When a person pushes their view of life down on another we call it bullying. In all cultures, it is looked down on and the enforcement mechanisms have varying degrees of punishment dealt out if you are part of civilized communities.

What happens when a leader is an enforcer? Generally, a leader gets there through political controls and perhaps some manipulation of the events or people to get the control which is only theirs, because people let them have it. The absolute control of people in the wrong direction means feeding them lies and hoping they accept and absorb them.

What therefore is the true way of winning a war?

It is by making truth self-evident and promoting it widely.

In the first century the Roman empire was significantly powerful and, in many instances, tried to use and blot out Christianity by force. They burned people alive, had them eaten by wild beasts, and had other nasty ways of convincing the world they were right and God was not with Christians.

It turned out the empire failed but Christ's message and direction didn’t. 

Why?

Because love is more powerful than hate and absolute love trumps absolute hate and greed every time.

By focussing on spiritual growth and truth we can help all involved in a war situation. Jesus is the answer because in Him is truth, direction for living, and life. Even death fails because those in Christ simply graduate to a magnificent eternity of painless fulfilling existence filled with love.

By guiding people in God’s ways we guide them towards peace and loving even those who don’t love them.

Take the current Ukraine war. Many Russians want nothing to do with it and are being arrested. Ukrainians want to have their country back.  They kill each other and who wins? Neither side. The Ukrainian land and wealth are being destroyed and it's costing Russia more than Russia can really afford in hard cash and more in integrity.

Working to enable people to have food, life’s necessities, and most of all, spiritual enlightenment, is where the true gain will be. That’s what we as Christians should focus on. No weapons and hate, but loving and supporting all involved.

Having been a soldier in a war zone, and a Christian in the same, I found the true value of the experience is in people understanding God was more important than the conflict.

In acknowledging that death and destruction were just another domain in which only truth and love would really win the war.

Winning a war cannot be done unless the people's hearts are won as well. Doing this requires compassion, respect, and real support. No matter who claims to be the victor, the truth lies in the hearts of the individuals.

Absolute truth is the only real liberator, and Jesus offers that each day to everyone. It all depends on whether we accept it and make this world a better place, or trade hates and make it worse.

That’s something we all need to review in our lives today, whether on a physical or spiritual war front.

 

 In war situations how do we respond?

Avoid destroying people, Luke 9:56, love others Mark 12:30, 31, love your enemies, Romans 13:10, Matthew 5:39, Luke 6:35, hate is equivalent to murder 1 John 3:15, forgive sin Matthew 6:14,15, the war is not physical John 18:36, 2 Corinthians 10:4, narrow and selfish group identification is contrary to God's law, Galatians 3:28, suffering in this world is to be expected Matthew 16:24,25

We focus on the fact that Jesus didn't destroy the evil empires of the day, but focused instead on saving people spiritually despite the circumstances of the day. Should we not be similar to Jesus who reflected God the Father's heart on Earth?

 

 

A Queen dies, Ukraine troops are pushing back Russians, political landscapes change, things get more expensive, pandemics dwindle and AI seems ready to take over.

Where is God? Can any of us measure the effectiveness of our lives or decisions?

Will Queen Elizabeth be remembered favourably, or as an imperialist? Ukraine paints a powerful image of the evil of Russia, but it’s so easy to forget that many of those Russian troops are little more than teenagers, and many have never heard the message of God’s grace, nor God’s view on how we should love rather than hate, and they are probably plagued by demon’s intruding into their every thought, night and day. Things they have seen and done will haunt them to their dying day!

We often generate our own hell on earth, don’t we?

How important is being in control and having the power? Is it not where and how you spend eternity that counts?

Money is a pulse that churns through the veins of our world, but it is how it is made, the reasons it is used, and how we allow it to drive our desires and our opportunities that is the true decision-maker of tomorrow’s world and our eternity.

Many of us fear machines taking over the world, and yet we build and enable them until they will finally judge us themselves. What moral compasses will we insert into their frenetic pattern-starved brains?

Ai's have nothing we don’t give them, and we give them the filth and dirt of humanity dished up in internet passion arousing globules of human information and news. How good is the majority of what we unveil to their naïve impressionable electronic “minds”? How do we inspire them to do good and not evil, when their creators believe in neither?

When all seems lost, we need to remember that years ago a man who was a king, politically active, sexual predator, and who orchestrated a premeditated murder for selfish gain, was faced with a question by a prophet of God that changed everything for him, and turned him to doing good for as long as he lived. The right questions and the right revelations at the right time cause God’s power to explode into history and change the world.

How that man responded is tracked in history, together with his attitude in the words of his prayer to God.

Prayer is a fancy way of saying talking to God.

King David, whose story is found in  2 Samuel 11-2 samuel12:22, was the man referred to previously and Psalm 51 contains his talk with God.

Circumstances do not determine the course of history, God does.

