.  You see, the first two people created, Adam and Eve, were created good and put in a beautiful garden.  But then they ate the fruit that God had told them not to eat - the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  By choosing to decide for themselves what was wrong and what was right, Adam and Eve put themselves and their children at war with God Himself.

God is the ultimate expression of all that is Good and Perfect, so, like our first parents, you and I are at war with all that is Good and Perfect.  Only, it can seem mixed-up and confusing because the tree Adam and Eve ate from was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  We've all learned to be socially acceptable as well, so we humans don't completely wipe each other out, so from the outside it looks like there's a lot of good in us... until there's an all-out war, when human nature is seen in the raw, minus a lot of that "social acceptability". (Think the Rwandan civil war, the Holocaust in Europe, or any number of present-day conflicts such as the war in Syria and even the riots in indebted countriesin response to "austerity measures".)

Anyway, so being at war with what is Good and Perfect makes us failures, with some good bits thrown in here and there.

But wait, there's good news!  By ourselves we are failures, but Jesus paid the price for that failure.  In Roman times, the crimes committed by a condemned criminal were nailed to their cross when they were crucified.  Jesus hadn't done anything wrong, so your sins and mine were symbolically nailed to his cross (the "handwriting of requirements against us" - the Bible still talks about sin after Jesus was resurrected, so it wasn't the law that was nailed to the cross, otherwise there would have been no such thing as sin any more! "Sin is the transgression of the law").  By repenting, being baptised and having hands laid on us to receive the Holy Spirit, we start to become something new.  No longer a failure.

Of course, we won't completely shake that "failure" part of ourselves until we are transformed.  We'll still feel like failures often.  But no longer hopeless failures!

In just two days is one of God's appointed Holy Days, known to the Jews and many others as Yom Kippur.  It is a day of recognising our human failure and the depth of our need for Jesus Christ and God our Father.  Physically, it's not an enjoyable day, since it means fasting for a complete 24 hours - no food or water in that time.  But spiritually it is a celebration of the fact that Jesus has paid for our weakness and sin.  It's a celebration that failure is just a temporary state - if we truly accept the price that Jesus paid.

What Is Love? (It Suffers Long)

Today, I'm writing as a tribute to a lady who truly suffered long.  Through years of suffering and pain, she considered others and was truly a shining light.  In the last weeks of her slow and agonising death, she wrote letters of encouragement and gratitude to many people.

And this is what I have just "gotten" recently - "...love suffers long and is kind..." (I Corinthians 13:4)  It's not just the "suffering long", but the kindness at the same time.  We live in a world that tends to make heroes of people just because they suffer.  We call it courage when someone who is suffering goes on doing the things that they enjoy most.  But that's not real courage, it's just common sense.  It makes sense to spend lots of time with your family and friends when you're in agony - it will probably (although not for everyone, admittedly) get your mind off the pain.

Agape (remember that word for the love that God is?) is another whole level.  It's being kind to people who don't necessarily make you feel good (while suffering).  It's being kind to people who are contributing to your suffering (think of Jesus' crucifixion.. remember, God is love, so whatever Jesus did was love).

Agape suffers long and is kind.  That means it's relentlessly kind, not just for a day or two, or even a year or two while the world is watching.  Agape is kind for twenty years of pain and suffering.  Which is what makes Agape so completely different from our human definition of love - it's impossible.  And yet, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).  Yes, you and I will stumble in this life, but if we have the power of the Holy Spirit, we can do the impossible - including being kind when we suffer... for a very long time.

Want to understand more about the Holy Spirit and how it can change your life?  Try reading The Holy Spirit: God's Power at Work from the free Good News Magazine.

What Is Love? (More Than Self-Sacrifice)

God is love.  That's what the Bible says.  But hang on, let's take a step back.  When I say "love" I don't mean the warm, fuzzy feeling that you feel towards a good friend you can trust.  Nor do I mean the emotional rollercoaster of being "in love".  I don't mean the overwhelming protectiveness we feel for our children.  I mean something much bigger, wider, and deeper than all of those.  I mean something that is outside and beyond feelings.  Sometimes good feelings come with the love I'm talking about, but sometimes it feels absolutely rotten because it means giving up what I want for the good of others.

