Kingdom of God Seminars

A few kingdom of God seminars have already taken place, but you may not have missed out - check out the details for Australian Kingdom of God seminars here. If you aren't in Australia or New Zealand, you can search for a seminar in your area here.

The Great Identity Theft

I can kind of understand where atheists are coming from.

If I had been taught from birth that I could earn my way into heaven by doing penance for my sins, I probably wouldn't think much of God either. If I believed that I could buy my way into heaven I would be completely disgusted with Him.

Billions of people who have lived lives of horrific suffering have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Many don't really understand who He is. Many fear of rejection or even torture at the hands of their friends, family or government. If I believed that those billions would ultimately be further tortured in ever-burning-hell by the God who calls Himself Love, I would turn my back on Him too.

On the other hand, if I believed that babies who couldn't speak a single word got to go to heaven just because they had water sprinkled on them in a mystical ritual, I would think that was really unfair. How could God know those babies would actually want to be there? What if they decided they didn't like God? Would He "force" them to like Him and do things His way - turning them into some kind of glorified robots?

Thankfully, I believe what the Bible actually says about God instead.

God has been subject to the greatest identity theft in the history of the universe. Over and over throughout history, God's name has been falsely stamped on acts of cruelty, ignorance and stupidity - on wars and crusades, on superstition, lies and trickery.

Thankfully God knew right from the beginning that this would happen and He has a Plan - a great, big, huge, enormous Plan, far greater than we usually give Him credit for.

You can either get to know God now through His Word - reading the Bible for what it actually says, not what other people say it says. Or you can sit back and wait and see what happens. Either way, you'll get to know who God really is eventually - that's all part of His plan. But the "wait and see" approach will definitely end up being more painful in the short term. Read the book of Revelation and you'll see why.

Sticks and Stones...

"...May break my bones, but words can never hurt me." Why is it that we (society) still teach children something that is so clearly untrue? Perhaps we hope to protect our kids from drowning in the big scary world, but does it really work?

"Life and death are in the power of the tongue." Now that IS true. Just one word can be the difference between freedom and death in a country with capital punishment. For example: "We find the defendant guilty." or "We find the defendant NOT guilty." The very life of a prisoner can depend on that tiny, three-letter word, "not".

Children need to know the truth about words. The careless lie of "words can never hurt me" won't protect them from the violence of mean and nasty words, it will confuse them. And it may even tempt them to bully others (because they think words don't really hurt), or lie to protect themselves from "consequences". Adults too, need to understand the truth about words. A broken bone can be re-set, a broken reputation may be a lifelong disability.

There are many cautionary Proverbs in the bible about the power of the tongue. There are also Proverbs that teach the power of words for good, such as, "A soft answer turns away wrath." We may feel helpless to defend our kids against the cruel words of others, but we can teach them to respond with care and kindness. We can teach them to know their true value. Angry and bitter words do hurt, but the truth is what sets us free.

A kid who doesn't fight back with words might seem a soft target for bullies. Our kids can't expect that speaking nicely to others will mean others speak nicely to them, but the book of Proverbs also points out that "he who digs a pit will fall into it; he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him". In other words, if we lash out at others with our words, we can expect them to "roll" right back on us... someday.

Doing the right thing can seem pretty lop-sided if we are surrounded by gossip and "little" lies. Life won't be "fair" and reward us every time we use our words for good. The question is, will we let our character be defined by those who would drag us down? If we do, then they have won.

If you're looking for a new way of dealing with life's challenges, try reading Making Life Work.