The quantum “ether” of life established by the creator is also best to be guiding that creation. The amazing aspect of all this fervent activity, is that He wants to hear from us. That mumbled and perhaps inconsequential disjointed sentence that we utter is desired to influence the formation of the years to come, the healing of hearts, souls, and spirits, and the changing in indistinguishable ways the future of humanity and our distortions of spacetime.

The simplest answer to the question “WHERE IS God in today’s events?” is that he is everywhere wherever our prayers are uttered.

That leaves me to ask…are you uttering them?

Another year has gone by in a flash!. 

We at our little church nestling in the woods of Canada (which we called SGC celebrate) have ministered to many in our community with the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Many have had food provided,  gas (petrol) provided,  leaves cleared, car problems rectified, wood provided, bills helped with, medical help funded, welcomed into our homes, emotional and physical support provided and more.

God is good!

Some of our loved ones have moved onto heavens joys and we miss them but remember them with great love and fondness.
 

Some we miss dearly and have not heard from, but love anyhow and pray for their success.

 

Some we have touched lives with briefly during the year and they have moved on knowing God’s church makes a difference. Our prayer is they would know it is God within his people who actually does this.

Others have dived into life and are moving towards independence, but trusting God to forge ahead of their lives and build it in wonderful new adventurous ways. Junior if you read this, know we are praying for you too!

All of us have but a little time on earth to do God's will, and Christmas is a wonderful time to reflect on what was done and pray for others and what is to come. 

We glorify God as each year brings different challenges and it's own special memories and joys. 

Let's go into the next year of our Lords guidance with the power of Holy Spirit giving glory to the omnipotent all caring and an amazing Father!

 ¡Puede usted tener una Navidad feliz y bendecida 2018! 
Ju uruar një të lumtur dhe të bekuar Krishtlindjet 2018!

Te deseo un feliz y bendecido 2018 Navidad!
Pouvez vous avoir Noël 2018 heureux et béni !

Μάιος εσείς έχει ευτυχή και ευλογημένα Χριστούγεννα του 2018!

Mei u heeft gelukkige en heilige Kerstmis van 2018!

幸せな、賛美された2018年のクリスマスを有するように!

Mögen Sie ein glückliches und gesegnetes Weihnachten 2018 haben!

당신은 행복한 강복된 2018년 크리스마스가 있! 

Potete avere un felice e benedetto 2018 Natali!

Pode você ter um Natal 2018 feliz e abençoado!

May вы иметь счастливое и благословленное Кристмас2018!
Geseënde Kersfees 2018! 
أتمنى لكم عيدا سعيدا ومباركا 2018 عيد الميلاد!
Մաղթելով ձեզ երջանիկ եւ օրհնված 2018 ՍուրբԾնունդ:
Əgər xoşbəxt və mübarək 2018 Christmas istəyən!

Duzu nahian zoriontsu eta bedeinkatu 2018 Gabonetan!
Жадаю вам шчаслівага і блаславёнага 2018 годам!
শুভাকাঙ্ক্ষী একটি সুখী এবং সুখী 2018 বড়দিন আপনি!
Пожелавам ви щастлив и благословен 2018 Коледа!
Et desitjo un feliç i beneït 2018 Nadal!
祝您一个快乐和祝福的2018圣诞节！
祝您一個快樂和祝福的2018聖誕節！
Želim vam sretan i blagoslovljen Božić 2018!
Přeji Vám šťastné a požehnané Vánoce 2018!
Ønsker dig en glædelig og velsignet 2018 jul!
Ik wens u een gelukkig en gezegend 2018 kerst!
Soovides õnnelik ja õnnistatud 2018 jõule!
Na nagnanais sa iyo ng isang masaya at pinagpala 2018 Christmas!
Toivoen teille onnellista ja siunattua 2018 joulua!
En vous souhaitant une heureuse et bénie 2018 Noël!
Desexando-lle un feliz e bendicido 2018 Nadal!
სურთ თქვენ ბედნიერი და დალოცა 2018 საშობაო!
Ich wünsche Ihnen ein glückliches und gesegnetes 2018 Weihnachten!
Σας ευχόμαστε μια ευτυχισμένη και ευλογημένη 2018 Χριστούγεννα!
તમે ખુશ અને ધન્ય 2018 ક્રિસમસ

Have you ever considered that God seems to sometimes have crazy moments?

Think about guiding millions of unarmed people to the edge of a sea when they are being chased by hordes of angry, well equipped special force military trained parents, whose kids had died and who are out for blood and revenge.

Would you like to stand on that sea shore looking out at water with nowhere to go?

Was God crazy for leading them there?

How about sending a carpenter to communicate to the whole world knowing he would be killed before it was done?

Crazy plan?

God does not think like we do. He does not behave as we do. God is not influenced like we are. He is not politically inspired like we are. He has not hidden agenda's like we have. He does not need a congress or parliament to get things done.