So I'm going to stop calling this thing "love" and call it by it's Greek name "agape".  Not because it makes me feel all fancy to be using Greek words, but because it's so important to make a distinction between the love that is God (agape), and the pale human shadow of that Great Love.

So, God is agape.  In other words, to fully know agape, we have to fully know God... which we won't in this lifetime, but let's see if we can get a little glimpse of what agape truly means.

In I Corinthians 13 of the Bible there's a whole chapter about love. Early in the chapter it says something really interesting. It goes something like this:

"Even if I give away all my stuff and am willing to be burned to death, if I don't have agape, I'm nothing." 

Wow, right. So being really generous or being willing to die for other people isn't (of and by itself) agape.

That means (among other things) that if we sacrifice our comfort and well-being for others, it isn't really love unless it's for their greater good.  Too often, we try to please our loved ones (especially children) now - because we want to see them "happy" (and that makes us "happy") - at the expense of their future.  It might make my kids "happy" to eat lollies every day of their lives, but, considering the cost to their future health, it's certainly not agape.  Agape wants what is best for people, not what will make them feel good (of course, sometimes what makes people feel good is what's best for them, but we can't assume that making people feel good is agape all by itself).

So sacrifice and generosity aren't agape all by themselves. And that is just barely the beginning... More another time.

Why Not Me?

Have you heard of Job?  He was a rich dude in the Bible who lost all his children and all his wealth in the course of a single day... And then just to top it off he got covered in boils from head to toe.  At first, Job took all this very well - until his three best friends started haranguing him and telling him all the stuff he must be doing wrong to suffer that way. After that he started to feel pretty sorry for himself and asking that universal question: "why me?"

Ever asked that when life got tough?  It's worth reading the book of Job.  In the end he learned some important lessons, but it took a while for God's message to get through, because Job was so busy feeling sorry for himself.

Don't get me wrong, Job was going through a huge trial, and those three best friends of his were insensitive to infinity and beyond.  But.  The book of Job is there for us to learn from.  To learn, in part, what not to do in a trial.  One of the things not to do is to wallow in the "why me?" question.  It's something I've had to learn personally... a number of times.  Really, why not me?  What have I done to earn a life of ease and comfort?  I didn't create myself or my children or husband - so exactly what gives me the right to good health or anything else that I might want or think I need?  Nothing.

The apostle Peter wrote in a letter:

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you... (1Peter 4:12) 

Those fiery trials are necessary for us to truly grow into children of God (what an incredible opportunity - to become a child of God!)

And in book of Hebrews God told His people:

And have you forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.  If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? (Hebrews 12:5-7)

The bad things that happen to us are not because God stopped paying attention to what was going on in our lives.  Nor are they the arbitrary punishment of an ill-tempered God.  Every challenge, difficulty, crisis, or even tragedy that comes your way and my way is an opportunity to learn something important.  Too often we (speaking for myself, anyway) waste that opportunity by asking God to make the bad stuff go away... and then either waiting or wallowing.

Now please understand, I'm not suggesting that God expects or even wants us to just supress the grief of a tragedy and get straight to pulling our socks up and learning the lessons He has for us.  Ours is an ever-merciful and patient Creator who understands what it is to be human - He doesn't ask us to just shut off grief and pretend it's not there at all.  Nor does God ask us to pretend that pain doesn't hurt and put on a happy face (otherwise a big chunk of the book of Psalms wouldn't exist!).  Jesus Himself felt and expressed anguish in His lifetime as the only perfect human being ever to live.  But - when we get to the point of just wallowing and feeling sorry for ourselves, or when we pause life (and personal growth) to wait for God to fix things so life is just as we think it should be - that is the time to start asking what God has for us to learn. God has promised:

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful , who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Did you really read that?  Go on, read it again.  God is faithful.  Did you get that?  He will make the way of escape so that you may be able to bear it.  Have you really got that?  Do you really believe it - right to the core of your being?  Whatever you are suffering right now, however unbearable it feels - there is a way through.  Whatever God is throwing at you (or letting others throw at you), there is a message in it for you - a personal message, written in love, just for you from your great Creator.

Don't (as I have often made the mistake of doing) get so busy wallowing or waiting that you miss the priceless gift of the lessons that God is teaching you.  Is God's message getting through?  Why not you? Why not me?  God has so many things to teach each of us.  Are we listening?

