A bunch of 'Atheists' are paying for some advertising on the sides of busses saying "There is probably no God, so stop worrying and enjoy life." I was thinking about it, should this make me angry? On the one hand I want to paint over all of them for the Heresy they advertise to the public. On the other I see doing that as terrible attack on the freedom of speech we should allow. If we can advertise our beliefs other must be able to too (or we become Iran). I think due to the wishy washy language being used ('probably') it is less offensive and merely shows doubt which many have. Therefore this signs hopefully cause people who are essentially living like there is no God anyway to ponder their beliefs again and hopefully, with the Holy Spirit, many will be saved.
The thing which riles me a bit more is the rest of the statement "So stop worrying and enjoy life." Thinking that belief in God would cause increased worry and less enjoyment is plain ignorance.
Worry should not be an issue or a motivating factor for Christians. It is our awe and love for God which should really be the basis for belief. We should have no fear of Hell. Because of Jesus we can remove any fear to the side (Ephesians 2:4-7 -But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus). God has removed any fear and uncertainty we should have in our salvation through His sacrifice for us on the cross. Rather than being worried we will not 'do well enough' on earth to get to Heaven, we can rest assured that it is impossible to earn our way there (even if we could attain perfection, don’t you think that would reduce the majesty of God a little?), but because of Jesus, it doesn't matter! Suggesting we should still worry about our lives after death is as good as saying Jesus' sacrifice was not enough! It is those who do not have Jesus who should worry, as 1 John 5:11-13 says - And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
The extreme enjoyment life brings as a Christian is that you are secure in this knowledge - God forgives us when we mess up (if we ask for forgiveness and try not to do it again) - "Where oh death is your sting?."
(1 Corinthians 15:55-57 -"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.)
The slogan should go something more like this... "There IS a God (who has done all the hard work for you) so stop worrying and enjoy life"
Side note - I find it quite funny that this group of 'Atheists' (who are supposed to have made their minds up that no god exists at all) say that there is "probably" no god. That would make them agnostics if they arn't sure!?
A campaign like this bring to mind a quote from a pastor I listen to (which goes something like this)......"Atheists have a common mantra - 'There is no God and I hate Him!'" If they believe there is no god, why do they care what others think? No real consequence if they don't care is there?
Monday, December 14, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Jesus is enough
http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/blog/hvpastor/
Check out the video Matt Chandler made before he went into his operation to remove a growth from his brain. The guy is amazing. I thought his message fitted well with my previous blog, about having your mind set on 'higher things.' We need to ask ourselves, is Jesus enough? If we dwell on Jesus, rather than petty problems, I think it helps shift our motivation and thus increase our ability to say that "yes, Jesus is enough."
Check out the video Matt Chandler made before he went into his operation to remove a growth from his brain. The guy is amazing. I thought his message fitted well with my previous blog, about having your mind set on 'higher things.' We need to ask ourselves, is Jesus enough? If we dwell on Jesus, rather than petty problems, I think it helps shift our motivation and thus increase our ability to say that "yes, Jesus is enough."
Friday, December 4, 2009
Leave me alone and lift your own game!
It sucks when people feel threatened because you’re doing well. Just doesn’t seem right that rather than upping their ‘game’ they try to undermine yours instead. More ‘experienced’ people seem pretty keen at times to jump on anything they can to push you down. Even playing on perceived authority by suggesting things to do which are counterproductive and inefficient just because they say so.
This has got me thinking; Why people try to push others down at work and how we should react.
It is obvious people attack because they feel insecure and threatened about their perceived position. So, it’s all about pride really. God is pretty clear that He opposes pride. James 4:6 points to Proverbs 3:34 which states “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”. Proverbs goes on to tell us directly in 6:16-19 that the LORD hates “Haughty Eyes” (Haughty eyes being “Proud eyes”) and that being proud is a sin (21:4). Therefore when it seems I’m being attacked in order for someone to increase their own pride, they are in fact sinning against God, not just me. I need to keep in mind though that I am in no means better than them “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). However it helps to think about the fact that pride like this is a sin and God opposes it (so who better to be on my side right!).
So then, how should we respond to people trying to push us down? My first reaction to things like this is usually anger, however Proverbs 12:16 states “A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult,” and in 29:11 it also says “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.” Therefore I should keep myself under control and try to ignore insults such as these.
But how do I do this? It all comes down to perspective I think. Mum and Dad have been great at teaching me that in the end all that matters is that I have a personal relationship with God. Everything else is just stuff. Colossians 3:2 says to “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth" and Philippians 4:8 suggests to dwell on whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise. When we focus on things that, really, when push comes to shove, don’t matter, we will get stuck on it and not move on. It just makes things a bigger and bigger deal.
People attack to try and protect their feeling of self-pride. This is wrong. Rather than getting upset when this occurs, we should instead be more concerned with our eternal salvation and progressive sanctification than to dwell on it too long.