God simply loves us all personally and wants to guide our lives and actions towards a place where we can experience eternity in the best way possible.

Crazy God?

Eternity! What can that be?

We hardly understand the word and cannot get the concept. Eternity with a purpose is even harder to imagine. Yet that's what God wants for us, and if we are wise we want it for ourselves.

Daily we wake up to strain and gain a little advantage for the moment of our lives. Yet we wield the forces of heaven and hell in the daily mundane activities of our lives.

Crazy?

We often see little of that eternity because our spiritual eyes are closed most of time being seduced by money, avoidance of pain, security, pleasures and myriads of daily activities that support our desires.Yet God wants us to do a little more than exist!

He wants us to be aware of His purposes in our universe as we do the things that we do each day. That grocery checkout person that we rush by and fail to respect, that cashier at the gas bar or coffee place, that lady cleaning the office or the public washroom, that friend looking solemn, that child we know we love but fail to call and chat to, that parent we forget to acknowledge this week, that person we know we need to forgive but seem to never get to do it.

These are little things God would prompt us to do something about if we used an infinitesimal small amount of the time we have in eternity.

God is crazy for wanting us to do this?

Maybe...but so far the crazy God has always been right.

Think about that...

 

I have been travelling in the far north of Canada. This is in a region past where trees grow to normal heights and in a region called the Tigre where dwarf old spruce trees cover the horizons. It is a privaledge to see God's creation in the small details, like the yellow green lichen covering the ground that feeds herds of migrating caribou in the winter.

These deer migrate over 6000km each year and could only survive based on this food they can get daily in winter.

It made me consider how humans migrate through life and true spiritual life comes from the dependence on Holy Spirits intervention daily. Without Him we starve and die spiritually. Perhaps that is the reason so many miss seeing God is real. The world is starving. Like deer who fail to look below the snow for sustenance and hold their head up high until they die, so do many proud people address the spiritual side of life with a prideful and haughty outlook.

Let's pray that changes!

"Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone's hand is the beginning of a journey.

At other times, it is allowing another to take yours."~Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Reaching others for Christ is another area that is changing rapidly. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, ...baptizing, …teaching.”

Have you noticed the fact that there is a rather different understanding between discipling and converting.

Discipling is an ongoing state without a completion goal, the converting has a limited perspective of getting people to make some decision and often lacks the focus of being alongside and mentoring. The modern youth understand these specific nuanced differences in meaning and often find that their elders seem to have failed to internalize or act upon this difference.

The modern church places too much emphasis on salvation without doing what Jesus asked us and discipling, baptizing, and teaching.

How was discipling done by Jesus?

Let’s consider the starting point for those super Christians of the past. Those people we now almost deify (despite that being idolatry) and consider the fathers of the church. Consider those 1^st century men, Simon (Peter), Andrew, James and John, as Jesus called them to be disciples. He strolled along the beaches of the Galilean sea to find them. When he did, did Jesus insist they understand he was the only way to God and that they understand the message of salvation, or did he ask a bunch of guys to come along with him and learn about how to live a type of life of extreme meaning? From what I can read the most he implied was a rather abstract promise that they could improve themselves and influence others in a way that (should they have understood the implications) would someday make a difference for the Jewish nation of the time.

I think if we consider this, we will find it was a vague promise to help them be part of something bigger than themselves, and a good thing it was! It took those guys years to even start to understand what Christianity was about, and they lived with Christ.

I suggest that if we think we have abilities to communicate the depth of Christian living in one or two hours, we are being rather silly aren’t we? I think many young people understand that as well. It’s almost being dishonest. Like baiting a hook to catch a fish. It smacks of meeting the needs of the person fishing, rather than the one being fished.

While it may rarely achieve the purpose, I think many of the fish escape and refuse to ever come near our churches again. I don’t blame them!

Discipling on the other hand is a process towards deeper learning, not just a few minutes or hours of consideration and then leaving people to carry on with a hope that they will learn something of value thereafter. Discipling is long term caring, compassion, and mentoring.

Jesus also did not force the current theological tenants of life on his new followers but instead challenged them continually to find truth, to do it with sincerity of mind, and to apply their lives to the task. He showed rather than told. He permitted failure to enable education.

The commission is to disciple, not only convert.

Having someone reach a point of decision about Jesus and who he is, is part of the process, it is not the directed activity at the start, nor the end of the discipling.

 It is the mentoring of people about Jesus and leading them onwards towards the point where they can dedicate their lives to searching for His truths and follow His ways. The evidence of this being successful is that baptism is finally requested by the atheistic apostate when they start to immerse themselves in the truth and value of following a living God.

The modern youth understands and respects the concept of mentorship towards an ultimate goal.

Consider the time they devote to training themselves on games where they want to be the superhero. They know that it takes time, effort, and dedication to achieving excellence. They have no problem with that concept. They would be willing to follow and serve if they know there was unadulterated truth and value in the end goal. That’s the vision we need to provide.