Is This The World We Want?

I had a dream the other night.  I was searching for something or someone in a hospital - I don't remember what.  As I rushed through rooms, I passed through a lab.  On a stainless steel topped bench lay a newborn baby - alone, clearly in pain, gasping for breath, lying in a little pool of blood.  On a nearby bench top lay the severed heads of other newborns.  Even as I rushed past, I comprehended the scene, but I still rushed past, leaving that living, dying baby alone on the bench in the hurry of my unknown errand.

I woke up horrified.  Would I really do that in my waking life?  Would I really think it was none of my business that someone else's baby had been left alone to die in that sterile room?  And this morning, lying awake in bed, I realised that God was telling me that it is time to stop doing just that.  It is time to stop rushing past the grim reality that is so awful I don't even want to talk about it.  I have written about it once before - quietly, where just one or two people would read it, but now I think it's time to go as public as I can.  So I'm asking you what I never ask - wherever you are, whoever you are, please share this with everyone you know, because we all need to ask ourselves if we're really accepting our world the way it is right now.  Go check the facts for yourself to make sure I'm not just being hysterical.  We need to ask if this is really OK with us.

Let me be clear - this is *not* about people power.  There's only one government I would vote for, and that's God's, so I'm not telling you who to vote for or not. I'm just asking YOU - are you OK with this?  Do you accept this?  God wants to know. Now I'll tell you where I stand.

While we want to know which politicians will put the most money in our pockets, and while abattoirs where pigs are mistreated are hastily shut down - while foreign policy walks on a knife edge over the live cattle trade, something much bigger is happening right here in the state of Victoria.

Right now, it is legal to rip a living baby of any age into pieces, provided he or she is a least partly in the womb. The word for this practise is so sanitised, we don't comprehend what it really means anymore.  We call this abortion.  We call it abortion when an unwanted baby is thrown in the bin (sometimes still alive) after being burned inside and out with a salt solution.  We call it abortion when a living baby is vacuumed out of the uterus.

You can read the bill passed in 2008 here.  You will see that, while anaesthetic must be administered to experimental animals (see here), there is no legal requirement for any pain relief for a baby that is being annihilated.  Importantly, in all that "Abortion reform" bill, there is no restriction on how a baby is killed or removed from the mother's womb, except that it must be by a "registered practitioner".  There is no mention of how the baby is disposed of after it leaves the mother's body, whether living or dead.

I AM NOT OK WITH THIS!

I wonder, when our children and children's children grow up - knowing that they were "chosen" to live, while many other babies died because they were sacrificed to the idols of money and convenience - will they make it legal to dispose of elderly people (who are an economic drain on society) by dismemberment? Or perhaps they will be "humanely" disposed of in a purpose-built gas chamber?  Will they make it legal to cut the living heart out of a disabled person (perhaps you or I after a stroke or serious car accident) to replace their own dying heart?  Why not - if we have taught them that a broken baby should be thrown away, just like a broken toy?  Why should a broken adult be any different?

How can we so vocal about animal rights and protecting the environment (for our children, supposedly) when the most vulnerable members of our society can be legally vacuumed out of existence??  Let me make this clear - an abortion (the killing, with no regard for pain or suffering) may be performed on a baby after 24 weeks, right up to the moment of birth if the medical practitioner:

reasonably believes that the abortion is appropriate in all the circumstances; and has consulted at least one other registered medical practitioner who also reasonably believes that the abortion is appropriate in all the circumstances.

Are you OK with this? All it takes (in the Australian state of Victoria) is two registered medical practitioners to decide that it is "appropriate" to kill an unborn baby right up to the point of birth. While there are pages of laws on the treatment of animals, I can't find any information about the protection of unborn children in Australia except statements such as this one on the Queensland government website:

If the unborn child is assessed as being in need of protection after birth, we will offer ongoing help and support to the pregnant women [sic] (emphasis mine).

