I picked up a book this morning I read a number of years ago and quite enjoyed. It is titled, “On being a servant of God” and is by Warren Wiersbe. I came across a great quote that sparked something in me. I thought I would share it.
“True servants of God help others whether they themselves get anything out of it or not. Their only concern is that God be glorified and people trust Christ”.
I am currently going through and reviewing the articles and other pages on our PASSION website. I felt it was time to update some of the pages and cull some of the older articles. One of the pages I have had a look at was our evangelism tips page. It lists our top five tips that have helped us in sharing our faith. I thought I pass it on as it might give you some suggestions that would help you in your efforts. Here’s the link to our “evangelism tips” page.
I was doing some research for a leadership essay I am writing at the moment. I came across this passage from an article by Gordon MacDonald. It touches on the number thing Christian leaders need to do to be successful. I agree with this 100%.
“The forming of the soul that it might be a dwelling place for God is the primary work of the Christian leader. This is not an add-on, an option, or a third-level priority. Without this core activity, one almost guarantees that he/she will not last in leadership for a life-time or that what work is accomplished will become less and less reflective of God’s honor and God’s purposes”.
To view the full article on LeadershipJournal.net you can visit this link
Someone asked me why I have returned to full time study after working and being in “ministry” for a number of years. It was an interesting question and one that is being answered more and more as I go along. Here are a few of the reasons so far…
1. To learn and grow - I think we need to keep growing and learning in our faith and in our lives in general. I believe life is about constant learning and growth. When we stop and think we know it all, we actually start going backwards. Going back to Bible studies was part of my continued growth cycle.
2. To expose myself to others teaching - I felt it was important to learn from others that are outside of my usual circle. This is why I deliberately chose Tabor Adelaide. Not only is it in another state, but I like that it is a bit different to the other places I have studied.
3. To take some time out - Prior to going back to study I had worked in the same job for about 12 years. For most of that time I got out of bed and sat in the same chair, at the same desk and had the same window. I just needed some time out from the daily, weekly and monthly grind.
4. To prepare for the next things - I had felt that I had nearly achieved all I could with what I knew. It was time to prepare and get ready for the next part of my call. I believe the call of God always includes preparation time. In fact over our lives it might include a number of those times. For me this is one of those times.
5. To refresh my vision - I feel that when we have a vision for our lives and we have a fair idea of what God wants us to do, we need to take time out to refresh our vision. Sometimes this can only take place when we step back from most of the things we do. Much like a missionary going on a furlough after years of service on the mission field. Time and space can clarify our vision for the future.
The Bible says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them“. This verse is a reminder that as we love and serve God, bad things can happen to us, but we see that God is bigger than the “bad” and He can bring good through it.
As I reflect back over my life I have had a lot of bad things happen that made me wonder how God could let this happen. Things like being diagnosed with and living with crippling Rheumatoid Arthritis since the age of 12, when a routine x-ray found a large growth in my wife’s pelvis, losing loved ones and a host of other painful situations. Each of these things in themselves were very difficult times and to be honest I wondered if I could get through some of them.
Looking back though, I can trace God’s fingerprints through them. After some time and some space from the situations, I now know that God really can bring good results from bad situations. Each of these have helped me in some way. I have grown as a person, I have an understanding of peoples suffering and a desire to comfort them, and my wife an I are very close due to her illness. These times have also taught me to rely on God when I don’t understand why things are happening.
I think the key is to trust God and run towards Him in times of trouble. Trust that He is a God of His Word and know that He will work everything out for good in time. He has always been there for me. I am sure He will always be there for you too.
One of the traps we can fall into sometimes is thinking that the God in the Old Testament (From creation to just before Jesus) was a harsh and judgmental God and the God of the New Testament (From Jesus and the early church period) was a loving and gracious God. The reality is it is both the same God and they are both loving and gracious.
Recently I was looking at the Covenant relationships God made with the people of the Old Testament. In particular I looked at the Covenants that God made with Abraham and Moses. It was interesting to study these and follow them over time. One thing that really stood out was that these Covenants were God’s idea and that no matter what the people did to break them and walk away from Him, He was always ready to bring them back to Himself. Yes at times He brought judgment, but this happened after sending prophets and great leaders to warn and correct the people over a long period of time. God’s correction was always out of His great love for His chosen people.
Looking at these Covenants reminded me of the great love God has for us and how He relates to us. First and foremost He is loving and caring towards us and wants what is best for us. Then secondly, when we stumble and do the wrong things or completely turn away from Him, He is always looking at ways He can restore our relationship. He never wants to let us go. As Jeremiah 30:22 tells us that He just wants to be our God and He wants us to be His people.
One of the things I have been really thankful for lately is water. It is such a simple thing for us in the western world and something that we can often take for granted. Just the other day I thought I would count how many water sources I have on my property. I walked around the house and around the yard. I counted nine places where I can go to a tap and turn on fresh clean running water. How blessed is that!
As a result of this thankfulness, one of the things I am trying to do is support organisations that help people to have access to clean drinking water. Here are a few that I know of personally.
As I type this I can’t help but remember the words of Jesus from Matthew 25:35. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink“.
I have officially finished my first term as a student. As I have mentioned before I have done previous Bible studies (in full time and part time stints), but I felt it was time to take some time out and study full time. So after 4800 minutes of lectures; 9 assignments that included essays, book reports and discussion papers; and countless readings from text books for six subjects, I am done. Now I can have too weeks off.
I feel I have learned a lot and been stretched, but more importantly I feel I have learned more about God and our relationship. It has been very hard, but very rewarding. Hopefully over the next few weeks some of the things I have studied will flow through to the PASSION Blog and website. That is after they have been absorbed and reflected on a bit more deeply!
One of the things I have been reflecting on lately is how that as humans we are made in the image of God. Genesis 1:26 tells us that as male and female we are made in our (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) image and likeness.
There are several schools of thought as to what this means. One is that we look somewhat like God and possess attributes of God. Another is that the way we relate to God and each other is “like” God in the Trinity relationship. Lastly some believe that is a functional meaning, that is the way we work and have the ability to create. In truth it is probably all three together that somewhat capture the meaning of being made in God’s image.
As I have dwelt upon this another question has arisen. Why did God create us in His image? He didn’t need to do this as He could have made us any other way. As with most of my theological reflections I returned to the person of Jesus. When we look at the life of Jesus we see three things.
He related perfectly to the Father in heaven - Many times He drew aside to spend time alone in prayer to the Father.
He perfectly fulfilled the Father’s will - None more so than is the Garden when He said, “Not My will, but Yours be done”.
He loved humanity perfectly - Wherever He went He loved, encouraged and served people. He even went to the point of death to show His love.
So why were we made in the image of God? My belief is that we were made that way so we could relate to the Father in the same way Jesus did while He was on earth, so we could do His will and so we could love and serve those people around us. God made us in His image and then Jesus came and modelled three things not only to show us what God is like, but so we could also follow His example.