This is where the current church is again failing. Firstly, the church as mentors they often lack understanding of the true world. They lack grounding with truth. They lack coordinated vision.

The church shows stupid dichotomies arising in messages about healing, marriage and sexual orientations that show no clarity but again rather a confusion of ideas and half baked compromise.

 If truth is truth, then truth should stand out as a lighthouse and be willing to weather a storm of discontent and abuse, remaining solid to show that the path is safe. It takes time and discipleship in more than just biblical information to show a person the truth in life. Jesus had to live with people to show them. How do we think we can do less?

To disciple correctly one must point to truth.

The churches waver on truth like reeds in a gusting wind, every now and then getting thoroughly dunked by the passing gusts of wavering world views into worldly waters. This is not mentoring, but vacillating.

For example the churches are allowing governments to dictate their regulations, monetary policies, and social norms instead of standing free and true. To be true is to stand on truths that are unpleasant but basic.

One aspect of this is the redefinitions of marriage by governments that is an impending pressure on the church.

Young people will think fairness towards alternative sexual lifestyles is the correct course, but they also know the church does not agree with this. They are watching us bend our rules to fit our governmental dictates, and despise us for it. The linking of legal and church marriages is allowing the government to dictate what it thinks is morally valid instead of what needs to be religious truth. Pastors, preachers and leaders of the church perhaps need to break ties with the governmental institutions where necessary, and stay on course to teaching truths, no matter how unpleasant the world perspectives of it are.

Will the youth respect this?

Only if they also see us completely accepting and helping those who are embroiled in these lifestyles with an unbiased love.

Only if we totally accept those sinners without telling them their sins are worse than others.

 The church has a much worse sin they need to eradicate, that of pride. Until we repent and seek truth and stand for it, those in the world will never respect us. The churches definition of marriage need not align with the governments.  There must be a direction on spiritual leadership, directed towards helping others with their problems and having clear spiritual affirmations in certain areas such as marriage. Everyone should be accepted and accommodated in the church, but only the spiritually mature should guide its direction (independent of their age).

Yes, the world’s youth will not agree on the churches stand on marriage, but it will be a differentiator that would stand as a mark of true Christianity and we need to point to truth independent of popular viewpoints. Deep inside people know the church is correct and I think they are appalled at the vacillation that is occurring. Their view is “disagree but be solid in your disagreement, don’t be a wimp” and our churches are being wimps.

No matter how critical the young person is of the values espoused, they are never going to be willing to follow wavering confusion. They need clear guidance and know this.

When Jesus said to make disciples he was not wanting us to be taking the easy way out. It was a 100% commitment to those who were following to take them through the hell of life into the rewards of eternity.

Does our church feel the same way towards the youth of today?

How do we reach into their world?

Christianity is the one religion that never asks the follower to move out of the mainstream of life. It wants the person right in the middle of life’s events. The terminology is to be “in but not of the world”.

The church is to face oppression and praise, and treat both of those imposters without fear or pride, but with the truths of Christ.

How do we reach the nations today?

To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.~Theodore Roosevelt

Why do we educate our children? Isn’t it to give them the skills and abilities to live their future lives with success? I would assume this to be a true premise that most people would agree with. If it is, then we need to have a view of the future and how to be successful in it in order to educate effectively. Without this we are not leading the younger generations into the right paths.

What is the future? 

The future isn’t something many of us can predict with great certainty. One thing we can say about it is that it will be nothing like the past.

Let’s review a little of what the past was like.

In the past, we educated our youth so that they memorized quantities of information and techniques for later use. We trained people in similar ways using classroom techniques, in order to get them to work in teams that listened to the eloquent instruction of leaders, who it was assumed knew more about the work and subjects at hand than their sub-ordinates.

We need to realize that young people had to respect those older than themselves for one basic reason. These older people were in possession of the truths, wisdom and knowledge that would help those that were younger move more accurately into the future.

If we go back even fifty years, the careers at the time didn’t change significantly over a person’s lifetime. Typically farming, teaching, medicine, law, engineering etc. had strong histories and with them came strong protection of the specific field of knowledge and skills. Apprenticeships in trades were often used to keep the young submissive to their elders, while they were fed small tidbits of the required skills as the younger apprentice complied to traditional rules and regulations. The extent of compliance was proportional to the reward the apprentice received, or at least that was the objective. So compliance was an unspoken assumption of that system.

The learning was also tuned to make sure that it would turn out people for the workforce in a predictable and known manner. Forecasts of what the next twenty years would be requiring were common. It was expected the next twenty would not be significantly different in needs to the last twenty, perhaps the quantities would be greater but the skills and knowledge required to meet them was assumed to be known. Countries established systems that built work forces that were focused on industrial tasks that were considered critical for the success of the nations.