In other words, unborn children are considered to be of less value than animals (including unborn animals) in Australia. I'm not OK with this, and I will never be OK with this. It is time to stop tiptoeing around abortion as though it's just about choice. Abortion is about the choice to (often brutally) murder the most helpless and innocent of all human beings. If you are reading this and are considering abortion, please write a comment. I will do everything I can to help you not have an abortion. Or contact someone who can help you. Please.
Right now unborn children in Victoria have no legal protection that I know of. This is not the world I want. Is this the world you want? If we continue to ignore, and even mock, the most basic of moral laws, we will pay the price. Are you prepared for what this will cost?

The Question Is...

... What are you going to do?

The world's getting to be a nasty place.  That's a fact.  I know many people don't believe it, but that can only be because of the cosy little bubble they're living in.  There is a serious lack of loving care in this world we live in.

A friend told me about her little girl wandering off in a crowd...  not one person "rescued" the toddler clearly separated from her Mum.  She nearly made it out the door alone.  I've lost a child myself in a shopping centre and not one person even tried to help me find her.

I've heard about teachers eating nut bars in front of a little boy who keeps constant company with an epi-pen because of his severe allergies.

An early childhood teacher shared how other staff members at her centre ignored the regulations meant to protect children with serious allergies under their care.

These are matters of life and death, and we are living in a world so callous that many people don't care if their actions endanger the lives of innocent children.

In one instance that I know of personally (not just something I heard on the news), the lack of care in a person in authority did lead to a death.

These are not isolated incidents.  Elections are won and lost over the economy.  That's how much money I have to look after me. Meanwhile, abused children die in and out of state custody.  It is legal to brutally murder a baby while the mother is in labour. I kid you not.  Why do we care about money when children are dying?  Because we are a nation that doesn't care about children.  That is the stark and horrible truth.

I could go on and on about the lack of care and compassion in the world, evident by everything from the way people drive (ignoring road rules) to (lack of) customer service.  But that's not the point.  I could complain all day... And I would achieve... what?

The question is: what am I going to do?  What are you going to do?  Are we going to be like everyone else (while complaining about everyone else)?  Or are we going to be different?

Sorry, we can't change the world.  That's up to Jesus and God the Father - when they decide that it's time.

But we can choose not to be part of the world.  We can choose to be the person that grabs the runaway toddler (at the risk of being accused of child molestation).  We can choose to be the person who obeys the annoying rules (for the safety of others) that everyone else ignores.  We can stop complaining about the price of milk when there are children chained to carpet looms, paying off their parents "debts".

We can choose to be the people that care about children, and the elderly... and everyone else in between (whether they deserve it or not).  We can choose to be the people that see the people everywhere we go, not the dollar signs.  We can be the weirdos that actually stay home when we're sick - instead of "sharing" our germs because someone else "shared" their germs with us.  We can choose to be good.

There is just one way to be truly "good", and that is through God.

God is Love.

Not the "love" that gets advertised on Valentine's Day as being all about roses and warm and fuzzy feelings.  God is the Love that shows when no one is watching.  He is the Love that comes out in little actions, not just big ones.

It's in our tone of voice when we answer the phone for the 10th time in an hour and it's another survey.  It's in the expression on our face when we get stuck between two elderly ladies taking up the whole aisle while we're trying to zip through the supermarket.  It's in all the little ways we treat our husbands and children and parents and friends day after day, week after week, year after year.

You've seen the world for what it is - ugly and awful.  Now what are you going to do?

No More Excuses!

Are you a Christian?  Can people tell?  Do you ever say "it's impossible to keep God's laws"?

There is a half truth in that.  The other half of the sentence is: "with God all things are possible."  Why couldn't Israel keep God's laws?  What was missing?

There was nothing missing from God's laws - because they were (and are still!) God's laws - He doesn't make mistakes.  There was something missing from the people.  The Holy Spirit. 

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Including honour God by keeping His commandments.  The whole lot of them.

Jesus said: "if you love me, keep My commandments."  Try looking up the word "commandments".  Jesus had a lot to say about them, and it was all about keeping them.

The idea that God's commandments are restrictive?  Utterly ridiculous.  What would you rather?  Live by ten simple, easy-to-understand rules that always benefit everyone?  Or live by books and books of increasingly obscure laws, many of which still have loopholes that hurt the helpless?

Did Jesus die so that you could lie to your children, mess around with your neighbours wife, and cheat on your taxes?  Hardly.  Let's start living a transformed life instead of talking about it.