This has got me thinking; Why people try to push others down at work and how we should react.
It is obvious people attack because they feel insecure and threatened about their perceived position. So, it’s all about pride really. God is pretty clear that He opposes pride. James 4:6 points to Proverbs 3:34 which states “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”. Proverbs goes on to tell us directly in 6:16-19 that the LORD hates “Haughty Eyes” (Haughty eyes being “Proud eyes”) and that being proud is a sin (21:4). Therefore when it seems I’m being attacked in order for someone to increase their own pride, they are in fact sinning against God, not just me. I need to keep in mind though that I am in no means better than them “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). However it helps to think about the fact that pride like this is a sin and God opposes it (so who better to be on my side right!).
So then, how should we respond to people trying to push us down? My first reaction to things like this is usually anger, however Proverbs 12:16 states “A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult,” and in 29:11 it also says “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.” Therefore I should keep myself under control and try to ignore insults such as these.
But how do I do this? It all comes down to perspective I think. Mum and Dad have been great at teaching me that in the end all that matters is that I have a personal relationship with God. Everything else is just stuff. Colossians 3:2 says to “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth" and Philippians 4:8 suggests to dwell on whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise. When we focus on things that, really, when push comes to shove, don’t matter, we will get stuck on it and not move on. It just makes things a bigger and bigger deal.
People attack to try and protect their feeling of self-pride. This is wrong. Rather than getting upset when this occurs, we should instead be more concerned with our eternal salvation and progressive sanctification than to dwell on it too long.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
About the little things too
I took a study on Stephen last night (Acts 6:8-7:60).
The guy was amazing. He loved God so much that he obeyed His commands to love our neighbours and by doing so spreading the gospel to those who hated it (which meant he forfeited his mortal life by trying to save their souls - that IS love). The thing that struck me about Stephen is that he highlights the fact that if we love God we are to follow the teachings of Christ. This means not only working on our own progressive sanctification, but also loving people enough to try and point them towards Jesus. Stephen could be somewhat blunt in his approach as the setting he was in allowed for it (a trial). Its not often we will be able to have such direct approaches, but we need to try to always be a positive piece in someone's journey hopefully toward salvation in Jesus.
It’s tough though. It is by no means cool to be a Christian in New Zealand. In one way or another we will have people in places of authority against us, people will argue with us, we will be social outcasts, and people testify falsely about what our relationship with God means (whether knowingly or not).
The thing that stuns me, is that Jesus gave up His rightful place as King of glory and came to earth where He experienced people in power attacking Him (Matt 26:57), Arguments (Mark 8:11), Social disapproval (Matt 27:11-31), False testimony (Mark 14:56), and Physical pain (Matt 27:11-31) just to name a few things. We don’t serve a distant God who can't relate to us. God has experienced the things we go through first hand. Being God, he knows what it is like when we go through things anyway, but He came to experience it in Human form so that we can understand that He understands.
Because of Jesus we have the ultimate example in all things. God is not only massive beyond all comprehension, but, through Jesus he has experienced our trials and Tribulations First-Hand – He is not only concerned about the huge stuff (eg. Man’s reconciliation with Him), He is also concerned with our day to day things of relative insignificance (eg. Social disapproval). I find this very comforting.
The guy was amazing. He loved God so much that he obeyed His commands to love our neighbours and by doing so spreading the gospel to those who hated it (which meant he forfeited his mortal life by trying to save their souls - that IS love). The thing that struck me about Stephen is that he highlights the fact that if we love God we are to follow the teachings of Christ. This means not only working on our own progressive sanctification, but also loving people enough to try and point them towards Jesus. Stephen could be somewhat blunt in his approach as the setting he was in allowed for it (a trial). Its not often we will be able to have such direct approaches, but we need to try to always be a positive piece in someone's journey hopefully toward salvation in Jesus.
It’s tough though. It is by no means cool to be a Christian in New Zealand. In one way or another we will have people in places of authority against us, people will argue with us, we will be social outcasts, and people testify falsely about what our relationship with God means (whether knowingly or not).
The thing that stuns me, is that Jesus gave up His rightful place as King of glory and came to earth where He experienced people in power attacking Him (Matt 26:57), Arguments (Mark 8:11), Social disapproval (Matt 27:11-31), False testimony (Mark 14:56), and Physical pain (Matt 27:11-31) just to name a few things. We don’t serve a distant God who can't relate to us. God has experienced the things we go through first hand. Being God, he knows what it is like when we go through things anyway, but He came to experience it in Human form so that we can understand that He understands.
Because of Jesus we have the ultimate example in all things. God is not only massive beyond all comprehension, but, through Jesus he has experienced our trials and Tribulations First-Hand – He is not only concerned about the huge stuff (eg. Man’s reconciliation with Him), He is also concerned with our day to day things of relative insignificance (eg. Social disapproval). I find this very comforting.
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