This progression of learning was to a large extent made possible by two key aspects. Firstly the progressing of learning and its direction was due to the inability of the young to access information held within the domain of their elders, without their consent. Secondly, the progressing of learning and its direction was possible due to relatively good predictability of the future needs. If the strain of post war years and economic challenges were added to this, learning was firmly tracking within a well formed rut that had directed it for many years.

Then things changed!

Three key aspects changed learning. The first was accessibility of information and speed with which it could be processed. The second was that the average young person no longer had to listen to their elders and could independently decide on paths and direction of learning, that were outside of the skill levels of their elders. The third is that the future became incredibly complex, fast moving, and difficult to predict.

In this flip flop world, it is often the elders who are asking the younger generation to assist with technology and knowledge of advancements. An older person’s advice is checked within minutes by the youth with access to technology like smartphones, tablets, and computers. Communication is fast and ubiquitous. Advice can be asked within seconds of needs arising, and distance and time are no longer limiting factors.

Now to survive, one no longer relies on retention of knowledge, but instead on the ability to find out what is required when it is required. We have moved into a world that approves of knowledge received just in time to do the task at hand. The quantity of knowledge has grown exponentially until no person can retain even a part of it. Instead, the world has built this repository of knowledge into cyberspace, accessible by those with skills at unveiling it when required.

The true valuable person is now no longer those that comply, but those that break down traditional barriers and access information with ease. Those able to access information required to meet the tasks at hand. Concepts traditionally considered sacred (e.g. like only governments issuing currency) are flipped on their heads (e.g. people started to trade in bitcoins, a cryptographic invisible electronic currency that has true value and is nationless).

I am sad to say that it is not only the Christian church that is failing our youth, it’s the world’s educational systems as well.

Our schools are outdated, and currently instead of facilitating this new mode of knowledge acquisition or teaching us how to do it more effectively, we continually hear silly comments like we need to keep technology out the classroom. Who does that serve? Who does it serve more? The outdated traditionalist, or the upcoming generation?

I suggest the outdated traditionalists are hampering the growth of the new generation by being unable to adapt fast enough to the changes the world is presenting. Those in charge need to step out the way and let the young determine their own future, or actively look to ways of collaborating with the youth to determine the future.

The better of these paths is collaboration between youth and their elders, not the direction of the youth by the elders.

The brightest youth should be identified and used to structure the future of learning so as to enable their peers and those coming immediately behind them to gain where they were impeded. If we do this, then the rate of educational growth may just manage to keep pace with the future demand. Anything less and the stress of the discord will cause national programs to fail. This path will require courage, but without it the future of our first world youth is at risk.

Of educations, Christian education is probably one of the worst impacted. Our youth are forced to face great improvements of science and technology but with the advice and oversight of outdated preachers and teachers. Preachers are poorly informed even about new biblical discoveries, never mind having very little ability to guide these bright young people in the worldly understanding of new scientific and engineered directions that need to be considered in relation to biblical texts. Traditional Christian education as dealt out in the customary few minutes on a Sunday morning is probably the least effective. Here younger children are generally educated using the old techniques of flannel boards, story books and picture bibles. While none of these are wrong, they are not effective.

This same child will be using gaming machines, watching online video’s and playing interactive games if they are progressive. The church is almost useless at providing this level of stimulation. The Christian fear of technology and science has moved it into the doldrums of education where the wind of change rarely reaches and those attending stagnate.

No wonder when they get to choose their direction and attendance, many Christian youth decline the advances of the church leaving their parents in the pews concerned and hurt.

·         Where are the Christian game makers?
·         What church groups are sponsoring online gaming with Christian principles and morals?
·         How many online video’s and social interaction groups are promoted by the formal church? Why not?
·         Where is the free education for everyone provided by church organizations?
·         Why have we not taken up national educational objectives with Christian values and made it available to everyone in the world?

It’s not that difficult to do. Take a little of that mission thrust and push it into the new world. Physical geography is not the only frontier, is it?

Then let’s discuss biblical discussion mechanisms. How often do I see preachers totally inadequately trying to explain that Genesis 1 cannot be supported by science? Often! Yet there is the discourse that allows these discussions to be honest and free. Where are the people who understand the facts? The 40year olds and up in most churches don’t! The major facts in these areas are younger than they are! If our bible is truth, it can deal with the changes being thrust upon it. We need to have true faith! Faith that God is in control and that we will be able to gain understanding of how these diverse areas relate to the powerful all-knowing and loving God.

Yet I want to posit it is not faith, but fear that motivates most discussions. Not truth, but rigid traditional thinking. Not investigation of the bible, science and debate, but rather a myopic re-iteration of past knowledge that is no longer current.

A real Christian does not fear honest discussion and wants to be open to truth in all its variations. How often do we find that understandings of yesteryear are wrong? Just look at our nativity scene. Today with modern understanding we know the wise men had travelled for a long time and Jesus was no longer a baby when they arrived. The star arrives two years later than the birth. Yet what do our nativity scenes depict? Even after pastors, ministers, bishops and priests come to know this fact they don’t correct this. Why? Is not that which is not true … a lie? Our young people know this! They see our churches as propounding lies. When will our church respect this realization?