No more excuses.

Rights or Responsibilities?

As a parent, I sometimes hear other parents say things like: "It's my right to raise my children whatever way I see fit." Or "no one has the right to tell me how to raise my kids."

Hmmm.  If I put myself in the children's shoes, I find these statements disturbing.  Really?  Do I have the right to fill "my" children up with several litres of coke per day?  Do I have the right to drag "my" sick children through the shopping centres with me because I need to do things for myself?  Do I have the right to farm "my" children out to the maximum possible of extracurricular activities until they are ready to keel over from exhaustion?  Do I have the right to scream at "my" children or refuse to talk to them because I am overwhelmed by life?

Legally, probably yes.  I've never heard of children being removed from their parents for any of the above reasons.

But what makes them "my" children anyway?  Do I own them as I do my car?  Did I earn the right to them as I did my driver's license?  Are they really "mine" to do with as I will?  Short of physical or emotional abuse, by law I guess I could say they are "my" children... But what can we expect for the future of our country and our world if we see children as objects that we own?

Isn't being a parent more about our responsibility than our rights?  God certainly says so.

Unfortunately, the only bit about parenting that some people read in the Bible is: "children, obey your parents" or "honour your father and mother".  But there are a lot of instructions to parents.  And a lot of instructions about life and love that apply as much to parents as to anyone else.  Unfortunately, instructions like:

He who spares his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

are sometimes read as a license to beat our children, but notice the mention of love.  The point is that if we love our children, we will take responsibility to teach them what is right.  That may involve inflicting temporary pain, but true love (see 1 Corinthians 13 for an explanation of love) would never, ever allow us to injure our children.  If we love our children, we will be concerned about our responsibilties, not our rights.  Nowhere does the Bible tell us that we own our children to do with them as we will - including before birth.  

The Bible speaks of God's fury when children were passed through fire. (2 Kings 16:3; 2 Kings 17:31; 2 Chronicles 28:3; Ezekiel 16:21)  Such a practice seems barbaric today... and yet how many children are "passed through the fire" when they are sent out into a hostile world ill-equipped and unprepared for coping where they are not welcomed, but seen as a burden?  How many unborn children are "passed through the fire" because their existence is seen as being in some way "inconvenient" due to financial strain or career pressures, or disability.


Find me a  place where the Bible speaks about our rights as parents.  I haven't found one.


However, I have found this after a summary of God's commandments in Deuteronomy 6:6-7:

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

God's way - the only way to true happiness and fullfilment - is a way of give.  As parents, our mission is to give to our children in a way that will prepare and equip them for that hostile world we will eventually throw them out into.  That's a tough love to give - it doesn't mean giving what they want, but what they need.  There is no easy way - you need try it only for a few days to know that with all of your being.

None of us are perfect - we will all make mistakes and let our children down.  I know that I do, and it's been really hard for me to swallow my pride and say "sorry" to my kids on those many occasions when I've been overcome by my own humanity.  But that's no excuse to give up and stop trying.


As parents, we have no "rights", only the responsibility to nurture our children and teach them what is Right - God's way.


If you are interested in what God has to say about parenting and marriage, you may be interested in the free booklet, Marriage and Family: The Missing Dimension.

A Carbon Tax Solution?

Very soon, we'll be taxed for carbon dioxide in Australia.  Let's call it what it really is - a selfish tax.  The government has decided that the way to stop Australians from producing too much carbon dioxide and thus destroying the planet, is to make everyone pay for it.

Perhaps, amidst moans and groans, we will start being a little more "environmentally friendly", but history has shown over and over that making people pay for selfishness doesn't stop them from being selfish.

There are laws against drug dealing, and hefty penalties for anyone who gets caught selling drugs - but dealers keep on dealing.  Most countries have laws against selling or mistreating children, and those who get caught can pay a very high price... but children are still bought and sold and abused the world over.

There are many other examples, but the point is, no law or tax will truly change anyone at heart.  As long as our hearts and minds are directed towards self-gratification, humanity will continue to destroy the planet and it's people.

I'm not interested in the politics of a carbon tax or arguing about one party being better than the other.  Recent sessions of parliament question time have shown that all politicians are driven by self interest, not the national interest.  And that's true because the majority of Australians voted out of self interest, not the national interest.

