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.