Why are church leaders so scared of upsetting the constituents that they no longer educate in truth, simply because it’s uncomfortable? Where are our true leaders who stand up and tell the traditionalists to change when they are wrong? Today the politics and legal compliance is more important than the truth of the messages, isn’t it?

Do we think our youth are stupid? They see this! They vote with their feet and leave when they get the chance. Not because Jesus is not God, and his message untrue. They leave simply because they cannot deal with the lack of respect for truth and the hypocrisy of the leaders.

Christian education is not education in the eyes of the youth. It is indoctrination and teaching half-truths. Let us also remember perception is reality in this case.

The challenge is this, what are we doing to change the perceptions?

The Church has always been willing to swap off treasures in heaven for cash down.

Robert Green Ingersoll

Internet entwines our world in a labyrinth of information tentacles reaching into millions of homes and businesses. I am told that there are more scientists alive today than have ever lived in the past, that medical science is growing in depth, skill and diversity moment by moment.

We are developing new technology, skills and knowledge at speeds unlike any previous moment in any past decade. Physical excellence of our human body is resulting in more and more records of the past being broken (albeit some would argue due to illegal substance use). Yet despite all this, the Christian church in its mediocrity clings to past structures, past organization and past traditions with an almost blasphemous ignorance and intensity. Why?

The way we interpret our bible is almost pharisaical, and limits God’s work, often extending to slaughtering God’s truth in its extreme. Young Christians are not only disappointed in the lack of integrity that we as a Christian church reveal, but want to scream with frustration at the very way any attempt to try and move our lethargic and arthritic structures into the 21^st century is resisted. These attempts are refuted on the most dubious of what is framed as “Christian” or “biblical” arguments.To pre-empt the question: No! I am not speaking as a new ager, or one who does not hold dear to the doctrines of our early church, or one who does not respect the failures of the church during the 3^rd to 12^th centuries. I do respect the huge step forward of the reformation, and giants of the faith such as Luther, Calvin, and others. I do listen to Kay and John MacArthur, Chuck Swindoll, Joyce Meyer, and loved to hear Billy Graham preach, and also respect the work of Dr. Dobson.

Yes! I am a true follower of Jesus Christ with belief in all that the Nicene Creed requires. I like to believe that I work in the guidance of Holy Spirit and that I check my understanding against our bible. I consider the bible to be God’s word revealed to us mortals. I use translations, not paraphrases, and I check the odd word against the Greek or Hebrew of the original language. Despite this, I have to say, I find our institutions old, crusty, unwilling to change, quick to find fault, bickering, and unsupportive of moving into new areas where we could actively engage while being virtually incompetent at building dialogue with millions of young people in the world, who are resistant to the church, but not yet to our Lord Jesus Christ.What is holding us back?

With a short look around I think we can all agree that it’s nothing new!

The traditions of the past, like ghosts, enthrall us with their past wonders which are seemingly of real value today. These on deeper investigation disappear into the mists of history. As Christians we have built such a mass of expertise and invested so much of ourselves historically into these edifices of past Christian strength, that we fail to see that these were in their days, the very opposite of the solid core institutional systems we consider them today. The reformation to those living in its birth pains was not mainstream, but a knife in the side of the traditional Christianity of the time. Traditions were torn apart as God’s Spirit moved our world into a new era. The elders of those days shook their heads and considered how much better it was in the old days, those days when people respected the church. Does this sound familiar, or are we so uninformed that we are unaware of even these criticisms leveled at many progressive members of our own churches?

Is what I am saying sounding disrespectful? I hope not! It is not that I don’t respect all the work we put in. It is that we are putting it into the wrong places! Often we are going against the very principles Jesus taught us to hold near and dear. I know this sounds heretical, but I hope, within the paragraphs and pages that follow, to ground this in common sense and pure facts.

To kick this off, let’s start with a biblical text that probably motivates us more than any other to get out there and do something. Matthew 28:17 to 19  says “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ^Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^ the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ^and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”^[1]



Sound familiar? I hope so, or perhaps you have the wrong blog. I want to emphasize two pieces of this text. The first is “go and make disciples”, and the second is “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”.

Let’s get this into modern English. We haven’t used the word “disciple” in everyday language for years, and that phrase should perhaps be translated into “mentor them”.  To “mentor” (or in the disused term “disciple”) another, you need to be trusted. This is key requirement! Those people out there who don’t know Christ should consider us trustworthy. The must respect us! Do we think they do? Are we kidding ourselves?

What do the younger generation think of televangelists?

That’s the church they see as representative of Christians because these young people certainly don’t walk into our churches very easily.