The carbon tax cannot be a real solution for any of the nation's - or the world's - problems because it misses the core of every problem we have.  Every problem we have comes from the belief that we don't need God.  The belief that humanity alone can create a world that works.

The truth is, the way that seems right to us ends in death.  No law or tax or treaty or plan or resolution or government can replace God.  The world will eventually learn that the hard way, but thankfully that won't be the end of the story.

To learn about how God plans to ultimately give all humanity the chance to turn to Him, trying watching the weekly Beyond Today program, now showing in Australia, on Sunday mornings on Channel 4ME - Digital 74 Metro, Digital 64 Regional at the following times: 6:30 AM (NSW, VIC, ACT); 6:00 AM (SA); 6:30 AM (QLD); 4:30 AM (WA). Or you can watch past episodes or Beyond Today Daily online at Beyond Today TV.

He Wasn't Speaking For Me

I just watched a recording of Q&A on the ABC with the Catholic cardinal George Pell and well-known atheist Richard Dawkins. I had read the comment that George Pell would be speaking for all Christians, not just catholics.

Well. George Pell wasn't speaking for me. I don't believe in a "christianity" that regards Greek philosophy above the Bible. I don't believe in a "christianity" that struggles to come to grips with the most basic truths about God such as why He allows suffering. And I certainly don't believe in a "christianity" that depends more on human reason to explain itself than it does on what the Bible actually says.

What's in a Name?

It's that time of year. My kids are offered easter eggs wherever we go. I have to ask - what do chocolate and eggs and buns and bunnies have to do with Jesus? What do they have to do with death or resurrection?

I grew up with the conviction that Easter has pagan origins. Recently, I have read an argument that suggests the word "Easter" actually had Christian origins. Maybe...

BUT, even someone with no knowledge of history can ask the question - what do chocolate and eggs and buns and bunnies have to do with Jesus? And, in fact, what do Friday and Sunday have to do with Jesus? Friday night to Sunday morning isn't three days and three nights however you carve it up. Seriously, just try it. If you read the Biblical account of Jesus death and resurrection you will find He died just before a Sabbath, yes, but not a weekly Sabbath - he died just before the High Sabbath at the beginning of the Days of Unleavened Bread (see Leviticus 23 for more about these days).

Jesus told His disciples to observe the Passover evening (what many refer to as the Last Supper) as a memorial (a memorial is to be observed once a year, not once a week) to Him (see Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 and John 13). So why Easter? The symbols that Jesus instituted were the (unleavened) bread and wine and foot washing, not eggs, bunnies and buns.

How does the self-indulgence of eating chocolate and cakes represent Jesus Christ's spirit of self-sacrifice? How does telling children (untrue) stories about Easter bunnies represent the Jesus who said: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6)? Can these symbols possibly honour Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection?

I have often heard it said that anything can be used to God's glory. Really? Would any of us be happy to see a church decorated in swastikas (that had somehow been converted to a "Christian" symbol)?

The Bible does not command, or even suggest many of the symbols and traditions that have come to be associated with Easter. Why would we want to substitute human traditions for what Jesus did command ("...do this in remembrance of me...")?

For a more complete discussion on Easter and the festivals that God commanded, try watching The Easter Charade, Which Passover Should You Observe? and God's Holy Day Plan: Blueprint for Salvation on Beyond Today TV.

Whose Will Be Done?

"Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..." (Matthew 6:10)

This was part of Jesus' instructions to His disciples about how to pray. Many of us say it, one way or another. (The model prayer was just that, a model to help us construct our own prayers - Jesus said "in this manner pray", not "repeat this word-for-word every time you pray" and He also warned against "vain repetition" in prayer.) ...But do we really mean it?

Do we really want God's will to be done, no matter what? ...Or do we assume that what we really, really want must be God's will, because we really, really want it? Are we willing to completely give up the things we think are important because God has something better in mind - even if that something better involves pain, suffering and tragedy throughout our human existence?

Many atheists and agnostics point to the horrible suffering and tragedy in the world as proof that there is no God. We call God our father - yet what loving father would allow his children to die of hunger when he had the power to prevent it?

