Sunday 27 March 2011

A Reason For Pain And Death

"God uses suffering and impending death to unfasten us from this earth and to set our minds on what lies beyond"
Heaven, Randy Alcorn, page xix

Satan Vs Holy Leisure

"In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in 'muchness' and 'manyness,' he will rest satisfied."
Celebration Of Discipline, Richard Foster, p19

"The church Fathers often spoke of Otium Sanctum, 'holy leisure.' It refers to a sense of balance in the life, an ability to be at peace through the activities of the day, an ability to rest and take time to enjoy beauty, an ability to pace ourselves ... we must pursue 'holy leisure' with a determination that is ruthless to our diaries."
Celebration Of Discipline, Richard Foster, p31

Prayer Problem-Solving

"If we turn on our television set and it does not work, we do not declare that there are no such things as electronic frequencies in the air or on the cable. We assume something is wrong, something we can find and correct. We check the plug, switch, circuitry until we discover what is blocking the flow of this mysterious energy that transmits pictures. We know the problem has been found and fixed by seeing whether or not the TV works. It is the same with prayer. We can determine if we are praying correctly if the request comes to pass. If not, we look for the 'block'; perhaps we are praying wrongly, perhaps something within us needs changing, perhaps there are new principles of prayer that need to be learned, perhaps patience and persistence are needed. We can listen, make the necessary adjustments, and try again. We can know that our prayers are being answered as surely as we know the television set is working."
Celebration Of Discipline, Richard Foster, p47-8

Richard Foster On The Importance of Prayer

Quotes from Celebration Of Discipline by Richard Foster

"Prayer catapults us on to the frontier of the spiritual life. Of all the Spiritual Disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communication with the Father."
p42

"To pray is to change. Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us. If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives."
p42

"All who have walked with God have viewed prayer as the main business of their lives."
p43

"John Wesley says, 'God does nothing but in answer to prayer'".
p43

"For those explorers in the frontiers of faith, prayer was no little habit tacked on to the periphery of their lives; it was their lives. It was the most serious work of their most productive years."
p43

"For these, an all those who have braved the depths of the interior life, to breathe was to pray."
p44

"Certain things will happen in history if we pray rightly. We are to change the world by prayer. What more motivation do we need to learn this loftiest human exercise?"
p45

Tweak, Test and Re-Adjust

It occurred to me the other day that we don't always need to completely scrap and revise our efforts when something isn't quite working well enough. Often it's just a series of minor changes that together can be very effective. Like fine-tuning an engine.

I think I'm always tempted by the 'scrap-it-and-do-things-completely-differently' approach as it can offer a solution that seems the most radical. But if you get your sensible pants back on, problem solving is best because you adjust one bolt at a time. You eventually see just how influential each component is, and end up with a greater working knowledge.

Over the years I've found this to be massively true in my work as a self-employed designer, in my diet, in my personal finances, in leading a life group and probably a few other areas as well. Sometimes I need the reminder though – don't quit. Tweak, test and re-adjust.

The Everyday Things (Part 2)

Health and Fitness - I've realised that it's crazy to think that God's not interested in you being slim, fit and healthy. The only reason Jesus was able to carry his cross an endure the beatings was because he was in shape. The only reason he was able to walk all those miles and execute his ministry well was because he was a healthy man and a good steward of his body.

I've realise that I've been holding on to my gym routine with a closed fist, not showing it to God. I felt a while back that God whispered 'three times a week' in my ear, regarding how many times I should crank out my routine. I ignored that for a while and kept going everyday.

However, I've now tried the three-times-a-week approach and realised how utterly vital it has been to have that extra time for reading, meditation and prayer. It's so refreshing. And it's perfectly doable from a weight-control point of view. It helps you feel more well-rested and peaceful. Listening to God is always best. Sometimes it just takes a while for the penny to drop.

Should Our Hands Be Empty?

I guess one thing that I might want to revise or clarify regarding my previous journal entries on giving, money and contentment is that I can lean a bit too much towards poverty theology - i.e. God is pleased when our hands are empty.

Although it's very good to be content no matter how little we have, God requires us to be a good steward of his wealth, no matter how much we're given. In the parable of the talents, he says 'to whom much is given, much will be demanded'. This means that to some of us, God will give much. In this sense, it's a bit of a cop-out just to give it all away as quickly as possible in an act of 'worship'. It avoids responsibility. God might require a much better, much more thought out approach to the stewardship of his resources.

Saturday 26 March 2011

The Hiddenness of God (Part 5)

"Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.""
Exodus 20:18-19

People sometimes flippantly remark that if God was real, he should just show himself. Truth is, most of us get nervous just with human authority. Like the police stopping your car, your headmaster rebuking you as a child, or an assessment with your employer. What if God did just appear... the Commander-In-Chief of the Universe. What if his appearing was immediately followed by a confrontation?...

"Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?""
Revelation 6:15-17

Perhaps his apparent hiddenness is, for the time being, a form of his grace.

Thursday 17 March 2011

Eternal And Conscious

It's mind-blowing to think that everyone who ever existed is still conscious. Their bodies may have died decades, centuries or millennia ago, but they're all still conscious. My friend who died when we were 14, is still thinking, seeing, hearing, moving, speaking, feeling. Maybe even smelling, touching and breathing. As are both my Grandad and Great Grandad, who I knew well but died when I was young. For all those killed in the Haiti earthquake a year ago and the Japanese tsunami a week ago; they're all still conscious. We just don't know where. Heaven or Hell - they're somewhere.

Tuesday 15 March 2011

Resolved

I watched a feature on Songs Of Praise yesterday of this elderly female missionary who went out and worked her whole life in Africa. One of the comments she made that really struck me was that when you get old and look back, the only thing that really counts is your works of service to God. It must be very pleasing to reach a certain age and know, "I have not waisted my life".

"Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die ... Resloved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do, if, I had already seen the happiness of heaven, and hell's torments."
Jonathan Edwards (1703 – 1758), written in his early twenties.