They consider televangelists to be preying on the weak in society for monetary gain and self-indulgent reasons. While this is perhaps wrong, it is a prevalent perspective. If you need more information about these views a fine statistically correct resource is “unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters” by Kinnaman. It is relatively up to date, i.e. 2007, and based on solid research not opinion. The horrific facts are obvious, the church is not relevant, and may become less so as time progresses!

Was Christ relevant? Is Christ relevant? I think so, and you must as well or you wouldn’t be reading this discussion. If we do believe this, maybe we need to find a way to also become relevant and have the non-Christian people that are out there “doing” life trust us?

One problem is that we as a formal church just cannot see where to go to improve this, because many of us running the church are not in the new world! Have you noticed how the churches seem to be getting a 12 to 40 year old age group gap in their congregations? Not all churches, but if you look across the first world western countries, this would be the trend. This means that key decision makers in the church are generally 40 years or older. Sorry to be difficult folk, but in that age range you are not likely to be “current” regarding the new world. This new world is a world of podcast, iphone, texting, mp3s, new forms of music, messaging, VOIP phones, instantaneous gratification, and a whole lot of information overload (to mention just a few aspects).

Younger people want to get input on demand, and not have it delivered or pushed to them in pre-considered, pre-packaged formats a few times a week(unless they ask for it). They want to search, compare and determine for themselves what truth is available, not be told what it is. They want honesty, love and compassion, not judgment, rules and traditions. So what are we doing to mentor them, to build their trust, to lead the way for them, to teach them to obey Jesus? “Too little” is the answer I am sorry to say!

The question today is this...what are we going to do about this?

 Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness. ~ Napoleon Hill

Are men really the men they should be today?

Flocking to movie theatres throughout the world, we are eagerly watching the new STAR WARS movie. 

We watch  to live virtuously through  Han Solo as this hero leads in a sacrificial manner that overcomes his greed until the battle is won.

Whether it is Star Wars, Rocky, Terminator or other movies, the men are depicted as taking on overwhelming odds with integrity and a raw will to succeed while providing and insisting on a respect for truth and striving for a better world.

On the other hand...how often can we say that we felt joy and fulfilled when we have been watching men succeed at being greedy, stomping others down to get their way, and selfishly put themselves first in order to  get everything they desire.

Can we say never…or almost never?

Why is this?

Is it perhaps that we as men are wired to know our purpose is to serve with respect, honor, and integrity?

Is it true that throughout the world, the movies have upheld the American Marine Core as examples of true men?

I think they are held in this light (although there are many others that should have this same honor)

What is the Marine core motto?

"Semper Fidelis" ("Always Faithful") which they share with England's Devonshire Regiment, the 11th Foot.

Is this a selfish motto?

No!

Here are some characteristics of true men;

·         True men are not selfish but sacrificial in what they do.
·         True men put the health, safety and needs of their family over their own.
·         True men look to serving their family and their communities.
·         True men serve a higher calling than their own lives!

Why then is it then that today so many of our young people miss this fact?

Maybe men have adopted the woman’s advice that they give to children who are going out to play. 

"Have fun and keep safe."

This is not a man's motto!

We as men are NOT going out to play!

Have you heard young men say they have no purpose in life?  I hear it all the time!

Why do we lose purpose?

Perhaps we lose purpose simply because we are not looking to the core of human existence as men. Maybe we are putting our happiness and our desires (as an aside in the first world men think desires are needs) ahead of selfless sacrifice.

We as men find purpose in our sacrificial love of others, not in our selfish gratification of self.

Particular as Christian men this must be the case. We are not here on this earth for our own enjoyment, but to make a difference and build the future.

We say we look to Christ but do we really do it?

Are we willing to lead in a self-sacrificing manner until the battle is won?

God wants us to be the real Hans Solo’s, the real Sylvester Stallone’s, the real Arnold Schwarzenegger’s of the world today. Not virtual images but real men! Not fighting dreamed up enemies, but fighting the hard cold reality of a sinful world. Not making no real difference, but making a significant difference in the lives of those around us.

We are not here to wimp out of life, but to stand firmly and using the inner power of Holy Spirit we are to be bastions of strength, sacrifice, integrity and honorable action.

After all, Jesus showed us how when he died without complaint on that death machine about 2000 years ago. He sacrificed ultimate power and control for service and humility for us. In so doing he did a typical movie ending manoeuver, winning everything out of an impossible situation.

The difference is that this was no movie. It was reality for our universe and world.

How about will follow his example and become faithful men in times of great selfishness?

Think about it!

Paul one of Jesus Followers did give us this advice…

Brothers and sisters, God has shown you his mercy. So I am asking you to offer up your bodies to him while you are still alive. Your bodies are a holy sacrifice that is pleasing to God. When you offer your bodies to God, you are worshiping him in the right way.  Don’t live the way this world lives. Let your way of thinking be completely changed. Then you will be able to test what God wants for you. And you will agree that what he wants is right. His plan is good and pleasing and perfect.God’s grace has been given to me. So here is what I say to every one of you. Don’t think of yourself more highly than you should. Be reasonable when you think about yourself. Keep in mind the faith God has given to each of you. – Romans 12

Today as we work, let us know we work for a higher calling than ourselves, we do not work for a boss, or to gain wealth, but to serve God, our family, our community in a sacrificial manner.