The difference between God and mere human parents is that He has our Eternal interests at heart. Let me give an example. Yesterday morning, my oldest daughter went outside to find her treasured chicken lying dead with its head bitten off. If I had forseen that this would happen, I would have done everything I could to prevent it. God could have prevented it, but He didn't - not because He doesn't care about small things, but because He knows that there can be an eternal benefit from this small "tragedy" for my daughters or myself. Would I have had the courage to let the chicken have it's head bitten off if I could have prevented it, even knowing it would have some eternal benefit? I think perhaps not. God's will is that all should be saved and He will allow whatever suffering is necessary now to achieve that ultimate end - for all to share in the unimaginable joy of eternal life.

Sometimes I let my children suffer in small ways to help them learn important lessons. But could I bring myself to let one of them make a mistake that would leave them paralysed for the rest of their lives - even if I knew it would make the difference between them choosing Eternal Life and Eternal Death? As incomprehensible as it is to our human minds, the suffering that God allows in the world is proof of His incredible and boundless love for every single one of us. He knows that only tragedy and suffering - the results of us doing things our way - will prove that our way doesn't work... Only then will many finally choose Life.

Faith is not about believing that God will shield us from pain and make things better. Faith is trusting that even the pit of despair has a purpose. Faith is not the belief that God will give us our hearts desire, but that He will teach us to desire what is truly valuable.

Genuinely meaning it when we say "Your will be done" is an enormous step of faith. We are saying to God "I trust Your plans for my life, even if it means realising my worst fears." If we really mean it, "Your will be done" doesn't necessarily mean that the right job will turn up at the right time - it may mean that we are unemployed for life. "Your will be done" doesn't necessarily mean that our pain will stop or our sickness be healed in time - it may mean that we learn to live with increasing pain and incapacity.

God has promised that He will proved our basic physical needs. Jesus said

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33)

All the way back in the book of Dueteronomy in the Old Testament, we read that Moses urged the Israelites to "choose life" (Dueteronomy 30:19). God's will is always for the best in the end - are we ready to choose life? Are we ready to take a step of faith into the great and terrifying unknown and say with conviction "Your will be done"?

Are You A Person?

In an article published in the Journal of Medical Ethics last month two Melbourne Scientists argued that "the newborn and the fetus are morally equivalent". They are right - a baby doesn't suddenly become a person at the moment of birth. However, they proposed that a newborn is not yet a person, but merely a "potential person".

The title of the article: "After-birth abortion: why should the baby live?" And so the false boundaries that humanity creates keep getting blurred. After all, if a baby can be legally killed moments before birth, why not moments after? And if it is acceptable to kill a child moments after birth, why not days, or weeks or months after? And if it is ethical to kill a baby, why not a child with an acquired brain injury, or an adult no longer able to care for themselves?

If we accept the idea of evolution, then we accept the idea that the value of a human being comes from their physical composition. If that physical composition is flawed and the person "broken", then why should they not be disposed of (if that's what you believe)?

I don't accept evolution and I don't believe that any human being has the right to determine when another human being should die, regardless of suffering. The wonderful thing about the boundaries that God sets is that they are clear and unchanging. There are no fuzzy lines. Any confusion comes from human beings trying to reason away the ten simple rules that God has given us to live by.

So what do you believe in? A world where a baby is not an "actual person" (but an animal may be considered an "actual person")? A world where the most vulnerable of all human beings have "no moral right to life"? A world where scientists philosophize away the basic value of a human being (unless they are "capable of making any aims" according to the scientists' judgement)?

Or do you believe that a person is something beyond the mere physical? Do you believe that we have a purpose?

Unless we accept God as our Creator, the definition of an "actual person" is sure to get more and more fuzzy. Each step we take away from God is another step into a morality minefield. Few of us are likely to come out the other end alive.

When God Says No

Our family have experienced disappointment in the last few days. A church family camp was cancelled due to bad weather. Our girls were anticipating seeing their friends and camping on a farm for weeks. Has God let our kids down?

We can make the mistake of believing that what we want is God's will. Jesus told His disciples to pray: "Your will be done", but do we really mean it? It's easy to treat God like a sideshow magician and expect Him to pull a rabbit out of His hat on request. We can forget that God sees around corners and knows that what we want is not always for the best.