May God give you the strength to be a hero.

"Semper Fidelis"

“Men argue. Nature acts.” ~ Voltaire

Our stuffy arguments have not done much in recent years. Greed and pride combined with the need to maintain control of one’s political position has inactivate true progress in taking care of our planet.

When God said;

“Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

And then

“God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.”

 He was expecting more from us as mankind. We were to look after the Earth.

What is evidence of our caretaking in the past few years?

·         Tornadoes in Madrid
·         Waterspouts coming ashore in Marseille, France
·         Floods along the French Riviera,
·         Floods in South Carolina (1000 year water mark overreached)
·         Landslides in Guatemala killing hundreds
·         Cyclones in Russia far East
·         Typhoons blasting through the Philippines into China
·         Indonesia wildfires pumping CO2 into the air
·         Volcanic eruptions in Mexico
·         Hailstorms with hail that destroyed cars in Mexico
·         Floods washing away land in Northern Turkey,
·         Exceptional tidal flooding in Miami
·         Permafrost in Russia melts releasing vast quantities of methane from marshes and seas into the air (methane is 3times worse than CO2 for global warming)

What is the prediction patterns?

·         Double the earthquakes experienced by humans by 2027
·         Heating decreasing crop yields perhaps by a third within the next two to three decades
·         As ice in Greenland melts, the loss of weight causes isostatic rebound which will generate Earthquakes in the sea with potential of devastating Tsunami’s
·         El Nino is getting stronger (this year exceptionally hot weather patterns are and will be experienced)
·         CO2 is higher by over 100 ppm than it has been in the last 650 000 years.
·         Any temperature rise above 3 degrees C is expected to be devastating, we should not be going above 2 degrees, but the scientists say that is going to happen now.
·         There has been no slowdown in global warming since the 60’s and it continues to increase.
·         As the oceans warm, they setup a cycle of heating, more ice melts, the sun is reflected less, water warms more, as the sun heats, permafrost disappears, methane and CO2 is released, the air and oceans heat more, more heat is captured into our atmosphere.
·         Bill Gates says by 2050 if we are not energy balanced, i.e. we use what we produce in a sustainable manner, then there is little hope for humanity. By 2030 he says we have to have no coal fired power stations left if we are to survive.
·         The artic cap melting raises sea levels by 16 to 20 feet
·         The Antarctic cap melting raises sea levels by 200ft.
·         Today there are cities that will likely be flooding soon as a result of the last 10 years of CO2 emissions. 400 in the USA are predicted to be impacted.
·         Venice and Netherlands and big parts of Europe will be impacted.

 So how do we think it’s going?

Do we care? It’s interesting that at the Paris 2016 UN climate change conference two big resistors of change, China and USA changed and started to support the change effort.

Why?

According to some predictions 2015 is the last chance to change and make a difference that could save the humankind on this earth.

To put this into perspective, the CO2 impact takes 10 years to work itself out and have its full impact. When we consider that between 1750 (before industrialization) to 1880 the temperature raise was only 0.2 degrees C, that from 1880 to 2014 it was 1.17C and form 1880 to 2015 it is 1.26C, we see we have a runaway situation.

Most of us ignore this. Christians as much as any.

In revelations speaking about judgement the bible says;

“The nations were angry,
    and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
    and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
    both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

 We have global warming, but our energy consumption is even more damning(I use the word deliberately). China, India, and Asia are emerging as significantly developing nations and will increase the energy needs exponentially. Every person born requires more energy yearly to develop. First world countries use more than developing countries. (five times more) As the years progress we are simply overreaching our earth’s ability to sustain life effectively.


What does this mean?

It means we have to increase efficiencies, generating power, decrease our populations and reduce our standards of living.

These aspects will change our lives dramatically in the next ten years and definitely in the next twenty to thirty. We are on a path for human disaster greater than world wars if we do not.

 What can we, as Christians, do?

Support change, simplify our living standards, support legislation changes that support environmental changes, stop criticising others are being negative and inaccurate in arguments that the environment is in trouble, plant tree, ride more fuel efficient cars, decease electricity consumption, look at alternative forms of energy (hydro, solar and wind).

Get informed!

It’s the small things that make differences. Speak out, change lights to use led bulbs, try and access how to insulate your home so heating and cooling costs reduce.

Pray!

There is some good news for Christians. We know how the World ends….

The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

 The current scenarios don’t predict any of this. Therefore it looks like we will win this fight and become good caretakers again for a while.

Let’s remember the fight for our planet is still on. Yes it is spiritual but it is also very physical.  God came to earth to galvanize the human hands and souls to action. How active will you be?