Why did God say "no" to the camp this weekend? I don't know - but that doesn't mean He doesn't have a good reason. Sometimes when God says "no" we are left devastated. A father we knew in our church died several years ago in his mid-forties, leaving behind a wife and teenage children. Not for want of prayers.

When I was just four or five, a little girl in our church who was just a little older than me died of cancer. Again, not for want of prayers on her behalf. Why? Again, I don't know, but God sees around every bend in the road ahead and He knew and knows that He allowed these tragedies for the best.... in the end.

An atheist or agnostic might use these situations as proof that life is not planned or designed, but simply a huge cosmic mistake. However, we have also seen incredible personal examples of God saying "yes". My husband was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor when he was nine. He lives. When the wife of that father I mentioned was pregnant, the baby was diagnosed in the womb with a terminal condition. There was no mistaking on the ultrasound that her brain was the wrong shape. She lives.

What we want does not necessarily equal God's will. Sometimes, in fact, when we get what we want, it's not God's will. The huge wad of cash that your father's best friend's cousin prayed to Mary for and won at the races - that's not from God. Revenge on an ex-husband in the guise of the ex being denied all visitation rights for the children (despite being a caring father) - that's not from God.

Faith is accepting that sometimes God will say "no" and we may never know why. Faith is trusting in the midst of disaster and disappointment that the God who allowed the raging floodwaters to sweep through our home still loves us.

This can be an incredibly hard truth to come to terms with. We can be so sure that what we want should be God's will. How could the loss of a baby, a friend, a home, a business... be God's will for our lives? We don't have to know. God has made an astounding promise that can provide comfort in even the darkest of times (and comfort doesn't mean that the pain and grief just go away - it means that God holds our hand through and within the tempest and never lets go unless we tell Him to):

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4)

Now that is a promise we can hang our hats on.

You may be interested in reading What Happens After Death? or listening to the sermon Learning to Trust God.

A House Divided

Australian media has been drowned in discussion of the Labor leadership lately. Who will win the leadership struggle? I don't know. Does it matter?

There has been a lot of talk about trust. Who do you trust? Does Julia Gillard's track record inspire trust? What about Kevin Rudd's? Have either shown themselves to be people of principle and integrity?

Mr Rudd said he thinks it doesn't matter what kind of person the Prime Minister is, as long as they're going to do stuff that's good for everyone. "In the national interest" are the words he used. Ms Gillard has talked about all that she has achieved so far as Prime Minister.

I don't know who will win, but I do know that the future for our country is bleak as long as we care most about who will do the most for us. Our future is bleak as long as we think character doesn't matter, as long as we see results. Our future is bleak as long as we are a house divided against itself. Our future is bleak as long as we care more about the economy than the actual people in the economy.

Back when it was "Kevin in '07" there was a lot of talk about the need for a change. Well, we got the change, but children are still dying in state care. We got the change, but are you happier for it? I'm not suggesting that the alternative would have been any better, but that the government is part of something much bigger - the direction of our nation as a whole.

Are we going in a positive direction? Towards peace and unity? Towards equity and opportunity for all? Towards God?

As long as this house is divided, it doesn't matter whether Kevin Rudd or Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott or Barney the Dinosaur leads our country, the results will ultimately be the same. And it won't be good. The only way towards unity is towards God - is that a step you're willing to take?

Confidence in What?

It seems to be the catch-phrase of the moment - "consumer confidence". I hardly hear a news report without some mention of consumer confidence thrown in. According to the experts, it seems that consumer confidence is the glue that holds our world together. A fall in consumer confidence is apparently a dire emergency worthy of all our attention.

But confidence in what? What is it so desperately important that we have confidence in? The value of our dollar? The stuff we buy with our dollars? Our ability to earn lots of dollars?

Has our world truly become so extraordinarily narrow that the value of our lives and our selves is measured purely in dollars? If the nightly news is anything to go by, it seems that it has.

Confidence in money and stuff is sure to lead to disaster and disappointment in the end. As the Bible reminds us: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal." (Matthew 6:19) No currency or thing has any truly lasting value.

We can have confidence in God alone. That's it. Nothing else is worthy of our confidence, because nothing else is solid, sure and Eternal.